DIY Christmas details!

Want to make your present wrapping a bit more personal? your tree decorations truly one of a kind? Then here are just a few tips for some DIY Christmas details, that will truly add a magical touch to the festivities. Share the love and leave your ideas in the comments, I would love some more inspiration!

Recycled card tags

Do the abundance of Christmas cards you receive every year end up getting piled into the recycling bin? Why not save the best ones, then next year you can use  them to make lovely gift tags! Not only will there be a huge array of colours and designs to choose from, you also have complete freedom as to what shape you want the tag to be. Forget the normal square or circle shop-bought tags, why not try your hands at a Christmas tree, or a reindeer! This adds a lovely touch to a present and you do not need to spend a penny. 

DIY Baubles

This one takes a bit of time, but the results can be truly stunning. Get yourself some plain bog-standard baubles, then use ribbons, beads, gems or whatever you can find in the haberdashery store to make them truly unique and special! You could probably even use bits and bobs you have lying around at home, broken jewellery, material from that dress that is now too small, the list is endless. Just let your creativity run wild and get sticking!

Festive drinks

So, your house is going to be filled with every friend, well wisher and far flung relative for the Christmas festivities. It seems doing anything other than filling your trolley tesco's with an array of alcoholic beverages is going to be to much. However, there are 2 festive drinks that are so easy and simple to do, mulled wine and cider! There are so many recipes on the internet for both, the main crux of it is basically adding fruit, spices and sugar and then warming up! It does not take long and can used as a centre piece in a large serving bowl, it looks fantastic with all the fruit slices and cinnamon sticks in.

Natural decorations

Why not make decorations and centre pieces out of what you can find in your garden? One year we sprayed pine cones with gold and silver paint, they looked lovely as a centre piece with other natural items or on the tree. You can spray twigs, holly, leaves, what ever you want. Oranges decorated with cloves also look lovely and have a nice festive scent too!

Christmas makeovers

Being a beauty blog I just had to chuck this one in there! Why don't your nearest and dearest get together for some Christmas makeovers before heading to your celebrations. It is Christmas so you can go wild with a red lip and glitter-galore, maybe challenge yourself by swapping looks with a friend. Everyone can bring their make up bag which also adds so much fun as you discover new wonder products.

Nail Rock blue glitter

When I opened this months Birchbox I saw this lovely Nail rock blue glitter! I had heard of this before and been very intrigued, but never got around to buying it myself, so it was lovely to see. The colour is a stunning midnight blue, I feel like a red or gold would have been more festive but this is still a gorgeous shade. The formula of the actual nail varnish seemed a little thin, but 2 coats gave a nice opaque finish. I then dipped my ring finger into the glitter provided and, voila! A gorgeous party-season nail look, it's as simple as that! I was terrified that the glitter was just going to fall off, but it held fast. I did seal it in with some topcoat about an hour after putting it on to ensure longevity. I really do absolutely love the look that the glitter gives, and so do all my house mates! I will definitely be checking out some more colours. 

What's caught my eye...

 All pictures sourced from tumblr

Maybelline 10 hour stain gloss; Timeless Plum

The latest addition to my dark winter-lip collection was this Maybellline 10 houir stain gloss in Timeless plum. I have never really seen these spoken about before, and when I tried it I was really surprised! It very much reminded me of the Rimmel Apocolips, but with a more gloss and stain-like finish as opposed to the liquid lipstick type. The applicator makes it really easy to fill in your lips, I flip it on it's side and use the edge to line my lips first. This product works best if you build it up in light layers, this also ensures maximum wear time. When the gloss wears off you are left with a lovely stain, this is slightly drying on the lips, but I just slick some balm on the top and I am good to go again. This colour is perfect for the winter months, but I will definitely be building up my collection full of other colours too! Have you tried this product? What do you think?

The brush that does everything!

My new wonder brush is actually part of the day to night set from Eco tools. I don't think the set is readily available in the U.K (I got mine for £12ish from TKMAXX) but it is avalable from Amazon for £17.99. To give just a brief description, the set includes a Pointed Concealer Brush, Detailed Lip/Liner Brush, Stay-there Shadow Brush, Smudge Brush, and the brush I am going to rave about, the Rounded Powder Brush! The brushes are synthetic, have sustainable bamboo handles, and they all come packaged in a super handy travel case. Now, the round powder brush is literally so bloomin' soft! I just want to stroke my face with it forever, and that is probably why I love to use it for all my powder products! Seriously, this baby applies my finishing powder, bronzer/contour, blush and highlighter perfectly and gives such a flawless finish. I would definitely pop down to your local TK MAXX and snap this up if you can, even if it is just for the powder brush. Though I will say that all the brushes are amazing so I think this is amazing value for money. 

Black and Gold

The party season has arrived! There is no better way to update your make-up look, than just to inject a bit of a sparkle, and the easiest place to do this? the windows to the soul! (aka: your eyes). This look is something you can do to add a bit of glamour to you usual make up, without being to 'out there'.  I used maybelline colour tattoo in eternal gold to line along my lower lash line, this created a base for my gold eye shadows. I then took the true gold colour from this bargainous Collection work the colour palette, aptly named Champagne Fizz, and traced back over the colour tattoo. This boosted the pigmentation and the staying power, perfect for those all night parties. I then took the khaki-gold colour on the left and traced that just on the outer corner, to add a bit more depth. My top lash line received a very thin wisp of eye liner followed by lashings of mascara, and we're done! I wore this look during the day and didn't find it too much at all, though I think this could easily be amped up and smoked out for a more dramatic evening look.

Christmas give away! LUSH and 2 surprise make up items.

So when I hit 50 followers I promised a little something... and here is my first Christmas give away guys!! The theme for this is a 'Christmas party' kinda thing. As you can see you will receive a LUSH bath melt, this is a lovely cinnamon-y orange scented (slightly angry looking) snow man which, thanks to the Cocoa and Shea butter within, leaves you feeling soft and supple when melted into your bath. No moisturiser needed, party prep done! You will also receive 2 surprise (because everyone loves surprise Christmas presents right?) make up prizes, that will be perfect for giving you the A/W party look. Just enter via rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enummi skincare review.

Not too long ago I was contacted by the lovely Heather on twitter to see if I was interested in trying out some Enummi skincare samples. The website describes the products as 'featuring powerful glycolic acid and select nature-inspired technologies' which will give you a fresh look, fast. Before I get on to the products I am just going to say a quick word about the samples, they were a nice generous size but I just really did not like the packaging, I found it quite wasteful an fiddly, would have much preferred little bottles or tubes.

I will start by saying that at the end of using these products my skin did look brighter and healthier, with my spots healing quicker. So although I may not of loved some of the products individually they did a lot of good for my skin combined. SO here is a quick little run down of what I received;

Gentle facial cleanser: This cleanser felt nice to use, but did not remove all my make up. Even when I used bioderma before hand, I still found traces on my toner pad. That's a big no no for me, which is a shame as I did find the actual cleanser nice to use. It would perhaps be better suited for people who wear quite light make up, or do a proper double cleanse every evening. 

Refreshing toner: Toner is not normally a step I use, however I used this to ensure that all traces of my make up was gone. It did leave me with a lovely refreshing feeling and I felt like the rest of my skincare could do it's work more effectively.

Life C Energising Serum: This was easily my favourite product of the lot, it had a gorgeous citrus-y scent and the clear gel dried to a super soft, velvet-matte finish. As the name suggests it contains vitamin C which is fab at improving the tone and brightening your skin.

Protective Day Moisturiser: This was a lovely light moisturiser that sank in quickly and had the added bonus of spf 15 (super important)! because it sank in quickly and wasn't too greasy I had no problem applying my make up on top and really enjoyed using this.

Restoring eye cream: This is perhaps the one product I didn't give a fair trial, I recently had a terrible reaction to an eye cream so was very wary of putting something else on. I patted this gingerly around the contour of my eye and immediately felt a bit of an odd sensation. Nothing major, to most people it would probably be considered as 'the product working' however, I was not about to risk another reaction, so missed of this step from then on.

Night recovery cream: When applied before bed this light weight cream sinks in enough so that you are not sticking to your pillow cases, but you can still feel it working it's magic on top of your skin.  I found this lovely and moisturising on my skin. 

So there we go! Although it doesn't sound like I was really raving about anything, aside from the serum, these products really did do lovely stuff for my skin! 

What caught my eye...

all images sourced from tumblr

Instant trend setter.

Sometimes girls, all you need is a chunky necklace to feel good. I can be wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, looking pretty boring and blah. However, put on a statement necklace and I feel like a trend setting queen. I don't know what it is, but you should try it out! Here is one of my picks for the day time, a spiky number from topshop

NARS velvet matte lip pencil in Sex Machine

Lovely colour? check! Gorgeous formula? Check! Rude name and purse-weeping (for a student) price tag? Double check! It could only be Nars of course, more specifically, the velvet matte lip pencil in Sex machine. I have posted about this before so won't ramble on, but recently I have fallen in love with this all over again. The formula is so soft and creamy, not drying on the lips at all. The pencil shape makes it easy to fill your lips in with no mistakes and it is a lovely colour for the day time with just a smudge of eye liner, or for the evening with super smokey peepers! I seriously want all of the colours. 

The Top of The Teas

Once upon a time, as I have was having my morning coffee, I thought there is absolutely no way I will ever be converted to tea. That is still true for builders tea, but any kind of fruity, flavourful combinations? Yes please! I find drinking tea is really helping me with my weight loss/diet change too, I will now have a warming cuppa over snacking, I am upping my liquid intake. I also have the added benefits of green tea and metabolism boosting ingredients like ginger, and detoxing ones like lemon! Here is the round up of what I am currently sipping!

Twinings Green tea with Cranberry

I always hear about the benefits of green tea but could never really drink it, until I discovered the Twinings infusions! They still taste green tea-y but with a nice something extra, in this case cranberries (nice and festive!) I love the juicy freshness of this tea, I find it perfect for a midday pick me up or my first morning cuppa, especially now this cold weather is kicking in!

Twinings Green tea with Ginger (link to similar)

For some reason I can't find this particular tea on the website! However this is the same concept as before, but with a spicy kick of ginger, which has metabolism boosting properties may I add! I love this combination to rev me up in the morning, or help me feel less sluggish after stuffing my face!

Heath and Heather Apple and Cinnamon

This is a brand I hadn't heard of before, but Holland and Barretts were having their 1 penny sale so I thought I would give them a go. I love this flavour, it is part of the invigorating range but I actually find I quite calming and soothing. I love drinking this aromatic blend in the evening to help me wind down.

Heath and Heather Ginger and lemon

This is a very invigorating, zesty and spicy blend. Like the ginger green tea I use this to wake me up and aid me when feeling sluggish, I definitely recommend picking something up from this brand if any of the flavours catch your eye, especially in the penny sale!

What are your favourite flavoured tea combos to drink?

TK MAXX bargains: Pro Beaute AURA rejuvenating Shampoo and Conditioner

As I was doing my usual TK MAXX browse I spotted these huuuuuuge  bottles of shampoo and conditioner for only 6.99 each! After a bit of deliberating, and thinking forlornly about my rather rubbish and nearly empty hair offerings at home, I decided to get them. It was a bit of a risk, if I didn't like them then that was nearly the price of a MAC lipstick wasted.

So lets start with the scent, the rosemary and mint scent is very strong, and it lingers in your hair after washing. So if you know that it's not a scent you like then I would stay clear. I however, love the smell, it's nice and fresh and makes me feel like I have given my hair a proper clean. The products have a very cooling feeling on the scalp, I especially noticed it with the conditioner, but again this didn't bother me as I just felt like it was working. Afterwards my hair was so clean, and so soft. I am really happy with this purchase and I know these bottles are going to last me ages, I definitely recommend picking them up if they sound like your kinda thing.

Thanks, Bioderma!

Not to long ago I was lucky enough to win Bioderma's weekly twitter competition, I received a 250 ml bottle of Bioderma Sensibio and a little pocket mirror with the most gorgeous detailing!

Thanks, Bioderma!! x

A/W skincare staple

So like a lot of people, my skin does not do well when faced with the cold winter winds, extra warm central heating, and the constant nose blowing that comes hand in hand with the chilly A/W months. Luckily I have found something to combat the drying effects, that was originally bought to try and tackle my ‘tiger stripes’ that cover me like a road map. However, I soon decided that there was just too much ground to cover so decided to try it out on my face, BIO OIL! I haven’t been using for too long but I can already see the benefits in my skin, my flaky bits have gone and it just feels more nourished and looks healthier, glow-ier and all round like nicer skin. I use this like I would any other face oil or serum,  and a lot of the time don’t feel the need to moisturise after.  I can definitely see this becoming my A/W skincare staple! you can grab some bio oil here. 

My new beauty corner

So the other day I was looking at my room and became very confused as to why my printer and random bits-and-bobs took up a whole desk-and-draw furniture type thing, when the much more important beauty bits are in a box under my bed or shoved in various make up bags around the room. So I re-jiggled and the results were quite an eye opener, I have so much stuff! hopefully this will give me the motivation to actually finish products as they are now all out on show. 

Let me know if you see anything that you want to know more on. Also, leave me your make up collections so I don't feel so guilty!!

My trip to Holland, PHOTOS!

Back in this post I told you all about my trip to Holland a very important important message (go watch the video!) back then I promised photos, and here they are!

and here is a video of some capoeira in Amsterdam!

What caught my eye...

all images sourced from tumblr

Ivory nails.

Here is a nail look that I have been loving, matte ivory nails. I find white a bit stark but a bone/ivory hue I think looks gorgeous. I added the matte top coat just to shake things up a bit, and I must say I really like it, plus it works really well on me to stop chipping. These nails were done yesterday and normally I would have some lovely chips thanks to the washing up and having flaky nails in general. My only tip is, keep it short and sweet, in my opinion white/ivory nails do not look good on long, claw-like talons. Oh an the roses as the background? A lovely bouquet I received from my boyfriend for our 3 year anniversary, what a sweetie eh?

My step-by-step eyebrow routine.

 So here is my eyebrow routine! the pictures are pretty self explanatory but I will do little written guide as well to explain things a bit;

1. I start off by using a spoolie to brush the hairs of my eyebrow downwards

2. I then take my benefit browzings and, using the wax, I draw in my upper guideline, I do not do anything on the bottom as for me that looks to 'drawn on'

3. using what is left on my brush I run it through the rest of my brows, and then again with the powder out of the browzings. This makes all of the hairs lie back in the right position and adds some definition and colour.

4. I then take some clear mascara and use it to fix my brows, brushing slightly upwards so that you can see that I actually have hairs!

5. I do not always do this step, but if I do highlight I use my rimmel scandaleyes in nude for a more natural lift.

6. I then blend and maybe add some powder to set and add a bit more shimmer.

And there is my finished eyebrows on my made-up face!