♡ RIMMEL LONDON SMOKEY EYE ♡

I still haven't stuck to my post-a-day promise! Arghhh. Working full time is hard. But i'm definitely getting back into the swing of things. I thought I'd show one of my winter night-time favourite looks, a lovely smokey eye and nude lip. I recently picked up an adorable little palette from Rimmel, so I decided to give it a whirl.

So, I picked up this lovely Rimmel London Glam'Eyes quad palette in 'Beauty Spells'. It contains 4 beautiful shades - a chrome silver shimmer, a lavender toned purple with silver shimmer, a black with silver flecks, and an almost matte mauve-taupe. The colours compliment each other perfectly.

I used all 4 colours to create an evening smokey eye. I used the lavender colour all over my lid, and blended the mauve-taupe into the crease. I then used the black on the outer crease, and took it down onto my lower lash line. I lastly used the silver lightly on my browbone and my inner tearduct. The result was a lovely, shimmery smokey eye which I have been loving for night time!

☾FACE☽

Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer 
MAC Studio Fix Fluid
Collection Sheer Loose Powder
NARS Laguna bronzer for contouring
NARS New Order to lightly highlight my cheekbones


☾EYES☽

Rimmel London Glam'eyes Palette in Beauty Spells
Naked Basics Palette - Faint on eyebrows

Benefit BADgal Lash

2true Effortless Eyeliner


☾LIPS☽
Barry M 101

I wore this eye for about 6+ hours, and it lasted the length of my night out. I found absolutely no creasing throughout the night, and everything stayed put (this is without an eye primer!). The shadows aren't massively pigmented, but they give good enough colour pay off to work with. You can always build up the colour for a more intense or dramatic look. They all blended effortlessly and looked very silky and smooth on the lid. I believe this palette retails for about £6.99, so it's very affordable for a 4 colour palette. All in all, a wonderful product. I'm definitely going to look into the other colours available in the line.

♡ WHAT'S IN MY BAG? ♡

As an apology for my long lack of blogging, i'm determined to do a post a day throughout January (starting from yesterday..). As I have nothing new to review or write about at the moment, I thought I'd do a bog standard 'what's in my bag' :-)

This is my beautiful bag. I've gone through my whole bag-wearing life making do with cheap Primark bags that have broken after a few weeks, or occasionally treating myself to a River Island bag. However, after ogling over this Vivienne Westwood bag online for so long, my parents and nan collectively bought it for me for my 19th! I am absolutely in love with it, and it gets many compliments and "is it real?!" remarks. It's very sturdy, and the perfect size for me - it's not so big that my belongings are rolling around, yet it fits everything I need with a lot of room to spare. The fact that it's black also means it matches almost every outfit. 

V I V I E N N E W E S T W O O D - New Chancery Bag £290

Next up are these little life savers. I can't leave the house without at least one fragrance in my bag. 8/10 times, I will reach for my Soap & Glory Mist You Madly body spray. I tend to use this throughout the day, as it's a light, refreshing scent that's perfect for everyday use. It's great to refresh yourself with at work, or out shopping when you can feel a bit sweaty under your many layers in the cold. It smells absolutely gorgeous - notes of vanilla, blackcurrant, bergamot and musk. Yum.

S O A P & G L O R Y - Mist You Madly Body Spray £6.50

My other favourite fragrance in my bag is an absolute classic. It's possibly the most iconic scent in the world. It's much more popular with more mature ladies, rather than younger girls my age, but I suppose the scent is rather mature. Made famous by the iconic Monroe statement of only wearing a few drops of no.5 to bed, this scent is clean, elegant, and very sexy. It's a very hefty price for a perfume, so I try to only use this when I'm going out somewhere special. It's definitely more of a night time fragrance. I know some people my age don't like the scent, and find it smells like 'old lady', but it all depends on your body chemistry. Chanel No.5 works a dream on me.

C H A N E L - No.5 15ml £142

I am a very backwards person, in that I would much prefer to put appointments, special dates and my work rota into an actual diary rather than onto my iPad or phone. As helpful as it is to have calendars, reminders and notes all in one place on my iPad, I seem to always forget it's actually on there, and so having a proper diary means I can't forget it when it's in my bag. I also always carry a book, very handy for the train or waiting around for someone. At the moment, I'm reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. 

These are my absolute basic necessities, the items I could live with only being in my bag if forced to. My purse is from Primark I believe, and does a fairly good job of keeping my notes, cards and receipts in one place. My coin purse was a christmas present from my best friend, so I'm not sure where it's from, but it's much handier than rooting around in my big purse for spare change. I can't leave the house without my headphones (it's hard to see, but they're gold leopards with black rhinestones). I also can't leave without a pack of cigarettes and the cute lighter my friend brought me back from Turkey.

Finally, I must always have a little travel makeup kit in my bag, and a hairbrush. I try to carry as little makeup as possible, apart from the absolute necessities - powder (I have very oily skin and so need to keep my powder touched up throughout the day), my Naked basics palette (includes a mirror and basic colours which can be used to create almost any look), and the lipsick I'm wearing that day (today is Snob).

♡ FAVOURITE LIPSTICKS ♡

First of all, I would like to apologise for not blogging for almost three months! After my job became full time, I have spent my rare free evenings sleeping and refueling for another long day of making lattes and cocktails. Now that the busy Christmas period is over, and work has quietened down again, I can finally get back to the keyboard.

Anyway, onto today's post. Just a quick guide to all of my favourite lipsticks.

Rimmel Moisture Renew in 'Coral Queen'

This is the first Rimmel lipstick I ever tried. I was shocked at how pigmented it was, and it provides very buildable colour. I love this shade for summer, as it compliments my pale skin tone so much (it's not obnoxiously orange). I bought this in 2012, so I don't think this is available any more. Wonderfully creamy and moisturising formula, and seemed to last quite a while. Whilst not matte, there wasn't too much sparkle or glimmer (which I'm not really a fan of on my own lips), so that's a plus for me. I can see myself using this religiously over the summer.

Revlon Super Lustrous in 'Black Cherry'

I won't go into too much detail with this one, as I've written a review of it already here.

Lancome Rouge a Levres in 'Rouge Cymbale'

It has taken me so long to try and track down this lipstick online. This is part of a very old collection of Lancome's (my mum actually gave this to me, and I believe this was discontinued around 2000... shudder.) I know it's unhygienic to keep old lipsticks which are harbouring bacteria, but it's just such a beautiful shade of red. This is always my go to, vivid red, and it has never failed me. It's a matte finish, but not as drying as the MAC matte formulas. This lipstick stays on ALL DAY. I haven't compared it to Lancome's newer lipsticks yet, but I plan to!

Maxfactor Colour Elixir in 'Lilac Wine'

I believe this lipstick is something of a rarity. It's not available to buy as part of their Colour Elixir collection. I got mine through a Maxfactor boxset last Christmas. I'm not sure if there are any other ways to get your hands on it, which is a shame because this colour is BEAUTIFUL. Swatches do not do it justice. It's a gorgeous neutral rosy pink with gold shimmer. It's not very creamy, but it doesn't dry out the lips either. I'm not sure on it's staying power, as I only ever wear it on special occasions (I don't want it to run out :-(  ).

MAC in 'Up The Amp'

I adore this colour. It's an Amplified Creme lipstick, so it's extremely pigmented. The formula is probably my favourite of all the MAC finishes - creamy, long wearing, and plenty of colour pay off. They leave a slight gloss finish on the lips, so it isn't the longest lasting lipstick, but the colour makes up for it. It's a vivid violet/purple with pink undertones, and definitely suits my cooler complexion.

MAC in 'Plink!'

This is my first and so far only Lustre finish lipstick from MAC. Even though it only provides sheer coverage and a sheen wash of colour, I love this finish. It's perfect for every day, when you just need a light splash of colour, or even paired with a smoky eye. MAC describes Plink! as a 'seashell pink', which I completely agree with. It really warms up my complexion.

MAC in 'St Germain'

You have to be very brave to rock this colour. As much as I adore it, and the finish (another Amplified Creme), I find it difficult to make wearable. I only ever wear this when teamed with a black cat eye liner, and nothing else on my eyes. It's the perfect Barbie pink, and very in-ya-face. However, if worn correctly, it can make a gorgeous bold statement lip. 

MAC in 'Snob'

I am currently having a passionate love affair with this lipstick. Snob is a midtone pink with purple undertones, which looks beautiful with a smoky eye and gives a little bit more punch than a nude lip. It's between a bright and a deep pink, which makes it perfect for everyday. As Snob is a Satin finish, it gives very opaque coverage, but is much less drying than the Matte formulas. It has incredible staying power, and just ticks every box for me. YAY, SNOB.

So that's it, my current favourite lipsticks! If anybody could recommend me any lovely MAC Nudes, please do. I'm currently torn between Myth and Angel, haha. Also, if anybody has tried the Lancome lipsticks, please let me know how you got on with them!

♡ LOOK INSIDE MY MAKEUP KIT ♡

I thought I'd write a post about the contents of my makeup kit, and to show you all of the makeup I use as part of my everyday look.

1.) MAC 'Studio Fix Fluid' in NC15

2.) Collection 'Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer' in Fair

3.) Nivea 'Rich Moisturising Day Cream'

4.) Strawberry ChapStick

5.) Revlon 'Super Lustrous' Lipstick in Black Cherry

6.) MAC Matte Lipstick in Diva

7.) Benefit 'HOOLA Ultra Plush' Lipgloss 

8.) Benefit 'PoreFessional' Primer

9.) Benefit 'That Gal' Primer

10.) Benefit 'Watt's Up' Highlighter

11.) Eylure 'Lashfix' Adhesive

12.) Benefit 'Bad Gal Lash' Mascara

13.) Benefit 'Posietint' Lip/Cheek Stain

14.) Benefit 'It's Potent' Eye Cream

15.) Barry M Lipliner in 7

16.) Barry M Eyeliner in Black

17.) Benefit 'High Beam'Hhighlighter

18.) Benefit 'Stay Don't Stray' Eyeshadow Primer

19.) Revlon Contour Shadow Brush

20.) Urban Decay 'NAKED2' Blending Brush

21.) Ecotools Flat Eyeliner Brush

22.) RealTechniques Stippling Brush

23.) Bourjois 'Colour Boost' in Red Sunrise

24 and 25.) Ecotools Large Powder Brushes

26.) Benefit 'HOOLA' Bronzer

27.) Maybelline 'FIT Me Powder' in Classic Ivory

28.) Urban Decay 'NAKED Basics' Eyeshadow Palette