Did You Know....?

Aloha Zoe-arinos,

As you may have guessed by my oh-so-cheesy greeting, this isn't Zoe. Hello, it's Louise here!

Zoe is having quite a challenging time at the moment, being poorly and just having a lot on her plate. Whilst on the phone earlier, she said that she was worrying about keeping her blog updated and talking to you lovely ladies (and men if you are reading).



I said, 'Zoe you ninconpoop! You just put fresh PJ's on, grab a hot chocolate and focus on feeling better, I will take care of Zoella". So here I am, hijacking her little slice of the web for a while- I do hope you don't mind.

I thought that since reviews are written from a personal perspective, and you have come here for Zoe's highly regarded opinions, that perhaps it might be better for me to do more of a fun post. I have decided to go wild, and share with you some fun memories that I have with my chummy and hope also that when Zoe reads them, she will chuckle to herself.



Did You Know.....?

That about 6 months ago, on the way back from an event, Zoe and I got the giggles on a late train so badly that we were given some killer evils from other (rather unfriendly) passengers? You know when you just want to explode with laughter but you cant, so instead you just go puce in colour, shake and make weird squeaks? Well imagine that, times ten, on a busy train of tired commuters. Eep!

That once whilst taking a big batch of OOTD pictures in the countryside together, Zoe decided I needed a belt to compliment my orange dress? I didn't have one so she offered me a lovely black number with gold horse embellishments. Well I don't know if you have noticed (if you have eyeballs then you will have), there is quite a size difference between Zoe and I. Somehow, managed to squeeze myself in to it, felt proud (and breathless), started climbing over a fence to reach a tractor (as you do) and PING! the belt literally burst off! There I was, in the middle of a field, straddling a fence, whilst Zoe scrabbled around the foliage trying to find her belt. It. Was. Hilarious!!

That on nights out with Zoe I loose all conversational skills? For my birthday this year we popped into town with Fleur for a few celebratory drinks. Naturally, as the birthday girl, I had let my hair down and was 'merry, so to speak. As we were leaving the bar, my friend Mark (from my Alton Towers vlog) walked in with some friends. He introduced them and said one of them was South African. I don't know what possessed me to do this, but VERY loudly I said, "Oh wow! You're South African?! Zoe's satnav has the same accent!" and smiled like an absolute loon. He was less than impressed, Zoe looked uncomfortable and I felt pprreeeeeeetttttyyyy stupid! Needless to say, we quickly skiddaddled home!


(This was after the belt up fence saga! Haha)

As you can see, we have an absolute hoot and these are just a couple of our funny little tales.

I really do hope that Zoe sees some sunnier days in the near future and that we can split our sides laughing again very, very soon.

If you have any well wishes or uplifting words for ZoeChummy, please do leave them in the comments, I am sure she'd be glad to read them. I know from personal experience what a wonderful and supportive community this can be and know you will all understand Zoe's absence today.

To Zoe :: You are very much loved and tomorrow will be better then yesterday. ♥ Also, don't be mad at me if I didn't format this the way you normally do! Hahaha ;)

Toodlepip!

xx

►

How I Deep Clean My Makeup Brushes

Cleaning your makeup brushes is one of those mundane tasks that we must all carry out (unless of course you like to spread bacteria across your face). You'd be surprised at how many people I come across who have used the same foundation brush for months or years and NEVER washed it. Sickening isn't it. For those of you who don't wash your brushes regularly, let me tell you exactly why it's a very good idea. When you apply foundation to your face, you are picking up bacteria from your skin, and it's then left to fester in the brush after use. The next time you go to use it, the same thing happens, except the bacteria that has festered from the time before, it now ALSO on your skin. It's a vicious circle, that I can assure you, will only ever cause you to break out in spots. Obviously eye brushes are a less of a problem, but it's still important to do a deep clean (as opposed to a spot clean - cleaning quickly with a makeup brush solution after each use) every few weeks, just to make sure they are bacteria free. I am lucky in the fact I have quite a lot of brushes, so after using one brush, I can then use a different one another day instead of having to be constantly deep cleaning brushes 24/7. If you have problem skin or acne, I'd definitely advise that you clean your brushes a little more than average person, you may notice an improvement. 

1. Lay out all your dirty brushes ready for cleaning to commence!
2. Dampen the brush slightly with lukewarm water.
3. Pump your cleaning product of choice (I often use a mild shampoo but at the moment I'm using a Dove hand wash because it leaves the brushes exceptionally soft, and I like to think that the anti bacterial properties of a hand wash are beneficial in cleaning away all the nastiness.)
4. Start swirling your brush around on the palm of your hand, occasionally adding a little bit of water to lather up the product and allow the brush to be thoroughly saturated. 
5. Squeeze out excess product and watch all the foundation drip away into the plug hole!
6. Repeat if necessary (stubborn dirt or a very dense brush)
7. Marvel your clean brush (yes, that's very important...)

*Also, try not to use too much water, we don't like to waste now do we! It must be a running tap though, as there is no point washing your brushes in a pool of cloudy, dirty water. Just make sure you are turning it off between steps and between brushes*  

I also just thought I would add a little memo about my favourite brushes as a little extra to this blogpost (I will do a separate in depth blog post). As you can see, the green Bdellium tools brushes feature heavily. These are by far my favourite brushes for applying foundation. In particular, I love to use the 957 from the Green Bamboo Foundation Brush Kit (Shown in the photos & sold on Louise and I's "Louella" shop - get yours HERE) and the 959 which is a rounded top brush. I actually own 3 of the 959 brushes...yes, THREE because I love them so much. (This brush can be found in the Green Bamboo Mineral Kit also available on "Louella" HERE). I can't recommend them highly enough, I absolutely love them. They buff foundation into the skin like a dream. 

Hope you found this blog post helpful! How many of you are now going to run and wash your brushes?

♥

►