Brand review || Essence

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to be sent some products from the brand Essence, I have used some of their products in the past so was so excited to try out more and expected great things from them! In this post I want to talk about the products I received and give a short review on them so if you want to find out more then keep reading...

L I P S T I C K   I N  ' 2 7 - M Y S T I C  V I O L E T // £2.30

Now if you've been here for a while you will know that I'm a nude girl and very rarely jump out of my comfort zone, I am conscious of my lip shape and have before now had never successfully over lined my lips to how I wanted them, but this lipstick shade made it so easy to do!
 I also got compliments on my lipstick which I must say I never normally do so I mean, that's got to be a sign right? I struggle with having dry lips so the creaminess of the Essence lipsticks has always been something I enjoyed and was not disappointed with this one, my lips looked healthy and for once I didn't have to worry about it cracking throughout the day. Click HERE to buy it.

 L O N G  L A S T I N G  L I P  L I N E R  I N
 ' 0 7 - P L U M  C A K E // £1.50


This shade complimented the lip colour perfectly and was just as buttery, I tend to not use lip liners and just wing it usually but It's something I'm trying to change as it really does make a difference! This shade again isn't one I'd choose myself but am so happy I received it as apparently essence know me better than I know myself, because I love it! Click HERE to buy it.

G E L  N A I L  P O L I S H   I N  ' 5 8 - N E E D  Y O U R  L O V E  '// £1.60

 Now I have to admit that I have the worst toes on this planet, like honestly they're gross and I wouldn't want to offend Essence by promoting their product that badly, but I did apply this polish to my toes nearly 2 weeks ago (couldn't do nails due to acrylics) and it's still on! It has a few miner chips but I think that's more down to the colour being dark that you can just notice them more! I have used essence polishes in the past and especially love the gel ones so again, I already knew I'd love this product. Just in case it's not that clear by the photos, this is a gorgeous deep red shade! Click HERE to buy it.

R O C K  ' N '  D O L L  M A S C A R A // £2.80

My excitement for receiving this was unreal, I was actually on my way to college when I was opening it and had completely forgot to blend my fake lashes into my natural ones so I mean yeah, you could say it saved my day! This mascara has a big wand which I personally love as I feel it grabs on to my lashes better and gives them more volume, the formula is also long lasting and is so annoying to get off...which I guess is a good thing!  I've been wanting to try an Essence mascara ever since the princess lash blew up as a big thing so I'll defiantly be buying that next. This mascara also claims to be 'eye opening', which in my opinion it is. Click  HERE to buy.

 M O S A I C   B L U S H   I N  ' 1 0 - M I S S  F L O R A L  C O R A L //  £2.50

The first thing I have to say about this is how gorgeous it is, I think it's so nice when company's spend time putting a pattern or texture into their powder products and it defiantly makes me more likely to buy it! I've only recently got into blush so am still trying to find what shades I like on my skin but I absolutely aim more towards pinky corals which I mean, this one is so bull's-eye! To be able to have such a creamy texture for under £3 is incredible and Essence as a brand should b so proud of themselves. Click HERE to buy it.

Overall I think Essence is such a reliable brand that I'm not surprised in the slightest at the product quality, it just goes to show that drugstore products can do all the things high end products can, but at a much affordable price!

Blogging, 1 year on & Year 2 goals.

It has officially been a year since I decided to do something with my hobby and start blogging, and boy have I came a long way; I would be lying if I said there's never been a moment where I was just sat looking at my '20 views, no comments' thinking what actually is the point, and I mean don't get me wrong, I never intended to be up there with Zoella, but the feeling of putting so much passion and thought into something for it to not even be appreciated, or even viewed is soul crushing... I didn't want my hobby to turn into another thing that made me feel I wasn't worthy.

I started my blog on Instagram and at first, I didn't even realise it was a thing to have an account dedicated to makeup, I just knew that that's what I wanted to do. I would take my photo's in bulk, edit them and post them about 3 times a week, although, god knows why editing took me so long because all I used to do was ad a glare and boarder... photography and editing is defiantly one of the areas I'm most proud of, I mean yes I have miles to go ( introducing props is proving to be incredibly hard) but I know I've already came such a long way already.  I currently have 3,000 followers on Instagram and try to post around once a week.

I would say Twitter is by far what made my blog what it is today, and if I'm completely honest, I owe a lot of credit to a fellow blogger,  @_chloehx_ , because if it wasn't for her inviting me into her blog babes group twitter chat, I would probably never have even used twitter as a platform. I've said this a million times but honestly, one of the best things you can do is join a group chat, I couldn't even explain how much the girls have helped me, at first it was just tips and tricks, you know just general advice, but now a year later its full on emotional support and someone to listen to my rants... I class every single one of those girls as my friends and seeing them grow makes me incredibly proud.

There's so much more I could say but honestly we'd be here all day so without further adoo...adue..? oh god, anyway, here's my blogging Year 2 goals...

              

🖤  Hit 5k on Instagram, I set this target based on the fact I gained 3k in one year, but don't use it as frequently anymore.

🖤 Hit 2k on Twitter. I'm nearly on 1k but I must say its taken a good few months, I didn't want to set a target too high for Twitter as the un followers to followers ratio can be a stinger,  

🖤 Get into the habit of scheduling posts the month before, originally this was going to say have them set for the year, but realistically that wouldn't work, so instead I decided to set always having the next months post scheduled.

🖤 Do at least 1 sponsored post. Ok so hear me out, I do not at all blog for money, I mean, its near enough impossible to earn a good wage by blogging with a blog of my size anyway so that's not the reason for this goal. I say this though as for a company to want to pay to work with you, they must be impressed with your work, and that's what I want, for somebody to be THAT impressed with my blog.

🖤 700 views per post. Now I have absolutely no idea what counts as a good amount of views per post,  I currently get around 400- 450 and I'm so proud of that, it may  not be a lot to other people, but to me that's huge and a far way from 20!

Now finally, I just want to thank each and every one of you, blogging is not only a hobby anymore, its a savour, which may sound stupid but Blogging has grew my confidence more than I could have ever imagined. when I started my blog and even up in till a few moths back I wouldn't leave my house, i would pretend to be ill to avoid plans with the people who I class as friends and I can say with my hands on my heart that I just wasn't enjoying life.
A year on of course I still have my moments, but when you have a group of people liking your posts, commenting on your hard work, telling you your selfies look bomb and most importantly assuring you you're not alone, its hard to feel worthless.

I've gone from the girl avoiding plans to the girl making them.. so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.





Pinterest Decor Finds.

Come on...if you're a member of Pinterest then you absolutely have to admit you feel like you need everything in every picture you ever pin, from those boho bedrooms to the crystal clean beauty rooms I've got you covered, let ya girl over here do the leg work for you💁.

1// HERE 2//HERE 3//HERE 4//HERE 5// HERE 6// HERE 

7// HERE 8// HERE 9// HERE 10// HERE 11/ HERE 12// HERE

As always I hope you enjoyed this post and be sure to comment bellow your favourite item! Also, let me know how you feel about the amount of writing on 'wish list' type posts like this, I personally don't think there's a need for a lot of writing but if you would like more then I can do that!:)



Men's Valentine's Day gift guide!

Ok so first I have a confession, I originally  started this post as a Christmas gift guide a few months back and never got round to finishing it (story of my life), but instead of leaving it in the blog post graveyard I decided to renovate it into a men's Valentines Day gift guide... because god knows they can be fussy.

 

1 // D R E S S I N G   G O W N

This ones pretty text book, I mean pj's can be a tricky thing when buying for men but a dressing gown? Easy as pie mate, they can't get enough of them...I think. The hard part about this gift is choosing the colour, pattern or fabric but to keep things simple I've just chose a black fully one from Asda which is £14!

You can find it HERE

2 // S L I P P E R S

Another really simple one I think is slippers, my boyfriend lives in his and tries to wear them anywhere he can! It's also a great gift as normally they come in small, medium or large so it's easier to guesstimate the sizing! You can find them absolutely anywhere for any price, but the pair I found are from UGG, and although being £70, I can promise you these will be the comfiest slippers he will ever slip his piggies into, my lord they are an absolute DREAM!

You can find them HERE (AL) or on the UGG website.

3 // A   N I CE   S H I R T

I always prefer buying practical presents  over jokey ones, I just think if I'm spending my money then I would rather it be used than just be a 5 minute laugh ( Major Kelly killjoy I know), hence why I think a nice 'going out' shirt is a great choice, this again can work for any budget and is so versatile that its a safe bet for anyone!   I would personally go for a nice Fred Perry just because that's my boyfriends personal preference but I've also found an example from river island for those with a smaller budget!

The FredPerry shirt can be found  HERE  for £65 (AL) and the River Island shirt can be found HERE  for £20.

4 //  S  W E  E T S   H A M P E R

Who doesn't love sweets? I honestly think this is such a great present because you can completely personalist it around the person you're buying for and make its as big or small as you like, Poundland is a great place to buy supplies from and if you need design inspo then give 'sweets hamper' a search on Pinterest and bobs your uncle... (please say other people use that saying). If you don't have time to create your own then not to worry there are plenty of sites that will sell them pre made, the Swizzles site is one that's great and has so many options such as the 'retro sweet hamper' for £11.99!

You can find it HERE
 Thorntons also do a great range of hampers if your date prefers chocolate over sweets so defiantly check them out HERE as well!

5 //  M E M O R Y   A L B U M .

I absolutely ADORE hand made presents or presents that have been personalised by somebody, I feel like to most people sadly printed out photos are such a forgotten thing of the past and they now just stay on a mobile phone until eventually deleted, but why?! There is absolutely nothing better than looking through an old photo album with a loved one and reliving the memories, I make a  habit of once a month printing out my favourite pictures and inserting them to my albums which I treasure so close to my heart and the app I use to do this is 'LALALAB'. Its a free app and is so simple to use which Is why I love it so much, you can also get £5 credited to you account to spend on absolutely anything if you use my referral code which is PGQUPKI9 ...this isn't a sponsored post, but I mean come on, free printed photo's has to be raved about!

You can either visit the website HERE or download the app HERE for IPhone and HERE  for GooglePlay.

I absolutely hope this post helped you chose what to get yo boyThang for Valentines day or at least inspired you, also let me know in the comments bellow if you have a great idea that I haven't mentioned!

 



Beautfy Acrylic storage review

Guys I'm so excited to be writing this review, and even more excited to tell you how much these draws cost...because believe me, you wont believe it! But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let me introduce you to the beautify 5 draw, 6 tier acrylic storage! As a self confessed makeup addict I find myself buying makeup just for it to be hidden  away and forgotten about in my Alex draw, which is exactly why these clear acrylic draws are so great, because you can actually see what's in side and be reminded to use certain products more...genius right?

So the first thing I wanted to talk about was the packaging, when I was looking at acrylic storage a few months back my main concern was them getting damaged in the post...let me assure you, there's no way these draws would get into any postal difficulty! 

 The box was delivered in a normal brown box which very clearly stated on it that it was fragile (1st brownie point) Under that layer was the actual company packing box, which b t dubz is absolutely gorgeous, its pink, grey black and white and low-key exactly how I want my room décor✨ When you open that box you then see the draws wrapped in 2 layers of bubble wrap with the draws sellotaped closed really carefully enclosed in thick polystyrene corner slots and then solid bored corner protectors!

So I thought instead of trying to explain the draw sizes to you I thought I'd just include some pictures from the website that are a bit clearer, the bottom draw is the deepest but all the draws are still quite deep, I can't think of any makeup item that wouldn't fit in these draws and they're even long enough for Morphe palettes...yeah, ikr.

I've filled my draws just t show you roughly what they would look like and how things fit, I just think they look so glamourous and so Kim K and I absolutely love them, and the best part? They cost as little as £40...absolutely crazy! I've compacted them mentally to the cute draws and other drpaws which retail for over £100 and honestly for the price the small differences are really not worth it. 

You can find these draws HERE for £37 on the Domu website or you can find them HERE on amazon for £34 (please be aware this is an Affiliated link)
but if you were after something a bit smaller or different then defiantly have a look around the website as they have something to suit everyone! Now I do have to disclaim that these draws were extremely kindly gifted to me by Domu but my opinions are as always my own, and honestly, I will be buying a few more sets myself because they really are brill!

As always let me know what you think in the comments and let me know what you currently use to store your makeup!