Leibster Award!

This award is used by bloggers who have 200 follows or less promote each other in order to make more friends in the blogging community and attract more attention to their blog! Each nominee must first list 11 random facts about their self, then answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated them. Lastly, choose 11 bloggers who have 200 followers or less on bloglovin and ask them your own 11 questions!

Wow, I have just been nominated for the Leibster Award by the lovely Just Nicolette (Link to her wonderful blog here). I'm so happy and honored to know that my blog is actually being read, as I love writing it :) So a HUGE thank you to all those out there who take the time to have a look! <3

The Rules:

1. Post 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer the 11 questions the awarding blogger posted for you
3. Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers an link them in your post
4. Let them know they have been nominated 
5. No tag backs!

So let's get started....

11 Facts About Me:

1. I'm slightly addicted to home study courses. Got national diplomas in Journalism, Vintage Fashion Studies, IT, Makeup Artistry and am now on my Beauty Therapy Lvl 3. GEEK! :P

2. I would love to be a full time writer, although failing that, I plan to study to become a social worker.

3. I'm the baby of the family. I'm 22, and my sisters are 38 and 41. It's often like having 3 mums.

4. I've been with my fiance for almost 2 years now, although we actually got engaged after just 2 months!!

5. I have a weird habit for naming things... the plant near my window is called Spike (I'm rather odd!).

6. My favorite thing to eat in the whole world is blueberries.

7. I lived in London for most of my life, but moved up to Yorkshire last year to be near the rest of my family. It's cold up here.

8. I want to learn to play a musical instrument. My other half used to be in a band and I'm always jealous when he plays the keyboard.

9. When I was 19, I had a couple of philosophy articles published in a national journal.

10. I've only ever been abroad once in my life and that was to Paris. I need to go travelling asap!

11. My makeup hoarding is getting out of control, and I find lipsticks in the most random places round my house (e.g next to my pillow, the knife and fork drawer, and inside bowls in the cupboard... how do they get there???).

Next, Her Questions For Me: 

1. When did you start your blog? 

4th September this year... it's still very new :) 

2. If your life were a television show what would the theme song be? 

Ooohh that's a hard one... I have no idea!! My life is too random for any song :P 

3. Do you have a hidden talent?

I'm pretty good at painting and sketching. I don't do it as much as I used to though. 

4. What is your favorite animal?

Probably ducks. Random, but if I get really stressed, I like to go feed the ducks. 

5. What is the last book you read?

I like reading classics (it stuck after Alevel English Lit). The last book I read was The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It's my favorite book and I read it every year. 

6. What is the one thing you can't leave home without?

My phone. I feel completely lost without it.

7. Where would you like to travel to?

I've always wanted to travel round America. Rent a car and go coast to coast. That and Italy. 

8. What is your favorite food?

Blueberries <3 

9. Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate?

Coffee!! I feel sorry for anyone who speaks to me in a morning before I've had a cup of coffee! 

10. What is your candle scent of the moment?

I'm loving all the Christmasy ones out at the min. Got a Blackberry Frost one which is AMAZING!! 

11. What is your favorite color?

I'd have to say purple :) 

Now I Nominate: 

1. laurenwanders
2. ssthenextchapter
3. bloggingbysophie
4. venturerkerrylouise
5. lippylikes
6. The Beauty Inside
7. thebeautifultruth
8. sweetheartsweetmind
9. bold95beauty
10. skaybeauty
11. onestopsavvy


Now My Questions: 

1. What made you start blogging?
2. Other than blogging, what do you most love to do in your spare time?
3. Where is the most exciting place you have ever visited?
4. What is your best childhood memory?
5. Who is your favorite band/singer?
6. What is your favorite film?
7. What would your dream job be and why?
8. Are you a morning or night person?
9. What do you like to do to really relax?
10. What would you say you spent most of your money on, other than rent/bills etc?
11. What has your favorite thing about blogging been so far?


So that's it from me. Again, I just want to say thank you for the nomination, it really means a lot :) and thank you to all those out there who take the time to read my posts!

Love to you all x

The Winter Project #2 - Winter Accessories

Hello my lovelies, hope everyone is well and keeping warm!

So its come round to the second week of #thewinterproject, and today is all about favorite winter accessories! :)

What I thought I'd do with this post, is show you the accessories I'm loving at the moment as kind of a wishlist post. I'm going Christmas shopping tomorrow, and these are the things I might treat myself to :)

1. Topshop Net Bow Headband: £10

I love headbands for winter. I've always been a bit of a hat lover when it comes to winter, but this season, I'm wanting to buy a couple of headbands instead, as I think they add something a bit different to a winter outfit. This one is simple yet has some lovely elegant detail with the lace bow, and is a bargain at only £10! 

2. River Island Brown Floral Print Scarf: £18

I have to admit something to you. I am a bit of a scarf hoarder! I think I now have around 20, and the list seems to grow almost weekly in winter. I love them, and most of them are printed scarves rather than woolly ones. I think you can brighten up any outfit with them, so when I'm stuck for what to wear, I throw on a plain black dress and add a bright scarf. I saw this the other day when browsing online, and loved the unusual pattern. 

3. Warehouse Quilted Leather Gloves from Asos.com: £26

I actually treated myself to these last night when looking online! Oops! I have bought several pairs of pretty knitted gloves in the past, all with lovely designs, but I play with my hands a lot, and am always picking things up and fiddling, and knitted gloves seem to wear out really quickly. Last year I bought some leather ones, and they lasted all winter without a problem. When I saw these quilted leather effect ones, I thought they looked classic, and will keep my hands nice and warm at the same time! Might even dedicate a  post to them when they arrive :)  

4. Hunter Wellies: Price Varies

The one thing I just could not live without in winter is my wellies. I have chocolate brown Hunters at the moment, and to say that I love them would be an understatement. For Christmas, I have asked for another pair, seeing as I get so much wear out of them! These classic pillar box red ones are what I have decided on, although there are so many to choose from that I may change my mind! 

5. Hunter Socks: Price Varies 

Finally, to go with my beloved brown Hunters, I have decided that I need some of these lovely cable knit Hunter socks. The winters get very cold here in Yorkshire and I'm hoping these cute little things help! I think they are around £30 from Hunters website, but you can shop around to find them cheaper. 

So there we are! My top 5 wishlist picks for winter accessories! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! All comments, links, and opinions are always welcomed...

I am already looking forward to the next #thewinterproject post next Tuesday :) 

Love to you all x

Rescue Oil Review

Hello my lovelies!

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was cold. Very cold!

Cold weather tends to dry my skin out quite a lot so I've learnt that I need to go on the attack when it comes to keeping my skin hydrated in winter. Moisturize all the time, and above moisturizer, one thing I've been using to keep my skin soft and even in colour throughout the last couple of weeks is Rescue Oil. Normally, I turn to the infamous Bio Oil, because, apart from being good for scars it evens out skin tones and keeps it well hydrated. But I fancied a change.

A while ago I blogged about a cocoa therapy oil I was using as a cheaper alternative to Bio Oil, and I loved it. So that got me thinking that there must be a lot of other great alternatives out there. I was browsing through Boots and came across this for £2.99. You can even get it on ebay for just £2! 

The bottle I bought was 40ml, and that's lasted me a month when used on my hands, arms and legs. So it's really not bad value at all. 

The first thing you notice about the product is the bright orange colour! I like it, it helps to give your skin a nice healthy glow. Then you notice the smell. It smells lovely - really clean and fresh, and the smell lasts long after the oil has absorbed into your skin. 

The only downside about this oil, is that it is almost as runny as water. It's not really a problem, just means that after applying it, I was left with little orange splash marks on my white bath mat! lovely! It washed off though so it didn't bother me too much.

My skin is hydrated, it doesn't make me feel sticky and greasy, and it absorbs quickly into skin leaving a lovely fragrance. What more can you ask for from something only costing a couple of pounds! I don't love it as much as Bio Oil, but I will be buying this product again as it has done exactly what I needed it to do :) 

So... My rating..... 

Rescue Oil: 3.5 Stars! 

Thank you to everyone for reading, and all comments, as always, are welcomed and appreciated! 

Love to you all x 

2013's Beauty Loves

Hello everyone!

As those who follow me on twitter might have seen, the other day I was reading Grazia, and they had a section all about their 2013 beauty awards, listing all of their favorite products from this year. It got me thinking about what mine are, and I decided to do a post about it. Sorry in advance for the lack of photos, a lot of the stuff I decided on has either run out and needs to be re-bought, or is in such a well used state that it would NOT look it's best in a picture!

So here we go :)

1. Clinique Take Off The Day Make Up Remover 

I know I go on and on about Clinique's makeup remover, but I honestly think its the best out there. I've tried a lot of different ones, and this is the only one that makes me feel like I'm doing something really nourishing to my skin by taking makeup off. It feels like moisturising. The one I buy (and I'm running out... please bring me some Santa!) is £17 for 125ml, and that lasts me ages! The last one I got was for my birthday in June, which makes it value for money as well as a really good product.

2. Balance Me Balancing Face Moisturiser

I've talked about Balance Me's moisturiser before when I got a small free sample in a magazine a while ago. I talked about its light floral scent, it's thick creamy texture, and the way that it manages to deeply hydrate your skin without feeling greasy. I loved it. So when it ran out, I went and bought myself the full sized version! It was £24 for 50ml. I bought it last month and have used less than a quarter, so I can see this product lasting me a long time. You don't need a lot to really feel the benefits!

3. Benefit Full Finish Lipstick in Slow Zone

This lipstick is a light pink, and makes my complexion look so much lighter and fresher. Its well pigmented and doesn't seem to dry my lips out like a lot of lipstick tend to do. I bought it for £14 a while ago, but when I looked on the benefit website earlier, I see its now £7. I may have cheekily ordered myself another when I saw that!

4. Barry M Foil Effect in Gold 

Now I know I talked about this in my post for #TheWinterProject, so I won't say too much about it, but it has been my go to nail polish ever since I bought it. Whenever I'm stuck on what to do with my nails, this is what I choose. You do have to buff them beforehand as the foil effect means it picks up any ridges, but one coat and it gives you a feeling of instant glamour. Was perfect in the sunshine, and its perfect for the party season. All for just £3.99. LOVE it :)

5. Redken Colour Extend Rich Recovery Protective Treatment

I love Redken. When I buy their products though, I do tend to buy the gift sets which include little bits of everything in them, and I always go for the colour protect range. I dye my hair a lot, and this is the best product I've found for helping to keep my colour looking bright and my hair feeling healthy. It's the only full size product I buy, and 250ml is £17.50 from feelunique.com. It smells lovely, and this treatment is my go to product to keep my hair looking bright and healthy. The perfect treat for your hair! Also, the pot lasts quite a long time (depending on hair length and how often you use it of course). I have quite long hair but only use the product when I feel my hair needs a boost, and it lasts me a couple of months. 

6. Chanel Chance 

Now I'm not one to usually do a fragrance post, as I'm not a huge lover of perfume. I use it, but tend to stick to what I like and don't try many new ones. This is my favorite of all time though. I buy it over and over, and never get tired of the light, fresh scent that it gives. I cant go into what the various tones are as I will admit I know nothing about all that, but I can say it smells lovely, and I never get bored of it. Prices vary from place to place, but the last bottle I bought was from thefragranceshop, and I got 35ml for £47.50. It is a bit pricey, but in my opinion, completely worth it, as its the only one I wear.

My Best Discovery of 2013 
What I thought I'd do, is also give a mention to the best brand that I've come across this year, and all things considered, it has to be the VERY reasonably prices MUA. With a lot of products for just £1, they are exceptional value for money, and everything I've tried from them, including eyeshadows, lipsticks, nail polishes, powder and eyeliner has been brilliant. Well pigmented, long lasting, and good for my skin. Why would you not love all that for such low prices!? I cant wait to try their highlighter, as I've read some rave reviews about it.

Well, they are my top beauty loves of this year. Sorry this post has been a tad wordy, will do a lighter post next time :) As always, all comments are appreciated, and thank you for reading!

Love to you all x

The Winter Project #1 - Winter Nail Polishes

Hello everyone! Today is the first post for #TheWinterProject, and I'm so excited to be involved. Each Tuesday we will be covering a different topic and today we are starting with our favorite winter nail polishes.

Now I'm not really one for subscribing to colour trends and themes when it comes to my nails, but I do have to admit that when it comes to this time a year, I am all about reds, golds and all things shimmery. I think its nature or something to gravitate toward these bold and exciting colours at this time of year. So what I have done today, is to pick my top 5 colours for Autumn and Winter.

Well it just wouldn't be right to not include a couple of red tones in this post would it? I love red nail varnish, especially when it gets nearer to Christmas. These are two of my favorites at the moment. The first is Barry M in Raspberry, and the second is Kate Spade for Nails Inc in Big Apple Red. I am one of the ones lucky enough to pick this Nails Inc polish up in this months Glamour Magazine for just £2, but Nails Inc have always been a favorite of mine. 

As you can see from the examples (both of which have only one coat) they are both big bright colours, and add a nice pop of colour to the large amounts of black and grey that seem to be popular in clothing at this time of year. 

Next we have another Barry M favorite of mine I mentioned this gold foil effect nail polish a while back in one of my posts, but you really do have to try it to believe how good it is. It looks more elegant than a bright glittery gold, and for my skin tone, I think it's perfect. The only downside is that you need perfectly smooth nails to wear it. If you have any bumps or ridges in your nails, it will pick them up and exaggerate them, so remember to give them a buff first :) You only need one coat, and no top coat with this else it ruins the foil effect. I was worried that it wouldn't last as long on my nails without a top coat, but it took around 5 days for it to start getting chipped, and would probably last longer in someone less clumsy than me. 

The next colour I'm loving at the minute is a surprising one. I normally stick to Barry M, Nails Inc or Essie when it comes to my nails, and I do have a couple of Rimmel and Revlon ones, but this one by L.A. Colour in metallic purple has become a bit of a favorite. It cost something like £1.99, and for that I expected it to be thin, runny, and rubbish. I only bought it because I needed that colour to go with a fancy dress costume and happened to spot it in a discount shop when I was about to lose all hope. It does take quite a while to try, and you do need two coats, but if you have the patience, what you end up with is shimmery, long lasting, and perfectly glittery for the festive season. I'm more than happy with it, especially for the price! 

Lastly we have another Barry M polish (told you I liked them!) this time in Copper. In the picture it looks like a solid bronze colour, but in reality its a thick glittery polish, but which gives the illusion of a solid colour in low light, or with two or three coats. It looks amazing on its own, especially for the party season, but my favorite way to wear it (how I have my nails right now) is layered over the Barry M Raspberry. You can hardly see the red shining through, but it gives a deep opulent effect, and looks like a colour you might find on a christmas bauble :) I LOVE it! 

So there we have it. My first post for #TheWinterProject. I'm looking forward to next week already, and would love to read what other people have as their winter faves! Thank you all for reading

Love to you all x

MUA Eyeshadow Review...

Hello everyone :)

Today I'm doing a review of this MUA eye shadow trio I picked up. Well, to be honest, I only nipped to Superdrug to pick up another bottle of Barry M nail polish ready for the start of #TheWinterProject tomorrow (its a fave colour of mine and I ran out 2 weeks ago), but then my eye caught this and I had to buy it!

(MUA eye shadow trio in theatrics, and Barry M nail polish in Raspberry) 

(top pic in natural light, bottom pic in warm light) 

The first thing that caught my attention was the look of it!! It's so pretty, especially the black and gold one. I've tried a few MUA products before, and liked the couple of single eye shadows I bought a few months ago, so for £2.50, I knew I had to give it a go. 

MUA is amazing value for money, and I can honestly say I'd happily pay triple what I paid for this. The colours are very highly pigmented, they have a nice creamy texture, and the pot comes with a mini applicator, which I wouldn't use at home, but is ideal for a quick top up when you're out and about and don't have your makeup brushes. 

All of these shades have a shimmery glow to them (as there is gold pigment in all 3 colours) and are perfect for the up coming party season. I used the black one to put a modern twist to the smokey eye! They are versatile, a brilliant texture, and VERY pretty colours. 

The only downside I have is that the packaging feels a tad cheap, but then again, it was cheap, so it doesn't bother me too much. I just hope the catch that holds the lid down doesn't break and cover the contents of my make up bag in eye shadow!

Here are swatches of all 3 colours, taken in natural light.....

A beautiful, seasonal bargain.

My rating.... 

MUA eye shadow trio in Theatrics: 4 Stars!! 

The post on the nail polish will be up tomorrow, and as always, all comments are welcome! 

Love to you all x

FeelUnique Essentials Haul

Hello there my lovelies :) 

I want to start by saying how impressed I am with delivery times whenever I order from feelunique.com. They're amazing! Anyway.....

This post is about what I bought recently from there, which is my top 5 winter essentials. Yes, these products are great all year round, but when it starts getting colder, I always make sure that I'm stocked up on them, as they are absolute lifesavers! Here's what I bought.......

1. L'Oreal Skin Perfection Velvety-Soft Toner. I think toner can sometimes be an underestimated part of a daily skin routine. I love it, and this one especially feels like rubbing silk into your face. It's unbelievably soft, and doesn't dry your skin out at all, which is perfect for these central heating, icy wind filled days which can leave your skin a bit dry and delicate. I also like the pretty pink bottle... Simple things! 

2. Jason Soothing 98% Aloe Vera Gel. When I rave about this product to my friends and family, a lot of them respond by saying "isn't aloe vera a summer thing?". While yes, it is good as an after sun, its also an amazing moisturizer, which is lightweight and non-sticky, so it perfect for putting on before you get dressed. It smells clean, and leaves your skin feeling really hydrated. Plus, its a brand who specialise in natural ingredients, so there aren't any nasties in it either :) win win. 

3. Palmers Cocoa Butter. An old favorite. A brilliant intensive moisturizer, which evens out skin tone and also helps reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks. It's such a well known product that I don't really need to go into it in too much detail, but an essentials haul wouldn't be complete without it. 

4. Bio-Health Vitamin E Cream. This is a lightweight face cream which will work just as well under your makeup in a morning as it would as a night cream. It's formulated for people who have an allergy to lanolin (which I don't) I just think that substitutes they use make the cream feel smooth, natural, and fresh. I use it as a night cream, and my face doesn't stick to the pillow like other night creams can make happen. It also has a light floral smell to it which I think is really pretty, and which also helps relax me at bed time. 

5. Balm Balm Tea Tree Lip Balm. This is advertised as being a product you can use not only on your lips, but anywhere, however I have only ever used it on my lips, and it's perfect for the winter months which can leave your lips dried out and flaky. Although I do think it would work well for people who get dry cracked knuckles in winter too. It's 100% natural and organic, and comes in a couple of different flavors (is flavors the right word??). I prefer the tea tree one as it almost feels medicinal on my lips. Its quite thin and non sticky unlike Vaseline, so is perfect for putting under lipstick. 

So there we are, my winter essentials. I know I tend to do a rating at the end of my posts, but because these are all products I buy every winter, and are simple basics I love, I'm going to give them all 4 stars! Together, they're everything I need to fight the effects of winter, and to top it off, my order for all 5 came to... wait for it.... just under £20!!! Bargain! They will last me for around 2 months as well, so how can you resist! 

Thank you for reading, and thank you to feelunique for bringing me these so quickly!!! 

Love to you all x