Blogs and Youtube

Morning everyone!

I just thought that I would share with you my favourite Blogs and YouTube gurus. I was never someone who watched YouTube, but as I built a list of my favourite beauty bloggers I saw that they also had YouTube channels and I became addicted. It is great how these people let you in to their lives and makeup draws.
Below I have popped links to both their Blogs and channels. I bet you love watching them as much as I do!

Vivianna does make up;

Blog
You Tube

Vivianna is at the top of my Uk favourites. Hers is the first blog that I check for new posts and videos.
Having discovered a lot of my holy grail products by watching her channel my must buy list of recommendations is growing!
A channel well worth watching!

Sarah Hawkinson;

Blog

You Tube

I love watching Sarah's channel. Her make up always looks flawless and she has a fringe (bangs) that I would love, strange but true lol   Sarah is just so easy to watch, because she is honest and I have spent hours watching every one of her videos. It did not take long for her channel to become a firm favourite. Its easy to say that I absorb Sarah's advice like a sponge.

Sarah also has a Horror channel. I am not the biggest horror fan but I do watch her reviews because it feels rude not to.

And last but not least Sprinkle of Glitter!

Blog

You Tube

The perfect channel to cheer you up in no time.  Honest reviews sprinkled with chatter and ever so cute appearances of Baby Glitter. Louise make me laugh without fail. Amazing!

Hope you check out these links, you won't be disappointed!

Take care

Sam x

Illamasqua Skin Base

Hi everyone,

I hope that you are well?  Yes?  Good!

I promised that I would write down my thoughts on the Illamasqua Skin Base after my rambles about it featured so heavily in my first post of 2012.
Since I bought the skin base in October I have found that I reach for it more often than not these days, I have not moved on from it nor have I shoved it in a draw, which is a good sign.
The skin base is Illamasqua's version of the BB cream that saturated the market last year. All with promises of the perfect complexion.
I had bought a BB cream before, one that came out in just 2 shades. I was sceptical about this straight off, as most people who have bought a foundation of any kind know that only with only 2 camps to fall into the likelihood is that you will turn out Tango'd or a cast off from The Only Way Is Essex.  Need I say more as to where I'm going with this?

Illamasqua has got 18 shades of the Skin Base and I got SB02. I was surprised as I am normally the palest shade of base products but no other company has a true pale white  lol
The texture of the SB is more of a cream/gel to me. This makes it easy to apply and blend and you also cannot feel it sitting on the skin, which I love! I will definitely trust this foundation enough to use it come summer.
The amount of compliments I have gotten whilst wearing the foundation is amazing. They all ranged from...You look healthy to...I didn't know you had been away!

About here was where I was going to pop a photo of me in the SB but Sheffield has seemed to of been under a constant rain/storm cloud so I was not able to get any pictures where I didn't look like I was hiding in the shadows. I will pop one here as soon as the sun shines for two minutes.

The lasting power of the SB is good, it actually lasts on me for a good 12 hours. I have to powder my T-zone every now and then but that's the same with anything. The coverage is buildable too so if you need more help one day just buff a little more on, it's not going to cake. I prefer to use my Sigma F80 brush but I am sure it would work just as well with a regular foundation brush or indeed plan old fingers. I also blend it over and under my eyes to give my concealer a little help. Blushers or Bronzers, creams or powders they all blend brilliantly on top of the Skin Base. So you can wear any look you like and you will look perfectly polished.

All in all for me it's the best foundation I have tried so far from either end of the cost scale.

Skin Base is £25 for 30ml  a little goes a long way.

You can get yours from Debenhams or Illamasqua stand alone stores.

If you are a online girl or guy
Illamasqua is where you want to be

Take Care

Sam x


Illamasqua Alter Ego image credited to Illamasqua.com

Hello 2012, a new start

                                                   

Hello everyone on this wet and very windy Wednesday!!
Thank you for popping by my blog especially since I have been M.I.A for the past 2 months or so.
I have hopefully got my writing bug back after that long break. So New Year new start huh?

First of all Happy 2012 people! Last year was a mixed bag for me but I am certain this year will be a lot better ,after all I have my wedding this year to look forward to.
As this is my first post in a while I wanted to combine a few things, What's been happening, what beauty brands/products I discovered last year and finally what my aims are for this year...It would be great if you all could leave your little list in the comments below!
So what happened the last two months of last year good/bad. Well I discovered I am cranky when I loose sleep lol I fell on my bum in public and this both hurt my bum and my pride but the two biggest and most positive things to happen were that My Dad flew over from Oz for my 28th Birthday. He was hoping to surprise me but I had a idea and then I became like a dog with a bone trying to suss out what was going on lol, But to be honest It was still a huge surprise to find him on the doorstep so that was really special.
And the other thing is that I started to loose a bit of weight, slowly but steadily. I just hope to keep it up or should I say down as that is the way I want my weight to go!

On to the beauty side of things.

I discovered what I think is one of the best brands around. Illamasqua had been a brand that quite scared me to be honest. All bright colours and Dramatic make up that I would not put anywhere near my face, never judge a book by its brightly coloured cover! I just happened to drop by their counter and was having a nosey when what must be the nicest MUA persuaded me to grab a pew. I explained in a panic that I am very safe and neutral with my make up and all I was really looking for was a foundation for a wedding. I had pictures of walking away looking like one of the billboards that advertise the brand.
How wrong I was. Yes they do love the more dramatic look because at the end of the day they are looking for your alter ego but I must say that visit changed my view on myself. I know that it a big claim to make, however this M.U.A made me feel a million dollars. Not only did she make me realise I have some good features after all but I also came away knowing that I can wear that statement lip or more than one coat of mascara without feeling like a little girl who got caught in her mum's make up draw.
I walked away with what sealed the deal for me, Illamasqua's Skin Base. I am going to be doing a full review when the light is good enough to take pictures because I don't want the effect to be lost.
Safe to say it is a dream to blend, the shade choice is one of the best I have ever seen and the finish on the skin is amazing. I find that I keep reaching for this day after day.
If you walk past a counter or are lucky enough to pop in to a store go and have a nosey, I promise you won't regret it!!

Finally My plans for 2012

Blog much more than last year is at the top of the list.
Keep reading the blogs that I love so much and watching the You tube channels.
Keep on with this weight thing, it can only be good for me.
Spending quality time with my Oz family

And finally... Meet Paul at the end of that aisle with the biggest smile on my face because I know our marriage will be amazing!!!

PS, You didn't think that I would forget to give a massive shout out to that amazing M.U.A did you?

Louise Westbrooke from Illamasqua Thank you!x

Take care
Sam xx


image by telegraph.co.uk