Top 5 Beauty Discoveries 2014

Hi girlies, just a quick post rounding up my top 5 discoveries of 2014.

Firstly the Nars Virtual Domination palette. Every year Nars bring out a limited edition palette around Christmas time and it always blows me away. This time I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. This one contains my favourite colour in Deep Throat, 2 new blush shades, a super shimmery highlighter (more party appropriate) and the Laguna bronzer. If this is still available anywhere then I'd snap it up as it's the perfect travel companion.

Anastasia brow powder. I've tried pencils for filling in my brows and nothing quite seems to work like a powder a thin brush and spooly.

Being the highlighter fiend that I am this sunkissed Guerlain limited edition beauty caught my eye. It was love at first swatch. I love that it's just so massive...I know i won't be hitting pan anytime soon. That embossed print....wow.

Tarte Light Camera Flashes mascara. The wand of this has different sized bristles at different edges so you can pick your finish. It's super black, it gives length, volume, thickness....it's one of the best mascaras I've ever tried.

YSl Rouge Volupte Gloss. Now not really being a gloss girl I read a few reviews about this and they were all pretty good. I picked it up in a baby pink and generally use it over a lipstick to just give my lips a plumper look.

Hope 2014 was great for you all and wishing you the best for 2015.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you have had a wonderful day and look forward to the new year ahead.
Love izzy x

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette Review and Swatches

Hello ladies! Please excuse the longest title in the world, it just makes it easier for those google searches. I know that I rarely buy any make up without having a little nosey at the reviews and Google images of swatches.
So today I'm bringing you the loveliness that is housed in this sleek little palette. I've heard so much about this brand especially when it comes to their ambient lighting powders and blushes and so far I've resisted temptation. Partly if I'm honest is because they don't have an Hourglass Counter at my local Space NK so if I'm spending more than £20 on a blusher I want to make darn sure I love it.
Ok let's take a look inside.


We have 3 gorgeous colours in here.

Swatched.


Colours from left - right.
1. Mood Exposure.
2. Incandescent Electra.
3. Luminous Flash.

These are such smooth finely milled glowy blushes. They remind me of the Too Faced Love Glow blush but of a higher quality. You can apply this lightly or build up for a stronger colour. The first layer can be fairly sheer.
I think the 3 colours in here are pretty universal and most fair - medium skin tones should be fine with it. I'm not too sure if it would suited darker skin tones. So this palette will set you back £ which isn't bad for 3 mini sized blushers. It perfect for travel or to pop in to your handbag. I'm going to happily reccomend this to you all and Id grab it quickly as its sure to be a sell out.

The 'Me' Time Tag

Hi ladies, it's not too often I do a tag post on here but I saw this one on YouTube and thought it might be nice to give it a nod on my blog.

What do you watch or read during me time?
I like to watch something that's easy viewing so my top 3 shows at the moment are Suits, Towie and Made in Chelsea.
When it comes to reading I am a total chick lit girl at heart, so something by Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk or Paige Toon and im generally hooked.

What do you wear during me time?
Either cosy pyjamas or A&F trackies.

What are your me time beauty products?
I love a good hair mask so either the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer or a hair oil all through my hair. Currently im using the Loreal mythic oil.

Current favourite nail polish?
At this time of year it is always OPI Malaga Wine.

What do you eat/drink during me time?
Terry's chocolate orange and Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli.

Do you ever have outdoor me time?
Nope I'm afraid I'm just not an outdoors kinda gal.

Would you ever go see a movie alone?
Nope....id feel very weird doing this!

Favourite online shop?
At the moment....Amazon. I'm addicted to the Prime delivery and the fact that you can get absolutely everything.
Clothes wise ive falled in love with Topshop again and beauty shop for me is usually HQ Hair.

What else do you do during me time?
I like to sit on social media for ages, read tweets and catch up on blog posts. Love watching new YouTube beauty videos and looking at instagram. Oh and also Pinterest....I can spend hours on there daydreaming making up my dream boards.

Zoeva Brushes Vegan Prime Set

So every blogger and their dog has banged on about these brushes for ages and I've resisted buying them until now. I've read enough reviews to know that these are good value for money and seem to be pretty darn good quality. So I placed my order with beauty bay and voila here is my Vegan Prime Brush Set for around £62. Now while that may seem a lot it isn't really as it contains 10 brushes. So at just over £6 each which compared to mac is teeny tiny prices I think I'm on to a good thing.
I love the cute little pouch they all come in which is great for travel.


Black faux leather with a pop of pink inside.
And the brushes that attracted me to the set are these below.


Not too much more to say as I've not used them yet and literally photographed them while they are all clean and shiny but I'll let you know!

Hope you are all well x

Canadian Haul.

Soooo I have to thank my lovely sister in law for this haul! She was armed with my wishlist and absolutely did not dissapoint.
I kept my beauty bits minimal as I regularly order from Sephora and if im honest there's not lots that was tempting me at the moment. So I picked the eyeliner set that's been reviewed by Tati over on GlamlifeGuru, I love the fact this contains a marc jacobs gel liner as I've been wanting to try something from the range for ages.
Anastasia brow powder, my Japonesque brow powder is running out so time to try something new and lastly a lipbalm by Fresh.


The most exciting purchase!!! As soon as I saw this online a few months ago I really wanted it....never bought it.....regretted it and it went out of stock. Lucky for me though my sister in law found it for me in Canada. That blue face is just incredible against rose gold.


Candles from Bath & Body Works. These are constantly raved about and i finally get to try them! Perfect for Autumn.


A big thankyou to Sara my sister in law for bagging me this incredible haul!

September Favourites

It has been forever since I've done a monthly favourites!
A quick round up of what's been on my face this month.
* Too Faced blusher in 'Love Glow'
* Stila Waterproof black liquid liner.
* Lipstick Queen in 'Saint Pinky Nude'
* Makeup Forever mascara Smoky Extravagant.
* Bite lipgloss 'Part of deconstructed rose library'
* Rimmell lipstick 'Airy Fairy'
* Tarte Mascara 'Lights Camera Flashes'
* Dr Lipp Nipple Balm For Lips.
* Guerlain Teracotta Hightligher (Limited Edition).

I'm not going to go into any huge details as most of these products are past loves. There's a few that will get special mentions and reviews alone.

Sunday night routine

I'm going to add my Sunday night routine into the blogosphere as it would seem we all have a little extra pampering routine going on.
Here's the products I love using.


On a Sunday I always use a clarifying shampoo to get rid of the weeks build up of products. At the moment I'm loving this Philip B Peppermint & Avocado shampoo. It makes your hair feel so clean fresh and bouncy. I'm also loving this Charles Worthington mask at the moment too so I pop that in my hair for a few minutes before washing it. (I'm still doing the whole reverse washing thing).


My current favourite shower products are all by Soap & Glory. This smell is my absolute favourite and it isn't the original. Also their breakfast scrub just works wonders. I use this alllllllll the time, it smells so yummy and nothing softens my skin quite like it. The moisturiser is surprisingly light, absorbs quickly and leaves me super soft and silky. Usually these are on 3 for 2 at Boots so I pick them up while they are on offer.


On to the face. In the shower I'll use a microdermabrasion scrub by No7. I've been using this for years. And follow that later by cleansing, toning and moisturising. I don't switch up skincare regularly as you need to be careful as to not confuse the hell out of your skin. In my opinion if something works then stick with it.


Lastly I like to do a pedicure on a Sunday night and seeing as Autumn is upon us im going towards more red berry shades.

I'll follow all this by an early night, lovely cosy pyjamas and a good book :)

What you NEED from Sephora

Hey my lovelies Happy Friday. Yep that's right I'm attempting to stick to post schedule:) So after ordering a few times from Sephora online I've found a few products that i absolutely love that you totally need to order too.
Excuse some of these well loved looking products.


Bite Lip Agave Mask - this is just beautiful! It's super thick, moisturising and has a yummy vanilla scent. I put this on twice a day, at night and pre lipstick in the morning. It gives you new lips literally and will probably be my saviour during winter.

Hair Ties - These little badboys are something else. They hold my heavy hair up during workouts and don't leave pesky creases either!

Pro Airbrush Brush - This allows me to buff in my Kevin Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer under my eyes effortlessly and gives such a flawless finish. I love all the brushes I've tried so far but this hands down is my favourite.

Tarte Camera Flashes Mascara - I didn't really think anything could come close to my YSL Faux Cils Shocking but this absolutely does. It's a little cheaper, has a plastic wand with different sized bristles at each side of the wand too. It just allows you to grab each lash and really give it length and volume. I even like using it on my bottom lashes which I usually find such a faff.

Tarte Marajuca Lip Scrub - My favourite lip scrub to date. I'm bored of the Lush one and have been for a while, this however has smaller particles and is mixed with an oil so while it exfoliates your lips yet it doesn't strip them bare. I use this twice a day before my lip mask.

Hope your all well and have enjoyed my Sephora recommendations.

It's been over a month!

Hey ladies, hope you are all doing great. It's been over a month since I blogged and I think that's the longest in 3 years it's ever been! I have a few new posts scheduled for this week so keep an eye out for those. Can't believe it's Autumn now yet still warm. I'm ordering warm cosy clothes online yet I'm still wearing my summer dresses :)
I've seen an Autumn Tag kicking around so I might get started with that. x

Copenhagen made me do it!

So you guys know I was on holiday in Copenhagen recently and obviously no holiday is complete without a little shopping. This haul was over a few days. The shops I visited include Sephora, Magasin (Department store in Copenhagen) and Duty Free.


I've already started using a few of these bits as I couldn't wait to take pictures so I'll give you ladies the low down soon enough :)
This is the beauty side of my haul. Recently I have also been picking up more accessories so I'll take a few pictures and be sure to post them on here. Have a lovely week x

Oldies but Goodies

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It's wedding season!

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Charlotte Tilbury Brand Overview

Hi my lovelies,
A slightly different type of post from me today, I'm doing a brand overview. I may start doing a few more of these along the way but no promises! Today we are going to look at Charlotte Tilbury. A world famous make up artist who has created her own brand. It is available to buy online or in Selfridges. This niggles at me slightly as I don't have a Selfridges nearby so when purchasing these eye wateringly pricey products I'm relying solely on the website itself and other beauty bloggers swatches and reviews. Over time I've picked up a few products so it's time to share my opinions on them.

My stash


I think that all of her products are definitely on the expensive side, however are also of great quality. So in this case you are getting your money's worth, and using these bits on special occasions can make it all the more lovely.
My favourite amongst the bunch are definitely the slim & sculpt brush that literally never leaves my side. The Dolce Vita palette is just stunning and I tend to use this for evenings out or parties, the gold shimmery colour really does pop! The blusher is great quality, finely milled and a nice addition in my collection but nothing over and beyond other high end brands.
My 2 "blah" products are the lipstick and eye crayon. The lipstick is a nice colour and pretty but nothing special, I like the eye crayon but you have to blend it pretty quickly otherwise it sets.

Swatches and shades.
From L - R


Colour Chamelon Eye Crayon 'Amber Haze'

Swish & Pop Blusher 'Love Glow'

Lipstick 'Bitch Perfect'

Luxury Palette 'The Dolce Vita'

I have been eyeing up the magic cream and filmstar bronze for absolutely ages....I'm just not sure they are worth the money yet.
Hope you are all well x

Update.

Hey my lovelies! Ah I've missed blogging. My blogpress app and flickr had a few issues so it's felt like forever since I've posted. I'm back. I've done lots and lots of shopping lately so I'm not even sure where to get started with hauls vs reviews etc so I'll get organised and be back with a few posts very soon! Hope your all well and having a lovely weekend. I've been shopping both Saturday and Sunday this weekend so it's flown x

Collective Haul - Space NK, Nordstrom & Avon

Hey girlies....its safe to say I've been doing a little shopping. Let's not ramble on but get straight down to business! Space NK have a 50% sale on so once you've finished reading this post get yourself over there.
What I picked up -


The Laura Mercier Creme Brûlée Quartet. This is a totally luxury purchase, I absolutely love my long luxury baths at the moment. They make every evening that little but more relaxing. The quartet contains the honey bath, scrub, cream and candle.

This cute little make up bag was £6. Absolute bargain reduced from £25. It's perfect for a few handbag essentials.



Laura Mercier illuminating shadow in Earth Glow.



Next on to a few accessories. I'm absolutely loving Kate Spade at the moment, I have bought a new phone case and 3 gorgeous enamel bangles for summer.



The coral and yellow bangles are from Nordstrom and the middle pink one is from Selfridges (Kate Spade).



Lastly a couple of things from Avon. A new body scrub and eyeliner. So far I'm loving this eyeliner it's ridiculously black. I will do a post on this separately.
Hope your all well and having a lovely week.

Spa Weekend & Beauty Haul

Hi my lovelies, it's been a few days since I've posted...the usual excuse "life just got in the way of blogging". I need to be a little more disciplined in my posts and stick schedule.


Anyway on to the fun stuff. This weekend was absolutely amazing. A proper girly one! It was one of my close friends birthday and a group of us went to Hoar Cross Hall. I didn't know what to expect as id never been before but I can honestly say this absolutely exceeded every one of my expectations! You arrive at 9am and have full use of the facilities until 6pm and a 3 course lunch included. On arrival you get into your bikinis, put a robe and slippers on and just relax. There's heated chairs, massage chairs, jacuzzis, plunge pool, chairs with these hot fountains running down your back, sauna, sanariam and even a sleep room! The cost of this is £79 and in my opinion worth every penny. I chose to also have a treatment at an extra cost - Tri active body treatment. This is a full body exfoliation and cellulite treatment. I got the lady to concentrate on the back of my legs and I actually did notice a difference immediately! This place is just perfect for a girly catch up and mobile free zone!
So once my day was over I drove home in a truly zen like fashion and slept from 9-9! I can't recommend this place enough.

Sunday (which is today) has been a lovely relaxed one too. I went into town with my sister and picked up some beauty bits.


The repurchases here are the Liz Earle Toner and YSL Shocking mascara. The new bits are a YSL Gloss Volupte in Pure 202. Clarins Body Lift Cellulite Control cream, this is what was used on me yesterday so I'm going to give this a go and report back. Then lastly from Space NK (as no trip to town is complete without a visit there) I finally caved and bought the Laura Mercier Honey Bath in Ambre Vanille and a Lipstick Queen Gloss Crayon in Chinatown Catalina.

Shown below.


Both easy sheer fuss free perfect summer pinks. They are already in my handbag and will no doubt be a firm favourite. Also a side note the crayon comes with it's own sharpener which I think is great as so many companies make you buy one.

Swatched.


Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Tonight it's clean sheets, clean pjs, pamper time and an episode of Suits. Have a great week xxx

Magazine Freebies July 2014

Hi my lovelies, not sure I've ever done a post like this before but summer is a great time for magazine freebies. Generally I don't bother with them but a few bits caught my eye this month. Marie Claire has a mini Ciate nail caviar set. Glamour has a felt tip style liner from Eyeko. Both products I love the look of and would want to purchase so a great freebie in my eyes. I'd pick these up before they sell out :)

Review Tanya Burr Lipglosses

Time for me to add my review into the blogosphere of Tanya Burrs lipglosses. Firstly i think it's fantastic that a beauty blogger has had such amazing success to be able to launch her own line. So for that Well done Tanya:)
I popped into Derby Westfield one weekend and her stand was placed at the front of the store. While I was there, 3 girls around 15 years old totally had a fan girl moment when they saw the stand which was super cute to see. Anyway as to what I picked up. I decided on 2 lipglosses 'Afternoon Tea' and 'Picnic in the Park'.


Both are on the pink spectrum obviously and Afternoon Tea is a beautiful nudey pink while Picnic in the Park is much brighter.


On to the formulation, the applicator is fairly different it's a flat wand which holds just the right amount of lipgloss. The smell is....it reminds me of sweets but I can't remember which ones. Anyway these 2 glosses live in my handbag, easy for day to day wear, fuss free touch ups. For the price which is around £6 they are just lovely. Also Tanya has mentioned somewhere that she will be adding more products to her line so I'll be looking forward to trying those x

Perfect Legs For Summer

Hi my lovelies hope your all having a great weekend. I'm here to tell you about my 2 new secret weapons for this summer. I absolutely love wearing dresses but at the moment haven't got much of a tan.... so it's time to fake it! The most important thing you need to do before applying fake tan or a gradual tanning moisturiser like the one above is make sure your skin is baby smooth otherwise it will cling to dry patches and look awful. So i exfoliate my legs daily with this Soap & Glory Breakfast Scrub which truly smells amazing! And then every other day I use the Dove gradual tanner. My top tip would be to apply it to half a leg at a time and rub it in circular motions, also don't apply too much around your ankle area. It stays tacky for around half an hour so that's where I just put on my dressing gown and watch beauty videos on my ipad. The days I don't use this Dove lotion I moisturise with either a Body Shop Body Butter or Nivea Q10 firming lotion. Hope your all well and having a lovely weekend.

My happy place

Hi my lovelies, this Monday I'm not starting on a beauty note....well I am but not of the cosmetic variety. I am sharing with you one of my favourite places in the entire world. The place is Newstead Abbey. I have been coming here pretty much all my life and have photos here from being teeny tiny. One of my favourite is I'm about 2 being chased by a peacock! If I ever find it again I'll be sure to Instagram it for you guys. Now I guess I love this place because I've been coming here with my immediate family for years but also my cousins that have come to visit us whether they are UK based or from abroad and I just love that. Newstead Abbey was once the home of the Poet Lord Byron. It has absolutely stunning grounds with rose gardens, Japanese gardens and botanical. The place is so calm and serene you could literally go and walk there everyday and never get bored with how beautiful it actually is. Hope you all had an amazing weekend and have a fab week.

May Favourites

The time has come yet again (rather quickly might I add) for monthly favourites. There's a lot of gold in here...it must be the magpie in me.

Firstly the 2 best brushes in the entire world! These are part of the Sephora Pro Brush line in number #55 and #56.

Nars Deep Throat - making another appearance in a post.

Wet n Wild - 'Walking on Eggshells' I ordered this on Amazon for a few pounds and am blown away with the pigmentation and how well these blend. I literally reach for these daily.

Dior Addict Lipstick - 'Diorkiss' this is a beautiful sheer pop of colour, perfect for the time of year.

Guerlain Mascara - I forgot my love for this mascara as I've been using YSL shocking for so long. Just recently I've been using it again and it really does give you the prettiest blackest fluterriest lashes. I'm aware that flutteriest may not be a word...I'm ok with that :)

Tom Ford - Pink Dusk. The perfect pinky nude colour for anytime of day.

YSL Cinema - A beautiful underrated fragrance I don't hear many people talk about.

YSL Chromatics Palette - I use this wet and nothing shimmers even close to it. I will be doing a full post on this palette soon.

Hope everyone has had a lovely month and an amazing June x

Sephora Haul

Hi my lovelies....so unless you've been in hiding recently or without the internet and all forms of social media you will now know that Sephora ships to the UK *huraah*. I hung back from ordering as well....I genuinely didn't know what to get and everytime went on the site felt overwhelmed. There's just like....everyyyyything. Also recently my friend went to NYC so I had got her to pick me up a million things already.
Anyway I've watched many a Sephora haul on YouTube from my favourite beauty gurus and this allowed me to compile my own wishlist.

* Pro Flawless Airbrush #56
* Pro Airbrush Concealer #55
* Bite Deconstructed Rose Lip Library.
* Too Faced Liquid Lipstick - Melted Peony.
* Sephora - Ribbon Hair Ties.

These purchases were influenced by Fleurdeforce and Amelia Liana. I watched their videos and caved! I'll let you know soon what I think of the products.

Evening Essentials

The summer is coming...well ish and I'm enjoying socialising a whole lot more. So this post is going to show you my handbag essentials for a night out.

The handbag I like to use Mulberry Lily in Black and the medium size.


Sneak peak inside.


Inside
Purse - Michael Kors. I love the back of this purse as it has a slip in zip pocket that's bright yellow.

Beauty bits -
These are all housed in a cute new Ted Baker pencil case I bought this week online as they had a 20% sale. The size is perfect for a few essentials and just means I don't have to worry about anything opening/leaking.

So we have
* Nars blusher - Deep Throat.
* Rimmel lip liner - Eastend Snob.
* Tom Ford lipstick - Pink Dusk.
* Urban Decay Naked Gloss - Lovechild.
* Dior Addict Eau Fraiche Perfume.
* Urban Decay 24/7 liner - Perversion.
* Laura Mercier blusher brush.
* Maybelline Fit Me Concealer - 20.
* Dr Lipp nipple balm for lips.

I like to have my favourite fail safe luxury products on an evening out, everyone wants to look and feel their best and nobody wants to be faffing around with hard to work with products.
Also not pictured I of course carry my iPhone ready to Instagram pretty much everything :)

Twitter - @iz222
Instagram - allthingsprettyblog

Mini Saturday Haul

So if you are in town....have one hour to kill....what do you do?...you hit up John Lewis, Space NK and Mac.
The 3 things I picked up....

I hadnt heard of this it is a new product by Chanel I just spied it at the counter.


This is basically a highlighter, powder and blush all in one product. I think it's pretty hard to pick out all products separately to use as the stripes are pretty narrow so I just use my big Real Techniques brush and use it as a setting powder mixed up. This works really well as it's got a hint of illuminator in and the peach tone just lifts your skin beautifully.


I caved and bought the mac 217 brush. Let's see what all the fuss is about!


Lastly another nude lipstick to add to my collection. I've had a lipstick by lipstick queen before and love their formulas. They are super rich and creamy.