How To : Nail Care Routine Video

Since my nails have started to grow, I've stepped up my nail regimen again. Giving the nail a chance to shine, this is a routine that done over a period of time can help nails that are discoloured and let them shine bright.


- It's been a little while, I'm taking a some what break from social media, may have notice there is no Twitter and my personal Facebook is deactivated for the time being.

Read more How To : Nail Care Routine Video

Guest Post : Fashionicide MakeUp Rut x FOTD

I have loved Halima's blog for a while now, I've preached to friends about her blog, I've told her too. It's all her & by that I mean it's so honest, fun, warm and unique. Having her share herself on here is an honest pleasure, if you've yet to discover Fashionicide, lift up your rock and visit her blog, AFTER you've read this taster of course. Thanks to my favourite mythical creature Lima xo

HiHiHi!

I've been stuck
in a bit of a rut for a while now with my make up, particularly around
the eyes. I did mention a while back that I'd been struggling to come up
with new ideas to get away from the smokey eyes look, it's just too easy
to do!

 I realised
that my current eye make up consists of a wash of MAC's Brule on the
lids, flicked out top liner, inner corner highlight and roughly
5,838,483 coats of mascara.

Whilst going
through the motions one morning I was applying MAC's Brule and thought:
'Sack this off!' I grabbed my MAC 219 brush and applied some dark
eyeshadow to the crease, followed it around, flicked it out and blended
it in a little to stop it from looking so harsh. Here's how it turned
out:

 

 

When I looked in
the mirror, it totally reminded me of 'Mod' eye make up, and I
love the 60s era. The cut crease eye shadow, flicked out
eyeliner, the monochrome fascination... Was I born three decades late?
;)

Not only does it
look great, it's ridiculously easy to do! Now I'm feeling a wee bit
better about my eye make up and it's given me the optimism needed to try
something just that little bit different. I'm thinking next time I'll go
for the faux bottom lash look that can be achieved simply by drawing
tiny little lines under the eyes: think Twiggy. Her make up is so
striking yet so simple at the same time. Or at least it looks
simple! I'll give it a go and let you know on that one.

EYES

 

 Left to
right: MAC Wedge e/s, MAC Black Tied e/s, & MAC
Brule e/s

I know, I know...
More MAC. They do hold a special place in my heart though as I was a MAC
fanatic when I first got serious about make up, and when you CBA using
it everyday you kind of get a stockpile going.

 

 MAC
Brule

I've not hit the
pan with much of my MAC stuff but Brule is another story. I heart this
eye shadow just a little too much. As mentioned above it's one of my
everyday shadows. I find that this instantly lifts your eyes and looks
gorgeous with flicked out liner.

It's one of those
'must have' base matte versatile eye shadows. It's neutral, creamy,
halfway between beige and ivory and can look lovely on the brow bone if
you fancy some highlighting without shimmer.

 

 MAC
Black Tied. 

I actually prefer
'Black Tied' to MAC's 'Carbon'. It's a lot softer and less harsh than
Carbon and as a result is far easier to blend out. Don't be fooled by
the silver glitter running through it, it won't make it on to your eye
lids unless you apply with a wet brush. I applied this with the MAC 219
pencil brush to the crease, it is pigmented enough to draw on.

  

 MAC
Wedge

This is one of
those eye shadows that looks a bit blah. But believe me when I say it is
freaking awesome! It's a soft medium brown matte shade so it does
look pretty dull. I think this was actually my first ever MAC eye
shadow, I don't know what possessed me to buy it! I'm glad that I did
though, I used to pair it with MAC's Concrete. This would go all over
the lid with Concrete in the crease to give my eyes natural looking
definition.

Nowadays I use
Wedge to blend out colours in the crease. I have to say that I suck at
blending eye shadows on their own, but using this with a fluffy brush
like MAC's 217 or, to mix it up a bit, NARS' Large Domed brush (which is
much softer than the 217). I love how this blends in so beautifully with
other colours without detracting from that colour and it's almost
impossible for others to notice what you've done. It gives you the 'I'm
a pro at blending' look even if, like me, you really aren't!

  

Left to right:
MAC 219 and MAC 217 brushes

These 2 brushes
are also 'must haves'. I've had these babies for years and both are
still going strong. Both are quite stiff, but the 219 is smaller so
better for precision application, so you can see why it's called the
Pencil Brush! It's amazing for applying eye shadow to the outer V or
smudging liner under your eyes for the smoked out effect.

The 217 on the
other hand is more of a blending tool which helps to blend and feather
out darker colours.

  

*Elegance Blue Contact Lenses by
ColourVUE

I've also had a
few new followers ask me if my eyes are naturally blue. It made me LAUGH
OUT LOUD. I honestly think coloured contact lenses look dead unnatural
on me, but that's probably because I know what my natural eye colour is,
ha! 

I was kindly sent
a pair of blue coloured contact lenses from the cleverly named Beautifeye.

It came with a
contact lens case and 120ml of solution. These are the 3 month soft
contact lenses, the ones you take out at the end of the day, squirt on
some solution and rub for a few seconds. You then place them in the case
and fill it up with more solutions ready for next usage. 

I've worn contact
lenses in the past so I found them very easy to pop in, but if you've
never worn them before it might get a little tricky! In terms of comfort
I must say that I found them a bit odd at first, every time I blinked I
could feel an alien object in my eye followed by a flash of blue light.
After a few days though I got used to them and the blue flash stopped.

The blue is
electric and very dramatic, especially when combined with my desi skin
tone! It does go very nicely with my turquoise ombre hair, but then
again anything Aqua would! 

Do blue contact
lenses suit darker skin tones? Well I think it really depends on what
you feel comfortable with. A lot of people tend to associate darker skin
tones with dark, brown eyes and while it's true for the majority, you do
often see lighter eye colours, so who's to say that blues or greens look
unnatural? Think Wilhelmina Slater! (Not my kitten, the exquisitely mean
editor-in-chief from Ugly Betty). Personally I feel comfortable wearing
coloured contacts, it does look unnatural because of the print but I
think overall it suits me!

I'll definitely
be purchasing more coloured lenses in future, I find that they add an
instant, dramatic effect to your look and can transform your entire
facial appearance. If you feel like a change, I'd recommend it
100%.

Looking on the Beautifeye
website, I see they're priced at a very reasonable £14.99. This includes
the contacts, the case and the solution. One slight downside is that
currently they do not offer prescription lenses, otherwise I'd be all
over them like a fat kid on cake!

 

Next up, I'll
have to venture into the world of Circle Lenses, I've always fancied
attempting to create the dolly eyed look.

And the rest of my mug: 

  

FACE

Diorskin Nude
Natural Glow Hydrating Makeup in 040 Honey Beige (equivelent to NC40 -
NC42)

MAC Prep + Prime
Transparent Finishing Powder 

EYES

Clinique Brush On
Cream Liner in True Black

L'oreal Paris
VoluminousMascara in Carbon Black

CHEEKS

Max Factor
Miracle Touch Creamy Blush in Soft Candy

Sleek Contour Kit
in Medium

  

LIPS 

MAC Lady Danger
mixed with MUA Lipstick in Shade 1

I've done quite a
bit of talking on this post, but you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed
typing it all up. It may be a bit all over the place but then that's
just me. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, to the ghosts
of make up past and actually I was surprised how I still use some of the
same products as I did when I first started out, just a little
differently!

Now tell me what you think: are you stuck in a rut with your make up?
What do you think of coloured contact lenses on darker skin tones? 

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Bloglovin | Tumblr 

Read more Guest Post : Fashionicide MakeUp Rut x FOTD

Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On Kit

This was part of my #Veetdaretobare bag, I wanted to focus on this because umm Summer is supposedly coming. I normally use my epilator, sometimes if the hairs are coming through and there not long enough to epilate, out comes a razor. Granted yeah I've been a little lazy as of late and Jesus you know I just wasn't blessed with being of little hair lol. TMI but honest. That's why sometimes the up keep is tiring and a full time job.

Waxing I've done in the past, such as the homemade wax and I've previously done Laser Hair Removal and had my lady garden waxed, just being a woman is a full time gig to keep the up keep and the legs are on display a lot during the Summer (whatever that means in the UK) SO to prepare that game, lets dare to go bare with the Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On Kit*

Within this kit you get, the applicator, wax cartridge, 12 wax strips, 4 finishing wipes, holder and plug adapter. I've seen a few reviews on blogs and on retailer websites saying that 20 minutes isn't long enough for this wax but I had no problem with the wax being left on for the recommended time.

The way I see waxing it's a two day job, exfoliate the day or night before to make sure the skin is free of any dead skin and to be honest I would say do it the previous day because waxing isn't easy on the skin. You don't want to make it raw or irritated.

If there's any residue left from the wax as you can see on my last image you can use the wipes to remove them, I did have to give it quite a scrub though - never easy.

Just I think, buy extra strips that will be my wise advice for this. 12 strips are definitely not enough, not for my hairy ways. I like to wax everything all in one go from ankle to thigh. I always feel brand new once hair free and tired. This is a fuss free way, no spatulas, just an applicator & strips. Personally I love the feeling of waxing :-) so this is all me, all over!!

Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On £14.99 available from Boots & Superdrug
Veet EasyWax Refill £9.99 available from Boots

How do you get your legs bare & summer ready?

*These products were sent to me for consideration for a review. This does not sway my opinion. This is 100% my view and research is that of my own!

Read more Veet EasyWax Electrical Roll-On Kit

Macadamia Natural Oil Collection

Macadamia is a brand that combine two natural ingredients, macadamia nut oil and argan seed oil *blog world goes insane*. I've put these to the test because well I am your curly girl casualty and sometimes find if a product works well when my hair is curly, it's ideal once straight. Previously reviewed the Deep Hair Masque Repair, that product can be a tricky one to use if I'm honest but you can read my review on that. I received the Rejuvenating Shampoo, Moisturising Rinse and Healing Oil. Just about every company says that you should use all their products in conjunction of each other to get the best results, therefore I did look forward to using these.

I use a shampoo rinse before *puts on repeat* as I hate using shampoo but decided as this one says it is SLS, paraben free, it will be alright to see how it works with/without a shampoo rinse. Instead of SLS which is the foaming agent in shampoo it uses Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, the lowdown on DLS is a larger molecule that can't penetrate skin unlike SLS that are smaller and can penetrate the skin therefore causing skin irritation. DLS is safer for those even with sensitive skin.

Product Blurb:

Macadamia Natural Oil's Rejuvenating Shampoo is designed to add moisture and protection, perfect for replenishing dry, damaged hair. Sulfate and paraben free // Gently cleanses chemically treated, damaged hair // Replenishes dry, damaged hair with no heavy build-up // Builds protection from harsh daily environmental elements // Suitable for all types of hair.

Macadamia Natural Oil's Moisturising Rinse is a daily conditioner designed to nourish and detangle hair, leaving it soft, silky, manageable and ready to style. Gently replenishes moisture, nourishes & detangles // Infused with Macadamia’s unique signature fragrance // Paraben-free & SLS-free.

Our Healing Oil Treatment is a therapeutic blend suitable for all hair types and is especially beneficial to dry, damaged hair. Intense nourishment for tangle & frizz free hair // Hair that is ultra-smooth, manageable & shiny // Natural UV protection extends the life of colour treatments //Reduced drying time by an incredible 40-50%.

The Routine:

I comb out my hair before wetting it, as it's curly it needs a good detangling, I find when my hair's curly it gets so dry, so quickly and I section it into four to get all knots out and to work in coconut oil. Dampen my hair and distribute the shampoo evenly, working up a lather and cos I've already sectioned the hair it's easy to part and work each section and scratch at my scalp, that feels so good. This would be the time I can feel my hair start to feel stripped and lifeless (that feeling is horrendous) I start to rinse well with warm water.

I flip my head upside down and apply the moisturising rinse more at the roots and my ends, it glides through the hair well and smells divine. Once that has been washed out, every other wash I use the Macadamia deep hair repair masque as I was told when I got my hair last to make sure that I use a deep moisturising hair masque to repair the condition after the bleaching.

Onto the 'miracle oil' I really love, love, love this oil. My hair is sectioned to apply this, the ends and roots are most important as that is where frizz attacks first. Once I apply at the root, I drag the oil down and only get more for the ends and apply the coconut oil again. I let my hair air dry and might just scrunch the ends. For this example I put my hair into twists left it to dry overnight and took them out with the oil rubbed into my hands or simply put it into my hair as it begins to dry.

Click Here for list of Ingredients

Shampoo:

Water (Aqua), Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide MEA, Cetyl Betaine, Decyl Glucoside, Polysorbate 20, Glycol Distearate, Phenoxyethanol, Panthenol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Laurdimonium Hyddroxypropyl Hydrolysed Wheat Proteion, Glycereth-2 Cocoate, Polyquaternium-7, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract, Sea Salt, Aminomethyl Propanol, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Limonene, Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Blue 1 (CI42090), Red 4 (CI 14700).

Rinse:

Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Hydrolysed Barley Protein, Hydrolysed Wheat Gluten, Hydrolysed Silk, Hydrolysed Soy Protein, Wheat Amino Acids, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethiconol, Glycereth-26, Panthenol, Amodimethicone, C11-15 Pareth-7, Laureth-9, Glycerin, Trideceth-12, Polyquaternium-69, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Aminomethyl Propanol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum), Linalool.

Healing Oil:

Ternifolia Seed Oil, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Butyl Methoxybenzoylmethane, Tocopheryl Acetate, Isopropyl Myristate, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Green 6 (CI 61565), Red 17 (CI 26100), Violet 2 (CI 60725), Yellow 11 (CI 47000).

Smell:

The shampoo doesn't have the distinctive macadamia product smell, which is odd. Reminds me more of handwash, best way I can describe it. The conditioner carries the smell Macadamia Natural Oil users are custom to.

Overall Thoughts:

The very first use of this routine, I couldn't believe how soft my hair was. I've found that a product has to be a multi-tasker, curly hair is science to keep it happy, bouncy, soft, shiny and de-tangled but of course a lot goes into how well you grease the hair afterwards, put nothing in it, it won't be as moisturised. I'm someone who doesn't want to use 101 things in my hair to get it to a healthy and happy point. The oil is fantastic, it's something that will be purchased in a bigger bottle. I find this works better with the shampoo rinse before hand but the shampoo rinse is to protect my hair against the hard water in my area. The oil is thick, worked into the hands to put into the hair begins to thin out allowing it to be distributed smoothly. I'm yet to use the brush until my next blow-out when I want to do a length check on my hair, I'll do a separate review for that. All in all, I've been satisfied with these products.

Purchase from : Official Macadamia Natural Oil Online Store or currently of posting BeautyBay have a sale on Macadamia

Price : Shampoo from £6.45 from 100ml // Moisturising Rinse from £4.20 for 60ml // Healing Oil from £12.95 for 30ml

Have you tried Macadamia Natural Oil Products?

* These product was sent to me for consideration for a review, this doesn't sway my judgement. Words, research and images are that of my own unless otherwise stated.

Read more Macadamia Natural Oil Collection

Real Techniques Core Collection + More

Having had these brushes in my arsenal for around 6 months now, I thought now was the perfect time to review them. I don't normally do brush reviews immediately ( or any reviews quickly ) because there items I like to see how well they last after numerous washes and uses. I'd rather put out a review where something has really been for a test drive. Here I have the Core Collection, Kabuki brush, Blush Brush and Setting brush. You will notice the stippling brush in the holder, read that review here.

I have had brush sets that have ranged from £15 - £180 and they've all been used and cleaned the same way and it's funny that some haven't even lasted a year before they glue becomes loose inside and the hairs start to shed dramatically and completely fall out.

I get so shocked & misled by reviews because people pay money for brushes that are sold at such a high standard and yet you get such a bum deal in the long run. So before I go reviewing and recommending sets for people I wanted to see how these lasted. Being that these are permanent brushes I did take a slight advantage. Sorry!

Core Collection £21.99(*)

Blush Brush £9.99(*)

Setting Brush £8.99(*)

Kabuki Brush £11.99(*)

Products : Within the Core Collection (orange) includes four brushes, Detailer, Pointed Foundation, Buffing and Contour plus a dual carrier and stand. The other three singular brushes are the Setting, Blush and Kabuki. The designs of the brushes add flavour to the other brushes in my collection which range from baby pink, grey and black.

Detailer: This I find is o.k. if you have little troubled areas you want to pin point to conceal or for the lips too, I already use a few lip brushes I like but to clean up any edges I will pick this up.

Pointed Foundation : The reason I like this brush is because it's smaller than other foundation brushes I own, it allows for more accurate applications. I use this for my under eye concealer as it always me more & quicker coverage than my other concealer brushes before blending it out.

Setting : Ah my setting brush, love this to set my under eyes, my nose, chin and above the lip. It's also another good one to highlight with also in those areas as it's smaller than the contour brush that I use on my cheeks to highlight sometimes.

Contour : I use my fan brush to contour, I always have, never given me any problems and it's one I will likely stay with that being said I have used this to contour. I like that it's tapered and smaller than the Kabuki to contour so you can be more precise within the hallows of your cheeks but what I have also use it for is highlighting.

Kabuki : Your 2-in-1 brush, the novelty part of this brush is that it opens up, you can use it closed to define your cheekbones and closed to apply blush to the apples of your cheeks. I think it's a handy brush to have on a night out perhaps but I'm not sure if it's 100% necessary  like me if you have the contour & blush brush already, the kabuki isn't needed. It's a rainbow shaped brush once fanned out with it being quite thick in the middle, it's to heavy in the centre. I love to define cheekbones I don't have and I feel using this doesn't give me personally the control I like. I do prefer brushes that aren't as dense for contouring.

Buffing : This brush was recommended to me, unfortunately it cannot be purchased singly and is only available within the Core Collection kit. It's easier to applying foundation than the stippling brush by far (keep that for cream blushers), gives me a nice smooth coverage. I don't pack the foundation on, once I've mixed my shade in a palette I dip and build up to the desired coverage. I would recommend this if you like a more finished look to your foundation.

Blush: I don't use this for my blush a lot, it's a large tapered brush I use for my bronzer mostly. Depending how I'm applying my blush, if it's just on the apples, this isn't a brush I use, if I'm sweeping it upwards and I want to cover more area then yes. How it's tapered I feel once the bronzer is on the top of the brush I can guide it precisely for my bronzer.

Shedding : The only brush that has started to lose a few hairs is my first brush from the real Techniques collection, the stippling brush, I've lost a few out of them during a wash. Nothing to signal the brush will be bald next week but the others I've yet to experience shedding in 6 months but I'm still keeping an eye out.

Cleaning : The hand-cut synthetic taklon bristles I continue to clean all my brushes with the Dr. Bronners soap, gets them clean quickly enough, don't have to keep going over a brush, the feeling of the brush hairs haven't changed, the stippling brush feels a little clumpy & greased sometimes after a wash & yes all the soap is washed out, maybe I should try something else to wash the stippling brush.

Overall :
Honestly these are affordable brushes for anyone, being that for me, I've found these one of the softest I've used. Great grips, easy to clean. After 6 months they've really held there own and kept up the quality. 100% cruelty free. I keep them in the stand / travel case as it keeps them free from excess dust and once I've washed them I let them stand upside down to dry in the stand. When I tell people to start with these brushes if they want to have a start up kit without splashing the money they think I'm insane when I say the price for the brushes until I explain, break down the maths on some others. Really I should just go work in Boots!

Real Techniques fans, what are your favourite(s) from the range? 

*ThESE ProductS was sent to me for consideration for a review. This does not sway my opinion. This is 100% my view and research is that of my own! AFTER A LONG 6 MONTHS! 

Read more Real Techniques Core Collection + More