Habitat Haul

Bedding: Habitat

Bedside table: Ikea

Lamp: Wilko's

(I know what you're thinking. No - the grey lamp is not staying in the all grey room, but I thought I'd spare you from photographing it in my mid-decorating lounge)
Lamp: Habitat
Print:Society 6

Rabbit cushion: Habitat

Black & White cushion: Primark

Sofa: Next 

Fruit Bowl: Habitat

Coasters: H&M

I've been trying to be more consistent with my posts recently, but being in the middle of decorating a house has made that tricky. You start off thinking that you enjoy decorating and that it will be easy. Then you spend an entire week stripping wallpaper off just one wall only to discover more wallpaper underneath. I have some beauty posts in the works but since I haven't really been wearing make-up and have been spending most my time in homebase, a post on homeware seemed more apt.

I'm still kind of discovering what my style is with homeware and decorating however I've always loved shopping at Habitat. Sadly the habitat section in my nearest homebase is closing and going online only. The good news is that everything was 50% off whilst they were clearing stock. Silver linings and all. I hope this post isn't totally boring and gives you a little home inspiration!

Chloe
x

Noticed some changes?

Noticed some changes around here?

My blog is currently under construction!

If you've ever started a blog yourself you'll know that it's easy to fall in and out of spells of blogging. Bloggers block, shall we call it. Although it's something I've always enjoyed doing, it can be difficult for creativity to strike, as well as dedicating time for it. However I seem to be doing more and more things lately that I think "that would have made a great blog post". I'm in my twenties which has brought on many changes and big life decisions. I'm still doing freelance make-up, but also discovering many more interests such as photography and cooking. I'm also currently in the process of moving into my first home which is both incredibly exciting and daunting. And by in the process, I do mean slap bang in the process of it. Today (with the help of generous family) I moved a sofa, my bed, a coffee table and a chest of drawers into the house. A crazy time to decide to start blogging again, but an exciting time - which is exactly why I'm doing it.

You can read my posts and come with me on this journey of trying/pretending to be an adult. I'll be posting the usual beauty stuff, along with my decorating progress, recipe ideas, any tips and tricks, probably many what not to do-s and hopefully some other fun adventures.

I'm still having a play with the design of my blog in the meantime as well as writing up some blog ideas but thought I'd give you an update on what's going on. And a heads up to expect more from this blog soon.

But for now if there is anything you'd particularly be interested you'd like me to write about, please leave a comment below.

Thanks,
Chloë

New Home

 No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the world. I temporarily disappeared off the blogosphere.

Why? Because I've just moved to London. 

So I've left home for the first time and moved to the capital city. As a country girl I can tell you it takes a little time to adapt to this (see picture above). I can actually walk to shops, mind blowing I know. 

I've also started studying at Greasepaint and I'm currently on the TV, Film & Theatre course. Which is something I've wanted to do since I was 15 and here I am doing it. It's impossible not to love every second of it.

So adapting to London life and starting an intense course is a good enough excuse for the lack of blog posts, SURELY? Ahh if only that was the reason.

 I've actually had no internet until now and a slight case of writers block.

I don't know where to start and I don't know what to write about.

However this is the most exciting part of my life so far and so I'm going to share it.

Here's some things I've been up to:

Seeing people remove Christmas trees the "london way".

Going to great coffee shops.

Lots...

And wearing beards. You know, the usual.

So I'm a little rusty at blogging, so what?

Back soon!

Growing up

So as you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging lately.
In July I finished my 2 year make-up course at college, with top grades, and life was glorious.

I also had it lined up that in January I would be studying at my dream school Greasepaint.

Utterly, utterly glorious.

All it meant was I then had to work my arse off for the next 6 months to save money for the hell that is living in London. As lots of you may know, working 40 to 50 hours a week in a crappy retail job takes it's toll. Yes I have something to aim for and got to do make-up work on the side, but oh boy does it take it's toll. On top of that I've been, and still am, searching for somewhere to live in London. Well that's a nightmare, let's leave it at that.

The good news is that this week I handed in my notice at my crappy retail job. To anyone else in a dead end job that they hate I highly suggest that you do the same, it's a wonderful experience. I have four weeks left now at my 2 (yes 2!) hideous jobs, and it's time to focus more on writing again. I started this blog so that I can share my experiences while training and working as a Make-Up Artist. To recomend products I've tried and tested, to say to those in the same position "Hey it's hard for me too, I get it", and to generally just share my love for the industry. 

What a better time to do that when I'll be a student at (in my opinion) one of the best make-up schools in the country. 

So I'm sorry for the absence and stay tuned for my return to the blogosphere.

ps. to those of you in jobs you hate, I feel you sister. 

It's never too late.

Everyday Make-up Bag

Short but sweet.

10 Make-Up products I carry with me everywhere for an everyday look.

Before I start I should explain that I travel a lot. I split my week in 3 by staying at either my Dads, Mums or my boyfriends. I'm never at a house for more than two or 3 days, so I always carry my basic make-up with me everywhere. So this is probably different from other peoples "What's in my Make-Up Bag" posts. 

Cosmetic Bag by Cath Kidston.

This make-up bag, bought for my by my beautiful sister, is perfect as it fits all my essentials and doesn't take up much room!

Base!

I only carry around 1 brush with me and it's the Real Techniques stippling brush. I use it for my concealer, foundation and powder so it's a great multi-tool. 

 I use Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection concealer to cover redness and blemishes and I use my MAC Select MoistureCover Concealer around my eyes and over drier areas.

I chop and change my foundation constantly, this week I've been carrying around Rimmel London's Wake Me Up Foundation. 

Powder is nothing special, It's Rimmel Clear Complexion pressed powder.

Eyes!

In my March Favourites I wrote about how much I love L'oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim eye-liner. Winged liner has currently replaced eye-shadow in my daily make-up, because I'm too lazy for both.

The mascara I'm currently carrying is L'oreal Volume Million Lashes in Extra Black. I tend to change mascara all the time between this and Clinique High Impact.  They're both fantastic.

Now that I have a fringe I spend less time on my eyebrows so I'm currently using Rimmel London Eyebrow Pencil in Black/Brown. This saves space too as I don't need a brush anymore.

Despite them being covered, I still check my brows everyday and carry tweezers with me everywhere. 

I don't know why.

My father brought these back from a spa in New Zealand for me. It pains me to say they're the best tweezers I've ever used and I'm sorry I can't lead you to where to find them.

Lips!

I also wrote about this in my March Favourites it's the Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in shade Honey. I actually tend to just throw this in my handbag and apply it on the go. I change what lip product I carry around probably weekly because I like a bold lip, but this is great for on the go (which it seems I always am). It also saves me from carrying round a lip balm too. 

Hope this post was helpful, maybe a good idea on packing light for travelling?

I'll be uploading another post this week on my larger Make-Up Bag for different looks.

What do you carry round with you?

Body Painting Competition!

So for those that have been reading previous posts you'll know that I've been really busy preparing for a competition I'd entered and therefore neglected my blog!

Thankfully it's now over and I'm back and writing again!

I'm currently waiting for the actual photographers photographs but because I'm excited to show you here are just a few from my phone!

Follow my Instagram here. 

Zodiac!

The theme of our Body Art was Signs of the Zodiac and, purely because of seeing beautiful sequin skirts in every clothes store I walked past, I was inspired to do Pisces.  It was a 3 hour timed competition so it was rushed but I enjoyed every second of it. 

The whole day is great fun and I'm thrilled that I cam in 2nd place! Takes a bow!

Products!

The majority of what I used is Kryolan products! So I'm sorry if you're a fan of another company!
I've been taught with almost all Kryolan products, I own many and they're what I'm familiar with. They're pigmentation is also fantastic for body art. However their colour hairspray which I used for the dark blue hair, is new to me and I was in love with the result! It gave the exact colour on the tin with a slight sparkle and really topped off my look!

I also have fallen head over heels in love with the shell prosthetics I used as nipple covers! I bought mine uncoloured and then used latex and Inglot pure pigment powders to colour mine to match the sequin skirt.

They're from a New Zealand company called Body FX. You can find them online and place orders but Charles Fox also stock them in their Covent Garden store. They have a HUGE range of foam latex prosthetics and the detail is so delicate, I am desperate to do something with their rose pieces.

I'll write another post and put up the professional photographs sometime next week.

Just thought I'd get back into the swing of writing again where I've been unwell and so busy.

What do you all think of it? Write a comment and show me some of your body art too!

Ps, how beautiful and brave is my model? Write lots of lovely comments for her too!

Handbag essentials and making them fit!

Handbag essentials that actually fit inside your handbag. 

I'm somebody that has so many handbag essentials that they no longer fit into my handbag.

To the point that it's tempting to carry round a separate bag filled with toiletries and another one for my purse and keys. Realising that was completely mad, I  recently experienced the absolute joy that is organising the crap I carry around daily after buying a new handbag. 

I thought I'd share with you my now shortened list of essentials, and ways of actually making it fit.

Deena and Ozzy Leather Handbag, urban outfitters.

Use solid perfume!

Solid perfumes are perfect if you want to avoid carrying round a glass bottle of perfume with you!
 Mine's in a tin from Lush in "American Cream". I've owned this for years and I mean years, these things last a life time! I've actually owned this for so long it's now out of date but I continue to use it anyway as I've noticed no difference. They've also now changed the packaging, haha!
I do highly recommend the lush ones though, they have such a variety and the scent lasts all day!

Samples/Smaller Sizes!

Benefit, Triple Performing Facial Emulsion (sample size).
Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector, 30ml, grab it here.
Benitint, Benefit (miniature freebie, from.. somewhere).

To make room in my handbag, I've replaced many of my essentials with the smaller versions. My Hemp Hand Protector is sold in two sizes and the smaller one is fantastic for popping in my bag. When smaller sizes aren't available I just carry round a sample in case of a beauty emergency.
The Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion is actually a product I don't own, a sales assistant was pretty generous with samples and gave me the equivalent of a bottles amount. I put some into a container and carry a spare with me!
Sample perfumes are also great to have in your handbag if you're not a lover of solid perfumes! I have tons from magazines that I never do anything with until now!

Remove packaging!

This may sound really patronising as it's so obvious but it's something I never really did. I'd just throw things in my bag on my way out. Now I look at it though some packaging is so bulky and unnecessary. 

I now cut up pill packets to only carry a few with me. I also now take one or two plasters (or blister plasters if your new nikes are a bitch) and keep them in a compartment in my purse. 

There you have it!

My favourites chop and change all the time, but here's just a few ways I've cut down my essentials!

I also always carry with me tissues, a lip balm, Kirby grips, hair bands and a nail file!

What do you always need in arms reach?

Sister Suggestions!

,

How do you know when a product is so good you must go out and buy it now? By reading a blog post on it, seeing it in a magazine, if a Kardashian tweets it?

For me, I know a product is ruddy amazing when my older sister texts me saying "Look what I just found in super drug" or me texting her saying "You need this in your life".

My sister is 20, lives in London and is at LSMT, therefore living the "student life".

 So the products we recommend each other are either:

•  Ridiculously cheap yet surprisingly good .
• So bloody good they are worth the money!

Rather than keeping these products a sibling secret, each month I'll write a "Sister Suggestions" post!

My suggestion to her this month:

Hair oils suddenly became huge this past year and some people are paying masses for it!

 Yes, I know Morrocan oil is amazing, I've tried it out lots in the Salon at College and it is fab. 

But is it worth the the £30.45 price tag that comes with it?

 Superdrug sell coconut oil (completely pure accept added fragrance) buy it here for £2.99 

It comes in a solid form in a tub and can be warmed up with your hands and run through your hair! I use this as a conditioning mask through wet hair and it does WONDERS! Every hair guru has raved about coconut oil this past year but have still been suggesting products of it that cost around £15!

How do you know it's good?
I text her about it, of course!

She's now bought it, and we're in love!

Last year my friend burnt off her hair lighting a cigarette of her oven       - nice one kim!
What rescued the damaged frazzled remains? Your basic kitchen olive oil! Don't fall for the price tags, ladies.

Her suggestion to me:

Have trouble with your Make-Up staying in place all day?

On clients that really need their make-up to stay (brides, for example) I'd use Kyrolan Fixing Spray - That's something that won't change when doing my professional make-up!

However I love face mists, I own MAC Fix+ and Vitimin E Face Mist from The Body Shop! Both are refreshing face mists that also promise to help give a slight fix to your make-up! But for a student?

My sister swears by this and says it holds your make-up like nothing else. For £5, what's to loose?

Proof that it works?

(it was a mock audition and she was 1 of only 3 that got a call back, snaps for my sis guys!)

Let me know if you enjoy this post and I'll continue to do one each month!

What are your cheap must haves?

No7 Cleansers for all skin types!

With the money off vouches and the 3 for 2 offer this month, I'm in No7 heaven. At the start of the year I picked up a gift set (a gift to myself!) in the Boots Sale to try out some products in the Beautiful Skin range. 

I was pleasantly surprised and purchased some cleansers from the range. 

I decided to review for you a selection of their cleansers aimed at different skin types. All No7 are hypo-allergenic and just plain dandy really.

All products from the No7 Beautiful Skin Range
Top to bottom:  No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser £9.95,
 Cleansing Water for normal to oily skin £9,
 Cleansing Balm for dry/very dry skin £9.

So I'll start with the Cleansing water for normal to oily skin. I'll say now that this is not my skin type. So although I have tried it and find it nicely refreshing as a cleanser, I'm reviewing it on how it's transformed my boyfriends skin. (Yes, yes, I'm a pushy girlfriend that gets him to look after his skin and no he doesn't know what a cleanser actually is).

He is a typical oily skin type and I can say that I have noticed a difference in him using this. From what he tells me he uses this at least once every day followed by a toner. A pump or two onto a cotton pad to be wiped over the face does the trick. It's definitely reduced the appearance of excess oil on his skin (less of a shine) and it's now also softer to touch. As I said I've used it too, I think it's a refreshing alternative to the usual cleansers you find but I don't think it removes make-up as well (hopefully not a problem for Laurence).

His personal review on it - 

"This one smells nicest" and "I like it". 

Maybe I should suggest him to start a blog too, where he can say if products are "alright" and fellow men can say "cheers" and "mate".

Next up: The Cleansing Balm for Dry to Very dry skin. So I'm a typical bloody combination skin, I have very small oily areas such as my chin but mostly my skin is dry as a bone. I always look for products for very dry skin hoping it will change my life forever. 

This does everything a cleanser should do. It removes make-up very well and it leaves my skin beautifully soft. I don't find that there's anything in particular that I can fault with it. In fact it's pretty high up there when it comes to high street cleansers. What I can say about all the No7 products I've tried is that they do feel luxurious and my skin thanks me every time I use them.

However, I still don't think this is the best.

It's very thick when on the skin rather than one that sinks straight in, thus alluring me into believing that it can only be a saint for my dry flaky skin. I don't think it's any more hydrating than a cleanser intended for normal skin would be. Oh well, maybe it's just me. It does remove make-up very well and very quickly though which is a sneaky bonus.

Luckily for me the search for a cleanser that changed my life is over.

Lastly, the Hot Cloth Cleanser.

- ta dah!

This is a cleanser that comes with a Muslin Cloth. If you haven't used a cleanser designed for this purpose I highly recommend that you do. Right now! They just feel soooo beautiful during use and after! This one especially. 

It's rubbed in over the top of make-up on dry skin, and removed by dampening a muslin cloth with hot water which is then draped over the face leaving the heat to do the work. You can then use the cloth to slightly polish off any left over product, which also gives a slightly exfoliating effect. 

This does not feel more laborious than using a cotton pad!

                                                                                           - excuse my sister used earlier this week for not giving it a go!

It feels wonderful and as sad as it sounds, I look forward to it. It's intended for all skin types and I think it does fit that but is so moisturising on the skin it leaves even my dry skin very soft to the touch after use. It removes make-up very well, even eye make-up such as mascara. 

It comes in a box, like so! And it contains a 200ml bottle (actually larger than the other cleansers) and one muslin cloth. I wash the cloth with just warm water and a little soup after use and hang to dry for the next day. I love the feel of it so much that I sometimes reheat the cloth with water and drape over my face multiple times. This isn't necessary and can be considered mad, but I just love it.

I've already re-purchased this item!

I love a pump dispenser me. This might seem like an odd thing to write about in a review but because of the size it dispenses the perfectly right amount in one pump. Exciting right? No.. just me?

Last but not least I'd also recommend this, the No7 Soft & Soothed Gentle Toner for £8, to use after any of the cleansers listed above as it's just a very good toner for all skin types. 

How much can one person write about cleansers? Good lord! 

Have you tried out any other products of the No7 range? Let me know what you thought.

Be more ambitious this new year.

So, a new year is here and another one has passed. The last year held many great things for me and I can only think that some of it was down to the new years resolution I set myself last January. I'm not normally one to set silly tasks just because it's a new year on the Calender but last year I felt it would be good to set myself some personal goals. I was in my first year of studying to be a Make-Up Artist and there was so much I wanted to try but I was too afraid to try in case I wasn't ready. Just little things like booking a photographer to get some Portfolio shots. So for 2012 my resolution was to... "Be more ambitious".

I am so glad I stuck to it and here is what I achieved!

Photography: Bruce Cleghorn
Models (Top to Bottom): Natalie De Luna, Charlotte Connolly.

 I worked with a Photographer for some Portfolio pictures the following month and here are my favourite pictures! It may not be my greatest work but it gave me the confidence I needed in my skills, and for that I am so proud of myself!

Model: Ciara Baron, find her here.

 With this new confidence I started taking any opportunities given to me (which is crucial when going into this industry) and started using my skills to help out other students at college. I did make-up for the photo-shoots of fashion and photography students as well as creating zombie make-up for a short film done by the media students too! 

I also qualified my first year of college, overall achieving a Distinction! This also required entering a body art competition at The Anvil Theatre as well as producing more photo shoots displaying my Make-Up.

Model: Tia Holland

All the hard work started to pay off towards the end of the year. In August I created the Make-Up for Nic Dawson Kelly's new music video, "Old Valentine" which you can view here.

I was also asked to do the Make-up for BBC South Today presenters in August for the live show of BBC Children in Need. I don't think I can even begin to describe how exciting this was for me! It was an incredible experience as well as an amazing insight into the industry! 

I also met Pudsey. woohoo.

Inspired by what I achieved this year I have decided to carry this on into 2013, starting with this! A blog! I  spend a LOT of my time reading beauty blogs and I wanted to try it out myself, being ambitious and all! However I have never done anything like this before and am quite frankly pretty clueless so please bare with me while I get to grips with all the techy wizz, which has never been my thing. I'm hoping to start posting reviews and tips on products soon but please do send me a tweet or get into contact if you would like to see anything in particular!

Thank you if anyone has read this, I hope it's inspired you to be a little more ambitious this year.