Reading list- a handful of my favourite blogs

I thought I'd page a little homage to the girls behind the great blogs that I read on a regular basis.
There are so, so many, it was tough to pick just a handful, but these girls are constantly amazing and I always get a little buzz when I see they've updated. Geeky, huh?!

Corrie from Dizzy Brunette3- Whenever I see Corries’ photos, I get major hair envy, tell me it's not just me?! Corries’ blog always makes me laugh to myself, she has such great humor in her writing and no matter where I am, reading her posts is guaranteed to make me smile. I think her personality always comes across which is really nice :)

Kayleigh from Couture Girl - I'm pretty sure most of you already know and love Kayleighs blog (if you don't, where have you been?). She's absolutely stunning always a great 'go to' for fashion or make up tips and advice, she's tried it all. I love her personal style, and she's such a sweety too.

Megan from Wonderful You - Megs is a another lovely lady, her blog is full of fashion and beauty, her photography is beautiful and she's also one of my favourite Youtubers to watch, she's a natural!

Laura from Belles Boutique-  Lauras' was actually one of the first blogs I started reading, she inspired me to start my own. I love that she updates so regularly and her blog is so crisp and perfect. She's always attending exciting events and reviewing high end products, so glamorous! I swear this girl is lipstick and blusher queen too...

Michela from Beauty Habitue - This girl has some serious style. A fellow Vogue lover, she screams classic chic. One of my favourite posts of hers is the monthly instalment of what's in my handbag. Her blog deserves way more followers!

Anna Saccone- I'm sure you must all know Anna's blog too. I only discovered her blog and youtube channels a couple of weeks ago but I've been hooked since then. Seriously, every lunchtime I watch her latest upload. She has the most adorable baby in the world, her blog is a mix up of beauty, lifestyle, baby and mothering tips. She seems so genuine and just really lovely.

So, those were a few of my favourites, do you read any of these blogs? 
Which are your favourites? 
Feel free to pop links to any others, I'm always on the look out for more blogs/tumblrs/instagrams that take my fancy.

TAG: Blogging Love

The Quilt is from Urban Outfitters :)

Hey there gals, I'm going a little tag crazy at the moment. This is another from the gorgeous Kayleigh.
It's pretty self explanatory:  list 5 things you love about blogging, tell us your blogging aim, your top blogging tip, and a blogger who inspired you along the way. Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy!

5 reasons I love blogging
This is so easy. the hard part was picking 5 of the best things. I never expected blogging to become such a big part of my life, or that I would love it nearly half as much as I do. I actually look forward to logging into blogger in the morning and seeing all the shiny new posts for me to read.

#1 Friends- I have met so many gorgeous new friends through blogging. I can't even tell you how much I love you ladies (naaaww <3 ). I don't know why, but before I got involved with blogging, I thought making 'internet friends' was a little strange. It just goes to prove how wrong I was, I totally take it all back now though, the girls that I've 'met' and got to know through blogging are genuinely some of the nicest girls I know. I can't wait to eventually meet you all. I'm not going to mention names, there are far too many of you, but you all really make my day, and I love speaking to you every day. When I first started blogging a while ago, I was really reserved, never got involved or commented really, I've been so overwhelmed at the fact that I'd made internet blogger pals, I dedicated a whole post to it here. It's definitely got to be the best thing that has come out of blogging. 

#2 Logging life  I love the fact that I have a whole part of my life logged on the internet. I'll be able to go back and check what I was doing on certain weekends, which products I liked, and just be able to see what was going on in my life. It's kind of like an online diary in a way. That's pretty cool in itself, isn't it?

#3 Inspiration My main inspiration has got to be from you guys. Reading your posts and seeing your photos, chatting to you. You make me want to blog. I love going to sites like Tumblr, We Heart it, and Pinterest. I see everything differently. I love those moments when I'm just going about your daily life and suddenly I think 'Oh that'd be great to blog about'. Everything can be an inspiration. It makes you appreciate the little things.

#4 Creativity  Lots of  people don't realise, but a lot of work goes into each post before we hit the publish button. Being a 'blogger' makes you constantly think about how you can make something look pretty, or capture a moment in a photo. It forces you to become creative. It makes you look for the beauty in every day situations. (Cheeeesey). It makes you constantly look for inspiration around you.

#5 Trying New Things There are so many products that I never would have even thought about using if I hadn't started 'beauty blogging'. So many brands that I would never have looked to (I'll admit this is partly from being a make up snob). It's been great to be able to go to blogs to read reviews that I know are genuinely honest. 

My blogging aims
#1 I guess my main blogging aim is to just keep keep enjoying it. I never want it to feel like something I have to do, or feel bad for not doing. 
#2 I would absolutely love to get to 1000 followers. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not all about the followers at all, but this would be such a massive achievement for me.
#3 Go to and help arrange a blogger meet up. 
#4 Lastly, be brave enough to actually attend some events on my lonesome! I'm a little too shy for this at the moment!

My top blogging tip
Get chatting! Join in the twitter community, it's the best way to meet other girls and find new blogs that you love. If you really want to be involved, don't be shy, leave comments, get to know people. Remember we all have one thing in common, we love blogging! Oh, and don't be intimidated by 'bigger bloggers', they really are lovely girls too. We all started out the same way after all. 

A blogger who has inspired me along the way
I'm cheating here and telling you about 2.
You all know and love Zoella. Well, Zoes was the first blog I ever found. I remember I was on a coach to London at the time and googling some kind of lipstick, and I came across a review on Zoes blog. That was it. I was hooked. I literally read every single one of her posts. She's such an inspiration. I still look up to her now, absolutely love her youtube channel, if only I had the confidence on camera like she does!
I'm also going to cheat and mention Kayleigh, who I actually found through a tweet of Zoes. Kayleighs' blog is probably my all time fav. She's gorgeous, wrights like she's chatting to you as a friend, and is such a lovely girl when you get to know her too. One of the things I love most about Kayleigh is that she really cares about her readers, and makes such an effort with them. She's an absolute beaut.

So there we have it, I officially love being a blogger :) Have you done the blogging love tag? Send me your link! What are your favourite things about blogging?

Soho.

Sorry for the squinty eyes!

Oh haaaii ladies.

I've noticed a nice little handful of new readers, so hellooo gals and thank you :)
Last week I literally had the clumsiest week. I mean EVER. I won't bore you with the whole list of happenings, but  I managed to fall up the escalator on the tube. My whole handbag spilt everywhere and I bruised my hand and leg. Those metal stairs are lethal I tell you, lethal! I had such a little tomato face and was trying so hard not to cry. What a baby. After I'd scrabbled all my things together I basically ran into my office.
Friday morning I must of somehow got a big blob of eyelash glue on he back of my phone without realizing. When I went to go and pick it up, it was stuck to the windowsill. Wonderful. When I got to work I realized I had my tights on inside out too... honestly though, the list is never ending this week, what's wrong with me?!

Enough of that, onto my lashes. Ooooh I'm loving the falsies at the moment aren't I? These are the 'Soho' Lashes from Millie Mackintoshes range for Noveau.
I would probably class these as more of a 'night-time' looking lash, but I just can't resist wearing them to the office now, I feel so naked without lashes now, I think I'm developing a problem.
The Mayfair lashes are still my favourite so far (I've reviewed these in full if you want to know the technical details about the lashes), but what I like about these is that they are quite a lot thicker and much fuller. They're really noticeable but still fairly natural looking. I don't want to repeat too much of my last review, but these are so easy to apply and the adhesive is pretty darn good. I just thought I'd show you how they looked on!  

Are any of you going to the Eyelure and Elegant Touch event this Thursday at W? The lovely Laura from Belles Boutique managed to get me an invite (what a lil' sweety she is), but she can't make it anymore and I'm really nervous about going on my lonesome.
I know they'll be lots of bloggers there, but I'm pretty shy and awkward, I've never been to one of these things before and I'm not gonna lie, I'm slightly terrified. I know it's ridiculous cos' everyone I've spoken to from the blogging world have been lovely, but please do let me know if you're going, I'd like a buddy!

Blogging Buddies

totally random picture I know, I just liked it :)

Hello there ladies (and gents, if you're out there?!), a bit of a personal post today, I'll try not to harp on for too long though, I promise.

When I first started blogging, I was pretty much what I'd call a 'blogger recluse'. I would read other peoples blogs, but I was a little too shy to comment, thinking that these girls were so confident and such 'big bloggers', so why would they care what little old me, a nobody in the vast sea of bloggers, would have to say? At the time, I had no idea how completely and utterly wrong I was. I hated putting photos of myself up on my blog, it made me feel really self-concious ( I still don't love that, but I do it cos I know we're a nosey old bunch). And, I didn't really tell people about my blog. Heck I only found a 'follow' button about 2 months ago. I had certainly never discovered the wonders of the blogging community on Twitter.
I had a couple of months where I took a complete break from my blog, I went through a pretty rough time in my life after my mum passed away and just didn't feel like pretending everything in my life was good on my blog. When I made the decision to come back to it, I thought I'd try and do things differently this time, become more involved, and make more of an effort, be myself more, I made it into more of a project (thank you to my lovely boyfriend who encouraged me to do so). I promised myself I'd have the courage to say hello to some of my favourite bloggers, and just see what happened.
The friendliness of the blogging community pretty much blew me away. The girls who I thought looked scary and intimidating, where so chatty and helpful, and just normal girls.

Let me tell you now, I'm so glad that I came back to my blog. For so many reasons. One of the main reason being all the new pals I've made, I've met such a lovely bunch of buddies through blogging now. Down to earth, genuine girls, who I consider to be real friends now. Girls who say it like it is, and are totally supportive. Some of you I speak to pretty much every day, even more than I speak to friends I've had for years. It's pretty strange for me to consider people who I've never actually met in real life proper friends, but I do, I do :)

This might sound a little strange to some of you, but I feel like blogging has really helped with my self-confidence too. Yes, I'm still super nervous being on camera (my you-tube videos are edited like a bitch), and I'm not the biggest fan of having my photo taken (I'm so freaking awkward), but all the lovely comments and tweets you leave on my posts really make me feel good about myself, and make me WANT to write and take photos. Basically, you little lot inspire me. You make me want to write about beauty and life, and see all the good things in life (god, that sounds super cheesey).

If you're reading this and you've just starting out blogging, I can't recommend more to get involved on the bloggers chat on Twitter. If you don't know what this is, (or if like me, you just don't have a clue) basically, every Sunday and Wednesday evenings, all the beauty bloggers get together to discuss topics on Twitter using the hashtag #bbloggers (beauty bloggers).
I honestly really look forward to the #bbloggers chat, I haven't missed one in ages, and it's such a great way to find new blogs, get inspired, and meet other bloggers who have the same interests as you. Nothing better than snuggling up with a cup of tea, wooly blanket and the blogger chat!
Last night after the actual #bbloggers chat, (which was about bloggers block and what you do to inspire you) a few other ladies and I ended up nattering until gone midnight (I had a 6am wake up too, woops). We just had such a good and honest conversation, and got on so well, we decided to arrange our first ever #bbloggers meet up. I have to say, I can't wait to meet some of you in person! I've got a feeling we're going to have the best time! And if any of you are ever in London, do let me know, don't be shy :)
　
So I guess the purpose of this post is to say if you blog, and you haven't come to say hi before, please do! Its such a great little community, so positive friendly and welcoming. Oh look, I've managed to ramble on. I'll stop now.

Have you made friends through blogging? What do you love most about blogging? Do you join in on #bbloggers chats?

Celebrity Bash

I've only just realised that I've been holding out on you guys.

I still haven't introduced you to my favourite Autumnal nail polish. Meet 'Celebrity Bash'. Rimmel isn't normally a brand I go to for nail varnish, (I'm Barry Ms' biggest fan) but every winter I come running back to this shade.
I like to wear it with just one coat and a top coat, so it's a gorgeous raspberry kind of shade, and I think it looks really great with a tan (more on that later). Sometimes I pop another coat on top if I want more of a darker wintery look. I do find with one coat it chips a lot easier, but I'm willing to sacrifice this, I just love the shade so much.
The brush in this polish is my fav, I have quite fat nails, this sounds weird. I mean, wide I guess? Anyway you can see from the photos. The brush is large and thick, so spreads over quite a lot of my nail, meaning it's pretty quick for me. Oh, I know this is really lame, but I really enjoy the name of this varnish too... told you it was lame.
Have you tried celebrity bash? What are your favourite Autumn nail varnish shades?

I've just settled down at my desk today with my cosey cardy and a tasty caremel macchiato, yum! I do enjoy a good Starbucks on a crisp Autumn morning, I do!! Oh, and excuse the lack of lipstick and the helmet hair wont you??
Anyway, I've been thinking about deleting some of my older posts, I find them a little embarrassing, messy and just don't really like them.
I had a little conversation on twitter with Jessica (go and check out her beauty and lifestyle blog, its really cute) about it. We came to the conclusion that it's kind of nice for readers to go back to older posts and see how far your blog has come, and how much it's changed.

I guess it's okay not to be brilliant at something, and not really know what you're doing when you first start out. That's one of the things I love about blogging and the blogging community, every one is always striving to improve. There's so much ambition, and that's really inspiring. I know I always look at other peoples' blogs and compare mine to theirs, but that just makes me pleased for them that they're doing so well, and it only makes me strive to improve. What do you think about it all? Have you ever been tempted to delete older posts to make your blog appear better?

Oh, if you follow my blog, don't forget to enter my Topshop giveaway, 4 days left to enter, good luck!

I just wanted to say...

(just realised my nail varnish matches the post-it note!)

... a huge thank you and hello to all my followers, old and new.
I can't possibly avoid sounding too cheesey, but it really does mean a lot to me that you like my little blog enough to click the follow button. I know I'm a bloomin' idiot for only just discovering and putting a follow button up after over a year of blogging, but you live and learn, right?! I know blogging is not all about how many people follow you, but it is nice to know someone out there is reading my ramblings. It did come as a (wonderful) surprise to me when people actually started following me when I finally managed to put my follow button up!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is thank you for all your lovely comments and tweets, it's really encouraging, I read and appreciate every single one. Every single one of you who I have spoken with have been lovely, and I do always go and have a nosey at new followers blogs too, and anyone who leaves a comment :)
I'm planning on a little give away next week to show my thanks, I've bought a couple of little treats from Topshop today, I did try to pick things I thought were pretty universal. So, keep your eyes peeled. I hope some of you actually enter, I don't want to host the lamest giveaway ever...

Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Do you ever feel a little lost?

Hey my lovelies,
Hope you all had smashing weekends and are making the most of the sunshine?
I had a fabulous couple of days, which sadly seemed to be over in a flash.
One of my highlights was going out for breakfast with my mister.
We decided to hit ‘The Breakfast Club’ in Soho, it’s a happy little place to be.
Think egg-yoke yellow café with an 80’s theme, pop music, polaroids and drawings that cover the brick walls, and they serve indecently sized breakfasts. Yeh.
There’s nothing like a good brunch to set the weekend straight. Agreed?

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts last week. I’ve been having a few weird distant days where I'm feeling a little lost and confused about what I want to do with my life. I've just been generally a little unmotivated.
I think I am limiting myself when there is so much out there for me yet to achieve. So I really need to start pushing myself to be more motivated and productive, and to use all my free time to start figuring myself out. I want to try a couple of new things, like a drawing class, meditation class and a make-up course.

Blogging wise, the main problem I have with my blog is that I really don’t like the look of it at the moment… it just isn't doing it for me. So I need to work on that, I think once I like the layout and header, I'll be more inclined to post regularly! Any suggestions are welcome.
 I also need to get over my fear of the camera. I love reading blogs where you guys who post tons of photographs of yourselves, I think it's the nosey side of me, it's nice to have a peek into other peoples lives. I just wish I had the confidence to do that, I hate seeing pictures of myself, let alone taking pictures of myself... But I am going to try to change. I'm also going to attempt making some YouTube vlogs, I'm not quite sure what I'll be rambling on about but I'm going to give it a go anyway :)

I hope you've all had a great start to the week!