How To: Get Glitter Roots

There has been a new hair trend taking over Instagram and it’s glitter roots! Not only is it a bit space-age but it’s also a little bit festive with all the sparkles. 

It’s a super easy but super effective look to create that is perfect for nights out, Christmas parties or just to make a bold statement. 

You can either go for a glitter that’s similar to your hair colour if it’s already dyed into a colourful shade, or you can go for contrasting colours. In this tutorial we have gone for a holographic blue against brown hair, so it really stands out. 

I've collaborated with Charlie from the fashion blog Chazabella, she has awesome style and you should definitely check out her blog to find out what she wore to style up this hairstyle!

How to recreate the look

Step 1

Section your hair into a middle parting, even down the back and create a high top bun on each side (just like the classic Miley look). This can be done by pulling the hair up into a high pony tail on each side, twisting the hair around into a bun and then securing this with elastics.

Step 2

Mix clear hair gel and your chosen colour of glitter into a bowl. 

Step 3

Using a brush apply the glitter gel to the roots along the middle parting. Apply more product towards the parting and then brush it out to fade outwards. 

Step 4
Go out and make a statement with your new hair do!

Connect With Me 
Twitter | @Alexandraahowe 
Facebook | Alexandra Elizabeth 
Instagram | @Alexandraahowe

Find Your Perfect Summer Red Lip

Red lipstick is a staple product that every makeup lover should have in their makeup bags, it can transform a day look into a glamorous evening look. In this post I'm going to show you some of my favourite red lip shades and also give you a brief overview of which types of red lipstick are most likely to suit you.

What toned red lipstick should I go for?
Pink/Cool toned skin - go for the classic reds or a pinky red.
Warm/Caramel toned skin - go for a burnt orange/red.
Dark toned skin - go for the richer red shades.
Really there is no right or wrong way when it comes to red lipstick, so if you feel like it, go for whatever shade you like!

Some of my favourite Summer reds

Mac Lipstick in Ruby Woo £15.50 and Mac Lip Pencil in Cherry £12.50
Ruby Woo is the classic red lip, with its blue undertone and matte finish. This colour works beautifully against cooler skin tones, just like Taylor Swift.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick by Kate Moss in 111 Kiss of Life - £5.49
This lipstick has a mix of orange and blue undertones meaning it should suit a variety of skin tones. It claims to have a matte finish but I would call it more of a satin when you look at it compared to Ruby Woo.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Harlot - £14
If you prefer a lip colour to be more glossy the OCC lip tars are great. They have a really strong staying power as they do slightly stain your lips. Harlot is a more pinky red and is more likely to suit cooler toned skin.

Mac Lipstick in So Chaud - £15.50
If you have a warmer skin tone this lipstick is a stunner! It really warms up the skin with it's orange undertone, whilst also having a beautiful matte finish. I love to pair burnt orange/red shades with the Mac Pro Longwear Lip pencil in High Energy.

Mac Lipstick in Lady Danger - £15.50
Lady Danger is another staple lipstick, it's such a vibrant burnt orange without being too garish and neon. Again I pair this with the Mac Pro Longwear Lip pencil in High Energy to really get the full potential of the lip colour.

Connect With Me
Twitter | @Alexandraahowe
Facebook | Alexandra Elizabeth
Instagram | @Alexandraahowe

How To: Create Winged Eyeshadow (without tape!)

In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to create the perfect winged eyeshadow without having to use tape, which can increase your chances of fine lines and damaging your skin. 

The lighting the day I filmed this totally doesn't justify the look, but if you follow the steps it will look like the original photo. One day I will be able to get some proper lighting rather than relying on natural light. 

What I used |

Eyes |

Mac 24-Hour Extended Eye Base

Mac Paint Pot in Painterly

Mac Eyeshadow in Wedge

Mac Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe

Bdellium Tools Blending Brush

Mac Pigment in Blue Brown

Sigma Small Tapered Blending Brush (10% off with code INNOVATINGBEAUTY available here)

Mac Fix +

Mac Eyeshadow in Soot

Sigma Pencil Brush (10% off with code INNOVATINGBEAUTY available here)

Sigma Tapered Blending Brush (10% off with code INNOVATINGBEAUTY available here)

Mac Eyeshadow in Brule

Mac Pro Longwear Eyeliner in Definedly Black

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Face |

Mac Sculpting Powder in Sculpt

Lips |

Mac Lip Liner in Boldly Bare

Mac Lipstick in Kinda Sexy

Connect With Me

Twitter | @Alexandraahowe

Facebook | Alexandra Elizabeth

Instagram | @Alexandraahowe

Soft Summer Glow Makeup Tutorial

Some of you may or may not know that I have a YouTube channel, I started it quite a long time ago now but I had a little break away from it, I felt like I needed to have more experience and training before advising and showing people how to do things. Also, I was quite young when I started it and I don't think many people would listen to a 15 year old telling them how to do makeup.
Recently I decided to get back into my YouTube channel, I loved creating makeup tutorials and just the whole process of making videos.

I asked you guys on twitter what you would like to see and most voted for a summer glow tutorial, so here it is! I hope you enjoy and please subscribe to my channel and leave any requests or questions in the comments below!

Win A Limited Edition Mac Eyeshadow Palette

So I have been away for a little while! It was the classic university deadline time, so that was my number one priority. 

To say a little thank you for sticking around and an apology for not posting recently, I thought I would do a giveaway of this gorgeous golden, perfect for summer limited edition palette from the Mac Wash & Dry collection which is worth £25.50! It's easy enough to enter, just fill in the rafflecopter form below and then you're sorted. 

For the rest of the summer I'm aiming to get around 2 posts up a week, and I'm also planning on doing youtube videos again, so for one of the entries I would love to see what kind of posts you would like to see on my blog, it'll help get my creative juices flowing. 

I hope you're all having a lovely summer and I will speak to you soon!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Step away from the #KylieJennerChallenge

This 'challenge' is starting to really grind my gears. I've never seen people be so foolish in my life! I understand that people like to try things out and experiment, but then there is taking things too far. Just because something has become a trend doesn't mean you have to follow it.

These lip suction devices that are going around are so bad for you! I'm no doctor but I have done my research and have read up on what professionals have said. A few people have been stupid enough to use shot glasses, hairspray lids and more random objects to create the effect. I've not seen any have a happy ending.
Is it really worth the risk of premature wrinkles, burst blood vessels, bruising and more for just 30 minutes of plumper lips?
It makes me completely cringe to see people with their lips looking extremely uncomfortable and unnatural, most end up looking like poor Jeff Fungus from Monsters Inc.

This trend should really be called the #JeffFungusChallenge. 

Some beauty bloggers claim that you can use these safely if you don't have them on your lips for too long and use it on occasion, but if you are going to do this on a regular basis it will still cause the long-term effects.
The only positive to this is that at least it's not lip injections where you're pumping chemicals into your body.
I'd be happy to create a tutorial on how to create fuller looking lips with just makeup, if that is what people would like to see? You can simply wipe makeup off at the end of the day.

If you have been thinking about getting these devices, please PLEASE reconsider!

What are your thoughts? Have you tried them out?

How To Balance Studying, a Job and a Blog

If you didn’t know already, not only do I write this blog but I am also studying fashion at university and I work at MAC during the weekends, so I have a pretty busy lifestyle!
I often get people asking me how I balance between all these and still do my hobbies like tennis and going to see friends. I can tell you now it’s not easy but it is doable so here are some of my tips that I would give to anyone else in the same position. 

Be Realistic
When thinking about getting a part-time job look into realistic hours, think to yourself ‘Are you already struggling with time management?’ If so maybe look into a few hours a week, if not you could go for a couple of days a week. 
If you have a blog, having a post schedule can be pretty handy but don’t be unrealistic, don’t aim to post every day of the week, maybe once or twice. That’ll be enough to keep your readers interested in your blog.

Give yourself weekly goals
I try to set myself weekly goals, so if I have a particular project going on for uni I will set days to aim to do certain parts of it. I may even set myself a couple of hours to go through press emails, updating my blog, replying to comments or even researching up new ideas for future blog posts. 
Having goals set at the start of the week will push you to be more motivated to get stuff done, rather than just being very here and there about it. I love my little to do list from Paperchase by Rifle Paper which I have staring at me on my desk all the time. 

Have blog posts and social media scheduled
Sometimes I will have one week that is jam packed and then the next I will have a lot more time. So during my less busy week I will try write up a few blog posts and then just schedule them to post during my busier weeks. This means I don’t end up with weeks of no posts coming up on my blog as this can cause a drop in followers and views. 
You can do the same with social media, for example I use Hootsuite to schedule tweets, as sometimes when I’m doing uni work I’m trying to stay away from it so I can focus better or I’m at work so I don’t have access to social media. 

Have time for yourself
Try to not make things become a chore, make sure you still get time for yourself. Sometimes I get my best ideas when I'm at the gym or just going for a walk through town. If I give myself a couple of hours a day just to do whatever I want, sometimes that'll be just watching youtube videos, giving my self a manicure or chilling with my housemates. I find that I become much more productive when it does come down to getting on with work.

If you’ve already put yourself up to be juggling all these things, you’re probably already a very organised person. But if you aren’t so much, then hopefully following the few pointers I’ve said above will help you that little bit more to becoming better with time management.  

Budget Beauty Storage

My beauty corner really needed a tidy up and some new storage, but being a student I was on a bit of a budget. I found all these storage pieces at H&M Home, they were great value and really good quality which often lacks in budget products. 

I now store all my current skincare products and perfume on the small wooden tray £9.99, it keeps them all in one place and displays all the pretty packaging instead of them being stuffed up in a tin. I pop all my cotton pads in the glass jar £6.99 which keeps them clean and means I can chuck away the packaging cotton pads come in as it's not particularly attractive. Finally I got the set of 3 storage boxes £12.99 where I now store all my makeup brushes and other beauty accessories, I like how they are all different sizes and the heights are great to display brushes. 

My beauty corner now looks a lot more refreshing and modern and I haven't had to bust my bank! I think I'll be purchasing more from H&M Home in the near future. 

The Best Eye Primer Ever.

I have the most awkward skin, the majority of my face is dry but then I have really oily eyelids. I have tried out eye primer after eye primer and I've only just found the perfect solution to avoid that annoying creasing of eyeshadows and printing of eyeliner.
MAC's Prep + Prime 24-hour Extended Eye Base has worked a dream for my eyes. It's £16 for the tube so it's not extortionate and for how well it performs I think it's worth every penny!

Normally I would come back home after uni or work, or even just see in the mirror during a toilet break that my eyeshadow or eyeliner would be all over the place.
After seeing that this primer claims to be sweat-resistant I thought I would try it out. I popped it on and did my eye makeup as normal at about 9am before work, I then came back home at almost 7pm and my eye makeup hadn't budged a bit!
As my eye products are now staying put I don't need to bring them in my bag to top them up, which not only saves bag space but I'm also not using up as much product so they'll last so much longer.

The product is really soft and smooth, it blends out translucent so it's perfect for all skin colours and you only need the tiniest amount to cover the entire lid. I even pop a little bit on my under eyes before concealer to reduce that from creasing too.
From now on this is my staple eye primer and it will be forever in my makeup bag!

Have you tried out this primer or now tempted to try it? Would recommend any others? Leave your comments below! 

Life is a roller coaster

The past couple of weeks I have had a bit of an emotional roller coaster, I went from a high note and then dropped down to a low note.

I'll start of with the high note, if you follow me on twitter you may have seen that in November I started working as a retail makeup artist at MAC. I applied for the job in September and after a loooooong recruitment process I got the job! I was over the moon. Since I was about 14 I've always loved the bright colours and creativeness of MAC and always wanted to be part of the brand.
I will probably start owning a lot more MAC cosmetics but I won't be biased when it comes to reviews on my blog and I'll still use my loved products from other brands, so don't worry about that.

From my Instagram @Alexandraahowe

Then just over a week ago I had a very unexpected situation occur. I'm currently a second year student so I now live in a house shared with some of my flat mates from halls. I had some criminals break into my bedroom at 6pm one evening. They smashed through my bedroom window with a huge rock from the garden. Luckily I wasn't harmed and nothing was stolen as I had my valuables with me in the kitchen at the time and all 6 of us were in the house so we all reacted before they could actually get into my room. Since the incident I've been a bit emotionally unstable, exhausted and haven't had the time or mentality to get blog posts up or be on social media as much.

I'm starting to get back to being myself again but it will take a while to be completely at ease, but working at MAC during the weekends has been helping get my mind off things. I've also just arrived back at home for the Christmas holidays which should also help me relax a little more.
Sorry that this isn't the most exciting post (apart from getting the job at MAC) but I just needed to get it off my chest and let you guys be all in the loop of things. I hope you're all well and my next post should be something a little more christmassy and fun!

Corpse Bride/Sally Inspired Halloween Tutorial

Halloween isn't far off now and not often do you get have this much fun with makeup! I created this tutorial for you on Youtube which was inspired by Corpse Bride and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas. I think this is turned out as quite an elegant halloween look instead of super gory like a zombie.
I've linked all the products I used below, those I haven't linked seem to have been discontinued but I'm sure you can find very similar products.
It was so much fun to create this and if you have any other looks you'd like to see then let me know in the comments below. If you re-create this look I'd love to see! Send me a picture or tag me on Instagram or Twitter with @Alexandraahowe

Watch the tutorial here 

Products Used - 

Snazaroo Face Paint in Turquoise and White

Sigma Foundation Brush F60 

Illamasqua Eye Shadow in Imagine

Sigma Tapered Highlighter Brush F35 

Sigma Creme De Couture Palette - Shade Blueberry Cream

Sigma Eye Shading Brush E55

Sigma Small Tapered Blending Brush E45

Rimmel London Exaggerate Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

Inglot Matt Black Eyeshadow

MAC 214 Smudging Brush

Sigma Pencil Brush E30

Eyelure Eyelash Glue

OCC Lip Tar in Harlot

Ruby & Millie Lip Brush

Snazaroo Face Paint in Black

Bdellium Tools Eyeliner Brush 708

Sigma Creme De Couture Palette - Shade Elderberry

My Summer as an Intern and Tips for Internships

For 3 months this summer I was working as a PR & Events intern at Umberto Giannini, if you haven't heard of the brand they sell hair-care and styling products in Boots and have salons across the country.
When I finished university for summer I thought I'd just be working as a waitress or something a little less glamorous and just have the weeks work experience I had planned at UG, but not long after finishing that work experience they asked if I would be interested in helping out with their latest product launch. Of course I said yes!
I had the opportunity to be a part of lots of exciting things from organising and hosting events at Boots head office and other Boots stores across the country and creating goodie bags for press and bloggers. Along side all the events and PR I did also do a lot of trend research so they could prepare and generate ideas for future Christmas gifts and styles for photo shoots.
I didn't feel like I was just an intern, I felt like part of the team. I thought being an intern would involve doing coffee runs and not contribute much because of what films represent them as.
I can't thank the people I worked with at UG enough for such an amazing opportunity and experience! It has definitely opened up my eyes to possible future jobs I would like to have and I got a real taste of the working world, getting up at 6am and getting home at 6pm commuting Monday to Friday was tough but so worth it!

My Top Tips for Getting an Internship

1. Contact lots of different brands even if they aren't advertising an opportunity. Don't be disheartened if you do get declined, you just have to keep trying!
2. If they can't offer you an internship straight up, ask for some work experience, even if it is just for a week. They will be more likely to contact you/accept you when an internship opens up.
3. Send them an online portfolio of any work you have done, whether it be creative or written. You can say you're good at this and that, but they'll want to see evidence of this. 
4. If you've already done an internship or some work experience or are about to, get as many contacts as you can whilst you're there as this can lead to a future internship/work experience with another brand or company.
5. Create your own contact cards, it's an easy, quick and professional way of getting your details out to people. I would recommend Moo.com I had some made by them and they are amazing quality and they often have some really good deals. 
6. Make sure your CV is up-to date and adapt it to fit the job you're applying for.

I'm looking forward to applying for more internships and experience in different areas of the fashion/beauty world and I hope some of you will find these tips helpful when you're applying for experiences too! If you have any questions feel free to comment below or tweet me.

200 Followers Giveaway!

This weekend I reached 200 followers on Bloglovin! When I decided to start blogging along side my Youtube channel I was so worried that no one would ever follow my blog and that it wouldn't catch on but now it's so lovely to read your comments about you liking my content and to see my followers slowly but surely creeping up. As a thank you I am going to be giving away a £20 ASOS voucher along with a few other surprise little bits and pieces.
ASOS is one of my favourite places to shop as you can get such a variety of brands, clothing, accessories and beauty products. It's also great for us students as they always have some sort of discount going on. As everyone has different styles I thought I would do a voucher so you can use it on something you've been eyeing up for the past few months or for a lovely impulse buy.

You can enter my giveaway using the Rafflecopter app below and the rules are as follows;
You must follow my blog on Bloglovin as this is where I reached the goal but all other entries are optional, the more you do the more chances you have! The giveaway is running for 2 weeks and will end at midnight on Sunday October 12th and the winner should be announced within the next few days after the closing date.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I look forward to seeing what the future holds for me and my blog and again a big thank you to each and every one of you for supporting me.

Floral Fatale

This Autumn/Winter dark florals are back in trend and I am loving it! I fell in love with this graphic print skirt from Topshop that i bought recently, not only is it super pretty but the material is also really comfortable. I've featured this kimono before in an outfit post, it such a great item to have in your wardrobe as it can really dress up an outfit without being a heavy jacket. The little bag from H&M is perfect for a night out as it's small but big enough for all you need, it zips up and it'll pretty much work with any outfit. I am so ready for the Autumn now, my tan has gone, my dark hair is back and the fashion is much more my style!

Skirt & Necklace - Topshop / Kimono - Missguided / Bag & Top- H&M / Shoes - ASOS 

Lipstick - Captive by MAC / Nails - Pillow Fight by Ciate

My Autumn/Winter Nail Polish Picks

One of my guilty pleasures is nail polish. I have a stupid amount for someone who doesn't do it as a job but I just feel like my hands and feet are naked without it. As the autumn will be soon upon us I thought I'd put together my favourite autumn and winter shades from my collection. 

On the catwalk for A/W 14 there was a noticeable trend of sci-fi and fantasy so I picked out two polishes that fit along perfectly with this trend which are Soho Silver by Nails Inc a beautiful silver and Pacific by BarryM a very mystical ocean blue.
For the classic deep green I picked out Watermelon by BarryM which is a high shine polish so it looks very glossy. 
I love the burgundy plum shades that feature in these seasons and No.7 Temptress and Kiko 243 Plum Red are perfect, they're both very similar shades but Temptress has more purple undertones and Kiko has more red. 
Now time for the nudes shades! Chinchilly by Essie is a lovely pale grey with a hint of brown and I love the name as it very much is the colour of a chinchilla. For a more purple shade, Pillow Fight by Ciaté is great, it's kind of like a lavender grey and then Vanilla by BarryM is the perfect matte nude shade, this has been one of my favourites recently, it's such a beautifully soft shade. 
Then for the final shade I picked out Matt White by BarryM as monochrome has been a major trend and continues to be during the cooler months. I think if it's worn right, white polish can look very elegant.
Do you wear any of these shades or will any of them be joining your collection this autumn/winter?

Steal the Style: Speckled Clutch Bag

I was casually browsing through ASOS (as you do before payday...) and came across these two clutch bags that looked almost identical but had completely different price tags! I felt like I had tell you that you can get some things so similar to designer for a fraction of the price. There are of course going to be some positives and negatives to both so that's why I thought I'd compare them for you.

I would like to keep doing posts like this if I spot anymore product matches, so please let me know if you'd like to see more of these! 

Lulu Guinness Hug & Hold Clutch in All Over Speckle Print £225

I do have a rather sweet spot for Lulu Guinness, everything's just so cute and quirky without being garish. Until I had looked closely at this bag did I realise that the black speckles were actually little lip shapes which is a lovely touch. 

The bag is made from 100% leather and the lining is 100% cotton so the material quality is pretty high, however for the price I would've expected a silk or something more luxurious to be used for the lining. It has a textured matte finish which I think works with the design really well, the leather material probably helps make this texture.

I love the little lip shape cut out in the corner where the chain goes through, again it's a very Lulu Guinness touch. The chain is only long enough to go around your wrist so you can't convert it into a shoulder bag unless you attach your own longer chain to it, which is doable but I guess it is meant to be a clutch not a shoulder bag. 

The size is quite large at W36cm H16cm so you can get plenty in there if you need to, even your iPad or tablet could fit inside along with your essentials which makes it perfect for on the go! 

Monki Annie Bag £15

I do reckon that Monki have spotted the Lulu Guinness bag and have made their own version, but I could be wrong. It's just so similar I would be surprised if they hadn't.
The speckles are just speckles, not a specific shape but that's probably down to them not having an iconic shape like Lulu does but it still looks just as effective from a distance.
It's 65% cotton and 35% polyester so it's not totally synthetic but it's not quite the same as leather. If you're against bags being made from animal skin then this would be perfect for you if you still want the style. They have managed to give it a matte texture to it as well which makes it look more pricey.
I like the fact that you can remove the chain if you want it to be just a clutch, unfortunetly you don't get that option with the Lulu Guinness bag.
This bag is slightly smaller at W23cm H16cm so you wouldn't be able to fit your favourite magazine in their but there's two separate compartments so one could become your beauty section and the other your money and others bits.

Overall they are visually so incredibly similar its up to you which one you want to get, there is a huge price gap so it depends on what your budget is. If you have the money and want a bit more character then go ahead with the Lulu Guinness but if you just want something stylish for less then go for the Monki bag, from a distance people may even think its the Lulu one!

You can purchase both these bags from ASOS and there's currently a discount code so don't forget to type in ASOSGLAMOUR for 20% off at the checkout.

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know if you want to see more like this. 

Review: Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm

In the summer I don't tend to wear as much foundation, I just don't feel the need for as much coverage and when it's hot I hate the feeling of my foundation just melting off. I also want to have some sort of SPF on my skin as I'm naturally very pale which means I can burn pretty easily but something without that suncream smell. This then led me to try out tinted moisturisers as most of these had these qualities, they aren't as high coverage as foundation, they're moisturising and often have SPF.

Over the past few years I've tried out a few drugstore tinted moisturisers but my problem with them was that they never had a shade pale enough, I'd always end up looking like some oompa loompa!

In a video quite a while ago I remember Essie from www.essiebutton.com was talking about this tinted moisturiser by Bobbi Brown that she currently loved. She also has pale skin so I thought there must be a shade for me and she was also rather convincing! It wasn't long after that I had this product in my hands. 

The Bobbi Brown Extra SPF 25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm claims to be 'A lightweight foundation alternative for dry, dehydrated skin, this formula is ultra-rich, and blends easily, giving skin a dewy look with light coverage.' I had already scraped out £36 so I was begging for it to do what it says on the tin. I got it in the shade Extra light tint as I was a little tanned for summer, I really mean a little. If I were to get this for the middle of winter then I'd probably go for their even paler shade Alabaster. 

Now onto the actual review! I have found this product so nourishing and creamy without being heavy on my skin, its kept away my dryness just like it said it would.
The shade was just right, as long as you apply it evenly you don't get any sort of orange tone. If you forget to blend a bit it does tend to stand out a little more orange but it's normally easy enough to spot and sort it out. This winter I reckon I'll get the shade lighter as it would be too dark for me then.
The coverage is all I wanted, just something light and dewy so I don't look so dull and tired. I really love the dewy finish it gives, however I do tend to put a little bit of powder just on my T-Zone as this can get a little oily and make it look too dewy in these areas.
One thing it doesn't mention on the description is its smell. It has this lovely almost minty fresh smell that really helps wake me up in the morning. When I say minty fresh, I don't mean minty toothpaste but more on the lines of tea tree and aloe vera.
The packaging is simplistic and classy, it also seems to keep the cream at a nice cool temperature from it being made of glass. It's also great if you accidentally scoop too much product out as you can easily pop some back in which you can't do with products that come in tubes. Not super hygienic I know, but I always make sure my hands are clean when using products like this and I only use it on myself so I don't mind doing this.

90% of the time I apply this product with my hands but sometimes I use my Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki to just smooth out the edges or to full apply it, it just helps to get it right into those nooks and crannies.
Above you can see the before and after when I use this product, I like the fact my freckles are still visible as a lot of foundation masks it.
I'd really recommend this product to anyone with dry skin and just wants something with a nice light and dewy coverage. For me it's a staple and something I reckon I'll keep repurchasing until the unlikely event of something better coming into the market.

My Top 10 Festival Beauty Essentials

It’s that time of year again, music festival season! Every summer, a killer combo of awesome music and fashion hits the fields around the country. Whether you’ll be attending V fest, Reading & Leeds, 2000 trees or others, the beauty trends pretty much work at all types of music festivals.
For a start you don’t want to be bringing tonnes of products, so I’ve rounded up the top 10 must have beauty products from my own experiences at festivals and the current trends.

For your base makeup a BB cream with SPF is the best way to go, the Rimmel BB Cream 9-In-1 Skin Perfecting Super Makeup £6.99; primes, moisturises, minimizes pores, conceals, covers, smoothes, mattifies, brightens, and helps protect your skin with SPF 25 which is so important if you’re out in the sunshine all day.
A cheek and lip tint is a great multi-purpose product and long-lasting, the Benefit Lip and Cheek Tints £24.50 come in a variety of shades, smell amazing and stay on all day.

For eyes waterproof mascara is a must as there’s a high chance you’ll get sweaty in those big crowds and the last thing you want is to look like a panda, the Maybelline Colossal Mascara - Volum' Express Black Waterproof £7.19, won’t let this happen and it creates great volume without the clumps.
The brow trend is still going strong so keep brows bold and shaped up with the GOSH Long Lasting Brow Pen £6.49 as it’s so easy to use, looks natural and is long-lasting.A big festival trend this summer is bright colours, use a bright coloured eyeliner on your upper or lower lash line instead of black to really make your eyes pop, the Bourjois Contour Clubbing Eyeliners £4.99, are great as they come in lots of fun colours and are also waterproof. If you really want to go all out UV paint or glitter eyeliner is the way to go, you’ll glow and sparkle in all the flashing lights and can create lots of fun shapes and styles especially with the Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liners, £11.50.

Rights given by Umberto Giannini for photos

Often at festivals it’s difficult to give your hair a proper wash so a dry shampoo is a definite must have, the Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Morning After Dry Shampoo £6.00 is clear meaning it leaves no grey marks whilst creating volume and absorbing excess oils.
A major festival hair trend is tousled waves, which can be easily achieved using a salt spray, the Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Grunge Glamour Tousled Salt Spray £6.00 is perfect as you can use it on wet or dry hair and it creates lovely waves with so much texture. Don’t forget to bring some hairbands and grips as these can help create endless amounts of different styles from braids to up-dos.

At the end of the day its important to remove all your makeup so facial wipes are great to bring along, they’re easy to pack and do the job without the need for loads more products. I recommend Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Wipes £3.20, as they are gentle on the skin and can even remove waterproof makeup.

Have fun, be creative, stay safe and tweet me your looks or your must have festival products @alexandraahowe

I originally wrote this post for Platform magazine at http://platform-online.net/2014/07/top-10-festival-beauty-essentials/