Lifestyle #2: Life, Layers & Laughter.

On Sunday, My Partner M and I headed over to Greenwich for the Greenwich Comedy Festival. M had surprised me with tickets to the comedy festival as i'd never actually been to a comedy show before. This was an unusual Sunday for us, as we usually swear by the holy 'Lazy Sunday' and we also rarely leave the flat  on weekends, let alone get the tube as one of the perks of Zone 1 living.

We had some time to kill before the show started so after a little wander we found our way to Greenwich Market where we bought 3 beautifully handmade kaleidoscopes. M had been looking for an interesting one for quite a while and a case of 'right place, right time' led us to these ones. I tried on a pair of round sunglasses on another stall and even though i'd never felt so 'fashion' in my life, I couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous. 

After a quick non alcoholic drink in a local pub, we headed over to the National Maritime Museum where the Comedy Festival was taking place. a quick bite to eat and some impromptu magic from a magician who was fond of eating cards (not really) and of course a bag of candyfloss, it was time for the show.

There were four comics on stage throughout the evening  - Ardal O’Hanlon, Nina Conti, Shappi Khorsandi and John Robins and we had such a fun time at the Comedy Festival and I look forward to the next comedy show we attend!

Hat: Primark*

Necklace: Primark*

Bag: Primark*

Blouse: Forever 21

Coat: AX Paris*

Leggings: Zara

Shoes: Primark*

I'll be sharing the make up details in another post.

So there we have it - life, layers and laughter. I hope you've enjoyed this lifestyle and slight fashion post. I'm never too sure if people like these types of posts so do let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more or less of them. 

Em xxx

Make Up Revolution Lipstick Haul

Considering about 2 years ago I only owned one lipstick, nowadays I keep hauling lipsticks like there's no tomorrow. I've been wanting to explore the Make Up Revolution range for quite a while, since I received two palettes in a swap bag at a blogger meet up this summer.

The Make Up Revolution brand is all so affordable with the priciest item clocking in at about £12.00 which is incredible. The lipsticks each retail for £1.00 each and I tried my best to resist temptation and purchase every single shade on the shelf. I settled for a respectable 7 shades, and at £7.00 for the lot - so far so good.

I chose some shades which are different to those I usually wear, as well as some more 'out there' shades which I thought would look oh so pretty for editorial style photos.

I'm looking forward to trying these out over the next few weeks and hopefully I'll be sharing some looks with you soon!

Which is your favourite shade? Let me know in the comments!

Em xxx

FOTD: One Palette Wonder.

I reviewed the Extremely YSL Tuxedo Travel Palette yesterday and I wanted to share with you a FOTD I created using it. I love the blush and highlight combo for an every day rosy glow and as someone who never usually braves jet black eyeshadow I thought i'd give this palette a shot and see what I could create using it. 

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Eyeliner: MUA Cosmetics Liquid Eyeliner

Eyelashes: Mac #35 Eyelashes

Contour: NYX Taupe Blusher

Blush / Highlight / Eyeshadow / Lips / Mascara: Extremely YSL Tuxedo Travel Palette

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this look. Let me know in the comments... 

Em xxx

Yves Saint Laurent, Extremly YSL - Tuxedo Travel Palette

A few weeks back I popped to the #JetSetBeauty event to spend some time with the lovely team from World Duty Free.  I think I almost died when I found out that they had kindly gifted me the Extemely YSL - Tuxedo Travel Palette* in a goody bag. After a week or so of being too scared to use it in case I broke it, I started testing it out. 

The Tuxedo Travel Palette features five eye shadows, four lip colours, one blusher, a white highlighter and a Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils in Shocking Black as well as 3 adorably cute mini brushes, which i'll likely never use - but they're super cute!

I must say that the blusher and highlighter in this palette are so pretty. I've been wearing them together for the past week and they work perfectly on pale skin to create a natural flushed look.

The eyeshadows are pigmented and apply easily, although when testing the matte black shade, I did notice quite a bit of fallout, so if you're looking at creating a deep smoked out eye using this palette - I'd recommend eyes first, base second. 

The palette contains 4 different shades of lip products and whilst the diverse range of colours is great, the fact that they are sandwiched between the powder products without any sort of protection isn't. After using the black eyeshdaow, I did notice a fair amount of fallout had made it's way on to the lipgloss, it wiped off easy enough - but i'd much rather some sort of protective layer to keep the lip gloss safe.

The Tuxedo Travel Palette comes with a mini Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils and having not used a YSL mascara before, I can't say I was prepared for what seems like a totally unnecessary high amount of perfume. I'm not sure I ever needed a perfumed mascara, but I'll give it a shot....

Overall, I think this palette is beautiful, It's carved it's place into my daily make up and certainly worth picking up if you find yourself passing through the airport any time soon as it's a travel exclusive you won't find it in the shops!

Which swatch is your favourite for this palette? Let me know in the comments...

Em xxx

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer Review - Atomic

A short while back, I had a little MUA Cosmetics Lip Haul and picked up some new lip products in varying formulas and shades. I love matte lips and this summer I really enjoyed wearing coral and orange shades. I love the idea of wearing a bright orange lip throughout autumn as it reminds me of Autumn leaves and bonfire night. 

The MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer retails for £3.00 at Superdrug and MUA Online. The Velvet Lip Laquers are billed as being long lasting, kiss proof and with intense colour.

Now, I can confirm they have intense colour, although in terms of being long lasting... well, take a look for yourself.

I don't think I've ever had a lip product peel on me before, so this is a new unexpected problem. The above images detail what happened when I pressed my lips together, which really doesn't bode well for being long lasting. Can you imagine wearing a bright orange lip on a night out and without even realizing, lose a lot of it just by pressing your lips together? I for one, can't think of anything worse. Which means that if this happens in my flat, it's highly likely to happen in an environment where I don't have a mirror to hand to fix it. 

In this case, there' only one place the MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer is headed... the bin. I'm actually really disappointed. I was expecting so much and feel a little let down. Oh well... at least it was only £3 right?

Em xxx

Olympia Beauty 2014 Show Review!

On Sunday Monica and I headed over to Kensington Olympia, West London for the Olympia Beauty show. I'd registered to attend the event back when I first started blogging in February and had been looking forward to attending for a while.

We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight to the press area to get to grips with what the show had on offer. We were also lucky enough to be booked in for some complimentary beauty treatmets. 

I'd been booked in for a lashes treatment with Nouveau Lashes and was super excited to have my first set of individual lashes applied. However, I hadn't really thought ahead with my make up choice. I would recommend not wearing make up if you're having this treatment done as it is time consuming to remove it all during your appointment. My lashes certainly looked fuller and longer afterwards and It is something I would think about having done again.

Monica had a 'makeover' appointment with Jane Iredale cosmetics, and as someone who usually steers clear of powder based foundations, it was interesting to see it applied and how the finish looked.

We both got interviewed for the Olympia Beauty 2014 video on our thoughts on blogging and the industry which was an interesting experience, and after having I had a manicure it was on to the show! We made sure we headed to the NYX Cosmetics stand where Monica and I checked out everything they had on offer. I'm a massive fan of NYX, and wish it was more accessible to buy in stores here in the UK. We picked up a few bits and then wandered around. We checked out OPI who had an incredible stand with every colour nail polish you could ever want and then it was onto Skincare.

At the iiaa (International Institute For Anti Aging) stand we had a complimentary skin analysis undertaken. Now, I'm a bit of a massive cynic and I always these 'results' with a pinch of salt. There's something that doesn't quite feel right to me about an 'institute' (which owns 3 brands) analyzing your skin and then telling you that you need a complete set  of all of their products for healthy skin.... I can't be alone in thinking that skin care 'institutes' should be neutral? After a less than impressive skin 'analysis' it was onto Dermalogica for another skin consultation. As we'd received a few samples of Dermalogica in our press goodie bag, I was keen to speak to one of the advisors to see which products they recommended for my skin, and I look forward to sharing some more info about these with you all soon! 

We finished the day off by popping over to the beautiful brows stand and Monica volunteered to be the guinea pig and have the product tested on her. Although the powder and stencils seemed to work well on her, I'm not sure if it justifies the £30 price tag, when my beloved Anastasia DipBrow Pomade comes in at £15.

All in all, we had a fun day out - however, I was left feeling a little let down by the lack of commercial brands exhibiting. We found there were a lot of fake tan and nail brands on show, but not too many recognisable make up brands - but then as bloggers, we weren't exactly the target demographic of the show.

I definetly recommend attending a beauty show as it's a great way to see what's out there and check out new products.

I'd love to hear what your favourite beauty show is! Let me know in the comments! 

Em xxx