October Favourites

 

Hello Readers,

Today I'll be doing my monthly favourites post! October has been a month where I've not really used or tried any new products if I'm honest. I've switched up a few bits in my everyday make-up routine however it's not much so sorry for the disappointing lack of products. Enough rambling and on with the post!



First up in my October favourites is MAC's matt powder blush in the shade Melba. This blush is very peach / coral toned which perhaps is a bit better suited to the summer months however I prefer an orangey toned blush to a pink one as I feel like they suit me better. This blush is very pigmented so only a little amount of it is needed to add a bit of colour to your face. I have had this blush for about a year now and still haven't even made a dent in it! This product also featured in my June favourites post which you can see here.

 

Next up is a product that I've featured a few times on my blog now and it's GOSH BB Cream in the shade Sand. I've done a post raving about how underrated this product is which you can see here. I've also featured this in my July favourites post which you can see here. I always find myself coming back to this product as it's just so good. I feel like it's the perfect match for my skin, it's long lasting and it looks so natural. I couldn't praise it enough! I'm almost all out of this now so it looks like I'll be picking up another tube some time soon. 

Next up is Rimmels Retro Glam Scandal Eyes Mascara. I've had this mascara for just over a month now and I really like it. I much prefer this mascara now that it's beginning to dry up a little bit as I'm really not a fan of wet mascara. I feel like this helps to thicken my lashes and also fans them out quite nicely. To read more about what I think of this product you can check out the review I did it of it last month by clicking here.

Next up is something a bit dull however I'll show them anyway. These are Superdrugs own Camomile Facial Cleansing wipes, they retail for 99p so they're super cheap! I've used Superdrugs facial wipes before however I've never used the Camomile ones until recently. These wipes just smell so so good! I absolutely love using them, they're quite good at removing make-up and just smell so lovely that they're enjoyable to use. I found that the face wipes I was previously using seemed to be breaking me out however since switching to these wipes I've seen an improvement in my skin so I'll definitely continue to use these!

That's all for this months favourites post. Hopefully I'll have a few more products in my next one!
I hope you're all well.

 

Beauty Photoshoot

 

Hello Readers,

I'd just like to apologize for my absence the last few days. I shouldn't make excuses for why I didn't update my blog so I won't bother making them! If you've been keeping up with my blog for a while you'll know that I love photography and it's my absolute dream to make it as a fashion and beauty photographer. So naturally, I spend quite a bit of time doing photoshoots! It's been a while since my last photoshoot as I've moved up to Nottingham and I don't have any friends on hand to use as models which is quite unfortunate. I recently felt so motivated to start shooting again that I decided to do something I'd never done before... hire a model from an agency!

I'm honestly so happy with the way the images turned out. The model I hired was lovely and was really easy to work with. Below I've included a few images from my shoot which I hope you enjoy looking at. The theme of the shoot was very autumnal, with the main focus being the very autumn appropriate vampy lip.



That's all for this blog post. Let me know what you think of my images, I'd love to hear some feedback!

Hope you're all well.

 

Easy Halloween Make-up; Blood and Bruises

Hello Readers,

As the countdown to Halloween continues I'll be doing yet another Halloween Make-up post for you all. However this time I'll be showing you a much easier look which you'll be able to create in about 5 minutes time. Yes, it really is that simple! This is a look that you should be able to create with things you have lying about in your makeup kit, so this is the ideal look for any last minute parties or events you have to go to. So enough chatting and on with the post!

What You'll Need To Create This Look:
- False Eyelash Glue
- Black, Brown, Purple Eyeshadow

- Red Lipgloss
- Red Lipstick


This look consists of an open wound, a bruised / black eye and a bloody nose however you can easily manipulate this look and make it your own, simplify it, make it more dramatic. Whatever you like!

Step 1:
Choose where abouts on your face you want to make your wound. As you can see from my images, I chose to create the wound on the highpoint of my left cheek. To create this wound you want to apply some eyelash glue to your face in whatever shape you like. I went for a medium sized circle shape. Leave the glue to dry for a few minutes until it starts to become tacky. As soon as the glue has become tacky, take either a wooden manicure stick or the back of a small eye make-up brush and begin to carefully pick away at some of the glue, to create a sort of peeled skin kind of look. After you've finished shaping your wound, we're ready to move onto the next step.

Step 2:

Taking your red lipstick, you want to dab a little on the area where the glue is. Then you want to begin to blend the lipstick in so the red isn't too intense. Keep dabbing until you're happy with how the red looks, this will help make the wound look fresh, sore and more realistic.

Step 3:

Taking your purple and brown eyeshadow, you then want to begin shading around and inside the area of the fake wound. This helps to make it look more realistic and creates a sort of bruised look. Also at this point, you'll want to begin using these same eye shadow colours as well as the black one to create your bruised eye.

Step 4:

Taking your red lipgloss, dap some onto your fake wound. The lipgloss will act as fake blood, and will also help to create a more realistic wet texture and shine to the wound. This will make it look more realistic and overall more believable. Taking the same red lipgloss, use it to create your fake nose bleed. Using a lip brush will make the application of this much easier.

Step 5:

After creating the blood for your nose bleed, go in again with your purple and black eyeshadows. Use these eyeshadows around your nostril and in random places through out the trail of fake blood. This helps to give the blood a more realistic look and adds more dimension to it.

So there you go, an easy look created in 5 steps. The key to this look is to blend, blend, blend. Other than that there's not really many ways you can go wrong! Once again, I hope I haven't made this explanation too long winded but I assure you it's super simple and extremely effective. The first time I created this look I genuinely freaked my mum out as she thought it was real!

That's it for this post, I hope you're all well.

Halloween Make-up; The Unzipped Zipper Face

 

Hello Readers,

It's exactly 1 week today until Halloween so I've decided to start doing a few little posts talking you through how to create a couple of Halloween looks. Let me just say now that I am by no means a make-up artist nor do I claim to be any good with makeup, I just like playing around with it as any girl does. So, whether you're off out this Halloween for a last minute party, or like me, you're staying in snuggled up in your onesie here's a look for you.

Now I don't think I've ever revealed this on my blog before but prior to falling in love with fashion photography, I was a massive fan of gory photography. Loads of my photoshoots involved fake blood, fx wax and lots of other creepy props. So I have a fair few looks from my old portfolio which I'm going to be sharing with you (hence why I'm going to have really different hair in some of these posts) and talking you through how to create them.



This was the look I created for a Halloween party I attended last year. I'm not claiming to have come up with this look myself as there are lots of videos of this look on YouTube so I recommend searching for those if this talk through guide isn't particularly helpful. Also this is quite a simplified version of this look, I've used items that you should already have lying around at home.

So to create this look you'll need;
-Fake Blood
- Cheap Red Lipstick / Red Gloss
- Eye Lash Glue
- A Zipper
- Foundation
- Concealer

- Black, Purple, Brown Eyeshadow

and anything else you want to use on your eyes, I for example went with false eyelashes, a bit of mascara and eyeliner.

Step 1:
First you need to get a zipper. You can buy them from craft and fabric stores, or like me you can just cut a zipper off of an old piece of clothing that you no longer want, such as a hoodie, pair of jeans etc. Then you'll want to cut as much excess material off of the zipper as possible, leaving enough to allow you to actually stick the zipper to your face. Make sure you check to see if the zipper fits your face, if not you'll have to cut the bottom to shorten it, which I what I had to do with mine. It's up to you how short you make your zipper, most people tend to make the zipper stop at the jawline, however I decided to leave mine a little longer and stick it to my neck also to create a more dramatic look.


Step 2:
Taking your eyelash glue, apply a generous amount on the back of the zipper, then proceed to applying the zipper to your face. Placing the actual zip part on your forehead / in between your brows and smoothing the rest of the zipper down your face. Now, be warned, this can be quite a fiddly process and it may take you a few attempts before you get it on perfectly. Just keep smoothing down the areas of the zipper to avoid any air bubbles developing and wait for the glue to dry. If any areas of the zip seem to pop up, just apply more glue underneath and continue to hold down that area until it is dry.

Step 3:
Some people tend to use liquid latex to cover up the remaining material of the zipper, however if you're like me and couldn't get your hands on any liquid latex, then I recommend just simple building up layers of concealer on top of the material parts of the zipper. Then just go on and apply a liquid foundation, apply it to your face as normal and also use it to add more layers of coverage to the remaining zipper material that requires more coverage. (avoid the area inside the zipper of course as you will be covering this area with fake blood.)

Step 4:
After applying both concealer and foundation, take your regular face powder and powder both your face, including the material bits of the zip, as this helps to create a more even look and also helps set all of the make-up that you have applied.

Step 5:
Take a red lipstick that you don't mind ruining or getting rid of. Begin to apply some to the inside section of the zip. This helps to build up a red toned base before the blood goes down. Then begin applying your fake blood to the inside zip section. If you don't want to add fake blood to close to around your nostrils (as most fake blood spells horrendous) then like me you can just use a red lipgloss instead and build that up. It does the job and smells far more pleasant. You can also use the red gloss to add blood to any areas which your fake blood missed, or to intensify areas creating a more fresh blood looking shine.

Step 6:
Taking a mixture of black, brown and purple eyeshadows, go into the zipper section and darken up some of the areas, such as around the nostrils, on the mouth, around the chin etc. This helps create the appearance of some slightly older, more dry blood which will look far more realistic. I also recommend applying some black eyeshadow just down the inside of the zipper as this helps to define zipper a bit more and also helps to create a more realistic and 3D look.

Step 7:
Now we move onto trying to create what looks like pulls on the skin. Taking the black, brown and purple eyeshadows again, go on the outside of the zip and begin creating some faint lines starting from the zip and protruding outwards. This again helps to make things look more realistic and if the skin really has been stretched.

Step 8:
The rest of it is pretty much whatever you chose to do with your look. You can have complete freedom at this point and do whatever you like now that the overall zipper look has been created. I went on myself to use black eyeshadow as a cheek contour, black and purple eyeshadow to create the darkened smudges around my eyes, black eyeshadow again to creating the zipper detail down my neck and false eyelashes and eyeliner to finish off my eye makeup.

 

Above are two of the images of me with friends at the Halloween party I attended. As you can see this is a very dramatic look and is definitely one which will catch a lot of attention. The zipper stayed on all night however I found that the fake blood didn't as it hardened and peeled away when I spoke or attempted to eat anything so I recommend bringing a little tube of fake blood with you for touch ups. Also, if you're wanting to drink anything, bring a straw!

I finished off the look by covering a plain white t-shirt with splatters of fake blood, my disco pants and some killer heels. It may have been Halloween but I couldn't help myself but throw in a bit of glamour.

Right that's it for this post, please let me know what you think of this post below and if it was helpful or interesting and if I should continue doing a few more of them. It was quite difficult trying to explain this process so hopefully it wasn't too long winded!

I hope you're all well.

Ebay Wishlist #3

 

*None of these images were taken by me*
Hello Readers,

Today I have another Ebay Wishlist for you all, however it unintentionally turned into a monochrome themed one. I just can't help myself, I seem to be drawn to black and white!
I'm not really much of an Ebay shopper myself however I can always find a few bits and pieces that I like.

1. Primark Black Heart Print Tea Dress - £11.99
I am always drawn towards anything black and white, especially when it has a print on it. I've been looking at a very similar playsuit to this on Boohoo recently so it's safe to say that I'm loving heart print at the moment. I think this is just a really cute dress that easy to style and a great staple to have.

2. River Island Black and White Geometric Print Skater Skirt - £9.99
Another black and white item with a print to it. I was eyeing this up for ages and when I finally saw in the sale in River Island, they were out of my size. Fast forward a month or so later and I find it on Ebay. This skirt is a timeless piece, very easy to style and again a good staple to have.

3. Black Cropped Mesh Top with Heart Detail - £14.99
I don't know if this is everyone's cup of tea however I am really drawn to this crop top. It's quite a loud piece but I think if styled correctly it could look really nice. I love the texture of this item and I can safely say there's nothing like this in my wardrobe.

4. Wool Cat Ear Bowler Hat - £2.86
I have been desperate for one of these ever since I saw one in H&M a little while ago. I think they're really adorable and definitely a good piece to have now as it's so close to Halloween.

5. Round Circle Frame Sunglasses with Engraved Letter Detail - £8.99
Next up is an item that I'm sure most of you may recognise from Kavita's blog She Wears Fashion. Kavita has been sporting these sunglasses in quite a few of her OOTD posts and she is definitely the reason I want a pair. She pulls them off so well so I'm curious to see if I can too as I've only recently got into slightly more wacky looking pairs of sunglasses.

That's all for this post, I hope you've enjoyed!
Let me know what you think of the items.

I hope you're all well.


My Winter Coat Picks

Hello Readers,

Today I'll be showing you some of my favourite winter coats from a selection of highstreet brands.I'm a fussy girl when it comes to coats, it takes me ages to find the perfect coat however after searching online for a few hours I've found 6 that I really like and I thought I'd share them with you.

From Left To Right:

ASOS Coatigan in Boucle - £45

Missguided Amritha Tweed Faux Fur Collar Coat - £59.99

Motel Rocks 90's Fur Collar Relaxed Coat in Black and White - £80

Topshop Fur Hooded Swing Coat in Green - £65

Miss Selfridge Check Borge Collar Coat - £79

Burgundy Boucle Faux Fur Collar Boyfriend Coat - £54.99

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think of this selection of coats. Which do you like best?
I'd love to hear!



OOTD #18

Hello Readers,

 

 

 

 

I've already tried to do this post once today but it messed up so hopefully this time it works! Today I have an OOTD post for you all. I'd just like to apologize for the quality of these photographs as they're not very good. I had to take these images during the evening so the lighting sucks. I spent my day handing out more CV's and just in general walking around Nottingham. Me and my boyfriend Chris also stopped to have lunch at this adorable little café called the Olive Tree. I wish I had bought my camera along to snap some pictures!

My outfit today was quite simple, I decided to wear my brand new Motel Rocks shirt which I picked up in their recent sale for £19. Believe it or not but that was the first time I've ever placed an order with Motel Rocks and I'd gladly do it again. I was super happy with the service and the quality of my items. I shall do a small haul post within the next few days where I'll show you the other Motel item I picked up as well as this shirt.

Outfit:

Faux Leather Skirt - H&M
Cropped Printed Shirt - Motel Rocks
Tights - Primark
Backpack - Primark
Bowler Hat - Amazon

That's it for this post, I hope you're all well!

 



The Lipstick Tag

Hello Readers,

I was recently tagged by the lovely Rheya from Pixirella.blogspot.com to discuss my collection of lip products. I'd never heard of this tag before, however after reading through it I think it's a really great tag, if you're a lip product lover then it's highly worth reading or even doing yourself!

So enough chatting and on with the tag..

How many lipsticks do you own?

I own 23 lipsticks in total, 2 lipcreams, 1 lipstain, 1 matt lip colour pen, 1 chubby stick, 5 lipglosses and 2 lip balms. I honestly don't know how I've acquired that many but oh well!

What was your first lipstick?
I honestly couldn't tell you what my first lipstick was. When I was a little girl my nan gave me a bag of her makeup to keep. I was only a small child at the time so I just played around with it giving me and my little brother makeovers *sorry jack* and putting lipstick on dolls etc. I do remember my favourite lipstick from the lot being a beautiful plummy red colour. I think some of the first lipsticks I played around with were from Avon, however I'm not entirely sure.

What is your most worn lipstick?

I'd say my most worn lipstick without a doubt is MAC's Myth. Myth is a satin finish lipstick and is my only one at that. I picked myth up in the Summer of last year and have used it so many times now that it's almost all gone. It's my favourite nude and it looks incredible on a night out with a little bit of pink gloss on top.

What is your favourite brand of lipstick?

Oh goodness this is a hard one. Overall I guess I'd have to say Rimmel, as they have a huge range of colours, majority of the lipsticks are really good quality and have great colour payoff and last for quite long! They're also extremely affordable.

What is your favourite finish?

My favourite finish would have to be matte. I personally prefer the way that matte lipsticks look on me and I'm not really sure why.

What is the last lip product you brought?
It's actually been a long time since I last purchased a lip product. I do believe it was a MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint and Balm in the shade Justify. They are basically MUA's answer to the chubby stick craze and the colour I picked up is a beautiful orange shade. The colour is beautiful and it was only £3 so it was a good deal!

How many lip products do you have in your bag?

I currently only have one lip product in my bag and that is a lipstick. It's Rimmel's Lasting Perfection Lipstick in the shade Starry - Eyed as I was wearing it yesterday. I only ever have the lip product I'm wearing on that day in my bag.

What product do you use to rock a red lip?

I'm probably about to offend the entire beauty blogging world here by saying that I do not use any lip liners or lip scrubs etc before putting on a red lip. I literally just use whatever red lipstick I feel like and put it on without much thought about it. I normally go for either MAC's Russian Red, Rimmel's Tantrum or Rimmel's Apocalips in Big Bang as they are my favourite red shades.

How do you store your lipsticks?
I actually did a post about this a little while ago which you can see if you click here. You can also see how I store my lipsticks from the image above. I keep all my lipsticks in a acrylic make-up organizer which I got from Amazon for £7.33. It's really good quality and quite a good alternative to expensive Muji storage.


What lip products are you currently lusting over?

I really want to try some of the new lasting finish lipsticks that Rimmel have just come out with. I also want to get my hands on MAC's Lady Danger as I think it looks like a beautiful colour.


That's all for this tag post! I hope you've enjoyed and found it interesting. I found it really enjoyable to do so thanks once again to Rheya for tagging me to do it!

I tag any of you reading this to do this tag if you haven't already!

Hope you're all well.



OOTD #17

Hello Readers,

 

 

Today I have an OOTD post for you all. I decided today was the day I was going to style up this beautiful skort I got from Ebay a week or so ago. I featured it in a recent haul so if you're interested in seeing that click here. I decided to keep this outfit quite simple and work with the monochrome theme. I think although this outfit is rather basic, it still looks interesting due to the quirky cut of the skort and the eyecatching geometric style print.

 I also wanted to do this post to show off the fact that I finally got my hair cut. If you've been keeping up with my blog or my twitter, you'd have seen that I've been winging about my hair for a while now. For ages I've been unsure whether or not to keep my side fringe or go back to a full fringe and yesterday I bit the bullet and decided on a full fringe. I also had quite a bit taken off the length as my hair was in such a bad state. I'm really happy with my hair so I hope you like it too!

Outfit:

Leather Jacket with Faux Fur Collar - Topshop
Black Jumper - H&M
Monochrome Skort - Ebay
Tights - Primark
Peter Pan Boots - New Look
Backpack - Primark
Bowler Hat - Amazon

That's all for this post, I hope you're all well.

 

 



What I'd Wear: Night Out

 

Hello Readers,

I decided to start a new series entitled, "What I'd Wear". Today I'll be showing you what I'd wear on a night out. I don't go out very often, however when I do, I just love getting all dressed up. It's definitely part of the appeal of a night out!

Columba Cut Out Bodycon Dress - Lashes of London - £55
"Reese" Chunky Wedge Heels - Chocker Shoes - £25
Chunky Curb ID Bracelet - Topshop - £10
Russian Red Lipstick - MAC - £15

Please forgive me but I've forgotten where the bag is from but I'm pretty sure it's River Island.

I decided to keep this outfit quite simple, by going with classic colours. All black with accents of gold detailing and a bold red lip. Simple yet effective.

I hope you enjoy this post and that you find it interesting.
I hope you're all well.

Paige.



Empties #1

 

Hello Readers,

It's been a while since my last post so apologies for that. I've been suffering from a bit of writers block recently and had no idea what to do a post on. However I was looking around my flat this evening when I realised that I have a fair few empty products laying around. I've never done an empties post before so I hope this is some what interesting for you all to read.

First up is the L'Oreal Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner. I recently dyed my hair a few weeks back and have been using these since. I only used a semi - permanent hair dye and I'd say this combination definitely helped my hair colour last longer. I normally find that all hair dyes seem to fade on me within 2 weeks max, but by using these I've managed to keep my hair colour quite dark for just over a month. I really like these for maintaining hair colour, however I'm not sure if I would repurchase as I really need to buy shampoos that will help control my extremely frizzy and wavy hair. So if anyone could recommend some shampoos for me that would be great!

 

Next is this Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz. I've had this product for months and have only just finished it. I use this product twice a day, once after I've exfoliated In the morning, and at night after I've took off my make-up and cleansed my skin. I really enjoy using this product and I feel like it really does freshen my skin and cleanse any remaining impurities. I would definitely repurchase this again. I featured this product in my skincare routine post which you can see here.

 

Next up is this Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper - phew! What a mouthful. I talk about this product quite frequently on my blog. I've gone through many tubes of this. It helps to gradually get rid of my blemishes without trying out my skin or irritating it. Simple is a great brand and I highly recommend them.

 

Next up is something that's quite dull however I thought I'd feature it anyway. I finished this pack of 100% Pure Cotton Wool pads. Again, I go through loads of packets of cotton wool and will continue to purchase packets of it as they're handy to use when taking off your makeup.

 



Finally the last item I have to feature in my empties is this pack of Osiris Deep Cleansing facial wipes. I picked up 3 packs of these wipes for a £1 in Asda, a month or so back when I was picking up bits and bobs for my holiday to Zante. I've never heard of this brand before and if I'm honest, I don't know anything about them still. I don't think I'll be buying these wipes again however as I feel like they have irritated my skin. Although I'm not 100% sure, I do think these wipes may have been the culprit.


That's all for my first Empties post. I hope this has been somewhat interesting for you!

I hope you're all well.

Paige.