SP BEAUTY

In my opinion make up brushes and sponges are essential to creating a really flawless make up look and after testing out my fair share of make up tools I like to think I have found some treasures. For my base I have been non stop using my Real Techniques Complexion Sponge, I find that this, when damp can buff my foundation into the skin like no other, I don't get any streaks and my foundation doesn't sit on my skin horribly. Baking with this is also super easy as it has a tapered end which gets right into the corners of your under eye area. I now have 4 of these 2 which I use every day for various steps in my routine and then 2 back ups! For contouring and bronzing I use my Real Techniques Contour Brush, this is super fluffy and the perfect size to chisel out those Kim K cheekbones, almost! I haven't found a brush better than this for bronzing up my face and adding glow into my cheeks. Using my Sixplus concealer brush to blend in my concealer create a fla

 After receiving some gorgeous gifts from Kiko for Christmas, the quality of which I was seriously impressed with, I decided to bite the bullet and order a load of their best selling products. I am beyond excited to have a play with all of these goodies and I am planning on doing more in depth reviews of them all after I've tested them all out, so watch this space! First of all my eye was caught by the "Smart Lip Pencils" They were on sale for £1.20! I had heard that people were comparing these to Macs lipliners and at a tenth of the cost I decided to try them out for myself and I bought 5! These shades all look gorgeous and on first swatch they feel really creamy with really good pigmentation! I think that I will get away with wearing these on their own as they don't feel at all drying, I especially love the shade 710, it looks like my perfect berry toned autumnal shade! I then stumbled across this Dark Circle Tone Eraser, again on sale this

I have been loving these two products recently for adding a bit of colour to my eyes, either a small amount on the lid or just under the bottom lash line. I think it really brightens the eyes and can add a lot to the make up. I obviously don't want to throwback to 2007 when it was all about the bright blue lids which I wouldn't consider the most desirable 2016 make up look, however a little bit of colour adds some brightness and an exciting edge without looking over the top.  My Urban Decay Shadow Box is the only non-nude shadow palette I own and I think it has the perfect selection of shades to use when I want to experiment but still look human! This Kiko Double Glam Duo Pencil is gorgeous when smoked out under the lash line and still looks really natural. Lots of love, Son x

I have become super lazy with my nails recently and have been wearing the same two shades on repeat for about 3 months now!  The first, my all time favourite, the one I whip out every time I'm not sure what colour to go for - Rimmel Salon Pro Polish in the shade Red Award . I have a feeling that this might be discontinued but I have made it my mission to seek out the last few bottles and purchase them all!! Its a classic berry red shade that looks stunning on the nails and this formula is amazing as it lasts ages without chipping and looks super glossy. I had never really been a fan of grey on the nails until this year when I decided to give it another go, and I have been converted. This Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in the shade Chai is the perfect grey. It's cool toned but with a hint of blue undertones meaning it doesn't look stark against your skin and the formula of these polishes is always on point, this one is no exception. Finally my base coat/ s

After youtuber Kathleen Lights expressed her love for this post shave balm used as a primer the whole youtube/blogosphere was whipped into a frenzy! Of course I had to follow suit and luckily my brother had a spare one of these to hand as it is his fave post shave moisturiser. After being seriously confused as to why I would want to use this as a primer my brother kindly let me have his extra bottle of this to test out for myself. My first impressions of this were that it is a lot runnier than I expected and has a very manly smell, neither of which put me off in the slightest.  On applying this I noticed how quickly it sunk into the skin leaving a really smooth, moisturised finish with almost a slightly tacky feel to it. I found that this made it so much easier than it normally is to apply my concealer and foundation as it just blended straight into the skin.  My under eye concealer and powder also sat perfectly without creasing or settling into lines which is usually a co

Recently my everyday make up has been pretty basic if not completely bare, I've been pretty busy with school and more often than not I have been choosing the extra 15 minutes in bed rather than putting on my face. However on the days that I do, these are the products I have been reaching for. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in the shade Beige, this is light but has good coverage and is really moisturising. It is easy to blend and creates a really smooth flawless base. Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer, again super lightweight on the skin but covers everything, even my pesky under eye circles. This is one of the only concealers that I have found to be moisturising enough for my often dry under eyes and also it never creases.  Mac Quad, my most used and loved eyeshadow of all time has to be Macs All That Glitters. It's really wearable everyday and looks amazing lightly dusted over the eyelids to create a gorgeous rose-goldy glow.  Maybelline, The Colossal Volu

The Nars collaboration with famous photographer Steven Klein had me drooling and I knew that I had to get hold of at least one thing from the collection. The outer packaging of this red lip trio is stunning, coming in a printed box with Steven Kleins photography and then a small black embossed hard box. Housing 3 mini, true red lip products all extremely wearable. The Velvet Matte lip pencil in the shade Mysterious Red has become a handbag essential, it's matte, lasts all day and doesn't crack or smear around the face. The lippy in the shade Flamenco again is so beautiful, it is a really moisturising formula and can be applied thinly for a sheer wash of colour or applied straight from the bullet can create a really classic opaque lip. Finally the liner in the shade Misdemeanor, this has been my go-to liner for any red lip as it creates the perfect base and makes sure that the lipstick on top doesn't bleed over the line. It can also be worn on its own and lasts a

If you have been a follower of my blog for a while you will know that I have been smitten with this foundation for over 2 years now! Originally just owning the shade Barcelona which I fell head over heels in love with. Its formula being perfect for my dry/ combination skin type and its coverage being exactly what I desire in a foundation (Medium-Full blendable). The only down side was that Barcelona was my Summer shade, too light for my skin tone in Winter, meaning I couldn't wear it all year round. I fixed this dilemma this Christmas by adding the shade Santa Fe to my collection which means that I can wear this foundation continuously throughout the year and witch it up when I get a tan! This is definitely a pricey product at £30 but I always think that a good foundation is worth the splurge as it's the basis of an overall flawless make up look.  I am definitely a happy bunny and won't need to be adding to my foundation collection any time soon! Lots of love

After the whole "baking" hype in the blogosphere and seeing so many people raving about this powder I just couldn't stop myself buying it.  Straight off the bat I fell in love with this translucent powder, accompanied by a pretty hefty price tag of £29 my expectations had been set high and were not disappointed. It is seriously finely milled, meaning when applied over foundation it will be almost undetectable. Also I find that it sets my base, whilst still letting my natural glow shine through. Unlike a lot of loose setting powders, this one doesn't come with an SPF which I much prefer as it looks great in photographs and you wont get that awful white flashback with flash photography. I find that this really just perfects the skin, whether baking with it or just simply using it as an overall setting powder. I use this either with a wet Real Techniques Complexion Sponge and then sweep away excess with a large fluffy brush to create a seriously flawless base,

With the festive comes eating and lots of it, meaning my face and entire body just don't quite look as sculpted as they did before I started gorging on the mince pies and chocolate. This is when make up can be a really useful skill at creating illusions, making the face appear slimmer.  Concealing- Using my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in the shade Light (which is a couple of shades lighter than my natural skin tone) I create a triangle under the eyes to brighten and conceal my dark circles whilst highlighting my under eye area. I love this product as it is super creamy and high coverage without being at all cakey. It also lasts all day on the skin. Setting with powder- To ensure my concealer doesn't crease I often use my MAC Mineralise Skin Finish Natural in the shade medium plus. It has really light coverage and is super finely milled so doesn't get heavy on the skin and keeps my under eyes looking bright and flawless. Contouring- This is when

As we have waved goodbye to 2015 and welcomed 2016 the slate has been wiped clean and we are all invited to spark the desire to better ourselves. However I believe that the whole "New Year New Me" saying is truly outdated and the new year is not to completely alter who we are as human beings but a chance to set achievable aspirations and open new doors for ourselves. I like the idea of writing my resolutions in a blog post and then looking back on them at the end of the year in order to see what I have been able to achieve in 365 days. So here are my 3 (very achievable) goals for 2016. 1) Save Money - I definitely fall foul of flittering my money away on useless products that have no end use and sit in my cupboards and drawers collecting dust. I stumbled across this idea "The Penny Jar" and thought that it could be a really good way of saving some money without locking myself away completely. Starting from the first of Jan I put 1p in the jar, 2p on the