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Showing posts with the label beauty blogger

What's My Signature Style?

If you're like me, it may have taken you a while to figure out your signature style with a few missteps along the way.    When I was a child I didn't really go in too much clothes, make up on the other hand was a staple from a young age a tool to hide behind.   In a way make up is still a mask for me, but not in the sense of hiding myself any longer I use make up to find the best version of myself. The same goes for my clothes, it took a long time for me to become comfortable in my own skin and therefore comfortable in the clothes I wanted to wear and to become comfortable with what suits me.  I'm now thirty something, so the experimental  clothing of my early twenties is over.  I've changed my look several times over from the colour and style of my hair I've been brunette, red head and blond.  I've adjusted my makeup from the influence of my youth the colours of the 80's when I was first learning to put on make up - I remember a lot of blue eyeshadow

New Year Goals

Happy New Year!  It's the start of 2017, the first page of this years blank book, what will you write on yours? Last year I set myself some 'resolutions' which in the most part I achieved.  So here I go for 2017 planning what I want to achieve this year; Writing Related Goals & Resolutions   Lets start off with the love of my life - my writing. 1. The Poppy Garden Last year I wanted to finish my novel The Poppy Garden and publish is for Remembrance Day, which I did, so this year in relation to this book project I will work on Marketing and promoting it to as many readers as possible. This book is a personal one for me, if you've read my blog before you know it comes from my Grandfather's personal dealings with PTSD, it's probably the hardest thing I've ever written and was a true labour of love. As an independent author the marketing and promotion is all down to me so I need to work on a strategy for that this year. 2. A New Proje

Dealing with Disappointment - Working Life

So, there are times in  life when things happen that disappoint you for whatever reason.  As human beings and individuals we all have ways of reacting to those things.  This week for me has been one of those weeks where I've had to deal with a Work Life disappointment. I'm a novelist, first and foremost, but to pay the bills I also have a full time job in a 'professional' environment.  It's in this job that I've found myself disappointed this week.  It's been building for a while, with the current economic climate all business are looking at how to save money and stay profitable.  The industry I work in is no different and they have been making plans, changing things and consulting with personnel on how/why they should do things. This week they made their announcement of change and parts of how this was managed was disappointing to me.  The detail isn't important for this post, the point is how I deal with that issue. 1. Be Professional You have

Elemis - Skin Care

My last post explained where I sit when it comes to brand loyalty.  I'm in the middle. I like to know what I'm using works for my skin be it make up, skin care, or nail varnish.  It's hard for me to find products that work with my sensitivity, so I tend to find a brand and stick with it if it works.  I also however need a back up plan and sometimes I just need to change a product as it's not giving me the results I want.  Right now, I'm experimenting, now this can prove costly unless you know who to ask.  For me I learned a long time ago to try before you buy if at all possible.   I don't want to be left with a product that's cost a fortune but sits on my shelf because it doesn't suit my skin.  There are a number of brands who will take things back - I had such an experience last year with Bobbi Brown, they were great after I suffered a reaction in refunding my purchase but I had to prove my reaction to them before I could get my money back w

Is there such a thing as Brand Loyalty and what creates it?

When I watch beauty Vlogs on YouTube or read a beauty blog I am always surprised by how many people brand hop.  When I first started wearing make-up as a child it was about what colour you liked - it was the 80's and I was around seven so blue eyeshadow made sense.   Once I hit my teens and my skin started breaking out and becoming more sensitive I tended to go for the products aimed at my age and skin type - Clearasil anyone? But then as I left school and all that baggage behind me I moved on to more luxury brands that matched my skin. I remember experimenting with brands including Clinque and Dior which just didn't work for me, before settling on Lancome, which I used for around ten years.  Ten years is a long time to be loyal to a product and it wasn't just one product either. I used the whole range, from skin car through makeup everything I had was Lancome - why?  Well at the time I started using it, being brand loyal was a bonus. Your skin care and makeup were tail

Summer Favourites

Okay, I know right now it hardly feels like summer - I'm still wearing jumpers and a coat!  But I do have some summer make up loves that I wanted to share. My first is the Clarins Lip Oil, this has been out for a while but there is a new flavour out now called Red Berry which I'm loving.  I leaves my lips with a light reddish tint, feel gloriously rich when putting it on and last ages.   My lips which can sometimes feel dry especially at the moment as the temperature is all over the place feel moisturised and soft when using this.  one bottle (0.23 fl oz) is lasting me around three months.  At £19 this may seem a bit excessive for a lip balm but it does go a long long, gives a great summer shine and tastes lovely.  The sponge applicator is soft and swipes the product on evenly and doesn't leave a sticky residue. My second Clarins product is the Summer bronzing compact.  I've been using this for the last two months to give a subtle glow, partly to convince my very

The Art of Cleaning Make Up Brushes

I love makeup.  I have worn it everyday since I was about 8 or 9 years old.  I've tried hundreds of ways of applying my make up, experimented with colours and changed my look from heavy to light to somewhere in between over the years. The one thing that's always remained a constant though is on a regular basis cleaning my tools.  My grandfather always said you can tell a good workman by the way they treat their tools.  I'm careful with my make up brushes and renew them every few years as they start to loose hair and shape. Currently I have two sets which I use combined, this also allows me to have one set cleaned and using a second set while they dry.  I have sensitive skin and I can always tell if I've left it too long between cleansing sessions.  Usually I try to wash my brushes once a week, usually they are okay for two weeks, longer than that I start to notice my make up isn't as smooth as I like and my skin may start showing signs of breakouts. To clean m