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

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