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Monday 7 December 2015

The Christmas Tag

Image NOT MINE- Weheartit

Hey Guys, 

I've seen this tag floating around since last year when I totally mean to do it, but didn't. So I thought I would give it a go this year.  

1.Whats Your Favorite Holiday Movie? 

My favourite holiday films ( because I can't narrow it down) are Miracle on 34th Street and Santa Clause The Movie 

2. Whats Your Favorite Christmas Color? 
I really like deep emerald green around Christmas team, especially now with my red hair. 

3. Do You Like To Stay in Your PJs Or Dress Up For Christmas?
I would LOVE to stay in my PJ's all day but I do the rounds on xmas day because my parents are split up and I go to Stu's house so I have to get dressed.

4. If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?
Probably my mam, she really deserves it :) and both my brothers are younger so nobody else really buys her presents.

5. Do You Open Your Present Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning?
Christmas morning!! 

6. Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House?
I honestly wouldn't know where to start, so no!

7. What Do You Like To Do On Your Christmas Break?
I work in retail! There is no such thing as I Christmas break! 

8. Any Christmas Wishes?
Probably just that everyone is happy! Oh and that they hurry up building my house.

9. Favorite Christmas Smell?
I really don't like christmas smells, I dont like spicy cinnamon smells. So I don't really know what my favourite smell would be, probably the smell of real Christmas trees.

10. Favorite Christmas Meal Or Treat? 
Without a doubt, Pigs in Blankets! Though to be fair I do eat them all year round but they taste that bit nicer on Christmas day.

Let me know your version of this tag :) 
Speak Soon 
Jessica 

Tuesday 1 December 2015

Blogmas Day One

Image: Pinterest




Hey Guys, 

Welcome to day one of Blogmas (hopefully)
I'm not making any promises that I will finish this but I really am going to try my best. :) 

If any of you are doing blogmas, please leave your links below so I can keep updated! 

Speak Soon 
Jessica 


Monday 23 November 2015

Quick Five Product Face




Hey Guys, 

As mentioned in my catch up post I feel like I've never stopped recently and because of this I have been favoring a quick makeup look in the morning using a minimal amount of makeup and I thought I would share that with you. 

So for base I have been applying the Nars Sheer Glow foundation, which I have been loving. This is really handy on a morning because I find this really easy to work with and blend which means it takes me hardly any time to apply a full base. 
Then I've been using the Bourjois healthy mix concealer under my eyes to hide those dark circles. Again, I really like this, it is quite thick and can stick to your dry patches but I really like this and it is easy to blend in just with my fingers for quickness. Then I've been loving using this Urban Decay flushed pallet as it has everything I need in one place. Rather than use each product in there individually I've been sweeping my brush along all three to give just a flush of warmth to my cheeks. 
For my eyes, when I'm in a rush, I just use mascara. Lately I've fallen back into using the Benefit Roller lash as this gives really great length and curls making your eyes look more awake than I actually feel. 
Finally for the lips I've been using this benefit gloss that I got in last years advent calendar. I'm sorry but it doesn't have a name but it's a really natural pink shade that just gives that extra flush of colour. 


So there you have it my quick five product face. Let me know what you always grab when your in a rush and if you know any multi use products? 
Speak Soon 
Jessica 

Sunday 11 October 2015

Body Shop Instablur

Body shop instablur 



Hey guys, 

Today I'm back with my thoughts on the Body Shop InstaBlur primer! I actually picked this up a while ago but I've only got round to using it! 
I must admit I don't normally like primers especially silicone ones, I really didn't like the maybelline baby skin one, I just don't like the texture on my face. 
This is a little bit like that but better. It's a similar sort of idea that it blends over your pores and reduces them while being a primer as well. The consistency isn't as thick so it smooths over the face and doesn't leave it feeling heavy or sticky and I do notice that my pores around my nose appear smaller. Its actually a really good primer as well, when I wear it I do notice that my base lasts longer without needing a top up.
I would recommend it to people if you like the maybelline one but found it to heavy, you'll definitely prefer this one! 

Let me know if you've tried this one and what you think of it. 
Speak soon 
Jess 

Sunday 27 September 2015

Remeber me?

 
Random photo of my new car *heart eye emoji*
 
Hey Guys,
 
Looong time no speak, far to long. As you have probably noticed I haven't shown my face around here for quite some time. Now I'm not going to try and give you a load of bulls**t excuses about where I've been and why I haven't blogged, because frankly I don't have any.
 
Honestly life got in the way, as I mentioned I'm now a manager at my store and that means I work full time. Which is great but it also means that my days off are much more special to me so I always try and do something with them rather than sitting at the laptop.
 
Recently though I have been talking to my cousin, who has started her own blog recently, and I realised I missed blogging. I missed being part of the community and I missed having somewhere to express how much I have loved a lipstick or found a really great cleanser.
 
So I'm going to try again. I've got a couple of posts already wrote up ready to go and I'm writing some more as I type this. I'm going to try and post two days a week, I know one of those days will be a Sunday but I'm not sure of the other day yet,let me know which day you would like?
 
I'm also going to be trying out some different types of posts, maybe more lifestyle, home wear and fashion type posts, we'll see.

So there's my reintroduction post, thank you for sticking around this long and I hope you'll continue to stick with me.

Speak Soon
Jessica
 
 

Sunday 26 April 2015

Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer



Hey Guys, 

So I'm back today to share my thoughts on the Tarte Amazonian clay tinted moisturizer, boy that's a mouthful! 
I picked this up in New York from Sephora, like I said in my Sephora Haul post, I went in looking for the amazonian clay foundation but once I got there and tried that out I found it far to thick and full coverage for my liking. I still wanted to get something from Tarte because they are so hard to get a hold of in the UK and I really wanted to try a foundation. I tried a couple out but, again, they were to full coverage until I tried the Tinted Moisturizer. 

Compared to any other tinted moisturizer I've tried the coverage is very full and I would definitely class it as a regular foundation with a lighter coverage.I picked mine up in the shade medium, which is maybe a touch dark, but only a touch. 
I wore this for work and found that it did last all day without needing much of a touch up, but I also found it a little drying and I have normal skin so I wouldn't recommend it for people with dry skin because I can imagine this clinging to dry patches. Another thing to note as well is that it STINKS like really strong, It doesn't smell off or anything but I found it very heavily scented so if you have sensitive skin I would recommend trying to get a sample or trying it in the store before you drop your money on this because it might not be any good for you. 

All in all I don't think I would purchase this again but I would like to try more from Tarte. 


Let me know if you've tried this or any other products from Tarte that you recommend.
Speak Soon
Jessica   


Saturday 18 April 2015

Review: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer




Hey Guys,



I'm back today to share my thoughts on the Nars Creamy Concealer. 


This was another duty free purchase that I had my eye on for some time and I had read some really good reviews on. 

I have been trying this out for about a month and half and I have to say I am really enjoying using it. I use it to conceal and brighten my under eyes, I don't really get spots or blemishes very often so I can't really comment on how well it covers those, but because I bought a lighter shade I probably wouldn't be able to use it for that anyway.There is quite a good shade range with ten to chose from and I picked mine up in the shade Vanilla.  

It's a medium to full coverage concealer.I really like the consistency of this, as the name suggests, its creamy and really easy to blend and isn't cakey at all. I find it to last all day, on particularly hot days sometimes I think I need like an afternoon touch up, but I think that is more me being paranoid than anything else. 

Like I said I have really enjoyed this, would  I repurchase, possibly not. But that's only because from what I've read online that Maybelline do a couple of quite good dupes for it so Id like to try those out before repurchasing. 

Let me know if you've tried this one, or if you've tried any similar highstreet versions.
Speak Soon 
Jessica 

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Review: Nars Eyeshadow Base





Hey guys, 

I'm back today to share with you my new holy grail product. 
If you didn't know I have quite hooded eyes that are quite oily and eye shadow doesn't seem to last five minutes on my eyes. 
I have tried a couple of drugstore eye shadow primers and a Benefit one but none of them have worked for me before. 
But one week on the Sunday blogger chat on twitter I asked if anyone had any recommendations of anything that might work and a few people suggested the Nars eye shadow base. 
I read some reviews online and thought I would give it a try. I picked this up when I was in Heathrow from the duty free. 

I've been trying this out for a couple of weeks and I have to say I am absolutely in love with it! It really does what it promises and I can't get enough of it! 
You only need the smallest amount on your eye and then I wipe it all over the lid and brow bone. I find it dries and isn't sticky like others I've tried and it also doesn't leave any colour which I prefer. 

I obviously apply my makeup in the morning and for the first time when I get home I still have eye-shadow on, and I'm not talking about a tiny shrivel left on the eye, I mean my full eye shadow look is still there! 

As you can probably tell I am very happy with this primer and when I run out I will be most definitely be repurchasing another one. If you are like me and can't seem to make eye shadow stick I would give this a go, yes it is pricey but it does work and it finally means I am able to get my money's worth from all the eye shadow's that I own! 

Let me know if you've tried this one? Or anything that I might not have tried that works for you! 
Speak soon 
Jessica 

Monday 23 March 2015

Sephora Haul


Hey Guys, 

So I thought it was about time I shared with you what I picked up from Sephora while I was in New York. 
I went in to a couple of Sephora's before I actually bought anything and to be honest I found the whole thing a bit daunting. It was half my own fault for not being fully prepared but the girls in there are a whole new level of crazy I swear! There was a couple of things on my mental list but I forgot all about those and just saw things as I walked round. 

So the first thing that I was looking for was the Tarte Amazion Clay Foundation but when I tested it I really didn't like it. I found it far to thick and to be honest I've been leaning towards a lighter coverage look recently anyway. So when I saw the BB Tinted Mosturiser I thought that would be more suited for me, so I picked it up. 

The Next thing I picked up was a Kat Von D liquid lipstick in the colour Bachelorette which isn't showing up true to colour on this photo but is like a dark reddish pink and I love it.

The final thing I intended on buying was the Anastasia Brow Wiz, I have wanted to try this for weeks since I fell in love with the Soap & Glory version. 

Then as I was standing in the cue for the checkouts I was totally sucked in by those miniatures. So I picked up a Kat Von D eye set which includes a mini tattoo liner and a mascara that I'm excited to try and I also picked up a mini Hourglass liquid lipstick in Iconic red, which again I am really excited to try. 

I haven't gone into to much detail here because I am planning on doing full reviews of everything I bought so keep your eyes peeled in the next couple of weeks for that! 

I also picked up some bargains in Duty Free on my way home that I plan on sharing with you. 

Let me know if you have tried any of these products and how they worked for you. 
Speak Soon 
Jessica 

Wednesday 18 March 2015

My New York Experience






Hey Guys, 


Last week I came back from the trip of a lifetime to New York and I thought I would share my thoughts on the things we did and just a run down of all the amazingness! 

So the first thing that you might notice is the photo quality, as I was wandering around duty free in Newcastle airport I realised that I'd forgot my camera so I only had my phone which doesn't take the best photos. The other thing is you get to caught up in the moment to take out your phone to take a photo. 


So we actually had a bit of a nightmare getting there, we were delayed in Newcastle which meant we missed our connecting flight. The later flight that they then moved us to was later cancelled which meant we had to spend a night in an airport hotel which was one nightmare after they other and meant we missed a full day in New York. 

But we got there in the end and it was every bit as amazing as I had hoped. 

On our first couple of days we spent most of the time exploring getting to know our way around. I have to admit Stu was much better at that than me as I have absolutely no sense of direction, even though all of the streets and blocks are just straight lines I still couldn't get my head around it! 

So we did the usual touristy things such as The top of the rock, empire state building, grand central, central park and 9/11 memorial and I would honestly recommend doing all of them. We went to the Top Of The Rock during the day and the Empire State Building during the night to get views at both times. The 9/11 Memorial is also a must see, its a really harrowing experience but so humbling at the same time. My favourite 'attraction' I think was the Empire State Building, honestly seeing New York all lit up is amazing and something I will never forget. 

We also went to see Wicked on Broadway which was amazing and I totally recommend you go and see it. I am a tad biased because I have seen the show three times in London so I already knew I would love it but it was always my dream to see it in New York.



The only thing that I will advise that I didn't take in to consideration is how much it costs to eat and drink. I mean don't get me wrong, like all places, there are some more expensive places and some cheaper places but things are just that bit more expensive than I had planned add on to that the tip and we kind of ended up eating at MacDonalds and pizza places most of the time so we had more money for shopping. 

Speaking of shopping I do have a couple of posts going up soon including a Sephora Haul and a 'Whats in my bag' featuring some of my new buys. I didn't really buy to many clothes because I'm currently on WW and trying to lose another stone so I'm not really letting my self buy to many clothes but I did pick up a couple of things from H&M. I did however pick up quite a bit of jewelry also from H&M, I thought the jewelry was much nicer than we have at home. To be honest the majority of my money went on two handbags that I picked up that will be coming up on here in due course, the first is a beautiful Kate Spade bag and the other one is a beautiful Rebecca Minkof bag.


Now I know there was loads I missed out of this post but like I said I didn't really know my way around and we didn't find any secret hidden places I wanted to share with you so in comparison to other peoples New York posts mine was probably rubbish but I wanted to share it none the less. 

Know we are planning on going back next April or May so if you have been and have any recommendations for me I would love to hear them. 

Speak Soon 

Jessica 

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Review: Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Foundation




Hey Guys,

Welcome back to Beauty Up North. I've been trying out a new foundation lately and I thought I would share my opinions with you. I picked this up in my local boots a couple of weeks ago before I went to New York on a bit of a whim on my lunch hour,  which by the way is soo dangerous and I do not recommend.

I picked it up in the shade 20 Cameo Beige which is possibly a touch to dark for me, I think I had false tan on at the time when I bought it, but I can still wear it most days with just a touch of bronzer. 

The first thing that I noticed when I opened it is that it comes with a ridiculously useless doe foot applicator. Why exactly I'm not sure but never mind. Once you get it on the skin it blends like a dream. I've been using my Real Techniques stippling brush to blend it in and I love the combination together. It really does go on like Satin and I do think it makes my skin feel really soft as well. It's definitely a liquid foundation and by that I mean it is quite runny but not to the extent that I found it difficult to work with. My skin type is normal so I can't honestly say how it would fair on other skin types but I get the feeling that if you had really oily skin it wouldn't be any good for you.
The coverage is light to medium coverage and I suppose you could build it up but to be honest I've been leaning towards much more lighter coverage foundations lately so this is perfect for me. 
When I bought it I think I paid £8.99 which to be honest is an absolute bargain and I would definitely recommend picking this up. 

Let me know if you have tried this foundation and what your thoughts were on it. 
Speak Soon
Jessica 


Welcome to Beauty Up North







Hey Guys and welcome to Beauty Up North,

I thought my first post should be a little welcome to my new blog.
I hope some of you have come over from All that glitters and will hopefully stay for the long haul by following.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about I did have another blog and I still do but I am no longer writing over there.
If thats the case then, hello, I'm Jessica, I am 23 and I am store manager for a fashion retail store here in the North East with a passion for all things beauty and fashion.
 I will be posting over here at least twice a week and I would really like it if you could follow my blog to make sure you don't miss out on anything.

Speak Soon

Jessica