Drugstore Make Up Starter Kit

When I started wearing/buying make up it was all about Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse, glittery eyeshadows and lip glosses - nowadays there are so many amazing products which I wish were part of my make up kit when I first started out! There are products in the drugstore that are just as good as high end and are less than half the price. These are all products that I would genuinely recommend for anyone starting up their make up kit or if you simply want to grow your collection!

 There are obviously many other amazing products but if I included all of my drugstore favourites I would be here for a very long time, so here are the essentials that I think every make up wearer needs!

Base:
When it comes to face products it all depends on your skin type and what your skin really needs/works best with, this is why I have chosen products which I think work well for all skin types and which I believe give the best results!

Primer - Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot, £10
This primer does so many things for the skin to prepare it for the makeup yet to come. It keeps the skin shine-free due to its Shine-Bloc technology, it also minimises the appearance of pores with its Pore-Shrink technology and I mean who doesn't want smaller looking pores? You can wear this primer alone or under make up as it contains Vitamin C so it brightens the skin and helps even out skin tone.

Foundation - Bourjois Healthy Mix, £9.99
If you have read my previous posts you will know I go on and on about how amazing this foundation is so of course I had to include it as an essential! It is the most gorgeous lightweight and radiant foundation which is perfect for every skin type. The coverage is perfect and build able, also with Apricot for radiance, Melon to keep the skin hydrated and Apple to keep the skin young - I honestly cannot stress to you enough how lovely this foundation is!

Concealer - Collection Lasting Perfection, £3.99
You can see from in the photo how much I use this concealer as the label has almost disappeared. I use the Fair shade in this concealer to brighten under my eyes and it actually works really well on blemishes too. It is a pretty high coverage concealer and it lasts a really long time - it's a must have!

Blush/Bronze/Highlight - Sleek MakeUp Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette in Light, £9.99
My previous blog post was a full review on this product and how it is an amazing dupe for 3 of my favourite high end products so if you haven't read that already I will link it here. If you are a newbie to make up then the whole contouring and highlight trend might scare you a little but with this palette it is made so easy! This is available in different shades to suit different skin tones however the 'Light' palette is my absolute favourite.

Eyes:
The amount of eyeshadows, mascaras, brow products and eyeliners on the market now is crazy! I sometimes find with eyeshadows that if they are too cheap the pigmentation isn't great however there are some really great ones available too.

Eyeshadows -
MakeUp Revolution Ultra 32 Shade Palette Flawless Matte, £8
Maybelline Colour Tattoo, £4.99 
First of all 32 shades for £8??? AMAZING. This palette contains all matte shades however you can create so many gorgeous looks with it from pinks, nudes, browns, greys or blacks. The pigmentation of these eyeshadows actually really surprised me when I first used it, they show up really well and also last a pretty long time!
Maybelline Colour Tattoo's have been a staple in my make up collection for a really long time, they are gorgeous as a base for eyeshadow or just on their own. My 3 favourites are Creamy Beige, On & On Bronze and Eternal Gold - they are all so pretty! Creamy Beige is the perfect base for eyeshadows as it's matte brown and keeps all eyeshadows in place, where as the other two I wear on their own or alongside other shadows.

Liquid Eyeliner - Collection Extreme 24hr Felt Tip Liner, £2.99
Fast drying and matte black - the perfect liquid eyeliner! This product is SO easy to apply even if you're not that confident with doing a cat eye. The colour lasts really well and doesn't budge easily so I would 100% recommend this to anyone!

Mascara - Maybelline Lash Sensational, £7.99
I have gone through loads of mascaras in the past and they either clump or leave black on my brow bone throughout the day, this one however doesn't do either. I included this in my 2015 Favourite Product Discoveries and I am still totally head over heels in love with it!

Eyebrows - Sleek Brow Kit in Dark, £8.49
This Brow Kit has seen my through my worst brow days and my best! I have had this for an extremely long time now and I still haven't hit pan, it is such a good buy. You can see how I use this in my brow routine - linked here.

Lips:
I actually don't own any drugstore lipsticks that I have been overly impressed with so if you know of any good ones please leave them down in the comments!

Liner - Rimmel 1000 Kisses, £2.99
I actually love all of Rimmels Lip Liners however this one in the shade cappuccino is my all time favourite! They are super pigmented and last a very long time - even through eating and drinking.

Lipgloss - Max Factor Colour Elixir, £8.99
I have a love/hate relationship with lip glosses, I cannot stand them being too sticky or if they make my lip colour underneath budge however I was actually really impressed with this one! It's the perfect consistency and looks beautiful paired with any other lipsticks or simply on it's own. The colour of this has rubbed off the packet but i'm pretty sure it was Pristine Nude.

(Top -> Bottom: Rimmel Liner, Max Factor Lip Gloss, Maybelline Colour Tattoo's in On & On Bronze and Creamy Beige)

If there are any drugstore products I haven't mentioned that you absolutely love please leave them in the comments - I would LOVE to try them!

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A DUPE MADE IN HEAVEN

You can thank me later! This Sleek Contouring and Blush Palette is the perfect dupe for Benefit's Hoola Bronzer, Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Highlight and Nars Orgasm Blush. This palette has been in my collection a very long time and I used to absolutely love it - Sleeks products are really good quality for a very reasonable price! I was organising my makeup drawers when I found this beauty and I am so happy I have rediscovered it! Not only are the colours VERY similar to my 3 favourite products, it is also very handy for travelling as I don't have to carry all 3 with me - I can just pop this in my makeup bag and Voilà! 

It is the Sleek MakeUp Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette in Light and is available here (RRP £9.99). Obviously the originals are better quality and do retail for a lot more, however if you want a simple yet perfect face palette then I would 100% recommend this product!

Individually they cost:

Benefit Hoola - £23.50

Laura Mercier Highlighter - £25

Nars Orgasm Blush - £23

YOU SAVE £61.51

You can see from the swatches just how close the colour matches really are! The blush in the Sleek palette is slightly more golden toned than Nars Orgasm but it honestly isn't that noticeable when it's on the face, if anything it just adds a little highlight. The highlighters are near enough the same - however Laura Mercier is slightly smoother/lighter on the skin but of course it is quite a bit more money! I found that the Sleek bronzer is slightly heavier on the skin then Benefit's Hoola but again you get what you pay for I guess.

This palette is honestly such a good buy and is perfect for travelling - I cannot recommend it enough! 

Do you know any amazing dupes? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to try them.

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GREEN WITH ENVY | NUDE LIP

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COCONUT LANE WISH LIST & 20% OFF

First things first - If you haven't already heard of Coconut Lane you have to check their website out, I will link it here. They sell the CUTEST things such as wall art, phone cases, jewellery or greeting cards! In celebration of becoming a Coconut Queen I have teamed up with the very lovely Sarah (from @sunshinesarahxo) to bring you our Coconut Lane Wish lists! You can check out Sarah's wish list over on http://www.writingrambling.co.uk

If you think these pieces are as cute as I do then you can use the code 'aimee20' to receive 20% off your order!

1. Contour, Coffee, Confidence Wall Art - available here for £6 without a frame or £14.50 with.
2. What Would Beyonce Do? Wall Art - available here for £6 without a frame or £14.50 with.
3. Be Prada Not Nada Wall Art - available here for £6 without a frame or £14.50 with.
4. Marble Phone Case - available here for £13
5. Marble Bangle - available here for £13.50
6. Twisted Nail Bangle - available here for £14.50
7. You're The Gigi To My Kendall Greeting Card - available here for £2.70.
8. Birthday Calories Don't Count Greeting Card - available here for £2.70


MEGA CUTE, NO? 

Don't forget to check out Sarah's Wish List too over at http://www.writingrambling.co.uk!
Her other links are: Twitter and Instagram.

GET 20% OFF YOUR ORDER USING THE CODE 'aimee20' OVER AT http://www.coconut-lane.com

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Glamour Beauty Festival - Saturday 12th March

The Glamour Beauty Festival, that just sounds like heaven by itself doesn't it? Yesterday I attended the event at The Saatchi Gallery and I can tell you it WAS heaven! From the moment I stepped through the door I could already tell it was going to be an amazing day! Just after our tickets were checked we were handed a card to claim a free glass of champagne from the champagne bar on the 2nd floor. I really loved the way the event was laid out - It was easy to navigate around and you could choose which area you wanted to visit first. We chose the hair room first as it was as you walked in on the left and we wanted to see absolutely everything, it was filled with 3 gorgeous brands - GHD, OGX and Redken. There were so many things you could have done such as curling, straightening, up do's, braiding - as my hairs quite short I opted for braiding!

After the hair room we went across to make up heaven, there were brands such as Nars, Illamasqua, Laura Mercier and Benefit giving free tutorials/makeovers to everyone who wanted one and as you can imagine the queues were large for every stand!

The event was of course in collaboration with Fiat so the next room was dedicated to their new cars, they had a big green screen and props so you could have yourself edited into the car. Also in this room was a space for a beauty masterclass however we didn't get to see one of these in action!

We attended a talk called 'Becoming A Cover Girl' hosted by Zoe Ball who was speaking to the beauty vlogging sensation Tanya Burr. I have always loved Tanya so it was really nice to hear what she had to say about becoming a blogger, all the exciting things she's done since creating her blog in 2009 and what she would love to be doing in the future. 

Onto skincare - in this room there were again many amazing brands such as Garnier, Balance Me, Liz Earle and Elizabeth Arden. Part of me wishes I went to this event without any makeup on so I could've experienced the skin consultations/treatments along with also the makeovers in the makeup room. We did however try Garnier's Oxygen Bar which was a really good experience - you simply pop the tubes in your nose and breath in the completely fresh air, it felt so nice!

They had the most gorgeous scents in the fragrance room from brands such as Jimmy Choo, Elie Saab, Annick Goutal and Agent Provocateur! You could take part in a test to discover which fragrance describes you best and it was completely right! We both got matched to the brand new Jimmy Choo scent which is absolutely heavenly and I cannot wait till it is available in stores.

There was a 3rd floor for all nails and an area where you could actually have a makeover and be photographed as if you were going on the cover of Glamour Mag! They were doing complimentary manicures in the nail room from brands such as OPI, Sally Hansen and Rimmel.

Our tickets entitled us to a free goody bag worth over £160!! I will pop a photo of everything in this goodie bag below! 

It was an absolutely amazing experience and I cannot wait to go to the next one!

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Heaven - Hydro Cleansing Milk Review

Just over a week ago I attended the LFW Bloggers Hangout Event where I met many lovely brands - one of them being Heaven Skincare. I hadn't heard of this brand before I attended the event, however the lady that I spoke to was REALLY friendly and gave me a Hydro Cleansing Milk to try out. Heavens products are all made from natural and organic ingredients which is a major bonus for my skin as I tend to break out with products that contain alcohol etc. Deborah Mitchell is actually a beauty therapist herself so this was a heads up that the product was going to be of the best quality and do wonders for my skin.

I really love the packaging for this cleansing milk, it's really pretty and looks really expensive! I have been using this for the past week in the evenings to remove my makeup and get rid of any dirt that has found its way onto my face. I simply applied it all over my face allowing it to do its magic then removed it using a warm damp flannel. This product has not made me break out AT ALL which I am super happy about, it also leaves the skin feeling really comfortable and doesn't dry it out. The main scents of this cleanser are Organic Rosemary and French Lavender which is super relaxing and actually helps me unwind before bed. Lavender is the scent I hate the most - I cannot stand it so I was a bit nervous when it came to using this cleanser, however this products scent has definitely grown on me and I actually really like it.

They have many other products available which I am definitely going to be trying out but if you would like to try this cleanser you can find it here. The size I have in the photographs is 120ml which is £37 however you can get smaller sizes that start from £10.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Bloggers Hangout for having me & also thank you to Heaven Skin Care for this gorgeous product!!

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BYE BYE DARK & PUFFY UNDER EYES

If you're like me and your job/lifestyle appears under your eyes after a long week then this post may just save your life. You can always see how stressed/exhausted I am through my under eyes and sometimes coffee and concealer doesn't always cover it - so here are my steps to bag-free eyes!

SLEEP

Well this is obvious but it really can make a difference - I find 9 hours to be the perfect amount for me to wake up feeling refreshed with less puffiness under my eyes.

ICE

Before applying your eye cream make sure you include this step! This helps cool the area so that puffiness is reduced and makes bags slightly less visible, I tend to do this for around a 30 seconds to a minute on each eye. Do be careful though and don't hold it directly onto your under eye as you don't want to cause any form of bruise! I just brush it lightly and slowly from left to right.

ORANGE CONCEALER

Now that your eye bags are slightly tighter and less visible its time to focus on the dark circles! Orange concealer really helps cancel out the blue/purple colouring - Don't panic you will cover the orange a little later on. I tend you use a tiny amount of product on my ring finger and lightly spread the concealer low enough to cover the dark circles, my favourite to use is the LA Girl Cosmetics PRO Conceal in Orange which is available here for £3.99. 

CONCEALER

Let's get rid of that orange! You can use any concealer you prefer for this step - my favourite is Clarins Instant Concealer as the colour is perfect for my skin tone to brighten my under eyes, it also contains caffeine so this actually will help with waking you up a little. It is available here for £21.50. I apply 3 small dots under my eyes and blend this out using a damp Real Techniques Sponge to get the perfect flawless finish without lifting any of the products.

SET

It's important that you set all of this in place using a setting powder to avoid creasing. I have been absolutely loving the Nars Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder - you can get it here for £27 - it just finishes the eyes off perfectly and in photos your under eyes will have never looked brighter! You can also use a light matte eyeshadow if you prefer. 

Here is a before and after for this routine;

Hope this helps!

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