LADUREE PARIS

The last time I was in Paris I was thirteen and I had no appreciation for anything fancy and had no idea what a macaron was. The nearest store is in London and seen as though I live up north and its a good six hour drive it doesn't seem quite worth a trip. So when I stumbled upon a Laduree whilst walking to the Spanish steps in Rome, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase some famous macarons.

Can we just appreciate how beautiful the window display is. The colour palette is right up my street, and I guess you could say that this is one of my attractions to this brand. I am a sucker for packaging, yes I wanted the delicious treats but I also wanted to keep the beautiful box and bag. 

I only purchased a small box that fits two macarons in. Mainly because I wanted to eat them straight away and I was pretty sure they wouldn't survive the journey home. I chose this gorgeous pink box with the beautiful gold Laduree logo on the front. I will proudly be placing this on my dresser along with the gorgeous pea green bag. Choosing a flavour was very daunting mainly because there were so many and that they all looked so good. Finally I settled on Champagne and strawberry candy, I have too say that they were as tasty as they looked. I am hoping that on my trip to London in a few weeks time I can get a bigger box and try more of the flavours! I'm a little sad that I didn't get a salted caramel one because it looked to yummy! So keep your eyes peeled for more Laduree posts and if you have any flavour suggestions please let me know!

SUPER AFFORDABLE MAKEUP HAUL

Now and then I have brief moments where I decide not to be a makeup snob and try some affordable makeup. I am under no illusions, I know that drugstore makeup can be equally as good (sometimes better) than high end. The only reason I often don't buy it, is because I like to feel like I'm treating myself when I buy cosmetics. Basically pretty packaging and designer names get the better of me. Secondly I am a creature of habit and when I find a brand that works for me I gravitate towards it. Thirdly I sometimes forget how much the drugstore makeup world has progressed. In the last couple of years the drugstore just seems to be going from strength to strength in terms of innovation and quality. I certainly think there are some great stuff on the shelves comparable to high end labels, if not giving them a run for their money.    

I was in superdrug picking up some toiletries for my holiday and I ended up browsing the makeup isle. If I dare say it, Superdrug isn't somewhere I often shop, so I was rather curious about the brands they stocked. Obviously I am no stranger to Makeup Revolution, I haven't been living under a rock. In the past I have always been impressed by their powders, I own a few of their palettes and one of their dare I say it 'knock off' TooFaced shimmery bronzers. I happened to be in the market for a new matte bronzer as my TooFaced one has hit pan. I was no where near a TooFaced stockist so I decided to just five the Makeup revolution ultra bronze a go. Mainly because it was three quid, so I didn't have much too loose. So far I'm pleasantly surprised, it's definitely worth the three pound that's for sure. I find it apply's well, no patchiness and I don't mind the colour it's not too orange. I do wish it was a little bit more cool toned but I can live with it. Worth every penny and I'm totally going to repurchase. Side note I think its perfect for going on holiday because you wouldn't have to worry about whether its going to get damaged and its very complimentary to a tan.

The Next product I was sceptical about because I haven't heard of the brand and the price point was very cheap. #ProArtist had a range of products from primers, contour, bronzers and eye makeup. I ended up just picking up an eyeshadow that was two quid. I liked this product because I would slip straight into my palette and of course because it was outrageously cheap. Expectations were not ridiculously high on this product but I was actually shocked on how creamy these were. I found the consistency really impressive for the price point. When i swatched the shadow it really clung to the skin and had great longevity. The colour pay off is more on the sheer side, but on a holiday this would be a great all over the lid, quick makeup eyeshadow. I really loved the shimmer on this shade and will be popping back to pick up a few more colours and see if they follow suit. 

 I have had my beady little eyes on these since they launched. I swatched just about all the colours and left them for a good 7 hours. I then got in the shower and I scrubbed the shit out of my hands, and all I have to say is that the Rimmel stay Matter liquid lip colour is industrial. Girls if you're going for cocktails and will possibly be too intoxicated to do a touch up, don't worry Rimmel's gotcha back. I picked up Latte to Go and Mocha. I'm a bit concerned that Latte to Go is gonna be a little light on my skin tone, but I love the shades. To combat the paleness of latte to go I picked up a lip liner from Nyx in the shade sandstorm because I think it will compliment it very well, but only time will tell. These retail for around £6.00 and at the moment at boots they are buy one get one half price (offer was available on the 5.8.17). I plan to basically get every shade of these, I have fallen in love with them from first swatch. Is that a thing.. love at first swatch. The only shade I'm hesitant on is the grey shade... I think its amazing but I'm not sure I have the balls to rock it or pull it off. I've put in a couple swatches below, first is Latte to go and the last Mocha. Would love to here if you guy's like these as much as me or if you have any other liquid lips recommendations!

VILLA BORGHESE - A SMALL PIECE OF PARADISE

I teased about this beautiful place in my last post and I'm sure that now you can see why I have waited to dedicate an entire post to Villa Borghese. It's hard to imagine that within the bustling city there is this little piece of peace and tranquillity. The moment we booked Rome, I began my research and stumbled on a pinterest post about a romantic lake hidden in the city. On our last day it was our mission to walk here and find the lake within the villa Borghese gardens. We walked around the park itself for almost two hours until we finally arrived here, but in all honesty there was so much more too see we only scratched the surface.

The city had been an exciting adventure but as a true country girl I really longed for a quiet moment and a peaceful stroll away from bumping shoulders with strangers and people standing  on my toes. So far Rome had its moments of romance but most of the time it was map reading, busy traffic and trying to figure out crossing the road without being flattened. Walking for multiple hours in the heat does bring the occasional crossed word and the fact that neither of us knew how to really navigate a map did not help with tension. So strolling through the park hand in hand just having a chance to chat and reflect was just what the doctor ordered. As I looked around the few people that were here also seemed to have been charmed by its romantic scenery, it was definitely a place for a lovers stroll.

After admiring the beauty and taking a couple snaps we decided to take a boat ride which was only a few euro each. I was rather excited that the little lake was full of turtles, Rome had not provided me with any animals to coo over so this was a good opportunity. It was very relaxing just basking in the sun having a chin wag and taking some photos in the idyllic setting. We had almost forgot where we were, it was such a contrast from the bustling streets. I feel so fortunate that we got to spend a beautiful day here together, I think its something I will never forget. A definite must if you visit Rome and just want a little break from the hustle and bustle, it takes a little finding but its a manageable walk from the city centre. I honestly don't think its something you should miss.

WELCOME TO ROMA

No guesses regarding the content of this post, we've been sunning it up in Rome for the past few days! Trying to fit in a long weekend in Rome in one blog post seems somewhat impossible, so I think the best approach is to maybe spread it out over a few. It's no secret that I love travelling. I am obsessed with discovering new places, but unfortunately we don't often get a chance due to work commitments and conflicting shift work. We've been trying to fit in a few more city breaks in an effort to see as much as possible; so clearly Rome was our travel conquest of choice. 

In an attempt not to make this post incredibly long I'm quickly going to summarise the main attractions that we want to see and then break it down from there.

Piazza Venezia: This is where we started our journey just about every day. The square is the central hub of the city and a great starting point to walk to any of the attractions, most of which are only a 15 - 20 minuet walk from here. Right in the square is Altare della patria which is a beautiful monument which has some incredible views over the city picture below. 

The forum: Just a short walk from Altare della patria, the forum is like walking into a movie scene. The sheer vast landscape filled with ruins is just hard to take in. This was very much at the centre of roman lives, they held public speeches, criminal trials and even gladiatorial matches here. It's incredible to walk through such a bustling and modern city that also is just dripping in history and character. It shouldn't work but it just does.  

Trevi Fountain: Firstly apologies for the poor quality I couldn't even get my camera out of my bag this place was so busy. It's clear to see that the Trevi fountain is a beauty, unfortunately its beauty is undermined by the sheer amount of people that gather too see it. I would love to go there out of season when everyone is not pushing for a spot at the front.  Despite that you can not deny the craftsmanship of this beautiful fountain and even though you may struggle to get a nice holiday selfie with it, without other peoples heads or selfie sticks its very much worth seeing. 

The Spanish Steps: This attraction was probably the most disappointing for me, as you can see another very popular destination which means a LOT of people.  I visited it because I suppose you have to, however although I can appreciate its uniqueness and beauty, in comparison to all the other beautiful architecture it was somewhat underwhelming. The Spanish steps is however in a beautiful area of Rome. Especially if you love a bit of shopping, this area is drenched in beautiful restaurants and designer shops. 

We visited Villa Borghese which is my absolute favourite place in Rome but I'm keeping this under wraps until my next post because it's just too beautiful to gloss over in a sentence or so. Lastly I just want to share some street shots I took whilst I was wandering around because too me thats the best part about travel just getting lost in pretty streets. Im sure you will agree that no matter where you are in Rome, its all beautiful. 

SOLEIL TAN DE CHANEL

This is sort of a case of YouTube made me buy it. For years this has been floating around the beauty community and I've always wondered whether this was worth the hype so to speak. Temptation finally got the best of me and I bit the bullet and purchased this little beauty. Can we just admire how perfect the packaging is. Classic black and gold screams sophistication, it is the perfect vanity piece. A lovely little item to glam up your dresser without a very hefty price tag. That being said I would never tell you to purchase an item solely based upon the pretty packaging so lets get into the good stuff.

SO, Chanel describe the product as a cream gel bronzer that glides on to the skin to leave a velvety finish, leaving you with a sun kissed matte but natural look. The product can be worn under foundation or over the top. I have not used this under my foundation as I think that's a bit heavy for my personal taste but I have been using it as a bronzer over the top of my foundation. Pictured below the product looks very warm, which it is but not near as orange as the photo is making it out to be. If you are very fair I don't think that the colouring would be great on your skin tone. I have a medium neutral skin tone and even then its potentially on the dark/warm side. It's supposed to be a universal shade but I think that's bollocks to be honest.  No way is this catering for very light or very dark girls.

As you can see from the photo above I have tried and tested the product a food few times, its not looking that hot now.  I've tried applying this in different ways and I've found that the best technique is to dab the product on and then lightly buff. When I first tried this product I applied far too much product to my brush and tried to buff it in and my goodness it was a hot mess. Only a little bit of product is needed on a tapered buffing brush, it is so pigmented that the smallest amount goes a long way. I'm not going to lie this is not a fool proof product to work with, but then again I find cream   face product always are. I often find it can be more difficult to deposit the product in the right place with a cream product and this is no exception. There are times when I have applied this and it has been patchy as hell and other times it has been a seamless glow. Mastering the application is key, once you have that down you're life of sun kissed skin awaits you. With this knowledge in hand if you are prepared to put in the extra time then you'll will learn to love this product, because the finished result is great. If you're a slap it on the face and go kinda girl, this really isn't for you.

I find that upon application the product is tacky but it does eventually dry down. I wouldn't say its a light product I could feel it on my face, which although I don't mind I know its not for everyone. I purchased this at Boots, at the price point of £36.00. Value wise for the amount of product that you will use I think its very reasonably priced, its not a product that you will get through very easy.  Other stockist include: John Lewis House of Fraser Debenhams.

For me this product is worth the hype, because I am willing to put the effort in. However I can see how it won't be for everyone, it can be a pain to apply, its pricey and the colour is not favourable for everyone. I will be continuing to use this for the foreseeable as I love the glowy natural finish it gives my skin. All I can say is take away any points that apply to you in this review and weigh up if this is the right product for you and hopefully you'll like it as much as I do too.

IS THERE A FEMALE VERSION OF THE WORD MANCHILD?

I learnt a few things about myself today. I am not nearly as grown up as I believe myself to be and that I would certainly die in a zombie Apocalypse. The fact that my mind would even link those two totally unrelated events together, is a testament to how un-grown-up I am. (fairly confident that's not a word) I had a pretty crappy morning, which started with me falling back to sleep after I had switched off my alarm, waking frantically to the realisation that I had fifteen minuets to get ready. Disaster number two took place whilst doing my makeup, when I squirted foundation down my work skirt. It wasn't the lack organisation that left me feeling like a less than adequate adult but more the fact that I had no idea what to remove a foundation stain with. I feel like rescuing clothes from life long stains is the true mark of adulthood. Clearly something I have not accomplished as I went to work with not only a foundation smear on the bottom of my skirt, but also an oily residue around the stain because I tried to get rid of it with makeup remover... Amateur.

Work is usually a constant reminder that I look twelve years old, as people scan my face and my work badge trying to work out whether I'm qualified to advise them, or if someone just let the work experience girl loose in the pharmacy. There is no bigger sign that you are defiantly not an adult than being referred to as 'sweetheart' or 'darling' 100x a day. Today was no different. I had a frantic forty minuets at the end of the day filled with confusing prescription issues that resulted in me leaving around fifteen minuets late. The cherry on top of the shitty little cupcake that was my day, was returning to my car to find a very flat tyre. The terrible thing is that it was not even a surprise event. I knew I had a slow puncture and I just ignored it. I'm not quite sure whether this makes me a child or just a fucking idiot. So now I could no longer ignore the tyre problem. I had to fix it and it was at this point I realised I have absolutely no idea how to do that, that I'm a hopeless adult and if there was a zombie invasion right now I'd be on the menu. I always thought I was quite a pragmatic and sensible person, ideal for a zombie attack. That brains over brawn would be my weapon of choice. Until I realised that I clearly panic in situations that I am not comfortable with and well I'm not actually that useful. To put a long story short I need to learn how to change a fucking tyre. I managed to call pretty much everyone in my contact list who had reasonable knowledge of cars and ask for advice. This lead me to purchase an air machine thingy... and blow the tyre up enough till I could get it home and someone else with more experience could change the tyre for me. This took me roughly about two hours. How I'm not sure, but it did.

 Over the last year there have been multiple occasions where I have just been way in over my head in adult situations, but non as much as this one. In the two hours it took me to blow up a tyre I verged on tears about six times. When I finally got home I felt a little bit deflated and a whole lot of useless so I dealt with the emotions the only adult way I knew how. I fought back the tears, ran myself a bath and poured a big glass of rose´.  It's easy to get hung up on the crappy things, the fact I'm clearly not qualified to set my own bedtime, that I leave my laundry to do last minuet and that I know nothing about cars. But I also have learnt so much, how to cook home cooked meals, holding down a steady job, budgeting my money, saving a percentage of my wage and just navigating a world outside of university. The truth is I'm an adult in progress, and I think that's okay.

TOO FACED BORN THIS WAY REVIEW

I'm going to start by saying that this isn't really a foundation suitable for my skin type and I knew this prior to purchase, that being said I'm super impressed how things turned out. So just a heads up I'm an oily girl and foundation is a real struggle for us greasy folk. If you also have oily skin, this review may come in handy. If you have dry skin I'm afraid it probably won't be much use, my skin has never had a dry patch and therefore I have no experience on the plight of dry skin. What I do know however is how much it sucks to have oily skin and how hard it is to make your makeup last. If your curious how this foundation works on a greasy gal like me, keep on reading.

First I'm gonna talk about the packaging, because honestly first impressions count. I really like the frosted glass bottle, it has a nice weight to it and I love the gold writing on the glass. I'm not a complete fan of the lid, I think the plastic looks and feels pretty cheap, but I'm not mad at it over a lid.  Hallelujah it comes with a pump attached, I think this should be a basic right when it comes to foundation (little dig at mac there). I purchased this in Debenhams for £29.00. Price range is pretty average for a popular 'high end' makeup brand, it's pretty consistent price wise with other brands across the board. Links to UK retailers here: Debenhams Selfridges

On to the actual product, I picked up the shade light beige. So I have a neutral completion its not yellow toned and its not pink, I'm a mixture. This means that I can choose which undertone I want, but it also means that I never truly get a good foundation match. I really toyed on what shade to pick but I eventually settled on this one that is a bit dark for my face but has a lovely mixed undertone. It looks very yellow swatched but it is definitely more warm when blended into the face. I would say the consistency of the product is average not watery but not thick either, it blends out pretty easy and you don't need a lot of product. I'd say that the foundation is a semi matte finish. It is matte but it's almost luminous at the same time. The coverage is medium to full, I actually think this foundation has great coverage without looking cakey.

Too Faced claim that this foundation masterfully diffuses the line between makeup and skin leaving you with natural radiant skin. And in many ways I agree, it's reasonably lightweight considering the coverage you get and it really does leave your skin radiant. But I do feel like you can tell I'm wearing foundation, so I wouldn't go as far as to say it blurs the lines between makeup and skin. You will see from the before and after photo below that it clearly covers my very minor break out and midgie bites and hides a lot of discolouration under my eyes. It seems to cover everything that needs coverage but also lets your skin come through. I am also in love with the undertone of this foundation, although the colour is a little dark it's something I can work with.

Now I'm gonna chat about longevity and I'd like you to bare in mind that his foundation is not tailor made for oily skin, its in fact for combination dry skin. Since it was an oil free foundation I thought I'd take a punt on it. It has a lot of hydrating properties which can also benefit oily skin as dehydration causes the over production of oil. Plus I love the finish, just because I'm oily it doesn't mean I want to be matte, flat and lifeless. I want shine just not an oil slick. I'd say this foundation lasted around 5 hours without horrendous production of oil on the t-zone. For a foundation not created for oil control I consider that pretty good. I tested this without a primer or setting powder, so with the right combination I really think it could last 8hours plus. I just need to find the right combination! Blotting is worth while when your skin looks this healthy and glowy. It isn't the best for oily skin I'm not gonna lie, and if you can't stand touch ups and blotting your going to hate this. For me however I am prepared to put in the hard work to look like I have good skin!

It's not a perfect foundation and this isn't a glowing review but I know that I have problem skin and considering all the factors I do like the foundation. In fact I love it at first application I just wish it looked like that all day. The quest to find a glowy foundation that controls oil is still on but this is a good substitute for the time being.