Saturday 10 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 10) The last day!

Well, here it is the last day, And today's pick is Concealer

I'm not an advocate for concealer. I rarely use it, even on clients. I prefer colour correction if it is needed. but i tend to find that all concealers end up making foundation look cakey and powdery by the end of the day. 

As it is the last day though, i'm still going to play along and use the ONLY concealer i own to review. And that is the NYX Above and Beyond full coverage concealer. 


Product: 60
Packaging: 79
Price: 50

Product wise, it does exactly what it says it will, but still leaves the skin looking and feeling dry. 
Packaging is actually really nice sized and convenient, great easy size and lasts a while. Its actually as full as it looks. 
Price, well this was £5 so i cant really say good or bad, considering its the only one i use i guess that's a great price but i've seen cheaper and i've seen more expensive. I guess i'm skeptical because i'm not a fan. 

Over all i've really enjoyed taking part in this 10 day event and i've really loved challenging myself to really think about what products i use and how i actually use them or rate them on a day to day basis. It's been a lot of fun and reading others' blogs who have taken part has made me start to branch out and look at new products to replace my every day ones. You never know, i may even get a new brow kit. 


Love and Light XxX

Friday 9 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 9)

Day 9 is Hand Cream

I use hand cream all the time since i became qualified in Beauty. I didn't realise just how important your cuticles are to how well your nails grow. 

I chose to go with one of the newer OPI Avojuice products, originally i opted for the "Cran and Berry" scent but i'm not a HUGE fan of it. So i switched it up for Coconut and Melon Juice and OH MY GOD does it smell DIVINE. I'm finding i'm moisturising my hands and nails more for the smell than the results (as you can see from it being already half empty!!! 
Product: 89
Packaging: 90
Price: 60

The product does exactly what it says on the tin, (so to speak) the ONLY let down i have is that the smell hits a "critical point" where your natural body heat heats it up to make it smell weird. but up until that point it smells amazing. 
The packaging is small and convenient. i keep it in my little make up case in my bag at all times. (there are larger sizes available)
Price, this was in a multi pack but individually it is only £2.25 anyway, which is really good for how long it lasts and the results you get from it. 


Love and Light XxX


Thursday 8 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 8)

Nearly at the end, and Day Seven brings the Foundation

I swap and change my foundations all the time. I am a really pale person and with changing hair colours and changing seasons i find every month or two im having to get a new different foundation. The one im reviewing today isnt my current daily one but it is one of the best ones i've used in a long time. Its a couple of shades too dark for me now were out of summer and i've achieved my full level of pale once again. 
It is the B. Youthful Anti aging Foundation from Superdrug. But looking for it just now i've just discovered Superdrug are no longer producing or selling it. AARGGGHHH

Anyway....

Product: 80
Packaging: 70
Price: -50

Its a brilliant product, made my skin feel amazing. Yes its anti-aging but you're supposed to use anti-aging products BEFORE you start aging, its easier to prevent than to reverse. 
Packaging, the actual glass itself is sturdy and not too heavy but the lid cracked within two days and the pump leaks in the lid. Price, well it was only £3 when i got it, which is amazing, BUT its no longer being produced and sold by Superdrug so arrgghhh!!!! 


Love and Light XxX

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 7)

Day Seven is Lipstick

I used to be afraid of lipstick. In fact, i used to own one, and it was bright red, and at the time i had jet black hair and of course, black hair and cat eye meant red lip, but even then i didnt use it as often as i should have. Move on nearly a decade and i have 30+ lipsticks and usually cant decide between them. 
So i for the purpose of this i went for something different and opted for a VERY dark lip. I chose the Make up Revolution Rose Gold edition of Diamond Life. 



Product: 95
Packaging: 100
Price: 99

Overall probably my highest rated product, and my most used. Product is smooth, not drying, build-able colour, next to no transfer to teeth issues and very long lasting. Only thing is you HAVE to use a lipliner. 
Packaging actually makes it feel like a luxury item. It's solid and heavy, and the rose gold colour make it really stand out. 
Price, £3. which is insane for something that is quickly becoming my vampy go to product. 


Love and Light. XxX

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 6)

Day Six and we are on Brow Products

This is where i fail at trying new things. I'm all up for trying out the new latest trending make up or beauty product but I've been using the same damn brow kit for over a year. Which is probably bad but it does have a 24 month life so I've still got a good few months on it yet so PIISHSHHH. 

Anyway. This was actually a product given to me as a present...and now as far as i can find is no longer available to buy. Sorry :/ But this is what I use to do my brows. 



Product: 99
Packaging: 60
Price: N/A

Product, well of course its going to be nearly 100, i use it every day., Packaging wise, it broke really easily and the brush keeps escaping, BUT the brush is a proper thin brow brush, and double ended with a spooly brush so that kinda makes up for it. 
And i cant really rate the price when technically i got it for free and it is no longer available to buy, although im sure you'll find it on ebay or something somewhere. 


Love and Light. XxX 

Monday 5 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 5)

We're on day 5 already guys! Half way! And today is Blush

Of course its more from Make up Revolution, and of course its the Golden Sugar Blush Palette! 

I'd be pretty mad if I didn't use this for the Blush section, because, frankly i use it every day!!! And on clients too! It's just beyond awesome and is now down in history as my favorite ever...although i tend to stick to three of the 8 shades. (top row 3rd one along, bottom row second and last ones) 



Product: 80
Packaging: 90
Price: 79

The products themselves are amazing and i cannot fault them, but because i am pale as snow i don't find any use for 60% of the shades in here. BUT saying that my palette in my professional kit i have and do use all of the shades

Packaging, well it has a mirror! HURRAHHH!!! 

Price £6, bloomin' bargain if you'll use all of the shades. Although i do wish they'd release the top row, third one along as a stand alone blush. TAKE MY MONEY.


Love and Light. XxX


Sunday 4 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 4)

Day Four and we are reviewing Mascara

I found my ideal mascara, I haven't changed it in over a year and infact i'm due a new one as this one is running out. But my absolute favourite mascara is the Barry M Showgirl Mascara 


Product: 99
Packaging: 90
Price: 85


Product wise its amazing. I love it on my lashes, it doesn't clump, flake or make your eyes sting, 
Packaging..well just look at it in all of it's metallic glory!
Price, its only £4.99. Considering i've tried mascaras that have been in excess of £30 and they have given me eye infections (im looking at you younique) for a fiver you cannot fault this!


Love and Light. XxX


Saturday 3 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 3)


Day Three and we are on Highlighters

I don't even think highlighters were a "thing" when I was training. Obviously in make up we were using highlighting but it was a way to make the clients face look excellent on camera, not day to day use. And it had never even occurred to me years ago that it would become a day to day thing. Same could be said on contouring. 
Now, personally I am not a huge fan of highlighting myself, as in on my own face. I like a bit of blush that has a sheen or sparkle to it, but I don't usually use "Highlighter" for the specific reason of highlighting areas of my face. 

But if  I do highlight I use a pink or opalescent toned highlighter and usually one of my Make up Revolution ones. Now i know everyone will be thinking i'm about to burst into praise over my Ultimate blush and highlight palette but no! I am going to rave about my Vivid Baked Highlighter.  




Product: 95
Packaging: 68
Price: 98

The product fulfills my glittery highlighty unicorn dreams of glory, the price...well its only £3.00 the ONLY thing that lets it down is the packaging feels cheap and is sometimes ridiculously hard to open. But I will be re-purchasing this without a doubt. I think I've highlighted my face more in the past week couple of weeks i've owned this, than i have the entire rest of my life. Added bonus it's cruelty free and sparkly! MAGPIE MODE ENGAGE!


Love and Light XxX 


Friday 2 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day 2)


Day Two of the beauty brawl and we are onto Eye shadow Palettes. 

I chose to go with my Make Up Revolution Mermaids Vs Unicorns Palette. I bought it in a haul a couple of weeks ago and still haven't had a chance to actually use it. 

Overall it's a beautiful palette to look at. plenty of sparkles for the inner magpie, comes with an applicator but no mirror. 


Product: 48
Packaging:  39
Price:  91

Product wise, the colour pay off on my skin wasn't what i wanted it to be. It was quite dull, even with a white eye shadow primer, and packing the colour on made it look trampy. The colours are wonderful but very opaque. 
Packaging, it looks amazing through the top of the case, but other than that, there's no mirror, it's very thin plastic and the make up applicator just eats up product and doesnt deposit very well at all. 
Price, well you cant really grumble at all those colours for £4! 

I was really disappointed to be honest. It looks amazing but i guess on my skin just doesn't pay off. I will keep it but maybe in my professional kit and see if any of my clients want to try it out for looks etc. 


Love and Light XxX



Thursday 1 December 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016 (Day1)



Today ladles and jellyspoons we are embarking on a great 10 day quest to battle out (top trumps style) with other bloggers to find our top ten products. 

Day one is Moisturiser. 

So I have chosen to go with the Superdrug own brand B. With the B. Confident Day Cream. I've been using it for a week already and my skin has noticed the difference. Especially now winter has finally come! 





Product: 90
Packaging: 55
Price: 80


Out of 100 i've scored it pretty high except on the packaging, Simply because as luxurious as it feels, when you buy it it's in a box that we just throw away so waste, and secondly its one of those really thick heavy glass jars...which I LOVE. But it gives the impression there's a lot more in their than their actually is.

Price wise at the moment it's on offer. Usually £9.49 but its only £4.69 (i've linked it above) and for what you get and what it does and how awesome it makes your skin feel, plus the added benefit of having SPF15 and its cruelty free, suitable for vegetarians and Vegans...this product is totally worth it even at full price. 

Go and see what Pillippa thougth of her product over on her blog phillippabeauty.com

Love and Light. XxX

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Bloggers Christmas Beauty Brawl 2016



This year I'm lucky enough to be taking part in the Bloggers Beauty Brawl for Christmas 2016. 

If you're unfamiliar with this, the basic idea is that a group of lovely ladies get together and review a list of ten products over the next ten days and mark them out of 100 in a "top trumps" way to battle it out for their best products. 

Now as you guys know I don't, and wont beat around the bush. If the item is rubbish I'm going to say it and score it accordingly. I will link all of the other lovely ladies' blogs down below if you want to go and see any of their reviews, also look out for the #beautybrawl2016 on Twitter and Instagram. 

Here is the list of products:

1. A moisturiser 
2. An eyeshadow palette 
3. A highlighter 
4. A mascara 
5. A blush 
6. A brow product 
7. A lipstick 
8. A Foundation 
9. A hand cream 
10. A concealer




Bloggers taking part:


























Love and Light XxX





Sunday 13 November 2016

I had Day Surgery and kept control of my Anxiety (warning graphic images)

June 2016, I noticed a small mark on the sole of my foot, about 1/2 a cm away from a mole that I've had in the arch of my foot for pretty much all of my adult life. I even tried to wipe this "mark off" in the shower, until I realised it was a new freckle, which of course is odd as freckles are usually signs of skin damage from exposure to the sun and your body producing melanin in that area as a result, and I don't go out in the sun as it is, let alone sunbathe or catch the sun on the sole of my foot.

Anyway, I kept an eye on it, but soon forgot about it, then August hit and I randomly thought to check it one night and discovered it had grown, and not only had it grown, it had doubled in size, it now had a white dot in the middle and my mole next to it had changed and extended and of course I freaked out. One of the down sides to studying beauty therapy and skin analysis is knowing all the nasty things your skin can do. I went to my GP who put me on a two week emergency referral to a Dermatologist, initially I had some serious issues, first of all my appointment letter was sent out THE DAY BEFORE my appointment, so I got it through the post while I was at work the morning of the appointment, and my post is usually around 11am and the appointment was for 10.30!!! So I phoned and explained what had happened and got a new referral, this extended the time from two weeks to 3, then as the new referral had been made to a Dermatologist that worked in a doctors in a town miles away from where I lived, I don't drive and i'd have had to taken two buses to get there, and with no lift available on the date I was originally given I then had to change that date too, so my two week emergency referral turned into a 4 week hell of worry and phone calls until I managed to get an appointment at my local hospital, and before I knew it I was sat nervously in outpatients waiting to get my moles looked at, with my friend Anna who came along for morel and anxiety support.
I felt sick just waiting for the examination. But my friend was a rock and kept me occupied.
When I entered the room I gave a brief explanation to the lady who was lovely and she requested I undressed down to my underwear and she looked over every mole I had, which is quiet a few. She seemed fine with all of my other moles, even though some had changed over the past few years it was more likely down to further damage than anything sinister but the one on my
foot and my "new addition" had to go. She wasn't happy with them one bit. The new one had irregular lines around the outside, white dot in the middle and the one I've always had on my arch had visibly extended. So again I was put on a two week emergency referral to the hospital...but that actually came through really quick and for the right place too. I was referred to a Plastic Surgeon who did a quick initial examination and then said he was happy to remove them under local anesthetic and he would send an appointment through ASAP. By this time it was mid October and I just wanted these moles gone.
I got a letter through really quick and it was for a date within two weeks (4th November) so I booked the day off work, and subsequently the week after too to allow for healing and nervously waiting for the 4th to roll around.
Now anyone with anxiety will know the wait is possibly the worst bit, and for me what made it even harder was on the letter it says you cant take anyone into day surgery with you. I wont lie. I freaked. Despite what these moles could be I was going to cancel and just hope for the best.

I ended up phoning the day surgery unit and explaining my situation with my mental health issues etc. and on the day I couldn't have asked for a better team to be there. They allowed my husband
through with me to wait in pre-op with me. They took my blood pressure when I got there and it was super high, I was shaking, nervous, felt sick, I wanted to run away, I was constantly on the edge of a panic attack. In fact I think if I hadn't have been distracted by work all the week previous and leading up to my operation I would have entered full melt-down. To most people these kid of operations may seem ridiculously minor but i'd never had anything like this before! I didn't know what to expect, I had to wait around in pre-op for ages and that just make everything worse. But with my husband there, and the loveliest nurses checking up on me, they put the TV on for me to distract me, got me to get changed, explained everything in detail to me so my anxiety wouldn't freak out. I got to sit with the surgeon beforehand and just explain my mind was being a poo. Which he laughed at the way I explained that I had a "logical" side of my brain and my anxiety side is like a small child, hyper on sugar and set on fire, let lose to run around and destroy every reasonable thought.
The operation was in a proper huge operating theater, like you see on tv, lights and surgical staff, and i'm guessing a few intrigued students too, (it's not every day someone grows a mole on the sole of their foot). There was a nurse there, who I want to say was an assistant too, but i'm not sure. she distracted me with talking about my tattoos, said she was a white witch, we talked about my work etc. she sat up by my head and held my hand, answered all my questions was the nicest human to me ever.
The worst part was the injections. I had 8, I think. It was the worst pain. I'd rather have my dental injections. Getting several injections in the sole of your foot is not how to spend a good friday afternoon. The surgeon was really quick, took a maximum of 15 min. stitched me up and I WALKED out of there. I have to put my weight on my heel encase of too much pressure on my stitches because of where they are placed and then was told I had to walk on my heel for two weeks until my stitches can be removed, so as of now that's a week today.

The evening and night after it stayed really numb. I used a crutch to add support as walking on my heal with my wonky legs and scoliosis aren't great when I don't have stitches! My brother and his mates took me to see a really late viewing of Doctor Strange which was amazing. It also meant we got back late enough for me to fall straight to sleep when I got back. I spent the Saturday morning with my sister buying hair colour and eating out, and I relied on my crutch a hell of a lot that morning. Then I spent the Saturday afternoon and evening sulking because I was in pain but wanted to see the fireworks and couldn't go. I was prescribed pain killers but the side effects of them far out weight just keeping weight off my foot and it stinging a bit so I chose not to take any. Although I did end up taking Ibuprofen because I ended up with a migraine all that Saturday and most of the Sunday probably due to stress.
The Sunday my mum and step dad took me out for a Christmas costa! whoop! and then brought me back home and I've pretty much been resting every since, other that another appointment and a quick
bus trip into town my husband and my cats have been looking after me really well and I've just got to wait for the stitches to be taken out before I can go back to work. Which is the most frustrating part. I don't like sitting around not doing anything, I don't like losing money and the worst part of the healing process is what I like to call the "20 min sting" where it just kills for 10-20min for no reason and then it's fine again. I'm hoping once the stitches are out that will stop.


I'll update this with the results when I get them, and probably how its healed after the stitches are out. Thanks for reading and remember to keep an eye on your moles and check your skin monthly at least!!! even if you don't sunbathe!!!!

XOXO

Saturday 12 November 2016

How to remove green hair (direct dye)

Well then, my beautiful faces!
We all knew this day would come...I'm proud I managed a whole 8/9 months with one hair colour (give or take a few minor changes), do you remember my blog post I published back in April, where I dyed my hair green, with the help of my beloved sister. and I SWORE I wouldn't change it for a long time, green was a ridiculously hard colour to remove so i'd keep it for ages... (link HERE)  well I did keep it for a good long while, in retrospect to the lifespan of previous hair colours and styles. But the green/turquoise mermaid epicness that was my hair is no more. I killed it.
...and now I'm ginger. Remember... I tried doing this the year before when I had Galaxy hair and the green just WOULDNT GO. (link to that one here)  well this time I found something that worked.

First of all a background on my hair. It was black, with green highlights, then black to green ombre, then I decided I wanted an all over green so I had it Alpine green, into Apple green, into Spring Green (all dyes are by La Reich Directions dyes) and then as we hit summer I went full mermaid turquoise.
Black to green Ombre

Alpine Green/ Apple Green/ Spring Green
Apple green all over


Multi Colour (I got bored but this faded within two washes)

Turquoise
I couldn't recommend La Riech dyes highly enough. They are long lasting and grab well on damaged hair. Especially the green and blue tones as they are horrific to get out. After doing a lot of research I found new products becoming available on the professional market that were specifically aimed at removing fashion colours and Direct Dyes; Joico Colour Intensity Eraser, Malibu DDL, and Loreal Efassor. 
 

I've not linked any of these as they are easy to find on amazon and ebay but range HUGELY in price. After looking at reviews I decided "screw this" and saved up to go get booked in at my local salon. After a consultation and getting all excited the timing and funds just werent going to be friends and I had to resort back to looking into DIY and risking it myself. And that's where my darling sister stepped in...(again).
After looking at reviews and youtube videos I decided to opt for the Joico Color Eraser as it has the best results and was designed for direct dyes, as was the malibu one but they were so expensive and I ended up finding the Efassor for sale in my local Sallys. (around £6.59 exc VAT) and I ended up getting that instead. Even though it says its for use on oxadised colours, so technically it wouldn't work on a Direct Dye, but the lovely girl in the salon said this was the product she was going to use to remove my green anyway so I figured its worth a shot! All these saches come with the option of different lifts depending on colour, saturation and damage to the hair. My hair was badly damaged but it needed a high lift so rather than mixing with water I chose 20Vol developer but I also mixed in some Color Secret 2 Step hair Strengthening system.  I've linked the salon/trade size pack which is £32.99 but I got a single shot "try me" kit for £2.99 also in sallys)
Before/After Indoors/After in Direct Sunlight
I mixed it together exactly as the instructions say and very carefully, quickly and evenly applied it all over my hair but I avoided my roots as it can still lighten your natural hair, I wrapped it in tinfoil (classy) and sat in the sun for even all over heat. After 20-30min I washed it off and voila!






 As you can see the results were pretty darn epic. I already had a whole pinterest board dedicated to my new colour but the dye I had bought to match came out quite "flat" when I did a test strip so my sister suggested we add another colour to the mix as a kind of toner, to create a multi-tonal effect. I knew that I still had some green residue and I wanted a Copper shade, but i'd need more red tones to cancel out any green still left in my hair so I opted for a slightly redder colour that originally wanted and equally the darker colour we added as a toner was red-based rather than copper based too. We added more of the 6/47 to the Roots then we did to the ends as the roots came up brighter than we wanted as they were still my natural colour. (I had about an inch re-growth).
I noticed my hair felt amazing as I was washing the dye off. I had a few rough feeling ends and a lot of breakages throughout this process due to now having very heavily processed hair, but i've just got to look after it and be nice to it now, and it shouldn't need re-colouring until my roots come through again.
But as you can see the results were epic. So much better than last years disaster which saw me give up on my redheaded dreams and go brown (then green) and although I know i'll miss my mermaid hair on occasion I feel a lot more like "me" as cleche as that may sound, with this vibrant copper/red colour. I will confess though that as soon as my hair is longer and healthier, so probably summer time, I do want it ombred, as my pinterest board is full of images of Lau P from Le Happy.com. But thats another adventure for in a few months time. Until then, if I ever have any money I may invest in some extentions instead! 

XoXo