How to Look More Awake ♡ Eyes

                   

                   

We all have those days where we wake up late and look like a awful, our hairs everywhere and our face is bear. Don't stress these simple tips that I will tell you will come in handy if you want to look more awake. I decided to just focus on the eyes as I think that is one of the key looks if your ever doing makeup, you should have your eyes perfectly done.

Concealing 

I would start by covering the darkness all around your eyes, this could include your under eye circles, but for me it's in the inner corners - they're the darkest. So cover cover cover to achieve the best possible look. A little tip - if you want it to look lighter under eyes try a highlighting concealer or a lighter shade for that HD vibe.

Eyeshadow Highlighting

Now I would start with the eyeshadow; if you don't wear eyeshadow on a typical bases don't feel that you need to include this step, but it will give you a very natural look. It's simple, all you have to do is highlight all over your eye in these specific places. To highlight I would use a light colour such as a champagne,off - white or even a light peachy shade. Firstly in the inner corner to create a more opened eyed look; secondly a light shade on the centre of your lid to give a 3D effect to your eye and to make it appear bigger; finally on your brow bone, this is just under the arch of your eyebrow, this should lift the whole eye look up and make your eyes wider and bigger.

Eyelining 

Now we will move onto the eyelining, this tickles so much but I love doing it! I would recommend to use a nude eyeliner on your waterline to create the illusion of bigger eyes as it looks like your skin (I think); but I wouldn't use a white eyeliner as it could come out too harsh and not look as natural, though it would give a similar effect. For your tight line I would use a black or brown eyeliner (depending on what you are comfortable with) to gently line just your tight line. All this does is make your eyelashes look more volumis and fluttery. This is such a simple trick though it is quite hard to get the hang of as it tickles when your applying it.

Curl Those Lashes

My last advice is for you to curl your eyelashes, personally if I don't my eyelashes are so flat and go straight down with no length of volume at all. Try to get the curler as close to your lash line as possible to make your lashes look longer and fuller. Hold the tool on your eyes from the minimum of 10 seconds and gently push up towards your eyebrow to give a better effect; let go and your sorted and ready to apply your mascara. Put a few sweeps of your favourite mascara to finish the look and prepare you for your day ahead.

These are the tips I know work, I try to use them as often as possible, I don't use them every day as it is too much time in the morning and I'm not allowed to wear a lot of makeup at school anyways. If I wanted to look perfect though I would try to follow this guide. It's helped me, hopefully it will help you as well!

Autumn Look ♡ Makeup, Hair & Outfit

I thought that I would put together a look for autumn, this has two slightly different outfit options to suit your personal preference. I will get straight into it and tell you how I did my makeup; I have decided to do an overall look instead of a long process of telling you exactly what I did. 

For the base I tried a tester of the Rimmel Finish Nude Foundation for the first time, I am actually impressed; it is long wearing and has a medium coverage which is perfect for me. I then went to conceal my dark circles with the Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in light and warm my face up with the Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder, Oh wow I love this so much! It's actually my mums but I gave it a little test; I can still see it now and it gives such a natural look to the face, I then quickly powdered with my trusty Rimmel Stay Matte Powder.

For Eyes I used three colours from my Urban Decay Naked 2 pallet to create a subtle smokey eye. (oooh Becca you could do this look) I took 'Verve' all over the lid then blended 'Pistol' into the crease, then to create more definition I placed 'Blackout' on my outer 'v' and blended away. To finish the eyes I placed 'Bootycall' as a highlight shade and swept the Collection 5 in 1 Mascara to complete the look. I originally had MUA's black pencil eyeliner in my tight line, but it kept smudging so I had to take it off; it looked lush though! For the brows I kept it simple and brushed them into place with the Maybelline Brow Drama. For the lips I moisturized them and placed MAC's 'Créme Cup' and Revlon's 'Demure' to soften the look; I am in love with how it turned out as I was really just experimenting but I love how the silver in the eyes goes so well with the warmth in my face. 

Here's the finished makeup, sorry it is in black and white (typical)

My brows look so untidy...oops

Lets get onto the outfit, I tried to tie in autumn into the summer, I think it worked. I threw on my Topshop Cami Top with this floral patterned skater skirt from H&M, to make it more weather appropriate I put on my New Look Generation coat to give some more autumnal vibes. For shoes I decided to pop on some black Chelsea boots from Topshop, which are beautiful; especially with my grey frilly socks (also from Topshop) which almost peek out. So that is the overall look which I love; also I popped my hair into a messy bun to keep it out of my face and achieve the look I was going for. Also could you just take a second to admire my background, it looks so autumnal (love using that word) and edgy, especially with the leaves coming up the wall.

If you prefer or it is too cold for no tights I would suggest putting some on, these are just my black school tights which come in handy sometime, I also think that this gives a different look to the outfit; making it more cosy and warm.

Topshop Lipsticks

Over the past months I have bought or been gifted a few Topshop lipsticks and I thought I would share my opinions on them and if they are really worth the money. A little fact is that Topshop lipsticks and MAC lipsticks are made in the same factory so are quite similar in formula. I enjoy both of these ranges but I will just be focusing on the Topshop side of things, but if you want to see an in depth review on a MAC lipstick click here.

I have three of the Topshop line and they are all based around nudes, a pink toned nude 'pillow talk' a pure nude 'saint' and a brown toned nude 'mink'. These suit the different seasons very well in my opinion, I cannot wait to wear these colours in the colder months. 

Firstly Pillow Talk is on the pink nude of the scale, this is similar to MAC's 'creme cup' but has more of a pink finish to it where as MAC's is more natural. This colour is very dainty and the colour can be sheered out or built up to a strong 'barbie' colour. For me I would need to apply a lip balm to make the lipsticks glide on and to make them feel less heavy. 

Another nude is 'saint', this is a pure not there lips, this is stunning but if applied too heavily can cause the concealer lip look, and thats not pretty. I first saw this on the Topshop website tutorial and I honestly thought it looked beautiful on the model; which lead m to buy it! This also has the same formula which is a tad annoying, but I can live with it. A little fact is that you shouldn't apply lip balm before you put on lipstick as it causes the lipstick to slide off your lips easier. Instead put lip balm on the start of your makeup and when it comes to apply your lipstick of choice wipe off the lip balm and your sorted! Ahhh I think I was literally repeating myself over and over.

The last lipstick I own is 'mink', this is a very rich colour, which looks a little weird in the tube, but on your lips... omg this is the perfect slightly darker than mine lips look. The colour pay off is amazing and the most different and unique lip product I own as it is not normally a colour I would go for. 

That was basically a short review on each of the lip products and I hope you enjoy this mid-week post; I really want to do more of these so let me know on my instagram (@_itssmillie) or on here.

Soap and Glory Wishlist

I feel as if I have just written one of these posts, but in fact it was over a month ago! I have decided to do these monthly as they are insightful and let me pick and chose what I would love to have. As my last wishlist was very expensive I thought I would scale things down and do a drugstore brand, Soap and Glory. (you can visit their website here) There are a few products I have been eyeing up over the past month, which will range from skincare to makeup.

Kick Ass Concealer, £10

Starting off with makeup I have wanted this kick ass concealer ever since Arden and Estée raved about it. This would come in so handy as it has two concealer shades and a powder, which would be so useful for school and traveling. Basically it is a three in one product, which is amazing for £10!

Solar Powder, £11

This looks very useful if I had a tan or when I am at my natural skin tone so it would be perfect for lighter skin tones. Apparently this creates a nice colour and finish, it can be used as a subtle or a strong colour. It doesn't look to shimmery so would be perfect for the look I would go for.  

Archery Brow Tint and Pencil, £10

I have tried this at my friends and I quite like it, it mighttake a little getting used to as I am used to just setting my brows so I want a natural brow finish which I can take control of and change the chape of my eyebrows. I also tried the 'felt tip' side, which I wasn't to keen on as it was very opaque and could look very done up and not as natural.

Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick, Nudist, £8

I also tried this at my friends and fell in love with everything! Seeing Gabby raving about it might of done a little damage as I now I need it after trying it. It is super glossy and the perfect brown-nude with a tint of pink. It is moisturizing and doesn't dry out so this is a benefit to me, and what I'm looking for.

No Clogs Allowed Detox Mask, £11.50

Moving onto skincare, My skin has been up and down lately with bad under skin spots and breakouts, I have been on tablets for 3 months and I need some products to help support my skin. A good face mask could be a small luxury my face needs, as this one heats up it should hopefully de clog my pores in the form of a detox mask.

Dr Spot Clearing Gel, £8

I would also like a spot gel and after seeing this on the website it has drawn me to it, this should break down my acne over a couple of days or even a night. After reading the reviews I might order it online to put it to the test! 

Eye Cream, £12.50

I have never tried an eye cream, so what a better way to see if it works. As you only need the tinniest amount I could see an eye cream lasting a long time. This could help my dark circles and make me feel more fresh in the morning before school and look a little more radiant.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation

This foundation has became my new found love, I recently featured it in my August Favourites, but I thought it was too good not to feature in a whole review. So lets get straight into it. I thought I would review the L'Oreal true match foundation this is highly raved about by Lauren Curtis, and I now see why, at £9.99 this is worth the money. I find that it is hard to find a very well loved high coverage foundation from the drugstore; I am not saying that every other foundation is bad, trust me I have a few other favourites, but at great quality like this it is hard not to love.

I feel like L'Oreal is on the pricer side of the high street market, but don't stay away from it because of that! Their products are high quality and worth the money when you get the product right, so do not be put off by the price when you could easily turn around and find something that may fit the bill but at a cheaper price. As they are combined with YSL they have some great dupes; so grab yourself one! 

The consistency may put you off as it feels very runny and light, but not on your face. I use the Real Techniques buffing brush to blend in my foundation and I find that this works like a dream. It easily blends to a medium coverage on your face and with the right shade you will be glowing as it has a semi matte to dewy finish. With two layers I find that it goes more on the matte side and gives a higher coverage look. 

With 20 shades available, this is very good for a drugstore foundation, you may not find them all in store but on the website you should be able to see. I have the shade Vanilla Rose which is the perfect shade for me in the summer; but I may have to go a little lighter for when I get paler. 

As this has a SPF 17 I would stay away from it if you were going to an event; this is because the flash in the camera may cause a flash back which is basically a paler face which is where you have put the foundation and your normal body colour every where else. So just a little waring if you were thinking about wearing it to a party, but this is not a major issue at all.