H&M Homeware Wishlist

H&M have some amazing homeware, it's definitely a shop I'll be hitting when I get my house. I love how fashion-forward they are with their homeware, like having gold, marble and pastel coloured accessories. Just what I, and many others, love. Thanks H&M!

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I adore the gold metallic cushion, it would look great as a sort of statement cushion, or I can imagine this on its own a wire chair with a cosy blanket. I love wire baskets, they're perfect for decoration and for storage, I've seen them used to house little flower vases - super cute! I had a really tough time choosing which tray to put in this post, so I put both! They would both be cute to display your current favourite perfume, jewellery and makeup. I especially love the marble one! The cactus jewellery dish is my most exciting discovery, it's so cute and so me, I think I might have to place an order just to get this! And finally, a simple glass bottle. You can do so much with them, I think it would look gorgeous with a simple white flower in it, like a rose perhaps.

Ellie x

Pinterest Cooking Inspo

I'm back! I decided to take a week off from blogging as I had a week off from work, wanted to spend time with my boyfriend and I just needed some space away from the internet in general. It's done me a world of good and I have so many blog post ideas now, hooray!

If there's one thing I've been into right now, it's cooking. I'm obsessed with looking at recipes online, food blogs and finding interesting foods on Pinterest. I thought today I'd show you some of the things I've been drooling over on Pinterest, they just look to good to not share!

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Mmm! I've tried the recipe for the honey garlic chicken and it's absolutely delicious, I may make it again tonight as I'm craving it so much! Those cookies look divine, if there's one thing I can bake it's a darn good cookie so I want to give these two recipes a try soon. I'm a huge fan of garlic bread, so this cheesy pull-apart version would be fab - it wouldn't cost much either as you can buy a large fresh loaf like the one shown above for bargain prices at your supermarket. A favourite food of mine is the cheese toastie, so these cheese and ham roll-ups would be a fun alternative to the usual! Lastly, we have those amazing bacon pancake dippers, would be amazing dipped into maple syrup, mm!

Ellie x

My Super Easy Skincare Routine

I am definitely lazy when it comes to skincare. As much as I love pampering treats for my skin, I mostly can't afford it and/or would much rather have a quick fix to taking off my makeup and cleansing my face so I can get into bed as fast as possible. 

I use budget skincare that others may look over when browsing through Superdrug, but honestly, my skin has never been better.

MORNING
Morning skincare is the easiest and quickest as there's no makeup to remove. I just use a 2-in-1 cleanser and toner, moisturise and I'm done.

My cleanser is from Superdrugs Tea Tree range, and is a 2-in-1 as it also tones! I picked this up as I needed an emergency cleanser whilst on my travels, and I fell in love. It really refreshes and cleans my skin, and my skin has never been better. I think what I love the most about this is that it's non-greasy, I hate when cleansers leave your face feeling greasy. This just leaves you with clean, fresh skin.

My moisturiser is E45! I've never strayed from this little gem. I've tried other moisturisers, but I just don't get on with them. This does the job for me and leaves me with lovely moisturised skin.

NIGHT

My nighttime routine is super easy as well! I start off by clearing off most my makeup with face wipes, then cleanse the rest of my makeup off with my Superdrug Tea Tree cleanser and toner, treat any spots and moisturise.

I don't use a specific brand for my face wipes, as I do only use them to get the worst of my makeup off (especially tough mascaras), so it's usually the cheapest I can find or ones that have an offer on. I don't see the big deal with face wipes that the online beauty world has created. Without face wipes I'd be using 10x more cleanser and cotton pads, which cost way more money to replace! Of course they probably aren't hygienic, but really, it's no different to covering a cotton pad with cleanser and rubbing it all over your face, but there we go. Mini rant over.
To treat spots, I like to use Sudocrem. I've found it's the most effective and quickest way to treat spots

SKIN TREATS
Every few days I treat my skin with exfoliation and face masks. I think exfoliating your skin should be an important part of your routine, as it scrubs away any dead skin cells leaving you with fresh, brighter skin. It will hopefully also be an end to those pesky dry-patches, I get them around my nose the most and I find exfoliating really helps reduce this.

I've been loving Superdrugs Tea Tree Exfoliating Scrub, as it has a decent amount of scrub (and not just a couple of beads like other exfoliating products) so you really feel the difference after using it.

For masks, I personally love the Superdrug face masks. They come in reusable tubes and really do help your skin, depending on what you're after. I own three of these: Superberry Exfoliating, Aloe Vera De-Stressing and Vitamin E Hydrating. I wrote a review on all three of these, view it here!

PRODUCTS

Superdrug Tea Tree Cleanser & Toner - £3.29
E45 (350ml) - £6.95 (currently £4.63)

Sudocrem - £2.55

Superdrug Tea Tree Exfoliating Scrub - £3.29
Superdrug Superberry Exfoliating Face Mask - £2.59
Superdrug Aloe Vera De-Stressing Face Mask - £2.59

My whole skincare kit comes to around £21, which is an absolute bargain seeing as you can spend £20 on a cleanser alone. I may use budget skincare, but my skin has never been better!

Ellie x

My Everyday Face: Complete Routine & Products

When it comes to my everyday makeup, I like routine, and boy do I get stuck into a routine. I've been using the same concealers, foundation and powder and using them in a very precise order for so long. But I don't think that's a bad thing, if you find something that works for you, then I don't see any problem with sticking to it. I do wear a lot of makeup, but that's just how my routine has built up over the years. I don't think it's fair that bloggers/Youtubers have to explain about why these use so much/so little makeup - it's their face after all.

BASE

I use a primer whenever I apply facial makeup (e.g. concealer, foundation) as it helps smooth and even out my skin making for super easy application and smooth blending. I'm in love with the Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer, it's definitely a new makeup bag staple. 

I then get to work concealing my very uneven-toned skin! I have very dark circles and red eyelids. For my eyelids, I use Benefit Lemonaid as it's perfect for toning down the redness, doesn't crease at all and a little goes a long way.
To battle the redness in my skin, and my dark circles, I use the NYX concealer jar in yellow, and apply over my red patches, and blend with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush.
If I have spots, I take my NYX concealer jar in green and using a small brush and apply directly over the spot. Then taking my NYC concealer (now discontinued), I pop a light amount over the top of the green, and dab to blend into the skin.

Just before my foundation, I conceal my under-eyes using the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer, and blend in with a light hand using the RT Buffing Brush.

For foundation, I use Rimmel Wake Me Up. I begin with a tiny amount, and build up if I need more coverage, although the Wake Me Up range has a decent amount of coverage anyway. I also love the yellow tone in this as it helps to combat the redness in my skin.

I then set all of that using the Rimmel Stay Matte powder using a short kabuki brush.

FACE

To add more colour and some depth to my face, I apply Body Shop Honey Bronzer in my contour areas using the RT Retractable Kabuki. With the Honey Bronzer, I take a smaller brush and contour the end of my nose. 

To deepen up my contour, I apply W7 Honolulu bronzer to the hollows of my cheeks and lightly over my forehead contour using the RT Contour brush.
To brighten, I use the highlight side of the Bourjois Delice De Poudre duo and apply to my cheekbones, down my nose, my forehead, cupids bow and chin using the Spectrum Blush brush.

To further my highlight I take the Sleek Precious Metals palette and use the shade platinum to highlight my brow bone, the very tops of my cheek bones and on my nose, I apply using the Spectrum Lip brush and blend in with my fingers. I then set the platinum highlight with the powder in the Precious Metals palette.

BROWS

For my brows I use the ELF Brow Kit, and begin my roughly lining out where my brows will be using the dark wax and the RT brow brush. 

To sharpen up lines and add more definition, I then go in with the Spectrum Brow brush which is a smaller angled brush. 

To finish, I grab the RT brow brush, and dab over the lighter setting powder.

EYES
I've been loving minimal eyes recently, so I've been dusting a light amount of gold over my lids and finishing off with a decent amount of mascara. To prime my eyes, I use ELF Eyelid Primer and blend in with my fingers.

I then apply Makeup Revolution single eyeshadow in Mountains of Gold over my lids using the RT Base Shadow brush.

To finish, I curl my lashes then apply a couple of layers of Maybelline The Falsies Flared.

LIPS

I apply Nivea Essential Lip Care lip balm, then blot any excess off. This leaves lips hydrated and smooth ready for lipstick application!

Finally, I apply my lipstick. I've been loving MAC Fanfare (Cremesheen) as it looks so fresh and pretty!

And that's that! It takes me around 30 minutes to do my makeup, although if there's music on it can take up to an hour as I dance and mess around inbetween stages haha! Although I wear a lot of makeup, I think it looks very natural and creates a really fresh and pretty look. I also love how sculpted my face is after a good contour, it totally changes my face - crazy!

Ellie x

Makeup Revolution I ♥ Makeup - I Am... In Love Palette

I've been after this nifty little palette for a while as I'm drawn to neutral/gold/pink shades, this was instantly a winner to me as I know I'd get a good use out of the colours. I also think these palettes are a fab idea as they have everything you need for touch-ups on the go, a decent mirror, your shadows and a lipstick! 

The packaging itself I am not too sure on... I like the idea you can see the lipstick, I can see where they were coming from on the ideas board but I really dislike the pink writing and font on the front of the palette, I think it really cheapens the look and almost looks like a childs palette. This could just be my opinion on it, as I do prefer more simple designs for makeup packaging, but it doesn't make me want to show it off. 

But, it's what's on the inside that counts, right? Right. I really like the shade selection, the 6 shades work perfectly together and would create a lovely pink-based smokey eye, or can be used individually of course. The are pigmented like all Makeup Revolution products seem to be, boy do they know how to make a good eyeshadow. The shades include a matte cream, shimmer ice pink, shimmer rose pink, matte taupe, a shimmer pink-toned grey and a pink shimmered black. All gorgeous shades. However, if you own Makeup Revolution's Iconic 3 palette, you don't need this palette as it features all of these shades.

The lipstick, unfortunately, really doesn't come up to standard. I was expecting a really high quality lippie as I've loved all lip products from MR, but this was really awful. The colour itself isn't something I'd ever go for, as it's too pale for my skintone and would just completely wash me out. I did think that it would be sheer, but it was really thick and chalky, incredibly hard to apply and looked so bad on the lips. It also snapped inside the tube when swatching for these photos. I guess you can't always win! 

I'm really on the fence about this product, but I most likely will use the eyeshadows, especially if I'm wanting to use pink eyeshadows but not carry around a big palette, as this is perfect handbag size!

The I Am... Palettes are available on the Makeup Revolution website for £5.99 (currently £4.99) or you can buy all 4 palettes for £10 (so save £10!)

Have you tried these palettes? Would love to hear your views!

Ellie x

Makeup Revolution Eyeshadow in Mountains of Gold

One item I've been loving from my Makeup Revolution haul was this single gold eyeshadow. I decided I wanted a single gold eyeshadow to stop me from carrying palettes around in my overnight bag (which I basically live out of most the time) as palettes take up a lot of space.

Although basic, I do like the packaging on these single eyeshadows. They are made of plastic, and do feel fairly breakable if you aren't careful, but hey that's what you get for a £1. The clear lid allows you to easily and quickly find the shade you want if you're rummaging around your eyeshadow drawer. The closure feels secure, so I'm not worried about this popping open in my makeup bag and spilling gold dust everywhere.

The shadow itself is wonderfully pigmented, just like all Makeup Revolution eyeshadows. In 2 layers, it's fully gold on my lid. I like that it is buildable as it allows control over how strong you want the shade, as you don't always want strong gold lids, a hint of golden shimmer sometimes is enough. That's another thing, stay away if you don't like shimmer eyeshadows as boy does this pack a shimmer. I personally love shimmer/lustre eyeshadows so I love this! There is a fair bit of a fall out if you aren't careful but this is a problem easily solved by holding a bit of tissue under your eye on application to catch the fall out.

Overall, another product I love from Makeup Revolution. I haven't come across I product I haven't loved yet, can they do no wrong?! 

If you've tried any of their single eyeshadows I'd love to see some reviews/swatches as I really want to add to my collection!

These are just £1 from Makeup Revolution, and are available to buy through Superdrug.

Ellie x