The I bloody love Caroline Hirons post.

Ok First things first if you don't know who Caroline Hirons is then you need to start by clicking this ...https://www.carolinehirons.com

Ok great you're all caught up, well lets start by saying that not only is Caroline an expert in her field but she is also a genuinely lovely person , as far as I could tell from the 5 minutes of meeting her.  Yes I did actually set my real own eyes on her IRL! and if you're not impressed by that well then you should be.  I attended a Pixi Beauty event at M&S Newcastle and I felt like I was meeting a rockstar! I sat and listened as she answered basic skincare questions and from the host and then we got to line up and meet her afterward.  Plus if you spent £50 (I think, my affinity for numbers is non existent)  you got a signed Pixi Double cleanse, obviously I was a total sucker and filled up my basket for that little treat.

The thing about Caroline is she is so honest and sometimes brutally so that she has completely changed the Beauty and skincare game (for the better I might add) and she has helped de mystify the vastly confusing world of skincare.  What's good, bad, and just a load of BS , Caroline calls em like she see's em and that has become a much needed and refreshing take on reviewing products in the beauty world.

Thanks Corline , we love you x

The fave photos post

Lets face it this blog needs an update, the original photos from wayyyyy long ago blog posts are old and for lack of a better word SHIT , so heres some new pics to spruce up and just get back into it all.....

The new blog.

So this all begins at the end of my one week off work.  One week off it felt so needed and deserved, I couldn't wait for a normal wake up time, normal meaning that my phone alarm normally rudely awakens me at 4.30 or 5.30 am and therefore  a 'normal time' could be 7 or 8 , oh it sounded like such a luxury.  Day 5 though and I am bored , I've done Christmas shopping, caught up on all my favourite  tv, blogs, youtube channels and I've organised my bedroom within an inch of it's 'life'.

This does not fully explain my return blogging however, so my recent discovery of the Emma Guns podcast  has possibly been the real motivator.  I discovered this podcast (which I would highly recommend if you're interested in lifestyle, beauty, skincare and well, any of her wide array of guests) and soon found myself trawling through her back catalogue to listen to the interviews of some of my most loved Instagrammers  , for lack of a better word.

I've always been interested in blogs,vlogs etc but I always felt nervous to dip my own toe into the water.  I listened to Emma's interview with Fleur De Force and she mentioned that she often hears people say 'Oh i've always wanted to blog but it's too late now'  Meaning it's too late in their career it's too late in life etc etc.  Fleur argued that it was never too late.  So here I find myself giving it another go.  I think that a week away from work + reaching the end of my to do list + and feeling a deep burden of boredom and lack of inspiration has brought me to this blog.

I've given it a refresh and I have no idea how else I will continue with it but I feel like it's something I need to give another try.  It's probably gonna be a lifestyle, beauty, skincare and who knows what else kind of a blog, and even if nobody reads this it has at least filled up my day, and made me smile, and hopefully it will continue to have the same effect.

Here goes nothing, let the blogging commence.......

links mentioned

http://emmagunavardhana.com
https://www.fleurdeforce.com

Hero post #4 The hairbrush heroes

Hairbrush Heroes

So today I'm talking hair!

Now I'm a Geordie girl so I like like my hair BIG and  HIGH and thus I love me some Backcombing! So these brushes are my chosen ones for creating the BIGGEST BADDEST BACKCOMBIMG!!!  BOOM!!

but they are also good for a more subtle look too....


So first of all we have the Kent back combing beechwood hairbrush. This brush is a right little beauty.  Obviously it's designed for backcombing not detangling so it really does make a difference to your beehive.  It has three rows of natural and nylon bristles and the base and handle of the brush is beechwood so the whole thing is pretty sturdy.  I don't know how many times my brush has gotten tangled up in my intentionally tatty hair (do you say tatty ? I don't know if that's just a northern thing??).

It has a pointed end which is good for sectioning hair and a lovely little pattern on the back.  On the handle it says 'Love of beauty is taste.  The creation of beauty is art.' awwwww dead sweet ;) BUT this one is pretty expensive; about £9 you can get cheaper ones for only a couple of squid.  All available from Boots and John Lewis or online.  Also this brush ain't too small so it's a bit of a pain on a night out because it probably won't fit in your bag.  I don't know about you but I can't be bothered with giant bags , or worse giant clutch bags on a night out.  Now I love a good dance, to be honest it's my main priority on a night out so I have zero tolerance for literally clutching my bag all night.  I need those hands for exaggerated and way over the top dance moves thank you very much.

Next up it's the Tangle Teezer

I have had my Tangle Teezer for at least 4 years now and it's still going strong.  This brush was originally on Dragons Den where it was REJECTED sayyy whaaaatttt??  Butttt then Boots starting selling it so don't shed a tear for Mr Tangle Teezer I'm sure he is doing pretty well for himself right now.

This brush is fab for wet hair to detangle without the painful process I think we all recall, particularly from your childhood. You remember your mother or grandmother or just any woman who was older than you yanking what felt like your scalp off all in the name of tangle free hair.  I , not so fondly, recall having my hair "done" before a dance show.  The terrifying girl ,scraping and gelling my hair back into a very high bun, said 'just scream if I hurt ya alright?' hmm ok will do thanks!!!

Anyway .... this brush is also great for smoothing over your backcombing.  Hair faux pas : being able to she the tatty hair giving you all that height ! NOT OK!

The brush costs £10.99 but you can get loads of different versions, sizes, and designs so prices vary.

And that's a wrap on hairbrushes folks.  Let me know what you think and if you have any better suggestions.

Xoxoxo
MissMatched

Hero product post #3 Real techniques Brushes

Real Techniques Brushes

Well I don't really know what to say about these little gems , don't you just love them!!

I supose because I use them everyday I have I'm starting to forget what my make up application was like before them.  BRT (before Real Techniques) I , like many of you had a sort weird and random assortment of brushes.  I had two Mac brushes ; a 217 (OF COURSE) and a foundation brush, which i have had for so long that the number has worn off but it's the racoon looking one (you know the one , right?).  The rest of my brushes were just little random no7 ones or ones i had gotten free with magazines or inside make up palettes, nothing too fancy.

The pixiwoo girls changed all that, not only did they come up with a new product , but they made them all match in pretty colours, they came in sets so you got all the little fiddley brushes that you probably wouldn't have gone out of your way to buy.  Not only that but they sold them in Boots which means they are available to just about everyone, and they sold them at a very reasonable  price and at a high quality!  To top it all off they released videos telling you how to use each brush and all the different multitasking each brush could be used for.  How fantastic is that!

I,like most pixiwoo fans rushed out to buy the brushes, partly because I wanted to support the pixiwoo /Real Technique brand and I was very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the brushes.  I went from a few old nasty brushes to every brush a girl could need or dream of.  When you think of what was actually available before these girls spotted this gap in the market it begs the question why did it take this long?  Why could you only buy high end brushes in fancy department stores or cheap crappy brushes on the high street ? There was no middle ground ... and then there was Real Techniques!!

My favourite brushes include

The blush brush
It's just so soft and pretty and the perfect shape for lightly dusting on your blush.

The contour brush ( part of the core collection)
Because I LOVE a good contour , I have little to work with in the cheekbone department and yes sometimes I get a bit carried away with it but I do love to make Like Kim K and sculpt in some bone structure. (I also love the word Sculpt )

The Expert face brush
This is my most recent addition to the RT family and although I have only used it a handful of times I'm loving it so far!



So thanks Sam and Nic (first name basis, I wish) you have dramatically changed my make up collection for the better!!

xoxo
MissMatched

  

Hero product post #2 Benefit browzings!

Benefit brow zings

So we know eyebrows are a somewhat controversial issue. The scouse brows and to be honest a fair amount of Geordie brows have taken it a step to far but I would argue that we all need a bit of brow in our life.  Just imagine your face without them ...go on do it...yeah see what i mean!  So why did the brow trend come back into fashion I call up three main culprits: 

The Kate Middleton brow (classic, quite straight, natural and dark)

There's the famous Kardashian Brows (sculpted, strong, and dark) 

And then of course there's Cara Delevigne (strong, thick, often quite unruly and dark)

What do all of these beauties and their brows have in common ? 

Well probably not that much really other than their DARK brows.  Yes they are all Beautiful women their make up and style while vastly different is all flawless and highly thought of in the fashion world.  However just because they have dark brows doesn't mean you should too!!

Personally I feel my brows have had some high points and some low points.  Flicking through my Facebook pictures I can see just how important they are in finishing your look.  There was the time in high school where I tried to shave the middle part instead of tweezing (as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman 'BIG MISTAKE , HUGE!')  There was the time I got them threaded and they were far to short and skinny (Always look at the brows of the woman coming towards you with that thread in her mouth, if hers are barley there then be prepared to loose yours too).  Then there was my discovery of brow products where I inevitably got rather over excited and they were far too Cara, and not in a good way!!

When I was first informed by whichever magazine it was that "Brows are in!!" I bought a Lancome eyebrow pencil which was great, especially when just getting used to seeing myself with a half decent set of brows on my face.  You know when you first try a bright lipstick, or the first time you tried on skinny jeans and you get a bit of a shock. Then there's that awkward thing where everyone compliments your new look and you think 'are they just saying that because they can't stop staring at this lipstick I don't suit, or my giant thighs in these jeans?  Are they just complimenting me as a justification for their staring at how hideous I look??!!'

So the brow pencil was good, but after watching various YouTube videos on how to 'do your brows' I was introduced to using shadow to fill in the gaps.  So once again I dashed off to Boots and hovered around the Benefit counter until I was pounced on by a Benefit Babe.  She did all of my make and sold me a load of stuff I probably didn't need but with it the brow zings was in my basket and forever  my brows where changed.

Above: see my rather worn out Benefit brow zings palette -much loved

Now sometimes I use the powder , sometimes I use the wax some times both and sometimes I use a little brow mascara too!  It's completely up to you, but whatever you do keep them natural because there's nothing worse than being overshadowed by your own eyebrows!!! (thats a lie there are plenty of worse things in the world but in the realm of this blog post we shall overlook the rest)

Above: rather grubby looking but still does the job , those sausages on the right are my fingers which I just smudged into the product.

As for the product itself , I love that this comes in different shades and it's one of those products which gives you options and the chance to build up the colour or keep it light. The packaging is neat and classic and it comes with a teeny tiny pair of tweezers.  What more do you want!!!

What brow products do you love? Have you found something better?

Let me know!

xoxo

MissMatched   

Hero product post #1 Lipcote

Lipcote Lipcote Lipcote !!!!

I seriously can't get enough of the stuff! Well that's actually a  lie because I think that whole everything in moderation thing definitely applies here!

So my discovery of this absolute HERO of a product started back in my university days.  I'm the kind of girl that figured out how to put my make up on using YouTube.  I must have spent hours in front of my computer screen, waiting for our crappy internet to load up videos.   Teaching me how to do just about everything to my face, using my boots budget products and my few little specials from the haven we know as MAC.  Buying Mac products also gave me an excuse to wonder around in awe at all the beauties of Harvey Nichols.  Trying to pretend I could afford things and occasionally splashing out on eyeshadows in all the colours of the Macrainbow (yep I just invented a new word Macrainbow, say it quickly and it sounds legit ).

Anyway I think I can say that I got pretty good at the eye make up thing; I mastered the liquid liner flick and then progressed onto gel liner.  I figured out how to contour in my wannabe Kim K cheekbones,  I figured out brows .  But the lips , the lips always evaded me.!!!

These make up tutorials were/are all good and fine, I would do my make up and then leave to go out , to uni, for dinner(not very often I am still referring to the student days after all) or most often then not for a night out.  all of these activities, most specifically the later required me to drink , eat , sing, dance and often smush sloppy kisses on the cheeks of my long suffering friends (What can I say we all get more affectionate after a few , don't we?)  Therefore I had little time for reapplying make up "topping up lipgloss" or "powdering my nose" (why do people say that its not my nose that needs powdering, it's my greasy forehead i'll have you know!).

Therefore most of my make up looks are based on the idea that they will last all day or night.  You know what it's like when you look through the photos from the night before or worse you see the ones  on the Facebook page of whichever club you partied in.  You are already mortified by what you are doing, which dance move you clearly though was hilarious , or how the outfit you chose was really not so flattering on camera. You don't need to be looking at your ugly mug thinking 'Oh goodness why on earth didn't I powder my nose/forehead' or worse 'oh my lipstick is smudged all over my face, FANTASTIC!'.

I'm getting to point I promise !

I stayed away from lipsticks as I couldn't be arsed with the upkeep and I often go with either all eyes or all lips (which is the face equivalent of cleavage or legs, my mother always says it's one or the other if you get them both out then it looks cheap, she's a wise woman!!)  BUT ! I was reading a Marion keys book which featured my very conundrum as some sort of subplot, this woman was always searching for a lipstick that stayed in place!  And all of a sudden brainwave, the dots connected, the lightbulb flashed LIPCOTE!!! For years I had seen the adverts in the back of magazines ( you know the ones! the ones for sarongs, bras to make your breast grow, pelvic toners?? and of course LIPCOTE)  so off i trotted to boots armed with hope and my advantage card and discovered the wonder of Lipcote!!

All of a sudden my lipstick collection multiplied tenfold!!(what does tenfold actually mean??)  Now that's not to say I don't use a lip pencil because for me it's as important as my Mac paint pot primer AKA DEAD IMPORTANT VITAL EVEN!! But Lipcote is a saviour for me ! My lipstick barely leaves a mark on my glass and it most definitely lasts All Night Long , All Night, All Night!!(sing it with me guys!)

In conclusion !

If you have a similar issue then I urge you to invest in Lipcote.  Now I wouldn't use it everyday because it does dry your lips out and I am sceptical about what exactly is in it? Nevertheless it WORKS for me.  It's best for a matte lipstick and and lets be generous with it but other than that it's a winner for me and a Hero product indeed!!

Here are the pics to prove it!  

 Above: Just applied lipstick and lipcote10am

 Mac lip liner in Brick and Mac Ruby Woo lipstick and Lipcote

 FYI Lipcote is a clear liquid mine has seen better days to say the least

    Several hours later.....

Oh and one last thing! you can get Lipcote online or at Boots , it's in the aisle where the false lashes and make up brushes or nail varnish is :)

Let me know if you are a fan of Lipcote or if you have an alternative product !

XOXO MissMatched

Hero products post

So after writing a post about mac paint pots (and my favourite shade being that of painterly) I have decided to start writing a series of posts on my Hero products.

What defines a Hero product?

Well to me a Hero product is a product which absolutely solves a problem! Be that in skincare or a priming or fixing product. Perhaps it's a colour of lipstick that is very complimentary colour for your skin tone or maybe it's a mascara that just works for you. Whatever it is, it's the one you always go back to , the plain old favourite , the trusty secret weapon and the one you recommend to all your friends ( or just anyone who will listen)😀

So watch this space for my ten Hero products and let me know what your favourites are! 

Xoxoxo

MissMatched 

Estée Lauder doublewear foundation review

Soooo today I went to get my make up done at Estée Lauder.  To be honest I was expecting a slightly more exciting look but really I just got a chat about skin care and foundation. As underwhelming as the whole experience was it worked I came away with a make up remover cleanser and new found belief in Estée Lauder foundation.  I am actually a bit annoyed as well as it has made me doubt my current foundation ( bare minerals matte in fairly medium).

The above shots were taken several hours after the foundation was applied and I was really surprised about how good the coverage was. My skin normal feels oily around my chin later on in the day but as you can see here Estée is holding her own.  Now I must say I am wearing a primer underneath which I think could be doing a lot of the work here in terms of keeping a matte finish to my skin.  

I'm wearing double wear 2c3 fresco and matte perfecting primer 

Here I am again after at least 8 or 9 hours of wear,  the lighting is not daylight which is why I look so pink. You can see that other than a bit of shine on my forehead my skin is still looking matte and this is without powdering my foundation which I would normally do.

Overall I am really impressed with this foundation. It has a higher coverage than my bare minerals foundation so I like the Idea of using my bare minerals on a day to day basis and then using the Double wear for nights out or for occasions where I want a more finished glam look.

What are your favourite high coverage foundations? Are you a big Estée Lauder fan? Do you use double wear? Let me know I'd love to hear from you 

Xoxoxo MissMatched  

My skin care picks

Well there is a lot to be said on skin care but I often think there is not enough said on what's out there for those of us with oily skin.  Why is that I wonder ? Is oily skin any more weird or non-glamourous than dry skin? I feel like people are constantly telling us to drink water and not eat greasy food , that we should all moisturise and that if we follow these rules we will miraculously look like a supermodel with flawless skin.  

We'll I have news for you honey I've tried all the above ,and below, and so far I have found no magic cure!

But I have tried and tested some skin care options which I have reviewed below ....

 First up its Clinique anti blemish solutions

Clinique are known first and foremost for their skin care so it's a brand that we trust with our faces possibly more so than any other cosmetic brand.  They are long standing and the white lab coats (which obviously mean science !!) are a nice touch and representation of the brand image.

Clinique do a foaming cleanser toner and moisturiser as well as various other anti blemish products.  I used this line for several years and for the most part I was happy with the results but I moved onto something different after getting frustrated with paying a large amount of money and still getting blemishes.  I think these products are good as they taught me about looking after my skin, but they are expensive.

Next up I tried something a lot stronger .....

PanOxyl or Oxy10 are products which can only be bought over the counter.  I first used the cream which I would apply followed by some moisturiser or primer and then my foundation.  This stuff is good; it dries and keeps skin forensically clean and I'm not going to lie I ranted and raved to my friends ,and anyone who would listen, about this product.  I was very happy with the results but it is so strong that I worried about what it was actually doing to my skin. It can bleach your sheets or clothes and you have to be very carefull not to get it on or in your mouth or eyes.  There is some sort of manufacturing problem with it as far as I know it's very difficult to get a hold of but I managed to find this face wash version in a drug store in America.  

My current faves in the skin care world are all about The Body Shop

So far so good 

I'm loving this whole range at the moment really really loving it.  That doesn't mean I won't change my mind and it certainly doesn't mean it's a miracle cure.  But for now and for me it's a winner.  It smells lovely, tea tree is lush , for me it cleans tones and moisturises whilst keeping the oil at bay. I must admit that ocassionally it is a little too drying but some exfoliation and light moisturiser sorts that out no bother. Overall a big hit!!!

What do you think does anyone else have any suggestions ? Have you tried any of these products? I would love to know if there are any other big skin care hits for those of us with skin with a bit of a sheen to it!! 

Xoxoxo 

MissMatchedSocks91  

Mac Paint pot in painterly

So let's just take a second to talk about my most treasured cosmetic product. 

It's the mac paint pot in painterly . I've been using this product for a long time and honestly I swear by it.  I apply a bit of painterly onto my eyelids using my ring finger before applying my eye shadow. 

The paint pots come in a variety of colours and finishes to suit different skin shades or to use as a cream eye shadow.  I use my paint pot almost everyday and it still lasts at least 6 months before I have to buy a new one.  They don't just last all year either try all day!! Using this under my eyeshadow means it stays put all day , and night, without it smudging or fading away throughout the day.  So if you have a problem with your eyeshadow sliding about on your lids then I urge you to give it a try.

I know some people are all about the urban decay primer potion, but I've been so happy with the paint pot that I have never felt the need to try anything else .  Some people find the urban decay packaging frustrating as it's difficult to get the product out of the end of the bottle .

So what do you think ? is anyone else a big fan of the paint pot ? Or does anyone feel like trying it after I have just bogged. It up so much? Let me kmow , I would love to hear your thoughts ! 

Oooooo nothing like a fresh new paint pot!! Till next time peeps !! Xoxoxoxoxox