Illimasqua Skin Base review and giveaway winner!

Hey Beauties

 

If you're anything like me and you feel like you're constantly searching for the perfect foundation then this post may just be for you! I have tried pretty much all the favourite foundations from Mac, Estee Lauder to Bobbi Brown and although I will always hold a massive soft spot for Mac, sometimes it's nice to try something new. I wanted to try Illamasqua's skin base foundation for a while now so I made my way to the counter at Meadowhall's Debenhams and got myself matched up, by the way, it was the best colour match I have ever received.

 

 

The good thing about this foundation is you can choose a colour additive to make it lighter or darker which is ideal if you're a fake tanner or use sunbeds etc. I was lucky enough to pick up a white as well as the amber tint, at the minute I am yet to try the foundation with them as like I said the colour is perfect for my skin tone. The coverage is medium to full and the lasting power is pretty good, although I would suggest a finishing powder to try and prevent transfer.

 I use mine with Body Shops Matte it primer as it tends to leave a dewy finish and I don't dig shining! I am hoping to try out Illamasqua matte primer on my next visit to Meadowhall.. so another review may be on it's way. Any of you lovelies tried it? Let me know!

 

I am really loving this foundation at the minute and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to try something new.. I do struggle to get the product out of the tube though, you have to really grit your teeth and squeeze it to get some foundation out which is a little bit upsetting but apart from that I don't have any major qualms with it!

 

Here's the finished look using skin base..

 

 

This photo isn't edited so you can see the genuine finish of the foundation, my shade is 8.5 for you who may be wondering, the foundation is a little bit on the expensive side at £32 but a little really goes a long way so I would say it is worth a little splurge.

 PS.. I have gone blonde, I kept the roots dark though to stay true to my brunette genes. What's your thoughts?

Oh and I now have a winner of my giveaway! Congratulation's to Sarah Jarvis for being the lucky one, thank you to everyone who entered, there will be more giveaways in the future so don't be disheartened (:

Thank you all for reading, if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see next on the blog don't be afraid to let me know.. Don't forget to check out my Facebook and Instagram for regular updates and follow me on Bloglovin if you enjoy reading my blogs!

 

Stefi xoxo

 

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

 

My everyday makeup routine and review of products!

I'm back! Now I am a get up and go kind of girl so I don't get up on a morning and spend a lot of time on my makeup 'cause I love my sleep too much! So here is my makeup routine, I have recently bought some additions to my kit so I will throw my opinion on them in here somewhere too!

My Victoria Secret makeup case carries my essentials in perfectly and it helps that it looks super cute too.. I've had this since Christmas last year ( I think) so I don't know if it is still available but they always have new pretty ones out anyway! Now new to my kit is Mac studio sculpt foundation, I'm usually a studio fix gal, but I fancied trying something new after seeing my friend Demi look ultra flawless rockin' hers, Link! To be honest it comes out rather thick and once it's on your face it rubs off easily 'causing it to transfer onto your clothes.. but it gives great coverage and I have just discovered a primer which in my opinion works wonders with it! It is The Body Shop 'matte it' skin primer, I only picked up a tester but after using it a couple of times it's won my never before primed face over! It is £12, but it's literally like silk on your skin and actually helps matte the dewiness of the studio sculpt which I love!  Link!

Time to conceal those, not so Chanel bags under my little brown eyes..

 

It's a good job I have no shame or this particular selfie would be massively embarrassing! I use the 'Collection lasting perfection concealer'. Now this is a massive bargain buy and after reading in numerous magazines that it is a makeup artists secret tool, I toddled off to boots to pick me one up hoping after I'd use it I'd look like Cara Delevingne.. I didn't but it did help with my bin liner eyes. So if you're looking for a concealer that does the trick at a low cost this little beauty might just do the trick! Link! 

 

 

STOP.. EYEBROW TIME!

 

It's all about that Rimmel eyebrow pencil for me. Probably 'cause it's a quick fix for my untameable brows and at £2.99 you can't got wrong. Link! As for the 'brow this way' gel, that's a new find in my life and I think I love it. It can clump a little and go on a little thick so you have to kind of get rid of any excess which lays on the brush before combing it through your brows, but apart from that I dig it! Link! This is the result of the two together!

 

 

I never used to use a powder but I have just discovered one by Estee Lauder. I've searched on the web and can't find it but It's the 'Lucidity translucent loose powder' and I got mine in the shade light. I think I paid £20 for it from 'The Makeup Company' in York Designer Outlet. It may be discontinued now which breaks my heart a bit 'cause it's so great! It doesn't cake at all and mattes my foundation which I love. Here's a picture of it, if you have ever used it or use it currently let me know!

 

 

I mentioned that I bought a new mascara in my 'beauty buys' post, its the Rimmel 'wonder'full' mascara with argan oil. I don't know where my sudden love for Rimmel as come from but it's ticking all the right boxes for me at the minute and the prices of their products are so reasonable too! This mascara is great by the way, may be worth a buy if you're looking to try something new Link!

 

 

Contour time, with my favourite beauty purchase of the year! The Sleek contour palette in medium, it comes with a contour powder, a highlight powder and a bronzer. I would 100% recommend this if you want to sculpt your face up! Link!

 

 

 

After I've polished off my cheekbones, I put my lipstick on, not going to lie it's usually in the form of Mac, you know how it is! For this look I used  'Close Contact' which I believe was in a limited edition collection of theirs at some point. You can get it from 'The Makeup Company' in York Designer Outlet, for £10.50. That's where I got mine from!

 

 

Ahh, its so perfect! My favourite lip colour for Autumn. I decided to straighten my hair this day to enjoy the last 24 hours of having long locks, as I have now had it cut short! So here's my finished day to day makeup look..

 

 

Hope you enjoyed reading this and in someway found it insightful! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Bloglovin and like my page on Facebook or subscribe to my blog! My next post should be a haul! Keep reading and thank you for your support x

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.

 

 

Beauty buys

Recently I've been on a bit of a splurge, which has resulted in me buying some new beauty goods!
I'm so excited about the things I bought and most of them I've had a few weeks now but the rest are newbies to my makeup must haves.

This sleek contour palette literally rocks my world! I got it in medium and I believe you can get it in light and dark, but I like to pretend I'm more tanned than I actually am sometimes and the colour of the highlight is truly beautiful! Bare with me at the moment as I'm having to use my phone for the camera and I'm new to this blogging malarkey.. 

Another all time fav of mine is of course the one and only Mac studio fix foundation, this foundation as always been a must have for me, I love nothing more than matte full coverage and the compliments that come with it! 

I am currently wearing the shade NC41 

While I am on the mac craze, il tell you about my favourite mac lipstick of the moment.. I have began forming an extensive collection but my most recent buy rocks my world! It's a cremesheen finish in the shade 'Saigon summer' which is a beautiful orange colour, that isn't too in your face and is perfect for everyday wear, it took me a while to find the perfect shade of orange and as usual mac didn't fail to deliver! I can at some point do a blog post of my mac lipstick collection if you do wish but for now this one is worth raving about..

Today's little haul happened at boots, (oops) I should not be allowed in I get far to carried away with my little self. But I have my reasons and I blame but mainly thank missguided for my new found love for BB creams as I've never bothered with the hype until I received a tester of the Rimmel BB cream in matte, yes I tried it and yes it was love at first apply! I've got to say I have received such lovely comments since using over the past couple of days! Not to mention that it was an absolute bargain at £6.99 and boots currently have an offer on.. any 2 rimmel cosmetics for £10, yep £10! So it was only polite to purchase another cheeky item which came in the form of a mascara. Now I haven't tried it yet but when I read 'with argan oil' I was sold, and if you follow me on Instagram I will probably do a little review on there soon (@styledbystefi) or I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you have tried it! 

I also went on the hunt for an angled contour brush, I was unsuccessful and came out with an angled foundation brush by eco tools which states on the package to use use with BB and CC creams! If this brush matches up with their foundation brush then I know I am on to a win as I'm a massive fan of their makeup brushes! As far as my contour brush went I decided to try out the real techniques blush brush which states it is 'hand-cut to contour and define cheeks' and fingers crossed it will only compliment the amazing sleek contour kit! 

I hope this post hasn't bored you, I get a little carried away! I will hopefully post on a regular basis and my next post may be in the form of a fashion haul as I've got a bit cray on clothes shopping recently too.. whoops. Thanks for reading guys x