Kitty Sowerby

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

I can't resist an offer: latest beauty buys

The more I watch YouTube make-up tutorials, the more I want the proper tools. The make-up brushes are an important part of the kit.

For my birthday this summer, I was gifted with the Real Techniques foundation brush, stippling brush and their foundation sponge. I love the sponge, I'm not yet keen on the foundation brush but will use it again. The stippling brush is also going to take a bit of practise. I have some old eye make-up brushes that I still use but they have seen better days. That is the extent of my tools. Unless you include an old pair of tweezers, eyelash curlers and a sharpener. It's time to invest in the right kit to make the most of my gradually expanding make-up collection.

Mac make-up brushes seem to pop up in most collections. I have had my eye on the 217 blending brush which seems to be a very popular brush with the vloggers and when there was a 10% off deal on over the weekend I couldn't resist. I also picked up the 212 brush which I will use to line my eyes.

Also on offer was the range Urban Decay. I had been wanting to pick up the new Basics 2 palette but that wasn't on John Lewis at the time of the offer (it is now) so I was sensible and bought the Flushed palette which has a bronzer, a blusher and a highlighter, in the colour Streak. I was running out of bronzer and did need a blusher. When I get my makeup done they always use a blusher and I immediately look more alive and healthy. All the beauty bloggers and vloggers use blusher too. Usually I use my bronzer as blusher but I can see the difference it makes using the right products where they're meant to be used. I have a powder highlighter from Topshop called Sunbeam but it is a yellow based one whereas the Urban Decay one is pink based so I will give that a try.

Benefit had 10% off this particular weekend so I asked the assistants to recommend what brown product would be most natural, easy to use and would just fill in the brows not reshape them. The explained that Brow Zings is for changing the shape and Gimme Brow is a product to make brows look fuller whilst still looking natural. I hate penciling my eyebrows, they aren't the same shape so I find it difficult to see why I would fill them in and make them look more noticeable. Gimme Brow is easy to use, all I have to do is brush it through my brows a few times and it makes a difference. I would definitely recommend it. I don't like the smell of the product but once it has dried I can't smell it as much. It is a small package so I don't know how long I will get out of it and it is pricey but I will look for a drugstore dupe. I have the clear brow gel by Rimmel maybe I will try a coloured version.

Next on my list is a good pair of eyelash curlers as my eyelashes are pretty long but quite straight. In fact the eyelashes on my left eye are straighter than my right and it throws off my eye make-up and is very annoying.

Also I would like to try a cream blusher too. I see Benefit have brought out one called Majorette and seem to have sent it to all the beauty vloggers that I follow as they all have been reviewing it! I'll wait for the next offer I think, I might put it on my Christmas list.

What have you been buying lately?

Kitty x

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Zoella Beauty: my haul

Only this year have I begun to watch beauty vloggers on YouTube. I had been following Essie Button on Twitter without realising (after a following spree) and one morning clicked on the link to her YouTube video that she had tweeted. It was a daily vlog she was doing on her secondary channel (Essie Button Vlogs) throughout the month of June, "Vlune". It was a video about her day and what she had been up to with her boyfriend Aslan and their greyhound Reggie. I became hooked. Through her vlogs, Essie Button introduced me to numerous other bloggers including Amelia Liana, Fleur De Force, Tanya Burr and Zoella.

Zoella is a beauty blogger and YouTuber called Zoe Sugg. She is smiley and bubbly, funny and sweet. I watch her vlogs probably as much as I watch Tanya Burr's. Both girls now have beauty ranges available to buy in Superdrug. I have written about the lipgloss I have of Tanya's called Picnic in the Park here and I'd like to try Chic next but might wait until the launch of phase 2 of the products in October. I don't know any information but I'm imagining something festive.

Zoella Beauty launched online on Friday 26th September and was available in Superdrug from Monday. I had seen a lot of footage from vloggers about the launch party and some reviews of the products from Zoella and her friends. Yesterday, I went to Superdrug to buy the Zoella bubble bath and ended up with 3/6 (so 1/2) of the products from the Zoella Beauty range! I purchased the bubble bath (what I went in for) but also bought the bath fizzers and the guinea pig makeup bag! I'm ridiculous some times! Although I'm sure some bath soaks can be £20+ so £5 isn't too bad especially if I say it like this: if I get 10+ baths out of it, it's only 50p a bath! What I really needed was a £1 bottle of Radox!

Zoella Beauty make-up bag, the Soak Opera bubble bath and the Fizz Bar bath fizzers

As the nights get colder I will have more baths, I know it so I can justify it. I love reading in the bath but I've started watching vlogs whilst in there now.

Today I had a shower with the Opera product and I liked this smell. It wasn't too strong and reminds me of the masculine smell from a sports shower gel. I like that. Soak Opera can be used as bubble bath or as shower gel which is pretty handy.

I'm going to try a fizzer next time I have a bath and one of my (many) makeup bags is ready for the bin so I'll be transferring my makeup into the guinea pig one ASAP!

Have you bought anything from the Zoella Beauty range yet?

Kitty x

Monday, 29 September 2014

New season, new hair

I was just thinking of getting a good cut on Friday when my friend Michael was coming to do my hair. If anything, I was thinking about keeping most of the length and going darker with a dark caramel balayage. However, Friday morning came and my mum and sister thought I should go back shorter as I've had it long for a while now.

Lily Aldrige balayage

My hair grows pretty quickly so what I usually do is "bob it" in autumn and then grow it and by summer it's a good mid - long length. This was my pattern until I went to Australia in February 2012 and wanted it to be long enough to tie up or pile on the top of my head if I was hot (it was their summer when I was there). When I got back, it was really long and I had a decent amount cut off and then I just grew it longer and longer. I was aiming for (excuse me) nipple length and it was even longer than that at one point. Last autumn, I did have a good few inches off and I liked it but it was long again before I knew it. Lately it was getting pretty long and I knew I wanted a good trim but, I've only gone and ended up "bobbing it" again!

New season, new hair

I've gone for a tousled bob on my shoulders, below my shoulders when straight. I was inspired by Anna Saccone Joly's gorgeous blonde tousled jaw length bob but I didn't want it quite that short.

Anna Saccone Joly's tousled bob

Hopefully, now my hair is lighter, the curls will stay in longer. I think there's a little bit of blonde left at the bottom but I plan to have some put through the front to lighten the colour near my face.

I blasted my hair dry in just one ad break last night. Wanding it this morning took just as long as when it was long though, as it's difficult wanding the shorter underneath parts. I might need a bit of practise..

Do you change your hair as often as me? Every season?

Kitty x

Sunday, 28 September 2014

YSL gift set

Way back in the January sale, I picked up a little bargain! I think it cost me £21 or something wonderful like that. It is a YSL mini makeup bag with a full sized Touche Eclat, a full sized Volume Effect Mascara and a 15ml Forever Youth Liberator Serum. For me, I don't usually pick much up in the sales but this I couldn't resist. At the time I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it until I next needed a gift for a friend's birthday or use it myself. Most of my friend's birthdays seem to be in the latter half of the year and when I ran out of mascara and asked around for a recommendation, my friend Victoria recommended a YSL one which reminded me of the set I had gathering dust.

YSL Touche Eclat shade 1

I used to use Touche Eclat as a teenager and student (funny that now I'm working full time I don't stretch to such high end products!) and loved it. I was told at a No7 counter in Boots once that the exact prodcut was put in both their pen concealer as was put in the YSL once, scandalous! It is a highlighter so I believe I use it incorrectly as a concealer. I would recommend it to lighter the eye area, on your cupids bow, down the bridge of the nose and under the eyebrows.

YSL Volume Effect Mascara in Black

I love this mascara! It lengths my lashes and isn't sticky. By sticky I mean were my top and bottom lashes stick together with mascara and drive me mad! This mascara makes my lashes look long and defined. I really would recommend trying it!

YSL Youth Liberator Serum

I have no idea what to do with this, how much to use, how often nor when I am meant to use it! Have you tried it? Is it any use to a 27yr old?

If you fancied getting your hands on the set, you're in luck! As it happens, the set has been released again for this Christmas with a different, larger makeup bag but the same products. Mine was a real, end of January sale purchase but the newer version is currently 10% off which always helps.

YSL gift set

Kitty x

Friday, 26 September 2014

My expanding lipstick collection

I'm not much of a lip colour girl (yet!) but the more beauty vlogs I watch, the more interested I become. I have been picking up some lipsticks as I shop. Here are the 4 lipsticks I own.

From L-R we have my first ever red lipstick and my first ever Mac purchase, Mac Viva Glam Rihanna in Frost. This has had 1 outing. I don't like the shade on me and it feels pretty daring.

Next we have the first ever lipstick I bought, 17 Lasting Fix in Dreamy. I've worn this a handful of times both day and night. Again I don't like this colour on me.

Then there's the Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate 05 Rosetto which I bought last week. This so far has had 1 outing. It seems more wearable than the Mac.

Finally The Body Shop Colour Crush that I picked up on a 342 offer whilst killing time Wednesday evening. I wore this yesterday and it's pretty nude, I think I can cope with this one!

Top-bottom Mac, 17, Rimmel, The Body Shop

I don't have a clue what colour lipstick suits me. I don't really like the colours on me but this looks a good base variety to me. I guess a dark colour plum is all that's missing? It'll take me a while to get there I think though.

What do you think of my collection so far?

Any tips?

Kitty x