90th Oscars - Best Dressed

It's currently 1 AM (although this is going up the day after the Oscars) and I am so over-whelmed with all of the dazzling and magnificent dresses and gowns worn by all of the brilliant women at the Oscars. They've just kicked off and I couldn't not write this right this second. I'm too inspired by all the pretty dresses and women. 

I have a lot of names I have to mention in this list. Nearly 20. I couldn't narrow it down even if I really tried, I'm so blown away by the beauty on the red carpet. I will say that these are in no particular order, but I do have some real favourites that really stand out to me.

Lupita Nyong'o in Versace 

  

 

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

How gorgeous does Lupita Nyong'o look in this metallic gold, Versace dress? Although it's border-line costume to me, it still allows her to stand out and be elegant. Matched with neutral looking make up and a plain gold clutch, Lupita is working this dress and I think she looks absolutely breath-taking.

Viola Davis in Michael Kors

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Pretty in pink. Viola looks amazing in this Michael Kors gown. The hot pink colour works so well with her skin tone. The subtle shimmer on the gown gives it an edge without being too in your face. She looks like a beautiful vision, I absolutely love it.

Gina Rodriguez in Zuhair Murad Couture

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

This splendid Zuhair Murad gown totally flatters Gina Rodriguez; with the deep V neck and the stunning pastel pink colouring. Paired with her sleek ponytail, she looks incredibly elegant. 

Eiza Gonzalez in Ralph Lauren

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

With a bright pop of yellow the 'Baby Driver' actress really made an entrance. I think yellow is a really hard colour to pull off, but Eiza has managed to do just that. The simple, elegant gown looks unbelievable on her. 

Margot Robbie in Chanel Haute Couture

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

When I first saw this gown I wasn't a fan. But the more I looked at it the more I like it. Plain and simple dresses seem to be a theme this year, and I'm not complaining! Mrs Robbie is a vision in white. Her short blonde bob compliments this Chanel gown perfectly. The diamonds across the top brighten this dress up and give a bit of sparkle; it definitely wouldn't be the same with it. The best actress nominee turned it out. 

Jennifer Garner in Versace

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Jennifer Garner looks stunning in this royal blue Versace gown. The colour and long train really make a statement. Her long brunette hair in the side parting allows her to show off that lovely centre strap and neckline. Jennifer is really glowing! Beautiful.

Salma Hayek in Custom Gucci

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I love, love, love this dress. They style, colour, layering, everything! Salma looks striking (she always does though), hair pinned back with two curls framing her face. The Gothic make up: dark lips and eyes. She looks so glorious, I want this dress for myself. Gucci is my favourite brand, and this dress for sure shows why I love them so much!

Andra Day in Zac Posen

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How powerful is this image? That gown and that pose! Andra is a beauty in this unusual Zac Posen gown. The vintage looking fabric gives this dress a lot of character, and the French Renaissance looking silhouette is so quirky. I love this gown and I think Andra looks incredible.

Allison Janney in Reem Acra

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This gorgeous, plain, red gown looks fabulous on Allison Janney. The tight fit shows off her incredible figure which is so flattering on her. The long sleeves give the dress some dimension and layering. Allison looks so elegant in this gown paired with her sleep bun, natural make up and lovely pearl necklace. 

Helen Mirren in Reem Acra

 Photo courtesy of Getty Images

 Also in a Reem Acra gown, Helen Mirren also displays an astounding elegance. The very simple, form fitting gown gives Helen a lovely silhouette. Matched with a statement necklace, and Mirrens grey bob in a side parting.  

Abbie Cornish in Elie Saab Couture

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Abbie Cornish looks so spectacular in this stunning gown from Elie Saab. This is one of my favourite looks of the night. I can't stop staring at it! The silver draping all over the dress gives it a vintage feel, and I'm all about vintage dresses. The deep V neck and the peek-a-boo shoulders are an elegant touch. She is glowing and looks exquisite. I love!

Zoey Deutch in Elie Saab Couture

 Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Shock! Another Elie Saab gown I absolutely adore! This dress is the stuff of dreams. I love everything about this gown, I can't fault it at all. The colour is so gorgeous. Layering on the skirt gives it huge 20's vibes, so I am absolutely LIVING for this dress. Zoey looks incredibly classy with her long hair in loose waves and pinned behind her ear on one side. I'm welling up looking at this dress. It's for sure my all time favourite dress of the night.

Gal Gadot in Givenchy

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Just like Lupita, Gal is a shiny, metallic vision. This spaghetti strap, deep V gown looks incredible on her. Again, I'm getting 20's vibes with the slip dress style, gradient colour, tasselled skirt and long diamond necklace. It's stunning. 

Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Emma Stone never fails to deliver on the red carpet and tonight was no exception. This wonderful satin blazer and trouser combo from Louis Vuitton is astonishing. Emma, herself looks gorgeous with neutral make up and pin-straight hair; keeping it simple. I love a good suit, and the red blazer with the pink sash is a great touch. Emma looks sublime.

Emily Blunt in Schiaparelli

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

I physically gasped when I saw this gown. Emily Blunt looks so marvellous in this baby blue gown. The design going around her waist then up to her neck is wonderful. I'm not normally a fan of anything that accentuates shoulders, but I think it works fantastically on this gown. 

Taraji P. Henson in Vera Wang

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

How ravishing does Taraji look this is cut-out chiffon gown by Vera Wang? Its simple but with character. The slit up the skirt, the bare shoulders and arms and cut-out in the mid section really makes this dress a show-stopper. 

I have been so impressed with all the stars this year, and their fashion choices. I already know I'm going to be looking at some of these gowns for the next million years wondering if I'll ever get to wear something a beautiful. Probably not. Oh well... Until next year!

Thanks for reading, and let me know your choice best dressed at this years Oscars. 

Bx

Photos courtesy of:

http://ew.com/awards/2018/02/27/when-are-the-oscars-2018/

How to deal with pale skin (and my favourite cruelty free make up products)

Having pale skin can be a real pain in the butt. I have to protect my skin from the sun every single time I go out no matter what the weather. Tanning? Forget it. I tend to avoid the sun as much as possible to be honest. The other struggle is finding make up products that don't make you look like you've just dipped your face in mud.

If you knew me in secondary school then you can vouch for how bad my make up was. I was constantly sporting that horrible orange line on my neck. The trouble wasn't that I didn't know how to apply make up, because I did, there was just never any products available for skin as pale as me. Granted there is a lot more now, which is brilliant, but when I was growing up there was no Fenty Beauty or Kat Von D foundations.

Looking after my skin is a full time job. If you haven't read my Skin Care Routine post yet then I recommend reading that just to get an understanding of what I go through every day looking after my skin. As someone with acne prone skin I always wanted a high coverage foundation or concealer to hide my pimples and also my freckles (I love freckles now but I don't have any anymore!), but alas, none were available.

Working with make up has given me a great opportunity to explore different brands and products to find out which ones work best for me and my (nearly) translucent skin. The best drug store brand I've found that caters to pale skin is GOSH cosmetics. They have lots of different base products in shades perfect for pale to medium skin. From their powers to their liquid foundations I've found something that works for me. I currently just use the GOSH cosmetics CCC stick in light 003 and the GOSH mineral full coverage foundation powder in Ivory 002. These two products alone provide me with great coverage and they're the perfect match for my white skin.

Quite a few brands now do lightening and darkening drops to mix in with foundations to alter the shade. My favourite are the MUA cool lightening drops. They work really well with my cool skin tone without making my product too yellow.

Although there are a lot more products for pale skin now than there was about 5 years ago it can still be hard to find shades that suit you right. This works for dark skin too. It's just as hard, if not harder to find shades to dark-very dark skin. But I think that now the make up industry is taking steps in the right direction, so I think we can expect to find more variety and choice when it comes to cosmetics. And honestly, black-owned make up brands are taking the industry by storm and creating all these beautiful, diverse products; so that is something really exciting to look forward to!

Thank you for reading

Bx

Photos from superdrug.com

How I got my dry/damaged hair healthy again!!

I am a serial hair dyer. I've always had a funny relationship with my hair. I'm a natural ginger although I've had pretty much every hair colour. I was bullied a lot when I was younger for having ginger hair, I even got attacked on the way home from school when I was 11. I know, so pathetic. Anyway, after that incident I really really wanted to dye my hair, my Mum finally caved and since then my hair has been to Hell and back. 

I went so long just dying my hair red, purple, brown and black, and it wasn't until about 18 months ago I actually decided to go blonde. I did it myself which was my first mistake. Putting shop-bought bleach on dark brown dyed hair is never going to work. My hair turned this bright orange with dark patches everywhere. Then I made my second mistake, bleaching it again! Putting bleach on already bleached hair is probably the worst thing you can do to your hair. My hair went so dry. I decided not to cut the dead ends off my hair; mistake number three!

You'd think I would've learned my lesson. Nope! My hair was so abused for so long, it was in such bad condition. I ended up having to cut my mid-length hair up in to a chin-length bob. I wasn't too fussed about that. But... I still didn't learn! I decided to bleach my hair again. So stupid. My hair basically turned to mush so I had to have even more cut off, but even after so much hair being removed my hair was so dry. 

So this is how I got my hair from horrible, dry straw to soft and healthy:

I used a lot of products for this. But I think the main reason my hair is so much better now is because I only wash it once a week, if it's lucky, I can go longer. This allows my hair to soak in its natural oils to add a bit more moisture to it. This also helps if you have greasy hair, or it gets greasy really easy because your scalp releases oils and if they're not removed your skin will eventually stop producing so much.

I also used a lot of coconut oil with Aloe Vera (not sure if it did anything really) as a hair mask. Sometimes I'd leave it on overnight otherwise I'd leave it on for an hour or two. It made my hair smell so so good, and it was super soft although I didn't really notice a difference in the texture of my hair; there may have been a small improvement.

Then, about 6 months ago I was browsing the Superdrug website and decided to have a look at the Black hair care section because I know that the texture of African/Black hair is different to my hair; it's dryer and doesn't take in moisture as well so it needs heavy duty hair moisturisers. There I found out that Almond oil is amazing on dry hair, and I also found coconut and manuka honey protein masks by Palmer's.

These products work heavenly. After one use of the almond oil and half a pack of the coconut protein mask mixed with Shea Moisture's black castor oil hair mask my hair was so soft and smooth. My hair just soaked up all the products because it was so dry but the end result was amazing. I now use this mask a couple times a month just to keep my hair moisturised.

I highly recommend these products as they have seriously done some magic to my hair. I'm so glad I found them. They can all be found on the Superdrug website and are reasonably priced. The black castor oil mask is more on the pricey side but you get such a huge tub (I've barely used any) and it works like a dream so I really believe that it's worth the money. In fact they're all on offer on the website currently (1/1/18)

Thank you for reading!
Bx

Skin care routine! - Lots of Body Shop products

I have recently changed up my skin care routine because my acne decided to make this huge comeback and attack my face. My routine depends on a lots of things like if I'm wearing make up or whether it's morning or evening, either way I use most of the same products. 

No matter what I use the Body Shop Aloe Vera Toner to clean my face of any oils (my face is so incredibly oily) and get a good base for make up if I decide to wear any that day. I also use Witch Hazel across my T-Zone and down to my chin, mostly where my acne is most prominent and also where my pores are huge. I use this to just help clean up any dirt or oil that's trapped in my pores. I also think, I don't know if I'm just making this up, the Witch Hazel helps minimise my pores so my make up doesn't sink in to them. After I've cleaned my face I simply moisturise with the Superdrug Vitamin E SPF 15 face moisturiser then add Solait Anti-Ageing Face Fluid SPF 30 to give my skin extra protection against the sun. That is it for my morning routine, I try to keep it as minimal as possible so my skin is able to breathe. I then go ahead and apply my make up as usual for the day.

If I've been wearing make up I use the Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil to remove all my make up. I love this product as it gets rid of really stubborn make up like waterproof mascara. It also leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft. I have also noticed since I've been using the Oil the redness in my skin has really toned down, its not as prominent as it once was. I haven't used this product throughout Winter yet when my skin obviously gets a lot more sensitive so I'm going to continue to use it and I'll let you all know how it goes throughout November and December. Once I've used the Skin Therapy Oil and I've removed most of my make up, I use the Body Shop Aloe Vera Cleanser, as you can probably tell I am in love with Body Shop products. I love what they stand for and I've definitely invested more in their products since they announced they were leaving their parent company to because a completely cruelty-free brand. That's so important to me as I only use cruelty-free products. It also helps that their products are amazing too! The cleanser really helps with my sensitive skin (I'm allergic to a lot of skin care products) as it doesn't cause any redness in my skin whatsoever. Its a thick creamy formula that cools my skin when I use it. Once I've run that over my skin I can clearly see that it has removed even more make up I missed the first time with the Oil. Once again after using the Cleanser I go back to use the Aloe Vera Toner I used in the morning to remove any Oil left over and also to triple check all my make up has been removed, usually by then it has been. I swipe Witch Hazel over my T-Zone and chin again to try and prevent any more break-outs. Once I've done this, if I have any pimples already, I use a small amount of Tea Tree Oil on a cotton bud on these spots. The Tea Tree Oil helps heal up these imperfections when I'm sleeping and I always wake up to either no pimples or very very faint/small pimples. Its a Godsend, really. Finally, I apply Superdrugs' Vitamin E Night Cream to just give my skin a bit of moisture after the amount of cleaning I've just done on my skin.

If I've not been wearing any make up I do exactly what I did in the morning with the added extra of using Tea Tree Oil on any imperfections I have. I may also use a 99.9% Aloe Vera Gel which also helps soothe and cool my skin after all the scrubbing I've been doing to it.

A couple times a week in the shower I use the Body Shop Seaweed Face Wash for oily/combination skin. This helps to balance the oil I produce and I've honestly noticed a huge difference. My skin is nowhere near as oily as it was a few months ago. It's a lot easier to maintain and I've noticed it when I wear Make up too. My make up stays put all day, even around my problem areas like my nose and chin. I cannot recommend Body Shop products more! They have loads of different products for every skin type! I can't fault them at all.

Okay, I know I know, EVERYONE says this. But it really does work. Drinking water. I promise you my skin has been incredible since I actually started drinking water. I absolutely hate plain water so I add a couple slices of lemon to my bottle and I'll also squeeze some juice in to the water. It's so beneficial. Lemons are probably one of the healthiest foods you could eat. They help fight illness and they really cleanse your body. Even if you didn't want to do this, drinking a cup of hot water with a lemon in every morning and night also holds so may benefits. I've even lost weight since I started drinking lemon water, and it's the only thing I've changed about what I consume! I promise you, the benefits outweigh the cons. 

I know my routine is a lot of products, and I also know it may be way too many for you. But finding a good skin care routine that works for you is amazing. It's really helped with my confidence as my acne is really reduced along with the redness in my skin I've actually started feeling confident going completely make up free. Its just all about finding something that makes you feel good and does something for you.

Thanks for reading!

Bx 

Introduction to myself

Hey Guys, so my name is Brenna and I've decided to start my own blog. I intend to blog about beauty (makeup, hair and smellies), fashion and lifestyle really. I'm really in to all of these things and I really wanted to write about them. I'll be writing reviews for products I use and try out, also my opinions on the latest fashion trends or shows.

So, a little about me; I have two dogs, and three hamsters. My dogs are named Tilly and Herb. Tilly is a Labrador X greyhound and Herb is a border collie X lurcher. I love them both to pieces. My hamsters are named Hershel, Judith and Fez. Yes... Hershel and Judith are named after The Walking Dead characters! And Fez is of course named after the best character from That 70's Show.

I live in Cornwall, UK. I intend to either move to London or Ireland within the next year for a new adventure. It's beautiful down here but when you can't drive it's rather boring.

I love reading, I have a huge collection of books. My favourite novel is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I also intend on writing my very own novel in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead of you hadn't have guessed already! I also enjoy Game of Thrones, although I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan in the world. Horror movies are my favourite genre of film; I am yet to find one that truly scares me unfortunately! My favourite films include Rocky Horror Picture Show, Disney's Hercules, Carrie Pilby and Trolls. Music is one of my favourite things in the world, I love love love The Neighbourhood, Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga. I'd say I have a well rounded like for all sorts of music.

I love tattoos and have seven of them. They all have personal meanings to me which I wont share on here just yet, maybe I'll a blog post about them in the future! 

Drew Barrymore is one of my favourite human beings ever. She is such a style icon and woman power model. I am a strong believer of woman power and I think all women are beautiful, majestic beings. 

I apologise for the most boring first blog post in the history of first blog posts, I thought this would be a good ice breaker. Feel free to follow me on all my social media, I often follow back!
Twitter: brewdarrymore
Instagram: brennaahenryy
Snapchat: brennaahenryy

Thank you all, and please stick around for all my future blog posts!:)

Bx