Face battle!

Hey Sweeties :)

I have been 'battling' with my skin for quite some time now, hence the title.

When you can use all these words to describe your skin - Dry, flaky, tight, red, yellow, shiny, oily... you know you're in for a struggle.

Using my logical head I came to the conclusion that maybe only using a skin care routine on an evening might help and so I invested in some new products and I THINK I have finally found a routine that works for me and my pain in the arse face! 

In the morning I simply go over my face with a face wipe and get on with applying my makeup - No toners, cleansers, moisturisers of primers! This tends to keep my makeup in place for far longer in all honesty so no bashing me!

In the evening however I now use :

Loreal Skin Perfection 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil

You use 2 - 3 drops, massage onto dry skin, over lashes, lids and lips using your finger tips and then rinse with warm water. I wipe with a damp cotton pad first then rinse properly. 

Using an oil on oily skin works wonders!

I've recently switched my dark angels facial scrub from Lush as my skin got used to it and have started using:

St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub - Invigorating. Oil free - All skin types.

I use this every other evening and I will confess to using it in the morning if I'm having a particularly bad face day. 

If I start to feel like my skin really needs it i'll apply a moisturiser before bed too but I am yet to find one that agrees with me! 

So this is what i've been using for a week or so now and my skin has never felt better.

Let me know in the comments what you use and recommend me a moisturiser! :)

x

Getting Some Colour In Your Face

Hey! :-) 

As we all know summer in the UK is pretty boring, and if you're like me and not getting a Summer Holiday this year I am going to show you some products I use to help me fake a beach bronzed look. I also don't tan very well so those of you who are going away who have the same predicament as me you may also find this useful

Me sans Make-Up 

Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder - £23.50 

This is so easy to use, just sweep across your face. It's so light and nice and gives a fantastic colour. I use on my cheeks, nose and chin.

Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator - £21.00

This stuff is like magic, I bought it in Vegas just to try and now whenever I do my make-up I swear by it, it illuminates and highlights and gives you a great bronze glow with a subtle shimmer. Because this is Clinique it is suitable for all skin types and is oil-free. Cheekbones are the primal spot for this product. 

No7 Perfectly Bronzed Mosaic Bronzer - £11.50

This little compact suits all skin tones, the mixtures of darks and lights with the little flush of pink. It's just a perfect make-up bag companion. A great all over face bronzer, light and when applied with a large, round, soft bronzer brush give the perfect bronzed appearance.

My different bronzed looks

Well I hope this post has been helpful for you and you go and try all new different ways to keep a lovely lightly bronzed face without any help from the sun.

(At least I think that's what it is called? ;-)) 

What are your favourite bronzing products?? Let us know

How Much Is Your Face Worth?

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Night off, Pamper routine!

 Okay! So it's my night off, I'm not going out & I have nowhere to be in the morning so now is the perfect time to pamper myself something silly & take my time with it. Non of that checking the clock thinking 'crap, got to be up in 6 hours!' rubbish.

I very rarely have evenings like this, lack of money means I tend not to spend on nice products & also, if i'm being honest, sometimes I find pamper evenings a bit of a chore, it's a lot of effort to get into! But once in a blue moon my inner girly girl makes an appearance & I do my best ;)

Step 1: Get the makeup off! I do this before anything else due to finding taking my makeup off a real pain in the arse - one of the less fun/relaxing parts of a pamper evening I think.

 Step 2 : Get jammied! AKA - put some comfy clothes on, your pajamas to be more precise :P You can find me sporting mine on instagram - 'miss_kk_19'.
I'm a little obsessed with my David&Goliath getup. 

Step 3 : Set the mood. Light some candles, dim the lights, stick on a film or listen to some music.
Typically you'd listen to something relaxing however I tend to go for more upbeat songs as they make me feel happier with myself. Sort of like getting ready for a night out music but getting 'unready' instead? You know!

Step 4 : Arm yourself with a face mask, normally one you've been told will rid you of all your skin issues but actually just makes you feel like you've had botox, leaves your skin feeling amazing and tricks you into thinking it's done a good job for a few hours. It's nice while it lasts! :P
This time I went for this bad boy:

I'll be fair, I do feel like this one really makes a difference if I use it often enough.
 I couldn't however tell you a price or a shop to order from as I pinched it off my mothers beauty shelf.

Step 5 : Open yourself a can of pop... Yes, I do realise that's hardly a treat but it has recently been brought to my attention that I am slightly addicted to this awful, awful! stuff & so I would very happily choose this over a glass of wine. You on the other hand can crack open a bottle of whatever takes your fancy! Drink sensibly n' all that! Remember though, that being a tad tipsy makes the next step slightly more of a task than a treat...

Step 6 : While you're face is going stiff and you're slowly losing the ability to use your facial muscles, file and paint your nails. Or even better, hire someone to do it for you. My left hand is by far the most useless part of my body and makes painting my nails a loooooong process.

Step 7 : Send your boyfriend pictures of yourself looking something like this & ask him if he still thinks you're beautiful, even with hulk face.
If he says yes, he's a liar! but thank him anyway :P

Step 8 : Wash off your hulk face & breath a sigh of relief when you can move your face around again. Admire your super smooth face and get back to work... I mean, pampering yourself... *cough*

I'm not really a 'soak in the tub' kinda girl, so i'll normally leave it at that and proceed in the morning. This involves nairing ( is that even a word? it is now...), hopping in the shower, shaving to within an inch of my life, buffing away dead skin like my life depends on it & then deciding I will dry in my own time before slathering myself in either tropical scented or slightly shimmery moisturisers.

This should really have been an over the top girly post on the perfect evening  & although I do adore the final results of an evening/morning like this, surely i'm not the only girl that finds the process more of a hassle than it's made out to be? :P

The £20 Makeup Situation

Hey Beauties,

It's all well and good us having our favourite makeup that we reach for everyday but what happens when you are stuck in a situation where you have no makeup or have forgotten your makeup bag?

I was in this situation last week when I was called to an event and as it happened I only had time to go straight from work. So with no makeup with me and wanting a re-fresh of makeup I had two options;

1:Makeup Free
2:Go into Superdrug and buy some makeup

Armed with £20 I quickly whizzed through Superdrug and picked these beauties up;

Collection 2000 Naturally Matt Foundation Ivory £2.99 No event is complete without Foundation but to stick with my light spring feel I picked this foundation as the formula is really light. MUA Blusher Shade 4 £1.00 Blusher is the one thing that perks your skin up and makes you look pretty no matter how your feeling. I picked up this blush as it's very pigmented. L'Oreal Superliner Eyeliner Crystal £6.49 I like to spend abit more on eyeliner whether that high end or high street so I knew I could trust this eyeliner.

Hello Kitty Mascara Black £2.49

I was amazed when I saw this mascara it is so cute! This mascara worked well with my lashes and lasted 8 hours.

Barry M Lipstick Pillar Box Red £4.49

A red lip is essential and the Barry M lipsticks are legendary for their pigmentation and excellent colour range.

2 True Fast Dry Nail Polish 12 £1.99

What look is complete without Nail Polish? I picked up this little gem for £1.99. This lasted for 2 days before it chipped.

A cheeky Freddo Bar 20p

After getting all these gems I was a little peckish so picked up this old classic for 20p

Makeup Cost £19.45-
Makeup & Freddo Cost £19.65

Although I didn't have my usual makeup it was a nice change to use some new products and support the high street makeup brands.

XOXO

Smooch! Who fancies a tufflicious kiss?

All the girls on here met through the More! Hot 100, but unfortunately that is no more! As a thankyou form more, we all received a little gift.

I received a lipstick from Smooch in Trufflicious. I have to admit, I am very much a red and deep pink lipstick girl due to my porcelain skin and massive cupids bow, so initially I was a bit disappointed it being in brown, as I've always wanted a Smooch lipstick, but would have never gone for that colour!

How wrong I was. I am officially converted. The brown tone still has a slightly pink tone to it, so it is still warm, and it suits my skin tone beautifully! I can tell this is going to become a well worn lipstick!

Here are the results....

Scuse my uni bedroom in the background!

Supercute packaging

Lipcolour on the stick

I absolutely love this lipstick, it doesn't dry my lips and I find the colour really lasts, giving me a gorgeous matte splash of colour! You can buy Trufflicious here and it costs £7.50

I can't wait to buy some more colours now!!

Anybody else in love with Smooch lipsticks? What colour should I buy next?

Becky x

Doll eyes ~ Flutter them lashes!

Hey sweeties!

The barely there makeup look is a big thing now we're rolling into spring & for me, that's a scary thought. 

If you're anything like me, when you haven't applied eye makeup, you tend to look like you have no eyes... (or at least feel that way). So to embrace the fresh face I have slowly taken steps out of my makeup routine to see how how little I can get away with before I feel like I can't be seen in public anymore. 

Turns out that as long as I can make a statement with my lashes, I am more than happy to walk out with eyes lined with a light brown pencil and a dash of BB cream.

I have trialed & tested every high end/drug store mascara I can think of, making me very happy to recommend to you my all time favourite mascara combo!

Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express - Flared

Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express - Black Drama

I have been reaching for this dynamic duo for months now. Not only can they be layered up to create the biggest, longest, most luxurious lashes EVER! they can also be worn individually to create a defined but totally natural look.

Without mascara

(Excuse the phone quality pictures)

Lashes with only Black Drama

Black drama with Flared on top

The more coats applied - the better your lashes look.

I tend to apply one coat of each in the morning, top up after work & if I'm venturing out for the night, another layer creates the ultimate false lash look!

So there y' go! Keep your big doll eyes and still rock the natural beauty.

Nailed it

Nail art has become one of the biggest trends at the moment. Im always seeing amazing nails on instagram, and recently I've been seeing amazing nail art on my friends' twitter pages. Im normally a fan of a classic french manicure, although for special occasions I delve into my massive nail wrap box (I have around 50 sets ready to be used!!).

I'm a student in Cardiff and up has popped the amazing Rehab Nail Bar. I've seen all my friends instagramming and tweeting awesome nails they've picked up there, and having my 12 year old sister to stay last weekend gave me the excuse I needed to finally visit! (Plus they do an amazing 20% off for students!)

Rehab's Easter Nails on Twitter! Cute!

Check out Rehab's amazing twitter with all their designs here and even join in with their guess the nail art competitions!! To check out their website and see what else they can magic onto your nails, look here.

I booked in for a set of acrylics with nail art, and booked my sister in for a mini manicure. Check out what we got!

My french manicure with pearls!

Issy's mini manicure with crystals!

We had such a good afternoon there, and having seen what other designs they were doing, I can't wait to go back to ask for something crazy! If you live near Cardiff I can't recommend going there enough!

I'm loving some nail trends at the moment, which do you think I should try next time? Ciaté chalkboard? Minx nails? Marble?

Ciaté

Leona Lewis' nails

J Lo's nail art

I'd love to see any nail art you've tried yourself, or anything you'd recommend! I'd love links to any tutorials you may have, I'm a novice when it comes to doing my own nail art, but would love to try!

Becky x

Summer Hair Trends

2013 Summer Hair

Super Sleek & Straight

Summer is just around the corner and it brings the time for bare legs, fun dresses, fun make-up and most of all fabulous hair. In this post we will look at hair trends for this summer.

Break out the GHD's because Straight is back in. Taylor Swift has been rocking straight locks for a while now with a blunt fringe and it looks fabulous. The key to great looking sleek hair is a good conditioner, I recommend John Freida Frizz Free conditioners. Straight hair has minimalistic effort, just remember to use a good heat defence spray. 

"Sleek and Straight on the Runway" 

Michael Kors showcased his S/S 13 range with models showing off fabulous, glossy poker straight hair. 

Taylor Swift and Michael Kors S/S13

Low Slung Buns

The key to this look is keeping it sleek, put your hair in a low pony then pinning it up with hair crips to suit your colour, then hairspray that baby! To keep your hair looking sleek but not scrunchy like a lot of hairspray can do to your hair try L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray which not only leaves you with a whole day look, it smells so nice. Beauty Hot Squad Tip: Try hair doughnuts to get perfect looking buns, Primark do a range of colours and sizes from just £1

"Low Slung Buns on the Runway" 

Ralph Lauren S/S13 Show featured this simple to do up-do on the runway earlier this year

Oscar Winner Jennifer Lawrence and Ralph Lauren S/S13

The Messy Look

Low maintenance and quick. The key to this look is salt spray, now you can go out and spend your money on fancy branded salt sprays but I recommend buying a spray bottle (they sell them in pound shops) warm water and a couple of spoonfuls of sea salt. Mixing the water and the salt and spraying it on damp hair and leaving it to dry can give you the same effect. 

Braids and Plaits

Also a low maintenance look and can be made to look elegant or fun. So simple to do and no fancy products are needed. Braids can be fashionable and functional and an easy way to cover up a bad hair day.

"Braids in the Movies" 

Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence wowed us all as Katniss in 2012's The Hunger Games. Throughout the film sporting a fantastic outward cross-head braid. Showing us that a girl can kick butt and still have fabulous hair. 

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in "The Hunger Games" and Rachel McAdams

Other hair trends to look our for this Summer: 

• Micro Fringe
• Cropped Do's
• Salon Blow Outs
• Pastel Colours
• Low Ponytails
• OTT Accessories
• Undone Updo's

Thanks for reading and keep your eyes out for more beauty posts. Some exciting things coming to this blog in the coming week. Subscribe so you don't miss a thing. 

The Look...Spring Makeup

Hey Beauties,

Ahhhh it's that time again...Spring and that means it's time to ditch the heavy eyeliner, dark eye shadows and step into Spring (haha spring get it?) by updating our makeup with fresh, soft and light shades of makeup.

I for one am very happy to embrace Spring, I have decided to switch tactics this year and actually ditch the eyeliner in favour of a light eye shadow and a clean base. Gone are the days of bronzer and heavy foundation for me.I have never been one to go bare or without eyeliner at all, but this year I am determined to step out of my comfort zone and start opting for the 'lighter' look.

This Spring the Cat Walks have inundated us with 'just there' light eye shadows, bright skin and in some cases (yes Dolce & Gabbana I'm looking at you) no eye shadow or liner has been used at all. This Spring it's all about the nude eyes, glowing skin, and coral or bright red lips. Here is a few of my favourite Models at the shows and celebrities sporting the look;



Dolce & Gabbana

Missoni

Rochas

Johanthan Saunders



Miranda Kerr

To get Miranda's Lips use Mac Ruby Woo Lipstick £14.00

Jessica-Chastain

To get Jessica's skin she likes to use YSL Touche Ecalt Foundation £26.50

Hayden Panettiere
To get Hayden's glow use the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick £32.50

Are you changing up your Makeup this Spring? Let me know Beauties.

xoxo