Bobbi Brown 'Warm Eye Palette' Review

Shades (Left - Right): Bone, Champagne Quartz, Malted, Gold, Sable & Espresso

'Jaw dropping' is the simple phrase I would use to describe this palette.

It must have been around November time when I was scrolling through the John Lewis website looking at the new Christmas beauty collections which is when I stumbled upon this. I have never owned anything from Bobbi Brown before but when I saw this my mouth literally dropped which is a first for me and make up. It is the perfect neutral every occasion palette.

It consists of a really amazing double sided brush and 6 shades of eye shadow in total. 4 being beautiful matte shades and the other 2 being shimmers. This is hands down better than the naked palette in my opinion which I never thought would come out of my mouth. I say this because this has zero fall down (apart from the shade 4th from the left called gold) unlike the naked palette which means I can make a last minuet decision of applying the shadow rather than having to apply it before my base make up to avoid a mess. The eye shadows are so creamy and apply beautifully and I just cannot speak any more highly of this palette. It's around the £30 - £40 mark which isn't too bad for the amazing quality but if you want this go and get it ASAP with your Christmas money as it is limited edition and you don't want to miss out on this. Also can we please talk about how lovely the packaging is? it looks a million dollars and when I get this out of my draw I get so excited to apply it (I'm not crazy I swear). The day I finish this palette will be a sad day. I am 100% going to check out more Bobbi Brown products.

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah xx

Gig review/ not really a review: Lewis Watson

I apologise for the awful quality of these pictures, phone camera's aren't the greatest at gigs...

On the 21st of September I made my way down to my second Lewis Watson gig (the first was in march last year) - this is a big deal because normally I'm quite content with seeing a performance just once but honestly you cannot beat his voice. It was in such an intimate venue of maybe about 200(?!) people which honestly I love because you get more of a connection and can share jokes an it's just my favourite thing. His group of friends were also there that night which meant the jokes between the audience and him kept going. There is nothing worse than going to see someone live and them not talking to you/ the audience at all but lewis does so amazingly in this department.

He has 2 support acts that night. One being Andreas Moe (second to left in the photographs) who was so amazing. Personally I would compare his voice to Passenger/ similar to Lewis in the earlier days but it is still very unique and I will definitely be buying his music in the future. I was also lucky enough to meet him after the show and he was so down to earth and friendly. The second support were Amber Run (second to right photograph) who are a 5 piece band which I would describe to play indie/ slightly rock music(?) Either way they too were incredible.

When Lewis came on stage his first song was 'stones around the sun' which is one of my favourites as if you really listen to the lyrics they are so meaningful so that instantly put me in a good mood. I honestly don't know what else to say. He was so amazing and I would 110% recommend you going to a gig of his if you have the chance, you wont regret it. There are still a few dates left on his UK tour and he is touring some parts of the rest of the world too so for dates go here: http://lewiswatsonmusic.com/gigs/

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

Liz Earle: Cleanse & Polish Review/ How To

Recently, after a long time of deliberating I finally cracked and purchase the 'Liz Earle: Cleanse and Polish' (I opted for the starter kit which is about £1 more expensive and you get 2 muslin cloths and and little bag which is so useful for keeping everything together). In total it was around £14 which I think is actually pretty reasonable for a piece of 'high end' skincare. Also as a disclaimer I have oily/ combination skin and this is suitable for all skin types - this has worked for me but isn't 100% going to work on you. The lady at the counter explained how to use this to me at the counter but I know if she didn't I would have no idea where to start so here's a mini step-by-step guide then I shall get on with the review.

Firstly let your muslin cloth soak in hand hot/ room temperature water. It's a myth that your pores open and close depending on what temperature of water you use - In fact doing that is more lightly to upset your skin and cause flare ups.

Next of course get one pump (you don't need more of this as each pump has been measured to be the right amount) of the cleanser on your hand and rub it in-between your fingers a little just to warm it up.

Rub the cleanser in circle motions onto a dry face to dissolve your make-up of just for general cleansing (You can even use this on your eyelashes/ lids so don't be scared to do so - I take my make-up off with a micellar water prier to this as I feel like it's easier to do it that way as you get the majority off first, I don't use just this alone to get rid of make up.

Finally, rescue your muslin cloth out of the water and in circular motions rub it gently all round your face until it feels squeaky clean (not actually make your skin squeak though, that could end badly).

Tmi? Definitely tmi... But I'm uploading this last photo anyway to show you how amazing this product is. You think (or I did anyway) that you get all your make-up off with the micellar water/ general make-up remover/ facial wipes but unfortunately we were mistaken! This shows how effective the exfoliating muslin cloth is and you can tell it gets deep into those pours! At the moment my skin is having a few hormonal breakouts but that bit's that aren't covered in nasties look so flawless/ pour-less! Honestly this cleanser does miracle and I wish I started using it before. Also the actual cleanser itself feels so cooling and nice on the skin! 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer vs Seventeen Stay Time Concealer

Top swatch: Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer
Bottom Swatch: Seventeen Stay time Concealer 

So for a long time now the 'Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer' has been a staple in mine and a lot of over beauty lovers collection for a long time now. It is such a full coverage it makes the worst of spots disappear off your face but I have got fed up of having to purchase a new one so often because of how quickly it dries up (although saying this I will still repurchase but not nearly as frequently). 

I was scrolling through my blogger news feed when I saw someone raving about the 'Seventeen Stay time Concealer' and how they thought it was better than collections so I had a mini dash to the shops and brought myself one.

Shades - Despite Collection having a slightly wider range of colours I personally think that the actual colours Seventeen have are better. For instance in the last photo I have done a swatch of the fairest shade of each concealer and although they are roughly the same, Seventeen's concealer is lighter which is great for pale skin like mine because occasionally Collections is just too dark. So in this section I think Seventeen is the best.

Under eye circles - I have a definite favourite for this and that is (again) Seventeen's Stay Time Concealer. This is because Collection's concealer is slightly too heavy/ cakey for a larger area and in a way makes my dark circles look worse. Seventeen's concealer is so creamy and light weight that it really brightens up under your eyes and looks really natural and not cakey but is still a really full coverage .

Spots/ blemishes - Even after falling in love with Seventeen's concealer I don't think I will ever be able to part with Collection's for blemishes. Although I do use both depending on if I'm having a 'good spot day' or 'bad spot day'.

Redness - To be honest I adore both concealers equally for redness. I do tend to use the collection concealer on smaller areas of redness though because as I mentioned before it can go cakey on large areas.

Packaging - Both concealers packaging wise are identical (apart from seventeen's being slightly longer as it contains more product). The only reason I prefer Seventeen's packaging is because the writing doesn't rub off.

Price - Seventeen's concealer is only 30p more than collection but despite this it lasts a lot longer so it definitely has more value for money.

Blendibility (I believe I just made up a new word but i couldn't think of another word for it) - A massive problem with collection's concealer is that it dries really fast on the skin so you have to work fast with it or you will be stuck with an awkward patch of concealer on you but Seventeen's concealer is so much more creamer and nicer to actually use as you don't feel you need to rush.

I think both of these concealers will be a staple in my make up bag for a long time to come as they both are incredible at doing different 'jobs'.

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x