Blog ¦ The changing face of Blogging

Recently I've seen a whole tonne of negativity floating around the blogging community on twitter and I just wanted to take a minute out of my usual posts to talk about it. I've had my blog for around three and a half years now and in the past year or so the amount of negativity I see on a daily basis has massively increased. When I first got started blogging wasn't small however it was definitely a hell of a lot smaller than it is now. When I first got involved in the blogging community Zoella had well under a million followers and I'd never seen a youtuber bring out a product with a big mainstream brand (I'm talking Two faced, Tarte, Becca etc here) No one had books and no one had product ranges.

 

Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying these things are bad things at all. The community is changing and bloggers and youtubers are getting the recognition for all the hard work that they put in. But along with the growth of the social media influencers comes the people who hate on others. However recently I've begun to see bloggers turning on other bloggers, follower numbers become irrelevant here as at the end of the day it's just one person picking on another. I'm not saying that everyone has to get along, in a community that is now as big as the blogging community is today there are going to be people who's personalities clash and people that don't like what other people do.

 

I feel like the community has become one big competition it's now all about blog followers and page views and how many PR packages a certain blogger gets sent every week. A community that was once so supportive and so kind has now been tainted by jealousy and bitterness. I mean don't get me wrong there are still thousands of amazing, lovely kind bloggers however I feel like blogging is getting a bad rep for being bitter. I sometimes feel like the rise of blogging has had a negative impact on the community as people now feel more pressure to put out content that they feel will attract new readers rather than putting out content that they really care about.

 

 

Maybe it's just me but I sometimes wish that it would all go back to the way it was before?

 

I'd love to know your thoughts on this subject,

 

Cole xx

Beauty ¦ June Makeup

I have to say I think these monthly makeup posts are one of my favourite posts to write. I just love talking about the products that I have been loving over the past month. In May I'd been reaching for a very minimal makeup look however this month I've been wearing a little more makeup as I've had a bit more time in a morning.

 

Urban Decay Naked foundation - 0.5

 

This is still my favourite foundation and I have completely given up trying to use other bases as I just love this one to much. It's a medium coverage base with a really beautiful glowy healthy finish which looks so good on dry skin. I love this so much that I've actually ordered another one as I feel like this one is almost empty and I don't want to risk running out. On me this last so well all day and even makes it through a work day when I'm sat in a very sweaty then air conditioned then sweaty again office (Call centre workers will get me)

 

Urban Decay Naked concealer - Light Neutral

 

I love this concealer but this shade is a little too dark for me so I don't reach for it as much. I've got a little bit of a tan at the moment so I've been able to get away with wearing this shade however I definitely need to get round to purchasing Fair neutral. This concealer is very comfortable and lightweight making it the perfect summer concealer!

 

Bourjois Radiance reveal concealer - Light

 

I'm still using this under my eyes and I still really love it. For £7.99 you really can't complain, for me it's the perfect shade for under my eyes and it stays put without creasing all day. I really like it as it does a brill job of adding a bit of lightness to under my eyes and hiding my dark

circles.

 

Barry M Contour kit - Light/Medium

 

I am still loving this contour kit, as you can see I've actually hit pan on the contour shade as I pretty much wear it everyday. It's a stunning grey toned contour shade and it's a really brilliant shade for pale skin. I have actually been setting my under eyes with the matte highlight shade recently.

 

Benefit Hoola

 

I love this bronzer for a quick all over bronze. As I said I have a little bit of colour to my skin at the moment which means my foundations are quite light on me so I need a little bit of something to add some colour to my face. This is the perfect shade for adding warmth without being orange and is definitely a staple product in my collection.

 

Sleek Highlighting palette - Precious metals

 

This palette contains three really beautiful cream highlights and a powder highlight. I've been gravitating towards the white gold highlighter which adds the most stunning glow to the cheeks. It's a lot more natural than the Solstice highlighting palette also from Sleek which contains very intense shades. Although this is much more natural than the solstice palette these highlights still aren't for the faint hearted and do pack a massive punch of glow so if you are a fan of a less intense highlight I'd steer clear from these.

 

Milani Baked blush - Luminso

 

Everyone loves this blush and I can really see why, it is a beautiful peachy glowy shade which adds so much radiance to the skin. Leaving it with such a beautiful healthy glow. Using this alongside the sleek highlighters I end up with such healthy glow to my skin. I really need to get some other shades of these blushes as they are so damn beautiful.

 

High Definition Brow and eye palette - Foxy

 

I received this in my June Cohorted box and I have to say I'm a massive fan. I don't particularly like it on my eyes however on my brows I love it. I mix the middle brown shade and the black and it is the perfect shade for my brows. I am a fan of super intense brows and this really helps make them look super defined and dark. I also use the wax to set the powder on the arch of my brow as I find that is always where the colour fades first.

 

Benefit Gimme Brow - Medium/deep

 

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in every monthly makeup post since I started them but I love it and use it everyday. This tube is definitely on it's last legs but I'm not sure whether to repurchase or to try out another brow gel (I'd love recommendations if you have them) This just sets my brows really nicely and adds a little bit on volume.

 

Makeup geek eyeshadows - In the Spotlight (Foiled) and Cocoa bear.

 

You probably all know by now that I absolutely love my makeup geek shadows. I have Marlena (the creator of makeup geek) on snapchat and she was wearing this combo sometime during the mpnth and I immediately tried it out myself and love it. It's a super easy look making it perfect for college as I can do it in about 2 minutes. I just press In the spotlight onto my lid with a damp flat shadow brush and then blend cocoa bear into the crease with a really fluffy blending brush.

 

Maxfactor False lash effect mascara

 

I wasn't a fan of this mascara at first however now it's dried out a little I absolutely love it. It really separates the lashes and leaves them looking super long and fluttery and not clumpy at all. When I first opened it I found it was very wet so If you aren't a fan of wet mascaras this is definitely one that needs to be left to dry out.

 

Dose of Colours Liquid lipstick - Truffle

 

This shade is absolutely gorgeous, it's a browny pink nude and it looks so gorgeous on my skin tone (although it also looks amazing on basically every skin tone I've seen it on) The formula of these is so stunning and it sets down to the most stunning velvety finish. The wear time in these is also insane, I find I can get about 8 hours out of this before it begins to look really gross so I definitely love it!

 



So that's it for today I hope you guys enjoyed this mammoth of a post! 

Beauty ¦ Budget contouring and highlighting

I love a good contour and highlight so today I thought I would share some of my favourites with you. I feel like in the past year the high street has really upped the contour and highlighting game so it seemed only fitting for me to dedicate a post to all of my favourite products to get perfectly sculpted cheekbones and super highlighted cheeks.

 

Sleek highlighting palette - Solstice

 

This palette is so ridiculously beautiful and I just absolutely love it. This one contains 2 baked highlights, 1 powder highlight and a cream highlight. These highlights are so beautiful and intense, they leave the skin so beautifully highlighted and they are definitely fab if you love a really strong highlights. If you like a more natural highlight I'd definitely recommend the other highlighting palette I have from sleek as it isn't quite as intense.

 

MUA Undress your skin highlighters - Iridescent gold and Pink shimmer

 

These are perfect if you want to try out highlighting but don't want to spend to much, these are really pretty and look pretty natural on the cheeks. You can build them up and get quite an intense look from them which means they are super versatile as they can be used for both a natural and an intense look. For £3 I honestly cannot find anything that I don't like about the actual product however the packaging is crap and always breaks which is super annoying and means I'm incredibly reluctant to take them away with me.

 

Sleek highlighting palette - Precious metals

 

This is the other sleek highlighting palette which is a little bit less intense than the solstice palette. This one contains 3 cream highlights and 1 powder, the creams blend beautifully into the skin leaving a very beautiful sheen on the cheeks which does look very natural. The middle gold shade looks especially natural and leaves a healthy glow on the skin. These creams also make a really lovely base to put other highlighters over to make them last longer.

 



Left to right - Sleek Solstice palette 1-4, MUA Iridescent gold, MUA Pink Simmer, Sleek Precious metals palette 7-10.

Barry M Chisel cheeks contour kit - Light to medium

 

I love this contour kit, so much so that I've actually hit pan on the contour shade as I use it pretty much everyday. It is perfect for pale skin as it is very grey toned and I just find it blends beautifully and looks like a beautiful natural shadow. I must say about the other two shades in the palette are not something I use ever really, the bronzer shade is quite orange and the highlight is completely matte so they aren't products I ever reach for.

 

NYX High definition blush - Taupe

 

This is another really beautiful cool toned contour shade, so many people talked about this and I can really understand why everyone loves it. It blends really well and like the Barry M one leaves a very natural shadow. It is a little bit more cool toned than the Barry M one so it works well when I am looking super pale.

 



Barry M contour kit 1-3, Nyx Taupe
 

 Sleek Face form palette - Light

 

This palette is a nice all rounder. The bronzer is somewhere between a contour and a bronzing shade meaning that it is a really nice one to just add a little bit of shape to the face. The highlight is a really pretty champagne shade which looks really beautiful and gives the face such a pretty glow without looking super obvious. Finally the blush in this palette is absolutely stunning. It has quite a lot of shimmer in it meaning that if I don't want a highlight it's a nice one just to add a bit of glow as well as a bit of colour.

 

Zoeva Contour palette - Rose Gold

 

This palette is soooo pretty the contour is a very pale shade which is perfect for people who have super pale skin. It's one of those shades that I reach for when I want a really natural contour colour. It isn't quite as cool as I would like however as long as I blend it well I have no trouble with it look orangey. On the other hand the highlighter in this palette is definitely not natural at all. It is an absolutely beautiful white gold highlight which looks so stunning on the cheeks. Finally in this palette we have the most stunning rose gold shade. It is honestly such a beautiful shade and I absolutely love wearing it when I want something neutral but something that still adds a pop to the cheeks.

 

Collection #blushandglow palette

 

I really like the bronzer and the highlight out if here, the blushes are nice but not something I ever use however I feel like the addition of them in this palette makes it perfect for people who are just starting out with makeup. The bronzer is actually pretty cool toned and like the sleek is a cross between a contour and a bronzer making it perfect to use for a little bit of both. The highlight is the most natural out of all the ones that I have spoken about to do and is almost undetectable unless the light catches it. As you can see from the swatches below it's very faint however I feel like sometimes that's what I want if I am wearing very light makeup.

 

Left to Right, Sleek face form 1-3, Zoeva Rose gold 4-6, Collection blush and glow 7-8.

 

Beauty ¦ 5 Nude(ish) lips

I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this whole artsy blog pictures thing (It's only taken me three and a half years) Anyway without going off on a tangent todays I thought I would talk to you about my current top nude(ish) lip colours. I use ish as I'm not sure I'd quite class Mehr as a nude but I had to include it as I've been using it so much this past couple of weeks. So without further ado lets get on and talk about some lipsticks.

 

No7 Moisture drench lipstick - Honey bloom

This shade is a really lovely cool toned nude and is unlike any colour I have ever seen, despite the fact that it is cool toned it doesn't have any grey in it it's just a very cool browny nude. This one is perfect paired with a pinky nude lipliner to create that perfect cool toned brown 90's lip. Being a moisture drench lipstick this is incredibly comfortable on the lips and doesn't pick up on any of the dry patches on the lips.

Mac Matte Lipstick - Mehr

This one is the least nude out of all, it's a pretty pink shade which is fairly bright. It reminds me a lot of Revlon's Matte balm in Elusive but a little bit darker. With this being a matte I wasn't sure how comfortable it would be on the lips however it is not drying at all and feels very creamy without feeling like it's going to slide all over my face. Out of the three this is the most long lasting on the lips.

Rimmel Kate Moss the Nudes - 45

Out of the 5 this one is the most brown shade. I usually don't gravitate towards really brown shades however I am a big fan of this one. It's quite dark and not one that I reach for everyday however when I'm wearing quite a smoky brown eye to make the look really grungey. Again it's incredibly comfortable to wear and very hydrating.

Nyx Liquid suede lipstick - Soft spoken

I love a good liquid lipsticks and this is one of my all time favourites, it's quite a dark pinky brown shade and I love it as it just works so well with every look. I wear it a lot with orange shades on my eyes as it is a very neutral shade. In terms of wear I get at least 8 hours out of this one before it ends up looking a little patchy and gross. For the first 6 ish hours this does feel incredibly comfortable however due to the fact it's a matte lip cream towards the end of the wear time it does begin  to feel a little drying.

Dose of Colours liquid lipstick - Truffle

These liquid lipsticks are incredible, they dry down to such a beautiful velvety finish and they sit so nicely on the lips without making them look or feel dry. This shade isn't anywhere near as dark as the swatches I've seem look but in fact for me personally I prefer it. It's a gorgeous medium pinky brown nude and is another shade that just goes with every eye look ever.
 



Left to Right - Truffle, Soft spoken, Honey bloom, Mehr, 45