Beauty Secrets I Learnt From My Mum

My Mum will be the first to admit that she's not that hot when it comes to makeup. She's one of those annoying people with pretty much perfect skin, even brows, and big bright eyes, who doesn't need makeup to look good (curse you all!). However, a lot of the beauty products I use and routines I follow all came from her, and they're generally the ones that work!

1. Oil is your friend. I can remember being quite young and before a special occasion, or if our hair was looking a bit run down, my mum, sister and I would get a packet of V05 Hot Oil Treatments, and give our hair a good oiling. Then we'd head out with glossy, swishy hair, ready to take on the night. Now, I tend to reach for Moroccan and Coconut oils, but occasionally I'll pick up  a V05 treatment to reminisce. Now I get to teach her on the oil front, this week I helped her pick out a new facial oil. The student becomes the teacher...


2. Frizz-Ease is a must. As a brood of curly haired girls, I battled the poodle look throughout my childhood and teenage years (thank god for GHD's girls). My mum was the one who got me using the Frizz Ease Serum and Secret Agent Styling creme, taming my wild locks into manageable curls. She maintains that my hair looks better curly, but we may have to agree to disagree on that one...


3. Heat Defence is your friend. My mum is no stranger to the GHD's herself, I still remember the night we excitedly ordered our first pair to share, but she would never let me use them unless I used heat defence first. We ordered the GHD heat protect spray to start with, and then she started replacing my Frizz Ease serum with the version with added heat defence. Now I steer clear of serums, since I find that with daily oil treatments it's too much, but I have bought the Frizz-Ease Heat Protect detangling spray.


4. Witch Hazel kills all spots. I struggled with really bad skin in my early teens, and it totally knocked my confidence for a long time. I tried a lot of things to improve my skin, but always went back to the one that worked best for me, and yup, it was mother-approved. 


5. The more water you drink, the less spotty you are. This is one I do struggle with, mostly because if I drink enough water to keep my skin in check, I spend most of the day peeing, but she was right, my skin is always clearer when I've been drinking enough water!


6. There's nothing wrong with a homeopathic remedy. From the fizzy can of Arnica we had for mosquito bites, to the Rescue Remedy we downed before getting on a plane, I don't think I'd have tried any of that 'mumbo-jumbo' if it wasn't for my mum insisting it worked!


7. SPF always. I used to get so annoyed when my mum would smear SPF on my face as a child, but now I have to thank her! My milk bottle complexion means I tend not to tan, just burn like nobody's business, and now my morning moisturiser always has to have an SPF of at least 20 in it!

YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat

I can't believe I've never done a review on this foundation before! This is my absolute favourite, holy-grail, desert island foundation. I've been a lover of this for around a year now, and whilst I flirt with other foundations, but I always come back to this foundation.

I wear the shade BD10, which is perfect for my pale skin! YSL have a very impressive colour range when it comes to this foundations, with each shade coming in neutral, pink toned and yellow toned, so if you struggle to find a good match, chances are YSL are going to have something for you.

In terms of coverage, a lot of people place it differently, but I think this sits pretty solidly in the medium coverage zone. I like to apply it with my YSL foundation brush, because I find they work really well together, and for lighter coverage I sometimes use my RT buffing brush. If I fancier a heavier coverage for a night out, or if my skins not looking great, I'll mix it fifty fifty with my MAC Studio Sculpt, which adds coverage without ruining the finish. A lot of people say to me they use their fingers with this foundation, but I am really not a fan, I just don't find it as flawless, I always end up using more foundation because half of it absorbs into my skin, and I find brushes more hygenic anyway!

I love the effect of this foundation. It's pretty damn dewy, but not in a way that makes your skin look oily at all. It's very soft on the skin, and I never feel like I'm wearing foundation with this!

I always top my t-zone with Rimmel Stay Matte anyway, but I do find this lasts all day on my skin! A winner all round if you ask me!

I rave about this foundation, I've even got my mum loving it!

What is your favourite foundation?

Seven Deadly Sins

I'm getting quite into the tags at the moment! A lack of shopping combined with a lack of motivation has led me to a few of these! The lovely Linda tagged me to do this one, so here goes! 

Greed- what is your most expensive beauty item?

I've never paid more than £40 for one item, I could never bring myself to do it! I think up there at the top is probably my YSL eyeshadow quad, and NARS And God Created The Woman Palette (which I happen to think was very good value!).

Sloth- which product do you neglect the most due to laziness?

 I very rarely fake tan, because I'm terrible at it, ditto to the false lashes, and I'm pretty terrible when it comes to moisturising too, I hate having to wait for it to sink in! 

Wrath- which item do you have a love/hate relationship with?

I love the look of liquid eyeliner, but I suck at it. I can only seem to do it if I'm drunk oddly enough. I'm good at gel and pencil liner, but liquid and I just don't get on!

Gluttony- what brand makes up most of your make-up collection?

This is really hard! I think it's probably either MAC or Rimmel. I have tons of MAC lippies, blushes, foundations, concealers and eyeshadows, but I think I have a bit of everything from Rimmel! Foundation, concealer, eyebrow pencil, pencil liners, blush, lipsticks and tints and a ton of nail polish! I could probably do all my makeup in only Rimmel!

Pride- which product gives you the most confidence?

Foundation definitely! I had quite bad skin when I was younger, so foundation has always given me that little boost! Even now when I rarely get spots, I just feel like it evens out my skin tone and makes me look healthier!

Lust- which item is at the top of your beauty wish list?

At the moment, I'm desperately craving the Chanel Les Beiges powder (oh my god have you even seen the packaging?!), but on a more realistic scale, I'm after a matte top coat, a full size of the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer, and some Revlon Lip Butters!

Envy- which make up product/look is great on others but not yourself?

Dark lips! I love the purple and plum coloured lip products that were everywhere this year, but they just made me look ill!

I tag you all!

The Weekly Round Up #15

A cheeky McFlurry since the weather was so nice! / Cute new flipflops from Primark for my holiday, only £2.50! / I'll be living here soon! A naughty Wagamamas! / The boyfriend trying to make up for leaving me for four weeks with cupcakes / Me and the boy before he left! / A pre-gig selfie, rocking the YSL Rouge Volupte / A gorgeous meal at GBK with Melisa / Hometime selfie in the sun!

Very little to report on the home front this week! It's been a busy week of uni work and getting ready for my new job! I've been loving the sunshine, and a few little bargains I've found (post coming soon!). 

I'm back in Bournemouth this weekend, spending some time with the family, and we have another birthday coming round this week! It's so nice to get out of London, where it's so humid and muggy!

I'll be off on holiday next Monday, and I've organised a few guest posts from some of my favourite bloggers, which I'm excited to share with you! There are posts coming your way from Linda, Melisa, Elysia and Ambi, who all have lovely blogs, and you should check them out! 

I've been attached to my Caudalie Beauty Elixir this week, my skin has been loving the occasional toning spritz of essential oils, and I find if I'm feeling a little stressed, this totally calms me down. In my makeup bag I've given a lot of love to my Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow sticks, which I never really got the appeal of until recently. They really are the perfect recipe for a simple smokey eye! Also, the Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon that I bought yesterday has totally stolen my heart, and I can see myself repurchasing this over and over again!

I hope you're all having wonderful weekends! x

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Summer Lip Lovin'

 

Superdrug 3 for 2's don't tend to drag me in as much as Boots' do, I don't really know why. But today I headed in, armed with fifteen pounds to spend on some holiday lip picks, with a few certain expectations.

My lipstick wardrobe is pretty expansive, but I'm majorly lacking in the lipgloss/tint/lacquer/sheer department. I wanted to find some summery colours for my holiday, that would survive in the heat (I've been down the melted MAC lippie route and I'm not going back). I've wanted to try the L'Oreal Glamshine Stain Splash, since they've been pegged as a pretty much perfect dupe for the YSL Glossy Stains (YSL is owned by L'Oreal so it would make sense), and who doesn't love a lipstick with a staying power? I went for shade 102 Romy, a pretty pink nude. The gloss fades after about an hour, but it does create a very pretty stain on your lips! Perfect for relaxing by the pool.

Whilst I'm not a massive fan of the Rimmel Apocalips, I have found a way to make them stay put and not stain my entire face, plus they have a pretty good lasting power, so I picked up Apocalyptic, a bright red pink that is a liiiiiittle bit scary. The jury's still out on this one for now!

Lastly, I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a Revlon Lip Butter. I know this will probably melt in the heat, but it's just for a sheer wash of bold colour for the evening, I won't be taking it out by the pool! I've ummed and ahhed over these for a while, the colour range has always put me off though, I've never found one I really like. However, I absolutely love this one, Wild Watermelon. It's bright red in the bullet but wears as a sheer pink red. Super pretty!

What are your holiday lip picks?