The Beauty Haul

I love the excitement that comes from buying new things probably way more than I should. And whilst feeling a little sad about having to return to university after a long christmas break the other week, I decided one of the only things to do that would lift my mood was to treat myself to some new beauty products. There was a few new bits that I wanted to try, plus a few things that caught my eye whilst I was browsing the shops. 

If you haven't guessed already, I have a bit of an addiction with lip products and they are by far my favourite item. Since NYX has recently become more available (Boots, Selfridges, Feel Unique, Very), I picked up the Soft Matte Lip Creams in 'Antwerp' (mid-toned pink) and 'Prague' (dark raspberry). For years beauty bloggers have raved about their products, and after trying some of their nail varnishes a couple of years ago I was left extremely disappointed. One of the most talked about makeup products by far are the lip products, so I picked them up hoping they'd be a lot better than the nail varnishes. I'm pleased to report that they are miles better, and they are fast becoming a staple product. Not only are they cheap as chips, but the formula is really impressive as well. They have a matte finish like the name would suggest, but they aren't as matte as I thought they would be. They look matte, but they feel so creamy (hence the name lip cream duurrrrrr) and provide long lasting colour!

Again with the lip products, for months I have been searching for the Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 'Eastend Snob', and it always seems to be sold out everywhere. But whilst in Boots, I spotted 1! It was the last one and was mixed in with another shade, so I was extremely happy when I finally got my hands on it! It is a gorgeous shade of warm pink, and I know a lot of people use it as more of lipstick instead of as a lip liner, and I had been dying to try it out. The shade is gorgeous, and looks beautiful by itself and when paired with a lipstick. I've been enjoying wearing it all over the lip and underneath my Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks.

Whilst I was breaking the bank in Leeds, my sister texted me asking her to get a couple of things from The Body Shop. Whilst I was in there I noticed there was a 3 for 2 offer on, so I cheekily picked up the Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil. I've been looking at buying a few different face oils, and after receiving the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate at Christmas, I have been searching high and low for some alternatives. I tried the Body Shop one the same day of purchasing and I have fallen head over heels with it! I applied it underneath the Origins Calm To Your Senses overnight face mask (can you do that?) and my skin looking ahmazing when I woke up! It looked so refreshed, calm and hydrated! On days where I haven't used an overnight face mask, I have been using the Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Night Cream. I've never tried anything from Vichy before, but I received a mini sample in with a bit of shopping and I loved it! It is quite a thin formula, quite like a lotion. and like nothing I have ever tried before. It is targeted at tired looking skin as it includes caffeine to reduce signs of fatigue to reveal a fresh, radiant complexion. 

Bought anything nice recently?
Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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Happy New Year and Blog Goals For 2016

Happy New Year!

I wanted to do a post like this last year, but I had no idea what to say, where I wanted by blog to go, or even if I would continue running a blog! My only goal was to reach 100 followers by the end of the year and I soon managed and surpassed that!  I didn't really expect to carry on with my blog, with university getting in the way, but I'm still here over 18 months later! The last year has been so amazing. My blog has blossomed and improved in so many ways. Some of the biggest highlights of my year have been blog related. Reaching 1500 followers on my blog, getting shortlisted for an award, and getting shortlisted for a bloody award!!!  I've loved getting to talk to like-minded people, being asked to attend events (if only for the free cocktails!), and being offered some incredible opportunities! As my blog is starting to get off the ground, I thought I'd start off the year with some simple business cards and a custom domain. I finally bitten the bullet and purchased myself a domain name as I'd been toying with the idea of a custom domain name for well over a year and it became set in stone around October?

With this air of change, the blogging community has become such a big part of my life, and I've found myself making little goals and targets over the last couple of weeks or so. So of course I had to share them on my little corner of the internet - and here is what I want to do and achieve with my blog over the next 12 months…

Engage more: Engagement is extremely important to me. I've always made sure I engage with my readers by replying to my comments and tweets, checking out any links left behind, and just generally trying my best to engage with you all. Tacking into account how much my own comments mean to me, I want to do the same for others and show my support. I've been pretty rubbish at letting other bloggers know that I bloody adore them so hopefully I'm going to up my game this year!

Be more creative: Although I'm generally pretty happy with my blog images, from time to time I get a bit bored. Back in August I started to really push myself, and for a while I was really happy, buttttt as always - I'm starting to get a little bored. I want to try and mix up my backgrounds and fall in love with photography again! Over the last month of so you may have noticed a couple of portrait shots, which I haven't really included in blog since I first started over a year and half ago. I would love to invest in some new camera equipment - maybe a new lens and a fancy af studio light, but they are on the expensive side, so I'll try and see what my budget is. 

Go out of my comfort zone: I hate meeting new people. Hate. It. It's just something I've always tried to avoid. I dread to think how many blogging events I turned down because I was terrified of meeting people I didn't know! But from this moment on, I want to try and make more of an effort with meeting up with my blogger friends! I was so proud of myself for turning up to the Bloggers Blog Awards and Rhianna's Xmas Meet, when I felt so anxious (and actually physically sick). I mean even my best friends started out as a stranger to me in the first place!

Find new blogs to read: Even though I'm constantly on the hunt for new blogs to follow, I find it pretty difficult to find ones that I've not heard about before. Even when Bloglovin tried (and kinda failed) to promote 'undiscovered' bloggers. This is why 'share the love' style posts are so important as it can give some undiscovered little gems the chance to be 'found'. So if you've got any blogs you love then please share them in the comments below!

Gain more followers: Cliché I know, but I'd really like to get up to 2000 followers this year. Although that sounds like a huge target (to me it does anyway), it is less than a third of what I gained over the last year - and hopefully my blog will continue to grow it's following this coming year.

Build up a backlog of posts: Over the last months my backlog of backup posts has completely diminished. I had all my posts planned, but I kept finding myself writing them the night before they were due to go up - in some cases even mere hours before they should have been published. This totally isn't like me and I have been finding it hard to just sit down and write. Occasionally, the planned posts have been written but there have been no photos to go up alongside them (due to bad lighting), so I've had to use a backup. Meaning I need to get myself sorted at plan ahead again!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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What's New?

Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed a few new faces popping up on my blog and all my other social media platforms. I've also noticed that I have gained nearly 30 new followers in this short space of time. Every time I see that someone has commented, followed or contacted me regarding my blog, I get really excited. My face lights up. Like someone has just given me a big ol' hug! Like a little kid with sweets. Like.. well I don't know what like - just plain old excited!

I have come to the conclusion that, besides my blog design, something has changed. And changed for the better. Although, I'm not quite sure what this is and I want to make sure that I continue doing whatever I'm doing!
So you lovely bunch.. I was just wondering why you all like my blog so much? Like seriously? I just ramble!! I actually want to know!
For those loyal readers that don't follow me, you can follow me here to keep up with all my stupid little posts!

See you all soon! 

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

Hairway To Heaven

For a while now I have been considering cutting my hair short and every time I have decided to do so, I have chickened out. 

My hair grows extrememly fast and it was only two years ago since I last cut it short, but I finally took the plunge this week and booked myself into the hairdresses and asked her to cut 6 whole inches off. 

I must say it feels incredibly different after having long hair for quite a while, but I love it so much and think I might keep it like this for a while. (On the plus side, I it takes me 50 minutes less to dry it after washing it!)

What do you think of my new hair do? 

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x
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