Wednesday 29 October 2014

Water Challenge



Water Challenge







Now I'm sure many of you drink lots and lots of water throughout the day, but for me I find it really quite hard to do. It's not that I dislike water, I actually really quite enjoy it! It's just that I forget! For some reason I don't like drinking water with meals, I prefer a drink with flavour, and other than when I'm eating, I could go all day without having another drink. Because I never feel thirsty I forget to drink water.

Now we all know that we should be drinking at least 2 litres of water every day and the health benefits of doing this, so I decided that for one week I would do just that. Drink at least 2 litres of water throughout the day and see if I could tell any benefits after just one week.  


Now for some of you, you'll be sat there reading this thinking that this can't be a challenge because you always drink that much water. But I found this much harder than I thought I would. On two days I had gone to the end of the day and only managed to drink 1 litre so had to down two bottles of water in bed. This was obviously not a very clever idea and I spent most of my night getting up and going to the toilet. The day I found the hardest was on Sunday when I was hungover, all I wanted was tea and crisps and the thought of having water swishing around in my stomach was not helping my nausea, but I powered through, and I found that my hangover subsided much quicker than my friends' did.





That's me on the morning of day one. I've never really suffered from acne, even through my teens, however I sometimes get one of two very small ones. On this picture, if you look closely you can see them.

Now here are some of the things that I noticed that happened after JUST ONE WEEK of drinking water.
(note: I haven't changed any other part of my beauty routine or diet)


  • My skin has always been combo skin, I have oily bits and dry bits. But this has taken out all of the dryness out of my skin. ALL OF IT! I mean that. It hasn't helped with oiliness at all, but the dry patches have totally disappeared. This is by far the best part of this little experiment.
  • My spots have disappeared.
  • My energy levels haven't changed at all, I still do the same amount of exercise and fall asleep at the same time. HOWEVER getting up in the morning has definitely gotten easier, for some reason I've just been getting up, no fighting with the alarm clock
  • Now I'm not sure if this is coincidence or if this is due to the extra water, but everyone around me at work and my family have all been ill with colds and flu, and I haven't caught it! Not even a sniffle.
  • And the one I was most impressed at: my eyes don't get as dry anymore so my contact lenses cause much less irritation and don't feel as uncomfortable when they have been in for hours.
  • My skin seems to look brighter
  • My hair doesn't look as dry and straw like

After just 7 days I can tell the difference and I will be definitely trying to drink more water every single day. So if you already drink 2 litres + a day then good on you, if you don't just give it a try for 7 days and like me I'm sure you will be converted once you see the benefits for yourself.



Here I am this morning, spot free!


Saturday 25 October 2014

Spooky Slap Straight From My MakeUp Bag



Spooky Slap


I LOVE Halloween! I love getting dressed up and being creative. Love being able to put on some spooky slap, whether it's face paint or some dramatic dark make up, I love it all.





I decided to do some scary Halloween make up using make up that I use everyday instead of using face paint that people would have to go out and buy in order to create this look. So here are some tips to create my 'monster/skeleton/I don't really know what it is' look using make up you already own!




I started by using my Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Sandstorm. I normally use this as a cover over my foundation to take the shine out of my face. This time I put it straight onto my face without a base. I then covered with a Next white eyeshadow to lighten my face further (you could use any white eyeshadow). After this I used my no. 7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow in Thunder but any grey eyeshadow would do. I blended this under my cheeks to give the illusion of a gaunt face, I then blended it on the sides of my nose and down the lines of my upper lip, this was to create the illusion of deep wrinkled features.




I then used my Avon Supershock eyeliner in black to draw on my nose and large circles around my eyes using the top of my eyebrows as a guide.





Once this was done I used my e.l.f studio pigment eyeshadow in Naughty Noire (it's basically a black) to cover over the eyeliner to fill in any gaps and make it look darker.




I then used my e.l.f. complete coverage concealer in light to colour over my lips and then covered it with my Rimmel pressed powder. I then used my Rimmer Exaggerate Liquid Eyeliner in Black to draw a line going through my lips and across the whole of my face, I then drew little lines through them to give the illusion of stitching. I also used this to draw wrinkles on my face and a scar on my forehead and also some eyebrow/forehead lines. I then used my black and grey eyeshadows to blend the lines in and shade them.


Wednesday 22 October 2014

I've Been Tagged!

I've Been Tagged!!


I have only just found myself a minute to do this – bit ashamed of myself for being so busy – but I was Tagged by Becca Brown @itsonlybecc (who is also a new blogger like myself – check out her blog it’s great, itsonlybec.com) to take part in the ‘Liebster Award’ which was created in order to build the followers of new fashion and beauty bloggers and extend the blogging community.

So this is how it works:
1) Answer the questions sent to you
2) Nominate 11 bloggers who have under 200 followers on twitter
3) Ask them 11 questions thought of by yourself
4) Notify them that they have been nominated




My Answers


Name your top three bloggers.

My top three must consist of Vivianna Does Makeup. She is absolutely gorgeous, I have always watched her on Youtube and she was definitely one of my inspirations for getting into beauty blogging. I also absolutely love Tayna Burr and Fleur De Force. All three are quite different but thats what I love, you can get loads of different tips for different things and occasions.


What has made me happy today?

I’m working from home today and my boyfriend came round at lunch and surprised me with a sandwich – amazing what a Tesco meal deal can do. The small, thoughtful things are definitely noted.


What is my favourite place and why?

My favourite place in the whole world has to be Turtle Island off of the coast of Marmaris, Turkey. It is a beautiful place, the water is gorgeous. I went a few years back, and had a Turkish mud bath. It was so relaxing and great for your skin. If you're lucky enough you get to see hundreds of turtles, it's amazing! It feels like a totally different world!


Where do you think is the most stylish city?

New York – it absolutely has to be. I’ve been saving up for a trip to New York for as long as I can remember – I will get there one day!!


What is your favourite magazine to read?

It’s a tough choice, I’d have to pick Closer. I LOVE reading real life stories as well as reading the fashion, beauty and celeb pages. So it has to be Closer because it has bits of everything. Such a juicy mag!


Do you like to think about facts or fiction?

Facts! I am definitely more of a realist than a fantasist. Even though I regularly wish it was the other way round. I’m an accountant so I deal with facts and figures all day long, and you get pretty used to dealing with them. I’m very organised and like to know exactly what I’m dealing with. Very much a strategic thinker.


What does the last text you received say?

It is from my mum saying that she has landed. My parents have jetted off to Cyprus this morning (I am extremely jealous) so she was letting me know that she landed safe and sound.


What do you think is the most successful fashion brand?

This is such a difficult question to answer. There are SO many successful fashion brands in the world and it would be impossible for me to pick one, and there's not much point me sitting here and naming Gucci and Prada because they’re a given. So I’m going to talk about the most successful high street fashion brands. Topshop is definitely one, I think it’s a great store and is very  innovative  constantly coming up with fresh ideas and almost dominating the competition. However I have a very big soft spot for River Island – I always have. I think it is a gorgeous brand and every product they have is of high quality. I never walk out of River Island empty handed. I also love New Look and I am desperate to try their new beauty range. And I also love Matalan – I very often go in and find exactly the outfit I am looking for at a fraction of the price of other stores – it is definitely under rated.


What was your last meal?

My ham and cheese sandwich!


Are you a feminist?


I am indeed! I love being a feminist! But one thing that I really hate is when women throw shade on other women for expressing themselves. It’s bad enough that women were repressed for so many years, and now fellow women are trying to repress us. Nothing upsets me more than women slating other women’s looks and how they act and present themselves. Everyone is different and that's what makes this world so interesting. We should be supporting eachother to achieve our goals and to be successful – not trying to put others down to make ourselves look or feel better. Just live and let live. We should unite and learn how to embrace and encourage other women – Girl power all the way!


What is my outfit of the day?

As I'm working from home today, my outfit isn't very exciting! Black Leggins and a grey hoody! I won't offend you all by posting a picture!



I've Tagged You!


@all_over_this

@GirlOfTwoHalves
@VintageRose_9
@claudia407ify
@JoannaLouiseBea
@Beauty7products
@itsjustphilippa
@Canvas_ofa_face
@LilyBonesx
@FashionWorld_xo
@itschelsea_



Questions


1) What inspired you to start your blog?

2) What 3 cosmetic products could you not live without?
3) What are the first 3 things you do when you wake up?
4)  What was the last thing you bought for yourself?
5)  What is the most under rated beauty brand and why?
6) What is your biggest pet peeve?
7)  One piece of blogging advice for your new fellow bloggers
8) What is your signature make up look?
9) What is your latest cosmetic product craze?
10) How are you finding your new blogging lifestyle?
11) What is your best style/beauty/fashion tip?


Tuesday 21 October 2014

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Avon Colour Trend Kiss n Go Lipstick


Avon Colour Trend Kiss n Go Lipstick


I Love Avon! I used to be an Avon representative a couple of years ago when I was at college, to fund my partying lifestyle along with my part-time job. During that time I came to realise how much of a good brand Avon is, even though it is reasonably priced. I have found that high price doesn’t always mean high quality!




So I ordered myself 3 Color Trend Kiss n Go lipsticks. They are priced at £3.75, buy one get two free. So yes – I got three lipsticks for £3.75. I already know what you are thinking – that they are going to be totally awful and I shouldn’t have wasted my time, but bare with me guys! The packaging doesn’t look amazing, with the plain white tube, however it has a transparent band around the tube so you can see the colour of your lipstick without opening which I did think was really cool.


Lucky Kiss

         

Let’s start with my favourite in colour ‘Lucky Kiss’. I was desperate to find myself a darker red lipstick for Autumn as I usually stick with bright red or pinks. I didn’t want to take too much of a risk and go for a purple so I went for this darker red. The stick itself looks much more purple/brown than dark red but when it goes on your lip it looks totally different and is really pigmented. It is a gorgeous colour exactly the warm toned red/purple lipstick I was searching for. It has a slight shimmer in which makes your lips look extra warm. I am quite an olive toned brunette, and if you’re the same then I would definitely recommend this colour. It applied very easy and smells gorgeous. Now as you’d probably guessed by the price, the lipstick doesn’t stay on very well, it fades quite easy so make sure you take it with you on the go to touch up whenever needed




The next colour I bought was in colour ‘Amethyst’, this is a much pinkier colour. I picked it because I knew it would be a safe bet, knowing that Lucky Kiss was a bit of a risk and I might have hated it when it arrived. Amethyst isn’t very pigmented, nor does it particularly have a shade. It’s very similar to the colour of my natural lip. I have been wearing the lipstick to work quite a lot, as it’s nice and subtle but has a lot of shimmer in it, kind of gives the look of having a clear lipgloss on without your lips looking wet and sticky. However, like Lucky Kiss, it fades very easily and needs constant reapplying, but also smells great and applied very easily.


                                                     Pink Holiday



The third colour I chose was ‘Pink Holiday’, when it arrived I was very excited about it, the stick itself looks like a very bright pink. However it isn’t very pigmented so you have to apply ALOT to make your lips pop like the stick itself. This colour is a lot less shimmery than the other two colours. It is a lovely shade, but it isn’t quite as bold as you would think by looking at the stick. It applies really easily and leaves your lips feeling very soft! However like the other two colours, it needs touching up ALOT!



Were they worth the £3.75 for all three? Definitely! I absolutely loved Lucky Kiss, and have been wearing it a lot even if it does need reapplying. It’s perfect for Autumn and exactly the colour I’ve been searching for. Amethyst is perfect for during the day, and has a really shimmery look. And Pink Holiday is a lovely colour and goes really well with a smokey eye or a bold eye shadow. They are all easy to apply and smell great, leaving your lips feeling very soft!

Glossybox September 2014







I finally decided to take the plunge and sign up to GLOSSYBOX. I have been debating it for a while, and did a lot of research into the best brand of beauty box and whether they really are worth the money, in the end I couldn’t help myself and just had to sign up.
When the September 14 Glossybox arrived I didn’t really know what to expect. I had seen a lot of vloggers opening up boxes and describing what the products looked like, but hadn’t found many reviews as to how good the products actually were. The first thing I noticed was that the box was gorgeous, much more sophisticated than I expected, it was designed by Karen Millen, and you could definitely tell. Inside it contained a voucher for Karen Millen, which I thought was an excellent touch, a product card and a spoiler for next months glossybox (which I don’t normally enjoy but I have to admit it did get me very excited)! Inside were 6 different products.


Let’s start with my favourite (as always), which was the Nails inc Westminster Bridge Matte Top Coat. Firstly let me say I was very impressed that you can get a full sized nail varnish in the glossy box, this values at £12 for the 10ml bottle. I absolutely love it, definitely worth £12 I have a lot of Nails inc products and have always found them to be of amazing quality! The matte top coat was so easy to apply and looks fabulous. You just apply over your usual coloured nail varnish instead of a shiny clear top coat, and it completely transforms your usual same-old nail colour. I first tried it with a black nail varnish, and I absolutely loved it, so many people commented on it saying how cool and different my nails looked. It’s a quick and easy way to try something new and change up your old varnishes. One thing I will say about the Matte top coat is that it fades over time, over the duration of about a week or two (if, like me, you are lucky enough to avoid chipping) you will notice that the matte gradually fades.









I also received a GOSH cosmetics Silky Cream Blusher in 001 Tropical Breeze, this also came full sized and retails at £6.99 at Superdrug. I have only tried a few GOSH products but have read many amazing reviews on them. The thing that initially put me off the GOSH blusher was the colour – tropical breeze is very orange and not very neutral (that is a downfall on Glossybox – you can’t choose your own colours to match your taste or skin tone). At first I whacked it straight across my cheek and quickly realised that the colour is very pigmented, way too pigmented to just wipe straight over your face. I tried many techniques to apply it – on to my face then blend, using my fingers, using brushes, and I found that the best way for me to apply the blusher was to use my RealTechnique stippling brush. I rubbed the brush onto the blusher and then applied and blended onto my cheek using the brush. I found this worked much better and made the colour a lot less harsh. The blusher feels amazing on your skin and is definitely ‘silky’, it is long lasting and has a slight sheen to it.  I would definitely recommend GOSH cosmetics Silky Cream Blusher however I will be purchasing a better suited colour.




 




In my Glossybox there was also a ModelCo More Brows Fibre Gel. It’s essentially a brush on eyebrow gel – similar to a mascara wand, but for your brows. This was ALSO full sized at 3.5ml and retails for £14.95. When I first saw this in the box, I was very excited, I am a big eyebrow fanatic. However I was sadly disappointed with the product. The wand is very difficult to use, it’s quite difficult to be accurate with, and if you don’t have well maintained freshly waxed eyebrows you would struggle. However my biggest problem was the coverage, it creates quite a natural look, which I know a lot of my friends would absolutely love, however my eyebrows tend to grow in all sorts of directions so it is quite hard to fill in the gaps without using a pigmented pencil or brush on gel as the hairs grow all over the place. A pencil or gel, tend to suit my eyebrows better, fills in a lot of my gaps and creates a much more dramatic eyebrow than the natural look the ModelCo gel creates. I know a lot of my friends that I would recommend this to, that have easy to manage eyebrows and want a more natural look, however it is definitely not for me. I should also point out that it lasts for a very long time, and didn’t smudge or fade as the day went on.





L’Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil – This stuff is amazing! I am a big fan of argon oil, one of my many not-so-secret weapons, and have seen L’Oreal mythic oil on the shelves when looking for my argon oil and have always been so curious to try it out – this is one of the many perks of Glossybox, try before you buy! You apply a small amount to the ends of your damp hair before blow drying. It makes your hair feel soft and looks so shiny, it also smells GREAT! It’s light weight so it’s great because your hair doesn’t feel thick and heavy with product. It makes your hair feel like it’s had a deep conditioning. In the glossy box you got a 45ml sample, which is a hefty amount for a sample. A 125ml bottle retails at £15.95 – I will definitely be making a purchase!

Last but not least is the real luxury item in the Glossybox by SkinPep. I got two small samples of the Enzyme and Acid Peel: Professional Grade Peeling Gel and an even smaller sample of Dark Circle Eraser. 180ml of the peeling gel retails at £89.99 and 15ml of the Eye Cream retails at £44.99. Quite expensive!







Let’s start with the peeling gel. The samples are enough to do one face mask each, luckily you get two. You gently rub into wet skin for 2 minutes then leave to set for a further 2 minutes, but this can be increased depending on the intensity of the peel you are looking for, and how sensitive your skin is. When I first started to apply the gel it didn’t look or feel how I expected it to. It was like white gel, and didn’t feel like it had an exfoliation in it. As I started to rub it into my face, my skin started to sting and feel slightly itchy. Once I stopped rubbing it in, this seemed to subside. Then after leaving it for a few more minutes you wash it off with warm water. My face felt amazing, and looks so much brighter. It definitely works, and works in an instant. I would indeed recommend this to anyone! Looking forward to using my 2nd sachet.




Lastly was the Dark Circle Eraser, now firstly let me point out that I am not prone to dark circles, so if you do suffer from dark circles, then don’t just take my word for it. The cream feels amazing, lovely to apply and feels lovely on your skin, and I did notice a difference instantly with puffiness and the colouring around my eyes. It definitely works! It doesn’t smell too great but the results make up for that!



So in answer to the questions I originally asked myself. Yes, I love glossy box and I am so glad that I signed up! And yes, it is most certainly worth the £10 a month. In terms of comparing it to other beauty boxes, I couldn’t possibly comment. All I do know is, Glossybox is definitely worth a try! Just wish I didn’t have to wait another month for my next box!