Make-Up Tips and Ideas: Be Creative, Be More You.

Make an Artist of Yourself: Exciting Make-Up and Hair Techniques for Spicing Up Your Look

Even the most 'natural' of us spend so much time on beautifying ourselves, why not add some excitement?

1. Add Some Colour

Mermaid Eyes

Best Suited To: Darker toned skin/olive skin (you can change the colours to pastels if you have paler skin). Make sure the colours match or contrast well with your outfit.

Products Used: Max factor 'creme puff' pressed translucent powder, Maybelline '24hr colour tattoo' (purple), Bodyshop metallics (aqua & gold). Rimmell Lash Builder mascara.

How: Prep eye area for blending and adhesion - remove excess moisture/grease with a babywipe and prep with translucent powder.Contrast metallic violet and aqua colours. Dab the violet brightly on the outer corners of the upper lids. Blend upwards to outer browbone, add a slightly pinker tone as you blend. Dab aqua under outer edge of lower lashline. Highlight browbone directly under eyebrow with a pale gold. Add black or dark mauve eyeliner to upper and lower lashlines. Add black mascara.

Contrast Eyeshadow Colours

You can add great va va voom to your look by contrasting colours. Every colour that exists has an opposite counterpart (google 'the colour star' for an image of this), but basically you can use opposite colours to create contrast. Examples could be blue and orange, or green and pink. Admittedly these combinations sound ghastly, but with some careful application (bearing in mind with this sort of technique less is more), you can achieve a look that pops! 

You can also make your eye colour pop, or stand out by contrasting it with an eyeshadow, but subtly. Dark brown eyes contrast well with deep, dark aqua colours, blue eyes contrast well with oranges or warm pinks, and green or hazel eyes contrast well with lilacs and purples generally. The colour should compliment your eyes though - it shouldn't clash nastily.

2. Elongate & Add Shape

Egyptian Eyes

Best Suited To: Any skin/eye colour or tone.

Products Used: Max factor 'creme puff' pressed translucent powder, Bourjois colour intense eyeshadow (brown), black kohl eyeliner from Natural Collections (non-waterproof), Maybelline 'Scandaleyes' cat-like mascara.

How To: Prep eye area for blending and adhesion - remove excess moisture/grease with a babywipe and prep with translucent powder.Line the inner rims of the eyes with black non-waterproof eyeliner. Use mahogany or dark brown eyeshadow to line the lower lash-lines - sweep upwards towards the outer ends of the eyebrows. With the same eye shadow, line the upper lash lines and the outer sides of the eyelid, blending and fading towards the inner eyelid. Ensure the colour does not 'half' the eye. Add a bronze eyeshadow to the inner eyelids and inner halves of lower lashlines. Blend with the brown. Add mascara, sweeping lashes up and outwards for a cat-like effect.

Grecian Eyes

Best Suited To: Larger eyes. Any skin tone, any eye colour, although with dark eyes this look can be especially intense.

Products Used: Max factor 'creme puff' pressed translucent powder, bodyshop simple black eyeshadow, black kohl eyeliner from Natural Collections (non-waterproof), Benefit mascara.

How To: Prep eye area for blending and adhesion - remove excess moisture/grease with a babywipe and prep with translucent powder. Line the inner rims of the eyes with black non-waterproof eyeliner. Add black eyeliner to the lower lash line, carrying on in a straight line after the outer corner of the eye curves upwards. Add the liner the top lashline but only to the outer side of the eyelid in a straight line, avoiding the browbone. Add bright gold eyeshadow to inner lower lash line, and from the outer corner of the eye in a straight line in the middle of the black eyeliner. (Use pencil, liquid or gel eyeliner, depending on how sharp/intense you want this look to appear. You can even use black eyeshadow with a damp brush - I have used pencil and black eyeshadow for a more blended, subtle look).

3. Contour & Highlight

Shadows and highlights can be created with any number of products such as bronzer, shimmer, blusher and various powders. If it is shiny, shimmery or lighter than your skin it will highlight an area, making it stand out and look prominent. If it is darker than you skin tone it will create a contour or 'hollow' - making the area appear further away, concaved, or 'hollowed out.'

If you're creating a contour effect don't use any product more than two shades darker than your skin tone otherwise it will look severe and artificual, even blotchy.

Highlight cheekbones: 

Smile and apply the highlighter to the 'apples of the cheeks' (the rounded areas). Blend a little and ensure the product adds lightness or shimmer to the area desired.

Product Suggestion: Benefit's 'Girl Meets Pearl' highlighter - great for adding a dewy pearlised shimmer to highlight cheekbones and other areas such as browbone.

Contour cheeks:

For a chiseled look, or to slim down the look of your face, shade the areas beneath the cheekbones slightly. Apply subtly. You may need to experiment a little. Apply only around the area underneath the cheekbones (nowhere near nose or mouth).

Shade a double chin:

To minimise a double chin you can shade it as you would for the contour effect. Use a shade darker than you skin tone and blend. Add a little highlighter to the chin bone area to further add to the effect of the 'double chin' receding into the distance/shadows.

Text and Images Copyright © Lise Griffiths, 2012

All Rights Reserved

Great Success of Black-Tie Easter Charity Ball & Auction for NACC

Recent Easter Charity Ball and Auction 

For Crohns and Colits UK!

Funds Raised so far: £1,290

The evening was a great success! The 3-Course meal was delicious and the creme brulee was huuuuuge! 

Our DJ from California Disco very kindly helped us out for free, enabling even more of the profit to go towards the charity! We had professional photographer Issi Grieg who kindly donated £2 from every photo to the charity, and the easter egg raffle was a great success, not to mention the hidden chocolates in the eggs yum yum! 

 The auction with fantastic prizes - such as afternoon tea at a 5 star hotel and a 4 star hotel stay-over for two - were an excellent success and my very own butterfly oil painting auctioned for £100!

Thank you so much to everyone who came along - your support is extremely valuable. 

Background Information:

I met my best friend Claire at college when we were both just 16. She suffered a serious illness called Crohns Disease and she had an extremely rough time at college, including having to spend over 3 months in hospital, experiencing constant severe pains and cramps, and wearing a feeding tube on her face which went through her nose and into her stomach. She still got herself the highest grade possible (with ease might I add)! 

Claire is the strongest person I know, and now - ten years on - our friendship is just the same and Claire has followed her enormously successful career as a paramedic. After we left college and followed our own paths, I met my husband Richard whilst Claire was travelling in Kenya. On our third date he told me about a condition he has which is called Ulcerative Colitis. It sounded just like Crohns so when Claire came back I was straight on the phone to her about it and she told me that it was in fact closely related to her illness. She couldn't wait to meet him, and when they were introduced they got on like a house on fire. I married him two years later. 

Claire and Richard are so strong in the face of their illnesses that I often feel like I'm the odd one out. I'm the one who is bed-ridden with a cold, or is in tears over having to have a smear test, but these two are so extremely brave I don't know what I would do without their amazing strength and courage. These are two of the most important people in my life and they go through so much every day. I needed to do something to express my appreciation for them and what they go through, so I decided to raise as much money as I can for the charity which works for people with their illnesses - NACC, or Crohns and Colitis UK.

What better way to raise money for such an amazing cause than to throw an amazing, awe-inspiring, all-out black-tie Easter ball! Tickets are £28 each and it promises to be an extremely exciting evening complete with really fabulous auction prizes not to be missed! Fill yourself up with a delicious meal, dance the night away to rockin' tunes, preserve your fantastic outfit with a professional photograph, and be in with an excellent chance of winning some amazing prizes! 

Crohns and Colitis UK aims to improve life for anyone affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease, of which the most common diseases are Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis. These conditions affect around 250,000 people in the UK, with debilitating symptoms and life-changing disorders. The website for this charity should you wish to find out more, is: http://www.nacc.org.uk 

Best Relationship Advice Ever!

Karl Pilkington:

‘Just go about your business and see if she joins in.’ 

What does this mean, you ask...

Well, first of all let's assume we can swap the 'he' for a 'she' if we so choose! It also has some truth to it. In fact, it's pretty sound advice for relationships. If you can just happily 'join in' then it must be easy. It must also be consistent with what you already want, and that's the key point.

Research shows that opposites do initially attract, BUT: research also shows that these relationships are much shorter-lived. Couples with similar life outlooks, morals and overall goals are the ones which are apparently more likely to last, and why would this be any different? It's common sense. We are far happier living and sharing our lives with people who want the same things as us in the bigger picture. Imagine how easy it is to grow apart from someone who wants to save up for a Ferrari when you desperately want to buy a house in the next year? And that's not even adding in different views about issues like drugs, whether you want children, and whether you will put family first or living in Australia...

If men really do see relationships this way, then we can assume they are lazy, BUT: We women are too aren't we? Yes, perhaps in different ways - it's pretty well established that we put a lot more thought into emotions, body language and what things mean, however we also want an easy life, just like men do. So yes, just 'joining in' sounds ideal to me :)

Quick & Easy Home Remedies for Hair and Beauty!

Top 10 Home Remedies

 Beauty:

For Clearer Skin and Clean Pores: Fill a bowl with freshly boiled water (be careful!) wait a minute or so, and put a towel over your head, letting the steam bathe (but not burn) your face. Gently wash face afterwards and moisturise.

For Thicker Eyelashes: Apply a this coat of Vaseline or petroleum jelly onto eyelashes before bed every night and they will gradually start to feel naturally thicker (this also helps with hayfever-related eye problems in the summer).

For Smooth (Not Sore) Skin After Shaving: Use a thick/hydrating hair conditioner instead of shaving foam/cream.

For Whiter Non-Stained Teeth: Rub lemon peel over teeth to remove stains. It is acidic so don't do this more than once a month otherwise you could damage the enamel of your teeth if it is already weakened by acidic foods like fruit.

For Smooth Lips: Exfoliate them, use your toothbrush on them or better still, include them in your exfoliation routine.

Hair Care:

For Smoother De-Frizzed and Less Dry Hair: Apply about half a teaspoon of Olive Oil to your hair before washing. Soak in warm water in the bath, then wash out with conditioner (yes conditioner), then wash hair with shampoo, then re-condition the ends if hair is prone to dryness.

For Shiny Hair and Healthy Cuticles: Mix a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar with a mug of cool water and tip over hair after washing, and rinse with col water to take away smell.

For Shiny Hair and Healthy Cuticles: After warm shower or bath, rinse hair with water as cold as you can manage.

For Healthier Scalp and Shinier Hair: Eat salmon, mackerel, tuna or any other fish rich in Omega 3, twice a week.

For Less Hair Dryness and Producing More Natural Oil: Eat more spinach or green leafy veg.

Text and Images Copyright © Lise Griffiths, 2012
All Rights Reserved

Beat the Winter Blues

Beat The Winter Blues! Enjoy a Winter Wonderland Instead... and Here's How! 

Imagine a winter without Christmas cheer, without lights, without a little sparkly frost...

The darkest months are the easiest time of year to wallow and feel blue, and the hardest time of year for getting up in the mornings. A busy day full of things to buy and create, people to see, and Christmas cards to write just adds that little extra motivation in the mornings (it helps if you like Christmas)!

We humans crave natural light and some people even suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is a Psychological disorder where a person's mood is severely affected by the limited daylight hours. People affected can experience feelings of depression, along with the winter blues. There are special lamps which mimic daylight to help with this disorder, but you should try and get outside when you can. A crisp sunny day still exists in winter, you just need to wrap up warm and get up a little earlier to make the most of it. It also helps to embrace other cheery aspects of winter. Use candles, fairy lights and decorations to brighten up your home or office environment. Use music, food and drink to inspire and stimulate your other senses.

Fill your winter months with exciting things to do. Christmas is notoriously a busy social time of year and December is by far the page in the calendar which most resembles a busy social life. It is great to go to parties and evenings out with friends etc. Even if you don't quite feel like going out at first (it's cold, it's damp, and the duvet is invitingly close, the bed temptingly unmade), you really should make the effort. You know as well as I do that you'll have much more fun once you're there...
 
Enjoy Christmas, but save some money for January! The Christmas comedown and the winter blues are so much easier to get through when you have other things to look forward to. Keep that calendar full even if you're doing cheaper things and things that are free. Catch up with friends who were busy over Christmas, get outdoors and get some fresh air.

Decorate!

Hang 'winter' decorations so you can keep them up longer after Christmas

Place candles around your home to create a friendly and magical glow

 
Stuff clementines with cloves to create an intense spicy citrus Christmas smell

Use Christmas lights or fairy lights to create a magical and delicate light around doorways, windows and mirrors. This really adds a feeling of cosiness and banishes my winter blues most effectively!

I highly reccommend these classy 'Kasbah' and 'Maroq' lights for Christmas lights or just all-year fairy lights. They Kasbah ones are pretty little glass lanterns on a subtle white-ish string of cable. They are also not too Christmassy - I keep mine up all year round.The Maroq ones are dainty little silver globes with tiny diamond shapes cut out for the light to shine through. I bought my mum these and they are magical. She also keeps them up year-round.

Create!

Bake cookies and gingerbread. Use cinnamon and ginger to give your baking a Christmassy tang.
 
Create your own Christmas decorations and even make your own cards. An excellent activitiy with children. 
 

Wrap Up!

Wrapping up against the winter elements is so much fun, and I love winter fashion. There is just something about the feeling of being warm and snug in your winter gear with the wind and snow (or rain of course) inches from your bare skin. 




My favourite winter warmers:

• Warm and snug winter boots
• Funky and colourful woolly hats with giant bobbles
• Onesies (Midwinter is the only time it is acceptable to look like a giant baby)
• Scarves and snoods

Eat!

'Lebkuchen' - Traditional German Christmassy soft biscuits and gingerbread, spiced and iced, sometimes with chocolate and a syrupy centre. The best ones I have seen are in Sainsbury's and Lidl (the hearts in lidl are the best - covered in chocolate with a sweet jammy centre).

Bratwurst or big pork sausages. Most European Christmas markets have these. Christmas markets from Europe tour most UK cities and town centres in the run-up to Christmas.

 

Drink!

Mulled wine - THE Christmas drunk! Heat sugar, lemon and clementine peel, cinnamon, cloves and a little nutmeg with a little red wine to make a syrup, then add all of your red wine over a low heat and add a star anise, gently heating the wine for 5 minutes.
 
Hot chocolate - the cosiest drink, best enjoyed by a crackling fire! Choc-o-Lait is no ordinary hot chocolate - it is a lump of chocolate on a stick that you swirl in a mug of hot milk. Delicious!
 

Party!

Get Dressed up and go out...

Winter 2012-2013 fashion For us girls:

• Chunky heels 
• Sequin jumpers
• Cinched waists
• Skater skirts (high-waisted and puffy)
• Peplum skirts (high waisted with flaps/layer around hips)
• Peplum tops (cinched waist with flaps/layer around hips)
• Spiky studded heels

Socialise!

Spending time with friends is so good for the soul.

Make a special effort to see your friends at Christmas - everyone is so busy but life is too short...

 

Exercise!

Ice-skate at an ice-rink or a town centre or garden centre temporary rink.
 
Ski on a winter holiday or at a UK snowdome such as Milton Keynes or Tamworth, Birmingham. They have real snow and you can take a range of skiing and snowboarding lessons. Milton Keynes also have rubber donut ring sledging - no lesson required!
 
Wrap up warm and go for a walk in the crisp cold air - even better if there's a goal at the end like hot chocolate in a cosy tearoom. You'll feel exhilarated after a brisk walk, not to mention surprisingly warmed up. 
 

Watch!

• Elf (A Christmas film with Will Ferrell as the lead - hilarious!)
• The Snowman (A short film with stunning vocals by Aled Jones, and no speaking. This adds to the magic)
• Love Actually (A stupidly soppy but quite clever Christmas film - literally an all-star cast including Hugh Grant).
• Home Alone 1&2 (Very silly but funny 90s Christmas films). 
• Muppets Christmas Carol (Funny, creative and cute spin on the famous Christmas novel).

Embrace The Beauty of Winter!

• Sparkly frost
• Christmas lights in people's windows
• Crackling fires
• Pure snow
• Sunsets and twilight
• Cosiness of the indoors 
• The sound of the rain outside when you have a steaming mug of cocoa

Text and Images Copyright © Lise Griffiths, 2012
All Rights Reserved

Fashion Feel-Goods & Tips for Winter 2012

My Best Buys this Winter! Feel Good in Affordable & Fashionable Outfits...   

 

If I don't feel fashionable, I feel frumpy. If I don't feel good about how I look it doesn't matter even if I look like a supermodel to other people - I just don't feel good about myself, and that is a recipe for a bad day... If I feel like a frump, I act like a frump and I can't bear it!

 

 

Stay Warm and Fashionable: The Importance of the Sequin Knitted Jumper!

 
 

 

The knitted sequin jumper seems to be an important item in the winter 2012 wardrobe! They can be found in pretty much any high street store as well as designer. This grey, silver and black one from Bank (£35) is a wam and loose-fitting jumper with chunky cuffs.

The knitted sequin jumper is a good wear - day or night, and can be dressed up or down. It seems to be quite a fundamental piece of clothing for this winter season.

Animal Print Matching Advice: What to Wear with Lepoard Print Boots

 

 

 



Lepoard print is one of the hardest patterns to match well without constantly wearing black with it!

 

This puffball high-waisted skirt from River Island is black with a fantastic subtly shiny mottled effect in teal blue (£30). It goes really well with high shoes and black tights. The teal colour compliments the colours in the lepoard print shoes (Dorothy Perkins - last year but you can get some excellent lepoard print wedges for £35 from River Island).

 

The necklace is black rope with metal beads in the colours of the lepoard print, but without actually having to match another actual lepoard print pattern - which we all know is impossible! The necklace is from Fat Face (from last year, but they have similar things this year - £15).  

 

 

Keep Your Feet Warm and Dry: Best Feminine Boots for Rainy Days!

 



Trousers dragging in the puddles, damp soaking through to my socks... I've just had enough of it! Boots and skinny jeans are the way forward.
 
These leather boots from Office have a good solid small heel, cute buckle and zip detail, and they zip up on the inside leg all the way to the base. (£100 - Office).
 
These superskinny jeans are from River Island (£30). They are really tight-fitting so if you're like me and have no fat on you, you'll be at home in these... (No eye-rolling, I'm actually really self-conscious about it)!
 
Jeggings are a good, cheap alternative to skinny jeans and can of course be made warmer with tights underneath. There are some great choices in River Island for £20 and under.

Glam-Up for Cheap: Dress Up a Cheap and Colourful Plain Top! 

Got a Christmas doo coming up and can't afford a new outfit? It doesn't matter - dress up a plain top with some matching jewellery and add a splash of colour to make it dazzle!

 

I had this plain green H&M baggy T-shirt and quickly needed an outfit for an evening meal so I just bought some gold accessories and a bracelet with a splash of pink, and the same green as the top (accessories totalling £8.00 from H&M)

 

Just think how boring this top would be on its own - the accessories transform it! Some skinny black trousers and heels just finished it off nicely.

 

Text and Images Copyright © Lise Griffiths, 2012
All Rights Reserved

Get Rid of Your Stress or Anger: The Joys of Sleeping Cats!

Angry? Stressed? Here's a new remedy you may not have heard before...

  















I've grown up always having pet cats. For the last 4 years since having moved out, I have really been missing having a cat around the house. Not just for cuddles, not just for cuteness, but I actually find myself more stressed without one. Gone are the days when I could wander into a bedroom to find a fluffy, snoozing, peaceful creature curled up purring away. Instead, I'm momentarily distracted by a dark pair of shoes in the corner of a room, or a bin bag waiting by the back door. No. It's not a cat, sadly, it's just an unfriendly inanimate object...
 
So, yes, I know some of you hate cats. Yes, I've heard it all before 'they're not as loyal as dogs' 'they use humans' 'they're sneaky and malicious' etc etc etc... But have you ever just looked at one when its sleeping, when you're full of the day's stress and angst? When you're outraged? Or just when you're plain irritated?
 
There's no denying that many sources of stress go a little deeper than just needing to see a peaceful sleepy feline, but sometimes when we feel wound-up after a stressful day, and feeling a little hard-done-by, a cuddly little cat (or a sleeping baby or puppy even) can help restore our faith in innocence, simplicity and peace...
 
Go on - just try it. Next time you're angry, go and find a sleeping cat!

Text and Images Copyright © Lise Griffiths, 2012
All Rights Reserved