Day 4. Moisturiser

Technically this should have been posted yesterday, but shit happens so i'm doing it today instead.

Moisturizer is important, i think its safe to say we all know that (especially face moisturizer if you wear makeup a lot). But maby you can agree with me and maby you cant, but when you were a little younger applying makeup did you ever think to use it or spend your pocket money on moisturizer instead of that cool new shade of lipstick or a new eyeliner or a cd or game? Cause that's what i did until i was about 16-17.  
However, my friend began a beauty course and started practicing facials and what not and she began to highlight to me the importance of moisturizing and so i took it on board. 
But lets be honest here, i'm not the girl who is going to spend £20+ on a teeny tiny little pot of face cream. If i can get something affordable that works, i will! 
The first one i ever used was by tesco believe it or not and i was called Youth Protect by Skin Wisdom. It did the job, however i have naturally quite oily skin on my nose area and i found it made it worse so i ditched that moisturizer after id used the full pot. (waste not want not, right?)

Just because this moisturiser didn't work for me doesn't mean it wont for you.

Buy Skin Wisdom Here!

For the past few years I've been using a cheap and cheerful moisturizer that really does the job well. It is by Nivea Visage and it is a light day cream. I use it on a clean face in the morning before i apply makeup and i use it after i have gotten out of the shower, i have found that when i scrub my face and then put my hair up in a towel that when i get out of the shower my face can feel a little tight and irritated, especially along the brow/hair line. As soon as i apply this moisturiser, my skin feels lovely and soothed again. 

Buy Nivea Visage Day Cream here!

As for night creams, i think there is time enough for that when im 25+ but as for now i think i'm ok, considering i still get id'd for everything! (i got id'd for a baileys got chocolate last week!)

What do you guys use on your face? Do you like the day cream i use? Do you hate it? Do you think there is something better? Any tips? Let me know!

Day 03. My Makeup Brushes.

I'm personally not one for fancy expensive makeup brushes but the brushes i do have are good quality. Honestly, no word of a lie, most of my makeup brushes are out of Tescos and are by Barbara Daly. I bought a set of them for £15 and don't see anything wrong with them, i particular love the powder/blusher brush. I gave the foundation brush to my mum though and use a different foundation brush which i will discuss later. I also use the eyebrow and shadow brushes, but don't really use the lipstick brush.

I use a powder/bronzer brush that i bought years ago from Boot's but still does the job, again, nothing fancy.

My adore my foundation brush, i bought it earlier this year and its a Stippling brush from Boot's and its by Real Techniques. It is amazing to help blend foundation smoothly and  apply as lightly or as heavy as i wish. 

Buy my foundation brush here!

My final brushes are from the urban decay naked pallete and another urban decay pallete called Mariposa. They are pretty average flat eye shadow brushes.

My final eye shadow brush is a pencil brush which i got on amazon its by bedellium and i love it, its great for doing defined creases in the eyeshadow.

buy the pencil eyeshadow brush here!

These are the the only brushes i use and i used to use far less, as i've gotten older i've collected more and discovered what works for me best. 

What makeup brushes do you use? Do you use any of mine? Do you love or loathe them? Let me know! 

And always remember to wash your makeup brushes approximately every 7 time you use them (about once a week) with shampoo (baby shampoo is better) . 

Byee! Emma Xo

Day 2: Hair Routine.

My hair routine is pretty basic. I wouldn't know how to do an updo or curl my hair even if i tried. my hair is naturally very greasy (which is fricking annoying!) So really i try to avoid putting much to any product in it and try not to touch it too much.
First off a use a shampoo by Lush designed for people with naturally greasy hair called Jumping Juniper. Its a shampoo bar (looks like a bar of soap) and is specifically designed to 'get greasy hair jumping'.  I have done the run of all the shampoos out there that claim to help greasy hair and this is the only one that i have actually noticed a difference with. I wash my hair with it twice, simply by rubbing it in my hands like a bar of soap and putting my lovely lather of suds on my hair, it doesn't look like much in your hands, but once you rub it into your hair it turns into lots of lovely lavender and juniper smelling shampoo and leaves my hair (literally squeaky) clean! If i wash my hair right now, it would be greasy again by tomorrow morning and my fringe would need washed again, however since using jumping juniper my hair wont start looking greasy again until tomorrow night or even the next day which means i can get an extra day of not washing my hair (as washing your hair every day is bad for you and makes your hair greasier in the long run). So basically what im saying is that jumping juniper will give you about an extra day of a grease free head. Jumping Juniper costs about £5.50 and for me washing my hair every other day, one bar of shampoo lasts me about 2-3 months, which is great!

Buy Jumping Juniper shampoo here.

When it comes to conditioner, i honestly don't really have a preference, but as i have very think hair i will never choose one for thin lifeless hair. Due to my hairs natural greasiness i only ever put conditioner in the tips of the hair. For the past few months ive have been using Lush's American Cream conditioner for no other reason than i like the smell of it and its nice and thick to put into my hair. It smells of Strawberry, Vanilla  and sweet thick honey! Mmm! I'm currently trying to grow my hair and dead ends are always a hastle, ive noticed since ive used this conditioner its softened and sorted out my ends a little better. However, i am not in love with this conditioner, conditioner is conditioner at the end of the day, i don't put it anywhere near my scalp anyway. But what do you think of it? Have you tried it? Would you like too? Let me know what you think!

Buy American Cream Conditioner here!

As i said previously about my hair having dead ends, well, that's probably down to my own stupidity, last summer i dyed my hair bright red (which i loved) problem being even though it was permanent dye it washed out so quickly and with all the bleaching before i even began dying it red, i severely damaged my hair, so i dyed my hair brown again and haven't dyed it since. Although its pretty much recovered since then, here's the product that really helped me...Mythic Oil by Loreal. My hairdresser had used it in my hair and i recommended me to use it at home and i'm glad she did. It is a light, lush smelling oil that i put 2 small squirts of in my hair after its been towel dried. I do tend to try keep it to the ends of my hair and avoid the scalp. This oil helps the tangles in my hair, the smoothness of my hair and really helped the look and feel of the damage in my hair. My hair is now almost fully healthy apart from the ends and so i use this oil much less now, but it was a great investment, its nice to put a small bit in the hair once its dry and your read to go out to add an extra healthy boost of shine. 

Buy Mythic Oil here!

These are the only products i ever use in my hair. I usually blow dry my hair but dry it naturally if i have time (which takes hours due to my thick hair) I straighten my hair regularly but im trying to avoid it recently. I don't have a fancy pants hair dryer of straighteners, my hair dryer is by someone cheap, i think cost me about £20 and my straighteners are out of argos for £12 and i think they are my babyliss. I used to have GHD's but they exploded (yes, exploded!). 

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you thought and what other types of post you would like to see.

Byeee, Emma Xo 

Day 1: Favorite Face Treatment.

I thought i would start this blog off with a 30 day beauty related challenge to get the ball rolling. Day 1 is my favorite face treatment. 
Putting aside makeup i would have to say my favorite face treatment is Ocean Salt by Lush.

Buy Ocean Salt here

I use this every morning and in the shower, particularly after removing makeup. Ocean salt is essentially large chunks of salt combined with coconuts lime, grapefruit and shot of vodka! Its refreshing, fun and leaves your skin feeling lovely! 

I used to get quite a few spots but due to the salt working as an antiseptic not only does this product dramatically reduce the amount of spots i get, but also lets the ones i do get leave much faster!

Some people may wish to only use this 2-3 times a week as rough salt can be a little harsh on the skin and could dry out your skin if you are prone to dry skin. When in the shower i like to leave it on my face a little longer, you can feel it smart and sting ever so slightly on spots or breaks of the skin that you may have, but afterwards, redness will be dramatically reduced and your face will feel baby soft! I would recommend using moisturizer after using this product (but any girl knows that, eh?) 

It works so well with removing makeup too, after using my makeup wipes i wet my face with warm water and use this scrub, when i wipe it off with a facecloth, there is so much foundation on the facecloth, you would think i never took my makeup off to begin with! This is the ultimate face scrub to feel squeaky clean.

You know that feeling you get when you've had a long hot shower/bath, you put of fresh pajamas and get into your bed freshly made with nice crisp fresh bed sheets? That's what this scrub makes you're face feel like. (talk about lush!?)

Ocean Salt does look a little pricey but you don't need a large amount and i can tend to get my tub to last me 2-3 months. 

So that's my day 1 post, i hope i've helped anyone looking for a new face pick-me-up. 

Let me know what you use on your face? Do you like or loath ocean salt? 

Byee! Emma Xo

An Introduction.

Hi everyone, i thought i would start this blog with a bit of an introduction. My full name is Emma Catherine McCormick, but a lot of people call me 'Midge' (apparently i'm of the short variety). I'm 21 years young and i study Animation at University of Ulster Belfast and i am LOVING it! 

So rather than writing an essay i thought i would give you guys a few bullet points of things i hate, love, random facts and maby some things i would like to do with this blog, and its always open to suggestions :) 

10 things i love

1. animation
2. all things disney
3. animals of all kinds
4. tea
5. xbox
6. makeup
7. lush
8. art
9. chocolate
10. comics

10 things i hate

1. mushrooms (gross!)
2. when i get the best ideas right before i am about to fall asleep
3. homophobes
4. small mindedness
5. mornings
6. coffee
7. being in a rush
8. going upstairs on buses
9. needles
10. insects (especially spiders)

10 random facts about me

1. i live in Northern Ireland
2. i want to move to the US
3. i have a golden labrador  called Daisy and a 3 legged cat called Marvin
4. I am the 2nd person in Northern Ireland to survive my heart conditon
5. I have many illnesses and have had 14 surgeries
6. I live by Disney quotes 'if you dont have something nice to say, dont say nothing at all'.
7. i sing constantly, to the point were people do have to tell me to shut up.
8. Mcfly, Blink182 and Johnny Cash are my life.
9. I have a boyfriend called Niall and we have been together for 3 years
10. I adore Johnny Depp, Tom Hiddleston and Tom Hanks.

My Hopes and Dreams

My hopes and dreams are to one day live in America (or here if a decent animation studio ever opens up again). Work my way up to being a head Animator and doing what i love for a living. I hope to be married one day and start a family and be financially stable enough to afford a family holiday every year or two. 

So anyway, thats enough about me! Don't be afraid to tell me what your hopes and dreams are. I hope you will enjoy my blog and what is to come! Byee Emma Xo

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