How lovely has the weather been recently? Well it has in the North West anyway :) It's not quite summer yet but i'm really feeling some summery vibes when the suns shining.

Basically today I just wanted to share my makeup and hairstyle I wore yesterday as I feel ready for summery makeup and hair. Farewell winter!  

My makeup is really light as my face tends to get too hot when the weather picks up. If the makeup i'm wearing is too heavy it'll just melt off my face, no matter what kinds of primer or setter I use.

The hairstyle was simply because it's Game of Thrones night and I wanted to try something GoT themed :) Plus it's great to keep the long bits of my hair off my face while still having my hair down. (not gonna lie, this was the first attempt at this hairstyle and it took me about 6-7 tries to get the braids to sit properly, haha)

FACE & LIPS:

• Nivea rich moisturising day cream (for dry/sensitive skin, love this!)

• Clinique Redness solutions foundation - applied really thinly and lightly!

• Naked 3 palette - 'Limit' over lid and 'Burnout' on outer lid.

• Naked 3 palette - 'Nooner' in crease. 

• Brows That! Brow kit - lightly applied, as I usually go darker and heavier when my eyes are darker.

• Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara.

• Rimmel Stay Matte powder in '001 Transparent' to rid the shine.

This is actually a little step towards venturing onto YouTube and making videos. At the moment i'm quite obsessed with YouTubers and for years have been watching makeup tutorials. There are a few that I really want to see but can never find videos on so considering just making my own :) But I really don't know. I have my reservations! If anyone can offer some helpful tips on getting over the fear of making videos (I really cannot stand my own voice, which is a problem!!)

♥  Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (under eyes and down bridge of nose).

♥  Sleek Face Contour Kit Palette (used on on cheeks, nose, forehead and jawline.)

♥  Rimmel Stay Matte Powder.

♥  Urban Decay Naked Palette 2 (colour 'Foxy' on brow bone)

EYES:

♥  Urban Decay original eyelid primer.

♥  Little Mix Eye Shadow Palette (colour 'Feather' on lid)

♥  Urban Decay Naked Palette 2 (colour 'Tease' in crease and outer lid)

♥  Urban Decay Naked Palette 2 (colour 'Booty Call' in inner eye)

♥  Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. 

♥  Lush 'Mint Julips' Lip Scrub applied on lips.

♥  Vaseline 'Rosy Lips'.

♥  Real Techniques Brow Brush. (used really lightly with the powder)
♥  Barbara Daly powder brush. 

Hello my beautiful fellow Blogees! 

Thought I would dedicate this post to all things face and what I use when i'm cleaning, cleansing and prepping my skin. This is something that tends to change quite regularly because i'm yet to discover a perfect regime for my skin type. 

I have such a love/hate relationship with my skin. It tends to get dry rough patches and I also suffer with redness on my cheeks, chin and nose. Though i'm really fortunate that i've never had any issues with spots even when I was a teenager (when I do get them, it's one or two big ones, but I consider myself extremely lucky that outbreaks weren't an issue.)

EXFOLIATION REGIME:

My skin, just like me, is very sensitive. It doesn't take much to irritate it. I luckily don't suffer with spots, but dry, rough patches is a problem. The best face wash/exfoliator i'm currently using is Clean & Clear Morning Energy Skin Energising Daily Facial Scrub. I've used a few others and found that they only made my face feel worse (including one from Soap and Glory, which gave me a rather ugly, bumpy rash.) so to find one that works is amazing.

I love this stuff. It's really gentle, which for someone who suffers blotchy red skin it's really good. Afterwards my face feels SO soft and really smooth. It smells amazing too and in the morning the fresh scent really wakes you up.  It says it's so gentle you can use it everyday, but I stick to once every 2 days because my skin is so sensitive! 

Price: £2.39 from Boots but is also available in supermarkets.

REDNESS SOLUTIONS REGIME

This is a long description, apologies!

Clinique supply an amazing line of Redness Solutions products. (View the blog that includes their Redness Solutions Foundation I did in December.)

What you can see here: Daily Relief Cream, Soothing Cleanser & Mild Clarifying Lotion (which actually isn't part of the Redness Solutions range, I was conned into buying this item.)

I didn't go into Debenhams that day expecting to come out with 5 products (these three, my foundation and the Protective Base - the only two things I actually had in mind). Now, I know it's their job to make you buy as much as possible... and to an extent I fell for it. It cost me a LOT of money. There was probably no reason for me to have all these and for about 6 months I didn't bother using them, especially the clarifying lotion as it wasn't anything to do with combating redness. It was only a few months ago when I decided to start using them as a regime. 

I wish I had just given it more of a chance to begin with.

The Daily Relief Cream helps sooth my cheeks when they flair up. My skin might not particularly sore, but it can feel hot and this helps calm and sooth. I use this twice a day. (Price: £39.00 for 50ml from Debenhams)

The Soothing Cleanser is great in the morning and at night - once i've removed my make-up I gently lather this up and wash my face. It helps remove any left over makeup and keeps my redness down.  (Price: £18.00 for 150ml from Debenhams)

The Mild Clarifying Lotion is the final step in the mornings. Simply just sweep it across my face with cotton wool after cleansing. I particularly use this on the dry patches that randomly show up on my face, especially round my nose. (Price: £16.50 for 200ml from Debenhams)

In all. This range is great but it's expensive, so if you're serious about sticking to this regime you have to be willing to part with a large amount of money! 

MOISTURISER

Now, I couldn't take a photo of this because i've just realised i've ran out, so this stock image is from Boots! This is Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturiser. Clean & Clear are so amazing.

As far as moisturisers go, this dual action one is definitely one of the best i've used in a long time. You literally only need a pea sized amount on your skin, so the tube will last you at least 2 months (unless like me you share with your sister haha.) 

I just love how smooth and soft my skin feels! It really helps tackle the nasty blemishes on my skin and if you're prone to spot break outs this will clear it right up. Makeup easily glides on my skin after i've used this. 

Now, I don't have issues with spots, but unfortunately my sister does - when she uses this moisturiser she doesn't have ANY problems with bad break outs. The only time she gets bad spot breakouts is when we have run out and can't get any for like a week. Seriously such an amazing moisturiser, can't recommend this enough! 

Price: £2.98 from Boots. 

What are your favourites? Do you use any of these i've listed - if you do, what do you think?  

I was looking through my makeup kit and thought i'd just put together a little blog about the makeup I use everyday. It's really not that much, because I try my best not to wear too much when i'm just around the house and I don't think my skin appreciates having makeup on all the time. But I don't think I can go too wrong with this little selection!

Max Factor Tonal Black Eye Brightening Mascara (for brown eyes)

Clinique Redness Solutions foundation (in 03 'calming ivory')

Every now and then I might throw in a gel or liquid eyeliner, but for everyday at home in front of the computer I try keep it simple! As i've already done a blog post about the foundation i'll leave that one out of this for now.

One item I can never stick with is a mascara. I can never seem to find one i'm happy with - until I tried this one from Max Factor. This was is available for green and blue eyes too. This mascara contains light reflective particles, which brightens and enriches your eye colour subtly. I'm not entirely sure how this actually works, but a friend did once comment on how bright my eyes looked (not sure if it was a coincidence or not haha.)

I mainly love how it covers my lashes very evenly and  it doesn't clump. The fact it appears to brighten my eyes is an added bonus.

A few years ago, you couldn't leave the house without mascara. This day and age it seems to be brows that are the big thing - I only made an effort with my brows about 3 years ago. I've always used a pencil and looking back at photographs they just look SO FAKE - actually full on cringe looking back. I made the move over to powdered brows about a year ago and I seriously don't know how I managed beforehand. This kit was my sister's though, so I don't know how much it was - she has a different one that matches her hair colour but I find this one is perfect for me. 

This kit comes with a wax, a powder and a really lovely highlighter for your brow bone. As you can see I only tend to use the powder, unless i'm having a very unruly brow day in which case i'd use the wax first. I love this kit though, use it every single day.

A shiny face is one of my biggest issues when i'm going out, especially when my skin is prone to redness. I've never used any other transparent powder as I love this one a lot.

The biggest issue I have with this is the packaging! As i'm a wedding photographer, this powder is an absolute life saver for touting up my face when i've been super busy during a wedding, but the plastic lid has a tendency to crack! This then breaks the powder leaving it all over my makeup bag and everything in it. Luckily, when I take it out with me at weddings, I have a small bag separate so my camera and lenses don't get ruined. That's a real shame to be honest, but I do love this powder so i'll always make sure I have some tape handy to fix the lid.   

I LOVE THESE PALETTES! I 100% believe you do not need any other palette in the world if you own a Naked Palette. For an everyday look, I always use a combination of both palettes every day. The natural, brighter shades are brilliant for everyday wear, they make my eyes look really pretty and alert, which is great for me because I have quite big bags under my eyes. If i'm looking for a daytime do, like family meal, i'll go for a brown and gold smokey eye, which is quite light. When it's the evening I always go for the silver and black shades from Naked 2 and have a heavier smokey eye look. 

NEW PURCHASE:

Going to finish this blog off with a new purchase I made recently. I'm a little bit obsessed with pink/red shades - i'm not a fan of 'nude' colours and I think my lips are too thin for deep reds, so having something in the middle is really nice. This is one I picked up the other day and It's amazing! Feels soft on my lips and the colour is super pigmented. Definitely going to have a look at the other Maybelline lipsticks next time I'm in Boots!

- - - - - - 

Is there one thing you can't get ready without? For me, it's definitely eyebrows! Can't go anywhere without having my eyebrows on :)

^ Clinique Redness Solutions Foundation:

I have always had issues finding a good foundation that suits my skin tone. The other issue I have with my skin is pink/red blotches. Whenever I go out  for tea or just to the pub with my friends, if it's a warm place my face always gets really red - and alcohol makes it worse. Usually just my cheeks, chin and nose. It doesn't cause any discomfort but I feel really embarrassed when it does and it really affects my self confidence.

One day when I was out shopping, my mum suggested I try asking the ladies at the Clinique counter what they could suggest as most foundations just didn't help my skin. I was shown the entire redness solution range they offered and they even sat with me and applied it all on my face for me!

I LOVE this foundation. No more blushing or flushing worries. The shade I use is 03 - 'calming ivory', which matches my skin perfectly. I doubt i'll ever use another foundation now i've discovered this. 

^ Sleek MakeUp Face Form - Contouring and Blush Palette:

This is something i've been looking at for a LONGGG time. I've seen a few YouTube videos of people raving over the Sleek MakeUp range so popped down to Boots to check them out. I own a eyeshadow pallet of theirs and found the colours to be AMAZING - very pigmented and bright and so easy to blend. At the moment I just always use a bronzer, but I hate the shimmery feeling on my cheeks. 

At the moment i've only used this once but I love it. The highlighter is perfect for under my eyebrows as well as above my my cheek bones. This shade is in light as I felt it fitted my skin tone more, plus I like to be able to build up on a dark colour more than just sticking it on dark and hoping for the best. Once I get to use it more i'll be able to get a better idea, but from first impressions i'm very happy. 

 ^ Real Techniques Expert Face Brush:

I've always had a love-hate relationship with foundation brushes. A few years ago I always just used my hands to blend it into my face, but since visiting the Clinique counter and getting my redness solutions makeup have I converted to brushes. The lady on the Clinique counter was the one who told me to try using brushes as my fingers might be too heavy and contributing to the red skin on my face *shrugs* i'm not entirely sure how true that was, but I still prefer a brush to fingers.

Anyway - since then I always used flat brushes (the ones that look like paint brushes) but i've gone off them. It always felt like I was literally painting the foundation onto my face, instead of blending it. 

This brush is flawless. I know you see it all over the place now, but I understand now. The foundation now feels light on my skin and I don't have that weird 'cakey' feeling that I got with flat brushes. This is my new favourite brush. :)