NEUTRAL SERIES | MOROCCAN GLOW

Pay day Treats

It has been a while since I last did a post, been a busy girl at work. I have finally had a day off to show you the treats I have purchased recently as it's pay day for me! I decided to take a trip to my local boots store as I am planning a night out soon. At the moment the smoky neutral eye is a favourite of mine, and I can never have enough neutral colours. I am decided every week I am going to post with different neutral eye looks along with a lip colour. Personally I love how flattering neutral colours are and how well they suit me with the hair colour I currently have.  

Steps to your Moroccan glow look

Face products:
Revolution Primer
Mac Foundation Pro Longwear NW20 applied with Mac Foundation brush 187
Naked Urban Decay Flushed to contour my cheek bone, jaw line + outer forehead
Rimmel Hide the Blemish concealer to highlight under my eyes, forehead and nose blended with No.7 beauty blender

Eyes and Eyebrows Products: For this section I will do a step by step how to apply the eye make-up.

1. I used BarryM primer and applied to the whole of my lid.
2. Using my No.7 eye colour brush I applied No.7 Starry Lights to the whole of my lip as a base colour. 
3. To create the look use No.7 Moroccan sands and use a blending brush and gently apply from the corner of your eye over to the inner corner. 
4. To add depth to the look apply any dark shade of brown and apply into the crease and outer corner.
5. If you want to add more glam to the look, I added colour tattoo maybelline gel-cream eye-shadow to the line of my eye.
6. Mac black eye-liner to create cat eye.
7.Eyebrows- Rimmel Brow Pro Medium Brown

Lip Products:
A new favourite of mine Maybelline New York sweet pink 132 lip liner with Rimmel 725 
tantalizing taupe its a beautiful nude colour, the first one I have managed to match to my own lip colour - its long lasting too! 

Video Glance of Moroccan Glow

coming soon..

HAIR STRAIGHTENING TIPS

GHD White Eclipse Styler Review

For christmas I had these new GHD's bought for me by my generous boyfriend. Since I can remember there was actually a way to make your hair straight I have always used GHD's. My mum is a hairdresser I think that's why I have always opted for GHD's. Growing up at the age of 13-14 I discovered the beauty of straighteners and how magical they are. At this age I always thought it was amazing how silky your hair looks once you've used them, if you had straighteners of your own which were GHD's it was a privilege back then. GHD's white eclipse are a different style to what I am use to normally, I have to say they are perfect! They are great for medium/long hair which will takes away curls/frizz with one stroke. The metal plates also have 3 sensors throughout which maintains the heat right through. Personally I have thick hair and with these new high gloss white straighteners its only takes 10 minutes to get my hair straight throughout, its makes getting ready for work so much quicker. The plates of these GHD's are larger, which I found amazing as it straightens larger sections. This style of GHD's are great for creating big curls, if you can use straighteners to curl, which creates a lovely finish.

Going through high school all I did with my hair was straighten it, just to tie it up in a ponytail, what was i thinking? I found by the age of 16 my hair was ruined and I had lots of split ends. Best tips I have to keeping your hair in good condition if you straighten your hair a lot like me. Firstly always use a heat protection spray before using straighteners. There a number of different heat sprays you get to fit your type of hair, for myself I use GHD straight and smooth for thick hair. After washing my hair I always use Garnier ultimate blends oil for all hair types and apply on the ends of my hair.

I highly recommend these straighteners and products to use whilst straightening to create that sleek and smooth finish. GHD's are great as my previous pair lasted 3 years and I can't fault the finish it leaves.

University or Work Life?

How I made my lifestyle choice...

It was 2 years ago I left sixth form and finished my A levels, I had an A in art, B in ICT and C in geography. As you can tell by my subject choices I had no idea where I wanted to be in life after sixth form, which a lot of people find themselves in that situation wondering what path to take? It was coming towards applying for university and I decided I wanted to become a nurse and study child nursing. I feel this idea had come from seeing my twin sisters being born in a neonatal unit and how the lifestyle of a child nurse would be. Long story short I had a few interviews but didn't get a placement. This got me thinking was university really the place I wanted to be for the next 3 years? I applied to study ICT at Cardiff university I had a place to start in September 2013 in the end.

Whilst I had my 6 weeks summer holiday I was working part time in McDonalds which pains me to say! I had got to the point where I really couldn't stand to work there much longer! So I started applying for full time jobs. My step mum worked in Admiral car insurance in customer services, which she had talked about to me, I found it really interesting. Admiral sounded like heaven compared to where I worked from the incentives to work parties, so I applied for a job in Admiral in the renewals department. 

Weeks before I was due to start university, I had an interview for Admiral I was over the moon. This was the most nerve racking moment of my life, it was my first proper interview. Finding something to wear was stressful, I opted for a black suit and white blouse with black trousers, I was feeling rather confident in my suit! I found the interview went well but I found myself anxiously waiting for a reply from them. One day I was sat outside McDonalds on my break on a nice summers day, and I had a phone call from Admiral to congratulate me on getting the job!! I couldn't have been happier, I was really chuffed with myself. 

The photo I uploaded on Instagram the day of my interview.

It soon dawned on me that I was due to start university and I had to make my first real life choice. I weighed up the pros and cons for both. 

University was great in the fact you come out of it with a highly qualified degree, you meet loads of new friends, most say university can be the best time of your life. The cons is the amount of debt you can get into and after you finish there is no real guarantee of a job. A lot of companies don't like to employ people who are over qualified. 

Thinking about working full time at Admiral was definitely something I liked the idea of. I am very money driven, I personally love the idea of having my own money, instead of debt from uni. Admiral offered me so many benefits including shares in the company, incentive pay and massive Admiral summer parties. Admiral would also give me the opportunity to meet new people too. The cons is that yes the reality of life hits you, I'd have to stand on my own two feet. I think university still gives you comfort and the feeling of not having to worry about anything. I found getting a full time job quite daunting and scary l was very unsure what to do. 

Fast approaching was September and I finally decided to ditch university, hand my resignation to McDonald's and start working for Admiral which I was very sure about after weighing everything up. At this time I has also met my boyfriend which was going well and the thought of being bogged down my university and not being able to see him, wasn't something I liked the idea of. Relationships are definitely something you always think about if your in one, when thinking about going to university, especially if your thinking of moving far away from home. 

By this post you may think I'm biased about work life but this was the best choice ive ever made. I have now been working in Admiral for 1 year and 4 months, I love where I work, I love all the new people ive met and I actually enjoy waking up for work. I sound crazy I know.. But even now I still love my job, now more than ever. The reason I chose work was one I couldn't face any more exams ever again and I wanted to start living my life. I have bought my first car and planning to move out with my boyfriend. These things wouldn't be possible without being in employment.

That's my little story about how my life has changed in the last 2 years, my dad always said "one day you will wake up to the real world" and now that actually makes sense to me. 

What do you think uni or work after school/college? 

NEUTRAL SERIES | SMOKEY BRONZE

Inspired by Vogue created by Just Jodie

I've been make-up shopping again, oh what a surprise, I just can't stop myself from walking into my new favourite shop Beauty Studio by Superdrug exclusive to Cardiff St.Davids 2. The girls are so helpful and friendly in there couldn't fault the service! I went in there to find some nice eye-shadow palette's which look good for less! I purchased Revolution Redemption Palette Iconic 3 which I have really pleased with how it looks and it only costs £4! 

This look is really natural as its the new look to have, as quoted by vogue "I think that effortlessness is the key word for next season. Less is more. It definitely isn't about trying to hard". 

Taken vogues new inspiration this is the look I created Natural Hair and Make-up.

This look is all about looks for less and natural. I used my Revolution redemption palette Iconic 3 and used colour no.2 and colour no.12. I started by applying colour no.2 to whole of my eye lid and into my crease. To make the colour pigment look better, I applied a bit of water to my new techniques shading brush, this just defines the colour on to your skin. Taking a dry new techniques shading brush I took no.12 and started to blend from the corner of my eye into the crease to create a smoky look. I tend to apply this lightly and slowly add more, remember more is less! To finish the look I used colour no.1 the white highlighter and applied underneath my brow. To define my eye brows I used Rimmel London eyebrow pencil 002 Hazel. This look is so quick and easy to do, I used this look to go to work its nothing over the top its a look which is natural. 

I even decided to get the natural hair look that day too, if I'm honest I love my natural hair, its a style I have been doing a lot lately. I love getting natural waves, my hair is naturally straight/waved, to get beautiful waves I used certain products. Whilst washing my hair I like to use L'oreal Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and conditioner, I have recently dyed my hair ombre colour which meant I had to use bleach. To protect my hair from hair dye and redeem colour, I also use L'oreal Elvive Colour Protecting Masque, which I apply on wet hair, leave it in for 3 mins and rinse out generously, leaving a smooth feel to your hair. Without fail my favourite product which defines my perfect natural waves is Garnier Ultimate Blends Oil which I use a few drops of and apply all over, mostly on the tips of my hair. This oil is great as it helps to nourish and protect my hair as well as giving me a natural hair look. They say its not good practice to go to bed with wet hair but I do and then by the morning my hair is wavey and dry, that's just a personal opinion, I know some cant do this. 

Gel Nails V Shellac

This is how my crazy nail obsession started...

Getting my nails done has been a growing obsession from this time last year. I have an office job working for Admiral car insurance, this means I'm constantly at my desk tapping away at my computer, having my nails done in a way it gives me confidence.  When I first started having my nails done I liked having shellac with the natural length of my nails, it gives a lovely finish to my natural nail, but shellac chipped very easily. The picture below are my nails I had to go on holiday last July, just to add I don't do my own nails. I go to a place in Cardiff and a lovely polish lady does them for me named Maggie, she does my nails to perfection. I'm the definitely the girl for the latest trends and inspiration when getting your nails pampered. I get my nails done about every 3 weeks sometimes sooner just because I love trying out new designs.

Gel nails are by far the best!

Around August last year I decided to change to having gel nails, the difference is unreal these nails will last up to 4 weeks maybe even longer. Where as shellac you'd be lucky to last 2 weeks. The benefits of gel is that you can use normal nail varnish over the top so if you get bored of one colour you can switch and change the shape of your nail if you wanted. Shellac unfortunately you cant change the colour of and if you use a nail file it chips the shellac. Gel nails are also much easier to take off, my beautician just files the nails down and then does a new set on top. One of the beauty's of gel is if you are really good like Maggie you can create tips to lengthen your nails, which I quite often had done before my real length. Finding the right place to get your nails done can be challenging, lucky for me the first place I went too I couldn't fault. 

Currently the nails I have at the moment I have decided to go for a bright new pink colour to start of the new year. Having gel nails for a while now has allowed my natural nails to grow so they are my real length, with a rounded shape to make them look more natural. Recently I have loved having the pointed nails because its easier to manage on a day to day basis. 

Tip- Do not get ripped off! I pay £18 for a set of gel nails without any design. If I want a design like the second picture, it varies from £20-£22. I hear so many people pay at least £30 pound which is crazy money. 

If your looking for ideas or inspiration my previous nails here are below. These designs can be used at any time of the year, or if you want a new look for spring 2015 take a look. Personally I like to have designs its adds a little unique touch, each image below are all nails I designed myself and then Maggie my beautician does the job.

If you are stuck in your ways getting acrylic/shellac nails, stop right there and try out gel nails for the 2015.

My favourite 2014 nail varnish was Barry M Blue Moon- loved this in the summer and sometimes I would use Barry M Masquerade over the top.

If you have any questions about gel nails or how these looked are created please comment I'd be happy to let you know. 

Just Jodie x

What MAC brushes are right for you?

MAC purchases

Recently I've purchased new MAC brushes which are amazing! The first one I have is MAC 187, which I use to apply my MAC NW20 foundation. This brush just does the work for you, I apply using small circular moments which leaves a smooth radiant glow. 

I purchased a MAC large angled brush 168, this brush works best to contour your face when applying your face make-up. I use this brush in a downwards brush along my cheek line, edges of forehead and jaw line. These three areas are the best to contour. Then to blend my contouring I always feel it's best to go back to my MAC 187 and blend any rough edges. 

This is my favourite purchase from the MAC brushes collection. This MAC 209 brush is perfect for applying your eye-liner. You can freely draw the line across your eyelid and I even use it for my bottom eye-line too! Personally I use the MAC black track eye-liner which combines perfectly with this MAC 209. 

                               

I will be posting a tutorial on how to contour your face, which will show you exactly how to use these brushes to get the best perfection.

Links for these MAC brushes

MAC 187- 

http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/146/26843/Products/Brushes/Face/187SH-Duo-Fibre-Face-Brush/index.tmpl

MAC 168-

http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/146/324/Products/Brushes/Face/168-Large-Angled-Contour-Brush/index.tmpl

MAC 209-

http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/145/812/Products/Brushes/Eye/209-Eye-Liner-Brush/index.tmpl

New Makeup Organiser

My new love :)

I've always loved the idea of having a make-up organiser almost makes you feel celebrity like! Plus I think I have a slight OCD and like to keep everything in it's place. Would definitely recommend this product it looks good it definitely adds a nice touch to your bedroom too! The make-up organiser has sections for your lipsticks, brushes, foundation and draws I've used for mascara and eye-shadow/contour palettes. 

I purchased this product on Amazon I was a little nervous as to how good it would be but I'm pleased to say it's great quality, delivered on time too! I'll be showing you what is inside my make-up organiser in my next post. 

Do you like how I organise my make-up or have any other ideas?

To buy this product visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00A4DIV7C#

NEUTRAL SERIES | GOLD PASSION

GOLD PASSION MAYBELLINE COLOUR TATTOO

This look was inspired by the festive seasons. I have decided to show you a look which you can use for going out with your friends/family or to a nice restaurant/bar on a date night, I recently used this look to go out for a meal at a lovely restaurant, I really loved it as it’s a look which quite often goes with clothes in any colour.

I recently bought some new products Maybelline Eye shadow colour tattoo 24hr and GOSH nougat crisp lip liner to match with GOSH 122 nougat lipstick so this first time I’ve tried them out, to find out how I created this look read below.

How did I create this light glam look you might ask?

To create my light glam eye look, I applied the Maybelline eye shadow cream gel gold onto the base of my eyelid. I then took my Bourjois eye shadow pallet using a dark brown shade into my crease and blended it out to the top of my eye brow. I then used my Bourjois pallet and used the glitter beige colour to blend with Maybelline eye shadow to give it a sparkle. I used my real technique shading brush to blend the two colours. To finish the look I used mac black track fluid line and used my mac 209 brush to draw the eyeliner on. I haven’t used any fake eyelashes as fortunately my eyelashes are long already, the mascara I used to create a long lash look was Maybelline the colossal volum' express.

To get the lip look I simply used the products listed below but to add an ombre look I used Rimmel 110 lipstick to highlight the outline of my lips.

 So this is a look which can be used to wear smart/casual clothes or a look you can have for a light glam at a bar or restaurant with friends/partner. In my next beauty post I will also show you the products I use for my face and contouring.

Hope you all love this look, comment below to share your thoughts with just jodie.

Product List for eyes and lips.

Maybelline moose eye shadow colour tattoo Gold - http://www.maybelline.co.uk/makeup/eye/eye-shadow.aspx
Mac black track fluid line with mac brush 209- http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/product/145/812/Products/Brushes/Eye/209-Eye-Liner-Brush/index.tmpl
Bourjois Quad Smoky Upside Down eye shadow pallet- http://www.boots.com/en/Bourjois-Quad-Smoky-Stories-eyeshadow-palette_1538965/
Real technique eye shadow shading brush- http://www.boots.com/en/Real-Techniques-Shading-Brush_1252044/
GOSH 122 nougat lipstick with nougat GOSH lip liner-  http://www.superdrug.com/GOSH/Gosh-Velvet-Touch-Lipstick-Nougat-122/p/284548#.VKW2DyusWiw

New Years Resolutions

 

 

My Resolutions

 

I always find like every other year I set resolutions but never actually stick to any of them, this year I really want to put some resolutions in place so here’s what I came up with.

1.       Spend more time with family- This is something I know over the last year has changed I am the type of person who gets so bogged down with work I completely forget to take the time to relax and spend time with family.

2.       Do something that makes me happy- I am definitely a people pleaser and I really just don’t think twice about what actually makes me happy, for example starting this blog is one thing I wanted to do and I’m enjoying it already.

3.       Be more sociable and never said no to an opportunity- I find I am a home bird, I’m not really the type of person to be going out every weekend, yes I know this is coming from a 19 year old right? But I feel I am very mature for my age. Even though I love staying at home I think I should find more time to socialise with friends.

4.       Try not to spend money or pointless items- I am well known for coming home with a bag full of shopping quite often. I find I buy my lunch out every day this has become very costly, to avoid spending pointless money I think I just have to be organised.

5.       Go to the gym- This is definitely going to be the toughest challenge, luckily for me I have always been very slim and one of those girls who can eat anything and not put the weight on. I want to go to the gym to just maintain healthy and fit.

6.       Live life as it comes- I am a very organised and structured person, I like to know time, place, date for everything. I think life is too short to worry about the little things and I should just go with the flow more.

7.       Looking after my look- This the final but main point I am always the type of person who takes pride in how I look, this is why I made the blog to show you all my tips on how to look your best.

 

Starting my new blog

I have decided to create a blog on beauty, fashion and just the life of me. I have always wanted to share these passions of mine which will all be coming very soon...