Hello everyone! As promised, today I have the second part of my birthday haul for you (here's the first part, in case you missed it). There will be a third part coming sometime in May, which will be a clothing haul. However, right now I don't have a lot of time to set up a photo shoot with my friend like last time, so it will have to wait until uni is giving us some more time off, hopefully you can understand. Nevertheless, today's post is all about makeup and beauty related things I recently bought for my birthday. Although there's a lot of different brands featured in this post, I only shopped in two stores: Kiko and Maquillalia (a Spanish online store). I hope you enjoy this and don't hesitate to send me any questions or feedback!

Starting with Kiko, since it's where I bought less things, I got my hands on two lipsticks and a nail polish. Both the second lipstick and the nail polish were firsts for me, and the first lipstick is an old favourite line of mine, from which I decided to buy a new shade, perfect for spring.

So, for the lipsticks, I got the Smart Lipstick in the shade 903, which is a lovely pink shade that's just perfect for the warmer days. I also got my hands on Kiko's Velvet Mat Satin Lipstick in the shade 604, which is a very bold bright orange shade. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I picked up the wrong shade for this lipstick, even though I swatched the right one in the store (me and my ditsy brain, sigh). Even though this shade is a lot brighter than the one I swatched (shade 605, in case you're wondering, which is a lot darker, closer to a red shade, even), I still managed to make good use out of this, so I don't regret buying it one bit!

Finally from Kiko, I also bought one of their nail lacquers, in the shade 503. Although I never bought any of these before, I was really impressed! I got this one on sale for only 1€, but they usually retail at 2,90€, which is honestly a fair price I'd pay for this little gem. It's incredibly long lasting, it stays looking glossy all week long and the colour payoff is out of this world. I'd definitely run to the store and buy some of these to try out if I were you!

Moving onto Maquillalia, it was the first time I ever ordered from that store, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how much variety they had. Plus, the shipping costs were a lot lower, since they're "right next door" to Portugal, and they took less than 36 hours to deliver this, which is mind blowing.

I finally got my hands on Batiste's Dry Shampoo, which I've been wanting for months now. At first I wanted to buy it through Asos, but they didn't ship it to Portugal. Maquillalia was a lifesaver when it came to this little gem that I can't wait to try out!

They also had Wet N Wild on the website, and I had heard such good things about this brand, that I had to buy some things, especially since they were on sale. I bought the Mega Last Lipstick in the shade Cherry Bomb, which is a gorgeous dark vampy red that would have been perfect for the colder days (thankfully, the weather is a bit iffy here in Portugal at the moment, so we still get some gloomy days every once in a while, where this baby will surely make an appearance). I also bought the Wild Shine Nail Colour in the shade Sunny Side Up. The lipstick was only 2,99€ and the nail polish was only 0,98, by the way, since they were both on sale. A bargain, right?

Finally, I bought some goodies from Makeup Revolution, a brand I've been longing to try out every since the whole blogging community started praising it a couple of months ago.

The Amazing Lengths Mascara in the shade Black Brown was more of an impulse buy, really, since it was on sale for only 98 cents. Plus, I really did need a softer mascara, and brown always helps make your lashes stand out without making it obvious that you're wearing mascara. I have yet to try this, but I hope it works as great as it looks!

I also couldn't resist buying one of their eyeshadow palettes, since they're all everyone seems to be raving about on the internet. I was stuck between the Flawless Matte and this one, the Beyond Flawless, but after reading a post from Magpie Jasmine comparing the two, I realised this was the right one for me. It has a lot of gorgeous, neutral shades to choose from, a couple of them matte but most of them are either shimmers or satins, to be honest, which is what I usually wear on an everyday basis.

As you can clearly tell by the amount of pictures I took, I am more than a little obsessed over this palette and you can bet I will be using it every single day until I pan out. In fact, this palette is so pretty, it just makes me want to buy every single one Makeup Revolution has to offer (which I might end up doing anyways as the year progresses).

Finally, Maquillalia was kind enough to not only send me a little pack of candy (which is empty in the picture because I ate it all before I got the chance to actually take the picture, oops) and also a little sample, all for free!

The sample is for a shower soap by a brand I never heard of, Ziaja. Since it's quite small, I ended up offering it to my mother as a second, belated, Mother's Day gift, which she gladly accepted. If she ends up liking it, I might even buy it later, since this brand is available on the website.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with all I got and I'm also really pleased with Maquillalia (I think I even prefer it to Asos, if we're being 100% honest). I'll definitely review quite a few of these products in the future, and if you have a favourite, don't hesitate to tell me in the comments!

Happy Friday, loves! Today, I bring you my current wishlist (as the title suggests). It's been a while since I did one of these and since I am going to get some money for my birthday this weekend, I felt like browsing some online stores in the hope of finding great bargains - and find them I did! Of course, this is simply a shorter version of my ultimate wishlist, so there's only five items. God knows it could be 50+ items long, but nobody has time to read all that. Without further ado, here's all I'm currently ogling 24/7, in no particular order (also the pictures were taken from Maquillalia, the website where I'm thinking of buying all of this in May, hence the watermarks here and there).

Hello my loves! I'm sorry I didn't post anything yesterday, but I was busy visiting family and doing a little bit of last minute shopping for Easter. However, I couldn't leave you hanging until Monday, so I put together this little post showing you what I'm going to wear tomorrow during the family Easter lunch.

Personally, I tend to stick to the same makeup look whenever I go out. Yes, I change the blush or lipstick I wear, but it's mostly the same -- little bit of foundation, little bit of contouring, little bit of blush, lots of mascara and concealer, and a touch of lipstick. Still, when a special occasion like this comes along, I have to amp it up a little bit, am I right? So here's what I plan on wearing tomorrow. It's quite a simple look, perfect for a family gathering during the day, with just the right amount of drama to make it special, but not enough to make it a night time look.

I'm currently waiting for my Maybelline primer to arrive, so I decided to skip primer altogether, considering my Bourjois one isn't doing a good enough job. Skipping right onto foundation, I picked my trustworthy Healthy Mix Foundation from Bourjois in the shade 52. It gives me the right amount of coverage without looking cakey, plus it gives me a great dewy finish that I love for Spring.

For concealer, I picked Kiko's Full Coverage Concealer in the shade 01. Not only does it conceal most of my dark circles, but it also highlights my under eye area quite well. It doesn't work on blemishes though, not as well as I hoped, but thankfully my skin is having a pretty good week so I won't need that extra coverage.

To set everything and make sure I don't get too shiny throughout the day, I have the Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder in the shade 52. I'm obsessing over this powder, it gives me the right amount of coverage even on a school day, where I tend to even skip foundation sometimes. Plus it doesn't leave you looking cakey, which I love.

To contour and overall warm up my complexion, I have H&M's Bronzing Powder in the shade Gorgeous Tan. I desperately need a new bronzer since you can see I'm hitting pan on this one. Still, this is a great bronzer for people on a budget. The only con is the terrible shade range, even if H&M has expanded it a tiny bit recently. Overall, it's a dream. Matt and light enough to not make it look like you got a dirty face, but strong enough to actually give you a proper contour.

As for highlighting, weirdly enough, I use H&M's Concealer in the shade White Sand. I first bought this thinking it would be a great low budget concealer, but the poor coverage disappointed me immediately. It doesn't cover anything, which is a pity since the concealer has a nice consistency and the shade, although too light for my skin tone, is perfect for highlighting. It's a matt finish though, so don't expect the glowing effect other highlighters provide. However, it does give you a nice little natural highlight, plus it's affordable.

For blush, I picked the Catrice Illuminating Blush in the shade I Am Nuts About You. Although it doesn't give you any sort of highlight (like I mentioned before in my everyday makeup post), it's a lovely shade that I specially love to use when I go a little heavier on the contouring and highlighting business.

For the brows, I'll simply fill them in with the darkest brown shade in the Essence Quattro Eyeshadow Quads in the number 05. Since I ran out of my clear brow gel, I won't set it, but I don't even think I need to any longer. It honestly doesn't make a difference in my makeup staying power.

For the eyes, I'll use Kiko's Smoky Look Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 04. It's a lovely brown shade that, once blended, looks quite natural. It does not blend as easily as I wished, but it's still a good product. I am hoping to buy Kiko's Cream Eyeshadows soon though, they seem to die for and I'm hoping they work better than this stick.

As for eyeliners, I'm going to use the Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in the shade 01 to tighline only on the mobile lid. I'll also use the shade 14 to tightline my waterline, since it's not as heavy as the black pencil. Plus the metallic moss green shade will look great on my hazel eyes.

For mascara, of course I'll be reaching for Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara. If you read my review on this (you can find it here), you know how much I love it, even if I struggled with the application a bit. I just can't stop using it, I even feel bad for neglecting all the other mascaras I own, but they just don't do the job as well as this one.

Finally, for the lips, I'll first use the Kiko Smart Lip Pencil in the shade 12 to line and fill my lips. This is a great lip liner, it doesn't transfer and it manages to stay on for quite a while too. Plus it doesn't dry my lips, which is a great bonus. Since the finish is matte, I decided to apply a nude gloss over it to lessen the dramatic effect of a matte lip. For that, I picked Essence's XXL Nude Lip Gloss in the shade 06. If you read my review of this (you can find it here), you know just how perfect this is, and for such a small price too! I definitely recommend it to everyone in the search of a nude lip gloss.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this and perhaps got some inspiration for your own makeup for tomorrow! Be sure to leave a comment down below telling me what you're going to do tomorrow and what your makeup will be like, I'd love to hear all about it. Also, don't forget to check out my Instagram tomorrow for pictures of my Easter OOTD and MOTD pics!

Lately, I've been making an effort and waking up extra early to do my makeup before uni. As you all may know, I'm the lazy type, so I usually prefer to sleep in those extra 20 minutes instead of dolling myself up (and inevitably regret doing so every single time when I'm trying to apply mascara on the bus).

So I decided to put together a simple makeup look, probably not the most minimalist out there, but it has all the necessary steps that I need to feel confident in the way I look - which is all makeup is really about, when you think about it. For some of you, this makeup routine will be too much for everyday; for some, it will be too little, and that's totally ok! Makeup should fit your own personal preferences and goals, so if you feel like you need to add some steps to this makeup look or maybe even remove a few, go right ahead, make it your own. This is just to show you all what I like to do and sharing some of my favourite products overall, I hope you enjoy it!

I like to start by cleansing and moisturising my face (check this post to see what I use). Unlike most people, who start by applying their face makeup, I found that starting with the eyes ends up being a lot faster and cleaner, since you don't have the risk of fall out ruining your foundation and concealer.

I like to start by applying the Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow Base to prime my eyelids. I actually don't recommend this primer, it doesn't stop the creasing at all - it actually tends to increase it, if anything. However, I do use it because it manages to bring out the colour of all my eye shadows in a way nothing else has ever done before. Honestly, that's the only reason why I keep using this, because it's so freaking amazing at making the colours pop.

Next, I usually sort out my eyebrows. Now, I'm not blessed with full eyebrows, but on an everyday basis, I prefer to not fill them in, only because it never looks natural on me. That's why I only comb them out and apply the Essence Lash & Brow Gel Mascara to make sure they stay in place all day long. This is a lovely product but sadly, since it's a clear gel, it tends to start looking a bit gross after a while (especially if you fill in your eyebrows with an eyeshadow like I tend to do). It's also a decent mascara, that I usually use on my bottom lashes, since it won't end up smudging.

After my eyebrows are done, the eyeshadow base has already dried, so I go in with the eyeshadow. I only use two colours from the Essence Sun Club Glamour To Go Eyeshadow Palette in the shade 02. The individual colours don't come with names or numbers, so I can only point out which ones I use. I start by applying the third colour from the bottom row all over my lid. This colour is a light brown with a very light shimmer, it looks amazing without looking too heavy for an everyday look. Then I take the second colour from the upper row, the pink shade, on a fluffy brush and apply it to my crease very lightly, blending it into the brown eyeshadow so there's absolutely no harsh lines between the two colours. This rose colour is one of my favourites to apply on the crease since it doesn't look too heavy, but it still manages to give me that soft smoked out look - not to mention it's a great colour to bring out the green in my eyes!

I then curl my eyelashes and finish the eyes off with the Catrice All Around Waterproof Mascara in the shade 10. This mascara is very affordable and actually really good. It won't budge, not even if you take a bath, but at the same time it's weirdly easy to take off with my micellar water. It doesn't give you incredible length or volume, but it does do a little bit of both and it holds your curl very well, so for me, it's an everyday winner.

Once that's done, I usually use the Bourjois Happy Light Base Serum (the Lumiére version, more suited for dry skin). Since I will be applying foundation, I like to use this primer to make sure my foundation lasts the whole day, plus it helps minimise my pores and I found it also helps my foundation go on a lot smoother. Sadly, it takes a total of three pumps a day of this stuff, which is a bit of a waste since the bottle isn't even that big, but it does work wonders, so I can't complain much.

Next, I like to conceal rather than applying my foundation straight away. For that, I use the Kiko Full Coverage Concealer in the shade 01. I only use this under my eyes to conceal my ridiculous dark circles, since this is a shade lighter than my skin tone, so it helps brighten up the whole under eye area. This concealer really does cover my dark circles very well, plus you only need the smallest amount to get the job done. Sadly, it also tends to crease a bit throughout the day, but it's nothing most people could tell by looking at your face, so don't worry. Just touch it up here and there whenever you go to the bathroom and you'll be good to go!

Next, comes the foundation, since I do tend to have a bit of redness on my face and a little bit of discolouration, so I prefer to have an even skin tone. Unlike some, I'm not looking for anything too full coverage, which is why I tend to lean towards foundations that give me a sheer/medium coverage, while also maintaining a natural glow. I've been switching back and forth between the Kiko Universal Fit Hydrating Foundation in the shade 05 and the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in the shade 52. These are two great alternatives for those of you with dry skin like me, since they both sit really nice on the skin without enhancing dry patches, as long as you moisturise properly before applying your foundation, of course.

Personally, I prefer Healthy Mix, since I find it matches my skin tone a lot better, plus it gives me a more dewy finish. I also really feel like it hydrates my skin, not to mention it lasts me around 8 to 10 hours. Sadly, Bourjois isn't as affordable here in Portugal as it is on the UK, for example, so this foundation is around 18€ - which isn't exactly pricey, but it's not as affordable as those glorious 10£ in the UK. Not to mention it's quite hard to find shades here in Portugal, since you can't order them at the store (this is the main reason why I got the Healthy Mix foundation instead of the serum, since my shade is sold out everywhere for months). So if you're like me and you get a bit annoyed at all of those inconveniences, you should give Kiko a try.

Now, I'm not claiming Kiko's foundation is a dupe to the Bourjois foundation - it is not, not even close. They have very different finishes (Kiko is a lot less dewy) and they also feel very different on the skin (Kiko feels a little bit tighter), not to mention Kiko has a different shade range. Not that it's a bad thing, they actually have more options if you don't like Healthy Mix's yellow undertone, since Kiko offers options for both pink and neutral undertones. Not to mention they even cater to dark skin girls, which is hard to find at an affordable price out here. Plus, it's only 5,90€, so it's such an affordable option that you can't really say no, now can you?

Next, I apply blusher. I usually tend to go for a very light blush, so it gives me a more natural finish. I usually go for the Essence Silky Touch Blush in shade 50, since it's such a great colour that looks great on most skin tones. Recently, I've also got my hands on the Catrice Illuminating Blush in the shade 10, so I had to include it in this post. I've only used it once so far, but I am happy with the results. I have to warn you, it's not as illuminating as it promises, since there's only a small amount of gold shimmer on the product that doesn't really highlight your cheekbones, not like MAC's Mineralize blushes, that's for sure. Still, it is a very nice colour and it does look gorgeous on the cheeks, so I'll keep giving it a try and see if it's a keeper.