What I've been wearing...

Hello,

I wanted to share some of the products that I've been wearing over the last couple of weeks, these are always my favourite posts to read of others!

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in 225, DiorSkin Nude Tan Sun Powder in 003 Cinnamon, Tarte Amazonian clay bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, Clinique Gel Liner, Topshop Eyeshadow Trio in Atmosphere, YSL Rouge Pur Couture in number 11 and YSL Golden Gloss in Number 42.  

I am still in love with my new Dior bronzer and have used it everyday.  It gives such a beautiful, sun kissed look to the skin without looking orange or muddy. You can read my full review of the powder here.  

In theory, Maybelline's Fit Me foundation shouldn't work as I have quite oily skin.  However, I love the natural, dewy finish it gives, the buildable coverage, the wide shade range and the light formulation. It's  an extremely fluid foundation meaning that when it's applied, it feels extremely lightweight on the skin.  It is not the most long lasting of formulas, however as long as I use a primer and a powder it lasts throughout the day (this is probably helped by the fact my skin in winter is not as oily). Although the foundation contains SPF18 it still photographs beautifully; if it was a little more long lasting, Fit Me would be perfect!

Tarte's Park Avenue Princess is described as a bronzer, however I prefer to use it as a cheek colour. It's quite a warm shade that is fairly sheer but buildable.  The powder has a golden pearlised finish making this a perfect two-in-one cheek product that blends beautifully into the skin.  

(Sorry I couldn't wait to use this before photographing it!)

The Topshop eye shadow Trio in Atmosphere is beautiful, if a little overpriced at £16.  The palette is part of the Dark Side of the Nude collection and contains metallic purple, gold and silver shades.  They are very pigmented, blendable and although they look a little chalky in the pan, there is no fall out when applied to the eye.    

This lip combination is an old faithful of mine, YSL Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks are one of my favourite formulas.  Although number 11 Rose Carnation is a little frosty, it is easy to wear and extremely flattering.  Teamed with Golden Gloss 42, the perfect, glossy pink lip is born.

Below you can see how Maybelline Fit Me looks on, I think the finish is beautiful and gives just the right amount of coverage.  You can also see how pretty and natural Park Avenue Princess looks when used as a cheek colour.

Lots of Love 

Nic

xx

Operation Disco Pants

Hello :)

In August, I went on holiday to Marbella and honestly was a little bit terrified at the thought of spending two weeks in a bikini...I even panic at the thought of wearing clothes without sleeves! In the months running up to my holiday, I followed a calorie controlled diet and managed to lose just under two stone.

However, two months on and all of my weight loss dedication has disappeared with summer and I can see all my hard work slowly disappearing (Christmas is my food season...mince pies, Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, cinnamon toast) Apparently I need a goal to motivate myself; in summer it was a bikini, in winter it's going to be disco pants! I desperately want to buy a pair of disco pants, but at this moment in time I feel that my thighs are not disco pant appropriate. And so, Operation Disco Pants was born.  I'm going to start a weight loss series on Magic's in the Make Up instead of going to a slimming class.

I'm going to be using an app called My Fitness Pal, which was responsible for my weight loss in the summer.  For me it is the most effective way I've found of losing weight.  My Fitness Pal works by factoring in your weight, height, how much exercise you plan to do each week and how many pounds a week you want to lose.  At the moment, it has calculated that I should be eating 1200 calories each day and exercising three times a week in order to sustain a steady loss of 2 lbs a week.  

The app works as an online food diary allowing you to plan your meals in advance.  It is honestly so easy to use and I have read nothing but amazing reviews online. I have attended Slimming World, Weight Watchers and Scottish Slimmers classes before and nothing has worked as well as using MFP... and it's free! If you aren't able to use MFP on your phone, you can use the web version here

I want to be realistic, I love food too much and realise that there will be days when an apple won't satisfy my cravings for a massive cake. That is exactly why I love MFP, if you really have to, you can adjust the rest of your days food to accommodate that biscuit and raisin yorkie shouting at you from the vending machine, or you can work out exactly how much exercise you need to do to burn off the excess calories.  

Since summer, I've put on around 8lbs making my goal a 2.5 stone loss (sounds rather intimidating).  Please, if you're running a similar weight loss series on your blog, get in touch!!  Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be putting together a few blog posts about the best internet resources to use for weight loss that have really helped me and would love to find some other blogs to feature - WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

Love Nic

xx