The Body Shop - Christmas Makeup collection!

 

Hey beauties!

 

I know it's been a while but I have been busy with Uni deadlines (urgh) but I am here now ready to tell you about my exciting experience with The Body Shop! Now around a month or so ago I went to the York Designer Outlet with my sister. I insisted I was 'nipping' into The Body Shop as she continued to look around other shops.. I was there for around twenty minutes surrounded by a beauty lovers dream of discounted goodies. I was asked by a reader of my blog to try out some primers, so I went with the intention of getting a couple to sample. I ended up getting a couple of testers and picking my brother up some shampoo (he is worse than a girl with his hair).

I got carried away chatting away with the staff and I mentioned that I am a beauty blogger. I got to the till and paid for my things and as I tottled out with my shopping I was shouted back in and asked if I would like to blog for them! I couldn't believe my luck and I am honoured to have been given this opportunity from them.

So last Monday (20th of October) I went to get a make over by their store makeup artist using their new Christmas cosmetics line. They also gave me some to go home and try out myself and as I had a wedding evening do to attend I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give them a go. So here is my review on the products..

 

Now I have wanted to try this particular one for some time now, it is their ALL-IN-ONE BB cream. It comes in 5 different shades (00-04). The reason there is only 5 shades is because it is a colour adapting formula! It actually comes out of the tube white and as you blend it into your skin it changes colour to match your skin tone.

 

 

 

I am shade 02, which is for medium skin tones. Now I do like my full coverage foundation especially as my days are long and full coverage is easier to maintain, but I was pleasantly surprised with this BB cream. It actually gives a really great coverage! It leaves a dewy finish but with me loving matte skin I paired it with the 'matte it' skin primer of theirs. If you have a good complexion and are looking for a lightweight foundation or if you want a base foundation which is buildable this is definitely worth checking out! The 'matte it' primer is actually one I picked up on my first visit and by the way it is absolutely fabulous.

 

As for eyes I was given the Dolly Pastels eye shadow palette..

 

 

It comes with 4 different shades:

top left - base

top right - outer corners

bottom left - lid liner

bottom right - highlight

 

Now there is two variations of the palette, there is this one (dolly pastels) and another which is called frosted pastels which contains more minty hues. I really enjoyed playing around with these colours, they have a frosty finish to them so they are slightly metallic apart from the matte brown. I found the colour of the shadows have to be built on but that's not really an issue, as I tend to pack it on when I opt for a smoky eye anyway. With their products being made from natural ingredients they don't harm your skin so these shadows would be perfect for children's Christmas parties too!

 

 

For my lashes I used their glitter mascara, now when you read that I bet you screwed your face up and said to yourself 'who's worn that since the 90s', but don't be to quick to judge as it is really subtle and I found it brightened up my eyes! It's perfect if you're going for a basic eye, it adds an extra bit of sparkle which everybody loves during Christmas time!

 

 

Last but not least I finished my look with the Vanilla Brulee body sparkler.. as you might have guessed it is scented. It also comes in two other scents Frosted Cranberry and Glazed Apple. To be honest it is not the kind of thing I would normally go for but it is really subtle and smells divine. It can also be worn in your hair, so if you have children it would be perfect for their Christmas parties, I think it's better than those cheap and nasty glitter hairsprays you can buy and with this being au natural it's going to be harm free. If you use this over one of their body butters it will also intensify the smell and look how cute the packaging is!

 

 

The great thing about the York Designer Outlet Body Shop is that they have massive savings on their products. I think it is 20% off if you buy two of their products and a massive 40% off if you buy 4 or more.. PLUS if you own a Body Shop beauty card you get an EXTRA 10% off.. now tell me the reason not to shop there?! The cards are £5 for the year and they often throw in a free gift when you sign up or if you're like me and a student they are freeeee! With it you get 10% off your purchases in regular stores and as I have just explained an extra 10% off in YDO. With every purchase you make you get a stamp, once you get 4 stamps you get a free gift worth up to £5 and when you get 8 you get a free gift worth up to £10. That goes for them as a company not just York Designer Outlets particular branch.

 

Here is my finished look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading beauties! I hope you enjoyed this one, I know I did. Don't forget to check out my GIVEAWAY . You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook and Bloglovin.

Thank you to The Body Shop for this massive opportunity and to you lot for reading me babble.

I will be back soon, if you have a post you would like to see don't be shy about commenting and letting me know (:

Stefi xoxo

 

Outfit of the DATE night!

My first outfit of the day post! How exciting.. My boyfriend said he was taking me out so my first thought was 'WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR PLEASE?!'.. Luckily I received my order from Crystelle Clothing and with it came the perfect Autumn/Winter Co-Ord. The floral print is toned down by leafy hues (Greens, Burnt oranges) which makes it ideal for the cold British weather! I've been on a mission for the perfect co-ord for some time now and at the price of £21.99 for the set, YEP, the set, I couldn't resist clicking the 'add to basket button'.

 

I paired this pretty little set with my Schuh 'Cinema' boots which I've previously wrote about in my 'a little peak into my shoedrobe' post. They toughen up the floral print which I love! My khaki bag is

River Island and it was £32. Khaki is my go-to colour of the season, I can't get enough of it! For a jacket I wore my Topshop bomber style cardigan.

It seriously is the warmest cardy I have ever had! Helps that its ultra soft too.. mmm it's like a dream! So that is it. That's me posing to show off my all new errr'thing outfit!

 

 

Introducing my new shorter locks! Hope you all enjoyed reading this quick outfit post! There will be more of these on the blog soon.. Any post requests are more than welcome just drop me a comment and I'll be sure to read!

 

Get ready with me

I am going to jump straight in on this as I have been looking forward too this one! Surprisingly, I am doing this the day after my night out, that is either dedication or I'm still drunk! Now I am the kind of girl who has a glass of martini and lemonade and then think I'm the worlds best dancer.. you know the type of girl you judge 'cause she's dancing on her own to Eve's 'who's that girl' making everybody know that they're the girl. Yep, that's me! It turned out to be a rather eventful night but I will ease you into it..
First thing everybody has got to do before a night out is SHOWER! I have a nice array of shower time necessities that I neatly carry in a soap and glory wash bag. My trusty old pink loafer is my best mate, these are so cheap and you can get them from your local supermarkets, boots etc. I don't remember where I got mine as I've had it a while, you can tell as it's starting to show its age! Dove silk glow nourishing body wash is my all time fav, I have weird skin that disagrees with certain ingredients, but it loves the smooth luxurious feel of this dove body wash, it is an absolute dream and smells incredible! I won't ever change it, it's won me over. Sanex zero% body wash is the stuff I use in my most intimate areas (blushing) AWKWARD but every girl knows how it is! Quick subject change.. ARGAN OIL SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER! Wow, it does what it says and I wasn't quick to try it out but im so glad I gave in to the heavenly hair goodness. I got such a swell deal on these bad boys as well from Groupon, £10 for the shampoo, conditioner and the argan oil too instead of a hefty £30! Gotta love a good beauty bargain, so go check Groupon out!

 

After showering it's all about moisturising that sexy body of yours and if you're searching for the perfect moisturiser I have one for you to try. It comes in the form of the Soap and Glory righteous butter! You know at Christmas and you gather loads of Soap and Glory products and just never get around to trying them? Well that was the case with me and the righteous butter, I found my love for this when I got home from Spain in July trying to prolong my tan that I worked so hard for and wow, it is so velvety and applies so well. It isn't greasy and smells like pretty things Link!. £10.50 for 300ml, a little pricey but I think it's worth it, you never know though you may have a tub gathering dust under your bed like I did and save yourself that tenner.

 

After creaming up it was time to stick a comfy shirt on and get down to the piece de resistance which is my hair! I have thin hair which does what it wants which is a massive nightmare but I recently got obsessed with big, beautiful bouncy hair and I literally sat and taught myself how to put rollers in by watching youtube tutorials. I feel like I've managed to get a decent grasp of it but I will let you decide for yourselves! First of all I towel dry my hair ready to apply the argan oil to my ends. I take about little bit of the organic world argan oil on my finger tips and rub it all up in the ends of my hair. It works a treat and it came with the shampoo and conditioner I was banging on about earlier here's the link if you guys want to give it a try Link! Its such a great deal so snap it up while you can if you're interested.

 

Here I am looking like a hot mess just like my room trying to rescue my dead ends!

 

After this it was time to get my blow dry on ready to put those rollers in. All you need is a brush, straighteners or curlers your rollers and those little runaways we know as hair grips (bobby pins, Kirby grips).

 

 



I got the purple rollers from the one and only Asda and the big black ones from Wilkinsons. I use the black ones for the top centre of my hair and then I work down in size order. Here I am trying to look like it comes natural..

 

I just add heat to my hair by curling the ends ready to roll the sections up and secure with my hair grips. The heat helps your hair to set giving it a nice bounce.

 

 

A bit of gentle back combing enhances the volume and then you just roll it up and secure it in place!

Once I had covered my entire hair with rollers and look like a toilet brush I was all done so I just gave it a quick once over with my hairspray and ended up looking like this..

 

I was going to my boyfriends for the night so I was doing my makeup and everything like that at his so I packed my stuff up and we hit the road! I was quick to set up my rimmel light up mirror which my boyfriends mum gave to me as I kept stealing the little bathroom mirror to do my makeup with in a morning haha! Id got my 'workspace' ready and I began by putting on the mac studio fix which I talked about in my first ever blog post Link! Here I am packing on the mascara trying to make my lashes look full and long as I don't wear false lashes 'cause I find myself with them half hanging off in the middle of the night and it gets me down! 

 

 

Definitely not the finest photo of me but I was a working progress at this point. I can do a blog on my daily makeup in more detail at some point if you guys are interested? The most important part of my makeup is contouring I just love to pretend I have cheekbones where my chubby cheeks are, but don't we all?

 

 

I apologise for my boyfriends room its a little messy and I may be partly to blame (oops). It doesn't take me long to put my face together I would say around 10 minutes for evening makeup. These are the last snaps of me with my roller head on but just to show you my finished makeup here they are..

 

 

I was quick to take my rollers out, I just don't look good in them.. at all. I just slowly roll them out one by one starting from the bottom and working my way up to avoid getting them tangled in the Velcro 'cause it hurts bad if you do!

 

 

There you have it my hair is done! Time to get dressed.. well at least I thought it was until I went to put my new dress on only to realise that the zip is broken on it. I was so excited about my blue lace number so I didn't even bring any options as I was dead set on wearing it. I was stranded with no other clothes so I did what any girl would do in my situation and beg.. yep I begged my sister to bring me my ASOS dress that I have only ever worn once before and like a hero she came to my rescue, bodycon dress in hand! At this point I had already been chilling with my boyfriends mates in his top and my jeans sipping my wine sulking over my dress troubles, so I made a quick dash to his room to throw on my dress and shoes! Here I am, I managed to just about throw myself together..

 

 

I know it's a long one so thank you if you have taken the time to read! Any blogging advice or if there is anything you would like me to blog about let me know! I am open to ideas. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Bloglovin or to like my Facebook page.

 

 

A little peak into my Shoedrobe

Now, I have a massive shoe problem, I should be ashamed but I just can't help it, I'm literally addicted. In my opinion, you could be wearing the nicest outfit ever but if you have got some ugly ass shoes on then that'l bring your outfit down to a 4 and nobody wants their outfit to be a 4.. Shoes are the baubles on a Christmas tree, you'd be bare without them. Ok il stop defending my shoe addiction and get on with it. 

Right first things first these the realist.. Just kidding, but they are cute doe and if you were a spice girls fan these are gonna take your breathe away. Now I am a black shoe kinda girl I love masculine, chunky looking footwear and toughening up girly outfits with them. But these boots were literally too beautiful to resist, they have it all: a cleated platform sole, chunky heal and lace up front they ticked all my boxes and then I remembered I don't own any white shoes so I had to buy them, right? I had to release my inner spice girl too, derrr. 

 

These little beauties are from Schuh they are the 'chit chat' boots and they are £42, they are also available in black. Now if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my outfit of the day post where I styled these boots, but if you're new to me then here it is.. 

I really, really, really wanna zigazig ahhh! Not sure what spice girl I would be.. I used to pretend to be sporty spice, but that was back when I used to rock around in my nike track suits.. 

Anyway, on that note I will stick with the 90's revival trend and show you what are possibly my favourite shoes of the year. I don't even need to use words, just take a look for yourselves.. 

Maybe I should have cleaned them up a little before taking the photo but I am a little useless when it comes to cleaning. Here they are on, little less distracting when you can't see the dirt aren't they! (My bad). 

Aren't they just perfect? These are the Schuh 'hype' heals and come in at £50, they also come in white! Just when you think they don't have it all aye! Now I will tell you about one of my most recent purchases and it comes in the form of a black patent leather boot with buckle detailing. I know, I know you're thinking they sound incredible and that's probably because they are. 

Now, you have to have these on your feet to really see how cute these are, but for now I will show you them on mine so you can drool over them the way I do.. 

They look so great with almost everything, but I love pairing them with oversized shirts, mentally preparing myself for the upcoming Autumn days. These are £75 also from Schuh and they have named these bad boys 'cinema'. They also come in tan so if you prefer warmer colours they may be the ones for you. 

I always said I would never wear slip on vans, that was until I seen the leopard print slip on vans that put little love hearts in my eyes and made me forget I ever even said that. 

These are £50, I bought mine from Schuh, surprisingly, but I'm sure they will be available at other vans retailers as well as vans themselves. These are an acquired taste, but believe me they are even better on. I am yet to do an outfit of the day featuring these, but I am sure it won't be long now until I pose for my Instagram..

Last but by no means least is a boot I have been lusting over for some time now and when my boyfriend decided to buy me them for my birthday I just wanted to cuddle them while convincing myself that I'm gonna look just like Rihanna.. I'm just kidding! But I do love Rihanna and she is probably the main reason behind my love for these timberland beauties.. 

These are the Timberland Earthkeepers Nellie Chukka boots and carrying on with the theme, these were also from Schuh for £110. They are shorter than the classic boots but I found these easier to wear and more suitable for my style as I'm a roll up my jeans, no matter what, kinda gal. Here is how I style them.. 

I would love it for you guys to follow me on: Instagram, bloglovin and like my Facebook page! Thank you for reading guys, any support from you all is much appreciated. 

P.S I have not been sponsored to talk about Schuh products, I just happen to buy my shoes from them (just a little disclaimer). Catch me blogging soon, your gal Stefi x