What's in my August make up bag

I am feeling the need to write some beauty babble, it's been far too long since I swooned over lipstick and rambled about blush. 

So today I thought I would share with you what's currently in my little on the go make up bag. 

Now you will notice there is no lipstick in this bag....I am going to have to come clean! I have a separate lip product 'on the go' bag so now you know, I am crazy lipstick lady. So that will be my next post. 

So enough chit chat, I know you what to see what's inside. 

Lets take a closer look. 

First inside my bag of tricks is my baby skin instant pore eraser from Maybeline. This is a lovely little silicone based product that minimises pores and primes the skin ready for a full face of make up. You only need a very thin layer of this gel to get the right results. I have to admit I prefer Porefessional from benefit, but this cutely packaged version from Maybeline is much more affordable, so until I can justify repurchasing porefessional, baby skin will do nicely. 

I am really enjoying the bronzing primer from Bourjois it's a great product to give you skin a bronzed glow, it can be used under foundation but I personally like to use this for a subtle contour as it gives you a very natural bronzed finish. It also smells like chocolate so no complaints from me. 

If your a regular reader here at Emma Louise Dreams you are probably well aware I adore Maybeline the falsies mascara, I have tried so many others but no other mascara gives my lashes the volume like this little beauty. I think it will forever more be part of my make up collection. 

Then there is Mac prep and prime in light boast, this a fantastic product for highlighting the face, a la Kim Kardashian. This one of my few holy grail products in my collection, I hate applying a full face without this product. 

Healthy balance radiance powder from Bourjois is my current favourite finishing powder, it gives you a natural radiant finish but still eliminates any shine with great lasting power. I love the size too, you get a good amount of product and a very good sized compact mirror. 

Another Mac product hidden in here is my mineralise skin finish in soft and gentle, this gives the skin a beautiful golden glow and highlight. I like to use this on my cheek bones, above the Cupid bow and for under brow highlight. It's such a beautiful shimmery shade it's perfect for a full glam look. 

Then for my eye shadow I have been enjoying these golds and bronze shimmering shades from the Ri Ri Mac quad, this was limited edition so I am not sure if this is still available. I have loved using mixing these shades for a bronzed smoked eye recently. 

The little blush pot in rose tea is the perfect plum rose shade that gives your cheeks the perfect rosey matte finish. 

Finally I have rediscovered an old favourite in my Mac studio fix fluid. I used to be obsessed with this foundation a few years ago, but swapped this formula for lighter coverage foundations. However I have fallen back in love with this, mainly thanks to its amazing lasting power, it really does stay put all day and it's been my go to foundation this month, I used this when I was a bridesmaid last week and it was the perfect all day coverage for a warm summers day. 

So I think that's everything that's made it in to my make up bag this month, stayed tuned for the lipstick edition coming next.

Hope your all having a fun filler weekend. 

Bridesmaid duties- My best friends Hen do

I have not been the only ‘blushing bride’ this summer, my best friend Samantha is also tying the knot, not only that we are both each other’s bridesmaid.  It’s been amazing sharing the wedding planning experience with someone else I am so close too, we have helped each other out with hints and tips as well as understanding the stress the other person is going through, while others may have thought we had gone bridezilla, we both understood the stress of running out of ribbon at that crucial moment, chasing up RSVP’s because the venue need to know your final meal choices and don’t even get me started on the table plan!

Now that my big day has passed, it’s is now time for me to focus on my bridesmaid duties. Last weekend it was Sam’s Hen party and I got my creative head on and filled the wedding planning hole with planning a few bits and bobs for the hen party.

Sam’s instructions were ‘nothing trashy’ so I knew from the start any inflatables, head gear or wings were completely out of the question.

Sam is probably the only person I know who is more girly than me, she loves anything sparkly, flowery or pink so I decided to go down this route. 

I searched high and low for ‘Classy Hen do’ accessories which is when I came across Danni_Humber on Instagram she has a beautiful vintage wedding supply shop on Etsy, its filled with beautiful vintage style one of a kind wedding pieces, (I really wish I had found this shop before our wedding, however I may have spent a small fortune). This is when I came across her vintage, shabby chic style 'bride to be' accessories and I knew straight away I needed to get these for Sam’s hen party.

The beautifully package gift set arrived very quickly and I was so impressed by the quality and finish. Inside there was a pastel pink ‘Bride to be’ Wand, ‘Bride to be’ rosette and finally a very cute L Plate, nothing trashy here.

I then decided to make some ‘Hen party Survival bags’ for the all the hen’s. Inside the little pink pin striped bags were all the essentials for a night out and the morning after, including sweets, plasters, Hair ties, tissues and a cute candy striped straw, so no one ruined their lipstick.

I hold my hands up I am a total perfectionist and I always try and think of little bits and bobs to make things extra special, so I loved putting the bags together and finding ‘Bride to be’ accessories and it was lot of fun getting my creative head back on and fill my wedding planning hole, if you haven’t noticed I loved planning my wedding (well 99% of the time) so it’s lovely being a part of someone else’s big day. 

We had a great night out for Sam's hen do. We have a lovely meal at Jamie's Italian, I particularly enjoyed the 'posh chips', chips in truffle oil and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. 

It was lovely have a chance sit down with all the girls and we chatted excitedly about Sam's wedding, I also put together (with the help of her husband to be) a how well do you know the groom quiz, which had us all in giggles. 

Then we heading to some bars where the bride drank too much and we all danced so much that we went home with aching feet, a sign of a good night I think.

 

Isn't she a beautiful bride to be!! 

Pink Lemonade anyone?

So when we last spoke I promised you more regular blog posts.....I am a bad blogger and  I have been unable to keep this promise.

I have come to the realization that regular blogging while planning a DIY wedding is some what impossible. I come home from work most days and begin some kind of wedding related jobs be it cutting material or tying together pieces of bunting. Its safe to say its eating into my time much more than I anticipated ahind I am struggling to fit in anything non wedding related.

So today I make a new promise, I promise to blog when and where I can and will resume regular blog posts after my wedding. I also promise a blog post with lots of pictures from my wedding.

Anyway enough chit chat and rambles, this blog point does actually have a beauty related point....I promise.

Today I wanted to share a review of the 'Pink Lemonade' blush by three palette from Sleek. I bought this a few months ago after loving my first ever sleek blush so much I went back to Super Drug the following weekend and stocked up on blushes. However, in all the excitement i forgot to review it.

 pink mint , Macaroon and  Icing sugar

I took this trio of pink blushes with me on holiday to Dubai back in May as it gave me enough blush options for 10 days in the sun and literally haven't been able to put it down since.

This sleek palette is made up of three blushes, two powder blushes and one cream blush. I love the cute desert themed names for each blushes, although it does make me want to eat cake.

The first shade is 'pink mint', this cool toned baby pink shade is my favourite and most used blush of the three shades. The hint of silver shimmer blended into the pink tone gives my cheeks a really pretty icy pink sheen. This shade can be applied very lightly to give you a pop of pink or built up for a dramatic finish. I personally like to apply a good amount of product but then blend it in with my foundation brush to give it a natural blended finish, but is still noticeable and gives me a pretty pop of colour without it being too frosty.

Macaroon is a creamy rosy mauve shade. The creamy consistency of this blush makes it incredibly easy to blend into the skin, leaving the cheeks with a beautiful natural flush of colour, which is great for an every day no make up, make up look. I have even used my fingers to blend this blush and I never ever using my fingers, but that just proves how easy it is too apply.

Finally icing sugar is a lovely coral rose shade with blended gold shimmer. I loved this when I had a tan as it completed my colour really nice and gave my cheeks a beautiful warm rose gold glow. Both the powder blushes are very well pigmented and a little goes a long way (true of all sleek blushes). I find I get a good 3-4 hours of wear with these blushes before I need a little touch up. However, even when the blush begins to wear off it does not go patchy or crease, it just fades slightly, so I still have a hint of colour.

I think the blush by three sets from Sleek are a great hand bag or travelling blush, giving you three versatile shades to pick from, the packaging is thin and compact so fits perfectly in your make up bag and it has a really good sized mirror which is perfect for on the go touch ups.

For £10 I really cant recommend this blush enough, I can see me adding more of these blush trios into my collection.

Have you tried pink lemonade? Or have you tried any of the other trios? I would love to hear your recommendations if you have.

Till next time beauts

Dreaming of.......My wardrobe

We all love a good wish list....today's wish list is all about fashion and clothes I am lusting after.

I haven't bought any clothes since my holiday at the start of May, and I am now having serious withdrawal symptoms.

Our wedding is next month so I am on a strict spending ban and the moment and only purchasing pretty things for the big day at the moment, don't get me wrong this is still lots and lots of fun. However, I just cant resist a bit of online window shopping and I am finding myself dreaming about my summer wardrobe. Here is what those dreams are made of..............

fashion wishlist by emma-louise1402 featuring party jumpsuits

I have fallen in love with 'In Love with Fashion' have a lot at their online shop here. I promise this is not sponsored I just adore there clothes, its all floral and pastels so you cant blame me. I can feel a big order coming on after the wedding. My excuse is I need honey moon clothes, even though its not till November.

I also love this floral dress from Boohoo, its just so me. Collar, check, mint green, check, floral check!

Okay so hopefully it wont be coat weather for much longer, but I still need a pink coat in my life.

Finally I cant resist a good motif tee that makes me giggle.

Have a lovely weekends beauts.... Mwahhhh

Currently In Love With.....

Its about time I graced Emma Louise Dreams with a beauty post.

So today I wanted to share with you some of my current favourites out of my every day make up bag.

Don't they look pretty. I have missed beauty posts.....

Ok first up is Porefessional by Benefit, I have fallen back in love with this product after dabbling with other primers but nothing compares to this one, so of course its ended up back in my make up bag. I like to apply this under my make up to prep my skin and minimise my pores. Porefessional is a silky and light weight formula, its buttery textures blends into a creamy powder like finish which leaves my normally oily t-zone nice and matte. When I use porefessional my make up lasts longer and my pores magically disappear, don't you just love make up. The only down side to this little primer is the price, but you cant put a price on beauty, well at least that's what I like to tell myself to justify my ever growing make up collection.

Next up is 'Angel' by Mac, I have literally been reaching for this nude soft pink lipstick daily, its a great everyday shade for day or night. Angel is a frost formula which I normally avoid but angel is still very creamy and moisturising on the lips for a frost finish. Angel is a favourite lipstick of Kim K (or KW now) and I am not ashamed to admit I adore her make up so of course I had to add this to my rather large lipstick collection.

Next up is Bourjois cream blush in healthy glow. I adore these cream to powder potted blushes, they are so easily to blend, they leave the perfect amount of colour on the cheeks and they last all day. I love 'healthy glow' its the a beautiful peachy pink toned shade, perfect for the summer (if it ever stops raining). It really does give your cheeks a perfect healthy pinched glowing finish.

My next favourite is Mac 'Prep and Prime' highlighting pen in 'Light boost'. This product brings me back to the Kim K make up look I mentioned earlier, this product is my holy grail for brightening my under eye and highlighting my face, a la Kimmy. Light boost is literally one of my favourite products in my make collection...that's a big statement I know, but true. This little beauty, brightens, conceals and evens out my skin and it doesn't crease on me, which is a bonus. I use a real techniques stippling brush to blend this into my skin so I don't have any harsh lines. Love, love, love this product. 

Finally is Mac 'face and Body foundation'. This a very light weight, watery formula that leaves your skin with a beautiful dewy glow. I personally love using this over the summer, I get little freckles around my nose when the sun makes an appearance and I like foundations that don't cover up my freckles completely because I like my little sun kisses.  This is the perfect foundation to give you a radiant glow, its basically a your skin but better foundation, and it can be built up to cover any imperfections. This was the only foundation I used while I was on holiday, I think this will be sticking in my make up bag till the end of summer (but lets not think about that too much). 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend, I am off to a friends wedding this evening so I need to go decide what to wear....wish me luck. 

Brunch….and all that Jazz

Friday brunch is a popular past time in Dubai. Now remove all your existing thoughts on a typical British brunch out of your mind. A Dubai brunch experience is very different to your tradition brunch. In Dubai Brunch is from 12-4.00 (typically) and consists of 4 hours of all you can eat and all you can drink, leaving you with a slightly sore head and a very full tummy.

So on my latest Dubai trip my dad suggest Brunch at Prime 68, which is funnily enough located on the 68^th floor of the Jw Marriot Marquis hotel, making it the tallest brunch in Dubai. Prime 68 is not your average buffet all you can eat brunch, instead prime 68 offers an al a carte dining experience bringing a selection of dishes too you.

Prime 68 is a boutique steak house and has a 1920’s prohibition theme, the room is filled with timeless jazz music, elegant 1920s themed decor with a black and white classic yet contemporary finish and even a New York prohibition themed photo booth, it’s all very Jay Gastsby.

However, the star of the show is the spectacular view, from the 68^th floor you some pretty amazing views, so we before we even sat down we spent a good 10 minutes admiring the back drop.

Once we finally made it too our table our very helpful waiter advised us not to fill up too much on the bread (this wasn't easy, seeing as he just told me the bread was accompanied by maple butter) because we would have 36 separate dishes coming our way over the next few hours…….36 I repeat 36 dishes.

The foodie inside me jumped for joy…this was definitely going to be my kind of brunch.

We ordered our drinks and got chit chatting while we waited for food, me and my step mum decided to go with the prohibition themed ‘spiked tea’, a cocktail served in a tea pot and tea cups. I cant remember the exact blend but it was some kind of tea recipe with lots of vodka! Either way it was delicious and went down far too easily. I didn't manage to snap up the little tea pot as the waiter kept taking it away every time the cups were filled….its almost like he didn't trust us with it! Cant image why.

Then the starters arrived........

 Antipasto meats, with potato salad

Dad got far too impatient with my snapping of food

 Then came Caesar salad, beetroot with goats cheese, tomato and mozzarella and hard boiled eggs with a mustard topping and caviar. This was only the second course and already I had forgotten the waiter instructions to take things slow.

 Next up was a delicious shrimp cocktail in a tangy tomato sauce, the sauce really gave it an extra kick.

Then one of my favourite dishes…..it was lobster roll time, I may have done a little squeal when these appeared in front of me.

Fancy a closer look? Oh go on then…..

 The crab cakes were divine and fell apart in your mouth

Meatballs topped with cheese and an Italian tomato sauce

Want to see it all again? Thought so…

 Then came the Oysters,, I had never tried an oyster in my life…..well now was my time.

Nervously I gulped down the slippery slimy oyster….First impressions were good and I went on to eat two more.

 Now if anyone knows anywhere that does a cracking oyster locally let me know…I have started something now.

Then our waiter prepared a beautiful fillet of smoked salmon which was so light and delicate but left the taste buds tingly. I may have eaten a little bit too much of this.

To help settle our stomachs slightly we went and played with the props in the photo booth for some family photograph opportunities. I wont share them all (my dad may kill me) but here is a sneak peak.

We returned to our tables and then out came the main courses (yes all the above was just starters)

 Succulent pieces of prime steak, which were cooked to perfection along with beef brisket (this was my dad’s favourite) which just fell apart, it was beautiful. There was also cuts of roast beef but I didn't get chance to snap this up as everyone tucked into it pretty sharpish.

Accompanying this was thick cut potato wedges, creamy mash potato and a little dish of mac and cheese. At first I was confused by the mac and cheese but once I tasted it all was forgotten.

Then came the sea food mains, clams, salmon fillets and possibly the best scallops I have ever tasted, they were juicy and plump and cooked perfectly. 

I was so tempted to ask for more, but I really think my play suit was ready to burst by now.

After the mains came the cheese, and I just can’t resist cheese so of course I had to try some.

Finally the pudding trays graced the table. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with pudding, this is normally my favourite part of brunch (possibly because there is normally a chocolate fountain) but these left me a little underwhelmed, possibly because I had been so impressed with the previous courses or I was just so full. I think I nibbled away at the cheese cake but left the rest for everyone else.

We all agreed this was the best brunch we had ever been too the food was exquisite with an array of tastes, textures and flavours which were beautifully presented ,  my dad has already booked to go back with a group of friends. If you’re looking for a so a sophisticated but fun brunch I would highly recommend a trip to Prime 68, especially if the likes of ‘The Great Gatsby’ or ‘Chicago’ is your cup of (spiked) tea.

After we went to the Observatory for happy hour, the drinks flowed, everything got a little bit hazy and the camera was left forgotten in my hand bag….probably for the best really.

*Ps sorry about the lighting, blame the 360 windows and bright sunshine in Dubai