Sunday 31 August 2014

Hoola by Benefit

A products which is used by so many - of course it had to be tried, I purchased this tropical looking product at the airport before I travelled to France. This bronzer is matte and works better for contouring rather than bronzing it's quite a light shade of brown but can be built up so a little bit goes a long way. I apply this using my MAC 150 brush and I apply it on my cheekbones and temples and I sometimes brush a little bit onto my nose and chin or just here and there to give me a little spot of color. This product is $53 but it lasts and the packaging is really good.

 
Photos from Benefit website

- Soph x 

Saturday 30 August 2014

NZ FASHION WEEKEND


Fashion Week is possibly my favorite event of the year. It is a time to appreciate fashion and ones personal style, this time is where we see the incredible styles from people all around the world. Fashion is about more than just clothes, fashion is showing who you are through what you wear, a simple color can represent so much, a choice of shoe, a decision to wear that bag we pick these things for a reason more than just because it looks good or because we're lazy. I went to a show in NZ Fashion Weekend which presented Andrea Moore, Taylor and Storm.









 ❝Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live❞— Gianni Versace. 

- Soph x 

Thursday 7 August 2014

Perfect Eyeliner

One who has mastered the skill of perfecting ones eyeliner has mastered a small part of the art of control. A black line running along ones lashes, how hard could such a seemly simple task be? You unscrew the top of the liquid liner and place the fine brush against the corner of your inner eye, you steadily but somewhat shakily move your hand along your lash line but the process is not yet complete, oh no. Holding your liner like a pencil you draw a somewhat straight line at the end of your eye and draw another creating a triangular like shape known as a flick. If only it was the end, but wait we own two eyes? It's like your eyes have been painted onto a canvas and the artists final touch is this line, both eyes have to be identical. 

I have been applying eyeliner for about three years and only recently have I fully begun to master the art of this. So I am going to help you perfect this rare skill

1. Find the right eyeliner
You have to like it, it has to feel right and secure within your hand. You also have to find the right colour - i'm talking black or brown, I have a brown one because it's slightly more subtle and works well with green eyes. I use liquid colour stay in brown by Revlon

2. Get a position
In order to maintain a steady hand you need to begin the the correct positon, I hold my brush in my right hand and I hold it like a pencil

3. Getting the line
Begin in about the middle of your lash line and steadily draw a thin line, as you get more confident you can draw it thicker faster. Continue this line up until the end of the lash line, go back over this line adding as much thickness as you want

4. Adding a flick
The hardest part of the process, get out your makeup remover because I can guarantee you will make a few mistakes. First you want to draw a straight line outwards from the end of your lash line, the angle of the line depends on the look you're going for along with the length. once this line is drawn, draw another from the lash line so it means with the first line creating a thin triangular like shape. You can make this as thick or curved or straight as you want 

That is the base of painting ones eye, of course no artist completes a masterpiece on their first go, practice makes perfect. I'm tossing doing videos? Would people watch them or should I just keep it as a blog? I hope this helped you lovely artists.

Source: Tumblr

- Soph x

Friday 1 August 2014

Science Of Happiness

Happiness.

What is it?

Is it something we can see? 
Is it something we can hear?
Touch?
Taste?
Smell?

Is it a word?
Is it an action?

Does anyone really know?

You gather 100 people into a room and ask each one of them what happiness means and each individual will give a different answer. Because each individual finds happiness in 10,000 different ways. 

But happiness isn't something that is always easy to come by, sometimes it's easier to allow ourselves to be sad and envious rather than joyous and blissful. Tal Ben Shahar did a presentation entitled "The Science Of Happiness" and this is what i've based this post on. 

1. Permission To Be Human
  • It's human to feel emotions, when preventing yourself from feeling an emotion not only are you blocking the bad ones but also you're preventing yourself from feeling the good ones. When you try to suppress an emotion you only intensify them, when you accept that emotion, it weakens. It doesn't disappear but it becomes more manageable. Something I don't think people realize is that you're not the only one who has felt that way. Usually when going through a point of depression you feel alone, so you try cover it up, hide it, ignore it but really what you're doing is encouraging your mind to think about it. You need to accept the painful emotion then do something about it.
2. Stress
  • Stress can potentially lead to depression and is one of the largest causes of depression and anxiety. So what can we do to decrease levels of stress? Simplify your life "quantity affects quality"if you're loading your life with work, activities, chores continuously of course you're going to suffer from stress. Now i'm not saying drop everything you do, but, allow yourself time to step back and reflect, appreciate things like friends and family as friends and family are one of the biggest reasons for happiness. "The problem isn't the stress it's the lack of recovery" it is important we take time to appreciate the little things, do yoga, meditate, breathe deeply. 
3. Mind/Body
  • Exercise is one of the greatest remedies for depression, a person who exercises is more likely to be happier than one who doesn't. Exercise can reduce levels of violence and anger as well as lessening things such as anxiety, panic, stress and depression. Wellbeing is a huge part of happiness
Think of happiness as a puzzle which is full of many different areas, these areas are different for each person. We all have individual puzzles and sometimes we may loose a puzzle piece but we can find ways to discover it again to help complete our puzzle. 

So take time to think. What makes you happy? 

- Soph x