Everything Erin

After falling in love with Anastasia Beverly Hills' cult favourite Modern Renaissance palette a year and a half ago, I simply had to try another one of their palettes, to see if this palette was a one off, or if ABH were really the true front-runners of the palette world.

Enter Soft Glam. While Modern Renaissance was inspired by shades from renaissance-era paintings, the earthy oranges and deep, warm reds, Soft Glam is its more subtle but sparkly sister. What I love about the collection of fourteen shades included in Soft Glam is their effortlessness. Simple neutrals that can be worn everyday, or glammed up for an exciting, shimmery look. 'Soft Glam' is, in fact, the perfect description.


When looking at the palette, to me the rose gold shades scream out, and have been what the majority of my looks have been based on when using it so far. Dusty Rose is a really pretty mauve-pink which I have been beginning lots of my looks with. I also really love the brown mattes Sienna and Rustic, one more warm toned, one cooler, for blending and deepening the eyeshadow. Mulberry has to be one of my favourite shades, a burgundy toned brown, SO pigmented and pretty.

I am also super obsessed with the shimmers in this palette. There's a few more than there was in the Modern Renaissance so this palette feels a little more perfect for evenings, events or when you feel like you need some extra sparkle. Rose Pink is my absolute favourite, a very pretty rose gold, perfect all over the lid and does not shy away on pigmentation. Glistening and Fairy are also super pretty golden-champagne tones.


The palette includes three shades that we have seen before in the Modern Renaissance - Tempera, Burnt Orange and Cyprus Umber. Now while obviously owning duplicates isn't ideal when they could have easily come up with three new shades, they are three classic mattes - a cream, an orange, and a dark brown that come in handy so I don't mind too much. I have left my Modern Renaissance at home while bringing Soft Glam to uni so it is nice to have them in this collection, especially because I use Burnt Orange ALL the time!


Like all of Anastasia Beverly Hills' other selection of palettes, it features the classic fuzzy velvet packaging. My Modern Renaissance has got very marked and faded by now so I'm not looking forward to it looking the same way, but it does make it more streamlined and lighter than typical palettes of this size.


The Soft Glam has all the basics you need for a classic eyeshadow look, and even more. It is perfect for someone who doesn't have a large makeup collection and wants the best essentials on the market, or if you're just after something that is super wearable and pretty. Every single shade in this palette have the perfect formula and quality. A welcome addition to my palette collection, one I would highly recommend!

EG x

Pixi are one of my favourite beauty brands right now, their skincare seriously works wonders, so I am very excited that they are celebrating a whole 20 years of glow. While I have only been a fan for a couple of years now, the brand has come such a long way since its beginnings. I have been sent out a wonderful package to mark the occasion with a selection of Pixi’s best selling products and I had to share my initial thoughts with you!

Rose Ceramide Cream*

Pixi’s skincare products really put them on the market, and I couldn't wait to try this moisturising cream. I had never tried anything from their rose range before and was impressed by how lovely its scent is. The cream has some notable ingredients including rose flower oil for nourishment and ceramide for moisture which sounds like a winning combination. A little bit of product goes a long way with this cream and my skin feels healthier already.

Glow Tonic*

No exaggeration here - this cult-favourite product is a life saver. I didn’t think a toner could make a massive difference to my skincare routine but now I would be lost without it. The glow tonic really calms down my oily t-zone and feels so refreshing, adding a subtle glow. It is suitable for all skin types and I urge you if you haven’t tried it to check it out, you seriously won’t regret it.

Glow Mist*

Already a Pixi product I have tried, tested and loved in the past, Glow Mist is a perfect multi-use product - you can prep your skin with it before makeup or use it after to to set and give a bit of extra glow. I personally love using it in the hot summer months for a boosting refresh!

Eye Reflections Shadow Palette - Natural Beauty*

Having never tried any makeup from Pixi before I was incredibly excited to spot an eyeshadow palette as part of the collection. I cannot get enough of eyeshadow palettes, so I couldn’t wait to see how I would get on with this one. Their palettes come in a variety of shades so there is something for everyone, but you really can’t go wrong with their Natural Beauty palette because it is packed with gorgeous neutral everyday tones. It includes several mattes in perfect brown tones and some really pretty shimmers with rose and bronze sheens. The shadows are blendable and long-lasting, a wonderful collection of shades.

Endless Silky Eye Pen*

I don’t use eye pencils often but this is one I can really get on board with. It is really soft and glides on easily. While having the ease of a pencil, it actually has a lovely, gel liner-like finish, with bold black colour.

MatteLast Liquid Lipstick - Berry Beauty*

Pixi’s lipsticks are totally up my street - matte and long lasting is exactly what I go for. They also have a great range of shades, mine is the shade ‘Berry Beauty’, a pretty pink toned red. As the name suggests, it is definitely long lasting while providing a gorgeous pigmented colour.

LipLift Max- Petal Ice*

Not only do Pixi sell a wonderful range of matte lipsticks, their best-selling lip glosses really demonstrates how versatile their brand is. The neutral shade ‘Petal Ice’ is perfect to wear on its own for a light sheen, or on top of any other lip shade. It is very pretty and neutral, with a lovely fresh, minty scent.

EG x

*this post contains gifted items, but all opinions are my own. :)

PIN ME:

Happy New Year! It's so exciting that we're now in the twenties, not only a new year but a new decade. Every year I like to write goals posts for the year to come, to look back on once the year comes to a close so I can reflect on what I have achieved. This year I don't have lots of goals to share, I have decided to be semi-realistic. They're nothing life-changing, but I would love to read this in December and see if I have actually managed.

Read more books

Not only do I love reading for fun and wish I made more time to do so, I have a huge pile of books that really need reading. I got six books for Christmas, and on top of the other selection I have bought over the past year or so and not yet read, I have plenty to be getting on with. My goal is twelve books which averages at one a month - this is quite a big leap from the five I read last year so maybe I am being a bit ambitious!

Put more time into the blog

When I got some goodies from Pixi a couple of weeks ago it reminded me how far I had come with blogging, but how much I want to keep up with it too. I really want to give it a greater focus this year as it did have to take the backseat last year with all the craziness of A Levels and starting uni going on. Now that I am a bit more settled, I should have time to get more into it. I am committed to posting on Instagram more often and working out using Pinterest alongside my blog so hopefully I'll see some results.

Keep up my French knowledge

Studying French at A Level was difficult, but I came so far with my knowledge of the French language and I can already feel it slipping away. A goal of mine is to try and keep it up somehow, maybe by reading a couple of articles a week, or doing a grammar exercise every so often, so I don't lose it all. It was a lot of work to quickly forget it all!


Unlike last year, in 2020 I don't have too many goals because I really wanted to make a few that are manageable-ish instead of getting overwhelmed. I would love to hear your goals for this year in the comments!

EG x