Wednesday 26 August 2015

Simple Back To School Makeup




It's soon time to go back to school *sighs*. Even though I'm 19 and school isn't on the cards for me anymore. I wanted to create a simple look thats quick and easy for those rushed mornings when you would prefer to have an extra few minutes in bed!
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Friday 21 August 2015

My top 5 Drugstore Foundations

Hello and welcome to another top 5! Go and check out my other two top 5's (lipsticks and nail varnish) http://goo.gl/7m5I6B However this month is foundations... which I probably find waaaay to much more exciting than I probably should, haha. I love trying new foundations, the reason behind this is because I believe the most important aspect of your makeup is your base, and your base is mainly your foundation. If you have the perfect foundation shade match, the formula is right for your skin type and the foundation just is a holy grail product for you, you are onto something!




Foundation is something that I find very difficult, whenever I'm in the drugstore I can't even begin to explain how annoying and frustrating it is trying to find the right shade and a foundation that is what I want, eg; coverage and finish. Theres no one to help you, and you are pretty much on your own. If you are anything like me, you will get all hot and bothered about finding the right shade. It's annoying too, because if you get home and you've picked the wrong shade, you cannot return it in the UK. You can return it if it's not been opened. There is a lot of choice in the drugstore but it's just so damn difficult but thats why its affordable. They don't have to pay anyone to be there all day helping customers, therefore they can reduce their prices.

Just to point out my skin type is oily/combination, I do tend to like a full coverage foundation. However there is a bit of a mixture. Also, I do like a matte finish because of my skin being quite oily. PS: If you are looking at these pictures, and you are thinking 'ew, the products are so dirty' then I'm sorry, but I use these foundations on a day to day basis. Therefore they are going to get dirty and foundationy. (????) is that even a word. Hmm, well you know what I mean haha.

All the foundations I am going to talk about I have been using for a looooong time. So I know I love them, theres only one that I haven't been using for as long as the others (Rimmel Lasting Finish) thats because it's Rimmel's newest foundation. Although this foundation isn't the one I've been using the longest, it just wouldn't be right if it wasn't in this post! There is also a whole review on this foundation - https://goo.gl/xNKwFd

No7  Beautifully Matte Foundation - Calico
As you may or my not know but my skin is combination/oily and another thing you may or may not know is that I love using No7 skin care, blogpost - http://goo.gl/3YIt1B. The main reason for this foundation being in this favourite video is because it is tailored for my skin type, if you are reading this and you have another skin type, eg dry skin then don't worry! There are other No7 foundations for you, just go over to a No7 counter and they will be happy to help you! Also, if you don't have oily skin, but you like a matte finish, this one might be a good one for you too. No7 have a tool which they use which determines the colour of your foundation, they use the gadget on your face and match you to a shade. So if you don't believe them, or you are really worried about getting the wrong shade, then ask to look and see the colour for yourself! The foundation is a medium coverage, and is just beautiful on the skin. I use this one on an every day basis, just because I know I won't get shinny throughout the day.
RRP: £13.50


Rimmel Lasting Finish Full coverage - Ivory 
I have done a full review post on this foundation (yes, I love it that much!). This foundation just really suits my skin, and whenever I wear it I get compliments, it's just always a good skin day when this foundation is around! I would say it leaves somewhere in the middle of a matte/dewy finish, which is quite nice. I don't have to powder too much with this foundation, just a little bit on the T-tone. Theres around 10 shades to choose from, I am quite pale so Ivory is the perfect shade for me. This is a full coverage foundation as well, there is a light-medium coverage which has a white top, I haven't tried that foundation, I would be interested what it is like. However I do tend to like a bit more of a coverage, hense why I got this one. I would say it's suitable for every skin type, it's dewy enough for a dry skin, but like me if you have oily/combination it's perfect for that too!
RRP: £7.99



Revlon Colourstay Combination/Oily skin - Buff 
This is the only foundation out of all 5 which has two different skin types. I have obviously got the one for combination/oily skin, however there is one for dry skin as well. I think this is such a good idea for the drugstore, there isn't anything else like that available. It just makes life so much easier, also finding the colour was easy enough for me too. I am the shade buff, there is one lighter which I believe is ivory. Buff is a colour which is quite yellow toned, which is good for me because I have quite a bit of redness in my face, therefore the yellow toned foundation will counteract that. I would say one thing to be careful with when it comes to this foundation, is that do one section of your face at a time. The reason behind this is because it doesn't give you much play time! It drys and sets on your face quite fast, which is good in a way because once it's on the face it doesn't move. It does claim it lasts for 24 hours, but seriously, who wears a foundation for 24 hours?! The one reason why this foundation is annoying, is because as you can see from the picture below, that it doesn't have a PUMP. I absolutely hate it when companies don't give there products the option of having pumps. It makes such a mess, and is very hard to judge how much product you need. However the actual product is very good and I love it, thats why its in my top favourites (obv). This is a very full coverage foundation, I use this for when my skin is not looking or feeling its best. It just covers everything up and I then feel much better, haha.
RRP: £12.99



Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum - 51 Light Vanilla 
This foundation is the foundation I use when I want a light finish, and when my skin is looking good. I go to this foundation when I just want a little bit of coverage, I might just be popping out somewhere or it's a hot summers day and I don't want a full coverage foundation on. It has the most amazing smell, but don't worry if you don't like fragranced things on your face, you can't smell anything once its applied. The colours in Bourjois foundations aren't great on a whole, theres only about 5 shades I believe. The lightest shade is ok for me, but isn't the best, but because it's only a light finish I find I can get away with it more.
RRP: £10.99



The Body Shop Moisture Foundation - 05
This is the foundation I have been using for the longest out of these, I started using this in my teens when I was at school. I don't know why I love it so much, but I really do. It seems to lighten up my face and make me feel alive. It gives me moisture but doesn't make me shinny or look oily. It gives a medium coverage, but doesn't make me look like I've got makeup on, it's just really subtle and even. I would recommend this probably to more of a normal/dry skin, however it does work for me. You could use powder, if you are struggling with a more dewy finish. I'm not sure how many shades there are in this range, I got colour matched in store. I would say if you do have oily skin like me, go and have a look at the powder foundation from The Body Shop (Extra Virgin Minerals - loose powder foundation) a powder foundation can be built up to give good coverage, but not make you look oily because its essentially powder.
£13.00



Thank you so much for reading, good luck finding the perfect foundation for you! If you have any questions, comment them down below. Also, comment below what you want next months 'top 5' to be?!?!?!?!

Brushes in pictures: Real techniques buffing brush and setting brush. No7 stippling brush. 







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Wednesday 12 August 2015

Lets talk Cleansers

Hello, hope you are doing great! Today I am going to chat about my favourite cleansers. I have three which I alternate throughout how my skin is looking and feeling. Also I like to change up my cleansers as I think my skin sometimes gets used to a cleanser too much, therefore then it won't work as well. I don't know if thats just me, or if its normal to have more than one cleanser. (If you want a post all about my skincare and all the different products I use, I would happily do that - comment below). These are the three cleansers that I use for different periods depending on how my skin is looking and feeling, therefore there is no top top cleanser, these just are my top three!




Firstly I will talk about my skin and the background of it... So I have quite sensitive skin, which is normal/combination. I get oily around my tee zone (forehead and nose). In the past when I was about 12/13 I used to have lots and lots of spots, I just to use all sorts of creams, lotions and potions! To make this a short story, I basically went to the doctors and they gave me a cream which helped them. But at the end of the day it was just my hormones and my teenage self, it's just life. I still get the odd pimple now, at certain times of the month it's a little bit worse, sorry if thats too tmi.

Biore cleanser - This is the cleanser that I reach for when my skin is looking a bit worse for wear. Basically whenever my skin develops a few spots and I have a bit of a breakout I go for this one. It cleans deep into the pores. It's a bit scary because it's a black cleanser, which has charcoal in. Also it has little beads which go right into the clean to give a deep cleanse. The reason I use this for when my skin is spotty and has a breakout because I want something that gets right in there and cleans deep into the skin to stop any spots from appearing and calm down the ones that are there. It's a great cleanser if you have blackheads or survire spots. It's available right in the drugstore, its about £5 so it's a really affordable product.
RRP: £4.99




Estee lauder perfectly clean - I use this when I fancy treating myself and giving myself a real nice luxury cleanse. This isn't the cheapest but it is the most expensive cleanser I've tried either, but it is a really really nice one. It's £22.50 and is available on Estee Lauder counters. I have been using this one for about half a year now, I firstly got a sample of it because I got the double wear foundation, and it was just a complementary sample. So me and my mum tried it and instantly fell in love. I would say its well worth the money, because it gives such a lovely luxurious feel. It has a gorgeous smell which is probably one of my favourite things about this product, I'm rubbish at describing smells - so go and smell it yourself! :). The only thing with this cleanser is it leaves a "squeeky clean" effect on the skin afterwards, I personally don't mind this at all. If you don't know what I mean, if you have tried the Clinique Facial Soap it's the same effect as that. This cleanser is for normal/combination skin so for me it's perfect because thats my skin type. Overall I love this cleanser and its beautiful.
RRP: £22.50




Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - I love this product for mainly two reasons. The first reason is its very good for sensitive skin. The reason I say this is because I sometimes use it take my makeup off, the way I do this is by wetting my face then applying the product (about a pump and a half) and just massaging it into my skin, it removes the makeup amazingly! I use it on my eye makeup too, which is why I say it's good for sensitive skin, it removes my eye makeup very well too, I don't use waterproof mascara, however it removes my normal mascara very well. The second reason for loving this product is the fact it leaves my skin feeling very clean and lovely. When I just use it as a normal cleanser, it is just fab, it works very well at cleaning my skin and removing any grime and dirt that may have got on my skin throughout the day or night depending when I use the cleanser. I can see why it's called 'cleanse and polish' because it just does both of those things, it cleanses the skin and the polishes it afterwards and my skin always looks so much better after using this cleanser! It's available at Boots, Liz Earle counters and online at Liz Earle. I normally get it at Boots because I just love collecting my Boots advantage card points... how sad haha.
RRP: £14.00



So theres my top 3 cleansers that I love and that work for my skin. I hope this helped if you have the same skin type as me, or you've heard about one of these cleansers and you wanted a bit more information on them. So thank you so much for reading, please comment below if you would like me to write a post all about my skincare, and also any other posts you would like me to write! Also if you don't know, I have recently started up a youtube channel - it's just something I've been thinking about doing for a while and now I've actually done it. So go and check it out :) bit of love xxxxx














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