Everything Erin

February admittedly hasn't been the greatest month for new music releases. With Ed Sheeran dominating the number one spot for the whole month, there hasn't been much new out and my playlist is half the size of last month's. However February did mean the big music event that is The Brit Awards, and I still have a few songs to share with you.

You may remember I got Olly Murs' album for Christmas and I have listened to it quite a bit lately. On my playlist is his latest single Unpredictable, this is a really fun pop song: something Olly always delivers.

Ed Sheeran's still on the playlist, I imagine he will be for quite a few upcoming months. I added his song How Would You Feel as soon as it was released, it's much slower than the other two (think Thinking Out Loud or Photograph). Shape of You is also still on there because of course, I can't seem to get bored of that song (nor can the rest of the UK, according to the chart).

I really enjoyed watching The Brit Awards this year, one reason particularly was because of the collaboration between Coldplay and The Chainsmokers, Something Just Like This, which was debuted at the awards. This is my favourite song on the playlist this month, it is really beautiful. After watching The Brit Awards I also added The 1975's The Sound to my playlist which they performed on the show. Although I have loved this song for ages (it was my most listened to song on Spotify last year, can you believe) I was reminded how much I liked it and have listened to it a lot this week.

At the end of January I went to see La La Land so I picked up the soundtrack this month I loved it so much, and seemed to have listened to that the most. On my playlist is the track Another Day of Sun but I particularly also love A Lovely Night and City Of Stars. I have to admit I've been listening to a lot of my favourite musicals lately but the La La Land soundtrack has definitely been my favourite.

For Christmas, I received a MAC quad with two eyeshadows, and the past couple of months I've picked up another couple of pans to fill up my quad. I've tried and tested the eyeshadows, but do I think they are worth it?


I love that MAC's eyeshadows mean you can create a custom palette as big as you want it - ranging up to palettes holding 15 shades, which would obviously take a while to build up. The shade range MAC offer is so impressive - I feel like every eyeshadow shade you'd be after and more MAC caters for. This means eyeshadow shades I don't currently have in my collection I can get to put in my custom palette so I know I'll have nothing like it. You can tell in my palette I have more burgundy/pink toned shades because I own nothing like these and really wanted to.

They offer a range of finishes as well, a feature I like because I expect the consistency to be the same in each finish. I own two frost finishes, a matte and a satin - but there is also other finishes available such as velvet and veluxe pearl.


The matte shade I own is called Blackberry, a purple toned shade. This is perfect for using in the crease for a smokey purple look. I have been really impressed with this shade's pigmentation, I'm not sure whether it's because it's a darker shade or a matte shade but it's definitely as good as any Urban Decay matte. I really like this shade and would definitely recommend it.

I own two frost finishes in Naked Lunch and Cranberry. Naked Lunch is your average beige-pink shimmer. This is really nice on the lid and I like the pigmentation of this too, although nowhere near as pigmented as an Urban Decay shimmer. However, it is very easily blendable. I bought cranberry because it is a burgundy eyeshadow and I have nothing like this. I tend to use this in the outer corner of the eye and I can't say this is overly pigmented. I have read somewhere after you've used MAC eyeshadows a few times the payoff is better and I am hoping this is true. The shade is very nice I just have to blend a lot of it on.


I then have a satin finish in the shade Girlie. The satin finish of lipsticks are really nice - not quite matte but still a good pay off. Girlie is a rosy-pink shade which I decided on because it was next to Cranberry in the shop which I already owned, and they looked really good together. I like this shade, it looks nice on the lid especially for a more natural look.


Do I think MAC eyeshadows are worth the hype? I certainly think they are good, perhaps they don't quite beat Urban Decay in terms of pigmentation  (it is a tricky contest after all) but the shade range is incredible and I love building my own palette. The palette looks sleek and the eyeshadows are really easy to insert. A quad is perfect if you travel a lot - you can pick your four essential eyeshadows that work perfectly together and you're sorted. I may not think MAC's eyeshadows are as good quality as their lipsticks, but they are worth trying and worth the hype.

All in all, I am a high end beauty gal. Drugstore products can amaze me every now and again, but there's nothing like being excited with your new high end purchase. However, the problem with high end is I can't just go on a spree and buy loads at once - I have to save up a while! So I compiled a wishlist of some high end products I'd love to try over the coming months.



Believe it or not, I realised something I don't have in my makeup collection is a high end liquid lipstick. There's a couple I would like to try, first off the new Urban Decay VICE liquid lipsticks. I popped into my local Debenhams the other week to spot lots of signs around about them and was very excited to see the new products at the Urban Decay counter. They even do a liquid version of my own UD lipstick, Backtalk and I also want to try the shade 1993, one I swatched in store and it was stunning. I would also love to try a Too Faced melted liquid lipstick, these have had a huge hype about them for ages and since I still haven't tried a Too Faced product, this is up there on my list.

A product I'm always hearing how amazing it is is The Balm's Mary Lou-Manizer Highlighter. I'm a huge liquid highlight lover but I think I could seriously be converted by this super-pigmented powder product. Although I can't quite justify spending £20 on a highlighter right now (I've treated myself way too much lately) I'd love to own it one day.

You may know I'm a huge lover of Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette, and I'm also really liking pink-toned shadows right now. I've always wanted the Naked 3 palette because it looks so stunning and I think I would use all the shades, however my only concern is the amount of shimmers compared to mattes there is in the palette. A beautiful palette with more mattes than shimmers is the Tarte In Bloom palette which I think may possibly be the most gorgeous palette I've ever set eyes on. I have heard great things about it but because they don't sell it in British shops I may be waiting a while!

Oh, MAC, my favourite makeup brand ever - I'm not even kidding when I say I have a separate wishlist in my notes purely made up of MAC products I want to try. At the top of this is a MAC pigment, particularly the shade Rose, it looks so pretty and I loved the NYX pigment I tried before buying an expensive MAC one. I would also love some more of their patent polishes, I own one already in the shade Revved which I bought because it was part of the Ellie Goulding collection last year, and I would love to try more because they are great for everyday.

Finally I would love a full sized Benefit Mascara, I own mini sizes of Roller Lash and They're Real and can tell you I think they would be worth the full purchase. I love that Benefit do sets including mini sizes of their products so you can try before buying the full sized, however it means I'm always adding their full sized products to my wishlist!

There has always been a huge hype about Real Techniques' makeup brushes, however, I had never tried them until I got the Starter Eye Kit for Christmas. Today I'm going to talk you through all the brushes in the kit and show you why you need them in your life.


The set comes with five brushes, the first of all being the Deluxe Crease Brush. This is really good for using with transition shades into the crease. I used this in my Glam Makeup Look recently to blend MAC's Blackberry into the crease.


The next is the Base Shadow brush. On photo this looks similar to the deluxe crease however it's quite a bit thinner and flatter. This is perfect for applying a lighter shade to the lid and then blending lid shades as well.


The third brush is a smaller one, the Accent brush. With the accent brush applying darker shades to the outer corner of the lid is so easy.



We then have the Fine Liner brush. I have to say I don't use this one too often because I don't always need a liner brush but upon using it I can tell it's very precise and useful for along the lashline and waterline.


The Brow Brush the set comes with is quite the standard brow brush. Its angular shape is really useful for filling in brows with powder.

I also love how the brushes come in the case, keeping them organised. The case can stand up as well which I've found so handy while drying them after the ever so laborious task of washing brushes. They are so affordable for the quality and I strongly recommend them to you, if you're starting out with makeup or really into eye makeup like I am!

Keeping your lips hydrated throughout the day is important all times of year, but particularly hard in the winter and I've definitely felt the struggle this year. Therefore today I've rounded up my favourite products for stopping your lips for feeling too dry in the winter months.


Lip Scrub | First of all, a lip scrub is an essential to keep your lips smooth and prepped for using other lip products. But believe it or not, I didn't even use lip scrub until this month, and what a difference it has made! I popped into Lush at the start of January and picked up the Bubblegum lip scrub, it's worked wonders! It's made my lips feel so much nicer and less dry, plus it smells absolutely divine too!


Lip Balm | Following on from my lip scrub I'll make sure I apply one of my favourite lip balms. Usually, I opt for a Baby Lips Dr Rescue balm from Maybelline - these are amazing. I used to use the clear one every day but I've started using the shade 'Pink Me Up' instead because it has a really nice pink tint to it.
I'll also make sure I keep a lip balm in my school pocket so I can reapply during the day. The lip balm I've been keeping in my pocket at the moment is the Nivea Pearly Shine lip balm which I got in a set from my friend for Christmas. I wouldn't say it's quite as moisturising as Baby Lips but it does have a really nice sheen to it.


Non-Drying Lip Products | On days when I've wanted to wear a lipstick I've recently been opting for less drying options. I love my Urban Decay comfort matte lipstick but it actually isn't very comfortable and rather drying on my lips! Therefore I've been avoiding it a little lately which is a shame because it's a stunning shade.
Instead, I've been wearing my MAC lipsticks pretty much all the time because I know they are guaranteed to not dry out my lips. Even their mattes aren't drying, but I've particularly been using their Cremesheens instead because they are lovely and creamy feeling. If you're after a non-drying liquid lipstick and an affordable product I recommend Maybelline's Vivid Matte Lipsticks, these really surprised me because even though they are matte they feel very nice on the lips.