NYX Tame & Frame | Brow Pomade

I recently picked up the NYX Tame and Frame Pomade on a cheeky little Boots haul and I haven't used anything else on my brows for weeks. I feel like NYX is one of those brands that generally kills the brow game but this has blown anything else out of the water. 

Tame & Frame is essentially a tinted brow pomade. I picked up the shade Espresso which is a natural dark brown (there is nothing worse than a warm brow product when your brows can literally be described as nearly black) and it's perf. I like to apply this with an angled brow brush - my current fave is this one from Zoeva. 

I gotta say, this is such a joy to apply. It’s creamy and smooth and literally just glides on. Also, a little goes a long way - I can definitely see this lasting me a while, unlike brow pencils which seem to last me five minutes. 

Application: 

Although I fully enjoy a strong brow, I like to focus the product on the mid to end of the brow to define the arch and colour and elongate my brows just a little bit. I tend to keep the first part of the brow quite natural (no scouse brows like poor Gabs in Emmerdale here) so I do this bit last and just use whatever is left on the brush to add a few extra strokes without going full on square brow. 

I’m honestly obsessed with this. I’ve tried a tinted brow pomade from another brand before (for a lot more dollar!) and while that was good, it doesn’t have the creamy, smooth application this does. Would I repurchase? Absolutely. 

Have you tried any brow products from NYX? Hit me up with your faves!  

ABH Modern Renaissance

My ultimate go-to palette. I’m so glad this has joined the lineup at ABH and isn’t limited edition because I am definitely going to repurchase this (kinda hit pan on half the palette already!) 

The formula of these is incredible. Buttery, pigmented shadows that are an absolute dream to blend. There are no duds here - unlike other palettes, I can happily say there isn’t a shade I wouldn’t use in this one. I’ve been loving warm tones on my eyes recently and this palette knocks these out of the park. However, there is also a few cooler tones to complement, which I am equally obsessed with. 

Favourite Combos: 

• Golden Ochre (transition), Raw Sienna in the mid to outer crease, Realgar or Red Ochre to deepen the crease and Primavera all over the lid. 
• Buon Fresco & Warm Taupe in the crease with Vermeer all over the lid and Antique Bronze to deepen in the outer crease. 
• Warm Taupe (transition), Love Letter to blend in the crease, Venetian Red in the outer crease with Vermeer all over the lid. 

I think this is one of the only palettes I’ve used this year and the range of shades and quality of shadows makes it an absolute beaut palette for on the go - I’ve started doing my makeup at work, because 6am me is not awake enough to cope with blending, and this bad boy has all the shades I will ever need to look bomb at work. 

Have you tried Modern Renaissance? 

Friday Five

TGIF, the words I live by every week without fail. Since Friday @ 5pm is legitimately my fave time of the week I thought I'd do a little round up of my other faves this week.

1. TV: Emmerdale 
Over the last year, I've fallen in love with this Yorkshire Soap. I don't know if it's because I grew up in a little village (admittedly with a LOT less drama than Emmerdale)  or because one of my ultimate goals has always been to move up North, but I absolutely love it. Not going to lie, Aaron is one of my fav characters so I've been loving the focus on him in prison this week (although I hate the fact that they cannot just let the poor lad be happy?!)

2. Spotify. 
I don't know what I did before Spotify Premium but I'm pretty sure I don't want to go back to it. The #GreatBritishBreakfast & #MondayMotivation playlists are my absolute favs, defo a must in the morning to get me in a good mood for work

3. Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipsticks 
I'm so impressed with these liquid lipsticks, they are unbelievably creamy and easy to wear. Most liquid lipsticks make me look like I've spent the day in a desert, but these last all day and don't settle into fine lines or cracks on the lips. Defo fav liquid lipstick formula I've tried so far, with 1995 being my fav colour.

4. Beanies Cinder Toffee Coffee
2 calorie coffee that tastes (almost!) as good as a cheeky toffee latte from Starbucks? Count me in. I've been obsessed with this at the moment - it's such a nice little pick me up in the morning and it's the kind of coffee that you can drink all day because it literally tastes that good.

5. PMA
If you follow me on twitter, you'll know that I'm forever moaning. This week, I've been trying to approach each day with a Positive Mental Attitude. Some days have been good, some absolutely horrific but I've started actually trying to hit my KPI's at work and I feel like approaching each day as a fresh chance to turn it all around has definitely helped with that.

How has your week been?

2017 Goals

The start of March seems like a good time to assess my goals for the year. January and February were totally trial months, full of blues after the manic madness that is Christmas and New Year and those really dire months where you try and be sober and go to the gym and pretend that really awful day for singles in Feb doesn't exist #yikes

The only blog post I wrote last year was in January, full to the brim of New Years' Resolutions. Spoiler Alert: 2016 was absolutely horrific and I'm pretty sure I didn't do any of those things. Writing a nice little to do list at the start of the year is easy, but life happens and before you know it, it's New Year's Eve and you haven't done any of those things.

2016 Beauty Favourites

                  
As much as I resent 2016 for being a pretty bad year all round, I also feel like it was the year where I found a lot of really great beauty products that just work for me - dare I say HG products?! I stopped wasting money buying stuff because so and so on youtube raved about it and spent waaaay too much time and money on beautybay. 

EYES: 

Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette - this is honestly the only palette I've used for a few months now, I can't get enough of it. Super pigmented, buttery shadows that are an absolute dream to blend? Say no more. I normally tend to reach for the more cool tones (Buon Fresco is my absolute fave!) but the warm tones in this palette are absolutely beaut. 

MUG eyeshadows - Remember when beautybay first decided to stock MUG and it was a mad dash to checkout to get your fave shade?! Me too. I've been wanting to customise my own palette for ages, but when I went to MAC to swatch I was left a little bit underwhelmed. Enter Make Up Geek - pigmented, blendable shadows in every colour you could ever want. I love the foiled eyeshadows too - Starry Eyes is my absolute fave. 

Peaches and Cream Pigments - these are honestly amaze! Super affordable, absolutely beautiful colours that take any eyeshadow look from day to glam in an instant. My favourite colours are Halo, Nude, Peached & Disco (perfect for christmas/party looks!)

NYX liquid liner - I'm pretty bad at the old flick but this makes it so easy. Norm I tend to go for the pen formula over liquid liner but I haven't reached for anything else since I purchased! 

NYX micro brow pencil - I started out the year obsessed with the ABH version but this is a great dupe at half the price (and much easier to get hold of now that Boots stock NYX) 

FACE:

MUFE Ultra HD Foundation Stick - I'm shook by how good this is. I feel like this provides that flawless coverage without being too thick or cakey. I'd say it's probably medium coverage (definitely buildable) and a satin finish. I was expecting it to be fairly drying but it's probably one of the nicest foundations I've ever used. 

UD Concealer - I know everyone has been raving about this but it seriously is that good. A perfect under eye conceler that is neither thick nor dry. 

Becca Highlighter in Champagne Pop - I bought this for myself at christmas last year and it's been pretty much the only highlighter I've reached for (until ABH released their Glow Kits anyway) A champagne gold with peachy undertones; it gives that perfect dewy finish without being being glittery. 

ABH Glow Kit in Sundipped - I uhmed and ahed over which glow kit to purchase for ages (spoiler: i want them all). Sundipped includes four absolutely gorgeous shades - Bronzed (a warm bronze, it’s a little too dark for my pale skin but it works for me as an eyeshadow), Tourmaline (a pinky champagne shade; I feel like this worked best for me in summer when I was a little more tanned), Summer (a pale gold champagne; this is my go-to highlight from this palette) and Moonstone (again a pale gold shade although this one has slightly more peachy undertones than Summer; it reminds me a lot of Becca’s Champagne Pop). My absolute fave look from this palette is to mix Moonstone and Summer together; it gives the perfect gleamy highlight! 

LIPS

Although there was obv a lot of lip products I loved in 2016 (MAC lipsticks, NYX Liquid Lingerie etc), I haven’t stopped using these three since I got them so they made the cut. 

MAC Lip Pencil in Stripdown - my go to lipliner. I love love love a good brown lip and this is the perfect liner. It’s a fairly muted brown that works perfectly with MAC Velvet Teddy or Yash. 

Smashbox Lipsticks in Warrior Pose and Shavsana - These are both part of the Be Legendary Matte range; Warrior pose is a cool toned brown that works perfectly with a cool toned smoky eye (I first saw it in this video by Rachel Leary and I knew I had to have it) and Shavasana is a fairly light brown with slightly peachy undertones; much more of an everyday shade. I think what I love most about these lipsticks is that even though they are matte they are fairly creamy and kind to the lips. I find a lot of matte formulas are so drying and make me look like I’ve been dying in a desert a few hours after application but these bad boys definitely don’t! 

What are your fave products from 2016? 

2016;

So I'm a little bit late to the party with this one, but we're a week or so into 2016 and I'm determined it's going to be a better year than 2015 was. I know, I know. I'm one of these people that starts every new year thinking this year? this year is going to be my year. (Spoiler: it never is)

This year, however, I'm going to be proactive in making some positive changes in my life because coasting through each day is not really working out so well for me.

1. FITNESS.
The biggie. The one thing that is on everyone's new year's resolutions list. In all seriousness though, in the past few years I've gained quite a lot of weight and my fitness levels have definitely taken a nosedive. In late 2015, I decided to have a few sessions with a personal trainer which have been super helpful. This year, my main goal is to lose a fair few lbsss but I also want to improve my fitness. I've started incorporating more strength training into my gym routine and I'd like to be able to run 5k without stopping to walk, so we'll see how that one goes......

2. CAREER
The job that I have at the moment is pretty draining and not a role I particularly enjoy. Definitely not a role I dreamed about when I was powering through that undergrad degree. I think this year, I need to be so much more proactive in my job hunt and not just apply for any old job to get me out of this one, because hi vicious circle! In 2015 I spent a lot of time complaining about my current role but not doing a lot to change it. Goal of the month is to apply for at least 5 jobs a week.

3. SELF CARE
Like I mentioned above, 2015 was a year of coasting, pretty much. It was not a year I prioritised my health - physical or mental - but that needs to change this year. I think it is so important to take some time to yourself and do things that you need to do for you. Whether that's changing your daily routine to take care of things that may seem minor to everyone else, or putting some time aside each week to relax and have some ~me~ time. This year, I need to change up my routine and actually do things when I come home other than collapse into bed.... even little things like taking my makeup off and putting some moisturiser on.

4. TRAVEL
In 2015, I left Europe for the first time to head to NYC which was amaaaazing and every time I think back to it I honestly want to cry because it was the highlight of my year. I def want to travel more this year - I'd love to go back to NYC, maybe in autumn this time, because it is just so incredible! I'd also love to visit Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Amsterdam, Florida....the list is pretty much endless.

What are your goals for the coming year?

MAC Haul

Don't you hate it when your fave foundation runs out and you have to hit the emergency stash? (in my case, left over summer shades that are def too dark at this point. Cue manic neck blending!) Naturally, I made a MAC order pronto and thought I'd show you a few of the bits I picked up....

STUDIO FIX FLUID
I remember trying this foundation when I was like 17 and hating it (partly because the MUA matched me to NC25...definitely not an NC25 here guys! #paleclub) I decided to give it another go and I'm pleasantly surprised. Medium to full coverage with a semi-matte finish that's neither cakey nor drying unlike most of the other matte foundations on the market, and I'm sold. This time I opted for the shade NC15 which if I'm completely honest is a little darker than I would like - partly due to the way it oxidizes on my face - but I really like the finish. Definitely one I will be repurchasing, especially as at £22.00, it's a lot cheaper than most of the other high(er) end foundations I like.

STROBE CREAM
This is the perfect base for Studio Fix. I really like using liquid highlighters as a base under foundation, to give it that bit of extra dewiness and this definitely does the job. I like that it's pearly without being too pink-toned and it dries pretty quickly; there's no greasy finish here. I know a lot of people describe this as a moisturiser but I don't find it to be that hydrating - could be because it's winter but I would rec using your standard day cream under this too!

LIP LINER IN WHIRL
Remember when this was out of stock for months and months because Kylie Jenner used it? Good times. Whirl is a rosy brown-toned shade and perfect for that 90s nude lip. I personally love pairing it with MAC Faux and LA Splash's liquid lipstick in Ghoulish. I'm not quite sure what I did before lip liner but it honestly makes such a difference! I feel like it makes any lip look so much cleaner and more precise ... and it's definitely a must when it comes to over drawing (just slightly) for a fuller pout.

What MAC products have you currently got your eye on? Forever waiting for Stone lipliner to come back in stock and slightly gutted that the only bits I wanted from the Christmas collection are sold out!

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