Eyebrow Routine!

Hey beauts! I was recently contacted by a lovely girl who asked if I would do a tutorial on my eyebrows. I was really touched that anyone would actually want to know how I do them to be honest, as I have never thought of mine being anything special! Although I am happy with the way they are, I think we all want what we don't have and I am forever lusting over gorgeous, natural, full brows! I have definitely had some brow disasters through the years (I wish I had photo's to show you all!) and when I was in my early teens, the trend was to have super skinny mini eyebrows, so of course I took to the tweezers and went pluck crazy, leaving me with brows the thickness of a pen line which I regret so much, as looking back at childhood photo's I had very full (although some what bushy and a bit messy) brows. Thankfully, after a little while, and some embarrassing looks later, they did grow back, though I never got my full brows back. On a positive note though, I do feel like the brows I now have suit my face shape and they are super easy to do and maintain so I guess you win some, you lose some! 

Anyway, on to what I do. I am pretty lucky in that my brows do tend to pretty much maintain their shape on their own, although I do give them some help. Firstly, plucking. I don't tend to pluck too often, as I can be a little heavy handed, so about once a week is fine for me (to be honest as my brow hair is so used to being removed it grows back pretty sparsely anyway) and I just pluck the underneath following the shape of my brow bone. To keep the tops in shape, I take a pair of small scissors, nail scissors are good but I find cuticle trimmers to be the best as they have a curved edge which means you arn't left with a really blunt cut across the hairs. I just used these to neaten up the front and trim down any that are too long. 

When filling in my brows, I start off combing them through with an eyebrow comb, mine is from No.7 and came from a set I got at Christmas, but you can pick these up super cheap else where. 

I then use my HD Brows Palette in the colour 'Bombshell'. I got this in my Glossybox last year and have been using it everyday since (I have recently got a back up but even after 12+ months of using it everyday, I still have some left!). Now I believe the Bombshell palette is actually meant for blondes, but even though I am a brunette, I find a mix of the 'Ash Blonde' and 'Medium Blonde' to be absolutely perfect for my colouring. They do look pretty light in the pan, but actually work really nicely to give a natural filled in look, and I find going any darker too harsh for me. For me, I much prefer using a powder to a pencil. I think in my brows it looks a lot more natural, and with the inner shape being quite squared off, a pencil is just too much. 

(Quick Tip: The Gosh Eyebrow Set is a great, inexpensive dupe for the HD Brows palette!)

I use a Royal & Langnickel Silk Pro C490 brush to fill them in. This is basically a small angled brush which some people may find this brush too small but I find it great for creating little lines in the brows to mimic real hairs rather than filling them in very bluntly. I also find it is the perfect size for creating the arch in my brow and pulling it down without leaving it looking fake. When filling in the front of my brows, I tend to turn the brush on its side and apply in the opposite direction to the hair growth, I just find this leaves it look natural and not filled in. After applying the powder, I give it another brush through with the brow comb again, just to get rid of any harshness. 

I will some times then set my brows (usually only if I am going on a night out or have a very long day ahead) with a brow gel, I like the one by Mac but Elf has a great cheaper alternative which I think works just as well! And that's it really! My brows are definitely not perfect but I hope at least someone finds this helpful!

I know it is difficult to do tutorials like this in a blog post, but I hope it makes sense! If you have any more questions feel free to pop them below! Do you have a favourite brow product? Do you fill in your brows or just leave them natural?

Top 5: Drugstore Lipsticks!

Hey lovelies! I decided I would start a top 5 series, as I love reading them, so wanted to share some of my top products with you. I am splitting them up into categories and highstreet/drugstore and high end, as it would be way to hard to narrow them all down into a top 5! So today, I am starting with my top 5 drugstore/highstreet lipsticks!

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse 'Impulsive Fuchsia'. I have spoken about these lipsticks before and this has to be my favourite colour from the ones I own. It is a bright fuchsia which is so, so glossy on the lips and leaves a gorgeous finish. I lovvee the packaging, it almost has a high end feel about it and the formulation is lovely! This retails at £7.99, which I think is a great price! My full review of Impulsive Fuchsia can be seen here.

Elf  Lipstick 'Nicely Nude'. This is from the eyeslipsface mineral line and is my favourite highstreet nude. Its that 'my lips but better' in colour and has an almost matte finish when first applied, but when built up gives the slightest gloss finish. It is really pigmented and I think this shade would suit all skin tones aswell as work well with both a dark and nude eye! This lasts for ages on the lips and is a bargain at £5.

Miss Sporty Perfect Colour Lipstick 'Innocence'. I have owned this for ages now and is one of my most worn lipsticks. (as you can see I have nearly finished it!) It is a light, bright, but wearable pink that looks lovely for a night out, or even to add a pop of colour in the day and I love how this works against my dark hair. It has slightly sticky feeling on the lips, but not in a bad way, this means it stays on for a long time. I'm not actually sure if this shade is still available, as I bought this so long ago, but the range is definitely worth checking out as they are only £2.59 each!

Revlon Lip Butter 'Sweet Tart'. These lip butters are very popular and I for one love them. Of the few that I own Sweet Tart is my fave. It is a lovely bright pink with a slight berry under tone, which makes it so wearable. They are very similar in formula to the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse lipsticks, although I would say the Lip Butters are creamier. It is so moisturising and leaves a lovely glossy finish. Lip butters retail for £7.99. 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain 'Rendezvous'. Revlon have been bringing out some amazing lip products recently, firstly Lip Butters and then these! So, i'm slightly cheating with this one as it isn't exactly a lipstick, but I love it all the same. Rendezvous is a bright coral colour which I lovee and is the dupe for the Clinique Chubby Sticks. I love the crayon packaging and how it applies. It can be softly worked onto the lips for a sheer wash of colour or built up for a intense bright lip. I have done a full review on this, which you can check out here. The Balm Stains retail for £7.99, although they are on offer in Boots right now for £5.99!

Hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to leave requests on which top 5 you would like to see next! What are your top 5 lipsticks?

Monthly Roundup: June!

Can you believe that June is over already, and that we are now over half way through the year!? June has been a pretty good month for me (besides the awful weather we have been having!) and I wanted to share some of my favourites from the month with you!

Garnier Summerbody// Aussie Volume Shampoo, Miracle Hair Insurance, Dual Personality Heat Protection// Revlon Lipbutters Lollipop, Sweet Tart, Strawberry Shortcake// ELF Nail Polish Mint Cream// Mac Scene Eyeshadow// DIY Studs// Simple Eye Makeup Remover

What did you love during June?

May Favourites

For me, May has dragged a little bit and it seems forever ago that it was April, which is probably because I spent most of it rushing around finishing and handing in my last essays and pieces of coursework for this year of uni. May however, was a good month for products and I have really been loving what I have been using, so here's my May favourites :)

First up is ELF's cream eyeshadow in the shade 'Bronzed'. I'm a huge fan of a brown smokey eye, and this works amazingly well as a base for that. It is a gorgeous brown bronze with gold flecks, but isn't overly shimmery. This doesn't crease on my lids and a little goes a looong way. At only £3.50, I love this, and will definitely be trying out some different shades.

Next is No7's Stay Perfect Nail Colour in ' Damson Dream'. It is a lovely rich, deep maroon red shade. Now, this isn't your typical summer colour, and I actually got this around Christmas time last year, but I have been loving it for night time. You can pick this up at Boots for around £7. 

Here, I have paired it with Deborah Lippmann's 'Razzle Dazzle' on my ring finger. The two shades work perfectly together!

Mac's Fix+ is something I have always seemed to have sitting on my dressing table, but didn't often reach for, as I had originally bought it as a setting spray, and prefer my Urban Decay All Nighter. Recently I have been reaching for this a lot more, to actually use along side powder products. I have been using this a lot this month with my Mac MSF Natural, spraying a duo fibre brush before applying the product, I find this way it glides onto the skin and leaves a really flawless finish!

 Becca's Beach Tint in Watermelon is something I have spoken about before in my 'Everyday Makeup' post a few weeks ago, and I have still been using it every single day. It is a lovely my lips but better shade, and is great for this time of year, as I can apply it once in the morning and it will act as a stain on my lips throughout the day, without the sun melting it off.

Nars 'Deep Throat' blush is also something I have spoken about before and I have actually done a whole blog post dedicated to it. I love this blusher so much, it is a gorgeous colour with just the right amount of shimmer. This will definitely stay a favourite for a while!

I am always on the hunt for that perfect bronzer, something that isn't too shimmery, doesn't make you end up looking orange or muddy and suits my skin tone. This month, I have found myself reaching for Bourjois Chocolate Bronzing Powder in shade 52. I love the scent of this bronzer, and it gives a lovely warm glow to the skin. I think my next bronzer purchase will have to be Nars Laguna, as I have heard so many good things about it!

As for skin care, this month my skin has been playing up, and whether it be a product i'm using, or something I am eating, I have had a few break outs. With all this hot weather we have been having, the last thing I want is to have to wear lots of high coverage face products to cover my blemishes and have it melted down my face half way through the day. My solution to this has been the Clean and Clear range. I have been using the Exfoliating Daily Wash in the morning, followed by the Dual Action Moisturiser, both of which are targeted at combating redness and spots. This has been working really well for me, it's gentle enough not to irritate my skin, but has definitely helped with any blemished. 

 And thats it, my May favourites! Hope you enjoyed this post :) What have your favourites products been for the past month? X

NOTD: Mint Green

I have been loving all things pastel recently, from clothes, to makeup and my nails. Today I painted my nails with a mint green shade from ELF (eyeslipsface) called 'Mint Cream' and I absolutely love it!

Admittedly, these ELF nail polishes are not the longest lasting, but at £1.50 and with a gorgeous range of colours, that can be forgiven. With a descent top coat, this usually lasts me around three days.

This polish can be purchased from the eyeslipsface website. Have you been loving the pastel trend? 

Summer Blush

Summer is fast approaching and we who love makeup have to work around this! Over winter, I was a real fan of the whole vamp look, with a dark rose cheek, but now Summer is almost here, I wanted to switch up for something a big more natural. After having a route through my collection, I picked up my Nars Deep Throat blush (which I had worn for months and absolutely loved last year) which had got pushed to the back of the pile. Now I have found it, I remember why I loved it so much!

It may have a bit of a rude name, but it really is the sweetest blush. It is a coral pinky shade with shimmer, and leaves a soft, natural glow to the cheek. I have been using it for both day and night time and think it works nicely both ways. In the day, a natural flush of colour on a nude face and at night compliments a brown smokey eye well. I have been applying it with both the Real Techniques Blush Brush to bring it from the cheek back towards the ear or the Smashbox Baby Buki to keep it on the apples of the cheek.

                                                            Nars 'Deep Throat'


Nars products can be expensive, so if you are looking for a more affordable dupe, Elf do a blush in the colour 'Tickled Pink' which is pretty similar in colour, though has a lot less shimmer.

                                                     
                                                              Elf 'Tickled Pink'

Left- Nars Deep Throat   Right- Elf Tickled Pink

I love this blush and it will definitely be my go to blush for the Summer! What Nars blushes do you love? x