Wednesday, 28 February 2018

In the Kit - Hygiene and Disposables

Cleanliness is next to godliness. In make-up hygiene is sacred and it's the most important thing for me whether I'm working on my own or in a team. It's very hard to marry hating plastic and wanting to keep everything as hygienic as possible in your kit as the best way to work is using disposables and the majority of disposables are made from plastic. There used to be somewhere, The Pro Makeup Shop, where you could get ethical disposables for your kit. It has sadly disappeared and I can't seem to track any down. This is terrible. You can get them from US site Qosmedix who do bamboo disposables.

Make-up kit hygiene essentials

Although it is hugely important to keep everything in your kit clean and ensure your clients are at no risk it's incredibly easy to do. We all know about cleaning brushes but you need to make sure everything else you carry with you is clean too. Dettol wipes are really useful to have on hand - so good to be able to have a wipe around before you set up. Below are some of the things I always have with me.
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Friday, 23 February 2018

Interview Make-up

I don't go on interviews but I do have a make-up look that I'd pull out of the bag if I was going on one. It's one of my go-to looks for anytime I have to look smart, made-up but not over done. If you would rather then swap the black liner for brown or even just smudge the darkest brown shadow over the pen liner to soften it.

As always I've listed everything below; the products, including the dupes and other palettes you could use, my blog reviews and videos so you can see what I really think of some of the products I've used here.



Gwen Stefani Urban Decay palette (now discontinued) colours used: Skimp, Stark, Anaheim, Punk, Baby, Serious, Blackout
NYX HD Eye Base
Louise Young LY19 brush
Real Techniques Shading Brush 
H&M Bold Eyeliner
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Diffused Light
Maybelline Great Lash Big
Origins GinZing Tinted Moisturiser
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer
Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush in Rose Glow
MAC Eye Pencil in Smoulder
Louise Young LY13 brush
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara
Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder
Dior Baume Rouge in Lili
Hourglass Brow Arch
Urban Decay All Nighter
Revlon Fire and Ice

Similar palettes and dupes:
Urban Decay Naked
Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics
Louise Young Essential Eye Palette
Sleek Makeup i-Divine palette in Oh So Special
MAC Dazzlelight (Skimp dupe)
MAC Brule (Stark dupe)
MAC Wedge (Anaheim dupe)
MAC I'm Into It (Punk dupe)
MAC Patina (Baby dupe)
MAC Concrete (Serious dupe)

Product Reviews:
Gwen Stefani Urban Decay Palette
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder
Origins GinZing Tinted Moisturiser
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara 
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray

Videos:
How to Use the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder
Origins GinZIng Tinted Moisturiser Quick Review
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara Quick Review
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara BIG Quick Review 
Daniel Sandler Watercolour blush quick review 

Some links are affiliate links which means I will get a small commission if you click through and buy from them. There is no extra cost to you and if you are not comfortable with that then do feel free to open a separate window and google the product for yourself
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Wednesday, 21 February 2018

Chapped Hands

If you follow me on Instagram (Hello!) you'll know that I am a bit of a hand washer in times of anxiety and at this time of year that can lead to chapped hands which is incredibly painful. When this happened recently nothing was helping and I ended up with only two out of ten knuckles left unsplit. My husband was away in Washington so there was no chance of palming off any of the nappy changes or dog feeding to him so I just kept on washing and wincing. It has also been really cold here so with central heating inside and then walking the kids to school, back home to get the dogs on leads and then back out with the dogs to the park meant that my hands were being really affected by the weather as well.

Chapped handI spoke to the pharmacist about it when I went to pick up a prescription and now I feel like I really have the chapped hand survival (and hopefully prevention) kit completely sussed out. There's a very bad picture, taken from an InstaStory of my chapped hand. Just so you can sort of get the idea, split knuckles and raw rash all over backs.

Interestingly the pharmacist was a bit reticent to recommend any particular cream apart from Epiderm which I had tried and which wasn't really doing much. She said that anything with urea in it may exacerbate the problem as I've had eczema before, and that I should avoid anything perfumed - you'd be surprised at how many hand creams that actually rules out. I ended up getting the Norwegian Formula Concentrated Unscented Handcream. I'd used their scented one before - not actually knowing it was scented, it's just the one I'd seen in the shops with the blue rather than red lid and label - and their body lotion is the only stuff that works on the dry skin on my legs. Neutrogena are my go-to for dry skin problems.
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Friday, 16 February 2018

Say Yes

I've been a bit absent on here and the blog and that's because I've been off saying yes to things. This is not about me, it's about you. I hope this helps if you've been doing some of the things I have.

It's really hard to get everything I want to say into a video and this was in fact the second time round of filming. This is and isn't about mental health - it's about changing the way you think. I realised that I was getting furious with my husband trying to get him to make changes to make my life better and though he's lovely, I can't live like that.

Some things I forgot to mention. I'm unfollowing people who don't make me feel good on social media. 'Big' people. I'm doing as much non-money good stuff as possible; art, volunteering, reading.


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Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Ferulic Acid

The bigger the skincare industry becomes the more we are hearing about specific ingredients that are supposed to revolutionise our faces. But to those who don't have the time or the inclination to research everything themselves it can be daunting, overwhelming and off-putting to try and decipher
what you should be using and when. I'm here to help. I have a list of ingredients in my What's in Your Products page but will be posting a little bit more in-depth on the blog when I can. First up, Ferulic Acid.
Ferulic Acid


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Wednesday, 7 February 2018

In the KIt - MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot

MAC Longwear Pro Paint PotsHaven't done one of these for a while but as the summer is starting to get booked up with weddings I've been thinking about what I need to get in my kit re-stock. MAC Paint Pots are not only a kit staple but something I use on nearly every single bride I do.

Pro Longwear Paint Pots are one of the products that MAC do incredibly well. Though I may try other cream shadow pots (and I do have other brands in my kit) and I often go on a shopping mission to find a particular colour for a specific bride I always, always have some of these in my kit (and in my personal make-up stash). If I'm travelling with a paired down kit there's three or four of these that are always with me.
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Friday, 2 February 2018

The Body Shop Sumptous Camomile Cleansing Butter - Quick Review

A lot of you are using this and loving it but I always think it helps to see it in action if you are debating whether to make a purchase. I thought filming part of this on my phone was clever until I realised the quality just isn't that great but hopefully you can see that it gets all the make-up off - I wear a lot of black liner and mascara.

I will be rebuying this.



Read my full review here

The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter 
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