My Christmas Look: Gold & Cranberry

I hope everyone is having happy & safe holidays & enjoyed their christmas with their family :) Sorry with delayed posts (I know I know i always say this) But i wanted to share my christmas day look.... even though it was done in a hurryit was colours i've never used together before but i really like how it turned out!

 Eyes:
The She Space Broken Rules (gold) on lid
120 palette 2nd colour from right on the brown row (light cranberry colour) into crease
120 palette colour on the far right (same row- darker cranberry colour) into outer crease & outer v.
Lighter brown for blending
white pearl as highlight
Lancome Artliner
A tiny bit of a cheap silver eyeliner just above black e/l

Cheeks-
Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in Beige

Lips-
Nothing! (sorry they look horrible! i was too lazy to even put lipbalm on haha & i was in kind of a hurry)

Thanks for looking!
What festive makeup did you wear for christmas?

Dramtic Smoky Purple with lashes

So it may not be the most dramatic smokey eye, but I wore it to work but didn't go out so i think it was dramatic enough for that! lol. I was mostly inspired by this Kim Kardashian tutorial by pixi2woo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kfPXeol3OM 
The lashes are nothing special, just cheapies from ebay that i cut in half & really liked the look, got told it looked natural so i think i shall be using them more often!! Also i finally got DUO glue, i was using Ardel before & i had a reaction, so hopefully this works out! Otherwise i will be sad :( lol
So sorry, getting to do the reviews! I haven't had much time to come on & write a long blog but i will definitely get around to it after the holidays.
Thanks!! =)
Oh & a shout-out to my gorgeous cousin Amy because a long time ago she requested a purple look but I hadn't liked any purple looks enough to post recently!
products list after jump =)

Orange Sorbet FOTD & Aussie Drugstore Brands Reviews Part 1

Sorry for the lack of posting, everyone! I know I always say it but I haven't found any time to get on here & post properly.
So the other weekend the bf & I went up to the city for a friends birthday & to do some Christmas shopping. Of course I had to buy some things for myself because where I live there's not much so I have to shop online! I went into gloss cosmetics & had a look around, purchased some of their own brushes which i will include a small review on next post, & found this gorgeous shimmery orange/pink eyeshadow from BYS. I wish i had bought more! Oh well, next time.  Anyway... onto the look..

Smoky Grey & Brown

Hey guys! Sorry I've been slack on posting once again, & i won't be posting until next week probably because i'm going away for a few days. Anyways the other week i did this smoky gray & brown look, however i feel like somethings missing..... hmm I still liked it though. Thanks for looking! Bonus picture at the end :)

Brushes Review Part 2: Eco-tools

This is part 2 (& final) of my Essence of Beauty & Eco-tools brush review. (part 1 is here)

~ Eco-tools ~

I love how they are made from recycled materials & how the case they come in is made from hemp so you know they have been good to nature, lol. I got this 5pc set from eBay for about $10 not incl. shipping.

Brushes Review Part 1: Essence of Beauty

 

Originally i was going to post a mixed review of Essence of Beauty & Eco-tools brushes but it would be wayy to long so stay tuned for part 2!

Quick Tip: Treat & Avoid Ingrown hairs

I don't know about you but I get some nasty ingrown hairs after shaving especially underneath my arms. Ouch! Read on to learn what you may have in your bathroom that will be useful to treat these lil' nastys.

So you've tried to avoid them by shaving in the direction of hair growth, right? This helps to train the hair to grow out straight & not curl back into the skin. Also, always make sure the skin is wet to help soften the hairs to make shaving easier.

However if you're still getting them, i have learnt that salicylic acid, which is a beta hydroxide acid, is good for exfoliation because it penetrates into the skin to dissolve the hair. For this I use a toner that I stopped using on my face, however as it contains alcohol I think I will switch from that as it makes my underarms fairly dry after using it, which I then moisturize after wards.
You can also buy serums that contain BHA's for after shaving.

Hope this helps some!

Source: http://www.skinbiology.com/ingrownhairs.html

Smoky Pink

Helloo sorry for the lazy posting!! I did this look the other week inspired by pixi2woo's Hayden Panettiere(sp?) video.... & wanted to keep it softer like hers so no black liner. Also just wanted to let you guys know that i've got some reviews planned! so stay tuned =)

I used some pinks from the 120 palette & Into the Smoke by The She Space (now discontinued). For lips & cheeks i cannot remember sorry!!
p.s im having problems with the pictures coming off the page & into the sidebars.... please help! i cant make the middle part any bigger without the sides staying in place "/

natural light

Winged Eyeliner- From Day To Night

 Hey guys so i wanted to focus on winged liner the other day. To do something different i used blue mascara over black, which actually made the liner look like a navy blue in some light, lol. & Then for night I just amped up the lip colour, added a bit of shadow & more blush. I used mainly nyx because i find its so easy to find over the internet for such a great price! Not to mention the quality is great!

~Day Time~

click pictures to see larger

Face~

Nyx blush in Peach over Nyx rouge cream in Natural, Nyx Taupe

Eyes~

Nyx nude eyeshadow (probably should have concealed around my eyes first but i did the eyes before the face!)

Nyx white pearl

Prestige My Brow Duo Matte Highlighter in the waterline

Random black liquid liner set with black eyeshadow

Covergirl LashBlast & random blue mascara

Lips~

Nyx rouge cream in natural over a little bit of concealer

Jen's Joyful giveaway!

Click here to enter Jen's Joyful giveaway! Open internationally it includes 29 prizes with 1 more prize to be chosen by yourself!!  Giveaway ends on 15th December 2010 11:59PM GMT+9:30 (10 days before Christmas)

Quick Tip: Smooth Lucious Lips

Bold Lips are becoming quite a trend, especially for me lately & with summer coming up i am planning to wear bright lips quite often. But for any lipstick to look good, first your lips have to be in top condition.... here are some ways to get smooth, lucious lips.

~Apply vaseline/lip balm/papaw on your lips, and take a cotton bud (q-tip, whatever you wanna call it) and wipe it on your lips, rubbing it around to get rid of the dry skin. This is good for right before you do your base as when you come to your lips they will be moisturized and smooth. I've learnt that from Lisa Eldridge on You-tube.

~Something else you can do is make your own lip scrub, using olive oil & brown sugar or bicarbonate of soda. You can do this once a week to get rid of the dead skin.
Or you can indulge yourself & purchase a lip scrub by lush that comes in 3 flavours; bubblegum, (yum!) mint julip(choc-mint) & sweet lips (chocolate). Don't forget to apply lip balm after wards!

Make your own face mask/ exfoliator: The Aspirin Mask

I've been using the aspirin mask a fair few times now, as i heard that it is great for acne, scarring & it has also helped with providing extra moisture for my dry skin. It also has natural ingredients so you know what your putting onto your skin. The mask shouldn't be used no more then 2x a week because in time your body may become immune to the aspirin & it will not be as effective. 

After i have used it my skin feels much more softer & i have noticed it has helped with my blemishes. In addition to using honey with the aspirin, i also added a tiny bit of glycerin lately & my skin felt even more moisturized. You can also add a drop of lemon juice as it is good with pigmentation/ scars, but don't add it if you have very dry skin. Ok so on to the recipe ...

Smoky Look using 88 warm palette

I did this quite a few weeks ago now, never really bothered to post it though lol but we were going out for dinner & i wanted something smokier especially since it had started raining that day, lol. This was done using the 88 warm palette (which i still need to do a review on) but i can't really remember the colours i used! For lips im pretty sure i used Revlon's nude attitude. thanks for looking :)

Wearable Rainbow FOTD

Helloo everyone, this is a look i did the other day inspired by makeupgeek tv... hope you like! with some bonus photos.

Eyeshadow on the lips, not on the hips.

soo the other sunday i was so bored & i didn't feel like doing my eyes up 'coz then i would feel the need for foundation. & i wasn't actually planning on leaving the house anyway so i thought that since i never really play with lipstick, why not! I wanted to try some things that were different for me, so i used eyeshadow.

Now I've tried to use eyeshadow before but it made my lips feel dry something cruel, so i made sure i put on lip balm beforehand. Another thing i never thought to try was to use a lipstick as a base, just like using a colour base on the eyes to bring out the colours. well it worked perfectly! it made the colours apply soo much more easily & i was very happy with the results.

For these i used the 120 palette but no lip liner so sorry for some of the bleeding.  also with the first one i tried to make my lip shape look a bit different but it didn't show up well in pictures.

top pics are with flash, bottom are natural light

It was too bad that you couldn't see the darker colours on the outside (i wanted a gradient-like effect) but it was weird how with the orange i had red but you cannot see it at all. And over the top of these i applied clear gloss carefully with a lip brush to avoid the colours mixing in together.

Thanks for reading, i think i will definitely be playing with different lip colours this summer!

x ashii

Quick Tip # 2: Washing your hair

Washing your hair is something you don't really think about, you just do it, but I have learnt recently that there is a proper way to wash your hair & it does make sense (to me), so I'm going to share with you & if you have anything you'd like to add/correct, leave a comment & I'll add it in!

Shampoo~
The scalp is where most of the dirt and oil is, and because your hair is technically dead you don't need to use shampoo for the shafts. So apply your shampoo evenly over your scalp and scrub,  while letting the shampoo run down to the rest of the hair so it cleans that as well without you needing to rub your hair.

My Hairs Best Friend: Moroccan Oil Review

Rightio, I have been using Moroccan Oil for over a month now & let me start by saying it is amazing!! Now time for introducing my hair (lol) which is very thick & wavy, dark, medium-ish to long length & i would have to say it is in good condition. My hair is also fairly dry on the ends (gets oily on the scalp about 2 days after washing) but that's about it. It needs all the moisture it can get.


I'm not going to lie Moroccan oil is expensive, it is about AU$49.95 for 100ml, but let me just say that a little goes a loong way. Since using it, i have rarely made a dent in it; with that being said I don't use it every day, only when I wash & style my hair which is about 3x a week.
 After using it my hair is noticeably softer, less frizzier, shinier & feels moisturized! I could do with a moisturizing treatment once a week as well because my hair is *that* dry, however i think that this could also be used as a treatment, but i like it as a serum.

Hens Party- Smokey Gold FOTN

Well my lovely friend had a hens night the weekend before her wedding (which I am a bridesmaid in-yay!) & the theme was masquerade/ fascinators.We had a really good night, played quite a few games before making a wedding dress out of toilet paper for the bride-to-be & going down to the pub lol! 

Onto the makeup- I was wearing a smokey gold look during the day but i didn't really need to amp it up for during the night so i pretty much left it as it was with touching up a little bit. Included are some pics of my outfit. thanks for looking!

Getting there...

hey guys... ok so i know my blog is still new & i still really need to add more things to it..... but i'm gettin' a bit disheartened that i don't have that many followers b u t i know it all takes time & I need to try and remember how to do things like I used to on my old blogs lol.... anyway here are some things that i have planned that will be coming soon [not in this particular order].... :)

more FOTD's

race wear/ my outfit for a hen's night

my first MAC visit :D

fave items

88 warm palette + Essence of Beauty brushes review

& more..... so please stay tuned & I'll keep checking in on your blogs to see how you're going :)

Ashii

Quick Tip 1- Eyebrows.

Ok so now and then I will post some quick tips which I have learnt & I'm sure most of you know but what the hey!! 

Eyebrows

If you don't have a brow gel, just take some hairspray onto your brow comb & run it through your eyebrows, pushing the hairs into place, which should hopefully set them there for the whole day!!

Hope that helps someone; stay tuned for more quick tips :)

First attempt at water marbling my nails!!

Soo I tried this for the first time last week, I apologize for the mess! For some the nail polish on top of the  water was a bit too thick & i couldn't make a proper pattern but for some others it worked perfectly! I like how they don't all look the same :)
I went by this video & used the same sort of colours because I just love pink!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MUIlaO6XYc
And now for the pics (again I apologize for the different sized nails!)


1st Pic- Left Hand. Sorry for the chip in the thumb nail, it shows the sad fate of where my nail feels like breaking :P
2nd Pic- Right Hand
3rd Pic- left hand again
Last Pic- Natural Light. Bad attempt to hide the chipping lol

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Soft Smoky Look

Hey guys, I just wanted to share a look I did the other day that I really liked. I've already posted it on MUG but I wanted to post it here as well. Thanks for looking!

Face

Revlon Photoready in 003 Shell

Palladio Rice Powder in Translucent

Physicians Formula Glow Pearls in Beige Pearl

Eyes

TFSI

NYX in Vanilla Shimmer (lid)

The She Space in Into The Smoke (Outer lid + crease)

Cover Girl Lash Blast

Eyebrows- ELF Eyebrow kit in Medium

Lips- not sure sorry

Skin Products I use

This post is continuing on from my skin care routine, which is here. Here is mostly all of the products I had mentioned with a short description & opinion on each one. I hope it is helpful to someone :)

Bio Oil
Now I'm sure mostly everyone has heard of this. It retails for about AU$15 for 60ml. Since this post is long enough i won't go into detail about it but they say its good for scars; stretch marks; uneven skin tone; Aging skin; & dehydrated skin, and it doesn't take long to absorb. Feels great on my skin!! I've been using it for about 10 months, 2x daily & I've noticed a small difference with my acne scarring.




Bellaboo EZ Blitz serum
  50ml for AU$16
This is a serum which i use 2x daily. I really like this, it feels nice on my skin and really is calming towards my pimples. Plus I find it is moisturizing. Bellaboo products are aimed towards teenagers and everything is chemical free. This is the only product I've tried from them so far & i would probably buy this again.







Xquisit Organics Eye Dew
This is Western Australian made so it would probably be very hard to find elsewhere, but i love this!! My eye area is very dry and this is perfect. They say its good for dry/mature/sensitive skin. This is their description on their website;Xquist Organics

"Rich in anti oxidants, just a small amount of this rich yet lightly textured eye cream, patted around the eye area, will help smooth and slow the formation of new lines. It incorporates certified organic rosehip oil to improve hydration and tone, while green tea extract reduces swelling. Cucumber cools and binds moisture to the skin, promoting natural elasticity and firmness. The slightest touch of lavender oil aids in the reduction of dark circles and improves circulation. Beneficial as an intense face treatment after sun exposure. Apply morning and night."
I have to completely agree with this. Now it isn't cheap, AU$35 for 25ml but i have used it daily for about 4 months & i still have 3/4 left.


Formula 10.0.06
For oily skin this would be perfect as it contains Aloe Vera + bamboo; the aloe vera helps to soften the skin & the bamboo extract absorbs excess oil. It is not the right one for me but because I use the bio-oil beforehand which adds moisture to my face, This does not dry out my face.

 The Body Shop Vitamin E Mist
I loove this! It gives me extra moisture after my moisturizer and is also good for setting makeup. I've noticed that it doesn't last allll day but it helps to keep a nice dewy finish, which is what I like. It is AU$23.95 for 100ml & has lasted me about 5 months so far, I've used about 3/4 of it.

Biore Warming Anti-blackhead Cream Cleanser.
To use this, you must first wash your face leaving it wet & dry your hands, & apply this to your face. I find this gives a nice heat sensation, even though it only lasts for a few seconds when it first comes into contact with your skin. I've noticed a big improvement with blackheads & I also use it to open up my pores. It is AU$10.75 for 177grams and i recommend it for those with annoying blackheads.

Neutrogena Deep Clean Cleanser, about AU$14 for 200g
This feels creamy & nourishing on my skin, but I don't feel like this has helped clear up my skin fully, although it has helped to clear up some existing blemishes. After this my skin feels a bit tight & dry since it contains no oil. I don't think I'll buy again, i'm still trying to find the perfect cleanser for my skin type.







Avon Solutions p.m maximum moisture.. about AU$12.99 for 50g
I don't think this gives me the extra moisture that I need for the night, maybe I don't apply enough & its not too thick. It does feel good straight after I've applied it though, but I probably wouldn't buy it again because I still want to look for other night creams out there that are more moisturizing.

Face Routine {Skin Care}

So I don't have the best of skin but I do try to take care of it. Before I got into taking care of my skin I never identified my skin type, so I was always using just whatever. Now my skin is dry but I don't know if that's from washing it twice a day (which I have stopped because I realized I didn't need to). I probably should have gone to see a derm. Anyway my skin is dry & acne prone. & just in case you're interested here is what i use!

Morning
In the morning I just splash with cold water. I apply Bio-Oil all over- this is great for dehydrated skin!! I use it for my red spots as well. Then I apply a Belloboo E Z Blitz Serum to the active pimples. Sometimes I use Clearasil pimple clearing cream to keep my skin "at its toes"[so my skin doesn't create a tolerance to one product] (lol). For day cream I'm trying to use up a moisturizer i got as a gift. It is Formula 10.0.06 Seriously Shine Free {description below} Since I have dry skin it is not ideal for me but it still keeps my skin moisturized. For eyes I use XquisitOrganics Eye Dew. Then i spray with rose water/The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist.

Night
I remove my makeup with Simple Face Wipes, & my eye makeup with Extra Virgin Olive Oil-it removes makeup really well and conditions the eye lashes, while being moisturizing for the eyes as well. I wet my face with warm water & use Biore warming anti-blackhead cream cleanser on my nose & all over to open up my pores. Then i use Neutrogena deep clean cream cleanser all over. After that i apply my bio-oil then Avon Solutions p.m maximum moisture. & lastly my night pimple cream which is currently Avon clear skin night care cream for acne-prone skin. The one i have is realllly old so i don't even know if it is still around but I'm just using it up. Or sometimes i spot treat with a mud mask & leave it on over night.

Ok that's that i hope it wasn't too boring but please read my next post for the product list since this will probably be too long.

First Post!!

I want to start with a small introduction;
I'm Ashleigh [Call me Ashii =)] I'm 19 from Australia and I love all things to do with beauty!! I am not a professional MUA but i would love to be someday! Makeup is my main interest but I am also interested in hair, and I'm learning how to take care of my skin.

Please be patient while I get this thing started.... I used to blog ages ago but forgot pretty much everything =/. I'm not the most grammatically correct or best writer so bare with me on that part!

I will be posting about my purchases, different tips that i have learnt over the past year or so & different looks that i have done!! 

thanks for reading <33