I will be blogging again soon!!!!

im at the end of my degree now so I have got sooooo much work to do!

Promise I will be back soon!! :D

Make up Storage

This is some of my storage for my make up that I have got with me at uni. I have got my brushes and pencils in some cups/mugs that are from Ikea... they were only just about 50p each! bargain. I have also got some baskets from Next that are great for holding some of the bottled products. How do you store your products?

Emma xx

My Current Skin Care

Cleanse & Tone

The Body Shop Cucumber Cleansing Milk and Cucumber Water

I have used all sorts of face products, and yes expensive ones are amazing. I love Clinique 3 step system and Philosophy purity cleanser. However I am so glad I decided to try these products from the body shop. They are about £4 each, and are quite big bottles at 250ml each. They smell great, really fresh and leave your skin feeling lovely and clean. I love that you do not need to use water to wash them off, so for the days when I would usually just use a face wipe, it only takes a few more seconds to do this!

Moisturise

Olay Beauty Fluid

Again I love other products, but I have come back to this a few times. An old beauty classic that always leaves your skin feeling amazing. Love the feel of the product, really smooth and sinks into the skin easily. A great base for make up. The price is really good for the size of bottle that you get, and it comes in different sizes!

Scrub

Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

St Ives Apricot Scrub

I am a Philosophy fan, and this exfoliating wash never fails to let me down. a scrub and wash mixed in one. The bits in the scrub are tiny, not to harsh to use everyday. I do not use it everyday, but to be honest I should as it is such a good product. It leaves my skin feeling super radiant, smooth and clean.

St Ives Apricot Scrub is quite a cheap drug store product that is really great. I have got through a lot of tubes of this product! I use it once a week as the scrub is quite big and rough, but it does a lovely job at getting any dead skin off your face.

Eyes

The Body Shop Elderflower Cooling Eye Gel

I do forget to use this everyday, as it is the first eye product I have used. I do really like it though. lovely and cooling and a nice base to go under make up. Great price compared to other brands, it is £5.50 for a tub.

Special

Bobbi Brown Extra Face Oil

This is a special treat as it is expensive. At £40 a jar, it has got to be good. As it is an oil it is greasy, and takes a while to sink into my skin, so I use this product at night rather then in the morning. It is a nice treat when you feel like your skin needs something extra. Whenever I use it I feel as though I have put on a face mask. Skin is always in really good condition after using the product and the tub will last for ages and ages as a little goes a long way!

What skin care products are your favourites?

Emma xx

New Product!

I have tested this product out a few times now... and I am not that impressed! :(

I expected great things from this, maybe it's just my hair as I have heard it is really good. It seems to make my hair quite fly away/frizzy ends. It is part of the smooth down range from Redken so I wouldn't of expected this. It is called Detangling cream, and id does do a loverly job of getting out tangles before you dry your hair. It is a thick white cream, and you only need a tiny bit, you leave it in your hair like a leave in conditioner. It is nice when thinking of it as a conditioner, but maybe not as part of the smooth down range. It was in the sale at my hair dressers, and she gave me extra money off, so it was only about £10 for me. I am not sure of the original price, Maybe it is being discontinued with it being on sale? I will still use up the tube, but maybe I wouldn't buy another as I prefer my Kerastase Ciment Thermique Heat-Activating reconstructor milk. This is an AMAZING product, after one use, my hair doesn't break when brushing, drying and straightening. I will do a review soon!!

Gel Eyeliner

I have been using Mac's fluidline for quite a while now and have always loved the product. But the last one I had dried out really quick and let me down. So I decided to give a cheaper gel eyeliner a go, figuring I wouldnt be as disappointed if it dried out while their was still some product left in the pot. I saw make up artist to the stars Lisa Eldridge say that the Maybelline 24h Eyestudio Lasting Drama gel eyeliner seemed like a good product for the money so thats the one I chose to try. I have to say for the £7.99 price tag it is amazing. Even more amazing if you use your Boots points like I did! I cant see any difference between it when compared to fluidline. And it also comes with its own brush!! the brush is really impressive for the money, gets into the lash line perfectly. I am not sure wether it will dry up pretty quick due to the lid being a bit naff, but seen as it is half the price of most other gel eyeliners and has a brush I cant complain! I have warn it today and it hasnt budged. Still the same as when I applied it at 8o'clock this morning ( it is nowww... 6pm.. not bad ay?!)

what gel eyeliners do you find to be the best? Let me know what to try next!

Check out Lisa Eldridge's website/blog @ http://www.lisaeldridge.com/

New Lingerie Shop!! Boux Avenue

Boux Avenue

I worked at La Senza for three years, and really enjoyed it. but I have to say I think they are in for some serious competition now!! Boux Avenue is a new lingerie store opening up around the country. Dragons Den's Theo who used to own La Senza has opened up the store in direct competition. I have to say the images of the store on their blog looks amazing, and the products do to.

have a look on their new website and blog.

www.bouxavenue.com & www.bouxavenue.com/blog

Ysh London

The images are not very clear on this but I wanted to add this mainly for my own benefit. I entered an online competition a while ago when I was on my foundation degree. I have just looked for the website and it has now shut down, so I thought I should put what I had on here for safe keeping. The website was a trend site called yshlondon.com. I was very excited to see my work shown online as thousands of people entered and they only showed a few entries.

Such a shame the websites now closed!

New Website

These are just some of the beautiful images from this new trend website I have discovered.

Take a look!!

http://www.trendtablet.com/

Backcombing Brush

My friend recently told me how she had heard that this brush was meant to be really good for backcombing your hair, however she couldnt find it so we went on the hunt. We managed to find it in Boots, although I couldnt see it on the website so I am not sure if all of them stock it. After one use of my friends brush I went straight out and got one for myself. it works so much better then just a standard comb. My hair is quite fine and needs help to have body. On a day-to-day basis I have been spraying thickening spray into my roots when my hair is wet and then using this comb once dry to add volume, finishing it with hairspray. For a night out, I used velcro rollers, and as i took each one out I used this comb to backcomb each section and sprayed it with Ojon volume hairspray before I took the next one roller out. By the time I had done each section my hair was as huge! and had to be brushed down a bit!! I had never had hair so massive in my life! The brush is still small enough to get into the root area, but it is bigger then a comb as it has quite a lot of bristles. It would work amazingly for special up-do's, and I can imagine it being used by celebs to get the massive, yet perfect hair look, think Cheryl Cole.

Emma xxx

Breakfast Scrub

This Soap & Glory body scrub smells sooo yummy! made from oats, shea butter, and sugar and also contains banana, almond and honey extracts! so you can imagine how lovely it smells. the texture is thick and quite gloopy, leaving a slight oily layer behind. This oil may sound horrible and not what you want but it is something I look for in a body scrub as I find it helps to remove fake tan! it soon comes off when you use a towel anyways and then leaves you feeling super soft and smooth. I am not sure how much it costs as I got it as a gift for Christmas, but it can be found at Boots! Every Soap & Glory product I have tried, I have been impressed with the quality as they are a lot cheaper then a lot of other brands.

Happy Scrubbing xxx

Hair Heaven

Redken Smooth Down Butter Treat

RRP £19.95 - also available from feelunique.com for £17

I have tried a lot of hair masks as I have blonde dyed hair and it tends to snap and break every time I brush it!! nightmare to say the least... so it is very important for me to at least try to slow this process down. I have to say this is the bestttt conditioning product I have tried. It leaves your hair feeling so smooth and silky that I felt like I had a wig on or something! I couldnt stop feeling my hair all day. My hair tends to go greasy easily if I use a lot of rich products so I was worried that this wouldnt work for me, as it is a really thick and creamy product as the name suggests, but it really does work well and I will recommend this to everyone. For really thick hair it says that it can be used as a leave in treatment, I can imagine that this must be amazing for really thick and un-controlable hair. I cant wait to try more of this smooth down range as I have heard great things about it.

Let me know if you have tried any other good hair products!

Emma xxx

Fashion Icon

Olivia Palermo

Now... I know nothing about this woman, apart from every time I open a magazine and see her in it I just loveeee what she is wearing. I love how she mixes different textures and fabrics, and love the odd pop of colour from a bright accessories. Olivia's hair and make up always looks really groomed and glowing but never very different, she has her own style that works well and sticks with it just changing her look by what she wears. I think this is the best way to go, keeping your self looking amazing by using hair and make up products that you know work well, and experiment with new fashions, after all no one likes to see over the top make up in real life - keep it in the magazines and on the catwalk :)

Tim Walker

Just wanted to share some images by my favourite photographer Tim Walker - they are just beautiful.

Fashion Icon

Blake Lively

I love Gossip Girl although I keep missing it so I am not very up to date with it at the mo, and for those of you who watch it you will know who Blake Lively is, and for those who dont, thats where shes from! A lot of the "it girls" seem to be from american tv programs these days. I love Blake's style and I think she has got a lot better lately, as I have to say her dresses did tend to be a bit tight! dont blame her for showing off those pins though!! How amazing is that red dress?!? Just love it!

The Secret of the Universe

Bobbi Brown make up is amazing and every product I have tried I have loved. None more so then the concealer and corrector. These can be used on their own or layered together for the best under eye coverage I have found. They are £17 each, so quite pricey when you want both of them, but worth every penny.

Corrector

This is a pink toned product with quite a thick consistency. You dont need much product, and is blended around the eye area covering the blue tones within dark circles. I use a blending brush to do it as the product is quite thick, if you do require more coverage though it can be applied using your fingers.

Concealer

Pretty much the same as the corrector, but more yellow based. This product can be used alone or applied over the top of the corrector, and can be applied over blemishes on the face. The concealer has a lot of coverage on its own and I do tend to use it without the corrector most of the time, but on the days you need a little more help, the two work together amazingly.

Although I think these are amazing there are two things which I do not like about the products. One is the size, you get a lot less then some other brands, but as they have more coverage I dont tend to mind and let that one slip, another thing is they do tend to crease because they are soooo creamy. Bobbi has solved this problem and has just come out with a little pallet containing the concealer and a pressed power to apply over the top! wish she had done a pallet with all three products in though!

Bobbi Brown herself describes these products as "the secrets of the universe" On the website there are some good how to do videos which have some good make up artist tips - So take a look!!!

I love love love these products, the Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks are just as good so I will do a review on these soon!

Emma xxx

I have been using this website for years! It used to be called Island Cosmetics, but has now been rebranded and has become more well known with having its own tv adverts. I still keep finding my self having to tell people about the site, so I decided to share it with everyone as maybe not everyone has heard of it before. Everything on the site gets delivered to your door for FREE!! and that is on top of what are already really good discounts. They sell brands including Clarins, YSL, TIGI Bed Head, and hundreds more...

They sell the amazing Xen-Tan which I have only seen in Selfridges at a much higher price. It is defo one to try as it has an amazing smell to it, and a lovely colour.

Happy Shopping! xxx

Mac Face & Body foundation

This foundation is really good if you want a light layer of coverage. It does build up, but I cant try it very well with more then one layer as it goes too orange for me. I have a very pale skin and struggle to get the perfect colour. The face and Body foundation that I have got is N1 and even this is too dark for me a lot of the time, when blended it does appear lighter then when first tipped out of the bottle.The first thing about this foundation which is really good is the size. You get 120ml. Most foundations are only 30ml so the size is amazing value. The current selling price on the Mac website is £23.50 which is not that expensive when compared to a lot of other brands. you can get cheaper but I find that you do get what you pay for. Although for a cheaper brand I would recommend Max Factor.

Anyways back to this review!... when tipped out of the bottle it is very watery, so be careful not to spill...I find it best to apply this with a brush and really work it into the skin. The end result is quite dewy and it sits really nicely on the skin. with it being a body foundation as well as a face foundation, it is nice to take the product down the

neck area to avoid any lines. I have done this a few times, especially when wearing fake tan to make it appear smoother, and I havent had any problems with it rubbing off onto my clothes! Got to be good

I have recommended this to two of my friends which both went out and brought the product, and both commented on how good they found it. Both have different skin tones and types to me, so it is worth a try next time you are near a Mac counter or store!

Sorry about the images being not very good quality - I am fussy about this type of thing with studying art and design, but as I am just starting out, I will see how it goes and find a better camera soon :D

Emma xxx

Amazing Hairspray

This is amazing. I saw Tanya Burr (pixi2woo) recommend it in one of her videos, and I have to say a massive thanks to Tanya for finding me the best hairspray ever. It is expensive for a hair spray, its about £24 rrp but can be found on QVC in some cheaper deals! The smell is just lovely! The other day I forgot to put perfume on and someone asked me what perfume I had used because it was so nice - but it was hairspray! now would that ever happen with a normal one? no dont think it would they usually all smell horrible. This hairspray is for volume and when sprayed into the roots and brushed over the top to smooth down any bits, it does a brilliant job! A must try for anyone wanting beautifully smelling volumized hair!

Emma xxx

I have been following a few blogs over the last few months both website versions and you tube channels, these are a few of my faves!!

Tanya Burr

Amazing! I love how Tanya does reviews, tutorials, celeb inspired looks, giveaways, hair styling... everything! always really easy and simple to follow and seems like a lovely person! her channel on youtube is called Pixi2woo and her blog is www.tanyaburr.co.uk

Have a look!

PixiWoo - Sam & Nic

These are two sisiters who are both make up artists, they do both wearable looks and more adventurous make up tutorials which are both fun to watch and learn from. Both lovely ladies and you really feel like you get to know them as you watch their videos! they have a youtube channel called pixiwoo and a blog filled with posts... http://pixiwoo.blogspot.com/

Bubblegarm

I have been following this blog for a while and love the honest reviews and very clear images of swatches and make up looks. Home decor ideas, DIY clothes and accessories and even food ideas are included on this blog! defo one to check out!

http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/

Yummy Mummy's Beauty Blog

Holly's beauty blog was the first I came across. love the swatches of all different products and reviews on them with photographs of swatches and what they look like when applied. Holly also sells off products that she does not want in blog sales - make sure you keep your eye out for some beauty bargains!

http://www.ymbeautyblog.com/

heyyy everyone!

Well this is my first post of my new blog! I have done a blog before for my uni work but never just for the fun of it! I am coming towards the end of my degree now, only a few weeks left... after that I dont know what I am going to do with my self! so I decided to start a blog to fill in my time! I love everything to do with fashion and make up, from the natural to the extreme. I am hoping to create a fun blog full of beauty reviews, and any fashion images and news I come across! wish me luck!

Emma xxx