MIXING THE METALS

Ask me a few years ago, and I would have claimed rose gold to be my favourite type of jewellery. I then moved onto gold, then more recently silver, then onto both gold and silver. What? Mixing metals has been a new thing for me and I actually have been enjoying it. I know a lot of people hate the clash between gold and silver but I really like the contrast. 

What got me into this is the larger necklace from Primark. It cost a mere £1.50, so isn't the best quality but the concept is what I love. The gold 'v' is about as statement as you will see from me when it comes to jewellery, but it's pretty thin and dainty, and what I personally like is the thin contrasting silver chain. In terms of necklaces I also have some more subtle options, and I have a selection of gold ones from Forever 21 that I sometimes wear at once, or wear one with this silver knot necklace from H&M. 

In terms of rings, I have quite the collection, as I tend to go a little bit mad in the sale section of H&M, and pick up a good four packs at a time - especially when my older ones are looking a little worse for wear (I don't have the money to invest in pricey rings). I like either really thick, bold rings or very thin dainty ones, and at the moment I have a good mix of the two, in gold and silver, both midi and regular in size. I love wearing rings, because I have quite short stubby fingers almost and I really dislike my bare hands, however when I wear lots of rings they look far more elegant. 

Do you love or hate the mixed metal look?

KYLIE JENNER ESQUE LIPS #2

Whether Kylie's lips are a thing of the past or a still circulating in the media, the Jenner sister's lips are a long lasting favourite to me. I did one post a while back on my recreation of the overdrawn, brown-pink nude lip and it still stands as my post popular post, and you can view that here. It focused on high end products, and the lip liner is now a stub and I've lost the lipstick, so I've been searching for a drugstore alternative for quite some time now, and I think I've got it.

While at the Essence counter I was overwhelmed by the cheap pricing, as well as the range of products, and began to hunt through the lip products immediately (I also got a rather good liner pen). The first is the Lipliner in 11 In The Nude, a creamy yet matte liner that is not drying but long lasting. The best part? It cost £1.00 and is pretty much the Kylie Jenner lip shade, I recon you could rock this alone and have the look nailed for a quid.

For a lipstick, this isn't as matte as I wanted but it isn't glossy by any means, and is the shade 05 Cool Nude - rather self explanatory in colour. I think alone is is slightly too pink for the Kylie look, but because the lip liner is quite brown it seems to level out and give a pretty good colour.

I can tell this is going to be my new lip combination for everyday wear, and it's such a universal look it goes with pretty much any look.

THE BUDGET BROW DISCOVERY

My usual brow products were coming to an end and I didn't really want to repurchase them as they weren't very accessible. For me, brow products are hard to find because my brows are so ashy naturally and a little darker than my hair colour and I find that a lot of brown pencils/shadows/products are too dark or too red and they make me look ridiculous.

I was reading a blog post and someone mentioned using the Maybelline 24HR Colour Tattoo in Permanent Taupe as a brow product, so instantly I went an purchased it, because its inexpensive and I had wanted it as a cream shadow for a while. What makes it suitable for my brows is the fact that its a lot more grey/cool toned than other products and its really long wearing because it sets, meaning I had no fears of it smudging. I think since the Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade became well known its a little less scary for people to be faced with a gel or a cream brow product, because I certainly wouldn't have ever considered this before.

I used my Real Techniques Eyeliner Brush to do small strokes and emphasise the arch of my brow and I love how they came out. You do have to be light handed as it is rather intense packed on so I literally dip my brush into the slightest amount of product. I also love this cream shadow as an eye product on its own or as a base, and it actually works nicely as a contour if you are really careful with it as it mimics a shadow rather well under the cheekbone, and I've actually got it on all three areas in the photo above.

Have you tried this for brows, or do you have any multipurpose favourites?

SUNGLASSES SEASON

Perhaps a little typically British of me, but as soon as a hint of sun shows I go mad for sunglasses, rooting through my old collection as well as picking up some new ones. I am the type of person that leaves them lying around in the car or in the bottom of my bag and they end up looking tatty, so cheap and cheerful options are always what I go for, and I hit the jackpot with these £1.50 pair from Primark. They're oversized, but for once I don't look like some sort of bug.

What I like about these is the balance between them being square and slightly cat eyed at the edges, as they don't look too heavy and harsh on my face that is rather small. Sunglasses are one of the things I find hard to suit me, they are either too big, too small, too square or too round, and it is rare I find a good pair for me, especially in Primark where some of them look too plastic and cheap.

These also have a thick, shiny rim around them which I quite like, and I'm surprised at how fashionable these sunglasses actually look, and the seem sort of Céline to me, of course not quite matching the style, price and brand, but it must just be the classic style to them that does it for me. I'm hoping the sun sticks around, because I'm itching to wear these more.

MAC MALT EYESHADOW

Back when I started blogging, I was all about the shimmer eyeshadows, and my Naked 2 palette was the one thing I swore by for looks (I still love it to this day), but I've started to delve more into the matte side of things, yet still being able to get some killer looks going on.

MAC Malt was a shadow my mum chose for me for Christmas, and wasn't one I had asked for nor considered before at the stands, but she chose well. The picture doesn't show it too well, but it's quite a pink fleshy nude, that when built up has a taupe/mauve sort of look to it. I really like the colour despite it being really simple, and it's become a stand out in my collection.

I like to use this in the crease for some slight crease definition or as a transition shade, but it also works really well all over the lid with a slick of black liner for a really simple eye, kind of reminding me of something Kylie Jenner would go for.

This shadow may be what is getting me so into mattes now, and I've got an itching to buy more...