MAC Lipstick - Coral Bliss

This MAC lipstick is the first I ever bought which was only 53 days ago, (how precise!) I had a great experience buying it and had a lovely conversation with two of the assistants from MAC about their first lipstick. In the end it was between 'coral bliss' or 'sunny seoul', I went with 'coral bliss' as I thought it was a little more daring and fun for the summer.

This lipstick is from the cremesheen pearl range at MAC, which is an extension of the cremesheen range at MAC which is a creme based lipstick which injects a bright colour with a soft and subtle shine. This feels moisturizing on the lips and I love the amount of coverage it gives. This could easily be built up, but then again could just as easily be sheered out to a wash of colour.

I feel that this is a summer or spring appropriate lipstick rather than an autumn or winter colour, but can be worn whenever. This is an in between of an orange or pink making it a coral; but leans more to the orange side of things rather than the pink in my personal opinion. This swatch is one swipe, with so much pigmintation, it seems a little brighter on camera than in real life though. Sorry about the picture, my hand wouldn't stretch that far!

Overall this is a lovely little investment for your lipstick collection which will be great till the end of summer and start of spring, as this is super moisturizing on, so I would highly recommend any colour from this line or this one if you really like it. I personally think that it would suit lighter skin tones better as it is a light colour. Also you can find MAC in Fenwicks and this lipstick retails for £15.50.

Back to School - Makeup

As back to school time is approaching very fast I thought I would give you a makeup idea that should see you through even if you have a strict no makeup rule. In my school it is very intolerant to makeup and there has been many a scary time so I started to wear this makeup and no one has noticed that I wear it; so this is perfect for a no makeup look.

I start off by sanetizing my hands with a Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in bee-autiul; this just cleans your hands so you are not transferring any dirt form your fingers to your face. I then take my foundation, which is the L'oreal true match in Vanilla Rose which is the perfect shade. Another foundation that I would recommend for a lighter coverage is the rimmel wake me up. Feel free to change this for concealer, BB cream or nothing depending on how you feel about your skin. I place this on my cheeks, chin and forehead and blend in with the real techniques buffing brush. To get away with foundation I would blend blend blend! If you have a foundation line it is so easy to get caught; also putting it on your nose can also attract that you are wearing makeup, so I avoid putting it on my nose. It may be a little weird but I stay away from concealer apart from a little under my eyes, I do not put it on any blemishes; I find my skin just gets worst and it gets patchy throughout the day so it is just easier to miss it out completely then to use it.

To make my face look less flat and matte I take a dab of blush from the Sleek blush trio in Lace and tap a little onto my cheeks (if you want to see a whole review click here) . If you are oily I would recommend using a light or translucent powder to control the shine. I also think if you look cakey or very matte you are more likely to get into trouble as you do not look as fresh. So using a dewy foundation will mask that fact with a pretty glow without being to overbearing.

My last two steps would be to comb through my brows with a clear or tinted gel, this one is by Maybelline, this can give the look of fuller looking brows without filling them in and looking to harsh. Secondly I would curl my eyelashes and plop on a few coats of a waterproof or regular mascara to my top lashes. If your school is very strict I would just keep with the top lashes and leave the bottom bare; if not pile away at those lashes, but not too intense!

You can either follow a few of these steps or incorporate your own individual steps to achieve the best possible look. Adding or missing a few steps to suit you is perfectly fine, whatever works best for you and your own school rules. Good luck with the new school year and I hoped this helped a few of you!.

Kimono Lookbook

My friend Georgia helped me with this post as she took the pictures and was there when I bought this kimono, this post will just be photos and a small caption. I was going to do a kimono look book; but instead I decided to do one outfit which is my all time favourite to wear. 

♡ Top ~ Topshop, 2 for £10, so £5 ♡

♡ Jeans ~ Topshop, £36 ♡ 

♡ Necklace ~ Topshop, £12 ♡

♡ Kimono ~ H&M, £12.99 ♡

♡ Nail Varnish -  Barry M Berry♡

**I am such a poser!**

Lust Wishlist

These are high end beauty products which I would love to purchase, but with my low budget this would take a while to save up for. These five items have been fairly raved about, more so than others. After hearing people talk about these it would be nice to know if they are really worth the hype and the money, so these are my five products.

Nars | Orgasm Blush | £22.50

Ooooh wow, the swatch is amazing; when I looked at the pigmentation in SpaceNK I was about to faint...that's how surprised I was. I knew it was good, but that good? I was blown away and every since last week I have wanted to get my hands on it. 

Benefit | Hoola Bronzer | £21.50

My friend got this for free for signing up to ELLE magazine subscription, so that is definitely an easy way out of buying it. This is supposed to be the number one best selling bronzer in the UK so obviously its good. With a non muddy colour and a matte formula, what is a better option for contouring? 

Urban Decay | Naked 3 Pallet | £37

The holy moly of the beauty world, a new pallet, a new buzz. What a joy it would be to have this; I think I would be so shocked to receive this and be so overwhelmed that I would cry. Twelve beautiful shades, ranging from matte to shimmer, stunning packaging to die for and the label of having a Naked pallet. What more could you need?

Tarte | Amazonian Clay 12 - Hour Blush | $26 | around £17

For all you lucky ladies to have the privilege of having a Tarte, I am well jel. I have not heard this product being talked about but I have seen it in a few makeup collections. The packaging is so pretty with the colour of blush inside being the colour on the outside; so clever. As you collect they will begin to look stunning. It can be blended to give a natural look or built up to become a deeper colour, I need it! 

Tarte | Lights, Camera, Flashes Statement Mascara | $23 | around £15

After seeing Ingrid using this many times it must be good! The packaging again looks lush with gold and bold black writing. There are a couple of versions of this on the Tarte website so I would go for any one of those. It volumizing and lengthens with a deep black payoff, according to some reviews this is worth the extra money.

About the Tarte products, the thing is they are not sold in the UK in shops so I do not know the exact amount when it has been converted into pounds from dollars. I have worked out these figures and I would go by them a little bit, but not completly rely on them. I got all of these prices from the individual brand website and Tarte from Sephora. If you would like to see a drugstore, clothes or different topic wishlist monthly, feel free to tell me.

Sleek Blush Pallet Review

This Sleek pallet is my favourite for its big mirror and choice selection; there are eight different blush by three pallets to buy. Every pallet has a different colour combination to suit every skin tone. I received the lace pallet for my birthday off my friend Eleanor, she purchased it on amazon for a slightly cheaper price than in other high-street stores. This is available to buy from Superdrug and Boots, whichever you prefer to shop at. 

I want to start off with the packaging, it is so sleek and thin but the mirror complements this as that is so big and great for putting on your makeup or touch ups throughout the day. This could easily fit in your makeup bag or purse and not take up any room at all, but can still be practical.

The blushes names are very different but are still unique and have a small relation to the pallet; 'Chantilly' is a lingerie shop in France; 'Guipure' is a fancy type of lace; 'Crochet' is a type of knitting. As my friend pointed out this means they are all related to lace suggested by the name of the pallet!

The pigmentation is amazing, the two that stand out are the matte shades, 'Chantilly' and 'Crochet', which are very vivid and bright. I would recommend using a light hand whilst applying this for a nicer look rather than two clown spots which need some blending. The middle blush is also very pretty with golden shimmers built through it, which I think is quite similar to Nars 'Orgasm'. 

Here is a photo of the swatches, this seems a little blurry and I could not pick up what they actually look like. You can see the shimmer, which is almost glitter in 'Guipure' and the total matte look in 'Crochet' and 'Chantilly'. All of these blushes have been designed to be one shade or made into two by mixing them together; my best option is dabbing a little into 'Crochet' and then dabbing it again into 'Guipure', keep going back and forth till you have a perfect colour.

Overall I would definitely recommend this product, I cannot wait to try their other products to see what they are like; at £9.99 this is a good price to pay for three quality blushes.

If you want to purchase at Boots click here, if you prefer to shop at Superdrug then click here. If you do not live in the UK, do not worry, you can easily look on Amazon or Ebay to find this product or any other online shop which stocks Sleek makeup.

OOTD - Top of Topshop

Firstly I would like to apologize as I have not posted in a while, I have no excuse, but now it is summer my blog should be getting better. This post is all thanks to my best friend Eden, she was my photographer for my outfit and we used her back garden; which is lush, don't you agree? All Eden wears is Topshop so I was inspired to do a post dedicated to it, even if it is only one outfit!

We ended up visiting an art gallery and we also ended up being lost trying to find it as we did not quite know where it was; but we did find it eventually. Me and Eden did have a few Ferris Bueller moments in the gallery; if you know what I mean we can be friends, if not, we still can. I am rambling but I am trying to explain what I was doing when I wore this so you can fully understand what I do. 





I found it hilarious posing in front of someone so most of the photos I look mental so I have cut my face out of them; apart from this one which i look decent. The top I am wearing is from the Petite section in Topshop in a size 6 if anyone is interested. I personally love these types of boxy crop tops as they flatter my figure best and are so easy to pair with jeans, skirts or shorts.

The Joni jeans from Topshop are literally the easiest things to pull off; they are super comfy and come in a wide range or colours. These are my second pair and fit so well, they come just below your belly button and make your legs look super skinny. If you wanted you could roll the bottoms up to show off some cute shoes or socks, if it was a little warmer.

The detail of see-through flowers (nice way to put it) around the arms and bottom pull the whole top together meaning you could wear this as a casual piece or dress it up and create an elegant outfit. Whilst the jeans complement the pastel mint with a deep dark blue. I popped on some lilac frilly socks also from Topshop to have some more pastel peeking through at my ankles.

This has been my favourite outfit to wear recently, when it starts to brighten up I will do more summery outfit ideas. I arranged this post slightly differently; so I hope you like this look better. Any suggestions can be left on my instagram (@_itssmillie). To find all of the clothes they are linked here.

Mint Top - couldn't find the exact one
Joni Jeans - this should be the right colour
Frilly Socks - a lot more colour variation 
White Converse - you can buy these anywhere

 

Beach Bag Essentials ~ Collab with Hannah

This is a collaboration with Hannah who has a lovely blog which can be found here, and a stunning instagram which I am so jealous of @heyitshannah. We have decided to put together items which we need when going to the beach or relaxing by a pool. I would of taken these pictures at the beach but I did not have time to go down, so maybe the next summer related post. I apologies for the quality of photos, I was not having a good day and the pictures all looked awful, so I have put them in black and white.

Let's get straight to it and start with my beach bag which is from the Body Shop from a couple of years ago, so you may not be able to find it. I will start with some  of the more obvious ones which include; sunglasses to protect your eyes, suncream for your skin and a good lipbalm with a high SPF to keep dry lips at bay. 

I would bring a small hand santezier to keep your hands clean before you have something to eat or drink. Also keeping things clean I would bring some makeup wipes; if you have forgotten to take your mascara off this will save you from some serious panda eyes. If you wanted to wear makeup, wear waterproof formulas to keep your skin reacting badly. 

I will definitely be updating this photo!!

A bright nail polish will bring summer on, I especially love neon colours to attract good vibes. I would also recommend bringing a salt spray to tame your hair if you decided to go into the sea. Or even before you go out to give that beachy texture. Your phone and earphones will give you something to do if your a little bored while you tan. Also I would bring a book with you to delve into and unwind and relax. To help with this I would recommend green tea or any drink you fancy ( I just think green tea bottles are so pretty ). 

The final few items are a fun, bright towel to dry yourself or put on the sand. A coverup is very useful if you have been in the sea and need to go somewhere. Just pop something floaty and you will be okay. I would also wear a bikini or some type swimming costume if you were thinking of tanning or swimming in the sea or an outdoor pool. 

Remeber to check out Hannah's blog and instagram as they are flawless; if you would like to see more summer related posts just let me know on my instagram or in the comments. Thank you so much for reading and I will be updating my blog very soon.