UPDATE - New URL

Hello everyone, this is just a quickie to inform you on some important news. I have created a new site on another blogg template site (wordpress.com) under the name of www.thebellissimablog.com. I would be really grateful if you would check out this site too, as I would love for you to experience both of my fashion/beauty blogs.

Thanks x

Topshop Cream Blushes

Today I went shopping with my mum in the search of a pair of skinny jeans. We began our search in Topshop after I had purchased a pair of MOTO Seven-Eight jeans a couple of months ago (they are extremely comfy and I am definitely going to purchase more colours). 

Whilst in the store I had a little look at their make-up range, as I had read many good reviews on the blushers and lippies. As I only had £5 on hand I decided to go for one of the cream blushers (my mum leant me the remaining £1). Anyway, a long story cut short, I managed to pick up the wrong shade by accident (oops). Instead of the peachy/pink shade I thought I had purchased, I came home with what is described as a Butterscotch shade. 

I wasn't allowed to exchange the product, so ended up coming home with both shades, both full price (£6). I am glad in a way as I am now able to experiment with a shade that I would never have even noticed before.   

L-R: Butterscaoth and Head Over Heels

The compacts include a good sized mirror and 4g-0.14oz of product, which I think is reasonable for £6.  

Cream Blush in head Over Heels

This is the shade that I was originally supposed to pick up. In the pan it is a vibrant peach or coral, however when swatched it is a subtle peach. It is a great natural shade for the daytime, however can be built up for evenings. I can't wait to try this when the sun comes out.

Cream Blush in Butterscotch

I would never have chosen this shade before, as in the pan it looks like a chocolate brown with gold glitters. However when I finally swatched it in the car on the way home it showed up as a shimmery golden peach. I think this shade would work great as a highlight, I say this because it does have a slight shimmer that I know a couple of you may not like. 

From first impressions I am really pleased with these cream blushes. The packaging is simple, yet so cute, with grey polka dots printed on the matte white compact. They are extremely smooth and give a slight glow, making your skin look healthy and hydrated. When first applied they go on quite sheer, however can be built up to achieve a more flushed, pigmented look.  

So far I am happy with these products and can't wait to try more. A full review will be coming up soon. 

Have you tried any of the Topshop products from their line? Tell  me what you think in the comments section below.

Love Chessie

Funny Face Beauty's - "Big Fat One Year of Blogging Giveaway!"

Whilst reading some of my favourite blogs I came across a giveaway that is sure to make your jaw drop. 

I thought I would inform my lovely followers on the giveaway so that you can enter and be in for a chance to win. 

Funny Face Beauty is offering some great prizes, including some from brands such as The Balm, OCC, Jesse's Girl and MAC. 

To find out more and enter yourself click HERE. 

Good Luck!

Love Chessie

Front Cover Palette - Shadows

Part two of my Front Cover To Go, GoGoGo Palette review is going to be focusing on the 20 various shadows that come in the palette. 

So here goes ...

As you can see the shadows in the palette vary from baked to pressed, shimmer to matte, neutrals to colours. The shadows are great quality and are easily build able, to achieve both softer and  more intense looks. They apply softly and are easy to blend. 

All swatches are applied to clean skin, no primer!
L-R Top Row - Tarn Green, Bright Aqua, Azimuth, Moondust, See the Stars
L-R Bottom Row - Silver Dollar, Powder Puff, Frosted Almond, Pale Gold, Copper Coin

 There are 10 baked shadows in the palette, ranging from neutrals to mainly blues and a couple of greens and olive shades. As with most baked shadows they have a pearly finish with shimmer, but no thick glitter. 

I love the blues and turquoise shades. I definitely recommend purchasing some of the FC Baked shadows as they are pigmented, build able and apply with the most gorgeous finish. 

Definitely a thumbs up from me!! :)  

All swatches applied to clean skin, no primer!

L-R - Plovers Egg + Nine Iron, Bayou + Midnight, Peaches N Cream + Holly Berry, Limeade + Choc Ice,

Magic Banana + Goose Down. 

There are 5 duos, all of which are fairly matte with slight shimmer. They range from mint greens to yellows and pinks. I love the colour pairings of these duos, however I think they could be improved. 

The pigmentation is alright, but it could be better. Another complaint I would have would be that it is hard to only take one shade. I feel as though the duos are squashed into a small pan and if you were to take one shade with a blending brush, you may end up mixing both. 

Overall I am not happy with the duos. It is a shame as they are all beautiful shades, however I think the pigmentation let them down and they are only worth it if you are blending both shades. :(

All swatches applies to clean hands, no primer!
L-R Twinkling Grape, Black Spark, Twinkling Gold

These three shades are referred to as the HOT  Twinkling Baked Powder shadows, Impregnated with Glitter. These shadows are absolutely stunning and super pigmented. They are great for evenings out as they are full of coloured glitters. 

I love these shadows, the pigmentation, finish and smooth formulae. I highly recommend them and would love to have a browse at all of the other shades available. I cannot say anything bad about them, except that I wish there were more in the palette. 

All swatches on clean hand, no primer!
L-R Citronella Crush, Ginger Spice

Both of these shades are HOT pressed single shadows. They have good pigmentation, however they have a chalky application. When I say 'chalky', I am referring to the way they apply, they apply a little to powdery for my liking, meaning they have to be blended in a little more than your average shadow. This can be tackled with a primer or creamy base, to reduce fall out. 

All in all, they are good quality, you just have to keep an eye on fallout. You don't want your shadow dripping down your face. :o 

Over all I would really recommend this palette for the shadows. If you were going to buy them individually than I would recommend the baked shadows, as they are super pigmented and really soft on the touch. 

I am not to keen on the pressed shadows form Front Cover, however I think they apply better with a base. 

In terms of sizing, I think they are fair. Each pan is around the same size as a 10 pence piece and holds from around 0.8-1.6g. 

Have you tried any Front Cover shadows, what did you think?

Love Chessie

Front Cover Palette - First Impressions

I received this palette as a birthday present last year from my good friend Lydia (Thank You!!! :). I had been eyeing the Front Cover Palettes for a while before I received this one, as I thought the shadows looked high quality and I had never heard of the brand before. 

I will be splitting this review into three parts, as I would like to give you my thoughts on each individual part of the palette. 

So without further ado, let's get started on part one, which will be my first impressions on the product and my overall rating. I will also give a little background information too.   

The Front Cover To Go, GoGoGo Palette contains 10 removable domed baked powder shadows (0.96g), 3 removable domed baked twinkle powder shadows (0.96g) 5 removable fine line pressed powder eyeshadows duos (0.8g) and 2 removable pressed powder eyeshadows (1.6g).  

In addition to this the palette also comes with a shadow line (12M), double ended brush (great for packing on shadow and blending) and a "Sleek interchangeable compact with mirror. Pop in your 4 favourite eye colours to go..."

As far as I know the shadows e.t.c can also be purchased individually. 

The palette is also surrounded by step by step looks that you can create at home. I think this is great for people who like to experiment with dramatic looks like me and for those beginning with makeup.  

 

Overall I think this is a great palette to have. The compact and removable shadows are great for on the go and I think the concept is very well thought out. 

The packaging is unique and set out a little like a magazine (which I really like) and the compact is easy to use, sleek and great for chucking in your handbag. 

If this isn't enough Front Cover have chosen not to test on animals and promise to ensure no raw materials and manufactured goods are not tested on animals. 

What more could you want? 

The palette retails for £35 HERE. 

For more information visit - www.frontcovercosmetics.com

Twitter @FrontCoverCos

Facebook Search - Frontcover Cosmetics 

Love Chessie

She's So Lovely :)

I am sat on my bed with one of my very best friends, Megan, watching videos on YouTube, it is becoming addictive, eeek. Whilst having a giggle at all your best friend tags, we came to the agreement that it would be fun and interesting to find out a little more about each other. 

So here goes, grab yourself a cup of coffee, or tea (which ever you prefer, I don't like either so ...) and a snack and get comfy, this could be a long post!

1. How and when did you meet? 

Urm well, we attended primary school together, but completely loathed each other (not an exaggeration). We would argue on and off, threatening to get our parents involved (I'm sure we have all done it). We then managed to get along for a week (that was a new record). To cut a long story short, we became friends just before Megan switched schools in year 6 (we were aged 10-11). We can now both look back on this as a good thing, as it put a stop to the arguing, hehe. 

2. What's your favourite memory together?

Meg: OH MY GOSH CHESS! do you remember the time when we were in your bedroom and I skidded across your floor and I was like " Skidaddle, TING TING!" whilst bouncing my boobs up and down.haha gotta love that day :D 

Chessie: Ohhhhh, this is a hard one. Okay, so one time we were out cycling in the woods, you know, just messing around and rolling down hills. There was this one massive hill and being the dare devil that I am, I decided to ride down it. All was well and I could feel the breeze in my hair (true movie moment there), that was until I lost control and went flying over a tree stump. Miraculously there was not even a bruise in sight. :)

Meg: haha yeah that was hilarious! You probably burst my ear drums with the amount of screaming you did then! Oh my cheese, do you remember iRandom? okay, so iRandom was this really weird web show we decided to make. We only did like 6 episodes but there was this one time when we did a midnight special and we were looking at an interesting website on the internet, but we wont go into that. x

3. Describe each other in one word.

Chessie: Modest! I chose modest because Meg would never compare anyone to herself and does not like to brag. She is probably one of the only people I know not to accept a compliment. There are so many other words I could use too, especially hyperactive. 

Meg: She may not think so but she is beautiful. She also is AMAZING, LEGENDARY AND FORGIVING yeah yeah I know that's four words, but come on she's a pretty amazing person!  

Chessie: Thank you x teehee. 

4. What's your dream job?

Meg: I really want to be an air hostess because you get to travel the world an go to some places with some pretty tanned guys. ;)

Chessie: I would love to get a degree in English. I think journalism is my path, however I have to incorporate fashion into it somewhere along the lines, so I would love to be a fashion journalist for a big name like Vogue.   

5. What's your favourite make-up brand?

Chessie: I don't really have a favourite make-up brand, as I like to explore and try many. I must admit I do enjoy the gorgeous packaging of the Benefit products. However if I had to choose I would go with a cheaper alternative. For example I love Maybelline and MaxFactor for mascaras, Benefit for concealer and Natural Collection make a great moisturising lippy. 

Meg: Well I have extremely sensitive skin and can only use a few brands. It's quite a cheap range but I like 17 because there eye shadows are really pigmented, also I like the Barry M nail varnish :) I don't experiment like Chessie here because I don't like taking chances :LL

6. What is something that annoys you about the other person?

Meg: She gets seriously moody with me sometimes. probably because I'm always either tired and grumpy or EXTREMELY HYPER!

Chessie: The one and only thing that I have to say annoys me about Megan is that she puts herself down. I really don't like seeing her saying thing that aren't true, for example just a second ago when we were discussing this question she came out with the quote, "I'm so dumb!" Sometimes I feel like screaming at her, "YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE!!" x Ooopsie, I do seem a little moody. 

7. If you could go anywhere in the world together, where would it be and why?

Ohhhhh, New York, or Paris. Ohh what about Australia. I think we should just book a ticket all around the world, because we are never going to be able to decide. 

8. Favourite inside joke?

So many to choose from. We think maybe the "Scadaddle, TING TING (!!)", as mentioned in question 2 is our most recent. 

9. Who take longer to get ready in the morning?

Meg: right so, lets say I have just finished showering, getting dressed and doing my make-up... Chessie over here would be still deciding what to wear! She is really fashionable, where as I most certainly am not! 

Chessie: Well I can't really disagree on this one, as I tend to be the one keeping everyone waiting. Teehee. 

10. Favourite season?

Meg: Well I really like spring because here in the UK its always warmer than summer and I really like winter because I get to have a fat man in a red suit come down my chimney an drop of my home made iPad by the elves :) x

Chessie: Winter and Summer, defiantly. Maybe it is because I get all my presents in the winter time (Birthday and Christmas). Also I love Summer because I love taking trips down to the beach and having plenty of time off. 

11. Favourite song?

Chessie: I have been watching the Chart Show a lot recently and have a handful of current favourites. I am loving Louder - Dj Fresh, as well as; Best Thing I Ever Had - Beyonce; California King Bed - Rihanna; Swagger Jagger - Cher Lloyd and The A Team - Ed Sheeran. 

Meg: Absolutely love Adele! She reminds me of a special someone ;) loving her song,  'Set Fire to the Rain'. Katy Perry's songs remind me of me! Really colourful and bubbly- her song 'Last Friday Night' is my favourite song ever!

12. What is it like being best friends with someone who is obsessed with Blogging?

Meg: This question is definitely for me because Chessie has always got some kind of blog or website up and running! It's quite good to read them actually because I learn more from her than my mum who is a professional beautician! I know she loves to tell everyone new stuff ( I don't know what to call it) so its actually pretty cool :) x

13. Heels or flats?

Chessie: In the day I would definitely go for flats, however I really love heels on other people. For parties and special occasions I am a real heal girl and am in love with a black lace up pair I purchased from Red Level at Brantano, HERE.

Meg: If I had my own way then it would be heels all the time. I have this pair of beige boots with a wedged 3 inch heel, my favourite shoes! I also have this pair of black heels from New Look which we can't find the link to but hey ho :D 

14. Pants or dresses?

Chessiie: During the day I am  definitely a pants girl. I do not always feel comfortable in dresses, however thoroughly enjoy wearing them to parties and special occasions with my heels. I like to experiment with my colours, styles and prints of pants though and, have recently enjoyed wearing Palazzo Trousers, CLICK HERE FOR OOTD!

Meg: I love dresses. My favourite are strapless ones! I like to find new styles of dresses. I brought a maxi dress from Tesco (cheap I know) and I love it sooo much!. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Superdry and they do amazing dresses in there, loads of beach dresses which I love because I'm a beach babe, don't look it though. 

15. Favourite animal?

Chessie: My favourite animal would have to be my pet do Che. He is a white, long haired German Shepherd and I love him to pieces. When I was younger I used to be a dolphin obsessive, I have so many dolphin ornaments stashed away, I think they are adorable. 

Meg: Obviously a dolphin! Ever since I was about 6 my dad has taught me to swim and hold my breath for long amounts of time. I have always loved to be a dolphin! Do magical creatures count, :LL because I also love mermaids? :) x

16. If your house was burning down, and your entire family was sure to be okay, what would you save and why?

Chessie: A hose to put out the fire! tehe. I would probably save something valuable that represents a special time in my life. I don't really have a clue. I would probably just end up grabbing the closest thing to me, which would end up being my laptop, hehe.

Meg: On my first birthday I was given my Nana's first wedding ring ( my Nana and Granddad re-did there vows) and I am not allowed it till I'm 16, so I would save that or MY LAPTOP BECAUSE IM ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK! 

. 

17. Comedy, horror, or chick-flick?

Meg: Comedy :D x

Chessie: I'm drawn between a comedy or a chick-flick. I don't do horrors! 

18. Blackberry or iPhone?

Chessie: I currently have a Blackberry, however would be interested in trying out a iPhone. Maybe one day eh? I am loving the Blackberry now though, although the cameras are nothing to rave about. 

Meg: I to also have a blackberry, and Its very good, but as Chessie said the cameras are so nothing special. I would stay with a blackberry because the iPhone would go to waste :) x

19. Favourite movie?

Chessie: I don't really get the chance to watch movies that often. I watched Marley and Me the other night and thought it was good. Definitely emotional, as my mum and I both had tears rolling down out faces by the end. 

Meg: My favourite movie is like a group of films called the Twillight saga because I love the emotion and connection between Bella and Edward :) x

20. What is something weird that you eat?

Meg: Peanut butter and rice, is that weird?? 

Chessie:  I have been known for creating many concoctions in my time so this shouldn't be too hard. Sometime I dip ready salted crisps into tomato ketchup. To be honest I don't think this is too strange, we do it with chips. Oh, also I sometimes eat a spoon full of icing, don't ask, I just have a sweet tooth.

21. Do you guys have anything matching?

Yes actually we do. One of which happens to be a pale pink cardigan, with lace detailing. We purchased this at the same time from Primark. 

22. What's your favourite TV show?

Meg: I really love love love F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!!! and I am most certainly a gleek!! hehe ;) x

Chessie: I have been watching the Ace Of Cakes a lot lately, as well as the Chart Show. I am a huge EastEnders fan, shhhhh. 

I tag all of you to do this, yes that included you!!

Love Chessie & Meg

A POPsicle of Colour

I love the nude nail trend, it is subtle and classy and goes with any outfit. I love it and have found the perfect nail colour to pull it off. However for the summer time I think it should be about colours and exciting things, so I have come up with a way to add a POP of colour, and a touch of class. 

Clarins Nail Colour in 225

17 fast Finish nail Polish in Pink Grapefruit

Both of these shades complement each other really well. The pink/coral shade adds a pop of colour to the ring finger. 

Why don't you try experimenting with different colours to create different looks. I would love to see what you came up with.

Love Chessie

The Sun is Up and the Flowers Are Here to Stay

This is a bit of an odd post, hope you like it.

Wipeee, the sun is up after a long lie in and the flowers have come out to play. It's about time too. 

Just snapped a few piccys (that's not even a word), pictures then to be grammatically correct, of some colourful flowers, as you do, and thought I would share them with you all. 

OUCH!!

 

I love these last few, very dainty.

 I am currently laying on the hammock, catching some sun whilst tapping away at the keyboard of course, I do like to keep you posted. I am hoping the weather will stay lovely, there is nothing better than a trip down the beach with friends. Ohh think I might just go grab an ice-cream, you've got to love an ice-cream. 

Love Chessie