Autumn :/

After a long time of a crappy, rainy summer, followed by a monsoon Autumn (so far) I've decided that I have to come to terms with the fact that summer... Is over. But I refuse to let that little fact get me down - or get me pale! I have been using fake tan pretty much non-stop since May when I went to my friend's wedding. I went over the top with the way I used fake tan, but after turning myself into an Oompa Loompa a couple of times I've learned my lesson. So now I've got my fake tan under wraps, it's time to get my Autumn makeup on!

Warm, neutral colours on my eyes (but they are shimmery - Hell, even I won't use mattes if I can get away with it) by MUA Undressed Palette, my absolute favourite mascara of all time - Love Alpha, an old bronzer by Bourjois, a clear lipgloss and Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection foundation in Honey. Who says we have to rock being pale when we can rock being (unnaturally) tanned? So we didn't get a proper summer - well, I'll be prepared for a proper Autumn and Winter!

Review: Xen-Tan Dark Lotion

I am like the fat, unattractive version of snow white; I have skin as white as snow (except my blotchy red face), lips as red as blood (as long as I'm wearing my Russian Red MAC lipstick, but don't tell anyone I told you that) and hair as black as ebony. I do actually have partly-asian skin, so I can tan naturally - I just choose not to prematurely age my skin now I am reaching towards the end of my twenties, so I remain pale all year round, and have done since I was 18. I can't tell you how depressing being pale in the middle of summer can be, when others are walking around, tanned, golden and healthy-looking. Well, maybe not this summer in England, because all we've had is rain for months on end, but you get my point...

I came across Xen-Tan completely by mistake. Loads of people said it was totally amazeballs (not their exact words but you know what I mean), so I bought a bottle of the dark lotion from www.feelunique.com (I have VIP status with Xen-Tan on their website so this bottle cost me £16.95), and ever since then I never looked back...

This is what the bottle looks like. The bottle contains 236ml of product. On the front of the bottle it says it: rich moisturizers, instant color for face and body, natural olive undertone, long wearing, streak free and with jojoba nut oils & aloe. On the back of the bottle it gives you the directions on how to apply and also a warning about avoiding contact with eyes and not containing UVA/UVB protection.

AAAAGGGGHHHH! Please look away if sqeamish!!! This is me with Xen-Tan applied, and waiting patiently to dry. Yes, I look hideous, oh well, haha! When the dark lotion goes on it smells like a cherry bakewell tart/almonds/marzipan - it's very sweet smelling, and it feels lovely, gliding on to the skin. It is for face and body too, so there's no need to buy a second self tanner for the face - hooray! After the lotion is dry, the yummy scent wears off, leaving the biscuity scent of the DHA as it works its magic to turn you from pale-and-sunless to sun-drenched-golden-goddess.

Now you may have been wondering why my skin looks muddy-ish and dirty. It's because the base colour looks like the above photo. It really is dark, but it glides on and rubs in smoothly, especially if you have a tanning mitt. I use a soltan tanning mitt from boots, and the lotion just rubs in like a dream. If I use latex/latex-free gloves I end up with product rolling up in teeny, yucky, little, dark-brown-dead-skin-like rolls on the skin and it looks really creepy and gross. A tanning mitt stops that problem :)

They claim it has an olive undertone to keep your tan looking natural, and they certainly weren't lying; here is my tanning mitt after I left it to dry with Xen-Tan Dark Lotion on it. Green! You won't turn out orange (which is always a looming disaster just waiting to happen for all us pale girlies) with this beauty of a self-tan!
So these are two pictures I took after I'd waited overnight and showered off the base/instant colour the next day. I'm not super dark, but I'm not white anymore, hooray! I used a foundation that contains SPF 20 in it (to even out my face), so the camera flash reflected some light, making my face appear a little lighter than it should have, but you can tell I'm darker than I normally am.

This is a picture of my hand. You can see my knuckles are a bit darker than the rest of my hand, but other than that you can tell my skin is tanned, and most importantly, not Tango-ed! I forgot to use a moisturiser on my feet beforehand, so my toes went quite dark, which was embarrassing, but they're ok now after a bit of buffing haha! 


Pro's of Xen-Tan Dark Lotion:
Natural, olive based tan after base colour is washed away
Dark base colour (easy to see where it's been applied)
Doesn't gather at wrists, ankles, elbows  (so no really obvious dark patches)
Smells great right out of the bottle
Face and body (no need to buy separate tanner for face)
Leaves skin feeling soft and moisturised
Can get it for around £17 on www.feelunique.com if you use VIP for Xen-Tan (FREE SHIPPING)

Cons of Xen-Tan Dark Lotion:
Price - can cost up to £29 per bottle (depending on where you buy it from, like Xen-Tan's own website), which is very pricey for fake tan
Smell wears off, leaving DHA biscuity smell after about an hour
Some say that the tan is not dark enough after first application, and they require two applications, which means the tan can run out quickly.
CONTAINS NUT OILS so for people with a nut allergy, this product is a big NO NO :(
CONTAINS PARABENS (I'm going to fork out the extra moolah for Xen-Tan Absolute Luxe when I next order, because that one is paraben free :D)


This is not Xen-Tan - this is My-Tan! I love this fake tan and I can't wait to try the absolute luxe when my dark lotion runs out. If you can get the tan at the price I can get it, if you're not allergic to nuts and you don't have worries about parabens, then you should try this fake tan out. It's the best one I've ever used, and I've used quite a few on my self-tanning journey (St Moriz lotion, L'Oreal sublime bronze gel and the L'Oreal range of spray tanners for face and body including the pro sprays, Soltan gel, lotion and body sprays, St Tropez spray, Fake Bake mousse, spray and lotion, Solait mousse).

Does anyone else have a favourite self-tan? I'd love to know! xx

Hair Extensions

I bought some hair extensions a few weeks ago, mainly out of curiosity, from Tesco. I got a full head (7 pieces) of black, synthetic wavy, 20 inch extensions, and another full head of the same but in dark brown. The dark brown pair was by mistake - they looked the same in Tesco, and once you open them you can't take them back. Turns out they actually look really quite nice together. The reason I bought two full heads instead of one is because of the amount of hair I have - one full set of extensions simply isn't enough to look natural on me. For both sets of hair it cost me £40. They can be styled with heat up to 170 degrees centigrade, so they can be straightened, curled, etc. I like them the way they are.
When I put them in for the first time, I felt kind of stupid, but once I blended the clips under my hair and curled my hair to match them, I felt different; more confident - almost sexy! I do have to style my hair a little for my hair to blend more with the synthetic hair and make it less obvious, but I just love how the extensions make me feel...

                                                                                 I felt so inspired and sexy, I decided to pose in front of my web cam with my lustrous locks to show you how amazing these extensions make me feel. I have only worn them about three or four times, I wouldn't wear them on a regular basis because they get tangled quite easily, but I will be wearing them next Friday, as I am going out to town with some old school friends and I want to make a statement.

Do you own hair extensions? Are you tempted to buy any? Do you recommend any makes/brands? I'd love to know!

Hugs x

Remington Pearl Wand

That's right my lovelies, I have just bought the Remington Pearl Curling Wand. They've been around for rather a long time, but I've never invested in one. The reason is due to the fact that my hair is very thick (I'll get to that in a moment), slightly course and slightly curly, which tends to frizz if I leave it out to air dry, which is why my hair is always up in a ponytail or bun, because that way it's manageable, presentable and out of the way. So, I was saying my hair is thick. This is not an understatement. I have approximately 4-5 times the amount of hair that normal girls have. When I have a trim at the hair salon, women walk past and are astounded at the amount that has come off and normally comment on how most girls would have practically no hair after losing that amount. It's very embarrassing, that's all I know. I own a pair of thinning scissors, so I thin my hair out at home - not to lose volume, because my hair makes losing volume impossible - so when I straighten it or style it (both of which is rare), it is easier, takes less time and I have less hair to style ha ha! 

This is a blurry picture taken with my camcorder (I think the light setting was wrong). It's resting on a heat proof pouch, which, in turn, is resting on my leg, please excuse my chunk-tastic thighs ha ha!

And here is me holding the wand with the heat resistant glove that it comes with (here the curling wand it turned off). You can still feel the heat through the glove and it will hurt your fingers, should you lean your hand for too long against it whilst curling.

Now, I never got around to telling you why I don't curl my hair. I have, over the years, bought curling tongs, both large and small barrelled, the Babyliss Curling Press, curling tongs of all types, of all prices, etc, etc - the list goes on. Not once did I get a lovely effect that each product promises, and about 80% of the time I would get about half way through the tremendous amount of hair that I have (which normally took around 50 minutes for just one half of my hair, mind you), become frustrated at the time it was taking to make lame curls which were already falling out, turn off *insert curling item name here* and go take a shower to wash out the crappy, limp waves.

I've seen loads of YouTube videos on these wands and everyone insists it's the best thing since sliced bread, colour TV - you name it, they've said it.I don't normally get sucked into buying something because others say it's good - after all, I know my own hair better than they do - but I was intrigued. Plus, Argos are selling them for only £17 ish (on sale) at the moment, so I reserved one and bought it today. I rushed home, read the instructions and began using it.

Look, I managed to curl all the hair on my head, and it only took about 40ish minutes! I don't think it's too bad for my first try :)

I'm quite impressed with the results, more impressed than I ever was with any other curling tong/press/crappy device. It's been about an hour and a half since I finished my hair and used some hairspray to give it a little hold. The curls aren't as tight as they were when they were first done, but they haven't turned into the normal limp, unattractive tendrils I usually get, so I'm happy.

Do you own a curling wand, tong, press, etc? What do you think of it? Do you have any tips or tricks to get your curly hair to stay all day? I'd love to know!

Hugs x

My current makeup routine

Hello there my beautiful people, just a quick update on my life and makeup. I went to my friend's wedding; she looked stunning, and I finally got to meet her husband for the first time, and she got to meet mine for the first time too which was funny and lovely. We saw the Olympic torch run right past the hotel she got married in (shortly after the ceremony) and she even got to have her photo taken with the torch, which was brilliant!

I've kept up with my fake tan routine because I'm just loving being this tan at the moment, I feel so much better, and loads of people ask me if I've been lying around in the sun, which of course I haven't, even though the weather has been amazing for the past week. In fact I love it so much I did a YouTube video on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDSFbvkZ2Wg

This is a picture I took yesterday afternoon just after the makeup was done. It only took me 14 minutes to make up my entire face. What makes it easier is having these insanely long eyelash extensions as I have no real need for eyeshadow or mascara at the moment, so I'm just loving that!

Hope you're all enjoying the summer sun (at last),

Hugs x

Eyelash Extensions, Fake tan, Fake Nails... Oh my!

Yes, you read that correctly. I am covered - top to toe - in fakery. My hair is dyed black (has been for a couple of years), my skin is golden brown, my lashes are thick, curly and long, my nails are in acrylic pink-and-white french manicure. "Why?" you might ask. Well, I'm going to my friend's wedding tomorrow and I wanted to look my best. I think I went a little overboard...

I look much darker than normal, don't I? It's kind of scary, seeing as how normally I'm as pale as milk haha! I used Soltan Beautiful Bronze Self Tanning Gel to achieve this colour. Normally I use my Xen-Tan but I seem to have misplaced my bottle of it. At the moment Boots is doing a "3 for 2" offer, so three bottles is £18 which works out at £6 a bottle, which is cheap and cheerful. I was afraid the fake tan would turn me orange, but it hasn't, which is a God-send!

Check out my insanely long eyelashes! I had them done yesterday in a salon down the road from me. The products used were all Polish, and they were applied by a lovely Polish girl who was so brilliant at her work. My lashes have never been so thick and lustrous looking. I love my new eyelashes!

And here is moi all faked up to the nines and ready for my friend's wedding tomorrow. I had to use a small amount of my Double Wear foundation mixed with a couple of drops of bronzer to even out my face, then used a little bronzing powder to very lightly contour my face (it's still too fat to contour properly) and added a bit of highlighter to my cheek bones.

I'm probably going to be the only one at the wedding with a tan, because England's seen about 6 days of sunlight in the last 7 weeks or so due to rain, rain, rain and more rain... Oh, did I mention that it's been raining a lot here..? The weather has been unseasonably cold, summer is almost here and the only evidence that spring turned up is that the trees all have leaves now. I'm wrapped up in a quilt on the sofa right now! Oh well...

Anyone else out there that loves to fake up, or do you lovelies like to keep it more natural looking? I'd love to know :)

Hugs x

My Weight Watchers Journey

Ok, so this blog post will have nothing to do with makeup and I won't be talking about the makeup that I have on in my pictures because, quite frankly, it's irrelevant to this post. I joined Weight Watchers in Feb 2012, and have been with them for 12 weeks so far. At first, I hated it; I was hungry, snappy and irritable from my very sudden diet change. Carbs have become a big 'no no' as I like to call them. So has most meat, really. And cheese. Mmmm, cheese. Pro Points really are the way forward when you want to lose weight though, it's just not as easy as you'd think.

People join WW as they believe it's going to be easy, and there are more than the fair share of some people that are willing to feed you bullsh*t about how simple and easy it is. They'd have you believe that no one 'falls off the wagon'. Let me tell you now, it isn't easy. It isn't particularly nice, having to cut out the cakes and crisps and chocolate (the 3 deadly C's), plus much more. It certainly isn't easy when your favourite Ben and Jerry's Icecream is at half price in the shops, or when your other half/friends/family eat things in front of or offer you food you shouldn't eat.

My WW journey has been an uphill struggle. I'm not saying that there have been times when I've gained weight, but there have been a couple of weeks and the scales have barely moved down. It's really easy (surprisingly so) to lose motivation, or to wonder why in the heck you're bothering to do it. I'm a big girl. A very big girl, and have been all my life. I have so many stretch marks it isn't even funny, and now I'm losing weight my skin is starting to sag just a little. My boobs have become droopy, which has me depressed quite a lot. It's tempting to stay fat just so I don't become a slimmer me but with all that creepy, excess skin hanging off my arms and belly. Tempting... But not enough to stop me from continuing my WW journey.

When I first joined WW, three months ago, I topped the scale at a hefty 19st 6lbs (272lbs or 123.6 Kilos). I'm almost ashamed to admit it. I'm not the fattest person around but at only 5ft 6inches high I needed to do something about it. Believe it or not, I do actually have big bones (for example, my bone structure and width is similar to a male structure of the same height; I have a large rib cage and large lungs, wide wrists, hips and feet etc), but I wouldn't dream about trying to blame my weight on that. My resting heartbeat was 89 beats a minute. Yes, you read that correctly. Scary? Very much so!

This picture above (is just my face, I know, I know) was taken just before I started WW. I have the app on my iPhone, which has helped me track everything I eat, BEFORE I put it in my mouth. It's been a life saver while out shopping, believe me!

This picture above I took today (11th May 2011). I now weigh in at 17st 3lbs, having lost 2st 3lbs (31 lbs or 14 Kilos) so far. I still have another 6st 3lbs to lose (minimum), but I'm slowly starting to feel a difference. My resting heartbeat (checked 3 minutes ago) is now 68 beats a minute. Not as slow as it should be, but it's getting there! My clothes are slowly becoming baggier. I can't wait 'til I start dropping dress sizes, but I don't think that'll happen 'til I lose at least another 14lbs.

Don't get me wrong; I have fallen off the wagon a couple of times. I ate a sneaky burger king meal one day and chinese another day (not in the same week, mind you) when I was feeling very hungry and my weak will deserted me. It goes to show as long as you get back on the wagon immediately after falling off and commit to your vision of losing weight again, you'll be fine.

Being all about beauty doesn't mean you should love the way you look on the outside only; take care of your insides too, they're the things that'll get you through to the end game! It's a hard lesson I'm learning now, but it's never too late to turn your life around xxx

This Is Why I'm Addicted to Makeup

This blog has been about looks and makeup - of course it has - because makeup has the ability to cover flaws, accentuate your best features and hide your worst ones. The possibility of makeup is endless. You can be a plain Jane just like me, with pigmentation and scars, large pores, broken blood vessels and skinny eyebrows - and makeup can make it all go away. You may want to look naturally flawless, you may want to look striking or stunning, cute and playful, dark and dramatic. Makeup will allow you to do it. I wish I was naturally beautiful, with smooth, even skin, but I'm on the other end of the spectrum. Look!

Ok, this picture was taken in natural daylight. I have NO products on my face. My eyebrows are non existent, my skin looks dull. I have pigmentation under one of my eyes, colourless lips as well as broken blood vessels on my cheeks and large pores. Even if you can't see it in this picture, believe me, they're all there. I'll tell you something; I hate going outside without makeup on my face. I feel naked, vulnerable and exposed with no makeup on.

With the help of foundation, eyeshadow primer, eyeshadow, blusher, lipstick, lipgloss and mascara I can transform my tired skin and flawed faced into something much closer to flawless and I feel more alive, brighter and more cheerful:

The transformation is quite shocking, isn't it? My eyebrows are filled in, my skin is more luminous and a more uniform colour, with the blusher where I want it to be. My eyes look more awake thanks to mascara, my lips have some colour and shine from just a touch of lipstick and gloss.


This is why I'm addicted to makeup.



Big Love to y'all out there xx

Pale English Rose

It's finally heading into spring here in England, although you'd hardly believe it, with the freezing cold nights, chilly days and the thunderstorm with lightning that we had only yesterday. But spring is officially arriving, the daffodils are out, the first green leaves are coming out on the trees and very soon the whole of England will be lush and green. Even though I have seen a lot of places in the world, I cannot help but think England can be one of the most beautiful places on earth when summer is in full swing.

As anyone that is makeup-mad like me will know that spring colours are IN right now, but I have never been one to conforming to seasonal colours. I like to head my own way and do my own thing. Also I happen to be an Urban Decay eyeshadow addict, and their colours are hardly neutral, but still... Today I decided to do a pale, English Rose look:

As y'all know, I have a pale-as-milk complexion, and this look is really easy to pull off. I used my Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation in 1C1 Shell, all over my face. It is really full coverage foundation, and even though I kept the foundation use to a minimum, I still used a tad too much... Oh well, nevermind...

Agh! Super strange weird closeup! My eye looks cross-eyed... Hmmm... *Ahem* As you can see, I've filled in my eyebrows to make them much thicker than they really are to help give a more *cough* youthful appearance. I'm wearing my Max Factor Blusher in Classic Rose to help give me a nice colour on my cheeks after wearing such heavy foundation. My lips have almost no colour, which is very embarrassing; to get the achieved colour here I had Benetint stain on my lips, followed by Lancome's Le Rouge Absolu in Pink Diamond, followed by the tiniest touch of Nivea's Glamorous Gloss in Pink Sugar, for extra hydration as my lips have been super dry recently...

 

Ok, so for my eyes I used my Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and then applied two basic Urban Decay eyeshadows for a neutral, understated look; Sellout over the entire lid and over the entire lower lash line, with a dusting of Mushroom on the outer corners to add depth. I tightlined and carefully lined my upper lash line in Urban Decay's 24/7 liner in Zero to make my lashes appear fuller. My Asian-inherited eyelashes are straight, so needed lots of curling with my eyelash curler and two coats of L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic mascara. Finally I finished off my look, lining my waterline with a white khol eyeliner pencil by NYC.

So there you have it; a pale English Rose makeup look that's perfect for spring and can be worn anywhere, any place, any time! Have fun guys x

My tips and tricks of using Highlighters

I love highlighters. I have two; a liquid highlighter called "High Beam" by Benefit:

                               And I have a powder highlighter called "Light 01" by Bourjois:

Highlighters are simply fabulous. You don't have to use them all the time, but they are so useful that I find myself reaching for one or both of them every time I put my makeup on. If my skin is looking dull or fatigued and I want a quick pick me up, then I mix a few drops of High Beam in with my foundation. It gives my skin a healthy glow and makes me feel like a million dollars:

                                  LOL at my face powder in my hair, making my hair look grey!
Ahem... Anyway... To make my eyes look brighter, fresher and more awake (without the use of eye drops, because even though I LOVE them, they're not particularly good for your eyes), I use the bright, Bourjois highlighter in the inner corners of my eyes, around the tear ducts and blend down into the lower lashes for instantly brighter, less-tired-looking eyes:

I also like to use the powder OR liquid highlighter on the top of my cupid's bow on my lips because my top lip is teeny tiny. Apparently it can make your lips appear fuller, but I don't think it makes much difference to my lips *sigh*:

 I'm wearing lip gloss here to help make my lips appear fuller, which does a much better job - at least that's what I think.

So there are the joys of wearing highlighters on your face and how they can help you look or feel better when your skin is letting you down. Big Hugs x

The Day After the Day Before

So, it was my 27th Birthday yesterday. Getting closer to 30 every day. For the moment, I'm still ok - perhaps I'll panic about being 30 when I turn 29... I'll let you know...

So I drove down into Cornwall to see my family yesterday, and I was treated like a princess and was spoiled rotten, I even had lunch made for me and everything - it was a fabulous day! I was bought a lovely bracelet by my hubby:

Blue is my favourite colour and he chose all of the beads himself; I am a very proud wife indeed :) xx

I was given a red packet from my Poh-Poh (Grandma) with money for my birthday:

I was given a bottle of Lancome Hypnose eau de parfum by my little sister. It is one of my favourite perfumes ever, and I was so chuffed that she forked out that kind of money for it, as it is quite expensive :)

I was also given money by my mother and father in-law, which was very generous of them, and here's what I bought with their money:

This is some curl creme for hair. I'm always on the lookout for something that'll define my thick, wavy-almost-curly hair. I'll let you know how it goes.

This is the Bamboo buffing brush from Boots. Apparently it's for loose or compressed powders and it should be buffed into the skin, but I was going to see what happened if I used it with liquid foundation, which has always been my foundation of choice.

This is my first ever stippling brush. It's by Samantha Chapman. I have always wanted one, because so many makeup guru's on YouTube go on and on about how flawless a stippling brush can make your skin look. I mainly use my fingers to blend foundation, so this will hopefully be a nice change :)

My eyes are starting to look dull and tired at the moment, which shows a lot when I am doing my makeup tutorials on YouTube, so I want my eyes to be brighter and whiter, and this seems like a pretty good way to go. Of course I shan't be using this everyday as it's very bad for eyes with long term use.

Ok, so this last one has NOTHING to do with beauty, but I have recently lost 14lbs and I thought I'd treat myself to something delicious. I can't find decent Turkish Delight anywhere where I live, so it's a treat I buy when I visit Truro. I have been in the Weight Watchers programme for the past 5 weeks, and have discovered to my dismay that Turkish Delight is high in points, so I will only eat a square a day to make it last and to make sure I don't use up too many points.

So there you have it my lovelies; a list of products that I bought and was given for my birthday. I hope you're all having fun and taking good care of yourselves

It's been a long time...

It has been a long time since my last Blog - just over 6 months, in fact. Without trying to be negative, no one reads my blog, so I stopped adding to it, but then I thought "Hell, why not just carry on?", so here I am...

My last blog was about my first ever YouTube video. Since then I have uploaded another 16 videos, so I have 17 all in all and I think they're getting better. They're definitely much better quality than the first one and I've learned to edit a bit better now, but my laptop can't deal with the video editor that came with it (thanks for nothing Windows Live Movie Maker), so I do my best.

The picture above was the finished look of a how to wear red liptsick like a pro video...

This one was a gothic style makeup tutorial that my friend's fiancé asked me to do and this was the end look...

This was a cute, kitch and glittery look, so retro and cute. It's one of my fave looks because it's so easy and bright...

This was a picture of a green eyeshadow tutorial I did. It was the first time I tried to do a voice over and failed miserably, but we live and learn...

And this one was a simple vampire makeup tutorial.

I haven't been slacking; editing videos for YouTube is a much harder job than blogging. It requires hours of painstaking editing, saving, captioning, saving again and then uploading to YouTube. But on YouTube, some of my videos have been watched hundreds of times, people have commented and asked me questions. I never recieved that kind of praise or was even acknowledged as a lowly Blogger... I don't expect to be seen or heard even as I type these letters to anyone that cares to read them, but know this: My makeup addiction is still going strong. I love makeup, I have done all my life, with no real end in sight. But that's ok.

                                                   I'm Still Here...