My Skincare Secret: Top 3 Tips

When it comes to skincare, we all want to see the best results from the products, methods and remedies we use to take care of our skin. There are various skin types and unique products and routines suited to each one. For example, my skin is normal to combination which means I can suffer from a few blemishes and the odd dry or oily patch. Over time and through experience I have discovered several tricks of the trade that benefit my skin and help to keep it looking and feeling its best. I'm going to share with you my secret on how I am kind to my skin which includes my top three tips on how I do this.

TIP #1: Protect Your Skin

Protecting your skin from the sun and UV rays is one of the very best ways to look after it. The sun can damage your skin in a number of ways, including burning it, aging it, causing skin cancer and more. It's extremely important to use an SPF or products with a built in SPF everyday, particularly on sunny days. Personally, I am very pale and it seems I will burn if I even so much as glance at the sun so during the summer and on days when the sun decides to show its face I always try to apply facial sunscreen at the very least. If you have drier skin then it's far better for your skin if you apply sunscreen creams as opposed to sunscreen sprays. If you want your skin to stay looking as young, fresh and healthy as naturally as possible, I highly recommend you get your sunscreens out this summer. However, instead of putting them away at the end of the warmer months, keep them within reach all year round!

TIP #2: Make-Up Free Days

I know not everyone wears make-up but for those of you who do, this is definitely something worth looking into. I wear make-up to school and to work pretty much everyday so when presented with the opportunity to let my skin breathe, I grab it by the horns! It's a great feeling waking up and thinking you won't have to make too much effort in touching up your facial appearance that day. I know a lot of people wear make-up because they feel self-conscious without it, myself included, and this idea may be daunting and seem like the scariest thing in the world but trust me, it really isn't once you get into it. Be proud of who you are naturally - you don't need make-up to be beautiful. It really allows your skin to detox and take a break from the products you would normally cover it with. I find that if I just allow myself a make-up free day roughly once a week my skin is very grateful for it. It helps my spots to clear quicker and there are no products on my face that will dry it out or cause any oiliness. Many of my friends agree with this tip too and try to take a day out of their week that they dedicate to wearing no make-up. Why not dip your toe in the make-up free pool too?

TIP #3: Removing Make-Up + Cleansing

 

I used to be one of those people who found removing my make-up at the end of the day such a chore and could barely be bothered half the time. However, times have definitely changed and I enjoy looking after my skin so much more now. I normally first remove my make-up with a make-up wipe or cleansing oil then proceed to wash my face with a cleanser, and also use a scrub twice a week. The make-up wipes I like are the Simple Cleansing wipes and the Simple Exfoliating wipes and the oil I like is the L'Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil. It's so important to remove your make-up because leaving it on overnight stops your skin from being able to breathe. Your pores can become blocked by dirt and oil. It can increase the likelihood of spots too, which no one wants! I wash my face every morning and every night with Simple's Moisturising Facial Wash or will sometimes use the Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion. The scrub I'm using currently is the Clearasil Ultra Blemish + Marks Scrub. I then tone with the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic, moisturise with the Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser and finally apply the Liz Earle Daily Eye Repair eye cream.

I hope these tips help you when it comes to taking care of your skin in the future. In my personal opinion, having healthy skin makes me feel a lot more confident about myself and if any of you are in need of a confidence boost, your skin is a great place to start! Making these little changes can really make a huge difference to your skin's well-being and appearance.

Good luck!

Hannah x

FOTD: Rose Gold Eyeshadow Look

I've always wanted to try blending eyeshadows into the crease of eyelid or attempt a fancy eye make up look but have always been far too afraid to have a go. However, I finally mustered up enough courage to take a shot at it and was actually very pleased and proud of how it turned out, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The only reason I had a brief idea of where to start was because of the brilliant Tanya Burr whose YouTube channel has given me some great ideas and inspiration to test out new make up looks. She also has a blog which makes for a fantastic read and I'm sure all of you would adore her as much as I do. Another inspiration of mine for this was Zoe from Zoella who is my favourite YouTuber and also does some lovely make up looks and also has a blog. Here's my attempt at it!

WHAT I'M WEARING:

Eyes

Mascara - Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express

Eyeshadow - No. 7 Stay Perfect in 65 Truffle

- No. 7 Stay Perfect in 50 Tender
- the two lightest shades from the New Look Eye Colour mini palette

Face
Concealer - Collection Lasting Perfecting in Fair 1
Powder - L'Oreal True Match in C2 Rose Vanilla
Blusher - Benefit Coralista
Brush - Body Shop powder brush

Lips
Lip balm - Body Shop Born Lippy in mango
Lipstick - L'Oreal Natural in 380

To create the look I started with sweeping the light neutral colour from the palette all over my lid, then blended the Tender colour over the top of that. Next I blended the darker Truffle colour through the crease and into the far corner of my eye. Finally, before applying the mascara, I highlighted the inner corner with the white shade from the palette.

I hope you all have fun playing around with this look, I know I did, and I'd love to see your recreations.

Thanks for reading!

5 Seconds of Summer Concert

On Sunday the 23rd of February I went to see one of my absolute favourite bands 5 Seconds Of Summer with one of my best friends and it was honestly one of the best nights of my entire life.

Unfortunately I didn't take my digital camera with me and I didn't want to take my DSLR to a gig because, let's face it, that's just silly, so I had to take all of my photos and videos on my iPhone. We got up super early on the Sunday morning (6:30 to be precise) and were on the earliest train we could catch by 8:45am. You'd have thought we'd be shattered but we were actually far too excited and hyped up to be thinking about sleeping. I hadn't even had breakfast because, as usual, I'd taken about 100 years to get ready so once we arrived in Glasgow the first thing we did was grab a Starbucks then headed to WHSmith to stack up on treats we could eat throughout the day to keep us going. The weather really wasn't great which sucked and neither of us really knew how to get to the venue so we ended up following a group of girls who looked like they were also going to the gig. Luckily we were right and we eventually came into sight of the venue, at which point we also saw the tour bus and had a complete breakdown in the middle of the street right in Glasgow's city centre - smooth. We eventually managed to get ourselves into the queue which was already a fair size. The venue was giving out plastic ponchos since the rain was a disgusting drizzle and the wind was getting stronger by the minute. They were very kind staff, the nicest staff I've ever come across at a gig, apart from one very rude woman who was at the front of the queue directing people around the corner to where the queue lead up the hill.

We sat and ate for a while then decided we were too cold to sit still for any longer in the crappy weather. There was a small cafe on the corner of the street called Bagel Mania. We asked the people behind us to keep our space and if they'd like anything from the place. We took an order for one tea and headed down. I swear I've never been so thankful to be warmed up by a steaming hot cup of tea! After that we got chatting to the girls behind us and made pretty good friends with them. It was really lovely to have some other people to talk to who were clearly interested in the same band - duh - and find out who their favourite members were etc. That's one of my favourite things about music and concerts, you can meet so many people through having a mutual love for a band or artist.

The day wore on and it didn't matter that the weather was getting worse because the excitement was building with every passing hour. My friend and I were both hoping to meet different people we knew from Twitter which was really cool and exciting. Although we were getting sort of fed up waiting as time was passing so slowly, we knew it'd all be worth it. We thought it'd be a good idea to stretch our legs so we took a trip to Tesco and went to the bathroom where we stayed under the hand driers for quite some time to warm ourselves up. Since our feet were wet we sat up on the sinks and put our feet under the driers too. However, it made little difference unfortunately but of course every little helps.

I noticed a lot of people leaving and coming back to the queue with McDonald's and when you see one of those, let's be honest, you instantly want one, so imagine seeing about five all at once. What would you do?! I, like any normal person, dragged my friend to the nearest McDonald's and got myself a delightful little Happy Meal. That was later followed by a Subway as I'm a fatty at heart.

Sometime between all of these trips I met one of my lovely friends from Twitter who is also called Hannah. She was so nice to speak to and it was great to finally meet her as we've been friends for a really long time. We had a couple of hugs, chatted for a bit and couldn't resist taking a selfie! Then sometime after that my friend's friend from Twitter and her friend - I know, that's a lot of friends - turned up and she was really cute and nice, as was her friend.

By now the queue was starting to move down now and we were all standing up and waiting. Eventually the time came for doors to open and oh my god we were all so excited! Once we'd rounded the corner and were getting our tickets checked, I could barely contain myself. We were finally inside and we headed to the lockers before joining the crowd. We were really lucky to be right in the middle of our row which was exactly where I wanted to be since it would be directly in front of Luke (insert winking emoji). The most disappointing thing was when everybody was in and the room started to get overcrowded people in the back of the crowd began to push forward and everyone was far too squashed. There was an insane amount of complaining and I'm sad to say it only got worse when the support act came on.

The support was called Mike Dignam and he was really good and a very talented artist. I thought he looked a little bit like Alex from All Time Low, haha. It was quite difficult to enjoy his set though as the crowd was awful and so many people were getting taken over the barrier because they'd fainted or were going to faint. When his set was over there was a lot of shouting and arguing among people in the crowd, people were continuously getting taken out over the barrier and agitation levels were high.

But then the time came for 5 Seconds of Summer to come on stage and when they did I can promise you I have never screamed so hard and loud as I did then. I couldn't comprehend it that they were REAL! It was insane. I completely forgot about the terribleness of the crowd and I was totally overcome with emotion. I couldn't cry full on because I was screaming too much and I would've had to sit down, but I was half sobbing. I was so so so happy. I made eye contact with Luke for like a whole minute and then twice more during the set. I was singing my heart out and screaming and was having the best time of my life. I made eye contact with Michael too, eeeeee!! They played some brand new songs that no one had heard before and that was so cool because we were the first ever to hear them since it was the first date on the tour. They played Good Girls Are Bad Girls which is one of my all time favourite songs of theirs. It was so emotional when the eventually came to the end of the set and finished with Try Hard.

After the gig I queued up for merch and purchased a red and white baseball style T-shirt and a pack of photos that the band had signed. Then we collected our stuff and went outside to wait for them to come out. It took over an hour for them to come out and all the while the excitement kept building. We spoke to one of the security people and she told us that 32 people had been taken over the barrier because they needed to be which was absolutely shocking, although it was believable. I mean, what do you expect to happen when you cram a bunch of very hormonal teenage girls into a small space?

Finally they came out and as we watched them walk down the stairs slowly I gripped my friend's arm so tightly and squealed. As soon as he came out Michael came straight over to us, grinning like he was genuinely happy to see us. I had my phone out and he saw and was like, "Hey! Do you wanna take a picture with me?" and I was like "yes please!" so we took a cute selfie and then he took one with my friend. I gave him my ticket and he said "Do you want me to sign it?" and I said I did. I asked him if I could have a hug and he was like "Yeah, of course!" and oh my god ahhh it was just so surreal.

I cried on the way home and I was in quite a daze the next day. It felt like a dream - a really, really, really good dream. I honestly had one of the best nights of my life there and I am incredibly grateful that I was able to go to. 5 Seconds of Summer mean so damn much to me and I'm so thankful for them and it was amazing to finally see them and meet one of them.

Thanks for reading!

25 Random Questions Tag

Question 1: Do you have any pets ? Yes, have a dog called Maisy and a guinea pig called Petal

Question 2: Name three things that are physically close to you: My phone, my English essay and the Sky remote

Question 3: What's the weather like right now ? It's been quite sunny but breezy today

Questions 4: Do you drive ? If so, have you crashed? No I can't yet so no I've never crashed

Question 5: What time did you wake up this morning ? 7am

Question 6: When was the last time you showered ? This morning

Question 7: What was the last movie that you saw ? Donnie Darko

Question 8: What does you last text message say? You?:*<3xxxxx

Question 9: What is your ringtone ? My phones on silent 99% of the time so just a vibration but the ringtone would be "Twinkle" if it wasn't

Question 10: Have you ever been to a different country? Yep, England, France and Menorca

Question 11: Do you like sushi? Never tried it surprisingly!

Question 12: Where do you buy your groceries? I don't do the shopping but I think my mum buys most of the food from Asda, Tesco and M&S

13: Have you ever taken any medication to help you fall asleep faster? No

Question 14: How many siblings do you have ? Two, both younger brothers

Question 15: Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop? Laptop

Question 16: How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 15

Question 17: Do you wear contacts or glasses ? No, unless it's sunglasses

Question 18: Do you colour your hair ? No and I never have

Question 19: Tell me something you are planing to do today: Homework
20: When was the last time you cried? Today

Question 21: What is your perfect pizza topping? I loooove meat feast pizzas!

Question 22: Which do you prefer, hamburger or cheeseburger ? Cheeseburger every time!

Question 23: Have you ever had an all-nighter ? Yeah

Question 24: What is your eye colour ? Blue

Question 25: Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? Yeah definitely

Review: Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara

Out of all the make up products there are out there, mascara is probably my favourite (if not on par with concealer) because I think it can completely transform your whole face. It can make your eyes stand out so that your eyes light up your face and people notice them. If like me your eyelashes are long but the tips are very, very light or if you have light eyelashes in general mascara will be your saviour. It not only lengthens your lashes but makes them look like they actually exist!

One of my absolute favourite mascaras has been Seventeen's Doll'd Up mascara. Seventeen wouldn't normally have been a brand I would've gone to for a mascara as I usually like to choose a well-known, highly recommended mascara but I was in Aberdeen one day and in rather a hurry and was looking for something under £10. I'd recently been using the Maybelline Rocket Mascara which I was really pleased with but when I was comparing the two in Boots I thought the Doll'd Up brush looked a lot sturdier and better and I love trying out new products so I picked it up for a mere £6.29 - bargain!

I'm not sure how high my expectations were originally but I was definitely hoping very much that the results would be more than satisfactory and I wouldn't have made a big mistake. Luckily I was relieved to find that the results were far more than satisfactory and I was actually quite (pleasantly) surprised. It gave my lashes great length and volume that lasted all day. The wand wasn't too big nor was it too small and opened up my eyes a lot making them appear a lot bigger. The brush is curved to make your eyelashes look more curled.

Overall I'm very happy with this mascara, it's a good quality product for an extremely good price. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good drugstore mascara or are on a bit of a budget. Thanks for reading!

2014 Welcome + A Day Out

I know it's almost the end of January and this post should've been written around the beginning of January and I apologise for that, but I just haven't felt motivated to write a new post. So, happy new year! I hope you've all had a fantastic year so far and 2014 is good to every one of you. 2013 was a very mixed year for me but I think in general it was pretty good. I grew as a person, I did and achieved new things, I saw some of my favourite bands live, made new friends, went new places and, most importantly, became a much happier person. 2012 was the worst year of my life and although 2013 didn't start out well for me and had its rough patches, it got better and I became okay again. I feel pretty positive about 2014 and I think it's going to be a good year. I have a couple of concerts coming up in the next two months so I'm really looking forward to them. I'm going to be 15 this year which scares because I feel like I'm really starting to grow up and I'm really not ready for it :-(. But we all have to do it at some point I guess!

Today I went to the Aviemore Husky Racing event and although it was super cold I really loved seeing the huskies and different types of dogs - they're all so cute! I got some pictures whilst I was there so I thought I'd share them with you. Hope you like them!

My dog Maisy looking slightly mad but adorable at the same time

 

 

The Hunger Games trilogy

Recently the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, has come out in cinemas and made quite an impression. I went to see it in my local cinema on the 24th November and holy crap - I was blown away by how freaking good it was! It was definitely an improvement compared with the first one which ever so slightly disappointed me. Personally, when it was said the first one would be coming out, I thought the adverts made the movie look far better than it actually was. But now after seeing Catching Fire, I'm super excited for the first part of Mockingjay to come out! Not to mention I'm now completely besotted with Finnick Odair - or Sam Clafin, I should say.

After watching the first movie, I decided to read the books since everybody was raving about how good they were and oh my god: BEST DECISION EVER.

The Hunger Games movie really doesn't do the book justice as the movie skips over so many important parts while in the book everything is so much clearer and makes a lot more sense. Catching Fire was a much better take on the book its based on but it still misses out a couple of vital parts.

The books are full of much more excitement and I promise you, you'll be hooked as soon as you've read the first chapter. They're amazingly written, well put together, interesting and extremely enjoyable books. By the end of the third and final book, I was in tears. I would definitely recommend them and they are some of the best books I've ever read.

Thanks for reading! Do you like The Hunger Games? Who's your favourite character? Let me know in the comments. :)