Quick how to: Eyebrows

An eyebrow tutorial is hardly a unique idea for a blog post, but I don't think I have done one until now. A little disclaimer - I am by no means claiming to be an expert or have perfect brows (I have a lot to learn), but just wanted to share with you how I currently do my brows. 

1. "FIND YOURSELF" (AND YOUR BROWS)

I think it is so important to find your own shape rather than trying to copy other people's. I've been drawing my brows on (often badly) for the past 5-6 years and they have been many different (sometimes awful) shapes. I feel content at the moment that I have found a shape that suits my face and my style - however that all could change in the future and that's okay! 

2. SKETCH

I know you're supposed to fill in your brows but after years of plucking - and embarrassingly shaving at one point - there's not much of them to fill in. I start my brows by lightly sketching out the shape with a brow pencil - here I am using a Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil, which I seem to always go back to. At first this might be tricky and you may be a little heavy handed but after a few goes it will become second nature to you. I follow my "natural" brow shape, which from personal experience is the best way. I cannot express how many bad eyebrows I have had in my life. 

 2. FILL

I then go ahead and fill them in - again lightly - with the same brow pencil. I use a eyebrow brush/spoolie to blend the pencil as sometimes the waxy texture clogs to the hairs which is not classy. I am loving the LAB2 Beauty Brow and Lash Groomer at the moment.

3. CARVE

I hate that word but everyone seems to use it to describe this step. 'Carving' is basically getting a little bit of concealer and outlining (carving) out your brow shape to clean up any mistakes and give it more definition. I actually prefer to use a little bit of liquid foundation for this step rather than concealer as it doesn't look as cakey. Another tip would be to make sure your brows are well plucked/waxed as the makeup can cling to unwanted hair - although in saying that it can sometimes mask them as well depending on the extent of the fluff! I use a really old Urban Decay eyeshadow brush for this - completely the wrong tool but it works for me as its dense enough to create clean lines. 

4. SET

I've seen a lot of people do this step before carving but I recently discovered it works better if you do it afterwards. I use a tiny bit of Urban Decay's Crave on an angled eyebrow brush to blend everything together as well as set the brows. I got this Nanshy Eye Brow and Lip Brush for Christmas and it's perfect for this step 

5. Enjoy your brows (it's later than you think)

The most important thing is to enjoy doing your brows, have fun creating new looks and shapes and finding what suits you best - or what you like best! If you're anything like me you'll have so many bad brows before you find a way of doing it. Just look how bad they were when I first started doing them: 

You're welcome...

If you liked this tutorial keep your eyes peeled next Monday for my quick how to on winged eyeliner:

Looking back at 2015

So 2015 was a funny one for me. Although when I was writing my notes for this post I realised I achieved a lot and was pretty happy at times, I'm still left feeling a bit 'meh' at the end of it. New Year gets me all anxious anyway; January has been a struggle since I can remember - grey days, deadlines and nothing much to look forward to. I didn't want to do a chronological review of my year so I've put them into little categories. 

1. TRAVEL

I went on my first abroad on my own for the first time this year! Well, with Aaron, but without my parents or 'an adult' even though we are both adults of course. I had such a fun time even though I go into panic mode at airports - but I managed it very well I think (Aaron may disagree). I was actually laughing the other day at how hilarious it is that me and him were allowed to get on a plane and go to another country - then he reminded me that I am 20 now not a child. We spent the week snoozing around the rooftop pool, eating pizza and pasta and taking a shit load of selfies.

I also went on a couple of weekend/mini breaks. I went to London with Aaron and my parents in February, which was lovely and I got to go inside the Tower which was exciting. I'm still not 100% convinced why people love London so much though - it's so damn busy! And of course I attended Download Festival again with two of my best friends which was incredible.

Aaron took me away for my 20th which was so so great. I spent the journey there unbelievably hung over but once that had past I had such a lovely time. We went shopping and ate amazing American/Canadian food for 2 days and I was probably at my highest point of the year here. It sounds silly but I can just remember feeling unbelievably happy and loved and kept saying 'Thank you! I'm so happy' all day like a loony. 

Also for my birthday my housemates and I went to York for afternoon tea and a little bit of shopping. It was lush and I actually got my first tattoo that day too - which I'd forgotten to put in my notes oops! It's a little, tiny black heart on my ankle!

2. HEALTH AND CONFIDENCE

It seems a bit silly talking about this now seeing as I seem to have completely fell off the health train at the moment sipping hot chocolate and drowning my sorrows in Christmas chocolate. But I managed to loose just over a stone last summer. This is probably nothing to some people but it's the first time I've ever properly stuck to losing weight - partly due to my holiday at the end of summer mind! It's proved that I can do it and I will hopefully continue to be fit and healthy in 2016... as soon as I finish off these Ferraros. 

Another achievement that may be small to some but huge to me is that I actually bared my legs in summer 2015. For the first time in probably 8-10 years I took off my tights and went out with my legs on show - even around Hull! It sounds so silly but this sort of confidence is one of my biggest achievements of the year. This is one reason I chose to get the heart on my ankle. 

3. UNIVERSITY

Obviously my degree was a main part of 2015 and I'm pleased to say I got a very good 2:1 to set me up for my final year. This came at a price though. I was pretty stressed all year, my anxiety rocketed and I had lots of very low points. I was pushing myself to my limit and spending every waking hour thinking about my assignments and when I wasn't doing Uni work I would feel guilty. This caused me to become a bit of a recluse and I lost touch with quite a few friends which really sucks. 

The house I was living in didn't help, I hated being there so would try and spend as much time at the library as possible to avoid it. Some days I would take my uniform for work with me to my lectures, get changed, go to work and then return back to the library. I have no doubt that a similar situation will occur this year but I am keeping an extra eye on myself so I don't end up crippling myself over what is really just a number on a bit of paper. 

It wasn't all doom and gloom! I saw some great times with some of my best friends including several 21st celebrations, End of Year Ball and our last Freshers' week (cries). 

4. #BLOGLIFE

I feel I've definitely become more involved in the blogging community this year. I've started actually chatting with people on Twitter - I rarely used to start conversations with people because I thought I'd be bothering them but obviously this is not the case at all. 

I've met several bloggers who I had not met before this year including the lovely Heather (no superhero), along with spending more time with old blogging friends - including attending Lucy 's (lucyjaneblogs) amazing wedding! I also achieved some amazing blogging milestones including 1000 followers on Twitter and getting to work with some of my favourite brands.

Photo: Charley (Rambling of a Beauty Blogger)

What I got for Christmas 2015

So I know this may be a bit late, but if you're not sick of Christmas posts yet then please read my little post about what I was very lucky to receive this Christmas. I know these sorts of posts are controversial and often people accuse bloggers of bragging, however this is kind of a way to make the most out of the lovely things I received as well as thank those who treated me. 

First up is something that I've wanted for a long long time - GHDs! My parents gifted me these and I am in love - I'll hopefully never have a bad hair day again and my mum also treated me these sparkly gold note books that I saw in Sainsbury's. My friend gave me this gorgeous handbag from Floozie By Frost French - needless to say it's my new Uni bag! 

 I am certainly turning into my mother's daughter as I am a huge fan of candles and Yankees are one of my faves too. I love these lovely Christmassy smells that I think you could burn all year round.

 If you know me you'll know I'm a sucker for false eyelashes. My parents (well my mum, lets be honest here), picked these gorgeous ones out for me from Urban Decay which are definitely being saved for a special occasion. I was also lucky enough for my friend to gift me Urban Decay After Dark Matte Revolution lipstick that matches the handbag perfectly!

More makeup from my lovely Nan - she treated me to a red lipstick and matching nail varnish - (thank you!). My parents also got me one of my favourite mascaras - Benefit They're Real! Aaron treated me to a new Dot by Marc Jacobs - possibly my most used perfume of all time. He even got me EDP (I have him well trained)!

Some of the best Christmas presents are essentials - although eyelashes aren't essential they just fitted in with the colour scheme of this photo - and I was so happy to get stocked up on shower gel again. I love Simple skincare, my mum always treats me to some because she knows it's one of the only brands that don't turn me into a tomato!

Here are some gifts I wasn't expecting. Aaron's Mum is absolutely love me and spoiled me rotten this Christmas - she bought me these super soft Nanshy brushes and a stand up holder for them all! Heated rollers are something I've never tried but these ones from Phil Smith are really quick and easy to use - I just have too much hair - thank you Mum and Dad!

Here are some other really cute bits I was gifted. The polka dot mug is from Cath Kidston and was from my lovely boyfriend Aaron; he also bought me 2 pairs of Boux Avenue PJs that have already been featured in a post I love them that much. Carrying on with the mug theme his Mum also got me this really cute (and accurate) cup that says 'On a bad day there's always lipstick'. The Kelloggs lip balms my parents bought me are so crazy - I am a bit disappointing they don't taste of actual cereal though step up your game Kelloggs!

More PJs courtesy of my parents! Along with matching slippers and goodies from Burts Bees.

Last but by no means least my parents surprised me with this gorgeous Vivienne Westwood necklace - one I've been coveting for quite a few years now. I absolutely love pearls and slowly building a little collection of VW jewelry so receiving this was insane and made me want to cry. 

There are quite a few gifts that I've missed out of this post, I recieved a lot of foodie gifts that didn't survive long after Christmas as well as vouchers and money that I obviously wont take photos off - please don't take that the wrong way if you bought me something and it's not here. It'll simply be to do with the fact that things have got dispersed around my room when unpacking from being away. Thank you to everyone who treated me to these amazing gifts this Christmas. I hope everyone had a great holiday and are having a great start to the new year!