Online Superdrug Haul

As I can't seem to stop myself buying make-up as soon as I get paid I have another wonderful haul for you!

S.O..... here we go!

I went online and spent quite a while contemplating what I wanted to buy to add to my collection, I hope you enjoy!

Item 1

For a while I have needed a new blusher brush as my old one started to lose its colour when I cleaned it (it was a cheap one). I have absolutely love Real Techniques and naturally I went for their Blush Brush. I have been using this brush for a while now and I love it! This brush creates a really natural, blended finish, which is down to the ultra-plush bristles that all the real technique brushes have.I would highly recommend!

Price £9.99

Item 2

Caring on the brush theme of this haul I also splurged on the Real Technique Core Collection. This set contains four brushes and a really handy travel case/stand.




First, the smallest brush of the set. The Detailer Brush, this brush can be used to conceal problem areas like spots 
(which we all have to deal with annoyingly!) or as I like to use it, for the application of lipstick to get a great shape and smooth, even finish.






The next smallest brush is the Pointed Foundation Brush. The description for this said use for liquid foundation but I personally found it too small for foundation application and have found it is much better suited for blending concealer (for under the eyes and other problem areas).





Thirdly, the Contour Brush is a nice small and great for contouring. Although I do not do much contouring in my daily routine, I do use a highlighter and this brush is the right size and shape for easy application.



Finally, the last part of the core collection is the Buffing Brush. This is perfect for the application of mineral powder foundation or finishing powder. The overall effect is a good even coverage, I love this brush as it does not over powder your face. 




Price £20.99

Item 3

The third item from the online haul is the Rimmel London Brow This Way. Now I don't normally do a lot to my eyebrows as I prefer a more natural look, but recently I have been using eyebrow pencils to create a more even and sculpted brow.  I needed something to help keep them in place and I think this translucent gel is great at keeping my brows how I want them. 

Price £3.99

Item 4

My growing love of eye shadows means I need a way to keep it on for longer, without clumping in the crease of the eye. So I went on a hunt for an inexpensive eye primer and came across the Revolution Focus & Fix Eye Primer. There were three choices of primer; matt (which I chose), bright and original. This eye primer is great value and does the job, keeping my eye shadow in place longer than without.

Price £2.50

I hope you all like make-up hauls because this is definitely not going to be my last! If you would like me to recommend to you some make-up or you have any recommendation for me, please feel free to leave a comment :)


S.O love xoxo

Lets Bake!

S.O being at home this week seemed like a perfect time to do some baking! Now, I am no Mary Berry but I do enjoy the occasional bit of baking and today was cake day. Normally my baking is limited to cup cakes as they are easy to do, but this time I decided to try something different, a two toned cake! One half vanilla and the other half chocolate...yum!


Ingredients:
Plain flour(or self raising)
Caster sugar 
Butter 
Eggs
Baking soda
Vanilla essence
Cocoa powder 
Icing sugar

Utensils :
Baking tin x2 (I only had one heart shape tin so had to cook the cake halves one after the other)
Scales
Mixing bowl
Electric mixer
Grease proof paper
Teaspoon
Fork
Spatula

This is an incredibly easy recipe to follow and make... S.O lets bake!


Pre-Heat the oven at 170 degrees celcius

Firstly you need a bowl, scale and mixer!
Add 4oz of flour, 4oz butter and 4oz caster sugar into the bowl.
Next crack two eggs into the bowl (making sure there are no pieces of shell in it of course) 
Then add 1tsp of baking soda and 3 drops of vanilla essence.



The next part is even easier!




Mix it all together until you have a smooth batter, without any lumps.





Before you put the first cake into the tin you need to make sure the baking tin your going to use has been greased (to prevent it all from sticking to the sides of the tin). To do this you take a small amount of butter and rub it all around the inside of the tin. As you can see I chose a heart shaped tin to make my cake extra cute!


Firstly cover the inside of the tin in butter. Then place a bit of grease proof paper under the tin and trace around the outside of the tin with a pencil. Then cut out the shape and place it in the bottom of the tin.

Next pour the mixture into the tin and place in oven for around 32 mins (checking every few minutes, without opening the oven, that it cooking okay).

While the first cake is in the oven, wash up the mixing bowl and we are ready to start the mixture for the second half of the cake.

This cake follows the same process and has the same ingredients apart from one extra yummy bit, cocoa powder!

Add 4oz of butter, flour and caster sugar to your bowl. Followed by cracking two eggs into the mixtue and adding 1tsp of baking soda.

Next add 10 grams (just short of half an oz) of cocoa powder into the cake mixture. Because you are adding more dry ingredients I tend to add a little extra butter to even it out and ensure a moist cake.

Then mix it all together. Once your first cake is done, remove it from the oven and turn it out onto a cooling rack, removing the cake from the tin. Once the tin is cooled, butter and line the tin as before and pour in the chocolate mixture. Then place in the oven for 32 mins.

 
Once cooked turn the chocolate cake out onto another cooling rack, removing the tin and grease proof paper.

While the cakes are cooling, you can make the icing. This cake would taste nice with regular or vanilla butter cream icing, or even a chocolate glaze. But for mine I chose to make chocolate butter cream icing.

To do this place room temperature butter and icing sugar into a jug and mix together using a fork until smooth. Carry on adding butter and icing sugar until you have enough icing for two layers on your cake. To get the chocolate flavour add coco powder and mix in, adding more butter if necessary. I don't use measurements for the icing as I just taste it as I go along!

 
Finally apply a thick layer of butter icing on one of your cake layers. Place the un-iced cake layer on top of the icing and cover the top with the remaining icing.

And there you have it a two toned vanilla and chocolate cake! I finished mine off with some fruity confetti for some added colour, decorate yours however you like and enjoy!

S.O love xoxo

The Notebook Tutorial

After watching the notebook at the weekend (what? It was raining! What else was I meant to do?) I was inspired to try my hand at the hair and make up of Allie, aka Rachel McAdams.(please excuse the no makeup face in some of the pictures!)

Firstly with wet hair I put my hair into a side parting. Next I worked some Renewing argon oil from Morocco into my damp hair followed spraying VO5 heat protect styling spray all over and brushing that thoroughly into my hair.  





Once I dried my hair I sectioned it off before adding a second coat of heat protection spray. I then started to curl my hair in fairly large sections, starting a short way from the roots and winding the whole length around my Yogi Tourmaline Ceramic Curling wand to create big bouncing curls.






Once my hair was fully curled I used the Silvikrin Maximum hold hair spray all over to make those curls stay put. I then brushed through the curls to get a more natural look. 





Next I twisted a fairly large section of the front of my hair on one side back a few times and secured with a bobby pin, doing the same on both sides, pushing the section forward a bit before securing to make sure I had the right shape. To finish the hair use a white flower of any kind and pin over the bobby pin to the  side of your head with the lowest parting. I found a big white flower badge in my sewing kit and secured with a bobby pin.











The next step is the make up. For the notebook most of Rachel McAdams' makeup is very natural without much on the eyes and face but with a strong colour on her lips.



Firstly I used Nivea daily essential express hydration primer for sensitive skin all over my face. Next as a base I used the Maxfactor Pan stick in fair to give a nice even cover all over my face and to blend I chose the real technique miracle complexion sponge. For extra coverage of blemishes and spots I added the Wake me Up concealer where I felt I needed it. To get a matt finish I used the Rimmel London Clear Complexion clarifying powder over my entire face.





For Blusher/Bronzer I used the Soap and Glory Powder Trip which consists of Solar Power, Glow all Out and Love at First Blush. I used Solar Power under my cheek bones and Love at First Blush on my cheeks to add definition.




Face all done, moving onto the eyes!

Rachel Mcadams does not have a great deal of eye make up on so for this look I thought I would use more natural colours from a Clique Eye Pallet. I used the lighter shade of brown the whole of the eyelid and the darker for the crease. Finished off with Rimmel London scandaleyes mascara to create a natural eye look.





And finally for the lips I used The L'Oriel Paris Exclusive Collection Blake's Pure Red.







S.O..... here is the final result! Just a few shameless selfies for you to enjoy. I hope I did the iconic film justice with my Rachel McAdams inspired look! 

 S.O love xox

Superdrug Haul

S.O.... this is what happens when I go to Superdrug on a lunch break!

It all started when I realised it was payday! This lead to me venturing out in my 45min lunch break to buy even more make up (which I definitely did not need...)!

Item 1
(well Item 1,2+3)

Firstly I bought three of the exclusive collection by L'Oreal Paris called Colour Riche Lip. I had been eyeing these up for a while and they were on three for two, so I simply coulf not resist. I chose two nude lips and one red as nudes are more practical!!

Price:£6.99

 


This is my favourite of the two nude purchases it is called Eva Longoria Barley Golden. It's a nice, natural, peachy colour, which could be worn everyday as it will only enhance any make up look. It lasts a very long time and has a lovely creamy texture.

The second nude from the collection was the Doutzen Kroes Barley Pink. Although I was really looking forward to using this one, I found that because naturally I have quite dark lips, it did not have the desired effect. I would however, still rate this highly but would caution you before buying it as it is a very light lipstick! Again it has a nice, creamy feel to it and a good luster.  

Out of the three Blake's Pure Red is the one that I am most impressed with! I was expecting a really bright red that I would have to keep re-applying in order to keep the colour perfect, but when I wore it on a night out, I only had to touch it up two times and even then it was just me being overly cautious. This is a great matt pinky red lipstick, that I would highly recommend! 

Another aspect of these lipsticks which I really love is the packaging. The nude colours have a smooth black case with gold detailing and the packaging of the reds are matt black with an almost leopard print look to them.






Item 2

Next due to my ever growing obsession with blushers and bronzers I impulse bought the MUA undress your skin shimmer highlighter. This is a great purchase; it has a georgous effect when used on your cheekbones, creating a healthy, dewy glow and it was a complete bargain!

Price: £3.00


Item 3

Now this is an essential of mine. Ever since I began using makeup this has been my favourite mascara (after I got past the bad mascaras from teen magazines)!!

The Rimmel London Scandaleyes mascara. This product gives you long, dark and thick lashes, absolutely everything you want from a mascara and so has been in my makeup bag for years and most likely will be there in years to come too.

Price:£6.99 


And there you have it, my lunch time haul. I hope you liked my reviews, comment below with any recommendations of your own, as I will no doubt be sneaking off to buy more makeup soon :)

S.O love xox

Welcome to S.O

Welcome!

My name is Sophie and I would like to welcome you to my little beauty haven, in this pink and cosy corner of the internet.

After watching hours upon hours of vlogs on YouTube over the last few months, I suddenly realised I had found a passion for beauty and fashion, shopping and lifestyle tips. So I decided, after a little push from my sister, to create a blog to share my fun and discoveries with all of you wonderful people on the internet.

So here it is, my first post!

I thought long and hard on what to call my blog, and as I do not have the fortune of a catchy nickname, after a bit of deliberation I decided to use my (rather convenient) initials and the topic of this blog to create S.O fashion and beauty !

I hope you enjoy the posts to come :) 

S.O love xox