My Brow story.

I thought this week I would do a little story time. I started talking about my brows in last weeks post when telling you all about my current favourite brow product, but we will get to that later, and it got me thinking about my brow evolution. And how I got the point of today where I like them.

So many of us can relate to feeling like we should do something to our brows and maybe we should do less as the in the last 8 years or so brows have really become a 'thing'. Like everything else brow stles have come in and out of fashion from the leave them alone bushing to the drawn on line. I'm sure each had their good points, but we have all seen that person who took it too far. But then again scouse brow as I have heard been called is a 'look'. Most people have a complex relationship with theirs brows especially when we look back at old photos and think why did we do that?! I think our brow thoughts have intensified buy the beauty industry who have filled the market with products over the past few years to saturation point. There are products everywhere now that didn't even exist 10 years ago. 

My story starts out like my people's; I had no thoughts about my eyebrows as a child. Why would I? But then as I grew into a teenager I started to notice that lots of girls were doing stuff their eyebrows like plucking or filling them in and as a naive girl I thought I should join the crowd. It was either year 7 or 8 that I found some tweezers and went to work and basically had Angus Thongs and perfect snogging moment. (Where she accidentally shaves half of it off). It wasn't that bad but I remember trying to get this one hair and failed to notice that I was taking more and more hairs out. It looked terrible. 

Instead of helping me or explaining what to do next time because I was only 11 so how was I supposed to know anyway, the people around me made sure I felt extremely embarrassed and miserable about the situation, so I didn't touch my eyebrows for 7 years! Apart from brushing them so they were neat and filling in the sparse areas for a presentable look. Luckily bushy brows have been in thanks to people like Cara Delevingne and Amelia Clarke, but those little hairs still annoyed me. Luckily my best friend is an export on the whole plucking brows thing and went to work on mine. After she finished one she said 'now I know what I'm doing' which made me laugh so much, because that is not something you say to someone as you pluck their eyebrows. She just meant that was getting used to someone else'es brows, but it was funny no the less. 

The ulimate brow product that topped all others is the Benefit Foolproof brows and it does what is says on the tin. It is a natural looking powder with two shades so you can get the perfect shade for your brows. The best thing about Benefit is that you can take a quiz on their website so if you really don't know where to start with the millions of brow products you can answer questions about your current brows and what you want them to look like. They will tell you what you need and also have a really fun virtual brow try on which is so helpful and funny to do at the same time. My brow routine after plucking now consists of brushing them through then using a really the Benefit brown brow powder to gently fill in any sparse areas as I found pencils look way too strong on me. Its another situation where less is more

The transformation is complete and I am so happy with my eyebrows, so please learn from me.

Don't feel pressured to touch your eyebrows because everyone else is doing it. You probably have great eyebrows. I know my sister never needs to touch hers because they are naturally good. 

And if you do want to change them then get someone else to do who knows what they are doing. Skip the embarrassing part and go straight to having good eyebrows. Its more fun that way. 

Spring favouites.

I know a lot of people do monthly favourites, I for one love to see what my favourite Youtubers are loving for inspiration and recommendations, but for me I'm too committed to change it up every month. I've decided to bring together all the things I have been loving this season. My everydays and the things I've almost used up. This will be an on going thing through at the year so I hope you enjoy my seasonal round ups.

I think I'm going to start with a thing that represents a lot of other things. I have been loving reading 'The F Word' by Lily Pebbles. I don't always buy Youtubers books, because I'm not always interested about the subject even if I love them as a person. And if I bought every book that a youtuber brought out then I'd be a little poor. However, 'The F Word' really intrigued me. Female friendships are amazing. I know I rely on them everyday from my best uni friend to my sister. They are are not given enough credit, so a whole book to celebrates this is fantastic from my view. And you can't go wrong with some fun anecdotes on how she met her friends. They're pretty funny and I'll go into it more in my next book review post to round up my reads.  But this book also represents how much I have loved reading this year. I have really kept with it and I am determind to finish a New years resolution. Plus, keeping you updated here makes me wants to do it even more, because I don't want to have write in a post;"I failed". We can do this!

Okay, don't judge me but I got my eyebrows plucked for the first time a few weeks ago. The idea of someone plucking my eyebrows into oblivion has always put me off because I love my thick eyebrows and I'd look silly with the classic 90s look that other people can pull off. My uni best friend was the person I put my faith into. (See, female friendships are amazing) and poor her. She had a job making my brows look presentable, but she achieved the impossible. I am now far from Yetty land. But the thing that makes them presentable for the outside world is the Benefit foolproof brows. My brows are thick, but sparse so I use the lighter shade to fill them in. I love them! I think this is perfect for a brow novice as the powder is so natural and as long as you don't go in too heavy handed and its super easy. None of this precision faff stuff. I've never been this happy with my brows and I now 

depend on this product which speaks volumes. 

Winter is the time for many things. Jumpers and hot chocolate, but for me its the coming of the dry skin plague. I moisturise intensely  until the cows comes, but still those cold dry days will get me every time. I got this Lush moisturiser as a Christmas presents and I finished it last month which was so sad. This is a creamy moisturiser that is full of hydration and perfect for sensitive skin. I lathered this on everyday and it left me with soft moisturised skin. I've said the word moisturise too much, sorry. Anyway, I have been so impressed as a dedicated user of heavy duty coco butter. I definitely want to get more next winter.

On to style favourite. I've always been a little wary of trousers because I though for some reason that they wouldn't suit me, I don't know why. I bought these Asos Cigarette Trousers because they were navy and highwaisted so I eased myself in with my safety nets. I wear these every week! They were exactly what my Capsule Wardrobe was missing and the amount I wear them shows this. How did I live without these for so long?! They feature on my Instagram, so pop over there if you want to see how I style them, especially the Insta highlights that I have saved. I am going to do a whole post about them soon, because they deserve a whole post. Nothing sums up classy and chic like cigarette trousers and I am honestly obsessed with them to the point where they really need a wash, but I want to wear them again. I can't let go!

The last two items are a but random, but they deserve to be included. the first is this little cute postcard from Paperchase which represents how much I loved International Women's day. People really loved my Girl Power Post which made me so happy and humble. I have really learning how to feel confident about my self and have healthy view points. I have worked really hard and I'm excited to celebrate myself and all my amazing girlfriends who inspire me. Current affairs at the moment are miserable and very intimidating, so if we can learn to stand together and love each other then bit by bit we can make a positive contribution to the world. 

The second random thing is very random, so i'll keep it short. I am planning on doing a whole post on my house plants, (Yes, I am 70) about where I get them from and how I keep them alive. To be hoest I'm surprised I have kept them alive and that I've only had one casualty along the way. Minute of silence for the succulent I over watered.....My Swiss cheese plant has brought me so much happiness, because its beautiful and it represents a little achievement. (That its not dead). I know these are really popular at the moment, but I don't mind because they should be. I'm thinking about naming it so I'd love to hear any suggestions. 

And thus rounds up my Spring Favourites. I'll check in again in a few months with my next round of favourites, but for now here a few of my favourite blog posts from this year if you fancy a read. 

More Girl Power Please. 

A Fresh Start

The Start of my Capsule Wardrobe series. 

My Valentines day post. 

Benefit Pinks for Spring.

I feel like Benefit has been every where recently! They went above and beyond when bringing out their new mascara; Bad Gal Bang. Like flying Youtubers out to the Maldives above and beyond. I loved how hyped they got about a mascara, because I feel like a brand that puts so much effort into just one product must be worth buying. I have loved Benefit for so long and I always end up going back to them because when buying high end makeup I want to know its worth my money. I have never been disappointed by any products and its nice to feel like a brand actually cares about the customer. Who else agrees? 

Today I will talking about this adorable benefit set which I think is perfect for spring. I love wearing pinky colours in spring to compliment the season. They always makes me think of flowers and warmth and it really contrasts with the dark and autumnal colours from the colder seasons. I'm really looking forward to introducing lighter colours into my new Capsule Wardrobe and experimenting with them. You can read about my little trial here.  But focusing more on makeup now...

First of all I love this mini Roller Lash Mascara because its going to be so useful for when I go on holiday later on in the year. I can stick it in any handbag while having my big one in my makeup bag. I love what it does for my lashes and I tend to wear it as an everyday mascara rather than a going out one. I won't go into it too much because I have already written a full post on it here if you want to know more about it. 

The next little joy is the Dandelion Dew which is probably my favourite apart from the classic Roller Lash Mascara. I was initially  a little weary of the bright pink dew as I don't tend to wear blush because I have naturally very pink cheeks, so I try to avoid the clown look. However, because it is liquid you can blend it perfectly for a subtle pink dewy which is my cup of tea as I wear dewy makeup all year round to avoid my naturally dry skin. 

The Posie tint makes me so happy because you can use it for both your lips and cheeks. What a perfect little item to have in your handbag. Just imagine when you're half way through the day and you feel meh, but then you can get your Posie tint out your bag and be renewed for the day. A quick brush of the tint with your fingers onto your cheeks and lips and you will glow! This pink is definitely a bright summer shade as there is nothing dull about it. 

The final part of the set is a good old blusher. I love it, but I'll be honest I don't wear it as a blush because it is too pink for my cheeks, however I wear it as an eye-shadow. I actually have it on now as I write this. I use a fluffy brush to apply it on my lids and blend and that's it. Its great for my simple makeup look that applies no thought what so ever and basically wear it nearly everyday. All these products are effortless and light weight on the skin which sounds like Spring makeup to me 

What is your spring colour? 

What's in my bag?!

This is a post that ive never done before and I couldn't understand why. For one it's a classic post that I've seen bloggers and youtubers do and another reason I can't belive I haven't done it, is that I love seeing what people have in their bags! I'm so nosy when it comes to these things because people can keep the most random items in their handbags. 

I've layed out all the items I had in the bag I'm using currently with the exceptions of some random old pieces of chewing gum (obviously not chewed. Ew) that I thought would ruin the image slightly. I have the usual things like my purse which is from new Look. I love it because it fits everything in. (I mean receipts and not money because I'm pretty poor) Phone and ear phones are standard as well. 

I'm really not sure why I always have sunglasses with me when I live in England but I'm ever the optimists. Something you might not know about me is that I love reading and it's my favourite hobby. However I find it hard to find the time to really enjoy a good book so I always carry one with me on case the opportunity arises. At the moment I'm reading 'We need to talk about Kevin' which is written my the mother of a boy named Kevin who committed a school shoot up in America. To avoid making this into a book review, it is an interesting book to because of the way it's written and that you get to see a different side of a well known news story. 

Who else is a compulsive list maker? Because I definitly am. My anxiety means that I obviously worry a lot but knowing that I have written everything down really calms me so I keep my trusty Flamingo note book that is full of scribbles and lists.

Finally, a makeup bag in a women's handbag is not unusual but I try hard not to pack everything. Instead I keep the necessities like concealer and eye lash curlers which may not be a necessity to someone else but my eye lashes are short and straight which I don't like. At the bottom of my bag I found a couple of hair pins and hair bobbles left over from God knows when. Another thing I feel unable to leave the house without is my hand sanitizer which is a gorgeous smelling one from The Body Shop. (At the moment its satsuma) all with that smelly thing I have a miny of one of my favourite perfumes which is from Dior so we donto have any bad scents while out and about. 

Over all I'm pretty impressed with the lack or hoarding I have even if I did take a sweet wrapper out as well. I hope you've enjoyed having a nosy in my bagarden.  What do you always keep I  your bag no matter what? 

Baby Benefit.

So this isn't supposed to be a Christmas thing since that has been and gone, but I really wanted to talk about these adorable as I call them 'baby' Benefit products. I'm a little biased because Benefit is my favourite makeup brand. I think it is so fun and creative as well as providing amazing results. 

I've never used any of these products before, but now I know whether I wont to purchase the full size versions.

"That Gal" and "Bad Gal" are my favourite by far. Not that I don't like the others because that is far from the truth, but I just don't wear blusher because I have very pink cheeks anyway so emphasising that is not a good look for me.

Back to the favs; I have really dull skin at the moment so That Gal is like a highlighting primer to give your skin a glow without it being shining in all the wrong places. I've been through a few mascaras over the years, but Bad Gal is amazing! It completely fans out your lashes and I've never had a mascara applicator that curls my thin straight lashes.

I hope you are having a fantastic New Year.

Review: Benefits's They're real mascara.

I've been meaning to do this review for a while now, but I haven't quite round to it. But today I have the day off so I decided to faff around with flowers which is very production I know, but hopefully these pictures look pretty. I haven't done a close up on my eyes like reviews usually do because my eyeliner wasn't on fleek and I didn't want my poor skills to reflect badly on the amazing product. These things always seem to cheer me up; maybe because they are highest and are that bit more special or the fact that my eyes go from boring to Hello! 

I'll start with the mascara. This mascara is defently not a subtle products. It makes an impact by thickening and darkening lashes. (Trying not to quote the packaging) but I do love the statistics on the box as I much more likely to be convinced if they have statistics. Im a sucker for them. When used the mascara for the first time I expected the applicator to be big and thick like other volume mascaras but it was surprisingly average, but I think that just improves the application so you don't over load your lashes with clumps.
And it lasts all day but the only negative I have is when I tried to get it off I had to really rub my eyes which isn't ideal. It could have been my cleanser that wasn't up to it though.

The eyeliner. I was a little more interested in this product as I've never owned one that has that kind of applicator. I don't know how to describe it, so it's like a pen but at an angle is the best I can do. Again like the mascara it lasts all day and doesn't smudge when you rub your eyes!
I rubbed my eyes in a exam I had recently and spent the whole time trying avoid eye contact with the invigilator because I thought I'd smeared black all around my eyes, but in the end my eyes were still on point and i just probably looked very suspicious in the exam hall. Typical me.
However I would say that it takes some practice to get the hang of the different applicator, but once you get it right you will look amazing!

What products make your day?

"On Wednesdays we wear pink."

I'm sorry for that cheesy reference in the tittle, but I am a big fan of Mean girls. Last Wednesday my friends and I actually did wear something pink. That's when I found out that I don't own many pink items, probably because I grew out of the 'wear all pink' stage about 10 years ago. But now I think that pink shouldn't be seen as childish colour, but a colour a mature women can apsaloutly rock!

This wasn't meant to be a pink rant, but a spring favourites, so here I go; I have spoken about the amazing Benefit Roller Lash mascara before as it is wonderful however I haven't worn a lot of makeup in the winter months because my skin needs a rest with the cold weather which results in me getting dry skin. Yay. Not. But I have stuck to this trusty mascara, because it doesn't leave clumps, it stays on all day and I don't have to scrub my eyes red raw to get it off. 

The second thing that I've been wearing everyday is my personalised 'Brigid' necklace because it is so nice to something with my unusual name on. And I prefer silver to gold so that is a plus. On the end of my name there is a little star which I think is so cute. 

Bargain alert! These cool sunglasses are from Primark and were £1! I'm very bad with sunglasses because I either lose them or sit on them . Yes I'm an idiot, but I don't have to be too disappointed if either of those situations occur because I've only lost £1, but on the other hand I still want to lose them because I think the shape are funky and different with a retro vibe going on.

I haven't spoken about this Jimmy Choo perfume in a very long time, but It has continued to be a favourite so much so that I'm worried that I'll run out too quickly so I'm rationing it. I'm afraid I can't just go out and buy nice perfume any day of the week due to my budget, but I'm enjoying the nostalgic smell which reminds me of a bubble bath my mum had when I was little. It probably doesn't smell like that at all but that's what I think of when I put it on.

What are you favourites for spring?

Xx