Wear your confidence with pride!

I'm back beauties!

Today i'm going to talk about confidence. I'll be telling you about what makes me feel confident and tips of what can bring that extra confidence in you.

I know the most common thing you'll ever hear from girls is, makeup, that brings them confidence. That's true! Personal appearance is the no.1 thing that influences an individuals' self-esteem. Makeup is a tool that helps blur any imperfections one is too conscious about. It is a new face, a new you, who you want to be like. But overall its just about having fun!

Personally, confidence is what makes me feel like me and what I want to portray. If I feel good, I feel confident. Confidence to me comes with what I wear, look like and most importantly with positive energy around me. I know we have ups and downs, welcome to life, but having positive people around you help boost your personal perception.

Here are a few things that bring me confidence:

1. High heels! Since I am a shorty, that extra 4 inches definitely boosts my height and confidence. Heels make you nice and sexy! They don't need to be stiletto high, just a few centimetres can do.

2. If we can fall in love with men wearing suits and blazers, then why can't it be the other way around?! Blazer give that extra edge to your whole look and makeup you seem a bit more professional and intelligent. Pair it with some jeans and heels, and you have the perfect going out outfit!

3. Glasses or no glasses? I personally like wearing contact lenses because my glasses are pretty old and definitely not trendy enough to keep up with today. However I find that some look extremely smart looking and smoking hot! It's a personal preference with how you feel about wearing glasses.

4. Enhance your natural features. Sometimes we just don't feel like pulling out the makeup and brushes everyday, so just focus on the features you love and skip the rest. A little bit of makeup can make the difference.

5. Accessories are a great way to reflect yourself. Statement necklaces are a great way of enhancing your neck or hiding it. Handbags are also trendy these days, so get your favourite bag asap! Cross-body bags are definitely trendy which can just be worn on the shoulder. Have fun with accessorising!

Finally ! Confidence is what you feel comfortable in. Be true to yourself and you will see the confidence come to you. Don't be pressured to follow trends, make trends follow you ;)
There are no rules on the "right" way of dressing up, so as long as you think you look good - you're all set!! Remember, fashion does not have to cost you thousands of $$$$!!

That's all for today! Go for a little bit of retail therapy after this ;)

Myura xoxo

Beauty is Power

Make up is just one of the ways to express your personality. It gives you the chance to experiment with your look and define who you are. For a lot of people makeup also gives them the self-esteem and makes them feel put together, especially when you’re going out, going to school or university or even within a work environment. Whether its lipstick or mascara, there are several beauty products that can lift your confidence.

A bold lip colour can really make a big difference to your look. Anyone can rock a classic red lip or, as its autumn, you can try autumnal shades such as berry, reds and browns. The classic winged eyeliner look with mascara or a lash curler is also another idea. Filling in your eyebrows is definitely a way to feel put together with celebrities like Cara Delevingne, Audrey Hepburn and Lily Collins being noted as having the best brows. 

To end, I'll leave you with this quote:

"Beauty is power, makeup is something that enhances that"

- Charlotte Tilbury

Source: BeautyCamp NYC

Manisha

Bare Face, Not Bear Face

Greetings, lovelies!

I often get asked how to build the confidence to go out with no makeup. Cause let's be real, ain't nobody got time to put on a full face of makeup every day. First off, I don't like how it's got to the point where wearing no makeup is considered 'brave'. Yes, I am rocking the face I was born with and the pimples I've unfortunately been saddled with. And I'm not sure why that's viewed as outside of the norm.

Don't get me wrong, I love makeup (I wouldn't be posting here if I didn't!) but I don't feel like I need it every time I go out of the house. And if you think otherwise, that's okay too! But for those who want some tips on feeling more comfortable with a bare face, try it as a slow process such as this one:

1. If you're used to quite a full-on look, especially with your foundation, try reducing it to a BB Cream: I love the Garnier Oil-Free one. They're lighter coverage than a foundation, but still do a great job of covering redness and evening out skin tone.
2. If you're fine with skipping foundation, apply concealer to any blemishes and/or on under-eye circles.
3. One day, you may find that you're okay with skipping base altogether. On days like this I usually just go for mascara and brows, and maybe a touch of translucent powder such as the Rimmel Stay Matte on my T-zone.
4. And at some point, you may just wake up in the morning and think, SCREW IT, I'm fine without makeup today! And there you go.

I also find that the more I get used to seeing myself with no makeup, the more chill I am about going out bare-faced. And if you rock it with pride, people around you are gonna be none the wiser :)

Still unsure? Well, today, I'm going to give you a slight nudge into the deep end (if you want to, of course). You've probably seen these types of things in various social media campaigns - 'no makeup selfies'. And, that's right, I'm challenging YOU to send us your best one to the twitter @ISYSdreamteam with the hashtag #barefacenotbearface - cause I guarantee you guys will look a lot better than this guy!

Photo sourced from imgarcade.com

Amy

Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge?!?!

Happy Hump Day everyone! So, I'm sure you've all heard about the viral trend that is taking over Facebook, Instagram and Vine at the moment. Yes, the one that involves sucking your lips in a shot glass for a couple of minutes, and releasing them to see a waterfall of drool and a massively expanded pout. That's, right, the #kyliejennerlipchallenge.

If you've been living under a rock on Mars and don't know who Kylie Jenner is, she's the 17 year old half-sister of the Kardashians: Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe. And she's famous for her lip-alicious Instagrams, such as the one below. Now, whether or not she's had lip surgery is unclear and often a hot topic of conversation - she claims that she just overdraws her lips, which is a great tip for enhancing them and I will get to that later in the post.

Photo sourced from @kyliejenner - Instagram.com

Now, don't get me wrong - it's great to try and emulate a person's look if that's what you're trying to go for. And to have fun with it! But this is CLEARLY not what Kylie does to enhance her lips. This is a typical result:

Photo sourced from @kyliejennerlipchallenge - Instagram.com

But it can get worse. A LOT WORSE. I'm going to spare you the pictures, but I have seen plenty of instances in the past week of the skin around the lips being bruised, swollen for hours, or even cut from the glass breaking and tearing the lips in the process. In conclusion? I wouldn't recommend it.

Don't worry! There are plenty of SAFE, natural ways to enhance those babies. These are my favourite techniques:

• For the most natural look, overdraw your lips slightly with a lip pencil close to your lip colour. A safe, affordable option is the Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Liner in 'Natural'. Fill in the rest of your lips with the same pencil and chuck some lip gloss over the top to make them appear more plump. Here's a great tutorial on how to achieve this from the lovely Lauren Curtis:

• You can do the same with any colour lip pencil and a matching lippy, but a warning: it does require more maintenance over the day. Make sure you go for something long-lasting and relatively matte.
• There is also a suction tool called 'Fullips', which kind of works like the shot glass but is a lot safer - it's plastic, comes in different sizes and you don't suck as hard or for as long. The downside is that it only lasts up to 4 hours, but it's definitely a better option!

So what's the bottom line here? Well, I think it's fab to experiment with different lip shapes and sizes - like eyebrows, they can do a lot for the face. But even though 'duck face' and big lips seem to be a 'thing' at the moment, don't get caught up in the hype if you're not into it. For me personally, I feel like I can't pull off a look unless I'm confident in it. But if you do what works for you, I promise you those suckers will be stretching into smiles more often.

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone, and stay rad :)

Amy

Introduction - Our Holy Grail Beauty Product?

Hello everyone! Before you delve into exploring our blog, it's best that we introduce ourselves. From left to right, our names are Amy, Myura, Mahak and Manisha. We are four Macquarie Uni students who are passionate about the makeup and beauty world. Although we're young, between the four of us, we've had a lot of makeup highs and lows. We've learnt a lot.

So, you may be wondering - girls, what is your ultimate holy grail product? Something that will make me beautiful every time I use it, without fail? Well, good news. It comes directly from you, its benefits will transcend every part of your life, and it won't cost you a cent. No, it's not a cream, a mask or a magical gel. It's CONFIDENCE. That's it!

Our blog is not a run-of-the-mill beauty blog. We believe that makeup, when applied correctly and tailored to you, can make you more confident. It is not simply a tool used to hide your 'problem areas', but rather, something that can enhance the features of yourself that you love most. So you can show the best and happiest side of yourself to the world.

Okay, you must think we're on crazy pills or something. This could be up there in the list of the corniest things you've ever read. And you might click off this blog right now and go watch some videos of pugs on skateboards. But if you're just a little bit curious about the #beautysiconfidence revolution, and also want some great makeup tips and tricks for expressing the real you, take a look around! We may surprise you.

Amy