My 16th Birthday Makeup

Hello everyone!

On the 16th of July it was my 16th birthday. Today I'm going to recreate the makeup I wore which was very pink as I used pink on the eyes and lips.



                                                    

Foundation ~ Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr (shade 010 light porcelain)

Concealer ~ NYX HD Studio Photogenic (shade 02)

Powder ~ MUA Transparent Pressed Setting Powder

Bronzer & Highlighter ~ Sleek Face Contour Kit (shade light)



 

 

Eyebrows ~ e.l.f Lock on Liner and Brow Cream (shade light brown) & Essence Make Me Brow eyebrow gel (shade 01 blondy brows)

Eyeshadow ~ Too Faced Sweet Peach palette (white peach & nectar mixed under the brow bone, peaches 'n cream & georgia mixed as a transition shade, just peachy & bellini mixed all over the lid, summer yum in the crease to add definition and on the lower lashline)

Mascara ~ Miss Sporty Really Me Volume & Tint



Lips ~ NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream (shade Zurich)

That is the makeup I wore on my birthday. I like how I was able to create an entire eye look using just one palette. I might do some more posts on different looks I come up with.

Love Courtney x

Primark Get Lippy Metallic Collection Review

Hello everyone!

I was recently in Primark and these metallic lip kits caught my attention. A lip liner and liquid lipstick for only £3! I picked up both shades to try out and review for you today. 

The first shade I got was 'Molten Bronze.' This is an unusual shade for me as a lip colour as I'm used to wearing bronze on my eyes. Nevertheless, I really like this colour and the formula of the lip liner and the liquid lipstick is really nice. Both of the liquid lipsticks are not drying compared to other liquid lipsticks I've tried and they last a decent amount of time. However, they do wear off a little bit after eating and drinking.

The other shade I got was 'Molten Lava.' This colour is a very wearable peach shade but it makes your makeup a bit more exciting due to it being metallic. I think I will probably get more wear out of this shade than the other one. The formula of the lip liner and the liquid lipstick is the same as the 'Molten Bronze' shade so I like them both equally in that way.

In the swatches above left to right - 'Molten Bronze' lip liner then matching liquid lipstick, 'Molten Lava' lip liner then matching liquid lipstick.

Overall, I would definitely recommend these Primark Get Lippy Metallic Collection products. They are very pretty colours and good valuable for money. If you want to try some metallic lip colours but don't want to spend loads of money on something you're not sure you will like then buy these for only £3 for Primark.

Have you tried these lip kits or any other metallic lipsticks?

Love Courtney x

Collective Haul - Lush, Primark & More!

Hello everyone!

I have done quite a bit of shopping recently so I am going to show you what I have picked up over the last few weeks.



I wanted to try some of the Lush Easter products but they didn't have a lot left when I went into the shop so I only picked up two things. The first thing I bought was the 'Which Came First ?' bath bomb. This smells so nice and it's quite big so I am very excited to use it.  Next I got the 'Bunch of Carrots' bubble bar. These are adorable, they smell amazing and I love the fact that you get 3 products in one. Plus you can use each bubble bar 2 or 3 times so they are great value for money.



I've recently discovered and fallen in love with super affordable makeup brands mainly MUA and Essence. I got the Essence Make Me Brow eyebrow gel in the shade 01 blondy brows which is a great dupe for the Benefit Gimme Brow. I actually prefer the Essence one because it doesn't make my brows feel crispy and it is only £2.50. I then got some products from MUA. First I picked up the transparent pressed setting powder. It's just as good as most powders. Next I got the eyebrow pencil in the shade brunette. It is a bit dark on me but the Essence brow gel lightens it a bit. Lastly I bought a lipliner in the shade caramel nougat. This lipliner is really creamy and a perfect nude shade on my skin tone.



At the same time that I bought the eyebrow gel I also bought a gel nail polish from Essence to try out. I'm not going to lie the main reason for buying this was because it is called 'Gossip Girl' (which if you haven't seen that TV show you should definitely watch it.) However it is actually a really good polish. Next I bought a makeup brush from Primark. I love the fact that it is double ended so it's two super soft brushes for one. Also from Primark I got a watch as my last watch broke. On the face of the watch it has loads of designs related to London and nature which I think is really pretty. The last thing I bought was a body spray from H & M in the scent 'Sweet Macaron.' This smells amazing and the packaging is quite small making it easy to take in my school bag.

That is everything I have bought recently. Let me know in the comments what your favourite affordable makeup brand is. Mine would be MUA as I love so many of their products.

Love Courtney x

My Everyday Brush Collection

Hello everyone!

I have an obsession with makeup brushes. As a result of this I have loads in my collection. However, there are a few brushes that I use every time I do my makeup.

For foundation I don't use anything else apart from the Buffing Brush from Real Techniques. You can get this from the Core Collection. I have a lot of Real Techniques brushes bceause they are so good and the Buffing Brush is no exception.

Also from the Core Collection by Real Techniques is the Contour Brush. I don't use this for contour I actually use it to blend in concealer. I love this brush because it fits really nicely under my eyes and like all Real Techniques brushes it is so soft.

For setting powder I use a big powder brush from Avon. This does a good job at dusting a small amount of powder all over my face. Plus it's super soft and really inexpensive.

Another Real Techniques brush I love is the Blush Brush. I don't normally wear blusher so I use this for bronzer as it's such a good size for bronzing up my face.

The main brands of makeup brushes I use are Real Techniques (obviously) and Avon. However, I have one brush from Spectrum which I use for highlighter and I love it. Spectrum brushes are so beautiful and so soft. I only have one in my collection and that definitely needs to change.

To do my eye makeup I mainly use three brushes from (you guessed it) Real Techniques and Avon. From the Starter Set I use the deluxe crease brush and the base shadow brush. Then from Avon I have a small blending brush.

My favourite eyebrow brush is an angled one from Lottie London. You could also use this for eyeliner but I think it's such a good size for filling in my eyebrows.

Once I've filled in my eyebrows and done my eye makeup I curl my eyelashes and apply mascara. My favourite eyelash curler is a rose gold one from Primark. This does a nice job of curling my lashes and it's so pretty.

So there are my makeup brushes that I use on a everyday basis/whenever I put makeup on. What are your favourite makeup brushes and your favourite brand for tools/brushes? Speak to you soon!

Love Courtney x

January 2017 Haul

Hello everyone!

I've done quite a bit of shopping recently so I thought I would do a haul of some of the stuff I've picked up. Some of these things were in the January sales but the stuff that wasn't in the sale wasn't very expensive. 

I got this Baylis & Harding Beauticology set from Boots. It was originally £8 but all of the Christmas sets were half price in Boots so I got a body lotion, a body wash and a shower creme for £4. Plus they came in a gorgeous red, glittery pouch.

 

 

My previous makeup setting powder had completely run out so I needed a new one. I've never tried a loose powder so I thought I would try this one from the Primark beauty range. I have only used it a few times but so far so good. It was only £5 so it didn't break the bank.

 

Another makeup item I had run out of was concealer. I wanted one that had a decent amount of coverage, wasn't heavy or cakey and also was within my budget of 'as inexpensive as possible.' This NYX HD Studio Photogenic concealer had really good reviews on the Boots website, the description of it sounded amazing and it cost £5.50. I've been using this for just over a week now and it's really good. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking to buy a new concealer but don't want to spend a ton of money on a high end one.

Another thing I bought from NYX is one of their Lip Lingerie liquid lipsticks. I picked up the one in the shade Embellishment. It's a really nice mauve with a slight grey tone to it. As I said in my 'Goals for 2017' post I want to be more adventurous with my makeup and try out colours that I wouldn't normally wear so I thought this would be perfect.

However, I'm not sure how I feel about this product. It is a liquid lipstick so it dries down to a matte finish. My lips are super dry so I need to make sure I apply a load of lip balm before I put this on. I also need to be careful when applying this because the wand isn't a typical doe foot wand like I'm used to. Overall, I would suggest you pick one of these up if you are interested as they have some nice colours and I've heard great things about them. I think I just need to use mine a bit more. You can get these for £6.50 from Boots.

 

 

I also want to be more organised this year so I got this planner from Oliver Bonas. I don't know how much it was because on the website it said it was originally £30 but on the back of the planner itself it said £20. Regardless of how much it was I paid £15 as it was in the sale. This is actually a 17 month planner so it started in August 2016 and ends in December 2017. There is a monthly view and then a weekly view with pretty big sections for each day. The planner also comes with loads of adorable stickers.

The most recent thing I got was this Baylis & Harding Beauticology Sweet Temptations set. This was £2 from Morrisons and it includes a body lotion, a shower creme, a body wash and a hand cream. Even though I got the other set this one was too cute not to buy and for £2 I thought why not ?!

 

So that is all the beauty and random stuff that I picked up recently. Did you buy anything in the Boxing Day/ January sales? Let me know in the comments. Also don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram. ( @love_courtney_x on both) I've just made an Instagram but I hope to post fairly regularly on there. See you soon!

Love Courtney x

Winter Makeup Routine

Hello everyone!

It's getting ever closer to Christmas (eek!) and I've just started my Christmas shopping (oops!) Today I have a winter makeup "tutorial". But let's be real I'm no makeup pro so I'm just going to tell you how I created this silver/purple eye look with lots of highlighter and a nude/pink lip.

Base

For foundation I used the Loreal Infallible 24hr Matte. This foundation has a good amount of coverage and it's matte but it doesn't look cakey. It also lasts really well throughout the day.

Then I used the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer under my eyes to cover up those bags and make me look more awake.

Next I used my favourite Makeup Revolution Iconic Lights and Contour palette. I used the second shade from the left on the top row (the matte white colour) to set my foundation and concealer. I also used the third shade from the left on the bottom row to bronze up my pale face. Finally from this palette I used the first shade from the left on the top row to highlight the heck out of my cheekbones. It doesn't show up well on camera but my cheekbones were poppin'.

Eyes

To start my eye look I first used the shade Naked 2 from the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette to fill in my eyebrows.

Then I used two eyeshadows from Makeup Geek. I applied the shade High Wire (the shimmery silver colour) all over my eye lid. Then I blended the shade Fairytale (the matte purple colour) into my outer crease and the outer portion of my lid.

Next I took my Collection Extreme 24hr Felt Tip liner, prayed to the winged liner gods and did a thin flick.

Finally, I curled my eyelashes and applied my favourite mascara, Maybelline The Falsies. I love this eye look because it's different to the typical gold eye that you see everywhere this time of year.

Lips

Last step lips. First I applied MAC Cosmetics lipstick in Brave. Then I put some of the Maybelline ColourSensational Shine Gloss in shade Fuschia Flash on top.

So there you have it. An easy, cool toned, winter makeup look that's not your typical warm toned bronze and gold. Let me know in the comments your go to makeup look for the festive season. Do you prefer a bold or nude lip? Smokey or neutral eye? See you soon.

Love Courtney x







My Winter Essentials

Hello everyone!

In case you hadn't noticed it's winter. So today I'm going to show you some of the things that I think are essential for wintertime.

As I mentioned in my November Favourites my skin is dry at the best of times but during the winter it gets significantly worse. So to combat this I use a moisturiser. The one I am using just now is the Superdrug Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream. (£2.99 from Superdrug) To moisturise my hands I love The Body Shop hand creams. I have the Spiced Apple and Frosted Berries scents but I also love the Mango and Satsuma ones. (£4 from The Body Shop)

Once my hands are silky soft thanks to my Body Shop hand creams I like to paint my nails a gorgeous berry colour. I love this one by Avon in the shade Cherry Jubilee. (normally £6 but currently only £2.75 from avon.com)

Now my makeup essentials. I love highlighter any time of the year but I think it looks so pretty at Christmas parties. I really like Makeup Revolution Iconic Lights and Contour Pro palette. (£8 from Superdrug) To go with the highlighted skin I love winged eyeliner. If I can magically make it look even that is. To do my eyeliner I prefer a felt tip applicator to a brush. The one I am currently using is the Collection Extreme 24hr Felt Tip Liner. (£2.99 from Superdrug) Finally for lips you can't go wrong with a berry lip to match the nails. I've recently been using the Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 107 (£5.49 from Superdrug) which I like but has almost run out so I'm open to suggestions. Something in a similiar colour, not drying or patchy and long lasting. Leave any recommendations in the comments. However, before I put on a dark lipstick, or whenever I remember, I put on a moisturising lip balm. The one from Nivea is really hydrating and smells really good too. (normally £1.65 from Superdrug but it's currently £1.09)

The last thing which is a Winter Essential for me is candles. This one from Yankee Candle called Christmas Eve smells amazing.The small jar is currently sold out on the Yankee Candle website but they sell lots of various sizes and Yankee Candle is sold in so many places.  Plus it's super festive considering it's called Christmas Eve! I have the small jar which is £6.74 but they range in price depending on size. On the website it says it has top notes of orange, almond, lime and lemon. Then mid notes of red berry, cinnamon and nutmeg. Finally it's base notes are violet, amber, creamy praline and vanilla. That basically means it's like Christmas in a jar!

So those are all of my Winter Essentials. Let me know some of yours in the comments. What are your must have products for wintertime? See you soon with another Christmas-y post.

Love Courtney x