Brows with Benefits

As you are probably aware from previous posts, my unruly and barely-there eyebrows (#naturalblondeprobz) are normally tended to and cared for by the wonderful and talented Ella Butler of Facebase Makeup and Brow Bar in Truro.

I will only trust Ella with my HD brows as other, cheaper, alternatives can be done by just about anyone - but you cannot guarantee that they will come out at all well. 

Ella is not your bog standard make-up beautician, she is a professional make-up artist with experience of working on TV and film, national magazine publications and A-list celebrities. Therefore, you know that will get incredible results every time and I thoroughly recommend her 100% for all of your beauty and brow needs!!

I tend to have my brows 'HD'd' every 6-8 weeks as the results are so professional that you can go for long periods between without the need for constant touch ups.

However, toward the end of the 6-8 week period my brows can start to go a little haywire (they seem to have a mind of their own) and need bringing back into line.

Today I'm going to share my secret brow saviour with you. This little miracle set really refreshes my brows, pulling in any unwanted strays, shaping and framing my face and making those HD brows last just a little longer.

If you don't tend to shape or tint your brows often (or indeed at all) then this set will also give you the appearance of freshly-groomed brows to perfectly frame your face and open your eyes.

The Benefit Brow Zings set is a must-have, go anywhere, purse friendly product which is not only easy to use but will give you fantastic results.

It is available to buy in 3 shades, light, medium and dark and it comes in a cute little compact with a mirror, a hard-angle brush, a blending brush and a set of mini tweezers!

The set consists of pigmented wax to shape and tame, along with natural-shaded powder to fill and set your brows. There is also a tutorial included to show you how to use the product.

I have applied my Brow Zings to my bare brows and taken stage by stage photographs to illustrate the difference the product makes and just how easy it is to achieve wonderful results. Please bare in mind that it has been 8 weeks since my last brow appointment so my brows are overgrown, misshapen and have no tint left (nice!).

My brows before applying any product whatsoever. As you can see the colour and shape is uneven and untidy.

Brow Zings wax applied to my right eyebrow (on your left) to shape and tame the brow hairs.

To apply the wax, I use the hard angle brush loaded with wax and start below the inner corner of the brow, drawing a defined line beneath the first section, heading diagonally up toward the top of my ear. I then concentrate on creating an arch by lining beneath the brow at the peak. To complete the line, I head along the outside of the outer edge of the brow, toward the bottom of my ear.

I finish the process by re-loading the brush with wax and 'filling' the brows, guiding and setting the hairs into place with a small amount of wax.

Brow Zings powder applied to my right eyebrow (on your left) to fill and set the brow.

 To apply the powder, I fill the blending brush and use the tip to go over the line I created below the brow and arch. I then re-load and use the flat edge to cover and set the wax that I have applied to the main brow area.

Brow Zings wax applied to my left eyebrow (on your right) to shape and tame the brow hairs.

Brow Zings powder applied to my left eyebrow (on your right) to fill and set the brow.

And voila!! We're done - and it really is as simple as that! It takes me about 5 minutes and I need no other products apart from what is included in the set. No setting gel, no hairspray on a wand, no miracles...!!

Here's a before and after shot for you.

Before.

After.

 

The Brow Zings set costs £22.50 from Benefit counters throughout the UK. It sounds like a fairly high price tag compared to eyebrow pencils etc, but remember that you are getting an entire brow set for that price. Also, I use mine daily and each set lasts me 6+ months at a time. So that's less than £4 a month for amazing eyebrows!!

Give it a go - you won't look back!

xxx

Pretty pastels

Well Spring has most definitely sprung!!

You need look no further than the highstreet window displays for colourful explosions of citrus, chiffon and printed fabrics that symbolises our move away from the drab greys and browns of winter and teases us with the fact that summer is just around the corner. There's something ultra exciting about this time of year, when you dig out your white crops and book in for a long-awaited pedicure for your poor, neglected winter feet!

I am currently lusting over the plethora of pastel shades winking at me from shop windows and magazine pages and have developed a bit of a crush on mint green.

This beautiful shade compliments every skin tone, be it fair, dark or olive, and it also looks great on blondes, brunettes or redheads.

It is almost impossible to find a colour which will look great on everyone, but I think that this shade ticks every box.

In the past month I have indulged this new found love and purchased three 'essential' items in this gorgeous pastel shade.

My first purchase has been this beautiful, floaty mint blouse from H&M. The sleeveless design, dipped hem and sheer chiffon back immediately gives a soft and feminine look.

I love how versatile this blouse is, I like to team mine with turned up chinos, flats and oversizes sunnies for a casual spring daytime look. It is also easily dressed up, just team it with leather-look leggings, killer stilettos, heavy eye make-up and chunky jewellry for a punky evening look.

The blouse costs just £7.99 from H&M, click on the picture for more info.

My second 'must-buy' is this FAB nail lacquer from GOSH in 597 - Miss Minty.

This gorgeous nail lacquer gives a more professional, heavily-applied look than nail varnishes. I adore the flat, milky colour that it gives. It applies easily and quickly, and I normally only need two coats (I have only applied two coats in the picture).

I picked this up from my local Superdrug for about £5.

I find that this a cheap and cheerful way to give a nod toward the season's pastel trend, with the colour being cute enough for day wear and muted enough for work.

GOSH nail lacquers also have the benefit of being formaldehyde and toulene free. These nasty ingredients are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity and allergies so avoiding these in nail polishes and other beauty products is probably a good idea!

(These horrid additives are included in lots of products, shockingly they are even found in baby products, and I will be doing a big blog drive on the importance of checking ingredients and where to buy high quality, safe and healthy products at affordable prices very soon...watch this space!)

My third and final (for this month anyway...!) minty pastel purchase was this pair of delicious skinny jeans from Little Miss Couture.

These are made from a lovely stretch material which fits beautifully and gives a great shape. The deep waistband and low pockets 'lift' your bottom and flatter the waist. They're only £25 (bargain!) and will carry me through the spring and summer effortlessly.

I spotted Kim Kashardian in a similar pair recently, teaming hers with nude accents which looked gorgeous. I like to pair mine with sky-high nude courts and a plain vest for a more dressy look, or they look equally as fab when teamed with nautical items such a breton stripe tops or white cotton blouses.

They are also available in bubblegum pink which are just as cute! So much so, I couldn't decide so bought both pairs! 

These are a failsafe option if you want to be bang on trend this spring without breaking the bank.

Little Miss Couture are also running a competition on Facebook and Twitter at the moment where you can win your favourite item from their website. All you need to do is post a link on their Twitter or Facebook page and it could be up for grabs! Check it out!!

www.facebook.com/ltlmisscouture
www.twitter.com/ltlmisscouture

So there you have it. My take on easy to wear spring pastels on a budget.

If you've found any beautiful bargains so far this spring, please comment and let me know, I'd love to know how you're wearing this trend!

xxx

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

As a busy, working mum of 3 I'm completely reliant on two things: my coffee and my concealer. Between the two I can just about maintain the charade of being awake/energetic on the outside, whilst secretly being borderline asleep inside...

I've always struggled to find my happy medium with concealer. I find that the thicker consistency sticks or pots tend to make my eyes look cakey and in turn this makes me look more tired than I already am. They don't cover blemishes for long, and I have never been a fan of thickly-applied makeup. On the other hand, the concealer 'pens' with their 'lightweight formulas' don't seem to offer much coverage and what they do provide disappears after a couple of hours. I've tried Clarins' concealer stick, MAC's studio sculpt, benefit's boi-ing and erase paste and my good old YSL in the past few months.

My touché éclat on/off relationship has been a touchy subject for the past few years. It has always having been my safe-bet when my flings with other, shiny concealers fall through after they promise the world then fail me as soon as I commit :(

Until now. Now I think that I can untie my golden YSL shackles and run freely away with my new love - Bourjois' Healthy Mix Concealer.

This fab little tube contains 10mls of 'Radiance & Anti-fatigue'. It contains 'Fruit therapy' which consists of apricots to boost radiance and raspberries to 'activate micro circulation'.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer - click picture for link to product site x

It is a smooth liquid which comes in a tube similar to a lip gloss squeezy tube. The concealer has a faint powdery smell to it and is quite fine, but a little goes a long way. It is very easy to blend and definitely make covers dark circles and blemishes well, without caking or being too heavy.

Below I've taken two shots, in these photos I'm wearing no make-up at all. In photo 1 I've applied the product very sparingly and then in photo 2 I've used my fingertips to dab and blend.

As you can see the concealer noticeably reduces the 'bag line' beneath my eye and makes my eye appear lifted and less tired. The dark circle beneath is less visible and this was all achieved with a tiny amount of the product - I only used what I had dabbed on in the first picture.

This concealer sits nicely beneath - and blends really well with - any foundation. It is also great for wearing just with a bit of moisturiser and bronzer for a sun-kissed, natural look.

I even went to Sainsburys last week after a particularly tiring day at work and when scanning the bottle of wine I had wearily passed her, the unnecessarily cheerful checkout girl said 'excuse me, do you have ID to prove you're over 18 please'?

This not only confirmed my commitment to this amazing concealer (9 years younger?! thank you Bourjois!), it meant I could have an extra celebratory glass and just apply an extra layer the next morning! ;)

Laurens Way self-tan discount code

Hello lovely followers, just a quickie for you Lauren's Way tan fans out there.

TreatYourSkin.com are offering 20% off Lauren's Way tanning products here using code LW20!! Quick, get your mitts on it before it runs out!!

http://www.treatyourskin.com/brands/Laurens%27s-Way.html?gclid=COjy8Yqj7K4CFcgntAodqRizLg

xxx

Jump for Josie #2!

Two years ago I jumped out of a plane and fell 14,000 feet to the ground. It was the single most terrifying ordeal of my life and I swore that I would never do it again.

6 months prior to this ridiculous feat of stupidity, my younger sister had been rushed to King's College Hospital in London, from our home in Cornwall, where she was diagnosed with leukaemia. As a result of this I had organised a skydive in order to raise money for Leukaemia research.

I managed to raise just over £2,000 in the end due to the amazing support of friends and family!

On 28th December 2011 - just a few weeks ago - my sister lost her two and a half year battle. I was sat by her side, with my mother and brother.

My sister was cared for by am amazing team of people in St Julia's Hospice, Hayle, during the final few months of her life. The care and support that they offered my sister and our family was incredible. She was made to feel as comfortable and 'normal' as possible.

As a sign of our gratitude for all that the Hospice did for my sister and our family during her last few months, I have now decided to jump - again - from an aeroplane and fall 14,000 feet to the ground.

It's ridiculous, I'm petrified of heights and of falling. The first time I almost vomited on the poor instructor (I bet he'll be happy to see me again!) and had a panic attack halfway up!

The thing is, no matter how scary one experience which lasts for about 20 minutes is, it doesn't even come close to the agonising terror that battling a terminal illness causes. This is something that the staff at Cornwall Hospice Care deal with on a daily basis. To show just a smidgen of our gratitude I want to try to raise as much money as possible for the Hospice.

If you want to help by sponsoring me, please either click on the widget to the right of this post or visit my just giving page: www.justgiving.com/jumpforJosie2 where you can make a donation. It can be as little as 50p or as much as £500, I will be grateful for whatever amount you can afford.

Thank you so much. xxx