Olive Green and gold smokey eye

I've always wanted MAC's sumptuous olive but after reading that the natural collection from boots have a good dupe for only £1.79, I picked it up straight away and tested it out. Natural collection Moss Shimmer is a lovely golden olive colour, I don't have sumptuous olive to compare them but they certainly look similar from swatches I've seen online.

This looks great swept all over and under the eye with a gold (I used Half baked from the Naked 1 palette) blended into the inner corner of the eye. I wore this with liquid liner and then kept the blush and lips quite subtle with pale pinks. 

I took over 100 photos of this look and wasn't happy with how any of them turned out so sorry the photos above aren't great! If you have a chance I would definitely suggest swatching shimmering moss as it is such a lovely colour.

Products used -

Eyes - Natural collection Moss Shimmer and Urban Decay Naked 1 Halfbaked with Smog 
          slightly blended into the crease for definition.
         - Collection Fast stroke liquid liner

Face - Rimmel Match perfection foundation 
        - Rimmel wake me up concealer
        - Bourjois Delice de Soleil Bronzer to contour
        - Bourjois Blush 37 Rose Pompon
        - Illamasqua Gleam Highlighter in Aurora

Lips - MAC Creme Cup
        - Revlon Crystal Lilac lip gloss

Festive Decorating

Here's a little festive decorating/vlog video of my and my boyfriend putting up the tree and decorating yesterday! I hope you like it as this is my first youtube video and I'm a bit nervous posting it!

xx

White Liner, Fluttery Lashes

I've been loving wearing pale, frosty colours at the moment - especially frosty pinks and silver highlighters and so I thought I would create a wintry eye to go with it. I'm not sure if I would wear this look out but I really like the idea of using white eyeliner around the eye and then really blending it out to brighten the area and make the mascara stand out!

Firstly I applied foundation and concealer, I then used Fashionista white liner all around the eye and then smudged it out a little to blend the line. I applied some eyelure top and bottom lashes to give me fluttery long lashes and then added a little mascara to blend my lashes into them.

It's similar to the S/S 2013 trends which was worn with orange lipstick but I think it works well with red or pink stained lips for winter too!

Products used:

- Rimmel match perfection foundation

- Collection lasting perfection concealer

- Revlon Grow luscious mascara

- Fashionista white eyeliner

Essie Luxe Nail Polish

Left - Essie 'A Cut Above' Right - Essie 'Stroke of Brilliance'

These are my picks of the Essie Luxe nail polish collection. It's the time of year when all I want to do is paint my nails with glittery nail polish, drink hot chocolate and listen to Michael bublé's Christmas album. I was also tempted to get 'Set in Stone' which is a very pretty silver chunky essie glitter polish but I settled on getting these two as I don't own anything else similar.

Essie A Cut Above is a pretty pink nail polish with various sized chunky glitter, it looks great worn layered on its own, or over a mauve/grey colour.

Essie Stroke of Brilliance is a Frosty blue chunky glitter and perfect as an accent nail over navy nail varnish.

These don't disappoint and both look great over another colour, as an accent nail or layered on their own, the only downside is they are so hard to get off! 

Which is your favourite?

Lush Pumkin bubble bar

Lush 'Pumkin' - £2.75

This little guy smells amazing! Like Figs and Leaves soap, it has a Orange flower and Ylang Ylang scent which is sweet and spicy - perfect for this time of the year. 

Crumbled under running water this gives the bath a pumpkin orange colour and creates soft bubbles, it's definitely one of my favourite bubble bars from Lush.

I've only bought one this year but while they're still available from the Lush website I'm tempted to stock up!

xx

Autumn Make up

I've been wearing this look all throughout September and October and only now am I finally starting to change up my make up! As Halloween, Bonfire night and my Birthday have now all passed, I'm getting pretty excited for Christmas! As I've loved wearing this Make up so much I thought I would share what I've been loving and constantly wearing.

Face - Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

        - Collection Lasting perfection concealer

        - Sleek Blush in Pixie Pink

        - Mac Soft & Gentle Highlighter

Eyes - Eyeshadow - MAC Naked lunch all over eye, Mac Satin Taupe in crease and Mac Nocturnelle blended under the eye.

        - Loreal Superliner in Black Vinyl

        - Fashionista white eyeliner

        - Revlon Lash Potion Mascara

Lips - Maybelline Babylips in Cherry Me

Nails - My Halloween nails

Halloween Skull / Ghost Nails

I love this little skull design for some halloween nail art, it's easy to do and looks sweet on the nails! I did my nails like this for the weekend and got so many compliments on it! 

This is how I achieved the look:

Step 1 -  Paint the whole nail in the colour of your choice, I chose an oxblood colour but  

             black or grey would also work well! I used 2 coats of OPI Nail Varnish in Mrs 

             O'Leary's BBQ.

Step 2 -  When base has dried, use a dotting tool to make 4-6 large polka dots on each 

              nail, for this I used Barry M Nail paint in 66 Matt White.

Step 3 - Using a smaller dotting tool draw either a squiggly ghost tail or a square on the

             base of the polka dots, again using Barry M Matt White Nail paint.

Step 4 - Eyes! I used the thinnest dotting tool to dot little eyes on my Skulls using Sinful

            colours in Black on Black.

Step 5 - Once the eyes are dry, use a Topcoat to set and to give the nails a nice shine. I

            used Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

Let me know if you try these!

xx

September Favourites

Maybelline Babylips in Cherry Me - You can see my full review on these in my previous post , this has been perfect as the weather has been getting slightly colder, keeping my lips hydrated whilst adding a hint of colour.

OPI Nailvarnish in Mrs O'Learys BBQ - I have been loving wearing Burgundy nails and this was the first colour I chose to wear in September. It lasts well on the nails without chipping and its a lovely colour for Autumn.

MAC Eyeshadow in Nocturnelle - I've been wearing a small amount of this under my eye and blending it out to give definition, I love wearing a hint of purple under my eyes especially in the run up to halloween!

Revlon Lash potion Mascara - I really like this mascara, its very lengthening and quite conditioning on my lashes. The only downside to this is it can be quite flakey, so I would recommend getting the waterproof version if your mascara tends to flake.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair - This has been my night time saviour recently, it plumps the skin, helps to reduce fine lines and leaves my skin feeling really soft the next day. I've had this a while and have recently fallen in love with it again. I'm so temped to buy the ANR ll now though!

What have you been loving in September? 

xx

Maybelline Baby lips

 Maybelline Baby lips in 'Hydrate', 'Pink Punch' and 'Cherry Me'.

I picked three Maybelline baby lips from boots recently on a 3 for 2 offer and since then I haven't worn very much else on my lips!

I really like these, they are cheap at £2.99 a balm, have a lovely and slightly buildable colour and I feel like they are actually hydrating my lips when I'm wearing them.

I tend to go for a stronger eye (forever wearing winged liner) and so this is perfect if like me, you just want a subtle hint of colour and moisture. Maybelline baby lips claim to hydrate your lips for 8 hours, they contain Shea butter and honey and the non tinted balms contain SPF20. These also contain Petrolatum which isn't great for your lips and I would say that the hydration for me personally only lasts around 2 hours.

Currently, I love applying Maybelline Baby lips hydrate as part of my morning skincare routine as its so quick and easy to apply, makes my lips feel moisturised and protected by the SPF. 

I think these are really nice little lip balms and great to pop in your bag as a tinted balm, they're cute and great for quick application on the go. 

Autumn Copper and Red Make up

I'm so excited, Autumn is finally here! Theres nothing I love more than a crisp autumn day, crunchy autumn leaves and cosying up with a good book and hot chocolate! I've been burning my vanilla chai and salted caramel yankee candles and wearing fluffy socks and I love it!

Products used:

Face -
MAC Pro longwear Foundation NC30
Collection lasting perfection concealer
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
Bourjois Bronzer
Mac Ladyblush
MAC Soft & Gentle highlighter

Eyes -
MAC Naked Lunch, Mac Quarry
L'oreal Superliner in Black Vinyl
Clinique Superfine liner for brows in dark brown
Mac Melon pigment and 17 Enraged Trio copper colour for lower lash line


Lips -

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Crush

Feel Unique Sale

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - £9.78 and Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip balm - £7.60 both in the sale.

Here are my picks from the Feel Unique sale, I also had a Korres lip butter, Aromatherapy Associates oil and The Balm Mary lou manizer luminizer in my basket but resisted in spending too much and ended up just getting these two! I've wanted both of these for ages now but couldn't justify buying them before. 

Both Caudalie Beauty Elixir and Nuxe Rev de Miel have been highly raved about in the blogger world so I'm really excited to try them, I've read mixed reviews about the smell of them both but I'm pretty in love already.

On another note - I've been a bad blogger. Work/Life has taken over the past month and I always seem to go through a slump in energy in Summer and so haven't blogged as much recently. But I've taken a lot of photos and I've done a few make up looks and so hopefully I will be back to normal posting again now :).

(I also cannot wait for Autumn/Winter - Especially candles, fairy lights, hot chocolate and fluffy socks!)

xx

Smokey Fuchsia Eye Make up

Another look for a hot summer's evening. This time a little bolder on the eye and more subtle on the lips. 

I mixed the cranberry colour from the Sleek Storm palette with collection's eyeshadow in viva vegas to create this purpley fuchsia colour. I added some gold and blended it in to the inner corner of my eyes to give a bit more dimension and to open the eyes a little. 

I brushed a small amount of MAC Gleeful on my cheeks which is a very pigmented wine coloured blush with a hint of gold running through it (best applied with a very light hand and blended very well.) And finished with a nude pink lip.

Products used -

Face-
Bourjois Healthy mix foundation
Collection lasting perfection concealer
Bourjois bronzer
Mac Gleeful MSF Blusher
Rimmel Stay matte powder

Eyes
Sleek storm palette
Collection eyeshadow Viva vegas
Brows - Clinique superfine liner in dark brown
MUA intense black liner
L'oreal super liner in black vinyl
Maybelline the falsies mascara
Ardell demi wispies false lashes
Collection dazzle me in 8 Bedazzle

Lips
Topshop lipstick in Innocent
Rimmel stay glossy lip gloss in non stop glamour

xx

Pink lips & Black Liner

I'm loving bright pink lips at the moment and Maybelline vivids fuchsia flash is the perfect shade of pink! Paired with bold black liner and a mauve shadow through the crease I think works well for a summer night out.

Face - 
MAC Pro longwear Foundation NC30
Collection lasting perfection concealer
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
Nars Orgasm Blush 
Benefit Hoola Bronzer to contour
MAC Soft and Gentle

Eyes -
Clinique supefine liner for brows
MUA undress me too palette
Fashionista white eyeliner pencil
l'oreal super liner in black vinyl
Maybelline the falsies mascara
Boots Get lashes eyelashes in 'Get pretty lashes'

Lips -
Maybelline colour sensational vivids in fuchsia flash

xx

Summer Blushers

L- R Bourjois Healthy Mix - Sleek Pixie Pink - Sleek Rose Gold - Mac Well Dressed

These are my current go to blushers. I think all of them are very pretty, well pigmented and easy to blend!

Bourjois Healthy Mix blusher 41 - You can see what this looks like on my skin here. This is a lovely coral orange blush which gives a healthy natural glow.

Sleek Pixie Pink - I love this bright pink blusher, it gives a lovely flush of colour to the cheeks and is very pretty and girly.

Sleek Rose Gold blush - This is my favourite ever blusher. It is a gorgeous golden peach coral which has a warm golden shimmer which reflects light as you move. You can see me wearing it here.

Mac Well Dressed - This is a pretty pale soft pink, it's quite cool toned and I normally wear this in the winter but I think its perfect for these rainy summer days!

What is your favourite blusher?

Escentric Molecules 01 Perfume

I'm quite picky when it comes to perfumes, I have about three that I love and repurchase over and over again. When I first heard about Escentric Molecules 01 perfume the concept of it really intrigued me and I wanted to try it out.

Escentric Molecule perfume is made out of just one molecule which is supposed to adapt and blend with your own personal scent. I've read reviews of people describing this as woody, figgy, chocolatey, fruity or a bit like parma violets! 

Not only did the lure of it being your own unique scent draw me in, but apparently its meant to be very appealing to other people. Some wearers of Escentric Molecules have had some strange experiences of being stopped on the street when they wore this and asked multiple times by strangers what perfume they were wearing! 

I don't have anywhere near me that sold this so I couldn't do a test spritz before deciding whether to buy it but my boyfriend kindly bought me a bottle from amazon for Valentines day. It was £28 for 30ml which is quite reasonable I think as you only need a couple of sprays and It lasts pretty much all day.

On me it smells a bit like Parma Violets but also has a deeper hint of something else, possibly musky notes. It's a pretty smell which I enjoy wearing but I can't help but wish it had a woody figgy smell on me!

I can't say I've had any unusual experiences whilst wearing this perfume, no one has approached me or stopped me yet to ask what perfume I'm wearing, but I like having a different scent to my normal perfumes and I really like the idea and simplicity of it.

Have you tried this?

SOPHIESMAKEUP BLOGLOVIN

Incase GFC disappears soon, my Bloglovin Link is 

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11582225

Please leave yours below too as I will be mainly following blogs through Bloglovin now!

- Edit, I've just found this link (after manually going through and adding each blog I follow individually!!) which lets you transfer all the blogs you follow on google reader easily to Bloglovin http://www.bloglovin.com/import/reader

xx

May Favourites

These have actually been my favourites for a few months now, they are all pretty basic but staples for me at the moment. I've been loving a fresh faced, natural but glowy look for spring and these have all helped me acheieve this look!

Loreal Lumi Magic Primer - I've wanted this for a while but the price put me off. This is £9.99 for 20ml however I picked this up as my freebie when boots had 3 for 2 on make up. I love to use this on my upper cheeks and all around and under my eyes before foundation. It really lightens the area and gives a pretty glow to your skin. The only problem I've found with this is that it separates in the bottle, you need to give it a good shake before use but then it really delivers for me on illuminated, fresh skin.

Mac Paint pot in Bare study - So easy for a quick sweep of colour over the eye, its such a pretty champagne colour and great for no fuss, quick and long lasting make up. This has been a favourite of mine for quite a while now.

Sally Hansen Double Duty strengthening base & top coat. I've worn this alone on my nails most week days and then I will wear this under one of my current favourite Nail varnishes on the weekends. My nails have been growing so quickly recently and I'm pretty sure it's thanks to this, a good cuticle oil and not wearing nail varnish during the week.

La Roche Posay Effclar Duo - This has really cleared up my skin, whenever I'm having a bad skin day I use this as my morning moisturiser until my skin clears up. I bought this from boots on a 2 for £15 deal, I'm so glad I stocked up as it really works for me and has become a staple in my skincare routine!

The Body Shop born lippy in pomegranate - I love this colour! Its a pretty sheer orange red balm, great for simple Make-up and gives you just a hint of colour on the lips whilst moisturising. I've had this in my Make-up Bag for a good few months now and I definitely want to try more of the colours. 

My non beauty favourites are - Season 4 Of the Vampire Diaries (I think this has been my favourite season yet!) I can't wait for 'The Originals' spin off series and for Season 5! 
I have also just started knitting and I love it! I've also loved the Beautiful mess app and eating lots and lots of Raspberries.

xx

Maybelline colour sensational Vivid's Lipstick in Fuchsia Flash

Although it's still dreary and rainy outside, I've been following the S/S trend and wearing bright pink lipstick. Maybelline Fuchsia Flash is my current favourite, it has a creamy texture, smells amazing and is so pigmented!

I'm really impressed with Maybelline fuchsia flash lipstick, it doesn't dry out my lips and lasts a good few hours before fading on me. I don't normally brave a bright pink lip but this is such a pretty colour I couldn't resist!

This also works well if you dab a bit on the center of your lips and then use your finger to blend in to give a less intense look. I've been wearing this with a little bit of matte eyeshadow, winged liquid liner and an umbrella!