Blogtober day 21: Halloween preparation

Hello my lovelies, 

Halloween is coming, and I thought I'd share a little tutorial of how to make a doll, cut mouth effect using liquid latex! 

Step 1: start with a normal face of makeup.

Step 2: get all of the equipment ready, this includes: 

-liquid latex

-fake blood

-tissue (ripped into halves so it's 1ply a sheet, and then I sti stops of however line you want the cut) toilet tissue works the best

-face paint pencils 

-scissors

-paint brush

Step 3: apply liquid latex to the part of skin you would like the wound, avoid places with hair. This is because when it comes to removing theatre from your fave at the end of the night it will pull out the hairs e.g top of arm.

Step 4: apply tissue strips over the latex, layering like paper mâché. Latex, tissue, latex tissue, until the wound is the correct depth you would like it. I prefer to use around 2/3 layers. 

Step 5: cover the wound with a top layer of latex, wait for it to dry, and the. Cover it in foundation/face paint so it matches the rest of your face. 

Step 6: cut straight through the middle of the wound. 

Step 7: colour in the middle of the wound using blood coloured face paint pencils, red, maroon, black, blue. 

Step 8: add fake blood into the wound over the face paint. 

Step 9: admire finished product... 

Happy early Halloween my lovelies!x

Blogtober day 16: benefit complexion confection

To celebrate the Benefit advent Calender going on sale today, I thought I'd review one of their Christmas products! 

Benefits christmas set 'Complextion confection' is a beautifully designed tin box, decorated like a sweet store, issuing autumn/winter colours and finished off with the Christmas touches such as the wreath! 

The set includes a full sized triple perfoing facial emulsion, a full sized it's potent eye cream, a mini porefessional and a mini instant comeback facial serum.

This set is amazing value at only £39.50, with a retail price of £61.35 for all the products separately. 

Until next time lovelies x

Blogtober day two: Birthday haul

On Friday I turned 21: the legal age to drink in America. As I could already drink; being from the UK (legal age of 18), I decided to do something a little different. I went for a meal with my univeristy friends, spent a day in my favourite place: London, had a family tea afternoon, went for drinks with my university friends then had afternoon tea. All of these each happened on different days. So I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I got and how my 5-day birthday went! 

Product hauls to follow! x

Blogtober day 1: First Aid Beauty (FAB) review

I have ALWAYS wanted to try first aid beauty products, and I was lucky enough to receive the First Aid Beauty: FAB Faves to go kit. This included a cleaner, moisturiser and toner pads. 

Firstly, the ultra repair cream: this is really moisturising. I sadly suffer from dry skin on my face, always peeling and sore. After a few applications of this cream I could see a huge difference in my skin! I definitely think I will be purchasing the full sized soon!

Next up is the cleanser, I took this away with me when I stayed at a friends last week, this is the second cleanser that I've tried. It is admitted not as great as the Benefit Foamingly Clean, but it does a good job regardless. This is the first ever cleanser my friend had tried though and she commented on how soft her skin felt after using it. 

Lastly, the toning and brightening pads. These are not great, they work well after using the cleanser, but the smell is awful. If you are over 18/21 and have ever tried an alcoholic drink called a jäger bomb, well this is what these pads smell like. It's not so pleasing. I also haven't seen a change in exfoliation, brightness or toning. I know I haven't given then a long time to work, but the smell definitely put me off. 

Until next time lovelies x

Benefit: They're Real Remover Review

I recently blogged about the Benefit They're Real Liner, and in comparison to how much 'wow factor' it gave me, the remover really let me down.

The remover itself worked an absolute treat. I used the small sample by squeezing the contents of the packet onto a cotton pad, one for each eye. On my eye's I had They're real Liner and They're Real mascara, and the mascara itself is a real pain to remove if you do not have the right products!  SO baring in mind I had two super tricky products on my very sensitive eyes, this product had a lot of work to do to remove them.

I rubbed the pads over my eyes and just like magic, both products slowly disappeared. No harsh stinging, no forceful scrubbing, just a gentle wipe and it was gone (without sounding too much like a kitchen cleaning ad here).

However, the feeling of the cream itself was not so great. I usually use Johnson's eye makeup remover pads, and one pad removes both eyes with my eyelashes smothered in They're Real mascara. So i'm used to using moisturised pads to wipe my eye makeup off at the end of the day. But They're Real remover is like a thick and cold soothing cream, great if you like that kind of stuff. The product itself was not sticky or gloopy, just really really thick!! When I was wiping my eyes it did not feel comfortable, just because it was like rubbing a tub of thick facial cream over my eyelids.

Overall, the product itself is amazing! The thing that put me off buying the full sized product was the feeling of it. I would have preferred it to be a little thinner, more like a soft moisturiser, instead of a thick face cream feeling.

Until next time, Lovelies x

Whats in my bag?

This month I haven't really tried many new products, so I didn't think it would be useful to do a monthly favourites on old favourites! However, my little lovelies, this blog post will include a sneak peek of what is in my bag.

So, yesterday I went to York with some of my old friends from sixth form. It was Reanne's birthday and we wanted to to do something a little bit different to the usual meal in a fancy restaurant! The special thing about York is that a few years ago, before leaving for uni, we all surprised Reanne on her birthday with a lovely weekend away in York. 

So yesterday we were going for a meal and a few drinks, but the weather was not that great to start out with, and we'd be travelling there and back, so outfit choice was a little tricky in trying to combine all these factors! However, after choosing a summery floral dress and cream coat with my Vivienne Westwood filly snake bag  in blue! (link is the black version).

Inside my bag, there was a range of product to help me through the day, luckily the weather perked up and we had cocktails by the river, and but my makeup never slipped in wind or shine, all thinks to the Benefit 15-hour primer. 

First up is beauty products, I usually only take one lipstick, but on this occasion, I ended up with 3! I would usually apply lipstick before leaving the house, and if I feel I need to, I will take that same lipstick with me in my bag, otherwise, I usually just stick to baby lips! 

The two lipsticks I took yesterday were both Rimmel London Kate lipsticks, this was because Rimmel London have made some amazing red shades in the Kate collection, and i'm a sucker for a red lip. I obviously had to have some Benefit in my bag somewhere, so this was the mini They're real mascara, this was just incase my eyes needed a little pick me up during the day (which they did not, because this mascara and amazing and crumble-free), and a Benefit Porefessional, just incase any makeup slipped around my nose or under my eyes from the whether. 

Next up is the usual hand bag type products, phone, purse, keys, train pass, pocket mirror, you know...

And then all the extra little bits: comb, bobby pins, hair tie, facial moisture spray (from being around all the air pollution or trains and alcohol).

Just a short little check in, but a big post will be coming soon, and a lot of amazing things are happening in September so I will keep you updated! Until next time lovelies x

Benefit review: They're Real Liner

This little beauty recently made it's way into my makeup bag, and I seriously will never take it out!

Being a huge fan of Benefit, the little deals like this make having new makeup that little bit more exciting. The last time I purchased the They're real mascara I got a free travel size, and then this time I was given the little box, it had a free liner and remover in it, The real steal all for £19.50, definitely a bargain for Benefit cosmetics!

I personally am not the biggest fan of eye liner. In fact you could say I really loath the pesky little products. But then I tried this Benefit they're real push-up liner and my whole perspective of eye liner changed! I know, I know, sounds a little dramatic, but i'm being 98% serious! This is only because I still prefer the natural look without liner, but if I was to ever wear a liner on a more important day, or a night out, this is the one I shall be reaching for.

It has the same design and packaging as the They're real mascara , the sleek black little box and the recommendations from previous customers on the side. The side of the box states that 91% of people said it was long lasting. I agree that it is long lasting, but it does smudge when you touch it, takes a really really long time to dry (then again maybe this is because i'm not used to wearing liners). 86% said it hugged the lash line. It definitely hugged the lash line! it was ridiculously easy to apply, and thats coming from someone who never wears these kinds of products. I would highly recommend this product to any first timers who want to try a liner, or even any body who is looking to try a new eye liner or make-up look! 

The applicator is really soft and flexible, making it easy to draw right above the lash line. The liner is gel, so glides on very softly and the shape of the pen makes it as easy to draw as is it to write your own name. 

The liner alone is £18.50 and available now in store and online.

Until next time lovelies x

July Favourites: Benefit, flowers and Simple skincare

Hello, lovelies! 

Once again it is favourites time, and this month includes beauty and non-beauty, little mix up there! Also, I forgot to take a main picture for the heading of this blog, so you have to scroll down to see what my favourites are, instead of cheating and seeing them all in a little banner (sneaky).

Starting this post off with a lovely bunch of flowers. Last weekend I went to visit my friend, Kim in Leeds. When we went for lunch there was a lady with a beautiful bunch of sunflowers, and naturally myself and Kim really wanted flowers! So after lunch we walked down to Sainsburys and found these little precious pink rose buds for only £3.50 and they also came in other colours such as yellow roses and orange. I put these straight into a vase which is actually my mothers, but they small beautiful and also bring a bit more colour to my room. So flowers have definitely been a favourite of mine this month, bringing colour to every dull day.

Now down to business with the beauty stuff! 

First up, Erase Paste from Benefit, and I cannot speak more highly about this amazing brightening concealer! This little friend of mine has helped me through stress skin, travel skin, dull skin, dry skin, you name it ! I recommend this concealer to all of my friends, and I do not think there is a concealer to date as good as this. I have also had this since September last year and no matter how much I use, and I would say I use this quite a lot, it still looks hardly used, because you need only a little bit every time. You are meant to warm your fingers and rub it with them, but I use a concealer brush from Real Techniques. Last comment on this, as well as the fact that if you don't own this you should really get up and go buy some RIGHT NOW, but I have had comments that my skin looks flawless whilst wearing this.

Next beauty product comes along with a lot of summer loving and sunshine. If you live in England you will understand how lovely and warm it has been these past few weeks, if you do not live in England, i'm pretty jealous you get sunshine a lot more than we do! basically, my skins looks 0.09% more tanned than it usually would, so i'm making the most of this tiny little tan and using lovely pale and nude coloured lips to match the tiny tan. Obviously if you have a good tan this will look even better. But this little blend of Peach Blossom from MAC and A-Lister from Benefit have done me well over the last month. I cannot get over how amazing and natural this little combination creates. 

Skincare this month I have kept to a minimum, just because it's been a lot warmer, and less makeup needed to be used, I wanted to stick to products I knew worked well on my skin to avoid breakouts. However, a few new products I tried didn't fail me, and when it came to rating them out of ten this next product definitely gets a strong 9.5. These Johnson's face care gentle eye make-up removal pads work a dream. You take a pad out, place it over your eye, with very gentle pressure, and sweep away the mascara and any other makeup in seconds! I know there has been quite expensive eye make-up removers released last month such as Benefits They're Real eye make-up remover, but I was looking for a very good drug store alternative because I do not think I can handle splashing the cash on even more Benefit skincare, it's a little pricey. However, these removal pads are only £3.25 and definitely did not break my bank account. 

This skincare product I over used last month and still has a really good amount of liquid left in the bottle. This is Simple kind to skin Moisture Boost Hydrating Mist. Again this did not break the bank, it was only £5.99. This little hydrating mist is for when it's really hot and muggy and your makeup starts to slip or your face is just really hot, you give your face a few sprays of this and there you have it. A cool, sweat free, moisturised and hydrated face in a few sprays! The spray also includes lotus flower to work on tired and dull skin so it can be used over or under, or even without makeup.

Then back to non-beauty favourites, I have visited Kim quite a few times last month and every time we go out for lunch. Although my favourite place has to be a new cafe that has just opened in Headingley, Leeds called Munch and it's run by two lovely ladies. We've tried out a lot of cute and quirky cafe's but this one is at the top of our list. So on Sunday morning we woke up and decided to go out for breakfast (little did we know it was something like national friendship day). We scanned the breakfast menu and both chose very quickly, the prices were very affordable, considering the cafe is in a student village anyway. The food was amazing and I think we will definitely be spending a lot of mornings there dining with breakfast. 

Lastly, I'm still jogging, and i've still kept up all the healthy eating and exercise (round of applause) even though it has been quite hard whilst attending children's birthday parties, travelling and going out for lunches/picnics. However, I've made a few little friends along a new jogging route I found, it's a very quiet jogging route because it's behind some factories so there is only ever the odd car the drives down the path I jog on. There is a training field for horses and there are two adults and two ponies. i see these most mornings and evenings when I go for a jog, and have definitely become my new little friends.

I hope you had an amazing July, until next time lovelies x