Friday 18 September 2015

20 Tried and Tested Beauty Tips and Tricks

I always love reading about beauty tips and tricks, or life hacks. Most of the time they are things you've never thought to do, yet they are always so simple and easy to achieve. I have put together 20 tried and tested beauty tips and tricks that I've come across over the years. I'm definitely not the first to have tried these and I don't claim to be the genius who invented them, but they are things that help me out and make my life that little bit easier. 

Hair 


To tame those fly aways spray hairspray onto a toothbrush (obviously not one you are currently using) and brush down those annoying strands of hair. You can also use a toothbrush for some last minute back combing at the roots to add extra volume to your hair. Then just flip away to your hearts content.

Apply your dry shampoo the night before. When you wake up in the morning the dry shampoo will have absorbed any excess oils throughout the night. Brush through your hair and you're good to go. 

Brush through your hair before washing. It makes it a lot easier to manage once it's been washed. 

When brushing, brush from the centre to the ends and then from the scalp to the centre. This will cause far less damage than dragging your brush from your scalp to the ends in one painful sweep. 

Lips 


Almost finished your favourite lipstick? Melt it down in the microwave and mix it with Vaseline, honey and your favourite essential oils. Leave to set and you have a brand new lip gloss.

Mix sugar with your favourite lip balm to create your own lip scrub. Use to exfoliate and soften your lips before applying your favourite lipstick. 

Loving the matte lip trend but don't have any in your collection? Apply your favourite lipstick and then cover with your regular face powder. This will absorb any oils and create a matte look without having to buy a new lipstick. 

Looking for a fuller pout? Apply lip gloss to the centre of your lips and look for products that contain mint as a natural pout enhancer. 

Brows


Running out of brow tint? Apply dark tanning lotion to your brows as a quick fix. Wash off as normal and your left with a subtle added colour to your brows until you can get to the shops or beauty salon. 

Spray hairspray onto an old mascara wand and brush through your brows. This will tame any wild hairs and keep your brows in place all day. 

Stand away from the mirror when filling in your brows. This will give you a better perspective of how your brows are looking and prevent any 'over drawn' disasters. 

Waxing at home? Draw your eyebrows in with a pencil first and then just wax the stray hairs that are around the outside of the brow. Waxing at a salon? BE PATIENT let those brows grow out. The finished result will be worth it. 

Eyes


In a rush? Apply your eyeliner to the upper rim of your eyelash curlers. When you press down to curl your eyelashes, the eyeliner will print onto your lid. You can touch up any sparse areas afterwards. 

Press your eyeshadow onto your eyelid, rather than swipe. This will give a more pigmented and intense look. 

Running out of your favourite eye make-up remover? Use coconut oil as a gentle yet effective alternative.

Place ice cubes inside a cloth and place on puffy eyes to rejuvenate them in the morning. 

Nails 


If your favourite nail polish dries up, apply a few drops of nail varnish remover into the bottle and shake. This will provide you with one last manicure before you have to say a proper goodbye.

Cut across the nail, rather than into the corners. This will prevent any ingrowing nail problems from occurring. 

Line your nails with craft glue or vaseline for an easy clean up. Once you've finished either wipe away the vaseline or peel off the excess glue. Job done! 

Use a white nail polish as your base coat. This will make any top coat colour pop. 


Do you have any tips or tricks to add to the list? If so, get in touch and let me know. 

Jade x 

Thursday 17 September 2015

Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer Review


I've been on the lookout for a primer to wear underneath my foundation to make my makeup last a little longer throughout the day. Ideally, I wanted an oil free and silicone free primer however, these are few and far between when shopping on the high street (they are available if you want to invest in the more high end brands). So, after a little research on the internet I came across the Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer. Everybody seemed to be raving about it and after popping into my local store and seeing it on offer it seemed like fate that I should pick it up.

Now although it doesn’t claim to be oil or silicone free, the reviews I read suggested it was different to many silicone primers and didn’t irritate the skin or cause breakouts for those who had used it. Therefore I was willing to overlook my requirements and test it out anyway.

Firstly, I personally like the feel of the packaging. The bottle is made of glass, which for me makes it feel a little more expensive than it is. Although some may disagree as it’s not ideal for travelling and I imagine it’s going to be tricky to extract the product when you come to the end of the bottle. The bottle does contain a pump, which makes it easy to dispense the right about of product (usually 1 pump is sufficient to meet my needs).


The product itself is white in colour and I did need to give the bottle a good shake before use as the first few pumps were quite runny in texture. However, when mixed you end up with a nice creamy product. Unfortunately, when you first dispense the product, there is quite an overpowering smell to the primer. I can’t quite describe what it is, but it’s not appealing and definitely doesn’t smell as though I should be using it on my face. That said, once applied to the face and absorbed into the skin, the smell does disappear.

The primer does sink into the skin really quickly and leaves a smooth, almost matte finish to the skin. It also seems to slightly improve the look of my skin and forms a nice even base for foundation. I have used a few foundations on top of this primer and some do seem to sit better than others. I’m not too sure why this is, but if it doesn’t seem to be working on the first attempt, it might be worth trying it with another foundation. This is a bit of a disappointment as I would like and expect it to work with all of the foundations I own. I would also advise to use the ‘less is more’ mantra when applying this primer as using too much also seems to ruin the foundation application and can create a bit of a patchy mess.

However, after playing around with the primer, it does seem to make the foundation last longer than normal and this is what I was after in the first place. I feel more confident that my makeup is staying in place throughout the day when I have this on underneath. It also (touch wood) hasn’t caused any irritation to my skin, which is a major plus point for me.
Overall, this primer is ok! I am a little disappointed, as after reading other reviews, I was hoping to love it, but the fact that it has a strange scent and only works with certain foundations in my collection means that I don’t think I will be repurchasing this.

The hunt for the perfect primer continues.

Do you have any primer recommendations? If so, get in touch and let me know.


Jade x

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Collection Contour Kit Highlight & Sculpt Review


I recently re-purchased the Collection Concealer, it’s been raved about since it was first launched and I forgot just how much I loved it until I added it back into my daily makeup routine. Whilst picking this up, I also opted to buy the Collection Contour Kit Highlight and Sculpt palette. Everything within the Collection brand was under £4 that day and you can’t turn your nose up at such a good deal (I’d also seen Zoella raving about it in her latest YouTube video). As the name would suggest the palette contains a bronze shade to contour and a highlight to bring luminosity to the face.


The contour shade is perfect for my skin tone, but being quite pale I don’t know how this would stand out on darker complexions and to my knowledge there’s not a range of shades like other brands. However, you may be able to build up the colour to add a more intense contour to the face. The contour does blend really well into the skin and I don’t find it orange in colour, which is a big bonus for me. It’s also completely matte with NO shimmer to it, again another major advantage to create a more natural defined look.


The highlight within the palette is quite nice and adds a subtle shimmer to the skin. It’s not packed with glitter either so you’re not going to sparkle like a disco ball. Unfortunately, I do have other highlighters in my stash which I will continue to reach for before thinking about using this one. In my mind, I want my highlight to stand out and have a bit more of an impact than this one gives but it’s nice to have in your bag as a back-up throughout the day.

Overall, I’d definitely say the contour is the clear winner within this palette and although the highlight is not my favourite, at £3.99, the palette is really affordable and would be a great addition to a new makeup kit.

Have you tried the contour kit? If so, get in touch and let me know what you think.


Jade x 

Sunday 6 September 2015

Barry M Eye Shine Shadow and Glaze Palette Review


Whilst perusing the internet, I came across the eye shadow of my dreams that being Mac’s Coppering. Reluctant to spend £13 on one eyeshadow, I then came across the Barry M Eye Shine Shadow and Glaze Palette for the bargain price of £6.49 and most exciting of all it contained a similar shade to what I was looking for, so I snapped it up.

On closer inspection the Barry M Palette is Limited Edition, which probably means you should snap it up quickly if you’re interested. It also comes complete with two eye shadow applicators, a handy mirror, 6 eye shadows and a glossy top coat. To be honest most of this escaped my attention when I first picked it up, but now it seems like an interesting idea for a palette.


The colours themselves are quite bright and well pigmented. Some of the colours are definitely more wearable than others depending on how brave you are feeling, but I think the blue and green colours would look lovely as a pop of colour under the lower lash line. However, the bronze and terracotta colours are perfect for Autumn and I’ll definitely be getting a lot of wear out of them this season.


Now to the interesting part – the glossy top coat. Once I realised this was in the palette I had my doubts about it right from the start. oweHhH However, I was willing to give it a go. Unfortunately, it lived up to my fears and it’s the only thing to let the palette down. It’s pretty much like smearing Vaseline onto your lids once you’ve created the perfect makeup look and then watching it crease and ware away before your eyes.

Overall, I love the palette and the colours in it (especially the terracotta colour). For the price Barry M have done a great job and offered an affordable palette with beautiful pigmented eyeshadows. I would stay clear of the glossy top coat, but if you find a way to make it work then do let me know.

Remember to get your hands on it before it sells out!

Have you tried any of the Barry M palettes? If so, get in touch and let me know what you think about them.


Jade x