Some of you may already recognize this picture since it's currently the background of my Youtube channel. Yeah you heard right I finally took the plunge and filmed my first video. I wasn't planning on doing so at all. In fact what spurred me on most was the risk of wasting a great face of makeup! With that in mind why not milk this look even further by blogging about it too.

In my products to use in 2015 post (link here) I mentioned the Revlon lipstick in Wine Not that I was desperate to use up before it started getting too old. Well I'm ashamed to admit that today was the first day I used it since that post. As well as the lipstick as you can see it's an neutral base with pink shimmery cheeks and gold shimmery eyes and a nice winged liner. If you watch my video than you'll also know that the winged liner is from Topshop. As for what else I mentioned in my first video....

Well you'll just have to watch and see for yourself! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlkRu0Uxeeo

The Blemished Skincare Haul:

Lately my skin has gone into complete and utter meltdown, it was a stress reaction but luckily the stress I've been under is now fading I have however been left with some hideous skincare issues. To help tackle this I've have a little shop and got myself some skincare treats.

First up I picked up two LUSH face masks, I got Cosmetic Warrior and BB Seaweed, I've not used them much yet and I really better get around to it considering they're freshly made and have a sell by date.

From Botanics I picked up their All Bright Cleansing Toner which claims to cleanse impurities and freshen skin (I should hope so!) and the Micellar Ultra Calm 3 in 1 Cleansing Water which claims to to dissolve make up, unclog pores and remove impurities. I really hope these two products make a difference.

Lastly I went to The Body Shop and picked up a new face wash. I got the tea tree skin clearing facial wash, I know tea tree is really good for treating spots and I hope this one does the trick.

That's all I got for now and I really do hope it works, if you're interested then I'll be happy to do some follow up reviews.

xxx

January 2015 Monthly Favourites | EJEbeauty (MY FIRST EVER VIDEO!)

I've been speaking about it for ages and I've finally taken the plunge. Here's the result my very first Youtube video. I don't know what will come of it, if anything.

As you can see I was very nervous and I don't know how to edit yet but I hope you liked it nonetheless. Believe me I know that there are a million and one better and more fluent youtubers out there but I hope you guys help me out and maybe even subscribe?



xxx

Review: LUSH Butterball Bath Ballistic:

I've been told I was allergic to bath bombs ever since I was around 5 and had a reaction to one. Since then I've been far too nervous to try one but always wanted to. I finally caved in and guessed that LUSH would be the best way to go when I wanted to try out one since they use natural products. 

Butterball was the ballistic I chose since it was the one I enjoyed the smell of the best, it contains cocoa butter and ylang ylang oil. After dropping the bomb into the water it fizzed away happily and I thought that would be all but all of a sudden yellow blobs of oil  began to appear floating along the top of my bath. 

As soon as I was in the bath I felt it instantly sink into my skin (mine must have been drier than I thought) and it instantly felt so much softer. Even after getting out of the bath I had the softest of skin even for days afterwards.

xxx

Review: The Body Shop Peppermint Foot Spray:

This foot spray is something I got for free with other purchases and at the time I remember thinking oh thanks a lot I'll never use this. Since then however, I've got a job when I need to be on my feet non stop and have to walk back and forth to University almost every day. To cut a long story short my feet get really painful and hot!

This product has become an absolute saviour. I spray it onto my feet before applying foot cream in bed. I The smell is almost exactly like polo mints which I quite like, but my mum hates it so I guess it's subjective. I find the effect it has on the feet is instant and they stop hurting almost straight away. I also find that it doesn't leave the feet wet and the liquid soaks in straight away which means I can use my foot cream straight away.

I honestly don't know where I would be without this now so if you're in a similar situation to me then I'd seriously consider picking it up the next time you're in The Body Shop.

xxx

Empties #7:

It's that time again, the pile of empty bottles and tubes hidden away in my room began to be too big to hide away so I figured it's time for empties number seven! 

The first thing I used up was this dry shampoo from Batiste. It's the one for brown hair which is best for me as I find that all of their other dry shampoo's are far too grey toned and don't fade no matter how much you rub them in.  

One product I've finally used up is the Loreal EverSleek serum. I say finally because this product has lasted for years! It was actually one of the very first things I reviewed. It's not a bad thing that it's lasted so long because you need so little product and it goes such a long way and lasts all day. Both me and my sister used this for years and it's finally run out. I'd definitely pick this up again if I needed a new serum. 

This is another product that has taken me an age to work through mainly because I don't use much heat in my hair. I'm not too sure whether I'd pick up this VO5 heat protectant up again though because it's quite a sticky texture and made my hair feel quite dirty most of the time.

This primer has a full review up already so I'll not go into too much detail just to say that I hugely recommend it if you have any pores or fine lines or dry skin that you feel need smoothing out before putting foundation on.

This Carbon Black mascara from GOSH is a bit of a disappointing product for me actually. I found it got dry almost instantly and left big black smudges and flakes under my eyes. I definitely wouldn't pick this one up again.

I really miss using this Vitamin E serum from the body shop. I found it did my skin so much good and never left me feeling too oily once I had figured out how much my skin needed. I've since moved on to a different serum but I would definitely buy this one again.

This Vaseline healthy hands and stronger nails cream was one of the first things I put into my empties box after finishing the last post. I remember really loving the smell and finding that it sunk into my hands fairly fast. Again this is something I have others of at the moment but would consider purchasing again.

What do you think of my empties, is there anything you've just used up that you liked? Let me know!

xxx

New Hair!

 

Do excuse the posiness of these pictures but I'm still getting used to my new camera and I do have a new do to show off after all! 

As I'm sure some of you will remember I've been growing my hair for years so to get so much cut off seems pretty drastic but it truly needed it. I haven't had any layers added and the rest of my hair is now only an inch or so away from where my old layers were in the first place meaning that probably just a haircut or two more and my hair will all be at the same length. Now it's so much healthier I can finally do some proper styles with it and I can straighten it a few more times. Who knows maybe you'll be seeing a hairstyling post or two soon? 

What do you think of my new hair? Let me know in the comments! 

xxx

Short Girl Problems:

I'm only 5ft 2" so I encounter the problems of being short on a pretty much daily basis. It used to really bother me, and don't get me wrong I'd still like to be a few inches taller but now I feel like I could write a silly post about it in good humour.

1. Everyone thinks it's hilarious to use your head as an armrest. It's not and if you're a lot taller than us sometimes it even hurts our heads.

2. Being called cute you're entire life, this is especially annoying during puberty and when we decide we want to be a woman now!

3. Being unable to go shopping without a tall person there to help you reach things. (Also any small people who work in a shop like I do you'll know it's extremely annoying dragging a stool wherever you go and the fact sometimes a queue will develop because people can't see you behind the till).

4. If someone sits in front of you in the cinema/theatre/lecture hall you're screwed.

5. When someone doesn't understand your legs physically can't go as fast as your's because their strides are so much bigger and they think you're just being slow.

6. Pulling the car seat as close as is humanly possible towards the peddles before driving.

7. If your feet touch the floor when sitting in a chair it's a genuine shock.

8. Being that kid that had to sit in the front of EVERY school photo because otherwise no one can see you.

9. Getting mistaken for a lost child when out alone (I cannot believe this has actually happened to me)!

10. The "If one more person tells me how short I am today I will have to stand on this chair and slap them" mood.

I hope you guys liked this slightly different post. If you did then let me know.

xxx

To Use in 2015:

I love my beauty products you guys know that, I'm also a huge shop-a-holic (you guys know that too), but with a lot of shopping comes a lot of hoarding and neglected beauty products. Every now and again I do a reshuffle of my beauty drawers and bring the older stuff to the top and try to get as much use out of them as possible before they need to go in the bin. With that in mind here are a few products I want to make the effort to use in 2015. 

Revlon lipstick in Wine Not. I love this lipstick and always have, but it's only now I'm getting brave enough to actually use it day to day.

Accessorize blusher in Bombshell, I raved about this blush all throughout Summer as I'm sure some of you remember. Now it's going to be getting warmer again I want to get as much use as is possible out of this because it's beginning to get old.

Soap & Glory Puffy Eye Attack is something I picked up in Summer. You get a lot more than you think you're buying with this product and it's taken me a long time to use it. It has a six month expiry though so I want to use this up so I wont be throwing money away.

Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation. I love this foundation and it looks great on the skin but it's far far too pale for me. I may start using this as a base highlight because, again, I don't want to be throwing money away.

Last but not least is the Soap & Glory Mist You Madly body spritz, I've had this for well over a year now but it's still not been used up. I like a lot and luckily the smell hasn't gone with age but I never really travelled enough to take plastic bottles around with me instead of my usual glass perfumes, however now I'm going back and forth much more and it's really getting it's use.

That's all for this post and hopefully if I'm strict with myself you'll be seeing these products popping up in empties over the year.

xxx

What Rainy Days Are For:

If you live in England like me then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Those days where you didn't really have to be anywhere in the first place but you've woken up to a torrential downpour that solidifies the fact you certainly won't be getting out of your pyjamas today. 

The way I see it though, is that we need these days. These are the days to do all those little menial jobs you've been too busy/lazy to get done. For me my rainy day was spent organising my University notes, replying to emails, filling in my diary for the next few weeks and fixing the disaster that was my extremely chipped nail varnish (with a work appropriate colour, of course). Oh, and just an episode or two of Downton Abbey, because these days are not only for getting organised and de-cluttering but also they're an opportunity to sit back with a cup of tea, listen to the rain and relax while you have the chance. 

What do you do on your rainy days?

xxx

What I Got For Christmas 2014:

I know, I know I' really late on the bandwagon for this one but hopefully you'll still want to see what Santa bought me! 

I finally got my hands on the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 107, I've been wanting this for absolutely ages so I was super happy when I opened this.

I was also given a set of three vaseline tins in the original, aloe and cocoa butter. I've said before I don't use these on my lips but instead to moisturise my eyelashes so these will certainly come in handy.

I've been asking for pyjamas for ages so I was thrilled to open these, plus anything Disney themed is more than welcome in my stocking!

My sister got me this super cute to do list pas. She knows me so well this will definitely be used up before long!

As my Cath Kidson mug from Brighton sadly broke *sobs* I was given this gorgeous one, which I have to say I actually prefer to my blue one. 

I got two small pandora charms too, the first is a plain band and he second is a cute little polar bear

My main present for the year was this beauty! I finally have a real camera! I was so grateful when I opened this because I know how expensive cameras can be. This is a Canon PowerShot SX510 HS which I have to say I have no idea what all that means but I've got something much more high quality than just my phone to take photos with now.

 Some extremely cosy socks were also waiting under the tree. I'll admit I had to stuff these back in to the packaging for this photo because I'd been wearing them!

After seeing Maleficent in the cinema all I wanted to do was watch it again and thank goodness now I can before it drives me insane! I was also given the boxset of Downton Abbey which I was super happy to get because I love the show but missed the first series.

 It wouldn't be Christmas without a mug and this one is really different from the usual ones because Santa, his sleigh and the reindeer are made to look as if they're made out of origami. 

I'm sure you guys know by now I love me a bit of vintage, and this is a stunner. I haven't actually opened up the oil scent yet but if it's half as nice as the packaging it comes in I'm sure there'll be no complaints. I love the dainty little birds.

It seems to be somewhat of a Christmas tradition for my sister and I to get a new Superdry T-shirt and so here's this years. Also I was given this super cute macaron body wash and lotion set.

One of my favourite presents of the year was this totally stunning Cath Kidson weekend bag. I was actually planning on asking for one of these for my birthday as I have been travelling back and forth a lot lately and I've just been using the same oversized old looking handbag.

I'm a huge Anna Sui fan and this year I was lucky enough to receive another one of her perfumes. This is the La Vive Boheme which of course smells delightful.

I was also given a case to go with my camera.

Another weekend bag, this time from Jack Wills and full of treats including a Water bottle, which I'll definitely be using for University. Also a body spray, a body butter, shower gel, body lotion and hand cream. 

Another stunning set of bath products came from Soap & Glory with hand and foot creams, body washes and lotions a plenty as well as face wipes, a body scrub, a lip gloss and a mascara. I think it's safe to say I won't need to go toiletry shopping for a while. 

I got some nice new studs which I was glad about since I've finally started wearing jewellery again.

That's everything I got from my parents this year. I've not yet seen my aunts and uncles but if I get anything more then I'll certainly let you know. 

Changes in EJEbeauty:

Blogging is harder than I  thought it would be, I must admit when I first started I thought it was going to be something I could use as escapism from working and revising and it was, and still is. I still love my blog with an absolute passion don't get me wrong but I regret setting myself a schedule so early on. At just over a years blogging I still see myself as one of the new kids. "EJEbeauty" is something I'd love to carry on with and I want each post I write to be the best quality it can be. Whereas before I was more interested in making sure I hit three posts a week, and then Blogmas where I was posting every day up til Christmas, I began to care less and less about what I was writing and the quality of the pictures. I would sit and hurry out a month's worth of blogposts in a day sometimes and I'm pretty sure it showed in the quality.

With that in mind I'm going back to the beginning. There'll be no schedule for a while as I was struggling to keep up with it on top of full time as well as a job where I'm working as much as I can to earn some holiday money and University work with endless hand in dates and lectures.

I would much rather put out less content for you guys and have it be high quality with good photos and well researched information. I'm going to give myself complete freedom and not make a single promise here, no at least one post a week, no schedule coming soon, just every now and again for the foreseeable future I'll pop up in your bloglovin feed. If I seem to have completely disappeared then I do apologise but I'm having to sort a hell of a lot of things out at once lately which I hope everyone can understand.

xxx