How To: Clean Make-up Brushes

Cleaning make-up brushes is one of those things that no one enjoys but it has to be done. You don't want to be using dirty make-up brushes as the bristles gather all sorts of bacteria and can lead to breakouts. There are different ways of cleaning them but this is the one that I use and find the most effective!

Step 1: Run your brushes under warm water to wet the bristles.

Step 2: Apply shampoo to the bristles. I use baby shampoo as it has no added extras like colour, scent etc so it is more gentle on the brush.

Step 3: Swirl the brush around on the palm of your hand gently or you can get special cleaning pads like this one from RC Cosmetics for only a couple of pounds. They are designed to gently clean the brushes without damaging the bristles themselves, just be sure not to press too hard!

Step 4: Keep on doing this, applying more shampoo if necessary, until you can run it under warm water and it rinses clean.

Step 5: Lay your brushes out on a towel to dry. It sometimes takes a few hours for them to dry completely so I usually clean them in the evening and leave them to dry overnight, then they're ready to use again in the morning.

Hope you found this helpful!

Plaited Up-Do Hair Tutorial + Tangle Teezer Review

I have been loving wearing this plaited up-do during the summer. It's perfect for keeping you hair out of your face, especially in the warm weather.  It's really easy to do as well!

First, brush through your hair to make sure there are no knots in it.  I used my 'Salon Elite' tangle teezer which I love. Tangle teezers are perfect for brushing through your hair effortlessly with 0 pain.

Next, split your hair in half and tie one half out of the way.

Then take a small section from the front of your hair and start off a normal braid (left section over the middle one, right section over the middle etc.).  Keep on braiding adding a little more hair to each section every time you cross it over until you have no more hair to add in.

When you get to this point, plait normally until you reach the end of your hair and secure it with a small elastic. Repeat these steps on the other half of your hair that you tied out of the way earlier.  You should end up with two French braids.

Take one of the braids and wrap it around in a circle shape near the bottom of your head.  Secure it with as many bobby pins as you need.  (It doesn't need to look perfect!)

When that is as secure as you want it, wrap the other plait around the outside of the first one. Try and make sure that you cover both the ends of the plaits and that your bobby pins aren't too obvious! If you want to check that it will stay put, shake your head gently and if you feel it moving too much then just add some more pins :)

Spray with hairspray for extra security and you're done! Obviously the size of the finished style will vary depending on how long your hair is.  This hairstyle is good for both casual and more formal occasions, to make it look more casual you could pull out some small pieces of hair to give it a more messy look. You could also add a bow or flower or anything else you like. It would be a nice easy prom hairstyle too if you are planning on doing your own hair for it :)

Now onto the tangle teezers! I have built up quite a collection of them now and a lot of people were asking questions about them last time I posted a photo of some on Instagram so since this post is hair related, I thought it would be a perfect time to do a little review on them.

There are four varieties (and yes I have multiples of them all!) - the original, salon elite, aqua splash and compact styler.

The original is the perfect size and shape to fit comfortable in your hand as you brush your hair and it gets rid of all tangles with literally no pain.  You can also use all tangle teezers on wet hair without causing damage which is amazing. The fact that they glide through your hair so easily means you can also use them when wearing extensions without pulling on them.  The salon elite is slightly bigger and the brush itself is more curved so it sort of matches the curve of your head and brushes it well from the roots. The one I have shown in the picture is part of their 'sugared almonds' range which are pastels and I think are limited edition for the summer.

Then there is the 'aqua splash' range. I always use this in the shower as it's perfect for brushing through your hair when you're conditioning to make sure that the product is evenly distributed.  As you can see, it is also hollow which means you can stand it up and it will drain all the water out of it.

Finally, there are the 'compact stylers'. Before I started using these, I always used to have the problem with things like headphones getting tangled in the bristles of any brushes I had in my bag which is super annoying.  These compact stylers are small enough to take up little room in your bag and they also have a clip-on cover which means the bristles aren't exposed and nothing can get caught in them! I always have one in my bag as they are super handy and just as good at detangling as the larger ones :)

We actually bought my labradoodle his own tangle teezer and it works so well! He looks basically 90% poodle so he has quite thick, curly hair and when we brush him with this it makes him so soft :) He never used to like being brushed with regular dog brushes but he loves being brushed with his tangle teezer haha.

I would definitely recommend getting your hands on a tangle teezer.  Hope you enjoyed this post and will try out the hair style :) x

3d mint floral nails

These 3d mint floral nails are inspired by two things.  First are some mint green daisy earrings I have from a local jewellers (Helen West Jewellery) and second is a green/blue floral dress from WalG, both of which I am wearing today :) The nails are super easy to do and I think they look so cute! So if you want to find out how to do them then keep on reading..

First, paint your nails with a clear base coat to protect them.  Then, paint them opaque white.  I used two coats of Barry M's 'Matt White'.

Next, I painted a star shape using Barry M's 'Greenberry' and a dotting tool. My dotting tool is actually a paper embossing thing from the range and was only around £3 for a set of 3 double ended tools.  You could also use a kirby grip / bobby pin, the end of a pen or anything else you have that is the right size! This is probably the hardest bit but it doesn't have to be perfect :) I tried to do one whole flower on each nail (two on each thumb) and then have a few petals around the edges.

When they had dried, I put a dot of clear top coat in the middle of the whole flowers and then used a pointed wooden stick to place a small bead / gem to make the centre of the flowers 3d.

A layer of topcoat to seal on the beads and your nails are finished!

Hope you enjoyed and if you try out the design then feel free to send me a picture of them on Instagram, I would love to see! Thanks for reading :) x

Leopard print nail tutorial

I love doing leopard print nails, they're so simple to do and I think they look really nice too so I thought I'd show you how I do them :)

First step is always to apply a base coat to protect your nails and prevent staining.  I used Sally Hansen's 'one coat instant strength'. (Not sure why my hand looks so red in this photo haha)

Next paint your nails gold or another light colour that you would like the base of your leopard print to be.  I used No.7 lasting nail enamel in 'Midas touch'.  Make sure that the colour is opaque, it may take multiple coats.

After this just blob a few dots on your nails using the brush that comes with the nail polish.  They don't have to be perfect circles :)  I tried to make mine look as much like leopard print as possible so I used a dark brown colour for this step but you can use any colour you want.  I used No 7 lasting nail enamel in 'caramelised copper'.

Next, outline each dots with two brackets or 'C' shapes.  It looks best if the two brackets don't meet but it doesn't really matter if they do :)  To do this I used my black 'nails supreme' nail art pen but if you don't have any then you can use a dotting tool, bobby pin or toothpick dipped in polish. 

Using the same nail polish and tool that you used to outline the large dots, paint smaller dots in the gaps. You can do as many or as little as you want until you think it looks good, and remember that these don't have to be perfect circles either! :)

Now all you have to do is finish off with a topcoat to make the design last longer and you're done :)  I hope you enjoyed and that you try it out! Thanks for reading x

Dripping paint nail tutorial!

Hi! I posted a photo on Instagram a few days ago and a lot of you asked how I did my nails in it so I thought I would make a tutorial to show you!

This is the finished design, so if you want to know how to do it then keep reading :)


1) Paint your nails with a clear base coat.  This will help to protect your natural nails and prevent staining.  I used Sally Hansen's 'one coat instant strength'.

2) Paint your nails opaque white - or another base colour of your choice, the top colour will stand out more if you use white though.  This usually takes two coats, depending on the polish you use.  I used Maybellines colour show in the shade 'Winter Baby'.

3) Paint 3-4 dots in different places along your nail and connect them with curved lines. You can do this using a dotting tool or nail art pen if you have them and if not then just use a bobby pin dipped in polish or an old liquid eyeliner brush.  Repeat this step on each nail.  I chose to do each nail a different colour but you can choose whatever colours you want :)

4)  Finally, fill in the tips of the nails with the same colour polish that you did the dots in and that's it!  Just complete with a top coat to make the design last longer and you're done :)

I hope you enjoyed this and will maybe try it out! Thanks for reading :)