Everyday Pink Glam | GRWM & Chit Chat

Hello my lovelies, I hope everyone is well and having a good day. So for today's post I thought we would just get ready together and have a chat. I see a lot of these floating about on YouTube but I don't see many people people do them on their blogs, so here we go! I hope you guys enjoy. 

As the title suggests we are doing an everyday glamorous look today with my ultimate favourite colour at the minute which is pink. I love pink anyway, but I am wearing pink makeup non-stop at the minute. I've barely reached for another colour in the last month. So I'm using a mix of Urban Decay's Naked 3 and Freedom Makeup's Pro 12 Secret Rose. I think the Naked 3 is my favourite out of all of the Naked palettes.

So the first shade I am taking is this one marked with the pink heart above, unfortunately in the Freedom palette they do not have names. But it's just this mauve pink/brown kind of shade. It looks a lot more brown in the image above but in real life it's much more on the mauve side. 

So I just ran that all through my crease to warm it up a little and to have a bit of a transition shade and I used my Real Techniques deluxe crease brush to buff this all over. 

I've been using this colour for my crease quite a lot recently, I've really been enjoying it. Would also just like to take this time to mention, excuse my brows! I have not plucked them in a little while and they're looking a little wild around the arch area, so let's just glaze over that. 

Next I dipped into my Naked 3 (I adore this palette) and I am taking the shade Nooner which is a mid-deep brown shade and I am running this through the crease as well using the actual brush that comes with this palette - the fluffier end. 

I hadn't used my Naked 3 in a little while until I decided to pick it up to do my makeup today and I had forgotten how much I adore this palette. The colours just blend so easily it feels like you barely have to do anything, they virtually just blend for you. But as you can see, Nooner has just deepened up my crease that little bit further ready for the next shade. 

Carrying on in the Naked 3 I am now taking the shade Liar which is a gorgeous deep bronzed gold/rose gold (in certain lights) and I'm just using another Real Techniques brush, this time the base shadow brush and applying all over the lid. 

Liar blends seamlessly with Nooner, you could easily just wear those two together and it'd be stunning. Seriously though, look at that gorgeous sheen on my lids. I can't believe I forgot how beautiful all these shadows were! Why has it taken me so long to start using this palette again?! 

You know what, if you guys don't own a high end palette I'd highly suggest an Urban Decay palette. Whether that's one in the Naked range or not. I swear I've never seen Urban Decay make a bad palette or a palette that people didn't love. All I've ever heard is good reviews and good comments from every eyeshadow product they've brought out. You can correct me if I am wrong, but that's just what I've heard in and around the beauty world. When you think about it, it's actually crazy how many dupes of the Naked palettes there actually are. Let's list some off, so with the Naked 3 for example, you've got brands such as Freedom funnily enough, the palette I'm using in this GRWM is actually a dupe for the Naked 3 ironically. Also there's MUA, Makeup Revolution, W7 Makeup, and there's probably so many more but they're the ones I know of. So if you've always wanted a high end palette but can't really afford it then check out those kind of brands as they do some great dupes of high end palettes. Especially, my ultimate fave, Makeup Revolution. Or, just do what I did and add them to your birthday or Christmas wishlists. But if you love shades like pink, peach, bronze, rose gold, gold, browns, and deep browns then I'd highly suggest for you to check out the Naked 3. 

Now I'm dipping back into the Freedom palette and taking this gorgeous light pink rosy shimmer shade on the Naked 3 brush that I used earlier, but the flatter end. This shade is the equivalent to Dust in the Naked 3 palette but is a lot less glittery and just glimmers in the light which makes it look like a deeper pink. I'm just applying this on the inner third of my eye lid. 

Oh my god look how beautiful it is. After a while the brush wasn't doing it for me so I switched it up and applied it with my ring fingers and I was sat at my dressing table and said, and I quote, 'Yaaaaaas queen, eyelids you shine and you glow to the gods, oh my god yaaaaaaaas.' 

I wish I could say I'm lying, but I'm not. But anyway, this definitelty added that pop of glam to my eyelids that I needed in order to actually call this a glam look, you see, #connections.  But seriously, I love this colour and it definitely tied it together. 

Then I went a head and added an inner corner highlight, you can't not add an inner corner highlight my lovelies. So I took a mix of the lightest shades in both of the palettes and just pressed it onto my inner corners using my ring fingers. For me, inner corner highlights are so important because I don't know if you guys have ever noticed, but my inner corners join up to my lid and kind of glaze over my inner corner. Like some people have open inner corners where you can clearly see the red area of their inner corner but I clearly do not. Jesus, how many times can I use the word 'inner corner' in one sentence. But does that make sense? ... probably not... Anyway, adding a highlight to that area makes my eyes look bigger and much more awake.  

Then I went a head and did my everyday makeup, you guys know the drill by now but I'll tell you again anyway... 

(if it's in 'bold' writing it means there's a new edition to my everday routine) 

• Maybelline Better Skin in 05 Light Beige 
• Then taking my new concealer Rimmel London's Match Perfection under my eyes drawn in a triangle and taken down my cheeks, along my nose, on my forehead, around the sides of my nose, on my cupids bow, around my lips, and on my chin. Then of course on any blemish areas that I want to cover. Using my beauty blender from Real Techniques for both my base and my concealer. 
• Then using another holy grail of mine, the Rimmel London Stay Matte powder in Translucent. Powdering all over my face with my Makeup Revolution F104 powder brush. 
• Then I am taking my Ben Nye Banana Powder and baking under my eyes, down my nose, in the middle of my forehead, on my cupids bow, and on my chin using a makeup puff. Baking every where I am going to put highlighter just to really lighten up those areas and then I buff that bake out with my Real Techniques duo fibre face brush. 
• Then moving onto my eyebrows, I'm taking my classic Maybelline Satin Brow and just filling in my eyebrows in their natural shape with the arch over drawn slightly. Then applying Brow Drama brow gel also in Dark Brown to just set them in place. 
• Then shaping my face with Makeup Revolution's Ultra Sculpt and Contour Kit in the shade Fair C01. Just taking the contour to sculpt out my cheek bones on my Real Techniques stippling brush and because the brush itself is so dense it meant I got this rounded shape when I used it on my cheeks which gave me a proper sharp line which I was living for, I'm gonna be doing this every day! And then buffing it out in circular motions with my classic angled brush I normally use to contour. I then contour my nose using my Urban Decay fluffy brush from their Smoky pallet. 
• Baked both my face contour and my nose contour with Ben Nye's Banana Powder. 
• Taking Makeup Revolution's F103 stippling brush to apply my blush from the same contour kit, a pretty flushed rosy pink with a bit of shimmer on the apples of my cheeks.
• Finally taking Real Techniques cheek brush to apply my highlighter, MUA's Pink Shimmer. Placing it on the high points of my cheeks, my forehead, down the bridge and on the tip of my nose, on my cupids bow, and on my chin. But I didn't feel like I was glowing enough, so I then took the icy coloured highlighter from the same contour kit. Using my Makeup Revolution F105 angled brush and I just applied it to the tops of my cheeks to get that stunning glow. 

Look at that sharp edge and that gleaming glow. I loooove it! Highlighter is definitely my favourite step, I don't know about everyone else but the glow is my favourite part of the whole process. One thing I will say though is for the past month I've really been loving being able to do my makeup like this every day if I want to because I've actually got the time to and it's been such a luxury. If you go to university or have been to university you guys will all know that sleeping and eating becomes your two top priorities to get through the day. 

Most of the time last term I didn't even have time to do my makeup in the morning because I was so busy all the time and just too tired and couldn't be bothered to be honest. So to be able to wear it every day if I want to and wear as much or as a little as I want to and to actually have the time to just enjoy putting it on my face has been so nice. I really do love makeup so much. I don't know if anyone else feels this way but does anyone else just love the way they look with makeup on? I am not being big headed here or encouraging people to do things out of their comfort zone, you do you boo. But, I really do feel like a better version of myself when I've got makeup on. I know I am beautiful with and without makeup on but I just love how it is able to enhance areas of my face and it's crazy how much that can change your mood and make you happy. I just feel a lot more like me when I have the time to put it on and have the time to decide if I want to play around with makeup today or if I want to just go for simple everyday look or go for a full blown smoky eye. I just love being able to do things for myself, even if it is just something small like choosing what I want to put on my face, does anyone else get me? 

And after that passionate tangent I just need to say, no that little mark poking out on my collar bone in the picture is not a real tattoo it is a temporary one because we all love a temporary tattoo don't we? We all know we've worn them more times than we're proud of. Also, I'm aware that my foundation looks a bit dark in this image, I don't know why, I think it must've been whatever the natural lighting was doing today. I can assure you in real life it was perfectly fine. Also, a bit of my contour looks a bit muddy, once again I dunno what this lighting was doing but it looked fine in real life. 

One thing I would like to mention though about my foundation, if you guys have been here for a long time you'll know I've been using Maybelline's Better Skin foundation in the shade Light Beige for a long time. I'm not sure how long exactly but it's been a while. But some days it looks really good and really flawless on my skin and matches perfectly etc and then some days it just looks a bit shit. It might've been my skin or the products I was using on my skin as recently every time I've put it on it's been looking good. As now I've been using the same products every day as I've found some that have reacted really well to my skin and they just work for my skin which is fab. But I still feel like sometimes this foundation is too orange toned for me, do you guys know any good foundations in the drug store that are light - probably porcelain - ivory shades are best with pink undertones in? I was debating on giving Rimmel London's Wake Me Up foundation a go this spring/summer as everyone has always raved about it being really good and a nice dewy finish for the warmer months of the year when you want to look more naturally glowing but I've just never gotten around to actually buying it. Would you guys recommend that one? Or is there any other's you'd recommend to try? If there is please let me know in the comments. 

After that digression, it's time for mascara... 

Ugh, I cannot get over how stunning these eyeshadows looks together, my god! But anyway, if you guys know me by now you'll know I adore Maybelline's mascaras, I've probably owned every single one at one point or another. But I always go back to The Falsies in Black Drama. The Falsies mascara range just gives me everything I want my lashes to have: proper dark black colour, length, volume, and separation. If you've got all that, you're in my good books. 

Once again sorry for how off this lighting is because it's making my makeup look so orange when I am clearly pale as fuck. But like I mentioned earlier, I can assure you in real life it all look seamless and my actual skin tone. But anyway, final makeup is the lips and I am once again applying my current favourite lipstick, Rimmel London's Vintage Pink. I've literally been wearing this every single day that I've had makeup on throughout this month. It's just a gorgeous mauve pink and it is perfect for spring because it goes with every single eye look I've been wearing. I've been loving applying it without a lip liner as it keeps it's natural mauve pink tones which is why I love the lipstick, so lately I've been applying without a lip liner. 

I then removed my plaits from my hair and had an attempt at curling my hair with my Babyliss Curling Wand. Now I am not very good a curling my hair, I don't think I've properly curled it since year 11 when it was my prom and even then it wasn't me that curled it, it was my hairdresser. But anyway back story... 

If you've been keeping up with my Instagram lately you'll know that I've had my hair cut short and if you didn't know well surprise! And it's clearly pretty obvious to see I have as it's about three inches shorter since you saw a photo of me on here last. But anyway as you can see it's much shorter than it was, I was so bored of my long hair and just wanted a change so I've had about three inches cut off which also means the majority of my blonde ombre is gone. There are still traces of it left at the very ends of my hair, but it's more like small blonde highlighted areas now. But I am happy it's gone as I was a bit bored of it and I think I just need to be a true brunette again for a while.

Anyway, at the end I normally just ask my hairdresser to straighten it but I decided to go for a different vibe and I asked her to make it wavy and I fell in love with it. I got so many lovely compliments on my Instagram post and Snapchat post after I'd had it cut, so a big thank you to anyone who complimented me on my hair. And it looked so nice with it being short and wavy as it just gave my hair a lot of bounce and I felt really pretty. So I attempted to replicate that today which as you can see didn't fully go to plan. I realised that plaiting your hair and then curling it just makes it explode in volume. Which is great if that's what you're going for, but I wanted nice neat waves with a bit of bounce and as you can clearly see from the photos above I did not get that, I got a massive voluminous mess. But I mean it wasn't all bad, at least the front looked good. But I can say I've improved as today when I am typing this up for you guys, I had a go at curling it from my hair starting off straight and it looked a lot better! It's obviously never going to be as perfect as the hairdresser does it but considering I am not the best at doing hair styles, it was good for me.

Anyway guys that is it for this post, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! If you wanna see more posts like this where we get ready together and have a chat about random things let me know in the comments and I'll definitely do more of these.

I'll talk to you all again soon. 

Love, 

Katie 

Q&A| Let's Talk About: Life, Tattoos, Relationships, Food, Sex, The Beauty Industry and More with Chloe Collett!

Hello my lovelies, I hope you are all well and have had a good weekend. So last week I posted on my Instagram, Twitter, and here on the blog that my friend Chloe and I were going to do a Q&A for you guys and as you can see by the title, it's finally here! 

*DISCLAIMER* 

Right, so before you're allowed to watch it I just wanna say that the answers to these questions are 100% our own opinion and how we personally feel. This Q&A is not to offend anyone or upset anyone, it is simply to entertain all of our lives. 

So we're clear right? Entertainment purpose only my loves. 

Chloe and I had serious great joy doing this. It was a big mixture of deep life questions, our experiences and our opinions, and of course massive fits of giggles. But seriously we loved doing this together and we'd love to do it again very soon so if you guys do want us to do it again let us know! 

All of the questions are completely random, we found some from random websites and we thought of quite a few of them on our. We ended up recording 3 hours of footage *gasps* but that's not surprising for us as we could talk forever. But because of that when I edited them I split them into two parts of an hour and a half each way. 

So without further ado, here you go guys and we hope you enjoy! 

PART 1: 

https://youtu.be/7uquauSCvgI

PART 2:

https://youtu.be/iyMP4mOjm-g 

Just a quick note: for some reason in part 1 it likes to jump over half way so just make sure you guys rewind it back to the beginning. 

Thank you all for watching guys and we hoped you enjoyed and until next time. 

Love, 

Katie & Chloe

Is KIKO Makeup Worth The Hype?! | Face of First Impressions

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all well and have had a fab week. So today I have some first impressions for you with all of these products above, apart from the nail polish. So let's just get straight into it, enjoy. 

So recently I've not been the biggest fan of how my foundation has been applying and I figured it might potentially be because I haven't used a primer in months. So I decided to try a new one and see if that helps me out. The primer I bought is Rimmel London's Fix & Protect Makeup Primer with SPF25. My very first impression was, "SPF25 - that seems pretty high claim for a drugstore primer." I don't think many primers are that high in SPF which already makes it a great summer primer as it's going to keep my face protected from the sun. It also claims to be anti-pollution, anti-stress, have a protective shield, and is skin perfecting. 

The texture really does feel like sunscreen but doesn't smell like sunscreen. If you've ever used a primer from Rimmel before, they seem to have a particular type of smell and I have no idea what the smell is but I think it smells nice and weirdly enough quite relaxing. Maybe that's the anti-stress element of this product. 

To get the product out of the bottle you have to squeeze it out, so I squeezed it directly onto my skin and then just blended it in with my fingers. The product itself is quite runny which I don't see as a problem and it was really easy to blend in. As well as the 5 bold claims on the front of the bottle, it makes 2 more bold claims on the back. The product states to also it can be worn to create a smooth skin canvas for an easier and prolonged makeup application, which is the whole point of a primer in the first place. But, it also says you can wear it alone as a brightening protective shield. I've used this product for both purposes and I can happily say it does both really well. First thing I notice once it's been applied to my face is how soft my skin is to touch. When I drag my fingers across my skin it feels super soft and smooth and ready for my foundation, concealer, powder etc to be applied over the top. It definitely made my foundation and concealer easier to blend over my skin which was fab. As for lasting wear throughout the day, it kept all my makeup in place, it didn't budge throughout the day and I think it kept my t-zone oils at bay for longer than usual.  

As for wearing it on it's own, I would definitely agree that it's a brightening protective shield. The product itself is white which is most likely how the brightening effect is achieved on the skin. Once it's settled in it kind of blends in with your skin colour/tone. Along with it making my skin super smooth and soft, it also kind of air brushes the redness I have on my cheeks. It doesn't get rid of it but it makes it look a lot softer and more blurred. Which overall, makes my skin look healthier and makes my makeup look better. I really like this primer. 

Now moving onto the exciting part and the main reason you guys are all here as the name is in the title, KIKO Makeup! Now I've heard loads about KIKO Makeup, which for the most part is all good things. I'm pretty sure KIKO is more of an American based makeup brand particularly because I've never seen a shop here in the UK with KIKO makeup products in or  KIKO makeup shop in any shopping centres, until now! 

So when Mum, Dad, Chloe, and I went to Milton Keynes on Good Friday, we went into the centre where there was a KIKO Makeup shop. Chloe and I have been to the Milton Keynes Centre A LOT and we've never seen it there before, so we decide to go and have a browse around. Regardless of the 20% off sale for Easter, my first impression was the price. I was really surprised at the price range. There we're products as cheap as £2.00 and as expensive as £25.00. Which to be honest, isn't too bad as there are some high end brands where it's like £30 for just a foundation.  

As you can see, it's clear I bought the SMART eye shadows. With the 20% off deal, the SMART eye shadow range was only £2.00! *screams with shock* however, without the 20% deal the eye shadows we're only, £2.50! *screams with even more shock*. Even if they weren't 20% off I still would've bought them because £2.50 for an eye shadow is damn good. Chloe and I were a bit ecstatic when we went in the store because we just couldn't believe how cheap it actually was. I always thought KIKO was a high ended brand which clearly I was wrong. 

So I got three eyeshadows in the shades 15, 21, and 22. 15 is a gorgeous bright pink shade with an undertone of blue glitter, 21 is a stunning pastel lilac shade with a hint of some kind of shimmer in, and 22 is a beautiful pastel perri-winkle blue shade with the same hint of some kind of shimmer in. 

So I just ran a mauve pinky shade through my crease first as a transition colour and then applied that pastel lilac shade on a fluffy brush through my crease. Look how pigmented that shade is! Oh my god, I can't even express how impressed I was with this. I used a pastel purple before and it was super light and took quite a while to build up. But with this, I only needed to dip my brush into the eye shadow a couple of times in order to achieve what you're seeing above. It blended so easily and there was no fall out! Like seriously, absolutely none even when quite a bit was applied to the brush. 

I then took the beautiful perri-winkle blue on a flat shader brush and firstly just pressed it on to my lid and then I lightly blended it into that purple. Seriously, look how gorgeous that is. Considering how light the blue is in the compact, this pigmentation is ridiculously amazing. 

They seem to just pop even more with my whole face done and the colours look gorgeous as a faded lower lashline blend. Absolutely adore these and I wanna buy them all. I can't believe how good these are for the price, the pigmentation is amazing, they feel soft and they blend extremely well, I also just can't believe that there's no fallout at all, literally I applied so much blue to my lids and no fall out whatsoever (super impressive), and the colours are the true definition of the word beautiful. I love these, I want more! 

So, now we're back tracking. If I'm doing a bright or dark big fancy eye look where I know I'm gonna have to do a lot of blending and potential wipe aways from fallout, I'll always do my eyes first and then I start my face. So I applied my foundation as per usual and then we moved onto concealer. If you've been here a long time now, you will know that my go to concealer is the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. Literally, every body I know either uses this or has used this at some point in life. I have never ever strayed from this concealer, I have been using it since I was 13 years old, when I first started using makeup. Until now... 

So I've been needing to buy a new concealer for ages as my Lasting Perfection has now ran out. I'm in the shade 01 Fair and for some reason whenever I go to buy a new concealer, they never have my bloody shade. Is everyone 01 Fair now? So I asked the woman and she was like '"Nope, we've got no more." 

But as I really, really, really needed a new concealer (I'd been living without one for 2 whole weeks - I was really starting to see the effects of not being able to use one) it then meant Chloe and I spent 20 extra minutes in Superdrug trying to decide on what concealer to buy. As I'd never used any others apart from my Collection one you can imagine it was a struggle. But, I finally decided to give Rimmel London's Match Perfect a go in the 010 Ivory. 

So this concealer claims to be a 2 in 1 skintone adapting concealer and highlight containing vitamin c and e and apparently wears for 13 hours. 

So this picture above is me with the concealer on my face, apologies if you can't really see it well, the natural lighting was bright on this day. 

So as you can see from the picture it has concealed my face. It's has concealed my under eyes and concealed any blemishes on my face. So the main thing is, it's done it's job. However, although it looks super bright on this picture. I had to use more than one layer to get the coverage and brightness that my Lasting Perfection gives me in one application. But I eventually got my desired look of how I like my concealer. I think one reason it's more difficult is because of the applicator. The Lasting Perfection is just a dofer applicator which picks up enough product to draw and fill in the triangle shape under my eyes. But the applicator on this product is kind of like thin fan bristles which I'm obviously not used to using. And, you have to squeeze this product out of it's tube which then gets embedded into the fan bristles to then apply onto your face. I felt like I had to squeeze so much concealer out of the little bottle that I could've used it all.  

But in general, it does work - it does it's job as a concealer which is to CONCEAL. It covered my dark under eyes and blemishes on my face (eventually) and definitely did lighten up those areas. I think claiming it's a "highlighter" is a step to far. Although it's clearly brightening and has lightened those areas it is definitely not bright enough to be claimed as a "highlight" concealer. I'm also unsure if it is "skin adapting" like it says because I don't fully understand how a product can adapt to your skin tone as well as being a highlighter. I just don't get it. But overall, it's kind of just average to me, like it simply just does the job it is meant to. 

Right, moving onto our next first impression also comes with a little back story. So whilst Chloe and I were having a wander in Superdrug, we strolled down the bath and shower gel isle and we saw this little pinky/peachy box with a palm tree on (hint: it's the box in the middle of the first picture). 

So we were curious and had a look at what it was and it turned out to be a lip scrub and a lip balm. So the idea is you put the lip scrub on first to exfoliate your lips and then you apply the lip balm for nice smooth lips. All this sounds great and appealing in itself, but your probably wondering, why is that different to any other lip scrub? As a product, it's not. BUT, this lip scrub and lip balm was 0.49p! What?! Yes, it was 0.49p! This really made us wonder does it actually work? So we bought it and tested it out.

Before application

After application

I can 100% say this does work and really well actually. I cannot get over how ridiculously good this is for 0.49p! So, the product itself is called a Vita Lip by an Australian brand called Sugar Baby. Chloe and I have never ever seen any Australian branded products in the UK, let alone Superdrug! So it's a 'coconut infused lip scrub and lip balm collection enriched with finely granulated sugar to gently eliminate dry and chapped lips. Blended with grape seed oil and organic coconut oil. Vita Lip lip scrub provides hydrating and conditioning benefits rendering lips smooth and soft. Complete the perfect pout and active healthy looking lips with the coconut infused lip balm. Cocoa butter and Shea butter combined to condition, repair, and protect dry fragile lips - adding softness and shine. Instantly makes lips feel nourished and smooth with a concentrated dose of high performance ingredients including sweet almond and vitamin e.' 

I know that was a super long description of what the product is, but that is what it states on the box and it is 100% that. I really can't get over how amazing these products and this combination is for 0.49p. Like, what? So, you apply the sugar scrub onto your lips first and I just put it all over using my finger. I usually find sugar type scrubs hard to use in general any where on my body. I always find they are just too scratchy and too harsh on my skin but this sugar scrub is so soft. Like you can feel the sugar but it's not harsh to rub all over your lips which is such a delicate part of your face. Plus, the sugar tastes delicious. Like I don't like coconut as a flavour that much, but this isn't over powering with coconut because it's just infused. It's the perfect amount and tastes delicious. So once the sugar has been scrub all over and my lips are fully exfoliated, you just wipe it away and apply the lip balm. The lip balm is really thick but because it comes out of a tiny hole in the tube means you can't apply too much but it does mean it takes a bit of effort to get it out the tube for both products. It's a really pretty pinky colour and makes your lips look really healthy and shiny.

In both images above you can see before the application my lips are a little dull and they're not chapped or dry but they're not as voluminous and full as I like them to be. And in the image after the applicator they are more evened out in colour and shape and they're ready for lip liner and lipstick to be applied. 

Both Chloe and I are absolutely obsessed with this little collection, it is ridiculously good for 0.49p! If you guys can find this little box in Superdrug, seriously pick it up! 

Then of course I just finished off this makeup look by applying my Maybelline The Falsies Blackest Black mascara which makes these eye shadows look even better - especially made my eyes pop. And then I applied just some lipstick and the lipstick I am using non-stop at the minute is Rimmel London's Vintage Kiss which as you can see is this gorgeous mauve pinky shade.

Well my lovelies, that is it for this post. I hope you guys enjoyed and gives you some ideas if you want to try out these products. Let me know if you like these first impressions type of posts and I'll definitely do more. 

Just to let you guys know, the Q&A I recorded with Chloe on Wednesday is all edited and ready to go for when the post will be uploaded. I'm hoping to upload it either Friday or Saturday. 

I'll talk to you guys again soon but bye for now. 

Love, 

Katie 

Collective Haul: Primark, Superdrug, Peacocks, & More!

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all well and are having a good week. So as promised in my last post, it's time for this gigantic haul. I really am not exaggerating, there are so many things and I am realising this is why I never have any money... 

Anyway, worth it because of how many good things are in fashion at the minute! I just need to make clear that I did not buy these all in one go. All of these were bought in small doses and have now come together for this massive haul. So, if you do wanna see what I've been purchasing for Spring then please keep on reading! 

At the minute in the UK, the weather is a bit all over the place. Some days it's warm and dry and then the next day its cold and wet. Which is no surprise as that's the classic British spring/summer time weather. But either way, on those warmer days I don't want to go out in a super thick cardigan. If I have them on at the minute I'm too warm and if I take them off then I'm too cold - I cannot win! So as much as I love them I think it's time to move on and find some different kind jackets to wear as we move into the warmer months of the year. 

Firstly I've got this stunning black duster coat/jacket which I absolutely love! It's a thin chiffon type of material - so it's going to keep me nice and cool on those warmer days and nights but still give me a little bit of material to keep my arms warm. If you know me well, you'll know I am a sucker when it comes to anything with lace on and this lace around the hem gives the jacket a bit more of an edge instead of just being a classic black jacket. It's crazy how a small detail to a piece of clothing can really make it eye catching.

I love this, I cannot wait to wear this - I'll wear it most likely during the day and on nights out as well. 

From: River Island

Price: £20.00 

I have another gorgeous jacket. It's looking a bit washed out in these photos, but in real life its a really pretty blush pink which is just me all over. It's definitely more of an everyday jacket - it has some nice fake pocket detailing to give it a bit more depth. It fits me really well and is super soft and comfortable to wear. I'm really looking forward to wearing it. 

From: Very

Price: £30.00 

Now moving onto a big bulk of this haul which is of course Primark! Whenever I go into Primark I always come out with something. I can never just go in there to "browse", I always end up buying something. I have to say though Primark are doing some incredible fashion pieces for this years Spring/Summer collection that I desperately want to buy all of. I can't get over how many good things they have in right now - nice one Primark. A lot of fashion items in there feel very 60s esk which I am absolutely loving. 

So the first item I've bought is this simple lilac top. I've been really into shorter length tops at the minute and I have no idea why - I normally don't like them but for some reason at the moment I am really feeling the vibes. This top is ridiculously comfortable and it's so soft - I absolutely love wearing it. I also love the little tie at the front. 

From: Primark

Price: £6.00 

 Next we have this adorable tshirt. This screams summer to me which is what I thought when I picked this up. I was just extremely drawn to the pattern - again I feel like it's very 60s esk which I love! Again it's just a really nice soft material and super comfy to wear. It's not a super long top, it covers just below my stomach. It looks really nice with a pair of blue jeans and a pair of white lace ups. I love the little sleeve detailing and it's just a really nice casual tshirt. 

From: Primark

Price: £6.00 

Another fashion item I've been really getting back into are playsuits. I haven't had a playsuit that I really like and feel comfortable wearing for a couple of years. But recently Primark have been bringing loads of different ones in for their new collection. There's a lot of different ones in there at the minute with different patterns and materials - again a few of them feel very 60s inspired. My friend Jen got a red and white gingham one which looks absolutely stunning on her and that one was like a more of a cooling material - not soft. I'm not sure what you'd describe it as. I tried a blue stripe one on in the same material as Jen's and that was just too tight and did not look flattering on my body at all. 

So I found this plain black one which is just really nice soft cotton material with a bit of V neck to give a nice feminine touch. It just has an elasticated waist band which makes them super comfy to wear. These playsuits are super easy to dress up and to dress down. You can pair them with absolutely anything and they just work. Perfect for casual day to day or for a night out paired with some tights, heels, and a nice jacket.

I love it and I've already worn it so much already. I loved it so much, that I got another one!

I absolutely adore this pattern! I am a true floral girl at heart. Again, really comfy cotton material with an elasticated waist band. Once again, super easy to wear day to day or to dress up to go on a night out. I love these playsuits, I hope Primark bring out some more! 

From: Primark 

Price: £6.00 (each) 

I got a mint green/turquoise hair towel simply because I needed a new hair towel. I had two already but I've had them for quite a few years and they get used every other day, so it was time for a new one. I love this colour and the little heart gem sealed the deal. 

From: Primark

Price: £1.30 

So this next purchase was extremely random. I was in Primark with my friend Katie and we were having a browse round their holiday section - there are so many nice swim wear options so go and definitely check those out, but anyway we were around the sunglasses bit and we saw this case. I absolutely fell in love with it, I loved the pattern and the colour scheme but unfortunately this case is a sunglasses case and I can't wear sunglasses because I wear glasses every day. So we were stood in front of the stand thinking, What else can we use this for? I pulled my phone out my pocket and drop it in - perfect. 

It's the perfect size to fit my iPhone 6 comfortably and keep it safe. This is so much better for me as I usually just throw it in my bag and then I can't find it. Whereas keeping it in this little pouch means I always know where it is, it's another layer of protection for it, and it makes my phone look even more adorable. 

From: Primark

Price: £2.50 

As summer is approaching it means it is time to whack out one of my favourite types of shoes - sandals! I love sandals, I think I have more sandals than any other type of shoes if I'm being honest. Whenever it's a nice day I'll always whack the sandals out because my feet are one my favourite parts of my body, most people hate their feet but I love mine because they're not too small and not too big - in my opinion they're quite feminine. So I love getting them out in pretty sandal shoes. 

So I saw these and at first I didn't know what to make of them, they're not like any other sandals I've really had before. Something within me was telling me to buy them so clearly I bought them and I am so happy I did. Since I bought them I've been wearing them non-stop which is why they're a bit dirty at the front (apologies). I've been quite obsessed with denim at the minute and the straps as you can see are like a classic denim blue - so to me they feel like every day summer sandals. Nothing too fancy but nothing too boring. The straps are kind of a suede like material - super smooth and super soft which I love. And the most important factor they are ridiculously comfy! They have a bit of a raised sole which makes them extremely comfy to walk in. Considering they're cheap most of the time with cheap sandals the soles are pretty thin but these aren't which are a massive bonus. I'll be wearing these all through summer - I love them. 

From: Primark

Price: £8.00 

I got a new bag at last! Backpacks are officially the biggest trend of 2017. I never thought I'd ever use a backpack again after year 7 (let's not be reminded of that era of our lives, I'm sure most of you will know what I mean) but here we are again in year 15 (university 2nd year) back with a backpack again. I did have that red one from Debenhams if some of you remember that one and I really loved it. But now I've used it so much that it's just wearing away a bit now. So I decided it was time for a new one and I'd been searching for a while for the right one. My friend Em has a backpack from Primark, one of those smaller more compact ones - they're £7.00. Although they're really nice they're just not for me. They're just too small for me, I carry a lot of stuff around day to day and those small compact bags just wouldn't fit my daily essentials in. 

I saw this one and instantly fell in love, I just had to get it. The size is perfect for day to day - it fits in my phone, my purse, my makeup and daily essentials bag. That is all I carry every day so it's a perfect size. It also has enough space to fit a notebook in which will be perfect for next term as I'm only carrying around one notebook as we're doing one unit for 6 weeks. 

I adore this blush/baby pink colour - it's just me in a bag, the size is perfect, the material feels really nice and it feels good quality therefore hopefully it'll last a while, it hangs really nicely on my bag, and best of all it's practical. I don't have to swap arms all the time as the weight is evenly distributed on my back. 

From: Primark

Price: £9.00 

Natural Daylight 

No Light

 I think these are new as I haven't seen them in Primark until now. But they've brought out these lip kit type products which includes a lip liner and a liquid lipstick. I'm assuming they're trying to do their own cheaper version of the Kylie lip kits. 

 They have either matte or metallic ones but I love metallic products so I bought this one from the metallic range and it is in the shade Molten Lava. 

As you can see it's just a gorgeous metallic copper golden rose colour and on your lips is just gorgeous. This shade would be absolutely beautiful on darker skin tones. I'll be honest, the lip liner doesn't really work as a lip liner. It looks really pretty to look at in swatches but on the lips it just doesn't really do anything. I'm not sure what I'm gonna use it for, I may test it as an eyeliner or an eye glow type thing. But the actual liquid lipstick is really good. The colour is really opaque and it doesn't dry matte but it does dry slightly - it's quite satiny. Either way, I'd recommend them if you're looking for a lip kit that is not Kylie's because they are hella expensive. But I think this range has some nice colours and for the price you can't complain. 

From: Primark

Price: £3.00 

I bought another pink lip product, yes I am obsessed. This is another one of their Velvet Matte Lipstick Crayons to add to my growing collection. If you guys haven't ever used these, where the hell have you been? These lipstick crayons are ridiculously amazing for the price they are. They are so pigmented, opaque, the dry quickly, they're super easy to apply, and they last all day. This is the shade Ballerina, it's more of a mauve pink colour, it's actually a shade darker than their Nude as that's more pink toned. But I think this one is more of a mauve brown kind of pink toned shade. Either way cant wait to wear it, I love it already. I also got Chloe one for her birthday. 

From: Primark

Price: £1.00

This next purchase was definitely an impulse buy. I did not need to buy this as you can clearly see that it's a gift bag but look at it. They were selling all of these bags off for 50p! I couldn't not buy it for 50p! It has my favourite Disney princess in the middle and the bag is just adorable so I had to have it. I will actually use it though, I'm gonna use it as a bag to put extra things in that wont fit in my bag or take it to town and carry bits of shopping in. Obviously nothing too heavy as it is a gift bag but it is beautiful and was totally worth it. 

From: Primark

Price: 0.50p 

Right this is the final thing from Primark, I promise. I know there has been A LOT from Primark but they've just got so much good stuff in right now. So I got these really pretty gold rings in a pack of six. As you can see there's some floral, diamond, and coloured gem rings. I'm not normally a fan of gold rings but ever since I bought these I can't stop wearing them. Especially the two on my ring finger in the photo on the left. I wear these everyday at the minute and I've worn each ring at least twice. Big, big, big fan of these. If you can find them go and buy yourself a pack. 

From: Primark

Price: £1.00 

These days I am always on the hunt for new jeggings that look good and more importantly that are comfy. I absolutely hate feeling really restricted and tight in a piece of clothing I'm gonna wear all day. I used to hate jeans and jeggings that felt like jeans. Waaay back a few years ago my holy grail jeans were the H&M soft jegging type things - they looked like jeans but were leggings when you put them on. those were the comfiest things ever but unfortunately they were discontinued. Which mean't I really needed to find some new jeans. I have a huge mix of different ones now which are all really comfy and perfect for casual day to day wear. 

Recently these ones in the style of Kate from Peacocks have become my new favourite things. I've had this pair for quite a while now and they're my new favourite jeggings. They're super comfy to wear and just scream casual. Plus, they're not super short on me for once! As I'm tall I have major issues with jeans and jeggings being too short for my legs as I have quite long legs. But luckily, these sit right on my ankles which is where I need them to sit!

I love them, I love their fit and I love their colour. They're really good quality. If you're looking for a good pair of jeggings, take a trip to Peacocks. 

Love them so much I got them in the same blue as above, just cropped for the warmer months of the year and of course a black pair. Everyone has to have at least one colour of each denim jean - light, medium blue, and black. I'm gonna get so much wear out of these. 

From: Peacocks

Price: £12.00 (each) 

Continuing with the leg wear items of this haul, I've got some more snazzy trousers! I am obsessed with these. They are extremely comfy and cool - perfect for summer time, I love the colours and the pattern on the trousers, again they sit on my ankles so they're a good length for my legs. I wore these the other day with my cropped Lilac top and denim sandals mentioned above and I felt so 80s esk. I bloody loved it. 

I feel like my fashion style is becoming a bit more out of the box and creative whilst still being into the same type of clothes. Just the way I'm choosing to wear my clothes is more fun and I love it! There are so many of these snazzy trousers out and about at the minute, there's a few in Primark that I want and I wanna find some other places that have things like this, so if you guys know anywhere that has any. Let me know in the comments!

From: Matalan

Price: £12.00 

I got some notebooks! I have a ridiculous amount of really pretty notebooks that I love. It is a goal in the future to have a book shelf full of really pretty notebooks like these filled with creations, ideas, opinions, plans, journals etc. These were both from The Works. I am obsessed with that shop right now, I am getting some many nice little things from there for an amazing price. If you guys are into planning, scrap booking, crafting, or bullet journaling. I'd highly recommend you go in there and have a look around. They have so many nice notebooks that I desperately want but do not need. 

From: The Works

Price: £3.00 (each) 

Popping back to the beauty side of things now, I got some more Micellar cleansing water. I love this stuff, it is one of my holy grail products. I'd highly recommend this to anyone it's just that good at what it does and more it's ridiculous. 

From: Superdrug 

Price: £3.00 

I feel like these Colorista hair dyes from L'Oreal are all over the place right now. Everyone is talking about them and raving about them so I just had to get some. If you guys follow me on Twitter you'll know I did have 3 hair dyes. A peach, pink, and a lilac. But I've already tested the lilac colour and it definitely worked and it looked so damn nice, I really loved it. I wanted to review these for you guys but I am waiting until I get my haircut and when I put my ombre back into my hair as you have to have blonde to use these colours in particular. 

But these are great as they have colours for blondes and brunettes so it's catered to more than one hair colour which is nice. I feel like most of the time these kind of things are only catered to blondes. The lilac worked well so I have high hopes for these two shades. It's a great idea for something fun to have for the summer months for festivals and things and it's also great if you know you'd never dye your hair a permanent bright colour but you can test one that lasts a week and washes out. It's not going to do any real damage to your hair because it's just a bit of fun. L'Oreal have released these at a great time as I can tell loads of people will be raving about these for spring and summer. 

From: Superdrug

Price: £6.99 (each or 3for2 in Superdrug) 

Carrying on the obsession with the colour lilac, I got a lilac nail polish. This is from Maybelline in the shade 21 Lilac Wine. This colour is a proper opaque beautiful pastel shade - absolutely sublime for spring. I've been meaning to paint it on my nails all week but just haven't got round to it yet. It's currently on my toe nails though and it's gorgeous. Super bright and feminine. Considering it's only a 60 seconds polish, it's lasting really well on my toes as I've been out in sandals and open toe shoes a lot this week. 

From: Boots

Price: £2.99 

I finally got a new mascara! Unfortunately I just wasn't feeling my Maybelline Colossal Spider Effect mascara anymore, I needed a change, my lashes we're over it. I have tried other mascara's but I always go back to Maybelline. In my opinion they are the best drugstore mascaras. It doesn't matter what mascara it is, I will like it because I just think they are really good for drugstore. One mascara that is probably my ultimate favourite is this one. Every time I go back to it I wonder why I left it or I didn't repurchase it when I went to buy a new mascara. Maybelline The Falsies I feel like was in everyones makeup bags in the early 2010s - everyone raved about it and honestly it's still worth raving about. It makes my lashes super long with just the right amount of volume and it separates them perfectly. And because of the shape of the wand I get a nice curved lash effect. I adore this mascara. 

From: Boots 

Price: £6.99 

 These next three items I have to do together because I purchased them together. I got these three makeup goodies from the Chester Market place on the beauty stand. I cannot remember how much they were each, however in total it was £3.90 or something. 

So I got two lip liners from Laval and I've never tried this brand before but there are loads products form this brand on the stand so I thought I'd try some. I saw thesr two gorgeous lip liners in Coffee and Spice Rose. They are absolutely stunning. As you can see in the swatches on my hand they are really opaque. I wore Coffee the other day and it was actually really creamy and easy to apply to my lips and blended really easy with the lipstick I put over the top. I really like these so far and I'm excited to see how they look with other colours.

This next product is also from the Chester Market beauty stand and it is a lipstick from Rimmel in the shade Vintage Kiss. It's absolutely stunning as you can see. It is this gorgeous deep rich mauve neutral pink with a small hint of metallic shine as you can see in the swatch. I love Rimmel lipsticks - extremely pigmented, extremely creamy, simply stunning. 

 

From: Chester Market Place 

Price: £3.90 (total) 

This top I technically didn't buy but I decided to include it anyway because I think it's gorgeous. If you know me and know me well you'll know this is me in a tshirt if there ever was one. This top is right up my street: floral, duck egg blue background (one of my fave colours), pink and white roses (fave colours and fave flower), cute peep hole detail (just too adorable to not love) = KATIE J. 

So this top actually used to be my mums and she asked me if I'd like to have it as she's only worn it like twice and she thinks I'll get more wear out of it than she will which is very kind of her. I love this top I think you could wear it with jeans for a casual look or you could dress it a little with a white pencil skirt and some heels maybe. 

Thank you mother. 

Well guys that is finally it for this massive haul. I know it was long and I had quite a bit to say but I hope you enjoyed. I love watching and reading long hauls as I find them interesting so I hope you found this interesting. 

I shall see you again Friday when I am joined with Chloe for a Q&A! Until then, bye for now. 

Love, 

Katie