What's in my Make-Up Bag- School

 I'm on a blogging spree this evening and feeling crazily motivated, full of ideas and hopeful that I stay in this frame of mind, having blogger's block is a horrible thing!

Today's post is, as you've probably guessed by the title (durrr Charlie), a 'What's in my Make-Up Bag'. This is the make-up bag I carry all my bits and pieces in at school. I don't think I actually take what you'd call a lot of make-up to school, just the important stuff. The actual bag is from Topshop and was featured in a haul I posted on Sunday if you want to hear about it in more detail.

Let's crack on then, shall we!

Face Products

• Elf Powder Brush- This is the powder brush I carry around with me. I use the Real Techniques one at home but that's a bit big to carry around! This does the job brilliantly and is a make-up bag friendly sized brush.
• Rimmel Stay Matte Powder- This is in the shade 'transparent' and I've used it daily for nearly a year now. It gets rid of any nasty shine but doesn't make me look cakey at all so I love it dearly (as you can see.. I've hit pan majorly now!)
• Mac Studio Finish SPF 35 Concealer- I bought this in New York in February 2012 in the shade NW20 and am still using it now! It's quite a creamy consistency in the pot but quite matte on the skin I find. This is especially good for spots, not as good for under the eyes really.

Lips

•  Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balms- I have an excessive amount of lip products in this bag wow. These two lips balms are fabulous. The blue one is called 'hydrate' and the orange one is called 'cherry me.' They're both so nourishing and makes my lips feel so soft. The scent of the cherry one is lovely as well.
• Topshop Lipstick 'Beehive'- This lipstick was also featured in the haul I put up on Sunday. It's a gorgeous soft pink colour that's so wearable day to day, not too bold and in your face. It's very creamy and stays on so well.
• Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Gloss- This lip gloss is an odd one. It claims to be lip plumping, which I don't really think it does, but I love the sensation of it tingling! I also love the smell, it almost smells chocolaty and I love me some chocolate. I've been wearing this over the lipstick and it produces such a nice glossy gentle pink colour.

 Lotions and Potions

•  Soap and Glory Hand Maid Antibacterial Gel- I find this so useful at school when you've been running your hands down banisters and grabbing door handles. Sometimes it's nice to just use this a feel a bit cleaner! Plus the smell is so fruity and makes me go mmmmmmmm.
• Soap and Glory Hand Food Hand Cream- This has been an absolute holy grail item for me for years now (there's a blogging idea!). It's one of my favourite smells ever so I'm slapping a bit on. The texture is so smooth and makes my hands so soft. I need this so much over the winter especially!
• Batiste Dry Shampoo, Blush- You never know when your hair's going to look a bit yucky and greasy. Especially for me, now I do practical dance lessons 4 times a week at school, my hair sometimes needs a bit of assistance. So I love carrying a mini one of these with me.
• Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Mini- This came with my 30ml bottle I got last year, I don't think you can buy mini ones like this by themselves. Wonderstruck is my favourite EVER perfume so I find it a must to carry a bit with me.

 Miscellaneous Bits

These things are pretty much self-explanatory I think! Hairbrush, mirror, hair bobbles and grips, shine eraser sheets (fabulous inventions) and a nail file.

How do I always manage to ramble so much! I just read this back and realised how much I'd written :S I need to learn to get to the point.

Anyway!

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x

September Haul- Topshop, New Look, H&M

Hello beautiful people!

So last week I posted a few bits I'd bought recently from Primark. Today I thought I'd share some bits I've bought over the past few weeks from Topshop, New Look and H&M. It's not a huge haul, but I thought I'd still show them to you; I'm pretty sure everyone loves a bit of a haul ;)

New Look- Grey Boyfriend Jacket, £34.99

I found this in the autumn preview on the New Look Website and waited around a month to be able to buy it and included it in my autumn/winter fashion wishlist (link here). Was it worth it?.. YES. It fits me so well and still has room for a jumper underneath. I rolled up the sleeves myself so you don't have to have it like that obviously, I just like that look. This is perfect for the cooler 'transition' days to throw on with a casual or smarter outfit.

Topshop- Ikat Make Up Bag, £8

I saw this on fashionrocksmysocks' blog and youtube channel (link to her here) and she persuaded me within minutes that I needed it. The pattern and colours are gorgeous and it's the perfect size for me to use for school. I'll be doing a what's in my make up bag post in a few days showing what I take in this to school. I love those posts personally.

 Topshop- Leather Chelsea Boots, £45

In my wishlist, I showed some Chelsea boots, also from topshop, that I loved. They were almost exactly the same but £20 more expensive. They didn't have my size in those ones in my local Topshop, so a lovely lady who worked there showed me these. They're a- comfier, b- cheaper and c- a nicer material. I've worn these already with skirts and jeans and they work with both so I'm over the moon!

H&M- Black T-Shirt Tunic Dress, £7.99

I needed a long, plain black top to wear to work and couldn't find anything when I went shopping. In the second H&M I went into, I found this little steal. I wear this for a long shift where I move around a lot and it's soooo comfy and soft. I wear it with leggings and a cardigan and feel so snug at work now!

Topshop- Nail Polish 'One Hot Minute', £5

Everyone hypes up Topshop's nail polishes and I bought my first one a couple of weeks ago! I chose this deep raspberry pink colour called 'One Hot Minute'. It's such a pretty colour and I'm very impressed with the nail polish itself- it lasted really well and only needed one coat. Nice on Topshop!

Topshop- Lipstick 'Beehive', £8

Like the nail polishes, Topshop's lipsticks are raved about so when I got paid I decided to spend a bit more on a good quality lipstick. I chose the colour 'Beehive', a very soft pink colour, one of those 'your lips but better' colours I reckon. It's a very wearable colour that I've worn at school recently. It's creamy and nourishing and generally lovely.

Not an particularly large haul this time, like I said, but hope you enjoyed that! Hauls are my favourite posts to write I think!

I'm getting into the swing of sixth form now and loving A-Levels. It's so much more enjoyable to be at school when you're only studying subjects you really love. I'm keeping on top of my work and all my other stuff that's going on at the moment but blogging is a nice way to relax and unload still.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x

America Haul

At the end of July and into the start of August, I was in America for two weeks and had the most amazing time (If you'd like to read about it click here). I went with the intention of spending quite a bit of money but I was more restrained than I thought I could be, given that a lot of things are cheaper across the pond when you take into account the conversion rate. Still, I bought a few bits and thought I'd share them with you.

I'm one of those people who will go into boots, stare lustfully at the essie nail polishes and how dazzling they look, pick one up and think 'do I need to spend £7.99 on one nail polish?' and proceed to place it back and walk away feeling glum. However, in America we went to target and they had so many essie polishes. AND they were $7.50.. converted that's around £4.80! So I thought, I'll grab this chance and get two! I picked the colours 'butler please' (don't you love the names they give them) -which is a very vibrant royal blue colour- and 'e-nuf is e-nuf''- a bright corally pink. I cannot wait to try them out.

I went to a mall in New Jersey with my friends and was shocked by how expensive the clothes seemed! I found the most amazing dress in a shop I can't remember the name of now, but it was $54! That seemed a bit extortinate really in my opinion. However, I went to a shop soon after that called 'Love Culture' (I think) and bought this top. I never seem to have enough basic, casual t-shirts and thought the stripes on this were very classic and easy to style. This was a mere $6.95 or thereabout. (I can't find the link for it sorry).

At the airport, I was in a little tourist type shop and at the till, I found this little treat- the Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil. I've ummed and aahed about buying a Burt's Bees lip balm for ages now but in the UK, I've always thought they're a bit pricey for a lip balm (can you tell I don't really like spending unnecessary money). This was about $4.99 (£3) so it worked out cheaper buying it there. I've used it every day for the past week now and love it- it's very nourishing and really hydrates my lips. Can't say I'm too keen on the smell of it though.

As I've mentioned many a time before, musicals are my number one love in life. There were tonnes of stands around New York with pictures of musicals like the one above, and one of the musicals that I'm desperate to see is 'Once'. I've seen the film and it's incredible, but I bet the show is just mezmorising. So I bought this frame with the picture in for $5, meaning I can now gaze at it every day.

With my family, I went to this amazing book store called Barnes and Noble. It had tonnes of books, DVDs, games, magazines, stationary and gifts. It was so fun to just look around all the different sections and have a glance at loads of books. I found this cute decorative quote ornament in there. It's very shabby chic and very me, and since I'm so into performing arts, it's quite applicable to me in my everyday life! It was only about $8 as well. It has pride of place on my set of drawers in my room now.

 Also in Barnes and Noble, on an overcast miserable day, we decided to buy some films to go back to the house and watch. My Mum, being the wise woman that she is, insisted on getting 'Dead Poets Society'. I had never seen this, nor had either of my brothers, and it turned out to be an incredible film- well worth a watch. 

I said I wanted to get 'The Host' which I saw at the cinema and fell in love with! You can tell it's by the same author as twilight -*cough* two guys in love with the same girl *cough*- but it's such a great story and Saoirse Ronan is perfect. 

(We knew when we bought them we wouldn't be able to play them on the TV in the UK, some technical thing, but we can still play them on laptops and plug them into the TV.. so doesn't really matter!)

When mooching around Cape Cod, we went into a surf shop where I thought 'there'll be nothing in here I'll like'. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted this beauty. It's from Billabong, never a brand I thought made such pretty items. I bought this to wear on my birthday and wore it for around 10 hours and felt so comfortable and floaty. The top part is a very soft cotton that looks a bit like a bralet. It has adjustable straps which came in very handy as I'm quite small. The floral pattern was what drew me in. It's so beachy and summery and very very me colours. AND it was $49.50 (£31)!

The final thing I bought is this dusky lilac/ pink/ beige cardigan. It's very slouchy, soft and cosy and I can tell it will be worn to its bitter end. It's from American Eagle Outfitters and I spotted it at an outlet mall (the best creation ever might I add), tried it on and was so snuggly and warm that I had to buy it. This little treasure was $33 (I can't remember what the RRP was sorry), which is around £22. I was one happy girly after that purchase.

So that's everything I bought in the US of A! I had intended to buy some MAC make-up at the airport in duty free.. but can you believe it. THERE WAS NO MAC AT AN AMERICAN AIRPORT! I was most disappointed. Still, it means I can use the dollars I had left over, convert them back to pounds and buy some here (shopping spree alert. Expect to see another haul in the near future).

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x

DISCLAIMER- I don't do hauls to brag. I do them because a lot of people (including me) enjoy them. Everything here was bought with my own money.

Mall Mooching

Today was a miserable day in Cape Cod. Since the beach and pool seemed to be out of the question, my family and I took a drive to a town called Sandwich (best town name ever, might I add), had some lunch and then came back to the town we're staying in- Hyannis- and had a stroll around the mall. This experience seemed to blind me of the horrible weather outside... Can you tell I love shopping yet? 

I chose to wander around by myself as then I could take my time and gaze in wonderment at all the things I couldn't really afford buy- I do love a good window-shop. 

After having a nose around forever 21, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters and a rather large book shop that I forget the name of, I finally saw sephora. It was like a wonderland of make up goodness with so many beautiful shiny products to look at.

 I couldn't hold this excitement inside; I needed to unload this onto here. Why do we not have Sephora in the UK!? I made a wishlist on my phone of a few higher end things I'd love to buy and hopefully, now that I have a part time job, I might be able to have a splurge on some more expensive things to treat myself once in a while.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x 

My Foundation Routine

Hello there fellow humans! Today's post is being written while sitting outside on a lovely cool evening. I'm snuggled up in a hoodie, watching my Grandparents play a card game with my Dad and feel very refreshed and relaxed. I thought I'd share my foundation routine with you today- basically an insight into how I apply my foundation, what I use and maybe opinions of the things I use.. I'll see where it goes. Word of warning.. I pull odd faces in 'selfies'.

Here are the products I use: Rimmel match perfection foundation in 'true ivory', Real Techniques expert face brush and Collection lasting perfection concealer in 'fair.'

So first I take my fringe off my face with a trusty primark hairband and look unimpressed about how my face looks without make up on. Yum!

 I put two pumps of my foundation onto the back of my hand and dot it around my face. I don't really put much on my forehead because of my fringe.

 I use the expert face brush (review to come on this) and use circular motions to blend the foundation into my skin. The circular motions ensure that they're aren't any brush marks left, but the brush is brilliant quality anyway so I doubt it would cause this anyway.
In the picture on the right, I have half of my face blended and half not, just so you could see what this foundation actually does for my skin. I'd say it's medium converage, as it takes away redness and evens out my skin tone but doesn't cake my face in foundation and still shows some of my freckles. Saying that, it's definitely buildable and I don't think I use very much anyway.

On the left is a photo of the foundation all blended in. I then put my lasting perfection concealer under my eyes, around my nose and on any blemishes (I have a few of them at the moment). I then use the expert face brush again to blend in the concealer. I lightly dab it into the skin with the brush and then use circular motions again to make sure it's evenly covering all the areas I've put it on. I sometimes use a finger to blend it in under my eyes as well, especially for right in the corners.

So there you have it!
I had to return into the house halfway through writing this as it got a bit chilly... damn english weather.
The picture at the start shows my finished foundation/ base on my face (rhyming entertains me so easily).

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x

Everyday Makeup Products

Today fellow humans I thought I would share with you the products I use pretty much everyday, meaning they're also the products I love and trust. These products give me a very relaxed, natural look which is usually what I prefer to look like unless I'm going somewhere particularly special.

Foundation

After cleansing and toning, I moisturise my face and neck. I've just started trying the Garnier moisture match for combination to oily skin (I may do a review of this once I've used it a bit more as I know I was quite indecisive about getting this).

I then put about two pumps of my Rimmel match perfection foundation (I'm in the shade 'true ivory') onto the back of my hand, dot it around my face and then blend in with the Real techniques expert face brush (I'm also going to review this, particularly for my friend Ellie as we have such long discussions about real techniques!).

Concealer and Blusher

Next, I use collection's lasting perfection concealer under my eyes, around my nose and on any blemishes. I'm sure this has to be the most popular concealer with bloggers and youtubers and rightly so; it convers spots brilliantly and really reduces the bit of darkness under my eyes. I also find it quite mattifying which I like as I have quite oily skin.

I then use my Laura Geller baked powder brush (I'd never heard of this brand until my Grandma gave me this brush) and I dust some Rimmel match perfection blusher (mine's in the shade medium) onto the apples of my cheeks and up my cheekbones. I love this blusher as you can blend the three shades in the pan to get a colour that suits you best.

Powder

To make sure my make up stays for as long as possible, I use Rimmel's stay matte powder in the shade 'transparent' (can you tell I rather love rimmel!). This powder is perfect as it doesn't look cakey, it just gets rid of shine and holds my make up in place.To apply my powder I use the elf powder brush. To be honest, this brush isn't much to write home about. It's not especially soft and doesn't wash very well but it does the job. I'm only using this still because I'm hoping to buy the real techniques powder brush soon.

Eyes

I often change my mascara as I can never seem to find one that volumises and lengthens my lashes. But a number of youtubers recommended the Maybelline rocket volume mascara and it has to be the best mascara I've found so far. I find it's quite verstaile and buildable, so I don't have to have a separate mascara for when I want a more dramatic eye more the evening. The eyeliner I use is the rimmel scandal eyes waterproof kohl pencil in black. I run this across about half way across my water line to just give my eyes a bit more definition but not close them up completely with loads of eyeliner!

Lips

This is the most simple stage for me in my everyday routine. I put on a bit of Nivea lip butter to soften my lips and then a bit of rose and almond oil vaseline to add a bit of colour, as the lip butter is rather pale and makes me look a bit ill if I wear it by itself.

I do apologise because I never know what to do with my face for pictures! I love knowing what everyone uses on a day to day basis so always read blog posts like this.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x 

Review- Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer

I always find myself wandering into boots and superdrug to have a peruse through products, constantly telling myself 'No you don't need that, walk away'. I did that in boots when I saw the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers.. but then I went to superdrug and they were discounted. So I may have bought one :S

I love the packaging. The pop of the pink just caught my eye and I think somehow really adds to the boldness that the name brings.

I bought mine in the colour 'Nova' which is quite a dusky pink that still has a pop of colour, so it's very wearable but not a shocking 'in your face' kind of pink.

The actual applicator is lovely- it holds the product really nicely as it's quite spongy, so it just glides across your lips.

On the lips, it's very true to colour and a little definitely goes a long way, so I think this will last me for quite a while.

Its staying power is one of its best features for me. A few days ago I went to the cinema and applied it before leaving the house. By the time I got home around 5-6 hours later, I could still see the colour clearly on my lips even after eating, drinking and generally talking. It obviously wasn't quite as pigmented as it had been earlier in the day though.

 These are just perfect for me as they're somewhere between a lipstick and a gloss. They're not as sticky as a gloss but still have a pretty shine in them.

I do pull some odd faces....

I'll definitely be sneaking back to superdrug or boots to buy the other shades of these and I can see them becoming a well loved product in my make up bag. Rimmel deserves a pat on the back for these I think!

Have a lovely day, whatever you're up to :)

Charlie x

 (Disclaimer: all reviews are my personal opinion)