Weekly Tip : Cleaning Your Makeup Brushes

This week's weekly tip will be about cleaning your make up brushes.  Cleaning your make up brushes is a hygienic step that most people miss, but it's a very important one!

What you'll need :
A Bowl
Hot Water
Soap (I personally use liquid soap for sensitive skin)
A Towel
Your Makeup Brushes

How To Clean :
1. Fill your bowl with hot water and your choice of soap.
2. Submerge your brushes in the water and scrub (you may need to change the water once or twice).
3. Empty your dirty water, rinse out the bowl and fill it with clean hot water.
4. Rinse off all of the soap (this is important as soap residue can irritate your skin) on your brushes.
5. Towel dry your brushes and leave out to dry over night.

How often should you clean them ?
This really depends on how often you use each of your brushes, however a good rule of thumb is to clean them once a week.  You want to make sure that you rid your brushes of left over makeup and any bacteria to keep your skin as healthy as possible.

How do you guys clean your makeup brushes ? Let us know in the comments below!
-xx Sally

iPhone Photo Editing

Hey Everyone! As I mentioned in our Get To Know Us video one of my hobbies is photography, now that being said I don't always carry around my DSLR but I still want to be able to take photos so I can share them. I recently purchased a lens for my iPhone that features a fish-eye, macro and wide-angle lens. I will be doing a review for it shortly when I get a chance to get out and take some photos with it. Now once I have taken a photo I find that often I want to adjust the lighting, the contrast or even give it a nice filter. I also didn't want to have to upload my photos and have to edit them in photoshop only to have to put them back on the phone to share.

After searching for a while I found the two apps that I use most often to edit my photos.

Picfx: This is the app that I use to apply any filters. It allows you to adjust the filters effect and combine multiple filters which I will often do to get the perfect look. Now this app is not currently free, sitting at $1.99 but it is well worth it. I definitely recommend it for those who like to use filters on their photos that are more varied than those Instagram offers.

Snapseed: I was lucky enough to get this app when it was on sale for free but it regularly sits at $3.99. However I use this one the most. It allows you to tune the photo so that you can bring out subtle details to enhance the photo, similar to using photoshop. I will generally use this app before Picfx so that the photo is well adjusted before receiving a filter.

I am hoping this will help you edit some of your own photos and I'd love to see some of them. You can either tag me on Instagram @kelseyinkol (also please feel free to follow me) or send them to us on twitter @lbdgirls :)

Happy Photo Editing!
-xx
Kelsey

A Splash of Colour

Summer is a great time to try out new and bright nail polishes!  I recently purchased this new Essie nail polish called Enuf is Enuf for $8 at Shoppers.  (I featured it in my Collective Haul video).  This nail polish is a great splash of pink for the summer, and being Essie it's very durable.  If you want to try a pop of colour without going completely over the top, I would recommend trying this nail polish!

Pros : This colour is amazing because it shows different colours based on what lighting you are in.  It also adds a great pop of colour for the summer months, but isn't too over the top so it can also be worn in the winter months.

Cons : You do have to put on several coats for it's true colour to be seen, but other than that there isn't anything to complain about.

To check out more of Essie's fabulous colours view their website here.  Do you love wearing bright nail polish?  If you do what's your favourite brand and colour?
-xx Sally

Product Review: Soap & Glory Glow Job

Hello Everyone! Life may of been getting crazy and I forgot to post on Saturday! Oops! As Sally mentioned we are now going to be posting Monday to Fridays, which will help when life gets a little more hectic.

Now into the product review. I purchased this while I was in England this past June and I have been giving it a little bit of a go before writing a review. So lets get started.

Cost: £9 ($14 Canadian) at Boots

Pros: A little goes a long way with this product. I have been using it for a bit and it really does give you that healthy summer glow, which will be perfect to use in the winter when everything seems to tone down that little extra bit. I also love the name, this company has the best sense of humour and I think that really helps their brand to stand out.

Cons: It has little bronze beads in it, which can be impossible to break and then when they do they leave a streak across your face, which is easily blend-able but a wee bit inconvenient. That and the fact that Shoppers carries it for $24, $10 more than what it is in England. So this is a shame.

Final Verdict: Now although I love this product and it gives me a lovely little glow I don't think I will be re-buying unless I can get someone to bring me it from England. I am not a fan of paying $25 for a moisturizer, call me cheap but I cant justify it to myself.

Have you used Soap & Glory Glow Job? How'd you like it? Let me know in the comments!

-xx
Kelsey

Book Obsession : Game of Thrones

Hi everyone, first off I want to start by saying sorry that I didn't get a chance to post on Friday, between work and getting ready to photograph a wedding I completely forgot to do a post!  Also I want to let all of you guys know that Kelsey and I will be posting from Monday - Friday starting next week!  To keep up with our latest posts and videos be sure to check out our twitter (you can follow us here).

Now onto today's post :).  Today I'm going to talk about my book obsession, The Game of Thrones written by George R. R. Martin.  About April I was introduced to this series and I have to say I'm absolutely in love!  I'm currently finishing up the second book (I've been working a tone so I haven't had as much time to read as I'd like) and I can't wait to read the other 3 books.  I personally picked up the books in paper back from $10 from Chapters.  I chose the smaller paper back option simply because I do have smaller hands so I find they are easier to hold.  A strange detail I know, but it does make a huge different when I'm reading.

Mini Plot Overview : Basically the books take place in a land where there are Seven Kingdoms different kingdoms.  They were once independently ruled, however now they are ruled under one King.  The books go over the struggle for both the upper class (the Kings) and the lower class (the Watch) while they fight to rule their own regions against their enemies both near and far.  Their wars against kingdoms are not their only battle, they must also fight to survive the upcoming winter which lasts decades. Every chapter is told from the view of a different main character in the novels.  It's interesting to watch the story unfold from several points of view, as you are let in on secrets that some of the characters aren't aware of yet.

A Song of Fire and Ice Books in order 
A Game of Thrones
Clash of King
A Storm of Swords
A Feast of Crows
A Dance with Dragons

If you enjoy reading novels set in the past, and novels which incorporate mystery and magic, then you're sure to enjoy reading this captivating series.  I personally recommend it anyone, and it's one of my favourite book series to read.  I know that a lot of people are also enjoying watching the HBO series. I personally haven't watched the series, but I have heard nothing but praise for it.  Have any of you read or watched this series ?  If so do you like it as much as I do?
-xx Sally

OOTD: Lace Me Up

I really want to begin to do more OOTD, however I have been working through out the day and by the time I get home it is very hard to get styled set up and photographed so I pieced together a little outfit that I would wear.

I am a huge fan of lace shorts, however the ones I have are a little too short, if you catch my drift so I simply wear them with a pair of fairly opaque tights, I really wanted to elongate the leg in this outfit so I paired it with a pair of high heels in the same black to create a seamless line. Now since my clothing was very neutral I spiced it up with some orange accessories.

Here is every item and how much it costs, all prices are in Canadian dollars:

Jumper: Rag and Bone Sandra Pullover $350
Lace Shorts: River Island Cream Crochet Lace Shorts $23
Tights: Primark Black Opaque Tights $4
Shoes: Liberty Black Suede Platform Shoe Boots $60
Bag: Mode Minimalistic Bag $80
Sunglasses: The Row Leather Wrapped Sunglasses $445
Earrings: Gold Pyramid Diamond Earrings $95
Rings: Belle Noelle Diamond Shaped Ring $35

How do you wear lace shorts? Let me know in the comments!
-xx
Kelsey

July Favourite's

Here's my July Favourite's Video!  You can watch it here, or you can view it on our Youtbe Channel here. I hope you guys enjoy!  Also be sure to leave your July Favourite's as a video response, we'd love to watch them! 

-xx Sally