FOTD - Much Furore over Mushrooms

Hello Lovelies,

So in keeping with my desire to give my readers shock based heart attacks, I've decided to do a wee FOTD... today was the first time in a while I've had time to play about with make up, and I came up with with natural but very pretty and girly look, so I thought I'd share. My new room has the biggest window ever too and the lighting for photos is just incredible, so I felt it was only right to take advantage of it on this gorgeous autumnal day.

Face/Lips:
The Body Shop Nature's Minerals in 03
Mac Ripe Peach Blush Ombre
Bobbi Brown blush in Apricot
Barry M Lip Paint in 150 Pink Suede

Eyes:
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Furore
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Muchness (Alice BOS)
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Mushroom
Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner in Black
Avon Supershock Max Mascara in Black
Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown

FOTD - Bright Eyes

Hello lovelies, just thought I'd post a quick FOTD from Saturday as it was a combination I actually enjoyed! Frustratingly I can't tell what what colours I actually have on my eyes as they're from my Inglot palette but hey ho!

Face:

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation in 3.25 Cool Beige

Topshop Creme Blush in Flush

Mac Ripe Peach

Eyes:

UDPP

A selection of grens from my INGLOT palette

ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black

Miners Voluptulash Mascara in Black

Lips:

Bobbi Brown Rich Colour Lipstick in Guava

Winter Skin Saviours/November Favourites

Hello lovelies! This post is going to be a little bit of a beast as its combining my November favourites with my current Winter Skin Saviours - of course, there's a whole tonne of cross over because the weather towards the end of November was playing havoc with my skin!

You'll notice that there's 3 seperate body moisturisers on there.... yeah. I have issues.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser*

This has been one of the saviours of my face over the last couple of weeks - it's so soothing but also pulls out all the dirt and rubbish. Normally in winter I get a really spotty chin from having a warm, slightly damp scarf permanently attached to my face. It hasn't happened so far and I'm pretty certain its down to this. If you want a more in depth review, look here.

Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion with Shea Butter and Triple Oat Complex*

Love, love, love this lotion. In the winter, the skin on my legs splits and cracks and just goes generall scabby. I blame the fact that I have mild eczema and also the fact that York gets flipping cold. This lotion soothes all of the nastyness and now that I'm using it daily, I'm not getting any cracks or sore bits on my lower legs at all. I only use this on my lower legs though - it's far too rich for the not so dry bits of my body :)

 Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion*

You may remember that in this post I mentioned that I was given a sneaky preview bottle of the new Liz Earle Body Lotion that launches at the end of December/start of January... well, this is it! I've been using this on my upper body and utterly loving it. It sinks in nice and quickly, leaves no greasy or sticky residue and has a lovely fresh, zingy scent which is perfect for helping to wake you up in the cold wintery weather. I'll be bringing you a more in depth review of this in a couple of weeks.

Bio-Oil*

I was sent this recently for review purposes, and I have to admit, I was a little bewildered by what on earth to use it for! However, after scouring a few blogs, I came across a whole wealth of uses and have been loving it ever since - I'm currently using it on my upper legs (they freak out with heavy moisturisers and I end up with millions of blocked pores and I also have stretch marks, so this is perfect for them), on my cuticles and on a couple of scars. Again, I'm planning on bringing you a more in depth review in a couple of months, as that's how long Bio-Oil recommend using it for before seeing proper results on things like stretch marks and scars :)

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation in 3.25 Cool Beige

Ok, so not only is this the perfect match for the tone of my skin, it's also just flipping amazing. This stuff goes on and DOES NOT BUDGE! Even in the snow and the wind and the general rubbishyness of the weather, it doesn't budge. I've experienced zero patchyness, zero redness showing through and zero transfer from this foundation. Love it.

Liz Earle Super Skin Concentrate*

We were lucky enough to be given our pick of 5 full size products at the Liz Earle Leeds Bloggers event, and I picked this one... boy am I glad that I did! This little beauty (in combination with a tonne of other Liz Earle goodies), is becoming my face's saviour. I went one night without putting it on, and I really noticed the difference - my skin was far less soft and supple feeling in the morning and got much drier in the day. I use just a tiny drop of this under my moisturiser at night and let it work its wonders. Again, I'll be reviewing this in more depth soon!

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit in Cool Sand

What a cute little kit - on the top you have the creamy concealer and on the bottom you have a little tub of powder to take away the shine/stop the concealer from creasing. I've never really ventured into the world of concealer before, because I've always struggled to find something that's not too orange/too light/too wet/too creasy - this is just right. I just apply it with my fingers and occasionally blend it out with a fluffy blending brush . It's been keeping me looking half awake in my sleep deprived state (our house has been cold and I've woken up shivering a few times!)

Urban Decay Naked Palette

I've used this so much since I got it - it really is becoming a staple part of my daily makeup kit. It also got me out of a sticky situation when I forgot to bring makeup brushes on the train to Leeds for the Liz Earle event!! Clever little palette :) I reviewed it in more depth (with swatches etc) here

Bobbi Brown Blush in Apricot

Ok, so firstly, I have no idea why this is called Apricot - it really is that colour pink. Secondly, the Bobbi Brown MUA almost had a fit as she applied this to me - she really, really liked how it looked on my skin, and so did I! This has overtaken MAC Ripe Peach as my go-to blusher (it was about time - I've been Ripe Peaching for about 4 or 5 months now!)

Eyeko London Lips Glosses in Shoreditch, Soho and Knightsbridge

I know I keep whittering on about these, but I really am enjoying them a lot at the moment - such pretty shades to just pop on... even on non-makeup days, they're a great way of perking up your face. Lovely! You can read my full review here and don't forget to use code E12559 if you spend over £15 at eyeko for a free gift :)

Phew! That's about it my lovelies! Please remember to vote for me and remember to say safe and warm in all this wintery snow! xx

*Disclaimer* Items marked with a * were sent/given to me for review/PR purposes, however I will always give an honest and balanced opinion of all products I try and my reviews are in no way affected by this.

*Disclaimer 2* I have been accepted on to the AVEENO^® Discoverer Programme (insert link to the programme), helping to spread the word about AVEENO® products.  I get sent free AVEENO^® samples and have the possibility of being rewarded with additional benefits.

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual Book Review

So seeing as I'm trapped in the house with some sort of fluey, throat hurty thing, I figured now would be a good time to get a couple of blog posts done, starting with a review of the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual

I've been eyeing up this book for ages, and almost bought it a while back (but went up for  "Makeup: The Ultimate Guide" by Rae Morris instead), so I was super happy when I discovered it nestled in the shelves of my local library (if you haven't already heard me waxing lyrical about the newly refurbished York library, let me tell you know that it's amazing). Looking around like a crazed woman, I grabbed it (possibly letting the words "my precious" fall from my lips in a golum esq manner) and made a mad dash towards the extremely space age and whizzy self service machines (no seriously, I LOVE this new library...*cough*)

So, does Bobbi Brown's Makeup Manual live up to what I hoped it would be? In a word, yes. The tagline of this book is that it's "For everyone from beginner to pro" and I think I'd agree. This book really does cover everything you need to know about make up - from the basics of what different brushes do, how to shop for cosmetics and how to look after your skin, to step by step make up application techniques, to more advanced techniques and a great chapter about getting into the make up industry including kit lists, contacts, hints and tips and even a history of make up (always good for a pub quiz)!

Bobbie goes into a lot of detail about how to apply make up to achieve a flawless, natural looking finish and I found the sections on concealers and correctors really useful, as I tend to shy away from using them. Obviously, I'm not a complete novice, but I never felt too challenged or too patronised by anything in this book, and instead felt inspired to crank it up a notch and really work at getting a more flawless finish when I was doing my make up for a wedding I went to on Saturday.

The downside? Not many really. The one thing I will say is that it doesn't contain much inspiration for more colourful/daring looks but this isn't really Bobbi Brown's style (I mean come on, is the woman whose line started with 10 brown lipsticks really going to be sharing how to pull off the perfect bright green lipstick? I think not). That said, she does have some slightly more fun/editorial looks and also makes reference to other make up artists who do specialise more in this sort of look.

All in all, I'd say that this is an excellent reference tool that pretty much everyone would benefit from owning - whether you're a complete beginner, or an old pro who just wants to remember how to brush up their techniques, or maybe (a bit like me) you're toying around with the idea of becoming a make up artist and want to read a little more about what that entails and how to build up your kit and portfolio, there's something here for you. I know that I plan on getting my own pretty much the minute this has to return to those wonderful library shelves!

Bobbi Brown Make Up Manual: RRP £20