Thursday 26 June 2014

Curvy is the New Skinny - Just Another Way to Make Us Feel Crap?

Hey Beauties,

Another little serious post, just to mix it up for you. You'd have to be living under a rock to not see this curvy revolution hitting the media at the moment, skinny is now out, and the it-girls are sporting boobs and bums at last, cue Scarlett Johannson and Kate Upton. However, I can't help but notice that this just seems to be another body trend that we mere mortals can only dream of. Sure, we'd all like to think that skipping the gym and eating that extra square of chocolate will give us bigger boobs and a bum, but unfortunately the tummy that comes with it is still unacceptable.

Brands such as Dove are coming out with campaigns like their 'Real Beauty' campaign, which shows 'real' women advertising their brands. However the picture still shows hourglass women, who are still clearly photoshopped!

At least when models ran the advertisements we could tell ourselves that they were models, and they were paid to workout and look good. But these are 'real women', what hope do we have if we don't live up to those images?

Okay, I know what you're going to say, surely it's better to have an ideal that is at least a healthy body type, and not a waif-like unhealthy figure, and yes that is very true. But the fact of the matter is, it is the fact that the ideal is still impossible for some people.

There's a little girl out there somewhere, with a naturally skinny frame, with no sign of a washboard tummy or a perfect waist, who is going to wonder why she still isn't a 'real' woman?

At the end of the day, it's just another goal for us to sweat and slave over, but this time, we're competing against the women around us, rather than the models.

Summer Make-up - Keep it Light Babies!

Dear the loveliest of readers,

Summer weather approaches, and I have to admit, I made a massive make-up faux pas the other day. I was at work sans make-up, and before a meeting rushed to the loos to put my face on, not thinking about the weather. After an entire day of wearing my standard make-up in the sweltering heat, I had a shock when I came home looking like the joker, eyeliner floating halfway down my face, bronzer stuck to one half of my cheek resulting in unsightly lines! Summer weather requires a whole make-up and skincare turn around, so I'm going to write a little post about the things I've found helpful in this weather.

1. Moisturise! Moisturise! Moisturise!

As I have combination skin, it seems to behave differently to everybody elses in the seasons. Most people have dry skin in the winter, but can get away with a simple bb cream in the summer. I however, find that the summer weather really dries my skin out, maybe it's just all the rushing around! So I find that getting an intensive moisturiser and alternating with your normal one keeps my skin in trim! My current favourite is the No.7 Beautiful Skin range, but do let me know in the comments any good ones, as I haven't tried many yet!


2. Highlighter is your best friend.

Nothing looks less summery than a boring boring matte face. Sorry you play-it-safers! Contouring is the new buzzword in beauty at the moment, and it couldn't be easier to highlight your good bits this summer. I've talked about the MAC Mineralise Skinfinish before, but I'll talk about it again! Powder highlighters are infinitely easier to blend for a contouring newbie, and they can take your summer skin to a whole new level. Brush it across cheekbones for glowy glowy fun! I prefer to use a liquid highlighter for the littler parts like my cupids bow and my chin, and you can't go wrong with MoonBeam by Benefit - which is more golden and summery than wintery HighBeam.



3. Stay away from heavy eyes

Summer nights are obviously excused, I won't have my smoky eye evenings taken away! But for a daytime look, a creamy eyeshadow and a good mascara can't do you wrong. Shady winter days are forgiving on dark eyes, but in the light of a summer's day you might give some people a fright. I'm absolutely loving No.7 mascaras at the moment, they have the perfect staying power, invest in a waterproof one if you're a busy bee, you might not think you sweat much, but your smudgy eyes do.



Happy summer beauties!

Abi x