My Makeup Brushes: Part One Eye and Lip Brushes

Hey,

So I know there are a lot of expensive makeup brushes out there and not many people really say anything about cheaper ones, my make up brush collection is made up of cheaper brushes from Amazon and a few Real Techniques brushes, I reach for the cheaper ones more than my Real Technique brushes. I mean don't get me wrong I have nothing against more expensive brushes they just aren't in my budget, I might one day splash out on a few but until then I will stick to the ones I use.

Many of you probably don't like cheaper brushes because they can shed or they aren't as soft and it is hit and miss with cheaper makeup brushes but I don't have a problem with any that I use. The majority of my makeup brushes were bought from amazon apart from the odd couple.

So I will start with my blending brushes, the brushes a I bought all cost less than £4 so I didn't have high expectations of them when I ordered them;
1. I use this brush mainly for precise blending and softening eyeliner, also for applying eye shadow as well (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004IOIQ2I/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_roN2ub0YAMJ75).
2. Similar to the first I use this one for precise blending but I can create a nice smokey eye with this brush as well (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DO3ZB90/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SmN2ub1DKDME5).
3. This brush I use for blending when I want to focus on one area (eyeslipsface.co.uk/en/restofworld/single-brushes/blending-eye-brush/invt/1803).
4-7. These are a set of brushes I bought off of Amazon when I wanted some more blending brushes, 4,5 and 6 I use for blending and 7 I use for applying colour to the crease, I have them in black and pink as well,
   - Blue Brush Set (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MGA5MGY/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_dkN2ub1AE67VH)
   - Pink Brush Set (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00M7XELSU/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_.lN2ub1CCCRM7)
   - Black Brush Set (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MG8VZ76/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_MlN2ub1MBEQ69)

8. Is a lip brush which I wouldn't have bought myself, but I got it in a beauty subscription box and I use it so I thought I would include it in this post, it's the only lip brush I won as I don't use it that often but it is really good quality brush and I usually use it when I have that bit of extra tip to apply lipstick. (www.glossybox.co.uk/brands/emite/lip-brush-l312/)
9. This brush I use for mainly eyeliner as my brows don't need filling in and I prefer angled brushes for applying gel liner, I did used to have a different angled brush but it was quite a stiff brush which was quite uncomfortable to use, but with this one although it is soft it is easier to apply liner and a lot more comfortable, the one I use was actually from a make-up set which I got as a gift, so I don't know where you can get this one in particular from but I'm sure there are plenty on Amazon.
10-13. These are all from the same set (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C661V7M/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_3kN2ub1HMED2R)
10. The spoolie I use to comb through my brows.
11. I use this liner brush for gel liners that are a lot softer and wetter, also for cream shadows that I want to use as eyeliner.
12. This brush I use for highlighting the inner corner of my eye and also for applying shadow to my lower lash line.
13. I also use this brush for applying shadow to my lower lash line but also sometimes for liner on my upper lash line.
14. This is just a standard shadow brush which I use for packing on shadow and also blending shadow and liner on the lower lash line. (www.barrym.com/products/accessories-gifts/brushes.html)
15. I use for the same thing as 14 but as it's bigger instead of using a blending brush when I am using a single colour I will use this to blend the colour out. This brush was actually from a brush set that I bought when I first started wearing makeup, although this was the only decent brush out of the set, it was only a cheap set off of Amazon.

I hope this was useful for those of you that don't want to spend to much money on brushes and are only starting out with makeup. 

Thanks for reading.

Lou

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About Me Tag

Hey,

Another tag to get to know me a bit better,

1. What is your middle name? Louise.
2. What was your favourite subject at school? Art or History.
3. What is your favourite drink? Dr Pepper.
4. What is your favourite song at the moment? Blank Space.
5. What is your favourite food? Pasta or Pizza.
6. What is the last thing you bought? The Balm Balm Jovi Palette.
7. What is your favourite book of all time? A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole or That Night by Chevy Stevens.
8. What is your favourite colour? Typical Girl, Pink.
9. Do you have any pets? Yes, a German Shepherd Cross called Toby.
10. What was your first pet? I might be wrong but I think it was two gerbils called Timon and Pumbaa, but the first pet I bought myself was a hamster called Eric.
11. What is your favourite perfume? Ghost Eclipse.
12. What is your favourite holiday? Christmas.
13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times and where? Yes, 7 times. I've been to Florida, France, Malta, Menorca, Belgium, The Caribbean and New York. 
14. Do you speak any other language? I learnt a bit of French when I younger, learnt German in school and can remember a bit and I am fluent in sarcasm.
15. How many siblings do you have? 4, an older half-brother, younger sister, younger step-brother and younger step-sister.
16. What is your favourite shop? Boots.
17. What is your favourite restaurant? TGI Friday's.
18. When was the last time you cried? About a month ago.
19. What is your favourite movie? Mortal Instruments City of Bones.
20. What is your favourite TV show? The Walking Dead or The 100.
21. What is your favourite musical? Whistle Down The Wind.
22. What was the first musical you saw in theatre? I think it was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
23. PC or MAC? PC
24. What phone do you have? Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.
25. How tall are you? 5ft 7.5
26. Can you cook? Yes, I did cookery at college for a year.
27. When is your birthday? 18th July.
28. Who is your favourite singer/band? 5 Seconds of Summer.
29. What was the first concert you went too? I think it was Steps.
30. What was the last concert you went too? Mcfly Radioactive.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed getting to know me a bit better.

Lou

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Disney Tag

Hey,

So I felt like changing it up a bit for the next few posts, which will be a mixture of tags and my normal posts, just so you can get to know me a bit more and what better way than a Disney tag as I've never spoke about it but Disney has played a big part of my childhood and still is, because hey you're never too old for Disney.

1. Favourite Disney movie? It's a toss up between The Lion King and Hercules.
2. Walt Disney World or Disneyland? Disney World always!
3. Favourite Disney character? Always has and always will be Winnie the Pooh.
4. The first Disney movie you remember seeing in the cinema? I don't really remember this but I went to see Hercules when it came out and called it Tercules instead.
5. What type of Disney item do you collect the most? Soft toys.
6. Favourite Disney song? There's so many but I can only narrow it down to three, so it's either I Won't Say I'm In Love, I Just Can't Wait To Be King and the Winnie The Pooh Theme Song. 
7. Favourite attraction/ride at the parks? Tower of Terror (as I wasn't actually tall enough to go on I had a pair of trainers with really thick soles)
8. What is your dream job at Disney? Probably just to be a part of the parade.
9. Who's the park character you never want to miss at the parks? Winnie the Pooh, or Mickey and Minnie.
10. What's your most treasured Disney item? Probably the Winnie the Pooh soft toys I got when I was younger.
11. What's your favourite parade/shows at the parks? Whichever parade it was that I danced in when I was 4.
12. Flounder, Sebastian or Scuttle? Sebastian.
13. Favourite Disney memory? Dancing in the parade.
14. Favourite Princess dress? Probably Cinderella's dress.
15. Favourite Disney soundtrack? The Lion King
16. Genie, Abu or Carpet? Genie.
17. How did you first discover the 'magic' of Disney? Before I can even remember.
18. What's the saddest moment in any Disney movie? Obviously when Mufasa dies.
19. Favourite Disney sidekick? Timon and Pumbaa or Pegasus.
20. Are you the only one obsessed with Disney in your family? Nope.
21. Which Disney movie do you turn to when you're sad/upset? Any the majority of Disney movies cheer me up.
22. Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck? Mickey.
23. What Disney movie, even if it's not your favourite, will always have a special place in your heart and for what reason? Probably The Lion King as my nickname when I was younger was Rafiki and also me, my brother and sister had two gerbils when we were younger called Timon and Pumbaa, so it will always remind me of my childhood.
24. Favourite Disney Pixar movie? Toy Story.
25. Favourite Disney Pixar character? Buckaroo or Sulley.

Well that's that done hope you enjoyed finding out a bit more about me in the Disney side of things, thanks for reading.

Lou

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First step I took towards therapy

Hey, 

So this is a bot of a serious post, but I thought I would write this just in case it can help one person that reads this. The reason I went to see my doctor about going for therapy was because I have comfort ate since a really young age but never knew it was classed as an eating disorder until I started looking further into it and trying to find ways to stop so that I could start losing weight. 

Once I had found out that I was suffering from an eating disorder I decided to book an appointment to see a doctor, this appointment wasn't that helpful as I already had a brief idea of what triggered my comfort eating the doctor said I was already halfway there and therapy was for people that didn't know what triggers it. So I came away from that appointment thinking that I would either have to just find a way of living the rest of my life comfort eating or try to get over it myself although I had been suffering from this for 15 years already and I knew it wasn't going to change anytime soon. This appointment did dishearten me from going to see a different doctor to get their opinion as I thought I would just get the same answer as before, but my family told me to go back, this time I went to see a different doctor and told him what the problem was and how long I had been suffering with this for, the doctor then asked me what I thought would help me and that is when we agreed on therapy.

So from there I rang the number I was given for self referral and booked an appointment with a therapist for an initial assessment. The day of my appointment I was really nervous it was somewhere I had never been before and I didn't know if having an eating disorder was the only thing I was going to need therapy for. I made sure I got to my appointment with plenty of time to spare and so I could collect my nerves before my appointment. Once I started my appointment I knew I was going to get upset as I needed to give the therapist a brief background on what I thought was triggering my comfort eating, during this appointment I found out that I also suffer from minor anxiety and minor depression. Once the therapist had assessed my situation properly she told me all the options that were available for me and we both agreed that CBT would be the best treatment for me the only thing the therapist wasn't sure about was whether I needed high intensity or low intensity CBT. So I had to wait until the following week to find out, it turned out that I need high intensity CBT but the problem being the waiting list for NHS therapists is a minimum of 4 months.

Whilst I am waiting to start therapy the NHS run three seminars that are available to go to for those who are on the waiting list so I can start helping myself before therapy and make the most of therapy when I start it.

This may or may not help anyone but if you feel as though you possibly need therapy or just some advice on something don't be afraid to go talk to a doctor about it.

Thanks for reading,

Lou

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Ways to re-use old Glossyboxes and Birchboxes

Hey,

As I am subscribed to both of these beauty boxes I wanted to think of ways to re-use the outer boxes, the actual glossybox and birchbox and the pouch the products come in from the birchbox.

1) A way I use the outer glossybox, I cut off the top part of the box and use this to store birthday cards, ribbons and other bits and bobs that don't have a home.

2) When I have opened my birchbox I flatten the outer box and store them until Christmas or someones Birthday and just use these when I need a quick box to put the present in.

3) I use the actual birchboxes and glossyboxes for gifts as well but I also use these to organise my makeup in my top drawer of my chest of drawers, it's easy to do and all it costs is the subscription prices each month.

4) The pouch from the birchbox I either save this for gifts or use the special edition pouches as makeup bags for my handbag.

I hope this helpful, thank you for reading.

Lou

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DIY advent calendar

Hey,

This year I decided I was going to make a advent calendar for my dad as your never too old for an advent calendar.

This was the finished calendar it doesn't look as good as I wanted it too but I am pleased with it.

The things you will need:

A wire coat hanger

Brown Parcel Paper

Parcel String

Ribbon 

Sharpie

Sellotape

Christmas Chocolates ( or whatever you want to put in your calendar) 

A bow is optional

Step 1: Plan the order you want the gifts to go (I bought 25 things to lead right up to Christmas day). I did this by laying it out in the order and taking a picture of it.

Step 2: Wrap all the gifts and make sure you number them as you go so you don't get confused, I did this in pencil first then once I had them all wrapped went over it in a black sharpie but you can use whatever colour you want.

Step 3: I then tied the string around each wrapped gift like you would a parcel.

Step 4: Cut 24 pieces of the string at three different lengths and the 25th needs to be longer. Then I tied a piece of string to each gift alternating the three different lengths between them all.

Step 5: Starting at with number one I tied this at one end and number two at the other and kept adding the rest in random places until I got to 25 and tied this in the middle of the hanger.

Step 6: I strengthened the hanger by wrapping the ribbon in a zig-zag and then around the hanger, once this was done I tied the bow to the hanger and wrapped the excess around the hanger as well and tied it in the middle where I had tied the number 25 gift.

You can adapt this so it is your own by adding different decorations and using something different to attach the gifts too.

Thank you for reading.

Lou

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My Top Tips for Christmas Shopping

Hey,

I just thought I would share with you ways I make Christmas shopping easier.

1) If I see something instore before I buy it I will check online to see if I can get it cheaper elsewhere or if there are any deals on.

2) Amazon and other internet shopping sites are my go to for Christmas shopping as I can usually get plenty of ideas from them even if I don't necessarily buy the items off of them sites.

3) I also find that if you are wanting to buy Christmas chocolates for people you may find it better to look on Amazon to buy it in bulk or buy the hampers that they have on there.

4) I also use discount and voucher apps on my phone so that I can by more for my money and get some good discounts on things I wouldn't usually buy for people.

5) The majority of vouchers and coupons I get throughout the year for extra points or money off mainly for Boots I use as I then have more money to spend on Christmas presents.

6) It's never to early to start Christmas shopping especially when the sales are on, if you see something you know someone would like and it's a great price buy it and put it somewhere it won't get ruined or in the way just make sure you don't forget about it. August is the busiest month for Christmas shopping I started mine at the end of August, mainly because I have a lot of people to shop for.

7) Make a budget for each person but make sure it's not a stupid one, I tend to roughly add up all the things I want to buy them then add a little extra so I know I will have enough money for each person.

8) I tend to buy what I can for people then make a list for each person to see if I need to buy anyone anything else I can without going ridiculous and buying too much.

9) I will make a list of Christmas cards I need to buy, then go out and buy them all at once so I'm not having to make multiple trips to the card shop.

10) If you don't have much money don't be afraid to make gifts for people, I looked on pinterest for ideas this year and adapted them to make them my own, this is also the case with gift boxes and bags there are plenty of DIY tutorials and gift wrap ideas if you don't want to spend much money on gift wrapping.

I hope this is helpful, thank you for reading.

Lou

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