Skincare Routine (Morning - Night)

You could be buying the most expensive make-up to be putting on your face, but without a good base all that money is a waste. Skincare is the most important step in prepping your skin for make-up as well as keeping those pesky spots and imperfections at bay. So here is my little guide on how I achieve good skin, I must say everyone is different so the products I use may not suit others so just keep that in mind!

Good Morning X

Before I start my morning skincare regime I like to SHOWER. On a regular basis depending what time I have work I will aim to wake up 9 - 10. The first thing I do is hop out of the bed & hop in the shower. I prefer showers in the morning as it wakes me up and gives me a fresh (mind the pun) start to the day. After I get out I head to my bathroom cabinet and grab my goodies.

Cleanse:

In the morning I like to cleanse my skin just to remove any dirt or leftover make-up that was being stubborn from the day before. I keep it light and refreshing, so my favourite product to use is the 'Soap & Glory - Peaches And Clean' Cleanser.

Wash:

Washing my face in the morning just really wakes me up and leaves my skin with a soft film, again I like my products to have a fresh rejuvenating scent so the product I've been using recently is the Simply Clear Grapefruit Facial Wash. The scent is bomb.

Moisturise:

Can't stress how important it is to moisturise your skin to retain a healthy balance. Even if your oily, moisturise trust me it makes the world of difference. My favourite everyday moisturiser to use is the Garnier Essentials Everyday Moisturiser.

Good Night X

When I get home from work whether I've been wearing make-up in the day or not, I always pamper my skin to get rid of any dirt or bacteria its attracted throughout the day, gross right? If I really am feeling tired and I just want to jump into bed, I will ensure I've taken my make-up off and just slapped some moisturiser on. But normally, this is how it goes down at night...

Remove Make-Up: 

The key to less impurities, spots and the release of clogged pores. Remove that sh** before you sleep!! As soon as I get home the make-up is off, makes my skin feel airy and free again haha! My holy grail make-up remover is Garnier Micellar Water, this stuff is bomb for removing eye make-up.

Cleanse: 

Because the Micellar Water isn't the best at removing face make-up I like to go in with a cleansing balm, and my favourite one recommended by the one and only Kylie Jenner is the Ponds Balm. Pick it up for £3.00 at Boots and you wont look back. Apply dry and rinse with a hot wet flannel.

Wash / Scrub: 

At night time I'm not into all the fresh scents, I like to relaaax. Using a scrub around the pores and blackheads on my nose helps with keeping them at bay. But on the rest of my face I use a chemical free wash to get me in the mood for bed, my favourites being the Mario Badescu Face Wash.

Face Mask: (Optional)

On pamper nights I do like to go in hard with my skin, so using a mask to rewind and make me feel luxurious is always a good bet. Clay ones are my favourite and as much as I'd love to dive in and buy the Glam Glow one, we all aint rich haha! So for now I stick too... Quick Fix Facials Calming Clay Mask.

Moisturise:

Again as I say moisturiser is so so so important. But at night-time its always best to go for a thicker cream which will take its time to sink into your skin overnight. I myself use a prescripted one for dry skin, but there are so many out there!

Oil: 

This is something I've only started using recently but OH MY GOD. Why have I never thought of it before! It has been my life saviour for dry patches around my nose and cheek areas. I got a sample size of the ESPA Face oil and I've been using it so sparingly as its so bloody expensive! Once I run out I think I'll cry.

So there you are, my Skincare routine for the colder months of the year. As I say everyone's skin is different so some of these products may not work for you but just make sure you know what skin type you have and look for products aimed at you! Thanks for reading lovelies.

Mel X

The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops Review

So it's been  good few days since I've posted but I've been away & had work, so now its my day off I'm back and doing a Review on The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops. 

Everyone knows about the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops which are priced at a whopping £36.00, I've never tried them myself so I thought this is the cheaper alternative and if they work well then bonus!

The Shade Adjusting Drops come in at £10.00 a pop, both containing 15ml, depending on how much you want to lighten or darken your foundation that is a great bloody price!
They offer 2 shades of the product, both being the lightening and the darkening. And as you can see from the images below the lightening shade is pretty much stark white with a slight hint of pink undertone. And the darkening shade is a chocolate brown, with just a neutral undertone.

As you can see from the images below the bottles come with a droplet like applicator, which I will say isn't the best functioned, it does take a few tries to get the desired amount of product out. I guess for £10.00 you aren't going to get overall great quality.

With the Lightening Product, the consistency of the product is very thin, which I liked because it gave me the impression it wouldn't change the consistency of my foundation which was my biggest fear. Once I started to mix it into my Estee Lauder Double Wear on the back of my hand I was so impressed with the fact that it lightened my foundation to my desired shade.
I will say mix little by little so you don't end up with a stark white looking foundation! The consistency and application and long-gevity of the foundation was exactly the same as it would be if I hadn't of used the shade adjusters which I was super impressed with. I would recommend this product as it saves you buying multiple shades in the foundation especially when they're not cheap.

2 droplets of each shade with a small amount of the Estee Lauder Foundation in 'Tawny'

Onto the darkening side of things, again the same consistency but a tad bit thicker, nothing too noticeable. A I started too mix in my fear came true from the reviews I'd previously heard, it did make my foundation muddy / grey looking. This disappointed me, because I only used a little amount and I thought it'd work. But it wasn't so bad where I would never wear it because a light bulb went ding in my head and I thought well hey? CONTOUR. This product would be great for liquid contouring, it has a a grey undertone and would create a natural base for contouring. As they say, good always over-rides the bad!

The middle shade is the original foundation, Left is the darkening shade once blended and the right is the lightening shade once blended.

So overall if I was going to reccomend just one of them based off of the way they perform, I would go with the lightening product! You obviously cant create different undertone based shades but its good to just lighten that foundation a tad if it doesn't match you perfectly! On the other hand the darkening would be great for a liquid contour so if thats what youre looking for, bobs your uncle ha! Thanks for reading lovelies.

Mel X

Snippets of my weekend away!

So I'm spending a few days in Newcastle for Papa's Birthday celebration so here are a few snippets I took here and there of my weekend away, hope you like the pics! I've got a couple blog post's coming up but I though't I'd put just a little something on here so I'm not keeping anyone waiting!

H&M Jumper - £12.00

Topshop Joni Jeans - £36.00

Boots - not sure where from but can get similar for under £20 I'm sure!

Just a snippet of the Metro Centre!

Buys of the day -Topshop NYPD Hoodie - £35.00, Topshop Black Low Plunge Leotard - £18.00, New look Pink Cami - £12.99 Sleek Blushes - £4.49 (will post a review soon so keep your eye out!) And some sweeties of course X

OOTN - Black Leotard and same Joni Jeans

Wetherspoons grub, was beautiful I must say!

Thorntons Coffee, yum!

When your Coffee is taking ages

Gretna Gateway Outlet X

 It's been good to get away from home and work just for a little while, been good to just have some spare time to myself! Newcastle has a lot to offer shopping wise so if you're ever looking for somewhere which has anything and everything then its one of the best bets. Thanks for having a look at this short but sweet post! X

february favourites

So I see these Monthly Favourites going around a lot, so I thought I'd join in and you can see what I'm loving every month! Enjoy x

1:Bodyshop Body Butter - Mango and Papaya (£14.00)

So I got a set of what the body shop is famously known for, their body butters, for Christmas. I was yet to try them out as I was using the last remains of my Soap and Glory body butter until a few weeks ago. I wasnt too keen on the on a couple of the scents, although I did love the Mango and Papaya! The body butters are of a very thick formulation so best to use before you go to bed, but they leave the skin feeling as smooth as a babys bottom and I'm not exxaggeratting. Definitely try them out if you have ultra dry skin or for you Eczema prone people like me, they are a mustttttt.

2:Batiste Dry Shampoo (£3.00-£4.00)
I never used to use dry shampoo's on my hair due to the fact it was dark I could get away if it wasnt perfectly washed! But now I'm back to my natural roots of being blonde and how the process has damaged my hair to mars and back, dry shampoo's are my only hope. The Batiste range is great and is always on offerso I always pick it up. It just seems to be the only dry shampoo that keeps my hair looking washed throughout the whole day until its time to wash it in the shower. For £3 you can't say no.

3:Loreal Brow Plumper ( £7.00)
I hopped onto the bandwagon and purchased this saviour around 3 weeks ago. I was skeptical about the whole 'making your eyebrows look thicker malarchy' but it does work, as you'll see from the photo in my Boots Haul - First Impressions Post. Its cheap and chirpy and if anything makes my eyebrows look thicker, I'm down.

4:Mario Badescu Cream Soap (£10.25)
Everytime I order from beauty bay I get a 'free sample' I always pick out this one but I never bloody use it as its so small and hidden in my bathroom cabinet. I tested it out a month ago and its been my ride or die as my night time face wash ever since. Its got a glisten too it, as you'll see from the photo's and it has just rinsed my skin of un-needed texture.

5:Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer (£17.50)
I could sit here and rant about how this concealer could be in every monthly favourites because it is my holy grail, ride or die, just like a bunch of other beauty lover's! Anyway, because I have it in such a light shade currently and I tend to tan often I havent had chance to loveeee it like I used to. But because my skin's been so dry recently and I havent fake tanned a lot, good lord I've realised how much I missed it. All I'll say is buy it, you will not regret the formulation, coverage, its not too hefty of a price tag also!

Find these at:
Body Shop Body Butter
Loreal Brow Plumper
NYX High Voltage Lipstick
Mario Badescu Cream Soap
Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer

Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation & Concealer Review

So I'm here again with another hopefully in-depth foundation review, but this time I thought I'd add in the concealer that supposedly goes hand in hand. Both these products have been repetitively talked about in the beauty industry so I couldn't say no! I have mixed reviews about both these products, one more than the other but lets just get into it!

Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation - £29.00
Makeup Forever Ultra HD Concealer - £20.00

Coverage:
F- I would say this performs at a medium coverage, it definitely doesn't cover my array of freckles but it is buildable so you can apply as many layers as you like without it looking cakey. In the image below I'm wearing 2 layers and as you can see its not full coverage but that can be sorted with powder bronzer and all that malarkey. I would prefer more coverage but on natural days this is my go-to.
C- This performs at a medium-full coverage, it hides my bags but not to the extent that Mac Pro Longwear would. I don't find it very buildable as it is quite thick in consistency, but I've never tried it out all day with more than one layer.

Before Concealer

With Concealer

Before Foundation

With 2 layers of foundation, no powder. As you can tell it has not blended on dry area on my skin which is near my jawline. damn:(.

Long-gevity:
F- This foundation wears on myself with powder on top for around 8 hours, by that time my pores have started to show and it does wear off my chin and forehead and exaggerate my dry patches unfortunately. On the other hand the way it wears is impeccable. It makes your skin look so flawlessly natural, like your wearing makeup but your not if you get my drift! I like to wear this on a natural day due to the coverage but that can be an annoyance as you need quite a bit of product to fulfil desired coverage.
C- The concealer wears for around 9 hours, again being set with powder, although I do find it creases and settles into fine lines at around 6 hours of wear. This I would expect from such a high coverage but I would only wear this on occasions when I'm not wearing makeup for longer than that given time.

Texture; 
F- The texture of this foundation is amazing. The consistency is thin, but not too thin where its running of the back of your hand, because of this it blends like a dream and I'm not left with un blended patches, that's always a no go. Most of the time I don't have to powder because it doesn't leave that sticky cast on top of your skin like a dewy foundation would. But saying that I do use a hydrating primer before hand so I would reccomend doing so as this foundation can be drying.
C- The consistency of this concealer is surprisingly again, thin! Not as thin as the foundation but not as thick as MAC Pro Longwear for sure. I like that it is thin because it makes it so easy to blend out, and it blends within seconds, slight exaggeration but you get my drift haha. It's easy to use because of its tube like packaging and you'll always get the most out of the product, but a little goes a long way with this concealer, so don't dive into the deep end guys, trust me!

Foundation on the left, Concealer on the Right 

Look;
F- This performs look wise as a semi-matte, I do have dry skin myself so most foundations that look matte tend to show my dry patches more than a dewy foundation, which I dont like the look of. But, here comes the best part, because this foundation is semi-matte it doesn't leave a sticky cast, on the other hand it can settle into my dry patches if I do not use a hydrating primer.
C- This performs look wise as quite a matte concealer, which doesn't surprise me but saying that it doesn't feel drying at all on the skin which is always a bonus.Setting it with a yellow toned powder always does the trick in fulfilling a great under eye highlight! You do have to set it though or it will crease unfortunately. I have alot of fine lines anyway, so it doesnt suprise me if any concealer,  high end or drugstore, settles into them. But this one does blur them to a certain extent.

Bronzer did apply slightly patchy.

Shade range;
F- This foundation comes in 40 shades. That's right 40! This is why its great for freelance makeup artists performing on a variety of skin tones. Always a naff trying to find your perfect shade, so if you struggle with that this is your go to. What's great also is they provide yellow based shades and pink based shades, which is always a bonus!
C- The concealer on the other hand comes in 10 shades. That being said a concealer isn't meant to match someone perfectly, always great to go a shade lighter when coming to concealer! Again these both come in yellow and pink based shades, yellow is always great for under the eye to counteract the blue tones, but pink tones can also be great for highlighting the face!

Packaging - F (9/10) C (9/10)
Coverage - F (7/10) C (10/10)
Long-gevity - F (8.5/10) C (9/10)
Texture/look - F (9.5/10) C (10/10)

So there you have it my personal review on both the foundation and concealer, if you've got to the end of this post I shall be very happy and appreciative as this was a long one but hope you enjoyed the read! Mel X

Makeup Of The Day

top 4 blending brushes for the eye...

I think its safe to say blending brushes are the most important part of creating a flawless eye look, am I right? There are so so so many out there, I myself have rounded up quite a few but have narrowed it down to my top 4 for creating that eye look we all desire, hope you like it! X

1: Mac 217
I honestly think this is the best all round blending brush out there. If I had 4 of these I could hands down create a flawless eye look as its just so versatile! I use it most of the time for applying darker colour in the crease below my transition shade. As you can tell from the images it has a large surface area but it's quite thin so you can directly blend colour without creating a mess. It can also be used for smudging the lower lash line, applying a lid colour for a subtle look, anything and everything this is my favourite eye brush!

2: Zoeva 227

A lot of us would not be up for paying £21 for the MAC 217 so an awesome dupe is this Zoeva 227 soft definer priced at £7.99. It is so so similar in shape and performs similarly to the 217. The reason I've chose this also is because I use it for a different reason, which is blending my transition shade, its just that tad bit thinner so can get in that upper crease without hitting the brow. If the transition shade isn't blended then it can ruin the whole eye look, which is always a faf :(. If you don't want to purchase the 217 this is a great alternative and neither of them shed which is a bonus!

3: Morphe m420
I bloody love this brush. Morphe is one of my favourite makeup brands in general because they're cheap and chirpy but of great quality. I love this brush inparticular for an overall blend. Harh line which isnt moving, grab the 420. Messy outer corner, grab the 420 and bobs your uncle!

4: Morphe 518
And were nearing the end so last but not least the Morphe 518. A tapered, medium density, long bristled eye shader brush. I love this brush for blending out the inner corner of the crease, because its tapered and thin at the end its small enough to get into the inner corner without smudging the whole eye. But because the bristles are long I can use a light hand and windshield wiper motions to create the blended look. This isn't a need for everyone but it's great if you're really into smokey eyes!

So there you have it guys! My top 4 blending brushes for the eye, most are cheap and cheerful which is always a bonus. If you were to get 1 brush overall on a budget definitely go for the Zoeva it is gods gift to the 217! I love them all equally and I hope you do if you purchase one yourself :). Thanks for reading X