Brush wash!

Time to wash the brushes! 

If any of you are like me cleaning makeup brushes doesn't sound like the most appealing job but I can't stress how important it is, I can't stand it when your brushes get clogged full of makeup, just think of all the oil and bacteria that starts to build up inside the bristles  GROSS! and then we go and swirl it on our faces! 

I tend to wash them every three weeks or if I feel one needs a more regular wash I will wash inbetween, for example my foundation brush takes a beating and is one of the main brushes so i usually do that every other week. Clean brushes is the key to clean looking makeup.  

There are tonnes of makeup removers on the market that you can use and even tutorials on how to but it's really not that complicated! 

Firstly, run your brush under Luke warm water with the bristles facing downwards, avoid getting water into the very base of the brush as this is where the glue holds your brush together! 

Dispence some of your chosen product into the palm of your hand, about a penny size will do. I'm doing this at work so I can use a deep cleansing shampoo. You can use anything from antibacterial hand soap to your hair shampoo. Some makeup products such as oil based foundations  can be hard to wash out of your brushes , applying Washing up liquid before you dampen your brushes Is great for this as it will loosen that up before you wash it. 

Next swirl it in your hand into a nice lather and rinse, repeat this step until the water runs clear. Rinse again under Luke warm water. 

When your happy that it's all out, Squeeze off the excess with a paper towel or a towel and leave to dry lying down to allow the water to drain off them! 

Et voila!!! 

So next time you look at your brushes, give this a go! I can assure you your makeup will go on smoother!! 

Do you wash yours? What's your routine? Xxx

QUICK & EASY:Hair mask!

 EGG, YOGHURT & COCONUT OIL HAIR MASK

  Now Here's a post I have been meaning to do for awhile, now we are in the winter months its time to give your hair some TLC.  The cold weather really takes its toll on our hair and It's time to bite back! We swap our moisturisers so why not give your hair a treat. The ingredients I am going to use are easy to get hold of and some of you will have them in your cupboards anyway!

Eggs! Yes Eggs can be a great source of protein for your hair. The yolk is rich in fats and proteins which is extremely moisturising. The whites contain bacteria eating enzymes that cleanse hair and scalp from unwanted oils. For normal hair use whole egg to condition; use just yolks to moisturise dry, brittle hair; and use just whites to treat oily hair. For me, I have a super oily scalp so this is a must. 

Yoghurt! Yogurt can help reverse hair damage caused by product build up and air pollution. After a weekend in London my hair felt sooo brittle & dry, and with it being the party season and all I haven't been the kindest to my hair (I'm sorry i still love you) The lactic acid in yogurt gently strips away dirt while the milk fat moisturises. Double YAY! 

Coconut Oil! Now we all know how amazing coconut oil is for our hair and body, this is a vital ingredient in our hair mask as it moisthurises, prevents breakage and is PACKED with nutrients to keep our hair strong and healthy such as Vitamin E, Vitamin K and Iron. Each of these plays a key role in keeping your hair soft and supple, and Iron can even eradicate dandruff from the scalp. 

If your thinking of having a go, Mix all these kitchen essentials in one and apply from tip to root, leave for 20 mins and rinse with cool water.  I like to wear it up in a bun and keep it off my face and skin because lets face it... it's raw egg!! Let me know how you get on I guarantee you will love it! 

happy hair masking !

whats your favourite? let me know, Fran xxx

KIKO COSMETICS! ♥

Good evening beauty's ♥

I'm SO excited about this one !!! 

I wanted to introduce you to this beauty. If you haven't heard of Kiko before,

Kiko Cosmetics, is an Italian professional make-up range. I love the fact that this brand is all about new cutting edge technology and the latest fashion trends. I have only a small selection of make-up to introduce you to, but Kiko offer a large variety of products for all different skin types, a massive array of colours, tones and textures.

This really is a luxury brand, but the most amazing news is: IT IS SUPER CHEAP! So your probably thinking, why is it so cheap!? Just go with me. Put it this way I bought 4 products and it came to £24.90, imagine how much  4 things in MAC would be. I was so excited to try and got bit carried away!!

 I bought  a colour sphere eye shadow in shade 04, Golden bronze special FX,this is highly pigmented  even when swatched on your hand and I cannot wait to try it! £5.90!!! 

 A beautiful luscious cream lipstick in shade 506, Misty rose. This lipstick is super creamy and feels lovely and light on your lip, it also promises to be long lasting, I have had one of these lipsticks before and they have amazing staying power, even when you feel like it's all rubbed off, its still got your back. KIKO's lipsticks are made in the same factory as MAC, they both have the same sweet scent, £6.90

 A gorgeous super gloss in shade 112, a gorgeous glitzy number,£4.90.  This is an Ultra shiny moisturising gloss that comes in 28 shades, santa please?! 

 Last but not least ultra tech mascara, I just LOVEE the brush on this mascara it's super fine to coat every single tiny lash. With two types of bristles it promises thickness, fullness, separation and definition! wowzers ! £7.20

Stay tuned for pictures of these products on! 

Have you tried any KIKO products? Did you know about them? 

Fran xxxx

A new Fav: Double Wear Foundation

 Hi lovelies,

After hearing lots and lots of great reviews about this foundation, I decided to treat myself to this little beauty, Estee Lauder Double Wear. Wow!! Ive tried numerous foundations including MAC & Bobbi Brown and none have compared to this. 

It all started when one of my clients came in and I said WOW what foundation are you wearing? This was it!  For me Foundation isn't something I always wear, I only tend to wear it on Nights out of special occasions, I wear it moron the autumn/winter as i like a fuller coverage compared to Summer. Day to day I wear the Chanel universal powder as a base, although I am willing to spend money on a good foundation for when I want to feel abit more 'done up'.  Foundation can be very hard to get right it can be too dry, too cakey, too matte, too dewy etc. Its often hard to find one thats right for you. However, let me introduce you to this bad boy!

First Impression on this product by the look of it is its very classy, sophisticated and simples. It comes in a royal blue box and the bottle itself is glass which makes it feel expensive with a simple gold lid. The one disadvantage is that it doesn't have a pump, which can make it hard to get to the product when you get half way through. It is £28 which yes is pretty pricey for a foundation but you certainly get what you pay for, you'd have to apply your £12.99 once twice maybe? well worth it.

Next thing is that it doesn't dry your skin out, I see so many girls with foundation on that just screams DRY at me and when a foundation is drying it brings out all your imperfections more than if you weren't wearing makeup! This feels very hydrating on the skin and doesn't dry out at all. 

It doesn't MOVE!! 

Once this is applied, you can party the night away and it will still be with you. I went out on saturday wearing it and went to the loo at various points as you do and was prepared to titivate but my makeup was perfect!! I have a very oily forehead and there was no shine to be seen at all, either that or I was drunker than I thought I was ! :') Also, A little goes a long way, don't apply too much as it can look cakey when you have added all your other bits and bobs on.

SO,  If you want something that’s full, opaque, lasts the entire day and night, provides the perfect matte base for everything else (contour, blush, highlighter, etc), then this is it. Perfect for oily skin like mine, doesn't stop the oil but keeps it at bay. If you have acne scars, apparently  this is good for you too! 

This is like the trusty friend that you know will be there for you when you need it. Wheres the party at? 

Have you tried this? What is your favourite foundation?

Fran xxx 

Shoebox appeal

SHOEBOX APPEAL

This year I finally did something I've been meaning to do for ages.  I have Built a shoebox for a child in a country abroad, two infact! I chose to do it through the samaritans purse, which was the nearest charity to me that were collecting.  I have done one for a boy and one for a girl ages 5-9, I'm super excited about them receiving them. The deadline date is next Wednesday18th November and for those of you living in Birmingham, The Entertainer in Sutton is collecting them. You can go on the website and find your nearest collection point by entering your postcode! https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/article/shoeboxes-for-refugees/

They ask you to pack the shoe box with school supplies, toys, games and hygiene products. I picked up loads of stuff from the poundshop and everything  was perfect!

For the girl box:                                         

-Colouring book & crayons                              

-Teddy elephant

-Disney princess ball

-Princess Toothbrush

-Minnie mouse toothpaste

-Mini Cooking set 

-Dove soap

-Gloves

-Haribo Sweets

-Frozen Slinky.

For the Boy's box:

-Soft Whinny The pooh ball

-Black gloves

-Dove Soap

-Star Wars Toothpaste

-Green Monster toothbrush 

-Jenga Tower

-Lion Teddy

- Minion Colouring book and pencils 

-Haribo Christmas Sweets

-Despicable ME slinky.

I really enjoyed doing this even wrapping the boxes was a challenge! You can even send a picture of yourself and include a little personal note, so cute! You haven't got long to get involved but please the more the merrier! It cost me £20 all together which is nothing when you think about it and it will make 2 children so happy. They treasure such small things my best friend went to Africa and said they couldn't believe she had a hair bobble and they were throwing it round and stretching it in shock! It makes me feel so happy that I can make other people happy.  It also makes me appreciate how lucky I am and how grateful i should be of everything I have! 

So If you would like to join in here is the website where you can get involved and learn abit more about this amazing thing.

Here are some pictures below of my boxes, hope you have enjoyed this post !

Love Fran xxxx

New Look Pure Colour makeup

 NEW LOOK PURE COLOUR:
Recently I have been trying out some of the makeup from the New Look Pure Colour range. 
Here are some reviews on the products I have tried.

Highlighting Stick in shade 93/Pure Gold.

 

This product is dreamy! You can see from the photo that it is packed with super sparkly pigment. It has a creamy texture and is really easy to use as it on a roller stick. It spreads nicely and you can use it where ever you like! This was £5.99 and worth every penny!

Baked Eyeshadow.

Wow! I really recommend looking at these eyeshadows because even though they didn't have a huge range (only 5 shades) they were all very lovely shades and all wearable for the day or night.Baked for long lasting colour, this product is also super shimmery! It looks amazing on and really brings out your eye colour. You can use this wet or dry to increase the intensity of it. It is £3.99 and I've had mine for a couple of months now, you don't need much as its super shiny!

Lip liner in Dark Purple.

 A lip liner for £1.99!!? Yes please! Dare I say it this eyeliner is better than MAC! It has  a soft point for easy application and has such a long lasting colour I only had to reapply a couple of times a day! It also comes of nicely with no staining. The colour is very similar to my MAC burgundy pencil and for £1.99 It's a lot cheaper! 


Liquid Eye Liner in Black.


So i needed a new eye liner and thought I would give this one a try. The colour is really intense black which I love as I hate black liquid eyeliners that dry greyish. It is water resistant and stays put all day. It dry's super fast and not once has it gone above my eyelid, you know how it does when you open your eye to early!! girl probs! The brush is slanted for easy application and this one comes in at £3.99. STEAL. 

I notice when I go online a lot of the products are sold out, so ID recommend visiting a larger store and seeing if they have the products in store. I'm not surprised its flying off the shelves, its brilliant!  Have you tried any of there products?


Fran xxx

Resort World Birmingham

RESORTS WORLD BIRMINGHAM

Last night we went to Resorts World Birmingham to check out what it is all about!

I went and wasn't sure what to expect, I knew there was a hotel, casino and a few shops but didn't know how it would all fit together.

I heard that they had spent  £150 million!!! on it so I was expecting something quite spectacular!

 Whats there?

GETTING HOTEL

 A Luxury 4 star Hotel that looks so luxurious, will have to stay there! 

RESTAURANTS & BARS

There is plenty of bars and restaurants to wine and dine at including pizza express, TGI'S,  A tepinjaki restraunt and the likes of Nando's and GBK to be opening soon. We had a cocktail from the High line bar, which was nice and reasonably priced while we waited for our table to be ready downstairs.

THE VOX BUSINESS SPACE

There is a space that you can hire for events, while I was there was a lovely wedding on, it was lovely to see everyone in all there lovely sparkly clothes <3 

 CINEMA

The cinema looked pretty cool I must say! With 11 screens with 3D and IMAX  and lots of ice cream machienes I'm sure watching a film there wouldn't be a let down!

GENTING CASINO

This looked so much fun! will defo return to go here, they have 31 gaming tables, an outdoor gaming area where you can smoke and game but be covered by the wind and rain and there is lovely fire pits to keep warm, looks lushhhh.

OUTLET SHOPPING

 While a lot of stores are still empty or not quite finished yet there are stores such as Next Outlet, Lyntt, Sketcherts, Nike, H&M, Bench, Phase Eight, Pretty Green. A lot of these are discounted stores where you can grab a bargain. My boyfriend got some shoes that should have been £95 for £45 from nike! 

SPA & LEISURE

Wow! did this look luxurious, a pool, spa and treatment rooms. I saw a photo of the pool on one of the screens and it looks gorgeous. I can feel a  girly spa day coming on!! woo!

Overall, I would say I was impressed by it as it has some good stores and entertainment places. It will be interesting to see how it does. Im just not sure what will draw people there as posed to other places such as Bicester Village and Cheshire Oaks or even the bullring. However I will defiantely be returning to try my luck at the casino and to have a go in that beautiful swimming pool! If you are thinking of going I would certainly give it a look even if you just go for a drink and some nibbles!  Have any of you been? What did you do there? 


visit there website here

https://www.resortsworldbirmingham.co.uk

Fran xx 

 

Halloween outfit ideas

HALLOWEEN OUTFIT IDEAS!

oooh yay my absolute favourite time of the year! I LOVE dressing up, It's so exciting! (BIG KID!) I Thought I would post last years outfits I wore incase you were looking for some inspiration. Me & my boyfriend went to two parties as 'couple costumes' if you like.

The first costume was Mr & Mrs. Bones!  I took my inspiration from some lovely costumes that I saw online for some crazzyyy prices! 

For both of these you will need: fake blood

                         white face paint

                         red lipstick (optional)

                         something to do the black with, eyeliner, black                          

                                      face paint etc.

                         black clothing

FOR MRS BONES: I dug out an old dancing costume out of my wardrobe that I had worn for a previous show when I was younger which was perfect for this outfit! obviously, you guys might not have this so a black tutu and a black vest top is perfect! you could even draw on some bones with tippex or paint? This dancing dress has a black tutu attached to it which was perfect. I wore it with black tights and black boots.

The face makeup was me guessing really! I painted one side of my face completly white and left that to dry, I then made the one side of my eye, nose and cheek black and left to set. Next was the mouth, I wanted it to look zippiest so i drew black lines from my just above my top lip to just below my bottom lip! Go wild, draw a black line somewhere and smudge it out, it all looks good in the end! Then obviously the other side of your face is normal! foundation blush and a bit of red lippy! 

MR. BONES: For Mr. Bones, my boyfriend Jacob wore a white shirt, black suit trousers and a white bow tie, thinking about it he should have worn a black one but hey ho! How come boys get it so easily!  Throw on a suit and you can be anyone! 

The makeup was the same as mine minus the red lipstick! ;)

ZOMBIE DOCTOR AND NURSE!

For the next party we went as a Zombie doctor and Nurse. This one was fun!

Zombie Nurse: I bought this outfit from Amazon!Its only £12 something and It comes ready blood splattered complete with dress,apron and headpiece! I will put the link below,  I bought some bloody tights from the girls section in ASDA. I then found a nurse play kit in the poundshop which is where i got the stethoscope from.

The makeup: For this I wanted to keep my face a little more 'normal'. I did my normal everyday makeup, I then  made wounds out of tissue and stuck them on with eyelash glue, then goured them up with skin coloured makeup then added some blood, they looked pretty realistic! I also bought some tattoo's from eBay, in the shape of gashes and wounds, they were fab and only cost a couple of pounds, infact i still have some left for this year!

Zombie Doctor: This  one was fun! I bought some surgical scrubs from eBay for about £6 and then we blooded them ourselves with fake blood! We hung it on the line outside and splattered it all over it, smearing our hands over it and all sorts,  The set included top,trousers and a mask! I bought some gloves home from work and applied some blood to those also.

The makeup: I applied some black eyeshadow to his head to appear 'bruised' and some red blood in his eyebrows and cheeks. We then backcombed all his hair and thew some talc in it, this helped to give the mysterious look as it turned it white! was a bugger to get out though,haha. I certainly wouldn't want him operating on me would you?! 

LINKS!

bloody tights - these are hardly ever in stock!
zombie nurse costume
Bloody Tatoo's
surgical scrubs!


Thanks for reading!  Hope this can give you some inspiration or tips for your outfits? 

Happy Halloween! :) 
Love fran xxxx

Today's buys

Today's boots trip...

Lee Stafford flat iron spray! 

Wow, I haven't bought this for years! The smell reminds me of my childhood I used to use bottles of the stuff when I was younger, my mum used to preach good hair. I can't wait to try it see if it's the same as it used to be. Not only does it smell gorgeous it makes your hair soft and shiny whilst protecting it from hear damage! 

Batiste Dry Shampoo!

My lifesaver. My 5 more minutes in bed aid. What would I do without this! God love the stuff. I love how they have bought out coloured ones, i have the medium brown to brunette one so there's no more white roots! One obvious sign you couldn't be bothered! 

No7 Quick thinking wipes!

These wipes are brilliant. I loveeee them, Bought my  first pack of these with the voucher and with my discount card they go from £7.00 to 43p! I never looked back. Excellent for getting make up off and leaving skin clean and smooth, even heavy make up. I have used other make up remover wipes, but these are the best I have tried. I Always have a pack open and one in the drawer, as I could not do without them now, The scent is clean and subtle and they do not dry my skin or irritate the eye area. I usually follow cleansing with a cool rinse of water and the toner for dry skin.

The Comforter Bubble bar! 

I went into Lush and got lured in by this lovely looking bubble bar! It looks so dreamy with the pink and white stripes. It smells amazing! This fruity bubble bar gives the feeling of being hugged by a
jolly blackcurrant. When life is getting you down, crumble The Comforter under hot, running water for purple water and creamy bubbles. The warm aroma of cassis absolute is relaxing so relaxing that you’ll go to bed feeling happier and the world will seem brighter the next day.

LUSH snow fairy

SNOW FAIRY!

OK! I did it, I jumped in the band wagon... I bought this product in the tiniest size because I kept hearing people rave about it! and it kept selling out in my local LUSH store.... 
However, when I visited my dad in Cheltenham i dived in to LUSH and they had it! yippeee. That was the first time I had smelt it... it was SOOOOO SWEET!

I can just imagine the smell now as I write this. Oh my sweet goodness! It Smells of sweeties, tis' such a  pretty pink colour and has little slimmery bits inside the bottle. It reminds me of my childhood! abit like that looney tunes toothpaste you used to be able to get?! It makes the bathroom smell of it for ages after I have used it. I am yet to try it on my hair as it says hair and body but I'm bit skeptical to use it as I don't know how it fairs on hair. Do any of you guys use it on your hair?

It's not cheap, It's £3.95 for 100g which for a shower gel is pretty expensive if you ask me! It defo smells amazing and I do look forward to using it each time I hop in the shower.

All in all, I love it, and would defo like to get a bath bomb of this fragrance, will certainly be asking for a bottle as a stocking filler! <3

Fran xxx

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