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

Benefit's Neutral Palette

Hello my berries,

I'd quickly like to apologise for my absence, as I was taking my GCSE'S, but luckily the summer holidays have started for me and I am now going to be a committed blogger!
It was my birthday last week and my friend Flora got me the Benefit Neutrals Palette, which was so incredibly thoughtful of her considering I am an eyeshadow maniac. From the minute I set my eyes on this palette I knew that I was going to love it, their aren't any bad shades in the palette and they are a dream for everyday. The shadows are buttery and easy to blend and have barely any fall out. The pigmentation is also amazing, they aren't as pigmented as the Naked palette shadows but they still have great colour pay off and look beautiful on the eyes. I also find the palette is particularly good for my blue eyes as they are bronzy and gold, which really brings out my eye colour.

The inside of the palette

The packaging is also cute and lovely as Benefit products usually are, they have an old fashioned feel about them which I adore, and I think they just look very pretty. My only complaint would be that the box is quite bulky and thick, the shadows are in a cardboard case within the box, which takes up unnecessary space, I think they could have made it more compact. 

The Packaging

The shade names from left to right
My Two Cents, Birthday Suit, Call My Buff, Kiss Me I'm Tipsy, It's Complicated, Gilt-y Pleasure

This brand is also the first that I've seen that have a mixture of both cream and powder eyeshadows. The cream shadows are the first two swatched, and they can be used as eyeshadow bases to improve the wear of the other shadows, or as a simple wash of colour over the eyelid. I think this palette would be great for beginners as the colours aren't overly pigmented and really easy to work with, the palette also comes with a little sheet which shows you how to create different looks with the eyeshadows, I also think this would be very helpful!

See you soon

BeautyBerry

xoxo

Exam tips!

Hello my berries,

Now I thought I would change things up and do a lifestyle post instead of a beauty/fashion related one. For some of you, it is that time of year when you are revising hard for your GCSEs, IB diploma or A-Levels or a qualification of that sort. I am personally in the process of doing my GCSEs and I have to say it is rather hard to cope with all the work I am getting. I thought I would just share a few tips on how to cope with exam stress that have helped me personally.

1. Organise your work space
This is a big one for me, I think almost everybody finds it difficult to work in clutter and mess, as they say a tidy room is a tidy mind. Make sure you have somewhere that you can go for revision, that way you know when you have to work and it gets you ready to start doing some serious revision.

2. Get as many revision aids as you can
Flashcards, big A3 paper, post-it notes, and all that. GET IT! That way you can find out your preferred method of revision and try different ways so you don't get bored of doing the same thing for all of your subjects over and over again.

3. Make a revision timetable and stick to it
For some people, timetables don't work as it makes them feel like they are at school and can't make decisions. I personally love timetables, as it reassures me that I am on track and makes sure I am covering all subjects and topics that I need to cover. A good tip if your not a timetable kinda gal is just to make a tally table with all your subjects, and mark a tally on it every time you do revision for that subject, that way you know you are revising for ALL of them.

4. Try to enjoy some time
I am guilty of overworking myself and forcing myself to concentrate even when all I want to do is go to sleep. Don't get to the stage where you just want to give up, instead go out and have fun, and don't feel guilty about it. You are allowed to rest and have a break, you need breaks to be healthy and happy. People who take breaks are actually more able to concentrate as they don't feel like they spend there life revising.

Hope some of those tips helped, good luck with exams and revision everyone!
Beauty Berry xoxo

Colour Adapt Foundation by Max Factor

Hello my berries,

So I purchased this on a whim because I saw it and thought- why not? And I have to say I have now changed my earlier comment to why? The reason for this change of heart is because I really hate this foundation. To be honest, I really am not a foundation lover as my skin isn't bad at all and I usually just use concealer to save time and money, but that doesn't mean that I don't like to wear it for special occasions or sometimes I need to wear foundation for shows.

To start, the packaging is pretty horrible as it is quite cheap looking and very plastic. However the range of shades isn't bad at all as it has a range of shades both dark and very pale, with different variations of both yellow and pink undertones which is good. My shade appeared to be blushing beige, but it turned out to be way to pink for me.

First of, the pump is convenient like most pumps and works well, and the foundation wasn't runny. I used my fingers to apply the foundation which seemed to work, as the foundation is quite easy to blend. My problem was that when I looked at the final effect, after just one layer, it looked caky and patchy. I hate looking like I have a thick layer of makeup on, and this definitely made me look like that. Sometimes, I would forgive this if the coverage was good, but its really not.  It covered my redness around my nose and chin, but it did not cover any blemishes or eye bags/veins at all and I really wasn't impressed. It is meant to be a light coverage foundation and paired with the watery consistency you think it would look pretty and natural, but it did the opposite. It just made my skin look like it a had a thick layer of foundation on and the coverage really wasn't very good at all so personally I wouldn't even bother to try this.

See you next time!
xoxo