Fresh Summer Makeup Look

I've been really struggling with my skin recently so I haven't really wanted to put loads of makeup on but I didn't want to go bare-skinned and have my spots showing. This look is an easy, medium coverage base with a neutral eye, lip and cheek. 

These are the products I used today; the Soap&Glory eyeshadow primer and Rimmel blush are new but the rest I've had for a while and love. The only base product there is concealer as I haven't wanted to use foundation and I really dislike my BB cream. 

This is a swatch of the Rimmel 'Lasting Finish' Soft Colour Blush in 050 'Live Pink'. I just picked this up because it was a nice summery colour, I actually didn't even swatch it but it was £3.99 so I wasn't too bothered if it was bad. I was actually pleasantly surprised - it has a slight golden shimmer in it and the colour does hang around. It looks brighter in person but the camera setting muted it a bit. All you need is a small amount as it's very pigmented. Perfect for holiday!

I got this S&G 'It's About Prime' Eyeshadow Primer because my Urban Decay mini primer has gotten to the very end. It's the bright light one that is supposed to brighten the eye area, reduce crease lines and reduce puffiness. All that for £8! I've only used it today so I'll have to update you on its staying power. It has a dofut (?!) applicator which makes it easy to apply. 

Another S&G product I've been loving (as you can see by the state it's in) is the 'Kick Ass' Concealer. I really like the concealers; the one on the left is under eye concealer as the salmon colour reduces the appearance of dark circles and the one on the right is a general face concealer. The thing I really like is the powder it comes with - it stops the under-eye concealer but I use it on the rest of my face too because it gives a great finish. Anyone know if I can get the powder separately??

This is probably the cheapest, most well-loved brow kit in the world. The MUA Pro-Brow Kit is similar to the Benefit 'Brow Zings' apart from that the wax isn't tinted (there is tweezers to go with this). I use a mix of the darker shades to do my brows but I don't use the highlight colour. 

Simple eye duo - Bourjois shadow in 08 and Natural Collection shadow in 'Asteroid'. DON'T JUDGE ME but when I first started doing my brows, I actually used this SHIMMERY BROWN as my brow shadow- I'm ashamed of myself. But aside from that they work well together and I just put the lighter colour up to my brow and then the brown up to my crease then blended out. I also used a little bit of MAC 'Wedge' in the crease on a 217 brush. 

I'll just link to my blog post on this mascara as I've talked about it before. For this look, however, I only used it on my top lashes. 

See you soon and stay insane!

Bloggerella x

Being your own person

Sorry for being a bit AWOL recently but I'd begun to really loose enthusiasm for blogging and what I was blogging about; it no longer excited me to rush out and buy new things just so I had something to blog about. Don't worry I've still been shopping like crazy (just follow my Instagram to see all of that haha) I just haven't wanted to sit down and talk about them. 

Today is a bit of a different post in that it's not beauty but I have done some of these types of posts in the past (I think I might have deleted them but hey ho). I want to talk about being your own person and not following the crowd. How you take this and apply this is entirely up to you but I needed to get it off my chest in a way that is also helpful to others (I hope haha). 

Growing up, I always wanted to be part of the 'cool' group but to be honest, didn't we all? A small minority were happy to be the 'weird ones' and in reality, they were probably happier than those who spent all their time and effort trying to impress the people that in actual fact meant NOTHING a few years later. For me, I went through stages of not caring who I impressed but then slipping back to trying to get into the 'in' crowd - old habits die hard I guess. 

Since leaving secondary school and starting college, I have grown more as a person in one year than I have in my whole lifetime of schooling. Previously I would be scared to wear something that I hadn't seen on or seen something similar on someone else, whether that be a YouTuber or someone at school who's style I liked. And looking back I realise how stupid that sounds; I mean who wants to wear something they've seen on a dozen other people?! That's not to say I don't still take style inspiration from people, I'll just take it and make it my own which in the end makes me a lot happier! Even something silly like wearing hats more often - if you know me you know I. LOVE. HATS. I've started wearing them a lot more often and it's stupid but I get so many compliments from random strangers (today I had a woman make a song in the corridor about my hat and a man with a mustache tattoo on his finger compliment me - weird but nice) and it's great! 

Here is my hat and I - we are very happy together

My confidence has sky rocketed from doing little things like not putting myself down over things that don't matter (like boobs - girls, if a guy likes you because of your boobs alone then throw him to the curb because he ain't no real man and you deserve better #girlpower) and, as my mum puts it, being kind to myself. For example if you're asking someone's opinion don't say "do I look stupid?" say "do I look nice?" and believe me, it makes a difference! I'm beginning to develop my own style and because of that I'm developing as a person - I think the two go hand in hand and it's a good place to start on project you. 

I also wanted to talk about not being a sheep. So many people are afraid to do things without other people by their side. For example, university - you shouldn't let your boyfriend/girlfriend/friend stop you from moving away and doing a course that excites you just because they're not moving. At the end of the day IT'S YOUR LIFE and nobody can tell you what to do, not even your parents. They can advise you until the cows come home but you are in control of your destiny and they should respect that. I'm grateful that I have two loving parents that support me through anything but there are ways and means of getting an education that don't require your parents providing you with money if that's your worry. 

I know people that are terrified of what other people think or of doing something out of their comfort zone and it really frustrates me that they can't see how they're holding themselves back. Obviously it's not my place to tell them what to do or I'd be a very hypocritical bitch but as a friend, I feel like if I'd have had someone to tell me what I know now then I would have grown so much earlier! An extension of this for me was starting my blog - I just did it for me and the benefits from sitting and writing about stuff has brought me so much happiness. 

I think the main thing to take away from this rant is that you need to do things alone sometimes; yes it's great for someone to be there but you should see it as a bonus and be sure enough of yourself to be able to go out on a limb and do something you want to do, whether your friends want to or not. This applies to all aspects of life and I'd love to help just one person with this advice. 

If you've managed to read this far I salute you for not getting bored! 


See you soon and stay insane!

Bloggerella x

Garnier 'PureActive' Exfo-Brusher Wash Review

Hey guys, sorry about not posting last week; I just really wasn't in the mood to, no idea why. 

Today I'm going to blog about an old favourite of mine that I have rediscovered. It's the Garnier 'PureActive' Exfo-Brusher Wash. 

It claims to reduce spot scarring and smooth skin, and it does just that! I notice after just one use that my skin is softer and my spot marks have faded. 

I have sort of sensitive skin and this doesn't irritate me at all. 

The brush is great for exfoliation. I find squeezing some of the wash onto my hand, then swirling the brush into it and putting the left-over wash onto my face gives the best results. When the brush starts to rub the wash, it foams and has an almost minty feeling to it - it's so fresh and leaves my face feeling thoroughly clean! 

It's also a great price - £7.99!

See you soon and stay insane!

Bloggerella x