Flushed with Love - Romantic Makeup Look & Product Round Up

I'm in a very loved up state of mind at the moment - I've got the weddings of close friends coming up which I'm very excited about, and after being ill I've come to realise who truly loves and cares for me completely which has been humbling. 

Valentine's Day is usually a pretty quiet affair in our home, Mister and I will either go out for dinner or bring home some takeaway, so the focus seems to be on not being the ones who have to cook! I think it's nice to celebrate love in whatever form it takes in your life, I'll be at home with the doggies all day and plan to shower them in love with healthy treats and lots of tummy rubs - it doesn't have to just be about a romantic partner, you know!

Another thing I'll be making heart eyes at today? My makeup collection. We finally caved and bought an Ikea Alex which Mister lovingly built for me, so it was a helluva lot easier to grab out some romantic makeup to get me in the mood for love! I used some of the products to create a soft and easy makeup look - please go easy on me, it was the first time I had worn makeup in weeks!

Products Used 
MAC Painterly Paint pot
Too Faced Bon Bons palette - shades Almond Truffle, Satin Sheets and Divinity
L'Oreal Infallible Shadow in Golden Mahogany
Max Factor Masterpiece Glamour Extensions Mascara*
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous Foundation in 810
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Light
essence Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Highlighter in 01 Lady's Night
Too Faced Love Flush Blush palette - shade Love Hangover
Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet - Don't Pink Of It!

How are you spending Valentine's Day?
Emma x

*Product provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Library Haul - February 2017

I'm a huge fan of my local library, so much so that I have an entire section on one of my bookshelves dedicated to housing my borrowed titles. After spending a week in hospital with pancreatitus I'm currently at home on bed rest, so I shuffled into the library before a Doctor's appointment to load up on some new titles to keep me entertained!

I've found myself becoming more interested in non-fiction recently, I'm traditionally a fiction gal at heart but the lessons I've found in non-fiction books have opened my eyes quite a bit. I'm trying to focus on improving myself in any way I can, and I feel that books teach me new ways of thinking that assist me with this. A lot of the books I've read recently revolve around saving money, minimising consumer debt and creating a more harmonious and environmentally-friendly home, which are all things I'm looking to achieve at the moment. If you have any great titles along these lines, do let me know and I'll put a hold on them at the library for next time! 

Why Pay Retail? - Todd Alexander
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo
Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
Footloose and Financially Free - Julie K Macken
Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova
Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson

I nabbed some pretty popular titles on this library trip, I'm looking forward to finally reading the much lauded Marie Kondo book and I've heard great things about Jojo Moyes from various family members. What are you reading at the moment?
-Emma

2016 Empties - Fourth Quarter

Finishing my 2016 empties series with a bang - I'm quite proud of the empties this quarter and also of the things I'm choosing to toss into the bin! I definitely need to streamline my beauty stash in 2017 and alongside gifting out items I think my emptying habits will serve me well for this.

SKINCARE

I think it's quite evident that my face was kept clean in the final quarter of 2016 - I finished off a 250ml bottle of Bioderma Sensibio* which I adore, a tube of Olay Regenerist Luminous Brightening Cream Cleanser* and Griffin + Row Cleanser* which will be reviewed shortly, and two sample sized cleansers (Philosophy Purity* which I'm not a fan of and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Cleanser* which was a bit too squeaky for me but overall decent) Also leaving my stash is a tube of the Paula's Choice Hydralight Moisture-Infusing Lotion that I won from The Belle Lumiere, unfortunately I just couldn't get past the strong scent and even when I gave it to Mr to finish up the smell drove me crazy, but I'm happy that I gave it a go and used most of it up anyway. The Cetaphil DermaControl SPF30+ Moisturiser* is only being tossed as it has expired, but I've bought another fresh bottle for this summer. 

HAIRCARE

Evidently nothing exciting happened in the realm of hair this quarter - I used up a bottle of my new staple Cedel Anti-Dandruff Medicated Shampoo (Garnier discontinued my previous staple anti-dandruff shampoo!) and a tub of the Garner Fructis Grow Strong hair mask, which was quite nice.

SHOWER & BODY

All the body washes, cleanliness is king! Palmolive Heavenly Vanilla Body Wash is thick and smelt divine as you would expect, Lush Ponche* really did smell like a cocktail, Original Source Daily Scrub in Cranberry and Honey is much more of a body wash than anything else, and the Bath & Body Works Oahu travel sized shower gel was a fun wash I took away for our anniversary to try and drum up some Hawaiian vibes while on the Mornington Peninsula...I also used up a sample sachet of Natralus Paw Paw Moisturiser* which I am really enjoying at the moment!

MAKEUP

This is definitely the category I am most proud of this quarter! I finished up two bases that I adored (Rimmel Matte BB Cream in Light* and Revlon Whipped Creme Foundation) and a gorgeous champagne coloured eye pencil, NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Silky Cashmere. I was happy to see the end of an eyeliner but was also planning on repurchasing this shade, but I believe it has been discontinued so am heartbroken! Does anyone have a good champagne liner recommendation for my lower lashline?!

I finished a Covergirl Full Lash Bloom mascara, Rimmel Fix & Protect SPF25 Makeup Primer* which was a nice daily base for foundation and am tossing a melted and bashed up Tarte lip crayon in the shade Achiote. 

Last but certainly not least...I finished a blush! Fellow blush fiends and beauty addicts in general will rejoice with me for this one, it's not the first I've finished but it sure felt great to finish it at a faster pace than I normally would. It's the Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve and it was a brilliant product, I wore it to work all the time and the lasting power was impressive, but I think that this too has been discontinued so that is a bummer!

That's it for my 2016 empties - I've already made a start on the next lot of empties, hurrah!

-Emma x 

*Products provided for consideration. Honesty, always.