Turmeric Face And Body Scrub.

This golden scrub has to be my favourite out of all the skin car recipes I've tried. The benefits are unbelievable and it's so affordable to make a huge batch that will last you forever. As you all know by now, I have terrible dry skin, which can sometimes leave me with eczema and patchy, itchy and uneven skin (gross, I know). So I've been hunting for something natural and affordable that i can whip up myself to help with those dry patches and uneven skin tone/dark marks since I can't always afford expensive skin care.

The main ingredient,turmeric, has so many benefits to skin that it's impossible to go wrong with this scrub. Turmeric acts as an anti inflammatory agent, making it a natural remedy to skin conditions such as eczema. It aids in cooling the irritated areas of the skin and reducing redness and blemishes. It also acts as antiseptic to keep bacteria from spreading, great for acne prone skin.

The best part is that turmeric also has anti ageing properties when used externally! It prevents loss of elasticity due to sun damage and lightens the appearance of fine lines and spots caused by sun damage. This yellow goodness improves the appearance of stretch marks as it contains curcumin, which penetrates the cell membrane, contributing to skin elasticity and in turn, fading of stretch marks.

As always, the other ingredients in this scrub are equally beneficial. I used brown sugar and coconut oil for an exfoliating and moisturising effect. Scrubs can often be harsh on dry skin, however, using natural oils with sugar can assist in skin retaining moisture from the environment.

I've personally seen results from this scrub as my patchy skin has begun to even out nicely. Also, it smells amazing, a huge bonus in my book.

Recipe:
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp of ground tumeric
2 tbsp of coconut oil

You can also add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg for a lovely scent.

Enjoy !

Making The Most of Your Eyeshadow Palettes.

How many eyeshadow palettes have you thrown away without hitting pan? I've been guilty of this as well but just think of how much money you could be saving by using your palettes to their full potential. Here is a cool and creative way to use up your eyeshadows, making the most of your purchase!

Your eyeshadow palettes can serve you more use than just on your eyes. One of my favourite tricks for making the most of my palettes as well as saving money, is using eyeshadow for more than just your eyes. I love using eyeshadows for brows, contour,eyeliner and even blush and highlight. Luckily most palettes on the market now have similar colour stories in terms of containing neutrals,shimmers and pops of colour.

As you all can see, this palette has been well loved :D  and I've hit pan on a few shades! 

My personal favourite palette for a multi purpose use is definitely the BH cosmetics 28 colour palettes. The colour stories are perfection and so versatile, the colour payoff is superb and the textures are so creamy and easily blends into skin. There also palettes that have both satin,shimmer and matte finishes, making it perfect for blush and highlight!

This palette is great for every day use because of the perfect blend of neutral browns and pinks. You can surely achieve almost a full face with this.


Let me know in the comments of some of your multi purpose products and favourite eyeshadow palettes!

Creating New Shades With Your Lipstick Collection (Ft Sacha Cosmetics Intense Matte Lip Velvets)

Despite being an avid lipstick collector/fiend, I like to get creative with mixing certain shades to create my own custom lip colours. This idea works well for the average make up user to the obsessed junkie, after all making your own shades to compliment your preferences is a plus for any make up lover. You can get as creative as you wish and experiment to your hearts content as I personally believe there are no limits, regardless of tones and colours.

My personal favourite liquid lipsticks for this concoction are the Sacha Cosmetics Intense Matte Lip Velvets. With a formula that are comfortable and light weight on your lips, to a shade range that expands to every skin tone out there, we got a lot of options to experiment with. Sacha Cosmetics formulation on these lip velvets are so full coverage and long wearing, I would recommend it to anyone just starting out in make up or even those who collect. It's quite pigmented and you're guaranteed to have a colour for your skin tone with the expansive shade range. You have everything from rosy nudes, to warm browns, bright reds and even those daring colours such as black and greys. There is also a shimmery formula that works well when mixing with a matte colour for a subtle satin finish.

Here are some of my favourite combos!

Shade Names: Bounce on it (a rosy nude) and Scream (a matte, deep, cement grey)

These 2 shades combined gives a lovely, soft mauve toned nude. I love cool toned nudes on days where you want something less subtle than a regular nude. It's very complimentary to tan skin tones as well.

Shade Names: Like Ah Single (A cherry, warm toned red with shimmer) I'm in the nude (a warm nude). 

I love this combination especially as it's final result is close to my natural lip colour with a slight amount of shimmer. 

Shade names: That's what she said (a vibrant violet purple shade) and So what's new (a deep berry pink). 

This combination is great for a perfect magenta shade. The purple adds to the blue undertone and brings out the red tones in the pink as well.


What are your favourite combos? I'd love to know!

DIY Honey & Green Tea Mask.

Based on my previous posts, you can surely tell that I'm a huge fan for DIY and affordable skin care treatments. Finding this simple recipe from a former inmate on youtube had me extra curious to try out this prison beauty treatment. It's a quick way to give yourself some well deserved pampering before starting your day. It takes very little time and you leave it on your skin for 15 minutes, simply meaning, there are absolutely no cons to using this mask. 


Directions: 

DIY, easy skin care can give you that spa experience at home, without spending all the extra cash! The directions for this are quite simple. All you need are green tea leaves (right out of the tea bag) and honey. You can moisten the tea leaves before adding honey, by adding just a few drops of water. I usually just make enough to have for one or two uses, so use one tea bag and about a tsp of honey. Of course you can adjust this to your liking. 

I used green tea with mint cause it smells amazing! 

The concoction. 

Benefits: 

The benefits of this 2 ingredient mask are overwhelming. Packed full of anti oxidants that act as a skin brightener, aiding in reducing marks, this can also be used as a spot treatment. Honey is amazing in terms of reducing redness, acting as an anti inflammatory agent and eliminating bacteria that can contribute to acne. This 2 ingredient mask does wonders. 

Review: 
As someone who has dry skin, this mask gave me a glow that I've never seen on my skin before. After washing it off, my skin felt really soft and well hydrated. Unfortunately, i rarely break out due to my dry skin, so I don't have acne or the marks that come with it (dry skin is just as horrible though, believe me!) so the spot treatment properties won't really apply to me. However, using natural ingredients is very important to someone like me who has dry skin and suffers from eczema. Applied to areas where my glorious eczema may appear worked wonders. Being an anti inflammatory as well as a natural moisturiser, I'm relived that I have a natural remedy instead of having to spend a ton on prescription creams. 

Final Thoughts:  

Despite being a simple mask, I believe skin care at home is truly an important part of your day. It's time you are spending on yourself and taking care of your skin. It's always vital to remember that regardless of how busy our jobs or lives may get, always make time to take care of yourself.  At the end of day, your happiness should always be a priority, so go to your pantry, whip up this mask and...

Source: 

Prison Beauty Hacks

Also,check out the original video where I got the idea from :).  

DIY Sugar and Olive Oil Scrub.

Who knew that sugar can actually be beneficial to you? As natural and organic skin care has been trending over the past few years, with various scrubs and creams hitting the shelves with ingredients that sound like a desert recipe, I'm here to give you a simple DIY scrub that wont strip your skin of natural moisture and it is very cost effective to make.  Of course I'm not here to encourage you to binge on sugary sweets, however, this delicious ingredient can benefit the skin in many ways and it's cruelty free :D

Sugar naturally draws moisture from the environment into your skin (a natural humectant). As well as olive oil being a natural moisturiser (with lots of valuable omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin e), this scrub won't dry out your skin while exfoliating. Sugar is also a natural source of glycolic acid, which penetrates the skin, encouraging cell turnover for a natural and more youthful glow.

Sugar granules are more rounded and thus less harsh on the skin when it comes to exfoliating.  It can remove dirt and unclog pores all while maintaining the perfect ph balance for your skin type.  This sweet ingredient aids in eliminating black heads,breakouts and acne. Who would have guessed sugar was so sweet to your skin?

                     I tend to use a small amount of oil as I tend to be extra with exfoliating 

One of the best benefits of this scrub is its anti ageing properties! By removing dead skin cells with sugar, this prevents toxins from getting to your skin cells, thus slowing down the ageing process.

Directions:
2 tablespoons of brown sugar.
2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Seriously, it's that simple. Now you can adjust this to your liking, add more oil if you want a looser consistency or less as you please. I like to leave this on my face for a few minutes after scrubbing as I have horrible dry skin and I like to maximise the moisturising effects. I tend to store this in the fridge if i have excess remaining. 

Give this scrub a try and let me know how this turned out for you in the comments.

Capsule Makeup Products

I know not everyone obsesses over collecting make up items and minimalism is a fast growing trend. As the capsule wardrobe trend took off, to guide those into building a wardrobe from a few staple items that work for your body, lifestyle and personal tastes, so did the idea of a capsule make up guide. in order to avoid those over flowing drawers and products that won't be used and just tossed away in a matter of months, I've decided to come up with a short yet simple guide to help you save money and some time in your make up routine. And of course, it's cruelty free!

Step 1:

Firstly, pick your basic items that you need for your everyday face routine. For example, your base products (foundation,concealer,powder,contour and brows) and the remainder such as a blush and highlight. For your blush and highlight, make your selection based on what compliments your skin tone and natural features best. For example, if you're tan with a yellow under tone, a peachy tone would give you that natural flush. 

Pictured above are my holy grail face products. My cream to powder foundation by Flori Roberts works so well as an every day full coverage foundation that I barely need concealer. I also used a setting powder in my shade and one a few shades darker to contour. I use a subtle highlight by elf cosmetics and a light pink blush by nyx cosmetics. My favourite brow pencil is by jordanna cosmetics. It's totally affordable and gets the job done!  

Step 2: 

This is the hardest part for me to suggest because I love eye shadow and I cannot stick to one palette but, I will try! In terms of eye shadow, not everyone is a fan of colour, so I would suggest picking a palette with tones that work for you and also compliment your eye colour. For instance, for an everyday look, you may just want to swipe one neutral shade and a deeper brown on your lid to get some basic definition to your eyes. 

If you're a fan of colour, have no fear, there are palettes that have your neutral shades and also a pop of colour of darker tones for those night time looks. 

My eye shadow palette of choice for this collection is one by elf cosmetics. It contains those neutral shades for an every day look as well as brighter colours.

Step 3: 

Pick at least 3 lipsticks, one lip gloss and 2 lip liners. Go for shades that compliment your personality! Shades that are complimentary for your day look, such as a nude or even a red and shades that are bold enough for your comfort zone. You can also mix these shades to create new ones, so who needs a million lipsticks anyway?
I recommended a lip gloss to add some sheen to a matte lip based on your mood. For my personal picks, I selected a nude shade, a bright red and a dark,vampy shade. 

I've also included a link by one of my favourite youtubers on the topic who also inspired this post.

Capsule Make up Collection

Suggest me some of your holy grail make up products in the comments!

Travel Make up Essentials

Travelling can be hectic in terms of deciding what to pack. I always like to travel lightly with basic essentials. I remember taking nothing more than a backpack to a 3 night stay in Paris, making it so much easier to move about and it certainly didn't impact my comfort. I apply the same logic when packing make up, being sure to take only the most basic of versatile of items ( I end up purchasing more make up when I travel anyway, I can't help it, I have a problem 😭).

I try to have all my products fit into one make up bag, taking along mostly multi use products or just skipping some all together based on my routine preferences. Some very useful items are eye shadow palettes, especially neutral toned ones that you can also used for contour or even highlight if it includes a shimmery shade. My personal favourites are the Kat Von D Shade and Light eye palette and the E.L.F party ready palette.

(Pictured above) Kat Von D Shade and Light eye palette is a great pick if you're into more neutral tones.

(Pictured above) The E.L.F Party Ready palette would be my preferred palette as I tend to use more colour when it comes to eye-shadow.

Other options would vary upon taste, for instance, this may be a product some may skip all together if they do not incorporate eye shadow into their daily routine. Single eye shadows, duos, trios and quads make better options for lighter packing.

 Another multi use product to throw in your travel bag is concealer. It doubles as an eye primer for me as well as adds more coverage to my usual bb cream as I personally don't take foundation with me.  My holy grail concealer is Tarte's shape tape concealer in "sand" as it lasts all day, application is smooth and it blends so well into the skin. I use it to provide a subtle highlight to give my face some dimension throughout the day.

My picks include: 
- Too Faced Setting Powder.
- Loreal True Match Powder.
-LA Girl Pro BB Cream ( I tend not to use foundation on a daily basis ).
-LA Girl Gel eyeliner in black.
-MAC Blush in Gingerly.
-Josie Maran Black Oil Mascara.
-Tarte Shape Tape concealer.
-Elf Party Ready eye-shadow palette.
-Kat Von D Ink Liner.
-Nyx liquid swede and soft matte lip cream.
-MAC and LA Colours lip liners.  

I tend to have everything fit into one bag to minimise on space.

As for brushes, I take as little as possible as well.

The brushes include:
-A flat eye-shadow brush.
- Fluffy blending brush.
-Angled blush brush (this can also be used for contour and face powder).
- And a fluffy  ELF brush for all over face powder.

So, basically, pack lightly and according to your preferences and daily routine. Try to incorporate multi use products and make use of those smaller palettes in your collection but most importantly, always leave room to buy more!

Brush Cleaning 101.

Hey there!

For my first post, I've chosen to discuss cleanliness and maintenance of tools as it is an important step in hygiene and overall skin health. Now I have to admit, I tend to get lazy from time to time when it comes to washing my brushes on a regular, however, brushes are easily contaminated as they are transferred from surface to surface. Whether it be from your make up bag to your vanity, brushes can get coated with dust and bacteria that causes skin irritation, especially if you're like me and genetics gave you sensitive skin.

So without further delay, here are some quick tips to brush cleaning!

➤ Use a gentle shampoo: Shampoos are less harsh than other types of soap, especially if you're using baby shampoo. My preferred method is to apply a pea sized amount the palm of your hand and swirl the brush around. This removes all the caked product from your brush in a gently manner.

➤ Olive oil: For tougher to clean tools such as make up sponges or beauty blenders, I recommend soaking them in luke warm water  and olive oil. The olive oil removes product such as foundation or powders from the surface of the sponge so it doesn't retain a stained appearance after you wash. Apply baby shampoo after and rinse until the sponge runs clean.

➤ Brush cleaner: Aside from using your hand, you can opt for a brush cleaner or a dish-washing glove, as long as it has some kind of ridges to give your bristles a gentle scrub. I use "brushegg." (pictured below).

➤ Use a paper towel to dry off: Gently swirling your brushes on a paper towel then laying them flat to dry over night works for me, you can also use a wash cloth but I personally find a paper towel to be more absorbing!

Here's the before:

And a close up:

And after cleaning:

My ideal routine for washing brushes would occur twice per week, however, if you dont have the time to wash all your brushes that often, I would recommend cleaning your face brushes at least twice a week, especially if you don't apply eyeshadow looks often.

Let me know your tips and tricks for your brush cleaning routine  (: