♥ Everyday Make Up: January

The past few days I've been sticking to a super simple but obviously there make up look. I've been trying to look after my skin the best I can - including taking it off every night and cleaning my face properly. And as my skins seen much better days I've been using quite full coverage make up to try and hide the tell tale signs of not looking after myself. I've fallen in love with so many products recently so here's what I'm using on my face on most make up days this month!

Base:
I've been using a Clinique sample for my moisturiser and I absolutely love it. Because it's winter, I'm applying moisturiser twice just to give my skin the help it needs to keep nice and refreshed and soft. To conceal blemishes and fix uneven skin tone I've been using Mac's Moisture Cover concealer in NW30 to really cover redness and the black circles under my eyes. I team this up with Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory as a highlight (on the highest point of my cheekbones) after foundation. For my perfect winter base I've been putting together Loreal's True Match foundation in Rose Vanilla and Rimmel's Lasting Finish in Soft Beige, and blending it all in with a Real Techniques buffing brush.

Eyes:
I use two coats of mascara. The first coat is from a mascara that's drying out just to separate my lashes and get them in place. At the moment I've been using Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam in Extreme Black. I then go over my lashes with a second coat, using Lash Accelerator, after I've done my eyeshadow. I'm super lazy with eyeshadow for an everyday look and I don't use primers or anything like that. I've been taking the shade Tease from Urban Decay Naked 2 and applying it to the outer corner of my lids and dragging it through my crease. To apply I use the shadow brush from the RT's Nic's Picks. I then use the shade Foxy (also in Naked2) just under my brows and in the inner corners of my lids and blend it all through with an Elf shadow brush. For eyeliner I just use my all time favourite Rimmel Glam Eyes in Black Glamour. It stays put all day and costing only £5 it's one I'll always have in my makeup bag.

To set the finished look I just put a tiny bit of Rimmel's Stay Matte powder on my t-zone, just to stop any shine! If I want to add another element, the lipstick I can't put down at the minute is Mac's Twig. It's a beautiful brown toned nude and really works with the Tease shade I use on my lids!

I hope you enjoy this make up look, I certainly enjoy wearing it and if there are any products you think I should change up, or if you want me to do different types of make up looks I'd be willing to try new things out!

Em x

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♥ Fifteen Things For 2015

I feel like the last year has come and gone super super quick and so many brilliant (and not so brilliant) things have happened to me over the past few months that I wanted to compile a list of things I hope to do in the coming year.

1. Complete all uni work a week before deadline - just to minimize stress levels and help me be a little more organised.
2. Join the gym - This time last year I joined a gym for the second time and it's my favourite way to destress. In the new year I want to get back into it for a third time and this time I want to try classes and more intense work outs to get me my ideal body.
3. Write for pleasure more - having such a massive workload week in, week out meant I'd never sit down and write anything for myself. This year I want to write for me a little more.
4. Treat myself to a proper camera - for blogging purposes and so I can attempt to capture Cornwall's amazing scenery while I'm living there.
5. Read for fun - university has also taken the time for reading my own books away from me. With such a massive reading list for my first semester I never had the time to read books I actually wanted to. So in 2015 I hope to read a lot more.
6. Enter writing competitions - university constantly presents me with opportunities to get my work read by others. This year I'm going to take full advantage and try and make a name for myself.
7. Blog more - blogging is something I've really grown to love. I've stopped posting as much because I wasn't having a very good time in my personal life, but I think the blogging community can help me with everything - it's a fun hobby and a way to make friends - i really want to throw myself into it. 
8. Get a job in Cornwall - I need extra cash to help me through, so a part time job is nearly a necessity.
9. Save - The idea of going back to my parents house after university terrifies me so saving any spare cash I would get from any potential income is a must if I want to be able to afford my own flat!
10. Buy a Macbook - contrary to needing a job and needing to save up for a flat, I also need a more convenient laptop. I bought my current one for university, but I think a Macbook would be way more useful. I've asked for money for my twentieth birthday so I can buy one so fingers crossed.
11. Experiment with makeup - I used to only ever wear foundation, eyeliner and mascara and I really want to up my make up game a notch in the new year.
12. Go on a weekend away, alone - I was lucky enough to visit Indonesia in 2014 with a close friend and her family. This year I will in no way be able to go on such an incredible holiday so I'd quite like to go to a European city in the summer. 
13. Budget better - my 'How To: Budget' post is my most read, and though I'm really good with money I want to save as much as I can. I'm going to update my own budget and write another post on why I'm changing it up a bit to maximize the amount I can save. 
14. Cook better food - I'm so into food and that's something I want to incorporate into my blog. To do this I want to extend my abilities in the kitchen and share any cool recipes with my readers.
15. Be happy - I spent a lot of 2014 relying on other people to make me happy, and when that turned sour I was lost and in a really dark place for a really long time. I'm now healing from my bad experiences this year and I'm so determined to enjoy being a single twenty year old and I refuse to let others be the key to my inner happiness. I'm brilliant and can do just fine on my own and I need to learn to really believe that this year.

So I left that on quite a soppy note, but it's my most important 'resolution'. I'd like to say I'm in a good place within myself, but I'm not. Christmas is my least favourite time of the year and I'm so excited for the new year to get all the negativity and disappointment that comes with Christmas out of my mind. I've got some really fun times ahead and with the possibility of spending the summer in Cornwall thing's are still certainly looking up. I wish you all the best of luck in 2015 and hope the new year brings you lots of happiness!

The highlight of 2014 was getting to visit Bali in Indonesia. The above photo is of the biggest Hindu temple the island is home to and it was such a humbling experience to get to visit a place I'd never imagined I'd get to go! This is the background on my phone and every time I see it I get reminded of the awesome time I had.

If you have any weird or wonderful resolutions, let me know in the comments!

Em x

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