What I have been upto...

Hello everyone!
So I haven't posted on this for a few months, So I thought i'd share a couple photo's of what I've been upto instead of posting!
These are a few images of the make-up and hair I've been planning, designing and creating for some college assessments over the last few months!
Enjoy!
To keep up to date with me, follow me on Twitter @AlexandraKing__  or follow me on Instagram to see the make-up and hair i've been doing recently @alexandraking__

Quick Message...

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good Christmas and new year!  Although i'm currently not posting on this at the moment (reasons in the post below); I have recently got Instagram again, so follow me on there to still keep updated with some beauty purchases of mine and my life in general!  
Instagram Name:  alexandraking__

Much Love!
Beautiful Illusion! xo

Fairwell for now...

So recently i'm sure many of my followers have realised I haven't posted anything in a while. My personal life seems to be taking over a lot, and college work is backing up, therefore i'm taking a break from blogging for a while.
There will be no new posts, but if comments are left I will still reply asap to any questions that need answering.
Very sorry to my followers and hopefully I will be back before you know it!
Hope everybody has a great Christmas!
xox

My current nail polish favourites!

 Recently I seem to be having a spending spree on nail polishes! I currently have 3 main favourites so thought I would share them with you all!   Some cheap, some pricey. I found the Chanel one lasts a very long time and does not chip easily, same for the Sally Hansen polish. I can't say the same for my other favourite, but I do love a good old Rimmel London Polish, and when I stumbled across this metallic silver beauty I just had to have it! If you want to know anything about the polishes, then just leave a comment and i'll reply asap!

- Rimmel London I <3 Lasting Finish  in the colour 239 YOUR MAJESTY

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in the colour 520 SHRIMPLY DEVINE

- Chanel Nail Colour in the colour 18 ROUGE NOIR.

This is my winter choice of nail colour. I love the warm spice colour it gives. Really reminds me of Christmas (i'm not sure why).

Lady Gaga Fame Perfume!

So first of all I want to say sorry for not having posted anything in a while! Been so busy with college etc. that I just haven't found the time to post much!
Anyways back to the main point of this post... I received my Glossy Box for this month a few weeks back and got a tester of Gaga's perfume.
I'm not going to lie... I am a big fan of Lady Gaga so I had been wanting to smell her perfume since it came out not so long ago! But I'm also aware that celebrities perfumes, well, they aren't the greatest to put it nicely. I find that usually they all smell very similar, the bottles they come in are very plain and simple, and frankly.. they don't even smell very appealing.
So I was taken to a surprise when I discovered the fact I loved the smell of Gaga's perfume and it was nothing like other typical celebrity perfumes! It's a strong scent and is what I would call a 'winter perfume'... to people who don't understand what I mean by that... it isn't overly floral, and it's a nice heavy scent.   So of course, I fell in love with this perfume instantly and was determined to save up my money( as I am skint recently ) to be able to buy it! Lucky for me, my adorable boyfriend bought me it as a surprise the other day, which I was soooo happy about! The actual perfume liquid is the first of its kind, as the liquid is black in the bottle, but when it hits air it becomes clear!
The bottle it comes in I find beautiful! I hate when I usually pay a lot of money for a perfume, and it comes in a plain simple bottle. I usually throw away the bottles from my perfumes once i'm done with them if they are simply designed, but this is one I shall be keeping as it looks so damn cool!   The bottle is what I would say is very 'typical' Gaga... by this I mean it represents her perfectly.
  It is definitely a perfume I recommend going and testing in Boots, Superdrug etc. It really has a beautiful scent to it!
One flaw I have to admit, is I've found it doesn't last very long on my skin. Which is a shame, but it still doesn't stop me loving it! Everybody has different skin though, so although it may not last long on mine, it could last all day long on someone else.

Marble Nails!

I'm always looking for new ways to 'jazz' up my nails. Marble nails is a technique I have attempted many times and never been able to master. But finally a few days ago, I managed to figure out how to do it properly and easily!  So I thought I would share ' the way of the marble nail' with you all.

 - You will need:
- Glass of water
- Cotton Buds
- Cotton Pads/Tissue
- Nail Polish Remover
- Chosen colours of nail polish

- Apply a light coloured base coat.

- Drop in one of the chosen colours of nail polish.












- Add different colours. Keep the drops of nail polish close together.










-Cut in half a cotton bud, and use the end without the cotton on, to pull the colours together and create a pattern of your personal choice. You can create so many different patterns with the polish, so just find a pattern which works for you!









- Slowly put your nail into the water. Place it on the area you want the pattern on your finger to be.

- Then take the other end of the cotton bud, and swirl in the water around your finger, to get rid of the excess nail polish.







- Remove the nail from the water slowly.


- Use the nail polish remover and cotton pads to remove the excess nail polish on the finger, then use a cotton bud, to remove the nail polish closer to the nail so you get a clean finish.








- Clean the edges up as much as you can, then apply a clear top coat to protect the nail polish from chipping easily.

- Repeat the process for all nails, or only do one nail as a 'statement nail'.  You can use lots of different colours, but I chose only 2 colours so it was a subtle effect.




Hope this has helped anyone wanting to achieve the Marble Nails look. If you have any questions, or need any advice, then leave a comment below and I will reply as soon as possible! 

Leopard Look!

                                                       


 So at the weekend I was heading to a fancy dress party. I didn't have much money to be able to spend on a great costume, so I knew I had to do something good with my make-up. On the night of the party, I didn't have as much time as i'd of hoped to get ready so I had to whip up something quick and simple. So here it is.... 

 I planned on doing the designs on the sides of my face. I applied my usual plain make-up to begin with( foundation,mascara etc.). Pin back your hair so it doesn't stick to the design you are about to do.

 I then took a bronzer to add depth to the design.
Here I used Laura Geller Balance N Brighten.

I applied the bronzer to the outside of my face and down to my neck. This is a guideline as to where you want your print going.
















Take any colour you wish to use.. I chose pink as it went with my lilac/pink hair well.  I used a Rimmel London pink lipstick.  Make lots of different size and shape circles from your forhead down to your cheek bone, then down to your neck. Make sure they all have some space between them.

Take a black eyeliner. I found Gel liner was the best to use. Here I used Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink. Take a medium sized brush and apply a tick amount to the brush.

Roughly go around the shapes you have done. Making it rough gives the effect of there actually being fur.















Continue the same technique down the face. and add some black rough lines in between some of the coloured print.

Take the black liner and create a small winged line on the outer corner of the eye. Then take a black pencil liner and fill inside the water line and make a small subtle point on the inner corner.















Do the same to the other side of the face. They don't have to match at all.. that's what makes it so easy and quick!

Below are a few camera phone quality photos of both the sides complete. Hope this helps anyone attending a fancy dress party soon or just wanting to try it out for fun! If you have any questions then feel free to leave a comment and i'll reply as soon as possible! 

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

So the other day I received my GlossyBox, and was very excited to try out this Deep Cleansing Oil by DHC. My skin type i'd say is normal/dry, so oil cleansers help my skin a lot and prevents it from drying up!  Even after the first use I could feel the difference in my skin! It was so clean and soft. I love products that even after the first use, you can feel the difference its made, and you know it's working/worked.  It is so easy and quick to use, and that's a key factor for me when choosing a new skincare product. I don't occasionally have 10-15 mins to be waiting around for one product to work, so I look for products which are fast and effective- which this is.
It took my make-up off perfectly, and this is a good thing coming from me as I usually prefer make-up wipes to remove my make-up.   I will definitely be purchasing this in the full size bottle which retails at various different prices for the sizes available- the cheapest one is 30ml and this costs £3.50 but for the largest bottle which is 200ml it costs £18.50. I received the 30ml product, which I think is a great size for if your trying out the product, and isn't pricey at all. A little goes a long way with this product. I've used it a good few times now, and it still looks like there is a full bottle!
 I hadn't previously heard of the DHC brand at all but I have to admitt, i'm very impressed with their product!  

If you want to take a look at this product then visit the DHC website.. www.dhcuk.co.uk  ( This is the UK website, but there is also a website available for America and Canada )



If you want to check out GlossyBox and what it's all about, then click the link... www.glossybox.co.uk

Any questions? Leave a comment below and I'll reply as soon as possible :)

How to stud a leather jacket! ( The simple way )

After a while of searching shops and the internet, I finally found a leather jacket which I love, and wasn't £100+. I paid £52 ( including p+p ). It is a soft leather, which was what I was looking for, as in the summer I wanted to still be able to wear it without sweating buckets! ( Then again, not like England is having a summer this year ). I got mine from Very.co.uk- I had some troubles at first with the item being delivered, but after the problems were solved it came straight away.  Once it arrived I knew I just had to add some studs to it! Not many, as I didn't want it to look overkill. But just a few to make it my own piece. I had some left over studs/spikes left from when I did my shoes, So I figured i'd use them. If you have any questions just leave a comment below!



This is the jacket as it came. It has the nice outward collar, and some quilting on the shoulders. I decided to add 1 single stud to each side of the collar, on the top section where I felt it was a bit plain.













I used the same technique I did with my studded shoes ( if you are not aware of what technique this is, scroll down and you will see my customising using studs post ). So I got sharp scissors (Mine are designed for hairdressing) and gently pushed and twisted it through the leather in the designated area I wanted the stud. Make sure you don't make the hole too big!!











Then I pushed through the base screw carefully so I didn't rip any of the material.

















And then simply screwed on the top of my stud tightly so it was secure.














Here it is! It isn't a lot, I know. But I felt it added a bit of personal touch to the jacket.

If you have any questions about the jacket, where I got it from, or if you want to know how to do this with a different type of stud/spike, then just leave a comment and I shall reply as soon as possible!

How I dye my roots!

Lilac/Silver/blonde hair is a nightmare to keep looking good- the biggest problem? Roots. Although my hair is a medium/dark blonde naturally, it is still VERY obvious when my roots come through. I touch them up once a month. I haven't quite found a dye which doesn't leave my roots orange... until now.  I picked up Garnier Nutrisse Truly Blonde Pre-Lightener from a local shop, and it worked great!  I have used this product before on my already dyed hair, and it didn't work so well. But if you use it on 'Virgin Hair', it will lighten it perfectly! My roots were left a yellow colour after, so I then used Touch Of Silver Twice A Week Brightening Shampoo, and left that on for an hour, which toned the yellow out of it. Then I re-did the lilac on my hair after as usual.  Obviously the dyes I use on my hair, may not work as well for others, its just trial and error for what works for your hair and what doesn't. But I do recommend giving this product a go if your doing roots... not so much to strip colour out of your hair though!  

- My very attractive roots after a month. The yellow ginger colour on the outter bits are the dye I tried to use last time to lighten them... it didn't work so good.

- The box dye!

- Colour chart on the side of the box!

















I left the dye on for the maximum time suggested: 45 mins. This lightened them as much as I needed to be able to tone the yellow out.

And this is the finished result! No awful roots showing anymore! Like I said I toned the roots after I had washed the dye off. Even though I re-applied my lilac colour, you can still see the massive difference in my roots from the first photo!












If you have any questions, leave a comment and I shall reply as soon as I can! :)