Mermaid Gift Guide

Of course I couldn’t do a unicorn gift guide without doing a mermaid one, what kind of monster do you take me for? I find myself spending most of my time searching for mermaid themed products anyway so I thought why not stick them all together in a post.

I hope you enjoy this post...or at least find it useful.

1) M E R M A I D   S L I P P E R S  // £16

You can find it HERE

2) M E R M A I D   B R U S H  C U P   // £3

So admittedly this is a tooth brush holder but it would be so good for brushes as well!

You can find it HERE

3) M E R M A I D   B A T H   T O W E L // £7

You can find it HERE

4) M E R M A I D  B L A N K E T // £19.99

You can find it HERE*

5) M E R M A I D  P J ‘s // £14

You can fine them HERE *

6) M E R M A I D  B R U S H E S // £59.99

 Ok so I know these brushes are a bit of a pinch but they are such good quality and I will rate spectrum till the day I die... slightly dramatic I know, but they’re the bomb digaty.

You can find them HERE

I defiantly favor mermaids over unicorn, and I could have made a gift guide purely for iridescent gifts, I’m obsessed! Let me know your favorite item in the comments.

This post contains affiliate links, these are marked with a ‘*’.

Unicorn gift guide

So last year I decided to do a unicorn gift guide as I saw an incredible amount of unicorn themed gifts in stores, and I mean, they say to write about what your passionate about right? That was one of my favorite posts from last year so I’ve decided to re create it this year! 

1) U N I C O R N   D I N N E R   S E T  // £25

You can find them HERE

2) U N I C O R N   B R U S H E S  // £45

You can find it HERE

3) U N I C O R N   MUG // £3

Asda literally have so much unicorn stuff so defiantly have a search! 

You can find it HERE

4) U N I C O R N  P H O N E  C A S E  // £1,99

You can find it HERE

5) U N I C O R N   M O N E Y   B O X  // £10

This is literally something which I would buy just to put on my vanity! 

You can find it HERE

6) U N I C O R N   C O O K   B O O K // £10.99
This has to be, by far, my most wanted gift this year, and I've literally gifted it to 4 different people...no shame.
you can find it HERE

It was so hard to stick to 5 items (demonstrated by the face I did 6) for this post based on the fact that if you search enough you can lot find unicorn ANYTHING but I think I picked a good selection! 

Gift Guide, Charlotte Tilbury edittion.

T h e   h i s t o r y

Charlotte Tilbury cosmetics and skincare launched in Selfridges in 2013 and became its biggest beauty launch, since then they have expanded to multiple department stores, its own flagship store and are currently sold in 37 countries. The company was founded by Charlotte herself whom was born in London in 1973, before launching her brand Charlotte was a makeup artist and even started her own Youtube channel in 2012, which now has over 400,000 subscribers.

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Charlotte Tiblury products make for perfect gifts as their products can be utilised by all ages, they also have  sets which contain multiple smaller sized products that are great for someone who maybe is just starting to dip their toe, so to speak, into the big wide makeup world, or even the other end of the scale, perfect for someone who you know loves makeup.

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B e a u t y  i c o n s

This is described as a collection of Charlottes best selling, award winning products.

Now this is exactly  the type of product I would buy for my friends and family that are interested in makeup, it includes 5 products, of which 1 is full-sized and 3 are what I would class as deluxe samples and retails for £55, which is not bad considering that it comes already gorgeously presented in a purple and copper box. Over all this box is worth £69.

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in the box you receive,

Full Fat Lashes mascara, (3,04ml):  I think a mascara is such a personal preference, so its a pain buying full sized ones ( which have shot up in price the last few years) and then not liking it, with this box it again gives you the chance to have a good while testing it. The mascara is again quite subtle if applied lightly so perfect for those not too confidant, but it can also be built upon to create beautiful fluttery lashes. The full size of this product is 8ml and sells for £23, making this worth around £9

Charlottes Magic Cream, (15ml): This is probably my favourite thing in this box as its such a splurge for the full-size that i personally wouldn't like to spend on myself without knowing I loved it first, the amount of product in this box means you can realistically try it for a while before you make the final decition. The full size of this product is 50ml and sells for £70, making this worth around £21

Wonder glow face primer, (15ml): This product is actually something that I use myself almost every day, I cant even explain how good radiant this makes you look, its literally incredible! I personally use it under my main foundation but I can see this working really well on its own for a more natural look. The full size of this product is 40ml and is £39, making this one worth around £15

K.i.s.s.i.n.g lipstick in the shade "Penelope Pink", (1g): This lipstick is by far the cutest thing I have ever seen, and although it looks tiny, the actual lipstick inside it a decent size! The shade of the lipstick is absolutely great for giving as a gift as its a comfortable shade which will suit almost everyone, its not too "out there". This is a 3rd of the full size which retails for £24 so making this worth £8. 

Lip Cheat lip liner in the shade "Pillow Talk", (1.2g) : A cult favourite product, which due to its natural shade, makes over lining the lips incredible easy for any skill level. Again this shade of lipliner is a safe option as its not a bright colour and something which many people can wear in their day to day life. This product is Full-sized and would retail on its own for £16.

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S c e n t   O f   A   D r e a m 

Eau de parfum, 50ml.

I worked in Boots on the perfume counter for a while so I like to think that I know quite a bit about not just what's good, but what kind of smells people class with certain things, for example, people would buy Dior as a splurge for a special occasion as its  a classic, sublte...yet strong soft smell, where as for a smaller gift, people would be looking at the celebraty purfumes which tend to be more punchy and fruity.

Now I’m absolutely awful at describing scents, So here goes. The smell of this perfume is very similar to Miss Doir, which is actually one of my favourite scents, and one of which I get numerous compliments on, its a subtle fruity warm scent which I think a lot of different people would enjoy.

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I was lucky enough to be sent some products from Charlotte Tilbury to include in this mini gift guide and I must admit I had a mini fan girl moment, although I am great full ( is that one word? I have no idea)  for any PR received, to be considered good enough for such a big well known brand makes me feel good about myself and the work I create, so thank you to CT.

Whats in my Z-Palette.

When I first started getting into makeup, the Zpallete was my goal, I literally used to have a recurring dream about going into a shop and picking them what shades I wanted, I also always  watch youtubers videos on their zpalettes and it become some sort of weird obsession... which is were this blog post came from, what’s In my z palette!

I literally cant even tell you how hard i've tried to get them in the perfect shade layout, but it’s harder than it looks! D you go on the actual shade or the shade it looks in the pan? I feel like this is a good point to apologise to any of my readers whom suffer from OCD....im sorry y'all. (shamelessly adding some Hannah montana vibes).

Instead of typing trying to explain which shade is which I thought it would be so much easier to actually type on the picture, I also think it looks a lot better.

My most used, and recommended,  shades are probably, Chickadee, Morocco (MAC Redbrick dupe), Coco bear (Mac BrownScript dupe), and Shimma shimma. A few of the shades I'm not too keen on surprisingly the MAC shades, I find mac blushers work so much better than the eyeshadow pans, and overall I find makeup geek better quality for money.

I feel like  its important to mention that this set of swatches really do not do the shades any justice, Cherry cola for example, is such a gorgeous dark berry tone when on the eye but the swatch looks quite dull.

- My 'go to' combo's -

chickadee, morocco, Aphrodite.

Mango Tango, Simply Marlena, Sketch.

Peach smoothie, coco bear, Cherry cola.

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And that's enough blabbering for one post! I was always taught to not start a sentence with and...but does that rule still count when blogging? ANYWAY haha, I really hope you've enjoyed this post and it would be such a big help if you could comment bellow your favourite Z palette compatible shades, especially bright shades, momma lovessss a blue eye!

Jeffree Star 'Beauty Killer' tutorial.

( please note that I filmed this a long while ago but couldn't upload at the time, since filming this I personally think I have improved loads but I thought I may as well upload this anyway. )

Honestly, it's crazy how much what you like can change in a year, when this palette first came out I was shocked that anyone would pay £40 for a palette with so many hard to use shades in, I never in a million years thought I'd ever buy it and even think about using a bright pink shade in my day to day look...but a year later, here I am and I honestly have to say, the bright pink shade is my absolute fav!

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I created a short sped up video using the beauty killer palette so this post won't contain a lot of writing but I thought I'd quickly explain the products used, 

B R O W S //

Anastasia brow wiz in the shade 'dark brown'. HERE

P R I M E //

Nars creamy concealer in the lightest shade, (learnt this trick from makeup artist Plouise) HERE

G L I T T E R //

This glitter I actually got in a set from amazon and it's so good! HERE 

For glitter glue I just used my Eylure lash glue. 

S H A D O W //

For this look I used the Jeffree star 'Beauty killer' palette,

 I started with Courtney in the crease as my transition shade followed by Star Power which I added in small amounts and blended until I had the colour I wanted.

I next went in with violence and vanity to deepen the crease, it doesn't have to be too neat as I then used my nars concealer to cut myself a sharp lid shape. 

After applying the glitter I then went back in with vanity to deepen my crease more. 

I then applied Mac fluidline black gel liner along my lash line and used it to outline the corner of my lid which I then blended out using black rainbow.

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This was my first sped up tutorial video so I'm sorry it's not the best lighting or quality but I'm hoping to do a lot more and get better at it! Let me know in the comments which other palettes you'd like to see a look from!

DIY Brush pots / IKEA hack.

 3 XL brush pots for £4? Yes please.

  If you didn't know by now, then you need to know that ya girls cheap, I absolutely HATE spending money, so when there's an opportunity to cut corners I will... Which is where today's DIY came from!

All over Pinterest I see beautiful vanity's and white rooms, and if you don't love copper, then are you even a blogger? The problem occurred when I was searching for a nice metallic cup to hold my makeup brushes in, I found loads of choices which would be fine for anyone else, but for someone with a brush problem like mine, none were big enough...so I made my own.

Y O U   W I L L  N E E D . . . 

 

🖤  3 Ikea storage cups - 50p each [ Here ] 🖤

 🖤  1 rail - £1.50 [  Here ] 🖤

🖤  metallic spray of choice - £1- £4 [ Here  *] 🖤

🖤  masking tape 🖤

🖤  newspaper  🖤

The first thing you need to do is decide where you want spraying, I decided to do one fully sprayed and then 2 to look like they have been dipped in gold.

 I then masking taped the top half of 2 of the pots where I didn't want the spray to go to keep it clean, as well as stuffing the inside of the pots (this step is optional).

I then sprayed, I chose this spray from Wilko's in gold but there were plenty of other options and finishes, some pound shops also stock spray paints but at the time mine had sold out.

 I found 2 light coats worked out better than one heavy coat but either way  dries pretty quickly. I then took the masking tape off when it was half dry to prevent pulling any paint off when fully dry.

  

And that's it! Fill them with whatever you like, I used brushes but these would be perfect for cotton pads, eyelashes, or things not even related to makeup like pens or screws!

 You could even cut out shapes or patterns to stick on before spraying to add more detail.

and the end result?...

I'm forever DIY'ing so if you like this type of post then let me know, also if you do try this out I would love to see so be sure to show me!

 

Missguided Wish List.

If you follow me on Twitter or Snapchat then you will already know how much I LOVE Missguided, not only do they have an thousands of amazing ' normal '  clothes but they also have a wide variety of clothes carefully thought out and made to suit  Petite, Tall, and Curvey gals.

For reference, I am a large UK 16 and never have a problem with sizes, I've never ordered a 16 and it not fit.

What I also love about Misguided is that they have free returns, I am picky with clothes and struggle to find things I feel comfortable in so knowing I can buy things and just send them back stress free if I don't like them is honestly such a load of my mind, and one of the main reasons I hardly shop anywhere else.

Be sure to check out Misguided website ( Here ) and ill even let you blame me for any purchases you make haha! 

ANYWAY, here are the items I've been crushing on lately.

 🖤

⇦   P l u s   S i z e   K h a k i   C a m o u f l a g e

    S l o g a n   S h a c k e t

£35

HERE

 U l t i m a t e  O v e r s i z e d   P a d d e d
J a c k e t  ⇨

£40

 HERE

⇦   M o n a c o   D r o p   S h o u l d e r
 S w e a t s h i r t

£18

HERE

B a r b i e  x  M i s s g u i d e d  G r e e n
C a m o  P r i n t  T  s h i r t  ⇨

  

£18

HERE

 ⇦ R e d   D e n i m  M i n i  S k i r t

£22

HERE

H i g h  Wa i s t e d  R i p p e d  S k i n n y
J e a n s  ⇨

£30 ... £10.50

HERE

  🖤

What items are on your Missguided wish list? This is literally not even a quarter of the items on my actual wish list but I doubt anyone would want a 7 page blogpost...

please note that affiliate links have been used on this page but I've also added the exact name of the items so you can search them for yourself if you didn't want to use my link.

Too Faced 'BonBon palette' review!

The Too Faced BonBon palette was one of which I was a bit hesitant to buy, I absolutely loved the original chocolate bar but I couldn't help but realise the pans were made smaller when being made into a heart shape apposed to the regular rectangle... or did they?
I am always 100% honest when reviewing products so if you're on the fence, then keep on reading..
* To have a bigger high quality version of any image just click on it*

So first let's talk about the palette itself in basic terms, it was £39 and contains 14 shades with 0.03OZ each and 2 shades with 0.07OZ each meaning you do get the same amount of product that you in the original chocolate bar palette; this was something I was curious about as the heart shaped pans did at first look smaller than the original pans.
 If I'm honest then I have to say that I'm not really a fan off the too faced tin packaging, I love the colours and the designs don't get me wrong, but the factory feel off the tin makes me think that the shadows will smash easily if knocked or dropped...although saying that I haven't actually broke any yet (touch wood).

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The actual design of the palette can not be faulted, it is absolutely adorable and by far one of the pretties palettes I own, if I was to describe Too Faced as brand using one product, then it would be the Bonbon. Now of course the palettes are known for having that unique cocoa smell... which yes, it does have, but nowhere near as strong as people make out, and this is something which I instantly thought when opening my original Chocolate bar. In my personal opinion the Makeup revolution dupe smells a lot more chocolaty, so if that's all you're after then deffo check that out first.

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I literally brought this palette for the bright pink shade alone, its absolutely stunning and I love nothing more than a nice pinky toned shadow nicely blended in my crease, in fact, one of my go to looks with this palette is Cotton candy all over my lid and totally fetch in the crease.
A problem that I personally have with this palette is that I have quite tanned, warm toned skin, so the super cool toned shadows like 'Pecan Praline' just end up looking ashy on me, which isn't a good look, but of course the palette has to cater for all skin types, which I guess it does!


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Ok so I completely forgot to even swatch Pecan Praline, (coincidence considering that's the one I said I didn't like aye haha!), but I'm sure if you just search it into google it will come up.  

The colours that don't impress me much (shamelessly sang that as  Shania Twain) are sadly Sprinkles, I just find this too chunky as a shadow and find most the time it will flake away and kind of hard to pick up with any brush;  Black current, as it is just so different to what it looks like in the pan; and Cashew Chew, as I just find that this shade has little to no pigmentation, and I have darker skin so it should surly contrast and show up more.

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This is the point where I would normally pick my favourite shadows, but in all honestly they all preform as well  as each other, the formula is incredibly creamy and blends like an absolute dream. 

 Shade wise, then of course it is Totally Fetch and Cotton Candy and actually, I will mention the shade Bordeaux as I really expected it to be quite chalky and was so pleasantly surprised when I found out how warm and soft the swatch was.

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V E R D I C T

I think this palette is completely worth the money, the way I look at it is you get 16 shades for £39, which works out at only £2.43 per shade, and lets be honest, if Too Faced were selling their individual shades at £2.43, than I know I defiantly would buy a ton.

I will say that I think this palette would suit lighter skin tones the best, I mean of course its still a good palette for any skin tone, but I just think the lighter skin toned base will get the best tones out of the shades such as Almond Truffle and Cashew Chew.

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Let me know what you think in the comments if you have the palette and what you think of it, id love to know if anyone agrees with me, or alternatively if I put you off or convinced you to buy it!

Technic makeup review, highlighters, juicy sticks and more!

When I was around the age of 13 I had the biggest obsession with Technic nail varnishes, to the point where every single time I visited my town centre, I had to buy one, so for them to send me some of their most popular products is such an achievement for me and I couldn't not review them!

Be sure to check out Technic on their social media's...

Twitter

Instagram

T e c h n i c  g e t  g o r g e o u s  h i g h l i g h t  i n   '' 2 4 C T  g o l d '' // £2.91

As soon as I saw this this product I knew I would love it, without even touching it you can tell it has a beautiful buttery texture, and not to mention it's a stunning shade!
It is advertised as a bronzing highlighter, which I can imagine looking so pretty on people with fairer skin, but as I have quite tanned skin  this works better for me as a highlighter, and a girl can never have too many aye.

Click HERE to buy it.

C o l o u r  f i x  c o n c e a l e r   k i t  // £5

Cream concealing is something that I really want to get into, if I'm honest, I had been put off after really not getting on with the ABH contour kit concealer shade, the product was too hard and impossible to blend so I guess I just assumed they were all like that, which is where the Technic palette comes in.

Like I said, I don't usually use a  cream concealer, but for the sake of wanting to give an honest review, I decided to give it a go, and it was so easy! The product blends like a dream and I didn't find myself just taking off my previous layer of foundation, it looked so pretty after and not at all cakey and grey toned, which is something I worry about when using cream concealer products due  to wearing fake tan.
Click HERE to buy it.

J u i c y  s t i c k  i n  '' w a t e r  m e l o n '' // £2.19

Before I say anything else, just know, that this product will NOT budge, like literally, this little beauty has the lasting power of spaghetti sauce on a white top...its lit.
I swatched this on my arm and 2 showers later, it was still a tiny bit noticeable, I mean what more can you want? For just over £2 I am blown away by this lipstick and will defiantly be buying some more shades for the summer, they even sound summery...'juicy' ahh!

Click HERE to buy it.

G e t  g o r g e o u s  h i g h l i g h t  i n  '' p i n k  s p a r k l e ''  // £2.79

I will always be honest with my reviews, and with this product, I must say I really couldn't get it to work for me, and it's not  Technics fault, it just happens that the product doesn't suit my skintone as either a blush or highlight; but again, I can see this looking gorgeous on lighter skin tones! The highlight itself is so smooth and soft so it's not a bad product at all, it just didn't work for me how it was suppose to, I will however be keeping this in my theatrical makeup draw as I can see it working perfectly in some of my themed looks, so for again just over £2, i can't complain.
Click HERE to buy it.

S t r o b e  F X  c r e a m  i n  '' s u n k i s s e d '' // £3.49

This product is incredible, I've been using it under my foundation to bronze up my skin for the past 2 or so weeks and I've had endless amounts of people tell me I'm 'glowing', this adds radiance to your skin which lord knows, my dry skin needs! I'd never tried a strobe cream before this and must admit I didn't, and still don't, have any idea what it's  used for , but if it works how I use it then it's a win in my books!
This comes in 2 other shades so don't worry if this looks too dark for you, or too light even.


B r o w  p o w   e y e b r o w   p o w d e r // £2.50


When I first saw this I was genuinely terrified, I'd never seen anything like it and honestly had no idea how to make it work; on one end is a smudger type tool soaked in a cream to liquid pomade and the other is a large chubby spoolie.
I received mine in medium brown and I would say the tone is more ashy and cool than warm, which for most skin types is perfect! I surprisingly found this so simple to use and genuinely liked the wayy brows turned...turnt? out. When I first saw the applicator I low-key expected some serious slugs but that was absolutely not the result!
Click HERE to buy.

Technic as a brand are  one to be watched, I personally have known of their products for a few years now but have defiantly seen a rise in popularity this year, which I'm sure will continue as their products can not be faulted. After trying some of these products and then googling their prices I couldn't believe it and already have quite the wishlist!

All prices are an avarge price as technic currently have their own website under construction, but to find some more of their products just have a browse on some of the linked products sites!

Disappointing products!

 

I absolutely love reading posts or watching videos about products that people don't like, with so much products being hyped about at one time it's so hard to pick which ones to spend that hard earned doller  on. My problem is that lot of the time, the bigger youtubers that get the product known about will most likely be affiliated with the companies so will want to sell it to you (of course this isn't always the case), So I 9/10 times will only take the opinions from smaller youtubers and bloggers seriously.

I have combination - oily skin, and these are the products I haven't got on with.

 

R I M M E L  W A K E   M E   U P   F O U N D A T  I O N // £8.99

 

The formula for this foundation most defiantly has changed, I remember being 15/16 when this first came out and absolutely adoring it, it always used to make my skin glow and look so fresh so it's so sad to now see this in a disappointing makeup post but it's just so bad! I re purchased this after going away and forgetting my tan shade foundation last summer, I used it for the whole week but every single day complained about how cakey, sticky and gross my face felt, all I could feel was the foundation; I literally applied it every way possible but every single time I had major cake face...not a good luck. 

 B E N E F I T   H I G H   B R O W.// £18.50

 

 

Now this product I just don't get, well I mean I get the concept and how to use it, but i just don't understand how benefit can have such great brow products and then this... although I do have to say this is the older one, they may have completely revamped the formula when they re designed last year. My first issue with this is that it's sticky, yet doesn't stick, and by that I mean when I apply it to my brow bone it comes off as I'm applying it and comply goes when I set it with a powder;  my other problem is the size of this pencil, it makes it near enough impossible to carve out a good brow shape or even just apply it to a small area if you wanted to!




 

 B O U R J O I S   A Q U A   B  L U S H  // £8.99

 

You're probably thinking that my problem with this product is the brightness, or maybe it's too pigmented....wrong! It is infact the opposite, this blends away into literally nothing, ziltch. I absolutely adore the packaging and the concept of it but I just can't get any payoff from the blush, it just leaves a glossy mark on my face.









 A B H  D I P - B R O W  P O M A D E // £15

Ok so my problem with this isn't how it performs or anything like that, my problem is with how fast it drys out, which yes I know you can buy oils for but for a high end product I really shouldn't have to... after honestly like a month this just become so dry and cakey that it was literally impossible to use yet my NYX one has lasted so much longer for a 1/4 of the price. 

B O U R J O U R  C O C O A  B R O N Z E R  // £7.99

Another product which I didn't want to put in this post as it smells incredible but felt like I had to, this is just so so so hyped about yet honestly, unless you're Casper the friendly ghost this probably won't show up on you, and even if it does it will be just a yellowey orange pigment instead of a warm 'coco' bronzer. Now the other shade of this is absolutely fantastic and well worth the money so don't get me wrong on the actual product, it's literally just this shade that I don't understand, and I mean it's not even because I tan or anything because I've tried this on my al natural sheepy toned skin and had the same result...or should I say lack of.

I know it probably goes without saying but I don't mean to offend anyone with this post, if a product works for you then good that's honestly great, but for me personally they haven't and if you have similar skin to mine then my heads up may save you some money!

Let me know your disappointing products in the comments!