Ferguson

Today has been one of my lowest, in recent history.

The simple reason for this is the outcome of Darren Wilson not being indicted for the murder of an 18 year old boy three months ago.

If you’ve been following the Ferguson protests, as I have since they began, maybe today has been heart-wrenching and scary for you too. I feel helpless but I know I will be in a clearer mindset for writing about this.

I’m still finding it difficult to properly articulate my thoughts on the matter as my brain is a jumble of things, rushing too quickly for me to really get out and comprehend. This is the second time I have felt just completely and absolutely heartbroken over something, except this time it’s much more important than a boy who decided he didn’t want to like me.

If there was any proof needed that racism is still as prevalent and everyday as it was when lynching and segregation was seen as the norm, it’s Ferguson.

Black lives matter.

Look up that hashtag on all your social media, and look at how many results come up for a statement that shouldn’t have to be said out loud, but instead just happily accepted.

I’m so lucky I have people in my life, of all backgrounds and cultures and ethnicities, that either understand or make the effort to understand racism in this day and age. I actually have a drafted post for the blog that I wrote on my experiences with racism so far. I wrote it as a long stream of consciousness (as this post is also) and haven’t looked at it since, but I’m not sure after today’s events if it will come to light any day soon.

My saving grace on the matter is that it feels like something will happen. Change is on the brink. The peaceful protests and marching in Ferguson continues going on even though they are often met by the brute force of the Ferguson PD and even the National Guard. That does not stop them. The social media support and revelations are strong and the outcry is worldwide. I am crossing every damn finger and those of the people around me for change.

I will stand strong with Ferguson and I hope you will too.

Do not let them forget Ferguson.

Hallo-pologies!

Hello!

Also, sorry!

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I was planning on doing a live blog of pumpkin carving ideas on Halloween. Well, as is known to happen to me, I dreamed big and had no clue how to execute it.

Luckily for you, I did do two pumpkins and took a bunch of awful webcam photos along the way.

(I'm also wearing my new Rocky Horror Picture Show x MAC lipstick in Oblivion in these photos and, quick review: it's awesome)

So please enjoy the terrifying ride that is...
Shuks Carves Pumpkins On Her Own For The First Time In Her Life And Lives To Tell The Tale.

This slideshow will be presented without comments and with a fitting song, so make sure your sound is on!




Halloween by Slidely Slideshow

Quickies 2

Phew, another slightly-longer-than-planned wait again!

I’m adjusting to the full-time working week again, after a couple of months of sleeping in late and going to bed  when every channel turns to Teleshopping. Although I love teleshopping, so it was probably a little later than that.

But yes, I’m now working doing social media for a couple of fashion brands just off Shoreditch High Street in in ye merry olde London towne.

(I’m also writing this first thing in the morning after downing a large hazelnut coffee so forgive me if I seem out of sorts)

I have a Halloween themed post planned, it's just time and execution and supplies now, which are all taking a little longer than expected. So, I thought I’d let you in to a little update after the recent Quickies post!

The rosewater is making me feel like a pregnant woman, I’m glowing so damn much. I’m a luminous angel people, jump on the bandwagon and love yourself. I find that because the toner I use in the evening has glycerin in it, it somehow makes my night cream more effective. Magic guys, that's what it is.

I bought a couple of salt sprays but they didn’t give me that beachy wave I wanted, I don’t think my harshly bleached hair that’s down to my lower back, and therefore weighed down more, accommodates for the synthetic experience. Any excuse to get to a real beach somewhere scalding hot, right?

Taking the tube twice on the daily is messing with my skin, which I should have remembered after living this life at the end of last year. I’m upping my moisturising game and I’ve been recommended Clinique’s Super City Block by a relative but it’s approximately £20 for a relatively small tube. Which obviously means “let’s wait until I’m feeling spendy again, give or take a couple of days” in my world. For now, I’m just using my NARs Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser more as I feel it genuinely makes a difference for the better when I use it on tube days compared to when I use nothing at all and much better than if I use my MAC foundation. I’m speculating it both creates a barrier against the evil tube sucky crap air (scientific term) and uses an SPF, seawater and a bunch of other loving ingredients to make sure my skin feels extra special. Like when you come home and all your packages have arrived so quick at the same time. It’s like a package to the face.

Sorry mum.

In lieu of photos, I was going to post the Shake it Off video (Taylor Swift, not Manchester Orchestra) because it’s LIKE I’VE GOT THIS MUSIC IN MY MIND SAYING IT’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT.

Ahem.

But instead I found this Jaden Smith track the other day, it’s only a minute long and I’m really digging it. For fans of Childish Gambino,  I reckon. Give it a chance, anyhow.

I never know how to sign these off. 

My Current Hair Routine!

It’s been a while! Between keeping on top of doctors appointments, applying to jobs and then getting a job, the blog accidentally took a little break but I’m back!

I thought this week I’d tell all about my hair routine.

Now, I have my own issues with my hair; mainly that it’s been consistently falling out on a daily basis for the last 3 years or so and is now half the thickness it once had, but hopefully I’m on the right track to redemption now! Despite this, I’ve never given up on having whatever I’ve wanted, and that usually involves bleach.

  

My hair takes very well to bleach, despite it being a very dark brown, almost black, natural colour and so currently about half, just over, of my hair is white blonde, mostly done by myself as salons are not comfortable with going that colour with naturally dark hair most of the time (otherwise charging a bomb) in case they get blamed for ruining the hair. My hair is not ruined and a big part of that is the products and routine I use. Because god knows I do not advocate copying me and bleaching your hair 3 times in 2 weeks, I’m just young, sprung, and full of blind ambition.

So with this top half of grease compelling hair and bottom half of slightly drier blinding blonde, how do I keep it happy? Let’s start from the basics.

I use Redken’s Clear Moisture shampoo and conditioner, except for once a week when I use my favourite toning shampoo, Shimmer Lights Blonde and Silver Shampoo. The deep purple toning shampoo really helps me to get all those brassy tones right out of my hair in less than 5 minutes without having to go to a salon and fork out a tonne for the same effect. Bonus points for it giving me volume and texture that I love. 

The Redken duo are just magical for me. They are the first higher end shampoo and conditioner I have bought, after a lot of online research, and even just the shampoo leaves my hair feeling a very conditioned and manageable.

After washing, I spray in It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In Plus Keratin while it’s still fairly wet, as I find when I do it on my hair when it’s dryer, it leaves a waxy layer of sorts. It also detangles which is great for people who don’t listen to the multiple outlets telling you not to brush your hair when it’s wet. Not me of course, gosh.

Usually, that’s where I leave it to air dry (I only blow dry with a round brush if I’m really in a rush) but if I feel I need some more love, I use the GOT2B Oil-licious Tame & Shine Styling Oil, which is quick absorbing and truly doesn’t leave your hair looking greasy. It also smells amazing and I usually have this little bottle in my bag for on the go moisture as it's full of Argan oil.

I don’t go much for hair masks anymore, instead favouring oils as I can sleep in them without having to slap a shower cap on or wonder why it’s drying stiff on my head. Coconut oil is good but I find Almond wonderful too.

As for styling, I don’t tend to do too much lately but if I want to really give my hair some oomph, I pick up my Babyliss 2289U Glamour Waves Curling Tong, my Vidal Sassoon Infra Radiance 2000W Hair Dryer (both are on sale at those links right now!), a round brush and my bottle of Kerastase Styling Lift Vertige. (I'd try and snap a picture but a lot of my bits are in boxes still!) It’s a gel that you rub onto your roots before blow-drying and keeps your volume all day, despite not drying stiff or crunchy at all! I love this stuff and highly recommend it. My bottle was given to me as a gift but I know the brand sells in many salons now if you’re interested. I curl my hair into loose curls and give it a spritz of hairspray and I’m set for my fancy ways on a fancy day!

Or maybe I’m just all done up for a blog post.

Either way, I'm happy and I hope you are too!

Penny for your thoughts? Feminism Edition

Feel free to play my little empowering playlist as you read!

It was taught to me early on in life by my peers that ‘feminism’ was a rarely used word that people would spit out to describe bra-burning lesbian extremists, infamous for hating men and all that they stood for.

It’s fair to say the term has evolved into something a lot different these days.

My first real experience with the term was in my first year of college in my sociology class, where it was simply described as being the term for anybody who believed in equal rights for women. I instantly wondered why something so simple was being shopped around as a term for a negative stereotype. Surely everyone was a feminist, by that definition?

Fast forward a few more years, and suddenly feminism has feet.

Tumblr is full of women praising other women for their actions, telling stories of strong women of the past and defying stereotypes. Flicking through the music channels, the rising numbers of women in the mainstream are singing about how they are proud of themselves, their bodies and their achievements. Women are working together to be heard and the world is finally responding and joining in.

Of course, this isn’t a unanimous movement, there are still women who tear down others for the way they look, who agree to do things that make them feel small because it’s the norm and who feel as though it’s pointless to speak out against these things. But there are women who gladly speak out and educate.

For god’s sake, Beyoncé stood in front of a ‘Feminism’ banner at the VMAs! Nicki Minaj is shaking her butt all over the internet and telling us, exactly how her male counterparts do, about how much she enjoys having sex! Even newcomer Mehgan Trainor is spreading the good word that you should be happy with your body!

Feminism is important to me because it allows me to feel empowered for, essentially, doing whatever the hell I want. But then that leads to thinking, why should I feel empowered for going about my own free will with my body, my hair, my life? I have always firmly believed and preached in doing what makes you happy. Unless that involves hurting or putting down another person.

I often question if I am a good feminist and representative of the female race for some of my actions. For example, I love Kanye West and Childish Gambino’s music, but it often puts down women and reduces them to objects they barely think about. Is my enjoyment of this music sabotaging what I think about women?

My thoughts on feminism are very muddled, but I’m ok with that. I am confident enough in myself as a human and as a woman to say that I am a feminist.

Quickies

I had a few ideas for this weeks blog post, but I’ve not been 100% as of late and so I thought I’d instead do a quick update of the new little bits in my beauty life!

First things first, I received the Foodaholic Green Tea sheet masks I ordered!

I also received two free little sachets of Tony Moly I’m Real Avocado Rich Cream, which was a nice little bonus!

These masks are a little bit different from the usual sheet masks, as the mask part is made from wood pulp rather than the usual cotton, as well as boasting that it’s ‘3D’. I think this meant more that there was a seam down the middle of the mask that allowed the nose section to go out a bit more, mimicking more of a 3D face rather than a flat sheet mask.

Sheet masks work their magic by creating an intense environment through restricting airflow to the skin, allowing it to absorb the serum soaked mask quicker.

The serum in this mask was one that was quickly absorbed by my skin anyway and, 2 days after using it, I can still easily feel the moisturising effects.

I’ve been seeing rosewater pop up more and more lately as a great product to keep yo face happy and now I’m in possession of both normal rosewater and Ayuuri Rose Facial Toner.

I use the toner in the evening as part of my night routine by sweeping it around my face with a cotton pad and the rosewater as my morning routine, patting it lightly into my cleansed skin.

I’m not too sure how I feel about the toner right now as rather than it drying on your face, it leaves a waxy film, which could be to do with the glycerin that’s used in this formula. That’s why I find it more effective during the evening, as it has a long amount of time to sink into my skin without me having to worry about it.

The last thing I purchased was a B. Nourished Night Serum from Superdrug, where it’s currently less than half price!

The brand works with skin phases, which are easily numbered as 1, 2 and 3. Your corresponding skin phase lets you know easily which of their products will be best for you, which is a concept I can really get behind!

Rather than a regular serum, this is more of a thick moisturiser, but it really does have me waking up with soft, smooth skin, especially mixed with my rosewater toner.

My last find for this month is a forgotten bottle of Caudalíe Divine Oil.

This thing is packed with grape seed, sesame, sunflower, hibiscus and argan oils, as well as shea butter and tomato extracts, and can be used on your body, face and hair.

It’s a wonder that it could have that much oil and moisture in it and still be so fast absorbing!

I’m using this on my legs lately as after moving back to the family home, I’ve suffered a few bumps and grazes and I’m hoping the oils will help the bruises and marks go away quicker.

A lot of these things are making me feel very pampered and luxurious which means I get to have a nice relaxing point of the day in between job searching and doctors appointments!

New vs Normal: NYX Matte Finish Long Lasting Setting Spray

In this series of posts, I will be pitting new products against the ‘normal’ or standard product/ideas seen in its place.

For this example, the ‘new’ will be the NYX Matte Finish Long Lasting Setting Spray and the ‘normal’ will be the well-known technique of using a light misting of hairspray to set makeup.

DISCLAIMER – Putting hairspray on your skin is not a thing you should be doing on the regular, by any means. It’s often used by makeup artists on occasions when the makeup must be set perfectly for a long period of time and, as much as you want it to, your daily face should not incorporate it. If you do choose to implement this, however, be very careful of your eyes. Agony is not the look.

Setting sprays are definitely making a little name for themselves on the market as of late, especially the Urban Decay All Nighter, Chill and De-Slick sprays. However, after looking into it and seeing mixed reviews for both sprays and price tags around the £30 mark, I went to the next popular option, which was NYX. With just as mixed reviews but on their UK website for a far more affordable £8, I quickly headed to the checkout and had the bottle in my hands in a matter of days.

When I mentioned to a friend, who coincidentally has a degree in make-up and is also the reason I now consider blush as essential, that this spray was on the way, she told me she wasn’t interested as she used hairspray for the same purpose.

I did a little research then and saw setting sprays share the main ingredient of vinyl copolymers, which is a synthetic ingredient that is meant to adhere to surfaces and form a film to keep hair/faces protected from elements. They keep humidity and sebum at bay by doing this, which are the things most at liberty to smudge up that pretty face of yours. The copolymers used in setting sprays are far gentler than those used in hairspray and some can be more flexible than others.

I decided to put the hairspray and setting spray to the test.

I put on a quick face (hence wonky eyeliner) and decided to spray one half with a light mist of hairspray and the other with the NYX Matte Setting Spray. My hairspray of choice was the GOT2B Happy Hour 24 Hour Hairspray, which smells delicious. (+1 point?)

Here is my face with just the make-up (concealer, foundation, liquid eyeliner, blush, highlighter, contour powder) and fresh out the shower hair:

And here is my face after spraying, the left side in this picture with NYX, the right with hairspray. It looks darker on the right side but I think that may have just been the lighting, it looked perfectly even in person:

One big noticeable point was that the hairspray instantly dried, while the spray was a little wet. This is something to be anticipated as the instructions on the bottle indicate to blot the excess product or let it air dry, which is what I did.

I then went and scrubbed my entire bathroom. Very attractive, being ankle deep in foamy tile cleaner and full make up, right?

After examining my face after, I noticed that even though I had worked up a sweat, the NYX side was still entirely matte! My skin was fine and had no reactions:

The hairspray side fought the good matte fight, however it did feel as though there was a weird film very close to the skin, almost waxy? It’s difficult to explain. I also noticed the hairspray side of my face had a fair few  tiny bumps raised on my cheek, which were definitely not there before and a surprise as I do not have sensitive skin. But then again, was it really a surprise my skin wasn't happy about me spraying hairspray on it?

For removal, I took 2 baby wipes and wiped down the face. The hairspray side came off a lot easier than the NYX side, perhaps not great in case your hairspray’d face comes into contact with moisture.

After all my make-up was completely removed, the hairspray side felt a lot dryer and tight and thankfully the bumps quickly went away. The NYX side felt supple and soft, especially my eye area!

So in this case of New vs Normal, I think although Normal is a long time industry standard, it may be time to make way for the New!

Hello! What's In My Bag?

Hello world, welcome to my first ever blog post!

My name is Shuks and as this is my first ever blog post, I thought it would be fitting to have a little ‘what’s in my bag’ dealio, since yanno, anything and everything gets chucked in my bag and therefore it should be a pretty good representation of me.

Maybe.

Probably.

So to start, the bag I’ve been using the last few months is the Marc by Marc Jacobs Lil Ukita bag in Warm Zinc, and I’ve had it close to three years now.

I bought the bag from Shopbop while I was still a student and was working a bar job and had saved and saved and done my research to find what was the best deal on the bag at the time.

I wear a lot of black (who doesn’t?) and so the colour of the bag was critiqued a little by friends and family who told me it wouldn’t match and it would get dirty quickly,  but I felt it would not only stand out more from my darker toned outfits, but that it would also be a timeless piece.

It is quite slouchy and although there are a couple of more noticeable marks from the last few weeks on it now, I haven’t cleaned it once and get comments of how clean it looks still.

(I do have special cleaner ready and I’m planning on cleaning it soon now I have time!)

I love it a lot and highly recommend it.

Onto the contents!

First up we have the inevitable snack/sweets that get thrown in:

In my case that includes half a pack of cherry soothers, some bubblegum flavoured chewing gum, a small pack of jelly beans and a small mountain of mango boiled sweets given to me by my grandmother.

Next up is the selection of make up/beauty products that gather in the lost corners:

These include my NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu (which is the first lip gloss I've ever really liked, it's not sticky at all!) and a staple Vaseline pot. I also tend to throw my raspberry and pomegranate EOS lip balm in, as I find myself reaching for this over any other of my balms since I got it a couple of months ago.

I also recently picked up a Bourjois Queen Attitude Khol Kajal stick after hearing people rave about it but I find it's best to touch up any smudged eyeliner durng the day.

The Benefit PoreFessional and Clinique Even Better Eyes were thrown in the bag after a family member of my best friends offered them after purchasing and not really using them.

Also of course a nail file is needed for any on the go snags and tears.

Also, if there's anything my mother taught me, it's to always have a pen on you.

I've also got my Oyster card, being a Londoner, and I keep it in a freebie case I got while working for the O2 Academy in Birmingham.

The little random bits I throw in my bag tend to make up most the bulk.

First things first, let's all accept that there's a small trees worth of crumpled receipts inside most handbags.

Done?

Ok, good. Let's move on.

I received a sample of the Blooming Bouquet Miss Dior Eau de Toilette from What's in my Handbag and have been using it as something to freshen up during the day when my usual scene of Daisy (can you tell I really like Marc Jacobs?) is wearing off.

I enjoy this scent but can't see myself buying the full version.

Two bracelets I found (coincidentally, which I'd also been looking for) are a chain link hipflask one from ASOS and a rose gold and silver twist, which was a gift.

I also keep my Lon Lon Milk dustplug (from this seller on Etsy) with me at most times. However, this Disney princess watch/torch was something I picked up from a recent cinema trip with a friend.

My book of the moment is a Bukowski book which is a collection of many of his poems.

I find myself unable to focus much on long stories lately and looking more at poetry in general and am really enjoying this.

Although I have to admit it does make me feel very Tumblr approved.

The last few bits are earphones, hair pins, my umbrella and sunglasses.

My umbrella and sunglasses are always with me, I am prepared for any and all British weather.

If anyone's interested, my sunglasses are an aviator style from ASOS from about 3/4 years ago.

I believe the style might be called 'Kurt'? Otherwise I have no explanation as to why it says Kurt on the arms.

My last thing to mention is my purse, which is my Alexander Wang Prisma Biker Wallet.

This is a fairly recent purchase from earlier this year as I saw it and much preferred it to the longer style purses that are popular now.

I can easily fit all  I need and more into it and especially love the coin pouch.

I would have to say, however, that if you are someone accustomed to carrying round a lot of coins, I would not recommend this as it's difficult to close and could stretch and warp the leather finish.

What are your must haves for your bag?