Autumn 2013 wishlist!

I am so excited for autumn!  It's my second favourite season, closely behind Winter, and I absolutely love it. The thick jumpers, chunky boots, dark nails and lips, sunset tones and scented candles really make me happy. I love Summer too but I am not a big fan of hot weather (haha I'm strange) and I just adore the weather in Winter and Autumn. I love sitting around the bonfire, eating toffee apples and snuggling up in a blanket. I like it when the weather is cold because the house feels so cosy with the heating and log burner on. And firework and bonfire night are my favourite nights...eveeerrr!

 These are a few items I have my eyes on for the autumn season- if I could get all these things I definitely would! I am so in love with the wedges and the parka coat. I think the wedges would look so amazing with the fox jumper, the orange nail polish and the cream cardigan! I am definitely going to be purchasing that fox onesie, it looks so cosy and I could imagine sipping a caramel hot chocolate in front of the fire whilst wearing this gorgeous print. (In case you can't tell, I have a massive love of foxes when it comes to fashion) I want all of it! I'm so excited :D What is your favourite item?

What are your favourite things about Autumn/fall?

Lots of love,
Emma-Kate
xxx

Essie Alligator Purse// New look fox lightweight knit// Topshop Cream cardigan//Fox print socks//Jack Wills dress//Onesie//Essie bahama mama//Parka//New look wedges//

Balance me pure skin face wash review | Handpicked Beauty

Hey everyone,

Recently I have been using a new cleanser, and I am absolutely crazily in love with it! It's the Balance me pure skin face wash for normal to combination skin, which retails for £11 (50 ml version). There are other sizes for a higher price, but I actually think it is great value for money as you only need a tiny amount to cleanse your entire face.

I actually got this in Cosmopolitan magaizne a few months ago because I saw this in it and I really wanted to try it! I didn't even read the magazine, but  it was only a few pounds and as this cleanser is worth £11 I thought it was a bargain, regardless of whether I read the magazine or not (my mum did in the end). I've been using it for a few months because I wanted to make sure I really tested it and loved it before I reviewed it, and I definitely, absolutely do!

The first thing I love about this product is the naturalness. The ingredients used are sulphate and petroleum free and full of natural goodness and essential oils, such as ylang ylang. It's also packed with antioxidants. It doesn't strip away your natural moisture levels and just keeps the skin balanced and healthy. I have combination skin and this cleared up my breakouts after only a few uses. I also think this would be great if you have dry skin too, as I personally think it would work for all skin types. I get quite dry skin sometimes and this keeps everything balanced-not too dry, not too oily.

The packaging is really cute and easy to use. You just squeeze the tube to get the product out, and it's really functional as not too much comes out. A downside is that you can't see how much product you have left, which I find quite annoying.

I tend to use a tiny drop, and I run a bit of warm water over it to form a lather. I then just massage it over my entire face, starting with the eyes and then moving onto my cheeks, chin, nose and forehead. It doesn't sting at all, and I love the way the eyemakeup just melts away! At first I thought it would sting my eyes but it honestly doesn't affect them at all. I thoroughly massage it in to every nook and cranny of my face for about 2 minutes to make sure absolutely all the makeup is off, and then rinse with warm water and pat dry with a towel. It's so quick and easy to use, so is perfect for when you have lots of makeup on but can't be bothered to spend ages scrubbing it off. It feels so smooth and luxurious! I follow up with an exfoliator, the Simple toner and the Simple Kind to skin hyrdrating light moisturiser.

As I only use a tiny amount, I think this will last me a really long time. Like I said, I've been using it since July and the tube still seems quite full.

It has a really calming scent so I loveeee using it before bed. It says it has a frankincense, ylang ylang and grapefruit scent but I can't really smell the individual scents, to me it just smells really calming and luxurious. It's quite strong so not everyone will like it but after you've washed it off the smell goes completely so it's not a huge deal in my opinion.


Overall, this product ticks every box of for me: scent, packaging and how well it works. I would give it a 10/10 and I will definitely be repurchasing it, as it has become a holy grail cleanser for me. I haven't wanted to use any of my other cleansers for ages now, including my Liz Earle Hot cloth cleanser.

Have you tried any of the Balance me products? After this, I am incredibly eager to try some more of their products!

Lots of love,
Emma-Kate
xxx

What's in my school bag?

So as I am unfortunately going back to school on wednesday I thought it would be fun to show what I take in my school bag on a day to day basis! I haven't included school books because obviously I haven't got them yet.

For some super super annoying reason Blogger won't let me link my video here, so I will just leave the web address! Would mean so much if you guys watched it <3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc2OSEzEth0

Super cute plasters I take to school

Notebook,vaseline and gum! :D

My 'emergency bag'; blotting tissues, bobbles, handcream etc :D

I really hope  you like the video! I'm sorry the quality is bad, I really don't know why that is, but hopefully I should be getting a new camera soon! Has anyone got any suggestions to good cameras I could get? Thanks so much for watching :) And please leave nay requests below :) xxx


Lots of love,
Emma-Kate
xxx

MUA 'Undress your skin' foundation review.

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago I bought the new MUA undress your skin illuminating foundation from Superdrug for £5.  It's really cheap and I watched Miss Budget Beauty's video about it and she was really impressed with it, so I thought I'd give it a try! I don't usually buy foundation because it's hard for me to find a shade pale enough, and I don't really like wearing it as it's not completely necessary for me personally. But I thought for £5 this one was worth a try.

Firstly, the colour is really good for my skin tone. I got the palest shade; and it isn't orange at all. It looks exactly like my own skin. When it's applied, it isn't noticeable at all because it blends in immediately and isn't cakey whatsoever. For such a cheap foundation, I was expecting it to be quite cakey and nasty but I actually prefer this to every other foundation I have because the quality is so so good.


The packaging looks quite cheap unfortunately, but I can live with this, as it fits easily into my makeup bag and unlike some bottles, you don't have to worry about it leaking or breaking. The product squeezes out of a little hole at the end which isn't a brilliant way of getting the foundation out, but it's not awful.  I find that either a tiny bit comes out, or absolutely loads, so that can be pretty annoying, but it does the job.

The foundation is a light to medium coverage in my opinion, as it covers up small imperfections really nicely, but doesn't fully  mask them, so your natural skin can still show through. I think it's such a nice coverage as it isn't thick at all and you can barely tell it's on the skin. On the other hand, it is buildable if you want more coverage and I wouldn't describe it as sheer or light.






It claims to be an 'illuminating foundation' which springs negative connotations to my mind, such as 'full of glitter', 'really sparkly' and 'fake'. Although it does revive and wake up your complexion, I've never seen any glittery particles or anything, so don't be put off by that! It is brightening, but it isn't fake looking or princess-esque.

Overall, I am so impressed with this foundation as it's so affordable and so amazing. I would definitely recommend this to everyone! Also a big thank you to Miss Budget Beauty as I probably wouldn't have even considered getting this if it wasn't for her amazing review. I think MUA are bringing out some amazing products lately: their lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes and eyeliners are all great too, and so affordable. Have you tried anything from MUA?


Lots of love,
Emma-Kate
xxx

Update.

Hey everyone,
So this is just going to be a little update on some things I have been up to recently! I haven't blogged for a while because of the hectic start my summer has had, so I htought it would make sense to share a few adventures I've been on...
I broke up from school about a month ago (yaaaay)! I'm so happy because I worked really hard this year in all my exams and I found it quite stressful, so it's amazing to have some time off to see friends and family, and generally have lots of fun. I am positive baout going back to school, and I am going to try to be soo organised (go to bed early, eat healthily, do all my homework straight away etc).

Me and my two best friends (Tom and Lydia) on camp

Me and Lydia

Lydia 5 STRAND BRAIDED my hair! :O :D

I went on a Christian summer camp for a week, one which I've been on since I was 10. As always, it was such an incredible week as I got to see my best friends who I barely ever see as they all live in Wales, and also I was so encouraged in my faith as a Christian. My best friend Lydia who I met on camp when I was 10, means so much to me and I tell her everything, but as we hardly ever see each other spending a whole week being stupid together was so fun. It's been a huge highlight of my year so far, and I already miss it so much! I hate saying goodbyes to everyone, knowing I won't see them for at least several months, and it was pretty embarrassing crying in front of everyone (Wish I wasn't so emotional haha). I met so many new people who by the end of the week I'd become so close to I could actually call them best friends! Weird situation :p
So I had so much fun on camp, going on trips, staying in a dorm with all my best friends, learning about God and having spontaneous heart to hearts with people I've known for a matter of days.

Me and my siblings in Mexico!

I went to Mexico for two weeks!! I think I mentioned I was going, but I decided against doing lots of 'how I packed my makeup bag' type posts because a. I was unsure about everyone knowing where I was and that I was away from home, for obvious reasons. b. I didn't want to keep going on about going on about it, because it's not that interesting to other people who didn't go. Anyway, I had such an incredible time there!

Starbucks in playa del carmen! ahhh

So I got back today and I am really jetlagged. I have been awake for 24 hours because of weird time differences and 10 hour flights and complicated problems, ao I am so tired and I feel like it's the middle of the night, yet in England it's 10AM. I feel completely put off flying now! The aeroplane was nasty to say the least, and I wouldn't want to go on a 10 hour flight ever again. Sat in a tight seat next to one brother who screams if I 'nudge' him and another brother who bounces around for 10 hours and won't let me sleep, was a very...unique experience. Everyone had their own mini TV where they were showing films, but nothing really attracted me. It was cool as I saw two sunsets in one day...in Mexico and in England! When we put our suitcases on the conveyor belt, all of our luggage was a LOT over the allocated weight per person. We got into quite a problem, as my dad has a separate bag for all of his scuba diving equipment which was 10 Kilos over, and he was saying 'MY BCD ISN"T EVEN 10 KILOS! HOW CAN I FIT TO 10?' Pretty comical really, until they demanded we hand over all of our electronic devices for them to weigh...Mexican airports are definitely interesting!

Incredible Mexican sunset!

The beaches are so golden and soft and the sea is a turquoise jewel stretching out into the pastel horizon; it's so idyllic. By far the prettiest place I've ever travelled to! I tried to take as many photos as I could.

The beautiful ocean

Me, my mum and my sister <3

Mexico is such a beautiful place. We stayed right on the coast about an hour away from Cancun, in such a stunning resort! The weather was sooo hot and humid so my hair wasn't amazingly cooperative but it was worth it. I went in the pool and sea basically every single day, so now I'm in a bad routine of washing my hair every single day. I got so sunburnt there despite wearing factor 50 all over! And I am covered in mosquito bites, but I had injections to go so I will be fine.

Boring plane journey

Sipping a tropical 'mocktail' by the pool

We went on a lot of trips, the most exciting being swimming with sharks. Literally, they weren't caged or anything, I was just wearing a bikini and a snorkel and I swam right next to them! I was terrified but I'm so glad I did it in the end, as 'swimming with sharks' seems quite a cool claim to fame. And mexico is one of the only places in the world you can do it, and it's only in the months July and August! We also went to an ecological waterpark and to see the ancient Mayan temples, which was really interesting although the intense heat is my excuse for not listening much. Although when the tour guide came right in my face and said 'Hasta la vista, baby!' I was pretty shocked ;P

Reading 'looking for Alaska' by the sea 

So what has everyone been up to recently? I am going camping but apart from that I'm home now. I loved all the business, but I'm glad to be in my own room, especially as I'm in the process of decorating it!

Lots of love,

Emma-Kate 

xxx

July favourites 2013

Hey everyone,
So I haven't done a favourites video since May...oops! I just haven't been loving many nw products, and I was waiting to find new products to use and enjoy. Hope you like the video!
Emma-Kate xxx

Boots, Superdrug, Accessorize and more haul!

Hey everyone, 

So I am going on holiday soon and I went on a shopping trip yesetrday to pick up the last few pieces I need! 

So the first shop I went in was Superdrug, and I bought the new MUA illuminating foundation, an MUA lipstick and a miss sporty mini-me eyeliner in an emerald green shade. I think this will make my brown eyes stand out really well and I think it is such a bright, lovely shade for summer! 

The next shop I went to was Boots. I spent over an hour in there as I am so indecisive! 

I was in there for so long, I was handed 2 samples if a neutrogena exfoliator by the same woman! I can't wait to try these, and they will be so useful for travelling.  I also picked up a new collection lasting perfection concealer, because my other one dried up. It lasted 4 months so I think that's pretty great!           

I also bought 2 of the L'oreal Matt and Messy shine free salt sprays, one for me and one fo rmy sister. I have been looking for a decent salt spray for ages, which isn't going to cost me loads, so I can't wait to see if this is good.

Also from Boots, I bought the Models Own colour lip-stix in 'Coral Kiss'. It is the most gorgeous shade EVER, and I am so so excited to use this! I will definitely be posting a review soon.

Lastly from Boots, I bought the L'oreal Micellar solution and the collection extreme 24 hour felt tip liner. I think the cleanser is like Bioderma and I am loving it so far!

From Debenhams, I picked up the Burts Bees lip balm and the Granier Ambre Solaire sun cream in SPF50.

I also went to WH Smith to get some books for my holiday. I bought the Great Gatsby, the fault in our stars and looking for Alaska. The John Green books are absolutely amazing so I had to buy some more. I read the fault in our stars the day I went shopping and finished it; I couldn't put it down! Such an incredible book, although I was bawling my eyes out for a long time after I'd finished it.

I bought a magazine in there too, just to get this Balance Me face wash! :P The magazine was only £2 and I really wanted to get this cleanser.

Lastly, I went to one of my all time favourite shops; Accessorize! I picked up a pretty bikini, some gorgeous flipflops and some sunglasses. I am actually allergic to flipflops (or the material they're made of) and my skin gets red, irritated and inflamed. Also, they cut my feet and sea salt goes into the cut and it really really hurts! However, I don't have much else to wear on the beach so I've decided to give them another try, and I'm wearing them around my room to break them in.

Hope you liked this post everyone! My july favourites are going up soon :)
Lots of love,
Emma-Kate
xxx