Going Cruelty Free

I've always been aware of 'cruelty free' products & I've always hated the thought of animal testing for vanity reasons but over the last few months it's really stuck in my head.
So... Since around April time I've been actively looking into cruelty free brands and to be honest with you, I'm shocked at how many make up brands still test on animals! Especially with the alternatives so widely available now.

I always thought going cruelty free would be way too much hassle and super difficult, but I've found it super easy and I thought I'd give some tips on how best to go about it!

1. Find reliable websites to check cruelty free status
The thing that's probably been the most help while I've been trying to switch to cruelty free is the internet. So many sites exist nowadays (official and non official) that list all cruelty free brands & also tell you the status of your favourite companies.
One of my favourite sites to use is Leaping Bunny: https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/LeapingBunny which allows you to look at not only make-up, but deodorant, hair care and household items like Candles.
I also love PETA's cruelty free list: http://features.peta.org/cruelty-free-company-search/index.aspx
I know PETA have been contested on their animal welfare and standards as a charity but this list is incredible and I wouldn't use them normally due to things I've seen but this search tool is very handy and quick.
Another way I've learnt about new brands is through blogging sites, Cruelty Free Kitty and Wife Life are two women dedicated to finding the best cruelty free make-up available.

2. Cruelty free doesn't mean expensive!
I don't know why but there often seems to be a myth that cruelty free products are going to cost the earth and at one point I imagine they did. However, now the technology is so advanced there are more and more affordable cruelty free brands on the market. Boots natural range, Soap and Glory, Lush Cosmetics and NYX are just a few examples.

3. Parent companies can test, but smaller companies might not
This one is a bit more of a personal preference but for me, if I discover a parent company tests on animals it doesn't matter if the smaller ones don't. Parent companies are larger companies that often buy or own smaller brands to support them. For example, The Body Shop claim not to test on animals but I will not buy their products as they are owned by parent company L'Oreal who are well known to test on animals. This means that a lot of TBS profits go directly to L'Oreal.

4. China
Again, this is another personal opinion tip. Due to Chinese laws and standards, products imported must be tested before they can be sold on the market. Unfortunately animal testing is still widely used. So for a company to not test on animals here but do in China, still affects my view on the company

5. Brands can change their stance
Brands and companies are always evolving, which means that they can change their stance on animal testing, for good and bad. MAC for example, used to be cruelty free but are now listed as testing on animals. The same can happen the other way round so it's sometimes very difficult to keep up.

There are a few pointers on how to get started on becoming cruelty free. I find it difficult sometimes & am still going through old products but from now on I will not be purchasing any products tested on animals.

Let me know your favourite cruelty free brands!
See you soon,
Lucy x

Late Summer Favourites Video

So a few months back, my bestie Rachel and I created our own YouTube channel - CollinAndBoo (nicknames we give each other) and we finally got round to a new video!
It'd be great if you could check it out, and if you enjoy it* like and subscribe!
* Also, if you don't, let me know any constructive criticism!


Hope you enjoy it!
Until next time,
Lucy :) xx

I'm back! Summer make up look.

Hey everyone! It's been months since my last proper post, and I'm so excited to be back. I've missed blogging so so much and now exams are over, I can get back to regular posting!

As Summer in the UK has just about started, I thought I'd show you all a summer look I love to wear.

The products used in this post are Rimmel London Stay Matte Primer, Rimmel London BB Cream 9-In-1 Makeup (Light), Naked Flushed, Naked Palette, Naked 3 Palette,  Benefit Browzings Kit (Medium), Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara,  Tanya Burr Lipgloss in First Date , Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Shade 'All You Need Is Pink'

 During the summer months, I really dislike wearing foundation as it always feels so heavy on my skin. Usually I tend to go without any kind of coverage on my face, but this year I really wanted to try out some BB Creams. So as a base I have used the Rimmel Stay Matte Primer and the Rimmel 9 in 1 BB Cream. It does actually say the BB cream works as a primer, but I've felt that using an extra primer just helps it last a little longer.

I then took Naked Flushed and put bronzer on my cheekbones, sides of my nose and a light coverage on my face to give me a little more colour and help my cheekbones become more prominent. I tend to only use a light dusting of the Flushed blush as it's quite pink and can become very obvious, whereas I prefer blush to be subtle. I then took the highlighter and used in on the tops of my cheek bones and on my nose.
And voila, there's my base! Nothing fancy, just a quick simple bit of contouring.

For my eyes I used the Urban Decay Primer Potion, to make sure my shadow lasted all day and had no creases (not that I've ever had that issue with the Naked palettes). I then used just the powder from the Brow Zings Kit to shape and define my eyebrows (doing the best I could, in need of getting them done again!)

For the actual shadow, I used Half Baked as an all over colour. I love the sparkle and gold of this colour, it's super summery and brings out the blue in my eyes. I then used Trick from Naked 3 from the outer corner to the middle of my eyelid to create a more varied colour. I then used Mugshot from Naked 3 along the crease and in the very outer corner of my lids, and finally the matte colour of Dark Horse as a softer eyeliner, as liquid liner can often run and make my eyes itchy in the heat. 

I put Dark Horse on my lower lash line and put Half Baked over the top to create a soft, shimmery and smoky liner look.

To finish this off I just applied mascara to define and extend my lashes (using my old favourite mascara, it's in like every blog post I've written I think!)

(so I totally forgot to take a picture of my lip gloss and balm up close... Oopth!)

I really like two coloured lips at the moment, so for this I took the Rimmel Colour Burst Balm and put it all over my lips. I adore this colour and find it quite pinky, which is an odd choice for me, as for lip colours I usually stay quite dark or neutral. I adore these balms because they're super pigmented and so so moisturising!

I then used Tanya Burrs lip gloss and put it on the centre of my bottom and top lip, dabbing it on and blending it out, to create a sort of 'gradient' look. Tanya's lipgloss's are also super moisturising and not too sticky.

And that's that! Here's the overall look I created, I hope you like it. I'm super glad to be back and cannot wait to start blogging more again!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this!

Lucy

xx

Boots 3 for 2 Haul!

As most of you probably know, boots once again have their infamous 3 for 2 offer on all beauty and skincare products. n need of a few essentials and also had some spare money to finally buy some products I've been lusting over the past few months.I did only limit myself to 7 products as I'm trying to reduce my spending!

After using the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation for quite a while I decided I needed a change. Seeing countless bloggers rave about the Rimmel Match Perfection (Light Porcelain - I know, I'm so pale!)persuaded me to buy it and it's absolutely flawless. It gives me amazing coverage, whilst feeling light on my face as if I'm barely wearing foundation. I also think it lasts quite a while. I prefer this to my Wake Me Up foundation because the shade just suits my skin and applies better. 

To go with my new foundation, I decided to finally give in and get the Real Techniques Foundation Brush. It's ten times better than the Avon one I had, the bristles are incredibly soft and the product applies better when using it. Once again real techniques have shown to be a fantastic brand. 

The other Real Techniques brush I picked up was the New Silicon Eye Liner Brush, I recently found a gel eye liner that I loved and I knew I'd binned the brush that came with it, the silicon aspect makes it super easy to clean, and it means the liner just glides on. I've also been using it with the naked palette's with a little water as an eye liner substitute.

I was planning on branching out and trying a new mascara, but in the end I couldn't quite make up my mind and I was running out of time, so I just picked up another Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara which I spoke about in my first blog post. 

The last three products I picked up were definitely impulse buys. The Bourjois Colour Boost lip crayon was something I spotted whilst finding a colour for my friend. The shade I bought (Plum Russian) is a beautiful deep, berry colour that is super glossy and smooth on the lips. Granted I do have to apply it a few times a day, but it's super moisturising and gives off the richest colour. I love the 'crayon' style that seems to be around at the moment so I'll definitely be buying more of these! 

Yet another Rimmel product I liked the look of was the Stay Matte Primer. I didn't actually own a primer before now, and I felt like I was missing out on something. When I have time to use this, I do notice that my foundation and powder last for longer, and also that my foundation applies 10x better then just on my bare skin! 

 Finally, I picked up a Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint from Barry M in Guava. I just adore the colour of it and felt I was in need of new nail polish, this does actually chip quite easily without a top coat but the gorgeous colour makes up for it!

Have you purchased anything in the massive 3 for 2 offer? If so let me know what products you've loved!

Lucy

xx

February Favourites

Another month, another favourites list. It seems like yesterday that we were celebrating the new year and now here we are, about to go into March. Is it just me or is this year going even faster than usual?

This month my favourites consist of some brand new products and some old gems that I've rediscovered.
~Also, I'm really sorry these pictures turned out so badly, rubbish camera quality!~

 First up this month is the Molton Brown Skinboost 24 Hour Moisture Mist. I included this in my best and worst skincare and beauty products post last month. I absolutely adore this, it's like a tiny bottle of magic. I use it when my skin feels dry and looks pretty dull, after a few sprays my skin feels hydrated and smooth and looks more 'alive' I guess haha! It's definitely become a staple part of my skincare routine, I just can't believe I had it for so long without realising how amazing it is.

 Next up is a new purchase from this month. It's the Real Techniques Powder Brush (£10.99). I'm probably the only beauty blogger in the universe that has never purchased a Real Techniques brush, so with a tiny bit of money spare from my Brighton shopping trip (post coming soon!) I thought I'd finally give one a go. After getting rid of my horrific Maybelline powder I thought I should buy a decent powder brush to celebrate a better powder. It's safe to say I haven't been disappointed, the brush is super soft yet still blends in the powder really well, and the handle is lightweight so is really easy to use. Overall it is an amazing product and I think I'm definitely going to be buying more from the collection, especially for such a reasonable price.

Another product that happened to appear in my shopping haul from Brighton - The Urban Decay Naked Flush Palette (£22.00). I seem to have developed an obsession with Urban Decay this year, especially their Naked collection. I've never been a girl to be worried about contouring in any shape or form, the furthest I'd go would be a bit of blusher. 

After falling in love with this palette's sleek packaging and the gorgeous shades, I thought it might be worth a go. 

I use this quite often now as the formula for all three products is incredibly smooth and creamy, lasts all day and really does make a difference! I had a slight worry about the shades as I'm extremely pale, but as I've found out you can make the colour as subtle or dramatic as you want (a good feature for a bronzer newbie like me!), I definitely couldn't live without this when it comes to my make up.

And finally, my tv and film favourites of the month! 

So Teen Wolf has been around for a while now, and after constant gif sets and prompts from a friend I decided to start watching it. Safe to say I'm in love. The characters are amazing and the story lines are great (even if they do rip my heart out). I'm two episodes from being caught up and I can say it's one of the best shows I've seen. If you're a fan of the whole ~fantasy~ kinda genre, you should definitely watch it. (Plus Dylan O'brien is just perfection)

Now the big one. CAMP TAKOTAAAAAAAAAAA! When it came out that the trinity were making a film, I think I died slightly. It seemed that February 14th was slowly creeping up and I couldn't contain my excitement. When I finally received the email and watched it, I was in no way disappointed. The perfect mix of fuzzy feels, hilarious one liners and tear-jerking scenes has created one of my favourite movies of all time. I think I've watched it around 30+ times since Valentines Day, oopth?

If you haven't already you should definitely go buy it! (it's only $9.99, which is like what £6? Major bargain.)

I hope everyone had a great February, what are some products that you've been loving?

Until next time!

Lucy 

xx

The best (and worst) skin care and beauty products that I own

Everyone has their staple beauty products that they couldn't live without. Unfortunately we all have our beauty products that were more of a miss, so I thought I'd give you a few of my favourite products and also a few that I won't be repurchasing.

The Good

Urban Decay Naked 1 & 3: I know, I go on about these a lot, but they have become staple palettes in my make up look. I adore everything about them, the simple yet gorgeous packaging, the soft brushes and of course the mix of creamy, pigmented matte and shimmer shades. I just adore the fact that most of the shades can go together to create endless looks!

Benefit World Famous Neutrals - Easiest Nudes Ever: I used this in my first ever blog post and I adore it. When I'm in a rush or can't be bothered to figure out what colours I'm going to use from my other palettes, I pick this up. The cream potted shadows are so smooth and don't crease and the powdered shadows are gorgeous colours and also don't crease. I love that this palette is so simple,  if you're feeling extra lazy, there's a step by step guide inside to a great eye look. 

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara: For around half a year now I've wanted to try out Benefits They're Real! Mascara because of how extremely long peoples lashes seemed to be after using it, but I have lost that extreme desire now I've found this mascara. For half the price, my lashes look almost unnaturally thick and long. This was actually an impulse buy because the packaging was so bright, I'm so pleased that I picked it up because I know I'm going to be re-purchasing this again and again.

Quinoderm 10 Cream: This is actually a pharmacy over the counter product. I don't suffer with acne, but when I get a skin breakout I've found it really hard to find a product that gets rid of my spots. This cream does the trick, it reduces the spot with in a day, normally they're gone in 2-3 days. The only thing I'd say about this is it is quite harsh on the skin, If I don't moisturise a lot my skin gets very dry in the areas I've placed the cream. (but I guess it is quite strong as it's used for acne, so what should I expect!) I couldn't live without this cream for bad breakout days. OH! And it's ridiculously cheap! £2.65 for 25g (which lasts me months)

Molton Brown Skinboost 24 Hour Moisture Mist: Unfortunately, you can't get this any more which sucks, but I've still got some of mine left from a previous Christmas set. I use this when I get unusually dry skin, one or two sprays on my face make my skin feel hydrated and healthy, I'm going to be gutted when I use the last of it because it's really helped to keep my skin moisture locked!

And the bad..

Maybelline Fit Me Powder: This is probably my least favourite product in my entire make up collection. I have dry-combination very fair skin and this powder seems to leave me with a shinier face than I had to begin with, if I have a very dry spot it tends to cling to it more and become more clumpy. It also tends to have a pretty poor coverage unless I build it up a lot, and then it doesn't last throughout the day. I cannot wait to purchase a new powder and say goodbye to this product. 

77 Eyeshadow Palette from War Paint: I have to say I didn't expect a lot from this palette. I received it as a Christmas gift and I knew it was a very inexpensive palette. The colours are very chalky and have quite a bad pigmentation to them, so to get the colour you have to apply a very heavy amount of shadow. The colours don't last for an entire day, but for a few hours you can build up an okay eye look, if you remember to remove all the fall out. However, it was very cheap and was one of the first palettes I owned, so for a younger me it did the job. 

Tea Tree Facial Toner: First thing - this product being in 'the bad' is no fault of the actual product. I was told by a Body Shop representative that the tea tree range would be great for my dry-combination skin. As I often got break outs and red patches I agreed and ended up buying most of the range (big mistake). After using this toner a lot I realised it actually dried my skin out terribly (which after research was understandable as this is meant for oily skin.) . The only good thing about this product is the fact it did leave my face very clean and reduced the spots I had. (much unlike the tea tree concealer that made me break out a treat)

Freederm Fast Track Spot Gel: This product did, well nothing. I purchased it for it's miracle '3 hour redness reducing' qualities, but after using it the product had no effect on my skin. The only noticeable difference was a dryness and actually slightly more spots than before. At £5 a pop I wouldn't recommend this for anyone, this was a case of a bad impulse buy!

I hope you liked reading this, comment below with your best and worst beauty and skin products!

Until next time

Lucy 

xx

Valentines Day Make Up Look

   My first Friday post, oo how exciting! I'm hoping to add Friday to post days if I can get organised!
This week I thought I'd do a make-up look that would be suitable for valentines day.
I apologise in advance for any low quality photos, the family camera's run out of battery so I've had to use mine.

So first up, here's the list of products I'm gonna be using in this post.

 -Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation (Ivory)   - Collection 2000 Cover Up Stick (Natural Beige)  

 - Maybelline Fit Me Powder (Nude Beige)   -Powder Blush (No idea where its from, the packaging is faded, all I can make out is 'Shade 12 Rose Jasmine')  

 -Urban Decay Shadow Primer Potion (not pictured)   - Naked 1 Palette - Naked 3 Palette  

 - Scandal Eyes Precision Micro Eyeliner (Black)   - Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless (Black)
-Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss (shade 16)

Obviously, the first step here was to create my base. I applied my foundation, powder (which please, please do not purchase it's terrible, I still haven't got round to buying a new one), concealer and then applied the blush along my cheekbones and on the apples of my cheeks. To apply my blush I used The Body Shop Blusher Brush, the fibres are so soft and help to apply the blush really easily.

Next it's on to the eyes. For this look I've used a few different colours from the Naked 1 and 3 palettes (look out for a post about Naked 3 soon!)

Before I applied any eye shadow, I just put a dab of Urban Decay's Eye shadow Primer Potion on my eyelids (which by the way, is a life safer. Makes the eye shadow last 10x longer and stops creasing for every palette I've used so far)

               For an all over base colour I used burnout from the Naked 3 palette and lightly applied dust over the top for a bit of extra shimmer.

I then took Toasted from the Naked 1 palette and put it in the outer corners and crease of my eyelids. For the inner corners of my eyes I used sin from Naked 1 (sorry it's not pictured!). Finally for my brow bone as a highlighter I used Strange and then just to fill in my brows I used Factory (both from Naked 3).

Remember, you don't need any Naked Palettes to recreate this look, just some pinky eye shadows similar to the ones pictured here!

Finally I took my Scandal Eyes Precision liner and drew(?) wings in the outer corners and then lined my top eyelid as close to the lash line as I could. Then I used my endless accelerator mascara until I was happy with my lash length (you could also use falsies here, my lashes are quite long naturally so I don't bother usually). 

To complete my look I just applied Rimmel's Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in shade 16 which is a gorgeous pinky yet slightly coral colour that goes perfectly with the eye shadow colours.

VOILA! And there you have it, a pinky, yet not to full on look for Valentines Day! 

Let me know if you liked this, I feel my instructions may have been a tad waffle-y...

Thanks for reading!

Lucy 

xx

Urban Decay Naked Palette

As you may know, it was my birthday last week. My godmother and aunt gave me vouchers to buy the beautiful  Naked palette. I've wanted to own one of Urban Decays amazing palettes for god knows how many years, but I've always though £37 was too much to spend on makeup. Especially as a young 14/15 year old without a job!

Now I know that these palettes are actually a fairly reasonable price for what they are (not to mention that they come with an amazing shadow primer!). They are very pigmented and require little product on the brush to get a strong colour. The brush is incredibly soft and good quality, no bristles have come out whilst using it and it isn't rough on the skin at all.
With the beautiful neutral colours in the Naked Palette, there are so many different ways to combine them, with day looks and night looks.

I've always been fairly nervous with using eyeshadows, always being afraid of going too over the top, so this purchase is actually perfect for me. I like that there's a mix of matte and shimmer shades, meaning I can be as subtle or outgoing with my look, whilst still keeping it fairly neutral.

I attempted to do a swatch of this palette, but my pale skin has kinda hidden Virgin and Sin, sorry!

The shades I've fallen in love with are buck - a matte, warm brown colour, half baked - a shimmery golden colour that's going to be perfect for Summer and Creep - a black with flecks of silver glitter. However, I can honestly say there isn't a shade on this palette that I dislike and would stay away from, which I find really rare in any make up palette.

I absolutely adore everything about this product, from the velvety box to the soft, wide brush to the beautiful range of natural colours. I would recommend this to anybody, whether a make up pro, or just starting with it, as it allows you to take your look as far as you're willing too.

An Evening and Daytime look that I created with the Naked Palette, having a brain like a sieve I can't actually remember what colours I used - whoops!

Thanks for reading,

Until next time!

Lucy

xx

My everyday makeup routine.

Okay, so this is the first time i've done something like this, but here goes my every day makeup routine!
First thing I do is moisturise using Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser, it's nothing fancy but it does give my skin a good moisture boost without being too heavy or sticky. I leave that for around 10 minutes before applying this;

Rimmel Londons Wake Me Up Foundation. I have it in the shade Ivory, the lightest one haha! I usually find foundation makes me break out a LOT, but this one ~touch wood~ has given me fantastic coverage and I've not had a massive breakout since using it. I've found it really brightens my skin, but in the winter months I always have to apply powder as I feel it makes my skin too shiny. 

Once I've applied a light amount to my skin, I then go on to use

Maybelline Fit Me Powder.

This may seem ridiculous, but personally I really, really dislike this powder. I find it has a shimmer to it that I really don't like the look of. HOWEVER, it does remove the shine on my face without sunlight, so is perfectly fine for winter, but to be honest, i'm only using it until I can get to boots to buy a new one that actually works for me. I would not recommend this to a friend, even though its relatively cheap (£5.99) I would not buy it again.

This is the palette I use for my everyday eyeshadow. It's Benefits World Famous Neutrals Easiest Nudes Ever Kit. I actually got this palette as a christmas present and I've used it every day since, I absolutely adore it! For my every day look I use the cream eyeshadow as a base all over the lid in the shade R.S.V.P

It's a gorgeous champagne colour that applies flawlessly and doesn't crease throughout the whole day. It gives just enough colour to be noticeable, but is still incredibly subtle.
 In the outer corner and on the crease of my eyelid I apply Thanks A Latte, a gorgeous light brown shimmery colour. The pigment of this could be better to create a deeper colour, but for everyday subtle wear it's perfect for me and is noticeable on my pale skin. Across the browbone I apply Call My Buff, a shimmery, pale, yellowish colour that highlights my brow bone. I also apply it into the inner corner of my eyes to open them up.

This is what the eyeshadow looks like after i've applied it.

As it's a quite subtle look, I then apply winged eyeliner using the Rimmel Scandal Eyes Precision Micro Liner pen.

I've been a massive fan of winged liner for around four years, yet i somehow only discovered eyeliner pens last year, they are a saviour and are the only way I've been able to get similar wings. At first this pen was very precise and had a very black pigment, after having it for a while the end of the pen has become quite weak, making it harder to get a precise point. Also, as the eyeliner is being used up, it gets harder to gain the strong black pigment. But for £3.49 its a complete bargain and worth the price!

Lastly, I apply Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara in extreme black (I know, there's a rimmel theme haha!) The brush is quite small which personally, I love. It is my new favourite mascara as it lengthens my lashes to the point of some people thinking I'm wearing Falsies, but does not clump them together. For £5.99 I felt it was quite good value.

I hope this was good/useful/idk worth it?

Thanks for reading 

Lucy xo