Vlogs!

Three new videos have been uploaded to my channel in the last couple of days PLUS with many more to come so stay tuned for more Winter and Christmassy filled vids!!

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC8rm7CVbgXOdMQMsjwiifA

OOTD: Friday 10th Oct 2014

I have been super(!) distant lately just because of settling into uni and with assignment deadlines getting scarily closer and closer and I promised a quick post way back when on my Instagram (@melissanye) on this look so here it is briefly!

Apart from looking irrationally blonde here, this is my favourite look of the autumnal season so far! It's warm enough to wear to keep you from getting a bit chilly but it's also breathable which I find is quite difficult to find in an outfit for these kind of months - it can be sweater weather one minute, but an Indian summer the next. This jumper provides a beautiful concoction between the two. The jumper comes in a variety of different colours and patterns and is slightly cropped if you can't tell from the photo. It's from H&M and is conveniently priced at £7.99 RRP*.

My jeans are my second favourite new pair of jeans (after my indigo super skinny high waist Primark ones) and are titled "Push In, Push Up" in order to hold in the food baby you might have going on and to also give a slight lift to dat booty by having a sweetheart yoke just above your cheeks. These jeans are also from Primark and were priced at £13. Again, these come in a range of colours.

My boots (which unfortunately you can't see in this photo*) are just small cut out black leather look booties from Deichmann, which have a little heel and are super gorgeous. These cost £24.99 RRP. 

*I hopefully plan on getting round to doing a 'Student Shopping Night Haul' post (maybe even a video?) in which you will see these items in more detail hopefully. That's why I've put RRP on the prices as I didn't pay RRP, due to student discount but I'll get into that in the haul post!

Thanks for reading, Melissa xxxx

GRWM: First Impressions + Chat

Here is a Chat With Me/ First Impressions video that is up on good old YouTube! (the next time you see a sit down video from me might be in my new flat oooh exciting)



Thank you! 

Melissa 

xoxoxoxox

Blog As I Go Tutorial!

So I don't know if this is an actual thing but I thought I would blog what I'm doing and using makeup wise as I did it! This is 100% real life time trust me it is currently exactly 3pm on Wednesday 3rd Sep 14 so let's see how long this takes!

First I'm going to start by priming my t zone with this - (L'Oréal Nude Magique Blur Cream in light to medium skin)

Next I'll be applying L'Oréal Infallible foundation in the shade 140 golden beige - this shade is a bit too dark but is perfect with a tan. Plus this foundation is perfect for staying all day and honestly is 24H like it says!

After that I'm using my Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer to highlight under the eyes, down the bridge of my nose and to conceal any imperfections.

To set my face I'm using my Natural Collection Loose Powder in Neutral Translucent - this is perfect to keeping your base staying flawless all day and gives you a natural matte finish.

Then I just filled in my brows with my beloved elf Eyebrow Kit in dark :)

Next I bronzed my face with the Bronzing Summer Glow Kit by 17 and  contoured my cheeks and nose with Nars Laguna.

For my eyes I used the Sleek Au Naturel palette and placed the 2nd greyish shade all over my lid. I then placed the 5th shade which is a peachy orange into the crease. I darkened up the outer v on each eye by placing the warm brown shade there with a small fluffy brush by Estee Lauder. Using the same brush I placed the almost black shade on the outer V also and blended it all together with a clean fluffy brush from eBay (these eBay/china brushes are soooo good and incredibly cheap so I'll leave a link below if I can find them). 

Next I used my eyeko skinny liner to add a small wing which makes the black shadows draw into the centre of the eye without looking too heavy. Next i used my new favourite mascara - the volume million lashes so couture by L'Oréal. 

For my blush I used Benefits Coralista with a Real Techniques duo fibre face brush in order for the product to be applied more sparsely. I used the same brush to apply my highlight which was the MUA Undress Your Skin shimmer highlighter. For my lips I used Revlon Super Lustrous Matte lipstick in Smoked Peach 013.

MAKEUP BRUSHES: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/10-Pcs-Professional-Makeup-Brushes-Set-Makeup-Brushes-Kit-Free-Draw-String-Makeup-Bag/1836599605.html

I was stupid and forgot to take a selfie so you could see the finished product... the one photo that actually matters... well... if you create this look I'd love to see the different ways it came out haha! just respond with a photo :)

Thanks again!

Melissa xoxo

ELF UNBOXING HAUL! 💕

Hi everyone! If you haven't seen this already it was uploaded last week! You may have seen me talk about this video in vlogs before (I can't remember if I did!) but this was filmed way back in the beginning of June and I was finally able to edit it (even though my editing is rubbish). Thank you for being patient with me and here is my first PROPER REAL KINDA VIDEO!!! Soz for being embarrassing.

Melissa xoxoxo

My Summer In Photos!

I'm thinking of making my blog a bit more universal as now I'm working between 5-7 days a week it can be difficult to think of new ideas specific to beauty or health that are quick for me to do. 

Plus, to make my blog attract more of a universal audience, I decided to include lifestyle and day to day posts, starting with this one! So over the summer I haven't gone on holiday like most people do but have had a lot planned in terms of days out etc! 

So this is my summer so far (22nd June - 13th August) in photos!

Click to view larger

LOVE IS SO SHORT, FORGETTING IS SO LONG (Tuesday 11th March, 2014 @ 20:48 GMT)

The first time you see someone you had history with, whether it be a previous partner or your first love or your no-longer best friend, the first time you see them once things ended can be painful. You have banished them from your mind, you have taken all the strength in your bones to remove them from your heart, you have spent weeks, months, years trying to mend whatever masterpiece that was broken. You tried your absolute best to live without them and then, you see them. Maybe on your bus on your way to school, when you are at lunch with a friend, or maybe you saw them on their way to work across the street. You spent such little time appreciating them and their ideas, thoughts, memories so why does it seem to take forever trying to erase them? The love that you shared was over in a blink of an eye, and now you spend the next six months trying to forget. But you can’t try to forget people or those memories. No matter how much time you spent together, it will take however long it takes to move on and you will move on, just at your own pace not anyone else’s. Not when your friends say, “Get up, we’re going out, we’re gonna find you someone, stop moping around.” Your time won’t fly by or heal anything, and it will leave you with many questions unanswered. The hardest part of it is knowing you can’t change what happened and that maybe they are happy and maybe you’re pretending to be okay.

HOW DO YOU MOVE ON? (Sunday 29th June, 2014 @ 19:17 GMT)

“You left in October. We haven’t talked in over ten months. We bumped into each other that Saturday night about 6 weeks ago. We made eye contact. I kept trying to distract myself by ordering drinks from the bar or going to the bathroom. For half a minute we stood next to each other on the dance floor alone and watched each other before I distracted myself again. Every once in a while I like to check in to see how you are. I would ask you but I don’t know how. I check your social media. Whenever I scroll I see some things that make me teary eyed or overemotional. I saw you had posted a quote that read, “If you’re not gonna marry her, take your hands off another man’s future”. I applied it to myself when I read it. If I was not willing to make a move or to talk to you after ten months when I should have, I should not hold on to you as if I am a ghost haunting a loved one. I cannot expect you to love me at all if I cannot even speak words to you that have no meaning. If I cannot even make small talk when we are a foot away from one another; just the two of us, after the laughs and memories I have of you and I, I do not deserve to hold you in my mind. I am letting you go. Not because I do not love you. It is because I neglected to ever show you. And you deserve every inch of a declaration of love because you are so honest and warm-heartedly beautiful that it sends saltwater drops from my eyes to my cheek when I see you post that you wish for someone to hold.” 

This is taken from my writing blog - mondexwriting

(plus this is superrrrrr personal and I feel quite vulnerable actually posting this on here so it may come down from this blog if I don't feel comfortable with it being so public)

Top 7 Nail Colours for Summer!

As the seasons change, so do the colours on our nails. Here are my top 7 recommendations from my collection that are perfect for summer outfits.

Rimmel London's Salon Pro Kate Collection Polish, #705 Reggae Splash

Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint by Barry M, #GNP5 Blueberry

Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint by Barry M, #GNP6 Prickly Pear

Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint by Barry M, #GNP13 Papaya

Essie Nail Lacquer, #1 Blanc

Essie Nail Lacquer, #27 Watermelon

Essie Nail Lacquer, #99 Mint Candy Apple

                           

My Handbag Essentials!

This week on the blog I thought I would share with you my handbag essentials! Currently the bag I am using is my beloved Bestillini bag (TKMaxx) which is like my child. I filmed a 'What's In My Bag?' video about a week ago when I got this bag HOWEVER you all probably know the situation with videos at the moment (they just ain't happening) so if that ever goes up then it will be très similar to this post but this can be a little preview for you :)

                           

In the photo I carry these 9 essentials with me almost everywhere - whenever I take a handbag or bag, all these things go in there, obviously besibes my clutch when I'm out for the night because I'm sure I won't need sunglasses or my diary...

So below is what I carry on a regular basis when I'm running errands, including a box of ibuprofen (or paracetamol as I get headaches frequently), body spray (gots to be keeping freshly scented am I right ladies), my keys (der), my glass (I need to see things sometimes), my sunglasses (I actually don't know why these go in every bag with me - I want to get the most out of my sunnies but it's England come on I should replace these with a brollie).

I also have there my little pink diary - I bought this just after the year began as I wanted to be more organised and I use it all the time I don't know how I could have lived previously without one and I didn't think I would actually stick to using it (thought I would resort to my phone) but nope I record all plans, events and deadlines in there and it has saved my life. I've got my lady essentials (of course) in my little purple tin courtesy of BodyForm (never know what is gonna happen, expect the unexpected and all that jazz) and in my Beatles tin (which my ma got my yonks ago for Christmas) I keep chewing gum. The story behind this is that I bought one of those Extra gum boxes, the little cardboard ones, but in my bag they just get squashed and gum is flying around everywhere so I popped them in this little tin which I had been trying to find a use for since I got it. I also helps to keep my gum fresh as it's a metal tin.

Lastly, I can't go absolutely anywhere without my purse! (who goes somewhere without their purse) This is my new Prada purse :) (it excites me very much) I love a big purse because I like everything in one place - I've got hella loyalty cards and receipts and coupons going on in there I can't be keeping a tiny wallet for all that crap.

                                     

Thanks for reading! Melissa xoxo

London Zoo OOTD + MOTD

Last Wednesday I supervised a school trip to London Zoo (I hate London Zoo) and thought it would be a good opportunity to show a outfit of the day (ootd) and the makeup I wore as well (which I also had to carry on without reapplying for my whole shift at work straight after so my makeup survived about 14 hours of wear (or just about). 

For my makeup look, I really wanted to create a look that accentuated my eye shape as you may have noticed I have hugely round and large eyes which makes it difficult for me to wear certain winged liner. After watching like all of LustreLux's videos on Youtube (most specifically her video tutorial on her everyday cut crease makeup which I adore omg) it gave me the motivation to attempt something similar. Here I softened the cut crease and used natural toned shadows for it to be easily blended before lining my lids with my Eyeko Skinny liner. I paired this eye look with a simple pinkish nude - using e.l.f.'s lipstick in Rosy Tan and topping it with a clear gloss by Rimmel - this is really lip plumping and is a favourite recently.

For my outfit I wanted to keep it casual as I was only supporting a trip so I went for the iconic, t-shirt and jeans look and topped it off with my new stone/grey faux leather jacket from H&M. I have this jacket in black (which you may have seen before) but I ordered this one online and it arrived about a week ago so it wasn't until it arrived I realised it was exactly the same as my black one just in a different colour! This jacket makes any look more edgy but not too grungy as the black jacket does.

I paired it with this t-shirt - a men's shirt originally from UNIQLO but found in a charity shop. This cost me like four quid (bargainnnnnn) and is soooooo soft and a perfect fit for an oversized t-shirt for my shape. Plus I love the graphic font on it and how it's navy which just makes it so versatile.

I wore jeans as I said before with this outfit and these are some of my favourite jeans - they are Primark skinny jeans for eleven pounds and Primark change these jeans all the time - the fit, the stitching, the material, something just always changes every time I buy a new pair but these are the best I have found. They are so stretchy and soft plus they are very flattering (making dat butt look good). My only fault with these are that they fall down on me as they are quite big even though they are my size (but I find Primark sizing should not be trusted at all it is very messed up) so I do belt these every single time.

I wore my old low top converse with this outfit as I thought it could rain plus I would be walking through London all day so needed something remotely comfortable but hell I was wrong. I love these as they were my first pair of converse I bought (I only have two though??) yonks ago as converse are actually quite pricey. Especially for a teenager. So I bought these ones as I wanted something versatile like the black classic converse but also something unique as I was spending a fair share of my money on trainers so I picked the ones with the limited edition blue stitching - these also come with three different laces to choose from but I am pretty sure they don't sell these shoes anymore. 

 

So that concludes this brief OOTD and MOTD! Hope you enjoyed and if you like posts like these plus +1 it or comment below!

Thanks for reading, Melissa xoxo

WHAT IF THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY CAME BACK? (Tuesday 29th April, 2014 @ 14:39 GMT)

In the film, "Letters to Juliet", Amanda Seyfried's character, Sophie writes an incredible letter that begins, "'What' and ‘if’are two words as nonthreatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life".

If how you felt back then was so powerful then who is to say it isn't now. "What if...?" Maybe he got away when you turned your back for a split second and took his chance to run. Maybe they slipped through your fingers. Like when your hands are so numb that you can't control them anymore. You can't grip onto things as tightly as you used to and these things that you once held so strongly go crashing to the floor, straight through the gaps in your cowardly fingers and you don't feel a thing. 

If he ever came back, what's to say that he won't get away again? I'll have to wear gloves next time to stop myself from losing grip. I know I will try everything in my power to prevent it from plummeting at my feet. Maybe he'll find an escape again. He can find your biggest flaw and use it against you. He'll squeeze me so hard I'll have no choice but to suffocate. What if he never intended to leave me at all, but to just leave where we were for a while? What if his intentions were never clear? What if he wants to come back but can't? What if he already has and I was too busy or I wasn't around to see what was going on? What is he wants me back in his life just as much as I need him? I'll probably never know the answers to these questions but these kinds of thoughts bring you the worst kind of pain. It's like there's something squeezing you from the inside but you can't physically feel it. There's no purple bruise that you can label with a time and date, no battle scar with an in-depth historical notation. You just have your thoughts that you have neglected to share with anyone but the moon and stars.

What if the one who got away, came back? What does this even mean?! Is it asking what your reaction would be if you saw them again for the first time? Is it asking what your relationship with them would amount to this time? Is it asking if you would ever accept them back in your life? Just for reference, I never used to believe in second chances. I believed that people would either have their shot and that's all you need if it's something you really wanted. But maybe you ran out of time, or something was holding you back? Maybe God really wants the best for you or you needed to take it slowly. So maybe some people deserve second chances and I hope I get mine. I hope he comes back.

Natural and Simple Bridal Look! Perfect for Summer ☀️

It's that time of year where it seems everyone is going to weddings. Either you yourself is getting married, one of your best friends or maybe you're just attending the reception but we all need a look that we can wear for the day. 

This look was so last minute of me that I decided to make it into a blog post after I wanted to put on a bit of light coverage makeup and made my hair into this bohemian bun. This look is so versatile and adaptable especially for the warmer months as you can wear it with different headbands or even with braids/plaits if you have the time and it is so much more easier to do than it looks! Thus, this look can be used for festivals looks for when your hair is a tad oily or if you have an event or such where you need your hair up but still like it looking flawlessly pretty. The makeup is too very gentle to wear when it's warmer as the base that I used was Clarins HydraQuench Tinted Moisturiser which has an SPF of 15 in it to keep the sun off you for the day and is light on the skin which let's it breathe. Below is what I used for each step of the makeup and how I did my hair for this Summer Bridal Look! 

To achieve the natural makeup, after applying the base I set it with MAC Skinfinish Natural as this is known to keep your foundation in place for the day - a must for special occasion makeup! I lightly contoured my cheekbones with Nars Laguna Bronzer to give my face a little dimension. I applied Benefit's Coralista blush to the apples of my cheeks to give it a natural flush to add to the natural and simple makeup look. 

I filled my brows in with my L'Oreal Brow Artiste pencil as a brow pencil gives the effect of my natural brows as you can easily mimic brow hairs when filling them in. This pencil is great as it comes with a tiny brush on the cap to comb through the brows before and after. Plus one end of the pencil is wax which you can easily set the brow in place with. Although the wax end of this pencil is very soft this means it runs down very very quickly so I don't use it every single time - especially when it was part of my everyday makeup routine.

After filling my brows, I wanted to go for a 'barely there' look for the eyeshadow. I contoured my eyes by placing Laguna bronzer into the socket and crease from my brow bone towards the inner corner to make my eyes less rounded and more 'cat-eye' shaped. I used Benefit's long wearing shadow in the shade Call My Buff to highlight under my brows and in the tear duct area before placing a light petal pink shade from this Sleek palette shown below and mixed it with Call My Buff to place all over the lid and blended into the crease. I used my favourite mascara at the moment, Rimmel London's Scandaleyes RetroGlam mascara - this isn't a natural looking mascara but for this look I really wanted to achieve super long and thick lashes, just to give the look something that stands out for special occasion makeup. To make my eyes brighter, I used Rimmel London's white kohl eyeliner - white eyeliner is great for making your eyes look bigger or brighter and makes you look more awake so it's great in the mornings!

I used L'Oreal GlamShine Stain Splash in Lolita - a gorgeous natural pink coloured gloss - these glosses are just thick enough to last for long periods of time (great for special occasions such as weddings!) but they're not incredibly sticky and disgusting that makes you want to blot it every 20 minutes like some glosses. There's not a huge variety of shades but the colours that are available are perfect for everyday wear.

Moving onto the hair, I wanted to achieve a natural, beachy up-do and interpreted a version I saw on Youtube by Courtney Lundquist but I only curled the front sections of my hair that weren't up. So what I did is I sectioned off those front pieces first and curled them really tightly with a GHD flat iron and sprayed them with Pantene Pro V Ice Shine hairspray and separated the curls from the rest of my hair with the headband that is shown in the photos. I divided the rest of my hair into two top and bottom sections, forming the bottom half of my hair into a ballerina bun by twisting it and wrapping it around itself then securing it in place with a hair band. Afterwards, you just take sections from the top half of your hair and wrap them either over or under the bun you just created. As I said I didn't curl this section but in Courtney's video she did and I admit my hair would have looked a lot better if I had the time to curl it! After wrapping sections around the bun, you just pop in some bobby pins to secure it in place. I'd suggest using those pins that are made for this kind of look - they're grips designed for pinning hair in buns (I don't know what they're called but they are kind of like these I guess - Boots Hairpins) and if your headband is still in place you are pretty much finished when you have pinned all the hair back!

Thank you for reading! As always, if you have any requests please leave them below or email me! Melissa xoxo

WHY REGRET SOMETHING YOU ONCE WANTED? (Thursday 24th April, 2014 @ 21:57 GMT)

A chilling concept to which I do not know the answer to, despite being in the situation myself. The theories surrounding it are that people change their minds and that's perfectly okay. But is it still okay if we mess around with other's feelings? My intentions were once honest and true yet no one saw them that way except myself. As after the situation unfolded, just like origami, I could see the creases and dents that I had made and even though the predicted end product may have looked so beautiful to me, whether is it a paper swan or a relationship, once unraveled to its truest form, it's not how it was in the beginning. That piece of paper isn't as beautiful as you thought it would turn out to be. After all, it is a piece of paper. 

So does it make you a bad person to regret something you wanted once upon a time? Certainly not. Mine personally stemmed from this attraction I had to someone. (I must highlight that I was oddly attracted to him but did not find him attractive). So I saw it fit to make myself feel better when I started conversation with him and be around him which ended up being the two of us within a group of all our friends on a night out. Long story short, he took advantage of both states we were in (i.e. drunkards) as he made his move. After a few (and very brief) text conversations and long pauses of me trying to avoid him afterwards, he declares his undying love for me (lol jk) which unnaturally, I became quiet angry at as I didn't understand what the hell was going on. In present times, we are on polite greetings basis and have been pretty much ever since. Nonetheless, I'm quite sure he is over his mild heartbreak but honestly what am I supposed to do in a situation like that? Am I to be with a guy who I would only get off with when I had one too many Disaronno's, just to please him? Noooooooooo. That's not what my feminist goals tell me. What makes it that much worse is while I was with him I was half regretting the whole situation and half drunk out of my mind that I was actually enjoying myself. Because making out when you are drunk is fun (that is why everyone is doing it on nights out, I mean, come on). I did have a mild sense of pride though. I had pulled a guy who I actually liked. I had succeeded. I was adequately chuffed with myself and also upset when I pictured someone else while I was kissing him. (Never cool, Melissa). But that story is for a different time. 

Even looking back, that is what I wanted but I was never grateful or happy. I felt awful for feeling that way. I took myself too seriously. Turns out, he takes himself even more seriously. And there you have it. Just because at the time it seems like a good idea or it's what you wanted, it doesn't mean it's always going to be that way. Obviously the desired route to find this information out would have been to just have found out first hand without people getting shot in the firing line but what's done is done and everyone now is okay so that's that. 

True Encounters 'Series'!

Back in April of this year I started to answer 'philosophical' (if you will) questions from my own points of view and experiences and I really enjoyed it actually... until I started to run out of questions that were suitable enough and had something for me to write about that I actually knew or had experience of.
I really want to start doing it again as I feel that those really demonstrated the kind of writing that I adore. So I thought I would just explain what I was to be doing before I jumped straight into it as these posts or articles are something really quite different than the usual beauty blog posts etc. So from now on, I will be publishing these posts under the 'True Encounters' label on this blog for you to easily access.
As I said I already started writing these back in April so a couple are already written and are scheduled to go up very very soon! I hopefully aim to publish these articles at least once a week*, with the first, titled 'WHY REGRET SOMETHING YOU ONCE WANTED?', going live tomorrow at 12pm GMT. Hope you enjoy something a little different!

 

*I have decided to post one a week, going live every Sunday at 10am GMT!

High-End Rosy Makeup!

Today I was desperate to rediscover some of my higher priced products that i rarely used because a) I am lazy and use the same products and b) I am cheap and don't use high end stuff when I can use cheaper ALAS I realised that I actually own a bit of high end makeup and thought I would do a look as best I can using high end makeup. I also didn't want to do a full eye look today like I usually do - I wanted to do a simple look that's wearable for anyone and maybe even a 'no makeup' makeup look! That said, these are the products I used. *disclaimer: this is not sponsored but it turned into a little first impressions too soz lul*

I started priming my skin with the Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I haven't used this that many times to say that it holds all my makeup in one place but I expect good things from it - it didn't necessarily smooth out my foundation when I put that on and give a smooth completion but my main aim of this foundation is that it increases the longevity of my base makeup and hopefully it pulls through!

Then I used the BB Skin Perfecting Cream (with SPF 25 - super great to wear during the summer as it's creamy and has a dewy finish) from Clarins in the shade 02 Medium. This wasn't as impressive as I thought as I thought it left my skin looking a bit patchy over perfect like it says on the tube! And for a thick and creamy foundation/base it's a light coverage. It says it is a light to medium coverage - I'd say more medium as it dis cover quite well but I'm just confused how the product is so thick when it's such a light coverage!

I used Benefit's Erase Paste on my undereye area to cancel out any dark circles and definitely does the trick however I prefer a brightening undereye concealer so I will probably be sticking to my Rimmel Match Perfection concealer. I used the shade No 2 Medium for the Erase Paste. After that I cheated a bit as I didn't have a light high end powder and used by e.l.f. Eye Brightener in Buff to set that undereye concealer. I set the rest of my face with MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus with a Too Faced kabuki brush. 

Next I bronzed my face very lightly with Benefit's Dallas Bronzer using a Real Techniques Blush Brush. This is my sister's bronzer so I don't use it loads and I prefer shimmer bronzers like my Rimmel one I've usrd plenty of times! I contoured the hollows of my cheeks with Benefit's Hoola Bronzer which is my all time fave and I use it to contour anyway. I use a slanted and curved brush to contour which is very similar to the brush that Hoola comes with anyway!

For my blush I tend to use either Rockateur or Coralista anyway (from Benefit) but I sensed this look was becoming very Benefit heavy so I used a MAC blush which unfortunately I don't know the name of as I have had it agesssss and the sticker has come off on the packaging :(

Keeping the look natural, I didn't fill in my brows properly and just combed them through and ran a brown shadow through the tails of each brow to make them a little more defined. 

For my eye look I used a neutral tone brown, a transition shade (you can use any and I used the lighter brown in Sleek's Oh So Special palette) that I applied into the crease and onto the brown bone to give a more elongated look to the eyes - this is a good look if you have larger and more rounded eyes like me as it doesn't make them look smaller as such but more elongated and cat eye. I went over that briefly with an olive shadow from a No 7 trio I had lying around (It has no name but a number printed on the back - 220NN - I don't know if that helps anybody?) I blended that shade in my outer V and onto the brow bone slightly. I used Benefit's They're Real Mascara but was running out so topped it up with The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in the shade 01 - this Body Shop mascara is actually really good at volumising definitely recommend!

Lastly, moving to my lip combo! I realised I didn't have a neutral or nude toned lippy so used Benefit's Bene-tint to almost line my lips before applying a lip colour in the shade Tutti-Cutie, also by Benefit.

I realise this is quite Benefit heavy but I honestly just own more Benefit cosmetics than I realised and a lot less other high end brands! Overall, I love how this look turned out natural but rosy and the makeup definitely blends better in the photos than how it does when I look in the mirror. Nonetheless, the makeup has blended a lot better now than it was earlier when I first applied it so I guess the creamy Clarins balm just needs to breathe a bit!

Thanks for reading! I hope to be posting a lot more now that I have no exams or school and especially as I don't go back to work for a further ten days! Thanks again and if you have any looks you would like to see I will try and see if I can do them! I wish I could have filmed this as a tutorial but you probably know the situation with my computers. I know. It is sad. I disappoint. :(

Thanks, Melissa xoxoxo

OOTD! 16th June 2014

This morning I had my last exam (thank god) and I was expecting to meet a friend for lunch when I had finished so this is what I wore this morning! (As in right now I am in trackies in bed). This evening I'm going up the pub so will be wearing the same outfit but a different top so the crop top was a tad too short for my liking! I will most likely be wearing the top I am wearing now which is a blue and grey baseball raglan tee from ASOS.

Biker jacket: H&M - £15 (Sale price)
Crop top: ASOS - £7 (Maybe? I can't really remember but it was almost definitely in the sale!)
Jeans: Leigh Topshop - £38 (thereabouts, I don't believe these particular ones are for sale anymore, they are quite thin and stretchy but they have similar jeans available)
Shoes: Converse at Office - £48

Follow Me on Bloglovin'!

You can now follow me on bloglovin'! I'm not entirely sure how it works but I know you can keep up to date with loads of blogs at one time which seems like a fab idea so follow if you want, the link is below! 

If you have any tips on how it works or anything let me know because I am useless and need help with things like this okay thank you

http://www.bloglovin.com/melissanye

Simple Dewy Makeup Look for Summer! + Quick OOTD

Here's how I achieved this simple makeup look which is lovely when it's gets a little warm and you want your makeup to last but it still to be "barely there"!

I started off with just a simple MUA primer, I know this one doesn't give me a matte finish on my skin which is nice for glowy or dewy skin. Then I buffed in my L'Oréal True Match foundation (I used the shade Golden Ivory) which is a perfect foundation as it gives you the ability to go matte if you want but glowy too as it blends with your natural tones! I used my Rimmel London Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting concealer in 010 Ivory which gives that beautiful Kim Kardashian, highlighted glowy effect to the skin. I set my under eye area with e.l.f.'s Eye Brightener in the shade Buff. I set the rest of my face with a transparent powder by Collection and set any blemishes I had, and also around my nose and chin with L'Oréal True Match powder in Golden Ivory to keep them from looking oily and to keep redness at bay.

I then set my brows with my e.l.f. Brow Kit in Dark (with a tiny bit of a brown eyeshadow shade from the Sleek palette Au Naturel). I contoured my face very lightly with Benefit's Hoola bronzer and buffed it out with a kabuki after so it wasn't as harsh. I then used Nars Multiple in Orgasm for my blush, only on the highest points of my cheekbones.

For my eye look I stuck to one eyeshadow colour (this is not what usually happens I know), using a light rose-y gold colour from Sleek's Au Naturel palette by patting it all over the lid and then using a fluffy brush to blend it into the crease. I lined my eyes quite small with my L'Oréal Blackbuster Super Liner (I love this product HUGE recommend) and used my Max Factor Masterpiece Max mascara then topped my lashes with Rimmel London's Lash Accelerator Endless mascara.

On my lips I used my Nars Multiple in Orgasm and massaged it in and blotted before applying Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink Pout (all time fave lippy) and voilà the completed look!

Hope you enjoyed this kind of post - I'd do a video but I've explained the situation with my computers many times on my vlogs and the other blog posts are connected to the videos so they don't make sense without the vids so I feel like it would be pointless but anyway, I really enjoyed this look - I feel like it shows off the wearer's natural beauty and glow with the dewy skin and minimal liner (no wings) and long lovely lashes! Plus the glossy pink lip is very cute! Once again I apologise for the video/computer dilemma I am trying my best to fix it but it's not going as to plan at the moment, wish me luck!

Thanks, Melissa xoxo

P.S. Quick OOTD because I love this outfit it is so cute and is still summery without going to bright with colour (I know some people don't like lots of colour so this maybe ideal for you!) I wore this striped long sleeve t-shirt from New Look - I still believe they sell it online for four pounds in the sale - this shirt is very light as it's cotton. I paired it with this textured white skater skirt from Primark which is the first time I've worn it since I bought it (which was last year actually but still it's very light, a bit see-through) I paired this outfit with black slipper pumps as the only place I was going out was Sainsbury's and I had to wear closed toe shoes as I was wearing skin tone tights. Anyway I shall love you and leave you!!!

How to... Flavoured waters!

Today I made these super refreshing drinks that are less boring that chilled water bottles - water with (sometimes) a literal twist! I made two types, one for the people with more sour tastes and one for others who prefer summer fruit berry flavours.

Step 1.

Grab your favourite water bottles (empty of course!) - I prefer vitamin water bottles at the moment as the other ones I use are evian ones (the 75cl bottles with the flip lids) and the necks aren't large enough to place fruit etc in them and these vitamin water bottles are just the right size and height to fit a straw in comfortably as well.

Step 2. 

With the summer fruits water, take some summer fruit berries, here I used redcurrants, blackcurrants and raspberries and filled the bottle about a third of the way with the berries. You can either use fresh or frozen, I used frozen though. 

For the sour water, I sliced apple into thin slices about 1mm thick and then placed them into the bottle. I used about 8 slices of Apple on average.

Step 3.

Next you may want to add other flavours to your drink. For the summer berries water, I poured a bit of purple grape juice over the fruit - about the same amount of milk you would pour into a cup of tea for instance. For the sour water, I used golden grapefruit juice but you might want to try lemon juice, orange juice for a sweeter taste or even apple juice to intensify the sour apple flavours. At this point you may also wish to add spices if you want to experiment with flavours too, such as cinnamon sticks, mint or basil.

Step 4. 

Fill the rest of the bottle up with water for both drinks. You can either place them in the freezer for two hours (two hours is a good time as it allows the water to freeze over but not completely so it is still drinkable but ice cold) for a refreshing chilled beverage or if you have more time, place them in the fridge overnight so the water really absorbs the flavours of the fruit for longer. 

Step 5. 

Take them out of the fridge/freezer and you are ready to drink up! With the frozen water, I found that adding the straw helps as it allows you to stir the ice around and it saves you from getting an ice cold mouth from drinking straight from the bottle.