FOTN: Frosty Violet

Hello!

Last night I was out meeting up with a group in a pub, and found myself with plenty of time before hand to take my time with my makeup! I remembered to take a few quick photos before heading out :)

 

 I chose to make it a softer blusher flush to complement the bold eyeshadow and defined brow look, and teamed this with a matt warm pink lip.

Products used:

AVON Ideal Shade Foundation - Avon

MAC Studio Finish concealer in NW20 - MAC £14.50

17 Instant Glow Oversized Animal Print Bronzer - Boots £5.49

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in Berry- Boots £6.49

No7 Skin Illuminator in Pink -Boots £11

Natural Collection Pressing Powder in Neutral - Boots £1.99

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown - Boots £2.99

No7 Lash and Brow Perfector - Boots £10

Urban Decay Primer Potion (Original) - Lookfantastic.com £14.50

No7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Pewter - Boots £9

Barry M Dazzle Dust 31 (Lilac) - Barry M £4.59

Barry M Liquid Liner 5 (Purple) - Barry M £4.79

MAC Blacktrack Fluidline Gel Eyeliner - MAC £14

Too Faced Lashlight Mascara - Boots £16.50

Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara - Boots £5.99

MAC Keep it Casual lip and cheek colour - MAC £17.50

Rachael XX

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Liebster Blog Award!

Hello Ladies!

Today's post is on the Liebster Blog Award of which I was really kindly nominated for by Jen from It's a Blonde's Life! I'm so thankful to her because I love winning things (who doesn't!) and to quote Charlie Sheen (of whom a hilarious song can be watched HERE) I consider this "Winning"!

Here are the Rules:

1. Post 11 things about yourself!

2. Answer the questions that have been set by the girl/s who have given you the award!

3. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer!

4. Nominate some great blogs, to pass on this award!

5. Let them know that you have given them the award, by commenting on their most recent post!

11 things about me:

♥ I easily have 6 hour phone calls and 10 hour skype calls with my best friend. I'm not even sure what we talk about!

♥ A bad habit I need to break is pulling off split ends, all the time, generally when I'm sitting with other people!

♥ My favourite colour is yellow so I love sunflowers!

♥ I recently bought a bottle of Ribena diluting juice, and fear it shall be a regular purchase at University

♥ Once I lied to most of my English class when one girl complemented me on being really tanned and I told her (with many people listening) that it was natural. It was February. I don't tan.

♥ I really want some Hula Hoops right now. I don't have any

♥ I am soon to move into a flat with two of my best friends

♥ I do not own Jeans

♥ I would love to be ginger

♥ I often reveal my control freak side when in groups organising things!

11 questions from Jen:

♥ What is your favourite make up brand? Currently MAC, previously Maybelline

♥ Boots or Superdrug? Boots!

♥ What is your dream job? Maybe some sort of historical classical expert.. 

♥ River Island or New Look? New Look

♥ What is your favourite animal? Zebra

♥ Who is your favourite singer/band at the moment? The Beatles

♥ What has been your favourite holiday location so far? Italy! - Rome, Florence and Pisa

♥ Mascara or eye liner? Mascara

♥ What kind of car do you have or which one would you like to have? Old Landrover! (but first I need to learn to drive!)

♥ Which country would you most like to visit? Somewhere South America

♥ Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Doing something I love, with a whole bunch of new friends I'm yet to discover :)

11 questions for you ladies:

♥ What age did you begin regularly wearing makeup?

♥ What is your favourite nail polish?

♥ What was your best celebrity meeting?

♥ What is your favourite place in the world?

♥ Do you remember drinking Sunny D?

♥ Rate the last movie you saw at the cinema out of 10 (10 is best!)

♥ Who are your favourite Youtubers?

♥ Do you have any bad habits?

♥ What job would you not mind doing for the rest of your life?

♥ What is your favourite thing about blogging? :)

The gorgeous bloggers I nominate:

♥ Rachael from Green Finch & Linnet Bird

♥ Sarah from Sarah's Beauty Imaginarium 

♥ Rachael from Smeemies

♥ Lucy from Slices of Style

♥ Catherine from Simple Country Girl

♥ The Beauty Blog With No Name 

So now I implore (yes, implore) you to not only check out Jen's blog here, but also to look at the lovely blogs I nominated too! The rule is that you can only nominate blogs with 200 followers or less - so they'd all love you to take a peep!

Rachael XX

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Cats and Roses

Hello!

I'm going away until Monday night to a conference, but I thought I'd leave you with some photos I've taken recently in my garden. August has brought on a whole new level of sunshine and heat to Scotland! So my cats (who spend a lot of time in the conservatory soaking up rays) have really been enjoying this - as have I haha.

Have a lovely weekend ladies!

Rachael XX

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Creative Gift for Friends - Memory Scrapbook!

Hello!

I haven't blogged about homemade gifts before, but I'm actually not new to this concept of a personalised gift! (Probably down to not having a job and so being unable to lavish expensive gifts on my nearest and dearest)

And here is my latest project, a memory scrapbook for my best mate covering from about a year ago when we met until now. I can't remember why I decided to start this, however I did so ten months ago (a long-time project..) 

This was really fun to make! I love art and being creative, and so I think this more turned into something for me to do than a gift for him at times (The times when profusive volumes of glitter became involved for example) 

Instead of spraffing about how I did this I'm going to give a little guide on how you could create a scrapbook gift for a friend or family member! 

♥ Pick out the Perfect Book. I got an A5 notebook from WHSmith which is ringbound card - It worked out okay but I regret not choosing something properly bound with a spine because I've constantly worried that the card will bend and rip off!

♥ It is easier to add to a Scrapbook as you go along than to look back over large stretches of time and try and remember little things like in-jokes or specific memories

♥ Look back through texts, facebook messages and timeline posts for quotable moments - you probably discussed it somewhere afterwards!

♥ Keep hold of tickets, brochures, travel tickets, and bits and pieces with a story attached (mine includes a button)

♥ Pictures are essential! Though you don't need to make them your focus. You should try and include pictures as part of a story, not ask them to tell it! Be creative with your photos

♥ Equally make sure you have some writing in there! And use your wit

♥ Keep on top of it to keep your focus. I feel I only managed to get to the end of this by continually having something to add and actually doing it! No one likes a load of catch up work! And this got me excited about the next thing to add

♥ Make every page eye-catching! I only got into the habit of this maybe a third of the way in, but it was then easy to find ways to make each page memorable 

♥ It doesn't have to be a secret.. I told my friend about this pretty much immediately - and his continual questioning about my progress has helped me keep focus! He's also given me ideas about what to include. Just remember not to show them it until it's done

♥ Pick a specific event/period of time to scrapbook. I decided to make mine focus around the last year of high school and this worked well for me - but you could make one on a wedding, birthday, graduation etc

♥ Think about how you cover it! This is important too. I found New York paper in Waterstones, and so went back a few weeks later and picked up a sheet to use for the front and back covers (New York being a favourite place of his) I then put clear sticky paper over it to make it water and scratch proof

♥ Carefully photograph every page before you hand it over. For me this scrapbook has been my main source of procrastination other than this blog for almost a year! It is difficult to give up something you're so used to having around. So I now have a record I can look at on my computer any time I like!

Okay, so I hope this inspires you to think about a personal gift for a friend! It's a great feeling completing something like this too - and is such a memorable gift to give someone!

Rachael XX

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