Rachel Sarah XO

This holiday release from Nars really appealed to me, because 1) I've missed out on every limited edition cheek palette that they've released so far. 2) I'm very much into quirky packaging. Doesn't get much quirkier than this. 3) All of the blush shades are gorgeous.

So Nars has teamed up with fashion photographer, Steven Klein for their holiday releases. The packaging of all of the sets is amazing (in their own weird way.)

Of course, this is limited edition, unfortunately. So you may want to try and get your hands on it before it sells out for Christmas.

So let's get into the palette itself.

So this palette retails for £49 with an overall estimated value of £125.

I'm so pleased that Nars chose to include a contour blush duo in this palette, as I'm not really a blush wearer, but that kind of sold this palette for me. I'm also really pleased that you get a larger than average size of Laguna.

The blushes are the perfect shades for me. Pinky, mauvey blushes are what I gravitate towards. (Admittedly, the peachy-gold shade, Luster, will probably never be worn on my cheeks, makes a lovely eyeshadow though!)

All of the shades in this palette are the perfect amount of pigmented, like you can tap your brush into the pans and get a nice wash of colour but you'll never look like you've overdone it. (Except Paloma II, the cooler contour shade, beware, apply too much and you will look like you've splattered mud over your cheeks.)

You never really find yourself having to top up on blush throughout the day, we all know how long-lasting Nars' blushes are.

Paloma II (second top row) and Dolce Vita (fourth bottom row) are my favourite shades in this palette.

I think this is an amazing price, especially if you're wanting to try out some Nars cheek products. I meann, you're looking at spending roughly £20 per full-size blush (1 gram more than included in this palette) so to get 4 blushes is sort of insane.

I definitely think this is worth it for the amount of product you're getting. I'd give it a solid 8/10.

I'm obsessed.

That's all for now,

Rachel. XO

Now I'm a huge fan of the Sugar Crush range by Soap and Glory. I was in dire need of a back up of my beloved Sugar Crush body wash and took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer Boots were having and noticed a couple of new products in the range, the Sugar Crush body spray and Sugar Crush hand cleansing gel.

Sugar Crush Body Wash

I feel like everyone and their mother in the blogging world has mentioned this at least once, it's a bit of a cult classic if you're a fan of sweet citrus scents. So first off, you get a massive bottle of the stuff. I can usually make this last for a good 6 months before I need to buy another. This is definitely a morning shower scent, it definitely wakes you up. The scent lingers for a long time, so you smell like a human lime for the rest of the day (which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) It's easily my favourite body wash ever and isn't the packaging just so cute?!

RRP: £6.50 and is available at Boots

Sugar Crush Body Spray

First off, the bottle is so cute looking. Secondly, this smells absolutely divine, although it's definitely not as strong as the body wash and the hand gel, which I think I would have preferred for a body spray, it doesn't smell as limey as the other two products either which was quite a disappointment. They do however have a new 100ml bottle of Sweet Lime and Vanilla Musk within the range, which is definitey on my wishlist. Nevertheless, this spray's nice for a little spritz.

RRP: £4 and is available at Boots.

Sugar Crush Hand Cleansing Gel

This is definitely my favourite of the two new products, I'm obsessed with hand sanitisers, I usually have three in my bag at a time (all different scents, of course.) And boy does this smell citrusy, I made the mistake of putting this on on the bus and it's all anyone could smell for the following 15 minutes. I find that a lot of hand sanitisers dry my hands out but this one is lovely. Although one little niggle, a lot comes out when you squeeze it, I've nearly used up most the bottle and I've only had it for a week, okay, I use it a lot but that's besides the point. It comes in a generous 50ml sized bottle and it's really affordable. 

RRP: £2.50 and is available at Boots.

Let me know what your favourite Soap and Glory products are.

That's all for now,

Rachel. XO

So Stila brought out 4 palettes, Soul, Mind, Spirit and Body. I bought Soul.

I was so excited when I first saw this palette in January, the swatches looked perfect and when YouTubers like Claire Marshall, Zoella and Sprinkle of Glitter started raving about this palette, it made me want it even more. Apart from the one thing that was putting me off this palette - the very very mixed (mostly bad) reviews. I um'd and ah'd for a couple of months and finally took the plunge...

And I'm not very impressed.

So let me start off by saying, the packing is so so perfect. The lid is gold and bottom is rose gold. It comes with a little lookbook type of thing and it had a cute little eyeshadow protector with the quote "Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul." by Saint Augustine.

The eyeshadows look gorgeous right? Yeah, I thought so too. They swatch really well too, as you will see a little further down the post. There is lots of sparkle and there's a good mix of warm and cool tones. But these are some of the least pigmented eyeshadows I've used in a long time. Kitten (far left, second row) is very very nice, but it is quite chunky. The matte black on the bottom row is one of the nicest blacks I've used. But does that justify spending £30 on this palette? Nuh uh. When worn on the eyes, they're quite patchy and takes a lot to build the colour up. The shimmer eyeshadows are either to chunky or the mattes are far too dry, there's no solid medium. As someone who suffers from psoriasis on their eyelids, this made my psoriasis flare up really bad because of how dry the eyeshadows are.

I apply a lot of eyeshadows with my fingers nowadays, and these eyeshadows just seem to stick to my fingers and not actually transfer onto my lid. I can usually pack a lot more colour on that way but this palette does not like that.

I really think you'd be better off buying a £6 Makeup Revolution palette or something. I think if you're after a 'barely there' make up look, this may be a good palette. But £30 to me seems like a waste of money. I'll keep using it for now and I may grow to like it, but for now it's not really my thing.

Stila make some amazing products from what I've tried (except their One Step Correct primer and this palette, they're a bit of a let down) but everything else is pretty fab.

I'm quite curious to see what their Spirit and Mind palettes are like but I can't bring myself to spend £60 on them especially if they're anything like this palette.

Sorry Stila, I still love you!

Let me know if you've used this palette or any of the other 3 palettes.

That's all for now,

Rachel. xo

Hi guys! So it's been a little over a month and I've got a couple of new products this month, I thought I'd talk you through my highlighting and contouring favourites.

So these products are the best products I've found that work best on me. If you're a cool-toned, fair skinned gal like me, you might like these too!

MAC Powder Blush in 'Harmony'

This looks quite red-toned, it's quite the opposite and I'm not sure if it's a problem with the lighting or what. But this blush is a gorgeous mid-tone brown, leaning more towards the cool side. If you're fair/light skinned, you're going to really love this. It applies evenly but if used with a heavy hand, it can become hard to blend. I wouldn't use this a bronzer to warm up the face, as it does give the illusion of natural shadows and not a sunkissed glow. I find it is quite powdery as it is a blush and isn't specifically designed for contouring, there is minimal fall out when applying though. I would recommend this to someone who's maybe an NW15-NW20. I looked everywhere for this and it was sold out for about 2 weeks! I'd recommend buying from Debenhams as they seem to get this in stock more regularly than MAC, I feel.

This retails for £18 and can be bought here.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in 'Lightscapade'

Lightscapade is a gorgeous shimmery champagne highlight powder with pale pink and blue bits running through it. Compared to some highlighters I've tried, this isn't overpowering and isn't overly shimmery, so you won't end up looking like a disco ball. It gives a subtle highlight to the cheekbones and it just looks gorgeous in the pan, let's be honest. It's a baked powder, and I think it looks like a rather cute, girly little planet, haha. 

I did buy this around the time the Lightness of Being collection was released and I was debating on getting the rather cute looking limited edition version of this, but after reading reviews that were saying the formula was chalky and not very pigmented, I decided against it.

This retails for £23 and can be bought here.

Real Techniques Bold Metals Collection - Flat Contour Brush

Excuse how dirty my brush is, I couldn't be bothered to wash it for the purpose of this post, sorry not sorry. ;o

I can't quite express my love for this brush. This was the only brush from the whole collection that really appealed to me. I'm not sure if it's because of the gorgeous rose gold handle or the cute pink ombre bristles, but this brush just spoke to me.

The bristles are synthetic, meaning this brush is great with powder and cream products. The bristles are so soft and yes, I sat and stroked my face with this brush as soon as I received it in the post. The bristles are very dense, meaning you can pack a lot of product on but it also makes blending the easiest thing on the planet. This may be my favourite purchase of the year so far.

This retails for £22 and can be bought here.

Let me know what your highlighting and contouring must haves are!

That's all for now,

Rachel. xo

Hi guys! This month has been a bit of a struggle so I do apologise for the lack of posts. Well, I've dyed my hair red and it looks pretty cool so that's something positive that happened last month. I've also decided to pluck up the courage to get driving lessons (eek!) so that's pretty scary and man, insurance is so expensive. Dad and I have been looking at a lovely little Peugeot 107, but that's a long way off yet. Need to actually have my first driving lesson, haha!

I've bought such a ridiculous amount of beauty items this month it isn't even funny, a lot of MAC was bought and I have no regrets okay.

So let's get into it shall we?

Hydraluron Moisture Jelly

 This has become my new favourite daily moisturiser. It's by the brand, Indeed Labs, they also make a serum that goes hand-in-hand with this. It's a jelly consistency and that rather flat lid is actually a pump which I think is much more hygienic. It feels lovely and cooling, it melts into the skin.

Retails for £24.99 from Boots 

Blush Palette in 'All About Pink' by Makeup Revolution and MUA Eyeshadow Palette in 'Elysium'

I've smothered these palettes all over my face nearly everyday. 

I do find that the blush palette is a bit too pigmented so you need to use a light hand for sure. The eyeshadow palette is so pigmented and the mattes in this palette are fabulous!

Both retail for £6 and are available from Makeup Revolution and MUA.

MAC Eyeshadow Quad in 'Devilishly Dark'

This is a very very lovely, limited edition eyeshadow quad by MAC, I've had this since last summer and I've only recently rekindled my love for it. It's a lovely everyday palette, I usually use the bottom left shade 'honey lust' on it's own with a little bit of the bottom right shade 'devilishly dark' running through the crease.

It's no longer available to buy anymore. :(

MAC Lipstick in Russian Red

This is a gorgeous blue based red, it's a matte lipstick but goes on really smoothly and it's quite creamy considering. It's very very pigmented, it's a deepish red but nowhere near as deep as Diva by MAC. It retails for £15.50 from MAC Cosmetics.

MAC Eyeshadow in Folie

This is actually my new brow colour, after dying my hair red I decided I couldn't go around with black eyebrows still so I was on the hunt for a very red toned brown. I looked all over Superdrug and Boots and I coudn't find one matte red toned brown eyeshadow (what's all that about?!) so I heard a lot about this eyeshadow and when I saw swatches I knew it would be the perfect brow colour, and it is! It retails for £10 in pan form or £13 in full packaging from MAC Cosmetics.

Limited Edition Kelly Osbourne MAC Lipstick in Dodgy Girl

I managed to hunt this lovely lipstick down on Depop, I managed to get it for £15 including postage, I'm kind of obsessed with Kelly Osbourne and I was gutted I missed this collection when it came out, I was not willing to spend £40+ like some people were trying to charge. It's a very nice light lilac colour, makes you look very tanned aswell. It's a matte lipstick but again, goes on quite creamy.

If you hunt this lipstick down, I suggest you buy it while you can.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara and Seventeen Stay Time Concealer

This mascara is one of the best mascara's I've ever tried. It's lasted me just over two months aswell. I just love it. Stay Time concealer blah blah best concealer ever blah blah, you know how much I rave about it.

Perversion mascara is available from here and the concealer is available from here.

Bed Head by TIGI Colour Goddess Shampoo and Conditioner Set

I can't quite express my love for this shampoo and conditioner, I've never been able to find a drugstore colour care shampoo that doesn't do the exact opposite. The conditioner makes my hair feel so so soft, I love using the set together. The bottles are 750ml so they'll last ages.

 IT SMELLS LIKE TOFFEE TOO.

RRP: £22.99 and can be bought here

Let me know what your favourites of January were! :)

That's all for now,

Rachel. xo

Hi guys!

So recently I've been really into coming home from work and sticking my 'Calm Things' playlist on, I've got to stop listening to it on the bus on the way home though, as I always find myself drifting off to sleep, oops. This post will consist of my top 5 songs I listen to when I want to be chilled out and relaxed.

Let's go!

1. Andreas by Seahaven.

To be totally honest, this whole album by Seahaven is my favourite to listen to when I want to relax, but this is my favourite from the album.

2. Evelyn by Gregory Alan Isakov.

Just listen to that voice...

3. Santa Monica by The Front Bottoms.

Possibly the most upbeat song on this list.

4. Stuck On The Puzzle by Alex Turner.

Alex Turner is easily one of my favourite songwriters so he was going to be on this list in some way or another.

5. Hold Back The River by James Bay.

I don't think this needs a description, just listen to it, goddamnit.

A lot of these songs are actually quite sad, so this could also be a sad songs post (I can think of much sadder songs though, hahah) 

I hope I've introduced you to some music that you might not have heard before and I hope they make you as relaxed and sleepy as they do to me.

What do you do to relax?

That's all for now,

Rachel. xo

Hi guys!
It's been well over a year since I last did a post like this so I thought why not write another one as my makeup collection has definitely changed a fair bit.

This is my rather fabulous make up bag, it's covered in scenes from The Little Mermaid (which is my favourite movie ever)

It was £2/£2,50 (amazing, right?) from Primark and it was also available in a pouch type makeup bag.

It fits quite a lot in it and fits very nicely in your bag as it's in a pencil case shape and it's quite slim.

We'll start with the base and lip products. So I recently bought YSL's Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation and it's absolutely lovely, it gives a lovely dewy finish and it comes in lots of shades. I'm in the second lightest shade B10. It retails for £30.50 and can be bought here.

I've also been loving the Stila One Step Correct primer, it really does even out your skin tone and it's very hydrating. This primer contains three different shades, peach, green and lavender, when mixed together on the face, it helps any problem areas you may have (redness, dark circles, sallowness)
It really helps to make my makeup go on smoothly and it also helps my foundation last a lot longer. RRP: £24 and can be bought here.

Lips! So obviously I have my two all time favourite lipsticks. Diva and Rebel by MAC. I love a dark lip so these are essential and I always chuck them in my bag before I leave the house. I wear one of these almost everyday. They both retail for £15.50 and can be bought here.

So obviously, my favourite blush of all time is Rose Gold by Sleek Cosmetics (it's also a pretty close dupe for Nars' Orgasm blush) - I really love this blush because although it's very shimmery and obviously has gold tones running through it, I like that it's still very pink. Pink blushes are the only ones that suit my skin tone. It retails for £4.49 and can be bought here.

I've been liking this eyebrow kit by Sleek also, it's in the black shade as my hair's black (soon to be red, ooooh) I've been using the black cream side more than the powder, the cream is really pigmented, I've noticed it does smudge quite easily so I've started setting it with the black powder. It retails for £8.49 and can be bought here.

Another blush I really love 'Marshmallow' by MUA. I really love this shade, the only thing that bother me is it's quite chalky and it's very very pigmented so you need to have a light hand when using it or else you could end up looking like Coco the Clown. It retails for £1 and can be bought here.

My favourite bronzer of all time is the honey bronzer by The Body Shop in shade '2 Fair Matte', it's the perfect bronzer for pale skinned people like myself. It's a nice light brown colour and it doesn't make you look like a Dorito, which is always a good thing. It blends nicely and it's not too heavily pigmented so you don't end up with big brown lines on your face. It retails for £13 and can be bought from here.

You might be wondering, why must I need two concealers in very similar shades in my makeup bag? Well, one of them is to conceal blemishes and the other is to highlight under my eyes. Seventeen's Stay Time concealer is easily my favourite concealer ever. I really dislike Collection's Lasting Perfection concealer, I find it really drying under my eyes and it flakes like crazy. The Stay Time concealer is very creamy and dewy and reminds me a lot of the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, the good thing about this is that it dries to a dewy finish, which is always gooood. It retails for £4.49 and can be bought here.

One of my favourite highlighters is the Chanel Pearly Banner Iridescent Powder for Eyes and Cheeks, unfortunately it's discontinued now and was from the London Madness collection. It is very glittery, so you have to be sparing with it or else you'll end up looking like a glitter ball. It is a really lovely highlighter though.

My favourite mascara at the moment is the Perversion mascara by Urban Decay, I bought it in a set with a travel size version of the Subversion lash primer and it was such a good deal. The wand is really big and thick and isn't one of these horrible overly plasticky wands, it really lengthens and thickens your lashes. Although I do think that the Soap & Glory Thick and Fast mascara is an almost exact dupe for this, so once this is finished I'll probably just go back to my trusty old Thick & Fast mascara. It retails for £18 and it can be bought here.

Obviously, where would we all be without our trusty Real Techniques brushes? I'm not going to go into too much details as we all know how great they are. I use the Expert Face Brush for buffing in foundation and concealer and the contour brush, for well, contouring? The contour brush is part of the core collection which retails for £15.99 and can be bought here and the Expert Face Brush can be bought separately from here.

And last but not least, a rather lovely Shea Butter hand cream by L'Occitane. I own far too many L'Occitane hands creams, I own about 6 now, this one isn't my favourite but it is the most hydrating as it's made for people with very dry skin so it's perfect. My favourite L'Occitane hand cream is the Lime Zest one and it smells so lovely and feels so lovely, I just love it. This retails for £8 and can be bought from here.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I've been keeping in my make up bag lately.

Let me know what your favourite go-to makeup items are.

That's all for now,

Rachel. xo