Sunday Chat - 10 Confessions of a Beauty Addict

I write this from my bed, in my dressing gown, with a steaming mug of green tea. Yes it's four pm, but it's Sunday and I'm hung-over AF. I do apologise for my vulgarity, but that eggy bread I decided to make at 2pm doesn't feel like such a good idea anymore, and this laptop screen is so bright I'm squinting like I'm in sodding St Tropez or something.
Anyhow, real life shit aside, this post is going to be about all those things I notice because of my obsession with all things beauty. I hope you find them interesting or amusing, or that you relate them and feel my pain.


1. No, I'm not looking in the mirror again because I'm vain. I'm trying to see if this new foundation is sitting well over the primer I'm trialling it with today. Is it settling into my pores? I simply have to know.


2.Yes, if you're wearing make up I will probably be analysing it. This doesn't mean I'm judging you whatsoever, I'm just surveying what you have done with your face and whether I'm missing out on anything. A grey eyeliner wing? I like it. Interesting.


3. That being said, if your eyeshadow/contour/blush/foundation/concealer is really unblended and just plain shoddy, I might feel a little sorry for you.


4. I will have an opinion on the MAC lipstick you're talking about or wearing. And I will talk about MAC lipsticks as if they are old friends.


5. Choosing a lip colour before a night out is infinitely more exciting than choosing my drink. Or my outfit.


6. I often forget about my hair because I'm too busy lining my lips/perfecting my brows.


7.Speaking of brows, yours are telling me a lot about you, and I will also be analysing them along with the rest of your make up.


8. Even the shoddiest highstreets have a Boots or a Superdrug, so if you need to go the Gym/the bank/whatever, I will probably be happy for at least half an hour while I swatch and mooch around in either one.


9. Skincare is a way of life. Even if I'm getting home at 5am, I will find a way to clean my face and moisturise it at the very least.


10. I am proud of my make-up collection, I really enjoy re-organising and spending time considering what I own, what I'm missing and what I could get rid of. Will I ever use this lime green liner? Probably not, but you never know....




Thanks for reading!
Lou

MAC Angel



It took me absolutely forever to choose a new MAC lipstick the other week-  I was playing around with Angel and Snob for SO long, it got a little ridiculous, so I grabbed for Angel.

I have to say, I regret that choice. Although Snob is a matte formula, which I rarely wear, Angel is very hard to wear. It's a Frost finish, which means it is slightly iridescent, and for some reason it really  sinks into the lines in my lips and requires some serious exfoliation/ moisturising prep beforehand.

I haven't worn it much, and probably won't, as every time I do I'm disappointed. In the future I think I will stick to Satin finishes like my beloved Brave.

Over and out, thanks for reading :)

Lou 

Sunday Chat | Top 5 foods

Hi there!
How's it going?
Welcome to any newcomers, and welcome back to any familiar eyes landing on this page today.


This Sunday chat is going to be a little  different, because it's all about FOOD (& drink), and all the things I am loving putting in my mouth (ooer) at the moment. Without further a go, let's get going-


1. Salted popcorn with anything chocolate-y.
I found out about this whilst watching one of Lily Pebbles videos over on youtube - I think it was a vlog - and she mentioned that her cinema snack of choice is a mixture of salted popcorn and Minstrels. I had a think about it and decided it sounded blimmin' marvellous, so I gave it a go, and it's ah-mazing. So far I've tried it with minstrels, giant buttons and currently I'm sitting here munching on popcorn and peanut M&Ms. So wrong yet so right on so many levels.


2. Sweet Potatoes
Holy jesus, I love sweet potatoes. And, for all you worker bees out there, they make truly fantastic desk- lunches for the office. No offensive smell, minimal warm up time, and good with practically anything - or nothing - on top. I tend to do a mass sweet potato bake- off, say on a Monday night, cook around 4, and then have them  the following two days at work. Word of warning- don't try to go any more than two days, they go a bit minging, I think two is the tops.


3. Flavoured sparkling water.
Where has this been my whole life? Whilst browsing my local Tesco corner shop looking for squash, I noticed that sparkling water is 4 for £1.50 which I thought was a perfectly cracking deal, so I did it, and I've never looked back. Squash is a thing of the past.


4. The green houmous.
Regular houmous bores me a little, so I've done a fair bit of experimenting with the other offerings - again at Tesco - at my local store, and have discovered a true love for their broad bean, asparagus and mint dip, it is truly delightful.


5. Rivita.
What the bloody hell was I doing before Rivita was in my life? I'll tell you what, just nothing. Rivita is just genius, I have mine at work with soup, with an avocado, with the green deep, with peanut butter.  Whatever there is, you can bet your monkey's uncle it will be smashing with your rivita.




Well, I feel like that got a little out of hand but there we are. Food is amazing, I love food.




Thanks for reading, come back soon :)


Lou

5 Beauty Things I'm Bad At | Sunday Chat

Soo, obviously I like beauty products. I love make-up and I love skincare, but unfortunately there are other parts of beauty I just can't get excited about, or I just never find time to do. Here is my top five:

1.Styling my hair.
I never ever have time to style my hair. Firstly, I don't know how to. I have two or three "styles" that I can do, but mostly I will leave it down or pull the top half into a bun or a clip. Ya know, standard. I envy those people who manage to straighten or curl, or even just make their hair look good on an everyday basis. How are you people doing this. Sorry guys, I was busy doing my fifteen- step skin care routine, don't mind my crazy bedhead. 

2.Painting my toe nails.
Now I'm not even joking, I have one nail varnish which is my genuine, designated toe colour. And I will never rotate or change that colour. It's a dark red in case youre wondering. And I will never touch up, refresh, or generally sort out my toe colour until I absolutely have to. So most of the time it's a chipped mess and it makes me sad whenever I look at my feet.

3. Fake tanning.
This is something which I really really want to be good at, but I just generally find that I can't really be bothered. It's the smell. And the getting naked, walking around, getting cold, waiting for it to stop being sticky bit. Just inconvenient. 

4. Cutting my sugar intake.
I am the first to moan when my skin is bad, which is all the time really. But I am also the first to eat a cupcake if there is one presented to me. I have the worst, most addictive sweet tooth ever and I love chocolate like a third parent and a first child. And I think even if my skin got astronomically horrible, I would still find it heartbreaking to go a day without a Peanut Butter KitKat. Because. Life.

5.Dying my hair.
Because of a terrifying incident when I was 16 when I got hairdye on my face and ended up in A&E (who am I), I have an irrational fear of dying my hair, even though it has since happened several times and I have been totally fine. I especially fear dying my hair whilst being unsupervised. Luckily, my friend did it for me about a year ago, and I've basically been rocking the grown-out-blonde look since then. Thank fuck that look is sort of okay at the moment, or I'd just look like a mess. I need to sort my shit out and either do it myself or get someone to do it for me.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!
Lou x

5 tips for 5 minute morning make-up | Sunday Chat

I am two weeks into my first full-time, real- life, serious job. Eek. So far, one of the hardest things I've faced is squeezing my leisurely morning skin,hair and make-up dawdle into a seriously quick, to-the-point routine. I'm just getting the hang of it, and here are a few tips I've learnt so far.

1. Minimise your morning skin routine.
Save the masking, toning, exfoliating and serious double- cleansing for the evenings. In the morning, stick to a swipe of micellar water and moisturiser. How anyone does more than that is beyond me.

2.Full- coverage face is still not the one.
When you're at work you want to look awake, fresh and ready, and your first thought is- oh, I'll put  a real, serious foundation all over my face to go with my real, serious job. Wrong. I've spent too long in the morning blending that stuff around my chops to decide that it just isn't the one. Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue you are the one. Yet again.

3.Prioritise your face.
There are certain parts of your make- up routine you can do on the train to work, and certain parts you can't. Mascara and eyeliner are a no-no. So is prodding that fresh spot around with concealer whilst sitting next to a smart business man. That just isn't cute. My rule of thumb is: get your base, brows and lashes done at home. Bare minimum. If  you have to sacrifice one of the three, your brows can be done on the train, trust me.

4.Highlight is taking a back seat.
a) I have trouble even fitting both bronzer and blusher into the space of time I have on the train
b) I'm not sure my colleagues are ready for my J-Lo glow.

5. Convenience products for the win.
I have only just realised that I do not own any eyeshadow quads or trios which are handy to throw in my train make- up bag for the commute. That Naked Palette just isn't going to cut it for a nice grown-up day time look. At the moment, my MAC Cinderella palette is saving the day, and I seriously need to find a few matte- heavy, small palettes for work make- up. (Apart from my Naked Basics 2 which is life)


PS: If you drive to work, leave ten minutes early and sort your business out in the toilets before you  start. It's just logical.

Lou x