Back to School Beauty Preparation Tips

I know, just the thought of school makes you want to bury your face in your pillow and hope that it's the beginning of the holidays again. But unfortunately, school is just around the corner and we have to go back sooner or later. Instead of writing a post about how terrible school is, I thought I would get you excited and tell you my tips to prepare yourself for back to school!

Beauty Preparation Tips

Now you could choose to go back to school looking like you have had no sleep at all and you just crawled out of bed. You might have a school photo so these tips might help to make you look fresh and ready for the new school year. These are some things I like to do before I go back to school.

Skin
- Use a face mask the night before to help soothe, calm and cleanse your skin. This will help to clear out your skin if you are having any break outs
- During the last few days of the holidays try not to wear a full face of makeup, let your skin breathe. Makeup can clog your pores which can cause breakouts and I'm sure you all hate those nasty spots just like me and you wouldn't want them on the first day back!

Nails

- Try to remove your nail varnish around 3-5 days before school, if you remove it the night before the nail varnish might've stained your nails and that takes a few days to disappear. (Trust me, once my nails were stained from a red nail varnish, not a nice sight.)

- If you're like me and you hate it when your nails chip becuase they are brittle and weak, trim and file your nails a few days before so they have time to grow back healthily. If you keep you're nails long and you don't trim them often they are more likely to chip.

Eyes

- I know we all hate going to bed early and waking up early, but if you have been going to bed at 12 every day and waking up at noon, you probably won't be able to go to bed at 10 and wake up at 7 for school. This is because your sleeping pattern has changed, try to go to bed and wake up earlier and earlier each day (around a week before you got back to school) to slowly adjust your sleeping pattern. You want to get as much sleep or you will be haunted with the dreaded puffy under eye bags, well I at least I will.

- This is probably just me, but over summer I give up on taming my brows so I normally just let them grow out and become bushy. So I tend to neaten them up by plucking the odd out of place and mononbrow hairs before I go back to school.

So that is all my back to school preparation and tips. I hope you enjoyed this blog post and thank you for reading. Have a nice day, bye!

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation

 

 

 

 

I'm not usually the type of person that wears foundation every day, normally I just put a dot of concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes. But I had heard that this foundation was very light and natural on the skin, something that I was looking for. So when I was in boots one day I saw that Rimmel had £1.50 off selected items, I thought I would give this a try. I picked this up for about £5, originally £6.99.

I like how the bottle is glass, I'm not quite sure exactly why I like it. Maybe because it feels more luxorious in comparison to plastic bottles. This foundation does come with a pump, which is always good because I don't know how I would cope without it, there would probably be a lot of foundation going to waste as I would pour out too much.

The foundation is a light to medium coverage and is quite buildable. It does feel very light on my skin and blends very easily and doesn't leave streaky marks. Once applied, the foundation has a slight dewy finish which I think makes your skin look more radiant. Personally, I like to set it with powder because my skin is naturally oily and the powder helps to ensure it lasts long. I'd say it lasts about 4-6 hours with powder. But if you prefer a more dewy look then you don't have to apply powder.

Overall I am very impressed with this foundation, it is a very natural and easy to wear foundation. Definitley recommend it, for just under £7 I think it is really worth it. I have the shade 100 Ivory and I think it is the perfect match. I've had an issue with foundations not matching my skin so when I bought this I was a little bit skeptical as to whether it would actually match my skin, luckily it did! However in the swatches above it does look rather pale but that's because I came back from holiday and my hands were weirdly more tanned!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, tell me in the comments what your favourite foundation is? Thanks for reading, bye!

10 Facts About Me #TeenBlogSeries

I am going to be participating in a new blog series that was created by Anouska and Beth called the Teen Blog Series. There will be a new post in this series every Monday so keep your eyes peeled for that. If you want to see some more posts in this series then search #TeenBlogSeries on twitter to see other people's posts. The first post in the series is the 10 Facts About Me, so here we go!

1) My name is Amanda and I am 14 years old

2) I am half-Thai, half-English

3) I love textiles, sewing and fashion designing are one of my hobbies

4) I am obsessed with makeup and fashion

5) I love cute stationary but I have a bit too many pens

6) My favourite singers are Lana Del Rey and Haim

7) I love photography and drawing

8) My favourite TV shows are Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl and CSI

9) I watch a lot of crime shows 

10) My favourite subjects are Chemistry, Textiles and Latin

So there you have it, 10 facts about me! I hope you enjoyed this blog post and now you know a bit more about me :) Thanks for reading, bye! 

Revlon Colourburst Matte and Lacquer Balms

 

 

 I am a fan of lip crayons, I love the whole concept of it. They're super easy to apply because of the shape of the crayon. When I bought one of the Revlon Colourburst Laquer Balms back when they knew, I absolutely fell in love with them. Now that I have some more added to my collection, including the Matte Balms, I thought I would share my thoughts on them.

Revlon Colourburst Lip Laquer in 105 'Demure'

I'd had my eye in this shade ever since I saw people saying it was their favourite. Demure is a lovely warmer toned nude pink, almost a peachy pink. I love this shade as it is very flattering and is my go to nude lip product. It does have specs of shimmer running through it which I think is quite nice. I love this shade and it is definitely my favourite, it is very natural and quite sheer so it doesn't wash you out. I prefer the formula of the lip Laquers to the Matte balm because they are more moisturising and glossy. They are very soft to apply and don't dry out your lips. However the lasting power isn't amazing, I'd say it lasts for about 3-4 hours before the colour begins to fade, maybe even less than that if you are eating/ drinking. But I cannot rave about this shade enough, if you haven't swatched it and looked at it already I really recommend you should. 

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in 205 'Elusive'

When I planned on picking up one of the matte balms, I actually was going to buy the shade Compoex which is a nude. However in the shop I swatched it and it looked like it would was me out so I went for the shade Elusive instead. Elusive is a medium pink that is quite blue toned. Personally I am not a fan of blue toned pinks as I think they make me look like I am wearing a barbie pink lipstick. But I quite like this one, the colour is very natural and nice and doesn't make me look to weird. The formula is very surprisingly nice, I expected it to dry my lips out after a while which it doesn't. It feels very buttery to apply and makes my lips very soft. I would recommend exfoliating your lips before you apply it as it can stick to dry patches. Overall I am really impressed with this, but I am more of a glossy lip girl and I'm not a fan of mattes. But for a matte lipstick it is very good and I still love it.

Revlon Colourburst Lip Laquer in 120 'Vivacious'

I picked this up back in Februray when they were knew. I love the colour as it's super bright and flattering on my skin tone. It is a bright hot pink which I think would look nice on all skin tones. Although I prefer to apply it lightly so it isn't so bold. Again, the formula is incredible and so moisturising. I really recommend these Revlon Crayons, the formula is amazing and there are so many more beautiful shades to pick from.

For all the Colourburst Crayons, matte and Laquer, there is a slight pepperminty scent which is refreshing and feels quite cool on the lips. Something that attracts me the most to these crayons has got to be the packaging, I am a sucker for bright coloured packaging. The Laquer balms have a shiny packaging which I love the most and the matte balms (obviously) have a matte packaging. I like how the packaging (the amount of times I have said packaging in this paragraph is unreal) is the same as the actual lip product as it means you can easily pick which one you want to use. My favourite is the shade Demure as I think it looks so nice and the colour is gorgeous. I prefer the Laquer balms to the matte balms but that's not because the matte balms are bad. Personally I just don't like matte lips in general. I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for reading, bye!

London Haul - M.A.C, Topshop, Forever 21

Yesterday I took a touristy trip round London looking at the iconic landmarks such as the London Eye, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. I also was lucky to go to Oxford Street to go shopping and I picked up a few items.

 

Lets start with Selfridges, I've never been to one before so when I walked in I was shocked at how huge and classy it was. Knowing me I went straight to the M.A.C counter and began looking at the lipsticks. I picked out the shade Patisserie because I heard Lily and Anna raving about it and the colour was gorgeous. Perfect for everyday use. Patisserie is a Lustre finish which means it is quite sheer and has a glossy finish. The colour is really natural, a pink warm toned brown which really suits my skin tone.

 

Next is Forever 21, I have been looking for a Leather Jacket for ages, the ones in Topshop were far too expensive and the ones in Primark looked tacky. When I saw the rail of leather jackets for £15 in Forever 21 I was very happy and chuffed! It is a tad big but they didn't have any XS but I think I can work with it. I will get a lot of use out of this! You can find this jacket here.

 

Like Selfridges, I was shocked when I walked into Topshop. I was so used to my small local Topshop, the one in Oxford Street is massive! After looking around for 1 hour, I picked two simple tops. There were so many things I loved I couldn't pick any. I went for a 'Rip Funnel Top' which you can see here . I really like the high neck and material of this and it would be perfect for autumn. I also picked up a 'Long Sleeve Skinny Rib Crop Top' which you can view here . I find the long sleeves and the fitting of this top to be really flattering and its also great for autumn!

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Bye!

A Week in Photos #1 - Spain 2014

Last week I went on holiday to Spain, I took many photos (more than needed) and I thought I would share my favourite snaps with you all. I guess this is a kind of Instagram diary because I posted a few of these on my personal Instagram (amandabrickx (go follow me (haha just kidding.)))

The view from our villa

 

Sunset by the beach

 

Sunset by the port

The view

 

The town in the evening

The sea at the beach 

 

Sunset 

 

Sunset on the mountains

 

Watermelon by the pool

 

Sunset and palm trees

 

Doodles

 

'Special Salad' (that's what it was called in the restaurant)

 

A tree that looked like a giant pineapple

 

Our villa

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this different kind of post! Hop you are all having a lovely holiday, bye!

Summer Orange Lips ~ Summer in the Sun

 

 

 

Summer is the time to bring out the bold and bright colours on to the lips. I love wearing pinks, but this year its all about bold orange lips. I have a range of different shades of orange, from peachy more muted oranges to bold almost red oranges.

 

The first orange lipstick I have is by Revlon. It is the Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in 'Coral'. This is a very bold fiery orange. It is almost red but still classes as an orange. If you want to wear a daring colour this summer, this would be a good lipstick to go for. But I'm not to keen on the smell as it is quite chemically. Apart from the smell, this lipstick is really pigmented and lasts very long.

 

 

If you are looking for a more subtle and wearable orange, I recommend the MUA lipstick in shade 16 'Nectar'. For £1 you cant really go wrong with this. The formula is amazing as the lipstick is smooth and creamy and highly pigmented. I love the colour as it is a peachy colour and not so bold. The only bad thing about the MUA lipsticks is the packaging, but I guess you get what you pay for. However the actual lipstick is great.

 

The next orange lipstick I have is a bit of a weird one, as you can see the lipstick in the bullet looks red but when swatched comes out orange. But trust me when I say it looks better on the lips than in the swatches, for some reason it looks almost yellow :/ Anyway, this lipstick is the Maybelline Coloursensational Popstick in Cherry Pop. I have done a full review on this here. I am slightly disappointed in this lipstick as the colour was not what I expected. It is quite sheer which is good because that means it won't be too strong, especially as the colour is a bit odd. But the smell and the packaging is definitely pleasing! It smells like cherries and the packaging is very lovely. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it though, but I put it in this post anyway,

 

The last orange lip product is the Too Faced Sweet Sun Shines Lip Gloss in 'Papaya Slushie'. I love this lip gloss, its such a lovely colour and feels very creamy and glossy on the lips. There are tiny little specs of gold shimmer which adds a bit more to the lips. If you can get your hands on this I really recommend it. I cant even think of anything bad to say about it!

 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Do you like wearing orange in summer? What's your go to orange lip product? Thanks for reading and have a nice day, bye!

 

Benefit Fine One One for Summer Cheeks ~ Summer in the Sun Series

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so I'm going to try mixing a review into my summer in the sun series, hopefully it will work. So seeing as summer is all about glowing cheeks and bright colours, i thought The Benefit Fine One One cheek trio would be perfect. Firstly I just want to say thanks to my best friend who bought me this for my birthday :)

The packaging of this is gorgeous, I love anything rose gold so that was definitely a bonus. Once you take the lid of you can see what the actual products looks liked there are three shades an orange, a pinky coral and a shimmery highlight. Once you twist the button type thing you just swipe it across you cheeks in an upwards motion (the shimmery highlight on top.) Then you just blend the colours in to create gorgeous coral and shimmery cheeks.

I love the whole concept of it as it's super easy to use and I don't think I've seen anything like it. The formula is great as well as it is creamy and incredibly easy to blend. It blends smoothly and doesn't leave streaky marks. The colours are so fun and summery and look lovely on. If you are willing to spend your money in Benefit, this is something I recommend looking at as it is really unique and pretty. However once the cream has blended, it does kind of blend in and become quite unnoticeable, which then makes me put more on and make the product run out faster. Cheeky Benefit I see what you're doing haha no just kidding. I just don't blend it to its full potential.

Overall I love this product and I think it is perfect for summer, in fact I think it's great all year round. The colours are lovely and so is the packaging. I love how original the idea is and I wish more brands did similar things. I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading! Bye!

How to Wear : Gingham Skirt

 

One of the latest trends I've been loving has been Gingham patterns. When I saw this skirt in New Look I fell in love and picked it up in the sale for a bargain of £8! I decided to do a post with how I would style it.

I paired it with a white lacey top as I didn't want to wear another pattern that would clash with the bold gingham print. So a lace top is a safer and subtle choice. The bag adds some colour to the outfit and I think it finishes of the look. I just accessorised with a gold necklace that matches the gold detailing on the bag. Put on some bracelets and rings and the outfit is complete!

Skirt - New Look

Top - Gilly Hicks

Bag - Primark

Rings - Miss Selfridge

Necklace - Topshop

I hope you enjoyed this post! I really like doing fashion posts so tell me if you want more! Thanks for reading, bye!

Holiday Handbag Essentials ~ Summer In the Sun Series

 

 

As I am going on holiday soon, I thought I would show you what's in my travel bag (excluding passports and all that jazz).

Let's start with the beauty items. I am bringing some Vaseline Hand Cream because if your hands get very dry on planes then this will be your holy grail. So will lip balm because the plane tends to dry out my lips and I will thank myself later for bringng my Nivea lipbalm. Who knows what the weather will be like so I am just bringing the Natural Collection pressed powder just incase my skin becomes oily. The Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me is also coming along with me because I think it would be nice to add a bit if colour to my lips. In my bag are also some hairbands and my pink sunglasses from River Island.

I get very bored on planes so I need a lot of entertainment. I am bringing the book 'A Game of Thrones' by George R.R Martin. It is a very thick book so I hope I finish it. I am also bringing a notebook to draw in alongside with some pens and pencils. If you're like me and you hate your ears popping on planes, I recommend chewing gum or sucking on a sweet during take off and landing. I am bringing some rainbow mentos because they are my favourite. On the journey to the airport I like to listen to music so I am bringing my earphones, and of course my phone. I am also bringing my iPad just incase I feel like watching a movie. Last but not least I am bringing the Company Magazine to keep me updated with all the latest fashion and beauty trends.

Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed this blog post, bye!

July Favourites

 

 

Once again another month has flown by and has brought me to some rediscoveries of things I love. July hasn't been a month for beauty favourites but mainly a month of random things.

Beauty
You may have guessed that this would be in here as I have mentioned it in many blog posts already in July. I just love the Bourjois Colourboost Lip Crayon in 'Peach on the Beach' and  I think it is the perfect summer lip colour. The formula is amazing as it is moisturising and very smooth to apply and the pigmentation is great as well. I have also loved having glowing and bronzed cheeks, the Benefit Sum Beam has ticked all the boxes for me this month. It's so easy to apply and makes your cheeks gorgeously radiant.

Non-Beauty
As it is the summer holidays I have been reading a lot more than I usually would. My favourite book in July that I read has to be 'I've Got Your Number' by Sophie Kinsella. I found it hilarious and so cute, the characters were so intriguing and although the ending was kind of predictable and some things were quite unrealistic. Okay I should probably tell you the plot (no spoilers don't worry), it's about girl named Poppy who is engaged to a guy name Magnus, she loses the engagement ring (which was an expensive family ring) and on the same day loses her phone. But then somehow she finds a phone in the bin (that's the unrealistic bit) and the phone belonged to Violet who was someone called Sam's PA. So Poppy ends up reading all Sam's e-mails and gets to know more about him. Its a very easy read book and I really recommend it if you want to read a feel-good book.

For TV shows I have been really obsessed with Gossip Girl, the storyline is so hooking I can't stop watching it. I can't even begin to describe it because I know I won't do any good. But if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.

Recently I have been trying to eat healthily and smoothies have been something that I have been making nearly everyday. My favourite smoothies are berry ones, they are so easy to make and delicious.

Music
Bombay Bicycle Club - Lunar
Ed Sheeran - Nina, Bloodstream, I see Fire (from his X album)
Lana Del Rey - Brooklyn Baby, Cruel World (from her Ultraviolence album)

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Have a nice day, bye!