How I clean my make up brushes.

Prepare for a picture heavy post from when I decided to clean my make up brushes a couple of days ago. I try to clean them every 2 weeks so that I'm not shoving loads of germs and nasty stuff on my face. I'm not saying this is what you have to do other wise you are doing it wrong this is just how I do it. 
First up: My messy brushes!

Yes, They are disgusting! this time I had left it a little longer than the two weeks to clean them because I went camping and was veryyy busy! 
In my defence, I alternate my foundation brushes each week so i'm not using a really dirty one for two weeks!

If I find my brushes are a little too dirty then I will give them a quick wipe over with sephora's make up brush cleaning wipes. Something similar to those is the  ELF daily brush cleaning spray (found here)




The first thing I do is fill my sink up with warm water and put a few pieces of kitchen roll on the side by my sink for the brushes when they are clean. I put the tops of the brushes in the water so all of the brush head is covered. I then take it out and squeeze a small amount of ELFs brush shampoo (found here) on it and massage it into the brush, occasionally I will dunk it back into the water and repeat the process until the brush is completely clean. Once I am convinced the brush is clean I run it under the tap and squeeze out all the water. Before putting it on the kitchen roll to dry I reshape the brushes, especially my face brushes, to make sure they dry in the right way. I use a liquid foundation and my foundation brushes get quite clogged up so it takes a few goes at making them as clean as I possibly can! 

My clean brushes and...

My DIRTYY water! gross huh?

once I have finished cleaning all my brushes I use some of the shampoo to clean any marks off of the sink.

What do you use to clean your brushes, any recommendations? 

Xx

Beauty Breakdown TAG

I have a lot of college work on the go right now so I thought I would do a TAG post to tide you over until my next interesting post :)
Enjoyyy
So this is the beauty breakdown TAG, It sort of just gives an outline of my everyday products from shower to make up!


1. What products do you use in the shower? I'm very basic, Dove heat defence shampoo and conditioner and a dove body wash that makes your skin extra soft!  
2. What products do you use when you get out of the shower? Nivea happy time body moisturiser, smells lush!
3. What are your odds and ends products? Garnier hairspray, bamboo hold (i think) 
4. What products do you use on your face? Urban Decay de slick setting spray, Rimmel London primer, Rimmel London foundation, Rimmel London powder, Rimmel London matte oil blotter, elf blush (I like Rimmel)
5. What other makeup products do you use? MUA eyeshadow pallets, NYColour mascara, Natural collection matte black eyeshadow as eyeliner (sometimes)


If anyone is interested in my everyday make up routine or the whats in my shower Tag I'm always looking for new ideas so let me know! 
Xx

Nail Rehab Winner!

Two weeks ago I told you about my crappy nails (see HERE for the details & original post) I have used three different products for my torn nails which were Rimmel London's nail rescue, Avon's peeling and brittleness solver and Sally Hanson's Hard as nails. I used them on a few nails each to test and compare their effectiveness over a two week period and here are the results:

In THIRD place we have:

Rimmel London's Nail Rescue! around £4.50
I used this one on 4 nails on my right hand but at the end of the two weeks 3 out of the 4 nails are still torn! it's a shame especially as it's the product that claims to be a two week treatment. 
In SECOND place we have:
Sally Hanson's Hard As Nails around £2-£3
Two out of three nails I used this on are amazing, no splits at all and strong. The third has a tiny split in it and is still a little weak but I really do recommend this and for a reasonable price I think its worth it if you have the same problem as me.
In FIRST place, my winner is:
Avon's Peeling and Brittleness Solver was £5 now £2.50 on the Avon website!
All three of the nails are used this product on are so freaking strong and rip free! It surprised me as I honestly thought this one would perform the worse out of the three but I am now going to use this on the rest of my nails to hopefully get them as strong and rip free as the others.


Xx

REVIEW: September GlossyBox

This is the first month of my subscription to the GlossyBox scheme, I love the idea of the box (click HERE to see my intro to GlossyBox) but I wasn't overly impressed with the products I got, unfortunately.
Here is what I got & what I thought:

PLUM by Mary Greenwell perfume sample
The scent is very sweet smelling but I think its more of a scent created for the "older lady" as it really reminds me of the perfume my grandma wears all the time. I might give this sample to her to see if she likes it.

Green People day solution hydrating balancing day cream
This was a product that I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. It really did do what it claimed to, my hands felt so soft, hydrated and moisturised and lasted for nearly 2 days! However, The smell! I hated it, I can't even describe what it smells like it just smells so horrible! 

MOA's The green balm
It's not green! Surprisingly I actually quite liked this product. To me it looks like a very creamy lip balm or like Vaseline but its actually a body cream! I used it on my hands and found that it soaked in super quickly and made my hands soo soft and with no real smell I have no complaints! 

Rahua Shampoo 
I'm going to start off by saying I hate it. It smelt and looked like benylin cough medicine (google it) so my first impressions were bad, to make it worse it made my hair feel horrible, really dry and straw like while I was still in the shower!!
Rahua Conditioner
This was not much better! It looked like mashed up bananas or baby food, very unappealing. My first thought when I smelt it was it smelt like the plastic babybell cheese wrapper. I had to re wash my hair with my dove shampoo. Will never use it again. 

HD Brows kit
FINALLY something I LOVED! Paying £12.95 and receiving this kit which retails at around £19.99 made all the rubbish products completely worth it! I have quite thick, dark eyebrows already which I get waxed every 4 - 6 weeks so using the kit as an eyebrow definer would be a bit too HD for me but using it as a brown eyeshadow pallet works perfectly! 



The colours are super pigmented and so similar that it makes doing a smoky brown eye really easy. If you were to use it as a brow filler it has enough variety to fit everyone's eyebrow colour. The kit comes with a double ended brush with, what looks like, an eyeliner brush on one side and an eye sponge on the other. I have been looking for an eyeliner brush for a long time so getting that one was awesome! it also has a basic eyeshadow sponge brush for on the go application. I cannot rave enough about this pallet! Love Love Love it! 


Let me know if you think these review posts are a good idea please! 
Xx

Tell me about yourself: Award!

Last night I discovered I had been given the "Tell Me About Yourself" award for my blog from the beautiful Brittany! I was very flattered to receive it. 


It is now my turn to pass the award on to some of the lovely people I follow and tell you a little bit about myself as part of the award! 

Here are the rules:

Thank and link the person who awarded you.
Write 7 random things about yourself.
Spread the love to a few other bloggers! 

Are you ready?

1. I can click my ears

2. My parents are adopting

3. I've lived in the same town for 17 years

4. I'm 18 with the mental age of a 10 year old.. 

5. One tree hill is my favourite show EVER.

6. Disneyworld, Fl is my favourite place ever (other than my home)

7. The only people that know about my blog are my mum, dad & boyfriend (and you guys!)

I am giving this award to:

- ZARA from Pretty Visions!
- SAM from xosamanthagrace! 
- RACHEL from Life of a twenty something!
- ABBY-LEE from Abby-Lee!


These are four of my favourite blogs and some lovely girls so make sure you all click on their names, go have a read & follow them! 
Xx

Boring to bedazzled: Hairbrush make over

You're probably reading this title like what the fudge is this chick on about? But I swear its not as weird as you think! My hair brush broke the other day so my mum got me another one and it was black and so boring. I am obsessed with sparkles and gems so a boring rainy day with a boring hair brush and some sparkles I set to work on making my hairbrush a little less dull. So here is what I did:

Take one very boring, plain hairbrush, some clear nail varnish, superglue, tweezers, sparkly gems and a tray so you don't stick anything to the table! 


Step 1: Draw your design on with clear nail varnish to use as a template.


Step 2: Apply superglue on a few centre meters of the design


Step 3: Use tweezers to pick up sparkly gems and place them on the area you have just superglued.

Step 4: Continue super glueing small sections of the design and sticking the gems down. 


Step 5: (optional) Once your main design is finished feel free to go a bit crazy to create a very bedazzled hairbrush! 










The finished bedazzled hairbrush!

My hairbrush is from tesco, as is the superglue. 
The gems are from amazon.co.uk
Let me know if you have/do anything similar or creative! 
Xx

Honey, I'm home!

If you read my previous post you would possibly realise that I am now home from my camping trip with my college class. (If you didn't, you can read it HERE) Before I get into the trip talk I have an adoption update for those who are interested. When I got home my mum told me that her and dad have been accepted (!!) onto the agency and have been booked onto the 3 day preparation course in November! I'm really happy and excited that we are now another step closer to getting a new member in our family! 


So onto the trip. On Monday morning I got to my college at 8:30am even though we didn't leave until nearly half 9! We piled into two mini buses to make the half an hour trip to a camping/outdoor adventure site in a little village. We were introduced to the staff and shown around the site before being split into two groups of 11 and moving on to a load of "team building" activities which I honestly think was a bonding experience for all of us, especially when we are trying to fit 11 people into one hoop and balancing on one leg with each other as support. (weird task, huh?) We had to put our tents up on our own and I'm proud to say that us girls finished our tent first! In the evening we had a reasonable dinner then played 40:40 in in the woods and did a little bit of archery before heading back to our tents to have some free time. 
On Tuesday we were woken up at 8am and surprisingly the girls were quite awake however achy from sleeping in the tent, on a stupidly windy night. We had breakfast, showered and then went to another outdoor centre to do canoeing, high ropes and rock climbing which is part of the assignment we are studying for. We spent an hour and a half in a canoe first learning how to paddle, change direction and chase an angry male swan up the river led by our instructor. We had to capsize our canoe into a river so cold it was like taking an ice bath! I could barely swim back I was so cold. Once we had dried off, changed and ate lunch we moved onto the land based activities rock climbing and the high ropes, soo much fun! We also managed to fit 11 people into a 6 person tent that evening, it kept our tent warm when it rained!
Today was our last day, we were less reluctant to get up as it was freezing outside and we were completely worn out from the day before. We had to pack all our stuff up and try and shove our sleeping bags into those ridiculously small bags they come in (anyone else think that's stupid?) We then went to another village close by which was actually the village my grandma lives in, strange, to do battlefield live which is a bit like quasar but in the woods, until about 3 then we got back on our mini buses to come back to college. 
I am now in the comfort of my own home writing this blog, waiting for my chinese food! 
Xx

Your tent or mine?

Tomorrow morning at 8:30AM(!) I will be at my college waiting to get the coach to go on our trip. We're going camping for 3 days, yes I know its not a long time but it means sleeping in a tent outside and the weather man said its going to rain and be windy. Not.Cool! It's currently 5:50pm and I haven't even started packing yet because I am 1/3 of the most disorganised family ever, although, in my defence I have written a list of all the things I want/need to take with me (I'm a little obsessed with lists, weird fact for ya') so I am kind of organised. The one thing I have completely sorted is my make up. Now I know I should embrace the outdoors and go make up free but I just can't bare to do that with anyone except my family and boyfriend because I have horrible skin, so I'm taking the bare minimum of products with me, Promise!
This is what I am taking: 

- Sure deodorant
- Batiste dry shampoo for brown hair
- Boots simply sensitive make up remover wipes
- Rimmel London colour match foundation (in the little pot)
- Rimmel London stay matte powder
- Make up Forever Mist & Fix
- Formula lip balm
- Carex hand sanitiser
- Elf foundation brush
- Elf powder brush
- Hair brush
I'm obviously taking shampoo & body wash, clothes and undies but they are all still in my drawer waiting to be taken out and put in my bag. 
I will be back on Wednesday evening so I will not be posting again until then or Thursday morning. 
What would be your camping essentials? 
Xx

September GlossyBox intro and products!

I originally heard about this concept from watching Ingrid, or Miss Glamourazzi on YouTube when she did videos on an american company called BirchBox, I thought it was a clever idea but it was US only so no chance I could join. A few weeks ago I came  across a blog post on a company called GlossyBox which was exactly the same as BirchBox but one I could join. 

 GlossyBox is a monthly subscription service, a bit like a magazine subscription, and every month they send you a beautifully packaged box with 5 product samples including make up, skincare, haircare & nail products. This is the first month i've signed up for, it costs £12.95 a month and I personally think its totally worth it! 

How cute is the box! I might use theses to package my giveaways otherwise i am going to be overrun with these boxes (yes, i have a couple coming up soon, if you are interested)

Inside the box they put a card with information on this months concept, which was 'Future Classics', on the other side of the card there is a little bit of information on each product and a discount code for each of the products website, mostly £5 off if you spend £20. 

This Months Products:

In the bag: Rahua, shampoo & conditioner

In the tube: Green people, Day solution

In the pot: Moa, The green balm

HD Brows, Eye & brow pallet

Mary Greenwell, Plum eau de parfum

I am going to be doing monthly GlossyBox posts. I will do a post on what I got in the months box and then when I've used the products I will do another post reviewing them, i think. 

Let me know if you are subscribed to GlossyBox or if you have any questions! 

Xx

I Got Naked!

No, not that kind of naked! The Urban Decay kind...

 LEFT TO RIGHT: 

Virgin, Sin, Naked, Side car, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep and Hustle (both hidden, see pictures below.)







 I picked up this pallet after hearing rediculous amounts of raves about how amazing it is, and trust me, it really is amazing! I am one for wearing quite neutral, natural colours and I don't think you can achieve that look any better then you can with this pallet. I had seen that debenhams were doing a crazy up to 25% off sale on near enough the whole store, so I seized the moment and went to the Urban Decay counter to discover that it was all 10% off so I paid only £31.50 instead of the usual £35! (woo!) I have pretty much used this every single day since I got it and am even considering getting a back up or at least a few of my favourite colours, hopefully, however some are exclusive to the pallet :(

I love that the pallet comes with a mini primer potion and a eye shadow brush which are both brilliant. The brush is soooooo soft! I think I may need to invest in some more Urban Decay brushes in the future. (Excuse my brush, its a bit dirty. Post on brush cleaning to follow at some point in the future..)

 Close up of Virgin, Sin, Naked, Side car and Buck








Close up of Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted. 

Close up of Hustle, Creep and Gunmetal

SWATCHES:

Left to Right: (virgin got cut off) Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted,  Creep.
Up Top: Gunmetal, Hustle

Sorry about the picture heavy post, I'm sure you've all seen what the pallet looks like before! 

What's your holy grail eyeshadow colour, from any brand?

Xx

Primark Purchases

I went to primark today with the sole intention of buying some cheap clothes for my camping trip next week (more on that to follow soon) however, that didn't work. I think i managed to buy everything but what I actually needed to get. oops! 

So here is what I picked up, which I probably shouldn't have...

- Pack of 40 bobby pins, £1

- 4 pack feather hair slides, £2

- 4 pack bulldog clips, £1

- Butterfly ring, £2

- White feather & peach gem earings, £2

- Green feather & chain earings, £2.50

- Woolly hat, £4

- Earmuffs, £2

- 2 pack gloves, £1

- Belt, £2.50

- Pink headband, £1.50

- Grey headband, £1.50

- Pyjama pants, £5

- 2 pack vests, £2

-  Superman undies, £2.50

So this is why I shouldn't go shopping on my own, especially when everything is so cheap! 

Do you like shopping in primark, or is it too much like a jumble sale? 

Xx

Whats in my college bag?

Yesterday's posts did not go to plan. If you read my Back To College: OOTD you would've seen me say I was going to do this yesterday, but I didn't and I am sorry! I guess you could say this is part 2, on day 2, of my back to college related posts... 

Here is my college bag:

My camera makes it look dirty, its not, Its the lighting ectt!

Its from Marks and Spencer and cost £20!

This is what's inside it: 

Front Buckle Pocket: Normally has my phone, time table and the frutella's in it.

Middle Zip Pocket: Coin purse, House keys and Car Keys

Main Compartment: Tinkerbell folder for assignments (so grown up) Pink plastic 'popper' folder for letters and things, Notepad, mini mouse pencil case and my mini make up bag.

So that is what's in my college bag, exciting huh? If you have any questions like if you want to know what's in my college make up bag or something then please let me know in the comments as I am more then happy to do a post on it or any requests!
What are you studying at school, college or uni? 

Xx

Back To College: OOTD

I started back at college today for the second year of my course, I do sports science if anyone is wondering, so I figured I would do a couple of College related posts today. The first, this one, is going to be an OOTD and the next one will be "Whats in my college bag" If you are interested :) 

 

Very Sports Science-y, i know :P

  

ON TOP: 

Converse All Stars top

Victoria Secret jumper (favee)

ON THE BOTTOM:

Black leggins from Primark (bargain! and bloody comfy)

My favourite glittery flats from a little store in anaheim, CA.

Xx

 

Nail Rehab!

Yes, you read that right. My nails are going to rehab. Reccently my nails have started to split, peel and generally fall apart (sigh) so I have decided that now would be a good time to sort them out before those horribly cold winter months roll in. I found three treatments in my nail varnish collection and I thought I would try them out for a two week period (yes, all three) applying them each day on different nails so I can let any of you, who have the same problem as me, know which one works best :)

My gross nails

The treatments:

Rimmel London, Nail Rescue

Avon, Peeling & Brittleness Solver

Sally Hanson, Hard as Nails

I will use the:

AVON treatment on 3 fingers on my left hand

SALLY HANSON treatment on the last finger and thumb on my left hand and thumb on my right hand

RIMMEL treatment on my last 4 fingers on my right hand

I will update you all in a week to let you know how its going and which one is working best then again after the two weeks with my verdict. I feel like a judge in a competition "THREE treatments! TWO weeks! ONE WINNER!" *que screaming and cheering*

Xx

Get Your Freak On! (TAG)

If you follow me on twitter you would've seen me say I was going to post a 'Random blog' that I had been thinking about while I was at work. However it is now 10:37pm and I haven't had the chance to prepare for said blog so I am going to do the 'Get your freak on!' tag so that I don't feel bad about not putting a post up today.


1. What's a nickname only your family calls you? They call me Spud, yes, you read that right, Spud as in potato! But my parents have no idea why they call me it. My dad said it once when I was like 2 and its stuck.
 
2. What's a weird habit of yours? Its not really 'weird' but I can't sit still so I constantly bounce my legs.
 
3. Do you have any weird phobias? I honestly can't think of anything! manky cuts and things make me feel funny.
 
4. What's a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you're alone? Selena Gomez - Love you like a love song
 
5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves? People making stupid amounts of noise when they eat! makes me want to vom.
 
6. What's one of your nervous habits? I know its disgusting but I bite my nails & shake!
 
7. What side of the bed do you sleep on? The right side, facing my door.
 
8. What was your first stuffed animal and it's name? It was a bear with a blue bow called George
 
9. What's the drink you always order at starbucks? I don't really like starbucks :O
 
10. What's a beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice? Clean your make up brushes at least once a week if you have blemishes, I'm only human and sometimes I forget, however I do try and clean them regularly.
 
11. Which way do you face in the shower? Towards the wall, unless I'm washing my face.
 
12. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'? I can click my ears. Don't ask me how I found out I could do it or how I do it, I just can.
 
13. What's your favorite comfort food that's 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways? Any type of chocolate.
 
14. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say? I always say 'Like' or 'Really?'
 
15. Time to sleep, what are you actually wearing? My pyjamas, mostly from La Senza and mostly Christmas related ones. I have like 4 pairs of Christmas pyjamas and I wear them all year round! 

If you are reading this, consider yourself TAGGED! Let me know in the comments below if you do this tag so I can have a look! :) Also, expect the 'random' blog post up tomorrow night after I have finished work and got it all sorted
Xx