Hello Winter + Aviator Jacket

A bit of a clothes haul for you today which I think is my first? But I got paid on Friday so thought I'd treat myself to some new things :)

H&M Aviator Jacket - £24.99

Possibly the biggest bargain all year? Crazily difficult to get hold of (they sold out on the website in under an hour I think) so if you see it, grab it!

Boots from New Look, Heels from Primark

New Look currently have 20% student discount, not sure until when but it's not for long so get down there! As you can see I love my neutrals and my *ahem* sensible shoes

 H&M 3 Way Dress £24.99

Can I just say, I am IN love with H&M's current collection! They've got some amazing pieces that rival Topshop's for a quarter of the price. Trust me, this dress does not look £25. The material is amazing and I also love the way it can be worn with both straps, one shouldered, or strapless. Amazing, super flattering, it's just a shame I wore it to my friend's 18th and accidentally spilt my drink down it. Woops.

Have you picked up any bargains lately?

Love Sophie xx

My Most Used Brushes

Morning lovely ladies!

I was thinking yesterday, I really do only use a few of my brushes. I decided to leave out my MAC ones, as great as they are I think it's nice to show a few alternatives which are just as good if not better. These are the brushes I can't live without, followed with a little about each one

ELF Professional Eyeshadow Brush - £1.50

 It's a bit scratchy and not good at defining but it's perfect at giving a wash of colour and that's why I love it! It's also lasted me a very long time and it's really cheap

  Boots No.7 Eyeshadow Blend & Contour Brush - £6.50

Can you believe I bought this, then received the £5 off voucher? That must be a first! Absolutely amazing brush, good dupe for a MAC 217. Really good at getting into the crease, not so good at providing a wash of colour, but hey that's what my ELF is for ;)

H&M Angled Contouring Brush - around £2

This brush has lasted me a good year or so, and I think some H&M branches still sell it in the make up area. Amazing brush, really good for contouring but I also love it for blusher. Gives my face definition and I love love love it. I don't know how people can live without one of these types of brushes

Topshop Eyeliner Brush - £3

 When I saw this brush I thought to myself I am not going to buy this if it costs more than £6. So to see it for only £3 I was ecstatic. Such a good brush, it's sturdy, the bristles don't bend at all and it can be used for thin lines, thick lines, wings and for creating the thinnest line in the inner corner of your eye. I will ensure that I have this brush with me for the rest of my life!

What are your staple brushes?

Love Sophie xx

Loves And Hates of June

Wow can you believe we're past halfway through the year? Me neither! Anyways, let me introduce you to my first ever Loves and Hates of the month!

Loves

 The Body Shop Body Butter in Passionfruit. I bought this for £4.50 (including Membership Discount) because at the moment selected 200ml Body Butters are only £5 (they're normally £12.50!) This is so delicious and I just want to eat it up

Collection 2000's mineral foundation. This is my first ever mineral foundation and I think for the summer, I'm converted. This is such a lovely formulation and I am a freckled faced girl (and no, I don't like them) and whilst this doesn't cover them it does blur them so I'm left looking like I've been photoshopped, it really does make your face look flawless and glowing. Love it!

Cutting up men's tshirts :) Now I love a baggy tshirt, but they really are pretty much impossible to find. Primark has a few, but they always practically see-through and show your bra and they're always not quite right. Everywhere else just seems to have 'stretch' tshirts. I don't want fabric clinging to me in the middle of Summer! So I bought these two t-shirts from H&M for Men, and cut the neck off. The striped one was £2.99 and the nude behind was £3.99. I wear them off the shoulder and you can't see my bra through them, perfect!

Vintage-style handbags. Now I have quite a few of these and this is my newest addition, which went shopping with me today in Oxford Street :) I bought this off Laura's blog sale and it was a bargain and it has so many pockets!

Mixing lip colours. I've always loved doing this, I think I'm one of those people that can't stop when it comes to make up! This is Gosh Darling mixed with Revlon Colorburst in Coral. A lot of people say they find coral difficult to wear and whilst I think that this coral is very wearable, dabbing it over the top of Gosh Darling (or any other nude) gives you a subtle lip colour that isn't your average pink, yet it still remains not too out there!

Hates

Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Tutti Fruity. Now don't get me wrong I usually love these nail varnishes, but this one is just terrible. The colour is lovely yes, but it chips like nobody's business and it bubbles. Yes, bubbles. I currently have bumpy chipped nails, it really isn't a good look.

These two glosses I have to admit, I got free as at Boots and Superdrug at the moment you get one free when you spend over £4, but I still can't love them. The best thing about them is their names, but apart from that, they last a matter of seconds, they taste disgusting and no matter which one you use they all look the same colour. 

Topshop Liner. You can read my full review of Topshop make up here, and if you've read it already you'll know I hate it. This liner is SO bad it's so difficult to use and the liner is terrible, really thin and yuck. The only thing I use this for is dipped in MAC Fluidline when I can't find my eyeliner brush but apart from that it's no use and I will never buy it again.

Benefit Bad Gal. You can read my Benefit Rant here and my speedy review of this here, I take it back, this liner is not fab and I would never ever buy this. It is a complete waste of money as it just doesn't do what it says it will and it doesn't last on your waterline, or anywhere else for that matter!

Hope you enjoyed reading this, sorry it was quite long, are you loving/hating any of these products?

Sophie xx

Contouring with a BLUSHER?

Ok to be fair, it's not really a blusher as such. Ok well it is considering it's a MAC Powder Blush but it's not really an apply-on-your-apples kinda blush for me. I bought it in shade Harmony (Matte) because it has absolutely NO sparkly bits, and personally I think sparkles are better for blushers (the apply-on-your-apples kind), highlighters and bronzers. It doesn't dry my skin out despite being a powder, and powders usually have that effect on me.

So this is what it looks like (that's the H&M angled face brush, I think it cost something silly like £2.99 and I bought it in the Kingston store)

And this is my super speedy not so great application for you;

Bear in mind this is after a looong day at work so my foundation/blusher is pretty much non-existant. The way i achieved this was using this kind of motion

Don't forget to pop back later to see what else I have to babble on about, and you know if you let me know you're reading it'll make my day :D

Sophie x