Once again, long time no see… or read I guess…

First off, I apologise for this post being so long and wordy without any pictures, but I figure if I just unload all of my thoughts once, I can get straight back into the swing of things and not have to explain myself anymore.

Update

There are a number of very complex reasons as to why I’ve been so absent. A few months ago I wrote about my existential crisis and to keep this short and sweet, it kind of took over my life. When I wasn’t thinking about the meaning of life and my purpose, I was busy doing Uni work. And when I wasn’t busy doing Uni work, I was struggling with this inner conflict while attempting to keep up with my social life- what little remains of it anyway.

Long story short, I’ve finished the first semester of my study and at this stage I will be continuing. I just have one short exam next week then I will be on a nice, much needed break.

As to why I haven’t posted much here, that’s another story altogether. As someone who is really passionate about writing, the last thing I would want to do is publish  something that I was not completely happy with. And the only way that I will be completely happy with something I’ve written is if it’s come from my heart and I’ve chosen to write it because I wanted to, not because I felt like I had to. If I am not motivated, or have no interest in writing that day, I will not write- and that’s something that will never change. Of course, 90% of the time I am up for writing- that’s just how I am- but every now and then there are days that I just can’t bring myself to, and due to my emotions being all over the place, those days have occurred more frequently.

So what does this mean?

Now that I feel I am in a better place where I can be more open, I am ready to get back into my old routine. I have a long list of posts that I’m working on at this very moment, so from this point on, altvogue will continue full speed ahead!

Q&A

Zoë asks: Do you have any somewhat ‘strange’ beauty hacks or routines that you’ve tried?

I actually recently tried out Wayne Goss’ method for applying foundation which is a little bit strange. The first time I tried it was on quite a hot day and it worked incredibly but as my skin as gotten quite dry over the last few days I haven’t tried it on my dry skin so I can’t say whether it completely works for me or not as of yet.

Aside from that, I’m not really a ‘beauty hacks’ kind of person. If I find a new way of doing my makeup like baking or strobing for example, I’ll do it for a while but I usually end up reverting to my classic method. The one thing that I’ve actually changed based on ‘beauty hacks’ is to cleanse my face in the shower after I’ve washed my body and hair. I used to do my face first until I read something that said if you do that, the shampoo and other products end up getting on your face and can cause acne. After changing that, my skin cleared up A LOT so that’s something I will never stop doing!

Erin asks: How do you stay motivated?

To be completely honest with you, I don’t!

I am the absolute worst when it comes to procrastination as I will always put off every task until the literal last minute. But in saying that, my work is always at it’s best when I’m under pressure so it’s not such a bad thing- that’s what I tell myself anyway!

The best tip I have is not to listen to people who say to lock your phone and all distractions away while studying- I believe in the opposite. I think you need something around to break up the work so that you don’t end up drifting off. Obviously don’t sit on it all the time, but if you need a break, don’t restrict yourself. If you cut yourself off, you will have no proper motivation!

 Sally asks: What made you decide to dye your hair?

First off, shoutout to you Sally! Thanks for all the support 🙂

For those who don’t follow me on social media, you won’t have seen that I am no longer a blonde and have dyed my hair DARK. I have a post coming up on the transformation soon so stay tuned for that!

I’m gonna go into more detail in that post but I mostly did it for a change. I got so bored of having long blonde hair and as my life has gotten so chaotic, maintaining it became too much of a hassle and regrowth really got on my nerves.

I also felt like the brown made my eye colour more intense and brought out my skin tone nicely.

Alice asks: What’s better, brushes or sponges? And what works better with foundation etc?

I am, and have always been team brushes on this one!

To me, sponges (especially with foundation) just soak up half of your product and don’t blend things in very well. And even though this may not be scientifically correct, I feel like they harbour bacteria and aren’t very sterile unless you’re using a new one every time which isn’t great for your hip pocket or the environment.

I always prefer brushes because they last (pretty much) forever so you don’t have to keep spending money on them and there’s less product wastage. They’re also much easier to clean, and blend everything in much more seamlessly. They are a little bit pricey but honestly, it’s something you’re going to use every time you apply makeup so it’s a good investment.

As for my favourites, I love the Real Techniques range by Samantha Chapman as they’re nice and dense, weighted, high quality and very affordable. I’m also partial to the Zoeva brushes as although they’re a little more pricey, they last forever and mine are still looking brand new despite how many times I’ve washed them. They also have some awesome cruelty free, vegan brush sets which are also amazing quality and because they’re not real hair, you don’t have to worry about using them with cream products like foundation.

My favourite two brushes for foundation in particular are the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, and the Zoeva 102 Silk Finish which are very similar.

Note: If you ever have any other questions, feel free to ask on my Twitter or Instagram which I’m always active on.