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10 Positive Things to Keep you Busy During Lockdown

Mar 26 2020

With everyone in the UK and many other countries now practising social distancing and staying indoors due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we thought we’d create a list of positive things to do to help pass the time and actually make the most of this lockdown.

Here’s a list of things to do that you may usually not have time for:

  1. Clear out your wardrobe – Make sure everything’s hung up and folded away. Get rid of clothes you haven’t worn in a while. This is great for discovering clothes you may have forgotten about and also getting inspired for new outfits. Make a pile for charity or sell some items on Depop!
  2. Home workouts – Make sure you keep moving during this lockdown. There are so many great home workouts available on YouTube and through Facebook and Instagram Live with fantastic fitness bloggers. Joe Wicks has had an amazing response to his workouts to gets kids moving.
  3. Try something new like yoga and meditation – these are both known to reduce stress and help you feel calmer and less anxious during these uncertain times.
  4. Go out for your daily exercise. This could be for a walk, run or cycle. Make sure you are always social distancing and stay 2 metres away from anyone else who’s not from your household.
  5. Read a book – With all this spare time it would be great to escape into some books. Get out your kindle and download away!
  6. Do some gardening – with all this gorgeous sunshine try to get into the garden as much as you can. Plant some flowers or even some vegetables. Get some vitamin D while it lasts!
  7. Get creative – Use this time to create new content for your social media accounts or make some new makeup videos/tutorials. Do some painting. Or even make some funny TikTok videos!
  8. Cooking and Baking – Try out some new recipes and get the kids involved. You could even play Come Dine With Me to get everyone in the family cooking something different every night 🙂
  9. Puzzles – This is great for family time. Get stuck into some complicated puzzles. Try out a 500 piece puzzle and then test yourself on 1000 pieces! Spread it across a table that’s not in use everyday and keep adding to the puzzle over the next few days.
  10. Start a new project that you’ve always wanted to do. Whether it be starting a blog, YouTube channel, writing a book… Just go for it!

Anu Malhi X Anastasia Beverly Hills Masterclass

Mar 05 2020

As you may know we collaborated with one of our favourite makeup brands Anastasia Beverly Hills to bring you a wonderful makeup masterclass in Selfridges Birmingham. Anu taught two different looks during the day: Look 1 – Party glam makeup. Look 2 – Bridal glam makeup. We had stunning outfits from Kiran’s Birmingham and beautiful jewellery from The Jewellery Trunk.

The Whole Experience

All tickets were fully redeemable and you got the following included in the price:

-Watch Anu Malhi teach a party glam makeup look

-Watch Anu Malhi teach a bridal glam makeup look

-Q & A session with Anu

-Meet & Greet with Anu

-Goodie bags from Anastasia Beverly Hills with liquid lipsticks, eyebrow pencils & banana contour sticks

-Goodie bag from Anu Malhi with the Anu Malhi brush set

-£80 gift card to spend at Anastasia Beverly Hills

Photos from the masterclass

Look 1

Look 2

Oud Fragrances You Have To Try

Feb 17 2020

We’re obsessed with Oud fragrances right now so we decided to come up with a list of our favourite ones!

Franck Olivier Oud Vanille Eau De Parfum

This fragrance contains notes of vanilla, oud, musk, amber, olibanum, jasmine, rose, patchouli, violet, caramel, orange and raspberry. It has a lovely oud smell with some sweet scents so smells amazing without being too intense. The smell is long lasting so a couple of sprays goes a long way. It also is very reasonably priced at £40 for 100ml. It definitely is the best oud smell our there for the value!

Louis Vuitton - Ombre Nomade

If you’re looking for a really intense scent and a bit of luxury, this scent is a good option. Again, one spray goes a long way and this is a lot more pricer than others at £250 per 100ml. It makes a great gift and you can get initials or a date printed onto the bottle as a keepsake.

Tom Ford - Oud Wood

This fragrance combines exotic rose wood, cardamom, sandalwood, tonka bean and amber to the oud wood to create a strong smokey scent with warm scents. Tom Ford definitely are a go-to for oud scented perfumes. This costs £164 for 50ml and £240 for 100ml.

Giorgio Armani - Privé Rose D'Arabie Eau de Parfum

The sweet smell of rose combined with oud wood is amazing! The perfume has a floral, woody, fresh and oriental smell. It is a strong smell and therefore, long-lasting. It costs £155 for 50ml and £225 for 100ml.

Fantastic Looks Created by Anu & Her Academy Students

Feb 06 2020

Another fantastic week teaching my students hair and makeup on a 5 day intensive academy. Day 1 and 2 focus on party and bridal makeup. Day 3 we focus on hairstyles and day 4 we teach a full bridal look including hair, makeup, tikka and dupatta setting. Day 5 is when students create their full look on models and a photoshoot of their work takes place.

Amazing looks created by Anu

Here are some looks that Anu taught during the academy week. All images are unedited, raw images shot on an iPhone.

Some looks from day 5 – created by students

All images are unedited, raw images shot on an iPhone.

Book onto our masterclass with Anastasia Beverly Hills!

4 Brands With Fantastic Vegan Ranges

Jan 28 2020

In our previous blog post we spoke about some amazing makeup brands that are completely vegan and cruelty free! Whilst there are some fab vegan brands, there are also some brands who have amazing vegan ranges too. In this post I’ll be letting you know about some of my favourite brands to use who have vegan ranges. Make sure you double check when buying their products as they still sell makeup that is non-vegan, containing ingredients such as beeswax and other animal by-products.

Tarte

Tarte have an amazing range of products in their vegan range. Make sure you click the ‘vegan’ tab under their ‘makeup’ section on their website. Some of their best sellers such as the ‘shape tape concealer’ and ‘shape tape foundation’ are vegan! They also have eyeshadow palettes, setting sprays, mascaras, primers, lipsticks, liners and powders in their vegan range so you’re not missing out on any essential products when shopping for vegan makeup!

Urban Decay

Urban decay are another fantastic brand and their vegan range is fab too! They have a great range of foundations including their ‘stay naked’ foundation, concealers, lipsticks, blushers, bronzers, highlighters and even makeup brushes. Whilst they don’t have a vegan eyeshadow palette, there’s a lot of individual eyeshadows you can buy including glide on pencils and powders.

Anastasia Beverly Hills

Anastasia Beverly Hills are another brand we love using. Type in ‘Vegan’ on their search bar to see all their vegan products on their website. We love using their brow pencils, liquid matte lipsticks, cream contour kits and highlighter. They also have an amazing powder contour kit and highlighter kit. There’s also brow gels, hydrating oils, brow palettes and foundation sticks that are vegan too!

Too Faced

Too Faced are another brand we love who have a great vegan range. Make sure you go to the ‘vegan friendly’ tab on their website. Their bestseller ‘born this way foundation’ is vegan along with amazing mascaras, primers, highlighters, bronzers, blushers and concealers. They have lovely vegan makeup brushes and lipsticks too.

Vegan Makeup Brands You Need To Know About

Jan 21 2020

Have you been doing Veganuary? Or are you already vegan and wondering what makeup brands are too? Then look no further and read on to see the make up brands whose products are all completely vegan!

Firstly though, what do we mean by vegan makeup?

Vegan makeup means its products do not contain any animal products or animal by-products. An animal by-product can be an animal-derived product such as beeswax, which is collected by bees.

Vegan Makeup Brands

Milk Makeup

Milk makeup is a 100% vegan brand who are also paraben-free and cruelty-free. They also believe in using only good ingredients. They have a variety of  products including their 2 in 1 lip and cheek sticks. You can buy their products on Cult Beauty

Cover FX

Cover FX are 100% vegan and cruelty-free. They believe in using clean ingredients that have high performance. They can also suggest what will work best for you by suggesting to mix their products to customise them to your skin needs as they say “one formula does not necessarily fit all”. You can shop the Cover FX range in a Harrods, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser, Space NK, Beauty Bay, Feel Unique, Look Fantastic.

Elf Cosmetics

Elf Cosmetics are 100% vegan and cruelty-free. They are also free from parabens and sulphates. All products are reasonably priced too with lipsticks from only £2.00, foundations from only £7.50 and concealers from £3.00! They have a great variety of products so I definitely recommend trying them out. Elf Cosmetics are available to buy on the high street from Superdrugs and Boots as well as their website. They also do really good skincare.

Inika Organic

Inika Organic sell natural makeup products and vegan brushes. They are certified organic and 100% vegan. They are also 100% halal. They not only do makeup but also skincare too. They have a great range of products and gift sets that look luxurious too. Even though they are Australian based, you can buy their products on their UK website as well as Look Fantastic, Feel Unique, ASOS and Amazon. They also do a cute trial pack, which is such a good idea at only £8.50! (As seen below).

5 Amazing Concealers We Love Only £10.50 and under

Jan 14 2020

Here are some amazing concealers that are affordable at only £10.50 and under!

LA Girl Pro Conceal - £4.00

I love using these concealers to colour correct and at £4.00 each they are such a bargain! I love using the orange and green colour correctors depending on people’s skin tones.

NYX Dark Circle Concealer - Currently on sale - £3.75

This is another concealer that is great for dark circles. There are a few shades depending on your skin tone. It’s currently on sale for £3.75 and is usually £7.50, which is a great bargain!

NYX CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP FULL COVERAGE CONTOUR CONCEALER - £8.00

There’s 24 shades in this concealer which is also full coverage. A little bit of product goes a long way.

EX1 Delete Fluide Concealer - £10.50

Having won so many awards, I had to try these concealers out! There are 16 shades available and work well with their foundation too.

Morphe - FLUIDITY FULL-COVERAGE CONCEALER - £9.00

Available in 31 shades, here’s another great full coverage concealer. It’s creamy and blends really well.

Moisturisers You Need To Be Using For Winter

Jan 07 2020

You may have noticed your skin is drier than usual now that it’s winter. This is very common as the air is cold and dry and therefore evaporates the moisture from your skin quicker. There are some moisturisers that are better to use in winter compared to warmer months. You can then switch over to a different product during the hotter months.

Below are some tried and tested products that I would recommend using during the colder months to lock in that extra moisture.

Estee Lauder DayWear

This cream is thick enough to help dry winter skin but I definitely wouldn’t use it in summer as I find it too greasy and shiny, which can also cause spots when the skin is too oily. Perfect for winter though!

Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte's Magic Cream

Even though this cream is more pricier than others it really does feel so good when you put it on. I love using this in winter as it has a creamy texture and makes skin so soft.

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

I used this as a go-to for a while and it really is great for dry skin as it has a creamy texture. It’s good to put this on at night too once you’ve cleansed your face.

Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion

I really feel like Aveeno saves my dry skin. I don’t use this in the day before applying makeup but I do love using it at night. Apply a generous layer once you’ve cleansed your skin before bed. You’ll notice when you wake up that your skin feels a lot better.

Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Silky Cream

This cream is great for dry skin as it retains water in the skin. I also find this cream lightweight enough to use in warmer months too as it’s not greasy. So it’s a great moisturiser for all year round!

Other tips for dry skin

  • Drink plenty of water to keep your skin hydrated
  • Use a humidifier to add moisture into the air. This also helps with colds.
  • Try some of these DIY face masks

5 Ways to Make Sure you Stick to your New Year’s Resolutions

Jan 05 2020

Happy new year everyone! Hope you have a wonderful year ahead. 

So have you got any new year’s resolutions this year or are you fed up of breaking them all the time that you’re not bothering this time round?

Often people decide to make drastic changes such as lose 2 stone in a month, eat no carbs, exercise everyday, drink no alcohol, etc. Sometimes these changes can be unrealistic to meet so it makes you feel worse when you don’t meet them. I’m going to be discussing ways you can be sure to stick to your new year’s resolutions to help you reach your goals and feel better.

  1. Choosing your resolutions – Sometimes you might have quite a few things you want to change but putting a lot of pressure on yourself will begin to backfire. Identify the most important things to focus on and try to accomplish those first. You can even split the year in two so focus on one thing for 6 months and then move on to the next later in the year depending on what it is you are trying to achieve. 
  2. Keep resolutions realistic – By setting realistic goals it will be easier to achieve and you’ll feel so good when you reach your goal rather than feeling guilty and disappointed when you don’t reach something unrealistic.
  3. Set mini targets – When you set mini targets you will feel rewarded each time you meet them. This will make you feel more positive compared to just setting your main goal. For example, if you want to lose a stone you can aim to lose 1-1.5 pounds each week. 
  4. Reward yourself – Rewards really help you to continue to your end goal but if misused can also undo all your hard work so make sure you are strict with rewards. If you want to eat healthy but your reward is a whole day worth of bingeing, then you’re just eating more than the calories you saved on all week! Instead of having a cheat day once a week, maybe have a cheat meal once a week or you could even have a small treat every day such as one biscuit with your tea instead of the usual slice of cake.
  5. Don’t be too strict – Don’t be too strict on yourself when you have an occasional slip up. Changes need to be made with the most positive mindset. Just because you’ve broken dry January already doesn’t mean you’ve failed for the rest of the year. You can still drink less than you usually would and feel better about it.

Whatever your new year’s resolutions are make sure you follow the above 5 steps to help you reach your target. Let’s stick to those realistic goals and enjoy the rewards when we reach those mini targets and end results! Happy 2020!

8 Stunning Looks Created by our Academy Students

Dec 24 2019

Learn the best techniques for applying flawless makeup and creating the perfect hairstyles for bridal and party looks. Here are some fantastic looks created by our students at the last academy.

Book onto our next academy now! Only 2 spaces left! 27th-31st January. Email [email protected] for more information.

Thank you to our amazing suppliers!

Outfits: Zoya Birmingham & Khushboos by Chand

Flower wall: Blooms and Balloons

Jewellery: Kashmir Kreations 

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