Top 5 Beauty Tips And Tricks For 2016

(Image Made By Me)

I thought about doing one of those 'New Year New Me' posts where I'd reminisce about 2015 and tell you what I want to do this year. However, that just seems so predictable and samey. So instead, I've decided to do a post all about beauty tips and tricks as I thought this would be a little more useful for all of you.

1. If you find your favourite mascara drying out, never fear! Just add a few drops of eye drops into the tube, twist the wand around inside to mix it up and there you go, good as new. Don't worry about this messing with the formula, I've not had any problems so far and I've been doing this 6 months or more. 

2. Spray your perfume onto your hair to make the scent last longer. I'm not sure why this works but I do it all the time. It works especially well on freshly washed hair, I think it locks in the scent better. I spray the perfume into the air and walk into it, letting it fall onto my hair.

3. Apply lip balm before you brush your teeth. Leave the balm on for a few minutes to let it soak in and moisturise the lips and any dry skin. Then, brush your teeth and your lips. The lip balm will have softened the dry skin making it come off a lot easier and leaving you with smooth lips.

4. This might be an obvious one for some people but it's a favourite of mine. If you feel you have dark and/or hollow eyes, you can add a slight bit of shimmery eyeshadow or highlighter into the inner corner. This will open the eye up, making it appear brighter. 

5. If you shave (I mean instead of waxing, epilating, etc.), try using hair conditioner instead of using your usual body wash/shaving foam/whatever else you may use. Conditioner helps the razor to glide across the skin leaving you with a smooth finish, it also moisturises the skin and helps against razor burn.

There we have it, my top 5 beauty tips and tricks for 2016!
I hope you all have a wonderful year and achieve everything you set out to.


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Thanks for reading :)

Becky
XO

'Tis The Season To... Wear Darker Lips

Now it's December it's officially okay to wear darker lips. Some people have been wearing darker lips for a while now, but I find myself only reaching for my darker lipsticks when it starts to get just that little bit colder. There are three lipsticks that are always my go-to's and there's one to suit every budget!

Clockwise From The Top:
Mac Matte in Shade Russian Red //
 No7 'Stay Perfect' in Shade 35 Grace //

Rimmel 'The Only 1' in Shade 800 Under My Spell

Mac // No7 // Rimmel

As I said before, there's one to suit every budget. Rimmel 'The Only 1' is £6.99, No7 'Stay Perfect' is £9.95 and the Mac Lipstick is £15.50. I know Russian Red can be worn all year round, and I do wear it all year round, but I think it's fitting for this time of year. It's a bit deeper than a lot of other reds and gives a somewhat festive vibe. 'Grace' by No7 has been a firm favourite of mine for many years now, where as 'Under My Spell' by Rimmel is a very recent purchase. I've only worn this lipstick once but I love the colour and it has good staying power. You can also layer it up to make it more of a darker purple.

Which are your favourite lipsticks for this season?

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Thanks for reading :)

Becky
XO

Collection's New #MakeupPalettes

The makeup brand 'Collection' have released four brand new makeup palettes. I first found out about this release when I read Victoria's (Inthefrow) blog post. You can find her post here if you want to check it out!

These were released on the 14th October, I made sure to order mine as soon as I found out about them as I was worried they might sell out. I got mine online from Boots and had them delivered to store so they were ready for me to pick up the next day. I actually only ordered three of the palettes because the other one wasn't appealing to me, more on that below. At the moment, you can get 3 for 2 across all makeup at Boots, so I managed to get one of the palettes for free, which isn't bad at all considering they're already pretty cheap.

The three palettes I got are:

#BlushAndGlow - £4.99

 

This was actually the palette I ended up getting for free in the 3 for 2 deal. It comprises of four products, a bronzer/contour, highlighter, a blush with shimmer and a blush without. I really like this palette, the bronzer is great for contouring and is the perfect shade for my pale skin. The highlighter is subtle and not too over the top. I've only tired the matte blush so far but the shade is lovely and gives you a rosy glow. The shimmery blush is nice when watched so I think I'll be trying that when I next go on a night out.

#FaceTheDay - £6.99

This palette consists of 4 shimmer eye shadows, a shimmer blush, a bronzer and highlighter. I nearly didn't get this palette because it didn't shout out at me. I only got it in the end because of the 3 for 2 deal. Don't get me wrong, it's a good all round palette. I just wish the eyeshadows were matte instead of shimmery and, I haven't used the bronzer yet, but it looks a bit orangey. You never know though, I could love it once I use it. Overall, I like the palette and all the products included have good pigment to them, but I feel like Collection went a bit shimmer crazy with all the eye shadows, blush and highlighter. I just prefer it when the shimmer's optional and you can add it to your look with highlight. Does anyone else feel this way...?

#ConcealAndLightLikeAPro - £5.99

 

This is the palette I was most excited about. I have dark circles around my eyes, so thought the colour correcting would be perfect for me. Also, I often find it hard to find a concealer that matches my whole face (if that makes sense). I don't wear foundation in the day so sometimes concealer can make my skin look blotchy if it doesn't match properly. This palette has four shades of concealer that can be blended together to create your perfect shade. It also includes three colour correctors; Yellow for brightening and correcting dark circles, purple for correcting yellow tones and green for correcting redness. There is also a cream highlighter in this palette.

The fourth palette in the line is called #YourStyleYourMood. It's an eyeshadow palette made up of 2 matte shades and 8 shimmer shades. I decided not to get this one because there are already some eyeshadows included in the #FaceTheDay palette and I don't use shimmery shades all that often anyway!

To create this look, I first colour corrected any problem areas using the #ConcealAndLightLikeAPro Palette. I used the green corrector to correct redness around my nose and also put it on top of any red blemishes to tone them down a bit. Next I went in with the yellow around my eyes to cover my dark circles and finally used the purple for the slight yellowness I have around my mouth. After this I used the lightest colour concealer around my eyes. I will warn you, when using this around your eyes it will most likely sink into any fine lines as that's what it did on me. Also, I found it didn't do a great deal for covering dark circles so had to use my Revlon Colour Stay Concealer over the top. I then went on to make my correct concealer colour to conceal any blemishes, the concealer in this palette is very buildable so is good for covering blemishes. After this, I blended it all in with my beauty blender and set it with the Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot powder. 

Next up I used the bronzer, highlighter and matte blush from the #BlushAndGlow palette. I used the bronzer to contour my cheeks, forehead and around my nose. Then went in with the blush on the apples of my cheeks and finally the highlighter on my cheeks and down the centre of my nose. 

I decided to give two of the eyeshadows from the #FaceTheDay palette a go. Unfortunately, due to my hooded eyes *rolls eyes*, you can't really see them and I didn't want to do it too OTT as I was going to work straight after shooting this image. However, I can tell you that I'm quite impressed with their pigment and will be using them again. 

I finished the look off by using my usual eyebrow products, YSL Babydoll Mascara and a touch of colour on the lips using the 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze in Elderberry that I got in this months Birchbox (You can check out that post here).

Will you be trying out any of the new Collection palettes? If so, which one takes your fancy?

Becky
XO

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Go Emoji Crazy With Birchbox's August 2015 #Beautyjunkie Box

This is the cutest Birchbox I have received so far! It's got all these little beauty themed emoji's all over is and I just think it's so lovely and playful.

In the box you get the usual information booklet along with 6 beauty/hair products in a drawstring bag. Also in this month's box you get a set of emoji stickers, you can just see them peeping from behind the lid of the box in the picture above.

1. Rituals Rice Scrub - Organic Rice Milk and Cherry Blossom. 

This smells DIVINE. As soon as I smelt it I basically made my mum smell it too because it's just that good! It smells so fresh and clean, if that even makes sense. The scrub is quite coarse so will be good for exfoliating legs to get rid of any dead skin cells before hair removal. It states in the booklet that it can be used on sensitive skin and when it comes into contact with water it turns into a foaming cream. I can't wait to try this one out!

2. Kebelo Clarifying Shampoo.

To be honest, this doesn't really smell of anything. I don't mind that it doesn't have a scent because, on the bright side, at least it doesn't smell awful. I quite like clarifying shampoos because I have an oily scalp and they help to get rid of any excess oils and product buildup. It says to apply once or twice a month, I believe this is so you don't remove too much of your natural hair oils as this can cause your scalp to become dry and irritated. 

3. BioNike Cleansing Water.

This is a fragrance-free cleanser that is suitable for 'hypersensitive and intolerant skin'. It is meant to sooth spots and leave skin feeling smooth and soft. Apparently you massage this into your face and neck using your fingertips, afterwards you wipe off the excess with a cotton pad, sounds interesting! One thing I like about receiving these little samples from Birchbox is that they are great to use when travelling. My normal cleansing water/toner is in a largish bottle, so now I can just take this instead. 

4. thebalm Cosmetics Balm Desert Bronzer.

A teeny bronzer sample from thebalm. The last product I received in my Birchbox from thebalm (the Cindy-Lou Manizer) was really good so I'm looking forward to using this. It's a really subtle and natural shade, perfect for my pale skin! There's a tiny bit of shimmer but nothing too over the top. 

5. Lord & Berry Blush in the shade Lotus.

This is a gorgeous rosy pink coloured blush, perfect for giving you that natural rosy cheek look. The booklet says that this is buildable so you can either create a natural look or add a pop of colour to your cheeks buy building it up. The texture of this is lovely, very silky smooth.

6. L. Erickson Grab & Go Ponytail Holder.

To put it simply, this is a hair bobble (or hair tie, whatever you may call them). There is no metal on the bobble which means no snagging! I probably wouldn't go out with my hair in this because it's silver/grey and my hair is a darkish brown so it stands out a mile. However, it'll be perfect for bed or when I'm doing my make up. 

There you have it, that's this months Emoji crazy Birchbox in a nutshell!

I hope you enjoyed this post, if you want to be updated on my latest posts you can follow me on Bloglovin' by either clicking the widget to the right of this post or by clicking here :)

Becky

XO

Best Highstreet Make-up Buys

Most of the make up products I use are from either Boots or Superdrug and are high-street brands, I only use one high-end product in my daily make-up routine, so I thought this would be the perfect post for me to do. The reason I only really use high-street products is because I don't see the point in spending loads of money on make-up when brands such as Maybelline and Revlon are just as good. 

A lot of the face products featured in the post are geared towards oily/sensitive/combination skin, so if you fall into that category, these should be perfect for you.

May have cheated slightly by using a Ted Baker make-up bag, but it was a gift, so no harm done!
Unfortunately, it's last season so it's no longer available.

Face Products

From Left to Right:
Boujois Healthy Mix Serum / L'Oreal Paris Infallible Mattifying Primer / Revlon Colourstay Concealer

L'Oreal Mattifying Primer:
Primer isn't a product I use every day. I use it when I know I'll be out a while and there'll be lots of pictures being taken so I want my skin to look flawless, such as special occasions or nights out. This primer is the best one I've ever used, I'd tried a few before this but they always seem to go 'bobbly' when I put my foundation on top. The reason I like this one is that it's very smooth, doesn't feel heavy on the skin and, best of all, it's mattifying. I've talked before about my oily skin and this definitely makes the oil stay away and keep my make up looking shine free.

Boujois Healthy Mix Serum:
I also don't use foundation every day, but this is definitely the one I reach for when I do. I'm sure a lot of you will have heard about this foundation before as it has been raved about a lot! This is a Gel Foundation, which is something I'd never heard of before I tried this, and let me tell you, I'm so glad I decided to try it, it is by far the best foundation I've ever used. Due to the gel formula it's glides on skin and isn't heavy in the slightest. It's quite runny when you first pump it out but then when you start to apply it, it seems to thicken and create a beautiful finish on the skin. I've used a large range of foundations in my time and never before stuck with one as long as I've stuck with this. My shade is '52 Vanilla'.

Revlon Colourstay Concealer:
This concealer is one of my everyday products (by everyday I mean when I'm leaving the house for longer than 15 mins!). I tried the Collection concealer that's mentioned everywhere but found it was too thick and didn't blend well, also the shades didn't match my skin well, one was too light and the other too dark. That's when I came across this beauty. I'm shade '02 Pale' and it matches my skin perfectly. It's light on the skin but easily covers blemishes and dark circles.

Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder

Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot:
This is a translucent powder designed to get rid of excess shine and oil and mattify the skin. As use this powder as it allows for your skins natural colour to come through, I only use this in the summer when I have been on holiday and got a bit of a tan. In the winter I switch to a coloured powder to add a bit of warmth to my skin. This powder does what it says on the tin(?), mattifies the skin and gives a 'ultra-light, smooth velvety finish'.

Seventeen Define and Conquer Contour Kit

Seventeen Contour Kit:
Next up is this Contour Kit by Seventeen. I started using this because I needed a new bronzer, saw this and thought I might as well try it out as Seventeen products are usually pretty good. This comes in different shades, mine is in 'Fair'. In all honesty, I don't often use the highlighter side, only because I tried it and didn't think it did much for me. As for the bronzer side, I find it is great for my skin tone as it's doesn't go on too heavy and is matt (no shimmer) so looks natural.

Natural Collection Blusher

Natural Collection Blusher:

This is probably the cheapest product out of all the ones featured in this post, at only £1.99, it's a steal! The colour I use is 'Peach Melba'. I use this all year round as it gives a very warm peach tone to the cheeks and looks extremely natural. 

Eye/Eyebrow Products

Left to Right:
Revlon Lash Potion / Soap & Glory Supercat Liner / GOSH Kohl Liner / Soap & Glory Archery Eyebrow 2-in-1

Revlon Lash Potion:
My eyelashes are very straight with barely any curl in them so I've tried countless mascaras to try and make my eyelashes curl and stay curled. This mascara does just that. It gives eyelashes amazing lift and volume, helps them to stay curled all day. The brush is quite big and has bristles (not plastic) so it grabs every lash.

Soap & Glory Supercat Felt Liner:

If you're a felt liner kind of person, this is definitely one you should check out. It stays on all day and dries quickly so it never smudges. The nib has a fine tip so you can create really thin lines or super thick ones, you only have to draw the line once to get a jet black finish.

GOSH Kohl Liner:

This liner glides on so smooth, it doesn't drag the eye lid at all. It stays on all night without transferring onto the upper lid, but if you wanted it's creamy enough to smudge out and create a dramatic smokey eye. I've used this for years and never found another eyeliner that lives up to it. 

Soap & Glory Archery 2-in-1:

As you can see from the image, this product is so well loved all the information has come off the tube. One end of this is an eyebrow pencil which is a twist up, so no need to sharpen, and the other end is an eyebrow brush. I use this very lightly to define my eyebrows and then brush out to make them look natural. The colour I use is 'Hot Chocolate'.

Maybelline The Nudes Eyeshadow Pallette

Maybelline The Nudes:
I bought this last month whilst I was in the airport as I wanted a powder to use to fill my eyebrows and thought this would be perfect as I can use it for both my brows and my eyes. The reason I pencil and then also fill my brows is because my eyebrow hairs are quite thin and can look sparse, so I use both to create a fuller look. You can probably tell the ones i usually use for my brows are the two at the top right and the second one in from bottom left. There are also some beautiful shimmer colours to create a lovely bronzed eyeshadow look. These eyeshadows are very pigmented and have amazing staying power.

What are your favourite high-street beauty products?

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Becky
XO