10 under £10.

This post is for all of you coupon clipping, points collecting, freebie grabbing cheap skates who realise that a decimal point all the way to the right doesn’t always equate quality. 

So if pay day seems a hella long way away but you need a carb/cheese free pick me up then get ready to sofa surf for some spare change and get your little butts down the high street. 

My top 10 under £10. 

  

Collection lasting perfection concealer £4.19 

Make up revolution vivid blush lacquer £3 

Revlon color burst lip butter £7.99

Maybelline 24h colour tattoo £4.99

Bourjois healthy mix foundation £9.99

Rimmel kate moss scandaleyes £7.49 

Make up revolution flawless palette £8 

Maybelline baby skin instant pore eraser £7.99 

Sleek brow kit £8.49 

Rimmel scandaleyes thick and thin eyeliner £5.49. 

Phew! That was hard, but these are deffo 10 under £10 I’d recommend everyone has in their collection. I reach for these constantly and I will most definitely repurchase when these little stars eventually run out. 

Do you own any of these? Which are your favourites? 

Let me know in the comments. 

Lots of love 

Clo

Xx 

Allergy makeup guide.

So Springtime does mean darker skin, lighter hair and shorter skirts it’s not all unicorn love puffs and rainbows. 

If you are an allergy sufferer then this time of year can bring with it blotchy skin, runny noses and eyes be streaming. 

Not cute. 

If like me you suffer in the Springtime here are a few tips I’ve picked up to reduce the blubbering mess that is my face. 

So we need to choose a primer thats gonna tackle the redness on our face. Using the colour wheel, we know that the opposite of red is green. So to neutralise the redness you’ll need a green primer. 

Make sense? Yeah you know it does. There’s loads of versions out there and it can get expensive but a really good budget primer to try in this case is No7 colour calming primer £10.50. 

For your base use a medium to full coverage foundation to meld the discolouration. One I always highly recommended is the Collection lasting perfection  foundation. This will keep your skin looking clear and perfect. You can check out my review here  

Then using a doe foot applicator concealer, cover all the red spots, around the nostrils and under the eyes. I like to use one with light reflecting particles in order to brighten the skin. Rimmel wake me up concealer is a good one to use and is purse friendly. 

 Okay so your face is all ready add your own choice of bronzer/blush/sculpt depending on your schedule and effect you’re after. 

Due to the pesky pollen making your eyes stream minimal eye make up is the best prevention. I’m not a huge fan of waterproof mascara as they tend to dry out my lashes. I once saw on Pinterest, pinner unknown,  that you can use a normal mascara as the first coat. The first coat protects the lashes from getting too dry, whilst using the waterproof number as the second coat stops them running. 

 

 Avoid eyeliner or extra faff around the eyes. If you’re anything like me you won’t be able to leave your peepers alone. 

The final killer blow is by adding a strong vibrant lip. A personal favourite of mine is make up revolution persian rose. 

Having a bold lip makes that the key attraction on your face rather than your stinging eyes. 

Let me know if this helps, have you got any tips for looking good during allergy season? Let me know in the comments. 

Lots of love 

Clo

Xx 

Teen make up kit guide

I was having a clear out the other day and put together a little goody bag for my niece Jessica, 13 years old,  to enhance her make up collection. 

It really got me thinking back to the days of when I first started experimenting with make up. 

Probably 10 years now, which not only makes me feel old, but makes me feel so sorry for my nieces generation. 

When I was 13 social media was just becoming a thing. It was all about myspace and who was in your ‘top friends’ and logging in and out of MSN to grab the attention of your crush. 

Who bee tee dubs, wasn’t worth my time, okay? 

  

There wasn’t daily selfies or FOTD’s to upload. I was free to make beauty mistakes and only I can remember the shame not the 600 facebook friends who can look at all your beauty blunders from the safety of their bedroom. 

So, there’s no point sitting here telling you what not to do. If you’re a young reader of mine or you have a family member or daughter who is just starting out with make up and you want to advise then read on my friends. 

This post is a guide on how to produce your own teen make up kit. 

Skin care. 

So I only started getting into skin care in my early twenties. Ugh I know, newb, but if you can start young your skin will thank you for it, I swear. 

Remove/cleanse/moisturise. 

Remove

So removing your make up is a biggy. No I don’t mean throwing a baby wipe at your skin and hoping for the best. 

I mean removing your make up properly so your face can breathe. 

A great make up remover in my opinion is the Garnier micellar cleansing water. It’s quick to use, meaning you’re more likely to use it. It removes face, lip and eye makeup #winning and its kind to your purse. 

You can read my full review here 

£3.99

Cleanse 

A posh word for clean. I’m sure it was a typo that some beauty buff was to embarrassed to correct. It will rid your skin of dirt and pollutants meaning your skin is less blemish prone. You don’t have to go mad with money. I use No7 cleansing milk twice a day and my skins pretty good (ignoring the monthly period pimples, groan) 

£9.50

Moisturise

This is so important. If you have oily skin then I know this will seem stupid but hear me out. 

If you rob your skin of moisture it will produce more sebum (oil) to moisturise itself. When your skin does this it causes blemishes and spots. Adding a moisturiser twice a day will take you seconds but your skin will thank you for it. 

I use simple kind to skin replenishing moisturisers 

£4.50 

Okay! The fun stuff now, make up. 

I was lucky I come from a large family of women so could always pinch their cool products if I didn’t have one. To my sisters constant dismay. If you aren’t so lucky or you aren’t okay with appropriating your siblings property then read on to what I believe should be in your starter kit. 

BRUSHES

Okay, spending money on these might not seem fun but they’ll make a huge difference on how easy your make up is and how good it looks. 

You wouldn’t put up a shelf without a hammer would you? (Well teebs, I wouldn’t even know how to put up a shelf but you know what I mean) 

So you’ll need a collection of eye brushes and face brushes. For value for money I always recommend the real techniques starter kit and core collection. These sets contain every brush a teen could need. Not cheap at approximately £40 combined but an investment you won’t regret. The brushes last for ages, improve the finish of your make up and come with their own Youtube channel for tips on how to use them. 

Put them on your birthday/Christmas lists girls. You will not be disappointed. 

Primer 

I don’t care if you think this is over the top for a teenager. A good primer doesn’t have to be expensive. I currently love Maybelline instant pore eraser. It’s reasonably priced, lasts for ages and keeps make up on for longer. You can get other types depending on your skin issues but I love how similar this is to Porefessional by Benefit.

£7.99 

  

Base. 

Now if you have clear skin I recommend a BB cream or Cc cream as they will not be so heavy on your skin and will keep your look as natural as possible (the mums reading this are loving me right now) your skin is beautiful and peachy, show it off. 

If your skin isn’t so clear than I recommend a foundation. Now there’s so many to choose from and I have so many I love but if your skin requires medium coverage and needs to be on budget then I personally love Bourjois healthy mix foundation.  It offers long lasting wear, perfect for long days at school, has a good SPF, meaning your skin care routine is shorter and again is not going to break the bank, read about it here

£9.99

Concealer

 Perfect for covering pesky spots and brightening under the eye. My go to favourite is the amazing collection lasting perfection concealer. Creamy, longevity, cheap as chips. I have tried high end concealers that whimper at the sight of this Bad boy

£3.99

Bronzer

If investing in a good bronzer prevents you from frying your skin to look like a packet of ready salted crisps  then so be it. Honey bronze by body shop has been a firm daily fave of mine for nearly a year and I have barely hit pan. Its an incredible dupe for hoola which I’m sure your dying to own but can’t afford it. Save your pennies and take a walk on down to body shop. 

£13

Face powder

Powders are no longer for old ladies. They keep everything in place and rather than lugging all your make up around school, take rimmels stay matte powder. Its slim and compact, reduces shine and restores flawlessness to your face whilst on your lunch break. 

£3.99

Blush

There are so many types of blushers out there from liquid to tints to powders. I highly recommend makeup revolution blush palette. With 8 shades for £6 you could have a new look every day and still have one to spare. Variety is the spice of life! 

£6

Eyeshadow

I’d recommend investing in two palettes when you’re starting out. You can always add more as you get on a bit. W7 from next in the buff, has all the nudes and transitional shades you could ask for. When you start learning how to perfect eye shadow, transitional shades are crucial. 

£9.99

I’d then suggest a glittery night time palette. I had more of a social life back then and I would love to have owned make up revolution Flawless  palette. It has colours that suit all eye colours with just the right amount of glitter to take you through the weekend. 

£8

Mascara

You need a go to black mascara that lengthens and is voluminous. A personal fave of mine is the Rimmel scandaleyes mascara. 

£7.49

Eyeliner

 liquid or pencil, its personal preference. I’d suggest Rimmel scandaleyes thick and thin liner as it lasts a long time and is easy on the pennies whilst creating a multitude of looks. 

£5.49 

Lipstick

 I’d say you can go mad with this category as make up revolution and make up academy do lippies for a pound. I’d suggest a nude pink, nude brown,  and a coral. Red lipstick is great but is a little bit too grown up. If you wanna wear red I’d start with a balm or gloss first. 

£1 each 

So as you can see many of the products are favourites of mine anyway so aren’t childish or too young. They’re modern, brand aware companies delivering awesome products. 

The total cost to kit this out immediately would be £140 roughly. 

Which I know is expensive but I’d suggest getting them in increments and requesting more expensive items for Christmas and birthdays. 

Remember £40 of that are brushes. Without them the rest is just a waste. 

This is my own advice and as always you buy whatever you want, this is just what I wish the 13 year old me, would have had back in the day. 

Hope this helps. 

Lots of love 

Clo 

Xx 

Supercat Soap and Glory liquid eyeliner review.

Hands up who’s eyeliner story has gone from Avril lavigne to call the midwife feline flicks? 👋🏾

  

If you’re anything like me eyeliner is the thing that makes you look alive in the mornings and sultry at night depending on the look. 

I’ve had so many eyeliners but they all have their little gripes. 

Pencils are easy but require sharpening. 

Gels look awesome but are messy and fiddly. 

Pens are easy and awesome, winning! However, I find they dry out too quickly rendering them useless. 

Ugh, its a minefield. 

So I’m on a mission to find the perfect liquid eyeliner over the next couple of weeks. 

The requirements I’ll be asking the liners to meet will be 

Colour– Jet black only. 

Ease– life’s hard enough without your eyeliner acting like a digbert. 

Smudgeproof– I want it on and I want it to stay on. 

Price– the cheaper the better. 

So lets kick things off with 

Supercat by soap and glory

  

So I know it’s technically not one of my requirements but I have to give S&G big ups here, the packaging is adorable. With their quaint vintage packaging it screams sexy siren. The actual eyeliner itself is plain black with pink bold typography. So although not necessary it is rather beautiful. 

So lets talk colour. I want my eyeliner to look as black as my soul. I’m happy to report that it really is jet black. It dries into a velvet finish and also dries quickly. Amazing tick in the box. They boldly display Carbon Black on the side of the packaging and I’m pleased to say they deliver. 

Ease– being a felt tip liner it is rather comfortable to hold in your hand. There’s no abnormal angles or fiddling with a separate pot. Its firm nib means that you can create thin or thick lines with little effort. A steady hand is still required but thats the same with all liquid liners but less so with Supercat. It really is the easiest liquid liner I own. 

  

Smudgeproof– 

So this is where Supercat falls down slightly. Worn on its own, I find that I find little black crescent moons on my eye socket. Such a shame as this could have been Purrrfect (ya geddit? No? Okay then, awks). The flick at the end looks a little less defined and a bit basic. 

However, when worn with eyeshadow or base I found this had serious staying power. It can last all day without touch ups. 

  

Price– So with beauty brands offering products from as little as a pound this is a medium range price. However, if you calculate price per use, well I’ve been wearing it nearly 4x a week so it’s practically paid for itself. 

  

 

As you can see from the images it’s easy to achieve a screen siren look. 

In order to keep your liner moist (ugh, hate that word) lay Supercat down horizontally not upright to prevent it drying out. 

  

I hope you found this review helpful let me know what you think in the comments too

Lots of love 

Clo

Xx 

Loreal true match foundation review

Morning campers, anyone else finding the weather completely unpredictable lately? 

I sure am and I’m having to change my makeup accordingly every day. 

An old purchase I’ve been reaching for more recently is the Loreal true match foundation. 

Lets start with packaging shall we? 

A 30 ml glass bottle which allows you to see what shade is in the bottle. Incredibly the product comes with a pump dispenser meaning you can control wastage. 

  

Due to the bottle being glass and the cap being a see through plastic this can get really grubby. Keep the baby wipes on standby you dirty girls! 

The foundation is a rather runny liquid formula as you can see and the texture is incredibly silky on the back of your hand. 

 

The consistency of the foundation is one of light to medium coverage. It is not too sheer and is oil free which is good for my temperamental skin. 

  

The coverage melds my skin discolouration and unifies any hyper-pigmentation I am suffering with. 

It does not cover raised skin issues such as acne or scarring, I would look to invest in a concealer if you suffer from those skin complaints. 

  

I found the foundation lasted around 6 hours when worn with a primer and set with a powder. 

  

The fading began around the nose where it slowly migrated to all other dry patches. I found that a quick sweep of powder freshened the whole look up for the end of a hard days work. 

Drinks afterwards? You’ll need to reapply. 

To reduce those devilish dry tell tale signs creeping in, use a rich moisturiser before application. 

Application is rather simple as you can use brushes or blenders depending on your personal preference. 

It is extremely easy to blend into the skin and mimics the texture of my skin. To put it in every day language. Your make up looks natural and skin like rather than ‘putting a face on’ 

The finish is naturally matte with luminosity on the cheeks in my opinion. One layer is sufficient for a days work and I have to dispute claims that you can create made to measure simply by adding layers. Too much product and it just sits on the face and doesn’t dry. 

Which is a nuisance when you need to apply eyeliner and you leave a thumb print on your temple. Strong look Clo. 

  

True Match contains SPF 17 in its formula making sure your skin is protected from those invisible rays. The SPF does cause a little bit of flashback but its really not something to worry about on a night out. If this is a major concern for you then reserve this for a day time foundation

  

My favourite bit about this product is the shade range. 

There are 3 schools of colouring;

W

N

C

Standing for warm, neutral and cool. Within those colourings there are shade ranges. 

I wear C1 and it is the best drugstore foundation for pale skin I have come across. 

There is no muddy orange  or grey and ashy tones common among pale foundations. 

There are 23 shades which is incredible seeing as the foundation is only £9.99. 

 

hope you agree the finished look is fierce

 

I would recommend this foundation if you struggle finding drugstore foundations for pale skin. It has reasonable staying power and a natural finish. Its SPF protects from those harmful rays and its formula ensures your skin looks like skin at all times. 

I hope this helps, 

Love 

Clo 

Xx