Dealing with Change

I think it’s a little obvious that this post is going to be more of a personal one. It won’t take a genius to realise I have been so MIA on this blog for the past few months but hopefully some of the things I’ll be talking about in this post might just bring back my love for writing and beauty again.

I was never ever a huge lover of change. It’s something I could never really cope or deal with even from a young age , starting school was difficult from the age of 5  I never wanted to be there , I would chase my mum out the school door if it meant that I didn’t have to go. Of course that didn’t work. I hated secondary school for the same reason , unfamiliar surrondings , different people , room changes every 40 minutes it was a whole lot of change!

I obviously had to deal with those kinds of changes and I did. I met friends and hung out with them every weekend , had fun went to parties and it all didn’t seem too bad, I got by in secondary school and then it was time to leave. Another change. Everyone was leaving , all my friends were going to different colleges , but I was staying at my local college, I drifted with some friends , lost friends and gained new friends , I met my boyfriend before I started college and we have been together for almost 2 years now.

Time went by with the course I was doing and I wasn’t happy , it didn’t turn out to be what I expected and I felt like an absolute failure when I took the plunge to drop out , not too far behind me was my boyfriend who didn’t like his course either and decided to leave and try study for another course in a different college that was 9 hours away.

We spent the next year working hard , seeing each other almost every day and booking and planning our holiday to Paris ( if anyone would like a post about my experience in paris I would be happy to share it , to say it was quite the experience is an understatement!!) I almost forgot that he would be moving to the opposite side of the country from me. My boyfriend is my best friend we tell each other everything and keep no secrets so to have him move away was a big deal for me.

Fast forward to two weeks ago , he got his results , he got what he needed and now today he is travelling 9 hours in a car to go to college. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t devistated, but I am also the proudest girlfriend in the world he put in so much work and he got what he wanted! I need to get over my fear of change , its the fear of the unknown and worry of what might happen before it even has the chance to happen!

 

So how did all this mess deal with me not being able to write on my blog and why did it stop me from doing what I love doing? well… I guess the past few months I wasn’t really myself I was preparing for change and I honestly had no clue what I wanted to do everything was everywhere and my job wasn’t the best. I suppose I didn’t want to throw myself into something I love when I was down or upset in fear that I would begin to hate it. I hope to start back on this blog , a fresh new start. I wasn’t feeling happy in myself and I felt like I wasn’t amounting to anything there has been some very very down days but I’m slowly but surely coming around to myself.

I just want to let you know that you are beautiful and you can achieve so much more than you think you can just by setting your mind to it. This was really something I needed to hear a year ago because I had so much self doubt. I start my makeup artistry course on the 14th of september and I couldn’t be anymore happier to be doing something I finally love and enjoy

 

Thank you so much for reading today , I promise I will be back with another post maybe on my trip to Paris? I love you all .

 

xoxo

Rachael

Paris , Vlogging & Getting Older // lifestyle

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would do a bit of a lifestyle , personal post today , the sun is shining outside today which is a bit rare for Ireland , so I thought why not write this post outside in the good weather with a big cup of lemonade? perfection!

So I suppose I’ll start off with Paris. about a month ago nearly 2 now , my boyfriend and I decided that we should go on our first ever holiday together and almost immediately Paris was the winner. I’ve been to Paris before with my family , but that was a long time ago so I thought why not go back and actually enjoy it at my age. At the age of 9 I didn’t really appreciate the beauty , and I think I was only bothered about going to Disneyland. We’re going mid July in hopes that we catch the gorgeous weather , its a 5 day long trip which is perfect because we have already planned out what we’re going to see and where we’re going to visit. I’ve already started saving my pennies because Paris has a Sephora and of course I need to spend a little time in there and pick up a few bits and bobs!

Okay … Second thing! Should I vlog while I’m away? I’ve been watching so many vlogs recently , Zoella , Alfie , Danielle Mansutti etc etc , and it has really made me want to vlog , there’s nothing that amazing to do where I live so I was thinking maybe vlogging while we’re in Paris? There’s so much things to do over the 5 days and I would love to document it to look back on , leave me a comment below and tell me what you think! also What is the best vlogging camera? the Canon g7x or the Sony a5100? let me know in the comments too!

well , well , well April is here , my birthday month!! I can’t actually believe that I’m turning 20 in 10 days! I still feel like I’m 17. Turning 20 is a little scary to me , since I don’t really have my life all figured out yet , I have no idea what I’ll be doing this time tomorrow , never mind this time next year. I’m not 100% sure if I even want to turn 20 ( as if I have a choice haha) I suppose I’ll have to play it by ear , get on with work, earn a little bit of money and figure it all out later when I scare myself a little more with the fact I’m getting older ( I’ve already started to up my skincare , can you tell I’m not too keen on turning 20 yet?) I still feel like a teenager at heart and I’m sure that feeling wont wear off soon , I’m sure it really doesn’t wear off even when you do get older.

I’ve also been getting into wanting to be a little more fitter , I’ve been looking up some recipies for smoothies I can make ( Once I find my blender , that thing has been missing for about a year) and healthier food I can have. I’ve been far too dependant on the odd pizza here and there , and it needs to stop even though I’m pretty sure I’ll never have the summer body I want at this stage , you gotta start somewhere! I’ve been following some instagram and snapchatters, and getting motivated to eat healthier and live a healthier life , so I made it my goal this up coming week , to get up early every day ( even if I do have an 8 hour shift to work ) make a healthy smoothie and take a walk!

 

So I think I’ll leave it there today , the sun is literally beaming down at me , and my lemonade could do with a bit of ice. I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings be sure to comment below what I should do in Paris while I’m away , whether I should vlog or not and what vlogging camera you think is the best! I hope you all have a great evening  and you enjoyed my little personal post , I want to do more of these more often as I think its a way of getting to know me a little better

 

if you would like to see what I get up to when I don’t blog follow me on Instagram and Twitter

xoxo

Rachael

 

 

How To // Orange Sunset Smokey Eye

Hi Everyone

It’s been so so long since I’ve done a little mini tutorial so I thought why not make one on a look I did a few days ago which I just loved. The look I did was very last minute , I didn’t really take time to think it out I just went with the flow and created this red-y orange smokey eye. I’ll be sharing some tips on how to get this look below so I hope you enjoy this little post!

1. I started off by priming my eyelid with some of the collection lasting perfection concealer , this cancels out any unevenness or veins on my eyelid making my eye appear more smooth and it also keepes the eyeshadow on for longer.
2. I grabbed a little palette off ebay that I bought a while back ( if I can find the link I’ll post it , it was mostly warm colours and cost around 4 euro) and started with an orange colour. Any light orange colour will do , and you want to blend this all the way up to the brow bone so that it creates a perfect gradient for the eyeshadow
3. I started off with a BRIGHT red eyeshadow ( I made sure it was bright red because I knew the pigment wouldn’t be as intense since I was blending and blending and I really wanted it to be seamless. I kept adding and adding colour and blending it all out but not bringing it up as far as I took the light orange colour
4. I then took a warm toned brown colour , any colour will do and just focused that on the outter edge to give the look more depth and add a little bit more colour than just red and orange
5. OKAY! my favourite part , and I was being extra different at this part because I put my own little tie to it. I didn’t have a purple eyeliner , but I did have a purple lip pencil that I had never really used before because I had sort of went off purple lips for a while so I just added a little bit of that just under my waterline making sure to really get into my lashes , I blended that colour out then with the red and orange shadow mixed together , but unfortunately you can’t really tell by the photo the colour of the liner is what I’m actually wearing all over my lips and its from the brand Gosh!
6. I paired the look off with some Ardell demi wispies and I was good to go!

 

I really really loved this look as I just felt that my green eyes really popped with the shadows I picked. I wanted to make the look a little easier , I’m sure most people who have warms undertones would have a warm palette at home , and I really didn’t use any weird or out there colours , I just made sure that they were blended really well and that it didn’t look chunky on the eyes.

What do you guys think of this look? I would love to know your opinions below

you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram to see what I get up to when I don’t blog

xoxo

Rachael

 

Mini Boots Haul

Hi everyone

so …. I did some splurging and I thought would share , I was totally only meant to be buying one thing on boots.ie , but decided that I needed a little bit more haha , it is quite a small haul but it all amounted to around 60ish euro so I suppose in a way … its not really!

The first thing I picked up and what was my soul mission to get was the Benefit Triple Performing Moisturiser  THIS MOISTURISER! Wow! I got a little sample of this product about a month ago and had been using it every day and found myself not really reaching for my other moistursier, so I thought I needed to get the full sized botttle when my little sample one ran out. This product cost €33.50

The next thing I picked up was the NYX Matte Liquid Liner I was in dire need of a new liquid liner as my gel one was on its last legs and I wanted to revert back to liquid since the makeup course I will be doing only focuses on liquid and I thought I may aswell get as much practice in as possible before it starts and try to train myself back into the liquid liner ways haha! This product cost €7.75

I needed to get a new concealer so I just picked up my holy grail Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer again because it literally gives off a highend finish at a drugstore price point , this concealer is the only concealer that I have actually repurchased because it was that good and its also a beauty community favourite so you’d be a bit silly not to try it at least once! This product was the cheapest coming in at €5.79

The last product I bought was the L’oreal Lumi Magique Primer I’m on a huge primer binge these past few weeks , and I needed to try this out ever since I heard it was meant to be a cheaper alternative to Mac Strobe Cream , I think under foundation this will really give me that ” glow from within” look that I absolutely adore! this product was €14.99

So my grand total spending was 61.99 which … sorta makes me feel a little sick inside to think thats what I spent but I suppose I can talk myself around and justify the fact that I NEEDED these products haha .

Have any of your tried these products? what were your thoughts , I would love to hear them below in the comments

you can follow me on twitter and instagram to see what I get up to when I’m not blogging

xoxo

Rachael

 

 

Ardell Demi Wispies // Review

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’re all well! I’m just finished another week of work , and decided that I need to sit down and get back to writing on the blog! I thought today I would review the demi wispies by Ardell , this is the first lash of theirs that I have tried so I thought I would talk a little bit about it.

I got these lashes at the makeup pro store in Derry and they cost me around £6.99 , which isn’t cheap . I’m used to buying the sultry lashes in penneys at €1.50 so this sort of broke my heart a little when I seen the price but I really wanted to try them so thought I would take the plunge … for the sake of the blog ( haha ) I know theres a lot of more expensive lashes out there too , but I always thought of Ardell as affordable drugstore.

I’m so impressed by these lashes , I decided to get the demi wispies because I wanted a lash that I could wear everyday and not have the added drama that the original whispies have. I wore these lashes to my sisters 18th and they stayed on all night AND looked natural. I honestly do think I will go back and purchase the original wispies though to have them for nights where I do want a little something extra to add to an eye look.

The band was very easy to hide because it was so thin.I love thin bands because it doesn’t look TOO obvious that you’re wearing fake lashes. With or without liner the band is very easy to hide which is something I just loved about them. There’s nothing worse than having a thick band in my opinion , they look unnatural and sometimes can be quite uncomfortable.

They were easy to wear and easy to apply and felt comfortable all night which is surprsing for me since it takes a couple of wears for a pair of lashes to sit right or feel comfy on me. The only gripe I have with this product is that it doesn’t come with a little itty bitty glue tube. luckily I like to keep all my little tubes of glue that come with lashes , I  just feel like its a waste to buy lash glue when half the time the glue comes with the lash. Other than that little hiccup I love these lashes.

have you tried these lashes? let me know your thoughts in the comments below I’d love to hear your opinion on them.

you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see what I get up to when I’m not blogging.

 

xoxo

Rachael

Makeup Studio Face It Cream Foundation // First Impression

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’re all well its been a busy busy week for me , I worked 7 days in a row all 8 hour shifts and late nights , so its nice to have a day off to write a little blog post. This weekend it was my sisters 18th birthday and I was in search for a really good foundation since I wanted to invest in something that was going to make my skin look amazing for the night and also last throughout the night. I decided to takea  trip into Derry and go to the Paddy McGurgan makeup pro store and check out what they had to offer in foundations.

I have quite dry skin so I knew I wanted to try something that wasn’t going to cling to any dry spots or make my skin look worse than it was. I opted for the Makeup Studio Face It Cream Foundation in light beige since it offered that dewy glow to my face but also promised to stay put for those long hours of partying.

The foundation comes in a little pot ( which is super cute and different to what I was used to ) and you’re able to attach any other colours you have together and stack them up! ( which I also found really cool for the aspring makeup artist who needs different colours in their kit) The foundation cost £24.50 which came out at around €29 for me.

I applied my foundation with the real techniques buffing brush , it was recommended to use a duo fibre brush for this foundation but I found I didn’t have much control over it , so decided to change the brush I used and it worked a treat. The girl who colour matched me also said that the foundation would easily last you 6 months since you really don’t need to use all that much to get a full coverage look, and she was totally right!

The foundation applied evenly and naturally it literally looked just like my skin. I was so pleased with this foundation since it really did do what it promised. The foundation lasted all night even after all the dancing and drinking that we did!

I hope you liked this little post , have you tried this product of heard of it? I would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments

you can follow me on twitter and instagram to see what I get up to when I’m not blogging!

xoxo

Rachael

The Best Dewy Glow // Mac Soft & Gentle MSF

Hi Everyone!

About two months back , I decided to really treat myself and go for a little mac goodie , I thought long and hard on what I really needed to acheive a perfect base , I had already got some holy grail products , but could never find a highlighter that suited me. After doing my research ( watching numerous youtube videos haha) I thought Soft and Gentle was the one and only for me.This product is such a staple in so many peoples makeup bags that I thought I should give it a whirl and see what the fuss was about.

So lets get into the nitty gritty details.

The price point is like any other Mac product , it doesn’t come cheap. This MSF came about at around €45ish but I knew I wanted to splurge on it , I’m not the type of person that really likes to treat myself unless its a birthday or holiday but I just thought after getting a new job , that I deserved it.

What drew me to it at first was the colour , its the most amazing pink champagne-y colour ever , and of course I just had to cover myself in it the first day I got it just to make sure it properly worked , I wouldn’t just want to put on the average amount of highlighter , oh no! I had to go all out.

 

I was actually surprised that it didn’t really feel that powdery when I touched it it felt like it just melted into my skin which of course I loved , there’s no worse feeling that having a big blotch of powder sitting on your cheeks doing nothing , its not at all flattering.

I am in love with dewy , fresh looking skin , I have quite dry skin so what ever type of product that promises moisture , or dewiness I’m all over and this product just changed my makeup game for the better.

If I want to go ALL OUT , and intensify it even more , before I add the S&G I like to get add a tiny bit of the Benefit high beam to the tops of my cheeks , blend it out and then apply S&G over that as it gives just a naturally stunning dew to the skin.

Have you ever tried this product? what are your thoughts on it? I would love to hear all about them in the comments below

 

you can follow me on twitter and Instagram to see what I’m getting up to

xoxo

Rachael

 

 

Moving Forward in Life.

Hi Everyone

So I’ve been debating whether to write this post for a while now , or just completely leaving it. I decided what the heck and here I am now , writing a long winded post yet again. I know I’ve been very distant on this part of the internet for a while now , since last year really, but I feel more like myself now than I ever did.

From past posts you’ll realise that I left college and took time off to decide what I really wanted to do with my life , I found a job and started earning a decent income that kept me going. I have always had a fair idea of what I wanted to do in life and it was always going to be with makeup. I have ALWAYS wanted to work with makeup , I just love that makeup can change a persons mood for the better and I adore seeing people happy and thats what I really want to do in life. For a while it looked like it wasn’t really going to happen , a lot of people told me that its not a sufficient job , there’s no real calling for makeup artists out there these days and that anyone could be one. I think thats what really put me down in the dumps the past few months , since I felt like that dream that I really wanted to make a reality was never going to be in my reach.

The past few days I really pushed myself to fall back in love with the idea , and its worked , I think that the little push really just showed me that this is what I want to do in life , and I CAN make it my career. I’ve decided to research different schools around me that will help me with my career different courses and class that I may be interested in too. and just really push myself and ignore what other people are saying.

 

I find that you really need the passion and drive to have a career in something artistic or different , you really need to ignore the negative and think of the positive and there is always going to be people criticising your work , or just you as a person. I think that this week past has just taught me that I want to become a makeup artist more than I’ve ever wanted to and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Not to sound supper sappy but no goal is ever out of reach , only you can determine whether or not you can or can’t achieve something!

 

I also have set a goal to start using this platform more , I’ve been ignoring it for months and only now have I found the passion to actually get right back into it

 

you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram if you want to see what I get up to

xoxo

Rachael

 

 

Review // Indeed Labs Powder Exfoliator

Hi guys! Back again!

I thought today I would review the Indeed Labs Facial Powdered Exfoliator … that was a mouth full… I got this exfoliator for Christmas , because I was DYING to try it out because it just sounded so weird yet intriguing to me so my mum was so kind and pick it up for me to try out.

So , this is a powdered exfoliator , a little different to any of the exfoliators I used in the past , but is says that its suitable to all skin types which made me want to try it even more , the product comes out in a white powder , it sometimes reminds me of sherbert ( yum ). When you have the product in one of your hands you want to add water to the powder so that it becomes this sort of foam consistency, there is no grains in this exfoliator either and its extremely gentle , so if you suffer from senstive skin this will be a dream to you. I rub in circular motion all around the face and when I feel like I’ve done the best that I can , I just wash it off with warm water.

When I was researching the product so many things popped up that I was extremely happy about. This product includes Silica , which is amazing for helping fight Acne and helping with those dreaded wrinkles.It includes Rice Brand Powder , which the Japanese used for centuries to get that softer smoother skin, Bromelain is also present , these enzymes are used to maintain healthy skin which is found naturally in pineapples! A massive factor for me is that it included Hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic Acid helps to hydrate the skin and help stimulate collagen , Hyaluronic acid , helps pull in moisture from the air , which is essential for me since I suffer from quite dry skin.

I would give this product a 10/10 I found nothing wrong with it , and it ticked all the boxes for me , it retails for €24.99 , so definitely not the cheapest exfoliator out there , but definitely one that works! Thanks so much for reading guys!

Have you tried this product? I would love to know what your thoughts are , drop a comment below. Have a question? Comment below and I’ll get back to you

you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram

xoxo

Rachael

 

 

 

Makeup Revolution Death by Chocolate Palette

Okay , so I was debating what my first come back post would be , and I decided since I got soooo much makeup revolution stuff for Christmas that I would start off with the death by chocolate palette,I can’t even describe how hard it was for me to get my hands on any of the items in this brand , it didn’t come to my superdrug until 2 weeks before christmas! ( first world problems)

Lets start with the obvious , this palette is meant to resemble the Too Faced chocolate bar palettes, but don’t be fooled , this particular palette is not a dupe for any of the Too Faced ones , They do have a salted caramel which is meant to resemble the Semi Sweet chocolate bar palette and a normal chocolate bar palette to resemble the original one.

When I look at the colours in this palette its almost like the original chocolate bar palette just a little bit darker, the colours in this palette are mostly cool toned , not something I would of picked up a few months ago , but I’m coming out of my comfort zone these days and I thought about experimenting , so if cool tones aren’t for you then you won’t like this palette!

The pigmentation! WOW! just WOW , I’ve never used any other drugstore brand that had pigmentation like this , the colours are so buttery and so easy to work with that my eye makeup looks like a dream! I have 2 other palettes from Makeup Revolution the Ultra flawless palette and the Run Boy Run palette and the pigmentations in the both of those are out of this world too!

The Scent , you either love it or hate it , some people online seem to think there is a chemical smell off of it? I honestly don’t get that I just get a really artificial chocolate smell , which doesn’t put me off it at all , in fact I don’t really care much for the smell

 

overall I’m so so pleased and happy with this product , its amazing and only cost     €12 which is an absolute bargain , there’s not one negative thing I have to say about it , I was honestly blown away! I can’t wait to purchase more of their chocolate bar palettes in the future

hope you all enjoyed my little come back post , have you tried this product? let me know if you liked it in the comments below!

 

you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram to see what I get up to when I don’t blog

 

 

xoxo

Rachael