5 Beauty Hacks That I Love

So as we know I am like the Queen of Laze. I am so lazy even my subconscious tries to tell me to get off of my butt. Being the way I am predisposes me to love all short cuts that actually work, I have a few that I really like and do use on a regular basis, so for all of you out there who are just as lazy these are for you - you know who you are - the ones that will just wait for nail polish to chip off completely as oppose to just remove it, the ones that love a messy bun because it's now considered "a style" and not what it really is - a guise under which you are hiding from the world that this morning you really couldn't be fucked to brush your hair or for that matter do a n y t h i n g to it, the ones that just sleep on the other side of the bed that isn't covered in clothes that are in too many different stages of laundry to bother with, the ones that just cba.
1) Wet wipes and Polish Remover
I paint my nails a lot, and by extension I remove nail polish a lot. This takes a long time if we take into consideration glitter is the be all and end all of existence, however replace the little cotton pads/sponge thing/tissue/kitchen roll/random rag that you were going to throw out anyway with a wet wipe and you have the easiest, least messy, quickest, lowest remover consuming polish removal sesh of your nail polish wearing life. Well, I do anyway. It works like a freaking dream. If it's an extra stubborn glitter I just tip a little remover into the lid of the bottle and soak my nail in the solution for like twenty seconds and it's gone with a single wipe. This trick has been serving me well for years, I hope it gives you what it gave me.
2) Eyelash Curlers
Mascara takes forever to get just the way I want it, flakes into my eyes if I rub my eye, is murder to get off and wearing time  is as finite as iPhones life. Eye lash curlers take five minutes, you always get a natural look, it lasts (almost) all day and once you get the hang of them you never have a bad eyelashes day - you know, those days where one side it perfect and the other side looks like Captain Hook helped you with your makeup, but with eyelash curlers they just spread out and curl what your mama gave you and thankfully my mama gave me long ass lashes so it's all good. They last forever - I had the same pair for maybe three years before I replaced them and the one I have now has been in use for just over a year and I am looking to replace the old girl but they still work just as well with a little persistence. You can pick up a pair from pretty much anywhere that does makeup and they all have their pros and cons - Shu Uemura are the most expensive mechanical ones as far as I know, but I don't really like them. I've used H&M's, Boots and I've tried out most high street ones, my favorite is the Boots one - it's black so doesn't look gunked up and dirty even when you've just cleaned it, inexpensive and just a really good pair. I keep them with me pretty much all the time.
3) Toothpaste Face mask
Once a week I have like a special shower, extra time under the water, special exfoliation routine, I condition and treat my hair, I do my eyebrows and nails I basically have like a really good deep clean and spoil my skin and hair - one thing I do without fail during this is a Toothpaste Face Mask. I just use whatever toothpaste is in the house and I work it into my face, concentrating on my t-zone and I just leave it on for like 10 minutes or as long as it takes me to get good and soaked under the water, then I just use my exfoliating mitt and scrub it off and finally I just rinse it. It makes my skin feel so clean and so fresh - it's just like my favorite. I used to use so many products on my skin but now I just use two things and my skin has never been better!
4) Kiss-proof lips/Cupid's bow X
So I use lipstain, my go-to is the Soap and Glory  Cheekmate Cheek and Lip Stain, the only downfall to this one is that it doesn't come with an applicator, however you can pick up a lipstain pen from anywhere that does makeup for like £1 and if you just take the felt stainy bit from inside and rinse the nub you have a perfect applicator, I used to use an old 1000 kisses by Rimmel as an applicator, but anyway yeah when applying the gel, I squeeze two little blobs on to my lips and then mush my lips together gently like you do after putting lip balm on, then using the  applicator I smooth the stain over my bottom lip and evenly distribute the formula on the nib of the applicator, using the edge I draw a cross over my cupid's bow and then the outline of my top lip, once I am happy with the shape I fill my lips in. I leave it soak into my lips while I do something else, usually my eyeliner and then I blot on a flannel and apply some lip balm over the to set it and I have my signature dark-hued, kiss-proof, stained pout. Sometimes I like to switch it up and use red lipstick to kiss proof that I just apply the lipstick (using the cupid's bow X trick) and then I take a piece of tissue, place over my lips and just using my powder foundation brush I just dab talc over both the tissue and my lips. It draws all the smudgy stuff out and leaves you with perfect lipstick. I get kiss my hubby and he doesn't have to go back to work covered in lipstick.
5) Toothbrushes
Old tooth brushes are a life saver, I have two - one I keep in my makeup bag with I use as when I'm plucking and shaping my eyebrows, I clean it with soap every use. Sometimes I use it to exfoliate areas that need extra attention, it's good as a flyaway tamer/hair teaser, cleaning and buffing nails is easy with it too. So yeah I have many uses for it! The other one I have I use for keeping my hair brush free from stray hairs and lint, I use it to clean the little crevices on my phone case, my husbands shaver - basically heavier cleaning. Honestly it works so much better than most things.
What are your little beauty hacks?
Love,
Monica
            xxx