L.F RAMBLES - LINES AND LIFE

So I finally had time to play with make-up. I started off with thin lines but I got more bolder and more graphic (ba-doosh). Playing with shapes, so ones more angular and ones more rounded.

Gel eyeliner, concealer and a flat shader brush to soften the lines. It's not perfect but fun to play around and experiment with proportions. Do you guys like the left or right eye? 

I got this note with some chocolates on my first day. Yay. Yes I ate the chocolate btw. Naughty food... give me bad stares.

Hey guys, since my last update life has been pretty crazy and uni' work kind of took over. To people who say design subjects is 'easy'. It's not. It's solving problems with no 'real' answer. You can't just find a textbook solution. Unless you go down the whole plagiarism route. Err not cool. Anyway I was going round in circles when stuff finally clicked and I had a week to pretty much do a final version of my publication. Stayed up for stupid hours, plenty of coffee (think I can drink the stuff again) and I decided to sleep in on the day of presentation (I managed to finish all loose ends still *phew*). So this weekend has been bliss for me. No library. I'm homeee. 

And more exciting news is I've scored my first retail job finally. I'm a Christmas temp but I work for Boots! I work in the flagship store (for Newcastle) too so it's huge and busy. I had my first shift yesterday and I love it. I'm part of the Christmas department so lots of restocking and time seems to just fly past.

My manager (who interviewed me) is super awesome and I'm pretty sure I managed to get it because I mentioned about my  freelance make-up side. During the interview I had to 'sell' a lipstick to a customer and I think I impressed her with it. THANK-YOU MY POINTLESS KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL THINGS MAKE-UP.

The next post will probably be Halloween related make-up. Our house is off to a flat party and we have to dress up as Rocky Horror Show characters. Ugh. I don't actually like the film (sorry) and Magenta who has the coolest make-up has been stolen by a flat mate.

Anyway extra positive vibes and smiles.... because I have to for work ;) I think my natural 'thinking' face is moody looking because EVERYONE including strangers always tell me to smile. I'm fine honest. 

HALLOWEEN - ALEX DELARGE INSPIRED

SOURCE
Good film and..... the lashes. Such an iconic character. 

A.J being erm A.J, No serious model face.

KEY PRODUCTS:

SPIKY LONG PAIR OF FALSE EYELASHES
BLACK EYELINER

Hey guys, something a bit fun! You might remember A.J from last year in his epic Halloween get up. 

A.J was wearing really formal clothes for a night out anyway, so we decided to go all Alex DeLarge. I've intensified the eyes a bit more with black eyeliner.

This could be a really good Halloween costume idea for anyone who doesn't want to look gory or zombie-esque. Super simple :)

L.F RAMBLES - LIFESTYLE CHANGE

Something I used to do when I first started make-up (just do one eye). Flatmate said I looked like a panda.

Hey guys, so not my usual sort of post, but I feel kind of comfortable talking about it since I've been pretty dedicated for a couple of months and for life now!
I've always been overweight/chubby/fat from a young age (I've never been at a healthy weight for my height and age) and to be honest I wasn't kind of fazed by it.... I got used to it and kind of in denial with it. And that's NOT normal or healthy.
I've strangely not been *that* insecure with my body image (didn't hate or love... just meh about it) and that's with me being friends with people who can literally eat tons of shit and not put on any weight. My best friend (born couple of days after me) is a natural size 4/6... FML. BUT this summer I caved in to my parents persistent nags to do something about it. I usually just shrugged off any weight comments from them, but I did put on weight during uni (my downfall is I tend to binge eat when stressed..... uni IS stress) and I was at my heaviest. Changing my eating habits wasn't going to be enough. I HAD TO MOVE. There I said it.... EXERCISE. I'm just lazy. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I was just lazy.

Anyway I bit the bullet and joined the gym for the first time ever during the summer. I'd say the first month didn't really count because I was stupidly unfit so I didn't do as much as I'd like because of aches and pains. Second month the aches literally vanished. Or I just got used to it. I also fine tuned the classes (approx 45 min) I liked and built up a weekly routine. Generally the minimum was 1 class and 1 hour at the gym 7 days a week. Sometimes I'd have a day off which was usually when I did  2 classes/tired. I know it sounds a bit extreme but once you start going to the gym I felt guilty if I didn't go. PLUS I only had to work 3 days a week (in the evenings) and rest of the time I was free. Obviously if I was in pain I'd rest but if I felt fine I'd go.
The good thing about me is I am a dedicated person, so I didn't feel or want to slack off. It's go home or go hard mentality with me. My favourite classes were Kettlercise and Les Mills Bodycombat. I tried not to miss these classes because - they were fun and make you work your ass off.
Funny story is me doing a spin class during my first week at the gym. Somehow in my head it didn't look so bad......wrong. SPIN IS FOR BADASSES. My legs were literally like jelly the day after and that's with me not doing all the resistance changes they were doing.

This might be highly anti climatic but I've NOT lost a *huge* amount of weight in terms of on the scales. No ones actually noticed much but the main thing is I CAN TELL. I can fit back into the jeans I was wearing 7 years ago *and* they are getting baggier. That was a hallelujah moment. I've lost more in terms of inches and that's fine but I've still got a long way to ago. Ironically, I'm more conscious of my body now then before. 
I know most people have goals but mine is literally as long as I'm happy in front the mirror. Most 'Asians' are usually a size 4/6/8, but I don't know if I'll ever be like that. I've got a bit of a bust for starters, which is unusual haha.

Anyway I thought I'd share some tips if anyone is in the same boat. Take these with a pinch of salt. If your  weight is 'normal', ignore these. I'm a bit of an extremist when I get into things.

• IT'S NOT A DIET, IT'S A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. 
• DON'T BUY 'TEMPTATION' FOOD AT ALL. IF YOU BUY IT YOU'LL EAT IT SOONER OR LATER.
• KEEP THINGS SIMPLE. CUT OUT ANY 'EXTRAS' LIKE CHEESE, CHIPS, BUTTER, OIL, MAYO, KETCHUP ETC. IT'LL ALL ADD UP IN THE LONG RUN
• AVOID UNNECESSARY LIQUID CALORIES SUCH AS JUICES/CORDIALS/FIZZY DRINKS. TRY GREEN TEA OR WATER.
• JUST SAY NO. EVEN IF YOUR FLATMATES ARE ALL HAVING PIZZA,  I RATHER JUST SAY NO (THANKS) THEN TO TEMPT MYSELF AND HAVE A BIT. 
• LET OTHERS AROUND YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN A HEALTH KICK. I FIND THIS KEEPS ME ON TRACK IF I WANT TO EAT BAD* STUFF. 
• READ THE RDA/CALORIE LABELS. THIS HELPS ME TO DECIDE WHAT TO BUY/EAT.
• BE COMMITTED. THERE IS NO POINT EATING HEALTHILY BUT STILL HAVING THE ODD JUNK FOOD REGULARLY.
• EXERCISE AND EATING HEALTHY WORK IN SYNERGY. YOU GOT TO DO BOTH.
• YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR HEALTH REASONS NOT JUST FOR AESTHETIC REASONS.
• DON'T HAVE REGULAR 'FUCK IT' DAYS/WEEKS. THINK OF THE HARD WORK YOU'VE PUT IN. THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS IS HARD. 
• TRY NOT TO HAVE FAST FOOD/GO OUT FOR MEALS TOO OFTEN. HOME COOKING = KNOW AND IN CONTROL OF WHAT YOU PUT IN. 
• SWEAT= WORKING HARD. PUSH YOURSELF.
• HEALTHY EATING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE. GO TO LOCAL MARKETS FOR FRESH FRUIT/VEG.
• HEALTHY COOKING = BOIL/STEAM/GRILL.
• YOU HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT. 
• YOU CAN HAVE CHEAT FOOD/DAYS BUT IN MODERATION.
• START TODAY. NOT TOMORROW, NEXT WEEK OR NEXT MONTH. 
• TRY TO CUT OUT CARBS IN THE EVENING. YES I LOVE IT AND MISS IT TOO. 
• GO TO A GYM WITH CLASSES, I FOUND THESE TO BE REALLY FUN AND MOTIVATING. I WENT TO THE VILLAGE IN LEEDS AND THE STAFF (HI ANITA AND IZA)/FACILITIES WERE MINT. 
• STARTING OFF CAN BE DIFFICULT BUT DON'T GIVE UP ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SEE ALL THE GYM BUNNIES AT THE GYM.
• GET A GYM BUDDY! YOU CAN GOSSIP AND WORK OUT.
• HAVE FUN! OR GROW TO LOVE THESE CHANGES. IT SHOULD BECOME SECOND NATURE.

Hope you guys found this post interesting. If I lose any major significant weight I might do another one of these but for now I'm just going to stick with what I'm doing. Feel free to leave any suggestions/recommendations you find helpful. If you ever see me eating bad stuff give me a good evil stare!
  
*My current 'bad' food is sushi. I used to love eating M&S cheese puffs (like wotsits) too... OH THE GOOD DAYS.

L.F DOES A/W - RED DRAGON

SOURCE

My main inspiration. I was actually drawn to the rust and orange undertones but then the red/pinks started taking over!

SOURCE

The placement of everything was based on this. I wanted it all to interconnect.

Ahh the lighting in my room sucks. Think I'll have to do make-up during the day from now on.

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC PIGMENT - ELECTRIC CORAL

NYX JUMBO EYE PENCIL - RUST

BENEFIT - EYE BRIGHT

NYX LIPLINER - RED HOT

SUGARPILL EYESHADOW - LOVE+

BENEFIT CREASELESS CREAM SHADOW/LINER - BUSY SIGNAL

MUFE FLASH COLOUR - CORAL

Hey guys, so I'm back. OFFICIALLY! I've just been settling in my new house and uni routine so I've put off any fun make-up stuff till everything was sorted. I'm kind of in a weird situation with uni but I'm getting on with it.

Back to makeup! I actually wanted to have a main emphasis on orange and burnt reds. You can still see it but not as much as I wanted. Once I start adding pinks and reds I always go crazy. I've lightened the brows and I have velvet lips going on too.

I think make-up time/day off day is every Saturday, so expect a make-up look every weekend and I'll squeeze in anything extra when I can.

Miss you all!