BEAUTY - OUAI Haircare Collection/Reviews.

I mentioned in my 2018 beauty favourites that I never used to be into haircare, I could dry my hair, straighten it and use a curling wand that was it. I didn't care about using any products because I have really oily hair so was too scared to put anything on it other than hairspray. It was only the back end of 2018 I actually got into hair products, and it was the brand OUAI that got my attention. With it's instagram worthy packaging, sleek, simple & stylish. Not to mention it's Jen Atkin's, hair stylist to the stars, haircare line. My OUAI collection is made up of 18 products, 3 repurchases and 5 of which are full size. All the others are minis from their sets which I have collected to try out more of the products.
The first product which got my attention is the 'Texturizing Hair Spray'. One of my 5 full size items (which my lovely friend bought me as my leaving present, probably to shut me up talking about it!) and I have already gone through one mini and I have another mini now on the go. I'd heard about Ouai but I had never tried it, I was in work, I had my hair wavy (for a change) and my hair needed some oomph. I headed over to the Ouai wall and it was love at first use. I knew I needed it, so I decided to buy the 'On My Ouai' set which came with a mini of the Texturizing Hair Spray (individually minis are £10). I am SO happy I decided to get this set (if its still available i'll link it below), it was £35 for 4 minis in a cute little bag which now houses all of my Ouai minis. This set led me to probably my favourite Ouai product... The 'Smooth Spray' or its new name 'Leave In Conditioner'. I have used this product every time I have dried my hair since I bought it, leading to repurchasing another mini size and I also the full size. I really did notice a difference in my hair from using this product. I used it as directed on the back, spray on your wet hair before brushing and then brush through. My hair is SO knotty, so brushing my hair when its just been taken out of the towel was a painful process, not any more thanks to this product. Plus my hair feels AMAZING when I use this, so soft and silky! (Another thing I LOVE about the brand, it has directions on the back of each product so you know how to use it if you not a hair wizz like myself). Another product in the set was the 'Dry Shampoo' now this is ok, I bought the set mainly because I was going on holiday and I wanted a mini of the texturizing hairspray and I thought a travel size dry shampoo would be perfect because I wasn't going to be washing my hair on my 3 day city break. Like I said its just ok, but great now because if I need a dry shampoo to take on any of my city breaks I now have one. An item I'm yet to use that came in the set (2 out of 18 products I've not tried yet) is the 'Treatment Masque'. I'm not a hair mask person, Im actually just really impatient and can't be bothered putting it on and waiting but I will get round to using them soon.

Id caught the Ouai bug and I wanted to try more of their products, the next set I got was the 'Morning After Kit' which included the famous 'Dry Shampoo Foam' I really wanted this product to work for me, so I tried it on a day I knew I'd be washing my hair incase it didn't work for me and thank god I did, it made my hair sooo greasy. I tried it again to give it the benefit of the doubt and the same happened, which made me question if the foam was just a bad batch. Now I will say it gave me loads of volume, so if I was ever doing a pony and I wanted a ton of volume I'd then use this. I was sad though because I do like a dry shampoo for a lazy hair day. The next product in the set which i'd seen all over social media was the 'Rose Hair and Body Oil' Im not the biggest fan of a hair oil, i'd use one every now and again when my ends were feeling super dry, but it isn't a product I would reach for every time. It smells lovely and I like that you can use it on your body too. I only use one to two pumps because I am very scared of oils because my roots are naturally very oily. I now own the full size because it was a free full size gift with purchase and I do use it (a very small amount) on my hair when its wet and when its dry if I'm having my hair sleek and straight. The last product in the set was the 'Finishing Crème' it's describes as a lotion for your hair, That smooths dry hair ends and gives your hair a lived in look. Which I am here for the texturizing products. When I received this there was probably only around 3cm of product in my tube which I was a little annoyed about because when I use this product I actually really like it but I probably don't use enough because it will run out. Honestly I do think I got an all round bad batch of the Morning After Kit because every product in it didn't wow me, my Rose Hair and Body Oil wasn't rose coloured and it was leaking all over the place, my Dry Shampoo Foam just was sticky and my Finishing Crème has hardly any product in it... hm.

The next items I purchased were the 'Three Ouai Kit'. This set is £25 and includes 3 minis and 6 'wave clips' which I just use to get my hair off my face or for separating my hair when drying/styling it, and the 'Anti - Frizz Hair Sheets'. The first mini in the Three Ouai Kit is the 'Dry Texture Foam' like I said I'm here for anything that gives my hair texture. I was very hesitant to use this as I had not the best time with the last foam, but this product gave me piecey texture and made my hair look like the good kinda bed head. It said that it would feel like there was no product in my hair and it's weightless and that's correct, I do really like this product. Next in the set is was the 'Volume Spray'. This product is raved about and the full size sold out everywhere! Its a product that you spray onto your roots before drying, so naturally me and my oily roots were very nervous but I thought lets give it a go, I have really flat, heavy, thick hair which really lacks volume. I used it as directed and dried my hair and I wasn't blown away, I didn't notice anything until I had finished doing my hair and I was brushing through it and my hair bounced! It worked, AND my roots didn't feel or look greasy! I was still a little bit undecided on the product so I used it a few times and I can say it definitely gives my hair volume. This product runs out quite fast, and I did manage to get my hands of a mini version of it without having to buy a set (if I had to get a set to get this product I would have..). My third repurchase from Ouai and I will be purchasing the full size when it comes back (Ouai say is being made better).  The last product in the set is the award winning 'Wave Spray'. I tried it and im not going to lie, im not a fan. I think this product is more for a person who lets their hair air dry and I can't do that. I put it in my hair and scrunched as directed (which worked, it gave natural waves) but once i'd dried my hair it felt sticky, heavy and full of product. I did see someone on instagram using this once they had curled their hair with a wand which I tried and again not blown away. I will try this product again before I make a final decision but I do feel like it's not one for me. The next item I bought in the Ouai Haul that day was the 'Anti-Frizz Hair Sheets'. The idea of these made me so excited! At the top of my head (I think the proper wording is the crown of my head) I have lots of little sticky up broken strands of hair which drive me crazy! These come in a little box and are individually in little sachets, so you can chuck them into your bag and use on the go. It says a few swipes and hair is left shiny, smooth and free from flyaways. Everyone's dream. I used one for the first time the other day. When I opened the packet and unfolded the sheet I had a little moment of panic when I felt how oily the sheet was, I thought it was going to make my hair slimy and greasy straight away. I again did as the directions said on the back, it got most of my fly a way and broken sticky up ends down but I didn't think anything special. It was only a few hours later when I looked at my hair and I really noticed that there were only a few stray hairs and my hair didn't look or feel greasy, it actually looked fresh (it was only day old hair but my hair is ready for washing within 24 hours, very annoying...) I will probably have to use them a few more times to really know how I feel but so far so good.
Another on of my full size products is the 'Volumizing Hair Spray', like is said anything that gives texture and volume. I've not used this a lot but when I have used it I've noticed it does what it says on the can, its also light weight and none sticky which is a bonus and gives instant volume.
The last product in my Ouai collection (certainly won't be my last) is the NEW 'Hair & Body Shine Mist'. This product has diamond powder in it, and the can is Rose Gold which is the main reason I bought it other than the fact its Ouai. Ive tried it on both hair and body, and it never looks like the girls on the Ouai instagram, which it never will because its a £25 spray and I use it very sparsely! I'm not a fan of the smell but I will use it a few more times and maybe use more. Also a point that's good to know I saw on Ouai's instagram that the product shows up best in the sun. I don't live in a very sunny country so maybe when the sun comes out I will see how the product actually works!

Thats all for my collection/reviews, I hope you found it helpful if you were thinking about trying the brand out. There are so many products im yet to try from Ouai and im always waiting for them to bring out new products and not to mention new minis because everyone loves a mini beauty product!

Products on my OUAIdar are; 
(everything I've not already tried..) 
- Scalp & Body Scrub. 
- Memory Mist.

SHOP.
Shop all Ouai products on Ouai's website, Selfridges, Cult Beauty, Space NK, Look Fantastic, Feel Unique, ASOS, Debenhams, John Lewis.  
On My Ouai Kit - http://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/cat/ouai-on-my-ouai-kit_334-3003948-819/?cm_mmc=PPC-_-DSA-_-all-_-&&cm_mmc=PPC-_-DSA-_-all-_-NA&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnY_jBRDdARIsAIEqpJ2TyCbTgi5rV_fRKi_2y12kppOds2tdT_kgvfpLSg-JJXAD8I-MBZ4aAsBgEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Three Ouai Kit - https://theouai.co.uk/products/three-ouai-kit
All The Ouai Up Kit - https://theouai.co.uk/products/all-the-ouai-up-kit
Texturizing Hair Spray - https://theouai.co.uk/products/texturizing-hair-spray
Volumizing Hair Spray - https://theouai.co.uk/products/volumizing-hair-spray
Rose Hair and Body Oil - https://theouai.co.uk/products/rose-hair-body-oil
Anti Frizz Hair Sheets - https://theouai.co.uk/products/anti-frizz-hair-sheets
Finishing Crème - https://theouai.co.uk/products/finishing-creme
NEW Hair & Body Shine Mist - https://theouai.co.uk/products/hair-and-body-shine-mist
No links are affiliate. 

TRAVEL - Helsinki & Tallinn.

Last month I had my first trip of 2019! Helsinki, Finland & Tallinn, Estonia.
-3 Degrees Celsius, lots of snow and lots of ice. Packing was nice and easy, plenty of layers, thick snuggly jumpers and thin jumpers for layering under them. Jeans (I should have put my leggings under them as my legs were the coldest part), fluffy socks, hat, scarf, gloves and a nice thick coat. Not to mention I had to take my mums walking boots because I needed the grip. 

We flew with Finnair, their planes are so clean and I didn't feel cramped like I usually do on flights. From the airport we got the Finnair bus which takes you into the centre of Helsinki, it was €12.50 for a return ticket which is valid for a month, so its much cheaper than getting a taxi too and from the airport, the journey takes around 30 minuets. We were only in Helsinki for one night, we landed at around 3.50pm, it was starting to get dark so we couldn't see much. By the time we got to our hotel it was pitch black. We stayed at Hellsten Hotel Apartments, it was around a 5-10 minuet walk into the main area (probably would have been quicker if we weren't carefully walking through snow and ice). On our first night we didn't do much, we had to walk past a few of the sights on my list to get into the centre. We had a walk around looking for some place to eat and we settled on a Mexican restaurant called Pancho Villa which was in the Kluuvi shopping centre. The food was SO good. If you are going to Helsinki I would highly recommend it. After we ate we had a walk around, the shopping in Helsinki was very good (there was a maxmara outlet and I had to restrain myself from buying a teddy coat that was 400 reduced from 1000!). The next day we set out on our sight seeing, Helsinki is quite small so its not hard to do. Our ferry to Tallinn was at 4.30 so we had to make sure we saw everything before going back to where we stayed to get our stuff and get a taxi to the port. 

Just a few minuets walk from our hotel was Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral. Built in 1868. This is the largest Orthodox Church in western Europe and is considered to be one of the best examples of Russian influence on Finnish culture. Inside was very beautiful also, its a rich red brick on the outside with green and gold on the roof. Inside is stunning with the high ceiling in the main dome, with gold everywhere from the walls to the ceiling. Another few minuets walk up the road is Senate Square & Helsinki Cathedral. This is one of the oldest part of Helsinki, in the same area is the government palace and the main building of Helsinki university, these are some of the city's most important historical and cultural landmarks. The Cathedral is set upon lots and lots of steps so the cathedral is actually quite high and can be seen from most areas, we didn't get to go inside as it was closed.  Nearer to the train station is Ateneum, the most famous art museum in Finland and the centre of Finnish art. It has everything from 19th century pieces to the current period.
They were the three main things we saw, other places on my list was the market square which is popular and other than that we just wondered the streets. We found a lovely park, it was covered in thick snow and people were sledging down the hills.  We walked around just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful buildings and churches that were all around until we had to get to the port to get our ferry over to Tallinn. If you have more than a day in Helsinki there are more places to see/visit. I get all of my information and sights that i'd like to see off an app called Visit A City, one of my best app finds! Not everywhere is on it but most places are, Tallinn isn't on the app so google was my sight planner.

We were in Tallinn for two nights. There is a lot more to see in Tallinn, again its very small and its all around the same area. The ferry to Tallinn was two hours, which flew by because we had Wi-Fi, shops, restaurant's & comfy seats (to nap). We arrived in Tallinn and from the ferry terminal our hotel was a 10 minuet walk. we stayed in the Tallink Express Hotel. The rooms were really spacious and clean with a comfy bed, not to mention nice and warm which was very much appreciated when the temperature outside is -3, breakfast was also included in the price. Again we got there when it was dark so we headed into the main square in hunt for food. It was a quick 5-10 minuet walk from the main area, Raekoja Plats. This is where the town hall is and is the centre of old town Tallinn. We spent a while looking for somewhere to eat as usually we judge the place off how many people are in because we never research places to eat. Obviously January in a very cold, very small place isn't going to be packed full of people. After we walked passed the fifth restaurant with only one couple in we settled for a place called Caffé Centrale (kesklinna kohvik) we ate there twice, our first evening and the next day for lunch. It was only when I got back and was trying to find out the restaurants name that I saw the reviews, they were not good. BUT we had really good meals both times and the service was fine. We walked in through the amazing old stone walls of the old town (the first picture in the one above) and not far in was St. Olafs Church. It is believed to have been built in the 12th century and was extensively rebuilt in the 14th century. We couldn't go inside the church because it was Sunday and every church in Tallinn had a service on so we didn't get to see inside of the church, its also really hard to view from the streets as its so high and the area around it is quite built up. In summer the tower's observation deck is open where you can go up the tower (232 steps) and look over the city. There's lots of amazing view points you can go to in the winter months to get beautiful views of the city, the first one we found was the Danish Kings Garden, its not the best one though because around the corner is the Kohtuotsa viewing platform and Patkuli viewing platform. They both have stunning views over the city, just type it into google maps and it will guide you too them (a little tip, I always write a list of all the sights in the place I'm going and once I'm there I will find out how far away each is from the hotel and make note of it so we know the order of the sights and don't waste time walking forwards and backwards from place to place. Like I mentioned before Tallinn is really small so it wouldn't matter too much if you were just seeing the sights as they came). Another gorgeous building is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a 19th century orthodox cathedral in a typical Russian Revival style. It's a gorgeous building, the cathedral is on Toompea hill which leads me to Toompea Castle, an ancient stronghold site in use since at least the 9th century, today houses the Parliament of Estonia, the Parliament building is a pretty pink building facing Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. When we was there everything was covered in snow, it made everything look like it was from a fairy tale. We didn't actually know it was the Parliament building until later on. Another church we didn't get to go inside was St. Nicholas' Church and Museum, it's a former medieval church which was built in the 13th century and it was partially destroyed in Soviet bombing in WW2. Another church established in the 13th century and the oldest church in Tallinn and mainland Estonia is St Mary's Cathedral, again we didn't get to go inside, it was the only building in Toompea which survived a fire in the 17th century. Honestly the whole of Tallinn is so beautiful and is a sight to see, there was one more place that was on my list but it was a little drive away and we didn't get time to do it, I think if we had day light on our side it would have been fine but it started to get dark around 3-330. We had to leave our hotel at 6am to get the 7am ferry back to Helsinki to get our flight home to Manchester. If you had more time you could even get the ferry over to Russia from Tallinn/Helsinki as its not too far then fly home from there. I would love to see Moscow and St Petersburg. My next destination is quite the contrast to the small cities I recently visited and also the weather, my next travel with me will be about my trip to Dubai which I visit at the end of March, so excited!  
If your looking for some travel inspiration I have a two other 'Travel with Me's on Iceland & Italy. I have a few more on Marrakech & Lisbon but never got around to doing them as I thought it would be too late. I did a poll on instagram and the majority vote was to still post them so they may pop up along the way for people who are thinking of visiting those places.
I love travel and I love writing these blog posts! For more travel pictures follow my Instagram @ellietaylorrxx. 
x

FASHION - How I Save for Luxury Items.

A few people have asked me to write a post about how I afford to buy designer items. Every designer item (minus one which was a gift) I have purchased myself, and as much as I wish money grew on trees, it doesn't so I work hard for everything I buy and spend months saving.

Tip 1. Get a separate account/bank card.
I have my normal debit card, the one my wages get put into then I also have another card which I label as my 'spendy account'. I personally wanted a separate bank card so I opened another account specifically for saving (then spending). I can see both accounts on my online banking so its easy to transfer money over, but I don't use that card unless I'm buying an item I've saved for.

Tip 2.  Put money aside every month.
It doesn't matter how much or little you put aside, as long and your saving something. Whenever I get paid I will go onto my online banking app and transfer money to the 'spendy account'. I usually only put £100 each month away, I could put a lot more away a month but I don't wanna stop myself being able to do/buy other bits that I want. You could always start off the month with an amount and once the next pay day is approaching you can always put some more aside. Which leads perfectly to the next tip..

Tip 3.  Know what your saving for.
It's ALOT easier saving when you know what your saving for. When there's nothing in particular I'm saving for I will still put money away each month but I'm not as dedicated as I would be if I knew the goal amount I need to buy something. This will stop you buying unnecessarily and you will also put more money away each month if you can afford to. We all know on average how much a month we spend on the necessities, if you know you can put and extra £100 do it! It takes you that one step closer to getting your desired item.  

Tip 4.  Try not to waste money.
Now, we all will see what wasting money is differently. Some people think that buying designer/luxury items is a waste of money. For me, when people talk to me about wanting to start buying luxury most of the time the first thing they will say is.. I should probably stop going out. I personally don't go out much (as in nights out), for me this is a huge saving that I don't know I'm even doing. I'm not saying that I put the money I would save going on a night out into my other account because I don't, but if I did go on nights out I definitely wouldn't own any of the items I do. Now obviously don't let saving stop you from living your life or buying something you like, I'm not saying that. If I wanna go out for a meal or have a little high street shopping spree I certainly will, but when I'm in crazy saving mode, I might think about the items I'm buying more. I used to like something and just buy it, now I will walk around the store with it get to the till and turn around and think to myself, no I don't need that item.

Tip 5.  Any cash I get I save.
Christmas money, Birthday money, any money, if I get cash I don't spend it (well I try not to). When I used to be a freelance makeup artist (I still am, I just don't work in makeup anymore so I don't do as much) this was a lot easier for me. Every month my nanny gives me £10 and I will put it aside, then sometimes she gives me the odd £5 note and again that gets saved.. which leads on to the next thing that I do..

Tip 6. Save your small change.
I'm a pennies make pounds kinda gal, yes I will pick change up if its on the floor.. a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. If I have any small change (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p) I save it, then take it to my bank and they put it in my account. Don't take it to a supermarket machine, it takes 10% off you, which adds up if you have a large pot. by the time it gets full you would have around £80-£100 in it. I have a separate pot for silver & the odd pound coin and £2 coin, then one for copper. Just think to yourself that those 20ps and 10ps you have in your purse would look 100x better as your desired luxury item compared to that pack of m&m's from the vending machine which you will eat in 2 seconds. Now banks (well I'm guessing most banks) have machines that you chuck all your change into, it counts it, gives you a receipt which you take to the counter and they put that amount in your account, no bagging up needed. Its saving without actually saving, because you will only waste your small change. I'm quite lucky because I have two people in my family who also save their small change and give it too me every few months.

Tip 7. Write a money diary.

This is wont be for everyone. I did it for two months last year then got lazy but I've done it this month. Write the amount you've been paid down, how much money you had left over from your last wage then add it together. Write that amount at the top of the page then I wrote down all of my bills, then added them all together took that money from the total then that gave me the money I have left. I then made little boxes labelled Petrol, Food Shop and Other and when I buy something from whichever category I will write it down and get my new total. This will give you an actual view of your money and that way you will know how much you can afford to save for the month.

Tip 8. IOM (I owe me).

Always pay yourself back. I've done it before when I've not had anything I'm saving for, I'm just putting money away every month and some months can be tighter than others. So you take a little bit of money out of your saving account or you take money out of your cash pot. Always put it back, either straight away or make a note of it and put it back the next month. My nail shop is cash only and if I'm being lazy and I know I have cash in the house I will use that and (most of the time) instantly transfer the amount I've taken in cash out of my regular account to my saving account, because the cash would end up in that account.

Tip 9. Do your research.

Before I buy any item I will watch every YouTube video and read every blog post, if there's not much on the item I will get on Pinterest & Google and look how the item is styled. I will also always see the item in person. I will go to a store and look at it, touch it and try it on, these are expensive items, your going to be spending a lot of money, you need to know 100%. I know that not everyone will live near a store, if that's the case make a day of it or a trip of it. I went to Paris to buy my Chanel bag (I will leave the blog post down below) but before I spent all that money on a bag I went to my closest store to see the item. Its also a good incentive for you to save quicker if you know there's a certain date you need to save up by. Do not impulse buy.  Especially if its your first purchase. Don't settle for something, you WILL reach your goal, it doesn't have to be achieved in 3 months take your time and do your research whilst your saving.

Even once I've bought my item of choice straight after I will start saving again. You don't need to go straight onto the next item, but I will still put money away because there will be a time where something else will pop up on your wish list and that way you wont be starting from £0. I also want to have the option that if I see something I like I can buy it. But if I was you I would always have a goal in mind because you won't waste the money on just anything (coming from personal experience of 'well I had the money so I bought it). This doesn't just have to be for shoes and handbags, if you have a goal amount keep yourself focused on it and you will reach it and you can reward yourself with whatever your heart desires.

Just a heads up, we all have an expectation about how buying designer items will be and I'm going to be brutally honest.. I personally have only had a few good experience's when buying items in store. Sometimes I really have to tell myself to enjoy the whole experience, because I do so much research & saving I know exactly what I want. Most of the time they will offer you a drink, accept the drink, look at the other colour options, try the item on (maybe even look out for the next item you can begin saving for..). Buying handbags is still super exciting for me, I work months and months to be able to afford them, so when I do have my eyes on something and I'm ready to make the purchase I will make a day out of it. 

Also just a side note I do not have a credit card. There's no point getting into debt for a designer bag. Just be patient and save. The more you save the quicker you will reach your goal amount and all will be worth it.

Paris & Chanel bag blog post - http://ellietaylorx.blogspot.com/2016/06/my-first-chanel-bag-paris-trip.html (I'm selling this bag, if you are interested email me on makeupbyelliex@gmail.com or direct message me on my Instagram @ellietaylorrxx) 

BEAUTY - 2018 Beauty Favourites.

Its 2019 and that means its time to do a rundown on all the beauty products I was loving throughout 2018. 
First off I'm going to start with hair products, I've never really been one to do much with my hair but I had my hair done back in October (Balayage) and I really wanted to start doing more with my hair. I'd just got a new job and I wanted to do more than just chucking it up into a ponytail when my hair had gotten too greasy to wear down.
Hair favourites...

Ouai Haircare Texturizing Hair Spray.
The start of my Ouai Haircare obsession. I had my hair wavy in work and I needed something to give it some oomph, so I wondered over to the hair section, randomly picked that product up and boom. Obsessed. It gives the most amazing texture to your hair, I cant really explain it but it made me feel fabulous. Thus the obsession started...

Ouai Haircare Leave in Conditioner/Smooth Spray.
I got the 'On My Ouai' Kit which included a mini Texturizing Hair Spray, mini Dry Shampoo, mini Smooth Spray and three sachets of the Treatment mask (not to mention it all came in a cute little clear bag). My hair is naturally very knotty & thick so brushing my hair wet can be a painful process (not a 2018 discovery but my favourite hairbrush is the WETBRUSH, amazing!) it says spray on before you brush your hair (I did everything as instructed on the back of the products) then I would leave it for a couple of minuets then brush my hair with zero pain or knots, not to mention once my hair has been dried my hair feels i n c r e d i b l e. So silky & smooth.

Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer.
Now, this was a very last minuet favourite as I got this as a complete surprise Christmas present, but I cant not mention this. its crazy money I know but its worth it in my eyes. I have very poofy hair so once I'd dried my hair I would always have to straighten it. This hairdryer smooth's your hair why drying it, my hair feels in amazing condition its less frizzy and I just love it.

That's it for hair products for now but I do intend on doing a review on all the Ouai products I have, also if you have any hair must haves/fave's let me know! On to makeup...

Huda Beauty Faux Filter Foundation.
I think I actually found this at the back end of 2017 but I cant remember if I've mention it. this is the ONE. The coverage is so full (which I personally love) and its so long lasting. I have such oily skin and this foundation is just perfect, plus you don't need a lot to do your full face and because its so full it takes like one minuet with my beauty blender to do my whole face!

MAC Dark Golden Mineralize Skinfinish.
This was a firm favourite of every Mac girl & boy I worked with. The perfect bronzer shade, not to red or orange, like it says in the name, golden. There's no shimmer in this, though when you first look at it you will see something but it gives off the most gorgeous natural matte finish (almost satin, another favourite bronzer of mine is the Hourglass Ambient Bronzer in Luminous Bronze Light, its not as satin finish as that, its more matte, similar vibe).

MAC Hushed Tone Extra Dimension Blush.
Yes, your reading that right. If you know me my favourite blush by mac was Margin, which I still love but Hushed Tone stole my top spot. Very similar blushes just slightly darker than Margin. some days I would look at my face and think something is missing, and when I put this on my cheeks for the first time, I never looked back. Extra Dimension Blushes from mac are stunning, they give the most amazing glow.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Highlighter.
ABH has always been amazing at creating highlighters (does anyone remember So Hollywood? dreamy). So when this came out I knew I had to have it! It's such a beautiful gold shade which works on so many skin tones. I'm fair and it doesn't give that gold/brown stripe on my cheekbone when I'm not facing any light.

MAC Brushstroke Liner.
2018 I went back to being a winged liner gal, after not wearing a wing for 2 years, I fell back in love with the shape and how it made my eyes look. i love the tip on this pen its very thin and super black.

ABH Caramel Eyeshadow.
My favourite eyeshadow brand. My go to used to be Burnt Orange, now its Caramel. There's not a huge difference between them other than Caramel is a little bit more neutral and a tiny bit darker. I created a huge hole in it in 2018. I'd also like to try Birkin eyeshadow from the brand next.

Tom Ford Naked Bronze Cream & Powder Eye Colour.
I had this for a really long time before I started loving it. Id bought it back in 2017 and tried it and not liked it and left it alone for a long time, when I finally picked it up again and it became probably one of my most used items along with ABH Caramel, that's just how I would use it, Caramel in the crease, the cream then powder duo, done.

Lilly Lashes ASH_KHOLM.
I said goodbye to my Lilly Lashes in the style Ella (not a forever goodbye I still wear them they just aren't my number one lashes any more). They are so soft and pretty and fluffy, I just love them and I've had several new pairs throughout the year. Lilly Lashes are my FAVOURITE lashes EVER. My favourite lash glue is from Eldora.

Clarins Hydra-Essential Lip Balm.
My love, My life saver, My most used lip product of 2018! Some days I would put lip liner on then this over, its glossy so it was perfect! glossy & moisturized lips! This comes with me on every holiday I go on. I discovered this the back end of 2017 but only actually purchased it in the airport going on my first little holiday to Iceland in 2018. I'm intending on getting another tube the next time I'm at the airport.

I think that's all I have. I'm very much a creature of habit so when I find a product I love I stick to it. So most of what I use has actually been the same for a long time, I just switch out a product here and there. If you have any ideas on blog posts for me please do let me know. I'm always asking over on my Instagram @ellietaylorrxx. So if you have any ideas please let me know through there or leave a comment!
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BEAUTY - Morphe X Jaclyn Hill.

When I saw that Jaclyn was launching a brush set with Morphe I was glad I had saved some of my wage to get them! The beautiful white and silver brushes and the silver glitter brush case, dreamy! I was refreshing the website and the minuet they launched I headed

straight for The Master Collection, the 24 piece brush set with the gorgeous brush case. There were some brushes in the set I knew I wasn't going to use, nevertheless the price for 24 brushes and a case was amazing and a chance to try some brushes I might never pick up.  The Master Collection is £160 (£144 with any of the 10% off discount codes beauty influencers have. I used Jaclyn's code JACATTACK) it's a £264 value, that's a £104 saving! And it works out around £6.60 a brush! If you didn't want the Master Collection there are two other sets available. The Eye Master Collection (£42) - 8 eye brushes and bag, and The Face Master Collection (£55)- 5 face brushes and bag. The Master Collection includes both of the Eye & Face Master sets and an additional 11 brushes. All the brushes are also sold separately on the Morphe website. I knew I would probably order a few on the single brushes but wanted to wait to have a play with the set so I could find out which brushes I loved and needed doubles of (I say need but it's more a want, plus I like to have several of the same brush). 

What's included in The Master Collection? 
(If it's in the Eye Master Collection I will mark with an E and for the Face Master Collection an F).
JH01- Power Brush (synthetic) 
JH02- Bronzer Brush (natural) F
JH03- Ride-or-Die Foundation Brush (synthetic) F
JH04- Blush Brush (synthetic) F
JH05- Perfect Contour Brush (natural)
JH06- My Everything Brush (natural)
JH07- Under-Eye Power Brush (synthetic) F
JH08- Anything Creamy Brush (synthetic)
JH09- Glow Baby Glow Brush (natural) F
JH10- Snatch Your Edges Brush (synthetic)
JH30- Beast Mode Blender Brush (natural) E
JH31- Fluffy Blender Brush (natural) 
JH32- Transition Blender Brush (natural) E
JH33- Universal Blender Brush (natural) E
JH34- Carve Your Crease Brush (natural)
JH35- Upper Crease Brush (natural)
JH36- Eye Buffer Brush (natural)
JH37- Buffer Blender Brush (natural)
JH38- Perfect Pencil Brush (natural)
JH39- Inner Corner Highlight Brush (synthetic) E
JH40- Precise Blender Brush (natural) E
JH41- All Over Lid Brush (blend of natural & synthetic) E
JH42- Brow Bone Highlight Brush (natural) E
JH43- Eyeliner Smudge Brush (synthetic) E
Master Case.

I now really appreciate natural hair brushes since Mac changed all there brushes to synthetic. With certain brushes synthetic is fine but with blending brushes it makes them so much harder to blend with/work with. I will only ever use natural hair blending brushes, gives a flawless blend. 

The set includes quite a few blending brushes which I love because I use so many. I do think there are a few brushes missing. There's no angled brush in the set or eyeliner brush, which i'm not fussed about but it would have been nice to have. Even though I said it includes a lot of blending brushes I wish there were a few smaller blender brushes in the set as they are mainly longer/crease brushes, that is me being picky though. There are only two brushes I haven't used (JH01 & JH10) which I expected not to use a lot of the face brushes, but I've had a play with them and the brush i'm most shocked about loving is the JH02 Bronzer Brush. I don't usually use a brush that big for my bronzer but I absolutely love it! 
I'd had my set for only a few days and I knew I was going to order a few doubles. I started just by ordering 3 but there are more brushes I'd like extras of. The 3 brushes I doubled up on we're the JH39- Inner Corner Highlight brush, I would usually use a different shaped brush for my inner corner but when I tried this I love how precise it was. The JH42- Brow Bone Highlight brush, I have so many brushes just like this and I use them for all different things so i can never have too many. Lastly the JH43- Eyeliner Smudge brush, I'd never had a brush like this before. I'd seen lots of people using brushes this shape it was just a brush I wasn't fussed about but when I use it I knew I needed an extra for another use, I love it. 

Along side ordering the three extra brushes I thought I'd give the Jaclyn Hill palette a try also by Morphe. I'd heard so many things about this palette and I was late to the party 100%. I really love the palette, it was the only eyeshadow palette I used on my holiday and I've used it everyday I've done my makeup since purchasing it. It's £37 for 35 eyeshadows! (£33.30 if you use a discount code). The eyeshadow pans are around the same size as a mac palette eyeshadow refill, and they are probably more pigmented and easier to blend! The mattes are amazingly pigmented and beautiful to blend the shimmers are stunning without wetting your brush with Fix +. I would recommend it to everyone, makeup artist or for personal use, it's made me want to try more of the Morphe palettes and I'd also love to try Jaclyn's Vault collection also! 

Overall i'm so impressed with everything, the quality of the brushes, how they look, the palette and how pigmented it is. I'm defiantly going to be purchasing some more of the single brushes to add to my collection! And Morphe have a UK site now with free delivery when you spend over £20! 
I hope you have found this post useful if you were thinking of getting any of the brushes. I would recommend giving the brushes a quick clean before using them to ‘puff’ them out a little and get them to their true shape! If there's anything else you would like me to review please leave a comment on this blog post or comment under the picture of this post on my Instagram (@ellietaylorrxx) and I can hopefully get around to doing that! 
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TRAVEL - Italy. Venice, Verona & Milan.

If you have Italy on your list of travel destinations next year this blog post is the one for you. A little late (I went to Italy in July) but better late than never. We were in Italy for four days in total, this post will tell you all the sights to see and day trips also! Italy has so many beautiful places and things to see, I'd love to see more of this beautiful country. 

Our first stop was Venice. We were in Venice for 2 nights, one full day and just under a full day (we got to our hotel around 1/1.30). From the airport we had booked a water taxi (we pre booked this. As when I go away one of my many stresses is getting from the airport to the hotel, we've been burnt before and now it's a thing I see as a must do). There is a bus you can take from the airport into Venice, we did this on the way home, but it's really something beautiful seeing Venice for the first time from the water going down all the beautiful side streets. 
Our hotel was a less than five minute walk to the Rialto Bridge. This was my second favourite sight in Venice. Around Rialto bridge there's lots of restaurants, we didn't find the food prices expensive. We had a pizza & fries facing the bridge and it came to around €15 that's with drinks. 
What is there to see in Venice... 
I'm obsessed with seeing all the sights a place has to see and if I miss one I'd be desperate to go back (this happened in Rome, when using Google maps abroad would brake the bank). So I make a list of all the sights I want to see and tick them off as we go along. I spend a lot of time checking maps and making the list in order of where they are so we aren't walking to and from different areas. My FAVOURITE app is Visit a City, this app is a god send for travel lovers, type the place in, click sights and you have everything your destination has to offer! There was one thing I wanted to see that wasn't on the app, but i'm going to list everything you need to see when in Venice.

Piazza San Marco. 
St. Marks Square, dating back to the 12th century!

Basilica di San Marco.
Venice's most famous church, this you will find in St. Marks Square.

Campanile di San Marco. 
9th Century bell tower part of the Basilica di San Marco. 

Torre dell'Orologio. 
The clock tower on St. Marks Square. It's very beautiful.

Palazzo Ducale. 
The Doge's Palace. This was once home to the rulers of Venice. This building is so beautiful! It was also a prison which leads on to the next sight..

Ponte dei Sospiri. 
The bridge of sighs. The beautiful bridge connects the Doge's Palace to the old prison. So convicts could go straight to their prison cell from being sentenced. It's said to be called the Bridge of Sighs because the prisoners who crossed the bridge 'sighed' as they had their last look at the free world through the windows before going to their cell. 

Ponte di Rialto. 
The most beautiful & most famous of the 4 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. 

Santa Maria della Salute. 
This is a beautiful church. We found it quite hard to get to as its on the other side of the canal and to view it from across the water you would have to go into the gorgeous (very expensive) hotels. We crossed the canal at Accademia bridge and google mapped it. 

Scala Contarini del Bovolo. 
My favourite sight in Venice. It's so beautiful and not as crowded as everywhere else, walking to it you will feel like you are in the wrong place but just follow your google maps and you will not be disappointed. You can also go to the top for a pretty view over Venice. There was probably only 5-6 people there when we visited. 

There is obviously more to see in Venice these are just the most popular sights, the streets are a sight themselves with gondolas all over. We pretty much did all the sights on our first afternoon because on our second day we were doing a day trip to Burano. If you've not heard of Burano it's a beautiful island known for its brightly painted houses. It's stunning, you can't stay on the island. To get there you can do a day trip which you usually would go to Murano & Torcello. We decided to make our own way there by the water bus. We walked to Fondamente Nove and caught the boat there . It probably took around 30/40 minutes, but it doesn't feel that long as you get to see Venice and so many other beautiful things on the way over. Can't remember exactly how much tickets are for the water bus, maybe around €6. But it's so worth going and exploring it's tiny streets and seeing the houses you've seen on Instagram. 

Our next two days of our trip were in Verona. We caught the train for Venice into Verona which took around an hour and a half. Again we booked our train in advance because we were staying in Verona for two nights. 
We arrived in Verona around 1pm then headed straight out with my check list of sights Verona is most famous for Shakespeare's classic Romeo & Juliet. One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Verona is the film Letters to Juliet.
There's not an awful lot to see in Verona as it is quite small but it's so beautiful...

Casa do Giuletta. 
Juliet's house, where the entrance is full of letters to Juliet and the courtyard was so full with people taking their picture with the bronze statue of Juliet and on the famous balcony looking over into the courtyard. 

Arena di Verona. 
A 30AD arena. The arena is still used to this day for opera!

CastlVecchio Bridge. 
This was constructed in 1354. 

Piazza delle Erbe. 
A gorgeous market square dating back to the ancient roman era. 

Torre dei Lamberti. 
Piazza delle Erbe's 1172 bell tower. 

Arco dei Gavi. 
A triumphal arch from the first century. 

Verona Cathedral. 

Arche Scaligeri. 

5 Scaligeri family gothic burial monuments. The 14th century rulers. 

Piazzale Castel San Pietro. 

The beautiful Verona view point. Such amazing views over Verona. 

While we were at the viewpoint and had checked the final Verona sight off our list, we were thinking what are we going to do with our full day in Verona the day after when we had done everything within a few hours. We decided that we would go back to everything, if you can go in it then we will go in. We then heard someone saying they were on a day trip from Venice, so when we got back to our room we decided to see where was around 2 hours away on the train and that is how we stumbled on to our day trip to Milan. 

I had always wanted to go to Milan but I knew there wasn't a lot to see there and if we were ever going to go it would be a stop off on our next Italian adventure. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to go and see a city i'd always wanted to visit. So we woke up the day after walked to the train station and booked the train to Milan (1 and a half hour going with the €25 tickets and 2 hours coming home with the €12.50 tickets). We had to book a time to come back to Verona so we only had 3 hours in Milan! We got to Milan train station went to the metro and got off at the Duomo stop and there it was the INCREDIBLE... 
Milan Cathedral. 
Honestly one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. Its just stunning. You can go inside and up it but with our strict 3 hour schedule the outside we just enough. (I probably took around 100 pictures of this cathedral). I would say its in my top 3 of the most amazing sights I've ever seen.

Piazza del Duomo. 
This is the main square site of the Duomo and other historic buildings. 

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. 
A beautiful shopping mall. Pretty much every designer boutique and fabulous restaurants. 

Castello Sforzesco. 
A huge medieval-renaissance fortress. 

Porta Sempione. 
Triumphal arch within Parco Sempione. 

Im glad we did Milan on a day trip because there was not a lot to do. Im sure if we had a full day or one night we would have been fine and there are some amazing bars/restaurants that look onto the cathedral, I would have loved to have gone to one of them and watched the sun set over the Duomo. Im not sure I would recommend going for a full city break but I would 100% recommend going on a day trip, maybe giving yourself more than 3 hours so you can relax in the gorgeous bars facing the Duomo. In our three hours we wanted the check off the main sites so that's what we paid attention to. We managed to do everything in 2 hours which gave us time for lunch. NOW if your going to day trip I would recommend booking the tickets that were around €25 because the €12.50 train journey home was a packed full train with no aircon and it was a longer journey home, not to mention the temperature was 30 degrees! The train going was fast, air-coned, you were assigned a seat so it wasn't over packed. But we were on a budget because the trip was so last minuet!

I hope this blog post gave you some travel inspo and if your going to any of the places I had been to it gave you a nice easy itinerary! My MUST SEE spot is 1000% the Scala Contarini del Bovolo. I know people say its hard to find but that's why its a gem! I'm so happy I stumbled across a picture of it on Pintrest, otherwise i'd have never known of it. I love Italy and I can't wait to explore more of it!

Ciao for now Italia.