Weekly round up

Face - Estee Lauder Maximum Cover in Very Light // Mac Blush in Dainty // Topshop Highlighter in Sunbeam // MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder in Light// MAC lipstick in Fanfare// Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara.

001. I did it! I dyed my hair. It's a bit darker than I had wanted but it looks more red in the sunlight. Although unfortunately in the UK sunlight is something we are sadly lacking. Has it been miserable where you are too? 

002. I start my course tomorrow. I still need to do some reading for it but I'm so excited to get started on it. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's a design and innovation course with the Open University. If you've noticed, I'm always tweaking my blog design, so this course suits me perfectly. 

003. I will try and get my giveaway up sometime during the week. I've talked about it for ages and I've changed my mind so often as to what I should include and whether I should have two smaller ones instead of one big one. I'm still undecided so it will probably be a spur of the moment decision. I'm really excited about it though, and I hope that you all will like the prizes!

004. I seem to be getting really dry skin recently. I've not been drinking water as much as I usually do, but I've been eating well and it's really starting to get me down. I moisturise lots and I am pretty thorough with cleaning my skin. I think I might be cleaning it too much though as it seems to have gotten dry since I implemented my new skincare routine. It's annoying as my t-zone gets really oily, but I can get dry patches on my cheeks.  Do you have any miracle moisturisers you could recommend me? 

Blog shop

I have a few make up bits that I have to give away for one reason or another. I'd love to see them go to good homes instead of sitting on my shelf. For the most part, the items are unused but I'm always honest about usage and I have adjusted the price accordingly. 

UK ONLY. All payments to be made via paypal. E-mail me at almostdelightful@gmail.com if you are interested in any of the items listed. Reasonable offers considered & if you want more than one item there will be a discount! No refunds.

MAC Select foundation nw15. Used twice but unfortunately too dark for me. RRP £19.50 selling for £13 included postage and packaging. 

MAC Blankety lipstick. Swatched once but it leans slightly too brown for my skin. Would suit someone with darker skin than myself. £9 including postage and packaging. RRP £13.50. 

Revlon lipstick in Smoked Peach. Swatched once but too neon for my skintone. £5 including postage and packaging. £7.49 RRP. 

Benefit dandelion brightening face powder. Used a few times but is not pigmented enough to use as a blush and too pink for me to use as a brightening face powder. £16 including postage and packaging. RRP £23.50.

Max Factor Ageless Elixir foundation in Light Ivory. Too dark for me. Used once. £8 including postage and packaging. RRP £12.99 

MAC Pro Longwear foundation in NW20. Used once but too dark for me. £16 inc P+P. RRP £22.50

Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in SB7. Too dark for my skintone. Used a few times. £14 inc P+P RRP £25.

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker in Yummy Plum. Never used. £5 including P+P. RRP £9.

 Benefit Hello Flawless custom cover up powder. Usage as shown. I used this on/off for a few months before moving onto MAC Skin finish natural. Still plenty left.  Shade I love me Ivory.

£10 including postage and packaging RRP £24.50

 Revlon lip butter in Peach Parfait. Swatched once. I just have too many lipsticks and this shade isn't my favourite. £4.50 including postage and packaging. £7.99 RRP.

Topshop lip stick in Powder Room. Swatched once. I have pinks like it already! £4 including postage and packaging. £7 RRP.

Revlon Lip Butter in Cotton Candy. Swatched once. I have lipsticks similar to this already. £4.50 including P+P. RRP £7.99

Week of Make Up

Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes//Thinking of colouring my hair a deep red//Models Own Lilac Dream//Went crazy with the Revlon Lip Butters//NARS Mata Hari & MAC Dainty blushers//Models Own Feeling Blue nail polish//Models Own Lemon Meringue nail polish//New Sleek Blushers.

Just a quick overview of what I'm been using, loving and buying this week! Get a good glimpse of my wonky fingers, haha. I actually forgot that I bought the Models Own Lemon Meringue nail polish so today has been the first time I've worn it. I've also been thinking of dying my hair red for the past couple of weeks. I don't usually dye my hair and the only helper I have with me is my boyfriend, so if I choose to do it my hair at the back might end up mega patchy, which to be honest is the reason I've been put off doing it.

What have you been buying this week?

Models Own, the good and the bad

Models Own have been that brand that lots of bloggers seem to use and be talking about. Personally I think that most Models Own nail polishes are great as the bottles are huge and they dry quickly, but there are differences in the quality of some of the polishes.

I decided to rank some of the Models Own nail polishes I have in terms of easiness to apply and how well they lasted on the nails. I thought this might be helpful to any of you who are considering buying some Models Own nail polishes. Having said that, this is entirely my opinion, you might love one of the colours I've not liked. The ones I found great are listed above. I found that I got great colour pay off after just one coat and they lasted for days on the nails. The Models Own nail polishes I ranked as ok took a few coats to get good colour pay off, and they didn't last as long on the nails. The ones I ranked as bad had a more watery consistency and I found it difficult to get a nice opaque colour from them. I found they chipped more easily, even after a few hours of wear!  

What is your favourite brand for nail polish?

Monthly Challenge

1. Burts Bees Daily Cleanser.

2) Nars Powder Blush in Mata Hari.

3) Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels.

4) Topshop lipstick in Powder Room.

5) Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout

Firstly, sorry for my huge blogging hiatus. I had some problems at work which made me miserable for a few weeks, but I am better now.

Secondly, I've was introduced to this challenge by Sophie from Flirty Dresses and I thought it would be fun to do! I am so bad with buying products and not using them for a while, and so I thought I would challenge myself each month to use the products which have been neglected for one reason or another. I seem to have bought loads of blushers recently and I have only been using a select few. NARS Mata Hari and Topshop Head Over Heels have been neglected the most, in fact I don't think I've ever used them and that's not really excusable for a blush that cost me £21. I've not even opened the Topshop lipstick! So this month I will try to get some use out of these products, and update you on the results! 

Lastly, you may have noticed I updated the design a little. I loved my previous design but I wanted to add a few new pages which didn't work with the old one so I had to change it up a bit. I also designed Rachel's blog Cold Knees too, so I've been a busy bee these past few weeks. 

How have you all been?