Author: xlifeoncloudninex

Estee Lauder Double Wear Nude Foundation

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I have fairly recently purchased a new foundation by Estee Lauder. I was bought the Double Wear foundation for my birthday the year before last I think it was, the shade was Shell. I always thought that I have very pale skin, so as their lightest shade I figured I would be ok and I assume my boyfriend thought the same as he bought it for me. I found the shade to be too pale, particularly outside of winter, and the texture wasn’t a perfect fit for my skin type. My skin is mostly dry, with very dry spots at certain places. This is the third foundation I’ve ever owned and tried, so I made adjustments and figured that when wearing the foundation I would have to use a heavy moisturiser to reduce any texture on my face. The Estee Lauder lady at the Debenhams counter advised a cream moisturiser, then another advised I use the serum (to which my boyfriend who was surprisingly with me at the time, foolishly bought! It’s rather expensive). So I apply the serum, then a moisturiser before applying the Double Wear foundation.

At another Debenhams Estee Lauder counter several months ago whilst shopping with my Nan, I spoke with another representative about matching to my skin tone and I also tried out some of their lighter foundations. With my Nan also advising on the correct colour foundation (to which I have now tanned), I picked the Double Wear Nude. It is a cushion stick, whereby you rotate the bottle and it dispenses the foundation onto the cushion sponge and you use that to apply and blend. I have to say I am very impressed with this one! Just a note that when editing this draft, there is now a Double Wear Nude Foundation that is not in the cushion stick bottle.

As it is a lighter style of foundation, the texture suits my dry face (no need to heavily moisturise beforehand!) and it gives a very natural finish which I prefer (I love my freckles). I only ever wear makeup for a more special event than everyday, say an important meeting at work or a night out; but I keep feeling the urge to just improve my face a bit. This is the struggle I have with makeup that I have mentioned before. I get scared that if I wear it regularly, I will become unsatisfied with how I look naturally; something I have noticed with a lot of girls that do wear makeup regularly, they no longer feel comfortable in their own skin. Plus I can be rather lazy and low maintenance.

This draft was written about 8 months ago, since then the cushion has half come off which a lot of customers complain about. I have switched to using a foundation brush and I thought the foundation still looked ok. My boyfriend tells me the finish doesn’t have as nice a texture so I am considering getting a beauty blender. The issue I have with them though is that the recommendation is to wet it with water before patting the foundation on, I was under the impression that water generally means the possibility of bacteria to grow?

Every time that I try to revert back to the original foundation bought for me, or the slightly darker tester shade, I am always told that I look very pale. The problem that I have is that my face is naturally darker than my neck and body, I assume due to actual exposure to the sun. Plus my freckles are orange-y, a lot darker than my natural skin tone.

Here is a photo of my makeup and brush:

Another add is that I have recently started to use the Estee Lauder foundation brush, prior to that I used the A11 Dirty Works foundation brush. I was bought the Estee Lauder one so thought I had better start using that one, otherwise the Dirty Works one worked fine.

See ya!
x Amy x

New Games That I Have Played

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I have just recently started playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, after downloading it during the Christmas sale. So far so good, I am impressed and hooked! It is a rather scarier game than I am used to, with some horrific monsters, but I think I am coping ok. The gameplay feels so fresh compared to what I am used to with Skyrim and Assasins Creed/Shadow of Mordor. It has taken me a little while to get adjusted to the change in inventory, crafting and levelling up. I think the spells panel is quite cool, it reminds me of the shouts in Skyrim, I suppose that magic isn’t that dissimilar either.

I am currently stuck on the Ladies of the Wood storyline, and seem confused which path to take after researching online. I want to save the orphans but I have read that the evil in the trapped tree spirit is actually worse than the horrid crones. I’m hoping that you are able to defeat the crones at some point later in the general story. Decisions, decisions!

Note: Since drafting this post last month, I have moved on from that storyline. One of my friends confirmed that in terms of the storyline, it is better for you to save Gran and kill the tree spirit. I am now on the storyline where you are making good progress in finding Ciri with Yennefer. At this point I will just mention that you get the choice to choose lovers during the course of the game. Since I find it very difficult to make decisions (out of fear that I will make the wrong choice), I googled the storyline and wanted to stay with what is written in the books.

So in summary I am loving this game so far!

The new game I have played and completed prior to this is Assasins Creed Black Flag. Although I’m not a big fan of the Assasins Creed games, I do love a pirate game! I liked the storyline, graphics, history and I loved that you could board the ships and have ship battles! So yeah I think the game is really cool. Since completing the main storyline, I haven’t yet gone back to fully complete the game.

You can find the link to the game’s official website here: https://thewitcher.com/en/witcher3

Keep gaming guys!

Bye x

Taking Care

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

Hello,

Sorry that I have not posted recently. I haven’t felt the need to write a diary entry. This year has been a bit of a struggle, as I have forgotten mostly that I only stopped studying at the end of last year and working full time since then. I keep feeling as though I am not making enough progress or working hard enough. I have almost gotten over this as I am working harder and making better use of my time.
As well of making an effort to enjoy life more and release stress, I consciously make more time for exercise (as you know I am trying to lose weight still) and leisure (such as reading, watching films or playing computer games). I think you can equally work hard, make progress and still make time for leisure, enjoying yourself and seeing other people.

I figure this sort of conversation and transition is one that most adults eventually make, moving on from being a social and self centred teenager, to a hard working and integrated adult.

Taking care of yourself is not such a bad thing.

Take care,
Amy xx

Hello 2017!

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

This is my first post of 2017. A bit late in the year huh? 

This is also my first post on my new laptop! My poor other laptop was dying. Apparently laptops only last about 4 years and after that point in time it is hard to get back to a level that is workable, considering the system runs up a long list of records and files of how it runs.

2017 has started with a struggle to lose weight, I guess to a certain extent I have an unhealthy relationship with food and sometimes it is hard to fit exercise in due to the nature of my work. I have though been mostly sticking to a calorie deficit. 

Life is in a weird place right now. I personally feel in limbo, that I’m not quite the person I used to be and I’m not the person I need to be yet either. When you get to my age, you don’t see your friends as often; and when you do, you don’t necessarily talk about the same things anymore or perhaps the friendship is not quite the same somehow. Saying that, I believe that old friends are the best. I haven’t really made many new friends since starting work but I feel that old friends are my comfort zone, I feel safe and that I can trust them.

Other than friends, most of your time is now spent at work or with your family. I think a lot of people complain about not having so much time to themselves anymore. You have money now compared to a teenager but you can’t necessarily spend like you used to either.
Strange.

My life has gone down to the bare basics, with all the frivolities of modern living taken out, with the exception of minor one or two things here and there. Or if I am treated by my boyfriend which is actually getting more regular. But still, I am experiencing life to the full with lots of the adventures I get to go on! Though there has been a bit of a lull for the past couple of weeks.

I have delved a bit deeper in my like for country music, I love the music by Sam Hunt, he is a regular on Spotify now.

Also, Hello Spring!

Amy xx

November Updates

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I don’t like writing this negative post but this is sort of like a diary for me and this bit is true. Since starting my next year of uni, I have managed to get behind a great deal again. Sad times. Even though in a previous post I stated that I was determined to prove to myself that I would get myself organised and on top of things, so far not so good unfortunately.

For some bizarre reason work picked up just as I was starting the module, and when I do have some time alone I just seem to want to relax, sometimes to recover from work. This is obviously a habit I need to get over. It’s only a 30 credit part time course and so I don’t entirely understand why I let myself slip, though I have struggled with some of the basic concepts that I hadn’t studied previously as I am not a maths student and am in fact a science student (you skip a previous maths module). I only ever really want to study for about a hour each night maximum, my concentration span is really that bad.

At the moment I am trying to focus on improving myself. I do have an interest in astrology, not as much as I used to but I still have a little look every now and then. One thing I do keep an eye on is a solar return. This year (birthday to birthday) it looks as if the universe is giving me the energy of change. I’m hoping I can ride with this energy to change myself for the better in terms of overcoming my shortcomings and demons; instead of it becoming something negative. I think everyone would agree that trying to get past these things into something positive takes a lot of effort because it is not easy.

I also forgot to say Happy Halloween on the 31st of October! I celebrated it alone this year, but it was rather nice watching Hocus Pocus in bed eating Hotel Chocolat’s Halloween chocolates. It felt all a bit rushed this year and I didn’t dress up. I could spend a whole weekend just watching Halloween-y films! I did listen to Panic! at the Disco’s It’s Almost Halloween though.

Isn’t it getting all a bit cold outside now, this is the part of autumn that I am not all that keen on. So far this year, autumn has been rather warm still, but not since the start of November. It makes me look to the future and try to figure out how many months it will take to warm again. I really don’t like mid-January until about April/May. Maybe it’s because of the old school/college days of getting nervous about preparing for exams etc., it’s also because there is nothing really to look forward to or get excited about for so long. Bit of a boring time really, though I shouldn’t really say that because my boyfriend’s birthday is during that period lol. Pancake Day happens to be too!

Still, I have been enjoying walks wearing a big jumper and coat with cold on my cheeks. Seeing all the colourful leaves on the pavements next to the remaining green grass. Last night was bonfire night, it was nice looking around at all the firework displays in the distance. Apart from that we didn’t really do anything. Pinterest has all different recipes and party ideas for it which did have me inspired though I didn’t actually do anything about it.

I have been thinking about making a look book with all my clothes and potential outfits; coats; TV show reviews; Halloween-y films; dance films; last but not least Christmas!

Oh, and I also visited MCM Comic Con last weekend! Should really post about that next..

I feel like I have forgotten to write something, which is unnerving.

Back to the maths,

Amy x