Beauty Chamber UK

Like many other bloggers, I'm always on the lookout for websites stocking beauty products which aren't readily available on the high street. I saw a few posts written about the Koren Zander brush shampoo and I went over to beautychamber.co.uk to check it out as it got such great reviews. Whilst browsing I was (way too) excited to see the Real Techniques version of the beauty blender also on the website. Anything Real Techniques release has to be mine so I placed an order for these 2 items. What I didn't expect was such a brilliant delivery time and customer service. I placed my order Thursday morning and received it less than 24hours later, well packaged and with the added extra of a Sigma E05 eyeliner brush. I've been wanting to try Sigma brushes forever and this may be the start of a dangerous obsession. I haven't used any of these items yet, but the brush shampoo in Pearberry (£8.50)smells amazing and I cant wait to try the sponge(£4.99)and the brush (cheeky freebie). I'm delighted with the service I received and would highly recommend the website. Have you got any other website recommendations? 

Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx

Bloglovin

I am very behind with this as I am a complete technophobe but, You can now follow me on Bloglovin! Yay

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4091588/?claim=93pgbggtws6">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> 

❤ Love Steph ❤

Payday Purchases/First Impressions

Why does payday take so long to come around? And why does it take such a short time to spend ones earnings? Eugh! 

Anyway, I wanted to post a "payday haul" and show you why my wages never last a week never mind a month. Stila are my favourite brand for eyeshadow. Ever. If you haven't tried them I would highly recommend that you do-their eyeshadows are very soft, highly pigmented and so easy to blend. I bought the trio in "Gilded" which has a bronze with gold glitter, a midtone brown with gold glitter and a dark shimmery champagne. <3 LOVE <3

Rimmel were 3 for 2 in Boots so I picked up one of their new Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Paints in Rich Russet-it's a beautiful bronzed brown liquid eyeshadow which once set doesn't budge. I also got a lipgloss from the new Stay Glossy 3D range,a gorgeous coral with subtle gold shimmer called "lights,camera,action", and the new Scandaleyes Precision micro eyeliner in black. This has the smallest nib ive ever seen so I'm hoping it might help me perfect a winged liner.

In Superdrug I wanted a strengthening nail product as my nails are so weak and thin and found the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth polish. I really hope this works. At the till I spied the much hyped Maybelline Babylips-I impulsively pick up the menthol one and so far so good-it's got a nice scent and is moisturising on the lips and leaves a glossy sheen too.

Finally I have wanted Illamasqua's pigment in "Beguile" for the longest time- I picked this up for £5 with free delivery in their online sale(it's usually over £15) and I'm so glad I did. I've never seen anything more pretty or sparkly-it makes me happy :) I've included swatches below in the order the products were photographed. Do you have any of these products? I'm so excited to use them over the next few weeks to see if they live up to my expectations.

Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx

Bucket List

So I was tagged by the lovely Tiffany (Tiffany-talks.blogspot.co.uk) to compile my bucket list. Believe it or not, I've never really thought about this before. I live each day as it comes and whilst there are things I want to experience and accomplish I'm not really a dreamer, more of a realist. However, Tiffany made me think about the things I do want to do in my lifetime...

1. Get married!

I have been with my fiancé for 11 years now and between us we are part of a rather sizeable family, and we also have 3 children of our own. I don't want a massive expensive wedding but I would like to be able to afford to do it with all the important people in our lives. I feel like sometimes people judge me for not being married and having babies out of wedlock, so a wedding is high on my bucket list.

2. White sand and blue water

I want to travel somewhere out of the ordinary with beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters.

3. Own a house

I'm very fortunate to have a man who can literally turn his hand to anything and do it well, so I hope that one day not only will we own our own home, but that we will design and build it too (he will build it, I will watch :-D)

4. Run a marathon

I would love to be able to say I could run for 26 miles, and raise some money for charity at the same time.

5. Go to Wimbledon

For as long as I can remember I have loved tennis, and especially Wimbledon. Apart from Christmas it's my absolute favourite time of the year so to go and watch it would be a dream come true.

6. Makeup Course

It's scary how much I love makeup, so I would love to do a practical course, even just to improve my own skills and spend time with like-minded people.

7. France

I studied French for 8 years between school and uni and absolutely loved it. I was fluent but almost 10 years later am more than a little rusty. I've never been to France  but I'd love to go over for a few months and live eat and breathe the culture.

What's on your bucket list? Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx

EOTD-Peach/Purple

I haven't properly played with or worn eyeshadow in ages which is most unlike me. It's my favourite part of doing my makeup. So today, whilst it was all thundery and raining outside I decided to attempt what for me would be a going-out look. I'm not brave enough to wear this in the day!! 

I dont have any special tips or techniques as I'm far from a pro. I used Mac Painterly paint pot as a base to even out my eyelid and make the eyeshadow last all day without creasing. I then dusted a tiny amount of my face powder (Revlon Nearly Naked) over the top as I find it can make blending eyeshadows easier over this rather than just the base alone if its not been set. I then used Mac Expensive Pink(a light shimmery peachy pink with gold flecks)from my tear ducts to halfway across the lid, and then applied Mac Summer Plum(a matte medium purple) to the outer half of my eyelid. I overlapped the two colours in the middle to help them blend. I used a fluffy brush and swept it over the edges to soften the colours. Then I repeated what I did to the top lid on the bottom beneath the lash line, making sure to join the purple on the top and bottom on the outer edge. The mascara i used was Maybelline define a lash waterproof in black(amazing).I never wear colours like this but I think I would wear this out. For night time I'd probably add a dark purple eyeliner on the waterline-Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner pencil in blackberry would be perfect. And some lashes. 

Would you wear something like this? I think these colours would look even better on green eyes.

Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx

NOTD-Turquoise Sparkle

I am awful at painting nails-I previously confessed this in my "beauty things I suck at" post. But God loves a trier! Even though the weather has been decidedly unsummer-like, I've loved wearing bright colours on my nails, and when I want to do this I always reach for Barry M nail polishes-they are cheap but brilliant quality. 

For these sparkly turquoise nails, I applied the Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Guava-this is a recently released colour, it is opaque in one coat and dries super quick. On top I applied two coats of the Nail Paint in Aqua Glitter. These colours are an exact match and the result was a shimmery sparkly bright turquoise delight. It reminds me of swimming pools and blue skies on holiday. It's also foolproof-if I can do this anyone can. What colours have you been wearing on your nails for summer? Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx

Max Factor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick

Nearly every makeup brand has brought out some kind of twisty uppy lip pencil product, and I myself have reviewed a couple, but I haven't read much about Max Factors offering. These are called Colour Elixir Giant Pen Sticks, they were released a good few months ago and they caught my eye on a display in Boots. 

There were a gorgeous range of shades available to choose from, including a bright pink, a red and a deeper berry colour but as I'm still holding out hope that we get some kind of summer, I opted for the shade "Subtle Coral". The reason I was drawn to these was because when I swatched them they had a beautiful hi shine finish-like a pigmented gloss in pencil form. However, the product on the lips doesn't have that sticky feeling some glosses have, and it feels quite moisturising. I love the color of this, which the shade name describes perfectly-it's a gorgeous natural coral which, in my opinion, absolutely anyone will suit. I find orange/coral a hard shade to get right on the lips-some make your teeth look yellow, and some need a tan to be worn without looking like your ill! This pencil doesn't twist up so it needs to be sharpened. The lasting power without eating or drinking anything is about 2 hours. But I wouldn't really expect anything more from a glossy moisturising finish so this doesn't bother me personally but worth keeping in mind if you're looking for something long lasting. I think this is going to be my favourite lip product this summer and I really would recommend the Max Factor Colour Elixirs-I'd definitely love to get some more colours. Have you tried these? Thanks for reading, Love Steph xxx