My Birthday Look

On Saturday it was my birthday and I went out into town for the evening with my friends.
I just thought I'd make a post on how I decided to do my make up and what I wore. cough narcissist 

I do rather love a good dramatic eye and realllly wanted to try on my Maybelline Colour Tattoo Eyeshadow. I wore the colour Pomegranate Punk on the base with a more red coloured powder in the crease.
I also wore Katy Perry false eyelashes in Banging Beauty.
I am a long time user of the Eyelure false eye lashes and highly recommend using them as a subtle or dramatic look can be created so very easily, the lashes are also no trouble to use and last such a long time.
I borrowed my friends' ('iya Charlotte) lipgloss for my lips. I wore Smashbox in the colour Luster.
I finished the look with highlighted cheekbones and a slight dab of blusher.

The dress I wore was from the Lipsy collection at Next which I bought on boxing day and was reduced from £68 to £15, get in.
I loooove the nail polish I wore by Champneys in the colour Champagne with Barry M's sequin polish on my ring fingers.

I had a lovely night with one too many drinks and didn't even wake up with a sore head, birthday luck? ♥

Favourite TV shows of the month #1 | TWD & GoT

I must confess, I'm a bit of a square eyes when it comes to watching things on my laptop.
I could literally spend a whole day slothing (did I just create a new word?) on the sofa, catching up on a ridiculous amount of episodes of my new favourite television series.
Probably on too many occasion I have insisted I'll go to bed at 11pm only to blink and it appears to be 2:30am.. Oops. 
After many years watching a variety of shows I have concluded that my definite favourites are Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

I first began watching Game of Thrones out of sheer boredom and procrastinating from schoolwork, ahem, to be honest but I'm so glad I did. I may be slightly bias due to the fact Sean Bean (Ned Stark) is originally from Yorkshire but the show has had me hooked from the first episode.
Anyone who watches will know that the style of the show is medieval fantasy which can seem slightly nerdy, even the title initially put me off (silly I know),  nevertheless it has completely exceeded my expectations and the emotional turmoil I'm left in with every episode has left me completely addicted.

The Walking Dead, as most of you will know, is based around the human race surviving a zombie apocalypse. The idea is slightly cliched I know but with one of the shows main focuses being on the characters and their development, this series stands out to many others.
I again initially thought that the show would not interest me due to the OTT fictional aspect, (I should probably stop being so pessimistic) but again I was proved wrong with emotional backlash I face by becoming over involved with the characters, sigh.

Both shows can be rather gory at times and they are definitely not for the faint hearted. 
However, if you are looking for a programme with sheer escapism I cannot recommend these highly enough.

Victoria ♥

Body & Bath Gift Sets | Favourites

When it comes to bath and body products, I tend to stick with what I'm used to as my skin go be quite sensitive sometimes. That being said, when I receive sets from occasions I am always willing to try them out. 

The sets I received included:

• Ted Baker - London
• Soap & Glory - Bright & Bubbly
• Soap & Glory - Sweet Lime

Soap & Glory

I have being using Soap and Glory products for quite a few years now, with my first item I remember buying being the Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Gloss at the age of 14 (insert hiding monkey emoji here). The thing I love about Soap & Glory is that their products are of decent quality without a hefty price tag, which is why I would definitely recommend trying out some of their beauty and body products and I think they're just fab.

Righteous Butter

I knew before using the bright and bubbly set that I would love the texture and the smell of the products as I may have sneakily used some of my mums birthday set at some point.. (shh don't tell her).

The righteous butter is definitely my favourite of all the Bright & Bubbly products as it leaves my skin with an incredibly silky texture and the smell is divine. The butter also contains aloe vera which is perfect for anyone with skin that can be as awkward as mine.

Sugar Crush Body Scrub

As my skin isn't particularly dry or scaly I never really saw the importance of using a exfoliator on my skin and I just used to sponge polisher with some shower gel to remove any dead skin (yuck). But since using this amazing scrub I have definitely being converted. I must say that the smell does have a Marmite effect and I personally LOVE the sweet lime/oaty kind of smell but I do know others who do not.

I tend to use the scrub on parts of my skin which I feel need that extra bit of renewal and I feel it really just gets rid of any dullness or tightness on areas of my skin.

Using a combination of this product and the righteous butter is also a great way to keep fake tan (if you use it) from going streaky and helps keep it maintained.

Ted Baker

London Bath Foam

It's safe to say for me that I'm more of a shower kind of person and rarely take baths, but when I do take the occasional bath I know one things for sure; I like my bath to be bubbly and I like it to smell nice. I went out on a bit of a whim with this bath foam as I only used it because I didn't have anything else in to be honest, thankfully though I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I think the smell is quite acquired as it has a kind of deep rose/woody tinge to it but one things for sure my bath was very bubbly and I was therefore very contented.   

Now if you don't mind me I'm off to spend a good ten minutes sniffing my Sugar Crush Scrub, I'm literally obsessed.

Victoria ♥

BB Cream Comparison | Normal/Combination Skin

BB Creams have been on the market for a while now and are definitely nothing new.
For me, these creams are a somewhat tinted moisturiser with slightly more coverage. That being said, I was really interested in trying these products as I feel wearing foundation nearly everyday cannot be the most kind way to treat your skin.
Because of this I decided to go out on a whim and try these three products.

From left to right: Rimmel, Garnier & Maybelline

Rimmel

When looking at Rimmel's BB Creams this one stood out to me due to the statement of a matte finish. Due to my skin being oilier in my T-zone I always tend to go for foundations which have a more matte finish (excluding Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation which I use in summer). I found this product on the slightly runnier side, but it glides on my skin extremely well and does stay put for a long period of time. The shade I used is in Very Light and would make me look slightly washed out (or dying) if used in the summer, but it is perfect for the winter months.

I doubt the product fulfills it's 9 in 1 claim but it does have slight coverage and is great if you are just popping to the shops are taking the dog to the park. 8/10 

Garnier
To be honest when purchasing this item I was not aware that Garnier did a cream from combination/oily skin, so I will do my best to review this as if my skin were not. When applying this cream I noticed that even though the tube says light, the liquid went on slightly too dark for my fair skin tone - I would suggest this is more of a medium colour.
The product would probably look best when I'm wearing fake tan.
Take note of the picture below.
When applied all over I do notice that the formula does my skin a nice glow however and would be perfect if used on holiday to somewhere warm and sunny (would probably help if there was SPF too but hey-ho). I do find this does not have the same lasting power as the other two products and my face does start to get a bit more shiny at the end of the day. (Probably would have helped if you bought the correct formula Vicky)
While this product does bring luminosity to my skin and has good coverage, I feel the lasting power isn't all that great and the shade is way off for the light claim. 6/10

Maybelline
Out of all three products this one was definitely my favourite. This BB Cream has a fabulous texture when placed on the skin and feels really smooth. It also does not dry out my cheeks even though it is specifically for oily skin. The shade of the product was also closest to my natural skin tone. Again, the coverage is good but doesn't really beat foundation and I will say it lasts a long time on my skin but does tend to go slightly oily on my T-zone. The 8 in 1 statement probably doesn't do all it suggests but the salicylic acid in the product is great if I have a break out - though I have noticed little difference of change in my spots when I use this formula.
If the cream had slightly more coverage and lasting power I would honestly consider it perfect. 9/10

I'm glad I decided to try BB Creams as for me it is a perfect replacement for foundation when I don't want to go barefaced but don't feel like wearing a lot of make up.
I would not recommend replacing these creams over foundations all together though, as on a night out I prefer full coverage and I feel a more dramatic look would a bit out of place with just some cream on my face.

If you have tried/wear any of these products as well as BB Creams in general please do let me know what you thought of them. Thanks for reading!

Victoria ♥