Monday, April 20, 2015

life update: the love of my life







Hi everyone! Today isn’t a beauty related post, but I always like to keep you updated on my life and some really big and really amazing changes have been going on for me recently. As many of you will probably already know (if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, that is) I have fallen head over heels in love with an incredible person. I’m not the sort of person so publicise things I’m not taking seriously, and writing about him on my beauty blog has taken some balls, but I’ve had a few questions so I’d like to formally introduce the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.

His name is Chris, he’s 19 and lives in London. We have been best friends for about 6 years, give or take, and he’s stuck by my side regardless of my move to Australia and been the most wonderful figure of strength for me. We messaged and Skyped all the time, even while I was away and thought we’d never see each other again. So, when I moved back to England we got back in touch as friends. 

In the past couple of months, the timing has finally been right and now we’re officially together, after all this time! It’s an incredible feeling, and I have genuinely never met someone who, when he looks at me, he genuinely looks at me (even though he comments on my bouncy walk and little habits). 

He’s a bartender, he’s going to university to study Politics in September when I leave to go to Bristol. The distance is a little bit of a strain, but at the same time, it means that any time we do spend together is proper quality time. As well as that, I adore London and it’s so lovely to break out of small-town Devon and take my little holidays up there and spend time with him and my old friends from Kent. We’re taking things pretty slowly, but I’m already besotted and, being the hopeless romantic that I am, I’m certain that he’s ‘the one’. Chris will be in a few of my upcoming YouTube videos; we’re filming some together soon so you guys can get to meet him better. I promise you, he’s an absolute gem.

- Where did we meet?
We met as awkward 13/14 year olds hanging around after school in the same group of friends. I’m sure the first time I saw him he was setting fire to a KFC serviette. Our friends were all really close, so I ended up seeing him a lot after first meeting him.

- Where was our first date? 
Our first date was six years later! He met me at Charing Cross in London after I booked a ticket to go see him literally a week after we started talking about relationship things. We went to the Natural History Museum and walked around for hours. It’s cute because neither of us paid any attention to anything in the museum at all. We laugh now because we both admitted that every time one of us would look at something, it gave the other an opportunity to stare!

- What was your first impression of him? 
I had the biggest, most embarrassing crush on Chris right from the get-go when we were younger. My mum knows so much about him because I used to come in from hanging out and go on and on about how perfect he was. I thought he was hilarious, devastatingly ginger and handsome, and extremely kind. We never got together though as we both had our little boyfriends and girlfriends! It seems silly now!

- When did you meet his family? 
I met his mum and little sister the second time I went to go up and see him, and they were so lovely even though I was probably obviously nervous. I haven't actually properly met his dad yet, which is hideous because I’ve camped out in his house for about a week in total so far, eek! I’m going up today actually, so hopefully this week we’ll get some solid getting-to-know-you time.

- Habit he has? 
Chris, without fail, always has an incense stick on the go and some beautiful background music. He also never stops fidgeting with his beard and tweaks his moustache which does things to me and he must really learn to control it when we are in public!

- How long have we been together?
Literally a month today. What better time to post this?

- Do we have any traditions? 
Given that I’ve only seen him twice since we started our relationship, we’ve got some pretty solid traditions down already. One of them in Kronenbourg and lime; we drink far far too much of it when we are together, but it’s always hilarious. Another in incense; I bought him some mermaid’s love incense cones because I’m obsessed with mermaids and he loves a good old incense session, so we always have one of those on the go. Long texts is another; every day without fail we’ll send each other a massive long lovey text so we don’t end up missing each other too much.

- An animal that resembles him? 
Chris is without a doubt my Lion. Without wanting to get too soppy or cheesy, he’s the bravest, most respectable, loyal, trustworthy and fair man I’ve ever met, and I’ve said this to him since I’ve known him. He is my King.

- First thing you noticed about him? 
Just gonna say it: I am a SUCKER for gingers. He is so beautiful.

- What pisses him off? 
Rubbish Wi-Fi, baggy jeans and me correcting his grammar.

- Favourite feature about him? 
It’s impossible to choose, but if I had to narrow it down it would be between his beard, his eyes and his arms.

- 3 things he's good & not good at? 
Chris is without a doubt one of the most talented musicians ever; he has a soundcloud with all his original acoustic stuff and the more I listen to it the more I fall in love with him (Bears And Mirrors On SoundCloud). He dresses absolutely perfectly; so perfectly in fact that when I stay at his, I raid his wardrobe and steal stuff. He’s the most romantic man I’ve ever met; he’s so thoughtful and passionate, and never lets me go a day without being told I’m beautiful. On the other hand, his room is always a tip (to be fair, I contribute to the mess) and sometimes the music he puts on literally offends me, ha!

- What do we argue about the most? 
We’re still in that blissful honeymoon period of not arguing, thank god. Having said that, we’ve never really fallen out during the whole time we were friends, so hopefully I’m mostly safe from any real arguments.

- Who wears the pants in the relationship? 
Although I’d never admit it to him, Chris does. He da boss.

- If he is watching TV, what is he watching? 
Apparently my boyfriend isn’t too into TV shows, but I know he’s partial to a bit of Jezza Kyle (Winning!).

- What drink does he order when we go out to eat? 
Kronenbourg with lime.

- What size of shoe does he wear? 
Size 8

-What is a talent he has? 
Chris’s aforementioned talent in music; he’s incredible and passionate and gifted. The stuff he comes out with either makes me cry or I sit and play on continuous loop while I’m getting ready to go out/editing a video/doing housework!

- His favorite sports team? 
Charlton FC boyssss!

- What is his eye color? 
Ugh, glacier blue with a turquoise wash. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

- Something he does that I wish he didn't do? 
Live so far away?

- What kind of cake would you bake him on his birthday?
Despite him not being too much of a sweetie/dessert fan, I’m still going to try and get him on the old Red Velvet bandwagon. Surely, no one in their right mind can deny its beauty. 

- Does he play any sports? 
He’s a god at skiing (or so he says) and I heard him mention he was playing football with some friends at some point but honestly 99% of what he says goes straight over my head because I’m too obsessed with staring at him.

- What can he spend hours doing?
Music music music; either playing his guitar and writing pretty little melodies, hilariously learning Nicki Minaj songs and making me rap over the top and playing music off the internet. That, and speaking to me, of course. Our record longest phone call has been 5 and a half hours so far, and we text constantly. You’d have thought we’d have run out of things to talk about by now!


If you like more personal pictures and little bits and pieces so you can see what I’m doing with my life, then do follow my Instagram (link below) because I’m thoroughly obsessed and I’m always on there posting. I post some personal bits on Twitter (link below) too, so check me out on there if you don’t already follow me! 

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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Grunge Luxe on Lookbook



Here’s the link to my Lookbook page, a place where I can show all my OOTD posts as I rarely get a chance to put them up on my blog! This was from my shoot with Neutral Density, my incredibly talented and super friendly photographer friend Dan! I certainly think he did me justice! What do you think?

Instagram | Bloglovin’ | YouTube |Twitter
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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Photoshoot With NeutralDensity


























On Saturday last week I was invited to do a photoshoot with my photographer friend Dan Brown. He’s an incredible photographer based in the Torbay area in the South West, and he’s shot a couple of my gorgeous friends too. I’m really grateful, he’s let me keep all the photos from the shoot, so I thought I’d show you what we got up to. We named the shoot Grunge Luxe, and it’s also up on my LookBook if you wanted the outfit details! 


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Sunday, April 12, 2015

NARS Lip Pencil Swatches (Digital World Coffret)

For my fellow NARS obsessives, this one’s for you. I was so so so so so lucky to receive the NARS Digital World Coffret for Christmas from my mum which she sent me all the way from Australia! The coffret is a case of five lip pencils ranging from nude to deep vampy red, and come in either satin or matte finish. I’m so incredibly impressed with them, so I can’t really understand why it has taken me so long to organise this lip swatch blog post!
I did a review on the shades without swatching them on my lips, but I thought I’d re-review them because now I’ve had a chance to try them out properly, some things have changed and some things I still adore about these beauties. (Read the initial review here)!

I’ve got the accompanying video going live on my Youtube channel on Tuesday, so do make sure you subscribe or check back so you can see the lip swatches taking place and my live, as-it-happens review. 


Descanso
Descanso is the lightest, most natural and nude-est shade among the bunch. This is a satin finish lip pencil, and I just want to say how impressed and in love I am with the application of these pencils. They’re sort of chubby sticks, and the satin finish pencils are so balmy and glide on with no effort. Descanso is a perfect everyday nude and although I find it really wearable, I tend to wear it more for casual evenings out and for work. It has OK staying power; it’s a pretty sheer shade as it is, so I do tend to need to touch it up if I can be bothered. 


Torres Del Paine
I’d describe Torres del Paine as Descanso’s slightly more tangerine cousin. It’s another nude, but with a distinct coral fluorescence about it. I had always hunted high and low for a peachier, coral nude, but since trying this on my lips, I’ve decided it doesn’t compliment my skin at all. I like the colour itself, but it really doesn’t sit well with my paler skin or my clothing, to be honest! I tend to go grunge these days, so a neon pretty peachy nude lip doesn’t quite fit in with that. Again, though, amazing to apply, stays on pretty well throughout the day and even though I wouldn’t choose it to wear, I’m happy that I got to try it out.


Yu
Yu is an extraordinarily high pigmented shocking pink, and boy do I love it. It’s such an out-there, OMG colour, and it just glides on effortlessly and makes your lips look soft and moisturised and fuller. This lip colour is definitely a show stopper. I’ve not yet worn it out in the day time, but when spring kicks into full swing I’m sure I’ll be able to rock it in the day. As for evenings, I wore it to my friend Ellie’s birthday party as the dramatic colour is absolutely great for more special occasions. 


Iberico
Think MAC Morange but pure matte. I know. I’m in love too. I adore Iberico because even though it looks scary and shocking and vibrant beyond belief, it’s seriously wearable as part of a monochrome outfit. That’s what I’ve been pairing it with; just simple black and white outfits because they all tie in together to create a really interesting look with a shocking pop of colour. This is a matte pencil, so a little more pressure is needed to get the product actually onto the lips, but once it’s on, it’s staying on!


Cruella
This is firmly my favourite. Cruella is a velvet matte finish in a deep berry, blood red. Again, you need to work in firmer, shorter strokes to get the product onto your lips, but it’s easy to control due to the chubby pencil style tip. The colour payoff is ridiculous, and the result is a beautiful suede looking finish. I rock this at least once a week with a cat eye, and I love the confidence which comes with a bright red lip colour.




Overall, a really valuable addition to my ever expanding makeup collection! I have always been a huge NARS fanatic ever since discovering the Sheer Glow Foundation (review here) and I’m always raving about the Orgasm/Laguna Duo I have. It’s great to try out these new products from such an established brand so you can use it to work out what else you might like to try. I hope you liked my swatch pictures! 

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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

LORAC PRO 2 Palette





It’s really rare that I come across a product I feel so excited about after a couple of years of makeup obsessing, but since I heard about the LORAC Pro palette over on IntheFrow (a really famous, really amazing blog!) I decided I wanted to give it a go. I’m always on the lookout for eyeshadow palettes; I much prefer them to buying single shadows because I like to take makeup around with me for touch ups and palettes are way more convenient. My ultimate favourite is the Naked Palette by Urban Decay, which I live and breathe for, but the LORAC Pro has sort of taken its place recently and I’ve been reaching for it a whole lot more.

I love the way the LORAC has a mix of neutrals and more exciting colours so you can be versatile with the shades. This is perfect for when I go away to visit friends, or even when I’m just taking my makeup bag out with me for the day and I don’t have to faff around with a load of different pans. There’s nothing bulky or heavy about the LORAC; the palette itself is so sleek and thin; there’s almost nothing of it, and it slips in my makeup bag easily. 

Aside from the fact it’s slim and minimalistic, I’m so so glad the palette didn’t come with a rubbishy eyeshadow brush. I loathe and detest makeup brushes that come with makeup because they are invariably crap and seem like a gimmick to make you want to purchase the palette in the first place. This palette is just proud to present the shades it has, and I love that.

The shades are utterly beautiful. They’re a fab mix of daytime neutrals and show stopping bolder colours. On top of this, there’s a row of matte shades and a row of shimmering shades so the looks you can create are pretty much endless. My favourite shades are Nectar (Matte), Cocoa (Shimmer) and Rose (Shimmer), which actually go together really nicely for a pinky toned spring appropriate daytime eye. I’ve been reaching for this palette most days recently and it’s been the one I’m carting round with my in my trusty makeup bag.


Mine came from Amazon for £30. It’s well worth the dollar, if you ask me. As I said before, it’s so rare I get so hooked on a new product when I’ve got such a solid makeup collection, but thanks to Victoria’s recommendation, I’ve not a new favourite! 



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