In which Demi goes there and back again.

A belated happy 2014 everyone!

(...pauses for odd stares)

Ahem. I realise I am beyond late, but quite how we're nearly mid-February I'm not sure. Last time I blinked it was New Year, and I was stood in the wind and rain and cold as close to the South Bank as I could get (not very, since we got waylaid by a pub and had to make do with watching the fireworks through gaps in the London skyline).

Now I'm home, home home, back in the North, and my London life feels like a dream. August to the end of November, as well as a hefty chunk of January - gone in a flash. I had the busiest and best, best, best time, making new friends and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people from University. There was an immediate shift daan Saauff (that's 'down south' for those who don't understand my pretty accurate imitation of my dire southern accent) in September 2012, after graduation, but I was part of the second wave - people who, like me, had been figuring things out for a year, or had been tied up in a four year course.

Jumping in at the deep end, I stayed with a friend of mine for the first week while I checked out potential rooms, and ended up living in the quiet area of Raynes Park with three complete strangers, who turned out to be ridiculously nice. Bonus! For a city-phobe like myself it was perfect - a fast train route straight into Waterloo, enough shops in nearby Wimbledon and Kingston for me to spend my non-existant income, and my best friend close enough for after-work visits. Yes, my darling Elf made the jump down in the September, and together we explored Clapham (Infernos and Aquum owe me some of my dignity), ate incredible food in Balham (and most other places actually) and spent a ridiculously fun afternoon meeting one of my writing heroes in Kensington at a film and comic convention.

Oh Aquum...

My adoptive southern family

Elf (R), her friend Natalie (L) and myself

My adorable little Raynes Park room

A family trip to Kew Gardens in the summer, when my parents brought down (more of) my stuff

Yes, yes he does. One of my favourite PR stunts, I moved down only a couple of weeks after Murray's historic Wimbledon win, to find that the local Morrisons had replaced their name to acknowledge his achievement.

I couch-surfed for longer than I probably should have in January - it's a good job Elf's housemates have practically adopted me at this point - until I had to realise that my drained bank account spelled out only one thing: H-O-M-E-T-I-M-E.

So with two more solid PR placements under my belt, I must admit I was disappointed to leave London empty-handed in terms of a job. A couple of near misses and several 'let's keep in touch' open endings have me furiously applying while supplementing myself with freelance work for my first placement.

[FYI, if you're interested in beauty and want to get some amazing behind-the-scenes interviews with top make-up artists, from Bourjois and Bobbi Brown to the legend behind The Lord of the Rings (I genuinely nearly died of excitement when he wrote back to me), then check out Warpaint, which I write for!]

SO, while I recalibrate myself and dust off the ol' blog (and journal, and writing notebooks - they've all been in a drought too), I'll leave you with a couple of songs which are currently being repeatedly blasted from my room, much to my family's frustration joy.

They've missed me really. xo.

'Can't Remember to Forget You' - Shakira ft. Rihanna. Two of the sexiest ladies on the planet, and two of my favourite female vocalists. Joy!

'SuperLove' - Charli XCX. Bubblegum pop perfection.

'Girls' - The 1975. I caught these guys at Dot to Dot Festival last spring, and they were amazing, even though they were suffering with sound tech problems.

'Happy' - Pharrell Williams. Because who doesn't love this song?

In which Demi plays with primers and talks beauty confidence

Primers are my secret weapon when it comes to make-up.

I've been using primers ever since I started to seriously use make-up, making the switch as an early teen from 'Oh God, pile some foundation and powder on my face to stop it looking so shiny!' to 'Hey, if I'm a bit more careful about all this, I don't look half bad.'

It sounds silly, but getting Sky TV was the factor that changed everything. Mum and I started to watch QVC, and their live product demonstrations taught us all sorts of tips and tricks, while their 30 day money back guarantee meant that we could try products out on our reactive skins (I have no doubt in my mind where I've inherited mine from!) and send them back if we didn't have a good experience. We were also introduced to a whole range of brands which we had never seen in shops, whether they were American or more boutique. My mum fell in love with Liz Earle, Elemis and Gatineau, and I found Smashbox.

Smashbox original Photo Finish Primer - Source

This product changed how I applied make-up. And, although it may sound silly, it helped me to change how I felt about myself and my appearance. I no longer felt like I should go out wearing a paper bag to cover my oily skin.

It continually astounds me how few of my friends are aware of the benefits of primers. But then again, they all have naturally better skin than I do, or don't care about make-up in the same way that I do. I love make-up and beauty products because of the confidence they instil in me. With the right face base on, I have no fear about trying out a vampy, dark lip, or electric blue eyeliner. It even extends to my clothes - as long as I feel like I have natural-looking, even-toned skin, I have the confidence to try out different styles, or wear pieces that I maybe don't think I could get away with - but try anyway. My confidence in my exterior is able to match my interior confidence of myself, as a person.

A couple of my close girl friends have pulled me aside before now, to ask me why I feel like I have to wear 'so much' make-up - are trying to make yourself more attractive? You're not trying to change yourself just to try and attract boys are you? You know you don't need to wear so many products? You look fine already!

And the answer is always no, I don't - I don't feel like I have to. I just like to. I like applying the layers, putting the pieces together. Layering products, I've found, gives a more natural look than one thick swath of foundation anyway. Male friends have commented that they don't even realise I'm wearing make-up most of the time, unless it's obvious. I apply make-up for myself, and whenever I challenge my girls in response, asking them if they can honestly say I look better without make-up, I'm met with guilty silences.

But I digress. Smashbox Photo Finish was my primer of choice for many years, helping to fill in my pores and smoothing out my skin tone to a soft-focus sheen. One thing I will say is that it wasn't very good at keeping me oil-free; the high-silicone content stifled my skin and I had to keep powder handy to deal with the effects.

Smashbox then changed to formula of their Photo Finish, and within a couple of days of using the new batch I had worse skin than I'd had in years. I mourned the loss of my staple product, but instantly set about finding a replacement. For a while I used a Maxfactor foundation, which had a second half to the bottle which held a primer (the name escapes me now), which eventually became discontinued. I then settled on Philosophy's Poreless Flawless.

Philosophy's Poreless Flawless Tinted spf15 - Source

I loved this product. Weird apricot colour aside, this spongey, gooey, creamy substance made my skin as smooth as a baby's bum, and controlled my oily skin much better than Smashbox's offering. Plus it has the added benefit of SPF, and to this day remains one of the few SPF products which didn't make me break out into spots within minutes.

Unfortunately, after a few happy years, Philosophy stopped bringing this product to the UK market, and I couldn't face shipping it over from the States. This was only a couple of years ago now and primers had swept the beauty market, and were now being offered by both high-street and high-end brands. So I tried a few out, from Rimmel's cheap and cheerful version to Laura Mercier and MAC - the latter of which, I am sad to say, I hated! Laura Mercier's deserves a shout-out though, because I did really like it, but I just kept breaking out into spots, so I sadly retired it.

My search ended when I came across NARS. I'd never bought anything from them before, but the lovely sales lady at Harvey Nichols gave me small sample tubes of both the Pore Refining Primer and the Multi-Protect Primer (where the SPF inevitably made me break out, dammit! Are you noticing a pattern here...?) and I soon returned to pick up a full-sized version of the Pore Refining version. I've been happily using this for a few years now.

My well-used, slightly mucky tube... niiice.

It's a lot lighter than the primers I'd previously used, and the first time I used it I was sure that such a thin liquid wouldn't be able to do anything! But it held my make-up well, and acted more like a super-moisturiser than a high-silicone primer. Due to its lower silicone content my skin also improved, as it was much more breathable - so I got the best of both worlds!

However, disaster struck on my trip to Nottingham last month, and I forgot to pack my primer! It sounds silly, but I really did panic! It's the first thing I apply to my face after moisturiser, and with a festival to attend the following day I didn't want to have to worry about my make-up running. So I dashed to Boots to find a cheap replacement, and emerged with L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Primer. Having switched to a L'Oreal foundation about a year ago (reviewed here) I figured it would be a safe bet - plus I got to use the 3 for 2 offer on make-up to pick up another Rouge Caresse lipstick (previously featured here too)

Left: Nars      Right: L'Oreal

Awkward hair tie mark on my wrist: Accidental

As you can (hopefully) see, the Lumi Magique primer is slightly shimmery and luminescent. The shimmer, which is not visible when rubbed in, creates a lovely dewy, bright finish to the skin. My skin looks and feels like satin - plus it smells like chocolate! Divine. I was really chuffed with this primer, and now often find myself reaching for it on a daily basis - maybe because it's summer, and I want a lighter look for my make-up. For nights out and a more polished look I reach for my NARS. But I love them both!

Do you bother with primer? Do you have any recommendations? xo.

In which Demi loves the Good Things in life

Good Things Stay Clear Purifying Cleanser

I don't swap and change my skincare routine, as a general rule. I prefer to play with my make-up, to switch up my style through my lips or eyes. My skin has been the bane of my life since the age of about twelve - uneven skin tone, oily, red patches. It took me years to find a routine that worked (or semi-worked at least), and when I did I clung to it like a dying woman to a raft.

My traditional skin-saver was this cleanser from Boots. It has served me very well over the years I've used it, and I still switch back to occasionally if my skin is particularly bad.

Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash (nearly empty!)

But over the years, my skin has changed, and I realised that my skin as a twenty-one year old was not quite the disaster that it was at the age of twelve. And so I started to carefully look around at possible changes to my routine. Just out of curiosity, of course....

I stumbled across this cleanser on a list of superfood skincare products on a magazine website - Vogue I think. I'd never heard of Good Things, but the surprising low price and the philosophy behind the brand caught my attention, leading me to do a bit of research. Here's the low-down from their website:

'Good Things Skincare has been developed by award-winning beauty writer Alice Hart-Davis. With superfruit beauty boosters in gentle and super-effective formulations, specially designed to make the most of your skin.' (Source)

Yes please! The line of products is designed for young skin, and while my skin may be better than it was, it's still fairly juvenile and likes to play up a lot. So I high-tailed it to Sainsburys and picked up the Good Things Stay Clear Cleanser and the Bright Eyes Eye Cream. Both are loaded with superfruits (Mango and Blueberry/Raspberry and Lychee respectively) and smell fantastic.

The Stay Clear Cleanser is a clear gel, and the packaging recommends massaging it into wet skin for a full minute. As it is missing many of the extra chemicals which help froth up cleansers, it does need this time to get going and lather up. It works absolutely perfectly with my trusty Clarisonic (which, handily, runs for about a minute - perfect for buffing this in!) and makes my skin feel lovely and soft, smell like a handful of blueberries, and feel less tight than my previous cleanser. I follow this up with Simple's Light Moisturiser and the Bright Eyes cream - voilà!.

My skin has been better than it has been in a long time since I started using it about two months ago, and I love that the products are missing a lot of the junk ingredients of many other brands. It feels like I'm giving my face a daily detox!

I'm super impressed with the Good Things brand, and I'm looking forward to trying out more of their products when I next see them on the shelves.

Have you tried Good Things? What's your skin saver? xo.

In which Demi shares some things which are making her smile right now.

One: My birthday necklace from my grandparents and parents. For my 21st, I wanted to buy a nice, everyday solid gold necklace. I have plenty in silver, and plenty in fake gold, but no solid gold necklace. However, it took me three months to pick one! I finally settled on a pair of interlocking gold rings, on a delicate double chain from Pia. I absolutely love it, and am so happy I took the time to shop around to find something I really love. Due to its similarity to the symbol for infinity, I may even have it inscribed with the 'I feel infinite' quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I like the idea of self-perpetuation, and always moving forward; it's a good message to carry with me, as it's all too easy to get somewhat complacent.

Two: The prospect of my room being redecorated! It's majorly tatty right now, with exposed floorboards and sawn-off windowsills still remaining after my french windows were installed last summer. I've started looking at bedding, furniture and wallpaper to fit into my art deco/french boudoir theme. Sophisticated bedroom, here I come! Plush, silky pillows, mirrors and sleek white furniture, against a palette of champagne, duck-egg blue and lavender. Too excited!

I also can't wait to be able to hang up my birthday present from my homegirls; they bought me the most beautiful print, which will fit in with my new room perfectly!

'Hang On' by Fiona Watson

Now I'm not really one who is normally into art, but I (rather embarrassingly) started crying when I opened this up. It's absolutely beautiful - whimsical, romantic, and very quixotic. Everyone who has seen it has said "That's so you!", which I guess is why they chose it for me. I want her print of 'The Poet's Garden' to match.

Source

Three: I forgot a very, VERY important inclusion into my beauty post! My Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil, in the Baroque shade.

Source

This, for me, is what all lip products should be like. Saturated colour, smooth application, lasts for hours... Perfection! The only problem is sharpening it; the gloss isn't strong enough to endure a sharpener particularly well, so you end up with a sort of mushed nib after a while.

Four: Music! Currently loving Ella Henderson on the X Factor (she's incredible, she HAS to win!), All Time Low's new album 'Don't Panic' and the lovely Taylor Swift.

Five: Funtimes with my beloved Elf, before she jets off to Austria for six months to try her hand as a ski instructor. After three years of our university holidays never quite matching up, I am LOVING being able to see her all the time. We're hanging out most days of the week - either just to bum around on the wii, go for lunch, or head to the gym together. I'm trying to see her as much as possible before she leaves at the beginning of November - she'll be gone until April! Wahhhhh.

♥

And finally...

I LOVE THIS. Because I'm a big LotR nerd, and proud. Enjoy! xo.

 

In which Demi plays with her new beauty buys

I've been meaning to do a new beauty post for ages now, since I've collected what seems like a huge amount of goodies over the last few months. I do love cosmetics ♥

Manicure Monday! Today's choice is Peacock Green by Model's Own, which I love but rarely wear. I'm not sure why; every time I wear it, I think 'why has it taken me this long?!' I think it probably looks better on shorter nails, but that's never stopped me. I love Model's Own polishes - they have great coverage, a huge selection of colours, and they stay intact longer than some more expensive brands. But they can be a pain to take off, so always use a base coat.

Today's haul from Boots: No.7's Exquisite Curl mascara, L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in Wild Purple, No.17 Make Your Mark liquid eyeliner.

How stunning is this colour?! I am so excited to try it out, but not until Peacock Green chips. L'Oreal Colour Riche polishes are brilliant as well; their brushes are pretty much perfect, and their formula, while a little thick sometimes, is super glossy and doesn't chip easily. I'm starting to build up a nice little collection! *cough* nail obsessed...

I've been meaning to try out a marker-style eyeliner for a while, after my usual thin-brush one gave me a whole bunch of smudged blackeyes in a row... It had a terrible habit of flicking half-way through my carefully-drawn line, ruining everything. I'm looking forward to trying this out, I love a classic cat eye.

Exquisite Curl is my go-to, daily mascara. I have it in the black/brown shade for regular daily use, as it's softer and more natural, then use a Collection 2000 thickening one in black for nights out (the name escapes me right now).

I love this. Nice consistency, excellent brush, and easily removed with Gatineau's Floracil. Mascara perfection in my opinion.

L'Oreal's Rouge Caresse lipstick in 401 Rebel Red. Again, I adore this product - I specially requested it for my birthday from a housemate. I'd been searching for the perfect 'almost lipstick' look for a while. Unwilling to part with the cash for Clinique's chubby balms, I ran through a bunch of those lip stain pens (Max Factor's are the worst by a long way. Within a couple of days, it had completely dried up) with little success. I was torn between the Rouge Caresse lipsticks and the Revlon Lip Butters. The only thing that tipped it was that I preferred the texture of the L'Oreal. It layers up beautifully, from a hint of pink to a shiny raspberry-ish red. Love, love, love.

I got this compact in a freebie box I received after a make-over and splurge at the L'Oreal counter a while ago (I am a fairly recent convert from Maxfactor). Although I am no blonde, I'm still pretty pale, so these shades suit me fairly well anyway! The middle golden shade makes a brilliant eyeshadow, especially when paired with the darker copper shade (with gold flecks) in the crease. Over summer, I would swirl this with my large powder brush and dust over my face to give me the healthy glow I was lacking, due to the lack of sun here in the UK...

Finally, L'Oreal's Nude Magique BB Cream and Matte Magique Foundation. I am a dedicated foundation fan, as I have large pores and uneven skin tone, so foundation was one of the first make-up products I tried. I'm never fully happy with my foundation; for some reason, I always think that a better alternative might exist on the market, and I just haven't found it yet. Every couple of years I get itchy fingers and do some research, swap about and settle for a good alternative. Although I have to say, Matte Magique is the closest thing I've found to my perfect foundation so far. It's the first time I've broken away from liquids, and I find that the light, souffle-like mousse is much better suited for my combination skin. While mattifying, it's never completely matte, it leaves me with a nice amount of humanity left in the skin!

I wish I could say the same for the BB cream. Insert massive sad face here! I'd been reading all about BB creams, done my research, had a look at a bunch of them, and decided that this sounded and looked the best. The liquid comes out white, speckled with tiny grey capsule-like blobs which burst as you rub it into the skin, releasing the colour. I'd bought it for summer, in the hope that it would give me a lighter coverage - more dewy, and with SPF. Excellent, right? However, while the Fair sample seemed to match me in the light of Boots, when applied to my whole face it took on a distinctly orange tint. 'Alright, so I'll just look a little faux-tanned,' I figured. But within 24 hours I'd sprung up in break-outs. As the only new product I'd added to my skincare mix, I instantly pinned the blame, and it's been retired to my make-up box ever since. Maybe I'll try it out again another day, just to double check...

Time to dream of more beauty products. Addicted and proud. Please share any recommendations you might have! xo.