My Style Inspiration..

Everyone's personal style is so individual so it always fascinates me to see what brands, people and places inspire their look. 

I thought I'd give you an insight into what makes me weak at the knees when it comes to fashion and what social media places I look to for inspiration!

My personal look is something that took me a while to find. I definitely have two moods. My comfy, chic, 'street style' and my girly, pastel, dressy mood. I think most girls can relate to this. However I feel that day determines how I dress. Even though both of my looks can be slightly different I think they both have a strong essence of 'me'. Obviously I also have different kind of looks (formal, smart-casual etc) but this is focusing on my everyday kind of look!


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My comfy look would tend to be a loose tee, black jeans, trainers and bomber jacket. This is one of my favourite kind of looks for hanging with my friends and probably going to the cinema or doing something chill. I'm in love with trainers lately as they can look like I made an effort and I can have the most comfortable shoes on. Best of both worlds! I got Adidas Tubular in Grey for Christmas and they haven't left my feet. They're a mix of fashion and practicality - perfect!

I'm practically obsessed with Kara Craig for this kinda style. She designs her own line and oh my god. Everything she posts I need in my wardrobe stat. I linked her instagram above and I have no idea why she only has over 5K followers. Her designs are amazing and her style embodies everything I want in my casual style. Her hair and make up is also always on point. HERE is her portfolio linked and you can have a look at her stuff there also. (That's her website where you can see her shop & contact her.) The camel hoody she designed with the large front pocket is to die for and her colour scheme of all the earth tones is amazing. She's definitely one of my favourites ever.

Also, I love the brand Profound Aesthetic. I've linked their instagram which has their links and you can see the items they released! Their clothing is very much in the same vein of Kara Craig's but it started out with only mens clothing and has now expanded. The items on their site is amazing and I kinda, again, want it all! 

On the high street ASOS is also great for this look. I got my bomber off there and I absolutely love it. Their own brand clothing is great quality and super affordable!

A person who I look up to for this kind of style is probably Halsey. There are some of her pieces she would wear that I definitely couldn't rock but some of her style I'm pretty obsessed with. I'll post some her looks that are my favourites below. One of my all time favourites is her all black look on the bottom left. I'd definitely rock that.

                            

     

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My other mood when it comes to style is girlier and involves a lot of lighter shades like grey/pastels. I love wearing skirts/dresses with high boots. I think it's so feminine! I usually rock this style if I'm maybe going for coffee/dinner or even out at night for a full glam look! 

Some of my favourite brands for these kinds of style are mostly high street brands like Missguided, Boohoo, Topshop and ASOS. I can nearly always find something similar to what I'm looking for on ASOS. It's got everything your fashions wants can think of! 

For this style I'd definitely say someone that inspires me is Ariana Grande. I love everything about her. Her style, make up, music, products.. Everything! Another big inspiration to me lately has been Scream Queens also, round of applause to the wardrobe people on that set. All. Those. Looks. Slay.. I'll post some of my favourite looks from both of these that i'd rock.

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Some one who embodies both of these perfectly for me is Zendaya. Damn. Her style is unreal (and that body!). I'd give everything to look like her! She's amazing. Here's a 'few' of her looks that I'm totally enamoured with.

All these looks. Ugh.

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Another thing that inspires my style is Japan, and specifically, Harajuku in Tokyo. I know what you're thinking.. Girls cover in Hello Kitty and a million different clips in their hair? No. The street style in Harajuku is amazing and I'm totally obsessed. Porter Robinson released a music video for his song Lionhearted and I think the style is represented in this so well. By that I mean I wanna wear it ALL. Please. Here's some of my favourite street style picks in harajuku..

This is from Porter's video (YouTube Link):

The style in this video is amazing! It's also an amazing song with a really cool video. Totally my aesthetic. 

So that's my post. Hopefully it gave you some more insight into my style, some of my influences and possibly introduced you to some cool fashion!!

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M

10 Things I Want To Do in 2016

Looking back over 2014 and partly 2015 I did some cool and fun things. I decided to make a list of 10 things I'd like to do this year. Some big, some small, but important to me none the less. I want to try and tick as many of these off the list as possible and I should probably get a move on as it's mid February now!

1. Visit Glasgow (Again). To be honest I've spent lots of time in Glasgow and I absolutely love it there. It's the only place where I would move in a heartbeat. (Tokyo is a close second.. But I've never actually been there lol!). I went by ferry a few years ago and it was so nice but flying from Ireland is so easy, about 20-25 mins in the air. I love everything about Glasgow. The people, events, shops (!!!) and the nightlife! Oh, and I can't forget that accent!! I've also come across some of the best food there. I wanna go back so bad right now..

2. Go to more concerts. I've always been an avid concert go-er. Concerts and festivals are my thing. Hell, music in general is just my thing. I've seen so many amazing acts over the years. I'm so lucky. This year I definitely want to add to that list though. Belsonic and Tennant's Vital are two festivals in Northern Ireland and I tend to try and not miss either for at least a day of the line up. They usually happen around the same time so last year I managed to see Bry, Twenty One Pilots, All Time Low, Echosmith, Bastille, Ellie Goulding, John Newman and Calvin Harris in the space of a few days - amazing!

3. Beach evenings in Ireland. I spent a few days at the beach with my friends last year. Obviously, living in Ireland these are few and far between unless you feel like wrapping up before the beach to avoid getting frostbite. But these are some of my favourite nights. My friend just kinda came to collect me and a few of us went down and just walked along the beach and it's so nice. Maybe being outside isn't that bad after all..

4. Travel more. This one is a bit more broad but I kinda just wanna spend a little less time here at home. Maybe take a shopping trip somewhere else, maybe just go on a random adventure. This is just something I really want to do more and get out of my comfort zone.

5. Nerd out more. Ok, so anyone who knows me personally knows my deep passion for all things nerdy. I definitely want to nerd out more in general. Probably did enough for the whole of 2016 after seeing Deadpool last night. It was everything I expected and more. The violence, gore and sarcasm was on point. I couldn't love it any more if I tried. But yeah, lets talk about films, games and general geekery more on here, deal?

6. Explore my home town more. When having a discussion with a friend lately I realised there's so many things, places and activities I've missed out on. I never venture much into my home town. I spend my time in the cinema, shopping, in food places or home. I never really see what this place has got to offer. Last year I did a handful of fun things around here, some including a haunted walk around the city walls and a halloween haunted house. I'd definitely be up for more in 2016!

7. Fire pit with my friends. This one is really just a good people, good times and good stories kinda vibe. I just love hanging with my friends, maybe having a drink and a good catch up because we don't see each other so much now life kinda gets in the way so these times are precious and the best. Here's to more!

8. CREATE. I love drawing/painting and just creating art. Wether that is through art, music, photography or even blogging. I always need a creative outlet and I always have. This blog has really helped me to realise that and start to get my creative juices flowing again at the end of 2015 and I really want to carry that into 2016. It helps keep me sane! So here's to more posts, drawing/art and music! (I will continue to play/get better at guitar too)

9. Expand my make up knowledge. Make up is a passion of mine, I love everything about it. How it makes me feel when I complete a look and think I've nailed it, the before and after, the creative-ness of it, the limitless boundaries. You can do anything you want with make up, it has no rules. I really want to expand everything I know. I want to know more about products, brands, application, what suits which skin types etc. I just want to absorb everything I can! I also want to attend classes/tutorials on make up. I want to increase my application skills a lot. I just love a beat face, ok?

10. Expand my blog. This one is kinda obvious but I've realised lately I love doing this. I love buying new products and trying them out and then to have a place to write what I think and interact with other people and hear their thoughts and opinions is pretty cool. I also love now that when I read about products I know it's from a mutual make up lover and not someone getting paid to give a good review (pet peeve!). I love how I can trust others opinions and hopefully you all can trust mine too. It's a community on here and I want to delve deeper into that and make more friends/mutuals. Talk to me and ask me questions, I'm excited to answer them and talk with you!!

So there you go, thats what I want to do/achieve in 2016. I know it's a bit late as most people do this in the new year but it honestly took me this long to figure out what I wanted to do! I also hope this let you get a closer look into me and what I like etc. I thought it was time for a personal post on here.. So, let me know things you want to do/improve on! Let's have a talk..

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M

Valentines Day Makeup Look!

This is the look I rocked last night (Saturday) for my valentines weekend night out.. With the girls!! I'm not one to get into Valentines so I just rocked glam make up with a red lip. To be honest, this is one of my favourite looks ever! I'll list what products I used and a few steps below. I'll include links to the products too.

Firstly, I primed my face with my Nivea Mens Post Shave Balm. This is like a make up glue and I'm sure you've seen everyone on youtube using it lately! It's perfect for a night out with the girls as my makeup doesn't move all night even after all my dancing! I colour corrected my face with the blush colour from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette in Medium to help cover my dark circles and darker skin around my chin/jaw area. For foundation I used my trusty Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation Stick. I like a full coverage and this is perfect for that look. For contour I used Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour Kit in Medium. I used the shade cinnamon on my contour areas, as I've hit pan on my highlight colour I used Mac Pro Longwear Concealer as my highlight. This also added extra coverage and brightened up my face. I used my Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer in Light under my eyes and baked straight away so it didn't have time to crease. To bake I used my Maybelline Loose Powder. I added some powder to set the rest of my face lightly with a brush. I then added Mac Blush in Harmony as my powder contour colour to set it. It's a perfect cool toned brown for contour. To highlight my face I used Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft 'n' Gentle. This gives me a great golden glow which is perfect when I'm wearing tan and keeps me highlighted to the gods!!! I love it but I really need to get my hands on a Becca highligher.. Why don't I have one?!

I moved onto my eyebrows then. I used my favourite Illamasqua Brow Gel in Stare and an angled brush to apply it. On my eyes I applied a plain nude shadow as a base from my Urban Decay x Pulp Fiction Palette which was limited edition. I then added a brown shade from my Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay eyeshadow palette. I used Stare in the crease and slightly higher then Anaheim in my crease. On my lid I placed NYX Glam Liner Aqua Luxe in Glam Nude all over my lid. This eyeliner is amazing and really made my eyes pop! I'll be purchasing more of these for sure! I then added my trusty Dolly Wink Eyeliner for a beautiful flick. I placed a small amount of the nyx eyeliner under my eye and applied Benefit They're Real Mascara to my top and bottom lashes. I then applied 2 pairs of eyelashes as I love a dramatic lash! The ones I applied were ones from a 10pc pack I got on eBay and a pair from my local chemist, nothing too exciting!

On my lips I scrubbed them, added balm and then my Mac Lipstick in Diva. It's a perfect blue toned red for my skin tone and I'm in love.

So that was my look! I spent my V Day weekend with my friends then today I wrote this and chilled out. How was all your Valentine's weekends? Hope everyone had a great time - with or without boyfriend/girlfriend!

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M

January Favourites!

I am going to make a point of posting a favourites post every month, I get so excited reading everyone else's posts so I thought why not!

In make up, one of my biggest favourites and most used products is my Gwen Stefani x Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette. I got this early December and for the last two months anytime I've worn eyeshadow it's been this palette. It has every colour you could want. Nudes, browns, metallics and brights! It's a great palette and you can create so many very different eye looks with this.

I have been loving this Bobbi Brown Blush I got in Berry. I've been using it on my eyes as a shadow colour (multiple uses makes splurging a little less guilt ridden!) It's great paired with Punk from the Gwen x UD palette and as a pop of colour under the lash line with a smokey eye! 

A great drugstore product that has been gracing my face lately is the MUA (Make Up Academy) Highlighter in Iridescent Gold. For £3 this is a steal! It's best used on a damp blush to intensify that colour and it's the most gorgeous shade. I would say it's the most similar to Moonstone from ABH!

A lip combo I have been rocking lately is Mac Lip Pencil in Soar and Mac Lipstick in Mehr. This gives my lips a great mauve/pink shade which is a colour we've seen be released religiously over the last year. Thank you Kylie J. I'm in love with the shade and need every lip stick, pencil, etc. in this colour. (Roll on Friday the 12th so I can grab some Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick in Androgyny!)

A more random favourite on January has been a Body Shop body, room and linen spray I received as a Christmas present! It's a Jasmine & White Frangipani scent. This smell is amazing. It's a fresh scent with a hint of sweetness but nothing over powering. Anyone who has smelt this has asked what this is all the time. It's beautiful and I think I'll need to go purchase myself another one soon!

A few other favourites I have from January are my Adidas Tubular trainers in grey I got for Christmas. These are the most comfortable shoes and look so good with black jeans and a slouchy tee for an effortlessly put together look. I wore this with a bomber jacket yet nice makeup and hair and I definitely feel girly yet so comfortable - best of both worlds! (for me)

As I've been working lots lately I've been coming home, catching up on my youtube videos, blog posts, organising my posts & writing them and then playing SO MUCH MARIO KART 8. This game is too good. I'm basically a pro now, just saying. Since I played it so much this month (I've only 4 cups left to get and very little customisations) I thought it wouldn't be right to leave this out lol!

I've been obsessing over shows lately. I go through phases of watching back to back films or episodes of amazing tv shows and in January Teen Wolf came back. I watch so many tv shows but this is the only one I've religiously followed weekly from day one. Which is an amazing feat in itself really. This show started out as a teen show in a school but now nearing the end of season 5 it's dark, captivating, interesting and once the episode I'm watching ends I'm dying to see the next one. I can't speak highly enough of this show. I'm obsessed. Also, Dylan O'Brien is in it, that always helps! *Swoons*

So that's it for my favourites this month. What has been catching your eye and been a staple for January please let me know in the comments!

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M

Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

Say hello to your new black liquid eyeliner obsession! 

I seen these eyeliners everywhere online. Anyone who had an interest in Korean/Japanese makeup has posted multiple times about these! The packaging is so cute and they caught my eye. 

I remember Marzia Bisognin using this in a YouTube tutorial and her eyeliner looked flawless, I needed this product but couldn't find it readily available here in the UK. Then I very recently saw Fleur De Force talk about this eyeliner after she picked it up in Japan and her eyeliner also looked amazing. I knew then and there I needed this eyeliner. I searched the internet for this product and came across it on eBay! It was a great price (£7.99 incl. delivery, super affordable!) and its so cute! I couldn't resist it! 

When this eyeliner arrived I was so surprised!! It's amazing. The tip is ultra thin at the top, perfect for my sharp cat eye that I love. The brush itself if very soft so you can vary the pressure to get extremely thin lines to thick lines to fill in your desired shape - so versatile! The packaging it very 'kawaii' and helped to sell the product to me. I'm a sucker for packaging!

This eyeliner is produced by Japanese model Tsubasa Masuwaka. She released the whole Dolly Wink range which includes eyelashes, glue and nail polishes to name a few products! Check them out also!

I'm such a fan of this and definitely 100% recommend this to everyone! Here's a picture of my make up from the weekend when I used my eyeliner for the first time:

That cat eye - yaaaaas! Here's a closer picture for you to see what this eyeliner looks like up close, this photo was taken a few hours after I applied the eyeliner. The staying power was great especially as my eczema on my eyelids is so bad at the minute and I have an oil based moisturiser and ointment under my makeup! (This is also the reason for the SLIGHT bleeding out of the line on top of my tight line but I am unbelievably impressed)

As you can probably tell I love this product and I will be repurchasing a back up of this pretty soon. This is my new favourite eyeliner!

Have any of you tried this eyeliner and what do you think? If not, would you purchase it in the future? Let me know!

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M

New Make Up Haul

Okay, so to be honest, the last seven days I have kinda splurged a bit on make up.. I can't help it, it's my guilty pleasure. Once I see a product I want it goes on my list and one by one I check them off! Also sending me into Debenhams beauty hall can be a dangerous mission for my poor bank card, oops!

So I thought I'd update you on what I got and some first impressions for the products I have used already!

1. Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Blush Palette for £35 I think this is a great product. I wasn't sure at first but it's great for my day to day make up and the pinker shades are amazing for a night time look! There is a shade which could be used as contour and possibly 2 or 3 highlight and blush shades. I have to admit I love when a product has more than one use and this can contour, highlight and add blush to my face daily - perfect!

2. Mac Lip Pencil in Nightmoth. I got this to match my Ariana Grande x Mac Viva Glam Lipstick and it's a perfect colour. It's a great dark vampy red/purple. I wore at at the weekend and it lasted all night without needing to be topped up even though it's a very dark colour and I was drinking (all night)!

3. Make Up Forever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Stick Foundation. I haven't tried this yet but these look amazing. I also hear Nikkie Tutorials talking about them a lot so they must be GOOD. (She's my makeup guru)

4. Mac Lipstick in Diva (Matte). This is the most gorgeous blue toned red. I'm obsessed! I can't believe I never owned this sooner, it's my absolute favourite! I seen this on a friend and had to have it and  I wore it a few times recently and it's amazing. (It's a Mac Lipstick so my hopes are always high!)

5. Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner. This is made in Japan and really cute. I love everything about it - the packaging, the product and where it's made! It's also produced by Tsubasa Masiwaka a Japanese model.

6. EX1 Invisiwear Liquid Foundation. This foundation is so good. I would say it's medium to full coverage. It lasts well on my dry skin without moving or leaving me patchy after a while which is great and for the price I really cannot fault it!

7. Too Faced La Creme Color Drenched Lip Cream in Honey Bear. These lip sticks have the most gorgeous gold packaging and they are so hydrating which is perfect for this time of year! It would be a sheer lipstick which is also extremely pigmented, amazing. I want more of these and the melted lipsticks! Too Faced can do no wrong in my eyes.

So there's my little haul, I love all these products and I'm excited to use them all a few times! If there's anything else you think I should have picked up let me know!

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M

Top Drugstore Products

Here's my favourite 'drugstore' products which won't break the bank. All these items were £10 and under!

1. EX1 Cosmetics Invisiwear Foundation. This is usually £12.50 full price but Look Fantastic on different occasions offer 20% off to the first 500 people who enter the discount code at the top of their site so I bagged this foundation for £10 and free delivery after seeing it on so many blogs & hearing about celebs rocking it! (Rita Ora used it on the X Factor and Nikkie Tutorials give it a go in her new video up yesterday - see it here) It gives amazing coverage which can be easily built up. I wore this foundation on a night out at the weekend and it never moved at all - I can't speak highly enough of it and especially for that price. Absolute steal. 

2. MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder. This is only £3 so when I seen it in SuperDrug I thought I'd pick it up. It gives an amazing gold highlight and I didn't have a highlighter this shade at the time. When I first used it I thought it was an ok product but wasn't feeling it as I thought it could have been more pigmented. But, whenever I went back in to try this again to top up my highlight it was so good. It just needed a little love to release it's full potential! I spray a little bit of my primer/fixing spray on my brush before using this and the pay off is again a lot better. I wore it and my friend (who works in make up) actually mistook it for Anastasia Beverly Hills Moonstone!! I say this is definitely worth the small price tag.

3. L'Oreal Nude Magique Blur Cream. This is £9.99. I use this as my primer for my not so great places on my face lol. This is great for hiding all my pores I always see on my nose and around that area. It's also slightly tinted so I use it under my eyes to smooth out my fine lines and hide those dark circles slightly before applying my corrector colour. It's a great primer and a little goes a long way so it lasts for a long time!

4. Sleek Matte Me Liquid Lip This is a great liquid lip on a budget! I see so many other lip products in the drugstore category which claim to be matte but are just that little bit too velvety. This is MATTE. I scrub my lips & apply lip balm before doing my make up. Then at the end I place a matching lip pencil all over my lip then one coat of this products and that will last me a full night out! Sometimes I top up slightly but this doesn't make the product flakey or too caked on my lips. I'm obsessed with this stuff!

5. L'oreal Paris Brow Artist Plumper Mascara Gel for Eyebrows. This retails for around £10 but is half price on the link I provided for you. This is a great brow gel for someone on a budget. I keeps my brow hair in place all day and even adds a bit more definition to see my brow hair after I've filled them in to make them feel more natural!

6. Rimmel London Match Perfection Silky Loose Powder. This is great for powdering my under eye concealer and highlighting after contouring without adding any colour or also making me look too pale! It's also great for baking. I love this powder and after baking a lot it has lasted me so long which is always a plus. Inside this powder it also comes with a little powder puff which is great to apply the powder!

7. Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer (in Light). This is a perfect under eye concealer. It's brightening and really reduces the look of my dark circles. I sometimes use this over my under eye corrector colour for maximum effect. It's also a light feeling concealer but does have good coverage which is perfect for it's use. The only con with this is it does waste quite quickly and I find myself turning it multiple times for a good coverage pay off. That being said I only use this under my eyes and another concealer on my face so it will last longer. 

8. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Transylvania. This is a very similar colour to my Ariana Grande x Mac Viva Glam Lipstick! It's definitely a lip cream which dries matte but still has a nice velvety feel which I like in the colder months when my lips are more prone to being slightly drier! It's a nice colour but it is very dark and I shied away from it a few times but once I wore it so many people complimented me! I would love to try the nudes in this collection. They are to die for!

9. Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. This mascara is great for such a cheap price. It's a nice formula which isn't too 'wet' at the start - a pet peeve of mine whenever it comes to mascaras! The brush isn't something I'd usually go for but it really works to elongate my lashes. I'd definitely recommend this mascara for everyone! It also works great when I'm integrating my eyelashes into my false pair.

So there we go, that's my favourite drugstore products at the minute! January is always a month that everyone doesn't have the most money to spend so hopefully you found something you want to try which won't break your bank!

If you want to know anything more about these products let me know in the comments or even let me know your suggestions of drugstore products I should be trying!!

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M