The Notes: Neutral Nails

I wouldn't say that I've always been a lover of nude-y nails. I'm more of a fan of a strong red or Essie's Mint Candy Apple, but lately I've been having a love affair with many a basic colour. From greys to pinks to an actual nude, these natural shades have been on rotation on my tips these past few weeks.

My favourite pick has to be Nails Inc Porchester Square. This polish featured heavily in my January Beauty Favourites, and did me proud when I went for a job interview the other day. Perfect formula, great natural and sophisticated shade, and awesome longevity. Definitely making its way up the MC chart for best ever polish.

Next up is a similar shade, from a favourite brand of mine - OPI's nail lacquer in Berlin There Done That. Another grey toned neutral colour, with just as great lasting time, but with a hint of taupe in there to spice things up a bit. Great to throw on for work or an evening out.

Another natural OPI love of mine is Tickle my France-y. This one is a slightly more pinky-toned neutral shade, but still with that lovely subtlety and sophistication that can only come from an unfussy, not-in-your-face colour. This is the one I reach for when I'm not in the mood for anything on my tips, or I can't decide which polish I want for the week.

Essie's offering is next, in the shade Chinchilly. Essie have many great neutral shades to choose from, but I went for something more taupe-y, to silence my more colourful side, which was begging me to hit up yet another red. Another great one for a classy look, perfect for work, and as with all Essie polishes, a cracking formula.

Last up in the neutral nails is the Max Factor Glossfinity in Desert Sand. The perfect barely-there shade, with a high gloss finish and unostentatious result. This is a great one for those who hate bright colours, or really any colour at all. A your nails but better colour, which can be built up for the perfect nude, the formula for this polish is beaut. I'm yet to try any other shades in this range, but I'm pretty impressed with the 4 days I went chip-free with this on last week.

So thats the neutral shades that have been top of my collection lately. Any that I'm missing that need to make their way into my collection?

Love
Meg xx

The Product: Prime Time

What is a primer? This is probably the question that the majority of women want answered the most when it comes to make up. From my experience, primers are a product you use before applying your foundation or eyeshadow, in order to prep the skin and create a barrier between the skin and your make up. 

Skin Primers:

Primers for your base are a great way to even out your skin tone and create a flawless base for your foundation to sit upon. There are many different types, and while you don't necessarily need a primer, I think they are a good idea to keep your make up lasting all day, especially in hot weather. I use an array of primers (as you can tell) depending on how my skin is feeling at the time. If it is feeling rather tight and in need of hydration, the Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer is great for  adding extra moisture and smoothing out the skin before applying foundation. However, this is a bit too heavy for when my skin is mid breakout, or rather oily. The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser is the perfect primer for blemished skin, as the tea tree elements soothe and fight any spots or breakouts the occur. Benefit's Porefessional is also great for this, as, like the title suggests, it acts to even out pores and create a silky base. However, this is not the best if your skin is too dry, as I found it tends to flake a little and cling to any dry patches - but its perfect for combination/oily skin types. My favourite ever primer is the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. Smashbox have an infamous collection of primers for all skin types and dilemmas, but my favourite has, and always will be, the original Photo Finish. It glides on to the skin, creating a silky and soft effect, which acts as the perfect base for any foundation. My only problem is, that at £25 for a full sized bottle, it doesn't come cheap when being worn every day.

Eye Primers: 

Eye primers effectively work in the exact same way as skin primers. They enhance your eyeshadow and keep it lasting all day (and all night). My favourite primer for under my eyeshadow is the Urban Decay Primer Potion, which goes on the lid to create an invisible base on which shadows can sit, crease free, for an entire day. I love this primer, especially teamed with the Urban Decay shadows (I'm a huge fan of their Naked palettes). I also love the offering from Benefit - Stay Don't Stray, which can be used under the eyes to keep your concealer lasting, as well as on the lid to enhance the shadow colour. BareMinerals' Prime Time is another great eye primer, and only the tiniest amount is needed to blend onto the lids and keep any colour in place. I've had my bottle for well over a year now, and it is still going strong! This BellaPierre primer originally came as a base for their accompanying pigments, which I got in a set last year. However after testing it out, I found that it works equally as well under normal powder shadows to create a lasting matte effect - its also waterproof, which is always a bonus!

So there we have it! My take on all things primer-y. What primer do you use? Is there any great primers that I need to add to my collection?

Love
Meg xx

The Review: Lola Liquid Concealer

Lola is a brand that I had never heard of before. But during a post-work pre drinks crisis last week, I stumbled across it in my local M&S in a moment of concealer-less need. And I have to say it was so worth the £12 I parted with for it. Having been from a brand I was unaware of, I was sceptical about how well this would work, but I just needed it to cover the unattractive bags under my eyes! I am so in love with this concealer! I have the shade 'light' which was the fairest shade they had, and its perfect for brightening up under my eyes, and also provided great coverage when dabbed onto a few blemishes. It had great lasting power, and the formula is thick but not too cakey! Safe to say, it has become a regular in my daily make up routine!

I'd be interested to try other offerings from the brand, so if anyone has used anything please let me know!

Love
Meg xx

The Notes: Valentines Make Up

Valentines day. You either love it or you hate it. I for one, a longtime singleton, love chilling with my besties for an evening of pampering, Breakfast at Tiffany's and an unhealthy helping from our favourite men Ben and Jerry.  

But if I do ever decide to brave the rose-tinted frenzy outside, I like to try and rise to the occasion by donning a typically romantic valentines style get up. Whenever I think of the day of love, I always imagine it as a chance to be as girly and cute as possible - cue suitably delicate make up, with a fair amount of pink and shimmer. I also like to keep it pretty simple, but easy to add to, incase of any impromptu girly trips to the cinema in the evening! I tend to go for a light base, using Benefit's Hello Flawless Foundation over the top of their Porefessional primer, with a dash of Bourjois' java rice powder for that added shimmer. I love this powder teamed with Mac's blush in Well Dressed. It creates a lovely naturally pink glow to the cheeks without being too overpowering. 

For the eyes you can always step it up a bit, and I went for fun, flirty eyes with the new Naked 3 Palette from Urban Decay. Sticking mainly to the left side of the palette, I used a combination of 'Burnout' blended with 'Limit' and then a tiny dab of 'Darkside' to line my lash line. A few coats of the Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara, a smack of Estee Lauder's Shine Gloss in Brazen Berry and voila. 

What's your favourite look for valentines day?

Love

Meg xx

The Notes: Make Up Bag #1

This week hasn't been all that adventurous on the make up front. Overcoming a cold has prevented much in the way of exciting daily excursions, so my make up bag has played host to a small array of quick fix products. For my base I've been loving the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, which has the perfect coverage without being too heavy. I apply the tiniest amount of this with my Real Techniques Expert face Brush over the top of my Body Shop Pore Minimiser, which acts as a perfect primer to calm the skin and create a lasting finish. 

I've been adding a slick of the Lola Concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes, and then dusting off my base with a light hand of the Body Shop Shimmer Cube (which made an appearance in my January favourites, and is set to feature again this month)! 

The eyes have been kept relatively simple this week, with a base of Urban Decay's Potion Primer followed by Max Factor's Wild Shadow Pencil in 05. I love this shade and formula, but it is in need of a primer underneath to make it go the distance. I finish it all off with a couple of swipes of Max Factor's False Lash Effect Mascara, which it still my fave to this day. For the brows, Bobbi Brown's Brow Pencil in Brunette has been this weeks offering, blended in with my Mac 266 to create a more natural look. 

So there we have it, this weeks fuss and fancy-free make up bag, of the items that have been gracing my face of late. 

Which products are currently residing in your make up bag?

Love

Meg xx

The Product: Mix and Match Foundations

For me, and I think most women out there, finding the perfect base is the hardest part of wearing make up. Being an avid make up shopper and product tester I have had my fair share of foundation fiascos, be it buying the wrong colour, loving a formula that breaks me out, or just finding one that hates my skin type. 

I have combination-oily skin, but I love dewy finishes. This reckons quite the dilemma in terms of what I want my skin to suit, and what it actually suits. Now, when in the summer, during a breakout battle, I headed over to the Clarins counter and asked for my perfect foundation, they matched me up, and I walked away perfectly happy with the Clarins Ever Matte Foundation. But while I loved the formula and lasting time, I wasn't massively fond of the finish. Ever had a product that does it for you 90% of the way and then falls at the last hurdle? Yeah, that was me with this. Enter Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation - favourite in the bbloggers industry and also a firm favourite of mine. The underlying subtle glow of this foundation is lovely, and yet the coverage of this on its own just wasn't quite doing it for me. 

So one bright day, I had the ridiculous idea of mixing them together. And what happened was magic. Well not quite, but you get where I'm coming from. The result was a perfect balance between a lasting matte finish with a dewy element that had perfect coverage without the heaviness of the Clarins offering on its own. 

Who knew that mixing two of my 'almost' favourite foundations would result in a product worthy of its own bottle? Only downside - now I have to purchase twice as much foundation when I run out - bummer. 

Anyone else ever tried mixing two foundations together?

Love 

Meg xx

The Notes: Conquering that Cold

Its that time of the year again. During the winter you are guaranteed to come down with at least one wretched cold. I had mine last week, and its never a pleasant experience! I've compiled a list of the things that helped me survive the sniffles, puffy eyes and dry skin. 

Carmex Lipbalm: Whenever I have a cold, and actually throughout the majority of winter anyway, my lips become dry and cracked, which is mega uncomfortable. However, Carmex seems to work for me - it tingles as it is applied, which is how I feel it working. It keeps my lips moisturised and soft for a good hour or two before I need a top-up!

Olbas Oil: This stuff is amazing. A few droplets on a tissue, sniffed a few times, and all of that blocked up pain is eliminated. A pack of tissues might be necessary here though - it causes a major run of the nose situation, but its worth it to be able to breathe again afterwards!

Simple Moisturiser: Just like my lips, my skin too tends to dry up whenever I have a cold, especially around the nose area. I use Simple's light moisturiser morning and night, and whenever it needs an injection of moisture during the day to keep the flaky skin at bay!

Benefit You Rebel Light: Continuing on the moisturising theme, if I need to go out anywhere, or have to battle through and head to work, I use a light tinted moisturiser, like Benefits You Rebel Light, to keep my skin hydrated whilst removing any dreaded red patches caused by the lurgy residing in my body. 

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer: Sleepless nights are a given when it comes to a bad cold. Too much sniffing and a headache means that any chance of getting the full 8 hours is out of the question. So to combat those unflattering under eye bags, I use my ring finger to gently pat some of Bobbi Brown's creamy concealer under my eye. It instantly hides those bags and brightens my face!

Benefit Eye Bright: This also comes in handy when tackling red, puffy tired eyes. A delicate helping of this along my waterline helps to open up and brighten my eyes, keeping you looking more awake than achoo. 

Finally, a good dose of vitamin C during a cold will help fight those nasty germs faster. I usually up my intake from 1000g to 2000g when I'm under the weather, to help boost my immune system and get me up and running again!

What do you guys use to combat a cold?

Love
Meg xx

The Favourites: January Favourites

Oh January, I'm so glad you're over. The first month of this year has flown by yet again, and hopefully will be taking the dreadful weather with it! There hasn't been much I've been loving beauty wise this month, but these bits made the cut, despite my many pyjama and no make-up days!

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette: I'm sure everyone in the beauty blogosphere is sick to death of hearing about Urban Decay's latest 'naked' offering, but it's so pretty and I've used it every time I've graced my face with make up this month. Perfect pigmentation and textures, beautiful rose-goldy toned shades and stunning packaging - whats not to love?

Bumble and Bumble Shine Finishing Spray: January usually brings a month of miserable weather and lack of sunshine, and my hair knows it. It loses all of its shine and body, and is in need of a general 'pick me up'. A couple of sprinkles Bumble and Bumble's shine spray works like magic to transform my hair into a silky and glossy mane worthy of a 'you're worth it' head shake. It also smells great!

Body Shop Shimmer Wave: When I was fist given this by my auntie, I wasn't sure about the concept of a shimmery blush/bronzer duo, worried that it may leave me looking like a disco ball. But teamed with a light hand, and my Real Techniques Stippling Brush, this blush creates a glowy, light effect, perfect to brighten up the dull January days. The lightest colour in the palette also acts as a subtle but brightening highlighter, which I adore! I'm thinking of adding the other two shades to my collection - it can't hurt right?

Nails Inc Porchester Square: Ahh porchester square - long time no see old friend. This shade has always been a favourite of mine, as it has most beauty bloggers, but with newbies in my ever growing polish collection taking first pick, it hadn't seen the light of day in quite a while. Thats until I was bought another bottle for christmas, which led to a 'I love this colour what is it? Oh of course its PS, I'm sure I have an old bottle somewhere' moment. The ideal shade for everyday use, with the perfect finish and a good five days chip resistance before even the slightest crack, I have worn this for the majority of the last month. Perfection in a bottle. 

Read of the Month: What Would Audrey Do? by Pamela Keogh. Anything about Audrey always gets a big thumbs up from me, so a book dedicated to behaving like the style icon? I'm sold. 

Love
Meg xx