Skin care ...

Hey Guys :)

Now i'm really into spending lot's of money on super expensive skin care,I think this is due to the fact that I don't really have problems with my skin but that doesn't mean that I don't take care of it. I tend to use these face products mainly in the evening, in the mornings I usually just wash my face with some cool water and use a bit of moisturiser. Everything I mention in this post is relatively cheap and really easy to find. The best way I can think to do this post is walk you through everything step by step just as if I was taking off my makeup at the end of the day.

Simple, kind to skin cleaning facial wipes - £3.20

 So first I like to take off my make up with face wipes, my all time favourites and all I will ever use are the simple kind to skin cleansing wipes, these have to be the best wipes I have ever used. They are super gentle on your skin even if you suffer with really sensitive skin as they have no harsh chemicals or fragrances. They are also super moisturising. I like to use these before cleansing as even though my cleanser will take off my make up I just feel like using these first helps to get my skin super clean. If you use wipes a lot you will probably notice that sometimes they can start to get a bit dry, a good trick is to keep your package upside, then all the liquid will always be settling in your top wipe. Now these are £3.20 a pack which may seem a little expensive but they do tend to be on offer quite a lot so I just stock up when I see an offer.

St Ives, Fresh skin apricot scrub - £4.99

 This product is probably one of the most well known exfoliator there is, and I'm not surprised its cheap, you get a lot of product and it works. It's the St Ives apricot scrub and I use the fresh skin version. Theres not really to much more I can say about this product other then I wouldn't use it everyday as then it does become a little to much for your skin. They do it in a few different types including gentle, blemish fighting and a microdermabrasion version. It is available at boots and even at most supermarkets these days and is £4.99

Boots Botanics organic range £4.99 each

When it comes to cleansing and toning I just wanted something really gentle for my skin but something that would still remove any oil or dirt from the day, and leave my skin feeling refreshed, and a few months ago I saw that boots has updated their Botanics range and it was on offer so I decided to pick up a few things and I am so glad that I did. I use the cleanser and toner from the organic range, and these are amazing they leave my skin feeling so soft and looking really bright and healthy. And for £4.99 each you cant really go wrong.

Simple hydrating cream - £3.79 Botanic night cream - £3.99

Next is moisturisers, I have two moisturisers that I love to use one is a day time cream and one is night cream. For the daytime I use the simple hydrating moisturiser, it is super light and absorbs so quickly so is perfect for under your makeup. The next cream is a little different and may not be to everyones taste, again it is from the boots Botanic range, and is the hydrating night cream for brighten skin, now the thing that is slightly different about this is it contains alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that is found in hibiscus flowers, it sounds super scary but its nots its gentle on the skin and all the AHA is there for is to brighten and plumpen skin, and if I didn't you it contained AHA you wouldn't know.

And finally this may seem a a little weird to have in skin care, but when I get the odd spot or a bit of break out, After taking off my makeup I like to add some antiseptic cream to keep the area clean and germ free, helping healing time of spot.


So hopefully that gives you a quick idea of what sort of skin care you pick up pretty cheap, I would really advise looking at the boots Botanic range and they do different cleansers, toners ect for all different skin types.

Becki x

Winter lip care ...

Hey Guys :) 

                             

So if you're in the UK right now, you'll know how cold it seems to have gotten over the past week so that means it's time to start taking care of those lips of your's to avoid months of dry, sore and chapped lips. So I thought I would give you a helping hand, so here's my favourite lips products for winter, and this post has come at a perfect time for you as at the moment lip products like these are on 3 for 2 at boots.

Nivea lip butter in Raspberry rose - £2.25

This first product is a pretty new one for me, but I have to say I love this so much. Unlike most other lip balms it is not petroleum based, so is completely different to everything else I own. It really is more like the texture of a body butter ( like the name would suggest) it is super moisturising and I don't have to keep reapplying about 20 times a day literally just a few times is fine and another plus is that this product smells amazing. I have mine in the raspberry scent but they do a caramel one, a vanilla and one with no scent at all, and I have to admit I am very tempted to get the whole collection that's how much I am in love with it.

Vaseline lip therapy - £1.99

The vaseline lip therapy is my next winter saver, now I'm pretty sure you have all either heard of this or owned one of these little tins at one point, I love it in the rosy lips as it adds a slight pink tint to your lips. It soothes chapped lips immediately and I also love to put a thick layer of this one before I go to bed in the winter to keep my lips hydrated.

Nivea hydro care - £2.03

This next one is a pretty basic product but works wonders when your lips are super dry and sore, it's the Nivea hydro care lip balm.  This is a scent free spf 10 lip balm which is made with pure water and aloe vera to provide long lasting intensive moisture. The other think I love about this product is how fast it is absorbed into your lips, and has a soft lightweight feel when on your lips.

Balmi in mint- £4.99

Now this final winter lip saver is slowly becoming one of my all time favourites. It's the balmi lip balm in the mint flavour people either love or hate mint lip products and personally I love them and this one even  more so as it what they call an added tingle. Now these come in the cutest little packages ever they are like a round little ball and have a little  string attached so you can attach them to things such as keys or a zip on a bag. These are super moisturising and are spf15 and protect from both uva and uvb rays. They come in five flavours, mint, raspberry, coconut, strawberry and blackcurrant.

So hopefully this has helped you get an idea of some great but affordable lip products to save you from a winter a sore, dry and chapped lips.

Becki x

Ready for a bit of the old ultraviolence ?

Hey Guys :)

I thought I'd share with you a few bits I got for my Halloween outfit this year. As I'm a student I tried to make this as cheap as possible, as the actual Clockwork orange costume online was around £40, and I wasn't overly keen on it so I decided to put my own together. So here it is, I'll list everything below the picture and try to remember where I picked everything up from and how much it cost, which might be a little difficult as I didn't buy all this stuff just for this costume some of it I already had in my wardrobe.

White sheer shirt - £10 primark
White vest to wear under shirt - £2 primark
Bowler hat - £5 costume shop
White braces - £5 costume shop
White body skirt - £5.45 Amazon
Black boots - £20 Boohoo.com
Orange lipstick (mexican wave) - £10 topshop
Eyelashes - £6 Boots
Green circle lenses - £15 costume shop

Becki x

Hair Flair ...

Hey Guys :)

So I've had loads of work to do for university this week and while getting ready this morning I thought I'd take a little break from work and do a post on how I love doing my hair at the moment. It is a super easy hair style to do and looks great even after sleeping on it and just touching it up slightly.

Now today I'm doing it on freshly washed hair ( I usually prefer doing it on day old hair) so I've some of my  Umberto Giannini salt spray through it to add a bit texture to it. I start by roughly seperating my hair, I just clip up the top layer of my hair so it makes it easier to get the underneath. And don't forget to use your heat protection spray.

 To get this look I'm using one of these wand curlers which you can find everywhere these days. I like to hold the wand pointing downwards this means that the curl is looser at the top and tighter at the bottom  Have a play around with your curler you can get so many different types of waves and curls depending how much hair you use, or the time you leave it for. And this is super helpful for this look, as what I do is take different sizes of hair and vary the curl direction and curl type so it gives it that more messy look.

 So after curling my whole head which doesn't take as long as you would think I end up with something like this where the curls are all quite tight and bouncy still, although I think this looks lovely on some people it's just not the look I'm going for.

 To get it how I like, I just tip my head upside down and run my fingers through the curls to seperate them, I also spray some extra salt spray through my hair to give it more texture, I then set it with either a hairspray or some sort of styling past. And finally I give then ends a quick spray with a shine spray.

So that's the final look, it's pretty quick and easy, and it's great the next day. I just sleep with my hair tied up in a bun then in the morning touch up a few pieces near my face then go, or if you don't want to wear it down the next day, it gives great texture to do a big messy bun with ( a post will be coming soon on how I do a messy bun). 

Becki x


                                                                

Blog Loving

Hey Guys :) 

Just a super quick post, I recently joined blogloving.com and I love it, if you're like me and love to follow like a million different blogs then you'll know how annoying it is to have to open like 20 different tabs and it's so hard to remeber everyones different blog names. So this site makes it super easy, you click to follow your blog and it lets you know when there is a new post simple as that, so go have a little look around ad explore new blogs. It only takes like 2 mins to join, you just have to put in your email and a password and your away.

My blog is also on there so you could always be super nice and follow me on there. Just type in my URL in the search box http://secretworldofbr.blogspot.co.uk/ or click my little follow button just up there in the side bar.

Becki x

Baby you're a firework ....

Hey Guys :)

 I'm off to a firework display tonight and I just share with you what make up I was wearing as I wanted to try out my new orange lipstick and show how you can still make a bold colour like this pretty wearable.

I decided to keep the rest of the make up pretty simple so that the focus would be on my lips. I primed my face with L'oreal lumi magique primer which I love using as it keeps my foundation looking perfect all day and gives a lovely subtle glow I also use this as a highlighter on my cheek bones. I added a thin layer of my  boots 17 foundation and concealed my dark under eye circles and a few blemishes with my collection 2000 concealer. I set it all with my powder and added a bit more colour to my face, then I just lined my eyes with black liner and added a few coats of mascara.

Now for the fun part, the lipstick I'm using is from the Louise Gray collection from Topshop and is in the colour Mexican heatwave (£10) I put on one layer then blotted it with some tissue and added another layer I did this a few times, it just helps to make the colour last longer.

 So that's it, this is such a simple and easy look but can really brighten up a simple makeup look and really brings attention your lips.

Becki x

Ombre hair care

Hey guys :)

So last week I decided to take the plunge and ombre my hair. There a few products that I have started to use to keep my hair looking healthy. These aren't just for people with ombre hair they work great for anyone who dyes/bleaches their hair and one is especially great for those who go blonde. Now I don't have a huge amount of hair care products but the ones I do have work really well.

This is a product I used to use all the time when I had blonde hair and now I have been bleaching the ends of my hair I have fallen in love with it all again. It is the Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes shampoo, it is a bright purple ( kind of scary looking) shampoo which actually tones your blonde or lightened hair, and gets rid of any brassy or orange tones in your hair. It lasts a pretty long time as you only need to use it once or twice a week ( do not use it daily) and at around £6 a bottle is pretty well priced. When I'm not using this shampoo I use my herbal essence hello hydration shampoo that I mentioned in a previous post.

The next product is Herbal essences hello hydration deep nourishing intensive mask, after bleaching your hair a deep conditioner is a must, your hair will be feeling pretty dry from the bleach so a few times a week I like to put a handful of this onto the ends of my hair and leave it for around 5 minuets before washing it out. It really does keep my hair feeling super moisturised and also helps avoid any tangles so I do less damage to my hair when I brush it.

The last product is something to use when out of the shower is a serum that you can use a number of different ways and contains Moroccan oil which is amazing for your hair. The first way is to put in damp hair before brushing it helps to detangle and keeps hair moisturised or you can use it before blow drying, or the other way I use it is to run a small amount through the ends of my hair after styling it this just helps to smooth out my hairs and helps keep it looking shiny.

So you don't have to use these products on ombred hair they are great for anyone who bleaches or highlights their hair or struggles with dry or brittle hair.

Becki x

A little retail therapy

Hey guys :) 

After a long week at university, school. college or work there is nothing better then a little shopping trip to cheer yourself up for the weekend.

I thought I'd show you all my favourite buy of the day and It's this t shirt from topshop (£18)  it is a black  oversized t shirt with rolled up sleeves. This looks great layered with leggings and a denim jacket with a coloured scarf. Or as it is quite a plain t shirt you can afford to go that little bit more bright and bold with your make up.

The next things I picked up from topshop are two things I've had my eye on since the collection came out and they are the Louise Gray lipstick in Mexican wave (£10) and the eyeliner in intensify (£8). I love the packaging on these especially the lipstick its so pretty and girly makes a change from the plain black lipstick packaging of most other lipsticks.

The swatches below are of the above products. The first is the lipstick in Mexican wave it is a bright vibrant shade and the formula is super creamy and goes of beautifully. I original wanted this for my Halloween look but after trying it out I think I may be using it more often then I anticipated. The next is the eye liner it is a bright colbolt blue with lots of very tiny glitter in it, and let me warn you about this now once on and dried this eyeliner does not budge. ( I will be doing a few posts soon of separate make up looks with these products to show how you can use what seem like very bright colours for everyday looks).

I've wanted some new little earrings to wear everyday for a while now but as I my lobes pierced twice I've always been fussy about finding small cute earrings to wear. But when in river island this set caught my eyes and for £10 for 9 pairs of cute little earrings I couldn't really say no. The first sets I've worn are the gold crosses and the peachy coloured gem studs above them.

 Next I took a trip to Boots as I wanted some lashes for my clockwork orange look for Halloween but they had 3 for 2 on lashes so I couldn't refuse the offer to get more lashes. The first set I picked up were the Katy  Perry honey lashes which are a pair I have re bought several times now. Next I thought I would try something new, so I got a pair of the bourjois more volume lashes which I cant wait to try out. The third pair are for my Halloween costume they are from eylure and are quite dramatic and spikey perfect for creating that classic clockwork orange look.

And finally I took a trip to Lush. I picked up a pot of sweetie pie ( one of my old favourites) which is jelly like soap, that you can use straight from the tub but can also freeze. It smells absolutely gorgeous and feels so nice to use in the shower, the scent is a mixture of cherries and coconut but you really have to go into a lush and smell this to understand how great it smells, it also has carrageen seaweed in which is super softening, you can also use this product on your hair. The next thing I decided to pick up was from their Christmas collection and is the Ponche shower gel, now it's really not the sort of sent that you would expect to find in a Christmas collection it's not warm smelling, or spicy or sweet, but very light fresh and citrusy. It is based on a Christmas punch that is drank at mexico at Christmas time, it has freshly squeezed orange juice, plum, cinnamon and even a shot of Tequila in there. I think that this one is a great morning shower gel and will leave anyone feeling refreshed and awake. The only down side is once the Christmas season is gone then so is this until next year.

 So that's just a quick look at a few things I treated myself too this week, I am not posting this to show off or boast about what I went and bought, but I love haul videos and blog posts by other people , I guess because I'm just nosey, so I thought some of you might like to have a little nosey at my buys as well.

Becki x

GEEK chic ....

Hey Guys :)

Again I thought I'd try something a bit different and do a fashion post, now I will admit I am not the most fashionable person out there and my clothes aren't all crazy and out there, but I mean come on I'm a student I can't afford a new wardrobe every season. But I thought I would share a typical outfit that I would everyday to university.

So today is my busiest day of the week so I wanted something comfy to wear and due to the 9am start I needed something that would look good but wouldn't take much effort. I went for my new geek t-shirt (topshop £18) which is a super comfy oversized t shirt with rolled up sleeves, I also love this bottle green colour but it does come in a dark red and navy and I was torn between the three when choosing which one I wanted. I paired this today with a large brown knitted cardigan from primark as it's super warm and cosy  but I do also like to wear it with black leather jacket.

I wore this t shirt with some plain black leggings which is what I practically live in as they are so comfy these ones are from new look and were around the £12 mark I prefer to spend a bit more on my leggings as I'm not a fan of the see through look and showing the world my underwear. I also wore my trusty calf length boots these are super comfy and warm and they are lined with sheep's wool so they keep your legs super warm and toasty.

When it came to hair and make up this morning I wasn't really up for doing a lot, I had worn my hair wavy the day before and slept with it tied up in a bun on top of my head so I just added some salt spray and curled a few of the front pieces. Then for make-up I wanted to keep it pretty simple and light so I just used my black liquid liner to do a thin line and short flick I filled in brows with some brown eye-shadow  Then on my lips I put on mac's coral bliss and went over it with luster glass in love nectar  Then just finished it all off with some highlighter on my cheek.

And finally before leaving the flat I put on a few sprays of DKNY's golden delicious and sprayed over my hair lightly with some hair spray to keep the wave and curls in throughout the day.

Becki x

colourful Crayola art

Hey guys :)

So this post is a little different to the rest as it's not beauty related but I thought it would be fun to share with you all how I made my melted crayon picture.

There's not really anything too difficult about the technique to do this and it is a relatively cheap way of brightening up a room. The cost overall for this paint was just over £10 pounds the crayons were £1.25 a box and I used 3 boxes, the canvas cost £4 for a pack of 3, and the super glue cost me around £3 and I picked everything up from wilkinsons.

You will need :
- a canvas you can use what ever size you like
- super glue 
- crayons I would advise using real Crayola ones rather then a cheap version from the pound shop as I've heard these don't melt as well.
- a hair dryer.

The first step is to chose what colours you want to use, I used all the bright the colours out of my boxes so I now have a box of browns, blacks and greys left over. Then you want to arrange the crayons how ever yoou want them along the bottom of the canvas, I would advise doing this before you start sticking so you can get it too look just how you like.

Then you want to put some super glue along the crayon, I put it along the opposite side to the Crayola logo so that the logos are always showing on my crayons, then place the crayon on the canvas making sure it's not wonky ( a few of mine were) and you hold it there for a few seconds to make sure that the crayon is not going to budge.

Then leave the glue for an hour or so to make sure that it is really secure then you can start the fun part. I took my canvas outside on a bin bag, you want to make sure that your canvas is stood up and not lay down other wise you will not get that dripping effect. Then just take your hair dryer on it's highest heat but lowest power and start to concentrate the hot air on small sections on the line of crayons, making sure to focus on the tips of the crayons, then when they have melted a little you re melt the drips to make them drip down further the canvas. As I did mine outside and it was a little windy it did blow some of the melted wax about but I do quite like the effect it gives.

Becki x

D.I.Y ombre hair

Hey guys :)

Since the whole ombre hair trend started a year ago I've really loved it but I've always been a bit to scared to try it and I wasn't ever really sure how to go about it. But this weekend I decided I was bored of my dark brown hair and wanted a little change, so I decided to just go for it. And I thought I'd share how I did it with you all but just a little disclaimer I'm not a professional so please read through all instructions on everything you use and really research this first I don't want to be held responsible for anyone really damaging their hair.

After reading lots of blogs and watching a lot of videos I headed out to superdrug to pick up some dye, now you really do have to use bleach for this getting just a blonde hair dye will not work, so I actually went for a highlighting kit by Jerome Russell and it's for medium to dark brown hair and at around £6.50 was relatively cheap.

 The first thing to do is read the instructions really carefully and make sure you have everything in your box that should be there, and make sure you have put a towel down where you are dying your hair and make sure that you have on an old t shirt as you don't want to ruin any clothing or carpets with this bleach.

You should start off with clean unwashed hair ( the natural oils on your hair will help protect it) and make sure you have brushed out all the tangles the picture on the left below is my one day old hair brushed out. 

Firstly I wanted to try a small amount of the bleach on my hair to see what colour I would achieve and how long to leave it on for. I mixed together half a teaspoon of the bleach powder with one and half teaspoon of developer and applied it to a small strand of hair I left this for ten minuets checking on it regularly  Once I saw the colour I was happy with I washed of the bleach with warm water

After the I tested the colour, I added some of the bleach to the very tips of my hair and then five minuets I added it further up the hair making sure that I didn't have a straight line where the colours met I did this by slightly teasing the hair where I wanted to stop the bleach this helped to blend it I always used the small highlighting brush that came in the kit add some extra bits bleach further up the hair mainly on the hair that frames my face, make sure that you use the thickest covering on bleach at the end and then use a very light layer towards the top this way you get that gradient effect. I left his next part of bleach on for about 10 minuets before washing it out with the shampoo that came in the kit and using a conditioning treatment on my hair.

Overall I'm really pleased with how this came out, and because I didn't leave the bleach on for too long my hair doesn't feel too dry or damaged at the ends. Personally I think ombre hair looks at it's best when there is some curl or wave to hair. I think in a week or so I may redo the ends of my hair just to lighten them a little more so that the gradient is more obvious.

Becki x

Real Horrorshow .....

Hey Guys :)

It's finally October and that only means one thing, it’s nearly Halloween, I love doing special effects make up when it comes to Halloween and I usually go for something zombie like or gory (such as last year’s shards of glass in the side of the face look), but this year I've been thinking long and hard about what or who to go as, and I wasn't really feeling the whole gory makeup this year. So from the title of this post and the picture you've probably guessed who I'm going as this year, Alex Delarge from Stanley Kubrick's A clockwork orange.


So I thought over the next month I'd do a few posts on how I'm going to put together my costume and what make up I'll be doing. I thought I would also do a few small posts on easy Halloween make up, such as how to make the best bruises, cuts and grazes along with a few other things.


Becki x

Hello Hydration....

Hey guys :)

I have always been a fan of the herbal essences shampoos and conditioners, but I usually find they don't really do that much for my hair and I just buy them for the smell. But when I moved back into my flat at university I decided to try a Herbal essences shampoo that I hadn't tried before and that was the Hello Hydration moisture and shine with hawaiian coconut and orchid extracts for dry/damaged hair. I have to say I have been really impressed with this so far, number one it smell absolutely gorgeous it has a coconutty smell with a sort of floral undertone and the smell lasts for so long on your hair, and two my hair has never felt this soft and shiny in a long time. I'm a serial hair dyer and which sometimes can leave my hair feeling dry and abit dull, so I have to say I am really glad I came across this and I think this is going to be a permanent feature in my shower from now on. And it seems I'm not the only one who really loves this as both the shampoo and conditioner were voted product of the year 2012.

Becki x