High End Make Up Wishlist.

I don't own that much make up from high end brands. After all, I am a student and that money is just non-existent. But, this year I've decided to branch out and try a few new high end products once in a while (when I can afford it). I love making lists, and make up lists are my favourite kind. I actually go through each website and make a list of every bit of make up that I want. And then I cry because it's going to take me forever to buy everything off that list. I'm never going to give up though girls, I'm never going to give up. I thought I'd pick a few of my most wanted items, because let's be honest, we'd be here all day if you saw the actual list I have.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector - Champagne Pop

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow

Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Series Contour Kit

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Compact - Pink Quartz

Nars ITA Kabuki Brush

Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Eyeshadow Palette - Dolce Vita

Charlotte xxx

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Beauty Advent Calendars 2015

Even though we all love our chocolate advent calendars at Christmas, the rise of the beauty advent calendars has become huge over the past couple of years. From drugstore to high end, most brands these days are doing one and selling them out pretty much straight away. I've never actually owned one (*cries*) but I have created many a lists of which ones I would love to have. Yes, they can be a bit pricey but for what they are actually worth, the prices are pretty insane. As December is quickly approaching I thought I'd make a list of some 2015's best looking advent calendars and quickly before they all sell out.

Make Up Revolution - £25

Tanya Burr - £24.99

Feel Unique - £30 (Worth £85)

No7 - £38

Ciate - £49 (or £16.99 in TK Maxx!!)

The Body Shop - £60

Selfridges - £60

Benefit - £79

Charlotte Tilbury - £150

Jo Malone - £260

Charlotte xxx

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Review: MAC's Blankety

Looking for the perfect nude? Well, this may be the blog post to read. I love my lipsticks, like, seriously love them. It's bad how many I own but you know what, I don't really care. I am all up for a bold lip however, when it comes to nudes, I have got time for that. MAC lipsticks are an all time favourite of mine and I could not fault any of the ones that I own. Blankety has been quite famous across the internet for a while now and I never really knew whether I wanted to try it out. If I'm honest, when I saw people wearing it on blogs and YouTube videos I thought it was more of a darker nude, and I prefer a lighter colour, so I was never really interested. But then the moment came when I somehow managed to fall into the MAC counter (how does that happen ey) and I stood next to the lipstick stand. Yes, I swatched a billion before I found blankety and oh my giddy aunt I fell in love. I know I say that about many lipsticks that I own but seriously, this changed me. I swatched this colour and was like ahhhhh then I looked at the name and was like AHHHHH. In my head though not out loud cause that might've made me look a bit odd...

The colour is definitely more on the pinky side of nudes which are my fav. I do own brown toned nudes but I just think that those with pink undertones suit my skin tone more and I've always gone towards them. I would say this is quite a girly pink and would suit all skin tones. It also seems to make my teeth look whiter which I love and it looks great with a tan. But what doesn't look great with a tan? This is because it is quite blue undertoned and I would recommend to anyone who wants a pearly white smile to get blue toned lipsticks as it really brings your nashers out.

The longevity of this product is pretty good. As it is an amplified finish, it is very pigmented. However, I do own many other amplified finishes from MAC and I wouldn't say that this is the most pigmented out of the ones that I own. This may be because it is a nude though and the others are bold colours so I'll give it that one. It does last pretty much all day, but that is if you don't eat and drink, which is never going to happen in my world because I love food too much and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I sometimes do need to reapply it but overall it stays well. I do sometimes find that it leaves a line on my lips when it wears off, which isn't very attractive. This could be because my lips are quite dry at the moment though so don't quote me on that. It isn't matte and gives a nice subtle shine and of course, the smell never fails to disappoint. Think vanilla.

MAC lipsticks retail at £15.50 (what a liberty, I remember when they were £13) and you can get them from their website or shop or House of Fraser concessions!

Charlotte xxx

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Motivation

I go through stages where I can be really productive and want to get everything done or I go weeks without being anywhere near productive and slack on everything that I do. I thought I'd write a bit of personal and chatty blog post about what motivates me and how you can get motivated. I have to admit, there has been times where I've genuinely gone weeks without writing a blog post and I always feel rubbish about it because this is what I want to do. I want to write about the things that I love and share it with people. I have always been interested in writing and that's why I take an English degree. I have always been an English person, I was never the girl who was obsessed with science or was amazing at playing a musical instrument. Throughout my whole school life I loved English. That may make me sound a bit geeky but hey ho, I love it.

I remember starting this blog when I had finished my GCSE's in year 11 (oh my that was 3 years ago wow I feel old), basically because I had a long summer and knew I was going to be bored. I really started getting into reading beauty and fashion blogs and thought, I'm going to give that a go. I admit, my posts back then were awful and if you fancy reading some of them then feel free they're still right here on my blog! I posted them because I loved writing about make up and what clothes I had recently bought. I started to post quite often but then after a while began to lose motivation and completely lost interest in what I was writing. It was only that last year and a half that I really got back into blogging. Yes, in that year and a half I have wrote blog posts then suddenly stopped for a good month but I always feel really guilty about it. I really enjoy blogging, and recently, I've been a lot more motivated and productive with my days and blogging has been given more attention. I'm not the most motivated of people and probably not the best person to listen to but I thought I'd share with you some of the little things I do to keep my motivation levels up.

1. Write a list.

This is probably the most important thing to do. I love making lists and that's no secret. I love making a to do list every morning so that I have a general idea about how much I have to do that day. There may be two things on my list and there may be five, but writing a list makes me feel a lot more organised and there's something really satisfying about ticking things off. Is anyone else like that? I love getting stationary that makes list writing easier, do you get me? On a Sunday I tend to plan each day with what work I have to do that day, when I'm going to write blog posts and when I'm going to take blog photos. However, autumn days are quite unpredictable so I take photos whenever I can, #bloggerprobz. When it comes to my blog I never really kept a schedule, but now I make a list of what I'm going to write for what day and that has seemed to help quite a lot. I've even planned my Christmas blog posts that's how productive I am at the minute. I do love a bit of organisation.

2. Set and alarm.

Some days I have uni at 9 so I am usually up at half 7 and out by half 8. Luckily, my days at uni aren't very long and I have the majority of the afternoons off and two full days off in a week so I have quite a lot of spare time. I don't currently have a part time job either which gives me a lot more time to do work and blogging. When I'm off however, I like to set alarms on some days so that I can get up early and have a productive day. I do like to have a lie in once in a while, which I think is good as you need to get your sleep. But, as I'm so used to getting up early, my body clock automatically wakes me up at half 7 every morning. Isn't that nice?

3. Take a break.

Don't push yourself too hard. There's a thing called overworking and you really don't want to be doing that. If you do too much, you can tire yourself out and lose concentration. Take a break every couple of hours, have some food, pour yourself a cuppa or catch up on that programme you missed last night. There's nothing worse than sitting at your desk all day staring at your laptop which ends up giving you a crooked back and a banging headache. 

4. Tidy up.

Is this just me who does this? I love a tidy workspace and usually before I start anything I love to make my bed, put my clothes away or file away some loose papers. There's something about a clear desk that makes everything easier to do. I always find that I am set for the day when I clean and it starts my day off productively so that's the way to carry on.

5. Don't overdo it.

Don't think you can complete everything in that one day. I will set myself a goal of finishing some uni reading in one day and with my distraction levels, that never happens. I can easily be distracted by online shopping, the television or just listening to music. I could happily just sot and dance in my seat for a good hour and then when that passes I think to myself, imagine what you could have done in that hour without your daily sing-a-long to One Direction. But who doesn't love a bit of the 1D boys eh? eh? I remember one day I made a to do list and it was too full and I completely lost interest. Give  yourself a realistic goal and if you manage to complete all of that, make a head start on your next to do list.

I hope this helped in some way or another. I apologise that I'm not the most motivational person but you know, I do try.

Charlotte xxx

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My Favourite Ever Nail Polish - Essie's Fiji

Could this be my favourite EVER nail polish? I think so. Essie's 'Fiji' has always been a firm favourite of mine. Yes, I know, it is one of the most talked about nail polishes out there but I can completely understand why. This is the perfect pinky nude and one of those colours that always makes your nails look like they have been professionally done. If I don't know what colour to wear I always seem to be drawn to this colour. It is so wearable and suits every skin colour. I particularly adore this in the summer when I have a tan because I think there is nothing more polished and pretty than tanned skin with pink, white or nude nails, and this nail varnish fits in all of those categories. It is very much a milky pink and only needs two coats to create a solid colour. It lasts a long time too, I always find Essie nail polishes to be the most long lasting polishes I've worn. This colour isn't just a summer colour either, it is wearable all year round and I love it so much that I've had to repurchase this product because I wear it CONSTANTLY!

Have you tried Essie's 'Fiji'?

Charlotte xxx

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