Remove Makeup

If you remove makeup from your face before you sleep, it will help maintain healthy skin and allow your skin to breath over night. On the other hand if you don’t remove makeup properly you can end up damaging your skin.

Needed:
•    Facial cleanser (purchase cleansing oil if your skin is very dry);
•    Eye makeup remover; and
•    Quality cotton pads

Steps:
1: Wash hands

2: Moisten a cotton pad with the eye makeup remover and keep placed on your closed eye for 5 – 10 seconds before gently wiping over the lids in an outward motion until the shadow has been removed. (Perform this step on both eyes)

3: For waterproof mascara you may need to use a moistened cotton pad in a gentle downward motion over the lashes. Repeat until mascara has been totally removed

4: Cleanse the remainder of your face paying special attention to the hair line area and the jaw line area especially if you wear foundation (cleansing techniques may vary depending on your cleanser – whether it’s a cream based or foaming wash). Use cream / oil based cleanser if you tend to have dry skin

Do Not:
•    Use baby wipes
•    Scrub your face
•    Over exfoliate or over cleanse
•    Tug or pull your skin with the cotton pad whilst removing eye shadow

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any thoughts.

Pretty

Eyes Dark Circles

Who likes dark circles under the eyes? Hands up… anybody? Didn’t think so.

No body wants dark circles under the eyes and it is just so confusing with all these millions (okay hundreds) of products to ‘cure’ them, what do we use?

Before you go rush to the shops with your credit card to buy that miracle product, understand what the cause is and what you can do naturally.

Ranked Causes:
1: Lack of Sleep:
Probably the biggest cause of eyes dark circles. Not necessarily going out and having a late night but something may be stressing you out that doesn’t allow for you to relax and have a good deep sleep.

2: Diet:
Dark circles can appear if you have some sort of food allergy, try to identify what it could be (also you could take a RAST test that highlights allergies). Lack of water, vitamins and nutrients in your diet can also adversely affect dark circles

3: Genetics:
The bit that is out of our hands. This is caused by genetic hyper pigmentation where the under eye area may be suffering from a darker pigment than the surrounding area. More difficult to cure and well applied concealer is usually the solution

4: Ageing:
As we age the skin under the eye gets thinner and looses elasticity, therefore showing blood vessels

Tips:
•    Sleep: Try to get to the route of any stress and resolve. If on the other hand you are just a party animal, naughty naughty, just try to catch up on your beauty sleep
•    See a dietician: Identify whether or not your diet lacks any nutrients and vitamins that are needed
•    Drink plenty of water: 6-8 cups a day (helps on so many levels)
•    Massage your eyes (whilst closed and very gently) with cold fingers (run under cold tap)  to stimulate blood circulation and reduce toxic build up
•    Splash cold water onto the eye area regularly
•    Reduce the amount of time spent looking at your computer screen
•    A well applied eye concealer can help reduce the significance of eyes dark circles
•    The old cold cucumber slices on your eyes has stood the test of time and works in most cases

Hope this helps, and remember you must get to the route of the problem otherwise these creams and gels might reduce temporarily but make the problem worse over time.

I personally love splashing cold water onto the eyes just makes you feel fresh and awake.

Pretty

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Makeup Tools

So many brushes! Confused? Well don’t be, I have tried to explain the purpose of each of the pictured makeup tools in brief below.

1: Powder Brush
Generally used to dust powder onto the face normally after foundation to give a matte finish

Tips:
o    Don’t pick fat brushes as this will just pick powder up and drop it down on various parts of the face leaving excess powder scattered around (Bigger is not always better)
o    Only use a good quality brush as the finish might understate all your preparation makeup application
o    Use a medium sized brush
o    Ask a makeup counter if you can use it on your skin before purchase

2: Blush Brush
You guessed it, used to apply blusher

Tips:
o    Not too large and not too small! But just right. If it is too large you risk applying it to a wider area than intended. Too small and you will suffer streaking in application
o    Should be firmer than the powder brush
o    Ask a makeup counter if you can use it on your skin before purchase

3: Lash Comb & Brow Groom
Can resolve mascara build up by combing through; can also ensure even distribution of mascara. The brush side is used simply to neaten up the brow area. You can also get these in two separate brushes instead of a combined.

Tips:
o    Makeup artists tend to use in a slower motion than when they apply mascara
o    Don’t over use as you run the risk of minimising your mascara

4: Eyeshadow Brush
Used to apply eyeshadow over the entire eyelid or around the rim of the eye area

Tips:
o    It is quite common to have more than one type of eyeshadow brush as they come in various sizes and concentration
o    Concentrated: Applied around the rim of the eyes
o    Softer: Application over the eyelid

5: Eyeliner Brush
Used to carefully spread eyeliner, the brush allows for differing styles depending on the pressure applied to the brush.

Tips
o    Thinner Application: Use brush lightly (fine tipped brush)
o    Thicker Application: press a little more firmly this will spread the bristles and a wider line
o    More widely used with liquid products

6: Lip Brush
Used to simply add definition to the lips

Tips:
o    To accentuate the smooth lip line you will need a flat brush
o    The method and the angle you apply the lipstick will have a big impact on the overall effect (This will be covered in a separate posting on lips coming soon)

There you have it, as promised I was going to keep the makeup tool session brief. Let me know if you have any questions. The applications and uses of these makeup tools will be covered in greater detail in upcoming posts.

Pretty x

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Mascara Eyes

Having sexy eye lashes can be the difference between the girl next door and the girl they all dream about. Mascara is one of the most powerful makeup applications that exist and can help make you feel seductive if it is done right.

According to leading makeup artists we are either applying mascara to the eyes wrongly or not at all. If you perfect mascara application, it can be one of the most rewarding and effortless makeup applications that you will ever experience.

Mascara Eyes:
1: Wiggling: Pull the mascara brush out of the formulation pot and apply to the base / roots of the lashes and wiggle the brush left and right. Wiggling should only be the littlest but quick movements that go left and right

2: Carry on Wiggling: As you go toward the tips keep the brush wiggling from left to right

3: Gently apply mascara to the bottom lash (no need to wiggle and don’t put on too much)

Optional Steps:
You can follow with a lash comb (Keep an eye out for the upcoming post on makeup tools) to separate the lashes (only if needed)

Blobbing / Clumping of Mascara: To Avoid
•    Wipe mascara brush down with a non chemical tissue twice – three times. This will ensure that you start with a clump free brush and minimise occurrence

Told you it was brief, and if you just add the wiggling process to application it can make all the difference to your mascara finish.

Pretty x

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Liquid Eyeliner

Liquid eyeliner can make a woman look like a sexy Cinderella!

Make up artists tend to use liquid eyeliner on clients to add a look of sophistication and wow factor. Whilst speaking with a makeup artist, she did say that it can be difficult to get the hang of it for self application, but as with everything, practise makes perfect and the results are amazing.

Liquid Eyeliner – Tips from the professionals

[Difficulty: Med – Hard]
1: Wink: During self application you will need to keep one eye open and the other one (application eye) as closed as you can get it
2: The Line: Liquid eyeliner is to be applied at the root of the top lash as shown, if you have difficulty drawing a line in one go the draw a dotted line and then join up the dots as shown by the picture below

Dotted Eyeliner as Guide

3: Keep going over this line until it is a consistent size and the thickness you want to go for
3: Gaps: Ensure that there is no gap between the eye lash and the line, if there is fill it in
4: Big Eyes: The line should be thicker at the corners of the eyes. This will give the illusion of bigger eyes
5: Double Check: Try to look for gaps and imperfections. Some eye makeup cleanser will rid of any excess or mishaps during the liquid eyeliner application.

I still remember when I first try to do this by myself, lets just say that there was enough gap between the root of my lashes and the eyeliner for a another layer of eyelashes. But as normal practise makes perfect.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments

Pretty

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Drinks

Why do people keep asking if I had a late night?

I’m afraid our eyes usually give away the secret without us even saying a word. Most of us suffer from bags under eyes or eye puffiness. The main causes of bags under eyes tend to be the following:

Causes:
1:  Fluid retention: body fluids have settled under the eye area. Usually occurs overnight after a late night.
2: Late nights
3: Aging: Skin looses elasticity over time and this can lead to under eye bags
4: Allergy: You could have an allergy to certain products (RAST test can reveal that causes the under eye bags)
5: Diet: If you have a very unhealthy diet (excessive alcohol) that lacks essential vitamins then this too can cause enhanced under eye bags.

How to prevent bags under eyes:
1: Reduce salty food intake as scientists have seen a link to eye bags
2: Elevating your head (e.g. extra pillow) can prevent the fluid becoming trapped in the eye area
3: Get some good sleep!
4: Dont Stress!

How to reduce bags under eyes:
1: Splash cold water onto your eyes which will encourage circulation around your eye area. Follow this by gently tapping your eye area to further encourage circulation
2: Cold cucumber slices over the eye area for 10 minutes at a time

Only use eye care products to treat eye bags if you feel that you really really need them (naturally treating is always better long term)

These are not a one off fix for how to get rid of bags under eyes but must be consistently applied until the route of the problem is fixed.

Pretty

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Hair Tweezer

Ever used a hair tweezer and took too much off? Come on hands up, don’t be shy. I admit I’ve had my fair share of hair tweezer issues.

Hair tweezers have been and are still essential tools in a makeup bag. Most of us have used a hair tweezer to shape our eye brows, although according to some experts we have been doing it wrong. Well no more because below we have tips straight from beauty experts who use a hair tweezer as part of their job on a daily basis.

First bit of advice is to use an expert in the first instance and then once you get the desired shape use a hair tweezer to maintain the shape.

Follow these steps:

1: Imagine 3 magic lines (use ruler):

-         1^st line

Line 1 - Hair Tweezer

This is roughly where the eyebrow should begin (beginning of inner eye). (If you wish for a more natural look then leave some hair past the line toward the middle)

-         2^nd line

Line 2 - Hair Tweezer

To find the brow peak, take a ruler. Place on the nose tip and angle it toward the brow until you reach the peak (or the pupil of your eye)

-         3^rd line

Line 3 - Hair Tweezer

To find where the brow should end simply put the ruler on the side (outer) of nose and move at angle until it reaches the out corner of the eye.

2: Hair Tweezer

• Sit in front of two mirrors, one large and one magnified. This way you get detail and distance view of your brows;
• Best to use a hair tweezer after bath / shower or face steam which will allow for easier hair removal;
• Tweezer hair in the same direction as they grow
• Tip: You will never get your two eyebrows looking identical so don’t even try it!
• Professional Tip: Work on both eye brows simultaneously (tweezer 5 hairs off one then 5 off the other), this makes it easier to keep consistent brow shapes; and
• Tweezer one hair at a time

There you have it your simple step by step directions to the perfect brow.

Pretty

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