Sunday 27 March 2016

Topshop Mother Of Pearl Highlighter

I recently was looking on the Topshop website at their beauty and makeup range as I am a big fan of their products. I feel you get great quality products for an even better price!

I decided to purchase the Mother of Pearl Chameleon Highlighter. It's a gorgeous warm toned gold highlight with a slight pink shine off it when its in the light which complements the face/cheek area perfectly!



I was so surprised at how creamy/buttery this felt and it glides onto your skin to leave a perfect finish. Sometimes with highlight I can find that some make the texture on my skin more noticeable, this doesn't stop me wearing the highlight, but with this one its one of the best I own at giving me a flawless highlight!

This highlight is smaller in pan size than most of mine but it definitely feels like my higher end brands for sure and for £12.50 it's a great find!

Here's how the products looks swatched under a flash:


I only edited the background, the product & my finger are untouched!

It's an amazing product and I definitely recommend this to anyone of any skin colour it's gorgeous! This would also be a great product for the eyes and especially the inner corner highlight or brow bone highlight!! So multi-purposeful and worth it's price tag!



If you're interested in this highlight you can pick it up HERE. If you own this highlight let me know what you think and if you don't are you going to pick it up or considering it?

Find me here:

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.

Friday 25 March 2016

Music Fridays.



This is a new thing I'm going to start posting regularly on my blog!

I've such a love for music and I thought it would be cool to share my favourite songs from the month in a monthly playlist posted the last Friday of every month!

I always love checking out other peoples playlists and what they're listening to. Music is such an easy way to get to know someone and I thought it'd be fun for some of you to find some new music and possibly recommend me some cool tunes to check out also!


Without further ado, here is my March 2016 playlist:


Find me here:

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.

Sunday 20 March 2016

Snapshot: Friday 11th March 2016. Belfast Fashion Week!


This ones a little late. Better late than never though, right?!



On Friday 11th March I went to Belfast Fashion Week to see the high street show. I was so unsure of what to wear as I was going shopping for a little while first so I needed something that I could wear during the day and still look like I made an effort that night!

I ended up deciding on glam makeup, a rust coloured a-line skirt with zip detail up the front, high necked black top and cream fur gilet paired with my heeled over the knee boots.. A real 70's vibe!

My makeup was my favourite glam with a brown smokey eye and shimmer on the lid, contour and highlighted to the gods, lashes and Androgyny from Jeffree Star on my lips because it looks so good with shades from the Morphe 35T palette!



I wore my usual and favourite Milk + Blush extensions and curled them with a wand. So quick and easy to do!

We firstly went to a few shops and for a coffee beforehand as we had some time to kill. I was surprisingly good with my money and only repurchased a face mask from Lush.. I know, what was wrong?! To be honest we didn't go to many make up stores and I think thats the reason for my unusual restraint lol!


We went to the venue then and were greeted at the door to a West Coast Cooler NI backdrop to get photos taken with gorgeous fairy lights and #WCCNI in light up letters. This was followed by a place to pick up your own glass of West Coast Cooler. When you followed on into the hall you were brought into an area before the show which had stalls of the vendors and brands involved in fashion week showing you products and offering discounts and opportunities they had! 


Here we waited to be shown to our seats for the show. We were seated at the top of the runway with a clear view of the models and the visual of which brand was on the runway!




The show was great and included some amazing looks from high street brands such as Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Warehouse, Remus Uomo and so many more!

As we entered we got a goody bag waiting for us on our seats, mine included lots of goodies as shown below!


There was also crisps and a bottle of water but they are very clearly gone, they didn't last the journey home!

It was a really great night and I'll definitely be returning in October, hopefully for a few more shows next time! I'm going to post the links to the fashion show's own social media so you can get a real good look at the models and clothing!

Did any of you check out any fashion week shows this time around? What trends are your favourite for SS16?

WCCNI Twitter

Find me here:

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.

Friday 11 March 2016

Sleek Highlight Palette

I wanted to talk today about the Sleek Highlight Palette I finally got my hands on!



This baby was only £10 and includes some great product in gorgeous packaging. The warm mirrored gold packaging makes this palette look way higher end than it's price - and that's exactly what I want whenever buying products!

I got this a few weeks ago but have been trying it out before posting so I could really let you know what I thought of it and how I find it best to wear/use.

The colours in this palette are quite different yet all shades I would wear and that's great. I love having a choice. This palette is actually quite small it would fit nicely in my hand and this makes it a great thing to throw into a makeup bag or handbag. With the selection of shades and size it's so travel friendly and perfect for people on the go!

The palette has a small mirror inside the lid, a small brush to apply the product and 4 shades. This includes 1 cream highlight shade and 3 powder shades. Perfect for all looks.

I really love the shades in this palette and they are all very buttery and surprisingly pigmented. I love quite a bright highlight and this palette holds its own against some of my higher end favourites!



The cream shade is called Ecliptic and is the top left shade in the palette. Its a metallic pink champagne shade which is extremely pigmented as shown above. This was the first shade I swatched and I was so impressed. I love a cream highlight when I'm wearing a minimal makeup look and want a natural glow and this keeps my skin looking bright and dewy. 



The top right shade is called Hemisphere and is a light metallic pink. When in the light this gives off a cooler highlight colour and I think this would be perfect for paler skin if you want to find something with a pop of colour that isn't to warm for you. This colour is also the perfect brow bone and inner corner eye highlight. This palette is so multi-purposeful as well - definitely worth the small price tag!

The bottom left shade is called Subsolar. This is a light champagne/gold highlight. It's on the cooler side of gold highlights and is so gorgeous! This shade again can be used for the eyes and face and is similar to my MUA highlight which is an iridescent gold shade. I also think this is kind of similar to the Becca Moonstone highlight.

The bottom left shade is Equinox. It is a warm gold shade and is gorgeous. I love wearing this shade on nights out or when I have a tan. It makes me look so dewy and glowing. It's beautiful!

Here are swatches of the colours. The first picture has a flash and the second has no flash and both have no filter. (Left to Right: Ecliptic, Subsolar, Hemisphere, Equinox)



Again I can't talk highly enough of this palette and I really do encourage you to go out and spend the money on this. I really can't stress how practical the size of this palette is and the packaging is to die for! 



So if you're looking to buy this palette you can find it HERE on the Sleek website and I know Boots, Superdrug and other smaller drugstores have sleek instore for you to check out! Let me know if you have this and what you think or if you're going to get it? :)


Find me here:

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.

Wednesday 9 March 2016

One One Three Plus Size Clothing



I've done a few posts on here including plus size brands on here but I have never talked about one alone.

I was recently scrolling through Instagram a few months ago, as I spend 80% of my iPhone battery a day doing and I came across a brand called One One Three. They were posting some plus size clothing and I followed them and they always were uploading great posts.

Recently in the last few weeks they have been posting about their new spring/summer collection for 2016 and oh my god i've never been so impatient!

Being a girl who can wear plus size clothing this collection has me all kinda of excited! This collection looks edgy, cool, different and down right amazing!! It's the kind of clothes you'd see on all the trend setting gorgeous girls snapped at LFW for their amazing street style recently.. And I'm so excited to see this kind of clothing in plus size!

Not that other high street brands aren't doing great clothes, some of my favourites being ASOS, Boohoo and Missguided, but this collection blows me away.

It includes some amazing edgy longline bombers, girly silhouettes, gorgeous full length dresses, amazing satin and velvet textures, fun button up skirts and flattering pinafores. To be totally honest if I had this whole collection I wouldn't mind. I'm definitely going to want to be picking up multiple pieces!

I also love the prints in this collection! A cool blogger favourite the marble print graces a few items and awesome alphabet print dresses which are daring but also look like so much fun to dress up and down!

I love that this collection looks to have been made with curves in mind. I find some items in plus size look like a slightly bigger version of an existing piece from a brand and isn't flattering to this different body type. These clothes are made to flatter your boobs (or showcase them if you may!), highlight everyones gorgeous waistlines and silhouettes and make younger woman like myself feel comfortable and want to wear these awesome pieces and feel bomb! 

One One Three uploaded all the pieces to their website (all links at the end!) so you can go and look at their new collection but at this moment in time it isn't available to purchase! I'm preparing my bank in advance...

I'm super excited for this to launch and I also am going to start posting more outfit posts! I've been so obsessed with curvy fashion bloggers / girls on instagram lately. Heres some of my faves fromthecornersofthecurve, Tess Holiday, Felicity Hayward and there's so many more! After flicking through their feeds and blogs I'm so inspired to start posting more and generally a lot more excited so stay tuned for those posts coming soon!!!

Here's a sneak peek at the site and i'm so excited for this range to drop.. 


One One Three Links:
Website
Instagram
Twitter 
Facebook
Snapchat: oneonethreesnaps

Hope you guys check out this amazing brand and follow them! 
I'm excited to see more of their products in the future and get excited for more outfit posts from me!

Find me here:
Snapchat: maria-armstrong

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.

Monday 7 March 2016

February Favourites!

It's that time again. I honestly feel like I blinked and February was over!? I'm also so surprised that its already nearly a week into March. Where is 2016 going?!

February was such a fun month for me, I had time off work and spent a lot of time on here! That being said.. I haven't blogged in a week!! I know, I'm sorry. I need to set up certain days to blog to be more consistent as I went from 3 posts in a week to none! But, I'm back and I recently got my hands on a lot of good products to let you know about I'm just trying them out first!

So, onto my favourites for last month..



I've been loving liquid lipsticks throughout February. I have also been trying to include more glossy/satin lips but I always come back to these! Twig Satin Lipstick by Mac and the Mac
Lip Pencil in Soar was my go to lip for nearly a year but recently I've been reaching for this Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick in Androgyny everyday for every look! Along with that I have been using my Stila Liquid Lipstick in Caramello a lot more. Originally I found this shade a little too light for me to wear as a nude lip, it felt a little foundation lips to be honest and we ALL know that isn't a good look! Instead I've been wearing a nice lip liner and using this liquid lip on the centre of my lips as a highlight or all over is perfect! For foundation my go to has been the Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation Stick. This is perfect for a night out or just anytime I want full coverage. This makes my skin flawless and is easy to apply with a beauty blender. It can get oily on my skin and slide around if I don't wear powder and a good primer and I have dry skin. I take these steps daily though so this keeps mine in place. For a cheaper foundation and one I've been reaching for daily is my L'oreal Infallible 24Hr Foundation. This has great coverage and doesn't feel like I'm wearing makeup at all! I would say its medium coverage but with an extra pump it easily could be built to a full coverage. I wear this daily and keep getting compliments on it. It's a great foundation and is definitely my favourite drug store foundation. Another favourite is my Dolly Wink Eyeliner! The packaging is super cute which helped entice me to buy it. It then quickly became my favourite from the first use. The tip on this is super flexible and gives me the perfect flick and we all know I love my eyeliner. It's also a very black eyeliner and doesn't budge on nights out which is perfect for me!

I've been obsessing with my Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay Blush Palette this month!! To be honest I was never too keen on blush. It kinda scared me! I thought it made me look too caked. I bought this on a whim as I loved the eyeshadow palette and when watching youtube tutorials I seen all my favourite beauty vloggers wearing blush and I kinda thought I was missing out. Boy, was I missing out!! This blush palette was the best buy as I now have 6 new shades of blush with big pans so they'll last a long time they also are so multi-purposeful! There's shades I can use as a subtle contour, highlight, brow bone highlight, inner-corner highlight on my eye and as eyeshadows! These colours are so warm, bright and gorgeous! I love the formula too. It's definitely been a great buy.




I also have been obsessed with lashes the last while. I always wore lashes but now it's become more of a daily thing. My natural lashes are very straight and short so just wearing mascara on it's own doesn't really work for me. I searched online and came across these lashes. They look natural and cross which is a style I really like! There was 10 pairs for just over £2 including delivery. They were an absolute steal and I love them I'll definitely be repurchasing soon! I just use my Duo lash glue to apply these. 



Onto 'other' favourites from the month..

Music-wise this month I've had two albums on repeat. The first is Don't You by a band called Wet. This was released at the end of Jan and I've loved it throughout Feb. I came across this band as they were in my Discover Weekly Playlist on Spotify and I've been in love since. It's a female fronted band which are in the synth-pop kind of genre with a hint of more soulful sounds. This record is a perfect break up album and lyrically I adore it. Some of my favourite songs are It's All In Vain, Deadwater and You're The Best but honestly I have listened to this album from front to back multiple times. It's perfect.

The second album I'm including even though it only came out at the very end of Feb I feel it still might be my most listened to album. It's I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It from The 1975. I've been listening to the handful of songs released all month and my pre-order of the album arrived on my door step on release day. Perfect! The vinyl itself is gorgeous and I love the album. It has all my favourite things from previous songs and more. I love all the singles released but on this album my heart lies in She's American. This. Song. Ever since I gave the album the first listen this song stuck out! There's a slow build them BAM! It hits with the most perfect sounding guitar riff and full on 80's synth in the background. I love it every time I hear it. This song is so cinematic and I feel like it would be on a John Hughes brat pack film soundtrack. I can't speak any higher of this song. It's timeless and amazing, just like the rest of the album!


I watched only a handful of films this month in comparison to my usual long list. One that stuck out for me was definitely Deadpool! This film was everything I wanted from it. Deadpool's sarcasm was perfect and the amount of violence etc was perfect. They had all the traits a great comic book film should have and kept it light and hilariously funny. I laughed out loud so much! I loved it. 
An oldie but a goodie I watched was Dazed and Confused. I've seen this film time and time again and I still love it. The pace of this film is great and it's a perfect coming of age film. I love how it documents one day but the story line feels like a lot happens and nothing is dragged out or unnecessary. I always wanted my teens to be like this and it has that nostalgic feel now. It also rekindles my love for the 70's. I love the soundtrack to this movie, the fashion and just everything about it. I definitely recommend this to everyone. It's a fun film and a great watch!!

That concludes my favourites for this month, I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what some of your favourites are or what you'd like me to check out! Maybe film recommendations? Those would be greatly appreciated!!

Find me here:

(◍•ᴗ•◍) - ♡

xo

M.