DIY Christmas Gift Tags

For all you last minute gift wrappers out there, I thought I'd share the way I've made my gift tags this Christmas, in case you wanted to add a cute personal touch to your wrapping. I found this a really fun creative thing to do and it left me feeling very Christmassy. You just need old newspaper, watercolour paints, paper/ card (both in the colour you want the gift tags and white for backing) and a biro and a bit of glitter for the finishing touches. I drew simple, Christmas themed shapes on the back of a page of newspaper, cut them out and painted them with a wash of colour so that the print showed through. Then I stuck them on to the gift tags I'd cut out of brown paper backed with lined white paper and added the finishing touches- usually just a sprinkle of gold glitter, before hole punching them ready to be written and added to presents.

Do you get as into gift wrapping as I do? Merry Christmas eve eve, see you soon!

Eva xx

Doodle Mugs- DIY Christmas Gift Idea

Today I thought I'd share an idea for cheap and thoughtful Christmas gifts- decorating your own mugs. This could also be a fun activity to do with children- you could give the plain mugs and porcelain pens as a gift for them instead. I bought these plain white mugs from Wilko for just 75p each and a porcelain pen from Ebay here (you can also get a big set of different colours at much better value for money). On most of my mugs I created similar Christmassy designs- a set of baubles of varying sizes on varying length strings (an example can be seen in the photo above). I also personalised the designs for each recipient. Mistakes I made with the pen were easily cleared up with nail polish remover and cotton buds and the designs were set after being left to dry for a few hours and then baked in the oven for an hour and a half.

I'd love to know about any DIY gifts you're making this Christmas. See you soon!
Eva xx

Christmas Cookie Recipe

Lets talk about Christmas cookies! I made these ones when experimenting with this gingerbread man recipe. I didn't have any ginger or man shaped cutters so obviously I had to alter the recipe a good bit and I ended up with these 'Christmas flavour' cookies. I basically substituted ginger for mixed spice so these taste of Christmassy cinnamon and ginger goodness, they also have a lovely soft texture like the best kind of gingerbread.

Ingredients:
350g/12oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp mixed spice
125g/4½oz butter
175g/6oz light soft brown sugar
1 free-range egg
4 tbsp golden syrup
Icing/ sprinkles if you want to decorate them

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice. Add the butter and carry on until it looks like breadcrumbs. Now stir in the sugar.
2. Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, then add to the dry ingredients and mix until it clumps together. Then knead the dough briefly until it's smooth, wrap it in clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line baking trays with greaseproof paper.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, the cookies won't rise a great deal so roll it to maybe half the thickness you want the cookies. Then use cookie cutters to cut out whatever shapes you want- my hearts were more successful than my stars as the points on the stars were quick to over bake. Then place them on the baking tray, leaving a small gap between each cookie.
5. Bake until lightly golden-brown- this may take anything from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your cookies, I'd give them 5 minutes and then see how close to done they are. 
6. When they're cool you can decorate them however you want- you can easily get them to look a lot more professional than mine if you invest in either squeezy icing or a piping bag and don't allow a six year old to help you! I think they would be nice if you made a thin icing sugar and water icing and used it to glaze them. Or you could pipe designs on them which would look cute if you wanted to give some away as a Christmas gift.

Please let me know if you make these I'd love to see a photo! What do you like to bake at Christmas? See you soon!

Eva xx

A Mini Beauty Christmas Wishlist

Today I thought I'd share a few things on my beauty wishlist at the moment (none of which I expect to actually receive for Christmas, in case you needed a disclaimer)

1. Nars Sheer Glow Foundation- because I haven't been able to justify buying it for myself when I already have about 5 foundations on the go, but who hasn't given it a good review?

2. Urban Decay Naked palette- because I told myself you only need one Naked palette when I bought the Naked 3 earlier this year, but I've changed my mind. Bronze toned neutrals are nothing like rose toned neutrals. Bronze toned neutrals are a necessity.

3. Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Set- because while its time in the spotlight may have come and gone, but its still a beautiful brush set and I still don't own it. I'm just hoping someone buys me this at some point because I feel like I can't justify buying it for myself.

4. Nars Digital World Lip Pencil Coffret- because I love every shade and I always hear good things about Nars Lip Pencils.

Let me know what make up is on your Christmas wish list in the comments! See you soon!
Eva xx

Make and Do Gifts for Kids

Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on buying Christmas presents for children but I would like to share some ideas from the sort of thing I would like to get for my 6 year old sister (admittedly the only child I regularly buy gifts for). Children are generally thought of as very easy to buy for, but my sister is the youngest in our family by 8 years, and as the only member of the family anyone can buy toys for any more, tends to get pretty spoilt at Christmas. In recent years I've preferred to get her games and make and do type gifts as they result in something nice we can do together and are less likely to be forgotten than a toy in amongst the far too many she already owns. Today I thought I'd put together a few of the sort of things I would like to get her.

Firstly I think character board games are a great idea for children- they seem to have a Frozen version of every children's board game now and you can get them pretty cheap on Amazon. Me and my sister both love Adventure Time so I have bought her a few Adventure Time games in the past, these are fun, unusual and slightly ridiculous. I'd recommend the Everything Burrito game, which I bought her for her birthday, as a gift for any Adventure Time fan child or not, and I've already wrapped her Gassy Jake hot potato game for Christmas.

For the more creative kids there's a lot of 'make your own' kits on the market. I think its really important to consider the child's age- younger children really don't have the patience for crafts that take a long time or have to be done very precisely. One of my favourite crafts that can be done by children of all ages is the decoration of mugs or plates, you can buy kits for this or just get some porcelain pens or paints and plain white mugs or plates, this is something I remember really enjoying to do as a child.

My favourite DIY gift idea is a Science experiment kit I saw on Pinterest (though I can't find the page again to put a link in, sorry!). They had found a few household ingredient science experiments- Mentos in coke, that sort of thing- written them up a made them into a nice little booklet which could be personalised with the recipients name. They also included all the ingredients for the experiments they had found and presented them in a box together with the booklet. I think most children would love this sort of thing and it's a really thoughtful and inexpensive gift.

I hope you enjoyed my first Christmas themed post, let me know if you'd like to see another one! See you soon!
Eva xx

Brand Favourites: Rimmel

I thought I might make a series of favourites from particular brands and I decided to start today with Rimmel who, with so many of their products both heavily recommended and affordable, I probably own more products from than any other brand.

Base- Match Perfection foundation
Though it's a bit too light a coverage for me this time of year and doesn't have the best lasting power, I love how well it matches my unusually pale skin tone and it tends to be my go to light coverage foundation. I also love the way it smells (though it might be one to avoid if you don't like scented make up). Honourable mentions go to the BB Cream which comes in a 'very light' shade for the super pale, is very cheap and makes an excellent light base in warm weather and the Stay Matte Powder- which does well what it says on the tin and fits better into this category than any other.

Eyes- Brixton Browns palette
This isn't the most pigmented or creamy eye shadow but its such a great combination of colours, all are very wearable and work well together. Its also great value for money at £6.99 and is very compact making it great to travel with.

Brows- Brow This Way clear brow gel
Holds brows in place pretty well and for a decent amount of time, though I wouldn't say all day. It doesn't fall into the worst pitfalls of clear brow gels- no heavy, almost painful eyebrow, no big clumps of gel when applying.

Cheeks- Stay Blushed liquid blush in 'Sunkissed Cherry'
I love a peach blush, I love a cream blush and this is a lovely combination of the two. Very, pretty and very long lasting my only issue is that its not the quickest and easiest to apply evenly, although that may just be because I'm not used to having to squeeze the right amount of blush out of a tube.

Lips- Moisture Renew Lipstick
I love the smell and feel of these lipsticks, they apply beautifully and are very pigmented and, as the name would suggest, moisturising. I particularly love the peachy shade 705 Let's Get Naked, which is pictured above. Honourable mention to the Kate Moss lipsticks, which are also excellent, less smooth and moisturising but longer lasting and just as pigmented.

As always I'd love to hear any product recommendations! See you soon!
Eva xx

Sleek Matte Me Lip Cream Review

There seems to be more and more lip creams on the market recently and I love them, so today I thought I'd share my favourite, the Sleek Matte Lip Cream. These are one of the best lasting lip products I've ever used and cost only £4.99. They stay on all day but come off easily enough with make up remover in the evening, they feel incredibly light on the lips and I have not found them at all drying as I sometimes do with matte lipsticks. The shade 'party pink' is a particularly gorgeous colour- a sort of coral-red on the lips. I also own 'Petal' which is a pretty blue toned pale pink and a little harder to wear. The range of shades is the main downfall of this product for me as there is only 6 and not many of them are universally wearable, though I do want to pick up the classic red shade 'Rioja Red' as I'm so in love with the formula.

I'd love to hear anyone else's lip cream recommendations and I hope you're having a lovely day, see you soon!
Eva xx

10 Minute Make up Routine

(apologies for the iPhone flash photography, I'm struggling with this only a few hours of good light thing)

Today I thought I'd run through the make up I wear when there's no time for neatly applied dark lipstick, highlighting, contouring or winged eye liner. Simple and trustworthy, I almost (but not quite) went as far as to call this my everyday make up routine.

I apply Revlon Colorstay foundation as a base with a Real Techniques expert face brush with the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer blended under eyes and on any blemishes with a Real Techniques deluxe crease brush. A little of an MUA Cream Blusher is dabbed on my cheeks, blending it out with my finger tips. This is a good one for quick application as its not too pigmented and never seems to manage to look as though its too much or in the wrong place. On my eyes I blend a Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eye shadow in On and On Bronze on my eyelids and line my lower lash line with it using a Real Techniques accent brush before curling my lashes and applying a couple of coats of Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof mascara, which holds the curl all day. Then I run a bit of clear brow gel through my eyebrows (I'm using Rimmel Brow This Way currently) and put on a lip colour that doesn't require too careful an application- like Revlon lip butter in pink truffle, which is a favourite 'my lips but better' shade of mine, and you're done!

See you Monday!
Eva xx

Favourite Drugstore Foundations for Pale Skin

(Top: Rimmel Match Perfection, Bottom: Revlon Colorstay)

For years after I first started wearing foundation I was battling to find a foundation pale enough for my vampire white, completely un-tan-able skin and cheap enough for my teenage purse. Foundations available at highstreet prices in the UK tend to come in 5 shades of beige, which I have never been able to understand. Surely they'd sell better if the shades were more representative of the skin tones of the demographic they're trying to sell them to? Anyway, in the past few years I've settled on a couple of drugstore foundations which I love and come in shades that blend well into my super pale skin. The first is my favourite summer foundation, Rimmel Match Perfection (in 010 Light Porcelain), it looks lovely and dewy and feels light on the skin but doesn't give enough coverage for me in Winter. The only other problem I have with it is that it doesn't last particularly well, but this has not stopped me from repurchasing it. Revlon Colorstay foundation (in 110 Ivory) however, lasts very well, gives an excellent coverage and has been the foundation I've been reaching for the most this winter, though I think its a bit heavy for a warm weather foundation.

I'd love any suggestions of cheap foundations for pale skin- I've got Bourjois Healthy Mix and Loreal True Match on my wishlist to try out next. See you Saturday (if I can get my act together and start actually postig when I say I will that is)!
Eva xx

Mini Haul and Reviews

I've been doing a bit of shopping recently and thought I'd run through some of the things I've bought and do some mini reviews of those that I've tried out.

Whilst excited about the Christmas and Halloween stock coming in, I went to Lush determined not to buy more than one thing (already having a good few bubble bars on the go). I only came out with two, so I suppose I didn't do too badly. I bought the Christmas Eve bubble bar and the Northern Lights bath bomb. Christmas Eve smells lovely and can turn your bath a pretty blue but, as half of it is yellow, it can also turn it a less pleasant yellow or green depending on which part you use. Northern lights can be easily split into smaller pieces which is great, everyone loves getting more for their money. It also turns the bath a lovely colour and leaves little stars in it, though the scent isn't one of Lush's best.

From boots I bought the Rimmel HD 5 Pan Eyeshadow in Brixton brown because I'd heard it recommended, loved the colours and wanted a little palette to take to London this weekend. It didn't seem too pigmented when I swatched it but it's not too bad for £6.99. I also got a Rimmel clear brow gel for £3.99 which, though it can become a bit heavy toward the end of the day, has held my brows in place pretty well.

I also picked up my favourite Yankee candle, fireside treats, which I've described here, from a card shop, I believe it was Clintons, and a couple more make up items from Superdrug & Topshop. From Topshop I bought a red lip cream as it was on sale for £3, I'm a bit scared of wearing something so bright that doesn't really stay put, but with a bit of blotting it's okay. It also feels moisturising and smells like ice cream! From Superdrug I bought an MUA cream blush for £2 in a peachy shade (which is completely unjustifiable I have far too many peach blushes) I haven't used this yet but I've only heard good things and am really excited to try it.

I may not be able to get a post up Saturday because of aforementioned London trip but if not, there'll definitely be one up Monday, see you soon!
Eva xx

A November Yankee Candle Combo

After what was apparently the warmest halloween on record in the UK, its finally started to get colder. What with that, the nights drawing in and the long lead up to christmas about to begin, it is almost certainly candle season. I tend to go for yankee candles, firstly because they are priced within reason (at least compared to most other popular scented candles) and secondly because they have just about every scent and size of candle anyone could ever want. I also like to burn a couple of these candles at once in order to mix the scents (and create even more pretty flickering lights). I often do this with a couple of the floral scents- Midnight Jasmine and True Rose at the moment. But my very favourite combo is Fluffy Towels (a ‘fresh’ scent, basically it smells like washing powder but in a warm, cozy, comforting kind of way) and Fireside Treats (a sweet marshmallowy smell but one that has a hint of masculinity to it and is a more complex scent than many other sweet ones). As a combination this seems appropriate to this time of year- you toast marshmallows on bonfire night, right? Also, its sweet but not as sweet as the Christmas Cookie type candles that many people think are too sickly.

I'd love to know what your favourite scented candles are for this time of year, see you Thursday!
Eva xx

Liebster Award

So, a few people have nominated me to do the liebster award tag post. I thought I'd do it as I've only just started blogging and want to get as involved in the community as I can. Thank you for nominating me Hannah's world, Dominoe's Diary ,Millie-Kate and Kiki!! 

The Rules

1.  Thank the person who nominated you and display the award on your post.
2. Answer the questions posted by the person who nominated you.
3.  Write 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate up to 11 other blogs with under 200 followers to answer a new list of questions you've come up with.
5. Inform the bloggers that you've nominated them.

My answers

I'm going to choose 11 of my favourite questions from the people who nominated me (Kiki's questions aren't included as she nominated me after the majority of this blogpost was already typed up).

Millie-Kate asked:

1. What do you order at Starbucks? Anything seasonal, I'm always sucked in by that gimmick.
2. Favourite youtuber? Essiebutton at the moment, particularly her vlog channel.
3. Favourite Disney film? Mary Poppins, definitely.

Hannah's world asked:

1. What is your least favourite subject at school? It was always that typical Maths/P.E. tie.
2. Favourite chocolate bar? Ooh that's difficult, Snickers I think.
3. Spring or Autumn? I can't choose, they both build up the excitement for Summer/Winter and they're both very beautiful, maybe Autumn? No I don't know.
4. What are you afraid of? So many things I don't know where to start, I'm very scaredy, 'What aren't you afraid of?' would probably be a shorter list.

Dominoe's Diary asked:

1. What's (was) your favourite subject at school? When I was younger I liked English and Art, when I was a bit older definitely history.
2. What's the first thing you do in the morning? Usually scroll through my social networks on my phone.
3. What would you do if you could turn back time? It depends on the limits of this time travel, I wouldn't want to change anything (that always goes disastrously wrong in movies) but there's lots of things in history I'd like to witness without being directly involved and with the option of being able to time travel back immediately.
4. Why did you start blogging? Its a fun and productive hobby, I love writing and blogging helps to improve it through regular practice and it can eventually offer you some really cool opportunities.

11 facts about me

1. I have double jointed fingers.
2. I have two cats and a dog.
3. My favourite film is Mary Poppins.
4. I've never been outside of Europe.
5. I've never broken a bone.
6. As a small child I had more imaginary friends than I could remember the names of and was in some kind of who-can-have-the-most-imaginary-friends competition with my friend.
7. I'm still close to that friend now.
8. I still read a Horrid Henry Christmas book every Christmas (Christmas traditions die hard).
9. I don't often paint my nails.
10. I cry easily.
11. I have a bath almost every evening when its cold.

My Nominees

http://littleworldofannahiya.blogspot.co.uk/

http://foodieguidetobeauty.blogspot.com

http://amindlessmagpie.blogspot.co.uk/

My Questions

1. Where would you most like to travel to?
2. What's your favourite smell?
3. What's your least favourite food?
4. Given the choice, would you travel to the past or the future?
5. What's you favourite sweet?
6. What book that you had to read for school did you most hate?
7. Cake or cookies?
8. What country are you from?
9. What's your favourite thing about autumn?
10. What do you waste the most money on?
11. Where would you most like to live?

Well, that took me longer than I thought it would, how can it be so difficult to think of 11 random facts about yourself? Oh well, at least I got a post up today. See you Tuesday (hopefully)!!

Eva xx

3 Recent Reads

Before we go into three recent reads, I'd like to give two quick apologies: 

1. I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to type up a blogpost in the past few days, I am trying to get this blog into a regular schedule and I'm sure we'll get there eventually.
2.  I'm also sorry about the photo on this post, I'm not happy with it but there's no daylight left to take another one by and I wanted to put this up today.

Now, as the three books I've read most recently have been so different, and as I enjoyed them all thoroughly, I thought I'd do some mini book reviews for you today. 

Marley and Me- John Grogan

I'd be surprised if you weren't familiar with the movie that was based on this book, but I didn't realise until I came across this worn out copy in a charity shop that it was based on a book at all. The book is a non-fiction reflection of, as the cover of my copy puts it 'life and love with the world's worst dog'. As an animal lover I enjoyed both the book and the film but preferred the book as it had a lot more personality and I would not consider it a sad book where I would consider it a sad film. As is often the case with film adaptations, I don't think the mood of the book really came out in the film.

Clockwork Angel- Cassandra Clare

This was the first in a series of 3, which I'm going to review as a whole. It has many of the qualities you might expect to find in Young Adult novels, its fun, addictive and romantic as well as being far from excellently written and faintly irritating. I believe I read the whole series in not much more than a week, particularly enjoying the setting of Victorian London and all the magic of the world the protagonist finds herself in. This is a great escapist novel and my main gripe upon finishing the series was that the first two novels were rather starved of romance while the third was almost sickeningly overflowing with it.

I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith

This is a slower read than either of the others mentioned. It follows the life of a 17 year old girl in the 1930's English countryside. It is a love story, but not a romantic one. Enough happens in it that even I, who have a tendency to give up on a book as soon as I become bored, read it to the end but not enough to take the focus away from the personality of the protagonist and the slow, simple mood of the novel. This is beautifully written and evoked a love of the countryside in me, every time I put it down I was full of the romance of the setting and wondering if there was any tumbling down castles up for sale nearby. 

I would love to know what you've been reading recently, my next post will be up ASAP.

Happy Halloween!!

Eva xx

The Best of the Cheapest: Blushes

 Top to bottom: Rimmel Stay Blushed (Sunkissed Cherry), Natural Collection Blushed Cheeks (Peach Melba), MUA Blusher (Bon Bon), 17 Blush Powder (China Pink)

When you’re on a budget its always good to buy the best thing you can get for the lowest price. With make up, it can be a bit hit and miss with some excellent quality, incredibly cheap products and also a few rubbish, ridiculously priced ones. So I thought I’d look at some of the very cheapest make up products and let you know what I’d recommend, starting with blushes.

Natural Collection blushed cheeks- £1.99

This blush in the shade Peach Melba seems to be something almost everyone owns and for good reason. It has a great formula and is a lovely subtle peach colour. Not as pigmented as the others in this list, but I’ve never felt it wasn’t pigmented enough. I like to wear this as part of a natural make up look or to keep the focus on dramatic eye make up.

Seventeen blush powder- £3.49

In China Pink, this is the only blush in this list with any shimmer in it as generally I prefer matte blushes. However, the shimmer is very slight and subtle and its a very pretty pink shade, again different from the peaches I usually opt for, I love the way this looks though, and its very good quality.

MUA Blusher- £1

Incredibly cheap and with a lovely smooth, pigmented formula. My favourite shade is Bon Bon. I honestly have nothing negative to say about these blushes and I also hear good things about the cream versions of these blushes, which I believe cost £2.50, though I am yet to try them.

Rimmel London Stay Blushed!- £4.49

Okay so this one is a little more expensive but as it’s my favourite blush at the moment I couldn't resist including it. This is in a smooth liquid formula and you only need a tiny amount as its so pigmented. The shade Sunkissed Cherry is a lovely peach colour and it lasts all day, what more could you want?

See you Thursday!

Eva x

12 Things to do on a Bad Day

So today I just woke up feeling awful, and didn’t feel like writing up a blog post. But having promised myself I would post at least every other day for a while, I decided I’d write something relevant to the situation. We all have bad days and I think the best thing to do, if at all possible, is to forget about whatever is stressing you out for a little while and spend as much time as you can spare doing something for yourself. Sometimes its therapeutic to sit around in your PJs eating ice cream, sometimes you feel better when you go out, or spend some time with your favourite people. Here’s a little list of things I do to make myself feel better on a bad day:

1. Take the dog for a walk somewhere pretty.
2. Take yourself for a walk somewhere pretty.
3. Have a bath- use that bath bomb you were saving (or is it just me who saves their favourite bath bombs for bad days?)
4. Eat your favourite food, eat lots of it.
5. Spend time with friends or family, watch movies, play board games, distract yourself with good company.
6. Go to your favourite coffee shop.
7. Make yourself the most elaborate hot chocolate you can find a recipe for.
8. Spend ages doing really amazing make up regardless of what you are doing with the rest of your day.
9. Bring your duvet to the living room and watch your favourite film or TV show.
10. Cuddle your pets.
11. Re-read a favourite book (I usually find romantic ones the most comforting)
12. Go shopping- buy yourself something you definitely don't need.

Anyway, I hope none of you had a bad day today, I'd love to know what you do to cheer yourself up when you do though. See you Tuesday!
Eva x

Curling Your Curl Hating Lashes

My lashes are pale, straight and point determinedly downwards. After years of curling them only to have the curl fall out almost immediately, I’ve searched more blog posts and youtube videos than I could count trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. This list of curling tips is basically a collection of the tips I learnt from my search. I think the key here is experimentation, everyone has very different eyelashes and very different ideas of how they want them to look so you have to play about with it a bit and find out what works for you.

The right mascara

In the UK at least, mascara is ridiculously expensive. Worse than that, you can’t test it and its hard to tell from reviews whether or not you would like it. For these reasons I hate buying mascara and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money looking for something that would hold the curl. I ended up with Maybelline Great Lash in the waterproof formula, its cheap, well reviewed and waterproof which is what everyone said would hold a curl. This works well for me (apart from being almost impossible to remove) and it definitely holds the curl where non-waterproof mascaras did not. However, for many people using a non-waterproof mascara holds the curl fine and you're also less likely to find a horrible and sticky or irremovable formula in a non-waterproof mascara.

The right method

The two methods I most commonly hear of are simply holding your lash curler down for a few seconds, or the working your way up the lash method, holding the curler down and then releasing it and moving it slightly further up the lash before repeating. For my particularly stubborn lashes, neither does any good. I have to get the curler as close to the root as I can get it (bear in mind this is not very close to the root at all) and hold it in place for a good deal of time, I’d say about 15 seconds. I have to curl it until it looks ridiculous and my lashes are pointing straight up and touching my eyebrows because it will then fall back into a good curl.

The right eyelash curler

This is the step I don’t know much about, my cheap eyelash curler (I can't even remember where it's from) has served me well enough and I don’t see how the curler you use could have much impact on how long the curl lasts. However, mine is a bit annoying to use and I’ve been wondering whether to invest in the shu uemura eyelash curler which seems to be the most highly recommended. Thoughts?

Autumn Favourites

We’re already more than half way through everyone’s favourite season. The jumpers are out, the leaves are falling and, thanks to my six year old sister, our house has been lovingly strewn with conkers. So, in between halloween preparations and attempts to drink as many Pumpkin Spice Lattes as is possibly excusable before the end of the season, I thought I’d run through a few beauty-type things I’ve been enjoying this past month and a half. Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick I bought the Rimmel Kate Moss matte lipstick in 107 fairly recently, and its the first one of the Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks I’ve owned, a bit late to that party, I know, but apart from being a little drying, it really has lived up to it’s reputation. The colour is gorgeous both when used lightly (quite a bright pink) and when built up a little more when it looks a lovely deep plum-red colour. I love a matte lip product because they don't tend to need reapplying every 5 minutes, I give this 7.5/10 for staying power and it tends to fade in a nice, non patchy way. MUA Ever After Palette My MUA ever after palette, which I’ve done a full review of here, has probably been used more in the last month than it has in the past 10 months I've owned it put together. Using it for everything from contouring to filling in brows to creating a subtle contoured eye look to go with statement autumnal lip colours in deep red or plum. While I’m not giving it full marks for pigmentation, you really can do a lot with it for under £5. Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow Maybelline colour tattoo cream eyeshadows are an all year round favourite to be honest. They're very pretty, last well and are really quick and easy to apply. 'On and on bronze' is my favourite shade, its super pigmented, super long lasting and looks twice as good as a powder eyeshadow would even without using an extortionately priced eyeshadow primer. The shade 'Metallic pomegranate' is a more recent purchase and its a very autumnal deep plum colour. Its not quite as pigmented or long lasting as on and on bronze but still does pretty well on both accounts. It is quite red toned so I'd avoid it if you're not into the whole reddish eye make up thing (there's definitely a solid 'it just makes your eyes look sore and tired' argument) but I think thi very pretty- particularly because of the contrasting gold shimmer running through it. Revlon Colorstay Foundation Last but not least, I'm starting to go back to thicker, cold weather foundations and have been using Revlon colorstay more often than anything else. It's a rare and beautiful thing when a drugstore foundation is actually pale enough for my skin tone (NW10 in mac) and this, in the shade '110 Ivory' is a really good match. It also lasts really well and gives a good coverage whilst still blending in to the skin well and not looking too cakey. I also love the natural finish it gives, its not matte or dewy but at just the right place in between. My one complaint, having bought the 'normal-dry' version of this foundation when my skin was going through a dry phase, is that for a foundation aimed at dry skin it clings horribly to dry patches, so if you have dry skin it may not be your best option.

How Else To Use Your MUA Matte Eyeshadow Palette

I’ve been reaching for this all matte palette from MUA (available at superdrug) more and more often recently. The pigmentation and general quality of the eyeshadow is about what you’d expect for £4- nothing spectacular, its not awful but if thats what you're looking for, I'd recommend spending a little more on a sleek palette (I believe they have a couple of all matte ones). Some shades are quite chalky and the lighter ones aren't pigmented enough to show up well when used as eyeshadow. However, this has been a favourite of mine for its multi-purpose functionality more than anything, making it a good bet if you’re on a budget. Here are 4 ways I've been using this palette recently: 

1. I use either the pale pink (taffeta) or pale yellow (butter) shade to colour correct under eye circles whilst also setting concealer, I tend to favour the pink but I couldn't tell you why, both work well and do not show up as yellow or pink on the skin when used this way.
2. The taupe shade (fade) works well as a contour shade for me as I'm so pale (NW10 in mac), its not too warm toned or pigmented enough to easily look over done and its in a nice big square pan so you can just about get a big enough brush in it.
3. I also use the shade ‘chino’ to fill in my brows sometimes, its nice and subtle and works well with my light brown/ a bit ginger eyebrows which is a plus as most pencils tend to look too obvious as they never seem to be a close enough colour.
4. I use mainly the brown shades as eyeshadow, particularly 'fade', 'penny' and 'chino.' With a decent eyeshadow primer (I’m currently using too faced shadow insurance) these work quite nicely as subtle matte eyeshadows, I've been using them for a simple contoured look on my eyes while I’m wearing a dark autumnal lip colour.

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