Review ||| Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks

I have a review for you today! I picked up this lovely little pot in New York and I can say, hand on heart, that I've been loving this product ever since I got it. I usually stay away from things that can be used on both lips and cheeks because I always end up just using it on my lips as I usually hate cream-based cheek products. HOWEVER, I am really loving this for both lips and cheeks! Hoorah!

    

I got this in the shade 24 Fresh Melon - a gorgeous and subtle light peach shade. As soon as I apply it, I find it melts onto your lips/cheeks making it super blendable and easy to apply. It leaves the most lovely natural looking glow on your cheeks without being to pigmented to make you look like a clown! Never a good look. On your lips, I guess it leaves a nude look and I have had people ask what I'm wearing which is always nice!

The only down side I'd say is the smell. It doesn't really have much of a scent only that standard clay-type smell you find when a scent hasn't been added but I guess as this is a cheek product too, it makes sense for it not to smell of much so I can't complain!

I would definitely recommend this though if you are looking for a lovely subtle peach product which has more than one use which is easy to apply.

Love Leah x

5 Things To Expect During Freshers Week

I have MAJORLY slacked on blogging the past couple of weeks *slaps wrist* so I'm coming back on this fine Tuesday morning with a slightly different topic than usual. Now it has hit September, it has finally properly hit me that I have graduated and won't be going back to university this month. This genuinely makes me so sad and leaves me a little bit in limbo as I have always left my part-time job to go back to education. It's always been something I've taken for granted and now it has all finished, it really is the weirdest feeling. I have to find a real job! I mean, what is that all about?! So, with that in mind, I thought I would write about five things I experienced during freshers week when I first went to university back in 2011 which you may or may not experience too!

1. Your flatmates/housemates will become your best friends by the end of freshers week. Seriously, after spending an entire week with them 24/7, you will feel like you've known them forever. After all, all that time  spent together in just one week will probably add up to the amount of time you've spent with your home friends in one year! 

2. You will find yourself having a fresher-style hangover during a 'practice lecture' you knew nothing about until the day it happened. Seriously beware of this! I luckily didn't have one of these yet so many of my friends did and caught themselves having to drag themselves to the lecture theatre trying their best not to throw up in front of their new tutors. Wouldn't be the greatest first impression, right?!

3. You'll stay up until an un-earthly hour chatting about nonsense with your new friends just because you can! You're away from home and don't have to creep around having to be quiet anymore. Everyone else is up and nobody wants to be the first one to say "I'm going to bed now!" Make the most of this novelty in first year before it starts getting serious in second year and the dreaded dissertations of third year creep up on you!

4. You may find yourself in the midst of a war with your neighboring hall. A bit of light rivalry never hurt anyone, right?! That is until a mixture of eggs, flour, off milk and gravy granules is thrown over your opponents - then s**t gets serious! 

5. Time will go so fast. Make the most of everything. Before I knew it, I was entering third year and planning my dissertation. It's scary how fast your time at university goes never mind freshers week. So, make the most of the one week where you can go out every night and sleep in until the following evening ready for your next night out!

I hope this gave you some sort of idea of what I experienced and if you are off to university for the first time this month, good luck!!! It's gonna be amazing.

Love Leah x

Review ||| Benefit Boi-ing Industrial-Strength Concealer

I've had a couple of requests to review the Benefit Boi-ing Concealer so of course I was going to! One word for this product = love.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. I bought this in America for $20 which equates to around £12 which is slightly cheaper than what it retails for over here in the UK which is £17.50. Now, I don't usually like to pay this amount of money for a concealer just because I feel like drugstore ones are just as good. What usually sucks me in with higher end products is the luxurious packaging which, lets face it, this product really doesn't have.

Yes, the cardboard box is cute but the actual concealer is contained within a standard plastic circular pot where the lid spins off. So it really wasn't the packaging which sucked me in on this one. It was the amazing reviews I'd read about it and the fact that it has won awards! I had to find out for myself what the fuss was about.

So, quickly stemming away from my negative opinions on the packaging! The actual formula is a thick yet creamy consistency which I find needs minimal blending considering how thick it is. It is SO pigmented and is a very heavy coverage - I guess the whole 'industrial strength' thing makes sense!!

It covers any blemishes or dark spots PERFECTLY with only a small amount of product needed so I can see this concealer lasting me a long time. Like seriously, I may even still have this in the year 2020. I got mine in the lightest shade (01) just because I have pale skin anyway and I find the palest shades always brighten up my under eye circles. I always recommend buying concealer in a lighter shade to your foundation.

It has quickly become my new favourite concealer and I truly recommend you try this if you are looking for a wonderful concealer and you don't  mind spending a bit more on something that will last you ages.

Love Leah x

PRODUCT REVIEW | KAT VON D STUDDED KISS LIPSTICK

After watching Kat Von D's make-up line being reviewed on various you tube videos, I was SO excited to have a nosey at the line myself when I was over in America. This was serious business. I love Kat Von D and her fearless attitude to appearing how she wants to in terms of her tattoos, her style and her often heavy make-up. I was excited. Reeeeally excited.

I played around with the testers for a good half an hour swatching every lipstick and her tattoo foundation. I was so tempted to get this as well but as it covers tattoos (I tested it on my own tattoo so I can confirm that it does completely cover tattoos) I didn't really want such a heavy coverage on my face.

I settled on the shade called 'Motorhead' which, if I remember rightly, was the second darkest shade. If you're gonna get a Kat Von D lippy, you may as well follow in her footsteps and go dark right?!

So let's start with the packaging. It came in a lovely black box similarly to the MAC lipsticks however, in my opinion, the packaging is better quality to MAC. As the lipstick range is called Studded Kiss, the box itself was subtly studded as you can see here:

I thought this was a really lovely effect - you can tell that Kat has gone all out in the production of these lipsticks even down to the packaging. So, following with the studded theme, can we just take a moment to appreciate this amazing lipstick packaging?!

I just love it. It's so unique and I can't stop holding it! Yes, I realise this is really weird but c'mon, just look at it! There clearly has been a lot of thought into the manufacturing behind the packaging and I feel like it really reflects Kat Von D's image and the rocker/goth vibe about her. 10/10 for this!

The shade is a little scary for me personally. I think it would get a lot of getting used to if I were ever brave enough to wear it and to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be that dark on the lips. However, that doesn't dismiss the fact that I do love the colour. I'm just unsure if it suits me! It is VERY matte and can be a little awkward to apply due to this - as you can see in the follow picture, I've not been able to perfectly apply it but without a lip liner I don't think I've done too shabby!

Finally, the scent is pretty much identical to that of MAC lipsticks. Anyone who loves that gorgeous vanilla smell will love the scent of these lippys!

Has anyone else tried these and if so, what is your favourite shade?

Love Leah x

NEW YORK MAKE-UP HAUL + US vs. UK PRICE COMPARISONS!

As a self-declared make-up junkie, going to America meant taking advantage of the much cheaper make-up available out there! A girl I got talking to in Sephora even said herself that the UK has to be one of the most expensive countries for beauty related products. This definitely made me cry a little inside! So here's what I picked up in America along with the prices I paid, what price they sell for in the UK and the savings I made!

Top row: 

MAC Sheertone Shimmer blusher in  'PeachyKeen' 

US price - $22 (around £13)

UK price - £18

Saving - £5

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

US price - $54 (around £32)

UK price - £37

Saving - £5

Benefit The Porefessional 

US price - $31 (around £18)

UK price - £24.50

Saving - £6.50

Urban Decay Primer Potion

US price - $20 (around £12)

UK price - £16

Saving - £4

Second row:

MAC Retro Matte Lipstick in 'RubyWoo'

US price - $16 (around £9)

UK price - £15.50

Saving - £6.50

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in 'Motorhead'

Unfortunately this isn't available in the UK yet but I paid $21 (around £12)

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks

US price - $27 (around £16)

UK price - £19

Saving - £3

MAC 168 Brush

US price - $35 (around £21)

UK price- £27 

Saving - £6

Sephora Pro Brow Brush

Again, this isn't available in the UK but I paid $15 (around £9)

Sephora Mineral Powder Brush

Not available in the UK but I paid $24 (around £14)

Origins Eye Doctor Eye Cream

US price - $36 (around £21)

UK price - £28.50

Saving - £7.50

Bottom Left: 

Anastasia Eyebrow Gel in Clear

US price - $22 (around £13)

UK price - £16.50

Saving - £3.50

MAC Studio Fix Powder

US price - $27 (around £16)

UK price - £21.50

Saving - £5.50

Bottom Right:

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer 

US price - $20 (around £12)

UK price - £17.50

Saving - £5.50

MAC Studio Fix Fluid

US price - $27 (around £16)

UK price - £21.50

Saving - £5.50

TOTAL SAVING - £63.50

I really hope you enjoyed this blog post! Let me know if you want me to do any reviews on the products mentioned!

Love Leah x

10 Things I Did In New York City

On 25th July, my Mum and I ventured off on a seven hour flight to New York for my 21st birthday - and what an amazing time we had. Here's ten things we got up to:

1. We saw Rock of Ages on Broadway. Four rows from the front, we had such a fun night and listened to the cast sing and dance to various rock songs (my fave genre) throughout history. It was so much fun and so entertaining - the cast were all fabulous and I would definitely recommend this show to anyone who loves rock music and getting involved!

2. We also saw Wicked on my birthday night. Differing from Rock of Ages, this was in a huge theater so we were at the front on the first tier. Again, I'd really recommend this show but Rock of Ages slightly tipped it for me just because of how much fun it was and how hilarious it was. I had wanted to see Wicked for ages though and already knew all the songs (haha loser) and it definitely didn't disappoint.

3. We went to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building and my god, did my legs know about it. They went to absolute jelly which I do feel slightly stupid about considering how amazing the view was. You could literally see over every skyscraper in Manhatten all the way to the Statue of Liberty. Luckily it was such a clear, beautiful day as well so the view was really breathtaking and something I will always remember. That image is definitely not leaving my head any time soon!

4.  We also went to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) only we did this at around 10pm at night so we got to experience the view of NY lit up for miles and miles. It was such a beautiful view and I really did love seeing what a mad place NY is in terms of how many skyscrapers there are! Again though, legs were absolute Jelly. I guess I've learnt a new fact about myself though - I'm not brilliant with heights!

5. We went to Madame Tussauds. Now you can go here in London but I've never been and the NY version I imagine is very different to the UK one as they had significant people from American history in that famous clay form which was really interesting along with all the pop stars, sport stars and film stars. Half way through the tour there was also a 3D film to watch featuring the likes of batman, the hulk etc which was a lot of fun too! I'd definitely go back here and recommend going!

6. We hopped on a water taxi down to the 9/11 memorial. No words can describe how heartfelt and emotional it was to be there after witnessing it happening on the TV yet I'm really glad we went. It meant we could truly get an insight into what happened on the day by talking to  people who were there as it happened and pay our respects to those who lost their lives. It was on my mind for days after and still is now which I see as a good thing - their memory lives on.

7. We saw the Statue of Liberty - a strange experience after seeing it so many times on the TV or online etc. It was really cool to see and of course, hundreds of pictures were taken!

8. We did a touch of shopping on Fifth Avenue! I'm not talking a lot of shopping, after all it's the most expensive Avenue in New York! We did have a little shop in Michael Kors though and I was lucky enough to be bought a watch from there for my birthday. Maybe one day I'll be able to splurge in Tiffany's! A girl can dream!

9. We went to Grand Central Station. This place was so crazy with people rushing all over the place to catch their train! We went in the afternoon so I dread to think how busy it would be in a morning! It was a really interesting place though and we got to learn all about the architecture through an audio tour along with how many people use the station. There was also a market there - in a station! It was a million miles away to the stations I'm used to at home!

10. Last but not least, we went to Central Park. That quieter place away from the madness of rushing people and tooting horns amongst the skyscrapers. It was lovely really with people on bike rides, running, horse and carriages, people on their lunch break and people just watching the world go by! You have to go to Central Park if you go to New York just so you can say you've been - or is that just me?!

So there's ten things we got up to! I certainly had the best week ever and fell in love with this crazy city. I definitely am aiming to go back there in the future. 

Here's a few little snaps:

Water Taxi on the Hudson River

Grand Central Station at Whispering Gallery

Overlooking Times Square

View from Empire State Building looking slightly nervous!

Hanging out with Lady Gaga

Mammoth breakfast pancakes!

Love Leah x

Update, New Blog Name and Lost Followers!

So as I'm quite the technophobe, I somehow have lost all my blog followers from Bloglovin' :(

I think this is because I changed my blog name so if you could follow me again (if you want to that is) then that would be fab!!

Silly Leah for messing with things she doesn't have a clue about!

So my new blog name is Lashes and Curls - slightly less mundane than Make-up, Hair and Fashion! I love this new name and think it fits well as if I had to pick two things I like about myself then it would be my crazy curly hair and my long eyelashes which I luckily inherited from my Dad.

So there we have it. Just a little update. So gutted about losing my followers though. I guess it's because I changed my link to my blog so lesson learnt!

Thanks for reading

Love Leah x