I have only recently become a fan of the benefit makeup, I think for me their pricing and slightly OTT packaging had me thinking that there stuff was just a bit of a gimmick, and perhaps not as good as MAC. However, since buying their promotional stocking offer recently, and picking up a few minis from the range, I have succumbed to the hype and would now say that I am a solid fan of the brand. This product is a particular favourite of mine, after using a tester size and squeezing every last drop out of it, I just had to pick up the original size one, and with 10% off this weekend, It didn't break the bank too much.

I am a bit of a sucker when it comes to face masks, to me theres nothing better than spending a sunday night pampering yourself with a bubbly bath, a glass of Pino and a hard working face mask. I particularly love the Origins face masks as for me they really work in terms of deep cleaning and ridding the skin of any excess dirt and oil. I normally use my origins charcoal mask which is fab for deep cleansing the pores, however recently on a trip to boots, origins were doing a great offer where you buy 3 masks in one set, the charcoal one, their intensive overnight mask and this one for just £20! And considering I hadn't tried the Out of trouble* mask before, I wasn't going to miss this opportunity. 

After months of emails, cover letters and CVs I have finally managed to secure myself a job, and not just any job, a proper, grown up and slightly nerve racking marketing job. After studying PR and Journalism at University, Marketing was always a strong career option for me, I felt like I fitted in better with the whole social media and business aspects of it as opposed to the cut-throat world of Journalism.  I know I am incredibly lucky to have secured my first job, however luck was just a portion of it. I feel that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without my degree, various different work experiences and above all, my blog. For someone wanting to go into Journalism, marketing, PR or advertising having a blog and relevant work experience is imperative in boosting your CV and putting you ahead of the other thousands of graduates looking to get their foot in the door. I want to put my experiences to good use so in this post I will be giving you some tips on how to ensure your CV is put to the top of the pile.

I absolutely adore candles, I love that lighting a simple candle can create such a gorgeous atmosphere and leave a lovely warm glow and subtle scent. Like most other woman my age, I am a massive fan of the Yankee candles, specifically because their candles are so well scented and they have many different types to choose from, whether that be fresh scents such as clean cotton or sweet and sickly scents such as vanilla cupcake, their products will cater to everyone at any age.

I have been wanting to write a post like this for quite a while, simply because the subject area is something very close to my heart and something which has changed my life and my health for the better. I am a massive advocate for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and exercising on a regular basis and really do feel like it benefits you so much, for both that moment and in the long run. I have always been quite an active person, I did ballet, swimming and gymnastics from the age of 7 till my early teens, and always loved to get involved with cross countries and fun runs. I was never really keen on sports day, purely because I felt it was all a bit of a popularity contest, and I every year I would be so  embarrassed of my bean pole like body and the fact that I never really developed womanly assets till my late teens.

Autumn is a time to be bold and bright when it comes to lip colours, deep berry, vampy purple and daring red are usually the shades to opt for, however when it comes to lipstick, I cant help but always crawl back to me beloved nudes, so today I will be sharing with you a few that I have been wearing throughout the autumn months as a more subtle option.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit of a fan of buying fake makeup brushes online... you wanna know why? Because their cheap, come in a generous set and are surprisingly good quality. I bought a few sets back when I was 16, and since then have moved on to bigger and better things such as the Real Techniques brushes, which are great quality but also very affordable, however the other night I slipped back into my old ways and sneakily purchased this gorgeous fake set of sigma brushes from eBay for around £8.00. 

Firstly, I absolutely adore the colours of them, as you can probably tell I am all about that white look ATM and these just look so sleek in my cute little pot on my dressing table. Secondly, I love that they include literally every core brush you need, such as your classic buffing brushes, an amazingly domed contour brush, and some amazing eye brushes. When I first used these on my face I actually couldn’t believe the softness, genuinely they are probably softer than the real techniques, it’s like rubbing your face with a tiny little baby bunny… (bit weird, but you get what I mean) 

Probably the most important point, the application; if I’m honest I really cant fault this, the buffing brushes work amazing with my liquid foundation and really work the product into the skin and give my skin an amazing finish. The contour brush, which is currently my favourite is probably the best contour brush I have used simply because it has such a good shape for the application and means you can create a lovely contour line along the hollows. 

These brushes may show their true colours in a few weeks or so, shedding after a few washes, however I do think that for the price they are amazing value and really do apply my makeup really well, plus they look so cute and a girl can never have too many makeup brushes!

If there’s one thing I absolutely love about make up and the application of make up, it’s the contour and highlighting stage. I am a bit of a sucker for any highlight, whether they be drugstore or high end, I just think a well highlighted face looks so dewy and natural- if you apply it right that is. 

When it comes the contour, I am all about this sleek palette, it is the perfect bronzed brown colour that sits perfectly in the hollows of your cheeks to give your cheek bones that model look without breaking the bank. I use my real techniques contour brush to apply the power, which is an amazing brush for contouring as it has a small rounded shape so you can easily reach the hollows without going overboard. I apply this to the hollows of my cheeks, my temples, down the sides of my nose and on my Jaw line, this just gives a lovely chiselled finish, however be sure not to apply to much as its never good when it actually looks like you have contoured the shit out of your face. 

 For the highlight I used my high beam from benefit, which I am obsessed with ATM, I usually tend to go for liquid or cream highlight as opposed to a powder as I think this gives you a more natural and dewy finish and doesn’t look too heavy on the skin. I apply this product on the tops of my cheeks, the centre of my nose, my brow bone and my cupid’s bow to lift my face and give me a healthy glow even if I’m not feeling tip-top.

 In my opinion, skipping contour and highlighting in your routine is a crime to makeup- its so quick and easy and does amazing things to the shape and look of your face, and you don’t have to be a kimmy k expert either, a simple drugstore contour powder and highlight will do, mind you, I do recommend this brush, its amazing!

I love a vampy lip when the weather goes all Autumnal and wintery, and there is nothing better than teaming it with a shaggy winter hair-do a simple flick eye liner and some winning A/W outfits. This beautifully vampy colour is Straight Ace from the Topshop makeup range, I picked it up when they were doing two lipsticks for £10 (I also picked up Whimsical which I love). I never normally go for a vampy colour however this one really caught my eye in the shop as it is the perfect combination of a daring purple yet deep berry shade, and I thought I would give it a whirl. The lipstick is so creamy it glides on a dream, with a beautiful maleficent-like purple finish, giving you statement lips. If like me, are not quite brave enough to wear it at work or out for drinks, then it also looks great just lightly dabbed onto the lips as this gives you a very subtle berry lip stain to your lips, perfect for every day wear. 

If you read my previous post, you will know that I received this mini high beam benefit highlighter as part of an offer in Boots, where you can buy 4 benefit products for £15. I was probably most excited about this product as I am a bit of a sucker for anything highlight related, and for me trying out a new, high end product was pretty exciting. This highlight comes in a liquid consistency and has a little applicator that you literally just dot onto the areas that you want highlighting, for me this is the tops of the cheekbones, the top of my brow bone, the centre of my nose and my cupids bow. The product is very pretty looking, with a pink and pearly hue and a lovely shimmery finish. The also product rubs well into the skin, as with some of these liquid highlights I find once applied they still can look a little cakey, but this benefit one really just dissolves into your foundation and gives you a lovely subtle glow without making it look streaky. The actual glow compared to other highlights is beautiful yet somewhat subtle. I think against my MAC frost highlight, it looks very natural and pearly, as my mac one is highly pigmented and a more of a heavy-duty highlight. This benefit one is lovely for an all over glow on the skin, and to get that healthy looking complexion, however I wouldn’t say that it gives you that kind of night out highlight finish. None the less, I still absolutely love this product, the application is simple and it looks so natural on the skin, great for a day-to-day glow.

I featured this product in my recent beauty faves post simply because I am using it everyday and am just in love with the colour. I have been lusting after MAC's uninterrupted long-wear eye shadow for quite some time, and I finally managed to grab it at the Mac store in Cambridge. For starters it comes in much larger packaging than the usual eye shadows which is really good value for money as it will set you back about £16. I am just all over this eye shadow at the moment, and I don’t think I’ve worn any other shade for a long while. The colour is a very smouldering burnt orange-bronzed colour, and is just the perfect golden bronze to use day-to-day or for an evening out to get a really gorgeous yet subtle Smokey eye. I have transitioned from a black and silver Smokey eye to bronze as i feel that it looks a lot more natural and complements my eye colour much more. Another great thing about this colour is that you can use it as just a crease blending neutral colour, or like me, you can apply it all over the lid with no other shadow and just get a fabulous one tone eye look. I have been using it on its own and I find it doesn’t need any other colour as it works great alone. I apply it to my lid and blend it out, and for an added all over Smokey look I also apply it to my outer corners, under my eye line and in my inner corners. The trick is to blend all the time, so it looks even more Smokey and natural. I apply my MAC paint pot to the eye lid before I apply my shadow, this works great as an eye primer and just gives your lid a nice clean slate to apply the shadow, I also use my Real Techniques eye brush to apply and blend, so really its an all in one job!