Benefit Peek-a-bright eyes review.

Not so long ago I received a gorgeous box of goodies from Jess at starvioletbeauty from a competition win. One of the pieces inside was this benefit eye shadow kit! I have never owned any benefit eye shadows but I love their mascara and blush so was pretty darn excited to try this out.

How adorable is this little kit! it comes with 3 eye shadows, a base, a contour and a highlight, and then a creamy highlighter. Plus it even has mini brushes which, surprisingly, aren't that bad! The concealer brush is a little stiff but I love the contour and liner brush, the contour one is so soft, it's great to finally have a decent 'mini' brush! These shadows are seriously pigmented, you really only need the tiniest touch with your brush, especially on the brown shade! They also lasted pretty well on me without any creasing, with no primer! In the pictures below I have the matt 'buff' shade under my brow, the 'pearly pink' on my lid and the 'warm chocolate' through my crease, I then popped the cream highlighter in my inner corners. Benefit suggest using the 'buff' shadow as a base and the 'pearly pink' as a highlight, but I wasn't feeling shimmer under my eyebrows so just switched them round. I am still trying to figure out what is the best settings for my camera so bare with, and if you have any suggestions then please pop them below. So here is my quick bright eye using this palette: 

I really don't think these photos do this lovely little palette justice, I will definitely try and get some better ones! Overall, I love this palette, it has a good mix of colours that can also be used to create a more smokey evening look, stays put sans primer and is in a compact (if a little fat) case which is good for travelling.

My colourful jewellery

If you saw my guest post over on carouseldiary.com you will know that I promised to put up my colourful jewellery collection, well (finally!) it is here!

The elastic bracelets: 

You can pick these up anywhere, some more expensive than others depending on what is actually on the elastic, but these are a fun  and easy to add some colour and dimension to an outfit. I love that because they are elastic and wont flop about up and down my arm either. The red stones are such a gorgeous colour and the blue have an iridescent shine about them which actually harbours so many colours! The green-y turquoise bracelet is one that is most suited to just the warmer months and looks awesome next to a tan.

The statement necklace:

This necklace I actually received as a set complete with some earrings from a twitter give away yonks ago (sorry, I can't remember who!).  This is my ultimate statement necklace for if I am going to an evening dinner or a sophisticated event, I mostly pair it with plain dresses to let the gorgeous colour and detail take centre stage.

The stone necklace:

I picked this beauty up in a charity shop for under a couple of quid! If you are lucky enough to be heading to a festival this year then I think these kind of necklaces have such a relaxed boho vibe about them and work great to add some interest to an outfit. I never realised just the amount of natural detail was in the stone until I looked at this macro photo! I can see this being a favourite over the upcoming months.

The heart stone necklace: 

I can see this being one of my favourite pieces to wear this SS14, just with denim shorts and a white cami, a nice pop of colour that isn't too out there. The stones in the heart are milky amber (I didn't know it existed either) and turquoise and I think they are just to die for. I see this being lovely with any white item of clothing (and a tan if I am luck to get one) and I can't wait to incorporate this into some outfits for the warmer months!

Diet update

So I thought I would do a quick update on my diet/weight-loss journey and also share with you my favourite tip, don't do it alone!

 My total weight-loss is 21.4 lbs, but this is yo-yo-ing quite a bit as I struggle with the snacking and bad food choices that goes hand in hand with 'final months of university' panic! One thing that is keeping me on track is having my house mate on the same journey too, we can share healthy dinners give each other encouragement and also enjoy treats together too, it just makes the whole process a lot more enjoyable! I have also seen a serious increase in my green tea intake, green tea has many health benefits so I have tried to reach for it more often, but it sometime slips my mind. Now, I feel like I am on a double tea schedule, as whenever my friend is making one she will ask if I want one, and vice versa, meaning we both up our intake of the good stuff!

Avocados are also something that I am trying to incorporate into my diet more, I am going to do a post soon on what recipes I have been using. Other than that I have just been trying to make healthy choices and squishing some form of exercise into my day, even if it is just a lap around uni in my study breaks!

I use my fitness pal to track my calories and keep an eye on my progress, it is so satisfying to see the numbers go down! However, I have just recently downloaded DietPoint, it is to soon for me to judge yet but what I do like about it is that it gives you a range of meal plans to choose from and set shopping lists, which is brilliant as I always get so distracted in the supermarket.  The down-side is at the moment it is looking like you have to pay for the full version to really get the benefits, I will see how I go but may just end up using the information available as inspiration!

How are you doing with your journey, I am always available for some support if you tweet me @emmiegeeblog