April Favourites...

Hello beautiful people,

    As I have mentioned in previous posts I would love to start a Youtube Channel but I don't think I am ready to yet, however I can hide behind my keyboard and adopt some of the ideas from beauty channels so here are some of my favorite products that I have been loving in the month of April...

   First up is the Vaseline healthy hands + strong nails hand cream, this has been complete rehab for my hands and nails. I had acrylic nails at the end of March and my nails were so weak, constantly breaking and just in generally bad condition so I began massaging the healthy hands cream into my hands and nails each morning and night and it has completely changed my nails! They are in so much better condition and my baby soft hands are a complete bonus definitely would recommend if you can get your hands on it!

Next is a Sinful Colors Polish another nail product however this is a nail polish in the shade 'Hazard' which is a beautiful neon coral colour. I am a huge fan of the Sinful Colors Collection available at Boots they are such good quality for £1.99 and the range of colours is amazing. This shade in particular is great for spring and looks amazing especially with darker skin tones or a tan. 

A brand new product that I picked up on a complete whim that I've fallen in love with is the Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin Foundation. I needed a drugstore foundation to throw on when i didn't feel like using up my precious MAC Studio Fix Fluid and the Better Skin foundation is the perfect alternative. It claims to give you better looking skin in 3 weeks and I believe it has done this as I've been receiving lovely compliments on how flawless my skin looks when wearing this foundation. It applies really well with an in between dewy and matte finish and stays put for a good 6-8 hours! Well worth trying out in your local Boots.

To apply the Better skin foundation I have been loving using the Real Techniques Stippling Brush this month. The dual fiber make up of the brush allows you to work products into the skin and achieve the most flawless finish. Another brilliant buy from the Real Techniques range although I am yet to find a brush from them that I don't love.

Under my all of my foundations this moth I have been loving using the L'oreal Paris Studio Secrets Professional smoothing resurfacing primer. This little pot has been an absolute treat to use and gives the most perfect smooth base for make up. After suffereing from regular break outs foundations were clinging to all the wrong places but this primer has completely changed that and everything now sits just as it should on the skin! 

The last of this months favorites I'd like to talk about is a new candle i purchased in April and haven't stopped burning it since which is by www.lily-flame.co.uk and it is the Rhubarb! (And, of course...custard!) This candle just transports me back to an old fashioned sweet shop and smells exactly like the sweets if you do not like sweet smells it is definitely not for you but I am in love mmmm!

So thats everything I have been loving this month feel free to leave anything you have been loving in the comments below and I hope you have enjoyed this style of post!

Bye for now,
                      Ash
                              x

Brush up...

Hello beautiful people,

    Now, for us girls make up is part of our daily routine and for many of us the thing we take most care over choosing is the actual product itself. However, since really getting into make up I have realized that the tools we use to apply the products has a huge effect on just how good the product looks on and although we all know the phrase a good craftsman never blames his tools, they certainly do help if you use the right ones!

   I am not usually one for jumping on 'hype bandwagons' but I have found an exception in the form of Real Techniques brushes! They are just God's gift to anyone with a face really and seeing as that includes most of us they are pretty damn good. When I purchased my first high end foundation the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation I just thought "oh ill just rub that bad boy in with my trusty fingers and it will be fine" but no! After being persuaded by my friend to buy the Core Collection brush set and I am in love! Never again will I apply my foundation with my fingers! 

Bye for now,
                      Ash 
                              x

Prime time...

Hello beautiful people,
    
   In my first blog post I mentioned how I have recently learned many new things about make up and the use of products I didn't even know existed; one of these is primer! I have to admit thought it was one of those products older women  used to stop the inevitable wrinkles or something along those lines however when make up shopping with my friend M I purchased my first high end foundation the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation and I was so excited to use it! M knows so much more about make up than me and recommended that it would look even better if used with a primer and so I purchased the Bourjois Paris Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer which has now become one of my holy grail products!

   Primers are meant to act as a layer between the skin and foundation to create a more even surface to work with. Not everyone needs them but for someone who is very oily or has a lot of scarring from acne such as myself the difference from using primer to not using it is amazing(many primers are mattifying too which helps shine control)! Foundation goes on so much more flawlessly and make it last so much longer; which if i am spending over £20 on a foundation it is vital that it does stay put! 

    Although the main role of primer is to create a beautiful finish to your base makeup, they have many other benefits such as evening out skin tone, hydrating the skin and reducing breakouts. There are certain ingredients to look out for when splashing out on a primer to make sure it does all the things you want it to or that it says it does...
     For example: 

Cyclomethicone is a silicone grease reducing ingredient

Dimethicone crosspolymer protects the skin 

Retinyl palmitate  reduces flaking and restores suppleness

Tocopheryl acetate is a skin conditioning antioxidant

Propylene glycol is a moisturizer

   I hope you have learned more about primers and I have no idea what I was even thinking when I just used to slap foundation across my face without a proper base coat of primer and I will definitely not be skipping this step in the future!
      Bye for now,
                           Ash
                                  x

Getting to know me...

Hello beautiful people, 

     As i have just started this blog i thought it would be a good idea to let you into a few secrets about me before we get into more specific posts so i am going to do a 25 facts about me!

 Just a little disclaimer if you want to run away after hearing some of these facts i completely understand...

1. I am completely addicted to pancakes and have them pretty much most days because i refuse to wait until pancake day (ain't nobody got time fo dat!)

2. I have 7 half siblings in total (only 3 live with me)

3. My nose can be pressed completely flat against my face...yes i do have a bone there and no i don't know why it can do that

4. I only wear pretty much 3 colours of clothing; black white and red...is this normal?

5.I have an unhealthy obsession with magazines and my collection is huge 

6. I love all things politics and Boris Johnson is one of my favorite people ever

7. I get loads of my clothes and accessories from charity shops, second hand stores and car boot sales 

8. I have boy short hair purely because i don't like hair so i have as little as possible

9. I have a fear of spoons any bigger than teaspoon size

10. I have only been abroad twice in my life for a total of 4 days 

11. I am the clumsiest person ever honestly I knock everything over all the time 

12. i don't care what anyone thinks i love Miley Cyrus

13. I get anxious if i don't have nail varnish on 

14. I have awful eyesight & always have worn glasses/contact lenses since I was about 8/9 

15. I am a coffee person mmm espesh Dowe Egberts!

16. I am a scout and proud

17. I cannot sneeze...I just make this weird little 'tsse' noise instead

18. I can do a great impression of Nessa from Gavin and Stacey

19. I am probably the messiest, most disorganised person you will ever meet

20. I can't go without watching Sherlock, Eastenders, F.R.I.E.N.D.S or Gavin and Stacey

21. I am a self-confessed Potterhead ,not a drug addict, but completely well obssesed doesnt even cover it but in love with all things Harry Potter 

22. I love tattoos and piercings and i think they are beautiful way of expressing yourself

23. I wear red lipstick most days 

24. I am part Bajan I don't know how much but its in there somewhere

25. The previous fact probably has something to do with the fact i cannot go a day without eating something chicken related, bring me a Nandos and we can be friends!

So, there you go there are some random facts and i hope you've learned more about and if you are still reading this i assume you have no been weirded out by my spoon phobia! but anyway i hope you enjoyed this getting to know me sesh!

          Bye for now,

                               Ash

                                      x

Feel the fear and do it anyway...

Hello beautiful people,

   

   My Name is Ashleigh-Jade, I am 16 years old and I'm from Northamptonshire, England and I am just trying to find my way in the world... 

Now that Take Me Out style introduction is out of the way...welcome to my brand new blog!

   I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now and my motto is 

"Feel the fear and do it anyway"

and therefore I just went for it even though I'm terrified it will be rubbish and not even I would want to read it! The reason i have started this blog is because I have always taken an interest in fashion and beauty and have gone out of my way to ensure I look different from others and put my own spin on current trends but recently beauty has also become a huge interest for me and i cannot get enough of Youtubers like Zoella, Tanya Burr and Becca Rose! Now, I wish I had the confidence to start a Youtube channel but it seems most of the previously mentioned people began with beauty blogs therefore I will stick to blogging but who knows what the future may bring.

    So as I said I have begun to get very interested in make up and to be honest I thought I used to do my make up quite well and it looked decent enough...I now realize the make up I used to do this time last year was pretty much just face paint in comparison to what I know now! I had no idea what primer was, contouring was a complete alien concept and curling my eyelashes seemed like a method of torture. This is one of the many things in a long list of things that come with being a girl; the idea that you are just supposed to know how to apply make up without any previous training as soon as you hit thirteen, we laugh now but we all went through the completely orange stage with so much blusher it looked as if we were constantly mortified and a bad case of three lash (my own personal term for when a girl has used so much mascara her eyelashes have clumped together to form only three thick eyelashes on each eye...beautiful).
       
    It seems it was obvious to many but I have only just discovered that there are wonderful people on Youtube to educate us mere amateurs on beauty hints and how to's and I have come to the conclusion that I am not the only on in the world who didn't know these methods and therefore each week I will be posting make up, beauty or fashion hints and tips that I have learned along with product reviews and the odd lifestyle post if I'm feeling philosophical. If you have any suggestions or anything you would like to see a post on leave it in the comments below and ill get on it ASAP!
     
    Bye for now, 
                         Ash
                                x