Flowers || May

Mood: Hopeful

Listening to: The XX- Crystalised

Hey everyone, this will probably be the most boring post I've ever written but I thought I'd take some pictures of my flowers and just mess around with my camera. I know this isn't my usual beauty or lifestyle post so I do apologise. Hope you like flowers, I guess! 

Mixture of Lilac and purple Tulips

Macro shot

I love Tulips!

Slightly wonky flowers...ah well

Beautiful coloured tulips

Anyway I hope you're all having a great week so far, I for one can't wait for the weekend!

Love from Bethan

xox

New Beauty Products || May

Mood: Tired 

Listening to: Rita Ora- I Will Never Let You Down

Hey beautiful bloggers!

I feel like I haven't posted a proper beauty post in such a long time, so I thought I'd share some beauty products I've bought recently. I've only chosen five products because I've been on a spending ban for a while because I've been saving to go to London at the end of this month for a Hen Night. Most of my items are lip products, so I do apologise if your fed up of looking at lipsticks!

New Products

 1. Benefit's Watt's Up Highlighter! 

I absolutely adore this product, it genuinely makes your face glow when it catches the light (in a good way, obviously.) It is a bit pricey at £24 but it is one of my favourite highlighters. Its elegant champagne colour is perfect for any skin tone, and adds a touch of glamour to any make up look. Well done Benefit.

2. Topshop's Waterproof Eyeliner in Ebony

After what feels like years searching for a cheaper version of Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner, I think I've found it. Topshop's waterprof liners are really an amazing product and are a steal at only £5. I chose the colour Ebony as I wanted a pure black eyeliner but they also do another colour called Gunpowder, which is a sleek grey colour, perfect if you find black too harsh.

3. Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Matte Lipstick in Frambourjoise

I must admit, the first time I tried this product on I was unsure whether I loved it or hated it but I gave it another chance and I really enjoy using it now. The first time I used it was during the day and I'm not one who usually uses such a bold colour in the day but I wore it out in the evening the second time and I much preferred it. The colour is very long lasting and has a wonderful matte finish. It's perfect for a night out because your not constantly topping up your lipstick throughout the night and stains your lips so it doesn't smudge.

4 + 5. Topshop Lipsticks in Brighton Rock and Ditsy

You don't know how long I've been meaning to buy these lipsticks and now I finally have them! They cost £8 each and I absolutely love both colours and they're perfect for summer. Brighton Rock is a stunning satin matte pink and Ditsy is a gorgeous velvet matte finished hot coral colour. They both apply well and have great colour pay off. I cannot wait until summer to wear them.

Well those are my recent beauty products, but I thought I might add in a bag I bought yesterday just to finish off the post. The bag is from Matalan and cost £12, I bought it for daytime shopping and it would look perfect with so many outfits.

I hope you've all had a great week, and let me know if you've bought any great products recently.

Love from Bethan

xox

Evening Make-up Look || April 2014

 Mood: In pain after falling last night

Listening to: Waves- Mr Probz

Hey beautiful bloggers!

So last night I went out and celebrated the 21st birthday of one of my best friends, so I thought I'd do a blog post of my make-up look that evening.

For once I actually faked tanned. I used the Dove Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion in Fair to Medium and I also used a bit of St Tropez self tanning mousse on top. I love both of these products and they're my first choice when it comes to self tanning.

Base: Rimmel Wake me up Foundation in Soft Beige // Collection Concealer in Medium 2 // Bourjois Delice de Poudre // Nars Blusher in Orgasm // MAC's Soft and Gentle highlighter

Eyes: Naked 2 palette in Tease, Booty Call and Blackout // MUA's Undressed palette in shade 12 // Maybelline's The Falsies Big Eyes Mascara // Maybelline's EyeStudio lasting drama gel eyeliner // Topshop kohl eyeliner in Coal // Rimmel kohl eyeliner in White 

Lips: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick in Frambourjois

Sorry for the awful quality picture!

The Bourjois lipstick was a new product I bought a few days before and last night was the first time for me to use it. Wow, is all I have to say! The colour pay off is fantastic, and it literally stains your lips for hours so it was perfect for a night out. The colour Frambourjois is a stunning red-pink and it's beautifully matte without being too dry on the lips.

Me and my friend Jo

I had a great night last night, although I did fall down some stairs in a club and now have the loveliest hand sized, square bruise/carpet burn on my leg with a matching cut on my knee, nice one Beth. 

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend, and didn't fall down any stairs like me!

Love from Bethan

xox

Health & Fitness & Life Update

Mood: Refreshed
Listening to: Sheezus- Lily Allen

Hey beautiful bloggers,

So...I've more or less broke my New Years resolution of posting twice a month. But I have good reason as I've had a pretty tough few months, there was the unexpected death of my aunt and I've not been up to writing blog posts and I've just concentrated on going to work and being around family. I don't want to go on too much, but I just want to remind everyone to realise how lucky they are and to appreciate everything they have going on in their life right now, because life is too short so make the most of it. 

On the plus side, I've sort of stuck to part of my New year's resolution by losing weight and getting fit. For the last 6 weeks I've been following Slimming World and I've lost 1 stone! (Or 14lbs to my oversea friends!) I've also been attending aquarobics every Wednesday and getting as much exercise in as possible to try and get fit, even going on (dreaded up-hill) walks on my dinner hour in work!

I've really enjoyed following SW, I'm cooking a lot but it's really enjoyable and so is the exercise. I've been fortunate enough to have the support from my friends at work who have also joined slimming world and I can get fit with them. 

Throwing in a selfie

I've noticed a huge change in my skin lately, I've been wearing less make-up and I've had some really good skin days. I think it's down to drinking plenty and getting plenty of exercise. It's been great not wearing a lot of make-up, your skin deserves a break on times.

I feel like I still have a long journey ahead but it's one I'm looking forward to.

I thought I'd give you a playlist of songs I like to workout to at the moment, it tends to change a lot so I don't get bored but this is my current one.

Playlist

1. Fancy- Iggy Azalea
2. Nobody to Love- Sigma
3. Show Me- Kid Ink ft Chris Brown
4. My Love- Route 94 ft Jess Glynne
5. Hideaway- Kiesza

6. Dark Horse- Katy Perry
7. Turn Down for What- DJ Snake and Lil Jon
8. Dust Clears- Clean Bandit

9. Hard Out Here- Lily Allen
10. Ready for Your Love- Gorgon City
11. Waves- Mr Probz
12. Run The World- Beyonce 

13. Pretty Girl- Stockholm Syndrome

14. Extraordinary- Clean Bandit

15. Summer- Calvin Harris

I hope you've all had a great week, and I'll hopefully post some beauty posts up very soon! I apologise again for the lack of posts but I'm hoping to get back on track soon :) 

Love from Bethan

xox 

Summer Lipsticks // February

Mood: Relieved 

Listening to: Clean Bandit- Rather Be

Hey beautiful bloggers!

So in the UK, we haven't seen the sun out properly in a good few months! And although I love winter time, I'm ready to say goodbye to this dreadful weather and say hello to some sun.

In an attempt to make me feel a bit better I've decided to blog about the lipsticks I can't wait to wear in the Summer!

I've put a mixture of high-end and drugstore brands so there's something there for everyone! I want to apologize in advance for the pictures of the swatches on my lips, I had to take them on my iPhone as I didn't have my camera with me at the time.

The lipsticks I've chosen today are a mixture of reds, oranges and pinks. One in particular may be more of a winter shade, but I've chosen it because it has flecks of gold shimmer in it and in the sunlight in looks really beautiful.

Beautiful colours!

Brands: MUA, Rimmel, elf, MAC & Clinique

Swatches.

1. Clinique's High Impact Lip Colour in Rosette

2. Rimmel's Colour Show Off Lipstick in Be Bold 120 (Discontinued) 

3. Clinique's Intense Moisturising Lip Colour Balm in Heftiest Hibiscus 

4. MAC's Cremesheen Lipstick in Crosswires

5. elf Lip Liner and Brush in Pink Grapefruit

6. Rimmel's Moisture Renew Lipstick in As You Want Victoria

7. MUA's lipstick in shade 5

Here are the lipstick on the lips, I've forgotten to take a picture of the elf lip liner sorry, but I'm sure you will see it more often in posts to come!

MUA in Shade 5

A pretty sheer pink colour with quite a lot of glitter in it. If you're not into glitter in lip products, I wouldn't recommend this shade. But if you are it's a gorgeous soft colour perfect for those days where you don't want to wear a bold colour. p.s this lipstick is only £1!

MAC's Crosswires

This is one of my favourite MAC lipstick shades ever, it's a gorgeous pinky coral shade and is perfect for summer. It's one of MAC's Cremesheen lipsticks and one of my favourites types as it's long lasting and it's so creamy on the lips.

Clinique Lipstick in Rosette

This is the shade I mentioned earlier about not being a typical summer shade, however the gold shimmer in it catches in the sun so beautifuly and the pinky red undertones come out. It's such a stunning underrated  colour. I also love the feel of this lipstick as it's similar in feel to Crosswires but slightly less creamy and longer lasting.

Rimmel's lipstick in Be Bold

I wouldn't normally put a discontinued lipstick on here but I love it so much and I can't wait to use it in the summer. It's almost like velvet on the lips and the colour pay off is excellent. If you're interested in this lip colour you can buy it here.

 Clinique's Chubby stick in Heftiest Hibiscus

I absolutely adore everything about this lipstick; the texture, the colour and its pay off and the overall packaging. I do like Clinique lipsticks and chubby sticks and I don't think they get enough credit in the blogger world. This lipstick is an orange with red undertones and is such a gorgeous colour, it just screams summer when you see it. It's very moisturising and long lasting and I can't wait to use it more often.

Rimmel's lipstick in As You Want Victoria

This gorgeous fuchsia pink lipstick is perfect for all you bold pink lovers! It's glossy and one of the nicest colour finishes I've seen in a lipstick. As much as I love this colour I must warn you; don't get this on your skin as it stains!

I hope you're all looking forward to summer, if you are let me know what lipstick you like wearing in the summer! Have a great week.

Love from Bethan

xox

Random Post & Catch up // Jan/Feb

Mood: Chilled

Listening to: Ellie Goulding- Explosions

Hello beautiful bloggers!

I've had a bit of a whirlwind two months and haven't had chance to blog properly. I have some great beauty posts coming up very soon, I just need to photograph a few products etc. Meanwhile I thought it would be a nice idea to let you know what I've been up to and what's going on in my life at the moment and let you know what non-beauty things I've been enjoying this month.

Even though January was supposed to be the most depressing month of the year, it was suprisingly good for me. My friend at work managed to get tickets to watch Celebrity Big Brother's Live Eviction and you could briefly see me and the girls from work on TV! I spoke to Made in Chelsea's Ollie Locke's sister and Lee Ryan from Blue's mum. Even though it was absolutely tipping down I had such a good evening and it was one of my favourite days in January.

Me and Lee Ryan's mum having a chat. I'm on the left of the circle she's on the right.

As some of you may know my sister was expecting a baby girl in February and on the 10th of February at 11.01am, my gorgeous niece Eliza was born weighing 7lb 13oz. Both baby and mother are doing really well, and I'm so happy to have another little niece! Some more fantastic news is that my other sister is having a baby in May AND my brother and girlfriend are expecting in July! So I will have four nieces/nephews by the end of the year!

Isabelle meeting her baby sister for the first time.

I would also like to wish Isabelle a happy 4th birthday as it was her birthday on February the 15th! Being the amazing Auntie I am, I volunteered to make her birthday cake this year and the theme was the film Tangled. I would like to mention I am no professional baker and I've never made a cake before so I was really happy with how it turned out!

Hard work!

Random Favourites This Month

Twinings Mint Green Tea

Lotus Crunchy Biscuit Spread

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

My Dolce Gusto Melody 3 coffee machine

These Boots (£80 from Topshop)

Lastly I just want to mention one beauty favourite. I've been using the Revlon lip butter in the colour Juicy Papaya so much lately. It's such a gorgeous everyday colour and I've loved using it for so many different looks. Here's a makeup look I've been using a lot lately using Juicy Papaya.

Other make-up used

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Nude
Nars Blusher in Orgasm
MAC's Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish as a highlighter
Naked 3 Palette using the shades Dust and Nooner
Elf eyebrow kit in Ash
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
Bourjois Liner Feutre in Ultra black

I hope you've all had a great few weeks, let me know what you've been up to lately.

Love from Bethan

xox

e.l.f Haul! // February

Mood: Cheery 

Listening to: Pitbull ft Ke$ha- Timber

Hi beautiful bloggers!

(Before I start writing this post I want to say I purchased all of these products myself and have not been asked to promote any of these items or the brand itself.)

Recently I went in to the new e.l.f shop in Cardiff, it's currently the only store in Europe and I'm very lucky to live so close to it. I've only recently begun trying out e.l.f products, but oh my...I do really love some of their things and they are such good value for money!

After looking around the shop briefly, (I was short for time) I had to rush off to meet my brother for lunch and I had to leave the shop empty-handed. Fortunately I went to the online-store when I got home and I was able to purchase all of the lovely things I saw in-store.

L-R: Gypsy, Charming and Voodoo.

 Okay, so the packaging for these lipsticks may be a little tacky and flimsy and look pretty cheap. But these lipsticks are only £1.50 so you do get what you pay for with the packaging. The lipstick itself is actually pretty good. They have a variety of lovely colours, and they all smell different but very pleasant. The formula is quite creamy and they glide on easily. The colours are buildable and you can get a great pigmented lipstick after a few coats (3-4).

L-R: Charming, Voodoo and Gypsy.

The three colours I chose are very beautiful, Gypsy is a rosie pink/red and has blue undertones in it. Charming is a natural beige/pink and is great for everyday use. Lastly the colour Voodoo is a deep brown/red and is a great autumn/winter colour. I will happily purchase these again.

Blusher in Pink Passion

I am very impressed with this blush from e.l.f, it's matte, beautiful and I would compare it to blushes from Nars in texture. The packaging is also very similar to Nars as they both have the clean and simple black packaging. I paid around £3.75 for this and I can't wait to try other colours.

e.l.f baked blush in Pinktastic.

 So this is probably my favourite purchase, it's supposed to be a blush but I use it as a highlighter. It's so pigmented and shimmery it's gorgeous! It's almost the same as MAC's Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish but this is slightly more pink. I recently bought MAC'S Soft and Gentle and if I had found this before I would have saved myself a lot of money because it's only £3.75!

Studio Eyebrow Kit in Ash

 I saw this and I thought it would be great for my eyebrows. I bought it in the colour Ash as my brows and hair are naturally dark blonde but still pretty fair, plus I'm not quite convinced a darker, heavy brow suits me. I've used this a few few times but still not sure how I feel about it. The gel part of the product is a lot nicer than the powder. But I'm going to give it a go and try it out for a little while longer! Again this product was only £3.75 and is great value for money.

e.l.f Studio Lip Liner and Blending Brush in Wine and Pink Grapefruit.

Well I've purchased these lip liners before and they're honestly the best! I bought them in two different colours this time and they are so beautiful. I can see myself using the colour Pink Grapefruit a LOT throughout the summer! They look great used as a matte lipstick and they last for hours on your lips! Again they are around the £3.75 mark and I honestly can't say a bad word about them.

L-R:  Wine and Pink Grapefruit.

Here are the swatches of the lip liners, they are such beautiful colours! I will definitely be wearing Wine for nights out and for more of a vampy look and Pink Grapefruit is a beautiful coral pink colour and matches beautifully with MAC's lipstick in Crosswires.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and let me know if you've tried any of these products or if you recommend any other e.l.f products!

Love from Bethan

xox