Back to Basics

Sometimes I wish that I had someone to guide me into the beauty world whilst I was a young teen. So I'm taking us back to basics for girls who are interested in make up yet want to know how to kick start things properly without breaking the bank. 
Every beauty guru would tell you to evaluate what your skin is like, if it's oily, combination (some parts oily eg. Forehead, nose and chin and dry on your cheeks) or dry. Once you've decided what category you would place your skin in, choose your face products appropriately. 

Face
Young skin doesn't need to be clogged up with thick foundations and powders. Team a tinted moisturiser such as one from Garnier's range which caters to a variety of skin types and team with a concealer from Collection 2000 or Seventeen both great brands and cheap as chips. Decide whether you want to brighten or conceal and go from there.

Garnier BB Cream and PureActive Rollerball Concealer

Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch

Eyes
Go for a lengthening mascara to maintain a natural flutter using something like L'oreal Telescopic Mascara £10.99 which has a plastic comb brilliant for separating the lashes. For a natural look, neutral eyeshadows are the ones to go for and if you're in a rush to leave for school a cream shadow like the Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 Hour £4.99 offerings can be applied with a finger tip and smudged over the lid to leave a wash of colour and it stays! 

L'oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara and Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze'

Lips
Again, lipsticks are a no-go for school. Teachers are always on the lookout for tell tale signs of make up and lipsticks will make you stand out like a beacon. Pick up a tinted lip balm from Vasaline in Rose or the Nivea Lip Butter in Raspberry Rose (which smells like raspberry yoghurt, yum) for a hint of colour and a glossy sheen without looking too made up. My vasaline had seen better days so I thought I'd picture this beauty alone.

Nivea Lip Butter in Raspberry Rose

Cheeks
Finally, cheeks. Highstreet brands such as Natural Collection offer beautiful blushes at low prices, pick a shade like Peach Melba for that healthy glow and at £1.99 you can't go wrong. Although be careful, don't go too heavy handed, less is definitely more! Unfortunately I didn't have a picture for the blusher, but follow the link for a butchers!

I hope this helped, just remember to be subtle, you still want to look like you, just a little enhanced.

Take Care!

Bourjois 8in1 BB Bronzing Cream Review

Arriving home from holiday a couple of weeks ago, I was faced with the common issue of finding that all of my foundations were now too light for me. So off to Boots I strolled on the search for a darker face base that wasn't going to break the bank. Having heard so many good things about Bourjois' latest releases I decided to check out their 8in1 BB Bronzing Cream £9.99 and at under £10 I knew I couldn't go wrong.

First Impressions

IT SMELLS AMAZING! (*breathe Steph*) I love this smell, some people have said that it's reminiscent to their chocolate bronzer, but to me it is light, and reminds me of sun cream in a tropical kind of way. It certainly takes me back to sunning myself in the Caribbean!

The colour, scary for some, but looked perfect for me and I could not wait to try it. I kept swatching it on the back of my hand and sniffing, it is so delicious.

Colour

As I said, it might seem quite scary for ladies with a paler complexion but if it's blended in well with a stippling brush, something like the Real Techniques Stippling Brush £11.99 then it's a no-fail.

Texture

An almost gel-like consistency that when blended into the skin, melts into a slightly dewy finish. 

To me, I'd say that this is somewhere in between a tinted moisturiser and a BB cream as the coverage is still quite light yet it blurs imperfections. All in all, this was definitely my saviour. It evened out my tanned face and made my complexion look healthier. With the added SPF 15, it makes it the perfect addition to your holiday make-up bag and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a darker face base.

Overall Score 10/10

Take care!!

Hello!

Well hello there!
Officially a newbie in the blogging world and I thought I'd try my hand it. 
On a daily basis I stumble upon page after page of beauty reviews, hauls and videos as well as healthy eating tips and fitness pointers. All of which I have drawn inspiration from and it has brought me here today and to what will probably a very lengthy post - apologies!

I thought I might start off with something fitness related purely because I am in no way a fitness freak (as my boyf would highly agree with) yet I still do some form of fitness every week. 
About a two years ago at uni, I decided to try my hand at a bit of pole dancing. They had a classes on and me and my flatmate decided it was the perfect non-gym like fun bit of exercise that we needed. For some reason we chose to turn up to the last class that was ever going to grace our university and although our meeting was brief, I absolutely loved it! Girls that had been there from the beginning were already climbing up the pole as though it was a piece of cake, and I was thoroughly jealous! In that hour, we had felt muscles we never knew existed and it was definitely the most gruelling workout I'd had since Year 11 sports day!! Which, baring in mind was at least 3 years prior to this little fitness session. Needless to say, the next day, getting out of bed had suddenly become such a struggle, (not that I was really complaining - typical uni student) even to the point that I was terrified to sneeze for the fear that my once dormant abs might twitch and yell, 'Hello, we exist now!' 
That ache was fabulous and as sadistic as it may sound, the ache after a workout just screams success!! 

A year went by, I'd joined the gym, but never really had the same effect. I was such a fitness nube I never knew how to push myself or get the most out of my workouts, until a friend suggested pole dancing again. I jumped at the chance and we've never looked back.

Currently, I'm now on Level 4 which is sort of an intermediate level of pole dancing/fitness, which means I can now do this...  

Which I am pretty darn proud of as it's one of the scariest moves I've learnt and I can actually do to date. It's called a Cross Ankle Release to some in the 'polling' world, (technical term right there) different schools have different names for moves, but this is a definite move where you have to tell yourself to have a little faith and trust those legs of yours.

If you're doing a bit of pole fit now and then, let me know how it's going and your favourite move!
Take care!!