December 29, 2013

Life | Christmas 2013

Hi guys!

I shan't even try to make up some excuse as to why there has been another month delay despite the fact that I am on my Christmas break, so I shall jump right in to talk about my Christmas!








I had such an amazing Christmas and am honestly so grateful for everything! I can't say that 2013 has been the best of years, but it definitely got better towards the end.

I usually spend Christmas Day either at home or at my gran's, but this year we went to my aunty's for a lush Christmas roast which was absolutely lovely and I just chilled with my two littlest cousins as my brother and other cousins weren't there and it was lovely just playing with them as I don't usually see them and they're growing into such adorable little guys!

Boxing Day had more traditional traditions, including my aunty, cousin and I heading out into town at 5:30AM to bargain hunt! It did seem like a great idea at the time, but I definitely regretted it later on in the day when I was super duper tired and had to nap for about 2 hours to regain some energy. Later in the afternoon, we always head over to my aunty's for a full family gathering and further present opening and a little round of Secret Santa amongst those who are 18+. It is always such a lovely evening, but this year was particularly warm and festive, perhaps we now have another little member in the family - in the form of my 10 month old cousin! It was an evening full of laughter and delicious food and it is always the best day in my holidays.

I shall now leave you with a little vlog I did of the Boxing Day Sales - admittedly, there isn't too much footage as I was just so too tired and surviving on a mere 2 hour sleep and I was busy looking around for good sales. Nonetheless, here's the vlog!


OH! Also, I recently purchased the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, so keep a look out on my blog for a review and swatches coming very soon!

Love, Nicole

December 28, 2013

Update | Overdue Apologies

So apparently my last post on here wasn't even a real post and this blog draft titled "Update" has been saved for over 2 months...way to go Nicole, way to go...

Anyhow, I thought that I would update any loyal readers out there and just to reassure you that I am well and more or less alive despite being overloaded with school work in the past 2 months. Now that I am on my October half term I thought I would write an update and pre-write some blog posts and pre-film some videos to hopefully be more frequent with uploads and blog posts.

So what's been happening? Since the last post, I got my GCSE results and I was extremely happy with my results to say the least and celebrated well, I have also moved schools for sixth form and I am so super glad that I did and I am literally loving school life and all the new people I've met...bordering cheesy Nicole, bordering cheesy...alongside the moving school aspect, I have also been bombarded with homework virtually every night and I have also indulged myself in various extra-curricular bits and bobs and therefore have no time to film, write let alone edit photos or video footage. 

But enough about school - I also turned 17 last Saturday! My provisional license is here and all I have to do now is to be bothered to ring up a driving school (is that what they're called?) and book some lessons! I had the most amazing birthday and here are some photos of my birthday meal with some of my closest friends...





I have also tried out a lot of awesome products in the past few months, all of which I have retained the packaging that they came in so that I can do a detailed review for most, if not all, of the products - so fear not, I have not forgotten notesbynicole and I shall be more consistent!

Love, Nicole

August 01, 2013

YouTube | July Favourites


Hello all! So I have decided to alternate my favourites between my blog and my YouTube as some products I feel more comfortable talking about and others I prefer typing about it. So here is my first filmed favourites, I do hope that you go check it out and find some products that you will go try out!



Love, Nicole

July 30, 2013

Review | Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation




I've been a bit naughty recently and bought the long-wanted Chanel Aqua Vitalumiere Foundation for no apparent reason but merely because I wanted it. However, I do not regret a thing! In this post, I shall share with you my likes and dislikes about this product and eventually inform you, is this really worth the £32 price tag?

Background

Like I mentioned before, I really had no reason in purchasing this foundation, it was basically for my own satisfaction and to add to my collection - I don't even wear foundation every day! As I had been on study leave, my friend and I popped out to Costa to do some Maths revision and ended up going to Debenhams for a bit and I decided that I would get that foundation that day, only to find out that a week later (this weekend gone), Debenhams had its Blue Cross sale and all beauty and fragrance items were 10% off - just a tad annoyed! But I eventually got over myself and here I am typing up this post informing all you lovely people out there whether or not I made the right decision in this impulse buy.

Actual Review

Let me begin by informing you that this is a water-based foundation and therefore will work well with most skin-types, I should also warn you now that this foundation requires shaking well or you will only pour out a foundation coloured water but not the product itself. Other than that, let's get cracking!

The first thing I would like to point out about this foundation is the packaging, I am one of those girls who are very affected by how the make-up is packaged as it affects the ease of storage, luckily for me, the cuboid shape bottle means that it fits nicely in my drawer in comparison to my cylindrical foundations, so this has definitely won me over already (small detail but definitely makes a difference). For all you travellers out there, this is also very light-weight due to its plastic bottle packaging and again can fit into any corner of any bag easily. Then again, for a £32 bottle of foundation should I expect something of nice quality - like glass? I guess it would be nice to have some luxurious packaging, but knowing me I'll drop it and smash it and cry at the thought of chucking £32 down the drain. So, so far, so good!

Next thing I noticed is the fact that this foundation doesn't have a pump but a squeezy bottle thing, I've always been complemented for my descriptions! This is what I don't like about is that it takes effort for the product to come out (jeez I sound lazy) but personally I much prefer a pump bottle as opposed to the squeezy bottle that this foundation has.

Now onto the foundation itself, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE CONSISTENCY! This foundation is definitely very light-weight so perfect for me. Luckily, I am blessed with naturally clear and even skin tone and therefore I have never been one to go for a heavy-duty foundation. This product is super light-weight and blends super easily! I have been using the Real Techniques Expert Face brush to blend this in and it does a perfect job! This was the foundation that I used for my prom and it lasted all night (I did use a setting spray). I actually got matched at the Chanel counter in Debenhams so I'm in 40 Beige. I would also say that because it blends so easily, a little bit goes a very long way and I usually use just under a pea size amount for my entire face (although this would depend on how much coverage you need). 

However, my forehead is actually a lot tanner than the rest of my face, now I do not know whether it's because I need a different shade for my forehead (I'm not going to buy a darker shade for my forehead by the way) or the fact that the foundation oxidises as I wear it and it just becomes more obvious on my forehead, but around 3-4 hours later, the foundation does turn a different colour compared to its initial application - it hasn't done so on the rest of my face so I'm okay with that and therefore I am not entirely sure about the cause of this.

Unfortunately, I do not feel I am fit to compare this foundation to others that I have tried as my foundation history is very limited but I would say that if you have naturally quite clear skin and merely want a foundation to even out the skin-tone of certain areas, there are definitely cheaper alternatives to do so, for example the Rimmel London Wake Me Up foundation, they have both done a great job on the days I choose to wear foundation although I would say that the Chanel one sinks into the skin better and really doesn't feel like you're wearing foundation in comparison to the Rimmel London one. I also know that the Yves Rocher foundation is also great and the weight of the two are highly comparable.

Verdict


All in all, I absolutely love this foundation for the consistency and its colour. It really does make your skin look flawless (if I were a better blogger I would've taken a photo of me with just this foundation on, but I'm not...). Is it worth the price tag? I would say that it is worth it if you were just looking at this foundation by itself, but if you were to compare it to other foundations on the market there are definitely cheaper alternatives which will work just as well!

And finally, I'll leave you with a photo of my at my dinner and dance with this foundation on!

photograph with natural light

photograph with flash photography


Love, Nicole

P.S. THIS FOUNDATION SMELLS AMAZING!
P.P.S. DEDICATED TO JACK GOOZEE

July 23, 2013

Life | Dinner and Dance

Bonjour!

Today I shall be posting some snaps from my dinner and dance (or more commonly known as prom), I would go into detail about the make-up I wore, but I honestly can't remember as it has been over 2 weeks but my cousin did take a picture of the make-up I used. I guess this post is more of a keep sake thing for me where all my favourite photos are in one post so that I can look back onto it in a few months or even years time as it was such a good night, the best thing was probably being with my whole year again as that was the last time I'll probably see everyone (par a few) all together as I probably won't see many people on results day and I'm off to a new school! So here are some of my favourite photos of the night and I hope you enjoy, perhaps if your prom is in the future this might give you some dress and make-up ideas as I know I started looking for inspiration quite early on.






















Love, Nicole

July 19, 2013

YouTube | What's in my bag?


Hello dear friends!

I have decided to make a YouTube channel for those things that are just easier to share as a video, by no means will I be neglecting this blog but I just like different mediums in conveying my opinions towards a certain topic. I do hope that you check the video out and give some feedback as it would be much appreciated! Keep your eyes peeled for a review post next week!



Love, Nicole

July 01, 2013

Monthly Favourites | June


We're officially half way though 2013! July is finally here and I am hoping that also means Summer is finally on its way - but we all know how untrustworthy British weather is...I have just realised that I haven't done a monthly favourites post for April and May (mainly due to exam stress) but I am hoping that the exciting products featured in today's post will make up for it. And without further a do, here's my June Favourites!



revlon just bitten kissable balm stain - romantic 
I recently picked this balm stain up at Superdrug along with another one called rendezvous and I absolutely love them - especially this shade! I could only describe this as a sheer yet buildable stain which leaves yours lips with enhanced colour and a lovely shine. The shade romantic is a classic red, which for those who want to wear red lipstick but is unsure about the boldness, this is the perfect thing! Since I have been busy with exams this month but do not want to go out of the house looking dead, these balm stains have been my go-to "lipsticks" as they do not require lipliners and they still look great! I am planning to wear this under my lipstick for my leaver's dinner and dance as I know the colour will last for a long time.




smashbox lipgloss - afterglow
This lipgloss has also been my best friend. It is the perfect lipgloss consistency - not too sticky but still leaves an amazing shine. The colour is also perfect for the Summer, the lovely coral shade goes with any colour clothing that I wear! Do not be mistaken in thinking that this lipgloss gives a vibrant coral colour, this merely adds a colour sheen to your lips to create an easy look. I have been thoroughly impressed with these Smashbox lipglosses that I feel like I need to go get some more!



♥ real techniques brush - expert face brush
Since it is my dinner and dance in 4 days, I have been trying out different foundations throughout the month as I am not one to have a "make-up day" to test what I am going to wear, due to the fact that I hate taking makeup off and do not want to waste makeup. Anyhow, this brush has been my best friend in applying my foundation; it blends everything in perfectly and quickly, leaving my skin looking flawless. I must say that another advantage of this brush is that it is easily accessible and affordable, retailing at £8.99 from Superdrug. The bristles are super soft and is not harsh on the skin at all; the size of the brush is also perfect for the size of my face and I think I have found my favourite brush!



♥ chanel vitalumiere aqua foundation - 40 beige
MY NEW FAVOURITE FOUNDATION! Despite the hefty price tag of £32 for a mere 30ml, I absolutely love everything about this foundation (full review coming soon). It is a light-weight foundation which leaves my skin looking natural yet flawless. The best thing about this foundation is the consistency; although it is very liquidy when you first pour it out onto your hand, this makes it blend like a dream! Another benefit is that it has SPF 15 which is great for the Summer months!


♥ biolgo omega 3 serum
I have been using this for about 2-3 months now and I love it so much (hence why it is in my favourites). You get get this from a store called eCosway where they sell loads of products that actually work! This omega 3 serum leaves my skin feeling soft and supple; I apply this before my moisturiser day and night and it is the perfect makeup base as well as an overnight treament. There is 30ml in the bottle and it is lasting my for ages! It has definitely enhanced the appearance of my skin and I am so glad I discovered it.
  

♥ mac eyeshadow - woodwinked 
And last but not least, a favourite eyeshadow! This is MAC's woodwinked and it is a gorgeous bronzey-golden colour that blends in a deep amber. It is the perfect one-sweep lid colour and blended into the crease for more definition  all in all a very versatile shade! This colour can pretty much be paired with any other colour and still looks gorgeous. I bought this as a pro palette pan form so it was only £10 and I honestly love it so much!

That's all then! Those are my June favourites and I hoped that you ave discovered some products that you will try out!


Love, Nicole

June 24, 2013

Review | Smashbox Lipglosses








As I promised long a go I would do a review on the Smashbox lipglosses I bought from Swindon Designer Outlet now about a month a go and here's my review for the two lipglosses.

Candid is a lovely red with gold reflects which looks amazing when light hits it. Afterglow has a similar story but is a peachy coral colour which looks super natural and has been my go-to colour for the past month! It also comes with a doe-foot applicator which makes is super easy to apply even but then I guess it might mean I won't be able to get all the product out of the tube. I also really like the sleek design packaging as the cuboid shape means it takes up less room in my make-up storage.

Verdict

I absolutely love these lipglosses! I steered away from lipglosses for several years (my last one was a MAC plushglass in year 8...3 years a go!) due to the fact that they always left my lips feeling sticky and it looked like someone just saliva-ed all over my lips - gross! However these lipglosses - retailing at £14 but I purchased them for £10 at outlet - leave my lips with a natural glossy shine, yet not too shiny so that it looks unnatural; it also does not feel sticky but just very smooth with a tinted colour. I particularly like the colour "afterglow" since it's peeking round Summer, it adds a perfect coral-tinted shine even if I don't wear any lipstick and balm stain underneath (I usually do for added colour).

The only downside I could think of is that the lasting power is not particularly great and I have to reapply every 2 hours maximum, but other than that I think that it's an all round great product and as I bought this in outlet it is much better value than say a MAC plushglass which retails for around £16 (I think). I would definitely recommend this product and if you have any other queries please leave a comment below as I am beginning to get back into the flow of writing a review.

Love, Nicole