How To Keep Your Skin Clear (Updated)

As I'm super ill with this Winter flu and I can't record any videos at the moment, I thought I would put my camera to good use and write a new Blog post as I haven't done one in forever!
I know 2 months ago I wrote a blog post called "How to properly clean your face!" and this is pretty much just an update from that. Recently I've changed the products I use and added another step in to try and gain that really perfect, flawless skin which everyone dreams about - and my skin has most definitely improved. All my spots have cleared up and left no scaring at all.

I do 3 extremely easy, simple things every night to get my skin looking healthy.

1) Take off your make-up using a SINGLE make-up wipe.

Recently, I've started using new wipes - Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes. 

As I have oily to combination skin, these wipes really do to the trick in balancing and removing any excess oil. They are so sensitive and do not irritate my skin at all - Which is perfect as I also have very sensitive skin. They are quite pricey for facial wipes at around £3.25 a pack (Boots price), but can be found in pretty much every high street drug store and supermarket which means these are very accessible. I think these are worth the price though.

2) There is 3, very easy steps to this stage.
a - Using make-up remover, place a small amount in your hand and the gently rub into you skin. This will loosen your make-up. Then take a clean, dry, cotton disk and remove all the product off your face.  
b - Place a small amount of the product onto a clean cotton disk and wipe all around your face picking up any more make-up.
c - Take a clean, dry cotton disk and wipe all over your face to pick up any product that is still left. 

For this step I use Garnier Simply Essentials Soothing Cleansing Lotion.

As I have already wrote about this product before, I won't bore all of you with the same details, but if you missed my Blog post about this, then click 'here' to read about it!

One thing I will say though is that this product has lasted me 2 months and I use it every single day. That's definitely a 5/5 from me as it only cost £2.99!

3) Use a cleansing moisturiser to give your face a quick lift as you may have lost moisture from using the last 2 products.

For this step I use - Simple Kind To Skin Moisturising Facial Wash.

I really love this product and it is so simple to use. On damp hands just place a small amount onto your hands, and rub together until it lathers. Then place the product on your face, rub it in (avoiding your eyes, obviously!) and then wash off your face using luke-warm water!

This product is so sensitive and feels amazing when you apply it. Once you've washed it off your face, you can definitely tell the difference; your face will be so soft! Also, this product doesn't make your skin oily at all so it is great for people with oily skin, like myself!

I can't remember the exact price of this product as I lost my receipt, sorry! But I know for a fact is was definitely no more than £3.50. I purchased this product from Boots but I have seen this in many other high street drug stores and supermarkets! 

Thank you so much for reading and I will catch you next time!

Michelle xox

Tips & Tricks

Sorry I haven't really blogged for a long time - I've had lots of work to do and I'm trying my best to film most days on my YouTube channel! Also, my 'N' button has snapped off my keyboard so it takes ages for me to write because it completely throws me off, haha!

So today, I thought as it's early Christmas, I'm going to treat you to a few inside tips and tricks of the Make-up world! :-)

1) To made you eye's seem bigger than they are, apply a skin coloured eyeliner onto the waterline. Do not use white!  (I can not stress that enough.)White is very obvious, whereas the skin coloured eyeliner will neutralise the red in your waterline to make it match to the skin colour under your eyes; alas, making your eyes seem larger!

2) If you're looking for a more natural eyebrow, use eye shadows to fill in your brows rather than a brow pencil. Brow pencils are much sharper and are more obvious. Also remember to brush through your brows before and after applying on your powder or pencil, using a spooly brush. The spooly will not only make your brows look neater, but they will spread the powder and pencil evenly throughout your brows and also get rid of any excess for an even more natural look.

3) A lot of people put white in the inner corner of their eye's to give the illusion that they are more awake and that you have wider eyes; that's fine, but only if you are going for a very heavy look. For a more natural look, put a colour that's just 1 or 2 shades lighter than your natural skin colour. This won't look obvious but it will definitely make a huge difference to your overall look.

4) A lot of people are going to think this is weird, but I actually got this advice off a top make-up artist duo's video (Pixiwoo if you were wandering!) If you have 1 eye that is lower than the other, apply highlight under the brow that is the lower eye, but NOT on the other eye. You can't notice it at all, but it give the illusion that your eye has been lifted! But remember not to go too overboard with the highlight, and to use a matte highlight and definitely not a shimmery one.

5) If you lashes are a bit spars, just add a small amount of brown eyeliner between them. (Or Black if you have naturally super dark lases!) and that will give the illusion that your lashes are really nice and full.

6) If you're like me and have quite thin lips, then I have a nice little trick for you that will make them seem bigger and fuller! With a skin coloured pencil, go around your lips mapping it out (Just outside your natural lips shape), smudging it as you go so it blends in. then add lipstick/gloss of your choice. This will give the illusion that your lips are larger without it being noticeable.
For fuller looking lips, simply add a matte highlight to your cupids bow (The dent at the top center of your mouth). This will instantly make your lips look fuller!

Thank you so much for reading and remember to check out my YouTube by clicking the tab at the top of my blog!

Michelle xox

VLOGMAS!

In case no one knows what 'Vlogmas' is:

Vlogmas is when you vlog everyday up to Christmas (1st December to the 25th) Vlogs usually in tail following people around in their everyday life to see what they do when they aren't filming. As my life is pretty standard and boring, no one would want to watch me vlog my life as it would probably be 10% work, 40% lying in bed and 50% eating.

I wanted to do something interesting during Vlogmas; as some of you may know, bloggers can also join in with Vlogmas but obviously it is called 'Blogmas'. This means they have to post something new everyday- it can be about anything they wish. But, again, I didn't want to do that as I like to only blog once or twice a week because I rarely get any time to sit down by myself and just write.

This lead me to my final choice. From yesterday (1st December) I have started uploading beauty videos onto my YouTube channel everyday. So far I have uploaded a video on Christmas stocking fillers, and today I uploaded a tutorial on a quick & easy gold glittery eye. So, if you wish to follow my version of VLOGMAS please click here! (Or you can just click the tab at the top of my page that says 'My YouTube Channel!' :-) Remember to subscribe to me, so you can keep track of my videos.

Here's a sneaky list of what's to come:
* What's in my makeup bag TAG
* Bridal makeup
* Flawless skin with High street products
* Natural/Neutral eye makeup
* 'No makeup' makeup
* Grunge makeup for men
* Tradition black smokey eye
* Black and gold eyes
* How to make small eyes appear bigger
* Tips & tricks of the makeup world

Plus many more!

What I've done so far...

Michelle Xo

My Top 5 Beauty Tips!

1) Blend, blend, blend! 
Apply foundation with a foundation brush, all over the face, neck and ears (You don't want to be 3 different colours now, do you?) Then once you've applied the foundation all over - or just on problem areas if you prefer less coverage - use a kabuki buffing brush to blend the foundation extremely well into your skin. This will look for much more natural and will help get rid of those lines you may get around your mouth, eyes and nose.

2) Do your concealer and powder after you've finished your eye make-up! 
It's fine to apply your foundation before you do your eyes because then it will be easy to just wipe over any fall out from your eye shadow with the foundation brush to get the fall out off your skin. But make sure you do you concealer after you've done your eyes. If you put the concealer before you do your eyes, fallout will completely ruin your make-up and you will have to start again as most concealer are quite dewy.

3) Push powder onto your face, don't wipe it on. Especially if you're prone to spots.
Wiping the powder onto your face may disturb concealer and foundation - This means your face make-up won't last as long. Pushing powder onto your face doesn't disturb any make-up underneath and it helps settle the make-up too! Alternatively, lightly sweep the powder over your face for a 'not so full' coverage.

4) Use a yellow based concealer. 
Yellow based products help cover red and purple tones in the skin. This means they will cover both blemishes, spots, redness and under eye circles! This will also help you save money as you will only need 1 concealer for you whole face, instead of 1 for dark circles and another for spots, redness and blemishes.

5) Groom your brows regularly. 
Brows are the major frame of your face, other than your hair. Pluck from underneath your brows, not above (I will even admit that I sometimes do forget to do this!) also remember to brush your brows upward to cut off any over-grown hairs with scissors. If you have a very thin brow, before you apply either a powder or pen to fill in your brows, remember to brush them up before you do so to give them a fuller look.

Hope this was helpful!

Michelle xo

Beauty Haul!

It would be a larger haul than just the items I am about to show you, but then I realised I am giving the rest of what I bought out as Christmas presents, so obviously, I couldn't post them on here!

So, let's just get straight into it! :-)

1) The first item I bought was a new foundation. I'm usually terrified to purchase new foundation as I always end up picking the wrong colour by complete accident, or I just end up hating the foundation. As you can see from the picture below, I purchased Rimmel's Match Perfection Foundation.

Boots/Superdrug - £6.99

I heard so many other beauty guru's and make-up artists rave about how much they loved this foundation - and I 100% agree with them. It suits my skin colour perfectly (This is the lightest one - 010) I was so incredibly happy when I first applied this as it suits my skin, it's cheap and the coverage isn't too heavy but it hides dark circles and blemishes like a dream. This is definitely going to be my new foundation. 

Also, as you can see from the picture below, it has a long stick attached to the pump which is easy to get out. This makes to so easy to pick foundation off the sides when it starts to go empty!

2) The second thing I bought was Bobbi Browns Gel Eyeliner in Serpia Ink. With this I also purchased the Bobbi Brown Ultra Fine Eyeliner Brush. 

Luckily for me, I managed to buy these really cheap from where I work, but they are usually not the cheapest of things to purchase.

Click here to see more Bobbi Brown eyeliners and to check out his website!

Now, it's probably just me not using the product correctly, but I'm not following the hype of this gel eyeliner, and the brush for that matter.  Maybe it's because I'm so use to applying other types of eyeliners that I just messed it up when trying it. I must admit though, the colour when it is applied to the lid is gorgeous, I just don't find it the easiest product to apply. I'm going to stick       with it though until I get more use to the product and the brush, because I think that's what my problem is. Or maybe I'm just being stupid?! Haha :-) Remember this is just my own opinion though and you might absolutely love it, so always go out and try make-up out for yourself because your opinion is always going to be different to everyone else's. :)

3) Next is the new MUA Eye shadow pallet. 

Superdrug - £4

Most of the colours in this pallet are shimmery, but there are a few matte colours. The matte colours are the more neutral, natural colour as you can see from the picture above. I really love this pallet as the colours get onto any brush amazingly and they are very pigmented - This is always the first thing I hope for when I buy eye shadow, followed very close by how long it lasts. 

I always have to tap my brush off when I use any of the eye shadows in this pallet. 

Another thing which I like about this pallet is the applicator it comes with. I always hate the sponge applicators, as does anyone, but I like this purely for it's size! It's perfect for someone just starting out with make-up!

I bought this from Superdrug for only £4 which is awesome! but there was one nearly double the size for only £8, which I am definitely going to purchase very soon! 100% recommend these :-)

4) I've definitely left my most exciting purchased until last. Again, I found this gem where I work so I snapped it up straight away! As I am training to be a Make-Up artist at the end of March/June, there is nothing better for me to purchase than Jemma Kidd's book "Make-Up Masterclass". She is one of my inspirations and it is amazing to read a whole book she has wrote on how to be the best make-up artists by knowing and understanding all the tricks and tools of the trade. 

But not only was it just a book, it also came with one of her amazing lip glosses! The lip gloss that I got with mine smelt amazing and lasted a long time as well. It is such a nice pink, yet natural colour that it could easily be worn with any look. The colour is "05 - Conch".

Thank you for reading! Catch you next time. :-)

Michelle xo

How To Properly Clean Your Make-Up Brushes.

For all those people who have always wanted to know how to clean their make-up brushes, without buying all those fancy products you see make-up artists use - This is the right thing for you to be reading.

Make-up artists use a cleanser on their tools that clean and dry instantly as they constantly have clients to serve for. So, with the way I'm about to show you, I suggest you do this in the evening and leave them to dry overnight.
I also suggest that if you use brushes pretty much everyday, that you should clean them at least once a week - but if you only have 1 eye shadow brush and use eye shadow daily, I would suggest cleaning it every other day as you don't want all the colours mixing!

Step 1) Layout all your brushes ready for cleaning

Step 2) Get any hand wash or unscented shampoo

Step 3) Wet your brush in mild water and apply your soap/shampoo

Step 4) Place under mild water so the cleanser of you choice can froth up. *Make sure water doesn't go into the start of the bristles (The black are on my brush, starting at the handle) as a brush with natural bristles can rot and fall out if it gets wet!!*

Step 5) Either in your sink or on the back of your hand, 'swish' the brush around to froth up all the make-up that's still on the brush. Warning: It will turn the water a horrible colour - but that's good, at least you know you're doing it right haha!

Step 6) Now the water is running clear and you've given a final rinse off of your brush, just pat off the brushes with standard tissue paper and leave to dry overnight.

Thank you so much for reading!

Michelle Xox

The Beauty Blogger's Tag

I thought today was my day to do my first Blog tag - So here it is!

(For more tags check out my YouTube Channel here.)

Why did you start blogging and how long have you been blogging for?

I began blogging near the start of October this year - so not for very long. I started my YouTube Vlogs in August though and was planning to start up both my Blog and YouTube channel for over a year! I started blogging because I loved watching and reading beauty blogs; as I am training to become a Make-up Artist in March, why not start now? Then I have the before and after effect of the training and it will be awesome to see how much I grow and develop knowledge wise within these short few months.

Whose blog did you fall in love with first?

Anna Saccone-Joly's. Definitely. She was the person who I first ran into over a year ago. I started watching her own YouTube channel and then I began watching her daily Vlogs that her and husband do. A year later I still watch them every single day and I love them. They even make me happier when I've been having a down day - so you can image how excited I was when I saw this on Twitter...

I'm also a huge fan of Zoella. Seeing how fast she has grown has really inspired me to do my best to achieve what I want in life.

What was the first blogosphere hyped about product you bought and was it worth the hype?

Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder (Translucent). To this day this is the only setting powder I use. It's super cheap, can be found in pretty much any drug store shop and it also lasts ages! Also it doesn't give that 'cakey' look that some powders can give you if you start to build them up too much. I live by it.

What are your favourite five things about blogging and being a beauty blogger?

1) I love that I can give my own opinion without people being overly judgmental about it. 

2) I love that I can help people out in making their own beauty decisions and help people out with things such as make-up tutorials  and products to buy too.

3) I love how I can speak up. In person I am very shy and get anxious when around people. Writing a blog helps me express me self on how I really feel and finally gets my voice heard. 

4) I love the interaction with other people. The support I get from people is amazing (There are still a few that ruin it though, unfortunately.) I love interacting with people I've never met before in my life through YouTube and Twitter and I love hearing their feedback.

5) As a beauty vlogger as well as a blogger, I love that I get to do different things with my make-up pretty much everyday of the week. As I film 1 - 2 tutorials a week on YouTube I always get to try new things with make-up and be as creative as I can be.

What have you learnt from being a beauty blogger?

I have learnt that there's so much more beauty products out there in the world than you may first think. I love how I get to always buy and test new make-up products, skin care products and my personal favourite thing to try out are brushes.  From being a blogger in general I have learnt that there's a lot in the world in think about but to never get too serious about. Never let the horrible people who try and put you down, get you down! They are most definitely not worth any of the hassle.

Have you changed anything since being a beauty blogger?

I now interact with people a lot more and have started to come out of my shell a bit more in person. I still get anxious around people but I have started to become less shy around people and have started to create conversation which I would have never have done before I started writing a blog.

I said started a lot...

What advice would you give to a beauty blogger just starting out?

Be yourself and be cool! Haha :-)  Don't bother doing an introduction post at the start of your blog and just jump straight into it! :-) 

Name your top five brands!

Mac, Rimmel, L'Oreal, Collection, Bobbi Brown 

A mix of cheap and expensive, but all very good!

Recommend your top five favourite beauty products!

1) Rimmel clear complexion powder

2) Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation

3) Concealer - just any concealer. I love them all! haha :) (That's definitely my beauty must have!!)

4) Make-up remover - I recommend Garnier as they help my skin a lot. I know longer get bad break outs!

5) Cotton pads.

Tag other beauty bloggers to do this tag!

Anyone who wants to do it! Make sure you comment if you decide to do the tag so I can check it out!

Thank you so much for reading and following me!

Michelle Xox

Bloggers & Christmas Giveaways

Hey, everybody! 

I was going to share this with my last post but then I thought, why not just do a separate one all together for it!?

Not a lot of people that I know personally actually read blogs and I really believe they should. You can get all different types of bloggers - From Beauty & fashion, to comedy & lifestyle. And they are all usually very informative and can give everyone a helping hand on the areas they are blogging in.

Also another reason to read blogs? Giveaways!

I have been following BeautyBecca now for a few months and she is one of the best fashion & beauty bloggers I have found. She gives great, very detailed blogs and explains everything to a 'T'.
So remember to click here to read her blog!

To make this short and simple:
She is currently doing a Christmas giveaway! If you're a Liz Earle fan like I am and you want to win some of her finest skincare products, just follow the rules and click here!

Hope you're successful and remember to keep looking out for new bloggers and vloggers out there in the world!

Told you I'd keep this sweet and short! :-)

Michelle Xox

Christmas time, mistletoe and wine!

36 DAYS TO GO.
Yes that's right - It's nearly Christmas! (Where did the year go?!)

Everybody loves a bit of Christmas spirit; every year is the same but we all enjoy it in our own way. We have the exact same Christmas ritual in my house ever single year. Open presents, eat, eat some more, watch a movie, eat and get nicely drunk - But we all love it. :-)

This year I may not be getting a lot for Christmas, but that doesn't bother me at all because the 2 things I know I'm getting, I'm super excited for!
I know my boyfriend is getting me a camera so I can take better pictures for my Blog and also film better videos for my YouTube channel. Also, I get given money for Christmas by my family and then I go out and buy my own presents with that money and then I get given a few surprise gifts off them too. This year nearly all that money is going towards a 3-day intense make-up course which I am participating in at the end of March. Once I have finished the 3 day course I will then be a fully trained make-up artist. This means I will be able to work in a beauty salon, on beauty counters in department stores and I will also be able to do bridal make-up.
I know that in itself sounds like a lot (and I am very grateful for it!) but as my course will cost me £600 + Hotel and food money, I will have to save up £500 myself - but it will be so worth it when I get the job of my dreams!

In other news, I have come up with and re-created a few Christmas and High Fashion looks using just the 'Front Cover - Smoulder Eyes' make-up kit. (To check out that review click on this link: http://michellelaa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/recently-i-purchased-make-up-pallet.html)

These looks are amazing on the models on the Front Cover guide but are actually pretty difficult to recreate as they only give you one, double sided brush to use. This meant that I had to use a number of my own eye shadow and blending brushes to help me with the recreating of these looks.

I personally think that any of these looks would look amazing at a Christmas party as they are very bold and fun. All these looks took between 10 - 20 minutes to create. I also recommend a nude lips for all these looks if you decide to use them as they are so 'In-your-face' already. No need to ruin them with a massive bold red or dark lip.

So here they are!

Recreation of Front Covers 'Burning Down the House'
Just created using a black shimmery eye shadow and a cream matte yellow shadow.
(And Mascara & Black coal pencil eye liner of course!)

My Christmas look. 
Just Shimmer Black eye shadow, red eye shadow and a gold glitter from Collection's old Collection 2000's shadows. (Mouthful!)
Eye liner and Mascara was also used. (Same as above)

Another recreation from Front Cover - On fire.
This is much more of a high fashion look!
I just used a very dark green, purple glittery eye liner and a black coal pencil for the liner on the waterline.
You can use either a dark green, a deep purple or a light purple to recreate this look! And remember to put on a shadow base first for this look to be more bold and last longer. :)

Look out for more Christmas style posts soon and many more Christmas style YouTube make-up tutorials!
Have a great winter-time!

Michelle Xox

Winter Smokey Eye For Smart/Casual Events!

For all those people who don't watch my videos but want to know how I do my make-up, welcome to my new Blog section!
Any make-up tutorials that will be placed on here I also have a full tutorial on my YouTube channel. If you wish to check out my YouTube channel click this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/MichelleLaaTV?feature=mhee

Today, I will be demonstrating a Autumn/Winter smokey eye using just 3 different shades of brown, and a highlight colour for the inner corner of you eye and your brow bone.

Step 1: Apply a foundation that matches your skin tone across your whole face and buff in well to your face, neck and ears so it doesn't leave you with all those nasty tide lines! 

Step 2: I always recommend doing your eyebrows first. This is because I tend to rest my hand across my face to keep my hand steadier and it usually leads in my smudging and eye make-up I have on! Just take and eye shadow of your choice that matches your eyebrows (Or eyebrow pencil, if you find that easier!) and got fill in your eyebrows as usual. Using small stroke to create a more natural finish.

Step 3: The eye shadow base. (Optional)
If you which to apply an eye shadow base it's either because you want it to last longer or you have oily eyelids. This will just just keep the eye shadow on and more prominent for much longer. Just apply onto the eyelid then smudge around your whole eyelid using your ring finger.

Step 4: Applying the eye shadow.
- Take a light brown and using a standard eye shadow brush pat the colour onto your whole lid. Patting the shadow on rather then doing usual strokes will make the eye shadow settle better into your lid and keep eye shadow there for longer. It will also make the colour darker and more noticeable.
- Then taking a clean eye shadow brush, just blend out the lines of the eye shadow you just applied to smudge them out to give you a smoother, winged effect.
- Then taking a very small eye shadow brush and a very dark brown just apply the dark eye shadow to your crease.
- Blend this into the rest of your eye shadow using a fluffy blending brush.
- Take the same colour mixed with a slightly lighter shade of brown (I used a shimmery eye shadow for this but if you want the more professional look - go for a matte colour) and using the eye shadow brush you used to apply the base colour on, just this colour on the outer corner of your eyes and slightly into your crease.
-  Take the first colour you used and apply just under the bottom water line from the inner corner to the center.
- Then take the darkest colour you used and apply under the bottom water line from the center to the outer comer of your eye.
- Blend together using the fluffy blending brush to create the graduated effect that the eye shadow on your lid has.
- Then take your fluffy blending brush again and blend all that in making sure you get a graduate 'Light to dark' effect from the inner corner of your eye to the outer corner.

Step 5: Highlighting.
Take a shimmery (Or matte, again if you want a more smart, professional look) cream eye shadow and apply to the tear duct area of your eye using a small eye shadow brush. This will open up your eyes giving the illusion they are more awake and bigger.
Then, just using a clean finger take the same colour and apply under your brows.

Step 6: Concealing. Always remember to conceal after you've done your eye make-up.
- Take your foundation brush you used just to wipe under the eyes to clean up any fallout that may have happened.
- Then take a concealer that matches your colour and apply under the eye using a brush or your fingers. (Try not to pull on your skin too much) This will cover up any dark circles.

Step 7: Apply a blush or very light bronzer to your cheeks and contour around your face on places that the sunlight would naturally hit.

Step 8: Apply powder to any oily parts of your face just to make it that little bit less shiny!  :-)

and finally...

Step 9: Apply a nude lipstick of your choice.

And that's it! It only took me around 15 minutes to create the whole look so please don't be put off when you've read this! Haha :)

Here's the finished look on myself, happy winter everyone!

It's Your Future

After a long path to find what career I want to pursue in the future, from my dream job as a vet, to a teacher and I even went to university for a few months to study Forensic Science. Finally I have decided that the path I have chosen is to be a make-up artist and non of those 'fancy' jobs that I have been looking into my whole life.

Why shouldn't I have a career in a field which I adore? I guess the only problem now is that I have to start again from the beginning and find a college that allows me to get a certificate to become a professional make-up artist or an apprenticeship with a make-up artist. This leads to another brick wall... my town is pretty rubbish with this area of work. I mean, it provides beauty courses which is good if you want to work in a beauty salon doing peoples hair, nails and waxing them; I don't want to do that. I just want to be a make-up artist.

I guess I have to stand this out, and I know I will because I have my heart set on it. I want to have children in the future and have a well paid job to support them and a career ready so I can be flexible around my future family... and if I ever have a daughter, I guess it will just be cool to have a mum who can do her make-up for her whenever she wants. :-)

What I guess I'm trying to say is - follow your dreams no matter how many brick walls you run in to.  If you want something that bad you can always get it. It's going to take time and patients but anyone can achieve their dreams and build the rest of there life just with a single decision.

How to properly clean your face!

(Disclaimer - Please everyone remember this is mainly for students and teens as it is cheap and also using as little products as possible. If I wasn't doing this about high street brands and keeping it cheap then I would add a lot more products into this daily routine.
Please also remember this is just how to CLEAN your skin - not how to look after it. If it was a whole face routine I would include a lot more items in this blog. This would include toners, face masks, day + night repair serums/creams and more.)


Now, I know a lot of people out there just use the standard wipe to take all their make-up off at the end of the day. And how do I know this? Because I use to do that. Recently, after watching many-a-video on it, I soon changed that habit.
My skin is combination to oily and so as you may imagine, spots appeared quit frequently. After changing this bad habit of just using a wipe, those spots soon disappeared and none have appeared since!

I recommend first using a wipe, and if you're like me, use wipes that are specifically for spot-prone skin/sensitive skin. The wipes I use are from Boots and they cost me around £2 but were on offer so they will be slightly more expensive when taken off the offer. (Pack of 25). I know a lot of people will be thinking that's a lot for wipes, but its really worth it. I use to use wipes from Asda that cost just £1, but they broke me out in spots quite a lot. Also, the average person uses 1 wipes a day (Possibly 2 if wearing a lot of make-up) so it will last you a majority of the month!
 These new wipes I use are called "Skin Clear, Deep Cleansing Wipes". On the packet it says: "Helps to prevent spots and breakouts, helps to clear spot causing bacteria and helps to cleans away impurities and oils." I 100% agree with this. I have been using these wipes for a while now and no new spots have  appeared and my skin have been perfect as less oil has been appearing on my skin.

Rating: 4/5

Boots - £3.05 (Pack of 25)

After taking off all my face-make-up with a wipe, I then recommend using an eye-make-up remover (If you're wearing eye make-up that is!)

The one I recommend is - L'Oreal Paris Dermo-Expertise Gentle Eye Make-up Remover, 125ml. (Only £1.99 - £3.00 depending on where you shop... I recommend Asda as it's the cheapest I found!) 

I definitely think it is worth the price as it lasts a good month or so (If you use it everyday like I do) All you do if dab a few drops onto a circular cotton sheet and then press onto the eye for a few seconds and wipe away your eyeliner/mascara and eye shadow. What I love about this ever so cheap product is that it even gets rid of waterproof mascara! 

The packaging also looks pretty professional as you will see in the picture below.

Rating: 4/5 

I then use a cleansing lotion. The cleansing lotion which I recommend (especially for you students!) is "Garnier Skin Naturals - Simply Essentials". This cleansing lotion has no perfume, no alcohol and no colourants. With this cleansing lotion all you have to do is squirt a bit onto a cotton pad with it's easy application and then spread it all across your face. It's leaves your face refreshed and smooth and doesn't add any oil onto your skin at all. And I promise you all, I have had NO breakouts at all with this cleansing lotion! It also even perfectly removes the excess eye make-up you may have left on after using the L'Oreal eye make-up remover. (Including water-proof mascara! Always a plus!)
This is the perfect cleansing lotion for people with sensitive skin and combination skin. I would recommend doing this at night when you take you're make-up off and just before you apply your make-up in the morning as it will remove excess oils that are on your skin and make your make-up apply much easier onto your skin.

Rating: 4/5

Boots - £2.99 (200ml)

You'd be horrified how much make-up you still have hiding on your face if you still just use wipes. 

If you have dry skin, I would also recommend using a moisturiser after you've taken all your make-up off  and also before you apply your make-up in the morning to get that natural glow back into your skin. Unfortunately as I have combination to oily skin I can't use moisturiser, so I can't recommend one to you as I have ever had to use it. If you have a moisturiser please leave a comment down below so all my readers can find the right moisturiser for them!


Thank you so much for reading and I will catch you next time, bye! :) X

'Front Cover' Review

Recently I purchased a make-up pallet with a twist.
The pallet has 4 different sections to it and each section contains different types of styles and even a style guide to how to create a look with each section!

Here's a sneak peak of it!

For any of you who have never seen this before - It's by 'Front Cover'. I will leave a link here if you wish to go and check out their website: http://www.frontcovercosmetics.com/?gclid=CKed-pi_l7MCFaTMtAodZhUA4g

There are some things in this pallet which I have never used before in my whole life. One of these things was an 'eye shadow liner'. Basically, it's just a clear liquid in a liquid eye liner type packaging. All you do is get the brush applicator it comes with, put it in ANY eye shadow of your choice and it turns into liquid eyeliner! I have used it a few times now and I absolutely love it as it gives you the opportunity to have any colour eyeliner rather than just the usual black and white! I found that a deep red looks fantastic with a silver and gold smokey eye.

1 of the looks in the pallet is a very sparkly but natural look. It comes with a silver and gold eye shadow 'pen', a pencil sharpener and a coal pencil eyeliner which is doubled up with a smudging brush. I have never found an pencil eyeliner which stays on my eye before which smudging everywhere and this really did stay on for hours. 

The rest of the looks are very much for a night out as they are all bright, yet dark smokey eye looks. They are all great and one of the colours in particular (Fudge) makes a great highlight for under your brow and for the inner corner of your eye. 

It also comes with a duo-mascara which has two different applicators with it (For your top lashes, and bottom lashes) This mascara is great and makes your eyes stand out a lot as if definitely lengthens them and separates them to give a much more natural and subtle look.

Furthermore, you will find an eye shadow primer. I have never used one before because I have never really seen the point in them, and still I don't. I did like it as it made the colours stand out a bit more and made the colours last longer on the lid - but I wouldn't wear a dark smokey eye all day anyway so I just see no need for a primer. 

The colours in this pallet are amazing. They have dark blue, black, creams, purples and the deepest of reds. The only down side I have experienced with the eye shadow is that they don't apply well with the eye shadow brush you are given. I then tried them with my own brushes (Royal and Langnickel are the brushed of my choice. Website here for anyone looking for new brushes: http://www.royalbrush.com/beauty/retailer/makeup_brushes-sets.php) and they went on the lid much stronger, but it still took quite a long time to build up the colours. 

I got this from my place of work for £10.11, but as it's a discount store this isn't there usual price and I managed to snap up the only one we had in! On the 'Front Cover' website (Listed further above) most of their pallets come between £16 - £25, which I think if amazing for the amount you get in them!

Overall rating: 4/5 :-D

My new 'series' sneak peak!

On my YouTube I am starting a new mini series, mainly because Halloween is very near!

For the first look I am uploading later today, I was inspired by a picture I saw of an model in the 80's.
She had fantastic bright colours going all the way up to her brow, the main colour being yellow.
   
I recently purchased the 'Poptastic' pallet from collection 2000. (It was only around £3.99 and has 9 amazing, bright colours in it!) I used 3 colours off this pallet (Purple, black and a matte yellow) and another 2  lighter purples from my Colour workshop purple pallet.
      With just these 5, incredibly cheap eye shadows I managed to pull off a re-creation of what I saw on this model - but I put a twist on it. I used different, slightly deeper colours then the model had on and made it much more dramatic and turned it into a fancy dress inspired look.

The look? 80's inspired superhero! 

Here's a sneak peak, and if you like what you see then be sure to check it out on my YouTube channel!
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjjcvGHMqIU

High Street Eye Liner Review!

Hey everybody!
As I'm still pretty ill, I thought today I would carry on with Blogging. (Even though I said this would be a once or twice a week thing!) After lying in bed for 3 days and thinking about what I could review from whats just lying around in my bed room, I discovered that I have a wide range of drug store/high street eye liners sitting around my room - All of which I have used many, many times.
So here you have it, my high street/drug store eye liner review!

Firstly, I'm going to start off with my favourite and most reliable eye liner, which I will definitely be re-purchasing.

Name:   Super Liner Perfect Slim.

Brand:   L'Oreal Paris 

Price:     Around £6 (I think I got it for £6.99, so I'd grab it now from Boots as there's a 2 for 1 offer on!)

Colour:  Intense Black

I absolutely love this eyeliner. I have tried so many liquid eyeliners before and they always just smudge off or blot onto the tops of your eye lids as you are applying them - but not this one!

It is so easy to apply this eye liner with as it has a very small, precise applicator which never seems to fray. Also it is just like a pen! There is a small, finger sized area just above the applicator for you to hold on to, so it feels just like holding a pen. 

The applicator is so small and precise that you can create the perfect flick with this "Slim Felt Tip Eyeliner" as it says on the rear side of the pen.

Please remember this is the one I had already used :-)

The only disappointing thing I can express about this eye liner is that is doesn't last for very long. That may be because I used it everyday, but for me it only lasted a few weeks before it started to run out and dry up. (Which, really, isn't that bad at all!) Also, as the eyeliner starts to run out, you have to apply to or 3 layers of the eyeliner to get that 'Intense Black' look to show.

Name: Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner 

Brand: Collection 2000

Price:   £4.99 (Boots)

Colour: Black

This comes in many different colours including, black, brown, purple, blue and more! Personally as this is the first gel eyeliner I have really used on a regular basis, I can confirm that I would definitely purchase it again. It applies very easily onto the lid and you can create a fantastic intense dark line using just 1 or 2 layers - Which for the price, is great! Flicks for the 'cat-eye' lovers such as myself, are also very easy to achieve with the eye liner. Furthermore, it lasts for absolutely ages! I've even fallen asleep with this one after a few too many (No judging now!) and it was still pretty much perfect the next day. 

The only thing that really bothers me about this product is the applicator that comes with it. After just one try with this applicator the bristles started going all over the place meaning there was no chance of getting a nice smooth line. So, I would 100% recommend using an actual eye liner brush with this great product. 

*MONEY SAVING TIP!* Get a pen eye liner (Like the one shown previously) and once it has ran out use that brush to apply gel eye liners with! Just dip the tip into the gel eyeliner and use it that way - I do it and it works a treat!

Name:  Fast Stroke Eyeliner

Brand:  Collection 2000

Price:    £2.99 (Superdrug)

Colour: 'Black' & 'Brown'.

I used this liquid eyeliner for a good number of years, and as more have come out recently, I stopped using it - but that doesn't mean I don't like this product, because I do very much so. It's applicator brush makes it very easy to apply flicks and for all the ones I've ever purchased the bristles on the applicator don't fray easily.
I agree with the name of eye liner 'Fast Stroke'. The only problem I really have with it, is that it doesn't last all day and every few hours you have to re-apply or touch up. Also, it takes a few strokes to get that really deep colour you always look for in eye liners.
I must say though, I absolutely love the brown version of this product. It gives a super natural look and looks so good with whatever you wear. Its that kind of colour that suits whatever you wear and suits both evening and day time looks.
For £2.99, I 100% recommend this product to students and teens first starting out with make-up as it is easy to apply.

I hope you all enjoyed this review and found it helpful! I'm now off to drink some lemon tea to get rid of my cold.
Catch you next time, love! X

Hair - Why does this always happen?

I could be here for a very long time showing all the pictures of all the hair styles and colour I've had in my life time, but that would just take far too long.
I'm sure everyone (Especially you girls!) have been in a position when they just don't know what to do with their hair anymore. I mean at the moment my hair is pretty dull. It's just plain brown with horrible colours coming through where the brown hair dye has faded and the blonde that I use to have there is now showing through again. Oh, and it's got more dead ends then anything!

My current, very boring hair. And I'm ill, which somehow makes it look worse!

Anyway, I have had more hair colours then should be allowed. The very first time I dyed my hair was when I was in year 7 (English school system...) I think that would junior high for all you Americans out there reading my blog! (I think....!) I dyed my hair red. It was nice, but then it faded, as always, and turned to a dull brown colour. Then I did highlights, then low lights, then dyed it all blonde which was a very bad choice as it turned massively ginger(!!!!) I've also had purple hair, black hair with a red fringe and most recently I dyed my hair black and pink, which I loved, until the pink faded out.

Before...

After...

After getting highly fed up of hair dye that doesn't stay in my hair for a matter of washes,I just dyed my hair back to my natural colour (Chocolate brown) which what it is currently like now. BUT, not only the colour is bothering me, but I realised that cutting my hair short really wasn't what I wanted. When I first got my hair cut short (Compared the length it was before!) I really loved it, but now it's just at the awkward stage where it's neither long nor short.

Before I had it cut.

After it was cut.

Now I just realise that I miss my long hair, and I miss it all being one colour without any weird colours starting to appear thanks to a previous colour you may have dyed your hair. Why does it have to cost so much money to have it done nicely? Why can't your hair ever stay the way you want it? It's my hair and I don't want to spend £100 - £150 to have a cut and colour at some fancy hairdressers.

I guess I'm just going to have to stick with dead ends and a mixture of weird and wonderful colours in there!