Summer shades

 Sleek Del i-Divine Del Mar Volume 1

My favorite product for summer:

the Sleek Del Mar palette!

During one of my casual 'not-buying-anything-just-looking' strolls through Superdrug on a sunny afternoon I spotted this palette on a limited edition display and was instantly drawn in by the burst of colour I was seeing. I'm a huge fan of pastels at the moment, and this palette presented a shimmering cocktail of summer pastels, including warm coral, lime green and an ocean-like jadey blue. Then there's 'lounge lovers' - a shimmery pale gold which I knew would add a little sparkle for those summer evenings when matte just isn't enough!

All colours are super pigmented and most are just perfect matte shades for summer. Using this palette you can create an array of different summertime looks - from cool and beachy to warm and tropical - however it is also possible to go for a more natural sandy effect using 'Talamanca' and 'Lounge Lovers'. You can also make your look stand out even more by providing contrast using the Sleek brow kit - read a review of this over on Millie's blog! There are so many fun, summery looks to try with the Del Mar palette - if you own this palette let me know your favorite shades! If not, which colours would you team together? :) Here are some of mine:

For a light everyday look:

1) Sweep 'Talamanca' along the crease and outer corner of eyelid.

2) Use 'Chilled Out' on inner corner of eye and across eyelid.

3) Take 'Feel Euphoric' and put onto outer half of eyelid, blending it in with 'Chilled Out' in the middle.

A hot tropical orange look:

1) Smudge 'Chilled Out' into inner corner of eyelid in order to create contrast and give the bright colours more of a pop.

2) Imagine your eyelid having three vertical sections. Sweep 'Sunset Strip' over first third of eyelid, closest to inner corner.

3) Take 'On the Rocks' and apply to middle third (don't worry if this goes further across the eyelid as it becomes the main colour of this look).

4) Apply 'Talamanca' to remaining third and into crease.

5) Blend!

A cool beachy look:

1) Repeat previous steps replacing 'Sunset Strip' with 'Poolside', 'On the Rocks' and 'Talamanca' with 'Blue Marlin'.

Hope you all have a great summer! 

Lil x

Spring! (Co-Lab Thursday)

I really don't enjoy winter, so when spring comes around I tend to start getting excited for warmer weather, flowery scents in the air, wearing fewer layers and little groups of adorable goslings waddling about - if you live in York you'll know what I mean! (See above). I absolutely love the sunshine, however whenever the weather severely changes I always feel like my wardrobe needs a bit of an update - does anyone else do the same? So to celebrate spring arriving I did a bit of shopping (oops). A little retail therapy never did anyone any harm, right? Here's what I bought...

Sunglasses: H&M. 

The sunglasses were something I had been after for a while - I had bought the previous pair while on holiday last year, they were white with a beautiful floral pattern and only cost me 10 euros in a mall in Tarragona. These broke while in my bag back in the summer so I wanted a new pair which looked as cute as I thought those did! This pink pair fit the bill I reckon, plus they were so cheap!

Dress: Outfit.

As you are probably aware pastel colours are very on-trend at the moment, and luckily for me, I adore pastels. I love that this dress has a cute white collar and combines my love of blues and pinks together into a cute summery checkered pattern. It's absolutely perfect for spring and summer and I can't wait for the weather to get warmer and brighter so that I can finally wear this. I'll probably dress it with a white or black cardigan and my cream/off-white pumps, it will go great with the sunglasses too!

Rimmel Colour Rush Lip Balm: Superdrug

I love Rimmel Colour Rush, and although I already had two of these ('Fire Red' & 'Keep on Mauving') I couldn't resist getting a third when the Rita Ora range came out. They are extremely pigmented, and the colour lasts a long time. I'd actually describe it more as a super moisturising lipstick than a lip balm. Plus they smell lovely, like vanilla. Can't go wrong with vanilla! Mmm.

Sleek Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette: Boots/Superdrug

This is something I had been after for a while, so I'm really happy to have finally bought it! I needed a better powder for contouring, the shimmery highlighter is a bonus and the blush in a rose gold colour is beautiful. I will be doing a full review on this in a separate post later this month so stay tuned for that if you want to find out what I thought and how the colours look. 

Hair Accessories: H&M, River Island

I have developed somewhat of an obsession with bow accessories. It came to my attention recently, while deciding what I would do with my hair that day, that I had been neglecting the hair accessory department a little. So when I spotted these (two hair-ties, two clips) in H&M I picked them up straight away. The hairbands turn a boring ponytail into a cute, girly, up-do and the clips to add a nice swept-aside touch to my hair when I wear it down (usually looks best when I have it slightly curled). The giant scrunchie meanwhile was something I found in the sale at RI and picked up on impulse! I still haven't found the best way of wearing it yet, (I'm no Cressida Bonas) so any tips or ideas would be much appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I bought for spring. I don't know about you but I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that we can bring out our summery outfits! What have you been loving or keeping your eye on this month? :)

This post is part of The Bloggers Collaboration's Co-Lab Thursday! Check out other posts here: