UD X GWEN Eye Palette

Urban Decay are one of my favourite beauty brands, their products are out of this world and I love their ethics so it was only a matter of time before I owned this little beauty. I have all the Naked palettes including the basics so when this was first released I tried to convince myself I didn't need it. That was until my sister received it for her birthday and I fell in love with the design and the shades. Fast forward to my birthday a few weeks later and I unwrapped this palette of fifteen must have shades for myself.

Studio Fix Fluid MAC Cosmetics

MAC Cosmetics Studio Fix Foundation is hands down my favourite foundation, I recommend it at every opportunity I get but I've never once reviewed it on here. I'm quite lucky with my skin having never suffered with acne, my skin is relatively clear so I don't need a high coverage foundation as I've been told on numerous occasions, I just love the finish of this and how it lasts all day. Studio Fix Foundation comes in a glass bottle and retails at £22 but it is an extra £4.50 for the pump which I really insist that you buy. You end up wasting so much foundation without it. For a higher end foundation, the price is pretty average. I've bought this more times than I can remember and think it's worth every penny. 

My First Step into Jo Malone London

Back in October, I went into my local Jo Malone for a consultation. I'd been in a few times previously for a good sniff but I always felt a little overwhelmed so I'd walk straight back out again. I found that a consultation helped so much as I was talked through the fragrances by what I would usually wear and also shown what ones were best for layering. I settled on Wood Sage & Sea Salt and Mimosa & Cardamom as they're both as beautiful on their own as they are when worn together. 

Lush Cosmetics Haul

A new year means a quick stop in my local Lush to pick up some bits to top up the basket. I was given lots of Lush bits from my sister for Christmas and I bought The Comforter last week so the basket was pretty full but what's a few more bubble bars and some melts anyway?! I have been without Blue Skies for a good few months, it's my favourite bubble bar EVER so I have no explanation as to why I wasn't stocked up on it. Whenever I've had a really crap day, I just crumble a chunk of this under hot water and close myself off from the world for an hour or so. It's really uplifting and always works a treat. 

January Birchbox X Pinterest

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty bummed when I opened my first Birchbox of 2016. I thought the first one of the year was going to be awesome then I saw they had teamed up with Pinterest and became even more excited. When I received said box, I promptly closed it again. Birchbox are the creators of the original monthly beauty subscription boxes so the sooner they brought back some sass and showed this in their boxes, the better. 

Catfight by Urban Decay

I bought my first Urban Decay lipstick last year in the shade Naked, a beautiful blush, nude and fell in love with the formula, colours and packaging. Fast forward to Christmas when I unwrapped this hot pink beauty from Tanya, (who has a pretty awesome blog btw). I don't own many hot pinks but it's one shade I do love wearing when it's sunny so Catfight is a welcome addition to the old lipstick collection.

The Dirty Girls Guide to Good Hair

Some of you will either love or hate this post, if you're one of those girls who love washing their hair and styling it then you'll probably be the latter because I've got news for you, I HATE washing my hair and if I can get away with it, it's a once weekly occurrence. I don't think I've ever liked washing my hair, it's thick, heavy and I feel like it's a chore. Since I've had it all chopped off it's a hell of alot easier to manage but I still rely on my trusty dry shampoo 100% of the time. 

Interracial Relationships & Everyday Racism.

I quite like just rambling on here and it seems you do too so I thought I'd finally bite the bullet and write or more appropriately rant about something that I've wanted to for a very long time. I've been in an interracial relationship for almost four years now although we just call it a relationship. You see, love doesn't have a colour but for many ignorant people in this painstakingly racist world we live in, it does. I'm white and my boyfriend is Asian. I've lived in a predominantly white area for most of my life and didn't experience any racism until I moved to Spain and was referred to as a 'Gringo'. Even then I didn't see it as racism and just shrugged it off, I couldn't give a toss what they called me.

THE Best Burgers in Southampton

We're pretty lucky in Southampton to have so many great places to go for food, 7 Bone is located in Portswood, Southampton and is THE burger joint you have to try this year, whether you're local or not, it's worth the travel. There is also another branch in Bournemouth so either way you have to make a trip down to the South Coast to enjoy the aged patty goodness.

Cover FX Bronzing Powder

I'm a bronzer obsessive, NARS Laguna will always be my first love but I do like to dabble in some different brands every now and then so I've been using Cover FX Bronzer and The Balm's Bahama Mama recently. I'd never tried Cover FX before as I wasn't sure where it was available from but after some investigating I found it on Beauty Bay. The Cover FX Bronzer comes in three shades, Sunkissed, Suntan and Sunset. I have Sunkissed which thankfully doesn't make me look like mud as I'm incredibly pale skinned.

The Comforter Lush Cosmetics

You can't go wrong with a Lush bath can you? Some of my favourite products are their bubble bars with The Comforter being a close runner up to my all time favourite, Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds. They're big hunks of bubbly goodness, that you just break up and crumble under running hot water. You can easily get four baths out of one of these, five at a push so they're more than worth the £4.95 price tag.

MAC Soar Lip Liner

I've spoken of my love for MAC Cosmetic lip liners a few times now and one shade I was lacking was a multi use nude. When I buy their lip liners, I try and buy shades that I can use with different lipsticks instead of sticking with one shade for each lipstick. It lessens the blow of spending £12.50 on what is essentially a colouring pencil for lips.

Why I'm Happy as I am

I didn't really have anything to post, the days are still pretty dark and trying to get photos taken is just a pain so I thought I'd just type and see what happened. I've never just written a chatty post on here before, keeping it mainly to reviews, events and any other old crap I want to post. I've always just assumed if I did one, that it would just be a dull arse post that would eventually just be converted back to draft, you never know, it may still go that way. Entering 2016 has been a weird one, with the ever mounting pressure to be something and someone, I'm not sure where I stand. I'm reaching an age where everyone expects marriage, babies, a fluffy animal and hosting dinner parties and I'm just not there; And I'm okay with that.

Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream

I only started using Antipodes last November after attending a blog event, Afternoon Tea with Antipodes in London. I've read numerous rave reviews about the Manuka Honey face mask which I now own, so I was really looking forward to giving my face a treat with the Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream. Antipodes are becoming a much loved brand in the UK, they have a range of certified organic and natural skincare products which mostly contain plant extracts and premium avocado oil. The products aren't tested on animals and the ingredients used are really kind to skin.

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Scrub

If there is one company I always go to for a good scrub product, it's Soap & Glory. They have amassed a huge following for their best selling Sugar Crush body scrub and rightly so. I'm a huge fan of citrus smelling products so Sugar Crush has always been my go to range when shopping in Boots. I currently have three pots of this sat in my bathroom because I love the stuff that much.

Annie Writes Beauty's 2nd Birthday

First of all, Happy New Year! I hope you're not suffering too much with a sore head after what I hope was an incredible night! Secondly, thank you so much for all my birthday messages yesterday, I felt so, so loved and thirdly, can you believe Annie Writes Beauty is 2!! I cannot believe I've kept up my little hobby for two years and I'm so, incredibly proud of how far I've come in those two years.

I've had amazing opportunities with some of my favourite companies, I've stayed in beautiful hotels, explored new cities, partied too hard at a festival with my best friend, had numerous jaunts to London for blog meets and events and most importantly I've met some amazing girls that I get to call my best friends, the girls who are always at the end of a phone or talking me into buying a £50 eye shadow palette I definitely don't need. I am so thankful for the amazing opportunities I get because of my blog and the wonderful people who always support it.

So I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for continuously supporting me. It means the world.