The steps of life - 12 days of Christmas

Hello!!!
Do you all remember me?!?
I realise that I frequently say this as I am quite busy and haven't had time to write anything recently but I do and will try.

But welcome to the 12 days of Christmas! I am going to put up a blog post from now for a count down of Christmas for 12 days!

Today I am going to be talking about the steps of life. This is a thing that is relevant to me at the moment as I have just finished my high school life, my boyfriend just moved in with me and my family, I am enrolled into a beauty therapy course for next year. This is just a small section of the things that are happening in my life currently.

The first stage of life is being a foetus, being born, and being a toddler which I don't think that anyone in the world remembers all too well. In this stage of our lives we are completely dependent on our parent, parents or caregiver. Well, this is basically the only time in our lives where we have none to little worries in the world and the ones that we do have are pitiful such as that other kid stole my toy (which is really a pressing matter).
We then move onto school, here things get interesting there are all new things like friend circles, boyfriends/girlfriends, learning that you actually just have to sit in a class and learn!! These things seem like they will end the earth if they go wrong but in reality they won't! You will get through these heartbreaks and fights and yes even through sitting in a class room listening to a teacher.
After this is where I am currently, deciding what on the entire earth I should do with my life!! I want to be a midwife later in life but I also want to do something in the beauty and fashion industry hence doing a beauty therapy certificate next year which will qualify me to be a beauty therapist recognised internationally. This sounds like I'm sorted but there will always be challenges and I am shit scared about this still! But its okay and it will be okay!
The next stage of life is working, making a family doing all those sorts of things! I have clearly not got to this stage yet nor am I anywhere near ready for this O_O ANYWAY! I am certain that there are many, many challenges and worries within this stage of life.
Sadly the next stage is death, which also sadly I have dealt with quite recently when I lost a matriarchal figure from my school life, I won't go into details out of respect but this broke me and broke my school, she was an amazing women who devastatingly passed away far too early. This is just a fact of life. A sad one.

The point of me listing these stages of life that we go through is to say that these times are stressful but: You need to still live your life, go out have fun, enjoy Christmas, don't get weighed down but the negatives in life. You are amazing and can do anything!!!!
For today just start finding one or two good things in your day this can then step up finding more and more things within your life that make you happy and feel good! This will aid you in getting the bad things out of your life.

Until tomorrow Merry Christmas, be happy and stay gorgeous :3 xxx

September favourites!

Hello again!

I am back today with my favourites of September. This time around my favourites are all beauty related apart from my favourite song of the month, as these were the main things present in my life.

Beginning with my favourite way of carrying my makeup around: A Zoella Beauty Guinea Pig Makeup Bag, I got this for my birthday which was at the end of March but have only recently began to use it frequently as I've got a boyfriend and I go stay at his house once a week. This makeup bag is a perfect size and length to fit everything you need to take with you. It is made out of a durable fabric that is easily washed on the inside if you find yourself with any spills as I have.

Next is part one of two, The Classics Chi Chi eye shadow palette. I absolutely love this palette! I use it every chance I get, I'm not one for major out there colours so this palette is perfect as all the colours are neutral or just off and are easy to pair with outfits. This palette has become a staple for me over the last month.

This is The Metallics Chi Chi eye shadow palette, I got these two palettes in a set here. I do love the Classic colours but if I am wanting to put a bit more glam or sparkle into my makeup this palette is the perfect partner to the basic colours in the Classics palette. This again has turned into a staple makeup item for me particularly for nights out where I want to look slightly more dressed up.

To go with my favourite palettes I brought myself some new brushes to apply my eye shadows as perfect as I can! These are Real Techniques Eye Starter Kit. I love these brushes, they are made so extremely well, they have easy holding widths and grip tabs and are just so easy to use. included in this set is a base shadow brush, a deluxe crease brush, an accent brush, a fine liner brush and a brow brush. Also with this set the case can be closed to protect the brushes but also is able to fold into a stand for the brushes which makes for easy access. I feel like for at least a while these will be my favourite brushes for eyes.

For my skin and everyday makeup I have begun to use a BB cream, this is the Garnier BB cream for Oily to combination skin. I used this all winter but really saw it making a good difference in the moisture of my skin during September just as winds began to pick up and the weather was still cold it really was good for my skin to have an extra piece of moisturiser added to it.

For my hair to be in my favourite hairstyle which is to the side, as shown in my 'casual and easy hairstyles' tutorial, I have developed a love for Sea salt spray, in particular Fudge Urban Sea Salt Spray, using this particularly for this style gives a more edgey look to it. In other hairstyles it aids in giving my hair a beach look and natural waves. I use this more when my hair needs to be washed within the day or next day as it does give a dirty feel so I wouldn't recommend to use it on freshly washed hair.

Last and not least my favourite song of the month! Marvin Gaye - Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor I realise that this is either a song that you love or hate and I absolutely LOVE it!! Let me know your thoughts on it below :)

And that is it for my September Favourites! I would love to say that this will be a regular monthly thing but we all know how good I am at sticking to a schedule ;)

If you have any questions or requests please let me know either in the comments, or by contacting me via the side bar widget or emailing me at beautyclothesandallthingsnice@outlook.co.nz

Until next time, be happy and stay gorgeous :3 xxx

New way to contact me!!

Hello again!

I am here for a short time today, just letting you know that I have set up a email account for you guys to message me personally and out of sight of others. 

Please use this email to let me know suggestions of what posts you have enjoyed reading of mine or what you want me to attempt to blog about. Also use this email to talk to me if you are wanting some help or just someone to talk to, I am here for you all. Please just remember that I am a 17 year old from little New Zealand but that doesn't hinder my friendships with any of you.

The email address is beautyclothesandallthingsnice@outlook.co.nz

I will do my absolute best to reply to you as soon as I can but I do have exams coming up so that is my main focus.

As always:
Until next time, be happy and stay gorgeous :3 xxx

Ball essentials!

Hello everyone!
Remember me?? I realise that it has been a while since I've posted anything on here and for that I thoroughly apologise but there has been a loooot going on in my life over the last two months. I will save that for another post including some of the things that have been happening with my life and ways I have dealt with them. But that is for another post.
Today I am going to be talking about the products I used within the preparation before my school ball.

The ball this year was held on the 1st of August the theme was enchanted forest and I was very excited. I had my ball date sorted, my dress, my shoes, my makeup appointment was booked as with my hair, everything that I could organise was organised. Next can the skin, body and hair preparation.

First off I started taking care of my hair, to do this I used Davines Alchemic Conditioner, this is referred to as a sliver conditioner but as you can probably tell by the photo below it is very purple in colour. The purple acts as a neutral colour to turn white or blonde hair that has turned yellow or green from chlorine or copper pipes back to their original colour. As my hair can be very blonde at times is does tend to go quite yellow which isn't what I want, I regularly use this conditioner once a week on usual weeks but in preparation for the ball I used it every second wash and for the last wash before the ball. I find that it works very well to turn my hair back into a regular blonde colour. I highly recommend this product to anyone with light blonde hair and copper pipes or people who swim in chlorinated water frequently.

To take care of my lips as to not have chapped lips for the ball I used Lush's Mint Julips lip scrub. I use this regularly once a week along with the hair treatment but before the ball I used it every three days for 3 weeks. This gave my lips new life and made them look more plump and kissable which is something I wanted to have! I find with this lip scrub that it tastes scrummy and takes minutes to do but also it is really effective. You will definitely see a difference in your lips after using this, whether it be once a week or in preparation for something so more often. I recommend using a strong lip balm after scrubbing your lips as they will feel raw but a lip balm such as Lucas Pawpaw oientment, this is just what I personally use but find it a miracle worker.

Next is skin care, as a toner and cleanser I used Neutrogena Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser (the link is a slightly different product) I find that this product really does make your skin look more radiant. I used this cleanser every two days just when I got up in the morning with a completely clean face to totally get into my pores and fully clean my face of any nasties as I was not taking any risks of spotting around the ball. I began the every second day re-scheme 2 weeks before the ball this cleared my skin completely despite having my period the week before which would usually trigger spotting for me.

To go along with the skin cleansing process to ensure I had all my makeup removed before I slept I used Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Wipes. I wanted to make extra sure that all my days makeup had been removed before I slept so my pores didn't get clogged. This is something I am very bad at which is not completely removing all of my makeup before I sleep so having these wipes just beside my bed makes it a lot easier to remember. I did this every night to ensure my pores weren't getting treated badly, this has now made a habit of me doing it every night even after the ball which has left me with clearer skin overall.

To keep the moisture within my skin with the cleansing I used Neutrogena Naturals Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Moitsuriser. This is my regular moisturiser but I found that with cleaning my face more thoroughly and using this more regularly made my skin feel and look more healthy with was my aim. I use this moisturiser beneath my makeup as a base to protect my skin and after I clean my face before bed. This over time built up a soft and moisturised skin for me. I highly recommend this product either for a preparatory moisturiser or just a everyday one.

I have always struggled with the whiteness of my teeth, to try and aid this before the ball I begun to use Colgate Optic White Enamel White Toothpaste. This toothpaste didn't dramatically change the colour of my teeth but made a massive improvement. As it says on the product "3 shades whiter teeth within four weeks" I believe this to be true, I used this toothpaste everyday for 3 weeks leading up to the ball, then changed to every 2 days. This routine helped the yellowness of my teeth before the ball and has left a permanent change of colour to my teeth. One thing I will say negatively about this toothpaste is the taste, you get used to it but for the first week it is disgusting!! Just keep in mind that it is worth the taste to have the colour change.

I wanted my skin to look tan, but not totally orange or completely tan as it was the middle of winter and more obvious that it was fake, to achieve this I used Doves Gradual Tanner in Light to Medium. I use this tanner during summer to take away the total whiteness of my skin and it worker perfectly for what I wanted. I begun to use the tanner 4 weeks before the ball every 3 days, then 2 weeks before the ball I changed to alternate days of my shoulders and back then my legs. The week before the ball I did light full body tans everyday for 5 days. This routine worked perfectly for how I wanted my tan to be. I would recommend this tanner to anyone who doesn't want to commit to fully fake tanning and wants to experiment or to just take away some of the whiteness in their skin before baring it all out.

And this was the final look of me on the night of the ball (featuring my puppy Lady)

I hope you have enjoyed a look into the beauty products I used in preparation for my high school ball for 2015! I will be back soon as I have other posts ready and I will be finishing school soon so I will be able to be a lot more active which I am very excited for.
If you have any suggestions or requests of what you want to see on my blog please let me know either in the comments or by pm. I am going to be setting up a email account so it is easier for you all to contact me so keep your eyes open for that!

And until next time, be happy and stay gorgeous :3 xxx