Autumn Wish List

So this week Autumn officially started! This truly is my favourite time of the year; all the beautiful colours, cold dark nights and of course the return of Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte **insert heart eyed emoji here**
I especially love the colours involved in Autumn, all the shades of oranges, browns and deep berry colours look perfect on almost every skin tone!
I decided to make myself a little wish list of all the things I've found so far that I need in my Autumn collection this year.

Yankee Candle: Fireside Treats

I adore Yankee Candles as does every other girl I know. They have such a huge range of beautiful smells that just fill the room and last forever. Fireside Treats is the perfect scent for Autumn! It truly captures those frosty crisp bonfire nights, the perfect scent for snuggled evenings on the sofa sipping of hot chocolate. This is definitely an Autumn must-have this year.

Rimmel 60 Second Shine Nail Varnish: Berries and Cream

Ahh I love this colour!! It's so beautiful and goes perfectly with almost every single other colour. Rimmel 60 Second Shine nail varnish is by far the best nail varnish I have ever used. I own so many colours of this brand; it really does take seconds to dry and after 2 coats the colour looks fantastic and hardly chips meaning it lasts all week.The gel type varnish means it has a beautiful shine to it without even using a top coat. The perfect Autumnal shade for AW15.

Mac Lipstick: Hang-Up

It still pains me that I don't currently own a Mac lippy. I'm trying hard to be more adventurous with lipsticks as I tend to just stick to nudes and light pinks however this gorgeous dark berry shade is to die for! Can you imagine wearing this with an all black outfit and berry coloured accessories..? It's the perfect Autumn/Winter shade, especially for those who like to add a little Gothic touch to their style. 

Topshop D-Ring Sleeveless Duster

Oh wow, now this is a must have this season. Sleeveless duster jackets are so in this season along with this gorgeous Autumnal orange shade. It's the perfect autumn must have this year and would look gorgeous teamed with black jeans, a black turtle neck and some heeled Chelsea boots! Well done Topshop for this little beauty. 







It's early days into Autumn so this list is still growing but I've just been too excited to share my new autumn finds with you! 

What is your favourite season?

Have you found any Autumn trends?

Whats your favourite thing about Autumn?

Love Hari Pixie

Make Up Recreation

I apologise.. again...for my massive lack of posting! However, I'm back! And tonight I'm sharing with you my favourite boredom breaker. Summer is obviously over and the dark Autumnal nights have officially arrived meaning evenings indoors can get a little boring; I mean there's only so much lazing around snuggling up with a hot chocolate you can do (I'm lying, you can never do too much of that)

So I have stored on my phone an album chocka-block full of make up look that inspire me. I usually only use them as ways to inspire my own make up looks however I decided to do the full monty and recreate this beautiful woman's make up as best I could.

Face

For my face I simply used just my trusty No7 Beautifully Matte foundation in the shade Calico with no bronzer or highlighter to try and replicate her flawless complexion. Having such dramatic eye make up means face and lips need to be quite subtle and plain so the eyes really stand out and the make up look isn't too OTT. 

Eyes & Eyebrows

Here's where the fun starts! This make up is all about the eyes and all about the drama. I tried my hardest to go as smokey as she has however my fear of too much black kicked in a tad. For my eyeshadow I used my Naked 2 palette and used only the last 2 shades; Busted and Blackout

I first applied the shade Busted lightly across the entire lid with a fluffy brush. I then applied the shade Black out using the same fluffy brush lightly to the crease and buffed it out up towards my brow bone. I then applied the same shade, Blackout, using a liner brush to my lower lash line and buffed this out slightly too to add more drama. 

I applied as much of my Dior Addict IT-lash mascara as I could however I couldn't quite manage to get the same dramatic lashes as she did without having to use falsies.
I added a lick of my favourite liquid eyeliner, Rimmel Exaggerate, to my upper lash line to try and add abit more depth. I then thickly applied my Rimmle eyebrow pencil and really tried to arch my brows up slightly higher than I normally would to try and recreate her totally to die for brows. 

Lips

For lips I purely just painted on a coat of my favourite light pink lipstick, Makeup Revolution's glorious £1 lipstick in the shade The One. I now, however, am gutted I can't find this lippy anywhere to take a photo of it so here is the photo from the Superdrug website. This is a beautiful light pink shade with a slightly glossy finish. This lipstick looks amazing with tanned skin too.

So after shoving my hair up into a messy/neat bun (if that isn't a perfect example on an oxymoron I don't know what is) and took a cheeky selfie here is my finished look! Considering this is my first recreation I'm quite pleased with the outcome, however I do need to dare to be smokier and panda my eyes up abit more.

I had so much fun recreating this look and can't wait to try out some more and share them with you!

What make up look would you recreate?
What shall I recreate next?
Have you tried out new looks?

What I Wore on Wednesday

Firstly, I am so sorry for not blogging for almost a month! It's crazy how much life gets in the way, especially as I'm going through a seriously busy yet exciting time at the moment which I can't wait to start blogging about!

Anyway..! This Wednesday's outfit was a bit too summery considering how dreadful the weather was yesterday but doesn't mean I didn't love it.

Blouse and Necklace: Asda George £8 on sale

I have been loving the massive khaki green hype, particularly as it's a colour that suits me well so you can only imagine how excited I was when I managed to pick up this little gem of a blouse complete with a gorgeous statement necklace in the Asda George sale (last one in my size too so I knew it was fate)

Jeans: Primark £10

These are my trusty Primark jeans that are absolutely fantastic. I pretty much live in black jeans so I've spent many shopping trips hunting for a pair of jeans that won't fade, wash well and look fantastic as well as being comfy! Well Primark have ticked all the boxes! I wear these jeans almost every day and wash the regularly and they wear so well.

Sandals: Tesco F&F Clothing £5 on sale 

So this week has been a great week for me bargain buys wise! These real leather lace up black sandals were in the sale at £5 down from £16. Yep that's right.. real leather.. for £5. They're gorgeous! So comfortable and look stunning with so many outfits whether it's a floaty dress or jeans and a tee.

Make-up

I teamed up this khaki look with khaki make-up! I bought a gorgeous khaki green shimmery eyeshadow from Freedom Makeup last month and it looks beautiful used as a crease colour teamed with some black winged eyeliner to add a dash of coordination with my two tone outfit.

Although the typically British rainy weather ruined my summery outfit I adored this look! It's so simple to dress down or dress up by adding some strappy heeled sandals to add some sofistication or some ankle chelsea boots and a messy pony tail to make it more casual.

Love Hari Pixie

PS: Look how adorable my guinea pig is! She loved this outfit too hehe!

Pretty in Pink: Summery Make-up

I created this shimmery pinky look one rainy Sunday afternoon to try and remind myself that it's only July meaning it's still summer despite what the weather reports say. I'm not normally one to stray away from my everyday nude or smokey looks but I decided I needed to change it up a bit and add a splash of colour (you may also notice I'm not wearing any winger eyeliner.. what?!)

Face

For my face I used my Nu Skin foundation that I have previously blogged about and subtly contoured my face using the same method and products I used in my simple contouring blog post which you can access here.

I then used my Makeup Revolution Baked Highlighter in colour Golden Lights and applied this to the bridge of my nose, t-zone, chin, above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows to create a stobing effect.

I absoutly love my Baked Highlighter from Makeup Revolution! It is the perfect amount of shimmer without making you feel like a human glitter magnet and the golden tone beautifully reflects the light and gives you a full on glowing complexion.

I then applied a very light application of Freedom Makeup blush in the shade Lethal Weapon to the apples of my cheeks. This blush is very very bright and is not normally a shade I would choose to wear, however if applied sparingly it is a lovely fresh colour that is perfect for complimenting simple eye make-up with a bold lippy.

Lips

For my lips I used the perfectly named Pro Lipstick by Freedom Makeup in the shade 'Juicy Lips'. This is a true summery colour that really ties the whole make-up look together. I would call this shade a subtle statement lipstick that is to be worn with a similar subtle statement blush.

The camera doesn't do justice for the absolutely gorgeous colour this lippy is. I can't quite find a comparison to describe the shade of this lipstick; it's sort of a bright-light pink-almost coral colour.
Definitely unique and 100% summery.

Eyes

For my eye make-up I used my Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette Iconic 3 (which is a total dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette and it's only £4!!)

I start off by applying a base colour using the lightest shade in the palette that I numbered 1. By adding a light base colour across the entire lid it means any colours you apply on top will really pop and have more colour.

I then use shade 3 in my crease and extend it across the entire eye to create a dark line and softly blend it up towards my brow bone and stopping before I reach my eyebrow. I also use shade 3 in both the inner and outer corners of my eye. This is a beautiful matte darker dusky rose shade that is absolutely perfect for applying to the crease.

Using my finger tip I applied shade 2, which is a gorgeous shimmery light pink, across my lip and packed it on.

I then blended together the inner and outer corners that have shade 3 applied with the lid colour.

I then add just a tiny amount of shade 4 on the very outer corner of my eye and blend it in a V shape from the outer edge of the upper lash line into the crease. This is just to add a touch of smoke and edginess and create abit more of a winged eyeshadow. Shade 4 is a stunning dark purple shade with a mix of pinky and purple shimmer.

I decided against adding a bold winger eyeliner as I felt this would have completely ruined the soft summer look I was trying to achieve.

Over all I really enjoyed giving this make-up look a go and definitely feeling braver to try out ore colours and bolder looks!

What is your favourite summery make-up?
Have you tried any different look?

Love Hari Pixie 

Everyday Make-up

Natural make-up is a style I particularly love to wear. I have recently had a break from contouring and swapped it for a touch of foundation, subtle strobing and lightly bronzing my cheeks. I have stepped away from the heavy eye make-up and lined lips and decided to try a more two tone nude look with much smaller and thinner winged eyeliner and just a lick of mascara rather than lashings of the stuff.

I have toned down my eyebrows by simply brushing and lining them rather than colouring them in and I personally think they look so much better this way.
Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely adore getting all my make-up out and having a good old contour session with false lashes and bright red lippy but I have really started to tone down my everyday make-up look and managed to save myself bags of time in the morning to enjoy an extra 20 minutes in bed with my coffee.

To achieve natural looking make-up I think it's really important to use a foundation that matches your skin colour exactly rather than choosing a shade darker to try and look more tanned which is a mistake I've made in the past and trust me it's not a good look.
Instead of contouring I lightly strobe my face by highlighting the areas of my face that the light naturally hits first, for example my cupids bow, bridge of my nose and lightly under my eyebrows etc, with first of all a very light concealer then with a shimmery highlighting powder. This is to give me a more natural glow rather than leaving my face looking flat with just foundation.

I lightly add a very light bronze to chisel my cheeks and frame my face and add the tiniest amount of matte peachy blush to the apples of my cheeks just to give me a little smidgen of colour.

My eyebrows are just brushed into shape then lined and slightly extended to neaten them up.

I use 2 shades of eye shadow only, a pale ivory for the lid to brighten my eyes up and a light brown shade for my crease to make my eyes look bigger and deeper. Then I add a thin line of my black liquid eyeliner and gently flick the wings before putting on just one coat of clump-free mascara.

Finally I add one coat of a nude or light pinky lipstick to finish of the look and voila my make-up is done! Easy! This takes me no longer than 10 minutes in the morning before I shove my hair up into a messy bun and carry on with my day. It's an effortlessly lovely look that is dead simple to achieve. You don't need any specific items for this look, just use what you have.

What is your everyday make-up? 

Have you tried strobing?

Love Hari Pixie

What I wore on Wednesday

Today I put 0 effort in to my outfit and I received a load of compliments about how nice I looked which was a massive mood boost! Todays outfit was inspired by fellow fashion bloggers Sarah Ashcroft of That Pommie Girl and Lauren Arthurs of Love Lauren. I follow both of these beautiful fashion bloggers on Instagram where they share daily photos of their 'outfits of the day'. A look I adore from both of them is their take on the smart-classy-casual look. I love the combination of smart attire with trainers to create a dressed down, almost effortless look so decided to attempt the recreate this idea and apply it to my own style.

Top: Primark £8 

I brought this top from Primark in the Business wear department for only £8 and it's unreal how many compliments I get when I wear this. I adore striped clothing and I find it uncommon to come across many items with vertical stripes. I think that by wearing vertical stripes it seems to create the illusion of me looking taller and even my hair seems to look longer! The material is lovely and floaty so perfect for the recent sticky, humid weather. The only downside is that the V neck is slightly too low meaning that my cleavage is slightly more on show than I'd like it when the top slips down abit, however I easily fixed this by wearing a bandeau top underneath.
I think this top is perfect for the smart-casual look as it's formal and perfect for business attire however can easily be dressed down.

Jeans: Topshop Leigh Jeans £38

These are my life saving, trustworthy Topshop jeans that I have had for a year. They're still in perfect shape and look fantastic as well as being super soft and comfy material.
These are brilliant for a more smarter looking set of jeans as they're plain denim with no fancy features. I wear mine with the ankles rolled up slightly to make a cuff. They're ideal for a smart-casual look.

Shoes: Nike Blazers £70

It seems to be that the way to change an outfit to be smart-casual is to do it with the shoes. You can be wearing ripped jeans and a oversized tee but pair it with some killer lace up heels and it transforms the outfit into looks fantastically smart-casual. In this case I paired my smart jeans and top with my immaculate pair of Nike Blazers that my amazing fiancé brought for me 2 years ago. As long as trainers are kept in super clean condition then they're an excellent addition to dress down almost any outfit.

Bag: Primark £8

I finished my outfit off by adding my trusty little boy bag (that I like to pretend is Chanel..I wish) to tie the outfit all together. This bag is my favourite buy of the month! It holds everything you need to carry meaning I can no longer cram my handbag full of crap I don't need. It is the perfect combination of smart and casual with minimal detail.

I teamed this look with simple winged eyeliner, soft strobing, a light pinky lipstick and a messy high pony tail.

myfitnesspal Experience: How I lost 8bs in 2 weeks

I have never considered myself fat or over weight, however recently have been feeling very uncomfortable with how large and bloated my belly was looking all the time and the fact I had put on 12lbs since Christmas! I simply couldn't work out how I had gained so much weight when I always considered myself to be a healthy eater. I wanted to lose my extra weight and get back down to my usual 9st weight and get back into my size 8 jeans without having to undo the button after each meal.
So I decided that I'd start keeping a food diary to count my calorie intake to see if I was accidentally over eating without realising. I downloaded an app called 'myfittnesspal' from the iTunes store for free and was amazed by it!
It's so simple to use and is really accurate when counting the calorie, fat, carb etc intake of foods.

Current weight is what I weigh now not my begining weight

When you first download the app it asks you to set up a profile with info such as current weight, goal weight, activity levels and so on so it can work out how many calories, fat, carbs (...ect) you should eat per day so you can reach your goal weight. 

I set my activity level as lightly active as I have a fairly active job which requires me to be on my feet alot as well as going for dog walks and alot of shopping trips in my spare time. Shopping trips burn calories too.. 

The app calculated that I should be eating no more that 1500 calories, 75g of protein, 168g of carbs, 18g of fibre, 52g of sugar 46g or fat.. ect each day so that I can reach my goal weight.

I entered all my food and drink intake for the first time at the end of the day and was shocked to find that I had overeaten by 845 calories!!

It was a massive eye opener to me and I suddenly felt like this app could really help me get on track with healthy eating. I started fresh the next day by eating foods that are high in protein and healthy fat and low in carbs and sugars and I recorded everything I ate and drank for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the next 2 weeks. Even though my calorie intake was lower than normal I wasn't feeling hungry at all.

I've been eating lots of chicken, salmon, lean red meats, steamed vegetables, cous cous, sweet potatoes, oats and fruit and have really enjoyed it. I have been creating my own recipes and seasoning my meats and veggies with different flavours to mix it up and swapped the olive oil for FryLight and coconut oil. I felt loads better after the first week. My mood had lightened, skin cleared up, hair looks healthier, feel more full on energy and I've been sleeping like a baby. I have been weighing out my foods into proper portion sizes meaning over eating has been difficult and I know exactly how much I'm eating. 

You can search for almost every single food you can think off, including restaurant foods. 

The app even has a bar-code scanner meaning you can scan the bar-codes of any food packet and it will bring up the nutritional value of the food and saves your searches and frequently consumed foods for easy diary entries. Making the app so accurate and easy to use.
At the end of each day I submit my diary entry and it would tell me how much I'd weigh if I ate that way for 5 weeks which really motivated me!
If I had eaten under 1000 calories in a day then the app wouldn't let me submit my entry and would bring up a message about under eating and the damage it can cause, meaning the app wouldn't let me under eat.

The app has taught me all about moderation and in the last two weeks and I have even manage to enjoy little treats such as a trip to Nandos, a McDonalds apple pie and even a Chinese take away and still keep within my goals for the day!

I weighed myself at the end of each week and took a photo of my progress to show how much of a difference the app has made. I still can't believe the difference after only 2 weeks! Hopefully only 1 more week to go and I'll have reached my goal weight and I can begin maintaining my weight rather than losing it, another ace feature this app can do!

I honestly can't recommend this app enough for anybody who needs help with losing weight or eating healthily. It has been a huge part of my life for the last two weeks and has made a huge impact on my attitude I have towards food. 

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