MY FIVE CHARLOTTE TILBURY MAKEUP STAPLES

25.08.2020 

THE VERY BEST OF CHARLOTTE TILBURY

Charlotte Tilbury is a brand that is definitely in my top five favourite makeup brands and has been a brand that I have been purchasing from regularly over the last few years. Her packaging is always beautiful and I always keep her products displayed on my dressing table as her rose gold packaging is absolutely stunning. When I want my skin to look airbrushed, natural and glowing or when I want to go full glam, I know I can always trust Charlotte Tilbury. There is a reason why so many of her products have airbrush in their name as that is exactly what it does. Over the years, Charlotte Tilbury has created a range of products that are flattering for all skin tones and types and is flattering for an everyday look. In my everyday makeup drawer, there is always multiple products from this brand and I know I will continue to purchase from Charlotte Tilbury for a long time. Therefore, it was difficult to think of just five products that I consider a makeup staple as all her products are holy grails for me. Although, I love all of the products from her and am excited to buy some new products from her soon ...

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PAT MCGRATH LABS GOLDEN OPULENCE EYESHADOW PALETTE REVIEW

19.07.2020

CAN A 6-PAN EYESHADOW PALETTE REALLY BE WORTH £50?

When it comes to beauty brands that I have always wanted to try, Pat McGrath Labs is at the top of my list of brands that I have always wanted to have in my collection. I have only ever heard great reviews about this brand from other beauty bloggers and YouTubers so of course I wanted to try it myself; although there is a hefty price tag with her products. I was not willing to spend £120 on one of her huge eyeshadow palettes like the Mothership VIII: Divine Rose II (ad). However, I was willing to spend £50 on one of her smaller eyeshadow palettes; I was even more willing to buy it when I saw it was on sale for £30. The eyeshadow palette I am writing about is the MTHRSHP Sublime: Golden Opulence (ad) palette.

Definitely a brand that is luxurious and opulent, I was excited to see what all of the hype was about. Plus, I wanted to test the waters before I spent over £100 on the larger eyeshadows. So can a six-pan eyeshadow palette really be worth £50?

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FIVE BEAUTY PRODUCTS I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT

25.05.2020

THE PRODUCTS I WILL ALWAYS REPURCHASE

When it comes to beauty products, I am very lucky to own a large collection and I am always buying new makeup to try regularly - often I will share these with you if I truly love them! However, even though I have a lot of makeup, I will always have those products that I am obsessed with and cannot live without them. These are the products that I will repurchase as soon as I am getting low as I know they work well for me. Often these "holy grail" products for me are skincare as once I have found a product that works well for my skin type, I will constantly use it and am very reluctant to change up my skincare routine. At the moment I am trying out some new Drunk Elephant products that I am loving which will definitely become part of my products I cannot live without in the future!

I love wearing makeup and often I am always buying new releases and therefore I rarely find myself needing to replace a makeup product as I either never run out of it or I have a lot of products that are similar. When it comes to repurchasing makeup it will be foundations, mascaras and eyebrow products that will be added to my basket. However, there are times where I am trying lots at one time and it takes me a while to finally repurchase makeup. I am also not someone who has to wear a full face of makeup whenever I leave the house; I am very happy and more confident walking out the door with no makeup on (although I will always have competed my skincare routine first). Therefore, I don't always go through products that fast. However, I have five beauty products that I need in my beauty collection all the time. These are all products that I know I love and will repurchase as soon as I am running out of it. Here are the five products that I am unable to live without and will always repurchase ...

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THE BEST PLACES TO SHOP FOR LUXURY BEAUTY

18.05.2020

THE PERFECT ONLINE RETAILERS FOR LUXURY MAKEUP

Luxury beauty products! You will either be a huge fan or think it is a waste of money. For me, I am definitely in the middle I love buying luxury makeup but there are some products I know are not worth spending so much money on. I am someone who loves purchasing both luxury and drugstore makeup but for today I am focussing on the luxury end of beauty products. When it comes to makeup, we all have our favourites - whether it be a well-loved brand, a specific formula or certain finishes. All of these powders, creams and liquids will be different for everyone!

Keeping lists of products is a brilliant way for me to narrow down those key luxury beauty products that I want to try - often my list will comprise of products that I need to repurchase or products that are mentioned time and time again by beauty bloggers and YouTubers. I am now much more smart about knowing which products will suit me and therefore my list does not get as long as it used to be. The only issue is knowing where to buy these beauty products from - with so many beauty retailers both online and on the high street it can be overwhelming to know where to make your purchases. Often, I would find that I would have orders from multiple sites because at the time the amount of brands that would be stocked were limited. Whereas, now more brands are added to online retailers and it is much easier to just choose a one stop shop for all your beauty needs.

I have comprised a list of my favourite online retailers for stocking luxury beauty - these are all sites that I use frequently. I have found that these sites are brilliant for stocking my favourite luxury must-haves and I can often find everything I need with just one of these websites. I have found that their range of brands grow by the day and I am aware of which brands are stocked by who so I know which site is more appropriate for when I am purchasing new makeup. So here are my favourite online luxury makeup retailers that I frequently use ...

IS GLOSSYBOX REALLY WORTH SUBSCRIBING TO?

13.05.2020

IS IT REALLY WORTH THE MONEY?

Subscription boxes are becoming more and more popular - there are now so many all over the world and sometimes it is hard to know which one is really worth subscribing too. There is Glossybox, Birchbox, Lookfantastic and in America there is Ipsy and Boxycharm (just to name a few). For me, Glossybox seemed to be the most popular; it would appear on my Instagram feed, I saw many unboxings on YouTube and I knew a lot of people who were subscribed to their boxes. Therefore, last September I decided to finally press the subscribe button and received my first box in October.

Glossybox is a monthly subscription service that only costs £10 a month plus delivery. What is even better is there is usually always codes so that you can received your first box for a much lower price. Within this box there is five sample beauty products ranging from skincare to makeup. I will admit that some brands included I have never heard of before but you will often get a treat from a well-known brand like Eyeko, First Aid Beauty, Huda Beauty and Rituals. You will also sometimes receive full-size products - in May's box all five items were full size and were valued at £60. So is Glossybox really worth the price?

HOW I ALWAYS MAKE THE MOST OUT OF MY SKINCARE

10.05.2020

WHY I ALWAYS BUY SKINCARE IN MINIS FIRST

When it comes to skincare, I am always someone who is quite cautious about reading the ingredients and making sure that it is something that is going to work well for my skin. There are so many skincare brands out in the beauty community like Ren, Drunk Elephant, Tatcha and The Ordinary. However, I never know which products are going to work well for my skin and most of these products cost a lot of money. I have been the girl who has immediately spent £70 on a moisturiser for it to not work that well for my skin and I have not seen much improvement in my skin. Of course, I used the moisturiser as I had spent so much money on it but I decided to change the way I buy my skincare to make sure that I was getting the most out of the product and out of my money.

I have really been changing my skincare routine recently - all of a sudden my skin has needed more of a structure. Before, I use to just rely on cleansers, toners and moisturisers but now I am definitely needing serums to add more hydration into my skin. My skin is normal to dry and therefore I really need to use products that are going to be moisturising but are not going to affect my sensitive skin. I have always struggled with finding skincare that is great for my skin and adds that required moisture, especially when some brands only sell online or in certain stores that are not near me. That was until I decided to test the skincare first in smaller versions to see what their skincare was like.

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THE HUDA BEAUTY PALETTE I HAVE BEEN WEARING ALL THE TIME

06.05.2020

A PALETTE I USE EVERY DAY

When it comes to purchasing makeup, one of my weakness is eyeshadow palettes; I was always the first person to buy the latest eyeshadow palettes from Urban Decay, Charlotte Tilbury and Too Faced. I have reviewed so many eyeshadow palettes and it is very clear to see that I definitely have favourite tones and shades when it comes to my eyeshadow. Every day I will always gravitate towards a warm toned smokey eye and therefore the palettes that I own consist of warm toned shadows with caramels, bronzes and rich chocolate browns. I do own some palettes with bright colours in like reds, pinks and blues but I would not wear these shades for an every day look. As I own so many palettes that all look the same, I have not been purchasing any palettes as I want to try and use some of the ones I already own. That was until a few months ago ...

From the moment that I saw the Huda Beauty Nude Obsessions palettes, I knew that I need to own them. Three palettes were released focussing on the shades that would suit people's skin tones; Nude Light (ad) consisted of praline, peach, lavender and mauve shades; Nude Medium (ad) is full of warm spicy shades with chestnut browns and rose gold shades; finally, Nude Rich is full of dark chocolate browns, reds and dusty rose shades. I opted for the Medium Nude Obsessions palette as I thought it would work best for my skin tone whether I am fair or more tanned in the summer. Also, it was full of shades that I knew I would wear on a daily basis, whereas the others palettes consisted of shades that would either be too light or dark for me.

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MY NEW GO-TO CC CREAM I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT

03.05.2020

A NEW SUMMER FAVOURITE

Sticking to a routine is becoming more difficult, especially with what is happening at the moment in the world; my diet has changed, my exercise routine is happening more frequently and the way I do my makeup is different. At the moment, makeup is something that I am not wearing as much; I am definitely not doing a full face of makeup every single day. However, I am usually always using a foundation, doing my eyebrows, using mascara and putting on some lipgloss. With the weather significantly improving, I am no longer reaching for my full coverage foundations and instead am reaching for a CC Cream. I never thought that I would be someone who would have fallen in love with a CC cream but I have.

My skincare routine is definitely something that I have been working on in the last year and I have seen such an improvement in my skin over the last few months. I will be writing my skincare routine soon but have noticed that drinking more water has definitely improved the appearance of my skin. Suffering with normal to dry skin and having redness often makes it difficult to find lightweight foundations that provide enough coverage but doesn't emphasis the dry areas on my face. However, the  my dry skin and would be perfect for the warmer summer months. That was when I found the IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Illumination (ad) has been my go-to summer foundation for my base over the last few weeks. It is definitely a little tube of perfection!

IT Cosmetics has been a brand that I have never had in my makeup collection before. Therefore, when I started to run out of my favourite foundations, I decided that I needed a change and decided to finally look at IT Cosmetics. I had heard some great reviews about this product and wanted to see how a CC Cream would perform on my skin. Of course, I also purchased their Bye Bye Under Eye Illumination Concealer (ad) and their Star Brush. I have been using this product for the last three weeks and I can definitely say I am very impressed with the quality and performance of this CC Cream.

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10 WAYS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AT HOME DURING LOCKDOWN

29.04.2020

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR DOWNTIME

As we have entered the sixth week of lockdown in the the UK, there has been a true upheaval of people's routines and life has changed for so many as we #stayhome to support the work of key workers and to keep the nation safe. During this time we have seen key workers selflessly put their lives at risk to help us fight the pandemic, people have been working at home and all of us are staying home by creating new routines to keep us and others safe.

Throughout this time it can be difficult to stay positive and mental health is something that we need to make sure we prioritise at the moment. This made me think about all the ways I have been making the most of my downtime and how I have remained productive by staying home when I am not working. Something that we need to make sure that we do is give ourselves a break. A chance for us to just sit down and take some time to do something we love; it is great trying to be busy all the time but there are times where we just need to sit down and watch some Netflix or relax in the garden with the sun shining.

I have also seen how people have been keeping busy during lockdown on their Instagram and that has helped me to think of activities that I want to try myself. So here are the 10 different ways that I have been productive at home so we can do our part to help the nation.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BLOG IN THE FUTURE

27.04.2020

MY PROMISES TO YOU

For years I have always been inspired by blogging and always felt a passion to have my own blog. I have been writing on Love Vicki Louise since 2015, when I was just 19 and studying law at university. My love for blogging was instant and I was able to commit to posting consistently and it was a true highlight of my experience at university. However, like with everyone life changed and I started a new career and new exciting adventures stood in front of me. Therefore, I was unable to post consistently and find the time to write and take photos. Most of my time was taken up by my career and spending time with my boyfriend, family and friends. During this time my love for reading blogs never altered and I still kept up to date with my favourite bloggers regularly.