Cleaning My Makeup Brushes

Today I want to show ye how I clean my brushes. In the past year, I have been shocking for cleaning them , I'd say I would have cleaned them every few months ... But then, after I cleaned them a week ago, the amount makeup that came out of them was crazy!! So now I'm really trying to wash them as often as possible! For a lot of people( including me) it's a such a chore, but it's something that should be done regularly!

 1.Your Makeup Brushes

2.Clarifying/Cleansing Shampoo
I think the cleansing shampoo's are the best, because they will make the brush bristles squeaky clean, and really strip the dirt in the bristles.

3.Cotton Buds
For those little bits you cant reach, I stick it into the brush and wipe out any small dirt.

Here the steps.
Step 1

Put hot water into your sink, squeeze your shampoo in and swirl your brush around in it.

I put my thumb into the bristles and ruffle around.











                                                                                                                                                                  I also squeeze the bristles out. This is where you see most of your makeup coming out

 As I said above, if I cant reach some bits with my fingers, I will a cotton bud in and swirl it around.

I will repeat all of the tree pictures above until I think it's fully clean.

Step 2

After that, I empty the sink, run the tap for cold water and press my brush against the sink under the water, to make sure its fully clean!


*I'd make sure I don't have the same dirty water for each brush!









Step 3

And finally when you've cleaned all of your brushes, I put a piece of tissue paper down , and stand/lay my brushes on top. I normally let them dry for the night, as I do my cleaning before I go to bed! It is to be fair satisfying in the end, to see the nice white bristles on them again!



*Also after you clean them, your hand are going to feel awful, so make sure to put on some hand cream after, to bring back the moisture!

Liebster Award

The other day I was nominated by the lovely http://mistysstuff.blogspot.ie/ for a Liebster award!

It really made my day! This award connects bloggers with less than 200 followers and lets them gain followers aswell as get their blog out there. I had seen so many blogs with the  liebster award badge, and now I am very proud to have my own ! 

There isn't a lot of info about the background of the award itself, but Liebster is German for “beloved” and a blog nominated for this award is “worth watching”.

The rules: 

1. You have to answer the 10 questions that your nominator gave you 
2. You then have to nominate 10 bloggers who have under 200 followers and link them in the post 
3. Come up with 10 new questions for the nominees to answer 
4.  inform the nominees so they can do their responses 

These are my answers from the questions my nominator gave me:

1. If you could live in a city of your choice, where would that be?- Without a doubt Los Angeles. It's such a pretty city.
2. If you had to choose one song to listen to on replay, for a month, what would it be?- This is a hard one.. I'd say Charlie Brown-Coldplay.
3. What inspired you to start blogging, and who's your favourite blogger?- I love reading all the different beauty and fashion blogs, and I just felt I'd love to try to the same as them and post my opinions on beauty. My favourite blogger would probably be The Imperfect Beauty 
4. Long hair or short hair?- Long hair!
5. You're the only person left alive on Earth, what do you do?- hmm, if I could drive a plane I would travel the world for free! 
6. Do you have a lifelong dream that you have already accomplished?- No not yet!
7. If you won $1000, what would be the first thing you buy? either an Iphone or an SLR camera
8. What are your travel make up essentials?- suncream, BB cream, bronzer, 
9. One book you would read over and over?- Got this off my cousin years ago, a silly chicklit it's called Lillys Holiday
10. If you had the chance, which blogger/celebrity would you meet up with?- For a celeb Lauren Conrad, and a blogger , Zoella!

 Now here are my 10 nominees:

1. Blushful Beauty
2. The Nail Affair
3. TotalMakeUpAddict
4. http://beautyangel.ie/
5. NFP
6. mysteppingstonemedia.blogspot.com
7. At The Beauty Desk
8. the Powder Room
9. minniemelange.wordpress.com
10. cecebeauty.blogspot.ie   

    Ok nominees here are my 10 questions for ye!

1. Who inspired you to start a blog?
2. What is your staple beauty product?
3. What time of the day do you blog the most?
4. First concert you went to?
5. What is your favourite tv show?
6. How long have you had your blog for?
7. Where is your dream holiday?
8. What is your favourite shop of all time?
9.  If you could use only 1 make-up item what would it be?   
10. If you could put anyone on charge of a country for a week ,who would it be?         

Once again a big thanks for Misty's stuff for nominating me! :)

Hope all the nominees will take part in this great award!

Sleek I-Divine Au naturel Palette Review and Eye Looks

I have been putting this review off for ages, but I finally decided to get it done the other day. I bought this in Spain. I was so excited to see the sleek stand alone though because, the republic of Ireland doesn't sell any sleek products unfortunately!I thought it looked like the perfect dupe for the UD Naked Palette. Before I tried the palette, I looked through reviews on this, many of them were negative, so honestly I was disappointed and wasn't expecting much from it!
But then when I used it properly, I was pleasantly surprised! Even though the light shadows may not be that well pigmented , the darker ones are brilliant. I admit that I did use an eye primer before putting them on as I knew they would show up better. There are 12 colours in the palette, ranging from light, metallic, shimmer and dark shadows. It cost 10 euros.

and now I want to show ye the swatches with and without eye primer.
The first pic is without eye primer and second pic is with eye primer!

The lighter shades are way more pigmented and I love the shimmers too! So I would definitely put on eye primer before applying the eye shadows! My favourite shades so far are, nougat, taupe, bark and mineral earth!
I did two eye looks one neutral brown and the second a smokey eye.

First I applied eye primer. I used nougat on the brow bone and the inner corner. Toast on the lid, and then blended bark and regal together on the crease to smoke it out a bit.
On the eyebrows I used bark, (which I am now using everyday for my brows!) with an angled brush.
Its a very soft neutral look. Great for everyday





                                                                                                                                                                   










Look 2

 Again I applied eye primer first on the lid,
Nougat on the brow bone and inner corner,
I use taupe and conker on the lid lightly and put conker on the crease, and ended off blending it all with noir on the crease and lid. I lined my lower lash line with noir to create that smokey look

Hair Routine

So my hair at the moment. The roots can get greasy and the ends are dry!

My hair has been dyed a lot, so its pretty damaged! I am not naturally blonde at all, I used to be a mousy brown colour! Its pretty long, haven't got it cut in ages, I have front and back layers, and a side fringe ( which has grown out at this stage!)

I would like to show you the products I use for my hair! :)

1.Shampoo

I use the pantene pro-v smooth and sleek. I use this twice in my hair , for it to be extra clean!

I really scrub this into the roots, as I said my roots get greasy easily! Its also a great cleansing shampoo. I know I should be using a colour shampoo but I find this doesn't strip the colour at all!

It leaves me hair as it says on the tin!

2.Conditioner

I use the Aussie Colour Mate Conditioner. Because my hairs greasy easily only use this every second wash. I only put it on the ends where my hair is most damaged and spread the remaining product from my ears down! I leave it in for 2 mins and then wash out with cold water! This is also great for my blonde hair as it really enhances the colour! It smells like peaches too !

3.Paddle Brush

After I come out the shower,I put my hair in a turbie towel(best invention yet) and when I take it out , its 20% dry approx. I brush my hair with this paddle brush to get rid off all the MANY knots I have( so so painful) until it is straight.

4.Curling Mousse

I use the shockwaves curls and waves mousse! I only use this if I want a wavey look. I use this after I brush my hair, I pump a fair bit through the ends and the remaining in the roots. I scrunch them for a minute and leave go, to hold the curls.

5.John Freida Frizz-Ease Hair serum

Again I would only use this if I wanted to straighten my hair. This gorgeous formula leaves my hair so soft and silky! I squirt a tiny amount onto my hands and put through the ends.

6.Comb

When drying my hair I like to use this wide tooth comb to ensure my hair gets dryed properly.

If I'm using the curling mousse(most days) , I would use a diffuser head to my hair dryer to give it a wavey look.

Hope you enjoyed this post! :)

July Favourites

Hello :) August is in a few days, what the hell?? Summer has flown , only one month left!

And typically the Irish heat wave is pretty much over :( no more shorts and sunglasses !

Only have a few favourites for this month

Enjoy!

1.Dove Summer Glow Gradual Tan

Only bought this a few days ago, I used to use the light skin one but I decided to try this out!

Its brilliant, it gives a deeper glow faster than the light formula! Have used it a lot!

2.Forever Living Aloe Propolis Creme

When I was a child, I had very bad exczema, and my mum had bought these at the Forever Living trade stands! This has natural aloe vera in it and is very soothing on the skin. It made my lips really smooth when they were v.flaky this month!And helps other dry skin conditions. Forever Living products are not in regular pharmacy's, you can buy them at trade stands or online!

3.Rimmel Nail Varnishes Hot Shot and Coralicious

These nail varnishes have been such a summer staple of mine. I've worn them both on my nails and toenails! Very summery colours, and look great with a tan!

4.Schwarzkopf got2b styling powder

For that extra volume in my hair I've been using this volumizing powder from schwarzkopf.

I spread some on my hand and then work it into the roots and underneath my hair. And it instantly gives my hair a volumized and textured look. Love it!!

5.OPIA Cotton Fresh Candle

Not beauty related, but this candle smells so so amazing! I bought this in penneys/primark!

It smells like freshly washed clothes. I got this for only 1.50 too!

6.No7 Lip Liner '04 Pink'

Sorry didn't get a picture of the product on its own but got a swatch of it!

Instead of using lipsticks I used this lip liner to fill in my lips.Its a deep pink colour and doesn't leave your lips dry!

                                                                                                                                                                  

7.Rimmel 25 hour Foundation

This is an old favourite. Its a great summer foundation! It gives good coverage and smells really nice too! I wouldn't wear it during the winter or spring months as I find it too dark for my skin!  I have it in the colour 'Ivory'    

8.Shockwaves Curls and Waves Mousse

Again another old favourite. Used to find this making my hair greasy but not anymore!

I use it on wet hair and it really defines the waves and curls in my hair!

And also smells nice!!

                            

Summer Makeup

Hello :) Ireland has had amazing weather the past few weeks, so hot and sunny, its crazy! Apparently the other day it was meant to be warmer than LA and Lanzarote! 
I've been wearing this summer look out mainly, but if I wasn't wearing the lipstick it would be an everyday look too!
It's a very bronzed and glowy look, and below I just want to show ye some of the products I use to create this look, enjoy! :D

Base

I start with my benefit that gal brightening primer, after I use Rimmels 25 hour foundation in colour ivory and I apply it with my real techniques stippling brush(which needs to be cleaned)
Under my eyes and blemishes I put my collection concealer in shade light. I set my makeup with Rimmel Stay Matte  and only put it on my t-zone, I use my real techniques blush brush to apply. I don't bother with blush as I want a really bronzed look. For my bronzer I use rimmels natural bronzer and again apply it with my rt blush brush. After I use the colour me beautiful liquid highlighter on my cheeks and nose.


2.Eyes

As my eyes are very dry I don't need to use an eye primer. I use the rimmel quad in brun and apply with these penneys duo brush(which have come apart!) To line my top lid I use the ubu brush(brand from dunnes stores) in the colour 'noir' from my sleek i-divine au natural palette.
I line my bottom lid with the colour 'moss'. I use my eyelash curler from penneys and put on a coat of extreme length by no.7 for length and the falsies by maybelline for volume!
I brush through my eyebrows with this old mascara wand and pencil them in with rimmels eyebrow pencil in dark brown.

3.Lips

I don't normally wear this lipstick everyday, but if I was going out I'd wear it. Its Rimmels 'Firecracker' It's lovely coral colour, which anyone can wear and is really in for summer!


Hope you enjoyed this post :D

June Favourites!

Hello! I can't believe it's July already, its actually crazy ! The weathers actually been really nice here in Ireland for a change, lets hope it stays that way!!
So I just wanted to show ye a few favourites I had over the month of June!

Now this shampoo is a love-hate product for a lot of people. As my hair is dyed, everyone goes on how this strips the colour. But my hairdresser actually told me this shampoo was good for oily hair. At first I was scared to use this, hearing of all the stories, but honestly my hair felt so soft and not dull and heavy like it was! Colour wise of my hair, so many people have been asking me have I dyed my hair again, but no its always after I wash my hair with this, the blond in my hair is more radiant, which is brilliant!
And also I normally hate 2in1 shampoo and conditioners, but this one is well worth the buy for 3 euros

2.Real Techniques Blush Brush
I have only been using this for two weeks, but already I'm in love! Its so soft!! I actually mainly use this for applying bronzer instead of blush! The bronzer/blush/powder is always looks so nice on the skin after using this, love these brushes!

3.No7 Extreme Length Mascara
Again I have only been using this for 2 weeks! I had already owned a mini version of this before and loved it, so I had to repurchase the full size. Without thinking I actually bought it in the brown/black colour, which really annoyed me at the start but it's actually really nice, you wouldn't  notice it! The wand separates the lashes really well, without any clumping and giving a nice natural length to the lashes!
Also love the packaging!

4.Carmex Lip Balm Cherry
I had always used the normal scented one, but for a change I picked up the cherry scented one! It smells so amazing and moisturises my lips great, without chapping! This will always be a staple of mine!

5.Rimmel Natural Bronzer
Had this in my makeup bag for ages and never really used it, but I pulled it out again and I'm actually really impressed by it! Using the real techniques blush brush to apply this bronzer, gives a lovely glowy look to your face!
And its not an orangey colour either!

6.Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Medium Glow
This month I have been going out a lot, and this has been so so handy and quick to put on my legs and arms! Great coverage and a nice even tan!
Although I wouldn't be a fan about the smell but it does what it says on the tin!

7.'That Gal' Benefit Brightening Primer
Got this mini primer in a xmas kit benefit had.
I didn't really use it much in the winter and spring months, but now that I've been trying to achieve a glowy look, this is great under your foundation and really does brighten your complexion! It is a pink liquid and smell likes raspberries!

  8.Soap and Glory's ' The Scrub of Your Life'
And finally my last favourite. For the tanning routine, you have to exfoliate your body before applying the tan! Literally when I scrubbed this into my arms, afterwards it felt like my arm had been resurfaced it was so so soft !! And to make things better this smells so amazing and sweet, as do all other soap and glory products!