Benefit's Big Beautiful Eyes...

I must be one of the very few bloggers who have not go there hands on an Urban Decay Naked palette yet. I just feel there is no need to pay for one of them when I have my Big Beautiful Eyes contour kit from Benefit. Last year, I was lucky enough to receive this as a birthday present and it has seen me though since. Inside the palette it contains three neutral shadows and the Bo-ing concealer. It also comes with two brushes - one concealer brush, and a double-ended contour and liner brush which are really good quality.

As you can probably see, the Bo-ing concealer is way to dark for me as I'm as pale as anything! Unfortunately, the shade is 02 when I really need the lightest shade. The base shadow is the lightest shadow that you can see and it's sort of in between a matte and a shimmer shadow and a very similar dupe to All That Glitters from MAC. One up from that is the contour shadow used to define your eyes and use in the corner and the crease of your eyes. The contour shadow is a shimmery, light brown colour. Finally there is a matte, dark brown liner shadow which can also be used in your brows if you have dark eyebrows like mine.

All of these shadows are pretty and neutral enough to be used for everyday and I really recommend it if you don't want to spend too much on a bunch of shadows. You can pick it up from Boots, Selfridges etc. for around £25.50. Benefit, you have done it once again!

x

'Get To Know Me' - 25 Questions Tag

1. Do you have a middle name?
I do indeed, it's Louise but I hate it!

2. What was your favourite subject in school? 
I really, really like English and also Media Studies as I want to be a journalist when I'm older.

3. What's your favourite drink?
Hmmm..I can't help but indulge in a 'Raspberry & Roobios Tea' from M&S every now and again! 

4. What's your favourite song at the moment? 
When I'm not belting out the songs from Frozen, probably 'Extraordinary' by Clean Bandit or 'Tous les mêmes' by Stromae. 

5. What would you name your children?
If I have a girl, I like Fleur, Poppy or Felicity. Errrm..boys names I don't actually know! Probably something traditional.

6. Do you participate in any sports?
Not currently, I used to do gymnastics as a young child but stopped and went on to doing dance instead. I did it for 6 years up until I was 15 and had to stop because I was diagnosed with extreme exhaustion (oops!).

7. What's your favourite book?
Now, this is a difficult one! But it probably has to be 'The Great Gatsby' by Scott Fitzgerald followed by something like 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. 

8. What's your favourite colour?
I think I have to do with pink or orange? I don't really have an explanation, they're just pretty! 

9. What's your favourite animal?
I'm a dog person, but I really like cute, fluffy rabbits too! 

10. What's your favourite perfume? 
'Daisy - Eau so Fresh' by Marc Jacobs I wear it literally everyday!

11. What's your favourite holiday?
I love Christmas - I mean, who doesn't? 

12. Have you graduated from High School? 
I'm guessing this is an American tag and High School there is a little different to the UK. But yes, I have left Secondary School in the UK and start Sixth Form in September.

13. Have you even been out of the country? 
Yes, I have several times! I've been to France 4 times, Finland, the USA and Dominican Republic! Next year I am off to Borneo, Malaysia for 4 weeks doing project work with Camps International which is so exciting!

14. Do you speak any other languages? 
Well, I speak English (of course), I'm pretty fluent in French now (my grammar is slightly off), I learnt a little bit of Chinese (Mandarin) and I'm currently learning to speak Malay for my expedition next year. I love learning languages! J'adore apprendre des langues! 我喜欢学习语言! Saya suka bahasa pembelajaran!

15. Do you have any siblings?
Yes,  I am the oldest but I have 2 brothers and a half-brother (aged 13, 11 and 3) and a half-sister (aged about 8 months now!).

16. What's your favourite store?
Topshop! Without a doubt!

17. What's your favourite restaurant?
Hmm...Prezzo or Carluccio's! Do I like Italian food?.....Sì!

18. Do you like school?
Yes, I love it! I love learning and I cannot wait to go to University!

19. Who are some of your favourite Youtubers?
I LOVE Zoella - who doesn't? Louise, Alfie, Naiomi, Tanya, Caspar, Joe, Louis....(all of those guys). I also really like Natoo, she's a French youtuber but she is très amusant! 

20. What's your favourite movie?
Haha, well, I don't really watch lots of movies but I like: Mean Girls, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (I also LOVE the book!) and all of the Disney classics (I am yet to still watch the Lion King as I have never watched it! Haha!)

21. What are some of your favourite TV shows?
I love all the American shows: Dance Moms, Toddlers & Tiaras, Say Yes to the Dress - you know what I mean!

22. PC or Mac?
I have a PC but I'm hoping to buy a Mac soon and I do prefer them!

23. What phone do you have?
I have an iPhone! Touch wood, I haven't dropped it yet!

24. How tall are you? 
I am 5'6 so I think that's fairly average? 

25. Any pets?
Not currently, I have had a hamster, 4 guinea pigs and a dog in the past but they all passed away. Except from the dog - we had an Alsatian and she started to get aggressive and attacking people and with me and my brother as very young children it wasn't safe to keep her! :-(   

Hopefully you fell like you know me a little more now! If you have any questions you would personally like to ask me, feel free to leave a comment below and I will send a reply! 

x

Chloe Cooks - Coconut Loaf

When it comes to baking, I like to stick to the basics. The throwing the ingredients together in one large bowl and then bunging it into the oven - 60 minutes later voilá! Anything to cuisine is just too difficult and it completely backfires for me. When I had my French exchange over we tried making macarons and they totally failed (most probably down to moi...)!

Anyway, seeing as I have so much time on my hands now that I have left school, I decided to do some baking. I baked a scrummy coconut loaf cake which tastes so good, plus coconut tastes so good!

You will need:

- 175g butter or margarine

- 175g caster sugar

- 3 eggs

-225g plain flour

- 1tsp baking powder

- 100g desiccated coconut

-2tbsp milk 

Step 1: Grease or line your baking tin with greaseproof paper - for this recipe I used a bread tin (is that what they're called?). Preheat your oven to 170°C/338°F/Gas mark 3-4

Step 2: In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using a metal or wooden spoon.

Step 3: Gently beat in your eggs one at a time. If you prefer you can use an electric mixer or whisk - but here I just put my muscles to use!

Step 4: Once you have added all of your eggs to your mixture, using a sieve, sift the flour and the baking powder into the bowl and mix it until thick.

Step 5: Finally add your desiccated coconut into your mixture. If you want to add flavourings to your cake you can also do that now. I've seen several recipes that have included cinnamon into them, but I left that out because my family doesn't like it!

Step 6: Place your baking tray into the oven and cook for about an hour. To check if the cake is cooked place a wooden skewer into the centre; if it comes out clean, the cake is ready. If the cake needs extra time but is browning too much, cover it in tin foil and continue to bake.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try out this recipe as I know several other bloggers have!

Chloe x

MAC Crème Cup

And here I am, yet again, typing my thoughts about my new MAC purchase at a ridiculous time in the evening (live life with no regrets -eh?) Anyway, a couple of days ago I picked up my first lipstick from MAC. I have honestly never been much of a 'lipstick wearer' as I've never had the confidence to parade around with vibrant colours on my lips. However, I have always fantasized over the MAC lipsticks ever since I started buying their products but never brought myself round to purchasing one.

The lady in MAC recommended to me that I tried out Crème Cup as it wasn't too different to my natural lip colour. This way, I can wear it on a day-to-day basis without looking ridiculously OTT (because I've seen some of their shades, and let me tell you, some look a tad scary!) and without making me look paler than I am already. 

Crème Cup is a cremesheen finish so this means that it is really moisturising, and has a creamy texture to it with a gentle shiny finish. It is a dusky pink colour which looks so natural and flattering when worn. My first impressions of this lipstick are great! I love it and ever since I've bought it, I've been using it everyday! 

Crème Cup also smells sooooo good! I don't know whether MAC put scents in their lipsticks - I don't think they do? But, this lipstick smells so good it's unreal! It kind of reminds me of  the shells from Cadbury Mini Eggs as just has that distinctive sugary scent that smells d-e-l-i-g-h-t-f-u-l!

This lipstick retails at £15 the same as the other lipsticks from MAC (apart from another range which I think are £15.50?) so it is quite reasonable but definitely worth the money! Now I've bought one I want so many others!

 I definitely recommend this to you if you want to buy your first MAC lipstick but are unsure of what colour to choose! Let me know what your favourite shade of MAC lipstick is as I'd love to hear your opinions on one's I should try out next!

Chloe x

Mini Topshop and Beauty Haul

The other day, me and my lovely mother spent the day in the city doing a spot of retail therapy in the rain. I picked up only a few things as in all honesty there wasn't that many items that struck my eye that day.

First I picked up this set of beautiful Essie nail polishes in a set called 'bridal bliss', which I'm guessing is picked out for ladies on their special day. Despite this, and no I'm not getting married, I bought it as the colours were to elegant to leave on the self! Essie polishes usually retail at £7.99 each but in this duo set they were £12.99.

'Allure' is the pale, milky colour which I think will look so pretty and 'Eternal Optimist' is a more pastel pink colour which is really flattering. Another reason why I picked up this set is because I recently started a new job as a waitress and have to look keep myself looking natural so I have to stick to natural nail colours. I have no problem with that though as I think natural nail colours (pales, nudes, and pinks) look prettier anyway (but that's just my opinion!)  

Finally I also caved in to purchase my first MAC Lipstick in the colour Créme Cup. In all honesty this is literally the colour of my natural lips, but therefore I know it will definitely use it! It's such a pretty pink colour and I will do a review on it in the near future so keep your eyes peeled!

Then I took a trip into Topshop (as per usual) actually wanting to buy a skort as I don't own one yet and think they look gorgeous. Instead, I came out with this gem. It's a skirt with a tapestry looking design with contrast sides and I love the fusion of colour within it. 

I've also wanted to try and break out of my monochrome habit as black & white is just boring! This skirt has an A-line fit so gradually widens towards the bottom and looks extremely flattering. I have also bought several A-line style skirts from Topshop as I absolutely adore them.

Hopefully I will be doing an outfit post soon styling this skirt because I am head-over-heels in love with it!

Chloé x

Benefit POREfessional

Wow, it's been such a long time since I last posted here! Unfortunately, I've been caught in the midst of my GCSE examinations (eeeww) but luckily I only have 3 more to go and it's A-Levels! Also, I recently bagged myself a job which I love doing (whoooooop!). Anyway, the good thing is that I've returned and hopefully get back into the routine of posting weekly - but thank you for sticking with me!

Today, I'm going to do a little product review on Benefits POREfessional primer because I've recently been able to get a hold of the sample version from ELLE Magazine! 

When I saw that ELLE were giving away free little samples of POREfessional with their magazine I was SO excited (and that may be a little bit of an understatement!) as I've been wanted to try it out so badly; without having to spend £24.50 to find out I don't like it. However, I cannot wait to go and buy the full size version of this product as it is absolutely incredible!   

I was a little bit skeptical about using it at first as I realised it is sort of  orange in colour and with my pale skin thought that it probably wasn't a good idea! Though I was proved completely wrong when I tried it on the back of my hand with it appearing perfectly transparent and leaving it silky smooth with a entirely natural finish.

When I use this, which is everyday, I tend to focus it in my T-zone as that's where my skin can get a little bit oily after a while. After a couple of uses, I noticed that my skin would last a lot longer before appearing oily and the 'benefit' is that you can top it up on top of your make-up. I haven't tried it on top of my make-up as of yet as I tend to apply more of my MAC powder instead.

I literally cannot wait to go out and buy the full size version as I absolutely love it and use it everyday what I wear make-up! If you want to pick it up too, you can get it here.

Let me know if you have tried POREfessional out too and your thoughts on it as I'd love to hear them!

Chloé x

Mini ASOS Haul

 Believe it or not this is the first time I have ever bought something from ASOS before. Purely because I spend most of my money in Topshop. However, after seeing ASOS' range of wildlife smock dresses and dainty sandals - I had to place an order!

I had never really tried a smock dress before as I thought they'd appear frumpy and unflattering. But I thought I'd go for it and see what they look like on - I actually quite like it! I also fell for adorrrrable fox pattern on it and can see me wearing this dress quite a lot throughout the spring/summer months! Plus, for £28 it couldn't be left alone!

The sandals are actually from New Look but ASOS stocks their items, and, at £7.99 I don't think you can really go wrong when buying some shoes! Sandals are actually an uncommon thing in my wardrobe and I actually own very few pairs. So, I was in desperate need of a new pair for the warmer months. This pair have a buckle strap fastening and some elegant gold detailing at the front.

Despite this being a mini haul I am very glad with my purchases! Hopefully these items will eventually feature in some outfit posts (I'm not making any promises but I want them to become more common on here!) Also, sorry for the decline in posting, after next week I'm starting my GCSE's - Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Chloe

xx