e.l.f. Haul and mini reviews

Hello, Everyone :)
If you are following me on Instagram, and if you are not then head over to my Instagram account and please do so NOW :D, you will have noticed I got a bunch of e.l.f. products recently. And I thought I will do a review on them and share my favorites with you guys :)

These are all the things I got :) They were all on sale either 2 pounds or under, because they were having the site closing down sale. SO bargains all around. And also the reason why I went a bit crazy and got so many. The whole lot cost me about 30 pounds :o

I will be honest and say I have not tried all of them out on my face just yet. There are a lot of things to try out and there isn't enough hours in a day in my life at the moment to try them all out. Also I got a lot of darker shades of foundation products for summer months, which means they do not fit my skintone just yet. But I have used quite a few of them already, because I just couldn't wait.
Also the annoying thing is that their UK website, where I ordered all my thing is now closed :( so you will have to either get them delivered by international delivery from their USA site or get them on Amazon :) Or find them in the shop. The thing with finding them on the shop is that they might not actually be available any more or they might be sold out :( But there I am still going to tell you all about my fabulous e.l.f products :)
I will also say that the original website has SOOOO many more producst to choose from than the UK one had, so it's probably a good thing you have to now go there and explore.

But here are the products I will talk about. Look at them, they are sooo pweeety :) :D

I will start with the blushes.
I saw this video on youtube with this purple colour NARS blush. And I'm so sorry, but I can't get myself to buying a 20 pound blush :( even though I would really like to :D
So when I saw this 1.50 HD blush in this amazing dark purple colour called ''showstopper'' I had to get it. It's a cream blush and it's so pigmented, that when I got it and tried it out on my hand it took me a day to get it off :D It looked like I was badly bruised. But on the cheeks....OH MY...it's beautiful. Escpecially with tanned skin, this is the perfect shade. And you need like half of half a drop of this...even less probably. I also realllllly realllly like the packaging. It's a pump jar and it just looks super cool and it's easy to dispense. I also got another colour called ''Diva'' which is a cool fuchsia pink. But I love the purple one :) The pink one is a lot creamier and the purple one is a bit more tense and powdery. But the colour payoff from both of these is amaaaasing ;)

Then there are these cream blushes. I will be honest and say that I have never actually tried cream blushes before (ashamed). And I will tell you to go and get one right now. Cream blushes are the thing. I use my real techniques duo fibre brush to apply these and the result is so pretty and flushed. I got the three colors that were still available and I'm loving the hot pink one in the shade of ''Heartbreaker''. I also got a more taupe/brown one in ''Temptress'' and a more earthy pink shade ''Tease''

I don't think this picture does any justice to the colours. They are a lot nicer in real life.

This is the blush I got because I was hoping the same kind of colour as the HD purple one but in a powder form. It's not really the colour I got though. It's their mineral blush in the shade of ''plum'', but I think it's more like a shade of brown poo :D....Not too happy about this one right here, but not completely disappointed either. Maybe I will grow to love it.

I had to baby wipe the table, because that silly hd purple blush went EVERYWHERE :D

Continuing with the mineral powder range. I got 3 shades of their mineral foundation. All of them, which are too dark for me at the moment. But the darkest one I tried as a contour and loooooved. This is the shade ''deep'' and it is so blendable, which you would expect from a foundation, but it's so good for contouring. Because it is such a dark colour it is perfect for shading. And because it's so blendable there are no harsh lines. LOVE this one. And I'm so glad I went for it even though it's not my shade. And this just shows that the product is so versatile. I think I could even get away with using it as a shaded liner with a damp brush :) we will see.

I forgot to take a picture there ... whooops :D

Then I got some single eyeshadows. I have told you how I really like the single pots, as I don't really ever use all the colours from palettes, which is a waste. So I got 2 pigment eyeshadows in colour ''I have no idea ;D the name was on the box and I threw the boxes away :D'' But they do have serial nr' thingys on them...so the purple shade is #d28 and the green one is #d30. They came in these tiny, awsome, cool little pots with a brush (which I will probably never use as it's too short) and the colours are just perfect for my green eyes :) love these two. And then I also got a matte eyeshadow pot in the shade nr #d21 . I have not tried this one out on my lids yet. but the colour is sooo pretty :)

The pigment eye shadows have a really pretty sheen and none of that tacky glitter :) I like them a lot.

And another product I wanted to talk about that I got was the conditioning lip balm in ''peaceful pink''
This has been in my bag since the day I receiver it. It's so pretty pink and it does leave my lips super nice and soft. And it's that perfect earthy pink tone that is very subtle for every day use. The only thing I don't like about it is the smell :S It smells like L'oreal rouge edition lipsticks :D And I really hate that smell. It just reminds me of the smell that old lipsticks have...you know the ones you played with at your grandmas when you were little. But it's not too bad, because you can't smell it once it's already applied.
Forgot the picture...what is wrong with me :D :D ?? It's on the try out lot picture so I even had it right there, but no...no picture :D

I did get a few more things that you can probably see on the top picture but these few were my favourites from the bunch. I got a few more lip products and some glow bronzer and a few more darker foundation and concealer items. But all in all e.l.f. has not disappointed me at all. And the one thing I kind of forgot to mention is that the packaging of all these products is so amazing. They look super. That is all I'm going to say...SUPER :D

Hope you enjoyed the post and stay tuned :)

I'm going to do an April Favourites post, just because I have found so many products this month that I can't wait to share. 

And as always send your post requests and ask the questions or just leave a comment :)

xoxo

Meril

Fanatics Inc

Hello, Everyone :)

It's game season, you guys. But this doesn't mean you have to dig out your old Adidas sweats and flip flops and lounge on the sofa with a can of beer and a bowl of nachos. Not that this doesn't sound nice right about now, after a long day of taking care of an active 8 month old :D 

It is all about the sports AND It's all about that bass about that base..ball hat!?!

I think we have come to the point where sportswear is no longer just part of peoples attire who actually do some sports or exercise. You don't even have to like basketball, baseball or any kind of game involving a ball to know that if you put some thought and innovation into turning your flat cap as part of an awesome sporty chic look you will make a sure thing ''fashion homerun'' where ever you go. 

So I thought what better way to pay homage to the start of the season than to do a MLB outfit post using Fanatics Inc website and using one of their hats from their MLB hats page :) And I'm very excited to share the look with all of you guys. I must admit that at first I got a bit too excited and picked out about 7 hats and also they do infant sizes??? LIKE WHAAT :D I'm sure Oscar will be rocking one of those bad boys very soon thanks to their new expedited international shipping. 

But in the end I picked out this awesome New Era New York Yankees White on white 59fifty fitted hat 

I chose the all white look because I figured it will be the most versatile to work with. Also this is not actually a womens hat, which is also one of the reasons I like it. I like that it's simple enough to work with both men and women and be a statement piece for both. I can style it to be sporty and also more feminine, which is the look I'm going to show you guys as well :) So keep reading :)

This is the sporty chic outfit I have styled for the hat. I will link all the products down below :)

At first I though I will go all high end with the rest of the outfit, but then I realised I have to stay true to what I know and actually love and that's affordable pieces from high street stores :) I love how the high street is now offering amazing style and fashion at prices that almost everyone can afford and I chose all the things from Asos because I just think it's a great website that has all the major high street brands there. If you are interested in more of a dramatic sports statement check out the Fanatics website on all things sport and pick out a whole team outfit if you like :)

Obviously THE HAT is the most important element in this outfit. Also, if you are not really all down with the baseball teams, then be noted that The New York Yankees colours are Navy blue, white and grey :) All the colors that I have tried to implement to the whole look.

If you haven't noticed my URL address then do that now and you will see it says whitecrispshirt. This is because I am absolutely obsessed with looks revolving around a nice white button down. For this look the shirt adds a bit of sophistication and obviously ties together with the white hat.

But why not surprise your fella with wearing just the white shirt and a hat of his team...and of course the fore mentioned bowl of nachos :D I assure you, he will love you more for it :D

The Navy blue flat cap was my second choice :) And as I mentioned before already navy blue is the New York Yankees team colors :) But please, go check out http://www.fanatics.com/ and find exactly what you are looking for in the hat department. AND if it's not a hat you seek, then with more than 250 000 pieces of sports related merchandise, you will be sure to find something of your fancy :) I sure did.

Hope you enjoyed the post 

And as always 

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Fnatics.com product links

White New Era Hat

Navy Blue New Era Hat

Shop the Style

Sneakers for lunch

Hello, Everyone :)

I've got a sneaky feeling I've got a sneaker fever :D I'm not lying to you. I feel like wearing sneakers all day every day. With dresses and jeans and shorts and skirts. But why? you may ask...because they are cool and comfortable :) And that is it. So I have been on a look for a good white sneaker ever since my white pair from Old Navy turned into something out of a hallway of a farmer due to my previous work in the bar :D Let's be honest it was my own fault wearing white shoes in a place were the bottom part of the floor is covered with sticky alcohol and tissue paper, and the uniform code was actually black shoes, but hey anything to look good on that walk to the toilet right :D And I kind of forgot all about the fact that I use to love wearing them with absolutely everything until the other day when I was trying to find new pair of slippers.
The story goes like this. (Be aware that, the story is not very riveting, interesting or anything else :D) I was looking for slippers on Next. I asked D if he wanted something as I was paying for delivery anyway, so why not. And he told me he wanted some sneakers. And I was like sneakers you say. So while I was looking for sneakers on the mens site I suddenly had a thought of my old white sneakers. This is actullay what happened in my brain...I did come across a fond memory of the pair of white sneakers I use to own. So I looked up some awsome canvas white sneaks and ordered them :D And I've been wearing them ever since...every day...unless it's a no going out day, then I stay in slippers :D
Here is a look I wore to a casual lunch date Yesterday :) STARRING...WHITE SNEAKERS...I'm such a loser :D Hope you enjoy :)

Wearing

White sneakers  - Next

Skinny jeans - Zara

White Blazer - H&M

Top  - Forever21

Hope you enjoyed the post :)

You can also check out Oscars 8 Month Update :) And stay tuned for NYX Cosmetics make up look and mini review :)

xoxo

Meril

Oscars 8 Month Update

Hello, Everyone :) Here is Oscars 8 month update

What a lovely day it has been. It has been super sunny for a good 2 days now :D and I have taken what I can take from it. Yesterday we went for a picnic in the park and today I stayed in the garden sun for a good 2 hours. I might have a bit of a red nose now and that sun tiredness you get...you know the one where your eyes are tired but you are not? But all in all it has been really lovely.
Oscar is now 8 months old. Which means he is only 4 months away from being 1 YEAR OLD....I can't believe it (hope you enjoyed that I did the math for you there :D)
He is just such a cool dude I can't even comprehend and start to think...what? What am I saying :D What I was meant to say is that I just can't believe he has turned out to be so cool even though his parents are a bit of losers...or massive losers shall we say :D haha, just kidding. I keep thinking though, that I am just so lucky to have him in my life and he is so good to us and I'd like to think it's because we are good to him :) I mean it is, you get what you give, right :) SO I know it's not really the case with babies, but I do believe that staying calm, happy and positive has helped to turn this little man into a little bundle of joy...a little moving all the time bundle of joy.
And I'm not saying that it's perfect all the time. I have moments when I feel like I'm going to lose my mind and moments where I think I just don't have any energy in me to do anything....but I just take a step back and get out of the room....take a minute to myself and rant on my own so he wouldn't be subject to that...and I think it has worked. I'm not an angel by any means, I get angry and sad, but I try not to let Oscar see that. And you might think here, that I'm overprotective, but don't. He gets his share, because you know, sometimes there is just no time to go out of the room :D
Funnily enough though now that he is moving around and going places and grabbing and tasting? :D we do have to set a harsher tone, just so he would realise if something is forbidden or bad. But because he just hasn't heard us raise our voices and be angry at him, he just chuckles at us :S :D And then I can't help but chuckle as well :D Ok, so he either gets amused or he just ignores what we are saying. But I guess sometimes it's good to let them learn themselves as well. Like the radiator in the bathroom that is hot all the time...not the best idea to touch that...so now he stays away....sometimes.
It is hard work though and most of the days I do wish I had some help from my family :( but they live so far away. I'm just glad I've got D, who is very hands on and helps a lot with everything. But going out with just two of us is pretty much impossible, because there is no one to babysit. And I don't think that would be the case when my family would be here, or I would be where they are :) Rant over :D Here are a few pictures and a little more of his little achievement for the past month.

Our first picnic. He loved pulling the grass :D and was really interested in all the dogs :D But mostly he just made a complete mess of the blanket that we sat on.

He loves all kind of food. He drinks water from a sippy cup and I think his favorite fingerfood is cucumber.

He is teething so badly lately. There is drool everywhere and he will literally chew on everything :D like this padding on our tv table :D

 And he is definitely crawling and sitting up and is now saying dada, but not really mama :D He does make a sound that sounds like mum, when he is upset, but he blabbers about all the time, so I think it's just a coincidence :D

Hope you enjoyed the post :)
If you have any questions about his 8 month progress that i didn't cover, then ask away :)

Stay tuned, everyone

xoxo

Meril

50's Inspired Make Up Look

Hello, Everyone :)

I woke up today and was like I feel like I need to be in a 50's movie :D I felt like wearing a house dress and walk around in fluffy slippers sipping some bubbly. Obviously I have a baby to take care of so staring drinking in the morning is not really something I can do :D But I though I'll take the middle way and spend some time doing my make up and hair. I'm in no way or form a professional make up artist and I can only do what I can do :D So be nice people, and if you think this is really bad, then maybe knowing I stayed at home and saw absolutely no one, hopefully makes it a bit better :D

I decided to go for the peachy look :) The weather is absolutely horrendous so why not go all peachy...raiiiight? :) I used the most least expensive make up and the results are pretty 

amazing if you ask me. I'm particularly impressed by the MakeupRevolution matte lipstick in color Bliss. I think this will be my summer lipstick and it only costs £1 :o Like whaaat?

I will also say that it's not really a detailed make up look. It's super simple anyway( I will explain below) and I did edit the pictured the way I did on purpose. It's meant to be a fun post :) Hope you enjoy :)

With this picture, I didn't blur the photo, it just didnt turn out quite the quality it was meant. But I think the blurriness just adds to the whole effect :)

I have MUA blush in shade 1 on my lids :) And cheecks actually. I only added a bit of golden shadow to the tearduct and just in the arch of the eyebrow :)

I also tried out a new contouring routine, which I absolutely love. My nose is huge, so I love that you can just make it look slimmer with make up. Also my cheekbones are not really as out there as I would like, so contouring all the way from my ear to the corner of my lip and then highlighting works wonders :) You might not be able to see just because of the filter on the picture, so if you would like to see a detailed post about my new contouring routine, let me know :)

These are the super non-expensive products I used to get the main peachy look :)

MUA Blusher  - Shade 1  on the picture this shade looks pink, but it's actually a peachy orange colour 

MUA Intense Kisses High Intensity Gloss - Color Quick Smooch

Makeup Revolution Amazing lipstick - shade Bliss

Zoeva Luxe Soft Definer brush  - 227  My brush was part of the rose gold set of brushes which is why the link can't link to the exact brush. 

And I used the silver angle shadow brush to do a really subtle flick with a black shadow. I think it's th Backstage range brush from crownbrush.com But I'm not too sure. You can use any angled brush with a bit tougher bristles :)

If you would like any more details about this look, leave a comment below and I will be sure to answer as best as I can.

Hope you enjoyed the post. I'll try to do an outfit post next and before Oscars 8 Month Update post...but we shall see how good I will be :D

Stay tuned :)

If you think anyone else will enjoy reading my blog, why don't you share on social media :)

xoxo

Meril

Bedroom Tour

Hello, Everyone :)

As promised, I will share the progress I have made in our bedroom. Now that we have moved Oscar into his own room, our bedroom has become a grown up place, where I can have only my things...oh wait...having a child means that there are toys and stuff everywhere :D I do try to keep it quite baby free, but there are bits and bobs here and there, because O still has his share of the bedroom every now and then. For example after his bath I put his creams and diapers on on our bed (usually D does it :D). Also, Wolfie the dog lives in our bedroom. He was a gift to me from D, but it's become one of Oscars favourite toys after the bath, so he lives on our bed now :)
I'll go through everything along side with pictures :)

This a bed I bought years ago, but since the old flat we lived in had a bed in it already we didn't get a chance to build it up again until now. I'm not actually a big fan of the bed in the room, as it's quite low and our ceilings are quite high...anyway...it's a white leather bed and it fits the other furniture, so it will stay for a bit :D The bedside table lamps are different because we now use D's in the hallway. Only because the one we initially bought for the hallway ended up not being touch base, and is too bright.

I moved the chest of drawers to the other wall now. I had intended it this way in the beginning when we moved in, but because Oscars co-sleeper was attached to my side of the bed, it would've blocked the drawers. And I was planning to throw aways D's stupid humidifier, but it might actually become useful for Oscar in the summer ;)

On the drawers we have a few pictures (the white one with the baby photos in it, actually needs pictures of O in there rather than the random baby :D)

I keep my jewellery I don't use every day in my old make up drawers. I put everything in there when we where moving, but I really like the way the jewellery looks in the clear see through drawers, so I kept it. And it's propped on top of some random Vogue magazines :D And on top of it is a tube of Oscars teething gel :D and some cases of more expensive jewellery. In the Ted Baker bag I have my hair bands and bobby pins, because I keep losing them I need to have a bag full just for emergencies.

Because I now have jewellery in my make up drawers I use the top drawer of the chest of drawers for my make up and other bits and bobs.

So the inital plan was to get a massive wardrobe, but since we are renting, but planning to get a house of our own in about two years, it made no sense to get something so costly to fit our current place. Firstly it might not suit the bedroom in the future house and secondly it would be a mare to move :D So we decided on some rather inexpensive rails instead :) I actually really like open wardrobes anyway. I just think you wear more of your clothes if you can see them. Slightly upset about Dans side of the wardrobe though, because he has no organisation skills :D I might sort it out once he is away this weekend :D

Most of the shoes I wear every day I keep in the hallway dowstairs. These shelves are just for heels and seasonal shoes...like flip flops and these little pumps I should really move down now that the summer is coming :)

And this is it for the Bedroom Tour

Hope you enjoyed it :) And as always...

Stay Tuned :) I might do a pastel spring make up look post next

xoxo

Meril

Style Post

Hello, Everyone :)

Yesterday was the second day in a row that brought us Sun and warmth, so it was the perfect day for this amazingly comfy yet stylish pale pink sweater dress. I decided to dress it down with the tan and white flats and a hobo bag, but added some pearl, gold and diamond accessories to give the whole look a bit more sophistication shall we say. As always all the accessories and clothes are super affordable, but one of the issues might be that some of the things were bought years ago, which makes them pretty impossible to get right now :S :) But the sweater dress and shoer are from Missguided and still available in most sizes (I'll link them below :))

Outfit Details:

Sweater Dress - Missguided

Shoes - Missguided

Bag  - Similar found here or go to Primark :D they have a tendancy to bring back products from years ago :/ no really :D

Sunglasses - I couldn't find green ones anywhere but these New Look pink faded cat eye sunglasses ARE AMAZING :) I also found that New Look has an amazing range of sunglasses at an amazing price :) 

Turqoise Pearl bracelet - similar found from a set here 

Ring - This was part of a ring pack I got from New Look about a year ago, but now I can't find it. There is a similar one on their website It is silver and green, but similar style :) And if you go on etsy site you can find hundreds of similar style amazing rings.

Earrings - By Ted Baker

Bow Bracelet  - similar here

Pearl Bracelet - similar found from a set from Forever21

Hope you enjoyed the post :)

I will try to post an outfit with recent purchases so I could link the correct product rather than similar ones :) 

So as always, stay tuned. I have also managed to finish our bedroom, so I'll do an update post on that one very soon :) If you have any post request though or questions please let me know :) 

xoxo

Meril

Easter Weekend Recap

Hello, Everyone :)
So I wasn't good enough to do a post before this one, but everything was quite hectic and I don't actually remember pausing just to sit down for a little chill until now :/ I mean I didn't even have time for breakfast and lunch 2 days in a row, which is really bad. Not healthy, so today I have actually given myself time and had a nice lunch and coffee and ok I didn't really take it easy, as I was cleaning and hoovering the whole house :D But still I feel like it's actually been an all right day in a sense of craziness :D But lets get to the point. It was a long bank holiday weekend which means you working people might have had a long weekend off from work or those of you who work in restaurants and bars...I feel sorry for you :D I've been there and done the whole bank holiday weekend shit :) And I'm so glad I haven't had to do it this weekend and I actually got to go out with some of the best of the best girls in the whole wide world :D

So Friday I don't even know what happened  but the day just disappeared :D To be honest that's what most days seem to do lately, there just don't seem to be enough hours in a day for me to do everything I would like to do. I feel like I'm being pulled from every direction and feel at my last stretch. Even though now that it is actually lighter outside for longer I do feel less tired once I've put Oscar to bed as it just...I don't know...I feel less tired. Or maybe it's because I've been having my morning naps again :D Oscar is now sleeping in his own room and for the first few nights it was quite straining to get actually out of bed and feed him during the night, but D took him for the first 2 mornings, so just the knowing that I get the few hours in the morning made me get through it. Another thing that is actually a bit annoying that after we moved him to his room, he went back to having two feeds a night :( Hopefully the second feed will drop out soon enough again though because it's just so close to his waking time anyway...fingers crossed :)
I'm rambling again :D I'm sooo sowwweeeey :D

Saturday just kind of happened. I had to do a food shop for Sunday which took me 2-3 hours. And when I got back I was hoping I can start getting something done or clean something or clean myself up a bit. But no. D told me he is going to town the second I got back and two minutes later he was gone. So everything I had planned to do had to be done while taking care of a very active baby who now is discovering the whole house as he can crawl forward. By the time D got home around 6pm I had actually done pretty much nothing. I hadn't fed O or gotten him down for his nap, so I was just in a little mood, because I don't go out often. It would've been nice to get ready and look all nice. Which is why there will be no outfit post from that night out. I ended up wearing a short dress some sheer black tights, a black sweater and gold accessories, but I just felt frumpy and not up to scratch for a Saturday night out :D

On Sunday I don't even know how I got everything done :D D's family was meant to arrive around 1pm and when I woke up at 10 AM I had so much to do and cook. But at the end I did manage to put out quite a nice spread for the guests and had a nice day :)

So here are a few pictures from my weekend :)

Happy Easter from the strawberry face. He tried it for the first time this weekend and loved it. Didn't really like the watermelon for eating more like squeezing the juice out of it and making a mess :D

Hope you enjoyed the post :)

Stay tuned for a casual sweater dress Wednesday look post :)

xoxo

Meril