Mac Goodies♥

I hadn't ever tried mac makeup until May last year when my mum bought me one of their lipsticks (read review here) and I've been hooked ever since. Then, at Christmas, I received a mac gift voucher, and the excitement was all too much over what I'd spend it on. After various trips to mac, I finally settled for two of the most beautiful products in the shop - Mehr lipstick and Show Gold highlighter.

I'm not going to lie - the lipstick stand was slightly daunting to me. So many lipsticks, too many choices. After what seems like forever, and about 20 lipstick swatches later, I opted for Mehr. I knew I wanted to invest in a lipstick which is versatile enough for a daily basis, is kind of on the nude side and lasts long periods of time. Mehr is a matte formula, but, I find it extremely creamy and non-drying, and it also lasts for a lengthy period of time. It's quite a mauve shade, and is on the cooler side with obvious cool undertones. Surprisingly, this compliments my pale skin, and I know for a fact it would look stunning on darker skin tones too.

Surely you can never have too many highlighters, right? Although near enough everyone and their dog seems to praise Soft and Gentle, I felt it was too "white" for my skin tone. Then, Show Time caught my eye with it's beautiful golden undertones. You perhaps know my love for Mary Lou which is a gold toned highlight, so it's no surprise I fell for Show Time. It's iridescent shimmers are sure to glow in any light possible. The pigmentation is insane, almost blinding, and this is always the ultimate goal. I adore the design of the highlight in the pan, and I feel that the black packaging looks professional and sleek. It's a highlight which is sure to compliment near enough any skin tone to achieve the desired glow.

It did take some time to choose what I wanted, I will admit that, but I am over the moon with the items I chose in the end. They're such beautiful products which are sure to compliment everyone.

Which products do you recommend from mac for my next trip?

A Morphe 35O Lookalike Palette?!♥*

Morphe palettes, Zoeva and now Crownbrush. Such a variety of palettes with so many colours, the options are endless really. When Crownbrush offered to send me out one of their best selling palettes, I was delighted. They sent me out their 35 Colour Nude Shadow Palette* which as you can see, is full of beautiful shades, all of which are right up my alley.

All of the shades are so me - they are screaming my name. Golds, browns and warm toned oranges, what more could a girl (or guy!) wish for? One thing I happened to notice is that the warm toned oranges remind me of the ever so popular Morphe 35O palette. Each shade is different to one another; none of the browns are the same tone and the oranges all vary from shade to shade, which means no two shades are identical. There is a mixture of matte and shimmer too, creating a palette of variety. All of the shades are warm toned, and I personally like that.

I love how versatile this palette is, I can create various different eye looks. I find that at first use, the colours aren't overly pigmented - it's as though there is a layer over the shadows? - but by the second use, the colours will blow you away. Seriously. I accidentally forget how pigmented these shadows are and put way too much on my brush, but that's not a bad thing at all in my view as they blend really effortlessly and the completed look is guaranteed to always look beautiful.

I've been blown away with this palette. Course I had high expectations and it's only fair to say that they were met. If you're looking for an inexpensive palette which has lots of shadows to offer, definitely one to look in to!

*PR Samples

Crabtree & Evelyn Will Save You This Valentine♥*

Throughout Winter, my hands get incredibly dry and sore. Being blessed with the beautiful and freezing Scottish weather all year round means that due to the cold, my hands are guaranteed to end up with dry skin. This is when I decide I need to use hand cream, whether I like it or not. Crabtree & Evelyn are a brand which I see over social media with people praising their products, particularly their hand creams, and when I was contacted, I was more than ready for a challenge.

I was sent three of their Valentine's Range hand creams; Rosewater*, Evelyn Rose* and Pear and Pink Magnolia*. First thing I noticed was that they are all following a pretty, girly pink theme, and I personally adore that touch, seeing as they are for Valentines Day after all. The packaging is ever so cute, but I like how it still looks quite simple and minimal. 

Rosewater*; This hand cream has a strong, distinct scent of rose, and I know that some people are funny when it comes to rose scented items, but to be honest, it doesn't bother me too much. I do find that after the skin absorbs it, the scent isn't too noticeable. I do really like this hand cream though regardless of the scent!

Evelyn Rose*; I find the scent of this hand cream to be rather soft and delicate. It smells pleasant however I cannot quite pin point the exact smell. Although it's a delicate scent, it's also rather "clean", one which would make a marvellous scent for a candle in my opinion.

Pear and Pink Magnolia*; Out of the three, this scent is definitely the most obscure and unique one. It's got quite a sharp scent, which is more on the fruity side as opposed to a floral scent like the last two. It reminds me of some sort of scent that the Body Shop would adapt to one of their body butters or something. If I had to pick, I would say that this one is my favourite of the three purely because the scent is more likely something I would buy myself.

The best part about these hand creams is that they aren't greasy at all. A tiny blob honestly goes the longest way, and I have found that my skin absorb them in record breaking time (for a hand cream anyway!) I recently had a few dry patches on my hand from the cold, so I instantly decided to give these a bash and thankfully, my hands aren't as bad as they had been. I apply some each night before bed, and when I wake up in the morning, my hands are as smooth as can be!

My favourite thing has to of course be the cheeky tin of biscuits they sent on over too. I received the rose and white chocolate ones, however I cannot seem to find them on their site. These are delicious; they smell exactly like shortbread and taste heavenly. Not to mention how beautiful the tin is that it came in - it has quite a vintage feel to it in my opinion!

So if you want super, soft hands, then Crabtree and Evelyn are the way to go. Their hand creams come in a 25g and a 100g tube so whichever takes your fancy, go for it. I promise they won't let you down!

How do you achieve super soft hands?

*PR Samples

Oh, How Too Faced♥

Ha, bet I had you at that title! Nothing out the norm, don't worry, I'm just hitting back with another beauty post, this time with a brand I haven't ever mentioned before - Too Faced. I hadn't actually tried the brand before now, and when I got one of their La Crème Color Drenched Lip Creams for Christmas, I was practically buzzing to try it out. The adorable box was enough to draw me in to the beauty it held inside.

I can assure you now, Too Faced get a strong 10 out of 10 for their packaging - I mean, just look at it! It's absolutely stunning, and for me, I feel the gold adds an element of luxury. I like to keep it out on display in my lipstick holder - it's just too pretty to keep away! I feel that the fact Too Faced is engraved into the lipstick looks uber chic, and at the end of the day, who doesn't love a gorgeously packaged lipstick?

I have the shade Fuchsia Shock - which as you can imagine, is a vibrant, hot pink. I imagined it to be like an ordinary lipstick formula, however, it's not as expected - it's quite a thin, glossy formula. As it's quite glossy, I'm always afraid in case it smudges but it isn't actually too bad. It seems that there is a large variety of shades available so there is something for everyone!

Do you own anything from Too Faced which I should try next?