Dreamy NYX

I know I'm not alone in saying this...

When I saw the brand new, shiny NYX counter in Boots stores I generally thought Christmas had come early!
 Unfortunately I could only stare longingly at the counter because I'm currently saving.

What I do know is that there's no harm in doing a bit of 'window shopping' so that when I can finally splurge on NYX I know what to get. 

Lets all jump on the NYX bandwagon...

(For each product I've added the link the product on Boots website so you can check them out too)

Lip Lingerie Lipstick

£6.50

Okay, okay so I have a little confession to make... 

I actually brought this product in the shade Honeymoon because I'd heard such good reviews about it and I was too impatient to wait! 

This lipstick has jumped right to the top as my current favourite lipstick pile- the shade I brought, Honeymoon, is a gorgeous brown shade so perfect if your like me and want to totally rock the 90's vibe. I love the matte consistency of it and I know people keep saying this but it honestly really doesn't feel drying to wear. I also felt it lasted a long time too. 

I can't wait to go back and buy more (hopefully all) shades when I can afford to!

Butter Lipsticks 

£5.50

I don't know why but when it comes to lipsticks I love bright bold colours particularly plum tones because I feel they really suit my skin tone. Although they do always make me feel a little autumnal but hey it's July tomorrow and I'm currently writing this sat near a radiator to keep warm whilst sheltering from the rain. 

I love butter lipsticks as I just feel they're really hydrating and moisturising, my lips are often dry so I try to look for product that will keep them hydrated whilst still being pigmented. 

Again I love them all but I think Moonlight Night is my favourite. 

Highlighting & Contouring Pro Palette 

£18

I have been looking for a highlighter and contour palette that I almost gave up hope of ever finding one, but whilst on a very long visit to the NYX counter I spotted this one. 

I love all the different highlight and contour shades, as I think you could really go into true makeup artist mode and apply different shades to different areas of you face.

I've been using highlighter for a while now but contouring does scare me a little so I think I'll have to check out tutorials online for how to apply it.

Make up Setting Spray/ Matte finish/ Long Lasting

£7

Another product I've been on the hunt for has been a good setting spray and this one from NYX sounds great!

 Having read the reviews for both the dewy and matte one, I feel that the matte setting spray would be better for me because my face can be quite oily & I don't want to look super shiny- not a good look.

I tend to go on product reviews for most of my makeup and the reviews for this were quite good- I can't wait to buy one and try it.

Infinite Shadow Stick 

£6.50 

There was a time not so long ago where I never wore eyeshadow- I don't really know why, I think I was just going through quite an insecure phase and applying makeup to make features stand out scared me a little. However after watching endless YouTube tutorials and making endless mistakes I finally feel confident enough to wear eyeshadow. 

I love the shades almond, bronze and chocolate because I feel these would make a really nice brown smokey eye effect, as you could apply the stick straight onto your lid then use a brush to blend.

Having blue eyes means that I love bronzed looks on my eyes because I feel it makes my eyes stand out. 

As you can see I love a LOT of NYX products, I'm hoping to purchase these products in the upcoming months and then I'll hopefully do a review post about them. 

I'd love to hear what NYX products you've been loving in the comments below?

This is a post that I've been wanting to do for a while now as I really enjoy writing & reading beauty posts, 

Would you like to see more beauty posts on here?

I should have lots more exciting content coming soon as I've got my first blogger event very soon, shoutout to my Blogger Tiki Party gals!

So I'm super excited to meet other bloggers- it should be lots of fun.

I hope your all having a fab Wednesday and I'll see you all very soon.

Take Care 

X

(The pictures used in this post are not my own)

101 things in 1001 days

Life right now is very busy & crazy but in the best possible way!
I'm trying lots of the new things for the first time & going to lots of new places so I thought why not try the '101 Things  to do in 1001 Days' challenge? 

I personally love reading these sort of blog posts because 1001 days is a long time but at the same time it's not that long to get 101 things done by.


Image is not my own

Today is 27th June 2016 so that means 1001 days from now will be 25th March 2019
*Yes google did have to help me there.

Places I want to go:

1. New York

2. Amsterdam 

3. Paris 

4. Berlin 

5. Tokyo

7. Miami 

8. Skopelos, Greece 

9. Dublin 

10. Newcastle 

11. London again

12. Brighton again

13. Dorset 

14. Cotswold

15. Liverpool again

Things I want to do:

16. Run the London marathon

17. Attend a launch party

18. Reach 1000 Instagram followers

19. Reach 2000 Twitter followers 

20. Reach 250000 blog views 

21. Join a theatre group  

22. Reach 1000 YouTube subscribers 

23. Spend all day eating an all day breakfast

24. Visit London Fashion Week

25. Work backstage at Clothes Show Live

26. Visit a funfair 

27. Work in a bakery 

28. Meet a YouTuber 

29.  Go to Glastonbury festival 

30. Go to V festival 

31. Go to Creamfields festival 

32. Film a makeup tutorial 

33. Film an outfits post

34. Work backstage on a photoshoot

35. Have written 300 posts 

36. Make my blog design more personal to me

37. Go camping 

38. Attend Freshers week

39. Join a sports society 

40. Host a blogger meet up

41. Attend bloggersball 

42. Dye my hair blonde 

43. Get a tattoo

44. Get a bellybutton piercing 

45. Fall in love *sorry about the cheese factor

46. Host a party

47. Start vlogging 

48. Take part in 'Blogmas' 

49. Have a surfing lesson 

50. Explore somewhere new with my best friends

51. Be planning a move to Brighton

52. Get a full time job

Things I want to buy:

53. A new camera

54. A mustard colour Fiat 500 car

55. Camera tripod

56. Blogging props i.e strobe lights and marble paneling

57. A copper lamp

58. Gym membership

59. A Starbucks coffee 

60. A new phone 

61. A Michael Kors Handbag 

62. A pair of Manolo Blahnik heels 

63. Plane tickets to somewhere completely new 

64. Tickets to see Wicked in the West End 

Makeup brands I'd like to try:

65. Nars 

66. Becca 

67. YSL

68. Tarte Cosmetics 

67. Benefit 

68. Urban decay 

Places I'd like to visit in America:

69. Visit Universal Studios in Orlando 

70. Sephora 

71. Wendy's 

72. Macy's 

73. Target 

74. Empire State Building 

75. Tiffany & Co
76. Harry Potter tour 

Cool but probably impossible things I'd love to do:

77. Intern at Vogue 

78. Intern at Glamour magazine 

79. Intern at Look magazine

80. Skydive

81. Go on a hot air balloon ride 

82. Visit Sketch in London 

83. Visit the set of HollyOak's *can you even do this?

84. Spend an entire summer break abroad 

85. Visit a head office of a retailer

General:
 *Stuff that doesn't really fit into any category but are still things I'd love to do...

86. Offer a give away on my blog 

87. Start a Depop account 

88. Go to a photo booth with friends 

89. Be in London when there's a movie premiere 

90. Learn how to play the guitar 

91. Relearn how to play the keyboard 

92. Make some gooey chocolate brownies 

93. Cook a healthy meal 

94. Make my own pizza from scratch

95. Try being a veggie for a month

96. Sleep all night in a treehouse 

97. Go in a jacuzzi 

98. Try carrot cake flavoured ice cream 

99. Try a mojito 

100. Have food at Bills restaurant 

101. Read 200 new books 

I don't know if I'll be able to do all of these things but wouldn't it be amazing if I did?!?
Even though some of them are going to be pretty hard to achieve. 

Keep up with how I get on via the following:

Instagram- @gemma_roseharp 

Twitter- @LippieTalk

Let me know what you'd love to do & what you think to my 101 things to do in 1001 days list in the comments below. 

Take care & I hope your all having a fab Monday!

x

Just a Few Blogging Truths.

Before I started blogging I had no idea what to expect obviously I'd heard of the big bloggers such as Zoe Sugg a.k.a Zoella & Tanya Burr but I didn't know what to expect starting out for the first time.

As I been blogging for just over 8 months now I thought I'd share some of the 'wisdom' I've learnt & gained along the way....

1. Don't be disheartened by your first initial page views-

I remember when I first started and I was stuck on 17 views for about a week, at the time I felt like 'what was the point?'. If you've just started and are thinking that then you've definitely not alone, remember good things take time.



2. Social media sites such as Twitter & Instagram will become one of your best friends-
Okay so maybe not literally but without these I know that my blog wouldn't have as nearly as many views as it does. I would also say it's well worth checking out other people's blogs too so you can learn from them- I'm not saying copy someone else's blog but see what works for them and then find your own niche.

3. Tell your parents about your blog- 
I didn't tell mine to begin with and I can hand on heart say it's something I massively regret. I'm not saying you have to show your parents every post but just keep them in the picture, when I told my parents they were really supportive and amazed by the number of views it had. If you really loving blogging then your parents should hopefully accept it.

4. If you don't love it, don't do it-
As cliche and cheesy as this is going to sound 'I really love blogging', I don't what it is about it but it just helps me to let out any anxiety I have. But if your heart's not in it then go away for a while and come back to it. Blogging takes up a lot of time so don't spend time doing it if you don't really enjoy it.



5. Not all people are going to be accepting of it-
I have friends that can't understand why I would want to spend an hour or so writing a post when I could be doing something else and fair enough they're entitled to their own opinion. I don't expect my friends to read my blog but I don't think true friends should judge you for what you choose to do in your spare time.



6. Get involved- 
Building up a following for your blog is a long and slow process so you might as well enjoy the blogging experience. The first few times I started talking to other bloggers I was a bit nervous because I felt I wasn't good enough. But all bloggers are in the same situation, so yes some blogs are rather large compared to others but we all started blogging for the same reason because we enjoy it! I haven't actually met any bloggers in person but I will be soon at the Blogger Tiki Party in July
(I'm crazy excited for this btw).


Illustration credit the amazing talented @elliemdesign & @nothingbutsnack

7. You'll become a master in the art of flatlays- 
Every blogger knows and understands this talent, lighting and background are so important they can really change how your blog looks overall. Don't stress if you haven't mastered the art yet it will come with time.



8. Have fun & enjoy the journey-
Blogging should be enjoyed otherwise what's the point? Have fun and blog about things you would want to read- I like to think of my blog as almost like a diary of everything I've done and enjoyed. If I could only give one piece of advice about blogging then it would be to not stress too much about how popular it is.


I hope you enjoyed this post- 
Let me know if you agree with any of the points above in the comments below, I'd love to here also what you've learnt from blogging too. If you have a blog and are reading this then leave your blog link below as well because I always love finding new blogs to read.

Take care & I'll see you all very soon.

X

Puppy Love

As most of you already know- I love dogs!!!!

Big, small - they are all just so adorable...

So when we sadly lost our beautiful, black, labrador Poppy last November home felt very strange and empty.

Even before Poppy became ill I knew that if anything ever happened to her I would have to have another dog because life without a dog for me is unbearable. 

So after allowing time for for our hearts to heal after Poppy, we began our search for a new, little bundle of enjoy to enter our lives.

That search was not an easy one!

For starters there are so many breeds of dogs out there, so many that I find cute and adorable. 

So it was no surprise when we all fell in love with the breed Cockapoo.

After we narrowed down the breed we had to look for a breeder...

We had several set backs that at the time made us feel like we were never going to get another dog, but with hindsight I like to think that we were meant to find the puppy we had. 

The first time we went to meet our new, little puppy we instantly feel in love to the point where I had that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

I eagerly wished the next 4 weeks away till the day we brought her home. 

Meet our gorgeous, baby Willow everyone!

She is just the most adorable, little girl- we've only had her a couple of weeks but I already feel I love her to the moon and back.

Gradually she seems to be settling rather nicely into her new home, full of lots of new toys and treats, she's a very lucky, loving puppy.

I did worry having another dog would make me feel like I was forgetting Poppy, but moving on doesn't mean your forgetting it just means you've learnt how to cope. 

We like to tell Willow about her Auntie Poppy and she's already doing the same naughty tricks Poppy used to do- my slippers are no longer safe lying around on the floor.

If you guys want then I'll keep you updated with Willow's progress on here. 

I'm sure she's got lots more monkey behaviour planned but if I'm completely honest it makes me laugh really. 

I hope your all having a great day & I've got another another post planned for tomorrow.

Also before I finish this post I'm sure you've probably noticed that something looks a little different on my blog well it's had a revamp.

I fancied a bit of a change because I felt my old blog design didn't really show you guys who I am.

I'd love to hear what you think about my new blog design and my gorgeous Willow in the comments below. 

Take Care 

X 

Celebration Time!

The past couple of weeks have been so crazy in the best possible way...

After a stressful couple of months I have discovered that I have achieved a Distinction in my Art Foundation which means I got into my favourite university!

I was so over the moon it was unreal- anyone reading this who's thinking of doing a Art Foundation then I would 100% recommend it.

I'm not going to lie and say it was the easiest & least stressful year of my life because it wasn't, but after Alevels it was nice to be completely creative 24/7.  

I have always been a majorly indecisive person- so the decision when it came to picking my university course wasn't an easy one for me. My parents love and support me but they weren't keen on me going down the Fashion route as a career path but I feel my Art Foundation has shown them how passionate & determined I am.

As well as that fab news, I also welcomed a new member into our family recently...

Willow our beautiful Cockapoo puppy. She's just the most adorable, little thing and although we've only had her a couple of weeks I really do feel like I already love her to the moon and back. 

(I'm going to talk about her more in another blog post coming soon)

And thirdly...

(Yes this is quite a big celebration post)

This is my 50th blog post!

I cannot believe that I'm already at 50- it's crazy!

8 months ago I started this blog because of several different reasons, I was bored of my life, wanted a new hobby and I wanted to just be able to give my opinions & express my love of fashion without being judged.

I know this is going to sound very cliche but when I blog I just feel so happy. 

(Okay, okay I am slightly embarrassed by that statement) 

In all honesty though isn't that what we all want in life to find something that makes us feel so happy and excited?

So really I just want to say thank you to you- without any of you guys reading this I probably wouldn't have made it past post number 10. 

I know I'm not the most consistent blogger & I don't have the biggest following or number of page views but if I'm completely honest none of that matters to me because every time I write a blog post the utter enjoyment of it just makes me forget all the other pressures.

So I would like to say a massive, heartfelt thank you to everyone!

As well as all of that crazy stuff, I've got quite a hectic but super, exciting couple of months coming up....

For starters I'm going to see the musical Mamma Mia which I'm literally buzzing for- it's one of my all time favourites!

I've got my first ever blogger event coming up- big shoutout to my Blogger Tiki Party girls, I'm so excited to meet you all and just talk about all our loves of blogging. I'm not gonna lie though I am a bit nervous but I still can't wait!

It's also less than a month till my birthday *casually starts hanging out the bunting already

And I'm going to America this summer!!!! 

So there will lots of amazing stuff coming soon on my blog!

On the YouTube front, I haven't completely disappeared-

 I am hoping to film my 'London Shopping Haul' video soon but as any of you with puppies know you have to devote a lot of time and attention to them.

So I don't know when that will be up on my channel but hopeful it will be sometime soon.

I would like to apologise for this extremely long winded post today but nevertheless I hope you all enjoyed it- I'd love to hear what you guys are looking forward to in the upcoming months in the comments below.

Good Luck to anyone taking exams at the minute- 

I know it doesn't feel like it now but they will come to an end and you will get your social life back. Just try your best and no one can expect anything more from you. 

Here's to the next 50 posts 

*instead of raising a glass of alcohol picture me raising a glass of water because I'm on a health kick.

Take Care & I'll see you all again very soon.

Have a great 'what's left of your' weekend.

X