13 reasons why your mum will always be your BFF

It's my Mum's birthday today and unfortunately, I haven't been able to spend it with her thanks to living 230 miles away.  I know it sounds cliche but I honestly didn't appreciate my Mum as much as I thought I did until moving away! I'm not good with emotional stuff so instead of writing a long gushy facebook message (like my sister did!), I thought I'd write a little post dedicated to my Mum that I think a lot of you will also be able to relate to. Here are 13 reasons why your mum will always be your best friend!

1. Whether you want a rant, cry or just need someone to talk to, you can call your mum at absolutely any time for a chat and you know she'll be there to listen.  A chat with your mum will instantly brighten your mood.

2. She will always cook you your favourite meals when you go home to visit and won't complain about having to make multiple trips out to buy forgotten ingredients!

3. You can tell her your deepest darkest secrets and she won't judge you for it.

4. She makes the best cakes. I think Mum's just have a secret ingredient because I can never get my cakes to taste like hers *insert heart broken emoji here*

5. You know that lost MAC lipstick that's been missing for ages? YOUR MUM WILL FIND IT IN ABOUT 0.10 SECONDS!

6. She will give you the confidence to do anything your heart desires, be it an interview for your dream job, wearing that dress you don't think looks good or conquering the world single handedly.

7. When you've got a weird rash on your hand and you don't know what it is, your mum will be able to give you the answer instantly. I mean, she's practically a doctor with the amount of Casualty she's watched in her time.

8. You can sing your heart off in front of her and instead of laughing at you, she'll just join in instead.

9. She would give you her last £1 in the world because she'd rather herself go without than you.

10. She'll support you with anything even if she doesn't necessarily agree with said thing!

11. All she ever cares about is your happiness. She'd never bitch about you behind your back and would put anyone straight if they even tried.

12. She may be double your age but you still have so much in common - perfumes, makeup, clothes & music!

13. Your mum will always be there for you and will be the one person you can rely on for life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

L'oreal Infallible 24 Hour Matte Foundation - Is it really an Estee Lauder dupe?!

After reading reviews that the L'oreal Infallible 24 hour matte foundation was a great dupe for Estee Lauder Double Wear, I knew I had to have it. Estee Lauder double wear is my absolute favourite foundation EVER and I'd pretty much given up hope on finding a drugstore alternative.

L'oreal Infallible 24 hour matte foundation retails at £6.99 and comes in six different shades.  It'd be nice to have a few more shades in the collection as I couldn't find one that matched my skin perfectly. The closest shade to my skin tone was 'Vanilla'. I find the bottle really useful as it tells you exactly what to expect from the foundation - medium texture and high coverage.  I also like the fact it's in a see through bottle so there's no element of surprise when you're about to run out!

I've applied the foundation with a beauty blender and a makeup brush and there's not much difference in the way it applies.  As the liquid is quite light, it blends easily and smoothly.  The only thing I would say is that you need to use a good primer underneath the foundation as it does stick to all your dry patches - sigh!

As for the coverage, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. If it wasn't for me thinking I had the Estee Lauder drugstore alternative right in my very hands, I think I'd have liked it more. I set my expectations waaay too high! Personally I think the coverage is more on the medium side than high.  One layer doesn't cover my blemishes so I tend to apply two unless I'm having a fab skin day.  Once applied, the foundation does look very natural and I do love the way it sits on my skin so I've been wearing this for work during the week. The packaging states that the product should last 24 hours but I'd say it starts to go patchy after around 7 hours.

For £6.99, I would recommend picking this up as it is a nice foundation considering how inexpensive it is but the search for the drugstore Estee Lauder dupe continues...

10 beauty tips you need to try!

A benefit to having a family full of girly girls means that we are always sharing our beauty tips and tricks with each other.  Today I want to share some of my favourite beauty tips with you in the hope that you'll find something new to revolutionise your beauty routine.

• If you've ran out of shaving cream, hair conditioner makes a fab alternative! Silky smooth legs, come at me. 

• Dabbing a tiny amount of toothpaste on a spot before bed will sting for a couple of seconds but you'll be thankful in the morning when it's pretty much cleared up.

• If you fancy a lay in, cover your hair in dry shampoo before bed. You'll look like a grannie but you'll have fresher than fresh tresses in the morning!

•  Cover your brows in Vaseline before plucking. It'll reduce plucking pain and slicks back the hairs making it easier for you to pinpoint the ones that need to go. 

• Mixing your foundation with your primer makes for the perfect application. Trust me and try it! 

•  If you've ran out of eyeliner and NEED that feline flick on your lids, dip a small brush into your mascara wand et voila!

• COCONUT OIL WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I've written a full post on the benefits of Coconut Oil here. 

• Popping your nail polish in your fridge for an hour will make the application process a lot smoother. 

• A face full of sudocrem may not look sexy but you will wake up with the softest skin ever ever ever. 

• Ever found a beautiful lipstick that you wish was made in blusher form? Sweep your blush brush across your lipstick and apply to your cheeks. It makes an amazing substitute for a cream blusher.

What's your favourite beauty tip?!

Current Favourite Pink Lipsticks

As mentioned a million times on my blog, I'm a huge pink lipstick enthusiast. I'm just instantly gravitated towards them and it's getting out of hand, is there some sort of support group for my obsession please?  I thought it was only right that I blogged about my current favourite pink lipsticks as they're basically all I ever wear!

From left to right; Collection Deluxe Lipstick in 'Speak Easy', Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in 'Elusive', Rimmel Provocalips in 'I'll call you', Seventeen Lip Crayon in 'Playful' and MAC 'Pink Plaid'. 

Collection Deluxe Lipstick in 'Speak Easy' - I actually found this in a bargain bin in Tesco and couldn't work out the brand for a while. At first I thought it was Bourjois then I noticed the little Collection dotted logo on the lid. I snapped it up and we've been best pals ever since (yeah, I just referred to my lipstick as my 'pal', awks). It's a creamy hot pink shade that glides on to the lips with no effort whatsoever! Longevity is around 3 hours which isn't the best but for £3.99, it's well worth a buy!

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in 'Elusive' - This is my current favourite out of the whole bunch. I'm a bit obsessed with matte finishes at the moment and this shade is PERFECT for spring! I've written a whole post on this beauty here if you're interested in reading more. 

Rimmel Provocalips in 'I'll call you' - I think the Provocalips range are a bit of a Marmite situation and as this is featured in this post, obvs I love them.  They're a little difficult to work with but after a few applications you get the hang of it! You pop on the liquid lipstick then seal it with the clear gloss type balm at the other end of the tube. It feels a little drying but nothing a little bit of lip balm won't fix. I love this darker pink shade and it stays put all day, literally ALL day.

Seventeen Lip Crayon in 'Playful' - This lip crayon feels and looks like a light gloss on your lips. It's sheer but buildable so perfect if you only want a little bit of colour but heaps of shine. 

MAC 'Pink Plaid' - Ok so Pink Plaid is my all time favourite MAC lipstick! It's a soft toned matte pink that will suit every skintone going. It lasts around 5/6 hours on the lips which is pretty standard for a MAC lipstick in my opinion. Revlon's Pink Pout is a perfect dupe for Pink Plaid if you don't fancy splashing out on this MAC baby. 

What's your current favourite lipstick?

What's an SPF and why is it important?!

It's only over the past year or so that I really started to appreciate the importance of SPF. My mum would constantly shout at me to slap on the sun cream before I left the house but due to me forever wanting to be a bronzed goddess, I'd ignore her requests and return home a couple of hours later resembling an actual lobster.  Needless to say, I spent so many of my teenage years in the kitchen whipping up some homemade 'cooling cucumber mist' - special thanks to Shout magazine for the recipe.

You'll be pleased to know (you too, Mum) that I've accepted that I'll never be as tanned as Beyonce. I'm now a million percent more cautious when it comes to protecting my skin in those harmful rays. In fact we're all pretty good at slathering our bodies in sunscreen but when it comes down to it, are we taking good enough care of our face?!

I want to start by giving a simple explanation as to what SPF is as there's nothing worse than browsing the skincare section staring at the little numbers on the packaging, getting all flustered and taking a random guess at what you think would be the perfect fit for you.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. Sunscreen is used to block out the sunlight's harmful Ultra Violet rays which cause us to age, burn, increase our chances of skin cancer and all that other nasty stuff. The numbers on the package refer to how effective the product is at blocking out UV rays but no SPF will block out 100% of rays.  In essence, the higher the SPF number, the more effective your sunscreen will be, though this isn't always the case as a lot of people don't apply the correct amount of product.

I want to talk to you about some products I was kindly sent by House of Fraser. The Clinique SPF 40 Super City Block retails at £18 which is actually pretty generous for 40ml of product. When it comes to primers and foundation, I can't stand anything sticky. I just had visions of City Block making me look like a greasy ghost (think back to those days on the beach when you were 5 and your mum would apply lashings of bright white sunscreen to your rosy red cheeks! Shudder).

I'm delighted that this product actually has a nude colour to it which once rubbed in leaves a slight, barely noticeable tint to the skin.  My favourite part about City Block is that it feels completely weightless and oil free - result! You can obviously use it on it's own to prevent you from ageing and burning but I choose to use City Block as a primer underneath my foundation. I even use this at work which may sound a bit daft but truthfully, our skin is constantly exposed to the sunlight whether it be through windows, that 15 minute stroll you go for on your lunch break or when you pop outside to hang your washing on the line.

I was lucky enough to also be sent the Clinique Superdefense SPF 20 eye cream which retails at £30 for 15ml.  I'm going to be brutally honest now - eye creams are something I tend to forget about as I never really noticed any difference in my under eye area after wearing them. I've recently been suffering from dark circles though which I never used to get, EVER...does this mean I'm officially getting old? so I was actually pretty excited to see whether Superdefense made a difference.

This eye cream is completely fragrance free meaning that it won't sting your eyes, thank goodness.  For the first time in my life, I can actually see that my eye area is distinctively brighter and my dark circles are less prominent.  All in all, I think this is a pretty wonderful all rounder product...SPF, brightening effect, anti-ageing, suitable for all skin types and fragrance free?! What more could you want in an eye cream?

House of Fraser currently have an offer on where if you buy two full size Clinique products, you receive a free gift! Check out all the Clinique goodies here.

How much do you know about SPF? What are your SPF tips?!

*post in collaboration with House of Fraser*

Current Shower Routine

As I was showering a week or so ago, I realised that I actually loved every single product I was using and instead of putting them all into a favourites post, I thought I'd do a little shower routine post. I change my shower products up every fortnight as there's just so many things I buy and want to try.

I like to re-introduce coconut scents into my life around May as it gets sunnier and I start thinking about Malibu and pina coladas so I picked up the Garnier Ultimate Blends The Sleek Restorer shampoo & conditioner. It's not the first time I've used the Garnier Ultimate Blends range, in fact I think it might be my favourite shampoo & conditioner range ever! Pretty bold statement to make, I know but it's true! The sleek restorer shampoo & conditioners do just that - leave your hair feeling smooth and frizz free thanks to the coconut oil goodness. I'll also let you in on a little secret - they're often half price. BONUS!

Every week or just whenever my hair needs it, I'll use a hair mask. The Aussie deep treatment sachets are usually my go to choice as I've never been disappointed with them. The 3 minute miracle colour deep treatment revitalises dull hair instantly and leaves it feeling super soft. I find some hair masks make my hair look a little greasy but as long as you rinse the product out well, there's no trace of grease with the Aussie treatments.

Now I know this is a little weird but I always use two shower gels. I use Soap & Glory's Orangeasm Body Wash first as I'm a shower in the morning kind of girl and this baby instantly wakes me up! Orangeasm is insanely citrus-y and packs a punch. It's sometimes a little too much for my poor nostrils to handle but I can't help but love how fruity it is.

My new favourite body wash in the whole entire world is Aussie's Shower Smoothie Body Wash. OH MY GOD, it smells like bubblegum and fairies and just generally what I imagine heaven to smell like. It lathers really well so you don't have to use a massive amount but I always do because I can't get enough of the scent.  The best thing is is that the scent also fills your bathroom well after you've finished your shower. If you haven't tried it yet, this is the one shower product you need in your life!

Whilst I'm leaving my conditioner to work it's magic, I'll wash my face with the Rio Rosa Mosqueta cream cleanser. I've written a whole post on this which you can find here so I won't bore you with the details again. I'll just say that it's the perfect fuss free cleanser that leaves you wanting to stroke your face uncontrollably.

I hate moisturising my body. It's so much hassle but I also feel bad when I don't moisturise as I can't deal with dry flaky skin. The Vaseline Spray & Go body moisturiser is the perfect fit if you're a moisturiser hater like me or if you just don't have a lot of time in the morning. It's not spray & go, you do have to rub it in but it is light, smells fresh and is grease free so you can put your clothes on straight away.

PHEW, that was a massive post so congrats if you read all of it!

What's your all time favourite shower product?

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I've been aware of the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge for a while but after using various bad beauty blenders for the past year or so, I completely disregarded it. It wasn't until my Facebook friend Emily recommended the sponge that I thought I'd finally give in to the hype and pick one up!

I just want to put it out there that I haven't seen this sponge in any different colours. It's not that I don't like orange but I'd just prefer like, pink y'know?! Trivial issues aside, I want to talk about the shape of this sponge.  At first I was like 'EH?!' but then I realised that this is actually very cleverly shaped! The pointed side is used to get in all the crevices and target pesky spots that you want to conceal, the flat edge is great for applying under eye concealer and for just generally smoothing out foundation and the rounded side is for buffing the foundation into your skin.

As I said, I've used a lot of bad beauty blenders in the past and when I say bad, I mean the cheap 7 sponges for 99p off eBay kinda bad so I was keen to see how the 'miracle' sponge would compare to them.  I must say, the very first time I used this I felt as though it absorbed a quarter or so of my foundation but I put that down to the fact it's brand new so you're obviously going to lose a little bit of product as it sinks in to the sponge. The Miracle Complexion sponge is so soft on your skin and blends extremely easily whilst leaving your skin feeling light. You know how sometimes you get that heavy, caked feeling when you apply your foundation with a brush? This is just the complete opposite. The fact that I have no stray brush hairs or just general brush marks is another green tick against this applicator.

I'd say the Real Techniques sponge has halved my foundation application time - it's just so easy! I wish I'd have picked it up sooner.  You can also use the sponge to apply concealer, powder and blusher which is an added extra - almost an excuse to cut brushes out altogether! ;)

For the sake of £5.99, I'd recommend any beauty lover to add this to their collection.

 What's your favourite way to apply your foundation?