5 MUST HAVE MAKE UP BRUSHES

If I could only have 5 brushes these are the 5 i'd choose...

STIPPLING BRUSH

Real Techniques- Stippling Brush

This is the perfect brush for blending foundation and getting a even finish. I usually use it after using my foundation brush to apply my foundation. I also use it to blend my contour from time to time if I accidentally put too much product on and have big dark lines on my face I don't panic because I know this brush will be my saviour.

SCULPTING BRUSH

Real Techniques - Sculpting Brush

This is the ideal brush for contouring! Its slightly angled which gives you a quick and easy smooth application especially under the cheek bones. It blends both cream and powder contour products I use this mainly with my Barry M Chisel Cheeks contouring powder as I usually use a beauty blender for my cream contour. This Brush could also be used for blusher.

FOUNDATION BRUSH

Real Techniques - Foundation Brush

This brush provides you with a quick and easy way to spread your foundation over your face and stops you getting foundation hands! This brush can sometimes leave you with lines in your foundation which I then blend out with my stippling brush (you could also use your fingers if you wish to) Most people might ask why use this brush at all ? Why not just use a stippling brush to apply your foundation? Well that's totally up to you ... I personally don't like to overload my stippling brush with product as ill just be swishing it around my face just moving the product around id rather apply it using a foundation brush and then with a clean stippling brush go in after and smooth out those few lines I just find this gives me the optimal even finish I want.

SETTING BRUSH

Real Techniques - Setting Brush

This brush is Great for setting your concealer under your eyes, contour and your highlight. to be honest I use it for all my setting some people may find this brush small for setting their whole face of make up but I set mine in stages. First I use this to set my highlight areas ( forehead, chin , under my eyes, on top of my cheek bones, my jaw line, down the bridge of my nose) then I use this brush for the darker contour areas I find this brush is the perrrrfect brush for apply some on my Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour power down the sides of my nose and in the little curve to my eyebrows. It gives a perfectly blended finish which is something I found more difficult trying to get with cream contour on my nose as its such a small area to try and contour, my beauty blender just wipes it off and my sculpting brush is too big to contour my nose with. 

SMALL BLENDING BRUSH

Gosh - Eye Shadow Brush Shaper

This brush is my favourite brush for the eyes its practically the only one I use ( I wash my brushes regularly) This brush gives the most perfect blend to any shadow. I use this for my bottom lash line, to apply eyeshadow, to blend colours together and to create a dark crease line. Honestly the application this brush gives you is so smooth. As it blends so well and is so small it could also be the perfect little brush to help contour your nose.

So theres my top 5. I also think a beauty blender is a make up equipment essential but this post is based just on my top picks of brushes.

What are your favourite brushes? Do you have any of these brushes?  

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5 HABITS TO TAKE UP IF YOU USE A COMPUTER ALL DAY

If you spend your days in front of a computer or laptop whether its work, social networking, or netflix (yeah you bingers) you should adopt these 5 habits. 

1. Look away from the computer and focus on a distant object every 20 minutes 
You can strain your eyes looking at a computer for hours, let your eyes adjust and focus on something further away from you. Using a computer although out school college and so on has taken its toll on my eyesight. i have a "stigmatism" in both eyes from using computers and now wear glasses when using them. I wish i had known this tip throughout education.

2. Stand up 
Every 30 minute or so stand up and maybe walk to your bathroom or up a flight of stairs and then go back to your computer. Its good just to get the blood flowing for a minute so your muscles don't get stiff.

3. Stretch

Stretch your arms shoulders neck and even twist your body from just sitting in your chair you could youtube stretches to do whilst at your desk. Here's a quick video with three stretches you could try.

4. Adjust your monitor height 

if your monitor is to low this can cause you to hunch or tilt your head down and can result in back or neck pain/stiffness (i also suffer from this) apparently if your screen is too high you can get dry eye syndrome so having the correct height of the monitor is essential.

5. Download flux

In my post Surprising Things Stoping You From Sleeping one of the things listed is the blue light that all computers admit as it affects our melatonin levels for more information go to my other post and to download flux click here

Do you have any computer habits?

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PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY SHOW 2016

Every year I go to the Professional Beauty Show at Excel in London. Theres loads of different beauty brands at the show many selling products V.A.T free and giving out samples. Its a great way for people in the beauty industry to test out new products or stock up on their favourites. I stocked up of a few make up bits and got a few tanning samples. Usually the show is soooooo busy its chaos but luckily this year it was a bit quieter although that meant a few brands weren't there. You usually find the likes of Amy Childs, Katie Price, Nicola Mclean and Lauren Goodger show their faces whether its shopping or to visit their stands. Although it was fairly quiets the queues for NYX were crazy they went around the whole place twice!

Here are some of my Favourite snaps from the show

Heres a short Vlog I did 

Have any of you ever been to the professional beauty show? Would any of you like to go?

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SURPRISING THINGS STOPPING YOU FROM SLEEPING PROPERLY

Do you ever have nights where no matter how hard you try you just cant seem to shut your brain off and get to sleep? or keep waking up in the night restless taking ages to go back off? do you wake up and feeling that you've not had a good nights rest and feel sleepy all throughout the day? There could be many things your not doing and doing wrong in order to get a great nights sleep. Ive found a few pointers on what to do and what not to do that just might be the answer to getting that rejuvenating sleep your desperate for. 

Things that are not helping you...

1. Avoid blue light blue light at night i.e from your phone, tv or computer can affect your melatonin levels which is a hormone produced my the brain to tell your body it time to get ready to sleep, this can have many negative affect on your health for more detailed information on how blue light effects us click here 
2. Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) Caffeine can have a stimulating effect as soon as 15 minutes after it is consumed. Once in the body, caffeine will persist for several hours, it takes about 6 hours for one half of the caffeine to be eliminated from your body.  I have read you should not consume any caffeine after 2pm.
3. Avoid drinking two hours before bed if your a regular 'wee'er' in the night you can avoid this disturbance by not drinking from two hours before bed however you don't want to dehydrate in the night so having a drink before those two hours is also recommended.
4. Don't watch your clock watching your clock can make your mind race thinking of things to do tomorrow how little time you have ect not letting your mind relax, it may also play a bit of a placebo effect if you watch all the minutes go by stressing about not getting enough sleep and being tired tomorrow i bet no doubt you'll feel tired the next day. 
5. Exercise early some people think exercising can make you tired and you'll be "out like a light" but this is wrong exercise actually gives you a burst of energy although you may feel initially tired from the exercise. you should try to exercise as early as you can in the day and avoid exercise 3-4 hours before bed.
6. Avoid alcohol although a glass of wine might make you sleepy before bed it can actually keep you up through the night and effect your quality of sleep for more info on how alcohol affects sleep click here
7. Don't have heavy meals before bed having heavy meal at night can keep your digestive system working and keep you up avoid and heavy meals in the evening and avoid eating all together at least an hour before bed (I have read elsewhere you should avoid eating after 9pm)
8. Avoid tvs & gadget before bed if your up late at night scrolling through instagram or watching a bit of late night come dine with me it can keep your mind active not allowing it to settle.
9. Avoid bright light create a ambient setting just like the blue light any bright light can keep you up tricking your mind and body that its not bed time yet. Create a relaxing ambient environment for your bedroom with dim or no lighting, maybe after your dinner switch the room lights to lamps.
10. Avoid loud noise kind of a follow on from the last point about creating a ambient setting avoid any harsh noise at night, the chattering from a tv can keep your mind active and stop it relaxing and allowing you to sleep.

Things that might help...

1. Try aromatherapy there are a few scents that are said to help you sleep, make you sleep longer and deeper, and having you feeling more energised when you wake up. Lavender it a all time favourite.
2. Try teas there are a range of teas that can help you sleep be sure its herbal and doesn't contain caffeine. Chamomile tea is a popular choice.
3. Try listening to some relaxing music this could be ocean waves, soft piano, rain ect. you can even get music with delta waves to relax your brain. 
4. Read a book reading helps a lot of people get to sleep by focussing your mind solely on reading you can relax slowly and allow your body and brain to get tired. You should read in a soft light not a bright light.
5. Try a herbal spray you can get herbal sprays for you pillow and oral sprays that can help you sleep and relax try Holland and Barrett.
6. Eat two kiwis a hour before bed lots of scientific studies have proved that kiwis have improve your sleep and quite substantially they have helped people with severe sleep deficiencies 
7. Do some yoga or stretches, stretching before bed can relieve any tension in the body and relax the muscles. Try to focus on your breathing when stretching, taking deep long breaths and flow from on stretch to another
8. Routine, routine, routine,  keeping a good routine of the times you go to bed and wake up will help your body to naturally feel tired when it gets to that certain time and can make your body feel more awake and energised when waking up. 
9. Use a eye mask, I always sleep with a eye mask as it blocks out any sleep jeopardizing light, stops you from looking around and distracting your brain  and for me personally it can make me feel a sense of comfort. 
10. Write a to do list,  write a list of things you have to do tomorrow even down to phone calls you've got to make or things you need to bring up in conversations. Put what ever things you can in order that you need to do them this will help clear your mind of all the worries and stresses of things that need to be done the next day and allow your brain to relax. I always write list before bed and to be honest I write them all through out the day as it takes things off my mind and 
11. Have sex although vigorous exercise is not recommended before bed studies show that sex before bed makes you sleep and can help improve sleep. 
12. Keep a sleep diary                         What were your sleeping times?                                                                                             How long did it take you to get to sleep?
    
    How many times did you wake up during the night?
    How long did each awakening last?
    How long did you sleep in total?
    Did you take any sleeping tablets?
    How well do you feel today?
    How enjoyable was your sleep last night?
    How much caffeine did you have before and after 5pm?
    How much alcohol did you have before and after 5pm?
    Did you do any exercise shortly before going to bed?
    Did you take any naps during the day or evening?
    Has anything made you anxious or stressed?
    
    
    Doctors will ask you to keep a sleep diary to try and diagnose the problem also doing this just before bed can be relaxing.
13. Download Flux flux is an application that can be downloaded for mac and windows which analyses the time of day with your sleep routine and helps protect you from blue light given off by your computer and is harmful to your sleep. it does this by applying a slight orange tinge over the screen to cancel out the blue light all setting can be adjusted. Download Here
14. Try the 90 Minute rule 

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17 MOTHERS DAY GIFTS AND GESTURES

Show your mum how much you love her this mothers day with any of these gifts or gestures.

Gift ideas

1. Take her for meal ( maybe her favourite place or for her favourite type of food)
2. Buy her flowers 
3. Buy her favourite perfume
4. Take her to see a movie or a show
5. Get her a spa day or massage to relax
6. Buy her a personalied gift maybe a mug, cushion, photo frame, wine, apron, photo book ect
7. Buy her a piece of jewellery and get it engraved
8. Buy her a beauty treatment like a manicure, pedicure, or even a blow dry 
9. Make a hamper of all her favourite things, you could include... food, drinks, sweet treats, beauty products, teas/coffees, clothes, photos, scented candles or jewellery
10. If you need to get something lastminute.com how about a gift card at her favourite shop

If your mum says "its the thought that counts" or "don't go spending your money on me" then look no further... you could do one of these gestures to show how much you care without spending big bucks!

1. Have a movie night in
2. Make her favourite meal
3. Make homemade face masks
4. Bake her a cake 
5. Make her a banner or some home decorations 
6. Give it your best go at giving her a manicure or pedicure or simply paint her nails
7. Make her a photo collage 

Do you have any gestures you do for your mum on mothers day?

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MY FAVOURITE APPS

Obviously the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp and Twitter are in my list of favourite apps but who's aren't they in? In this post i'm showing you some of my other most used and loved apps of all time

Heres a quick look at my Favourites ...

Around Me

This app is great, it shows you all the local businesses near your current location. so if your out and about especially visiting somewhere you've never been before maybe you fancy a quick drink? Bite to eat? Need a ATM? Need a hotel? looking for parking? And the list goes on. it will tell you how far the place is your looking for and a map of how to get there.

Pinterest

Pinterest is my favourite app for inspo. people make groups of images usually of a certain category which other people can view, like save ect. I used Pinterest alot when I entered the world of modelling it gave me inspiration for makeup, hair styles, outfit styling, themes, locations, poses and so on. I was able to make collections to show photographers a "mood board" before shoots. Ive also used it for party ideas, valentines day ideas, blog post ideas.. damn it Ive even used it for font inspiration. 

Facetune

This is a app I use for editing my photos even the picture at the top of this post has been edited using Facetune. Its not the only app I use for editing but it one of my favourites. You can brighten, whiten, smooth, filter, crop (and more) your photos with this app, this one I payed a small price for. 

Depop

On this app you can sell and buy stuff, clothes, make-up, products, accessories, home items you name it. Swapping items is also common on this app. You can leave reviews for buyers or sellers and let other people know if they a reliable buyer/seller. You post images of the item your selling at a price you decide with a small description and await the customers. Depop take 10% of the price you sold the item for. Once you have sold a item you are able to see the buyers address so you can post the item. (you can also set a separate amount for the cost of postage)

I use this app for selling personally but I have seen some nice stuff on there which tempts me every time I use the app. I defiantly recommend checking it out.

My Depop username : robyn_ldn

Glow

This app if for the ladies! Sorry lads. I think this app is fab,  its a menstrual and ovulation calculator which helps women learn about their fertility, whether attempting pregnancy or avoiding it! on this app you can record your period, mood, symptoms, sex ect. You complete a daily log and once completed you usually receive tips, whether it be how to deal with high stress levels better or how to ease other symptoms. The app tells you when you most likely fertile, when your period is due and you can set reminders for medications, birth control or other forms of contraception.

You can also engage in conversations about periods, sex, relationships, health, lifestyle ect.

You may have a question you want to ask, maybe you want to find out if your symptoms are normal? If other people experience them? You can ask questions anonymously or un anonymously. you can also create polls, participate in polls, post images and links. 

I defiantly recommend all you ladies check this app out.

What are your favourite apps?

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A MOMENTOUS DAY FOR THE BLOG!

YAYYYY!! Today I picked up this beaut :D I wanted this camera for ages.

After doing loads of research into cameras (im no expert) I decided to go for the Sony A5000. Some of the main reasons I was attracted to this particular camera are:

It provides DSLR quality images without being as bulky as a DSLR

It has a rotating LCD screen so you can see yourself when filming or taking selfies. 

You can transfer your pictures from your camera to your phone using wifi 

You can tilt the flash and make indoor pictures look like they're shot in daylight

Its reasonable price!

One downside to this camera is the audio quality of the videos as many other cameras have better audio quality but I didn't find this a major problem as I can get a mic to record better audio for my videos if it really bothers me.

I was getting slightly disheartened using my iphone to take all my pictures as id go to all the effort of trying to get good lighting, placement, taking 100 photos for one shot and editing them and still end up with pictures not as good as all the thousands of other bloggers out there. If you want to create a good blog that gets attention not only is it about good content but its about the style/look of your blog and I felt like my iphone pictures were holding back my blog, at times I wanted to give up.

This camera will bring a new lease of life into the blog and now I can even think about taking videos! Bare with me as I get used to using the camera like I said im no expert this is all new to me but hopefully ill be taking expert blog pictures in no time ;)  

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