Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

Hello!

Another Rimmel review today, and again it is something that has been around for a while but I thought I'd put my own personal opinion out there!

Since completely falling in love with my Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, I genuinely never thought I'd ever want another concealer. I just adored, and still do, everything about it. However, in Boots there was 3 for 2 so I took a chance at something new - the Wake Me Up concealer. I have the Wake Me Up foundation and I absolutely love it, so I thought I'd probably enjoy this too!

The packaging is of course the same as their foundation, as it is from the Wake Me Up range. To be honest I'm pretty indifferent about the appearance of this product, mainly because it's going to end up mega messy after being taken everywhere with me! This has a doe-foot applicator, which I personally love for concealer products.

I found the coverage to be fairly heavy, the formula and coverage really reminds me of Collection's Lasting Perfection and it does a good job of covering my dark circles. The Wake Me Up series is fairly yellow-toned, which is perfect for me as it helps hides my skins imperfections and this concealer is no different, it really suits my pale olive skin and helps brighten the under-eye area.

I'm currently not sure whether I'll repurchase or go back to my Lasting Perfection, but I'll definitely be doing an update once I've got more use from it. Let's see if it makes the December Favourites!

Have you tried this concealer? What do you think?

Ellie x

What I Got for Christmas!

Hello!

I thought I'd do a "what I got for Christmas" post as I absolutely love reading these posts - probably because I'm so nosey! I am in no way trying to show off about what I received, like I said I enjoy reading these kinds of posts so I thought I'd do one myself! 

I mainly asked for money for Christmas to help support my plans for 2015 (moving out or any other adventures!), but the gifts I did receive are absolutely gorgeous and I've been very lucky!

I got the Lush Christmas Candy box, Philosophy Pure Grace gift set, Gucci Guilty gift set, Prada Candy, a lovely silver bracelet from H. Samuel and tickets to see Die Antwoord in January!

I am incredibly lucky to have such lovely gifts, I can't wait to review them! (a bloggers mind, eh?! Haha) 

If you've done one of these posts, please link them below as I'd love to have a nose! 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Ellie x

Ciate Beach House Collection

Hello!

Last of the 3 sets in my Ciate goodie bag from the Clothes Show was this Beach House Collection which was brought out for summer 2014. Like the Dolls House Collection, this set of 5 polishes are housed in adorable packaging. This one looks like a beach hut!

Like I say on every Ciate review, the packaging is on point. I especially love this little house as the opening is magnetic, which makes it super easy to open and looks very sleek.

These shades sure are punchy and bright, they'll be perfect for next summer, although the nude colour Beach Bum would definitely fit in for this season.

The five shades are Palm Tree: a bright grass green, Raspberry Collins: a bright pink, Off Shore: a gorgeous deep-but-bright blue, Beach Bum: a sandy nude and Surfs Up: a blue crystal topcoat.

Have you tried this set?

Ellie x

Ciate Dolls House Collection

Hello!

Second of the 3 sets received in my Ciate goodie bag from the Clothes Show was this adorable Dolls House Collection set, full of porcelain finish pastel polishes. They are so cute! 

I absolutely adore the packaging of Ciate polishes, and these mini's of course are no different. Little curved bottles which fit perfectly in your hand (or inbetween your knees if you're like me, haha!). The box of these is super cute too, a pastel townhouse looking style illustration with little window cut-outs so you can see the polishes inside.

The 5 polishes inside are Dollface: a nude pastel beige, Paper Doll: a soft white, Baby Doll: pastel coral-pink, Poppet: pastel lilac and Sweet Pea: a soft pastel green.

So far I have tried out Paper Doll, the white, and it's gorgeous. They dry very quickly, however do need quite a few coats to get rid of the streaky effect (as it does dry so fast!). I didn't put a topcoat on as I wanted to see the porcelain effect, however it chipped very badly and flaked off - even when running my fingers through my hair! I am yet to test it out with a topcoat, which hopefully will keep it in place a lot longer!

I can't wait to wear these through winter (I'm still loving soft colours!) and through spring of course!

Have you tried this collection?

Ellie x

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer

Hello!

I know this has been out for a while but I've only just got my hands on it so I thought I'd share my opinion! I still haven't found my perfect primer (well actually, Porefessional comes pretty close but I really can't afford to be spending £24.50 on a primer) so I'm stuck hunting for my perfect affordable primer.

I have fussy, dry skin - which is sometimes normal - which makes it a pain to find a primer that suits it on an everyday basis. Rimmel Stay Matte primer just stuck to my skin and made it mega hard for me to blend in my makeup and Maybelline Baby Skin I find too slippy, although it does create a nice base to apply makeup on.

The packaging is very basic, just a plastic tube - a style many brands choose to package their primers in. I like this packaging, it's just easy and I find it easy to get the perfect amount of product out which means no wastage.

The product itself is what I'm really excited about. I think I have finally found my perfect budget primer! It is fairly thick in texture and covers very easily. It's super smooth, but not slippy like Baby Skin. My makeup applied so easy on top of it, and here I am 12 hours later still with my makeup still in place! I am just so impressed with this.

I will definitely be repurchasing this, thank you Rimmel!

Have you tried this primer?

Ellie x

Merry Christmas!

Hello!

Merry Christmas everyone! Just a short message to wish you all a fantastic day, I hope you have a fab day and get everything on your wishlist. Remember to take the time to appreciate your family, friends and everyone around you, and also how lucky you are as not everyone gets to be so lucky at this time of year.

Enjoy your celebrations and I look forward to seeing all your post-Christmas writings!

Have a good one!

Ellie x

Barry M Gelly - Mustard

Hello!

Quick snippet of a polish I'm sure you've all seen and heard about during autumn, but I've only just managed to get my hands on it and couldn't wait to share! This shade is so gorgeous, a deep yet rich yellow was perfect throughout autumn and I still feel it's wearable now. I've been loving mustard colours in accessories recently and this is a perfect addition to that.

I feel that this could be quite a universal colour too, which is fab. I love sharing things that I know will benefit a wide range of people.

Ellie x

Rimmel Kate Eyeshadow Stick - Rose Gold

Hello!

I finally picked up the Rimmel London Kate Shadow Stick in Rose Gold. This product was so super hyped and I wanted it so much, and I'm so glad I finally gave in. This product is super gorgeous, lasts all day (or night) and is so easy to apply.

The packaging is the fairly standard makeup pencil packaging, but I don't mind that as it is different from other eye products I own. I also like the fact the lid and base of the pencil is coloured so if you have multiple of these you know which colour you're picking up!

The colour itself isn't rose gold, more of a copper but it is still stunning. I love how easy it is to apply and blend out, plus it literally does not budge until you want it to. Just what you need in a drugstore cream shadow!

Have you tried any of Kate's eyeshadow sticks?

Ellie x

Ciate Minis

Hello!

The last Ciate post from the Clothes Show now I promise! During the show Ciate had a deal on their minis, 15 for £10 or 7 for £5 - bargain, right?! I decided on getting 7 as I had already bought loads, plus I got an extra mini topcoat!

From top row to bottom row, left to right: Confetti, Miss Mistletoe, Speed Dry topcoat, Sass Pot, Candy Floss, Boudoir, Tickle My Fancy, Pepperminty

Confetti - tiny holographic silver glitter

Miss Mistletoe - red, pink and gold sequins

Sass Pot - deep purple with fine shimmer

Candy Floss - bright bubblegum pink
Boudoir - bright true red
Tickle My Fancy - rich teal with fine shimmer

Pepperminty - bluey mint

Miss Mistletoe, Confetti

I genuinely love Ciate, it's one of my favourite ever nail brands. Everything about it is right up my street, the cute packaging, the wear-time, the colour range... I couldn't recommend them any higher if you haven't tried them out already!

Ellie x

Barry M Aquarium - Treasure Chest

Hello!

Another Barry M snippet today, this time it's from the Aquarium Collection! I've wanted Treasure Chest since this collection was released but only bought it from the Clothes Show as it was on offer. It's such a gorgeous glitter, it would pair so well with a lot of my polishes and of course all glitters look fab around this time of year. Treasure Chest is a glitter polish consisting of gold and pink flakes. 

Ellie x

Rimmel Brow This Way

Hello!

I've been fascinated with products like these for a while as the brow craze seems to still be going strong. This is great news for me as I've always had, and loved, large brows. I never gave into thin-brow peer-pressure during high school and now full brows are in, I'm happy! Thanks Cara! 

Brow This Way is a tinted gel designed to give you defined and fixed brows for your whole day. I believe it comes in 4 different shades from blonde to dark brown.

I have absolutely no complaints with the packaging what-so-ever, I quite like that it's designed like a mascara tube. It's small size means it fits easily in a bag if you want to carry it around with you without taking up much space. The little mascara-style brush makes for easy application when brushing through your brows.

The formula is a lot like mascara and has a similar texture, yet this feels a lot lightweight. You can't feel it on your brows, which is fab! The tint is actually very pigmented, I bought dark brown (as I do have dark brows) and boy is this dark. I do have to be fairly careful with my application otherwise I end up with way too much brow gel which ends up everywhere, but I do feel like this will improve with time, much like a mascara. 

I'm loving using this to set my brows for the day on top of my usual brow routine, it just brings more to my eyebrows and I feel comfortable with knowing the hairs will stick in place all day as they do have a tendency to move!

Ellie x

Ciate Corrupted Neon Manicure

Hello!

During my recent visit to the Clothes Show Live, I picked up a £10 goodie bag (yes, £10!) that included 3 Ciate sets. Not bad, huh?! One of them was the Corrupted Neon mani set and I couldn't help but write about it asap.

Corrupted Neon is basically a kit to make your nails glow under UV light, and of course have super bright nails during the day. I think this is definitely one for summer! I remember when these sets came out and I was so interested, I'm so happy I finally have my hands on a set.

Inside the set comes a full-size polish of Big Yellow Taxi, a full-size bottle of neon yellow glitter and a mini sized black light topcoat. The topcoat is actually really cool to look at, as it has a slight blue tinge in the light where the UV will reflect from.

All you do is paint on the polish, sprinkle on the neon glitter and add the black light topcoat and you're done! Glowy nails under UV light. If you don't want the glittered finish you can miss that out and just apply the topcoat and it will still glow.

Have you tried this kit?

Ellie x

Rimmel Glitter Bomb Polish - Midnight Mistletoe

Hello!

Looking for the most festive glitter polish ever this season? Then go no further than Rimmel! Midnight Mistletoe is part of their Glitter Bomb range and it's probably the most Christmassy nail polish on the highstreet right now. You can't get much more festive than red and green glitter!

Ellie x

My First MAC Items - Creme in Your Coffee Lipstick & Mythology Eyeshadow

Hello!

I finally did it! I caved and purchased my first ever MAC items, and I genuinely couldn't be more excited. Leaving Selfridges with a little yellow bag with two very sleek looking black packages literally couldn't of made me happier. Merry Christmas to me!

I picked up the cremesheen lipstick Creme in Your Coffee after swatching it a few weeks ago and loving it. It's a gorgeous brown nude and suits my skin tone perfectly. It feels amazing on the lips and barely even moves, even with eating and drinking there's still a hint of colour and I love how nice it is to reapply. Plus what's better than pulling out one of those world-famous black bullets from your bag?

I also bought the eyeshadow Mythology, it's a stunning golden colour, I want to say copper or rose gold. The texture is good and feels buttery when swirling my brush around and applies like a dream. No fallout what-so-ever and it blended so nicely. I wore this on a very long day I had and it lasted for 12 hours without budging/smudging/creasing, so impressed!

I think I'm definitely hooked on MAC, I knew this would happen once trying a high-end brand! The texture and wear really is amazing. I can't wait to try out more products!

What's your favourite MAC products?

Ellie x

Ciate Gold Digga

Hello!

Another Ciate post today! Can you tell they're my favourite nail brand right now? On a recent trip to TK Maxx I came across a huge selection of Ciate polishes. I was instantly drawn to Gold Digga, as I am a gold loving girl anyway, but this is a polish I've been lusting after for so long.

The packaging as always is just gorgeous, I love the design of the bottles as they're just so easy to hold whilst you're painting your nails. The simple logo on the front of the bottle along with the cute little bow just really makes Ciate stand out as a higher end brand.

The polish itself is simply stunning. A beautiful warm gold, described by Ciate as a "bronze gold" completely suits my pale-yet-olive skin tone, and looks simply expensive. I'm certainly not turning down expensive looking nails. It is opaque in 2 coats.

This polish has just made me love Ciate even more than I already do, if you haven't checked them out before I highly recommend you do!

This usually retails at £9, but I paid £3.99 from TK Maxx.

Ellie x

Ciate Speed Dry Topcoat

Hello!

Along with my recent purchase of Ciate Gold Digga from TK Maxx, I also picked up the Speed Dry Topcoat. I have next to no patience when doing my nails, especially as there's always something to be done, so spending an hour waiting for topcoat to completely dry is just totally inconvenient!

Like all Ciate polishes, this is housed in an adorable glass bottle, still in the handy curved shape which makes it easy to hold.

I've found that this is completely dry and smudge-proof in around 5-10 minutes, perhaps not as fast as previous fast-drying topcoats, but certainly a lot faster than your regular topcoat. It's also pretty hardy, this polish lasted around 2 days without chipping which is an absolute mammoth amount of time considering the type of work I do at the garden center. Like I've said before, working in a garden center is a nails worst nightmare! It's pretty hardy stuff to last this long.

Overall I'm satisfied with this topcoat, it does what it says on the tin and helps make polish last, especially on my chip-prone nails!

Ellie x