I N S I D E | 1

Where it all began.

So, you all seem to like a good life post on top of a good old makeup post. I have had this one written, and edited and rewritten for like a year. Maybe I can write it better now, and leave it with a message that I will be more active on this. It's been SO long. Running a business takes a lot more out of you then you think! Behind all the glam and lashes (and lets be real, if you come in tuesday-thursday I usually have no makeup on lol), running a shop is hectic and tiring.

Well, everyone loves a good 'real' post. So if you want to know a little bit more about me, inside and out, read on, if not probably stop now. No really, this is going to be like a dear, dear diary moment, or 10. Everyone knows the makeup, the silly girl with the, wait is that American, No it's Ballymena, ummm, Australian? No Canadian, accent situation... So how did we, Mother and I, get to this beautiful green country, and why did we leave Canada?

Well, if you asked a little shit called Jenna back in Grade 6 (p6 to you), they'd tell you it's because another little shit called Britney, who was apparently just a skinnier version of me, bullied me into moving across the world. Ohhhhhhh Kids, they're GREAT. Get your violins out, yes stumpy over here got bullied. It's okay though, cause Karma's a bitch. She'll keep things right.

I should probably start by saying, my life in Vancouver was great. I had my Mom, my Meema and my hero- my Peepa. Peepa is my grandpa, he was grandpa and dad to me, and to this day is always there if you need him, just a facetime away. He's Croatian, so naturally I'm a mutt. A little bit of everything in me lol! Where was Dad? Come to think of it, growing up I don't actually think I ever asked that question, you know you see on TV all these little kids asking mommy the question, I don't think I needed to, because I didn't need him. I had my 3 angels, I didn't need no other mannnnn. Ha.

Where was Dad? The man I call dad, I first met on MSN video chat. MSN, the tinder of the 90s for all our parents lol... I was like, 9, maybe 10, and all the sudden we are like checking the time to see if 'Hella_uncool' is online to chat and what time it is in Ireland. EW. I was your typical kid. Who's this weird man I cannot understand chatting to mom. Ew, why is he coming to visit, EWWWW she's going there, what's IRELAND, and do they even have cars there? Does William Wallace live in this land? But mom, I just got my period- do they have pads there? or do I have to make a diaper?? Mom even wondered would she need a horse and cart to get to work. Fact. All the questions.

BOOM- 2001. Weird Irish man is moving to Canada, What kinda name is Ivy for a man anyway. I loved making life really difficult for them. Standard teen protocol, no? It was just us for so long, who knew 3 isn't always a crowd :) I remember always going to get a Sarah's Ice Cream in Ladner, BC. And one time he said no. We were NOT friends anymore after that. Standard, only happy when I'm being fed or bought something... True story. Ask anyone. I like food, and presents. hah! Who doesn't though!

If you haven't gathered, I'm an only child. Some people treat that term as if Satan himself created us. The disgusting breed of an only child... SO selfish, SO vain, SO needy, Blahhhhhhhh blahhh blahhhh... Don't all rush to disagree !! haha!! I think everyone has a little bit of all those things in them sometimes, its not just saved for the 'only child' species. I often get 'you wouldn't understand being an only child'. - I'm Sorry... Does being an only child mean I lack compassion, the knowledge of right and wrong, and how to treat people with respect? No. I've met lots of people with siblings who lack in many of these life skills, so bitch... PLEASE.

ANYWAY- my point is, being an only child, my friends are my family. So when the decision was made for me, that life was soon going to be changing, my heart wasn't just broken that I wouldn't see my meema and peepa every day. But my beautiful Was&Sams. I won't list their names incase they're like whyyyy you blogging about me lol!! 

Mom2 and Dad2- I was never left their house, there was my beautiful sister from another mistaaa, and my two baby bros- Who are now triple my size and could throw me around no problem.. Which is funny because Nic and I used to dress them up in bikinis... Well the older one anyway- he was more fun to make fun of, the young one was our little baby. But god, we loved them both. They were her brothers, and I know they aren't my blood, but they are my family, and I, to this day hate being so far away. Nonetheless, I love visiting- almost every year, and spending time with them.

No one will ever understand the absolute love I have for baby girl N. She is only a year younger, but she is and always will have this massive space in my heart. I actually can't even write that sentence without getting emotional. I grew up with her from her day 1 and we were inseparable. Things change so much with time, and it breaks my heart I can't be with her, through all the good times and the bad, and it really is so hard being so far away. 

So 2002. Northern Ireland. NOT Ireland. You can't call it that, some people will get offended by that. Religion. YOU cannot talk about religion freely. It's a touchy subject. Oh my good grief, I'm gonna get beat up if I believe in God. Where am I going???

I was 12. 12 years old when I joined Cullybackey High. It. WAS. Awful. I stood up for a Christian boy for being made fun of for being a 'bible basher'. That was it. Rep ruined. Being the new girl from Canada wasn't going to save me. Kids are assholes. I genuinely couldn't grow up at school now. ITS so bitchy, and social media just makes it so much worse... It was only starting when I was at school.I was the prude, the slut, the lesbian( not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not lol) I had slept with people I didn't even know, and all at the age of 12... No. Just NO.

And if there's any advice I could give to anyone that is being verbally and mentally abused at school- until you stand up for yourself, and let them know you don't care, even if you do, be brave and give a big FUCK you. Because, school is nothing but a little piece of your whole life. Don't let anyone walk all over you. EVER. I learnt that too late. If I could go back, I'd be a 12 year old with a I don't care attitude towards all the wankers of the world that have a chip on their shoulder. You are amazing. So keep being amazing and don't let anyone get you down. 

Sorry, story within a story- I cut that short because, this isn't about that- but thinking about it makes me wanna just go to school and bash all the mean girls in the face for all the girls that are too nice, too shy, misunderstood or have their heads in the books. You beautiful girls and boys will go far <3 And would I change standing up for that boy in the park. No. Stand up for what you believe in.

By 5th year, everyone kinda grew up a little and we all just got along. But I couldn't have gotten through school without Steven and Liz... 16 years of love right there. Liz is the one you ring, and no matter what she's going to answer. Steven, you might have to ring, 30 times and leave 10 voicemails, snapchats and pm's, dm's, whatsapp and text... But he'll get there eventually.. lol

From there, it was A-levels at the Academy, Degree from Coleraine, 12, yes 12 jobs... in like 3 years!! and 10 applications to Xfactor later... lol and then here I am. (never actually went to an Xfactor audition though, it just wouldn't be fair on all the other contestants)... hah!! But in all these years I've made some amazing friends. Friends I call family. I don't have to list you all, you know who you are and I love you <3

All in all, moving to Northern Ireland wasn't so bad. Apart from the obvious, missing my family. I still have my little bit of family here, my little lily and big husband lol! And we got my grandpa to 
get an Iphone so facetime is a lifesaver. My family in Toronto and Montreal- are also missed, and I wish growing up I could have been closer to them all. But we all have busy lives, and live all over the place. So its hard to be in touch all the time, but the love is there<3

I guess this was just a little bit of a diary entry, rather than a blog. I'll stick to the reviews and makeup from now on, maybe the odd rant lol! But hopefully it was a good read, or someone can relate to moving half way across the world :)

Until next time beauties.

Love

SK xx 

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B E A U T Y . B L E N D E R

“These tools were created to apply makeup easily by artist Ree Ann Silva. The innovative beautyblender® sponge holds water, not product, evenly distributing and blending the perfect amount of cream, powder, or liquid formulas into skin without lines.”

So I’m here today to prove it. I own SK makeup studio, and I wanted to stock amazing products in store that I stand by, what’s the point in having a shop that I own and hating the products I sell ? So I won’t bring in anything rubbish! My favorite product that I sell is In face the beauty blender. I love the way it applies foundation, not only foundation but other products as well, down to your skincare!

 So I put an old beauty blender of mine to the test to make sure it lives by this line of ‘holds water, not product’. I cut it in half, what you should see is that the makeup is around the blender, not inside! And yes, it is! Unreal! 

Now I’ve used many ‘fake’ beauty blenders, fake is maybe harsh, not fake but you know what I mean, kinda copies, other brands of beauty sponges. The closest one is probably real techniques, but the best one by far is the Original beauty blender. It’s so soft, I find a lot of other ones are too hard and don’t blend out the product the same way. I’m this case I definitely think in this case it’s worth spending the extra to get the OBB :) its an unreal tool ! Your foundation will look so seamless ! #flawless 

beautyblender® is the world’s first edgeless, reusable, high-definition cosmetic sponge applicator.

Only thing is - they do recommend you replace your B.B. every 3 months, I try to get an extra month or two out of mine by really looking after it- and keeping it clean.

Love 

SK Xx

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PRO FACIAL

Hi lovelies!!

On the skin care topic, I started researching a bit more into facials, one thing I forgot to say in the last post is what a lot of you probably thought 'thats a risk with facials you can potentially break out' NOOOOOO. I've had LOADS of facials, and that one, not this profacial, the one I was talking about in the last post, is the only one that ever caused that. So, what can happen with a facial is the spots you have under the skin will be brought to the surface and heal up afterwards in a couple days!

So with this facial, there are 4 different elements, the use the machine below and those little tools to massage/'suck' at your face (lol) sorry its the only way I can describe it! But, its the most impressive facial I've ever had, if you struggle like me with your skin, it's worth giving it a try.

I tried this about a month after my skin disaster, and it paired with my new skincare routine definitely helped my skin, after the facial i had about 3 spots come to a head, and after 2-3 days they were totally gone. NOW thats what a facial does. 

My skin felt refreshed, smoother and so so clean!

I defo felt unreal after it.

 

See below the steps to the facial: 

So you get up onto the bed, and they start wih showing you the water filled jar- this was clear when it started, so it shows you its now all cloudy from all the impurities in my skin being removed. BUT she did say usually its alot worse, so my skin actually had got a lot better throughout the month or it would have probably been filled with more crap lol!

I wrote this blog back in june when I got this for the first time.... I obviously didn't publish it. TOP blogger...

Now its november- I've had the facial twice since the deets given above- and honestly my skin is like LOVE YOU GIRLLLLL <3 I'm gonna post up Danielle's details, her salon is so handy -its just by Lifestyle fitness in Pennybride, Ballymena!

https://www.facebook.com/beautifillsecret/

Defo check her out, for all you facial, and evennnn botox needs!! Maybe I'll try that next... 

Love
Sk xx

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ALL FACE

I'm BACK!!!!

Well, hopefully! Running a business and getting time to do this is hard to juggle. But I've so much I want to blog and tell you, so, any of you that have followed me on snapchat/facebook, you'll know I'm obsessing over skincare.

So, I had finally got my skin right, and went for a facial, the facial shall not be named, some might know that are close to me, but I don't like writing bad reviews especially if it can affect a someone and their business. It's not fair to, as just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you, although it definitely put me off and I wouldn't recommend it just in case.

This happened around the end of may, and I'm only now getting my skin back in order! Now when I got this facial, I was told I wouldn't break out, but I was also given new skincare, and after reading more about it, I shouldn't have been trying new skincare after this facial. So without saying more about it... THIS is what my skin looked like after it. It felt tight, swollen, and so so sore! I had pimples and little tiny blisters all over my face, it was not ideal at all. 

My skin NEVER looks like this. And these photos don't even show how bad it actually was. But anyway, I watched a Samantha Ravandahl video on youtube, see below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaDorSHXvy8&t=860s

Literally watch that video- It changed my skincare life!! I bought the toner, the Good Genes and the UFO oil first, but last week I bought the cleanser.

So I've been using the 3 products, for 2 months now and my skin has improved so so much. Now one important fact- for the first week I only used in once every 3 days, week 2 I used it every other day, then week 3 I started using it EVERY day!  And I'll post a pic of my skin now :)

Still some scaring but its almost away!!

I needed a new cleanser, so I ordered the ceramic slip and used it for the first time last night. I'm going to do the same thing and only use it every other day to introduce it into the regime. This stops purdging, which means you won't or shouldn't anyway, break out!

This video spoke to me, I went all of june with a big spotty face, no selfies, feeling insecure, its bad enough I worry about my weight, I don't need to worry about my face too !!!!And its now the end of august, so I've been using this Sunday Riley skincare since July :)

I'm also loving the PIXI Glow toner! 

One thing I will say is, the Good Genes does sting my face every so slightly when I put it on! But it doesn't last very long anyway.

So my facial Routine is - Remove my Makeup with the Makeup Eraser- which you can buy @ Sk makeup studio in Ballymena, when my makeup is removed, I'll cleanse with my new cleanser from sunday riley- ceramic slip. Then I tone with the martian toner, pop half a pump of good genes all over, avoiding the under eye area. Lastly, just 2-3 drops of the UFO oil ! This has worked a treat for me. I do this every night. And about 2/3 times a week I'll add exfoliating into the mix ! Unreal .

So I defo recommend girls, its all quite pricey, but you can search sunday riley products on cult beauty - https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/sunday-riley?ref=brands

If you have any questions, give me a shout! although that video I linked up there is awesome and gives you a lot of info <3

Talk soon,
Love SK xx

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