10 Things I'd Tell My Teenage Self About Beauty | Skincare, Makeup and Hair.

Today I've been reminiscing on my awful beauty habits as a teenager and thought it'd make a good/cringe/funny blog post, hopefully some of you can relate and that I wasn't that bad... we'll see I guess.

1. Going to sleep with makeup on.
This makes me quiver just thinking about it- i'm sure somebody told me that leaving your makeup on overnight can age your face by seven days. I'm not too sure how true that is but I still continued to out of sheer laziness. I was actually reading online and found this article- 'A recent survey reveals a third of us sleep with our slap on, twice weekly. So for a month, Anna applied makeup as normal- but never took it off! By the end, experts said her skin had aged by a decade.' This absolutely horror-ed me, thank goodness I snapped out of that in my mid teens.

2. Makeup wipes do not remove all traces of makeup.
I did use makeup wipes for some years and I must admit at the time I didn't realise how bad they could be for use on a daily basis. However, they're very convenient for travelling!

3. Cleansing, Toning and Moisturising was meant to be done twice a day, not just when you're pampering yourself.

This is another one that makes me cringe, why did I think a sweep of a makeup wipe would be ok? I had very oily skin, I'm not surprised but I thought moisturising would make it worse.

4. Powder on dry skin.
Another stage I went through was extremely dry skin. When I couldn't be bothered to apply foundation before school, powder was my go-to. Let me tell you, powder on extremely dry skin is a complete no no. It clinged and looked orange, lovely...

5. Clumped mascara.
To be fair, this was a trend in high school- spidery lashes.
It did not suit you Aim.

6. Neither did bright purple mascara...
This was one I received with one of those teenage magazines, Bliss I think- that was my favourite. I thought I was quirky, but really I was very uncool.

7. Put the black kohl eye liner down.
Because who wants to look like Shirley Carter from Eastenders? Me apparently! 

8. Do not over pluck your eyebrows

OR try trimming them yourself because you think the hairs are too long. Hello one and a half eyebrows...

9. Dark hair does not suit you.

Especially the red and purple toned browns- no, no, no. You probably resembled a vampire deemed as you're so pale.

10. Use that heat protector!
I used to think heat protector would make my hair greasy, it's not that bad but singed red/purple hair is!

Please tell me you can relate to some of these...
Also let me know in the comments some of the bad beauty habits you had as a teenager or when you were younger- i'd love to hear as i'm sure there are probably a lot more I could relate to.

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£20 Makeup Challenge! | Drugstore/ High Street Makeup Look

A lot of my makeup products are drugstore. I've seen the $20 Makeup Challenge videos and blog posts circling around the internet for a while now and I thought i'd adapt it slightly as i'm from the UK and make it the £20 Makeup Challenge. I know i'm not the first to do this and i'm sure I won't be the last but I thought it was time to shop my stash to see what products can make up a full face for £20 or less- definitely a challenge but not impossible!

Foundation was the hardest for me. I love the L'Oreal True Match but that would've been nearly half the budget gone as it comes in at £9.99. Instead I opted for another foundation that I love but unfortunately is too dark for me, however I thought I could make it work, if I was very light handed. It's the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in the shade 200- Soft Beige, this comes in at £7.99 but it's on offer regularly at £4.99 in places like Boots, Superdrug and Wilko. I admit, I cheated a little.
This foundation is medium to high coverage and offers a dewy base to last a long while. 25 hours? I don't know who wears makeup that long anyway?

Next up is concealer, I chose the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Fair which is £5.49. I've used the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer for a while now and although it's good, I just fancied a change. I heard this one is great(it is) for under-eyes especially to cover up those pesky bags, apparently it's also a dupe for the Bobbi Brown Corrector Concealer so i'm not complaining there. My skin has been quite good recently, i'm touching wood as I say this...so I've not yet had to use it on blemishes or redness but i'm sure it'll do the job just fine!

Now onto contour/bronzer. I'm fairly new to this step but with practice I love how it can add so much dimension and shape to the face, as well as giving my very pale face a bit of colour. In order to practice I picked up a bargain which I absolutely love, its an MUA Pressed Powder in the shade 04- as it's not actually a bronzer and is a face powder this is matte which is perfect for contouring. This was only £1, MUA is so affordable!

This Sleek Blush in Rose Gold is a beautiful pinky coral shade with a gorgeous shimmer running through. This could also act as a highlight as well as adding colour to your cheeks. These blushes are so pigmented and are only £4.49, I must go and look at the other shades to see what they offer ready for Autumn/Winter.

For mascara I've gone for the Collection Lengthening Mascara in Ultra Black. I've not had the best experience with collection mascaras before, they seem to have gone very dry and flaky quite quickly but this one is different. I received this in a beauty box and sort of wrote it off to begin with, I wanted to mix it up a little and try something else instead of Benefit's Roller Lash- I'm so glad I gave this one a go. On my lashes I found this creates a look very similar to the Roller Lash and this is only £2.99! What!? I know!

Last but not least is lips, I used the Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Pencil in Rose Quartz which I found in the pound shop, I believe it was Poundland so yes- this was only £1. If you didn't know Poundland often have Rimmel, Sally Hansen and a few more well-known brands so if you have a look i'm sure you'll find some hidden gems that are worth a go for a pound!

I'm afraid I haven't got a picture of what the finish look as I'm not yet comfortable with posting pictures of myself on here, apologies for that! However, these products created a lovely natural look that is perfect for summer!

This look came in at £19.96, so yes it was actually under budget.

I know, I didn't include something for eyes in terms of eye shadow. However, you could switch out the Sleek Blush for an MUA or Makeup Revolution palette/eye shadows as most of them are £4 or less.

I also didn't include something for brows as I use the Soap and Glory Brow Archery which would've taken up half of the budget. I don't do my brows everyday but if you wanted something to tidy them up a little and set them in place you could use a clear mascara which I know you can pick up in Boots and Superdrug for £1-3.

I'm so impressed I was able to do a full-face of makeup for under £20. You can definitely find some bargains in the drugstore that compare to high end products so you don't have to blow the budget!

What's your favourite drugstore/high street makeup brand/product?

Please let me know in the comments!

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High-End Beauty Wishlist | Five Most Wanted Products!

First of all i'd like to apologise for my lack of blogging recently, things have got pretty hectic while coming to the end of my course at college. I'm still not finished but my work load should calm down as I've just got one more portfolio to hand in as a first submission. I've also been applying for full-time jobs for when I qualify and although it's time consuming and pretty frightening, i'm excited to start working full-time to hopefully be able to buy some of these products to come..

1. Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

I was so excited to try this mascara as I had read lots of reviews saying it was amazing for lengthening and giving your lashes a lift that will stay all day long, which was just what I needed. I picked up the Elle magazine as it was exclusive, free with the magazine before it was available to buy full-sized. You can my thoughts on it here, (hint: I love it, which is why is why it's on my wish list to buy). I'm still not out of the sample so I can tell the full-size will last ages so £19.50 will be well spent.

2. Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Moisturiser
I received this in an Origins Sample Set that I bought in the January Sales, you can see my thoughts on some of Origins best-selling products here.
 I didn't have a night specific moisturiser before this and I can honestly see the difference this has made to my skin. Through the winter and during the change in seasons I get some dry patches on my skin which I can't seem to shift with my usual moisturiser and exfoliator so this has become an essential in my night-time routine and I couldn't be without it now as it disperses across the face easily, sinks in quickly and gives your skin the hydration it needs. I've got the smallest amount left in my sample and again it has lasted me ages so this will be a good investment at £34.50 for 50ml.

3. Liz Earl Cleanse and Polish
I feel as though everyone and their dog has tried this, except me. I've had my eye on this for ages and i'm still not too sure why I haven't picked it up already. I love using hot cloth cleansers as I really like how they feel on my face and I find it relaxing. This is supposed to work for most skin types so will be perfect for my moody skin, it's supposed to be gentle yet remove all traces of makeup which is great as nobody likes to be too harsh on their skin. Once I've finished my current cream cleanser i'll definitely look at picking this up, priced at £15.50 for a starter kit. I'm sure you'll see a review if I love it. 

4. MAC Lipstick in Fast Play
Yes, i'm still yet to try a MAC lipstick. I just haven't got the budget to spend £15.50 on a lipstick but i'm hoping i'll be able to part with my money soon. There are so many lipsticks from MAC i'd like to try but after plenty of narrowing down I've decided Fast Play should be my first purchase as it's not quite your typical brown/nude and looks very wearable which is what you'd like if you were spending £15.50 on a lipstick. 

5. The Balm NUDE'tude Eyeshadow Palette
I love a good nude/neutrals palette and I know everyone loves the Urban Decay Naked palettes, though I feel I could live without them as I've discovered and tried the affordable alternatives which I love (click here if you'd like to find out more). This palette features a range of browns, bronzes, pinks and a few others, but what I particularly like about these is how highly pigmented they are when swatched and the diverse range of looks you could create. I've also never tried anything from The Balm so I may have to very soon, this is priced at around £30 depending on where you shop.

And that's it for my five most wanted high-end products.
What high-end products would you like? 
I'm sure there's lots you're all lusting for just like me, so let me know in the comments below!

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Amazing Lengths | Benefit Roller Lash Mascara Review

 I'm sure everyone, their mother, their brother, their fish has heard about Benefits new mascara that was designed on the classic velcro hair roller which has only recently been released to buy in stores but previously was exclusive to Elle magazine which included a sample of the Roller Lash mascara. The majority raved about their other mascara 'They're Real' but I actually didn't try that one as I heard people with longer lashes disliking it, I fall into the longer lash category. I was drawn to the Roller Lash as it claimed to give a long-lasting curl which was one of the only downfalls with drugstore mascaras that I've tried. Now I've been using the mascara for about 3 weeks so I thought I'd quickly get my review of pros and cons up on it seeing as it has recently been released to buy in store.

Pros-

• Roller Lash is definitely lengthening which can be noticed with just one coat, so would be great for those of you with short or straight eye lashes.
• As I said the mascara works very well with just one coat, I'm not sure myself how it fairs when applying additional coats but I simply think you don't need more than one. Therefore it's very quick and easy!
• The mascara claims that eyes will appear more wide open which I can vouch for as it fans out my lashes making them look natural and fluttery.
• As I've previously mentioned the mascara claims to hold the curl of your lashes which I 100% agree with as my lashes pretty much look the same as they did once Roller Lash was applied after a long day at college or battling London crowds.

Can we just ignore the bags under my eyes and the fact my bottom lashes clump together even without mascara.
Also ignore the stray hairs, i'm growing my eyebrows so that I can go get them threaded/waxed.

Cons-

• Like They're Real, Roller Lash is not waterproof which is my only downfall of this mascara. I find it does tend to transfer under my bottom lashes although that could be as I have watery eyes, but I haven't heard this in many other reviews so it simply could just be me.
  However it's not a huge problem as you could just skip this on the bottom lashes and go for another waterproof mascara.

Again can we ignore the bags under my eyes and how bad my skin looks(most was able to be cropped out)

Ability to lengthen- 9/10

Ease of use- 8/10

Lasting power- 8/10

Price- 7/10

Overall rating- 32/40

Not bad at all!

Personally I've really enjoyed using Benefits Roller Lash mascara so I'm tempted to splurge on this mascara and some other high-end treats with my birthday money. Roller Lash comes in at £19.50 which isn't ridiculous for a mascara that actually works in comparison to the drugstore options.

What did you think of Benefit Roller Lash mascara?

If you haven't tried it yet, will you be?

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