WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! (and a Christmas tag!)

... I hear you ask!

I am so sorry for the ridiculous amount of time it has been since I posted on my little corner of the internet!

I was lacking in inspiration so decided to take a little break, and a little break apparently turned into several months! With the Blogger Christmas Party just a week away though, I felt it was only right to get back into the swing of things and I thought I'd do so with a little Christmas tag post :) I got these questions from a tag the lovely Sammi from beautycrush did a couple of years back.

[Me with my gorgeous friends Emma and Maria at a Christmas charity ball a couple of years ago, hanging out with an Irn Bru drinking Snowman!]


1.What's Your Favorite Holiday Movie?

This is a tricky one, because there are lots that I love, but I am a bit of a sucker for Serendipity - I know that technically it's not about Christmas, but it's set at Christmas so I think it counts :P

2. What's Your Favorite Christmas Color?

Red.

3. Do You Like To Stay in Your PJs Or Dress Up For Christmas?

Until a couple of years ago I always stayed in my pjs till after we opened presents etc, but now I like to get dressed when I get up, usually in some sort of jumper or casual dress and Christmassy leggings!

4. If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?

My mum (sorry dad, brother, grandparents and best friend!), she's the person who always worries about getting presents for everyone else, making Christmas dinner and making it special for the rest of us.

5. Do You Open Your Presents On Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning?

Christmas morning of course! Santa hasn't been yet on Christmas eve! ;)

6. Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House?

No, but I'd love to! Plan for the next few weeks...

7. What Do You Like To Do On Your Christmas Break?

Absolutely nothing but sit around, eat, catch up with friends and watch dvds :)

8. Any Christmas Wishes?

Just that everyone has a fantastic, cheery Christmas and that 2013 will be a better year than 2012 - it's been a bit of a gloomy one!

9. Favorite Christmas Smell?

Oooh I don't know... Christmas dinner cooking maybe?!

10. Favorite Christmas Meal Or Treat?

Traditional Christmas dinner with Turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes etc and any sort of dessert - cheesecake is always a favourite. Quality Street always make me feel Christmassy too though!

11. Which holiday do you celebrate?

Christmas :)

12. What are you doing for the holidays this year?

I'll be at home with my mum, dad, brother and Granny - it's also my Granny's birthday on Christmas day which makes it an even more special day! And depending on work shifts/family commitments, I'll see my best friend on either Christmas Eve or Boxing Day.

13. What's your favorite holiday drink?

Hot Chocolate :)

14. Candy cane or Gingerbread men?

Gingerbread men.

15. What's your favorite holiday/Christmas song?

Wizzard - I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day (which I'm playing as I type this!)

16. What's the weirdest gift you've ever received?

Weird, but also amazing - microwavable slippers! My circulation is a bit iffy in winter and my hands and feet tend to go a bit blue, so my mum and dad got me them for Christmas either last year or the year before!

17. Have you ever made a snowman?

Lots of times! My mum, dad, brother and I made one in Aviemore when Ross and I were maybe 8 and 10 which we were particularly proud of!

18. What is your favorite winter fragrance?

It's not really a winter fragrance, but I got this perfume for Christmas and I still love it - the original Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers perfume in Baby.

19. What is at the top of your list this Christmas? (or whichever holiday you celebrate!)

As simple a request as this is, it's the season 3 dvd boxset of The Vampire Diaries, I haven't seen season 3 yet and I'm currently rewatching the first two, I forgot how addictive it is.

20. What is most important to you about the holidays?

Spending time with my family and just chilling out at home. It's that one day a year that feels totally removed from any other sort of day, so it's just nice to spend it hanging out with the people you love. And eating EVERYTHING in sight :P

I tag you all to answer these Christmassy questions over the next few weeks :) and I'll be sure to post more regularly again from now on!

Love Lynsey x

To Kindle or Not to Kindle...

That is the question.


photo credit

It's my birthday at the end of the month (eeeek, not liking how quickly time flies, I can tell you!) and when my lovely family asked me recently if there was anything I would really really like, I instantly thought of a Kindle - but I cannot make up my mind!

I do love the feel of a proper book, but in terms of travel and laziness, I think a Kindle would be amazing! I have visions of going off on holiday with a much lighter suitcase having not had to make room for several actual books. And I might actually read on the train again rather than just listen to my iPod!

So I decided to throw it out onto the blogosphere and ask you lot for your opinion! Do any of you have a Kindle, and if so, what are your thoughts? I am oh so tempted, so any positive feedback will more than likely result in me biting the bullet and going for it - so let me know if I'm making a good decision :P


How cute is this wee guy!? photo credit

Hope you are all well :)

Lynsey xxx

The Voice Final - My Thoughts!

Alright folks, having watched the final of The Voice UK last night, I felt inspired to write something about it. If you follow me on twitter, you'll no doubt have noticed that I actually got into the show, despite the poor ratings, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on how this series panned out!

photo credit

First of all, the fact that the ratings were so low on a show that claims to prioritise talent over sob stories and drama queens, when X-Factor (which I watch, by the way, I'm not slating it!) and BGT get consistently high ratings with people like Wagner, Jedward and the many ridiculous acts that have graced the BGT stage is a bit of a shame, and says a lot about our mentality towards entertainment. I know the show was hardly edge-of-your-seat viewing every week, but considering the auditionees were all deemed talented singers, the format should lend itself far more to actually finding talented artists than some of the others. Which, since we prefer to watch Wagner warbling his way through Love Shack, looking like he's not sure where he is, and being ridiculed by Simon Cowell, suggests that the idea of finding talented singers is not exactly high up on our list of interests!

Which brings me to my second point. The Voice has been attacked by the media for it's slumping viewing figures, and seemingly boring live shows. The judges have also been criticised for not being harsh or nasty enough, which once again suggests that our primary interest in these reality shows is certainly not talent. Sure, it'd be boring to watch ten Leona Lewises being note perfect week in week out leaving the judges with nothing to say but 'Bravo', and of course a lot of the excitement comes from seeing who can step it up week on week. But I actually liked the 'team' format, and (yes yes yes, okay, we all know I have a slight crush on Danny!) but seeing how close the contestants got to each other, and their mentors (particularly Team Danny and Team Jessie) made a nice change from the in-house fighting we so often see in these competitions. I wasn't quite as fond of Tom or Will, but that's neither here nor there.

photo credit

So last night, a genuinely stunned Leanne Mitchell won the title of The Voice. First of all, let me say that I think Leanne is an amazing singer and a lovely girl. However, the fact that the majority of people online seemed to say 'who?' upon the announcement, says a lot. The one thing The Voice had was an active online following, particularly on Twitter. Vince Kidd, Bo Bruce, Tyler James and Max Milner, in particular, have incredibly loyal twitter followers, who constantly tweeted the contestants, and, what's more, these tweets were returned on a daily basis. These contestants formed a bond with the core audience of the show - while the ratings were poor, these viewers were consistent, and probably far more engaged than the majority of X-Factor viewers who tune in to laugh at Louis Walsh's ramblings or see just how long this season's equivalent of Katie Waisell can stay in for. The format needs a shake up, for sure. The half hour slot to vote (a necessity since the results show is filmed directly after the live performances) seems ridiculously short, and the 'live but not live' Sunday night results issue caused quite a stir in the earlier stages of the show. Therefore, it could be argued that the loyal fans of these particular constestants are really what kept the show going.

photo credit

Let's have a look at the finalists, shall we? Since the early favourites, Jaz and Ruth, were eliminated at the semi-final, as were Max and Becky Hill, we were left with four finalists, three of whom were not exactly your conventional 'talent show winners'. In a recent interview, Bo Bruce mentioned that at the Blind Auditions stage, she, Tyler James and Vince Kidd formed a bond, feeling like 'three insecure oddballs' in a room full of more conventional contestants, and they wondered what on earth they were doing there. Those three oddballs ended up in the final of the show, with huge online fan bases, and with their respective coaches shouting from the rooftops about how brilliant it was to have such a diverse line up of voices in the final.

photo credit

Don't ask me to explain what it is that drew me to Bo from the very beginning, because I can't! There's something incredibly vulnerable about her, and while she has one of those slightly marmite-esque voices, I loved her from day one. She has an almost ethereal sort of feel to her voice, and would normally have been totally overshadowed by bigger voices, and more confident personalities. Vince is one of the most unique contestants I can remember seeing in a show like this in a very long time. He has a distinctive voice, and an even more distinctive style, which could certainly have split audience opinion, but he proved to be incredibly well liked. And Tyler, with his (I have to say it) slightly twitchy performances, and constant use of falsetto (why Will, why not let him sing in a lower key once in a while?!) was never someone I would have imagined making it to the final, despite the fact I always really liked him as a person. And then we have Leanne, whose amazing performance of Run to You in the semi-final blew everyone away, even more so because finally she managed to get everyones attention after being overshadowed by Tom's favourite, Ruth Brown, since the very beginning. Leanne is one of those powerhouse singers, who sings beautifully, and who is a genuine pleasure to listen to. However, until the semi-final, she made little impact, and in fact, everyone suspected she would go home week after week. For what it's worth, I'm glad she made it to the final - I never quite got the appeal of Ruth's voice, even though so many people did.

photo credit

The problem is, as always happens in these types of shows, the viewing figures always go up on the final night, with 'impartial viewers' tuning in to see who has made the final cut. And when that happens, time and time again, we see the same pattern form. The conventional talent contest winner wins. And Leanne, belting out a heartfelt rendition of a Whitney Houston song, is just that. While viewers who have watched the series from the beginning could appreciate Bo's emotional performance of Nothing Compares to You, or Vince's compelling version of Many Rivers to Cross, these viewers who only tune in for the final go on the night's performances alone. And maybe that's how it should be - it is called The Voice after all! I just worry that crowning Leanne the winner when the fanbases of the other three contestants probably made up a massive chunk of the ''poor'' audience numbers from the past few weeks will rob the show of the only thing it really had going for it. Fans of these three lovable ''oddballs'' are understandably (and visably - check their twitter feeds!) gutted that the support they gave to a show no-one else was interested in blew up in their faces in one evening. I reckon the show might have retained a bit more credibility if the end result had seen another of the finalists win. And for the third or fourth time, I mean that with no disrespect to Leanne whatsoever - she sang incredibly on the night. But the show had lost such momentum by then that I'm not sure that's what the final ended up really being about. Rather than being about who is the most technically gifted singer, which the show was initially supposed to be about, it became a show about which of the singers made the strongest connection with their core group of fans. With Bo Bruce's 2010 EP Search the Night soaring to number 17 on the UK iTunes chart over the course of today [up to number 5 in the few hours since I posted this!], and Tyler James sitting at a whopping 165,400 twitter followers, there's no doubt the other three finalists will do well, and in terms of the history of these shows, the runners up usually end up doing better than the winners.

photo credit

The BBC has promised a shake up for the next series with all four coaches possibly facing the axe. It'll be interesting to see who they replace them with, considering I can't remember there ever being a coach on a show like this who seemed to care about their contestants as much as Danny O'Donoghue. But that's not what we look for, apparently! We prefer our judges to tear strips off the contestants, for our own amusement. Maybe next series they'll get Stuart Heritage on (whose liveblog makes me laugh every week) to vocalise his hilarious, but cruel, thoughts directly to the contestants faces. Who knows... what were your thoughts on the show? Apologies for the massive rant!

Lynsey xxx

My Favourite YouTubers - Madilyn Bailey

Hey guys! Thought I'd do another little 'my favourite youtubers' post! This is just a quick one today, but I have to give a shout out to the lovely Madilyn Bailey. This girl is one of my favourite YouTube singer/songwriters, and her covers are always fantastic - there are a few, in fact, that I prefer to the original songs.

photo credit

Madilyn is part of the ever expanding group of young American youtube singer/songwriters who are collaborating on amazing covers at the moment. While I am a fan of all of them, something about her voice in particular always stands out to me! Please go and check out her channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/MadilynBailey - you won't regret it! You can also find her on twitter at @MadilynBailey.

Stand out tracks:

Covers:
Eyes Open - Taylor Swift (Hunger Games Soundtrack)
Part of Me - Katy Perry
Drive By - Train (featuring Jake Coco)
Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye (featuring Jake Coco)

Originals:
Bad Habit - Madilyn Bailey

photo credit

Shu Uemura Beauty Boost Evening

Hey guys! This week I had the chance to go and spend a really lovely hour at the Shu Uemura counter in House of Fraser in Glasgow at their Beauty Boost event. I hadn't heard about the event myself, but the lovely Gemma from PinkLipstick1 on youtube (linked here) and Facekitt (linked here) had two tickets and invited me along with her :) Not having met Gemma in person before, it was the perfect opportunity to meet up with a fellow beauty addict and get a little bit pampered at one of the most luxurious makeup counters in town!

Purchasing a ticket (for free - bargainous, no?) secured you a half hour slot of the evening, which consisted of a nice glass of cava, a browse through their gorgeous products and a skin consultation with the lovely ladies at the counter. The evening was promoting their skincare range, and your little appointment slot involved a trip to the swanky treatment room where we were treated to what was essentially a mini-facial with the products best suited to our skin types. I had a nice chat with the girl from the counter (who I am almost 100% sure was called Laura, I'm putting my bad memory down to how relaxing my little face massage was!) and we talked about the funny phase my skin is going through at the moment with it's random little dry patches on my nose, and she selected the products she felt would work best with my skin.

After my time in the treatment room, the other Shu Uemura makeup artist, Mhari, was on hand to touch up my makeup (by which point Gemma was already looking very glam in her gorgeous, vibrant Shu Uemura lipstick!) and I got to try out the mousse foundation which I have been intrigued by for a while. I'm not sure it was entirely enough coverage for me, I do like a medium-full coverage and this was a little lighter, but the finish was beautiful and the texture of the product felt lovely.

And on to the expensive part of the evening - that night they were offering a goody bag worth £25 if you bought any product from their skincare line. As this is Shu Uemura, I knew this was not going to be a cheap endeavour. I am terrible for deliberating over buying products of any price, never mind ones with quite such a high price tag, so I totally surprised myself by caving and going home with a bottle of their lovely Cleansing Oil, which robbed my bank account of *gulp* £28! Never in my life have I spent so much on a cleanser. It has won the InStyle Beauty Buy Award for cleanser three years running, and really is an absolutely lovely product. I've been using it for three days now and so far so amazing, but I'll do a proper review once my skin has been used to it a little bit longer.

The goody bag included a couple of very nice products - a 13ml pot of their Depsea Hydrability Moisturiser (which Laura used in my treatment and it felt lovely) and a fancy Revitalising Firming Biocellulose face mask, which apparantly retails for £10 on it's own (oh my).

All in all I had a lovely evening, and it was great to meet Gemma in person! We're off to a little Lancome event in Glasgow in a couple of weeks which I shall no doubt blog about afterwards - hopefully I can resist the pull of their beautiful Summer collection after my splurge at Shu Uemura!

Hope you've all had a smashing weekend and thanks for reading! Have you tried any of the Shu Uemura skincare line? What were your thoughts if so!?

Lynsey xxx

My Favourite YouTubers - HeyKayli

Hi guys! This is the second instalment of my favourite youtubers series, and this week the lovely girl I'm going to be talking about is Kayli, from HeyKayli! If you are a fan of the very famous Shaytards, you'll recognise Kayli as Shay-Carl's sister in law, and Kayli now has a channel of her own, as well as being part of the popular 'The Moms View'. I only started watching Kayli's channel a couple of months ago, but I think she's doing something incredibly important with it, and that's why I wanted to share it with you guys!

photo credit

Kayli is an incredibly sweet girl who never comes across as pushy or over-confident on camera, which actually makes her such a joy to watch. To begin with, her channel was a fun mixture of hairstyling tips and crafting suggestions for parents (she is proud mum of two), and these videos still make up the bulk of the content on her channel. However, when a question popped up on 'The Moms View' asking the girls about body image and weight, Kayli made the brave decision to start a series on her own channel talking about her personal battle with an eating disorder through her teenage years, right up until she got married and found out she was pregnant with her daughter. These videos are not easy to make, and bring up some quite painful memories, but I think talking about this kind of thing, when it is such a prevalent problem in this day and age, is so important. Kayli has had her parents on to talk about their experience with her struggle, and her channel is giving a really well rounded account of how these illnesses can affect not only the individual, but their entire family too. Her videos are highlighting how vital it is to look out for signs of this sort of problem and while she isn't claiming to have any sort of magical solution, I think the very fact that someone in Kayli's position (she has over 70,000 subscribers on her channel alone) is speaking out about the problems she has faced is such a positive thing. You can see from the comments on her videos that she really is touching people, and reaching out to young girls who may be dealing with the same thing.

photo credit

Youtube is a fantastic platform to talk about your interests, your likes and your dislikes, and to make videos that will bring a smile to peoples faces, and that's an amazing thing. However, it is also a really useful platform to talk about issues close to your heart, and hopefully help other people who are going through the same thing, and I think that is exactly what Kayli is doing here. By addressing her own struggle in these videos, Kayli is bringing what is still a relatively 'taboo' topic for some people out into the open, and hopefully, by doing so, she can help just a few of the many people out there who face a daily struggle with an eating disorder. What is really lovely is that her series is progressing from discussing her own struggle, to creating exercise plans and sharing lifestyle tips, so that as Kayli herself works towards a healthier body and mind, her viewers can too. If you haven't already, check out Kayli's channel (and The Moms View!) linked below.

Kayli's Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/HeyKayli
The Mom's View: http://www.youtube.com/TheMomsView

Lynsey xxx

Once again, remember to check out my own wee channel here if you fancy it! http://www.youtube.com/user/lynseymacmakeup?ob=0

Books etc.

Hello hello lovelies! Yes, I have just used the name of a book shop as the title of this blog post because, in a nutshell, that is what this is going to be about!

I was a seriously avid reader as a child. My mum, dad and granny all used to read to me constantly, which led to me reading lots on my own, and I loved books! The later years of high school saw a slight drop in my 'reading for pleasure' what with all the work for my Highers, and then Uni came along and I got completely out of the habit of it. Sadly, I had enough to read for my film and tv course, and even more so for my comparative literature course in first and second year, so at the time of night when I used to read, I started watching youtube videos, and never really looked back!

Now, however, I want to get back into the way of reading, so thought I'd share with you the pile of books I have waiting next to my bed to be read over the coming weeks :) If you have read any of them let me know what you thought (I expect The Hunger Games will be one a lot of people have already read!)...

Top to Bottom - Cecelia Ahern - The Time of My Life, Harlan Coben - Caught, Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games, Steve Hamilton - The Lock Artist, Amanda Hocking - Switched, Craig Ferguson - American on Purpose

Also, I thought I'd tell you a couple of books I have thoroughly enjoyed over the past year or so, and ask for some tips on what to read next!:)

Firmin - Sam Savage

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. It tells the story of a rat living in a book shop, who eats his way through the novels, literally digesting knowledge, and becoming wonderfully wise, and clued up on all aspects of life. It is lovely.

photo credit

The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

This is a much more intellectual kind of read. I read a lot of Russian literature from the late 1800s/early 1900s for my Comparative Lit course, and I really enjoyed it. This one I have only read once and will need to read again to properly understand and appreciate it, but even the first time round it totally captivated me. It explores religion and politics and human behaviour all in a really interesting way.

photo credit

Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult

I'm a fan of Jodi Picoult's, I always find myself fascinated by her characters, and she tackles some really serious topics in a totally unpretentious way, which I love. This one, I read on holiday last year, and thought it was brilliant. It hasn't overtaken 19 Minutes as my favourite book of hers, but it's a close second. It explores how religious experience affects the non-religious when a single mum's young daughter starts talking to angels. I thought, even just in terms of exploring what it means to be a parent, this was a really good read.

photo credit

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me - Mindy Kaling

Have you watched the American version of The Office? If so, then you'll recognise the genius that is Mindy Kaling as not only an executive producer, and writer, on the hit show, but also one of it's stars - she plays Kelly Kapoor. Anyway, this is a sort of autobiographical book, compiled of snippets of her life, her work, and her thoughts, and it is absolutely hilarious. She really reminds me of my best friend and me in terms of the things she discusses in this book, and her sarcastic tone, so it got a huge thumbs up from me.

photo credit

I'm halfway through Craig Ferguson's autobiography (American on Purpose) at the moment and I'm loving it! He grew up not far from where I live, so it's a really interesting read.

If you guys have any good recommendations (I'm hearing a lot of good things about Game of Thrones?) then let me know in the comments! What you been reading recently? :)

Hope you're all well, and look out for my next favourite youtube channels post, it'll be up later in the week :)

Lynsey xxx

My Favourite YouTubers - Sprinkle of Glitter

Hi guys and welcome the first in my 'My Favourite Youtubers' series! And what better person to start with than my all time favourite YouTuber (which is saying something given the fact that I'm currently subscribed to a whopping 137 channels... that is quite ludicrous, I realise...)

photo credit

Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter is honestly a little ray of sunshine in my day. Whether I've had an amazingly exciting day or a really horrible or boring one, watching Louise's videos is something that will never fail to put a smile on my face. Her beauty channel is one of the cheeriest places on the internet, and her positive attitude and brilliant sense of humour come across so well on camera. She posts beauty videos of all kinds, from hauls, to reviews to 'top tens', and her vlogs with her youtuber best friend Zoe (zoella280390) are amongst the most entertaining videos to ever appear in my subscriptions box. She and Zoe have recently set up an online shop called 'ShopLouella', so go and check that out here! I bought one of their gorgeous sets of bdellium brushes last week, so keep an eye out for a review - they are amazing!

photo credit

Her vlogs with her gorgeous baby girl Darcy, better known on youtube and her blog as Baby Glitter, are lovely to watch. She's such a doting mum and it's amazing, and a privilege to have watched Darcy grow from a tiny newborn to a gorgeous one year old with quite a personailty already!

I think what is so appealing about Louise is how down to earth she is. You feel like what you see is what you get with her - she's warm, funny and the fact she is so natural means you feel like you can really trust her opinion when she reviews products! Youtubers like Louise are the ones you feel like you know the best - which seems mad when you haven't ever met! - because she is so natural and chatty on camera.

So congratulations to Louise for the continually growing success of your youtube channel and blog (both of which I'll link below). It is so well deserved :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter/featured
http://sprinkleofglitter.blogspot.co.uk/

Lynsey xx

ps speaking of YouTube, don't forget to check out the wee channel I started last month, finally dipping my toe into the youtube beauty community pond :) http://www.youtube.com/user/lynseymacmakeup/featured

My Favourite YouTube Channels - Series

Hi guys! So I've been having a wee think about new 'features' I can have here on my blog, and since I'm a bit of a YouTube addict, I think I'm going to start a little 'Spotlight on a Youtube Channel' series! This is not limited to beauty channels - I'll include singer-songwriters, vloggers etc too! I'm constantly finding new YouTubers who I love to watch, and at times when there isn't much on TV that I'm watching (which thanks to my current weekend obsessions with The Voice and Once Upon a Time leaves my weekdays pretty television free!) YouTube pretty much becomes my TV! This is really just a little introduction, as my first post in this series will go up later today! So do leave a comment below if there are any particular channels you love to watch, and let me know why, I'm always on the lookout for new channels to add to my ever expanding subscriptions list :P

Lynsey xx

Life Update: ShopLouella Brushes, my YouTube Channel and the Academy of Session Styling!

I'm so sorry, but once again I've been very much absent from my wee space here on the inter-web! Thought that I'd give you a wee quick update of my past couple of weeks!

I've been a busy bee lately, assisting at a couple of incredible photoshoots, one with ROX jewellers assisting the amazing Kat McSwein, and another for Harris Tweed working with the equally amazing Ana Cruzalegui! These shoots were spectacular, I kid you not - penthouse suites, private jets (not that I was anywhere near the private jets, but still!), buckingham palace-style houses and the most gorgeous clothes and jewellery ever. Sadly our lovely Scottish weather lived up to our expectations and it rained on both of these occasions, making for some rather hectic running around after models with umbrellas and plenty powder, but they were both amazing experiences and I can't thank the two lovely makeup artists mentioned above enough for having me :) I also worked at the Fashion of the Arts event last week, a lovely Fashion Show in Glasgow which was raising money for Yorkhill Children's Hospital. It was a great night, and the makeup, designed by my fellow academy student Kirstie Elizabeth Smith (body painting in the photo below!), was fantastic!

My wee social media related job is plodding along nicely too, I'm so excited to be getting some experience in this side of things since long term I think this is what I want to do!

In other news, I now have a YouTube channel! Yes, if you've missed it on facebook or twitter, I'll pop a link to it HERE. I finally bit the bullet and went for it - it's only taken me three years! Hope you enjoy my videos if you go for a wee look!

I thought I'd end this little update with a list of the things I've been most interested in/talking about the most since I last posted!

ShopLouella - the gorgeous Louise (Sprinkle of Glitter) and Zoe (Zoella) have started their own online shop, and I purchased a set of beautiful Bdellium brushes from them on Thursday night when their website launched! I went for the mineral set (pictured below), and they arrived on Saturday morning - less than 48hours after I ordered them! I already can't say enough good things about these brushes, and the lovely girls who I bought them from. I adore both of them, their videos together never fail to make me smile. Here's a little link to ShopLouella, definitely check it out!

Bo Bruce and Danny O'Donoughue - I may or may not have developed a slight obsession with The Voice UK. In particular, I'm just a tiny bit smitten with coach Danny O'Donoghue, and cannot explain how much I love #TeamDanny contestant Bo Bruce. As I type this blogpost, I am listening to her EP which I downloaded from iTunes the other day and it is amazing!!! I just love her voice, and she's definitely my new girl crush when it comes to her style. She looks so effortlessly cool and understated. And, what's more, she followed me on twitter when I tweeted her, someone who interacts with their fans like that always impresses me! Also, Danny's enthusiasm is so infectious, I've never seen such a supportive coach on any of these sorts of shows. He's always up on his feet, not just for his contestants, but for all of them, singing along, cheering them on and giving them really constructive feedback. You can tell how passionate he is about music. Okay, enough about that, before I get carried away and plan my wedding to Danny, with Bo performing a set at our reception.... a girl can dream?!

Nina Nesbitt - If you haven't YouTubed young Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, do it now. I'm not going to ramble on about this, as she doesn't need it, her talent stands very much on it's own two feet! Her EP 'The Apple Tree' came out last week and suffice to say it, along with Bo Bruce, is on repeat on my iPod right now!

The Academy of Session Styling - as I've mentioned plenty times before, I studied at the amazing Academy of Makeup in Glasgow, and this week the sister academy was finally revealed to the world!! The Academy of Session Styling was launched, and for any hairdressers, or makeup artists, who want to move into session styling to work more in the fashion industry, this is an amazing, and unique set of courses taught by the incredible tutors Martine Carroll and Karen McDougall. If you or anyone you know are intertested, please go and have a wee look at the website here, I can't tell you how amazing Karen and Martine are and how worthwhile this course will be for boosting skills and confidence whatever industry you wish to pursue hair-styling in!

Phew, after that ramble I better get going, lots to do today! Thanks for reading guys, hope you are all well! Let me know if you've been up to anything exciting lately!

Lynsey x

Happy Easter and an April Update...

Hi guys, long time no speak, I'm so sorry! Today I'm back with a what I've been up to, what I'm getting up to this week and 'what's coming up on the blog this week' post :)

Last week the beautiful weather we'd been having turned a bit sad and grey, so my days weren't too exciting! I did, however, have rather an exciting meeting on Friday about some work I'm going to be starting soon, so I'll fill you in on all that once the details have been ironed out and it's all confirmed :) suffice to say though I'm super duper excited about it. It's potentially the start of my own wee business venture, so all going well, it could be the start of a new career path! Ooh my, I mustn't get ahead of myself after one lunch meeting, but I can't help having a good feeling about it :) This week involves more business planning which is all a bit scary, a couple of catch ups with some of my lovely friends who I haven't seen in a while including a farewell lunch for my friend Beatrice who's moving to London next week!) and shopping for my mum's birthday.

Beatrice and I at a flat warming back in our uni days :)

Blog wise, I've got a makeup haul to do! I have bought quite a few new bits and pieces lately, including a Revlon Lip Butter and a Loreal Caresse, so I'll do a proper review of them at some point soon. I also got a couple of exciting things in TKMaxx, and took full advantage of the Boots 3 for 2 offer, so I'll get that haul post done soon :)

I've also got another make up inspirations post planned. I think I'll link this post to my Pinterest actually, because I'm getting really addicted to it at the moment, and I've got a whole albums worth of inspiring makeup images on there. I also have a YouTube Beauty board on Pinterest, which you should go and check out, I'm linking lots of my favourite videos from the beauty community on there.. this brings me to...

Another Favourite YouTube videos post. I have lots of new videos I've been loving recently, so I'll definitely do another one of those!

Oooh, I'm also on instagram now (they finally made it available for android, much to my delight)! So you can add me on there at lynseymac1, the same with twitter, hellocotton and pinterest :)

I made a new YouTube channel today *gulp* with the intention of actually uploading my first beauty video over the coming week! I'm actually really excited about it. Having been obsessed with the YouTube beauty community for about three years now, I feel like it's about time to actually participate! I'll upload a post with a link to this video if and when it goes up! I decided to make a fresh channel because I don't like the name of my current account, and considering I'm subscribed to a horrific number of channels (122 last count - yes, I'm serious!) I decided to make a new channel under a different email address, and only subscribe to my favourite beauty channels on this one - so all my favourite YouTubers (Kandee Johnson, Sprinkle of Glitter, Tanya Burr, Fleur de Force, Zoella et al!) gained the same subscriber for a second time today :) These guys actually all feature on the Pinterest board I was talking about before, which I'll link here!

Thanks for reading guys and I will talk to you all again soon!

Lynsey x

NOTD - Pastel Lilac

Over the past few days, the weather has been absolutely glorious, and I've been embracing the pastel trend like nobody's business! My nails have been no exception to this rule, and I really like the colour combination I've got on at the moment, so much as though my nails are far from perfect, I thought I'd show them to you :)

The colours I went for are actually two of my favourite nail polishes, and I highly recommend them! Barry M's No.308 Berry Ice Cream, the lilac shade from their ice cream collection is by far and away my most frequently used nail polish. It's the perfect, flat lilac shade, and with just two coats looks nice and opaque. It's subtle enough to wear on any occasion, but still pretty and pastel so it doesn't look too boring! I do love my Barry M nail paints, they are really good quality for the price, and you know me, I love a bargain! I might actually do a blog post in the next wee while on my favourite Barry M polishes, what do you think? Anyway, my accent nail is done in the beautiful shade Mystic Mauve from Models Own. I only have four Models Own nail polishes, but I think they are absolutely fantastic, and definitely plan on getting some more soon! I picked this little beauty up at Birmingham Clothes Show Live last year (you should have seen the selection of colours they had, I couldn't believe my eyes, there were what looked like hundreds!) and this is my favourite of the four I chose. It's a gorgeous metallic pinkish lilac, and with just one coat (yes, that is just one coat!) it looks gorgeous and not a hint of nail peaks through it!

Barry M Nail Paints are available in Superdrug and Boots stores UK wide for £2.99 each, and are frequently included in 3 for 2 offers, or 2 for £5 deals. Models Own can be found in select Boots stores and are £5 each. Boots is currently offering a 3 for 2 deal across all makeup, so pop on down soon, or check it out online here!

Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine, and click on the wee join this site button at the side there to get regular updates from me :)

Lynsey x

Springtime Lipsticks - The Body Shop, 17 :)

With the lovely weather we've been having here in Scotland for the past few days, I've been finding myself reaching for some pretty, candy coloured lipsticks to add a bit of bright colour to my makeup. This is unusual since (as you will soon see in the upcoming photos!) my lips are really thin, and generally speaking I leave the dramatic makeup to the eyes and keep my lips simple with just a nude gloss! But with the array of lovely, moisturising new lip products on the market at the moment, I'm finding that there are definitely some lovely lipsticks out there worth trying out. Next on my to buy list are a couple of the gorgeous and much talked about Revlon Lip Butters, which I've been waiting for since watching the lovely Allison's (amarixe on youtube/her blog!) review of them way back in November, and the L'Oreal Caresse Lipsticks, which I was swatching in Boots today and they are gorgeous!!! These lovely, moisturising and buildable lip products are becoming hugely popular at the moment, and I can't wait to try some more. Today, however, I'm going to be reviewing the Body Shop's version of this lovely product, the Colourglide Shine lipstick.

I picked up two of these lipsticks recently and I have to say, I absolutely love them! They are the loveliest formula, so moisturising on your lips and the colour payoff is actually amazing. I tend to think that products this creamy might not last too long, especially if you eat and drink with them on, but these have really impressed me - they last for hours! I ate dinner and dessert at home last night before going to visit my friend and eating a whole lot of rubbish at her house, and returned home to find my lips still lovely and pink! The high shine you find when you first apply it obviously wears off after a bit, but the colour remains fairly intense, sort of leaving a stain on the lips, but without drying them out. The two colours I picked up are labelled shades 1 and 3, and don't have names on the packaging which is a bit odd, but from checking them out online I think the two I have are cheeky coral (which is actually more of a pale peach than coral I would say) and pink flash!

I recently bought another lipstick which I'm a little bit in love with, and it's the pretty bubblegum pink shade Dreamy from 17's Lasting Fix range. The only problem I've found with it, however, is that it's a wee bit drying on my lips. So, in buying these lovely Bodyshop lipsticks, I've found the prefect solution - I'm layering Dreamy over each of them, so now have five lipstick looks for the price of three! Okay, so it doesn't change the colour dramatically, but you'll see the results below.

Swatches [L-R] Dreamy, Cheeky Coral, Pink Flash

Cheeky Coral:

Cheeky Coral + Dreamy:

Pink Flash:

Pink Flash + Dreamy:

So there we have it, three lovely springtime lipsticks to brighten up my makeup on a sunny day! The 17 Lasting Fix lipsticks can be found in Boots for £4.29 (and Boots have a 3 for 2 across ALL makeup at the moment!) and the Colourglide Shine lipsticks are from The Body Shop and retail for £9. I got mine for the introductory price of £7, which I have to admit I think is more reasonable, £9 is definitely on the high side when the Revlon Lip Butters and the L'Oreal Rouge Caresses are just £7.99 each, and in the 3 for 2 just now! I love these lipsticks, I really do, but I'd say £9 is a wee bit too pricey when there are a lot of other comparable products out there retailing for a couple of pounds cheaper! What do you think? Have any of you tried the Revlon Lip Butters yet (can you tell I'm excited to pick a couple up next time I'm in Glasgow!?)? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to subscribe :) Hope you're all well!

Lynsey x

ps do excuse my much needing cut hair in the above photos, my fringe is getting totally out of control, I must get to the hairdressers! x

A bit about me....

I realised that despite posting a plenty on this wee blog over the past couple of months I've never really done a 'get to know me post', so I figured I would do that now!

First and foremost, obviously, my name is Lynsey! I live just a short train journey outside of Glasgow in Scotland, and I'm 22!

This is me, on holiday a couple of years ago, and this is a photo you will see on pretty much every social media outlet of mine as it is one of the very few I am quite happy with - I'm a nightmare when it comes to photos of myself, I'm ridiculously pernickity!

I still live at home with my amazing set of parents, who couldn't have been more supportive, encouraging and also hilarious throughout my 22 years so far, and a 20 year old brother who, much as though it pains me to say it, I cannot imagiine having grown up without! My mum and I are ridiculously close, and, for as long as I can remember, have set aside a wee portion of the day for a cup of tea, a cake and a daily dose of our favourite australian soaps Home & Away and Neighbours! I went to primary and high school in my home town, and was quite the studious wee thing. I still have a handful of amazing friends from school, who I am so glad I still have in my life :)

Anyways, high school led on to uni and I was lucky enough to go to Glasgow University in 2007 to study an Honours degree in Film and Television Studies. Even luckier was that my very best friend was doing the same course :)

Let me tell you a little bit about us ^. Emma and I went to the same nursery, primary school and high school, and managed to avoid really being in any classes together until fifth and sixth year of high school, when we found ourselves in drama and advanced higher english classes together. Our absolutely ridiculous sense of humour is probably what initially brought us together. You know those people who laugh at things that make absolutely no sense to anyone else, and say they know exactly what the other is thinking? That actually is us. To the point that I can tell exactly when something is bothering her from whether or not an exclamation mark is out of place in a text. After five years or so of spending the majority of our time together, I literally don't know where I'd be without her. She's a gem :)

Uni was a fab time, I absolutely loved my course and made some smashing friends there.

So, much to our dismay, our time at uni came to an end last June, when we all graduated and moved on to bigger and better things...

And in October 2011 I studied a two week course at the amazing Academy of Makeup in Glasgow. Not sure what I wanted to do film and tv wise when I graduated, one thing I'd always known was that I love makeup, and the art of doing someones makeup, so discovering this fantastic new Scottish makeup school in the centre of Glasgow, which opened up just a few months before I took my course seemed like fate!

Since completing my course, I have been involved in more makeup events than I can remember, and have met some really inspiring people. Sara Hill, the academy director, is one the most amazing women I've ever met, and she, along with the incredible Ana Cruzalegui, Kat McSwein, Sophie Edwards, Karen McDougall and Martine Carroll, strive to inspire and encourage all of their students both during your time at the academy (even if it's just a one day Masterclass) and after you have completed your course. Here are a few snaps of some of the events I've worked at (top to bottom) Birmingham Clothes Show Live with Kimberly Wyatt and Laura McComiskie's makeup brand BM Beauty, the Academy Bloggers Event, a Specsavers contest with Gok Wan and the Scottish Style Awards!

This is a very picture filled post, I realise! Anyway, it's now March 2012 and with a fair bit of makeup experience under my belt, I am still working away at my part time job and building up the assisting jobs/makeup experience. I am, however, incredibly caught up in the ever expanding world of social media beauty and fashion, and that is the area I really hope I will end up making a career out of. With a couple of things in the pipeline where that's concerned, I'll hopefully build up some experience in that side of things over the next wee while. The future, in regard to that, is all very open and exciting, and I will be sure to keep updating this blog along the way :)

As a final thought, here are a few of my favourite films, tv shows, musical inspirations etc, the usual get to know me things!

TV Shows - Lost; 24; Veronica Mars; Being Erica; Gossip Girl; Gilmore Girls; The Vampire Diaries; Prison Break; Home and Away; Neighbours; Parenthood; Ugly Betty; Lipstick Jungle; Flight of the Conchords; Arrested Development; Black Books; Green Wing; Ellen; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson - I will happily chat away for hours on end about ANY of the above!

Films - I'm not good at picking my favourite films, so I'm simply going to say if it's a good rom-com, a well thought out (but not gory) thriller or a comedy of the non-slapstick variety, I'm usually sold!

Music - my taste is crazily wide, but as I just booked tickets for her Glasgow tour date in May, I'm going to give a special mention to Marina and the Diamonds as a stand out of the moment!

YouTube Beauty Channels - Sprinkleofglitter, Pixiwoo, Pixi2woo, FleurdeForce, zoella280390, kandeejohnson, MakeupGeekTV, KlairedelysArt, gossmakeupartist, lisaeldridgedotcom, ViviannaDoesMakeup, SWalkerMakeup, gemsmaquillage and so many more I'll have to stop myself here!

Thanks so much for reading guys, and I hope this lengthy post helped you get to know me a little bit better!

Lynsey x

^For sheer entertainment value, I thought I'd include this photo of me and my friend David on a uni night out last year. This is one of the many many photos which exist of me making a ridiculous face, and as manic as I look, it always makes me laugh :)