14 Life & Beauty hacks

These are my quick and easy 14 life and beauty hacks just to make your life that little bit easier! Some of these you may already know and some of them you might not so I hope you learn something new and can be that little bit lazier in the future.

1. Soak your beauty blender!

Beauty blenders are a great tool for when apply your make-up and they are huge at the moment, but some of you may not know that soaking your beauty blender in water before you use it will help with a smoother application. 

2. Masking tape for the perfect wing!

I always use a small strip of masking tape on the edge of my eye to help get that perfect sharp and straight line for my winged eye liner. One important thing is make sure you use masking tape because regular tape is to adhesive and could irritate your skin.

3. Spray Bobby pins with hairspray!

If you struggle with keeping you up do in place and the Bobby pins always slid around or fall out, then try spraying them with a little spritz of history before you put them in. This will help them grip to your hair and stay in place.

4. Don't dot, Triangle!

When applying concealer under your eyes do not just dot it in a straight line underneath, draw a triangle under your eye and this helps avoid a thick appearance and brighten up the area.

5. Don't pump, Twist!

I see so many people pump there mascara to try and get more product on the wand!! NO! This pushes air into your mascara and makes it dry out a lot quicker. So to get more product on your wand twist it as you're pulling it out this helps prevent your mascara from drying out and therefore it will last longer.

6. Cut the tops of bottles for left overs!

When you think you have finished a product and you're about to throw it away try this first and you'll be surprised at how much product is actually left. So about 2 inches down the tube cut right across, you can then use the top part that you have cut off as a lid and VUALA! You have more to use.

7. Vaseline around your varnish bottle!

You know when your varnish dried up and its next to impossible to remove the lid! Well here is a hack that can get rid of that! Rub Vaseline all around the neck of your varnish bottle and this will stop your varnish from gluing shut.

8. White shadow to brighten up your eyes!

When doing your eye make-up you want your eyes to look wide and bright, to do this you can apply a white eyeshadow to the inner corner of your eye and it will make a HUGE difference.

9. Cold spoon for eyes and spots!

If you're prone to red puffy eyes, or a big nasty red spot has appeared on your face here is a nice quick and easy hack to solving that! Pop a teaspoon in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then rest it over your eyes this will reduce the puffiness and if you hold it over any spots this can help reduce the redness.

10. X on your cupids bow!

To help get that perfect lip line draw an X on your cupids bow to help define it then outline the rest of your lips as normal and apply the lipstick.

11. Quick dry nails!

I always realising minutes before I need to leave that I haven't painted nails, and I rush to do them and they end up all smudge and ruined because I'm not allowing them to dry. This is a super quick and easy way to dry your nail varnish, once you've painted them dip your nails in really cold water for about 10/15 seconds and you've got dry nails in no time at all.

12. Scrub your lips with a toothbrush!

If your lips are a bit dry and you want them to look nice and smooth under your lipstick this is a clever little hack that you can add to your beauty routine. Gently scrub your lips in circular motions with a toothbrush and this will remove any dead skin and help smooth them out and plump them up a bit.

13. Vaseline before your perfume!

If you want your perfume to last a bit longer throughout the day then apply a small amount of Vaseline to the areas you're spraying and this will help the perfume almost stick to your skin so you can smell lovely for the rest or the day.

14. Keep make-up wipes next your bed!

Now I have a make-up removal and cleanse routine before bed, but sometimes you either forget or you just cannot be bothered! The amount of times I have got all comfy into bed and then realised I have still got my make-up on is ridiculous, you then have to get out of bed and get to work but with this hack you can forget that! Keeps some make-up wipes next to your bed so on those lazy days or when you just forget you can stay in bed and just use a wipe to remove your make-up.

I hope you guys have enjoyed my Life and Beauty hacks and these will help make your life that little bit easier! Leave comments with your favourite hacks because I am constantly looking for ways to make my life simpler cause I'm lazy!

Talk soon x

Autumnal Make-up

This is my darker autumnal make-up as promised! I am in love with this look and I hope I am daring enough to wear it out and about more often because it's Autumn and that means dark cosy colours. These are the products that I used to create my wonderful autumn look.

Arbonne - Perfecting Liquid Foundation, Honey Beige

Revolution - Bronzer, Bronze Shimmer Highlight

Revolution - Eyebrow kit, Light Medium

Urban Decay - Naked palette

Maybelline - Master Precise liquid liner

MAC - Matte lipstick, Diva 

I went for the typical Autumnal look with a lovely gold and brown eye shadow with a good old cat flick eyeliner, and of course I chose a gorgeous dark red/purple berry lipstick, Diva is a perfect shade for Autumn time I am soo in love with it and I have my boyfriend to thank for this lipstick! Such an amazing present!!

Now enjoy some pictures of my Autumnal face...

(My attempt at winking! Oh how I wish I could wink)

Talk soon x

How I clean my make-up brushes

Cleaning your make-up brushes is a mundane task but it is one we all must do!! It is so important to clean your brushes I would say at least once a month, every day you use those brushes to apply your make-up your picking bacteria that is on your face, you then leave the brush and let the bacteria sit there, you then come back the next day and use the same brush you're now rubbing bacteria into your face and picking up more bacteria into the brush. It's just one nasty cycle and if you suffer with acne or spots from time to time this could help sooo much! I know no one really wants to do it but we have to and here is how I clean mine.

First off all I pop my brushes under running water, keep in mind that you don't want to use hot water because if it gets too hot it can start to melt the glue and loosen the bristles in the brush! So I use cold or warm water to wash my brushes.

I will then put a pump of hand soap on all of my brushes and my beauty blenders. There are products out there which are specific soaps for cleaning brushes I have never invested in those because soap works perfectly fine for me! I will then rub that into my brushes and beauty blenders and you can watch all the old product squeeze out! Do not rub or pull on your brushes to hard because eyou could pull out the bristles.

I will then put them back under the running water and give them a gentle rub and with the beauty blenders continuously squeeze them until the water runs clear. You can repeat the soap step again if the water still doesn't run clear but just remember not to be to ruff with the brushes.

I tend to spin my brushes in-between my hands, I don't like to whip them to try and dry them because this can be quite harsh on the glue which may have loosened up in the process of cleaning. I give my beauty blenders and good squeeze to try and get most of the water out.

I then leave them hanging off a side so that they can just air dry I tend to leave them there for the rest of the day and over night! Just look at how clean they are now, that makes me so happy that the tips of my brushes are now white again!! Although it doesn't stay that way for long. Just remember how important it is to clean your brushes, so if you're reading this thinking to yourself "When was the last time I washed my brushes??" Then go do it now!!

Talk soon x

Autumnal Make-up look & Hair style

 Autumn is here!!! Autumn has to be my favorite season of the year, it is a warm cosy season where you can snuggle up on the sofa with a nice fluffy blanket, drinking hot chocolates with beautiful scented candles all over the place!! Ohh heaven!

I decided to do an Autumnal inspired make-up and hair look, this make-up probably isn't as dark as I would usually go for in Autumn but that is because I wanted to create a look that a lot of people would be comfortable with trying out, and I know that dark eyes and lips are not for everyone! I will be doing another Autumnal look which is a bit darker for those of you who are feeling a bit more daring.

I have also gone with a nice, simple and easy up do for my hairstyle I love plaits in the autumn I think they just suit the season, if that makes any sense at all!

Enjoy! 

Products used:

Revolution - Ultra base corrector palette

Rimmel London - Lasting finish foundation

Collection - Lasting perfection concealer

Revolution - Vivid baked highlighter

Revolution - Bronze simmer highlight bronzer

Make-up Academy - Baked bronze bronzer

Revolution - Focus & Fix eyebrow kit

Revolution - Unicorns Unite eyeshadow palette

Revolution - Just Me eyeshadow

Maybelline Ney York - Master precise eyeliner

Revolution - Awesome lash mascara

Revolution - Ultra velour lip creme - Say yes, it's what we do best

Make-up academy - E1, E2, E3 eyeshadow brushes

Real Techniques - Domed shadow brush & Multi task brush

I hope you have enjoyed this Make-up and Hair inspiration post for Autumn, if you recreate this look be sure to tag me on instagram or twitter.

Talk soon x

Make-Up Academy haul

I have mentioned this company once before, and that was in my What's in my make-up bag post, I have bought the highlighter powder and I remember saying that I've never heard of Make-Up Academy but it was really good quality. My friend Charlotte had recently purchased an eye shadow palette and a blush from MUA she said to me how amazing they were and how cheap it was, so I had decided because I do love my highlighter it was probably worth investing in some more products from them, so I went online and just bought a load of stuff to try out, so here it all is for you!

These are the MUA LUXE whipped velvet blush, they cost £3 each which I thought was amazing!! so I decided to buy 4 of them! They are in the shades (from left to right on the swatches) Rococo, Spry, Hedonic and Chichi. They are lovely creme blushes and I'm very excited to try them because I've never used a creme blush before.

This is the Undress your skin Baked bronze, I got this for £3! This is GORGEOUS I love the detailing in this and I can't wait to see what effect it has on the skin! But if my face ends up looking as beautiful as this bronzer I will be happy.

This is the Undress your skin, Illuminating liquid glow in the shade Champagne and this cost £4. I was tempted to buy this because so far I have only used powder highlighters and I think you could get a better effect from a liquid, I could be wrong but now I can find out!

This is the Brow define tinted brow mascara, in the shade fair and it was only £2!! For that reason alone I had to buy it, but honestly I have never used any brow product I always just leave my brows au natural so I thought I would join the craze and see how good I could get my eyebrows looking.

 

This is the Undress me too Eyeshadow palette I got this for £4 which I think is an amazing price for a palette! The reason I bought this was because it was the one that Charlotte had and as I mentioned in my August favourites I am loving gold shimmer shades so this palette is perfect for me and I can't wait to play around and see what looks I can create.

Finally I decided to buy a setting spray, this one is the Pro-base mattify fixing mist and it cost £5. I wanted to get one of these because I have never tried one and I want to see if it actually makes a difference and helps keep my make-up on for longer. I also liked the look of this one because it is a matt spray so it will hopefully help prevent my face from looking oily throughout the day!

There was an offer on at the time, I think it's over now, but because I spent £30 I got three free eyeshadow brushes! They are super soft and quite full so I'm excited to try them out and I'm guessing I will be investing in some more of there make-up brushes because first impressions I love them!!

I hope you have enjoyed this little haul and it has helped you with deciding what to spend your money on next! Also let me know what your favourite make-up brand is so that I can splurge out on some more make-up!!

Talk soon x

Big Box of Lame

Ahhh I'm so excited about this!!

I saw this on Owen Frosties blog and I loved the look of it so checked them out online and it just seemed like such a cute idea that I wanted to buy myself a Big Box of Lame! I very excited to see what's inside mine so let's get into it!!

This is the whole content of the box, it is packaged in such a fun way, it comes with a personalized letter for you and its filled with shredded newspaper so you have to rummage through to find your gifts! It just makes it all a bit more fun.

So first of all I found this little cute badge of a soft orange bird! I am in love with this little fellow and I'm still trying to decide where to keep him, let me know in the comments where you think I should put this little birdy!

I then found this little pocket mirror with a lovely quote on it! "You're prettier when you smile" I love this little mirror and I think I will keep it in my make-up bag!

This is a little badge with a tiny baby squirrel, again no idea where I will use it but I will find a home for it!

Then I found these stickers!! I am so happy I got these stickers I really wanted them! They are so funny and just perfect I want to buy another packet just so I can stick them on every note book I own and on my desk and just all over the house!

I also got these stickets and they are the funniest, sweetest things ever!! I don't know which one is my favourite but I love the "Bitch, Peas" one and the "Olive you, Olive you too" but I could sit here and type them all out because I kind of laugh at all of them so just have a read through yourself!

This keyring is great! It basically explains my life because I am always looking for my keys, I don't think you can really read it but underneath the "I found them" it says in brackets "(AGAIN) and that is what makes this perfect for me.

Next I got these little a6 art pieces, I love the Do more of what makes you happy because I try and stick to that moto throughout my life. The think outside the box is a clever concept and pretty motivational! The floral one is just pretty and that little cloud one is beyond cute, they are all upset so they cry!! I will probably put these up on my wall above my computer, just to try and make my room look cute!

Lastly I got this note book, I love the front it just basic but great! I will more than likely use this to do some blog planning because I always have great ideas!

This whole box is very rustic and I love it, it's a brilliant idea the box only cost £11.50 and it's a lot of fun! Plus it is basically a surprise gift for yourself and who doesn't love that!

Talk soon x

P.S My Cousin/Best Friend Sophie turns 19 today!! Happy Birthday Sophie!!

Make-Up Revolution competition prize

OMG!!!!!!!

Words can not explain my excitement I literally can feel my heart pounding, as soon as I saw the package I was like a kid on Christmas morning, and then I opened the box and couldn't believe what I saw! Let me just quickly explain because for those of you who don't follow my social media you'll have no idea what I am on about, I won a completion from Make-up Revolution and it was a prize bag of a £100 worth of make-up. I know £100 is a lot but I also know that make-up is expensive so I guess I just wasn't prepared to receive sooo many products, it has made me realise that Revolutions products are reasonable priced! Anyway lets get into why you are all here and that is to see what products I had received in my prize box.

Eyeshadow palettes!

Redemption Palette - Iconic Elements £4

Redemption Palette - Essentials Shimmers £4

Salvation Palette - Hard Day £6

Salvation Palette - What You Waiting For? £6

Salvation Palette - Unicorns Unite £6

Salvation Palette - Ultimate Colour Chaos Palette £6

ULTRA Professional Eyeshadow - Eyes Like Angels £8

They are all so beautiful right! and seriously cheap, that's 128 colours in all those palettes and for all of them that would cost you £40 and if like me you're a huge Urban Decay fan well that wouldn't even buy you one of their palettes! So yes you get a great deal for your money and all the shadows are amazingly pigmented.

Other palettes!

ULTRA Blush Palette - All About Cream £6

Highlighter Palette - Highlight £8

ULTRA Base Corrector Palette - Corrector £6

Focus & Fix - Eyebrow Shaping Kit, Medium Dark £2.50

I think out of these four I am most excited to try out the corrector palette just because I cant wait to see how well it works and if it really can cover up dark circles and red blemishes ect. also can I just say how cute is that brow kit, with the tiny tweesers!! But they all look beautiful and again such cheap pricing!

Individual Eyeshadows/Mascara!

(From left to right) Just Me, Mountains Of Gold, Smokin 1, In The Deep & Blow Your Whistle £1 each

(I LOVE how many gold shimmer eyeshadows I have got in this prize bundle! Like I said in my August Favourites I am loving them at the moment.)

Awesome Metals Eyeshadow - Black Diamonds £4

This comes in a little set with a liquid eye primer and a mixing tray, I'm pretty excited to try this out because I've never used anything like it.

Awesome Lash Power And Definition - Ultra Black £3

Individual Blushes!

Blush - Wow! £1

The ONE Fluid Blusher - Rush Me £1.50

I have never used a liquid blush but it seems cool, could get quite messy, we will have to wait and see.

Lip Products!

ULTRA Velour Lip Cream - £1.50

Move Your Mouth Forever, Nude

Not One For Playing Games, Plum

Say Yes, It's What We Do Best, Red

Salvation Velvet Lacquer - £3

 Velvet Depravity, Purple

Lipstick - Scandalous Felony £1

There are some crazy colours here but also some that I will use very often, but I can't wait to play around and experiment with them.

Face Products!

Vivid Baked Highlighter - Peach Lights £3

Bronze Shimmer Highlight £4

ULTRA face base primer £5

Pro Fix Amazing Make-up Fixing Spray £5

That is everything!! Do you now understand my love for this brand!? All of that for £100 that's a hell of a lot!! I am still in complete shock that I won this, I never win anything and this is by far one of the best things I could have won!! This post is not sponsored, I just thought I would share all the stuff I got with you. I will also be doing individual reviews on these products as I use them over time, so if you would be interested in that please let me know what you would like to see reviews on!

 I hope you have enjoyed this and I would definitely advice buying and trying some of their products they are just so well priced and my first impressions are amazing so give it a go! My make-up storage is filled with Make-Up Revolution now!!

Talk soon x