Bedroom Details

I absolutely love interior design and I can spend hours browsing home décor ideas on Pinterest. As it's now Spring, I've introduced a lot of pink and girly accessories to my room. I've also been loving shabby-chic décor recently, so I've tried to find items such as the rose garland around my headboard to bring something new to my room. I am also obsessed with rose gold, so I've tried to include rose gold accessories and details as much as possible. 

Everything in my room is very affordable as unfortunately I can't afford to spend a lot of money on furniture, especially when my living arrangements aren't permanent. My favourite places to shop for home wear are Homesense, Tkmaxx, Debenhams and independent shops. I have often found the nicest products for my room where I least expect it! 

Please comment below if you have any specific questions about my room, or message me on Instagram (@charwbeauty).  

Recent Make Up Purchases

I absolutely adore Soap and Glory and I have heard so many good things about their face products that I just couldn't resist a trip to Boots. 

I'm thinking of doing a first impression of the foundation and possibly the primer, so let me know if that would be helpful or not! 

I feel that Hocus Focus will be a perfect summer staple and I'm hoping that it will give my make up a beautiful, healthy glow! Also the packaging is super cute and pretty! I will probably use this as a highlighter rather than blending it with my foundation because I have a terrible fear of looking oily. 

Since turning cruelty free, I've found it difficult to find a decent foundation that won't cost an arm and a leg. I am really hoping that this will work for me and become my favourite foundation! I got it in the lightest shade possible so fingers crossed it matches my skin tone.

I have read SO many good things about this primer, so I can't wait to try it out and see what the hype is about. I went into three different Boots to try and get it, but they were all sold out! Luckily I eventually found it in a larger store but there were only a couple left. I'm really hoping this will become one of my favourite products along with the foundation. 

I also picked up another one of the Blush Brick's in the shade Peach Party. It's a beautiful, warm toned blush that could potentially double up as a bronzer!

Photo Diary - A Spring Walk

A couple of weeks ago I went on a lovely walk with my family, and thought I would share some of the pictures that I took! It was a beautiful spring day and I'm so glad I took my camera with me. We ended our walk with tea and cake in a lovely shabby-chic, vintage inspired tea room. I usually feel super awkward taking pictures when there are other people around, but I loved the girly interior so much that I didn't care for once!

Battle of the Budget Contour Palettes

Yup, the title is ridiculous. 

Right so, for today's post I decided to compare three different contour palettes. 

They are all fairly inexpensive because unfortunately I cannot afford to spend a lot of money on a high end contour palette :'( 

With that aside, I'll be comparing the price, quality, pigmentation and shade range of each palette, along with other random details that may be relevant! 

Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit - £6.49 

First of all we have the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit, which is available in Superdrug, Boots and online for £6.49. Whilst this palette may not cater for darker skin tones, Barry M do have another palette for medium to dark skin which I think is great. 

It includes a light powder to highlight, a bronzer, and a dark powder to contour with. Now personally I don't use the darker shade as it's just waaay too dark, so I contour with the 'bronzer' and surprisingly it actually works for me. There is a tiny hint of shimmer but for me it's not enough to worry about. If I wanted to really dramatically contour then I probably could get away with the darker shade, although it may start to look muddy. 

The shades themselves are very soft and easy to blend out, so it would be perfect if you wanted a basic contour palette and were just starting out. It's also widely available on the high street and at £6.49 it is very affordable. This palette covers the contour basics and I really like how Barry M have kept it simple!

Make Up Revolution Contour Palette - £8

You can probably tell from the picture above that I LOVE this palette, specifically three of the shades! This palette is available in stores and online at Superdrug and also on the Make Up Revolution website. 

So with 8 shades, this is more advanced than the Barry M palette. Whilst it does of course have more shades, I actually only really use 3 of them on a daily basis. I've hit pan on the first highlight shade and the cooler toned contour shade. I also use the white baked highlighter a lot as well and absolutely love it! I very rarely use the other 5 shades, so unless you can make all 8 work for you, it may not be worth getting this palette. However, I am absolutely in love with the 3 shades that I do use, so personally I would repurchase it simply just for those. 

The contour powders blend so well and are incredibly pigmented and smooth. The white highlighter as you can see from the swatch is just amazing! 

This palette would work for a wide range of skin tones and is also very affordable. It's been my go to contour palette ever since it came out, so it's most probably my favourite and also the best value for money. 

Pixi Natural Contour Kit - £12- £22

A slightly more expensive contour kit but in my opinion, still affordable. I got this palette from the Pixi website for £12, but on other websites it is £22, so it would be advisable to shop around. 

Unlike the other 2 palettes, this one has 8 eye shadows as well as 4 contour shades. I also personally feel that two of the eye shadows could also double up as highlighters, as you can see from the swatch above (they're at the end). 

I love the brightening powder and also the highlighter, they're very natural and subtle but at the same time the highlighter is still pigmented. Focusing on the 4 highlight and contour shades, it's actually fairly similar to the Barry M palette, except this one has the extra shimmer highlighter. Likewise, I couldn't make the actual darker contour shade work for me, so instead I contour with the 'bronzer' which works just fine. I love that the contour shade is cool toned but for some reason I just couldn't get it to blend properly and resulted in it looking muddy and really dark. The other three shades I loved and didn't have a problem with. The bronzer blended fine and the eye shadows also blended without any issues. 

So, would I spend £22 on this? No, probably not. Obviously you get the eye shadows with it but for a contour palette it's just not up to scratch in my personal opinion. 

So, to conclude the Make Up Revolution contour palette was the winner for me, followed by the Barry M one and unfortunately the Pixi palette came last!

Let me know which one is your favourite!

Barry M Eye Shadows - Hit or Miss?

I've mentioned before that I've never been too keen on Barry M's eye shadows. 

I've had the Natural Glow Palette for a while now and have never really used it properly. However, I picked up the Eye Shine Palette the other week and it prompted me to try and give it another go.

With the right primer, these shadows are actually very pigmented and feel very soft and buttery. They also blend beautifully. Certain shades are more pigmented than others and apply smoother, as seen in the swatches above, so it might be a bit hit and miss with their shadows. 

However, I'll definitely be using both of these palettes in the future and I'm really glad I gave the Natural Glow Palette another go!