Eyebrows/HD Brows review.

Hello lovelies!

Apologies again for my short hiatus.  It's so easy to forget how much work goes in to moving in to a new uni house, from making sure you have adequate storage to attempting to fit all your clothes into an inadequate wardrobe to building a bookcase (YES! I built a bookcase....from Ikea but even so.  My first foray into the world of flat-pack furniture was largely successful!).  Because of that blogging had to take a back seat but I am slowly getting back into routine and getting round to writing everything that I have had planned.

So!  I think women often feel that shaping their eyebrows is a daunting task that can so easily go wrong so often spend money getting them threaded/waxed etc.  Whilst I am a huge fan of threading, (and think you should have it done every once in a while!) as a student it simply isn't feasible to be throwing my pennies away like that all the time!  With this is mind I thought I would show you the 'rules' of eyebrow shaping at home.

1. To determine where your brow should start, hold a pencil or make-up brush along one side of your nose.  Where it crosses the inner corner of your brow is where it should begin.  Unfortunately my brows start a little short of that point so I just let mine start where they begin!

2. Now angle the brush across the iris which will show you where the highest point of the arch should be.

3. Finally angle it to the end of the outer corner of the eye which is where the brow should end.

4. With those angles and lengths in mind, use tweezers to pluck the stray hairs.  Don't be afraid to pluck above the brow if you need to but be careful!  Once this is done fill in the brows using light, feathery strokes as if you were drawing individual hairs.  I have used the HD Brows kit that I received in my first glossy box, see here.

As you can see in the pre-filled photos, my eyebrows are VERY fair compared to my hair colour and also very thin.  Because of that I ALWAYS fill in my brows and I think it is a really important step in the daily make up regime.  It works wonders to lift your face and complete your eye make up.

As for the HD Brows kit, I'm a fan.  I had been using a Benefit gel eyebrow kit and hadn't used powder before. I'VE BEEN MISSING OUT.  The powder is so much more subtle and natural looking.  I have done them quite lightly in these photos because it was day time, using the second darkest shade.

I'm afraid that the crack in my set has gotten worse and just crumbled on my way to uni:

Disappointing but as I said, that particular colour isn't the right shade for my brows so I'm not too upset!

Today is a chores day, slowly getting my life in order!  Here's what I'm wearing:

Dress: Topshop

Belt: River Island

Cardigan: Topshop (old!)

Please ignore my horrendously clashing nails!  They will be getting a different lick of paint before the day is through!

Hope everyone is well,

...me again!

Hello all!
So, on Monday I moved back up to university into a new house with 5 other girls (EXCITING!) hence why I have been quiet over the last few days!  There is so much unpacking to do and I have an inordinate/embarrassing amount of cosmetics/beauty products/clothes/general crap that I probably don't need!  So, considering how busy I've been, I've not had a whole lot of time to post.  With that in mind, I thought I'd give you a snippet of my room and the general mess I'm living in!

As you can see, it's all very much a work in progress but it's exciting to be able to put your stamp on a room and do something different and new.
My wardrobe is absolutely STUFFED.  It's a struggle to get anything in/out of there.  Just done a huge clear out but I think I'll have to do another...


The only other thing I have been up to is a cheeky bit of baking for my friend Sam's birthday.  I donned my Cath Kidston apron and whipped up some red velvet cupcakes.

Ingredients

60g butter at room temperature

1 egg

150g caster sugar

10g cocoa

10ml red food colouring

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

120ml buttermilk

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Frosting

300g icing sugar, sifted

50g butter at room temperature

125g cream cheese, chilled

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Cream the butter, egg and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. In a separate bowl mix the cocoa powder, food colouring and vanilla extract. Once mixed add to the creamed mixture.

4. Mix carefully until combined and then add half the buttermilk, mix further and add half the flour and the baking powder. Mix thoroughly before adding the remainder of the buttermilk and flour and mixing further.

5. Add the white wine vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix thoroughly for at least 5 mins.

6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins or until the cupcakes spring back slightly when touched.

7. Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

8. In the meantime, to make the frosting cream the icing sugar and butter together until well mixed.

9. Add the cream cheese and mix until it is incorporated. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy for at least 5 mins.

10. Use a spatula to layer the frosting on top of the cupcakes.

EAT! and show off to your friends.  The red colour of the sponge always surprises people and they taste great.

More from me soon, sorry again for my mini hiatus!  I am attempting to build an ikea bookcase today... wish me luck!

A snippet of London

I'm back from the most fabulous mini trip to London!  Very tired today but it was worth it.  I kept falling asleep on the train home and waking up to a man watching me. Alarming. But THAT is how tired I am!
I started the day at Paddington, ready to peruse Topshop on Oxford Street (and embarrassingly head to toe in recent Topshop purchases...!)

Dress: Topshop
Cardigan: Topshop
Bag: Topshop
Hat: New Look
Bracelet: Thomas Sabo
Belt: River Island
Lipstick: Topshop in Rumour Has It


This dress is so wearable and comfy but must admit it doesn't cope well with the gusts of wind in the London underground!  I was accidentally giving a bit of an eyeful to passers by all morning, as well as trying to keep hold of my hat!


I walked up and down Oxford street from 11 until 4, soaking up the buzz of fashion week and getting my fill of the high street.  Later, my friend Annabel and I headed to Borough market and found a delightful little tea room in which to indulge in MACARONS! (a personal fave!)

Just look at the size of those meringues! And here are the macarons themselves, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.

They really were beautiful, and not just to look at!

In the evening, we headed to Clapham for a night on the tiles and we had SUCH a great time.  I wore a black and white polka dot dress (didn't get a pic I'm afraid!) to match my polka dot nails and did my hair and make up like this:

Foundation: Mac Studio Fix Fluid in NC25

Concealer: Benefit Erase Paste in no. 2 Medium

Bronzer: Mac in Refined Golden

Blusher: Topshop in Flushed

Lipstick: Topshop in Pillow Talk

Eyebrows: Benefit Brow-zing!

Mascara: DiorShow Extase

Eyelashes: Eylure Naturalites

I curled my hair using GHDs.

I'm gutted a didnt get a good photo of this dress because I am head over heels for it!  I also have it in a plain Oxblood colour (yes, I know! More Oxblood!) and it really is the most wonderfully flattering shape.  I paired it with black opaques and patent platform heels.

Hope you girls have had a lovely weekend too!