The Life Of Being A Beauty PR Intern - Week Four

only two weeks left - what?!

Monday 

come on guys, we know the Monday morning drill by now - going through the weekend press with sendouts too. in the afternoon we were taught how to do evaluation. this is basically taking all the press which our clients have been featured in and evaluating it (obviously) - so putting a value on it based on how many people will have seen it and how many sales it will generate. i was given a few of our clients to go through and this took up the rest of the day! 

Tuesday 

the final draft on the e-blast i was talking about last week was decided and sent out. there was then more independent evaluation to be done. this may not sound like a lot to some of you, but it can take a while to find all the information you're after for some of the press and to decide on a value for it! it's nice to be busy and know i'm doing something which is significant! 

Wednesday 

finished up the evaluations and did a big search for any reviews or articles which may have been missed and added any of those into the evaluation sheets. then in the afternoon we were set the task to go through our database of blogger/magazine/online contacts and make sure it was all up to date and if there were people on there who were no longer active, and to add on anyone who we thought should be on there! 

Thursday

in the morning i carried on with the database update, but we were down to one computer between two of us in the afternoon so we had to split it between us for what we needed to do, so there were lots of little tasks that needed doing - making sure the showroom was fully stocked, the stock room was tidy and that the best of the coverage our clients had had was all mounted up. then there was prep to be done for a mailing for one of our clients. also treated to burgers for lunch... which seems to have started a burger-fest for me with 4 in as many days now...

Friday 

the morning included finishing the mailing, a couple of big send outs and then onto carrying on with the database update. towards the end of the day a pretty hefty delivery turned up so once we'd started putting that all away, it was soon time to go home! there were also a few treats which turned up at the office...

and guess who actually managed to take four OOTD's this week!? maybe we'll get to the full five before i finish...

Outfit One

Jumper - Primark

Shorts -Boohoo.com

Necklace - Ebay

Outfit Two 

Jumper - Ebay

Disco Pants - ASOS

Outfit Three 

Dress - ASOS

Scarf - Ebay

Outfit Four 

Dress - New Look 

Belt - River Island 

Necklace - Ebay

don't forget to enter my 100 follower givveaway by clicking here where you could win a £75 fashion & beauty bundle! 

The Mystery Face Oil

happy friday guys, we've survived another week and made it to the weekend! 

today i have a mystery product for you...

i was recently approached to review a product from a new mystery brand which will be launching on mankind.co.uk  and beautyexpert.co.uk today, and i was sent a face oil to review in the lead-up to the big reveal. 

the mystery brand is unisex, hence it being launched on two sites predominately aimed at men and women, which i think is great because i've heard many a tale about us bloggers having our products pinched by our boyfriends on the sly - now they have no excuse!

the oil promises to improve hydration, firmness and lightness of the skin which makes it suitable for all skin types, so no more deciding between different products for your specific skin type because this targets issues which will affect us all. it also improves skins elasticity whilst soothing and healing skin - an all round skin booster. i'd guess from this that the brand will be aimed at the younger market; young skin which is showing the first signs of ageing and for those who want to fight this. 

on top of this, the oil is 100% natural - even more good news for our skin, ladies and gents - it includes baobab oil, marula oil and calendula and arnica flower extracts. the smell entirely reflects the natural elements of the oil - it remind me of the beauty salon i worked in a few years ago and just has a generic but identifiable natural scent. 

in terms of effects on my skin, i've only had this a week so i haven't seen a huge change in my skin so far, but it does leave my skin feeling soft and considerably more awake and refreshed in the mornings! i'm looking forward to carrying on using at and incorporating an oil into my skincare routine to see if it will have a more obvious effect after continued use. 

as for the brand... i have no idea, but check back here throughout the day where i shall make the big reveal, or keep an eye on the Mankind website! anyone have any guesses yet?

The Popping Candy Face Mask

okay, so this product is the most fun i have ever had with my skincare regime! introducing Radical Skincare's Instant Revitalizing Mask(*) - popping candy for your face!

i was told about this element of the mask in the first place, but by the time i got round to using it i had completely forgotten and was taken by surprise! 

'The Instant Revitalizing Mask is the ideal coach for the skin: it delivers the nutrients necessary for hydration and regeneration while teaching it to breathe, stock up on energy and optimize its oxygen resources in rarefied conditions.'

as soon as i had applied the mask, my skin felt instantly more refreshed - it definitely lives up to the instant in its name! it comes out as a liquid and on application to the face, turns into a matte foam/mousse layer so you can see whether you've applied it evenly or not.

and then the magic happens... the mask slowly disintegrates on the face with small pops (literally, the exact feeling of eating popping candy!), until all the mask has dissolved into the skin - no worrying about timing how long you've had it on for, you'll soon see when it's done! the excess just needs washing away and tah-dah! instantly refreshed, brighter & healthier looking skin, plus a little bit of fun in the process.

the mask promises to optimise oxygen sources for a youthful glow, stimulate energy production, control oxidation reactions and give smoother skin, so it's great for young skin and those worried about the first appearances of fine lines!

it's recommended to be used twice weekly, and i can't wait for my next use. this product is great for a quick, mid-week treat for your skin.

Radical Skincare Instant Revitalizing Mask(*) - £40

don't forget there's still two weeks left to enter my 100 follower giveaway here where you could win a fashion & beauty bundle worth £75 and one product of your choice!

My Real Techniques Collection

it's hard to believe that before these beauties came into my life, my make-up brush collection solely consisted of a foundation brush, blusher brush, contour and eyeshadow brush, costing me no more than £10 in total! 

now any of you will know i'm a little bargain hunter, and some of you may be amazed to find that i didn't pay full price for one of these brushes, but there are so many bargains out there if you take the time to look. i thought today, i'd take you through my collection so far, which only actually started 2 months ago, so i think i've done pretty well. i've split it into three sections - the core collection, the duo-fiber collection and individual brushes. also, i apologise that some of the brushes are dirty - they'd all just been washed, so just my everyday brushes were dirty!

 oo1. Core Collection

the core collection was the first lot of brushed that i picked up, and it consists of the buffing brush, contour brush, pointed foundation brush and detailer brush. this sets RRP is £21.99, but a little while back Amazon had all the Real Techniques brushes on offer and i managed to pick this up for just £13.99 and then get a further 5% NUS discount - bargain! the buffing brush i don't use quite so much, i'll either use it for touching up my foundation to get a more even base, or very occasionally with bronzer for an all over glow. there are so many bristles to this one too, so it's great for full coverage. the contour brush i use for bronzer, blusher and highlighter on and around my cheeks, and of course, for general contouring, and the shape of this is perfect for that job and really picks up the cheekbones. i haven't actually used the pointed foundation brush yet, mainly because it's a lot smaller than i was expecting it to be. the detailer brush i've used for eyeshadow - the bristles are really dense and are great for precision application. 

oo2. Duo-Fiber Collection

i actually bought these before they were released in the UK from an American website iHerb.com. They were already selling the set for $19.99, which is an absolute bargain compared to the UK RRP of £23.99, but they also had an offer on which meant a further $4 off, so i paid just $15.99 which works out at just £10.50!!!! unbelievable, right?! these have only very recently turned up from the States, so haven't had much of a chance to use them yet. in all honesty, i'm not too sure what i'll use the face brush for just yet, but my oh my, these are the absolute softest brushes i have ever felt in my life - so soft, that when they arrived i just sat stroking my face with them. the contour brush has replaced the regular RT contour brush, there's just something i prefer about it a little more, but i just keep the regular one in my travel make-up bag now. i've still not got round to using the eye brush, purely because i rarely wear eyeshadow, but i plan on using this as a blending brush as it's super soft, and not as dense as my other eye brushes. iHerb are still selling these at $19.99 (£13) and even with the express delivery option, this is cheaper than nipping down to Boots!

oo3. Individual brushes

some brushes i have bought individually too. the powder brush i also picked up from iHerb. it retails on there for $9.99 (£6.50) and again had a further $2 off, so cost me just £5.25, less than half of Boots' £12.99. if you are looking to get some Real Techniques brushes, honestly check out iHerb as their prices are surely unbeatable?! obviously i use this one for my powder, and i love how big the head of the brush is (oo-er!) as it takes just a little product to cover the whole face evenly. the expert face brush i picked up in my Amazon order for £9.99 with 5% student discount, so not quite full brush. this one i don't use very much and picked this one up due to it being the one i'd heard be talked about the most by bloggers, i just use it for foundation application every now and then, but again, the head is so dense so great for even coverage. the stippling brush was also from Amazon for just £7.99 with 5% off, so considerably less again than £11.99 in Boots. this is my go-to brush for foundation application - it really works it into the skin for even, flawless application!

so there we have my little Real Techniques collection. Considering theres over £80 worth of brushes here, i'm super impressed that i've got them all for just over £45 is amazing. it just shows that if you have a look around and wait for bargains, you WILL save yourself a hell of a lot of money.

do any of you guys recommend any other RT brushes that i need to keep an eye out for?

also, don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway here to win a £75 fashion and beauty bundle! 

The Life Of Being A Beauty PR Intern - Week Three

i can't believe i'm already halfway through, it's absolutely flown by! 

Monday

Monday mornings get taken over with checking all the weekend press for coverage - you will never realise how many different newspapers there are until you have each and every one stacked up in front of you, it's impressive! the last few Mens Collection send-outs went on their way aswell - i've loved seeing coverage for some of the shows we've supplied to and seeing all the looks that have been created! we also re-checked for blogger coverage from the Bumble & Smashbox event last week and it's great to see that everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Tuesday 

Tuesday actually flew by with all the normal office tasks. Filing away magazines is a task I will also never underestimate again!

Wednesday 

Full of send-outs and putting together an E-Blast for one of our clients - i'm really enjoying doing stuff that's much more involved and that people will get to see! The office turns into a little greenhouse in the heat, so ice lollies in the afternoon were very welcome! 

Thursday 

Thursday was by far the busiest day I've had so far! The morning was full of constant send-outs, which I loved because a busy, bustling environment really spurs me on. Then in the afternoon I helped out with editing some of the Mens Collections reports - it was so nice to be able to put names to faces and see how all the products we'd sent out over the last week had been used and all the styles that had been created - it's still my dream to be able to go to Fashion Week one day! I also started some work on a front cover for the Mens Show Report.

Friday 

The morning involved sending out samples of a new product to all the important magazines - keep an eye on Bumble and bumble in September for more news on what it could be! Just before lunch we all clubbed in for a huge office clean up and were very gratefully rewarded with Gourmet Burger Kitchen - thankyou, Emma! I finished off the designs for the Show Report cover in the afternoon and made the final changes to the E-Blast that was started earlier in the week. 

i actually managed a couple of OOTD's this week too...

Left - Shirt & Jeans - ASOS
Right - Top - H&M, Shorts - Topshop via Ebay

also, don't forget there's still plenty of time to enter my 100 follower giveaway to win a fashion & beauty bundle worth £75! 

The Perfect Tanning Combo

so it would seem i've finally found an instant tan that works for me, everyone sit down and brace yourselves!

because i'm uber pale, i've always completely avoided instant tan because, if i'm honest, the thought of it genuinely scares me a bit and i think it's going to look unnatural, so i've always stuck to a gradual tan.

but then i was introduced to this little wonder - He-Shi's Quick + Easy Face + Body Tanning Gel(*). 

i'm told this is the lightest in the He-Shi range, which is why i went for it, and i dubiously applied it the other night with it's 'see where it goes' formula (which basically means it tans on contact) and hoped for the best when i woke up the next morning (i haven't been brave enough to apply it to my face yet!). i made the mistake of applying over a few days of gradual tan (yes, i was too hasty to try it out) so i scrubbed it all off with their Exfoliating Body Wash(*) and tried again and boy, was i impressed! 

after applying with the He-Shi Tanning Mitt(*) i woke up with a streak-free, natural looking tan which i was proud to show off! there was very little colour change overnight aswell, so no nasty surprises to wake up to. smell-wise, i don't think it has the typical fake-tan biscuity smell that we all love and loathe at the same time. i wouldn't say it's 100% odourless, but it's nothing strong and off putting. the Exfoliating Body Wash has a gorgeous, girly scent of strawberries with tiny little exfoliating beads that buffed my skin into a tip-top and super smooth tanning base! 

alongside all this, He-Shi claim the following about the tan:-

- Prevents premature ageing through the use of effective moisturizing ingredients- Is Ecocert approved with 100% Natural DHA- Is odourless + streak free- Is suitable for face and body- Is Paraben Free + Alcohol Free- Is pH balanced for sensitive skin- Is long lasting with its moisture lock technology infused within the range

i've now used this for 3 days in a row to build up some colour and i'm still super impressed with how natural it looks - it feels so nice to be able to get my legs out in the warm weather without having to worry about their paleness! the tan is also said to last ten days on the skin, so i'm looking forward to seeing how it lasts. it also dries pretty much instantaneously so there's no waiting around for it to dry. plus there's no colour transfer onto clothes - I use a white towel and there's no sign of tan on there! 

i will advise that you heavily moisturise dry areas as the tan takes to these areas more i.e. knees, hands, feet, elbows. i've been using Boots Coconut Oil and that's working fine for me. also, don't put a bra on after application - i found that the tan gathered around the strap area and the outer bralines and these areas of my skin looked much darker. 

i highly, highly recommend this tan for anyone looking for an instant tanning fix!

to see the full range of He-Shi products head over to www.he-shi.eu!

He-Shi Face + Body Tanning Gel - £17.50

He-Shi Exfoliating Bodywash - £11.00

He-Shi Tanning Mitt - £4.50

also, don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway here, where you could win a £75 fashion & beauty bundle including Marc Jacobs, Molton Brown & Revlon!

The OOTD

so i know i said i'd try and do a daily OOTD whilst i'm interning, but it's pretty impossible to find the time, so this is just a quick one of one of last weeks outfits. i know the pictures aren't great quality, but i have noone to take pictures for me at 7am!

top & watch - ASOS 

trousers & ring - New Look

blazer & sandals - Primark

bracelet - Claires Accessories

bag - Boohoo.com

lips - Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya and L'Oreal Splash Stain in Princess

The Life of Being a Beauty PR Intern - Week Two.

welcome to week two of being an intern!

Monday

Start of week two, and a new intern, who is lovely! She also has a blog and blogs over at www.bojourluce.com. Another Mens Collection order came in, and the day was just filled with what I now call normal tasks - send outs and whatever needs doing! The afternoon dragged a little and there didn't seem to be much i could do to help anyone, so I left a little early.

Tuesday

This was exactly the same as Monday. Literally exactly the same. After having all the blogger send-outs last week, it seems really quiet! 

Wednesday 

The girls in the office found out about my blog this day, and myself and Lucy ended up with a huge bag of goodies to try and test out and share with all you guys on our blogs! There's so much to get through (which you can see here) and i'm so excited to start using them all. the afternoon was just full of send-outs and a couple more mens collection orders!

Thursday

Thursday morning was super, super quiet! Most people were out prepping for a Bumble and Bumble and Smashbox event that we were holding that evening, so there wasn't much to do. unfortunately i didn't get to go along, but it sounds like the evening was a success! in the afternoon i was asked to put my photoshop and illustrator skills to the test and come up with some images for one of the perfumes by our client Cath Collins, so i spent the afternoon scouring the interwebs for some pictures to use! i was also asked to help edit some blog posts we're submitting to the Huffington Post, so i'll be looking forward to seeing them published! i think a little discussion on harry styles made its way into the day too, and we found ourselves asking how old is too old for harry styles?

Friday

Turns out Cath liked my illustrations and Sarah in the office is incorporating one into some promotional pieces for the fragrance! The morning was fairly quiet with everyone in the office having a meeting and waiting for a stationary order to arrive to do a send-out, so me and Lucy found ourselves browsing the Harrods sale and talking all things beauty & skincare and having a good old natter before popping out to grab lunch. The afternoon meant going through the blogs and social media of everyone who attended the Bumble & Smashbox event and check for coverage. A couple of deliveries turned up for us to put away and a few send-outs too, with the last Mens Collections orders! 

and that was my second week of interning, and it's flown by! i can't believe that at the end of this week i'll be halfway through, i already know i won't want to leave, although the early mornings will not be missed!

if you're a new follower and missed my first installment of 'Life of a Beauty PR Intern' then you can find it here. 

i've also tried to take daily OOTDs, but i'm in such a rush in the morning (plus, noone else is awake to take them for me) and look so dishevelled by the time that i get home that it's pretty impossible, but i do have one which i'll post a little later in the week! 

The Review Edit

i hope you're all having a good weekend? i know i'm certainly having a lazy one this week as i'll be super busy the next couple of weekends, so i'm making the most of this one!

just a quick post to show you all just some of the products i'll be reviewing in the future on the blog. there's some goodies from Bumble and bumble, He-Shi, Radical and Jurlique, plus more. and don't worry, i haven't forgotten about the high street bits too! i have plenty of these to review aswell including micellar water, gradual tans and cleansers!

what reviews are you looking forward to seeing on the blog?

also, don't forget to follow me over on bloglovin and to enter my 100 follower giveaway here to be in with the chance of winning a £75 fashion and beauty bundle!

Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara

okay, so i know the cult, go-to Maybelline mascara is the Falsies, but i thought i'd try something else out when i recently needed a new mascara. 

my all-time favourite mascara was a cheapy Collection 2000 one, but it's now been discontinued, so i'm in that phase of trying out all the mascaras, and i went for Maybelline in the end because i think they're the most reasonable prices in the drugstore. i typically go for mascaras with a waterproof element and a plastic wand, i just find that application is a hell of a lot better than that of a brush, so this particular mascara ticked both of those boxes. one downside i will say about my shopping experience is that Maybelline don't have samples of all their mascara wands, so i had to go by the little picture on the packaging and hope for the best! 

that aside though, i absolutely love this mascara - it has a chunky little wand with short bristles that really help to seperate lashes and give them a good coating - i'll just do my lashes once in the morning and they won't need touching up throughout the day at all, except for the odd re-curl. 

Before & After

as you can see from the pictures, it makes a dramatic difference to the appearance of my lashes, and i'd even go as far as saying they give almost a false-lash effect - this mascara would look amazing for a night out with a pair of falsies thrown on!

i highly recommend this mascara, especially for just £7.99, and they also do it in the regular formula if waterproof isn't quite up your street.

don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway to win a fashion and beauty bundle worth £75 - the link is at the top of my blog!
also, don't forget to re-follow me on Bloglovin (widget to the right!) - i had a little bit of trouble with some techy bits and had to lose all my followers.

The Life of Being a Beauty PR Intern - Week One.

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as some of you may know, i'm currently on a six week internship with Chalk PR and I thought i'd blog a weekly installment of what i'm getting up to, how i'm finding it and any other exciting news!

Chalk look after a number of hair and skincare brands including Bumble and bumble, He-Shi, Jurlique and Radical.

 I got the internship just by e-mailing every single fashion and beauty PR company I could find on Google and expressing an interest in a summer position. Kayleigh from Chalk got back to me and I went for my interview many moons ago in January and everything was sorted on the day. They were super generous and happy to be flexible with my university dates and how long I wanted to intern with them for. we settled on six weeks as that was as far as my pennies could stretch to cover me and i started last Monday! a lot of internships are unpaid, which this one technically is, but they cover my travel expenses up to £50 a week and pay £5 lunch expenses per day. 

i live in the good old Essex countryside so getting into London everyday takes time... I have a half an hour drive to Epping where I park at my neighbours parents (for free, thank God for them!) and then have a ten minute walk to the station. Then I have a tube journey of about an hour and a quarter.. it's a bit of a killer! i was feeling wide awake on my first day, but tiredness kicked in by Wednesday and the mornings are now a bit of a struggle (I have to get up at 7, sob!)

The offices are in Clapham and I work with some lovely girls - 4 full timers, 1 part timer and another intern. it's nice to work in a small little company.

anyway, i've ended up getting a little rambly explaining what i'm doing, but each week i'll just write what I've got up to everyday! 

Monday

So this was my first day, so I wasn't expecting to do much. I got in super early to be on the safe side. In the morning I read through the Intern Guide and made a note of all the things I knew I'd need to remember! After that I went through all the weekends newspapers to see if there was any coverage of any of our clients and flagged it all up. The rest of the day was mainly spent shadowing the previous intern and mounting some of the coverage. Turns out Millie Mcintosh goes to the gym next to work too!

Tuesday

This was pretty much the same as Monday. I was taught how to do send-outs and after I'd learnt the basics was left to do them myself. I saw Millie on the way into work, and she still looked stunning on the way to a workout! I got asked to do a send-out to the One Direction boys; now any of you who have read my blog for a while will know how much i love this band, so i was fangirling (on the inside, of course) like a trooper and trying my hardest not to offer to hand deliver it to them on the shoot they were doing. this is the most exciting thing i've done so far! we were also all treated to burgers for lunch by the boss for one of the girls birthdays!

Wednesday

The week before I started, Chalk held a huge Blogger event so I had a lot of sendouts and post to do for that with all the product requests that had been placed. it was so crazy sending out bits to bloggers i've followed for ages and who i really look upto and aspire to be like in the Blogger world. The previous intern left this day aswell and it was celebrated with cake (one of the yummiest i've ever had!). Once I'd finished the sendouts, I was asked to help with one of the monthly reports and was given the responsibilty to adding where all the coverage for one of our Clients had come from for the last month. 

Thursday 

Thursday was just full of send-outs, doing little tasks for everyone, finishing off the Blogger sendouts and actually flew by really quickly! 

Friday 

Friday was again full of send-outs and everything I've already mentioned. The first Mens Collection order came in aswell, so I packaged that up and sent it over to the stylist before being let to go home a little early!

And that was Week One of Interning! I was thinking that maybe I should have taken an OOTD everyday and added what I've been wearing to this post, so if anyone would be interested in something like this then let me know and i shall try my best to remember everyday!

100 follower giveaway - fashion & beauty bundle worth £75!

hello, guys! 

drumroll please.... i've hit 100 GFC followers! i'm so, so, so excited about this and would like to just say a huge thankyou to each and every one of you who takes the time to follow and read my blog.

to celebrate, i'm holding a beauty and fashion bundle giveaway!

i will also be adding one final prize for the winner. it will either be a Revlon Lip Butter of your choice or one of the new MUA Cosmetics Fashionista customisable 4 shade palettes for either eyeshadows, blushes or bronzers.

the giveaway will run for one month, ending 12th July 2013, and is open to UK RESIDENTS ONLY because i will be covering all postage costs myself and currently have no income.

all the products included are all brand new and unused and have all been paid for by myself - this giveaway has not been endorsed by any of the brands included.

So, what's included?

1. Molton Brown Inspiring Wild-Indigo Bath & Shower Gel RRP £18

2. TRESemme Texture Style Tousled Waves Spray RRP £5.50

3. Marc Jacobs Dot Body Lotion RRP £26

4. L'Oreal Eye Make-Up Remover RRP £3.49

5. 3 x Face Samples (Nivea Primer, Maybelline BB Cream and Max Factor Foundation)

6. Benefit ChaCha Tint and Benetint Samples

7. Soap & Glory A Great Kisser Balm in Vanilla Bean RRP £5

8. Silver & Gold Rings RRP £4

9. Black Arm Detail Sunglasses RRP £8

10. Revlon Lip Butter OR MUA Fashionista Palette

11. Maybe some more goodies! 

To enter, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. The winner will be notified by Sunday 14th July, and will have one week to reply with their chosen prize. Failure to reply will mean another winner will be generated. I will notify the winner via e-mail AND twitter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For anyone entering with the 'Add my blog button' option, you can grab the code for it over in my right sidebar under my Followers widget!

Happy entering! 

The Liebster Blog Award.

Happy Saturday, gang! 

i have a slightly exciting little post today - i've been nominated for a Liebster Blog Award by the lovely Sophie from 'sophie's world' who you should all go and follow for being so lovely! 

basically, the liebster award is designed for the blogging community who have less than 200 followers and is to help them up their publicity. there's a few rules which apply...

oo1. you MUST link back to the person who nominated you.

oo2. you must answer the 11 questions in the Liebster post from the blogger who nominated you. 

oo3. you must then choose 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers and nominate them. 

oo4. you will need to come up with eleven questions for your nominees to answer. 

oo5. go to their blogs and notify them of their nominations.

so onto my questions from Sophie! 

oo1. Go-to nail polish?

at the moment it's the Barry M Gelly in Papaya, i'm just in love with the summery shade! 

oo2. What's your favourite song?

please, no-one judge me for this, but i could listen to One Direction's Kiss You over and over and over and never get bored. or just the one direction albums... 

oo3. What's your favourite place to shop for shoes?

i don't really have many shoes... but most of what i do have are primark. i love the shoes in river island, but they just don't fit me - i'm completely inbetween sizes in there and it breaks my heart! 

oo4. Favourite make-up brand?

i don't have a favourite... i own something from probably every high street brand so i couldn't choose! i have certain favourites for different products.

oo5. Maybelline or Rimmel?

Maybelline.

oo6. H&M or Topshop

H&M. i just find Topshop so pricey for my little student budget. 

oo7. Favourite colour?

at the moment, it's probably coral or lime green... it changes with the season... 

oo8. Summer must-have?

Garnier's Summer Body Gradual Tan. I'm so, so pasty and pale that tanning is a must for me when summer starts to come round and this is by far the best gradual tan i've tried so far! 

oo9. Favourite read?

i'm not much of a reader unless i'm on holiday... but i did really enjoy To Kill A Mockingbird when we had to study it for school. 

o10. Would you rather wear shorts or skirts?

i don't own many of either, but probably skirts.  if i was to wear shorts, they'd have to be high-waisted, but i have a ridiculously small waist in proportion to the rest of my body so can't find any that fit, so skirts are much easier! 

o11. Must-have chick flick?

17 Again. Zac Efron. that is all... 

my eleven questions for my nominees are... 

oo1. Favourite high street clothing store and why?

oo2. What's your go-to drugstore brand?

oo3. What's your go-to high end brand?

oo4. What is the one high end beauty product that you're lusting over?

oo5. are you a summer or a winter girl? 

oo6. what is your most cherished item that you own? 

oo7. celebrity crush?

oo8. what's the beauty habit that you're guilty of neglecting?

oo9. if you could only wear one make-up item for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? 

o10. what is your go-to hair product?

o11. why did you start blogging?

and the eleven lovely bloggers that i nominate are...

 Cariad from Cariad On Life

Holly from HCStyle

Caprice from Caprice-Shanna

Cle from Embrozia

Isabella from Sincerely, Isabella

Rachel from Rachel Taylor

Mante from Ama-la-modaa

Gabrielle from The Last Broken Road

Michelle from Beauty Beamish

Laura from beauty2couture

Rachel from I Want It All

so there we have it. please, please, please go and follow all these lovely girls. i love the idea of this Liebster award and helping out other bloggers! 

Current Favourite Lip Combo

when it comes to lip colours, i stick to what i know - orange and coral galore! i feel like these are the only colours which truly suit me for everyday wear, so i recently picked up these two latest additions to my lip collection in Superdrug's recent 3 for 2 offer. 

lip butters are one of the beauty bloggersphere hypes that i didn't jump on straight away, and i was actually torn between this Revlon one and the Maybelline version, but went for Revlon as it was a little more subtle to make it suitable for everyday wear. i picked up the shade 027 - Juicy Papaya, and i'll definitely be heading back to the Revlon counter soon so snap up some more shades. the lip butter is super nourishing and moisturising, and doesn't leave my lips feeling at all dry. it also has the perfect amount of pigmentation for my liking - it adds a slick of colour without being a little too much. 

now i thought i loved this product enough, but when i swatched L'Oreal's Glam Shine Stain Splash in 200 - Princess over the top, i think i found my all time favourite lip combination. the smell of this gloss is gorgeous - so fruity, and a nightmare to resist licking off my lips straight away. it's super pigmented too for wearing by itself, and looks as though it could be a lipstick. the shape of the wand on this is something i love too, i just don't know why - the heart shape somehow makes application so much better and i have no idea how!?

so there we have it, my new favourite lip combo. what shades of Revlon lip butters would anyone recommend, as i'll definitely be adding more to my collection in the near future?

Confessions of a Blogger Tag

hello guys!
i'm carrying on with my new tag obsession today with the 'Confessions of a Blogger' tag, so i'm going to jump straight in and say that i hope you all enjoy it!

oo1. When did you start your blog?
my first post is dated 12th November 2011, so around a year and a half ago now.

oo2. Have you had any online presence before? (Other blog, Youtube etc...)
i've never run a blog before this, but i've always had an account on most social networking sites since i can remember.

oo3. Why did you start a blog?
i think it was mainly to coincide with me starting a fashion degree in September of that year, and just wanted a way of expressing and writing about the things I enjoyed. i initially intended to just blog about fashion, but the more i got into it and the more blogs i started reading, it slowly turned into beauty & lifestyle aswell.

oo4. When did you become serious about starting a blog?
it took my six months to really get into it and stop leaving huge time gaps between my posts and around this time last year i started blogging most days. i sort of feel like the more successful my blog gets, and with each and every follower, i get a little more serious and feel like it's starting to be worth all the time and effort.

oo5. What was your first post?
it was a sort of personal, introduction type post which is so cringey to read back now, but at the time i was blogging to no-one! if you're interested then you can read it here!

oo6. What has been your biggest challenge about blogging?
the biggest challenge i've found is to keep going at it and not giving up when you're stuck in a blogging rut! i also have a couple of close friends who have really successful blogs and have got somewhere with their blog s fairly quickly, so sometimes it's hard to sit her with my little, unheard of blog with a few followers when they have hundreds/thousands.

oo7. Where do you see your blog in one year?
i honestly don't know, but hopefully something which i am still proud of and can use in my portfolio for work interviews etc. i'm keen to get into the beauty & fashion PR industry once I graduate so i really hope to keep working on my blog and it helping me to get to where i want to in life.

oo8. What is the most rewarding thing to you about blogging?
Ellie. To have found a friend through blogging and share interests that go outside the blogger world is something i really cherish, especially when nowadays we're brought up on the theory of not speaking to strangers on the internet. i know with blogging, this is something we have to do, but i find it crazy that just from one day stumbling across her blog, leaving a comment and following her story, we've ended up friends and actually make the time and effort to do things together, see each other and speak almost daily (even if it is just sending each other pictures of Harry Styles and then complaining to each other about how much we fancy him).

oo9. What is the most discouraging thing?
it's not that is discourages me, but sometimes i just find myself too busy to blog as regularly as i like. with uni, i often get bogged down with work and other bits and pieces and my blog really isn't at the front of my mind. and now i have a six week internship with 12 hour days, so i know i'm going to have to work hard to keep on top of the blog.

o10. What's your lasting inspiration or motivation?
my lasting inspiration is seeing blogs which i've followed from the beginning go on to become successful, and also whenever i get a comment from a subscriber just to say they've enjoyed a post. to know that just one person has enjoyed what i've written is enough motivation to carry on.

i tag any of you who have taken the time to read this, and if you do this tag, drop me a link below so i can check it out.