Mask Monday: The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask Review!

Hey guys,

So on a Sunday I tend to chill out, have a bath and almost always have a facemask! I’ve become a bit obsessed with them since turning 30 (!) and am paying more and more attention to my skin care needs! So I’m thinking, while I’m trying out all these different masks I will share with you all my thought and feelings on them! I’ve stockpiled quite a few to try, so let’s get started!

Over Christmas I spent a lot of money time perusing the shelves at The Body Shop. I feel like I totally forgot it even existed and do you know what? It’s a total shame because I have been missing out on some complete GEMS! I’m sorry Body Shop, please forgive me.

I got a free sample of the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask with some other purchases over Christmas (FYI Satsuma Shower Gel…. So delish!) and HAD to buy full size after I used it.

The box states:

“Inspired by Arurvedic traditions, our tingling mud mask contains powerful bamboo charcoal, active exfoliating green tea leaves and potent tea tree oil which combine to purify the skin and give it a new lease of life”. 

I struggle with tired, dull looking skin, especially in the winter, so anything that claims to give it a glow or a “new lease of life”…… I’m down.

The mask does smell very tea tree-y so if your not a fan of the scent then this probably isn’t the mask for you, personally, I love it!

I applied the mask with a brush, all over, avoiding my eyes and lips and sat back to relax while the mask dried and did it’s magic.

The tingle is… Wow. The only thing I feel I can compare it to is when you have the chewing gum Airways?! A sudden “wow” of freshness- not so much that you get worried and feel it’s burning you face off, but really quite refreshing!

I washed off after 10 mins and I swear to God….. My skin has never felt smoother! I couldn’t stop stroking my face and telling my boyfriend how amazing it felt. (sorry Lee!)

Did I look more glowy? To be honest, not obviously, but I have only used the mask once, so we shall see! I am…. Ridiculously impressed with this bad boy though, and can’t wait to see further results. The box recommends use 2-3 times a week, so I might do that and update in a couple of weeks. That being said I do have A LOT of masks to get through, so we shall see!!

Have you tried this product?

Do you have any Body Shop faves I should be trying?

Are there any facemasks I simply must add to my collection?

Let me know in the comments!

Rebecca

X

Happy New Year (ish!)

I’m baaaaaack! After neglecting this little blog for just over a year (!) I have decided to make my return to the Internet and get writing again! I’m not going to get into why I haven’t been blogging, it’s really boring, so let’s just finish with saying I’m so excited to get back up again and I’ve got so many ideas about I want to post about! 

If you have anything you want me to write about, review etc let me know in the comments! 

x

Beauty Queens of the Golden Globes 2016!

It’s awards season again! That wonderful time of year filled with glitz, glamour and quite a lot of tears. The golden globes this year was no exception, and brought a lot of lols including this moment (awkwarrrrd). Here are are a few of my favourite makeup looks from the red carpet:

 So first up is Lady Gaga, This whole look from the hair to the makeup and the dress and accessories just screams old school Hollywood glamour and it suits her so much. Bravo to MUA Sarah Tanno and the rest of the team, Gaga looks gorgeous.

I pretty much always love Rooney Mara’s makeup up and here she is with a bold brow and berry lips…. Surprise surprise; I am a fan. What I really love here is the hair. It is so different from what you would usually see on the red carpet and Mara pulls it off perfectly.

Another AHS babe Angela Bassett is giving me major brow envy. Her makeup is absolutely flawless! I just love how glowing she is, I love her hair, I love her dress, I love her!

Here she is, my absolute girl crush Emilia Clarke. I love how understated yet still glamorous she looks here. That simple smokey eye is just perfect. Oh and her brows are a m a z i n g (If you didn’t get the memo I bloody love a good brow).

I could honestly go on and on but this post would just get ridiculous and go on forever, but other makeup looks I lurrrrved belonged to Katy Perry, J-Lo, J-Law, Amber Heard, Olivia Wilde and Laverne Cox to name a few!
Who’s makeup did you love at the Globes? Tell me in the comments below!
Rebecca X

Images taken from http://www.refinery29.uk/2016/01/100905/golden-globes-2016-best-hair-makeup

Review: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation

I am so in love with everything that this woman does, so it’s no surprise that I am a big fan of this foundation.

The word is that the foundation took 5 years to perfect, and it was definitely worth the wait. The foundation is aimed all all skin types, races and ages and claims to be:

“a “hyper-intelligent” formula that gives full-coverage yet feels completely weightless, with all the anti-ageing and protective benefits of a luxury skin cream”.

(Quote directly from http://www.charlottetilbury.com/uk/magic-foundation-shade-1.html)

I’ve never been a full coverage fan but this foundation manages to cover most of my flaws and imperfections without feeling like I’m absolutely caked in makeup. I look fresher, healthier and more “alive” to put it bluntly! I’m totally not brave enough to do a before and after shot, but trust me, this foundation works wonders for my skin. Next on the Tilbury wish list: The Mini Miracle Eye Wand!

Have you tried this foundation?

Let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Rebecca x

Glinda the Good Witch

   
 
So the assesment is done! Here are some BTS shots of my interpretation of Glinda from The Wizard of Oz. I wanted her to be a kind of dreamy, ethereal, serene queen. I’m so happy with how it turned out and I’m obsessed with the dread lock crown! Professional images coming soon! 

Rebecca x

Creative hair

   
 

The start of my dreadlock crown for Glinda. I’ll be sure to post the finished look on Thursday after my assesment! 

Rebecca x 

Facial postiche

Hey!

So for the first assessment this (academic) year at uni we had to create a false moustache, which is legit one of the most difficult things I have ever done!!

The technique used to create various types of Postiche (false hair) is called knotting, or for you lovely American readers, ventilating!

Experimenting with knotting!

To cut a very long and complicated story short, you basically tie strands of hair to a very fine lace net. The amount of hair you use and how you space the hair depends on how thick you want your hair piece to be.

I found this image at makeup-fx.com that explains the technique better than I ever could:

 Fiddly, huh! 

To create the moustache you must first create a stencil of the intended mo’ wearer’s mouth and nose, so you know what size to make the ‘tache. You then draw the outline of the moustache onto the stencil and cut it out. Draw around the moustache shape into black card and cut that out, sellotape it to a board. Pin on your lace and you’re good to go!

You then knot and knot and knot until your moustache is complete! Then, if needed you add lift to the hairs using moustache tongs (that totally look like some sort of medieval torture device) and then you trim the hairs to the lengthy you want them to be!

To create this ‘tache I knotted 2-3 hairs in each hole in alternate rows.

Here is the finished look:  

The model is my wonderful boyfriend Lee who earned himself major BF points by letting me do this to him!

Our characters had to be our own interpretation of the wizard from The Wizard of Oz. Since the wizard is infact not a wizard at all and actually just a guy behind a curtain with smoke and mirrors and all that jazz, I chose to make my character a con-artist-come-salesman. Sort of like an old school snake oil salesman, selling something completely useless.

I think I have achieved my desired look, and Lee definitely looks untrustworthy. I originally wanted to do a chevron style moustce but as I was trimming away at it I went for a more walrus kind of moustache which I think was a better choice for my character as the lips were hidden, for some reason this make him look very suspicious!

Makeup wise I used MUFE Ultra HD foundation mixed with a little moisturiser,  Nars Creamy Concealer and MAC Prep and Prime Traclucent Powder. I went a little heavy on the powder, and if I were to do this again I would probably thin out the foundation more or use a lighter base like MAC Face and Body.

I really enjoyed this creating this moustache and developing a new skill and hope to be able to use this in future. I’m feeling the need to make false colourful eyebrows so watch this space!

Rebecca x

Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?

 Image from: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3682173952/ch0032616#

For one of our assessments at uni we have to develop a character from The Wizard of Oz into a high fashion look with creative hair and makeup. When selecting my character I knew I wanted to do either the Wicked Witch or Glinda the good witch, I really liked them both as a child. I decided to opt for Glinda, as I felt I could push my creativity a little more with her. My interpretation of Glinda is a really ethereal, dreamy, otherworldly being, so I wanted to reflect this in the makeup and decided to make the main focus the skin.

 As you can see I have gone for a really paled down yet luminous base, with the brows and lashes lightened with concealer to add an almost alien feel to the look. The key products I used were  Illamasqua Gleam in Aurora and  MAC Silver Dusk (I think this has been discontinued? Please correct me if I am wrong!). I am really happy with how this turned out and I have a good starting point to work from!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Rebecca x

“I myself, am strange and unusual”

 
I love the movie Beetlejuice so much and pretty much wanted to be Lydia Deetz when I was younger, so I had to create my own version of her for halloween! Eyes using Illamasqua Neutral Pallette, MAC eye shadows in Omega, Brun and Embark, Contour using Benefit Hoola bronzer and MAC eyeshadow in Brun, Lips using MAC Taupe lipstick. I kind of want to wear this every day, I may develop it into a more wearable look.

What do you think?

Rebecca X 

I’ll get you my pretty…..

So I had planned on doing 7 days of Halloween makeup during the build up to the big day, but I was so poorly with wisdom teeth problems yesterday I couldn’t bare to touch my face!

Anyway, in keeping with the recent Wizard of Oz theme we have been focusing on at university I decided to do my own version of the Wicked Witch of the West, kind of glammed up with contouring, eyebrows, the works!  

I used face paint mixed with foundation for the base, next time I think I will try something different as it stayed so wet and was really difficult to set!

Let me know what you think! Do you guys have any suggestions of Halloween looks for me to do? Also I really need to get a camera so any suggestions would be amazing, I can’t rely on iPhone selfies forever!

Rebecca x