“For deeply cleansed, smooth skin” and that’s exactly what it does. I discovered the Mask of Magnaminty by Lush from watching one of @yrispalmer Youtube videos on her skincare routine. I’ve used a few Lush products in the past and I’m always impressed by them especially their face masks, like the Oatfix one which makes your skin feel sooo soft and smooth. So when I heard about this mask I thought why not try it out, also it is a best seller so had to give it a go! One of the benefits of Lush products is that they use a lot of natural ingredients which is healthier for the skin as it uses less harmful chemicals that can sometimes cause irritations, especially if you have sensitive skin like me.

So is the Mask of Magnaminty any good? Yes yes and a big fat YES! I use this mask about twice a week and after every time my skin is left feeling super clean! The honey adds moisture and hydrates the skin which I am always in need of and the peppermint feels so refreshing and cool (you know the feeling when you use a minty toothpaste? imagine that but on your face.) I apply a generous layer all over my face and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes. Using warm water I gently wash the mask off by doing circular motions so that I am working all the ingredients into my skin. It has a slight gritty texture which is due to the primrose seeds and aduki beans which acts as the exfoliant, this really helps to cleanse and get rid of all the unwanted dead skin and leaves the you looking radiant. If you’re looking to try out the mask they have two options the regular and the self preserving, the main difference is the self preserving one has more honey which retains moisture and that’s the one I went for. It also doesn't dry on the skin after applying it like some other masks do due to the fact it has more honey in it.

So who’s trying it out?

Let me know in the comments what some of your favourite masks are, I would love to try some out :)

So I’m a creature of habit when it comes to my makeup, I probably do the same look for pretty much any occasion. Fun fact I am a qualified makeup artist and did freelance makeup on the side for a few of years. I don’t claim to be amazeballs as I know there are some VERY talented makeup artists out there, but I always enjoyed being creative and making people feel beautiful inside and out.

Anywhooo onto my go to look, I keep it quite simple and honestly this literally takes me 20 minutes if that. I remember when I first got into makeup I would experiment with different eye looks and try out different things, if you scroll down on my Instagram you’ll see what I’m talking about. I also used to love (and still do) finding inspiration from different makeup artists or beauty bloggers such as Desi Perkins (one of my faves), Makeup by Samuel, Makeup by Shayla, Jamie Genevieve and so many more! I always discover new products from watching their Youtube videos or if they posted something on Instagram. I was a sucker for buying the latest eyeshadow palette or any new makeup that was popular at the time, especially with my cousin Zara she was a bad influence haha. Now I prefer a more natural(ish) look, to be honest I’ve always liked a light base as I don’t like the makeup to feel heavy on my face. Nothing wrong with a full heavy glam just for me personally I don’t like it.

To break down my look let me start with foundation. I have used the Laura Mercier silk creme moisturising photo edition foundation in the shade bamboo beige for about 6 years now! It’s literally my go to foundation, it never fails me and I just love the luminous and smooth finish. I have tried other foundations throughout the years but always come back to my trustee Laura Mercier one.

For concealer I use the Flawless Fusion by Laura Mercier in the shade 2C, now let me tell you I have not found a concealer as good as this! It has great coverage and doesn’t crease easily once I set it with powder. Also I wear this on days where I don’t wear makeup (which is pretty much everyday) but just want to cover up my dark circles under my eyes or an unwanted friend that has landed on my face (a spot that is lol.)

I’m not a fan of setting my whole face with powder as I prefer a dewy skin finish, so I only set my under eyes and sometimes my T zone and smile lines. For this I use the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Skin Perfecting Micro-Powder in 2 medium. Now when I first tried this I actually didn’t like it, I’m not sure if it was the way I was applying it or the texture of my skin was different at that time but I didn’t like the finish and how it looked. I felt like it made my under eyes especially look very dull, sometimes it could be the mix of different products that don’t work well together. Anyway, I decided to give it another go as I always see so many people use it and i’m glad I did because it’s so lightweight and nice on my skin. I used to use the famous Laura Mercier translucent powder, however after a long time of using it I kind of went off it a bit and wanted to try something new. I will still use it here and there, mainly for a night out.

Next is bronzer and for that my absolute favourite is the Nars Laguna bronzer, it just gives a sun kissed bronzed look and I also use this as eyeshadow sometimes.

What do you prefer, blusher or highlighter?

I’m 100% a blush girl, I love overloading my cheeks with blusher I feel like it adds colour to my face because without it my makeup can look bland and dull. I prefer a blusher that’s more on the peachy side, I use the Mac Gingerly blush which again I’ve used for a few years now. If I want an extra glow I’ll add the Mac mineralise skin finish in Warm Aura. So I know I said I like a dewy finish for my makeup and you’d think I would pack on the highlighter to achieve this buuuut I’m not a huge fan of a lot of highlighter on myself. I don’t like how it looks on me personally so if I do use it I literally use a smidge. One that I’ve use for yeaaarssss and was one of my first “big girl” makeup products is the Benefit Cosmetics Watt’s up! It adds a lovely sheen to the skin and it’s a nice champagne colour. Another fun fact, I used to work on a Benefit Counter :)

I keep my eyes very simple, I literally put a peach, beige or brown eyeshadow all over my eyelid and add a wing and bob’s your uncle! I have quite hooded eyes so I have to be careful what I put on to not make my eyes look small and closed in. My go to eyeshadow palette is the Morphe 25b Bronzed Mocha and I literally use the same couple shades every time, I know adventurous right lol. For my winged liner I used the NYX Epic Ink Liner in black. Ok so I’m sure many of you can agree that the struggle is real when it comes to doing a wing, somedays it’s a good wing day and they both look like twins but then you get days when the wings aren’t even related, like not even from the same country hahaaa! For my mascara I use the Rimmel London Lash Accelerator, this has been a favourite of mine for the longest time. I like mascara wands that are thin because I have short lashes so it’s easier to get in there and get them lifted.

Finally we have lips and yes I’m a nude girl. I trrryyyyy to not be and use a different colour but it just never works out. Like I said I’m a creature of habit when it comes to my makeup and nude lips will always win. I will experiment with different shades of nude but that’s as good as it’s going to get. For my liner I use the Provoc lip liner in 38 Barely there, sometimes I use this all over my lips if not I use the Colourpop Lippie Stix in the shade She Bad. I think that lipstick is discontinued so another go to for me is Mac whirl or the Benefit Cosmetics Posie Lip Tint. Do you prefer a matte or a glossy lip? I’m both it just depends on my mood and what I’m feeling on the day and at the moment I’m liking the Morphe Boho Gloss.

To set my makeup I use the Morphe continuous setting mist. This one is really nice because it doesn’t squirt out on your face like some others I’ve tried before. I love using a setting spray after I’ve finished my makeup because I feel like it moulds all the layers together and doesn’t make the skin look so powdery.

I’ve linked all the products I use below including brushes (some were no longer available so linked alternatives.)

Yes I’m in my pjs in these pictures and I don’t even think I had washed my face by this time. It was too early for a glam moment so Disney pj’s it was :)

So this was last Saturday morning I woke up so early at 7am for no reason at all, isn’t just fab waking up at the crack of dawn on your day off! Anyway I was bored and thought well why not do my hair and I saw this hairstyle on Kim Kardashian and wanted to try it out so this was the perfect opportunity as I had the time to kill. It’s obviously not as good as hers as I’m not a hairstylist nor do I have one on speed dial, so yeah I tried and was actually quite happy with how it turned out.

Before I started I went on youtube and searched bubble braid tutorial and clicked on one of the first ones that popped up. I just wanted to get an idea of how to do them and this tutorial by Danica J Thomas really helped. To create this look I used a tail comb to section my hair, black elastic bands and the Eco Style olive oil styling gel which I was so impressed with because my hair is so frizzy and big and can be hard to tame but this worked wonders. It held my hair in place all day and was really easy to work with which was good because some gels can be tough and sticky whereas this one was smooth and left my hair looking shiny.

I recordered the process on time lapse (see below) so you can get a rough idea of how I done the bubble braids. Too be honest it wasn’t too difficult to do, it just took a bit of time but once I done the first half of my hair and figured out the technique the other side didn’t take me long. Here’s a rough step by step…

• Section the hair into two

• Split the first section in half and then with your comb create three small sections for each

• Apply gel all the way through each individual section of hair and then comb through to make them smooth

• Tie each section using the hair elastics (I used 2 for extra hold)

• Then to join them all up start from the top section, twist the hair and join to the next piece and tie together

• Once you have done this and all sections are joined together, use your hair elastics and tie them down your hair leaving space between each elastic to great the “bubble” effect

• Repeat this on the other side and then you can use a bit more of the Eco gel to smooth the hair.

  I hope that made a bit of sense and didn’t sound too confusing, if it did… apologies lol. (I’ve linked the Youtube tutorial)

I loved this look so much that I done it again the next day. Is anyone else the same when you repeat a look or wear the same thing 100 times until you’ve killed it? Omg I definitely do that with music!

One thing I will warn you about this hairstyle is that it huuuurtttt my head and gave me the worst headache, probably because I done it so tight so that’s my own fault!

This was the morning after I took the bubble braids out lol and let me tell you taking them out was so long but the feeling after was amazing! I’m sure some of you know the feeling I’m talking about.

So I’ve been wanting to try out the fresh skincare for a while now and as my old products were running out this was the perfect opportunity to start fresh! (no pun intended) Also i’m not going to lie my skincare routine kind of went out the window during lockdown so I thought why not try out a whole new range and start over.

I purchased the "Mini Loves fresh Favourites Set” on Cult Beauty which includes 5 mini products the soy face cleanser, rose face mask, lotus youth preserve moisturiser, black tea kombucha facial treatment essence and the sugar advanced lip therapy treatment. All of these come in a cute little blue makeup bag which would be great to take with you travelling. Oh and I also got the sugar strawberry exfoliating face wash. The reason why I got the minis to start off with was because I hate when I buy full size and I don’t like the product it just goes to waste and especially with skincare I think it’s good to try it out for a couple of weeks to see how it works on my skin.

Right where do I start… first of all I am sooo impressed with the products, even just after a few days of using them I noticed my skin looking brighter and feeling smoother. Fresh is the perfect name for this skincare brand as the products have made my skin feel exactly that. I would say my top 3 favourite of the set are the strawberry exfoliator, the soy face cleanser and the lotus youth preserve moisturiser. Let me tell you why I love them so much…

The Strawberry Exfoliator: this will leave your skin feeling so fresh and clean! It has white sugar crystals which once you massage into your skin with warm water they dissolve, it doesn’t feel rough at all it is very gentle towards the skin which is great if you have sensitive skin like me. Also one thing I notice with this exfoliator is that after I used it I noticed my blackheads on my nose came to the surface and then I used my blackhead remover tool which helped squeeze them out so easily! You can use this daily however I have been using it around 3 times in the week as I don’t feel the need to use it every day.

The Soy Face Cleanser: This was one of the products from the range that I was really excited to try out as it is a best seller and have heard many great things about it. One thing I hate about some cleansers is that you wash your face after wearing makeup and there’s still loads of makeup left on my skin, howeveerrrr this cleanser really cleans the skin well and leaves my face feeling so smooth. I have quite sensitive skin and this is great because it is so gentle with no strong scents and doesn’t feel like it’s stripping the skin.

The Lotus Preserve Moisturiser: “A potent youth-preserving and ultra-hydrating moisturiser, fresh’s Lotus Youth Preserve Moisturiser not only delivers 24 hours of refreshing hydration but also imparts a gorgeous, dewy glow that makes a perfect base for make up.” and they are not lying, this product is a game changer! Every morning I would wake up with glowing skin and would stay like that throughout the day. I feel like this really improved my skin as before it was looking so dull and feeling dry but this has brightened it and added the hydration that my skin was lacking.

I did use the black tea kombucha facial treatment essence before applying the moisturiser, this is supposed to add moisture and radiance to the skin which I think did work well together however even when I used the lotus moisturiser alone my skin was luminous so I think I would just stick to the moisturiser as personally I like quite a basic skincare routine. Also I did use the sugar lip treatment a few times however I wouldn’t rush to buy it full size as I am a Carmex girl and didn’t feel like it did anything too different to that. Lastly, I haven’t noticed much difference using the rose face mask but might need to try this out a few more times to decide if I’m a fan or not. One thing I would say about it that is not a big deal at all and might sound strange is I don’t love that it doesn’t dry, it stays to it’s gel texture which I didn’t find comfortable (I know that’s just me being extra lol.)

Sooo would I recommend the fresh skincare? YES YES YES! Like I said before I’m definitely re-purchasing the cleanser, moisturiser and exfoliator and look forward to trying out more from the brand. :)

So the other day I had an idea that popped into my head and had to bring it to life. I never do much with my hair in terms of styling, my hair is naturally curly so I normally wear it down, throw it up or half up half down is always a go to!. Howeveeerrrrr, I do play around with hairstyles on my friends and family once in a while as I love looking at different looks and trends on instagram and trying them out. I get a lot of inspiration from Antonio Estrada, a hairstylist I came across on Instagram a little while ago. He uses a lot of different hair accessories and materials to create such cool looks. So I thought why not try something out myself and came up with this.

I was really happy with how it came out, it was exactly how I envisioned it. Sometimes it’s fun to play around, get creative and let your hands go and work there magic (even if it is just to sit in the house I mean at least you’ll look fab eating your lunch lol.) If you know me then you’ll know I’m always up for trying out different looks. This hairstyle was actually surprisingly easy to do. There’s nothing worse than spending ages on your hair or makeup and it not going as you planned and that’s definitely happened to me on more than one occasion. All I did was throw it up in a ponytail and braided it, I left some hair out at the front too as I don’t love my hair all slicked back. Then I kind of just winged it and started wrapping the string around the braid. Once I got to the end of my hair I then tied 3 pieces of string and braided that to create an illusion of my hair being longer (hair extensions would have probably helped but I don’t have any so made do with what I had.) What I love about this look is that I I literally used twine (string) which you can get from anywhere and created such a cool fierce look. So have a play around and if you try it out yourself tag me on Instagram, I would love to see :)