BB Creams

BB creams recently became a big beauty trend, I turn to using BB creams when I'm in a rush or I am going for more of a natural look. As BB creams are designed to offer the coverage of foundation and help conceal any redness and blemishes, depending on which one you use some offer other benefits to the. So I spent some time shopping around and testing out some different BB creams, including: Rimmel London BB Cream Matte, Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector, and Garnier Pure Active BB Cream. 

Rimmel London Matte:

- The package of this product is good as it comes in a small tube like most BB creams, meaning that it`s compact enough to carry in any make up case. Also the fact that it's a tube means that it is easier to get the product out of, so you can easily put it on the brush or the sponge you are going to use to apply it. 

- This product claims to minimise the Appearance of Pores, Evens Skin Tone, Mattifies, Soothes, Smoothes and Controls Shine All Day. 

- The coverage that you get from this product is rather good and it does help to even put skin tone as it claims, although the shades are a lot darker then what I actually anticipated, So you really do need to test it in the shop before you buy it. The consistence of it was somewhat runny to the point where I'd debate if it was actually a cream or not, because the particular one that I had was almost like water, so it was kind of hard to work with. When you do apply it, if you have the right shade for you it does help to even out skin tone and leaves you with a nice matte finish so it does last most of the day and helps to keep the shine down. 

- Overall the product I found that the product was ok, it isn't the best that I've tried but it is still really good to use and it's good for the price. You can pick it up from most drug stores for around £6.99 so it is on the cheaper end of BB Creams. 

Revlon PhotoReady:

- This particular one is available in 3 different shades, I have it in the shade light, which is closest to my actual skin tone. Similar to the other creams it comes in a tube, but this one is more flatter than the others.  

- This particular product claims to hydrates like moisturiser, smoothed like prime, covers like foundation, blurs flaws  like concealer, protects with SPF 30 like sunscreenTranslucent  according to its packaging. 

- The consistency of this one in comparison to the Rimmel London one is in my opinion a little better as it`s a lot thicker so it's more of a cream, for me this is much better as I use a makeup sponge to apply it so it's easier to work with and blend in. Also the fact that is more of a cream means that when you do have it on it doesn't dry out your skin, nor does it feel like you have it on because it's just so lightweight. The coverage you get is really good, it does help to even out skin tone and covers more redness, however I do like a stronger coverage than it offers so I do have to add a little more concealer over certain areas, particularly under my eyes. 

- Overall I do really like the Revlon PhotoReady BB Creams, I like the coverage you get and how it feels when you have it on, although I find that it only really last about 8 hours, then you might just need to add a little top, but as far as BB Creams staying power goes it is really good. Although it's a little bit more expensive then the Rimmel BB cream at £9.99 for a 30ml tube which can be a little expensive when you use it regularly. 

Garnier Pure Active:

- This particular product claims to, evens skin tone, be anti-blackheads, mattifies and covers redness. I found that I did set rather matte which is said it does which was rather good as it give a little more staying power, I did still set it with translucent powder just to help it stick more through the day, particularly in my T-zone. However I did have somewhat of an issue with the shading, as I bought what I thought was a light   shade but it is actually a lot darker than that so I had to blend it out a lot to get it to work with my skin tone.

- Normally I'm really impressed with Garnier products but this one just seemed to be a bit of a miss. With the tone of the shades being too dark for my skin, the matte feeling also left it feeling quite heavy, whereas with a BB Cream you need more of a lightweight feel on a sense it felt more like a foundation. 

- This particular BB cream costs around £9.99 from most drug stores which isn't that bad of a price, but I'm just not really a fan of this particular product. 



So those are 3 of the BB creams that I have tested out some I loved and some not really all too much. Although there are a lot more brands out there that have created their own BB Creams, what are some of the ones that you use? Do you even use BB Creams? 

How To Get Organised

Being organised is something that I constantly try to be but it doesn't always work out, particularly when I have a lot of things going on. So I devised a list of a number of things that I do on an everyday basis to try and stay organised. 

1. Get A Planner- it doesn't really have to be anything fancy, you can pick them up from most shops for a fairly decent price. I just think these are essential and they help you to manage your time and have everything written down so you know what you're doing when. You can pick them up from literally anywhere and are rather cheap, I got mine from WHSmiths.


2. Write A List- by writing a to-do list of everything that you need to do you ensure that you don't forget anything. You also get to cross things off the list helping you to see what you've done. I literally have list wrote done in notebooks and little scraps of paper all over the place.

3. Priorities- when you have a lot to do it's easy to forget things and potentially most deadlines. So by prioritising things means that you won't forget any important. 

4. Week Planner- By planning your week you're able to fully plan out all the things you need to do, which helps to stop you getting overwhelmed and gives you some more structure. I picked one up really cheap from Wilkos, the one that I have is like a notepad so you can take your plan for that week off and carry it around with you. 

5. Break Tasks Down- it can get really overwhelming really quickly when you are faced with a lot of things that you have to do. Which in some cases can result in nothing getting down. By breaking things down into smaller more manageable tasks it makes it easier to focus your attention on what you need to do, and helps you get it done, without feeling the pressure of everything. 

So those are some of the little things that I do to try and be a little more organised with everything that I need to do and to try and help myself keep focuses and not get overwhelmed with everything, because that is an easy thing to do. Personally when I get overwhelmed with everything I have a tendency to do nothing and then everything builds up amazing everything ten times worse for myself. So by doing these little things I manage to get things done when they need to be, what are some of the tips and tricks you have that help you stay organised?  

My 2015 Favourites

So it`s that time where another year has passed. Although this year I feel like it has literally past in the blink of an eye and I have no idea where time has gone. So I decided it was time to have a sit down and think about all of my favourite products and other things of the past year.

Skin Care

Nivea Day Cream- This is a moisturising cream that I use, I really like the Nivea brand as I have said before in other posts that I have dry and sensitive skin, a lot of the creams out there just tend to just mess it up my skin and it`s a disaster. So, this day cream has to be part of my favourites for 2015.

Clean and Clear Exfoliating Daily Face Wash - This is a really good skin cleanser, the fact that it contains micro-beads means that when you use it, it feels like you are actually getting all of the dirt and dead skin off, so it leaves a nice fresh clean feeling.











Simple Moisturising Facial Wash- As a brand I do like Simple as they don`t use a lot of the harsh chemicals that most other brands do in their products. Which is one of the reasons that this facial wash has to feature in my 2015.

Garnier Hand Repair- Hand creams are a big thing for me, I hate the feeling of dry hands. This Garnier hand cream is by far one of my 2015 favourites because it helps keep your hands hydrated even in winter without them feeling almost wet like most hand creams do.

Make-up

Revolution Eye Shadow Collection- This has to be one of my ultimate 2015 favourites it has 16 different shades, so you can create lots of different looks making it perfect for whatever the occasion.










Revlon Colour Stay- This is one of the top foundations that I tried out in 2015, this is my go to foundation, I like the coverage that it gives and you can easily work with it and build it up to suit whatever look you are going for.

Revlon Photoready BB Cream- this has to be one of my favourite BB creams, simply because it feels so light weight but still has amazing coverage. The formula of it gives it a pretty good consistency so it blends really well. 

Revlon Matte Lip Balm- I did a review on these in an earlier post which you can find here, but I felt the need to mention them again because I just absolutely love them. 









Maybelline Eraser Eye- This was one of the products that I picked up after a friend recommend it to me. I love it, I have it in the shade light to help combat the darkness, and the coverage that you get is really good. It comes in a tube with a sponge attached which makes it really easy to apply. 

Tanya Burr Eyebrow Palette- with this set you get 4 different colours, tweezers and a little brush. I really like this set and has to be one of my favourite eyebrow palettes. 

L`Oréal Lipstick- This is one of my favourite lipsticks, I did include it in one of my other post, but I just had to put it in here as it's by far my ultimate 2015 favourite product. I have some of the Eva collection and just love the shades that you get. 

Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes- I bought the core collection at some point last year and just loved them. The brushes are really good for powder as they are just so soft. I wrote a fully post dedicated to them which you can find here. 

Real Techniques Make Up Sponge- I bought this after I decided that I didn't like applying liquid foundation or concealers with brushes, this is part of my 2015 favourites because it works really well with applying liquids as well as with blending in make up to complete the look. 

Hair

GHD Hair Straighteners- After my old hair straighteners packed in I went out and bought some GHD`s, I must say they have to be part of my 2015 favourites because I think they just work really well. Normally it takes hours to straighten my hair, but not with these. 

Toni and Guy Leave In Conditioner- I use this  all the time after I was my hair, it helps to add 'strength' to the hair, as when I've just washed my hair it because too soft to do anything with. So by just adding a little but of the conditioner it helps to make the hair more manageable. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo- being cursed as an individual whose hair very rapidly starts to feel greasy particularly when it's down, this has been a little saviour in terms of just giving the hair a quick refresh, especially in the hectic mornings where there is just no time. It also smells really nice and leave the hair smelling just as good. 

TREsemmé Renewal Hair and Scalp Shampoo and Conditioner- this is the shampoo and conditioner that I used throughout 2015, I just love how soft and shiny it made my hair after I used it; it also smelled really nice. 

Other 

The Time Keeper  by Mitch Albom- this was one of the many books that I dead last year, it made my favourites list because I just loved the story and in a way it made me think more about how I use my time, the book is rather thought provoking. 

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven- I love this book, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. The way it is written gives you an insight into both of the main characters, as she switches point of view throughout the story. So you get to see what both of them are really thinking. The characters are people that you can in some ways relate to. 

UGLY

In today's world people spend so much time trying to do things to make themselves look "beautiful". They spend so much money on clothes that they might not even like, just so they can fit in with everyone else. We do things that everyone else does because no one wants to be left out, we all want to be part of the in crowd, nobody wants to be the ugly duckling. So we do whatever it takes to fit everyone else definition of beautiful. In doing this we begin to create all of these insecurities in which we start to second guess ourselves over the stupidest things. I myself am guilty of trying to change myself to fit in with everyone else, because it's the easiest thing to do; because we all want everyone else to see us as beautiful. But sometimes you have to be UGLY and I'm not talking about being classed as hideous by everyone or told that you look ugly. I mean U.G.L.Y you've got to love yourself!! What is the point in other people liking who you are and loving the person that they think you are if you don't love yourself? At the end of the day it's you who has to spend the whole of eternity with yourself, so why waste that time being a person that you don't like. Part of being beautiful is simply being who you are and loving it, because in the times that actually matter being you will be enough. 

10 Minute Make-up

As a person that absolutely loves sleep, early mornings are an absolute nightmare for me. I always plan on getting up early enough to leave myself time to do all my make up and make myself look awake. However this rarely ever happens, I end up pressing snooze a lot and leaving myself wit like 20 minutes to get ready. So this doesn't really leave me with much time to spend doing make up; and I am not blessed enough to be able to just get and leave my face I am cursed with the worse dark bags under my eyes regardless of how much sleep I actually get. So I have somewhat managed to master a quick and easy make-up routine that takes like 5 maybe 10 minutes to actually completed. 

1. Moisturise, before I do anything with my skin I have to apply moisturiser because my skin is always really dry and is just a pain to deal with. The moisturiser I am currently using is Nivea day cream, I love Nivea as a brand because there products are gentle and don`t contain any harsh chemicals so are quite good for your skin.

2. BB cream, because I don`t always have time I tend to turn to BB creams rather than foundations because they are just so quick and easy to apply. I am currently using the Revlon Photoready BB cream and I am just loving it.

3. Depending on how well the BB cream has cover, I will sometimes apply some concealer just to help reduce the appearance of any spots that I have and to try and make my eyes look more natural in colour, rather than their usual dark shades.

4. I lock it all in with a quick coat of powder, my go to powder when I am in a rush is the Collection pressed powder in 03 translucent. Just to prevent anything from smudging and to help with the staying time of BB cream and concealer. 

5. The final things that I will do is add a thin layer of mascara to my eye lashes, I am currently using the Rimmel Wake Me Up because it contains cucumber extract is supposed to be really good for your eyes. 

6. I will then add lip balm to help keep my lips hydrated, I like to use the Nivea lip butter, purely because it smells so good and makes my lips feel really soft. 

So that is my quick and easy 10 Minute make up routine for those morning where there just simply isn`t enough time to do anything else. Also with this look, it focuses more on enhancing the natural look of the face rather than attempting to completely cover it. 

Top 5 Lip Products

As a lipstick/gloss lover I thought it only seemed fitting to do a top 5 post, these are my top 5 favourite lip products that I have so far. Some of these are relatively new, some I`ve had for a while.  So here is my top 5:




L`Oréal Paris Collection Exclusive By Eva 

This has to be one of my all-time favourites, I absolutely love this collection and it's my go to lipstick for any look. I have it in the shade delicate rose, there are a number a different shades available in this collection. This particular one is a soft pink, the formula is somewhat buttery so it doesn't dry out your lips. 










Tanya Burr Lip Gloss

I have always been a major fan of Tanya burr, so it's only fitting that her lip gloss features in my top 5 lip products. I currently have the shade Afternoon tea, which is a nice pale pink. I love the fact that which you first put it on its nice and shiny without feeling tacky, it also has good staying power and the colour lasts for hours. It's available from most stores, I picked it up from Superdrug for £5.99, which is such a cheap price for an amazing product, I've order a few more of them because I do really like the one I currently have. 

Rimmel Moisture Renew 

This was a product that I picked up on a whim when I went shopping, I bought it from Superdrug for a cheap price. I have it in the shade vintage pink, which is a pink that has somewhat of a purple tinge to it. As it`s named, it really helps keep the lips hydrated, so it lasts a lot longer. 

Revlon Colour Burst Matte Balm 

I've done an entire review on this particular product which you can find here, but I love them so much that I felt the need to mention them in my top 5 because they are so good. I currently have them in 3 different shades, but I am planning on investing in more because I think they're just such an amazing product. I currently have striking, elusive, and unapologetic which are all three similar colours, a mixture of pink and reds. 

Avon Cosmetics 

This was actually given to me by a friend after she bought it and realised she already had it. I currently have it in the shade pout, it is somewhat of a shiny pink colour. The reason it features in my top 5 is because at the minute I'm quite liking it, I think Avon as a cosmetics is completely underrated. Although it only last a couple of hours, it still rather good for the amount that it actually costs. When it`s first applied 

So those are my top 5 lip products that at the minute I am absolutely loving, I am constantly on the lookout for new products to try. What are some lipsticks or lip glosses that you are using?