Naked pallet tutorial

Hey guys :)

So I've just uploaded a new video to you tube, of an easy eye makeup look just using the urban decay naked pallet.

Becki x

Healthy homemade mac and cheese

Hey guys :)

This is another post that is a little different to my usual posts, if you have read some of my previous posts you'll know I'm trying to lose a bit of weight at the moment, and I thought that I would share some of the recipes that I am really loving though out it all.

Now one of my all time favorite foods, is macaroni cheese, I love the stuff, but it's not really the healthiest meal out there, or so I thought until I found the Rosemary Conley homemade mac and cheese with sun dried tomatoes, it is just 330 calories and 4.4% fat per serving and so easy to make. This recipe makes 4 servings.

What you will need :

200g macaroni pasta

1 and half vegetable stock cubes

500ml semi skimmed milk

4tsp arrow root

40g sun dried tomatoes

30g grated low fat cheese

Salt and pepper

The first thing I always do is  prep, so I grated my cheese and sliced the sun dried tomatoes ( you can leave them whole if you like)

 Next step is to boil the pasta with one vegetable stock cube, this helps to give the pasta more flavor then boiling it in just water.

When fully cooked, drain the pasta and place it into an oven proof dish.

Pour a small amount of your semi skimmed milk into a mug, and the 4 tsp of arrow root and mix well

 Add the rest of the milk into a pan and heat until almost boiling.

Add the arrow root mixture into the hot milk and keep stirring, the sauce will begin to thicken.

Then add in the half of a stock cube, and mix really well until smooth and the stock cube is dissolved.

Now add in the the sun dried tomatoes.

And finally add the cheese, then mix until all the cheese in melted and sauce is smooth, season well with salt and pepper.

 Pour the sauce over the pasta in the oven proof dish, I gave it a little stir just to make sure all the pasta was coated with the sauce, and that is was all evenly distributed.

Put the dish in a pre heated oven at 200 degrees and bake for around 20 mins, you can choose to take it out at around 15 mins and add a little extra cheese on top if you wish ( this will up the calories however, so i like to save some cheese from the 30g in the recipe to do this).

And your home made mac and cheese is done, serve straight away while still hot, with a sprinkling of fresh parsley on top and a small side salad. 

What I like to do is split this into four portions and place in plastic tubs and freeze, then when ever I don't feel like cooking or I have a late finish from uni I can just warm this up in about 5 or 10 mins and it's ready to eat.

Hope you enjoyed this, if you want to see more posts like this, and you have any request for some healthy alternatives, let me know in the comments below and I will do my best.

Becki x

Seventeen BB cream ...

Hey Guys :)

So for the past two weeks I've been trying out a new BB cream which is from the Boots seventeen range, and I have to say I am really loving this BB cream. I previously used maybelines BB cream which was my favorite go to BB cream but I think this is my new favourite. It gives great coverage while still having that light feeling on the skin, the colour doesn't end up being this patchy orange mess at the end of the day and clinging to some of my dry spots which others have done, it gives a gorgeous dewy finish to the skin and last well through out the day.  Just remember a little goes a long way with this product.

I have two colours of this BB cream in light and medium, the light one is perfect when I have no tan on and just need a little coverage, and the medium again is great for everyday but for when I have my tan on.

The top  colour is the light which is more of a pink based toned and the bottom colour is the medium which is more of a yellow tone

So below is a photo of my skin, when it is perfectly clean, as you can see i have some redness on my cheeks, and there are a few blemishes on my forehead and chin which aren't showing to much on this photo.

This picture is my skin with just the BB cream in medium on, you can see it has covered up the blemishes and the redness well and has left my skin with a lovely finish.

And finally this last photo is my skin with the rest of my makeup on ( there is also a video at the bottom of this post, with a tutorial of this everyday makeup look)

 If you are looking for a well priced BB cream, which gives good coverage, a lovely finish to the skin and has good lasting power then the seventeen BB cream is the one for you. It is only available from boots and is usually £6.99 but is now on offer for £4.99 online ( not sure if this is the same in stores).

So below is a tutorial of the makeup I'm wearing in the above picture, which is my go to everyday look at the moment. The lighting is not the best in this video I'm still trying to get the hang of my lighting.

Becki x

First video

Hey Guys :)

 I thought I'd have a go at making a get ready with me video, I'll put a list of product that I used and a picture of the eye shadow colours underneath the video. Hope you enjoy it. The music on the video is by Alex Goot, you can find other songs by him on youtube and they are available to buy on itunes. Also sorry for the really sudden end to the video, I need some more practice with editing

Foundation- Benefit hello oxygen

Concealer- Benefit boi ing

Powder- Collection 2000 lasting finish

Bronzer- Rimmel london natural bronzer  

Highlight-  mac mineralized skin finish 

Eye shadow primer- Mac painterly paint pot

Lid colour- Urban decay sin

Crease and lower lash colour- Urban decay smog

Brow and inner eye highlight - Urban decay virgin

Out v colour- Dark horse

Liner- 17 gel liner

Eyebrows- dark brown shadow

Mascara- false lash effect

Lipstick- mac kinda sexy

Lipgloss- Rimmel london stay glossy non stop glamour

Becki x

Eyebrow maintenance ...

Hey guys :)

So I thought I would do a post about what I do to my eyebrows to keep them looking their best. In this post I'll explain how I pluck and trim eyebrows and then how I tint them which I do about once a month. Below is a picture and a list of what you will need :

• Cotton buds
• Eyebrow tint ( I use the 30 day mascara in dark brown that can be used on eyelashes and brows, you get around 16 applications in this and its around £8)
• A good pair of tweezers
• Lip balm 
• Eyebrow brush
• A white ( or any colour eyeliner )
• Small scissors 

 So I don't have the biggest brows and i don't really shape them to much or over pluck them I tend just to neaten them up, but I do have a lot of very blonde brow hairs which makes the brows look bit patchy and sparse. I had plucked these about 2 days ago but I will still show you the process below.

You will need some good tweezers make sure they are sharp and this helps to get all those stubborn little hairs, a brow groomer or a fine tooth comb will do, a white eye liner pencil or something to mark on your brows ( make sure you can wipe it off easy) and some small scissors.

When finding the shape that you should be plucking you brows to, it's pretty simple, the first step is to line the edge of tweezers at the side of your nose, point straight up where it hits your brow, this is where the brow should begin, mark it with you white pencil.

 Next is you arch, again have the tweezers at the edge of your nose, and when looking directing in the mirror, the tweezers should be in a diagonal line that runs straight through the pupil and up to the brow, this is where your arch should be again mark that spot.

 And the last point to mark is where the brow ends, again line the tweezers at the side of your nose , this time the tweezers you hit the outer corner of the eye and then up to the brow and this is where it should end, now one of my brows doesn't quite hit that point so when I fill them in I find I have to extend the brow a little.

Next I join up the dots, and anything below the line I just pluck away, try to avoid plucking above the brow, this really changes the shape of your brow and sometimes can go a little wrong, trust me. I get a lot of blonde hairs on my brow bone, so sometimes I buy the wax strips for brows and use this to remove the hair.

 I take my eye brow groomer, and comb my eyebrow hairs upwards.

Next take the little scissors and carefully trim the hairs, that are sticking way about the top of your brow. And then you are done or ready to tint them.

I use the colorsport 30 day mascara ( can be used for brows as well as lashes) in dark brown, I just get mine from boots and its about £8, it has around 16 applications and you only need to do it once a month so well over a years worth of eye brow tinting for £8 is pretty good deal, seen as you can that or more to have it done in a salon.

 This is what you will see when you open the box, you get the dye, the developer, a mixing and application stick and the mixing tray.

 Squeeze out about 2cm of the dye into the mixing tray.

 Add 8 drops of developer, be careful it comes out quickly.

Then mix together, it does take while to mix and doesn't go super smooth, but just keep on mixing until it looks something like this.

Then take some lip balm or Vaseline on a cotton bud a wipe under the brow, be careful not to get it on the brows you want to dye.

Don't forget the top of the brows.

Take the application tool, and begin to cover the brow in the dye, make sure it's really well covered, patchy brows is not a good look.

The dye will look pretty light at first like this.

I leave the dye on for about 10 mins, and it gets darker as it stays on longer.

After the ten minuets take a damp cotton pad, and swipe it over the brow to remove the dye, it will come off pretty early, if any has got on your skin don't worry it will come of in the shower or with some warm water.

And you are all done, as you can see it;s not made a major difference, but it just makes my brows look a little fuller and neater, I love tinting my brows as I think even with no makeup on having nice brows really frames the face, and they aren't so dark that I can't still fill them in and make them bolder for a night out.

If you have never used this before make sure you do a patch test 48 hours before, the last thing you want is an allergic reaction, and two big red brows.

Becki x

How to clean your make up brushes

Hey guys :)

It's super important to clean your brushes regularly  yes you might have a clean face and clean hands, but brushes are full of dirt and Bactria which get put on your face with your make up and this can lead to break outs of spots on your skin.

I thought I'd show you how I give my brushes a deep clean, and its really simple and inexpensive, all you need is some anti bacterial washing up liquid and olive oil.

You need to make sure that you are using a liquid that is anti bacterial as this will make sure that any bacteria on your brushes is killed, the liquid also breaks down the make up and brings it away form the bristles.    

 Pour some of the washing up liquid onto a clean plate.

Next add some olive oil, the reason for using this is because the washing up liquid dries out the bristles on the brushes so the oil keeps them feeling soft, and also breaks down any stubborn makeup. 

This was probably a little much for just one brush but you get the idea, and you can use the same mixture you have made for more then one brush ( use until looks a little too dirty to be doing any cleaning)

 So here is my real techniques buffing brush that I use every time I use foundation so as you can see it's pretty grubby ( the ends of the bristles should white) 

Here's another look at my super dirty brush ( yucky ) and the foundation was worked pretty well down into the brush head, so was in need of really good clean.

Begin to mix together the oil  and liquid with your brush.

Sweep the brush back and forth in the mixture until the brush is full of it, be gentle with the brush you don't want to damage the bristles.

Add a little water to another clean plate, and run the brush round it, until it lathers up, you will already see a lot of the makeup coming off.

Sweep the brush back and forth on your hand, this brings all the makeup off of the brush, remember to keep wiping your hand on a clean towel so that the makeup doesn't end up back on the brush.

Squeeze out excess liquid. 

This is what came off my brush just half way through, pretty gross. 

Rinse the brush in warm water, make sure it isn't to hot as this can damage the glue that hold the bristles, and you will begin to get shedding.

Keep rinsing until water run clear, squeeze out any water and pat dry with a towel.

 Then you will end with a brush that looks like new.

 Place a towel out on a flat surface, so absorb any water, under the handles place a rolled up towel so that the handles are higher then the brush head, this is so the water can drain out of the brushes.

One thing you need to remember when cleaning brushes, is never dry them stood up as the water will get into the brushes and damage them a lot. This also applies when washing them you need to keep them upside down so no water gets into them, because this will seriously shorten your brushes life.

Becki x