Task Of The Week...

The task of the week, this week is: Contouring and Highlighting.
This is something I truly have no real idea about and something I would definitely like to try out. I’ve even done a bit of preparation. I’ve watched a video on YouTube from Tanya Burr: Click me to see the video and brought:

The Sleek Face Contour Kit in Fair. I have been using it in the exact way that Tanya did on her video and I really think I’m starting to ‘get it’.
I do need to practise a little more when it comes to blending but I’m getting there.

 

Please do excuse the rather posed (myspace!) shot above and I’m not really crossed eyed, I’m not quite sure why I’m pulling that face. But this is how the contouring and highlighting is going at the moment. If anyone has any tips please feel free to share.

Haul...

Good Evening,
Apologies once again for being a little slow updating my blog.
Once again, unfortunately life took over a little. On Friday I was involved in my very first car crash. Luckily there were no major injuries thank goodness and the other person involved admitted full liability so it seems everything will be just fine.
I did however, manage to make it into the city on Thursday…. And obviously I made a few purchases:

To kick it all off, the first purchases I made were in Boots.

Boots had a ‘buy two get one free’ offer on the brand: Simple. I’ve been meaning to trial a couple of Simple products for absolutely ages. I am forever reading or watching rave reviews on them. I have really sensitive skin so was hoping for good things. The products that I purchased were Simple Radiance Brightening Cleansing Wipes, Simple Kind To skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser and Simple Kind To Eyes Revitalising Eye Roll-On.

I’m not 100% sold on the wipes just yet. I’ve found them to feel a little rough compared to my normal Olay wipes. I’m not sure if I would re-purchase these particular wipes but Simple seem to have a rather large range so I would perhaps try out some of the others. If anyone has any recommendations on any wipes, I would be really grateful to hear them?

I am however, really rather pleased with the moisturiser. It has just the right consistency. I think I might even prefer it to my normal moisturiser (Olay Essentials) as it has a slightly thinner consistency... almost a lotion-like feel.

I haven’t yet managed to try the eye roll and I’m not 100% sure what to expect from it. It claims to wake up and revitalise eyes which is just what I need. I have horrible blood shot eyes in the morning so anything that might be able to improve them would be fantastic…. 

Which brings me on to the next item I purchased:

Optrex Eyedew Dazzling Eye Drops. These have made such a difference! I’ve been dropping (?) these in each morning and they really do seem to work. They take away that oh’ so lovely blood shot look and leaves my eyes looking a lot more bright a colourful. These will definitely be a keeper!
I did manage to slip in a couple of make-up buys as well:

Maybelline color(colour) tattoo 24HR in Eternal Gold, Permanent Taupe and Eternal Pink. I haven’t yet used them as I don’t actually know how to use them…. I will be researching them via YouTube (of course) and will update you then.. although I’m sure the majority of you out there already use products like these or maybe even these products themselves.

L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream: I really wanted to try this out after seeing it in a few YouTube videos. I’ve never used a BB cream before so I really have nothing to compare it too. When on my hand it certainly looks very odd and a little airy? It goes on the skin very lightly and it almost has a velvety texture. It has what seems to be a good coverage (at least for me) and I really really like it. Especially for those days when I either don’t have enough time to put on a ‘full face’ or just don’t fancy having so much of it on.

I also wanted to try out the cream blush (L’oreal Nude Magique BB Blush). I’m not really sure what to expect from this product as I have never used a cream blush before. From my first impressions it seems a little sticky? I think I’m going to need to practise with this one. It’s a lot different to any other blush I have used before.

I’ve not really spoken too much about hair care on here just yet. I have extremely easy to manage hair and that’s just the way I like it! I am however, a little naughty and really don’t look after my hair properly. I’ve decided that now would be as good a time as ever and I’m starting with heat defence.

Tresemme heat protection spray. From previous experience I’ve always found heat defence to make my hair heavy and greasy but this heat protection spray is completely different! For starters it smells divine and I can report, it does not make my hair feel heavy or greasy at all! It’s a big thumbs up from me!

And last but not least……

Batiste Dry Shampoo! I love dry shampoo, I’m pretty sure every woman does. This one smells gorgeous too and I love the packaging – Yes, I’m afraid I’m a bit of a sucker for pretty packaging. I think it’s great fun and it really brightens up our bedroom.


So as you can see, I have spent a small fortune, but hey… I think it’s been worth it!

Task of the Week...

Please take my apologies for me not updating my blog sooner. I had hoped to post the results of my eyeliner challenge but for the first time in my life… I have got hay fever. I am not a fan.

My eyes are either constantly streaming or feeling as If I have grit stuck in them.

However, I did visit the pharmacy today and under the pharmacists advice brought some ‘allergy eye drops’. I only administered them around half an hour ago and I’m not feeling any benefits yet. If anyone has any advice on hay fever or any products that could help me, please comment away.

I started my little eyeliner challenge just over two weeks ago and I have to be honest, it really has made a difference. They say practise makes perfect and it does… sort of.

Just in case you haven’t read my blog before, I started this little challenge as I couldn’t apply eyeliner to my eye lid.  A pretty simple task for the majority of women out there but for some reason it’s always been something that was just impossible for me.

I used three different eyeliner pencils, two different liquid eyeliners and three different ‘felt tip’ eyeliners. It turned out for me eyeliner pencils and liquid eyeliners are a big no no. The pencils made me look like I had two black eyes and I couldn’t apply the liquid eyeliner without it going quite literally everywhere. Apparently at least for me, it seems as if it’s all in getting the right product.

The right product for me appears to be:

I actually found this eyeliner though YouTube. One of my favourite bloggers; itsJudyslife received a rather large box from L’Oréal. Inside the box of mystery was a range of their new line products. On one of her later vlogs she gave what seems to be some very good advice.

When using a felt tip eyeliner, they end should be sturdy and firm, not flimsy!
This is where I was going wrong with the other two. This L’Oréal one is perfect with just the right amount of ‘firmness’ to it… and even better… I can actually use it!

I actually have really watery eyes and normally eyeliner slides right off in a matter of hours, but this eyeliner is fantastic. Its super black and stays on all day long.

I’m not quite where I would like to be yet with applying it to the top lid, but I know I’m not far off. Practise makes perfect and I will continue to practise! My next task of the week is highlighting and contouring. I have no real idea what that means… but I will find out…. And succeed.

Baking Sundays...

I really do enjoy cooking. My Grandmother tried to get me cooking from an early age and always had me helping out in the kitchen whenever I was at her house. My biggest problem is the fact that I only seem to be vaguely good at baking. It’s a good job my fiancé is the polar opposite, he is fantastic at cooking and so therefore we never go hungry.

When I woke up this morning, I decided that I will make a huge effort to bake every Sunday. I love sweet treats (probably a little too much) and would much prefer all of my sweet treats to be home-made.

This week, I decided to bake some chocolate cookies:

The main reason for this has something to do with my little YouTube obsession. I have a lot of channels that I am subscribed too and I watch their video’s religiously. On Tanya Burr's Vlogs & Hauls channel she recently posted a video all about some yummy cookies. I just couldn’t resist, I had to make some! 

I should mention that she got the recipe from Vivianna's blog.
Mine didn’t quite turn out as well as Tanya’s and Vivianna’s… but they were still yummy. For anyone who also might like to try out the recipe, follow the links above or read below:

Triple Chocolate Cookies
Makes 12

200g Unsalted Butter
300g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg
275g Self-Raising Flour
75g Cocoa Powder
Three Big Bars of chocolate (white, milk and dark – I used Tesco’s own and it worked out just right)
A splash of milk

Step One:
Preparation is key!
Pre-heat your oven. I have a fan assisted oven, so I apparently needed to set mine for 220°C. Apparently if it is not fan assisted you will need to set it for 200°C. My cookies burnt a little so perhaps turn it down if your oven is a quite powerful.
Now’s a good time to line your baking tray’s too. It saves time faffing about when you’ve got your mixture ready and your eager to shove it in the oven.

Step Two:
Either leave your butter out for a wee’ while (I’m not Scottish.. I’ve no idea why I do this!) or pop it in the microwave (in a microwaveable bowl/jug obvs.) for a couple of seconds. Make sure you don’t do it for too long like I did otherwise your cookies may taste slightly odd as the butter will be slightly burnt – Yum!

Step Three:
Whisk the ‘softened’ butter above with your caster sugar until nice and creamy. I used an electric whisk as I am lazy!

Step Four:
‘Crack in’ the egg and mix some more. 

Step Five:
Now it’s time to add in the dry ingredients; self-raising flour, cocoa powder and the big chocolate bars broken into squares (I halves mine again as the squares were rather large).
I found that this took a LOT of mixing.
At this point my mixture turned out pretty dry. I decided that adding water would be a good idea (whilst forgetting that milk was actually in the recipe)… the water made no difference. Top Tip: Don’t bother adding water. I then managed to clean my hands from the chocolatey-mess they were and use my laptop. This is when I figured out that perhaps I should try some milk. This was a very good idea indeed and obviously what the recipe needed. 

Step Six:
In the original recipe is says to scoop the mixture into twelve handful size balls. I decided that using my hands would be easier – classy right!
So I sculpted twelve balls of the mixture with my hands (think play-dough) and plonked them on the trays.

Step Seven:
Shove them in the oven.
Set the timer for ten minuets.

Step Eight:
Listen to the timer, then switch it off – It’s pretty annoying otherwise.
Take them out of the oven – simple right?
On the original recipe it says: ‘They will be super sloppy still when you remove them, but leave them to cool for around thirty minutes, and they will stiffen up’. Mine were a little burnt around the edges and for future reference I will be taking them out a little earlier, they were however still a little sloppy so I left them to cool.

Step Nine:
EAT THE DAMN COOKIES!!

Wish List Friday...

Its wish list Friday time!!

Okay… well I know it’s actually Saturday but Friday went so quickly for me. I’ve been really very busy at work lately as I have been planning a charity ball. It’s eating up a lot more of my time than I expected, so here we go, Wish list Friday only one day late!

Below are a few pictures of items that I have been lusting after this week. As usual it’s pretty long, I always want something. I’m planning a small (hopefully!) trip into the city on Thursday so will probably make a few purchases off the list then!

Picture One
Optrex Eyedew Dazzling Eye Drops: I’ve really been working on different make-up techniques on my eyes over the last couple of weeks. Following this, I have then being trying to take some photos of my eyes (vain or what!) for my blog. Unfortunately literally every single time my eyes are red and blood shot. Also possibly because I have been playing around with eye make-up a little more, my eyes have been getting quite sore. I’ve done a bit of googling and found on quite a few reviews that these eye drops come up triumphs. These will definitely be a purchase on Thursday!

Picture Two
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Clarifying Lotion: I’ve actually just seen this product in ‘Glamour’ Magazine. I don’t tend to read magazines very often – I just don’t get round to reading them… However, after I read Fiona’s (from makeupsavy.co.uk) post about this month’s freebie, I just had to buy it! Just in case anyone is interested, I chose the freebie: Percy & Reed Finishing Spray. I haven’t tried it yet but will update you when I do. Back to the ‘Clarifying Lotion’, after I saw Glamour’s comments about the product I was definitely interested. They are describing it as gentle as water but, still manages to get rid of make-up and any other dirt on the skin. My skin at times can be pretty sensitive and this sounds like quite a low cost alternative to my normal cleansers.

Picture Three
Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation: I know this seems to be doing the rounds on most beauty blogs at the moment, and I have to admit it certainly looks ideal. Revlon claim that it is ‘so refreshingly light it melts right in’. I have a lot of days where sometimes I just don’t want to wear a lot of make-up (I’m sure we all do) but still would like to at least hide my blemishes. At the cheap price of £6.99 it almost seems too good to be true. Even so, I’m definitely up for trying it out and again it will be one of my purchases on Thursday. Again, I will update you on my findings.

Picture Four
Revlon Nearly Naked Powder: This obviously goes hand in hand with the foundation. It seems like a nice idea to have a matching setting powder and heck.. if it works you can get both for just £12.98! 

Picture Five
L’Oreal Paris Nude Magique BB Blush: Again, I saw these BB creams in the Glamour magazine again. This product is supposed to “provide an instant flush of colour to the cheeks; recreating the texture and glow of a unique complexion”. Apparently the product is actually clear and transforms on contact with the skin. They have some other products in this range, just in case anyone is interested. They have an Anti-Fatigue cream, an Anti-Dullness cream and an Anti-Redness cream. They all definitely seem like interesting products and I’ve only got good things to say about L’Oreal products.

Picture Six
L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Light: From seeing the cream blusher above in the magazine, I then went to google and looked at other L’Oreal products and came across this one. I haven’t really had any experience on BB creams yet but have watched a lot of different reviews on other blogs and YouTube channels. This product claims to be ‘Enriched with smart pigment capsules in a feather light feel hydrator which transforms into a foundation on contact with skin”. It sounds really light and as I said before with the Revlon Nearly Naked products, I really would like to try some lighter foundations & creams. 

Pictures 7, 8 & 9
Maybelline *Colour* Tattoo 24HR Cream Gel Eye Shadow: I haven’t yet tried out any cream eye shadows and have been wanting too for a pretty long time. From doing my research again the 24HR creams apparently seem to some of the best eye shadow creams on the ‘drugstore’ market right now… which definitely suits my budget!  

Picture 10
Rimmel London Stay Matte Dual Action Concealer: If you haven’t read this blog before, you won’t know about my previous wish list. On my previous wish list was a new release from Benefit. It was the Benefit ‘Fakeup’ which I believe has now been released. I haven’t yet managed to try the Benefit product but this Rimmel Concealer definitely looks like it! I may have to try this one first! It claims to ‘Cover imperfections without clogging the pores’ which obviously sounds ideal. My poor debit card.. it’s going to take a little beating on Thursday!

Picture 11 & 12
O.P.I Nail Varnishes, What Wizardry is This? From the Disney Oz Collection & Pirouette my whistle from the New York Ballet Collection: I haven’t yet swatched these but from what I have seen of them they both look beautiful on nails!! I’m not a big nail varnisher (if that’s even a word!) and can’t often wear it for work purposes. When I can though, I do… and both of these colours look lovely!! 

Picture 13
Hershesons Batiste Dry Shampoo: Who doesn’t love dry shampoo? What did people do without dry shampoo?! I absolutely love the design on the bottle; they’ve done a good job here. I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to pretty designs. Its limited edition and I might just have to purchase it! 

Picture 14
Special K Chocolate Curls: I know this is probably a little random to end a Wish List like this but I am totally craving this cereal at the moment. I really rarely eat/drink products with milk in and so therefore am probably lacking Calcium. I always take a little looksee down the cereal aisle when in the supermarket and spotted these the other week. This is the first time I’ve properly enjoyed a Cereal. It was only £2.00 on an introductory offer hence me buying it…and finishing it, but at £2.69 for a 300g box it does seem a little extortionate… it does taste like heaven though! I’m thinking I will definitely have to stock up when it’s back on offer! 


Oh dear… it’s turned to Sunday whilst writing this. Darn it, two days late it is! I will be posting on Monday though about my task of the week. My last task was to be able to put eyeliner on my eye lid. I know this might sound like a pretty easy task for some people, for me it most certainly isn’t. I am not very good at applying make-up… yet!! I do aspire to be better though. I shall update you tomorrow (Monday!) with my findings and a new task of the week.