Lush Haul Video

I've always been a huge fan of Lush, but I never brought their bath bombs regularly. But I did a bit of saving up for this video. 

If you watched my London Vlog you will know that I also popped into the Lush Oxford Street and I have to say it was one of the best experiences of my life! Not everything in this haul video is from that particular branch, but most of it is. This is more of a collective haul and even though its not a lot compared to other hauls I've seen, I still felt like it was enough to show you guys what I brought. 

Feel free to watch to see what goodies I picked up

Please let me know in the comments what your favourite Lush products are, I'd love to try something new. Thank you so much for reading/watching. 

Izzy K xxx

Real Techniques Core Collection

As I needed to build up my makeup brush collection, I decided to buy the Core Collection kit from Real Techniques because I've heard they're the best drugstore brushes out there. Let's see my thoughts on them...

I ordered these brushes from Superdrug for £20.99, and when you think about it, that's a great price for 4 brushes. I had one brush from Real Techniques before and loved it, so I had my eyes on this kit for quite some time.

Stand:

This set comes with a handy little case/stand. When it is in the stand form I find it very practical because it's an easy way to keep your brushes organised. The case is very flexible so it can be horizontally bent to form a stand.

When bent vertically, this stand doubles as a case, which makes it ideal for travelling. However, I do find that because its not enclosed on the side, the brushes could potentially get damaged and bristled whilst travelling. 

Detailer Brush:

This is seriously the most adorable brush I've ever seen because it's so tiny. This brush can be used to precisely apply concealer or lipstick. Personally, I've only used it for concealer, because I find concealer easier to clean off brushes than lipstick. But I still think it's cool that it can be used for either. 

Pointed Foundation Brush:

This brush is extremely soft and the shape of it makes application very easy because it's flat and pointed. Although it's meant for foundation, I personally find this brush too small for foundation and use it for concealer instead. 

Buffer Brush:

This is the perfect brush to apply powder and mineral foundation. I find it extremely soft so it leaves an airbrushed look on your skin and applies makeup evenly. In fact, I think it's the softest makeup brush I own. 

Contour Brush:

This brush can be used for contouring (obviously), blush and bronzer. I much prefer this brush to bronzer brushes when contouring because I have a really small face and normal bronzer brushes take up my whole check. This is a fantastic brush for detailed contouring. 

I'm absolutely chuffed that I made this purchase because I think it was a great investment. I would rate the brushes themselves a 10/10 because they perfectly apply makeup. However I would rate the set itself a 9/10, only because the writing of the brush names on the side has faded slightly and the fact that the case remains open on the sides. However, I would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially if they're just starting out with makeup and need a brush set to begin with. Thank you for reading, and if you have these brushes yourself, what do you think of them?

Izzy K xxx

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick

It's absolutely no secret that Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks are my all time favourites, so I decided to branch out and try another lipstick from the Rimmel range.

The lipstick I decided to pick up was the Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick in the shade 016 Heart Breaker. This little lipstick cost just £4.99 from Superdrug, which I thing is great deal. 

There are many things I absolutely love about this product, the first being the pigmentation. You literally only need to apply one thin layer and voila- you have full coverage! This is one of the most pigmented lipsticks I own and the colour always appears bold. 

Also, the formula is incredible. You can tell why it is called "lasting finish" because it lasts for hours. When I wear this lipstick to sixth form, the only time I need to reapply it is during lunchtime, and that's only because the colour has faded slightly from eating. Otherwise it would last all day long, I'm sure of it. And not to mention that it's fairly matte which naturally means that it lasts longer than lipstick with shine. 

And without sounding strange, I'm a fan of the taste of Rimmel lipsticks. Taste is an important factor when it comes to me choosing lipstick, because if it tastes disgusting, the last place I want to put the products is on my lips. I find this tastes just like all the Rimmel lipsticks and if you are familiar with them you know what I'm talking about. If not... well I don't exactly know how to describe it because it's not particularly flavoured, it just tastes fairly nice. 

What a poser!

There is one thing that I'm not too keen on with this product though, and that's the fact that it's quite drying on your lips. I find it's not smooth which makes it not so easy to glide on your lips. In fact, I think its a little more drying than the Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks, and they're pretty drying themselves. This isn't a huge issue and if you put a lip balm on before, it protects your lips from drying out. 

This didn't have to be on here, but Kitty was being cuddly 

when I was taking pictures for this post! 

I'm quite a huge fan of this lipstick and it's become one of my "go-to" lipsticks, especially for Sixth form due to its lasting power. I would rate this product a 7.5/10 and would recommend this to everyone, especially if you're a beginner with makeup or are on a budget. Have you tried this product, and if so what shade did you get? xxx

Love Tanya Review

For those of you that don't know (but I'm sure you all do) Tanya Burr is a fashion and beauty blogger/youtuber. Tanya has had many successes over the last few years including: reaching over 3 million subscribers, launching her own makeup line and of course, realising a book. I've had the privilege of reading the book, and although this is a fairly late review, here are my thoughts on it:

Also, how adorable is the book cover?!

First of all, I'll start off with what the book is about: "Love Tanya" is a non-fiction guide written by Tanya about who she is, and how she got to where she is today. The book truly screams "Tanya" because it covers all aspects of her life. The topics which she talks about and gives advice on are:

• Growing up
• Skincare essentials
• Makeup essentials
• Hair and nail essentials
• Fashion
• Love
• Life
• Baking and recipes
• Confidence and happiness
• Youtube
• Looking forwards

I don't want to give too much about the book away because I truly think it's something everyone should read for themselves. However, I will say that it's really enjoyable to read through this book and, in a way, see the world through Tanya's eyes.

One of my personal favourite aspects of this book is that throughout it there are little note pages with titles like "list your favourite fashion items". I think this is such a cute idea because it means that you can really personalise it and use it as a guidance-diary. 

Another thing I particularly like about this book is that it feels kinda like I'm reading a really long blog post. And as you guys know, I love a good ol' blog post. In fact I read literally nothing else but blogs. This book is like sitting down and having a lovely chat with Tanya and I don't know why, but I find it extremely comforting. This is something I also always go back to. Once you've read through the book, you find yourself always going back to certain parts, or you just feel like having a late night read, or you reread the notes you've written in it. Either way, you're never truly "finished" with this book. 

Thank you so much for reading this post. I truly recommend this book to everyone, especially if you love reading blog posts, or watching Tanya's videos. I rate this book a 10/10 and I don't often do that. As you can probably tell, this is one of my all time favourite books, since I prefer this sort of book to fiction. Have you read this book yet, if so what did you think of it? xxx

Q&A With Harel Ziv

Today's post is a Q&A with one of my blogger friends, Harel. She is an amazingly talented writer and you can most definitely tell from her posts that it's a passion of hers. A while back, Harel decided to branch out from her blog and took the dive to start a YouTube channel. All her videos are amazing and she beams with confidence and joy in them. If you haven't already, please check out her blog, Wwriting.blogspot.com and youtube channel, Harel Ziv.

Now onto the actual questions:

Have you had any previous blogs before, or did you dive straight into this one?

I did have a couple blogs in the past just because I’d always had a knack for writing, but they didn’t last very long at all. Definitely not as long as the one I have now, but the things I wrote about were quite cringey. The first one was an outlet for me to publish poems I had written and the other I posted on just twice or so about apps that I enjoyed playing. Not my best writing, I have to say, haha.

Some people are animal lovers while others can't stand them. Do you have any pets?

I love animals! When I was younger my family had a dog, Tiffany, but sadly, we had to give her away to another family due to my sister & I not being very responsible and having my parents do all the work (walk, feed, etc). So, currently we don’t have any pets, but now that I’m older and watch my friends with their pets, I’ve come to appreciate animals a lot more & really want a dog or cat.

Many people start blogging because they don't have the confidence to make a YouTube channel. Did you have the idea of starting a YouTube channel before you started blogging?

Because I’ve been watching YouTube for over 2 years now (before I started my blog), starting a YouTube channel was always in the back of my mind. But when I started my blog, it wasn’t because I was scared. I started my blog just because writing was (and still is) something I love to do. I do have a YouTube channel now that I started about 2 months ago and really enjoy both filming & blogging.

Are you more of a Winter person or a Summer person?

I’m definitely more of a Summer person. Summer is a time to soak up the sun & just enjoy yourself without having to worry about assignments and deadlines, so I love it.

Who was the first blogger you ever started reading and do you still read them to this day?

The first blogger I remember reading is the lovely Zoe Sugg, or Zoella. Her blog is how I made some blogger friends! I do still read her blog, she says it’ll be re-launching in August/October September so I am SO excited! I love her writing style and the feel-good vibes her words give off.

The idea of sharing your thoughts online for anyone to read can be scary. Were you more scared or excited at the thought of starting a blog?

When I first started my blog, I was extremely excited. The thought of people reading & relating to what I have to say was so fun to imagine. Although, once I started posting about more serious topics, I was quite scared that people would make fun of or judge me, but nothing of the sort happened. All the people who leave comments are always so supportive & kind, so I thank them for that :)

I know you love to wear dresses. Are they your favourite item of clothing?

Dresses are by far my absolute favorite item of clothing. They’re comfortable, flowy, and elegant all at the same time. I don’t think of them as fancy, rather just casual clothing and I will always be scouring for new finds, haha.

Who in your personal life knows about your blog and YouTube channel and how did they find out?

My parents and some of my closest friends know about my blog & YouTube channel. Funny story, when I first started my blog I kept it a secret from my parents and would take my dad’s phone so he wouldn’t be able to see any of the emails I got saying I’d gotten a new comment. Of course, being smarter than I am, he found out. I’m glad my parents know about my blog though because it makes it easier for me to talk to them about a problem I’m having. Some of my friends found out about my blog/channel because I told them, but some found the cheeky links I put in my Twitter & Instagram bios (lol). 

What is your top-tip for anyone starting the new school year?

My top tip for anyone starting the new school year is just to breathe. Take things slow, and if you have a humongous workload, jut take it step-by-step. Write everything out that you need to do and complete them one at a time. That way, you’ll feel accomplished once you’ve finished each item on your list. Don’t worry, be happy!

What are you hoping to achieve through your blog in the next few years?

In the next few years, I hope to grow my audience & improve my writing style. Every day I learn new things, whether they’re about writing or not, and they help me improve myself as a person and hopefully those changes will show through my writing. I also hope to write a book one day, but mainly I hope my blog will continue to blossom. 

Personally, I loved all of Harel's answers, thank you very much for taking part. I hope you guys loved reading this post as much as I did and don't forget to check out all of Harel's links. Thank you for reading xxx

L'Oreal Infallible Foundation

One of the most raved about products of the beauty industry at the moment is the L'Oreal Infallible foundation. It seems to be the Wake Me Up foundation of 2015 with the amount that I've heard people praise it. However, since I've tried numerous products that everyone else loved and personally didn't like, I decided to buy and try it for myself for £7.99. Here's what I thought about it:

Excuse the writing on the front, I brought it in 

Germany so the writing is... well in German

Packaging:

The packaging of this is less like a foundation packaging and more like a BB cream. Instead of a glass-like tube with a pump, it has a squeezy tube. I prefer this foundation for travelling as it means the packaging is less likely to smash. However, I do prefer bottles with a pump because it means that when they are running out, I can take the top off and scrape off the remains to ensure I use all the product. I feel like it will be extremely hard to squeeze all the product out so I'm sure I'm going to have some waste product.

Formula:

The formula of this foundation has got to be my favourite for a long time. I'm glad I found it because its really similar to a Max Factor foundation I used and loved a few years ago but they didn't have one that matched my skin tone. I find this glides on smoothly and it can be blended far better than any other foundation I've tried.

Lasting Power:

This foundation stays that it lasts for 24 hours, however I'm not sure how true that is. Don't get me wrong, it is fairly long lasting and doesn't need to be reaplied throughout the day. It's just not that water or transfer resistant. 

Finished Look:

I haven't been as impressed with a foundation's finish for a long time as much as I have with this. I truly think the finish is incredibly natural and indetectible. And amazingly, the finish isn't sticky or thick which means you don't need to pile the powder on afterwards which results in a cakey look. And most importantly, it leaves a matte finish which is all the more reason not to pile the powder on. 

Thank you so much for reading this post. I would most definitely recommend this to beginners with makeup as well as friends. I rate this foundation a 8.5/10 and I was very impressed with it. Have you tried the latest craze which is the L'Oreal Infallible Foundation yet? If so, what did you think of it? xxx