ABH Glow Kit - Nicole Guerriero Palette Vs Ultimate Glow Kit ('face' swatches)

Firstly I just want to say this post doesn't refer to the comparison of the shades in both palettes, however I do insert two pictures with the highlight on my skin so you can see the comparison of the 'glow'. This post is more on the texture of the product and which one I prefer and would work for you. 

If you've heard reviews, seen pictures you'll probably think that there's no competition really and the NG one wins hands down.. but that's not really the case 😳

Anastasia Beverly Hills has come out with many glow kits, and up till now none of them have really interested me. I've always found that I either own some of the colours in my collection or the shades don't really interest me. However that all changed when NG dropped her glow kit! Here's the little beauty if you haven't already seen it 

The shades are pretty incredible and unique. I was actually always after a peachy highlight and was in two minds about their big pan illuminators in the shade Peach Nectar but then they discontinued it, so when I seen that peach shade Daydream it really appealed to me. I was also excited about Forever Lit as I wanted a highlight with a hint of blue but didn't want to fork out on the 'Moonchild' glow kit. I seen a tutorial of someone (can't remember who 😩) do a black smokey eye with a nude lip and had a reflective blue highlight going on.. I loved it!  I'll try search for it and link it in if I do come across it again. 

You'll have noticed from swatches of this palette (they're all over the net) if you haven't seen any, that it's very pigmented and gives a high shine finish without the use of fix+ but if you're extra like me you can still use a fixing spray to apply your product (I actually set my face with fix+ then apply the highlight to my wet skin).

Here's a photo of me wearing daydream with forever lit 

What I've noticed is that it does emphasise texture on the skin, some shades more then others esp in the daylight when the suns out. I used this palette and I did notice that more then any of the highlighters I own the Anastasia Beverly Hills x Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit emphasises texture!! I'm really gutted about this, it's not too bad where you can't wear it but it is definitely noticeable, esp if you wear it in the daytime. 

This is where the Ultimate Glow Kit comes in. When you swatch the highlight shades in this palette they swatch horrible!!! They feel gritty, grainy and probably wont even show up on the skin. Yet with a little bit of work you can get such a POPPIN' highlight that looks flawless and gives the appearance of a baked highlighter such as 'Laura Geller - Gilded Honey' that it blows the Nicole Guerriero one out the water!

Here is a photo of me wearing a mixture of Golden Dawn and Snow from the Ultimate Glow Kit

I mean.. come on.. blinding or what?!! I haven't retouched this photo at all, straight from the camera roll or shall I say Snapchat roll 😜

So how do you make the Ultimate Glow Kit work for you? 

Application! At the end of your makeup, spray your face with Fix + or any other setting mist you have, and use a densely packed brush. The brush really makes a hugeeeee difference. Not only with this but with my other highlighters too. I used to use the 'Zoeva 105 Luxe Highlight Brush'. It's a domed shape brush so if you're using anything like that or a fan brush, put them tools down!! You need something that's similar to the ABH highlight brush, I ain't going to fork out for that so I used a tried and tested affordable Real Techniques Setting Brush!!! 

(I'm actually getting out of bed to take a pic of this little soldier!!) 

Back to the application method.. spray your brush with a little fix+ or if you're not applying it to damp skin then be generous on spraying your brush you want it quite damp but not soaking wet. Dip into the product (I've found the top row of the Ultimate Glow Kit to work wonders with this, haven't really tried the bottom row) and then apply it and it will give the most metallic flawless sheen without emphasising any flaws or texture! 

Wearing 'White Sand' with a touch of 'Snow' from the ABH Ultimate Glow Kit

Wearing 'Glo Getter' with a touch of 'Forever Lit' from the ABH X Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit. 

Overall thoughts??

If you already have the Ultimate Glow Kit and it's not working for you, I hope my method really changes your thoughts on the palette. I love the finish of a baked highlight so for me I really prefer it and if you have texture on the high points I would say this does really work, only if your willing to put in that extra work but as you can see it doesn't give a subtle glow, and without a setting spray looks chalky. 

If you want something with unique colours and have flawless skin or don't mind a little bit of emphasis then I'd definitely recommend the Nicole Guerriero one. I still do love it, it's shades and pigmentation let you control the 'shine'. You can dust it on lightly for a subtle glow or build it and get the same result as the photos I've inserted using the Ultimate Glow Kit.. 

An overview of my weightloss journey

Losing weight and going on all sorts of diets are usually something most of us are wrapped up in. I've always been quite chubby and at my most weighed 9 stone 10, a size 12. I'm such a foodie and that led me to gain loads of weight, I didn't have fast metabolism like some of the girls around me that wouldn't put on anything after eating similar foods and amounts as me. I wouldn't say I was ever 'fat' but I was meaty lol and was far from being slim and was too lazy and too in love with food to give up anything.  

Before I got married at 21, I went on a 'carb-free' diet and used the treadmill as a form of exercise (didn't use it enough!). It did made me lose 10 pounds over a few months but again I didn't like what I was doing, I found it really difficult and didn't lose enough weight. So I got back down to 9 stones which was how much I weighed when I was around 18/19 years old.  

So what was it that worked for me?  Motivation!!' Strength of the mind! I was sooo determined that I'm going to do this and I did. I got pregnant with my first daughter and luckily I didn't really gain much weight (Long story I'll go into that another time but I had extreme sickness and really tiny babies, barely ate through my pregnancies). Once I gave birth I weighed 9 stone 2. So again I was around the 9 stone mark. I moved into my home and I thought this is it, I'm joining gym!  Before I get into how I worked out and things like that I just want to touch on food. Previously I tried to lose a bit of weight here and there and what always worked for me was 'calorie counting'. I found that eating what I wanted but just less of it stopped  me from temptation. Not to say this is easy, because if you are used to eating a certain amount, cutting back does make you hungry and irate, but like all good things you have to have patience and this will slowly adjust your 'stomach' as it'll get used to the newer amount of food.  So that's why I did calorie counting using my fitness pal, it tells you how much you should be eating to lose a pound or two a week and deducts from the calories you burnt from your workouts. 

 This post is getting very long and detailed but even in calorie counting there's way of doing it, cutting corners and there are days where you shouldn't follow the limited goal for many reasons which I'll go into in a different post. The thing is your body is like a robot and you need to constantly switch it up, but I'll discuss calories in a different post.  The same goes for working out, it's something so detailed that I'll be posting separately on the exact workouts I did and how to manipulate them every week or so. I went from using the treadmill for 30 mins three times a week when I was 21 (back in the days) to going gym for 1 hour or more 5/6 times a week. The workouts really motivated me, made me feel good and active and week by week I was seeing results, on the scales and in person  I lost weight slowly and they say the slower you lose it the longer it stays off. I know people that have lost a stone in a month. I started this regime mid January 2016, and by the end of May 2016 I lost a stone and weighed 8 stone 2, then I stopped my regime as I got pregnant again. Its now March 2017 and I still weigh 8 stone 2 after giving birth to baby number 2 another tiny baby, but I haven't come to the end of my weight loss journey. I plan to rejoin gym and get back on to the calorie counting to just lose a couple of pounds but to really tone up more then anything and to stay fit and to keep myself in shape.  

Honestly I feel so ecstatic that I've got to where I am. I never thought I'd weigh around 8 stone nor did I think I would be a size 8. It's all about determination, will power and slowly adjusting to the food and exercise regime. My next post will contain step by step of the exercises I did  and food I ate to lose weight. If I did put on another stone in pregnancy I would stick to that routine as it was something that worked for me, and doing it wasn't making me feel down and horrible, I felt so refreshed and energised.  

Losing weight and working out go hand in hand I never used to exercise before and I found it difficult to lose weight just on a food diet. I was lazy and thought exercise isn't for me. But boy I proved myself wrong! I was in love with the gym, it was such a sanctuary for me. If I can do it anyone can! You have to love what your doing to lose weight otherwise it does grind you down and you end up stopping in your tracks.  Hope this gave you all an insight into my weightless journey and the next post will feature everything I did in detail

Turkish/Moroccan inspired living room

  So those of you that know me know that I live in a three storey home, my house is quite compact but that didn't stop me and my husband from decorating it in our own unique way, and for a first home I think it's lovely ☺

So here's a stamp of our personality translated into one of our living ares. I just want to stress that this isn't our main living area, because we have an additional living/dining area we wanted something quirky with this room and we both had a Turkish/Moroccan theme in mind.. We love the food, the decor and recently visited Morocco which was beautiful.

The colours, patterns and style are just so unique and mesmerizing and I wanted to implement that in my home. The room itself makes me feel like I'm somewhere else, especially because we hardly use this room and it's located in an area of the house which we're not around, so it really is like a sanctuary detached from the rest of the house. 

Chandelier & Lighting 

I'm going to start with the star of the show and that is this stunning chandelier, all the way from Turkey via ebay 😆 it took a couple of weeks to arrive as expected.

Most my items in this room are from ebay, the internet hosts the world so why not search what you're looking for right at your fingertips eh?

 The lighting shines through the painted glass which won't give you such bright lighting which is usually needed for a family room that is used all the time. We added in a few spotlights just for a touch of white brightness and to make the room a little more chic. Alongside this we have a lamp, again this reflects colour too and was only brought for aesthetic purposes, it was one of those items which I seen and ran to screaming OMG this will go perfectly in our Moroccan room!! 

Spotlights

 Wallpaper from Home Image

From The Range

Table & Rug

This lamp sits on  those small stackable coffee tables, we needed something sturdy and something that functions when we need to serve snacks as our coffee table is a bit unsteady because the table top isn't attached to its legs, but its such a vintage Turkish piece of furniture.

The legs to this are so rustic and unique, I forgot to take photos of it but I will update this post and insert the image, so you can get an idea of what it actually looks like. From the angle in the photo it doesn't look like much, but that's not the case in person. Again this piece is from eBay.

The rug (which I'm sure you've seen 100 times over) is from ikea.

Curtain and Cushions

So when I first had the image of how I wanted this room I knew straight away it was an array of colourful cushions which interpret Morocco & Turkey in my room. I wanted different sizes, bright and bronze shades as well as different designs. To my luck I found all of that, again through eBay. My beautiful cushions sit against a neutral sofa that gives the room serious personality. 

My curtains are probably unnoticeable when you look at the room as a whole, probably because the way the lighting sits in that room it dulls the ends of the window out, however it is probably the most priciest furnishing in the whole room.

Curtain & Holdbacks - Dunelm

It feels really heavy and luxurious and I love the holdbacks they're so big and dramatic, they blend perfecly with the design, they weren't included with the curtains, we brought these separate but from the same place. 

Lifestyle

             

    

 Hey guys!  So it's been a while since I've posted anything, mostly down to the fact I've got two little girls. A 2 month old and a 20 month old (1 year and 8 months to those of you that aren't mothers and find counting in months annoying lol). I also moved house last year and invested a lot of time building the perfect interior to my cosy little home. In addition to that I've been on a weight loss journey which took up most of my attention and was something I was fixated on that makeup 'posts' took a backseat to. But as all of you snapchaters that follow me know that my love for all things 'cake face' has far from left me.


My life now has made me dabble in many other key interests so I thought why not post about all the variants that I enjoy, such as:

• Make-up
• Weight loss (inc. fitness plan),
• Outfit ideas,
• Recipes,
• Home decor,
• Mummy life,
• Restaurant reviews (I'm a weekender 😆)
• And whatever else that goes on in my life.. as well as some 'heavy' posts on my experiences in certain situations and some fun posts relating to my previous holidays!

 


 If anyone wants me to delve into a certain area and post about a specific experience/review then please do let me know. I'm an over the top photo taker so my posts will always be picture heavy 😜 don't know about you guys but pictures just brighten my day.  Love you all 😘

Full face product list & outfit of the day (FOTD/OOTD)

Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW POMADE - Ebony

Sleek STORM PALETTE - Forest Green Shade 

Make up Geek SHADOWS - Chickadee, Creme Brûlée, Cocoa Bear, Bitten, Mocha, Corrupt 

PIGMENT - Utopia

Rimmel GEL LINER - Black

Blinc inc MASCARA AMPLIFIED - Waterproof Black

Koko lashes -Goddess

Mehron CÉLÈBRE HD FOUNDATION - Eurasia Fair

Nars SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION - Barcelona 

Urban Decay NAKED SKIN WEIGHTLESS COMPLETE COVERAGE CONCEALER - Med/ Dark Neutral 

LA girl PRO CONCEAL - Creamy Beige 

Rimmel STAY MATTE POWDER - Translucent 

Bare Minerals CONCEALER - Well Rested 

Bobbi Brown BRONZER - Tawny Brown

Mua BLUSH - Shade 3

Becca SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTER - Champagne Pop 

Mac LIP PENCIL - Spice

Kat Von D EVERLASTING LIQUID LIPSTICK - Bow & Arrow 

Recently I placed a couple of orders on BooHoo and I've been impressed, The top I'm wearing is a roll neck which is a lovely thick material that isn't as heavy as a jumper but has twice the thickness of a regular top. It has a stretch fit. The jacket is also from BooHoo and the material is so lovely and actually cosy, its brilliant to dress up an outfit. Originally I got it in Camel, I loved it so much I ordered this in Khaki, it's a lovely snug and sophisticated piece. I teamed all this up with paisley embossed black cigarette trousers and a olive/khaki hijab to tie in my eye makeup. Love these colours for winter.

Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) Highlighter in Riviera on Tan/ Olive /Asian/ Indian Skintones NC37-NC42

As all of you beauty addicts know that highlighters are the central of the makeup world right now, and ABH are quick to introduce their own line.

At first I read a brief comment on 'dupethat' instagram referring these as 'quite thin' it made me a bit apprehensive nonetheless I still wanted to give it a shot!

I didn't know which one to purchase, I was stuck between Riviera & Peach Nectar. Although So Hollywood is the most popular (typical gold highlighter which is a dupe of MAC - whisper of guilt/ Estee Lauder - Heatwave), I actually wasn't drawn to it, overtime I've realised I actually think more neutral toned highlighters suit my complexion. Eventually I decided I wanted Rivera it looked so unique and I didn't want anything too warm toned, 

Just going to put it out there - HANDS DOWN BEST HIGHLIGHT EVER! The formula is beautifullllll and the colour is so unique its quite cool toned but has a subtle warmth about it in some lights (pictures attached below). It's a mix of silver, tan, bronze, cool toned rose. 

Prior to trying the ABH highlighter theBalm - Mary Loumanizer was my favourite, it still is (they're both on par... I think) the texture is very pigmented, flawless and striking without looking patchy & OTT. Starlight by ABH reminds me of Mary Loumanizer, I might have to invest in it some time & try the products out side by side to compare the colours and ultimately decide which formula I prefer. Tbh I think I'm going to pick up all the shades they have to offer. So Hollywood would probably be the last one I purchase as I'm guessing it's a dupe to my Laura Geller - Gilded Honey & not far off from Becca - Champagne Pop which I was highly disappointed yuin the formula & colour. It's patchy and doesn't look a appealing as my other highlighters on the skin and It doesn't scream peach to me, hence my next purchase will be Peach Nectar - very excited to try this one out!

Photo taken in dimlight with flash

Natural light

With Flash

Sometimes lighting & flash makes it looks slightly more warm toned at certain angles on my tan/olive skin

Liquid Lipsticks: Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip Review And Swatches

My thoughts:

At only $5 Colourpop Liquid Lipsticks are so worth it. They have such a velvety texture, more smooth and velvety then Limecrimes 'Velvetines' which also give off more of an ultra matte finish, like its name. 

However after a few hours of wear if you're not too used to matte lips this can get quite uncomfortable, and if you need to reapply then I would definitely suggest removing the whole lip and re-applying it again, or it can get very messy and uncomfortable.

The two that I have worn out is Beeper and Avenue. I was so disappointed in the shade 'beeper' as I was really looking forward to a mid toned brown nude (my fave shade) but on the lips it appeared more grey-toned on me, still it is beautiful but I just find it didn't suit me.

Avenue I wore to a wedding recently and it looked stunning! Deep burgundy red (looks darker once applied on the lips) and it lasted through eating, drinking, and didn't smear. (Picture posted below) I removed it after 5 hours of wear, it still looked effortless but was tugging on my lips a little. I wouldn't wear this one for any longer because removal made quite a mess and this shade in particular slightly transferred.

I'd like to try out a few more shades but I absolutely recommend these to a liquid lipstick lover like me, if you haven't really dabbled into liquid lipsticks then I wouldn't suggest starting out on these because they are so super matte, yet you can still use these and top it off a gloss on top if you like.