How to wash your makeup brushes - Saturdays with Payton

Hey
It's Saturday again with Payton and this week I was stuck for ideas for this post, now I've done a couple of posts on organizing and so I thought 'what have I done this week that you lot could benefit from?' And then it came to me!
So from the title of the post you will have worked out that I am going to tell you how I wash my makeup brushes.

Quick disclaimer. By no means I am a makeup artist however I would say that I have done my research and read many things and watched many YouTube videos on how to wash your makeup brushes and now I have found something that works for me.

One last thing before I tell you what I do I quickly just want to tell you what brushes that I have because the type of brushes that you have and what they are made of can affect the effectiveness of this method if washing your brushes. So most of my brushes including the majority of my face and eye brushes are from Real Techniques by Sam and Nic Champman, I do have other face and eye brushes which are usually from the sets of makeup that you get.

So let's get started!

Things you will need:

• The brushes that need washing
• A bowl or plate
• Paper towels 
• A soft clean towel
• Regular dish soap (I use fairy liquid)
• Olive oil (I personally use extra virgin olive oil and this works perfectly for me)
• Water (usually a running tap)

Method:

This method for washing your brushes is best done in a bathroom as you will need to use a sink.

I usually start by getting a couple of sheets of paper towels and my brushes, I start with the cleanest brush or the brushing use least and then I wipe the brush on the paper towels to start to get some of the build up of the makeup off the brush, now it doesn't matter if you don't get much off as this is going to make the rest of the process slightly easier. Once I have done the ' cleanest' brush I then do the same thing with wiping the brush with the next cleanest brush and so on, working my way up to the direst brush.

Next I take my bowl and my olive oil and my dish soap, I start by putting my dish soap into the bowl, now the amount that you put in will depend on how many brushes that you need to clean and how dirty they all are. I put a generous amount in around 3 or 4  squirts of dish soap into the bowl, I next put around 1 squirt of olive oil in the bowl, overall you want around a ratio of 1 part olive oil to 3 parts dish soap.

Next I take my cleanest brush and I dip the brush slightly under water for a second and then into water  into the mixture that has just been made, only dip the hair which has makeup on,
Quick Warning:if the mixture along with water get into the top of the brush where the hairs are all glued, then the mixture and the water will make the glue weak and the hairs may fall out.
Anyway, once the brush has the mixture on it then move it around against your hand to foam up the mixture, don't put a lot of pressure onto the brush, only put the same amount of pressure on the brush that you would do when you put makeup on your face.
If the foam created from the brush is coming out the color of the makeup used on that brush, I give the brush a rinse under the tap, making sure not to get all of the hair on the top of the brush wet, and then I re dip the brush into the mixture and do the steps above again until the color of the foam is a very light color.

I then place the brush on its side on a cabinet which has a paper towel on it and, I then repeat the method above for each of my brushes.
Once all of the brushes have been put into the mixture, I then rinse them one by one, starting with the brush that I put into the mixture first. I rinse the brush off until all of the soap has gone.

I then get my towel and fold that a couple of times so it is slightly bigger than the size of a paper towel, I then lay out my paper towel on top of my normal towel and I place the brushes on top of then all spread out. I place all of this in a hot room to dry , however I have found if they are in a room with a dehumidifier, then the brushes dry the quickest.

And that is it, how to wash your makeup brushes! I hope that you like the method that I use to wash my makeup brushes, comment below if you have tried this method or the method that you use to wash your makeup brushes. I would like to say thank you for sticking with today's long post!

See you next Saturday!

~Payton <3

Valentines Day Thoughts - Saturdays with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton here, ready to share some love with you on Valentines Day! I was having a deep thinking moment about Valentines Day before writing this post and I would like to share my thoughts with you, if that's okay.

Valentines Day is usually "advertised" for none of a better word for couples, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wifes etc, and describe it as spending the day with someone that you care and love about. So I thought why is it advertised as being for people in relationships but not for everyone. I mean obviously yes you would want to share the day with your boyfriend, girlfriend etc but wouldn't you also want to spend the day with your mum, dad, sister, brother, friends and other family members and people who you care about who you also have a relationship with, plus the day is described as being with someone who you love and care about.

Sorry rant over, now on with the rest of the post!

So I am going to keep in the theme of Valentines Day and I will be doing a Valentines Day tag for you all, so let's get started!

1. What is your favorite Valentines Day treat? 

Oooo, something tasty to eat like chocolate! 

2. Sweethearts or chocolate covered strawberries?

Definitely chocolate covered strawberries ftw!

3. What was your favorite Valentines day memory?

I don't have a special memory, it's really just a normal day for me spending it with my family, as sadly I do not have a boyfriend to spend it with, but that's okay at least I'm spending it with people I love!

4. What movie would you rather watch on Valentine's Day: Pretty Woman or You've Got Mail?

I actually haven't seen either Pretty Woman or You've Got Mail........Lemme google something quickly....... okay so from their plot lines I would rather watch You've Got Mail.

5. What celeb would you not mind having as your Valentine?

Ooooo, this question is a tough one, I would not mind having quite a few different celebrities as my valentine although I think that I have now made up my mind.

I would definitely not mind having Chris Hemsworth as my Valentine or Taylor Glockner or Harley Bonner.

 

6. What would you do on your perfect Valentine's date?

I haven't really thought of this to be honest with you, I think that it depends, on one hand I would love to go for a meal and to the cinema, but I think that everyone does that, but really I would love to do something that we would both enjoy together.

7. Red or pink lips on Valentines Day?

I do love red lips but I do not think that I can pull it off, but I am trying different combinations and colors but until I find the right one I will have to say pink lips.

8. What is your ideal Valentine's Day date outfit?

This would depend on what we are doing that day, I would definitely try and wear something cute no matter what, if it was a meal out then I would rock the dress and heels but if it was something else then I may wear something more casual, but I am usually indecisive with what I wear so it would be something I pull together last minute!

9. Homemade or store-bought gifts?

I love both, but I do think that homemade gifts are cute and more personal and memorable.

10. Would you wear your hair up or hair down for a date night? 

I would wear my hair down and it would probably be curled. I just hate wearing my hair up unless it is perfect.

So that is it for my Valentines Day post, I hope that you enjoyed it and I hope that you have had an awesome Valentines Day! 'Love is just love, it can never be explained'

See you next week!

~Payton <3

Motivation, Goals and Organising ~ Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton again, and today I feel motivated and I want to share my motivation with you! "Motivated about what?" you may ask, well today I have been motivated about cleaning, tidying, and getting organised! Yes it's been 5 and a half weeks since New Year's Day 2015, and I want to ask you how have your resolutions been going? Have you stuck to them? Have they changed your life? In these first 5 and a half weeks of 2015 or 37 days, you could have broken a habit (it only takes 21 days) and you could be a few days away from completing breaking a second habit, so have you done that yet?

I want to share with you how my new years resolutions have been going on because I feel that this year I have accomplished something big in my own eyes, wait for it............. I have remembered my new years resolutions!

Now, usually I would not have remembered them for this long, however I feel that blogging about them as made them stick in my head due to them being written down, so I thank you the wonderful readers of the blog for helping me do something so small but yet so rewarding for me!

Next onto the nitty-gritty, on what I have really achieved. My resolutions were to lose some weight, tone up, eat healthily/ try new foods, be organised and be on time. That list seemed to go on for ages, and I know for certain that I haven't achieved many of them to a high standard, but baby steps will get me and you there!

Let's start with my organisation goal seeing as I have been motivated to get organised today. I feel that I achieved some of this goal and I feel really proud about it, today was the day that I cleaned, tidied and organised under my bed, the part of the room that many (it probably includes you) that you never go in your room. 

I thoroughly suggest to you that you do this! It makes you feel amazing! To stay organised buy some cheap big plastic boxes that will fit under your bed and label them so that it stays tidy under there, you will thank me in the future when you need to find something in 6 months time!

It wasn't just organising my room that I have started to do, however I have organised school folders and I have organised my time more to get more work done in free lessons at school, so my work is done not the night before it is due!

Time for my health goals, I have set many health goals for myself this year, some of them I feel like I have achieved more than others, but we all have to start from somewhere! I admit to not doing as much exercise as I like however I have hurt my knee, which is not a good thing, but hopefully it will be able to heal properly and quickly so I can do more activities again. On a happier note, my goal with eating new foods and healthy foods has been going really well. I have been trying new foods and I am starting to like them, granted that some of them are not healthy, but at least I am trying new things! My newest foods that I love are macaroni cheese ready meal and toasting waffles! On a healthier note though, I am eating more fruits and vegetables like peppers, cucumber, carrots, blueberries and healthy foods like fish especially on a weekday. 

I would like to roundup this blog post by saying that anything can be done, if you put your mind to it, small changes, can make a big difference in your life and you will feel much happier about it too! Trust me, if I have managed to stick to my goals, I know that you can too because I am the last person to achieve a goal that has been set! Comment what New Years goals that you have set, that you have stuck to or new goals in which you wish to accomplish!

See you next Saturday!

~Payton <3

January Favourites, Superbowl 2015 predictions - Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Saturday and it's not just any Saturday but it is the last day of January! PLUS it is the day before the Super Bowl! Anyway all this week I have been thinking about what to post today and I had two ideas, my January Favorites and the Super Bowl (I know that the Super Bowl doesn't happen until tomorrow but its the same weekend!) So I thought that I would put my two ideas into one post, so here it goes!

Firstly, here is my January Favorites as many of these products have been life-savers and just amazing this month!

These are my favorite beauty products:

Hair - Batiste dry shampoo (£2.99) - this product is not just amazing when your hair gets greasy but when you want a little more volume in your hair it works a treat! plus when you have the product in my hair feels so soft which is an added bonus! 

Make-up -  Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette (£22 or $29) - I just love this product, I have had this product for just over a month and it works so well with my skin tone and my other makeup products so that it is so easy to create many different looks effortlessly! If you want to check out my full review on this product then here is the link: http://sevensweethearts.blogspot.com/2015/01/urban-decay-naked-basics-2-palette.html

Skin Care - Tea Tree and Witch Hazel skin care line from boots - The products I have are  the Night Treatment Gel (£2.99), the Shine Control Day Moisturizer(£3.59), Exfoliating Face Scrub(£3.79) and the Face Wash(£3.59). All of these products are amazing to use, they help keep my skin soft and smooth and help get rid of spots plus they do not make me break out as bad also a massive bonus is that they are pretty cheap to buy! If you want a separate review on these products, comment below!

Here is a list of my other favorites from this month:

Favorite song - This is home by Bryan Lanning -This is Bryan's first ever single and it is absolutely amazing and it brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it, plus the music video to go with this song is so beautiful, check out this song here as I know he would love you to buy it : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/this-is-home-single/id958740203

Favorite TV Show - It has to be Broadchurch! I just love this show so much, I never thought that I would like a Crime-Drama show ever but I do! I will be giving you a Series 1 review when I have finished watching it, which will hopefully be soon! So stay tuned!

Favorite game/app - This month my favorite game/app has a tie as I cannot decide my favorite, my favourites are crossy road and 2048 plus

Favorite food - This has to be Honey Cherios! Don't ask why, just eat them and you will find out why I love them!

So those were my favorites from this month, some of them were a bit random but you know, you just have to live life on the edge sometimes!

Anyway I would have added the Super Bowl into my favorites this month however, this year the Super Bowl is on February 1st, 2015 so technically I couldn't add it in here but if I could, I would! Anyway the Super Bowl this year is between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona! These are the times that I wished I lived in the USA but that's okay, you are probably thinking it is a little strange for an English Girl to like American Football, but I have to thank the TV show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team for opening my eyes to this sport! Anyway I can't really say much at this time of posting as the game hasn't happened yet so I am going to leave you with my predictions: I think that it will be a close game between these two teams which make it hard for me to pick, but I will go with the Seattle Seahawks, seeing as it is the second year in a row that they are in the Super Bowl final, we will see how the game plays out and who will win!
Although I cannot wait to watch Katy Perry's halftime show performance because it will be amazing!

Anyway, thank you for reading this weeks post, I hope you have enjoyed reading my favorite products this month and I definitely recommend every single one of them to you!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

21 Funny Questions Tag with Saturday's Payton

Hey!

It's Saturday again which means that it is a post from me, your Miss Saturday here on the Seven Sweethearts blog....... it's Payton!

This week I thought that it would be fun to do a tag and as you only read posts from me once a week I decided that it would be good for you to get to know me better so I am going to do a 21 random questions tag where my answers will probably be very random, so let's get started!

1. Are you named after anyone? I don't think that I am named after anyone, although I like to think I am named after someone really amazing!

2. When was the last time you cried? The last time I cried was when I was watching a re-run of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team,I know that's sad but it's true as my favorite person go cut.

3. Do you have kids? No, I think that I am a bit too young to have kids and besides that I need a boyfriend to have kids with!

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? I think that I would like to be a friend of myself, although I think that I would have to see myself in small doses as I sometimes can barely stand myself at the best of times!

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Uhhh.....yeah totally! I asked Ash this question when I saw this tag and she said yes so I am going with that answer!

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? I don't know, I would probably be too scared to do that although I would like to Sky-Dive if I had the chance!

7. What’s your favorite cereal? I don't usually eat cereal, although at the moment I am in love with Rice Crispies and Honey Cheerios!

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? I notice what they are wearing and their hair and their eyes, well I think that's what I do!

9. What is your eye color? I have always said my eye color is blue so I am going with that although my eyes can somethings be a blue-green color which is really pretty.

10. Scary movie or happy endings? I am always scared at something as I always get scared really easy, I am trying to watch more scary movies though to stop me being scared of anything so the most recent scary movie I have watched was Lesbian Vampire Killers (which stars James Corden) and that film is a horror-comedy so I hope that counts! From this I will say that I prefer happy endings because I mean who doesn't want a happy ending?

11. Favorite smells? Anything that smells nice maybe? I know a lot of people say this and I know it's weird but I love the smell when you are at a petrol station, I don't know why? But I do love flowers and perfumes and that which smell nice!

12. Summer or winter? How can I choose between two awesome seasons! Both Summer and Winter are amazing times of year as Summer you can go on holiday and it is warm but in Winter you have Christmas and my Birthday, so I don't know the answer to that one, sorry!

13. Computer or television? Computer all the way! C'mon with a computer you can do so many things INCLUDING WATCHING TV which makes you have both things!

14. What’s the furthest you've ever been from home? The furthest I've been from home is Cyprus, that is about 2,000 miles however I will be travelling further than that when I go to New York with Belle in October (New York is about 3,400 miles away from England)

15. Do you have any special talents? I don't think I have any special talents that are good really although I can still get my foot up to my head so I am sort of flexible!

16. Where were you born? I was born in a hospital........in England.

17. What are your hobbies? Well I don't really have any proper hobbies, if you call watching TV and YouTube a hobby then I do have a hobby, although doing this blog with the other girls is a hobby!

18. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a billion and one pets. Seriously though I have 6 cats! Oh and there's a few fish in this fish tank we own in our house. 

19. Favorite movie? Why do you have to make me pick a favorite movie? Like this answer changes on a daily basis, actually like three movies have just popped into my head so here they are: Pitch Perfect, Hunger Games, and this one isn't quite a movie but its a movie length and its The Sound Of Music Live! (the one starring Carrie Underwood)

20. Do you have any siblings? Nope. Only child swagg! 

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Princess, well that's most little girls' dream, I actually want to work with children and I don't know in what way whether it be a teacher but I love Psychology so something to do with Children and Psychology.

Right that's 21 questions and answers all about me, I hope that you enjoyed getting to know me better, comment what things about you are similar to me, because I would like to know!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette Review - Saturdays with Payton

Hey!

It is Saturday, which means today’s host is me…. Payton! So I hope that you all have had a wonderful week, mine has been a little crazy with getting back into the swing of school and working but thank goodness that it is finally the weekend! Anyway this week I wanted to give you a review on one of my favourite products, so let’s get into the review!

Today’s product that I will be reviewing is the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette! Now I can tell you now that it will not just contain my review on the Naked Basics 2 palette but it will be a comparison to the Naked Basics 1 palette.

Firstly, if you know me I am absolutely in love with makeup and if you ask any girl what their favourite type of makeup is they could say, lipstick, blush, bronzer, concealer, mascara, eyeliner etc., my answer to that question is definitely eye shadow. I cannot live without eye shadow it is basically perfect!

So one of my favourite ranges of eye shadow is Urban Decay’s whole range of eye shadow but specific the Naked range, now I am going to admit that I do not own all of the different palette’s in the Naked range however that is because these are some of the first palettes that I picked up, and I straight away fell in love with them!

The Naked Basics 2 palette is the newest palette to the collection which was released in the second half of 2014. It contains 6 different shades and they are:
Skimp (pale nude satin)
Stark (nude-pink matte)
Frisk (warm grey matte)
Cover (muted red-brown matte)
Primal (muted brown matte)
Undone (deep, smoky, brown matte)

As you can see these shades are more grey oriented and this makes it really fun to play around with the Smokey eye! I could not tell you which shade is my favourite as they all work so well for any look, they are also work really well together with the Naked Basics 1 palette which I find is heaven!

To help you compare this new palette to its predecessor these are the shades contained in the naked Basics 1 palette:

Venus (white with a semi matte finish)

Foxy (yellow toned ivory with a matte finish)

Walk Of Shame (W.O.S) (Pale cream with pink tones)

Naked 2 (pink nude with grey tones)

Faint (Matte Light brown with red and charcoal undertones)

Crave (Deep, dark brown that is almost black)

What I love about the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette along with the Naked Basics 1 palette is the size and the practicality of them. The size is wonderful as the palette can be taken anywhere as it is so small and lightweight so it can be easy to put in your handbag and you’re away! What I mean with the practicality of the palettes are that they are amazing for both day and night looks, and it is so simple to turn a simple day look into an effortlessly-looking Smokey eye ready for an evening out! The reason why they are perfect with making a day look into a night look is due to the fact that they are highly pigmented which is a dream for anybody who wants their look to pop and to last all day and night!

Overall I have no bad things to say about the Naked Basics 2 palette, I have had no struggle with creating amazing eye looks which get many compliments from my friends and family! This product is a must have for anybody as it can create such amazing natural looks as well as looks that make the eyes just pop!

So that’s it for today’s post folks, I hope you enjoyed my review of the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette and the comparison to the original Naked Basics 1 palette. Comment what type of product that you think I should review next!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3

Sia's Elastic Heart and Broadchurch - Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton again which means that it is another Saturday, woohoo the weekend! I am going to admit this now and say that usually I am stuck for blog post ideas however this week I have been inspired by a couple of different things which you can probably guess from the title of this post.

First though, let me give you a quick summary of my week, so it has been a week of mixed emotions and feelings really - don't worry its nothing too bad! So we started school back on Monday which was stressful as there was exams this week, luckily I only had exams on Tuesday so the stress was only short-lived for the duration of those exams! The rest of the week I was off timetable - which was amazing! However I thought that I should take advantage of the week so on Thursday I went into school with Maya and I finished some coursework which felt good as I had a big weight lifted off my shoulders as I was organised! Wednesday and Friday I generally procrastinated however I got myself into a new TV series - Broadchurch! (Don't worry I will give you a review of it once I have caught up on all the episodes!) 

Yes I've jumped on the Broadchurch bandwagon, but who can blame me this show is amazing! For me watching this is a big thing as I am into watching reality shows however this is a crime drama show. As most of you know series 2 has just started and I have only just started watching it, so to understand it properly I am going to watch series 1, which means you will get a review of it from me too!

I feel like now I have rambled on about my daily life, but do you know what I feel that posting on this blog kind of like a diary for me so yeah and now lets get into my review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia!

So Sia's back with one of her different style of music videos than what the world is used to, also the amazing dancer Maddie Ziegler is back too (I am in love with this fact as she started out and is still on my favorite TV show Dance Moms) Elastic Hearts also stars Shia LaBeouf from Transformers and one of my favorite childhood shows Even Stevens. Now this music video has had a lot of media attention and controversy and very diverse opinions on it so much so that Sia has apologized for the suggested pedophilia which some say can be suggested from the video. I feel that was a safe move by Sia and I'm glad that was done so that people can actually enjoy the video because it is so artistically different from what people expect to see.

My personal opinion on the music video is that it is brilliant, it is such wonderfully choreographed, both Maddie and Shia work together to create something different and unusual yet something so captivating! I feel that I get past what everyone is worrying about as I am used to watching Dance Moms and everyone in leotards, but what I don't get is their outfits are nothing unusual that you wont see any different from what you see in a swimming pool where everyone accepts it - a guy in shorts and a girl in a leotard-like full swimming costume. Back onto the topic of how amazingly captivating this video is that it is only just that the song and the lyrics fit perfectly with the video but the last 45 seconds of the video is silent with Maddie and Shia still on the screen where Maddie's character  is trying to get Shia's character out of the cage that they were trapped dancing in. This part of the video is so moving and intriguing that I just love it!  

Many people interpret this video in many different ways, to many it looks like a father-daughter relationship of playing around - included with the strange funny faces that everyone makes, I have the same sort of interpretation as that, watch the video and you'll see why! I don't have much else to say on this review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia as it left me speechless!

Anyway, I feel that this post has been extremely long but I feel that I needed to fill you in on my life this week along with my small review of the music video! Don't worry I have many more ideas for posts in the future!

See you next week!

Payton <3 

Getting to know your Saturday blogger -Payton

Hey!

I'm Payton and I will be your Saturday blogger, which I think is pretty sweet if you ask me as I think that Saturday is the best day of the week! Especially this Saturdays as it is the first official full day of the school holidays! I am your usual teenage girl into makeup, hair and fashion although what will surprise you is the other things that you wouldn't expect me to be interested in which I will tell you later on.

So let's get into a little bit about me, I won't tell you too much as you can learn about me more through my upcoming posts. So you know my name, Payton and thats pretty much it, so let's fill you in on my vital statistics. I am 17 years old and I live in the best place in the world, England! along with the other Sweethearts of this blog. I am an only child which has its benefits and drawbacks but I think that its pretty cool because I have a pretty sweet mum and dad. Your probably thinking that I live in a super cute little house, well your kind of wrong with that, I don't just share the house with my mum and dad but i share it with 6 cats, you are probably thinking wow that's a lot, and I know it is especially when we are all crowded in the same room!
On with more about me, let me get the boring part of my life out of the way, school, I am currently doing my first year of my A Levels and I am taking 3 subjects, ICT, Psychology and Maths. They seem like a weird combination of subjects to many but strangely i enjoy them all, although they can be tough.

Now onto the exciting stuff! I am a complete fangirl like many of the other Sweethearts, I enjoy some of the same things that they fangirl over but some other things that I like they look at me confused when i start talking about them! I absolutely love all things American! (some of these things will probably be topics for some of my other posts) I am in love with many reality TV shows, Dance Moms, Cake Boss, Rich Kids just to name a few. Also I am addicted to YouTube, and there are so many people on there that I watch.

Okay my favorite color is Pink, my favorite bands would be either The Saturdays, Fifth Harmony or We The Kings to name a few and my newest obsession would have to be with Carrie Underwood; my favorite TV shows would either be Dr Who, some reality TV show like Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or any TV show that just suits my personality really.

You may think that I have so much going on in my life. with all of my interests but, this is just the start of getting to know me, I mean you will learn that I am a huge procrastinator so anything that I do on a daily basis is a huge accomplishment for me!
Every Saturday expect anything from me from random vents about life to reviews to tips and advice and much more!

See you next Saturday!

Payton <3