What should I bring to the gym?

The new year is upon us and the most common new years resolution is; "I'm gonna lose weight this year". With that in mind I thought it fitting to show you what I usually bring to the gym. You dont have to take the same stuff, this is just an idea - also I don't always take all of this stuff, sometimes I go lighter. 

1. A sports bra is vital for us girls, it will just give you that extra support and comfort - especially if you are doing high impact exercise. There's various types to suit your size and intensity of your workout, the one in the image is linked here.

2. I usually opt for a mens T-shirt as I like a loose fitting top as I find it more comfortable to work out in.

3. I prefer sport leggings over tracksuit bottoms as they're less restricting and keep you cooler if you buy ones that have some sort of drying or cooling technology like Nike's "Dri-Fit".

4. Slazenger sports socks from sportsdirect.com

5. Trainers: My new Nike Free Run 3 Junior which I got in the sales. Luckily enough I still fit into junior sizes which go up to size 5.5 so I saved myself some more money.

Here's also some other bits I take, I also sometimes take a shower there so I bring a larger towel.

1. Sports earphones: Normal ones fall out my ears every time I run so I bought the ones which hook over your ears, also they're waterproof.

2. A Padlock: Most gyms have lockers so you'll need to bring one along if they don't provide you with one to keep your items safe.

3. Deodorising wipes: To freshen up on days when I'd rather shower when I get home.

4. iPod

5. A case for my iPod which protects it

6. Hairband

7. Roll on deodorant

8. Water bottle

9. Concealer: To quickly fix myself up and stops me from looking half dead when I leave the gym

10. A Small Towel: To wipe down any machines

Hope you found this post useful and have fun working out.

Everyday Face | "No Make Up" Make Up Look

This is my 'go to' look. Having the 'no make up' make up look is perfect for a casual, normal day and makes you look more fresh faced. Although it is pretty ironic how this 'no make up' look consists of various products.
Products with their links listed below.

*Benefit POREfessional (£23.50)

*Bourjois 1,2,3 Perfect Foundation (£10.99)

*Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (£4.19)

*Revlon Matte Eyeshadow, Rich Sable for eyebrows  (£5.29)

*Sleek Make Up Face Contour Kit (£6.49)

Soap and Glory Thick&Fast Mascara (£10.00)

Hope you found this useful.

Review | Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, 040 Soft Beige (£5.99)

Even though I think I've found my perfect concealer - which actually is not this one - I'm always on the look out for anything that does even better than my current favorite one. Although I have to say, this is a decent product.

This is quite a light, creamy consistency and blends in really easily to your skin. It claims to "reawaken and illuminate" under the eyes, which I think does this by its 'illuminating pigments' - ie, tiny, miniscule bits of glitter. However, they are barely visible and therefore do not need to worry about the "Edward Cullen Effect" on your face. The shimmery-ness of this is much less than the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - review coming soon - even though thats not that bad either. But I would suggest using this product if you are going to be somewhere with flash photography otherwise you'd probably get a slight white cast where you've applied it.

It claims to be "full coverage" but I would say it's more light to medium. It can cover up minor skin blemishes but cant really disguise dark under eye circles - although you could probably use a corrector then put this over the top to blend into your skin more. This would be perfect for people who have almost perfect skin with the need to cover up minor blemishes, not much of a heavy cover up.

I'm quite shocked at the colour range of this product as it only comes in 4 shades - which to be honest have slight differences in tone, and it doesn't really cater to medium to darker skin tones. Considering Rimmel is a UK brand, it's not really representative of the population.

Overall, I'd say this is a decent product with a decent price. However, it's not something that i'd reach for regularly or purchase again. If you want to give it a go - it might work for you - it's widely available in places like Boots/Superdrug and probably at Rimmel stands in supermarkets. (Click here for a look at the product on their website.)

Hope you found this useful!

Back to School | Make Up

Many people wear make up to school even though the school may no allow it. But in my opinion, as long as you keep it natural and suitable for school I don't see the problem. So I had a rummage in my make up collection and pulled out a few things that I think would be good for school make up.

1. The Colossal Volum' Express (£7.19)

It's a really inexpensive but effective mascara. The colour is very black and not dry so you can build coats up depending on your eyelash preference - natural or build up for a more dramatic look.

2. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (£4.19) 

(Previously branded as Collection 2000) This is an amazing concealer, full stop. It could easily rival higher end concealers. It's a lovely creamy formula which is suitable to cover blemishes as well as dark circles. If you don't like wearing foundation, you could just dab this on your blemishes on it's own as it has such great coverage. 

3. Elf Studio Powder Brush (£3.75)
If you wear foundation to school, this is a great brush to apply both liquid or powder formulas. The bristles are really soft and dense and is a great quality brush - especially for the price!

4. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (£9.99)
Not as inexpensive but 100% worth it. It has a lovely formula which is really easy to blend in to your skin, doesn't feel to heavy, has a dewy finish and is long lasting. It also isn't as bad as other foundation for your skins as it contains fruit extracts.

4. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder (£3.99)
If you have oily skin or just like a matt finish this is great powder for ridding of shine. You can either get it in your preferred shade or translucent. It also makes you skin look great.

5. Elf Eyebrow Kit (£3.75)
Filling in your eyebrows isn't a necessity for all people but I personally prefer it. This kit contains a powder a wax and a mini brush and is good for such an affordable price.

6.Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eyeliner (£2.99)
Eyeliner to many people is an introduction to make up. This is a great, afforable product. It's creamy and a jet black colour suitable for anyone who can't go without kohl liner.

7. Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss, Shade 08 (£5.49)
I personally wouldn't wear lipstick if I was still in high school, but I know some people do. If you do, this is a lovely subtle colour for school, it's a bit of a rosy, dusty pink - a kind of 'my lips but better' shade. The formula is also really nourishing and creamy.
        However, if you don't like wearing lipstick you could always opt for a normal lip balm or a tinted one.

I'm not saying that you should wear all of this stuff, but these are the types of products that you could wear. There're easily and widely available in stores like Boots or Superdrug and even supermarkets, all apart from the Elf products which are only available on their website (just click on the product link I left), and are all pretty inexpensive.

I hope you found this post useful!

Monthly Favourites | August

It's a tiny bit late, but not by much. I thought this would be the perfect post for me to get back into the swing of  blogging again.

Last month my favourites consisted of new products I tried and some I rediscovered in my storage and just decided to use again - and have wondered why I ever abandoned them!

1. Garnier Pure 3 in 1 Wash + Scrub + Mask

I bought this face scrub a while ago and literally just forgot about it but I started using it again. I really like it - it manages to get daily grime and make up off your face and leaves it smooth, mattified and clean. I mainly just use it as a scrub because the wash and scrub purpose is practically the same and the mask kind of changes to a scub/wash when you wash it off anyways... But I really like it.

2. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

There's quite a hype about this foundation - and I totally understand why. The reason why its my favorite for August is because it's so easy to blend into my skin especially due to the colour which is pretty much an exact match for me (I wear 200 Soft beige), it gives a lovely glowy/dewey finish and it also contains spf 15 which it good for the summer months although this summer hasn't really been that summery/sunny...

3.Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz

I bought this on offer at boots - which I still think is running - and I love this! After cleansing, it really rehydrates and cools my skin back down. It smells so nice - like rosewater -aswell and spritzing it on my face is so refreshing.

4.Natural Collection Vanilla Body Spray

(This is on offer for 3 for 2 at boots) I don't usually like smelling OF a specific scent but this is an exemption - vanilla is such a classic scent and just smells really nice. It's really affordable at £2 each so it's perfect for me to throw into my bag and spritz throughout the day or taking to the gym after a good workout.

5. Revon Matte Eye Shadow - Shade, Rich Sable

This is the perfect shade for me to fill in any gaps in my eye brows. It's lovely smooth texture and has good pigmentation. It's also great for a neutral eye look.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful, what products are your monthly favourites?

Sorry!... But I'm back, yay!

I have been away from my blog for so long! And all I can say is; I'm really sorry!!

This year has just been quite a tough one, like I'm sure what happens to many other people in their lives for certain amounts of time... But I'm happy to say I'm back! And I'll be blogging and posting more often, I also want to have a little blog revamp which will be coming soon.

Leading off from the latter comment; the content of my blog will remain the same - with reviews on beauty products and such - but I'm considering to include some fashion posts as well as lifestyle, so overall it will be a bit of a beauty and lifestyle blog. This will hopefully mean I'll have much better content for you guys who enjoy reading it.

So, I thought I'd update you on a couple of things...
1. I'm going to blog and interact on here more. :)
2. My laptop is very temperamental right now so please forgive me if I do go AWOL on here at times.
3. I GOT AN IPHONE!! :D
4. I'm happy with my AS level results so I'm going into year 13 for my last year at sixth form

Plus other stuff... :P

Please accept my apology for being gone so long. I hope your doing well

What I got... ELF

I actually really like e.l.f stuff; there's such a varity of products - although some I'd never buy - and they're very good value for money - most of the products being mostly under £4! So I decided to go ahead with my 2nd order as there was a free delivery code sent out in an email: I'd really recommend signing up to their newsletters as there's an offer more or less every week. So I got:

*2 Blending Eye Brushes - £1.50 each

*Defining Eye Brush - £1.50

*Eyeliner Brush - £1.50

*Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara - £1.50

*Matte Lip Colour in Coral (as I saw on ETCLLMLRS' blog, I was debating what colour to get) - £3.50

So all in all I spent only £11 with free P+P for 6 products that I'm all pretty happy about :D

Visit www.eyeslipsface.co.uk and have a browse around

Superdrug Dry Shampoo - Chocolate Brownie

I've been considering dry shampoo as an essential just to touch up on those days when my hair's a bit lack luster on the 2nd sometimes 3rd day hair. Batiste is the "go to" brand for dry shampoo, but I've been looking for alternatives as - for me - Batiste isn't too worth it, a can doesn't last me too long. So when I saw this in Superdrug on offer for 99p, I thought I'd just give it ago.

This one's the Chocolate Brownie one and it's coloured brown to suite brunettes so I thought it would be idea. However, I was wrong. Im just going to say it - this is an awful product... So you spray it in and it makes your hair feel cold - but this is quite normal - then expecting it to settle and leave the residue, however it makes your hair just feel wet and sticky... I've tried rubbing and working it in with my fingers but a brown powdery residue came off into my hands and it made no difference to my hair. I looked at my hair in the mirror and it looked worse than before I sprayed it in - even more greasy looking and it felt so horrible...

I thought this could just be a one off so I tried it a few more times and the same thing happened. The only nice thing about it was the smell which is quite okay...

I would never buy it again and wouldn't recommend it... The only other decent alternative to Batiste is this one (my review here).

Samples

Just a quick post... I've been buying magazines quite a bit lately; I dont really know why... But I decided to buy Glamour Magazine the other week - it was the one with Reece Witherspoon on the front. When I was flicking through it at home; there were like 3 free samples in it and they were actually decent products.

I'm not going to go into tones of detail - it would be quite a boring post. But I'm quite excited to try the Chanel foundation and I hope its a good match, the sample is in the shade '30 Beige'. But the Rimmel foundation I really like; I think I'm going to purchase it and the match for me was spot on, it was in '200' I cant remember the name though :S And the whole sachet lasted me a whole week! So there is quite a decent amount in there - well for me anyway... And the other thing is a face wash/mask thing which to be honest I'm in no hurry to try...

Cosmopolitan Magazine

I don't buy magazines that regularly, so when I walk past the magazine bit in Tesco or something and there's a front cover that looks interesting or a good freebie; I buy it. This time for me; it's the Cosmopolitan magazine, with the lovely and beautiful Holly Willoughby on the cover.

I got this magazine because of the TWO, FREE mini CLINIQUE products. I was like; "Yes please!"

I really like mascara so I picked the one with that in and for the other product I didn't really mind, but I didn't really want the lip gloss as I'm not much of a fan. So I got a mini High Impact Mascara and Moisture Surge (cream/gel). The other two products available are a mini 7 day Exfoliare Scrub and a Super Moisturising Lip Gloss. 

What every product you prefer, it's well worth it. The magazine is only £3.50.

What I Got...

*Black T-Shirt - River Island, £15 

*Patterned Silk Scarf - Primark, £3

*Stripy T-Shirt - Primark, £6

*Revlon Eye Shadows - Superdrug, £4.99

*Lovehearts - Superdrug, Got given them at the counter for free :D

*MUA Lipstick - Superdrug, £1

*Cosmopolitan Magazine - Tesco, £3.50

I arranged other pictures onto a page but the quality has slightly decreased but it's still okay... I finished college early today so I thought I'd do a bit of shopping whilst it was still quiet. I mainly went to get my friends birthday present but as always, came back with other stuff. I'm so happy withe the stuff I got from Superdrug, the Revlon eye shadow palettes were only £4.99 each but normally they're £7.99 - I couldn't resist so I got two. The Lovehearts also I got for free - the lovely guy at the till gave them to me. And lastly, I needed to pop into Tesco for some food but also decided to get Cosmopolitan Magazine as you get two free Clinique products!

There may be some posts on some of these items soon! 

ELLE Free Gift

I've bought a few ELLE magazines in the past, but now I'm that little bit older I appreciate them much more - with the articles that actually relate to me and the stunning editorial pictures in them... I think from now on, I'm going to continue buying them when I have that few extra "bob" to spend...

But what made my buy this issue was the free gift; which is the Soap and Glory, Thick and Fast mascara. I've ben wanting to try out some of the Soap and Glory cosmetics and thought why not? ...As this mascara is worth £10, but buying the magazine, you get it for £3.90, plus the magazine which is pretty good.

So why not run down to the news-agents or supermarket and grab the March edition while you can :D And a reveiw on this mascara will be on it's way soon.

What I got...

Went to Westfield this morning as I've been saving for a while and wanted to have a bit of a splurge; I haven't really bought anything new in a while. I didn't buy much as one of my purchases is one of those "investment" pieces.. 

*Quirks (New McVities biscuits :D) - £1, Co-op

*Dry Shampoos - 99p each, Superdrug

*Tweezers - £1.99, Superdrug

*Longchamp Le Pliage Bag - £68, House of Fraser

Reviews on some of these things soon :)

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser

I was looking round in Superdrug for a new face was thing and came across this. It's the Superdrugs own brand. It's a hot cloth cleanser - the same kinda thing to Liz Earles Cleanse and Polish, but this is much much cheaper. On first impressions I really liked it - it made my skin feel really fresh and clean after. But after using it for a while now, I love it even more!

It's in a big squeezy tube which I like as it's practical and you can get most of the product out when it's running out. The product it's self is a white, smooth, thick, creamy liquid - it's like a kind of like a body butter consistency but obviously comes in the tube. So you apply it all over your face, and it doesn't drip anywhere. After you use the muslin cloth that's included, which is nice and soft. It's really simple to use. It has a kind of fruity or something or other smell - I think it's a little coconuty with some other kind of smell - I cant quite put my finger on it...

Afterwards, it makes your skin feel so soft and clean and easily removes make up. After a few weeks of using it, I noticed that my skin was much clearer. It has vitamin E in it too which is also good for your skin. Overall, I really love this product and would definitely buy it again. I got it in when it was on offer for only £2.99 but it's usually £5.99 which is still pretty okay - just keep your eyes open for the offers.

MUA Clear Mascara

I thought I'd give this product a try as it was only £1 in Superdrug on the MUA stand. I wanted to try something alternative and new for my eyebrows - as recently, I've just been using my elf Eyebrow Kit. So I thought I'd shade in m eyebrows using an eyebrow pencil and set the hairs with this. But after a few days of using this, it shows to be quite a pathetic product to be quite honest...

Clear mascara is meant to give you a natural lash look but just longer and more separated. I tried it on my lashes to see if it worked on them, but it didn't either... I might as well have just been applying water to them... Even on my brows, it doesn't set them whatsoever. And as a matter of fact, when I pull the wand out - it looks like there's no product on there... The tube also just seems poorly made - like it's thin and flimsy, and also you have to shove the wand back in, you can't push it it lightly as it just wont go...

Yeah this was only a pound, but it could have at least done something... If your looking for a clear mascara, I wouldn't recommend this, but neither would I opt for a clear one anyway, (if you want a more natural look, just go for brown...) and neither would I recommend this for a brow gel...

Sleek Face Contour Kit

I've recently added contouring into my daily make-up routine, (only when I have enough time and can be bothered :P) and before I just used to use a usual bronzer. But when I saw this in Superdrug, I thought it was perfect, and had to buy it. It has two powders; a bronzer and a highlighter which are both really good.

I like the fact that even though they're decently pigmented they're subtle and so you don't have to worry too much about being heavy handed or having huge contrasting patches on your face. The bronzer has no shimmer at all - really good for contouring - and is a really nice shade - it's not orange. The highlighter is shimmery and pearlescent but it's still nice and gives a natural glow.

I really like the packaging of this. It's just nice and compact, and it's also really slick - simple. The mirror also is quite big too which is handy. Another thing I quite like is the outer box it comes in; even though the picture of the woman looks kinda lame and doesn't make it look particularly classy; (It's not the woman herself, it's the fact that she's there - the box would just look more slick if it was more simplistic) I like it because it protects the actual compact from in-store damage (scuffs, scratches, etc) and those bloody annoying Superdrug security stickers which are a nightmare to remove!

Lastly, another little thing what makes this kit really good is that it comes with a leaflet thing which has a    breif and basic step by step guide to contouring. There's so many people I've seen get it wrong.. :P This makes it so much more ideal for new 'contourers'

Overall, this is such a great product and is defiantly worth buying. I don't really have any major faults with it. It comes in 3 shades - light, medium and dark, (Mines in light) and is around the £6.50 mark - is really inexpensive but really worth it.

Jeffrey Campbell - Wow

I think most of us are familiar with Jeffrey Campbell 'Litas', I'd love a pair, but I don't really know if I'd actually wear them, and considering the 'Litas' are around £120; I don't think it would be worth it for me personally. When would it be appropriate? Maybe when I'm a bit older. :P
So these are probably the most standard and iconic:

But browsing though the rest of them, I just thought "wow" and share some which are AMAZING!

These aren't exactly my style, but I think they are quite amazing. I don't know how you could walk in the pink ones and where exactly could you wear them. but I love the last ones. They are incredibly unique and so original - I do really like them.

What do you think about these shoes?

PanOxyl

Acne and spots are just a nuisance. No one likes or wants them, so why can't they just go away? Well, this product may be your answer. I'm no doctor so I'm recommending this product to you with caution. This is a chemical gel, of which contains Benzoyl Peroxide. None of you probably want to know the sciencey stuff; so I'll just keep it simple. It's a creamy white gel and what this does - and is supposed to do - is dry out any spots or pimples you have. And it actually works, so ti gets rid of them. Use it quite sparingly as it does dry out your skin and only use it when you need to. This is not recommended for more than 2 uses a day and must be applied to clean and dry skin - so if you're applying make up - you can do so, after it's dry and it must be oil free make up. 

This is my saviour, but as this is an "Over the counter" product I'd do some research into what it contains and if it's suitable. If you think this product is suitable, I'd definitely go for it and try it. It comes in 3 concentrations - 2.5% (Which I use and would say that's all you need if your using it for occasional spots/pimples), 5% and 10%. If it's your first time using it; buy the 2.5%.

This can by prescribed to you by doctors but if you want to buy it, you have to go to a chemist and ask for it over the counter and they will explain it to you abit. It's around £3 (I think) for 40g worth of product. I couldn't go without this anymore.

What spot treatments do you use?

MUA Bronzer

There's quite a bit of hype around MUA products from Superdrug due to the simple fact they're a decent quality and affordable - with loads of their products being only £1! I thought I'd try the bronzer out in Shade 3, and was thinking you can't really go wrong with it being only £1.

The packaging is nicely simplistic, with it being clear plastic casing, I don't mind it - it's alright. The product it's self is kind of "half and half" with me. It's good in the fact that the shade I have (Shade 3) has no shimmer and so would be good for contouring, and I like the pigmentation with it. It's not too pigmented so it doesn't go on dark but you're still able to see it. However I find that in person, (unlike in the photo above) it comes out slightly kind of like terracotta colour (and it has a kind of red-ish tinge). I probably would have been happy if I had a different shade - but this bronzer only comes in 3 shades; and 2 of which have shimmer which I'm not a fan of.

Overall, I'm not really going to be using this product just because of the colour tinge I don't really like with it. But as everyone's skin tones are different; it might not be the same on all skins. Everything else about this product is actually really good though. I'd say, if your debating or thinking to buy it - just go for it, it's only £1.