Benefit Brow Zings review

Benefit Brow Zings brow shaping kit in medium.

I'm recently erm, growing out my fringe (well, I've actually just not had it cut for a while), and it means that my eyebrows have been prominent. However my eyebrows are naturally quite thin and sparse and I wanted to make them look more pronounced without looking too harsh. I've tried pencils before but they make my eyebrows look quite severe and unnatural, so I decided to try this brow shaping kit from Benefit.

It costs £22.50 and the powder weighs 2.65g and the wax weighs 1.7g. It comes with a little instruction leaflet, a mirror, and two small brushes, as well as some miniature tweezers. To be honest the brushes are a bit too small to use comfortably, as are the tweezers, but it is nice to have them included as it saves bringing along extra brushes if I were to go travelling. I use the wax first to tame any unruly brows (luckily I don't have many), and then use the powder to fill in my brows. I find powder easier to use compared to a pencil because I can control more easily how much I use and how I want them to look. Also I think it looks more natural. 

I can see how people wouldn't like this product. It is a lot of money for what you get but to be honest I've not come across many similar products and I've been looking for quite a while now. I'm aware that Bobbi Brown has a similar brow kit but that's £35! This kit also comes in only three different colours (light, medium and dark) and the light and medium do seem to lean ever so slightly red, but I don't think it's that noticeable in application.

Overall this is one of Benefit's products I rate. Despite the price, I can see this lasting me a good while and I love how my eyebrows look defined yet still natural. Do you use any eyebrow shaping or definition products?

Jimmy & His Girl

First off, I am so sorry that I've not posted in what seems like an eternity. I know you must get so tired of me saying that but this time it wasn't even because I was uninspired or wasn't thinking to blog, and I wasn't so busy that I couldn't blog. I took my own advice and had photos loaded on my computer and post ideas written down. I just couldn't physically post them. I had to do some thing I was insanely nervous about at work, you know those things which you know will be fine, but that you just worry about because you've not done it before? Work is getting better now though, I wouldn't say I'm confident with what I'm doing but as the days go on I'm getting less and less worried about it.

Anyway,  I received the rings pictured courtesy of Jimmy and His Girl a couple of days ago. The shop is launching on Friday 30th March and I was contacted asking if they could send me some things. If I'm honest I rarely get sent things and usually when offered it's not been a product that's interested me. However I checked out the website and I loved the rings, and the ones I got sent are absolutely gorgeous! They're just my style and they're so reasonably priced that I can see myself purchasing some things from there in the future. I especially love the scrabble rings, I'd love to buy all different letters and spell something out with them!

Anyway, if you're interested in checking out any of the other rings you can here! You can also use the promotional code 'opening' to get a 10% discount. I'm off to buy some scrabble rings....

Week in pictures

A glass of vino, sunday lunch, work make up, work mug and desk treats, boyfriend's birthday cake, make up haul!

I hope you've all eaten! I wanted to share my photos of the delicious food I ate last sunday, all washed down with (several) glasses of wine. I like my work make up to be fairly understated, a light coat of mascara, foundation, blusher and powder will do me, as I hate the done up look for work! My work mug that my boyfriend's parents got me, as they realised I was stressing out about training. I thought I'd take a picture of my boyfriend's birthday cake that I got from Tesco, he loves Doctor Who and I thought this was fitting, although I did like the Star Wars one they sold too. My MAC and Topshop make up haul! I also got a few things from NARS but I'm doing a giveaway with those soon so I didn't want to photograph them just yet. 

What have you been up to this week?

How to stay inspired with blogging

I'm writing this blog post as much for me, I know I am awful at blogging regularly and tend to take a week out here and there. I'm trying to blog more often though and these guidelines are ones that I've set myself to try and improve how regularly I blog.

1. Set out what sort of topics I want to include on my blog. I don't want to be too restrictive with this, but I just want to have a basic idea of what my blog is about. I tend to focus my blog on four main areas: Fashion, My Life, Beauty and Recipes. I tried to set out basic ideas of what my blog posts should be about because I find it gives me inspiration. I also pick out what posts I like from other blogs and try to include something similar on mine. Sitting there trying to think of a post off the top of my head means that I'll just come up with something that my heart and interest isn't in.

2. Keep a notebook. Honestly, when someone ever mentioned that they had a calender or a notebook with post ideas I thought they were taking blogging too seriously. However, do you ever get that annoying feeling when you're in front of the computer wondering what to post? I usually have ideas for posts buzzing around my head and yet I actually post less than half of them. I'm trying to put all my ideas in a notebook now. I don't keep a schedule of when I should post a certain thing though, as I usually post what I feel in the mood to, rather than 'I shall post this because it's this day', as I feel that's too restricting (for me at least). 

3. Plan in advance. I've never been the most organised of people, but if you knew how busy I can  be you'd wonder how I have time to blog at all, and I'm sure it's the same for all of you who work! I work full time and my social life can be hectic at times. On top of that I am starting an OU course soon and taking on some design work. This means that in order to post I will have to do some planning. I usually write ideas in a notebook as soon as they come into my head and develop them whenever I want to post them.

4. Take photos in advance. This is near enough the same as plan in advance but I didn't want to waffle on in that point and then to overlook this. In the winter time when I get home it's usually dark, which I use as an excuse as to why I can't take photos etc as I prefer to take photos in natural light. I'm now taking photos for the week's blog posts over the weekend when I can use natural light.

5. Schedule in advance. When you are writing a post, at the bottom under post options there is an option to schedule your post for a particular date or time. I have used this feature before, but I've not really paid much attention to it recently. I really should though, it's a great feature to use for whenever I'll be particularly busy or away from the computer.

6. Don't overdo it. I find that if I spend my entire spare time blogging/thinking of posts/commenting on other blogs then after a few weeks I get burnt out and I take a week out. Now I'm trying to be active for less time per day, but without taking long breaks. However, if I want to take a break for a few days, I will.

7. But don't be away for too long.  Sometimes when I've not posted for weeks and weeks, I lose my blogging mojo. It takes a few posts to get back into it and to be honest the ones straight after I return probably aren't my best. It seems strange as well but I seem to be more inspired and have more ideas for posts when I am blogging more regularly. I guess you just have to find a good balance between spending time on blog stuff and non blog stuff!

8. Use other social media sites wisely. You know, I signed up to pinterest ages ago but I didn't realise the true value of it until about a week ago. In fact it is largely what inspired me to write this post. I pin recipes to my boards, which hopefully I can try out and post on the blog. I  also pin craft ideas, which maybe I might try out and share on this blog and you can see what a total failure I am at crafting.


9. Last but not least, have fun and don't worry about rules. I know this seems to contradict all the other points I made, but they were just helpful pointers, not hard and fast rules. I just don't want to conform to one thing or to feel forced into posting on a certain day. Blogging is meant to be fun and a hobby, not a chore. 


Sorry for the long post today! I hope that you found some of these pointers helpful. I'm not an expert on motivating people, or blogging, but I just wanted to share some of the guidelines I'm trying to use to blog more regularly. 


Some of you blog so regularly, how do you manage it? If you don't blog regularly, are you trying to get into more of a routine, or are you happy with how often you are posting? I'd be interested to hear other people's views on this.  

 

Topshop Neon Rose Cream Blush review

Topshop Neon Rose Cream blush - £6

I picked up this blush a few months ago, mainly because other bloggers have been recommending it and I've always wanted to try Topshop make up. I'm always a bit skeptical when a brand such as Topshop releases a make up line, like it won't be as good as normal make up brands or something? I've only tried this blush and a lipstick but so far it has definitely surpassed my expectations.

This blush costs £6 for 4g of product, so it is relatively inexpensive. It comes in a cute black box and the packaging seems sturdy and stylish, with a handy mirror included. On the website this blusher is labelled as being a coral colour. Whilst I agree that it is on the coral scale, it leans more towards the pinky side of coral. It also states on the website that it is a cream to powder formula, which I can attest to, but it is not drying in the way that some powders are. Having said that, I usually use powders instead of creams. They seem easier to apply and I usually find cream blushers hard to blend.

This blush is especially pigmented (my arm swatch is after just one swipe), and I was worried that I would end up with two streaks of blusher on my face. I needn't have worried though, this blusher is extremely easy to blend, and looks natural when worn as long as it is applied with a light hand. It is long lasting and it easily surpasses the seven hour mark, although it loses pigmentation slightly throughout the day, which is to be expected. The only negative about this blusher is that there are very few shades available online, I would have bought more but the other shades sold online don't appeal to me as much (apart from Flush, but it looks exactly the same as Neon Rose in the photo on their website!)

All in all I am very pleased with this blush. It's easy to blend, a pretty colour, long lasting and inexpensive. I think every one should have this in their make up bag!

Have you tried topshop make up before?

Rediscovered gems

Just thought I'd share two photos of my weekend! I was meant to share much more seeing as my boyfriend's parents came to see us, but we've really only been out for dinner and drinks and I didn't think it would be too interesting to share that on my blog. I think that we are going to a swanky restaurant this afternoon which will be nice. I also signed up to do two OU courses starting this May, one is a photography course, and the other is for web design, which I am really excited for. I'm also about to complete five weeks of training for my job, which is also exciting but really nerve wracking!

I've had the two products pictured for ages yet I've only recently rekindled my love for them. The first is a Rimmel lipstick in Heartbreaker, which is such a pretty shade, but I never usually wear lipstick as it makes me feel too bold and done up. The second is Model's Own Top Turquoise, which is such a pretty shade. I don't know why I didn't pick it up earlier. 

Are there any products that you've recently rediscovered?

Spring is my favourite

Source: vogue.com

Topshop Tea Dress

Topshop Boxy Cardigan

Modcloth Tights

Oasis Mini Satchel

Dorothy Perkins Lace Up Brogues

1928 1960s Belle De Jour Pearl Medallion Stretch Bracelet

I just thought I'd share a very spring inspired outfit that I made on Polyvore, seeing as though it is now the second day of March. I can't deny that I am dying to wear some brighter clothes. During Winter months I usually confine myself to wearing only black, grey and erm, more grey as I never feel like wearing anything particularly colourful. As soon as we get some Spring sunshine I am ready to break out those floral prints and pretty dresses. How cute is the topshop daffodil shirtdress? I'm not sure whether to invest in anything pastel coloured though, wearing pastel coloured tops seem to make me look ill, and I'm not sure whether I would suit pastel coloured jeans, which is a shame as I really like the outfits I've seen other bloggers rocking. In fact I'm not quite sure which Spring 2012 trend I will be investing in, I don't suit peplums either, maybe I will just stick to florals.

In other news, you should totally check out the blogs of people I've ad swapped with this month. A lot are new, and even the ones you recognise you should take a look at, they all have awesome blogs!

What Spring trends are you excited about this season?