Skincare Routine

This post is just going to go through the steps you should think about when doing your morning and evening routine. Depending on your age, not every step is recommended. For instance, there's a 'serum' step in both routines. I would only really recommend using a serum if you're over the age of 25. I hope this post helps and gives you a clearer understanding of how to take care of you skin.

Skincare Routine:

- Cleanser

- Exfoliate

- Serum

- Day cream / Night cream

* Extras

- Makeup remover

- A face mask (recommended 1-2 times a week)

- Creams for sensitive or dry skin

- Spot treatment

A recommended Morning + Evening routine:

                       Morning:                                                            Evening:

                             - Cleanser                                                              - Eye makeup remover

                             - Toner                                                                   - Cleanser

                             - Moisturiser                                                          - Exfoliant 3 times a week

                             - Serum                                                                  - Serum

                             - Eye cream                                                           - Eye cream

                             - Day cream                                                           - A face mask (optional)

                             - Primer                                                                  - Spot treatment

                             - Make up 

Disclaimer: All products bought by myself.

I have already done a post on the 3 products that I use to Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise so make sure to check that out. Also, I've been using the Liz Earle muslin cloths for removing my cleanser and cash wash and they're really great!

 If you have any questions, just leave a comment below. I'm going to be doing a Q&A post soon so I need as many questions as possible please! 

A Personal Thing - Brows

Normally, I would never let people see my eyebrows without there being some product on them. However, recently, I purchased a product that I've been using since January. It is a little pricy and I have gone through 2 but it's the best thing I've ever invested in. Disclaimer: Product has been purchased by me or has been a gift. (Basically, I haven't been payed to talk to you about this)

Right okay, this is the product - RapidBrow Eyebrow Enhancement Serum. This is probably a purchase that I have benefitted from and finally regained confidence in my face. After all, eyebrows make or break your face. I still fill my eyebrows in but I never go OTT or anything. Just for you lovely bunch, I will insert some before and after pictures. The before picture is horrendous so please excuse them.

Plucking, Waxing or Threading?
Before I did any, my eyebrows were brushy, tatty and needed tiding up. I got to the stage where I found my Mum's tweezers and plucked them until they were just a thing patch; not even a line. Stupid right? So since then, my eyebrows just didn't seem to want to grow back and treatment was the only option for me. In between all the plucking, I had waxing (which I found was terrible) and threading (I think this is the best out of all of them, but is very painful). No pain, no gain!

TIP: If you want to grow your eyebrows, LEAVE THEM! The best way to let them grow is by simply letting them grow. Don't 'just pluck that hair because it's messy', leave it. You will see some sort of result if you do. If you don't, get the treatment! It's the best thing I've ever bought!!

Okay, so my eyebrows are still growing and I'm still using the treatment because I would like them just a little bit bushier/ thicker. Excuse the fact that I have no make up on but I thought the results would be clearer if you could actually see my face properly.


The product I currently use to fill in my eyebrows - UD Brow Box with a MAC 266 brush.

P.S. Make sure to comment with some questions for a Q&A post which will be coming when enough questions have been asked. Thank you!

Makeup Menu (Including me!)

This week's post is heading back onto beauty and it feels like it's been so long since I've posted about something actually beauty related. This week's post is going to be about my makeup during the weekends - afternoon and evening. ALSO, I've changed my address to www.jodiemoonblogs.blogspot.co.uk (sorry for any confusion).

So basically, this is my afternoon look. The picture is quite hard to see my eyeshadow etc, but I'll give you a run through...
Base:
To start with, I use the MAC Prep + Prime Skin as a primer. Then I use the Chanel Vitalumière Aqua foundation. To cover up spots or hide blemishes, I use the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. I then go on to fill in my eyebrows with the Soap and Glory Archery 2-in-1 Brow Filling Pencil and Brush. Now this is the part where I kind of take my own path and go on to do my eyeshadow: Foxy and Tease from the Urban Decay 2 Palette and Fix from the Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette. After eyeshadow, I like to use the Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner for my lid; followed by MAC Eye Kohl in the shade Smolder. Mascara is next and I love using the Clinique High Impact Mascara with the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara; both being in the colour black. If I think my face needs a bit of bronzer or a slight attempt to contour, I will build up a suitable amount of the Chanel Bronze Universal on the sides of my face and done either sides of my nose. I love this product because you don't need a lot on your brush and it's easy to apply. To finish my makeup, I will apply a MAC lipstick in the shade Patisserie or Modesty.


For my evening approach, I like to pretty much have a similar look, however, I go a bit heavy on the eyeshadow and do a full on contour. Also, depending on my outfit, I like to go bold on my lips and not so harsh on the blush. Again, I like to use the shades from the Urban Decay 2 Palette and for my evening look, I use Half Baked, Snakebite and Busted (all of which are pigmented... shimmayyy). Then when I use the Chanel Bronze Universal, I like to apply this a bit heavier and define my nose. I only tend to us highlighter during the evening because I like to have a more natural look in the afternoon. So for highlighter in the evening, I like to use the 5050 from the Urban Decay Naked On The Run Palette.

Sorry for the selfies but hopefully, you've enjoyed my makeup menu and like the fact that it's finally a beauty related post again. Next week's blog is going to be something fashion related... Off the topic of beauty again... Whoops. Have a good Easter term if you're off!

Perfect Palettes

Perfect Palettes...
Back on to the beauty topic this week and I felt like I should talk about palettes.

There's nothing better than buying something for a new palette or getting a completely new one with gorgeous shades and pigments.

For my choice, I've chosen 2 face palettes and 3 eyeshadow palettes.

Disclaimer - Please realise that these are all my opinion and I do purchase them all or have been given them as a gift from family. I do spend quite a lot of money on make up, but that's what I enjoy spending my money on so why not?

Let's get started...
Urban Decay Naked Flushed - £22.50
Urban Decay are really doing well with their products recently. I love pretty much everything in their range and this is my favourite face palette out of it. It's not too pricy and the highlight has a slight pigment. The blush is gorgeous and the bronzer is great. I'm sure you can get other shades for different skin tones?

Benefit Peek-a-Bright Eyes - £25.50
Benefit is a bit hit and miss for me... I love their Porefessional and They're Real mascara but I'm not too keen on the Lolli Balm (total rip off for £14.50!) However, I love this eyeshadow palette. It comes with 2 small brushes, 3 eyeshadows and an eye brightener. The shades are very similar to the eyeshadows in my MAC quad...

My MAC Pro Palette - £45
The refillable compact is 4x4 and was £5; it's also available in different sizes. The 4 Pro Palette shades that I have put in are: White Frost, Girly, Woodwinked and Embarked. These are definitely my favourite shades and my Mum pretty much has the same shades as me in hers! Each Pro Palette Refill Pan eyeshadow is £10

NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette - £45 - £55
For £45 I think this palette is amazing. I think NARS was selling them for £45 originally but they sold out super quick! So Selfridges brought it out for £55. You get 3 blushers, a highlighter and a bronzer. Great for £55 right?! (some of the names of the blushers are rude so I'll leave you to see if you click on the link!) Amazingly, the palette contains the Laguna bronzer in it's full size! This is normally £27.50!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - £38
You can't go wrong for 12 shades for £38. This is my favourite eyeshadow palette that I've ever use before; trust me, there's been a few. I'm thinking about purchasing the Naked 3 but I don't think I'd use all the shades. Whereas with the Naked 2 palette, I use them all!! Amazing value for money!

Top left - Naked Basics - Urban Decay
Top right - Peek-a-Bright eyes... - Benefit
Left middle - My 'build your own' Pro Palette - MAC
Right middle - Virtual Domination Cheek Palette - NARS
Bottom - Naked 2 - Urban Decay

Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise

Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise 
For my CTM routine, I use products from the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare range. Previously, I have used more affordable products from Simple and Olay but since Christmas, I've fallen in love with these.

If you seriously want to enhance your skin and make it feel replenished then using a cleanser, toner and moisturiser, twice a day, will improve your skin short term and long term. I've done some research and they say you should start as young as possible; this can apparently reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

These Liz Earle products are pricy but you're paying for good quality - not just the brand. I have found that in the past month, my skin has started to feel great. I use these twice a day and you only need a small amount of both. There are definitely more affordable drugstore products in Boots etc, but sometimes, you just have to treat your skin. I do think that they are reasonably priced for the quality and I've already repurchased the toner.

Products mentioned:
Liz Earle Cleanser
Liz Earle Toner
Liz Earle Moisturiser

All About That Base

In this post, I'm not going to be singing or participating in Meghan Trainor's 'All About That Base' video... but I am going to be telling you about my go-to base products. I've tried to pick one from each of these categories: BB Cream, CC Cream, Tinted Moisturiser and Foundation.

Okay, so for those who aren't too sure what each of the products do, keep reading!

BB Cream: BB creams are short for blemish base or beauty balm. They basically are like a lighter foundation with a few skin care benefits thrown in.
CC Cream: CC creams are short for colour correcting. The products are supposed to address issue like redness or sallowness (usually with light-diffusing particles).
Tinted Moisturiser: Tinted moisturisers are a moisturising cream or lotion that has a slight tint to it, allowing it to provide some skin coverage.
Foundation: Foundations are used to cover up un-even skin tones, blemishes and give a nice base to work on.

My go-to base products:
BB Cream - Garnier Pure Active BB Cream in Light.
CC Cream - Olay Total Effects CC Cream for Light - Medium Skin Tone. This is a great CC cream from Boots and is quite affordable; it's on offer now!
Tinted Moisturiser - Laura Mercier Tinter Moisturiser with SPF and Oil Free. I have it in the shade Sand. Next time I will be purchasing in a lighter shade as I ordered online (BIG mistake!)
Foundation - Prepare for a few goodies... From Boots again is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel foundation in the shade Vanille. The next is from Selfridges and it is the Chanel Vitalumière Aqua Ultra - Light foundation. It contains SPF 15 and really is light! It's such a great product. Last, but not least, is the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation in NW20. This also has SPF 15 and has great coverage.

Mascara this, Mascara that...

The 3 must-have mascaras:

These mascaras are by far amazing. Either just by themselves or all at once, they give an extended look to your lashes.

From left to right:
Clinique - High impact mascara With this, you could just apply by it's self and get nice thick lashes, but when you apply the MAC mascara beforehand, it finishes the look beautifully. As you can see by the picture, I am way overdue a repurchases. This product has lasted me around 6 weeks. 

MAC -Studio Fix Boldblack Lash
As I said, applying this before the Clinique mascara, you will get a great set of lashes. Even just using this product alone, your eyelashes will look even and long without clumps of mascaras here and there! This product is still on the go after 8 weeks!

Clinique - Bottom Lash Mascara
By far my most favourite bottom lash mascara. In previous experiences, I've been left with panda eyes due to a bad formula, wearing my makeup all day, or being out in wild conditions. However, with this mascara you don't need to worry about that! It is literally perfect in the sense that it doesn't do any of the above. Got to love a great mascara that won't budge right? Currently on my second week of using this; it's staying strong.