How to fix your weary winter lips with ingredients from your cupboard!

Well ladies and gents it's that time of year again.

It's getting colder, windier, rainier and my face is taking the hit with a paler complexion and cracked lips!

Autumn/winter is one of my favourite times of year, you can start layering up, drinking way too much hot chocolate and get cosy indoors without feeling like a social hermit! However, it comes with a downside.. chapped lips. They're sore, they look flaky and my personal pet hate, my lipstick never stays looking smooth! 

So here's how we fix this yearly dilemma.. home made lip scrub, made from ingredients you'll already have in the cupboard.. perfect. 

What you will need:

Caster sugar

Olive Oil

Food flavouring of your choice

Food colouring

Small Bowl

Teaspoon

Screw top pot

1. Start by adding around two heaped tsp of sugar to the bowl, and just under a cap

of Olive oil. Mix.

2. Add a few drops of food colouring and one or two drops of flavouring (I went for almond flavour and pink colouring in the end!) and mix together.

3. Once all the ingredients have been mixed, check the consistency, if it's too dry you'll find it hard to pick up with your finger and if it's too wet it'll start to dissolve the sugar! Add sugar or olive oil until you're happy with the consistency (it should hold it's shape and without crumbling when touched).  [Mine is too dry in the above picture!]

4. Decant into screw top containers.

Voila! You'll now have smooth, flake free lips all winter :). 

xx

MAC Cosmetics: The most blendable eyeshadows in the land!

My little 'build your own' palette of MAC eyeshadows has been slightly overlooked recently as I've been trying out a few other brands of eyeshadow.. not any more!

I went back to my MAC palette the other day as I was playing with MAC Pigments and turned to it for the eyeshadow base and shading for the crease. They're absolutely incomparable to other eyeshadows - they're so highly pigmented and blend EFFORTLESSLY, I'm yet to find a shadow to equal them! I can honestly say I doubt I'll stray from the MAC eyeshadow range again.. (unless a particularly fabulous colour from another range catches my eye - nothing wrong with that!).

MAC Pigments are even more dispicably good, as the name states they're highly pigmented with dazzling colour pay off. I'd normally dampen my brush to get the best out of a pigment however this isn't necessary, they're extremely vibrant and have great staying power simply from being pressed onto the lid with a dry eyeshadow brush..

I'd highly recommend you give them a go, whether it's for a natural look or a more adventurous one, they're perfect for either. Without a doubt worth every penny of your hard earned cash!

Here's a picture of the eye look I created using MAC shadows and pigment:

For this look I used:

Crease: MAC eyeshadow in Charcoal Brown and Corduroy
Lid: MAC Pigment in Golden Olive
Eyeliner: Shu Uemura Black Gel liner
Eyebrows: MAC Eyebrows in Brunette and
Mascara: MAC Splashproof Lash in Blacksplash

I also used them to create the eyes for my IMATS entry last year (not a great pic, but there you go!):

This look includes:
MAC Eyeshadows in Contrast and Tilt
MAC pigment in Copper Sparkle
MAC Pro Longwear Paintpot in Fancy Frosting

<3 <3 <3

Keep your skin glowing!

It's harder to keep your natural glow alight, when in the constant glare or the sun, in and out of chlorinated pools (or the sea) and fighting to stay hydrated!

So start with the basics!

No. 1: Try to stay hydrated, this will help your skin maintain it's natural supple and plumpness. In this heat (the mid 30's!) your water intake should be a little higher than at home in the UK, so around 3 litres. As you sweat a lot more in this heat, your body is continuously loosing it's natural salts, so try combining some of the water you drink with electrolytes which replenish these natural salts. I've been using 'SIS Go Hydro tablets', they're high in sodium which in turn promotes hydration. Go Hydro was developed to keep the British sailing team optimally hydrated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.. Doesn't get better than that! They're around £7 for a pack of 20 and come in various flavours, such as berry, lemon and pineapple & mango (I tried the lemon and berry flavours).

They've been an essential part of my daily diet whilst travelling and actually taste really good, especially the berry flavour! I got mine from Cotswold Outdoors but they're available from other vendors too.

http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/sis-go-hydro-tablet-92320032?id_colour=130

No. 2: My fave... Moisturise! Investing in a good moisturiser is almost always worth it. I couldn't have survived without my vitamin C moisturiser complete with SPF 30 (UVA & UVB protection) from The Body Shop. Beyond just keeping your skin hydrated the Vitamin C brightens dull skin giving you that highly sought after radiant glow! Perfect for home or away. Use after cleansing and toning and before primer and foundation, bear in mind if you have a normal skin complexion a good quality moisturiser can act as an effective primer, killing two birds with one stone. This is worth keeping in mind when travelling on a budget.. or just generally taking care of the pennies! It's £12 for a 50ml tube, I've been using mine daily for seven weeks and it's still half full!

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/shop-by-range/vitamin-c/vitamin-c-daily-moisturiser-spf30.aspx

The key to soft supple skin: Cocoa body butter

It's well known that cocoa butter is a great moisturiser, it's the natural fat extracted from the cacao bean from South America and West Africa. But I didn't appreciate JUST how good it was until I set off on my travels around South East Asia! Having been away for just over a month during April - the hottest month of the year, I began to notice my skin becoming, naturally, very dry. This was everywhere from the highly sun exposed areas such as my shoulders, legs and chest to my less exposed stomach! Having been a good traveller and drinking a lot of water along with rehydration salts daily, there was only one thing left I could do.. MOISTURISE LIKE CRAZY.

I've now been using my cocoa butter religiously and there's not a dry patch in sight! Cocoa butter also increases your skins natural elasticity, perfect for keeping your skin supple and youthful.. a bonus if your out in the sun all day! However.. don't forget to keep your sun protection topped up, I use an SPF30 all over, it doesn't stop you tanning, but I've not burnt once!
It's also been noted that the natural emollients in cocoa butter create a barrier against the environment and can help to alleviate the symptoms of eczema and dermatitis.

Here are a two of my faves, both of which I've brought on my travels,  as you'll know all ready from my previous post! They're both effective and affordable!

**The Body Shop Cocoa butter is so good, I was told off for putting lotion on by a Thai waxing lady.. Over 24 hours before!**

1. Body Shops Cocoa Butter Body Butter, smells amazing and is my number one go to! £13.00 for 200ML

http://m.thebodyshop.co.uk/mt/www.thebodyshop.co.uk/bath-body-care/body-butter/cocoa-butter-body-butter.aspx?un_jtt_v_pdp=yes&un_jtt_redirect

Body shop do a full range of other Cocoa butter products all of which are fair trade from lip care to lotions, oils and scrubs! Its worth watching out for their promotions and offers.. always a good deal to be had!

2. Garnier intensive seven days body lotion. Just as fabulous and for the budget conscious.
You can get it in 200ML and 400ML starting at around £2 from most high street chemists/superstores. 

Happy moisturising!

Beauty abroad: For those with wanderlust

I'm currently off on my travels around South East Asia. So whilst I'm away I'm going to be keeping you updated with some of the products I'm using.. hair, body and makeup, to see what works and what doesn't in this hot sticky climate!

But first.. I'm going to talk to you about the dilemma that all beauty addicts/junkies/obsessives so on and so forth, face when going away, even for a weekend, let alone a few months. That being the joy of PACKING. 

I struggled choosing what makeup and beauty
essentials to take initially due to as always, convincing myself I might need it all at some point or another. But as one of the big rules for back packing is travelling light I eventually managed to make sacrifices... In fact, I even managed to leave some of my faves at home, for fear of them getting lost/stolen - we've all heard the stories. Leave your MAC blushers and bronzes at home ladies!

I managed to whittle it down to a few bare essentials, mostly great but non luxury brands, ones that won't break the bank if they get lost! So, makeup wise here's what I took:
1. BB cream from The Body Shop which adjusts to your skin colour - perfect for when you get a tan.
2. Mascara by Illamasqua
3. Eyebrow powder by The Body Shop
4. Vaseline Lip balm with SPF15
5. Natural Collection Bronzer
6. One small eyeshadow by NARS
7. Colourglide lip colour from the Bodyshop
8. Eyebrow, eyeshadow and blush brushes.

So far the only thing I've missed is my gel eyeliner, but in all honesty I've not needed it.. that's just my vanity speaking! I don't think you need much more than what I've listed above whilst travelling.. Keep makeup light and natural .. everything looks better with a natural glowing tan, so no need for heavy makeup. Which wouldn't last long in the hottest month of the year in Thailand anyway, so why waste precious beach time?

Body/beauty essentials:
1. Cocoa body butter from the Body Shop
2. Cocoa body lotion by Garnier (just incase!)
3. Shwarzcopf sun protect, after sun hair treatment
4. The Body Shop Aloe soothing Day cream
5. The Body Shop Vitamin C With SPF 30 moisturiser
6. Nivea pearl deoderant.

A moisturiser with SPF is very important in these climates but it's not excuse to forget your sun screen! Even back home in the UK, I'd always recommend one, they helps to avoid dark patches and premature ageing!

Keep an eye out for my next post! 

Love from Asia! <3

Professional Eye & Brow palette by HD Brows

I have genuinely NEVER been so excited about the pigmentation of a product before, but this palette has oodles of it and I had to share it with you guys! I turned 23 recently (boo) and was spoilt enough by my friend to be given it as a birthday present. I fully expected it to be great when it came to the brows but was a wee bit skeptical about using them as shadows. But oh, I couldn't have been more wrong! To start off with the pigmentation and colour pay off is ridiculously good, and as they're designed to be smudge proof they have great staying power, what more could you ask for? A double ended applicator? It has one of those as well! With one end being an angled brush and the other a handy smudger.

The palette comes in six different shades to match anyone's brow colour, which means six different matte browns shadows -varying from carbon to a light beige - with varied undertones to suit individual skin tones. As they're matte shades they're ideal for applying to the eyelids natural crease to create depth and definition (shimmers are no good here!) Or using an angled liner to create a soft flattering eyeliner. 

You can pick one up for £29.95 from the Nouveau Beauty Group website, I would highly recommend having one of these in your kit, even if it's just for brows, as you have all the shades you need in one place! 

http://shop.nouveaubeautygroup.com/brows/hd-brows/professional-eye-brow-palette/

Anna x

Back to blogging! Avon SuperShock Gel liner

I'm finally back to blogging having been absolutely caotic with projects and work! However I had to put a stop to that last week when I broke my foot which has played havoc with my schedule and move to Brighton for the summer but on the plus side I now have copious amounts of time for my blog! So I'm back on the wagon and ready to go..

Being dutiful family members my gran and cousin popped round earlier today with a pile of magazines and chocolate (not so good if your stuck on your bum for the foreseeable future) to keep me busy. Amongst the pile was Marie Claire magazine, with low and behold a full sized free sample of Avon's SuperShock gel liner in pencil form, yipee I thought some new makeup to review, and here it is....

Now, I have to admit that this is the first Avon product I have EVER tried (whether that's classed as a sin or not I don't know) but providing me with a free full sized product will always put my mood on the sunny side, and so far so good! The product glides on like a dream, it's a very soft, jet black pencil and as long as you don't press too hard it's really easy to apply. Once dried it's pretty much smudge proof, but this doesn't mean vigorous rubbing won't cause some colour displacement! The only issue I can really see with this product is that when it comes to sharpening you're likely to loose quite a bit of the liner as it's VERY soft and the pencil is obviously hard, although it's made from plastic so will offer less resistance than wood! You can get your sample in this months issue of Marie Claire on sale for £2.50 instead of the usual £3.80, however if you miss this issue you can always buy it direct from Avon where I think they have it at the offer price of £3.00 plus postage instead of £6.00, there seem to be discounts everywhere at the moment! You'll have a choice of gel liner, brow definer or red lipstick with the Marie Claire mag, I'd get all three if I could get to the shops!

So in a nutshell the SuperShock gel eye-liner is ideal if you love the longevity of gel liner and the convenience of a pencil, it's quick and easy to use, and won't break the bank, just be prepared for some sharpening issues! 

If you've tried it let me know what you think..

Anna x