Blog Makeover!

So as you can see the last half of this year I've been terrible at blogging! I think part of it is that this blog doesn't really reflect me anymore and I have such high standards for posts that I don't have time to get the right photos etc.. So I've decided to completely give my blog a makeover, spend time planning and writing new content then have a relaunch! This will be at some point in January hopefully. Wish me luck and I'll see you soon! xxx

The Best Beauty Advent Calendars of 2015

I think beauty advent calendars are definitely the new Christmas must have. I think these advent calendars are a great way to challenge yourself to try a new product every day. However many have already sold out or are selling out very quickly so I'd get a move on if you want one! There are many more calendars floating around this year, unfortunately I couldn't post about them all or I would have been up all night! So in no particular order, here are my favourites...

The 25 Days of Beauty Wonders Advent Calendar - Boots

This calendar is a steal as for £38 you get £148 worth of products! Plus there are 25 to look forward to opening. It includes 6 full sized products which are a mixture of skincare and beauty products. The full list of products is available on the website, but why spoil the surprise?!

Tanya Burr Deck the Hauls Christmas Beauty Calendar - Superdrug 

Now this one is a bit hit and miss, as the calendar includes 12 products, including two pairs of lashes, all full size I believe. So when I watched Tanya's video (the day it went up) it sounded great and I went straight to buy it online as it is currently on offer from £25 down to £15. However it was sold out already and is still sold out now. I checked in a couple of stores too but her stand had been ransacked! So if you can actually get hold of it this one does sound great. More stock next time maybe?!

Charlotte Tilbury The Book of Magic

This is definitely a luxury calendar; retailing at £150. The Book of Magic contains 12 products, which are a mixture of full size and miniatures, many of which are Charlotte Tilbury best sellers. I was sorely tempted by this advent calendar but I just couldn't justify the price! But you no doubt get your moneys worth.

Selfridges Beauty Workshop Calendar

This is the second of Selfridge's advent calendars released this year, the first one was the Cosmo calendar which was contains the same number of products only more luxury and retails at £95. However it is currently out of stock but is selling for a whopping £140 on Ebay! I opted for the £60 Beauty Workshop Calendar myself, as I thought that was pretty steep for a calendar really.. But every year I always say "I'd really like a beauty calendar this year.." but never get one, so this year I took the plunge! Plus I'm single so I thought why not spend the money I would otherwise spend on a partner on myself?! Single life perks! Anyway going off topic.. The Beauty Workshop Calendar retails at £60 and contains 24 miniatures worth £226! I thought this was a great way to try some new products and I'm excited about the challenge of using which ever one I get each day! 
One thing I should add about this product though, I had to pay £5 postage which I think is pretty steep considering its £60, this was a couple of weeks ago and I was told it would arrive on the 12th but it still hasn't arrived. I know I don't need it until the 1st but some correspondence would be nice! 

The Bodyshop Beauty Advent Calendar

The Bodyshop released two advent calendars this year, their premium one which was £80 and this standard one which is £60. I can't see the premium one on their website anymore but it is probably available in some stores. The standard one is still a good buy in my eyes, as the products are worth £93.50 and you get the full 24 days worth! It features a range of their best sellers in miniature form.

Benefit Part Poppers Advent Calendar - Debenhams

Retailing at £34.50 this calendar is quite a steal. It's currently sold out but I think that's because Debenhams has just finished Mega Week where all beauty was 10% off. This calendar only has 12 doors, however it sings!! And although the products are all minis, I know from experience that Benefit minis last a long time! I would have purchased this calendar but being a Benefit lover I already own a lot of the products it contains so there wasn't much point. 

Lush Advent Calendar

If you're into your baths this is definitely the calendar for you. I love a good bath but don't really have time for them that often so I couldn't really justify this one! However retailing at £49.95 this calendar features 12 of their best sellers most of which are from their Christmas range. I honestly don't think you'd save an awful lot with this calendar, but then again all of their products are vegan and handmade so I think they would struggle to slash their prices. 

Ciate Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar

This is currently down from £49 to £39.50 on Look Fantastic. This is one for the nail varnish lovers! I rarely paint my nails as I can't be doing with the upkeep and they take so long to dry! Lazy I know, but they chip so easily at my job. So this one isn't the one for me, but if you're a nail varnish lover it's definitely worth getting with its 24 products.

M&S Ultimate Beauty Advent Calendar

This calendar is a steal at £25 (if you spend over £25 on M&S beauty products) with the products inside worth over £200! I was very tempted to buy this calendar, there are some well known brands in there too such as Burts Bees, Stila and Rituals. It's a full 24 door calendar too. 

Do you have a beauty advent calendar this year?

Halloween 2015

Firstly I apologise for these appalling quality photos! I didn't have the time or proper lighting for my Canon so iphone selfies had to do. They're alright for Instagram but once you blow them up not so good!

Anyways, this Halloween I went to a couple of parties over the weekend so I got the chance to do two looks and they were both so fun! On the Friday I did the cracked doll which I did a very similar one in 2013 (and I took better quality photos!) which you can see here. And on the Saturday I did a sort of spontaneous look, I hadn't planned it at all but I'd seen how people did a scale effect using fish net tights so I had a go at that, did some dramatic eye makeup, patted some eyeshadow on my lips, backcombed my hair and sprayed some glitter in it. I think I turned out as a sort of mermaid/fish/punk, all good fun!

I curled my hair with the Nicky Clarke Styling Wand which I love and will hopefully be reviewing soon! For my face I used my No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation, which is quite pale on me and I used more of my Collection concealer than usual in shade 1. I then powdered over it with a white powder from Amazon (which wasn't great). I filled in my eyebrows as usual, contoured with Benefit Hoola bronzer and one of the Sleek palettes on my cheeks. 

I'm wearing the Urban Decay Vice Palette on my eyes with lots of Loreal Super Liner. I did the semi-circle under my eye and filled it in with white eye liner which I set with white powder, then met the line with the liner along my upper lash line. I wore two pairs of lashes on my upper lash line so that they extended right the way to the end of my eyeliner to make my eyes look bigger. The first pair were Eylure and the second were a set of two Smiffys Dolly Eyelashes which I got off Amazon. I then glued the lower lash ones to the line I had drawn underneath my eyes. 

I then drew the cracks using the Super Liner, and blurred them a little using a brown eyeshadow.

Very rushed outfit shot! I bought the dress and the Petticoat off Amazon, I was impressed by the quality of both!

For this look I did the same base, then pulled some fish net tights over my head (very uncomfortable!) and used my Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume II (which I've had a good few years!) to contour. I used a green shade at the top of my forehead and a blue shade further down. I then contoured in the hollows of my cheeks using a mixture of the blue and green. I dabbed some lip balm on my lips before patting on some eyeshadow, mostly in the middle. I did a smoky eye using the Vice Palette again and tried my hand at some dramatic eyeliner, by doing cat flicks outwards and dragging it down past my tear ducts. I used a Mac highlighter on the top of my cheekbones and cupids bow.

I just brushed the curls out of my hair and backcombed it a lot (although it didn't stay in long!) and I pinned some bits back.

Here's me and my bestie at the party (she was a mad scientist if you couldn't tell!)

Our scary faces!

Two mad scientists!

I hope you all had a fun Halloween whether you staid in and watched movies or partied all night!

What did you dress as? I need inspiration for next year ;)

Life Lately and a Blogging Break

So I've unintentionally taken nearly a three month break from blogging.. I think lately the weeks just seem to merge together and before I know it it's been three weeks and I haven't wrote anything! It's not that I'm lacking inspiration, it's just that I've been busy and I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my posts so I didn't want to upload anything half hearted! But I'm going to try and get more organised now and start scheduling posts as that seems to be a lot easier for me!

Anyway I thought I'd write a summary (which will probably turn into an essay) of what I've been up to the past three months, these posts are just as much for me as they are for you as I love to look back on them!

What I've been up to..

Summer flew by didn't it!! I shared some of what I did in my last post, but I also went on lots of walks and runs, a camping trip, visited London with friends again, attended a very rainy ladies day, went to Zante for a week, went to the spa, had a drastic hair change and of course worked a lot! Autumn hasn't been as fun-filled so far but then again I kind of like hibernating in autumn. I have started my MSc though! And safe to say I'm petrified, and already procrastinating.. I feel like I've forgot how to write essays! On the more fun side I visited some friends in Lincoln last weekend and the weekend before we had a good night for a friends leaving do, and of course next weekend is Halloween which I have fortunately booked off work as I am attending two parties this year!

Here's some of my holiday snaps and some party holiday outfits for you..

Top: Miss Selfridge

Skirt: River Island

Bikini: Miss Selfridge

Top: New Look

Skirt: Miss Selfridge

Bag: New Look

Top: New Look

Shorts: New Look

Fitness

I have actually been quite good the last three months! Basically me and my best friend had been talking about running a half marathon to raise money for Macmillan, and we finally plucked up the courage and took the plunge! We didn't have long to train and the most I'd ever run about two months before the race was 7 miles.. so only another 6.1 to add onto that and I'd be set! 
I mainly prepared by doing bootcamp sessions twice a week with a local run, and usually two runs a week, one long one; about 6-10 miles and one short one; about 3 miles. When we were actually running the race I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked, I think I panicked at the thought of failing and the amount of people we were surrounded by made me feel claustrophobic! Whilst my friend was buzzing off the atmosphere I was a stressed out mess! We made it round though and ran the whole thing which was my only goal really. We did it in 2 hours 15 which isn't bad considering our training was very last minute and that was the furthest I've ever ran! 
We've also raised £845 for Macmillan which I'm really happy with since our goal was £500! We ran it in memory of my mum as Macmillan did a lot for her while she was ill so I wanted to repay them. If anyone wants to donate the page is actually still open for donations for a few more weeks at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Running4Rose 

What I've been loving

My puppy! He's 6 and a half months old and he really has his own personality now. He's so cheeky and full of energy but he also loves a cuddle and we spend most of our evenings on the sofa together snuggled up with a blanket! 
My hair; I had a lot chopped off which I initially freaked out about as it was more than I asked for and the highlights I had looked terrible too! But it has grown out a bit since but looks better than it did really long and I've had my routes done darker so I have a sort of subtle ombre effect now which I like! And my hair has finally come away from the dark side which I struggled to shift for a good year.. 
In terms of beauty I've been loving the Nicky Clarke Diamond Shine Hair Styling Wand. I think it looks a bit tacky, but it works amazingly! My GHDs won't hold a curl anymore, but these do it perfectly! 
I've also started watching The Walking Dead, finally! Everyone told me it was amazing but I'm terrified of zombies so I was skeptical.. But since it's near Halloween and seasons 1-5 are on Sky boxsets I thought I'd give it a go! I've actually really got into it and it keeps me on the edge of my seat every episode! Although I warn you don't watch it before bed, I've had some seriously messed up dreams the past couple of nights!

I think that's about everything, hope you enjoyed the essay! I'll leave you with a peak of my Instagram (@xbeccabe):

 1. My friend's Birthday drinks

2. Mental puppies playing!

3. A weekend camping in the Derbyshire countryside!

4. Love an inspirational quote

5. Ladies Day OOTD, dress from ASOS. Unfortunately it rained the whole day :(

6. With the girls

7. Lovely breakfast at a local gem on a beautiful morning

8. Me and the pup, he actually stayed still for a moment!

9. Be classy!

10. Zante sunrise

11. A day spent at Eden Hall Spa

12. The Many Faces of Theo Part I 

13. Training for our half marathon!

14. Race day, running for Macmillan!

15. Autumn time, my favourite!

16. The Many Faces of Theo Part II

17&18. FOTN and OOTN I wore my new Misguided dress last week and I love it!

June/July Summary and Where I've Been!

How is it August already?! I swear July didn't even happen! Us Brits just seem to spend the whole of summer waiting for summer to arrive and then it's gone! I haven't blogged in a month, how bad is that?! And it's because I literally haven't had a spare moment to, I have been so busy. I guess that's good in a way, because life has been happening and there hasn't been a dull moment! So what have I been up to?

What I've been up to..

Most of the last 8 weeks I have spent every moment at home looking after and training my crazy pup! He's nearly four and a half months old now and I'm very happy with how he's growing up. He was insane when we got him at 8 weeks but he's actually calming down! He doesn't bite as much now and he seems to be able to chill out more with us on the sofa without constantly attacking us which is nice! But as everyone keeps reminding me, he's half Springer Spaniel and half Labrador so he's going to be crazy! He's getting so big now, I can hardly lift him anymore! *cries*

Enough about Theo though, one of the highlights of June was definitely going to see Taylor Swift at Hyde Park in London. She was amazing! She's just so talented and Hyde Park was just so cool, it was all amazing and so was the weather, I couldn't have asked for a better day! If you're British you will know that in June we had a heatwave, which I enjoyed apart from it being unbearable at work! However July has been mostly a washout.. But that hasn't stopped us having and going to plenty of bbqs! 

Real life has sort of happened the last couple of months.. I've been working pretty much full time and I have actually met a guy! I met him at a puppy party (that's nothing dirty I promise!) Both our pups were the most mental ones there and had a great time biting each other and it went from there! We've been hanging out a lot and are hopefully going camping this weekend, I'll keep you posted!

Fitness

So in June I joined a bootcamp! I was talking to my cousins friend and he runs one and it sounded fun so I thought I'd give it a go because I go Zante at the end of August (oh yeh I booked a holiday!) and I wanted to try a last push at getting in shape before I go. It's seriously hard but so much fun! I've met some nice people there and I've been going running too. The only problem is I've been slacking off the gym because I do that two nights a week and usually run two nights a week too! Plus seeing the new guy and walking the dog.. Busy busy.. See why I haven't blogged now?! Haha. In terms of eating in June I was pretty good, however in July it kind of went downhill and I think it's because I just haven't had time to cook properly (no excuse I know!) so I'm trying now and I'm cutting out sugar for the last 3 weeks before my holiday starting now, as a final push to look my best!

Blogging

Not great really is it! Butttt on the 31st of July my blog turned two! Terrible twos wright? ;) I think I need to work on pulling it back! I'm off work next week and I have plenty of posts I want to write, so I'll have to get working on that. I have a lot of blogs I need to catch up with too! Hopefully you'll hear more from me this month.

What I've been loving

Pretty Little Liars! I finally started watching it as everyone raves about it, I'm really liking it, I just can't predict what's going to happen! I love anything American and that's what it is, I've nearly finished season 1 and will definitely try and get a good way into season 2 on my week off! I also bought an Active Blend in June which I have been using a lot, it's so easy! My favourite includes mango, almond milk, oats and banana!

In terms of beauty I've been loving the Magnitone Lucid which I was sent to try and I reviewed here. I've really seen a difference in my skin since using it, it's so soft and my makeup goes on much better. 

1. Watching Pretty Little Liars

2. Sunset after the British heatwave

3. The cutest puppy in the world (Theo!)

4. My healthy version of a bbq (turkey burgers, roast veg, brown cobs)

5. Father's Day throwback 

6. Theo at about 10 weeks

7. After a long run Theo was helping me stretch by biting my feet!

8. Puppy snuggles

9. Active Blend smoothie

More photos to see on my Instagram @xbeccabe

What have you been up to this summer so far?

Magnitone Lucid Review*

Last week I was fortunate enough to be sent a Magnitone Lucid to review. I have seen a good number of cleansing brushes on the market recently, they definitely seem to be the new thing, so I was excited to try the Magnitone one.

Magnitone claim that you will see a difference in your skin in just 7 days. I was actually breaking out when I started using Magnitone so I thought that was a good time to try it out. 

Magnitone Lucid is really simple to use. It came already charged, you simply screw the head on and switch it on, choosing between the first setting or the second setting which is for more sensitive skin. I put some cleanser on my face first and wet the head so it really cleans my skin. But I'll warn you to close your eyes unless you want cleanser running into them when you do your forehead! Magnitone Lucid also has a built in zonal timer and it beeps when it's time to move onto the next area of your face and turns off automatically after a minute, so easy! It's waterproof too so you can easily use it in the shower. It also comes with a wireless charger so it's great for travelling.

I am actually really impressed with this product! I honestly didn't think it would do that much, but it buffs off any dead skin so there's no need to even exfoliate now, it's also brightened and cleared up my skin, evened my skin tone and I've noticed that my moisturiser sinks in a lot better now too. I would 100% buy this again and it's now a core product in my skincare routine, I used it once a day as recommended, for a minute each time. My skin honestly hasn't looked this good without makeup in ages!

Magnitone Lucid is available in four different colours, I requested the Plush Pink of course! Magnitone Lucid retails at £69.99, but until July 31st you can get 20% off with BLOVE20 discount code!You can redeem it here.

*I was sent this product but all views are my own. 

Hair Inspiration

Recently I've been fancying a drastic change when it comes to my hair. I think I've realised that these will be the last couple of years of my life before I hopefully have a "serious job" so this is the last chance I really have to experiment with my hair! Maybe I'm having a quarter life crisis.. I'm not sure, but I really want to go platinum! I think if I don't do it once in my life I'll regret it, and I can always dye it back right? I'm going to do it gradually, I'll probably just start off with a bleach bath and a few highlights and see how it takes! Here is some of my favourite hair inspiration, all were found off Google and Pinterest, I take no credit for any of the images.

I love these ash blonde colours, I think that will try to achieve this colour in a few months.

Who doesn't want hair like Daenerys?! (even if it is a wig)

If my hair takes well to the ash tones I might go a step further and go white! My hair might be dead as a door nob by this point.. We shall see! I have been looking after it really well over the past couple of years and it is currently in great condition, so I'm hoping that helps when I dye it.

I love pink hair so much, I would love this colour for a holiday.. Maybe this time next year?!

Have you ever been platinum? If so how did you hair take it? What do you think to these colours? :)

Meet My Puppy!

So in my last post I mentioned that something exciting happened last weekend.. And that exciting thing was Theo! Theo is a 9 week old Springador (Labrador x Springer Spaniel). I bought him off a breeder and I went to visit him when he was 6 weeks and picked him up when he was 8 weeks! I knew he was the one for me because the breeder said he was the shy one but he loved me and kept licking me! When I went back I couldn't believe how much he'd grown, I swear he's doubled in size now since I first saw him! 

Ever since I was little I wanted a dog but my parents would never let me, and obviously it wouldn't have been sensible to have one since I went to uni, but the last few months dad just sort of came round to the idea and after mum passed away I think we all agreed that we needed some happiness and life injected back into the house, and that came in the form of Theo! Even though my dad did go on about not wanting a dog, he absolutely adores Theo and even my brother likes him and is spending time in the garden with him, which is amazing because he normally locks himself in his bedroom with his games!

Theo tends to go through phases of being absolutely crazy (usually after a meal) when he bites a lot so I usually have to shove a toy in his mouth! Then he will burn himself out and crash and sleep by our feet for a couple of hours! He's so cute though and always gets up all excited when I get in from work then follows me wherever I go! He's already house trained and hasn't pooped in the house yet! For the first few days we just took him out every couple of hours and said "do your business" and now he knows what that means. 

The weather has been lovely the last couple of days so we have enjoyed playing and relaxing on the garden together! Although he does get a bit over excited and pulls up any grass and plants he can find! He loves chewing on rocks too which is kinda strange, I worry about his teeth!

 This was what happened when I shouted "Theo come!" 

Looks like dumbo doesn't he..

He loves biting my clothes.. Especially my work fleece he loves the zipper on that! And he always gives me these puppy dog eyes when I'm telling him no, but he doesn't care that much because his tail is still wagging! He bites a lot but today he seemed to be doing it less, so maybe the telling off is finally working! Those baby teeth are like piranha teeth!

 Those puppy dog eyes!!

In the background there is his crate, which he absolutely hates. I've tried to make it a fun place by giving him treats in there, giving him his meals in there and filling it with toys.. but no he still howls like crazy if I shut him in! The first night was horrendous, I slept downstairs with him but he woke me up every night crying! So after that we have had to take it in turns sleeping downstairs with him but leaving him out of the cage.. And he's actually been fine and just been waking up about 6.30/7 for the toilet. But we are nervous about leaving him alone incase he wrecks the living room!

I've also made a little vlog so you can see him in action! The lighting is absolutely terrible but it was a spur of the moment thing that I quickly put together. I can look back and remember how small he was!

Here's the link to my channel if you want to subscribe, I've filmed a couple of makeup tutorials I might upload soon!

I've enjoyed writing my first proper post back now I'm feeling like blogging again.. I have a few ideas about what to write about, obviously I have my hands a bit full with Theo at the moment, but my usual routine should be back on track soon I hope! :)

What pets do you guys have? :)