Sunday 27 April 2014

Beauty & Fashion Haul ♥

I feel like it's been a while since I posted last and for that I apologise. Like I have said many times before, I try and post as often as I can and getting hold of the laptop is pretty difficult as my mum uses it for work. But I am trying to keep Ellessi updated!

 
It was payday a few days ago and, like many of you ladies that love to shop, I couldn't help but treat myself to a few things. I know it says 'Fashion' in the title but really there is only one vest top, I just wasn't sure how to include it without adding 'and a vest top' at the end. Anyway..
 
 
The first thing I bought was a cropped vest top from River Island. This top only recently came in to our store and I think it's so cool! It's quite baggy but, as it's cropped, it doesn't look too oversized. I tried this top on with shorts and it's my new fave spring/summer outfit!
 
 
I'm never usually the type to believe adverts on TV as I'm quite a sceptical person (especially when it comes to hair or makeup adverts) but the frizz-ease advert really sucked me in. I mean, the lady has crazy frizzy hair at the beginning of the advert then applies 'just a few drops of serum' then all of a sudden her hair is full, bouncy and voluminous with perfect curls! I fell for it.. I went and bought £22 worth of frizz-ease (I know right..) but thanks to an awesome deal at Asda I got all three products for £10! Bargain!
 
 
 As you probably have figured out by reading my previous posts, I'm a sucker for anything that helps with oily skin and, while watching one of Tanya Burr's Youtube videos, I noticed this powder 'One Heck of a Blot'. I've never tried any of the Soap & Glory makeup products before and I'm very indecisive when it comes to powder because I want to buy the best products for my skin but I thought I'd give it a try. At £12 it better be good! haha.


I think it's safe to say that every haul I do will have at least one Barry M nail polish, I'm pretty much addicted to them. I'm trying to brighten up my look for summer and these colours are perfect to do that. The pastel pink is called Rose Hip and the minty green is called Green Berry. Turns out I already had the pastel pink one though... oops!


As I'm trying to brighten up my look, I've been trying out brighter colours on my lips. I couldn't find the colours I wanted anywhere but it suddenly hit me that Barry M doesn't just do nail polish! I'd never bought a Barry M lipstick before but I tried the lilac one out and I loved it so went back and bought the coral lipstick too! The lilac lipstick is number 129 and the coral is number 54. The coral is my new favourite lip colour for summer!

So these are my recent purchases! If you've tried any of the beauty products please comment below and let me know what you think, and if you want any reviews then do let me know!

Thanks for reading,

x

Thursday 17 April 2014

I've been nominated! - Liebster Award

 
I have been nominated by the lovely Steph Furuholmen, from http://urbantherapy1.blogspot.co.uk/ , for the Liebster award. The award is to get blogs with less than 200 followers the recognition that they need and deserve! Now, I have 0 followers at the moment (though I do have a little group of followers on bloglovin') so hopefully this will help more people to see and follow my blog! 

Okay, so the 'rules' are you have to answer 11 questions that are given to you by the person you were nominated by and once you answered those, nominate 11 other bloggers. You also have to create 11 more questions for the bloggers you nominated!

So here goes:

1. Who is your style icon?
To be honest I don't really have one. Though I do love fashion and love the style of certain celebs (Marina and the diamonds for example) I wouldn't say I have an 'icon'.

2. If you could only use 3 make-up products for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Number 1 would be powder, I have such oily skin so I literally reapply powder like 5 times a day. 2 would be eyebrow pencil, I do have quite thick eyebrows but the hairs themselves are quite thin so I fill my eyebrows in every day, they are essential! 3 would be lip balm. I don't know if this counts but, as I have quite full lips, I have to use lip balm all the time to stop my lips from being dry and cracking.

3. What are you handbag essentials?
I always without a doubt carry some form of spray with me, either perfume or impulse body spray. I also have a lipstick in my bag everyday, whatever shade I am wearing I just chuck I in and go! Lately, I've also been keeping a pair of sunglasses in my bag because the weather is really brightening up here in the uk!

4. What is your summer nail colour?
I don't really have a specific colour as of yet as it's not quite summer but one that I am wearing on my nails right now is 'Prickly Pear' by Barry M. It's a really nice pastel purple, lovely for spring.

5. What is your favourite fashion era?
As bad as this sounds, I really don't know anything about past fashion, so I would have to pass on that one :')

6. Who is your favourite celebrity?
Very hard question! Off the top of my head I would have to say Leonardo Di Caprio. He's such an amazing actor and he's hot.

7. Who is your celebrity crush?
*read answer above*

8. Who is your favourite blogger?
Louiseeee! Or SprinkleOfGlitter. I love how she seems so genuine in her posts and always keeps up to date. I also love her little British colloquialisms like 'Toodlepip' haha.

9. Why did you start you blog?
I have had like 4 previous blogs before this one that I have deleted ( being at school I never had time to update) but each one was started because I was inspired. I love reading other blogs and wanted to write something so that others would like reading my blog. I am sticking to this blog however and hope it will inspire others too.

10. If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start a blog, what would it be?
Stay up to date! As hard as it is you have to find a way to motivate yourself to keep posting (I am bad when it comes to motivation). Also keep titles simple but still letting people know what the post is about. I tend to skip past posts with titles that don't really explain anything about what's in them.

11. Sum up yourself in 3 words
Determined, Creative and Laid back

Okay so that's all the questions, now I nominate:
 
- My Pretty Apparel
- Janine's Beauty Blog
- Hey It's Louise
- Megan Roisinn
- Bittersweet Bhavna
- Blonde Canvas
- Hello Miss Jordan
- Mood Box
- She Wears Burgundy
- Benish Khan
 
I do apologise to these nominees if they do in fact have more than 200 followers, but some of the follow widgets weren't showing :S
 
My questions are:
 
1. Why did you start your blog?
2. What is your most favourite item in your wardrobe?
3. Only wearing foundation for the rest of your life or wear every makeup item except foundation for the rest of your life?
4. How do you motivate yourself to update your blog?
5. If you were a colour, what colour would you be and why?
6. What is your favourite make-up product right now?
7. What's your favourite film?
8. When did you start blogging?
9. How do you wear your hair?
10. Who inspired you to start blogging?
11. Do you have any tips for new bloggers?
 
I suck at coming up with questions XD
I hope you liked this post and I do have an idea for my next post; it involves motivation!
 
Taa Taa for now,
 
x

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Oily Skin Saviours!

Spring is here and, although I much prefer the warmer weather, I can't help but worry every day about how oily my skin gets. Those of you out there that have oily/combination skin will understand me when I say having oily skin sucks. With summer on the horizon, this year I am trying to do everything I can to reduce the amount of excess oil on my face. I have found a few products that are helping me with my oily skin and, even though they aren't miracle workers, I hope they help you too.
 
 
Now, these products don't completely suck up the unnecessary oil on my face (I am yet to find a product that prevents oil completely!) but they really do help to mattify my face for a longer period of time than if I wasn't to use them.
 
 
When it comes to skin care, I will only buy products that are catered for oily/combination skin as they are (usually) oil-free, stopping my pores to become blocked up by oil even more. I use the standard products; Cleanser, toner, moisturiser and a clay mask. Though these products do work for me it's best to find what works best for your skin, but I do recommend a face mask for oily skin at least once a week as it really helps to dry the oil up and leave your face smooth. I do like to mix and match my brands but I would only recommend it if your skin can handle all sorts of different products.
 
 
For makeup, I have really been into BB creams lately and the Matte BB Cream by Rimmel is really working for me. It's oil-free which, again, stops additional oil from clogging up my pores, and it has 9 different skin benefits which foundations don't tend to have. In colder weather I just stick to oil-free foundations but BB cream has a light-weight feeling and is perfect for spring!
Now I know every oily skinned lady will agree with me when I say that powder is a complete necessity! If it wasn't for powder, my skin would feel greasy and look shiny so it's the perfect product, especially for touch-ups through out the day. Powder is one product that I can't live without!
 
I hope I helped with your oily skin needs, have any tips for me?
 
x