FOUNDATIONGATE... FINDING THE ONE.

 

 

 

 

It started for me, the same way I think it started for every girl. I was maybe 11 or 12 & the advert break came on between probably Neighbours, Top of the Pops, the Simpsons or another classic 00's TV show. I was presented with a vision, a vision that made me drop my knife and fork straight into my plate of fish fingers, chips & beans (I think I'm making this a lot more dramatic than it was, but go with it). The screen was filled with silky skinned Goddess', that I now realise were airbrushed within an inch of their life. At the time however, I wanted to be one of those "naturally" beautiful 20 year olds, swishing my hair about and touching my cheeks as if they're made of some kind of velveteen. Words like "air whipped", "matte perfection" & "Flawless" were fed into my little impressionable brain, I had to have one of those little pots of magic. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse was the beginning of a very long journey.

 

Since that fateful day of discovering dream matte mousse, a can of worms was opened. I was very much bordering on obsessed in finding the perfect foundation & Jesus Christ have I tried & tested A LOT. I could probably put a very detailed spread sheet, pie chart & venn diagram together of the minefield that is the world of foundation. Now, I am in no way a beauty blogger (although I realise this blog is about beauty). I love make up & I have shit loads of the stuff floating about my room, bag and life but I'm not very clued up. The subject of foundation however, is something I feel I have to share with you. Especially because I really, genuinely feel like after 14 years I have found 'the one'. It's a journey that's much like trying to find a boyfriend. Some of the bottles look great but are just full of shit (NARS I'm looking at you), some are slimy & others really let you down on a night out. I don't have enough time in my life to review all the ones I've ever tried (foundation, that is) but it just so happens the last 2 I've brought have been the worst ever & the best ever.

 

 

After using my MAC Pro Longwear foundation for a while, I decided to try something new. I actually really liked the finish of the MAC one, but it didn't do my skin any favours. So after reading reviews & watching numerous Youtube videos I decided to try Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation, a massive plus for me was that they also don't test on animals. Now I wanted to try a sample, but was told they didn't do that, so I went straight in for the kill and brought a bottle. I actually ended up having 2 bottles because I went on holiday and when I came back the first one was too light for my skin. I also brought the powder as well, I always like to get the powder to go with the foundation. Now, I wont beat around the bush, this is the worst foundation I have ever tried. I would swap it for a bloody dream matte mousse at the drop of a hat. I realise it's different for everybody and some people probably love it, but on me it felt oily and slipped about after an hour or so of wear. The colour I was matched up with after my holiday was also way too red toned for my skin. Now the powder, I did like, but the other bee in my bonnet and something that tarnished my view of the brand even more is that their customer service was awful. It's not normally something I'd talk about, but it was bad. The first powder I had kind of disintegrated in its tray within a couple of weeks, but naturally I wondered whether I may have knocked it. So I brought another. The week after, I went to use powder number 2 and as I opened and tilted the palette the whole god damn square of powder slipped out the pan and smashed right in my lap. Which I now realise must have been the case with the first one to, it was like they weren't set in their pans properly. Obviously I was not happy, especially because they're about £28 each. So I went into the store and the staff were as much help as a chocolate tea pot. So I decided to email customer care, I explained the situation and that I wasn't very happy to have spent over £50 on two powders in the space of about a month, neither of which I could now use. I sent photos and the batch numbers, only to be told I had damaged them myself. That was it.

 

I. WAS. LIVID.

 

Not even a sorry.

So for this reason, I will never ever buy anything from them again.

 

 

 

Feeling a bit despondent, let down & with a foundation on my face that I hated I went into Bare Minerals, sat down in the chair and begged the poor girl on the counter to help me. She was ever so nice, I kind of wanted to befriend her and ask her to go on holiday, but I didn't. She took all my make up off & began from scratch. She took two cotton pads & some cleanser & wiped away the Urban Decay from my face & life. It was fabulous & felt like wiping away the memories of a nasty little ex (again, foundation & boyfriends have a surprising correlation.) She really listened to what I wanted and talked me through the products. We decided to try the newest foundation in their range, BarePro. She did half my face and got me to do that other half, so I could get a feel for it, which I thought was really good. It sounds ever so dramatic, but when she held the mirror up for me to have a look, I could have cried. It was 100 times better than what I had walked in with & the colour was so warm & golden. She wrote down the products she had used on a chart and I brought a few there & then. It just so happens it is opposite the Urban Decay counter as well, so it was ever so satisfying to skip out with my silky new face & products in hand.

I've been using it for 3 weeks now & hand on heart it is the best foundation I have ever ever used. Even my work colleagues, family & friends have commented how nice it looks. It's so lovely & really matte, but without being cakey. It's more like a silky, suede-esque feel. It also stays put all day at work, I don't even really have to touch it up at all. When payday comes next week I'm also going to invest in the rest of the products she used on me, which I will also share with you at some point. It's so nice to find a brand that I love & have faith in. It's made me feel so much more confident & I really, truly feel like I have found the one... I just need to find the boyfriend now.

 

 

 

 

(after pouring out my heart for Bare Minerals, I feel I should mention this is in no way a sponsored post & all views are completely my own).

 



28 THINGS I'VE LEARNT IN 28 YEARS.

 

1. A trench coat is always going to be a good investment.

 

2. It's 'Espresso' not 'Expresso'

 

3. Don't go out with someone who has to convince you that its a good idea - it wont work. (I realise it worked out well in The Notebook, so if it's Ryan Gosling whose hassling you then I'll make an exception... otherwise let it go).  

 

4. Don't attempt to wax your own body parts (you may or may not get your nail stuck to your boob).

 

 

5. Got a cut? Put Sudocrem on it. Had a bad skin day? Put Sudocrem on it. Got a rash or burn? Put Sudocrem on it. Someone cut your arm off? Put Sudocrem on it.

 

6. Don't store your eye make-up remover and nail varnish remover in close proximity.

 

7. Your school days really are the best of your life. Those adults were not just saying it for a laugh.

 

8. Don't try rings on in Topshop or any other high street shop for that matter. They'll get stuck, you'll panic, your fingers will swell - vicious cycle.

9. If you love someone, a dog, grandparent, friend or boy... tell them before you cant. You'll regret it forever if you don't.

 

10. It's not a good idea to pierce your own ears.

 

11. Chilli tastes like that for a reason, its not to be eaten. It's mother natures way of giving you a heads up... listen to her.

 



12. If your boyfriend doesn't come home & tells you he fell asleep at his friends, he didn't.

 

13. Multi coloured cord flares do not & never will look good.

 

14. Don't wear see through knickers to the Chiropractor (unless he's attractive, in which case the more transparent the better).

 

 



15. Tom Cruise is a dick.

 

16. When you're 12 years old & your parents tell you to put £10 of your birthday money in the bank, do it. it will seem like a shit idea & you don't know what you're saving for, but you will thank them later. Not only for the bank balance but for instilling the value of money & importance of saving in you.

 

17. Ray Bans are called Ray Bans because they ban the suns rays. (I know!)

 

 



18. Don't go to uni because you feel you should. I made that mistake twice. It's not always the logical step and a degree is certainly not the be all & end all.

 

19. Ink erasers are not made of pigs wee, contrary to popular belief.

 

20. "It's nice to be important, but its more important to be nice".

 

21. The customer is not always right.

 

22. If you're not sure which subject to take at GSCE or A level, take business studies. You might never think you will need it, but there might come a day when you will. I took Philosophy & Ethics instead to fill a gap. I can tell you a fair bit about religion & can talk a mean debate on fox hunting, but I had to teach myself to do everything when I started my business from scratch.

 

23. People who don't like dogs are not to be trusted.

 

24. The bottom tray of a Vienetta is not made of chocolate. 

25. Whoever said Gin is a depressant is a massive liar.

 

26. There are two types of people in the world, radiators & drains. Surround yourself with radiators.

 

27.Go into work with a smile on your face, even if you don't feel like it. It will start your day on the right track, make you feel better & people appreciate a positive attitude. No one really wants to be there, so just make it as nice & easy as possible for each other.

 

 



 

28. Be nice. Be kind. To everyone and everything. Don't kill spiders or wasps & rescue worms if they're stuck on the pavement in the rain. You will need someone to be kind to you one day. If I ever get reincarnated as a bug and I'm stuck in someone's bath, I hope someone like me will dangle some toilet roll in and aid me to safety rather than washing me down the plug hole for convince.

 

 

 

Monki @ Asos Trench Coat  | Topshop Mules (similar) | Topshop Wide Leg Jeans  | Celine Katy Sunglasses  | Zara Bag With Metal Handles  | Gucci GG Belt 

THANKS IBIZA

 

 

 



Now, at the start of the year if you'd had said to me I'd be seeing in my birthday in a pool in Ibiza covered in glitter with my best friend & Shane 21 Northampton (lovely guy) I'd have said "sorry pal you've got the wrong gal". For a start, I don't wear any of that glitter shit, in my head I think I'm a bit classy for that, but who am I kidding (myself apparently). Secondly, I would have told you I'm engaged, I'm saving for a house and I cant really afford a holiday, let alone the 3 I've ended up having. It's funny how things change in the space of a year, or even a few months. At the start of the year I was settled, and not in the good way. More like I had settled. I was doing what I thought I should be doing at my age. I was probably going to buy a house in the next few years, might get a dog or have a couple of kids at some point and maybe even push the boat out and get a spiralizer. When everything was turned on it's head and my sensible plan was thrown out of kilter I didn't know how I would cope. It was going to go one of two ways; I was either going to do a 2007 Britney or I'd blossom like one of those really instagramable trees that flood our feeds every Spring. Luckily for me, it has was the latter. With the help of my family, friends and my holidays I have come out of the other side & found the old me again, as cringe as that sounds (& I know it does).

 

 

 

When I was in Ibiza I even felt love again. Not like the love I'd known the last few years, it was like the love you have when you're at school or in Love Actually. He was a lifeguard and the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Even more beautiful than Idris Elba or Ant Middleton off the SAS programmes, who we all love. He would smile at me and at first I thought I had heat stroke. You know when you've been in the sun too long and you're all dizzy & a bit shaky. Your legs feel a bit funny & it's touch and go whether you might pass out or not. Well it was like that. Then I thought, hold on a minute... I'm not ill. This is love. Glorious love. Love at first sight.

 

 

 

 

 

 Now granted I'm back in the real world and have the worst holiday blues I've ever had. I  cried at the airport on the way home & have had a lot of G&T's since I've been home, just to try and desperately cling onto holiday mode. Ultimately though, I think I'm the happiest I have been for a lot of years. I have a great tan, great friends & a lot more memories to make.

 

 

 

 

I think Ibiza will be one of my fondest memories for many many years to come, not only because of the timing of it, but just because we had an amazing time. We made friends, had some very strange encounters that no one else will ever understand and danced to a man with no legs playing Mama Mia on the penny whistle. We laughed on our sandy bed until we cried, laid in the sun all day long, swam in the sea & talked about our secrets over a bowl of Padron peppers. We watched the sun set from the best spot on the island whilst Hot Since 82 was playing & Mollie touched Craig David (not at the same time mind you).

 

 

 

 

 

 If you're planning on going to Ibiza DO go to the old town. It's so pretty and there are some of the most insane yacts I've ever seen. I'd go as far to say they're more impressive than the ones at Marbella & I thought they were the big kahunas. We would sit drinking cocktails, Googling who owned the biggest yachts & how much they were worth. One was Dolce & Gabanas and Jesus Christ it was something else. Another one was $156million. How the other half live hey. The streets there are also super pretty. They're all winding and cobbled & have little restaurants nestled in them with fairy lights and cascading creeper plants. I did see a man smashing a crab at one of the restaurants, which somewhat clouded my idyllic view, but I'll push that one to the back of my head for now (& forever).

 

 

 

DONT go down the strip. For the love of God, if I have one bit of advice for Ibiza this is it. Unless you're into ketamine & being forcefully grabbed, in which case its 100% for you. For us though, it was the worst 10 minute walk of out lives. Even worse than when you're walking to the Dr for your smear test. I will definitely go back to Ibiza (if not just for the 10/10 lifeguard) but I will never ever set foot down that strip again.

 

 

 

 

So whilst I sit here, with a heavy heart reliving the memories through these photos, I also have the biggest smile on my face. Thanks Ibiza.