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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Freedom MakeUp London: Pro Bare Collection

I have been absolutely blown away by new makeup brand, Freedom Makeup London, that launched in June this year. The quality of their makeup is utterly amazing and the price is even more outstanding (I mean £1 per lipstick..?!)

I started following Freedom Makeup London on Instagram a little while ago when they were first trying to get noticed before launching and I was so excited to try them out! As many of you may know I adore finding beauty bargain that are really worth buying.

I am a little bit of a nutter when it comes to nude based lipsticks and I'm not as brave as I should be with bold colours so when I was browsing around on their website and stumbled across the Pro Bare 5 Lipstick collection for £4 you can imagine how excited I was. I purchased these lipsticks around about 2/3 weeks ago and I have honestly used one of them every single day since they arrived. 

An overall review of the quality of the actual lipstick product is all round fantastic. They apply beautifully and evenly, however I apply at least two layers of lipstick to ensure I get the best of the colour. I find the bars very moisturising which is spot on for keeping summery lips from drying out and winter lips from chapping. They have their own unique finish to them which is neither matte nor glossy but more velvety which is perfect for every day wear and can be glammed up by adding a clear gloss over the top is a more formal look if desired. I do however find myself reapplying the lipstick a few times over the course of a day, meaning I'm using alot more of the lipsticks than I do with many of my other lipsticks, however you can't really complain for less that £1 per lipstick! They're still gorgeous. 

Sooner or Later 

Sooner or Later is the palest colour in the Pro Bare collection. Its a a very light natural pink shade that adds just a touch of pink over your natural lip colour. Its' subtle pinky tone collaborates perfectly with Makeup Revolution's Iconic 3 Palette. This is my favourite pink shade at the moment as its a dead easy natural colour to wear for summer.

Untouched

 Untouched by name, untouched by nature. The name says it all really, this lipstick is the most natural shade in the collection because it literally looks like my lips have no colour on, however have a flawlessly even tone and velvety appearance for the ultimate natural makeup look.
I use this look when I'm trying to get away with looking as natural as possible with minimal make-up.

Naked Beauty

I would say Naked Beauty is one of my favourite nudes in this collection as it is a fantastic subtle taupe colour that seems to just go beautifully with any makeup look whether is big and bold or sweet and subtle. I wear this as my every day lipstick for work as it is the perfect everyday lipstick.

Mannequin

It's a terrible shame that I couldn't quite get the camera on my iPhone to pick up how much darker this shade is to Naked Beauty. In person this shade is quite noticeably darker meaning it needs quite tame eye make-up to match. I use this shade when I have bronzed and tanned my skin. I like to use a dark nude lipliner when using this particular shade as it is quite a statement nude.

Whispers

Whispers is the brightest shade in the Pro Bare collection. I would describe this as a bright rose pink, still maintaining it natural shade however bright enough to make a subtle statement. It collaborates perfectly with my Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 palette and looks stunning against my natural pale skin, however I wouldn't personally wear this when I've been tanning or bronzing.

I have already spent another £25 on their website and taken advantage of their many many special offers! I can't wait for my next delivery to arrive this week.

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Epoch Mud Mask Review

On one of my previous blog posts reviewing the Nu Skin foundation I mentioned how my friend, Chloe, gave me a free sample pot of the natural mud mask that she sells. I have to say that this is by far my favourite face mask I have ever tried!

It has a clay like texture that applies very smoothly and evenly across the skin and I was also really impressed with how little of the product  I needed to use to spread all over my face. Chloe only gave me a small sample but I have managed to get 2 whole masks out of it so I can't even imagine how long a proper tub would last! Fantastic value for money.

It dried very quickly on my face and made the skin feel very tight which was really refreshing. It was amazing at how I could actually see tiny oily dots bursting through the dried mud mask showing me how the mask is actually drawing out all the dirt from my skin!

It really showed me the areas of my face that get clogged up and dirty easily meaning I'm focusing more of deep cleaning those areas with exfoliators.

I kept my mud mask on for about 10-15 minutes to make sure my skin had enough time to draw out all the dirt and muck from out of my pours.

You can see quite clearly along my nose, t-zone and a couple of spots around my mouth dots of oil where the mud mask has drawn impurities out of my skin

After washing off the mud mask with a flannel and hot water I could instantly feel a huge difference. My skin felt so silky and much smoother than it has before. It almost felt as though a a new layer of soft skin had been uncovered. My pours were visibly more unclogged and began tightening up again.

Epoch Mud Mask- £26

Knowing that the Epoch mud mask only uses natural ingredients means I can trust this product to be used on my skin over and over without worrying about any chemical damage. It's so good using natural ingredients to feed your skin with nutrients and vitamins!

Once a week to anybody! It is without a doubt one of the best products I have used to buff up my skin, especially with these hot summer days!

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Freedom Makeup London Contour Kit

Freedom Makeup London is a new make-up brand that was released in June this year. I have been following them on their Instagram for ages, waiting for them to reveal new products.

Finally the day had come when their products offically went on sale! I am always so excited to try out different contour kits and was eager to purchase on of theirs.

So I did! I got the powder compact contour kit in the colour fair. It only cost £3.50 !

I'm not normally a fan of powder contour kits as I don't feel they're as easy to apply and blend as creams however I was pleasantly surprised with this kit!

The highlighter is a fantastic colour, very light without being too white and has no shimmer meaning it gives a more natural highlight. The slight downside is that when I use my brush on the powder it loosens alot more of the product than intended meaning the product tends to get wasted.

The bronze powder is not as good as I was hoping colour wise. It seems less bronze and more reddish in colour meaning instead of perfectly bronzed, chiselled cheeks it looks as though I've used a blusher that's slightly too dark. I think perhaps if I had bought the Medium 01 shade I wouldn't have had this problem.

I did manage to recover the bronze colour problem by adding some of my normal bronzer on top to add abit more brown to cover up the red tone.

Despite the slight disappointment with the bronze shade I'm still massively impressed with this budget contour kit. I use this as an every item to make my everyday/work make-up look like I've gone to alot more effort than I actually have! It's an easy way to achieve a subtle contour look without all the effort.

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