If you asked me what my go to brand for mascaras, I would not struggle to come up with an answer straight away. Maybelline for me do the best mascara range I have ever tried from the drugstore and even from all makeup brands as a whole. Not only are they super affordable, but each individual mascara I've ever tried has performed to such a great quality that I rarely find myself looking at any other brand. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my top 3 Maybelline mascaras.
A nourishing lip pick is the perfect summer lip option if you're after something that is light and moisturisers the lips well. They also work well in creating that more softer look throughout the lighter and warmer months of the year, whilst you can opt for something more heavy and bold come winter time. I've gathered together a selection of some of my favourite nourishing lip options within my lip wardrobe:
So two years ago today, I hit publish on my first blog post and after that I really got myself involved in the blogging world. It's crazy to think I have stuck with this hobby for two whole years. I don't think there has been any hobby that I've stuck with for this long so it's definitely been worth it. Of course, like everyone's blogging journey, I've had my ups and my downs. There has been times when I've wanted to quit and other times when I feel like I'm really on my game. But I'm really pleased I've stuck it out even when times were tough. Although when I first started, I never realised what I could achieve nor what blogging really entailed. It was a complete mystery to me. There's so many things I wasn't aware of and I thought I would share some of those things in today's anniversary post:
When you're a makeup hoarder or addict, you will probably end up finding yourself building quite the collection. It can be hard sometimes to find the time to use all of the products you have seemed to accumulate over a certain period of time or even let go of using your favourites on a daily basis. I know I personally feel like some of my makeup products get neglected, so if you ever find yourself in this situation, then keep on reading because this post is going to help you get lot's more wear out of your makeup collection:
Haircare is such an important part of your beauty regime that sometimes can be forgotten about if you're not caring for it daily. I find it is especially more important in the summer time, when you're exposed to the humidity and heat a lot more than usual. Also some of us love to go lighter in the summer, which means a lot of damage being caused by bleaching. Instead of letting our haircare slide, it's a good idea to find a good routine or even some great products that work wonders on your hair. I'm sharing with you 5 ways to better hair care that you can start straight away:
Summer well and truly has rolled around now. We have been so lucky in the U.K recently to be blessed with such gorgeous weather throughout the week. Although it does suck when you're stuck inside all day, maybe working or at school, thinking you've wasted the day away, but why does the fun in the sun have to stop just because you're busy during the day? When you get home, make the most of the sunshine and warmth that will still be lingering around.
Glowy and radiant skin is something I aim for pretty much all year round. It's my favourite finish to a makeup look and the one I find suits me the best. As the warmer season of the year comes round, a lot more of us support a glowy and radiant look to our makeup. Sometimes it can seem quite daunting to try achieve this look without looking like you've either plastered your face in glitter or being overly oily or sweaty. So I thought it would be best that I share some of my own methods and some useful tips of achieving a radiant and healthy look.
Before you do anything, ensure you're starting with clear and clean skin. This will help to not only hold your makeup in place, which is essential with the heat in the summer, but also ensures you can get as much benefit from your makeup products as possible. It's also a good idea to apply a primer before you apply your makeup to help minimize fine lines and pores, as well as to help smooth the skin ready to go in with your products.
Starting with foundation, everyone has their own individual preferences of what their favourite go to brands are, as well as the type and finish they opt for. If you want to achieve a radiant look, you're obviously going to want to sway more to the dewy side of foundations. Something that gives you a nice glow. My personal favourite is Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation. This creates a gorgeous radiant and glow to the skin, whilst giving a good medium coverage that looks super natural. It really does help to wake up your skin and make it look healthy. Alternatively, you could go for a lighter base, like a bb cream or a tinted moisturiser to produce the same look to your skin.
In terms of concealer, something that is really going to help brighten up your under eye area is a good shout. This will help to make you look more awake and radiant, concealing those dull areas. Seventeen's Stay Time concealer is a great budget friendly option to achieve this. If you want to conceal any blemishes or spots, then use a concealer correcting palette or a concealer you know will give you a good enough coverage to create that seamless healthy look to your skin.
Moving onto my favourite part of the achieving a glowy makeup look is highlight! Now you need to be careful with this one, because no one wants to look like a disco ball due to too much highlight. Instead make sure you are aware of how intense you want your highlight to be and that it doesn't look too over the top with the rest of your look. I like to apply a subtle cream highlight over my cheek bones, my cupids bow, my chin, my brow bone and down the bridge of my nose, before going in with a powder highlight over these areas to build that intensity. Ensure you go for highlighter shades that work well for your skin tone. Gold tones work best at adding more of a glow than frost tones. If you have dry skin, opt for a liquid highlight to prevent any dry patches being highlighted.
It's also good that when you're using bronzer to ensure you're using one that goes well with your skin tone too. You want it to look as natural as possible. Bronzed skin can really help to make you look healthy and radiant so along with the other steps this can really help bring it together. Go for something that's not too shimmery or too matte. You want something that is going to give you sun kissed skin!
You can also add a blush on top of your cheeks for a light flush of colour to really bring in that healthy glow. But again ensure it's not too shimmery as you want it to look natural and leave the highlight to be doing all the popping against that light.
Other ways you can achieve a glowy and radiant look with other aspects of your makeup is using creamy yet neutral eye shadows on your lids. Colours like pinks and golds will really help to highlight the eyes and keep things natural. Also going for a mascara wand that really helps to open up your lashes all whilst looking super natural. You could also go for something soft and well moisturised on the lip, like a lip crayon or a cream finish lipstick. This will really compliment the rest of your glowy look and keep things as toned down as possible, whilst drawing all the attention to your healthy radiance.
How do you like to achieve a glowy makeup look?
Lauren x
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I seem to have discovered that most of my nail polishes in my collection are more aimed at spring/summer, which just shows a clear indication to me and probably you also that I seem to have a lot more choice over the warmer months on what shades I want to wear. I shared my spring nail picks back in March with you all and got so much wear out of all of them. So I thought it was only right that I let you all in on the nail shades I am going to be wearing throughout the next few months.
Within this post I think it's safe to say there is going to be quite a few pink options, but who can blame me? Pink is an absolutely stunning colour all year round and in particular during the summer time when everything is a lot more bright. One of the more brighter pink shades I own is from Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine range known as Grape Fruit. Not only do these polishes from the Gelly range create such a glossy finish to your nails, but they are also very vibrant in colour. Grape Fruit is exactly this. It's a bright vibrant almost neon pink, one that is perfect for summer and any holidays you might be escaping to.
The next pink pick is on the pearly metallic side of things. One of my absolute favourite shades ever is from Rimmel's Super Gel range and another grape name, but this one goes by Grape Sorbet. When I first got this, I thought it had a slight rose gold look to it, but the more I've worn it, I feel it's more of a dusky pink with a pearl essence to it. It's a really stunning colour and one I've never seen like it before, so definitely must have if you're after something a little different to wear this summer.
Throwing it back to those neon vibes, we have another one from Rimmel in the shade Neon Fest. This is more of a deep vibrant pink with lots of shine. I feel like this is one of my all time favourites. I wear this every summer without fail. It's just such a go to in my collection for summer and it always just looks so lovely on the nails.
Stepping away from the pink tones, I feel like you can't not wear a red polish throughout summer. The red shade I always reach for in my collection is the Maybelline Color Show polish in the shade Power Red. This is definitely more of an eye catching red than your bog standard red shade, which makes it so suitable for summer time. Power Red is also very flattering and will suit a whole range of different skin tones. You can wear this one to so many different summer events, whether they're on the casual side or more formal.
And finally the last of my picks, but no means the least, is the classic Matt White. This is from Barry M's nail paint range. You really cannot go wrong with a white polish this time of the year. Although you have to be careful to avoid looking like you've tippexed your fingernails in the back of your english lesson like back in high school. With this one from Barry M, I find with a careful hand I can avoid this amusing error. White nails are so easy to pull of during the summer and always look so stunning alongside a tan. Another great holiday option!
What are your summer nail picks?
Lauren x
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Doing my makeup is one of my favourite things ever. Gone are the days in my early teen years when I use to see it as a chore. Now I absolutely love it when I'm getting ready and testing out new products and different looks. I could spend hours playing around with it all. Although this isn't always the case, especially the days when you're in rush and don't have the time to waste experimenting, which also means any mistakes need to be avoided at all costs. There are somethings I like to do to try help make my makeup routine easier..
1. Clean brushes - Using clean makeup brushes when carrying out my makeup routine makes a huge difference in the way my makeup applies and also sits on my skin. Even though I should probably clean them a lot more regularly than I do, (I mean, who can be bothered sometimes?! It's the worst beauty chore, am I right?) I do notice that when my brushes aren't full of product, I can really use them to their full advantage. Clean brushes also help to contribute to keeping your skin dirt free, so it's a must in my makeup routine I need to do more often than not.
2. Eyelash curlers - I can't be without this tool! Curling my lashes before applying mascara really does help to prep my lashes. They really help to add volume and curl, really helping to lift my lashes and make the mascara application a hell lot easier also.
3. Good lighting - There's nothing worse than doing your makeup in the dark or in rubbish lighting. Come winter time that is one huge struggle we can all relate to with the darker mornings and less sunlight during the day. Ensure you get close to a big window that lets in lots of light. This will also give you a good idea of how your makeup will look throughout the day in the natural lighting outside. You could also invest in a cosmetic l.e.d mirror like this super affordable one from No7 to help reduce glare.
4. A clean base - I will hold my hand up high and admit that I have gone out before with makeup on without doing my skin first, I mean who hasn't to be honest? But as I've delved more into the whole skincare malarky I've really good to terms with how important it is in general, but also for preparing your skin for makeup. A clean and prepped base is easier to work with, making your products easier to apply and blend onto your face. It also means your skin will feel fresh and lovely ready for your to apply product onto that sometimes can be heavy if you're not careful. Also it's good to let your skincare products a little bit of time (5/10 minutes) to sink into the skin and work, especially those like your moisturiser and primer, which will help your makeup to last longer throughout the day. I have a whole post here on making your makeup last longer if you fancy a read.
5. Tape for eye shadows - When I started to take eyeshadows more seriously earlier on this year, tape was my best friend for helping me to create a neat eye look. If you're a newbie or find you struggle, then applying some tape under your eye towards the outer corner can really help you to get more precise with your application. It will help to create a clean and cut look to your shadow. It's also useful for any fall out that you might experience.
What makes your makeup routine easier?
Lauren x
Blog photography I think is one of the hardest things to grasp when it comes to blogging. Even if you're talented in taking pictures, blog photography seems to be on a completely different level and you can spend a lot of time perfecting your shots to make the final cut. Over the past few months, I've really tried to up my game when it comes to my own blog photography. Here are some of the things I have found super useful and which I also know will help you with your own blog photography:
Highlighting palettes seem to be everywhere across the drugstore right now, giving us the opportunity to create a glowing and healthy finish to our skin, which is absolutely perfect for the summer months ahead. I've got quite a few palettes within my collection that I'm always reaching for that have a range of wearable shades. I thought I would share with you 3 affordable highlighting palettes that you must check out the next time you're wandering down the high street.
I feel like my Spring goals kind of failed really, I didn't do an awful lot of what I wanted to do because sadly life got in the way. But it hasn't stopped me from being determined and motivated to get stuck into the things I have planned for this next season. This time I feel like everything on my to do list is a lot more achievable and realistic than the last time, as well as being more suited to whom I am right now and where I'm headed. So for my new post back into blogging, I thought I would share with you some of my goals for the summer season: