San Francisco Photo Diary | Day One With Joey

I can't believe a month has almost passed since I was in the land of San Francisco! I felt so lucky to get the opportunity to come along with Joe on his work trip (best company ever!). I love travelling and seeing different parts of the world, and I'm so happy that I've ticked San Francisco off my list. 

Anyway, here are some of my favourite snaps of mine and Joe's final few days in San Francisco.

To start the day we went to a quirky coffee shop called the farm:table. I shared banana and walnut bread and a eggy croissant thing with Joe. It was delicious! We then did some OOTD styled shots near our hotel. We got peckish shortly after, so we headed to MACY's on Union Square and ate at Asian Box. The beef was incredible, so tender and tasty.

Afterwards, we headed to Haight-Ashbury and took some more OOTD inspired shots in Alamo Square. A beautiful location, amazing houses - very 60's. And then we made our way back to get some more food! We ate at Gotts, and oh my those burgers and garlic chips were damn tasty! 

Also, in case you're wondering what I'm wearing, I've got my lovely New Look high neck swing dress on, paired with some PRIMARK black tights, OFFICE boots and my new ASOS bag.

I will be posting my snaps from day two on Tuesday, so pop back then for more fun filled adventures and more food porn in San Francisco!

L'oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara | Review

L'oreal Paris have invented a mascara that 'offers every girl the dream of ultra voluminous eyes, twice as wide open, like a kawaii doll'. Being a big fan of Japan, I really like the idea of this and was intrigued to see what it was like after hearing mixed reviews in person and on the internet. 

I've been using it for two months solidly so I wanted to share my thoughts on the product.

The price. On Boots' website, the mascara retails at £8.99, however I purchased it when they had a deal on, so I picked up the mascara for £5.99. A really affordable mascara that doesn't break the bank.

The packaging. I really like the packaging, it's very sleek and I like the metallic pink and black combined together. It's also super easy to hold, it's like holding a thick pen. Once opened, it has a bendy wand in which you can swipe away any excess formula back into the tube, which I think is a really nice touch. 

The brush. L'oreal have used a conical brush, fairly thin and they taper towards the tip. Really easy to use, separates the lashes well, leaving a nice volumising coat. One thing I would say is, don't over-do it with the coats! Otherwise it can look quite clumpy and spidery.

My thoughts. It is a great mascara for day-time, I found that it lengthened my lashes and added that extra bit of volume to make my eyes pop and have that 'manga' inspired feel to them. I'm also super impressed that it didn't make my eyelids/under my eye area smudge or appear dark after wearing all day. It literally stays put all day!

Over time (3 weeks or so) I found that the formula dried out very quickly and was quite hard to work with. The product wasn't distributing evenly anymore and I found my lashes looking a little spidery.

Maybe it was a sign that I needed to replace mine?

Overall rating. 4/5 - It's a really great mascara, perfect for wearing during the day. It's lengthening with the right amount of volume.  Possibly one of the best drugstore mascara's I've tried to date, not the best, but is definitely up there with my favourites! The only real downside and why it lost a point was because it dries out super quickly and the formula was quite hard to work with after a little while.

A Beauty Wishlist

Hi guys, sorry I've been a little useless with my postings this month, things have been a little crazy! Lots of things going on and I've just been struggling to find the time....

Anyway, enough with the excuses! Today I have a beauty wishlist that I wanted to share with you all. I've had my eye on SO many beautiful things and I just fancied writing this morning, so I'm going to talk you through my little (or big if you like) wish list.

Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in the shade PillowTalk. I've heard a lot of good things about Charlotte Tilbury and have been wanting to try some of products for a good while now. And, oh my gosh, I adore the packaging - rose gold goodness - beautiful, just beautiful.

Moving on to the product... PillowTalk is one of those shades that has been majorly hyped up on Youtube and around the beauty community so I feel like I need it in my life at some point soon. It's a gorgeous nude lip liner that you can wear everyday, it makes your lips look more plump and defined.

Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face Brush. I've had my eye on this brush for so long now! I'm currently using the Real Techniques expert face brush for my foundation, however I have to replace them every couple of months or so because the bristles keep falling out... Does anyone else have this problem? Anyway, I'm thinking of paying that little bit extra for a more robust buffing brush that will hopefully last me a long time.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes. Whilst shopping in America, I found myself swatching all of the Amazonian Clay shades in Sephora, but I decided to be good and not get any as I've bought quite a lot of blushes lately. Self control points *pats self on back*. But, they are all so so beautiful and I would like to have at least one in my collection some day.

Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment. Now boy is this expensive! The price tag breaks my heart every single time I look at it. I would LOVE to try this some day... But, I just don't think I could ever justify spending that much on a serum. But, I am so curious to see what all the fuss is about! Is this really the best serum on the market?

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow. Another beautifully packaged item by Charlotte Tilbury! Aside from the packaging, I've heard great stuff about this little duo. It's said to be 'the perfect contouring and highlighting kit'.

At the moment I'm currently using NARS Laguna as a contour and The Balm's Mary Lou Luminizer and I do LOVE them both but I'm always on the look out to try new things and this beautiful set might just be the one.

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler. Now, I've had my eye on these eyelash curlers for bloody ages as I don't actually own a pair, but instead I decided to get the Tweezerman eyelash curlers as I couldn't find the Shu Uemura ones whilst I was in America. I'm not quite sure how I feel about them if I'm honest, I've always been a bit afraid of eyelash curlers, I'm scared of ripping my eyelashes off...  And I'm not sure if these really are making that much of a difference!

Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick in the shade Lost Cherry. How beautiful is this shade? In fact all of her lipstick shades are stunning! I need them all in my life!

Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon in the shade Amber Haze. Another amazing Charlotte Tilbury product that I'm dying to try is the colour chameleon eye shadow stick in the shade 'Amber Haze'. It's a gorgeous shimmery bronzey-gold colour that is suited for brown eyes. She also has another colour suited for brown eyes which is named 'Dark Pearl', stunning! 

Maxfactor Masterpiece Transform Mascara. I'm currently using L'oreal's Miss Manga mascara which I really enjoy using, but it is getting to that stage where it's become quite dry, googey and looks a little clumpy on the lashes.
So I'm thinking this is next on my list to try! I've heard nothing but good things about Maxfactor's mascaras so I'm excited to give them a go!

Babyliss Boutique Salon Soft Waves Hair Wand. I've been experimenting with my hair a little more recently and I've been using my GHD's to curl the ends of my hair once a week or so. Although my GHD's are good at doing what I want, I just want something a lot easier to use. This one looks really good for creating those soft bouncy waves that I love at the moment.

Ren Clarimatte Toner. I'm always on the look out for new toners and I've been wanting to give this a go for a good while now. In fact, I want to give REN's whole range a go!

At the moment I swop between Serozinc and Origins Make a Difference Plus+ Toner and they are both amazing. I do prefer Origins over the two though. Anyway, I am really intrigued to try this next as it's a cheaper alternative to the Origins one.

Charlotte Tilbury Powder & Sculpt Brush. When I pick up the filmstar bronze and glow palette I would like to get the brush to go with it! It is quite pricey for a brush but I am expecting it to be amazing quality!  

Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick in the shade Red Carpet Red. And last but not least another beautiful lipstick that I've had my eye on for quite some time. A beautiful matte dark red shade. It just looks stunning on the lips (From the photographs and other reviews)! It's one of those colours that I would wear regularly, so I definitely feel like I need this ASAP! 

What I bought in San Francisco...

I did some serious damage whilst I was out in San Francisco, especially in MAC. I just couldn't help myself!

MAC Lipsticks are my favourite lipsticks of all time, the formulas are perfect, they last pretty much all day and I think they are fairly reasonably priced for a high-end lippy.

I'd been lusting after so many lipsticks recently and I'm really impressed that I only walked away with seven shades, considering my wish list had way over 20!

Anyway, I bought one Viva Glam, one limited edition and the rest are classic colours. I've swatched all the shades below if you're interested. There's a lot of reddy toned colours and surprisingly a few pinks as well!

From top to bottom: Impassioned, Girl About Town, Opera, Viva Glam |, Russian Red, Brick O La and Syrup!

I've also recently filmed a MAC Lipstick Collection with lip swatches, I've included all of the shades I picked up from San Francisco. 

My Beautiful Olivia Burton Big Dial Black and Rose Gold Watch!

You may have already seen me post a couple of pictures of my beautiful Olivia Burton watch on Instagram a few weeks ago, but today I wanted to dedicate a whole blog post to this little beauty.

Now, I've always wanted a nice watch and I can't remember the last time I actually owned one, probably when I was about 10 when 'Baby-G''s were all the rage... Anyway, I've been on the look out for quite some time and I stumbled upon Olivia Burton watches after seeing them on various blogs and on Instagram. Originally I thought, wow they look really expensive, I'm probably not going to be able to afford one but when I went on their website prices varied from £60-90 which is really really affordable!

I was really torn on which one to buy as they are all so beautiful. But, I knew that I wanted a rose gold dial and a strap that I could wear every-day with any outfit. I decided to op for the black option (safe choice). And I'm so happy with it! It looks way more expensive than it is and it just adds that extra something to an outfit! I just LOVE it!

I purchased mine from 'The Dressing Room' as they had 10% off on 'first orders', so my Big Dial Black and Rose Gold Watch came to £67.50 after discount. I know ASOS and TOPSHOP also stock Olivia Burton watches, so you can also buy them from there as well. 

I'm keen to get another one, not just yet... but I've had my eye on these (moodboard below). They are just all so beautiful and I can't decide! What one's your favourite? 

I'm back from San Francisco | Joe's birthday!

It's been a little while since I last blogged... So sorry about that! I just didn't get round to doing any blogging in San Francisco. I wanted to experience as much as I could whilst I was there, and well, I also needed a little break from the internet world as it was all getting a bit too much for me. I felt like I was putting too much pressure on myself with trying to keep up to date with YouTube videos, my blog, freelance work and working monday-friday on top of it all. Don't get me wrong, I love everything I do but at times it can be a little overwhelming and in return I was making myself ill and over-worked.

Anyway, I'm back! I'm feeling really inspired, I feel tons better and super motivated! I have A LOT of blogging, writing, photographing and editing to do. So, I'm going to start with a re-cap of Joe's birthday from last month to get me back in to the swing of things.

Joe turned twenty eight last month and we celebrated the day by heading into London. We wandered around Carnaby Street for Pret goodness, general browsage and of course we took advantage of Ben's Cookies. We then found ourselves in TOPSHOP (Oxford Circus), where we took our 'yearly snaps' in the photo booth (we do this for either of our birthdays or our anniversary every year). After shopping we headed back towards Carnaby Street way and indulged in a celebratory birthday mojito before heading to Ping Pong for delicious dim sum, pork puff things and other glorious food munchies.

I vlogged the day, so if you do want to see what we got up to in video form the link will be below. Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing what we got up to and also pop back tomorrow for a belated blog post on my beautiful Olivia Burton rose gold watch!