Five Ways to Wind Down | Winter Edition♥

Hey lovelies. 

Sleep to me is kind of a big deal, like most people if I don't get enough sleep I'll wake up the next day feeling super cranky. In which causes me to snap at almost anybody who crosses my path, apologies. This also causes me to come home from school and nap for hours, which then just completely messes up my sleep pattern altogether. 

Recently I've noticed the importance of taking some 'you' time to just chill out and wind down, this means not sitting up stalking ASOS's website until you literally can't keep your eyes open. I've found myself a little routine which helps me to shut off, without further or do...

Switching off - 
I don't just mean your brain. By this I mean switching off your phone, restraining yourself from watching Netflix into the early hours of the morning. Put all the screens down, I promise by doing so you will see a huge benefit. I personally like to put them away about an hour, to half an hour before I plan on sleeping. This way my brain can shut off and won't be left wandering for hours. This is probably the main reason why you're laid awake at night frustrated, cursing about how you can't just drift off like everyone else. 

Read a book - 
I honestly can't recommend this enough, if you don't already, read before you go to bed. This helps me sleep so much, and also helps my brain to shut off. By doing so, it also means that I forget about anything that may have been bothering me, or had been playing on my mind during the day. This is so much more beneficial than reading your twitter feed, as I'm sure some of you will know this can sometimes just piss you off even more. 

Have a soak - 
Is there anything a bubble bath can't fix? I'm up for a bath any time of the day, any time of the year. Whether it be to help with stress, bad period cramps, or just to help me dose off that little bit easier. I'm hardly going to turn down a nice long soak in a bath full to the brim with bubbles, surrounded by candles. This more than likely solves any problem your having. 

Getting cosy - 
This one might seem pretty obvious. However, when I want to wind down I absolutely love too light some candles, turn on the fire and grab a huge cuddly blanket, and just chill the fuck out. At this point, I restrict myself from replying to any emails, or even just glancing at them.  I stop doing any work around 8pm and I call this my 'me time'. I usually like to make myself a cup of herbal tea at this time too, and drink this whilst again giving my read a book. 

Cleanse, Detox & Face mask - 
I'm all for a skincare routine on a night. I love nothing more than taking off my makeup, giving my skin a good old clean, and popping on a face mask. To me, there's nothing more relaxing than sitting with a face mask on drinking a warm cup of tea. Personally, I just find giving yourself a little pamper the ultimate way to wind down for the night. 

These are my favourite things to do when I wanna chill out and wind down, what are yours??

Kiera 

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♥

Five Red Lips for The Party Season♥

Hey lovelies. 

With Christmas around the corner and parties in full swing, I know all you girls are rummaging through your makeup bag in order to find a gorgeous red lip to rock. I know the struggles of trying to find one, that doesn't slide all over the place, looks beautiful and matte without feeling heavy or drying.

To give you girls a hand I decided to compile together, five red lipsticks that will do the perfect job this party season; 

1. MAC Ruby Woo - The perfect matte shade for party season. This is such a gorgeous shade of red and looks beautiful on almost any shade of skin. If you associate yourself with beauty/makeup and still haven't got round to trying this - then what are you doing?!

2. Rimmel London, Kate Moss 107 - This lipstick is perfect. And by far my fave. I rave about this every year, and it's always my go to for any festive event. Everyone has raved about this lipstick at one point in their time of loving makeup. This lipstick is also incredibly affordable too. 

3. Chanel Rouge, Pirate - This is a gorgeous blue toned lipstick. This is a little more on the pricey side, however looks beautiful when paired with a glowy makeup look. 

4. Charlotte Tilbury - Another luxurious lippy but this one's absolutely stunning. You could use this as a little excuse to treat yourself to an early Christmas present, so your makeup looks gorgeous. This colour suits all, and is super pigmented. 

5. Nars, Heatwave -  Admittedly this is a little on the more orange toned side, however it is still perfect for this time of year. Maybe you're not wanting something that looks so heavy on the lips and a little more light. This is gorgeously matte and works with dark skin. 

Those are just five of the gorgeous red lip shades out there, hopefully this gave you girls an idea on which lipstick to rock this year. I hope you found this useful. More festive posts are on their way!

Kiera 

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♥

Autumn Make-up Routine♥

Hey lovelies. Since autumn has finally arrived I decided it was time I switched up my make-up routine. Swapping the pink toned lipsticks for deep berry shades. I switch up my makeup the same way I do my wardrobe. I thought it would be fun to share with you all the products  I use throughout autumn/winter time. 

BASE-
To prime my face, I always use my Mac Fix+ spray. I wait for this to settle in before going in with the main base of my make-up.  Recently my skin's been a lot better *touch wood it doesn't now break out awfully* this means I've been able to wear Maybelline's dream BB Fresh BB cream. I love this BB cream because it even outs my skin tone and gives my skin a gorgeous healthy glow. Obviously, this isn't the most high coverage product so it does mean I do have to go over any blemishes with concealer, which I don't mind. I always use the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. Once I've gone over the areas that need a little extra coverage my makeup finally looks more medium coverage. In order to set my makeup, this product will come as no surprise to you but I always opt for my Rimmel London Stay Matte powder. 

CONTOUR-
I've been so excited to share my current contour products with you because I was luckily enough to get my hands on the Anastasia Cream Contour Kit and I've been absolutely loving it. I use this to highlight and contour the obvious parts of my face. I will be doing a full review and routine using this soon, so keep an eye out for that. To bronze my face and make my face less of a ghost I use the Hoola Bronzer . In order to highlight and give myself a gorgeous glow I use two products that work perfectly together. I start of by highlighting certain points of my face using Benefits High Beam liquid highlighter, I use this as a primer for my highlight. This also allows my highlight to look more pigmented. Then over the top of that I go in with MAC's Soft & Gentle highlighter. This is my absolute go to highlighter. 

EYES-
For eyes, I love using coppery/golden shades as I find these bring out blue eyes. They also really remind me of autumn. The shadow I have been using all over my lid recently has been Max Factor mono effect eye shadow in golden bronze. This is such a gorgeous shimmery shadow. I put a tiny bit of Hoola Bronzer in my crease to add some definition to my eye shadow. I want the main focus of my eyes to be the golden shimmer, so I keep my eyeliner simple. I go in with Soap and Glory Super Cat liner and line my upper lash line to make my lashes look thicker and longer. For mascara I'm never really to picky with my mascara so I usually just pull out one that take's my fancy on that particular day. However recently I've been using Smashbox's full exposure mascara and I love it! 

BROWS-
For my brows I don't do anything fancy. I simply fill them in with Benefit's Goof Proof brow pencil. I've spoken about this before and already given it my praises. To set them I use MAC prolong wear brow gel. This allows my brows to stay in shape all day.

LIPS-
This is my favourite part of my whole makeup routine. If you're into makeup you have most likely heard of Rimmel London Kate Moss 107. I absolutely love this lip colour, it's a deep berry shade and makes me feel so frickin' autumnal and very excited for Christmas. Although once this has smudged, it instantly becomes an awful makeup day. 

That's my Autumn Make-up Routine. What shade of lipstick are you currently loving?

The end result, on a semi good makeup day!

Kiera

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♥

A Season of Falling Leaves♥

Hey lovelies.

October is here! Excuse me whilst I get out the fairy lights, light the gingerbread scented candles and carve my pumpkin. If you can't tell this is my favourite time of year!! It's that time of year when the leaves begin to fall from the trees, and the days become shorter with much colder nights, perfect to be snuggled up under a blanket with a mug of tea. I also love those mornings when the suns shining but there's a cool breeze in the air. In spirit of my excitement for these autumn days, I thought I would share a little post of everything I love about this time of year.

Halloween - 
Gone are the days of dressing up as a witch or as a pumpkin with my face looking like I've just dunked it in a bowl of bolognese. Also no more trick or treating, so I have to buy myself the goodies now, this kind of sucks. I adore creating fun Halloween make up looks now a days and decorating my room with fairy lights. Yes, at 16 I still love to carve a pumpkin, not always the most successful and I do always tend to go for the bob standard face with razor sharp teeth. But I love it none the less.

Cold Evenings - 
Hello fluffy blankets and warm mugs of hot chocolate. Finally there is no more uncomfortable sweating on a night with the irritating sound of the fan in the background. Autumn is my favourite time of year to really get stuck into a good book, all you need is some candles lit and a snuggly blanket, then you're good to go. It's all the perfect time to throw on your big winter coat and boots, and go for long autumnal walks. 

Gingerbread Lattes - 
I'll hold my hands up now and  admit that I do not like pumpkin spice lattes. I know around this time of year everyone starts getting excited and it's all everyone orders from Starbucks, but as much as I try to like them, I can't, However, instead I absolutely love gingerbread lattes this time of year. My mum has now started to buy the sachets too, so I don't have to walk to get myself one. And the sachets actually taste pretty good too. 

Blanket Forts - 
You know when you have friends round and you just want to watch films all snuggled up? Well sometimes the sofa just doesn't cut it. Grab as many blankets and pillows as you can, and just lay it out all cosy and throw some fairy lights on. I love doing this and grabbing some food to watch a movie. 

Bonfire Night & Roasting Marshmallows - 
I almost forgot to include this. Bonfire night is one of my favourite nights in Autumn, standing around a fire and drinking mould wine with family and friends. I love doing this because I'm that person that loves the smell of smoke from fires, and blown out candles too. Why hasn't this scent been made into a candle yet?! Also roasted marshmallows. Need I say much more. They just taste great, and they're cute too. I always roast marshmallows and then put it between two chocolate digestive biscuits. If you haven't tried this yet, try it. Thank me later. 

That's just a few things that I love about autumn, I didn't want to bore you with loads! What do you love about autumn? 

Kiera

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 ♥