The Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty

The biggest receiving times of the year have just past for me, these being my birthday in November and of course, Christmas! This year I really wanted to build up my makeup and fashion book collection so I did some online research as to the best ones and which authors were most recommended and here is one of them. There is so much to write about these books, I have broke them up into more posts soon to come so here is the Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty. I love my little collection because they are such a great mix of fun, lively, photography based books and more traditional books with information and a more detailing which you can really have a good read and learn from.

The Seventeen Ultimate Guide To Beauty
This book is so bright and bold, with the most gorgeous photography of all things makeup but also features hair, nails and skincare. It has five sections for make up being, Girly, Glam, Classic, Edgy and Boho. So inviting, it shows four looks for each section; school, party, date and weekend showing easy styles with photos of the products and a step-by-step guide on how to create the desired look along the side with easy instructions on how to use products to get what you want out of them. What I love about these photos is that all the models are healthy and have really different skin tones and hair types, showing how anyone can work a look from glitzy to sophisticated to soft and glamourous.

At the end of each section is a photo shoot and a lesson on how to re-create the look shown; my favourite is pictured (far left section of photo) and part of the Edgy style, called Galactic Eyes where an incredible look is made up of metallic shadows and liners with a balance of a neutral lip and creamy skin. The look book at the end of each section shows a dozen celebrities working looks of the category, showing real life ways with people you can connect with to portray what Seventeen are getting at, rather than cold, hard models who can sometimes seem more out of your league.

For the 'Ultimate Hair Guide', Waves and Curls, Braids and Twists, Sleek, Updos and Buns, and Ponies are documented in sections which shows the best treatments and brushes that work for different hair types and steps on how to look as good as the girls in the pictures. These looks are combined with flawless make up that ties in with the creations already shown at the beginning of the book. These also show hairstyles in scenarios and variations of 'dos, appropriate for a number of different occasions.

Also the 'Beauty Resource Guide' plays up what products work with different skin types and the best skincare routine including defining what skin type you are, which I found out from a lovely Clarins girl a few years ago who was giving me a facial; I would have known a lot sooner with this! The Ultimate Guide to Beauty basically has everything a teenager needs to know about beauty and how to let her appearance stand out as well as her personality in a fun, upbeat and colourful way!

Massive LUSH 10 Product Giveaway!

I've been thinking about doing a giveaway for a while now and its 2013 so hey, why not do one now and give one of you a lovely New Year's present and gain some more support for the blog! I had loads of fun organising this and all the products are of great quality and all from Lush, so you know that the packaging is minimal to help save the environment and many of the pieces are organic! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below, I have briefly described the products below and then some more pictures underneath that! Sorry, but this giveaway is only available in the UK unless you are prepared to pay for P&P overseas, thank you.
 So, on with the show...

The giveaway starts today and ends in a month on the 7th February!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1) Think Pink Bath Ballistic - this bomb willl release pink into your bath with the scents of lavender, tonka and vanilla for 'sophisticated pinkness' according to Lush!

2) Jungle Solid Conditioner - A solid bar that you stroke onto wet hair; a little goes a long way and has a funky imprint on it which I liked.

3) Father Christmas - Now I know the festive spirit is behind us for the moment but the magic this bath bomb is amazing; it turns your bath red then green and releases loads of glitter and the scent of satsumas.

4) Lil Lush Pud - Again Christmassy themed but it looked so cute so why not relive a little festivity in the bath next?

5) Squeaky Green Solid Shampoo - Fresh and with a the smell of a summer meadow this natural shampoo cleanses and strengthens all hair types. Rub onto wet hair and lather.

6) Therapy Mini Massage Bar with Tin - This bar has neroli and lavender to calm and relax and is made from cocoa butter and shea butter to soften skin. The metal tin prevents this melting if it gets too hot in the summer.

7) Gorgeous Facial Moisturiser - Although this is only a mini pot, I hope you enjoy it enough to trial a bigger version in the future! Lush describes this as the 'ultimate face cream for all skin types.'

8) Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub - This is a blossom scented sea salt scrub for your body and hair.

9) Sugar Scrub - This is similar to the Shower Scrub but more solid and is vegan and contains essential oils.

10) The Comforter Bubble Bar - This bar is rather large in comparison to the other products but is a comforting blackcurrant scented bubble bar that's name pretty much is description enough!

Also I've put in the Lush Times, a massive newspaper which catalogues all of Lush's products with beautiful pictures and descriptions, well worth a flick through.

Email me with any queries about the products or how to use them!

The Versatile Blogger Award!

Happy New Year! My first post for 2013 is the *mini drumroll* Versatile Blogger Award which I was nominated for by the girls of Sparkly Blues and Rainbow Shoes who are the duo Louise and Erin who started blogging in November and have a giveaway running at the moment with some gorgeous sparkly shoes in so go check them out!

The Versatile Blogger Award is for fairly new bloggers...(I've tried to nominate bloggers who have been blogging for under a year)
1) Nominate 15 other new bloggers
2) Let them know you have nominated them
3) Share 7 random facts about yourself
4) Thank the blogger who has nominated you
5) Add the Versatile Blogger Award to your post

So my 7 random facts should help you learn a little more about me and I'll try to make them as random as I can...enjoy!

1) I always pull this one out when someone brings out the random/interesting-fact-about-you thing and that is that I had a very serious problem with my spine called scoliosis, which is a curved spine. I was first diagnosed at 10 or 11 and at its worst my spine was curved 60 degrees. Imagine a healthy straight spine being 0 and then 90 being a right angle and you'll get the picture on how bad it was. I overcompensated with my hips though so I didn't look as deformed as you imagine but I was put into a thick, plastic back brace for two years which went from my hips to stomach and all my back to my neck which had three straps at the back like an old fashioned corset. I now have one of the straightest spines anywhere after an operation in the summer of 2011 and have two 23cm metal rods nailed into my spine which gets people very excited at airport security!

2) I have had dinner with JLS! It was on January 19th last year so when that date comes around I will do a post to tell you about it as my blog was non-existent then! They had just come off the One Show and me and five friends spent a few hours having dinner with them in a private room in Pizza Express in London.

3) I made Page 3 (NOT HOW YOU THINK!) at birth! No I wasn't a model but my birth made papers all over the country because my mum is a very high up business women, who was in the middle of running a multi-billion pound merger in labour and only spent 2 hours in the hospital before giving birth! Everyone was extremely proud and we have loads of papers in the attic of me as a Scottish newborn. I was born in Paisley Hospital, Scotland and lived in Kilmacolm for 18 months before moving down to the South East with my British parents so I'm not really Scottish and have no accent.

4) I love designer handbags and my school bag is a velvet Juicy Couture bag which just about manages to squeeze in the books need for a few lessons at a time! My previous baby was a lovely Lulu Guiness bag which was huge and had eyelashes on. The bag I took on holiday was a metallic DKNY bag which was a birthday present!

5) I'm not a natural blonde : I know, shocking. Until a few years ago I was a lovely blonde but as with all child blondes, the brown came through and turned it all dark so now I have it dyed every couple of months to keep my golden curls. I also use John Freidas's 'Sheer Blonde' lightening shampoo.

6) I play for the lacrosse team, girls play it in the UK, guys play it in the US, and although it may seem like a posh games for all girls schools its actually so good for fitness and very violent. I play defense, in Point or Cover Point, by the goal. I am not looking forward to the freezing January Saturday mornings when I will have to run around the pitches with my lacrosse stick.

7) I am a die hard BlackBerry fan. My sister has just got an iPhone for Christmas but I have to stick with my BB and now have the Bold 9900 in White from the old Curve 8520 in Black - loads of my friends are on BBM and the recent updates keep you in the loop for everything!

So there you go, some more knowledge on me and what my life is like!
My nominations are : (names are all linked to their blogs)

• Life According to Chloe 
• The Dodo Bakes
• Abby Louise Makeup
• Scottie's Paper Dolls
• Beauty and the Book
• Diary of a Makeup Geek - Aqeela's Blog
• For The Love of Thrift
• Nicole Gets Nailed
• Lola Rose
• Miss Chillie
• Pretty Gloss
• Nail The Look
• Beautiful You
• British Beauty Geek
• Fashionxox1
• Life of a Fashion Nerd

Check them out, they all have great blogs!