Schoolbag Essentials

I love to have an organised schoolbag and I love having everything I could possibly need in it, so I thought I would share what my personal 'essentials' for my schoolbag are. 

The first thing I always carry is a powder. The powder I have been carrying recently is my Seventeen Miracle Matte powder. I have super oily skin and I haven't found a powder that will actually keep me matte all day so I have to take this to school with me to top up my skin.

This powder mattifies me for around 3-4 hours but not much longer so I usually re-powder at lunchtimes so by the time I get on the bus home, I'm not  looking like a complete greaseball.

Along with my powder I like to take a powder brush. This powder does come with a powdr puff but I personally hate powder puffs and prefer using brushes. This little brush was just £1 from Primark but it does the job nicely.

As you can see, in comparison to my hands (which are quite tiny) it is very small but it's perfect for throwing in my schoolbag.

Another makeup item I always have floating around in my bag is a lipgloss. The one that I most frequently have is my Model Co. Lipgloss in Strip Tease.

 This isn't my most favourite formula and colour of lip gloss that I own but it's the handiest as it has a little mirror on the side which is fab for them cheeky little top ups in the back of English;) (we've all done it). I usually put a bright lip colour on in the mornings but if I forget, I always have something to add a bit of an 'oomph' to my lips in my bag. I very rarely remember to use this though haha.

This lip gloss is barely visible on my hand but on the lips its a nudey, pinkey, sparkly colour. This formula is quite sticky, even though it claims not to be, but I do quite like it. I did get this free in a magazine a few months back so I'm not going to complain too much;)

The final makeup product I always have in my bag somewhere is a mascara. The one I usually have is my Maybelline the Falsies (an old tube) as when I've had PE I find my lashes droop a bit so I like to plump them up again with some mascara.

I prefer the original falsies to this version but I do still really like it. 

The next thing I always have in my schoolbag is a mini perfume sample. I have heaps of perfume samples and they're so handy for just throwing in your bag in case you're in need of a freshen up/fragrance boost. These are also life savers if you've by any chance forgotten to spritz on your favourite perfume before leaving the house. The one I'm currently trying to use up is DKNY's Be Delicious Intense perfume. I like this perfume as it's very fruity but I usually only use it if I've forgotten to put on my favourite perfume of all time, Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Enchanted. 

Keeping in the theme of 'scents', if I have PE, I like to throw in a body spray and a deodorant as I find body sprays refreshing as well as very nicely scented.

This is one of my many body sprays (I'm trying to use them all up) that I have and it's the current one I'm using. I'm terrible at describing scents but this one is quite feminine and floral. My favourite scent from the Charlie range is 'Pink' but when I went to pick it up last time I was in Boots they never had it so I picked up this one.

The deodorant I take to school is Palmolive's Soft and Gentle deodorant. Most people like to take spray deodorants to school but I'm not a fan of spray deodorants, I find that they always spray in the wrong direction and into your face etc, so I prefer to use roll on. I have used this deodorant for around 2 years and I just love it. It keeps me fresh all day (but I top up after PE because I hate feeling sweaty) and smells fab.

The last few things I always carry are, in my eyes, what everyone should carry in their schoolbags.

I always carry kirby grips/bobby pins/whatever you call them with me, you never know when you might need one;) 

I also carry bobbles/hair ties all the time. We have to tie our hair up in Chemistry and PE so it's always handy to have my own instead of borrowing off someone else.

Headphones are another permanent guest in my bag. These are the JVC Gummy headphones and they are the only headphones I've ever tried that stay in my ears comfortably. They also look cute too and they're great for just shoving in when doing revision etc as they block out sound.

I'm a clean freak. Anyone who knows me well know's that I always have my hand sanitiser with me. It's sooo handy for using just before eating as schools are jam packed with germs and they are not the cleanest. It's also fab for if you touch underneath a desk and accidentally touch some chewing gum (ewwww). 

And that is everything. I hope anyone who goes to school found this helpful and might take some ideas from this post and even if you don't go to school, that maybe you've got some ideas for handbag essentials.

My Daily Makeup

Well hello again. As you can probably already see, today's post is going to be about my daily makeup. This post will be quite long so grab yourself a cup of tea or whatever, and get comfy.

To start off I do my concealer. The concealer I am currently using is the ever famous Collection Lasting Perfection concealer.

I apologise for the state of the tube, all the writing has rubbed off.

I do find that this concealer can cling to dry patches and make them more noticeable and even if I do moisturise, it does still cling. If you have very dry skin, I would avoid this concealer like the plague. 

Please comment below if there are any concealers which give the same amount of coverage as this, but are a bit more hydrating. 

I use this concealer on blemishes and occasionally under my eyes and it does a great job of concealing the blemishes but I do find it to be a bit too thick and cakey for underneath my eyes. 

I have this concealer in Shade 2 'Light'. It is an almost perfect match but my only niggle is that it is rather pink toned, I don't know if that's just me or not?

This concealer has a doe foot applicator which some people may find unhygenic because you're dabbing it onto blemishes and under your eyes but I think it works just fine and I haven't experienced any problems at all.

Next I do my eyeliner. The eyeliner I use is Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner. I love this eyeliner so much. It's waterproof, stays on all day, comes off really easily and never smudges.

As the name suggests, it is a felt tip liner. I prefer this type of eyeliner as I feel as though you have a lot more control over the thickness of the line etc. 

This eyeliner is incredibly pigmented and is super black and glossy, exactly how I like liquid liner to be. I'd recommend this to anyone that wishes to start using liquid eyeliner as it is easy to use and affordable.

Next, while waiting for my eyeliner to completely dry (even though it is fast drying, I like to be sure), I do my eyebrows. I use an eye shadow from the MUA Undress Me Too palette as it is a perfect colour match to my brows.

I use the shade 'Lavish' which is an ashy brown sort of colour. It's not the most pigmented but it does the job fine. I apply this to my brows using an angled brush.

To set my brows I use my MUA Clear Mascara.

This is perfect for setting your brows as it doesn't leave a white flaky film (as some clear mascara's have done for me in the past) and it's super duper cheap at only £1. This keeps my brows in place all day and is definitely my new 'go to' brow gel.

Once I've done my brows I move onto my eyelashes. Firstly I curl them using my Superdrug Eyelash Curlers.

  

These were actually a 2 minute purchase as I needed a new pair and I had a bus to catch in 5 minutes so I ran into Superdrug and grabbed these. These do the job and curl your lashes nicely but I will be looking into a better pair for the future as there are many others in the market. I would however recommend these to anyone who is just starting out with makeup because they are cheap, and do a good job.

After curling my lashes I then apply mascara to both my top and bottom lashes. This past week I have been using my new Scandal Eyes Flex mascara that I featured in my 'Makeup Haul' post last week.

I have been absolutely loving this mascara. It makes my lashes look absolutely huge without making them clumpy or stiff. The brush is massive but delivers such incredible results. Look out for a full review of this mascara coming soon.

When I've finished my eyes, I then move on to my lips. I always apply a lip balm before applying lipstick as I like to make sure my lips are always hydrated, even if it is a hydrating lipstick. At the moment I have been using my Burts Bee's Beeswax Lip Balm.

This lip balm is a lovely creamy consistency and it sort of melts onto your lips. It smells incredible, a nice minty smell and when it's on your lips, you can feel it tingling. I have a strong feeling that this will be a staple item in my makeup bag this winter.

Over the top of my lip balm I apply a lipstick. The lip colour I choose to wear usually depends on what sort of mood I'm in, but this past week I've been swapping between 2.

The first one I've been wearing is my Rimmel Colour Rush Colour Balm in the shade 'On Fire'. This is another new purchase that I have been absolutely loving. 

I just absolutely love this shade and I think I will continue to love it all year round as I feel as though it is an 'all seasons' lip colour. These are so moisturizing and so pigmented and I just can't express my love for them. They also smell AH-MAZING. Watch out for a full review coming soon.

The other lip colour I have been swapping my Rimmel Colour Rush Colour Balm with is my Kiko Smart Lipstick in Shade 905 'Coral Red'. 

I love this lipstick. It's so creamy and pigmented and it doesn't dry out your lips at all. 

This colour is a light orangey-red with gold glitter through it. It looks so nice on the lips and out of the few Kiko lipsticks I have, this one is definitely my favourite. It is also very natural on the lips and is not too over the top.

Finally to finish my whole face off, I powder using my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. This is yet again another new purchase, but I still haven't made up my mind on what I think of this. It definitely doesn't keep me matte all day, 4 hours max. The hunt for the perfect mattifying powder continues. If anyone has any suggestions on a good mattifying powder that WILL keep me matte all day, please leave a comment below.

I have this in Shade '001 Transparent' as I do not wish for any colour pay off, just something to mattify my skin.   

Now, that is my whole face of makeup finished. A lot of you may be wondering why I don't wear foundation, truth is, I just feel like I don't need to wear it so that is why I leave it out. Also I do wear more makeup than this for special events etc but this is just my daily makeup that I wear to school.

I really hope that this post has been helpful and may encourage you to try some new products. 

Makeup Haul

Hello again, today's post was meant to be completely different to what it actually is, but I 'accidentally' went makeup shopping yesterday and picked up a few things that I thought I would share with you all.

As soon as I got off the bus, I went straight to Boots.  I was just browsing around, looking at all the offers that were on when I saw Rimmel had an offer where if you spent £10 you would get a FREE Scandal Eyes Lycra Flex Mascara.  I just couldn't resist.

After about half an hour of serious swatching, I finally made my decision.

The first product I picked up was the Professional Eyebrow Pencil.  I've been looking for a good eyebrow pencil for a while and my friend loves this one, and for £2.99 you can't really go wrong.

I got it in the shade '001 Dark Brown' as I have extremely dark hair and my eyebrows are just as dark, I am worrying though because this may be a tad too light for me. I have swatched it below.

 The pencil comes with a brush on the lid which to me, is an added bonus. I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Available here for £2.99

The second product I picked up was one of the new Lasting Finish Colour Rush Lip Balms, which are basically Rimmel's version of the Clinique Chubby Sticks. So many other brands (Soap and Glory, Bourjois, MUA etc) have all brought out their own versions of these, but as there was a deal on, I decided to try out Rimmel's offering.

The packaging is pretty much the same as all the other versions of the Chubby Sticks but I feel like this is a lot more sturdy than some.

After swatching each of the colours on offer numerous times, I chose the shade 'On Fire' as I felt I'd get a lot of wear out of it as this is the sort of colour I usually go for.

As you can see above, this colour is incredibly pigmented.  The above photo is one swipe of it. 

I have been wearing this today and it has lasted a good 5 hours and still counting. 

Available here for £5.99.

The third and final (Rimmel) product that I purchased to bring my final total up over £10 was the most hyped up powder ever, the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder.

I am very late on the bandwagon with this, but I've just never gotten round to buying it to be honest but I finally just got so fed up of my incredibly oily skin, that I got it.

Personally I actually really like the packaging, I like being able to see the product but this of course is my personal opinion, others may not like it

. 

I got the shade '001 Transparent' as I do not wish for any coverage, just something to control shine.  It says on the packaging 'Up to 5 hours natural shine control' but on the Boots website it says 'Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder controls shine for up to 12 hours' confused?!

Anyhow, I am looking forward to using this as I have heard so many good things about this and at £3.99, you can't really go wrong.

Available here for £3.99.

Because there was the 'spend £10 and get a FREE Scandal Eyes Flex Mascara' deal, I also got the, you guessed it, Scandal Eyes Flex Mascara.

The packaging, in my opinion is AMAZING. I love the neon green packaging, it just looks so cool and funky? (does anyone even use that word anymore?!)

As of yet, I haven't actually had a chance to try this mascara but I'm really looking forward to it, I mean, 'scandalous volume, no clumps, soft and flexible lashes' what else could you want in a mascara?

Even though I haven't actually tried it yet, I have noticed that the brush is absolutely GIANT. 

I am really looking forward to trying this mascara.

Available here for £6.99 or FREE until the 29th of October if you spend £10 or more on Rimmel makeup.

After my little Rimmel session in Boots, I hopped off to Superdrug to pick up a few more bits and bobs.

My first stop was the false lash aisle as I have a big party coming up and I wanted a pair of falsies. After a while of 'ooh-ing' and 'aah-ing' I chose a pair from Eyelure called the 'Miss Eyelure Olivia Lashlets'.

These lashes are pre-glued as I can not deal with lashes you have to glue yourself, it's a disaster when I try to do them.

I chose these eyelashes because they're nice and thick, but not overly dramatic. I'm really looking forward to wearing these.

Available here for £2.72 (or £4.09 if the current deal has finished)

Finally I went to the MUA stand. I picked up 2 items, both £1 each.

The first item I got was my usual clear mascara that I use for setting my brows.

There's nothing really to say about this as it does what I want it to do and my brows stay in place all day.  This is my 5th tube and it lasts for forever. Absolute bargain at just £1.

Available here for £1.

My final makeup product that I picked up was a lipstick, also from MUA. I love these lipsticks and I think they're an absolute steal at only £1.

I chose 'Shade 13' as I am just starting to venture into the world of bright red lipstick and I didn't want to spend a bomb on one as I didn't know whether it would suit me or not.

This shade is a true red shade with blue undertones.  This is great as it makes your teeth look whiter. I haven't had a chance to test out the wear of this lipstick but oh my god it's pigmented. 

When I swatched this, I just couldn't believe how pigmented it was, the above swatch is with one swipe. I'm so impressed.

The lipstick also comes with a little pot of product at the bottom that you can screw off an use, genius!

I'm very much looking forward to using this lipstick.

Available here for £1.

Finally, you have reached the end of this post. I really hope this wasn't too long and I explained everything as fully as possible. Please leave a comment down below if you'd like me to do a separate post for any of the products mentioned in this post.