Urban Decay Black Magic 24/7 Glide On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set | Review & Swatches

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners! We've all heard of them, right? The ones that do NOT budge, glide on and smoke out like a dream? Yep, that's the ones. A few months before Christmas (if I'm not mistaken) Urban Decay launched a set of 4 double ended eyeliners (8 shades in total) for those black kohl lovers who love to rock a dark smokey eye. I was very lucky enough to win one of these sets in a Twitter competition just before Christmas so I've got it to show you today. Boom!

Urban Decay Black Magic 24/7 Glide On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set. £27*

Aren't they gorgeous? I know some might say you only need one black/dark kohl, but as you can see by the swatches they're all quite different. Each pencil has a shade of black at one end, and a smouldering colour at the other, for if you want to add a pop of colour and smoke it out. The pigmentation of these is absolutely incredible with just one swipe, and the coloured shades, especially LSD, can be built up to a really intense look. My favourites have got to be Perversion - because it's so intense, and Demolition - because I love brown on the waterline as it's not as harsh as black.

This set retails for £27, however I think this could be a limited edition set as it's already sold out on Feel Unique and Debenhams, but it's still available on the Urban Decay website and Beauty Bay if you fancy snapping it up before it's gone.

 
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The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

After hearing so many good things about The Body Shop's Camomile skincare range, I finally caved a few months ago and bought their Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter and I can honestly say my days of standing at the mirror with 1000 makeup-remover-soaked cotton pads are over. I'm almost out of this one and I'm already worried about what I'm gonna do without it (ahem, buy more).

The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter. £12

That's right. Not only does this stuff cleanse my skin and leave it feeling wonderfully soft, it also removes 100% of makeup in just one cleanse - even waterproof mascara, something I rarely find from the first cleanse. I'd used cleansing balms before, so I knew my dry skin would enjoy this in particular, but this feels a lot lighter than others I've tried. The formula itself is a lot softer to touch than it looks, and a little goes a long way. I usually just get a pea sized amount on my finger and work it into dry skin. As you work it in it turns into an oil and removes all traces of makeup, and It's even gentle enough to really work into the lashes to remove waterproof mascara. To rinse, I'd recommend using a face cloth, as although it does rinse away with water, you can't guarantee with oil based products that you're removing 100% of it, and if there's even a tiny bit left.. well let's just say your skin probably won't thank you for it! Better safe than sorry pals! If you're worried about the scent, don't be, it smells calming without being overpowering.

The Body Shop's Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter costs £12 for 90ml. I'm definitely going to repurchase this, but I think I'm gonna have to try their Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil first to see how it compares!

 
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Staying in, because going out is so last year!

Ok, so I'm over 7 months pregnant and the last thing I wanna do is go out partying anyway, but even when I'm not "in the family way" (lol), I would always choose a night in over a night out. Most nights consist of me sharing my bath with a splashy toddler, getting him settled and then me and Martin watching some TV with far too many snacks (currently loving Vampire Diaries Series 1 on Netflix). Some nights though, (maybe once a week if I'm lucky) I like to really go all out and give myself a proper pamper and light some candles in the bathroom and get some toddler-free time.

The first thing I like to do is get tea out of the way and run myself a nice hot bubble bath. For bubbles, my absolute faves have to be Lush bubble bars, but if I don't have any of those, any old bubble bath will do. I actually prefer bubble bars to bath bombs from Lush as you can get a few baths out of them and I can't have a bath without bubbles so I'm getting the best of both worlds with one of those bad boys, although I do sometimes use both if I'm feeling extra saucy! The next thing I like to do is light a couple of candles around the room. We always have Yankee Candle Tarts burning through the house on an evening so in the bathroom I'll just burn any old candle just to set the calming mood. Whilst the baths running, I like to remove my makeup and cleanse my skin in the sink. For this I've been using The Body Shop's Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter and I can't get enough of it. It's the most amazing cleanser I've tried and I love the way it leaves my skin afterwards. After cleansing I like to use a face mask, and for a deep cleanse I've been using the Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Face Mask, which is the strangest mask ever, cos it instantly turns hot when it hits the skin. I love this as you can really feel it working into the pores and leaves my skin with a wonderful glow afterwards. I usually leave this on in the bath and remove it with a face cloth when I get out. I always take my phone or tablet into the bath with me and browse Bloglovin or Instagram whilst I have a soak, but I'm gonna make more of a conscious effort to take a book in with me instead and take a break from the internet whilst I relax. I got the book Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes for Christmas so that can be my next bathtime book! After I've had a little chill out time, it's time to get washed and scrubbed. At the moment I've been loving Snow Fairy from Lush, who hasn't? It's the first time I've tried it this year and I'm absolutely loving it. Can't believe I was so late to the Snow Fairy Party, it's definitely gonna be an annual thing for me from now on. For a scrub I'm currently using the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub, which leaves my skin super soft. After my bath it's time to get out, get dried, finish my skincare routine and moisturise my body with a rich body butter. My favourite body butter of all time has to be Soap & Glory's The Righteous Butter, I must have been through 3 or 4 big tubs and I currently have 2 backups. After that, it's time to get my clean pyjamas on, make a nice hot cup of tea or hot chocolate and settle down with the Hubby for the evening.

Oooh I could just fall asleep talking about it.
What's your pamper routine?

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What I got for Christmas 2014

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. I better warn you now, this is a pretty picture heavy post, so grab a cuppa, sit back and relax. I've made a pact to myself to become more organised this year and make a conscious effort to comment on more blogs and really put the effort into my social media. In doing so, I've already come across so many great posts on what people got for Christmas so I thought I'd like to share mine too. *Disclaimer alert*: I'm not in any way trying to brag or show off here, as some people might think I got way too much, while others think I didn't get much. That doesn't matter to me either way, I just enjoy reading and having a nose at what others got so I thought I'd do the same. Anyway, here's what I got...

From the hubby: Something I'd had my eye on for a long time. I love Olivia Burton watches, they're so simple, but really pretty at the same time. I chose the Big Dial Mink & Rose Gold Watch as it jumped out at me on the website instantly.

From my parents, a Nifty Fifty, I've been using my Canon eos 600d with the 18-55mm kit lens since I got it for my birthday in August and absolutely LOVING it, and knew it was time to get another lens, especially for making my blog photos that little bit more special. I chose the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens as I know that gives a great depth of field and will be perfect for both portrait and product photography.

My brother who has been staying with us over Christmas as he works away in Kazakhstan went wild and gave me his 3DS and bought me a copy of the new Pokemon Omega Ruby. Yes, I know I'm 27, but I've always LOVED the pokemon games, and I knew I wouldn't be able to play this on my DSi so he very kindly gave me his 3DS as he'd upgraded to the XL. How kind? Can't wait to get stuck into this game!

The same brother also went CRAZY and bought me a Benefit gift box with 5 amazing Benefit products inside (none of which I've ever tried). I couldn't believe it when I opened it and gave him a right telling off for spending so much. He said it was a thankyou for letting him stay at ours whenever he's home from Kazakhstan. Expect reviews on all of these in the near future!

The 5 presents above were all from my In-Laws, along with some chocolates that my hubby already has his eye on! How amazing? I feel totally spoilt and grateful that I really do have the best in-laws in the world. Really looking forward to getting stuck into the Sali Hughes book as I'm seeing it everywhere!

I received this BEAUTIFUL Alphabet Mug from Bombay Duck from my Stepdaughter and I can't stop looking at it! I'm an avid tea drinker and think this looks so pretty. It's already had so much attention on Instagram when I posted it yesterday!

From my Auntie and Uncle I received this amazing Estée Lauder Gift Box with so many gorgeous makeup products inside. I don't wanna show too much as I think it deserves it's own blog post.

Some of the other wonderful gifts I received from my very generous family and friends. Of course Christmas wouldn't be complete without the big Soap & Glory set. I also got a tripod off my Hubby but I haven't bothered taking a photo of that.

I feel completely spoilt and so happy with all of my gifts and can't wait to get stuck into them all.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and Santa was as kind to you as he was to me.

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Favourite Blogs of 2014

Heyyy beauties. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR. Now that I'm slowly getting organised and trying to get back to normal, it got me thinking about my blogging mojo and how I need to get it back and put my all in this year. Probably aiming far too high considering I'm due a baby at the end of February, so having a new baby and a toddler will sure take up most of my time! Anyway, whenever I get stuck in a blogging rut I always find the best way to motivate myself is to read some of my favourite blogs, so I wanted to share with you all some of my favourites of the past year and hope I can spread the love and also make a promise to myself to comment on a lot more posts this year, as that's always the best way of sharing the love. Here's my favourite reads of 2014...

Vivianna Does Makeup
Lily Pebbles
Gh0stparties
Milk Bubble Tea

Autumn Leaves

Rosy Chicc
The Beauty Trove
A Yellow Brick Blog
Miss Makeup Magpie
Raspberry Kiss

All of these lovely ladies have the most beautiful photos that have really inspired me to up my photography game, as well as having unique content and amazing ways of writing. If you do anything this year, make sure that you check these fantastic blogs out. 

Much love,

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