A Cheaper Alternative To Nars Creamy Concealer♥

Nars Creamy Concealer, Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer, Maybelline Fit Me and the list goes on. Near enough every beauty lover on the planet will have heard of the three concealers above because a) they're raved about and b) they've perhaps tried them. Does the Natural Collection Cover-up Cream Concealer ring any bells? No? Let me begin.

Natural Collection is a budget-brand which I admittedly overlooked for years. Everything in the range is £1.99 therefore is affordable to all. I had tried their Cover-up Stick Concealer which quickly became my go-to concealer, but I had read a few blog posts recommending the cream version. Oh my days, all I can say is wow. It's pretty darn amazing for £1.99! The coverage is pretty good, and the part which impresses me most is that it doesn't crease. When I set it (currently with the Natural Collection Pressed Powder that I recently repurchased because I love it, and no, I'm not sponsored by NC!) it doesn't smudge around or anything. Miracles can come true.

As you could probably guess, it comes with a doe foot applicator, and actually disperses the concealer well. I like to use this concealer under my eyes to cover up any dark circles, but it does work to cover up any spots or blemishes too. When I apply under my eyes, I apply in two triangle shapes, and blend with a damp makeup sponge, which blends it effortlessly. Also, I always conceal my eyelids and the concealer camouflages any present veins. It only comes in two shades, fair and medium, and although this isn't of any inconvenience to me (I use fair), it may be for darker skin tones.

Forget your £20+ concealers for a daily basis, why not switch to this Natural Collection one for only £1.99? 

Hugo Boss Deep Red♥

Typically, I am drawn towards sweet, floral perfumes. Rarely do I ever go for deep, musky scents, however, for my birthday, my mum treated me to a bottle of Hugo Boss Deep Red Eau de Parfum, which is completely different to anything else I own.

Deep, dark and mysterious. If the bottle's aesthetics itself don't give you an insight into the perfume then I don't know what will. It most certainly is not sweet nor floral; more like secretive and seductive. I believe it is unique as I don't own anything quite like it, and is rather distinctive too as it's one I'd be able to recognise. Although I happily wear it throughout the day, I would say that it's perfect for a night out. The bottle itself is thick, dark glass which is strong and sure to make anyone feel as though they run the world, honestly.

The notes of the perfume are as follow:

Top Notes: Clementine, Blood Orange and blackcurrant

Heart Notes: Freesia, Pittosporum and Ginger Flower

Base Notes: Sandalwood, Cedarwood and Vanilla.

As you can see, the notes are varied but combine together to create a sensual, exciting fragrance, and work together extremely well. Using a range of different ingredients can be risky, however, it is clear to me that Hugo Boss managed to pull it off and once again, have created a stunning fragrance. The scent lasts on the skin for a good few hours before it begins to fade, so has a good, long lasting power.

Have you tried this perfume?

Blogging Isn't All About The Numbers - And Here's Why♥

I will put my hand up and admit, when a blog post I adore and am proud of doesn't do as well as I had expected, it can be quite deflating. You gave it your all and it just seems as though the hard work just didn't pay off as you had initially thought. Admit it, it can be disappointing to see your Instagram or Twitter following numbers drop - why did they unfollow me? Do they not like my work? Yes, numbers can matter, but at the end of the day, blogging isn't all about the digits, numbers suck - in fact, it's more important to focus on the words.

As you will most likely know, for me, blogging is my space to give my opinion on products. I just sit down at my laptop and allow the creative juices flow, and the words just come naturally. I am a wordy person, I like to write, I like words. Blogging gives me the space to write to my potential about my new lipstick that I'm loving or an eyeshadow palette that I'm lusting over without boring my friends because people who like words will read blogs. Blogs are definitely for people who like words whereas in my opinion, YouTube videos are for those who are visual. 

But, what am I getting at here? Sure, there's nothing more amazing and rewarding to see my pageviews increase, or my Instagram likes increase, or my Twitter following increase, but if they don't, then it's not the end of the world. I don't like numbers, in fact, numbers just aren't my thing, it's words > numbers, much like it's quality > quantity. As long as I'm happy putting my words to paper (or in this case, a word document), then that's all that matters. I blog because I love it, I love writing and I love beauty. Not because I'm obsessed with numbers and I want to become the next big Zoella. No. Blogging for me is personal, and nothing else.

Watching your little blog grow in terms of views is exciting, but don't be expecting miracles overnight, it takes time, much like it takes time to grow as a person - you don't just go from 4 foot to 5 foot within 12 hours do you? But, what is my actual argument here? Enjoy the blogging journey and experience. Why? Because if you're busy enjoying blogging, then you'll be too busy to even take any notice of the numbers. Your passion will shine through in your content, and people will fall in love with your blog that way. 

Lose yourself in the words, not the numbers, and watch as you fall completely in love with blogging.

New In From: Mac♥

I have spent so much money this Summer. I'm not entirely sure how because I'm such a saver but I've definitely done myself enough damage for the rest of the year. I went into mac one day as I still had some money on my gift voucher to spend (justifiable). I took forever to actually pick items because I find mac stores quite intimidating. The staff didn't hound me or make me feel pressurized to buy anything, no, I think I'm always just a bit overwhelmed by the large selection of makeup, especially when I already own so much myself. Eventually though, I narrowed it down, and walked away, satisfied, with two eyeshadows and a lipstick, swinging my mac bag around as I went to hit the other shops.

Star Violet || £13.50  - I have most certainly dived right out of my comfort zone here with this shade. A deep purple-plum. But it's beautiful. It swatched so effortlessly on my hand and the colour was just beaming right at me. As you know I tend to stick with my golds and browns but this time I decided to push myself so that I would buy a more adventurous shade. It will not be one that lies at the back of my eyeshadow drawer I can assure you that. During this upcoming A/W, I am determined to make this shade my shade. I have already used it with a gold shade (more to come on that) and I used it as the outer corner shade and I just loved how it looked against the other gold shadow as well as my blue eyes. It just blended so easily and didn't leave any harsh lines. As it's a glitter, I was prepared for the worst - fallout - but I experienced very little to none. 

Amber Lights || £13.50 - Would it be a true makeup shop if I didn't buy a gold eyeshadow? No, no it wouldn't. Whilst browsing at the eyeshadow section, Amber Lights cause my eye. It was just sitting there, shining away, almost as if it were calling my name - I swear it must have been. It's a gorgeous gold-copper shade and when I swatched it, I couldn't get over how stunning the colour was, not to mention the insane pigmentation. It feels buttery, not chalky, and it applies so well to my eyelid (I use a flat brush and apply it dry, I could only imagine how blinding it must be if applied wet). I used it one time in conjunction with Star Violet (above) and the two colours work together really well; even though they are quite contrasting. Much like the previous shade, I haven't had much fallout with it either. 

I really like the simplistic packaging that the shadows come in. At the moment I keep them both in their boxes (because new makeup needs to be kept in their packaging for so long obviously!) but I will eventually remove them. The packaging is sturdy and I know it'll be safe whilst in with my other eye makeup. I haven't tried these with primer (mainly due to the fact I don't own any eye primer #badbblogger), and they last for hours - I can only imagine their staying power with a primer!

Diva || £16.50 - You may remember my love affair with Mehr (read here) and it's never really ended. I picked up Diva as I thought that it'd be a perfect A/W berry shade, and damn I can already tell it will be. It's a matte formula, and I was a bit concerned that it'd be really drying (I've heard that Ruby Woo is overly drying and it's a matte) but I don't find this one to be too bad. As it's such a dark and bold colour, I try to apply with a lip liner just to get a precise finish. I wore it out shopping one day and I even ate a Chinese and it did not budge at all. Therefore, the lasting power is beyond amazing. It looks stunning on, and I know for a fact that it would suit such a wide range of skin tones.

I must say, I'm delighted with my choices. It may have taken me a while but I am a satisfied customer once again with the beautiful and high quality products. The lipstick looks very classy sitting in my lipstick holder for sure! (You can read more about what I bought last time at mac here).

What are your favourite mac products?