BB Creams. What's the Point?!

BB Creams. Every time we turn on the TV or even flick a page of a magazine there is another advert for the 'magic' cream. They seem to have exploded into all of our lives at the end of 2011 but even though they have such a large following and coverage I still found myself asking, several months later, what are they? Well BB means Blemish Balm or in some companies Beauty Balm. OK that’s what it means, but what do they do and why are they so big!? As well as making your skin look fabulous, BB creams are supposed to be good for you as well! The creams were developed by dermatologists for patients who had gone through laser surgery, it’s supposed to be beneficial, nourishing and all around amazing for your skin. The Overall idea of BB creams are that they provide you with SPF protection

(Always handy to have in a skin care product), moisturization

And sheer coverage also the products boast soothing and healing properties! To me it does sound like a tinted moisturizer but BB creams are supposed to be that and so much more! One of the main reasons BB creams 'cover' so much in one product is so that you can use 'one product' it eliminates the need for having a hundred and one products (although I don't think it’s going to stop us from owning 101 products!)

MUA (make-up academy) light BB cream

My first run in with the cream, apart from through the television, was when I decided to see what all the fuss was about myself. I bought a MUA (make-up academy) light BB cream for £4 a very reasonable price I felt. What interested me about this cream was that not only was it cheap so ideal for testing the product but it boasted 'a multi-functional formula that conceals, brightens and evens out skin tone for a perfect complexion' which is what most women are trying to achieve by wearing make-up every day. The coverage and tone was really really good, I can just whack on a bit of the cream where it's needed and be done for the day. The only down side to this particular cream was that in some places it made my skin appear a bit dried out but this cream say's nothing about moisturizing or anything of the sort on the packaging so I'm not going to hold it against it.

There are a million and one BB Cream's out there and a million and one articles saying 'chose this one!' 'Pick me!' but honestly if you want a BB cream, reviews and others opinions will only get you so far. You need to get out there and try some, have a look through a selection of creams and determine what you want yours to do! Don't forget there's always tester's you can try so you can see the type of coverage you’re getting and how it will affect your skin. That's another reason why I'm not saying which one you should get because everyone's different. Everyone has a different budget, different needs and most importantly, different skin types what may be good for one, may not be good for another and products like this can affect people very differently so be pro-active and go out and test them ourselves! Take a friend for opinions and who knows you may even have a bit of fun testing them out!

But in general if you are looking for a quick, easy and amazingly good product for your skin I would definitely recommend looking into BB creams. You can wear it as a primer, under foundations, as a foundation or just on its own and still look fabulous with all the benefits of an SPF moisturizer that looks after your skin and makes you glow!

Wedding Fares for Novices

Wedding fares are often exciting, daunting and confusing. Most people think they are just a good way to hike up the already astronomical price of their wedding. But they can come in useful even if you are on a budget!
Recently my fiancee and me (plus a couple of tag-a-longs for moral support) visited a wedding fare in Taunton just to see what it was all about and get some general ideas. As soon as we had arrived and starting heading in we were bombarded in the car park by wedding car companies! They all really do jump on you the second you get there! After reverently insisting that we are only looking and hadn't even set a date they finally backed away swooping onto the next victim! and all before we'd even got into the door. A quick sigh of relief, through the door and back into the frying pan with an amazingly perky sales lady shoving an incredibly detailed questionnaire into my arms. Then we were herded through a corridor of table settings and harpists and into the main room.
Now as a woman, this room was bright and attention grabbing with things I wanted to look as far as the eye could see but a quick look at my paling Fiancee and I realized this may have to turn into a reconnaissance mission. Grab as much info, idea's and get out before the intensity of the cheery room ate us all and never returned us to reality! (you may think i'm exaggerating but i'm really not.)

Wedding Rings

Purely on the mount of information that you will receive from each stall alone is worth the trip, you just have to be willing to put on a brave face, smile and wade through everything until you get what YOU want to know and need. Instead of just letting them talk and explain what they want, have some questions ready, this way they don't really get a chance to go off on a rant trying to sell you all sorts and you can move around the room quicker getting really good advice and ideas.
Another good reason to attend a wedding fare is you can get to know local traders and shops. You can chose who's products you would like to use and what kind of price range different people offer, all in one place! If its a local and independent trader/shop you might be able to bag a bargain to. Say you have found a dress shop you particularly like, if its an independent business you can haggle the price, asking for a discount. A good way to do this is to buy in bulk, say you will buy a dress, shoes, and jewellery or hair piece all from their store and ask if you multi-buy can they slice a bit of the price off? Another way is, If you find a dress with any small defects or problems (stains, loose stitches, missing beads or something) mention it and ask for a discount, you can always fix the dress yourself later!
Me and my Fiancee found the fare helpful, we are in very early stages of planning and basically just looking for idea's. How to decorate, what dress, what venue? etc. All the way around the room we were finding things we like and asking ourselves, how can we make that? how can we use that? This way we cut the cost by hugely and still could create something amazing and personal, which is what weddings are supposed to be about. YOU and YOUR personalities.

Goodie Bags

So all in all I think wedding fare's are worth going to (especially the free and local ones) you can learn a lot and get a lot of your own ideas. Have an open mind, ask lots of questions and pick up lots of leaflets, they usually give you a handy goody bag to hold all your new leaflets (sometimes with free sweets in them!). Just be prepared to be metaphorically jumped on and to have your personal space invaded for a few hours and everything should go smoothly!
Here's a handy sight for up and coming wedding fares in the UK, have a look or keep your eye's peeled for local ones near you!

k.

Primer Time.

Primers. Most women don't even bother with them. Some even don't know what they are. And no, I'm not talking about something you whack on your walls before painting!
Basically primers are used underneath your make-up to smooth, reduce oiliness and even out your skin. They help the state of your skin but they're main job is to make your make-up stay properly and for much longer! You can get all sorts of primer's for different parts i.e. eye primers, face primers lip primers etc.
You don't necessarily need a primer but I find they are very helpful and make your face appear almost smoother and almost flawless whereas wearing no primer can make it really obvious you wearing make-up and make your skin appear crumbly and flake-y  which is the last thing you want! Also Primers are widely recommended by make-up artists (which is always a plus!)There are tiny little silicone balls in primers that fill your pores which is why they are so effective at creating that oh so desired smooth surface ready for your make-up.
Now for the reason we are all here. Primers usually cost £10 and upwards which is all well and good but that's money you could put on your electric bill, which is where I come in! I'm going to share my wisdom and show you all how to make your own Primer-esq product using pieces you all probably already have, so you get lasting, professional looking make-up on the cheap! The one i'm going to show you is mainly a tinted moisturizer but can double up as a primer) I wore it all night at work under my make-up and it hadn't moved an inch!

You will need:

• Foundation - a liquid one that matches your skin tone
• Concealer - a liquid one that again matches your skin tone
• Body butter - Preferably unscented but it doesn't really matter. Or you can use really think moisturizer such as the Lush's 'Dream Cream', it just has to be thick and a good consistency!
• A little pot to mix and put everything in, preferably with a lid. (I've used an old Vaseline lip tin just washed out)
• A spoon
• Toothpicks for mixing.
• Also you can use any aloe Vera gel, but I didn't have any handy!

Step 1: Making sure you have a clean tin, pour some foundation in, you don't need a lot, just about an almonds size, depending on the size of your tin and how much you want to make.

Step 2: Add the same amount of liquid concealer, this makes it mix well with your skin tone, provides even coverage and helps keep everything light and bright.

Step 3: Using the back of the spoon start adding the body butter to the pot. Aim for the same amount as the concealer and foundation but once you have mixed it, if you feel like you need more you can keep adding to get a nice thick consistency.

Step 4: Using a tooth pick mix it all together, careful not to spill any. Once you're happy with how it looks, and how much you have then you're ready to go and now you can try it out!

It really is that easy, takes less than 5 minutes and can save you a lot of money. I know it doesn't sound like much but it really is useful and really does work, I didn't quite believe it would do anything till I made it myself and now I live by it! I even told my best friend all about it and she didn't believe it until she saw it! So give it a go! Experiment a bit and hopefully you'll love it too and save a bit of cash in the mean time!

Here I have out eye shadow on my hand on it's own and on top of the Primer. The eye shadow on it's own is really smudgy and weak looking almost like it's watered down and it's not consistent, it's bolder in different area's whereas the eye shadow over primer is instantly bold and strong, the colour is much more prominent too and it will last 3x as long as the shadow without the primer!

 k.

Left - Eye shadow on its own
Right - Eye shadow with primer.

Mother's Day Gifts for Every Kind of Mum.

Mother's Day 10th March

Mother's day is fast approaching and most years I seem to have loads of brilliant idea's in February but then forget until it's too late and Mother's day arrives. But not this year.
Mother's day gifts are notoriously hard, I find. You want the perfect gift that shows your mum just how much you appreciate her and everything she does and has done for you but do you want something sentimental? Something practical? Something random? Or something she'll just love? Clothes? Jewellery? The possibilities are endless and you don't want to break your bank. So how do you go about finding the right gift?
First think of your mum. Is she a creative, arty mum? Is she fashion forward? Is she always on the go?
Now think about what she like's. Has she dropped any hints or recently said 'ooh that would be nice'? If you can think of something she has said then you can't go wrong although I would suggest adding something extra and personal for a special touch. She won't expecting it and will be pleasantly surprised (especially if she is the hinting kind of mother!)
Non-Hinting mothers may be a little harder to shop for. My first suggestion would be to do something for/with her. Mother's in my experience just want  to spend quality time with you, especially as you get older, creating memories with her is important so perhaps grab your camera and take her out for the day!
This year the National Trust are hosting different events at their properties up and down the country from Lunches, dinners to creative days out. And a lot of the events you can just turn up to!
Have a look: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355770775493/

Mother's day cake!

If you're creative you might want to try cooking for your mother or even the whole family so she can have a night off. Every mother appreciates a bit of help so cooking an amazing meal possibly even desert will definitely go down a treat (and make sure you clean after yourself to top it off.) Make sure she doesn't have to lift a finger and you'll have a happy mother. You might even want to bake her a mother's day cake to finish the festivities that will have her laughing and smiling for the rest of the week! Here are some brilliant recipe idea's to help create a posh meal at home and to make you dinner go off without a hitch!
www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/occasions/mothers-day/

Nowadays personalized gifts are king, with hundreds of companies at hand to help you create your personalized product. I love the idea of this because you can take a decent product that's well made (and there is such a variety and make it your own so you have something amazing to give that will surely be sturdy and last and you can chose from the useful to the unusual to the sentimental. One site that I really like is gettingpersonal.co.uk they let you customize just about anything and cover almost every gift you can think of and some you even can't!
www.gettingpersonal.co.uk 

Make-up Bags

If you're thinking about make-up or something fashionable for your mum I would suggest either knowing exactly what she would like, in the right colour, the right shade, the right lipstick or you could go very wrong. My suggestion for the fashion forward mum would be to get something like a casual piece of jewellery that she can wear every day and that would go with most of her outfits (think about the colours and styles she wears and jewellery she already has and loves) or getting her something like a jewellery box, make-up case or some nice make-up brushes. These presents are handy but thoughtful as it shows that you have acknowledged her and what regime she may follow. Check out Debenhams for a great range of fashion/make-up accessories.
www.debenhams.com/beauty/accessories

Or just simply make her something. She is bound to love the sentimental value. A picture? A painting or even perhaps a photo of you, you and her, or the whole family in a lovely frame. It's very easy you just have to have a good idea! If she is an animal lover perhaps even get her a hand drawn picture of a family pet or her favourite animal drawn by Devon based artist Alima Dove.
http://www.facebook.com/AlimaDovesAnimalPortraits

Hopefully this helped you on your quest to the perfect mother's day present without harming your bank account and whatever you chose to do or get her, I hope you all have a lovely Mothering Sunday!

k.

Run Fat B**** Run!

No i'm not being rude, Run Fat Bitch Run is an inspirational self help book by author Ruth Field, that's supposed to encourage you to take control and motivate you to start running (and keep running once you have the hang of it!)
Usually I don't even bother with self help books because you hear the same things over and over, 'love yourself', 'its easy','what could be quicker?' but this book doesn't look at it like that, it's very down to earth and realistic although sometimes it seem's a bit harsh.
The book starts with what I found to be a rather amusing 'pointless pledge' where it get's you to solemnly swear to accept how you are and want to do something about it. Straight from the beginning, your introduced to 'the inner bitch' someone deep inside all of us that we have to unleash. 'She' or 'he' will kick your ass into shape, motivate you and tell you all the things even your best friends wouldn't say to you. This book really does take the tough love approach, it's amusing yet vicious which I feel will be good for some but not so good for others but if you read between the lines there is an awful lot of good advice there we can all take on board!
Now as much as I like her approach in giving us all a realistic view of ourselves and a good kick up the backside, there are some parts where she may take it too far and in the long run could upset quite a few people. The book encourages you to basically hate your body so that you have the motivation to want to be pro-active and do something about it. One part tells you to stand in front of the mirror naked and chant to yourself 'I'm a fat bitch,' it even tells you this should be your mantra but surely if your buying this book then your more than likely highly unhappy with your image and feel like everyone's putting you down anyway, so surely you shouldn't add to it and continue to put yourself down?
Overall there are some plus and minus's to this book. I really do think it's helpful and can really help you achieve realistic goals but you do have to take what she say's with a pinch of salt. I know people buy, read and follow some self help books like its a religion but this one is a lot more relaxed. Follow the advice but don't let the negativity get into your head or you'll find your goals a whole lot harder to achieve. Find it amusing and you'll find it helpful.

k.

How to do the Glamorous Wave

Straight or curly. The only two ways' I ever used to wear my hair. Straight during the day (I have naturally straight hair) or super curly for occasions. One day though after majorly curling my locks, I threw a hissy fit deciding that the look didn't go with my outfit, so in hopes of regaining my pin straight look I took to the hair brush to brush it out but what I achieved was 100 times more stylish and so my 50's inspired, chic, mermaid-Esq hair was born!
And here's how you can achieve it, step by step:

1. First off, make sure you have clean and preferably conditioned hair to make it smooth and sleek. Usually it's best to do this style in the evening/afternoon after you have washed it because it lets your hair settle and makes it easier to manipulate to exactly how you want it and make it stay put!

2. Now I know this may sound strange seeing as were creating a wave but step two is to straighten your hair. I always run my straighteners through my hair before curling it, I find it tames those fly away hairs and also makes the curls much more prominent and bouncy!

3. Make sure your parting is clear and exactly where you want it (you don't want to be shifting it about once you start curling).


4. Clip up your hair so that you have a thin layer left at the bottom.

5. Now the fun part. CURLING! Curl small strands of the hair quite tightly so you are left with tight little ringlets. Looks strange at the moment but trust me it's worth it!

6. Let down another layer of hair and repeat step 5. Just keep working your way up your head until your hair is completely full of well-defined ringlets.

7. Now here's how to achieve the wave. I find spraying it with a tiny bit of Vo5's smoothly does it or any product that helps achieve sleek hair is useful as it helps with the texture and make's it stay put, but it's not necessary, but I really do recommend using a paddle brush for the next step.


8. Holding a clump of the curls slowly brush the hair. First underneath and then on top pulling the brush slowly through the hair. Repeat this all over your head, careful not to over brush it as you will lose the definition of the wave and probably turn it to frizz!

9. SPRAY! Spray, spray and spray some more! Make sure your hair is fixed so it will stay glamorous for your day/night ahead!

10. And finally pin, accessorize or just style to your heart's content or you may just decide to leave it as it is for a natural look!

So now everyone can achieve this quick and simple look and make it their own! The model I used to do this on in the photograph had rather long hair and it still only took about 35 minutes from beginning to end (with a cup of tea in between) so there's no excuse not to try this glamorous wave!

k.

Pinned to the side.

In a side pony tale.

Natural with just a head band.

         Thank you to my
         model Charlotte!

Motivation? Can't be Arsed.

Motivation.
Isn't always as easy as it sounds though is it?
Most of the time I really struggle with getting motivated and even more so with staying motivated but at the moment I seem to be having some sort of brain fart of idea's that's propelling my motivational levels to heights they haven't reached in a long time. But how long will it last and is there an easy solution to the universal motivation problems?
Well, No. Motivation comes and goes as it pleases but lots of us seem to let our minds get in the way of getting motivated. It's all in your head. The Biggest factor effecting motivation is failure or fear of failure.
Lack of Motivation is lack of focus, lack of direction and lack of confidence. I'm preaching this because it's true. I had the idea of starting a blog in 2011 when I was studying journalism but I was terrified that no-one would care or be interested in what I had to write and that I would just fail before I even started. But I decided that I had too many idea's built up and spilling out that I had to take the risk and put my idea's out there and so far, all seems to be going well (touch wood).
So here are a few tips to get the motivation going:

1. Put yourself out there. I know it's scary, the thought of what people will think about you or your idea's but don't worry about them just think for every ten people that don't like what you're doing another ten will love it! Also if you're out there publicly, you will feel a bigger need to succeed  You will subconsciously try harder because you want people to believe you can do it too!

2. Positives not negatives. Again this one is easier said than done but in life you really do have to focus on the positives not the negatives. If you generally have a negative view about yourself and your idea's you will probably not be motivated to do anything with yourself or try to make something out of what you have. If you're having negative thoughts, just think, 'this will work', I am good', everything is going swimmingly!'

3. Set yourself achievable goals. Although it is good to aim high and dream big, when starting something or just in general everyday life, it's better to set achievable goals. That way you will feel better when you achieve them and you will achieve what you want more regularly, which will keep your mood elevated and your thoughts positive! Also setting unrealistic and humongous targets can result in you giving up quicker because you're not seeing the results you want, instantly.

4. Get excited. If your excited, your more likely to think about what you want or what your doing more often. Which means ideas will be constantly zooming round your head and you may have a brain fart that makes you get up and put your motivation in motion!

5. Simple yet effective. Think about what you have achieved. Not what you have yet to achieve. If things haven't quite gone your way, don't fret or spend ages analysing what your doing wrong. Plans can be broken. And if you regularly stop to think about what you have achieved and appreciate it, you may be pleasantly surprised and even get ideas and more motivation from that.

So even though there is no major quick fix for lack of motivation, there are things you can do to help you get going and although they may not always be easy, the are effective if you stick to it. Remember the old phrase;
'Rome wasn't built in a day'
Everything worth having and doing take's time, you have to work at it so don't worry if you don't see progress instantly. You will still be progressing.

k.