Nail Challenge 1# - Barry M Berry

This is such a gorgeous colour and at a bargain price of £2.99! I got it even cheaper in fact due to the lovely 3 for 2 offer Superdrug are having! Anyway this is my first Barry M nail polish that I've tried so far and I'm impressed! They are affordable and come in the most gorgeous colours. However application was a bit tough, I'm ever so impatient and first time I actually smudged it. However second time round it took two coats and a lot of waiting around for me and I think the colour pulled off pretty well! It certainly looks like the colour inside the bottle which is always a bonus, a gorgeous pastel purple.

My New Baby!

No guys I did not have a baby overnight! I know this post is long overdue (as are some others) but I had a day off work and I thought I'd write a post and show off to you all my lovely new camera. If you thought my pictures had gotten better in quality, no it wasn't me it was the camera! I recently got quite a bit of bond money from being a little baby 4 figures to be exact and I thought about treating myself before I put the money away before uni and I did just that. Say hello to my new Nikon D3100!

I apologize for the terrible photo quality! These were taken on my old Fujifilm s1900 and only now have I realized how bad the quality is so I'm rather thankful I treated myself to an SLR. It takes the most amazing photos (which are so much clearer) and records videos in HD for my collab channel as well as my own which is a massive bonus because now my videos are watchable! It cost me £310 + £30 cash back when I get around to it and the case and other accessories cost me £25 which is a bargain!

I'm obviously very new to the whole 'photography' and 'SLR' experience which is why at the moment I only use the camera on the auto setting but hopefully in the next weeks I can teach myself from online tutorials the basics of an SLR camera which I'm so excited for! Also if you lovely bloggers have any tips for an SLR beginner do post in the comment box, it would help me a great deal! :-) 

** in no way am i showing off with the amount of money i had or the expensive camera, i am simply sharing a product i bought and currently enjoying a lot! also i wanted a camera update as my old one was bought when i was around 14.

Real Techniques Core Collection - Review

RRP. £21.99

I know this collection is so hyped up it's unreal and plenty of people that don't own them always say, are they really worth all that hype and money?? YESSS. They are so worth it! I have never really used make up brushes at all, especially not for foundation or powder but these babies have taught me differently. Make up now is just so much easier to apply plus I get much better coverage and I don't use as much foundation as I normally would when using my hands.

I got my set off amazon for the bargain price of £17 which they lower to now and again and I snapped these up just after payday! If you've seen my most current wishlists I have been lusting over these babies for ever so long, I just wanted them so bad. I knew they would be perfect for me at the beginning and when I get more into the whole full face expensive make up they would help me and beyond that!

They are perfect for everyday use and I also have my eyes on the eye shadow set once I start using my palettes a little more. One thing I have to love about these brushes apart from their super softness, is (for someone forgetful like me) on the back of the brush they contain the brush names and in this set you get the detailer brush, the contour brush, buffing brush and the pointed foundation brush. This set literally has everything I need for every day make up. The one thing I want next from this lovely make is the blusher brush!

If you don't already own the Core Collection and want to try them out I would full recommend!

The Procastinating Beauty Blogger Tag

Wouldn't you just love to own a dressing up table like this?!

(s) 

Now I've seen this tag popping up here, there and everywhere and when the lovely Helen tagged me in it I decided to give it a go for myself! I've also seen it on Ali's and Mia's blogs where all you lovely ladies can check out the rules if you'd like to join in!
Name a beauty regime you rarely do.
I am so bad at nighttime skincare, sometimes I use face wipes.. sometimes not even that! I'm terrible. I need to get much better on skincare before I go to bed, also I need to get rid of the face wipes (apart from mascara!) and use my cleanser/tone a lot more as well as exfoliating!

Is washing your make up brushes something you do regularly?
At the moment no. The only brush I use is one for blusher and I use the same blush ever day. However I did just order the Real Techniques Core Collection brushes so when I start using them I can see brush washing going up on my list of priorities!

How long will you last with chipped nail polish?
I bite my nails a lot but with polish on I don't touch them even when they chip! Also I can normally only wear nail polish for a week max at a time with my job so I tend to take it off before it starts to chip but I wouldn't pick at chipped nails either, I'd just remove it.

How long do you put off buying/replacing a beauty or nail product - even if you need it? (E.g a new foundation)
It depends on the product, I tend to buy my replace just as the older one is running out which means I never actually run out. Saying that I only replace items I really love like the Kate Moss lipsticks and my No7 foundation. Plus nothing I use at the moment is expensive so I can always afford to replace.

What is your worst beauty habit?
I'm not too sure, I do lean on face a lot at college meaning I wipe my foundation away like there's no tomorrow. I also touch my hair a lot meaning my fringe looks terrible when I get home! Also with lippy and lip balms, I am forever reapplying, balms is like all the time and lippy is maybe every hour or so..? Eek.

Name something non-beauty related that you put off doing all the time.
Coursework, college work, revision in general. I'm really lazy yet dedicated when it comes to college. I know the stuff and I can get good grades but I leave everything till last minute and panic like mad purely because I'm too lazy/unmotivated to actually get anything done.

When going out somewhere do you leave getting ready to the last minute or not?
I have a pet hate of being late, so much that I'm nearly always early for everything. For college I take around 40 minutes including make up and washing my hair. If I were going out with friends or Tom then I'm more likely to say 1/2 hours. I hate rushing around to get ready!

Can you commit to spending bands?
I don't think so, I always tell myself to save but then there's always something I want to buy. Hopefully the more I start to earn at work the more I'll save! However I would struggle badly on a spending ban there's always a new book or beauty product I want...

How organised is you make up and nail collection?
I've been searching for weeks for somewhere nice to store my make up! (Apart from plastic drawers, please recommend me good storage!) I am trying but for now it's just on the top of my chest or drawers all over the place and my nail colors in a make up bag.

What is the longest time you have gone without writing a blog post?
About 2 weeks I think, normally when I've had no pictures/products to blog about and I've just been really lazy spending my time on coursework and Tom.

For this I'm not going to tag anyone in particular but I'd love to see all my readers to this post (or maybe as a video?) also if you've already done it link me!! I love reading tag posts :)

Nail Polish Challenge

I've never really been a huge nail polish fan, when I was younger they always use to turn out ever so messy and I'd smudge them in the first half an hour! However since starting up my beauty blog I've been wanting to explore more and more. For example looks at beautiful Islay's creations on her blog, how amazing! I've always wanted tons and tons of nail colours but thinking about it with my job how would I get through all the colours? So I decided to count my collection (along with a few of my favorites from my mums collection, heh) 

I'm so sorry for the terrible quality, nail polishes are so hard to photograph!
Now I only have 29 polishes, some of which are new which I'm proud of. Over the next few weeks I'm going to attempt to use them all. I'm also going to buy a few more because I don't think my collection is big enough! I'll try to post once a week if I can wear the colours and I'll judge whether I want them or not. My collection is going to get a big overall! :)

A-Z of Me: B

B is for Books
I read a lot of books. A hell of a lot. Last year I made a goal to read 50... this year my goal is 70! I have always been an avid reader though, since being a little kid in primary school, I just couldn't get enough. Nowadays I will read almost anything whether it be fantasy, horror or crime. I will read the odd autobiography every now and then but it has to be cool, like Ozzy Osbourne for example.

My pride and glories (Harry Potter) obviously get the top shelf! 

I like the smell of old books and of new books. I like hardback versions and I like paperbacks (their easier to carry!) I've read tons of books, most of them on my shelves I have actually read, however I keep buying and buying until well I've got no room left. I have a little box thing filled with 'to-read' books which is actually so full I have to put the left overs on my bookcase... eep. 

Oops!  Did I mention I have even more 'older' books from my childhood I'm still clinging on too? I just can't get rid of my Lemony Snicket books! I just hope in years to come, I still enjoy reading as much as I do now! (I could have a library in my house ^.^ !)  You can also find me on Goodreads, drop me some recommendations I always want new books :)