Half-Year Beauty Resolutions

So, the first 6 months of 2013 have completely flown by. I never really set myself any resolutions at new year so I thought I'd set myself some 'half-year beauty resolutions' for the second 6 months of the year. I had planned to post this right at the end of June/on the 1st of July but that would require being organised and that is one thing I am definitely not. Better late than never...

1. Always carry out my skin care routine

No matter how tired or just plain lazy I am, I really need to stop hitting that snooze button (many, many times) and get up and give my face a little TLC. My skin will thank me.

2. Moisturise morning and night

Same as above. I usually do in the morning but my skin is still generally quite dry and I want to make sure I moisturise it every night too. I do notice a difference when I actually bother to do it, so I really should make an effort to keep it up. I may even have to invest in a night cream (any excuse to shop). Any recommendations?

3. Cut down on the amount of heat I use on my hair

...and when I do use heat, use protection ;) when I was at school, I used to straighten my hair pretty much every day. In the last couple of years I've gt better at cutting down the amount of heat I use (this is mostly due to the fact I used to work in McDonald's so had to shove it in a bun and wear a ridiculously sexy hat so there was really no point making any effort). I now work in a more office-y job so can't get away with this but I still want to continue using as little heat as possible for obvious 'hair health' reasons.

4. Get regular hair cuts

I hate the hairdressers. Being an awkward person it is not an ideal situation and it is not one I enjoy therefore I avoid it as much as possible. As well as that, getting regular haircuts can actually add up to be quite expensive but it really has been far too long since I last got a hair cut and I need to try and get into the habit of getting them more often to keep my hair in as good condition as possible.

5. Don't over-wash my hair

I used to wash my hair ever day. In the last few months I've mostly cut down to every other day but there are some times where I still wash my hair two days in a row.

6. Eat more healthy and drink water

I don't think this one really needs much explaining does it? A healthy diet is beneficial in so many different ways and can help improve skin, hair, nails... everything really! I particularly want to cut down on the amount of fizzy juice I drink and drink more water (well, maybe diluting juice...)

7. Get more exercise

Recently I've been getting more into exercise so I want to keep this up and build on it even more. I've been walking to and from work everyday but have also been doing a few different work out routines. There are some great ones on YouTube (which are ideal as they are obviously free). My friend and I have also been enjoying a few long walks with my dogs recently near where we live and may try and build up to a jog soon (we'll see how that goes).

8. Tidy room, tidy mind

This one may seem a bit random and not exactly 'beauty' related but it actually is! I definitely get a better sleep when my room is tidy compared to when it is messy. This obviously leads to less eye baggage and zombie-like states and makes getting ready in the morning a whole lot less stressful!

9. Always use a base coat

I am always wearing nail polish but I usually just use a normal clear polish as a base coat or skip this step all together. I need to get myself a proper base coat to avoid staining my nails. It will also help to protect and just keep them in an all-round better condition.

10. Always take off my make-up

Most of the time I do stick to this one but there is the odd occasion where i'll wake up with my eyelashes all stuck together and black panda eyes and realise I accidentally fell asleep with my make-up on. Beautiful. As I'm sure you all know it is so bad for your skin to do this so my skin usually breaks out afterwards. No matter how tired I am or even if I'm been on a night out I will try and always take my make-up off.

Can you believe that's us half way through 2013?
Will you be setting yourself any 'half-year resolutions'?

Thanks for reading. x

The Beauty Blogger Tag

Hey bloggers! 

I’ve had a really busy week and didn’t have much time to prepare this Friday’s blog post but I still wanted to put something up so I thought I’d go for something fun and simple – a tag! It's quite a long one but I hope you enjoy and let me know if you do it too so I can check out your answers!

The Questions:

 1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

Neither really. It’s kind of wavy/flicky/rubbish. More straight than curly though. I would love naturally curly hair but despite eating all my crusts it has never happened!

2. What is your natural hair colour?

Brown. It was blonde when I was little but as I got older it got darker.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

I dye it myself. I first box dyed it when I was like 15/16 and have ever since. It’s currently a reddish-brown colour. I’ve never dyed it any extreme colour just various shades of brown (ooh how thrilling) but when I was 12 I did get the ends dip-dyed pink. Such a trend-setter…

4. Do you wear the same style every day or do you change it?

Is this still talking about hair or is this clothes now? Hmm…

5. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I just paint my own nails. I’ve never had them done professionally.

6. How often do you change your nail polish?

About once or twice a week. I’m terrible when it comes to maintaining nice nails. I bite my nails and go for days with chipped nails polish. I do like painting my nails but then I get impatient and can never be bothered to wait for it to dry.

7. Do you polish your toes in winter or just in the summer?

Just summer usually. Not that we really get a summer in Scotland anyway… 

8. How long does it take for you to put on your make-up?

When I’m getting ready for work I probably spend like 10 minutes. For more special occasions and night outs and stuff I’ll spend longer. 

9. What do you do first, face or eyes?

I usually wake up late for work so for eyes I only wear mascara. When I’m doing this I’ll do my face first. When I’m actually making more of an effort and wearing eyeshadow and eyeliner, I’ll do that first.

10. Do you collect make-up or just buy what you need when you need it?

I do both really. I do have more make-up than I need so I guess I collect in a way but I don’t buy things I know I won’t use.

11. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Never! I think they’re gorgeous but I can’t do them to save myself.

12. Do you do a full face of make-up every day?

Yeah usually unless I’m not going anywhere.

13. Do you wear make-up when you are home alone or with family?

If I was just staying at home all day then no I wouldn’t bother doing my make-up.

14. Will you leave the house without make-up?

Yeah I could and sometimes do. I prefer not to though. 

15. How many high-end products do you have?

I’m not sure how many exactly. I have a few but I definitely have much more drugstore products than I do high-end.

16. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

For work I decide what to wear the night before cause I pretty much always sleep in so don’t have time for that in the morning. 

17. How often do you change your handbag?

I have a couple of bags that I switch between regularly just depending on what outfit I’m wearing that day.

18. What time do you get up and go to sleep?

I try to get up for work at about half 7 but it’s usually more like 8. Most days I got to sleep at like midnight but sometimes I accidentally stay up till 1 or 2 then hate myself in the morning!

19. Do you work out? How often?

I don’t specifically ‘work-out’ that often although I do exercise. I walk to and from work most days which is about 20 minutes each way. I am going to try to start working-out though as I definitely think it’s a good habit to get in to.

20. Left-handed or right-handed?

Right-handed. 

21. How tall are you?

I’m not sure exactly but I am pretty tall. About 5 ft. 10 maybe. 

22. Do you speak a foreign language?

I learned French in school for years but I can barely remember any of it. 

23. How many pets do you have?

I have three dogs. Two live at my mum’s house and one lives at my dad’s. 

24. How often are you on Blogger?

I check Blogger pretty much every day although I only post twice a week. 

25. Do you read comments on blogs?

Yeah :) I read every comment posted on my blog. 

26. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

I don’t actually keep like a physical list, just a mental one! 

27. How did you come up with your blog name?

I just randomly thought of it and it seemed appropriate. I’d thought of a few I wanted before this one but they were all taken.

28. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

At the moment I just use a little digital camera I have. It’s a Nikon Coolpix S3300. It’s an alright camera but I am hoping to buy a better one at some point. 

29. How often do you clean your house?

Not often enough! My room is usually quite messy but I’m not as bad as I used to be. 

30. What is your favourite colour?

Probably purple of blue. Recently I’ve been really liking burgundy too. 

31. Do you swear?

Yeah. I think I swear more than I realise. I’ll just blame it on the fact that I’m Scottish… 

32. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Well right now it is 00:08 (although I’ll schedule this post for the morning) so I’m just gonna go straight to bed after this. 

Do we have any answers in common? 

Thanks for reading.

Glamour Fast Beauty App

I'm always looking for new apps to try out when I'm bored and I thought I'd share one of the beauty related apps I found since we all have that interest in common. Many magazines have realised apps and this one is from Glamour. I think it's been out for a while but I've only had it for a few weeks and best of all it was free!

The first section of the app is 'Get the Look'. As the name suggests, it gives you tips and tricks on creating classic looks such as the red lip and smokey eyes. Each look has a short video which takes you through what to do and what products to use. As someone who loves watching make up tutorials on YouTube, I have loved browsing through the videos.










'Update your look' is the next section of the app. It gives you a step-by-step guide on achieving trends such as  'The Coral Lip' and suggests different products that would be perfect to use.

You can then add the products suggested  in the how to guides to your wishlist. I've found this to be a good way to create myself a little shopping list for the next time I'm in Boots or Superdrug. The picture help so you know what to look out for and it gives you a price so you know what you can expect to pay. When it's added to your wishlist you can also click 'purchase' which will take you to a website where you can buy the product if you want to get it online. 

What are your favourite beauty apps?

Thanks for reading.