Bye bye Google reader

Over the last couple of weeks I've seen oh so many posts saying 'GFC is going, follow me on Bloglovin'.  Just to clarifty - GFC is NOT going in July as so many people are reporting.  It's Google Reader that is being retired, not GFC.

That's not to say that Google won't decide to retire GFC in the coming months, who knows - but nothing has been reported or announced, so we should take a bit of a chill pill on the big panic front :)

Either way, Google Reader is being retired tomorrow 1st July, if you follow my blog using that platform you might want to consider following me on Bloglovin instead :)

So, all you need to do, other than hitting the little follow via Bloglovin' button on the right of this post, is to head to Bloglovin' set up an account (free and easy), once you've done that, follow this pic :)

It's that simple - then you'll be able to keep up to date with my posts from one place as well as all the other blogs you love :)

But don't forget to keep following people's blogs via GFC too, otherwise that'll definitely be going too!

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

20 Random facts about me

From time to time I like to do 'Get to know me' type posts for my new readers (and old!), so today I thought I'd do a 20 random facts post for you :)

1. I hate my natural hair colour (mousey brown), and haven't sported it for about 20 years.
2. My favourite flowers are lillies (stargazer lillies), they smell so amazing :) I also love orchids & tulips
3. I love spending time with friends, it's when I'm at my happiest
4. I'm one of the least patient people you'll ever meet
5. I freakin' hate spiders, they scare the bejesus out of me, I pretty much always live in fear that I'll see one or worse, that I'll find one on me *shudders*
6. I'm obsessed with baby animals, cuteness overload!  Kittens are my favs, then lambs, then baby ducks/birds :D
7. Despite only having a provisional driving license, I'm a complete petrol head :) I love fast cars, Top Gear, Formula1 and Fast & Furious (Tokyo drift is my fav!)
8. I'm vegetarian, not because I don't like the taste of meat, but I hate the idea of eating animals :(  I've been vegetarian for just over 2 years now
9. Over the years I've dyed my hair every colour under the sun - pink, orange, purple, red, green, blue, black, brown and henna :)
10. I've never worn fake tan (I've tried a gradual tanner twice - like the Dove hint of colour, but didn't like it)
11. I have 1 grandparent left, my Nanna in Ireland, she's 91 :D
12. I'm really bad looking after plants, they almost always die on me - the only ones that don't are succulents like Money Trees :)
13. I don't like chocolate desserts, especially choc ice cream,  I feel like they taste powdery.  I do like actual chocolate though :)
14. I moisturise my hands around 10-20 times a day when I'm at work
15. When I was younger it was my dream to be an artist when I grew up, I went to college to study art and did graphic design as a degree, but I've ended up working in insurance and couldn't be happier
16. I love and obsess over this blog more than I should
17. I love sushi and I love roast vegetables, my two favourite foods
18. I have an underactive thyroid which means I have to take tablets every day for the rest of my life (I also have asthma and have to take inhailers every day)
19. I love being married, it's the nicest feeling in the world <3
20. I still have my first childhood teddy bear & doll in my bedroom :)

So there you have 20 random facts about me, I hope you enjoyed reading them :)

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Nails of the week

Happy Saturday guys!  Just a quick post today as I'm heading to a wedding and I'm super excited!  I haven't got all dolled up in ages (probably since my wedding which was 4.5 yrs ago!), how time flies!  So I thought I'd throw together a post on all the different ways I've worn my nail varnish over the last week - a couple of the pictures you may recognise from my nail art post :)

This is from my nail art post from a couple of days ago :)

Azature nail polish in Blue Diamond - there is a black diamond in ever bottle :)  Review coming soon!

My favourite combination, Revlon Cherries in the Snow with Max Factor Fantasy fire over the top (the camera does not do it justice)

Sorely disappointed with this one, I had high hopes but one coat was totally sheer and streaky, and the second coat was much the same :/  So I took it off and did my nails as in the picture below :)

Zoya nail polish with Essie Fiji for the dots :)

What was your favourite nail pic?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

June Biggest Pixi3 advertiser

This months Biggest Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade.  She's been featured in iFabbo's top 50 international bloggers to watch and guest blogged over at LookFantastic.

June has seen Shang review makeup like the MUA Undressed palette, the Benefit Dandylion lip gloss, MAC's Please me and an Illamasqua haul amongst other goodies :)  Aside from that, she's also written some skincare posts and a sunglasses wishlist post to name but a few.

Shang really does have a beautiful blog that's so elegantly designed, I'm such a fan of teal it had to be a winner for me :)  Other than her button on the side here, here's everywhere you can find her and her lovely blog :)  Why don't you head over and a read :)

Twitter | Blog | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Facebook

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Nail art tutorial - Summer brights

If you follow me on twitter you might have seen that I've been keen to start doing some nail art tutorials.  Now, I'm by no means an expert at this - polka dots is about as far as my skills take me right now, but as I learn new ones I'll share them with you and we can learn together :)  So here goes my first  one!

Here are all the bits and bobs you'll need.  A good base & top coat (I'm using the OPI base coat, and an Essie 60 second top coat).  You'll need a bright base shade and an accent colour - pick whatever colours you prefer (this would look nice in reverse too).  You'll also need cotton pads & nail varnish remover to remove whatever varnish you're wearing right now, and finally you'll need a nail art tool (mine is from Avon and costs about £3).

Next, after applying your clear base coat, add 2 coats of your bright base, or enough coats for full coverage.

Then take the bright colour and the tool, dip the tool in the pot and dot the varnish in a central line down the nail - preferably with a bigger blob near the cuticle.

That's it, simple, all done :)

So there you have it, a simple nail art tutorial to begin with.  If you don't have a nail art tool, if you're careful you can use the corner of the brush of the accent colour, you may not get very round dots, but it's better than not doing it at all :)

Here's another polka dot picture for inspiration that I created last night too :)

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Feature - Megan Fox - Steal her makeup look

When it comes to hair and make-up, Hollywood actress and all-round goddess Megan Fox always looks absolutely flawless. There are ways to nail her smouldering sex bomb look that might involve having a nose job or Botox injections; but how does she do it?

Here are a few tips and ideas to help you steal Megan Fox’s make-up look for yourself:

Sometimes all you need is a pair of fake eyelashes. Whether you pile on lashings of mascara or use a pair of false eyelashes, sometimes glamorous eyes are all you need to create a stunning night-time look. This is one of Megan’s favourite looks, where apart from a slick of lip gloss, she lets her baby blues do all the talking.

Definition is everything. Megan is hardly ever seen in smudgy kohl make-up or roughly stained lips – her make-up look is very neat, with cosmetics used to define her features very carefully. Eyebrows have not a hair out of place, lip colour is very precise and even her blush is used in exactly the right spots to bring out the lines of her cheekbones.

Fuss-free hair. Megan Fox hardly ever goes in for elaborate hair styles with lots of detail. Instead, she seems to prefer a fuss-free look which is always pretty but never overdone, from flowing beachy waves to a simple, slicked-back ponytail.

Glossy lips are a must. When she’s not rocking a Jessica Rabbit look with vampy red lipstick and curves that send women rushing to breast enhancement clinics in their thousands, the actress loves to keep things simple yet luscious with a pink glossy lip. Teamed with bronzy eyeshadow and peachy cheeks, the look is glossy, glowing and super glamorous.

Emphasise those brows. One of the most noticeable things about Megan’s beauty look is her well-defined and fairly prominent brows. These perfectly shaped beauties, with their face-flattering, eye-opening arches and subtly filled-in shape, are what give Megan her glamour. So, if you have a strong brow, don’t be afraid to show it off – just remember to keep everything neat and perfectly groomed.

Perfect that over-the-shoulder pose. Now that you’ve pinched pretty much all of Megan Fox’s make-up secrets, you can now start practising your best smouldering Megan Fox pose. She loves a seductive over-the-shoulder glance, but you might need to put the hours in to copy it spot-on.



Bella Franklin is a style and beauty writer, offering advice and tips to help achieve the latest trends and looks. If you want to catch up with Bella to ask for tips or to even ask advice on the latest cosmetic surgery treatments such as breast enhancements, you can find her on Twitter at @cosmetic_bella

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

*sponsored post

My favourite nail polish

Purple may be my favourite colour, and OPI's Suzi & the 7 dussledorfs my ultimate colour, but for quality, it simply doesn't get better than this.  So much so, this is the second blog post I've written about this polish - you can read my first post here - funnily enough, I photographed it on the same patterned paper, random!

** Favourite combination **

My Thoughts

The colour - is it pink, is it red? Who knows!  In the bottle it's the hottest pink you've laid your eyes on, but on the nail, it's like a bright red.  Team it with the Max Factor fantasy fire and the red is deeper with a beautiful deep glitter.  Cherries in the snow isn't just a lovely colour, but I'm a little in love with the name, it perfectly describes the colour :)

Pigmentation - I've seriously never experienced anything like it - one coat is all you need, ONE COAT!  For a colour like this to only need one coat is pretty insane.  But that's literally all it takes.  I apply it with the OPI base coat, and the Essie 60 second top coat, and boom it's done.

Lasting power - if you're nails aren't completely weak this will last around 6-7 days without chipping, at least, it does on me.  Revlon nail enamels have the lasting power, pigmentation and extraordinary colour of high end polishes and then some, but the price tag of a drugstore polish.

Ladies (and Gents!) it doesn't get any better than this.  I've been using it since about October-ish last year and constantly go back to it as a favourite.  Sadly this particular shade, I believe, is discontinued or at least seasonal, so keep your eyes peeled when winter rolls by so you don't miss this little beauty.

Have you tried Revlon nail enamels before? What's your favourite shade?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Mini TKMaxx haul

For about 6 months now I've been regularly popping into TKMaxx in the hope of finding some Macadamia products & a Physicians Formula happy booster.  I came close once, I found a Macadamia shampoo but it was nearly empty.  Well, on Thursday I popped in there, I'd given up looking and was rummaging through the purses when Chantelle (Daizy Dayz) spotted a load of pristine Macadamia products, I squealed and ran over only to find that they had the two products I was hoping to see :)

They had the deep repair masque and the healing oil treatment - given the price of them though I couldn't bring myself to buy them both, but I did pick up the masque for £27.99 (instead of £36.75 on the Macadamia website).  Then I was looking through the makeup, and whilst I didn't find a Happy Booster, I did find a Bronze Booster!  And for only £4.99, so I swiftly picked that up too :D

I'm so happy I found them!!!  I've had a couple samples of the masque before and know I like it, so this was an easy purchase to make - I'll do a full blog post on the bronzer after using it for a while, so keep your eyes peeled for that :)

What's the best bargain you've found at TKMaxx?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Molecule 01

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're familiar with Fleur de Force and Gemsmaquillage.  These are the people responsible for me knowing what Molecule 01 is.  So when I was approached by Cult Beauty to see if I'd like to review a bottle, I jumped at the chance :)

They say "Escentric Molecules' Molecule 01 is created solely from the aroma-chemical Iso E Super, traditionally a perfume basenote that adds allure to a scent, which works as more of an effect than a fragrance. The scent has a subtle, velvety, woody note which will meld with your natural pheromones, vanish, then re-surface after some time, making it totally individual and personalised to the wearer. You will rarely smell this fragrance on yourself, Molecule 01 perfume is more about the effect it has on others."

My Thoughts

This has been one of the most exciting things to land on my door mat.  I may have squealed a little as I ripped open the packaging to reveal this little beauty waiting for me.

Developed by Escentric Molecules, this little bottle of fragrance is made up of one ingredient, Iso E Super.  Iso E Super has a sort of woody/musky scent when you first spray it, then after a couple of minutes you won't really smell it again, apart from the odd whiff during the day.

One thing I really did notice is how many compliments from people I have when wearing this (they were all from women!).  I had so many people say 'you smell lovely' or 'what perfume are you wearing' and they all seemed to really like it.  My husband wasn't as keen, but he's the only person I met who didn't like it :)  The molecule is supposed to react with your pheromones to create a unique scent, but a scent that only others will smell on you.  I asked my friends to describe it, some said floral and some said sweet, but they all liked it :)

If you're interested in picking this up, Cult Beauty were one of the first places to start selling this - the size I received was the travel size (about £27), you can pick up the full size for £65.50 on their site here.

All in all I really like this fragrance, and who doesn't like getting lots of compliments :)  Have you tried Molecule 01?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

My career so far Part 2

Back a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about my career so far and boy oh boy did you guys enjoy reading it! I had loads of comments & tweets about it - so I thought I wouldn't delay the 2nd part too long for you :)

In the last post it ended with me being made redundant from my job in Legal & General (L&G), so I'll pick up from here.

We're in 2009, it's the 17th May and my last day in L&G.  After 7 years of hard work it's time for me to leave, and boy oh boy was it an emotional day.  With my redundancy cheque in the bank and no job to go to it was time to hatch a plan.  My training was in graphic design, so after lots of thought and discussion with the hubby, I decided to put everything I could into getting a job as a designer.  So I enrolled in some bespoke training in Flash & Dreamweaver and sent out a letter and my CV to every design agency in Cardiff (over 70 of them!) asking for the opportunity to do unpaid work experience there.

After 2 weeks no one had replied.  This is when I started following up with emails.  One agency replied and gave me one months' work experience.  From there I managed to get another 2 weeks at a different agency, but that would be the last time I work as a designer.  With my redundancy cheque dwindling away my mother in law gets some temp work for me at the local hospital where she's a sister in operating theatres.

The job is just inputting lists of equipment needed for operating trays.  I get a couple of days work a week doing that for a few weeks and eventually get more work on the reception of the operating theatres, again as a temp.  I spend a few weeks doing that and eventually get a full time job there actually working in operating theatres, I start in October 2009, but only last 10 months.  It was easily the most interesting job I'd ever had, but I was also spoken to and treated worse than in any job I'd ever done.  Not by Doctors but by mid-range nurses who were incredibly rude to me.  So after leaving work in tears most days I decided to hand my notice in with no job to go to, not something I ever thought I'd do.

*All images are my own artwork

That night I applied for about 15 jobs.  A week later I followed one lead up with a large UK car insurance company, I had a quick telephone interview which was followed up with an assessment centre and interview.  I got the job :)  It was a combination of two jobs I said I'd never do - working in a call centre and selling.  My job was to renew people's car insurance and offer them other products like breakdown cover etc.  Despite it being a job I never saw myself doing, I actually enjoyed it and excelled in it, winning a department award that basically said I was the best on the phones in the department (the highest % score when my calls were monitored) and that was in 2011.

After being there for about a year and a half, I saw a job come up working in SEO in our sister company, an insurance website (I won't go into too much detail!), but after 2 interviews I landed a job there, that was over a year ago now and I've been super happy there ever since, happier than in any job I've ever done.  It's a great company to work for, I get to dress down in jeans every day as well as lots of other great perks.  It's nice to finally have a job that I really love :)

So that's my story so far - hope you enjoyed reading it :)

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

Japonesque touch up tube

Back a couple of weeks ago Cocktail Cosmetics were kind enough to send me a couple of goodies to review for my blog :)  This is one of them - a lovely little kit of 5 makeup brushes by Japonesque in a hot pink container ideal for travelling or your handbag.

My Thoughts

Inside the kit you get 5 different brushes (a foundation brush, a lip brush, two eye detailers and a blush/powder brush).  All have black handles with pink detailing and all fit into the cylindrical pink metal tube.

The set is really cute and is ideal for travelling or keeping in your handbag.  If you're not keen on the pink colour, they also come in animal print, black or silver.  The quality is pretty decent, but not consistent.  The blusher brush is the weak one of this set, it just feels a little firm and a bit cheap, but the others are good, particularly the eye brushes, they're fluffy but not too fluffy :)

All in all this is a lovely set, I love the colour and the fact the brushes come in such a nice container to help keep them protected.  You can pick up this set from Cocktail Cosmetics for £16.95 :)

Have you tried Japonesque before?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent

My nail saviour

Pretty much all my life I've had weak nails.  I've always bitten them, and bitten them down really low.  But since I started blogging I've tried really hard to stop biting them - and as much as I don't want to jinx it - I think I might have kicked the habit.  The problem I'm left with is really weak nails, especially my right hand as I'm right handed.

My nails were getting so weak they were just splitting and tearing all over the place.  Nail varnish wouldn't even last 24 hrs before starting to chip.  So when I was in Boots picking up some new nail varnish remover, this is what I picked up :)

My Thoughts

I'd tried the Sally Hansen acetone free remover before and really liked it, I love the perfume scent it'd leave on my nails so they didn't smell of horrible remover.  When I went to pick up the usual acetone free one I saw this little one sitting next to it and as it's for weak nails, thought I'd give it a whirl :)

Well it's been about a month now and my nails are the strongest I've ever known them, no kidding.  Nail varnish, even cheap stuff doesn't chip on me for a good 3+ days - I've literally never had nails this strong in my life :)  The only different thing I've been doing is the remover (as well as a crystal nail file, but I've been using that for a long time now).

Have you tried this before?  Did it work for you?

This months Bigest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Shang from The Feminine Crusade

 

Written by Georgina Kent