#72 Blog Of The Week #2

This weeks Blog Of The Week goes to Abi over at Me, Myself And Fashion

''My name is Abi and I am wildy fascinated by fashion, humanities and journalism. I live in the wierdly weathered England where it is crowded with such lovely people. I aspire to be a fashion journalist who travels all around the world. I dream to live in America and explore the exquisite, popular areas on my travels. An English degree at University is my ambition, possibly in London? Another goal is to gain a lot of friends and followers through this blog and share my passions with you. Quote: If people do not laugh at your dreams, then you are not aiming high enough. Exceed your expectations. xxx'

Abi is one of the youngest bloggers I have come across, but has one of the best blogs which I like to read and we all know I'm not a regular blogger so when I do blog I do love to head over to Abi's blog to find out what she's been getting up to. She also has some amazing outfit posts and hauls which I am very jealous of as they are lovely including a recent post on her jewellery which I really recommend that you check out!

www.velvetpassion.blogspot.com

I also asked Abi some questions about her blog - so stick around to read them before you go off to follow Abi's blog and follow!

1. Why did you start blogging?

Well, I started blogging for a number of reasons. The main one was because I want to be a journalist and I thought blogging would be perfect for it: I would be writing frequently which meant my writing skills would hopefully improve, and I would be surrounded by a range of bloggers who I could gain tips and inspiration from. Another reason was because one of my friends introduced me to a blog called 'The Beautiful Rampage'. Her posts were so beautiful and I wanted to create something similar to her. I started a blog up immediately and I was extremely excited. (Although choosing everything, like the blog title and the header, was more difficult that I expected, however fun.)

2. What audience is your blog for?

Me, Myself And Fashion is a fashion and beauty blog which has a range of different posts. My blog is drowning with hundreds of outfit posts haha, but sometimes I do makeup posts, videos, general life posts and lots more. It is aimed at an audience who shares a passion of fashion or just enjoys regular posts from a girl who loves to write.

3. What do you find to be the positives and negatives of having a blog?

There are so many positives with having a blog. It's a place where I can I can write about whatever I want, whenever I want. (Like my own little online beauty scrapbook or diary!) Also, when I do makeup reviews I know that hopefully I will be helping someone make the right decision when buying beauty products (I know that online reviews from blogs always help me!) There are so many oppertunities for bloggers too. It's a place where I made so many lovely friends - You can talk to different bloggers and get to know them - the people I have spoken to are all so kind! I cant really think of any negatives really, blogging is pretty perfect.

4. What is your one must have beauty product?

Hmmm, that is a tricky one. I would have to say that Mac Fluid Foundation is probably the must have beauty product. However, Loreal Great Lash mascara was a close one as my eyelashes are basically non-existent without this product... Its a life saver!

#71 My First MAC Haul!

This week is just flying by with the double bank holiday and last week went even quicker! I wish time would just slow down sometimes so I can take in all the wonderful things and enjoy life. However, although I am very much enjoying life, working life is only just beginning and retirement won't be for another 60 odd years so for now so until the days where I can sit on my big swinging chair in the garden watching the sun go down sipping on my coke float, or if feeling adventurous maybe even a little Cherry with my old age I'm just going to have to go with the flow and dedicate those Sunday's for pure relaxation and possibly blogging!!

I hope you've all had an amazing Jubilee Weekend and have been getting up to exciting things?!

Recently I took a trip to Westfields which for those of you who don't know it is a GIGANTIC shopping centre in London with nearly every possible shop in it from your Topshop to Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Although, you wouldn't catch me in those designer shops as I spent most of my time in MAC ooohing and aaaahing over what to buy and as it was my first purchase (sad I know) I thought I'd share it with you!

I remember the days where you just got given a clear bag (- okay yes, I have brought MAC products before, but that was years ago when I didn't know anything about makeup and would fritter my money away and get con'd into buying stupid things.) and now you get these paper bags! So lets take a peak inside!

Don't they all just look pretty in their packaging?! I love new products when it comes in packaging like this, I just want to keep it looking nice and new forever!

The first thing which I knew I wanted to get was a foundation and I had heard brilliant things about the Studio Fix Fluid so was pleased when the lady suggested this one. I also had her test it out on me so I could be sure it was what I was looking for in a foundation and I can tell you it definitely is. So for £19.50 this little gem became mine and I haven't looked back since!

I also purchased the foundation pump as the foundation are in a glass bottle with just a screw top lid and I am the most messiest person ever so me trying to get a tiny bit of foundation out a glass bottle each day just isn't going to happen without lots of spillages so for £3.00 I thought it would be best to get one and it also has an extra bonus of being re-usable and is also compatible with Bobbi Brown foundations!

Finally after having my make up redone by a MAC makeup artist and looking in the mirror I noticed something I never really notice from being so fair and blonde... I HAD EYEBROWS!!! I was so impressed with my new look and had never thought to invest in an eyebrow pencil that I immediately brought their eyebrow crayon in the shade Lingering for £11.50 and I was also really pleased when she complemented me on how neat my eyebrows were, so I must be doing something right with this plucking business which now seems like a chore!

So here is my first proper purchase! Reviews on the foundation and eyebrow crayon will be coming soon. Have you brought anything from MAC before? What's your favourite product?

#70 No7 Beautiful Skin

Sorry for my slight absence over the last week, I've been really busy with my Mum's Birthday as we had planned a big surprise party for her and then her actual Birthday celebrations taking place this week, and to top it all off I got food poisoning the other day and blogging really wasn't my idea of fun when I felt like I was on my death bed!

Recently, I have really been suffering from spots and blemishes which is very unlike me as usually my skin is spot free! Many might say it's just my 'teenage skin' but its making me really self-conscious so I've been doing lots of research and product testing on ways to keep my skin clean and clear which are effective. I've also been going through a really dry skin phase which is most likely to be my eczema so I've also been testing out different moisturisers along with using my prescribed cream from the Doctors.

Whilst out looking for different products to use I stumbled upon this little gem from the No7 range by Boots and I haven't looked back since!

This is No7's new range - Beautiful Skin and the best thing about it is that it comes in a small starter kit for only £5. The kit which I brought is for Normal/Dry skin. However, the products also come in a range for Dry/ Very Dry Skin and Normal/Oily Skin. Personally, I think my skin tends to go through phases of each of these as it is never very consistent through the year

Within the kit comes a Cleansing Lotion, Day Cream and Night Cream to which I cannot fault any of these products.

Cleansing Lotion: The Cleansing Lotion is what I use at night alongside the Night Cream. The consistency of the lotion is just right as sometimes I find certain lotions to be very watery and not very effective. However, this lotion isn't watery at all nor is it really thick. I always apply it with my fingers and then use warm water and cotton pads to remove it. This Cleansing Lotion does a fantastic job at removing all the make up and dirt which my face may have accumulated throughout the day which I am very impressed about as some cleansers don't do this very well and I find myself cleansing for a second or even a third time to remove everything from my face, and this is not what I like in a cleanser, especially when I'm really tired and want my bed! Finally, the Cleansing Lotion leaves my skin completely smooth and soft ready for bed, this definitely is a winning product from me!

Night Cream: After my skin has been well cleansed I always apply the Night Cream to make sure my skin stays well moisturised throughout the night. The No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream is a very thick cream which is everything you expect in a Night Cream. It also isn't heavily scented which is perfect for me after I've cleansed my skin and I'm about to go to bed. It also doesn't leave my skin oily the next morning which is something I always worry about with Night Creams, I don't want to be going from one extreme to another! As I am suffering with my eczema at the moment I do tend to put a bit more on the really dry areas and let it sink in over night and as I've been using it regularly I'm finding it's really doing the trick, so another thumbs up from me!

Day Cream: The Day Cream from this kit has got to be my all time favourite face cream ever! - and this is not an exaggeration! Again, No7 have done well in getting the consistency of the cream right. It's a lot lighter than the Night Cream and very suitable for applying each morning before doing your make up. It also have this gorgeous light, clean fragrance which I love and reminds me of always smelling my mums lotions and potions when I was younger and associating that smell with her which was sort of comforting - I know I was a tad weird! This cream leaves my face completely hydrated throughout the day and removes every trace of bad, dry skin.

Using all three of these products together has worked a few wonders on my skin, I'm finding that I'm no longer suffering from really dry skin  and I'm definitely not getting as many spots by using the Cleansing Lotion, the only thing left is some scarring. So this kit I strongly recommend if you suffer from any similar problems to me.

What makes this kit even better is that when you purchase it you receive a free £5 voucher to spend on any of the No7 range from Boots, so I'll definitely be going back and buying more of their products.

Finally, the range also does some extra products such as a Skin Melting Gel Cleanser and a Radiance Exfoliator which I always want to purchase and test out. So keep your eyes peeled for any further skin care product reviews!