Going Nude

Hello everyone! 

I know I always go on about how much I love a bright red lip, but in recent months I have really grown to love the subtle tones of a nude lipstick. In the same way people quest for their signature red, others hunt for the ideal nude. Somehow I, much to my purse's despair, have managed to join both quests. So I come to you today with a few tips on how to find the perfect type of nude lipstick for you! 

I can't really advise on all the skin tones and hair colours out there as I can't change my looks at will! However, I can tell you about my four favourites and why I love them, with tips added in where I can. There are four main varieties in my lipstick armoury: natural nude, sheer nude, pinky nude and browny nude. 

Left to right: Patisserie, Beige Rose, Ex-Girlfriend and Alice 

This natural nude is the best one I have been able to find and I'd say the tiny amount left is testimony to how much I love it. This is the Urban Decay nude lipstick from the Gwen Stefani collection in the shade Ex-Girlfriend. I think this colour would suit anyone really, it gives a barely there look, but with a slight shine to it from its moisturising properties. This type of nude is quite easy to match to any skin tone as it the most neutral of all the neutral shades. This type of nude is a key part to anyone's makeup collection, it's so easy to just glide on and look smart! 

The sheer nude is the hardest to pull off, the wrong tone can wash someone out completely! These are the ones to try in the shop before you buy them. When I first saw this lipstick I fell head over heels in love with it! The gorgeous sheer quality of it, with the metallic pink streak running through makes it perfect for me. It helps bring a rosiness to my skin, so for someone who is pale and loving pinks this is ideal, however, I would stay clear if you have a more yellow tone to your skin. Go for this one if you love a fresh faced, rosy look :-) This one isn't readily available anymore, it's the Alice lipstick from the Alice Through the Looking Glass collection by Urban Decay, but in Urban Decay's new Vice relaunch I'm sure you can find something similar. Velvet Teddy by MAC is quite a good dupe for this one too! 

The pinky nude is super fun, I love the matte finish to this particular one. It instantly creates a classic, natural look for both everyday and evening wear. This tone is good for people who have a bit of a tan. So I like to wear this in summer when I have a bit more colour to my cheeks. This lipstick smells like chocolate, which is an added bonus for any chocoholics out there! It is the shade Beige Rose from Bigune. I know here it looks very very pink, but once on it is much more subtle and most definitely a nude! You can see it better in the swatch picture above :-) 

The final type here is the browny nude. This one can also be tricky to pull off, but as long as you find the right balance of brown vs pink for you then you should be grand! I love this shade, it is my everyday work go to. There is a slight shimmer to it which means it looks put together without being too in your face. I like the way this shade is buildable so you can amp it up a little bit if you want to wear this lippy on an evening out :-) This is the much revered Patisserie from MAC. Nobody does nudes like MAC so if you are looking for your shade I would definitely search there first, their lipsticks are both affordable and part of a huge range, so there really is something for everyone! 

What is your favourite nude shade? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Summer Holiday Essentials

Hello everyone! 

It is finally the summer holidays :-) I could not be more excited about that fact. I am a massive sun bunny and intense heat is my comfort zone. Keeping this in mind Mr.Gingersnap and I are off to my childhood home in the south of France for a 2 week holiday. 

Now I love watching videos of people's summer essentials and what they pack to go away! If that's not your thing then you should probably stop reading now... I took some snaps while I was packing and thought I'd share my holiday staples with you. 

Firstly I like to pack as many pretty, floaty dresses as I possibly can! Being a tiny person I can get away with a lot more clothes in a small suitcase (it has to have some perks tbh!). I like to vary between the floral prints, bright colours and pastels, that way I am prepared for any kind of day or dress code. I always pack at least one full length dress just in case I have a more fancy evening out. 

I always take my Kindle on holiday just because it's more portable and I can get more books if I run out! 

When it comes to swimming it's important to have a comfy bikini or swimming costume. I love Jack Wills' bikinis, they fit beautifully and have very classic understated patterns. I would also recommend Hollister for quality swimwear, yes it's a bit pricey, but worth it when your clothes last several summers instead of dropping to bits straight away! If, like me, you're pale or fair skinned it could be a good idea to pack a top or pool kimono to keep the worst of the sun off you and cover up a little more. For this I have a cut out cotton, floaty black mesh kimono. It's lovely and quite timeless as a piece. 

 I must admit I love a wide brimmed hat!

Every girl needs a good pair of denim shorts on holiday. I got these ones at Pull & Bear and I adore them. I can throw them on with a bikini top, with a body, a bandeau (another essential for me) or just a normal floaty top. Continuing with easy to throw on looks, a flowery kimono instantly makes a look seem polished and stylish. I've had this one for years, but they seem to be cropping up everywhere so get on out there and buy one! Trust me :-) 

I love high heels and wedges on holiday, they really give me that dressed up and put together feeling. These ones are my essentials this holiday. I do of course have the standard flip flops and converses for everyday wear, but they were boring to photograph!

When it comes to makeup and skin care, it's important to have products that protect your skin. Look for SPF on products and make sure you moisturise and stay hydrated! You want to come home with that holiday glow, not looking like a leather bag left out in the sun... I am feeling the pinks this summer as you can probably tell from the picture! All these pinks are so pretty and feminine, I just love them and I'm sure y'all do too! If you were wondering that is the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay, the YSL lipstick is a Rouge Volupte shine in 41 , the Too Faced Sweetheart Blush is in Candy Glow and the Rimmel London nail varnish is the 405 Rose Libertine :-) 

What are your summer essentials? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Falling Into Wonderland

Hello everyone, 

Who else loves Urban Decay? Their makeup is undeniably gorgeous, especially their eyeshadow palettes. Waaaay back when the first live action Alice in Wonderland movie came out Urban Decay collaborated with Disney to create an eyeshadow palette. It was gorgeous and limited edition, so naturally sold out within a matter of hours. *sigh* the best limited editions always do! 

When Urban Decay announced a second palette and a collection of five lipsticks to go with the new Alice Through the Looking Glass movie I was hopping up and down with excitement. Mr.Gingersnap actually accused me of becoming a demented rabbit! I apologise for the delay in this post, but I was so excited trying the products out :-) 

Having crazy red hair, huge green eyes and being called Hattie brings me to feel a natural affinity with the Mad Hatter. You gotta admit there are certain similarities... I, like so many others, was counting down the days until the release of this makeup and I actually managed to get my hands on a few bits and bobs. And by a few I mean lots! 

The top is Alice and below is Mad Hatter 

Let's start with the lipsticks. There are five colours in the collection, one for each of the main characters: Alice, Mad Hatter, Iracebeth, Mirana and Time. I only managed to get hold of Alice and Mad Hatter, which I'm fine with as they were the ones I was most excited about. The lipsticks are super creamy and glide on beautifully with very buildable colour. Alice is an almost invisible nude, apart from the pink metallic sheen running through it. It provides an ethereal, barely there look. Mad Hatter is a much bolder, metallic, bright purple. You can apply it lightly for a faint purple glow or go for an all out violet lip! 

Now onto the eyeshadows! The packaging is amazing! The mirror is huge and reminds me of the crazy mirrors in carnival fun houses, with a psychedelic kaleidoscope pattern in the background. The first pouch opens out to reveal a stunning pop-up periwinkle blue butterfly! Some say the packaging is unnecessary and bulky, but I love it and consider it very theme appropriate. 

Continuing with the hall of mirrors theme the drawer containing the eyeshadows is a black and white optical illusion. There are twenty colours in the palette, making it well worth the money. Even if the packaging is cardboard and not as luxurious as the Naked palettes. There are five columns of colours to go with the five main characters. There are some rather bold colours that could be hard to wear, but I'm sure I will find plenty of occasions for slightly bolder eye looks. 

 Left to right: Looking Glass, Reflection, Dormouse, Metamorphosis

 Left to right: Cake, Paradox, Gone Mad, Hatter

 Top to bottom: Chessboard, Kingdom, Duchess, Lily 

 Top to Bottom: Royal Flush, Salazen Grum, Bandersnatch, Heads Will Roll 

Top to bottom: Mirror, Chronosphere, Dream On, Time

My particular favourites are all the orange toned colours: Reflection, Duchess and most importantly Paradox! I love combining the bright magenta of Cake on my upper lid with Paradox blended into my lower lashes. Looking Glass, Lily and Royal Flush are gorgeous inner corner and highlight colours, giving a stunning opalescent glow. Another favourite look at the moment is using Paradox on my whole eyelid with the ruby red Salazen Grum in my inner corner. I am also obsessed with Metamorphosis, this blue is simply to die for and might be my new favourite eyeshadow colour ever. If you have blue eyes this colour will look so wonderful! :-) 

I'm thinking of doing a series of posts to create looks for all five characters, if you are interested let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Inexcusably Late March Favourites

Hello everyone! 

I have a really good reason for being so late with my favourites for March, I swear! I had to pick from so many things, it was really hard. For some reason March felt like a very long month, maybe it was the exams at the beginning? So I had a lot of things I’d been loving, obviously I can’t share them all with you otherwise we’d be here forever, and I’m sure you guys have better things to do than read my waffle for all eternity. In an attempt to be succinct, here are my top picks for the month of March.

Sorry for the poor lighting! Long hours = no natural light for pics :-( 

For beauty, Urban Decay must get a mention, I have been loving my Gwen Stephani lipstick in the shade Ex-Girlfriend to the point where I need to slow down before I run out! This gorgeous nectarine based nude is a staple for any makeup bag, it is effortlessly sexy and yet smart enough for every day wear at work or uni.  

You can tell I love this by how much I've used, it is rolled down to the max here...

My old mascara flame is the L’Oreal Miss Manga Punky. I adore the spiked lash effect it gives, it’s quite a vintage look and can be applied subtly or built up for a very extreme sultry look. No need for false eyelashes when you have this in your makeup bag! 

This wand looks so weird, but is amazing! 

This is a weird one, but I have been loving this herbal tea from good old M&S, I don’t drink any caffeinated drinks so I’m all about the herbal tea. I have tried many, some have been fab and some have been truly gross, but this one is a real contender for the top spot. This cranberry and pomegranate infusion is so warming and invigorating, these are my favourite fruits anyway! In fact I think it is what got me through revision this year haha, as you can probably tell by the emptiness of the box I did a lot of revision and a lot of tea drinking…

I have recently formed an addiction to American Horror Story (late to the party again, oh well). It is so terrifying, but so addictive! I don’t know how to stop watching, help? No spoilers in the comments please, just in case I manage to tough it out to season 6 without perishing of fright! 

Last, but not least I have been loving my move to Paris in mid-March. I have had such a good time exploring and feel like it was just the change of pace I needed to feel really motivated and refreshed. Sometimes a temporary change of scene clears your head and re-ignites your passion for your chosen career, especially after having been at uni for the last 4 years! 

Right, I’m going to stop waffling now! Stay tuned for upcoming beauty and reading posts, I have a lot of fun and exciting content in the pipeline, including some collaborations :-) Let me know what you have been loving in the comments below and Happy April guys! 

xoxo

FarFetch Beauty Launch**

Hello everyone, 

Recently I was contacted by Farfetch, an online designer clothes store, asking if I would like to take part in a blogger competition they are hosting. They are publicising the launch of their new online beauty section by inviting certain bloggers to take part. Their website looks really fab and extremely versatile, shipping well-known designer brands such as By Terry, Chloe, Fendi and Kenzo. 

They asked me to create a little wish list of products I would like from their new section and to post a quick glimpse into my own beauty collection and essentials. They ship all over the world and collaborate with over 1000 brands globally, so they are worth taking a look here. 

For my little wish list I chose a couple of brands I know and love and a couple I am unfamiliar with, but would like to try! 

1. Hourglass blush in Diffused Heat
2. R + CO Gemstone Colour Shampoo (I don't colour my hair, but this bottle looks amazing! Often products aimed at coloured hair are very rich, but less harsh on your hair) 
3. Lipstick Queen in Wine Sinner 
4. By Terry Blush Glacé in Frozen Petal
5. Sunday Riley Artemis Hydroactive Face Oil 

Now onto my own beauty products, I'm not going to list them all as that would take forever and a day, but I'll give you a brief overview. You may recognise some products from previous posts and monthly favourites! 

These products are definitely my daily essentials! The lipsticks are the Gwen Stefani for Urban Decay in Ex-Girlfriend for a day to day look and the Charlotte Tilbury in So Marilyn for a pop of colour! 

This photo has a couple of my favourites like the YSL Gypsy Opale face palette and the Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil (phew what a mouthful!)

Obviously I couldn't do a post like this and not show a few of my favourite lippys!

Last, but not least a quick peek at my favourite palettes :-) 

I hope you have enjoyed peeking into my makeup collection and maybe it will inspire you to try some new products! If you see a product that you would like me to write a specific review for, then let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

Original Nakedness

Hello everyone, 

A couple of weeks ago I went shopping with my housemate to restock her makeup bag, naturally I talked her into investigating the Urban Decay counter. She fell in love with the gorgeousness that is the Naked collection, it was inevitable. Being a brunette with a lovely rosy complexion, she suits quite different colours to me. We spent a lot of time umming and ahhing over which palette to get, it’s a tough choice Naked 1 or 2??

After lengthy deliberation, she went for the original Naked 1 palette. The packaging is quite different, it’s a deep brown velvet with gold, embossed lettering. Unlike the Naked 2 and 3 palettes which are tin palettes that snap shut. I’m not such a huge fan as it makes this palette less portable. The lid easily flips up and this could damage the shadows if they are in your handbag. However, it does look very smart and slightly more luxurious than the later palettes! 

As with all the Naked palettes there is a cute double ended brush, so useful! The 12 colours are quite neutral, cool tones ranging from very light to very dark. There is a nice mix of matte and shimmer colours in a fab range of creams, golds, browns and greys, as well as a couple of more pinky tones for good measure. This palette really would suit anyone, I feel like it would be incredibly versatile in terms of looks for different occasions. 

Left to right: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal 

So far she is loving it and really enjoying experimenting with different combos. The colours she is loving most are Darkhorse, Hustle and Gunmetal for a very smoky look and Sin, Half Baked and Toasted for a more neutral day to day look, but still keeping a lovely pop of shimmer. Sidecar is also a gorgeous sparkly, milky hot chocolate colour to sweep under your lower lashes to brighten your eyes.

Who else loves the Naked palette and what are your go to looks? Let me know in the comments :-) 

xoxo

New Gwen Stefani Range

Hello everyone,

I am so excited about this post, I was going to write about something else, but then I wanted to do this first! How many of you love Urban Decay? Aaand how many of you also love Gwen Stefani? If you are like me and are a big fan of both, then I have amazing news for you and you should definitely keep reading.

For the past year Urban Decay have been working with Gwen Stefani on a range of make up, they took a long time perfecting it as they wanted to find the ideal products to represent Gwen's spirit, fire and versatility. You would assume, based on her bold personality, that all the colours would be bright and very in your face. Whilst amazing for Gwen, this is not so wearable for all of us average Jane's and our day to day lives. 

Having all of these preconceptions I was pleasantly surprised with her first eye shadow palette. There are 15 shades with 12 being brand new. Gwen designed these colours based on what she always wished she had in her palettes, giving a wide range from the bright aquamarine and baby pink to the nude browns and gorgeous rose golds. So wearable and so worth it! Following this release came the huge event this week releasing her blush palette, brow box, lip liners and lipsticks. The blushers match the eyeshadows with a range of pastel pink, fuchsia and bronze tones. I won't say much on the brow box as it looks pretty standard, but come on guys, it's Gwen so it will be fab! 

The lip liners and lip sticks are what I am most excited about. There are six lipliners to match 6 of the lipsticks, enticingly there are another 2 lipsticks which are only available online. They sure know how to make you want to spend, who doesn't love exclusivity? The shades are mostly tones of red with a lot of plum tone, except for two shades, one of which is a lovely pinky nude and another brighter coral pink. I think I am most excited about Plaid (a bold red) and Ex-girlfriend (a taupe toned nude).

These products became available online this week and I thought they didn't become available in store until February, which explains my surprise today when lo and behold there they were in Debenhams. I was out with my housemate searching for the perfect red lipstick. She has quite olive toned skin so we were aiming for a deep, vampy red with more plum tones instead of blue. I had spotted Rocksteady online from Gwen's new collection and thought it would be perfect, we were thrilled to try it out. It looked amazing and of course, she bought it! 

Look how amazing the packaging is, it is bold, bright and gorgeous much like Gwen herself! It looks so decadent and my housemate is thrilled with the colour pay off of the product. She had it on all afternoon and evening, it looked just the same even after dinner. This may have been the added help of the matching lip liner, but I would like to think it was the lippy mainly. It has a very creamy, moisturising texture and almost looks like it has a glossy finish to it. 

First impressions are good in this case, fingers crossed they're right! Are you guys excited about these products? If you have already or cannot wait to get your hands on them let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

Naked and Nudes

Hello everyone! 

I hope you're all enjoying this wintery Sunday by cosying up with a good book or movie! Today I thought I'd write about my new makeup palette from Urban Decay.

I have always been a fan of Urban Decay products, particularly their eyeshadows and eye pencils. When I was in London a couple of weeks ago, mainly to make the most of the January sales, I popped into Selfridges with my Mam because she needed a new Clinique Chubby Lipstick. While we were in there we started browsing the Urban Decay stand and she said that she would treat me to a new palette, don't I just have the most awesome Mam! :-) 

I'd been lusting after the Naked on the Run palette which has a bit of everything in it (bronzer, blush, mascara, powder, eyeshadows, lippy and eye pencil) as I thought it would be ideal for travelling, all I would need beyond the palette would be foundation and brushes! However, I didn't realise it was limited edition and they were out of stock *sigh*. I had heard rave reviews from friends and fellow bloggers about the other Naked palettes so I eyed them up. UD have just brought out a new Naked palette aimed at doing smoky eyes, so there are now four different palettes (Nakeds 1, 2, 3 and smoky). I'm not a huge fan of smoky eye looks on me, I have quite big eyes and I find that too much colour kind of makes me look like a cartoon bug! This means that Naked 1 and Naked Smoky aren't really for me, there are just too many dark colours in there for my skin and style. 

Being faired skinned and having red hair warmer tones tend to suit me better. Naked 2 has some very beautiful earthy colours that really caught my eye, but I thought they were a tad too cool toned for me. If you are fair with quite a few pinky tones to your skin then this is definitely the palette for you, but if you are like me and are extremely pale with tonnes of freckles and a more honey tone to your skin then I'd recommend going for some warmer toned pinky/nudey colours. 

From left to right - Stranger, Dust, Burnout, Limit, Buzz, Trick, Nooner, Liar, Factory, Mugshot, Darkside and Blackheart. I think Trick is my favourite!

Naked 3 has some gorgeous colours that suit me down to a T! (I have never understood that expression...oh well) I find that the subtle pinks and even the more plumb tones really make my eyes pop and my skin glow. In fact I have already established two favourite everyday looks. When I'm doing my eyeshadow I like to use three colours. For the first look I use Stranger, which is a matte beige, all over my lid, focusing on the inner corner, with a small amount going up to the brow bone to act as a highlighter (only put it very very lightly higher up otherwise you'll end up looking very startled!), followed by Burnout, a slightly shimmery dark nude, on the outer V and central lid and finally I use Liar, a rose hued taupe, for the crease then I blend. I also like to put a small amount of my darker colour under my bottom lashes from the outer corner to the centre. For a bit more sparkle I use the same technique but using some brighter colours, Strange (again - it really is a good highlight), Dust and Trick. Those tones are much more shimmery and have a rose/gold hue to them. 

Just some different lighting so you can see the shimmer better! 

I find the colour pay off from these is very good and definitely worth the money, when I do these looks at 7:30 am they still look the same at 6 pm. And, of course, the packaging is very luxurious and smart, I love the way the palette comes with a double ended brush with one thin end for application and a larger fluffier end for blending. My only quibble, which to some people could be a good thing, is that it does come with 4 primer samples, they are Original, Eden, Sin and Anti-aging. Why is this a bad thing? Well I used to have the UD Potion primer and I really did not get on with it, something about the formula just made my eyelids so dry and sore, I think I must be allergic to it and my eyes still won't tolerate UD primers very well...but don't let that put you off! I do have notoriously sensitive eyes, so you should give them a try and see if they suit your skin. 

Overall this is a gorgeous palette, but trust me to buy the one awkward one! If colours from the other Naked palettes run out you can buy them individually, but this is not the case for Naked 3. However, I think this palette is gorgeous enough that if I ran out, after using it extensively, it would be worth repurchasing! 

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below if you love this brand or know something better :-) 

xoxo