AN ASH JALOUSE DUPE

I've been after a pair of Ash Jalouse boots for a while now, each year in early autumn my finger hovers over the checkout button before I reluctantly click off, not wanting to fork out £155 for a pair of boots.

Last week, I spotted these beautiful New look boots. They look so similar, if not identical in style to the Ash jalouse boots, they're a lot more affordable, come in a darker shade of black (which I love) and are currently in the sale for just £14! 

They also go down to a size 2, I find it so hard to find shoes in my size and so snapped them up straight away! They feel comfortable to walk in so far, the heel isn't too high for everyday wear and I know these will become a firm staple in my autumn/winter wardrobe.

I can't wait to wear these, it's not too hot outside yet and so I'll still be able to get some wear from them until the weather gets warmer and then I'll tuck them safely away for Autumn/Winter. I think they will work perfectly with black tights, a skater skirt and a cosy knit, also with leggings or Topshop leigh jeans. I'm so glad I've finally found the perfect pair of boots! 

SPRING PINK LIPSTICKS

As much as I love berry and red lipsticks, I think that pink has to be my favourite lipstick shade. I love that you can wear a sheer wash of pink on your lips for an every day shade or pair a cool toned bright matte pink lipstick with a cosy grey jumper and leggings on duvet days. These are the four pink lipsticks that have been have constantly on my lips recently:

Revlon Matte Balm in Showy: This is a bright matte pink lipstick that has blue undertones and looks so pretty on the lips. I find that with the Revlon Matte balms you really need to prep your lips well before application otherwise they do tend to show up any dryness or imperfections. I like to use a Lush lip scrub to gently buff my lips, put on a little lip balm and then apply the colour. Once applied, Revlon Showy is such a flattering shade and lasts on me a good 3 hours. See it swatched on my lips here.

Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil in Fuchsia Desire: This is the darkest pink out of the four and is a lovely warm toned long lasting lip pencil. When blended out on the lips it's quite similar to Nars Yu and is a great alternative to the Nars lip pencils. It feels creamy on the lips and is highly pigmented. See a full review here.

Revlon Sultry Samba Lipstick: One of my all time favourite lipsticks, this cool toned matte fuchsia pink lasts well on the lips and feels so creamy in texture. It's quite similar to Chanel La Diva and so is a great affordable alternative, see comparisons here.

Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart: This lipstick/lip balm hybrid keeps lips feeling lightly moisturised whilst giving a slightly barbie pink hint of colour to the lips. It's a really wearable pink that can be worn as a sheer tint or built up to a glossy bold pink.

What are your favourite pink lipsticks?

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK #9

Monday: After spending the Easter weekend scoffing chocolate, me and Alex spent the Bank holiday Monday walking outside in the sunshine, collecting this beautiful floral canvas from M&S and dipping freshly baked bread into homemade minestrone soup.

Tuesday: Photographing some pretty spring pink lipsticks, I've got a full post to come on Sunday but I've been especially loving wearing Maybelline Fuchsia Desire, it's such a pretty spring pink that brightens up my whole make up.

Wednesday: Finding the perfect Autumn/Winter boots (in spring!). I know it's a definitely a little early to be eyeing up winter boots but I find it so difficult to find ones that I like in my size. I found this beautiful pair from New Look, in a size 2 and reduced to £14.00. They go up to a size 9 and are nearly identical to the Ash Jalouse boots! I'm so happy I found them and I'll definitely get a lot of wear out of them this autumn/winter!

Thursday: Baking Estee's Banana bread, it filled the whole home with the most amazing smell and whilst still warm, I spread a thick layer of Nutella on. Amazing.

Friday/The weekend: This weekend we're driving up for the first wedding of the year. I've packed some of my favourite make up, had my hair freshly cut and coloured and we're planning on stopping at Selfridges on the way up!

P.s I'm on snapchat if anyone wants to see lot's of food and me awkardly trying to film snippets of my day! add me - sophiesmakeup

What's made you happy this week?

WEDDING GUEST MAKE UP

I'm off to my first wedding of the year on Saturday and so having rummaged through my make up, I've pulled out some soft shimmery shades to wear that are wedding guest appropriate. I still haven't quite sorted out what to wear, but at least my make up bag is packed and ready to go!

To prep my skin I'm planning on using a good mask like Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask the night before. It's a brightening, renewing mask that contains natural fruit acids and leaves my complexion looking radiant, smooth and clear which will help me to create the perfect base for my make up.

For my base, I have a small sample of Dior Star foundation to wear on the day that I picked up from a Dior Counter. I've been matched with the shade 021 linen but I'm a little worried as I've heard that it oxidises slightly and therefore is better to go for slightly lighter shade. I've tested a small amount out and it although it's quite scented it does feels fresh and dewy on the skin and seems like a nice foundation. It also contains skincare benefits which is something that I love in a foundation.

I've opted for theBalm Mary Lou Manizer for my highlighter as it's such a pretty, pigmented champagne highlighter that lasts on me all day. Swept over the top of the cheekbones, brow bone and on the cupids bow, it brings light to the face and emits a beautiful glow.
For blusher, I thought that a golden peachy pink blusher like Nars Orgasm would give a pretty flush of colour to my cheeks whilst keeping my make up soft and glowing. See me wearing it here.

Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Alhambra is the perfect size for popping in my make up bag and gives me the choice of a beautiful metallic rose or gold champagne shade to wear (swatched here). This duo is so buttery in texture, blends seamlessly and brings light to the eye area. I'll use my Zoeva 228/Luxe Crease brush to sweep the shades over my lids for a pretty, shimmery wash of colour to my eyes.

After curling my lashes with my trusty Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers, I'm planning on applying a few coats of L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara to leave me with long, soft fluttery lashes.

Lastly, I have a few lip choices to take with me depending on which dress I choose. Revlon Sweet Tart is a pretty, sheer barbie pink that keeps lips feeling lightly moisturised, brightens the complexion and would work well with the option of my babydoll style black and nude pink dress. Revlon lip butter in Wild Watermelon (swatched here) is a wearable raspberry toned red, it feels light on the lips and is buildable to a soft red lip and I think that it would go really well with my other dress option, this Navy ASOS dress.

Have you attended a wedding recently?

ZOEVA ROSE GOLDEN COMPLETE EYE SET VOL.2

I waited quite a while to finally invest in a set of Zoeva brushes as I really wanted to take the time to choose the perfect set for me. There are so many great options available and although the Rose Golden Luxury Set had been on my wishlist for the longest time, I fell in love with the Rose Golden Complete Eye Set Vol.2 after seeing them circling twitter. I decided to opt for eye brushes as I'm still so loyal to my real techniques face brushes and I feel like you can never have too many eyeshadow blending brushes!

These Zoeva rose gold brushes are just dreamy. The complimentary combination of soft pink/powdered nude and rose gold make them the prettiest brushes I own and the perfect addition to my dressing table. I've already got so much use from them and I've added the Rose Gold Luxury Set to the top of my Birthday/Christmas wishlist.

The Rose Golden Complete Eye Set Vol.2 is made up of 12 eye brushes including blending, smudging, liner, brow and under eye concealer brushes. They are held in a pretty metallic pink case which is so useful to store the brushes in when travelling.

Each brush has a rose gold embossed description printed on the handle making it easy to reach for the perfect brush when applying your make up. Initially the ones that really stand our for me are the 142/Concealer buffer brush, 228/Luxe crease and 221/Luxe soft crease brush. They all pick up just the right amount of product and blend make up so seamlessly onto the skin.

The brushes are slightly stiffer than I imagined but I assume that they will soften up a bit over use and washes, the overall feel of them is so luxe, they feel well made and the actual individual bristles are soft. The set arrived neatly and beautifully packaged and apart from a small setback (which included me having to chase after the DHL driver in my slippers after he tried to deliver my brushes to the wrong house!), the brushes arrived just two days after I ordered them.

The total amount that I ended up paying for this set (including postage) was £55.08, this works out at around £4.59 a brush which is pretty good value for money. 

I'm totally smitten with these brushes and I'm so glad I finally took the plunge and ordered a set. I'm sure these will be appearing a lot more on my blog in the future, I just hope I can hold off for a while before purchasing another set!

EASTER MARS RICE CRISPY NESTS

I've made these Mars rice crispy cakes at Easter for the past 4 or 5 years now. It's become a bit of a tradition for me to make them every year as they're so delicious and perfect for Easter!

The addition of the caramel and nougat from the Mars bars make them so heavenly, they're sticky, chocolatey, sweet and so unbelievably moorish!

Here's how I make them;

3 Mars bars

85g Butter

2 tbsp Golden syrup
4-5 cups of Rice Crispies

Makes around 12 rice crispy cakes.

1. Chop the mars bars into small-ish chunks, pop into a pan with the butter and golden syrup and melt at a low heat until well mixed and almost smooth.

2. Remove from the heat and stir in rice crispies, I add enough for them to be evenly coated, around 4-5 cups.

3. Spoon into cupcake moulds pressing them down lightly so that they stick and hold together.

4. Pop on a few cadburys mini eggs and leave to set!

5. Enjoy!

MARCH MINT FAVOURITES

During March, I spent my days browsing wedding rings with Alex, drinking Teapigs sweet peppermint and liquorice tea and picking up my knitting needles again in an attempt to start making some warm winter things that I can give away for the colder months. I'm still loving to document snippets of my day in my Paperchase Mint 2015 Diary and my (quite unhealthy) snack of choice this month has been Mint Sorbet flavoured jelly beans!

Beauty:

I loved painting my nails with Essie Mint Candy Apple during March, it's such a nice brightening pastel mint nail polish that looks so pretty for Spring.

EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint has been keeping my lips feeling so soft this month. It contains vitamin e, jojoba oil, shea butter and is 95% organic, 100% natural and petrolatum free. It's the perfect size to pop in your make up bag and the minty taste is really refreshing.

For skincare, I've been using Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser for removing my make up. It leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth, helped by the natural ingredients and the gentle exfoliating cloth. I'm nearly at the end of this bottle now and so I'll have to repurchase another one soon!

After running out of my favourite Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream last month I switched it out for Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream. Benefit's it's potent is such a lovely, creamy and brightening eye cream that helps to smooth fine lines, reduce dark circles and contains blend of peptides and hydrating botanical extracts. I've really enjoyed using this as part of my morning skincare routine and I've found that it has really brightened  up my eye area.

What were your favourite products in March?