Weekly Round-up #4

Loved: Meeting my brother's girlfriend

My brother has been dating someone for quite a while now, but I've never has the chance to meet her. It's been planned numerous times but something always happens that means either he has to cancel or I do. This time everything went according to plan and I finally got to meet her and her beautiful daughter. The first time meeting someone can be quite awkward, but I instantly felt at ease with her, she really is as lovely as he said.

GOSH CC Cream in Porcelain | Review

Being a pale skinned gal, finding a vegan foundation that is light enough for me has always been a bit of a challenge, even most tinted moisturisers that tend to be quite fair are usually too orange on my skin. I really don't know what made me buy the GOSH CC Cream, especially as it was online and I had no idea how light Porcelain really would be, but I figured that if it was too dark for me I could give it to my mum and it'd probably work for her.

Superdrug 3 in 1 Base Coat, Ridge Filler and Growth Enhancer | Review

Thanks to my Mum, I have quite deep ridges in a few of my finger nails, she has them in most of hers though so I guess I can't complain too much. A good top coat usually evens them out, but for those occasions when Seche Vite isn't an option (like when I want matte nails), I need a good ridge filling base coat. Finding a vegan one isn't as easy as I thought it might be, but thankfully Superdrug have come to the rescue.

What I've Won #2

After years and years of never winning anything, I've been incredibly lucky and won 2 competitions in less than a month! You can see my last post here, where I show you my other prizes. This time I completely forgot I even entered. Superdrug ran the competition on their Instagram account, and when I opened the app up in the morning I thought it was a joke, after all how could I win something I didn't remember entering? But I guess my memory isn't as good as I thought. Here are my prizes:

Manicure Monday | Doctor Who Nails

This is the most excited I've been to show you my nails, and with good reason; they show my favourite ever TV show. Unless you've been living under a rock (or just don't care) you'll know that series 8 of Doctor Who started on Saturday night. To say I was looking forward to it would be a HUGE understatement. To mark the occasion I decided to paint my nails Doctor Who themed.

Weekly Round-up #3

Loved: Doctor Who

I can't even tell you how happy the return of this show has made me! Anyone that knows me will gladly tell you I'm a total geek, and this is one of the things that I'm not ashamed to say that I turn into a bit of a fan girl over. The new series (series 8) started just yesterday and it's the first outing for the new Doctor, I won't say too much in case you haven't seen it yet. I'm really looking forward to seeing how his character develops as the series continues.

My Liebster Award Nomination and Why I Won't Be Participating

As a newbie blogger (I started back in April) I was completely unaware of the Liebster  Award, so when I got 2 notifications on Twitter in less than a week that 2 fellow bloggers had nominated me for this award, I was both in shock and thrilled. In a bid to find out more I turned to Google, and this is where my struggle started.

Pretty In Pink | My Top 5 Pink Lip Products

Like virtually every other woman on the planet, I seem to have been on the hunt for the perfect pink lippy forever, and whilst on the endless hunt I have come across quite a few that I really love. Unfortunately, since I became vegan I've had to de-stash and have got rid of some of my previous loves, but that only means that there's room for more new products. Yay!

From left to right: B. Vibrant Lip and Cheek Colour, Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick, Barry M Lip Gloss Tube, ELF Moisturising Lipstick, B. Sheer Conditioning Lipstick

What I've Won

As I mentioned in my July favourites, I was lucky enough to win a competition from the lovely Natalie of Girl Uninterpreted. I've been a reader of her blog for a few months now and love it, and it certainly helps that she's a thoroughly decent person too. Here are the prizes I won:

Manicure Monday | Barry M Gelly - Watermelon

As I'm sure you all know by now, the actor Robin Williams sadly passed away last week. He suffered from depression for many years and fought it so hard, but unfortunately he took his own life. I won't get into it too deeply as I don't think a blog like this is the appropriate place for it, but for a few different reasons it really affected me. So, when I saw a post on Instagram calling for nail bloggers and nail polish enthusiasts to paint their nails green (the colour of depression awareness) on Sunday in order to raise awareness of this horrible illness, I knew I had to join in.

Weekly Round-Up #2

As I enjoyed doing this post so much last week I thought I would carry it on this week. This past week has been a pretty good one for me, my finances seem better and I've been able to do a lot more which has been great!

The Difference Between Being Vegan and Plant Based Diets

There has been a lot in the news recently about celebrities turning vegan, with one of the biggest A list couples, Beyonce and Jay Z, now claiming to be vegan. However, what a lot of people don't realise is that there is a huge difference between being vegan and abstaining from animal products in your food.

Competition Time!

If you've been reading my blog for any time at all, you'll know how much I've been enoying the skin care range from B. at Superdrug. Every single product from the line is cruelty-free and vegan, reasonably priced and excellent quality. So I thought; what else could I possibly include in my first ever giveaway?

Cuticle Care Routine

Before I get into this post, if you read the very short post from last night I would like to reassure you that the 'pages' tabs are now back in working order. I got a few messages to let me know they were down, so thank you!

Ever since I was a teenager I've suffered from dry cuticles that have a tendency to split. It's only been over the last year or so that I have found products and a routine that seems to be working really well for me. As with almost everything I buy, I looked for the best value for money without skimping on quality, and I feel really happy with all of the cruelty free products I have found.

Manicure Monday | China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes

I know that this polish is ridiculously far away from a summer shade, but I love it so much I can't even tell you. I've always been a lover of dark nail polish, and black is the one I always wear if I can't decide, but this is something else.

Weekly Round-up #1

As those of you living in the UK will be well aware of, the weather here is terrible right now, we're getting the back end of a hurricane so there really isn't much to do other than sit indoors. Since the plans I had have had to be cancelled I thought I would write a short round-up of my week.

Things I Learned About Blogging Before I Started

I had been debating whether to create a blog for quite a while before I took the plunge, and in that time I got hooked on reading so many different kinds of blogs. I think that being addicted to Bloglovin' has really helped me. Now, I'm definitely not saying that I'm perfect, not by a long shot, but there is the odd thing that I am really glad to have noticed from others, things that I have tried to avoid doing myself. Some of the tips I picked up include:

Monthly Goals | August 2014

Since it's a new month and I have to sort out a few things in my life, I thought it would be a good idea to set myself some goals, kind of like New Year's resolutions but smaller. Maybe, just maybe, if I tell you all about them I'll be more inclined to stick to them, but please don't kick my butt if I don't manage them all.

My Perfect Contouring Brush

Contouring is still a relatively new thing for me, I only started doing it on a regular basis at the beginning of this year, so to be able to say that I've already found something that I consider perfect is amazing. I know of bloggers who have been mastering the technique for years and are still on the hunt for their perfect application method.

Manicure Monday | China Glaze - Too Yacht To Handle

Ever since I saw Too Yacht To Handle first released as part of the summer 2013 collection I knew I wanted it, so when I saw it for up for grabs at a bargain price over on Miss Makeup Magpie's blog sale I jumped at the chance of owning it.

Monthly Favourites | July 2014

This month has just flown by hasn't it? Maybe it's because I've been unwell a lot or maybe it's just because I've been wishing the month away as it's been so bloody hot, but I can't believe it's almost Autumn (well, it's not that far away).

I've been so organised this month, possibly because I've been blogging less than usual, but I've made a point of making lists of things I've been enjoying so I don't forget things to add to my favourites.