Colour Pop Haul and Review

My heart sank when I was in study period and got a promotional email in my inbox saying for the first time ever that "Colour Pop has free international shipping for 24 hours only." I have always wanted to try Colour Pop but the ridiculous shipping prices puts me off. So, I was very very excited to grab a few bits to try. I wish I purchased more because I love every single product that I got. I hope they have this free shipping deal again!

First off, I just want to get past the negativity and express that I was quite disappointed in the shipping service. My order was poorly tracked + I did receive my order later than my friends who ordered days after mine. - So I was a little frustrated. It did take a little over two weeks to arrive, which was not too bad considering where it was located, however, spending all that money got me a little impatient because I wanted it right away! I also heard quite a few stories about people getting ripped off by Colour Pop or that their products were broken when they arrived. Luckily, everything was nice and packaged well in bubble wrap, so nothing was broken. 

The eye shadows were what I was most excited to try. I must admit, I was slightly disappointed in the colour pay off and lasting finish. All the shades I found, needed to be packed on the eye lid to get full colour pay off. I found using my ring finger to be best. The lasting power was also a disappointment. It could barely hold a couple of hours without smudging or loosing its pigmentation. Nonetheless, they do glide on the eye lid smoothly, blend very easily and act perfectly as eye shadow bases. 

Swatches from Top to Bottom -
'Weenie'
'Arrow'
'Nillionaire'

I fell in love with this set on the website. All colours appeared to be darker in person which was unfortunate, although they are still very pretty dark berry/purple tones for Autumn/Winter. In this three pack, there is an ultra satin lip in the shade 'Notion', an ultra matte lip in the shade 'Hutch' and an ultra glossy lip in the shade 'Sookie'.The swatches came out quite patchy, particularly with the matte shade. Matte lips look beautiful but I find them to feel uncomfortable and sink into the lines on my lips. The satin finish is my favourite because it is long wearing and does not make my lips look or feel dry. The gloss is also a lovely one because it is light weight but still very pigmented.

Swatches from Left to Right -
'Sookie'
'Notion'
'Hutch'

Creme Gel Liner in 'Swerve' - I could not pass up this liner (thank you Bella Fiori). Classic black eye liners were lacking in my collection so I thought 'hey why not pick this one up'. This is incredibly pigmented and glides on the water line smoothly and opaquely in one swipe. It is super black and easy to apply. I love smoking this out on the upper lash line for a softer cat eye. I need to pick up more shades!

Lippie Stix in 'Brink Matte' - This shade is a beautiful nude with a pink undertone. It is very comfortable to wear and quick to apply because it is a crayon which makes it easy to line the lips. It is not super matte and it still has a slight sheen to it. I love it because it does not make my lips appear dry. 

Ultra Satin Lip in 'Dopey' - Dopey is my favourite shade so far. I actually purchased two of these because I had a feeling I would love it. That feeling came true because it was featured in my 2016 December Favourites!. This shade swatched a lot darker than it looks; I was so unsure about this at first because it has a quite ashy undertone. However, the more I applied it, the more I fell in love. It is a classic mauve tone with a pink undertone. This lip product fits perfectly with a sultry eye. It is long wearing, opaque and feels comfortable on the lips.

Ultra Matte Lip in 'Teeny Tiny' - This shade is very similar to 'Dopey', although it appears much darker on the lips. It is not the most comfortable to wear because it is matte, and matte shades do not work well on my lips. However, is glides on the lips smoothly and applies evenly so if you like matte lips, you'll love this one. 

Ultra Matte Lip in 'Tule' - Is a lovely dark pink shade. It applies smoothly and evenly. Like all of these matte shades, I found it to feel uncomfortable throughout the day. It did not last well whilst I was eating/drinking. It did also flake off which was annoying. However, it is still a beautiful shade!

Swatches from Top to Bottom -

'Tule'

'Teeny Tiny'

'Dopey'

Overall, I am very pleased with Colour Pop. The products are wonderful and high quality for its low cost. I would definitely order more, maybe just not the matte lip products! One thing to keep in mind when placing an online order is that the colours appear much darker in person + I found the lip shades to apply darker when applied to the lips. 

Love always,

Sara xo

Ciate' London Chloe Morello Beauty Haul

I spent approximately two hours or so binge watching Chloe Morello make up tutorials using these products, particularly the 'Pretty, Fun and Fearless' palette which instantly persuaded me to place an order. I was super keen to grab hold of this limited edition product from the Mecca Maxima website. It was sold out everywhere in stores and was not available online, until one bright evening in mid December when it was finally available to purchase! I have never tried anything from Ciate' London, so I was so excited to welcome another amazing, cruelty free brand into my life. 

This kit includes a 15 pan eyeshadow palette; 'Pretty, Fun and Fearless', a deluxe Wonderwand mascara and Liquid Velvet lip product in the shade 'Pin Up'. Along with a beautiful, chic, navy blue make up bag that fits all the products in. 

The camera quality does not do this palette justice. I love every single one of these shades! This 15 pan palette, includes a range of mattes and shimmers from warmer to cooler tones. The eye shadow combinations are endless. I particularly love the shades 'Vacay', 'Dainty', 'Jet Setter' and 'Queen Bee'. As much as I adore the shade selection, the product itself had a slight downfall. I found the matte shades to be a little difficult to blend. - Particularly with some of the darker shades, I found that they appeared to be patchy if I put too much product on the brush. Nonetheless, once blended out (may take quite a few minutes), it looks beautiful!. Along with the mattes, I found the shimmers to be not as pigmented as I would like. They do require quite a few layers for a full shimmer on the eyelid, however, they still look beautiful, especially when caught in the light; the speckles of glitter shine and make the eyes pop. 

A mini Liquid Velvet in the shade 'Pin Up' is also included in this beauty haul. It is a pretty medium pink that looks lovely on all skin tones. It is opaque with just one swipe and has a non-sticky glossy finish. I did find it to feel a little tacky on the lips - I think this is because it is long wearing, which does not bother me. The doe-foot applicator allows an easy application as the tip enables precision when lining the lips. Overall, a lovely edition to this kit. 

A deluxe Wonderwand mascara is also a lovely edition to this kit. This mascara more-so lengthens my lashes rather than thickens them and creates volume. Also, it does take a few coats to build, which is quite annoying. My lashes are very weak, so it is hard to find a mascara that will not weigh them down. I did find this one to hold well, however, it struggled to keep its curl throughout the day. Although it does not make my lashes as dramatic as I would like them to be, it is a great mascara for everyday wear. 

I think Chloe Morello did a great job in her collaboration with Ciate' London. She created a beautiful kit with some lovely products in it to create a wide variety of make up looks. I think it is definitely worth the $70! This is unfortunately limited edition, so I am not sure where it is still available to purchase. However, keep your eyes peeled as it may magically appear on the Mecca Maxima website, like mine did.

Love always,

Sara xo

2016 Reflection

I am currently sat in my bed in the most uncomfortable position, resting on a gigantic plush green dragon that I got for my birthday. However, the birds are chirping and I am listening to some good tunes on my Spotify playlist. I took a quick moment to read my past yearly reflections. It has made me realise how much I have grown in the last two years. - I never thought I would be feeling this way at this moment in time. 

If you told me two years ago that I would be the person I am, I would not believe you. I was probably the most miserable person and if you had a look at posts from 2014-2015, you would notice how deep and saddened I was all the time. I have learnt so, so much and I am struggling to comprehend my thoughts because so much has happened. 

For a lot of the year I found my self in a dark place. I felt so insecure about myself. I am still struggling to pin point why I was feeling this way. I did not feel like my self/still do currently. I guess I have not been taking care of myself as much as I used to. - not exercising, eating poorly, not taking care of my skin, not sleeping etc. Ignoring all these aspects in my life has made me notice how horrible it makes me feel. My insecurities were not just physically, but mentally. I was scared to open my heart to people; scared to talk about the simple things such as what I like and dislike. I think it is because I am still learning about myself and learning what I am comfortable with. I think it may be because I have developed trust issues over the years, which has made me struggle to open up to people. I am slowly trying to overcome that barrier in my life and so far I have gotten to know some really lovely people. Essentially, for twenty seventeen, I am going to start taking care of myself, both physically and mentally. 

Putting myself first has been a little life motto that I have tried to stick by since the beginning of the year. This basically relates to all aspects of my life, including relationships and even school. I had this thought through out the year, noting that I need to put my mental health before anything. So, if that meant getting slightly lower marks in exams than I am used to, then I am fine with that as long as I know that my mind is in a good place and I am not provoking any anxiety or stress. I have felt that in the past, by putting other peoples problems in priority before my own has ironically made me an awful person. - it probably sounds selfish, but I feel as though if I focus on myself and  got to know myself a lot more, I would then be able to understand and empathise with other people.  

One of the most difficult life lessons this past year has been to understand that there are really mean and selfish people in the world. This probably seems obvious to many people; but when these mean and selfish people are actually in your life, it a little bit of a difficult thing to wrap your head around. I feel like I constantly ramble on about this in my blog posts, but I have had quite the trouble with friends in the past, especially one in particular who was fundamentally 'too faced', as you would call it. Meaning, that they would say really awful things behind my back, whilst pretending to be a really good friend, especially at times where I would open up to them. - I guess this is why I have a bit of trust issues. These past two years has allowed me to grieve and feel awful about myself, although, most importantly reflect on why I have made these life decisions such as removing negative people out of my life. All of this has made me realise that I cannot let people ruin my life and disintegrate me. There are awful people in the world with awful hearts and they may come into your life at some point, and as much as it sucks, you have to understand that they come into your life for a reason. 

In the end of November/early December, my grade went on a retreat. It was a time to reflect on myself and see my goals, my achievements and even my regrets in life.The vision of my goals for the future are still blurred, my achievements are lacking a bit of self acknowledgement and I do not really think I have any regrets. - There has definitely been things in the past that I maybe wish I had not done, however, mistakes only make you learn and grow.  Any-who, from this retreat I was able to not necessarily open my heart to people, but rather got to know other peoples hearts. It was a really amazing experience where my peers shared stories that I never knew. It goes to show that there are people out there who do struggle, who do hurt and do have feelings. For the longest time I used to always believe that I was alone, like I was cursed with all these problems; even though so many people told me that I was not alone. I guess experiencing this first hand, changes your thoughts a little. So, I have really learnt that I am not the only one with problems. I have learnt that it is so important to talk to people on a deeper level to not only help them release some tension, but rather learn from them and connect. 

Apart from the deep life lessons, this has been pretty okay. - A lot better than last year I must say. I have had some really amazing memories such as seeing The Vamps, James Bay and Selena Gomez in concert. I have had quite the cry laugh moments with many of my friends; and the list goes on. I truly hope that these life lessons stick by me for the new year and that I learn and grow a lot more. I am now in my final year of school, which excites me but kind of scares me because I have no idea about my future...I hope this year allows me understand more about myself and other people. I hope this year blesses us all with positivity and optimism.

Love always,
Sara xo