TOP 5 BEAUTY DON'TS

1

Don't sleep in your makeup

We all know this one. I can honestly say I've only left my makeup on overnight twice and it was awful; I woke up feeling as if I'd slept with a mask on and the very next day I broke out.

Your skin needs time to breathe and repair itself, just like the rest of you, sleep is the time for this.

Get yourself some makeup wipes and take that stuff off your face before bed!

2

Don't share your makeup

This one's difficult, especially if you're going on a night out and your mate's forgotten her mascara, but sharing makeup is an ideal way to swap germs and infections.

3

Don't forget sun lotion

The best way to keep your skin (and youth) in good condition is by regularly applying sunblock in the summer months.

I'd recommend getting a special sun cream for your face as the chemicals in regular ones can cause a reaction. Also look into investing in a foundation/BB cream with a decent SPF.

4

Don't squeeze spots

I've been there, I know it can be beyond tempting, especially when you have an important event coming up, but squeezing spots can not only be sore, it can cause infection and encourage scarring.

5

Don't skimp on the water

Okay, I know this is more of a 'do' but I'm running out, alright?
I'm really bad at this one.

Drink plenty of water, around 2 litres or more if you sweat a lot, for example through exercise or if it's been a hot day. 
It's good for your skin, body and overall well-being. 

BEAUTY TIP: BLOTTING

If you want to make your lip product stay on for as long as possible, especially if it's a bright colour, I've got a tip that I've learnt along the way which really helps.

Obviously apply a primer if you feel necessary, I don't usually but this is just personal preference.

Apply one coat of your product, let it sink in for a minute, then use a clean (dur...) tissue to blot away any excess product that hasn't sunk into the lips.

Once this is blotted away (careful not to transfer any of the product from the tissue onto your face, I've done this too many times), apply another coat of the product. As with the first coat, let this sink in for a bit and then blot away.

I usually then apply another coat and blot very lightly to keep a bit of gloss to the product.

Blotting not only makes the lipstick last longer but also makes it appear more vibrant, as it creates a base - like a primer - for the product to stick to and therefore enhance the pigment.

EVERYDAY GO-TO NATURAL MAKEUP TUTORIAL

I thought  I'd share my current 'go to' makeup that I just quickly slather on before I go out somewhere during the day. Obviously, my 'go to' evening makeup is somewhat different, but that's for another tutorial.

Skin

On my face, I use Rimmel Match Perfection Liquid Foundation with Rimmel's Stay Matte Powder over the top, which is looking increasingly 'well-loved'. I then use Urban Decay's Naked Flushed Blush Palette to contour, blush and highlight my cheeks.

Eyes

After using Urban Decay's Primer Potion to prime my eyes, I cover my lid with Urban Decay's Sin. This looks pretty boring in the pan but is actually a really pretty, shimmery nude and really brightens up the eye. I make sure to use it underneath my eyes to attract the light and make them look more awake.

I then blend Tease from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette into the crease and outer edge of my lower lid. Tease is a matte taupe and perfect for contouring the eye subtly.

Use your usual highlighter in the inner corners of your eye and your brow bone (I use Anonymous by Urban Decay).

I've also taken to filling in my brows with Busted, also from the Naked 2 Palette. I'm naturally quite fair (I obviously dye my hair black) and dark brown seems to be a happy medium between my natural brow colour and black.

I then use a white eyeliner for my bottom waterline, tightline my upper waterline with black to thicken the 'lash line, and use eyeliner pen on my top 'lash line.

Lips

Use your choice of nude-pink lipstick, mine is Pink in the Afternoon by Revlon. For a really quick day-to-night look, add a brighter lipstick, such as OCC's Lip Tar in Super-NSFW or Vintage.

URBAN DECAY: SUPER-SATURATED HIGH GLOSS LIP COLOUR: F-BOMB (£14)

As ever, I was excited to try an Urban Decay product that I hadn't tried yet. I'm not at all familiar with their lip products so this was a completely new experience but I ended up ultimately disappointed.

Urban Decay's Super-Saturated Lip Colour, as with most of their products, comes in pencil form. I have no problem with this, as it's actually pretty hygienic. You use the top layer of product on the pencil and can sharpen before/after every use; it also allows you to share it between friends hygienically and assists with application.

The product is smooth, glossy and creamy, not quite as pigmented as I'd like, but after recently reviewing OCC Lip Tars and Rimmel's Apocalips range, I appreciate my standards might be a bit high and the colour payoff is still really decent.

The colour wasn't exactly what I imagined. The name F-Bomb, as well as the colour of the pencil itself suggested more of a primary, bombshell red rather than the blue-red that it was, but that could just be me being picky again.

What honestly disappointed me though was the staying power. This stuff had almost completely come off after around two drinks and that's not long at all compared to a lot of the products I've tried, which stay on all night. Again, I know I may be spoiled since I've gotten used to using Lip Tars and nowhere does it say that these pencils are supposed to be long-wearing. I guess I just expected a company which constantly churns out perfect, long-lasting products to come up with something a little bit more... well... long-lasting.

Saying this, I would purchase another. I like the way this draws on and feels on my lips; I think it's a great product for having in your handbag if you're on the move, since you barely need a mirror to apply it. I think I just expected too much and hope that Urban Decay releases a 24/7 lip range (other than their lip liner pencils) sometime soon!

BEAUTY TIP: LIP MOISTURISER

I thought it'd be cool, since I'm blogging more, to come up with a series of short, snappy blogs with simple beauty tips.

Now we all know we have to moisturise our face and body, right? But no one ever tells us how important it is to moisturise our lips. Our lips are extremely sensitive and need just as much care as the rest of us.

Lip balms and chap sticks tend to be a bit of a con, as they only give temporary relief and some even contain ingredients which dry our lips out more so that we have to keep using the product and therefore buy more.

This is why I seriously recommend getting a lip moisturiser. I've been using Blistex Intensive Moisturiser for over a month now and my lips are in the best condition they've ever been. They're not dry, they don't peel and it makes lip products go on smoother. It's even better to use a lip moisturiser with an SPF to protect your lips from the sun, since that's something else we tend to neglect.

STATEMENT NECKLACE: SPIKES

As a huge fan of statement jewellery, I've previously written blogs on my some of my statement rings and bracelets. When starting my third and final installment on Necklaces, I realised I have so many interesting pieces that I'd like to share them with you separately so that I don't bore you with one long necklace essay.

I bought this necklace around six months ago from New Look in the sales. It was a bit of a gamble, since it's freakin' massive and I couldn't think of a single thing in my wardrobe that it would go with, but it was too eye-catching to walk away from.

I have a love-hate relationship with this piece and spiky necklaces in general. I used to have a spiked dog collar when I was a teenager and - no exaggeration - the spikes must've been at least 3 inches long. Some days I loved it and would wear it out, some days I hated it and would throw it back in my jewellery box(/bag, at the time).

This piece is no different. Some days I'll put on an outfit and it'll ache for a statement necklace like this; something plain and simple that needs jazzing up. Then, some days, I'll go to put this on and hate it, think it hangs down too low on my chest and believe it looks ridiculous.

With statement jewellery, sometimes this is a good thing. If an item of jewellery goes with everything and blends into the background, what sort of statement is it making?

FOREVER REPURCHASE

In direct contrast to my Don't Believe The Hype blog post last week, in which I showed you the beauty products I definitely would not be repurchasing any time soon, I thought I'd show you that I'm not completely miserable and share with you some of the products that I buy again and again.

I'm hoping, as with the other post, this will be an ongoing thing and I can add more and more products to my 'can't live without' list.

I'm just going to jump right in with the face wipes I've been using since I was a kid, Simple Cleansing Wipes. These remove makeup well whilst being gentle on skin and come in a range of different types including exfoliating. 

They're around £4 for a big pack, which is pretty much the going rate with face wipes but I'm always finding them on sale. They also have a really nice, light scent, which I like since I don't like putting really smelly stuff on my face.

I love this conditioner by Lush so much that I actually just went scanning through my blog convinced I'd written a review on it.

American Cream is not the cheapest conditioner in the world (£14.25/500g) but it's left my hair in the best condition it's ever been in. It doesn't contain all the substances that regular conditioners use to make your hair feel soft and smooth straight after washing. These don't actually help your hair, they just give you an immediate result so that you repurchase their product and think it's doing the job. This is not the case with American Cream, in fact, apart from the delicious vanilla scent it gives off, I couldn't see much right with it when I first used it. However, after a few months of using it and coincidentally using up my first medium bottle, I was hooked and went straight onto the Lush website to order the big bottle.

It makes my hair feel amazing, calming the frizz that my naturally curly hair seemed to constantly have, and smells gorgeous. I simply can't imagine my hair care routine without it.

This product I have definitely already written a review of! Another item from Lush, their Ocean Salt facial scrub is to die for. Again, I was originally taken in by the fresh, zesty scent and after several uses, my skin was softer, smoother and brighter. As ever with Lush, it's not the cheapest product (£12.95/250g) but most good facial scrubs are rarely less than this. I've gone through about 4 large pots of this stuff over the last year, so if that doesn't speak for itself, I don't know what does.

This wouldn't be any sort of favourites list of mine without an Urban Decay product on here, but instead of the eyeliners or eye shadows that I usually rave about, I picked their Primer Potion. I'm on my second tube of this stuff in two years (considering it's £15, it's well worth the money) and I use this a few times a week, so it really lasts. 

Primer is important; it helps your eye shadow stick and also makes the pigment in it stand out so you can really get your money's worth and, after always using Urban Decay's primer, I've never felt the need to look elsewhere.

I hope to be adding to this list pretty soon, as I've found several products recently that I'm completely in love with, but I didn't want to add them to a repurchase list without having actually repurchased them. 

Use what works for you and stick with it. Remember, if it ain't broke don't fix it!