Raytoria: Real Techniques

Quick, Daily Makeup Look

Whether it's wanting to spend that 5 extra minutes in bed or needing to quickly nip to the shops, we all have that quick go-to look. For me personally, my skin gets dry and patchy if I wear a full face of makeup for 2/3 days on the run so being able to let my face 'breath' in-between is a must!

So these are my go-to items for an everyday face.

First thing I do is grab my Olay Double Action Day Cream & Primer to moisturise my skin. I love this stuff, it also works as an amazing primer too on full-face days. I don't ever bother with a foundation during the day so next stage is concealer.

I usually wear Lasting Perfection in 01 Fair because it's lighter than my skin so instantly brightens under my eyes and makes me look more awake. I blend this in using my Real Techniques Setting Brush as it's light and airy enough to gently buff it into my skin.

Next step: eyebrows! I've recently been using Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow pomade in medium brown to shape then fill in my brows. I usually start off by brushing my brows with a spoolie then apply the dip brow with a Zoeva 317 Wing Liner brush, using single strokes to create a natural look.

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After the brows are done I apply some eyeshadow to my lids. Urban Decay's Naked palette is usually my go-to palette for eyes. I just sweep the colour 'Naked' over my lid followed by 'Buck' gently buffed into the crease. This is an everyday look so don't do much more than this. If i'm feeling particularly fancy i'll use 'Sidecar' over the top to give a little sparkle ;)

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I finish my eyes off by tight lining my top lids with Collection black kohl eyeliner and finish off by applying some Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara.

Lips can vary depending on how I feel that day. Most days i'll just exfoliate with Mint Julips lip scrub

by Lush and some Burts Bees lip balm. Other days i'll feel more fancy and i'll pop on NYX Liquid Suede in Sandstorm very lightly to give my lips some colour. If i'm staying in at home editing though I tend to skip the lip colour.

And that's it. I might use a bit of bronzer depending on how pale I am that day and some powder if i'm a teeny bit shiny, but tend to keep it simple!

Let me know if there are any products you love or you think I should try ❤

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In everyday makeup, Foundation

My daytime makeup (mini Boots haul)

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In 7th Heaven, All Bright

Makeup, brush & skin care mini haul.

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In Braids, Clinique

Summer Face & Makeup

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.

• Collection Intense Colour Supersoft Kohl Pencil (brown)

• Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara.

• Sleek Face Contour Kit - just the pink blush on my cheeks and highlighter under eyes & brow bone.
• Maybelline Colour Sensational Liptstick - 540 'Hollywood Red'.

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

BRUSHES USED:

• Real Techniques Expert Face brush for foundation.

• Bobbi Brown 'eye definer' for eyebrow wax.

• Real Techniques Brow Brush for eyebrow powder.

• Naked 3 brush for eyeshadow.

• Bobbi Brown Eye Blender brush.

• Eco Tools Full Powder brush for blush & highlighter on my cheeks.

• Models Own shading brush for applying highlighter on brow bone.

• Barbara Daly fluffy brush to apply the Stay Matte powder all over the shiny places.

HAIRSTYLE:

Now, i realise this would probably work a lot easier if it had photos to go with each step, but I forgot to document it as I did it because it took so long! Hopefully you can still do it with just the steps :)

1. After applying a heat protecter (I use V05 heat protect styling stray) I used my BaByliss curling iron to loosely curl my hair.

2. Starting on the left side, I began a dutch (outy) braid coming down my head, once I reached just behind my ear I stopped bringing in pieces of hair and just continued to plait the hair right down as far as possible then tie it with a bobble.

3. Start pulling the pieces of hair out of the braid to flatten (or 'pancake' as they say over at CGH) This gives the illusion of a bigger, flatter braid and looks so pretty. Repeat this on the right side.

Here's a really quick example of what I mean:

4. Next I just pull the braid back across the back of my head until it reacher far enough on the other side and pin it. Then take the other side and bring that across - either over the top or under the first braid.

5. Once you've got it the way you want, tuck in the end pieces of hair so you can't see the ends and pin everything securely, making sure you try and hide the pins as you go. For mine I liked the curly bits at the end of the braid so I made sure they were sticking downwards so I could see the bobbles.

6. When it's all secured, remove the hair bobbles and unplait the bottom section to loosen the hair.

7. Fix it all in place with hairspray. If you want some little curly bits on the front, I would use a comb to gently pull down some little wispy bits of hair. Luckily for me these fell down naturally because they were too small to braid up!

Let me know what you think of both of these :)

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, by Unknown

In 2015, Blog Planner

February Wishlist :)

Hello my fellow Blogees!

Seeing as we are coming up to the end of February,

I thought i'd share the items i've seen throughout the month that have made it to my wishlist.

01. Urban Decay Naked Basics 2.

I have all 3 of the Naked palettes and Naked2 is by far my absolute favourite. I'm such a sucker for a nude/neutral eye during the day and at night I like to smoke it up a bit. So when I saw this palette I was made up. They are all pretty much matte, which makes it better. (I don't mind a shimmer but I love mattes.)

02. Real Techniques Bold Metals brushes.

Oo lala. These brushes are divine. I saw them the other week in Boots for the first time after watching the launch video. They look so amazing but with the price tag I doubt i'll be able to afford them for a while (but one can wish!)

03. The Badass Blog Planner by Sarah Morgan.

Seeing as i've only been blogging since the end of 2014, I really want to step up my game. I want to be able to set myself some blogging goals and work out a way to make my content more enjoyable for readers - so I hope this book would be able to help (This is top of my birthday gift list haha)

04. Seventeen Skin Wow Primer (3 way highlighter).

I've been looking for a primer for a few months now and never came across anything I really liked. I decided to take a look at what Seventeen had on offer as I have & love their Brows That! Brow Kit. The great thing about this is that it's also a highlighter - I can mix it with my foundation or just use it on my face to highlight certain areas.

05. Rimmel Natural Bronzer ('Sun Bronze').

At the moment i've just been doubling up my contour kit as a bronzer but I would really like one to use solely as a bronzer. I'm not keen at all on shimmers or glittery bronzers and all the ones i've bought in the past have shimmered far too much. I'm after something that looks more matte and i've read reviews saying this is great - plus it's cheap!

06. Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick (214 'Firecracker').

I'm a little obsessed with Rimmel lasting finish! The colour is amazing, though I tend to keep buying the deep plumb/red colours and would love to get a nice pink. I'm not a fan of nude lips or bright/light pink so I really struggle finding a good pink. From what i've seen online, colour 214 is a perfect balance between light and deep pink, so next time i'm in Boots I might give this a try!!

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If anyone knows of any better alternatives or a perfect pink colour lipstick they could recommend i'd be so grateful :)

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In 2015, Bobbi Brown

FOTD + Venturing to YouTube?

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In 2015, Brushes

Top 6 Beauty Wishlist

Kicking off the new year with a new list of lovely beauty items that are currently on my wishlist! Some of these aren't super expensive or out of my price range, just getting the time to buy them or not being sure of what they are like!

01. Urban Decay "All Nighter" - Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray

02. Real Techniques Core Collection

03. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primers (x3)

04. Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipsticks

05. Tangle Teezer brush

06. ELF Studio Lip Exfoliator

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01. URBAN DECAY "ALL NIGHTER" MAKEUP SETTING SPRAY.

I struggle so badly when makeup sweats off my face, especially during a wedding or photo shoot (I get very warm, very quickly) I've been looking all over for a good setting spray, and I love the look of this one.

02. REAL TECHNIQUES CORE COLLECTION BRUSHES.

*Swoon* Real Techniques brushes are my absolute favourite. I already have the Expert Face Brush and would love to add to my face brush collection with these little beauties.

03. URBAN DECAY EYESHADOW PRIMERS - ORIGINAL, SIN & EDEN.

When I got my Naked Palette 2 it came with a small selection of tester eyeshadow primers. They are the BEST primers I have ever used and I need to stock up now my little testers have run out.

04. MAYBELLINE COLOUR SENSATIONAL LIPSTICKS - PINKS/REDS.

I already own the Hollywood Red and it's such a lovely, rich colour. It also feels amazing on my lips, so a few more of these in the other pink/red shades will be fabulous.

05. TANGLE TEEZER BRUSH.

How do I not already own one of these? My hair can get ridiculously tangled and knotted, especially when i've had too much dry shampoo in it. I've seen reviews about this little brush and it's now up there on my wishlist.

06. E.L.F. STUDIO LIP EXFOLIATOR.

Exfoliating your lips is something i've never thought of being part of my skin care routine. The most I've ever done is whack on a load of vaseline or lip balm. I actually saw about exfoliating on a makeup segment during This Morning and since then i've always wanted one. This one from ELF looks brilliant, but never seems to be in stock!

- - -

Has anybody got any of these they can recommend? Or is there any alternatives that are better?

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, by Unknown

In Boots, Brushes

Upcycling jam jars as brush pots.

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In Blush, Boots

Christmas Goodies!

Merry Christmas! I hope anyone who reads this enjoyed their holidays :)

One of my absolute favourite things to do after christmas is go shopping with my vouchers. It seems like an absolutely crazy thing to like to do but there didn't seem to be as many people around, which is surprising for 2 days after Christmas day.

This year I got Boots and Debenhams vouchers. I really love Boots, it is my favourite place to get my makeup from. I very rarely go anywhere else for my makeup needs. I asked for Debenhams as I get my foundation from the Clinique counter there, but that's the only place different for makeup for me!

Here are the three main items I bought:

Clinique Redness Solutions foundation - £24.50 (Clinique counter at Debenhams)
Sleek Face Form - Contour & blush kit - £9.99 (Boots)
Real Technique expert face brush - £9.99 (Boots)

^ 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. :)

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Pages

Quick, Daily Makeup Look

My daytime makeup (mini Boots haul)

Makeup, brush & skin care mini haul.

Summer Face & Makeup

February Wishlist :)

FOTD + Venturing to YouTube?

Top 6 Beauty Wishlist

Upcycling jam jars as brush pots.

Christmas Goodies!

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