NARS Laguna ♡

Ive never been a fan of powdered bronzers, I always find they end up looking too ashy and tend to move about on the skin throughout the day. As you all probably know, I love nothing more than a good cream contour and the full Kim Kardashian contour routine. As great as it is, it can be so time consuming on days I need to be out of the door in 10 minutes or for the mornings of school. 

I thought it was about time I invested in a good powder contour that I can use in the morning for school that wont be so difficult to work with. I cant even begin to tell you how much I hate how overly orange and pigmented most powder bronzers on the market are.

I picked up the NARS Laguna bronzer as its probably the most hyped about high end bronzer at the moment. It cost £27 which is pretty standard for any high end bronzer, plus it will easily last me about a year so I wasn't too fussed about how much it would cost. 

I've been wearing this bronzer everyday for school the last week and I love it, which I didn't expect at all. I find that it stays on all day in the exact place I put it in the morning without moving around on my face. The bronzer is buildable, its not so harsh that you have to be very careful when you put it on at first, I go right in and have no problems and then just work on darkening it to my preference. 

The best thing about it though I would say, unlike other bronzers, this is a true brown colour. It has no orange undertones, stopping you from looking like you've applied a fake tan gone wrong in pictures.

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MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot ♡

Ive been really getting into paint pots recently, they're so easy for everyday wear as they're so quick to apply. My everyday makeup routine has shortened drastically since I started using them. I had a look online to see what some of the cult paitpots on the market are just so I can have a little paintpot 'starter kit.' The most common name that kept appearing was MAC's Soft Ochre paintpot.

The formulation is great and they dry very quickly so theres no need to worry about smudging. The colour itself however is not really for me, Its quite light and pasty looking when worn alone on the eyes which is what I had originally intended on doing. This colour works great as a base to neutralise and prime your eyelids before applying your actual eyeshadow. If thats the sort of thing you are looking for then this is great for that, but worn alone I found it really washed me out and was quite unflattering on the lids. 

Will I be using it again? Yes. Would I repurchase or recommend it? No. 

I don't know what it is with me and cult beauty products but I never seem to get along with them like most people.

If you have any paint pot recommendations I would love for you all to share them with me as I am still collecting!

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Manicure Monday ♡

I haven't done one of these in months! Probably because my nails have been so basic for months.. I have been opting for just a simple one colour pastel since summer started, so I didn't think you all wanted to see your ordinary plain Jane nails. Now that its getting colder and we are drifting into autumn I can start going back to my regular black and white minimal nail art. 

I went for a basic look for minimal nail art that has been done a million times before and you've all probably already seen it, but I thought I would show you anyway!

Hope you're all having a wonderful bank holiday.

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MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot ♡

Im so sorry about how poor the content on m blog has been recently, I hate how much Ive neglected my blog the last two weeks. Now I feel a lot better and have so much content I cant wait to share with you all! The reason why I took such a long break from blogging was because it was my A level results day last week and sadly I didn't do as well I hoped. If you got your GCSE results today or A Levels last week I hope you all did well and if not, its not the end of the world which is what has taken me so long to realise. 

Anyway, back to the point of this blog post, I thought what would cheer my up more than anything after my bad results- MAKEUP! 

I have had my eye on this gorgeous paint pot for the longest time. I am a huge fan of paint pots, they are so quick and easy and speed up the eyeshadow process up so much. Invest in paint pots because they last forever on your eyelids and give a much better looking finish than eyeshadow in my opinion.

This is a pink/gold/orange mix of colours, I don't know how to describe it other than the fact its the most beautiful colour ever. Having no glitter in it  makes a huge difference, most paint pots have glitter in them making it look so clumpy on the eyes. Heres a swatch I got of it but sadly the photo doesn't do it any justice at all! This is a paint pot that you all need to go in stores and swatch and one I would put in my makeup 'must haves.'

 My go to look at the moment has been to do a golden smokey eye. I put this all over my lid, usually about 3 layers and then add 'mugshot' from the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette. I will try and do a picture tutorial at some point for you all to see what it looks like on the eye lids. 

I leave and go to Santorini on Sunday so all my beauty posts are going to have to be put on hold as i have decided i'm going to start travel blogging! I cant wait to share my trip with you all.

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The Best Photo Editing Apps For Instagram ♡

I always get asked how I edit my Instagram photos, not just by you guys but my friends too! I thought it was about time I shared with you all my holy grail editing apps. To start off with I take all my pictures on my phone, unless I am promoting a blog post I will use the picture taken from my blog which might have been taken by my camera. 

1) Viscocam

My most loved app would have to be Viscocam- My instagram life was complete after downloading this app. I love this app because the filters are really subtle but you can play around with them until you're satisfied with how it looks on your theme.

2) Afterlight

Afterlight is very similar to Viscocam but its more the lazy girl option, you can play around with the selected filters but they always look so perfect without you doing anything!

3)Snapseed

Snapseed is basically photoshop for your phone! This is amazing for altering brightness, highlights, shadows etc but the best thing is the select function; you get to choose the certain parts of the photos to edit the saturation or brightness.

Im off to Santorini in a week and I wanted to ask if you would be interested in me starting to do Travel blogging. I go away a couple times a year and would love to share my travels with you all!

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Gluten Free Buckwheat Banana Pancakes ♡

I posted a picture of these gorgeous banana pancakes I made on Instagram and thought I had to share them with you!

I am not allergic to gluten but I am currently on a Gluten free diet and vegan 5 days a week. This recipe is not vegan but all you would need to do is switch the eggs to an egg substitute. You can also switch buckwheat flour to regular flower. 

Ingredients:

1.  2 Ripe bananas 
2. 1 Egg
3. Coconut oil
4. Cinnamon (optional)
5. Desiccated coconut (optional)
6. Coconut milk/almond milk/ regular milk
7. 1 Cup Buckwheat flower
8. Porridge oats (optional)
9. Mushed berries (optional) 
10. Any fruit/seeds for decoration

Methord:

1. Mash up two bananas in a bowl with a fork. 
2. Add one egg and stir till you get a lumpy consistency.
3. Add your one cup of buckwheat flower (or regular flower) to your mixture and keep stirring till you get a batter like consistency.
4. Add the oats and mushed berries now if you choose to include them.
5. Add your coconut milk slowly into the mixture till you feel its the right consistency.
6. Add a pinch of cinnamon and your desiccated coconut.
7.  Add your oil into the pan and they are ready to go!

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Jessup Flat Kabuki Brushes ♡

Im not sure how long these brushes have been around but I recently noticed them in a Youtube makeup tutorial, I loved the way they were applying makeup so I did some further research and read loads of reviews on the brushes. I heard really good things about these Ebay brushes and ordered them. I personally would never get cosmetic brushes on Ebay just because chances are they would probably shed hair and not very good quality etc.

I got the white flat top kabuki brushes here on their online sale for $15 which is about £10, insanely cheap for 10 good quality brushes. I got the white and silver colour which i'm regretting now because they're getting so dirty, but they have a wide range of colours for you to select from. The brushes came from China (I think) and took about two weeks to come which was sooner than the estimated delivery time they gave me, I was supposed to be waiting till the middle of August! 

I tried them out as soon as I got them and it didn't take more than one use for me to love them. My favourite brush is the slanted Kabuki brush which I have been using to apply my foundation, which it does flawlessly! I love the finish on my foundation with this brush over my beauty blender and thats saying something! I haven't used the eyeshadow brushes yet just because I don't wear eye shadow on a day to day basis but I have very high hopes for them. 

I will definitely be purchasing more Jessup brushes in the future when i'm in need of some but right now I have so many I don't know where to keep them! These brushes are so cheap and worth the buy!

If any of you have tried any Jessup brushes please let me know which ones you like so I can get them in my next order!

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