Ciara Sims

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but lately I've just had zero motivation for anything. I've been feeling quite low and all I've really wanted to do is stay in bed, so blogging has been at the very back of my mind I'm afraid. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago now I went up to Covent Garden with Lauren from Cupcakes & Candyfloss and we spent the day drooling over all the gorgeous beauty bits that they have up there. Now I didn't do as much spending as Lauren did but I couldn't leave without picking up something. I'd been eyeing up Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle (£24) for a while so I bit the bullet and finally picked one up for myself.

This is probably my favourite beauty purchase in a long long while. It is absolutely gorgeous and worthy of the price tag. Mac's Mineralize Skinfinishes are baked face powders that can be used as a highlighter or lightly dusted over the entire face for a luminous glow. Soft & Gentle is the only Mineralize Skinfinish that I have, but I did swatch them all in the shop and I think they are far too glittery to be applied to the whole face, but that's just me. If you are one of those people that manages to pull of having Soft & Gentle all over your face then please let me know how you do it!

As a highlighter however, this is the only product you will ever need. Soft & Gentle is a lovely peachy champagne shade with tiny flecks of gold. It is a warm toned highlighter, but trust me that this shade is universal. Soft & Gentle looks amazing on everybody I have ever seen wear it. I am very fair skinned and so usually use a pearly pink shade like *Benefit's High Beam as a highlight, but Soft & Gentle has pushed that aside massively. Soft & Gentle gives you that gorgeous lit from within summer glow that I'm still not quite ready to give up on.

It is glittery, I won't lie to you there. But there is a balance. On the skin the glitter blends easily to create a luminous sheen to the tops of your cheek bones, and it doesn't fall out around the rest of your face. I love glitter and don't have a problem with it at all, but there are times when I don't want to look like a disco ball.

The wear time on this stuff is amazing, so there's no need to carry it around with you for touch ups. Also because only the smallest bit is needed, I don't think I'll be hitting pan anytime soon. Soft & Gentle is such a cult product and I can really see why! This product is so worth the hype and you all need to stick it on your Christmas lists (it's not too early for them yet is it?) if you don't have it already!

Don't forget to check out Lauren's haul!

Ciara x

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*This post mentions items which were gifted to me. Full disclaimer.

I'm such a sucker for a good neutral eye shadow palette and although I do now have the ultimate neutral palette - the *Urban Decay Naked Palette - in my collection, I understand that this isn't available for everybody and I managed long enough without it. There are plenty of amazing neutral eye shadow palettes out there on the high street and I have a few in my collection that I still reach for even though they may be sat right next to my *Naked Palette. I think the high street brands do neutral eye shadows really well so here are my top picks!

Kicking it all off we have the Maybelline The Nudes Eye Shadow Palette (£9.99). I've talked about this palette plenty of times so you should know how much I love it by now. I took the Maybelline The Nudes Eye Shadow Palette away with me when I went to Ireland in the summer because it's just got every neutral colour you could need to get you through the week. I also really like that it includes a range of matte and shimmer shades so you can play about with textures as well as colour.

The palette is set up into 3 quads and each shade within that quad is designed to go together perfectly. Of course you can mix and match whatever shade you want (which is what I usually do) but it's really nice to have those sections set up for you. It makes the process of deciding what to wear a lot easier and if you're a makeup beginner, there are even instructions as to what colour looks best where on the back of the palette. The first quad contains your standard neutrals: 3 shimmer shades and a matte brown. The middle section (my favourite) contains a matte nude colour that makes an absolutely fab base for any look and 3 bronze/gold shimmer shades to make the most dazzling evening look. Finally last but not least, the last 4 remind me a lot of the colour combos inside the Bobbi Brown Greige Collection Palette. There's a pale shimmery highlight, two browny grey tones and a black that is perfect used as a liner or for a dramatic smokey eye. This palette contains something for everybody and the mix of cool and warm toned shades means it's so versatile and great for travelling when you haven't got room to take loads of products with you.

The quality of the shadows are good. There's no fall out, they blend easily and don't crease. The wear time isn't the most amazing I've ever come across, but they last around 8 hours without fading which is pretty impressive for a high street palette. I also really like the packaging, it's sturdy but chuck away the silly foam applicator that they give you because it's useless.

I mentioned the Collection Eyes Uncovered Eye Shadow Palette in Nude (£3.99) recently in my school makeup look and I have been wearing the colours from this palette a lot to sixth form since. They are just such pretty basic neutral colours that are really easy to wear and perfect for every day use. They're the kind of colours that you can just chuck on and they look good with basically no effort. You don't have to worry about picking complimentary colours because the palette has been put together for you and because there is a range of colours from light to dark, this one little palette is enough to complete a full look including eyeliner.

Shades from left to right: White Chocolate, Buttercream, Biscuit, Chocolate Milk, Brown Sugar and Espresso

My favourite shade in the palette is called Biscuit. It's a really lovely pale gold colour that you can just sweep across the lid and go. All the shades are really buttery and soft so they blend well and last all day without a primer. Everybody needs this fuss free palette in their lives. This palette actually reminds me a lot colour wise of the Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics Palette except these shadows contain shimmer rather than being completely matte.

I'd always heard a lot of good things about Makeup Revolution but never tried any of their products myself. But when I went shopping with my friend I couldn't resist coming away with at least one of these beautiful palettes (Makeup Revolution do every colour combination you could possibly want and I definitely need a trip back). I picked up the Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette Iconic 2 (£4) which is clearly supposed to be a take on the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and I absolutely love it.

Iconic 2 contains a wide rage of colours including golds, silvers and taupes that will suit both cool and warm toned skin. There isn't a big range of textures here as the palette only contains 3 matte shades. But they are a peach, brown and black so there's a base, transition and liner colour. I think all the colours are beautiful, but the two stand out shades for me are the gold and copper shades. They are insanely pigmented and I actually wore these colours to prom. Unfortunately, I don't get as much wear out of this palette anymore as my mum seems to have adopted it.

For a measly four quid you get 12 beautifully buttery shades that are well pigmented and last on the eyes all day. They don't crease and there is no fall out at all. If you prefer matte shades then this particular palette isn't for you but, check out one of Makeup Revolutions other palettes because the quality is exceptional for the price. The only thing I would say is that the packaging feels cheap and is even starting to crack where it snaps shut.

Last but by no means least, we have another offering from Collection. After picking up the Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette without realising they did other variations, I went back to Boots and bought myself the Collection Eyes Uncovered Eye Shadow Palette in Nude Bronze (£3.99). This palette is a bronze goddesses dream and I love it with every inch of my being (bit much???).



Shades from left to right: Ivory, Mink, Ochre, Golden Brown, Ember, Nutty

I love every single colour in this palette and get wear out of all of them. Because of the amount of bronze, gold and copper toned colours going on, this will definitely suit people who have warmer undertones more but Collection also do a Nude Grey version of the palette for those of you who do have cool undertones, so don't you worry. I think these colours are great for a night out when you want a lot of drama without stepping out of your comfort zone, they're also really rich colours that will compliment every single eye colour and make your eyes pop.

This palette is insanely pigmented and because the shimmer is very finely milled, you don't have to worry about getting fall out from chunky glitter. The shadows are buttery and easy to blend and last all day on the lid without creasing or fading even without a primer (because let's be honest, I can't be bothered with an eye shadow primer).

So there are my favourite neutral eye shadow palettes on the high street. Have I missed any out??

Ciara x

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*This post mentions items which were gifted to me. Full disclaimer.

This year is absolutely flying by. It seems like yesterday that I was having my 16th birthday party and now I'm 17, learning to drive and have a job. A lot can change in a year, and usually I hate change and try to avoid it wherever I can, but I think the changes this year have done me good and I might even be starting to like it! Anyway, lets get on to talking about what I've been loving this month.


This month I've been trying to use as many products in my makeup collection as possible. So, I've been regularly switching up what eye shadow palette I'm using. The palette that has stood out to me the most this month and the one that I've been gravitating towards is the Maybelline The Nudes Eye Shadow Palette (£9.99) because it is just so simple to use. I very rarely leave my comfort zone when it comes to eye makeup and tend to stick with golds and bronzes so, this palette contains such a wide range of colours for me to be able to create what ever look I'm in the mood for. My go to look for during the day, has been putting the middle colour on the top row all over my eye area and then packing the first colour on the bottom row all over my lid and softly blending it out. I love that nude colour because it's just the perfect base for any look. It has a colour correcting effect and makes any shadow you put on top pop. The quality of these shadows is brilliant, they don't crease or fade throughout the day and they blend out easily. I'm really glad I picked this palette up and it is great for travel.

The weather this month has actually been really nice so I haven't wanted to hunt out my more autumnal shades yet. Instead I've been sticking with fresh summery colours like the Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels (£7). This is such a pretty coral blush and I know I keep mentioning it, but it's just gorgeous. The cream to powder formula means you get that fresh and youthful glow without it being sticky and heavy on your skin. Head Over Heels blends really easily which is fantastic as I've always steered clear of cream blushers because they scare me and the wear time is good. Also how cute is that packaging!


Right to Left - Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels, Seventeen Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive

Another product that I keep raving about is the Seventeen Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive (£4.79). This has definitely been my most worn lipstick this month and I've carried it about with me everywhere (which is why it now looks so disgusting and mashed up). Beehive is a really pretty peachy pink that is perfect for the transition between summer and autumn. It's a Mirror Shine lipstick so it's quite moisturising and almost glossy which I like during the day, because it doesn't feel heavy and you don't have to worry about it misbehaving, it just wears off naturally. My only criticism is that the packaging feels cheap and my lipstick did break quite easily because of how soft it is but I don't really mind too much because it doesn't cost the earth at all.

Me and white musk have always had a bit of a love-hate relationship. I do think it is one of those scents that you either adore or can't stand but, for me, at the minute I think it is beautiful. I've been wearing *The Body Shop White Musk Fragrance Mist (£7.50) all throughout September because I just think it is perfect for the slightly colder weather that we've been having. It's such a velvety and comforting scent that really makes you feel like you're being wrapped up in a blanket. The *Fragrance Mist is perfect for the day time because it isn't as strong and overpowering as the *eau de toilette but it's still got that deep mix of rose, jasmine, amber and wood. Beautiful.

Last but not least, no outfit has been complete this month without my Asos Rose Gold Tiny Triangle Earrings (£4). I don't usually wear earrings that much because I feel like it makes me stand out (weird I know) but these earrings are small enough that they add a bit of colour and something special without screaming out to people. I think they are so pretty and I love them.

So that's what I've been loving this September. What have you been loving this month?

Ciara x

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*This post contains items which were gifted to me. Full Disclaimer.