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.