The Ugly Truth Behind High Street Nail Bars

 Having a mother who is qualified in any field of beauty comes in very handy for any teenage girl, myself included. My mum is a qualified and talented manicurist/ nail technician and she knows her job very well. She has always forewarned me against treatments in high street nail bars and today I discovered for myself exactly why. 
 Mum receives endless complaints from clients about various nail treatments they have had done and she is constantly removing what is supposed to be one product from a clients nails only to discover it is a fake replica of a high end product. We were in Birmingham today shopping for my prom dress and decided to see for ourselves what goes on in these salons and what it is that draws people into that false sense of security. 

 The most important part of any business is customer service and that is where these establishments fall completely flat. Not only is there a lack of communication between the Nail Technician and the client but you'll undoubtedly find yourself sat behind the manicure desk listening to a conversation in a foreign language whilst you wait awkwardly to be acknowledged. This made me feel very uncomfortable, especially seeing as they sat my mum on the other side of the shop to me despite it being completely empty when we walked in! I fail to see how this would appeal to anybody as half the fun for us ladies when it comes to having any sort of pampering done is the thought of having a nice chat and gossip with our manicurist/stylist or whomever you're having treatment with. 

 Another thing that shocked me was how incorrect their techniques are! It's difficult for a customer to notice these things because only somebody qualified would know how the job is supposed to be done. I'm lucky enough to have somebody who can show me a decent manicure so I can easily spot a bad job and my mother certainly can see it from a mile off. The first mistake made was when filing the nail; this again comes under a failure in customer service, however, I wasn't even asked what shape in which I prefer to wear my nails. I now have half of my nails square and a couple circular! To say they look odd would be an understatement! Another huge failure in technique was when painting them. These bars hardly ever use base coat nail polish which means any dark colour will stain your nail and be horrific when it comes to removing the polish! In addition, the manicurist will hardly ever apply the polish correctly. They don't cap the ends when painting and so consequently the colour will most likely peel off as soon as you submerge your hands in water. Furthermore, the technicians don't use hand cream or any kind of lotion to prep your hands which leaves them feeling dry once the treatment is finished. These are little details only a professional would notice but it's worth taking note off. 

 What appalled me the most was the lack of hygiene measures that these bars perform. My mum uses disposable nail files with her clients that are simply thrown away after use. So clearly, one nail file is used per client, they are never reused. So when the lady doing my nails pulled out a clearly over used nail file that had dead bits of nail flicking off it I was slightly disgusted. Not only this, but to sterilise the instruments used for cuticle work, she simply dipped them in the warm water my hands were soaking in. There was no sign of any disinfectant to clean them whatsoever. In our salon, we soak all of our instruments, combs and all of those things in Barbicide which is a type of disinfectant commonly used in salons. 

 What this lack of hygiene means in that any kind of fungal infection somebody might unknowingly have can be spread from client to client very quickly. Most Nail Technicians will check on arrival for any sign of fungal infections and not permit treatment to any client that may have one for that reason. Due to lack of communication between the Technicians and the clients in these salons, no such check takes place and so anybody could be spreading harmful germs. Consequently, due to lack of sterilisation, by undergoing treatment at one of these nail bars you expose yourself to any kind of infection. 

 The final issue would again only be noticed by somebody who is a qualified technician. If you walk into a nail bar and see a certificate on the wall listing every single manicure course under the sun it is highly unlikely that it is legitimate. Anyone who has taken part in a nail course will know that for each type of treatment you get a separate certificate. My mum has several for all of the different types of polish and gel and extension she is trained in. Genuine certificates should be displayed by any establishment offering nail treatment or at least be available for a client to look at if the wish. My advice to you is that if you walk into a nail bar and see a large certificate listing several courses, turn around and walk straight back out again because it is one certificate per course. If they've been taught all of those treatments on one course, they haven't been taught properly!


Overall, I hope this has opened your eyes to these bars. So what can you do as an alternative? If you're willing to pay £15-£20 for a shoddy job then I'm sure you wont mind paying slightly more, if not the same price, for a decent one? Most salons these days have qualified manicurists so it's just a case of finding a comfortable salon for you and a technician that you get along with. You can say goodbye to sitting alone silently whilst listening to your technician have a completely separate conversation in an unknown language (that for all we know could be about the state of our nails!) and say hello to a friendly face and maybe even a cup of tea whilst you're there! And you can guarantee your manicurist will be fully qualified and know what they're doing. You don't even have to be lucky to have fully sterilised and clean equipment, it goes without saying. I know I would much rather pay more money for a decent set of nails and I can assure you I will never be walking into one of those nail bars again.  

Chatty Blogger & Why I Fell Out Of Love With Love Me Beauty | You Beauty Introduction.

Well that was the longest blog title in the whole world! 

 2 posts in one weekend, how lucky are you guys! I wouldn't usually post this much in one go but I have so many ideas for blog posts I want to do and I'm so behind on what I have promised you and so I want to get a move on with things. 

 First and foremost I want to say a humongous thank you for getting my last post to 103 views. Seriously that is just incredible to me. That's pretty much 4x what any of my posts usually get and I am well and truly flabbergasted! Yesterday's post was probably the most personal piece of writing that has ever come from my fingertips and to receive so much support and love from you all was incredible. I'm sending you so much love and huggles right now! 

 Now, I hate to start complaining (again) but I'm afraid that's where I'm going because after falling so deeply in love with the Love Me Beauty box I have had my heart rejected and smashed beneath their feet and so I just want to explain to you why they won't be featured on my blog anymore which is unfortunate because I planned to feature them monthly (for free) and only managed to once. I also want to warn you in case you were planning on subscribing to them. 

 Now, like I previously mentioned in the Love Me Beauty blog posts prior to this one, I couldn't afford to pre-subscribe for more than one month because they insisted on having the multiple months subscriptions all paid at once which made the price extortionate. So, I subscribed for one month and planned to just renew this subscription when I could afford a box that month. I failed to see any flaw in this plan and do not understand what went wrong. 

 On the 5th of March my credits were supposed to be renewed so I could get another box; they weren't. I gave them about a week thinking something had gone wrong before I emailed them to make them aware of this issue. Now, I must give credit where credit is due, I had a lovely email back but despite them being friendly, there was a distinctive lack of information. They basically told me that my account had been cancelled and if I wanted to subscribe again I would have to use another email address. 

 This annoyed me slightly, I hadn't cancelled my account so who had? surely that cannot happen without me requesting? My Love Me Beauty account had always been a bit glitchy. Every single time I loaded the website I had to fill in the same beauty questionnaire because it didn't save my results. I kid you not I must have filled that thing in about 30 times. So, I decided to look elsewhere. There must be a package more friendly to my age group? Less pricey and more time efficient!

 And thanks to a fantastic blog called "WhichBeautyBoxUK" I managed to find one. I featured her instagram in my February Favourites if you want to check her out! I looked through all the beauty boxes she is subscribed to and found one that fits me perfectly and it is the You Beauty box. 

 This box is less than half the price of the Love Me Beauty box and is so much better! 

The presentation is a million times better than what I received from my single Love Me Beauty box and I think the way they fill the boxes is so much better: 
You chose two products to try out rather than 4 like LMB. Despite this, I still prefer it. They then send you extras along with that so you get more than your moneys worth! This is better for me because it means I get to try out products I wouldn't necessarily have chosen myself. 

I'll admit, I'll miss the products I could have gotten from Love Me Beauty, the March collection looked so good and I was really looking forward to ordering. Sadly, they've lost a customer!

 I'll show you what my box from You Beauty looks like:

As you can see, the tissue paper looks so much more creative than the drawstring bags of Love Me Beauty history! And they include a little leaflet which tells you about the extra products they have included. They include such a range of products and I am so excited about what I'm going to receive in the future. They automatically take the £6.95 from your bank on the first of every month as a direct debit and so you don't have to pay upfront which is great for someone on a lower budget. Furthermore, it's quick to pick what you want, no filling out of forms or anything time consuming. I would recommend this beauty box to any younger beauty lover who can't afford the more expensive boxes!

 I will be doing similar posts with these boxes as I was planning to do with the Love Me Beauty: Reviews & Make Up looks where relevant. 

 I like to keep you updated with whats coming up on my blog so here's my plan for the next month or so. 
I haven't forgotten about my reviews and make up looks for the Too Faced and Naked pallets plus Nars lipstick I brought a few weeks ago - that's coming up soon! In addition to this, seeing as you love my lifestyle posts (fancy way of saying rants) I'm planning a couple more about some more subjects I care massively about so keep your eyes pealed. These take a lot more planning as I like to make sure I cover every detail and make them as well written as possible so bare with me! 

Another thing I want to start doing is a feature I'm going to call 'Quick Tips Tuesday' where I will share some kind of tip with you whether it be beauty related or whatever! It wont be regular just whenever I have things to share with you. They will literally be a couple of paragraphs long. 

 Hope you are all well, I love you massive amounts. Goodnight and Happy Sunday!

With Love, Chloe x. 

"Oh My God, Why Are You So Skinny?"

As a society I think we are all pretty aware that the media conveys a very false image of what the perfect body should look like. I've been influenced by this as much as the next girl has but over that last few years some issues have come to my attention that blend in so much with every day life that it is assumed acceptable and I'm failing to understand why. I've tried to write about this so many times. I've posted tweets, facebook status' and people just don't seem to understand it. Even people who I would consider also fall victim to these comments just don't see what's wrong about people's comments and perspectives. 

 We grow up with images of slim, perfectly airbrushed women being shoved in our faces and assume that that is the correct way to look. As a result of this people assume that anyone with a thin body is confident and happy with the way they look. We also assume that that is what everyone thinks is beautiful which causes girls who are slightly curvier than those women to feel insecure in themselves. We are all aware of this issue and that is not where this blog post is going because I honestly think that the issue of curvier girls being insecure about their weight isn't as apparent now as it was a few years ago. Plus, I don't relate to that kind of insecurity that much so I wouldn't feel comfortable writing about it. Instead I want to bring to your attention how uncomfortable thinner girls can feel about their bodies because people seem to think that if you are thin you don't have any insecurities at all.

 There is such a lack of empathy for slim girls and it makes me so angry. There are so many people promoting self confidence for bigger girls which is amazing and such a good thing but who said they are the only people to feel insecure? Shouldn't we be encouraging bodily confidence for people of all shapes and sizes and not making it out to be accessible to one specific body type? 

 I have battled with my weight every since I was in primary school. People are always surprised when I confess that I am insecure with they way my body looks; it's as if I don't have a right to feel uncomfortable with myself just because I'm small. I firstly began to feel uncomfortable at the age of 9 when one of my teachers openly asked me in front of other students whether I was eating properly because my arms and legs looked 'too skinny.' I noticed this kind of prejudice again when I was 10 when a pupil slightly older than me referred to me as being 'so anorexic.' I again began to feel even more paranoid when I started working and a lady I worked with would constantly check what I was having for lunch and how I'd eaten in the week because she was convinced I had some sort of eating disorder. This kind of harassment began again when my doctor worked out my BMI to be less than it should be for my age and decided I needed counselling despite both myself and my parents insisting that I was eating properly. 

 Being anorexic is something I have been accused of a lot. I don't think there is a single person in my life, who I'm not related to, who hasn't at some point accused me of starving myself or having an unhealthy attitude to food. This I don't understand because it's usually the people who have watched me eat huge amounts of food or even had meals with me. I want to be really careful when writing this paragraph because mental illness is an issue very close to my heart and I don't want to upset anybody or come across as being disrespectful. But I find this offensive, not only to me, but to the people who genuinely suffer from these illnesses. I know that if I was to have one of these disorders and someone pestered me about what I was eating I would just try to hide it even more. You can't react to mental illness in that way! One of the worst things you can do is walk up to someone's face and accuse them of starving themselves. If you really, genuinely suspect that then talk to their parents, or to a teacher or work colleague or even to their doctor. Never walk up to somebodies face if you suspect that they're mentally ill and accuse them of that because it's like lighting a fuse. 

 One thing I am sick of even more so than being called 'Skinny,' is being made to feel like I don't have a right to dislike my body. If I say to people I want to eat more healthily or even start working out properly they automatically assume that it's because I want to lose weight and I get bombarded with comments like: "but you're so skinny," or, "I would kill to be as skinny as you" or even "is that why you're so skinny?" I'm sorry but why does that have to be the reason I want to get fit or be more healthy? I'll tell you why I'm planning on eating healthier and joining gym: because I want to. 

Why is that not a good enough reason?

 One thing people don't understand is that "skinny" is NOT a compliment. You would be mortified if somebody walked up to a curvy girl and said "why are you so fat?" and rightly so because that is a disgusting, vile comment to make. Even though curvy portrays the same image it's a nicer way to say it. It's the same with calling someone skinny, it's a horrible word. The difference between calling someone skinny and calling them slim is that skinny implies that they are too thin. It's an unappealing word  that suggests you look unhealthy or unattractive. One problem with my generation especially is that we are less quick to think about what we say before we say it. Just by saying 'You're so slim' rather than 'you're so skinny' you automatically avoid hitting any nerve. It's so much kinder and much more of a compliment. Just think about how your words come across before you say them. Even though your intentions are good and you're trying to pay someone a compliment, it comes off as more of an insult and it's just not nice! 

 Like I mentioned previously, there has been a recent rise in media protest against curvier girls feeling insecure about their bodies which is something I support and encourage. However, it does portray that slimmer girls don't have a right to feel uncomfortable or even that they shouldn't be encouraged to feel comfortable too. 

 There were many reason's why 'About That Bass' by Meghan Trainor offended me immensely when I first heard it. Not only because thinner girls were described as 'skinny b*tches' but also because of how disgusting the message from that song actually is and it's disguised behind the fact that it's supporting body confidence. The lyric 'boys like a little more booty to hold tonight' ruins the whole message for me. This is also something I have seen all over the media that boys like curvier girls and boys like to be able to grab something. I'm sorry but why are we basing our self worth over what men want? It's our body not theirs! Not only does that song completely defeat the object of promoting bodily confidence by slamming slim girls but it gives out the message for the wrong reasons and I can't believe people actually use it as a mantra to live by. 

 The only thing girls should really be worrying about is how they feel about their body. Not what the media says they should think or what boys think. It's your body so get yourself to a place where you are comfortable with it. 
 Yes, I am quite slim and so I don't feel like I need to lose any weight but I still worry about how my body looks sometimes. I try to work out as much as possible because I worry that my body doesn't look very nice. This probably stems back from all of the comments I've had regarding anorexia over the years and so I try to make sure everything is toned and looks nice because I've been made to feel so insecure about it. 

 Another false message the media gives us nowadays is that you shouldn't want to lose weight and wanting to lose weight is unhealthy. Do you know what? Some people may disagree with me but if you want to lose weight you go ahead and do that. So long as it's a healthy amount and you go about it in a healthy way then go for it. It's nobody else's business. And don't let anyone convince you that you need a reason to want to change the way you look. The only reason you need is 'because I want to.' 

 Feeling confident about yourself and the way you look is so crucial when you get older and you should be able to feel and do whatever you want in order to achieve that confidence. 
 Stop comparing yourself to other people and stop commenting on other people's bodies because we're all different and pointing out other people's body shapes only makes us all feel more insecure. 

 And please don't ever use the words: skinny, fat, huge, anorexic, or disgusting to describe anyone's body because its disrespectful and dangerous to use that terminology... and really mean. 

Chloe x. 

Learning To Cope With Change.

One thing I have learned over my few years on this planet is that happiness isn't permanent. As much as we wish it could be, it doesn't exist all of the time. Happiness is something we get glimpses of. It's what we make memories out of and we store it picture frames or in a diary or even in scrap books made of Polaroids and train tickets etc. Life is cruel and our snippets of happiness are all we have to get through it. It's a pretty pessimistic outlook to have on life, I know. But it's the only conclusion I have ever come to that seems to make an sense to me. 

 The main cause of emotional pain for me is our lack of control over the people around us. Of course, no one would want to control other people but our lack of influence over the decisions the people we love make leaves us vulnerable. We are open to wounds, human beings aren't physically or mentally bullet proof and there is very little we can do to protect ourselves. Falling in love is something we're programmed to do. Ever since I was a child it was apparent to me that in life you find a partner and you get married and you live happily ever after. Obviously as you grow up you realise things get a little bit more complicated than that and people aren't always the hansom prince you pictured when you were a kid. And it's cruel when you fall for the wrong person. It hurts and you have to put all the little pieces of your broken soul back together again; it's exhausting and painful. 

For me, what is even crueler than this is the stories you hear of people falling for the right person at the wrong time. Falling for someone who is in a completely different stage in their life than you are is the hardest thing. Your opportunities are different. Your time is filled with different priorities and different stresses. No matter how much you want to make it work there are a million little bumps in the road just waiting to trip you up and break you down. Even if you find the right person, they could still leave. If it's the wrong time, they probably will leave. 

 The hardest thing to come to terms with is that it's not you. You can do everything right and love them with every fiber of your being and it still wont be enough because things change, people need to learn and to grow and to travel and sometimes people get left behind. Sadly, no matter how much you love somebody and no matter how much they love you, they have to put their feelings first and yours can't always come into consideration. 

 So where am I going with this... The main thing I want you to take from reading this is that things will change. Even if you think everything is perfect as it is and you could live your whole life the way you are currently living. Things will change. Pieces always fall out of place like the leaves fall off the trees and you lose people, you gain people. People will fall out of love with you and it's not always apparent why. People change their minds. You have to learn to exist as you are. Not alone, just for your individuality and what you can offer. 

 And it's hard. If somebody gave you a huge stone. A massive, strong piece of rock that you thought was indestructible; it's human nature and instinct to pile the rest of your stones on top of it because it can hold the weight and keep everything together. But what happens if someone takes it away again? Your whole life collapses and you have to pick everything up and make sense of it again. What I'm saying is that you have to build up each fragment of your life to stand on its own. Don't plan your future around somebody that you think will always be there. Don't make important choices under that influence. Plan your future around yourself because it's yours. You have to put your feelings first because nobody else will. 

 People need to grow. Sometimes that means that the people closest to you have to disappear for a while. I'm pretty sure than when caterpillars have to build their cocoon and transform themselves, they can't take their friends with them. Or their lovers or whatever. I know they're caterpillars but you get my drift. It doesn't mean you're not loved and that's the hardest lesson I have ever had to learn. People say this all the time but if you love someone you have to let them go. That's so difficult when every natural instinct tells you to cling to whatever makes you happy for dear life and never ever let it go. You have to trust that if it's something you need, it will come back to you. If that person is supposed to be in your life, they will always come back. A line off of my dearest Taylor Swift's new album reads "When you're young you just run but you come back to what you need..." and I think she's right. You always come back to what matters the most. 

 Another lesson I have had to learn is that it is more than okay to hurt. It's alright to not be able to cope with something. It doesn't mean you're not strong. It doesn't mean you can't carry on. It's alright to want someone to stay. It's alright to want to fall to your knees sobbing and beg them not to leave you. It's alright to fall into a melancholic heap on your bathroom floor, bawling your eyes out, listening to Taylor Swift's "Last Kiss" on repeat and ending up with eyes swollen to the size of golf balls to the extent that you cannot put your make up on in the morning. It's alright to want someone to cuddle you to sleep at night. So long as you don't live every second that way. You can't allow other people's choices about their futures destroy yours. 

 You have a future too so set yourself goals. The next few years of my life are going to be the complete opposite of what I expected and so the only goals I'm left with are my A Levels so that's what I have to focus on now. And that's okay. I'm going to be starting at a new college, meeting new people so I get to have a fresh start too. Just with different people than I expected. Instead of focusing on what isn't going to be in your life anymore, think about what will be. Think about all the amazing things you could do. You don't need someone else to exist as yourself. You don't need someone else. 

 Being left behind can leave you with a serious case of Pistanthrophobia and I am no exception to this. That's perfectly okay so long as you can trust yourself. You can't rely on other people to make you happy so learn to laugh on your own. It's totally okay to eat alone in public. It's okay to go for walks alone, or drives, or even sit at school alone. You have to be able to stand on your own to reach your full potential as a human being; once you can do those things alone, it doesn't matter so much when you get left behind. You seem to know how to exist as you are. 

 Despite this feeling of sehnsucht that I will undoubtedly be battling with for a very long time, I don't feel too pessimistic about my future. I know I can get good GCSE results and A Level results which is what I have decided to focus on now. 

 My task for anyone dealing with change is just to imagine the life you want, that doesn't mean imagining what your life was like before the change. Set yourself goals as to what you want to achieve and achieve it. You can do whatever you want in life. If other people can make choices that effect you without considering the impact it will have on you then you must do the same thing. Consider nobody else's happiness but yours. It sounds rather selfish doesn't it? Human beings are selfish but the selfish ones seem to be the happiest from what I've seen. 

 Positive thinking is key when losing somebody. Rather than thinking about what the negative impacts on your life will be, think of the positives. The things you will both be able to experience. Seeing new things, learning new lessons, meeting new people. There's always light at the end of the tunnel, some tunnels are just longer than others. 

 That was a lot to take in. I'll leave you with a picture of a happy alpaca:)

Drug Store Beauty Favourites.

A lot of you really enjoyed my February Favourites post and so I decided to do something a little bit similar for you except drug store based. Despite my urge to upgrade a lot of my products to more higher end, mainly because I find it better value for money in the long run, I know a lot of people would rather spend their money on other things and so would benefit from knowing which products are best from somewhere like Boots and/or Superdrug where cosmetics are a lot cheaper. 

 I'm going to show you a few of my favourite products and let you know how I use them and why I would recommend them. 

 Starting with the love of my life: Maybelline. I LOVE Maybelline products and this foundation is the best thing I have ever discovered in my life. I didn't get on well with the Dream Matte Mousse when I tried it; I found it really dried out my skin and didn't give me very good coverage. I tried this and it's the perfect blend between a mousse and a liquid foundation. It sits so lightly on the skin and I just love it. I was gutted when I found that my local chemist don't stock it so I have to wait until I can get to a boots. If you haven't yet fallen in love with a foundation I really recommend you try this! 

Also from Maybelline: My favourite bronzer. This is the perfect three shade mix. I mentioned using this when I did my February Love Me Beauty makeup looks and it honestly works perfectly with any kind of makeup look you're going for whether it be a softer look or more dramatic. I actually have been using the bronzer that came in my Urban Decay On The Run pallet and I still prefer this. The three shade tones make it blend perfectly and look so natural. In the summer it looks stunning on your skin. if you're paler like me and struggle to blend your bronzer I would really recommend this product. 

Lastly from Maybelline, I'm not going to talk too much about this because it was in my favourties post the other week but this is the best eye shadow I have ever used. It blends perfectly, it lasts long and is such good value for money. The shades are gorgeous so pick yourself up a couple!

This next product I kind of found and tried by accident. I've never really taken much notice of the Seventeen counter and I'm not too sure why. I was looking for an amazing concealer and happened upon this one.

  I have a unfortunate arrangement of freckles surrounding my right eye and without make up they make me look like I have a black eye. I got sick of explaining this to people when they came up to me concerned at school asking who had beat me up... so when I tried this product I instantly fell in love. It covers any kind of problem you may have like the odd out of place army of freckles as well as under eye bags. I got in the habit of using this all over my face not just under my eyes so any blemishes you dislike will be history if you try this out!  I think I pay about £3-4 pounds for this and I apply it with my real techniques detail brush. Such an amazing product, there really is no reason for you not to try it out!

When I was just starting to get into makeup I was using a lot of Collection 100 because it's so affordable and easy to use. If you want to get into blending eye shadow - this pallet is perfect. It has 3 different combinations depending on how smokey you want to go and a highlighter. It has diagrams on the back showing you how to blend it and it's taught me everything I need to know. I usually use this pallet to blend out my 24 hour tattoo shades when I wear them. It works well with any products though. Really small to fit into a handbag and just a really good starter product if you want to experiment with eye shadow without spending too much money. 

I was very skeptical to try this product as I didn't really understand what it would do and how it would benefit me. After trying it, I'm still not sure how/what it does but I would never go back to not using it. If I forget to put it on, my eyes just look so tired and dull. Whatever is in this product makes your eyes look so much brighter and healthier. I really struggle with having bags under my eyes so this product is a god send! All you do it roll it under your eyes and then wipe away the residue and then apply your foundation/concealer over it. It's amazing. 

My final drug store favourite is the Real Techniques brush kit. I have always absolutely hated using my fingers to apply makeup but couldn't afford to buy a whole kit of expensive brushes so when I saw that I could pay about £20 for these four I went for it. You have a blush/bronzer brush, a foundation brush, a detail brush and a powder brush. I use all of them daily and they're so easy to use and to clean. They come in this handy sleeve to prevent the hairs getting damaged. If you want some decent brushes please try these ones out. They look so professional and are really good!

So those are my drugstore favourites. Keep posted during the next few weeks as I have my reviews of the Urban Decay On The Run and Too Faced Chocolate pallets coming up along with the makeup looks I created using them.  I will also be ordering my next Love Me Beauty box soon so you can expect the usual posts I do to do with that also within the next month. I'm trying out a few new products at the moment so expect a fair few reviews and 

recommendations.

 

Happy Sunday! Love Chloe x. 

I'm A Little Bit Too Faced | Cosmetics Haul.

Another beauty post for you. I'm going to show you some new products I brought that I've been dying to try out for ages. Perhaps this weekend, if not in the next couple of weeks, I'll review each one and show you the make up looks I created using them! 

I firstly went onto the Selfridges website because I know they're the best for stocking my favourite makeup brands. I also find their prices are slightly cheaper than if you purchased from the Urban Decay or Nars websites directly so it seemed like a no brainer. 

 As I have previously mentioned, I've been looking for a while for a lipstick to replace my beloved Rimmel London Kate Moss 107 because I need something that will dry out my lips less. I have also been desperate for a Nars lipstick for quite some time. Seeing as I wanted to add some higher end products to my make up collection, it made sense to me to try and see if I could find a similar Nars shade. I did rely on the online image on the Selfridges website for this one because I don't have a store local enough to me to buy in store. This shade caught my eye and it's the Mascate 3511 from their Pure Matt Lipstick collection. I'll admit I took a risk with buying this online because you never really know what the shade is going to be until it arrives. Having said that, the shade looks very similar to the Rimmel 107. I know I'm not going to find a shade that is an exact copy but I think this is probably as close as I'm going to get for now. None the less, if it doesn't fill the void for me, it's a stunning colour so I've not lost anything. I'll show you what the actual product looks like in my upcoming review post. I paid £20 for this which is slightly cheaper than the regular Nars lipsticks. I'm not sure what the difference is between the ones packaged like this and the ones that have a more typical lipstick packaging except that perhaps they are smaller. 
 Let me know what your favourite Nars lipstick shades are in the comments so I can try out a few more! 

Also from selfridges, I got the limited edition: Urban Decay Naked On The Run pallet that I have had my eye on for weeks. I paid £35 for this and it is such good value for money! For £35 you get the 'Perversion' mascara, 24/7 glide on eye liner pencil, the Naked Lipgloss, 5 eye shadows, a blush, bronzer and a highlighter. It's perfect for on the go as well because it has a really big mirror and is small enough to fit in your handbag. I absolutely love the packaging! The pattern is stunning. I'm so glad I finally ordered this. I can tell I'm going to over use it a lot! Again, I'll show you more of what it looks like inside when I do my make up reviews and looks. 




Finally, Selfridges didn't stock this so I had to order it from Debenhams. I paid about £27. This is another product I have lusted over for months and months. I contemplated doing the same as I did with the Naked Pallets and buying the smaller size to try it out but I just fell in love with too many of the colours from the larger pallet so decided I should either go big or go home. When this arrived, my mother looked at me judgmentally and asked me whether I had 'seriously brought chocolate online.' No mummy dear, of course not! Not only does this look like it should be a massive chocolate bar, but I kid you not, it smells exactly like one. It's incredible. It shows how much I have grown into a young woman as I used to get excited about the calculators that were chocolate bars, now I get excited about eye shadow pallets. The colours in this pallet are stunning! The pallet even comes with a little book that has diagrams of how to achieve different eye shadow styles so I will try out some for you and maybe do a tutorial post so that you can see. This was so worth the money. Keep posted for my review!

This was a very quick post I know but there is more to come! Make sure to follow me on google+ and you'll be able to see when I post a new blog post and therefore see when I've done my reviews. Have a lovely evening! 
Love Chloe, x.

February Favourites | Beauty Takeover!

Why hello there my beautiful chestnuts! 
 This month I have been obsessed with beauty more than anything else. I got my first Love Me Beauty box and splashed out on a few higher end products which did some damage! I'm having to save most of my money from now on for driving lessons and summer clothing as well as clothing and supplies for sixth form which is going to cost me a lot come the summer! So I made the most this month of buying some of the products of my beauty bucket list whilst I still could! Most of those products will be 'hauled' and reviewed in the next few weeks so I'll keep you posted.
 Seeing as this month has been very much beauty orientated, so is this months favourites posts. Just FYI, lots of you have been saying that I spell favourites wrong, I don't, it's spelled differently in the UK!

Firstly the cosmetics favourites:

One thing I have been loving this month is a the Bed Head shampoo and conditioner by TIGI for damaged hair. This products ticks all my boxes and I would gladly recommend it to anybody! Lets firstly comment on the scent. I kid you not, this product smells incredible. It actually smells like lemonade. It took me a while to put my finger on what the product smells like, suddenly I realized that it smells just like lemonade or sprite. Who doesn't want hair that smells like lemonade? 
 Not only does it smell incredible but it was such good value! I paid £18.50 for the shampoo and conditioner and I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the bottles. They are huge. The kind of bottle size that you would expect to see used in a salon. I know I wont be having to buy more of this for absolutely ages; moreover, it's even more efficient when you realise how little you have to use! I need significantly less of this product than I do any other shampoo or conditioner I've tried using. This clearly makes it even better quality for money so please do not feel put off by the price! 
 As for helping with my hair damage left over from my highlighting nightmare, (see previous posts) this has helped immensely to stop my hair feeling as dry. There is much more life in my hair and it feels so much softer than it was previously. Furthermore, the damage is hardly visible. However, I do find if I use the product alone without using Morrocan Oil on my hair also, the damage is much more visible but obviously, there is no such thing as miracles! If you suffer from damaged hair, this product along with Morrocan Oil is the perfect, dream combination. Thus why I photographed the two products together. 
 If damaged hair isn't an issue for you, there are many other versions of the Bed Head shampoo that you could try. There is a shampoo for regular hair and for coloured hair. I found the product from my favourite beauty vlogger/blogger Zoe Sugg (Zoella) and she uses the Bed Head for coloured hair which she says smells like toffee! It sounds amazing so myself and Zoe would recommend you try out one of these products! 

The next product I've been loving is an old favourite of mine. I've been obsessed with this for over a year now and seeing as this is my first favourites post I figured I had to include it. It will look quite boring but please keep reading because this is a magical product. It is by Chapstick and it's the medicated balm in a blue packaging. I find most chapsticks are more cosmetic based than lip health and my mum got this for me a year ago and I instantly fell in love with it. I am not exaggerating here at all but it can cure chapped lips in a couple of days. In the summer especially this was a must have product for me. This is slightly gross and I'm not proud of it, but a symptom of having an anxiety disorder is that you  chew the skin on your lips sometimes which can leave your lips dry, sore and looking unhealthy. This product has really helped me undo some of that damage. I have never been one to finish a chapstick. The one I photographed for this post is my third. I hope that speaks for how amazing it is. Please, please try this if you feel like you need a good chapstick! It doesn't look fancy but it is amazing and I picked this up for about £1.50. 
 It's quite tingly when you first put it on which I quite like because it shows that it is actually doing something! I put this on first thing in the morning after brushing my teeth and last thing before I go to bed as well as during the day if I feel I need it. It's one of those products that I fear my local supermarket will stop selling because I know I will need this everyday for the rest of my life! 

 This next product is an old favourite of mine that I have rediscovered my love for. It is the Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoo. I love Maybelline products. Their foundations are amazing, my favourite bronzer is by Maybelline but this is by far my favourite from that brand. It so long wearing and so easy to apply. The colours are stunning and I can't believe I only own one. I'm nearly running out so I feel myself going on a trip to boots and coming back with a fair few of these soon! 
 It works perfectly with my other eye shadows and is so easy to blend. You don't even have to blend it with other shadows if you don't want to. I've gotten into a habit of applying it, blending it out on its own and then just leaving it because it looks so stunning. It is also such a good base for applying liquid eyeliner which I like to do after my eye shadow. 
 It is a slightly strange consistency the first time you use it because it's fairly waxy rather than a powder. I use a BarryM brush to apply it but you can just slide it on with your finger tip. It sits so nicely on the skin and stays there all day. Despite being a 24 hour product, it is so easy to remove! It's such a comfortable product to wear so please give it a go if you haven't yet got an eye shadow you love! There are some stunning shades, I've got my heart set on a rose gold shade I've seen another YouTube vlogger wear!

Now onto my favourite Instagram accounts this month:

I am obsessed with instagram and follow all kinds of accounts. I actually have 2 favourite Instagram account this month so here we go: 


The first account I was obsessed with throughout February is @whichbeautyboxuk and I discovered it after getting my first Love Me Beauty box and following the LoveMeBeauty hashtag. This account is full of stunning pictures of beauty box products and recommendations of beauty boxes to try which has opened my eyes a lot. I will definitely be trying a couple of other boxes as well as the Love Me Beauty boxes. This girl's blog is incredible too. She does amazing reviews of each box and I am in awe of her blogging talent. Give her a follow on Instagram and follow her blog because she is amazing! 

 As you can see she reviews all kinds of products and tries several different beauty boxes so if you are interested in beauty it's a good blog and account to look at to get inspiration for new products to try!




    
The next instagram account I've been loving is one dedicated to the love of my life: Henna. 
 I've become so obsessed with doing henna that I now follow several Henna accounts but this is by far my favourite. The account is @HennaFeatures. The designs are so beautiful and I find them so inspirational in terms of getting design ideas. If you enjoy doing henna or looking at henna this is a great account for you to follow because it's traditional as well as unique and the designs are so stunning. 

 As you can see from the screen shot, there are designs for the legs, hands and wrists as well as feet etc. You can really find inspiration here for any kind of design you want to do!
 It's a really stunning account. 





Finally: My music favourite this month has been Orla Gartlands Lonely People EP. I went to see Orla in Birmingham last week and I'm going to write a single blog post about it soon. 
 You can buy the EP on Itunes as well as her original EP Roots. She has such a unique voice and songwriting ability so please check it out. The EP's cost a couple of pounds each so there's no reason why you can't support this girl. She's so talented and so lovely! 

 And so that is my February Favourites post! Coming up in March are a few posts I'm already planning as well as a few surprises that might erupt from my brain at any point. I've already been looking at this months Love Me Beauty collection and it looks amazing so I will definitely be ordering another box this month so you can be expecting a haul post and a reviews/makeup looks post in the next couple of weeks. I am also going to write a diary post about when I went to see Orla as well as maybe writing a quick post on some revision tips for my fellow students revising for exams! 
 Have a good day, love Chloe x.