Naked Palette 3 || Review

I'm a little late to jump on the Urban Decay Naked 3 bandwagon... But what can you expect from a broke student?! 

I recently won the first stages of a local style competition. Round two commences tomorrow! For some reason, I find it really embarrassing that I won...

Anyway, the prize was a £100 gift voucher for the shopping centre. Naturally, the first thing I bought was the Naked 3 palette. Eek!

I've had a little bit of time to play around with it and by "play around", I mean I've tried two make-up looks and basically just stuck to them.

This palette costs £37.00, just like the other two Naked palettes. You get 12 brand new full-sized eye shadows. I love the fact that all the colours are new. You also get a double ended brush which has a flat shader on one side and blending brush on the other. I love that both the brush and the case are kinda rose gold themselves. The case is made from some kind of metal. I actually prefer this packaging to the original Naked palette.

 Look how wonderfully rosy they are! 

You also get four free samples of the Urban Decay eye shadow Primer Potions. The first one you get is the original and it's probably my favourite because it's invisible once on.  The next one is called Eden and this one is a nude matte shade. Again, really nice. The next two I haven't actually tried yet. One is called Sin which apparently has a hint of shimmer and the last one is Anti-ageing which does what it says. Each sample comes in a little pod and has a few weeks worth of primer in each.

If I'm honest, It took me a while to get into it. I fell in love with the original Naked palette instantly and I thought it would be the same with this one. Before I owned it, I wanted it so much. I love how all the colours are kind of rose gold or a taupe-y or mauve-y version of rose gold. Even the darkest shade, Blackheart, has little red flecks in it which I think is a lovely touch. But when I actually went to use the palette for the first time, I found that I didn't really know what to do with the colours. I wasn't sure which to mix to get certain looks. 

After playing around for a while, I have realised that I love this palette just as much as I thought I would. I have quite green eyes so pinky shades really make my eyes pop. I also love the smoothness of the shadows and the fact that they are all really pigmented - something that I think is a common thread in all Urban Decay eye-shadows.

The first four shades:

The first colour in the palette is called "Strange". I presume most people use it to highlight their brow bones and maybe the inner corners of the eye which is exactly how I use it. I really like this colour. It's possibly my favourite brow bone highlighter ever. At first glance, it looks matte but it actually has a really light shimmer to it which I think is so beautiful. It's kind of an ivory shade but has a very slight pinky tone to it once applied.

The second colour is "Dust". It's a light, metallic, glittery pink. Super girly. The glitter is kind of big and you can really see the glitter chunks.. "Glitter chunks" - I come up with some weird phrases.

The third colour is "Burnout" and it's a satin pink colour. Not quite as pink as Dust but I actually prefer this colour and I'm wearing it in the corners of my eyes right now. It is a perfect shade for wearing all over the lid though.

Next we have "Limit" which is one of the two matte shades in the palette. I absolutely love this colour. It's a light dusty rose and it's prefect as a blending/transition colour in the crease.

The next five colours:

The fifth colour in the palette is "Buzz". This is a metallic rose shade with little bits of silver glitter. Super pretty and super pink.

Next is "Trick". For me, this is THE rose gold colour in the palette - it's metallic and beautiful.

The next colour is the second matte shadow and it's called "Nooner". This is my favourite colour in the palette. It works perfectly in the crease and is a dusky, mauve-y kinda colour. I sometimes like to use this on my lower lash line too.

The eighth colour is called "Liar" and it's a metallic mauve shade with a rosy shimmer.

"Factory" is the next colour and it's a satin brown. Really pretty and easy to pack onto your lids.

The final three shadows:

The tenth colour is "Mugshot". It's like a metallic taupe. I love this colour - I've been using it loads.

"Darkside" is the next colour and this is a satin grey taupe with a rosy hint to it. I love this for the outer corners of the eye. 

The final shade is "Blackheart" and this is black with little pink or red sparkles. I can't quite tell! Either way, it's perfect for creating a smokey eye but the pink/red glitter "chunks" make it just that little bit softer. I actually feel like this is something you could wear in the day quite easily.

Overall, I love how unique this palette is. It's completely different to the other two Naked palettes.

I hope at least one person finds this review useful!

Stressed Out || University Troubles

Twitter has received its fair share of my ramblings. I now turn to you, blog...

The end of the current academic year is quickly approaching.  

As a little girl, I always dreamt of going to university. In fact, I used to think I wouldn't go to uni until I had an A-level in every course possible. Then I wanted to get five degrees. Yep. I know. I didn't understand how the whole education system works.

The hard work? I expected that. But the staying at university over the holidays? I didn't expect that. At all.

All this time that I am spending in my digs over both the Christmas and Easter holidays is costing me a BOMB. I can't afford to support myself at all but my workload is so big that I can't go home. Sucks, huh?

Those closest to me know that I get stressed quite easily. I often lose my head over the tiniest details - so can you imagine how I feel when THIS is my to-do list:

1. Finalise A3 double page newspaper spread
2. Finalise A4 page for Fringe magazine 
3. Complete 4000 word portfolio with news stories about courts and councils
4. Fill in a contact and story development sheet for every piece of copy I write
5. Write 1000 word evaluation to accompany the C+C portfolio
6. Interview a busker (having no luck so far... A Big Issue vendor is my back up)
7. Write up 1000-1200 word feature about busker (or Big Issue vendor) 
8. Get 6-10 other interviews with people relevant to the busking story (or Big Issue)
9. Go to play area opening on April 26 and get vox pops
10. Edit all audio from the event above
11. Write a story to accompany it
12. Add points 6-11 to my 6000 word Journalism in Practice portfolio
13. Fill in story development and contact sheet for both
14. Practice shorthand for 100wpm exam
15. Revise for public affairs NCTJ exam
16. Revise for the business of magazines NCTJ exam
17. Begin my 1500 word magazine features portfolio and submit all work to real magazines for publishing

On top of that, I have a production journalism NCTJ exam and a reporting NCTJ exam (can't revise for either, thank God). Oh, and I also HAVE to find work experience for 3 weeks this summer.

It could be said that I am on a pretty demanding course...

Over the past three days, I have managed to complete numbers 1 to 5. Yep. That is it. 

And it isn't just my goddamn journalism dreams that are causing all this stress.

My Klumsy Karma has kicked in. 

Yes, I know that is spelt wrong - but alliteration is so worth looking like you can't spell.

Everything is going wrong at the moment. I keep accidentally hurting myself or knocking things over or burning my boyfriend's towel... Or spilling tea on his bed. Or kicking his straighteners. Or spilling lemon juice all over his toilet roll supply.

Oh gosh. I'm a terrible girlfriend!

And he is a saint, clearly!

He has a calming effect on me but I have spent so much time with him lately that I actually feel sorry for him! I can get pretty stubborn and my mood can completely flip in an instant, but he is persistent and manages to pull me out the other side with only a few scrapes and bruises.

*Shudders*

"Scrape"

ew.

I can't stand being clumsy. I get so angry and upset with myself.

I could rant on forever about my money situation, but I'm not going to say anything more than: "Where is my overdraft going?!"

Honestly? I really don't know what to do at the moment. I guess I'm just hoping I make it out alive!

Maybe those Kalms mum sent will come in handy...

God, I hope so!

Style Crush Thursday || #2

Second week of showing you guys who my current style inspiration is... But this time, I've changed the name to "Style Crush" instead of "Style Inspo".

This post was supposed to go up last week but apparently I can't work the "Schedule" button sooo...

 In fact, on Saturday, I had my photo taken for a local style competition in town. I looked a mess that day so I know I won't win but it was nice to be recognised! 

So this week, my style crush is...

Claire Boucher also known as Grimes!

If there is anyone that can walk around with randomly bleached hair, a fringe cut just a little too short and totally get away with it, it's Grimes. 

The 26-year-old Canadian is a producer, artist, musician, singer-songwriter and music video editor. Super talented, right? And her style is completely unique. We see girls everywhere adopting a similar grunge style with their hair, make-up and clothing - and it's a look I adore! But Boucher takes it to a whole new level.

I almost feel like someone has pulled her out of one of those retro polaroids on Tumblr.

Her music is not necessarily "grunge" though, despite her appearance. I can't quite put her in a bracket, which is something else I love about Boucher. Even her music is completely unique and a style which she likes to call "ADD music" as it shifts frequently and dramatically.

To me, Grimes' music is almost a pop experiment.

As you can probably tell, I love pretty much everything about her. 

And look.........

She was rocking black fingers way before Lorde!

Here is one of the popular songs by Grimes... Hope you enjoy and appreciate her talent (and of course, style!).

Lush - The Comforter Bubble Bar Review

A few weeks ago, I received a box full of complimentary goodies from Lush and I put up an unboxing post. It was very brief and I promised I would review each item after I have tried them.

So far, I have only tested out two items and I will blog about one of them tomorrow. The product I want to quickly talk about today is The Comforter Bubble Bar. 

Here are the facts:

☮ It contains 7 natural ingredients and 6 safe synthetics

☮ None of the ingredients have been tested on animals

☮ It's vegan

☮ To use, break off a piece and crumble in your hand under hot water

☮ 1 bar costs £4.50

My experience?

Unfortunately, I jumped into using it and didn't take a photo beforehand. Sorry!

Well, the first thing I noticed about this product was the smell. It has a sweet blackcurrant scent but it definitely isn't too overpowering. As you can see from the image above, I used about a third of it for my bath. Lush recommend you use half of it but I honestly think that a third is enough. 

See for yourself (please ignore the grimy tiles and bath handles - it is my bf's uni house. We cleaned it, promise!):

The bath water turned a lovely rosy pink and it smelt so dreamy. My muscles and limbs felt brand new afterwards!

I'm not a bath person. I usually feel as though my lungs are closing up and I'm soaking in my own dirt. But I thoroughly enjoyed this particular bath. In fact, I bought a bottle of Radox bubble bath shortly afterwards! Well done, Lush. 

The best part? My skin didn't react at all to this product. Though, I am currently recovering from an all-over face rash after using a Clarins moisturiser twice... Nightmare.

The one thing I have to moan about is the cost. £4.50 for three baths (or two baths if you follow the recommendations)? No, thank you. I'm a student and I cannot afford that. It would make a nice little gift for someone at Christmas or on their birthday but unless I was a member of the Made In Chelsea cast, I could not justify spending £1.50 each time I wanted to bathe.

I wouldn't go as far as to say I love this product but I did really enjoy using it. I still have one bath's worth of bubbles left which I'm saving for after my uni deadline day. Out of 10, I'd probably rate this a 5. The cost really ruined it for me and because of this reason, and this reason alone, I will not be buying it in the future. However, I would recommend trying it at least once. Perfect for a pamper evening!

Thank you, Lush! ☮

Style Inspo Thursday

I have had so many blogs in the past. Most of them were ranting blogs with a touch of fashion. This blog has taken more of a beauty angle. This was not by choice but I'm loving it so far! 

Anyway, I've come up with a new idea which I will hopefully think of a better name for by next week. 

Each Thursday, I am going to post my current style icon. 

This could be a celebrity, my best friend or even someone off the street or internet.

So to kick start it all, here is Joan Jett!

Back in 2010, I saw Green Day at the Lancashire County Cricket Ground. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts supported. She came out in a black, leather-look catsuit with a low v-neck and a belt around her hips. She had no bra on and her stage presence was brilliant - she was incredible. This was the day that I completely fell in love with her style and her (see below).

I don't think there are many women out there that can carry the outfits Jett wears - 'cept maybe Kristen Stewart in film "The Runaways"! I love her hair and minimal yet completely perfect makeup.

Anyone else get a kind of Sandy at the end of Grease feel from the last photo? 

I won't bombard you with too many photos, but here is probably one of her most famous songs for you guys to enjoy...

I love Britney, but no one should cover this song. 

And please appreciate how amazing she looks all in red!

LUSH Haul/Unbox

After a 9am-5pm day of being chief sub-editor for the StaffsLive pages at uni, I was greeted at home by this...

Eek!

I can already smell it...

I don't shop at LUSH often. When I do, it will always be done online, despite having a store in my local shopping centre. The smell always gives me a headache so I never ever browse in there. The one time that I decided to actually go into the store and have a look around, I managed to (slightly) damage my phone. Typical, huh? 

I reached up for a product that was just above my eye level and pulled it off the shelf to read the label on the side. Unbeknown to me, the Marilyn hair treatment had no lid and had started pouring onto my phone that I had placed on the countertop. It was only when my fingers started to feel cold that I realised my phone had been engulfed in the yellow, gloopy treatment! 

The staff were incredibly helpful, but my phone speaker was no longer working so I could not make any calls (as a journalist, this is a bit of a nightmare). In a bit of a rage, I took to Twitter to cool down and have a little rant. I know this isn't the store's fault and any LUSH addict (and I know there are a lot of you out there!) will know that LUSH don't provide lids for any of their testers. Obviously, I wasn't aware of this policy.

The LUSH Twitter team advised that I email them the specifics of what happened. At this point, my phone speaker had improved (I made sure I told them this) and I was very polite in the email. Worse things could have happened, I am sure! 

I received a response saying they had spoken to my local store and were sending me a  parcel of complimentary goodies! 

Lovely!

So, the box arrived... The huge box.

Inside the box was...

Millions of polystyrene Wotsits ("Wotsits" are crisps, for those who are unsure). 

Under this was...

OOH! Two beautiful boxes - one labelled "Hello Gorgeous" and the other "Shiny Happy People"... 

*Que R.E.M*

Shiny happy people holding haaaaands... 

*ahem* Anyway... 

I love the way these boxes are decorated. 

The Shiny Happy People box came wrapped in yellow, floral embossed paper, secured with a yellow ribbon. Once I had carefully peeled this off, I was left with another brown box filled with the Wotsits! But under said Wotsits...

From left to right:

50g Mini Buffy Body Butter

100g Happy Happy Shower Gel

100g Bohemian Soap

In the Hello Gorgeous box...

From left to right on the back row:

100g Vanilla Dee-Lite Body Moisturiser

200g The Comforter Bubble Bar

130g Rub Rub Shower Scrub

From left to right on the front row:

Think Pink Bath Ballistic

10g Gorgeous Trial Size Facial Moisturiser

Everything smells like a toned down version of the shop - which is incredible! I love the smell of LUSH, but the shops themselves are too strong.

Again, iPhone photography! Sorry! 

I have not tried any of these products out yet but I will be sure to post about each one as I try them! 

Thank you to LUSH for my complimentary goodies! <3 

Very generous!