My Everyday Makeup Routine

Considering I love these types of blogs/vlogs myself, I thought it was time I did my everyday makeup routine. I thought I would do this as both a blog and a vlog because I know some people prefer to watch videos, and some prefer to read and see some pics! So here it goes. Apologies for the terrible state of my eyebrows! I need to get them sorted!

If you would like to watch my YouTube tutorial video on this look, here's the link. Click me!

First, I start with cleaning my face. I use Clearasil Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub and then using Simple Oil-Free Moisturizer. 

After washing my face the first product I use my primer to set my face ready for foundation. The primer i'm using at the moment is the bareMinerals Prime Time Original. I really like this primer because it feels really light on the face and I feel like it really does help make my foundation last compared to some of the other primer's I have used in the past. I leave the primer to set on my skin for about a minute before I go to the next step which is to apply my foundation.

So now I have let my primer set, it is time to apply my foundation. The foundation i'm using at the moment is MAC Studio Fix Fluid. I like this product because it has SPF in it, which I think is very important in order to look after and protect the skin. The shade I use is NW10, because as you can see i'm very pale. My mum likes to say i'm an 'English Rose'.

The way I apply my foundation is that I use 1 pump on the back of my hand and then apply spots to different areas of my face. 1 spot on either cheek, 1 on my chin, 1 on my forehead and then a tiny bit on my nose. Once I have then applied the makeup on to the different areas of my face I use my makeup brush to spread the product over my face. The brush I use is a replica of the MAC 187. It's a fake, well so I think it is, I bought it on eBay about a year ago and it was approx £5-6. It's falling apart now though (it actually breaks as i'm using it in the YouTube video if you watch! Very embarrassing!)  Anyway, I don't do it any particular way other than in circular motions as I feel it gives a nice airbrushed effect and blends in nicely.

I leave my foundation to set for about a minute and a half before I use my setting powder. I use MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in the shade Light. I apply this using my elf Complexion Brush. I've used this powder for just over a year now and really like the finish it gives. I prefer the matte effect and this really does achieve this, whereas some other powders I have used previously has given the matte effect but made me look kind of cakey, but this is really lightweight and almost transparent. 

Next thing I do in contour. Contouring is a brilliant way to use bronzer and makes your face look thinner. I use MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in Medium Plus. I have a Primark Kabuki Brush that I use at the moment. It's not my favourite of brushes, but for now it does the job. (I'm asking for the Real Techniques brush set for Christmas so fingers crossed!) Most bronzers have some kind of shimmer, and I prefer not to use one without shimmer for day-to-day because of work. I apply by strokes along my cheek bone and under my chin.

I forgot my concealer! I only use concealer for under my eyes (and any major spots I may have at the time, currently i'm okay). I use YSL Touche Eclat in 001, again the lightest shade available. I like it because it really does brighter up my eyes and I love the packaging. The way it's designed leaves very little chance of wastage which is always good and means you're getting your money's worth!

I always make sure to apply lip balm everyday at least once. I do this during my makeup routine. I use Burts Bees lip balm stick, the original one. Slightly minty flavour and it works so well. My lips are always so soft. I use it so much the information on the packaging has rubbed off. 

This is my favourite eyeliner in the whole world. I've used it for about 4 years now. It's my holy grail. It's the Loreal Superliner Black Lacquer. I've repurchased this so many times. The applicator brush is so nice and really easy to work with, whether you want a thin line just above your lashes or a thick bold statement, you can do it with ease. I generally use a line that's thinner towards my water line and then gets thicker as you go out with a slight flick on the end. I do vary this sometimes depending on my mood, or my hand-eye co-ordination. Also, some days I use a little bit of eyeliner on my waterline. When I do, I don't use it across my whole water line. I use it on the outer corner and fading in. If you watch my YouTube video you'll see what I mean.

Next is mascara, at the moment i'm using Covergirl Clump Crusher by Lashblast. I really like the thickness it gives my lashes and the curls them at the ends. I apply a little bit to my bottom lashes as well. I think this is important to remember as sometimes if you just apply to your upper lashes, you can actually be making your eyes look smaller. So don't forget ladies! I wouldn't apply as much as you do to your upper lashes though, just enough to make the lashes visible.

I like to use Benefit's Eye Bright on the outside of my tear duct to brighten up my eyes a little bit. I put it on quite thick as after a while it fades, so this ensures I have the right amount on for the day.

Last but not least is lipstick, I do mix up what shade I use of lipstick day-to-day. Today, I use MAC's Creme Cup. It's a nice light pink and as it's a cremesheen gives a nice glossy finish. This is a nice everyday lipstick which I think suits my skin tone well. So if you're pale like me, grab one of these!

And here we have it. The end result! Hope you enjoyed reading and picked up some tips of some ideas of what products to use or buy. Please make sure to follow and comment.

If you would like to watch my YouTube tutorial video on this look, here's the link. Click me!

Opinions Matter - Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2013

So I am constantly searching for what is the best mascara out there, or the best lipstick, or the best foundation, and so on. One of the main places I look, as well as other bloggers and watching YouTube videos is on the Debenhams Beauty Club. I look out for their little symbol they stick on the products of the ones their editors have selected. I thought it might be interesting to have a look at them today, and give my opinion on the products they've selected as the best on the market and see whether I agree or disagree.

★ Best All Time Ladies Fragrance - Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (3rd Year Running) RRP £67

Disagree.

I really like this fragrance, however personally I think there are a lot of other perfumes out there I would rate higher than this one and would go to grab a lot quicker too. I applaud Chanel for creating a perfume aimed towards the younger generation as a lot of their other scents and somewhat too mature for my taste. I find this one just slightly too sweet though.

❤ Personal Option - Dior Miss Cherie RRP £54

I think that the Miss Dior Cherie is one of the most popular scents out there and one of the most recognizable too. I think this scent is beautiful, however the price tag is somewhat off putting.

There is a dupe rumored. Katie Price - Stunning.

★ Beauty Must Have - Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (2nd Year Running) RRP £29

Agree.

I love the Urban Decay eyeshadows, to be honest with you I don't own a lot of eyeshadows as I feel like they fade really easily and quickly and especially if they're glittery, fall all over your face! So I tend not to bother with it. I do own both the original Naked Palette and the Naked 2 and I love them! Sometimes there are those night where you do want to doll yourself up a little bit and I always grab these palettes in order to do that. I love the consistency and the durability of Urban Decay eyeshadows and having one of these palettes is the perfect way to have a nice variety of shades and there are lots of different ways in which you could blend any of the colours together to create a signature look for yourself.

★ Best Mascara - Benefit They're Real! Mascara (2nd Year Running) RRP £13

Agree.

This is my favourite mascara, so well done editors. The results you get when using this mascara is fa-nominal. I swear it must add hairs to my lashes because they are so voluminous and long it's insane. The brush itself is perfect for seperating lashes and stopping clumps and has a nice tip on the end in order to get to those tiny lashes hiding in the corner. The formula itself makes your lashes so dark, full of volume and curls your lashes at the tip. Only slightly negative comment about this one is it can be a pain to take off, but you have the confidence to know it's not going to budge!

★ Best Blusher - MAC Powder Blush RRP £18

Agree.

I am a huge fan of MAC, and there blushes are just another one of their fantastic creations. Lovely consistently, lovely range of colours. There's one for everyone.

★ Best Of Lip - MAC Lipstick (3rd Year Running) RRP £15

Agree.

I love love love MAC lipsticks! I would guess about 80% of all the lipsticks I own are by MAC. Not much I can really say to be honest. They are amazing.

★ Best Brows - Bobbi Brown Brow Pencil RRP £16

Agree.

To be honest with you, I've never used this. I don't own anything from Bobbi Brown but this will be going on my christmas list. The reason I've said agree is because I'm still on the hunt for a brow product. At the moment I'm using Benefit's Browzing but I find the shades too dark for me and the wax is too thick just looks cakey. I hear good things about this product and the people who use it always look really nice.

★ Best Primer - Benefit The POREfessional (2nd Year Running) RRP £25

Agree.

Holy grail of all primers. Makes your face like a flat canvas...no lumps of bumps. Like you don't even have pores. Brilliant. Only used a sample of this in the past, need to invest in it. I went to buy it recently but they didn't have it in stock! Boo-hoo!

★ Best of Eyes - Dior 5 Couleurs Designer Palette RRP £35

Disagree.

My friend is an avid user of Dior so I have used one of these palettes in the past, and was not insanely impressed. They are very good, but not worth the massive investment I wouldn't say.

❤ Personal Option - Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette RRP £29

My favourite palettes are the Naked range from Urban Decay. Whether it be the original, the Naked 2 or the Naked Basics. I love the consistency, the quality and the packaging. The range of shades are amazing and they're all beautiful.

★ Best Foundation - bareMinerals Original SPF 15 Foundation (3rd Year Running) RRP £18

Agree.

Personally, I prefer the matte finish but the bareMinerals foundations are lovely. They are so lightweight, feels like you're not wearing anything on your face and it looks like it too! Mine has recently run out, so I need to repurchase.

★ Best Concealer - Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat (3rd Year Running) RRP £19

Agree.

I have used this product myself for atleast 3 years now. I love the packaging, who doesn't love as bit of gold though? The push button pump mechanism is really good so allows no wastage so you really are getting your moneys worth. There are lots of different shades so there will be one for you! It really does brighten up your under eyes and I sometimes use it just under my brow as a sort of highlighter.

★ Best Nails - Nails Inc Bling it on set RRP £20

Disagree.

I've used a couple Nails Inc nail varnishes and I've not really liked them. Found that they took forever to dry and you have to do a lot of coats in some shades.

❤ Personal Option - Barry M Nail Paint RRP £3

Barry M Nail Paints are my favourite and go to item when it comes to nail varnish. They have so many shades and they have different finishes as well now. They're very good quality and good value too. I have almost every shade I think...ask any of my friends and they'll tell you my nail polish collection is like visiting Boots.

So there you have it, my personal opinion on some of the most favored products out on the market according to Debenhams. Most of which I did agree with, and believe they had made some good decisions. A couple where I thought there were some other products out there that were better...but after all it is down to matter of opinion, and just thought I'd express mine! I implore you to do the same!

USA Haul - Mac, Covergirl, etc.

I recently went on holiday to the US of A, Orlando FL to be precise. It was amazing, had an amazing time. Of course, I undertook in the usual tourist activities, Seaworld, Universal Studios, etc. More importantly though, shopping.

Shopping in the United States is amazing. Most of the shops in the UK haven't appealed to me recently, I know it's fashion and I should change with it but call me a creature of habit. I like what I like. I very much like the classic 'chilled out' style in the US, Hollister (I know we have that here, but its costly!), American Eagle, Tillys, etc. Needless to say, my suitcase was full to the brim and I did go over my allowance, I was very lucky at the airport though as the attendant just said to me 'A girls got to shop!' and did not charge me for my bag being overweight which was nice!

My main focus however was makeup. Some of the brands out there are so much cheaper than here in the UK, Mac of course being the center of attention. So a little haul was needed. Little being.....well a lie.

All the mac products I bought on my trip. 

I'll first start with the MAC. I adore mac. I love their products, they're of really good quality and I think they are appropriately priced on most products. However, with them costing about 1/3 less in the states, who can turn down that bargain? My favourite product that they so are their lipsticks. They have such a huge range in a variety of colours and finishes. If I could, I'd have them all, just in case. That is not possible, so I have to choose. I stand there looking at all the possibilities and am baffled. I did eventually make my mind up and grabbed these bad boys.

MAC Lipsticks - $15 approx £10 RRP in UK £15 (approx £5 saving)

Now I know what you're thinking, a bit of a mix. That's what I wanted though! I already have a few neutral/pink lipsticks from Mac which I wear everyday and I wanted to go for some more bolder colours!

DARK SIDE. Dark lipsticks at the moment are in, so thought I'd give it a go myself! Like I said earlier, I'm a creature of habit so this is a little out of my comfort zone but I'll try anything once! I really liked the amplified finish on the colour dark side which is why I went for this one and I liked the purple undertones to it. Some of the other shades would not have suited my skin tone because, as you can probably tell from the foundation, I am very pale! My foundation colour in Max Factor is called Ivory. That pale. So I found that some of the darker reds made me look somewhat ill. This one seemed to work. 

BRAVE RED. A classic look. When I was little and would think of lipstick, instant thought is a red one. Every girl needs to own at least one bright red lipstick for those nights out where you just want to look fantastic and from my experience, guys love the look of a bright red lippy. With my pale skin tone, this really compliments me (if I do say so myself!) I chose this one as I love the cremesheen formula of mac lipsticks, I think it's probably my favourite, as it gives that slightly glossy look and a slightly sheer too. Bright red lipsticks as beautiful as they are, if they're too thick and you have a mishap (I.e the classic tooth stain, or a smudge) can look horrendous! The cremesheen formula tends to avoid all those horror stories and I am sometimes clumsy! So win win!

CHATTERBOX. To be honest with you, this one just called to me. It's pink and I'm a girl, what can I say really? It's beautiful!

Swatches. Left to right. Chatterbox (Cremesheen), Brave red (Amplified) and Dark side (Amplified).

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW10 - $27 approx £17 RRP in UK £21.50 (approx £4.50 saving)

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural (Shades Light and Medium Plus) - $30 approx £19 RRP in UK £22 (approx £3 saving)

Now onto the other products from mac. I've always wanted a mac foundation, but where I live there is no mac store. However since my return, John Lewis have now opened a mac section, yay! I wanted to get matches up to the right shade because, I don't know if you've ever had a look on their website or even in a store. There is a huge range! So I took the opportunity to go in and have a consultation with one of the artists in their.

FOUNDATION. NW10 is my shade. Told you I was whiter than white! I like the studio fix fluid because it's a medium-full coverage and is more matte compared to some of the others. I wanted to stick to a liquid foundation for now as it's what I'm used to working with. I will later venture into the world of powders and cremes but I'm not quite there yet!

POWDER. I always have and always will use a setting powder. I prefer the matte look personally, so a powder is the perfect way to finish this off and get my desired finish as well as keeping my foundation on my face for the majority of the day. I've used this powder before, so this was just a top up really, but this is by far my favourite powder I've used so far. Another one I want to try is by Dior, that one will be going on the Christmas list!

BRONZER. Now the bronzer she picked out for me isn't technically a bronzer. It's a setting powder, the problem I have is because of my skin tone a lot of the actual bronzers are either too dark for me, or I look like I've just come out of a fight with a pixie because I'm just covered in glitter. So the best route for me was to get a darker skin toned finishing powder which is fine with me. A matte finish which is what I like as well.

Now for all my new beautiful products, I needed some new beautiful brushes. I wanted to get the 187 stipple brush as I've had my eye on it for a long time! Instead though, mac have just released a range called Stroke of Midnight which had these sets so I decided to purchase one of these instead and the 187 is another item on the Christmas list this year now.

MAC Stroke of Midnight Brush Kit (Essentials) - $49.50 approx £31 RRP in UK £42 (approx saving £11)

Now you'll need to excuse me, because I've only used two of brushes so far, so cannot pass judgement on the others at this moment. I'll be sure to post another time once I have.

168 ANGLED POWDER BRUSH. I really like the angle on this as for contouring it makes it really easy with my bronzer and as for my setting powder makes it a lot easier to get those awkward areas like the sides of my nose and helps distribute the product evenly.

193 ANGLED FOUNDATION BRUSH. Similar to the powder brush, the slight angle helps you to get to those awkward areas and distributes fairly. I'm still getting used to this one though as I'm used to using a stipple brush. I think however, I am most likely to be using the 187 instead once I get it instead of this one if I'm honest but it is a good brush none the less, just I personally prefer the more airbrushed look you get from the likes of the 187. 

You also get this cute little bag to put the brushes in. I like it, however it's too small for me to use as my everyday makeup bag, so I imagine in a couple weeks once the novelty has worn off it will end up in the drawer.

As this post is quite long, I'll do a separate post for the products I bought from other brands as not to bore you too much in one go. All in all, I'm very happy with all the purchases I made with mac. Just wish I had a bit more cash to grab some more bits like the 187 and a couple more lipsticks. 

Au revoir for now!