Hourglass Veil Eye Primer VS Nars Pro Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base

I know! Another new Hourglass purchase but, in my defence, my Nars Pro Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base is almost finished so I decided to try the Hourglass Veil Eye Primer out of curiosity. I've been using the Nars one since it was released and it is, without doubt, the best eye primer I've used. I have the delightful combination of oily lids and watery eyes so I need my eye products to be hard working and I never, ever apply shadow without primer because if I don't, within a few hours, my shadow will have either creased or disappeared! There are other big name primers out there that other people swear by but they just don't work for me. So I wanted to put the new kid on the block to the test and compare it to my usual favourite.

Taking care of your scalp

We take care of the skin on our face and body so it makes sense that we should do the same with our scalps, right? But when you think about it, most of use neglect this area, just taking care of our hair with shampoo, conditioner and hair masks/treatments (if we're lucky!), but not really our scalps. The weather, central heating, illness, products and stress can all have adverse reactions on our scalps to today I want to share three products with you that I think work brilliantly. You don't need all three but they all work in different ways.

Nars Afterglow Palette review & Swatches

It's quite a while since I bought a Nars eyeshadow palette - not for any particular reason as they release beautiful ranges every year but I just own so many palettes and last year, put myself on a 'palette ban' of sorts (I did ok - bought three in total over the 12 months, I think). Earlier this year, I did a massive cull and gave friends and teenage girls I know, a pile of makeup. This wasn't with the intention of replacing them at all but when I first saw the Nars Afterglow Palette, it really caught my eye and then when I saw Laura's post on the palette, that was it, I had to order it! Serendipitously, Space NK sent an email offering £10 off my next order so I took that as a sign and went ahead and ordered the palette! It's limited edition and sold out in a lot of places so if you want to get your hands on it, don't delay!

3 treats for 3 budgets

I know that some people are not shopping at all since lockdown and others have been shopping non-stop. I'm somewhere in between. We have to remember that there are still reasons to celebrate - birthdays, graduations, recovering from illness, finishing medical treatment, retirements and more! To be honest, I don't need much encouragement to find a reason to celebrate - take it from someone who, over the years, has spent a lot of time bedridden and, even longer, housebound - any day that you can get out of bed is a good day! As I always say in these posts, you really don't need to spend a lot to treat yourself (unless you want to, of course!).

Budget VS Bougie - which is best?

Anything gifted to me is marked with a *

Does expensive always mean more effective? Not necessarily, in my opinion. One example that immediately springs to mind is Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream ( I love her makeup, in general,  but I could easily give her skincare, apart from her Clay Goddess, a miss, and can think of numerous, more effective moisturisers for half the price. Today, I thought I'd do a post on this exact subject - Budget VS Bougie - which is best? We all know I'm a fan of luxury beauty products but there also quite a few budget gems in my collection so I thought I'd do a showdown today! At the end of the day, buy within your budget, this is just for fun!

My Weekly At Home Facial #2

I might be behind in posting my weekly facials, but they are happening! I highly recommend to all of you to just take some time for yourself and gather up your favourite products and take the time to give yourself a facial. It doesn't have to be fancy products, in fact, taking the time to really massage products into your face is probably just as, if not more, important than the products you use. Here's what I used this week. My skin was looking dull but also thirsty so I wanted to banish all signs of that! As always, if any product was gifted to me, it will be marked with a *

Versed Look Alive Hydrating Plumping Mask and Photos, Please Brightening, Tightening Mask reviews

Versed is one of the relatively newer brands on Cult Beauty and I showed you in my lockdown purchases post here that I bought two masks from the brand. Because everything is so affordable, a few of the other products that I wanted to try were actually sold out but I was happy enough to settle on the two masks. Prices start at £7.50 and go up to £18 in the brand so it's definitely in the budget category but I don't believe in wasting money so even if a £7.50 product doesn't work for me, I'd prefer to wait a little longer until I had some more money to buy something more effective. Both of these masks are priced at £9.50. I've been putting them to the test and want to share my thoughts with you today. I'll preface this with the fact that I have dry and sometimes, sensitive skin but I'm also on a LOT of medication, which really means my skin needs all of the help that it can get at the moment!

What are you most looking forward to after the lockdown and what will you miss the most?

I know it might seem strange to think that we might actually miss some things when we return to normal life, but I bet if you really think about it, there will be a few things as well as a massive list of things we look forward to. I'm in the vulnerable group so I will be in lockdown until August, as far as I am aware. Therefore I still have plenty of time to think about what I'm missing and what I'll look forward to. I'd love if you tell me your thoughts in the comments below. These aren't in any particular order....

Too Faced The Natural Nudes Skin-Centric Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

This was kindly gifted to me.

I know, I know - I really am an eyeshadow palette addict but I make no apologies for it because if something makes you happy (and doesn't hurt anyone else), then that can only be a good thing! Having so much time to think over the past 11/12 weeks has given me a lot of time to reflect and one thing that I will be changing is apologising for things that I don't need to apologise for. I think so many of us do it, without even realising. Something else I will be doing is saying yes more, so today, I am saying a big fat yes to this beautiful palette: Too Faced The Natural Nudes Skin-Centric Eyeshadow Palette. If you like the look of it, if budget allows, then why not treat yourself because I promise you that you won't regret it! This palette was kindly gifted to me by Cult Beauty but I know that I would have spent my own money on it if they hadn't because I adore the formula of Too Faced shadows and the colour story of this one speaks to me - I know it might look quite basic, but wait until you see the swatches and think about the huge range of looks you could create for both day and night with it, on all skin tones!

The Spring beauty edit - the lockdown edition!

If a product was sent to me, it will be marked with a *

Ordinarily if I were posting a seasonal edit, it would be full of palettes, blushes, lipsticks etc but given that we're in lockdown (and I will be cocooning until August due to my pre-existing illness), this edit will look a little different! I will still wear makeup occasionally but it certainly won't be an everyday occurrence! That said, I will keep up with my weekly tanning ritual, simply because it makes me feel good. That's actually the whole focus of this edit - products that make me feel good because it's so important when in lockdown to take care of yourself both physically and mentally and I believe they are intertwined.

My weekly at home facial #1

Any gifted products are marked with a *

I say weekly facial as though I use the same products on a weekly basis but I definitely don't - I use products based on what my skin needs that week (actually, it's probably more twice weekly at the moment) but I just thought I'd show you what I used in my most recent DIY effort. I actually rarely go out for facials (I did regularly before our wedding) but that is something I'd like to get more into and I especially want to try a Hydrafacial or (the dream) an Omorovicza facial! Anyway, back to what I used this week... (Anything marked with a * was kindly gifted to me).

My three favourites from the By Terry Summer Collection 2020....

I bought these products myself.

By Terry is an unapologetically luxurious brand with both skincare and makeup products (some of the latter are infused with the former, hence the higher price tags associated with this brand). It's not a brand that I buy products from on a whim, instead I do some research as I want to be pretty sure I'm going to love whatever I splash the cash on and so far, so good. I chose my top five products from the brand in a post here but it could easily have been my top ten and still have been a struggle! I love that the skincare products are rose based as I personally love anything rose-scented and find that the ingredient suits my skin really well. When I started to see the new summer collection pop up on blogs, I knew that I would have to buy at least one product and ended up with three! In my defence, my LYMIN code works on By Terry on Look Fantastic for a 20% discount (at the moment), at some point, it will be dropping to 15%. Plus, I saw a 20% discount code on the By Terry site, which I also took advantage of and the great thing about ordering directly from the site is that you get two free samples and free shipping within the EU.

Products I wish hadn't been discontinued

Don't just you just hate when you find your perfect product and keep repurchasing it only to find that the brand has decided to discontinue it and you never quite find another product that lives up to it? Yes? Well, That's what today's post is all about - products I'm still not over being discontinued up to 10/12 years later and I really want to hear what products are on your list?

A week in my skincare routine

If a product was gifted to me, it will be marked with a *

As regular readers will know, I post about skincare very often and I sometimes get DMs asking how often I use the products or what a week in my routine looks like. To be honest, it varies, depending on how much energy I have, how inflamed my skin is, the time of the month, if I've used anything new that has irritated my skin, if I'm experiencing texture - you get the gist! It changes depending on so many factors so I just took one random week to show you what I've been using and I'll do it again occasionally in the future. I definitely am not one to show my skincare daily on Instagram, at least not at the moment when my energy levels are so low but I do enjoy seeing other people's routines so if you let me know if this is something that you do! The lighting varies in some of these photos are they were taken at different times of the day and night. I also want to say that I have an unnatural amount of skincare products and assume that non-bloggers have a regular routine with a few extras thrown in so please don't think that I'm recommending having this huge number of products! Also, I always wear SPF but I let my moisturiser absorb fully first, which is why it isn't in any of these posts. I also wanted to mention that I apply Eyelash serum, neck serum and lip balm daily as part of my routine but didn't always remember to photograph them! For reference, I have dry skin that has some texture and is also quite sensitive but is very used to acids at this stage. I am on a lot of medication at the moment and am very ill so some nights, it's as basic as you can get! At the end of the post, I have some discount codes that will help you to save some money if you are interested in buying any of the products.