Oh my poor, neglected blog how I've missed you! I'm ashamed to say I haven't posted anything in over a month, but I have just been so busy with work.
I have been getting to write more at work, which makes me so happy, but it just means when I finally get home there's not much time for anything else but showering and bed.
I have missed blogging and raving about my latest lipstick obsession, so I am going to really try and get back on it this month.
I thought I would ease myself back in with a favourites posts because these are my favourite to write.
Ciate Olivia Palermo "Sundays"
I am officially old, I know that because I now like boring nude nail colours. Those pale pink, natural shades, which young me would have scoffed at in favour of a bright neon. Instead of fighting it, I'm embracing my sophisticated (aka boring) side and this new colour by Ciate has been my favourite this past month.
The Olivia Palermo collection consists of three basic colours, a red, coral and nude. "Sundays is Olivia's off duty nude and its a pretty sheer pink, which makes your nails look healthy and polished.
As much as I love this colour, at £17.00 this isn't cheap and its definitely not a unique colour. Nice to have but not an essential.
NUDESTIX Magnetic Eye Colour Pencil in "Angel"
My name is Laura and I have a cream eyeshadow pencil addiction, there I said it. I just can't help myself, they are so much easier and quicker than powder shadows, just colour your entire eyelid in and blend the edges. "Angel" is the perfect Victoria's Secret Angel colour, that shimmery highlighted peach, which makes your eyes look much more awake than they actually are.
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in "Redhead"
Before I start, let me apologise because this was limited edition and is no longer available, but if you own it and have it lying in a drawer somewhere, dig it out!
I have already mentioned it so you might be able to tell, but I have been a bit obsessed with that whole Victoria's Secret bronzed and glowing makeup look this month.
Redhead is just the prettiest pinky/peach highlight which gives the most beautiful warm glow to your face. If I could melt this down and pour it over my whole body I would!
Look Good Feel Better Blush Brush and Angled Contour Brush
I reviewed these brushes for work and loved them so much they made it into my everyday makeup bag. Look Good Feel Better is a cancer support charity, helping women with the visible side effects of cancer treatment. My Mum had breast cancer last year, so this is something quite close to my heart. When she lost her hair she paid for the most amazing wig and I would pencil in her eyebrows and use eyeshadow to make it look like she still had eyelashes. Little tips and tricks like these might seem like nothing but they make a big difference to people's confidence.
These brushes are so, so soft, trust me I wouldn't use them if they were scratchy and because they are synthetic they blend cream products beautifully. I have been using the angled contour brush to apply my foundation and the blush brush to apply my cream bronzer.
If you are in the market for some new makeup brushes, I highly recommend checking these out.
Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster for Body
I am not a fake tanner, ain't nobody got time for that. But I do want to look like I've just stepped off a beach 24/7 ala Jennifer Aniston.
Bridget, the Digital Beauty Editor at Cosmo was raving about these drops and I didn't even realise she fake tanned, so when I spotted these in the beauty sale at work, I grabbed them.
These drops are a revelation, you just mix a few in with whatever body moisturiser you are using and slap on. There is zero fake tan smell, the results are very subtle but buildable and it just leaves your skin looking a lot healthier (goodbye corned beef arms).
I am addicted.
Bobbi Brown Beach Perfume
There is a recurring theme here, not only do I want to look like I've just stepped off a beach, I want to smell like I have as well. This would all be much easier if I lived in California, but I live in Croydon so we gotta improvise.
Bobbi Brown Almost Bare is my signature scent, yes, I have a signature scent ;) but Beach is my signature summer scent. As someone said, this smells like suncream. Suncream and the beach, I sit at my desk smelling like a Thomas Cook package holiday and I bloody love it.
Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in "Liar"
Believe it or not, this is my first Urban Decay lipstick and I can tell you now it won't be my last. This tiny nub is all I have left off this baby, I have gone through the entire bullet in just over a month!
"Liar" is the perfect MLBB colour, and if you don't know what MLBB is we can't be friends (My lips but better). Its glossy but not in a, OMG my hair is stuck to my lips way, more in a my lips look so naturally full and plump way.
MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation
I used to hate this foundation and when I say hate, I really mean it. I tried it once and it looked so awful on me that I never used it again. I tried to sell it on eBay but the person who bought it never paid and I was so disgusted by it that I refused to let it sit with my other foundations and instead kept it in a drawer in the spare room.
What changed my mind? Well my friend was doing a photoshoot for Cosmo and I came down to see her and her makeup looked amazing. Of course being the makeup obsessed freak that I am, I asked the artist what she used and there it was, my arch nemesis Studio Sculpt. So I begrudgingly tried it again and you know what, I love it.
Studio Sculpt has a medium to high coverage and because its a gel formula, it leaves the skin looking very dewy. If you have oily skin, avoid this like the plague because it will just sit on top of your skin, but if you have normal to dry skin this will give you a real luminous glow.
Charlotte Tilbury Beach Stick in "Formentera"
Yes, another beach related item but this is an essential part of my "this isn't makeup, I just stepped off the beach" look.
I love how creamy these beach sticks are, they blend really easy but most importantly they don't disrupt your foundation. I can buff this into my cheeks and my foundation doesn't budge. But what I love most about this is the colour. This reddy brown gives the perfect sun kissed look, as the red tinge is a much more natural tan colour than orange. You can pretty much guarantee this will be on my cheeks, and temples for the rest of the summer.
Wild
Deep down, underneath the 106 lipsticks I like to think I'm a bit of a hippy and love anything which involves anyone "finding themselves."
Wild is based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed, who walked the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Washington alone, over 94 days.
One of the things I loved about the film was that Cheryl didn't just do the walk because of her recent break up, she did the walk for herself, to find herself again. If you identify with that feeling of losing your way in life, then I would really recommend giving this a watch.
As I'm feeling in the mood to tap away on my keyboard, I thought I would include some of my favourite experiences this past month, because you know its not all about material things.
We celebrated my friend Chloe's birthday in Earlham Street Clubhouse in Covent Garden, with giant pizzas and red cups. A Yankophiles wet dream! Just take a look at their menu and tell me you're not drooling.
Happy Birthday Cain :)
Can we just talk about Chris Pratt in Jurassic World. OMFG its like the man was built from my dreams and I can say this with no shame at all, I loved the film. Yes there are plot holes galore, but the nostalgia, oh the nostalgia. Hearing that music again, I haven't been that excited in the cinema for a long time.
We said goodbye to my little brother who is football coaching in New Jersey for 6 months, living my dream life.
And saving the best till last, I went to the Magic Mike XXL Premier and it was fucking epic.
Having loved Joe Manganiello since his True Blood days, I cannot tell you what a boner it gave me to see him in the flesh.
In case you were in any doubt, the film has no plot line, its probably equally degrading to men and women alike but I fucking loved every minute. In that 1 hour and 55 minutes I got more sex than I'll probably get all year and I am happy about that.
Jada! All I could think about was her character in Scream 2.
The Cheeto sex god himself
Amber Heard giving me some serious hair envy
And before you think that I live this charmed life comprised of Channing Tatum feeding me pizza, I thought I should let you know that this month I also drove my car into a wall, cracked my laptop screen, shut my finger in a drawer and sweated A LOT in the heat wave.
Because social media doesn't tell the whole story ;)
