naked basics 2: is it worth it?♡

When I had some birthday money ready and waiting for me to spend, I decided on getting the Naked 2 Basics. A pallet that I have wanted for some time. However, I am still undecided about weather the £23 splurge was worth it?

The pallet itself has 5 matt shades and one that is a cross between a matt and a shimmer. The pallet has cool-toned neutral shades. It comes in very sleek matt packaging and is the perfect travel sized pallet. The pallet retails for £23 which is pricey for a pallet of this size. I know that Urban Decay shadows are impressive in their quality. The shades are buttery and easy to blend and I have never had any problems with the quality of the shadows. I don't know what it is about this pallet but it didn't wow me. I feel as though the colours are almost 'flat'. I have never tried a nearly all matte pallet before and I am still umming and aaahing about weather it was worth it. I love the quality of the shades but the actual shade colours I don't feel like you can do a lot with.

 I love 'Skimp,' which is a highlighting shade which I love to wear alone with a simple liquid liner look and 'Frisk' which I use for my brows. 'Stark' is quite a yellow-toned cream shade which I find quite hard to wear as it looks as though I've used a yellow toned concealer around my eyes and haven't blended it in. That's the best way to describe it! 'Cover' is quite a red-toned brown shade which I feel is only right for a crease colour but I'm not sure which other colours to pair it with. I have tried to mix it in with 'Frisk' but it looks too dark. 'Primal' is a nice colour but I find it difficult to wear and 'Undone' is one of those shades I rarely touch, however I occasionally use it to line my lash line. 

I don't necessarily regret the splurge because it is a lovely pallet. I know the pallet is called Naked Basics and it's made with the purpose of providing you with 6 basic shades that are really good to have in your collection, but I feel as though I am disappointed with the shade range and what I can do with it. I might watch a few tutorials on how to wear the shades! I definitely prefer my bigger Naked pallet which I think is worth the £38 and if you are considering buying your first Naked pallet I would definitely get a big one before getting a basics pallet as I am a lot more impressed with the shade range in my Naked 3. 

Let me know what you think if you own any Naked Basics pallets and what you think of them? 

Emily x

bloggers meetup and haul♡

I am constantly amazed at the vast amount of opportunities I have been given since the day I started blogging. Never in a million years on that frosty afternoon of Boxing Day 2013 that writing my first very cringey blog post would lead to the sorts of things I have been able to do through this small community. My blog never fails to lead me to things I never expected. Together with my blogging friend, Chloe we arranged a meet up for bloggers and YouTubers around our local area. We prepared for big numbers but many of the ones invited got caught up with other things such as working so we had a very small little gathering, tearoom treats and shopping. We spent the afternoon getting to know one another and having a really lovely time, so much so, we are hopefully going to meet up again! Because of the meet up Chloe and I got in contact with some companies who provided samples for the meet up which was really lovely of them so I thought I would do a mini review plus showing you some of the goodies I sneakily bought myself! 

This is a collab with Chloe whom I met! She was so lovely in 'real' life as well as on her blog and online! Here is her blog post all about the day! 

Chloe's post 

I shared cream tea with my sister! 

As part of the bloggers meetup some lovely companies sent us some goodies to try and give to all the girls who are going. The first thing that was in the goody bag was the 'Dream Dots' overnight treatment patches for your spots. They are small plastic sticky dots that are clear and fit on any pesky blemish you have. I'm not entirely sure on the way it works. I have tried this twice. Unfortunately, the first evening the spots didn't stay properly on my skin and I ended up waking up to find them no longer on my face. Last night, I gave them another go and the results weren't successful. I still will persist with trying this but so far it hasn't done anything for me! 

Also in the goody bag there were these Papier Poudre powdered sheets which are great to absorb all the excess oil on your face. I used these after PE and they absorbed any of the oil on my T-Zone and transferred a light powder which did refresh. What I love about this is the samples come in a little book so it's the perfect size to fit in your makeup bag. I always find that when carrying a powder it's likely to break and cause a lot of mess. These are ideal because the powder is built into the paper.  

Lastly, in the bag was the Metcalfes Skinny Popcorn in Sweet 'n Salt. I love this popcorn and especially this flavour. The idea is this popcorn is not as calorific and it's gluten free. I really enjoyed this and the bag went in the space of 5 minutes. I would definitely buy this again! 

During the shopping trip, I also picked up some skincare/bodycare bits and bobs for myself because who doesn't like a little treat? Firstly, I went to the Body Shop and picked up another one of their body butters. I luckily, always find these on deals. This was £6.50 - what a bargain! I love the Body Shop body butters. They are really moisturising on my skin and smell so delicious. I bought the blueberry one which has a really fruity subtle scent and I love the colour of the packaging! 

I also decided to pick up the Lush Mask of Magnimity. I went into Lush with the intention of just window shopping but the face masks immediately caught my eye. I was interested in buying the Cupcake one but it was more expensive, a smaller quantity and only lasts a month whereas this Mask of Magnimity lasts for 4 or so months, bigger in quantity and a little bit cheaper. It was a no brainer. This says it's perfect of acne and pesky spots which I am prone to getting. It smells like mint and pea soup and is quite thick in consistency. I will report back on how well this worked! 

Emily xx