Airbrush Makeup 101

After finishing my diploma in Beauty School, one major part of the course that stood out to me was airbrush. Before actually studying it, I had assumed airbrush involved a bulky kit, a lot of time/effort, and a lot more money per face - I'll start apologising now for how wrong I was. 

The breakdown

What's airbrush? - ' Airbrush makeup is product sprayed onto the skin using a gun with airflow, rather than makeup applied with sponges, brushes or other.'

Why airbrush? -  For both personal and professional use, the finish is flawless. In a science-y explanation, the particles of foundation are much smaller than a regular product, and the air that it's shot out with helps it to disperse evenly and 'dry' straight away so it doesn't have time to move about and settle into weird lines. Other than that obvious main attraction to airbrush, it's extremely quick, mainly an advantage if you're using this professionally as you can get a large party sorted in a fraction of the time, but it does also help in personal use. Hygiene is obviously great with airbrush as you're not touching anyone's face, and you'd be amazed at how little foundation can do a full coverage.

Which airbrush? - I've worked with a few brands of airbrush now and the kit I chose for myself and every product I will probably ever buy for my airbrush kit is from the brand Airbase. The brand is famous amongst TV and Theatre makeup artists, the kits are small and affordable compared to other brands, and the control available from the guns along with the stunning finish of their products just makes it an overall winner. I've got similar to this kit, exactly this one , but I believe you have to be a student to get it. If you browse the website there are bigger and smaller kits for home or professional use. The shading pad is great for protecting hairlines when you're doing swift motions for light overall coverage, and having every selection of foundation colour has been a dream lately. They're perfect for mixing, too!

Quick tips:

• Don't mix formulas or you'll ruin your gun- I use silicone, best for all skin types and can withstand all environments. Water based is good for everyday, and alcohol based leans towards SFX and tattoo coverage the most- it's quite hardcore. 
• Use layers- Apply very light layers with a couple of seconds drying time inbetween to avoid cakey results.
• Don't pour too much in the gun's cup, because you won't get it back and I can promise you that you'll be surprised with how little you use.
• Use big swirls for overall coverage, but if you're looking to 'conceal' with the gun, pulse the trigger back and forth keeping it still over that area. 
• Start from light to dark so you don't have to clean your gun out too thoroughly inbetween- Go from base, to bronze, to blush- the colours merge more naturally and you don't have to use any cleaner to get rid of traces of product, if there's too much left in there just spray onto a tissue!

Would you ever try airbrush? 

Alice.

Ferrero Rocher & Nutella Cupcakes

I may have just recently joined the gym and decided to get a little bit healthier in prep for my holiday in 2 months 15 days (not that I'm counting, or shopping for it, or packing..), but I do still love baking and I've got a huge household to help me out with eating any creations. In fact, I used up the lasts of my Ferrero Rocher's from Valentines day so that I couldn't sit and eat them, so it really was a decision best for my health.. 

This recipe for the sponge is the best cocoa-based recipe I've come across, and I think I'll definitely keep it as a base for any chocolate cupcakes I make in the future. I had a lot of fun playing around with these and it's something a bit different to your standard cupcakes. The sponge itself is moist, the chocolate in the middle adds a nice texture, and the Nutella buttercream is all sorts of heavenly. It's rich, super Nutella-y and I've never liked a buttercream so much. The method is simple and if I can follow it, so can anyone! Overall they're definitely the best cupcakes I've ever produced, much better than a box mix- too!

To serve 12:
Cupcake ingredients-

• 230g Lightly salted butter
• 230g Caster sugar
• 230g Self Raising flour
• 60g Cocoa Powder
• 4 Large eggs
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons milk
• 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates

Nutella buttercream ingredients-

• 100g Any butter
• 140g Nutella
• 200g Icing sugar
• 50g Cocoa Powder
• 4 Tablespoons milk
• 30g Roasted chopped hazelnuts - to sprinkle, optional
• Cake Decor glitter spray - to decorate, optional (but really pretty)
• Any decorations - I've used Galaxy Golden Eggs and extra Ferrero Rooters

Method

For the cupcakes-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C for fan.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• In a seperate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Gradually add the eggs and dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, mixing until well combined.
• Beat in the vanilla extract and milk.
• Line a cupcake tin with 12 cases and divide the mixture evenly into them, reserving a few tablespoons amount in the bowl.
• Gently press a ferrero rocher into each cupcake, pushing right down in the mixture. Spoon the remaining mixture on top of the chocolates to cover them.
• Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until the cupcakes feel firm to the touch.
• Cool completely.

For the buttercream-

• Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the nutella.
• Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder.
• Finally beat in the milk until you have a creamy mixture, still firm enough to pipe with.
• Pipe the butter cream on top of the cupcakes.
• Decorate with the hazelnuts and any other decorations you wish to use.

Let me know if you try these!

Alice.

BOOTEA 28 Day Teatox | First Impression

Yesterday- I love you, Amazon Prime- I ordered the BOOTEA 28 Day Teatox. I've heard lots about it and as you're probably aware, it's a very popular detox tea.

I've tried a 'teatox' before, with SLENDERTOXTEA (post here), and I was really happy with the results. For a slightly cheaper, and shorter teatox I'd definitely recommend it. I'm excited to compare the two. 

Here's the information you're given to start with:

The 28 day box contains 28 daytime teabags and 14 bedtime teabags. You're supposed to drink the daytime tea in the morning/whenever you can if you forget, and the bedtime tea every other night, starting with day 1, for the entire teatox. 

You brew them for 3 minutes with boiling water just as you'd expect. It's not massively advertised as it, but as far as I'm aware it's supposed to aid weight loss and help with energy levels.

My first impressions of the BOOTEA, after having one of the daytime teas:

• I'm really impressed with the price, I think it must be a deal *update- it's for Amazon Prime users, but if you start the free trial you can get the deal and cancel at any time!* but for £18.49 for the 28 day box on Amazon I'm very happy. 
• I really like it so far, the daytime tea tastes really pleasant and a little bit like lemon.
• The packaging and the box that it comes in are really cute, I like the design etc.
• The bag of nighttime tea doesn't smell so pleasant- I'll let you know in the next post.

You can buy the 28 day box where I did here.

I'll definitely post a final update with some before/after shots, weight update etc, and maybe even some updates in-between! After one day my boyfriend's looking to join in, so I might have two opinions by the end!

Have you tried bootea? Are you going to join me?

Alice.

5 Cheap Makeup Products Every Beauty Junkie Should Own

As you can tell by the pictures, I love and have used these products a LOT. They're easily the five best drugstore products I've used, and I can hand-on-heart say that I've repurchased each of these multiple times (except the blusher, that I've only repurchased once! - I never get through an entire blusher though, so it is still a statement).

Let's start on the left. Maybelline's Anti Age Eraser Concealer in the shade Light has a permanent spot in my daily makeup bag for three reasons. It's easy to apply, because of the sponge built-in applicator (not the most hygienic thing in the world but it doesn't go near spots so, meh, I'll put up with it), the packaging in genius in that you get to use every.last.drop of the stuff thanks to the wind-down technology going on - if you're as cheap as me, this means a lot with your £7.99 concealer - and finally, it works a miracle on your under eyes. It's the most brightening concealer I've tried and I feel so happy in just applying an upside-down triangle of the stuff under my eyes and that being the area sorted. If dark under eyes is something you struggle with - you'll love it.

Next up, a cult favourite, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 01. It's under a fiver, it's my go-to to cover literally anything on my face and it blends like a dream. That is all.

My go-to foundation of the ... past 4 months? ... and probably for the rest of my makeup days - Maybelline Fit Me foundation in 115/120. I love this foundation so much that I purchased every single shade for my college makeup kit. I've used it on so many skin types and it doesn't fail to give an even finish, not too dewy, not too matte. I'd buy it even if it were Chanel prices.

Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara in Black. I featured this in my Rose Gold Makeup Menu eye look, it's great for length and definition. It's quite voluminous, there are definitely thicker looking mascaras out there, but it's the perfect middle that makes it a must-have for, well, everybody.

Finally, the NYX High Definition Blush in Amber. This is the only blusher I've ever repurchased, and I know it'll happen again a few times over. The texture and pigmentation is strong enough to not need much, but light enough that you aren't stepping on eggshells wondering if you're going to look like a rag doll today. This particular colour is something different from the other blushers I own - which are much more baby pink - and I reach for this daily. It suits a lot more skin tones than pinkier blushes, too.

Have you tried any of these? Let me know of other bargain products!

Alice.

Makeup Menu | Rose Gold Glitter

I'm definitely one of those still clinging on to the 'Rose Gold Everything' trend, and I don't think I'll ever back down. It's crept so far in my life that it's now on my face. 

For the base of this eye look I used MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly (it's a huge cult product, but for a reason- It's a creamy texture that thickens a little once you've applied it to the eye, and it does a good job of cancelling out veins and whatever else goes on ontop of an eyelid that you don't want in your smokey eye). All of my eyeshadows and including my brow colour came from one of Smashbox's new Cover Shot palettes, Ablaze, which I bought with the intention of using it for travel since it's so teeny and has a great little mirror, but I haven't put the thing down since I got it. For my brows I used Dark Horse, and for the brow bone and inner corners I used Moccasin and Relaxed mixed together. For the inner third of my eye I used Siesta, a shimmery rosy-pink shade, and for the centre my lid I used Nirvana, which is a matte burgundy colour. I copied all of these shades in the respective places beneath my eye, and then applied more Dark Horse on the outer third of the eyelid and beneath, joined together. Blended together this created a more-than-your-everyday smoky look. 


For mascara I used Maxfactor's False Lash Effect, my current favourite, in Black. The lashes I applied are from Eyelure's new Luxe Mink Effect Lash collection. The type I used are Solitaire, a gorgeous, wispy set. I'm a complete noob with applying lashes and I manage to apply these fine every time - so they're great if you feel like you can't hack the application of strip lashes too.

To complete the look, and my favourite part, I used Kryolan's Multi Gel in Copper. Kryolan is unfortunately a professional makeup brand and their main store, the only one I've ever seen, is located in Covent Garden. Otherwise, it's quite hard to get hold of without ordering online here where the postage costs more than the product. If you weren't looking to buy a few more colours to make the postage worth it, I've found a very similar one here.

What do you think? Would you try this look?

Alice