Friday, 31 July 2015

Current Album Favourite

 
 
Most of the time I'm happy to listen to pretty much whatever's on the radio when I'm at home but ever since I got this album I've been reaching for it a lot. I've always found Paloma Faith to be a unique artist and I love that about her and her music and this album doesn't disappoint! It has such a soothing vintage feel to it and it's all about her voice and the instruments, I think this is a great piece of work and it's almost impossible not to dance along!
 
Gabrielle

Thursday, 30 July 2015

How I Clean My Brushes


 
One of the most tedious parts of makeup in general has to be brush cleaning. I didn't realise how much of a difference it made to the quality of their performance when they're washed once a week until fairly recently when I was washing my hands, glanced over at my brushes and thought, I really should do something with those! So I had them by the sink, went to dispense some soap when I thought, that shower gel has been sitting there for months, I really ought to give that a go, and I have discovered that strawberry shower gel cleans brushes very well and they smell delicious afterwards! I just wet them, lather them up (what a great word, lather) rinse and pop them on a piece of kitchen roll to dry. It almost makes you feel weirdly adult, like you're taking care of your responsibilities, anyway I'm off to do my taxes and complain about young people!
 
Gabrielle

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

The Perfect Eco Friendly Brush


 
Alright, so we all own makeup brushes, probably most of which we don't even remember buying but just seem to turn up and take residence but I have never loved a brush more than my most recent discovery! I was browsing through Sainsbury's looking for some huge cookies when I thought I might as well look at the makeup section, and low and behold I found this brush. I had never heard of the brand, it's call 'so eco', what drew me to the brush was the fact that it looked so fluffy and when I read the packaging I knew I had to have it!

Monday, 27 July 2015

Creative Makeup Storage


 
I was looking around Next earlier today when I came across this gorgeous box, it's actually a cutlery caddy but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to get in to store my makeup! I've been searching for something for a while now that would be good to store my makeup in as it's just been kept in a drawer and finally I found this. It was £16 so sort of in between inexpensive and expensive depending on your budget but I would highly recommend this, as soon as I got it home I started organising products into the compartments and it's the perfect size for me. It also has a handle so it's great if you have to transport your makeup to the bathroom or move it around the room.
 
So if you're looking for something to store your makeup in and you want to make a feature of it, head over to Next and get yourself a cutlery caddy!
 
Gabrielle

Friday, 24 July 2015

Simply Good Skincare

 

 
As I'm sure you can tell this post is going to be about Simple skincare, I've used Simple for a number of years and their skincare products really seem to impress me. Out of the four products pictured above, the two that I've been using the longest are the Kind to Skin Toner and the Kind to Skin Light Moisturiser, when I first bought the toner I didn't know what to expect and I didn't even really know what it was for but it seems to be for closing your pores after you wash your face and removing excess or leftover dirt from the skin. It doesn't feel drying or harsh on the skin, and Simple does market itself as being good for sensitive skin and even though my skin isn't particularly sensitive I do like this factor. 

Friday, 17 July 2015

Barry M Natural Glow Pallette

I've never been that into eye shadows but after watching an abundance of YouTube videos where people created these beautiful eye looks I thought I might as well see what all the fuss was about. I'd heard a lot about the Naked palettes but I didn't see the point in buying something expensive before I knew if I even liked the idea of it, so I decided to go into a Superdrug and buy this palette in stead.
 

It's the Barry M Natural Glow Palette 2 and it was on sale so I thought I might as well try it. Everyone seems to go crazy about neutral colours, especially in summer, and this palette does seem to stay in that category, although it does have a couple of darker shadows which could be layered for a more dramatic effect. As you can see by the picture above, the shadows are fairly pigmented, but it does take a few layers to get them to that point, I don't particularly mind this because I prefer subtle looks anyway so this isn't a problem.
 

Saturday, 11 July 2015

Rimmel Nail Colour

 
I'm always telling myself to paint my nails and make a bit of effort but somehow I manage to talk myself out of it because I just can't be bothered! Yesterday however, I decided to look through my nail varnishes and pick out a colour and I came up with this, it's by Rimmel and it's number 397 'Beige Babe'. I'd bought this a while ago and never gotten around to actually using it so I thought I'd do a little review once I decided whether I liked it or not.

Friday, 10 July 2015

My Favourite Summer Fragrances



For me, one of the best bits about summer is how everything seems to smell so fresh, and I think that the fragrances I reach for in summer reflect that. In winter I love nothing more than lighting my Cranberry Ice Yankee candle, but it doesn't feel quite right when you're not snuggling down with a blanket and recently I purchased this Vanilla Sugar candle from Matalan. First of all what's not to love about the title?! Vanilla great, sugar fab, if you love these smells as much as I do you'll want to get this candle! It was only three pounds which is so affordable, and it seems to be lasting well. I would say that the smell once it's lit isn't as strong as the Yankee candles, but I suppose that's to be expected with the price, but that really works for summer as it's a more subtle fragrance and it creates a great atmosphere.

Thursday, 9 July 2015

Summer Accessories


 
In summer sunglasses are a must! Your eyes need UVA protection just as much as your skin does so bear this in mind and just throw a pair into your bag and leave them there so you always have them if you need them, and if you're a Brit like me, throw a collapsible umbrella in there too! I know there are people out there who have huge collections of sunglasses and certain pairs to go with certain outfits but that really isn't my style, I own these three pairs and the classic styles of them mean that they can be put with whatever outfit you like. The best thing you can do when buying sunnies is to check that they have a high level of UVA and UVB protection so that you're protecting yourself whilst still looking fabulous!

Friday, 3 July 2015

Haircare products

 Hair is such an important part of who we are, it helps us form our identities or change our look. We can use it as a statement, or even a shield, and it goes through an awful lot. There aren't many people out there, women especially, that don't put their hair through a lot, with different products, heat, hairspray, brushing, teasing, dying, and they take a real toll on the health and quality of our hair. I have naturally curly hair but I choose to straighten it after I wash it (which is only once or twice a week) as I find it so much easier to maintain this way! I wanted to talk a little about the products I use on my hair to keep it healthy but just remember that everyone's hair is different, my hair is very thick, so much so that my grandfather (who was bald on top with hair around the sides, real trendsetter!) used to joke that he wished we could share mine as we'd both still have enough to go around! Woops, wandered of target a bit there! But yes my hair is very thick, can get quite frizzy, and as I said is naturally curly so if you were born with thin, straight hair, you may want to change these products up to suit your individual needs, but I still think this post can be helpful to you, just bear that in mind.
 


Thursday, 2 July 2015

Summer Beauty Essentials

Hello, summer can be a tricky time when it comes to makeup, you don't want anything too heavy on the skin, it's hot, and you need your makeup to stay put without much effort. I know that for myself, having an oily T-zone can be difficult enough in winter, let alone when it's humid, so I've found that I've been reaching for a few particular products to try and combat this.
 
 

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Real Techniques Tools


 
Hello everyone, I think it's safe to say that summer has now officially begun and whilst I was sitting in the lounge listening to the birds and wondering what to do I thought, why not make a blog post? I recently bought the Real Techniques Core Collection set and Complexion Sponge having already got the Expert Face Brush and I wanted to make a post about them in case anyone is considering buying them but isn't sure about the quality/ price.