Life of late

Is it just me, or does anyone else find that sometimes all things in life, make you feel so busy and rushed off your feet? I feel like this a lot recently, however my year at university is nearing an end, until September, although I have exams to battle through first. Oh the joys!

I thought i'd give you a little update of what I have been getting up to, until my next post.

This photo from snapchat does not do the weather justice, but I was driving home to Devon for the week to spend time with my family, and it felt so good to have such wonderful weather, I can finally go to the beach without being drenched in rain. 

You guys are probably going to think this photo is really weird, but it has taken me up until yesterday to update my phone to the new I0S 7. Oopsie! It is amazing though, I feel like I have a brand new phone, which isn't really great for my battery life though. 

Its so wonderful to take some chilled out time for myself in my family home, away from the stresses of university and living in busy London. I enjoyed my breakfast, reading the new River Island magazine, which by the way they have some great pieces in for spring/summer. I was highly impressed. 

I'm currently embracing my natural hair, its no way near as curly as it ever used to be, thanks to years of straightening it. However I should take more care of my hair and learn that going natural is fabulous.

Take care, Jess x

dress up saturday

While browsing Topshop the other day, I came across this beautiful playsuit, I often struggle to wear playsuits as I'm tall and they don't sit particularly right on my body, but I couldn't resist trying this one on. What happened.. I feel in love. It's so cute, I feel like im in the wrong season, and that its actually summer. I can just imagine wearing it on a beautiful summers evening, minus the tights of course.
For the amount of material this is I'm not sure its worth £55 however it is great because you can easily dress it up or down. 

I teamed this playsuit with my office boots, they are a little hard to see, I think I ought to invest in a better camera. I didn't feel as if this outfit needed much jewellery so I kept it very simple and minimal with my Micheal Kors watch.

The material is so soft and of a silk like fabric, its a little restrictive in the movement, especially under the arms, still that didn't stop me in purchasing it. I'm obsessed with the end of the sleeves because they flare out and I keep wafting them around everywhere I walk. Clearly its the little things in life which amuse me.

I hope your all having a lovely weekend, Jess x

Touche Éclat

Since I was little I have always had really dark circles under my eyes. I always thought I was doomed, maybe I just have unfortunately inherited them from my mum. (thanks mum) 
Its not something that is just going to disappear so over the years I have been desperately trying to find the perfect cover up. I'll be honest I have found some products that have been utterly amazing, perhaps I will do a post on that aswell. For now though I have found a product I have already fallen in love with and I have only been using it for a couple of weeks. 

This is the Touche Éclat by Yves Saint Laurent, I will be the first too admit that its not the cheapest of products at £25 but let me tell you it is literally amazing. I moan to people so often about the dark circles under my eyes and alot of people have come back to suggest this product by YSL so I thought maybe I should give it a go. OHH I'm in love!!

As you can see from the photo above it is a relatively thick texture but it blends so well, that it definitely doesn't look heavy around the eye area at all. It also acts as a highlighter so it gives a little bit of a glow, and all in all makes you look really radiant. (Please ignore the fact my hand looks super red, i'd just come in from the cold weather)

I picked up Touche Éclat in number 2, I was opting between 1 and 2. Number 1 is much more of a peachy colour and I was informed by the lady on the counter that it is much more highlighting than the other numbers, so she suggested being able to use it on your cheek bones, nose line, and cupids bow. However ideally for me, I didn't really want the product for this, I just wanted it to give a very good coverage, without looking like im wearing half a pot of concealer under my eyes. 

I'm so happy with the outcome, it definitely exceeds what I expected it to do, especially after trying out SO many different concealers. I know its a little pricy for a concealer, but I honestly do not regret paying the price for it at all. 

Have you used Touche Éclat, if so how did you find it? 

Where did that year go

What a year, it seems that 2013 has gone so fast, I abandoned blogging in 2012, much to my disappointment. I wish I had continued it. However I have so many big things planned, I am going to blog on a regular basis, learn more about blogger ( I ought to learn how to make it look all pretty), and I will continue to follow some amazing blogs who inspire me.

Overall 2013 has been wonderful, I don't like to dwell too much on the negative aspects, because I think they will always occur in every day life. I've been living in London for over a year now, and literally loving every minute of it, although my plan is to start exploring the big city much more, there is so much out there that I don't even know about, and I want to make it my mission to go and see them, of course documenting them on here, so I can share them with you guys. 

Here are a few of my favourite photographs from 2013, I hope to continue making memories through 2014, but making them bigger and better.
I hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year, and that life continues to be great for each and every one of you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! 

Make up of the day

I'm heading into central London for the day, to do a little bit of "window" shopping as I realise I have little funds to actually spend. Although we are heading to Oxford Street which is a very tempting place to spend your money. 

I thought I would show you what I am wearing on my face today, its nothing too overpowering, in fact I have kept it very minimalistic. 

- Chanel Vitalumière Aqua foundation, I have only recently purchased this and I am currently in love with it. I'm in the shade 10 Beige

- Mac Studio finish concealer In the shade NC15

- Mac Bronzing Powder In Golden

-Mac Mineralize Blush in Ring of Saturn. I'm so drawn to the colour of this, and the pigmentation is fantastic.

-Mac Frost Lipstick in Créme de la femme

- No7  Exceptional definition nutrient enriched mascara In the shade Black

The final result, as you can see its very neutral

I hope you all have a wonderful day, Love Jess x

A gift to myself

Since arriving at university almost a month ago now I have been very careful with my money, and avoided the centre of Kingston and London like the plague, as there is just so many different products to choose from. However yesterday I had a little bit of what you may call an impulse buy, I wanted to treat myself, so I headed of to the local MAC counter. I'm not used to having so much choice in make-up, what with living in Devon all of my life and growing up in a very small town they do not have anywhere near the amount of choice in comparison to here.

I knew I needed a new concealer as my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection one is on its last legs and I really enjoy trying new products so thought I'd see what MAC had.

I came out with these three products. A MAC 217 blending brush, Studio finish concealer and bronzing powder. 

The studio finish concealer I love, I've noticed you only need a little amount which goes a long way,  I bought the 217 blending brush to apply this concealer under the eyes, which I find works really well and you get a very even finish for your skin tone. The make-up artist in MAC matched me with the colour NW20, which I thought would be too dark for me, as I am so pale, but it really cancels out any of the dark under eye discolouration you can get. (well what I get anyway)

I also thought I'd treat myself to a bronzer, I have currently been using the MUA bronzer but I felt it was a little too dark for me. This is in the shade golden, which I believe is the lightest colour, it just gives me a healthy glow to my skin, because I am so pale I find I look very washed out and ill a lot of the time, especially in the cold winter months. Another thing which I love about the MAC products, is that you don't need to use as much of the product, but you still can get great colour as they are much more pigmented than some of the other make-up brands available. 

I love having all of these make-up counters so close to where I live now, its opened up a new world to me, before I moved to University if I wanted any MAC products, I would either have to order online, or travel just over 2 hours to get to the closest MAC counter. 

Have you tried either of these products? What are your thoughts on them? 

Have a great day everyone! x

ELF products

Its come to the end. I finally sat my last A-level exam,last week. I've never really experienced such happiness to finish exams, probably because every other time, I know I have to go back to college and learn new things, and take yet more exams. However, these were the very last ones.

I've spent the whole morning cleaning, and re-arranging my bedroom, exams take over the simplest of tasks.

Last weekend, I found myself pondering on the ELF website (Eyes Lips Face) I've never actually bought anything from them before, purely because I like to get a feel for the make-up and brush quality in person, however I had heard excellent things about some products, so I thought for the cheap prices, I was going to give it a go. I took advantage of their free delivery that weekend as well. Do be sure to sign up to their mailing list, as they send out regular offers on products.

It arrived!! With careful packaging, so not to damage any of the products

I have never been happier with products that are so cheap, I often associate cheap products with the not so good products, but I cannot apply that to ELF, in fact I could not be happier, especially with the brushes.

 This is the eyeshadow brush, from ELFS studio range, which you can find here. You are able to use this on either wet or dry products aswell, its Taklon bristles so its very soft and gentle on your eyes. This is a cruelty free product aswell, only costing £3.75, I mean what an absolute bargain.

 I have absolutely fallen in love with this brush. (if that's at all possible) Again the blending brush is cruelty free and Taklon bristles, its super soft. Online I got the impression the bristles wouldn't be particularly soft,I'm unsure why, but perhaps because it was only online you can't get a true perception of how it will be. This brush is from ELF's mineral range, and comes in again at such a cheap price of only £5.50.
The blending brush is specifically designed in order to blend harsh eyeshadow lines out, to create a softer look, but also for that perfect 'smokey eye' I genuinely don't know how I have coped without this brush, its amazing.

Next, as I ordered during a weekend of free delivery, there was a promotion for a free eyeshadow, unfortunately you couldn't select the colour, however I was so happy to see it was a really subtle neutral colour, as I have been after one for a while now, and even better it was free.  This colour is Wild Wheat, which I have been using as a base. I like this product, I wish it was slightly more pigmented though. I was impressed it came with a cute little mirror though. This eye shadow is from the studio range, you can find here , where you can also choose from a range of other colours as well.

Last of all (not for long probably), is the Elf Eye Brightener this claims to 'perk up tired eyes and diminish those dark shadows' If you didn't know already I hate my dark circles under my eyes, and I'm forever being drawn into products that claim to help reduce them, in most instances they never really work. However this actually helps so much, I apply it lightly with my bamboo elf blending brush in the outer and inner corners of my eyes. I feel confident enough to not apply much concealer afterwards. I actually love this product, although its hard to get out, because its a loose mineral, a little goes a long way, and you end up getting too much on your brush, well I certainly do anyway. I have even used it to cover up any redness I get around my nose, which does the trick perfectly, especially when you want a very natural look, as its so light on your skin, you wouldn't notice there are even any products on there.

It feels so good to finally be able to write a blog post, now exams are over.

What do you think of the ELF products, or have you tried any of the products featured in this post?