Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation: is it worth the hype? Honest review + swatches

Hey beauties! Today, I'm really excited to review one of the most raved about makeup products of all time - the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup foundation by Estee Lauder (£30, Debenhams). After reading countless amounts of positive reviews, I finally caved in and bought myself a bottle! Double Wear is a heavy-duty liquid foundation, which comes in thirty different shades. This means that you will be able to find a perfect match for any skintone. That being said, the wide variety of shades also means that it may be difficult to find the right match, so make sure you try a sample before committing to a full bottle. My shade is Cool Bone, which is perfect for light skintones with pink undertones.

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Merry Christmas from Shoes and Glitter!

Hey muffins! This is just a quick message, rather than a full post - I wanted to wish you all a very happy Christmas! I hope your Christmas is filled with wonder, happiness, love... And lots of presents, of course. :) May all your wishes and dreams come true; may every moment be filled with joy and Christmas cheer! Thank you all for reading my little blog, and for being so wonderfully supportive throughout my journey here. I will be taking a short break from blogging over the next few days, but I will be back next week with some new, exciting posts! Merry Christmas. :) 

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Christmas Beauty Tag!

Hello muffins! With Christmas just a couple of days away, I thought it would be a good time to do my Christmas beauty tag. I'd like to thank Girl Abroad for tagging me - make sure you check out her awesome blog! As far as I know, there aren't any specific rules for this tag, aside from answering ten beauty-related questions. Since we are already so close to Christmas, I personally won't be tagging anyone else. However, if you like the idea of this tag, please feel free to do it and let me know in the comments below so I can check it out! 

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Guest post by Samantha - New Year makeup look!

Hey beauties! Today is a very special day - I'm doing a collab with my dear friend Samantha, who blogs over at My Beauty Cloud. She will be sharing her New Year's look on my blog, and I will be sharing my Christmas Eve makeup idea on hers. Hope you enjoy, and please make sure you head over to Sam's blog to check out my post!

Hello, everybody! It’s Samantha from My Beauty Cloud bringing you a makeup tutorial! New Year’s is just around the corner, which means that everyone is going to start getting their look together for allll them parties. I went for a more colorful look this New Year’s, using purple and green (I know, I know, an interesting choice of colors, you may be thinking). But you can use any color for this look!

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Bargain Finds - L'Artisan 4 Piece Mini Fragrance Collection review

Hey lovelies! Today, I'm really excited to talk to you about this 4 Piece Mini Fragrance Collection by L'Artisan. I picked it up at my local TK Maxx for £20, which was a pretty good bargain considering the original price of about £45 RRP. Personally, I think that miniature perfume sets are a great way of introducing yourself to a new brand. You get to try a few different fragrances without having to commit to a full bottle; and even if you end up disliking some of them, it's not that much of a waste. Miniature sets are also a wonderful Christmas gift idea - they are a much safer option than purchasing a single perfume. A selection of smaller fragrances gives you several chances to find the scent that the person will love. Miniature sets also come in really gorgeous packaging, and are convenient to take with you when travelling because of their small size.

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50 facts about me tag!

Hey jelly beans! Today, I am really excited to be a doing a '50 facts about me' tag! I always enjoy reading these kind of posts - I think they are a great opportunity to get to know the person behind the blog a little better. The rules of this tag are pretty straightforward. All you have to do is thank the person who tagged you on your blog and social media (if you have an account). You can then nominate a few bloggers for the tag, although that part is optional. I think it's going to be a little difficult to come up with fifty interesting things to say about myself, but I'm willing to give it a shot! I'd like to thank Bombshell Drawer for tagging me - make sure you check out her awesome blog here! 

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Bargain finds - bareMinerals 'You're so sweet!' eyeshadow set - review & swatches

Hey beauties! Today, I'm going to talk about my most recent find - this gorgeous eyeshadow set by bareMinerals, called 'Thank You, You're So Sweet!'. I picked it up at my local TK Maxx for just £14.99 (!), and so far, it has been a wonderful addition to my makeup collection. This set contains eight loose pigment eyeshadows; each inspired by a different delicious dessert. As far as I know, most of these shades are limited edition, so this may be a good opportunity to get your hands on some of the harder-to-find eyeshadows! 

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Trying Japanese KitKat flavours!

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I had a chance to sample some interesting Japanese delicacies, such as the sweet and tangy azuki sandwich and the soothing hochija tea... Actually, that statement is only half-true! I was recently gifted a box of Japanese KitKats, which included eight different flavours of the popular chocolate biscuit (you can purchase this selection at japancentre.com for £11.55 - not sponsored!). I'd always been curious to try the more exotic KitKat varieties, especially the really unusual ones like wasabi and green tea. My boyfriend and I both sampled these one by one, noting down our thoughts and first impressions. Some of them were good, some bad; but it was definitely a fun experience! 

Ichimi Chilli - This is a combination of my two least favourite things - dark chocolate and red chilli. It tastes very bitter at first, but then you can feel a slight tingling on your tongue from the chilli. Honestly, it turned out to be a lot less spicy than I expected, which was a relief. I think a lot of people would really enjoy this, but it wasn't for me. My boyfriend agreed that it didn't really taste of red chilli, but more like regular dark chocolate with a slight, spicy edge. 

Amaou Strawberry - Strawberries and chocolate? Yes please! We were both quite excited to try this one, and knew that it would probably end up being a favourite. This KitKat has a pleasant, fresh strawberry scent to it, and it tastes just like strawberry-flavoured yoghurt or ice cream. It's really delicious, and I can see it being quite popular in Britain, if it were available here. 

Azuka Sandwich (Sweet Bean Jelly) - This one smells like roots, dirt and earth. Definitely not the best first impression, although thankfully, the flavour itself wasn't anywhere near as bad. It tastes similar to regular dark chocolate, but without the bitterness. We didn't hate it, but it was pretty bland and uninteresting. Definitely expected more from a flavour like this! 

Hochija Tea (Roasted Tea) - This is probably the worst one we've tried. It tastes and smells like old, bitter tea that's been left in a cupboard for about thirty years. Perhaps it's the 'roasted' part that gives that impression, but honestly, it was awful and we didn't manage more than one bite. It's very earthy and bitter, and just doesn't taste like a KitKat should. My boyfriend compared trying this to literally biting into a teabag. Definitely not an impression you want a a food product to make! 

Otona Matcha (Green Tea) - As a huge green tea lover, I was really excited to try this. Unfortunately, it ended up tasting more like white chocolate and lemongrass than freshly brewed tea. It's sweet and unusually herbal, which isn't a combination that works for me. Interestingly enough, my boyfriend, who normally can't stand green tea (or any kind of tea for that matter), really enjoyed this one!

Uji Matcha (Green Tea) - This is very similar to the Otona green tea KitKat, but slightly more sweet and less herbal-tasting. It's quite delicate, just like regular white chocolate with a hint of something I couldn't quite put my finger on (maybe it was the green tea?). My boyfriend found it to be quite bland in comparison to the Otona green tea KitKat, comparing the flavour to a bland mix of white and milk chocolate. 

Wasabi - This one smells like horseradish mixed with white chocolate, which is definitely not a good first impression (although I guess you can't expect a wasabi KitKat to smell pleasant, anyway). The flavour is very unusual, but not in the way we expected it to be. It doesn't have the spiciness of a real wasabi sauce (the red chilli KitKat was more spicy than this); but it's very sweet and herbal at the same time. It's difficult to describe this flavour, and as much as it's unique, we didn't really like it. 

Shinshu Apple - This one smells just like sour, apple-flavoured sweets! The apple and chocolate combination works a lot better than I expected, although the flavour itself isn't anywhere near as intense as the scent. Imagine eating a bar of milk chocolate whilst sipping on apple juice - that's exactly what this KitKat tastes like. It's probably not for everyone, but I personally loved it! 

Overall, sampling these was a fun experience and we both really enjoyed trying out some new flavours. For the most part, these KitKats ended up tasting a lot less intense than we expected, which was a good thing (especially in the case of red chilli and wasabi). Our favourite one out of the whole selection was the Amaou Strawberry, which tasted just like a fresh strawberry youghurt and chocolate. The worst one was definitely the Hochija Tea, which was unpleasantly bitter and old-tasting. 

Let me know if you enjoy these kinds of posts, and would like to see me try more unusual/exotic foods!  

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