Summer Survival Guide

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We've just about finished a pretty hot summer and I know that, unlike me, lots of people hate the hot weather, so here are my tips on surviving next summer, abroad or at home.

The first and main topic I wanted to cover is mosquitoes. Mozzies, gnats, whatever you want to call them, they're a pest. If you are bothered by mozzies just try everything! Smother yourself in mozzie repellent (followed by a ton of perfume because wow that stuff stinks!) and get it everywhere, even the soles of your feet. I would have thought of it either, but that's were I some how managed to bet bitten?! Also, they like to hide under tables and chairs, so spray bug killer/repellent under there and if you see one, try hairspray. Yup, I was sceptical at first, but it works!  It sticks them to their wings so they can't fly. My current weapon of choice is Fudge Urban iced raspberry & vanilla hairspray, purely because it smells so good (and it's cheap)!

Heat, suncream and sun all adds up to horrendously dry skin. For your body, I'd recommend the Vaseline Spray and Go as it smells great, it's not greasy and dries quickly so you can get dressed straight after. My face, however, has been much more of a problem than my body, even my T-zone, which is normally oily, has been really dry. I've been using the Simple Hydrating moisturiser in the mornings and skipping makeup for the day, then putting some more on before I put makeup on if I'm going out in the evening. I then put on a thick of the Superdrug Vitamin E night cream on before I sleep to help my skin recover over night.

My next tip is an idea my friend had and it's so simple but I love it so much in the heat! You can pay endless amounts for facial mists from all sorts of brands that promise all sorts of wonderful things, but it feels just as good when your baking hot to fill a 50p Superdrug spray bottle with tap water! Honestly, it's one of the nicest feelings when you're in the sun all day, I've taken mine everywhere with me all summer, it's so simple but so good!

Other than wear sun cream, I think that's about it for my top summer tips. I hope you found this useful and leave some of your favourite summer tips in the comments below.

My Guide to Washing Brushes

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It's important to keep your makeup brushes clean because they can carry bacteria just like any other surface, particularly as they come into contact with skin very regularly. I tend to wash my brushes every sunday and deep clean the ones I use every single day (concealer and powder mainly) once a month by leaving them to soak in soapy water overnight.

When I wash my brushes, I start by rising the bristles under running water and squirting a small amount of gentle shampoo into the palm of my hand. I swirl the brush in the shampoo until the brush is clean then rinse it out and leave it to dry on a towel. When you expose a brush to water, it's important not to get the butt of the brush wet as the glue that holds the bristles will wash away if it gets too wet too often and the bristles will fall out.

For any more tips on caring for brushes, check out this video by Sam & Nic Chapman (aka Pixiwoo) as they are pro makeup artists with their own range of incredible brushes so I would highly recommend checking out their YouTube channel! Plus, most of what I know about brushes came from their brush care video, and just their videos in general!

I hope you liked this video and found it useful and let me know any of your favourite brush brands in the come comments below, I'd love to know!

Budget Summer Lookbook

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So I was going to this lookbook as a video, but I decided to make it a blog post as to be honest I'm running out of blog post ideas! (if you've got any suggestions please let me know). I wanted to do a lookbook of purely low budget,  high street outfits, so I hope you like it.

July| Monthly Top 5

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I know, I missed out June, but it was exam time and I was annoyingly busy with revision, but it's the summer holidays at last so I've got more time for the things I want to do, like blogging! 

5. Bourjois Bronzing powder in 51

The main thing I like about this bronzer is the shade. Because I have very pale skin, finding a shade that doesn't make me look orange is difficult,  but this is just right. I do like the L'Oréal Glam Bronze as well, but I wanted something a little darker for summer and this Bourjois one is perfect. Plus it smells of chocolate,  what more could you want?

4. Forever 21 T-shirts

This is a slightly random favourite, but I bought two of these tops in pink and baby blue about a month back and loved them so much I went back and got another one in purple (of course). They're really cheap for one thing, about £3 I think, an they're so so so comfy! They're really soft and really light and thin without feeling cheap or bad quality and they go with absolutely anything, they're fast becoming a staple!

3. The Body Shop All in One BB cream in 00

Things that change colour on their own fascinate me for some reason, so that's my main reason for loving this BB cream. It comes out of he tube white but as you rub it in it changes to match your skin tone! It's not great coverage but it's lightweight so I love it for summer when you don't want anything to heavy or cake in hot weather. 

2. Garnier Micellar Cleansing wipes

These are probably some of the best wipes I've used. They are incredibly soft and don't irritate my skin in the slightest. They're really cheap, they smell nice and they take off all my makeup pretty easily,  although waterproof mascara is a bit of a struggle, but other than that I love them and would recommend them to anyone, even if you have sensitive skin I would give them a go!

1. Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry and Vanilla hairspray

I haven't tried very many different hairsprays, so this might not be a very fair judgement in comparison to some other hairsprays, but I absolutely love it! Unless you use loads, it doesn't make your hair too straw-like and it lasts quite a long time, but my main reason for loving it so much is the smell. As you can see from the picture,  it's iced raspberry and vanilla scented, and I'm a sucker for vanilla-scented things anyway, but I would honestly wear this scent as a perfume! It smells amazing and it's really cheap so there nothing not to love!

So those were my top 5 favourite thing in July, I hope you liked it and I'd love to hear your favourite thing from this month, so let me know in the comments below!

DIY Palettes

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First off, sorry for not posting in AGES, but was busy with school stuff and recently I've just been feeling a bit uninspired and not really in the mood to blog, but now I've got some ideas so I'm going to try and get back into things.

This one is a bit different as I thought I'd show you a very Pinterest-type tutorial: DIY palettes. The idea was inspired by something I discovered recently called the Z-palette. The basic idea of these is that they are an empty, magnetic palette that you can put any product in which is in a metal pan. But, they are really expensive for what they are, so I have two ways to show you to make your own.

So for the first method you'll need an old palette that you can remove the contents from, some scissors or a ruler, the new products to put in the palette and maybe some double-sided tape.

Start by removing the contents from the old palette. Use the scissors/ruler to prise it up as it's most likely stuck down.

Next, take your new products and remove them from any packaging they may be already in. If the pans don't already have some form of adhesive on the bottom, then use double-sided tape to stick them down. The reason I don't recommend using glue is because the point of this palette is that you can change out the contents any time.

Then simply stick the pans in the palette and voila! a fully customisable cosmetic palette at little/no cost!

Now, at the start I mentioned an alternative way of doing things, and that is to make it like the Z-palette and make it magnetic. To do this, use magnetic dots instead of double-sided tape and use a metal palette, or line the bottom of the palette with magnetic tape.

I hope you liked this slightly different post and leave a comment below with post suggestions x