What I use for my eyebrows!

 

For me when I first instantly meet someone the first thing I look at are their brows. This is just because I am obsessed with eyebrows, as I really think they shape and define someones face. Just look at some of these celebrities without eyebrows, and you can really see how much difference there is. 


In this post today, I will be sharing with you my eyebrow routine. 
I have nothing fancy done to my brows, no threading, no HD brows or anything of the kind, because I just don't have the money or courage to get them done. When I was on my beauty course I would get them waxed nearly every 2 weeks. But since then I have just stuck to the simple and easy self plucking. The reason I play it safe with this is because it's just so efficient, and obviously a pair of tweezers are nothing on the price of getting your eyebrows professionally waxed or threaded. As well as this reason, plucking also allows you to pull out every single hair, even the stubborn ones, which waxing tends to not. 

        A few years ago as far as eyebrows went it was all about eyebrow pencils for me. The Rimmel, or the MUA ones were a typical favorite of mine. Although there is nothing wrong with brow pencils, I have upped my brow game since then and after watching numerous Tanya Burr tutorials on YouTube I have since then discovered the art of brushes and powder. This way of filling my brows for me, gives my brows a more softer, less 'drawn on' effect, allowing you also to still see your visible brow hairs. I prefer this natural yet still groomed look, as it frames the face elegantly and put together. 

        The particular brush I use is the 208 angled brow brush from MAC, this is made out of real animal hair which therefore is more gentle on the brows. I could not live without this brush as it is just amazing. I also use it to line my eyes with black powder too as liner. The powder I use for filling in my brows is also MAC. I got matched to the 'Charcoal Brown' shade, which is apparently great for anyone with auburn to dark brown hair. I hear that the majority of blondes tend to get matched to 'Omega'. However I would suggest to pop in your local store yourself to get matched just to be sure you get the right shade. There's nothing worse than getting a brow colour darker or lighter than your actual hair. After this I also then use a clear brow gel just to set my brows and keep all the hairs in place. These are my brows after using these products I have mentioned :) 

My Life/ Changing College courses!

This is a different kind of blog compared to my usual beauty posts, which you probably gathered anyway due to the blog title. But I thought it would be quite nice to give you a little insight to an area of my life. This being college.

       To start of I currently have just started my second year at college after having an amazingly long two month summer holidays off. So as you could most probably imagine it is rather depressing having to get back in to routine and start focusing again. Although I am trying not to dwell on this too much so I can focus on being motivated and positive. The college I am at is one of the top in the country for pass rates and grades. It offers a wide range of courses, A levels, uni degrees and evening classes. My college is in another county to where I live, so travel is quite an agg, as I have to walk half an hour to the train station (where trains come only every hour, so you can imagine my stress if I miss one) and a half hour train journey and then another 20 minute walk on the other end to my house. Even though it does tire me out, when all I want to do when I've finished college is to go home to eat and sleep, but I do honestly find it worth it as I enjoy my time at college.

       On the topic of courses. I did do a Beauty therapy course last year, which I enjoyed at the time but later I personally found it very non-challenging and I wanted to change my future career path also. Despite not enjoying the course I made a great good group of friends. As we were a small class of around 12-15 we all got on and kind of became a family, which made the lessons more bearable as the learning wasn't for me. The reason I chose to do a beauty course in the first place was because of my passion for make-up and beauty, therefore I aspired to become a make-up artist. The main reasons I have for not loving the course was that it was very client based. So in every class (our typical duration of our lessons would normally be from 2-3 hours) we would perform treatments on outside customers. I did gain a lot of confidence from this and social skills, considering you would be in a very intimate situation with strangers. But for me repeating the same treatments hour after hour, day after day would become very boring, even though I loved meeting all the new customers. Another reason for my dislike of the course was I didn't particularly like any of my lectures and because of my relationship with the lectures I felt I was lacking motivation and not  receiving any support from them to help me achieve better in my assessments. Overall I did achieve a Merit pass qualification, which I was happy with. But as from what I've explained you can probably guess that I wasn't going to continue to do the second year of the course.

      For this year, me and my two close friends from my beauty course decided to apply and enroll for a 1 year business course at the same college. We all felt that it would be the best decision for us if we had changed our mind about our future. For me I chose business as it is a very broad subject which could open up a lot of doors for me and give me a variety of options for my future. I have just started my first day of the course today, however today was more about filling in paperwork and meeting who would be in your class.I found it very exciting to be trying something different and I am determined to do well and achieve the grades I want. I would love to have the option to go to university if I wanted to, which is another reason I want to do well. I would study Advertising and Marketing and this was included within the business course plan, so I am looking forward for learning that unit.

       If I have any advice for anyone changing on courses or starting out at college, I would suggest to think long and hard about what exactly you want to do and don't just make a quick, rational decision. It took me a while to realize that perhaps Beauty therapy wasn't for me. However I am glad I did it, in a way because maybe if I wouldn't of I would always be wondering 'what if i had'. And it also has given me an extra qualification, so that if I did ever want to get involved in the beauty industry again I would be able to.

Thanks for reading, and for all of you, if you're starting college, uni or school, Good luck xox 

Me and my two college friends I mention in this post.

Garnier micellar cleansing water. A quick simple way to removing make-up

If you're one of those people that are lazy with skincare and night-care routines, then I can already guarantee that you would love this product. The thing I find so great about this cleansing water is that it thoroughly removes all traces of make-up on your skin, which other make-up removers, for example; make-up wipes don't particularly do all that well. It does a fab job in getting even the thickest waterproof mascara off and leaves no traces of any panda eyes. This cleansing water could literally remove all types of make-up, no matter how thick the consistency may be. In terms of which skin types it suits, I would agree with what it claims on the packaging which is that it suits all skin types. I have normal-combination skin, and this cleansing water treats my skin brilliantly, leaving it feeling super duper clean and smooth. Since using this remover I have had even clearer skin. I believe that this is due to the water particles within the formula, as obviously water contains no harsh chemicals or scents that would irritate my skin it also contains hypoallergenic particles which mean they cause fewer allergic reactions. This is another reason why this product is great for those with sensitive skins. 

     What about this product that makes it so quick and easy to use is that, there is absolutely no rinsing with water required, which is so useful if you are wanting to take your make-up off where getting to a sink is not easily available. You simply just pour a small amount onto a cotton pad and sweep across your face to remove all dirt and make-up.  The bottle is also made out of plastic which creates it the perfect travel product. For the cheap price of  £4.99 you get a large 400ml worth, which claims it will use up to 200 uses worth. But I do believe that this totally depends on how much make-up you wear, and how often you use it. Despite the cleansing water to be so cheap anyway, you can always rely on trusty old boots or superdrug to be offering great bargains anyway! 

All in all I thoroughly recommend this product for anyone that doesn't want to faff about with a complicated night care routine yet still seeks to have beautifully clean skin. So far since using this I actually haven't found any distressing cons that would put me off , to stop me from using it on a daily basis. The only little downfall I could say would be that the lid does lift up sometimes if you aren't careful in shutting it properly therefore could lead to some leaking. However if you fancy checking out this product you can find it in the links below: 

http://www.boots.com/en/Garnier-Micellar-Cleansing-Water-400ml_1440752/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garnier-Naturals-Micellar-Cleansing-Water/dp/B00HU27GZS

Mac blush in Harmony ( The perfect contour)

 As you may or may not know I am utterly obsessed with contouring and the whole 'Kim Kardashian' image. I definitely don't feel like my make-up is complete until I have finished up my look with contour and highlight. I personally believe that these two steps within make-up are two of the most important, as they give you definition and shape to your face and also to emphasize your cheekbones and areas you most want to accentuate. 
However despite all the pro's to contouring, it can be difficult to get the hang of, especially if you are short of time doing your make-up, as you want it to look perfect, so just a simple functional product is what I was particularly looking for. 

          Mac's blush in Harmony fitted my needs exceptionally well. It's very practical in Mac's famous simple packaging, easy to slot in to your make-up bag if you're on the go, it also has a very secure 'lift up' lid so that there is a limited chance the product would crack or fall out. Although the colour in the pan looks slightly dull and nothing to write home about, a sweep of this across your cheeks and the areas you would contour, looks stunning. Despite this product being labelled a 'blush', I would say without doubt it leans more towards being a bronzer. The pink/red undertones balances out any orangeyness from the formula, which gives a more natural glowing effect. These undertones plus hints of rose/beige in the blush also make it a great product for pale skins, such as myself, this is because the colour is less harsh on the skin and won't give that TOWIE 'tangoed' look, yet gives it a healthy glowing contour. 

              One of the biggest things I believe that intimidate people the most about contouring are 'how to apply it' and 'which brushes should I be using', but do not fear, you don't need a massive collection of fancy brushes to be able to achieve that contoured look- especially with 'Harmony' too. I simply just use one brush and one brush only and that's Mac's '187SE'. However I am certain that this brush is limited edition, as I received it as a present a couple years back as a gift. Another Mac brush that I've heard is brilliant for contouring in their permanent line is the '168 Large angled brush', but you could use practically any blush or bronzer brush with this product and it would still give you the same finish. That's the beauty of this product- it's a contour lovers best friend! When I'm seeking that all round glowy look, I just dust this over my forehead and down my nose which instantly leaves me feeling that I look like I've just been on a weeks holiday in Greece! :) 

I would recommend this product 100% , I use it religiously every day and it compliments any make-up look you could think of! This blush cost me £18, which may sound alot to some, however one pot has lasted me a whole year and I've only just hit pan slightly! I am sure it would happily last me another 6 or so months until it's empty. So I'm thankfully getting all my moneys worth. If your a contour lover just like myself, I am sure you too would be very happy with 'Harmony' too. I shall leave a link to this product down below for you to check out if you wish :) 
http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/shaded/156/329/Products/Face/Cheek/Powder-Blush/index.tmpl
Thanks for reading :) 

My Tattoo's!

Firstly I'd like to apologise for the massive time gap since my last blog, the disappearance was mostly due to the fact I was finishing up college and my course, and to be honest just a load of other things that took over from blogging. However thankfully I now have the time to start getting into blogging again therefore hopefully uploading posts more frequently. 

Anyways this post is about my recent investment (should I say) of my tattoos that I got whilst abroad. I'll start of by mentioning that although there is a lot of bad press about getting tattoos In counties such a magaluf (which is where I went by the way), I made sure that I went to a tattooist that had a good reputation and had English speaking people there. The particular place I went too, was recommended by a few reps that are regulars at this tattooist and all their tattoos looked fab. So I did feel confident that mine would turn out how id want, there was also an English girl that lived out there working in the studio so I was able to ask as many questions as I wanted. 

        Now on to the actual tattoos; the first of the two I got was the one on my left upper thigh which is my starsign (Virgo), this was €35 and took around 10 minutes, pain rating 1/10. The reasoning for this tattoo was because I have a massive interest in starsigns and horoscopes and despite some people opinions towards starsigns I do believe that I am very much like a typical Virgo. 

        The second of my two tattoos is just above my right knee which is the quote "Pursuit of Happiness", this was €70 and took around 45 minutes, pain rating 3/10. I adore this quote and the meaning behind it which is that "The pursuit of happiness is defined as a fundamental right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence to freely pursue joy and live life in a way that makes you happy, as long as you don't do anything illegal or violate the rights of others" which I think is a lovely and inspirational quote to have. I actually got this tattoo in the same shop 5 or so days after my first. 

I am sure I will get more tattoos in the future as they are very addictive and despite what some people may say the pain isn't actually as bad as people make out although I can believe that if you we're to get tattoos on an area where it's very bony or you have less fat on that particular area it would hurt a lot lot more. I chose to get the tattoos in the areas I did because I will be able to hide them with certain clothes expecially in the winter and I thought they would be less painful for my firsts. I've had these for around a month now and as far as the healing process is going, I think they are doing okay although I am slightly concerned about scabbing and loss of ink in some places so I will be sure to get those checked out surely. 

Mac Strobe Liquid Lotion

              Mac strobe liquid lotion-     If you're lusting after that radiant healthy glow then this strobe lotion will defiantly help you achieve this look. First of all this strobe lotion is targeted at 

oiler skin types, as there is a cream formula aimed at dry skin types- however I have dry to normal skin, but I find the lotion to feel much more lightweight and breathable than the cream. The packaging is also vastly practical for travel due to its plastic container and clever lid. 

             To gain the best results of this lotion apply all over the face, or ares you would like to accentuate the most using your fingers for an even well blended finish. I personally use around 4 pumps to cover my face as I like to make sure that every area is covered, however it is personal preference to how much you should use.  Once applied, the visual results are immediate. Straight away you are able to see a difference on your skin with the strobe lotion on, the look the lotion gives you is a pearly sheen- almost like a muted down liquid highlighter. Your skin instantly looks; healthier, brighter, and dewy. After this step I tend to occasionally pop on a bit of my tea tree pore minimiser just to tone down the visibility of the pores (although obviously this step totally up to you). Next I go straight in with a bb cream or a foundation, which I apply with a Real Techniques Expert face brush to get a real airbrushed finish. Once completed application of the foundation, you can see the strobe lotion gleaming through, which gives a totally amazing complexion. 

My beauty January favourites

Mac Lipstick in 'Brave' - Throughout January I have been religiously reaching for this lipstick due to its natural, 'your lips but better' finish. This month I have enjoyed keeping my make-up looking healthy and radiant and this lipstick really ties in well with this particular look as it gives my lips a lovely pop of colour, whilst still looking very natural. This Mac lipstick is in the formula 'satin',  which is a matte texture, yet still nourishing on the lips. This lipstick retails for £15.00. 

Garnier BB Miracle skin perfecter cream in 'Light' - Recently I have been really disliking wearing a foundation on my skin, as I often feel suffocated and heavy wearing such a thick product on my skin on a daily basis. So in January I was set out to invest in the likes of a BB cream or tinted moisturiser, which is what I did. This particular BB cream was advertised and came with a packet sample in one of my favourite magazines 'Glamour'- I tried and tested this BB cream sample and instantly fell in love, so obviously the next day I just had to go and buy the full product myself. The cream feels smooth and light on the skin, and doesn't feel tacky or wet like some foundations do (my pet hate). It glides on super well like a day cream/moisturiser and I use my hands to blend it in all the way down onto my neck- as although the shade I purchased was a 'light' it was still a tad darker than my bare skin, however this did not bother me as I love looking tad tanned. This cream retails for £7.49.

L'Oreal Kids sweet pear tangle tamer- Firstly this stuff just smells like heaven! It has a strong but refreshing fruity scent to it leaving your hair smell like summer! This tangle tamer does the job brilliantly, I spray this all over my hair when it's damp after the shower and simply brush through my hair after with a standard hairbrush and it makes my hair so easy and pain free to brush, which is exactly what I was looking for. Retails for £2.19. 

Rimmel scandaleyes eyeliner in 'Nude'- This was a random and recent purchase of mine yet I have fallen in love with it already. It's a nude based eyeliner which you apply in your lower waterline to widen and waken your eyes. As soon as applied your eyes look instantly 10X bigger and more awake. The formula of this eyeliner is creamy and smooth which means it is very easy and quick to apply. Which is perfect for me as I don't particularly have very much time to get ready in the mornings! This  eyeliner retails for £2.99 

The Body shop Tea tree pore minimiser - Although this has been in my collection for nearly a year now, I have only this month started reusing it again. After months of not bothering with any form of primer, I decided to try this out and see how it works with my skin during this season. I was pleasantly surprised at how great this product is, and why I seemed to of forgotten it in my collection. I wear it beneath my BB cream and it makes my pore's disappear in an instant and keeps any recurring blemishes at bay with its 'tea tree' extracts. Despite 'tea tree' being mostly aimed at combination to oily skin types, I found this worked really well on my dry skin type and left me feeling hydrated. It has a mild but calming minty scent to it which is very pleasant to wear on the 

skin. Retails for £8.00 

Mac's skin finish in Soft & Gentle- This is my all time holy grail product, which will be forever loved and lives in my make-up bag every day. I use this product as a highlighter on my brow bone, nose, cheeks and inner eye corner daily. It gives the most gorgeous glowy but subtle sheen on the area's applied and really makes a big difference to your make-up. Making you appear healthier, more dewy, tanned and highlights the areas you want to emphasise the most. Suitable for ALL skin types and ALL skin colours.  Since having this highlighter I simply could not wear make-up without it. It's a winner! Retails for £22.00 

To summarise these are all my beloved favourites of the month January 2014, all of which I have tried and worn often and given my full honest review :) 

Aussome Volume

I have never really been big into hair, normally just wearing my hair up or down, so as you could imagine my hair product 'collection' is limited. So I thought it was about time to take better care of my hair by treating it to some products. My hair is very fine so I was looking for something that would give my hair volume and a bounce, so that I would feel more confident and happy when trying new styles or just letting my hair loose. I've heard a lot about Aussie products before so I was interested in finding out myself whether the hype was worth it or not, and it truly was! This particular product does more than the job. You spray it all over your hair either damp or dry then brush it through and it'll leave you with the most fabulous bounce to your hair. I truly love this hair and recommend it to anyone :) 

L'Oreal Paris triple active fresh ultra-hydrating gel-cream

           I purchased this moisturizer just 2 weeks ago and I have already seen such a big difference in my skin. Firstly I have currently been using lotions and potions equipped to combination to oily skin as I wanted to prevent and spots and blemishes that would've appeared however the problem is, is that I have quite dry and dehydrated skin, so these products have been drying my skin out completely and making my skin almost UN-bearable to wear any foundation. So I' decided to take the plunge and treat my skin with the correct products I should be feeding it. At the time I bought this moisturizer, I was in Boots (English drugstore) for about 30 mins deciding which moisturizer would have the best qualities I was looking for, but because there are thousands of brands and types to choose from I found it very hard knowing which was the best one to get. This L'Oreal diamond caught my eye; claiming to 'consist of the vitamins C.E and B5 and to leave the skin feeling fresh and hydrated throughout the day '  and this described perfectly exactly what I was looking for. 
         I have worn this moisturizer every day since I bought this and so far I can honestly say it does the job rather fantastically! It gives my skin instant hydration and prepares my skin for any make up I apply to my skin after. Unlike other moisturizes I have tried in the past, this sinks into my skin instantly and doesn't leave my skin feeling wet and tacky but leaving it fresh and smooth. Another point, I also really favor the packaging- the fact it is a tub/pot rather than a tube, as I find that when a product comes in a tube you can never get the last of the product left when you you hit nearly empty. Considering that it is only around £6 or so, it's deffo worth the buy if you have dry-normal skin like myself. 

You can find this product in almost any drugstore and supermarket :) 

The Naked Basics eye palette

My sister very kindly brought me this exquisite little palette for Christmas, as she most likely saw that I eyed it up possibly every time I browsed the Urban Decay stand in the department stores. To which I am very grateful indeed. This palette is very true to it's name 'The Basics'-  you get six all matte shades ranging from light to dark, which are all very wearable day to day 'basic' shades. I would personally wear all six of these colors, however the shades that I tend to wear the most are; 'Venus'- as an inner corner & brow highlight,  'Foxy and WOS' as all over lid base colors as they are very similar to my foundation shade so it just creates a really even, clean and pretty eye look, I also use 'Crave' to give my eyeliner a smoked edgy effect. I will definitely plan to experiment with 'Naked 2' and 'Faint' soon. I find that the formula of these eye shadows are perfect, they apply so creamy and effortlessly to the lid and are very blend-able too. The packaging of this product is very travel efficient, as the outside palette material is rubber like so it feels pleasant to hold and it will also be very durable being bashed about in handbags and so on. The size of the palette is just right, able to fit in make-up bags, handbags and is also very light too- which is a bonus. Inside the palette opposite the eye-shadows you get a large high quality mirror- which is perfect for those times you are doing your make-up on the go. For £20.00 I believe this product is well worth it, for six high quality shadows for a reasonable price. 

Dior Skin Forever Flawless Foundation

I've been using this foundation for a good year or so now, so I feel I am able to write a complete honest review on this product. Firstly the texture of this foundation works a treat with my skin type (normal-dry), it gives my skin a flawless, full coverage look without appearing or feeling heavy or cakey. The finish of this product claims to be a 'Matte finish', however I don't personally find it particularly 'matte' nor 'dewy' either- which actually makes the skin look more natural. This foundation tends to last on my skin type for a good 8 or so hours, although I personally like to powder once or twice just to keep all my make- up set and looking flawless. To apply this foundation I favor my 'Real Techniques Expert face brush' as the two combined leave my skin with an all round even and blended finish. I do also recommend simply using your hands to blend if you are after a more natural light finish to the skin. In contrast to these pro's- I do have one con that really sticks out like a sore thumb- which is how incredibly fast it oxidizes. I use shade (010), which is in fact the lightest shade they provide, so when I first apply the foundation it matches my color perfectly, but then 10-15 minutes later, the shade of the foundation has dramatically darkened and turned quite orangery. This does bug me tremendously as I do prefer my foundation to exactly match my bare skin color, so consequently you do have to super blend in the foundation all the way onto your neck- to make sure you avoid the 'tell tale' line. To summarize I do like this product but not enough to repurchase again, due to the oxidizing fault, also because for £35.00 (30ml) you expect the best of the best .