They're Real! - Mascara Review

So the blog has had a little revamp and I've finally figured out how to separate my posts into their respective categories! Which means that people can finally navigate my blog a little easier as well as allow me to cover a more broad range of topics.

 

So this is a little beauty post I've been meaning to write for a little while now.

A good friend of mine works for Benefit and speaks very highly of them. As I've mentioned before I work in a department store and we stock Benefit in our beauty hall.

 

Now I'll be the first to admit that I didn't really care much for make up these past few years, I mainly used brands available in drug stores such as Rimmel and Collection 2000. This is mainly because they are cheap and easily accessible but recently my interest in beauty vlogs on YouTube has grown with the likes of 'gossmakeupartist' and 'SaturdayNightsAlrite' providing me with weekly tutorials on foundation routines and eye looks.

 

So the obsession has grown and my first foray into high end make up began with a Benefit Foundation (much to the delight of my friend) but what I want to talk about in this post is the They're Real! Benefit Mascara.

So I've had a crazy amount of mascaras over the years but nothing quite like this. I'll be the first to admit that it does what it boasts. With a few applications your eyelashes achieve a much longer, fanned-out look that every girl wants. I like wearing the product most days because it makes the eyes appear much bigger which is fantastic when you've had an early start for work and haven't quite woke up yet...

 

HOWEVER!

 

This mascara is an absolute demon to get off at night! Usually I can get in the bath, get some water on my fingers and rub my lashes, thus ridding them of most of the product very easily. Most of my mascaras have had the advantage of easy removal but this one is like tar. It takes some serious abrasion to get the product off which can damage the very fragile skin under the eyes. I always try and avoid this because no-one wants premature wrinkles!

 

To sum up the product I must say it does create amazing lashes but I probably won't repurchase purely because of the thickness of the formula. There are other ways of creating volume without having to resort to the heavy rubbing of the eyelashes at the end of the day. Whilst cleansing lotions and the like can make it easier to remove this mascara I would much rather go without the hastle.

 

My next mascara purchase will be the Big Fatty by Urban Decay.

 

 

 

 My eyes after using the They're Real Benefit Mascara

Constructing Collections

OK so I've had this post sat on this computer for quite a while and it's probably the longest post I've done to date so I wanted to do it justice.

With the prospect of my final year at university approaching I'm spending a lot of time having a look at my brief for collection next year. This will be my biggest collection to date and whilst we also have the option of doing a dissertation I feel that another collection would be the best direction to go in.

This post is a warm up to what I'd like to write about on here once I start the new term. This post is to help others who would like to do their own collection. Here I would like to talk about the process I go through when coming up with my ideas and developing the garments so that they make up a cohesive collection of clothes!

So first of all I want to make it clear that coming up with a collection is by no means an easy task for me, the very initial stages involve me pulling my hair out as I try and come up with ideas for themes etc and involves me spending a lot of time either with my head in books or staring at a computer screen! To come up with a collection you have to consider target market, retailer, fabric cost etc which is why it can take ages to get a collection that meets all your needs effectively.

The Brief- At university we are given a brief and are told to dissect it. In our briefs we are given a lot of free reign over target market, retailer, theme etc but we have to explore each aspect as deep as we can so that our garments meet the needs of our customer as much as possible.

For example when researching your target market you would look into gender, age, income and interests.

Once a brief has been thoroughly looked into and all aspects explored you can start coming up with ideas for your collection that will tailor to your target market.

Last years brief with annotations

So here is the first step:
1. Get plenty of inspiration. Last year the inspiration for my collection came totally from left field when I was watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics but this year I'm looking more into YouTube videos and catwalk shows to get some interesting stuff. Definitely invest in various pattern cutting books for a little inspiration and I also have a few books on innovative pleats and other crazy stuff you can do with fabric which is giving me a lot of ideas.
Amazon is a great place to start, I get almost all of my books from there and everything is reasonably priced.

I have quite a few books that I will consistently turn to when looking for inspiration. I have a book all about fashion designers sketchbooks and a picture of a fabric used in a Chanel catwalk show inspired me to make my own similar fabric made from much cheaper ric-rac for my collection last year.

I also have a lot of books on inventive pattern cutting which are a fantastic starting point for ideas.

I also highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the likes of Tumblr and Pinterest where users avidly upload pictures of the latest catwalk trends as well as interesting style features they find on garments, these provide a lot of inspiration and starting points upon which to develop your designs.

My internet research into structure

The designer sketchbook which gave me the idea to make my own fabric for last years collection



My holy grail when wanting to explore with silhouette and structure

Every pattern cutter will have come across these books. A pioneer in creative pattern cutting, these books include some seriously crazy designs.

A Winifred Aldridge womens wear pattern cutting book. Very good for basic ideas you can build upon.

2. Get all of your ideas onto paper. I have little scraps that I keep all over my bedroom, last year I would be lying in bed and crazy stuff would come to my mind which I would get up and get onto paper straight away. Even if it is a napkin each thought you come up with could lead to a fantastic end outfit. Even really interpretive drawings of a silhouette can be a good reference, obviously if you can keep all of your very early ideas in the one place like a sketchbook that'd be ideal as a place you can constantly refer back to and build upon.

Even a small collection of fabric swatches or little cut out and stuck down pictures of a style feature you've found with a little bit of information written beside it is helpful. For last years collection I had a few sketchbooks and notebooks that I'd just fill with scribbles and notes, right now I have one that I take to work and write ideas in on my lunch break.

A list of points I'd have to think about when coming up with a collection eg. style features, time constraints, trimming, fabric choice, necklines

A mood board showing key aspects of the design direction such as structures, fabric swatches and colour scheme which can be referred to when coming up with initial designs

Theme research

 

3. Developing your ideas. Now there are many ways to develop your ideas and everyone has a preferred way. Because I done Craft and Design in high school I am used to coming up with an initial idea and developing it by changing one detail at a time until I come up with an idea that I think best fits my brief. This is my preferred method and it works pretty well for me.

I also like to come up with ideas by taking two things I find particularly interesting and blending them together. For example there could be a really cool style of pleat I want to include in a skirt as well as a certain style feature I've been fascinated by so I'd draw these onto a skirt and then develop it from there to get a more fluid idea that will fit my brief.

I cant say enough how important it is to annotate your drawings, there are many occasions where I've seen a drawing and thought 'what on earth is this meant to be made from?' which is why it is so important to include colour, fabric choice etc beside your drawings.

Initial design ideas with annotations

 

 

Very quick silhouette drawings

 

Completed design drawings ready to be presented

4.Fabric Choice this is the part of coming up with a collection that I almost always mess up. I learnt the hard way last year that it pays to have a thorough idea of what fabrics you are going to use before the toiling process. Last year I wanted to make a chiffon blouse but my fabric was so thin that you could see all of the stitching through it and it was much too fragile. Instead, I had to resort to a heavier crepe fabric.

I studied textiles a little in 1st and 2nd year and they encouraged us to keep a fabric file so that we could refer back to it and make informed decisions about what fabric would be best to use for particular garments.

For example, if you're making something that is quite structured it is best to use a cotton drill and this is a thick fabric that can be manipulated easily into different shapes, if you are wanting a fabric with good drape it is better to use a light cotton or crepe fabric which is light and hangs well.

When I came up with my collection last year I had to think a lot about fabric choice, I had to ensure I used the correct fabrics for my draped skirts and tops and thick fabrics for my dress etc, fabric choice can affect the end look of a garment, you have to collect swatches and understand how the fabric hangs to ensure you're garment reflects your design drawing.

A list of online fabric stores I refer to

Fabric research

Final fabric choice which was actually changed later on due to poor research

A page from my old fabric file

 

5. Toiling (garment mock ups) This is when I start to get excited about my collection! You've spent months thinking about it, developing it and by now it's you're pride and joy so the stage when you actually start making a garment and getting it onto a mannequin is such a good feeling!
The toiling stage also has it's moments of intense frustration though, last term I had a dress with a crazy 3D structure on it and I couldn't for the life of me get it to sit right on the garment, I had 2 technitions and my lecturer have a look at the dress and on several occasions we had to take it all apart and start again, something that you don't want to do when you're nearing deadlines!

6.The Final Garment This is when all your hard work pays off. You've slaved for months carrying our research, developing design ideas and perfecting final garment proposals, collecting fabric swatches and creating outfits and FINALLY you have your finished collection in front of you.


I'll admit there are many moments throughout the collection process that I would come up against
 a problem I didn't think I would fix but it just makes the finished outfits feel more rewarding.
It's always best to carry out as much research as possible before coming up with ideas to limit the chances of things going wrong.

I hope this helps anyone who is coming up with their own collections!!

August - The Crazy Month

So I feel really bad because my August posts have really not been as frequent as my previous months work, this is because we've been really short staffed at work so I've been working 3x the amount of shifts I usually do.

I currently have a really lengthy post in my drafts about the process I go through to come up with a collection which I'm really excited to get out there but I still need to finish a few things and take a couple of photos, hopefully it will be up in the next week.

So this post is just a little catch up with what's been happening this month, I've been busy coming up with concepts for my collection next year and have been given the go-ahead to pursue a collection because I really had no desire to write a dissertation for my finals.

Apart from that I've been keeping in contact with my mentor that works at TopShop and been trying to work out a few new things that I can put onto this site. Hopefully there will be a few reviews and a couple of interviews that I can post. I'm also wanting to write a piece about the TopShop unique brand after having a look at their clothes and visiting a few of the girls when I was down in London.

So yeah, I promise that I will get another two blog posts up before the end of the month because I really wanted to aim for at least 5 month.

I'm also thinking of branching out my blog to include a few beauty and fitness posts. I've recently become obsessed with make up again, for the past couple of months I've been more concerned with skin care after my serious break out a few months ago an have shyed away from putting too many products on my face during the day but my friend Katie works for Benefit and has got me back into loving the stuff.

I've also been following a few amazing girls on YouTube who do fantastic reviews on products which has also got me really excited to buy a few new products at the end of the month.

So yeah that's why I've been a bit preoccupied the past month but I promise that once I take a few photos, send a few e-mails and university starts up the content and regularity of the posts on this blog is going to be much more frequent.

There's also a plan to purchase an adjustable mannequin to help me with working from home next year. Hopefully once I have this I will be able to do some YouTube tutorials and the like to help people who also want to be pattern cutters.

I'm very excited to share it with you all!!

Here are a few photos from my Instagram this month, they much better sum up what I've been doing that's actually productive!

 Katie returned from university so we went out in Edinburgh to blow off some steam! My rather flawless make up was down to her!

 The 'I've had a horrible week' boxset. I've had a precious two days off and this was how I done my research for my collection. Elle Woods has inspired me to take pal Nicola to get our nails done after payday!

 The result of my new make up, this look I tried before work!

 The bedroom has taken a serious beating recently due to me never being in the house!

 A 5am photo of me at Katies house before we completed an 18 hour Harry Potter marathon

 Me, Zak and Jason at the Hearts vs Parick Thistle game

 A picture of me after work where I found a man allowing people to take photos with some owls to raise funds for a sanctuary. 

 Some university work for collection next year.

My newest nightime skin routine from Katie, this includes some Liz Earle and a small sample of Estee Lauder advanced night repair serum.

Vanity Fair and Anticipation

This post comes to you on the back of a rather insane 2 weeks of overtime. Thankfully after tomorrow I will have three days to myself and after calculating this months wages I am ITCHING to get to the shops! I feel like I've worked non stop since I got back from London in preparation for what the new term will bring. I won't lie I am buzzing to get back into all the work and as it's my final year in education I want to make the most of it!

So I'm currently in bed watching Vanity Fair trying to unwind by looking at various clothing websites and trend posts on various blogs in a bid to get a little inspiration for some new outfits for the term.

It's now just over a month until university starts and with it I usually anticipate the cold chill that autumn brings  but I am desperate to cling to the last bit of heat that Scotland has to offer so a blazer is as heavy a jacket as I am willing to go until October! I have been on my old friend the TopShop website and have been putting together ideas of what I would like to wear once I go back to the Scottish Borders on September 16th.

Talking to some of my classmates has got me so excited to see everyone again!

I always wear denim shorts to university so this pair with a little 'festival feel' will be great! I'm also in love with TopShops vibrant vest tops (I wear my neon yellow one all the time) and love pairing them with a white blazer.

Jewellery In Fashion

I've not updated this blog as often as I'd like to this month due to working a lot of overtime at the moment but I've had this blog post sitting here unfinished for quite a while so here goes!! It's a little different from my usual topics of conversation but it's something I found really interesting.

So last week my mum invited a load of her friends around and had a Jewellery Party in our house. Now usually this isn't my sort of thing but it actually turned out to be quite the learning experience and has inspired me to do this post about jewellery and how it can relate to outfits you're wearing etc.

So last week Lesley Bruce who is the woman that creates all of this wonderful contemporary jewellery came round and set up shop in our livingroom and taught us all a lot about jewellery and how it can enhance your appearance and your outfits.

For example she told us how people with long, slim necks should wear necklaces that sit quite high up on the neck and vice versa so as to make the neck appear longer or shorter. There was also a lot of emphasis on how the colour of your jewellery can compliment your skin tone and eye colour etc which was something I had never even considered. Usually I just buy a lot of silver jewellery and to be fair my purchase from the night was in that category but I also got to try on a multicolored piece which really brought out my outfit.

Lesley also offers a service where she does the colours of her clients and fits them into categories of Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter depending on their skin tone and tells then what colours better suit them. I never got my colours done but those at the party who got the service were really interested in hearing what colours would really suit them and they bought jewellery accordingly. Everyone has at some point tried on a top or dress that has really washed them out or made them feel really pale in skin tone so by getting your colours done you can find out what sort of tones can really enhance your appearance and help you make the most of what god gave you to work with!

The piece of jewellery I settled on was a long silver chain that sits through a hoop, this makes the piece adjustable and stops it from danging on just one part of your body which is a really common problem I have when I buy long necklaces. When I was younger I wore the big long necklaces and on hundreds of occasion I found that moving about would cause the necklace to just sit around one boob...very attractive!! The piece was chosen to go with an outfit I like to wear a lot but have nothing to accessorize with and was only £21 which was a really good price for what I got!

Overall the night was very interesting. It really got me thinking abut what I would choose if i decided to accessorize my collection next year. There's a lot of ways to make necks look longer, split up garments to enhance them and really colour compliment garments so this is something I will really have a think about. Leslie also had this amazing Italian glass she works into her pieces that made necklaces look as though they lit up when the light hit them, I can imagine the impression those pieces of jewellery must make when someone enters a party and must be an instant talking point.

I've included a few photos from the night, I'd encourage a lot of people to get involved in parties like these. I love fashion but am very clueless with accessories which is why I barely own any bracelets and necklaces etc so it really opens your eyes about what you can do to make your outfits look even better and take them to the next level. So yeah! Here are some photos of the pieces from last night including a photo of my casual outfit for the evening. I don't know why but I never really wear jeans, however my sister gave me this pair of high waisted ones and I have fallen in love with them, I definitely think there's something about a jeans and t-shirt combo that can be very sexy.