Hopes for the near future

So 2017 is well under way now! I can't believe it's the end of January already. I want to discuss some hopes and wishes for the new future - I don't really do new year resolution, as I find them difficult to keep; the idea of forcing myself to do something massive makes me want to stop trying immediately. So I like to do little things I want for the upcoming months;

1. Have an amazing 17th birthday
2. Save up £500 by the end of the year to invest into something
3. Have at least £200 saved up by my birthday (6th March) to buy driving lessons...I'm half way there guys!
4. Get all C's and above in my next set of mock exams
5. Get a B in history AS, as that's the one I'm dropping at the end of this academic year
6. Keep up with my scrapbooking...that's a post I would like to make soon, a sort of evolution of the scrapbook I have been keeping, full of memories and photos since October 2016.
7. Buy a new pair of shoes! I hardly ever buy shoes, preferring to buy makeup or countless jumpers that I really don't need.
8. Re watch every episode of Pretty Little Liars (for the 7th time) before the new episode airs in April
9. Drink hot chocolate more, because it's the only hot drink I like and makes me feel calm and cosy
10. Go to the cinema more often, because I love it but don't go enough!

Urban Decay

The Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics palette has been out for quite a while now, but this was one of my main Christmas presents and is literally the most insane palette in the world. It contains 12 all matte shades, though the first shade in the palette could be considered a shimmer, as it has small bits of glitter in. I've always been one for shimmer shadows, but in the past few months I've been converted to matte shadows and this palette is right up my street. My favourite colours to wear are purples and oranges. I have green eyes, so the internet world tells me I should be wearing purples and golds, but the burnt oranges have my heart <3

The palette retails for £36-£40, depending on whether you have some sort of student discount! This is the same price for basically all of the Naked palettes and is pretty pricey in my opinion, but SO worth the money. This palette is my little baby; if I don't know what to do with my makeup, I reach for this. Ever have those moments when you start to do your makeup and just want something quick and easy to finish it off? THIS IS THAT PALETTE

Like seriously, I use this on the daily and could not recommend it more. The shades are pigmented (though there is the big debate about how pigmented Naked palettes actually are floating round at the minute) and they're so buttery. My biggest pet peeve with shadows is their blendability...is that a word? Probably not, but we'll use it anyway. Yeah, so the blendability of these shadows is amazing! Nothing is worse than putting a shadow on your eyes when you're in a rush and having to spend half an hour blending. I pack the shadows on with a flat brush then use a fluffy brush to blend it up and outwards.

My go to look tends to be 'Faith' and 'Lockout' through the crease as a transition shade, then my personal favourite shade in the whole palette, 'Extra bitter' (like me mwahaha) all over the lid and slightly into the outer crease to deepen the crease.

Another look I like is 'Lethal' through the crease and then 'Instinct' all over the lid.

The slightly shimmery shade I mentioned, 'Blow' is the perfect inner corner and brow bone highlight because it's not too full on.

LOOK AT THAT PACKAGING AHHH

See that burnt orange shade...yeah...just keep staring at it...because LOOK AT IT

Overall I love this palette and the little brush that comes with it as an added bonus - the smaller end of the brush is good for the inner corner and brow bone!

Niamh xoxo

How to style chopstick curls

So I'm back! It's been a very long time, and all will be explained in a post I am still currently writing and collecting photos for. This post will sum up my 2016 and explain a bit more about where I've been but the answer is busy! I've just had a major busy year and so it's taken me a while to get back into blogging. I feel like I write this same explanation every few months but if that's how it has to be then so be it!

Today's post is going to be a how to style chopstick curls and a review on the trend of chopstick curls that's going round right now. I personally LOVE this look and think it's the perfect easy way to achieve natural looking tiny curls. I use the Lee Stafford Chopstick Styler which you can buy for £20 or under on websites like amazon, eBay, tesco's, Asda etc! The curler is stupidly cheap and has been trending on YouTube and around the blogger community recently so I jumped on the bandwagon (earlier than I usually would to be honest) and brought the curler to see what the hype was about.

And let me just say...I was bloody impressed!
The curler isn't round, almost flat, having two flat sides and 2 rounded edges. You wrap your hair round the wand and it creates the most perfect tiny corkscrew curls. This wand also gives your hand amazing volume, because it allows you to curl your hair right to the root. My hair is not short, and though it isn't extremely long, this wand is long enough to wrap all my hair around. With this curler, despite what you might presume you don't actually have to take really small sections. You can take the average size section as you would with a normal curling wand but achieve much tighter bouncier and voluminous curls!

I cannot believe how obsessed I am with this curler and would recommend it to anyone and everyone if you want that tight, almost poodle like look. It's the no 1 best selling "extra skinny curling tong" in the UK which says it all really! It also has a swivel cord which means it is easy to twist the wand how you want it and the long lead is a bonus really. It has a one temperature does all sort of thing which is quite nice as I find I don't have to worry about the heat, plus it heats up really quick.
In terms of staying power, I'm not really the person to ask. My hair holds style really well which is good because I hate hairspray! Whenever I curl my hair with this I don't use hairspray and the curls last all day. That may be because of my hair itself, but I'd like to think part of it is down to the curler too.

Overall I would give this product a 10/10...I can literally think of no faults! Definitely purchase this either as a first time curling wand or a more precise one to get this perfect kinky curls!

Niamh xoxo

I Heart Makeup, Makeup Revolution // Naked Chocolate review

So today's post is going to be reviewing a recent discovery of mine and a range of palettes that are the most perfect dupes for the Too Faced Chocolate Palette range. The Two Faced palettes are around £40 each; these dupes from a brand sold in Superdrug known as 'Make Up Revolution', are £7.99! Crazy I know! The range holds several palettes and all are dupes for the Too Faced range that everyone and their grandmother loves.The palette I liked the most is called 'Naked Chocolate'. I have green eyes so this palette which holds lots of shimmer shadows (my personal faves) plus pink and gold tones was my favourite out of the collection.

The packaging of the palettes is it's only downfall. You pay for cheap packaging in this sense and the packaging is ugly (in my opinion) plus made of plastic. But for the price you can hardly complain and it's not about the packaging. It's about whats inside!
The palette holds 16 shadows. 16! Which is also insane for the price. The shadows are pigmented, a range of beautiful colours and a good mixture of matte and shimmer shadows. The Naked Chocolate palette has 4 obviously matte shades that are all different ranges of brown. The rest are shimmer shadows and are primarily brown, gold and contain one gorgeous pinky/rose gold shadow that I have loved to death!

Overall I would really recommend this product. The shadows are really pigmented and stay put most of the day, with little fallout. Though they are probably not as good as the Too Faced palette (which I have only heard things about, not tried) the shadows are still good. The palette is beautiful for the price and holds a large mirror on the inside, plus comes with a cheap brush.
I'm not a matte shadow girl, but my favourite combination/look from this palette is Milky all over my lid and White through the crease and outer corner to darken up the look!

Flash

Flash

no flash

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Names of the shadows

Get Ready With Me // Birthday Meal

Last night I went for a meal with loads of close friends to celebrate my best friends 16th birthday. She turned sixteen today. We went to Pizza hut last night and as it always is, the food was incredible!







Outfit:
My outfit is a khaki green playsuit with a long zip and button that goes down the back. It is a wrap around style with a fake belt at the front and is very comfy, with a low neck. It cost me £10 from Primark and is such a bargain! I saw it as I walked into Primark in Leicester city centre, on one of the models and fell in love with it. The colour really compliments my hair and makes my green eyes even greener. I paired this playsuit with a pair of plain black tights and my Topshop Chelsea Boots which are honestly my favourite shoes I've ever owned. Perfect for meals, days out, fancy or casual these black boots cost me £39 but I have definitely got my money's worth in terms of wear! I'm terrible at walking in flats, let only heels. This boots are only slightly heeled and have very thick padding inside to make walking easier and more comfortable. I also wore my old New Look 925 biker jacket, which I have had for a good three years now, but it still fits and is such a staple for me! I wore my rings, two Nomination bracelets and my two Alex and Ani bracelets, which are from a very popular Irish jewellery store.

Hair:
I curled my hair using a Babyliss curling wand. This link here; Curler, takes you to Amazon to view the curler. I actually brought mine from ASDA for £15 and in a deep pink a few years ago, and still use it now. It takes seconds to curl your hair and the heat goes very high. Honestly I brought it because it was so cheap for a well known brand and I don't regret my decision. The top high half of my hair is piled onto my head onto a messy bun and held in place by grips and a single thick hair bobble. Sometimes my messy buns aren't as messy as I'd like them to be, but lasts nights turned out quite well. This photo below shows my hair about a week ago, and though it was not taken yesterday the bun basically looked the same. I feel I've found the perfect way to master a messy bun for my hair now :)

Makeup:

And finally, my personal favourite part of getting ready; the makeup. I wore a very similar look to what I wear on an everyday basis, as I found this look really works for me. As you can see from the very posey photos below, accompanied by my squinting at the bright sun, my make up was very bronzed and sun kissed, matched with a bright red matte lip (perfect for eating!) 

I started with my usual face base;

1. Nivea's Rich Moisturizing Day Cream for dry/sensitive skin

2. Primed just my chin area (as I often rub my make up off here the most!) using Benefit's Porefessional primer

3. Primed my eyelids using Collection Primed and Ready eye primer

4. Applied a small amount of Rimmel's Match Perfection to my chin, mouth/nose area, as I get quite red and spotty here. I don't feel the need to wear a full face of foundation, so just apply it where I think it is needed. Blended this using a Real Techniques Buffing Brush

5. Added Collection's Lasting Collection concealer in the lightest shade on top of the foundation to further conceal spots. Blended with the same brush. Then applied the same concealer under my eyes to cover my blue, dark circles and blended using my Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge.

6. Set all this using a Natural Collection powder in transparent with Real Techniques Multi-Task Brush.

7. Contoured using the shade 'Chocolate' from my beloved W7 'In The Buff' palette. This is a matte brown shade and I use this eyeshadow as contour as I have never found a drugstore contour colour that is not orange under toned and suits my pale skin.

8. Benefit's Rockatuer blush swept across my cheeks using a slanted Amazon brush.

9. Highlighted using NARS Copacabana Illuminator/Highlighter, on my cheekbones, tip of my nose and cupids bow.

On my eyes;

All shadows except Addiction are from the W7 Pallete 'In The Buff'

Brushes used: Real Techniques Base Shadow brush, slanted eye Amazon brush and Real Techniques Shading brush

1. 'Camel' packed all over lid.

2. Inner corner lightened using 'Silk'.

3. Outer corner darkened using 'Dust'.

4. Crease defined using the tiniest bit of MAC's Addiction; a deep red, shimmer shadow.

5. A combination of Maybelline Lash Sensational and Benefit's They're Real on my top lashes. Lower lashes using just They're Real.

6. Lower waterline defined using Soap and Glory Smoulder Kohl black liner.

Eyebrows

1. Filled in with the lightest blonde shade from the Makeup Revolution Brow Kit.

2. Set using a Collection  clear brow mascara

And finally on my lips;

1. Outlined my lips using the KIKO smart lip pencil in 706

2. Matched this using the Soap and Glory matte lip crayon in 'Ember Red'

And there is my finished make up look!

Hope you enjoyed this get ready with me! I had a lovely time and the lipstick was a good option, as the red matched my outfit and look, but lasted most of the meal too!