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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My Hair Routine and Go To Hairstyle Featuring GHD's Eclipse Straightener

My hair is probably bottom of my list when I'm getting ready. I used to not do anything. My routine included step 1: washing my hair with whatever shampoo and conditioner I had in, step 2: towel drying and brushing my hair, step 3: blow the hairdryer on my hair then give up because I have too much hair and I'm too lazy and step 4: put it in a bun then take it out and hope that it is slightly curly. There you go, my hair routine, bye.

Just kidding obvs. Recently I've been caring for my hair more and styling it rather than just leaving it to do whatever the hell it wants. And if I'm honest, I'm pretty happy with my hair at the moment and my mam keeps commenting on how healthy it looks. Well done hair. A little bit of background on my hair would probably be a good way to start this off. I have brunette hair with a thousand different colours. I quite like the colour of my hair, I have a mix of red and golden tones to it which  show up in different lights. I've only dyed my hair once which was about 3 years ago. I had it dyed at my hairdressers to a lighter brown colour but then I went on holiday and it went practically blonde. Bit of a mistake but I quite liked it. I decided I didn't want to get it dyed again so just let it grow out and regularly had hair cuts to get rid of the remaining colour. For a while I looked like I had dip dyed hair. What a mare. My hair is EXTREMELY thick and I have lots of it. Like seriously, lots. It falls out everywhere and my boyfriend always seems to be the person they land on. Soz mate. 

I used to have a side parting and that's the way my hair naturally falls to however, lately I've been starting to style it in a middle parting which I really like the look of. So, let's start with the shower. I don't tend to buy specific shampoos and conditioners if I'm honest. I have always just gone with whatever we have had in and to be honest I sometimes just get the cheapest ones. But they seem to do the job. I quite enjoy using Alberto Balsam shampoo and conditioners and for the price of £1 they are amazing value for money. One of my favourite ranges, however, is the Herbel Essences Bee Strong range. I love this stuff and it has done wonders for my hair. The smell is amazing. It smells of honey and apricot which together are the bomb dot com. I always seem to go back to this range after using something else and it never disappoints. Not going to lie, I do like to treat myself sometimes. For my birthday I was given the Liz Earle Botanical Shampoo and Conditoner. I love the skin products from Liz Earle and never though to try their haircare but I was actually impressed. I wasn't too keen on the smell however it wasn't overpowering on my hair after my shower. It made my hair silky smooth and if I'm honest, I feel like this is one of the main reasons why my hair looks so healthy at the moment.

After I have my shower I tend to brush my hair when it's still wet. Yes, I know that's not what your meant to do and makes your hair worse but it works best for me. I can't for the life of me brush my hair when it's dry otherwise it turns frizzy so this is the only way. I use my beloved Tangle Teezer which had been an essential in my life for a good few years now. I know they're a bit pricey at £10 a brush but it's honestly worth it. Mine last for a long time as well and you can get loads of different types. I then use my Garnier Ultimate Blends Marvellous Glow Oil and this little beauty has been a god send. I never used to use any product on my hair but I'm so glad I do now. I apply onto wet hair after I've towel dried and brushed my hair and then I dry my hair with a blow dryer. I don't blow dry it in any fancy way I just put my head upside done and dry it. Fancy.

Like I said before, I've been styling my hair into a middle parting rather than a side parting. I don't use heat too much on my hair because tbh, I sometimes can't be bothered. But recently, I have been using my GHD Eclipse Straightener to create a few curls here and there in my hair. My hair is naturally voluminous. Like, I always get asked what I use to get my hair the way it is and the answer is always nothing. I prefer to have more volume though so I'm quite lucky that my hair is like that. I rarely straighten my hair and it is naturally wavy anyway. However I like to curl my hair with these straighteners as it leaves a natural, beachy wave look. I usually separate my hair into two sections and start with the bottom. I take small (but not too small otherwise it will take forever) sections of my hair and take the straighteners down then curl it up. It doesn't leave the most perfect looking curls but I don't want perfect looking hair. To be honest, most of the time I look like I've been dragged through a bush backwards. I then start on the top section of my hair and take each side of a time so that my hair doesn't get in the way when I'm curling it. After I've finished curling I flip my hair upside down and back up again then drag my fingers through to make the curls a bit looser. And to finish it off I use my Tresemme Runway Collection Make Waves Hairspray to hold it all in place. I do admit, my hair does drop after I curl it because I have so much hair but it leaves a gorgeous look!

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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Confessions of a Stationary Hoarder

It's no secret that I love stationary. I'd happily spend my money on buying a new notebook or pretty gel pens than food to keep me living. My desk drawers have always been full of stationary that I probably don't even need and never use yet I love to keep hold of every single item. My mam will literally roll her eyes everytime I go shopping and come home with a new notebook but who cares. I am a stationary hoarder and here are my confessions:

1. Yes, I do buy notebooks because they're pretty. The amount of notebooks I have and don't actually have a use for is ridiculous. The thing is, I literally don't have an excuse to give when someone asks me why I've bought it, all I say is 'because it looks pretty.

2. The majority of notebooks I own are still blank. Yep, even the ones I bought over a year ago are still waiting to be scribbled in.

3. Seeing a pretty gel pen set really excites me. Is that weird? I love coloured pens like making my work pretty and colourful seriously makes me wake up in the morning.

4. Lists are a daily thing. I've said in many posts that I love making lists. Like, I LOVE making lists. I'm actually planning on writing one after I write this blog post so there you go. I have books and notepads specifically designed for lists and they excite me when I see them on the shelves. I just recently bought shopping list book and a desk pad (that's one of my favs). Plus, they look pretty, as always.

5. The amount of pencil cases I own is uncanny. I remember at the beginning of every year at school I used to buy a new pencil case and sometimes even bought a second one throughout the year. I used to enjoy going out to buy my pencil case and would take forever to decide on just one. Yes, I do still love doing that now and yes I may have a collection of pencil cases at home that I don't use anymore...

6. I probably have pens that don't work but I still like to hang on to them. No, not the normal biro style pens that once you use you just throw away and get a new one out of the pack. Those pens that have your name on or a cute pattern (mainly from Paperchase). I seem to hang onto pens that I may have bought in the past or received as birthday and Christmas presents even if they don't work.

7. One of my favourite presents ever was a pack of sticky notes. Yeah you heard me. In my stocking last year I was given a set of post it notes from Happy Jackson and I think it was one of the best presents I've ever received. I showed it off to everyone that's how sad I am.

8. I have no regrets. To be honest, I don't really care that I have more stationary than WHSmith itself and I'll continue to buy pretty notebooks and pens and won't regret. I will willingly spend £10 on a notebook that doesn't need to be that much but if it looks nice and feels good to hold I'll have it. I will drag my nearest and dearest into Paperchase forever more. Sorry guys.

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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Why Do I Wear Make Up?

I was never into make up from a young age. To be honest, I was quite nervous to wear make up and only properly got into it when I was in year 9/10, even if that did mean bad eyeliner and concealer lips. My mam doesn't wear loads of make up but still does and I used to rummage through her stash when I was little but never knew what product did what. I have pretty normal skin and rarely get blemishes (I applaud my parents for giving me the good skin gene). So why do I love covering my skin up in make up when I don't necessarily need it?

In my opinion, I believe that I do need to wear make up. I don't need to cake myself in it and I've gone out of the house without make up before. But as a confidence boost, I prefer to put a bit of concealer under my eyes and mascara on my lashes even if I am just popping out to get milk and bread. Every girl is different and so if you feel you need to put it on then do it but don't bother if there's no need. I don't want to write this blog post and say you shouldn't wear make up and you should embrace your natural skin because if you're not confident enough to not wear make up then do whatever makes you happy. It's nice to give your skin a bit of a breather and if you're not doing much then you don't need to put it on but I've had days where I've literally done nothing and just been sat in the house all day but I still spend half an hour in the morning covering my face in whatever I've got just because I enjoy it.

I wouldn't have made this blog if I didn't have a passion for make up and fashion and everything else that I write about. Collecting make up is my hobby, just like other people love to collect stamps or comic books or even pebbles you find on a beach. I admit, I probably could've spent my money on other necessary things but instead of spending loads of money on a night out or something like that, I tend to save it and buy the latest eyeshadow palette or lipstick just because it makes me happy. Yes, I do have 6 lipsticks in pretty much the same shade and people have been shocked when they look at my make up collection but to me, every one of those lipsticks are unique (lol deep conversation about lipsticks.) I love trying new products and if that means spending £30 on a foundation then I'll do it.

There are so many influences nowadays and YouTube has recently become one of the major ways in which girls, as young as 10 (and maybe younger) are wearing make up. My younger cousin has only just turned 12 and does her makeup better than I did at that age (if I even wore any) and it's all because of YouTube videos and beauty gurus. I love that. It's amazing how people can just sit in front of a camera in their bedrooms and be so inspirational to people all around the world! Make up is a personal topic. If you want to cake yourself in it then do it. I love experimenting with different make up looks. Give me a smokey eye and a bold lip any day and I'll be a happy bunny. Some people go for the more natural look and that is absolutely fine! What's wrong with showing off your natural skin? Don't be afraid of what people think when it comes to make up. I mean, if you go out with bright pink cheeks and dark black eyes it may look a bit out of place but if that's your thing then do it.

Why do I wear make up? Because I want to.

Charlotte xxx

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