Festival Make-up

We are fast approaching the time of year when it's totally appropriate to drive to a remote field, abandon your car along with all sense of health or hygiene and dance in mud for 4 days and nights. I am of course referring to FESTIVAL SEASON.

Having been to (and absolutely loved) Global, Reading and The Big Chill I have some awesome, if a little hazy, memories. Usually, the notion of drinking non-stop for 42 hours, using toilets which make you physically sick and not washing once would seem unacceptable but at a festival these factors become a reality which must be embraced.

If you are one of these girls who can roll out of the tent at 8am, looking fresh-faced and oh so 'festival' then stop reading now. Infact, can you stop going to festivals? Because I am not one of these girls, in truth if I emerged from my tent 'au natural' my fellow campers may think Ozzy Osbourne had made a festival comeback.


I'm not a girly girl but I like my comforts. Beauty products are my life. Dramatic? Maybe, but a skin care regime and make-up make me feel fresh, attractive and confident and how I look can easily influence how I feel. So, how can you pack your skin care and make-up collection into a camping rucksack??... Well, you can't. Especially as everything you pack is taking up precious beer space.. So, us girls have to pack the absolute essentials and here's a few tricks to help you pack light and still release your tent-side temptress!

Face wipes. 46p a pack in Tesco's. 4 packs per person. Minimum. These little lifesavers are your make-up remover, toilet paper, bath and shower. Sorry Greenpeace; I know they're bad for the environment but camping without them is just unthinkable.

Compact mirror. This is an absolute must. Ever tried applying make-up without a mirror?

Skin care. I don't usually stay anywhere without my Lancome skincare, but it is simply too much to carry. The walk from the car park to pitch the tent is enough to actually consider leaving your belongings at the side of the track and ditching everything but the can of warm beer you are drinking. Sun screen however, is vital, if you can get a foundation with an SPF then great, 2 birds, one bottle.

Make-up. BB cream is ideal, most good ones have an SPF plus it'll give you a much needed, dewy glow which will refresh your tired, alcohol-saturated skin each morning. Bring a water-proof mascara for sudden downpours/drunken arguments/emosh outbursts at the euphoric beauty of the sun setting over the best set you've ever heard... Pack a small bronzer for a flash of colour in your cheeks, no pressed compacts though, they WILL break in the trek from the car park. Eye liner and a nude lip is the LBD of the beauty world and for all-day wear you don't want too much going on. Once dusk hits if you want want to re-vamp your look add some gold or coloured glitter around the eyes or a flash of neon eyeshadow for a sexy and chic look. Alternatively, embrace your inner bohemian goddess and wear a bindhi like above.


Above all, remember to enjoy every bloody second.

Get Your Glow Back

Christmas is gone, New Year is a distant (and blurred) memory and the much needed early pay packet in December dried up long ago. However, the newly aquired rolls around your waist and dull, tired skin seem to be here to stay...

During the cold, dark winter months wind becomes bitter, showers become hotter and skin becomes drier. This results in complexions becoming dry in patches and blotchy, not a good look and more importantly when skin becomes dry it ages *shudder* so now is the time to give your skin a little TLC.

Moisture Injection
In addition to your usual skincare regime give your skin a much needed drink. I use Clinique 'Moisture Surge' twice a week after my evening 3-step (cleanse, tone and moisturise), I can actually feel it quenching my skin's thirst and it stops those nasty white flaky bits. A cheaper alternative is No7. Essential Moisture Night Cream, No. 7 is a great, trustworthy brand.
Another way to keep moisture in is using a primer under your make-up. Primer helps refine the surface of your skin and also gives your foundation something to hold onto throughout the day. I use BareMinerals 'Prime Time' which is great because it is a 'brightening' foundation primer so it creates a smooth and even base for make-up whilst illuminating your tired, alcohol soaked, post-Christmas skin. This primer is a steal when compared to BareMineral's usual prices but if like me, you are counting every penny then Revlon 'PhotoReady' Perfecting Primer is a great cheaper alternative.

Winter Make-Up Trends

Once your skin is hydrated and happy it's time to talk tones!

Paler skin tones (think Kirsten Dunst/Nicola Roberts) used to be thought as cold and dull but more recently we are seeing many fair skinned girls ditching the fake tan and celebrating a fair and flawless look.

Anne Hathaway

The key to achieving Anne's dewy, wholesome look is the right mix of lightweight foundation and highlighting. A good BB cream like Urban Decay 'NAKED' Beauty Balm will give a  nice coverage with a glossy sheen (always use a base with an SPF, protecting your skin will keep it young and supple). Then illuminate your complexion by highlighting anywhere the light hits, cheek bones, brow bones, even just above your top lip, for me YSL Touche-Eclait remains queen of the highlighters. Finish the look with a touch of subtle rosy blush and a complimentary lip to bring out the eyes.

If you have a darker skin tone (think J-Lo/Hayden Panettiere) and are worried about falling behind with the recent trends in fresh-faced fairness then fear not! Your secret weapon is being able to wear such a wide range of colours-from the punchiest brights to the palest pastels. 

Millie 'I want to be her' Mackintosh

I love this healthy, alluring look that Millie Mackintosh is absolutely bloody owning here. To achieve this look you'll need quite a full coverage, I recommend Estee Lauder 'DoubleWear Light' Foundation, it creates a flawless and matte finish and really does last all day-I often use it on my brides. Team this base with some sultry smoky eyes, I have recently discovered Soap & Glory 'Smoulder Kohl' Waterproof Eyeliner (Christmas present-thanks Felts), it glides on beautifully and is really easy to smudge into a smoky, blended edge. Finish the eye with lashings of mascara and complete the look with a nude lip, I find the best way to get a nice matte finish is just use lip liner over the whole lip, No.7 'NUDE' Precision Lips Pencil does the job brilliantly and if you have one of those £5 Boots No. 7 vouchers it's only £2.50! Barg.

So, there are a few tips to remain radiant in these cold and challenging months. Stay hydrated, enhance your glow and always remember-if you wear make-up that makes you feel good, you will never make a mistake.


 

SLEEP ROLLERS

Gone are the days when it was the height of fashion to have poker straight hair, singed to within an inch of its life. Since Cheryl Cole emerged on the X-Factor judge’s panel in 2008 and became the envy of every girl in the UK (I want to hate her but I just can’t) her  glamorous mane has injected some serious volume into hair trends throughout the country.

In repeated attempts to recreate Cheryl’s sexy volume I back-combed my poor hair every weekend for about a year and in return for this relentless torture it has repaid me with some rather unattractive little wispy antennas. Bad times. So, how can we girls create some serious volume without totally destroying our hair?

Enter Sleep Rollers!

I have used rollers before. I have some large, plastic ones but to create any real volume they have to be in for more than 7 hours and I did try and sleep in them once; I would equate this experience to trying to sleep using an upturned football boot as a pillow and being a light sleeper anyway I admitted defeat pretty quickly.

I heard about ‘Velcro Sleep Rollers’ on Twitter and immediately became obsessed. They are different from normal rollers because they are squashy so when you lay on them they act ‘like another pillow’. When it became clear that my boyfriend wasn’t going to take the hint I quickly tracked down my nearest supplier (Nilam Patel, DermaSpa, Broughton , Milton Keynes-amazing place btw!) and bagged myself two sets of the little beauties! (I’d been going on about them so much I had convinced a friend of mine to get involved too).

The rollers and the packaging are BRIGHT pink. I’m sure this is a selling point to most girls, but it is a product feature which I reluctantly endure… However, the (pink) linen drawstring bag does come in  handy to store them in. In a set you get 2 packs of 10 Sleep Rollers for £16.50 and my thick, armpit length hair takes all 20. I used a YouTube vid courtesy of Miss Hollie Wakeham (love her!) http://www.youtube.com/pampurlounge to help me get them in.

It took me about 40 minutes to put all the rollers into my clean, blow-dried hair and this was quite a strain on my arms by the end but I figured at least it must have been giving the old bingo wings a good work out! Once they were in I quite liked the 50’s housewife look although my boyfriend wasn’t too sure…

Time for bed! As I mentioned before I am a rather light sleeper and truthfully to begin with I couldn’t get comfortable but eventually I drifted off and slept through till morning.

I sprung out of bed with excitement (a feat which alone deserves praise) and immediately started taking out the rollers and I was not disappointed! The effect is big and bouncy but with a natural look about it. The curls are soft and voluptuous, creating chic waves rather than old-fashioned ringlets.

It is apparently a status symbol to go out wearing these rollers and stars such as Coleen Rooney and various girls from ‘TOWIE’ and ‘Desperate Scousewives’ have been seen donning the rollers in supermarkets announcing to the world that they are going out tonight and are going to have big, beautiful hair… I might nip down the corner shop with them in but only for a necessity (essential bottle of vino for getting ready time).

So, I’m pretty much in love with my Sleep Rollers. They have taken me one step closer to the Cheryl Cole vision of perfection; I’ve got the lashes, I’ve got the hair, will I be reaching for the ‘Scouse Brow?’ Possibly not, but with my big, bouncy locks I am a very happy bunny.

Soap&Glory 'Kick Ass Concealer'

Dark circles; every 20 something girl's dilemma. 


Even with the most elaborate eye make-up those dark under-eyes can make you look sallow, tired and (the worst of all) old!


As a sufferer of noticeable, although not completely tragic (Ricky Butcher), dark circles, I have tried many under-eye highlighters which promise 'radiant' and 'luminous' results, yet despite sometimes spending up to £25 I am always disappointed.


When my go-to brand for bath and body treats, Soap&Glory, released a new cosmetics line I actually got more excited about their shimmery bronzers than their concealer. I thought, if the top-end brands can't deal with the dullness, what chance did a high street pharmacy brand notorious for their 3 for 2's have?


O ye of little faith! 


S&G is famous for its bright and quirky packaging (I love the puns) and 'Kick Ass' is no exception! The product itself comes in a small compact comprising of three clever little elements to hide your flaws.


The bottom layer holds step one 'under eye brightening concealer' and step two 'superwear face concealer' in equal quantity. Step three, 'concealer sealing powder' is on a hinged shelf which covers the first two steps and there is even a tiny, patting sponge and mirror making the multi-tasking little compact a storage solution that Ikea would be proud of!


Although the first two steps are extremely light and creamy I advise using a moisturising primer before application. I use Bare Escentuals 'skin rev-er upper' as it's not too greasy on my combination skin.

• Step one, in my opinion, is the most impressive. RIP Dark circles! It glides on, giving a full yet not too synthetic coverage. I highly recommend using a concealer brush for application: the consistency is so creamy and light that fingers will take too much product and result in wastage ( I HATE waste!).

• Step two wipes out problems on the rest of the face: nasty blemishes, visible veins, and it even covered my pesky open pores. Again, beautifully creamy but not as soft as step one, which is better for covering redness.

• Step three, the 'sealing powder', I could take or leave to be honest. In theory it's a great idea as it enables foundation to sweep over without disturbing the concealer. But I think people with dry skin will benefit by leaving this step out as it leaves a slightly flaky finish if I don't prime my face first.

Right-hand dark circle concealed.

Left-hand dark circle not concealed-ouch!

Unfortunately, 'Kick Ass' is only available in two shades, light or medium. Having medium/olive skin I purchased the medium shade which is ideal for me in these pale (and interesting) winter months but I fear once summer swings round and I hit the beach it may be too pale. So, S&G have six months to knock up a darker shade because this aptly named little pot of magic well and truly 'Kicks the Ass' of my dark circles.