Happy Birthday To My Blog!

On the 28th July 2016 my blog turned one years old! It's incredible how fast this year has gone and looking back to when I first started has made me realise how much I have learnt. 

To celebrate my blogs one year anniversary I decided to go for a new look and got a new template from Pipdig. As the year has gone on my pictures, types of posts and the way I write my posts has changed and that's why I wanted to change the way my blog looks to what style was in my head. 

As this year has gone by what I post and how my blog looks has just fell into place and I feel as though I have definitely found my feet. Blogging for a year has definitely made me learn so much and I'm sure I've got much more learning and growing to do as a blogger as well!

Hopefully this next year will be even more exciting and insightful as the last! Let me know how long you've been blogging and how much you've learnt in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

How I Store My Makeup

Hello lovelies! Today's post is gonna be a long one so I'll try and not ramble on too much in this intro but if you haven't already guessed by the title this is a post on how I store my makeup! I thought this would be a great post to do because when I first started getting into makeup and I had too much makeup for one makeup bag, I had no idea how I would store it! It was only through watching videos on other peoples storage and seeing photos on Instagram that made me get a clue about what to do! So anyway grab yourself some food and a brew and I'll start rambling on! 

I keep all my makeup and brushes on and in the Ikea Malm Dressing Table. This is probably no surprise because this desk is so popular in the beauty world. But it's convenient! And that's the T! The draw is shallow so it's perfect for storing makeup. I also have the Ikea Malm Chest of Two Drawers underneath my desk on the right hand side to store all my skincare and lashes. 

On the right side of desk I keep my large palettes in a stack. My smaller palettes slot down the left side of the drawer whereas these are too big so they live here. 

I also keep all my perfumes on my desk too next to some artificial roses from my boyfriend back on Valentine's Day. I love having artificial flowers because they never die because I am terrible at looking after plants and flowers I don't need that responsibility. 

Next I keep a rack of all my MAC lipsticks, I keep them in this acrylic organiser from Amazon. 

I then have a No7 illuminating mirror (this is the super old one!) in the centre of my desk. I only really use this when I'm plucking my brows, when I do my makeup I face the window and hold a mirror in my face I find that it's much better to do makeup in natural lighting. 

I then have both my brush pots with all my dirty (sorry) brushes in them. These are just plain acrylic 10cmx10cm pots from amazon. I like them because you can fit a lot of brushes in them!

I then keep another one of the lipstick racks from amazon on top of a mirrored drawer containing all my NYX lip products, liquid lipsticks, glosses etc. In the mirrored drawer (I'm sorry I don't know where this is from I've had it years but I'm sure there will be similar ones!) I keep things like eyelash curlers, tweezers and lash trimming scissors.

So in my Malm Desk drawer is where I keep all my makeup products. And to store them I keep them in these acrylic organisers from a brand called Interdesign on Amazon. These are amazing quality and they fit perfectly in the drawer. I have three types of these trays. 

The first is shown above, which can be found here. This one had three compartments, a large square, a long compartment and a smaller compartment. I have three of these types of containers. The square compartment is great for bulky products such as foundations, primers and powders.

I then have three of these smaller organisers which can be found here. I keep my bronzers, concealers and pigments in these. 

Last but not least I have just one of these organisers which can be found here. These are long containers so theyre perfect for long products such as mascaras and eyeliners. 

Let me know how you store your makeup products! And leave me a link to your posts below! I love to see how other people store their makeup! If you read all of this post I take my hat off to you as it's a long one, so thank you! See you soon!

Rebecca x

Hangover Makeup

If you're lucky enough to have a full day of doing nothing when you have a hangover then you are winning, because for most of us that isn't the case. After a night out, sleep is a must so getting up early to do a burgundy smokey eye is the last thing on anyones mind. I just throw on some makeup that'll make me look more awake but isn't too time consuming because I need that extra hour in bed.

Moisturing is always key after a night out because it's highly unlikely that you stumbled in and did a full evening cleanse, tone and moisturise routine before your head hit the pillow (we're all guilty) so putting the moisture back into your skin is a good way to start. I use La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo it's hydrating but it's not thick in consistency which makes it perfect for under makeup. 

L'oreal True Match foundation is great as a hangover foundation because of it's luminosity so your skin will appear brighter and more awake. The coverage is good too but the foundation itself isn't very long lasting. Concealer is a must to hide your tired eyes, Maybelline Eraser Eye is my favourite. 

No one has the time or the effort to use one powder for baking and the other for the rest of the face so a light dusting of the holy grail Laura Mercier Loose Translucent Setting Powder is a quick and easy way to set the foundation. 

Bronzer is good for putting colour and warmth back into the skin. MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Give Me Sun is my new absolute favourite.

I find that brow pencils are easy to work with to create a good shape without the effort of a pomade and brush. For hangover days (and hangover days only!) I sway away from my beloved dipbrow and just lightly define my brows with a MAC brow pencil in Lingering. 

Last but not least is a coat of mascara to try and make my eyes look more awake!

That's my recipe for hangover makeup, I suggest you pair this makeup with Netflix and carbs. Let me know what your key products for hangover makeup in the comments below! See you soon!

Rebecca x

Let's Talk Brushes

When it comes to good makeup, good brushes are just as imporant as the products you use. I've used many different brushes over the years and whilst I've discovered new brushes, I've got a few which are my favourites.

My top four face brushes are (from left to right) the MAC 129, MAC 168, MAC 188 and the Real Techniques Setting Brush.

MAC 129 is the brush I use to set my foundation with powder after I've used my loose powder to set my concealer (for more details here's my How To: Flawless Base post). I love this brush because it's the perfect size and it's pinched at the base so it's not perfectly round. The only problem I have is that sometimes the bristles on the brush shed, but this doesn't happen too often but it can be quite annoying trying to remove a bristle stuck to your foundation it's enough to drive a gal crazy on a Monday morning. Whenever I wash this brush I find that if I don't apply conditioner to it and let it soak it in for a while before rinsing, the bristles can be quite harsh. 

MAC 168 is the brush that I use to apply my contour, bronzer and blusher. The bristles are natural hairs which means that my powder products blend out seemlessly. I love that this brush is angled as it allows me to easily sculpt underneath my cheekbone. The angled brush also makes it easier to sweep blusher across the apples of my cheeks.

MAC 188 is a new recent favourite of mine. I have two of these brushes and I use one for foundation and one for highlight (this is a very versatile brush). Because this brush is a duofibre brush it blends out my foundation flawlessly and it's also great for applying highlight to the tops of the cheekbones too (not after it's had foundation on obviously). 

Real Techniques Setting Brush is a brush I've had for a very long time, just over two years I think and it's still going strong. I used this for a long time as a highlighter brush but when "baking" became more popular I now use it to apply loose powder underneath my eyes to set my concealer as it's small so it's the perfect shape to fit underneath my eyes.

I have 6 eye brushes which are my absolute favourites (from left to right) MAC 224, MAC 217, Real Techniques domed shadow brush, Morphe E17, Anastasia Beverly Hills 12 brow brush, MAC 210. 

MAC 224 is my little baby, I would be seriously lost without this brush. Because this brush has natural bristles it's perfect for blending eyeshadow. I use it to blend my transition colours and I also use it for nose contouring as well. The bristles on this brush are the same as the MAC 129 so again when I've washed the brush I condition it, this also makes the bristles softer on the skin around my eyes when I'm blending as this is thinest skin on the body. 

MAC 217 is the blending brush I use after blending my transition colour into my crease using the 224, the 217 is smaller so it really helps to sculpt out the crease and create the illusion of a really deep socket.

Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush is the brush I use to apply and blend my eyeshadow primer, the brush has synthetic bristles so it's great for blending out cream products like eyeshadow primers. This brush is similar to the Real Techniques crease brush but this one is pinched at the bottom which makes it easier to pack on the primer. 

Morphe E17 is a brush which I use to apply eyeshadow to my lower lashline. Before this brush I used a pencil brush but it didn't blend the eyeshadow low enough underneath my eye and didnt blend seemlessly enough. Because this brush is fluffier it makes it so much easier to blend eyeshadow underneath my eyes.

Anastasia Beverly Hills 12 Brow Brush I don't know what on earth I was doing before this brow brush. I purchased it when I ordered my first Dipbrow and I've never looked back. The brow brush is so thin and stiff that it makes defined brows easy to do and because it's so thin it makes it super easy to make the brow have a thin taper at the end. 

MAC 210 is my favourite eyeliner brush because it's so thin. This brush makes eyeliner so easy because you don't have to worry about making the line too thick straight away. This brush also makes it very easy to do winged eyeliner because the brush is so fine. 

Those are my favourite all time brushes! Let me know what your favourite brushes are and why you love them in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

My Favourite Pins

Pinterest is one of those apps which is great when you're looking for inspiration for just about anything! I personally love it when I'm having a lazy day as I can just take some time out, grab myself a cup of tea and let me tell you I can just keep on scrolling and scrolling.

These are my favourite types of pins...

Home Pins. 

Wow. These are some of my favourite home pins (obviously there's many more!) They definitely give me a lot of inspriation for when I have my own place in the future and they definitely make me feel a little bit envious! 

Makeup Product Pins.

This is no surprise to anyone. I love makeup and I love collecting it and my wishlist is endless! These types of pins make me want to expand my makeup collection and inspire me to try new products and brands. 

Cosy Pins.

Ooh I just love these! As much as I love getting glammed up, I just love those days (like today) when I put a comfy tracksuit on, get a cup of tea and just get cosy and watch some Netflix. We all need some time to ourselves to unwind and relax. 

Those are my favourite types of pins on Pinterest! You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking here and I would love know what your favourite pins are, let me know in the comments. See you soon!

Rebecca x

March Favourites

March has been a great month for me, it was my birthday month and the clocks have gone forward in the UK making mornings brighter which means I can finally be a morning person again! So here are some products which have been my absolute gems this month!

MAC Powder Blush in Melba. This is a very strange favourite for me because if you know me well enough you will know that I HATE wearing blusher. Having blusher on just reminds me of when I was 13 and over generously packing on those bright pink W7 blushers we all had (don't deny it because we all did!) and ever since I've always been a bronzer girl. However, as I mentioned in September I am on a makeup course and when I received my MAC kit there were two MAC blushers in it (Melba and Blushbaby) which obviously I have used but never on myself. I'm not sure what came over me but one day I reached for the Melba blush in my pro palette whilst doing my makeup and now I'm in love! Beware as it is very pigmented so use it sparingly but it looks great between bronzer and highlight on the cheeks. It's a matte blush so it looks natural and it is described as a soft coral-peach, perfect for the upcoming spring and summer! 

MAC Strobe Cream. I love this product so much. I won't get carried away as I did mention it in my How To: Flawless Base post and my Highlight Collection post too. I use a small amount of Strobe Cream as a primer to make my skin glow through my foundation, usually I wear it alone however sometimes I do mix it with my primer. 

L'oreal True Match Foundation. I am so late jumping on this bandwagon purely because I always find a foundation I like and stick to it for a long time. But whilst on my course a makeup artist came in to do a master class with us and she used this foundation on her model and it looked stunning! So obviously I had to buy it! I never thought I would say this about a drugstore foundation but I really really love it. The colour matches my fake tan perfectly, the coverage is great and I personally don't think it feels heavy on the skin. I just wish it lasted a little bit longer, it lasts well but as I'm coming to the end of a long day it is starting to come off on my chin area which is something which my MAC Studio Fix foundation wouldn't do but for half the price I think I can let it go. 

MAC Lipstick in Myth. Back at it again with the MAC! You're all probably so bored of me talking about MAC now! But this has been my favourite lipstick this month so I can't not talk about it. Myth is a satin lipstick and it is described as a light neutral nude. I use MAC Stripdown lipliner all over my lip and then use this over the top and I'm good to go. 

Left swatch is MAC Blush in Melba and right swatch is MAC lipstick in Myth.

Those are my favourites for this month let me know what yours are in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x

MAC, Morphe and NYX Haul

Good morning! I do love Friday mornings, purely because I'm lucky enough to have Friday's off (even though they're usually spent catching up on college work). I was looking at my makeup yesterday morning and realised how many new products I've bought recently that I haven't yet talked about! There was too many to put in a single haul but here are a few of my favourites that have made it into this post.

So I'll start with the Morphe Gel Liner in Slate. I use the MAC gel liner in Blacktrack but it's started to go a bit dry and crumbles when I apply it (not glam) so I invested in this Morphe one just to try it out! I'm so impressed with it because it's so creamy and so black which is exactly what I wanted and it's cheaper and works just as good as my MAC one! I thought that because the liner was so creamy that it would transfer onto my lids but it didn't so i'm very impressed with this liner! 

Of course there had to be a brush involved! I'm always on the hunt for new brushes and when I purchased the Morphe E23 brush I knew I probably wasn't going to get on with it as a blending brush. The best tip I can give is that natural bristles are better for blending eyeshadows than synthetic bristles. As this is a synthetic brush I knew I would find some use for it, what I like using this brush for is applying and blending out cream eyeshadows, the bristles are thicker and can properly blend out the cream seamlessly. 

I'm a sucker for lip pencils especially MAC ones but I picked up two of these NYX lip pencils in the shades nude pink and nude truffle. Nude pink is good to pair with nude pink (no comment) lipsticks or applied all over the lips and a gloss on top looks good too! The lipliners are a bit dry they're definitely not my favourite but they're good for the price that they are. 

Next up are my new MAC lipsticks! I don't know what it is but there is definitely something that excites me about a new MAC lipstick! The shades are from left to right Stone, Whirl, Kinda Sexy and Brave. 

Stone is a cool toned dark brown, matte lipstick. Very 90s, I'm so on that vibe. 

Whirl is a mauve matte lipstick, which kind of has a brownish undertone. I love this lipstick it's a statement but still a nude shade. 

Kinda Sexy is a peachy pink nude matte lipstick, peachy toned lipsticks are not my thing but with spring coming up I'm determined to make myself wear these colours because they're so beautiful!

Last but not least is Brave which is a perfect medium pink satin lipstick, again perfect for spring coming up!

My MAC lipstick collection has more than doubled since my last MAC lipstick collection post so if an updated collection post would interest anyone feel free to comment and let me know. See you soon!

February Favourites

The last week of February already? This month has been amazing for me especially after January which is everyones worst month out of the entire year. I've been away with my boyfriend, had some time off to myself, seen my friends and got to spend some time with my family also. I've also indulged in a few treats for myself (makeup treats, duh! What else would it be?) and now that life seems to have settled down back to normal after the hectic Christmas I'm back on my makeup game and trying out new products left, right and centre. So let's get started onto the products which I have been loving this month!

MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter Pen 

I have the shade Lightboost which is probably the most popular. This is a yellow toned liquid highlighter pen and I think it's great for highlighting the high points of the face (centre of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, under the eyes and also a little underneath the cheekbones to sharpen the contour). What I love about this product is that it has a slight sheen so it brightens the skin beautifully and makes me look so much more awake and makes my skin look fresh, it blends easily and it is definitely not too heavy either so this can be put on top of foundation. I apply the product straight from the pen and blend it out with a Real Techniques Duofibre Contour Brush or a damp Beauty Blender and I feel like it adds more dimension to my face and makes my skin look so much more healthier. 

MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash

I've not heard many people talk about this mascara and honestly I don't think it receives the credit it deserves. Now, this is the first mascara I ever tried from MAC and I went through about three tubes of it before moving onto Benefit They're Real and then onto Rollerlash and  I've been using Rollerlash for a long time since it came out and it's been my number one. However, about two or three weeks ago I was sat at my desk doing my makeup, beating the face, slaying it etc and I spotted my boldblack mascara in my mascara section and I just used it because I haven't used it in so long and oh my goodness I forgot how BLACK this mascara is. Like wow I remembered why I loved this so much! And the reason why I've been using it so much is because I love wearing false lashes I wear them most of the time because I wasn't gifted with angel wings for lashes so because I wear lashes I'm not really looking for any length or volume in a mascara, I want a super black mascara that makes my natural lashes blend in with my false lashes and when this comes back in stock on the MAC website I'm definitely going to buy another because I've well and truly fell back in love with it. 

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Becca's talking about Makeup Geek eyeshadows again..shock. We all know how much I LIVE for these eyeshadows but this month in particular there's four shades that I've been particularly loving. (From left to right) Peach Smoothie, Creme Brulee, Frappe and Cocoa Bear have been little gems this month. So I've been using Peach Smoothie as my first transition shade with a MAC 224 brush and blend it into my crease and just up onto the brow bone and then go in with the Creme Brulee shade and do the same. Then taking a MAC 217 brush (major key) I blend Frappe into the crease and then using the same brush I blend Cocoa Bear into the crease again and i also blend this in the outer corner. By taking a darker colour and blending it into the crease each time it gives the illusion of a super deep socket and a larger lid. I pack any gold or copper colour onto the lid, smudge Frappe on the lower lash line pop on some falsies and I'm good to go and this has been my go-to eyeshadow look this month. This creates the most beautiful warm brown smokey eye (and you know I'm all about those warm eyeshadows) and I absolutely adore it. All my Makeup Geek eyeshadows are stored in a large Z palette (I've finally filled one full of Makeup Geek yay!) so all my favourites are kept together in one place!

MAC Lip Conditioner

Last but not least is this little beauty. Now lipbalms are a struggle, some are sticky, some don't work, some are gooey and some are just completely irrelevant as hell. I've always struggled to find a nourishing lipbalm that I can pop on before my makeup and let it soak in until I do my lipstick, and I took a leap of faith with this one. This is very pricey for a lipbalm but oh my goodness..wow. You know how MAC lipsticks kind of smell a bit like Cadbury's mini eggs? This is the same! Which is amazing because duh it smells good but this is such a wonderful lipbalm. You just squeeze the tiniest amount out of the tube pop on a thin layer and let it soak in. It's so nourishing and rich but its not sticky or gooey whatsoever. I feel like I have finally solved all my lipbalm issues and that makes me incredibly happy. 

Very unintentional that most of my favourites this month were from MAC that's just the way the cookie has crumbled in February. Let me know what your favourites have been this month in the comments as I would love to know! 

August Favourites

So it's the last day of August! I can't believe how fast this month has gone! All in all August has been one hell of a busy month for me! And there are a few products which have been my absolute saviours this month whilst I've been away.

My first August favourite is my MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation. Every man and his dog has heard about this foundation! I've spoke to people who love it and I've spoke to people who hate it but I first purchased this foundation nearly 3 years ago and personally I tend to fall in and out of love with it but recently I just can't get enough! Before switching back to my studio fix I was using my Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation, which I love because of it's flawless, full coverage matte finish! However, at the start of August I went to iBiza for a week and didn't fancy packing on the layers of a full coverage foundation but I'm not one to go without any makeup so I toned down the coverage to my studio fix fluid. Oh my goodness I fell back in love again! I forgot how well this foundation just glides on my skin and has that lovely semi-matte finish which I've been loving this month! I love how you can use a small amount of product and have a lighter coverage or you can build it up in areas where you need it for more coverage. 

My second favourite of the month is the Aussie Take the Heat 3 Minute Miracle Deep Treatment. When I go abroad my hair tends to suffer with the sun and combining that with all the straightening and curling on an evening (I wasn't blessed with naturally beautiful hair it's more of a fluffy mess) my hair felt like it was on it's last legs. Sometimes using a treatment once a week is just not enough for me, my hair is thick and long so it needs extra TLC. So, I've been using the 3 minute miracle as my conditioner everyday instead of using it as a one off treatment. After shampooing I slather my hair in this product and then tie it up whilst I exfoliate then make sure all the product is rinsed out so I have no build up. Afterwards my hair feels softer and much more healthy, my ends no longer feel dry and my hair is much more easier to style! I can't stop using this as my conditioner because I LOVE the way my hair feels afterwards! 

My last but certainly not least favourite of this month is my Mary-Lou Manizer from The Balm Cosmetics. This is my absolute favourite ever highlighter! I've had it since December and used it near enough every single day and it looks barely used! But because it's summer I've been all over that glowly bronzey makeup! And this product just puts the icing on the cake! It's kind of like a champagne gold highlighter and it blends beautifully on the skin. Usually after I've applied my bronzer I apply this to the high points of my cheekbones, on the tip of my nose and cupids bow then whatever is left on my brush I dust in the centre of my forehead. A small amount of product goes a long way! And I find that using a Real Techniques setting brush or the Real Techniques duo fibre contour brush works best for this product! If you're all about the strong highlighter then I 100% recommend this product!

Those are my favourite products for this month and hopefully September has some more to offer! Let me know what your favourite products are this month in the comments! See you soon!

Rebecca x