Sleek Matte Me Cream Lipstick - Birthday Suit

I don't think I'm the only person there that has tried and failed to purchase Kylie Cosmetics. (Damn you people faster than me.)
So, for me, it's all about finding dupes and lookalike products for now and I found this total bargain recently!
I was browsing the self-selection in Boots when I was shopping last week and these 'matte me' lipsticks by Sleek really caught my eye.

Birthday Suit was the first colour I swatched and to be honest was the only colour I cared about. I'm SUCH a sucker for a nude lip at the moment - and if it's matte.... even better! I knew I had to have it, especially for only £4.99.

The colour is gorgeous, a great brown nude which is easy to apply and feels so smooth. It dries quickly and has a great stay-time although after a few cups of tea I do need to re-apply but for the price it's not something I mind.
I've been wearing this on top of a nude lip liner and it's perfect for everyday work!

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Cohorted Beauty Box - Worth The Hype?

Beauty boxes dropped into our life over 5 years ago and with the amount of different versions on the market now it's hard to know which ones to sign upto... if any at all!

When they first came out in the UK I was super excited but after being signed up to a certain box for months and months I kind of gave up as I was fed up with crappy little samples that I had sat in a drawer that I wasn't really interested in.
Since then, I'll be honest, I haven't really thought much of them, that experience kind of put me off.

So when Cohorted contacted me I was a little weary but I was definitely curious after seeing their website and other bloggers reviews of them. The products seem full sized alot of the time and all the brands were ones I'd heard of and ones I longed to try or buy more of. Plus this isn't a subscription service like most of the other beauty boxes out there, you can just pick and choose which months you pre-order/order which is great if you have a month or two where £19.99 isn't as accessible. 
So I agreed to give it a go.

Cohorted Beauty Box - March 2015*

 Now.... you may have seen my Twitter meltdown a week or so ago about a certain delivery company posting to the wrong address and the parcel being "lost" (*cough*stolen*cough*) - well that was my original Cohorted box! So another was sent out to me and thankfully I received this one safe and sound but this post is now up a little later than I first expected it to be so I do apologise.

The box I have is the March 2015 box.... and yes I do realise it is nearly May but I'm sure this post will still give you a good gage and idea of what to expect from Cohorted plus my honest thoughts on the service.

This box featured 4 products - 3 full sized and 1 sample sized, already a huge improvement to what I have previously experienced with beauty boxes. (Plus each product is from a well-known brand which I was really impressed with.)

The first thing I received in my box was a product from Too Faced. A brand I have admired from afar for far too long. I only own a couple of products from them but my wishlist is never ending, especially with their eyeshadow palettes and kits.
 Anyway... the product I received was an eyeshadow. One of the Exotic Colour Intense Eye Shadow's to be precise. I actually received the shade Poison Orchid which is not the colour stated on the insert card provided. So either than ran out of the stated 'copper peony' or I got the wrong shade! Saying this it was nice to get a bright colour as my current collection of copper shades is pretty big! This colour is gorgeous purple and it is soooo pigmentated! It has a lovely iridescent shine to it and having green eyes purple shades are always a winner.

Next was the onyl sample size in the box, the Perversion Mascara from Urban Decay in the shade black. I don't mind getting samples sizes when they are decent brands and products like this one. Mascara's are something I am quite picky about so it was nice to have a little tester to give something new a go.
This is the perfect mascara to use after my current one. I know that sounds silly, 2 mascaras, but my eyelashes are so short and stumpy that I find using 2 can work wonders for me. I normally use a lengthening mascara with a comb type brush first and then something like this is great for using afterwards, creating bigger and bushier lashes. Top marks for this tester size.

Now for a product that I wasn't entirely sold on. When I spotted this in the box and read the front of the box I thought.... Oh I didn't know bareminerals had creams out. How wrong I was. This is the bareMinerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment. Yes a mineral night treatment, a make-up to put on at night. The treatment is meant to replenish the skin, reduce pores, even skin tone and give an all-round more radiant look all while you are catching your 40 winks.
The colour in the box was 'light' and I guess that's what everyone got - to be honest I don't really see the need to have colours if it's only going to be worn at night? Surely a translucent powder for all complexions would be easier?
For me personally this isn't something I'll carry on using, I like to let my skin have a rest from everything at night I love the feeling of bare face and it definitely helps me sleep better having a face totally free from everything.
I'll probably give this to my Mum to try out as it's an expensive product and I wouldn't want it to go to waste!

Last but not least is a highlighter palette from the wonderful drugstore brand Sleek. I had actually been eyeing up this Precious Metals palette for face and body recently, I'm a big highlighter fan and sleek's contour kit is one of my must-haves so this looked right up my street. With 4 different shades this is a grea addition to any make-up collection. Again, it is another full-sized item from Cohorted which is fab and I know I am going to get ALOT of use out of this.


Overall I am really impressed with this beauty box from Cohorted. Being £19.99 per box I think alot of people may be a little apprehensive about committing to a box unknowing of it's contents but if this is anything to go by then it will be worth it.
Having 3 full sized products has me sold completely and looking through the site and seeing what has previously been in the boxes and sneak peeks of what's to come makes me think that the box is at a well-deserved price point.
I know for a fact I won't be able to afford to commit to purchasing every month (booo to being poor) but I think a treat now and again is a fab way to find new products and try out things I may not fork out the money for normally. So yes is the answer to my question, from what I've seen, the Cohorted Beauty Box is worth the hype.

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My Top Highlighter Picks Under £7

 Highlighters are probably one of my favourite make-up products. For years now I have been obsessed with getting a pretty glowing complexion and the amount of products I have bought, tried and tested is endless! 
Some of the best highlighters I own and use most seem to be ones which don't break the bank - which is a total win-win situation right?
I've picked out 5 of my favourites to chat about today... and they are all under £7 ... most of them under £5! *Barry Bargain Alert!*
I've choosen a mix of brands plus a mix of both liquids and powders, as I know some of you are more of a fan of one than the other!

First up my ultimate favourite - 1. Seventeen's Skin Wow! Highlighter - £5.99. This is a product which I have raved and raved about since it was released in 2013 now! The amount of friends I've made buy this is countless now haha! The bottle of this stuff literally lasts me for months on end even though I use it daily and it is a great dupe for Benefit's High Beam at just the fraction of the price!
The most expensive of the bunch is the 2. Sleek Contour Kit - £6.49. Being a bronzer and a highlighter you can forgive it for being a little pricier than the others I'm featuring. I've already gone through one of these kits and had to buy a replacement, so for me this is a keeper! With the amount of different products I own and test to use one up completely is not something that happens regularly. The highlighter is a gorgeous alongside the matte bronzer, it's a lovely peachy shade, great for summer.
Next is the newest on the block which I actually did a review on not too long ago. 3. Rimmel Good To Glow Highlighter is only £4.99, a great price for one of the best high street brands in the UK. The shade I have is Notting Hill Glow and it is a lovely pearly liquid highlighter which I have been wearing more or less everyday under my foundation to highlighter certain areas, if you are a Rimmel fan this is a must-have for your collection.
The last two are both from one of the most popular bargain brands out there at the moment - Make-Up Revolution. 
Number 4. is the Make-Up Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter and at only £3 is it the cheapest product. The shade I've shown here is Pink Lights and my favourite of the bunch. The lightest and pinkest of the lot this is a beaut... although the product pattern itself is a bit off-putting... let me know what you think it looks like.
Lastly we have 5. the Make-Up Revolution Radiant Lights Highlighter* - £5. These super pigmented powders are amazing value for money and with a range of shades there is a highlight for every skin tone. Pictured is the shade Exhale, a pretty creamy colour perfect for contouring aswell as highlighting.

What are your favourite highlighters? Do you like buying cheaper brands aswell as high end?

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Favourite Summer Lips : Part 2

Now this is part 2 so if you haven't seen part 1 ... catch up here!

Like I said before, summer is my favourite time for lip colours! So many bright and fun colours to choose from daily and I managed to narrow my top 10 down for these 'favs' blog posts!

So here's the 2nd half and the final 5 favs!

Left to right :

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Lips - 3 Electra (Review)

 L'oreal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick by Color Riche - 401 Fuchsia Drama (Review)

Sleek True Colour Lipstick - Mystic (Review)

Rimmel Lasting Finish By Kate Moss - 110

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Lip Crayon - I Want Candy (Review)

All of these are drugstore purchases so bargain city! They are all under £10 and most are around the £5 mark!

Have you tried any of these? What are your summer favourites?

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My Top Beauty Buys £5 and under | Youtube

Remember that post I did recently?
My top beauty products under £3 - well here's the next one in the series... although this time it's in snazzy video form, so grab a cuppa, get comfy and have a cheeky watch of A Yellow Brick Vlog.....

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Dress Like Disney #5 : Alice, The White Rabbit & Mad Hatter

Well it seems like I've nearly run out of Princess' to give a 2014 make-over too so today I've decided to start taking on different movies - this time it's Alice In Wonderland.... Part 1!

Catch-up with the previous make-overs here :#1 : Cinderella, Belle & Elsa, #2 : Ariel, Tiana & Snow White, #3 : Aurora, Jasmine & Pocahontas , #4 : Rapunzel, Mulan & Merida.

Alice

Shoes | Hairband | Dress | Socks | Nail Polish | Earrings | Ring

The White Rabbit

Bowtie | Watch | Nails | Shoes | Crop Top | Shorts | Blazer | Bangle

The Mad Hatter

Hat | Ring | Skirt | Top | Palette | Socks | Shoes

Next time : The Queen Of Hearts, Cheshire Cat & The Smoking Caterpillar.
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Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette - Au Naturel

I am a sucker for netural eyeshadow colours.
I'm not really one for wearing wacky, bright or rainbow colours on my eyes - just for the plain and honest reason that I just cannot pull them off so I'm always going for browns and creams... what a bore!
 I love a natural smokey eye and it is pretty much my deafult make-up when I'm doing a proper full-face. I have been using my Naked palette non-stop since I got it and even though I love it like a sister I'm starting to want some new palettes and shades to play around with when doing my make-up ..... queue my new Sleek palette from the i-Divine collection - Au Naturel.

I'm always so impressed with everything I purchase from Sleek and this has been no exception! 

A gorgeous selection of 12 netural shades with both matte and shimmer formulas. This cost me £7.99 and I purchased it from Boots, although I'm sure it is available in Superdrug too! A fraction of the price of a naked palette with some fantastic colours!

You get this plastic sheet inside the palette with all the names of the shades on which is really handy but I'm praying I'll never loose it! (Although I suppose I can now always come onto here and read the names.... genius!)

From left to right :

TOP  - Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe.

BOTTOM  - Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir.

I'm loving having some new shades to play around with and for the price the quality is fab! Highly pigmented and I can tell they are going to last a long time.

Great for both daytime and for big nights out there is such a great variety for both light and dark colours!

 My favourites have to be Conker & Taupe I think!

Another fantastic purchase from Sleek - everytime I buy a product from them I fall in love with them more and more!

Do you recommend any Sleek products or have you tried out any of the other eyeshadow palettes?

Sleek True Colour Lipstick - MYSTIC

Now, where I live there is literally nowhere for me to buy Sleek (totally unfair right), so for me it is a case of waiting to head over to the "mainland" or looking at google images or YouTube for a better look of things and to get a rough idea about what I am ordering online.
So being in London earlier this week mean that it was a great time to have a look! I didn't really have long so I just picked up this lipstick which stuck out the most for me from everything - it is called Mystic and I am obsessed.

This is one of the True Colour lipstick's by Sleek and it is a matte colour. 
The shade is a gorgeous bright purple-pink, a colour which I have been lusting over for so long and until now I just haven't found the right shade for me.
I keep seeing girls rocking gorgeous bright purples on their lips and I knew I had to have one sooner or later!


As this is a matte lipstick the formula is a little different to other lipsticks I own and I definitley recommend making sure you are free from any dry skin on your lips before applying, a lip scrub or just using your toothbrush will do!
The lipstick itself can also become a little flaky too but too me it is something I will get over. Saying this, once the product has been applied it totally non-drying, something you wouldn't expect from a matte lip colour - in conditions the lips and feels fantastic, I think it is mainly down to the vitamin E contained in the product.

The colour is highly pigmented and the staying power is just fantastic. As you can see from the photos I couldn't wait to use the product before I took photos... (something I tend to try and do)... and after wearing it a couple of times I can say it is going straight to the top end of my favourite lip products at the moment!
 The purple is so different to anything else I own and really stands out and I think it would really suit a number of different skin tones.

I only own a couple of Sleek products but I have always been overwhelmed with the quality of the brand espically for the price. This lipstick is only £4.99 so I will without a doubt be investing in more of the colours throughout the range - have you got an recommendations?

Have any of you tried out any purple lipsticks or glosses? I really really want to try out more, I think they are gorgeous! Let me know if you have any favourites that you think I should try!

June Favourites

Another month down which means, another favourites post! June has been mostly a great month, with a few lows! My highlight of the month has to be the Isle Of Wight Festival, I had such a great time with my boyfriend and friends (check out my 30 Day Snap for some pictures of my weekend)!
Here's just a few other things I have been loving in the month of June!

A bit of a mixture of things this month and I've actually already mentioned a few of them in previous posts aswell, but these are my top picks from the last 30 days or so!

First up is the Sally Hansen Moisturising Nail Polish Remover for dry, brittle nails (aka mine!)

I actually was going to put this in my May favourites but totally forgot about it, so Iknew it just HAD to go in this months!

I have been using this stuff for  a few months now (after stealing it from my Mum) and really love it! 

My nails are so so brittle and flaky and always have been. They don't grow and if they do then they just break - which is why I love have extensions and shellac! Not only can I feel this stuff befitting my nails but it works so so well as a remover. Just one cotton pad with this stuff gets all my nail varnish from both hands off first time, not alot of removers can do that! (if you go looking for this in the shops it is the blue Sally Hansen remover .... you can't really tell that in the photo!)

Next is the Face Contour Kit by Sleek in the shade - Light. I mentioned this in a haul post called Thank You Mr. Postman and have used it everyday since! (Well everyday that I've worn make-up)! I use an angled blush brush from the elf mineral bamboo line for the bronzer along my cheek bone and then the real techniques contour brush to apply the highlighter above it! I then use the blush brush again from Real Techniques to blend them together to avoid any harsh lines. I love the effect and the quality of the product is amazing, I keep getting asked if I'm wearing High Beam (a Benefit highlighter) on my cheeks - well worth the price it is now a staple in my make-up bag.

Pretty isn't it? Yup I've got myself a new bag this month, so clearly it has to be in my favourites!

This is the mini shopper bag from Zara (I'm sure you've all seen it before!). I don't have a Zara anywhere near where I live so I always get my stuff from their online store. Originally I did want the orange version of this bag but unfortunately they didn't have that one available on the website so I settled for this gorgeous green colour. (Although black is a great colour as it goes with everything I fancied something a little different this season)! I think this bag is such a bargain for the price -  only £22.99 - and the size, for me, is perfect! 

I always seem to manage to have everything in my bag, I feel the need to be prepared for any situation or outcome so space is a big thing for me and although it looks fairly small it really isn't! I've used this everyday for weeks and keep getting loads of compliments on it, if the orange shade ever goes online I will 100% be buying that one too! (What's in my bag? post will be up later this week!)

                 

First of all ... LOL at my foot sneaking in the photo, I've only just noticed this as I'm writing this section - doh!

If you read blogs alot, watch youtube, go on twitter or hell, just use the internet you are going to have heard so much about  these already! Baring this in mind I shan't bore you for long. These are some of my Real Techniques brushes - the best brushes I own. From left to right you have - the Powder, Buffing , Blush, Stippling, Contour & Expert Face brushes. I use most of these daily, they are so soft and give the best results for someone who wears a full-face of make-up like myself - a fantastic investment.

Now, I could do a whole post about these. If you are a regular reader (thank you) you would have already seen me rave about these in my recent post - Kirstie's Beauty Buys Of The Week. A few weeks ago now I purchased the pink shade on the right - Nova. I immediately fell in love with the feel and result of it and knew I would be purchasing more.

 After searching high and low for a new red lipgloss I knew this was going to be the one - Big Bang (left) is such an amazing colour and I love that I have the look and stay of a lipstick and the shine of lipgloss all in one!

 These lip lacquers are faultless I'm going to be buying more this week!

Guilty confession to make with this one. I copied my Mum! She has the larger version and this one and I always think they look so cute! So this week when I saw this on sale for half price I had to buy it! 

It is from M&Co (I think this is actually the first thing I've ever bought from there) and was down to £6 from £12. I've put all my small stacking rings in here and it's replaced the glass ashtray that was featured in my Make-up Storage post with it.

In my last favourites posts I shared with you my favourite album of the month and this month is going to be no different!

 I cannot stop listening to Demi Lovato's new album - Demi! This is my sort of music, girly, fun, a few ballads and great to sing along too! It is one of those albums that you only have to listen to once and you know you love it, I have been playing it non-stop for weeks and weeks! My favourite tracks are Nightingale, Warrior, Made In The USA & Really Don't Care (which features Cher Lloyd!).

What have you been loving this month?!

Thank you Mr. Postman

So the postman banged on the door at around 8am this morning.... it is a Saturday - this is early for my house at the weekend! BUT thank god someone bothered to answer it because.... it was all stuff for me (oops!) and super exciting stuff aswell! So I thought I would do a quick small haul for you before I head off out into the sunshine for the day!

All the nail polishes above are from Fragrance Direct and were total bargains (would you expect anything less from me?) The essie polishes were all ONLY £1.99 each , yes I am not lying only £1.99! Essie polishes normally retail at around £7.99 so these were total bargains, I'm guessing they are discontinued colours or products they had over ordered but these doesn't make the colour or quality any different. The other polish I got was an OPI colour and I'd seen this a while ago and feel in love but I am well too poor/stingy to pay £8/9 for one nail polish at the moment so when I saw this for £3.99 - I was sold!

1. OPI Nail Polish - Nothin' Mousie Bout It
Like I said before I'd seen this a while ago and feel in love. Firstly, it is Disney related! Yes it is from the Minnie Mouse collection which, even if I didn't know any of the colours I would buy because of the name alone! This polish is so unique and that's what I love about it! Not only is it a pretty shimmery pink colour BUT it also has little hearts in the polish! Just like the confetti polishes that seem to have come in recently this polish paints little hearts onto your nails too. So cute. IT does need a few coats as the product is quite sheer but this is fab for using as a top coat over another colour. (sorry the photo for this hasn't come out that well, maybe google it for a better picture! :( )

2. ESSIE Nail Polish - Neo Whimiscal
First one of my total bargains is this gorgeous nude colour. I have a couple of nude/really pale pink colours already in my nail polish collection but they are always so so thin and need about 5 coats so I hardly ever bother wearing them. I hoped that being an essie polish (I love their quality) that it would work alot better and be alot thicker... and I was not wrong! This is fab and only needed a coat or two to get a really nice opaque nude which I have been looking for for so long.

3. ESSIE Nail Polish - Cascade Cool
Did Kirstie need another bubblegum pink type nail polish? ...... of course she did! On Fragrance Direct the colour swatch they put with the nails of the polishes are just not very convincing or helpful so what I like to do (ADVICE ALERT) is google the name of the product and go straight to images. 9 times out of 10 people are going to have already have bought the product and put up some fab photos of it on their nails.... the perfect way to see what the colour ACTUALLY looks like! I do this with everthing I buy on FD and it is so so helpful! Anyway this is a gorgeous girly pink which I know is going to become a staple pink that I always reach for.

4. ESSIE Nail Polish - Bikini So Teeny
Perfect for summer this is a cool pastel blue. I'm definitely going to wear this to the festivals I am going too this summer, I think I even prefer it to my Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream (and that says alot!) I also think this and Cascade Cool would work really really well together!

5. ESSIE Nail Polish - Mojito Madness
Don't you just love the names of all these polishes? That must be the best job - 'nail polish namer.' I may look into how to apply for this...... anyway back to Mojito Madness! I'd like to describe this as a dark pastel green (is that allowed?) Even though it is quite a bold colour for nails it is quite subtle and I can't wait to find some clothes to match this colour as I think it would look so cool together.

6. ESSIE Nail Polish - Action
Last but not least for nail polishes is Action! This is a super bright orange and this is a colour I have been looking for for a while. The number one reason I wanted a polish this colour - it will look amazing with a tan, and that is why I bought it. I think super bright fluorescent colours look so amazing in the summer especially with all the neon/90s clothing that is coming back in and this colour will look great on both fingers and toes! The only downside is that this polish just seemed like its not been shaken enough even though I've done it loads, but for £1.99 I can't complain!

Sleek Face Contour Kit -Light
I have wanted this for so long as I have seen so many people raving about it but no shops near me stock Sleek! So I finally caved and ordered it from Superdrug online (free delivery was what sold me) and I am so so glad I did! I was already in love with the product without even seeing it and now that it's here I love it even more! I can already tell this is going to be perfect for my skin, I got the light as I thought 1. I don't have a tan yet and 2. it is easier to build a darker colour if needed that make something lighter!
The bronzer is matte which is great, I think it's really hard to find a plain matte bronzer most of them seem to have some form of shimmer even if only tiny. The highlighter is also amazing, I am a sucker for any form of highlighter to be honest, I love the look they give and ever since the first time I randomly bought High Beam from Benefit when I was a teenger I have been hooked on highlighters! It is a super pretty shimmer and I cannot wait to use it later! (Sorry that in the photo you can see the lovely finger mark from myself.... I jsut couldn't wait!) 

Yellow iPhone Case
This is, of course, from eBay (the only place I buy my cases from)! If you're anything like me then you get bored of having the same case on after a while and need a change (there are other people like me right?) So I love going on eBay and searching for a new case! I had a bit of an accident this week when I ordered a new case but ordered it for an iPhone 5 not a 4s... what a doughnut so I needed a replacement fast! This one was only £2.49 and I think it is perfect for summer, so simple and plain but with really pretty detailing... and kind of matches my blog now I think about it!