Let's talk about brows, baby

When I was 9 my sister took it upon herself, as a sisterly duty, to pluck my eyebrows. And so became my future of looking like, well this:

Eyebrow hairs were, once upon a time (the 90's-00's), unsightly and had to be plucked to an inch of their lives. Fast forward to 2015/2016 eyebrows are in, in a big way. It seems now that your face is not complete without having perfectly groomed, threaded, plaited, dyed, painted and filled in eyebrows. In terms of maintenance my cousin swears by HD Brows, however at £25 a pop I turn to simple threading as a cheaper alternative.
 Filling in my eyebrows has become part of my daily routine. With this, I have tried and tested a fair few brow products and I would like to share with you a few gems that I have found.

Let's start with the cheapest, the Rimmel London professional eyebrow pencil  £2.99. Great for a quick fill in job. I go for the shade 001 Dark brown. The trick with this is that it needs to sharpened regularly, a blunt pencil will give you nothing but some messy slugs on your forehead. No thanks.

A product that is a little harder to find is the beautyuk high brow kit. I'm fairly curtain beautyuk has been discontinued,however there are plenty of powder products which I'm sure do the same job. I use a mix of the medium and lighter shade in this palette. The black petrifies me, it's way too dark and the wax is a waste of space in my makeup bag. A powder can give a softer look then a pencil or gel. It's best to apply with an angled brush to get a good shape. 

Now for the FREEDOM eyebrow pomade £5. A gel like pot (just like a gel eyeliner) , again to be applied with an angled brush. Gives a nice clean line, brilliant for painting your eyebrow shape on if hairs are spars. 

Now the true winner is the Soup and Glory Archery £8. My new favourite that trumps them all. The pencil is so thin that you can draw on fine strokes to imitate the look of hair which gives a more natural look . The colour I chose to suit me is 'hot chocolate' which is a dark ashy brown and a great match. I think this product gives the effect of really natural brows which is perfect for everyday use.

I hope that you, the reader, are also successful in the quest for the perfect brows.

Monochrome

Thanks to the app 'Timehop' I can now re-live the many nights outs of my younger self; along with many a skimpy outfit. 3 years later and 1 and 1/2 stone heavier I am not such a fan of flashing my flesh on the dance floor..........unless maybe if tequila is involved. 

Now this I am impressed with: 

My whole outfit, including shoes, costs less than my lipstick (which is Mac's 'Lady Danger').

Black crop top from Primark, £2. Shows just a smidgin of the flattering part of the waist. 

I found this amazing patterned skirt in Primark's discounted section for £3. The scuba material and panels makes the skirt very structured and flattering. Also a knee length skirt ultimately means; no shaving up past the knee. Brilliant. 

I find Matalan is the best for fashionable and reasonably priced shoes. In the January sale this year I bought three pairs of heels for £15; and these were part of that haul. Caged black heals for £6.

Put together

Recently my boyfriend got his well earned PGCE and graduated for the second time. As much as that is brilliant news for him and very exciting, the true question was what was I to wear to the graduation? We all have those shallow moments (I hope), ya know like"Congratulations on your engagement...........what season are you getting married in? I just need to consider colour palette and weather appropriate shoes".

Well here is what I came up with. Got this dress last year when I came across the website sheinside, I thought it was really different and like nothing I had in my wardrobe already. 

The coat was an after thought, of course lets not get too ahead of ourselves we are still experiencing a British summer. A true bargain at £7 from Primark. I am amazed at how perfectly this coat works with this outfit. Im not usually one for matching colours in my outfits but the dress and coat compliment each other so well.   

Black suede mules on sale now at Tesco. Finally, a comfy pair of heels with no uncomfortable rubbing.

All in all a perfect outfit to sit for 2 hours whilst applauding complete strangers.  

Sugar scrub

I was seduced by the strong soapy smell being pumped out of my local Lush store the other day, so of course I had to pop in. I had to pick up my old trusty 'butterball' bath bomb, an old favourite that I always go to. Just a good simple product, no picking out seaweed from your plug hole or coming out of the bath like a glitter ball. It gives off a scented oil that moisturises your skin making you feel silky smooth. No faffing around in the nud, wacking out some yogo moves to moisturise your bod after bath time.

I was looking for something new, after popping into the new Oxford Street flagship store in London recently, I was overwhelmed by the amount of new products Lush had to offer. It made me think that I need to steer myself out of my 'butterball' monogamous relationship. 

Que the 'sugar scrub', a scrubtastic scrub full of sugar bits that really buff away at your skin. I was first attracted to the smell; a fresh lavender smell which if you are a fan of the perfume Angel (like I am) then you will love this. 

Now, a word of warning. This stuff is very abrasive, maybe to the point that it is actually painful. To tackle this you have to make sure that your skin and the scrub itself is completely wet. First time round I did not do this, leaving my with scratches over my legs and arms. Despite the scratches, it did leave me with lovely soft skin, it made me feel and smell fresh and clean.

I do like this product however I would like it to leave me without looking like I have been attacked by a frisky cat. Now I feel like next time I would like something a little more moisturising on the skin. Any ideas for my next purchase? 

Kiko my love

Over the past few months I have done a little shopping in London. I wanted to hit up some shops that I don't get to visit back home. On my hit list was of course, KIKO. I had heard a few positive things about this store from the blogasphere. They are a leading Italian makeup brand who claim to have "a line of professional make up and cutting-edge skin care treatments." They are said to be the cheaper counterpart to MAC, now that is a big claim. 

Due to my hoarding and great ability to spend money I have tried and tested a lot of KIKO's products. None of the items I have purchased cost me over £5. They are great quality products and great value for money. They have a large range of products including a huge colour variety which allows you to be more creative and purchase colours you wouldn't normally buy. I have also tried an item from their skincare; which annoyingly I had forgotten to add to the collective picture below. Kiko Purifying mask does a great job at clearing my skin for the times when my pours are very visible and my skin is very congested.

Now I won't go through a run down of every single product I have used, but it is safe to say that I have not yet tried a dud. Having said this, I have steered away from KIKO's bases such as foundation and tinted moisturisers. If you have tried any of these then please let me know how you get on. There are a few stores dotted around the UK, and looks like they are expanding. Fingers crossed next stop Cardiff. Check the website to find the nearest to you.

Pencil Lip Gloss

Smart Lip pencil

Nail Lacquer

Eyeshadow

Smart Lipsticks

Printing

The best kind of mornings this morning. ASOS delivery. From my order, these shorts are the true stars. I put them on straight away and it seems I still haven't cut out the label.  Unfortunately as for the rest of the order I also received another pair of shorts which were lovely until a button simply dropped off after merely touching it and a pair of joggers (my attempt of at least looking like I am contemplating exercise) that looked nothing like the picture matched up on the website. ASOS, sort it out.

Now, I am not 100% sure how to describe these shorts. Lets say they are a digital, abstract floral print. What I can definitely say is that they are hella comfy. Light weight material and an easy elasticated waist, you know the kind that makes a slight imprint on your stomach which makes you have a slight panic attack when you take them off, thinking you have developed deep belly winkles throughout the day.

 I had originally bought them as an easy and stylish item to wear for camping this summer but it seems they also looked great smartened up with this light polka dot shirt from Forever 21. Folding up the sleeves and tying the front to make the outfit  look more casual and relaxed.   

The shorts are still in the ASOS sale for £9 here.

A revolution

Over the past few years there has been a great introduction of budget priced makeup making it's way into Superdrug. Starting with MUA, I remember being so excited about these items which price range is £1- £6. It made makeup accessible and allowed me to experiment with products without breaking the bank. Then comes along Makeup Revolution, offering the same great price range however with a much rider range of products. My favourite by far has to be their single eyeshadows. For just a £1 you really get value for your money, in terms of actual size and also quality. They are highly pigmented, they pack on the colour and blend well without too much work. 

 1. FINALLY...

 2. EDEN

 3. MOUNTAINS OF GOLD

 4. INSOMNIA 

If you haven't already, then I suggest you pick up something from the selection. Let me know if you have tried any of these products? What's your favourite?