Guest Post| Girl Meets Dress

Recently I was contacted by the company Girl Meets Dress asking me if I'd like to do a guest post on their blog! If you haven't heard of the site it offer a service for women to hire beautiful designer dressed for a couple of nights. As someone who can't afford a designer dress (yet!) I think it's a fab idea. It's still not the cheapest dress but if you're the sort of person that will buy a topshop dress and wear it once than Girl Meets Dress is ideal.

The post I wrote was my top five picks of their cocktail dresses. If you want to read it in full click here. I'm seriously considering treating myself to dress number one to wear out for cocktails on my 18th birthday. 10th October, put in your dairies. Not gonna lie, the fact I could tell people "It's Marc Jacobs, darrrling" is a major factor. I'm not normally a label whore but one night couldn't hurt, right?

Click here to red the post.

One Year Blog Birthday & Giveaway

Happy Birthday To You

Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday  Dear Life And Lipsticks
Happy Birthday To You

(source)

I bet you sang that in your head instead of reading it normally. It's impossible not to.

If you haven't already guessed (in which case your not the brightest spark in box) its my blogs one year birthday!! I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started blogging! So much has changed since back then, it's crazy to think it was only a year a go.

I know I haven't been the best blogger especially when it comes to regular posting. I haven't even done 100 posts yet- oops! Even so I've really enjoyed blogging. Its given me so many more opportunities and I've talked to so many amazing people that I never would have spoken to. It's really cheered me up at some pretty miserable times. But it has left me a hell of a lot poorer too!

Thank you to everyone has read even just one post or left a comment. After my long Summer break I'm still trying to re build again but so far so good. So to properly say thank you for your support I decided to do a little giveaway. You can win one of my current favourite products- Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Androgen. It's a beautiful multi-use pinky peach cream product. I love it so I thought one of you could try it out and hopefully love it too!

The giveaway is open world wide so you can enter no matter where you are! It will run for three weeks and I will announce the winner on twitter as well as sending them an email. Just as a quick disclaimer I purchased the product with my own money and it is completely unused.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer

As promised in my July Favourites post, this is a review of TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer highlighter. I'd been needing (as much as you can need make up) a new highlighter for a while and I'd seen a few reviews of this before but when EssieButton raved about I knew I had to get it for sure. The amount of things I've bought on Estee's recommendation is ridiculous!

First off, I feel the need to address the name, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to work out the pun and when I did I had one of those "OooO" moments. But I do love a good pun. The packaging is quirky and definitely stands out in my collection but I wish it wasn't plastic considering it was fifteen pounds.

So I'm sure some of you will think this looks pretty scary in the pan and I agreed at first. If this was an eye shadow I'd laugh at anyone telling me to use it on the cheeks. I put it on the cheekbones, nose and inner corner of eyes it gives a gorgeous golden sheen but if you're into the natural look it isn't for you.  A little bit of gives the "hello I have highlighter on look" but too much gives the " HELLO I HAVE HIGHLIGHTER ON" look. What I'm saying here is less is more with this bad boy. Also it is completely free from glitter so it's right up my alley as I don't want a glittery face everyday. That's the reason I didn't get the Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle that so many bloggers rave about.

Overally I absolutely love this highlighter. It gives such a gorgeous golden sheen that I haven't seen from another product. Its so gorgeous and buttery soft in texture that sometimes I'll be sitting at my desk and not be able to resist swatching it.

TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer is available for £15 from FeelUnique.

Getting Some Volume

When it comes to beauty the thing I am worst at is probably hair. That may not be the best introduction to a post all about hair styling though! One of the important things about hair, for me at least, is getting volume. Despite having fairly thick hair I struggle to get that extra bit of oomph but recently I've found a few different tools and products to help out.

 1. Volume Powder- For me this is the best option. I use the Label M Resurrection Style Dust* but I've also heard that V05 do a good one for less than a fiver. All you have to do is sprinkle it close to the roots, rub it in and your done. It works by kind of matting the hair which does mean it feels a bit nasty and needs washing the next day. Worth it though!

2. Backcombing- Not the best option for your hair but a nice and easy one. I backcomb by sectioning my hair in half by clipping the top layer up. Then I use the brush to push the hair up to the root. To avoid the bird nest look that some girls seem to go for I lightly brush over the top which smooths it out. I then repeat on the top layer of hair. My hair dressers told me to do it this way but I was also advised to spray it with hair spray then repeat. My favourite hair spray is the Tresemme Salon Finish because it gives good hold without setting like a rock and brushes out easily. It's also important to use a backcombing brush as they are much less damaging to your hair than a normal brush.

3. Extensions-I'm currently growing out my hair at the moment but it's taking so long to grow! For a quick fix there are extensions such as the ones here that are clip in and seriously easy. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen me tweet about debating getting extensions a lot the past few month. Gorgeous luscious locks in minutes? Yes please! Besthairbuy.com have lots of extensions that I've been lusting after. It would make do wonders for quickly adding lots of volume.

How do you get volume in you hair?

*PR Product
*Sponsored Post

July Favourites

Last month I didn't post a favourites because I forgot to publish it before I went on holiday and when I came back it was far too late even for me. I know being so rubbish at posting the past few months, I feel guilty! After exams I planned to bombarded you all with posts but I've ended up being really busy this summer. I managed to get a job June which has kept me busy and I was spending all my days enjoying the glorious weather! That seems like a life time a go compared to the horrible clouds we have now Clearly "the sun has got his hat on" song is not working at bringing the sun back out. I'm going to attempt to blog more in August but my cousin is coming over all the way from Texas so we have lots of exciting things planned to do with her. September will be very difficult with college all week and work all weekend! Hopefully I'll be able to work out some sort of schedule but that's for future Megan to deal with.

 Anyway  let's get on with the favourites!

 First up are a couple of brushes I picked up at Imats from Crown Brushes. The large angled contour blush is absolutely perfect for applying bronzer (we'll  get on to what bronzer next) and blush. It's a little to big for contour or highlight but I use the real techniques one for that anyway. The brush is so soft and makes blending really quick and easy. I also got the eye shadow blending blush for around £4. It's meant to be a dupe for the legendary Mac 217 brush which I own. The crown version is a lot cheaper and very very similar so if you're on a budget its a great alternative. Unlike a lot of cheap blending brushes it's dense and tapered.

Next up is a new purchase, The Body Shop  Honey Bronzer in shade 2. Yep that's right, caspar the ghost here hasn't got the lightest shade in a bronzer! This shade is actually still really pale so I don't look tangoed. The texture is really smooth and this bronzer is well pigmented which works as the colour is so light. It's so easy to apply and gives a boost of colour. If you're a pale beauty it's worth investing in one of these.

Finally is the absolute star of the month- The Balm Mary Lou Manizer. I'd wanted to get this for ages so I finally bit the bullet and got it. Boy am I glad I did! This is the most beautiful gold highlighter I ever did see. They'll be a full review of this coming in the next week so you can see it in all  it's glory.

What have you been loving the last month?

Max Factor Hazel Brow Pencil

(Excuse the gross dry skin! And the fact I chose to take these pictures on a minimal make up day!)

 Max Factor Brow Pencil In Hazel £4.99

I don't normally buy from Max Factor. It's just not a brand I  gravitate towards to for some reason but when I was in Boots with my friend Alice she recommended this brow pencil to me. The thing that sold it for me was that when I swatched it I saw the colour is completely free from nasty orange tones. I also liked the handy brush on the end but annoyingly on the writing as rubbed off on my old pencil. Some high street brands (but we won't mention names will we now, MUA?) claim a colour is for blondes when it's in fact pure ginger. I often use this pressing down quite hard for a darker colour but it can be used lightly for a more natural look. The texture of this brow pencil is quite hard put personally I love this. Pencils that are too waxy are difficult to work with, smudge everywhere and don't last all day.

Have you tried this? What's your favourite brow products?

Nail Obsession:Filthy Gorgeous- Tea Bird

As most of you probably know I'm not a massive nail varnish person. I feel like the only blogger who isn't sometimes! Although I do always wear it I don't find it particularly excitng and I would never spend money on a new nail varnish. I own a fair few polishes but almost all of them have been gifts and the one I'm showing you today is no exception

Sorry for the messy painting! 

Filthy Gorgeous isn't a brand I'd heard of before but last year I received a set of their nail varnish from a friend. To be honest I was a little dismissive at first as the packaging (that I threw away- sorry!) looked a little cheap. But I'd wanted a summery pastel blue for ages so as soon as Spring hit I tried this colour out which is called Tea Bird. Oh my god is it gorgeous! It's such a pretty light blue colour and I've had lots of compliments on it, especially at work.

It gets better though. Not only is the colour perfect it has a great formula too. It needs to coats but the coats dry so fast that it's really quick to do. I put three coats on, which I'm normally far too lazy to do, and it didn't take much longer at all. When I had three coats on and a layer of Seche Vite top coat I got two and a half weeks wear out of it!! I'm normally the person that chips their nails after the first day despite doing zero manual work. So I was very very impressed when there was only minimal chipping after two weeks.

What shows how much I love the colour and staying power is that I've worn it for two months straight. Two whole months! All the other pretty coral, pink and mint polish shades are sitting unloved now. And I can't see that changing in the future!

Filthy Gorgeous can be purchased from Feel Unique for £9. 

My First OTTD: Ibiza

I just got back from Ibiza! (Yes, I did have the Venga Boys song for the whole trip). It was an absolutley amazing trip and I have fallen in love with Ibiza. It was so hot, the sky was so blue and the sea was so clear. I went with my parents to the more family friendly side of the Island away from all the parties so we had a relaxed holiday with lots of sunbathing and swimming in the sea but my Mum and I went parasalling which was really out our comfort zone but incredible.

Crop Top- Topshop

Maxi Skirt- Primark

Converse- Schuh

Bag- Mulberry (fake-shhh)

Daisy Hair Band-  Primark

Aviator Sunglasses- Primark

Nails- Filthy Gorgeous in Tea Bird

Bracelet- Thailand

Anyway enough of me rambling about my holiday, on to the outfit of the day. This is my first ever one because I don't consider myself very fashionable and I'm very insecure about my figure but you gotta push yourself sometimes.

I took these pictures we went on a day trip to the old town in Ibiza town which is a beautiful place. I acctually regretted wearing this outfit because I was far too hot in it. It was nice to wear Summer clothes again though- they usually only getting an outing once a year when I go abroad. The bracelet I wore was actually from last years holiday in Thailand which I got after an elephant ride (coincidentally I was actually wore this exact outfit!) and conveniently elephants are in fashion at the moment, at least I think.

London IMATS Haul!

*Incase you're confused I had already posted this before but being a ditzy idiot I accidently deleted it so I've had to rewrite it*

Last weekend I made a trip to London to go to Imats. It was the first time I'd ever been to it and I bought the tickets way back in January so you can imagine how excited I was. On the day I met up with the lovely Alberteen from the blog Dippy Writes and it was so good to be with someone as mad about make up as I am! Just as a little disclaimer, I did spend a lot of money considering it's just make up but I've been saving up for it for months now and  it was my end of exam treat.

L-R: Sweet Prawn Lipstick, Princess Lipstick, Dolly Pink Liner, Desert Rose Blush, Bourgeois Pig Blush

Cork Eyeshadow, Light Brown Pencil, Sparkly Lepoard Jumbo Eye Pencil, Yogurt Eye Pencil, Eyebrow Kit

 The first stall I bought from was NYX. There was a ridiculous queue that we must have been in for at least twenty minutes and it was still heaving around all the make up. So I did go a little crazy and bought lots of things to make it worth the wait. I had wanted to get the matte bronzer but I couldn't get near it and the swatches pictured was the first time I had swatched most things.

The first things I picked up were two lipsticks in Sweet Prawn and Princess. I wasn't sure about the colours but as they were only £2 each it was a good chance to try them out. I've not worn them out yet but I'm so impressed with the creamy texture when I tried them on. I also picked up a lip liner in Dolly Pink but I don't know what lipstick I was thinking for it to go with. I can't see myself getting much use of it! For blush I picked up Desert Rose with is a dark purple pink and Bourgeois Pig which is a bright pink. I love the pigmentation and texture of NYX blushes so I would've picked up more but there were hardly any left. Eye wise I picked up two of the famous jumbo eye pencils in Yogurt, a gorgeous shimmery beige, and Sparkly Leopard which is a beautiful bronze colour. I also got a pretty gold eye shadow called Cork and an eye pencil in Light Brown. Finally I got an Eyebrow Palette in Light but I'm not sure why as I already have a few eyebrow palettes so I might end up giving this one away.

The next stall we went to was Crown Brushes. I'd already planned my purchases because I'd been wanting to try the brand for ages. I got an angled contour brush for £12 as an alternative to the real techniques contour brush. I got a couple of blending brushes for eyeshadow. The pure white one is supposed to be a dupe for the Mac 217 which I already own so it'll be interesting to compare the two. I think these brushes were about £4 each which is pretty good. I also got a new eyeliner brush for the same price because I've been needing a new one for ages. Being ditzy I forgot to photography a fan brush that I got, mainly because of the cute pink handle. Lastly I got a daily brush cleanser for £8, which is a bit of a steep price in comparison, and I'm so annoyed with it. The spray cap is awful so the cleaner sort of spills out making it really difficult to use and the bottles already lost it's shape. I like the brushes but the cleanser has left a bitter taste about the brand in my mouth!

Next I popped over to Inglot for one of their freedom palettes. I got two matte shade, 329 and 3  because I feel like the Naked 2 palette is missing some more mattes for the crease. I do love some shimmer on the lid though so I got the colour 4  which is a beautiful bronze with gold shimmer. Can you geuss I like my golds and bronze colours?

I wasn't planning on buying a Mac lipstick because the discount wasn't great and the stall was manic but when Alberteen was getting one I noticed this gorgeous coral lippy aptly named Coral Bliss. It's such a gorgeous colour and in my favourite formulation- cremesheen.

Nars had the best discount by far- 60%! As it was the last stall and I'd already spent a lot of money I only got a couple of things. I got a Matte Lip Pencil in Never Say Never for the bargain price of £7. The purple colour isn't something I'd usually go for but its gorgeous and I'm glad to get out my comfort zone. Next I got a cream duo with the famous Orgasm and South Beach in it for £12.50. The colours are quite subtle but they will give a beautiful summer glow. While we were in the queue we saw Sammi from Beauty Crush and Patricia from Brit Pop Princess. They were both so lovely and just as gorgeous in the flesh.

That's everything I got! I had a fantastic time and I'm really happy with all my purchases.

Updated Blog Sale

 

 This is just a really quick post to let you know that I've finally gotten around to updating the blog sale! If you want to have a nosy then just click on the tab just below the header. Hopefully there will be a bargain there that you like!

Real Techniques Customer Service Rave

When a company has rubbish customer service people are quick to write a rant post and warn people away so I thought that I'd share the amazing customer service I had from Real Techniques. I'm actually shocked at how good it was!

Not too long after Real Techniques came to Boots I bought the stippling brush and was left unimpressed (although I love the core collection). Other bloggers raved about how soft it is but mine was stiff and horrible to use. Despite regular washes the bottom of the brush was matted and clogged with product so I couldn't use it for cream blush let alone foundation. 

A couple of  weeks ago I saw someone post about a problem they had on twitter with Real Technique brushes so I replied letting them know I got a bad brush too. The next day Real Techniques tweeted me with a contact email to send a complaint to. I'm not sure why I didn't complain sooner as I usually don't hesitate to! So I sent an email explaining my problem with the brush and with in a matter of hours I got a reply. That's pretty good right?! Sometimes companies take weeks or even months to reply. They asked me to said pictures of the stippling brush and an address to send out a replacement. I replied with the details on Saturday and the next Monday a replacement arrived! Talk about speedy.

Anyway it gets better. Not only had they sent me a replacement for the stippling brush they also sent a kabuki brush too! I was over the moon with this as I'd been after a new brush for bronzer for ages and the angled shape of this will be perfect. They didn't have to include the extra brush but the fact they did left a sweet taste in my mouth.

All in all the customer service really couldn't have been any better! It's refreshing for a brand to value customers and treat them so well. I'll definitely buy from Real Techniques in the future - infact I've got my eye on the powder brush at the moment.

What's  the best customer service experience you've had? What's the worst?

May Favourites

The first thing I've been loving is the Seche Vite Top Coat. I've been using this for about 7 months now and theres no way I'd use anything else. It's a really thick formula so by applying a generous amount to each nail and forms a barrier to the nail colour below making it last much longer. The finish is super glossy and it hides hides imperfections of the nail colour which is a bonus for a messy painter like me. The only thing I don't like is after about 6 months the last bottle went all stringy and useless. 

Next is the L'oreal Micellar Water which my Mum actually bought for herself but I've permanently borrowed off her. It feels so light when taking make up off and unlike creams it doesn't leave a heavy residue. It takes of a good amount of makeup, more than wipes or other cleanser I've tried, but I do still use a hot cloth cleanser afterwards to get every scrap off. It can sting a little on the eyes if too much is on the
cotton wool but other than that I love it.

Another skincare favourite is the Soap And Glory Bright Here Bright Now (full review here). I've used this almost everyday this month either on top of my moisturizer or mixed in with foundation. It instantly makes my skin look much healthier and brighter which I really need so it's become an essential in my routine now.

My foundation of choice for most of this month has been the Revlon Colour Stay for normal to dry skin in buff. I used to use this all the time in high school but I fell out of love with it because it's a little too dark. Luckily it isn't orange so with some serious blending I think I can get away with it. I love how this looks like second skin on rather than being to cakey and it doesn't settle into my blackheads or massive pores.

Finaly there is the Catlyin 2in1 Conditioning Mascara* which is another product from the North Meet Up goody bag. It's got a thin plastic wand which is great for grabbing all the lashes and giving them a good coating. It adds lots of length in one coat which I love because I'm normally a volume kinda gal. To be honest I can't say I've noticed a big difference in the condition of my eyelashes though.

What have you been loving in May?

FaceB4 After Cleansing Serum Review

 Today I'm going to be reviewing one of the products I received in the North Meet Up goody bag  (full post here). FaceB4 isn't a brand I had heard of previously but I was excited to see their  after cleansing serum* in the bag because I am on a mission to improve my skin. To be honest I was a little put off by the packaging at first because I love pretty packaging and this looks too clinical for my liking. Still its what's on the inside that counts!

 Every night after I have cleansed and toned and before moisturizing I have applied one pump of the serum. As instructed I rubbed it all over in gentle upwards motion until it completely sunk in. The texture is very silky smooth so application was really nice and I actually enjoyed putting it on. It does seem to be running down very quickly as I've only been using it month and I've used almost half so that's a little off putting.  Since using this I've noticed my skin feel plumper and more hydrated. My skin is so much softer so make up applies a lot better than before. I can't say I noticed a difference with it preventing spots but to be fair I'm stressed with exams at the moment so spots are coming thick and fast.

Whilst this has been a nice addition to my skincare routine it hasn't made a massive difference especially considering the  price tag.

The Serum costs £15 and at Boots.