Sunday 24 June 2012

Make-up!

Hey beautifuls!
How are you all?

So I got a topic requested about one of my favourite and one of my most hated things! MAKE-UP! I am a fan of make-up but sometimes I wish it was never ever invented! On this blog I'm just going to give you a few tips on make-up and how to apply it-again this is my personal view so if you don't want to or don't feel like this is right for you, then that's fine! =)

First, before you even go near make-up there is a few things you need to do to first!

1. Cleaning your skin properly! Do not use bar-soap on your face! It's like the worst thing ever, it clogs up your pores and strips away your natural skin oils, it also leaves your skin feeling itchy/extremely dry/tight. Use a cleanser to clean your skin, I personally use Simple Skin Cleanser because it is inexpensive and very very affective! (Mine cost me£2.50 in UK money!) If you don't feel like using the Cleanser which works better if you apply it with cotton wool, then Skin Cleanser Wipes are just as affective! I personally use them in the mornings when I wake up to get rid of the collective oils that made it's way on my skin overnight, this also restores your natural oils and not forgetting, makes you feel fresher! =)
2. Tone! Toner cleanses the skin and it shrinks the appearance of pores! I sware by toner, again the one I use is by Simple. Simple products are used for sensitive skins and yes, I have extremely sensitive skin! Toner can be applied by using Cotton wool or you can buy one as a spray too!
3. Moisturise! After the first two steps apply your moisturiser, I use No 7 moisturiser which is very light and I only need one squirt and it covers my whole face. Moisturiser will give you a soft and easy surface to apply your makeup too.

I also exfoliate twice a week and apply a facial mask once every two weeks. My favourite is the chocolate face mask, because one it's good for your skin and two, it's eatable! =)

So, I started wearing make-up when I was in my first year of high school. I began wearing a light tinted moisturiser but when I saw the girls in my class wearing a lot more than I was, I decided to up my game and start wearing proper foundation from the local drugstore. I usually got up an hour before I left for school to get myself ready but when I was wearing makeup, I was getting up at least two hours before. I started wearing foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss and blusher every single day. My skin was becoming so bad that I began wearing more because I was insecure.

Eventually, in the second year of high school, I had a wake up call when Carter told me he was fed up of me wearing makeup. He said he was making me stop wearing it but at least for me to tone it down and so I did. I began losing the heavy makeup and stuck to my tinted moisturiser, however my skin had lasting damage. My pores got huge, they clogged and caused very unattractive blackheads, I began breaking out with pimples and my skins was becoming very oily.
I would recommend girls under the age of 15 to wear tinted moisturiser and girls older to wear a very light amount of foundation. During hot days and when I'm on a holiday abroad, I use my tinted moisturiser but during the winter when my nose and cheeks go red very easily, I use my Max Factor foundation along with my Max Factor concealer. On days when I don't want to put on makeup but I still need to go out I would use my cheap drugstore makeup which costs me no more than £6 (UK currency), only a light amount though!

I have different makeup for different occasions! Everyday makeup and special occasion makeup. For a night out, I would use a little more makeup that I do on a everyday basis, I would firstly do my concealer, my foundation, my press powder, my blusher or bronzer, possibly an eyeliner, some eyeshadow and mascara. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? All my makeup however are very light!

I also have different makeup brushes to go with my makeup, one is my foundation brush which I use for my every day tinted moisturiser and my second makeup brush is my MAC Flat-Top brush which is for my foundation. I didn't realise how amazing a brush could make such a difference! Flat-top brushes are amazing to create a flawless, even foundation! Please please please make sure that you clean your brushes thoroughly, at least once a week but if you use more than one foundation, please clean your brushes before applying the other foundation. By not cleaning your brushes or sponges, it will gather bacteria, dirt and old oils which will transfer back onto your skin and create blemishes, zits, pimples and clog your pores!

I would suggest for those to start of with a cheap foundation first, you don't want to spend like 20 or 30 pounds (or Dollars!) on a foundation which may break you out, be the wrong shade, cause irration or be to sticky. I would advise you all not to go over the top on you're makeup, you may think you look pretty or you may think that this is the only way to impress someone but can I say something? Wearing a face full of makeup is one of the worst turn offs ever! I've got plenty guy friends, I've got brothers, I've got male cousins and every one of them say the exact same thing.

"We prefer natural girls"

I was previously watching 'Toddlers and Tiaras' and I was shocked at how the parents could plaster their kids as young as 2 in makeup, fake tan and fake hair! I'm sorry but I don't like how a parent could do that to their child, especially at 2 years of age! A child is beautiful no matter what age!

In my eyes, girls shouldn't wear makeup until they are at least 14+. I have friends now who are 17/18 and even 20 who still don't wear makeup and magically look like they are amazing!
So, I hope this blog helps you girls with makeup problems. Please if you want to know more, comment and i'll put up a makeup NO 2 post! =) Again, I love how you girls ask me about these stuff so please keep commenting or whatever to let me know what to do next! (beauty tips, health + fitness etc) I'll be happy to cover!

Stay Beautiful!
-Katieleigh (and baby Brown!);; xoox

Sunday 17 June 2012

Animals/pets!

Hi beautifuls! How are you all?

So, I'm currently lying with Carter watching My Sister's Keeper and already and becoming emotional! So, I decided to post to save me from blubbering like a baby!

I was asked to do a post on my favourite animals or my pets, so I combined the two together and done one post.. I've been getting asked about my pets since I've been posting pictures on my instagram of them! (view my pictures here - http://statigr.am/katiebryee )
one is a light furred

I have two Chihuahua's, both short haired. Star is my oldest, she is a year and a half and creamed furred. Angel is my youngest, she is four months and she's black furred. They are both rescue dogs.

Carter actually rescued Angel for me from a agressive dog-handler who was putting her in a cage with a male Pitbull breed and letting him fight her. When he brought her home, I cried because she had hardly and fur and the scars were noticeable, she shook every time someone went near her but now she's mostly scared of males other than Carter, my brothers, Carter's brother + father. She hasn't met my dad yet, that day is still to come! She came home when she was 6 weeks.

Star was rescued from a dog pound called Assis Center. She was brought in along with six other chihuahua's who were found in a shoe box that was ditched at the side of a very very busy road. When Carter and I went to see the pups, Star was the only one left without a family and once I saw her, I just knew that I had to take her home! And after four weeks, she was able to come home! She came home when she was 8 weeks. 

Carter has two dogs too, a little Cocker Spaniel called Jemi and a Shih Tzu called Suzi. He said they aren't very masculine dogs but he too rescued them both. Suzi had pups around the same time we brought Star home, they are amazingly adorable!

I still want to rescue more dogs but I gotta wait until I move out, I think my mom would faint if I was to bring more dogs home!

Anyway, my favourite animal has to be dogs (duh!) but I love all animals, I'm possibly the biggest animal lover ever! All my past pets have been rescues from animal shelters from my dogs, to my rabbits!

So that's just covering a small topic I was asked to do via email. (remember the contact links are in the 'about me' section at the side!) I really want to keep posting so continue sending your topics in! I've said it before, I'll say it again- I cover ANYTHING! Whether that being health, fashion, beauty tips, etc, I don't care just keep commenting/tweeting/mailing, whatever you choose!

Stay beautiful!
-Katieleigh (and baby Brown!)xoox

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Friendships

Hello beautifuls!
How are you all?

So as promised, I'm posting another blog which was requested and it's about friendships.

There is a saying which is 'As you get older, you can count your friends on one hand' and in my eyes, that is a very true saying. I have lots of people who I would count as my friends but only a few that I would count as my true friends and that's not including Carter. I used to have loads of friends who I thought were my best friends for life, until suddenly they started slipping away for a lot of reasons.

In 2010, I got into a fight with one of my closest (ex-) best friends. She fell into the wrong crowd in school, she began leaking secrets that I had told her in trust, she began making rumours up about me and Carter, telling everyone that I was cheating on Carter, fell pregnant then flew to Canada to have a secret abortion. I was distraught and kept questioning myself on what I done to deserve this. Carter will back me up on this, he would tell you that I locked myself in my room day-after-day, sobbing to myself. Thankfully I had him to give me the strength I needed to face everyone in school.

To make a long story short, everyone in the school found out that the rumours weren't true and turned their backs on her. Everything she said after that, nobody believed her. After that incident, if I was making new friends, I was sure not to let them know any big secrets until I was sure that I could trust them..

All I can really say on how to either get a friendship back is apologise, even if it isn't your fault because it will prove you're the bigger person. Take five minutes of each others time to talk about the situation that caused you both to fall out, talk about calmly and resolve the problem.

Things take time, including gaining trust back even if you have known the other person for years.  Don't rush things, don't pressure the other person into being your BFF immediately 'cause that probably won't happen and might even put the other person of being friends with you again.

So, I really hope this helped whoever requested! I'm loving the fact you're all requesting me to cover topics! I'm having so much fun! =) keep leaving comments and giving me more topics to cover and I'll update again soon!

Stay Beautiful!
-Katieleigh (and baby Brown!); xoox

Monday 11 June 2012

Love, Sex and Magic!

Hello Beautifuls!
How are you all?

I'm so sorry for not posting yesterday, I haven't been feeling to good lately with pregnancy sickness and I've been swamped with work for college too, am I the only one who wants to rip up their work sometimes?

Anyhow, I got asked to cover a topic about something that most people find awkward or they try to avoid talking about it all together but I like talking about it (not in a creepy way) and actually don't mind bringing it up!

That topic is sex.

Sex is such a magical thing! It brings couples closer together and it combines to people together in a bubble of love and passion. Sex is a way of expressing your love for the other person, it's a way of sharing the desire for your partner but it is also a frightening experience- Believe me, I have been there!

I understand that people don't necessarily keep their virginity for someone they love, or they don't always have sex with people they love but personally; I think that sex should be saved for someone you love and only someone you love. I don't believe in one night stands, I don't believe on having sex for 'fun', I don't believe in having multiple sexual partners, nor do I believe on having sex with anyone. I believe that if you are in a relationship with someone who you love, then you have sex with them and only them, if you're not in a relationship then you don't have sex. Then again, that's just me.

I made the choice to have sex with Carter last year, I was sixteen and knew that it was time to take that huge step and truly commit myself to him. So after weeks of preparing myself, building the courage and even talking to Carter about it, we finally decided that we would take that step. Carter was very very supportive of my decision, he to was a virgin but didn't care about himself, he wanted to make sure that I was okay and that I was 100% sure about this. Whenever the time came, Carter went all out and decorated his bedroom to make it romantic by scattering my favourite pink rose petals over the bed and putting quiet music on in the background.

There is a lot of tales about having sex for the first time. People say that it hurts, people say that the pain is so unbearable that they needed to stop but for me, I felt no pain. Not one bit. Altho, I will admit that the morning after, I did feel slight pain but not to much- It felt like there was a constant pressure on my lower area from where my muscles where stretched, it stung a little when I used the bathroom and I did feel like I was walking like a penguin, however after a day or two the feelings disappeared!

If I was to give advice to people about sex it would be;

1. Don't stress about it too much! By stressing, it makes your muscles tense which will cause you even more pain when it comes to sexual intercourse.
2. Make sure that you want this, don't feel pressured into having sex because your friends are doing it or because you are getting teased about still being a virgin.
3. USE PROTECTION! Not only does this protect you from unwanted pregnancies but it protects you from horrible diseases like STD's, Chlamydia, Herpes, etc. which are very common.

So! Another blog done and dusted! Thank you for suggesting to me to cover this topic, some of you may feel awkward reading it but I don't mind writing about anything like this! Again, please please please suggest more topics for me to write about!

There will be another post updated tomorrow so keep tuned for that too!

Stay Beautiful!
-Katieleigh (and baby Brown!);; xoox

Sunday 3 June 2012

My hometown! =)

Hello beautifuls!
How are you all?

So today (or rather tonight for me!) I decided to cover a requested topic about my hometown. I've received emails, tweets and even a comment on one of my past blogs about how I moved from Canada to the UK and there was some confusion on how I met Carter when I was 12 and I never moved to the UK until I was 14 so I want to clear all this up!

I am Canadian, originally from Stratford Ontario! And no I wasn't BFF's with Justin Bieber nor do I know where he lives.

When I was 12, my mom's cousin who is my second cousin was starting up his photography business and wanted me to take part in a photo shoot with my DJ equipment. My mom and I flew over to the UK where I done an amazing photo shoot (thanks Alex!). Soon my cousin's business took of immensely and one of the picture of me and my DJ equipment was printed on his cards, he was getting a lot of questions about this picture and who I was.

However my closest cousin was very much into singing and was apart of a drama/dance/singing company. She was asked by a music producer to come into the studio and sing, of course she wanted to sing her own songs but needed a track- and that's where I came in! From that day, I became her personal DJ and I met Carter a few weeks later.

My mom flew back to Canada while I stayed with my aunt and uncle. I flew back to Canada after three months of living the British life and knew I wanted to move here so my parents came to the decision that my mom would fly back to the UK with me to house-hunt then return to Canada for our things while I flew back and forth for two years (every four months I returned).

While I still lived in Stratford, I did pass the Avon Theatre like every day. I did walk pass a few days where a little boy sat busking on the steps with a guitar that was almost bigger than him! I don't like talking about meeting Justin Bieber before he was famous 'cause people tend to think I'm either lying for attention OR attention seaking which I'm not.

But yes I did meet Justin Bieber before his was famous, he was so so sweet and cute and funny too! And he was so grateful for the people who put money into his guitar case, a guy put like $20 in and he like totally paused his singing to thank him, each person after that who would put money in, he would change the lyrics in the song to say thank-you while still singing.

So yeah.. alittle about my hometown which I deeply miss and hope to return in a few months while I can still travel on a plane!

I hope to have more topics to cover, and I'll say it again, I don't care what you want me to talk about it can be ANYTHING (boys, friendship, trust issues, sex, even menstral cycles, I don't get embarrassed about anything now so ask away and I'll cover them all!) If I do get people asking for me to cover anything, I will probably post sooner than Sunday so just be aware of that=)

Contact info is going to be listed in the 'About Me' box! =)

Stay Beautiful!
-Katieleigh (and baby Brown!); xoo

Friday 1 June 2012

Tattoo's!

Hello beautiful people!
How are you all?

So I was meaning to post this blog earlier but I got so side-tracked, I forgot! I have recently just became yet another auntie to a beautiful baby girl called Grace (Carter's sister's baby girl) and I attended a wedding yesterday too with Carter, I designed the bride's shoes! (which you can find on my instagram!), my cousin's birthday was yesterday too and my other cousin's birthday is today!  So anyway, I was quiet busy=)

So I was requested to blog about my tattoo's (which I love) and thot that it was a really great topic to talk about! =)

Some of you may know that I have...a few tattoo's (seven in total!) so I'll list them and give you the meaning because most people don't know why and just judge me on having tattoo's for fun which isn't true! All my tattoo's have a special meaning (to me anyway!)

1.  Left wrist - Treble Clef inside a heart - expressing my passion for music.
2.  Back of my neck - Butterfly (purple and pink) with three falling red hearts - the butterfly is a sign of freedom, the three falling stars stand for 'I love you' for my family and Carter and now my baby.
3. Right foot - a star design - because everyone in my life are stars. Family members + friends who have past who are also my stars looking down on me from heaven.
4. Thumb - the design something similar to Rihanna's - Both me and my sister have it, it has a hidden chinese symbol which stands for 'Sister'.
5. Ribcage - quote saying 'never follow others footsteps, create your own path' - Learning from very bad mistakes in my past which I followed others because I wanted to be 'popular' or 'cool'. The decision was wrong so now I don't follow others, I follow my heart and create my own way thru life.
6. Hip Bone - quote saying 'walk in someone's shoes before judging them' - I think everyone has done this including me which is why I got this tattoo'd on my body, to remind myself not to judge a person if I don't know them or their story.

and my new tattoo!

7. Index finger - small infinity sign - Carter and I both got one for our love, our love for our child and our love for our families.

So that's all my tattoo's plus their meanings=) I hope this was slightly intresting? I'm not too sure but my next blog will be posted on Sunday, there might be two posts since I was requested to do two other topics! So yeahh.. look out for that! =)

Keep requesting guys! I'm having too much fun keeping you all updated on my life!

Stay beautiful!
-Katieleigh; xoo