Hate Removing Make Up? Here's A Quick And Easy Solution

I absolutely love applying my make-up every single day, but I hate hate hate with a passion removing it all! It can seem like so much effort, especially when I'm really tired and just want to go to sleep! Most nights I tend to use some form of make up wipe to remove my make up, and then wash my face with my Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub, and these can seem like a long and boring process. BUT I have recently discovered (thanks to my Mother) a little gem of a product which combines these two steps together: Olay Daily Facials Cleansing Cloths. They are absolutely amazing and so simple to use. They are so effective at removing my make up (especially my mascara) and any dirt or oil on my face. They leave my skin feeling, fresh and clean and ready for moisturising!

These lovely little cloths come in a little box like this:

And when you take them out of the box they look like this:

All you need to do is rinse the cloth under warm water and scrunch it together in your hand to release the lather:

These little cloths are ideal for travelling as you don't need to take hundreds of bottles or if you just can't be bothered with your usual routine after a night out and just want a simple solution. Not only are these super effective at removing make up and cleansing your face, but they come at a bargain of a price at only £2.95 from tesco (that's less than 10p a cloth!)

Enjoy!

To Buy or Not to Buy ...

As some of you may know I have a twin brother who is at university in Birmingham, and he very kindly rang me today to inform me of a 20% student discount River Island and Topshop are having in the Bull Ring shopping centre on Thursday. He told me that if I wanted anything I should let him know and he will buy it for me and I will pay him back, PLAN. Now being a keen RI and Topshop fan I had a browse on their websites to see if anything caught my eye ... And so it did!

River Island Bag One:

 River Island Bag Two:

  Long story short, I "borrowed" (a.k.a. stole) one of my Mum's RI bags (which is amazing by the way) and she kind of wants it back so I need to find a replacement bag! I really like bag one because of the size, but then I love the colours of bag two! I have approximately two and a half days to decide ... What should I do?! Which one should I pick?

Top 5 Favourite Lipsticks

As we all know lipstick is a key part to a girls make up - it can make or break a look. Now I don't wear lipstick that often as I'm quite picky with colours, but nonethelessI thought I would share with you my top five favourite lipsticks and tell you why I love them so much!

From Left to right: Mac in Pretty Please, YSL in Peach Passion, Rimmel London in Pink Blush, Bourjois in Rouge sure Mesure and Mac in Saint Germain.

Mac in Pretty Please

I absolutely adore this lipstick, definitely my favourite. It's just so creamy and easy to put on, and just goes with anything! As you can tell from the picture it's not very pigmented but I think that's why I love it so much. It stays on all day and has a lovely shimmer to it ... it also smells really nice! I purchased this from the Mac counter in Debenhams, but you can also get it from their website and it will cost you £13.50 - trust me it's worth the price! (http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/)

YSL in Peach Passion

I've only had this lipstick for about a month now but it's such a lovely product.  It's from the Rouge Volupte range and is creamy, smooth, pigmented, everything you look for in a lipstick! I have to apply every four hours or so but you don't need  much. It's a brilliant colour, perfect for summer time and I would highly recommend this to anyone. I always put a layer of vaseline on my lips before applying this and I find it helps to give it a bit more of a shimmery look. The only downfall is the price ... £23.50 (ouch!). I bought it from the YSL counter in Debenhams but you can also get it from their website. (http://www.yslbeauty.co.uk/)

Rimmel London in Pink Blush

Oh my god, this acually smells AMAZING! If you could eat a lipstick, this would be the one!!!! Anyway moving on ... this is just one of those lipsticks that can go with anything. Its quite a bright pink but if you apply a lib balm underneath it has a bit of a shine which I think is really nice. If you're not into super bright pinks then what I sometimes do is apply a thin layer of concealer on my lips before I apply the lipstick as this helps to tone down the brightness - this works really well with this product.  It's really smooth to put on and lasts for about three hours. It's also a bargain as it onl costs £4.99 and I got mine from Boots.

Bourjois in Rouge sur Mesure

This is my absolute favourite red of all time! The colour is from the Super Kisses range by Bourjois and is really pigmented giving an amazing matte finish. It's also lovely to apply as it's really smooth and creamy and lasts for ages!!  - honestly on a night out I only have ever had to apply it once! You only need one layer and is best applied over a lip balm. The price is pretty reasonable too and I got mine from Boots which cost me £7.99.

Mac in Saint Germain

This is a very bold, statement lipstick and you have to be quite daring to give it a go. It's pretty similar to Pink Blush but is more of a light/barbie pink colour and is more pigmented. It's in beetween a matte and sheer lipstick which is really nice and just like every other lipstick I've mentioned it's smooth, creamy and easy to apply. I do find it can dry out my lips though, so I tend to either put a lip balm underneath it or apply a clear gloss on top. It's reasonably long wearing and again is the same price as Pretty Please £13.50 and is available from a Mac counter or their website.

Well there we have it guys, my top five favourite lipsticks! What are your favourite lipsticks and why?

Max Factor Nail Polish in Chilled Lilac

 Pastels are a big hit this summer so to keep on trend I decided to purchase some new nail polishes, the first one being Chilled Lilac by Max Factor. 

 

I bought this from Boots along with another nail polish by Max Factor called Mellow Yellow and they were £3.99 each which I thought was pretty expensive, seeing as the bottles are so tiny. The formula was a little thin so I needed three to four coats to stop it looking streaky and it lasted about four or five days before it started to chip. Although you need quite a few layers to create an opaque look I absolutely LOVE the colour and I'm sure I'll be using it again and again throughout the summer!

*A base and top coat were both used for this look*

Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment

Lee Stafford - Treatment For Hair That Never Grows Past A Certain Length

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this product and one of my friends recently bought this saying she heard from a friend about how good it is, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go! I purchased this the other day from Boots and it cost £7.99 which was a bit painful as I am a student, however it helped with increasing my points on my advantage card so I can't really complain!

Anway on the tub it says:

• Vital hair and scalp complex helps to reduce hair loss
• Improves follicle health which in turn increases the ability of the hair to anchor the scalp
• Soothing formulation reduces irritation and moisturises the scalp
• Addresses hair and scalp ageing at a cellular level
• Improvement in tensile strength to give body and texture by penetrating the hair reaching the inner cortex
• Improves volume and the feel of hair

It also says to use between Lee Staffords Hair Growth Shampoo and Conditioner however I'm not going to do that as I've literally just bought a new bottle of shampoo and conditioner and I don't want to spend any more money than I have to haha! Anyway I'm going to use this treatment for two to three weeks and then write a review to let you know how I've got on. 

Current Skincare Routine

CURRENT SKINCARE ROUTINE

So for many years I had the same skin care routine, day in day out. But after a while I felt like I wasn’t getting the same results as I did in the first place, and this is because your skin can eventually become tolerant to the effects of the product. Until a couple of months ago, I absolutely swore by the Simple range of skin products, however I now use a combination of different products from different brands and my skin feels amazing! Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Simple range, it’s just that my skin has changed as I’ve got older and I’ve found that they just aren’t as effective as they used to be for me. 

In fact I would recommend the simple range for any readers who don’t already have a skin care routine or if you are a teenager and want to keep your skin in good condition, then the Simple range is perfect as they are inexpensive, easy to purchase and contain no harsh chemicals so they’re ideal for youthful skin. Anyway, moving on, here is a list of what I do to look after my skin every day:

1) Either in the shower or at my sink in my room, I wash my face and neck with a facial wash. Any sort of facial wash is usually fine but at the minute I'm loving “Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub”. 

 This is amazing because it has lots of little blue beads which help to get rid of blackheads and almost help to exfoliate your skin. I concentrate on areas where I’m prone to spots so for me that’s my nose, forehead and chin. I then rinse off the wash with some warm water. 

     2)  Next I cleanse my face with “Olay Gentle Cleansers Conditioning Milk”. 

 I do this by pouring about a ten pence piece size of the product onto my hands and massage my face and neck in an upwards circular motion. If you prefer not to use your hands then you can just pour the product onto a cotton pad instead and use that to rub the product onto your face.

     3) Then I use “Olay Essentials Double Action Nourishing & Regenerating Night Sensitive” to moisturise my skin. 

 Now I know that it says “Night Sensitive” but I use it in the day time anyway because it makes my skin feel amazing! It comes in a little tub and I just dip my finger in and put a dab of the product on my forehead, cheeks, nose, chin and neck and just massage it into my skin.

      4) Lastly I use “Sudocrem” to put onto any spots or blemishes.

  You only need a small amount and just dab a bit on your spots and rub it in.

Once this is all done I apply my makeup! Before I go to bed I remove it all with “L’Oreal Paris Dermo-Expertise Triple Active Re-Nourishing Cleansing Wipes”

 and repeat steps 1-4 again.

Tip for healthy skin: WATER!! I can’t stress how important it is to drink your daily amount of water (eight glasses a day). Water is so good for your skin, hair, teeth, body etc and so if you’re not drinking enough, then these are going to suffer. Now it may seem slightly unrealistic to drink eight glasses of water a day, and so what I do is drink at least four – one when I wake up, two throughout the day and one before I go to bed. Why don’t you try it for two weeks, and if there are any improvements then let me know!

TLC For Hair

TLC FOR HAIR

Moroccan Oil!

Last year for Christmas my Mum bought be a little bottle of Moroccan Oil for a present, and ever since I’ve completely fallen in love with it! It states on the bottle that it is actually a hair treatment, and the idea is to help prevent split ends from appearing. Now I’ve had it for just less than four months and I’m only half way through the 25ml bottle, you honestly need a tiny amount. What I do is pour approximately a five pence piece size of the product into the palm of my hand and then rub together so it’s dispersed over both of my hands.  I then run my fingers through my hair concentrating on the bottom half of my hair (from the ear down as this is the oldest hair) and also on the ends. I then pat my hands on the top of my head to stop fly aways but that’s it for the top half of hair, because I found that when I applied it it was so hard to maintain volume as the oil was weighing the hair down. I tend to apply the product after I have blow-dried my hair and before I use any hot tools i.e. straighteners/curlers. Every now and then I may put a tiny bit on after I’ve curled my hair as I’ve found it helps to separate the curls if you’re looking for a “piecey” effect. That’s it guys, give it a try and let me know if this does or doesn’t work for you!

DIY Nails

DIY NAILS

Hey guys, so here is how I created this look for my nails, it’s really really easy and I hope you enjoy it! If you’ve tried something similar to this then why not post a picture so everyone can see!

What you’ll need:

1) A base and a top coat

2) A base colour

3) A second colour (for the spots)

4) A nail art pen

Steps:

1) Apply a base coat to your nails, these tend to dry reasonably quickly.

2) Apply a base colour, at least two coats.

3) When the base colour is completely dry, simply dab random spots on your nails using the second colour. I tend to do between 4-6 spots on each nail but you can change this depending on the look you’re going for. 

4) When the spots are fully dry, draw round them using the nail pen – this can be as neat or as messy as you prefer.

5) Once you are happy with the completed look you apply your top coat.

Tip: Before you begin this look make sure that you have cut, filed and smoothed all of your nails as this will help the nail polish to stay on longer.