Florida Holiday 2015 + Haul

Hello lovelies! As you know I've had a lot going on the past year so activity on here has been pretty much non-existent. However, with a new university year starting I have decided to try and commit to writing again. This is my last year at uni and I have to make it count, doing as much as I can possibly fit into my remaining time here. Goodness knows how I am going to make time for all the things I want to do as well as studying and running a blog regularly!

Anyways, less of my rambling about thoughts in my head and onto the subject of this blog post. Recently I went to Florida on a family holiday. We spent a few days at Disney (a first for my family), a few days at my godmother's house and the last portion of our holiday at Fort Myers for a family reunion with my dad's side of the family.

Some Disney snaps for your viewing pleasure!

In between spending time with my extended family and discovering the magic of Disney, I somehow managed to fit in a lot of shopping. The majority of which, unsurprisingly, were cosmetics. So today I thought I would take you guys through what I bought. It goes without saying that I do not mean to brag or anything, I'm just very happy with the purchases I made and I cannot wait to start using them on myself and clients. I personally love blog posts like this because it gives me an idea of what makeup is on the market at the moment. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in " Global Glow"

Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

 Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Pressed Powder in "Basic Brown"

MAC Lip Pencils in "Boldly Bare" and "Cork"

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in "Moonstone"

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Tarte "tartelette" Palette

NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in "Phoebe"

MAC Sized To Go Pigments in "Vanilla" and "Melon"

NYX Lip Pencils

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams in "Copenhagen", "Abu Dhabi" and "Prague" and NYX Butter Gloss in "Angel Food Cake"

 Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in "Radium" and "Retrograde"

The swatch doesn't do the eyeliners justice. They are so vibrant and glittery in real life.

I hope that you found this interesting. Please let me know if you have tried any of these products and what you thought of them.

Lots of love,
Kira <3 xxx

Review: Zelens The Balm

Let me start by saying that I am the worst. I have literally run out of ways to say how sorry I am for not posting on this blog regularly. This is my first post since my New Years post at the start of the year. That is just not on I'm afraid, I am very disappointed in myself. All I can say is that this year has been a crazy, extraordinarily tough year for me and maybe one day I'll write a post on why that is, but not today. Today I get straight back into the swing of writing proper content for this blog, starting with a beauty review. 

So here's the back story: I am very picky when it comes to lip balms/treatments. I have extremely dry lips that crack and flake all the time (glamorous, right?) so I don't find that popular lip balms such as Vaseline and Blistex work for me. To make things even more difficult I also have very sensitive lips so other lip balms such as Carmex and Burt's Bees react with my lips and even make them bleed in some cases! So with this in mind you can imagine how important it is for me to find a lip balm I like. I finally found one I could rely on in the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant which saved my lips on numerous occasions. It would even work wonders when my lips were at their worst, transforming them almost completely overnight from dry and scaley to smooth and moisturised. So you can imagine the heartbreak when I lost my beloved lip balm! Unfortunately for me I do not live near anywhere that stocks Elizabeth Arden and my desperate need for something to fix my lips quickly (combined with the curiosity of a beauty blogger) led me to visit my nearest Space.NK.apothecary for a suitable substitute.

Having explained to the very friendly sales assistant my annoying situation with my high maintenance lips, she helped me decide on the Zelens The Balm lip balm. I had never heard of Zelens before and so I was very curious to try something from their range.

Spot the awkward iPhone reflection...

Firstly, the packaging is gorgeous. The embossed mirrored tin looks very chic and I love how minimalist the design is.

Now onto what's inside the tin, which of course is the most important part. The lip balm is unlike any other lip balm I've tried in that it is not waxy at all but more of a thin cream formula. A problem that I have had with waxy formula such as Vaseline or Lipsyl in the past is that it acts as a barrier on my skin and doesn't let moisture penetrate deep into the tissue, so my lips do not feel like they are benefiting in the long-term. Therefore, when I tried this lip balm I was intrigued by how this would affect my lips. I do definitely prefer the cream formula to the waxy ones, however I think I would prefer a formula that was slightly thicker for the my lips, since they do need very heavy duty care which I do not feel this lip balm is able to give me. For someone with less problematic lips this could be a very good option though since it is fairly moisturising.

One thing I do absolutely adore about this lip balm is the smell. It has an enticingly sweet cocoa butter smell which I cannot get enough of. 

So, how does this lip balm hold up to my beloved Elizabeth Arden? I still prefer the Elizabeth. Although it has a greasier formula and more medicinal smell (that signature Elizabeth Arden scent I've come to think fondly of), it works miracles on my lips that the Zelens just cannot compare to. It takes a lot more time for my lips to heal with the Zelens than it did with the Elizabeth Arden, and honestly I don't think the Zelens has ever managed to match the results I got with the Elizabeth Arden lip protectant. I find this disappointing because I really wanted to like the cream formula of the Zelens. Finally, the price of the Elizabeth Arden makes it the more economical option.

The Zelens lip balm is very expensive. For 10ml of product I had to fork out £35. This is a lot of money and definitely not something that I would consider a necessary buy as there are plenty of  alternatives which are just as good. For me, the price does not justify the meagre results that I experienced using the product but that is not to say that someone with less dry and sensitive lips would not love this product. I would not purchase this product again though, I'm definitely going back to my Elizabeth Arden as soon as I finish the Zelens tin.

I hope you've found this review useful. Let me know if you have tried this product and what you thought about it. Also, let me know if you've tried anything else from this brand which you think I should try.

Kira xxx

My Illamasqua Make Up Course Experience

Okay so I know I  previously said that I wouldn't talk about the Illamasqua make up course I attended because I wanted to avoid annoying the company by talking about it without their permission BUT I doubt showing my own work from the course will get me in trouble. There were various tasks to complete, each developing critical skills necessary in the make up industry. This included precision line work, blending, colour application, the perfect lip, skin sculpture and lash application. I wasn't able to get a picture of every single task we completed but the following pictures are from the few tasks I did manage to take a cheeky snap.

August Favourites 2014

This month I have been keeping track of the things I have loved using to make it super easy when September came around and I could do an August Favourites post.

I'd like to include a range of different items in this post which are beauty and lifestyle related, since that's the style of my blog. It wouldn't feel right to only take about beauty products because I have been excited by so much more than just cosmetics this month.

Make Up...

My Thoughts On... No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Define (dupes for high end products?!)

Recently I have been on a bit of a cream eyeshadow kick, especially if they come in a handy, travel-friendly stick format. For a while now I have been crushing on both the By Terry Ombre Blackstar shadow sticks and the Laura Mercier Caviar sticks because the formula and colour pay off of those seem incredible. I swatched them in Space NK and seriously fell in love but I wasn't so head-over-heels about the price tags! So when a friend of mine (who is also a make up enthusiast) told me about the No7 range, I decided to check them out to see how they compared and whether these would do as a substitute. 

My Thoughts On... Revlon's Colorstay Moisture Stain

Revlon recently came out with their own take on the glossy lip stain and it has certainly got my attention. The idea of a stain which is also moisturising and glossy does seem like a bit of an oxymoron so I wanted to investigate whether it could be done. 

Florida Haul 2014

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I last posted something and I do not have a good excuse this time so I'm just going to apologise and hope you can all forgive me. I promise I am back now and aim to post a lot more frequently while I'm on my summer break and make the most of this time that I have off.

Part of the reason you guys haven't heard from me is because I went to Florida for just under two weeks. I would have warned you guys in advance about my absence but, well, I didn't know I was going until the day before I left. In fact, my tickets were not even booked until less than 24 hours before I caught my flight!

I won't go too far into why I went or what I did because this post would be incredibly long but basically I met my mum and godmother out there and we spent a week at a health spa and then another week at my godmother's house to relax and shop.  As you can imagine I went a bit crazy on the cosmetics since I find make up to be so much cheaper for me to buy in the U.S. and it's one of my favourite things to shop for.

All my lovely goodies...

Kiko's Life in Rio Collection

To celebrate that the 2014 FIFA World Cup is being held in Brazil, Kiko has jumped on the global marketing bandwagon by launching a Brazil-themed limited edition make up collection. The collection is surprisingly large with products includiing lipsticks, liquid eyeliners, nail lacquers, blushers and foundations. The Rio theme is expressed through the bright colours available, especially in terms of nail lacquers, eyeliners and lipsticks.

Bringing a Bit of Colour to a Monotonous Routine

The weather lately has been gorgeous. The sun has been smiling down on London this weekend and as much as I appreciate it, I can't enjoy it nearly as much as I would like to. Why? I'm stuck inside revising for exams. My days revolve around getting up at about 11am, revising all day and through the night until on average 3am, going to sleep and doing the whole thing all over again the next day. I have pretty much turned into a hermit and I don't like it whatsoever. 

So when I had to go out and do some quick shopping, I decided to try and liven up my life a bit by opting for some small splashes of colour on my face, which for the most part has been completely bare lately. 

Calling all Illamasqua fans!

At least once in our lifetimes we have all experienced that marvelous feeling of saving yourself some money. You walk with your head a little higher, your purse feels comfortably heavy and there is a peculiar thrill that originates from the notion that you have cheated the system.

This is how I felt when I ordered 5 full-sized products from Illamasqua for £27 (plus free shipping for UK orders,- international free shipping is available for orders of over £50). Considering that the cheapest item I purchased was originally priced at £14.50, this is a huge saving (essentially, buy 2 get 3 free)!

The sale items are split into 4 categories: £5 items, £7 items, £10 items and fragrances (which range from £15-£25).

I did want to wait until my items had arrived to give you an idea of what things could be bought from their sale picks but alas, my items are not here yet and I cannot leave this any longer.

Rocket Volum' Express by Maybelline

Let's play a game...

I spy with my little eye a new favourite high street/drugstore mascara beginning with R

Rocket Volum' Express by Maybelline 

This mascara really surprised me with how good it is. I have owned it for ages but didn't open it because I had so many other open mascaras which needed to be used up first. It is sensational at adding length and building volume and is one of the better ones I've used at separating the lashes. It is a wet formula so it can take a little bit of playing around with to make your lashes fan out nicely but it is still easy to work with. It even made my rebellious outer lashes fan out the correct way, which is a hard task indeed! I would recommend always starting from the very root of the eyelashes and wiggle the wand through the lashes to avoid clumping.

It costs £7.99 at Boots, which to me is a very good price for lashes this good.

A Post-Deadline Treat

I feel like the majority of my posts have started off with some apology for not being more frequent with posting on my blog. The problem is, however that I'm just so busy all the time that it has been nearly impossible to fit anything in!

 

A small list  of things I've had going on to make you pity me and forgive me for not posting more often: I've had to write 3 coursework essays all of which were in for the same deadline and all of which required extensive extra reading and serious planning (I wrote an essay a week! As soon as I finished one, I had to start another), dance rehearsals for a competition, dance auditions for a dance show (which I didn't get into- boo!), Latin exams, a presentation to prepare, reading for seminars, Latin translations and grammar work, lectures and trying to fit in some sort of social life so people don't think I'm a boring person who doesn't want to hang out with anyone.

 

But now the first term has ended and I have finished all my essays and can finally relax. In celebration of this, I decided to go shopping today and treat myself. Usually, I would be hesitant to spend so much on the stuff I did but I think I deserved it for the amount of work I'd been doing. There were some weekends when I just wouldn't leave the house at all! I'd just be inside for days and days.

 

I've actually surprised myself with the things that I bought. If you could have a peek at my wish list you'd find it to be 80% clothes and make up and 20% other stuff but when I went out today I didn't buy a single piece of clothing. I think the reason for this was that I wanted to buy things which symbolised my freedom to me, so I bought books and films and CDs (the freedom to read something other than history books and articles, the freedom to spend time watching good films and let yourself be moved by the emotion and imaginative thought of them and the freedom to sit and listen to music while letting your mind wander). These items represented pure bliss to me.

Passenger- All the Little Lights
OneRepublic- Native
The Worlds End
Titanic
Forrest Gump
The Yellow Birds- Kevin Powers
Will Grayson, Will Grays- John Green and David Leuithan
The Boy who Could See Demons- Caroline Jess-Cooke
The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern

 

 

Okay so I'm sure many of you are judging me for the fact that I'm so old-fashioned and buy hard copies of DVDs and CDs but I just like having physical copies of things! Think of me as the person who is single-handedly trying to keep HMV alive. My dad and I are quite big movie collectors- we may not have the 'best' range of DVDS (there are next to no romantic comedies or pure romance films-rom coms are too cringey for me and romance is boring) and we're missing some vital classics, but we still have a huge collection of DVDs which we love. It's nice to display them all and people always comment on how impressed they are by it.
 I have never actually seen Forrest Gump before so I felt like it was one that was imperative to buy, especially at the price of £5.99!
 I have seen Titanic before, but it's one I feel like I could watch again and again and for £2.99 there was no question of whether I was going to buy it or not. I love the film so much- it's based on a historical event, it has the most powerful love story (I know I just said that I don't typically buy and watch romantic films, I find them boring except when there are other interesting factors in the plot to make it more than a gushy romance), and it's full of so much emotion and tragedy and the fact it is based on a real event makes this even more poignant.
 The Worlds End is a film that I didn't get to see in cinemas but I really think I'll enjoy- it has Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in it, who are just the best duo (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are great films) so I'm looking forwards to watching it. The soundtrack also sounds incredible!

John Green is an amazing writer. He has such great expression and has a way of thinking in a beautiful, unique way which he portrays in his writing. I've read Looking For Alaska and The Fault In Our Stars and adored them both so I cannot wait to dive into this collaboration with David Leuithan.
 The Night Circus is a book that I have been wanting to read for years but never got around to buying but I have finally done it and the girl at the till in Waterstones exclaimed when she saw what I was buying and swears it's the best book she has ever read, so that can only be a good thing!
The Boy Who Could See Demons is a bit of a darker book but I love me a real mix of genres and moods in books so I think I'm going to enjoy this one a lot.
 The Yellow Birds is one that I saw on the 'buy one get one half price' table with The Night Circus and I'd never heard of it before but I think it will be a good eye-opener about life in Iraq for soldiers and really help me see it from an important perspective, that of a soldier. I think it's good to read things like this to try and understand what others have had to live through so we have a better perspective of the world as a whole, not just what we think of it.

 I did by some make up too (I just cannot help myself- it's a problem)...

Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo Eye shadow- Pink Gold
Rimmel Apocalips lip lacquers- Eclipse, Galaxy, Aurora

I was given a Rimmel Apocalips lip colour in Big Bang (bright red) as part of a secret Santa gift and I loved the formulation and staying power of it so much that I decided to go and check out the colour range. As you can see I liked it so much that I bought three other colours which I have tried on and love the way each one looks on my skin tone. I also keep looking at and never buying the Colour Tattoo eye shadows from Maybelline and so I decided to pick one up, opting for this pink colour because I feel like there is a lack of pink in my eyeshadow drawer at the moment

So that is everything from my haul! I will possibly post some reviews of both the Apocalips (so you can see the colours) and the books once I've read them so stay tuned for that (but be patient because I'm a slow reader!)

Love love love,

Kira <3