Would You Rather? Tag

Hiiiiii guys.

I'm back, kind of. 

I wish I had more time to blog but unfortuntely life is crayyyy crayyyy and this has had to take a back seat or I literally wouldn't have the chance to sleep at night!

My bestie Becca is working SO hard on her blog and Youtube right now, so if you're looking for regular posts/videos I suggest you subscribe to her channel and follow her blog! http://beccasbeautyspot.blogspot.co.uk/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwE_YJfutZaw8KplgSJSCg

You won't regret it!

Now, onto the tag..
I really like tags, it takes me back to my Bebo days when I did a note like every week, which was basically about how many guys you fancied and who was in your top 16! Plus they're super easy to do and you can write it straight away without snapping pics, editing etc etc etc. (aka I'm lazy).

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?

Oh this is so hard! I think it would have to be my palettes, I have a few Urban Decay palettes and a few MAC eyeshadows but all my other eyeshadows are high street, my MAC lipstick collection definitely is worth more and I'd be gutted to lose it! I've built up a collection of lippies I love and I'd probably actually be heartbroken if I lost them! 

2. Would you rather chop all of your hair off or never be able to cut it again?

I'd definitely rather chop off all my hair, I don't like me with long hair so if I couldn't cut it I would look mingin'.. Plus I've had half a shaved head before so it wouldn't be that much different! Plus there's always hats!

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

Oooooh tricky, I do like a pink cheek.. I think it wins! 

4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

I can't lie, I love makeup but I love clothes shopping more - CLOTHES.

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

Eyeliner as lipstick, I've done it before when I've gone for a bit of a dramatic lip! Lipstick on the eyes would definitely be gross! A cremesheen would slide all over the eyelids and a matte would be so tough to get on you'd pull the shit out of your eyelids!

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Ohhhhhh the choices! We don't have Sephora in the UK, so MAC would have to be the standard accent.. Buttttt on the few times I've visited Sephora when I've been on hols I have fallen in LOVE. I think it would be Sephora if we had one here - so much more choice!

7. Would you rather only use one eyeshadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

Only one eyeshadow colour - and in particular 'Vernau' by Illamasqua! It's perfect, and if you can change it up with a different lip colour it would be beaut!

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

Winter clothes in summer - I love being warm! Always rather be too hot than too cold!

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

Dark nails, a black/deep purple works all year round! 

10. Would you rather give up your favourite lip colour or favourite eye product?

Favourite eye product would be out the window, lipstick is my favourite makeup item so that would have to survive!

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or messy bun?

I've never been able to have my hair in a bun, even when it was longer.. So it would have to be a ponytail - that's the thing I miss the most about longer hair is just being able to throw it up into a ponytail and not worry about it.. Now I'm lucky if my hair ever grows enough to be even 1cm long in a ponytail!

12. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?

Never paint my nails - I'm not that obsessed with nail polish but I do love a gloss! 

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

Definitely sharpie them everyday -- Sharpies come in a range of colours now so it wouldn't even have to be black! I do love a good statement brow so it would probably suit me okay!

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

I can live without nail polish - it's not a biggie, and you certainly can't use it when you have spots!

Thanks for reading - hope you enjoyed!
I tag everyone that read this, and send me your links when you've done it!

Estée Lauder Haul.

Eveninggggg guys!

So as I've probably mentioned before I like to do surveys online to try and get myself some money saved up to allow me to shop without the guilt (usually I don't get much of that either though!). Not so long ago I hit my £20 target on Valued Opinions and decided my store of choice would be Boots for my next haul! Estée Lauder was the counter I hit, and I can't deny, I hit it hard. 

I've heard a lot about the Doublewear Stay-In-Place Foundation, some things good, and some not so good - and I wanted to try it for myself! So I bought it to try it out for myself and I am IMPRESSED! The Estée Lauder counter assistant was really helpful choosing my shade and tried 3 different shades on me to see which would suit me best and I settled with Pure Beige! The foundation goes on so easily and really blends in well, and it really does last SO long, it's probably as close to a foundation tattoo that you can get at the minute. I wore it to Parklife all weekend and it didn't budge - even in the rain! It retails at £28.50, which is expensive, but I only plan to use it for nights out and events that I'm gonna be braving the elements in, such as a festival! It is far too heavy for everyday use, your skin would never need that kind of coverage on a daily basis! But for special occasions, this will be the first foundation I reach for! I love the packaging as well, so classy and elegant! It doesn't have a pump but I just pour a little onto my hand and it doesn't run away thanks to it's thick consistency!

Doublewear Stay-In-Place Foundation in 'Pure Beige'

The other product I purchased was the Pure Colour Envy Sculpting Lipstick in the shade 'Dominant'. It's the creamiest consistency and it literally glides on to your lips like a dream. I generally don't like creamy lipsticks because they don't last very long on my lips, but this lipstick is different. It's a bright vibrant pink that's not going ANYWHERE. I kept it on all day, and that included eating and drinking - and it looked just as good when I got home as when I left the house that morning! It's expensive, I can't lie, it retails at £24. It's the most expensive lipstick I've ever bought but I don't regret it, the price tag is really reflected in the quality of the product and it's staying power. The packaging is obviously included in the price, and it's a beautiful sleek design with a magnetic close. I'm wearing Dominant in the picture below! Swatches will be further on!

Pure Colour Envy Sculpting Lipstick in 'Dominant'

Yet another shameless selfie to show off a product ;-)

 I always think it's important to remember with buying in Boots you do get Boots points which you can save up for other purchases! So at least you do get some reward for shopping in store! When I went to Boots, I only intended to purchase Doublewear, but there was a gift with purchase (GWP) on if you bought two things, and I'm a sucker for a gift with purchase! This gift with purchase was valued at over £90 so I think it justified my extra spending!

I received a gorgeous teal and navy tile print makeup bag, a Lipstick, a Moisturiser, a Mini Advanced Night Repair, a 4 piece Eyeshadow Palette, a Mascara, an Eyeliner and a Nail Polish. This was my first purchase of any Estée Lauder cosmetics, and getting the GWP really introduced me to a lot of new things I maybe wouldn't have been willing to purchase! I'm not going to go into toooo much detail, because basically I love everything and this post would be 4 hours of reading long!!

Advanced Night Repair and Daywear Moisturiser

Pure Colour Nail Lacquer in 'Blue Blood' 

Pure Colour Lipstick in 'Bois de Rose' 

L - 'Bois de Rose' & R - 'Dominant'

4 piece Eyeshadow Palette - I don't know the names I'm sorry! :( 

Unfortunately I'm a major crap blogger and forgot to take pictures of both the Eyeliner and Mascara and I'm in Northern Ireland and they're in Manchester! Thankfully I know what they are so you can check the full size out online! I received the Pure Colour Intense Kajal Eyeliner in 'Blackened Black' - which really is super black and goes on so creamily, no tugging at your eyes! Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara in 'Extreme Black' - I love the brush of this mascara, It's now very much included in my mascara routine, and it's so black! I love black eyeliners and black mascara and Estée Lauder definitely supplies that! 

I'm super impressed with everything that I bought, and it all feels glorious on my skin, I'm absolutely crap that I don't have the names for the eyeshadows! I will be able to get them when I get back to Manchester so if you would like to know, feel free to tweet me at @RachelVennard or send me an email at vennardr@hotmail.co.uk and I can fill you in!

Have you tried any Estée Lauder products?

What do you think of them and the brands?

Let me know!
Rachel xx

Post-Lent Wishlist!

Heyaaaaaaa!

I have just submitted my final piece of coursework for second year and for today I am FREE!

(Until tomorrow when revision officially has to start. MEH.)

For Lent this year I gave up buying make-up.. Basically because I have FAR too much and I was buying make-up for the sake of buying it! I did end up buying clothes instead of makeup but hopefully now I'm gonna buy things I actually need rather than just want!!

However, 6 weeks of no make-up had resulted in me wanting quite a lot of stuff!!

Just wanted to do a quick wishlist, you can help me choose what I should or shouldn't buy!!

1. Aquarium Nail Effects - Arabian

Helllooooo, look at this baby!!

It's a duochrome glittery polish and it's a beaut!

I've tried it out on my thumb and I had to do everything in my willpower to put it back on the shelf! 

It's a polish that's gonna need a few coats but trust me it's worth the effort! 

Proper summer nailpolish that would look beaut with a tan!

£2.99 in Superdrug!

2. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat - Wild Edition

Touche Eclat is a such a holy grail product, I think everyone wants to own it at some point in their life!

It's £25 so quite bloody steep, that's the main reason this little beauty has never been added to my shopping cart!! I do have £20 in online shopping vouchers coming my way from online surveys, so this might be a little treat! 

The leopard print packaging is just gorgeous, gold and leopard print.. my favourite combo!

3. Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet

A little bit obsessed with these lipstains that dry matte at the minute!

They last alllll day, require very little effort and barely even need topped up! 

They even last through the challenge of a night out with lots of drinks and a cheeky pizza at the end of the night! These Rough Edition Velvet's come in such a nice range of colours, pretty pinks to rouge reds and naughty nudes! At £8.99 these will definitely get tried out! Similar to the YSL Glossy Stains but a lot cheaper!!

So these are my top 3 wishlist products at the minute..

What do you think I should buy? Or should I just buy them all when Lent finishes on Sunday?

Thanks for reading guys!!

Rachel xx

What's on my lips...?

Hello beautiiiiiies!

I worked in a hospital allllll summer and it was damned hard work, so before I came back to Uni I wanted to treat myself, so obviously I headed straight to the MAC counter!
My friend Becca had recently bought 'Rebel' and I LOVED it on her so I definitely wanted to give it a try!

I had a £5 off voucher from my Debenhams beauty loyalty card so I decided I would treat myself, £10 for a MAC lipstick is good to me!

Rebel is a gorgeous dark berry fuschia colour that glides onto the lips soooo easily! It's my first MAC lipstick thats been a Satin Finish and I'm really impressed! It lasts sooo well on the lips, it definitely won't budge all day! Rihanna wears Rebel from time so I feel like a celeb when I wear it ;-) 

The only issue I had with Rebel was that I found it bled quite a bit around my lips.. So I dandered back to MAC and asked the sales assistant what lip liner was a good match to Rebel. She suggested Currant and whenever I seen it swatched on her hand I knew it was the one :) 

Swatches L-R - Rebel with Currant underneath, Rebel & Currant

Currant is a deeper shade of Berry and it glides on like a dreeeaaaaaaaam, it matches Rebel so well, either when worn just on the edge of the lips, or when worn all over with Rebel on top. With Currant underneath it lasts even longer! Its a perfect berry lip combo for Autumn and Winterrrr! I love it! The lip liner was £12, but they last foreeeever so I don't mind :)

Below are some pictures of me wearing Rebel with Currant underneath it. I wore it for a night out with a smoky eye, which was quite a lot having eyes and lips done but I don't really mind.. In Manchester nobody bats an eyelid even if you're wearing purple, blue or green lipstick so it's not that much of a big deal! In the second picture I was going to the pub so I just kept my eyes simple and had statement lips! If you've noticeed I got my nose pierced and I'm so happy with it! I completely missed it, it feels like an extra bit of jewellery on my face!!

Hope you enjoyed this post! 

Have any of you got Rebel or Currant? 

Let me know what you think in the comments or even tweet me.. You can follow me at @RachelVennard :) I'd love to hear to from anyone who reads this post so drop me a tweet about anything and everything :)

Until next time my dears :) 

xxx

Multi-use blushes?!

Heyyyyyyyy! 

It's been such a nice week! Summer has finally arrived! So jealous of my friends getting to go to Parklife in Manchester this weekend, I totally regret not buying tickets now :( SAD RACHEL!

Anywooo, my boyfriend dozed off on me when we were sitting in the living room watching TV the other day,  without anyone to talk to I got a little distracted and picked up 'Bon Bon', one of MUA's 2013 blushes!

There is a range of 6 which have been released and for a change they have names!! I love the fact MUA ae starting to name their products, it gives so much more character to the product!

The little beauties are all named after sweeties or munchies.. and they're £1 each! Bargain :)

You can find all 6 shades HERE!

Bon Bon is a gorgeous apricot colour, and a lovely creamy consistency! 

All of MUA's blushers are so easy to blend and I love that, makes it so easy to use!

Due to my boredom I decided to whack some of this beauty on my lips to see what it looked like.. And oh my goodness I was so surprised!! It was gorgeous on, and totally different to any lipstick shade I've ever had!

It sits really well on the lips and blends in lovely! It really doesn't take a lot of product to cover the whole lips, but with the price tag at £1 you can afford to use as much as you like!

I like a very matte lipstick so this is perfect for me, but if you prefer a sheen or a more moisturising finish I'm afraid this alone won't be enough for you! However if you used a lip balm before putting this on it would stop it being such a cakey finish and slightly more forgiving on the lips! This is the result I ended up with when I tried with some Vaseline underneath! A darker shade but still loooovely!

Definitely going to try and use this method with some of my other blushes! It's automatically increased my possible lip colour options dramatically!

What do you think of blusher as a lip product?
Do you like the finish it gives?

Let me know in the comments :)

I've a lot of MUA products floating around in my new product inbox so expect to see that name pop up regularly on the blog in the next few weeks!

Chat soon you beauties! x

Junction One Cosmetics Store Haul!

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I visited Junction One after hearing from my gorgeous bestie Becca that Northern Ireland had an Outlet store for make-up with brands such as Bobbi Brown, MAC, Clinique and Ojon! I was very excited to visit and after being repaid money I was owed, the money was burning a whole in my pocket!

Firstly, after whining on and on at Reece about how amazing the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara apparently was, he bought me the little Gift set that was on offer from £30 to £15! Saying as the mascara alone is £11 in store I thought this was a great bargain! Unfortunately my mum threw the box out of this kit so I don't know the full name! She didn't give me time to snap pics, doesn't understand blog life!

It also included a mini High Impact Mascara in Black (£16 full price), a mini Cream Shaper for Eyes in Black Diamond (£14 full price) and a Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Champagne which is £20 full price! 

The lighter shade of the duo is very pale, but a gorgeous shimmery gold colour, while the darker is a warm brown! Think these two are perfect for a easy everyday look, and they come in a handy little case which is mirrored so it's easy to apply anywhere and everywhere! :) 

Thank you Reece for this little pressie!  

Now MAC... *dum dum duuuuuuuum*

I went a litttttle bit crazy! I had money to spend and it was one of those I NEED EVERYTHING moments... But I restricted myself to 5 products and this is what I chose.. :D

1. MAC Paint Pot in 'Treasure Hunt'

2. MAC Double Feature 6 - No names on this :(

3. MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in 'Dollymix'

4. MAC Dazzleglass in 'Dressed to Dazzle' 

5. MAC Matte Lipstick in 'Lady Danger'

This store was meant to sell only discontinued products, but from the links you can still see it's possible to buy Lady Danger & Dollymix, so I just got on the shelf products for cheaper! :) 

I love the paint pot, its so handy for days when you don't have time to do full make-up, just throw a layer of this on and you're good to go! It's quite a light shade of gold which is new to me but I'm adjusting to it.. All about trying new things isn't it? I believe I paid around the £9 mark for this, which is good considering they're £14.50 instore! 

I'm a bit disappointed that the duo eyeshadow don't have actual names, I feel it takes away from the uniqueness of the product slightly. :( again this has a gorgeous shimmery brown and also has a gorgeous taupe/mushroom colour with it, which was slightly hard to get a good photo of! (sorry!)

Again, these are easy peasy colours to throw on whenever you're in a rush! They're actually quite similar to the Clinique shadows, so I'm gonna be good and give my mum one set.. I don't need them all :) I believe I paid between £11 and £14 for this set, which is good when a single MAC eyeshadow is £12!

Dollymix is a gorgeous Candy Pink which completely satisfied my inner Barbie! Its so easy to blend onto the skin and I literally think I've worn it everyday since I bought it! This is a big deal to me, because I really only started wearing blush in about January of this year! Big steps to go for a bright one for me! I'm properly impressed with MAC blushes and I will be buying more.. (shh.. don't tell my mum or my bank balance!) 

I think I paid £14 for this :)

MAC's Lady Danger is a bit of a cult beauty product, everyone, their dog & their auntie's sister has it, and after being bullied/forced into buying it by my boyfriend I now know why! It's gorgeous and so bright, it will literally cheer you up when you're wearing it! I live in a small town and I get a few funny looks from the granny's and granda's, but it's time to realise those funny looks don't matter! :) I always struggled with the dreaded LIPSTICK ON TEETH moments, but after discovering MATTE lipsticks this issue has vanished. I swear I'm such a make-up virgin not knowing these things can be fixed, I thought I was never going to be able to wear lipstick! Lady Danger was one of the dearer lipsticks available at £9.50, but still a steal compared to the £14 instore pricetag!

Finally the Dazzleglass! I heard Fleur talking about how much she loved the MAC Dazzleglasses and I had to treat myself. So shiny, so sticky (but sticky in a nice way) and oh the taste! I'm a sucker for anything vanilla related, and these babies are another item on my vanilla hit list! A sparkly lipgloss with an ever so pinky tone to it.. I love it, layered over a nude lip, on it's own.. Anything. They are PERFECT. Favourite lipglosses ever, I'm in love! <3 

I think 'Dressed to Dazzle' was £11 as it was a limited edition colour!

Well this was a long one, but it was a big haul in my eyes! Altogether we spent £70.. WOW. 

But instore it would have been close to the £120 price mark, so I don't feel just as bad.. Plus one item was a present :D

No more high-end beauty products for a while I think.. However I do have a Drugstore mini-haul to post about soon as well too :) I swear the bank are going to cancel my debit card!

Hope you enjoyed reading :)

Chat soon!

Love, Rachel :) x

March Wishlist..

Hi everyone!

I have a little bit of a problem with online shopping, most of the time when I'm on my laptop and not doing work I'm staring over numerous websites finding lots of lovely little gems that I want to buy with my non-existent money! The joys of student life eh? 

These are some of the pretties I've had my little eye on.. (NB.. only some :O )

1. Real Techniques Core Collection Kit

2. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

3. Essie Nail Polish - Bachelorette Bash

4. ghd Limited Edition Candy Collection IV Styler - Lemon

5. Bioderma Crealine H2O Cleansing Solution 500ml Sensibio

6. Topshop Chunky Tribal Aztec Navajo Necklace (Not it's proper name eek!)

7. Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer - Nova

8. Nike Blazer Hi Suede - Blue

9. NARS Bronzing Powder - Laguna

I love all of these products so much!

 Especially the Topshop necklace, I'm gutted it's sold out! I'll be praying to Mr Topshop and asking him to bring it into stores again! I'm not willing to bid online for it because the price always goes waaaay beyond the usual RRP instore.. Silly eBay! 

As for the Real Techniques brushes, I've heard so many different reports on each type so I'm bewildered about which one to get, £20.99 is good for 4, while £10.99 is dear for one.. *confused Rachel*. 

Think I might need to think about that one for a bit longer before I commit to anything!

I've already made my way through one 100ml bottle of Bioderma and my skin LOVES it! 

Looks so much healthier and it really does take all your make-up off! My trusted wipes have been cast to the side of my desk where things which aren't getting much use live... Sorry baby wipes :( 

What products are on your wishlist this month?
Do you like these types of post?

Let me know, I love finding new gorgeous things I can stare at and want to buy when I have no money... 

Also, if you know of any Topshop's close to Manchester/Liverpool/Craigavon/Belfast/Newry (weird mix I know) that have the necklace in.. Tell me, I will be your best friend forever, promise :) 

I'll chat to you all soon, hopefully with my bank balance still intact.. *closes eyes*

Loves, Rachel! x 

MUA 'Undress Your Skin' Illuminating Foundation

Not so long ago, I treated myself to a little MUA & MAC haul and this was one of the (many) items I purchased.. (I'll do a blog post on everything else soon!)

This foundation is part of MUA's new ''Undress Your Skin' range, which is currently on promotion on the front page of their website! I clicked into it and seen that the Foundation was £3 instead of £5 for it's introductory price, so I decided I'd give it a go!

Truth be told, I really wasn't expecting much from this foundation due to the price but it turns out I absolutely LOVE it! I bought it in the shade 'Porcelain', which I will admit is slightly too light for my actual skin colour, but when it's blended out with face powder and bronzer it actually looks lovely!

It gives a lovely dewy finish to the skin as there's a few sparkles mixed into the foundation, making your skin look more radiant! Its got a light-medium coverage and is going to be perfect for coming into the spring and summer whenever you don't necessarily want to wear a lot of make-up on your face.

I applied this to my face this morning, covered up with powder and bronzer and went shopping, and it hasn't budged since! It hasn't slipped at all and I've not got any patches on my face where it's worn off, so I'm absolutely chuffed with it!

For the price I definitely think it's worth a try, especially if you don't want to wear expensive foundation everyday, I think this is a great alternative! It comes in 3 shades: Porcelain, Beige and Golden.
I definitely think I'll give the Beige a try next time to see if it's a better match for my skin!

As part of the range, MUA also has a Under-Eye concealer, Highlighting Powder and a Skin Primer; there is also a 'Undress Me Too' Eye Palette which may be linked to the new range... I think I'll definitely making an order from MUA again soon to try out the other products in the range after being so impressed with this one!

Have you tried any of the MUA 'Undress Your Skin' range?
What did you think of it?
Leave me a comment & let me know!