NO7 Eye Makeup Remover

If you remember back in December, NO7 from Boots done an advent calendar for £38 and I bought it so I could test the brand out? So far I've tried out the body wash, exfoliator and day cream... I've been underwhelmed to say the least.

I decided to try the 30ml Eye Makeup Remover next - which you can buy for £8.50 for 100ml - and oh boy. Not good.

This time it wasn't the scent that made me hate it, it was the product itself.

It didn't really remove my eyeliner at all, it just smudged it all over my face, leaving me to look like Bucky from Captain America!! I don't usually use makeup remover, I'm more of a fan of Micellar Water, and this was just God awful compared to my Garnier alternative.

You have to shake the bottle as well to mix the solution up before you do anything, and the screw cap lid is so crap that most of it went all over my carpet and hand before I even got it near my face on a cotton pad. I will however put this down to it being a sample size, and not a full sized version.

It left my eyes and the skin around it feeling super oily and tacky, plus it didn't do anything to my mascara or eyeliner. It removed a fair bit of my eye shadows - but that is literally the easiest thing to remove.

Overall I hated it, and it's another product on my 'hate list' and another NO7 product that I can't stand. So far not doing great with this brand!

Have you tried any of the NO7 range and what did you think? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)


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Instagram Love #3

I'm obsessed with taking pictures, editing them and making nice memories - hence why I love Instagram. There are some awesome accounts that I follow, plus the picture sharing app has gone insane with really talented photographers and bloggers who just seem to have this whole filter thing down.

So today, I'm sharing some Insta love with my top 5 pictures/accounts that I've come across recently!

Being sassy af but look at the view... I 💙 Cardiff (📷 - @benblythphoto)

A photo posted by holly ah-thion (@holstayy) on Mar 6, 2016 at 4:49am PST

The last of the summer sun in Melbourne.

A photo posted by EMILINA (@emilinalove) on Mar 6, 2016 at 2:12am PST

Still obsessed with these photos 🙈 Have you caught up on Lottiepearce.com recently? 💗

A photo posted by Lottie Pearce (@lottiepearce) on Mar 2, 2016 at 11:41pm PST

Take me back to Cyprus, please. I am missing everything about it. Wonderful weather, friendly people, beautiful sunsets, crystal clear water, wild parties and fascinating views.

A photo posted by The Nerdy Me (@thenerdymeblog) on Mar 1, 2016 at 10:14am PST

Which accounts and pictures have you been loving lately? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)


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How To Do | Wavy Hair

So if you've noticed over the past two or three weeks, I've posted pictures of myself with wavy hair when I have naturally straight hair. I've been quite enjoying the look, as have a lot of you from the super lovely comment a handful of you so kindly left me (thank you! ❤️) So today I'm going out of the comfort zone and showing you how I achieve my new little look!

Above is how I usually look with my hair, and on the right is what I managed to do on the first attempt of doing this technique! And yes, this is the same top only a week apart in time...

To start, I washed my hair with my John Frieda Mint Cool Dip shampoo & Smooth Seas conditioner. I dry my hair with a towel and then spray in my John Frieda Root Boot Lotion Spray (review here). I leave this for a minute or two, before brushing through my hair to disperse it.

Once all the products are in, I blow dry my hair upside down to give it some volume boost - and I find this is easier with my long hair. I leave it so it's about 90% dry, and then brush it through again before sorting out a parting and splitting my hair into two sections.

With each section, twist it  a few times, until it turns into a tight twist and can then top knot it on your head. I done one for each section of hair as my hair is medium thickness, but you can always do more with thick hair. I tied them up with a hair elastic and then use some hairspray on it to hold it there over night. Once done, it should like something like this:

Yes that's right, you have to sleep with it like this! I usually do this about 7pm and after sleep and breakfast, it's usually been about ten hours before I untie them and let them down.

When the time comes, I give the buns a final spritz with the hairspray, and then as I untie each knot, I'll spray the length of hair with a stronger hairspray (if not already using one) and then gently brush my fingers through it.

Once it's all carefully untwisted and shaken through, I'll use a bit more hairspray to hold the waves and sometime use sea salt spray to give it a bit more grip through the day. I'll then leave it as it is and maybe re-spray it through the day if I feel I need it!

You might find as the day goes on that the waves become looser and some might go and leave you with just a soft wave look instead, but the way I do it above usually lasts me about eight hours - which is just perfect for me!

I know there is a lot of hairspray involved and it's overnight, but I adore this look and love that I can do this overnight to switch things up for the next day! It's a look I'm loving right now, and I'm going to the and improve upon it over the next few months so I can possibly do it like this for Emma's wedding in July!

How do you do wavy hair? And if you try this out or have done it before, please let me know as I'd love to know how you got on with it! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)


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50 Things I've Learnt About Blogging

I've seen a lot of people doing posts like this over the past few months and I found them pretty interesting to read, so I thought I would share what I've picked up in almost 3 years!

I started my blog (officially) on October 3rd 2013, but I've had my blog since early 2010 when I used to use it for fun and an occasional rant/life post. Back then I had no idea what the blogging world was and no-one read it other than my sister.

Come 2013, I just randomly posted about some beauty things I liked recently as I wanted to share them so my friends at school could see it. It got 73 views in two days and I was baffled. After some digging around on twitter, I discovered the blogosphere and I ended up becoming and 'Beauty and Life' blogger! I've picked up a lot over almost 3 years of continuous posts, and here they are!

1. Be honest - don't say you love a product just to win brownie points with a brand. You can tell 90% of the time in the way it's wrote if someone hates the product as opposed to when they love something!
2. Post titles are important - if it's not snappy or relevant, people lose interest
3. Stick to a blog schedule and post regularly. I find without one, people won't come back!
4. Schedule blog posts - just set a time and date for it to go live, press publish and you can go to bed knowing you've not got to be up early in the morning in a frenzied panic because the post is late going up!
5. Twitter isn't just for following celebrities. Utilize this wonderful platform!
6. Instagram is perfect for sharing images of your life and getting better with photography
7. Scheduling tweets is a great way to make sure you have your content going out regularly over the day. I use Buffer and I get at least 60% of my blog traffic from that alone
8. Twitter chats are a great way to find new bloggers and get your blog out there
9. Don't expect blog fame and fortune after a few blog posts. It can take months, if not YEARS of hard work to get your blog associated with brands
10. Networking - reply back to blog comments you receive and make sure you're commenting too! Don't just do post after post and not interact with people
11. Stats aren't the most important thing in the world - but it's fine to check them as often as you want and feel proud when you hit milestones!
12. There is bitchiness in the blog world. You're going to come across people who think the world revolves around them, and think your little blog isn't worth anything. And honestly, a bunch of females trying to make it in the blogging world is never going to be smooth sailing, who are we kidding?!?!
13. You will make so many blog friends! I've made some close bonds with people mainly over the past year or so due to using twitter a lot more, and there are some true DIAMONDS out there. I've got friends all over the world now thanks to my little slice on the internet
14. Don't get involved with social media drama ~ unless you are a target and feel the need to defend yourself! Remember you can always block/delete/report people online, so make it your safe place!
15. Picture editing will help you so much
16. You don't need a £1000 camera to get good images, you can use a smart phone and get the same results
17. You don't have to say yes to every PR email you get. If it doesn't fit your blog you can decline or just delete the email -  or if it sounds way to good to be true, it usually is
18. You can say yes to any paid posts you want to do, but keep true to your blog
19. Don't copy other people's posts - This may be an obvious one for some people, but you would not believe how many times I've seen a post of mine or a friends be copied on another person's blog, including the pictures. 
20. But it's totally fine to take inspiration from blog posts. Like with this post, I've seen this idea around for ages and I'm doing my own version. Just make sure you don't copy anyone!!
21. Ask for help if you're stuck. In my early days, I had no idea how to use HTML, make a blog header, how to layout my blog or how to run a giveaway. All of these were answered by the lovely Stacey (her blog) who took a good few months telling me how to do things and giving me tips and tricks to help me along my way. I'll forever be grateful to her! 
22. Pintrest, Tumblr and Facebook are the hardest platforms to get traffic from
23. Take pictures in bulk. 
24. Because winter lighting is soul destroying when you can't get a good flat lay picture
25. Change the layout, look and colours of your blog as many times as you want. I must be on blog look twelve by now - HOWEVER, do try and find a look and layout you really like and stick to it after a few new looks. Branding is important!
26. The amount of followers you have doesn't correlate a number of readers. I can assure you that my 1800+ twitter followers do not all read about my new Mac Lipstick
27. You'll feel guilty if you miss a blog post
28. Don't break the bank trying to blog. You don't need to buy new things to review. Tell us about something you love that you've used for a while!
29. If you're like me, you'll find those 'follow for follow' people are annoying! 
30. If you get unfollowed for not following back, don't get discouraged. It happens! 
31. Just because something is free, doesn't mean you should say yes. Remember #17!! 
32. Try not to brand-bash. I know some companies might piss you off all the time, but try not to slander them too much...
33. Personal posts seem to generate the most interaction
34. Negative comments are not the end of the world
35. I find that asking a question at the end of a post leads to some interaction!
36. When bloggers mention your blog on theirs or on twitter, it's the best feeling!
37. Anything can be a blog post - dinner with your best friend, a shopping trip, Comic Con. a new hairstyle you've tried...
38. Always try and use your own pictures. I had no idea about copyright laws back when I started out. The image at the top of this post is from PicJumbo.com which is a free pic hosting site so you don't need to credit them - and then I've edited it with a title. There are free pic sites, but don't use Google!!! 
39. Not everyone will like you
40. If you want to take a week off, do it! 
41. Keep a list of blog post ideas - this has saved me in a hurry so many times
42. Don't feel like you need to comment on everyone's posts
43. When doing a giveaway, Rafflecopter is a really good tool to use
44. Link products when you're reviewing them! 
45. Do a variety of post lengths. 
46. Asian wedding dress sites will offer you $10-$30 to do a post for them or put a button in your sidebar. Some are genuine, other are not! I was lucky enough to have a genuine one contact me... However, most are shit and not worth effort to do it!
47. There are loads of websites that can help with HTML and other queries you might have!
48. You will shocked as to how many people love Disney!
49. Live tweeting events/along with TV shows is a great way to make new friends and maybe gain some followers from time to time
50. Blogging is supposed to be fun! As long as you keep doing you and blogging about what makes you happy, you'll never find it a chore!

I originally planned on about 20 things, but that seems to have gone out the window! I didn't think there was so much in my head, but there we go - 50 things! Hope you liked this little post and have you had the same experiences? Let me know! Hope you have a great day and keep safe :)

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