Spring/ Summer Make-Up Look!

I am yet to do a beauty post, so I thought seeing as I was going to do my make-up anyway I might as well do a tutorial type thing. I would like to make it extremely clear that I am useless at doing my make-up. I constantly have to get tips/advice off my younger sister and I rarely get it right on the first try - picture 3 make-up wipes used before I've gotten out the door. But it should be a fun post to make nevertheless!

The first items I use are the Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in shade 1 followed by the Simple BB Cream which is a universal colour. I don't like to wear heavy make up as I find it makes my skin a lot worse, but you can easily substitute the BB cream for a foundation or just go bare faced! I put a small amount of concealer under my eyes, on my nose and chin and on any blemishes/spots. I then rub it in with my finger. Avoid rubbing it in too much because you'll end up getting more of it on your fingers than your face! I find dabbing it more effective.

After the concealer, I take a small blob of the BB cream and rub it all over my face - again, using my fingers. Because this BB cream is a universal colour, it comes out very orange at first. However, as you rub it in it slowly blends to match your skin tone. Magic!

Annoyingly, I always end up getting it all over my lips which is something I seriously hate.

I find the easiest way to remove foundation/ BB cream/ powder from your lips is to get some make-up removal liquid and dip a cotton bud in it and then run the cotton bud along your lips. I always use the Simple Make-Up Remover but i'm sure any equivalent would work.

Now that I have finished my base face make-up, I move on to my eyes. The eyeliner I use is the Rimmel London Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Black. I am terrible at eyeliner. I very rarely wear it because I know 9 times out of 10 I'll have one eye with a sexy feline flick, and the other will look like a 3 year old done it.. with their eyes closed. But I'll give it a go today!

I start off by doing a triangle type thing in both corners of the eye.

I then follow the line to the corner of my eye. Even though it's still pretty bad, this is the best eyeliner I've done in weeks!

After eyeliner I apply quite a lot of mascara because I have really short thin lashes. I picked this Rimmel mascara up the other day because its on offer in Boots (£4.99!) and I really like it.

This is what the brush looks like. The curve is really good for getting into your corner lashes and your lower lashes. It's not a very 'wet' mascara, so if you want a lot of volume you would probably want to put a layer of different mascara over the top. This one is particularly good for lengthening. 

I'm sure I don't to tell you how to put mascara on (and I don't know how I'd picture that anyway!) but this is roughly how your eyes should look at this point - although yours would probably look a lot better than mine! Its surprisingly hard to get a picture of your eyes that shows the eyeliner and eyelashes without it looking like one black blob!

The next thing I do is put eyeshadow on. I think most people put eyeshadow on before eyeliner and mascara, but as I often go wrong when it comes to doing them, I put eyeshadow on after so I don't have to remove it along with the smudges. 

For my base I use the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in the browny gold shade, sorry I've forgotten the name! This helps the eyeshadow stay on longer and make the colours more vibrant, so I rub it all over my eye using my finger.

Then, using the brush from the Naked 2 palette, I run Mac's Naked Lunch all over my lid, right up to my eyebrows. I find this creates a nice neutral eye and acts as a discreet highlighter for your brow bone.

Over the top of that, I put a brown Mac shade (again, I can't remember the name sorry) just on my lid.

When it comes to my eyebrows, I usually use Benefit Brow Zings. However, sometimes I use an old mascara and gently brush it over my brows to to create a thicker, blacker look. It's important you use and old mascara though because a new one will be too wet and they'll look too black and slick.

Because I am quite pale, I add a hint of Mac's Soft and Gentle Powder in Medium on my cheekbones, nose and chin to give myself a bit of a glow. I apply this using the Real Techniques Powder Brush. One problem I have with this powder/bronzer though is that it is pretty pigmented, so it can go from zero to Essex in a matter of seconds. 

Finally, I add a bright lipstick to finish the look. Pink/ orange are my favourite choice; this particular one is Chatterbox from Mac. 

This is the finished look! It's nothing special because as I said I'm not very good at make-up, but it's a simple look that anyone can attempt. I think it's great for the summer because it's fresh and bright. I tend to save the blusher, red lipstick and smokey eyes for winter.

American Apparel Recent Goodies/Favourites!!

Over the past few weeks I have been lucky enough to welcome some new beauties into my ever growing collection of AA stuff and I would love to show you guys! American Apparel is definitely one of my favourite shops, mainly for the quality of their basics and how unique their prints are. 

Sorry to keep going on about my photo quality, but I've noticed that the photos on my blog come across a little fuzzy when viewed on a phone. I think this may be due to my camera being too high quality for phones?? I'm no tech whiz so I'm not really sure, all I know is that this post is probably best viewed on a computer if you have the option.

Anyway, here are my recent American Apparel favourites!

These are the Easy Jeans in Medium Stone Wash Indigo. I have instantly fallen in love with these because they are the perfect colour and are so comfortable, unlike other high waisted jeans I've had before. They also don't go baggy one the knee like most jeans unfortunately do - hooray! I tend to have the problem when buying jeans that if they fit on the hips/waist, they're much too big on the leg, but these are super stretchy so will adapt to fit most shapes. They really are Easy Jeans; easy to wear and easy to style!

Next up is the Lolita Crop in Thin Black Grid on White (they also do the reverse of this and plain black). The material is a sort of light shirt material, but with a stretch in it. My favourite feature of this top is the open back because it will be really cute for summer and allow you to show off some of your prettier bras/crop tops/bandeaus. It will also be quite cool for if we ever see any hot weather. There is a matching skirt to go with this top and I will definitely be putting it on my wish-list.

                                                                      

These are the unbelievably comfortable Power Washed Tees (first one in New Silver/ Lemon/ Royal Blue Block Pocket, second in Lieutenant). Again, these will be great for summer (can you tell I'm excited for hot weather?!) when you just want to chill out and relax. Basic t-shirts are a must for any wardrobe! I also like layering these under dresses: for example the Nylon Tricot Figure Skater Dress. I will hopefully be investing in a few more of these in the future. My favourite is the colour Beni Imo, and I also really like High Dive.

The Chiffon Camisole is an ultra light-weight and airy top. There is a great range of colours, but I don't feel I've really captured the true colour of the green because in person it is just beautiful. It is very sheer so again is perfect for showing off your pretty underwear/ bikinis, or for layering. I like to wear it tied up like in the picture above, because it just adds that little bit of extra detail. 

I can't tell you how happy I was to welcome another Tennis Skirt into my wardrobe. I now have four (red, navy, lilac and white) and I want them all because they're just so versatile. They look great with tights and a jumper when it's cold, and equally good with a crop top when it's hot. They are so comfortable and I also think they're extremely flattering. The one pictured is size S, but i have a mixture of both size XS and S. I personally really like wearing them with the top rolled over, where as the XS fits me how they're supposed to be worn. So if you want to wear it rolled over like I am in the picture, I would advise buying a size up to what you'd usually wear.

Last but not least is the Cotton Spandex Sleeveless Crop Top in Menthe. This shows how cute the Tennis Skirt looks with a crop top... although I really do look like I'm about to go play tennis! I really love the colour of this top, and there are so many other colours and patterns available. 

Room Tour!

I thought I would do a room tour post today as I quite often get comments regarding seeing more of my room on instagram, but it is very difficult to show it in one small picture! I've finally got my camera cable so the photos should be better quality from now on which i'm very glad about.
As today was such a beautiful day, I took the opportunity to photograph my bedroom as I have quite a big window so when the sun shines it gets very bright - especially as it's all painted white which reflects the sun! Somebody once said you needed sunglasses in my room when the weather is bright, but thats not quite true...

About 2 years ago I decided to paint my room completely white as I had grown tired of the wooden floor boards and pink walls I had previously. I don't know if any of you remember that Nina Ricci advert where the girl climbed the stairs to reach the apple tree in a white room, but thats where I got the idea from! I now have a complete set of matching white furniture, but I didn't buy this all at once - I actually bought the furniture over the course of about 5 years when bits popped up in antique shops or when other older pieces of furniture needed replacing.  

I recently decided to move my room around a bit as I wanted my bed next to the radiator and window so that I could keep warm and look out at the sea in the mornings (and so that I could see my TV better as my eyesight is terrible!)

Bed - Velvet (a shop in Brighton, but they also have a website!)

Flower Blanket - Primark

Duvet Cover - Primark 

Flower Lights - Argos 

Onesie - Tesco (it's my favourite one at the moment!)

Disney Dolls - Disney Store (i'm still a child at heart.. don't judge)

Behind my bed I have a coat stand which is a bit random but to be honest I just needed something to fill the gap behind my bed and next to my door. The other side of my door I have a book shelf which is the same design as my bed, I believe the style is called Belgravia (??). A lot of the books are from when I was younger as I don't do a lot of reading anymore, but they add some colour to my room so I've decided to keep them.

Coat Stand - Argos

Bookshelf - Antique shop

Heart Shaped Hanging Pegs - Boots

Heart Shaped Tea Light Holder - Purple Heart

Along the wall opposite my window I have a mirror and a small cabinet (Belgravia again) to keep all my make up. It wasn't the best idea to put the mirror here because the light isn't great! I've been collecting Vogue magazines for just over a year now and I keep the stack next to my mirror. Unfortunately, I left nail varnish remover on top of the cabinet so it removed some of the paint so it now looks dirty:( 

Mirror - Velvet

Belgravia Cabinet - Velvet

Ipod Dock - Curry's

Fairy Lights - Argos

Candles - some Yankee, some supermarket, some Molten Brown

If I want better light I use the mirror on my dressing table. This is my favourite piece of furniture and I like having cute accessories on it to make it look even prettier. 

Dressing Table - Antique Shop

Bird Jewellery Holder - Urban Outfitters

Lipstick Holder - Amazon

Disney Princess Bin - Poundland

Stool - Ikea

In one corner of my room I have a built-in wardrobe that is pretty messy and full as I haven't really thrown away and clothes since around year 6 as I haven't grown and neither have me feet! At the moment it is painted white but I've got the stuff to paint it sparkly, I just haven't got round to it yet.

In the other corner I have a chest which I keep my bags in, and above it there is a shelf type thing where I put all my pretty stuff. The collage thing balanced on top of it I made a few years ago, I cut hundreds of photos out of magazines and it took about 12 hours!!!

Belgravia Chest - Ebay

Shelf - Ikea

Nail Varnish Holder - Amazon

Sorry this post was so long, I didn't realise how much you could write about a room! I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless, and I hope the pictures were a bit better quality than they were before! I will be posting an American Apparel haul type post over the next few days so keep you eye out for that. Hope you've all had a good weekend and have enjoyed the sun, good luck to anyone with exams tomorrow/ this week.