As most people are aware, killer brows are a hot trend lately and one I am definitely following. I often find myself only doing my brows in the morning and leaving the rest of my face make-up free because of the huge impact a pair of beaut brows can make.
Being a self confessed brow lover, I'm always on the look out for new brow products to try to help me achieve that ultimate flawless look. I am however, careful with what I choose. I started with using pencils but I felt they gave a far too harsh line and I could never find a shade that wasn't too dark or else wasn't a nasty orange-y brown, you know the kind? I like my brows to look defined and well groomed as well as looking as natural as possible. I hate nothing more than seeing a pair of solid filled in lines on a sestra's face, it makes me sad. So I then turned to a pomade by Freedom before upgrading to a ABH dipbrow. I hadn't really used powders other than to alter the colour of the orange tinged brow pencil.
Upon receiving BPerfect's Eyebrow Make-up Kit, which is a semi-permanent eyebrow powder, I was super interested to try a powder based brow product properly. I chose the dark brown shade. Even though my hair is blonde, naturally the roots underneath are quite dark so I like to match that colour. Plus, I like to build up colour by applying light layers which is not a problem if you have a darker shade.
Included templates.
The kit comes with three different sized brow templates, something else I've never used before. I think these templates are great if you are new to sculpting your brows and want a fast and simple way to get your brows looking even. You simply place the stencil on your brow and I dabbed the product over it, building the product up in appropriate places. The only thing I don't like about the stencils is the finish the inner eye section gives. I like to gently fade out and blend out the product the closer I get to my nose, I feel this looks natural as brows naturally tend to get more sparse there. I found achieving this difficult with the stencils so I stopped using the stencil a bit before and created the fade with a brush.
Included brush.
In the kit you get a handy double ended brush. One end is fluffy and round, great for the initial dabbing on of the product over the stencil, and the other end is a thinner end I used for building colour in precise areas. The only negative with the brush is that I prefer a much thinner angled brush to achieve a more precise outline that I can then blend out. I also like a thinner brush for the inner eye area to help create the look of actual brow hairs, which is something that I could not create with this product and brush.
Onto the actual powder make-up.
Despite the minor negatives, the main star of the show, the powdered product, is a stunner. The powder is waterproof and smudge-proof giving it excellent staying power, something I didn't expect from a powder. I really like the colour, which I was worried was going to appear too orange but it is a lovely natural brown colour. Again, I went with the dark brown which I think would suit dark blondes to medium brown hair colours. The pigment is really lovely too, it is very smooth and silky and you can see the colour pay off in my swatch above. It obviously is not as pigmented as a pomade but I like that this means you can build up the colour. That is the beauty with powder, you can really take your time building colour and sculpting the brows you want. With a pomade or gel, you are racing against time to get it right before it sets. I think this product is definitely a great one for those just starting to fill in their brows due to the helpful stencils and easy blending abilities of the powder make-up. If you are at a bit of a lost end with your brows and the pesky things are not behaving, the BPerfect kit could give you a hand with getting them in order again.
Overall thoughts.
Being a ritualised pomade user, BPerfect's Eyebrow Makeup Kit has definitely happily reintroduced me to powdered brow products. I really like the level of pigment, it is not heavy but it is enough to easily build. I like that you can spend as long as you need creating your brows without the product clumping or drying out - definitely a good pointer for brow newbies. I found wetting the brush made the product go on even smoother and more precisely, especially in the inner eye area - check out my selfie below! The stencils are fab if you wanna slap on a quick pair of even looking brows and great for using until your confidence grows in brow sculpting. I am not a huge fan of the brush, I like to use my ABH angled brush with this product. Although the BPerfect Eyebrow Makeup Kit has changed my opinions of powdered product, I still prefer the precision I can achieve with a pomade, but will continue to use this product to change up my makeup bag.
c/o BPerfect Cosmetics / Eyebrow Makeup Kit / £24.99
BPerfect also do a range of other cosmetics including a 10 Second Tan which I am really intrigued to try next!
Don't forget to like BPerfect Cosmetics on Facebook, tweet them on Twitter and discover lots of beauty inspo on their Instagram!
Have you tried any BPerfect products? What product type do you find works best on your brows?
I kindly received a surprise package of bits and pieces from House of Wonderland's brand new Jewellery Club. The Jewellery Club is a subscription service that you can sign up to to receive a box jam packed with adorable pieces once a month. House of Wonderland provide a vast range of the cutest of cute stuff from temporary tattoos, stickers, note books, bags, cards, pins and more. Each piece is designed with the company's signature cute and fun characters which is a trend that is super hot right now with other brands like Kawaii.
The Jewellery Club box includes a handcrafted necklace such as the adorable mountain top one I have, two sets of earrings and 1-2 mystery items which is what makes this monthly treat that extra bit special!
I think this would make a wonderful gift for someone, retailing at just £12 it would make a really lovely surprise for a friend to receive at their door. I love the fact that the contents is a complete surprise as you won't spend endless time trying to decide what to give your friend! If they like adorable things, they are bound to love this box of goodies!
Jewellery Club is also great for all ages. Customers around my age I think could totally work these pieces, either as a subtly addition to a simple outfit or by going all out and decorating yourself in these gorgeous items for a festival or gig. Kids would adore the cute little animals and designs, I'd definitely check out the stationary section for some back to school must haves too!
Plus, the jewellery come in some gorgeous packaging! Loving the bright colour tissue paper and square jewellery boxes - definitely brings a smile to your face when you open your monthly package!
c/o Jewellery Club / Monthly Subscription Box / £12
For the second part of my series featuring my favourite places to visit in America, we're heading to Niagara Falls in Canada! Again, I went there exactly one year ago and I am feeling very jealous of my past self as I wish I was there again right now haha!
So what I'm hopefully going to answer here is "is Niagara Falls really that impressive?" and should every one of us take it as a top bucket list must-do?
Now, there are two sides of the Falls you can visit, but which side of the Niagara Falls is the best? I think it is well worth checking out the Canadian side if you are going to go all that way. You can access the Falls from the American side but it is not such a good experience. The only issue that you have to bear in mind is VISA entry, you're gonna need different certificates and approvals for both countries. So if you're in America and fancying popping up to the Falls before you head onto New York or something, you're better off just sticking with the American side as you don't really wanna be going through all the faff of customs twice just for the Falls. However, if you're heading into Canada anyway, maybe you're going into Toronto or Ottawa or Montreal, like I did, then it would be silly not to go from the Canadian side. So that's just a little clear up and pointer on the different sides of the Falls.
Niagara Falls from the cruise |
The falls is pretty epic |
Prepare to get very wet at Niagara Falls! If you are taking the boat cruise that is. You get given a standard rain poncho, but I tell you, that water gets in every nook and cranny no matter how hard you try and cover yourself up! Tip: don't wear fake tan, it will run. Tip: don't wear jeans, you'll never get them off again. The boat doesn't go under the Falls and drench you on purpose or anything but the Falls are so powerful the spray gets flown at you from all angles.
A downside of going to Niagara
The Falls is such a beautiful place and most often a one off experience for those who visit it and you're gonna wanna capture its beauty in every way you can. Q the Snapchat pic and vid, then the standard phone camera pic, vid and pano, oh then lets get out the camera and try 150 different exposure settings. No chance. Unless you're happy for your gadgets to get soaked, you're gonna need a really good waterproof camera or gadget case to be able to take some snaps right in the heart of the Falls. I managed to take the photos in this post using my normal camera with no case, but they were not taken in the heart of the Falls where it is very wet and basically feels like it is raining! You can still get some great snaps and if you're careful you can try to get your camera inside your rain poncho to take a few quick photos. If you wanna be in the photos, you're probably gonna look a bit rough and weathered too, not gonna lie.
Rainbow over Niagara Falls, Canada. |
Sheraton Restaurant on Niagara Falls |
If the boat cruise isn't your thing or you are slightly put off, or even wondering "where can I get a good photo at Niagara Falls!?", then I have a few pointers about what else you can get out of Niagara. We, being a large coach group, stayed at The Quality Inn in the heart of the city, about a 20 minute walk down to the waterfall. The little town immediately next to the falls is a very family friendly resort with lots of restaurants and arcades as well as having some good shops, bars and pubs for the adults. After drying off at the hotel and making ourselves look a little nicer, we headed back down to the Falls for dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lovely water. I think this was the Sheraton though I can't quite remember! The sun was going down and it was perfect lighting to have some nice photos taken with the Falls right behind us. We were even lucky enough to see several rainbows going right through the Falls! So cool! So we had dinner which had the best view I've ever had while eating a salad - the Falls light up as it got darker which was very impressive!
After dinner, we checked out an outdoor karaoke bar which had cheap drinks and a nice, local atmosphere with lots of 'talent' on stage. Myself and my tour group were obviously a bunch of 20 somethings so this was fun for us.
I don't think you can ever get tired of looking at natural beauty, especially when it is something so beautiful, elegant and powerful as a waterfall. I loved this experience so much that I'd love to go back and maybe do the helicopter trip over the Falls. I would consider it one of the wonders of the world, it truly is a bucket list must therefore, yes, Nigara Falls really is as great as it is made out to be. It is not a holiday destination though, you wouldn't want to spend a long time here but a must see if you're passing nonetheless.
I hope this has been of interest to you guys and somewhat informative. Have you been to the Falls? Was it as you expected?
I hope this has been of interest to you guys and somewhat informative. Have you been to the Falls? Was it as you expected?
I often forget how lucky I am to live in Devon, so near to Cornwall and have some gorgeous places right on my doorstep. Many will know Devon is full of picturesque coast lines, sandy beaches, sea for surfing and cute little harbour villages. Today I went to Torquay - just an hour train journey from my home town of Plymouth.
So what is there to do in Torquay? Torquay's main attraction would most likely be Living Coasts, a wild life sanctuary situated right along to coast line. You can see penguins, seals, birds and all manner of coastal wildlife. It is a pretty interactive experience and great for all ages! If you're lucky enough to have some time off after September, I would recommend visiting the sanctuary once the kids go back to school as it isn't a huge place and can get rather busy.
In addition to Living Coasts, Torquay boasts a huge fairground festival with tons of traditional and new fairground attractions including some big rides and ones for the kiddies. The best time to visit Torquay's fairground would be later in the day as it is more busy and atmospheric.
Torquay has a small beach, sheltered from the elements by the harbour piers. As the tide comes in, the beach becomes very small so you would be fighting for space! It is a cute little beach though, and an artist was there creating some artwork in the sand which was nice.
A little way along Torquay's harbour, there are some lovely, pretty gardens and water fountains which make a lovely spot to have some lunch! Failing that, a short walk around the corner offers a number of lovely restaurants that look out over the harbour and often have live music playing which is a nice touch!
Shopping wise, I don't think Torquay is as good as Plymouth. The shops are much smaller and less of them, seemingly. However, the streets are very quaint and it certainly made a nice change to explore a different area!
Jumpsuit / Primark / £10
Cardigan / H&M / Bought last year