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. 

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. 

MAC Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish

Today I want to share with you one of my favourite pieces in my makeup collection. Mac soft and gentle is one of the few products in my collection I would give the ‘Holy Grail’ title, even though I really dislike the term HG, I can think of no other label to give it that justifies just how much I love this mineralized skin finish from Mac.

‘Soft and Gentle’ is a finely milled shimmering high lighter powder from Mac, it’s an attractive soft 'gilded peach bronze' shade. This highlighter looks beautiful in the pan and transfers exquisitely onto the skin giving you glistening and soft champagne glow.

 Now £22 may seem steep for a highlighter but as with all mineralize skin finishes from MAC there is a lot of product in the pan and a little really does go a long way, so I cant see myself having to repurchase this highlighter for a long time. So I personally don't mind the price tag at all.

I have found the trick with 'Soft and Gentle' is using the right tools. I have seen lots of reviews complaining that this highlighter just left glitter all over the face, and yes a large brush all over the cheeks is not the way to apply this one. Personally I have found the contour brush from real techniques is the perfect sized brush to apply just the right amount of product to give you a beautiful warm glow. I use this highlighter on my cheek bones, cupid's bow and brow bone to highlight and enhance my face and bone structure.  This highlighter can be used for a day and night look, I just use a very light hand for an everyday glow but build up the colour for a more dramatic glittering evening look. Sometimes I use this as an all over lid colour for a softer smokey eye if I am wearing a bright lip and I don't want to go too heavy on the eye make up. Can you tell this is a well used product in my collection? 

I adore this mineralize skin finish its my go to highlighter to give my complexion an instant pick me up and radiant glow, its a permanent staple in my highlighting and contouring routine and cant imagine finding a highlighter that will replace it in my make up bag anytime soon.

Have you tried 'Soft and Gentle'? Or do you have a different mineralize skinfinish favourite from MAC?

Mini Mac Haul

So yes only two posts ago did I say I was saving money but here I am already with a mini haul for you all oops.  In my defence though I was sale shopping/browsing and I had a voucher for Debenhams and I thought this was the perfect opportunity for some pretty Mac purchases. So I didn't actually spend any money...well not in Mac anyway I did find a few bargains in theZara  and Topshop sale! 

So on my little spree I decided to pick up the mineralize skin finish in soft and gentle and angel lipstick which are two items that have been on my makeup wish list for a such long time, and seeing as they were both there in stock I just couldn’t resist.

Angel lipstick is a baby pink shade with a hint of silver shimmer. I am big lover of the pink/ nude lip and rarely step away from my signature lip look so this seemed like a good shade to add to my collection, you can never have too many pink lipsticks, right? I had also heard this lipstick is a favourite of Kim Kardashian and yes I know she has a very dramatic look but I adore her flawless make up. This lipstick is a frost formula and I have never actually owned a frost cause I am just not a fan of the shimmery look but when I tried this it was not as cool toned as I had expected , instead added a  subtle, pretty sheen to my lips. So I am looking forward to wearing this, I think this shade will go really well with a dramatic smoky eye.

Then I picked up the much hyped mineralize skin finish in soft and gentle, yet another product that has been on my wish list for so long and I am so excited to try this out properly.  This highlighting powder looks divine in the pan with its gilded peach bronze tone with a twist of champagne silver shimmer. I can’t wait to try this,  the only highlighter I have really got on with is the Sleek highlighter in the past, which is great for a natural day time sheen but I think the glitter particles in soft and gentle will add a bit of sparkle and glamour to an evening look.

I will do a full review on both products once I have tried them out properly. Have you tried either products? If so let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading Lovelies

Mac Archie's Girls

Like many make up and MAC lovers , I have been extremely excited about the MAC’s Archie Girls Collection. The collection is biased on Veronica and Betty, two best friends and rivals competing for the love of Archie.  The collection has a variety of products, there are some general ‘Archie’s girls’ pieces and the collection is split to portray each girls persona. Betty is a sweet, blonde haired girl next door, and the Betty collection is full of pale and soft pastels. Veronica on the other hand is Brunette spoilt rich girl, the Veronica collection captures her character in seductive dark tones.

 The collection came out in the US at the start of February and the blogging and Youtube world has gone MAC and Archie crazy. Of course all this hype meant I spent lots of time reading and watching. reviews from lots of on line beauty gurus, some what heightened my excitement. After the press release I had a pretty good idea of the products I wanted to purchase and was very impatiently sitting tight, waiting for the UK towards the end of February. That was until one of my friends told me Selfridges was exclusively launching the collection early. So I headed straight over to the on line store and made my purchases.

I managed to somewhat restrain my spending and purchased four items of the collection. Now being a blonde girly girl, I was instantly attracted to the shades and colours of Betty collection. So I decided to go for the Betty Lipstick in girl next door, the Betty Lips glass in stay sweet and the Betty pigment in Cheers my dears, just need to add how cute the names of the products are.  Finally I couldn't resist the beautiful Pearlmatte face powder. 

I am huge lipstick lover, I have an array of colours in my collection, but I mostly opt for nudes of pinks. So this lipstick was very me. It’s a blue tone pink Lustre lipstick. I love the finish and tone of this lipstick, its the perfect cute pink shade, I found just a couple of coats of this lipstick really changed the effect so you can switch up the look of this lipstick with a few coats.  The gloss in stay sweet and girls next door and the perfect colour combination to achieve a pink lipped  look. It also would look lovely on its own if you wanted a more natural look. I was also impressed with the pigment, I am not a huge fan of pigments as I find them a bit messy but I loved the lavender pink colour of this. Its really pigmented and the finish it really strong. I don't own many eye shadows this shade so I am sure this will be well used. 

Lipstick and gloss together.

left to right
pigment, lipstick and lip glass lip gloss

I am in love with the  pearlmatte face powder. Firstly it looks so cute with the pink hearts embedded in the powder, so cute actually I almost didn't want to use it. When i did though I was so impressed with the colour, I would personally use this as a highlighter along the top of my cheek bones as it has a high shimmer finish. I love the pink highlighter glow it gives me cheek and the name describes it perfectly with its pearly glow. 

left to right
Both light and dark coloured combined, darker pink colour, lighter colour (sorry my camera is not great but you get the idea)

Now I can’t do this review and not mention the packaging. The packaging is a real switch up from MAC’s usual black statement to comic book style white with reds and pinks.  I love the retro and colourful packaging and I have to admit it this distinctive and unique packaging that initially caught my eye with this collection.

Overall I am really impressed with the Archie’s Girls collection, I adore the colours and shades used to illustrate the different identities of two girls and I think there are some really good quality products on offer.  The collection is now available on the MAC website, they have also realized some exclusive products to this collection  available only to MAC, I am trying very hard not to buy the brush set along with a few other pieces I have my eye on such as the Betty bright lipstick and the Ice cream sundae eye shadow set, but if I want to have any kind of social life this month I will have tor restrain myself. 

Let me know what you think of the collection? 

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise x