Using up my Lush Stash...

So Tonight's post comes to you directly from the bath! I picked up some of the new Valentines editions from Lush and thought it was about time I started using up some of the Christmas products I'd been hoarding! 

Amongst a lot of Yog Nog soap bars and a few of my beloved Butterbears I found this crumbling mess of a Santa and thought why not treat him to a nice hot bath, he really looked like he could use one!

It's never been a secret that I absolutely adore Lush products, I've always found their products so innovative and some simply beautiful.  I still remember the first time I stepped into a Lush store and just simply got lost for what seemed like hours just playing and smelling all the different products deciding on what to put in my basket.  It was love at first sight and it's been a match made in heaven ever since...

Stay tuned for many more Lush related posts and tell me in the comments below what your favourite Lush products are...

Daily Beauty Log... The I'm over ready for food shopping face

Introducing my version of the FOTD post.  I'm going to be call them my Daily Beauty Logs but it is essentially just what I've chosen to slap on my face that day.  The other day I sat down, had a good 'ol rummage through my makeup stash and picked some bits for a natural, dewy no fuss makeup look and picked the above.  Liking the results slightly more than my dull grey I just woke up look I thought I'd log the look for when I'm lacking cosmetic inspiration.

Rimmel Wake me up concealer - I don't have a method or fancy concealer routine, I pretty much just swipe this all over my face in a child-like scribble and then blend blend blend!  I then go in with my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser as a sort of highlighting concealer under the eyes and down the centre of my face.  Since discovering this in the bottom of an old makeup bag and falling back in love with it, it's not left my face and I don't think it ever will.  My new found love in the face powder department still remains to be the MUA Pro Base Powder.  I have an entire post raving about this powder so I won't ramble on about it again but I use a smaller face brush and dust this under the eyes and across the centre of my face to set the concealer in place.  My overall base of choice lately has been the Loreal Skin Perfection as it gives an even skinned finish and moisture but no heavy coverage which is what my skin is enjoying as of late.  For eye shadow I usually use a creamy base before adding any shadow to give it something to adhere to and recently the Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow stick  in the shade Bluffing...

Over the Bluffing base I then like to use my Two Faced Natural Eyes  Palette.  I love to sweep a bit of the shade Push up all over with Silk Teddy in the inner corner and Erotica in the outer V and under the lower lash line for a light smokey eye.  This palette has seen me through quite a few years and I don't see myself loving any other palette more than I do this one!  Thank you Two Faced, thank you!

Cue an awkward selfie to try and demonstrate this beauty log photographically.  I'm hoping I will grow accustomed to taking pictures of myself and posting them on the interwebs.  Until that day here is another awkward full facial shot of my mug!

I hope you liked this sort of post as if you've been a follower for a while you'll know I don't usually do FOTD type posts but I quite enjoyed it..

New Year tips...Ditch the sugar!!

Unless you're mixing your sugar with some olive oil and scrubbing it on your body then you shouldn't be going anywhere near refined sugar if you're thinking of looking after your body in 2015.

Now I have a major sweet tooth so this isn't as easy as it sounds, I should know!  But once you've quit sugar you'll never want to go back.

First let me tell you why you should quit sugar:

• Added sugar is just empty calories, There are absolutely NO nutritional benefits to added sugar but a LOT of added calories, which will do nothing for your New Years resolutions and you will probably continue to put on weight.
• Sugar that cannot be metabolized effectively is stored and turned into FAT! Also while the liver is desperately trying to metabolize all the sugar you've just consumed in that can of coke, it's not metabolizing your breakfast, or your lunch, or anything else.  Sugar SLOWS down the Metabolism, slowing down the rate at which you breakdown the food you eat and the rate at which you will lose weight.
• Excessive sugar consumption can cause the body to become resistant to the insulin hormone and we know where that will eventually lead...DIABETES!
• Sugar has been highly linked to Obesity levels, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease and even Cancer.

Now these are just some of the harmful effects of excessive refined sugar consumption, I could probably go on and on about why sugar is bad for you.

Try substituting refined sugar for sweeter alternatives, Honey, Sweeteners, Agave Nectar.  Substitute full fat/full sugary drinks such as Coke with their 'zero' or diet alternatives and look for the sugar free options with squashes and fruit juices.

Add berries and fruit for a naturally sweet hit to breakfasts and cereals or smoothies and for a treacly hit chop up some dates or sultanas.

Does anybody have any other tips for quitting sugar?  Please leave me a comment and let me know... xxx

The Kylie Jenner craze...How to get the look

If you haven't heard or seen some sort of Kylie Jenner related post or tutorial then you've probably been living under a rock!  Kendall and Kylie formerly only known for being the younger half siblings of Kim Kardashian have really begun to grow into their own and Kylie's look has probably been one of the most re-created looks of 2014. 

Kylie's look is defined by the big fluttery lashes and of course the full nude lips.  After doing some research into the actual products Kylie uses to create her look and watching a lot of KJ inspired tutorials I think I've managed to suss out her look and how she creates it.

• Find a high coverage foundation.  Something without any SPF as it's most likely Kylie wears a foundation that's not going to leave a white cast or flash back when being photographed.

• Define the brows, She has a definitive arch and quite a full thick brow, again you're looking for something that's going to last a long time and photograph well so I'd recommend an eyebrow pencil rather than a liquid pen.

• Add a light wash over the lids with a matte rather than a shimmery skin toned shadow and define the crease and lower lash line with a mid toned brown.  This is just a general eye shadow look for KJ however as she has many different looks but this is her more 'go to' look.

• Sometimes she has a bit of a cat flick going on, so any cream or gel liner should do the trick for this with a khol pencil in the waterline.  The real key with Kylie's eyes is lashes! Full fluttery lashes, the Ardell whispies would be perfect for this look.

• The lips being the key to Kylie's entire look I have desperately tried to find the exact products she uses.  I know she uses the MAC lip pencil in Soar which judging by it's recent sell-out in most stores, I think has become public knowledge too.  However according to Kim she only uses MAC's Soar and Spice pencils to achieve her full nude lips and just fills the entire lip with the pencils, no lipstick or gloss required.  To achieve the full lip look without the use of surgery use your chosen pencil to slightly over draw the natural outline of your lips, line straight over the cupids bow without accentuating it to give a fuller upper lip and use a slightly deeper coloured pencil on the outer edge of the lip and slightly lighter colour to fill to fake a full lip.

Has anybody else become as obsessed with KJ's looks as I have?! If anybody has any dupes for the products she uses please link them below as I'd love to feed my Kylie Jenner obsession!

Giveaway time...MAC lipstick of your choice! CLOSED!

Recently I posted on twitter that if I reached a certain milestone on Bloglovin I would do a giveaway.  Now by no means was this a massive milestone but it was huge to me!   And the closer I got to this milestone I began thinking of what I could actually give away!

So I decided on giving away a MAC lipstick and thought why not let the winner decide exactly which shade they would like to receive.  So if this little giveaway interests you at all then please enter by following the simple rules...

• You must be follower of my blog, either by GFC or on Bloglovin as this giveaway is to show my appreciation to each and every one of my followers old and new.

• Leave a comment on this post letting me know which MAC lipstick you would like to receive should you win and also leave me an email address to contact you on should you win the competition.  The winner will be picked at random and receive an email from es-jaymakeup@hotmail.co.uk.

• Once you have entered, tweet a link to this post saying..'I've just entered Es-jay Makeup's MAC giveaway'  or something along those lines...

• This giveaway is open internationally and your choice of lipstick should be from the MAC permanent line as I may not be able to get it for you otherwise...

It's as simple as that! From the day this post goes out the giveaway will be open for two weeks and I will then post with the details of the giveaway winner and contact then via email.  If you are entering and under 16 please get a parent or guardian's permission as you will need to disclose your address in order for me to send out your prize.

I think that is everything so Good Luck and I just want to thank you all once again for all your love and support.

Happy New Year...Resolutions!

As 2014 has well and truly said it's farewells I thought I would wish all those reading this post a wonderful year to come.  Without sounding too sentimentally soppy I woke looking back on the past 365 days and realised I've experienced some of my most happiest moments in 2014.  Starting the year in Egypt with my amazing parents before coming home to get engaged to my lovely husband before planning my entire wedding and eventually getting married all in the same year.

I felt blessed beyond belief seeing in the new year with both my own family and my new extended family and I couldn't help thinking about what the future could possibly hold but here's what I hope to achieve for myself in 2015...

• I hope to do more of what makes me happy, I realise that sometimes I can become so caught up in trying to make everybody happy that I forget to take a step back and breathe so although seeing those I love around me happy ultimately makes me very happy it does consume a lot of my energy.

• I am going to add in a total cliche here and say I'm going to aim to go to the gym atleast 3 times a week. Not only to lose weight but to get fit again, Since getting married I've become a bit of a slob and I refuse to do it any longer!

• As a side note to the above statement I aim to do more activities.  I realise that going to the gym can be a bit monotonous and grim so I aim to try and mix it up as and where I can with swimming, climbing, long walks and generally just learning to enjoy life!

• I've come to realise I have a real interest in photography and videography in the previous months and I hope that 2015 will be the year I get to seriously have a play with making videos and building a portfolio I can be proud of.
• I think this year will also mark the beginning of many travels to far away lands and both I and my husband are building up quite the list of places we want to visit before we settle down with a family so here's to hopefully travelling new lands and meeting new people.

• And finally the most cliched but obvious one of all is just to spend more time with those that I love and that make me happy, I hope to spend more time with my parents as I miss them so much more since getting married and moving away.  I hope to spend more time with my gorgeous niece and extended nephew and enjoy watching them grow into amazing little people and I hope to see much more of my wonderful, loyal, childhood friend ( If you're reading this...YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) I just want to say I love you and I miss you and I hope to spend lots more fun times with you in 2015!  And last but not least I hope to make many more wonderful memories together with my husband who I grow to love more and more each day...

And that concludes but cheesy sop-fest guys, it's only taken me the best part of 5 hours, a share size bag of Doritos and lots of Hannah Maggs videos in between to finish this post but for some reason I'm really feeling the whole 'New Year Cheese' this year and would love to hear all your Hopes and dreams for the following 365 days...

Comment down below and let me know what you hope 2015 will hold for you...?