Makeover Essential Cosmetics - Review and Swatches

Hello lovelies! So this is the first time I've ever really reviewed anything and that is because this is a company that I've never heard of before and thought I would give you my thoughts on them! A few weeks ago, my mom was in the car waiting for me and apparently this man who works for the company was going around selling these kits to advertise the company and it was 2 for $20 so 2 individual bags were $10 each which is pretty good considering the product is actually quite good! I've tested out the products that came in the bag for the past few weeks so I can now give a proper review of them, so I hope you enjoy!

This little black box and brush with product built into to already came in this adorable pink bag.

When you completely open the box, you see that it comes with a mascara, an eyeliner/lipliner duo, 5 lip sticks, 5 eyeshadows, 3 face powders, and 3 blushes.

The box also comes with built in mirrors on each panel, so when you first open it, you'll see the mirrors, and open it further to get to the products.

The face powders, two of which are supposed to be bronzers, and the blushes are my absolute favorite parts of this kit! I've been using them basically everyday the past few weeks!

Please excuse the fingerprints, I didn't initially know I was going to review these so I got overly excited and swatched them on my hand straight away. :P

The blushes come in three very summer appropriate shades. The left shade is a slightly berry pink, but the berry is very understated so it's still great for summer. I thought it would be difficult to wear on my skin tone, but I actually really love this on my cheeks. It gives a beautiful flush. The middle shade is a burnt orange-y red with a bit of shimmer in. I'll admit, I have yet to wear this out, but I do think it's a beautiful color. The last shade on the right is a pale baby pink, which again, I thought wouldn't work on my skin tone, but on the cheeks it gives this gorgeous natural flush that really livens up my complexion! All three blushes are quite buttery (a word I found best describes it that I initially heard in this context from the beautiful Jaclyn Hill) and not chalky at all. Love these blushes!

These face powders look shimmery when swatched, but when blended out onto the skin, the shimmer is not noticeable AT ALL. I've been using the darkest, middle shade as an all over bronzer and it just adds a healthy glow to my skin without making me look like a disco ball. The outer two shades are quite light for me; the left shade is described on the box as being a setting powder, but I personally don't think it would make a very good setting powder because it comes out looking a bit ashy. If anything I could see it being used as a contour for someone with very pale skin. The last shade on the right is the second bronzer and is just as beautiful as the middle bronzer I use, but just a little too light for me. Again, the powder are just as smooth and buttery as the blushes!

 

Honestly, the lip products left much to be desired. They apply quite sheer on the lips, so I suppose depending on your preference, that could be a good or bad thing. I could put up with the lack of pigmentation if the staying power were right, but it's just not. I've worn these on my lips once and didn't again because the lipstick had come off within half an hour of application.

The lipliner on the left is a gorgeous color that I don't actually have in any other form of lip product. As with any lipliner, worn alone, its quite drying, but I do love the color payoff. Again, as with the other lip products, it didn't last very long especially for a liner. The eyeliner on the right didn't last on my water line or bottom lash line for more than an hour or two.

The eye shadows are all shimmers and my favorite colors are definitely the middle shade and the very last shade on the right. The middle shade is a golden bronze and the last shade is a pinky/champagne color. Love for all over the lid! They all apply quite well and are relatively smooth, apart from the first shade, black/grey, on the left which applies quite chalky and unevenly. That black/grey is definitely the worst product in the kit, but the other shadows are quite good; staying power is average, pigmentation is pretty good, and they're nice and buttery to apply.

The last product is the bronzer that came in the brush. It's one of those products where the product comes out of the brush and applies onto the skin directly. I'm still not sure how I feel about these kinds of products, but the actual bronzer inside is quite nice. Obviously, its a shimmer, so I haven't used it to contour, but I have used it on my cheekbone area and it does give a very pretty glow. The above swatch is very heavy, so this can be applied as lightly or as dramatically as you'd like. I personally prefer a matte bronzer and a separate highlight, but this is a beautiful product regardless. The only drawback I found was that it greatly highlights any dry patches you may have, so it's best to be very moisturized before using this product.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with Makeover Essential Cosmetics! My favorite products are definitely the face products and I'll most likely be looking into more of their blushes and powders depending on the price point on their website. If you're interested, you can check them out at http://www.makeover-essentials.com! Xx

Chicken Divan | 2014 Blogger Challenge

Chicken Divan is something my mom started making a few years back on special occasions and though she hasn't made it in a long while, I opted for making it a month or so ago and my love was rekindled! It's a cheesy, creamy broccoli and chicken casserole of sorts. I could literally never have anything else...well I suppose that's not entirely true, but you get my point: it's ah-mazing!

Courtesy of Pinterest.

You're going to need (for approximately 4 servings) :

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
About two broccoli crowns or 1 package of frozen broccoli
3 chicken breasts, cubed or shredded
1/2 cup of mayo
1tsp. of lemon juice
1/2 cup or more of shredded cheese
1/4 cup or more of bread crumbs soaked in melted butter

Preheat your oven for 375 degrees fahrenheit. Arrange the chicken and broccoli in an oven safe containter (glass or metal works fine). Mix the soup, mayo and lemon juice and pour evenly over the chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle the cheese and bread crumbs over the casserole and drizzle melted butter over the top of that. Bake for about 30 minutes and you should be good to go!

Now this isn't the healthiest dish, that's for sure, but it is absolutely delicious! I highly recommend giving it a go if it so tickles your fancy! Lots of love! Xx

What I Got Up To | May 2014

I was going through my camera a few weeks ago and came across a bunch of snaps from different days and thought I'd edit them and put them up just for fun. :) Since these photos were just random bits and bobs from the month of May and not for anything specifically, I thought it would be a good opportunity to also play around with filters more than I usually would. I hope you like them!

This was my outfit heading out to LA with friends I think at the beginning of May. I'd also like to note the DEAD pin from Oli Sykes' clothing company DROP DEAD. :)

I don't think I've ever shown you guys my fairy lights, so here they are! I'm obsessed with them!

The next couple beach-y photos were taken from a train window when I was traveling to San Diego to see my friend Caitlyn. 

These last two pictures with the surfers are my favorites! I can just imagine how peaceful it must've been out on the water. :)

A candid shot of my beautiful mommy when I did her make up one night. <3 You can't see her make up, but I was really quite proud of it. Lol

Loving the new Cher Lloyd album "Sorry I'm Late"!

So there's a bit of what I got up to in May. :) I hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far! And also, I'd like to announce that I'm finally using my YouTube channel more and I'm actually uploading every Wednesday now! It would mean a lot to me if you all go and check out my channel and maybe even subscribe if you want! Ta for now! Xx

Collection of Memories | 2014 Blogger Challenge

Howdy! I don't know why I just said that...lol! Topic 11 of the 2014 Blogger Challenge is a collection of something and the only thing I could think of (besides makeup and CDs and the like) was my collection of memories. Below is this little box that I fill with different sentimental items. I have a much larger box too that's filled with memories from age 15-18, but I thought I'd share just a bit of my memories with you through my smaller box, otherwise you'd be stuck reading here forever! :P I hope you enjoy!

This is the box that a makeup bag came in that was a gift from one of my friends from high school and the print on the box is the same as the actual bag and I just thought it was so cute that I kept it. :)

So here we've got a metro receipt from LA when I met Joey Graceffa, and iPhone case that was given to me, another case covered in stickers from an old crush, a TSSF ticket and a ticket to the 1D movie that I saw with Dalton. :)

So the contents of the box consist of everything from letters, random trinkets, there's my old friend's fake ID for some reason (lol), to lighters; just a bunch of different stuff that in some way has meaning to me. Haha

This is a little Louie Tomlinson from One Direction statue thing that my friend gave me randomly! Lol

As some of you may know, I am a recovering addict and when I graduated the program that I was in, I got this marble. It seems super lame, but whenever someone graduates the program, everyone sits in a circle and we all pass the marble around and each say something about the person and when the marble comes back to person leaving, they say whatever they want to (ie. "Thank you for all the support," etc.). It's a lovely little send off and it's a cute little reminder of my being clean. :)

The Story So Far ticket from last year! I went with Dalton and Heather and they're such an amazing band and even better live! I can honestly say it was one of the best shows I've been to and I've been to many! :)

Throwback! This is a set of photo booth photos from 7th or 8th grade and these were two of my best friends! We don't really keep in touch anymore unfortunately, but I still cherish the memories we had and still love them! <3

I made this star in 5th grade I believe in a pottery class and I gave it to my sister for my Christmas that year and somehow throughout the years its made it's way back into my possession. Haha

This last item from the box I'll be sharing with you is this lighter. It may seem super random to you, but when I was using, lighters were always getting lost and swapped and the stickers were my way of saying "This is mine!". Lol This little guy and I went through quite a lot together before I got clean so I thought I'd keep it when it died. Can you tell I'm extremely sentimental? :P

And that is everything! Obviously there's more in the box, not to mention the other box I mentioned earlier, but I think this post might a get a bit boring for you all if I were to describe why everything in the box is in the box. Lol I hope you enjoyed this post and leave a comment down below if you did! (Or even if you didn't, if you must :P) Talk to you all soon! Xx