I was not lying – or being anything but genuine – when I went on and on about how excited I was to be able to move my attention back to blogging frequently with the time dedicated that it deserved as soon as I finished exams but somehow the promised blogging action did not quite happen. To be completely honest, I discovered that I was burned out and with family constantly around and a surprising amount of things to do, I did not have the energy to even blog about the things that I love most; I didn’t have the energy to do anything but lounge around in my pajamas, drink copious amounts of coffee, binge-watch youtube videos and netflix and make a dent in the books I got for Christmas to read for fun. But now on the very first day of the new year, I’m back with gusto and ready to rumble and by rumble I mean ramble about my most loved beauty products with a few others thrown in. I had a deliciously mellow NYE with some of my closest friends, a nice little game of the classic Cards Against Humanity and some low-key drinks and I thought I would share some of my favourite things for the night. And don’t roll over in disbelief, I have some non beauty products to share as well.

I’ll begin with the more fashiony bits, but just to warn you, my evening was beyond casual so there’s not particularly interesting and coincidentally they were both Christmas gifts – and much-appreciated ones at that, I might add. My most extravagant gift came from the parents of course, and it was the Fossil Sydney Crossbody Handbag in Taupe, my first leather bag that I love and was absolutely shocked to unwrap. I enjoy a good handbag and often find myself admiring the most gorgeous ones, but I have trouble putting the investment into a higher quality one so I was thrilled to find one in my possession and it doesn’t hurt that it was an actual practical purchase, being a small bag, as I tend to go for the larger ones that can hold the kitchen sink. In a nutshell, I love the quality and versatility of the bag, the fact that it’s a practical crossbody with two nice compartments inside. I’ll stop now. The other fashiony item worthy of note was the Garage Tartan Scarf, another lovely part of my Christmas gift from my friend Laura and her family and I love it because it looks nice and all that jazz along with being practical and warm in our recent cold winter weather. I never thought I would be a tartan kind of girl but I have to say that its yet another nice addition to my large scarf collection. It doesn’t hurt that it’s mega soft, either.

Now we are moving onto makeup, beginning with the newest product to me, the L’Oreal Paris Lineur Intense Brush Tip Eyeliner in Carbon Black that I picked up a few days before Christmas in hopes to be able to create a more precise wing on account of the wetter texture. While this liner is definitely one of those traditional difficult-to-use liners that I’ve always shied away from, I have to say that when I have the patience and the steady hand required, I love the precision that this provides while creating a little wing. Even though I certainly was not doing much, I wanted to go for quite the smoky eye, as I tend to do and the majority of this was based around my MAC Eyeshadow Quad; believe it or not, I actually neglected Coquette completely, reaching for All That Glitters all over the lid, Soft Brown through the crease and Smut in the outer v to add that smokiness. On the lips were a fairly recently acquired product, the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and I’m leaning towards feeling devastated that I’ve been ignoring the perfect rosy hued lip pencil in recent weeks in favour of either full-on bold lips or my typical sheerer nude shades.

I’ve raved about the DiorSkin Star Fluid Foundation a good number of times in the last few months but I couldn’t resist mentioning it again. Sidenote: I do insist that my long ago promised review of this foundation will happen soon but my love of it is so strong that I take reviewing it as something that must be done in precise detail. Although the foundation in shade 20 is not my ideal winter shade, I’ve been making it work by actually applying it down my neck and that’s the only somewhat negative thing I can say, this foundation is so good. It’s flattering on my dry patches, lasts a ridiculous long time and just looks like natural but perfected luminous skin. The last makeupy bit that I just had to mention on account of the awe I felt after applying it was the Becca Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in Rasberry/Opal. It’s the most gorgeous luminous mellowed-out wine toned blush and despite having a mousse-come-cream texture, it might just have the easiest and most foolproof application method, just tabbed on with the fingers. The glow is crazy and I’m pretty sure I could apply this nicely very drunk or half asleep.

My apologies for the questionable iPhone photos! How was your NYE?

Maggie, x.