Tips & Tricks

Everybody has a few tips and tricks up their sleeves when it comes to beauty, so I thought I'd share mine!

• When you're going to tweeze your brows at home, soften the skin around the brow first by applying a cotton wool ball that has been soaked in clean warm water. This will allow the stray hairs to slide out with ease & reduce redness and swelling.

• If, like me, you suffer with natural shadows & puffiness under your eyes then invest in a good eye cream. I'm currently using the mac fast response eye cream - but shop around. You can find a good eye cream for less than £10.00

• If your hair is dry and damaged such as mine is from over processing, apply a rich hair mask or conditioner, put on a shower cap and leave on for as long as possible. I usually do this once every couple of weeks and leave it on over night. Yes, its a little uncomfortable but your hair will thank you the next day. Shower off to reveal soft, shiny & much more healthy feeling hair!

• Take care of your hands. Moisturising daily will prevent unnecessary aging of the hands. Your hands are on show just as much of your face, yet many people ignore them!

• Always have a brown mascara in your makeup collection for a softer day time look. I love my black mascara, the darker the better in my opinion. But sometimes there's an occasion or a makeup look that calls for a softer eye. You can pick up a good one for a couple of pounds - try Rimmel or Collection 2000.

• If you've dropped a lipstick and its broken, mould it back together gently then replace the lid and pop it into the fridge. 3-5 hours later it should have set back together and can be used as normal once again! I cannot tell you how many mac lipsticks I have saved using this method!

• Exfoliate your whole body at least once a week. Exfoliating removes all the dead skin cells that can make your skin look dull. When you've finished exfoliating, apply your lotion/moisturiser. Freshly exfoliated skin absorbs much better than clogged skin.

• Painted or manicured nails can add the finishing touches to any outfit. Try neutral colours if you don't want to have to keep changing your nail colour all the time. You'd be surprised how many outfits they will go with. Or for a really on trend look, match your nail colour to your lip colour.

• The day before applying fake tan, exfoliate & shave your body. Shaving over a tan only removes some of the colour from your body. Also, moisturizing dry areas such as knees, hand and elbows will help to keep your tan on for much longer. 

• Lipstick will last much longer on the lips if you colour the whole lip in with your lip liner first, giving it a 'base'.

• When painting your nails, always start with your little finger & move across to your thumb. That way you'll avoid smudging nails that you've already painted.

• Aim to have at least one 'makeup free' day a week. This will give your skin a break and allow it to breath. The night before my 'makeup free day' I cleanse, tone and moisturise my face and neck with soft motions. Never use a circulation motion around your eyes. Always gently pull away from the eye when applying creams & lotions.

• If you've run out of brow gel or a clear mascara to keep your brows in place, spray an old toothbrush with hairspray and comb through brows.

So there you have them, the best tricks I have learnt over the years. I hope you've found them useful & if you do have any tips or tricks of your own please let me know! I'm always on the look out for new ones!

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I Hate Wasting Money!

If there's one thing that I cannot stand, it's being fooled by a products description and parting with my hard earned cash, only to try it out and be disappointed. This happened not so long ago with a primer that I purchased. Its only recently that I've become a primer girl. I never used to bother, thought it was just something that cosmetic companies had made up to make you part with even more money. However, it turns out that they may have been onto something..

I now own a total of 14 primers, yep I've been well and truly sucked into the primer game. Fad or not, I do believe that a good one does wonders for your makeup. So when I saw the L'Oreal Paris Skin Perfection Magic Touch Instant Blur (pause for breath because is that not the longest name for a primer in the world?!) I thought 'YAY, another primer to add to my collection'. Do not make the same mistake as me, and add this to your makeup collection.
Never have I been so disappointed in a primer. Honestly. If anything, this made my makeup look oily, greasy, and it did not last anywhere near as long as if I wasn't wearing a primer at all. So, so not worth £14.00 of anyone's money. When squeezing the product out of the tube you'll notice that the cream has a strange slightly pink tinge to it. I didn't like that. The product is also really, really thick. More like a balm, or a mask. Not a primer. The packaging is not up to scratch in my opinion either. I expected better things from this.

What's going on L'Oreal? Your products seem to be very hit or miss these days, which is a shame as I used to be a devoted fan. It seems L'Oreal are going to have to do something amazing for me to fork out for another one of their products, but who knows!

Have you bought this product? What did you think?

xxx

A shakey start..

Hello & welcome to my blog!

I've wanted to start sharing my reviews and such on all things beauty for a long time but have always been really scared to! So I've finally taken the plunge!

Please let me know what you think, thank you!

                                                                                                                                                                  



So, a few weeks ago I did a little haul shopping. I picked up some products that I had been hearing some really great things about and decided to try them for myself.
The products I bought were, (from left to right)

• Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Universal Bronzing
• Schwarzkopf GOT2BE Hairspray
• L'Oreal Paris Extraordinary Facial Oil
• Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser Primer
• L'Oreal Paris Lumi Magique Pen
• Palmers Natural Bronze Moisturiser
• Real Techniques Retractable Bronzer Brush
• Rimmel Rita Ora Collection 60 Seconds nail varnish in Pillow Talk
• Maybelline Eye Eraser Concealer in Light
• Maybelline Super Stay nail varnish in Mint For Life
• Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Waterproof Powder in Fawn

   

 

The first product I was DYING to try was the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Universal Bronzing. I've been looking at different reviews for such a long time, researching which application gives the best results, where to buy from, peoples skins reaction to the product. Basically, I was clued up! So I headed to the Debenhams Chanel counter in Preston while I was visiting a friend at university and after a brief conversation with the MUA I had what I thought was going to be my Holy Grail product.

Upon the recommendation from the MUA at the Chanel counter I purchased a new kabuki type brush. The one I got was the Real Techniques Bronzer Brush (retractable). I am in love with Real Techniques brushes. They're super soft, cruelty free, versatile and I always find them really easy to clean!

The first thing I should note, for those who do not know, the Chanel Universal Bronzing is nothing like you would expect a bronzer to be. For a start its a cream. This baffled me as I've only ever used a powder bronzer. After I got over my initial reluctance to even use the product (I do this with anything new, I don't like to spoil the perfect new-ness!!) I was very happy to discover that this product smells AMAZING. Nothing too perfumed to make you think 'whoa, do I want this on my skin', but still a beautiful fragrance. I applied my usual primer, foundation & concealer routine and then I took my clean Real Techniques brush (please always clean new makeup brushes before you use them for the first time!) and stippled the brush into the product. When I thought I had enough product packed onto there I began to apply the bronzer in light strokes onto my cheeks, chin, and forehead.

It does blend very well, but can look a little too clay-coloured, perhaps this is just on my skin tone.



I set my makeup with a translucent setting powder and finished my makeup as normal.

After a days wear I did notice that the product had helped my usual makeup to stay on a little better, and that my skin did look smooth and a little more naturally tanned. You just don't get that with a powder bronzer in my opinion. However, in some places around my face - around the nose, temples & some problematic areas, I did notice that the product had sort of bunched together and built up on its own. Perhaps I need a little more practice, or perhaps I need to try some of the other methods of application that I have seen.

For £31.00 (plus around £10.00 for a brush to use) I'd say it is a fairly good product. However please do your research before you do purchase because as with many if not all beauty products, you cannot return a product when opened if you decide its not for you! If you want to try a product LIKE this without the price tag, try Bourjois Bronzing Primer.

I'm going to persevere with this one, I think that when I finally find a better way to apply it'll perhaps become the HG product I've hoped for.

 

I had high hopes for the L'Oreal Paris Extraordinary Facial Oil. This product was on display in the checkout queue and as I have been reading up on the benefits for your skin through oil I was intrigued, in the basket it went. Unfortunately as with many skin care products you do not get the opportunity to 'test' a little like with makeup products. This product is no better than baby oil in my opinion. It checks out at around £13.00 and after a few days of using the product I was really disappointed. I had been using the oil, as directed, after cleansing in the morning and night. On day 3 I noticed that my pores were looking really clogged up, but decided to carry on using the product as sometimes things get a little worse before they get better. By day 5 I had what felt like a marble sat under my skin on my chin. I was Horrified.

After that, I stopped using the product completely. My chin had swollen up around this 'lump' severely and was so sore! I wouldn't have what you would call particularly sensitive skin. I can put pretty much whatever product I like on my skin without any bad side affects but perhaps my skin did not like this oil? Fortunately the swelling and lump subsided after a few days and has now completely disappeared, but I am noticing that my skin is a little more oily than normal. I don't think I'll be messing around with my skin care routine again! Has anyone else had any adverse reactions to this product? Please let me know.. 

 

 I have only recently become interested in primers after using a sample of the Benefit Porefessional. Since then I have gone on to purchase a full size Porefessional, a Mac primer & many lower end primers.

When I saw Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser Primer I was instantly drawn to the super cute packaging! I mean, I'm a sucker for that stuff but show me a girl that isn't?

I had used a couple of the Maybelline Baby Lips and had been pleasantly surprised by how well a relatively cheap product had worked. Maybelline have created a great little range of products! This primer, while not being on the same level as the Porefessional is a really great primer. I can see myself using this for day to day wear, when I don't need my makeup to last quite as long as say a 12 hour work day but still want a beautiful base. It is a clear gel product, without much of a fragrance, and a little goes a long way. This product needs to be applied thinly or you may notice that your makeup slips a little. I would recommend this primer to anyone that wants a really good product but is working on a budget.

£7.99? SOLD

 

The L'Oreal Lumi Magique Pen  is my dupe for the YSL Touche Éclat. I use this product as a highlighter for areas such as down the bridge of the nose, between the brows, under the eyes, on the cupids bow and a little on the chin. I find that this product has ALWAYS done what I have wanted it to. It provides a subtle highlight which helps with contouring the face and adding depth and definition. I draw on the skin where I want the product applied, take a soft concealer brush and gently buff and push the product into the skin. I would love to try the YSL Touche Éclat but I have heard that it doesn't last very long, and if I'm going to spend £25 on a product, I need to know that I'm going to get my moneys worth!

Every girl that likes to highlight needs to try this miracle pen from L'Oreal!

 

I will post on the other products in the picture from my haul soon, but for now xxx