orange

h&m kimono, top and necklace // forever 21 bag // model's own beach party (chipped)  nails 

For my first fashion post, (please forgive the mirror shot) I wanted to share a trend I'm loving at the moment : orange. I went shopping in London last week and decided I really wanted something orange after seeing it everywhere in the shops. I picked up this casual top from H&M for £3.99, which I already own in black...orange is the new black hey? I love the bold colour, and decided to pair it with all black items to balance it out. This bag is also new and was £23 from Forever 21 - I love it, its the perfect size and goes with everything.

What trends have you been loving?

the british tag

photo // my instagram

After seeing the beautiful Sammi from beautycrush do this on Youtube, I loved the idea of it and thought it'd be fun to do!

1. How many cups of tea do you have a day? + How many sugars?
I normally have 2-4 cups a day depending on what I'm doing. I always have one with my breakfast, and more often than not in the evening too if I'm having a night in. I have 2 sweeteners with my tea, I tell myself they're the healthier option but having two kind of defeats the object...

2. Favourite part of your roast?
Yorkshire puddings are life.


3. Favourite dunking biscuit?
hmmmm so difficult! Think my two favourites are ginger biscuits or milk chocolate digestives...soooo yummy.


4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?
I live in Cambridge so my 'quintessentially Cambridge-ish' pastime is biking everywhere as the city is known for having so many bikes...believe me there are loads everywhere you go! British overall?...probably eating crumpets because I love them...and hot crossed buns.

5. Favourite word?
I love the word 'bloody' so much haha! Like 'I bloody love them' etc. makes me chuckle.


6. Cockney rhyme slang?
I don't use it, and only know the standard 'apples and pears'...


7. Favourite sweet/ chocolate?
I really like the 'Teeth and Lips' supermarkets sell under their own brand and have done since I was little..they're so nice! I also love milk bottles and the sherbet flying saucers.

8. What would your pub be called?
No clue...haha I have no pets or anything to name it after and just my name sounds abit crappy...


9. No.1 British person
I can't just choose one...
I have a huge amount of love for Ed Sheeran - so talented. Also Tom Fletcher from Mcfly is a brilliant man. I also love comedians like David Walliams - hilarious guy. And of course the Queen.... and Prince Harry


10. Favourite shop / restaurant?
My favourite shop is Forever 21, which is American I think haha! British wise, I really like H&M and Miss Selfridge, and Pull&Bear but I don't think that's british. My favourite food places are probably Nandos and Millie's Cookies...the cookie shakes are heavenly.


11. What British song pops into your head?
Something Spice Girls...'Spice Up Your Life' is a goodun. Ellie Goulding also popped into my head, seems very british.


12. Marmite?
Nooo, hate the stuff.

I tag anyone else to do this !

e.l.f. brush shampoo

nothing better than freshly-cleaned brushes!

A few weeks ago in my e.l.f. cosmetics haul, I included the e.l.f. brush shampoo as the only product I hadn't yet tried out.

I finally got round to using it, after putting off the chore of brush-cleaning, and thought I'd share my thoughts on it!

Face brushes: When cleaning dense face brushes (like the Real Technique's Expert Face Brush) I found it to be just as good as normal shampoo which I previously used. I always find it takes longer to clean this brish in particular and to get it completely white at the top of the brissles, so didn't really see a change from what I normally use. 

I found less-dense ones to be easier to clean (e.g. the Multi-Task briush from Real Technique's) and found the e.l.f. shampoo cleaned them deeper and slightly quicker too, but no massive improvement.

I own two e.l.f. face brushes and wanted to see how they cleaned with the brush cleaner from the same brand. The Complexion Brush is my favourite of the two and this cleaned just as well as what I've used before. The Powder Brush (bought at the same time as the shampoo) I mentioned shed a lot, and there was no change when cleaning it, yet after I found it shed less when using it...maybe all that cleaning got rid of the majority of loose brissles? 

Eye brushes: This is where I was really impressed with the product! So much faster. I cleaned my most used eye brushes: RT Base Shadow and Deluxe Crease and found they cleaned so much faster and deeper compared to my usual shampoo. The tips of the brissles became the whitest I've seen them since they were new. 

For the price, this is a good product and is definitely worth a try if you're looking to try a new brush cleaner.

making it work | an unloved lipstick

Quite a while ago, I picked up this Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in the shade 180 Vintage Pink. I'd wanted to try this range for so long, and was so excited to buy this. Only when I got home and tried it on I realised the shade did not suit me. Gutted. I gave it a few more goes but it just wasn't working and so it lived in a Muji drawer for a few months un-touched.

After discovering the world of combining lip-colours to make your own (post here on Hooked On Beauty! shameless plug) I brought out Vintage Pink and decided to experiment.

individual swatches// vintage pink above, rebel below

I chose to mix it with a dark purply/pink shade which I adore on it's own anyway, Mac's satin lipstick in Rebel. The end product is a flower-orchid, glossy purple which I never thought would suit me, but I actually really love it and think it's a shade which can be worn all year round!

What do you think? Any lip combos you've discovered?

topshop sale | jewellery finds

I've never been one to buy from Topshop very regularly, but as they were having a sale I decided to pop in and have a look. None of the clothes really took my fancy, but I did have a nose around the jewellery section and found these two necklaces which I loved.

I love how the designs are so simple and versatile and can definitely see myself wearing these all year round!

The best part? They cost me £2.50 each.

Any one found some bargains in the sales recently?

e.l.f. cosmetics haul

e.l.f. is a brand I've always wanted to order a lot of products from but never really got round to it. I have ordered before and was quite impressed but since then I'd added a lot to my wishlist. I finally ordered some products and thought I would show you what I bought!...

e.l.f. eyelid primer // I'd heard so many rave reviews about this eyelid primer and knew I had to try it! After using both this, and the Urban Decay Primer Potion, I can say this does the job exactly the same, just for a fraction of the price. I used it for the first time last week under my eyeshadow and it stayed put all day despite the humid weather.

e.l.f. high definition powder // I had initially wanted the HD undereye setting powder by e.l.f. as I'd previously owned it and absolutely loved it, but it wasn't on the website anymore so I opted for the bigger size, and figured it would do the same thing, as well being suitable for the whole face. I mostly use this to set under-eye concealer because it always creases on me, and it works amazingly.

e.l.f. powder brush // I was so excited to try this out, but my first few uses left me disappointed...after trying with powder and liquid foundation, it applied it well and evenly but the bristles were left on my face after a large section shed and completely came off the brush. I don't know if they're all like this as I've read a lot of rave reviews...maybe it's just mine? (sad face :()

e.l.f. studio eyebrow kit in light // you'll soon find out I'm obsessed with eyebrows and so I had to try the eyebrow kit out, and it hasn't disappointed! It comes with a gel and a powder and I find this is a good match for my brows, is long-lasting and easy to work with. 

e.l.f. studio glossy gloss in merry cherry // this was originally ordered for my mum, but it turned out to be a lot brighter than she expected so she gave it to me. I've never really been a lip-gloss person, but this is so lovely. The colour pay-off is great, it feels really moisturising and it isn;t sticky at all....I want to try more glosses now!

e.l.f. professional blending eye brush // this is a standard blending brush and works really well, and is really good value for money. Plus, this one didn't shed - yay!

e.l.f. contouring blush & bronzing powder in st. lucia // I was SO excited to try this, as I love contouring and am always on the hunt for new products. The bronzing powder is a really nice shade with a subtle shimmer, and despite not really being a blush-lover, this is a really gorgeous natural shade, and works well as a gentle highlight also. 

e.l.f. brush shampoo // the only product I am yet to try is the brush shampoo....because I'm lazy and brush cleaning is a chore...but I'll report back with my thoughts when I get round to using it haha!

So that was everything from my e.l.f. order, and overall I'm super impressed!

What are your favourite e.l.f. products? Let me know your recommendations for my next order!

the restock | essentials

You know when your luck when you run out of your basic beauty bits, all at the same time? yep, that happened to me last week and as I didn't buy the exact same products to replace my old ones, I thought I'd tell you what I picked up...

the liner pen | I'm one of those people who can't go without eyeliner, whether that's a sharp liquid line on the upper-lashline, or a khol pencil smudged to look subtle and smokey.I had been using the Rimmel Scandaleyes Micro Precise Liner before which had a tiny nib, and I took quite a long time to build up a line I was happy with. So I chose the Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner pen in black because the swatch I made on my hand seemed pretty decent and long-lasting, plus the nib was longer. 

the powder | I have been pretty loyal to the cult Rimmel Stay Matte powder over the past few months, but as I drastically hit pan on my last one, (and kinda because Maybelline had a 'buy one get one half price' offer on in Boots at the time...) I restocked with the Matte Maker, which I believe is a relatively new release. I did want a translucent powder, but I couldn't find one on the counter so went for 20 Nude Beige. I actually really like the finish of this and found it does the same job as Rimmel Stay Matte.

the concealer | Of the three, this concealer isn't a change from before. The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is all kinds of great for blemishes and dark-circles with a thick but blendable consistency. I managed to take a photo before all the words scraped off the packaging...it's one flaw. I got this in Warm Medium and I can see myself repurchasing again and again...

I'd love to know what your beauty essentials are!

the beginning | lauramaexo

Hello!

Welcome to my self-titled blog, which I thought I'd tell you (there probably isn't many of 'you' at this point haha...with time, with time!) a bit about...

My name is Laura, I am sixteen years old and live in the UK. I am heavily inspired by bloggers and after a year on a collab blog Hooked On Beauty, I've decided to set up a little space on the internet of my own. I'll still be posting on there occasionally, but this blog is my new project which will receive the most love! (posts from my friends will still be going up so definitely give it a follow!)

As this is all new, I thought I'd give you the run-down on me, and this new blog...

- I love all kinds of make-up and have a shameless growing collection...I blame the beauty community of blogs and youtube entirely haha!

- I also love fashion and style - anything mint green with lace is immediately grabbed, bought and worn...that also goes for floaty shirts and white converse.

-I post way too many pointless selfies and pictures on Instagram, (which you can follow here...sneaky plug)

-Commercial dance is one of my hobbies, and my real, deep-down ambition is to be a ballet dancer but I've accepted I'm definitely no-where-near graceful enough haha!

-I have a guilty pleasure for Mcfly and have been a fan since I was about eight...no shame

-I have a really sweet tooth...sugary sweets, berries and fizzy drinks are kind-of the best foods ever.

-I'm about to start my first year of college/sixth form to study Sociology, Geography, English Language and Photography...and hoping to go into a career of journalism in the beauty and fashion department...maybe...who knows?!

-I'm terrible at saving money...every pay-day I make a list of all the over-priced make-up items I want to buy, and tell myself I'll save next month...

So there were some random and probably un-necessary facts...if you're still with me I'm hoping you're interested in following me on this new project, where I'll be posting beauty, fashion and the occasional rambly post (kind of like this...), on a weekly basis.

Who's with me?
Watch this space...