Loreal vs Garnier Micellar Water

Today I am doing another review but comparing and contrasting two products, which have a similar theme to them. This is Cleansing waters, a dupe for the expensive French brand Bioderma. For these products you squirt a little onto a cotton pad and wipe away any dirt or makeup from the day. These products were both just under the £5 mark, but can usually be found on offer. I will be doing the pro's and con's of both,  Also the L'Oreal bottle is empty as I have just finished it and moved onto the Garnier one, but I have used the Garnier one for long enough to do a review.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - £4.99

L'Oreal Micellar Solution - £4.99

Starting off with L'Oreal I repurchased this as I enjoyed how well it took off my makeup, this took off my face makeup off very well and with circular motions it opened my pores and felt lovely. This also effectively took all my mascara off with some swipes. I prefer to take off my face first, as there is not much left at the end of the day; I then move onto my eyes using the other half of the cotton pad. Moving onto the con's, if you place too much on the cotton pad, when you wipe your eyes, they sting a lot. On the same subject you get residue left on your face, especially around your nose and pores. 

Secondly the Garnier product feels exactly the same as the L'Oreal's version. The difference here is that the Garnier does not sting the eyes. Moving onto the packaging, this is very similar to the Bioderma packaging apart from this is bulkier and less travel friendly. The actual cap to pour out the product is so much better than L'Oreal. You can know how much comes out as you can direct it onto the cotton pad. Whereas L'Oreal just comes out all at once and you have a problem on what you are going to do with it. Another pro is that is does not make your skin feel tight or dry which is great when you want to relax and detox.

Overall I would recommend the Garnier Micellar Cleansing water over the L'Oreal Micellar Solution. I personally think you get better value for money and lovely product. I find this has done better for my skin and purified it more.  Also the packaging is so cute and fun and definitely reminds me of the Bioderma image.

OOTD - Festival Inspired

Today I thought I would do an outfit of the day, it was lovely and hot today. With summer approaching I cannot wait to wear more things like this.

Skirt-H&M, £5.99

Top-Topshop, £8

**Sorry about the huge arm**

I love pairing skirts with crop tops as they compliment each other so well and look stunning. I especially like to do this with circle skirts, this one from H&M and is slightly high waisted. The material is very light so will be perfect for summer to keep me cool. You can't quite see but I am also wearing a turquoise crop top which goes perfectly with the skirt. I bought a size 10, (Whereas usually I am a size 6), I preferred the fitting as it was loose and very comfortable. 

Coat-New Look, around £20

As it is chiller in the UK than abroad, a coat is a necessity. This coat is light with a muted army green colour which pulls the whole outfit together. I think this is bohoy, as it is long and I always feel cool and floaty when I wear it. This colour looks great with most outfits, so is one of my most worn pieces! 

That was my outfit of the day, short but sweet, I hope you enjoyed and I would love to hear more suggestions on what you want to see. 

June Wishlist

          

Today I will be doing a June Wishlist, these are products that I would like. I would love to try all of these and hopefully I can. I will be starting at the top going clockwise at the top.

MAC - Sunny Seoul Lipstick, £15

I tried this in MAC a couple of days ago and it is gorgeous! The colour is a light peachy pink which is in the créme sheen range. This would be great for the summer and I can not wait to purchase this.

Body Shop - Body Mists, £7.50

I would like some more summery scents and these ones from the body shop look perfect. I prefer body mists or sprays as they have fun scents which are not as strong as perfume. I would probably purchase the mango and the papaya spray as I have those body butters, so the would complement each other. 

Maybelline - Fit Me Foundation, £7.99

I have read and seen a few reviews on this product, it is a gel foundation; which is something I have never tried before, and I am quite intrigued. I would also like the concealer as it is a dupe for the NARS creamy concealer.  

Hollister - Body Mist, £12

I have one other and would love to get more as they smell lush and the packaging is lovely. When I spray it, you feel like your in Miami or California with that particular scent. I would like 'Crescent bay' or 'Laguna Beach' ............

Loreal - Beach Spray, £4.50

I have been eyeing up a beach spray for a couple of months now; with it nearly being summer I can not wait to have messier hair. This would probably do the job so I could have so much more texture in my hair and a lot more going on.

Soap and Glory - Concealer, £10

Since hearing Estee raving about this concealer I have to try it, as it is a dupe for the Bobbi Brown corrector this could be a perfect opportunity to try it out. This Soap and Glory one comes with two shades; a salmon undertone and a yellow undertone. One for cancelling out redness and the other for dark circles. The other advantage with this it has a powder underneath, which is great for traveling.

Topshop - Lip Bullet, Covet, £8

I saw this a while ago and refound it and loved the colour again. This is also a peachy colour, but with no pink. I have never owned a lip crayon before so this is a good way to test out if I like it. This will be great to throw in your bag as a little essential lip product.

That was my first Wishlist post, I like these ones and want to do more but with a theme. For example ~ clothes, high end or the drugstore. Thank you so much for reading! Leave your comments or suggestions on my Instagram, @itssmillie or down below; I am thinking of doing a recent purchases or what's in my bag, what do you think?

Brand Focus ~ Barry M, Collab with Emily

Today I am doing a collaboration with Emily, she has such a lovely blog, which deserves so many more followers. I think you should all check out her blog and her instagram page which is @theperks0fbeingemily . Her instagram posts are flawless and I love every single one.

So we have decided to do a Barry  M tops picks for the summer, there was so many I could chose from but I chose the ones which I wear the most and I think look the most flattering. I am sorry in advance that there is a lot pinks; but the Barry M collection has some amazing shades of pinks which you definitely have to check out! If you were wondering Barry M is available from Boots, Superdrug or River Island and probably online somewhere.

Starting off with the gelly collection, this first one is 'dragon' it is a lush bright pink colour which has a high shine nail effect on it. I love this colour for summer as it lasts for ever, and is such a fun colour but without been too overwhelming. The formula itself is slightly thick, so you could have fewer coats as it is more opaque than the other ones.

The next gelly shade is 'blueberry', which is a very bright cornflower / blue. I would wear this with simple outfits so it would draw attention to the colour, which would make it stand out more. I personally love this blue and would love to get a bikini, top and socks in this shade.

Moving onto the classic range is 'strawberry'; this formula is thinner but can be built up to a block colour in 2-3 coats and even more if you wanted a heavier finish. This pink is the perfect light to mid pink, the colour is so pretty and it is one of my favourites. It is the lightest shade of pink you can get, but I think it is great and cannot wait to wear it more.

The final pink in my favourites is a recent purchase which is called 'pink flamingo'. When i was first painting my nails with this I assumed it was a bright coral / pink. I was completely wrong. It is the brightest hot pink in the universe; the colour payoff is amazing, definitely eye-catching. This just catches the light and is a great colour for summer without being neon. I will be wearing this a lot more in the near future.

The final colour I have to talk about is 'berry'; this has been a favourite of mine for some time. This subtle lilac / purple colour can be worn on the toes or the hands with equal classiness.This is my favourite for when you want to have something on, but do not want it to be in your face. I would recommend it fully! As I purchased this around a year ago I went through the bottle so quickly, so I just had to repurchase! 

Thank you so much for reading and hope you found it interesting or found some recomendations that you would like to try out. Leave requests on here or on my instagram page (@itssmillie). Please remember to check out Emily here, I would love you if you did, thank you!

Review - Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I have purchased the real techniques miracle complexion sponge, which you can purchase here which is supposed to be a dupe for the beauty blender. I will be explaining how I like it and how easy it is to use.

**before, a dry sponge**

I forgot how fun sponges are to play with, especially damp ones so when I'm bored I find myself playing catch and using it as a stress ball because it's so fun and squishy. I am amazed on how it bounces back into shape, but that's what sponges are supposed to do.

This is £5.99 at boots, Superdrug and online; this is more than half the price of a beauty blender which is £16. As a little more than one quarter is flat you can use this to easily blend out anything in unusual places; such as your under eyes, nose or hairline, or for use of contouring. Whereas the bottom is useful for the forehead, cheeks or chin.

**after, a damp sponge**

To get the most out of the product you are using I would run the sponge under water to thicken it. This means you can cover a larger proportion of you face as it will expand. The only thing you must do is squeeze the sponge to get all the excess water out, so it won't be too watery and soak up all the product. You can use this to apply foundation, cream contouring or BB cream; I prefer to use the flat side, but you can use any part of it. 

Once you have completed your base with this it looks nice, I personally do not think this gives the flawless finish as that is very hard to get. I would recommend this for someone who wants a light to medium coverage, but which could be built up. Overall this is a great dupe for something on the pricier side and it is a small investment to your makeup collection.

I think these reviews on products are very useful as you can find out from an outsiders perspective on what a product is like. Just remember this may work different on you as I could have different skin or a different liking to products.

Introduction

This is my first post on my new blog and I am so excited! This blog will be about beauty, lifestyle and fashion. I can not wait to get started and share with you my ideas and tips; so I have a few posts lined up and I hope you like them.

You are probably here from my instagram page (@itssmillie), if you don't already you can follow me, so you will be updated with any new posts and take part in posts! If you do not have an instagram account you can also follow me on blogger or maybe bloglovin' if I figure out how to use it. 

Before I publish anymore posts I would like to tell you about the background I have going on. This is a variety of instagram photos from people who have flawless accounts. I wish I knew how to edit photos at such a high level. So just below here is a list of all the instagram account photos I used. (I'm sorry I used your photos, but they are so perfect so I hope you don't object)

@yesitsamyy
@heyitshannah
@xkrlx
@miaa_malikx
@makeuptimeee
@0mgamber
@emilyjxne
@bethl0vesyou
@fairydxisies
@justineeee_x

I would definitely give everyone a follow as there accounts are amazing and I wish I had one like there's. Thank you for reading and I hope you can come back to soon to see more interesting articles!