summers over but exciting news!

Hi everyone!

Hope all of your holidays have been great! For me, I have been to France for a couple of weeks, I've gotten closer to friends that I'd drifted away from and kind of realized whats more important to me. This post is kind of an update as my room is literally a tip (I'm decorating it) so all products and clothes etc are packed away :( Butt, I need to post so I'm improvising here.. this will most likely be photo heavy haha

We climbed up this mahoosive sand dune in France, it was literally two steps up and one step back!

I just had to do the legs selfie, because it is the first time in like forever I started to get a tan! That for me was quite fascinating :'D

Now, I have been teasing you lot for a while over some new stuff I will be doing but never actually said what it was so I will be revealing it now.. I've really gotten into nail art and I have started doing tutorials on my youtube channel here. However for a while I've been wanting to get into special effects stuff and I had been looking into what I can do about it. Anyway, I have received some special effects things and I am really excited to discover I'm not that bad at it ;)

(stop reading if you don't like gore)

This is the first time I have ever tried special effects, I sculpted a bullet wound and then made it look more realistic, I have to say that when I had almost finished doing this look, someone knocked at the door. It was a boy coming to call for my brother and he said 'Is harr- What the hell! you've been shot!?' I had forgotten it was on my face or I wouldn't have answered the door, but I told him it was fake and he still didn't look to good!

My mum wouldn't even touch it when it was dry, saying it looked real haha :')

I then wanted to see if I could transform this look a bit, do something different... Since I hate and I mean hate China dolls, and dolly things like that I went with that idea; I shall be a shot doll!

I did this look right before I went to bed so I didn't have too much time, I think this is called a ventriloquist doll? All products used are Mehron, apart from the lipstick on the doll transformation, that's just a cheap lipstick I didn't mind getting grubby.

I will be doing tutorials and doing these looks again, I really enjoyed it... Maybe a little too much if that's weird I don't no... 

I will be starting to make tutorials and uploading them to my youtube channel so please, if you are interested in nail art or special effects then please do go on over and subscribe! I hope to eventually start vlogging etc.

So this is the trigger for re-branding my YouTube and other platforms so I can be open to a wider audience to more things I enjoy doing.

What do you think of these special effects? Have you ever tried special effects? 

If you would like to follow me on instagram you can find me here - my instagram page I will approve requests, ask for follow back and you'll get one.

If you are a brand or a blogger and would like to collaborate then please do get in touch :) contact details are under the advertising and collaborations page. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you haven't already, please join as a member on this blog, you can do that under the followers tab at the top of the right sidebar and you can join with your email, twitter or blogger/google+ accounts :) I have competitions coming up (Including where you can win clothes, makeup, jewellery etc! So hurry up and join so you can enter!) and you must be a member to enter, if you haven't joined your entry is invalid :D

Samantha - @sammigirl1994

ffh

x

Waterproof makeup testing!

Hi!
I have been back at college this week which has been surprisingly good, ive not got long left at college now so im going to put a lot of time back into my work to try and get the distinction :) it will be a bit hard as ive lost weeks while ive been ill but im sure if I stop getting so easily distracted I can get my head down and the work done.

I have saw so many people posting asking what drugstore makeup is good for summer, swimming, tough against humidity and wont budge easily. So ive took it upon myself to dive into this one. 

Before I even start to review these products, I am not saying you need a face full of makeup to go swimming or on holiday, nor that you need any - but people are asking so I am answering.

(before eliminations)

So today at lunch break I went into town I got a couple more 'drugstore' makeup items for summer that claim to have good waterproof and tough ability to not budge. I had done some research into waterproof makeup, watched tutorials etc and I went out and got a couple of things a few weeks back - to cut a long story short I wasn't happy with them. Possibly this is because other people put the makeup on and then simply dipped it in water... what happens when your splashing around in water and the makeup gets a bit bashed around? 

I had previously bought  a few Rimmel London Skandal'eyes eyeshadow sticks. Now these products say on the 24hr and waterproof. 

From that i expected them to not budge. Boy was I wrong! I went swimming with some friends and the black and the white smudged all over, I wasn't wearing much but I wanted to review some waterproof makeup as ive saw many people asking about the best ones. The product gives a nice high-shine luminous finish, the sticks are smooth... In my opinion the sticks were too soft, even after waiting 10 minutes, if you wipe your finger over it the product will slide.

I have tried technic aquamax, the product is a nice natural mascara which adds volume, length and darkens the lashes without clumping. I can wear this one on a daily basis as I like the natural look. However, when I went swimming it just ran off. The other day at work it was raining, like proper slinging it down and once again off the mascara went. Obviously I don't wear this mascara for its 'waterproof powers' as I've yet to see them, I just wear it as a normal mascara. I was very disappointed with that product overall. However I wouldn't say the brand is bad, I have many nail varnishes from technic - they're great for nail art too! I just don't like this product as it doesn't do 'what it says on the tin'.

Today I went into superdrugs and was going to buy more scandaleyes eye-shadows in other colours and give them a go. 

Then I came across the Collection range of products and saw that they also have eye shadow sticks which also say waterproof. So I put back the scandaleyes and got two of these so I could test and compare. 

I've come home and put some on my hand, instantly I could tell the difference between these and the scandaleyes. These ones don't look wet and give a more natural look and are super bendable; the pencil its self isn't as soft and breakable. These collection ones dry super quick, I then tried rubbing them - they wouldn't budge. Ran them under the tap - still didn't budge. I think these eye-shadows are great waterproof eye makeup. As you can see in the video clip above, the two scandaleyes smudge and slide all over with not much pressure whereas the collection ones stay put - To test how strong they are for when water bashes at them, I'm a rough swimmer haha) They are in natural shades too so you can look pretty and natural this summer :)

The next thing is eye liner, I had read that gel liners are the best products for being waterproof. So had bought Rimmel London gel liner, I did basic winged eyes and then went swimming (the same occasion as the Rimmel London scandaleyes eye shadows) however I was really happy with this product. It did fade a little but that wasn't a problem. This product says it's 24 hour wear, no smudging smearing or flaking and is also a waterproof formula. I usually use liquid formulas so this took a bit of practicing.

I also purchased the Rimmel London volume x10 waterproof mascara which was good for volume and length, this product stayed on nicely. No running, no smudging and no bits falling onto my cheeks or anything.

I bought this Collection 2000 a while ago and opened it recently. This is good for length and colour, I don't particularly think the volume was anything much but it looks more natural which is the look I prefer. I went swimming in this and it did loose its length a little but didn't run or smudge.

I don't have bad skin I general so I don't cover my face in foundation, I put a little under my eyes and on my nose to even out the skin tone. Personally I think sun cream on my face is more important to have on my face than foundation when I'm on holiday, although the foundation I use is SPF 15 i think. I have saw foundation on the internet during my research, however if your on holiday its best to let your skin breathe. I could be wrong but I imagine they would be very thick etc and not good for your skin. I had read that cream foundations are best if you find it necessary to wear it. Obviously matt foundations are probably not the best option as they wont be matt once they're wet. For that reason I don't use powder to set the foundation under my eyes, my skin is not oily so my foundation doesn't shine.

A good cream foundation that I love is one by Mehron which is the Celebre pallete. This contains the most popular shades of the Pro HD in a lightweight pallete. I use the lightest shade for highlights and one of the medium tones for contouring, I find that these stay on when I go swimming without streaking. They are very thick creams so I only use a little amount, I can use the highlighting shade daily, however I tend to use a powder for contouring (quicker) unless swimming then I use this but I love love love this pallete!

This final product isn't a waterproof one however it's great for summer and also something I got for FREE! Superdrugs had/has an offer on where if you spend... I think it was £3.99 you get a limited edition Mardi Gras lip balm for free. It smells of strawberry sooo good! I had picked one of the up to buy, then browsing I saw there was an offer to get it for free so even better :)

The finalists:

Rimmel Gel liner in Black - £4.49

Rimmel Volume Flash x10 Mascara - £5.99

Collection Work the Colour Shadow in hot chocolate and vanilla sky - £3.19 each

If you would like to follow me on instagram you can find me here - my instagram page I will approve requests.

If you are a brand or a blogger and would like to collaborate then please do get in touch :)

I am going planning a giveaway too, I'm not sure whether to to separate ones or maybe a giveaway featuring a couple of different brands - get in touch if your interested. I'll host the giveaway on this blog and apply a rafflecopter where entrants must follow both our twitters and join this blog. We can all tweet about it too, so yeah if you like the sound of that then tweet me - @sammigirl1994 :)

If you haven't already, please join as a member on this blog, you can do that under the followers tab at the top of the right sidebar and you can join with your email, twitter or blogger/google+ accounts :) I have competitions coming up (Including where you can win clothes, makeup, jewellery etc! So hurry up and join so you can enter!) and you must be a member to enter, if you haven't joined your entry is invalid :D

Samantha - @sammigirl1994

ffh

x

My Christmas Makeup and ffh's new badge!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! What was your favourite presents? :D
Its been pretty busy over here, we've been going to the hospital with M for her radio therapy sessions which is obviously not an enjoyable thing, but its making her better so that's good :)

I have gotten lots over products over the holiday which I will be uploading to here and lots of exciting things coming up too! I have now got a mini tripod so I can film nail art tutorials which I will be uploading to my YouTube channel - I have changed the channels name from my name to a nail art one so its easier to find :) please subscribe to it :) I will also be doing special effects makeup tutorials and looks and posting pictures on here and tutorials over there! :D

I received this present parcel from Treasure House Of Makeup who supply Mehron UK makeup and special effects makeup too. If you've read my previous posts I always review the products right down to the packaging, I think if that is presented nicely then the company has spent a little extra time to make you feel special :) Some companies use little organza bags for jewellery, little gift boxes, some put their product in a fancy metallic parcel bag and I've ad some which have just come in a plain parcel bag and the products are loose inside - Not good as sometimes the product breaks and to be honest its just boring. 

Treasure House Of Makeup sent me this beaut of a parcel in a bigger box with all what looks like polystyrene wotsits to keep the parcel inside nice and safe. The parcel its self is a box with a lovely covering and a little note from them too :D Mehron, as you might already know - is a professional stage makeup company. This means their products are SERIOUS. I mean people would wear this stuff when they're doing a Broadway show or an America's Next Top Model Photo shoot, so by celebrities!

I received four pots of precious gem powders. These were in Black Onyx, Amethyst, Topaz and Opal. They are powders made with soft silky powder which can have many uses. It can be applied from head to toe for any occasion. You can add a shimmer to your skin for parties, dinners of look faboo at professional performances etc. There are 13 colours in total which you can choose from and are based on birthstone colours. The fist thing I noticed with these powders is that they all sparkle like mad, the opal has a metallic look which almost changes from white to baby pink depending on how you look at it. You only need to use a little bit of these as they are highly pigmented. I have read some reviews saying they are way to pigmented, but I think the main point is that a little goes a long way. Also the drop cloth technique should be used when applying as eye shadow as the sparkles get everywhere aha :P

Mac do a similar product to this which costs £17 each, I'm not brand mad so I don't particularly care about getting the the designer brands, I'll use whats good and works for me. The Mac range is known to be good quality however the price is obviously expensive. They do have more colours to choose from if you want to build your collection, but I would much rather get Mehron's because the quality is soo good, it's used by professionals (so is MAC) but I find that Mehron works well with my skin.

These cost £6.40 each and you can get them here

I have done a colour swatch above going from left - right: Black onyx, Amethyst, Opal, Topaz.

As you can see, the colour is very intense in the centre where I've applied more, and lighter around the edges where I've used less.

I used the Topaz powder on the inner half of my eye and then used the Amethyst on the outer half of my eye. As you can see, I should have used the drop cloth technique as the sparkles just go everywhere :)  

I blended the colours in and then I used an eye liner and a brush from Beauties Factory to do the eye liner. Finishing off the look with some Rimmel London Wild Mega Volume Mascara. You can get the brush set here for only £9.99 and the eye liner here for £5.99!... Can anyone tell me what the brush is on the top second from the right?

I usually have a makeup artist do my makeup for photoshoots and catwalks so I am developing my skills of doing my own makeup.

As you may of seen already FashionFixhunter's new Badge was thanks to Treasure House Of Makeup. The badge is at the top left of the blog, if you haven't saw - 

I am wearing the eye makeup which I just shown you. I'm also wearing the Velvet Finish Primer Serum - I tend to get really dry skin from exma on my nose so I moisturize and then use a primer, although sometimes that's not even good enough. 

I've tried lots of different brands, of moisturizers and primers and most are just no use to me. This primer is super thick compared to others I've tried and it gives a super smooth base for the foundation. I only wear a little of tinted serum on my nose and chin because they are slightly pinker than the rest of my face, my skin is alright apart from that :) You can get that here for £18.23

I applied a little bit of the Glosstone 'Red Kiss' which I was a little weary about as I never really wear red lipstick or gloss, I'm not that brave aha :P

Actually, I quite liked it - it was smooth and wasn't sticky what so ever yet it looked glossy and healthy. You can get this here for £6.02.

There will be more makeup posts coming up featuring Mehron products, including tutorials, moodboards/pinboards, trends and get the celeb look, and also Special Effects Tutorials!! I will be using these products incorporated with special effects to create some awesome looks you can follow and do yourself :) This post was basically just to introduce you to the Mehron brand and Treasure House Of Makeup and show you the blogs new badge :D

Treasure House Of Makeup's website

Treasure House of Makeups Twitter

What do you think of the Mehron products? Have you ever tried them? Are you excited to see some special effects? What do you think of the blogs new badge? :)

If you are a brand or a blogger and would like to collaborate then please do get in touch :)

If you haven't already, please join as a member on this blog, you can do that under the followers tab at the top of the right sidebar and you can join with your email, twitter or blogger/google+ accounts :) I have competitions coming up and you must be a member to enter :D

Samantha - @sammigirl1994

ffh

x