FAKE MAKEUP! DANGERS!! MAC

Hey lovelies, Today im going to be talking about......

So my younger sister started getting into makeup a couple of months ago and came acorss a website were she bought some 'genuine mac makeup products'. Now me being into makeup I quickly became a bit reluctant and told her that they were probably counterfeit products.

Like most young teenagers, her and her friends didn't seem to mind as they thought they were getting high end products at low end prices, so she went ahead and placed an order.

Now, some people don't realise how dangerous counterfeit makeup can be. They contain different chemicals and toxins which can be dangerous to the skin, Like my sister, some people also don't know how to spot counterfeit makeup products so I thought I would do a post on some brands which are circling the internet at the moment.

Mac is one of the main counterfeit makeup products out there, people that use and buy from mac counters will be aware of what their products look like, along with the packaging and the naming of the cosmetics. However, new make up beginners may not be so aware and would more than likely snap up what they believe to be 'bargain makeup'.

One of the main things I would recommend you do is make yourself familiar with the brands collections, especially Mac.

Mac will never produce and eye shadow palette unless it is a part of a collection for example the holiday collection, wonder woman, hello kitty and so on... A more recent one being the Archies Girls collection.

This will help when looking at palette eyeshadows, Anything that looks like this;

FAKE

or this

Palette containing more than 4 eyeshadows and not in a round shape as well as an applicator is a fake product! All Mac shadows are round like the Veronica Palette below taken from the Archies Girls collection:

REAL

Although the fake shadows may be well pigmented and the colour pay off similar to that of a genuine mac shadow, because they are counterfeit we are unable to tell what chemicals and substances they are made up of, and may be harmful to your skin.

Sticking with the eyeshadow theme, a Single Mac authentic eyeshadow will look like this:

Notice how there is nothing else underneath where the lid lifts up, However, on most counterfeit mac eyeshadows there are a second compartment underneath were by an applicator is stored. This is another sign on how to pick up whether it is genuine or not, as by now you should know all Mac products do not come with an applicator unless they are apart of the holiday collection, and in this case will not look like this;

Left - Real, Right - FAKE!!

Eyeshadows covered, another large counterfeit Mac product is blusher.

Now all mac products come with names such as 'Desert Rose' or 'Peaches' were as counterfeit blushes tend to have numbers or codes. This is one way of knowing whether your blush is real or fake.
Here are some pictures of a fake Mac Blush my sister bought, without being introduced to the world of makeup.

Notice how there is chalk around the black casing of the blush, when it hasn't been used, the texture and feel of the blusher is noticeably different from that of a real mac blusher. As mentioned earlier fake blushers tend to have numbers instead of names, notice the bottom sticker 'M08'.

Another common counterfeit product is lipstick. Mac have hundreds of lipsticks, some are discontinued and are available on line and some are purely limited edition. However some lipsticks you can buy online such as 'limited edition' may be real but others may be fake. Now the packaging tends to be very good on fake lipsticks, but the labelling of the lipstick again is where they slip up. Ok so the lipstick might have the name of the finish such as lustre of frost, but will tend to have the number such as 'A038' wrote above the finish instead of printed under like a real lipstick would.

Here are some photos of 'mac lipsticks', one is a real mac lipstick and one is a fake.

The one on the left is fake and the one on the right is real.

The real visible difference between these two is the product name, the one on the left doesn't seem to have 'Mac' written on the lid, something which all Mac lipsticks do have. The bottom bullet (that holds the lipstick) is also a little fatter than the one on the right.

This photo shows the sticker on the bottom of the lipstick, the place were Mac names and labels the finish of the lipstick. The lipstick on the left the fake one is quite convincing as it is a 'viva glam' the brand from nicki and lady gaga, it also has the finish 'Lustre' and the so called name 'Cyndi' however it is in the wrong order. On a real lipstick such as the one on the right the finish is at the top in this case 'Satin' and the name is second 'Rebel'. Another thing wrong with the Mac lipstick on the left is the code at the bottom 'AA12' Mac lipsticks only have one letter before the number, as demonstrated by the lipstick on the right 'B62'.

Telling the difference between real and fake can sometimes be quite tricky, so my advice to anybody thinking of buying branded make-up online from places such as Ebay and amazon would be don't. You may be handing your money over for fake products, some which can be dangerous to your skin.

Wishlist #6

Michael Korrs Saffiano Leather Tote | Fisherman Beanie | Pineapple Cushion |

Soleil Tan De Chanel | Initial Chevron Iphone 5 Case 

OOTD: Vintage Flowers & Biker Jacket

Hi guys, I've never done one of these posts before but seen as though my style and fashion keeps evolving I thought It would be nice to keep track of what I've wore and things just to see how drastic it changes. Let me know if you like these posts or any opinions would be great.

Jacket: Dorothy Perkins, Dress: Dorothy Perkins
Tights: Primark 60 Denier, Belt: Primark
Boots: Marks and Spencer

Close up of the boots:

Marks and Spencer RRP £35

Sorry for the awkward posing and not so great camera just starting to get use to this, if you have any questions then leave them below.

Thanks

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation

Hey guys, so your probably thinking why has she bought yet again another foundation, well the truth is I really enjoy testing out foundations and my skin has changed a lot over the past couple of months from oily to dry to normal so im trying to find a foundation that suits all of the above.

I saw an advert on the TV last night from Rimmel with the amazing Georgia Jagger promising that the new stay matte foundation does exactly that and stays matte maintaining shine control. I thought the advert was brilliant constantly repeating no more cake, referring to the cakeiness of normal foundation. Something that every girl despises so I thought why not give it a shot and see what its like.

I managed to pick up one of the lighter shades which is 100 Ivory, second from lightest. I tested this on my skin and found that this was probably the best match I would find as the Porcelain was too light and the True Ivory was a tad dark. I picked mine up from boots, which they also have online here. The foundation retails for £5.99 at the moment which I think is a complete bargain compared to some of my other Rimmel favourites such as the Wake Me Up.

I have tried this foundation a couple of times now and find that the texture (which is a liquid mousse) is a really easy to apply with either my fingers or my trustee real techniques buffing brush. I find that because my skin is quite dry at the moment it is best to apply a primer and a moisturizer before applying this foundation.

The only thing that disappoints me, just like with every rimmel foundation there shades are limited I mean when are the drugstore brands going to open their eyes are realise there are people that are darker than 'Natural Beige' which in this case is the darkest colour this foundation is available in, so sorry to all you darker skinned people Rimmel need a good telling off.

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer

Hey guys heres me again rambling about new products, who would of thought it?

Anyway, I saw Gemma from Gemsmaquillage talking about this new Seventeen heavy duty under eye concealer a couple of weeks ago. I read her review and a few others and thought that I would give it a shot, I am loyal to my Benefit boi-ing industrial strength concealer, but noticed that the formulas and the colour (fair) where quite similar so I thought I would try it out and see what I thought about it. As this one is just a third of the price as the Benefit one.

I picked my shade up In fair as the medium (the only other shade they do) was too dark for my skin tone. Sadly if your any darker than a medium you won't be wearing this concealer, something that I have mentioned before about drugstore brands is that their shades don't seem to cover the lighter scale of people and the darker scale, just the in-betweeners. Im lucky that because of my foundation I can buff this concealer in to make sure that its not too dark.

Phwoarr Paint Fair & Medium £5.49

A really handy thing about this concealer is the mirror, You can take it in your handbag and do touch ups throughout the day if need be, and use the already available mirror.

I have used this concealer a couple of times now on a day to day basis and find that throughout the day I don't really need to powder over the top of the concealer i just simply apply it with my fingers, smooth it in and then buff out with the real techniques contour brush if there are any harsh lines.

I did however, use this concealer to take my makeup look from day to night and found that powdering the concealer with my Rimmel Stay Matte powder made sure that this concealer lasted all throughout the night.

This concealer claims to get rid of, well hide and cover up under eye circles and I can agree with Seventeen on this statement. Their target audience are young teenagers to young adults, people like me, who don't seem to have many wrinkles or sever under eye circles and therefore works well. I let my mum test this product (she's in her 40's) and it worked well on her apart from dragging and clinging (leaving lines) in a few of her wrinkles underneath her eyes, although It did cover up any dark circles she had.

All in all i think this is on the same level with my boi-ing concealer and I really think it is worth the money, it does what it says and if i run out soon then i will be repurchasing. Thanks Seventeen!!!

Yankee Candle, Cheaper Candles... Old Williamsburgh Candles

Hey guys and dolls!

So I absolutely love Yankee candles, especially the large jars. Lighting one up dramatically changes my mood, makes me feel comfy and cosey, and smells divine. The only downside is I light them that much, throughout the year in every room of the house it ends up costing me a fortune.

I spotted in Home Bargains, if your not from the UK then this is light a discount shop, a bit like a container store. Anyway I spotted some large jar candles that look very similar to those all so famous Yankee Candles, for a fraction of the price £2.99 instead of £19.99 which a Large Yankee Candle Jar retails for.

Ok, so the quality might not be as good, theres no Yankee Label but the smell is divine. I picked up the 'Berry Blast Scented Candle', The brand is Old Williamsburgh Candles and I can honestly say it was a complete bargain, My room constantly smells of the lingering Berry smell.

I would 100% recommend popping into your nearest Home Bargains to see if they have any of these in, there were other scents too which I think I will be trying out.

Obviously, Its still nice to have a luxurious candle to burn when your feeling down and want some comfort, so don't worry my Yankees still have their place. Just their not burnt as an every day candle anymore, lasting longer :)

Nars, Nars, Nars, and more Nars!

Hey guys, My obsession for Nars is growing even more. My collection at the moment consists of only 2 Nars products that being the ever so blogging famous Nars Laguna Bronzer and my all time favourite eye shadow in the entire world Nars Ondine.

But for ages I have been lusting after some more Nars shadows mainly because the pigmentation is out of this world. I was searching around online earlier this week and came across 2 Nars palettes, well 2 that caught my eye. One was the At First Sight, Eye & Cheek Palette Which is a limited edition palette and retails for £45. This one consists of 4 eye shadows, 1 Bronzer and 1 Blusher.

Products from L-R
Deep Throat Blush, (Top Row Shadows) All about Eve, Nouveau Monde, (Bottom Row Shadows) Bellissima, Cordura and the Bronzer is Laguna.

This palette would be really handy for travelling as it is a compact size holds a blush, bronzer and 4 shadows that are quite neutral and could create dimensional looks, and is virtually all you need on holiday minus the mascara of course. This palette is most definitely on my 'to get' list before it discontinues along with the second palette.

At First Sight, Eye & Cheek Palette

The second palette which I came across was the Ride Up To The Moon Eye shadow Palette which again is limited edition. This one is a little bit cheaper and retails for £32. This palette is the complete neutrals palette ranging from matte shades, to a little shimmer to complete sparkle. One palette you could create a day to night look with in seconds.

However, This palette is only an eye shadow palette, and therefore probably why it is a little bit cheaper than the other one. This palette holds 6 eye shadows L-R (Top to Bottom) they are; 

Argentina (which is limited edition), Isolde, Night Porter, Biarritz, Fez and Cordura

Ride Up To The Moon Eye shadow Palette

The only similarities both of these palettes have is the dark brown shimmery eye shadow 'Cordura'.

Now, Im not going to buy the both of them , But i am going to take my time and decide on which one I want. Check out a few reviews and do my research before committing. 

If any of you own any of these palettes, or any of the shades in the palette then let me know what you think of them such as the pigmentation and the longevity. 

I look forward to hearing from some of you

Lots of Love

Wishlist #5

Plait Necklace | Red Leather Bag | Bobbi Brown Face Brush |

Contrast Heels | Snood

Skin Care Routine & Lush Products

Heyyyy! So I thought I would do a post on my skin-care routine, as It has changed quite a lot since the last one and I thought some people may be interested to see how it is now.

My skin is pretty good itself with out using any products, but what blogger would be into beauty if they didn't look after their skin. I took it upon myself over the past couple of years to try out a few cleanser and toners, I've been through quite a few those including both high end and lower end such as the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, Clinique Take the Day off, Clean and Clear Cleanser, The Body Shop Cream Cleanser, etc...

But a couple of weeks ago, I was shopping in my local town and noticed they had opened a new Lush. I thought I would have a nosey and ended up re-purchasing some products and thought I would try one of their cleansers and toners seen as though I needed a new one and didn't really fancy re-purchasing ones I've tried before.

The lady kindly tested both of their cleansers on my hand to which I preferred the 9 to 5 one, the other cleanser tended to be more for oily skin, something of which I don't suffer with. This is a creamy texture and leaves the skin feeling really dewy, even after being wiped with a cotton pad. This one retails for £4.95 per 95g, I thought I would start off with the smaller one first just to see how my skin responds but so far its really good, and I will more than likely be going back for the bigger bottle.

Now for the toner I picked up the Breath of Fresh Air toner water, something which I apply after my cleanser. For those of you who are unfamiliar with a toner, it prepares your skin and empties your pores of anything left in the skin such as make-up or even dirt and pollution from in the air. It basically un-clogs your pores and makes you skin feel really fresh. Now Lush did have a few toners, but I found that this one worked best when tried on my hand with the 9 to 5 cleanser. This toner really makes my skin feel fresh and I apply it at night after my cleanser, and in the morning before I apply my makeup. This retails for £3.95 for 100g and again I thought I would use a smaller bottle to test out. I find that this toner is very similar to others that I have tried but I suppose this is because they are made to do the same things.

                                       

Left: Toner Water. Right: Cleansing Lotion

                                                      

There are not many other products included in my Skin care routine but I do use things regular such as Face Masks, probably once a week or even once every 2 weeks. Again I have tried a couple and I prefer clay masks and Origins Drink Up over night mask. But again when I was in lush I thought I would try one of theirs considering they are made from natural products such as fruit and vitamins so I picked up the Catastrophe Cosmetic Mask, this is a 75g tub which retails for £5.95. This mask needs to be kept in the fridge because of the natural ingredients and only has a shelf life of 3 weeks. One thing which puts a downer on this mask is the shelf time, another thing being the tub I bought was actually swimming in water and half empty. However, I have used this mask 3 or 4 times lately and have found that it works well on my skin, leaves it feeling soft and really smooth.

Super Tiny Boots Haul

Hey guys, so this probably doesn't count as a haul, but i popped into boots recently and thought I would show you some of the things I bought. I only got 3 things but added together its a hefty price sometimes.

One Direction Perfume| Foundation | Real Techniques Blush Brush

So to start off with My little sister has just started a new job working for the council, something I am extremely proud of her for, however, I thought I would get her a little present to wish her good look and say well done and seen as though she is like the ultimate 1 Direction fan I thought I would treat her to their new perfume.
This perfume came out this week I believe and pretty much everywhere is sold out of it, but I managed to get my hands on the very last 50ml bottle in Boots, the perfume is called 'One Moment' if anybody is wondering and it smells so fruity and really fresh. For a 30ml bottle it is £19.50 so I believe and for a 50ml bottle it is £28. Which I think is reasonably cheap to say its such a huge target market. Anyway, she loves the smell of it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes fruity scents.

On to the next 2 things, So you may be aware at the moment boots are doing a buy 1 item of makeup get the other half price, obviously its the cheapest item that you get half price. But if your sneaky like me and buy 2 things of the same price then you dont loose out too much.

I had been wanting to try the L'Oreal True Match foundation for a while now, but have never had the time to stand there and test out the shades too see which one matches my skin the best. Every time I have visited boots lately it has been a flying visit, knowing what i want and back out again, but this time I matched this foundation to my skin. I have to say this is a really good foundation for matching skin tones as it adapts to your own tones underneath your skin. I bought the shade Rose Beige which retails for £9.99 however I got this for £4.99 because of the offer.

The next thing I picked up was yet again another Real Techniques brush, This time I got the Blush Brush. I swear I can not go into a drug store without picking one of these brushes up. Well I am only 1 away now from a whole collection, but I can guarantee that I will probably be restocking up on them when Im finished.
Anyway I have used this brush once and find it ok, I like how its really over sized and really soft and fluffy, It feels really good on my face. This retails for £9.99 and I thought it was a bargain how all of the real technique brushes and sets were included on this offer.

Well that's all I bought guys, if you have any questions or requests then leave them below.

Thank for reading

Wishlist #4

TOP // PHONE CASE // DUO FIBRE BRUSH // BOOTS //

EYE SHADOW // MARC JACOBS WATCH

Mini Boots & Superdrug Haul

Hey, just a mini haul for you, I actually purchased these before I went away, but was really too busy to post! Sorry guys, So I thought its better late than never!

The Barry M nail varnish selection was on offer, buy 2 polishes and get a third one free. So I decided to buy the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail paints in the shade Lychee and Lilac. I own other gelly hi shine paints and highly rate them, just whenever ive been to buy Lychee (the nude shade) it is always sold out, So i jumped at the chance when it was in stock. The offer of getting a free paint encouraged me more aswell, so i thought i would be a bit exotic preparing for my holidays and chose this yellow limited edition ombre effect paint.
I am yet to try this yellow one but will show you when i do :)

The next thing i purchased was another Real Techniques brush, I am now only a few brushes away from owning the whole collection, and could not resist dabbling with a new foundation brush and I purchased the expert face brush which retails for £8.99. I have been using this brush for the past couple of weeks now instead of my buffing brush, and it is safe to say i prefer this one over the other, this applies my foundation flawlessly, and i give this a huge thumbs up, thanks pixiwoo!

The other nail varnish I picked up whilst on my trips to the shops was a Sinful Colours nail polish in the shade Pistachio, Ive used this polish once and can already say I do not like this polish at all. The colour is perfect, although it stains my nails an awful yellowy green colour, Ive tried applying a base coat aswell and it causes the same problem. Although it only cost £1.99 It is 100% in my bad books, and I don't think I will be going out of my way to try another colour by this brand.

The final 2 items i purchased were another Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in the bright and adventurous shade of Rendez-Vous. Now for those of you that know me, I am not one for bright coral orange colours on my lips, but I was encourage by my friend Amy who also purchased this, and I thought this would look good on holiday, Which i think it did.

This retails for £7.99 however, there was an offer on at superdrug which was any 2 revlon eye or lip products for £10 therefore I got this one and the Revlon Matte Lipstick in the shade 003 Mauve it Over. I absoloutely love this lipstick, because i have very fair skin i find it hard to pull off a nude, but this muted brown is the perfect shade for my skin tone and i Love it.

Thanks for reading

Finding The Real Me

“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.”  - Stephen Chbosky

I've been debating whether or not to write this post and share all my feelings, with basically the world online. But I feel like im finally starting to achieve things in my life, and why should i be held back by my insecurities.

So about 2/3 months ago, before I went on holiday with my boyfriend I started feeling really insecure about my appearance, my life, my job, my work, basically everything that was happening in my life just made me feel crap and down. I got to the point where I had most definitely had enough and it was time to make a change in my life, a big change at that.

I took a plunge, me being one of the most un-motivated, un-energetic person I signed up for a 3 month contract at the gym. I thought I would have a dabble and start doing some exercise to get back some energy into my life, to see if it would make me feel any better, and to be really honest  I started feeling great. I worked out 3 times a week for the 2 weeks before we went away and could really feel a difference. However, whilst we were on holiday i was constantly looking at people and wishing that was me in a different body. Ive always been between a 14-16 since i can remember, but lately ive been edging towards the size 16 end which is something I am really not happy about. On holiday, I basically kept myself covered up for the whole week, something which now im looking back on i regret. There was bigger people than me whilst we were away, and it really put a downer on my holiday.

So since I came back I worked super hard at the gym to achieve my goal, I wanted to lose 1 stone before we went away again at the end of August just to see how much of a difference I would feel. I know that 1 stone would make a difference to my weight but not necessarily my size and shape. So In the end I lost 1st 3lbs before we jetted off to spain. I wasn't so bad about covering up all of my body on holiday, although I kept my stomach covered all the time. These insecurities were eating away at my personality and in a sense destroying the person I was. Im the most loudest, bubliest, talkative person who enjoys talking to people, having a drink, having a laugh and socialising. But since christmas 2012 I have felt myself changing and i put this down to my appearance.

I started slimming world this week in order to help aid me with my diet, as well as continuing with my exercise. The point of this post was for me to explain how i felt, I can't babble on to my family, friends and my boyfriend anymore because they like me the way I am but i know with myself that I am not happy and thats why Ive had to make these changes in my life.

One small change such as adding in a little bit of exercise can honestly make you feel so different as  a person and it is something i never thought i actually would enjoy. I love it, I hope that you wont mind me keeping my journey to losing weight published on here, as writing it down really makes me think twice and focus on what I want to achieve. Plus I know its not just me out there that feels down, for whatever reason it may be, there are people feeling like me, and I just want them to know that there is always someone there and things that you can do to feel better.

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." -Martin Luther King, Jr

Nobody should be made to feel so small, and so little to anybody, and nobody should feel so negative about themselves to the point were they change their personality and the real person they are. I felt so bad I started tearing apart at the people who mattered most to me in my life, i changed and became a person no one wanted to be around, but thats all changing now.

This post was rather hard for me to write, and explain my life over the past couple of months, but I just hope that people appreciate how i've been feeling about everything, and this is the reason why I haven't been posting much on my blog lately.

I know that this break from blogging has made me realise how much I actually value everyone in my life, even the readers of my blog, and how much I actually value myself as a person.

Goodbye to the old me, and hello to the new chapter in my life.