Prepping For Summer With Fragrance Direct

Summer is one of my favourite seasons; you can sip cocktails in the sun, wear bright colours and switch up your beauty routine. Aside from shopping for new clothes, I love changing what makeup and fragrances I wear to more fruity and bright beauty items. Fragrance Direct have sent over some items to help me get ready for summer to get my glam on. The items included are the Givenchy Live Irrésistible Délicieuse Eau De Parfum (£55.95), Nars Illuminator in Super Orgasm (£23.00) and the Clinique Repairwear Intensive Lip Treatment (£20.50).

Givenchy Live Irresésistible Délicieuse EDP was created in mind of a woman who makes her own rules, bringing her spirit to life with a new creation that is as sassy as it is sweet. The theme around it is to live intensely without constraints or rules and I love the tone around it, being free and independent. It has an accord from the merging of a Madeleine with touches of cherry and vanilla, heart notes of a caramel-coated Rose, with a highlighting touch of sensual Tonka bean. The combination of orange and rose blossom create an ultra-feminine character before the Tonka bean creates a tempting warmth. The bottle is studded and an ombré pink which screams summer. The face of the scent is Amanda Seyfried who is beautiful and glamorous who is known for roles where she is empowering, emotive and feminine. The sweet fragrance brings to mind a summer romance in Paris and this is exactly what I go for when it comes to choosing a perfume. I'm all about sweet, fruity scents. The perfume ranges from £39.50 for 30ml, to £66.95 for 75ml.

The Nars Illuminator in Super Orgasm is one product that really makes me think of summer. I've previously reviewed the Nars Illuminator in Hot Sand which is a firm favourite. It's essentially a liquid highlighter that glides on to enhance your complexion with 'shimmering incandescence. It can be applied under, over or mixed in with foundation and since it's more of a pink toned highlighter it can be worn as a blush too. It's lovely mixed in with your foundation for a dewy finish or on top of your base to make your cheekbones glow, both of which is made for the summer months.

The Clinique Repairwear Intensive Lip Treatment pretty much does as it says in the name. It's a gel-based lip treatment that helps minimise the look of wrinkles on and around the lips, supports the skin's natural collagen and replenishes the natural moisture barrier to ensure lips stay hydrated. It's smooth and is essential during the hot months when your lips can dry out, especially when using matte lipsticks. The only thing that would make this better is if it had an SPF in to protect your lips in the bright sun. This will be carried everywhere with me so I can ensure my lips are soft and nourished.

Post contains press samples 

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February Favourites

I had a few favourites this month, as you can see. By accident they all happen to be high end, but I can imagine there will be a few months purely based on drugstore products. These are all items I've had for a while and have posted about before, but they all happen to be my monthly faves. Firstly, I have the Nars Creamy Concealer in Vanilla that matches my skin tone perfectly, covers up under eye bags and spots like a dream and I'm already planning on picking up the same product in Chantilly for a lighter concealer/highlighter from Sephora next month. I've always been loyal to my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer from day one but this, as it should be for the price, tops it. I only started using Nars products last year and I think I love them even more than I love Mac...
Speaking of Mac, the two lipsticks I've been loving this month are Up The Amp and Brave. Whilst I do have some really bright colours, I've been into more subtle colours for the whole of Winter. I've failed to use my berry colours when I said I would and have been opting for Brave the most as it's the most beautiful rose/mauve pink. Up The Amp leaves a light hint of lilac on the lips but can be worn with almost anything as it's still quite subtle.
At the moment I've not been enjoying really shimmery blush shades and have been using Benefit's Hervana blush which does have the tiniest bit of shimmer in but looks mostly matte on the cheeks. I think part of the reason I enjoy using it is because you swirl your brush through the different shades in the box and up with cheeks that look lightly flushed. It happens to be the only blusher that 2014's Christmas Blush box had in it, so I have a fair few to choose from, however they are all more shimmery than Hervana.
I've been really experimenting with brows over the past few months, and most days I'm setting them in place with the Mac ProLongwear Waterproof Gel which coats the hairs in a lovely blonde-brown shade and can help them look a bit more natural once I've already used a pomade and pencil etc. I picked this up from my local McArthur Glen outlet out of chance and it was the only shade available which was lucky considering I find it difficult to get brow gels that really match my brows.

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Organising My Makeup

I recently wrote about my affordable makeup storage and since it went down pretty well, I thought I may as well show you what is in some of the drawers. The 5 drawer Muji acrylic storage is situated between two cheaper storage boxes which are full of random makeup items whilst my Muji is all neat and tidy. I love that the top of the Muji storage is flat so you can see what's in the top drawer but it's the perfect height to have my mirror on and some other daily items I use. I love having my makeup on display, especially because my lip products seem to be my most loved beauty products. I'm currently trying to use a different lipstick every day to use the ones that aren't as loved, especially some Nyx and Mac shades that are near enough new.

On the left storage box I have my foundations including three shades of Double Wear, my primers, and mascaras. Next to those are my L'Oreal lipsticks and a few Bourjois matte liquid lipsticks. Behind them are lipsticks that have been demoted to the back, such as ones from Topshop, Rimmel and Maxfactor since I don't use them very often. On the right storage box are my very much loved Mac lipsticks, and some others from Charlotte Tilbury, Nars, YSL, Rimmel, Kiko and Maybelline. To the side I have 'things that don't fit in any storage' because the rest of it is full, such as my Make Up For Ever setting powder which is perfect for seamless makeup, a L'Oreal True Match foundation, two Barry M face/body glitters, my Nars Hot Sand Illuminator, and a Revlon lipstick in Black Cherry.

The top drawer in my Muji is for liquid lipsticks since they can't be stood up. I have all of my Nyx cream matte lip creams and one lip suede (which is just as good), some Makeup Revolution laquers, one from MUA (which is not worth it but the colour is nice) and one from Sephora. I also have a Nyx butter lipstick, three Nars chunky lip pencils and a mini Nars cheek and lip tint from my November Nars Glossybox.

The second drawer contains some chubby sticks, lip glosses and a few liquid lipsticks that can't fit in the top drawer. I have a L'Oreal lip gloss here which is supposed to have the pink version next to it but must be in my bag, which are honestly the best lip glosses I've ever came across. I also have a HD Brows lipgloss which is more sticky but has a lovely colour. The three Kiko lip pencils are supposed to be the pencil alternative to a lip gloss but they're similar to cremesheen and satin lipsticks. I don't think there is much difference in quality between chubby sticks and I have them from Clinique, NV, MUA, Ted Baker and Revlon. Finally I have a lipcote I've never used and two lip balms to keep my lips moisturised.

I have a love-hate relationship with my pencil drawer. This is part of the reason I'm looking at buying a second Muji box so I can have two separate drawers for lip liners and eyeliners. Anyway, to the left I have lip pencils from Revlon, Makeup Revolution, Charlotte Tilbury, Kiko, Maybelline and Rimmel. I then have three white liners which I use for both lips and eyes (not the same pencils obviously) which act is a little border! My eyeliners are from Nars, Makeup Revolution, Rimmel, Collection, Maybelline and a few random brands. 

My eyeshadow drawer is probably one of my favourites. I never used to be a fan of individual eyeshadows as most of my palettes contain all the shades I need. I rekindled my love for Maybelline Color Tattoos and it grew from there. I've also fallen in love with the good old Barry M Dazzle Dusts as the glittery shades are perfect for intense eye looks without the cost. The blue L'Oreal eyeshadow is one of the most pigmented shadows I've came across and I'm annoyed at myself for not picking more up. Slightly disappointed with the bottom left Nyx shadow as it doesn't have much pigmentation at all.

inally, in my bottom drawer I have some face products I use most days. Underneath my Nars blusher I have Benefit's Brow Zings which is amazing paired with Nyx Tame & Frame pomade. I have a big Benefit blusher palette and luckily Hervana was the only one not in it, as this was purchased before the palette. I used Maybelline powder daily which adds just a touch of colour. The rest of the drawer contains mascaras, brow gels, concealers, primers and eyeliners which don't seem to have much of a place, but they're the ones I use a few days a week. If I did buy more Muji storage I'd definitely give all of these a drawer of their own.

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Brand Focus: Nars

After only owning the Nars Hot Sand Illuminator last June, I decided that Nars was a brand I needed to invest in. I heard a lot of positive comments from other bloggers about the Audacious Lipsticks, the blushers and the eyeshadow palettes and thought I'd give them all a try. In November I bought the Nars Glossybox and loved all of the mini products and my love for Nars continued from there. For Christmas I was gifted some Nars presents and I've already have a list for future products I'll be buying. 

The Dual Intensity Palette is a very pigmented palette and can be used both wet and dry, hence the name. The eyeshadows are creamy and blendable, with a stronger colour when used wet. For me, this is my perfect palette. It has a good colour range and can be used for both natural and bold makeup looks. This is probably one of the only palettes I own where the brush is actually worth using which pleased me as obviously it comes included with in the price (£45). It did hurt me a little to use the shadows at first since they have such a beautiful pattern on them. The packaging is unique too, being a mirrored front with the logo etched onto it. As you can see from the picture below, this does come with the downside that it marks easily, and will remain in it's box when I'm not using it.

I was lucky enough to buy a two items from Tk Maxx; the orange-red lip pencil and the eyeshadow in Grenadine. Obviously there are major plus sides when you want to really get to know a brand and you come across some of their products in store. Sometimes it is really hit and miss when you go in as some products have been tested or the packaging has been damaged but I struck lucky with these. When I bought the Hot Sand Illuminator, which is absolutely stunning, I picked up a double pencil sharpener as I knew if I was investing in high end pencils, I needed a good quality pencil sharpener.

The other three lip pencils I've tried but not worn for long but can tell they are so creamy already. The size of the lip liner is perfect as I can't stand any thicker as I love really defining my lips. Same goes for the eyeliner, it's the perfect size for drawing on your eyes and especially in your waterline and tightline. I adore the mini products such as the cheek and lip tint as it is perfect for applying to the apples of your cheeks, and the small audacious mascara which is ideal to stick in your handbag. I was surprised at the size of the 'mini' lipstick which seems to have almost the same amount of product as a full sized audacious lipstick. I'm head over heels for my audacious lipsticks in Charlotte and Liv and have my eye out for Claudia and Lana in the future.

What Nars products are your favourites?

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What I Got For Christmas

First of all I have to say I've been so lucky this year. I didn't create this post to brag, simply to show you what I received this year as it's honestly made me so excited! There are some things not photographed, like the huge bag of chocolates and the clothes and shoes I bought with vouchers since this post would be so long and I may have eaten some of my chocolates already...

I made a list and distributed it amongst my family and boyfriend since they spend the most amount of money and like to get me things I'll really love. They then sent the list to everyone else which is why I don't have anything the same. Usually from my Dad and Stepmum they give me money and then a stocking, but since I never usually spend money at this time of year on makeup, I said to them that I'd rather open presents instead of sale shopping. On my birthday I received a ton of Mac makeup so decided now to focus on Nars and some other brands I hadn't really tried out. I had no idea I'd recieve the Dual Intensity Palette or the Steven Klein lip trio so that was so exciting to open. The Too Faced chocolate bar palette surprised me and oh my gosh it smells like hot chocolate inside! I was excited most at the Vice 4 palette from Urban Decay since I hadn't used a Vice palette before and Andy must have really understood that I had my eye on it. I received the Nars Creamy Concealer in Vanilla which the perfect match to my skin tone, along with two Audacious lipsticks in Liv and Charlotte.

I still managed to receive some Mac goodies in there from my Uncle and best friend. There are two eyeshadows to add to my pro palette in White Frost and Woodwinked, the Miley Cyrus Viva Glam II lipstick and Lady Danger which are some pretty vibrant shades. The Nyx lip suede and matte lip cream are also pretty daring so I'm excited to try them, especially Transylvania which is so similar to the Revlon Black Cherry lipstick. For when I'm wanting a more natural lip I now have Charlotte Tilbury's Bitch Perfect from the KISSING range, with a lip pencil to match. There are so many products here that I'm so excited to try out, including other bits from Nyx, Sleek and The Balm, and a lighter shade of Double Wear for the winter months.

I laughed so much when I opened this 1kg Family Size jar of Nutella. I'm still yet to open it but definitely want to try making a Nutella hot chocolate with it. Along with the Lindor I've got some fabulous chocolates such as Guylian, Ferrero Rocher, Thorntons and all the rest but I'm trying to eat them in small doses. I was so happy to receive the One Line A Day book as I saw tons of bloggers get it last year and I'm a big fan of documenting things that it seemed too good to miss. The Babyliss Diamond Waves intrigued me as I've never used this type of hair styling tool before but since I have curly hair and have to straighten my hair to reduce frizz, then curl with tongs then brush it out, I'm hoping these make life a little easier. I've just picked up the chopstick tongs by Lee Stafford in attempt to recurl any natural bits that aren't still curly so I'm heading into 2016 with high hopes for my hair.

My best friend bought me this adorable rose gold candle which I squealed at in front of her because she knows how much I love copper and rose gold. My boyfriend's Brother and his girlfriend bought me a similar looking copper mug but I may have drank out of it and forgot to take a photo. To match the candle I have this adorable copper lantern which is just too pretty for words. I want to put a little tealight in it but I don't want to open it just yet. Also from my twinny I have this gorgeous Ted Baker makeup bag from Boots. I worked there over Christmas and was so tempted to pick it up for myself (because I bought her the same one, coincidentally) and was told to wait just in case someone happened to buy it! It is so pretty and I'm not normally a fan of smaller makeup bags but I will happily not bring some makeup with me just to use this whenever I can.
I'm so genuinely surprised at the gifts I received this year and did leave some out of photos because they were personal or because they were too big to fit onto my makeup table such as bags, hats and other items. Hopefully I'll get better at makeup to really make use out of these new products that I have! If you've done a similar post feel free to link it in the comments - I'm just as nosey and love reading haul posts.

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Illuminate Your Skin - Nars Hot Sand Illuminator Review

I've always been skeptical as to whether highlighters and illuminators can work on your skin, and whether they can look subtle instead of it looking like you've rubbed a pot of glitter all over your face. I've tried a few liquid highlighters before and they have sat in a box for the majority of the year since sometimes they can be "too liquidy" and don't leave the desired effect. I decided a few months ago to buy the Nars Hot Sand Illuminator from Asos (£23) to test before I go on holiday in August to give my skin a bit of oomph.

It does take a bit of getting used to, but I adore this product. It definitely doesn't look too cakey or like a fairy with chunky glitter all over my cheeks. It may look orange but for me it applies more of a subtle pink-orange colour with very fine bits of sparkle. It lasts all day which is most definitely what I expect from a high end product and it looks quite pretty on with makeup.
I've not yet mixed it in with my foundation as I'm a bit scared to. I have oily-combination skin and stray far away from dewy foundations and take my mattifying powder everywhere with me so the thought of adding a highlighter into my foundation makes me question whether it would be a smart idea or a bad mistake.
I don't think I'll be jumping into purchasing anymore high end highlighters in the near future - £23 is a fair amount and I'm glad I liked it for the price I paid! It is Nars after all (this product made me loose my Nars virginity) but my bank balance needs to remain in the positive for my holiday spends, and by that I mean Duty Free and Sephora...

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