Anyway, the two occasions where high end makeup is a topic of conversation is around my birthday or Christmas. If you read my last blog post or you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that it was my birthday over the weekend and I had a BLAST. What remains is a massive food baby, s**t loads of confetti all over my floor and of course… some very lovely gifts. Some of which were beauty bits!

Before I use them all too much in excitement that they they’ll no longer be photographable, I thought I’d talk you through some of my new in beauty things. Some of which were kindly gifted to me and others I’ve purchased.

CHARLOTTE TILBURY – INSTANT LOOK IN A PALETTE – BEAUTY GLOW

For me, Charlotte Tilbury is a brand that I forever gush over and I’ve bought friends goodies from there but I haven’t plucked up the courage to ever buy one of their palettes for myself. This was a gift that I wasn’t expecting AT ALL and my god, I was bloody well chuffed – so thanks again Ben! Also massive props to you for buying this unprompted and without having a clue about makeup whatsoever haha. 

I dabbled with the palette on my birthday and it is absolutely beautiful. This palette consists of 3 eyeshadows – to create a warm, bronzey smokey eye – a bronzer, contour, blush and highlight. Seriously, what more could you want?! Hence the name, it’s perfect for on the go as you can create a subtle look for daytime wear but also glam it up for the evenings too. The quality and pigmentation is incredible. My favourite so far is the highlight, it’s quite subtle but gives a natural glow and radiance to the overall look.

NARS – RADIANT CREAMY CONCEALER – CUSTARD

I tend to be quite dubious of ‘cult’ products because I never know if they’re going to live up to the hype. I had heard over and over again – mainly from beauty gurus online – that this NARS concealer was the bomb but always resisted and turned to cheaper alternatives to cover up my lack of sleep. However, I received a gift voucher for ASOS recently and they conveniently had a 20% off beauty sale so I took the plunge, popped it in my basket and awaited its arrival. I’m honestly kicking myself that I didn’t do it sooner! Of course, I haven’t tried all the concealers in the world but I’ve tried a fair few in the past decade and this one is without a doubt the best one I’ve tried.

It’s creamy (duh), blends really well, lasts even better and doesn’t look cakey on the skin at all. I also tend to find that concealers either work well at either under eye circles or blemishes, rarely both, but so far this has tackled both pretty darn well. Happy days.

YSL BEAUTY – TOUCHE ECLAT ILLUMINATING PEN – LUMINOUS RADIANCE

Another cult product… I’ve actually owned this before but many, many years ago. I’m pretty sure I saved up all my pocket money and bought it duty free one year and thought I was super duper fancy for months to come whenever I pulled it out of my pencil case that I used as part pencil case, part makeup bag. Back then, I thought it was a concealer – in all fairness, I think everyone did – and so I would smother my face in it. It wasn’t a good look…

Luckily, since then my knowledge and application of makeup has improved quite a lot so when I saw this limited edition star print version I had to have it. If you don’t already know, I’m a massive fan of anything star print! Very conveniently my brother was actually asking about what I wanted for my birthday on the day I stumbled across it so he kindly bought it for me. I’m head over heels in love with the packaging but the product itself matches it, I’ve popped it on my face today as more of a highlight, rather than a concealer and it’s definitely making me look a touch more awake than usual haha.

TOM FORD – MATTE LIP COLOUR – PUSSYCAT

Lipsticks are my vice – nude lipsticks even more so. I got gifted a different Tom Ford lipstick a few years ago and immediately fell in loooove with them. The packaging, consistency and colour range of the Tom Ford lipsticks are truly top class. Ever since receiving mine, I’ve wanted to get my hands on a new one and I finally took the plunge with not one but two – see below. I mean, minor regrets because they are pretty damn pricey but I made sure to invest in a colour that was wearable every day. Proven by the fact that I’ve worn it daily since and I know I’ll continue to love and wear it going forward.

TOM FORD – MATTE LIP COLOUR – VELVET CHERRY

Now onto the next one… this one was more of a naughty on a whim purchase. I was looking for a birthday lipstick for the evening and the lady recommended Velvet Cherry. I love deep, vampy shades and think they really suit my skin tone. I paired this shade with quite toned down makeup so that the lipstick would remain as the main focal point and I couldn’t have been happier with the end result.

… maybe no more Tom Ford lipsticks for a while though!

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Hope you enjoyed seeing what’s new in to my beauty collection. Have any of you got any new bits recently? I’m always up for recommendations!

xo