Cheap and cheerful make up storage

Hi everyone. I don't own as much make up as a lot of the blogger world, but I thought I would share how I store my make up regardless. These black storage boxes with clear drawers are from poundland. They have two drawers each in them and I find them really convenient to store my make up in. They are perfect size to fit everything in and make it really easy to find what I want when I need it. In these drawers I keep concealers, eyeliners, mascaras, powders, bronzers, blushers, single eyeshadows and lipbalms. The chest in the top left hand corner was a gift from Martin for my 22nd birthday. It's a really cute, vintage box which I keep all my lipsticks in. Next to that are a few palettes that I own. I also keep my foundations on the top of the drawers, as well as a few false eyelashes and kabuki brushes.

How do you store your make up? Please leave your link in the comments. Thank you for reading 

Niki 

A package from the USA!!

Just a few months ago I began speaking to a girl called Jessica on twitter from America. She seemed lovely and it wasn't long before we started making plans to do a swap. If you've never seen or heard of this, you basically swap products with someone else (preferably from a different country), in order to try out new things. We decided to swap beauty products that were only available in our country, meaning that both of us would be able to try  new products we might never have otherwise tried. If you'd like to see what I bought for Jess, please go and check out her video on the swap here!!

I have never been to America before, nor have I spoken to an American or owned anything American before this experience so on the day my package arrived I was so excited!! So here we go, here are the things Jess bought me...

The New York Post!! I really wanted to read a newspaper and see some everyday things from America so I asked Jess to get me this

A lovely letter from Jessica!!

A mint green bag

A menu from one of Jessica's favourite places to eat! It's so strange to see the prices in dollars

An American flag decoration

Some little fluffy ballet slippers

Two mainstays candles in Island luau (dark pink) and Sweet pea (light pink)

Crabtree and Evelyn citron honey and coriander cleansing shampoo, replenishing conditioner and skin quenching body lotion

Peace, love and juicy couture body lotion 

Oscar Blandi pronto invisible volumising dry shampoo spray

Wet n wild wild shine nail colour in lavender (pink) and blazed (orange)

Sinful colors professional in love nails (blue) and innocent (yellow) 

Jurlique rosewater balancing mist

Jurlique moisture replenishing day cream 

Eos lip balm 

Strawberry lip smacker lip balm

Wet n wild trio palette from eyelid, crease and browbone in sweet as candy

Wet n wild blusher in heather silk

Bonne bell eyeshadow box in girlie pinks

NYX Xtreme lip cream in natural (beige) and candyland (pink) 

Two one n' only argan oil samples 

Wet n wild lipstick in 511B

NYX jumbo eye pencil in lime 

NYX pin-up tease mascara 

I am so happy with everything that I got and I will definitely be following this up with mini reviews on all of these products to let you know how I get on with them. I want to thank Jess, who is such a lovely person, for taking the time to get to know me and picking things you knew I'd love. I hope we keep chatting our days away and you've become a good, other side of the world friend! 

Check out Jessica's blog, Youtube channel and follow her on twitter @iloveny91

Thanks for reading

Niki xx

Poundland beauty buys

Whilst shopping in my local town last weekend, I went into poundland after reading AThirftyMrs' blog about the things she had found in one. This is what I picked up

Sally Hansen diamond strength no chip nail colour in rose amore

Revlon nail enamel in smoky canvas 

Mabelline express finish 50 second nail colour in iced mauve 

Sally Hansen hard as nails in pink sapphire

Rimmel SPF15 moisture renew cream lipgloss

Sally Hansen colour comfort lip colour in sunburst

NYC waterproof mascara in jet black

Miss Sporty studio lash black matrix eye opening lash sculpting mascara in carbon black

Rimmel colour rush eyeshadow in moonstone

Have you found any one pound bargains in these shops lately? 

Niki xx

You can still check out my blog sale here and enter my giveaway here!!

A little MUA splurge

The Saturday just gone was a chance to meet an old friend for lunch, coffees and shopping. Whilst there, I nipped into Superdrug and picked up a few goodies from the MUA stand. I love MUA products as they are so affordable, and great dupes for some of the higher end brands, with really pigmented eyeshadows and long lasting liners to name a few. What's more, for only  £14 for such a big selection of products, how can you go wrong? 

Pearl eyeshadow in shade 1

Pearl eyeshadow in shade 2

Lipstick in shade 7

Pressed powder in shade 1

Mascara in shade 5

Lip gloss in shade 5

Eye pencil in snow white 

Eye pencil in  royal blue 

Eye pencil in jet black 

Eye pencil in rich brown 

Heaven and earth palette

I absolutely adore MUA and I can't wait to try these products!

What's your favourite MUA product? 

Niki xx

Click here to find some cheap MUA products in my blog sale!!

I also have a giveaway here!!

June empties

This is the first time I have done a empties post, but I've noticed that a lot of the bloggers do it and it seems a lot of people like to read them, so I've jumped on the bandwagon and done one too! These are the products that I have used up this month;

Garnier mineral deodorant

This deodorant claims that it won't leave any white marks. Don't believe it! This came out of the spray can like talcum powder no matter how much I shook it. I don't know whether I just bought one from a bad batch, but it's just not doing what it says on the tin. The plus side is that it has a nice smell, but I wouldn't buy it again. 

John Frieda frizz ease spray gel

I naturally have quite frizzy, curly hair so I really need products that can tame it. This is a great hair spray for those days when I just want to get out of the house, without spending a lifetime on my hair, but still look presentable. It really controlled the frizz, meaning I could have my natural curls, without looking like I'd been dragged through a hedge. I think I would buy this again as it's a really handy and useful product to have. 

V05 Emergency rescue elixir

This is a one minute nourishing treatment conditioner, which I have been using after shampoo and conditioner, to give an extra softness to my hair. I have been focusing on the ends of my hair with this product, as they are the most dry and most in need of repair and moisture. I've loved using this and I feel it has definitely made a difference to my hair. It literally only needs to stay on for one minute to make your hair feel soft and look shiny and from now on, it's on the top of my shopping list! 

Garnier simple essentials soothing cleansing lotion

I've used my Simple kind to skin cleanser and toner everyday for months, but with some cleansers and toners being in the half price sale at a supermarket, I thought I better give some others a try. This actually reminds me of the Simple range, as it is for sensitive skin, it has no perfume, alcohol or colourants and it was really gentle and soothing to use. Afterwards, my skin felt soft and cool, as though I had already moisturised. From now on, this is at the top of my list alongside the Simple range and I will definitely buy this again. 

Boots firm hold mousse

Again, I get this product for the days I don't want to straighten and style my hair, and I just want a natural look. When my hair is almost dry, I just scrunch this into it from the roots to the ends and leave it to dry naturally. It always keeps the curls in place and stops my hair from going frizzy. I have been repurchasing this for a while now and I will continue to as it is really affordable and does a good job. 

Collection 2000 fat lash super size mascara

This is my favourite mascara to date, I just love the way it makes my eyes look. I have quite long eyelashes anyway, and this mascara just helps to emphasise them and open up my eyes. I'll be buying this again and again and it is a must have in my make up bag. 

I hope you enjoyed my first empties post, let me know what you thought. Please link yours in the comments so I can go and have a read.

Niki xx

Six days on...

Six days ago, I wrote a post on the Bad Gal lash mascara that I received free from this month's Glamour magazine. I thought that I would now do a follow up post and review how this mascara has been working for me, as I have been using it on a day to day basis. 

I have been using this as part of my everyday make-up routine and I am really impressed. Once I have curled my lashes, I only need one coat of this and my eyelashes are so long and thick, giving me a wide, 'doll eye' look. No matter how many times I reapply throughout the day, I have also found that this mascara doesn't clump on my lashes, nor does it crumble off. 

I will definitely be buying this and I am happy I got the opportunity to try it, and look forward to more magazine products I have not yet tried, in the future, to introduce me to new things that are out there. 

How was your experience with your gift? Which one did you get?

Thanks for reading

Niki xx

Too good to be true...

While flicking through the latest tweets on twitter today, I saw that the glamour magazine was released today. I buy Glamour every month as I love the fashion and make-up ideas and find the articles interesting. THEN, to add to my excitement, I saw that they were giving away benefit make-up with each one!! The three to choose from were BADgal lash mascara, That gal primer and the Porefessional pore minimiser. I ended up getting the mascara (worth £10) as I am not too keen on primer and thought I would get more use out of the mascara than the pore minimiser.

So far so good!! I think that the brush is a really good shape and size to cover all the lashes and my eyes feel really wide with long lashes after application. I also find that the consistency of the mascara works really well to hold the lashes in place, without crumbling off. 

I am now VERY tempted to run out first thing in the morning and get the other two (if they're still there!!). I have only ever used a benefit cheek and lip tint before this, but I will definitely be returning to them for more make-up products in the future.

Thanks for reading 

Niki xx

The best and worst drug store make up (Superdrug and Boots)

WORST

THIS! is the 2true cover 'n' conceal from superdrug. I think that this is superdrug's own brand (correct me if I'm wrong) and I hate it. It's one of those concealers that clogs up under your eyes and gets into lines and doesn't blend properly. This is the second time I have had a bad experience with 2true. I once bought a liquid eyeliner and after 1-2 hours of being applied, the line would start to crack and crumble and would have to be constantly reapplied. I don't know if it's just me, but I wouldn't buy anything from this brand again.

BEST

I absolutely love this foundation which is dream matte mousse in the shade cameo. It applies really well to my face and stays there most of the day. I love mousse foundations at the moment as I just find them so easy to apply and find that they go onto my skin really well, as well as not being too 'caked on' in the warmer weather.





 This is Maybelline moisture extreme with SPF15 in the shade orchid frost. I absolutely love this lipstick. I use it most days and I just think it gives my lips a really shimmery, spring look. Recently, I've started to wear less make up on my eyes and made a effort to wear more lip colours as I never used to and this has to be my favourite.



This is by far my favourite powder at the moment. I don't tend to use much powder in the spring/summer as I think it's nice for your skin to look 'dewy' in those months. However, if my skin is looking shiny I always use this. It is the collection 2000 pressed powder in translucent and I love it.

This is a collection 2000 mascara called super size fat lash mascara and, of course, it's in black. I naturally have quite long eyelashes anyway and I think this mascara works well at opening up my eyes without having to use layer after layer to build it up like most. I would definitely recommend this mascara if you want to open up your eyes without the mascara clumping or flaking off.




There you go. My best and worst. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions comment below.

Nikiniknak xx