Rebecca Davies

I have been sorting through my personal makeup bag recently and because I am home a lot at the moment, I have transferred my main makeup to a little white tray on my desk. Its so much easier to access and see the products clearly without them being messy or even potentially broken.

All of the products I have out are my everyday makeup go to products. I also only use high street brands at the moment as I believe there are many products out there that do what high end products but for the third of the price.

Do you know when your makeup runs out of date? Did you even know makeup had an expiry date? Well you do now.

I have been doing a lot of research on this subject recently and I thought you could benefit from my findings because its not nice to find your products have a funny smell or have all dried up. I will tell you when you should replace your products and how long products should technically last.

Did you know that most products have a Period After Opening symbol on the product. It normally looks like this;



This is your out of date sign 6M - 6 Months etc..

Micellar Water has an expiry of 6 months.
Toner has an expiry of 6m - 1 year. ( If you notice a change in odour or colour, then its time to bin )
Moisturiser has an expiry of 1 year
Concealer has an expiry of 1 year.
Foundation has an expiry of 1 year
Powder has an expiry of 2 years
Brow Pencil has an expiry of 2 years
Eyeshadows have an expiry of 6 months - 2 year. ( again keep an eye out for change in colour or a waxy build up on the outer corners)
Mascara has an expiry of 4-6 months.
Liquid Eyeliner has 6m - 1 year ( It will last the year if applied correctly)
Lipliner has an expiry of 1 year
LipStick has an expiry of 2 years
Nail Polish has an expiry of 2 years


So above are the main products and their expiry dates. Always remember to look out for the Period of Expiry sign on the back on the products and if they don't have one, simply look at my list above.

I hope this has helped you, as much as it helped me.

Enjoy, Love

So I have been thinking a lot lately about the future and the type of job I would like to be in.

Obviously I will always be in the makeup industry, its where my heart lies, I could go outside of that fully. Recently however I have been doing a lot of fashion shoots, picking clothes or wearing clothes I really like from a selection that I have been sent. I get to style different items with things that go together, colours that match or even block colours. Its intriguing to me and has become something I actually really, really enjoy.

As I follow through with this, the more I began to enjoy the projects I am working on, I get to meet new people and to me that is super fun. I do not think I would be where I am, shooting some cools photos with the people I have met along of the way.

At first I am not going to lie, I was crapping myself at the thought of standing in a park, in items of clothing that I liked to wear and a person with a camera stood taking photos of me. I always thought people would stand and stare or even holla things at me for having a photoshoot in a park. As soon as I was having my photos taken, I realised no one cared. They just want to go about their everyday lives, whilst I carry on with mine. No body is bothered, as long as you are happy and not causing a huge scene everyone is fine. Which made me more comfortable to shoot different shots.

Basically I am saying be comfortable with what you do, just be confident in your own skin. Oh and its cool just add a hobby in that you enjoy to. That's what I did and now I love doing different fashion shoots, being creative and happy. Fashion isn't my life but it will be something that sticks with me always because of what I am doing right now.

Well that's all from me tonight! See you soon

This look is very sporty in my opinion and its so out of my comfort zone of clothes that I wear. I thought I may as well jump out of my comfort zone or I will never move forward doing the work I love.

Todays  look I team my Primark plimsoles with striped flared trousers, a black leotard with a cranberry leather jacket over the top. I thought I would hate the combination but the more I had it on during the shoot, the more I grew to love it. It is definitely something I will wear more often even if  I team it up with other items.

I had the brilliant Howy White with me on the shoot as the photographer who is fairly new to fashion photography but I think has done a brilliant job. As I adore the outcome of the photos.

Here is the look, enjoy and if you liked this post please hit the follow this blog button for more posts like this. My social media links are on the front page of the site so go hit follow or subscribe on them all.

Much Love, Rebecca.

Hello, If you haven't already seen my review on YouTube of the Naughty Nine Palette by w7makeup. I will post it here for you too see --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTUo6UrFcpg

I decided I would write down my views on what I really think of the palettes and if they are worth the money. Even though they are below £6 per palette, some people may not think its actually worth spending the money. I am here to tell you, that you should go and purchase their palettes. I will continue to buy their palettes for as long as I am able.

The Naughty Nine palettes strike me as a dupe of the mac nine shadow palettes, they have the exact same look but with different colours and a different logo. With the huge difference being the price. I'm not saying don't buy the MAC products because that would be stupid of me. However if you are on a budget when it comes to buying makeup, I would suggest buying these as the perfect dupe.



Bangkok Nights

Bangkok nights is a very purple toned palette, ranging from mattes to shimmers in a vary of purple toned colours. You have your light pink shimmers to your deep purple mattes. The colours are very pigmented, as you can see on my review video on YouTube. As soon as you touch the shadow you can tell they are pigmented, the colours blend easy, they also work very well together in a sense of lights v darks.

I have swatched each of the colours for you, with each individual colour not having a name. The lightest near to my hand is number and the last next to my elbow is shade 9. My favourite out of the shades has to be shades 1, 3, 4, 7. I just think they are such pretty, girly, smoky eye glam colours. I have a fair skin tone, so this palette goes perfect with this.

If you would like to see a tutorial on how to use this palette please can you let me know and I will sort something out.




Arabian Nights

This palette is based on a nude/beige and brown concept. It ranges from a very light pink nude colour all the way to a shimmer deep brown. These are perfect for that night time glam, a very smoky outer corner of the eye or a shimmer cut crease.

All palettes in this range are highly pigmented, so I don't feel like I need to comment on that all the time. 

However here are the swatches I have from the palettes. Again the one next to my hand is number 1 and the one next to my elbow is number 9, I only really like number 2 and 7. I like the others also but on this particular palettes 2 and 7 stand out the most.





Hard Days Night

Hard Days Night is by far the most smoked palettes, the colours range from white to black with a couple of blue/greys and greys in between. This is a very work makeup palette, something subtle but also stand out ish. A lot of the colours in this palette would be perfect for nights out and events but only to use under the bottom lash line or above the top lash line as liner.

On this particular palette I love number 1, 4, 6, 8, 9. Just because for me personally I am all in favour of a dark smoked out eye look.





All w7makeup palettes can be found on their website, TJHughes, Savers, Boyes etc..

Arabian Nights, Mid Summer Nights, Hard Days Night, Bangkok Nights. All available online and in stores.

If you want to see a video tutorial on how to create a make up look using these, please comment below.

Rebecca

Go check out my budget makeup look now on YouTube. Featuring w7makeup,
 Pound land, MUA Cosmetics.

Rebecca


https://youtu.be/x_wp48NibGg

Every one has heard of Avene. If you haven't then where have you been? It's one of my favourite brands for skincare items. Today though I'm just going to talk about the Avene Spring Water and the different uses it has.

This is a holy grail product for me and it goes everywhere with me in my handbag, suitcase you name the place and its with me. I have found over the past couple of years using the product that it has many uses. Which all work perfectly for me.

I should also put out there, that I didn't read the packaging properly and skipped over a few points. One of the points I skipped was what you can use the product for. Some for me are the same and some are not.

1. To use during hot summer days to cool off. Use it on your face and body, obviously not to close other that may be stupid but a good 10-15cm away from your skin. Just a nice mist over your skin in order to properly cool you down.

2. To set makeup or use to blend out makeup. I use it to set makeup if its a hot day and the sun is glaring at my face. I have a little bit of oily skin around my forehead and where my glasses rest on my face. So sometimes when the sun hits my face melts. Since I started to use this product however my makeup stays put and my face gets the protection it needs as well. To blend my makeup out, I normally spray a little bit onto my beauty blender in order to blend out foundation or cream contour.

3. If I have had to dry shave my legs. I never normally dry shave my legs but if I missed a spot and I am heading out to an event. I usely dry shave the area needed and then I spray the thermal spray over the top to stop the skin from being irritated. It just soothes the skin so you don't get any red marks on your skin.

4. If I've been to the gym and I've come out a sweaty mess. I use it to spray over my face and body to cool off. I used to sit in the locker room for about 30-45 minutes so I can cool off properly but now I spray it as soon as I have hit the locker room and bam 5 minutes later I can go out looking decent and not the mess I normally come out looking like.

5. Straight after the bath. I love a red hot bath at the end of the day, to have a nice pamper and relax. Once I get out however I have the steam coming from my skin and my skin is slightly hot. So too cool down before I have even dried my skin, I like to spray this and my skin becomes cooler ready for me to get dried. I realised before that my skin was still hot when I got out the bath and once I dried my skin was itchy. I never gave my skin the chance to cool off before I got myself sorted.

You can pick up the Avene Thermal Spring Water from BOOTSUK. The 50ml one I picked up for £2.50 and I cant quite remember how much or how big the larger one is because I always have the small one for convenience. This product quite rapidly became my most used product, I honestly use this every day and the day they discontinue this product I may cry. So please Avene never stop this product, I love it too much.

So if I were you I would head down to boots now in order to pick your self some up. Its a product every man and woman should have in their bag or bathroom.

Hope you have found my post useful and I hope you all head out and buy this product. Its worth your money.

Rebecca

You know when your working a lot and all of a sudden you feel stuck? Like you are stuck in the same routine? Stuck in the same job? Anything like that! Well that's what I felt like recently. I felt like I was stuck in the same routine, with the same job. I have dreams and goals I want to reach but I feel like I wasn't trying to achieve them because I was stuck and didn't know how to move forward.

Well I came out of that ' stuck ' feeling and became so much more positive. Which gave me back the confidence to be me and reach for my goals again. I just needed the motivation.

I was scrolling through Instagram one day and looking at all the people I inspired to be like when I was growing up. It was mainly fashion designers and makeup artists. Oh and Darcy Bussell ( Yes I loved ballet and dreamed of being a prima ballerina ) I follow all of my favourites on there. They inspire me to be the person I want to be and have the career I want to have.
As I continued to scroll through Instagram my eye was drawn to a lot of quotes' Go get what you dream of ' has been a quote that has stuck with me ever since I saw it.

GO GET WHAT YOU DREAM OF

After seeing this quote, I immediately sat down at my laptop with  notebook and pen. I began to write my goals down, everything I wanted to do, places I want to visit and even people I want to meet. Yes meeting Darcy Bussell or Pat McGrath and Lisa Eldridge. Yep I would possibly sit on the floor and cry for ages, probably in front of them and they would think I'm a crazy person.

Writing down my goals and dreams brought me back to the first time I wrote a story about Darcy Bussell, well it was more like a biography about her and I drew pictures of ballerinas. At the end of the book though, I wrote 'Her dreams came true and so will mine'. I forgot about the book, my story telling, my drawing skills and that quote until I felt stuck with where everything was headed.

I decided to take a leap of faith in my first year of college and quit to go and study fashion. I was studying drama and art but I wanted to do the thing I felt most connected to. I would spend hours choosing outfits of what I liked and wanted to put together, so why not showcase that. I also like to fashion design and draw my own clothes. So I learnt how to channel that into giving me a grade distinction from a Fashion and Clothing course.

From then I went on to study makeup, I wanted to know the whole backstage of fashion, makeup, hair etc.. Doing jobs in the industry has been perfect, something I have always loved but I felt stuck because I wanted to do something more but I didn't know what.

Now I do:

YouTube and my blog. I have decided to go one step further with both and create my brand around them. I want to teach makeup and fashion, I also want to continue being a makeup artist and showing my love for fashion. So why not advise people, teach people and help people be who they want to be.

I am hoping one day that my channel and blog can help people, even if its advice on what top to wear or how to create a foundation base of makeup that doesn't crease.  If it can grow and grow, I feel that what I originally set out to do would be accomplished. Which would make me happy.

For now though I am heading to bed on a high note.

Sleep tight

Rebecca

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a multi tasking product, it can be used for various different things. I initially bought it to use on my skin but found it can be used for more.

1. Skincare. This is what I initially bought the product for as a nice natural moisturiser. Something to smooth my skin. Once I have had a shower and I have dried off, I use this. It completely smoothes my skin, soft to touch and it doesn't smell bad, isn't harsh on the skin. I also use a little bit in the tips of my fingers to then rub all over my face, I then use a warm damp flannel to wash away any makeup that is left on my skin.

2. Shaving. I prefer this option than using a shaving cream or to waxing my legs. I am not this biggest fan of waxing my legs, my skin has always felt tough and slightly grazed afterwards. So I tried out the coconut oil for shaving trick and its the best I have found for this. You simply apply it all over your legs and shave your legs. In between strokes you obviously wash your razor under warm water and begin again. Leaving soft and silky legs behind.

3. Haircare. I use coconut oil as a hair mask. I always shampoo and condition my hair as normal but then I brush through my hair leaving no knots and then I apply the coconut oil as a mask. Thoroughly brushing through my hair. I leave it for around 5 minutes and then I rinse it off using hot water.

4. Lipgloss. I know this one sounds a tad strange but its true I like to use coconut oil as lipgloss. I have applied my normal matte lipstick, I then dab a little bit of coconut oil over the top to create a nice glossy look. The coconut oil absorbs through the lipstick to help heal chapped lips and to keep them soft everyday.

5. Eyebrows. Yeah I like to use coconut oil to keep brows tame. I only use this if I have used a pencil eyebrow product. I simply take a chunk and melt it into my hand, taking a spoolie I wave the wand through the coconut oil in my hand and lightly graze through the eyebrow hairs. This keeps them all in place, so no one escapes.

These are my top 5 uses for coconut oil. You can buy coconut oil from any retailer. I bought mine from Home Bargains for £1.99

Want to read more things like this article, or you want to know about another subject to leave a comment below.

Remember to follow my blog and my other social media links on my homepage.

Rebecca

Hello, so I thought I would share with you all a beginners guide to highlight and contour. I am constantly being asked about the best way to highlight and contour, what products can I use, what are the best techniques to use. So I thought I would create a capsule guide for everyone to look at that can help them.

Contour

Products:

There are many products you can pick from cream contour palettes, powder contour palettes, liquid contours to pan sticks, matte/shimmer bronzers. To start with for any beginner I would always suggest using a powder in a lighter bronze colour. You also don't want to buy a really expensive product either, someone that you can purchase for under £5 that will work really well.

Brushes:

Flat kabuki, fan brush, angled contour brush, fluffy powder brush. When I first started I used an angled contour brush, its really helpful to use this type of brush so you can see what works best for your face shape. The brush is also angled, so you can see what parts of your face it can fit properly.

I start by using an angled contour brush and a very light matte bronzer. You don't want to use a shimmer one until you have mastered how to do contour.  Put both the brush and product in front of you and sit in front of the mirror. You need to be ale to map out your face, know what's what, what product you use were.

For contour I always say apply it from the centre of your ear in a diagonal line towards to end of your lips. When you actually apply it however I would stop the contour about an inch away from the corner of your lips. It just looks to heavy and not very flattering if it stops on the lip. You want to be able to creative dimension to your face.

Always build up the product on your face, practice makes perfect. Its harder to correct a mistake with contour if its powder, that is why I am saying build on it. Look in the mirror and find the best angle for you to see what you are doing but the light is perfectly balanced. Apply a small amount of product on your brush and go to the centre of your ear and slowly/lightly blend down towards to lip. Circular movements always work best for anything like this. You are evenly spreading the powder without it being messy. Then lightly apply another light layer of contour. One you are happy with the way it looks towards the lip, add another layer but only towards the hollow of your cheek bone and nothing else. It just gives you that slightly chiselled look with out it being to heavy or look unflattering.  

I also like to contour both my nose and jawline. To contour my nose, I simply take a small blending eyeshadow brush and a light amount of powder, I apply it to the outer edge of my nose from the inner brow line to the tip of my nose. I do this on both sides, I do this to create a thin effect for my nose. My jawline I contour because I really like the contoured / defined jaw line look, I use to same brush and lightly build up the shading and shape of my jaw. I make sure I bronze my neck with the same contour colour because it always looks silly if your face doesn't match your body. I always make sure its a healthy glow I have if I haven't tanned my skin.




Highlight

Products:

For highlighters you can get a pan stick, liquid, cream, powder. You can get these in both matte/shimmery. I personally am a fan of the shimmery powders. I just think that they add a healthy glow to your skin, if you pick the right colour.

Brushes:

Kabuiki, fan, flat, fluffy powder brush. I personally would suggest using a fan brush.

Start by looking at the places on your face that would need highlighting, as everyone is different. For me its normally above my contour on my cheekbones, bridge of the nose, tip of the nose and cupids bow.

I always use a light gold shimmer highlight. I do really like MUACosmetics, their powder highlights are to die for and there are many different shades to choose from now. Mine is Iridescent Gold, so pigmented, super pretty and a real bargain.

I use the fan brush, at a light amount to the brush and I sweep it across my cheek bone just close to the contour I had just applied. I also sweep it down the bridge of my nose between the contour we had previously done. The tip of my nose because that makes it a little more prominent. I also apply it to the cupid bows, not to much but enough to create dimension and so that it stands out.




Where to buy from:

Brushes & Bronzers - w7makeup

Brushes - Primark

Brushes & Bronzers - Poundland

Highlighters - MUACosmetics

All products above are all under £5 and they are all contour brushes and matte bronzers or contour palettes.

Face Charts:

I have showcased a few images of face charts where I have drawn out where to highlight and to contour, to make it slightly more easy to follow.

Face chart for highlight and contour

I will also be creating a YouTube video to properly explain this and show you what to do.

Hope you have enjoyed reading this and it has thoroughly helped you.

Comment below any questions you may have or if there is anything you would like me to cover in another how to guide.

Rebecca

Hello Loves,

Today's outfit for me is a very tailored look. I love tailored trousers and sheer shirts at the moment. I decided that this outfit was best kept within the darker colours of navy and black. I also paired the look with a black lace bralet.