Make Up

Japanese skincare: What I am hoping to pick up in Japan

Beauty, Honeymoon

So I think I have probably watched over a hundred videos on what to pick up in Japan! So this is my list, what’s great is that thanks to the the internet I can get most of these online now but I want to try them out whilst I am there.

I have gone on peoples reviews however Japan is awesome when it comes to skincare as they rate them on the packaging so if it has a label with the picture below you know this is a product actually bought by the Japanese people.

So my purchases may be biased and based on what every one else is buying. Also because I can’t read I will have to rely on my photos to make sure I am getting the right thing!

Okay so here is the list…

  • DHC cleansing oil
  • DHC lip balm
  • Hadda Labo lotion
  • Cure natural aqua gel
  • SANA Soy Milk 6 In 1 Moisture Gel Cream
  • Pair acne cream >
  • Melano cc vitamin serum
  • kanebo suisai beauty clear powder
  • Skincare conditioner >
  • Biore Aqua spf
  • Lulu Lun masks
  • Keana Rice Mask
  • Soborino masks
  • Baby foot

So that is quite a lot!!

But they all do different things!!

DHC cleansing oil

So this is supposed to be amazing, an oil based liquid cleansers.  This cleanser digs deep it is vitamin-rich. It’s going to leave my skin feeling clean and enriched and is this is my first step in skin care it. You are supposed to use this on dry hands on dry skin and massage into your face.

Hadda Labo lotion

I was watching Caroline Hirons another beauty goddess and she was saying they the red one contains retinal so is better for my skin. I know I can get this in the Britain but it is cheaper over here so I know if I like it I can get more.

Sana Soy Milk

Is a 6 in one so for lazy days you can just pop this on in the morning. This sounds ideal to me because I generally just moisture are my shower in the morning. Especially if I have had a face mask on the night before. Taking of face masks I can’t wait to try the Keena rice masks and the Lulu hun. They come in number packs so I can try them out when I am in Japan.

sunscreen

Apparently Japanese and Korean sun are is the best. They keep there skin out of the sun and guess what! They have less wrinkles and better skin quality. I am sure there diet of fish helps too.

I will be buying there skincare apparently this one is lighter, doesn’t leave white residue and also is great under makeup.

My list is longer than my descriptions but I can give you more information when I get back.

Don Quioti

I will be purcahsing most of these bits from Donqui as it’s called here. I also want to try some eyeliner from blowfish and the number one waterproof mascara!

We may have to buy another suitcase when I am out there but it’s our honeymoon and I can’t wait!

Beauty shopping here I come!

What’s in my make up bag for my hen do!!

Beauty, Make Up

This is a slight joke as I don’t have that much makeup but I have decided to show you my new purchases and what I am taking on my hen do.

My hen do is so close I can almost taste the Rioja! It’s going to be hot which normally means a bare face for me however this is a special trip and I want to look nice so my skincare is already packed.

This is about my face!

Let’s start with my base layer. I bought a cheap primer from and am trying that at the moment but from what I am learning about skincare a good moisturiser is all you need so I may leave that and just use my moisturiser.

Foundation I have the Tarte Amazonian clay base. Plus a little concealer but I am not sure if I will take that yet need to practice a bit more. It is lovely if you apply it with the brush. I will take it and also my La Roche Posay as that is a tinted sunscreen for the day.

Eyes I bought my Tarte palette but also treated myseflf to a gold metallic sparkle eyeliner just to add a bit of glamour. I don’t want to do to much. I have my normal eyeliner from Loreol which I find doesn’t last and also my eyebrow pencil from Elizabeth Arden which is great.

Nars duo is brilliant it has orgasm blusher and Laguna bronzer. I bought it because it was a great price and perfect for travel.

This Maped sharpener is the best. It’s from any art shop and it is so sharp I have one for my make up pencils and one for my drawing!

Lipsticks I am going with my trusty red Chanel CoCo Rouge and my little bobby brown I got with my Birchbox.

So this it’s.

That’s what’s in my makeup bag.

Not too much but more than I have ever had before. I had a little practice with everything on Sunday and was pretty happy with the results.

Need to Tarte up my Make Up bag!

Advice, Beauty

First impressions

So I said in my last blog that I am working on my hair at the moment! This curly girl method appears to be working with the plopping.

Sounds so good doesn’t it.

I said that makeup isn’t really a priority for me but that doesn’t mean I am not interested in it. My last makeup trial went really well and I have booked Kelly for my wedding yay. She made me look and feel beautiful!

Which is all I wanted.

Happiness

Plus Gav and my mum were happy. It’s not long now till I walk down the fricken isle. Sorry wee bit excited then.

My friend Jess keeps telling me how good I look recently which is so nice to hear and I have been wearing a wee bit more makeup. I also think it’s just my happiness showing through but who knows.

So I decided to treat my self to this! It was on offer on QVC and has subsequently gone up to £60 which is a lot so I thought I would give my humble first impressions review.

Firstly the packaging is gorgeous! I love it. Everything looks well made and the eyeshadow pallet is the stuff of dreams.

Make up bag

I already have my palm tree makeup bag so I don’t need another one, however I am going to use it for my brushes. Because I have 3 now and they definitely need there own bag… I am such a joke! This is wear all my tools will live. Beauty blenders and eyelash curlers etc!

The lip gloss

Oh how I hate lip gloss what is the point of it? Really it’s sticky and makes your lips look shiny. It generally doesn’t hydrate your lips that much! Give me a Lanolips or Vaseline any day.

So I didn’t like the colour of this. It’s a neutral which again I don’t get. It smells yummy and was nice but I think my sister or mum will get more use out of it then me.

I bought this set for 3 things

The foundation is supposed to be amazing! and as I don’t normally wear it I would like to play with. This also comes with an application brush which excites me no end.

I wanted the brush a lot

The third reason I bought it was the eye palette. The case is me to a t! But the colours are quite soft and neutral. This meant that I can actually have a play with the colours.

I am out of Mascara so that was a blessing in disguise!

I haven’t tried anything but the lip gloss but I can’t wait to sit down on Sunday and give it a try.

Summary

So I am pleased as punch with my order. I think it is a really beautiful make up set. Tarte isn’t a well known brand over here so it’s a really great that I can try it without spending a ridiculous amount.

I will let you know how I get on with it!

Makeup plan fail! Passport photos trying not to look like a pyscho!

Advice, Beauty, confidence, Travel

So I lost my passport and it’s been stressing me out. First world stress obviously as it’s for my hen do trip in just under 4 weeks.

So I thought hell I know I could write a little blog on what I did to prepare. Like a get ready with me plus prep.

I was so happy with how I looked a little extra mascara a bit more blusher. Umm no still looked like a pyscho.

Pre-care pamper session

So the night before I thought about it. I used the Philip Kingsley Eslastizer on my hair as a treatment rather than just a pre wash treatment.

Frank had a bath first of course. He gets jealous if I spend too much time in the bathroom. He loves a hot bath but I have to cool it down for him incase he cooks.

Any goo back to me!

Skincare

Used my Omorovicza cleanser. It’s gorgeous balancing luxurious and light. At the moments it’s replacing my Elemis, especially in the mornings if I was want to wake up rather than indulge.

So I haven’t used my baby facial in a few weeks. I was using it twice a week and then reduced it to once. I love it. I don’t find it too strong on my skin. I have had a few hormonal breakouts so my skin has been pretty grim.

I used my baby facial.

I love this stuff. It goes on and you feel a slight tingling and leave it as a mask for 20 minutes and wash it off.

Applied a wee bit of Matryxal because it’s my favourite product ever I think!

Then you are left with baby plump skin straight away and in the morning!

After I applied that I used my Guerlan night mask just to give it an extra bit of cushioning.

Pre care hair and skin done!

Morning of the photo shoot ha ha

The next day I woke up to lovely skin. Myi was so happy. So I decided as this image has to se me through the next ten years I better look decent.

So I applied makeup.

You can’t wear too much in a photo but just enough to highlight your features.

What I forgot was that passport photo booths wash you out! They strip back all the effort and I was left looking, well, like a psycho.

For the next ten years!

I redid it 6 times.

I looked awful in all of them! So I picked the best of a rotten bunch.

This photo will haunt me for the next ten years but hey ho.

At least I get to keep my European passport if this crappy brexit ever does happen.

I look like a pyscho

I should have applied more makeup!

But I am a proud European!

Makeup trial and fail

Beauty, confidence, Make Up, Personal Experience, Wedding, Wedding Budget

Okay so I am a nervous bride. Nervous in the fact that I am not glamorous or elegant. I can scrub up well but it’s never been me really. Having a makeup trial made me nervous.

How do I look like me without looking like me.

Online shopper

When it came to my wedding dress I was so nervous about trying it on and falling in love with an expensive out of my budget dress that I whimped out completely and shopped on line.

When it came to my shoes I did go to Harrods with the cash in my hand. I went to Jimmy Choo with the full intension of purchasing my wedding shoes and when it came to buying them it turned out I didn’t love them enough. I did however check out the slightly ridiculous Aquazzura shoes that I ended up purchasing online. I love them they are perfect.

Beautify

So when it came to hair and makeup I was like get a professionally do it. I want it to stay on all day and I want to look good. I had a good makeup artist and hair person but my MIL talked me out of them because they are in Kent and the dart ford crossing may be an issue.

So I looked for someone more local and found someone. I am not going to name them because they were very nice just not for me.

Not my style, baby

I should have seen the warning bells when I saw there Facebook page. 12 year olds with make up on. They issue a lot of makeup and weren’t really my style. But they were local!

I turned up to the salon and it was cool. I felt like a movie star. My mum and lil Sis were with me to tell me if I liked it.

Now because I am open about my opinions people think that this means that I can voice my concerns.

I changed my lip colour and asked for cat eyes which I didn’t get. So I asked for them again and I still didn’t get them.

I should have asked for more blusher but I didn’t. Wearing glasses means that you can’t really see the mirror. This meant that I just had to rely on the makeup artist.

They did a nice job on my makeup. Did I feel amazing?

No

I hate the face that no product or effort was make on my hair! Look at all those flyaways!

I wanted to feel amazing

The makeup lasted all night which was impressive. The lipstick endured me eating a burger. I am a classy bride after all.

But my hair was such a let down. She spent a total of 45minutes on my hair and makeup. She twisted it in a bit and put some tendrils back. No product on my curls and I had prewarned them I was most nervous about my hair. I would have done a better job without looking in the mirror.

Unhappy bride

I looked nice, maybe I will never look any better than nice but in which case I would rather save the money and do it myself!

It is so disheartening when you spend money on something that the girls at the beauty counter could have done and excelled at. I am a DIY bride, I don’t have the money to spend £100 for every trial I do. It’s fairly frustrating.

I did discover Bare Minerals lipsticks are epic and long lasting. But other than that it was a fail.

So now I am looking again.

How was your makeup trials or did you do it yourself?

Time to be more me: Wedding Saga continues

Organising, Personal Experience, Wedding

I think, maybe I am learning that when is comes to the world of weddings that people including myself get swept up into being a bride. Bridal this, wedding that. The ideal wedding and the perfect bride.

Every bride looks beautiful and that is because they are happy. Happiness makes everyone radiant. It shine through them and make you smile.

A lesson to us all.

Matchy matchy poo poo

Everything that is not me.

I am constantly striving for this bridal perfection when it isn’t nessesary. If it’s not me then why am I entertaining it.

I think that it is easy to become a bride instead of just being you! Maybe a perfect version of you, in the photos. I am not saying that you have to look like yourself if you don’t want to. I am just saying it easy to get sucked into a theme or a look just because everyone is doing something.

Social media has a lot to answer for but at the end of the day it’s you making the decisions and you paying the bills. Pinterest made me do it is a common theme.

I keep looking at nail varnish! How silly am I. Pale nudey shades that are are really pretty and delicate but not me. I am a bright colourful person trying to pale myself down.

Not any more.

I know I agreed to the white dress even though I would prefer to be dressed in this beautiful creation but it was a request from the groom. Plus I never had ever had the budget for couture!

Ellie Saab dress

I love my dress

It suits me to a tea.

It isn’t the Ellie Saab dress I love but it is wonderful.

I won’t be having pretty nice nude nails. I am having a lovely plummy lavender for my legal ceremony and a pinky coral which is my absolute favourite colour for the wedding.

Obviously I may change my mind but I hope I don’t.

The wedding look

I will never understand why people strive to look the same and have the same feel of a wedding that they have seen a hundred times before. Don’t get me wrong I am totally inspired by other people’s weddings, I just want our day to represent us! So if our nieces and nephews want to dress up as ewoks so be it!

There are so many wedding trends that I do not understand. Prosecco walls? Surely someone has to stand there and fill them up no? Is this person not a waiter? Could they not just pass around the drinks and make sure everyone gets one?

Difficulties

It is hard when your family and friends have perceptions of what a wedding should be.

Bridesmaids in the same dress.

Just men doing speeches.

But I think explaining your look and vibe and including them in it helps. It also stops confusion.

I love a wedding, everything about it! The bride and groom then walking down the isle. The ceremony which is my favourite bit!

Confetti, oh how I love a smiling bride and confetti!

Food, drink and then dancing the night away with people I care about.

The wedding saga has to end, it will in four months!

It’s time to be more me.

Idle hands are the devils online shopping subscription

Beauty, confidence, Make Up, Wedding Budget

I have signed up to too many beauty / home websites. This pay day I had a ridiculous amount of emails offering me money off discounts, free postage ahhh. I want it all. my idle hands are shopping as soon as the subscription emails roll in.

My account looks healthy and my fingers start emptying it again.

I went on Cult Beauty filling up my basket with Zoeva brushes and Charlotte Tilbury makeup. When I got to a £100 of products I took a step back. What am I doing?

Stop the splurge

Yes I want to buy a lot of gorgeous things for my home but right now I don’t need them. I am not a shopaholic but there is something about a pay check that makes me want to spend money That has literally just entered my account!

I need to save

It’s not long till the wedding! This month has been all about paying for wedding deposits and payments. Blah blah blah. My savings are looking pretty empty.

Time for less outings

More walking ( bus fares add up)

Definitely no beauty, I have enough. I don’t wear much makeup so why am putting all this makeup into my basket? I am too susceptible to advertising and influencers. I do use all my skincare products but everything else is just money I could have spent on the wedding!

Idle hands

Luckily I also need to watch my diet! Which means less takeouts and premade meals.

As it’s a big sunnier I do want to eat better food with more veg and in the evenings I need to keep busy.

Idle hands are the devils online shopping subscription. They sit and wait for my pennies to roll in then they send me what I have always wanted but have absolutely no need for.

Yes I want velvet cushions with embroidered bees on, yes I need more plants! I just topped up my rather sad makeup collection with my Boots points. It really is the bare minimum and didn’t cost me anything however did I need it?

Plan

I need to be busier without exhausting myself like I did over Christmas.

I have so much to do so rather than spending my weekends completing tasks I am going to complete them in the weeknights instead. I will still schedule nights where I can just cuddle my best friend the sofa ( I wrote a blog on my lack of energy)

I will still relax when I need to, I won’t even look at my subscriptions this month unless Elizabeth Arden has an amazing deal on ( never going to happen).

I won’t delete them because I do have enough will power to stop buying them. This month will be a no buy month!

No spending on silly things

No make up

No skincare ( Cult Beauty I already miss you)

Do you have the same problem with pay day offers?

So obviously I bought the new Birchbox because Rock My Wedding sent me a naughty email and I wanted to try out half the items in it! It arrived within two days and I will try out the bits tomorrow when I go shopping with mum.

On Sunday I got a call from my mum suggesting that I had, HAD to buy the new Gatineau tanning accelerator.

“You don’t want to be a pale bride darling”

So thank you QVC for your special offers! I look forward to looking like a bronze goddess at our wedding.

So I failed!

But a few treats here and now are important to me not going insane with all the wedding planning.

Or so I tell myself.