First Impressions | Make Up Revolution, MUA & Wilko Premium Brushes

Today's blog post is all about a few new beauty items I stumbled my way across this week. I've yet to use any of these products so far, this is more of a first impressions write up.

On a quick trip into Wilkinson's (now re named Wilko) in the week, a friend and I discovered in their little cosmetics section they have a range of make up brushes at seriously affordable prices. At first glance they look very similar to the Real Techniques range with their black and gold colour scheme. I think the look of brushes is very classic and simple, easy to identify which is also helped by the name of each brush in the central black panel of each handle. I decided on one of the eyeshadow brushes and selected the "Smokey eye duo brush which is a double ended brush; one brush for eyeshadow application/blending and the other slanted brush for eyeliner/brows. This brush retails at £3.

Wilko's also now has an Essence cosmetics stand too, so after much decision making, I went for one of their lipsticks (yeah like I need more...). The price of their lipsticks are under £3, which is a nice affordable amount, and each lipstick appears very pigmented. These lip colours however are not 100% matte - they have more of a sheer finish to them making it easy to build up the colour if you wish. Now Autumn is upon us, the darker plum colours begin to stand out that little bit more, so shade 09 Wear Berries! was the lipstick purchased. In comparison to Mac's lipsticks, some of the cheaper options available do have the tendency to feel almost 'waxy' however Essence's lipsticks feel quite creamy on the lips and also have a nice scent to them.

Make Up Revolution has at last found its way into our local Superdrug and I must say I am very impressed with this cosmetic range! It is nice to have another brand available that could really rival MUA, Barry M, Sleek etc.. Having heard many positive reviews about various products from this range, I picked up their Bronzer Shimmer Highlight pan for the autumn/winter months. My current bronzer that I use for contour is slightly too orange for my complexion so this one looks perfect. Am slowly moving away from bronzey looks to focusing more on buildable contouring which is a lot of fun and I am hoping this product will help with this. The fact it contains 3 different shades incorporated with shimmer/highlighter is fantastic, and for just £4 too, what a bargain!

Lastly, a new eyeshadow palette was on the agenda. I'd been eyeing up the MUA Heaven and Earth palette for goodness knows how long (already own their Undress Me Too palette) but the H&E shades appear ever so slightly darker and also the majority contain shimmer, meaning this selection of 12 shadows will be perfect for evening looks. 

Have you any new products ready for the chillier months?

Cam xo

New Purchases | Shopping HAUL

Over the past month or so I've acquired various new beauty and clothing bits and bobs. Remaining birthday money has played its part in delving into the sale rails in New Look and a couple of new Topshop nail polishes have left me one happy bunny.

First up, are the TOPSHOP NAILS polishes (£5.00 each). I don't know about you, but I really quite like the variety Topshop offer for their nail range. About a month ago I was browsing before work and decided to treat myself to two new colours. RELAPSE, a hot pink, and EXPOSED, which is an off-white almost grey shade. Both look great on, particularly Exposed. I usually apply two coats for both of these polishes but Exposed required 3 coats for a true matte finish.

It's been a while since I bought new footwear, particularly practical every day shoes. My old canvas 'Converse'-esque trainers had splits down the sides so therefore this meant purchasing a new pair of canvas pumps that would be comfortable enough to wear on my Saturdays going to football. I spotted a simple pair of white DUNLOP trainers in Sports Direct a few weeks ago, and for just £9.99, they are a bargain. They are very comfortable and I really like them.

Next up, it's on to clothing. TU Clothing for SAINSBURYS do some brilliant pieces and luckily our local store in town stocks the most amazing quality jumpers. On the website I'd spied a super cute fluffy jumper with bright cat face design on the front and luckily it was in stock in town. This past week there was 25% off all clothing in the TU range so this jumper only cost me £15.00 (down from £20.00).

As previously mentioned, the sale rails in NEW LOOK have proved great for once. Whenever I've stepped in to their shop before the clothes on offer haven't really jumped out at me, but this time I managed to pick up some great bargains. (From L-R) :

L: This super cute royal blue scoop neck top, with its bat wing style sleeves and pretty details at the bottom is probably my favourite buy recently. It looks gorgeous and something you would also easily find in Topshop for probably double (or triple) the price. The fabric isn't too heavy so it sits right on your frame and hangs very nice too. I think the original price of this was £19.99 but I got my mitts on this for just £12.00.

M: I have a big love for floral day time shirts with peter pan style collars, and am delighted with this next purchase. My mum has always said that green is a colour that works well on me, and this shade of green with the flowers scattered all over it is no exception. It is just a really pretty day time top that can be teamed easily with some jeans and pair of ballerina flats. The price of this one was £9.00, reduced down from £14.99.

R: The final top I picked up is something totally different from what I would usually wear. Long floaty sleeves are not usually my preferred choice on a shirt however this blue and green flowered one is so pretty, I couldn't pass it by. My wardrobe on a whole needed a little updating and this top will hopefully be a great new addition. This bargain was £8.00 instead of £17.99.

Last on my list is another New Look sale piece! I was in Canterbury yesterday and managed a quick browse while my other half was buying a new phone and found my eyes drawn to a pair of soft denim skinny jeans. I'd been on the hunt for a nice quality pair of jeans with a slight turn up for ages and am so pleased that these were on sale. Down to £10.00 from £19.99 and a size 8 too (that is always a good day when I fit in to size 8 New Look jeans!)

Finally... My last product to talk about was a little treat from my dad. It is the RIMMEL LONDON Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara in Extreme Black. A nice surprise as I was in need of a new mascara and this saves me forking out a few pounds for a new one! I've used this a few times since receiving it and so far, so good. I really like it. Will probably be writing a more in depth post on this soon.

Cam xo

Playing catch up | Summer, Graduation, Birthdays and Shopping Haul

It appears I've neglected my little blog over the past month or so... Busy weeks working, weekends meeting up with friends and chilling out enjoying the lovely summer sunshine has meant not much time has been spent at home or on my laptop which leaves the blog looking a little empty! I promise to return to doing more posts more often. :-)

So catching up over the last 8 weeks since my last post... I've turned another year older waving goodbye to 21 to saying hello to 22, enjoyed several evenings out for dinner and drinks with new friends from work as well as a cute little date night out with Alex to a restaurant on the seafront a couple of weeks ago. The seafront regatta also took place a week ago which involved music, fairground rides, stalls and boat races in the harbour. Luckily in south east England we've had the pleasure of a heat wave recently which has been perfect for all of the outdoor activities taking place.

Alex's Graduation took place at the Cathedral two weeks ago now, and what an absolutely wonderful day that was! It was fantastic, such a proud occasion for everyone. The weather was perfect, although slightly too hot (31 degree heat, not breeze, phewf!!), and Alex looked so smart in his graduation robes and mortarboard. It was a morning ceremony, 10:30am, which meant the celebrations could be spread out throughout the day with a late lunch and drinks following by the market square and later down next to the marina.

Finally, I finally got to meet up with my friend Grace. We arranged a little shopping trip to Bluewater shopping centre and it was great to meet up and spend the day together!

Our first stop was Topshop and the stand full of brightly coloured nail polishes caught our eyes almost immediately. One of the first shades that I picked up was the one I decided on pretty much there and then - a pretty icey pale blue which is unlike any other nail polish I own. Also neither of us own a Topshop polish so thought we'd buy one each. Grace chose a green polish to go nicely with her summery dresses on her holiday soon. :)

The store Apricot is one I'd browsed as a range in Dorothy Perkins but hadn't realised they had a separate store until yesterday. There happened to be a sale going on so we stepped inside to have a nosey.  On one of the sale racks there were some pretty tops reduced from £19 to £10 and I picked up a red and white patterned top with floaty sleeves. Teamed with jeans and a pair of cute flat ballerinas this would be a perfect summer evening outfit or could even go into autumn for day time with jeans and boots. 

Grace picked up a Sleek eyebrow pencil in Boots and our final purchases occurred on the MAC counter... Too many lipstick swatches later, mostly of pink lipsticks (I have a serious problem when it comes to fushia lips, love them!) I finally decided on a deep berry pink lipstick in the Retro Matte formula: All Fired Up. I adore bold lips for night time and there seems to be something about a statement matte lip against simple makeup that I just find so appealing. It will definitely be one that will be perfect for the autumn/winter as I have found my other bright fushia - Girl About Town - to be more of a day time lipstick. (Just my personal preference).

So there's my quick round up of the past couple of months! "Back to usual business" next weekend though as the football season starts again so there is a lot to look forward to! I may also write a little blog post at the end of next weekend as we are invited to the wedding reception of one of my lovely friends from University so there may be a "What We Wore - Outfit of the Evening" blog appearing! 

Camilla xo

Our mini holiday - To Telford, Birmingham and back

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you will know that last week I took a little break away with my boyfriend to Telford from June 2nd to June 5th. While a little break away to the UK midlands doesn't set the world alight for many people, for us it was just what we needed. With a busy summer full of work approaching my other half and I decided it was somewhat necessary to take a mini holiday up north to Shropshire to pay his nan a visit and have some time away from south east Kent.

We travelled up on Monday leaving shortly before midday on the train and our journey was going great and running so smoothly up until our connection between London and Birmingham. The train we were on suffered a technical fault meaning we were delayed for over an hour, therefore missing our connecting Arriva Trains Wales train from Birmingham Intl over to Telford, so we had to catch the one an hour later admist a lot of rushing about.

If you know me, you will know I absolutely detest having to rush and run for public transport, it really sets my anxiety on edge because I have such a weird issue with timings etc and prefer to be somewhere loads of time before I need to be. Anyhow, we arrived in Telford at 17:00 instead of 16:00 and then finally reached Alex's nan's house by 18:00. Telford confuses me because even though Alex's nan lives in a small town 40 minutes away by bus (but only 10-15 minutes by car) it is still classed as Telford, and Telford is called "the town centre". It baffles me because everything is so spread out but never mind - I'll get used to it one day!

Our first evening in Newport (yes there is another one instead of just the Welsh town or one located on Isle of Wight!) consisted of a few drinks at our "local" pub called The Railway Tavern whenever we visit; it's only 5 minutes down the road on the high street and is a fairly modern establishment. Comfy chairs and sofas were scattered and several TV screens adorned the walls - it reminded us of another local pub we use at home so it was nice to feel comfortable.

Tuesday day time consisted of a day trip into Telford for shopping and lunch along with a walk in the park situated behind the shopping centre. Luckily Tuesday was the driest day of the lot whilst we were there which helped and enabled us to have our little venture outside. We found a LUSH shop so I had a nosey inside whilst Alex waited outside the door way. At first I was quite excited because a lot of people who I follow on Twitter and Instagram harp on about Lush products, but if I'm honest, I didn't really like it! This shocked me but it must have been the mix of aromas that circled the shop - too sickly sweet for my liking. It gave me a headache so this forced a speedy exit!

That evening, after a huge curry meal followed by apple pies and custard for pudding, we took a walk through Newport, with Alex deciding to take me through a little housing estate which led to the other end of town as the only part of Newport I'd previously seen on our 2 visits before were his nan's road and the main high street! The weather remained dry which was good for our little walk (to help burn off some dinner calories too!) before deciding on a different pub this time called The Pheasant for a couple of drinks.

Wednesday was our last full day up north. Originally the plan was to visit Chester but we decided that was too far and too much hassle to get to so chose a day out in Birmingham instead, to visit the Bullring. I'd never been to Birmingham before so this made a change but it was quite a good day. We don't get these opportunities often so it's nice to do different things while we are able to. Alex decided on arrival that he'd let himself in for a bad afternoon because it was obviously a shopping centre and he knows what I'm like, however it was him who ended up buying more than I did! I'm not the sort of person to buy clothes etc for the sake of buying something. Alex bought some new shoes in TK Maxx which were a nice blue canvas type of shoe, as well as some new tops and a jumper in Primark, amongst a few other little bits.

All in all it was a nice day out, actually quite relaxing and the evening proved the same really. More drinks in the Railway plus the England game that was on tv before heading back home for sleep ahead of our early morning wake up call to head back home to Kent.

It was so lovely to spend a few days away from our usual little routines and I hate that the time flew by for the duration we were there. That always happens, doesn't it? Time goes slow when you're at home and in your own little world but as soon as you step away from that bubble and go elsewhere the time flashes before your eyes!

Mac Creme Cup

If you know me, you'll know I love a bright lip. In my current growing lipstick collection there's a variety of brighter colours for example Rimmel London Kiss of Life and popping pinks by Mac (Girl About Town and Candy Yum Yum) as well as Mac Brave Red. There's something about the bolder colours that seem to make my lips look really nice and defined whilst complimenting lighter eye makeup looks. I do own some every day neutral rosey pinks which are pretty and a couple of nudes but the nudey shades are 1) too brown for my skin tone and 2) smell horrible (Rimmel I'm looking at you. Please sort out the old fashioned smell out!)

As a result of the bad nude lipstick experience, I've put off buying a light lipstick for absolutely ages, preferring to team any fairly light natural day time eye looks with my favoured bright colours. If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen them as I'm always wearing them! After much research for quite a number of weeks, reading through blogs and comparisons of a number of different MAC lipsticks, I decided it was time to take the jump to buy a subtle day time pink. 

With pay day just a few days away I decided it wouldn't hurt the bank balance too much if I picked up a new one today. So after I'd been to the cinema I popped into Fenwicks to have a nosey at the lipstick counter and decide on one. Creme Cup by MAC is one of the names that is so obviously popular in the bloggersphere, and was also a shade recommended by a few friends too. I read numerous blogs comparing it to Angel, Please Me and Hue and in the end decided to pluck up the courage and go for Creme Cup. I swatched it at the MAC counter today next to Please Me but the latter was a matte whereas Creme Cup's Cremesheen finish looked a lot more pleasant. Nothing wrong with matte finishes though, Candy Yum Yum is a matte lippie that I own (which I wore today) and I do like a matte lip!

I am super excited to try this new colour out, pairing it with both natural and more smokey dark eye looks for night time. I have heard that as it is a cremesheen, it only lasts for a couple of hours so needs to be re applied throughout the day but I do that with all my lipsticks anyway so this shouldn't pose a problem.

Obviously at £15 a pop they are by no means cheap but the thing with these is I view them as an investment and a set of lipsticks that I am certainly going to get my wear out of.

Dove Summer Glow Moisturising Lotion

I've always been one to love the sun and the warm weather but hate getting burnt and my skin is quite pale and takes ages to naturally tan in the summer months. We've had some warmer brighter weather here in the south east of the UK over the past few days and it's been so nice and pleasant. Given the chance I love nothing more than chilling out on a sun lounger basking in the sun's rays but even after some many hours in the heat my skin doesn't get much colour to it which I hate.

Another thing is fake tans have always been a thing that scare me, the fear of turning orange like a satsuma is not fun and therefore fake tans are a product I usually steer well clear of. On the odd occasion in the past (sixth form leavers balls etc) I've dabbled with self tanners to give myself a bit of extra colour - notably the Johnson's one in the yellow bottle - and looking back my sixth form leavers ball I was kind of orange for, whereas the application of a bit of tanner for my boyfriend's leaver's night was much more subtle.

After a day in the glorious weather today at the beach with my best friend, we had a nose in Superdrug and stumbled upon this Dove Summer Glow lotion which has a gradual self tanner included in it. It was on offer at half price of £2.48 for a 250ml bottle so I thought 'Bargain' and have opted to try it, in the "Fair to Medium skin" option. The thing about gradual tanners is they tend to give a more natural looking tan coverage for my skin opposed to an instant tan which is often a bit much and usually always tends to end up in me looking like my legs have been tangoed! Which isn't a good look.

A plus point for this product is its a moisturizer too to help keep skin soft and smooth which is great plus it smells fresh too! Not that horrible biscuit smell most fake tans give off. I've applied this to my legs tonight so excited to see what results it leads to if I apply it more than once this week for a natural looking summery glow.

Do you have a favourite self tanner?

And now you're gonna believe us... The Whites are going up!

Saturday May 10th 2014. What a day. A day that will live long in the memories of many a Dover Athletic fan. The reason?

We got PROMOTED!

Over 1,000 of us packed into Stonebridge Road's Swanscombe End to see our beloved team take on our bitter rivals Ebbsfleet United in the Skrill South Promotion Final, not knowing whether come 5 o'clock it'd end in tears good or bad. Go with no expectation was the thought in my head - I felt the same way as I did prior to our semi final win at Sutton; "Whatever happens is a bonus". But it was fate, at the end of the day, that it would be Dover vs Ebbsfleet in this final. Way back at the beginning of the season, Whites fans predicted this one, even when it looked like our playoff hopes were dashed - several times - we crept into that 5th place spot and took the bull by the horns. All the way to the final showdown in a winner takes all clash.

Glorious sunshine on arrival at Stonebridge Road

Over 1,000 travelling Dover fans in the uncovered Swanscombe End

It was always going to be a single goal that would decide the winner - there were no doubts on that. Just which way it would go we weren't too sure. The first half wasn't pretty by any means, but the team kept compact enough to shut out the Fleet's chances and we went into half time still 0-0, with us travelling fans drenched from the rain that had been forecast; the dark clouds rolled in and the rain struck with a vengeance by 3:30pm. We were soaked but our moods weren't dampened.

We got drenched but it was worth it in the end!

We all know the team plays better away than they do at Crabble so any nerves that still remained going into the second half soon disappeared when our boys took the lead just over 10 minutes into the half thanks to Nathan Elder. Cue delirium in the away end! Bonkers. Absolute madness. I don't think any of us couldn't believe we were leading after such a poor first half but the team then pushed on for another - various chances came and went (some closer than others) and the Fleet players themselves tried to conjure up a way of getting back into the tie. That was to no avail as our goalie ("England's number 1" we sing, in reference to his England C Squad call ups) Mitch Walker pulled off some fantastic saves to stem the hosts and keep our dreams very much alive.

The four minutes that were added on felt like the longest of our lives. Tears were flowing before the final whistle and as the referee blew for full time, the celebrations began. In the pouring rain, once again getting drenched, but we didn't care. We'd won the promotion final and we were going up! Back to the Conference Premier (one league below League Two) where we'll now face teams like Bristol Rovers (HA!) next season. It's just incredible to think that three weeks ago we all thought the playoff dream was over, but the team has done so wonderfully well and you can tell what it means to all of our squad, the management, the fans. Everybody is ecstatic.

WE ARE GOING UP SAY WE ARE GOING UP!

So on to next season now and it should be an exciting one; lots of new clubs, grounds and places to visit and hopefully a few weekenders chucked in from time to time as well. I also hope to continue my writing for the club - getting the privilege to write the match report for the promotion final and have us actually win the final is probably one of the proudest moments yet. It certainly beats having to report on our promotion final heartache from last year...!

"Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Who put the ball in the Ebbsfleet net? Super Nathan Elder! Super super Nath, super super Nath, super super Nath, Super Nathan Elder!"

Barry M Gelly Hi Shines and Mattes

The number of Barry M nail paints in my collection is slowly growing thanks to a 3 for 2 purchase on all products in the brand on Friday afternoon. Huckleburry (a light pastel blue) and Pomegranate (a deep pink/red) were the two I chose after reading a couple of reviews online and I also picked up a matte paint in shade Vanilla.

 

Lychee is probably my favourite nail polish for every day but the matte Vanilla is one I'd had my eye on for a while; several people posted images on Instagram recently over the past few weeks wearing a taupey-purple almost mushroom colour on their nails which looked so pretty and therefore spurred me on to find a similar shade myself. A quick search on google led me to the Barry M Vanilla. This particular polish is a taupe-nude with significant purple undertones, as opposed to Models Own Utopia that has more silver/white undertones.

Out of the three that I picked up, Huckleburry is probably my favourite. An absolutely gorgeous pastel/sky blue, it is such a pretty shade for the spring and summer. I applied this to my nails on Friday evening, it needed two coats as the first was quite thin and streaky, but with two coats it set lovely. One word of warning is it is quite bright, a fun light shade for the summery months though.

Third up is Pomegranate. A deep pink/red, it is more on the pink side than red - a lot like Raspberry in the usual BM range but with more pink pigmentation, kind of like a berry wine colour. Sadly the camera picks up the red tones in it more. Haven't yet applied this to my nails but am excited to try it. Having seen a few photos on other blogs it does look gorgeous, particularly as it is a Gelly nail paint and therefore will dry with the shiny "Gelly" top. Whilst it's not a light pastel for spring or summer, the deeper nail polishes are perfect for evenings out.

Favourite nail polishes?