Old favourites & New found loves

I'm just going to put it out there, I keep my makeup way longer than recommended. Basically if it doesn't smell or look yuck, it gets to live another day. Expect mascaras and eyeliners, nobody wants an eye infection. So when I do these 'old' favourites posts, some of these items have genuinely been with me forever. (No shame) My Mac skin finishes were an obsession, when I first started really loving makeup. I own lots of Mac powders, but these two are ones I still reach for. I feel like Soft & gentle has a place in a lot of ride or die Mac fans hearts. This to me was the original highlighter before highlights became such a thing! I clearly have loved mine to death as I have hit pan. There are truly very few products I ever use that often, so its a real testament to how much I adore this. Golden Globe is another amazing skin finish by Mac, but seeming underrated. This when your tanned and summery just takes your glow full JLO. Forever a summertime / fake tan anytime favourite. 

The two Chanel items are complete happy accidents. The lippy my dad got me for Christmas because the colour I wanted was limited edition and out of stock and this one was similar! I actually think I prefer this to the one I chose! Its the shade Sourire, its very sheer with a light pink glittery cast! Very cute. The Coco Noir perfume my boyfriend bought me for Christmas, after becoming confused in the perfume store and picking this up thinking it was Tom for Black orchid (which I wore at the time). I really love the smell of this perfume and its not something I think I would have picked up for myself! So I'm pleasantly surprised, after all that he could remember was 'it comes in a black bottle' it could have been a true disaster. 

My newest found love are the Makeup revolution Pro brushes which I picked up for under £3 each. I'm truly impressed with the quality of these brushes for the tiny price point. They apply my foundation really nice and are much easier to clean that my other goat haired brushes. Don't get me wrong I'm not about to throw away my brush roll full of mac brushes but they certainly are a brilliant alternative if your on a budget! I can't really justify spending £20 plus on one brush these days, especially when there are such great cheaper alternative around! 

I'd love to know what your die hard favourites, maybe its a new obsession or a long term affair! Let me know!

Insert heart eyed emoji

Silver/lilac hair compliments of Bleach London

Veganuary at Wagamama

If you recently had a gander at my instagram, you will have seen that on Wednesday I had the pleasure of sampling the Vegan menu at Wagamama at Intu Metrocentre. What perfect timing as we are currently in the midst of Veganuary! (Something that I wish I knew was a 'thing' before the middle of Jan, because I would have certainly took a crack at it). For those that are unfamiliar with a vegan diet, you essentially do not consume anything that is a by product of an animal or that contributes to their suffering. Whereas a veggie would avoid meat, vegans would also not consume dairy, honey and eggs etc.

To start the event off we were taken upstairs in Wagamama where we could dine in private. We were first given some samples of vegan canned drinks to try and a menu to peruse. I was truly impressed that Wagamama dedicates an entire menu to both vegetarian and vegan food, most restaurants I eat in, asterisk three options on the menu that are suitable to vegetarians, which is just a bit crap. The drinks were Cucumber & Mint and Mango & Ginger. I'm not a huge fan of Mint so the Cucumber can was a bit of a write off for me, but the Mango & Ginger was really tasty. I love anything spicy and this had a lovely kick of warmth after you had a sip of sweet Mango.

After a little chat with James the manager, the starters were brought out for us all to try. There were four vegan options, Edamame, Wok fried greens, Yasai gyoza and Mixed mushroom & panko aubergine hirata steamed buns. That sounds a little overwhelming so let me give you a run through. Some of you might know what Edamame are, but if not they are steamed beans with seasoning poured over the pods (you only eat the bean). I have actively avoided these in the past, but I'm so glad that I tried them because they are actually really tasty! A perfect little snack that you can just pick away at. Moving on to my favourite dish of the entire night, the Wok fried greens. I am a total garlic fiend, so this dish won me over from the get go. It is tender stem broccoli and Bok choi (Chinese cabbage) in a soy and garlic sauce. What a taste sensation, I'm truly ordering this every time I visit Wagamamas now. Yasai gyoza is essentially a vegetable dumpling, pleasant enough but I'm not a massive fan of dumplings. Lastly the Mixed mushroom & panko aubergine hirata steamed buns. It looks like a little burger with panko crumbed aubergine and mushrooms on top. I actually really liked this dish, it was pretty filling and it had a nice texture to it. The crisp of the aubergine complimented the soft texture of the bun and mushrooms. I also thought I hated aubergine until I tried this, which just goes to show it's always important to step out of your comfort zone.

After indulging so much on just starters we had a little food break and a chance to chat with the team about the restaurant itself. If you haven't eaten at Wagamama before the most unique thing about it, is that they cook your food fresh there and then, this means that your orders can come out at different times, but the beauty of this is that your food is never left sitting there waiting, it's as fresh as it gets. I actually learnt that every morning the chefs sit a prep the fresh ingredients for the dishes and that they barely use any oil. So not only is it really fresh its also pretty healthy! I was also impressed to see that they have a separate part of the kitchen to prepare vegan options, so there are no cross contamination of animal products.

Stepping away from the food for a second I was truly impressed with the general ethos of Wagamama. I found that their values are instilled in every staff member and that health is so important to them as a company. Not just your diet, but your well being too. Wagamama employees are all given a log in for a meditation app, that helps them in everyday situation for example walking up or dealing with a stressful day. I really love that mindfulness seems to be at the core of everything they do. I was also really impressed to see that they are partnered with the charity Mind, which focuses on mental health. For every Power of Super Green juice (image above) purchased, 25p is donated to Mind. This made the entire experience of drinking a super healthy juice feel enriching for my body and soul.

Ok back to pigging out! On to the main courses. Pictured above is Yasai Yaki Soba, this is a noodle dish with the egg removed from the noodle to make it vegan. It is jam packed with lots of delish veg and garnished with shallots, ginger and sesame seeds. I love a good veggie stir fry and its was certainly very flavourful! I then tried two tofu dishes, which I was sceptical about but I had nothing to worry about. The Yasai samla curry is the thicker looking one which was coconut and lemongrass. The tofu in this was kinda spongy and not my favourite texture but by no means not edible just different. I much preferred the tofu used in the Kare Burosu ramen, This was silken tofu and it had a lot creamier softer texture. The Ramen dish is a veggie broth with vegan noodles, tofu and lots of veg! Very tasty I really recommend giving this one ago.

I am not a vegan, I have dabbled in vegetarianism multiple times but never committed fully. So tasting this menu was a complete new experience for me, one which I would urge even the most committed meat eater to at least try. I believe there are misconceptions of vegan food, some of which I think I was guilty of thinking before I got to the event. Will I still be hungry? Will it be bland? Will I feel like something is missing?  To all of which the answer is NO. I don't want the purpose of this blog post to try and convince you to give up meat, I think I'm just aiming to try and get people to try something new! I really want to stress that you don't need to be vegan to enjoy vegan food.

A massive thank you to the staff at both Wagamama and Intu Metrocentre for putting together this event! I really enjoyed a new experience and found foods and flavours I had never tried before. We also received a lovely goodie bag that I showed in my instagram stories, containing some lovely little gifts like bath bombs, herbal teas and a gorgeous notebook that fit the ethos of Wagamama perfectly! Hope you have all enjoyed this lengthy post, well done for making it this far. I just had so much to say!

Urban Decay On The Run

Last Friday I got the chance to get a little sneak preview of three brand new palettes launched by Urban Decay named the On the Run palettes. Pictured above is Bailout a lilac themed palette. The other palettes are Detour which is green themed and Shortcut which is blush themed. All the palettes contain four mattes and four shimmer shades and they are all inspired by the very coveted Born to Run palette (hence the name). It was a hard decision of which palette I wanted to buy and honestly at £24 a pop I nearly bought all three! Yet sanity prevailed and my bank card cried in relief as I only came home with the one little beauty.  These palettes will be officially in store come Tue 15th of Jan, I seriously recommend you go in and at least have a swatch!

The girlies at UD did a little demo for our group using the blush palette and the results were stunning. They created such a pretty look and the steps seemed pretty easy to replicate! It was great to see the shadows in action and how they complimented each other! I've inserted a little shot of the look below.

I actually learned a fair bit about Urban Decay that I didn't know before the event. They are consciously trying to become a vegan brand around 79% of their products are currently vegan but all are veggie and cruelty free. I also didn't know that they make the darkest black mascara on the market, its called perversion. Which I will most definitely be trying.

It's not a secret that I love UD. I've used their products for years infact my first ever eyeshadow palette was from UD, so it's an extremely nostalgic brand for me. It was a little bamboo palette with a swivel hinge and bright colours in, it was completely ahead of it's curve, no other brand was doing bold colours like UD. I still think that they are. They always produce bold and different colour stories and these three palettes are no different. The shades are wearable but they all have a daring shade to turn your look into something unique.

I'm just gonna pop a few pictures in from the event itself! Please let me know if you purchase one of these I'd love to know what you think / love to see what looks you create!

IntuMetrocentre Bloggers Event!

I'm quite excited to write this post, because last Thursday I went to my first ever blogger event... and my god have Intu Metrocentre set the president for events to come. If you are from the Newcastle area (which majority of my readers are) you are probably well acquainted with the Metrocentre. It's my first stop for shopping, it has so many brands under one roof, free parking and it's indoors so no rain! Which is obviously a big component when you live up north! If things weren't good enough they've just opened four new stores, which our little group of bloggers were lucky enough to get a tour of!

Firstly we all met for food and drinks and had a little mingle to get to know one another. The food was provided by Fattoush Lounge which is a new Lebanese restaurant that has just opened in the cube! Which I had already tried prior to the event because your gal is partial to a shawarma wrap... We then set off on our tour and by gosh did we travel in style! we all got escorted around in the Metrocentre mini train, which was too cute but I have to say my carriage exits weren't to dignified! It was such a fun way to travel around and a good way to get to know everyone because the carriages were certainly snug!

Our first little trip was to Hotel Chocolat, we didn't actually depart just sort of passed by and handed samples through the window, I ain't complaining who doesn't love sitting on their but and eating chocolate. Did you guys know that they did ice-cream! It was bloody delicious! They also gave me a little box of choccy Santa's which I've pretty much demolished! Since then I had a little browse on their website and their Christmas collection is adorable, go on their website and search a posse of penguins or the reindeer slab... too cute!

Our first official stop was  actually the Jack Wills pop up shop! It's only around for a limited time because the Metrocentre is actually getting a permanent store!! Word on the street is that it is opening in the platinum mall this Wednesday! They had some brilliant stock in the popup, I actually picked up a couple shirts for my fella in the black friday sale! What's even better is that the new store will stock the full range!! I can't wait to have a snoop around! We were also gifted some very cute red socks, which were very festive (I've just uploaded a pic on my insta) and a roller ball of one of their scents. So a massive thanks to Jack Wills and Intu Metrocentre for the gift!

Next on the agenda G-Star Raw. Now I'm not going to lie, I wasn't overly excited about visiting this store. It's a brand I associate with menswear, but after actually being introduced to the clothing I realised that is simply not the case. I actually liked a lot of the clothing in here, shout out to the orange sweatshirt below. ↓

After listening to a representative of the brand talk about the company, I learnt that they are one of the few brands that provide sustainable denim. And by god do they have a lot of choice just walking into the store you can see the entire back wall is covered top to bottom in women's denim jeans. If you're looking for an investment piece of denim its certainly the place to come. G-Star gifted us all a little denim tote which I will be now using as my bag for life (if I honestly ever remember to take it with me, anyone else do that?) and a cute little rhino keyring. The rhino is a key symbol for G-star because rhino's can't walk backwards (fact of the day) and this is a motto the company stands by, they only ever want to move forwards.

We then got treated to a little bit of pampering by Clarins, who gave me the most incredible hand massage! It's not a brand that I have ever really explored but after that treatment I was so impressed I wanted to know more. I was lucky enough to be given a sample box of some of their products and I am sooo hooked on the lip oil! It is my new obsession, legitimately going to order one immediately. Straight to Boots I go!

The next stop was at Couture Club a brand I had never heard of and honestly probably would have never stepped foot in, if I hadn't been taken inside. I'm just so uncool. Street style is not my thing, I love it but I just can't pull it off! However, I absolutely fell in love with some of the pieces they had in store. Especially a light wash denim jacket with the red Couture logo on the back. I was surprised how reasonably priced it was and even more surprised that there were actually things I really liked, even with my old biddy taste in fashion. They were kind enough to gift us a cap and T-shirt. I love the T-shirt the material is so thick and good quality, I threw it on with some mom jeans and loafers the other day and I actually loved my look. Maybe there's hope for me to dress casual after all...

This was not on the official tour but Quiz were kind enough to let us pick out some clothing! How amazing! I honestly can't get over how generous they were! I picked up a banging green satin bodysuit, some serious sexy elf vibes going on. I don't know if that's a thing, but let's roll with it. Keep your eyes peeled for an insta post coming soon!

On to the final event! I'm pretty sure every girl in driving distance of the Metrocentre was overjoyed when it was announced that we were finally getting a VICTORIA SECRET! We have been deprived of gorgeous underwear and cute pjs for to long. If you haven't had a look around the new store yet, it definitely won't disappoint. In true VS style the store exudes feminine luxury. The gorgeous design is all part of the shopping experience, that makes VS so special. I've included a few photos from both VS and Pink, because I'm obsessed with the decor. I think it is the perfect place to pick up a Christmas gift, whether its undies, pjs or their amazing range of smellies! You can't really go wrong, all women love that little pink striped bag! I usually tend to get my undies from Vs and lean towards pink for both pjs and gym wear. My favourite underwear range has to be the dream angles, they are always ultra feminine, delicate little pieces. Our last surprise was that we were offered fitting and then allowed to take home a bra of our choice! How bloody lucky am I, it's not every day you get given a bra from VS. No guesses which range I chose from either, look out for a more in-depth post on my gorgeous gifted bra!

Lastly I want to just briefly say a massive thank you to everyone involved in the event, I'm  still so honoured to have even been invited! It was lovely meeting all the fabulous ladies who blog in my area too! I also have yet to mention the incredible goody bag, jam packed with products that I can't wait to share with you over on my insta! Hope you all enjoyed this post and will make a journey to check out these fab new brands in the Metrocentre! Oh and side note keep an eye on my instagram for little snapshots of some of the gifts I mentioned! it's  @kelsreaay and why not give @intumetrocentre a follow too for shopping inspo and the latest news!

Dior Airflash Backstage Pro's

I am so obsessed with having leaves in my images at the moment... I don't know why I'm just feeling it.  I'm also going to add a new little feature to my reviews a pros and cons list for people who don't have time to read my lengthy reviews... scroll to the bottom. Now that I've gotten that out the way lets get onto what you came here for, my thoughts on the Dior Airflash foundation. 

Foundation and face products are my favourite part of makeup. I am OBSESSED with creating a beautiful base, it is for me the most satisfying part of doing my makeup. So I guess you could probably say that I am a bit of a foundation junkie. I buy and test lots of different kinds from different brands in search for the perfect finish. Truthfully I don't think I will ever stop testing foundations purely because I love trying new things too much! I must say that this foundation is the only one in a long time that has made me consider not trying anything else. So there's a little clue on how this review is going to pan out.

So let's get a feel of what this product is and what it claims to preform like. I'll insert the information from Boot's, which is where I purchased this product.

 'An iconic spray foundation that delivers an airbrushed effect with precision and ease, now available in new shades. Enriched with light-diffusing pigments, this foundation instantly smooths the look of skinned boosts radiance for a perfect complexion that lasts all day, even on the runway. The unique micro-diffusion system delivers a fine mist of foundation to provide a soft, velvety complexion. The water-resistant formula ensures up to 12 hours of hold and colours that stay true. It's ultra-fluid and ultra-fine texture allows for buildable, custom coverage to suit any skin tone and texture. The Airflash range has expanded to include new shades that adapt to the cool tones or warmer tones of any skin colouring, imparting flawless coverage and a long-lasting finish for a radiant, glowing complexion. Mother of pearl pigments even skin tone and diminish the appearance of skin irregularities and fine lines, leaving your skin glowing with optimal radiance.'

So that's quite a write up by Dior, you can't argue that they have written an impeccable little paragraph, that would pretty much persuade anyone to give it ago. So here I am actually trying the product so you can distinguish whether these claims are more than just fluffy advertising to get your money. Which by the way would cost you £35.00 for this foundation. Let's start with packaging an essentially useless part of the review but we would all be lying if we said that it did not impact our purchases. This like every other Dior product exudes luxury, the beautiful silver lid paired with the glossy finish of the can looks so elegant. It is the quality you would expect of a Dior product. My only gripe is that the silver lid gets smarmy with finger print marks but that's just me being a little obsessive.

When you remove the lid you are presented with a spray, this is essentially an aerosol can. I was worried that this product could be potentially gimmicky... something I don't associate with Dior but in the name of curiosity I was willing to give it ago. Dior recommends that you apply it in one of two ways, for a light coverage you spray the foundation directly to the skin in a Z motion 20cm from your face. For a heavier coverage it is recommended that you spray the products onto a kabuki brush and apply in circular motions. I have personally applied it directly to my skin in a Z motion and I do agree that this is affective IF you wear a headband that covers your hairline and expect for it to cover your lips. I then pat the foundation into my skin with a Beauty blender to ensure my entire face is covered. You could just spray it on and go but I think you achieve a more precise coverage if you then go over with your sponge. This method provided quite a light coverage, it looked very natural but at the same time very flawless. It seems to have a blur effect and smooth out skin texture, the only thing I think it failed to cover with this technique is redness around my cheeks and nose. I have not applied it with a kabuki because personally I don't really like using brushes as I find they create streaks and apply to heavily. But another method I tried to get a fuller coverage was spraying the foundation to specific areas of my face and then spreading it around with my beauty blender. I felt that this improved the coverage of the foundation and it still had the blurring and smoothing effect. So essentially I think this foundation can achieve a light to a very good medium coverage. I'm not too sure about full because that's not really a look I go for.

Moving on to colour match. A common problem I have moaned about on my blog is finding a good colour match. I have massive issue finding a foundation with undertones that suit my skin. Everything is so pink or yellow and my skin is almost neutral with a touch of olive green. Quite a difficult undertone, because foundations only ever cater to this skin tone in deeper shades. I have light olive skin! Apparently companies just ignore my existence. I bought the shade Almond which is a light foundation with a cool undertone which isn't perfect but it's still a pretty good match! I picked this shade online because it looked like the most neutral light shade. I will say that this shade also did not oxidise which is brilliant! So the shades are true to colour. There are 18 shades which sounds impressive but essentially its a lot of light and medium shades and one dark shade. Which lets be honest is not diverse at all. It goes from dark beige shades to one Mocha shade on the boots website. So although there might be more options in terms of undertone it seems that is only applicable if you are of light to medium skin tone.  This is obviously not an issue that effects me, but in the wider beauty community is something that is continually a problem for many and I think it needs to be mentioned until we achieve complete diversity in the beauty market.

The finish I would describe as semi Matte. It is certainly a matte foundation but the blurring effect adds life to the skin and makes it more skin like... does that make sense? I really like the finish I think it makes your skin look very flawless but at the same time still like skin! That's essentially what everyone wants out of a foundation to look like we have naturally beautiful skin. I find that the lasting power is pretty good, I have oily skin and I find that I have very little breakthrough. I think this is attributed to the alcohol in the formula that makes the spray dry pretty quickly. I think 12 hours is a bit of a stretch but I do often touch my face so I wouldn't expect it to last forever. The staying power is good, nothing extraordinary but I would say that its oil control is brilliant.

Overall I really like this foundation. Which is not something I say very often. I feel like the colour, coverage and oil control are really good! I believe you receive some benefit from the spray function as it allows you to achieve a very light coverage. It disperses the perfect amount of foundation to achieve an almost airbrushed effect.  I have been pairing this with my YSL Touche Eclat primer and I think that this just takes this foundation to the next level. It adds extra radiance to a brilliant foundation and I honestly think these two products are something that everyone should have in their beauty arsenal.

Quick overview for you busy folk! 

PROS

• Buildable coverage
• blurring and smoothing effect
• good range of undertones
• quick application once you have a hang of it
• chic packaging as always
• semi matte finish that looks airbrushed
• Great oil control
• Reasonably long wearing 

CONS

• Can get in your hairline and gets on lips
• Needs practise to get used to spray function 
• Poor shade range for darker skin colours

Caseapp Collaboration!

So firstly a huge thank you to the team at Caseapp for arranging this collaboration! I absolutely adore the items I have received! (ps Discount code down below!) 

If you haven't heard of Caseapp they create custom phone cases and laptop skins. You can choose from a variety of gorgeous pre-made designs or you can unleash your creativity and design your own. I decided to try out both services, so I ordered two pre-made pieces and I designed my own phone case. If you don't know by now, I'm a pretty creative little soul so the thought of adding my own design was so cool. I spent a few hours having a browse on the interweb for inspiration and producing my design.  I made a few mocks and the Llama design is the one I stuck with! I think it's pretty cute! Caseapp do cases for iPhones, Samsung and iPads. They also produce skins for a range of brands Microsoft, Google, HTC, Apple, Nokia and Samsung.  You also have the option to choose a matte or glossy finish, personally I love glossy finish, I think it stays cleaner for longer!

I also order this super cute floral parrot print for my Mac book and another phone case.  It was truly hard to pick a print because they have some beautiful options. There really is something for everyone, cute animal prints, chic patterns, sassy cases, cutesy cases you name it they got it. And if they don't, make your own! Another option is to customise their marble collection with your name, possibly even your blog name that would be cute! Perhaps that's my next purchase. Overall I'm really impressed with the quality of the cases and the delivery was super fast which is always a bonus!
So if you feel inspired to get a new case or jazz up your laptop with a personalised skin you can access the site here: https://bit.ly/2N8BfTJ    and use my code LIFEOFKELS20 to receive 20% discount!

Happy shopping!