Unruly Eyebrows

This post is about an issue that's very close to my heart and just as the title suggests, it's all about crazy eyebrows.

Arghh!

Many a beauty blogger has shared that eyebrows are sisters and not twins, however mine are more like 2nd cousins twice removed and they drive me insane! Part of the reason is because I think that some of the damage was done by myself in my teenage years. Yep, I was a plucker  and I loved it! But I've never been great with symmetry resulting in the mismatched eyebrow issue that I'm still struggling with today. I'm writing this post thinking that many of you will relate to my problem and hopefully share your own pearls of wisdom. 

So, back to present day. I now get my eyebrows threaded about once a month/6 weeks. I love threading, I've had to look around to find the place that works best for me, but now I've found it, I'll be sticking with it and this is because they were honest with me.

 The first few places that I had my eyebrows threaded at we're ok but they just threaded away without ever saying anything about my mismatched brows resulting in more of a mismatch than ever. 

When I first went to my current threader, straight away she told me that my eyebrows didn't match, the reason why and what she was going to do about it. Hurray! And the amazing thing is she only charges £4! 

The issue now is that I need to let my eyebrows grow for as long as they can before I get them preened, giving more of a chance of the sparse bits growing back  and my eyebrows matching up. 

This means that the in between phase is horrendous for me so I do as much as I can to disguise the unruly hairs poking out in all directions and this is how I do it...

Use a good eyebrow pencil 

I've recently picked up my No7 Beautiful Eyebrows pencil again after a stint using my Sleek brow kit. I did enjoy using my brow kit but I started to feel that it didn't provide the definition that I needed and left my eyebrows looking a bit heavy. I love that I can build up my pencil and use the other side to comb my eyebrows into place. I also think that it's the perfect colour for me. I always start with my pencil on the thick part of my brows, closest to my eyes, I move the pencil in one direction -that's what makes you beautiful (see what I did there!- sorry bad joke,couldn't resist!) and  build up the colour in the shape of the brow. I then move along, filling in any gaps and adding extra colour to match up my brows as best as possible.

Use a highlighter on the brow bone

I hate the straggly hairs that grow underneath my eyebrows but as I'm too scared to pluck anymore for fear of butchering my brows, I do tend to leave them. I've found that a good way of disguising these pesky hairs it to use a good highlighter on the brow bone (a usual part of my eye make up routine anyway). I'm currently using Booty Call by Urban Decay. This is a shimmery pink eyeshadow that I sweep all the way up to my eyebrows. I think because it's shimmery, it catches the light which creates an illusion of a hairless brow bone (or just blinds people so they can't look at that area for too long!) 

Something I need to invest in...

Is a good brow gel. My eyebrows aren't particularly bushy but I can find that hairs move out of place during the day. A good gel will help to set them in place without going crispy. I heard that Anastasia and Laura Mercier do good eyebrow gels so I will be investing soon and I'll let you know what I think. 

So that's it. Not the most difficult of routines and I don't even know if I'm doing the best for my eyebrows but I thought I'd share. Please, please let me know of any products/tips that work well for you as I'm always on the look out for ways to improve mine. 

My eyebrow on a good day. The other was having a bad day...

Thanks for reading 

Becky xx

My Updated Evening Make Up

I've recently gone for the chop and because of this and as we are well into Autumn, I've decided to make some changes to my make up. 

This post is about an evening look with dark eyes and berry lips. 

Step 1: After the usual cleanse, tone and moisturise I apply Clarins Beauty Flash Balm as a primer. 

Step 2: Then, using my fingers I blend in Chanel's Aqua Vitalumiere foundation all over my face making sure to blend in at the neck. I'm still loving this foundation, it gives the perfect coverage for me. 

Step 3: I then use No7 Instant Radiance concealer to cover the dark circles under my eyes. I just dab it on and blend in with my fingers. 

Step 4: Next, I use Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer on any lumps, bumps and blemishes again, blending with my fingers. 

Step 4: To set my foundation I apply a thin layer of No7 powder in translucent using a Front Cover Cheek brush. 

Step 5: I then apply the best bronzer in the world ever, Chanel Bronze Universal to the hollows of my cheeks, temples and nose. 

Step 6: I'm still loving the Sleek Brow Kit that I blogged about many moons ago. I fill in any gaps using the wax and set my eyebrows using a small amount of the powder. 

Step 7: I'm still obsessed with my Urban Decay Naked 2 Pallette and I use my Front Cover Fluff and Buff brush to apply Booty Call all over my eye up to my brow bone. I then apply Verve to my lid using the same brush and then using a Front Cover Point + brush I add Pistol to the crease and underneath then eye.

Step 8: My Kiko black eyeliner is the best I've ever used, I never feel like I'm dragging it across my eye as it glides on so easily. I apply this to my upper lids and to the water line.

Step 9: I curl my eyelashes using my No7 curlers then quickly apply a thin layer of Dior Lash Maximizer before applying Dior It- Lash Mascara. 

Step 10: I then apply Mac Powder Blush in Fleur Power using my Real Techniques Blush Brush and Sleek highlighter using a small blusher brush.

Step 11: The final step is the application of No7 High Shine Intense Lip Crayon in Sultry Kiss. It's a lovely berry colour that's perfect for winter and as it's the shape of a crayon is really easy to apply. 

And there you have it, my autumn, smoky evening look. It's not the best photo but let me know what you think! 

Becky xx

Daytime Make-up Routine

Hello! It seems like ages since I wrote my last post so to make up for it I'm writing a super long one today. It's been lovely to hear from people who are enjoying my blog and I've had a few requests to do a post on how I apply my make up. I am in no way an expert but I do really enjoy putting my make up on and using tips that I've seen on other blogs so I thought I would share how I do things. 

Oh and bit of a disclaimer- there are some truly hideous make up free/semi made up pictures of me I am sorry but I thought this needed pictures to stress the point a bit. So here we go... 

Step 1: Here is my totally naked face. I had a wash with Origins checks and balances foaming face wash (a new purchase-totally loving it-it's like washing in shaving foam!) toned with La Roche Posay Effaclar toner and moisturised with Origins GinZing.

Step 2: The first thing I do make up wise is apply a primer. I do this most days because I like the way it smooths out and brightens my skin and helps my make up to last. Today I used the Benefit That Gal brightening face primer.

Step 3: I then apply my foundation. Today I have used my Dior Airflash foundation in 202 with the Dior 12 foundation brush. To apply I spray the brush with foundation, work it over my cheek, then spray and do the other cheek, then a spray for the nose and chin and a final spray for my forehead. I spend quite a long time buffing the foundation into my skin as I like it to look quite natural.

Step 4: Concealer time. I've dotted No7 Instant Radiance concealer in 2 under my  eyes and No7 Stay Perfect blemish cover in Medium over spots and imperfections (I've got quite a few of those!) I then blended these into my skin with a No7 concealer brush which I think works better than using your fingers as you're not adding grease to your face or wiping away the make up. 

Step 5: Eyebrows. The photo is a bit scary for this but it all works out in the end! I used the Sleek Brow kit in 818. Firstly I use the rounded brush to apply the wax - you don't need much of this just a light covering to tame the brows. Then, I use the angled brush with a very light covering of setting powder. I colour in my brows as mine are very patchy and are totally different shapes so it helps to match them up try and make them look related. Kind of. 

Step 6: I'm using my Sleek eyeshadow pallette today so have decided to use my No7 eyeshadow primer first to keep my eye make up in place (I don't need to use a primer with my Dior compact, might be a quality thing?) I just shove my finger in the pot and rub it all over my eyelids not going above the crease. 

Step 7: I like to use a highlighter on my brow bone. Today I've applied a small amount of No7 Instant Radiance highlighter and smoothed it over with my fingers just to give a subtle sheen.

Step 8: Next is eyeshadow. I used my Front Cover fluff and buff brush to apply Sleek's Calm before the storm all over my eyelid. 

Step 9: I then layered Sleek's Thunder Storm (which is a goldy shade) over the top and applied Dust storm (a dark brown) to the outer edge of my eye blending into the crease and also underneath my bottom lashes, from the outer corner to just before the middle of the eye and Thunder Storm from the inner corner to the meet Dust Storm. (Ramble, sorry).

Step 10: I ALWAYS wear eyeliner but for some reason I didn't put it on today... So I went straight to ny Front Cover eyelash curlers to give my lashes a bit of a boost. 

Step 11: Mascara. Today I went for No 7 Exceptional Definition mascara in black. I've had this mascara for a few weeks now and it's starting to thicken a little which I love! It volumises and lengthens my lashes even more than it did originally. Brilliant stuff! 

Step 12: To avoid a big, shiny face I used a little bit of the Clinique Gentle Light powder in 3 over my forehead, nose and chin with a fluffy 17 powder brush.

Step 13: I've started to enjoy contouring my cheeks a little. So I used the bronzer from the Sleek contouring and blush pallette with my new Real Techniques Blush Brush (less than a tenner from Asda and I love it!) I suck my cheeks in and apply the bronzer in the hollows and extend it to my temples and apply a little under my chin(s).

Step 14: After bronzing I used the No7 Mineral Perfection blusher in Soft Damson on the apples of my cheeks with  the same brush. I find smiling helps the apples to stick out a bit so you don't go overboard on the blusher. 

Step 15: It's all about the highlighter on the cheekbones now. I used the Sleek highlighter from the contouring pallette with my Real techniques brush just on the cheekbones extending up the temples. 

Step 16: My final step is my lips. Today I used Tanya Burr's lipgloss in Picnic in the Park. It's a new gloss and I love the colour. It is a very natural peachy pink but unlike a lot of glosses it is quite pigmented so you can actually see the colour. The Brucie Bonus was that it was only £6.99 from Superdrug and it smells lovely. 

And that is it! I unclipped and straightened my fringe for the final photo and here it is...

Thank you for persevering through some truly hideous pictures. This make up routine is a day time routine for me, maybe a little more than I'd wear for work but for a trip to the shops or a day out somewhere (we are really into our National Trust trips at the moment- old I know!) it's a perfect look for me. I hope that I was of some help and please let me know if you have any tips/product recommendations etc.  

Becky xx

New make up!

Right, so the NEC Big Airport sale was a big waste of time for me. They had a few products (mainly perfume and creams) in a small room that weren't that cheap. I suppose I should have known better when the tickets were free but I had grand ideas that each brand would have its own stall with heavily discounted items. Oh well, you live and learn! 

Feeling disappointed, we decided to go into Birmingham as we weren't going home without make up! And that is where the fun began...

The first stop was Selfridges (naturally) as I had decided that I wanted a bright pink lipstick. We had a little browse around, I really wanted to try out Mac but it was super busy as usual so I couldn't get near the lipsticks, let alone find someone to help me. I found a nice colour in the Dior fluid stick but thought I should try a different brand that was hopefully a bit cheaper! I went over to Nars and found a gorgeous bright pink called Schiap. The lady behind the counter encouraged me to try it on and I really like the colour. A bright pink is a bit scary for me but the Nars woman reckoned you should go bright with those sorts of colours, so I did and it was a whole £7 cheaper than than the fluid stick at £19! 

After that, we decided to visit Superdrug as they stock a brand called Sleek which  I've heard do really good duplicates for Mac and Nars at half the price. There they had a 3 for 2 offer across all cosmetic brands. From sleek I picked up the brow kit (which is a lot like Benefit Browzings).

 A gorgeous eye pallette called Storm- it contains 12 really pigmented eyeshadows (Sleek had loads of different pallettes for £7.99) 

and finally I bought the contouring kit that contains a bronzer, highlighter and blusher (which looks exactly like Nars Orgasm blush). 

I had a play with my purchases last night and love them! As an added bonus the whole lot was less than £20! I'll post a picture of my final make up look for the evening below. 

Finally, I bought some perfume. House of Fraser had a brand event on so we decided to look there and they did have some very good offers- 10-20% off most perfumes! I went for a 30ml Viktor and Rolf flowerbomb eau de parfum version for £45. I tend to choose eau de parfum over toilette because I like the way it lasts longer on the skin. I know they're more expensive but I feel that I'm buying a better quality perfume. 

Unfortunately when I got home, the perfume had leaked in the box. So I took it back to my local House of Fraser- where they don't stock Flowerbomb! Argh! They did offer to order it for me but I wanted a new perfume for that evening. So in the end I chose Ellie Saab intense at £56 for 50ml (eau de parfum of course). I'll have to get Flowerbomb another time as I do love it but the Ellie Saab is lovely too and I got a free cosmetic case.

So those were all my purchases for the day. I am very pleased with everything I bought and I felt that I came away with a lot for my money. Here is my finished look (please excuse the still scraped back fringe.) I've used all of my new products. I kept my eyes quite natural with Snow storm from the Sleek pallette all over my eye followed by winged eyeliner and lots of No7 Lash Impact mascara.  

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Thanks!

Becky xx