October Favourites

(From L to R: Yves Rocher Rouge Lipstick - Dove Firming Body Lotion - MAC Pro Longwear Foundation - Victoria's Secret Wild & Breezy Body Lotion - OPI Nail Polish in Bubblegum - Anatomical Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub)

♥ Yves Rocher Lipstick in 'Rouge' - I received this lipstick in the latest Glossybox and have been hooked ever since. It's great to wear for an evening out and adds a touch of Hollywood glamour to your look. What I love the most about this is that it is probably one of the most hydrating lipsticks I have ever come across, like ever. 

♥ Dove Firming Body Lotion - Okay, I admit it. My diet which I done oh so well on has gone kaput, but Monday is always diet day! Although I'm sceptical as to whether this genuinely tones the skin in 'problem areas', it is so moisturising and makes my skin feel amazing afterwards. 

♥ MAC Pro Longwear Foundation NC30 - I decided to part ways with my trusty MAC Studio Fix as it just wasn't working with my skin type any longer. And I'm so glad I did! This stays put all day and isn't an oily formula which keeps me shine free all day. I'll be doing a more detailed review on this sometime soon, so check back!

♥ Victoria's Secret PINK Wild & Breezy Body Lotion - Who doesn't love a bit of Victoria's Secret?! Ever since the two stores opened in London I've been hooked. I picked up this body lotion wit the matching body mist and always get a compliment how fresh and fruity I smell. Winning!

♥ OPI Nail Lacquer in Bubblegum - I love a pale pink nail polish! After my beloved Pale Pink by Models Own ran out I decided to treat myself to an OPI polish. They real are the Rolls Royce of the nail polish world! So pigmented and the brush is a bigger size which makes application a dream. 

♥ Anatomical Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub - Again, I received this in last months Glossybox and I have been hooked. I recently swapped sunbeds for St Moritz and this preps my skin so well. I may even say better than Soap and Glory's 'Flake Away', which if you know the product, is so hard to beat.

What have been your favourite products from October?

♥

Benefit Brows A-Go-Go Brow & Eye Shaping Kit

Hi Ladies! Just a quick one from me today to show you all my latest purchase from Benefit, 'Brows A-Go-Go'. I'm a little OCD when it comes to eyebrows as I like them to be dark and defined, I find it really makes all the difference to your sort of everyday make-up look. In the past I've absolutely loved using the infamous HD Brows palette but decided to switch it up a bit when I came across this. I was in Boots in Westfield and if you've ever been you'll know that you can really get lost in there, and the beauty blogger in you can just go wild!

I apologise for the awful camera quality. My mum has insisted she takes my camera with her to Amsterdam so my iPhone had to do! I was oomphing and aahing over several things from Benefit as their products are just to die for. The packaging, the overall customer service and of course the product itself. I picked up Brows A-Go-Go as I'd just had my eyebrows threaded the day before and was feeling spontaneous and thank goodness I did! I truly believe I've found a new 'holy grail' product. For £26.50 it comes with two shades of brow powder, eyebrow wax to keep stray hairs at bay, a brow bone highlighter, an eye brightener, mini eyeliner, a cute pair of tweezers and a double ended brush for application. I also think the little make-up lesson book that comes with it is oh so cute and a really nice touch.

♥ Eyebrow Powders - The lighter shade is a medium-dark taupe brown, while the darker brow shade is a dark chocolate brown with subtle red undertones. Sometimes if I fancy a more defined brow I mix the two together for a darker effect.

♥ Eyebrow Wax - The wax is a cross between the two, not too light and not too dark. It keeps strays hairs away, so it's time for me to put the Vaseline away!

♥ Black Kohl Liner - I will never stray from my trusty Rimmel Kohl eyeliner as nothing I've found has ever topped it! This one felt a little scratchy on the waterline and wasn't very pigmented.

♥ Highlighting Powder - Probably my favourite part of the entire kit, the highlight powder is amazing. Its a shimmery pale pink and adds just enough oomph without looking ashy.

♥ Eye Brightener - I don't see too much difference when I use this, its a cream form of the highlight powder and because I have an olive skin tone just looks wrong. It would look great on girls with lighter skin tones though!

If you haven't already invested in a brow kit, then do it! It makes such a difference and outlines your eyes beyond belief. And Benefit Brows A-Go-Go gets a definite thumbs up from me!

What are your go to brow kits? Have you tried \Benefit's \Brows A-Go-Go?

♥

How To Grow Your Hair

Hi Girls! Hope you're all well and the sudden cold weather isn't getting you under the weather to much, excuse the pun. Being a true girly girl and having had my fair share of hair cut and colour disasters, I know just how frustrating it is to grow your hair long and healthy. It times time, commitment and above all patience. At the moment, my hair is quite short and sits about two inches below my shoulders without hair extensions, but it used to sit about an inch above my waist. I decided to cut it all off to start again, and it grows pretty quickly now that I've followed what is below. Please consider that this is what works for me, and it may not work for you. So get comfy and grab yourself a cup of tea, it's quite a lengthy post!

Products

♥ Lee Stafford Hair Growth Shampoo and Treatment - I have raved continuously about the hair growth treatment from Lee Stafford, it is one of those products I would never leave out of my hair routine. Providing you use it every time you wash and condition your hair, and massage it into the scalp for long enough you wil see a difference. It nourishes the hair from the root which makes way for healthy and quicker hair growth. You can read my full review by clicking here. The shampoo is a great way to speed up the process also, and I feel as though I'm putting double the effort into growing my hair.

♥ Holland and Barrett Sea Kelp Tablets - If you're more of a girl who likes to use beauty supplement tablets to see a difference, these do the trick. Sea kelp is full of natural ingredients which strengthen the hair follicle and promote healthy growth. I take mine twice a day, and although it tends to make hair greasier more quickly, I have noticed a difference while using it. I picked up mine from Holland and Barrett in their legendary penny sale for £10.80 so got 1000 tablets which would last me a good while!

♥ Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Intensive Hair Mask - Every week I treat myself to a hair mask and bounce between this and Aussies legendary 3 minute miracle. This repairs split ends which makes hair more manageable and more likely to grow. Not to mention is smells absolutely gorgeous and leaves your hair ridiculously shiny and soft!

Treatments

♥ Indian Head Massages - Frequent head massages not only make you feel pmpered and revived, but they also stimulate hair growth by letting blood rush to the follicle. When I was a beauty student I used to beg the girls to give me Indian Head Massages as they are so relaxing and leave your hair pampered when done using aromatherapy oils. If you can't always afford to go to a salon to get it done (it can come up quite pricey), you can get your other half or one of your friends to do it for you. 

♥ 6-Weekly Hair Trims - Its a no-brainer that frequent trims at the hairdressers help make hair grow. They cut off split ends to make way for healthy growth, and although some salons can charge an absolute fortune, there are always model nights where you pay a fraction of the price by allowing a trainee to do the job for you. Not only that but you always come out with a new style feeling like a million dollars!

Other Tips & Tricks

As I said before, these suggestions are what works for me and my hair type. They will not neccesarily work as well for you and your hair, but I promise it's all worth a go! These are a few tips and tricks which I have found to be helpful along the way. 

♥  Use a soft hair tie to tie up your hair overnight. The hair won't drag and snap against your bed sheets, but don't tie up your hair too tightly. Loosley does it!

♥  When your hair is wet, use a wide toothed comb to untangle your hair. Using a brush will snap the ends.

♥  Pat your hair dry after washing it rather than scrunching it up and rubbing it against a tough towel. 

♥  Cut down on using heat appliances unless you have to! It's obvious that 200 degree straighteners do nothing but bad things to your hair.

♥  If you must use straighteners or a curling wand, then use a good heat protector. I love Trevor Sorbie's 'protect, flatten and shine spray', read my full review on it here. 

♥  Dry Shampoo is your friend, Over washing your hair strips it of its essential oils, so if your hair is looking a little flat and greasy, Batiste is the way forward. 

♥  Back combing is just as damaging to your hair as chemical treatments are. If like me you can't bare to have flat hair then take advantage of hair pieces or blow drying your hair upside down.

What are your tips to grow you hair longer?

☮

MUA Undressed Palette

I know I'm a little late to jump on the Undressed Palette bandwagon, but this is infact my second one. I loved the Heaven On Earth palette from MUA but when I went to pick up a new one, there wasn't even one left on the stand! So because my everyday make-up look isn't complete without a neutral smokey eye, the Undressed palette was a great alternative. It's often compared to Urban Decay's infamous Naked palette, but at a fraction of the price. Instead of paying a whopping £36 for a palette, I paid a mere £3 as MUA have a promotion on their palettes at the moment from Superdrug (they usually cost around the £4 mark which is nothing if you know your shadows!).

The packaging of Undressed is pretty sleek and simple, just a black plastic case with circular pans for the shadows. It's really compact too, and fits nice and snug in my make-up bag. My only critisicm is it'd be nice to have a little mirror in there, but hey for £3 who am I to be picky?! I must admit I don't use the applicator which comes with it as I find it feels a bit 'gritty' against the lid, but that's because I'm partial to nasty reactions around the eyes.

Shadow wise, the colours are absolutely to die for. They are extremely versatile, and wearable every day. Not only that, but you can switch up your look to take you from day make up to evening so easily. They blend great too, and if like me you love nothing better than a smokey eye, this is perfect. At such a small price, the colours are extremely pigmented, all except shade 3 and 5 because they are so matte but look amazing all over the lid and lift the eyes amazingly well. Not to mention that the staying power is fantastic and you're never left with that dreaded crease line like other cheaper alternatives leave you with. All in all, MUA's Undressed Palette is most definitely becoming one of my 'holy grail' products and I have even found myself ditching my trusty Urban Decay Naked Palette to make way for it. 

Shadows as they appear in the palette.

Do you own the MUA Undressed Palette? What do you think of it?

☮

Tag: Why Do You Wear Make Up?

Hi Ladies, hope you're all well and good. I was reading through a few blogs and saw this tag which I thought I would join in with. I'm a massive make-up lover! So I tag all my followers to join in aswell.

Image; weheartit

 

♥ When did you begin loving make-up? I've loved make-up for as long as I can remember. When I was little, I used to go up and visit my family in Stoke-on-Trent every so often and my older cousin would give me bags and bags full of things she no longer wanted. I remeber one morning like a kid on Christmas Eve opening some bags of goodies when I found a big blue box with all of those dodgy coloured eyeshadows and lipsticks and being so excited. From when I was just eight or nine years old, my daily attire consisted of electric blue eyeshadow and shocking red lipstick. Cringe. Once I got to high school I wore a bit of lipbalm and some Miss Sporty foundation, I don't know which is worse! When I was 16 and begun studying Beauty Therapy that's when things changed and my make-up became a little more acceptable. And now I have a stupid amount of products and am lucky enough to be able to mix up my make-up looks quite often.

♥ How do you feel without make-up? I'll be completely honest and say that I used to be the kind of girl who would never leave the house without a full face of make-up. Oh how times have changed. In the past few years I've learnt to feel completely comfortable without slap on, and even went to Westfield last week without any on and my hair in a messy bun! Now I know I'm not kidding anyone, and like any girl, I don't exactly feel myself and as confident without make-up but thats okay right?

♥ What do you like about make-up? I love the way you can create something whch is entirely your own. You can make such a difference to your look and the way that you feel just by switching up the colour of your lipstick. I also love the way you need to experiment by using loads of different products to find what suits you best. It hides all of your flaws and highlights features which you're proud of.

 

♥ Three 'Holy Grail' items - Only three? It's really hard to choose just three but if there had to be three then they are...

♥ MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NC30
♥ 140 Eylure 'Naturalites' False Eyelashes
♥ Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer
 

♥

You Can Break Me & Shake Me, But You Won't Change Me...

Hello girls, how are we all? I'm feeling more than unenthusiastic about everything and am ill beyond belief. But that doesn't stop me from blogging! I've realised that I rarely ever post blogs which are considered as 'lifestyle' topics anymore, and considering this is a beauty and lifestyle blog, that's all about to change. I was sat down with my good friend yesterday and we got onto the topic of what is unique about ourselves, and what could never be taken away from us. Yes, random but deep convosations get my brain ticking and thinking helps to ease certain situations. People don't tend to think of me as a particularly deep thinker but honestly, it's all I seem to do! So below is a list of things we were talking about, with the vile language and stories which go with them removed :-) A little food for thought and inspiration goes a long way. I'd just like to say that I'm no physchologist but this is just small bits of advice!

Image Source: weheartit

How you feel about yourself ♥
It takes a long time to learn how to NOT judge yourself through someone else’s eyes, but once you do the world is yours. We have all been placed on this earth to discover our own life, and we will never be happy or successful if we try to live someone else’s idea of it.  So give up worrying too much about what others think of you and be yourself.  What they think isn’t really that important.  What's important is how you feel about yourself, and there's a saying that I live by; "how can you expect someone to love you if you don't love yourself?". So true. 

Your uniqueness ♥
You are unrepeatable, and there is a magic and aura about you that is all your own.  Having a low opinion of yourself is not humility and self doubt, it’s self-destruction.  Holding your uniqueness in high regard to yourself  is not having a big ego, it’s vital in feeling happiness and success.  You deserve to wear a smile in your heart.  Not because of what you have or what you do, but because of who you are as an individual. You are changing each day, but you are always amazing just as you are.

Your hope ♥
It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.  The biggest obstacles that stand between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it, and the way to believe it’s possible.  Hope is the little voice inside your head that whispers “maybe” when it seems like the whole world is shouting “impossible!”

Your choice to move on emotionally ♥
Don’t let past relationships and old mistakes ruin your future.  Don’t let someone or something that didn’t make it in your life continue to hurt you.  If you do, you’re still giving a portion of your life to something that no longer exists – it’s like letting your happiness slip into a black hole.  Learn the lesson, release the pain, and get on with things, move on. Scars remind us of where we have been, not where we are headed.




Your knowledge and life experiences ♥
Your own personal character and knowledge develops over time.  They come with loss, lessons, and triumphs.  They come after doubts, second guesses, and unknowns.  If there was a known path to success, everyone would be on it.  The way of feeling success is by learning from your past failures.  Your best stories will come from overcoming struggles. Keep standing, keep learning, and keep living.

I hope I've inspired a few of you. Remember, unless you can be a unicorn always be yourself x

Instagram Diary #2

Follow Me On Instagram: misskendalwestonx

♥ Fresh Red Nails Ready For Autumn ♥ A Quick Pose Before Dinner And Drinks ♥ A Few Cheeky MAC Purchases ♥ My New (Fake) Louis Vuitton Suitcase For Weekend Escapes ♥ 'Cinderella Is Proof That A New Pair Of Shoes Can Change Your Life' ♥ Jean Paul Gaultier Coke Can ♥ Another Quick Pose ♥ Pink Champagne Vaseline ♥ A Small Treat ♥ Swedish House Mafia Reach Number 1 In The UK ♥

Instagram Diary #1

Hi Everyone, hope you're not too down on this miserable grey afternoon, just a quick one from me today. I finally got rid of my Blackberry (number 8, in two years. It says it all really!) and treated myself to the new iPhone 5. And I'm absolutely obsessed! I have no idea why I didn't go to the dark side sooner but here I am. I've seen a few girls who've made these Instagram diary type of posts so thought I'd try my own hand at it.

- My obsession with studded and embellished shoulders - Marbella 2012 - Rediscovered my love for chocolate Pop Tarts - New cute socks from New Look - Sweet Champagne Scented Candle - Pink kettle in my girly new kitchen - Embellished Converse All Stars - One of my favourite songs from Swedish House Mafia - Spacejam - My best friend Danielle -

September Favourites

Hi Ladies, how are we all? Autumn is well on the way and the fur coats and chunky knits have been pulled out from the back of the warbrobe. It's that time of the month again where my favourite products from the past 30 days get their 15 minutes of fame and I tell you what I've been absolutely loving and raving about.

Molton Brown Soothing Hand Lotion rrp £16.00 ♥

To me, there's nothing worse than dry, cracked and unloved hands in Winter. It's easy to cover them up with a pair of mittens but when they come off it can be sickening if you don't use some kind of hand cream to look after them. I was lucky enough to be given this bottle of Molton Brown hand cream as a present last Christmas, and I still haven't managed to finish it! It smells absolutely gorgeous and transforms dry hands into silky mitts.

Fake Bake Beyond Bronze Airbrush Self Tanner RRP £14.99 ♥

I'm not long back from my holiday in Marbella and luckily I have an olive skin tone which means my colour lasts all year round. To maintain that 'just stepped off the plane' look, I top up my tan every week or so with this baby. The love for my St Moriz has slightly fizzled out (sigh) and this is a great replacement for a golden streak free tan. The only downside is the smell. It smells so bad, but the results make it all worthwhile!

Radox Soft Care Bath Cream RRP £1.49♥

I love me a good old bubble bath, and wouldn't think twice about using something from Radox. I've tried everything from the stress relief soak to the moisture soak and this one is by far the best. It smells amazing, and it's thick texture means a little really does go a long way (I found that out when I left my bath running unattended and the bubbles spilled over the top of the bath). I pick all Radox bubble baths up for a tiny £1.00 from my local chemist, so you can imagine how enormous my collection is.

Faux Fur Collar Chocolate Leather Jacket RRP £25 Primark ♥

I'm an absolute sucker for anything with a fur trim! While picking up some bits and bobs from Primark, I noticed this lovely number. I'm not really one to wear leather jackets, but
loved this once so much it had to be bought! For a measly £25 you can't go wrong. What an absolute bargain.

Panther Gold Diamante Stud Earrings RRP £4.99 Forever 21 ♥

My favourite place to buy clothes from is Forever 21, their stuff is absolutely gorgeous. I often find myself getting lost for hours in the accessory section, and I picked up these to add a bit of bling to my everyday wardrobe. I love anything gold and embellished, so these ticked all the boxes for me.