Make up for a summer day

I was motivated to write this by the gorgeous weather we are having here in the uk for a change. I've been asked how to make your make up last when your on holiday or enjoying the odd rare warm day here in the uk, so here's my quick summer's day make up!

Picking the right products is key to avoiding the dreaded make up melt down!

Firstly I applied a very thin layer of garnier miracle skin perfector bb cream just to even out the skin tone. I then applied a concealer to any areas of the skin that needed it. I didn't want to go out with a full face of make up on but wanted the skin to look even.

On to the eyes I used benefit's creaseless shadow in birthday suit all over the lid and added a slick of Avon super shock gel eye liner in shimmering Safire. Both of these products have great staying power in the heat. I used the benefit shadow in Mexico and it held up great even with the humidity there. I then applied a good two coats of a good waterproof mascara such as the covergirl lash blast waterproof. In the uk this is made by max factor and is called false lash effect. In my opinion this is the best waterproof mascara I have used.

I then added a shimmery bronzer lightly across my cheek bones and the look is complete.

Finally I spritzed my make up with a setting spray, I used urban decay's All Nighter spray. This will help my make up stay in place even in the heat.

I'm off to enjoy the sun, have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

My HD Brows Experience

I initially heard about HD brows through a fellow blogger and youtuber Cosmetics Charlotte you can check out her blog here http://cosmeticcult.blogspot.com.

My eyebrows are one of my biggest bugbears with one being quite angular and the other very round. It didn't seem to matter how I plucked my brows I was still unhappy with them. I've had them waxed before and whilst I think they look and stay tidier with this method of hair removal I've never got the results that I wanted, until now!!!

You might ask what HD brows is; well its a treatment for your brows which includes waxing, tweezing and threading of the hair to get that perfect shape along with a tint.

On Sunday I went and had the HD brows treatment at Sunbeams tanning salon in Crawley, West Sussex.

First of all the people at sunbeams are lovely I can't say enough good things about them. They helped me achieve my perfect colour for my wedding in March in the safest way. I also had my nails and pre honeymoon waxing done by Stacey here and was extremely impressed so when I heard that the salon was now offering HD brows I knew I had to go and try it out!

Lucy, the HD brows therapist was lovely and explained the HD brows concept and was happy to answer my multitude of questions, including the questions around the training!

It does take a little bit longer than a standard brow tidy due to the multistep process but Lucy explained what she was doing every step of the way.

I was a little nervous of having a tint on my eyebrows as I didn't want them to look too harsh on me but Lucy chose the perfect colour for me which matches my skin tone and hair colour perfectly!

At the end of the process I was really pleased with the results! It is more expensive than a standard brow tidy but I think it's money that I am happy to pay given how pleased I am with the results! I will definitely be going back!!

You can see my before and after pics below:

Avon ideal flawless foundation

I have dry skin which often means I struggle to get foundations to sit on my skin without looking patchy. In recent years I have discovered Chanel's Vitalumiere which sits perfectly on a dry skin and has wonderfully buildable coverage. My only complaint is that it can be a little too dewy for my personal preference but some people might like that! It is also easily solvable by adding a powder.

For photographic work I love L'Oreal True Match liquid foundation it looks so radiant on the skin despite having a matte finish but can look patchy on me without a primer, which I find very disappointing given how beautiful it looks!

When I received my latest Avon order I received a load of samples for their Ideal Flawless foundation. Priced at £12 and having never tried Avon foundations I wasn't sure what I would think of this product. I'm so pleased I tried it! It has a very light fragrance and buffed onto the skin effortlessly, it didn't look patchy at all. It is more of a matte finish than the Vitalumiere but easier to work with than the L'Oreal true match.

The two photos below show a before and after of my skin with and without foundation. As you can see my skin has very high colour so the foundation does a good job of countering this, I also have no concealer on in the second photo so the foundation has also managed to cover some of my blemishes. I am wearing the shade nude.

Needless to say I will be purchasing this foundation with my next Avon order and look forward to using it once I've finished my bottle of Vitalumiere, it's also going to cost me considerably less to purchase than another bottle of Chanel which is always a bonus!!!!!