Brunette Beauty

Tea Tree Yep tea tree. It acts an anti bacterial agent which kills the grim and nasty stuff in the pimple. It feels cooling which is a bonus. It also soothes the inflammation, so the swelling and redness will be reduced. The pimple is reduced by 80% overnight. For heavy and sever acne I recommend using this twice daily. I use this as a spot treatment when required and it does wonders. There's no nasty chemical smell either. So it's not going to expire after 6mnths. This does dry out the skin so dry skin people need to take extreme care and not use it all over the face. I found if I use too much of this, the surrounding skin around the pimple is dry and can get flaky. It's so good for the skin, especially as it's a natural ingredient and doesn't cost the earth. Honestly it's something I can't stress or express enough! It does an amazing job at 'getting rid' of a pimple.

Now I'm not claiming to know it all, but I feel like I have had my fair share of makeup buying online. Especially living in Australia where items are either not available or double the US price. So there is a few tips that I've picked up that I wanted to share. Know You Firstly, know yourself. Know your skin type ie. oily, dry etc and your skin undertone ie. cool or warm. This helps so much when deciding on the right shade of foundation or powder. The wrong shade can look completely off. You know the darker orange or light ashy face look. Not at all flattering. Also know what you want in a product. If you want a mascara that adds volume, the new most talked about mascara that adds length won't really impress you. For me with my combination skin, mousse foundations just do not work. They slip off my t-zone and make my skin look oily and greasy. So I want a foundation with a matte or natural finish, nothing dewy or glowy. Colour Choice Think about what type o...

It may seem silly or straight forward but they are small things you can do to help improve and care for your hair. Prehaps trivial but these have all been tried and tested by me. Use A Hair Mask/ Oil If hair has heat styling tools on it on a daily basis use a deep condition hair mask once a week. Also try and go at least 1-2 days without any heat. Leave in conditioners are great too. Any that have nourishing will help. Especially for dry and thick hair, use a hair oil such as Moroccan Oil. A little goes a long way and your hair will benefit so much from it. Rinse With Lukewarm Water In the shower, wash your hair with luke warm water as to not burn your scalp. Do a final rinse with cold water. Like with your face, it'll help to seal off the hair and close the end shafts. Never Rub Hair Viscously When towel drying hair, never rub as this causes more friction and tangles, leading to more damaged ends. Instead incase the towel around the hair and slip it down from the...

A primer is defined as ' a substance used as a preparatory coat on wood, metal, or canvas, especially to prevent the absorption of subsequent layers of paint or the development of rust'. In the beauty and  makeup world it's an undercoat layer of moisture to help foundation apply smoothly and not absorb into the skin. So it primes the face. There are many varieties of primers. Some help to brighten, colour  correct, even out skin tone, sun protection, pore size reduction, reduced fine lines, matte finish, oil free, hydrate. Each property appealing differently with different textures and consistencies. Those with dry skin or an inadequate skin care regime will really benefit from a primer. Those with oily or combination skin will benefit from the primers with a matte finish to help foundation stick to the face and stay.                               ...

My skin is fussy. It can break out without a reason and can be sensitive. So over the years I have learnt some general but very useful skin care tips. K eep phone screen clean This is up against the side of your face. In your handbag and having your fingers swiped all over it. These are many opportunities for dirt and bacteria and makeup to catch on the screen and transfer to your face. Keeping it clean regularly will help. Keep your pillow clean Again this is up against your face daily. So it's a good idea to make sure that it's clean at least once a fortnight but ideally once a week. It'll help to make sure that the dirt, dust and grime is removed. Keep your hair and hands away from face This is a hard one. As much as you can keep all hair off the face. Fringe pinned back cause that can get oily and transfer ono your face causing blemishes. Same goes for hands. Keep them from touching your face and leaning on your hands in anyway. Rinse face with ...

I've been wanting to post this for a long time but hesitated. Im not sure why, maybe I was still making it my own and work for me. Nethertheless I want to share. I love all things makeup and  organisation too. Im so interested in how people with different lifestyles and interests organise their belongs. It then turns into the collective tired and tested 'best' way of storing clothing and ideas.  So a bit about my collection. I wear makeup every week day to my full time job and on the weekends if I have something on. I do glam up more for special occasions and nights out. I would classify my collection as small. I like to use up products before buying or at least opening a similar one. If I see something that isn't unique in terms of it's formula or on sale for a really good price - I don't buy it. Hard to follow sometimes but it makes sure I use what I have. I store all my makeup in this acrylic Large Original Clear Box from The Makeup Box Shop ($14...

Like with your skin tone, knowing your skin type can greatly change the way you treat it, how it reacts to different makeup and how it absorbs skin products. Hopefully I can give you a better understanding of your skin. Skin Types Normal Characterised by non fuss, easy to maintain and easily self hydrated skin. Dry Characterised by dehydrated or easily dehydrated, tightness, flakiness. Typically found in more mature skin. Oily Characterised by shiny skin and lots of blemish. Large pores are most commonly found here. Typically found in young skin, most likely due to hormones. Combination Areas of the face are dry or normal. The other areas are oily with blemishes. Typically the T-zone is the oily area with the cheeks normal. Skin Care Normal Anything goes. Due to the carefree natural of your skin you can choose anything you want. Here is a great time to target specific concerns ie. anti-aging, sunspots, wrinkles etc. Products that had a benefit in one ...

Knowing your skin tone can greatly help you choose colours in clothes and makeup that compliment you so much better. The colour wheel is literally all you need to figure out about tones. Identify the colour that's the basis of the area you're targeting. Move your eye directly across the wheel and this colour is the one you need to neutralise your target area. Redness areas including blemishes would sit in the red section of the wheel. This is a warm colour so to neutralise it we need a cool colour. The opposite side of the wheel is complementary green. Now while this isn't natural colouring for your face, the closest primary colour is yellow. You then want a yellow undertoned concealer to correct redness. Undereye area is either blue or purple based. These are cool colours so to neutralise it we need a warm colour. Using the colour wheel we can see that the opposite colour is complementary orange and yellow. You want to a salmon (pink)/ peachy (orange) under...

While theres no defiant do's and dont's there are things I have learnt the hard way when it comes to cleaning makeup brushes. The first thing is the temperature of the water. Anything hot will be likely to melt the glue in the feral causing brush hairs to come loose frustration when they're on your face. Lukewarm or barely cold is the best temperature. Next you want to think about how you hold the brush when you clean. Holding the brush upside down on a vertical angle, with the burst hairs pointing down will help ensure no extra water gets into the feral, loosing brush hairs and extending the drying time. This also means NEVER to soak your brushes including the feral. Another thing is how you move the brushes. Gently this is. Moving the brush gently, with light pressure, in a figure 8 either spot or deep cleaning. This way your not causing extra damage to the brush hairs or getting them out of shape, yet still cleaning them. Gently also applies to the cle...