My Make Up Brush Collection Part 1 - Sigma Beauty Brushes

So I thought I would do a post solely dedicated to my make up brush collection, I will be doing a couple of posts as once I started going through my brushes I thought the post would be far too long so I thought best to separate them into brands.

Before I go into it though I will just have to put a little disclaimer out there that the majority of these brushes where bought for me by my husband as Christmas or Birthday presents and the rest of them I purchased myself, apart from one that I randomly received in the post a few months back that I have no idea where it came from, but after doing some research it looks like it could be a fake brush that a company in China has sent me for free just so that they can do a fake review in my name, after seeing a discussion in a Beauty Group on Facebook regarding people getting sent random things this could be a possibility of where it came from, but I have no idea.
I will just also add I can only comment on brushes that I have used so far, my collection is always growing and I will also add at the end brushes that I would like to try out.

My First brushes:

The first brushes that I tried were the Sigma brushes I purchased them online a few years back, I had seen that a lot of YouTubers raving about them, so I asked for them as a Christmas present along side a cleaning glove (pictured below). It was a while ago so I can't totally remember which set I got I know that it costs around £70 and then I had to pay a further £23 to be able to pick them up from postoffice which was a customs/handling charge I believe, it was my first time buying anything from America so I didn't realise this would happen but they still worked out cheaper than buying Mac or a higher end brand. But what I do know is that I purchased a beginners Eye set and a Foundation brush.

I will list them all below with a little review and explanation of how/what I use them for:

Sigma Duo Fibre - F50
This was for a long time my Favourite Brush to apply my foundation  and I will still reach for it,  if my current favourite is dirty, but it does apply liquid foundation seamlessly and evenly and gives a light but natural cover. But I do feel that you do have a do quite a bit of blending to get an even finish.
£20.00 / $27.00

This is the Basic Eye Kit That I purchased
£61.50 / $77.00

Sigma Tapered Blending - E40
I do love this brush and I use it normally clean of product to blend the eyeshadow that I have already placed on the outer corner of my eye or through my crease, I find this blends its out beautifully especially the more light handed you are the better.
£12.50 / $17.00

Sigma Eyeliner - E05
I haven't quite mastered using this type of brush to get a good flick on my eyeliner, I mainly use it if I want to use eyeshadow to then blend it for a kinda smokey look, but this is one that I barely use.
£12.00 / $15.00

Sigma Pencil - E30
I again love this brush I use it to apply shadow to my outer corner of my eye mostly in like a V shape and also in my crease to then blend it out, I also use it to apply a highlighting shade to the inner corner on my eye,  and I sometimes use it to apply shadow along my bottom lash line.
£12.00 / $15.00

Sigma Medium Angled Shading - E70
I don't find myself using this one very often, it is ever so soft though  and it does blend easily I just always reach for different brushes.
£15.00 / $16.00

Sigma Large Shader - E60
I use this brush to pack on product all over my eyelid, its brilliant for that, and I occasionally also use it to apply my concealer in my under eye area.
£15.00 / $17.00

Sigma Eye Shading - E55
I love this brush and its probably the one that I use the most to apply products directly on to my eye lid, its great with powders, creams and loose pigments.
£12.50 / $16.00

Sigma Blending - E25 (Travel Size)
This brush is great for blending its the prefect size to use to blend out your crease and outer V. I tend to use this wth very little product to smoke out a look or I use it clean to blend what I have already placed in my crease. This brush I received for FREE it was an offer they had at the time.
Normal Size £12.50 / $16.00

Sigma Small Angled - E65
I love this brush to get that amazing point on winged eyeliner !!! Sometimes my eyeliner come out amazing other times not so much, but I feel thats more to do with my skill rather than the brush itself!! Ill keep practicing though!!
£11.50 / $15

Sigma Cleaning Glove!!
This is amazing and I am so glad that I got this with my brushes!! I love it  can't imagine how I would clean my brushes without this, it was one side for face brushes and the other side is for eye brushes.

The Purple one is no longer available the upgrade option is the pink one below priced at £30.00 or $39.00




I do love most of these brushes and they are brilliant quality, and I really like the way that they apply my make up and make blending eyeshadows easier.
 I didn't realise you could now get them in the UK from Beauty Bay, the main reason why I haven't bought anymore is because of the customs charge that you need to pay when you buy from American Websites, but I will now have a little look and see what other brushes I can get, I'm still on the hunt for the prefect concealer brush and I will have a look at Sigma again!!!

Links to where you can buy Sigma Beauty Products from: 

American Website where I originally purchased them from, beware of customs and handling charges when buying from American sites: 

https://www.sigmabeauty.com 

I have since found that they now sell Sigma Brushes on a UK website called Beauty Bay I have used them to buy other products, their link is: 

http://www.beautybay.com/sigmabeauty/

Lettys & Elsies Random Make up Video

Mine and Elsie's latest Make up video a bit of a random one!!

We didn't have anything planned as I was meant to be working but I managed to get the evening off and I had promised her that we do a video!! It was meant to be a video where we did the same make up, but Elsie got a tiny bit over excited!!! 

Love her!!! 

Adjusting to life as a mummy of 2!!

This post was meant to be about how I am finding it hard to deal with my daughters mood swings, behaviour and attitude over the last 2 years or so, mainly in the last 18 months she has had moments where she totally loses the plot and has had huge tantrums,  its been a bit like terrible 2s all over again, however over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that she is getting back to her normal self and I don't feel its fair on her for me to write a whole post regarding her behaviour when in reality she is not that bad, after speaking to my mummy friends it is just a phase that she has been going through and she is also just reacting to a huge adjustment in our lives the birth of her baby brother.

Yes it has been difficult but no one ever said parenting is easy, and I have noticed more and more that all she is doing is crying out for our attention although she is going about it the wrong way and after all she is only 7!!

If you try to see things from her point of view she has had our undivided attention for 5 and a half years and all of a sudden we expect her to just deal with the fact that there is now a little person who needs us more than she does, in her eyes we love him more because we spend more time with him, feeding him, changing him etc... So I feel that she thinks by being naughty she then gets our attention, and because of the guilt I felt to begin with(for being so busy with a baby and not having much time for her) I was very soft on her but over the last few weeks we have done our best to take action and make her aware that her behaviour is not acceptable, we have started her behaviour chart again and we reward when she does good things and on the other hand if she is naughty then we don't reward her, we take her tablet away, we don't take her places she wants to go like cinema and swimming. These are now all rewards for good behaviour and it seems to be working well, she enjoys getting ticks and stickers so it works well for us.

I also now make sure that me and Elsie have mummy and daughter time, this can vary from going out to dinner, shopping, cinema or even making a video together its our time on our own which I feel is so important and she is at such a lovely age now where we can have a proper conversation its great.

I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that we have had to adjust our parenting and we realised where we were going wrong and that the way we were dealing with it was only making it worst, so we have had to be stricter and most importantly deal with the guilt that we shouldn't just let her be naughty and give in, she will not be an only child any more we now have 2 children and we have to spilt our time between them and do our best to make sure that both of them feel as equally loved!! Its all a learning curve and we are doing the very best that we can!!

Being a parent is the hardest and most important thing you do in life and most of us worry whether we are doing a good job and some days keeping them alive is the most you can achieve and its hard to accept that this is enough, the perfect parent doesn't exist and we are all different, what works for some doesn't work for others, its one of those subjects that can be argued forever and one that most people probably will never agree on, because not only are all parents different so are children, you kind have to feel your way a little as there are no instructions, no courses, no degrees needed but yet its probably the hardest thing of all, I personally don't like calling it a job, because to me its not a job its a choice I made, being a mum is a part of who I am, and being a parent is not something you do 9-5 and then go home and switch off from it all, its a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week kinda deal from the minute they are born until the end, I'm pretty sure that even as adults our parents worry about us, and with us when our children grow up and become adults we to will still think and worry about them and they will still be our priority.

The point I am trying to make is that no matter your doubts, fears and worries along as your babies/children are alive, happy and healthy the majority of the time then you are doing an AMAZING job!!! We are so lucky to have 2 amazing children and I am thankful everyday that I have them and that they are healthy and happy, at the end of the day its why we work so hard and why we do what we do its to give them a happy and healthy life and hope that they turn out alright!! Well if we are honest we want them to be incredible not just alright 😛!!!! But along as they are happy then I am happy!!!

Having said all of this and how she has found it hard to adjust from being an only child to have a little brother, I have to say that towards him she is incredible and she is the most amazing big sister!!! So proud of her for that, she has so much time and patience for him its amazing she was definitely meant to be a big sister.

I am sharing this in the hope that I can make someones day better!!! At times like most mums I feel like Im failing at this whole thing and its nice just to remind myself that actually Im doing ok and I will always do the best that I can and thats all you can do, don't be too hard on yourself we are all in the same boat, learning everyday how to be a better parent!! Along as it works for you and your children then your doing the right thing!!!

Thank you for taking time to read my blog and hope you enjoyed it!!

Just chilling!!!

Lets sit in a tray and read books!!!

Got to love a good selfie!!!

Snack time!!!

Big Hugs!!! AAWWW my babies!!!

Becoming a Nu Skin Distributor

I have become a Nu Skin Distributor, I joined back in October it was a decision that I had been thinking about since the beginning of 2016. I am a bit of a worrier and I always thought to myself that I am not a seller so I would never be able to be successful within the business.

I originally saw an old work colleague had joined Nu Skin and I saw a couple of her recruitment posts on Facebook and I was intrigued, she sent some info over and I said I would think about it. This was around the same time that I had started my Blog and Youtube Channel at that time was I approached by 2 other network marketing companies and had several chats with both of them about maybe joining, I tried and reviewed some of the products which I actually really liked, and I was trying to decide between the other 2 companies but for some reason neither of them felt right I can't really explain why it just didn't, I got so stressed about it all and I thought to myself "Im getting myself all stressed out and I haven't even started my own business yet". So in the end I decided to not go with either of them. 

But in the back of my mind I kept thinking about Nu Skin by this point by brothers fiancee had joined them after speaking to her and speaking to my old work colleague I decided after speaking to give it ago. 

Now I am aware that some people see Network Marketing as scams, people are allowed their opinion  and Im not writing this blog to argue against any of them, this is simply my opinion and view on the matter and my reason for joining Nu Skin. 

It's also not a get rich quick scheme it is a legitimate Business opportunity, which you have to run yourself and you get out of it what you put in. Some people are able to succeed very quickly and others do it at a slower pace. 

The main reason that I joined is purely because I love the Beauty Industry, especially make up, and I find myself constantly on social media, so I thought why not recommend products to people which I would do anyway and have them buy off me instead of going somewhere else and making a bit of extra cash along the way. There is nothing wrong with that! 

I am really enjoying it so far and I can't wait to see what will happen in the future, Im willing to put the work in and work hard to succeed. I recently booked by official launch party where I will introducing the products to my friends and family, I will do live demos and start spreading the word, Im really excited for it but also a little terrified as it will be my first pamper evening, but I have the support from my up line so Im pretty sure it will go really well. 

Nuskin has over 250 products so far I have only tried their best sellers and I must say I love them! There are still so many products to try which I am very excited about. They do products for all sorts of skin conditions which is brilliant and they have very good results, I myself am lucky in the fact that I have pretty good skin so I can only base the use of some products based on peoples feedback.

Nu Skins' make up collection is growing and this year they are releasing Eye Shadow pallets, Eyebrow Shaking Kit, Luxury Make up brushes plus more and I can not wait, make up is my achilles heel and I love collecting it!! In my opinion you can never have enough make up. Saying this I would also like to add that in my Blog and my Videos I will be still using other brands of Make up but don't be surprised if Nu Skin keeps reappearing as Im super impressed with the Make up I have used so far. Videos coming soon.
  

A little bit about the company:

Nu Skin has come a long way; it began in 1984 in a small start-up office – and today the whole world can see a company with truly superior people, innovative products, an inspiring culture and amazing opportunities.

Nu Skin delivers complete anti-ageing solutions that address not only external signs of ageing, but also internal sources that age us. Our revolutionary ageLOC technology bridges both our personal care and nutritional product lines, and distinguishes the Nu Skin opportunity from all others in the booming anti-ageing market. 

I wanted to share this as this is something that Im extremely excited about and I'm 100% sure that this was the right decision for me to make for my future!!! 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, hope you enjoyed it and will write another one soon. 

Back with a Bang!!!

So 2016 is over and we are well into the middle of January 2017 I have been very quiet on my blog recently and lost a little bit of enthusiasm but like most of the world I have set my goals/resolutions for 2017 and to work harder on my blog is one of them. Im hoping it will last longer than a few weeks!!!I will try my best. 

Sometimes its hard to come up with content to write that people are going to read. I have a few ideas up my sleeve so hoping it will start flowing again as Ive got restarted!! 

I just wanted to come back on here wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope you achieve everything you want in 2017 with lots of health and happiness!! 

Easy Natural Make up Tutorial for beginners

Dreams vs fear of Failing

 

I am one of those people that is always coming up with ideas or ways of improving my life not because I don't love my life but because I feel that I could always be doing more and this could be by doing lots of different things like wanting to earn more money, improve my career, trying something different, go on a diet, get fit. Now I am in no way saying that I always achieve what I set out to do and sometimes it can take me years to get round to doing something but I like to think that I have always tried my best to achieve my goals.

But since becoming a mum my feelings have changed not in the sense that I don't want any of the things that I previously did because I still do but its more to do with the fact I feel now that I am classed as an "adult" and I have responsibilities such as mortgage, bills and having children to feed, you know just everyday stuff that all us adults have to do. I now have soooo much fear of failing because I have so much more to lose and I can't afford to make wrong decisions.

I have had a variety of jobs since I was 14, my first job was in Woolworths as a sales assistant and it kind of went from there, I have always been very lucky to find better jobs as soon as I left one.
I have also worked as a lifeguard, a waitress, a leisure assistant, I qualified as an Aerobics and Aqua Aerobics instructor I when I was around 19/20 and taught classes for a couple of years at a local hotel but I didn't feel very confident or that I was any good at it so that started to get me down so I started thinking about what I could do and I decided that I wanted to become a Wedding Planner or work within the wedding industry by pure luck one of the ladies that used to attend one of my classes mentioned to me that she knew a lady that worked in Events/Weddings at a hotel and that she was sure if I got in touch with her that she could give me some advise about how to get into the industry.
When I got in touch with Beverley (Wedding Planer) it actually turned out that her assistant was going on Maternity leave and she was looking for someone to cover her maternity and I ended up applying for the job and getting it, I was so happy and overwhelmed it was an amazing job and leaving it is the one biggest regrets I have because I loved it but I was offered another job which was more money and a more challenging role at the time I thought it would be a good career move but as it turned out it wasn't, it was by far the biggest mistake I have ever made.

 

From there I then got another opportunity to work in a call centre on a part time basis and this was only ever meant to be a temp job just whilst we saved to buy a house as I still worked full time at the hotel, but I got pregnant soon after starting there and after my maternity I decided to just go back to the call centre as I couldn't commit to hotel hours with a baby it wouldn't be fair on me or the hotel and the call centre gave me the hours and support that I needed 7 years later I'm still there and although its a great job and a great company that I work for my passion is still within events and Weddings.

So a couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to become a Bridal Make up artist and started watching YouTube and reading blogs, I am still chasing this dream but the course I would like to do is quite expensive and in between everything else and normal life it is quite a big financial commitment, I know that I will get there in the end, its just hard to commit to something that involves an initial financial investment when you don't know if you are going to succeed or not.
I'm terrified of failing and because over the last few years I have lost some confidence in myself so the fear is even more apparent this is the main reason why I decided to start my blog and my YouTube channel to build on my confidence and I feel that its a good way to teach myself how I can improve on my make up skills.
Starting my YouTube channel and blog is something that I had been thinking about for a couple of years but I just kept coming up with excuses as to why people wouldn't watch my videos or read my blog, and then after speaking to my cousin Catia I decided that I should just give it a go, at the end of the day I had nothing to lose, I just thought what's the worst that could happen!!! Life is too short and I feel that with each video I gain more confidence and knowledge.

I know I'm only just starting this journey and I hope that I will be able to achieve my goal of becoming a successful Bridal Make up artist, and I am so glad that I finally decided to start my blog and my YouTube channel I don't know if it will lead anywhere but for now I am just super proud of myself for simply just starting them!!! Onwards and upwards!!!

I hope to inspire people to give in to the fear of the unknown and have the confidence to follow your dreams. I have seen a lot of quotes recently on social media and one has really stuck on my mind.......