Hello there lovelies! I think know I have a problem. I really need to stop watching Vivianna's videos and reading her blog (here and here!) because I am obsessed and want everything she owns! So here I am again with something I saw her talk and write about - the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in the shade Apricot Shimmer 02. There was no need for me to buy another lip product, I already own far too many, but I just couldn't resist! Clarins is without a doubt one of my favourite beauty brands and after hearing so many good things about this product I thought it would be rude not to give it a go! So, what do I think? Well firstly, it smells absolutely gorgeous. It's really quite sweet and tastes like caramel, which is definitely not a bad thing in my books and the texture is extremely smooth and silky. It actually claims that it 'nourishes, repairs and protects' and makes lips visibly more beautiful day by day and, whilst I don't know just yet (I've only had it for a few days) about the repairing or beautifying results, it definitely does leave your lips feeling moisturised and hydrated. It also gives the lips a gorgeous (very slight) apricot sheen with no stickiness at all, which is always a good thing with lip products. At £16 a pop it's definitely not the cheapest lip product out there, but it feels luxurious and so far does what it says on the tin. So if you're after something really nourishing and aren't afraid to spend a little hard earned cash then I would definitely recommend it. 

I'm now so close to buying the Caudalie Beuaty Elixir that I've also heard Vivianna (and pretty much everyone else) talking about - she just makes everthing sound so good and it's so bad for my bank account! However I did just buy a MAC Fix+ and I don't know how much spray my face can take, so I may have to wait for that one, but I'll keep you posted! Off to get my hair cut again this afternoon in my ongoing effort to have healthy, flowing locks - I think I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Hope you're all having a great Friday and looking forward to the weekend, speak again soon and bye bye!

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

My make-up brush collection is unashamedly ever-growing. It's not huge by any means, but whenever I'm in the vicinity of them I seem to be incapable of just walking away. A good few months ago I bought one from the Real Techniques range by Samantha Chapman, one of the YouTube make-up artists I regularly watch, and I was really impressed by it. I bought the Stippling Brush to use with my foundation and found that not only was the quality of it exceptional, but it worked fantastically well.

So, when I heard the news that they were going to be selling them in selected Boots stores across the country I got a bit (too) excited. I never actually got round to checking whether or not the store nearest me was going to be stocking them, but one day happened to come across them and, naturally, had to buy them. Now they did actually have two sets to choose from; The 'Core Collection' and the 'Starter Set' (along with a selection of single brushes), and I was quite pleased with myself when I only walked away with one.

Real Techniques Core Collection

Sigma Large Contour Brush

Real Techniques Contour Brush

I went for the Core Collection, a selection of brushes mainly for base make-up, including the Buffing Brush, Detailer Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush and the Contour Brush. And I LOVE THEM. I've started using the Buffing Brush to apply my foundation and, whilst I do still love the Stippling Brush for this, I find that using the two for different types of foundation works wonders.


My favourite brush from the Core Collection is the Contour Brush which I use for applying blusher or a contouring powder. I do still mainly use my Stila Large Contour Brush for, surprise surprise, contouring, but find the Contour Brush (how many times am I going to say contour in this sentence) perfect for blusher. Because it's quite small it means you don't end up with massively rosy cheeks and are able to precisely apply the colour where you want it.


I will definitely be investing in some more from the range and will most probably go for the other set when I'm next in Boots. At £21.99 for four great quality brushes, I would highly recommend them, especially when make-up brushes can be a great deal more expensive from other brands. Take a look at the selection they have on the Boots website and let me know if you have any of these brushes and what you think of them.


Also, go over to the pixiwoo website for a list of all stockists of Real Techniques brushes. 


Hope you're having a lovely day!

Image from google.com

 I love watching YouTube videos on make-up and beauty and find you can get a lot of tips and tricks about how to recreate some beautiful looks. One of my favourites to watch is Tanya Burr (visit her blog - www.tanyaburr.co.uk), or pixi2woo, and a recent video she has done is on the Tom Ford Violet Blonde campaign (watch the video here). 

I don't normally attempt the looks that any of these YouTube gurus do but I was heading out that night and had just watched the tutorial for this look so thought I'd give it a go. The look was inspired by the Tom Ford 'Violet Blonde' advert featuring Lara Stone, and had a focus on deep, vampy lips and a sheeny, wet-look eye. I adore the look as a whole, and especially love the eye make-up because the sheen added on top of the eye-shadow allows it to crease and look worn-in in a gorgeously sexy way. Not saying that I look at all like that haha, but I was relatively pleased with the results and, having not used a single product the same as Tanya did in her video, I think the effect was remarkably similar. The lip colour is more true to life in the top left hand picture than it is in the bottom right. It was definitely a deep berry colour, not like the more pinky tone that the right hand picture is showing.

The lip products I used were; first the colour 'Cranberry Cream' from a Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick Palette, followed by a Pixi 'Lip Booster' in the colour 'Sindri' (No. 8), to give it a bit more depth and a deeper purple colour. 

You can get an impression of the sheen on the eyelid from the picture at the bottom, I just used a clear lipgloss to do this but did remove a bit of it before going out because I think if I hadn't my eye make-up would have been non-existent by the end of the night. I used the colours 'Sidecar' and 'Hustle' from the Urban Decay Naked Palette (I'm sure you've heard all about it!) and a BM Beauty pigment in 'Her Majesty' to achieve the pinky tone (which isn't really visible in the pictures). 

Apologies for looking a bit strange in the photos, it was dark and the lighting was not good, but I really wanted to get a picture of the look before going out. Hope you enjoyed this post and talk soon. Have a fabulous evening!