Christmas beauty buys!

Hi everyone!

I hope you have all had an amazing Christmas with family and friends. I also hope that Christmas didn't send you too broke, buying so many presents. Even though it rained all day where I was, I still had a great day getting to see all of my family and the kids. For Christmas this year I got a few different beauty products which I have been wanting for a while so I thought I would share them with you.

1) Eye makeup remover!

                                                       

This is a product I have been needing for a while. Generally I just use Sorbolene on cotton buds to remove left over eye makeup after washing my face. However, now that it is Summer I have been wearing a lot of waterproof mascara, and my old ways just don't do the trick. This is a very essential product as properly removing makeup is so so important, and I never ever sleep with my makeup on.

This Loreal Paris one in particular I am loving because it is so gentle yet still removes all of my eye makeup without having to scrub, which is bad for the delicate skin around your eyes. Also, it doesn't sting or irritate your eyes, which is super important for me as I have very sensitive eyes.


2) Nail Polish!

                                   

I got these really cute ice cream nail polishes from my sister as part of her gift. Such a great gift as I have been wanting new nail polishes for a while. I love these colours too, perfect bright colours for summer!



3) Lipstick!

 
I love red lipstick, simple as that. This one in particular is AH-MAZING. Revlon ColorStay Liquid Lipstick stays on for hours and hours. Usually on a night out I would only need to re-apply once, and only if I have been drinking and eating. The colour I get is Top Tomato which is the brightest red in the range.




4) NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray


                                                        
The brand NYX is finally sold in Australia (at Target if anyone is wondering). I am loving this product to make my makeup last longer. It also leaves a slightly dewy finish for that fresh young look which is great for summer.



So there you have it, my Christmas beauty haul! Did you get any beauty related products for Christmas? Let me know what you got in the comments and what you would recommend me to try.

xoxo Yvonne - Be Beautiful

Beauty tip # 1 - Dry shampoo!

Every now and then I will be blogging little beauty tips that are easy to incorporate into your current beauty regimen. Today's tip is about hair!

Beauty tip # 1:

Between washes, use a dry shampoo to keep your hair looking great, and to extend the amount of time between washes. Washing your hair too often is actually quite detrimental to it because you are stripping away your natural oils. However, if you are anything like me, you'll know that oily roots are not a good look either! To get away with washing less frequently but keeping that oily look away, try out some dry shampoo. All you need to do is spray it onto your roots and brush it through with your fingers or a comb.

My favourite dry shampoo at the moment is Batiste. This brand is quite cheap and works really well, and another plus is that it smells great!

                                                    

A little extra tip which I have used in the past is using talc powder/baby powder instead of store bought dry shampoo!  Sprinkle a little in your roots and then brush it through with a comb or your fingers. This works better with light hair, as it can be a little noticeable in darker hair colours. Give it a try!

xoxo Yvonne - Be beautiful

White face in photos?

 Ever had a great night out, only to look back on the photos you took and be horrified to see your face looking extremely white?

Ever looked at photos of yourself and worried that you are wearing a foundation shade that is much too light, even though it looks great in person?

If you are like me and have said yes to either of the above questions, you have experienced what I like to call "ghost face". This phenomenon is when you look great in person, but in photos your face shows up much lighter then your body. I have first hand experience of this, and I know how disheartening it can be to see this in photos the next day, after putting in so much time and effort into your makeup. Thankfully though, I have found the culprit that has been causing ghost face for years, and I am ready to share it with you in this post.

An example of ghost face

What causes ghost face? 

The culprit is SPF. This is found in a lot of liquid foundations as well as face powders to protect your skin from the sun. SPF has an ingredient in it called titanium dioxide which is used to reflect UV rays and other light particles to protect the skin from the sun. However, when this is on your face when you are using flash photography, it creates a flash back which makes your face appear a lot whiter then it actually is!

How to prevent it?

So how do we prevent that awful look in photos? I have two options for you:

• Use a foundation which has less SPF. This is best to do on certain occasions when flash photography will be used, for example nights out when you are out of the sun. Any foundation with below about SPF 8 should photograph without a flashback. A couple of low or no SPF foundations include Mac face and body foundation and Revlon Colorstay whipped foundation. 

                                 

• Use your regular foundation and then apply coloured face powder to your entire face. Just be sure to check that this powder doesn't have SPF or titanium dioxide in the ingredients. You can then test this by simply taking a photo of your face with the flash and check to ensure you don't have a ghost face!

Thanks for reading - and enjoy your new ghost free photos!

xoxo Yvonne - Be beautiful

So...Who am I?

Wow, my first ever blog post. It is kind of scary and kind of exciting to be starting a blog. Reading so many amazing beauty blogs has inspired me to make my own, and I am excited to see where this takes me. Even though this excites me it is also scary to put myself out there, for potentially anyone to see and criticise! This blog, while primarily focusing on all things beauty related, will also go deeper into anything related to making life better. Thanks for reading this far and enjoy!

To begin I thought I would give you some facts about me:

• My name is Yvonne.
• I am a 21 year old from Sydney, Australia.
• I live at home with my parents in a suburban area.
• I come from a big family, with five siblings.
• I have just finished a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy
• I have a love for all things beauty, however this is no way makes me a really girly girl
• I may love makeup, hair and clothes, but friendships, family and living life to the fullest are the most important things to me

I look forward to entertaining you with blogs about beauty and life!

xoxo Yvonne - Be Beautiful