I always find packing for trips really stressful. No matter how good a list I make I always agonize over what to take and what to leave behind. This time for my trip to Crete I decided I was going to take as little make up as possible for minimal fuss. However since I got home I've been using the same products all the time to recreate that holiday feeling.

The look I was going for was a natural, glowing gold look as I tan very easily and I wanted to take products that would work with this.

For my base I wanted something light but with as a high an SPF as I could find so that I wouldn't have to layer too many products on my face. I went for the Clinique Anti Blemish solutions BB cream as its specifically designed for use on oily skin and has SPF 40. The formula of this is very thin and runny so you only need to use a small amount of product and it gives a lovely even coverage. My only issue with this is due to its thin consistency it can be quite messy and the inside lid of mine is covered in product. I have the colour medium and I find it to be an excellent match but the shade range is limited and could be too orange for those on the paler side. I am a massive Clinique fan and have always found their products to work well for me. If you are olive skin toned with oily or spot prone skin then this is well worth a try.

For my cheeks I used my Max Factor Creme puff blush in Seductive Pink combined with my Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle. This gave a really soft golden glow and was perfect with a tan.

I get really bad bags under my eyes so used my Benefit Puff Off as a lighter alternative to concealer. This stuff is great because the gel is cooling but also has a slight pink shimmer to counteract the purple tones. The cool feel of the product combined with the salmon tint really does help to hide them. Most of the time the only other eye make up I wore was my Maybelline lash sensational mascara. When this first launched everyone was going on about how it was a dupe for Benefits Roller Lash and having tried both I have to say it is a pretty close match. If you're a fan of roller lash this is definitely worth a try as its so much cheaper.

There was only a few nights where I wore anything other than mascara as most of our evenings were very relaxed. I wanted a really simple eye look to continue with the gold theme so used my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette focusing on Suspect or YDK combined with other various shades to create a soft shimmery smokey eye.

I decided to pass on wearing anything on my lips other than my nivea lip balm as it was just too hot for sticky lipgloss or to have lipstick sliding about everywhere.

The thing I love best about this look is it takes a few minutes to create which also makes it perfect for wearing to work now that I am back in the UK. Now I am home I'm teaming this with a nude lip and my hair in a french braid to continue with the relaxed feel.

A (virtually) free shopping spree!

Check out the awkward rhyming on the post title there. Ah well, really need to get better with them.
Yesterday I went shopping just because I was bored and although I got loads of stuff I only actually purchased one item. Although it was the most expensive, I am hoping I am going to get real value out of it.

So yeah I finished yesterday on a bit of a high. I also got some new things for my room but I will do a seperate post on them another day.

ALL THE PRETTY THINGS <3

1. Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette 
So I did the most sterotypical blogger thing ever and jumped on the Naked Palette hype. But I'm a lifestyle blogger so its allowed. This is literally all over the internet and everyone is raving about them. As I spent most of my lecture yesterday watching YouTube tutorials that all involved this I decided to go see what its all about. My local Urban Decay counter is in Debenhams (who knew?!) and the girl gave me such a lovely make over as I couldn't decide which one to buy. I was so impressed with the Naked 3 palette I actually purchased it. Also seriously regretting not asking her what on earth she put on my lips because it was INCREDIBLE. I  am poor AF right now but I'm also a  bad girl and I don't care. Its so lovely and pretty and I cannot wait to wear it! It also came with a 1 week sample of each of their different eye primer potions which I have been desperate to try. So yeah, that was the only part of the spree that I actually spent real money on.

2. Soft ribbed T-Shirt
I found an unspent New Look Voucher left over from Christmas! The excitement! So I picked up this bad boy which I bought in a size too big because I want it to be slightly slouchy. I haven't tried it on yet and so it could go back. But its just so soft and I'm really into my neutral colours at the moment.

3. Went a little crazy in Boots
I love nothing better than an afternoon to wonder round Boots by myself and sniff out some great beauty buys. I'm pretty pleased with little haul and I think I might have got myself some real bargains. I grabbed myself a Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner as I have heard all sorts of praise for this, my current eyeliner pen is running out and this seems like a good one to replace it with.
Next I chose a Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Brick in pink bronze which seems like an excellent dupe for the Bobbi Brown ones but a fraction of the price. Finally I picked up two new nail varnishes, one from Natural Collection in Pink Manicure as it was so cheap and I've never tried any of their nail varnish. The other was  Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Sugar Apple as this seems identical to the Essie one in Candy Mint Apple but costs much less.
Best of all none of this cost me a penny thanks to my Boots points! And I've still got money left on it!