Makeup Monday #4 Enhancing Eyeshadow

Eyeshadow is one of those makeup items that many people do not regard as a staple. Let's face it, if push came to shove, mascara and concealer are most people's 'desert island' products. I'm not here to dispute that, but I do have a love for eyeshadow (and more specifically, finding the perfect neutral shades to enhance my eye colour). Finding the right colour palette for you is part colour theory, part trial and error. In this post, I talk about both. If eyes really are the windows to the soul, good eye make-up is like finding a beautiful pair of curtains. So if you feel your nets are looking a bit yellow, or your chintz pattern is a bit dated...

Does Makeup Matter Anymore?

Now that many people are self-isolating or social distancing, does makeup really matter anymore? If you're inside, no-one outside of your home has to be subjected to that huge blemish on your chin. Who is going to know if you don't fill in your eyebrows this morning? Who cares whether your nails are painted anymore? If you're out in the world at your workplace, is it now ludicrous to apply a layer of mascara in the morning? 

3 Lush Products for the Stressed and Sleep Deprived

Having problems sleeping or relaxing in the evening? I am at the moment, but that's the start of term for you. I could send you to sleep by elaborating, but instead I'll share with you three Lush products that could help you relax, unwind and hopefully reach the Land of Nod a bit quicker... 

5 Summer Skin Must-Haves for Pale Skin

Whether I wanted to or not, I don't tan. This is something I have come to accept. There's nothing wrong with being pale- I enjoy it- but I do like to give myself a bit of colour in the Summer months. Here are some products I've been using recently to give my pale skin a touch of Summer glow.

How to conceal purple under eye circles

Excuse the creepy peeping eye (left)!

One of the trials and tribulations of us make-up and beauty obsessed individuals is the curse of dark under eye circles. Let's put things into perspective before I begin: this is a real first world problem. A completely vanity-induced issue- but then again, having the knowledge to correct (or improve) this area of make-up application can give you a lot more confidence and project that you are actually part of the living world, even when you feel like a bit of a hag!
I have purple under eye discolouration which shows up splendidly through my pale skin. Using colour theory, I have learned that yellow concealer can brighten this area and counteract the purple tones. Equally, bluish tones can be corrected using peach or orange-toned concealers which I also use. I have experimented successfully with two yellow concealers recently and wanted to share my results because colour correcting is currently being talked about a lot in the beauty community. Make-up artists have been using this theory for decades, but what can the average consumer achieve with it? 
As you can see, the colour wheel shows how skin tone issues can be corrected with the opposite facing colour. There is much hype about this technique at the moment and many products are now on the market that suggest they have the potential to correct redness (green concealers), sallowness (lilac tones) and under eye circles (orange, yellow and even red shades). For under eyes, I have found a cream concealer works best for me. This is because they adhere well to the skin and pack plenty of pigment- something I need! Saying that, I am a bit crepey under the eye, so careful application to the area of concern only is how I apply. I find that careful blending with the heat of my ring finger and a small dab of powder once I have applied some Nars Creamy Radiant concealer in Vanilla works well. 
So what brands do these yellow concealers come from?

Novel and Unique Christmas Gift Ideas

Co-workers often laugh at how early I get my Christmas shopping done, but a bit of Late October planning and early November purchasing helps me to have a little spending money come December. And yes, I'll also confess that I have a "Christmas spreadsheet"! Ultimately, I love giving presents to people that I care about. Even on a slightly tighter budget this year, it gives me a lot of joy to choose things that might bring some happiness to peoples' days. On a selfish level, I love to shop around for gifts, especially online, because it means I can distract myself from more onerous tasks like housework and lesson planning! 
Here are some novel gift ideas that I have either given in the past, or would purchase for the special people in my life...

How to achieve a 'no make-up' make-up look

'No make-up' make-up must seem a bizarre concept to those who take no interest in beauty products. The idea that you apply a range of products to your face, only to try and achieve the appearance of wearing no make-up is quite strange, but it's also something that really interests me. When your intention becomes to appear bare-faced, you have to think about application in a slightly different, more strategic way. You have to learn to accept what you are working with and make only slight adjustments to your natural features. Here's my run down to a 'no make-up' make-up look. Click below to see the results:

How to Wear Green Eyeshadow in the Daytime

When you think of green eyeshadow you may think of 1960s mod make-up with dramatic thick eyeliner and a bold explosion of colour all over the lid. I know that when I started collecting Mac many years ago, I was keen to get my hands on a whole spectrum of eyeshadow shades, including bright greens and blues. Understandably, I haven't used these shades as much as I use my neutrals (in fact, if I'm honest, they haven't had much use over the last year or so at all). The problem with these more vibrant colours is that they don't appear to work for everyday, understated make-up looks. The 1960s make-up styles are fabulous, but let's face it, they would certainly not be appropriate for my workplace!

Making a House a Home: Tips for Personalizing your Abode!

 My home is certainly not an ode to Instagram or Tumblr-worthy, but I like to think my partner and I have given it some quirky little touches over the last few years to make it, well, ours. I spent most of my 20s living in basic rented accommodation (i.e. bedsits and small flats), therefore I know it can be difficult to make a white-washed, clinical space, or an out-dated rental into something that feels like it's personalized to you and your tastes. I still don't own a place, so it is important to me and my partner that our rented home can at least feel like it belongs to us, even if we can't decorate it how we might want.

This post is dedicated to those that want some tips to make their room or home look cosy and personalized:

How to cope with stress: 5 tips

Many of us lead incredibly stressful lives. Are you reading this now, whilst simultaneously thinking that you have a list of things you should have done today? That sums up my thoughts as I write this. It's the start of term and the amount of things I am expected to juggle is enough to make me curl up in the foetal position and start to cry! In fact, I already had a little cry this week because I was so overwhelmed by it all. Maybe I'm not the most qualified to offer advice on this topic, but I'll share my thoughts anyway, why not!

How to choose a career: 5 tips

Early acting ambition

From the very first years of school, we are encouraged to give an answer to the question: what do you want to be when you grow up? And we are encouraged to believe that "yes, of course you can be an astronaut, a film star, or even a dinosaur, if that's what takes your fancy!" because of course anything is possible if you want it enough.
But that is not reality for most people.
Now don't misunderstand me here. I am not saying that we cannot have dreams, or even fulfil the goals that we set as children, but these things don't just happen. Also, our interests and aspirations can change a lot over time. And that's ok. 
So here are my thoughts on how to decide on a career or job, based on my own experience so far:

Mac Foundation shades for cool, pale skin: NW10, NW13, NW15

NW10, NW13, NW15

This is a post aimed at showing you the difference between the cool (NW) Mac shades at the paler end of the spectrum. If you're not near a counter and are not sure how pale the colours are, this reference guide is for you. I am by no means a professional, but I can tell you about my own experience with these shades.

The lazy guide to skincare, on a budget

It's great to know that people who've read my posts on skincare seem to enjoy them. This post is inspired by a conversation I had with a friend of mine, who like many busy people, like the idea of taking steps to better their skin or their routine, but don't have the inclination, time or budget to do so. I have found some lower budget options here that I would either recommend from experience, or from reading positive reviews from others.

How to Banish Shiny Skin Without Powder

I am prone to having some unwanted shine on my T-Zone, even though my skin is dry. I wanted to share a few products that I use to mattify these areas, without drying them out with powder:

Left to right: Garnier Perfect Blur; Mac Matte; Nars Instant Line and Pore Perfector

How to keep blonde highlights bright, featuring Bleach London products

 

I had my hair subtly highlighted about a year ago, and recently I had it re-done to go a bit blonder for Summer. I wanted it to look 'grown-in' and not put bleach on my roots, so my hairdresser did a full head of randomly placed highlights through the lengths. This what it looked like after I got it done.

How to be confident

When I was thinking about writing this post, I thought to myself: are you really in a position to be giving advice about confidence? The answer is yes and no.

2000: Quite quiet                      2014: Quietly confident!

Like most teenagers, I wasn't the highest in self-esteem, but quite good at hiding it most of the time. Actually, I used to worry about a lot of things, but I rarely told anyone. Things like whether I would stumble over my words if I spoke in class? Was I ever going to grow any taller? (The answer to that was no!) Were people laughing behind my back? Did people think I was ugly? Or boring? 

I guess, the typical paranoid worries that a young girl might have.

I could say that I don't have any worries now, but I'm not going to lie, I do. It's just that I have become quite good at putting things into perspective. And as a result, I would now say that I am a confident person, most of the time. 

Knowing Your Skin: Caring for dry, fair complexions

It took me until my mid twenties to really get to grips with my skin type. As many people do, I saw myself as pretty invincible in my teens and earlier twenties. Getting the occasional sunburn, picking spots and scratching my eyeliner off with cheap face wipes just didn't seem a problem. I always got told that I looked young for my age, and the idea of looking older was more appealing to me than preserving what I had! Not that I was hell bent on torturing my skin, I just didn't believe that my bad habits were going to make any impact.

Exfoliating From Head To Toe

It's something we know we should be doing, but often leave out of our routine. Exfoliation is the best way to aim for clear, bright and blemish-free skin. Here's how you can reap the benefits from head to toe.

Quality 'Me' Time

Leading hectic lives, involving work commitments, family pressures and structuring a social life; it isn't any wonder that we find ourselves wondering when we might get some breathing space for ourselves. Whatever our situation, for most people there come moments when it is hard to find that time; for some, there is too much of that time available and life can become monotonous. But this isn't a post about boredom or loneliness. I want to talk about  finding quality 'me' time- time where you truly feel happy, relaxed and content.

When spots attack: products to fight back!

There are many causes of facial spots and I can only talk in this post from my experiences of the little (or sometimes MASSIVE) blighters that have taunted me over the years. This is not a post aimed at those with more severe acne, but at those who encounter pimples regularly and want to know what they could try in order to avoid them hanging around and also reoccurring as often. One thing is universally true about skin break-outs: they usually occur exactly at the moment when you have an occasion where you want to look good- school photos, dates and weddings are favourites for those bastard blemishes to make an appearance. I am of the thinking that if there are things you can try to fight back, you should do it (within reason, of course). I am fortunate enough not to have major acne problems and I can only sympathise with those that have, but I do often experience flare ups which range from minor 2-3 day to fortnight-long battles. Rarely am I blemish-free for long before another rears its ugly head.

Firstly: prevention.


It makes sense that if you can create a happy environment for your skin, it will behave itself more than if you deprive it of what it needs. I won't be a hypocrite and say I am the healthiest eater- far from it, but it makes sense that if you're not feeding yourself with the necessary elements of a balanced diet, your body will rebel, inside and out. If you do one thing for your skin, eat fruit and vegetables as part of your daily diet. If you have to, take vitamin tablets, but ideally you should try to incorporate the foods you need into your eating plan. If you are not eating any fruit or veg, an eating plan or eating re-think may be your path to less volatile skin.