Pamper Night

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This post is about my pamper night that I recently had. The weather has turned chilly, the dark nights and dark mornings are setting in and I was just feeling a bit deflated and in need of some pamper time.

I had been working all day on my university work and I was down in the dumps thinking of what I could do. The items I list now, are my top pamper night necessities, which will hopefully inspire you to take a break, have a few minutes to yourself and relax.

Firstly I ran myself a bath. I don't usually have baths and I prefer the thought of germs/dead skin (all that kind of thing) to drain off me and go straight down the plug hole. As you can tell, I'm very much a shower kind of person. However, when I'm feeling stressed, a good soak in the bath can often help alleviate stress. For me, a bath helps me to focus on what matters, or at least allows me to clear my head. I used a lush bath bomb called Golden Wonder. If you are wanting to check out some of their bath products, they have some great seasonal ranges out for Halloween and Christmas. I got two uses out of this because I broke it in half. You could also just have one use or plenty of uses depending on what suits you. The inside is an amazing blue colour that turns your bath water, yes you guessed it, blue. It has orange and lime scents which make it nice and fresh.

Secondly I lit a candle. This is a Yankee candle in my favourite ever scent lavender. I love lavender in general so this was a no-brainer for me. It fills the room with the calming scent and also works well to add some ambient lighting.

Once out of the bath I moisturised using the Body Shop's strawberry body butter. Then, I got all cosy in my; M&S dressing gown and my Primark pyjamas. My pj's are in a Christmas theme but I don't really care. I love Christmas and they're super soft, comfy and very affordable so go check those out if you are curious.

This was my short and quick pamper night to relieve some of the day's worries. It's not rocket science and I am aware that this is not an original idea, but sometimes you need a little inspiration and encouragement to give yourself ten minutes of you time. 

If you want to look at the lush bath bomb, the link is here!
https://uk.lush.com/products/bath-bombs/golden-wonder

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EcoTools Day to Night Set Brush Review

Hello and welcome back to my blog! This week I am going to be speaking to you about my EcoTools brush set that I bought from Boots.

The brush set, named the 'Six Piece Day to Night Set' contains what I would class as everyday make-up brushes. It includes: an angled face brush, a pointed concealer brush, a highlighting fan brush, an eye shadow brush and a detailed lip/liner brush. All brushes come in their own neat cosmetic case, which they advertise as being multi-functional and able to hold evening basics.

The bag itself has an elastic brush holder inside so that the brushes are nice and secure and will hopefully get less wear and tear from not rubbing against each other, ruining the bamboo wood handles. The base is covered in a really nice, soft cork which gives an extra quirk to it, making it feel very tropical, in conjunction with the tropical green gradient sides. The bag feels sturdy which would make it possible to be used for different purposes as described however it might be a little too small for today's 'essentials' e.g: my phone. 

All brushes are really soft and I love the added detail on the end of each brush which gives each brush their usage name. The three larger brushes are the softest brushes, which allows things like contour, highlight and eye shadow application to be nicer and easier. The other two brushes (liner and pointed concealer) are more rigid, which works for the liner brush, but I personally would prefer if the pointed concealer brush was a bit more flexible. I feel like if this change was made, the concealer brush would be better suited for its use as the structure of the brush makes it less practical for blending. 

The Brushes

The pointed concealer brush is a little odd. I often use a stick concealer, so this brush doesn't work well for its designed use. However, I sometimes use this for inner corner highlight or for general under-eye smoking/blending. 

Pointed Concealer Brush

The contour brush has a great angled top, making it perfect for creating a natural shadow at your cheek bone hollows. This is one of my favourite brushes in this set, as I like to use bronzer. I'm not a heavy contour-applier, so I generally use it all over my face which works well too.

Contour Brush

The thinnest brush is the liner brush. This is best for the lips in my opinion, although it can also be used to apply eye liner under the lower lash line. I often like to use the brush to line my lips or to use it just to make sure I have a neat line of lipstick. 

Lip Liner

Finally is the highlighter brush. I'd say this is great for the cheeks, but probably steer away from using it on the cupids bow and nose. It could be the highlighter I use but I find the brush often makes my product very dusty and so fall out occurs, making me look a little like a disco ball. However, this doesn't mean the brush isn't great! And quite honestly, I'm a beginner at make up.

Fanned Highlighter

Following on from my last point, I am a beginner in make-up. You could say this is my first proper set of brushes so I am finding what they're best used for and experimenting. However I would say my favourite brush is the eye shadow brush because I love a good smokey eye and so this brush is great for blending. It's also good for initially packing on the product. 

Eye shadow

Overall I think this is a set for beginners and the brushes themselves would also fit perfectly in someones bigger collection who uses make-up more often. I bought these from Boots and they cost £16.99, which was a very good price in comparison to other brushes available. They wipe clean really easily and don't shed. 

I hope this post has helped anyone decide on which make-up brushes to buy. If you don't wear make-up I hope you had a laugh at me sharing my opinions anyway. 

Thank you for reading my blog. If you haven't already, go back and check some of my other posts including a Stranger Things review. Please share, follow and comment below and let me know your best brush or make-up buys.

See you again soon

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My Winter Nights Routine

Hello!

I am definitely a summer girl. I love being able to wear shorts and a top and feel comfortable and uplifted. Unfortunately, it is freezing now so I thought I'd write a blog about how I keep calm, pampered and winter ready.

Firstly, I like to get in from wherever I  have been, throw my coat over the stairs and relax on the sofa with a cup of tea. That sigh of relief that you get when walking into your home is the best!

Then, once I've eaten I will start my routine. I will go and take a shower. During the winter months I like to use moisture rich shower gels. I have this Nivea in-shower moisturiser that helps to soothe dry skin. A lot of people would have thought that a bath would have featured in this blog post, but personally I find having a bath very boring. I like to get in the shower, have a soak and then get back out again so that I can relax in my pyjamas.

My slippers from Marks and Spencer 

Nivea in shower moisturiser 

Christmas scented candles (not the spicy ones)

Dressing Gown also from M&S

For my showers I use:

• A regular shampoo (non-expensive) such as Alberto Balsam 
• A conditioner for medium to dry hair/dry hair
• Shower gel of choice with a shower lily/shower scrub

I find that gently using a shower puff helps to exfoliate my skin and prep it ready for moisturising which I do about once a week using a Bodyshop body butter. 

I get out the shower, quickly dry and put on my dressing gown. That's the other bad thing about winter- getting out of a nice warm shower, into the frozen bathroom.

I don't often do this step and I do it even less in the Summer, but if I've had bad skin, I will give my skin a full treatment using my No7 skincare.

Firstly I take the hot cloth cleanser and place onto my face. I then run the cloth under a warm tap and put onto my face for a few minutes as guided (the reason I don't do this much, is because you have to wait for the cleanser to work...I find it difficult to sit still).

Then once I have wiped and washed off the cleanser it's onto my face mask. This No7 moisturising mask helps to soften the face and treat any dry spots on the skin. My only reservation is that these products can sometimes sting, depending on how sore your face is feeling.

Then after this I moisturise using a Boots own moisturiser #studentlife. I find it's really gentle and it just really works for me. On a normal day however, I'd skip out the hot cloth cleanser and mask, and just use my other boots cleanser and toner, as they both work really well.

Before jumping into bed, I make sure to moisturise my legs, arms and elbows, as I find that these are my trouble spots. I use a different moisturiser for my hands, as the body butter is very oily. I have almost used up all of my Ted Baker one, which smells really nice.

Then, I can settle down with my drink, my fairy lights and enjoy a movie. Recently they have been Christmas themed, like The Santa Claus featuring Tim Allen who is the voice of Buzz Lightyear in
the Toy Story films.

I hope you've enjoyed my blog post and I hope it has reminded you to pamper your skin every once in a while!

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October Favourites

This year is flying by! I've recently gone back to University and the workload has doubled I'm sure! So to cheer me up and to give you readers some Autumn inspiration, here are my 'October Favourites'.


1. Pumpkins
Pumpkins herald October. When I see or hear the word pumpkin, I think Halloween. I always thought that pumpkins were carved to keep bad spirits from your home? But I love them in the house in October because they look super cool and it's a great excuse for candles to be lit! They make your home festive and cosy and you can carve all sorts of designs on them. One thing I'm hoping to try this year is pumpkin flavoured food or drink- I need to get cultured.

2. Black Dress
I love this black dress. I think it's very Gothic and therefore goes with the time of year. The fabric is very soft and I also use this dress for Halloween parties. The dress was a steal from H&M. I'd searched everywhere for a black gothic dress and found none, or none that had a good price. I don't remember the price of this, but it must have been reasonable because I'm such a cheapskate

3. Toffee Apple
I'm hoping to try and make some of my own this year as I think it'd be pretty fun to do. This is basically a sugar loaded apple and when I say sugar loaded, I mean...sugar loaded, so I wouldn't recommend having too many of these. My top tip is to look at the apple underneath, because you don't want to crunch into the toffee outing and have a squished, horrible apple underneath. Also, check if the topping has solidified, sometimes, depending on where the apples have been stored, the sugar coating goes runny and comes off when you un-do the wrapper.

I also thought I'd add that there are also toffee apple flavoured ciders. I've actually tried this and it was quite nice, but I wouldn't have too many as they get sickly. 

4. Jewellery Stand
This is my make-shift jewellery stand inspired by a friend and it really does the trick. I love hanging it on my shelf because the lights I have around the shelf set of my necklaces. It's a really good way to stop necklaces knotting, is a good way to store them and they look quite effective.

5. Overall Dress
This dress was £13 from Primark. Some other family members weren't too sure about this dress because they said it looked like what builders wear, but they're not exactly wrong are they. This corduroy dress is so soft and looks great over the top of a long sleeved jumper and thick tights, so I think this will be my go to outfit over the Autumn months.

6. Thick tights
Primark again! I think they do some really good tights, especially the shaper ones and for a good price! However, I'm talking specifically about the knitted selection that they have. The top of the tights can feel a little odd, almost as if you are wearing a pair of really tight shorts or a nappy, so you have to get used to that feeling. But they're really warm- I hate being cold so they're a must have for me.

7. Lights/Candles
Now that dark nights are here, I find it really comforting to have candles on or maybe just some fairy lights dotted about. There are some really cool designs out there and there are even some for the Halloween season

Thank you for reading my latest blog post.

If you have any favourites please comment so I can see them!

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Beauty Things I'm Rubbish At

So it has been a few weeks since my last blog post. My reason for this is that I've been very low on money and so I've been limited in what I could write about. I hate writing blog posts without having pictures to show you, hence why you've had to wait so long.


This blog post is to show that I'm rubbish at make-up and beauty things. I wear mascara and concealer and that's it but I'm fine with that most of the time. I think that beauty products can sometimes get in the way of people's confidence, feeling like they NEED to put on some make up, or that they think they look horrible without it. Lets face it, once you've found someone e.g. partner or boyfriend/girlfriend, they're going to see you without makeup on quite a lot. Who've you got to impress? And does anyone actually care?

1. I'm awful at eyeliner

I can never get both sides even and I think this is a problem for many girls. The struggle is difficult enough with just one eye, so bringing in a second that you have to match up is just not going to happen. If I do try and wear eyeliner, I like to have a flick. However, the flick gets too long or it's too short so you try and make it longer and go too long. And because that all goes wrong, you get out your makeup wipe to try and wipe the excess away and smudge...The black liquid liner goes all over your face. Brilliant.

2. Eyeshadow

I tend to stick to natural shades and golds. I have brown eyes so I don't think it looks too bad of a colour on me, but I can't do anything fancy with it. I see girls with perfect eye shadow lines that run alongside their eyeliner, whilst I'm stood there with the smallest looking eyes ever. Some people take so much time over their eyes though. I really don't think I could live up to having to colour in the corner of my eye, the base, the outer corner, the brow bone etc. So I just figure that slapping a bit to all of my eyelid will do the job for me.

3. Lipstick

I end up looking like the McDonalds clown with lipstick and even when it does go right, people are that surprised that I have lipstick on, that it looks weird. I have two lipsticks and they're the only lipsticks I've ever had in my life. my favourite is a lovely dark pink/red/berry shade from Rimmel. Rimmel have the nicest smelling lipsticks, so this isn't my problem. My problem is trying to colour in-between the lines of my lips. One slight mistake and you've stained your skin, you look like you've just eaten some tomato soup and it has gone all round your mouth, so overall just a massive fail.

4. Eyebrows

I don't fill in my eyebrows, nor are my eyebrows even but they're pretty dark and they're on my face so that's all that really matters to me. Due to the fact I don't pencil/colour in my eyebrows, the only thing I do is pluck them. These are my La-Tweez tweezers and they're so good! I've had them a while now but there used to be a light on them so that you could always get a precise finish. The discolouration at the bottom is from me being a germ freak and sterilizing them over a flame. Wups!

5. Thinking of different hairstyles

I love to wear my hair down. My hair is sort of long so it's quite heavy.  When I put it up in a pony tail it pulls at my scalp and it hurts, it feels heavy so I just leave it alone. But I'm so rubbish at doing my hair, that I tend to make myself look like a child. I clip up one side with a medium sized clip and that's it. My hair is too heavy for grips and when I do use them, I have to use about six just to keep everything in place, I have to double up on bobbles and clips if I want any of it to stay in place. I have a love/hate relationship with my hair but I don't want to cut it short, so it'll just have to stay boring and untouched until I can master the art of dutch braids, french plaits and all sorts of complex braiding.

So as you can see, I'm pretty low maintenance, what you see is what you get. I struggle daily to try and make myself look 'nice', but at least I'm saving money! 

Thanks for reading and see you soon 

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Get Ready With Me- Casual Meal

Hello! So I'm back with another post and for this week I thought I'd do something a bit more beauty related. I thought it'd be a nice idea to show you a get ready with me, so that you can see a bit of my style, how I do my make-up and maybe take some inspiration from it. 

So I started the day/night before by having a nice relaxing shower using my Soap and Glory shower puff and some Baylis & Harding 'skin spa' steam cream wash in the scent 'cherry blossom, oriental lily and lotus flower'. The shower gel smells amazing and lathers up really well when combined the with soap and glory puffs, which is the best one I've ever used. It's quite large and padded so it doesn't separate, which means I can give my body a good exfoliation without any hassle. I then went on to give my hair a good wash with the Alberto Balsam 'Tea Tree Tingle' shampoo. This is super affordable and although it might not be the most expensive product, it still leaves my hair feeling soft, looking shiny and smelling really nicely. Then to finish off I used Aussie's '3 minute miracle' conditioner. I don't usually use this conditioner but it's sometimes a nice treat and really helps to 'restore manageability and shine'- so it does, just what it says on the tin (bottle)! Also it has a bubblegum scent to it which is really nice and sweet.

Then to get ready I brush my teeth just using regular Colgate toothpaste, the one in the picture is the cavity protection one but I like to have a change and use the whitening one from time to time. I don't know if it's just me, but I like to brush my teeth before going out. It makes my breath smell fresh, makes my teeth feel clean and maybe it's a little OCD thing, but I just don't feel ready without doing this step.

I get my skin ready using my cheap and cheerful cleanser and toner from Boots. I say cheap and cheerful because they were both only £1.50 each and I don't think for that price, that they're too bad actually! So I cleanse my skin with the cleanser and a cotton pad to make sure my skin is clean and clear from any excess oils or dirt. Then I tone to close my pores- I love this step as it feels nice and refreshing.

Then I prime my face with No17's Photo Flawless Primer that I got in a set for my birthday. I feel like this creates a barrier between my skin and my make-up and makes my concealer and powder stay on longer because of it. It's got a gel like consistency and glides onto my skin; I then rub it around my face and around my eyes.

Now that my skin is ready I start with my concealer. I switch up my concealer and sometimes use Rimmel Wake Me Up or this one I'm featuring here which is the Collections 'Cover up stick' in 'Natural Beige'. I think this helps to make my dark eye circles lighter and less noticeable. The product itself isn't very dewy like the Rimmel Wake Me Up and is more like a creamy powder so would suit someone who likes more of a matte finish.

After this I take my powder brush and using the Rimmel Natural Bronzer, contour my cheeks a little but then also powder the rest of my face just to give me a nice finish and a healthy tanned glow. I'm not very tanned so this step helps me to not looked washed out. This bronzer is amazing, it has a brilliant shade and leaves your skin glowing without adding visible glitter pigments into the product. Also it has an SPF 15 and is waterproof so overall a brilliant make up addition.

I got this No17 make up collection box, which contains loads of beauty bits like lip glosses, highlights and a bronzer. I think these boxes are great gift ideas because they contain a variety of colours and products, so you can make different looks from them by just using this one box. For this look I am using a baked eye shadow powder. Unfortunately it doesn't give a specific name for this colour but as you can see from the image, it's a shimmery gold with a brown undertone. However, it's often up to personal preference, so get a gold eye shadow that you love and one that suits your skin and you can still recreate this look.

I spread this colour all over my lid and then move onto step two, which is to add the 'natural' eye shadow from the outer corner and blend inwards.

I then finish off the look with a few coats of mascara on the top lashes only. My top tip for getting rid of clumps is by using two mascara's, because the different applicators can separate the clumps left by the other mascara.

So now that my make-up is done, I move onto my hair, or vice versa, depending on how I'm feeling. I take Tresemme's Heat Defence spray with protection up to 230oC (purple box around writing). Heat defence is essential when using heat products on your hair. I have naturally curly hair and like to let it air dry, which is what I did the night before. This meant that all I had to do was to add a few extra curls with my GHD's to complete the look. These are just the original GHD's but I love them and they're my holy grail of heat product. I use these to curl my hair by getting a section of hair that looks a bit straighter than the rest, putting the straighteners at the top of the hair and pulling down whilst turning the straighteners. Once I'm at the end of the hair, I then roll it on itself, wrapping the hair around the straighteners and holding for about five seconds, before slowly releasing the straighteners holding them up vertically and lowering down.

This is what my hair and make up looked like completed

My outfit is a baby pink knitted jumper from New Look which was around £19, my paisley patterned black jeans were from TU at Sainsburys! And my jacket is a black leather Dorothy Perkins jacket that has a detachable fur collar that I got a few years ago. My necklace is an Amethyst crystal that I got from a crystal shop in Tintangel, Cornwall.

So that's it! Look complete! I had a lovely night and had a lovely meal for my Nanna's birthday! Hope you liked this blog and the look I created as my style is very simple and natural. 

Please comment, like and follow and I'll see you soon for another post! 

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