Beauty Haul - June 2014

I would like to start this post with a little disclaimer: I am not someone who is very good when it comes to beauty, to products, to make up and to goo. It's just not really my thing, never has been and I literally have no idea what I'm talking about. Nether the less I decided to take a delve into the unknown.
Over the course of a couple different shopping trips I collected:

Rimmel "Scandleyes Show Off" mascara - £6.99
I bought it for the pun... and because I needed a new mascara. Also as it happens I bought my last mascara for the same reason. The wand of the mascara had a fan shape and on the packaging it said it was fan-tastic... I'm a sucker for these stupid puns please send help.
However the pun did not disappoint and I like this one. It isn't clumpy and doesn't feel too heavy/plasticy as I find some mascaras can. Because of the wand design it is easier for me to reach the lashes on the inner corner of my eyes which I wasn't able to do very well before.

Rimmel "Stay Matte Primer" - £5.99
I don't have much experience with primers...this is my first one and I only bought it because I know my friends has this one and I trust her judgement. I have fairly dry skin on some parts of my face and normally the foundation I wear (also Rimmel) goes quite patchy there and a bit orang, making it very obvious. When wearing this under my foundation I found that it didn't happen. Not much to say... It's pretty... Doesn't smell of much... It does it's job... Told you I didn't know what I was talking about...



Rimmel "Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder" - £3.99
As you can tell by now I like Rimmel. I found this powder not as good as I had maybe hoped it to be, yet it did help to even out my skin tone and control my face's shine, but not as well as other powders I have used in the past. But I do think that the bottom of the case is a very pretty blue which looks nice with the various pinks and purples in my make up collection and I have to say that this stuff smells so good. I love the smell of make up.



Maybelline "Baby Lips" in "Pink Punch" - £2.99
I swear that by now I must have heard every beauty blogger and youtuber rave about this product, I know I may be late on the band wagon for this one but I decided to see what the fuss was about. The lip balm has a slight tint so I choose the "pink punch" version, because if in doubt, go pink. The balm promises up 8 hours of moisture and so far I feel as though it does deliver. I enjoyed it so much that I added it to my list of prizes for my 500 subscribers giveaway (Coming Soon).



The O•P•I "Top This!" nails varnish set - £23.00
It consisted of three varnishes. A standard top coat, a matte top coat (I've been after one of these for a while) and a glittery top coat which they labeled as "Snowflakes in air"... nahh it's glitter my friends.

The matte coat dried very quickly and it was entertaining watching the shine disappear from my nails, however the final result did leave me wishing that I'd applied another layer of my base nails colour before adding this top coat. Also when applying it, and I'm not sure if it was just because of my own impatience, that some of my base colour nails varnish was absorbed my the brush giving it a slight pinky red tint which I worry may show next time I top a colour with this varnish. Another problem I found was that it didn't protect my nails and almost immediately they started to chip.

This top coat is clear and I found it very good. It protected my nails better than other products I have used and gives them that little bit more shine than without this layer. I also liked that it dried quite quickly and i did not have the same problem as with the other nail varnish that some of my base colour came off and stained the brush. I wait the same amount of time for my nails to dry as before so I think it was the product and not me which is surprising. Overall a good product.

I was expecting the glitter in this top coat to come out quite thickly and there to be lots of glitter and a bit of a mess, however it came out rather sparsely. I would have liked there to be more like with other nail varnishes. That said I do like this one, it protects your nails in the same way the other top coat does as well as adding a bit of sparkle which is always fun. The nails don't look as over done as they can do with other glittery nail varnishes so I do like this one.





Phytorelax "Olio di Argan" hair conditioner from Harbor Research Laboratories - £14.99
First of all, this stuff smells amazing. I have the bottle on my desk as I write this and have been opening the bottle to smell it once in a while. I sends certain nostalgic waves over me as it smells of many of my childhood holidays, of the spas which I was never allowed into to because I was too young. The conditioner is, as far as I can tell, quite a good one. It contains Aragon oil and I can say with some confidence, despite the limited time I've had this, that it is my favourite one. That means something if you flick between conditioners as much as I do. My hair is soft and smells great, I do not dye my hair or use heat on it very often, so that's all I need from a conditioner.


Super Beauty body scrubs - £4.99
I mentioned that I'm not very good with goo so buying body scrubs was something different. I can usually never be bothered with them. However I went out of my comfort zone and bought not one, but two scrubs. I bought the ... flavours? Vanilla & Honey and Raspberry & Cranberry.
The both smell amazing, especially the Vanilla & Honey scrub. I actually got quite excited to use these and hopped in the shower almost as soon as I got home. My skin has never been this soft, especially my hands. I was asking my mother and brother constantly to feel how soft they were. My face is also exceptionally soft which was a huge plus for my as I am quite self-conscious of the skin on my face, not sure why but that's how it is. I would certainly recommend these to anyone however I did notice that it seems to have made the bags under my eyes a little more obvious... but that's my only complaint.

Leave me any products that you are using at the moment and recommend!

Anatomy of the Perfect Prom Clutch

It has descended upon us. Prom season.  The time of year when we, years 11 and 13, bugger off to different places and post surplus amounts of group selfies.
My own prom, to celebrate the end of these last five torturous years, will be held in a couple days from now. This is why I'm writing this, it's more of a reminder to myself not to forget anything than something to inform you.
Now, naturally clutches (unless you go for those mega size ones, but honestly aren't they just a hassle?) are quite small. Limiting you to only really being able to take the essentials.

The Clutch - Take one of a reasonable size, not too big so it's annoying, not too small so you can actually take things. Make sure it's recognisable as your own so you don't get it mixed up with someone else's. Finally for the love of God make sure it doesn't clash with your outfit, that may as well be a sin, it is in my book.

Sample size of your perfume - To keep you topped up and smelling irresistible till the party ends at 3am and you're stumbling home with your friends and your heels in your hands.

Lipstick, Mascara and Concealer of the night - Again to keep you topped up and looking your best.

Compact mirror - To check you're looking good or to discretely spy on the really attractive person sat on the table behind you that you want to stare at without looking like a creep.



Hair grips and a bobble or two - You never know when you'll need them and all that dancing sure does mess up your hair.

Safety pins - Incase that perfect dress you thought would never let you down has a mishap. Trust me with this, you may need them. When I was leaving primary school and we had our own "prom", I ripped my dress, a strap came off. Again, better safe than sorry.


Money £20-£30 - Mainly incase of emergency and if you need to call a taxi at any point. Better safe than sorry.

Phone - I don't feel like I need to justify the point of bringing your phone now do I.

iPod - (I wouldn't really say this is an essential, but I am someone who does not leave the house without it and who knows, you may even get the party started!)

Gum/mints - It's not like you want to have bad breath when you're trying to make a good impression with that cute guy who asked you to dance!

A Pen - I have yet to think of a reason why I wouldn't take a pen, but if you need some convincing, think, what will you do if that cute guy, who you've been dancing with all night, wants your number but you have no pen? I rest my case.

Your ticket - At my prom, which is soon, we need to bring out tickets and I think that may be in most places so yeah you might want to bring that, probably the most important item actually!

So party on my friends and make sure to stay safe and have fun.

Have any suggestions of things you think should be included in the perfect prom clutch? Leave them in the comments down below!

The Body Image Issue

Today I would like to address and issue which everyone has talked about or commented on at one point or another, and as a fashion blog which is run by an impressionable teenage girl, I felt that it was time that I put my opinion on the matter out there for others to ignore or maybe listen to. This issue is body image.

In the modern world in which we live, we are constantly bombarded with countless retouched and enhanced images of what others deem as the "ideal" person. Someone who is skinny, perfect face, perfect hair, perfect skin.
I have always been annoyed when people say "oh models aren't real women" oh, terribly sorry, I weren't aware you didn't regard models and human beings, silly me.
I have been told on countless occasions that I should not read the magazines that I do because it promotes things such as anorexia because apparently they believe that every model who has ever walked the earth has an eating disorder.
Yes, I have body image issues, my opinion of myself and what I see in the mirror has a habit of going from "Damn, you're looking fine today" to " Holy crap I can't believe people have to actually look at you, I hope no one goes blind today." However my negative feelings towards my appearance have never, EVER come from reading those magazine!
I can't stress this enough because those magazines aren't what has affected me. The reasons behind my issues are that I myself didn't feel like I was living up to my ... full beauty potential as a person if you will. I know the girls in the pictures of my magazines are photoshopped, I know that and so do a lot of other people.

Also for anyone who doubts me please note that British Vogue made an announcement in their June 2012 issue that they were to create a "Heath Initiative  between all the Editor of Vogue around the globe.The aim of this pact is to help build on the work that the "Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative" (US) and  the "British Fashion Council" (UK) have already begun in order to promote a "healthier approach to body image within the industry".

The magazine also made six points:

1. "We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models, who in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.

2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls, and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.

3. We will help to structure mentoring programmes where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the CFDA Health Initiative.

4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.

5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.

6. We will be vocal ambassadors for the message of healthy body image, both within the magazine and outside.

Also what happens to irritates be beyond all other things is how skinnier girls are made to feel guilty over the fact that they are skinner!

YES!

NO woman or girl should be made to feel guilty over their image EVER! People should not have to feel guilty over the fact that maybe they are happy over the way they look, they should be able to look in the mirror and smile about who they are and what they look like without being labelled and "cocky" or "narcissistic" because it is most certainly not cocky or narcissistic of you to be comfortable in your own skin!

TO BE COMFORTABLE IN YOUR OWN DAMN SKIN IS THE WHOLE FRIGGING POINT!

I also believe that people should not be compared against one another, they should be respected and love for who they are and not because, oh I don't know, you think they're hotter than someone else. 

NO.

This is still shaming women for their bodies. If you prefer the below images than the above ones thats fine and vice verse but if you start to say things like "Oh she should gain a few pounds" IT IS JUST AS BAD AS IF YOU SAY "Wow she should lose a few pounds."

Are you intimidated by these women? Good. You should be.

Still beautiful

And just a friendly reminder that people in magazines don't even look like the people in magazines. There's this magical thing called photoshop.

A major UK department store announced on its Facebook Page that it was banning the photoshopping of models. It posted “before” and “after” photos it had used, and called on others to follow suit. According to the Daily Mail:

Debenhams vows not to retouch model shots: ’We have a moral obligation to ban the airbrush’… and calls on others to follow suit

• High-street giant slaps ban on Photoshopped lingerie model shots
• No more arm and leg thinning, teeth whitening or bust boosting
• Now only airbrush minor things like pigmentation or stray hair
• Retailer calls on rivals to follow suit and ‘encourage positive body image’

It still never ceases to amaze me just to what extent images can be changed in an attempt to achieve "Perfection".

I also would like to direct the readers attention to this is a short film called "Plastic" and I really encourage you to watch it as it shows how willing we are to change oursleves.

The full film can be found here!

So that is all I have to say on this matter for now how ever I have no doubts that I will be revisiting it and some point in the future but for now, goodbye.

What's with the bandana craze?

These past few months I have noticed a certain item turning up over and over and over again. The bandana. I honestly haven't seen anyone wearing these since I was a kid, and even then I  only really used them to cover our faces whilst playing cowboys and indians with my two siblings.

I haven't noticed many people wearing them but enough to peak my interest. 

People I have spotted with one are as follows:

Harry Styles - Pop star (One Direction) and professional cutie pie

Source

I feel like I could say, with a reasonable amount of confidence, that Harry may be the one behind people wearing bandana's again. He has barely been spotted on stage without one during their Where We Are Tour so far. Honestly I don't blame him. It must be a momentous task to manage all of that hair. My advice? Get a hair cut, it's getting a bit long. But then again i have to say, it does suit him.

Jc Caylen - Youtuber (Our2ndLife)

Jc posted this picture of himself wearing the bandana to his instagram, his caption contain a few details of his day such as getting henna tattoos, tye dyeing shirt and going to the beach.

He also wore on in the video "Getting tattooed on camera", which was a video on the collaboration channel, of which he is a member, called "Our2ndLife", often referred to by its abbreviation "O2L".

The video was from a week where their video theme was where they had to make a video whilst impersonating another member of the channel.

Connor Franta - Youtuber (Our2ndLife)

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Connor posted this to his face book page and instagram with the caption "Trying out this bandana craze...thought?" My thoughts are that you look great with it. But the again I am totally biased and would probably think Connor looked good even if he would be wearing a bin bag, which, let's be honest, he totally would.

As also a member of the O2L collaboration channel, he also impersonated one of his friends and wore a bandana. Unsurprisingly he was impersonating Jc. I think he did a very good job and that including wishbone, Jc's dog, really added to the overall video.

Kian Lawley - Youtuber (Our2ndLife)

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Shown here with Jc, Kian is also wearing a bandana. Posted to his instagram with the caption "crazy colors" and fangirls gushing over his hair which you may notice on second glance that he has dyed.

Lilly Singh (a.k.a Superwoman) - Youtuber

Normally spotted with a snapback, in one of her latest videos (Types of Annoying Couples - Pt 2), Lilly decided to instead wear a bandana. The video can be found below because it was borderline impossible to pause the video at a point where she wasn't moving and therefore blurred, sorry.

Ashton Irwin - Drummer (5 Seconds of Summer)

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The drummer for the Australian band, currently on tour with One Direction, also seems quite fond of this look. Not doubt he got it off Harry of vice versa. Again I can say that it suits him so I have no complaints, I actually think it makes him look better.

Seeing some of my favourite people sporting them I decided to investigate.

The results are as follows:

I find them a bit silly really...I write as I am still wearing one... okay it may be growing on me. They serve a purpose and as someone who is not really a fan of the unnecessary it delights me.

 Yet I can say with some confidence that it is not for me. Personally I think I look like a wannabe cannery pirate, crossed with someone who's wrapped a dishcloth round and put it in their hair...not really a look I go for. 

However during the (hopefully) hot summer months I may cave and venture out wearing one to keep my hair out of my way and face. I am aware there are other things which can do that for me, but who know, maybe one day I may desire to look like a reject from the Pirates of the Caribbean film set.