The Liebster Award

I had a little break from blogging but I'm back now and I'm kicking things off with a exciting post and news to share. I've been nominated twice for the Liebster award by two lovely girls, you can check out their blogs here : Just Kirsten and In Lindsays Shoes . I love reading other peoples post about the Liebster award and I'm very excited to participate, so thank you for the nominations.

Liebster Award Rules are as followed:

1. You have to link back to the person that nominated you.

2. You must create a post about the award and answer the questions set by the person who nominated you.

3. After completing the questions you must must nominate 11 new bloggers with under 200 followers and give them 11 questions of your choice.

4. You must let your nominees know that they have been nominated.

My first set of question are from Lindsey:

1. What are your favourite nail polishes this season?

I absolutely love Essie and Nails inc and I've mainly been wearing coral or light pastels shades. I find great nail inspiration on Pinterest and you can check out my nail art board here. I also been rocking nail caviar which creates interesting textures and is a little different from block colours.

2. What magazine or book are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading Coco Chanel The legend and the life by Justine Picardie. I'm obsessed with the life behind the brand of Chanel and love reading different accounts of her life. I would recommend this book and it has lots of lovely photographs from the past up to the present.

 3. What are your 3 favourite makeup brushes?

I have recently purchased a real techniques stippling brush and a expert face brush which I love. I think they are a bargain as the quality is really high. I also love my body shop blusher blush, I buy this every year and it has never let me down to date.

4. What is your favourite lip colour at the moment? 

This is a little tricky to answer as I like to mix and match different colours depending on what I'm wearing. The lip colour I have been reaching for most recently has been LimeCrime velvetines lip gloss in suedeberry. It is a coral gloss which dries to a matte finish and has amazing staying power.

5. What products do you use specifically for pamper nights?

I usually pull out the body shop seaweed ionic clay mask, Biore pore strips and Trevor sorbie beautifully straightened overnight repair treatment.

6. What are your two favourite hair products?

I love haircare products and have drawers full of the stuff. The things I tend to go back to are Tresemme argan oil salon sleek glossing spray and Bed Head Glaze Haze Serum.

7. If you could look like any celebrity who would you choose?

OH tough one! So many options, I would probably say Alexa Chung. Obvious choice I know but I love her style.

8. What makeup brand dominates your collection?

I would say I have a lot of Benefit products, I have loved the brand for years. The dandelion blush is my absolute daily essential.

9. Which Country would you most like to visit?

Japan, Japan, Japan JAPAN. I love everything about Japan and find the culture fascinating. I would love to go for a few weeks and experience it first hand.

10. What's your best bargain product?

Nivea Lip butter pots. They have saved my chapped lips many times and I love all the different scents.

11. If you were put on a stranded island and only got to pick one beauty product and one skincare product what would you pick?

I would probably pick a jar of coconut oil for its many uses (such as lip balm, hair conditioner and moisturiser) and a bottle of The Body Shops Seaweed scrub.

Thanks for the questions Lindsay, Now I have another set of questions from Kirsten.

1. What is your favourite thing about blogging so far?

I like sharing ideas and thoughts with others, its lovely to be part of such a nice online community and learning from other bloggers also.

2.If you could only wear makeup from one brand for the rest of time, what would it be?

OH this is another tough question, I would probably go with Bobbi Brown purely because it is the only brand that has a great selection of truly pale shades.

3.Bold eyes or a bold lip?

I would go for a bold lip over eyes, I love playing around with lip colours and have a big collection of various colours and I prefer and more natural eye.

4.What is your favourite era for makeup and fashion trends? 

For fashion trends it has to be the late 1940's, I'm obsessed with Dior's new look and find the history behind the movement fascinating. For beauty I really love the 20's flapper girl style, a simple black eyeliner lid and red lips is a look I would often go for.

5. If you had to give up buying makeup or clothes, which would it be?

I would probably give up buying clothes because you can always make them yourself. I wouldn't have a clue where to begin making my own makeup though.

6.What is your best beauty tip?

My best beauty tip is to apply a good primer and setting spray to make sure all your makeup stays in place and looks fresh.

7.How long did you wait before telling family and friends about your blog?

I told them straight away, its a passion I wanted to share and I wanted to get some feedback from everyone.

8.where do you hope your blog will take you in the future?

I'm not sure really, for now I just love being able to create post on topics that interest me and I am learning new things about blogging all the time.

9.What do you most love about yourself?

My best quality is my creativity, I love to see things from a different viewpoint and create something original.

10. What do you do if you lack inspiration?

I have an online list which I use to write ideas as they come to me. I would check there or maybe have a browse through Pinterest if I was really stuck. I find a lot of inspiring images there which helps me to think of new ideas for posts.

11.If you could get beauty advice from anyone in the world who would it be and why?

I would love to get advice from Mario Dedivanovic and learn how to contour and highlight like a pro.

My questions are:

1. What inspired you to start a blog?

2. If you could only pick one item of makeup to wear everyday, what would it be?

3. What is your skincare routine?

4. How would you describe your personal style?

5. What are your top 3 makeup items in your current collection?

6.  What is your favourite season of the year?

7. What makes you smile?

8. If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

9. What is your favourite colour?

10. What is your favourite product under £5.00? 

11. If you could offer one piece of beauty advice, what would it be?

I nominate the following blog:

retroandthrift.co.uk

mydaisychaincloset.blogspot.co.uk

urbanbeautie.blogspot.co.uk

anastasiaamour.com

megsmakeupbag.com

Passion0527.blogspot.com

lapetiteluxe.blogspot.com

thatlauriegirl.blogspot.com

amore-beaute.com

girlwithlipstick.blogspot.co.uk

beautyinfinitum.com

Enjoy girls, Charlotte x

Birchbox June 2014 - Global Strikers

My Birchbox arrived really late this month! So I had a peak at what other bloggers received in their boxes, I was a little disappointed that I didn't receive a beauty blender but I'm hoping I will get one next month, Fingers crossed. This month's theme was based on the world cup and featured products from all around the globe. I products I scored this month are....

1. Silk + Honey Shea Butter Hair Mask (England)

£55.00 Full DIY set

One of the main reasons I love Birchbox is the discovery of new brands, I have never heard of silk + honey and I do love a good hair mask. This is a deeply nourishing mask and claims to protect and soften the hair while fortifying it's elasticity. I really like this product and it does improve the texture but I don't think I would purchase this in the future, even though it does work I think there are far better masks for a lower price. The smell isn't really for me either I prefer quite a strong scent for hair products and the scent of this mask is too subtle for my taste.

2. Yves Rocher Sheer Botanical Lipstick Coral Doux (France)

Introductory Price £9.00

A coral lipstick for this summer box was a great idea, you can never have too many lipsticks and this is my favourite item in this box. It is a sheer finish with added cherry oil to keep your lips moisturised in the summer. This is more of a daytime lipstick as the finish is very sheer but does provide a nice pop of colour and I would try this brand in the future.

3.Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre (France)

From 12.99 

This is a multi-use product advertises as a nourishing moisturiser, it can be used as a make-up remover, repairing face mask, after shave cream and a baby care product. I used it as a facial moisturiser before my primer and I really liked the light texture of this cream. It is a milky formula and left my skin feeling moisturised without causing excess oil or breakouts. I would recommend this product id you have sensitive or dry skin but for my skin type, I would only really use a product like this in the colder months.

4. Opi Nail Lacquer - The Brazil Collection (Brazil)

£11.95 Full-size

I love Opi Nail Lacquer, the nail varnishes have great coverage and are highly pigmented. One drawback is that this was a small size, which I was a little disappointed with. I wouldn't buy this colour but I will be investing in a few more Opi varnishes.

5. Naobay - Body Radiance Lotion (Spain)

£14.00 Full size

This lotion is very light with a heavy lemon scent, it is a fresh organic product with shea butter, olive and avocado oils. It left my skin soft and the scent is very appropriate for the warmer months in summer. I have gallons of body lotions to get through so I won't be purchasing this but I will look into this brand further to see what else they offer.

6. Birchbox Brazil-Inspired keyring

Not much to report on this item but it was a nice freebie that fitted in with the theme of the box. Overall I am quite happy with this box, after the initial disappointment of not receiving a beauty blender wore off, I did enjoy trialing the various products. I'm looking forward to July's box and I hope it doesn't take as long to arrive as this one did! 

What did you get in your Birchbox? What was your favourite item?