Day 8 - My go to Face MakeUp

Today's post is all about my go to every day face make up. This is the base for my daytime looks, I start with this base and then add my other makeup depending on how much time I have available.

This base takes me no longer than 5 minutes and looks great finished off with just mascara and lipgloss, maybe some eyebrows if you have fair brows like me.

Lets get into what I do. I start with my morning skincare routine, then I apply Nutrimetics Liquid Cover concealer on to any redness, blemishes or under eye circles and I blend this out very well because the shade I have is a fraction too dark for me at the moment. Next I buff on a layer of Nutrimetics Velvet Finish Mineral Foundation to even out the rest of my skin tone, you may notice in the first photo I have a lot of redness in my skin, I use a yellow toned powder to counter act this. If you have good skin, you may be able to skip the concealer step and just use the powder. And that is all. Simple and easy, two products and one brush is all you need. I used the real techniques buffing brush but you can use your favourite.

From here I add mascara, brows and lip gloss if I am in a rush, or I add more if I have the time. Today I had quite a lot of spare time so I chose to do a little extra, which you can look forward to seeing in a future post.

You can buy the two products I used here in a kit with a kabuki brush. I have tried the kabuki brush and it is not my favourite, it is not as soft as I would like. You can also buy these products separately but I can't find a link.
Edited to add you can purchase Nutrimetics products separately by browsing the online catalogue here.

Day Three - Favourite YouTube Channels

This post is a little different to what I normally post about but if I posted about the same thing for 28 days straight I know that I would get bored. Here are some of my favourite YouTube channels that I like to watch. I am currently subscribed to 101 channels, so these aren't all of my favourites but just a few that I thought I would share.

Favourite Daily Vloggers - This is a tough category to win because there are quite a few daily vlogs that I watch religiously. I think my favourite is the first one that I started to watch and the one that introduced me to other daily vlogging channels, itsJudysLife. I also like to watch SACCONEJOLYs, theschuermanshow and more recently AprilJustinTV and the SHAYTARDS.

Favourite Beauty Channels - There is no clear winner in this category because as a beauty junkie I like to watch a lot of beauty videos. Some of the most informative channels are pixiwoo and Lisa Eldridge. I also really enjoy watching Shaaanxo, it is relaxing for me to just tune out and watch her videos and she seems like a very genuine person in her videos, there are a lot of channels I don't like because they are too perfect and intimidating. I like the channels that are afraid to show that they don't get their videos perfect every time.

Favourite Comedy Channel - I don't watch a lot of comedy videos since my time is pretty much filled up with beauty videos and daily vlogs but one channel that always makes me laugh is Jim Chapman.

There are a few of my favourite channels, I haven't really gone into much detail as to what each channel is about, but they are all quite well known channels. I have linked each channel mentioned so if you are interested you can click through.

That is all for Day Three.

Kmart New Zealand Haul

There is no Manicure Monday post this week because I have been struggling to do my manicures on a Sunday because everyone is home and I don't want to be anti social and lock myself away doing manicures. So I have given myself a week off from manicure post and I will hopefully now be able to do my manicure posts during the week and schedule them for the following Monday.

But fear not, I have still got a little something for you, I went shopping today at Kmart and I thought I would show you what I got.

I got myself two boxes of tissues for $1.20 each because I am always running out of tissues. I also bought a mega towel for $12 which is not pictured.

I got some facial cleansing wipes to clean make up off my hands after I apply my make up. These were $3.

I got a LOL lipstick in the colour Kiss Kiss which is a purply pink colour. It was $4. Expect to see a review, or at least a photo of this and the other lipstick I bought.

I got a BYS lipstick in Half Time Oranges which is an orange colour. This was $2.75 I think. It was regularly $5.

And finally I bought some lashes, a 2 pack for $7. I am wanting to get in to wearing lashes more often but I don't want to shell out $20 for a pair of lashes unless it is a very special occasion. I will try these out and let you know what I think.

I also got a 5 pack of lashes for $5 from the $2 shop. I will also try these out and see which lashes are better.

Here is a video, which has swatches of the lipstick and also shows the towel I bought. Sorry in advance for the sniffing, I was really trying to figure out what it smelt like.

Tag: Would You Rather Beauty Edition

I've seen this tag floating around the internet, so I thought I would give it a go.

If you haven't done it yet give it a try.

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?
Most definitely palettes and eyeshadows. There is nothing wrong with a basic eye and bright lip. And you can always use liners as cream shadows.
2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?
This is an easy one for me, I only cut my hair once every 6 to 12 months so I am no stranger to dry, split ends. I would never cut my hair again.
3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?
I think Coral because it goes with more things but I wear both.
4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?
If I had $1000 I would spend it on a mixture of both among other things, but choosing just one it would be makeup. Even though I don't need another $1000 worth of makeup and I really could do with new clothes.
5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?
Eyeliner as lipstick because there is no way lipstick would stay on my eye and eyeliners come in so many colours i'm sure i'd be able to find one that would suit as a lipstick.
6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?
I have never shopped at either and have never owned any MAC products. I'm not exactly sure what Sephora is but I think they sell more brands, so I'm choosing Sephora so I have more options.
7. Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?
One lip colour. A pinky, nude lip goes with everything.
8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?
I'm going with summer clothes in winter, because I live in New Zealand, specifically Hamilton where it never snows, so I'm not going to get hypothermia in my shorts and t shirt. But I would overheat wearing jeans and a jumper in the summer. Plus I can always layer my summer clothes if it gets really cold.
9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?
Always going to be bright.
10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?
Lip product. I quite like my lips so I wouldn't mine just putting on a balm but I feel my eyes need more products to make them pop.
11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?
Now this depends, if doing a messy bun is second nature to me then I would choose the bun because I think it looks more done but purely because I suck at hair, I have to choose a ponytail because it's what I do most days and its easy.
12. Would your rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?
If you know me then you know that I love nail polish. Between my nails and lipgloss its obviously nails. 
13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?
I have to say sharpie them in. Although a black sharpie would look stupid with my pale skin and light hair, perhaps I could dye my hair dark or find a lighter sharpie? Also using the sharpie everyday you would pick up tricks to make them look more natural. Maybe if you have a really fine sharpie, you could draw them inn hair by hair.
14. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?
This is the hardest one for me because I loooooove nail polish. If I'm allowed to tint my brows and lashes, I could give up the make up. I would have to give up the makeup because I cannot give up nail polish although it would suck for special occasions.

Inexpensive, Easy, Silver Eye

I wanted to have a play with makeup today but I already had my basic day makeup on. Just face makeup, mascara and eyebrows. So I thought I thought I would have a play with eyes.

I wanted to give silver makeup a go because I have never really worn a silver eye before. Looking through my collection I noticed my only silver makeup was from quite inexpensive brands, so I decided I would try to make an inexpensive eye look.

What I did
I started with my Jordana Quickliner in 05 Silver Lining and put this all over my lid and under eye blending out the edges with a cotton bud.
I then applied LA Colors Shimmering Loose Eyeshadow in SE11 Snow White everywhere I had applied the silver liner and blending the remaining product on my brush up to my eyebrow as a highlight. This worked well because it is a sheer white shimmery shadow that looks silver over the liner and just acts as a highlight over bare skin.
Next I lined my tightline and waterline with LA Colors Eyeliner Pencil in P602 Brown-Black, then also lined my upper and lower lash line before smudging the liner into a winged shape with a cotton bud.
I then applied more of the Snow White shadow over the liner to blend it all together.
I then reapplied my current mascara, Revlon Growluscious.

The Cost
Jordana Quickliner in 05 Silver Lining - around $2. I bought mine from a $2 shop but you could replace this with any silver liner.
LA Colors Shimmering Loose Eyeshadow in SE11 Snow White - $5 from The Warehouse
LA Colors Eyeliner Pencil in P602 Brown-Black - $5 from The Warehouse
Total Cost Only $12!!!

Silver Eyes

I thought this eye look would be good to keep in mind for times when you are caught with out your full makeup collection. Perhaps you are staying with someone and have only brought face makeup and mascara. This is really quick and easy and looks great with just lip gloss or a glossy lip balm.

Dove Nutri Oil: Before and After Photos

This is a follow up post to my review of Dove Nutri Oil which you can read here. At the time I didn't take any photos for you to see the difference. I can tell you that I like the product, but I thought I would let you make up your own mind by seeing my before and after photos.








I know the colour and angle of the photos are different but I had a hard time getting them to look similar, I hope you can still see the difference.

Before and After

In the first photo I have shampooed and conditioned my hair and then let it air dry with no styling products. I have also pinned my hair in the position I want it to dry in. My hair is frizziest in my top layers where the hair is shorter so has less weight and it has also been highlighted more often.

I start by squirting two pumps of the oil into my hands and spreading it all over my hands then i rub it through my hair avoiding the roots. Then if I need to I will apply more one pump at a time. I used about four pumps today as the weather is quite humid. When I am finished I will use what ever is left on my hands to smooth down any frizzies near my roots.

This oil is so lightweight that I can apply as much as I want. If my hair is being particularly unruly I will reapply the oil throughout the day when I need to and it does not get greasy.

I highly recommend you try this product, its inexpensive and works well.

Quick, Easy, Everyday Eye Make Up

Here is how I do my eyes most days. Occassionaly I will apply a gold shadow to the lid.

Start with a clean eye.

Fill in your brows if you need to.
I have used a Za eyebrow pencil.

Apply a shimmery skin tone shadow to the entire eyelid up to the brow.
I have used a pale shimmery colour from my Wendy Hill Eye Shadow palette.

Apply a matte brown eye shadow to the crease and outer third of the eyelid.
I have used a Rimmel Eye shadow in the colour Dusk.

Apply the matte brown shadow to the outer two thirds of the lower lash line.

Apply brown gel eye liner close to lash line in a slight wing.
I have used Maybelline's Gel liner in brown.

Tight line your eye with brown gel liner. This step is optional.

Apply Mascara to top and bottom lashes. I have used Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara.

Eyes

The completed eyes.

This is just a simple look that is quick and easy for early mornings. I hope you like this look and if you have any questions just comment and I'll answer as soon as I can.

Maybelline Baby Lips Review

Cost
$3.99 on sale at New World

Product
Maybelline Baby lips in soothing cherry.
SPF 20
4g of product

Claims
8 hour moisture
in one week rejuvenated lips:
fine lines reduced
elasticity increased
suppleness increased
Centella essence increases cell turnover.

First Impressions
Feels creamy on my lips, smells nice, not over powering. I applied the Maybelline Baby Lips at 10pm it felt creamy on my lips and slightly tingly. By 3 am the product was completely gone from my lips and my lips felt dry again and still had dry skin. I will continue to use this product to see if it lives up to its claim of rejuvenated lips in one week.

Thoughts
On day two of using the baby lips, my lips feel softer they still have dry skin but it has softened. My lips feel softer even without balm on. I have been applying the balm to my lips morning and night and occasionally during the day if I feel I need it.  I don't think it provides 8 hours of moisture, my lips still get dry but not as bad as they used to. I feel it has softened my lips but not to any extreme.

Overview
This product has definitely improved the texture of my lips in one week. My lips do not get as dry as they used to but they can still get dry during the day. I don't think it provides 8 hours of moisture, I feel at most it gives 5 hours of moisture and then my lips start to feel dry and I need to reapply. This product has an SPF of 20 which will be great as we get into the summer months. Overall this is a good product that I would probably repurchase, the packaging is cute and its small size means its easy to keep with you.

10 Products I would repurchase - September 2012

I wanted to take a break from reviewing products and thought I would do a fun post. Here are 10 products that I would repurchase if my make-up bag was stolen or destroyed. In no particular order.

1. Revlon Colorstay Foundation for combination/oily skin. My favourite foundation ever, lasts on my skin wonderfully so I don't need to use a primer and I could probably get away without a powder if I needed to.

2. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder. Keeps my skin matte all day, great for when i'm not wearing foundation but don't want to look like a greaseball.

3. Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in the colour blackest black. Allows me to create a finished eye look with out eyeshadow.

4. Rimmel Glam Eyes Mono Eyeshadow in the colour Dusk. I use this as a brow powder, a contour and obviously sometimes as an eyeshadow. A multi use product that definitely deserves a place in this list.

5. Rimmel Sexy Curves Full Body Mascara. Great mascara, gives volume and length. Can get flaky towards the end of the day.

6. Wendy Hill Blusher Duo in Riviera. The blush is great for everyday and the bronzer allows you to warm up your skin when you need to.

7. Wendy Hill Lipstick in Au Natural. A great nude lipstick to give your makeup a finished look.

8. Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer. Brilliant cheap primer. Reduces appearance of pores, make up last longer and makes skin feel silky. Also evens out skintone.

9. Designer Brands Lip gloss. They add a nice gloss to the lip without being too sticky and leave the lips feeling soft not dry.

10. Rimmel Stay Matte Concealer Stick. Good coverage but catches on dry skin. Great for redness if your skin is in good condition.

Those are my 10 products, some i would repurchase over others but I had to pick 10. Any questions about any of the products mentioned just leave a comment.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder Review

Cost
$13 from Farmers. Marked down because of a crack in the lid.

Product
14 g of product.
I have the colour 001 Transparent

Claims
Up to five hours natural shine control with natural minerals.
Helps minimise the appearance of pores.

First Impressions
First time I applied this the powder it caught on all my peachy face hair and dry skin, I was not impressed. It did keep my shine at bay. I am someone that will get an oily glow an hour or so after applying make-up and the Rimmel powder kept me shine free for most of the day.
The packaging is a bit flimsy and the lid never really locks in place but in saying that when I dropped this product and it smashed, the lid stayed on and I was able to re press the powder.

Thoughts
Because the powder kept my face shine free all day, I decided to give it another go. I made sure to exfoliate my face well before applying the powder with a powder puff and dusting off the excess with a brush. It definitely applied better this way and reduced the look of my pores.
I have tried this product in conjunction with other products to see how it works best. I applied it over my Revlon Colorstay foundation as a setting powder. It kept my face shine free all day. I also applied this on top my Rimmel fix and perfect primer and my stay matte concealer. This gave a natural look with no shine all day.

Overview
My first attempt at using this product was not impressive, I'm not sure if maybe there was a film on top of the product that made it act the way it did or perhaps my skin wasn't in the best condition. I tried again with the powder because I had heard many good reviews of the product. I am now in love with the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder. It keeps my face shine free and my skin feels silky with it on. I apply it with a large fluffy blush on an everyday basis and with a powder puff if I'm going out and really want to minimise my pores. I feel it lives up to its claim of 5 hours shine control and can exceed 5 hours depending on the weather. I wore this powder over sunscreen when I went for a run and I was still not shiny. When used with the Rimmel fix and perfect primer I think it does minimise my pores and is overall a great product. I think I would repurchase this product and I recommend this to anyone that has issues with shiny, oily skin.

Dove Nutri Oil

Price
$5.69 on special from New World.

Product
40 ml of product.
Main ingredients are coconut and almond oils.

My hair
I have a natural wave to my hair and it is quite dry due to being highlighted. When my hair is left to dry naturally it is dry and frizzy and does not straighten well.
Because my hair is highlighted I have issues with greasy products in my hair. When I use some oil products it makes my natural colour darker and leaves my highlights light, which makes my hair look greasy. I do not have this problem with the Dove Nutri Oil.

Thoughts
II apply it to my damp hair then gently twist my hair in sections as it dries. This leaves me with loose curls. Once my hair is dry I add more product if it is needed. The oil is so lightweight and non greasy that you can keep applying the product if your hair gets frizzy from the weather or from sleeping on it. Using the Dove Nutri Oil serum makes my hair soft and smooth.  The oil is so light weight you can use as much or as little as you need.

Overview
I love this product. It is cheap and works extremely well. I love that it does not make my hair feel greasy and leaves my hair looking soft and healthy. I definitely recommend trying this product for yourself, it doesn't cost a lot and might change your hair for the better. Because of Dove Nutri Oil Serum I can now wear my hair down with out using heat tools on it.

Before and after photos here.

QVS individual eyelashes

Cost
$13.99 from pharmacy

Thoughts
I used these on a client and I'm not sure if its just the ones i got or they've changed the way they make them but these were really annoying to use. The glue that holds the eyelashes in place was too far down the eyelash so if I grabbed it near the root, the lashes would stick to my tweezers and not to the eye. If i grabbed the lashes were there was no glue I would only grab 1 lash and it would unravel the join. I have used these lashes before and they have worked perfectly well. I might have to purchase them again to see if its a one off thing. The glue they come with works perfectly well so no need to go out and purchase glue separately. They last well on the eye and give a more natural look than strip lashes. Individual lashes in general can be hard to apply on your self but with patience and practice it can be done.

Nail Art

Nail art on top of gel nails. Copied from this design.

Rainbow nails.

Artiste Brush Cleaner

Cost
$20.49 from Farmers minus $20 loyalty voucher.

Thoughts
Works well, I use about 2 sprays per brush depending on size or product on brush. I also used this to sanitise my lipsticks and it worked well.
I quite like the scent of the product as it lessens the smell of the alcohol, but the fragrance does stay on my brushes, so if this is something you wouldn't like I suggest not buying this product. I think it smells like vanilla.
The listed ingredients are Isopropyl Alcohol and fragrance. I can buy a litre of Isopropyl Alcohol for $18 from http://www.beautygallery.co.nz when this is $20.49 for 100ml. So I would probably not repurchase this, but since it was only 49 cents after my voucher, I am glad I got it.

Overview
This product does what it says, and leaves a scent on the brushes. It works but is extremely overpriced so I will not be purchasing this product again.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions,
Frankie.

LA Colors

Cost
3 for $10 from the Warehouse usually $5 each.

Lip liners
I am currently trying out the LA Colors Auto lip liner in Fiery Red and so far so good. I am using it with my LA colors red lipstick which when worn alone usually bleeds at the edges of my lips. I lined my lips with the pencil then lightly smudged the colour onto the rest of my lips before applying the lipstick. Was much easier to get a clean line with the pencil rather than the lipstick.
I wore this lip combo for a total of 5 hours before I took it off. It hadn't bled and it felt creamy on my lips. It did not stain my lips when I took it off with my makeup wipe.
I did think the colour was a little bit darker than I wouldve liked, but overall good.

I applied the nude lip liner with a wendy hill au naturel lipstick on top and then a sheer pink gloss over top. I do not like the colour of this lipliner on my skintone but with the lipstick and gloss over top its ok. I wore the lip combo for about 3 hours and it only came off when I ate. The colour is not as obvious as the red but from what i can tell it didn't bleed.

I like the staying power of the lip liners, they definately extend the wear of my lipsticks and prevent bleeding. Only down side for me was the colour but thats a personal preference.

Loose Eye shadow
The Loose Eye shadow in Snow White worked well as a highlight on my skin tone. The colour is sheer and very sparkly. It comes with a brush which is OK for placing the shadow as a highlight but it needs to be blended with a fluffy brush. I don't think the brush is very good for the eyelid but it could be used if there is no alternative.

Final Thoughts
These products definitely exceeded my expectations for $5 each they do a good job. I am sure you could find better products but for the price these can't be beaten. I would repurchase these products.

Hope this was useful, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Frankie.

Let's start with hello

Hello everyone!!! I'm Frankie and I'm making this blog just for the fun of it and to give me somewhere to put all my thoughts and ideas.

Firstly a little bit about myself. I am a beauty therapist, I am weeks away from finishing my final year of school and looking forward to getting into the beauty industry full time.

My first passion is nails and more specifically nail art. This is how I first got into studying beauty therapy. But from day one of my diploma I realised there was a lot more to beauty therapy than I thought. To be honest, I went into it thinking it was something I wouldn't have to think about, something that would be fun and girly. Don't get me wrong it really is fun and girly but the depth that we go into on the science side of things. Its definitely not rocket science but it wasn't far from the level of biology I studied in a pre nursing course I did. Just putting it out there, not all beauticians are bimbos :) Though there are a few orange faced barbies out there.

Anyway, rant over. I'm planning to post a little of everything on here. Make-up, nails, anything beauty related. There may be reviews or tutorials, we'll see as it develops.

Thanks for stopping by,

Frankie