L.F RAMBLES - FIRST YEAR

Awkward handz and my favourite drink: iced green tea. Also wearing shades to go with the summer mise en scene I'm trying to create. Imagine a beach back drop.

So my first year at uni is over. It's gone WAY too fast and I thought I'd do a 'short' summary of my experience.
It's not like I'm a mature student but I did do a foundation so I'm a year older than the majority. Whilst it doesn't sound like a big difference, I definitely 'changed' in that year..... or I kind of cemented who I am as a person. Done with high school drama (surprisingly still rife at uni' *mega yawn*) and petty insecurities (for the most part). I wanted a fresh start.
With me being a self confessed introvert, my experience could only go two ways: be living with a bunch of rowdy-stereotypical-sex-crazed-freshers or be living with people who hated the guts out of each other.
Well, I lived with neither. There was only 4 of us in total and we got 'along'.... but not to the point of casually hanging around together..... we never went out as a flat. Ever. I managed to live with a group of people who did our own thing. And it kind of worked for us.
I only 'properly' friends with one of my flat mates. And he was the guy I first met when I moved in. I guess sometimes people don't 'click' and it's a two-way thing - I wouldn't worry about breaking your back over anyone who doesn't make the effort.  

Umm back to uni'.... I guess it's what you make or want out of it. It's not in my nature to be this wild child so I didn't expect to change into one, or pretend I was one. I didn't and still don't feel the need to go out every night drinking just to fit into that 'mould.' Disclaimer: I DID GO OUT and 'socialise' but not as much as everyone and if it means I'm boring, then yes I'm boring.

For me I'm at uni to make some 'genuine' friends, learn about my subject, work my butt off for my degree and hopefully in turn I'll secure a job I love. In that order please!

Don't know if this post was particularly interesting. But I'm content with how it went. Tutors are nice (I would have to say that wouldn't I?) and my class mates genuinely seem like a nice bunch (the ones who come in anyway). It takes me awhile to make 'friends' (wary Capricorn vibes) and I think I have met some decent people. Though in typical 'L.F' style, at the end of the year. 
 Probably my best advice is to be yourself. I know. CLICHE. But who wants a fake friend that pretends to like 'shizzle' just to fit in? I like to get to know people with a bit of substance..... than just alcohol ;)


GENERAL TIPS AND GRAPHIC DESIGN RELATED ONES:

• 99%  CHANCE YOU WILL BE LIVING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE LAZY ABOUT CLEANING/TAKING BINS OUT - SO JUST DO IT YOURSELF. THEY WON'T DO IT.
• RECYCLE! HAVE AN EXTRA BIN BAG IN THE KITCHEN FOR RECYCLING SO YOU HELP THE ENVIRONMENT AND IT MEANS THE WASTE BAG WON'T BE AS HEAVY.
• ASOS BECOMES YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND.
• BUY FRUIT AND VEG' FROM THE MARKETS - CHEAPER AND YOU GET MORE.
•  'BORROW' THINGS FROM THE KITCHEN MODERATELY.
• BE PREPARED FOR UNWANTED BASS MUSIC FROM THE ROOM BELOW RINGING IN YOUR EAR. 
• YOU WON'T WATCH ALL THE DVDS YOU BROUGHT WITH YOU.
• YOU WILL SEE YOUR TUTORS LESS AND LESS AS THE YEAR GOES ON.
• DON'T RELY JUST ON YOUR STUDENT LOAN - HAVE SOME SAVINGS BEFORE YOU GO.
• YOU WON'T DIE IF YOU EAT THINGS PAST THEIR SELL BY DATE - USE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT.
• IF YOU ARE WORKING IN A GROUP GET THEIR NUMBERS, FACEBOOK ISN'T RELIABLE.
• YOU CAN EAT WELL AND STILL BE LAZY. SEASON VEG/MEAT AND PLACE IN OVEN AND YOU ARE DONE.
• YOU WILL MEET LOADS OF INTERESTING PEOPLE FROM ALL DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND PLACES.
• ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT! THE TUTORS ARE NOT THERE 24/7, SO MAKE THE MOST OF IT IF YOU SEE THEM. 
• YOUR MONEY WILL GO INTO PRINTING. IT SUCKS.
• BE OPEN MINDED WITH YOUR WORK - WHO WANTS TO HAVE AN AESTHETIC AT 20?
• GO AND WORK IN THE STUDIO - AS MUCH AS YOU CONVINCE YOURSELF YOU WILL DO WORK AT HOME, YOU WON'T. OR JUST VERY LITTLE.
• NOTHING CHANGES - YOU WILL STILL STAY UP THE  NIGHT  BEFORE DEADLINE.
• HARVARD REFERENCING WILL HAUNT YOU.
• YOU WILL CURSE AT APPLE MAC COMPUTERS A LOT. THE 'SPINNING WHEEL OF DOOM' IS A BITCH.
• SOME OF YOUR PEERS WILL BE POMPOUS DOUCHE BAGS. IGNORE THEM.
• WE ARE NOT GRAPHIC DESIGNERS. WE ARE GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENTS. WE JUST FINISHED FIRST YEAR. WHAT THE F-UCK DO WE KNOW?
• YOU WILL BE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WEARING 'SUPREME' GEAR. SO ORIGINAL.
• VODKA AND CIDER OVER WINE EVERY TIME.
• THERE ARE STILL CLIQUES AT UNI.
• YOU WILL HEAR "I'M SO HUNGOVER" EVERYDAY.
• GOING BACK HOME ALWAYS FEELS LIKE A VACATION.
• ANYTHING PRICED AT £1 IS A BARGAIN AND WORTH BUYING.
• YOU WILL SPEND A LOT OF TIME SAT IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER. EVEN AFTER YOU'VE SPENT LOADS OF TIME PLANNING/SKETCHING.
• NOTHING EVER GOES TO PLAN BUT YOU LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. HOWEVER COSTLY.
• GO TO VISITING LECTURER TALKS - ALWAYS INTERESTING AND INSPIRING.
• KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES - SOMETHINGS JUST AREN'T WORTH NO SLEEP. LIKE CERTAIN MODULES.
• EVERYONE HAS A TUMBLR.
• DRINKING A STARBUCKS COFFEE AT UNI SCREAMS PRETENTIOUSNESS.
• MAKE THE MOST OF STUDENT DISCOUNTS.
• EAT BEFORE A LECTURE, OR IT GETS VERY AWKWARD. 
• BUS FARES ARE EXTORTIONATE NOW YOU ARE AN ADULT.

ONE YEAR DONE, TWO MORE TO GO!
P.S I love Newcastle, really lovely city <3 

L.F DOES S/S - DARK DAWN

SOURCE

Found this after I finished my look, but you can say loosely inspired. 

Ignore cheek blending area! And skanky neon vest. Has a dog face on it though. 

KEY PRODUCTS:

SLEEK EAU LA LA LINER - NOIR <3333

SLEEK MINERAL BASED EYESHADOW PALETTE - BAD GIRL 

COLLECTION 2000 GLAM CRYSTALS - ROCK CHICK

GOSH EXTREME ART EYE LINER - 26

NYX LIP PENCIL - DEEP PURPLE

REVLON SUPER LUSTROUS LIPSTICK - BLACK CHERRY

YSL GLOSSY STAIN - 5

MAC PIGMENT - DARK SOUL

MAC GLITTER - REFLECTS GOLD 

Hey guys, so I've broken up for summer, lots of freedom and spare time....... so I'd only go through a make-up block. WHY?! I've taken off 3 'possible' looks so far but this look made it.

Not weather appropriate at all (winter bunny hating on this summer bunny weather) but I can't resist going down the 20s path. 

Anyway ramble aside, I experimented with 'dusting' on loose pigment/glitter to create a 'speckled' effect on the eyes but maybe I didn't use enough because I don't think it shows up too well.

Till next time! 

L.F RAMBLES - DOUBLE YAY

Hey guys, I somehow forgot about this but it made my week (jeez nearly a month ago), I was literally grinning like a cat for ages! Really sad, but it means a lot to me (yes it's just a tweet).

 I basically tweeted her about my make-up look inspired by her and she replied. Val Garland (pro/icon/make-up god) has seen my work! And what a lovely reply back.

AND I 'officially' finished today! I have one tutorial next week but HELLZ YEAH! It has gone way too fast but I am now stress free for awhile and I'm thinking of doing a general 'fresher' uni experience blog post at some point. Though this is coming from an introvert... be warned.
Freedom = more blog time! Though I will be looking for work once I'm back down home.
x x x

L.F DOES S/S - GLOSSY EYE TEST

SOURCE

Oil slick wet look <3

Wasn't really feeling this weeks look. So only webcam photos so you guys can feel the vibe I was going for.

I'll do another glossy eye at some point, I've not done one surprisingly!

L.F DOES S/S - NEON LIGHTS

SOURCE

Bruised purples and pale skin.... *swoon*. Oh, and the 'bitten' lips inspired me with this weeks look!

SOURCE

Grunge-y smokey brown ochre eyes with neon lime accents. 

Skin is in recovery mode and massive eyes bags :(

Wearing false eyelashes for once! 
KEY PRODUCTS:

REVLON MATTE EYESHADOW - VINTAGE LACE

MAC EYESHADOW - BITTER

NARS DUO EYESHADOW - KILIMANJARO (ICY YELLOW SIDE)

BECCA COMPACT CONCEALER - TAHINI

MAC SKINSHEEN BRONZER STICK - TAN-TINT

DANIEL SANDLER WATERCOLOUR BLUSH - CHERUB

BECCA SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTOR - TOPAZ

LE METIER DE BEAUTE CLASSIC FLAWLESS FOUNDATION - 6

REVLON SUPER LUSTROUS LIPSTICK - BLACK CHERRY


Hey guys, back again. Slightly belated with this weeks look - general uni' deadlines, you guys can feel my pain. 
Technically not really neon but MAC's bitter is pretty bad-ass. I used a damp brush to make the pigment even stronger and less powdery.
Hope you guys like it and experiment with colour placement if you don't feel comfortable using bright colours all over the the lid. 
Also a special mention to Revlon's black cherry lipstick -  I'm usually a bit 'iffy' with drugstore lipsticks but this one is a really nice formula that applies and stays on well, which is what you want when you wear a darker shade. If you are wanting a berry bitten stain effect, give this a go!

INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS ROUND UP 5

I LOVE this summer make-up campaign - very daring and opulent compared to the normal bronzed cheeks etc looks *yawn*. I'm getting 70s or 80s vibes? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Tutorial from pro Dick Page! I always love the pairing of golds and purples.

SEX KITTEN. That is all. 

Modern real life Barbie's - 60s on pink acid. 

You can always rely on Kabuki to create beautiful fantastical make-up. I've wanted to share this with you guys for ages. 

Hey guys, another round up of make-up videos I've found whilst browsing YouTube. 

The videos cover from everyday to more editorial work and 4 of these videos are tutorials by accomplished make-up artists which I think is pretty cool to see how they piece a look together. 

If you have any recommendations, share on the comments section :)

PLAY 3

Nothing serious. And the joys of having sparse brows... good for make-up 'blog' purposes but bad for everyday 'real' life.

 Spock/extreme face lift brows!

Random alert, but this bowl is so CUTE -  I got this from Paperchase. And I'm on a health kick (again). It was a downward spiral being back home over Easter. So it's mission goodbye moon face atm. 

Hey guys, I've been quiet on on the blog front because work load is back in full swing so I'm pretty sleep deprived and my skin has gone to shitz this week! I think the skin gods are taking revenge for me saying how chuffed I was with it last week. 

Also I mentioned some uni dates awhile ago but I officially break up for uni (FIRST YEAR OVER WTF) June 1st but my accommodation contract ends mid July, so I'm unsure what to do. Go home and waste my rent or stay and still pay for living costs. Not sure.

Whilst I'm in a ramble mood, my sister is off to teach in Korea for a year in 2 weeks time! Which is amazing and sad at the same time. We literally found out she got the job a month ago so a bit out of the blue. So it's going to be weird going back home and being one sister down.

Happy note is she said she'll send me over some Korean makeup/skin care stuff... FYI total convert to their face sheet masks. I'm weirdly not too excited about Korean make-up brands (considering I'm a make-up hoe) - I think it's the packaging that makes me less excited about the product. RAMBLE OVER. 

Anyway back to this weeks look. I had reference on hand but I drifted off and I'm not sure what to call it now. Not overly happy with it so hence only the eyes with the DSLR. 

I'll make it up to you guys next week :)

L.F DOES S/S - PAINT BOX INSPIRED BY VAL GARLAND

Such a make-up MAVERICK. I really love Val Garland's work because the looks she produces are so varied and original each time - she can do anything!
When I browse through my fashion tear sheet/magazine collection, she is usually behind some of my favourite editorials.

SOURCE

This look has been on my 'to do' list for ages! The sort of mix and match of colours and 'that' brow *swoon*.

No flash *I don't think* (had wrong camera settings), so colours are true to life.

Also a mention about my skin.... this is after a months use of Clarisonic! 

One brow and one flick? Yes! In hindsight I should of covered my brows but I didn't plan on taking the colour up so far.

KEY PRODUCTS:

MAC EYE-SHADOWS -  BITTER, FIG. 1, SWIMMING, PASSIONATE, BLUE HEAT AND CLIMATE BLUE

URBAN DECAY EYESHADOW - GREEN GODDESS

MUFE 12 FLASH COLOUR CASE - RED, TURQUOISE, LEAF GREEN, YELLOW AND CORAL (USED ON LIPS ALSO)

Hey guys, this is my first look since being back at uni (this was done on 21/04/12)! All the looks you've seen so far have been scheduled ones - so I've had a 3 week Easter break from doing 'fashion' make-up!

I was going to keep this kind of tame but I decided to go for it when I gradually kept on adding more and more colours.

 The use of  MUFE flash colours helped the look to have more 'slap dash' feel because it was getting quite 'blendy-blendy' beforehand - I'm too much of a perfectionist :(

The added one brow and one flick is a direct nod to Garland's editorial work for Vogue Italia. And I think adds a 'quirky' playful vibe to the look without making the rest of the face match.

I think with make-up there's that line on how far to take things and learning when to stop (same with anything 'creative' actually).

Hope you guys like it! It was really fun creating this :)

CLARISONIC DIAIRIES

Me (looking dorky + my mega round face) and my Clarisonic Mia (£120)

This is a *really* expensive purchase for me. But a long term investment I hope *looks at my DLSR*. I've always heard good things about it but I never thought I needed it. Fast forward to my favourite YouTubers having one, constant battle with dry patches and an ASOS discount code floating around.....the face toothbrush was mine.

Back story: my skin is for the most part is OK - occasional break out maybe once a month but nothing to complain about.

My main issue is my oily t-zone. And I mean really oily. I'm kind of hoping my skin type will change as I get older but I think I've inherited my mums skin..... her skins still really oily at 48! The Clarisonic doesn't claim to reduce oiliness but if I'm cleaning my skin properly, hopefully the skincare products I do use will work better and improve on that situation.

My second issue is flaky skin. The easy and cheaper solution is just to exfoliate (I mix bicarbonate soda with face wash and it does make your skin squeaky clean) BUT it's still a constant struggle because it only lasts a couple of days before the dry patches reappear..... and you can't hide flaky lizard skin (I get it all over - and it's most noticeable after foundation) - it's just gross.

Also I have to say I'm sorry there's no photos of my bare skin for 'before and afters' but I think you guys can take my word for it if its working or not. If anything I'm going to be pissed if nothing major happens!

AND if you wondered why my skin looks 'OK' in photos, I just hide my gross skin texture with lighting and flash ;)

I'm aiming to use it maybe twice a week for a deep cleanse because I hear people can get hooked with it and it can actually do more harm than good to go hardcore sonic-cleansing mad. Aim is good skin= less foundation. Win. Well, that's the idea.

28*/03/12 (first time): Can't believe how much additional make-up it has taken off after my initial make-up cleanse off (Liz Earle's C&P). So all this time whilst I was thinking my skin is clean -  it's not!  It's got ridden of my dry patches and I've been mainly concentrating the brush on my open pores/t-zone area to see if there will be any differences.

9/04/12: Still no purging! I'm still on my Easter break (aka lazy week) so I've only whipped out my Clarisonic if I've been wearing make-up. Skin texture has definitely changed. Much smoother and I'd say 95% of my dry patches have gone and not reappeared. No change on the oiliness but I've used a new product that has coincidentally helped  with that (Invisible Zinc face and body - apparently it's the zinc!)

21/04/12: Still really impressed. No purging.... huzzah! My skin is probably the best condition it has been for years and I *really* don't think it could of been achieved if without the Clarisonic. My skin is more luminous and my dry patches are so much better- nowhere near as bad as it were. Note: sorry if I sound really LAME. I am really this lame and cheesy.

Hey guys, I kept this purchase on the low because I was a bit skeptical and wanted to test it for awhile before I shared my thoughts on it. And..... so far it's been a good investment!

I don't think my skin could be like it is right now if I had just carried on with my old routine - which I'd say is quite 'intense' for a 20 year old anyway - damn you blogging world for making me aware of these lotions and potions!

I'd 100% recommend it to anyone who is wanting to improve their skin texture and just to really deep cleanse the skin.

If you have 'OK' skin and your current routine isn't helping you go to the 'YAY' skin mode..... go for it and incorporate a Clarisonic into your routine!

L.F DOES S/S - SEEING ROUGE

I always reference back to this... I love the make-up so much (I'm a sucker for bleached brows).

Eagle-eyed readers may remember I recreated this look before, but I took it down because I wasn't happy with it. I may re-do it one day!

SOURCE

This is the image that inspired me with this weeks look. You guys know I have a thing for strong make-up. Monochromatic look that is simple yet brash. Oh and Anais Pouliot lips are to die for (current girl crush). I have a thing for pouty lips atm. Lana Del Ray looking... but natural ;)

I know the brows are a tad red toned - I couldn't find my usual pencil! And I think I look like a fish here haha.

Hi stray hair!

KEY PRODUCTS:

LA FEMME BLUSHER - RED (ALL OVER LID)

LA FEMME BLUSHER - ROSE (BROW BONE AND USED TO BLEND EDGES)

LA FEMME BLUSHER - FRAMBOESIA (INNER TEAR DUCT AREA)

MAC STUDIO FIX FLUID FOUNDATION

MAC SKIN SHEEN BRONZER STICK -  TAN-TINT

MAC MINERALIZE SKINFINISH - LIGHTSCAPADE

NO7 PERFECT LIPS PENCIL - FIRE (WITH MATCHING LIPSTICK AND GLOSS)

Hey guys, S/S is here, so colour is back with a vengeance!

The main emphasis of this weeks look is a raccoon of varying rouge tones around the eyes with matching lips. Instead of a matte stained look seen in the photo above, I decided to add some gloss to amplify the impact even more.

For the rest of the face, just perfect the skin and with the brows I mainly focused on the tail area to add structure. 

Really easy and effective look to achieve. Keeping things simple isn't always such a bad thing!