Inside My Makeup Bag

I know there is a lot of 'Beauty Bloggers' out there and people have their own ideas about makeup brands, but I just wanted to do a post of the products I use. I am not one for 'high end' makeup I use your everyday Boots/Superdrug high street makeup. Its affordable and in my opinion the products I use are just as good as some of the more expensive ranges.

FACE

I use L'Oreal True Match foundation in the shade 'N5' or 'Sand'. It is £9.99 in Boots, although I managed to get my last ones on offer, 2 for £15. Also Boots run their 3 for 2 offers every so often. Good to keep an eye out for them.

Its a liquid foundation that comes in a 30ml pump bottle. I use a foundation brush to apply it and the brush I use I bought for £1 so it wasn't expensive either. I think it goes onto my skin easily and it covers well. Also as its name states it comes in 20 different shades so finding your true match should be easily done. I know that it was for me.

For my bronzer I have using MUA Bronzer in Shade 2. MUA Cosmetics is only available in Superdrug stores and this bronzer is only £1! No that is not a special offer. As this post goes on you will be seeing a lot more MUA products and when you see the prices you will understand why I love them so much! I only use a small amount of bronzer on my face as I don't use blusher so I don't want to have big brown cheeks. Even so, this bronzer lasts for AGES! As you can see from my picture the writing has worn of the packaging I've had it that long. Bargain buy.

Then we have my highlighter. This is again MUA. It is called Undress Your Skin. It is a highlighting powder new to the MUA range. They have two shades in this 'Pink Shimmer' and 'Iridescent Gold'. I bought the 'Iridescent Gold'. As it is new I only purchased this recently so I have only worn it a few times, but so far I really really like it. It is applied so effortlessly and I think it sits really well. It does have a bit of a shimmer to it but not in a childish glittery way and for £3 it is another bargain buy. 

Finally to finish off my face section of my makeup bag I have MUA Matte Perfect Loose Powder. This is only £2.50 for a 15g tub and it is Translucent. I LOVE this stuff. It is great for setting your makeup in place and I love that its translucent. I have never liked having a powder that I have had to pick a shade because I find it sometimes took the look of my foundation. This goes on so perfectly and because its 'Matte Perfect' it has what they call shine control. It really does take away any annoying shiny parts of your face. For me its my nose. Plus you don't need to use a lot of this so the tub will last for a very long time. 

EYES

I'll start with my two eyeshadow palettes. Both of these are MUA Cosmetics palettes. The first is the 'Glitter Ball' palette (Black) and the other 'Romantic Efflorescence' palette (White). There is 12 colours in each palette and each colour has their own name printed on the back of the packaging which I think is a nice touch as most eyeshadow palettes just come as they are. These are £4 each which again is very cheap for an eye palette and they are long lasting good quality. I don't have a favorite out of these two. I normally mix and match some of the colours from each palette when I am doing a smokey eye. Although I do tend to use 'Romantic Efflorescence' shades for a more daytime look and the the bolder 'Glitter Ball' shades for nights out. 

For my liquid eyeliner I recently have been using '2True Effortless Eye Liner' and it is 'Shade 1' which is Black. It is only £1.99 in Superdrug stores. Personally I don't know what to make of this product. For me it is certainly not effortless, but I don't know if that is due to the eyeliner itself or the fact that I am maybe not very good at putting it on. I find that sometimes I have to go over it again cause I can see lighter bits and this usually results in me making a mess of it especially when doing winged liner. But once I have it done it is amazing! It doesn't smudge, it stays put. Maybe if I master applying it I might like it a lot more but for £1.99 it is good value.

I then use a pencil eyeliner for my waterline and lower lash line. I use 'MUA' pencil eyeliner in 'Jet Black'. This is only £1 and again it's a great quality product. It stays on all day and the lid of the pencil has a built in sharpener! What more could you want!

I have been looking high and low for my perfect mascara. I've tried numerous ones from 'Avon' and cheaper ones from the likes of 'Miss Sporty'. Then I came across this, 'Barry M Showgirl'. I buy the 'Extra Lengthening' one and it only costs £4.99 in both Boots and Superdrug, not expensive at all. So far I love it. My lashes do look noticeably longer and I will definitely be sticking to this mascara.

Now for the brows! I have a friend who is a makeup artist that recommended this product to me, it is 'MUA Pro-Brow'. I use the 'Fair - Mid' shades. Love, love, love it! As you can see from the front of the packaging it has four sections. Two shades of brown eyebrow makeup, a highlighter and wax. I tell everyone about this product. It costs £3.50! And I think it is the best high street eyebrow makeup there is! It is a proper little kit. Inside is the Pro-brow makeup, mini tweezers, application brush and mirror on the underside of the lid! Honestly I have stocked up on this, definitely one of my "must haves".

LIPS

I have a small collection of lip liners. I only bought ones that I needed to go with the lipsticks that I use. The three 'MUA' ones I have are 'Brooding Plum', 'Pink Me Up' and 'Berry Wine' (which they class as an eyeliner). These are £1 each and like the eyeliners have a sharpener on the lid. Handy. The brown one I have is 'Cinnamon' from 'Natural Collection'. I bought this in Boots for £1.99 and out of them all I use this one the most as I would normally wear nude shades.  To be honest I would recommend them all. They do the job and work well with the lip colours I own.


This lipstick is from 'Victoria Jackson' and unfortunately you need to purchase any of her products online. If you buy from her website (http://www.vjcosmetics.com/ ) it is all in American currency, but you can get some products on ebay. This was a present and it came with a whole set of lipsticks, eyeshadows, blusher, mascara and a set of brushes, so I can't tell you how much it would cost or the shades of any of the lipsticks. But this pinky shade I keep with me as it was my favorite out of them all.


Back to 'MUA Cosmetics' for my everyday, daytime lipsticks. These are from their 'Matte' range and the two I have here are 'Totally Nude' (lighter shade) and 'Fancy Fawn' (darker shade). I really do like these. I'm a bit of a sucker for the matte look. Out of the two I have to say I prefer the 'Fancy Fawn'. I find the 'Totally Nude' a bit light for me, although I have seen it on others and it does look lovely. I will definitely buy more of these and they are also £1 each. You really can't complain.



Now, its time for the mothership! This is 'MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer' and they are £3 each. The reason I call these the mothership is because they have changed my lipstick choices forever! BEST BUY EVER! It is sooooo matte, I love it! I just want to shout about it from the rooftops. The colours available are so vibrant and very nice shades. The four I have pictured here are: (in order) 'Tranquility', 'Dare', 'Reckless' and 'Halcyon'. I'm in love with all of these colours! I can't even find the words to describe how pleased I am to have these in my life!
Want to know more? Read my full review of this lip lacquer! >> CLICK HERE <<

xx

My New Lip Find

I was out treating myself to some new make up products the other day and one thing on my list was some new lippy.
Personally I love the matte look and I have a small collection of matte lipsticks (most of them are from MUA cosmetics). I am always searching for a lipstick that stays on and that is cheap. This is why I have bought a few things from MUA cosmetics. Their make up products start from £1! And I know people get put off by this as they automatically assume the products are of cheap quality but I love the quality of their stuff. If you were to empty out my make up bag more than half the items in there are MUA cosmetics.
But anyway...
I came across this new "MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer".
It comes in like a lip gloss bottle with lip gloss applicator. When you first open it and apply, it looks like lip gloss and at first it feels kind of similar to gloss but after a few seconds it drys matte. It is amazing! Is thick so you don't need to apply loads and the pigment in the colour is on point. Most importantly, it does not budge! There isn't a huge range of colours, I think they have about 10 maybe but the colours they do have in it are really nice.
The picture below is just a quick picture off the internet to show you all what it looks like. There are more colours available.

MUA cosmetics can be bought online at: http://www.muastore.co.uk/

Or

You can get MUA cosmetics on the high street, only in Superdrug stores. 

As well as this lip lacquer they do have a range of matte lipsticks which I also like to buy. The matte lipsticks are £1 and this lip lacquer is only £3. Mega bargin. 

I personally like the shades "Tranquility", "Halcyon" and "Serene". I'm really into my 'nude' shades at the moment but I am going to be adding "Reckless" and "Dare" to my collection soon as I like a bold colour for a 'going out' look. 

Below is the packaging the lip lacquer comes in. Just so you all know what to look out for. It doesn't look cheap so no one need know you only spent £3! Our little secret ;) 

xx

Hair Treatments

Some people ask me about hair masks and treatments wanting to know what ones are the best to buy So I have decided to make a list of a few of my favorites for you all.

The ones I have chosen are from Sally's Salon Services.

Starting  with the cheapest:


ion Reconstructor Treatment 
http://www.sallyexpress.com/reconstructor-treatment-sachet/ 

• Single use 
• Cheap and cheerful 
• For damaged hair 

Osmo Colour Vibrance Mask 

http://www.sallyexpress.com/osmo-colour-vibrance-mask/ 

• Multiple uses 
• For coloured hair 
• Keeps colour vibrant 
• Good value for money 

Matrix Total Results Strength Pak 

http://www.sallyexpress.com/total-results-strength-pak-intensive-treatment/ 

• Multiple uses 
• For damaged hair 
• Reinforces hairs cuticle 
• Good value for money

Wella Brilliance Coloured Hair Conditioning Mask 

http://www.sallyexpress.com/wella-professionals-care-brilliance-coloured-hair-medium-conditioning-mask-treatmentscolour-pcare/ 

• Multiple uses 
• For coarse hair 
• For coloured hair 
• Enhances colour's vibrancy
• Good value 

xx

Hair Advice: Fine Hair

Since I made a blog post on dry/damaged hair I decided to try to give some advice to anyone who has thin or fine hair.

I personally have thick hair myself  so I haven't tested any of these products on myself, but I do have a few family members who struggle with trying to make their hair look and feel fuller. Using my hairdressing knowledge I was able to advise them on what products to use and give them tips on a few do's and don't's. So this blog post is based on my knowledge and their findings. 

First off you can use a volumizing shampoo. If your hair is soft do not use conditioner as this will just make your hair look flat. However, if you have damaged or split ends then use a small amount of conditioner only on the ends of the hair. Whatever you do do not put any conditioner on to your roots. At all. No. Don't do it. 

Towel dry or blast dry the hair to get rid of the excess water. Now while the hair is damp what you need is a volumizing mousse. Apply this evenly throughout the hair and make sure you get enough through the roots of the hair. Some product ranges have a volumizing blow dry spray if you can get yourself one of these then spray this evenly on each section of the hair while you are blow drying. 

To do a volumizing blow dry you need to take your hair in sections. Apply your volumizing spray if you managed to get one. Use a round brush, make sure to get it right in at your roots and use a slight upward motion when blow drying. In a rush? A quick blow drying tip is to blast dry your hair upside down. Volumizing hairspray and very very slight backcombing will finish the look off.

My sister struggles with having very fine hair and she has tried a few different ranges and so far her favorite has been John Frieda: Luxurious Volume. 

This range can be bought on the high street so it is easy to get your hands on. It has everything you will need from the shampoo at the beginning right through till the hairspray at the end. Below I will include the links to some of the products available from John Frieda at Boots. 

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Touchably Full Colour-Treated Hair Shampoo

http://www.boots.com/en/John-Frieda-Luxurious-Volume-Touchably-Full-for-Colour-Treated-Hair-Shampoo-250ml_1423049/

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse 

http://www.boots.com/en/John-Frieda-Luxurious-Volume-Thickening-Mousse-200ml_9588/

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Fine-to-Full Blow Out Styling Spray

http://www.boots.com/en/John-Frieda-Luxurious-Volume-Fine-to-Full-Blow-Out-Styling-Spray-100ml_1307215/

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Hairspray 

http://www.boots.com/en/John-Frieda-Luxurious-Volume-Thickening-Hairspray-250ml_9668/

xx

Hair Advice: Dry/Damaged Hair

So as a hairdresser I thought my first real blog post should be about hair.

The most common problem people have with their hair is that is dry and/or damaged due to colouring or excessive straightening. Also no one gets their hair cut as regularly as they should. It is recommended that you should get your hair cut every six weeks this is the only way to get rid of split ends. The longer you leave it the more they split. The more they split the shorter you will have to get your hair cut.

To take control of dry/damaged/frizzy hair the one product I recommend is Argan Oil.

After washing your hair give it a really good towel dry and/or a quick blast dry with the hair dryer leaving the hair damp. Comb the hair through from tip to roots making sure its free from tats. For thick hair that is very tatty I suggest using a 'Tangle Teaser'. Then apply the Argan oil through the mid-lengths and ends of the hair. If your hair gets greasy easily avoid putting it onto the roots of your hair. Then dry the hair off as normal.

Also use a heat protective spray for further protection. Spray this after the Argan oil before blow drying the hair. Then spray it through each section before straightening or heat styling. 

Argan Secret is the one I have used on my own hair as I use it in the salon and get it from the wholesaler. It can be expensive but if you are spreading it evenly through your hair then you wont need to use much so it does last for a few months. There is cheaper options available on the high street. 

Here is some links for my recommendations from Sally Salon Services.

Argan Secret Hair Oil

http://www.sallyexpress.com/argan-secret-styling-range-3-for-2--hair-elixir-oil-from-marrakesh/

Indola 4+4 Heat Protect Spray 
http://www.sallyexpress.com/indola-44-heat-protect-spray/

Tangle Teaser
http://www.sallyexpress.com/tangle-teezer-detangling-brushes-pbrushes08_pink/

xx