Paul Mitchell Christmas Event 2013!

On Wednesday night I was lucky enough to head along to the swanky Malmaison hotel in central Glasgow for a little blogger event hosted by the lovely Sarah from Paul Mitchell.

I arrived a little early and enjoyed a cocktail and one of these adorable mini burgers with Sarah, while we had a chat and waited for the others to arrive. She talked me through the Christmas catalouge which has a lot of really interesting products in it! She had also brought along a couple of their cult Tea Tree products, and a selection of their Christmas gift sets, which have the cutest packaging!

I went home with the ''Let's Get This Party Started'' set, which includes a full size Awapuhi Shampoo, The Detangler Conditioner and Sculpting Foam. I cannot wait to try these out and will definitely pop a review up once I have tested them out for a while!

Thanks so much to Sarah and all at Paul Mitchell for inviting us along - some of the Christmas gift sets are absolutely adorable and I was really impressed with the cruelty free aspect of the brand - Paul Mitchell plants enough trees to offset the carbon emissions the company produces and none of the products are tested on animals. I had a lovely time at the event and will definitely be popping on to the store locator on the Paul Mitchell website so I can go and take a closer look at the rest of the range!

Thanks for reading! :)

What a Difference a Year Makes (a 2013 Life Update!)

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A wee bit of a philosophical post for you today guys :)

At the start of 2013 I was feeling pretty unsettled and needed a change in my life. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but I wanted to do something exciting, and travelling was the first step.

Chilling in Erinsborough ;)

As you saw if you read my blog back between March and May, I had an INCREDIBLE time in Australia. While I was there I realised so much about myself. I gained confidence I didn't know I had. I realised that I love discovering and exploring new places, but living far away from my family and friends just isn't an option for me - my favourite people are always going to be my priority! I also figured that that little adventure was the perfect way to finish off my years of total freedom before coming back and getting a ''proper job''.

The reality was ever so slightly different though. In the two months I was in Australia, the job situation back home didn't exactly change, and getting a full time job doing anything never mind something I was remotely interested in was proving to be near impossible. Which became incredibly stressful and frustrating. After starting a part time job in June I knew it wasn't enough and I needed something more. Every interview I had said ''we really love your passion and ideas for digital marketing BUT you don't have any marketing qualifications''. It was that awful catch 22 - you can't seem to get a job without previous experience, degree or not, but experience alone isn't enough either. Going back to uni to do a Masters was always something I wanted to do at some point, but until the summer I hadn't thought that point was now.

And now I'm in the midst of my first term doing a Masters Degree in International Marketing. Is it a lot of work? Yes? Am I currently typing this blog post and avoiding reading yet another article about Competitive Advantage? Absolutely yes. But would I change the decision? Not in a million years. I love being at uni, and I'm incredibly lucky to be in a position to be able to go back and study. Obviously I'm pretty sure this is something that will get me a good job in the end - I wouldn't be doing it otherwise - but having the chance to be back in an educational environment and learning new things and meeting new people feels great.

View of the library from where I'm currently working...

The point of this post really is just to reflect a wee bit on how much has changed in the past year. I have a horrible obsession with time (just ask my best friend!) and how quickly it passes by, and so if you had told me in October 2012 that within a year I'd be in the midst of a Masters Degree and have flown to the other side of the world on my own and travelled around for a couple of months, I'd never have believed you. Add to that the impact blogging more regularly has had and the lovely friends I've made through that, and it's safe to say things are looking just a tiny bit different!

So it's true what they say. A change is as good as a holiday. I have no idea what the next year holds, but I'm excited. It's crazy how you can sometimes find yourself on an unexpected path and realise it was the best thing for you, so if you're at a point in your life right now when you're not sure what comes next, try not to freak out. Life is rarely ever perfect, but things have the strangest habit of starting to fall into place without you even realising it <3 Thanks for reading - here's to the next adventure, whatever and whenever it may be!

Favourites of the Week #18

It's been a while but I decided it was time to do another weekly favourites!

Track of the Week
Bring me the Night - Sam Tsui and Kina Grannis

You know me - I love a bit of romantic, cheesy music and I love my YouTube artists, so what better combination than this adorable song from Sam Tsui and Kina Grannis! This song made me smile the first time I heard it and I put it on my iPod right away, I've have listened to it a ridiculous number of times since!



Album of the Week
One Republic - Native

This album came out in March of this year but for some strange reason (despite being a One Republic fan) I only downloaded it a couple of weeks ago - it is amazing! Standout tracks for me are If I lose Myself and I Lived (linked below) but the whole album is lovely.



TV Show of the Week
Friends

I've been rewatching season 6 of Friends (oh how I miss it from E4!) and will never, ever tire of how good it is. My friend Lynne recently did a ''Top 5 Episodes of Friends'' post and I'm really tempted to do my own version!

Film of the Week
The Hunger Games

In preparation for the release of Catching Fire next month I rewatched The Hunger Games the other day. I know some fans of the book weren't keen on the film version, but speaking as a huge fan of the book series, I loved it! I cannot wait for the next instalment :)

Beauty Product of the Week
Bourjois Effet 3D Lipgloss in Corail Idylliic

I really, really love this lipgloss - I've raved about the range before, they are super moisturising, not too sticky and give a lovely wash of colour to the lips, but this shade in particular is gorgeous. I picked it up in Boots last week because they had a couple of pounds off it in some sort of offer, and I'm so glad I did!

Book of the Week
Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus

Much to my shame, I'm still on the same book I was reading in my last weekly favourites, which was ages ago! This book really is good, but I've been so snowed under with uni work that I just haven't had enough time to get through it - when I do finish it though I reckon I'll do a proper review because I really like the way it's written, and the story is great!

YouTuber of the Week
Angie - Goldiestarling

As it's almost Halloween I couldn't not include Angie as my YouTuber of the week. Her Halloween makeup tutorials are absolutely incredible, she's such a talented makeup artist and I love her videos! Check out some of her best looks (up till last year) in the video below! This year she's done a lot of amazing special effects makeup on her channel, so definitely go and have a look at her recent videos too!



Website of the Week
YouTube

This week I've been obsessing, once again, over some of my favourite ''comedy'' youtube channels like BadLipReading, Bart Baker and ScreenJunkies. If you're feeling a bit fed up and want to watch something entertaining but can't be bothered with a full length comedy tv show or film, get yourself over to some of these channels and you're guaranteed to be laughing within minutes!

Style Icon of the Week
Zooey Deschanel

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I absolutely adore Zooey Deschanel. Not only is she my style icon of the week, but she's just my ''overall nice person'' of the week. Her website Hello Giggles is one of my favourite websites, and in this interview with Marie Claire she talks openly about her determination to help teenage girls by tackling the issue of bullying in her work on the website. I also love New Girl more than I can say. She's an all round good egg this one. And beautiful too.

What have some of your favourite things been this week? Let me know in the comments! :)

Thanks for reading!

7 YouTube videos you'd be mad to miss!

Hi everyone. I'm Lynsey. And I'm a YouTube addict.

I think we all know I have somewhat of an obsession with the world of YouTube and the people who inhabit it, and so this Wednesday I thought I'd share with you seven (my lucky number!) of my favourite YouTube videos of the moment! This doesn't necessarily mean that they were uploaded this week, but I have watched them all at least once over the past seven days! After a wee chat with some of my lovely blogging friends last night about certain YouTube channels we love, I thought this was the perfect time to post this!

So, without further ado...

1. Blurred Lines Parody - Bart Baker

This really needs to introduction... I literally can't get it out of my head.



2. Falling Slowly (cover) - Becky CJ

Love this song and love this girl. Enough said.



3. One Direction Shadow Pico Trailer - BadLipReading

My best friend Emma and I absolutely love this - we literally cried laughing the first time we watched it!



4. Drawing Ian Somerhalder - Heather Rooney

I am so jealous of people who can draw well and this girl is brilliant. I picked Ian Somerhalder (for obvious reasons!) but her other drawings are phenomenal too!



5. HOW TO PROPOSE - Daily Grace

I had to include one of Grace's video and I loved this one so much...



6. Rabbit/Hare Keeps on Running

My brother directed me to this video last week and it is hilarious - the commentary makes it!!



7. Face in a Face Halloween Tutorial - Promise Phan

And, since it's almost Halloween, here's some inspiration for you. This girl is amazing, have loved her videos for ages - wish I could do this!!



Hope you enjoyed that guys! Leave me links to some of your favourite YouTube videos in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! :)

Dinner at the West Port Hotel, Linlithgow!

What's the perfect way to end a hectic day of classes at uni? Dinner with some of my favourite girls, you say? Well on Thursday I had the pleasure of doing just that, and headed to Linlithgow to sample some of the amazing foods on offer at the newly refurbished West Port Hotel.

Greeted at the door with a lovely wee glass of wine, I instantly felt at home in the hotel. It has a really welcoming, cosy atmosphere but the recent refurbishments have given it a really classy vibe. The staff on hand were all extremely friendly and when ten of us ended up attending they instantly reorganised the table to fit us all in! The night then consisted of tasting platter after tasting platter of some of the incredible food from their menu. Starting off with various italian meats and fresh fish (we all know I'm not a lover of seafood, but the girls said the crayfish and mussels were delicious!), breads and some AMAZING stuffed peppadew peppers, we were then treated to a variety of their small plates and main dishes. The Moroccan Lamb Stew was delicious, and while the Flamegrilled Cajun Chicken burger I sampled was a wee bit on the hot side for my taste, the Gourmet Beef Burger some of the other girls tried looked absolutely amazing!

One of the highlights for me was the Tempura Chicken with a Sweet Chilli Dip. I've never eaten Tempura before (my knowledge of this dish is inextricably linked to a daft Catherine Tate sketch from years ago!) but I would go back and order that again in a minute! The chicken was, as Laura repeatedly put it, so succulent, and the batter was really light and tasty. This was definitely a winner for me!

Finally, it was dessert time (my favourite time!), and I wasn't let down! The profiteroles were fantastic, really light and with an amazing flavour, and the cheesecake was gorgeous. As we all know, I'm a cheesecake lover, and this one was a total hit. The buzz around our table when these desserts arrived was hilarious.

So a few glasses of wine and a several amazing courses later, I jumped in a taxi with Jade and Lynne and headed for the train. I had an absolutely lovely night at the West Port Hotel and can't recommend it enough if you're looking for somewhere in the Linlithgow area to go for a meal. The service was fantastic, the food was beautiful and as always I had a great time catching up with some of my favourite girls after a busy day at uni.

So thank you so much to all at the West Port Hotel for a lovely evening! I found that photo of the ten of us on their twitter, which you can check out here if you're interested!

Let me know if you've tried out anywhere new for a meal recently :)

Winter Wishlisting...

Today the temperature took a definite dip and it felt like winter might be upon us! So, with that in mind, I couldn't help doing a bit of wishlisting! Who could resist jumpers with cute woodland animals, cosy scarfs and pumpkin mittens?!

Cream Sequins Robins Christmas Jumper - New Look - £24.99

Scalloped Bracelet Set - Forever 21 - £10.65

ASOS Pumpkin Convertor Mittens - ASOS - £10.00

Raccoon Knit Sweater - George at Asda - £16.99

Bonjour Embroidered Beanie - Topshop - £12.00

Knitted Tube Scarf - H&M - £6.99

Gold Fox Head Ring - New Look - £3.99

Shell Pink Popcorn Lightweight Oversize Top - New Look - £14.99

What are some of your picks from the high street this autumn/winter?

Thanks for reading!

This Autumn/Winter I'll Be Watching...

Having just uploaded my Top Ten of Dexter video this week, I'm still in the mood to discuss film and television (when am I not!). So today I thought I would put together a little list of some of the shows and films I'll be watching this Autumn/Winter!

TV:

Breaking Bad

I'm FINALLY going to start watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. Yes, that's right, I've waited till right after it has finished to get around to watching it, which means spoilers are everywhere!!! Must avoid reading anything about it if that is at all possible...

The Vampire Diaries Season 5

We all know how much I adore this show - I can't believe season 5 is upon us already, how did this happen?! I also really want to start watching The Originals but I have no idea if there are plans to air this on ITV2 - does anyone know?! I get the feeling Elijah might not be around much in TVD from now on, so got to keep seeing him somehow ;)

Modern Family

I've been working my way through season 1 of Modern Family and loving it - I watched a few episodes when I was in Australia, my aunt, uncle and cousins regularly tune in, and it was the first time I'd seen it. If you haven't seen it and think ''typical, overhyped US sitcom'', you'd be wrong! It's really clever and funny and I'm thoroughly enjoying the first season.

The X-Factor

There is no point whatsoever in me pretending I'm not going to watch the X-Factor. Every year I say ''I will not be sucked into this again'', and every year I spot someone I like and that's it - I'm hooked. Also, there's a contestant from my home town in the live shows this year - IMAGINE he gets to the final three? We'll have the X-Factor parade marching through the town centre!

Films

Not Another Happy Ending

Looooooooook, it's Henry Ian Cusick, a.k.a Desmond Hume from Lost, one of my favourite characters of all time! Also, this film stars Karen Gillan who I really like, and from what I can tell it's a cutesy rom-com with a bit of a twist - this is a no brainer for me. I haven't read any reviews, so it might be dreadful, but I'll go and see it anyway!




Veronica Mars

I know this one doesn't come out till 2014, but I'm just too excited not to include it!! Veronica Mars is one of my favourite tv shows of all time, and Kristen Bell is quite possibly my favourite actress (she, Emma Stone and Sandra Bullock would probably tie!). I am so thrilled they finally got to make a movie out of such an incredible show, and I can't wait to see the cast back together again.



AND FINALLY...

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to this film. I am a huge, huge fan of The Hunger Games series and Catching Fire is an amazing book. I loved the first film, and think the casting was spot on, so I've been looking forward to this since last year!



Hope you enjoyed that little run down of my viewing material for the next couple of months - I'm sure other shows will pop up on tv that I'll love, and there will more than likely be trips to the cinema to see more than just these three movies, but I'll just have to keep you posted on that!

Thanks for reading guys, and thanks so much to everyone who follows my blog - I hit 200 followers here on GFC today and I'm so thrilled. A big, big thank you to each and every one of you ❤

B is for Blogging!

What else could the letter B really stand for?!

I started this blog (under another name!) way back in 2010 and posted once. This was followed by an equally abysmal two posts in 2011, and it wasn't till 2012 that I started posting regularly! My posts were essentially condensed essays, discussing my favourite tv shows, and I never really thought blogging would change my life in any significant way.

For the first few months of 2012 (during which I started my YouTube channel too!) I posted on my blog every week. By the middle of the year though I had let things slide, and I didn't record a video or upload a post for months (I'm not entirely sure why either!). When I made the decision to go to Australia last December though, I realised I wanted to blog more regularly in the lead up to my travels, so that I was already in the habit of uploading posts when I went on my adventure. I wanted to document it all here, and I'm so glad that I did.

My wee Kangaroo pal - isn't he sweet!?

My little corner of the internet had about four followers (three of whom were my real life friends!) for a really, really long time. It seriously blows my mind to see that there are now almost 200 of you here on GFC, over 200 on Bloglovin', and that my little rambles here have had over 30,000 page views - it's insane! Blogging itself can sound like such an isolated thing - sitting at home typing away on your computer, but I can't believe what amazing friends I have made doing this. I met my lovely friend Gemma through YouTube last spring - who would have thought a year and a half later I'd have been at her engagement party, had regular pizza express dinners (with regular glasses of wine!) and even have worked alongside her during an internship. Through the many Scottish blogger events I've attended over the past eighteen months, I have met so many lovely people, some of whom I now speak to literally every day (you know who you are ;)). We're even going off on a wee weekend adventure in the autumn which I officially cannot wait for.

I've also been lucky enough to go along to some really lovely events, which I never expected would be the case back in 2010 when I wrote that one rambly post! From product launches to afternoon teas, I have enjoyed and appreciated every single one.

Not only that, but blogging in terms of reading other blogs has had such an impact on me! I'm not going to start listing all of my favourite blogs (we could be here for a while!), but if you've been reading mine for any length of time you'll know that I will forever have an attachment to Sprinkle of Glitter. Louise was one of the people who made me want to start blogging and making YouTube videos in the first place, so a huge big thank you to her :) I now get all of my product recommendations from bloggers whose opinions I trust. I might think an ad campaign for the new YSL mascara looks amazing, but I sure won't buy it until I've done a bit of research on the old blogosphere!

Blogging gives me a place to chat away about whatever I feel like at the time, and I love that. Twitter chats get me in touch with people from across the globe who have similar interests, and the joy of seeing that little red notification saying ''comment awaiting moderation'' when I log on to my account never ever ceases to put a smile on my face. So if you're thinking of starting a blog, I say do it. Seriously. You never know what could happen or who you might meet. And, failing that, you'll always have a space to share the things that you love/are passionate about, which is an amazing thing.

So that's why B is for blogging! What would you choose from your life to write a post on the letter B?!

Thanks so much for reading :)