Lizzie's back =) Life Update........

Hey Guys =)

Sorry for the looooonnnnnggggg delay in posting. Truth is these past two months have been rather life changing..

In February, the week after valentines day me and my boyfriend decided to split up and although it was a mutual agreement it was a massive change in my life. We had been together four years, I lived with him, he was all I knew. So after I went to work in London for the weekend I got home on the Monday evening and moved out Tuesday.

I am now back living with my parents, sister and gorgeous little nephew. It's a full house but i'm never lonely.

Something like splitting from a partner can be hard but it can also be just what you need. I knew deep down that things weren't right with us for a long time. In my head I left that relationship 6 months previous, it sounds harsh but when we finally called it a day I was genuinely ok because i'd already grieved the loss of the relationship. I met him when I was 19 (he was 30 - I know big age gap right) I am now 23. My mum always taught me that when you turn 18, 21 and 24 you make a lot of changes in your life mentally and you become the person you want to be. Of course as a child and teenager I was like ha yeh right I know who I am.....sure as eggs is eggs Mamma was right. I was a child when I met him but it worked, only as I started to grow up and define who I was and he stayed the same because he already knew who he was did the cracks start to show.

Along with breaking up, moving back home, my job role changed at work, my mum was having tests for cervical cancer (which came back negative woop) it has been a very tiring couple of months.

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Couldn't agree more. In this short time I have learnt that only you can make your life what you want it and if I wanted something to go ahead and strive for it. I've not laughed so much in a long time, it's been great spending quality time with friends, dancing our shoes off and letting my hair down. I've made loads of progress with my therapy and had some great epiphanies, i'm relaxed at work and I've started to plan my trip to go travelling. Everyone I know has said how much I've changed and how happy I seem and it's nice to feel that too.

So from now on my blog is going to be what I feel passionate about, still going to be lots of beauty but more about life and my journey as I discover what it's like to be a motivated young woman finding her way in the world. I hope you'll join me through it.

Love to you all xxx <3

ProBeauty - London!

Hey guys,

First and foremost I apologise for the lack of posts recently....had some crazy shit going on...but I am back.

Todays post is going to be about Pro Beauty at ExCel in London. It was the 23rd and 24th of Feb this year and was even bigger than usual.

I am very honoured to be asked to join the Dermapure team yet again. It's always absolutely shattering but soooo much fun. This year we were only showcasing Youngblood Mineral Make-up as DermaQuest skin care in undergoing some huge changes. It was so much fun to be a make up artist for the weekend. For anyone who hasn't been the first day is for managers and owners only the second day is for students and other people to come and have a look. Here are some of the photos from the weekend.

 I had to come out of the underground at Tower Hill and swap for the DLR I thought it looked beautiful all lit up so took the opportunity to take a photo.

 These are the photos of the stand we had. We had loads of compliments from people saying how lovely it looked.

This was the team with Pauline Youngblood the founder of the company. She is a nurse and after skin peels and laser treatments you can't put make up on for 24 hours. She lives in LA which nowadays is all lunchtime procedures, she created the mineral make up so clients could have procedures and still put make up on straight afterwards without it affecting their skin or having adverse reactions.

This is Kat one of my colleagues with Pauline Youngblood and Phillip Luque a make up artist from LA who works for the company. He came over to do demonstrations.

With ProBeauty covering everything from machines, make up, tans, nails, aesthetics there's always a celeb there to aunch a new product. This year I got to meet Amy Childs and Vicky Pattinson. Both ladies were lovely. Shame the photos were at the end of the weekend and I look shattered,

All in all it was an amazing weekend and we did so well. I'm looking forward to hopefully being there next year. I have more information on Youngblood coming if any of you have any questions.

Love to all

Lizzie xx

Make-up Storage - Before and After

Hey Everyone,

If you've read my earlier blogs you'll know that i recently moved in with my boyfriend and so i didn't have much time to really organise things as it was around christmas and things were hectic. I took to sorting out my make up the other day.

Here's the before pictures:

Everything was so cluttered, i had some stuff in the bathroom and some stuff in the bedroom which was a nightmare. Whilst i was clearing out i dropped my eyebrow shadow =( so long friend you'll be missed.

Here's after:

There are some drawers behind that hold my pencil eyeliners and lipglosses, ontop of there is my brushes and my mac brush cleaner. I then have another acrylic stand that holds things that i use daily, so mascara, primers, foundation etc. Underneath there are my drawers which hold one drawer for eyes and the other for blushes and concealers.
The top drawer of the stack is now filled with eye pallets and finishing powders/highlighters. Having it all together like this makes everything so accessible, it's now much quicker to get ready on a morning.

whilst i was at it i tidied the shower caddy:

A tidy house is an uncluttered mind =)

night lovlies

xxx

Mythbusters part II - Your beauty questions answered

Hey Lovelies,


So i'm bringing you part II of the Mythbusters series and today we're going to concentrate on body products and knowledge. So lets get going.....


If I exfoliate it will bring my false tan off?

TRUE & FALSE: When you have a false tan whether it be done at home or in a salon the best way to keep it looking nice it to maintain it. So yes unfortunately that does mean that after the tan is applied you're going to have to look after it. Your skin naturally sheds at different stages which means if you leave you tan to naturally come off you may find it goes patchy. If you regularly exfoliate - this doesn't have to be vigorous exfoliation just as long as you're getting the top layer of dead skin off, your skin will fall off more evenly keeping your tan more even for longer. Another way to hold onto your tan better is to moisturise regularly too. By doing these two things you actually keep the tan for longer. 

I should shave/wax before putting on tan?

FALSE: You should always do any prep for a tan i.e. shaving at least 24 hours prior. When you shave or wax you open up the pores and the hair follicles, if you then apply tan you can run the risk of the tan getting into the pore/follicle and when these then close it traps the tan inside leaving lots of brown little dots on the skin. Not the desired look. Also waxing and shaving stimulate the skin, if you then apply a high chemical product such as tan you can cause allergic reactions within the skin. 

My body isn't dry, i should still moisturise?

TRUE: Prevention is better than the cure, whether you are dry, oily or normal on your face or body you should always moisturise. The more you do it the better but at least aim for 3 times a week to try and keep the moisture levels high in your skin. The skin on our bodies goes through a lot such as hands in and out of water, feet in different shoes or no shoes at all, arms in and out of cold weather and warm clothing. Really make sure you concentrate on particularly dry areas such as knees, elbows, feet and hands. 

I have cellulite there's no cure?

FALSE: There are different grades of cellulite from the odd bump here and there to a leg full of orange peel. Once it gets to a grade 4 it's hard to treat but there are some cures. Cellulite is fat cells that get trapped between sub-cutaneous skin cells (top surface skin cells) this then create the bumpy effect that we know of as 'cellulite'. The best way to get rid of cellulite is to detox, so increase your water intake to 2-3 litres a day and cut right back on all sugars, salt and high fat. If the cellulite is a low grade exercises can help. By toning the area you move the fat along. A great way is dry brushing the area and vigorously rubbing in special anti cellulite treatments into the area. The vigorous rubbing stimulates circulation and breaks down the fat deposits in the hope they'll be reabsorbed back into our system. You can completely get rid of cellulite but you have to work on diet, exercise and products. 

I wash regularly but i still have spots on my back, this is normal?

TRUE: You can be the cleanest person on this earth and still get spots. If you get them on you back (known as bacne) it tends to be a hormonal reason. Just make sure you're rinsing your shampoo from your body correctly to not leave any traces on the skin. That after exercise or a hot day you're showering thoroughly - try using a back brush to really clean the area, and drink more water to try and flush the skin. All these put aside it's perfectly normal and you're not doing anything wrong. The sun can help clear up acne but please use the proper SPF, if it really bothers you go to your GP and see if they can  provide you with any treatments. 


I shall be doing some specific mythbusters soon, such as one for nails, sun care etc please let me know if you want me to cover a specific topic. 

Much love

lizzie xxx

HD Brows - Your questions answered......

Hey Guys, hope you're all well. I was listening to the radio the other morning and the presenters were taking the mickey out of some girls eyebrows and when they draw them on, they then went on to discuss HD brows and what they were exactly and nobody knew. A listener then text in saying they were 'Heavily tinted brows to make them strong and bold looking'........wrong. So i thought id share with you exactly what HD's are and what it involves =) 


HD brows are High Definition brows. They are a certain shape and done in a very specific way. It is the 7 steps to the perfect eyebrows. 

Here is the process:

1. Your therapist will have a brief consultation to have a look at your brows and explain the process. Please remember that 20% will go into the shape on first go, 60% will achieve it in a few treatments and 20% will never achieve the shape. 

2. Depending on how experienced/confident your therapist is he/she may draw a guideline shape to follow, the more experienced therapist will not need to do this as they can look at someone and see the shape instantly. 

3. They will tint your brows - Yes they will go outside your natural hair line to catch any little hairs above or below (especially if you have thinner eyebrows)

4. They will remove the tint and wax below your brows

5. The will measure your brows with thread to ensure they are equal

6. Next they will pluck out any stray hairs or hairs outside the line they don't want. They will also brush and trim any hairs to create a smooth line. 

7. They will thread above the eyebrow to ensure a clean line above and to blend any little fluffy hairs with the forehead. 

8. They will get you to look at the brows and check you are happy, then ask you to hold the mirror as they apply the HD powder from the pallet to suit your colour, they will fill in one of your brows and explain how to do it yourself as they do it. They may get you to do the second one or they may do both for you. 

The treatment takes around 45 minutes, the more regularly you go the quicker the treatment becomes as they will be able to follow the previous shape instead of having to create a new one every time. 

Despite belief HD brows aren't all about having thick dark eyebrows, yes the tint is darker but it fades a lot in 24 hours. A good therapist should look at your hair and colouring and decide what shade tint to go to suit you. The HD's are about very groomed eyebrows to enhance the natural shape not about dark slugs plonked on your forehead. 

If you have very thin eyebrows you may struggle to get the shape. We recommend you go every 4-6 weeks for them doing. Some of our clients have HD then book a normal tint and wax (waxed still in the HD shape) then book for HD again. Alternating can save money but i would recommend you go to the same therapist who did your HD's. 

You need a special HD tint test 24 hours prior to your first appointment. It's a stronger tint so you need a patch test to make sure you don't have an allergic reaction, you only do this once as the salon will keep on record that you've had the test. Be aware if you change salons you should be asked to do a test every time you go to a new salon. If you walk into a new salon and say you've had it done elsewhere and they do the treatment with no record of a tint test they have poor practice. 

I recommend you get the HD pallett after your treatment. They come in three different colours. Bombshell (blondes) Foxy (brunette) Vamp (dark to black) It is a powder to fill your brows in, they are completely smudge proof so especially like me with oily skin you wont find your brows half way above or below your face in the middle of the day. The kit is £20. My boss has had her pallet for 2 years and still going strong - beats any pencil. This powder transfers heavily so use as little as possible on a brush for the more natural look. 

Cost of treatment in the North of the UK ranges from £25-£35. This may vary depending on where you live. It seems expensive but you're paying for the labour. Where else will someone spend 45 minutes measuring, tinting, waxing plucking and threading your brows to get them perfect. 

Brows really shape your face and done correctly can look absolutely amazing. 

I hope this clears a few queries for you about HDs and that maybe you'll think about getting them in the future. If you have anymore questions leave them in the comments below and i shall get back to you ASAP. 

 Love Lizzie xx

**Please note these pictures are not mine. They are from google images and credit goes to the person who uploaded them.

Look of the day - Meet and greets

Hello my lovelies, 

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, i can't believe how quickly time off work goes and it's back to it tomorrow. Today was a day of meeting with family and going to see people. I wanted to be presentable but not too dressed up. 

 For my make up I used:

- Benefit Porefessional Primer
- Estee Lauder - Double wear foundation shade "Desert Rose"
- MAC ProLongwear Concealer shade "NW20"
- Urban Decay Naked Basic Pallet 
- MAC - Gel Liner in black 
- HD Brow Pallet in shade "Foxy"
- 2 true bronzer (shade doesnt have a name or number)
- MAC blush in shade "Melba"
- Rimmel stay matte powder in shade "004"
- Maybelline Falsies mascara in black
- MAC lipstick in "hot gossip"

It was very simple and didn't take long. I used the eyeshadow pallet to underline my bottom lashes. Used the bronzer to give slight contour and a nude lip to finish it off. Perfect for when you want to look complete and presentable without it being too time consuming or look to heavy. 

As you can see up close a very subtle eye look(although you cant see the dark in my crease very well in his photo) and also how i shape my brows and fill them in. 

Next is hair - i'd just taken a shower so my hair was fresh. I let it dry 80% naturally and applied a small amount of the Revlon Orofluido oil to the mid and ends of my hair as you can see from my photos it doesn't look greasy or weighed down. 

I blow dried my hair with my GHD AIR hairdryer with no nozzle until it was completely dry. As im useless at drying my hair with a brush i have to create the "blow dried" look with my straighteners. Its very simple i straighten my hair then ad a slight twist at the end. You can see how it came out. I love it, it's nice to wear yours hair straight but the twist just adds a bit of volume and movement so it's not completely flat. With a little hairspray it stays like this. A little touch of elegance. 

Next my outfit - It's still really cold here in the UK (but no snow thank god) so a warm but comfy attire was needed. I chose simple jeans from River Island, they're skinny but they're higher waist-ed not the low rise ones so you don't have the worry of hoicking them up every time you sit/bend down and there's no worry of them slipping down to show your underwear when you walk. 
I have a plain long tank top on under neath from Primark. And to say it was only like £3.00 it washes really well and i put them under everything (i buy a selection of colours)I then put this crop jumper over the top from Bank, it's not the thickest but i was warm enough. I like the buckles and the edginess it gives the outfit.
To finish off i wore my khaki wedges from New Look, comfy and stylist at the same time. 

  
If you have any requests on blogs you would like to see i.e. how to fill in your brows please let me know =)

Niget Niget
Lizzie x

Start of the New Year and Resolutions =)

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Evening all,

so we're a week into 2014 how are you all finding it?

So far my week has had both positives and negatives. Negative that i came down with a sickness bug (boooo) hence the lack of posts this week. I'm full of cold now but i feel absolutely fine and the positives were that i acomplished alot at work today which was really good and empowering.

I thought i'd share how i started the new year with you and some of my resolutions.

The Year started off with a couple of purchases. I am very excited to be an owner of the new Urban Decay Naked 3 pallet. I had great fun trying different looks out with it, i am doing a review on the pallet this week so keep an eye out for that =)

The next thing i wanted was the porefessional by Benefit as i had heard so much about it from other beauty gurus on YouTube. Debenhams had an offer on this kit which is the Porefessional primer, it's potent eye cream and that gal all for the price of the primer. Again i shall be doing a 'recent purchases' review on this very soon.

 

New years eve was spent at my house as we were hosting for the first time there was my family and my boyfriends mum and dad. It was very casual, beige food galore and lots of chit chat and laughter. Unfortunately it was such a good night that we totally forgot to take photos of ourselves and the evening so here are a random few from the night.

 

 The beige food.........(it's a british thing to put on a buffet of food that is beige in colour not the healthiest but it's good finger food people can get as much or as little as they want)

 

 

My Little nephew Thomas James (TJ) came too. He was a little star. He was only 4 months at the time but he was giggling away. He loves lights so when the fireworks started we thought he would cry but he loved sitting at the window watching them go off. In this picture my sister was changing him and my cat Nik Nak was by his side the whole time checking he was ok.

 

My boyfriends family are all cat lovers, his mum and dad have FOUR yes FOUR cats, two of them are brothers and they're devious little monsters. Unfortunately they went home to find the scene of a crime and the culprit very much enjoying it.


Resolutions:

Although like so many others at the start of the year i vow to lose weight and further my career this year i wanted to concentrate on self esteem, motivation and self peace.

I for many years have struggled with inner peace which i will explain another time maybe. But the one thing i truly wanted was to take more time to work on me as the saying is very true 'You'll never be happy until you're happy with yourself'

So my goals are:

1. To take more time for myself
2. To get at least 8-9 hours of sleep a night (im a gal that needs alot of sleep)
3. To read more
4. To take up dance again as i miss it alot
5. To go to yoga once a week

Very simple steps, that i understand may get broken....if we're having an event at work and i get home late i wont get all the hours sleep i need, i may not have chance to go to yoga one week but they are all achievable and all end up towards the same goal.

I shall keep you updated on how i'm getting along and i shall be doing self motivation blogs along the way to keep you guys positive too.

To end my post here's a photo of me and my friends daughter it sums up how every day should be.....Filled with Smiles and Laughter =)

Niget Niget

Lizzie xx