GlamGlow skincare - why putting mud on your face makes you sexy...

Mud... on your face? Gross, right? Don't be soft. I am not actually chatting about real dirty mud here, I am of course talking about the wonderful innovative 'mud' skin care treatment range from GlamGlow. They are marketing this to be a really big thing in the world of skin (an asset that we all own), so I think it would be silly to not give this a go.

GlamGlow has been hailed by celebrities such as Alexandra Burke (hmm...), Jordan Dunn (who?), and Rebecca Ferguson (babe) as a must have/must try skin care treatment. It was initially created for behind-the-scenes use in Hollywood, as a way to help all of the celebrities look camera ready. So yeah, if it's good enough for Hollywood, it's obviously good enough for me to have a crack.

The lovely and very fabulous lady Bonita, who does my nails at The Nail Base in Widnes, very kindly gave me a few sachets of GlamGlow mud to give a try. I was given 'Youth Mud: Tingle Exfoliate Treatment' and 'Super Mud: Clearing Treatment'.

So both the Youth Mud and the Super Mud are very similar in consistency; they are a thick, grey, clay like texture, which sounds pretty gross, but actually feels really nice on your skin. There is definitely something really satisfying about slathering your face in mud. Now, this can be quite messy, as I found it stuck to my fingers quite a lot, so it's maybe best to apply it over the sink... although my mum did go mad when she found mud all over the sink. Both sachets actually had a very generous amount of mud in each, which was also great considering how scantily companies usually give out samples - don't get me started on the sample sizes of Pantene Pro-V conditioner.

Bonita advised me to use the Youth Mud first (the black sachet) and then the Super Mud (white sachet) to finish up. This Youth Mud is a 'Tingle Exfoliating Treatment', which as well as offering multi-level exfoliation, also absorbs impurities and tightens and tones the skin. I assume the tingling is the treatment toning your skin, but I'm no skin expert so I'm actually not really sure... but whatever, it actually feels pretty nice. The tingling is a bit of a strange sensation at first - it feels a bit like putting lip plumping gloss on your face - but once you get used to it, it is quite a fresh feeling. Now, this treatment does make your face pretty stiff when it's sat on your face, so it is quite difficult to talk, smile or move your face in general; don't do what I did and try and eat an Indian takeaway with this mask on, it was not easy and not very pretty.

My wild Saturday night with GlamGlow

Youth Mud is also supposed to penetrate into deep layers of your skin, relieving and softening fine lines and wrinkles. As I am only 20, I obviously don't really need to use anti-aging products, but I guess prevention is the best cure. I was always put off using anything that was marketed to be anti-ageing, as I was convinced I would wake up the next morning looking about 5 years old. But no, silliness aside, using a product that works deep into your skin (regardless of what it is trying to do in there) does feel great and a does do a lot of good.

I left the mask on for around 15-20 minutes, and then washed it off over the sink. Even though the mask did go all hard and stiff on my face, it was pretty easy to remove. I just needed to apply water to rub it off, and then whack some makeup wipes over it to clean off the excess. After the treatment, my skin felt sooooooooo soft (count the 'o's, it was actually that soft), and really tight, fresh and glowing. I felt bloody lovely.

Next, onto the Super Mud. Although it does sound like a really bad super hero, it was a very nice treatment. It is a detoxifying mud mask that is intended to fight off all of the yucky skin problems we all have to endure. Super Mud declogs your pores, by pulling all of your face gunk out to the surface - you can actually see this as it dries, which is a bit gross, but actually really cool.

I look like I have a skin disease... but first, let me take a selfie

 Super Mud can be used as a full face mask, but it can also be used to target problem areas. I had a lovely pimple on the side of my face, which near enough disappeared after using this treatment. It took away all of the redness and inflammation, which was super great. Here are a few closer shots of the mask in action:

  As you can see, congestion is being pulled from my pores, especially around my nose. I left this on again for about 15-20 minutes, and removed it in the same way I did the Youth Mud. My skin again felt really soft, really fresh and really clean. It had also evened out my complexion and energised the overall tone of my skin. This is indeed a really great home treatment that does really work!

The only downside I found with this product is that a few days later I did find a few spots surfacing on my skin. I think this is only down to the fact that Super Mud dragged the impurities to the surface of my skin, so this may have allowed a few pimples to form. No big, I did the treatment again, but left it on for a good 30 minutes to rid the buggers and all was well again. I think the first time I did this treatment, I didn't actually leave it on for long enough, so the congestion in my pores was not fully removed.

You can purchase both of these treatments from the official GlamGlow website. Super mud is £44.99 for a 34g tub containing 17 treatments, and Youth mud is £44.99 for a 50g tub, which will probably get you around 25/30 treatments. You can also purchase these treatments from any local salon that stocks high end goods and products - GlamGlow does not provide any old salon with their product, so you will have to go to the very best to find it! I know that The Nail Base (of course) sells the products and is starting to do facials with GlamGlow. I will post their Facebook page below so you can keep updated if you are interested!

I have also posted a few links to the GlamGlow website if any of you keen ones want to read more about it!

Thanks for having a read everyone, I hope this was useful!

Tah x


Youth Mud:
http://www.glamglowmud.co.uk/glamglow/products/glamglow_face_mud_mask50/

Super Mud:
http://www.glamglowmud.co.uk/glamglow/products/glamglow_supermud_mask_34g/

The Nail Base:
https://www.facebook.com/theglitterranch?ref=ts&fref=ts

Easy guide to the perfect face makeup...

Hello again!

This is beginning to become a regular occurrence... Once again I'm sick of tirelessly writing about phallocentrism (the world's obsession with penises), so I have found myself wanting to blog about something a bit more lady-friendly.

Forget about this silly obsession with the male genitalia, for however long I can remember, girls have been obsessing over one thing and one thing alone; achieving flawless face makeup. Now I'm going to try and make this blog as simple and as accessible to everyone as possible, but I'm not going to lie to you all, the better your tools and materials, the better the end result will be.

I have always struggled to find the perfect foundation for my skin, and I have literally tried them all and never found one that I was really happy with. They were all either too thick, too thin, too gloopy, too orange, too white or rubbed off as soon as anything came into contact with my face. This Christmas, I decided to ask my mum to help me invest in a nicer and more professional brand. After trolling through Debenhams, I came across the BareMinerals counter and asked the lady to match some of the makeup to my skin tone - I fell IN LOVE. It literally feels so silky and so beautiful, and the coverage for a powdered mineral foundation is astonishing.

So for Christmas, my mum and dad bought me the BareMinerals starter kit, which looks a bit like this:

It includes 3 applicator brushes, a primer, a foundation, a bronzer, a veil, which is basically like a setting/blending powder, and 2 help guides (one is a DVD - how high tech). This all cost £45, which I think is pretty damn good for what you are getting, both in terms of quality and quantity. I think this was a special Christmas offer, but to my knowledge, the kit is usually priced around £50-60, which is still not too shabby. I can seriously recommend an investment!

Essentially, if you have good tools, like the BareMinerals starter kit, then you are well on your way to achieving flawless face makeup.

Where to begin? Well, make sure your skin is clean and thoroughly moisturised before you start - you can't create a masterpiece on a shit canvas! I also use Benefit's pore minimiser, see below, which is great if you have a holey crater face like mine. You don't need to apply much, just a light coating of there areas you feel your pores are most visible, e.g. nose, forehead, t-zone etc.

After applying my pore minimiser, I then use the BareMinerals primer in my starter kit. Only a pea sized amount is necessary to cover your whole face - you don't want to cake it.

That's skin prep done! I know it's a mish, but if you want to look flawless it takes a lot of effort. Next onto contouring - yawn, I know, but if you want to accentuate (or fake) your cheekbones, it is essential. Everyone's face shape is different, and we all want to accentuate and detract from different areas, but I think this diagram is simple enough to apply to everyone:

Basically, the lighter shades are areas you want to highlight, and the darker shades are areas you want to define - a good contour job can work miracles in terms of sculpturing your face. Here is my own personal attempt....

Yes, I look silly and gaunt and ridiculous, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. I used an old foundation which I found thick enough to fake it as a concealer. I have quite a big forehead, which is why I chose to use the darker defining shades more in that area. To create the darker shading, I blended the foundation on my hand with Primark (yes Primark) bronzer, which I think cost me no more that £2. After a good blend, this is how may face was shaping up:

Notice how my cheekbones are quite prominent and the area above my brow is prepped to create a good arch when I fill them in - this will however come in another blog, sorry!

Now for the application of my BareMinerals makeup. It is hard to sufficiently describe application in words alone, so I filmed short snippets of myself putting it on; think a lot of buffing and brush strokes:

Next for bronzer. The application is again similar to the foundation, but we want to concentrate on the darker areas we previous contoured. I find the best way to apply this is using a sweeping number '3' motion down the side of my face. Here is a video to demonstrate:

Finally, we need to apply the veil to seal the makeup, and then we're good to go! I always spray a cheeky bit of hairspray on my face as well just to make sure it's all concrete!

So thanks for reading guys, I hope this helps some contour novices out there; it really does make a world of difference! My next blog should cover the rest of my makeup regime (brows and eyes) so keep a look out for that! x

How to cheat your way to the perfect henna tattoo...

Hello all!

Sorry I have been away for so long, I have been extremely busy getting back into the routine of University and lazy/drunken student life. So, in a terrible fit of essay procrastination, I decided I would write a cheeky little blog entry about something I have become a weeny bit obsessed with over the past few months: henna tattoos.

So, my obsession began in September when I went down to Nottingham to visit my good friend Amelia. I had wanted a henna tattoo for such a long time, and after doing a bit of research, I (strangely) found that there was a woman in Nottingham who did henna tattoos in the main shopping centre. This was the beautiful result of her labour:

She literally did that freehand in like 5/10 minutes and it only cost me £10; I was in awe really! I watched this woman at work, thinking: 'Man, this is easy! I could definitely have a good crack myself!'... haha, no. It is NOT easy. AT ALL. I think I must have taken for granted the fact that this woman was obviously of an Asian persuasion, and I am a cocky white girl from a wool province of Liverpool. So I had ordered some henna cones from eBay (I think they cost me around £5 for 6), and after several embarrassing attempts (which I am not even willing to share with you), I gave up. THAT'S IT. I will never be cultured.

But fear not! After a few weeks crying into my dirty henna stained hands, I finally stumbled across a solution: henna stencils! Oh my god! Perhaps the greatest gift the Asian continent has ever given to the hipster white girl. I discovered this glorious invention in Urban Outfitters, where I was waving a pottery henna hand ornament around the shop, moaning about the fact I was unable to achieve such an affect. A lovely woman with a gorgeous pixie haircut obviously thought I was embarrassing myself, and came over to me and told me about henna stencils! What a doll!

And here they are:

 You can get loads of different styles and patterns from different sellers on eBay, all ranging from about £2-£4 inc p&p. They are a bit fiddly, but once you get the hang of it, they are quite simple. You peel off the stencil, stick it on your hand, or wherever you want to paint, with the sticky side down and then you're good to go. I squirted out some henna from the cones and painted it on with a small makeup brush, as I found that was the best way to fill in the stencil. I found some of the hand stencils were quite small and didn't fit my hands, so I had to modify them slightly by cutting off the fingers (the ones on the stencils, not my own....) and sticking them on individually.

The application of the henna is really easy (and smells a bit like hair removal cream), but you have to let it partially dry before removing the stencil; henna is incredibly easy to smudge, believe me! But here is how it came out after my first attempt:

See! It looks flawless!... Apart from the remainders of my freehand attempts.... It even fades to a really nice colour too:

Henna does flake and crumble off after application to leave a more faded appearance as above, so don't panic if the paste comes off. The crumble is a pain though, my bed is now permanently covered in fake tan and henna crumbs. It is also important to carefully clean your henna stencils too if you are wanting to reuse them. The best way I found was to place them back on the stencil sheet and gently wipe off the remaining hard paste with a makeup wipe; that way you don't lose too much of the sticky back!

So, there we go guys! All is not lost for us henna failing white girls. We can look ethnic and interesting (and indie) now too with a bit of extra help! Please feel free to leave me any feedback, or ask me any questions about this or any of my other blogs.

Happy henna-ring!

P.S. I have ordered some loose costume glitters to experiment with my eye makeup, so I am starting to feel that for my next blog! Keep an eye out for that x

Let's Go Lashes/The Nail Base review

As you may have read in one of my earlier blogs, I love having long and beautiful lashes without the hassle of having to clog them up with a bucket full of mascara. Becky from The Nail Base in Widnes, (where I regularly go to get my fabulous statement nails done), very kindly asked me to come back and help her out with a temporary lash extensions course she was taking; I was very happy to oblige and let her practice her technique on me in exchange for a fab set of new lashes! I have to admit, I am so chuffed with the outcome.

I had previously visited The Nail Base to get this amazing new LVL Lash treatment (see my previous blog for more details) and due to the quality of the results, I jumped at the opportunity to try out these new Let's Go Lashes (2 week temporary lashes). I have had lash extensions previously in the past, and to be frank I was not entirely impressed with them - they were supposed to last for about 6 weeks, and looked fab for about 2 until they begun to fall off and leave me with bald spots. I felt much more at ease at The Nail Base than I did at the spa I had previous set of lashes done; Becky was very accommodating, gentle and sympathetic in considering how delicate the eye area is, and how certain eye and lash treatments can feel uncomfortable. I must admit, I felt virtually no discomfort during this treatment, but that may be because I am used to applying a lot of eye makeup and I am not squeamish around that area.

The only thing that may deter people from this treatment, is the fact that the lashes are applied with your eyes open - initially it is a strange sensation, especially with being able to see the tweezers so close to your eyes. To be honest though, having experienced the application of lash extensions both with my eyes open and previously with my eyes shut, I much preferred having them applied by Becky with my eyes open. I felt like I was much more aware of what was happening and how far into the treatment I was. It did also help considerably that Becky explained everything she was doing during every step of the treatment. The lashes are applied with the eye open due to the fact that we are supposed to have around 5 sets of lashes, (I was surprised to find that out!) and by applying them in between these sets, the resulting look of the treatment is a lot more natural.

So here are the results of the treatment:

My lashes before Let's Go Lashes - baring in mind I have had the LVL Lash treatment, so my lashes were pretty long to begin with...

Sorry for the rough pic! 

My lashes with Let's Go Lashes - my lashes are visibly longer and look extremely natural in my opinion!...

Two days on from the treatment, I have not lost any lashes as of yet; natural lash fall is expected, but I should apparently only lose about 4 or 5. Let's Go Lashes are made of silk, meaning they're super soft. These lashes are supposed to last about 2 to 3 weeks, which is a much more realistic estimation compared to the 5 or 6 I have been promised by previous treatments. Due to the recommended time span of these lashes, I think they are fab for holidays or special occasions. They are themselves water proof, but they do not react well to the oils and chemicals in waterproof mascara or oily makeup wipes, so that is something I am required to look out for when wearing the lashes.

The price of that lashes is yet to be confirmed, but if you are interested in the treatment, I would recommend following The Nail Base on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theglitterranch?fref=ts

As well as lashes and nails, they do a variety of treatments that I would definitely recommend checking out. I seriously cannot praise The Nail Base enough for the quality of their work and the friendliness of their service; I have been visiting Bon and Becky since I was 16 and I have not once been disappointed with their work.

Thanks a lot for everything girls! You really are fab x

Dye Day Friday

So, I have always been a big fan of the tie dye pattern from quite a young age. I think it's quirky, colourful and a great Summer and festival fashion staple. I decided to give it a crack myself and spruce up some of my old white tshirts I had lying around.

 I thought the best place to start was to check out some forums and tutorial videos on youtube - I will post some of the best videos and tutorials I could find at the end of the blog for anyone else who wants to give it a go themselves! To be honest I wouldn't really advise giving it a go without visually watching someone else do it on youtube. I tried to dye a spiral into one of my shirts without watching a youtube tutorial first, and went at it a bit blind with written instructions and it didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. The good thing about tie dye is though, even if you do mess the pattern up a bit, it still looks pretty sick.

 After reading up on how to tie dye (and only doing a half arsed job at watching tutorials), I went to Hobby Craft to see if I could pick up a kit or some equipment. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a specific tie dye kit, and Hobby Craft only provided dyes and salt; I was a bit sheepish trying it for the very first time, and was worried I wouldn't do it right without solid instructions and products, so I decided to order a kit off of Amazon. This is the kit I used:

 It costs £17 from Amazon and includes red, blue and yellow dyes, a pair of gloves, elastic bands and enough salt product to dye up to 5 shirts. I think this is pretty good value considering you can literally buy plain white tshirts from Primark for like £3, and I have seen some vintage shops sell hand tie dyed tshirts for about 20 to 25 quid. It's a fun thing to do and it's pretty fab wearing a tshirt that you know you've dyed yourself.

 So all apprehension aside, I sat myself out in the garden on top of a bin bag and gave it a go; it is actually surprisingly so much easier than I thought! The pack came with clear instructions and steps that is perfect for beginners. Basically, all you have to do is soak your shirts in this warm salty solution for about 20 minutes, wring them out, fold or scrunch them up, hold them in place with elastic bands and start to dye your shirts however you like.

 I then left my tshirts in plastic bags for about 24 hours, rinsed them and hung them up to dry. Here is how they came out:

 I don't think that's too shabby for my first time! I plan to do it again and hopefully achieve some more ambitious patterns and cleaner results. When I get enough practice in, I'm hoping to start to sell a few (for a good price of course), so watch this space :)


Recommended links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZGwVMs5lBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbjWkiQ5DtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGldlCg4Sf4

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-tie-dye-an-old-white-shirt-or-a-new-shirt-/step2/Presenting-your-choice-of-dyes/

Fruit Salad

Hello all!

Recently I've been noticing an increasing trend in bold and colourful prints on the high street and online clothing websites. The sunny weather has definitely inspired some lovely and vibrant Summer styles, but I particularly feel as though fruity prints are the juiciest. Fruity prints are fun, bright and bold, and represent everything I think Summer fashion should be about. I myself own a few examples of fruity fashion and I have been scouting the internet and high street for a few ideas which may inspire the lot of you. I would love to know what you all think and whether you think fruity prints are as sweet and delicious as I do!



TOPSHOP:

This is one of my own personal fruity bargains that I picked up from the Topshop sale for a mouthwatering £15!

This juicy Topshop minidress is a bit more expensive at £38. If you love this print, but fancy something that covers up a bit more flesh, Topshop sell a similar midi dress in the same print for £45. The print also comes in a crop top for £22, and a pair of leggings for £30.

I think this is gorgeous. The yellow base colour looks fab with the contrasting red watermelon print. This would look lovely as a Summer day dress/ casual night dress for your jollies, and would really compliment a banging tan. A lovely little Summer purchase for £38.

This cute little banana bralet is perhaps a subtler approach to sporting the fruity print. It would provide a fun splash of fruit to a pair of denim shorts without being too bold or making too much of a statement. Price: £26.


MISSGUIDED:

This is one of my favourite pieces. I love the colour, the detail of the print and the lace on the collar. The peachy print is cute and fun without being too over facing. I got this dress in the Missguided sale for £9.99! Absolute bargain.

This Missguided pineapple print playsuit is really sweet and edgy. It would look great as a cossy cover up by the pool or at night with a cute pair of sandals for a casual drink. Missguided sell this playsuit for £14.99, as well as a swing dress (also £14.99) and a crop top (£9.99) in the same print.

Like the Topshop banana bralet, I think this strawberry bodysuit could be a subtle way to wear the trend. The colours aren't necessarily 'stand out', but the piece is still fun and playful and quite Katy Perry-esque in my opinion. Price: £14.99.

AMERICAN APPAREL:

These watermelon print shorts are super cute and very festival friendly, but may end up hurting your wallet at a hefty £54.

I love this lemon print drop cossy! It's cute and sexy, and another subtle was to wear fruity prints. The downside to a costume like this however, is that it's bound to leave a wicked tan line if you're not savvy with holiday bikini rotation. I think this is quite reasonably priced for American Apparel at £38.


VARIETY PICKS FROM ASOS MARKETPLACE: 

I adore Asos Marketplace. It's a great website to find and discover quirky new clothing lines and to snap up individual one off pieces for a great price. Here is what I have managed to find from a variety of marketplaces...

I love these shorts! The contrasting turquoise short and yellow banana pocket makes a great Summer colour combination. I think these are a bargain at £15 from the seller 'WesternTropics'.

This vintage fruit print top is very cute and Summery and a great fashion statement. A reasonable purchase at £20 from the seller 'Miss Lawes Adores'.

This sheer vintage fruit blouse is a gorgeous piece. The length also means it could potentially be worn as a dress by the more adventurous. Sold at £27 from one of my favourite marketplaces, 'Vulgar'.



And that's the pick of crop! If anyone feels inspired by this blog, I'd love to see pictures of you sporting your own take on fruity fashion. Send your snaps to: ellatroup@aol.com.
Ta-rah!

Firefly Photography Fashion Shoot

So I decided it was time to ditch the iPhone selfies and take vanity to the next level. My friend Kayleigh and I visited the Firefly Photography Studio in Manchester today for a professional style photoshoot. We were approached a few months ago in town and were given a really good deal on booking a shoot. Little did we know, they would be trying to flog us several photos afterwards for a ridiculous fee. As long as you're strong willed and don't let them persuade you otherwise, you can get quite a good deal out of them.

On the day itself, we were greeted with a glass of wine and a style consultation, which was quite simply a form we had to fill out in order to help them to create our chosen 'looks'. The hair and makeup team were very professional and were obviously very skilled in what they do. I was extremely happy with how lush my makeup turned out, even though it was a lot more subtle than I usually do myself!

We were asked to bring 3 to 5 outfits to be photographed in throughout the day. We were both photographed by 2 different photographers, one of which was particularly better and more attentive than the other; I think all of the pictures I picked to keep from the day were taken by that one photographer only. The company as a whole also came across as pretty disorganised. It just seemed we waited ages in between having our photoshoot and seeing our pictures. It was particularly irritating being told 'only 2 more minutes' about 5 times over half an hour.

But all in all it was a nice day. Nice hair, nice makeup, nice wine and nice pictures as an end result, but I could've done without the stress of a hard sell at the end. I'm not going to disclose how much I ended up spending, but I would highly recommend keeping your wits about you if you ever want to go for one of these photography experiences. DON'T GET RIPPED OFF... because I'm pretty sure I did get ripped off...

But hey, it's only money. Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day. Enjoy!