Game of Thrones Hair

This is what I like to call my Game of Thrones hair, long brushed out waves ala Queen Cersei.

The tools you will need:

Curling wand - (You can use straighteners but for this kind of wave, a curling wand is better) I have the Babyliss Waving Wand which I love as its so quick and easy to use and gives me the exact waves I want. Plus you can buy them for £20.00, bargain. I never use my GHD's to curl my hair now.

Hairbrush - Any hairbrush will do, my favourite one to use for this is my Mason and Pearson brush as it helps smooth the hair but my little brother keeps stealing it, so I had to do with any ole brush.

Hairspray - Now I don't always use this but if its particularly windy or I want my curls to last all day then I will.

Moroccanoil - Again optional, I sometimes smooth 1 pump of this through the lengths and ends of my hair after I have curled and brushed it, to tame any frizz.

Game of Thrones toys are optional!

1. Start with clean, reasonably straight hair (if you hair is particularly frizzy you may need to straighten first). I always set my Waving Wand to the highest temperature, my hair has never snapped but as my hair is so straight I need a high temperature to keep a curl!

(I have serious bitch face when I curl my hair, its the concentration!)

2. Start curling - I don't bother sectioning my hair or anything fancy like that, I just start! The important thing to remember is to curl away from your face! I cannot stress that highly enough! Also don't curl from the root, you want to curl from about mid way down your head. I take quite big sections of hair, remember you want loose waves not tight ringlets so the wider section of hair you take, the bigger the wave will be.

3. Repeat on the other side of your head, again curl away from the face my friends.

4. Brush out - Once you have curled all your hair, leave it to cool down. Once your curls are cool you can then brush them out. If you brush out when they are still warm you risk loosing the curl (that sounds a lot more traumatic than it actually is!) 

Again I don't do this is in a particularly neat fashion, I just brush my hair from root to ends.

5. Styling products - Now your hair is brushed out this is the point where you can add your oil if your ends are a bit frizzy and any other styling products you want. Grab that hairspray!

Et voila

This is my go to hairstyle if I am going out, or for any special event. In fact its pretty much the only way I really style my hair. Brushed out waves are the best!

The next day I will usually just twist the front 2 sections of my hair and clip them back but if you want to channel your inner Khaleesi, plait the front 2 sections instead and clip back.

Now I just need to find my very own Khal Drogo

The Beauty Graveyard

I have managed to get through another big bag of beauty products. Time to share some quick reviews (well I will try to make them quick!)

If you haven't read one of my Beauty Graveyard posts before and you see a * next to a product that represents how many times that product has been in a Beauty Graveyard post before. 

If you see a lot of *'s that means it must be good!

Aussie Mega Shampoo **** - Possibly the best shampoo I have ever tried. Fabulous for everyday washing if you suffer from greasy hair like me. Leaves my hair feeling squeaky clean.

Aussie Mega Instant Conditioner *** - Works perfectly with the shampoo, highly recommend

Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray - I have since got through a big massive bottle of this stuff. Gives your hair really natural body and waves without leaving any residue at all. You honestly cant tell there's anything in your hair, not like your typical sea salt spray. I love it, but hate the price (£18.00 for this little bottle!)

Bumble and Bumble Surf Foam Wash Shampoo - Pricey but I love how this leaves my hair feeling all bouncy and fresh! (I sound like I'm talking about Lenor!)

Bumble and Bumble Surf Creme Rinse Conditioner - This conditioner works really well with the shampoo as its not too heavy so it doesn't weigh down your hair but still gives it that moisture. 

Garnier Ambre Solaire After Sun Hydrating Tan Maintainer - I used to buy this stuff in bulk to use after my holidays I loved it that much. It gives your sun parched skin much needed moisture to help prevent or at least delay the dreaded peeling. It also works like a gradual tan to help boost and maintain your tan for longer. Make sure you wash your hands and be careful when applying though as it does contain a self tanner, so can leave you looking patchy if you're not careful.

Garnier Body Repair Anti-Dryness Restoring Moisturiser - Wow, a body moisturier that's not E45! My beloved E45 just wasn't cutting it so I decided to upgrade to something more heavy duty, plus this was on offer and for some reason the fact that it contains Maple Sap appeals to me. This is a bloody good moisturiser, really works and I notice a massive difference when using this. 

Fearne Body Lotion and Body Wash - I really, really love Fearne Cotton. I hate the term "girl crush" *vom* but put it this way I either want to be her or be her best friend! These are from her Christmas sets that she does for Boots every year. I know Christmas sets can be a bit naff but I actually really love Fearnes range. The packaging which she designs herself is always really cool and the products are all good quality. I highly, highly recommend her nail polish sets. Great value for money and the colours and quality of the polish are amazing!

L'occitane Shea Butter Foot Cream - Not gonna lie, my feet ate like ruddy hoofs at the moment! This stuff feels so nice and refreshing when you put it on but it wasn't the miracle I was hoping for. At £19.00 its pretty pricey and I wouldn't buy it again. 

Super Facialist by Una Brennan Neroli Firming Intense Facial Serum - I really enjoyed this serum, it felt very soothing on my skin and I also really liked the smell. While I cant really comment on the firming promises as my skin isn't really in need of that much firming, I would definitely purchase this again and try more things from the Una Brennan line.

REN Micro Polish Cleanser - This is a facial exfoliator which I had read absolutely nothing about before trying. I liked that it wasn't too gritty or harsh but I noticed no difference in my skin when using it and for £20.00 I would rather give something else a try. 

L'oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution - Love this stuff! Full review here

Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner * - I generally prefer acid like exfoliators to traditional gritty lotions, as I can actually notice a difference in my skin after use. I use this at night and in the morning my skin looks plumped and healthy.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish * - A product I always come back to, this is the cleanser that got me off makeup wipes. 

OPI Alpine Snow - I love these mini bottles of OPI as you can actually finish them! Plus the gift sets make great presents. Alpine Snow is the best white polish I have found, good to go in 2 coats.

Bobbi Brown Almost Bare Perfume - Full review here this has quickly become my signature scent and I am already on my third bottle!

Jack Wills English Velvet Perfume ** - Another of my favourite perfumes, I wont attempt to describe it but its a nice comforting scent and quite unique.

Zoya Remove + *** - Call me a Drama Queen but I cant use any other nail polish remover except this. All others dry out my nails hideously, this doesn't at all plus it makes my nail polish last so much longer. When you paint your nails as much as I do, I can honestly say I have worn nail polish consistently for the last 4 years, you should invest in a nourishing nail polish remover!

Smashbox Photo Finisher Primer Light - Full review here I was actually pleasantly surprised at how long this diddy tube lasted me! I would buy again and have actually replaced this with their new anti blemish primer which I will review soon!

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder *** - Pretty impressive that I have got through three of these powders! I use this on top of foundation and it just gives my skin the most gorgeous glow.

DIOR Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen - I loved the coverage this gave under my eyes and it was actually a really great colour as it gave me a highlighted effect but didn't look artificial. However, I was pretty shocked this ran out as quickly as it did and at £26.00 that's a deal breaker. So many brands have their own versions of these pens and for a lot cheaper. 

Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel * - I always use this, you have seen it in a million face of the day posts but I just love it. Brushes your brows up and keeps them there a la Megan Fox.

Benefit They're Real Mascara ** - Another overpriced product but I love the effect of this so much that I'm prepared to pay the price. If you like Ardell's Demi Wispie's false eye lashes then you should try this!

Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray ** - I didn't realise just how much this spray had become a part of my routine until I got ready round my friends house for my birthday, forgot it and had a massive panic! Would not be without this, keeps my makeup on all day.

Using up makeup is almost as much fun as buying it....(I said almost!)

Bourjois Twist up the Volume Mascara

Twist up the Volume is the new mascara from Bourjois which allows you to change the size of the brush depending on the effect you want.

There are 2 settings, position 1 which is a longer brush with more spaced out bristles, designed to lengthen and separate your lashes to give a more defined look.

By twisting the top you can change to position 2. Position 2 gives you a shorter more chubby brush, which is designed to give more volume to your lashes.

Now I actually cant tell a massive difference between the settings but I can say that position 1 is my favourite. In general I prefer a more defined look to my lashes anyway but I found this mascara really lengthened my lashes and made quite a dramatic difference. I also love how it kept my lashes defined and didn't turn them into a big clumpy mess. 

I do think the transformable brush is a bit of a gimmick and a bit wasted on me as I am perfectly happy with the 1 position but overall this is a very good mascara. 

Currently on offer in Boots for £6.99 (normal price £10.99)

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Electric Pink (Matte)

Smashbox lipsticks are a new discovery to me, a pretty deadly discovery to my bank card now that Smashbox is available in Boots! 

I got this amazing bright pink matte shade called Electric Pink in Sephora while I was on holiday and I love it. You cannot beat a bright, matte lipstick. Has to be matte though!

Excuse my grumpy face, I must be miserable about turning 27!

Lipstick makes everything better!

Face of the Day with Revlon Candy Apple

I have tried so many new products this month and with Summer ending I have found myself reaching for a lot of my winter favourites again. I love warm makeup in the winter, flushed red cheeks with red lips. Out of all the Revlon Lip Butters, Candy Apple is by far my favourite and now we are back in Autumn/Winter I am loving wearing it again.

Face 

DIOR Airflash CC Primer - Reviewed here. I just love how quick and easy this primer is to apply.

DIOR Airflash Spray Foundation - Full review here one of the best foundations I have tried. Good level of coverage and semi matte finish means you can skip powder and concealer if you're in a rush, like me!

Jouer Sunswept Mattifying Powder Bronzer - My favourite bronzer, this gives my skin that warm glow that I love so much.

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Blush in Warm - Oh, i adore this blush. One of my favourite things I picked up in America, the colour is so pretty and it has just the right amount of glow to it. It looks very natural on and I just wish we could get Physicians Formula here in the UK :'(

Eyes

Hourglass Brow Sculpting Pencil in Soft Brunette - Amazing, I wont go on!

Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel - See above!

Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Toast - I have been using my Bobbi Brown eyeshadows so much lately as  the colours are perfect for providing subtle definition to your eyes. Toast is a new addition and its a light warmed tone brown which I like to run all along my crease from the top of my nose all the way out, for definition and a bit of colour.

Maybelline Great Lash So Very Berry Mascara - I have worn this so much this month, I can officially say I have fallen in love with coloured mascara. The berry colour is dark enough to add definition but I love that the red tones help bring out the blue in my eyes.

Lips

Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple - If you aren't a big fan of lipstick or have quite dry lips I would really recommend Revlon's Lip Butters. They feel like a lip balm but provide a good amount of colour. 

I love the red colour of Candy Apple, another favourite is Wild Watermelon which is a slightly more pink red. 

Olsen Twins Eye Makeup

This is my favourite kind of makeup, messy, lived in and minimal effort. I'm not really a fan of "perfectly done" make up, I don't want to use one colour eyeshadow for my lid, then a darker colour for my crease then  a lighter colour for my brow bone to highlight. I just want one colour that I can basically smudge all round my eyes et voila! I do also secretly wish I was Courtney Love!

This is one of the reasons I love cream eyeshadows, I find they have more dimension to them than a powder eyeshadow. Even though i am only using one colour, the way you blend the cream out around the eye gives you so much depth.

The trick is to smudge your eyeshadow underneath your lower lash line. Don't be scared but we wanna go low here. If you feel under your eye, you feel that bulge around your eye ball? Well you wanna go as low as that, even lower if you feel daring, the trick is in blending so there's no harsh lines. There should be a foggy haze of colour around your eye, which will really emphasize your eyes. As these are creams I normally use either my fingers or a synthetic brush to apply, as they work better with cream products.

So, some of my favourite cream brown shadows are Dual by Illamasqua, MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist (also a favourite of Alexa Chung don't you know), Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze and possibly my favourite of them all and the one I am wearing, Tom Ford's Cream Colour for Eyes in Spice.

Halloween Nails - Bourjois 1 Second Nail Polish in Dangerous Wish

Its been a while since I have let a glitter nail polish grace my nails. I just cant be doing with spending half the evening trying to get the stuff off! 

I have to thank my friend Nat for encouraging/enabling me to get this! Dangerous Wish is a green glitter with teeny tiny bits of holographic glitter in a black base, perfect for Halloween!

The formula of this polish was good and I just used 2 coats (I only use more than 2 coats in exceptional circumstances!)

One thing I don't like though is the brush, its HORRIBLE! This is Bourjois' 1 Second Nail Polish, I guess their thinking was to make the brush so big it paints the whole nail in 1 second. 

You can't see but I'm frowning!

This brush is just a flooded cuticle waiting to happen. I actually found it took me a lot longer to paint my nails as the giant brush got really fiddly on my smaller nails.

Crappy brush aside, this is a nice polish and under the light the glitter looks so cool. 

I don't know if this quite matches up to last years Halloween nails though!

My WAH Halloween Nails

My more grown up Halloween nails!

REN Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser

My skin has not been great lately, you would have thought spots were something you wouldn't have to worry about in your twenties! I was lucky that I never had problems with my skin when I was a teenager but now I seem to be paying the price for that!

I always use some form of hot cloth cleanser at night so I did some research into skin clearing cleansers and REN's Clay Cleanser kept coming up. Its an antibacterial cleanser specifically formulated to target blemishes and clear the skin. After reading lots of rave reviews online I decided to give it a try.

I have been using this for a few weeks now as I wanted to see what effect it had before reviewing it. I have definitely started to notice a difference in my skin, I still get the odd blemish but its not as bad as it was and overall my skin does seem a lot clearer. I will definitely continue to use it and would recommend if you are also suffering from problem skin. I was concerned this would feel really drying as its a clay cleanser, but I was actually quite surprised by the consistency. It doesn't feel clay like at all, it just feels like a heavy cream. I do notice my skin feels slightly drier after using it but I just apply my moisturiser straight after.

As well as the cleanser I thought I would feature my other current skincare favourites

Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturiser - The best moisturiser I have ever used, I think this is also helping to clear my skin up. Its nice and light and doesn't feel greasy or heavy at all, I love it and I have never found a moisturiser I have really liked before. I bought this in Sephora and I wish I had bought another one as you cant get Kate Somerville in the UK :'( Although her website does ship to the UK.

L'oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution - Full review here I love this stuff

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil - Why oh why do I fall in love with things that you cant get in the UK! I was actually given this as free sample and again I'm thinking why didn't I buy the full size! Out of the other facial oils I have tried this is by far my favourite. Its not as greasy as some of the others, although I would still only use this at night. 

Hydraluron - I'm now on my second tube of this stuff. I apply it before my moisturiser, both at night and in the morning. This serum contains hyaluronic acid which increases your skins hydration, improving the overall texture of your skin. Definitely needed at this time of year when the colder weather dries your skin out. 

REN is widely available online I bought my cleanser from Space NK for £18.00

3 Cult Mascaras

It feels like every week there are new beauty and makeup products to keep up with but there are some that have stood the test of time.

These mascaras have been around for years and are raved about by celebrities, make up artists and magazines. Kim Kardashian's make up artist, Mario Dedivanovic swears by L'oreal's Voluminous mascara. Kate Moss and Sarah Jessica Parker are both reported fans of Maybelline's Great Lash and Max Factor's cult 2000 Calorie mascara has won countless beauty awards over the years.

I thought I would put all 3 to the test.

L'oreal Voluminous Mascara - This was my mascara of choice back in my Secondary School days, you know the time when the clumpier your mascara, the bigger your popularity!

There's no doubt about it, this is a pretty amazing mascara. It builds volume quickly and its the richest black colour which gives a very dramatic effect. My only gripe with this is the potential for clumpiness, spider lashes aren't my thing anymore so I just need to be careful when applying this.

Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara - Side note don't you hate it when you get mascara on your eyelids! This is my favourite of the 3, it gives beautifully defined lashes with just enough volume. I love how it really fans out your lashes. The formula is drier than Voluminous and doesn't tend to clump. 

I can see why this is a cult classic.

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara - I can remember back in the day reading that this was Sarah Jessica Parker's favourite mascara and rushing out to buy it. I then remember the bitter disappointment when this didn't live up to my expectations. Now, that was back in my spider lash days so I was prepared to give this another try and you know what, its actually a pretty good mascara. The brush is teeny tiny but I quite like that, as you can get each individual lash. It doesn't clump and just gives very good natural looking lashes. I still don't think I would re purchase this mascara but I feel I can now appreciate it!

Sunday Face of the Day with MAC Her Cocoa Eyeshadow Quad

I constantly change my makeup depending on what is currently inspiring me. I love makeup, its my art.

I love Autumn, just for the colour of the trees alone. I wish I lived in America, with those wide roads lined with red and orange trees. If Autumn was a decade, to me its the 70s and all I want to do right now is wear mustard coloured polo necks and watch old school horror films! So that was my inspiration for today's make up! I also wanted to use some of my old favourites that I have been neglecting.

DIOR Airflash CC Primer - Review here

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Real Sand - My favourite ever powder, I stopped using this over the Summer as its not the best for shine control, but cant wait to start using it again.

DIOR Skin Flash Radiance Booster Pen

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage - Covers like no other

MAC The Perfect Cheek Blush - Now I do love my red blushes but every now and then I want more of a subtle colour and this is my favourite.

MAC Forever Marilyn Beauty Powder - After snooping inside Chloe's makeup bag I was inspired to dig this out.

Jouer Sunswept Mattifying Powder Bronzer

MAC Lingering - After discovering the Brow Sculpting Pencil by Hourglass by much beloved Lingering was tossed aside. I still highly, highly recommend this eyebrow pencil especially if you want a more defined brow.

Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel

Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara - Review coming soon!

Benefit Stay Don't Stray - If you can get over the crappy packaging this is actually an amazing eye primer, my eye shadow stays perfect until I take it off at night.

MAC Her Cocoa Eyeshadow Palette - I'm just going to pretend this isn't from the Rihanna collection, don't judge me! The colours are perfect for a bronzey smudgy eye, which is exactly what I was feeling like today!

Brush on the left = PERFECT         Brush on the right = WILL BLEND NOTHING!

Now for a perfectly blended eyeshadow look you need a good brush. Not a sponge tip applicator, a proper blending brush. 

I recommend the MAC 217 blending brush as it will apply your eyeshadow and blend it at the same time. The brush on the right is a flat eyeshadow brush and will only place your eyeshadow, it wont blend it. These kind of brushes are better if you are applying say a glitter or a pigment in the centre of the lid as you can pack on the colour. You should then use a blending brush to blend out the edges.

You don't need both these brushes either, just get one decent eyeshadow blending brush! 

I like to take my eyeshadow really low under my eye and this is where the blending brush is perfect! I just used the darkest colour in the eyeshadow quad and applied below my lower lash line, leaving the brush to do the blending.

Finally for lips I used one of my favourite matte lipsticks, MAC "Velvet Teddy"

Now back to hibernating