Top 5 Budget Beauty Must Haves

I love trying new beauty products, but I find myself coming back to the same gems time and time again and this top five regularly make it onto my face each day. So I thought I'd share the products I deem my favourites after trying numerous other beauty products and keeping Boots in business! You can thank me later for doing the leg work!

Collection - Lasting Perfection Concealer

This is the best concealer on the market in my opinion at hiding dark circles, now don't go trying to hide spots with this bad boy as its no good on oily skin but bags be gone on a morning with this! Its under five pounds, lasts all day and in shade 1 is brighting under the eye for that Kim K contoured look.

Maybelline - Lash Sensational Mascara

I am constantly looking for the holy grail of mascaras that will turn my short sparse eyelashes into bat worthy bombshell lashes, you can read my journey on loosing my lashes here that started the hunt. My current favourite for only £7.99 is Lash Sensational that makes lashes appear longer and thicker and can be built up with each coat.

Rimmel - Exaggerate Liquid Liner

This liner does. not. move. I put it on first thing and its still in place last thing at night. Its amazing for creating winged looks with its precision tip and its lasts ages without drying out for only £5.29 a true bargain and make up bag staple in my eyes.

Seventeen Skin Wow Highlighter and Primer 

Now that contouring is out and strobing is in, finding the perfect highlighter is key. I love Benefits High Beam but at nearly £20 Seventeens Skin Wow is a cheaper alternative for under £6 and it can be worn in so many ways. It acts as a primer if used all over the face before foundation, it can be mixed with foundation for a louminious dewy look or can be used on top of foundation to highlight cheek bones.  

Revlon ColourBurst Lacquer Balm

Finally this is my go to lip colour and one that I get so many compliments on when I wear and have converted many a friend to wearing. Similar to Clinique's chubby stick but again for £12 cheaper. The composition is creamy and moisturising on the lip and the colour is long lasting and can be built up. The shade I wear Demure is a soft pink that works for everyday or compliments a smoky eye on a night out.

Let me know your must have items - I'm always looking for an excuse to add to my beauty collection!

Primark Haul - October 2015

I swear I completely meant to just pop back into Primark to take a few bits back from my previous haul when these beauties appeared in my basket and I was handing over my card before I knew what was happening....oops! 

Can you really blame me! Look at pretty lace detailing for only £10! I'm loving a high neck at the moment. 

Next this beauty appeared in my basket, I'm thinking skinny jeans, knee high boots (which I'm still on the hunt for the perfect pair) and a fedora. 

My favourite outfit find was this beauty! I've been looking for a pinafore dress for a while on that doesn't make me look like I'm dressed for the first day of school. When I stumbled across this one laying forlorn by itself dumped by another shopper and in my size, I fell in love! I chucked a grey turtle neck to pair it with into my basket as well.

A few pairs of earrings made there way into the basket, elastic bands - I bought these mostly for the clear bands as the amount of youtube hair tutorials that call for these and black hair ties just won't do!  Finally the Frozen nails stickers won't be adorned on my hands anytime soon believe it or not but are to be added to the presents for my niece who turns 6 this month.

Let me know your favourite Primark buys this month - I really need to find a Primark with a good home section theres loads I want that never seem to make it into my local.

The Wedding Diaries: The Gifts, Favours and Last minute dramas!

Photographs from Perfect Circle Photography, apart from product photos from each website - sorry we didn't have photos taken of all the gifts!

I think the gifts are one of the hardest parts of the wedding to get, our parents were so generous with helping us with the wedding, our friends were so generous with their time that I wanted to find the perfect presents to show our thanks for all their effort in helping us plan for the wedding and throwing us both great Hen and Stag do's! Luckily we planned our wedding over two and a half years, so you know... we had time!

Bridesmaids

For my beautiful bridesmaids & my momma I bought these gorgeous floral kimonos, purple for the girlies and then treated myself to a white one. Two years of Pinning meant I had to get these so we could look photo ready at any opportunity on the morning and whenever they wore them the girls would be reminded of getting ready on that day. We all stayed in the same hotel the night before the wedding so I placed the kimono hung in their room along with a hand written note to surprise them when they checked in.

On the morning of the wedding I bought each of the a rose gold "knotted" ring to say thanks for helping us tie the knot, get it.... never mind. I also got each of them a brooch to wear on their dresses to tie the look altogether.

The Groomsmen

The boys - Bretts besties from school and uni and god can these boys drink! So we figured a personalised hip flask filled with their favourite tipple would be a present they would actually want. Needless to say they didn't stay filled for long.

Flower Girls & Page Boy

For the little un's I figured any sentimental presents were aimed more at their parents and they'd prefer more sweet based gifts! So I did the best of both worlds. Each of them got a personalised log slice with their name, the date and a thank you message from us to keep. I then made goody bags up for each of them containing Thornton's chocolate shapes iced with their name on, disney princess toys for the girls and marvels avengers for our page boy along with a wedding themed colouring and puzzle book and pens. These were placed on their chair at the reception and did an amazing job of keeping them all entertained when the grown ups were being "boring".

The Mums

For my mum along with her Kimono I bought her a Jo Malone candle in the same scent I wore on the day and had a special messaged engraved on the lid. Safe to say it went down a treat and numerous tears (happy ones) were spilt when she read it.

Similar tears appeared when we gave his mum a necklace engraved with our initials, the wedding date and the message "Thanks for raising the man of our dreams".

The Dads

My dad is one of the most difficult men to buy for! He has everything and never wants anything; he is however a traditionalist who still carries round a handkerchief in his pocket! So I commissioned a customised handkerchief with the message "Dad, Thank you for walking by my side today and always. You are the first man I ever loved, and I will always be your little girl Love, Ellen". 
His dad is never out of a suit, so we figured he would get a lot of use out of cufflinks engraved with his initials on so he's truly suited and booted.

Each Other 

Organising Brett's present was probably as stressful as organising the whole wedding! The boy is car mad and has always dreamt of driving an Aston Martin my budget didn't stretch quite as far putting one in the garage permanently. I did however rent one for the day which he drove with a huge smile on this face making the stress totally worth it.

Brett surpassed himself with my gifts not only did I get to open a little turquoise box on my wedding day (every girls dream) to see the most beautiful necklace, he also got me a kindle for our honeymoon filled with books as he knows how I get through a book a day on average on holiday!

The Favours

Here in lies the drama, we originally ordered cake pops as the favours, mini brides for all female guests and mini grooms for all male guests. We saw the idea right at the beginning of our planning period and had them ordered for ages to arrive 2 days before the wedding. The problem being when they did, the courier decided to ignore the fragile sticker and they arrived looking like they had been stood on by a herd of elephants. The woman we ordered them from was on holiday meaning that they couldn't be re-made. Que mad panic looking for an alternative - we ended up ordering 100 plain vanilla cupcakes from Sainbury's of all places and decorating them ourselves with rice paper moustaches or bow ties for the men and edible glitter and pearls for the women. Theres always some drama!

The last of the wedding series will be focusing on the entertainment, decor and those extra special touches, stay tuned!

Thoughtful Thursday #3

 Some days it’s a victory in itself you made it through the day, never mind the week and you know what? 

Go you! 

Celebrate that fact, if a friend was upset you wouldn't compound that by being negative you'd show him/her the positives so why wouldn't you do that for yourself? Be your own friend and celebrate every tiny victory.

Life shouldn’t be measured by huge milestones but by moments, when you laughed so hard your stomach hurt, when you wanted to give yourself a high five for nailing that work presentation, for that mini fist pump when the week is over and the weekend is here. Each one is worth celebrating whether it be with a hard earned glass of wine or a secret smile knowing you have the strength to get through tomorrow as well.

Enjoy the tiny victories and if it is with a glass of wine, pour one for me as well!

Only a short one today but as ever my Pinterest board Preach will provide you with more uplifting quotes here