UPDATE: Holiday posts!

I'm going on holiday tomorrow, yayy!

Instead of uploading random posts, I thought I would post pictures of my make up, and a small description of what I'm wearing and how I did it.

Hope everyone is having a great day so far...

xoxoxox

Primers that can withstand the weather!

So as the title suggests I will be talking about which primers I think are the best...and can withstand any weather!!

As I have oily skin, a primer is a must for me otherwise my make up is off by lunch time. A lot of primers I have used before, I wore them because I thought I should and not because I thought they worked.

However there are a select few that I think do work...

The good all rounder;
The Smashbox Photo Primers are really lovely, they have a variety of different ones for every skin type,and they give you a nice smooth base for putting your make up on. I have to say I don't think these keep your make up on much longer, but the make up wears better throughout the day...if that makes sense. So by 12 pm I will probably still have to touch up, but my make up wont be noticeably off as usual just shiny...



These primers are available at boots and start from £12.50

The best one for pores;
The Algenist Pore Corrector Anti-Aging Primer' is a brilliant one for someone who has quite porous skin. It has quite a velvety matte texture, and when you rub it in, it just gives you this amazingly smooth skin. I have used this quite a few times and I really liked it, and I do think it made my make up last longer than normal. As an added bonus, it is anti-aging, and helps refine pores. The only thing that worries me about this primer is that it has silicone in it, (the reason why it gives such a smooth surface) although it is a natural one, my skin doesn't mix well with silicone....

This primer is £34 and is available at SpaceNK

The best one for oily skin;
The Hourglass Mineral Veil Oil Free Primer  is by far my favourite out of all these. I honestly cant say enough good things about this primer! Its and oil free primer, keeps your make up on all day (and I mean all day!!) and makes anything you put on over the top waterproof. Not only that but it sets your make up from underneath, so you don't actually need to powder afterwards, which is brilliant as that dewy look is what everybody wants right now!
Here is the downside... this primer is £52 for 30ml, however one pump should do your whole face and therefore the bottle should last 6 months. (you can get a 10ml bottle for £20, but that isn't really great value)



This is available at Spacenk

For Radiance;
I actually have two favourites for added radiance;
The Laura Mercier Radiance Primer and the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. Although the beauty flash balm, is not officially a primer, its a brilliant make up base. I think both of these are fairly similar the Laura Mercier primer being just a tad more shimmery and the beauty flash balm has anti aging benefits. These are the best for giving you a beautiful glow, but aren't gonna be amazing for longevity.




The Laura Mercier radiance primer is £28 and is available at Spacenk



The Clarins beauty flash balm is £29 and is available at Boots


So there we go, that is my pick of the primers, I hope this helps as I know it can be hard picking a primer!

xoxoxo

Lipstick lover...the final hurrah!

For my final installment in the lipstick series...

Reds

My absolute favourite bright to wear....if I am going to wear a statement lip, you can be pretty sure it is going to be red!

My all time favourite is a really dark red.. Hourglass Opaque Rouge in 'Icon' . This is your classic red; timeless. It was actually created for Madonnas last tour.

However now that it is summer, I have been drawn towards the orange toned reds. My favourite, (which I don't think will be a surprise as everybody loves this) is MAC 'Lady danger'. This is your Scarlett Johansson red, very bright, perfect for summer.

So there we go, my favourite lipsticks....I hope these posts were helpful and weren't too long for you!

xoxo

Lipstick lover....continued

Welcome back to the second part of my lipstick series!

So if I haven't bored you enough lets move onto...

Corals
I have to say I find corals quite hard to wear, so I don't have tooooo many. I absoloutly love them, but on me, it just feels...weird. However, if I do wear a coral, in tends to be pretty bright, and the focus of my make up.... My favourite (and probably the only one I wear) is Hourglass Opaque Rouge in 'Muse'. This is just the most beautiful coral, it is super super bright as you will see down below, but it isn't tooo orange!

The Hourglass opaque rouge lipsticks are amazing, the go on like a gloss, then dry as a stain and last ALL DAY (I might actually do a review on them, as they are just TOO good not to!)

Sometimes if I want a more glossy texture I add Revlon Lip butter in peach parfait...

Muse with Peach Parfait on top

Peach Parfait on its own

Berry tones

MY FAVOURITE FAVOURITE!!
I love Berry tones, if I am in a rush or cannot be bothered thinking of what to wear, I always go for a berry shade. I have two that I love, one is a lip butter and the other is a lipstick....depending on whether a want an intense or casual look
The Lip butter is Revlon in 'Berry Smoothie'. This was the first lip butter a bought, and the only one I have repurchased...it is just the easiest texture and colour to wear, I love it!

The lipstick is Nars 'Dressed to kill' which I would describe as a satin finish, so still comfortable to wear. It would be a deeper berry colour than berry smoothie, with less pink in it.

Next time (if you are still awake!); favourite reds!

Lipstick Lover...

 So I was sorting out my make up a couple of days ago, and while I was going through my lip products, I subconsciously started to make a list of my favourites... which I later thought would be a good post...so here goes!

 Nudes;

I like quite a dark nude (with a hint of pink) As I am quite pale, light nudes just wash me out. My all time fave is Revlons 'Blush';

This is quite a neutral nude; Satin finish; very comfortable on. I usually put this on straight from the bullet, however if I wanted a really block nude I would put a lipliner on underneath (something like No7s nude)

I also love Lipstick Queen, 'Saint pinky nude' but I don't have it...as yet!

Pinks;

I love my pale pink lipsticks, so it's very hard to choose, especially when most of my lipsticks are pink. Pale pink was always my go to colour, but in the past year I have been swaying towards berry tones... however never fear. I still have my favourites! 

My all time favourite would have to be without a doubt MAC 'Snob'. This was probably my first ever MAC lipstick, my mum bought it for me for Christmas, and I wore it religiously! It is quite a blue toned pale pink.

A more recent favourite would have to be Chanel Rouge Coco shine in 'Saga'. I have only had this for about 2 months, but every time I want to wear pink, I head for this! (I believe this is limited edition, part of the 'Avant-Premiere de chanel collection.) This on the other hand, is a very warm pink.

In terms of dark pinks I usually go for quite a warm pink, my favourite being Kevyn Aucoin 'Forever'. This is quite a reddy pink, and a matte texture which I love, because it lasts all day but is still comfortable on the lips.

I also like Mac 'Impassioned' which is quite similar, but cooler toned.

Forever (top) Impassioned (bottom)

Part 2 will be Corals and Berry tones which will be up in a couple of days... if I continued on now you will all be asleep!

Exercise and Breakouts

To begin, I should probably tell you my skin type; I have oily acne prone skin. Constantly have either active breakouts or under the skin ones, so I try my hardest to keep them at bay.

However the last couple of months, I have really been getting into fitness,going to the gym about three to four times a week, and around this time my skin has been getting a lot worse...

Now I know that working out won't cause breakouts....but it did get me thinking about exercising and breakouts. So I came up with a few tips to make sure you don't break out just because you decided to work up a sweat!

1. One of the most important things is to make sure you are not cleaning your face too much. If you cleanse more often than you should then you are stripping your skin of all the natural oils, so your skin will overproduce more oil....hello breakouts!

If you go to the gym in the morning then just splash your face with water, then cleanse after the gym, if you go in the evening, cleanse before you go to take off your make up off and then after you can do your second cleanse and the rest of your routine. This just means you aren't cleansing too much but you are still cleaning your skin after the gym!

2. Another tip is to try not to touch your face when you are actually at the gym, I know this can be quite hard, but bacteria on your hands will definitely mount up from all the gym equipment and sweat, and you don't want to put that on your face! if you need to wipe your face, use a clean dry towel.

3. Also if you have long hair, make sure you pull it away from your face as you don't want any additional dirt or oils clogging your pores!!

4. Lastly and probably MOST importantly, drink lots of water...more than you normally would, as you are sweating more...so need to keep hydrated!

I hope this helps :)

Best ways to remove make up

The only thing I hate about make up is, how annoying it is to take it off. Especially when you wake up in the morning with panda eyes!!

Having said this, there are a few types of products that for me make this task a LOT easier...

Cleansing balms/Oils

I have put balms and oils in the same section because they work in pretty much the same way, and alot of balms turn into an oil when mixed with water.

At the minute these seem to be the most popular products to remove your make up with..definitely the quickest and most effective way...NO PANDA EYES!

Directions; apply to dry skin and massage it in, this will dissolve all your make up. Even eye make up!

My favourites have to be the Emma Hardie cleansing balms and Nude cleansing oil.

Micellar waters

Again a very popular product at the minute. Micellar waters are great for taking of your make up on the go, or if you are just taking makeup off to put it back again (hence VERY popular with make up artists). In this sense they are great make up removers, but not great cleansers. They are not effective as your one and only cleanser...double cleansing would be a good idea.

I love these for removing my eye make up. So gentle.

The one I am using at the minute is the Ren Micellar water, but I do prefer the Bioderma Micellar water.

For me these two types of products are the best at removing make up. You can use cleansing milks, but this takes a while, and after trying for five minutes I always find myself reaching for....

Wipes...AKA the best way NOT to remove your make up!

I hate wipes, for several reasons;

1. Harsh and abrasive even so called 'gentle' ones still hurt my skin

2. Unhygienic... you are just moving make up all around your face...not washing it off

3. Used as an eye make up remover can cause wrinkles!!!!

So please think twice before using wipes!!

Hope this was useful