Little Haul

I popped down to Romford a while ago to buy a few things and thought I'd share with you guys. As my student discount is coming to an end I thought in the few weeks to come I'd take advantage of my last moments by shopping in Office. I came out with gorgeous (what they describe as) navy Vans a bargain at £40! Definitely something of an investment piece as I wear them at least 5 days a week!  

Lately I tend to work between 4-5 days a week so I'm stuck in my totally black uniform so clothes and fashion haven't been the priority this summer. Incoming treat hence the Vans and sneaky American sweets! I've also recently become addicted to the Real Techniques make-up brushes they are beyond amazing and made the best improvements to the appearance of my make up! ( Review to come) Above you can see I had given in and added the Powder Brush and the Blush Brush to my ever expanding collection, both of which have the softest bristles and make it so easy for the application of product. My only other beauty related purchase was the Quck Fix Blackhead Mask which was only a couple of pounds, blackheads are my number one problem when it comes to my skin and it will be interesting to see if the mask actually works any miracles.

Hopefully now my bank account can have a bit of a rest period after the splurge, see you guys later!

What's in my make-up bag? (Everyday edition)

My make-up rarely changes and with the need to have it on everyday due to work and appearance (I work as a waitress) I thought it would be cool to show you guys what products I use everyday.

Currently the make-up bag I am using is just an inexpensive one that I picked up from Primark for about £1-£2. It was a while ago so I'm unsure as to whether or not they still have the same one. It's quite compact and it's just about big enough to fit my daily essentials into it (not including make-up brushes)

In terms of face make-up I tend to go for Rimmel and Revlon as you can see, I feel that Revlon has a very good palette in terms of shades for pale people and there products overall are good. Foundation wise I use Revlon Colour stay in the shade Ivory alongside that I use Revlon Photo ready Concealer in 002 Light. In terms of coverage both can be used as a light coverage or built upon but this concealer is by far the best concealer I have used, the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer did not help cover up any imperfections at all.  Next is Rimmel Stay Matte Powder which is a Cult item in terms of Beauty Bloggers everywhere it is both inexpensive and effective and helps to prevent shine during the day. Bronzer is something that I never went near as it never appealed to me, as I am one of the weird people who like to be pale, however I recently purchased this to experiment with and whilst I'm not expert it is definitely good for a novice like me. 

Revlon matte blush in Perfectly Peach is one of my personal cult items, I love the pinky peach colour that it gives my cheeks no where the extreme Barbie colour most people go for, I find it complements my skin tone perfectly.  Revlon Lip Butters have been out for absolutely ages and it took me a while to even buy one (Candy Apple) but I decided I would get a more everyday lip colour, Lo and behold I found Peach Parfait its the perfect colour for me and gives my lips both conditioning and colour. The last face product I have to admit I don't always use and I can't always see a difference if I do or don't use it but it is Rimmel Fix and Perfect 5 in 1 primer, it is conditioning and the main time I use it is when my skin is feeling a little bit dry. 

Clockwise: Rimmel Fix &Perfect 5 in 1 Primer (Buy Here), Revlon Photoready Concealer (Buy Here), Revlon Matte Blush in Perfectly Peach (Buy Here), Vaseline Aloe Vera (Buy Here), Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait (Buy Here), Revlon Colour Stay in Ivory (Buy Here), Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent (Buy Here), and Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Natural (Buy Here)

In terms of Eye make-up again it is mainly Rimmel and Revlon, I never knew that I only owned things from them but apparently so! The main reason I have two eye shadow palettes is due to the fact I use the Revlon Colour stay quad from my eyebrows, not all of it of course just the dark brown in the bottom right corner. I can't say I'm a pro at eyebrows but recently I love having defined eyebrows, I have been using Collections clear mascara for holding my eyebrows in place it isn't 100% effective but its a good attempt on my part. The Revlon Custom Eyes palette is relatively new so I haven't been using every colour as of yet but it's all about experimenting so that's what I intend to do. I use the Rimmel eyebrow pencil for the lid, it has a special spooly (?) brush to brush my eyebrows into shape. The only eyeliner I use is Rimmel Kohl Brown eyeliner, Black is way to harsh for me, if anything I would use black if I was going out for a night out. Mascara wise I have 2 in my make up bag as you can see, I like to alternate between Rimmel Lash Accelerator and YSL Baby doll they are both really good at lengthening the lashes and making them appear fuller, I only have a sample size of the YSL but it is definitely something I would invest in.   The tweezers are there for obvious reasons, in case I need to tidy up my eyebrows on the go. 

Clockwise: Rimmel Lash Accelerator (Buy Here), Collection Clear Mascara (Buy Here), Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil (Buy Here), Rimmel Soft Khol Kajal Eyeliner (Buy Here), Revlon ColourStay Quad in Addictive (Buy Here), YSL Babydoll Mascara (Buy Here), Revlon Custom Eyes in Glamorous (Buy Here)

And there you have it, the contents of my make up bag and my everyday makeup look! Hope it helped!

How to Clean your Make-up brushes

First of all cleaning your make-up brushes is an important step as it is for you to apply your foundation, why? because the brush has collected germs and skin cells and needs to be cleaned in order for them to be fresh.

I tend to use Johnson's baby shampoo as its gentle and removes all the dirt and oil from my make-up brushes plus the added bonus that it smells nice and isn't too expensive. (you can pick yourself up a bottle from any supermarket or Boots and Superdrug)

                                            Johnson's baby shampoo - Superdrug Buy here £1.69

First of all I get two bowls one of which I put a little bit of shampoo in, dipping my brush into the baby shampoo, I tap and swirl the makeup brush to remove the residue of the makeup from the brush bristles. (Don't be to harsh at this step as you might damage your brushes but try and be as gentle and light as you can) The bristles will tend to foam up into a murky color.

Next I tap and swirl the brushes into the second bowl in which there is warm water (40 degrees enables all the germs to be killed) this allows the dirt and residue to transfer into the bowl and come off the brush. then tap the brush against the edge of the bowl.

Next fold a towel and roll up the top so that the top is fatter and slightly raised than the rest of it and use the raised part to place the bristle part of the brushes on. Leave to dry, the raised towel enables the brushes to dry at an angle meaning that no water will be left in the brush.

Nice clean brushes :)
Hope that helps

My Hair Routine

Whenever I searched on blogs or on youtube I always found it hard to find people openly talking about having curly hair and how they maintained it. So therefore here I am telling the world what I do to keep my curls in tack for 2-3 days until the next wash!

Step 1: Shampoo and Conditioner - This could be any brand at any time I dont stick to a specific brand or type its just whatever one I feel my hair needs at that time. In this case I used Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends (Shampoo and Conditioner) as my hair needed to feel loved.

Step 2: Whilst the conditioner is on I brush my hair with my bright pink Tangle Teaser (Buy Here) which I think every curly haired woman should have, its not too harsh on your hair and gets the job done. In my experience you should only brush your hair during the conditioning process brushing your hair when its dry causes all the frizz and the bush like appearance. 

Step 3: Flip your hair upside down and I use the Umberto Giannini Curl Friend: Smoothly Curls Anti-Frizz Serum (Buy Here) and scrunch it into my head, I only tend to use 1-2 pumps of the serum as it can be too oily looking and greasy if I use more. 

Step 4: With your head still flipped upside down use Umberto Giannini Curl Friends: Flirty Curls Scrunching Jelly (Buy Here) and again I scrunch it into my head, I tend to use about a 10 pence piece size otherwise your hair will get crunchy. 

Step 5: Mousse (Buy Here) is pretty important to any curl haired woman and so this step is definitely important, The amount you use is important as it can make your curls hard and nasty, I use about half my palm size, less is definitely more in this case. Again scrunch it into your hair. I tend to flip my hair and ruffle the crown of my head a little to add some volume. 

Step 6: This is an optional step, I use VO5 Texturing Spray (Buy Here) flipping my hair upside down I spray all over my head and scrunch to try and add definition and texture to my hair. 

(How my hair looks after all the products have been put in) 

Step 7: I flip my head and gather my hair and begin to twist it and gather it to a bun at the top of my head in order for it to all gather in my hair turban. 

Step 8: I put my hair turban on, I recently bought the Soap and Glory Hair Turban (Buy Here) rather than use the Primark Hair Turban, I think the Soap and Glory turban is more secure and tight and allows my hair to stay in place. The reason I put the hair turban on is so that the moisture stays in my hair.

Step 9: Literally right before I sleep I take the turban off and ensure my hair is above my head on the pillow whilst I sleep. When I wake up I just flip my head upside down and ruffle my hair and that's it. No more products! 

Hope that was helpful 

Prom!

This is definitely overdue and I know I promised pictures from the night but in all honesty I dont go around taking pictures of myself and so the only pictures I have are the ones with one of my friends before we left to go.

Chloe looked absolutely amazing that night an effortless beauty! Her dress was from Asos along with her necklace, not too sure where her shoes and bag were from but she wore Red heels and an oversized clutch. Everyone looked amazing and made an effort. If anyone lets me steal there pictures I will definitely refresh this with their beauty.