creativity and positivity: do it yourself

MY DAILY MAKE UP ROUTINE!

As much as I love to be creative and experiment with different make up looks, it's become pretty evident that I have my own signature look that I slap on almost every day. No matter what the occasion, my make up always centres around glowing highlight, a pale complexion and a big, bold winged liner. Today I thought I would share with you all my daily make up routine for simple, everyday use and "I want to be cute but I can't really be arsed making too much of an effort" days and special occasions. As I always state before every beauty post, I'm not an MUA and under no circumstances would I ever claim to be one. This is simply how I do my make up most days and I wanted to share my fave products!

FACE
No matter how many videos I watch or posts I read, I always do my base first. Sorry brows before people! In one of my most recent posts, I spoke about my love for LUSH's Magical Moringa primer, which I always apply before starting on my face. I usually leave it to sit for about fifteen minutes before starting with my NYX Total Control Drop Foundation. Luckily, if I'm pushed for time the primer sets in quick enough to keep my face on even when I'm in a rush, so there's no need to worry. With the foundation, I squeeze out a fair amount from the dropper before applying with my beauty blender, which was so dirty I felt too embarrassed to photograph it (I will clean it at some point, I promise)! I love the shade of this foundation, it matches my skintone pretty perfectly, but on the whole I'm not a fan of drop foundations, and will shortly be working on a post explaining why.

After blending the foundation to my satisfaction, I move onto my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and Pressed Powder. I love this concealer because it provides the perfect amount of coverage without being too heavy on my skin, and as someone who has quite blemished, red and uneven skin, a.k.a skin from hell, it is an absolute godsend. However, sometimes I find it oxidises very quickly after applying, so I need to be super speedy with the beauty blender! Personally, I prefer pressed powders to loose, because they don't make me look so cakey and set my make up without wasting a lot of product.

I normally leave my blush and highlight to the very end, but for the purpose of covering all of my face bases (ha!) I'll include them in here. I've also mentioned before how much I love LUSH's Feeling Younger skin tint as a base highlighter. It gives a natural, dewy glow without being too shiny, so if you prefer a lighter look it is fantastic to use on its own. But, if you're like me and you want to achieve drag queen-esque levels of sparkle, you can also layer over the cream, like I do with my trusted MUA Undress Your Skin highlighter. Golden tones are my go to for an easy, every day look because they add sparkle to my pale skin without making me appear washed out. To compliment my pale complexion, I add a little sweep of my Ted Baker Blush, for a light rosy tone that's soft and natural.

BROWS AND EYES
I'm the type of person who provides minimal care for their brows, except for the occasional trim with a pair of small scissors. I've always had quite light, but thick brows, and as much as I hate filling them in, sometimes it's necessary. They're also a really bizarre colour, so I haven't managed to find an exact match, but one of the shades in my Make Up Revolution Fortune Favours the Brave palette comes pretty close. (Note: I would have provided a picture but that palette looks so disgusting after almost a year's worth of usage, and I wouldn't wish that image on anyone.)

My technique is pretty simple: I sweep my brows with a comb, brush them into place, take an angled brow brush and apply a little bit of shadow and lightly follow along the underbrow and then lightly feather them in. Do they look like asymmetric HD brows? No. But the plus side to having a full fringe is that I can cover them up anyway!

As much as I hate this picture, it was the only way to show my eyes and brows properly. Let's just say I have a "strong profile."

I spend the majority of my make up routine fighting with my eyeliner, and after many years of different products and several application techniques, I've finally found a process and product I'm content with. Right now I'm using Soap and Glory's Supercat Eyeliner, which is the perfect product for fans of big, strong eyeliner looks. I love that the pen is easy to control, making it really easy to make both eyes look identical, and the pigment quality is great. My technique right now involves starting with the wing, because I find it easy to build from the outside in. I draw a line, then merge it into a triangle shape and drag the liner across my lid. Then, I simply fill in the blanks and adjust any bits that look strange! It sounds easy, but believe me, it's taken years of practice to even get this far.

LIPS
I'm someone who has always suffered with terribly chapped, dry and nibbled to death lips. I'm also a huge fan of liquid lipsticks, and the two aren't exactly the perfect combination, hence why I need to take care of my lips and prep them so they stay in tip-top condition!

It should come as no surprise that yet again, more LUSH products are incorporated into my daily make up routine. Before I apply any make up whatsoever, I use one of their lip scrubs, right now it's Chocolate, before applying Buttered Brazils lip balm. As well as tasting amazing together, both products help nourish lips, and get rid of / repair the dead skin that I'm constantly battling against. I like to use them before anything else, because that ensures my lip balm has mattified a little before I apply my liquid lipstick. No glossy lips for me thanks.

As for liquid lipsticks, my daily shade is "Harmony," one of the MUA Luxe Velvet Matte liquid lipsticks. They're cheap, dry in quickly and are fabulous quality. I love my NYX Liquid Cremes, however sometimes I find myself reaching for the easy to wear, lighter shades that pack just as much of a punch.

To keep my face in place, I spritz a little bit of Makeup Revolution's Pro Fix Oil Control Setting Spray because it stops everything from melting off when I'm out and about, and leaves a subtle dewy sheen on my skin. I don't always look like a zombie you know!

No matter how much make up I put on, I still end up looking like a grumpy toddler.

And there you have it! My daily make up routine. Who knew it took so many products to create a "natural" every day look? I certainly didn't until I started writing this post!

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed reading about how I do my make up everyday and the products I can't be without. What's your favourite make up item that you simply have to include in your everyday routine?

Thanks again for reading, until next time

Rachel x

August 28, 2017
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10 TOPICS TO INSPIRE YOUR JOURNAL

do it yourself

I consider myself quite the collector of cute notebooks and journals. I just can't help it! I see one, I fall in love, I buy it, and then it continues to sit on my shelf and gather dust because I cannot for the life of me come up with anything creative to fill those pages. I will openly admit now that I'm not the most artistic person. Drawing, painting and other mediums are definitely not my calling in life, however if there's one thing I've learned it's that you don't have to an artist to be able to express yourself creatively. Your journal doesn't have to look like those colourful, seemingly chaotic but very clean looking journals that fill Pinterest boards and have thousands of notes on Tumblr. It can be writing based and centre around whatever you want it to! Today I'm going to share with you ten different prompts and topics to help kick-start your journal journey.

1. DOCUMENTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

First and foremost, your journal is personal to you, and you don't have to share it with anyone else if you choose. Journals can be extremely important to track recovery progress for those of us who suffer with mental health issues, and I've found that sometimes expressing myself through writing or even scribbling all over a page can help ease off some of my frustrations about issues that cause me to slip into a darker frame of mind. With that being said, it's important to allow yourself space to breathe too, and journaling doesn't have to become an obsessive process. I only use mine for mental health purposes when things are particularly bad or really good, and the other pages are filled with lighter, happier creations. I definitely couldn't be without my journal when it comes to helping keep track of how things are going internally.

2. TRACKING YOUR GOALS

This is the main reason I use my journal. I love setting different goals for myself be they monthly or yearly, and I love nothing more than being able to tick them off at the end of that time frame! I also like to write down mini goals for the day or really lovely things that happened to me throughout the day too. It's important to make a note of the positive as well as the negative. Yellow is my go to colour for any posts about positivity, there's nothing better than having a bright and sunny journal to flick through.

3. "LETTERS TO..."

If you want your journal to be super personal to you, writing a series of "letters" addressed to people in your life but for your eyes only, can be a great way of letting go of any negativity that you may be harbouring that's really having an impact on your mental health. Write the letter and scribble all over it, rip it out or cover it in coloured paper and doodle all over - whatever makes you feel better! Alternatively, they can also be a way of reminding yourself of why the important people in your life are so important; love letters to your partner, reasons you admire your parents, what makes your best friend such a good friend. A great idea is also to write little letters to yourself too. Stick an envelope on one of the pages and fill it with letters that you can pull out and read when you feel a certain emotion.

4. LISTS LISTS LISTS

I am big into lists and planning, although it really doesn't make me feel any more organised as a person! I like to write my lists out on a separate piece of paper and then stick them into my journal once I've completed everything. They can be about anything from shopping lists, blog post ideas to books you want to buy - literally anything! I love making lists that centre around "10 Things I Love About ____" and in my old journal I created a spread dedicated to Autumn where I stuck leaves onto the pages and then wrote the lists on a separate lined page and stuck it in. You can be as creative as you like!

5. PICTURE COLLAGES AND MOODBOARDS

Collages and moodboards made entirely from cut out pictures have always been some of my favourite things to make. Even when I was a child I used to cut out pictures from my mum's magazines and stick them onto a big A3 sheet and see what I could come up with. You can choose anything to centre your collage around, emotions, people, a quote and you can use pretty much any material you have lying around. I still like to cut out pictures from magazines, but I also like to use old pages from books and doodle over the top. Take to Pinterest and print out pictures that you love and see how you can incorporate them into a collage!

6. DREAM DIARY

I rarely remember my dreams so this is an idea that's totally lost on me, however if you're a vivid dreamer who thinks about their dreams even after they've woken up, then maybe this one is for you. You can simply write them down and keep track of them to see if you have the same dream again, or if you're feeling super creative you can doodle a scene from the dream that you just can't shake off.

7. DAILY PLANNER

If you're the patron saint of organisation then you probably already have a daily planner that you religiously use to keep on track of everything you have to squeeze into a day. Going down this route with your journal can be really helpful for those of a more disorganised disposition, especially if you're the type of person who remembers something suddenly but forgets it write it down. Getting a small, A5 paper journal that you can take everywhere with you would be a great idea and it will definitely become your best friend.

8. DOODLES GALORE

For those of you who are self-confessed artists then doodling away in a journal is probably your idea of heaven, but even those of you without an art degree can take part in creating a few cute and quirky doodles. I am not an artist at all, but I love a good doodle even if mine aren't exactly MoMA standard. Seals, plants, mandalas (really terrible ones) and twisty shapes are my favourite things to doodle and the more you do it, the more you'll feel comfortable doing it. Stick a plain piece of coloured paper or write in a "stream of conciousness" i.e write down every thought in your head and don't stop until the page is full, and then doodle all over it in a black marker! Those are some of my favourite pages to look at.

9. PLAYLISTS

I adore making playlists and adding new music to all of them, and I love trying out how different songs sound together. Write down your top ten songs ever, make a playlist based on songs that give you a cosy feeling inside, create seasonal playlists or make a note of all your favourite cheesy hits!

10. WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES

What's important to remember is that your journal is yours and you can put whatever you want into it! Stick in every ticket you've bought in the last month; buses, trains, cinema, sports events, concerts. Create a journal board based on a film that made an impression on you. One of my favourite pages in my journal is one dedicated to Pan's Labyrinth. I drew around my hands and elongated my fingers to mimic the hands of The White Man, then I wrote down some of my favourite quotes around it. You can create a spread full of pressed flowers you've picked up from different gardens and make a note of what they are. Keep track of your lipstick collection and swatch new colours every time you buy another. Your journal doesn't have to be serious and full of copious pages of text, it can be fun and reflect your personality through little original ideas.

So the next time your creative urge strikes, but you feel totally uninspired, hopefully some of these ideas will spring to your mind and help you create something amazing. As I mentioned before, your journal doesn't have to be a masterpiece and it doesn't have to be something you slave over 24/7. As long as you're happy with what you've created then that's all the matters, and if you've never journaled before I hope this may have inspired you to start!

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

July 18, 2017
0 Comments

TRYING FALSE NAILS FOR THE FIRST TIME

beauty

Before I get started on this post, I just want to say a huge big THANK YOU for over 12k views on my blog. Never in my wildest dreams did I think my blog would ever grow to become as important to me as it has, so whether you're a long time lurker or a new viewer, it means a lot to me that you've taken time out of your day to read my guff, and for that I thank you. Now, back to the matter at hand.

All my life I've been someone who has had strong, healthy nails, without doing very much to take care of them. Since I've started working in an environment where my hands and nails are constantly dipping in and out of water and as a result, they've become extremely dry. Right at the beginning of my time working there, false nails have cropped up in conversation time and time again, but I've always been a bit anxious about paying quite a lot for such a luxury on a student budget, and the potential of wrecking my lovely nails. However, recently the idea of getting falsies has kind of grown on me, and some of you may remember that a few days ago I asked around for recommendations for "do it yourself" false nails. Primark have been stepping up their game recently and I've heard many good things about their collection of fake nails, so I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Here's my experience of wearing, applying and learning to adjust to wearing false nails for the first time.

If you're a nail novice like me, then you might want to check out WikiHow and their very helpful posts about how to apply false nails for the first time. The most important thing to remember is to make sure your nails are nice and clean, and your cuticles are pushed back; you don't want the nails to stick to your skin! I decided for my first pair to go for these fabulous chromatic style nails in "Galactica." The best thing abut Primark is the variety of nail shapes, sizes and colours they provide, (and how cheap they are, I got these three pairs for a fiver!) so if you're not a huge fan of claws and prefer something a little daintier, they will definitely have a pair for you!

Every packet comes with 24 individual nails and an adhesive, however I bought spare glue just in case and I'm glad I did, because the one provided was so difficult to use! The most annoying thing I found was trying to match each nail to my natural nails that are a little on the small side, but I did manage to file them down to suit my nail shape and the exact length I wanted. But of course, me being me, I glued the wrong size to one of my nails and had to soak it in acetone for quite some time and have in fact stained my finger blue. A word of advice; please make sure you try every nail on each finger to find your exact match, and lay them out so you can easily access them!

After two long hours of struggling, I finally managed to put my nails on all by myself. I must say, I'm very impressed with the quality of them and the colour too. I've always dreamt of having big long claws and I'm a magpie for anything holographic and sparkly, so these are my idea of heaven. Although I'm quite used to my naturally long nails, I am finding it a little difficult to adapt to these abnormally long nails (you don't even want to know how long it has taken me to write this post!) With that being said, I would definitely recommend these nails to anyone who wants to give them a go, however I can't lie and tell you that it's an easy process! It's an absolute pain, you'll probably get glue all over your hands and they take a lot of getting used to, and obviously I haven't actually had the chance to wear them into work yet, however I'll keep you all in the loop! But I still absolutely adore them and how much better they make me feel, and I think this could be the start of a beautiful relationship between false nails and me.

What's your experience with false nails like? Do you prefer going to the salon or doing it yourself?
I hope you've all enjoyed this post, and maybe had a little giggle at my hapless expense.

Until then,
Rachel

July 04, 2017
2 Comments

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MY DAILY MAKE UP ROUTINE!

10 TOPICS TO INSPIRE YOUR JOURNAL

TRYING FALSE NAILS FOR THE FIRST TIME

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