What I got for my 16th birthday!

Hey guys, 

Sorry I haven't wrote a post in a while, I've been so busy with my cousin arriving from England that it has been hard to find time to sit down and blog. Anyway a couple of weeks ago on the 21st of June I had my 16th birthday. It was a great day which I spent with my friends and it was even better because I passed my driving test and got my licence. That weekend wasn't the end of the birthday celebrations though because the next weekend when my cousin Theo arrived my parents through us both another gathering but this time it was a complete surprise. It was a great way for Theo to meet all my friends and celebrate his birthday/arrival in Australia. 

My friends and family went well out of their way with presents and surprises for me this year and I'm so grateful for it. I wanted to write this blog post about what I got for my birthday not to brag but to document it for myself to read in the future and to help you guys out with gift ideas for girls.

So from my parents I got a beautiful dressing table which has a mirror which folds down so you can use the dressing table as a desk. I love that I can store my makeup under the mirror so its easily accessible and looks organised. I believe my parents bought it at big W for around $120. The next present I got from my parents was a Canon EOS 600D and I had wanted this for so long! I finally have it now so I can post good quality photos in my blog posts woo! This was about $600 from dick smith, I did pay for most of the camera myself but it was so good to receive it on my birthday and with my parents helping out with the cost. 

They were my two main presents which were on the pricier side but now I will talk about what I got from my friends and family which were more affordable and great gifts for a girl. These presents were all so creative and well thought out, they did a really good job!

The presents I got were:

• The book Paper Towns by John Green 
• Ecoya and regallo candles
• Cupcakes
• Jewellery
• A camera case
• Sports girl gift voucher
• Itunes gift voucher
• Flowers
• Mason jars
• Victoria's Secret Bralet
• Tea from T2
• Lollies and Chocolate 
• A 16 which all my friends signed
• Nomination bracelet charm 

If any of my friends or family read this thank you so much for making my birthday so special! I hope this helped someone out with present ideas because I know sometimes it can be really hard to think of something. 

Ella x  

Contouring and Highlighting for beginners

Hey guys,

Have you ever wanted to learn how to enhance your features and create your desired face shape but not known how? Well today I thought I would share with you how I contour and highlight my face to give the illusion of a perfect shape and give me a healthy glow. Since I am naturally quite fair contouring is a perfect way to give my face that bit more colour and still have my natural skin tone showing though in some places.

So the first thing you should know before contouring is what your face shape is. There are seven different kinds of shapes which are oval, round, square, rectangular/oblong, heart, diamond and pear. The "ideal" face shape is oval so therefore when we are contouring the face we shade specific areas around the face to create an illusion of an oval shape. Each face shape has to shade and highlight different areas. I will explain in the following where you should shade and highlight on each shaped face.

Oval Face:

They have dominant cheekbones and has a narrow oval chin and forehead. They should apply bronzer on the hollows of their cheekbone and apply highlighter above it directly on the bone. 

Round Face:

They are almost as wide as they are long and their cheeks are the widest part of their face. To slim the face and make the features stand out more apply bronzer in a sideways V in the hollows of the cheekbone. As for highlighter you should apply this to your cheeks, on the chin and on the centre of the forehead.

Square Face:

They have a squared forehead which is about the same width as cheekbones and jawline. The square jaw is the most dominant feature. Apply bronzer below cheekbones from the centre of the eye towards the temple. Then apply a small amount on the forehead and chin the soften the look. With the highlighter just apply directly to cheekbones.

Rectangular/Oblong Face:

They are a rectangular shape and the forehead, cheekbones and jawline all have the same width. Apply bronzer to temple, under the cheekbone and on the chin. Then apply highlighter to the cheekbones and about a centimeter away from the outer corner of the eye.

Heart Face:

They have a wide forehead, high cheekbones and a narrow chin. Apply bronzer in a sideways V on cheekbones. To minimise the pointed chin, apply a small amount of bronzer.

Diamond Face:

They have a narrow forehead, are wider at the cheekbones and the narrow back down at the chin. Bronzer should be applied on the cheekbone in a sideways V. You can also apply some shading above the temples.

Pear Face:

They have a narrow forehead, move slightly in at temples and then goes outwards. Its widest point is at the jawline. Bronzer should be applied under the cheekbones and blended towards the jawline. Highlighter should then the applied to the cheekbones. 

Bronzer and highlighter can be used for other features on your face to make them your ideal preference. Some examples of ways this is used is:

- Broad forehead - Too much width (shade the temples) or too much height (shade hairline or middle of forehead)

- Small forehead - Use one shade lighter of foundation for your forehead

- Broad nose - Shade sides of nose

- Short nose - Highlight centre on nose down the bone

- Long nose - Apply bronzer to tip of the nose and add parallel lines of bronzer on each side 

- Bulbous- ended nose - Apply bronzer around base of nose

- Double chin - Shade underneath chin or use darker foundation

- Long thin neck - Use lighter foundation on neck

*One tip would be is to use a matte bronzer because this will made it look a lot more natural and more like a shadow.
* Products I used for contouring and highlighting in the pictures below. Benefit High Beam and Rimmel Natural Bronzer.

Hope you enjoyed this and it helped out someone :) What face shape are you? Let me know how you go.
Ella x

Maturity

Hey everyone,

Something that has been bothering me lately and been on my mind quite a lot is "maturity". Being a teenager in high school I am surrounded by so many different types of personalities which are all developing at different rates. Its crazy how one person can be so much more grown up compared to another who is exactly the same age. It doesn't make the person any different its just the way they choose to act in certain situations which defines how mature they are. I know for a fact there are certain people I feel more comfortable around and feel as if they won't judge me because they're mature. I admire those people for being so accepting, judge free and don't feel its necessary make an offencive comment on something just because it is out of their norm. They are psychologically able to make their own mature decisions for themselves without the influence of others because they know what is the kind and right thing to do. Experience and learning is what I believe really makes you mature. Every milestone you go through always leads you to a better understanding and helps you give a more sympathetic response to things. It is a status that is very controversial and can be interpreted in so many different ways. Immiturity can be a very frustrating trait to engage with (especially during high school) and I would be interested to hear what any of you guys do to help stay positive, how you manage to ignore it and what your views are on this topic. 

Ella x