The Hairdressers |

I just wanted to put it out there - does anyone else hate having their hair cut?

I get genuinely nervous hours before going, and sit there in absolute stress and anxiety the whole time I'm there. Which, trust me, is a long time due to the length of my hair and the speed it grows at. And its not like I have an awful hairdresser who makes the experience unpleasant, I've just always hated going. I hate the thought of someone else being in complete control over something that will effect me! And yes hair will grow back, but that doesn't stop me being terrified.

I sit there, waiting with butterflies in my stomach. They then ask if I would like a drink, which I always reply yes to, but never actually drink it. They then wash my hair - am I the only one who thinks it strange that someone is stood washing your hair? This leads on to an uncomfortable decision about the temperature of the water, and the pressure of the head massage. And then the snipping starts. This is the worst bit, I get so anxious and anticipate every snip of those tiny evil scissors. Afterwards they blast my head off with a fancy hair dryer where I watch in content on how they are drying my hair so quickly and why it always takes me ages.

I then pay, book an appointment that I will probably change because I only get my hair cut twice a year, and leave with hair that I find to be - okay.

Please say I'm not the only one who feels like this?!
If I am, it'll be just another hole in the belt of weird things in my life.


Bea x

Everyday Make -Up Routine |

My everyday make up routine is one in which I like to keep as simple as possible. I find that the more I put on, the worse my skin gets. If I'm honest, for everyday I prefer a basic look - it also means that when you do go out and put more effort in, people are more likely to notice! I'm currently really happy with the products I'm using, although I do like switching things up and testing things now and then, these products are currently what is working for me.


My skin is dry to combination, and I hate wearing heavy foundation. To be honest I only began using foundation when I was 17, before that it was all about the tinted moisturiser. Meaning that when I was testing foundations, I went for a light weight and light - medium coverage. And I've found a product that fits this criteria for me. Rimmel Match Perfectiom sweeps over the skin, almost creating a second layer on top of your skin. But don't get me wrong, it's so light that you can't feel it, it just feels like a mosuriser. The coverage is what it says on the bottle, it evens out my skin and reduces any redness I have but doesn't feel cakey or look orange. The shade is also great, once applied to the skin it sinks in and matches the colour of your skin creating no streaks or lines on your jaw line. I think you can tell that I'm in love with this foundation! The packaging is smart too, I like the glass bottle but I can see for people who carry their foundation in their bags that this could be an issue. The pump is also great as one pump is all I need for a full face; I'm head over heels in love with this foundation!

Rimmel Match Perfection SPF 18
in 103 True Ivory

My next everyday obsession is Rimmel Stay Matte powder, a holy grail product for most beauty lovers. If you're in need of a powder that gives a gorgeous finish and doesn't look too heavy on the skin, this is perfect. A dust of this on your T-zone is absolute magic, it transforms my skin and also helps my make up last all day.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
in 004 Sandstorm

Brows. It's all about the brows in my book. I think having neat and tidy brows always finishes off a look and helps frame your bone structure too. My favourite product for this is Rimmel (I promise you this is not sponsored! I just love their products!) Brow Pencil. The reason I love this so much is because unlike a brow ink or brow gel, it leaves a really soft and natural finish. The kohl pencil helps fill in your brows, and the little brush on the end helps comb them through - also fantastic for travelling as you don't need to carry lots of products.

Rimmel Professional Eye Brow Pencil
in Dark Brown

When it comes to concealer I'm alway a little bit hesitant. I get the worse under eye bags and the occasional spot on my fore head so it's a product I can't really leave the house without. After breaking the bank for the Bobbi Brown corrector, I didn't think it was all it was cracked up to be. And then I came across the Natural Collection concealer which is in a liquid format, and at the price of £2 I couldn't say no to trying it. And I'm glad I didn't. Because this covers everything I need it to but doesn't look cakey or heavy, it also moisturisers the skin and because its natural it doesn't make spots worse. Love. It.

Natural Collection CoverUp Cream
in Fair

Now the next product is one I could live without, but its something I enjoy wearing. Benefits Moon Beam has been a staple make up item in my make up bag for years now, I can't get enough of it. It's something I always repurchase, just because of the sun kissed dewy look it gives my cheekbones. It has purple undertones which I can see could annoy some people, but I like this finish as its subtle but adds a little something to your look.

Benefit Moon Beam

My last face product is more of a high end product. Everything about this blush appeals to me- the packaging, the shade, the pigmentation...I could go on! This leaves a cute pop of pink on the cheeks, but doesn't make you look like a clown. It's perfect with every look and all year round and is worth every penny. The mirror inside also makes it easy to travel with, 10/10 from me.

Lancome Blush Subtil
in Rose Sable

Finally on to the eyes. I only use 2 products on my eyes, the first being a liquid liner. After a long quest of trying to find the perfect liner, I have sort of drawn to the end. I say sort of because I don't think I will ever stop searching, but I'm happy with this. It's the Soap & Glory Supercat in black. Its fine almost marker like pen makes application easy and quick, and I'm rubbish at doing my liner! It gives a really strong black line and is great for adding details such as a wing effect.

Soap & Glory Supercat
in Jet Black

The second eye product I use is Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara in black. This product has been repurchased several times; it lengthens my lashes, covers with a decent amount to create a thick black lashing, and the flared brush helps to separate and curl my lashes - basically every thing a girl could want from a mascara!

Maybelline The Falsies Flared
in Black

The last addition in my make up bag is Burts Bees Beeswax Lip Balm. This helps keep my lips nourished, moisturised and prepped for any lip stick I later apply. It has a peppermint flavour and tingles the lips - I don't know if that means its working, but it keeps me satisfied thinking about saying goodbye to my chapped lips. This is my all time favourite lip balm and is never leaving my everyday make up routine, I am hooked.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm Original

While I'm here, I thought I'd mention the brushes I use to apply my everyday make up too- seeing as these are key in my routine. Real Techniques Brushes are great for applying all types of make up; they're super easy to use and make SUCH a difference to how your make up looks on your face. I use the buffing brush to apply my foundation, the contour brush for my blusher and the foundation brush for my concealer. A little bit mix and match but that's what works for me!

Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes

That's everything I apply to my face everyday, as I said before I'm really happy with all these products as they suit all my needs make up wise!

Bea x

LANCÔME GOLDEN FRENZY |

Bea-uty Review...

When it comes to eye shadow, I like to keep things simple. Everyday, I wear black gel liner on my eye lid and a quick flash of mascara - occasionally I go all out and attempt a winged line too. So when I received the Lancôme Christmas Beauty Box, I wasn't too excited to see that it contained a palette. However, the packaging is gorgeously girlie with gold-silver glitter covering the top of package; which made me even more inquisitive to what was inside.

Lacome Golden Frenzy top

Base

Inside, are 5 eye shadows to create a look with; an all over base, lid, crease, highlighter and liner...

Top: base
Left: lid
Centre: crease
Right: Highlighter
Bottom: liner

First of all I need to outline the fact of fall down. I don't think ever tried eye shadows which once applied, looks like I've repeated the look on my cheek. The glitter in the shadows is fairly large and there is a lot of it, meaning that even once I've had a good clean up and applied concealer under my eyes, there's still flecks of glitter all over my face (which is my pet hate).

Swatches: base, lid and crease

Swatches: highlighter and liner

Saying that, if you can deal with a little sparkle on your face, you can indulge in 5 luxurious shades. The base is like white fairy dust and extremely pretty next to the tear duct, but not so glamorous under the eye brow - later leading to sparkly eyebrows.

All 5 shades applied  

The lid shade is probably my favourite, it's a gold shade with orange tones and again, more glitter. I think it looks lovely on brown eyes as it brings out the rich colour, next to the crease shade which is more of a matte medium brown.  This warm shade is very buildable in the crease and helps add definition and structure to the socket.

The highlighter is questionable. When I think of highlighters I wouldn't expect this dark shade - a deep brown with rainbow glitter flecks. So I used this right in the outside corner of my eye to help keep the look smoky which actually worked really well. As for the last shade, it is a black shadow which is for liner; I would usually use a liquid or gel liner but by using this shadow, a softer look was created. I carried this down under the eye as well, just below the water line.

Also, I read that Kim Kardashian used this pallet on her wedding day... Not sure if that is a bonus for you or puts you off buying the product!? Anyway, besides the freaky amount of glitter used, the shades create a glamorous smoky eye which is great for parties and evenings out.

B x


If you liked this post (or not, positive criticism is always welcome!) please follow or comment below; I love reading comments and would like to hear your view of either the product, or this post - as its my first beauty review. Also, if you have requests for posts that would be appreciated! Thank you x


*all products have been purchased either by self or bought for me by a family member or friend; all opinions are my own and I will give my 100% honest thoughts on the products mentioned.

Sorry... |

First of all I would like to apologise for my lack of blogging recently! I have a number of excuses, most of which I'm going to share with you because I feel I should excuse myself.

1) Exams. As I'm currently in my second year of college, in January I had to take a few exams which were rather important. In order to avoid retakes, I banned myself from social network sites and my blog. I'll tell you now, it wasn't easy. But I coped.

2) My birthday! At the start of February I turned the ripe old age of 18, and so being the drama queen I am, I took a whole week to dedicate to myself as my birthday week. Basically I spent the week eating and drinking shit, and doing whatever I wanted to do with a valuable excuse. It was fun.

3) College. Mmm, the lovely place it is. Recently I've been getting a lot of coursework along side deadlines and several books to read etc. All of which I don't mind, but would prefer to have a few days completely focusing on instead of dipping in and out.

That's about it really..3 excuses to excuse my month off blogging. I hope all 3 of my followers don't mind, I'm sure I wasn't greatly missed but I appreciate your follow so much that I felt I should tell you what's going on.

Cheers and gone!

X

Take it as it comes |

Today has been a day of deep thinking...Strange for me. If you know me well, and only a few do, you will know that I take things as they are. Which is why today was strange. A good strange though.

In a few weeks, I will reach the grand age of 18. Oooo. The much anticipated age which I have been so excited to hit for the past year whilst asking those a year older to buy me alcohol, and to sneak me into clubs. Yes, for the past year all I have wanted is to be a year old so that I can finally have the freedom which I so greatly desire. But with this, comes huge responsibly. Turning into an adult isn't a number, it's a change and maturity of your personality, and you don't just gain this over the night of your birthday (unfortunately for some). This year I will be moving out of my house, to a halls of residence where I will have to tend after myself, and actually try to cook a meal without burning it. Rather tasking for me.

Anyway, back on track. The excitement I once had, has turned into fear. I know, that once I reach that age, I won't get away with things so easily and that my actions are purely down to me, and me alone. No longer will I be able to point the finger at my parents and blame them. No longer will I be able to run to my dad when I get told off for buying the wrong train ticket. Because I will be old enough and ugly enough to care for myself...according to the law anyway.

Of course I'm excited to be able to go out for cocktails with my girl friends, and waste a load of money on scratch cards, I can even go and get married without my parents permission- whoop! Not that I will of course, for that I would need a boyfriend, which I don't have.

Whilst thinking about all of this today, it suddenly hit me. No matter how much I half want to turn 18, half want to legal stay as a child- it's going to happen. My birthday will come, whether I like it or not. And it's time to grow some balls and actually become mature and realise that yes, I will be an adult, meaning I need to look after myself. It's not like my parents are going anywhere, it's just a mental state I think everyone meets one day. The task is, trying to balance this out with being "fun", so not to turn into a boring old twat who has the mental age of a 60 year old women.

So, after all this I've come to the conclusion that because I can't stop my birthday from happening, Ishould  do what I usually do and take it as it comes. That way, I can't really go wrong, can I?

Return to college |

There is something extremely unsatisfying about college. Now, you would think that after 14 years of being in education that I would have gotten used to having an education. But the fact of the matter is, by love of learning has slowly deterred away from the passionate 4 year old school girl I once was. Dont get me wrong, I love writing and I love reading...it's just that on a day to basis, the only question running through my head, is 'why am I doing the same thing everyday?'

Lets start at the beginning (for that is a very good place to start). Primary school? Absolutely loved it. Couldn't get enough of it. Back then the most drama would be who would be bridesmaid at the year 4 wedding at lunchtime. Another bonus, some may say, was the fact that my father was my head teacher. Some people would hate this - But nuh uh, not me. "Mr.Daddy", as I would call him, was the constant barrier that stopped me getting into trouble with my teachers; it was great! I also got to hang out with the staff in the staff room, which I loved because I could scoop up the gossip when they had their morning coffee, which I could later relay to my friends in the playground for the small fee of £0.02. (Destined to be a journalist, right?)

Secondary school was my down fall. Actually, scrap that. The first two years were great - no exams, no stress, easy. The only thing that was on my mind was how quickly it would take me to get from my current classroom to the canteen to avoid the queues. And then came year 9. Dreaded year 9, where the government had scraped SATs but in typical style, my school decided it was "best" to make us sit them anyway. Thank you verrrrry much.

If I'm honest, I didn't really have a 'clique' at school, which is why I think it sucked. Don't get me wrong, I joined as many clubs as I could - Jazz band, hand bells, extra French tuition, dance group etc. All of which I dreaded the thought of but loved when I was there, which is the case for most of the things I do these days. Then came year 10 and 11 holding EXAMS firmly in its paws. Back then I didn't stress over exams; well, I reckon I got the gene from both my brothers which meant I showed I wasn't that bothered but deep down,  really cared.

After leaving school I was devastated. I know right? Just as soon as I leave the place, I morn over my loss of it and wish I could go back to the spoon fed lessons and corridors with strict rules about how to walk up and down them.

And now college. After swapping and changing subject about a million times (I am very indecisive, but when I want something- I go for it), I was happy with my subjects and sat my exams. I got my AS results when on holiday in St.Tropez (oooo), and was over the moon, and quite frankly, shocked with my grades. I made the promise to myself that I would try harder once I returned to the dreaded place in September..that promise lasted until my first day back of course.

It's not that I dont try hard, I do; as I said before, if I want something I will pursue it, its in my nature. Its just the day after day routine that grinds my gears. I like change and a mix up...both of which you cannot get when you are studying your A-levels.

So I have decided, that I will try and I will focus up until my exams, and once I go to University, I will experience all the change I like. Oh yes, I will be letting rip and unleashing all the amount of change I have wanted to experience over these 2 years at college..University? I hope you are ready for me.

New year's resolutions |

Every new year, I always manage to mock the tradition of creating new years resolutions by saying that "my resolution is to think of one for next year". However my friends, 2013 is the year of change. Oooh! Instead of laughing in the face of this tradition, which I usual do due in impeccable "Bea-style" as I hate the thought of failing, I thought I would give it a  whirl and see if it pushes me to strive for my goals - a win win if you think about it.

WATER. I cant get enough of the stuff...no really, I cant get enough. I most certainly do not drink the advised daily amount and the core reason why is just because I always forget. Forget to drink water? Stupid right. It's not that I dehydrate myself, I love tea - how very British of me, and I drink at least 8 mugs of the stuff everyday. After finding out that this does not count as the 2 liters of water I am meant to be indulging myself in, I had to reevaluate this life decision I made about fundamentally surviving on tea, and tea alone.
So my first resolution is to drink more water. From now on, I will be carting around a 2 liter plastic bottle everywhere I go, and slurping on it throughout the day (of course between the several mugs of tea I drink. And no, I will not stop drinking my tea).

DIARY. How very Anne Frank of me. My mum writes her life in her moleskin diary and because of this, is the most organised, controlling person I know (great, eh?). In order to become more organised, I too will be spending some dollah on a decent diary, so that I know what I should be doing, when I should be doing this. If you know me personally, you will most certainly know that I am late for everything. And I mean everything, in all aspects of my life. I am late every morning, for every lecture, to every meeting, for every Saturday shift at my work, for every coffee morning, for every shopping trip and for every piece of coursework or essay I hand in. I'm just a late person - and I hate late people. I'm not 100% sure how I've managed up until now to get away with being late for all these thing. Either I have very understanding peers or the fact that, as my father puts it, I have the gift of the gab. I can talk myself out of everything and anything. Any excuse, you name it, I've used it. But no more to those plentiful white lies I have told - I am going to get myself a diary and never be later for anything ever again (she says).

EXERCISE. A tricky topic for me, as I love it but i'm just so unfit. Don't get me wrong, i'm not obese with several heart conditions; I'm an average size 8-10 gal who has 10 years of dance training under her belt. That's right, I used to dance every single day of the week for 10 years before I threw in the towel because the commitment was driving me loony. I think its the fact that I went from this extreme exercise to absolute nothing, sit-on-my-ass all day phase that I became so unfit. The funny thing is I actually went to my doctor about a year ago because I thought I had breathing problems - truth is I am just unfit (cringe). I do love a good jog around my local area, but once I get started I cant stop. I will be running every day of the week and get obsessed with it before I eat a Terry's chocolate orange and think there's no point in carrying on anymore. And then I stop for a few weeks, and then I start again; alas the viscous circle continues. My next resolution is to going running twice, yes just twice, a week to help me transform into some sort of fitness goddess (a girl can only dream, right?).

So there are my resolutions. Only 3 because I am scared of failure...I'm even more scared now because I have written them on the internet and they will be here forever, to haunt me in July when i'm a dehydrated, fat shit who is late for everything.

Music changed my life |

A controversial topic to get my little blog up and started (and to also avoid any current English coursework which I owe to my lecturer).

I for one, only really discovered my taste of music a year ago. You may be thinking, geez, that's a little late for a 17 year old to find out what they enjoy listening to on a daily basis? And well, you're right my friends! Music is a huge part of my life - with a family completely and utterly absorbed in the stuff, I was a little late to jump on the bandwagon. Up until last year, I was quite happy listening to Reggie Yeates on a Sunday evening, telling me who the rest of the UK were downloading that week. I was partial to a bit of The Script and Nicki Minaj, (although I always questioned the lyrics, "you a stupid hoe"). And then I was introduced, by a new friend at the time, to Nirvana.

Oh yes, I was thrown right in there into this massive black hole of lyrics about sex, drugs and women - and it began to grow on me. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I had never heard of Kurt Cobain before, my brothers used to belt out the tunes from Nevermind every evening after school, its just that I was never that interested in that time of my life. And I think, looking back, it was because I never thought outside of the box. I was used to living my perfectly normal life in Cornwall, with  my normal friends, my normal clothes that I bought from the 2 shops I have in my local town (meaning everyone wore the same clothes) and my normal radio 1 music...Normal? I am speaking in the sense that to me, this was what I was absorbed in and how I thought I should be.

I listened to the album Bleach, I can hand on heart say that I actually think it changed my life. Lets quickly move away from the deep, soppy, over the top moment I was having there - rare for me. The lyrics spoke to me, alongside the melody and the whole story behind Cobain and why he made music. I quickly became obsessed with the band, to the point that I shut myself off from everything just to listen to them. I would turn my phone onto aeroplane mode so that nobody could contact me, I would come home from college at lunch times to listen to music in the calm of my own bedroom, I bleached the back - yes, just the back, of my hair blonde, I threw out all my old clothes and replaced them with black jeans, flannel shirts and converse. My appearance also took a beating as I transformed from a girl who never wore any make up, to a semi-emo wearing thick black eye make up and a permanent red lip. While I was there, I thought why not go the whole hog, and got my nose pierced and may I say, WITHOUT my parents permission (ooo, rebel).

You may be reading this thinking "wow, extreme impact from listening to one CD", and yes, but this whole new transformation was the version of 'me' that I wanted to be. I was fed of us conforming to the social norms of what society said I should look like and what I should listen to - at the age of 17, I had put my foot down and said NO MORE, all because of the way I had interpreted an album.

After realising that all my friends were drifting away from me as I voluntarily shut my self off, I explained to them that this is who I wanted to be from now on- not that my personality had changed, just the way I saw life. Being good friends, they seemed to accept it...well, I assume they did as we are still friends now. To this day they dont know who Kurt Cobain is though, and make remarks when I insist on playing Unplugged Live from New York in my car, but that's rock and roll...right?

I sort of "faded" out of this phase, the word faded being highlighted as Nirvana are still my favourite band and I refuse to listen to pop-culture music or shop in New Look. My appearance is also a more mellow version of what I changed it too, but I found my own style and way I like to present myself and now I just go with that.

Wow...this seems to have changed from a post about music to a post about how music changed my life, same thing though really isn't it? Music does change lives, and I think that if I hadn't listened to that one guy who handed me that Bleach album and insisted that I gave Nirvana a chance, I would still be living my mundane life inside the controlled body of somebody, that I didn't actually want to be.

So to that person, thank you.
And to Nirvana, thank you too - you beautiful people.