Top Tips for Applying False Lashes

I've spent many years trialling out ALLLLL THA mascaras, lash serums, lotions and potions to give me longer, more voluptuous lashes. Everyone wants longer lashes right? 

Lashes are a HUGE part of your makeup look. 

Not only that but when someone looks at you, they're looking into your eyes. Lashes can completely change a look. But I could never get my head around false lashes... ohhh I've had it all; not being able to get them on properly, cutting too much off, not leaving the glue on long enough, them popping off halfway through the day, them sticking into my face every time I blinked and generally making a huge mess! Once I even poked myself in the eye with a pair of tweezers!! Waahh!! On the odd occasion I'd get them looking okay, halfway through the night they'd feel so uncomfortable I'd end up taking them off. It was safe to say I wasn't applying them properly. 

It was only recently that I decided I had to crack this false lash malarky once and for all, because lashes really do make a huge difference to your look. Plus, I have quite hooded eyelids so false lashes help my eyes stand out a little better. 

Practice makes perfect, right?

And after much practice, picking up a lot of tips and tricks on the way, I think I've finally cracked it...

I wanted to share with you my Tips to Apply False Eyelashes:

If you're a beginner, I'd definitely start by applying liner to your lash line, whether that's a small amount of eye pencil on your waterline smudged into your lash line, or a full-on cat eye with a liquid liner, lining the lash line helps to hide any gaps. It's also a good tip to apply mascara first,  I will explain why later, but only a small amount is needed just enough to coat the lashes. 

When removing the lashes from the casing, gently remove the lashes from the outer corner with tweezers or fingers, being careful not to break the band. Next, you want to tease the band a little by giving it a little wiggle to bend the lashes slightly to make the band a little more flexible and less stiff. You may want to roll them around a finger or thick makeup brush for a while to give a natural curve shape and stop them lifting once applied. 

You're probably going to need to trim them down. Having huge lashes hanging over the corner of your eye isn't a great look, so you'll need to measure them and cut them down to a size that suits. Gently take the lashes with a lash applicator, or fingers (whatever is most comfortable for you) and place on the top of your natural lashes. Whatever you do, you don't want to place the lashes too close to the inner corner. A great tip is to take a pencil, hold it vertically against the edge of your nose and you want the lashes to start where the tip of the pencil is pointing. It's personal preference whether you trim from the inner or outer corner, depending on the style of lashes. Trim gently and ensure both lashes are the same size and keep placing them on your natural lashes as many times as you need, to check. 

Next, glue. Apply a very thin layer of lash adhesive onto the band. Choose one that has a brush or wand applicator if you can as these are a lot more practical to use than those without. Make sure you coat the band from corner to corner, leaving no part of the band uncoated. Ensure that the outer corners are coated well as you don't want them lifting. Then relax for about 20-30 seconds. This is important as if you start to apply the lash before the glue is ready, it'll be much harder, probably slip and slide around and take much longer to get in place. You need to wait until it's slightly tacky so it clings to the lash line when you apply. 

When you're ready, take a deep breath and go for it! 

Using the lash applicator, or fingers if you feel more comfortable, start in the middle first, gently pushing the band as close to the lash line at the centre of your eye as you can, and looking down into a mirror, stick down the inner and outer corners, moving them around into shape. Remember to bring your mirror up and look straight ahead to check the lashes are in place and match well. 

To minimise gaps between the false and natural lashes, bond them together with a lash applicator, or fingers. This is where the mascara you applied beforehand comes in handy, as it'll help set them together. Gently squeeze them together and then once completely dry, fluff them up. 

It's a good idea to take the glue out with you, in case they begin to lift during the day. 

And when you're ready to remove them, gently pull them from the inner corner, remove any dry glue from the band using tweezers or your fingers before replacing them back into their plastic casing.  I read somewhere that dipping a clean mascara wand into oil and gently brushing across the band will remove any dry glue, I haven't tried that myself but anything that helps the lashes stay in good condition so you can get multiple uses out of them is great!

What about you? 

Do you have any tips for applying false lashes?

Products in images include:

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Chiffon

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Tull

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Organza (on the eyes)

False Lash Applicator Tool - Silver

Revlon Precision Lash Adhesive Dark

all from falseeyelashes.co.uk

ENTER CODE 'LASH 10' AT CHECKOUT FOR 10% OFF

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'Step Away From the Cake...' - My First Week at Slimming World

I was always one of those really annoying people that ate what I liked and didn't put any weight on. I've never really had to worry about my weight, fortunately, all throughout my 20's, I was a healthy size 8-10. 

I have a huge sweet tooth too, I'm about the cake!! haha

My friends would be on diets and I'd be the one hitting the takeaways every weekend and pretty much eating crap all the time!

When I turned 30 I had Taylor, who was a hefty 10lbs at birth! So as you can imagine I had a lot of weight to lose, and although it didn't come off quickly, with the help of some at-home lipolysis wraps and a daily superfruits drink, I was back in a size 10 and still eating as I wished. However, as soon as I hit 35, everything changed.

Maybe it was my metabolism.
Maybe it was my 'eat what I like' lifestyle finally catching up with me.
Maybe it was the fact that around this time I became full-time self-employed which meant lots of sitting around on the laptop, not much exercise and a LOT of snacking!!
Maybe it was a mixture of all them. 

Just a few months ago I started to feel bigger, I started to feel uncomfortable in my clothes. I've never been one to weigh myself, not since I was trying to lose the baby weight 5 years ago. For me, the numbers didn't matter, it was how I felt in myself, in my clothes that was important, and I was starting to feel frumpy, my clothes were getting tighter, I was struggling to dress in clothes that felt comfortable, that FIT me! So it was time to get the scales out... 

The numbers on the scales shocked me. 

I had no idea I was that heavy. 

I had never been this heavy, other than during and post-pregnancy.

The final push for me was a photo of myself I posted on my Instagram. I didn't like the way I looked. I felt uncomfortable every time I looked at it. 

Something had to change. 

I stock some amazing diet products in my Online Shop that have always helped and I have always had great results (when I do them properly... ha) but I'm known for giving up too quickly (I fancy pizza, I have the pizza!!), having next to no willpower when it comes to sugary snacks and I tend to fail when doing these things alone. A quick fix is great if I stick to it, but I needed a lifestyle change, and I needed accountability. 

Hence why I found myself following the 'Slimming World' signs up the stairs of my local leisure centre and feeling my heart rate rise as I headed for the door. I walked in to see a few ladies wandering around, seating themselves in the semi-circle of seats around a table full of food, books, leaflets and all sorts. I'll be totally honest, when I saw the sign 'NEW MEMBERS WAIT HERE' in the corner, part of me almost turned back through the doors. But I sat myself down, flicked through the Slimming World magazine left on my seat and read through the leaflets and literature that surrounded the 'new members area' waiting to see if anyone was going to join me. I needn't have worried, I was quickly joined by 3 other newbies and the lovely consultant came over and chatted to us about what it all involved before we joined the other ladies. 

Stepping on their scales, I was even heavier than I originally thought. But strangely I didn't feel too bad as I knew I was now on the right track and knew what I needed to do to shift the weight and feel better about myself.

Slimming World has been around for 50 years now, but for those that don't know much about it, it's a flexible, 'no-hunger' eating plan that is described as 'food optimising' rather than a rigid weightloss 'diet'. So you can enjoy delicious, satisfying, healthy meals by filling yourself up on 'Free Foods' such as meat and fish, pasta, rice and eggs, paying close attention to those described as 'Speed Foods' like fruit and veg, which will aid weight loss, ensuring you get your (measured) 'Healthy Extras' which provide a good balance of nutrients, for example, milk and cheese for calcium, and bread and cereals for fibre, and then being more mindful about your 'treats', those things that we all love the most but ain't so good for ya! These are called 'Syns' and this enables us to still have a little bit of what we fancy but count them within our daily Syns allowance to ensure we don't have too much.

My consultant, Roxanne was absolutely lovely! She explained everything in simple terms, was relatable, down to earth, supportive and made herself available for any help or advice. I think the support and accountability of a good consultant and group is definitely what I need to help me work towards my target.

I walked home from the meeting (I know right, starting off on the right track!) feeling excited about the journey and ready to get home with my pack of booklets to read through and start planning my meals for the week. I took my 'before' photos, recorded my measurements in my diary and was ready to go.

I'm now coming towards the end of my first week. 

By the time this post goes live, it'll be weighing day. I can't tell you how nervous I am about not losing any weight. What if I don't? What if I've gained? I mean, imagine!! I'm sure many new members often feel like this but I feel like I'm eating more food than ever before, having 3 pretty substantial meals a day compared to my 2 very light meals and a big dinner as before, and that's if I had time for breakfast! But I know these meals are full of Free foods and Speed foods. And I've stuck to my 'average of 10 syns' a day goal and although there have been a few moments I've had to remind myself not to head to the kitchen to grab something sweet, I've not really missed snacking at all. I've enjoyed all my meals, I've been drinking my Detox Tea, which is a botanically infused tea including ingredients such as White Tea, Puerh Tea, Oolong Tea, Green Tea, Rose Petal, Black Tea, Persimmon, Chamomile, Dandelion & Ginger which can help to boost a weightloss / detox diet, as a yummy iced tea with loads of fruit. I've stuck to plan and I've been stepping away from the laptop and going out for short walks, and overall I've been feeling really good. 

There have been a few moments I've panicked... 'what can I eat at the carvery, I wonder what it was cooked in?', 'I wonder how many syns that slice of birthday cake had in, have I ruined everything?' and 'Just one more rice cake to feed my snack habit!!' but I think for my first week I haven't done too badly at all and I'm really hoping I've lost something and I'm on the way to a more happier, comfortable, slimmer me!!

So ladies, WISH ME LUCK!!!

I'll keep you posted!

Have you done Slimming World before?

Do you have any tips for me?

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If you need any help or advice with anything within my Online Shop, give me a shout!

Creating A Positive Mindset

If you want your life to be more enjoyable and to get the most out of it that you possibly can, it is going to be necessary at some point to think about how you are approaching things with regard to your mindset. Your mindset towards anything that happens in life really does make a profound difference to how things turn out, and it’s something that you can always work on if you want things to be a little better. As it happens, there are a number of things you can do to create a more positive mindset in no time, and in this article we are going to look at this in a little more detail. By focusing on some of these things, you will find that you can much more easily create a mindset that is going to really serve you as well as you would hope.

Being Positive Brings Good Things

First up, it’s good to be able to remind yourself just why you would want to try and be as positive as possible in life. The truth of the matter is that when you are positive, you will find that this tends to bring about more good things in your life. This can seem almost magical and impossible until you try it out and witness it for yourself, but it’s something that many people rely on quite a lot to bring about good things in their life. The more positive you are in general, the more likely it is that you will be able to find good things happening in your life, and that is definitely a good reason to try and be more positive. Whether it is a case of thinking about the law of attraction, or some other model, you will find that this is likely to be useful for you.

The Bright Side

The main way in which you need to generate positivity in your life is by focusing on the bright side as much as you can. That is something that some people might find easier than others, but as long as you are working on it you should find that you can develop it. It is very much like a muscle that will grow if you exercise it, but will disappear if you don’t. As long as you are focusing on the bright side of any situation, you will find that you can much more easily get through it with positivity, and that is an extremely powerful skill for anyone to develop in life.

Creating More Good

Finally, remember that you will find it a lot more natural to be positive if you are actually doing something to create more good in the world. That is something that you might find to be a little challenging, but the more that you practice it the more naturally it will come, and soon enough this will make a huge difference to you and your life - and all the people around you as well.

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5 Reasons Why YOU Should Be Exfoliating

I'll hold my hands up, I didn't start truly looking after my skin properly until my late twenties. (And even then I was still using makeup wipes to remove my makeup each night!!) Nowadays I'm so passionate about skincare and working towards healthy, glowing skin, particularly now I'm in my mid-30's and starting to see signs of ageing. One skincare step that often gets missed in many peoples routine is EXFOLIATING.  Yet it is probably one of the most important steps!  I wear makeup daily and although I cleanse my skin well, I know that regular exfoliation is so important!

Five Reasons Why YOU Should Be Exfoliating
1. It Unclogs your Pores  Imagine all that makeup, dirt, grime, dead surface cells and god knows what else on your skin. Even with a good cleansing routine, you're not always going to get squeaky clean skin. Regular exfoliation helps to clean out your pores.
2. It Prevents Acne Acne occurs when your hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. Cleaning out and unclogging the pores will prevent blemishes, whiteheads, blackheads and pimples.
3. It Evens Out Skin Tone Exfoliating can help to remove dry and dead skin cells leaving the skin looking and feeling more smoother over time. This can help with the appearance of acne scars, dark spots, hyperpigmentation, etc.
4. It can Reduce the Appearance of Fine Lines and Wrinkles As well as a newly exposed layer of skin reflecting the light better, meaning that lines can become visible, increased circulation and cell turnover keeps skin fresh and  regular exfoliation helps to stimulate collagen synthesis which can improve the skin's texture, integrity, and keep the skin looking plump, tight, and youthful.
5. It Prepares the Skin for Other Products All that money you spend on those amazing serums, moisturisers and all those other magical products that help make your skin look good.. they ain't no good if they can't penetrate the skin because your pores are clogged! Dead skin becomes a barrier between your skin and your magical moisturisers and serums. By removing it you're allowing everything to work much better. Regular exfoliation helps other products penetrate deeper into the skin.

Simply put, exfoliation is the removal of dead surface skin cells from the outermost layer of the skin and although there are a few different types of exfoliation, it's important to use something suitable for your skin. 

So what can you use?
A Chemical Exfoliant Chemical exfoliation includes things like acids or enzymes that help dissolve surface skin cells. This can be done in a salon by a professional or there are products on the market that include ingredients such as Retinol, Glycolic Acid (AHA's), Salicylic Acid (BHA's) and Enzymes. These can create irritation so it is recommended to use no more than 1-2 times a week.
A Physical Exfoliant These usually come in the form of a scrub including large and small granules such as seeds or crushed nuts, jojoba beads, pumice and other substances, which essentially when rubbed over the skin can physically remove the dead skin cells. Again, this can cause irritation with excessive use and it's important to find one that suits your skin. 

My favourite exfoliator is a cream exfoliant that unveils cleaner, brighter skin using natural AHA's found in crushed fruit enzymes. Radiance Exfoliating Cream gently, but effectively removes dead and damaged skin cells, clean congested pores and blackheads without harsh abrasives that can damage and scratch the delicate new skin cells. I really do notice the difference when I use it even just once a week. I can't stop touching my skin! (which I don't recommend of course... keep the hands away from the face!! haha!!)
I love that it's powered with anti-oxidants and toning properties; containing ACB Fruit Mix, natural AHA's from sugar cane, bilberries, sugar maple, orange, and lemon which helps to improve exfoliation and enhance cellular proliferation while adding moisture to the skin. 

Daily, as part of my evening skincare routine, I use a really gentle and natural facial exfoliator in the form of a Konjac Sponge. Konjac sponges are an ancient beauty tool, used for centuries in Japan as a facial cleanser and herbal remedy. Konjac root, with its unique medicinal properties and net-like structure, is gentle on the skin, yet powerfully cleansing. They're super easy to use too, just soak them in warm water for a few minutes, then massage over the face and neck.



Do you exfoliate regularly?

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