Positive Beauty: What Size are you Really?

Do you remember on Gok Wan's "How To Look Good Naked", he would always ask the women where they would place themselves in a line up of other women of varying body shapes? I always found that interesting, because every single time, the woman would place herself higher than she really was, and I used to think "Nah, I'd just be the big fat blob on the end".

It's seems almost human nature to have a negative attitude to our body, but Gok always made me questions if these women are getting it wrong, then am I? Are we so negative, because we have ourselves pegged all wrong?

When a PR company sent me an email telling me about an online quiz about body size, I was (as you can imagine) quite sceptical. Again, scepticism about such things seems to be human nature as well - for me, at least!

I'm one of those people who recently realised that I no longer look at myself in shop windows or mirrors in-store, because I hate how I look. when I used to see women at Gok Wan's show saying things like that, I would think that I would never get like that, but I did.

At home, I own a full-length mirror that my Mum loves, purely because it's so slimming. But, then when I look in it, and see a fat person, I come to the conclusion that if the mirror is making me look better, then I must look even worse than the girl I'm looking at - which isn't a nice feeling.

This negativity is basically what encouraged me to take a look at the quiz, which is being conducted by Marisota. It pretty much works the same way as "How To Look Good Naked".

How does it work?

It pretty much works the same way as "How To Look Good Naked":

1. You are given a selection of women - stood in a line - and you have to place the slider where you think you fit, in terms of your body shade/size. 

2. Next you'll be asked to take measurements for your:

• Bust
• Waist
• Hips

3. The quiz will use the measurements that you provided to place you, where you really fit in the line up of women.

How did I do?

As I stated earlier, when I look at myself, I see a big fat blob, with very litter shape, which is why I selected the fattest along the line. So, imagine my shock when I read this at the top of the screen:

Say what now? 12.5% smaller??

The weirdest thing about the results, for me, was that I half expected to maybe be between the last two women, so to know that I'm between three and four body shapes smaller was just mind-blowing!

Unfortunately, whilst this was an initial confidence boost, I now find myself looking at those women that I'm in between, and I just think "No way, I'm definitely bigger than both of those". I can't get it out of my mind that maybe this is just a trick to make us feel more confident. I mean, we don't know what the measurements are for those women.

However, it's still nice to know that I have overestimated how big I really am.

The results also included information about my body shape, but I didn't really learn anything that I didn't already know from it. Although, it is nice to gain more confirmation that I am indeed a pear shape.

Overall

I like the idea behind the quiz, and I think that Marisota are on the right lines. Even if we don't know how accurate the quiz is, or the sizes of the women used, I think that this is an important quiz, that all women should take, because it forces us to question and re-evaluate the way we look at ourselves.

You can check out the quiz here.

Have you taken the Body Confidence quiz? How did you do?

Share your results in the comments below, and let's start a conversation about how we view ourselves. Join in over on Twitter or Facebook.

*Whilst I did receive the details of this quiz in an email, I blogged about it because I wanted to, not because I was asked to. I was not paid to write this post, and all opinions are my own and are completely honest*

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Guest Post: Eight Ways to Deal with Thinning Hair

Hey Guys! A very different post for you today, in the form of a guest post from fellow beauty blogger Tiffany Stahl. We're always being told that it's "normal" to experience hair loss, especially down the plug hole, however when the amount seems excessive, it's easy to panic! But have no fear, because Tiffany is here to share her experiences with the problem, and eight ways that you might find useful if you find yourself in the same boat:

Having thinning hair was something I never thought I would have to experience at 26 years old. I was blessed with a very full head of hair. It was that in between curl, where it wasn't straight on it's own, but wasn't ringlet either. It took heat well, dye well, grew long and I loved it.

Then things started to change.

I ditched birth control pills at 24 and made a stressful move. I immediately noticed a change in my hair. It

became oily just stepping out of the shower and it was thinning by the days. Suddenly, my shower was constantly clogged. It took a few months, but the stress diminished and my body sorted itself out; the hair loss slowed and I felt better.

Then a few months went by and it started again. This time I hit up the doctors for tests, but everything came back normal. Eventually the hair loss started to happen in moments of stress and when I was perfectly fine. By the time I reached 26, I had lost half of my original hair and I absolutely hated it.

This time I saw a dermatologist, they said it could be Telogen Effluvium, essentially PTSD for your hair, where it falls out 3-4 months after a traumatic experience, but I hadn't one of those. Or they said it was stress and my diet, despite the fact that I was Paleo at the time. Never the less, I learned that I had to deal with my thinning hair on my own--I never got a real answer or solution. At times its depressing, sometimes it looks good and sometimes I'm indifferent. Either way, I understand your struggle if you, too, are dealing with it. If you've noticed this change recently, try incorporating some of these changes and steps to figure it out and deal with it.

1. First visit your hair stylist or a trusted salon like Rush.co.uk and have them look at your hair (while you're getting cut/styled of course). They'll be able to see if you truly are losing hair and if your scalp looks healthy. They might have a simple fix for you: maybe you're wearing your hair too tightly in a hair band, perhaps its you're hair dye or shampoo.

2. If your stylist affirms that you're losing hair, your next stop should be to see a dermatologist. I avoided this for along time, but they can quickly rule out major issues. You may have to get your hormones tested or perhaps they'll notice that you have female (or male) pattern baldness. While it's super frustrating, I hope they give you a similar answer to what I got.

3. If so, analyse your stress and figure out how to manage it. Hair is a good insight to what is happening on the inside of our body, so if stress is wreaking havoc on the outside, its certainly do it on the inside. Try taking up yoga or making more time for yourself.

4. You also want to look at what your eating. Are you eating enough foods that are rich in Iron and Zinc? If not, start adding in foods that contain these minerals or start taking a multi-vitamin that contains them. Also just improving your diet overall can be helpful, not only to your hair growth but your waistline!

5. Nix the heated styling tools, hair dye, tight pony tails and hats. All four of these things can damage healthy hair, let alone thinning hair. Try to wear your hair natural as much as you can until you can get the hair loss under control.

6. Try washing your hair with cold water, as it can help close off your hair cuticle and keep your hair intact.

7. Don't be afraid to try medicated shampoos and serums like Rogaine and Nioxin.

8. Finally, just try accepting it. The more you stress over it, the more will fall out! Embrace your thinning hair and get a hairstyle that will work well with thinning hair like these.

I know it's frustrating and can destroy your self-esteem at times, but try your best to calm down and work with it the best you can. And take solace that it's happening to women of every age, every where.

Tiffany Stalh is a beauty blogger, dealing with her thinning hair in London.

If you'd like to write a guest post for Barefoot Girl, then you can check out more details here.

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Hot Weather Make Up

It's official. We are finally in the midsts of summer, and amazingly that has brought an actual heatwave - I actually can't remember the last time we had a heatwave that lasted more than one day!

As a Barefoot Girl by nature, I am loving being able to get my feet out of waterproof shoes (hurrah!), but when it comes to make up, I'm not a huge fan of the heat, because it has the potential to almost literally melt right off my face. So, I decided to share what little make up I do wear when the temperatures rise. Enjoy...

As you can see, I tend to keep my make up to a bare minimum, because anything more would just be a complete waste of time!

Skin

During the hot summer months, I tend to shy away from liquid foundations, because they tend to turn my skin into a cakey oil slick at this time of year. So, ordinarily you'd find me only wearing mineral powder foundations, if anything at all.

This year, however, I have chosen to wear this BB Cream from Nivea, predominantly for its moisturising qualities. My skin appears to quickly change between being really oily, and being quite dry, so a moisturiser is necessary for me.

I also have a habit of going bright red, in my some areas (forehead and cheeks mainly), which gets quite embarrassing, so I was keen to use a product that subtly hides the redness, which this BB Cream does quite nicely.

It doesn't offer much SPF protection, unfortunately. But, it makes me feel more comfortable taking my skin outside!

Eyes

Although I generally tend to prefer brighter colours, this year I am really loving neutral shades, especially from the Primark palette that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. I love them because they're so feminine and pretty, whilst brighten up my small eyes, which is really nice.

I've also been pleasantly surprised, since my first impressions post, with both the overall coverage of these shades, and how long they last - both of which have really surpassed my expectations.

In terms of Eye Liner, I have to admit that I tend to avoid it, especially on the lower lash line, because it just ends up running down my face. Well, either that or I end up rubbing my dry eyes.

Having dry eyes, during the summer, is another reason why I opt against bright eye shadows, or eye liners, because heavy eye make up tends to irritate my eyes.

However, if I do wear an eye liner, I've been really liking the Stay Perfect Eye Liner in Green from No.7. I bought this back in May with one of Boots' No.7 vouchers and really like that it comes with a smudge sponge for smoky looks.

I've actually been quite surprised with how nice the i-define mascara from Jemma Kidd looks when worn with a pale eye shadow, and no eye liner on either the upper or lower lashes. It really opens up my eyes, and creates quite a cute (I think) look.

I picked this up a few months back, free with a magazine (I forget with one), but I've been really impressed with this mascara. It separates my eye lashes, and doesn't leave them looking like spidery legs.

After years of only using Rimmel, it's nice to have found another one that I really like.

Lips

Anyone who has followed my blog, for quite some time, might remember that I am obsessed with lip balms. I
can not get enough of them, and at this time of year I tend to flit between two different ones.

I like to use Vaseline's Intensive Rescue Lip Therapy Repair Balm because it has SPF in it. As someone who has experienced sunburnt lips, I strongly recommend this product, or anything else that contains SPF, because it is not a nice experience!

I tend to mix that up with my favourite brand of lip balm, which is of course Eos. This specific one is Sweet Mint, which I like, but personally I prefer the Summer Fruits one. I've talked about these several times, however, for anyone who missed it they smell divine and are incredibly moisturising, which is great when the sun is threatening to dry your lips out.

So, that's what make up I'm wearing during the hot weather. 

What are your go-to products during the summer?

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What is Beauty - 2013 Edition

So, I thought that it was time to update the all-important question of “What is Beauty?”. I always find it interesting to revisit this question (and this will be the third time that I have approached it), because it’s weird to see how I’ve changed, and how my view of beauty has progressed.

For the record, I haven’t re-read either of the original articles, because I wanted to approach this with a fresh attitude. However, I will be reading them to compare once I’ve written this post J

What is Beauty?

Beauty is a smile. A secret smile between friends, lovers, family members who have known each other forever and have their differences, but just “get” each other. A smile of appreciation. A smile of happiness.

Beauty is a laugh. A giggle. A chuckle.

Beauty is a face lighting up when they see someone that they have missed.

Beauty is a moment. A sunrise, or a sunset. Spectacular views. Splashing around in the sea. Spending time with the most important people in your life.

Beauty isn’t about loving yourself, it’s about appreciating what you have and taking care of it.

Beauty is acknowledging that you are unique, and being unique makes you beautiful, even if some people choose not to see it.

Beauty is acknowledging that you are not perfect, but your imperfections are exactly what make you beautiful.

Beauty is ignoring people who feel the need to make you feel small. Beauty is not allowing yourself to be brought down by negativity.

Beauty is holding your head up high, and saying F*** you to everyone who told you that you couldn’t do something. Although, perhaps not literally, as beauty is having the grace to think things, rather than say them, because beauty is believing that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Beauty is looking at someone, and telling them that they look pretty. Beauty is actually meaning it. Beauty comes from saying it, when they really need to hear it or even if they don’t.

Beauty is standing up for someone, when you have absolutely nothing to gain out of it, other than protecting someone – even if you don’t know them, personally.

Beauty is having the confidence to cry when you need to, to allow yourself to be angry, to never allow someone to make you feel “weak”.

Beauty is like happiness: It’s not a destination, it’s a frame of mind.

What is Beauty - March 2011 Edition

What is Beauty - October 2011 Edition

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Bargain Hunting: Too Faced Eye Shadow from T.K. Maxx

Well hey there peoples, look at this, two blog posts in the space of one week - you're sat down for that piece of information, right? Phew, because I'd really hate for anyone to hurt themselves ;)

So, yep, you guessed it. I have been a-bargain hunting yet again - there is virtually nothing quite as satisfying as finding something super cheap is there? And unlike usual, I've actually not picked this up from a Charity Shop, but actually my local TK Maxx.

I have quite a love/hate relationship with TK Maxx:

a. Mine is so god-damn hot, and I mean verging on tropical climates, due to their huge roof windows (they're waaay too big to be classed as Sky Lights, surely?!)
b. I just cannot be bothered to actually search through all the crap, in order to find the rare gems

But that last fact is actually why I do still occasionally force myself up those ever-elusive escalators (I seriously just forgot how to spell "escalator"...yeah, moving on!)

One area that I do always try to browse around in, is the Beauty Section. Admittedly, more often than not, this section is full of a heck of a lot of crap and stuff that is still stupidly expensive. Although, why are the bottles of shampoo in TK Maxx always so GINORMOUS?? Like, even bigger than the huge Tresemme ones? They're like £10 and would probably last me a year!

Anyone, whilst in the Beauty Section recently, I scrambled across three boxes of Too Faced Eye Shadows and I decided that I would buy one, so lookie what I picked up:

I actually had a nightmare picking between the colours, because there were two that I liked, and looking back, I do wish I'd bought both, but I was on a tight budget at the time. This one is Socialite:

Socialite is a really strange shade, because it looks like it's a gold shade:

But then, it kind of looks like a bronze-brown shade. However, the Too Faced website describe it as a "pink copper", but personally I don't see pink when I look at it in its container.

And even when swatched the product on my finger, I can see where the copper comes into it, but not too sure about that pink:

However, when I applied it to my lids, I definitely felt that the colour had reddish undertones, and I wasn't too sure about it. However, Socialite actually works beautifully with a green pencil liner, which seemed kinda weird - in my head - but it looks great.

Even the sample colour on both the Too Faced and Boots websites looks more pink than mine does!!

So, this product is currently selling for £13.50 on the Boots website, but I only paid an absolute bargainous £3.00 - pretty good, huh?

What colour does Socialite look like to you? 

I'd really love to know if I'm going crazy!

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Yves Saint Laurent The Black Eyeliner

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached and asked if I would like to try out a beauty product courtesy of the Debenhams website. I don't accept many offers for products these days, however, how could I possibly refuse this one? And ultimately, this is what I chose:

Why did I pick Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Eyeliner?

Choosing was an incredibly tough decision, but I decided quite quickly that I wanted a liquid eyeliner, and it pretty much stemmed from there.

I've had a rocky love affair with liquid liners since my late teens, when I first tried them out. As I don't have a very steady hand, I've struggled to apply them, and I found that thicker brushed liners were a complete nightmare for me. So, for years, I avoided liquid ones all together. That was until I discovered my now usual go-to liquid liner: Rimmel's Glam'Eyes Liner. I've only managed to master applying liquid liner over the past 12 months, and from using the Glam Eyes one, I've definitely come to the conclusion that finer brush liners are the best option for me.

There were several reasons why I decided to finally choose the YSL option:

1. I've never tried anything by YSL before
2. It had a fine brush
3. It was one of very few eyeliners, that had a score of 5 out 5, and ratings are incredibly important to me, because it's nice to be able to gauge how other people have found a product.

First Impressions and Expectations

Well, you know that you're buying a product that is a little bit more upmarket, when it not only comes in a box, but it also comes with instructions! I honestly don't think I ever imagined to get an instruction leaflet with an eyeliner!

I actually got a little bit excited when I picked it up and opened it, because this is a brand that I consider to be a "luxury" type of item, especially compared to my usual brand, which is of course Rimmel. Price-wise this is totally the opposite end of the spectrum, which meant that I had high expectations that this would not only beat but wipe the floor with the product it would hopefully replace.

Packaging

Packaging-wise it's pretty much what I expected. It keeps strong the tradition of gold that I know YSL is famous for, and I love that the wand is relatively long:

I love long wands for eyeliners, because I find that they offer a little bit more control in order to get the look that you're after. For example, if you are after a simple, light line then holding the wand loosely creates that, allowing you to create something precise and neat. The neatness of the line is also helped by the fine brush. On the other hand, if you want something more dramatic, the length allows you to easily flip it around in your hand so that you can easily transfer from drawing the line across the inner lid, to creating the all-important flick.

Comparison

When put side-by-side, it's easy to see that the Rimmel liner has a longer handle, but this isn't really that much of a big deal, because whilst the handle/lid of the Rimmel one is longer, the YSL one makes up for it, by having a lengthier "stick":

Personally, I prefer the longer handle of Rimmel, purely because it allows me better grip. However, that is just a matter of taste, and I don't really feel that it effects the ease of application in any way.

The most important difference, for me, between the two, is actually the fineness of the brushes:

As you can see (or maybe I'm just being too pedantic), the YSL one does have a brush that is a little bit fatter. It doesn't look a lot, but I think that it can make a difference when you are looking to create a softer, thinner line, especially when - like me - you are a little heavy-handed. For heavier looks, it obviously doesn't matter at all.

So, the real question is how they compare - colour-wise - to each other.

Both of these were applied in the same way, initially with little pressure (how I would apply for a thin line) and then with added pressure (to simulate a thicker line). The first thing I noticed is that it's not quite as easier to create a finer line with the YSL liner. However, for dramatic looks, it's pretty much perfection.

The second thing I noticed is that the Rimmel liner seems to have a much brighter and glossier finish, which I do prefer, but it's not something that I'd probably argue about, because before I put them together, I was perfectly happy with the look of the YSL one.

Application

Before I took any of the pictures featured in this blog, I actually lined both of my eyes and found the application to be nice and smooth. It wasn't quite as easy to create the finer-type line, but I think that it was really something that I'd need more time to practice.

Straight after applying the YSL liner, I didn't give them any time to dry and went straight to photographing the product. All the while, I could feel the heavy wet feeling of the liner on my lids (does liquid eyeliner make anyone else's lids feel heavier??) and I was absolutely convinced that I had totally ruined the look that I had only minutes before created.

The interesting thing was that ten minutes later, I went to see what damage had been done and amazingly the liner hadn't smudged at all. It wasn't dotted on the top of my lid or anything. For me, this is a huge plus!

As of writing, I have now been wearing the eyeliner for around four hours and having just checked - I'm not very impressed with the longevity of the product, and I've not even been anywhere, so it's not come off due to sweat or the weather.

Overall

I have to say that I am a little disappointed in a product that was considerably more expensive than my current liner, and one that had received such good ratings. For me, it hasn't created good fine lines - so far, at least - and it hasn't stood the test of time either.

It is a shame, and I'll definitely give it another try, because I never fully judge a product until I've been using it for a while.

If you fancy giving this eyeliner a try, it is £24 from the Debenhams website!

Have you tried Yves Saint Laurent's The Black Eyeliner?

Do you love it or hate it?

I would love to hear all about your personal experiences :)

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