LIFE UPDATES / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hey! 

So remember that time I said that now my exams are over and summer is upon me I'm going to post on my blog like no tomorrow? My summer is basically over now and if it wasn't already evident, consistency and this blog are not quite soulmates. Blogs are meant to be like online diaries (right?) so cue a miniature life update:

• I got into my first choice university and I am so happy about it! I should probably insert here a generic "and I'm so excited to start" but that would be a lie. I absolutely shitting myself at the thought of starting university. It's rather nerve-racking to think of all the social situations I'm undoubtedly going to have to encounter but at the same time there's so much riding on my university experience that I just need to suck it up, grow some ladyballs and break a bloody leg. Ah, figures of speech. 

• I turned 18! I had probably the best/most chilled birthday ever- I spent the weekend with my mum and sisters doing old lady activities like going to a spa and the theatre and having afternoon tea and I loved every minute of it. It's two weeks later and I've only had one alcoholic beverage in the entirety of my adulthood. I am so cool, are you jealous?

• I started a YouTube channel! I've been meaning to for MONTHS but getting the courage to do it took longer than anticipated and even when I had finally filmed my first video it took an entire month for me to upload it. Naturally I knew that my first video wouldn't be going viral so I wasn't exactly baring my soul to be judged by the entire internet user-base but I knew I'd be using Twitter to promote my channel like I do with my blog, a ton of people I know irl follow me on there and if I'm being honest the fear of them laughing at me got to me for a bit. I've since realised how pointless it was to think this way because the reality is I love makeup and I love geeking out about it and so if I want to do that, I shouldn't be held back by the thought that people I mostly don't like might not approve. So I did it and I've inserted my first two videos below if you want to check them out and I'd really love it if you'd subscribe if you like them!

As usual a supposedly quick post got rambly real quick but that's me done for now folks, thanks for reading! 

Feel free to follow me on BlogLovin' to keep updated with what's occurring on this blog (my next post will be a rant *insert creepy but seductive devil emoji here*) but for everyday musings by myself feel free to check out my Instagram /Twitter!

Olivia xo 

My Experience of The Brow Game

Around two/three years ago when Cara Delevingne first figuratively blew up, I decided it was time to invest in some eBay £1.99 brow powder and went through some seriously tragic brow days.

Looking back on these dire days dampens my mood profoundly. 

Since, I have decided to never again try hard at being an eyebrow person. To be honest, I was slightly scared into submission because of the horrible influx that emerged consisting of a high demand for beautifully arched flawless brows and girls suddenly being really judgy on what brows were looking like. I'm not going to pretend like I didn't think I was the eyebrow equivalent of an X Factor Judge in the sense that I hoped I could be exempt from the judgement by being able to know good brows from bad but anyways, brows were and still are suddenly a really big deal and getting it right is quite exhausting.

For this reason I had been just getting by with a Rimmel Brow Pencil for like a year and half and though I rarely felt like my eyebrow game was 'fleeky' enough to make others envious, it done the trick. 

However, over the last year or so, I have revamped my one-product eyebrow collection by purchasing the cult classics; the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pomade in Chocolate, Brow Wiz in Soft Brown and Clear Brow Gel, the Soap and Glory Brow Archery 2-in- 1 in Hot Chocolate and the L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper in Medium/Dark.

I'm not going to go full blown review on you because this post is already getting long but the Brow Pomade is something that I find requires practice and precision to not go permanent marker-esque. I'm yet to fully conquer it so I tend to only use it when I'm going out at night or have a load of time to do my makeup. When I do use it, I use a MAC 266, which I invested in for eyebrow's sake. 

The whole two colours in the entire range thing is super shady (I love puns.) of Soap and Glory to do but if the two on offer work for you, you're in for a treat because it's quick and easy to use and hella natural looking. The Anastasia brow wiz is exactly the same in all departments except price so if the Soap and Glory shade range does you wrong, Anastasia has your back!

With regards to setting brows in place, in short, I think the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel removes some product when you apply it which is annoying because it makes them look a bit sparse but it does a great job of locking the product in. On the other hand, the L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper is fantastic (sooo much better than the Maybelline brow drama) and I'm going to try the clear version also in the hopes it does a better job than the Anastasia one for a much lower price.

Brows using the Anastasia Brow Wiz and Clear Brow Gel

These products have really made me feel like I have my life together, simply by doing their thing to my brows. Though my brow game is by no means strong, I would highly recommend the L'Oreal brow artist and Soap and Glory/Anastasia brow wiz for any brow beginners- if you want to avoid the loud and proud brow situation I had going on circa 2013 that is.

And that is the end of story time kids! Follow me on BlogLovin' if you liked this post and feel free to share/comment and all the rest of it. Thanks for reading!

Lots of love,

Olivia xo

My Absence In Pictures!

Um, hey interweb...

I AM BLOGGING AGAIN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL AND IT FEELS SO WEIRD.

If you read my last past you will know that exams and life (mostly exams) whisked me away from the bloggosphere for a bit but now they are over, I am free from education for a bit and back in the blogging game.

I have certainly not sworn off social media in my absence from blogger.com and have been particularly into Instagram where I have been experimenting with makeup a whole lot. I find Instagram so inspiring because there's so bloody many talented girls and guys on there doing such cool things with makeup! I love doing my friends and families makeup, especially skin-focus stuff, but I am horrific at applying eye makeup to other people and I wouldn't describe myself as a wildly creative person so will probably never be a professional makeup artist if I'm being honest with you. However, Instagram-ing more lately has really inspired me to combine creativity with my love for makeup and "step outside my comfort zone" so to speak.

Here's some of the looks I've done that you might have missed if you aren't following me on what the kids are allegedly calling "the 'Gram" nowadays:

Blue and Silver Smokey Cut Crease

Green warm smokey eye.

Warm gold smokey eye with a bronze-y pop of colour.

Silver prom eye and pink-nude lips.

The perfect nude lip.

Classic red lipstick via MAC.

Cool vs. Warm tones.

P.S Follow me to see more!

Thanks for reading!

Lots of love, 

Olivia xo

A Ridiculously Large Makeup Haul

Hello! 

I haven't posted in a while (more on why soon) but since my last post I have gone a little cray cray on the makeup purchases. I have acted accordingly and since placed a loosely binding makeup spending ban on myself effective of right now. I thought I'd share my makeup purchases from the last month with you lovely makeup lovers so here goes the haul:

*(swatches are at the end)

BOOTS/SUPERDRUG

Makeup Revolution highlight in Golden Lights. 

I have heard TOO much hype surrounding this brand and was sceptical about the claims of "high end quality at more than affordable prices" but after a few in-store swatches I now see that the claims are true. I wasn't in the mood to go crazy on this particular day apparently so just got this show-stopping highlight in Golden Lights.

beautyuk Ultimate Contour Palette

I saw Nic from Pixi Woo talk about this in this video and decided to give it a try. I've since realised that I don't dig cream contouring on me but it's still a good palette, especially for those of you with your eye on the new Anastasia cream contour kit who want to test out cream contouring before they commit to a £40 palette.

B. Rich Intense Colour Lipstick in Rose Quartz

I was seriously considering treating myself to a Chanel lipstick, even though none of the shades 'wow' me, just for the pop up/out packaging so when my friend at work had this, I cancelled my Chanel plans in favour of saving money and I'm so glad I did!

Soap and Glory Solar Powder

I was on the market for a new everyday bronzer and thought I'd try this instead of getting a high end one. I'm quite disappointed with the pigment of this one, I expected more of it. Also, the pale side is way too pale for me to use and I'm like a NC20/25 in MAC so I'm not exactly tanned. However, it's not orange in the slightest which I find most bronzers are so that's a plus. Every cloud and all that.

L-R: Limecrime Salem, Nars lipstick in Angela, Anastasia clear brow gel

LIMECRIME

Salem Velvetine 

A lot of guilt accompanied this purchase and rightfully so as this company has done some really crappy things. Alas, I have wanted this for months and finding a dupe proved impossible so I got it and have worn it so much already! 

NARS 

Audacious lipstick in Angela 

I saw this colour on Kathleen Lights here and fell in love, it's unlike any other I have. It's a very blue/purple undertoned bold fuschia pink. I have one thing that bugs me about these lipsticks, but that's for another post so stay tuned ;) 

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS

Clear brow gel

This is another product that had been on my list for ages and I had very high hopes for but has been anti-climactic. I'm still working on how to get this to work to its upmost potential...

MAC 

Face and Body foundation in White

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but all my foundations are the wrong colour for me at the moment because I'm at my palest time of the year and the thought of repurchasing new shades for them all is very unappealing to me. So I thought I'd be innovative and save money using this to lighten my foundations and so far the verdict is that this is the best makeup-y decision I have ever made.

Pure Zen lipstick

This is one I hear a lot of from people who prefer sheer lip looks and I felt like I needed it in my life as I'm loving nude lips at the moment!

217 brush 

I've been meaning to get this for like forever so when Debenhams has 10% off, it had to happen. I already live for the Zoeva dupes and so I was surprised at how dense this one is in comparison but it still blends like a dream. 

Bao Bao Wan Beauty Powder in Summer Opal.

All of my highlighters are very 'hello I'm Beyonce and I'm happy to be here' and you know, in your face. So I wanted a nice soft subtle one and this had sold out online but when I went 
into my MAC store they still had it so I couldn't resist!

Top-Bottom: Bitten, Cocoa Bear, Mocha, Peach Smoothie, Envy

MAKEUP GEEK

Eyeshadows in Mocha, Cocoa Bear, Bitten, Peach Smoothie and Envy

These are defo the pièce de résistance of this haul, mostly as the wait for them to arrive has been intense and just as I thought I would return home to them I had to pay customs charges that delayed my unboxing of them for another three days! Anyways, I was instantly impressed by the quality of these shadows. I didn't order every colour I wanted, I went for the 'try a few then gradually add more' method and so the choice was tough but I will definitely be making another order soon.

SWATCHES

Top-Bottom: Makeup Revolution Highlight in Golden Lights, Bao Bao Wan Beauty powder in Summer Opal, beautyuk Contour palette Contour shade, Bronzer shade and Highlight shade

Top-Bottom: B. lipstick in Rose Quartz, MAC lipstick in Pure Zen,  NARS lipstick in Angela , Limecrime Velvetine in Salem.

Wow that was A LOT. Thank you so much for reading this far, I really appreciate it! 

**A serious makeup buying ban will proceed the publishing of this blog post.

I'd love you to comment any thoughts, share this post if you liked it and follow me on bloglovin' to see more!

Lots of love, 

Olivia xo

My Blogging Hiatus

Hello guys!!

This is just a quick post apologising and explaining my lack of posts of late. 

I am both fortunate and unfortunate enough to be in the position where I blog for fun only. Obviously it is not my job, I have not monetised my blog and I do not have a gazillion readers begging me to post and so as life has got in the way of things lately, fitting time in to Write, Photograph, Post, Promote, Repeat has been tricky. 
It's my last year of Sixth Form/ "High School" so I'm trying my hardest to focus and dedicate myself to getting the grades I need to get into my first choice university which is not proving to be easy- (don't do Chemistry at A-level kids, unless you really have to, it will destroy you). What with my terribly time-consuming YouTube addiction, working part time, reading and keeping up with the ridiculous amounts of TV shows I watch, and believe me I am trying to minimise time spent on all of these, squeezing blogging into the mix is another distraction/guilty pleasure that I do not have time for. (I'm lucky in the sense that I'm not distracted by a social life because I don't have one, gold star for me. Ha ha ha.)

Honestly, I really need to organise and sort my life out and in the mean time that means you will not be seeing frequent posts on my blog until after June 18th when I am free from education for four WHOLE months, such a marvelous prospect! I still love blogging and I'm very excited to finally get some of the ideas I have in my head written and posted :)

I am rambling on as usual so will end the post here. Sidenote:I've noticed that my sentences are really long. What can I say, I'm a talker. 

I apologise for neglecting my blog but if you would like to be notified when I do post again follow me on Bloglovin' and to keep up with my daily musing in the mean time, follow me on Twitter :)

Ciao for now!

Olivia xo

The Liebster Award

Heyyyyy

The time has come! I was nominated to do this award/tag a while ago by Florence from Love From Florence Grace and I had been meaning to (I promise) and when I was nominated again by Dee from Coffee Talk with Dee I got the nudge I needed to actually do it. I feel so grateful to have been nominated because I am far from a well-established blogger in the blogging community or even someone who is consistently involved in it, so thank you so much to Florence and Dee for nominating me!  

Basically, the Liebster Award is 11 questions that someone nominates you to answer and once you answer the questions you’ve been asked, you can set 11 new questions or keep the same ones you answered and nominate more bloggers of your choice. As I’ve been nominated twice, I decided not to bore you with 20+ questions and pick my favourite 11 to answer.

1. How did you decide what you wanted your blog to be about?

At first it seemed easy, beauty and fashion is what I love so it made sense to talk about it but I'm recently becoming more aware of the fact that there are more profound topics that concern me also, other than my favourite shades of lipstick. I guess the key is to talk about what you like!

2. What got you into makeup/beauty?

It was a gradual thing for me. It started with getting my first MAC foundation when I got my makeup done there for my prom and my first MAC lipsticks, which you can read all about here, then Youtube was a massive catalyst. I first watched Shaaanxo and Gabriella from VelvetGh0st's videos religiously and somehow a year later I watch about 3 hours of youtube videos a day (lol), so YouTube is mostly to blame!

3. Have you tried Charlotte Tilbury's products? What do you think?

I have her Colour Chameleon eye pencil in Amber Haze and it's okay but whenever I use it I end up adding more eyeshadow on top of it for more 'oompf' so never see what it wears like alone. I am dying to try the Filmstar Bronze and Glow, Matte Revolution lipsticks and Rock 'n' Kohl eye pencils. However, it's all way too 'upper high end' for my budget but maybe one day I will treat myself. 

4. What's the longest you've gone without wearing any makeup?

Probably the 13/14 years I went before I started wearing it? Is that cheating? No ragrets.

5. What's one part of your daily routine you absolutely can't miss?

Even on my laziest days I have to do at least a basic skincare routine i.e. cleanse, tone, moisturise or I just feel clogged up and eurgh. Also, breakfast.

6. Best book you've read is? 

I'm yet to find my favourite book but Perks of being a Wallflower means a lot to me and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart was the best book I read last year.

7. Salted or sweet popcorn?
Sweet, always!!!!! People who like Salt popcorn baffle and sicken me and don't even get me started on people who enjoy a mixture of the two...

8. Who's your most influential idol and why?

It took a while for me to think of this because I'm not someone who worships Beyonce or Oprah or one person's life work in particular but someone I find very inspirational is Emma Watson. Especially because I'm doing my A-Levels at the moment, I'm kind of getting by living by the motto that if Emma Watson can get three A's whilst being Emma Watson, I have absolutely no excuse. I also love her style, how she's handled being exposed to the public eye from such a young age and used her "fame" to bring to light important issues.

9. If you could do anything, without thinking of factors or consequences, what would you do?
I'd go to special fx makeup school whilst simultaneously traveling the world, learning how to do a backhand spring, finding myself, writing a bucket list, completing said bucket list, studying a law degree, being rich, eradicating world poverty and learning how to drive. Ha.

10. What product have you used that really stands out in your mind? (It can be anything not just beauty).
I bought the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream last week and it literally amazes me every day. It can be used in a gazillion ways and though I didn't expect it to smell or look like it does, that cannot retract from the fact that it's PHENOMENAL!

11. How did you meet your best friend?

I met her at Brownies/ Girl Guides and she introduced herself in a way that can only be described as Verbal Diarrhea. I was so freaked out that I told my friend I was with that I thought she was really, really weird. Considering I vowed then to avoid her indefinitely, it's hilarious that we still even know each other now!

I nominate the following bloggers to answer these questions:

• Elizabeth from holizblog
• Elish from A Piece of Elish
• Sarah from What Sass Says
• Brooklynn from That Brooklynn Paige
• Rebecca from Blue Eyed Fashion

Thanks for reading!

Olivia xo