Tuesday 28 April 2015

Face Of The Day #4 - The Sister Edition


Ok, I admit it. These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago. But I had planned to write up this post for ages. This aside, the post is a little different from my usual 'Face of the Day' posts as it includes one of my sisters! I had hoped it would include both of my sisters, but the other one wasn't at all interested in having her photo taken - haha!

To start it off, I'm wearing the Benefit Porefessional primer. I have really started to love using this and it may or may not be featuring in my next favourites post! I like the fact that it's slightly tinted (rather than white or clear) so it offers a little bit of coverage to help hide those dreaded acne scars. My foundation is the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation in Ivory - a full coverage foundation with a satin like finish that really does help cover up everything whilst not managing to look cakey. Alongside this I used the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory (ok, we have established I'm pale) just to add a little extra coverage where needed. To set all this in place, I used the Maybelline Matte Maker powder in Classic Ivory (I think? - Left behind at uni, not sure on the shade exactly). To add a little colour and definition to my cheeks, I used the NARS Blush in Sin and the Charlotte Tilbury Film Star Bronze and Glow. I decided to keep my look simple and skipped eyeshadow and eyeliner, but I am wearing the Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara (my new fave!) on my lashes. As we were going out, I decided to wear the new Burberry Kisses Lipstick* in Sepia. It is such a gorgeous shade and I will definitely be buying it myself once my sample runs out!

As for my sister, she has recently discovered primers. Probably after raiding my makeup collection whilst I'm away at uni. She is wearing the Rimmel Lasting Finish Primer which she thinks is absolutely amazing. Although she had absolutely no idea how to use it or what it was for until I told her. On top of that she is wearing the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Ivory (she is just as pale as me haha!). She is only 13 and does't really need to wear foundation as her skin is pretty much flawless, but she says it makes it feel more confident so who am I to tell her otherwise. She is also wearing the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory as she complains about having bad under eye circles. She was actually the one who got me hooked on it as I had dismissed it thinking a shimmery concealer would just highlight your blemishes rather than hide them. She then used the Rimmel Stay Perfect Powder in Peach Glow *cough* stolen from me *cough*. She has been loving using the Rimmel Scandaleyes XX-treme mascara and I must say her lashes looked gorgeous! The photo does them no justice whatsoever! To finish off her look she borrowed my Revlon Colour Stay Lip Butter in Candy Apple as she wanted to wear a red lip, so I suggested this one considering her age!

I hoped you enjoyed this post as it was slightly different from usual!
Thanks for reading!
Love Charlotte x
Like this post? Follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with all my posts! Link in the sidebar!
SHARE:

Saturday 25 April 2015

Orelia Jewellery*


Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great weekend! I was recently sent some absolutely beaaaautiful jewellery samples from Orelia's new summer collection. I already own a few other pieces from the brand and was so excited when this sample came in the post!

Orelia is a company that make stunning costume jewellery adorned with crystals, semi-precious stones and charms. They are all really dainty and the necklaces are perfect for layering up with other pieces.

I was sent this set of ear studs* (£18) and they made me want to get back into wearing earrings again! I do have my ears pierced, but I very rarely wear earrings any more and when I do they always seem to irritate me and I end up taking them out immediately. However you can barely tell that you’re wearing these as they are so small and dainty! My personal favourite are the rose gold heart shaped studs - I think they look so chic and will go with a lot of my jewellery.
As each of the pairs work out at £6, the pricing isn't bad at all - especially when they are such high quality!

Orelia were also were kind enough to send me this adorable necklace* which retails at £10. I love how dainty their necklaces are. They are perfect for an everyday casual look and you could even wear them with a nice dress when you are going out. 


I'm extremely impressed with the Orelia brand and having browsed through their site, I now have a wish list a mile long. You can check them out at www.orelia.co.ukwww.topshop.com and www.asos.com see all their new amazing pieces! 

What do you think of Orelia? Any favourites from the new collection? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!
Love Charlotte x
Like this post? Follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with all my posts! Link in the sidebar!
SHARE:

Thursday 23 April 2015

Where To Splurge, Where To Save


One of the most well argued debates in the makeup industry is the "is high end better?" debate. Now I have briefly touched on this subject before (in my 10 things I've learnt from beauty bloggers post) and mentioned that many high end brands also own drugstore/highstreet brands and therefore the products are made using similar formulations. 
But, I'm sure there are still people out there that want to have just a little touch of luxury in the lives. Soooooo, if this seems to describe you, keep on reading to hear my thoughts on which products you could splash out on and which you should save your pennies for something else. 

The general rule I tend to follow is 'how often will I use the product?'. Things like foundation usually get used up the fastest meaning that you have to repurchase it more frequently. Now I don't know about you, but I'd rather repurchase something that costs £6.99 rather than something that costs £36.99. So I try and avoid buying expensive foundations, concealers and powders now matter how amazing they sound. They could cure colds and I'd probably like to save my hard earned money for something else (waves goodbye to NARS Sheerglow and Dior Airflash foundations). 

Products I use less of or less frequently like lipstick, highlighter, blush and bronzer are the products I see the potential for spending more on. You often use less of these types of products so for the money you spend on them, the more you will get out of them. Money well spent!

Another rule I try to follow is 'will I still want to wear this in six months time?'. Theres no point splashing out on something when it's just a short lived trend. I want products that are classic and versatile. Many products have a good use-by date on them so will last you a long time if its something you really like and not something thats going to be sat in the back of a drawer gathering dust. 

What are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to spend or save?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Like this post? Follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with all my posts! Link in the sidebar!

SHARE:

Friday 17 April 2015

My Collection: Charlotte Tilbury


After many years of being a highly sought after makeup artist, Charlotte Tilbury released her own range of makeup a few years ago. But it wasn't till the end of last year that I really noticed her products, when everyone was raving about the release of the Matte Revolution Lipsticks. They looked so beautiful that I had to have one of them. The signature rose gold packaging, the sleek square bullet - everything just screaming perfection. 
I finally jumped on the bandwagon in November and bought one in the shade 'Amazing Grace' as an early christmas present for myself. I fell in love with it instantly and wore it on pretty much an everyday basis for months! I even ditched the red lip on christmas for this beauty. 

After loving the lipstick sooooooo much I decided to branch out and see if the quality of her other products matched that of my new favourite lipstick. I bought the Film Star Bronze and Glow duo and I nearly fainted when opening the packaging (and when handing over the money). Not even the gold packaging. Just the outer packaging that you are meant to throw away (or hoard away in a drawer to never look at again).

Almost immediately after buying the Film Star Bronze and Glow, I found myself browsing the Charlotte Tilbury stand in Harvey Nichols and couldn't help but swoon over everything. I decided to treat myself to the Colour Coded Eyeshadow Quad in Dolce Vita after my friend pretty much took the money out of my purse herself to make sure I bought it. They are so buttery and I'm currently lusting after the different colour combinations on offer!

What have you all tried from Charlotte Tilbury and what are your recommendations for me to try next?
Thanks for reading!
Love Charlotte x
Like this post? Follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with all my posts! Link in the sidebar!
SHARE:

Thursday 16 April 2015

Guest Post #2: Beyond the Vanity – A Personal Revelation

 Fairly recently I have worked with the lovely Charlotte on a guest post about how to pack makeup and fashion essentials, and much to our satisfaction we both loved how it turned out. Right after I went on a month long trip which was supposed to end in Thailand, but actually took me much further. My friends and I got the opportunity to go further, and actually got all the way to Bhutan (and don’t ask me why there, we just felt like an adventure should happen).
Source
As I went deeper into the countryside and away from the bigger cities, I met locals and got to see how they work, what they do, how kind they are, and how indifferent they felt about me with or without the makeup I wore, with my hair in a messy bun or perfectly straightened, etc. This stunned me beyond belief and I started thinking about why we have become so vain and what we actually value- the person or the perception of a person.
For anyone who has travelled a fair bit as I have, the fact that you don’t really wear any makeup during this kind of trip is not foreign to you. For me it was pretty strange at first, because I just wasn’t used to it, living in the city, going to work or uni every day, and just having normal everyday obligations like the rest of humanity. It hit me then that I actually never went for such a long trip, where I was so out of my daily routine, and to be quite honest, it felt really good to escape the “standard” we live in daily, both obligation and makeup wise. Trust me, the refreshing feeling of not giving a damn about what anyone thinks about your skin, you hairdo, your messy eyebrows or chipped nails was completely liberating.

There are things you should take care of health wise of course, but makeup was not one of them. When I was preparing for the trip I wanted to take all the precautionary measures so I visited a few doctors and skin clinics in Penrith, because I did have some acne and skin problems before and wanted to know what I should avoid to have those problems flare up again like they did in the past. This ended up being one of the best thing I did because I got a tonne of advice on how to take care of my skin “on the go” and not have to over pack my backpack with unnecessary products, and trust me girls, the lighter the backpack, the further you will want to go. 

Source
Back to my point – I now find it incredibly hard to go back to the way I once did my daily routine. Frankly, when I came back, I spent a few days just putting on makeup and doing my hair and nails relentlessly just to get back to the feeling of my old self, and yes, it did look pretty and polished, but I guess when you go au natural and accept yourself for everything that you are it’s just really hard to go back from that.
What I’d like to say with this whole post is that it wasn’t my intention to bash anyone who wears makeup. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. But what I’ve realised is that no makeup will help you feel pretty if you don’t feel it for yourself, and have no fear over what others will think of you if they see you without makeup. Makeup should be there just to hide our little flaws and not to make us look or feel like an entirely different person. Each and every one of us is beautiful, we all carry our own beauty, so feel the freedom and let it shine.

_____________________________________________

A big thanks to Remi Mayer for writing another brilliant post! You can check out another post she has done for me here 
She kindly contacted me asking if she could write a guest post for my blog so she could gain some experience in writing. You can check out her Twitter here, and please make sure that you give her some well deserved feedback.

If anybody else is interested in writing for my blog, you can contact me by email.
Thank you!

Love Charlotte x
SHARE:
© Charlotte Sophia Roberts. All rights reserved.
Blogger Templates by pipdig