The Bronze Trend | Eyes

Hey guys! so recently I have been trying out some new eye make-up as I got fed up of only ever wearing a bit of black eye liner! If you haven't noticed yet, bronze has been a big colour this season so I thought I would try it out a little bit on my eyes as well as just wearing a bit of bronzer! I think it looks quite nice because it isn't too in your face but at the same time it really opens out your eyes! I used an eye-shadow from the 'liquid metal' palette from Illamasqua. The shade is called Enrapture (top left) and its a really nice consistency cream shadow. It stays on literally all day too. I basically just popped this all over the eye, and the added a little bit of black shadow into the crease and blended it out. What do you think?

Lauren x

OOTD#2

Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been just over a week now, but I've been trying to make the most of my time off of Uni getting some work done so I haven't done anything too interesting!
Anyway here is an outfit that I'm wearing today, sorry for the photo quality, my camera is breaking yet again but they are all pretty recent purchases so they will still be available!

Flower Crop Top - Topshop
Dark Tartan Leggings - River Island
Cut-out White Sandals - New Look
Sunglasses - eBay
Watch - Urban Outfitters

Your Fashion Penpal x

NOTD || Easter Edition

It's true, I'm most definitely not the worlds most steady hand. But this Sunday I had some spare time so thought I would give some cute Easter themed nails a go! I went with a really easy style so it wasn't too hard to do, on this hand anyway! (lets just say the other hand was a LOT harder) but I think they turned out okay and it looks quite cute a bit more rough around the edges!

My base coat is BarryM in Blueberry, which isn't quite a pastel blue but is still quite bright, and to do the detail I used a white nail art pen which is actually my sisters but I think she got it from eBay! :)

Your Fashion Penpal x

5 Reasons I Love Beanies

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Who doesn't love a good beanie? I have found these ones over the space of about a year and I couldn't leave any of them behind.

1. They can instantly make your outfit look cool. When I say cool, I mean more planned out. If I'm feeling like just wearing some trainers, a baggy top and jeans, chucking a beanie on instantly makes me feel more together, like I have actually put some thought into what I'm wearing ( I haven't).
2.  When I want an accessory but can't be bothered to trawl through my jewellery stash, I just shove a beanie on. I think it works with pretty much every outfit, depending on which one you use!
3. They cover up bad hair days. As if this wasn't going to be a point! On those in-between days when dry shampoo just isn't enough, my trusty beanies never let me down.
4. There are so many different styles. I find myself sticking mainly to the plain black ones with just a small graphic or logo as I think they go with most, but I also have this lilac 'Adventure Time' themed one which goes well with an all black outfit, and I have the essential woolly knitted one (including bobble!) for winter! 
5. They are good wind barriers. Some days, it is just too windy to go out with your hair down, unless if you want it constantly in your eyes and face and little bits getting stuck to your lipgloss or in your mouth. Putting on a beanie creates a perfect barrier for my fringe and the sides of your hair, keeping them in place, and out of my face. Also they are warm!

Me and my fiancée posing in our beanies haha!

Your Fashion Penpal x

Everyday Makeup!

Hey beauties! So, as my makeup routine probably hasn't changed in the last few years, at the start of this year I thought I would change things up a bit! My actual routine is mostly the same, but this year I have been experimenting with a lot of different products, I think I had stuck to Maybellines Dream Satin Liquid Foundation since about year 10, but I finally upgraded come my 20th birthday and haven't looked back since! Here are my products that I use on a day to day basis - going out products are a whole different story!

MAC Matchmaster SPF 15 Foundation - Really nice foundation with good coverage, I'd say medium, and it adapts to your skin tone, so if you go on holiday and get a tan you don't have to worry about buying another in a darker shade!

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer - This is literally the best concealer I have ever used, I don't think I'd even bother trying any others after using this. It literally makes my dark circles disappear and it blends in beautifully, although I'd say it definitely works better blended in with a brush rather than your fingers.

MAC mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Medium - At first I found it quite hard to use this powder as I thought it came out quite cakey looking, and this really put me off it for a while. But then I decided to try it once more, and I put a really small amount onto my powder brush and just dabbed it onto my skin rather than sweeping it all over, and I really like how it turned out this way - phew!

Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Disobey -Unfortunately now discontinued, this is a nice brown colour powder that I use for contouring rather than a blusher, it's really nice and you only need a tiny bit to make a noticeable difference - plus it smells delicious! They have similar shades available so check the website if you're interested!

Collection Shimmer Shades in 'Way to Glow' - This product is really nice, I'd say it's almost a dupe to the Body Shops Shimmer Cubes. The palest colour makes for the nicest highlighter under the brow bone and just a little at the top of the cheek bones. I tried out the darkest colours as a contour and they are actually really pigmented which I wasn't expecting - so you only need a small amount otherwise you'll be doing a hell of a lot of blending!

Collection Work The Colour Eyeshadow Pencil in Vanilla Sky - This is a really shimmery colour, I use it in the corners of my eyes to brighten them up a bit - but I have to say I've never actually used it as an eyeshadow so couldn't tell you about staying power!

Collection Fast Stoke Eyeliner - This is the one thing from my make up kit that hasn't changed. I love it. I love the shape of the brush, it glides on really easy and is super easy to get the cat flicks I find myself doing everyday. It also has great staying power which I just haven't found with other liquid liners, even the felt tip liners don't work for me. Also you can't really complain about the price!

Rimmel London Scandal Eyes Flex - I normally try out a different mascara each time I need to buy a new one, and this time it was this one. It is actually really nice and gives my lashes lots of length and volume so I'd definitely consider buying it again!

MUA Ever After Matte Palette - I love a good matte eyeshadow, and this palette has 10 of them - result! I use one of the brown shades to fill in my eyebrows and it works really well. I don't use eyeshadow every day but when I fancy it this palette is really nice for getting a subtle smoky eye and has a good mix of lighter and darker shades.

BRUSHES-

Illamasqua Angled Brush - I got this brush in one of my makeup kits from uni and decided that I would much rather have it for myself, whoops. The size and shape is perfect for filling in my brows just how I like it, bit expensive for a brush none-the-less at £19!

Illamasqua Blending Brush - Same story with this brush! It is a really nice brush and makes it really easy for me to get a good smoky eye, otherwise I would be useless! Again pretty expensive at £22, but like I said I got these brushes in a kit for Uni so had to indulge!

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush - This is a really nice foundation brush. It's the first proper brush I've ever owned, before I used to just use my fingers or a really cheap foundation brush I'd pick up from somewhere like Primark, but now I can really tell the difference in how my skin looks using a proper brush! I use this for both my foundation and concealer.


So that's about it guys! This turned out to be a longer post than I originally intended so hopefully you got through it! If you're interested in any prices/better quality photos of the products, I've put the links in above. What are your favourite everyday products?

Your Fashion Penpal x