Turkey 2015

Hello fellow beauty and fashion lovers,

So recently I was in Turkey for my summer holiday and whilst there I took some photos (or my sister and various other families took some photos) of my outfits and accessories for your reading pleasure. 

Hope you enjoy them and speak to you soon

Beauty Berry

xoxo

Bracelets-Accesorize 

Necklace-Swarovski

Dress-Topshop
Shoes-Matthew Williamson at Debenhams

Dress-Topshop
Shoes-Matthew Williamson at Debenhams 

Cuff bracelet-Accesorize 

Top and shorts-Miss Selfridge
Shoes-Kurt Geiger
(also apologies for the picture quality
it was late and dark
and I’d forgotten to take a picture aha!)

Shoes-Kurt Geiger
Anklet-Accesorize 

Dress-Hollister
Shoes-Matthew Williamson at Debenhams 

Dress-Hollister

Necklace-Miss Selfridge 

1st three bracelets-Accesorize
4th bracelet- Turkish market (sorry!)

Had to include my sunglasses from Urban Outfitters!

First Impressions-Hourglass

Hello,

So recently I had a makeup consultation with hourglass at Bluewater and I have to say I really enjoyed it and I loved the look that they did on me; it was dewy and fresh, and I felt like a golden goddess afterwards aha! I ended up coming home with a lot of the products (don't judge) and I thought I would give you reviews of all of them.
First lets show you what they did to my face:

Not the most flattering picture of me but I liked the makeup 

I was totally in love with the eyes and the brows

First of all I bought the primer and the foundation, the mineral veil primer seems to be very popular and when she put it on my face it felt smooth and touchable, it reminded me of the Benefit Porefessional but with a creamier texture; so my mum treated me. I also bought the foundation. Now, I am not a foundation fan, I tend to wear BB creams or just concealer because I hate the feeling of wearing a heavy foundation, but I wanted to branch out. The lady at the counter was amazing and so lovely, but she definitely put a little bit too much foundation on for my liking and gave me a slight cake face. When I tried it on at home, using a real techniques buffing brush and using a minimal amount of product, the finished look was a lot more natural and less caky, and I've really been enjoying the foundation. It has a medium coverage that can be built up and it is undetectable when put on lightly.

Next I purchased the eye shadow palette, consisting of lots of golden and browny tones, my favourite. If you have blue eyes definitely get the Obscurer eyeshadow palette, as it will really make your blue eyes pop! The palette is also laid out so beautifully, with a large mirror and closes securely. The quality of the shadows is incredible, very pigmented, creamy and easy to blend, additionally I didn’t notice any fall out on the more glittery shadows which was a pleasant surprise. You get three matte shades, including a highlight shade, and two glittery shades, which I think is the perfect balance.

 I got a taster of the Film Noir mascara and I also purchased the brow arch in the shade soft brunette. The mascara separates the lashes beautifully, as you can hopefully see in the picture, but I would like a little bit more volume. Although you can build it and get your desired effect, it does take quite a few coats and lots of time to get the lashes to the stage shown in the picture, if you don’t mind this and like more control then this mascara would be perfect for you, as you can go for more natural or more intense lashes. The brow arch is perfect for you if you like a more natural brow which I do, however again you can build it. It has the product on one end and a brush on the other, which makes it a multi-task product, and great for on the go.

Overall I really enjoyed the Hourglass consultation and have since purchased the Ambient Lighting Blush palette, which I might review soon. The consultations are free and all of the products are lovely so go and check them out!

See you soon
BeautyBerry
xoxo

Essie prep 'n' protect

 Hello my berries,

I've been in Africa for the last 10 days on the most incredible trip of my life, exciting post to come! On the holiday note, I wanted to talk about the Essie prep 'n" protect set, as I wanted to make my nail polish last as long as possible as I didn't want to worry about re-doing them constantly as I was so busy travelling. I picked these up for around £10.99, on offer, as the set is normally £12.99. I personally think it is really good value for money as the quality is so wonderful and it really does help to make your nail polish last longer.

The base coat, which is called "grow stronger," provides a lovely foundation for nail polish, or could even be used as a clear coat for school or work if you don't like colour but want your nails to look well looked after and tidy. I just apply one coat and it drys like a dream, so quick! It makes the application of the polish so much smoother and it gives the nail polish something to stick to when you paint them with your chosen polish.

After applying my base coat and two coats of my chosen nail polish, I use the top coat in the set "good to go," which is just a nice finishing touch to make your nail polish look a lot shinier and glossier.

I'd recommend picking up the set as it increases the time your nail polish lasts, mine lasted at least a week using this, which I thought was amazing as I was at school and very hands on, which usually makes my nail polish chip like crazy.  I'd pick up the set as I think its more expensive if you buy them separately, you can get the set at any drugstore fairly easily. Happy Painting!

See you soon
Beauty Berry
xoxo

My holiday outfits

Hello my berries,

I just thought I would share a few outfits that I wore in Turkey when I was on holiday there, so with out further ado, here we go!

Dress-Hollister
Shoes- Debenhams

Necklace- Accesorize

Bracelet-Fossil

Playsuit- Hollister

Top and Shorts- Miss Selfridge 

Wedges- River Island

Bracelet- Topshop
Rings- Miss Selfridge

See you soon
Beauty Berry
xoxo

Results day

Hello my berries,

I wanted to talk about something a bit different today and that is results day. I got my GCSE results yesterday and I am happy to say that I did really well and I, as well as all my family and friends, are very proud. However, I think its funny how years of education are represented by a few test papers, although this system did me a favour, I can't help but question understanding how so much can come down to so little. Some people don't like tests, and panic and get anxious (I have to admit I myself am a very anxious person,) the question paper could have been made up of your least favourite topics or just the topics that you don't get as well as the others, and finally you could have just had an off-day. I'd like to offer my congratulations if you did well and are happy, if you got the grades that you needed to further your interests in a particular subject or got in to the sixth form or college that you wanted, if you didn't though its not the end of the world. Just remember that there is always tomorrow, and that when you move on to whatever you decide to do, and you work really hard and try your hardest, then you will succeed. Some of my friends didn't get the grades they wanted, but I know that they will do amazing in whatever they put their minds to and that they will get to where they want, they just need to take a different route. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your summer!

See you soon
BeautyBerry
 xoxo

Battle of the Balms

Hello my berries,

I have wanted to do this post for awhile, but I wanted to make I'd tried and tested all of them to the max, I can assure you that I have!

From left to right
Nivea HydroCare, Korres Shea Butter Lip Balm, The Body Shop Born Lippy in Strawberry, The Body Shop Born Lippy in Passionberry, Crabtree&Evelyn Citron Creme & Honey Lip Butter

Now, I am a lip balm addict so it was definitely hard to nail my top 5 recommendations but I have finally done it.

If I want to use a lip balm before I apply a gloss or a lipstick and my lips aren't really chapped or try, I'll go for the Nivea Hydrocare lip balm with SPF 15. This is a great balm to use underneath lipgloss, as it just makes everything feel a lot smoother and hydrated. It has a lovely creamy texture and glides easily onto the lips, it is slightly slippery though so if you want a matte look I wouldn't use this one as it does give the lips a glossier look. It also contains SPF so it  protects your lips, however if your on holiday and you need SPF I'd go for the Nivea Sun Protect as that has SPF 30. I love the smell of Nivea products too so I really love this lip balm.

Next is the Korres Shea Butter Lip Balm for dry lips. This is an all round great chap-stick, it is perfect to use underneath any lip product as it just smoothes and hydrates without leaving any sort of sticky or oily residue, it sinks in quickly and makes your lips feel very nourished and soft. This is usually what I go for if my lips are feeling sore or very dry as it fixes the problem ASAP!

Thirdly, my Body Shop Born Lippy Balms- I LOVE THESE! I've gone through a couple in the last few years and the two scents shown in the picture are my favourite- Strawberry and Passion-berry; its not just because they have my surname in them aha! I always use these before I go to bed as they are very thick in texture and incredibly moisturising and I always find when I wake up my lips are lovely and soft. The strawberry one is tinted so you could use this in a soft everyday makeup look, perfect for school. The passion-berry balm is my favourite however, as although it does look like its going to be very dark considering it has a dark purple colour, it doesn't have much, if any, colour pay-off.

Lastly, the Crabtree&Evelyn Citron Creme & Honey Lip Butter. This is a gel like butter and I use this as a treat as it is absolutely beautiful. It smells and tastes like lemonade and has sort of a gritty texture whilst being very moisturising so it kind of doubles up as an exfoliator as well, the grittiness disappears after a while leaving the remnants of the yummy soft lip balm, (yes I have licked it of my lips on more than one occasion so I can say its yummy aha.)

I love lip balm and if I were to pick the most versatile lip product it would be the Korres one, as I feel this is very multi-purpose and can be used for anything, whereas the others aren't as moisturising or are too thick to use under lipstick, I imagine it would just cause goops on your lips, not an attractive look.

Hope you enjoyed my post on all different sorts of lip balms, butters, chap stick, whatever you want to call them.
See you soon
BeautyBerry
 xoxo

My New Favourite Perfume

Hello my berries,

I've been wanting this perfume for ages, and it is Calvin Klein's Beauty fragrance. The scent is described on the website as a "feminine, sophisticated fragrance that opens with top notes of Ambrette seeds, middle notes of jasmine and dries down to the base notes of cedar wood." It is a beautiful scent, and I would use the words feminine and sophisticated also to describe it, it is perfect for summer and isn't too overpowering, making it suitable for everyday. Its definitely a perfume that lingers on your skin for ages, but I would describe it as a perfume that whispers not shouts, as it is so subtly there in an amazing way. The bottle is lovely as well and looks nice on my dressing table, which is always a bonus. I imagine that it would be good for travelling also as the bottle is flat and thin and the lid is in line with the rest of the bottle, so its easy to pack and won't take up too much space. It is definitely a favourite of mine and I have no doubt that I will be wearing it everyday for the rest of the summer!

See you soon
BeautyBerry
xoxo