My "No Makeup" Makeup Look

While I do wear a full-face of makeup for my days at work (That's what you get for working at a place that sells makeup), I much prefer to keep it super simple during the weekends. This is also the perfect Back To School look, because it's super simple and natural. All you need is these five simple items:

1. A Base
The best base for those "No Makeup" days? A BB cream. I have become so obsessed with my Garnier BB Cream, and I really want to try some other ones. You really feel like your skin can breathe with a BB cream, since it's so much lighter than a foundation. Plus, there's so many options out there - colour correction, blurring, etc - you'll have a BB cream for everything.

2. A concealer
Bobbi Brown said that if she could only use two makeup products, it would be a colour corrector and a concealer, and I have to agree. As long as I can get rid of my redness and the dark circles under my eyes, I look pretty decent. Right now, my favourite concealer is the Collection Long Lasting Concealer. It's very creamy, but doesn't settle into lines too much. Plus, I have yet to find a better coverage (but then again I haven't tried the one from NARS yet).

3. Eyeliner
Whether it's a simple wing with my liquid eyeliner, or just doing my tight line with a pencil one, eyeliner makes your eyes pop and generally only takes a few second to apply. There are even days where I might just skip the eyeliner all together because step #4 is what really makes your eyes look more awake.

4. Mascara (and a lash curler)
Once your lashes are long and voluminous, you already look so much better. It makes you look more awake and puts the focus on your natural eyes. My favourite mascaras right now are Benefit's They Real, the Body Shop's Super Volume Mascara, and Rimmel's Scandaleyes Mascara.

5. A tinted lip balm/Lipstick/Lip Gloss
Whatever your preference is, as long as you've got your own MLBB (my lips but better) product, then you're set. I don't like to go for a bold lips when the rest of my makeup is so simple, so instead I used this lip crayon (the best mix between a balm and a lipstick) which is easy to apply and gives your lips a nice wash of colour.

And here's a bonus pictures of the look for glasses!
What are your must-have products for a bare face?
Do you ever go makeup-free, or "makeup" makeup-free?

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Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic

I've always loved Lush products, and for the longest time I really wanted to try their masks. They always look like they would work really well, and nothing feels better than a good mask. It's the perfect add-on to a pamper evening. I recently stopped into Lush and treated myself to the Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask, which is made from blueberries (the best fruit in the world). It's a cleansing mask that will soothe redness, irritation and leave your skin feeling super clean. 

It retails for £6.25, and you'll probably get a few uses out of it. The boyfriend and I have used it once, and our tub is still pretty full. You leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes, and then simply rinse it off. It hardens slightly on your skin, but leaves it feeling so smooth and clean. I really enjoyed the feeling of this mask, plus I love that it has so many good ingredients. The blueberries are full of antioxidants, like Vitamin A, C, and E. It's moisturising and soothing, the perfect mask for a quiet evening.

Have you tried any masks from Lush?
Any recommendations as to which one I should get next?

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What's In My Makeup Bag: Country Break Edition

I am currently writing this from Johnston, Wales, the quaint little town where the boyfriend is from. We've taking a little break from Birmingham and have come up here for a few days until Sunday evening. As I packed for this 5-day break away from the city, I tried to reduce my makeup bag to the bare essentials - a good practice run before our week-long holiday in Spain in September. After all, you don't want to take too much makeup when you're away, right?

Moda Exhibition

I managed to snag two visitors tickets to the Moda exhibition. It's the biggest UK trade show, showcasing over 1450 brands and their newest collection for the next year. As it is a trade show, you can't purchase anything, only visit. Plus, everything is being sold at a super low price, since stores then sell it at the RRP which is usually a lot higher. For example, I saw a beautiful beaded dress price at £30, but it's RRP was £80! How crazy is that? It makes you realize how much the things you buy might actually be worth when initially both in large quantities by a certain store. Click below to see more since there are a lot of pictures!

Giraffe

A few weeks back, the boyfriend and I tried out another restaurant in Touchwood. We went to Giraffe, mainly because it has a really funky name, and a really varied menu. You've got pasta, burgers, steaks, salads, etc. Plus, they had a great deal on cocktails, which is always a plus. It's a really affordable place for a date night, and just two steps away from the cinema (a plus in my world). The staff was so friendly and attentive, I really liked the service. The ambience was very relaxed, as you can tell from the original decor they've got going on. Click below to see what we ate!

Caramelised Chicken

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe, eh? To be honest, half the time I try to cook something new, I'm too overwhelmed to even think about taking pictures. Plus, I'm the messiest cook in the world, so I'd be a bit ashamed to take pictures of my horrific kitchen. Still, I managed to snag a few pictures of my latest, favourite recipe which is Caramelized Chicken. I got it from Home at 7, Dinner at 8, which was featured in my last FAVOURITES, and the boyfriend and I are obsessed.

Topshop Summer Haul

I wanted to pick up a few pieces before my holiday to Spain, since I didn't actually bring too many summer clothes with me to the UK. Who knew we would be having a heatwave? All I packed up before moving were sweaters and jeans, expecting that would be perfect for rainy England. I wanted to get some basics that would be good for me all year round, but that would extremely good in sunny Spain weather. I settled on three new pieces (ignore the floral shorts above, they were just a matter of creating symmetry) from Topshop.

Garnier BB Cream

Ever since the whole BB cream trend started, I wasn't buying it. What does BB even mean? Apparently, it can stand for "blemish balm" or "beauty balm", depending on the actual benefits of the product. Plus, I didn't really see the need for it because I'm always going for a high coverage foundation. But you know what? There are days when you don't want to cake your face with makeup, but you still want to look presentable. Enter the Garnier BB Cream. I initially heard about this on Casey Holmes' Youtube channel. She's always mentioning this BB cream over any other, and has said it works really well on oily-skinned girls too. Well, I have been completely won over.

The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil Body Butter

#1 perk of working at The Body Shop? Probably the freebies. #2 perk? Freebies of products that haven't been released yet! I was kindly gifted a tub of Wild Argan Oil Body Butter which is part of the Argan Oil range launching in early August. It's made with fair trade argan oil from Morocco, and apparently argan oil is also known as "liquid gold". How crazy is that?