Maybe it's ... My favourite drugstore beauty brand

Hello again, 

I'm well into the swing of blogging now. I really hope that you enjoy reading my posts, I read the comments that are written and so far everything has been positive and so lovely. So, thank you! I will always try to respond when possible to the comments. Having had some technical issues recently was a bit of a struggle but I got there in the end! It's so therapeutic to plonk myself down and type away without really having to do a great deal. I class it as doing nothing and it's a great mind diversion for when I'm in pain or I'm not quite functioning how I want to be!

If you have read the About me page then you will have read about my love for make up but before you think I am someone that is obsessed in vanity and all of that jazz please understand that I am not... It is just another one of my hobbies, (I'm sure that through time, you will learn that I have lots of hobbies. My most expensive one is collecting make up!) You can read what I really feel about 'beauty' here.

Today's blog post was meant to be coming to you last week. I had it planned out but then computer issues and internet fairies not doing their job meant that it didn't happen. I wrote a rough idea in my trusty faithful notebook so that I could get on track, took the photo that I wanted and had some notes typed up too so at least I was well prepared for typing this week! Now, look at the title and think advertising and you might have guessed but if not don't worry, I will reveal all!

Asking me to name a favourite make-up/beauty brand is like asking a chocoholic for their favourite brand of chocolate. I love make up in all shapes and sizes colours and formulas. For me I go through phases of absolutely craving a particular product (Mascara for example). I know that sounds bizarre but it’s true. I have a drawer of mascaras that are all still good to use and yet when people ask me for gift ideas I will tell them make up INCLUDING mascara! Now, that is a bad example to give because buying/having too many mascara’s is wasteful. They dry up and they go clumpy, smell horrid and can cause irritation but then some of them work better when they are slightly dried up. Do you get my “issue” here?

So, besides my love for mascara (something I wear pretty much every day). I have an absolute obsession with high end lipsticks! From orangey reds to purple-blacks I LOVE EXPENSIVE LIPSTICK! Granted I don’t buy them much but I dream about them, I spend gift money on them and generally wish to have my very own pull out collection of shiny, sparkly, sexy little packages of goodness that I can pop into my handbag to reapply whenever I am out. Since I owned my first ever expensive lipstick (when I was 17/18) I have had this obsession.

My main beauty purchases come from arguably the UK's biggest drugstores, Boots and Superdrug. I don’t really remember when my love for make-up really came into fruition but I think it’s safe to say that it is now a full blown affair! Since I became ill and had to take different medications my colour changed and my eyes changed and I didn’t like that. Make-up makes me look and feel alive so although it might seem vain (I understand how it might seem that way), I am far from one of those people. I wear make-up because it makes me look well and that is why I love it so much! It helps me to forget what is going on in a way.

I had a discussion with one of my university friends recently (she is as in love with make-up as I am) and she asked which drugstore brand was my favourite...  Here enters my whole brain wracking adventure into my make-up drawers and dressing table!

There were two real contenders for me - Bourjois and Maybelline. So who won and why?

Well if you hadn’t already guessed from the hint in the title of this post (If you’ve ever heard the tag line in the TV adverts you will get the reference), Maybelline snapped the top place on the podium for drugstore make up for me.

I own pretty much everything needed to do numerous looks from primers to lipsticks and there’s nothing I really hate. I guess they are mid range in price for the drugstore range but the quality is generally really good.

So, what are my personal favourites from Maybelline?

Bases: I used to use the baby skin primer but recently I have switched to a different one (not Maybelline) so I didn't think it was honest if I included that in the picture. I mean, it's fine. When I first used it it was perfect but I think my skin has changed so I no longer require one that has the silicone type texture so I opt for more of a brightening, creamy one.

• Foundations - I have not yet found a Maybelline one that I really dislike! That includes foundation for stage (OK, that was years ago but still... it has always been a trusty faithful purchase). As you can see from the lids on my bottles, they are well loved! I tend to have two shades in different formulas because of how my skin reacts in different seasons/climates. British summer can be lovely one one day and then terrible rain and wind the next!
• Concealer - the Instant Age Rewind dark circle eraser concealer comes out of my little 'concealer drawer' (yes I really do have one) on those yucky "Uncle Fester" days, you know (please tell me I am not alone), the days where the big ugly black eyes are so prominent they would only ever look acceptable on Halloween (which I don't like because I get scared too easily by faces covered by masks)!  I'm not so sure that it rewinds age and the spongy/fluffy applicator is a bit big for the hard to reach inner parts of the eye socket but once you get the product to come through the applicator (about 50 clicks I reckon!), it works well and covers all those dark and red areas. I don't use this product every day because I have my trusty faithful concealer from another brand but I do occasionally use this one with the other one as a highlight and it looks really good for that purpose! I'm interested to see how the 'fit me' concealer compares to the others that I use but I don't dare buy any more yet until I have finished up something that I currently use.
• Bronzer - For ages and ages I struggled with finding the perfect summery bronze/ sun kissed glow from Maybelline but that was until I discovered the Dream Sun bronze/blush duo. The only thing I do not love about the product is the smell - it's got quite a rich smell to it and it kind of reminds me of very strong smelling baby wipes. I guess it's a love/hate smell but although it's quite perfumed in the packaging, the smell of the product doe not go onto your face (phew - who wants a face smelling of over powering baby wipes? They're designed to make a bum smell nice, not my face!) Anyway, that aside, the subtle colour pay off is delicious on my pale skin. I tend to just swish a big, soft, fluffy brush around the whole product and then gently apply to the high points of my face (think of where the sun would hit after a nice stroll on the beach somewhere hot) - See... it really is, as the the name says, 'Dream Sun'. 
• Blush - I have a thing for blushers at the moment. I'm in a blusher phase I think! Love them, Love them. LOVE THEM! Did you get that? Finding the right shade is the tricky part. Too red and you look like a puppet, too brown and you look like you've wiped dirt on your face, too grey and you look like you've been punched but get it right and you have a sweet, sweet, little rosy glow to awaken your face. All of this means that I have spent LOTS of time getting it wrong, sampling and blending until I find the formula and shades that suit me. I can wear any formula (thank crunchie for that) but I have to be careful with the shades... On 'bad days' my skin can look grey to almost blue and if I leave the house I always put on some form of make up - certain colours just emphasise how ill I look and if I can see it, everyone else will see it! Anyway, I love the Dream blush range from Maybelline. The formula is a creamy mousse that blends very easily and feels velvety soft on the skin. I think it's a powder finish but it gives an airbrushed look at the end result! This is a staple product and It lasts for aaaaaages! I use my cheek brush and literally dab the brush into the pot once, take off excess product onto the back of my hand and then swish the brush over the apples of my cheek... if I want to build the colour a bit more, I take the colour from the back of my hand (believe me, it doesn't look as though it's picking product off your hand but it does) and repeat. I go back to the pot for the second cheek. I tend to go for rosy/ soft warmer toned pink shades to compliment my skin tone. I definitely highly recommend this range!

Lips: Strangely I haven't got many Maybelline lip products at all! My favourite lipstick (that has been well used) is the shade 547, it's a deep red that makes my blue eyes pop. I'd say it's more of an autumn/winter shade though and as with most red shades, needs an lip liner to help it stay.

Eyes: I had to save the best category until last - if you get a chance to go and look at the make up counter, you might have a dent in your purse thanks to the eye make-up from this brand! I need my hands tying together whenever I walk past because I could literally get something new every single time I go shopping if I didn't stop myself! I have somehow managed to whittle down to my favourites to share with you... I think they would be suitable for anyone.

• Brows - The Brow drama gel is a setting gel with a mascara type wand to evenly distribute the product to set the brows in place. The colours range from transparent to dark- I have the dark blonde and the medium brown (because I used to be brunette and then I went lighter with my hair colour). If I am having a 'nothing' day or a day where I want to wear something but not much, I wear the gel on it's own. The colour makes my brows look fuller but without looking completely made up. On a more 'made up' day I use a powder to fill the brows in then set them in place with the gel. This makes them look fuller and thicker and I know they wont budge all day long!
• Liner - Lasting drama Black shock gel liner pen. Four words: Makes Gel Liner Easy! - seriously, what more can a girl want from a gel liner than a pen with a perfectly angled tip to spread the thick, waxy gel? This gel sets in seconds and stays for as long as you need it to! It took me some getting used to with it having an angled tip but once I had worked out my comfy writing position I got hooked!
• Mascara - The Falsies (waterproof) I live by waterproof mascara, on a no make up day I wear it, on a full on make up day I wear lots of it but this little beauty makes long straight boring lashes become long, curled, fluttery, separated eye openers! stunning! There's a technique to getting it right apparently but I swear I apply it differently each time and I still get the same results. I guess it doesn't matter if you curl your lashes anyway. I'm not into coloured mascaras, I think being 30 buts me into the 'too old to dare' bracket so all of my mascaras are black, very black, brown black or ooooh, the daring choice of 'brown'! I don't know, colours are really in at the moment, I like the look of them but would they look daft on me?
• Eyeshadow - I have saved my absolute favourite product until last. If you had a few £ and you were in the market for eyeshadow and you came to ask me I would point you in the direction of the 24hour Colour Tattoo cream eye shadows. I have 6 of them but the two that I reach for the most are 'pink gold' and 'on and on bronze'. Worn on their own, they are a lovely, creamy wash of colour that is build-able from a pale colour that could be a base for any powder/pressed/pigment to layer over the top or you could indeed layer the colour tattoos up. These are also so easy to blend but once set, they really do stay and what's even better is that they do not crease! My 'go to' every day look is a dab of pink gold on my ring finger, spread and blended all over the lid with on and on bronze patted gently onto the outer corner then gently blended through the crease... all done with one finger and so easy to do when in a rush! There's a really good range of colours but my favourites are the ones with a little shimmer in them. I feel that the matte shades work best as a base for a powder shadow over the top. 

So there we have it... Enough to make up a whole face using one drugstore brand! (would you like to see me use these in a tutorial style blog/video?)

Do you have a favourite brand? What are your top three products?

*. I have NOT been sponsored to write this post. I have purchased all of the products mentioned myself and the views expressed on this post are all my own. *

Love and hugs, as always.

LYBS - What makes you feel Beautiful?

Hello!

It's Wednesday again which can only mean one thing... It's time to team up with Let Your Blog Shine and write about (or I should say answer) this weeks prompt which is "What makes you feel beautiful?"

I'm sure there's a One Direction quote in there somewhere but no, I'll save myself the embarrassment and answer it properly and honestly.

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to answer this question... What, exactly makes me feel beautiful? I have never asked myself or, for that matter, been asked that question in my 30 years of existence. I think I have a rough idea of what makes me look beautiful which helps to make me feel beautiful but it's deeper than the mere appearance and how society would 'accept' or 'expect' me to look to be "beautiful".

Crikey, this post is getting deep. Grab a cuppa and a biscuit and join the "session"!

Something that you might think is completely bonkers makes me feel beautiful - it's having someone that says "I love you" everyday and not just saying it but showing it too! Someone that can see past the mess that looks back at him when I'm so ill that I can hardly walk, have my hair scraped back and beads of sweat on my forehead and wearing miss matched pyjamas that are totally the most unsexy thing in the world (what a wonderful mental image you must have - Dan gets that in real life, along with the sick and tears. He needs a medal!). It's at those times when that one person takes every bit of ugly and turns them into something to make me feel beautiful in his own little way! To this day I cant believe that he knew what was happening medically and yet he chose to stay on this path by my side and marry me! Every time I get called "Wifey" it makes me feel beautiful - even if it's just to him, that's amazing - who else do I need to be beautiful for?

That paragraph above wasn't too easy to write. I try not to talk about the "bad" stuff that goes on but it's happens. Its part of what I live with. Next month I am dedicating the month to my illness and things associated to it to go hand-in-hand with the first official awareness month for the one of my conditions.

Something that I have learnt over the years is to stop trying to please everyone else... beauty really is something far deeper than skin, clothes, make up (you know where I am going). It is in your mind, you heart and your soul. I think eyes give quite a lot away too - I have this thing about eyes... they are the window to the soul so they sell a life story without anyone reading the 'blurb' (i.e. you know which ones to avoid and which ones you want to find more about - Think e-fit pictures or pictures of criminals... whenever they are shown on TV they nearly always pan out from the eyes)!

Lastly, having the strength to deal with the "rubbish" that I currently have (health wise), having the ability to love and be loved, having faith, confidence and having the most wonderful people surrounding me are all the things that help to make me feel not only beautiful but alive!

Look at that Hepburn Quote!!! What was I saying about eyes?! I found this quote after writing the post!

I apologise if you were coming here to see something jovial or light. It's my honest answer to the question prompt that I was sent.

What makes you feel beautiful? Let me know in the comments and as always I will reply.

Love and hugs, as always.