Category: Beauty

My Three Step Brow Routine – For Defined Brows

A question I often get asked is ‘How do you do your brows?’, so I thought it was about time I finally wrote a blog post for those who are interested in my brow routine or are looking for a new one.

For me my brow routine starts at the salon. I try to get my eyebrows threaded every couple of weeks or so. Creating a good shape for your eyebrows really helps to frame your face.

If you currently pluck your eyebrows and haven’t yet tried threading then I would definitely recommend it. However threading isn’t for everyone and of course if you prefer a bushy statement brow then maybe only a filler is what you’re after.

I previously always used Brow Zings eyebrow pallet from Benefit, to fill in my eyebrows. However more recently I converted to Sleek Brow Kit, as it is exactly the same as the Benefit brow palette and less than half the price! I thought it too good to be true at first but bar the branding on the case the two products are barely indistinguishable, right down to the tweezers (which are excellent at pulling out those odd stray hairs might I add). Both pallets come with a wax, a powder and a brush for each, along with mini tweezers as well as a mirror inside the pallet case.

Shade Used – Extra Dark

Below I’ve created a photo collage to show each step of my brow routine.
1. My brows, newly threaded.
2. My brows outlined with the wax part of the pallet using the angle brush.
3. My brows at the final step, lightly filled in with the powder side of the pallet using the rounded brush. – I usually then go over my brows with an eyebrow bush, just to make sure the powder is fully blended and to gently ease out any harsh lines.

And there you have it, my easy to follow eyebrow routine for defined brows.

Samio x

August 19, 2014
Garnier Cleansing Water

It’s great to find a cleanser that easily removes makeup whilst being gentle on the skin. I love this new Cleansing Water from Garnier. I’ve been using it for some time now and am still happy with the results. It gently remove heavy makeup with ease and as it literally feels like water, it is great for removing makeup around the eyes.

The closet thing I can compare this product to is Bioderma Micelle Solution and if you’ve used that then you’ll know how good and gentle it is when removing makeup. The good thing about Garnier Cleansing Water though, is that it is a fraction of the price, so what can I say, I’m a convert.

After – The skin is left feeling clean and un-irritated.

Samio x

July 8, 2014
My Secret to a Photoready Glow

If there’s one product I can recommend any girl for their makeup bag it’s this! For a girl like me who doesn’t have prominent cheekbones, this product is heaven and if you are blessed to have perfectly chissled cheeks then even better, as this product is sure to help show off your fabulous features!

I was recommended this product by a model friend who is naturally very fair skinned. I say recommended when the reality of the situation was that I saw my friend using it on herself and after seeing it’s fabulous shiny glow, I then immediately requested to try it out on myself, which then led to me buying one of my own. Being a makeup lover and magpie to all things shiny, it was inevitable that I and this product would finally be united and now I have been using it (whenever I fancy some strategically placed glow) for over a year.

The product in question is Revlon PhotoReady Skinlights Face Illuminator.

Revlon Skinlights comes in four different shades and although I am darker skinned I actually use the pink shade, as I already have a great golden press powder that I use when I want a more bronzed glow plus I like the effect that this lighter shade has on my skin.

I apply this product by applying three small dots of it along the apple of my cheekbone and I then use my finger to dab and carefully blend. I do this in a slight ‘S’ shape along the underneath of my eye socket and around the cheek. I also apply a small amount to below the brow, again dabbing with the tip of my finger.

Not only is this product easy to apply but it’s also good value for money and it lasts ages too, making it definitely worth the purchase.

Samio x

June 10, 2014
Braid Out – Retro Up Do

So you’re waiting for the fro to grow and you’re fed up with the same style, or maybe you’re happy with the length but just fancy trying out a new do… Well here is an easy to follow step by step tutorial of a simple yet fancy looking, braid out style. This style can be done on long or short hair and is perfect for those of you who like the vintage look. Continue below to follow my 12 simple steps to achieve this style

What you will need:
Leave in conditioner (or braid out product of your choice)
Curvy grips/bobby pins
Fabric or headscarf

Step 1:

The night before, separate the hair into about four sections, add product to each section (I used Aussie Conditioner) and then plait… Basically you’ll be doing a braid out, if you need instructions on how best to do a braid out, read this previous, how to post here. Please note: Make sure one of your parts is to the side of your head and not in the center. This will just help the hair to fall to one side better when you take out the plaits, so then the style will be easier to achieve.

Step 2:

The next day, following on with the braid out process, undo the plaits carefully so not to mess up the newly formed wave in the hair.

Step 3:

Continue to undo all the plaits until you’re left with a head of waves. Separate parts of the hair slightly if you feel you need to. Do this gently using your fingers so not to create too much frizz.

Step 4:

Grab the majority of the hair, leaving about a quarter section to hang lose at the front…

Step 5:

Pin the grabbed hair at the back of the head. Do this using bobby pins/curvy grips (as many as needed) to secure in place.

Step 6:

Once the back part of the hair is pinned up and secured, you should be left with something that looks like this.

Step 7:

Now grab the front section of hair and take it to the side and again pin in place. One hair grip should be enough to hold this section but use more if needed.

Step 8:

Check that the front piece of hair is secure and that all grips are hidden.

Step 9:

Now that your style is in place, it’s time for the finishing touch… Grab a headscarf of your choice. Here I have chosen to use a long strip of organza fabric. You can buy this fabric at most haberdasheries or even online for a reasonable price. Don’t worry if you don’t have any organza fabric, a head scarf or any remnant of your choice of fabric will do fine. Just make sure that the fabric/headcarf you use is long enough to wrap around your head and tie into a large bow.

Step 10:

Wrap the fabric around the back of the head. Bring the fabric/headscarf together at the top of your head, just behind the front piece of pinned hair, then cross over and tie.

Step 11:

Finish tying the bow (the same as you would with a shoe lace) at the top of your head and then adjust the bow so that you are happy with it. If needed, secure the fabric/headscarf with more pins.

Step 12:

For the end result you should be left with something similar to this. Now go out, rock your new style and feel fabulous!

Did you try out this style? I would love to know how it worked for you… Feel free to share your results with me via Instagram & Twitter – @samiorenelda

Samio x

April 10, 2014
Botanics Instant Moisture Mist

The other day I popped into boots for a few gym bag essentials. Number one on my list was body moisturizer. Although I do have a few favorite skin moisturizers I tend to use, I often like trying new ones whilst totting up those ever useful Boots points! I love the Boots Botanic range and already use a number of their products, so I was intrigued when I spotted this Botanics Instant Moisturiser Mist. I popped it in my basket without a second thought and made my purchase.

Once again Botanics did not disappoint. It literally does what it says on the tin and is ‘ultra-light, absorbs in seconds, hydrates’ and of course comes out as a moisture mist when sprayed from the can.

I would recommend this product for the gym bag, as the can itself is quite lightweight and this product is a quick and easy way to moisturise after just jumping out of the shower. As the moisture mist absorbs quickly, it means you don’t have to wait around before getting dressed and the easy spray application makes it much easier than rubbing on moisturiser.

The fragrance is fresh and mild, so prefect for day to day use.

Buy at Boots.com

April 8, 2014
Valentine’s Day Inspiration

I’m not usually an openly romantic person and the thought of being all soppy and seeing a mass amount of PDA kind of makes me feel sick. So as you can imagine, Valentines day isn’t the perfect occasion for me, however I can’t deny I do enjoy being treated and it can often be a good reminder to show your other half how much you appreciate and love them. So I’ve compiled a very small list of Valentine’s Day inspiration, either for the occasion or to buy as a gift.

LOVE Ice Cream Pink Pleated Cold Shoulder Dress

This dress is so cute. It would be perfect to wear for a Valentine’s date (if the weather permits) and it will be perfect to keep for summer too. It also comes in a darker pink as well as black which also look very chic.
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February 10, 2014
Ciaté Very Colourfoil Manicure

In this post I will be showing you step by step the Ciaté Very Colourfoil Manicure and how it works.

This is the content of the box when opened. There is the base coat nail polish, the pack of Colourfoils and the glue to apply them. The kit also comes with a small leaflet on how to do each step.

I couldn’t work out what the transparent nail disc was for. The nails don’t seem to pull off the disc and they are all the same size, so they can’t be to stick on nails. Maybe I’m just being silly and it’s for something completely obvious, so if anyone could enlighten me, that would be great.

When you take the Colourfoils out of the pack you have an array of foil sheets in jazzy shades and metallics looking something like this (different packs vary).

Firstly apply the base coat. My pack came with shade Cream Soda, which I applied two coats of. I actually really like this shade on it’s own but anyway we’re here to do the Colourfoils so let’s continue…

Next it’s time to apply the Ciaté Foil Fix, or as I like to call it, glue.

Apply the glue in dots to the parts of the nail you want to foil to stick. Wait till the glue goes transparent to apply your first foil.

After applying and removing your first foil you are left with something like this. I found each foil was about enough to do each hand once.

Then repeat. Here I went for a metallic green for the second shade. I actually really liked the effect as it was at this point but as I wanted to see the full results using multiple shades, I decided to continue.

And another one… I repeated this until the nails were covered in the Colourfoil. Once I was done I cleaned up the Colourfoil from around the edges of the nails.

Here is the end result. I took this after having washed up (silly I know) and as you can see it has changed the texture of the foil a little. I think it has more of a scrunched up tinfoil look rather than a smooth tinfoil look as some of the foil did start to wash off as the glue underneath went a bit stringy. I think this could be prevented by applying a top coat when finished, which I did eventually do after I’d washed up. Ah well, you live and you learn.

Samio x

January 8, 2014
Festive Christmas Day Makeup Tutorial

I’ve said it about ten times already but I’m feeling super festive! I always love getting into the Christmas spirit but this year I feel even more Christmassy than ever.

The run up to Christmas Day seems to have gone so fast that I’ve barely had time to do any proper planning. Luckily though, all my presents are purchased, the fridge is full and now I just have two more restless sleeps until I can have my much anticipated Gothic Christmas! Yes that’s right, our family is doing a themed Christmas this year and I can’t wait.

I came up with the idea of a themed Christmas last month when I was in a period of loving black. I just loved the idea of having an Adams Family/The Munsters style family Christmas Dinner. I was surprised to hear my family were well up for the idea and even ended up planned and purchasing outfits before I did! I even spent a large chunk of last night making a luxurious Vampire cape for my boyfriend, which turned out quite fabulous I must say.

With everyone else sorted I’d almost forgot to pick out an outfit for myself. Luckily, with me owning an array of ‘Gothic attire’, I was able to pull something out of my wardrobe last minute. Strangely enough the planning of a Gothic Christmas has made me feel more festive than ever and I am more than giddy for Christmas Day.

Anyway, despite the fact that I’m getting ready to release my inner Goth, as it’s Christmas Eve, Eve, I thought I’d do a Christmas Day makeup blog post. So for those of you who are looking for some festive makeup inspiration and won’t be going for smokey eyes and dark lips like me, then maybe this step by step tutorial can come in handy for you.

The Eyes

Step 1:
Prep the eyelids with your regular foundation and fill in your eyebrows as usual.
With a light shimmer, go over the lid of your eye. Here I’ve used Front Cover’s eye shadow shade, Biscuit.

Step 2:
Using a light shimmery brown eye shadow, shadow in just above the eyelid crease and then blend. I used shade Hazel from Front Cover’s Rainbow Eyes Pallet.

Step 3:
Draw on some winged liner using a black eyeliner pencil.

Step 4:
Using a glitter gel liner, draw a winged line above the black pencil line.
For this I used Collection’s Glam Crystal Dazzling Gel Liner in Funk, which is a gold shade.

Step 5:
Once the gold glitter liner has dried, go over the black pencil eyeliner with a black liquid eyeliner in order to create a more solid line. (Go over the glitter eyeliner again afterwards if needed)
Apply black mascara to the top lashes only.

Step 6:
Using a gold eyeliner pencil, liner the bottom of your eye. I used Model’s Own Golden Girl Glitter Eye Pencil.

Step 7:
Add black mascara to your bottom lashes for the end result.

The Lips

Step 1:
Lightly liner the lips using a brown to light brown to nude lip liner pencil, depending on your skin tone. For this I used a pencil in shade Cinnamon from Boots Natural Collection.

Step 2:
Again, finding a shade to suit your skin tone, fill the lips in with a nude to brown shade of lipstick. I used NYC’s Expert Lip Last in shade, Creamy Caramel 440.

Step 3:
Appling to the centre of the lips, add some gold shimmery lip gloss and carefully pat outwards with your finger to blend. The perfect gloss to use for this effect is Illamasqua’s Intense Lipgloss in shade, Stranger, as used here.

The Finished Look

A great variation to this look is to use a different colour glitter eyeliner. Here I’ve used Collection’s Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Eyeliner in Pizzazz, which is a super festive green shade.

Samio x

December 23, 2013
December Favourites

I’ve had this nail varnish forever and I never seem to wear it, maybe it’s because when I’m not painting my nails nude I opt for something more bold like bright red. When I came to paint my nails this time however, I was feeling rather festive and so this O.P.I shade, Bastille My Heart, seemed the perfect Christmassy shade. I’ve not stopped using it since so it’s definitely a December favourite.

I’m often asked how I treat my hair differently during winter. If I’m honest, I’ve never really thought about it before and often my hair care routine doesn’t change too dramatically from season to season. This month though, I decided to invest a little more treatment time into my hair routine, doing more braiding treatments before bed and I also bought this great product. I am a avid user of Aussie product, so I decided to give their, 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioning, a go. Applied just after washing when the hair is wet, this product gives your hair a deep conditioning in 3 minutes (exactly like it says on the bottle). For me this product works wonders and straight away my hair felt softer and more manageable. I think the results were obvious after drying too, my curls now feel and look healthier.

My third and final December favourite is this turtle neck jumper I bought from H&M. I’ve wanted a jumper like this for a while, so when I finally got my hands on this one I was delighted with my purchase. I bought a size too big because I wanted it to feel oversized and cosy. It looks great thrown on with a pair of jeans and I’ve even found myself even wearing it round the house because it’s just so comfy.

Samio x

December 15, 2013
Halloween Skull Face Paint Makeup Tutorial
This is a follow on from the previous post, on how I did my skull doll Halloween makeup. My boyfriend also opted for skull makeup and I was quite surprised at his results. It’s always slightly awkward when your boyfriend does a better job at makeup than you, don’t you think?

Look below to see step by step of how he achieved this look:

What he used:

For the application:
- A sponge.
- A bust set.
He used the sponge to apply the white face paint to the whole of is face, avoiding the eye area.

Next he used one of the fine brushes to outline and fill in the shape around the eyes, using the black face paint.

This was then done to draw and fill in the nose.

A thin line was drawn across the top lip, spreading out along either side of the face, again using the black face paint.

Along the black line he drew ‘U’ shapes, above and below the line, to create the look of teeth.

Lightly watering down the paint on the brush, he then shaded above and below the ‘U’ shapes, to add more detail.

At either sides of the face he drew a circle outline, to later be filled in.

He next filled in the outlines made on either side of the face, using the black face paint. He then added slight detail above the brown line, again using the black paint slightly watered down.

A crack line was added to a top corner of the face to give the look of a cracked skull.

To finish off the look, he painted his neck and ears with the black face paint.

Happy Halloween!

Samio x
October 31, 2013