Spring Makeup

 Products used: Boots essentials moisturising cream, Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation in 100 ivory, Lasting Perfection concealer in 01 fair, Rimmel Stay Matte powder in 004 sandstorm, Eco Tools large powder brush, Sleek Face Form palette in light, MUA Undress Your Skin shimmer highlighter, Elf Eyebrow Kit in Light Ash, Natural Collection Lash care mascara (clear mascara used as a brow gel), Urban Decay Primer Potion, 17 Rose Quartz single eyeshadow, Urban Decay Naked & Virgin eyeshadows (from the Naked palette), NYX the curve eyeliner, Maybelline The Falsies mascara, Collection Cream Puff moisturising lip cream in fairy cake 03, 17 Mirror Shine lipstick in beehive (on top of Collection Cream Puff) and GOSH velvet touch waterproof eyeliner in 006 bananas. 

Buds of crocus and fresh yellow daffodils are the first sign of spring for me. As soon as the days start getting longer, and the evening are lighter I know summer is also soon to arrive. With 2014 already rushing by so fast, I couldn't not include a pretty spring makeup look. With the colder weather behind us and brighter days to come, all the elements of spring really inspired me to create this look. I had this idea in mind for a while, and already made one attempt a few weeks back. But the outcome just wasn't what I hoped, so I tried again this weekend spontaneously and the result is much preferred. 

I decided to use a few new products I had bought yesterday, one being a gorgeous Rose Quartz eyeshadow from the makeup brand 17. The eyeshadow wasn't something I thought would associate with spring as a colour, but once applied it turned out just perfect. The Rose Quartz eyeshadow blended into a slightly deeper purple, therefore I wanted to make the lips quite bright by using a fresh pink shade. As for the rest of my face, I make a conscious effort to apply some bronzer, blush and highlight - this is no longer something I would apply on a daily basis. To keep it simple as a base before this, I used a daily moisturiser and mixed a small amount of foundation with this to create a tinted moisturiser - which I applied with a stippling brush to give a more sheer coverage. To finish of the eyes I used my everyday mascara, then attempted a winged eyeliner... But failed so kept with the general swipe of black along the lash line. All the products I used for this look are listed above, some of which I may review in the future as I'm already really enjoying using them. Hope you liked this post as I don't do makeup looks very often, but I would love to do more. Have a lovely week! 

How does the season of spring inspire you? 

Christmas gift ideas | DIY and baking

To me it seems Christmas shouldn't be this Wednesday, it's just all gone too fast! But the time has come when we all venture out on gifts and presents to give to our family or friends. Sadly this year I didn't have much money, but appropriately was asked to baby-sit 3 times in the duration of a month - Good for me! So I gained a decent amount to spend on presents, most of which I spent on family and leaving 20 or so pounds for friends. 

Christmas is all about giving and giving a gift which you've put a lot of thought into. I'm a strong believer of not giving money, although that's what my grandma is giving me this year, she didn't actually want to. I can understand as it shows there is minimal thought and just shoving some paper in a card, so I told her I will keep it aside for a warm winter coat! But this year I really wanted to make the presents myself, as well as buying something I know the person will love. 

I'm fond of baking and also a bit of 'Do It Yourself' i.e. DIY. Therefore this year I thought it would be a lovely idea to bake and make something. I decided upon some festive biscuits and a DIY 'Sharpie mug', however I used a 'paint marker' to do this and I actually think this worked better. As well as this I thought I would add some extra personal gifts too. To present this I actually thought it would be a lovely idea to place the biscuits and extra presents within the mug I decorated!

DIY - 'Sharpie Mugs'

This is something I have seen a lot around Pinterest and the internet, originally people use Sharpies - as seen by the name. However I actually used a metallic paint marker which I think worked just as well. If anything I recommend paint markers as they show up more and don't loose their colour in the oven, like the Sharpies would. 

 I recommend buying cheap mugs as normally, the cheaper the mug the thinner the glaze. In this case that is appropriate as it helps the marker sink into the glaze easier when being heated. Once you have finished your design, another tip is when heating the mugs make sure you heat them around 220 degrees Celsius, as well as letting them heat up and cool down in the oven. If you don't do this the china will crack due to the sudden change in heat.  If you are to use a sharpie, two coats will prevent the marker from fading - but only one is needed for a paint marker. When finished hand washing them will also avoid the marker from chipping at all!

Festive Baking!

Baking is something I thoroughly enjoy, no matter how much I go wrong I still find it a very therapeutic hobby - learning from your mistakes is key so you can improve and not make the same mistakes again. So to give some of my baking as a gift I thought would be nice and also a nice idea to inspire whoever reads this.

I decided upon making gingerbread men and shortbread snowflakes!

You can simply look upon the internet to find a recipe, but I chose to use one from Sainbury's recipe book!

The fun part... 

Shortbread snowflakes

Gingerbread men 

Finished!

Time to decorate! (my favourite part)

After baking the shortbread snowflakes I thought adding some edible glitter would give it a festive touch!

Decorating the gingerbread men was very fun, however I decided to package them in cellophane bags and the icing I bought didn't dry so I ended up adding on two small smarties for the eyes! (I recommend using icing that dries to prevent smudging).

Personalise your present

This is the part in which you can simply personalise this gift by adding whatever else you wish! So far this present is all homemade, therefore not costing a huge amount - so if your budgeting this year this is useful. It's not about the cost and its the thought that counts! Therefore I simply added some extra gifts from an online shop at e.l.f. and of course whilst shopping online for friends I couldn't help but buy myself some e.l.f. products as I don't own many, and some products they provide are amazing for the price!

Something I love to do is package my gifts all pretty, therefore I went and bought some cellophane bags and ribbon. 

Alternatives

As well as giving 3 larger presents to 3 of my friends, I also gave others some of my baking wrapped nicely with a card. I think this is a lovely thoughtful and yummy gift, I gave one of these to my form tutor and she was very grateful. If you don't have time you can alternatively just buy some sweets or chocolate and package them nicely, this is what I did for a secret Santa gift!

I hope you liked this post, I have been posting quite spontaneously and not on a weekly basis, which is bad! But as it's the holidays I shall have more spare time i.e. no school, so I will be posting more regularly. 

Merry Christmas!

♥