Looking after eyelash extensions

It's fair to say that I have never been a HUGE fan of my eyes, I managed to inherit my mums dark circles, my dad's straight (but to be fair) long eyelashes, and with my blonde hair they're very fair at the ends! All these factors together means I'm constantly having to use eyelash curlers and can never use anything other than waterproof mascara or else the curl drops out.

Now I am fully aware that this is probably the biggest first world problem.....maybe ever?! But this lead me to getting eyelash extensions and I wanted to let you know how I got on with them.

After umming and ahhing for so long I finally took the plunge and got my eyelashes done at my hairdressers, I ended up having them on for 5 weeks and then a week off and then having them done again with them lasting a further 6 weeks! At £45 they aren't particularly cheap but if you go to the right place and get them done correctly they can last you a whole eyelash cycle, and if it can cure my insecurity of my eyes it's well worth.

Looking After Your Eyelash Extensions

It's a pretty obvious point but I really think that the more you look after your eyelashes the longer they'll last.

In order to keep my eyelash extensions healthy I made sure to never really touch them, not get them wet (although you can as they are waterproof) and to brush them with an eyelash brush once a day, I was given a new eyelash brush every time I went to get them done but I have linked some for you. When brushing the eyelash extensions you want to do so very carefully and brush them from the top of the lash rather than underneath as this tugs on them less.

I have decided to not get any more eyelash extensions over the Summer purely because I spend every holiday in the sea and although they are waterproof I don't think they're made to be pushed around by waves or splashed by the salty sea.

Would I bother again?

Once Autumn arrives again I will definitely get my lashes done.

I absolutely loved getting them done, the look of them and most importantly it took such a small amount of time to get ready in the morning because I found that my face already looked done after waking up and so I wouldn't bother putting on as much makeup.

Are there are side effects?

Now personally I did have a reaction to getting them done, I either had an allergic reaction to the glue or to the pads put under the eyes but this only resulted in bloodshot eyes for a couple of days so it was no big deal.

The person doing your eyelash extension should request you to go for a skin test before getting them done but if they don't I would definitely ask to make sure you have no issues with them.

Do they damage my natural lashes?

I must admit after having them taken off some of my lashes do feel a little bit shorter than before but I think that's probably to be expected.

But there's no doubt in my mind that after a break over the Summer they'll easily get back to how they were before, and it is certainly not something to make me hesitate getting them again.

I do also think they're probably slightly shorter in places because of where they might be in their cycle.

I did tell my friend that I thought they were a little bit shorter than before but she didn't believe me, so it's nothing noticeable!

Please ask if you have anymore questions about eyelash extensions I would love to help you to decide if eyelash extensions are for you!

Love El

xxx

Spring Makeup Favourites

There's occasionally sun in the sky, some warmth in the air that can only mean that Spring is here in the UK!
I don't know about you but when the warmer months come around I always end up wearing less makeup and also lighter shades. I tend to leave the deeper, darker tones behind along with Winter and find myself gravitating towards pinks, champagne and bronze.

These are the products that I find myself using every-time Spring comes back around! 

This year has got to be the 6th year in a row I have used Barry M's Hi Shine Gelly nail varnish in Rose Hip, although I believe it is no longer available and the closest colour is Pink Lemonade. It is probably my favourite colour of all time and is such a lovely light pink, plus when wearing it with a tan it makes you look even more brown!

I've heard many different opinions on Chanel's Tan de Soleil but I have to admit I LOVE it! I just pop it on my cheek bones and temples straight after foundation and my cheekbones look great and I feel more Summery.

You really can't go wrong with a pretty pink blush and this one is just stunning! It's Estee Lauder's blush in Plush Petal, that I actually found at Bicester Village.

For £1 you can't really go wrong with a white eyeliner, but Mua's eyeliner in Snow White is so creamy and pigmented you look instantly awake after use! Now with this I am careful to not use to much as I don't particularly want a massive white line on my water line, so I use it very lightly and it just makes my eyes look bigger and brighter, having the skin tones slight push through.

As I said earlier I just seem to choose more pink tones throughout the Spring and Summer months and that is exactly what I do with my eyeshadow as well as everything else. For some pink eyeshadow shades, lets be honest you can't go wrong with Urban Decay's Naked 3 eyeshadow palette, pigmented, creamy and easy to blend!

What are your favourite Spring Makeup products?

Love El
xxx

Makeup Through The Ages

Recently I have seen quite a few videos about makeup and beauty through the ages.

I have seen ones that are generally iconic for that particular decade and one, that stood out to me the most, was realistic beauty through the ages by Karolina Żebrowska.

I found this video so interesting as it shows the different sides of what was happening through each decade. You can watch the video here, and I recommend you do!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =t__RhUyZMDM

So today I thought I would use my inspiration from Karolina Żebrowska and show you different sides of makeup from 1900-1950, using images from google.

1900-1919 Makeup:

Commonly known as the Edwardian Era, where makeup was a taboo:

Lower class women generally found work in domestic services or in factories. Therefore makeup was not worn.

Upper Class women would usually be found enjoying the finer things in life, having tea with their friends, planning meals and sometimes would be involved in charity work. Nannies looked after their children and made the meals. However, makeup was not worn unless women worked in movies.

1920 - 1929

Wearing makeup really took off in the 1920's.
As I'm sure you're all aware The Great Gatsby is of course an example of the type of makeup that could be seen in the upper class 1920's, cinema had a tremendous influence on these women. Smokey eyes and bold lips were worn through out this era. 

For the lower class women in the 1920's there was again a lot of women working in domestic service, one in every nine.

1930 - 1939

The 1930's were a horrendous time due to the great depression which effected pretty much everyone, but there was still a certain class divide through out this time. Many people struggled with losing there job, little altered for women's jobs and the women who had employment were working in the factories or domestic service, although due to better education jobs such as teaching, being a clerk and nursing were sometimes done by women.

In comparison to the 1920's the 1930's was a lot more subdued, a lot of luxury activities were put on halt, however the cinema was still being enjoyed. For makeup this meant people were still loving "trends", pale skin was loved by all, but towards the end of the thirties there was a love for an undertone of pinks. Women's eyebrows were plucked very thin, an array of eyeshadow colours were worn and lipstick colours were still bold.

 1940 - 1949

Of course the year of 1945 meant World War 2, this then saw a lot of women working as nurses, working in factories making bombs and aircraft supplies and other jobs that needed to be filled to help out during the war. If by some miracle during rationing women did manage to get their hands on makeup they made themselves look very glamorous. Women started to become very resourceful if they did want to apply some kind of makeup. I was told in my theatrical and media makeup course that the shape lipstick bullet, such as the shape of MAC's lipstick, was because that was what women were used to making, they would make shell caps for war and therefore it was the only shape they knew how to make!

 1950 - 1959

That then finally brings us onto our last decade for this post.

The 50's held place for a lot of housewives, who looked glamorous whilst being the 'perfect wife', their jobs at home included cooking, cleaning, shopping and looking after the children. There were a lot of expectations for these housewives and some did it all while wearing cream face products, red lips, slightly thicker eyebrows than seen previously (thick then tapered towards the end), and towards the mid 50's we even had some winged eyeliner coming into fashion!

The 50's also saw the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, 2 fashion and beauty icons to this day! It is clear to see why they are still so admired.

With their perfect complexions, rosy cheeks and red lipstick, and of course today's ever loved cat eye, they are beautiful!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how makeup has evolved!

This is only a very small section timeline of the enormous timeline that is makeup, but it's very interesting to see how things have changed but also how many trends have actually stayed the same!

Love El

xxx

Natural Makeup Inspiration

First of all, how is it already the beginning of September?!
And second of all, I can't be the only one who is just mesmerised and becomes speechless when they see some of the incredible makeup talents on Pinterest!

There is some amazing talent out there when it comes to makeup application, and I for one am very jealous I don't have that skill!
But I thought I would put together a makeup inspiration board to share with you all.

I swear everyone of Pinterest is incredible at makeup, taking pictures of their makeup and just incredibly stunning!!!

Love El
xxx

Natural Makeup Look

When the warmer weather comes around I always love to wear less makeup and to make my skin look more bronzed and glowy!

In this post I have a few products I adore to achieve this look.

First I apply the smallest amount of foundation about a quarter of a pump (or I don't use any at all) and today I'm using the L'Oreal Infallible foundation.

I then like to bronze my skin up using the Chanel Tan de Soliel which I would HIGHLY recommend and even though it is expensive it'll last so so long. I like to apply this to my cheeks and forehead using the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. To then set this I use the Nars Laguna bronzer.

To hide my dark circles I use the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer under my eyes.

To highlight my cheekbones the Benefit's Watts Up Highlighter is gorgeous, to then set that I use the MUA eyeshadow in Pearl 1 (looks like Champagne on their website), which is a gorgeous light gold shade, this is also added to the inner corner of my eye.

To add some colour to my lips I've been using Benefit's Posie Balm to keep my lips moisturised.

Then just filling in my brows with Benefit's Browzings in Light, and adding some layers of mascara, I use the Rocket mascara in Waterproof by Maybelline. I use a waterproof mascara to keep the curl in my lashes!

And finally I use the tiniest amount of a white eyeliner to open up my eyes. I don't use for an intense look, but I do like a little to make me look more awake!

What products have you been using throughout the Summer?

Love El

xxx

Power of makeup

This trend has probably been overdone now but I thought I jump on the band wagon and post my "Power of Makeup".

I did this at the best time possible as my skin decided to give me some spots for the first time in months and therefore this really does show the power of makeup! You can also see how bad my dark circles are, they're always there whether I drink enough water or get enough sleep, I honestly think I'm just going to have to learn to love them!

(Highlight looking good!)

If you have done a "Power of Makeup" post I would love to see it, so please link it in the comments!

(Also very glad that these spots have gone since taking these photos!)

Love El

xxx

My MAC Lipstick Collection

After wanting to do this blog post for so long I counted my MAC lipsticks to discover I had 13, which I believe is enough to warrant a MAC lipstick collection post!

I won't ramble on as there's quite a few images!!

Summer Shower - Glaze 

(Basically bought it because it looks like fairy dust!)

MLLE - Glaze 

(Really good for going on top of a lipstick to lighten it)

Hue - Glaze 

(My favourite)

Overtime - Pro Longwear

Gotta Dash! - Sheen Supreme

Velvet Teddy - Matte 

(The famous Velvet Teddy of course has to be in my collection, this and Hue are a match made in heaven!)

Imagine This - Amplified

Whirl - Matte

Stone - Matte

Rebel - Satin 

(An Autumnal favourite)

Prolong - Pro Longwear

Russian Red - Matte

Diva - Matte

(Got to love yourself a red lip or a deep red lip, hence the past three lipsticks)

Those are all of my MAC lipsticks!

What are your favourite MAC lipsticks?

Love El

xxx

Soap and Glory: The Perfect Ten

This palette is gorgeous! I'm talking brilliant quality, beautiful colours and so easy to use.

My mum actually bought this palette for me in the Boots half price after Christmas sale (try saying that 3 times fast!) and therefore it only came to £8, which to me sounds pretty darn good. Unfortunately, Soap and Glory's 'The Perfect Ten' palette is Limited Edition and I believe only at Christmas BUT this was it's second return and so may come back again!

I just wanted to show you the brilliant pigmentation, gorgeous colours and really what an incredible dupe for the Naked 3 palette this is.

As I said the colours are so gloriously pigmented and are so buttery, I used it on Monday for my best friend Jess's birthday and it was an absolute dream.

This is fast becoming my favourite palette, especially as we move into Spring.

Love El
xxx