Younique Moodstruck 3D Fibre Lashes: Product Review

Hi All! 

I've been wanting to get a few different types of reviews up for a while now and so far I've reviewed the last book I read, Maya Angelou's 'Letter To My Daughter' earlier in the week,  check that out here. However, I seem to be lacking beauty posts, so earlier in the week my Mam treat me to Younique Moodstruck 3D Fibre Lashes mascara, so I have no idea where it was from but I know it was around £25. This mascara is described as a simple three step process that results in dramatically lengthened and thickened eye lashes.

I'm not a great fan of false lashes, although I like the look, so I've been looking for a product like this for a while now and despite some issues I've found with using this mascara I do genuinely like this product.

The picture to the left, very bad quality and lighting as it is, shows how much longer the Moodstruck mascara can really make your eyes, I don't really have long eye lashes in general but it's pretty clear to see that this product stays true to its word when it says it gives a glamorous false lash look. 
To apply properly first put on a thin layer of your own favourite mascara and let it dry, personally I used my Natural Collection Clear mascara because if mascara is too bold I tend to look like my eyes are the size of dinner plates, not a good look for me. 
After the first coat of mascara has dried apply a layer of the Moodstruck Transplanting gel, personally I found this to be a bit thick and I had a few problems stopping my lashes from sticking together. 
Right after and while the transplanting gel is still wet apply the natural fibres to the lashes. This is where I encountered the major issues with clumping together, I found that the fibres would stick to one another and it would be pretty hard to separate them meaning I was spending more time keeping the lashes apart than I was applying the mascara  itself, a hassle nobody needs especially on those rushed days. 

After applying the fibres, wait for it to dry and apply a final coat of the transplanting gel to secure the fibres to the lashes and tah da! You have a pretty good false lash effect. 
Honestly for the price I wouldn't suggest it as the first mascara if you're looking for longer lashes, purely because of the issues with clumping and being slightly too thick, however my distaste for clumping is overridden by how much I really like the finished look all in all. I'd definitely recommend it if you have the money to spend on it and if you're looking for significantly visible lashes with length and volume, I love this product and I think it will be making a permanent home for itself in my make up bag. 


Love Katherine. X

My Everyday Make Up Look - Go-To Products

This post is something I've been both really looking forward to and one I've been seriously dreading. I'm far from the most confident gal around town but my confidence and self-esteem has sky rocketed these last few months because I've changed my whole attitude towards myself and it's really helped. Anyway, this post, as the title says, is going to be about my go-to make up look that I usually wear everyday for college or just going out or whatever. The reason I brought my confidence is because this will be only the second time ever that I've posted a picture of myself online, I'm always apprehensive when I do post selfies. Any who I'm babbling so I'm going to get on with the post!

The picture on the left shows some of the products I use to create my everyday natural (ish) make up look, these products are my favourite and I've used some of them for years. I'm going to quickly explain how exactly I create this look and review some of the products as I go along. 

Before applying any make up at all I usually give my face a quick wash or go over it with a Clearasil Ultra Rapid Action pad to remove any dirt from my pores. These work really well and clear my pores right away.

I then apply my Make Up Academy Pro Base Primer evenly, I don't use any brushes for this as I don't see the need. After applying the primer I use my Garnier Skin Perfector BB Cream, this is absolutely fantastic and instantly hides any blemishes on your face not matter what, I find this really helpful as I often have to wax my upper lip and areas on my chin because of a preexisting condition and that can cause scarring but this cream covers it immediately, it's a godsend and I'd buy tons of it if I could. (Note: these are all my own opinions). Other than on my eyes and my brows and when using blush or bronzer I tend not to use brushes when applying make up purely because I find that i get a more even and natural look from using my fingers, this again is my own personal opinion, some people may want to use brushed instead. 

After that I use my MAC Studio Fix powder foundation. This is a good product depending on the time of year for me as my skin around my T-zone can get very dry, when this happens i absolutely can't use this product because it just sticks to any dry areas of my skin despite using facial wipes and such before hand. Next I will do mah brows, I use a HD Brows (Foxy) and that is pictured to the right. I have dark eyebrows anyway so I only really need to use it on the ends of my brows; I use the bottom right colour on the palette pictured to the right. 

For my eyes I use a Natural Beauty palette I got for Christmas off my Mam, I love this palette because literally every colour on there goes with my skin tone and looks fabulously natural, perfect for everyday wear. I usually start off with a white on my lid and brow bone to highlight, then I colour the lid with a natural light creamy colour, a brown along the lid and a deep brown in the crease of my eye. I blend the colours together from there and I end up with a brown and golden smokey eye. I've always loved the smokey eye look. 

After doing my eye makeup I move on to the lashes, applying a coat of Natural Collection clear mascara, waiting for that to dry then applying a bolder coat of either black or deep brown from the Natural collection again. This gives my lashed a lot more length and they look much bolder once finished. Also Natural Collection is fantastic for the majority of people who have allergies to regular make up as it doesn't contain half of the chemicals used in ordinary beauty products. My lips are next and at the moment I'm using MAC A04 Dare You, this colour goes on really evenly and you only need one layer because it's such a solid colour, I love this because it makes my lips really aft after use.

Finally I use my Avon Glow Bronzing Pearls and my Avon Makeup Setting Spray (pearls pictured above, to the left), I apply the bronzing pearls to my T-zone and cheek bones very lights to give a natural tanned look making sure it isn't too defined or dark because that can make me look as though I've used a brown blush, which I do not suit at all because of my naturally olive skin tone. A couple of quick sprays of the makeup setting spray on my face (about 25-30cm from the face) and my look is complete. The image below is my finished look and although the image is bad quality you will be able to see that my face is clear of blemishes near enough and that my look, other than the eyes, is very natural. I chose to use my blogger "profile" picture as the image to show my natural look off best, this is only because I really like this picture of myself and I think it shows the colour of the make up very well. Thank you all for reading, I know it was long but hopefully worth it!

C'est Moi!

Love Katherine. X

The Beauty Tag

Hi Everyone!

One of my new years resolutions that wasn't mentioned on my resolutions post (find that here) was to make sure I post more fashion and beauty type things. I haven't really been doing many of those but, that's mainly because, I was really stuck for ideas as to what to write for them. Now after brainstorming last night because I couldn't sleep I thought a good way to kickstart the beauty aspect of my blog would be to do the beauty tag! I'll only be answering 20 questions but there will be a few more posts similar to this one coming up for beauty and fashion; enjoy!

How often do you wear makeup?

I wear make up when I'm going out, usually to an event or a meal or whatever is going on. I wear a little when I go to college or to the shops but I don't go all out with it, I never ever wear make up in the house unless I'm just messing around with new looks.

Would you leave the house without make up?

Oh yeah definitely, if you can go out without make up and still feel beautiful and confident I would say the self esteem might need some work, then again I know some people love make up that much they they wear it all the time and that's totally fine, it's all about preference.

What do you use in terms of skin care? 

At the moment I'm using Simple kind to skin purifying cleansing lotion which is fantastic! it keeps my skin smooth and clear and it's also helped balance out my skin tone. I also use the kind to skin facial cleansing wipes they just help to again keep my skin smooth and I use them predominantly at night. I use Clerasil blackhead clearing scrub also because I have issues with blackheads sometimes and this just helps keep them at bay. Finally I use the Olay double action day and night creams. 

What type of skin do you have, oily, dry or combination?

I have combination skin usually however there are certain days where my skin can get really oily and always in the winter it gets very dry. On the whole though it's definitely combination skin.

Do you ever have any spot breakouts because of wearing make up?

Nope, I don't usually have a problem with spots as my skin is relatively clear minus a few uneven skin tones and such, when I do have a breakout it usually comes from issues to do with waxing. If I do have a breakout though I will avoid make up just to be sure it does't make it worse.

Do you avoid certain ingredients in cosmetics such as paragons or sulfate?

Actually yes. I'm allergic to a LOT of non-organic make up so when I buy things I have to make sure they're organic or my whole face will start to burn and I get red splotches, which I then cover up with make up that defeats the whole point haha.

What foundation do you use and what coverage do you prefer?

Just now, I'm using Rimmel London Match Perfection foundation with SPF 18 in Ivory. It's long lasting and gives a great smooth and radiant look. I also use Garnier BB cream skin perfecter and Rimmel London Stay Matte pressed powder.

Do you use a base or primer for you face/eyes?

I do, I use the Make Up Academy Pro Base Primer.

Pencil or liquid eyeliner?

Liquid eyeliner is my favourite, I very rarely wear eyeliner but when I do I much prefer liquid. I just really need to work on my application technique...

Do you wear false lashes?

NO, I have pretty long eyelashes anyway so I just usually apply a clear mascara and a brown mascara on top of that to make them look slightly more prominent and natural. i really can't stand falsies and think they look daft although that's just my personal opinion. 

What're you using on your lips at the moment?

Oh so many different lipsticks! I love lipsticks and I use two Mac lipsticks that I can not remember the name of and two lipsticks from... Primark! The Primark lipsticks smell lovely and they go on really well and stay for over 12 hours!

Do you prefer lipgloss or lipstick?

I like the look of lipgloss but I prefer lipstick so I tend to cheat and apply my lipstick and put a tiny, thin layer of vaseline over he top just to give it a bit of gloss and get the best of both worlds. 

What're you using on your eyes at the moment?

I'm not using any particular brand only at the moment I'm using a mix of brands and the colours tend to be 3 different types blended together. I mainly use browns and golds for everyday make up looks. 

What is your go to mascara?

My current mascara is Natural Collection clear waterproof mascara, from Boots as a first coat then Essence Get Big Lashes Volume Boost Waterproof mascara as a second coat. 

Do you prefer blush or bronzer?

My skintone is a light olive so I tend to avoid colours like pinks, reds and so on for my face and eyes. I love bronzer and I use that all year round, it gives a really lovely warm look to my face in winter and a tanned look in summer. 

What type or look do you go for, heavy and bold or light and natural?

That depends on the occasion, last year for halloween I had a silver and deep grey smokey eye look but that was for a party. For every day I tend to go very light and neutral, colours like light browns, light berries, sometimes I do like bold looks on my eyes such as deep blue, purples or silvers. Usually though would have to say light and natural.

How often do you shop for make up? Do you pick up items one at a time or but lots of goodies? When it comes to my spending habits i'm very tight fisted and hate spending my money. That being said when I do get started on shopping it's very difficult to stop me. I buy in bulk so I shop for make up whenever something vital to my collection runs out and I but loads of goodies at once. 

Have you ever considered taking a make up class?

Oh definitely! I would absolutely love to, I've considered taking a night class in hair and beauty at my college. I think it's really worth looking into as I'd love to know how to do a really professional looking smokey eye.

Who is your beauty guru?

I wouldn't say I had one in particular as I love so many! My main two would be Sami Maria (BeautyCrush) and Tess Christine, they both tend to go for the same type of looks which I adore but I sometimes have to change the colours they use as they're either to light or too dark for my skin tone so I mix it up by looking at videos by Bethany Mota and Pixiwoo.

What do you think the best thing about make up is?

The best thing about make up is that if I'm feeling low or my skin looks awful I know I have my make up on hand to cover it up and make myself feel a bit better. Make up hides a multitude of sins.

Thanks for reading all.

A collection of my make up

Love Katherine. X

What I Got for Christmas 2014!

Hi All!

Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year for so many reasons, particularly the delicious food, warm and loving atmosphere, the traditions and obviously the presents play a part in why it's such a wonderful time. Presents are far from the mot important thing  about Christmas for me, however there is one particular tradition in my family regarding presents that I love; each year on December 27th we spend the whole day looking through and organising out presents into neat little piles. I love this because it gives us all the chance to really fuddle through everything we were given and appreciate the gifts. So, I thought that now I've finally finished sorting through all of my pressies I'd write a quick post on what I got for Christmas this year. This is only going to be brief as I'm rather strapped for time today but I'll be posting much more in the coming weeks. 

In the picture above you'll see how I've very badly organised all my presents. 

Apple MacBook Pro - This was my main gift from my Mam. After only ever using laptops or desktop computers it's been quite different to use this but I have to admit this is absolutely brilliant to use and it's much easier that I expected to use.

Converse - I practically live in my Converse so these were a fab gift to wake up to on Christmas morning; they're absolutely gorgeous, they're black with high tops and gold studs on the outer sides. I find converses go with practically any outfit and these are no exception as they are rather neutral looking so they should be good to wear with any outfit. I personally recommend avoiding silver when wearing anything with a heavy gold tone.

Canvas Bags - I got some extremely cool canvas bags, my favourite of which is is a really simple cream bag with black writing saying "I bloody love books", this is fantastic because it's totally British and I do bloody love books!

Disney DVD Collection - For such a long time now I've been wanting to start a collection of Disney DVDs; Disney movies are favourite and a fab way to relive childhood, Mulan and Oliver and Company are two of the best. I now have a solid foundation to start my collection after getting roughly 50-18 Disney DVDs.

Mini Polaroid Camera - Polaroid cameras have always been my favourite, I just love the way the pictures come out with a rather retro look. I finally got a mini-polaroid camera in one of my favourite colours, pink. I'm planning on making a collage with all of my pictures with my friends and experiences so it's definitely king to be a useful give that I adore!

As I said, this is going to be a pretty brief post so for the rest of my presents I'm just going to make a quick list, here we go:

The Rest:

• Various pieces of make up 
• Clothes
• Perfumes - Prada Candy
• Lush Cosmetics haul
• Soap and Glory stuff
• Books, lots of them
• Sweeties
• Jewellery 

It's been a fabulous Christmas all in all this year and I honestly hope all my readers have had a wonderful Christmas too!

Love Katherine. X