Hi Guys,

Autumn is upon us and I'm loving it! My summer wardrobe is well and truly at the back of the closet and my autumn essentials are at the forefront. I'm enjoying the fact I can start to get cosy, and have even pulled the blanket out on a couple of occasions. What I am not enjoying though are the dark mornings! Is it just me or is it 100 times harder to get up in the morning?! This week I have decided to do an autumn make-up look for you using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette (£41), which was kindly bought for me as birthday gift (lucky me!).

The Modern Renaissance palette has become a cult favourite for make-up lovers and beauty bloggers everywhere. And it's easy to see why. The colours are just gorgeous and perfect for autumn. What's more, after using the eyeshadows, which are my first ABH purchases, I can well and truly say the quality and pigment in these are some of the best I have used! 

To get this eye look I lightly dabbed the ABH brush that is given with the palette, into 'Realgar' and blended through the crease of my eye and slightly higher moving towards the brow. When I say lightly, I mean very lightly. When going for the blended look it is really important to not add too much product to the brush. In fact, the less the better. Slowly building up the colour gives a more flawless finish. I then built on the colour by adding 'Venetian Red' over the top but not as high as Realgar. Then to add depth in the crease I blended through with 'Red Ochre'. Finally I added 'Cyprus Umber' directly on the crease. These are all applied one on top of the other gradually using a finer brush so the colours build up.

To the lid I then applied the colour 'Warm Taupe' and then layered 'Burnt Orange' over the top. For the lower lash line I blended through with 'Realgar' and 'love letter' to add a bit of colour. I finally added 'Primavera' to the inner corner and brow bone. All colours used were a matte with the exception of Primavera, which is a shimmer. I love using matte colours over the autumn and winter months and a dab of shine just makes the colours pop. I finally applied my liquid liner and Nouveau strip Lashes in 'Natural Style 2' (£4.95). On the cheeks I added Barry M 'Chisel Cheeks Contour' in the medium colour as I wanted the focus on the eye. The lip colour is MAC 'Spice' lip liner as I find the lipstick too dark. Add a bit of highlight and you are ready to go!

And that's all for this week folks. I hope you liked the make-up look and would love to hear your thoughts on it. Do you think you will be trying it? Do you have the ABH palette? 

Amina xx

Hi Everyone, 

This week I am reviewing Korean Cotton Sheet Masks. If you haven't heard of these before they are similar to your standard face masks however, instead of applying a clay, there is an enriched sheet  which is applied directly to the face. It leaves you looking a bit like Jason from the Halloween films (google it), but if it is going to make my skin gleam, I'll do anything! Don't quote me on that. 

Korean beauty and skincare has blown up recently. With brands like Sephora having a specific 'Korean Skincare' section on their website, it seems as if there must be something behind the hype. You only have to look at some of the products and you are drawn in straightaway just by the packaging.  I was really intrigued to see what all the fuss was about, so I decided to contact B Beauty Ltd who sell a variety of different sheet masks tailored to different skin requirements, and asked them if I could try some out.

I was sent the *Ceramide sheet mask, which is particularly good for nutrition, hydration and softening and the *Jojoba Oil mask which also moisturises. B Beauty also sell other masks such as the Papaya face mask which is great for brightening and purifying, but the one that has me most intrigued is the Snail mask, which is said to improve elasticity. I'm now regretting saying I would put anything on my skin if it was going to improve it! All masks retail at a reasonable £2.49.

Before applying the mask you are instructed to cleanse and tone the skin. When you take the mask out of the packaging it is all folded up and the texture can only be explained as slimy, but in a good way. Once you have opened the mask out, you then apply this to the face. It has purposefully been designed to fit the contours of your face so no part of it is missed out. The sheet is actually made from pure cotton and is paraben, preservative and alcohol free, so is suitable for all skin types including sensitive skin. Once applied you then wait for half an hour and remove the mask. I could tell it was time to take the mask off as all the product had been absorbed into my skin leaving the mask feeling dry. What I particularly liked was that there was no mess. Once you take the mask off, you throw it in the bin and your done. You don't have to rinse it off, you can just leave your skin to carry on absorbing it.

WARNING: Make-up free pictures to follow. If you are sensitive to make-up free selfies avert your eyes now!

Amina xx

*PR sample - all opinions are my own.

Hi Guys,

Yes you read right!? What is in my CHANGE bag NOT my make-up bag! As soon as you have a baby you are unable to go out without at least half of the contents of your house in a bag. It's so hard to narrow down what you actually need in the bag as I always wanted to take everything just in case.  I did gradually shorten the list down to a few must haves so I thought I would save any mums-to-be the hassle of having to go through the same process. Just read on and you will learn what the essentials are.

1. A good bag!

Firstly, getting the change bag right is half the job! The variety in change bags has come along so much recently. The most important thing to me is the amount of space the bag offers and obviously it helps if it looks nice too. You can get ones now that look like they are straight of the runway. I came across Change Bag Boutique online and they have a great range of bags for all budgets. Here are a couple I really liked.

2. Nappies & Wipes

I usually take one nappy for every two hours I am going to be out and then two extra for just in case. I use Pampers. I have tried other brands but honestly just prefer these over others. Not to sound like a cliche but I find them more absorbent and they feel quite soft so don't irritate the baby's skin. For wipes I carry straight forward normal wet wipes for cleaning baby. I use Purebaby unfragranced wipes from Home Bargains. I also carry Tommee Tippee Soother , Teat and Teether Wipes  (£2.25 for 30 wipes) which are basically anti-bacterial wipes great for cleaning dummies or a dropped bottle top when you have no access to water.

3. Change of clothes

After all it isn't called a 'change' bag for nothing! I usually take two spare outfits including vests for any poo explosions, vomit, or spills that may occur. As baby gets older I tend to just carry one spare outfit.

4. Medication/Remedies

Firstly I always carry my baby's red book in the change bag (medical record), as you never know when there may be an emergency so it is I always good to have it to hand. I carry a bottle of Calpol in my change bag too as you never know when baby may get a temperature etc. I also have Nelson's Baby Teetha Teething granules (£4.50 for 24 sachets)* and gel as my baby is teething currently and this just seems to soothe and calm her.

A must have for me is *Sudocrem Care & Protect cream (£5.99, 50g). This isn't just your normal nappy rash cream as it can work to soothe nappy rash, but also as a barrier cream by preventing nappy rash from occurring altogether. Thirdly it conditions the baby's skin as it contains vitamin E. It can be applied on every change however I tend to use it every other change just to allow the skin to breathe. When you feel the cream it is not like the Healing cream (Round tub) at all. It feels more silky to the touch and highly moisturising.  Good enough to use on my face (seriously, I'm tempted!).

Aptamil ready to use bottle.

And that is it. Now you know why the size of the change bag is so important! I hope you found this helpful. Is there anything you carry in your change bag that I've missed out? Comment below.

Amina xx

Hi Guys,

So in this week's post I am sharing with you quite a bold lip look. And it includes glitter! With Pat McGrath (make-up artist to the stars, if you didn't know) releasing her 'Lust 004' Glitter lip collections I just had to have a go myself. I love all things glitter and incorporate it into quite a lot of my make-up looks but rarely on the lips. This is a daring, but very wearable lip and I can't wait to share it with you! For a close-up video of the final look be sure to check out my Instagram (aminaali_mua).

To start off, I always moisturise my lips by applying a lip balm like Suqqu lip essence cream (£35) or MAC Prep + Prime Lip (£13.50). This just makes sure those lips are soft and creaseless. Once moisturised, I then applied a flesh coloured lip liner (slightly darker than my lip colour) to enhance the shape of my lips and even them out. 

I then applied my lipstick base. When choosing the lipstick base make sure you pick a lipstick that is slightly deeper in shade than the glitter colour. This ensures the glitters stands out. I wanted a bold red so I opted for Ingot '416' . This is a deep berry shade but I just knew the red glitter would pop on it.