Benefit Rockateur Blush || Review

As you all know, I love collecting blushes. The Rockateur blush has been a well hyped product in the blogosphere and a favourite of many. I received this as a gift for Christmas and was super excited to try it! I've been admiring the boxed powders from Benefit for a long time and always wanted to start a collection because I loved the packaging and heard many good things about the products and so, Rockateur is my first edition!

This blush is a beautiful rose gold shimmery shade which gives a gorgeous glow to the cheeks. I always love a good highlight and I think this does a great job! I've been applying this with a bit of Benefit's Sun Beam highlighter which I have started to love again recently. I apply this underneath then dust a bit of Rockateur on top. You don't need much but you can easily layer it up to give the effect you're looking for. I think that it helps to give a lovely sun-kissed look and it's a great shade for summer!

The packaging of the blush is of course, a little bit beautiful just like any other Benefit product. I'm a huge fan of their quirky, individual styles and this packaging really stands out. The blush was so pretty and the pattern engraved on it was too good to touch. I actually didn't use it for a little while because I was so afraid of spoiling the little thing. However, I gave in to temptation to use it. It's safe to say it doesn't look the way it used to...*cries*

Unlike others I actually quite like the brush that is already given and tend to use it when applying the blush. I feel like it gives off just the right amount of product and is a good shape and size when it comes to applying it to my cheeks.

The Rockateur blush comes in at £23.50 and you can buy it from Boots or most department stores. I would highly recommend this product if you're looking for a subtle glow to the cheeks, especially for summer!

Have you tried the Rockateur blush?

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Current Skincare Routine || Beauty

I remember writing a skincare post in about November 2012 and I'm going to be honest with you, my skincare routine has changed quite a bit since that post. After all, it has been a year and a half. Getting into a constant skincare routine has always been a struggle for me, I'm too lazy. However, this year I've been trying to look after myself more, particularly my skin. I usually use 4 products in my routine, specifically on a morning but this changes at night time, if I'm ever motivated...

Pure Natural Beauty: Instant Radiance Skin Exfoliator
I received this as part of a beauty box that I was given for Christmas (which you can read about here) and I quite like it. I don't use this everyday like my other products but use it twice or three times a week, particularly when I'm going out. It's good for my skin as it gets rid of the little rough spots of my face. I usually use this at the beginning of my routine, particularly in mornings. It's quite a light exfoliator and foams out when massaged into the skin with water. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the smell, but I guess after a while you kind of get used to it!

Benefit: Foamingly Clean Facial Wash
Like the exfoliator, I received this as a Christmas gift. I've always wanted to try more of the Benefit skincare range ever since I was given a sample pot of their moisturiser last year. I got the foam cleanser and it is honestly a great product, particularly for younger skin. You only need to a little bit of product, splash your face with warm water and massage it into a foam lather then wash off. The smell is sooo nice, smells very fresh! I feel like ever since I started using this cleanser, my face has brightened up and my skin doesn't look dull and tired. I also love the packaging and as always, Benefit has ticked the boxes on that part!

Benefit: Total Moisture Facial Cream
Okay everyone, I just want to warn you, I may go a bit crazy about this moisturiser. This is by far my all time favourite moisturiser. As I said at the beginning, I received a sample size version for Christmas in 2012 and used that for a couple of months until it ran out (a part of me died inside). I was wanting to buy it for ages but never had the money. I used to walk past the Benefit counter and see it staring at me, enticing me to buy it...anyway. I was given this as a present of Santa for Christmas this year and I was so excited to see it in my little beauty box! My eyes lit up and I don't think my mam and dad have ever seen me so happy. It's from the same range as the cleanser meaning it has the same packaging, smell and consistency. It's very light and fresh and again, brightens up the skin as well as leaving it soft. It doesn't leave an oily residue to the skin which is great and sinks in perfectly. Definitely a highly recommended product from moi!

The Body Shop: Vitamin E Face Mist
This is the final step of my skincare routine however I only tend to use this product when I'm wearing make up, however sometimes I do like to spray this on my face to brighten my skin up! It's basically a rose water face mist for setting make up and refreshing the skin and I've noticed a huge difference in my skin since using it. I feel like my make up applies a lot smoother and gives off that dewy finish which I am loving at the moment! I always apply this before and after I do my make up and I find that this works best for me. I would definitely repurchase this product, I love it so much!

So that is my current skincare routine which I know I'll be keeping for a long time. I don't tend to change my routine very often and like to stick to products that I know suit my skin and work best for me!

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Sleek Blush by 3 Palette in 'Pink Lemonade' || Review

Left to right: Icing Sugar, Macaroon, Pink Mint

When it comes to buying a new blush, I'm like a kid at Christmas. Blushes are one of my favourite make up items to collect and I love trying out different kinds. I've heard many things about the Sleek 'Blush by 3' palettes, the majority being positive, and so being a beauty blogger and all that jazz I decided to pop out and buy myself one. I've tried one of the Sleek blushes before and I was highly impressed so I had high expectations. I bought this palette in the shade 'pink lemonade' from my local Tesco for £9.99, meaning that each blush would individually cost £3.33, which makes it pretty good value as normal single blushes cost £4.49! 

The palette consists of 3 pinky/peach shades, with 2 powder blushes and 1 cream blush. They are all very pigmented blushes which are very long lasting. 'Pink Mint' is a beautiful blue toned pink with a hint of shimmer. It is one of my most used shades in the palette and is perfect for adding a natural glow and colour to the cheeks. It is a powder blush and very easy to apply. 'Macaroon' has to be my favourite in the palette. It's weird because I don't normally go for a cream blush everyday but this is just gorgeous! It is like a proper pink, if you get what I mean, very pigmented and very natural. I like to press it in to my skin with a buffing brush and it's great because you don't need too much product to give off the full effect. A little really does go a long way! 'Icing Sugar' is the other powder blush in the palette and my least favourite. I haven't used this blush much since I bought the palette however, I have worn it a little bit. It's different from the other two in that it is more of a coral/peach colour, also with a hint of shimmer. It is a warm tone blush with high pigmentation but doesn't quite fit my fancy!

The packaging has no specialty about it as it is just a simple black case with a standard mirror inside. I like the simplicity of the packaging but I wouldn't rave about it! The palette is very handy to put in my make up bag as it gives a good choice of blush for those days where you need a bit of variety. You can buy Sleek products from Superdrug or even check your local Tesco! For £9.99 it's a pretty good deal!

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Asymmetric Dresses/Skorts || Spring Trends 2014

Asymmetric Dresses/Skorts with Topshop, Missguided, Miss Selfridge

This style has become very popular recently and I often see many people wearing it both day and night. I thought I'd combine asymmetric dresses together with skorts for the next instalment of my Spring Trends 2014, as I feel like they're quite similar in style. You could wear these items through the day with a pair of standard black tights and boots or dress it up by getting those legs out and combining them with some of your favourite heels. I've wanted to try this style so I've made a cheeky purchase of the monochrome dogtooth print dress from New Look (whoops).

Monochrome Dogtooth Asymmetric Wrap Dress - New Look - £17.99

Ffion Asymmetric Wrap Over Bodycon Mini Dress - Missguided - £20.99

Celesse Wrap Over Asymmetric Skirt - Missguided - £14.99

Hot Pink Belted Skort - Miss Selfridge - £35.99

Metallic Sunflower Skort - Topshop - £42.00

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Primarks 'Zara Office City Bag' Dupe || Fashion

Finding the right bag is always an important part of a girls life. You have to take into consideration the colour, size, price, where you can put your make up...and so it's a pretty significant task. It's always a good feeling when you buy a new bag, especially when packing it with all your things, and a lot better when you get it at a brilliant price. This little beauty is from Primark and cost me £12! It's an amazing dupe for the Zara Office City bag and since I was originally wanting the Zara version I was so happy to find this in my local Primark.

The colour is simple: black. It goes with everything and so I thought it would make a staple item in my wardrobe. It has gold metal detailing with two zips on the inside. It's such a handy bag as it has three compartments, two zipped and one button closed. This is great storage and perfect for carrying much of my rubbish around. It also has a mini zipped compartment on the inside as well as two phone holders. It's a handy little thing! There are two handles as well as a long strap, perfect for me as I love to swap around the way I carry my bag. However, I do think that the smaller handles are a bit too narrow to the main body of the bag, as I prefer to have a wider distance to fit my arm through. It carries a fair bit of stuff and I'm so glad I found it!

If you're looking for a new bag and don't want to spend a great amount of money, head to Primark to have a look because they do great dupes of higher priced brands. I'm glad I didn't buy the Zara Office City bag otherwise I would've kicked myself knowing that this was available. The material is sturdy but I will see how long it last, I've had quite a good history with Primark bags so hopefully this one should live up to my expectations!

Hope you all have a lovely day!

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

My Brace Journey || Lifestyle

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you something not many of you may have known. I recently had braces for just over a year and got them taken off in December of last year. My teeth weren't that bad before I had them but they needed a few adjustments and my dentist recommended that I were to have them and honestly it was one of the best ideas I've made. So, through the power of blogging I thought I'd share with you my journey.

Before

Before I start, I apologise for the bad quality of the first picture. I tried to find a picture where you could clearly see my teeth before I had braces and this was the best one I could find! My dentist recommended that I should get a brace around summer of 2011 but I insisted that I didn't want to have them for my year 11 leavers prom or my holiday to Skiathos. Thankfully he understood (what a star) and delayed my referral to the orthodontist. It came to around August/September when I started going to my orthodontist where he took photos, moulds and scans of my teeth to get a good picture of what was needed to be done. I'm going to be honest, the moulds were disgusting and left me with pink clay-like stuff all over my mouth! Attractive.

Getting the Brace

After the preparation, I was then given two appointments to get my brace fitted. The first appointment was to fit the brace for my top teeth. My orthodontist glued little metal brackets on every tooth and then clipped in a metal wire to tighten them together. This hurt. It felt so weird having my teeth pushed tightly together since that wasn't their natural position. A month or so later I went back for my second fitting which was for the brace on my bottom teeth. At the same time I also had my top brace tightened to push them together more. My bottom teeth did hurt a lot more than my top teeth, I think this was due to the fact that they needed more work done and so had a tighter wire. It wasn't nice!

During the Brace

Throughout my time of having a brace I had to go for regular check ups so that my orthodontist could tighten them. I hated getting them tightened because he would have to unclip the existing wire and replace it with a tighter one, which usually caused me a lot of pain for a couple of days after. I remember waking up loads one night due to the pain and it honestly made me cry so much! 

Cleaning them was also a difficulty. You can buy mini toothpick like brushes to get in between each metal bracket. Cleaning them was really annoying, you could brush your teeth as normal but it was so tricky especially when your teeth are in pain. I couldn't wait for them to be taken off so that I could brush them properly again.

I didn't have elastic bands like most people do however, towards the end of my brace journey, my orthodontist fitted some on, just to push them that last little bit. He also reshaped some of my teeth to make them fit together straighter but also look aesthetically pleasing.

Getting the Brace Off

I could not contain my excitement for getting my brace taken off, especially since I would have it off for Christmas! I had my last few appointments to do the finishing touches and it soon came to the big day when I no longer had a metal mouth. I had two appointments: one to take the actual brace off and get fitted for my retainer and then the second was to be given the retainer (which I will go on to next). It felt so weird to feel my teeth and not have anything in the way, they just felt smooth. I remember looking in the mirror and thinking that my teeth had become bigger so I was worried what people thought of them!

After

After I had my braces taken off I felt like I could smile properly again. I hated smiling with braces and always thought I looked miserable with my mouth closed when I was trying to smile on photos. My teeth felt really big but I think it was just cause I wasn't used to them without braces! I was given a plastic retainer which I had to wear for around three days after to get used to the shape but then I just had to wear it every night for bed, and still do, to stop them from moving back to their natural position. You have to make sure they're kept clean and to be honest, I sometimes forget to put them in or quite frankly can't be bothered. They do feel quite tight when you first put them in and can be annoying after a while which is why I always can't wait to take them out in the morning! 

Another great feeling is eating an apple. I know that may sound weird, but when you have braces you have to stay away from any hard foods and so biting into an apple is a long lost memory. IT's great to have that back again ;-)

Getting braces was probably one of the best decisions I've made and I don't regret it at all. I'm so happy with how my teeth have turned out and after a year and 3 months, they were totally worth it! Just think, it takes a year to two years for your braces to work, but the rest of your life to have a perfect smile. If you're thinking about getting braces but are worried about how they might look or feel, don't worry about it! Yes it does cause some pain but you get used to them and the end results are always great!

Hope you all have a great week!

Charlotte xxx

Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest