Book review: The Glam Guide by Fleur de Force

I've been watching Fleur's videos for a couple of years now and they have always been some of my favourite. Her content might not be hugely different than other fashion/beauty vloggers but I've always felt I can relate more to Fleur and enjoy her fun and friendly style of video.

When I heard Fleur was releasing a book I was really excited to check it out. I don't have much to compare it to because I haven't read other Youtubers' books and I don't intend to either but from reviews I've read, it seems as if The Glam Guide is pretty much Fleur's personality encompassed into a book style. I definitely got the impression that it's 100% from Fleur and I've enjoyed seeing her vlogs documenting some of the process. As someone who has always wanted to write a book, her videos were a really interesting nose behind-the-scenes.

The Glam Guide isn't the sort of book I would read from start to finish. It's more of a coffee table book that you can pick up every now and then when you want some advice on something beauty/fashion/lifestyle/Youtube related. There's advice on pretty much every topic you could possibly want and it's all very detailed too, with diagrams and even a colour wheel to explain which shades go with each other. I was very impressed with that one!

The tone of the book is very Fleur as well. It's not too formal or patronising, it's just very relaxed and chatty while still remaining informative. As someone in their mid-twenties (ssh!) I don't find the book at all childish as I thought I might do. I guess Fleur's audience is a little older than many other Youtubers' so I was able to really enjoy reading and learning from it.

Have you read The Glam Guide? Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Sunday Summary #8

I can't believe it's nearly 3pm on Sunday already, where on earth has this weekend gone?

I've literally spent most of this weekend at my mum and dad's house. Yesterday morning I had to take my car over there so my dad could look at it for me. It's been overheating/losing water this week and the heating has stopped working, but luckily my dad managed to fix it. Good old Dad! Anyway, it took a couple of hours and I was even made to give the car a bit of a clean as well.

I then popped home with a Subway for Vince and I for lunch, fell asleep for half an hour and then was back out to go to my sister's house and then back to my mum's with my niece and nephew. Vince had work from 3pm until 10pm so I had the evening to myself, of which I spent it sitting on the laptop, half watching TV, doing the washing and making pasta and meatballs, what a multi-tasker!

Today has been a bit more of the same. Unfortunately the weather is rubbish so my blog photo taking plans went straight out the window. Instead I went to Frankie & Benny's with my mum and dad and my niece and nephew for breakfast. I couldn't decide between the bacon and syrup pancakes and the big breakfast but went for the breakfast in the end. I'm actually still full up now…

I then popped back to their house for a cup of tea and to see my nan who came round and finally I am back home. I took a quick couple of blog photos while the lighting wasn't too bad as I really want to get a review of Fleur de Force's book up this week. I managed to get some decent snaps so I have a couple of posts to write up this afternoon as well as doing some washing/tidying/cleaning. Fun, fun, fun!

Vince has worked a lot of reception shifts until 10pm this week so I've been pretty lonely! On Wednesday night I had my spin class as usual. I managed 26km again this week, the same as last week, which I'm pretty happy with! I managed to hit 142rpm as well, which made my legs almost fall off.

This week was also crochet class and I found it so difficult. My mum and I decided to give 'granny squares' a go, but it's not as simple as crocheting a square, oh no. There's so much more to it and my mind just went completely blank. I eventually got the hang of it but really need to keep practising!

Did anyone watch Eastenders live week? I was SO impressed with the live acting, apart from the odd mistake. How's Adam? Haha! Vince actually guessed correctly that the murderer was Bobby so he was pretty annoyed that he hadn't put a bet on it!

Have you got much planned for the coming week? I'll be practising my crochet for most of it I think!

Catch up on the week:

Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Fluid-Touch Foundation

Charles Worthington takeaways

Makeup Revolution Salvation Intense Lip Lacquers and giveaway

Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Fluid-Touch Foundation

As a 'beauty' blogger, I feel bad admitting that I don't often wear foundation. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm too lazy to apply it every morning. I'm pretty happy with my skin and going make-up free, but that's not to say my skin is anywhere near perfect.

Anyway, back to the point. As I was browsing my local Boots I spotted the new Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Fluid-Touch Foundation and thought it has been a while since I bought a new foundation so I popped it into my basket.

I'd only previously seen a few mentions of it on a couple of blogs and on Twitter and had seen good things about it so thought I'd give it a try.

It comes in a range of 12 shades, which isn't too bad. I'm usually at the very light end of the spectrum and pick up the products with 'Ivory' as the name, no change here. The foundation itself is a very runny texture and actually comes with a special 'dropper' that you're meant to hold above your finger to enable just the right amount of product to hit your finger and in turn hit your face. To be honest, I got bored waiting for the droplet to drop and ended up rubbing the brush/sponge over the dripper to get the product on it. We're on a clock here people, nobody got time for waiting for that!

The foundation is pretty thin, but buildable. I have VERY dry skin and foundation usually starts to sit in the creases/cracks in the dry patches and ends up looking awful. On first application of the foundation I applied way too much and this very thing started happening. I started again and applied a LOT less, which ended up sitting on the skin really well. There was no horrible drying or cracking and I actually received a fair few compliments on my foundation, albeit from members of my family but I'll take what I can get.

The foundation feels very lightweight on the skin, which I think is great, and leaves it feeling very soft and smooth. Unlike most other foundations, this one doesn't go horribly orange and actually looked pretty good even under the harsh lights in Boots.

I'm actually really pleased with this foundation and definitely think it will become a staple of my make-up bag for those days when I want to perk my skin up a bit. Before trying this I wouldn't want to wear foundations on special occasions/nights out due to the dryness, but this one I feel I can wear with confidence.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some Makeup Revolution Lip Lacquers here. 

Charles Worthington takeaways

I do love a takeaway on a Saturday night...oh wait. I'm not talking about Crispy Chilli Beef-y goodness from my local Chinese, I'm talking hair product 'takeaways' from Charles Worthington, or to put it more simply, miniature size products that are perfect for trialling.

I don't know if you've noticed but hair products have become pretty pricey recently. A decent sized bottle of shampoo can set you back £4/£5 or even £6+, but what if you want to try a new brand/range but don't want to splash out that much in case you end up not liking it/it doesn't work as well as you thought. This is where the 'takeaway' products swoop in…

Now, I know they're not exactly 'new', but when I was recently browsing the shelves in Boots I noticed this new 'angle' on what is otherwise just a travel/mini version and thought it was a pretty clever take on it. The takeaway products are priced at the £2+ mark, which is very purse friendly, so if you they don't work out for you then at least you haven't wasted too much money. Once you know you really like the product you could go on to purchase the full-size version or, you can keep making your way through the 'takeaways' and trialling lots of different things. They also make great travel products too.

I personally think these are such a good idea and I will definitely be picking up some more!

What do you think of the Charles Worthington 'takeaways'? Let me know in the comments.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some Makeup Revolution Lip Lacquers here.

Makeup Revolution Salvation Intense Lip Lacquers

Makeup Revolution Salvation Intense Lip Lacquers - £3 each*



Yet another great product from Makeup Revolution. I am a HUGE, huge fan of the brands eyeshadow palettes but I was recently sent the new shades of the Salvation Intense Lip Lacquers and thought I'd give them a whirl.

I think 2015 is the year I embrace more colour on my lips. I'm not usually one for wearing any colour at all and am usually just happy slicking on some lip balm but I'm starting to appreciate how good a bit of colour can make you look and feel.

The new shades in the range include the deep, pink Rebel, bold purple Depravity, the barbie pink Paparazzi and the nude Barely There, which has got to be my fave. The coloured lip lacquers are really bold and intense and they apply really smoothly too. They're are a cross between a gloss and a lipstick but they're completely non-sticky and last a good couple of hours before needing re-application.

Barely There is possibly my favourite shade from the new releases. It feels very safe for me to wear and is perfect for every day looks. I've decided to host a little giveaway for the rest of the shades so someone a little bit more daring with colour can appreciate them. Read on lippy lovers...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are your thoughts on the Makeup Revolution Lip Lacquers? Let me know in the comments.

*This post contains PR samples.

Sunday Summary #7

Hello, happy Sunday! This is the first chance I've had all day to sit down and get on the laptop. I didn't wake up until 10.30am, woops, and then had to pop to the shops and pick up a few things, then I went straight to my mum's for lunch as my cousin was visiting with her kids. I stayed there for a couple of hours, have come home and am currently having a sit down and a cup of tea before tackling the washing up and cleaning of the bathroom. I was hoping to get some more blog photos done but I think I took enough last weekend that I could probably survive this weekend without doing any. I don't have much planned for next weekend so I can get on with it then!

How was everyone's Valentine's Day? Vince got me a card and a lovely bunch of pink, glittery roses that you can see pictured above. They're so pretty! I do love getting flowers, roses especially. They just make the house look so much nicer and more grown up. I always like having lots of flowers around the house but haven't done so recently so need to get back on that through the spring/summer.

Yesterday Vince and I popped to my mum's to see her and my dad/my sister and my niece and nephew before we went to Bristol for a bit of shopping! We were originally contemplating eating a late lunch/dinner in Bristol but as it was Valentine's Day the prices would probably be about double for a normal meal so instead we had lunch at mum's and then ordered a Chinese takeaway in the evening. The takeaway actually ended up taking an hour and half to arrive, which was very annoying!

I had my third spin class on Wednesday. I think my legs/bum must be getting used to it now as they didn't really hurt at all afterwards and I did really push myself during the class. I managed 26km this time, which was great compared to the week previously when I did 21.5km. I'm going again on Wednesday and I'm really enjoying it, there was talk of a spin class on a Sunday morning, which I probably wouldn't do but I was contemplating the Saturday morning class or maybe even a different class altogether, such as Zumba. Let me know if you've tried Zumba and how you found it.

Vince is doing a lot of late shifts this week coming so I'm going to be on my own most evenings. On Thursday I'll be going to my next crochet class, which I'm looking forward to. At the last class the teacher said there's just a few more basic moves we need to learn and then we can start making things! I can't belive it. I think I want to make a hat but by the time it's finished it won't really be cold enough for hats so I thought I'd give a blanket a go or maybe a toy for the cat, I can't really decide!

Other than my classes I don't really have much going on. The rest of the day will probably spent doing boring things such as changing the bed, cleaning and then finally settling down to watch TV. I think I'm definitely going to need to have a bath as my sinuses are really hurting at the moment so need the steam to help clear them. I have rhinitis/sinusitis but they haven't hurt in quite a while, I have had a cold recently though so that's probably the cause of it, grr.

Hope you have all had a good week/weekend. Let me know what you got up to in the comments.

Catch up on the week:

Love is in the hair… Invisibobble Sweetheart Collection

Yves Rocher Quelques Notes D'amour Eau de Parfum

Benefit Roller Lash

Love is in the hair…Invisibobble Sweetheart Collection

Invisibobble Sweetheart Collection - £4 per pack of 3*



I've always been really interested to try Invisibobble and now I have finally had the chance, hooray! I was recently sent some of the hair rings from the new Sweetheart Collection, which has been released just in time for Valentine's Day. The collection includes a choice of metallic purple or silver translucent glitter hair rings and four different styles of packaging to choose from.

I'm sure most of you have experienced the kink in your hair when you take the bobble (or whatever you call it!) out. It can be a bit annoying if you need to have your hair up and then take it down for some various occasion. Usually you'd have to re-wash the hair or straighten it to get the kink out. The Invisibobble aims to combat the hair kink and let you have it up during the day for as long as you need and then take it down and style it for the evening.

The hair rings are made with what looks like telephone cord and once wrapped around the hair it places uneven pressure around the ponytail, which means there's no obvious mark left when you remove it. Normal hair bobbles place even pressure around the ponytail, leaving an obvious indent.

Although the bobble lookes like cord, it's very comfortable in the hair and doesn't snag or pull at all. They stretch really well and pop back into shape with no problem. They're super ideal for using if you've got a date/special occasion to go to in the evening but need your hair up in the day during Uni/work, they're pretty genius if I'm honest.

Have you tried the invisibobble? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

*This post contains PR samples.

Yves Rocher Quelques Notes d'Amour Eau de Parfum

Yves Rocher Quelques Notes d'Amour Eau de Parfum - £18*
It was only last week that I posted about my fragrance collection and already I have a new fragrance to add to it.

I was very kindly sent the new Yves Rocher Quelques Notes d'Amour Eau de Parfum to try out in the run up to Valentine's Day. The fragrance itself has been created to represent the emotions and desires that come along with being in love…I'm not entirely sure if scents of Rose Damascena absolute and Guaiac Wood essence combined with the sensuality of Benzoin really equal the feeling of being in love for everybody as fragrances often mean lots of different things to different people and evoke certain memories, but for some, the scents combined might just culminate in that feeling of being in love.

For me its a nice mix of spice/wood and floral scents that are pretty strong and bold and linger for a good couple of hours. I'm not usually keen on very strong scents but I think the floral hints make it much more wearable and less over powering. I was pretty impressed with the fragrance's staying power and the bottle itself is super cute and girly and you know I'm a sucker for a perfume bottle!

The fragrance is the perfect Valentine's Day gift so you can either leave this blog post laying around for your other half to see or you could treat yourself to it!

Have you tried any perfumes for Yves Rocher. What is going to be your go to perfume for Valentine's Day this year?

*This post contains PR samples.

Benefit Roller Lash

OK here we go…probably one of the most reviewed/featured mascaras on blogs across the land at the moment, so here's my thoughts too.

I must admit I'm not a huge user of Benefit products. I've tried a few here and there. I am a dedicated fan of its Hello Flawless Powder but I couldn't ignore the hype about the Roller Lash and so I popped to my local supermarket and picked up a copy of Elle magazine, in which a mini version of the mascara is a freebie. The magazine cost £4 and to be honest, I would probably pay this for the mascara mini alone and chuck the magazine away as it's just one huge book of adverts…

Benefit are marketing this a bit like a hair roller but for your lashes. The mascara uses a Hook 'n' Roll brush, which grabs, separates, lifts and curls the lashes, setting them in place for around 12 hours. It's also water resistant and contains Provitamin B5 and Serin ingredients, apparently known for their lash-conditioning benefits.

As I said, bloggers have been raving about this all over the place but I wasn't expecting to like it. I wasn't a fan of 'They're Real' and I seem to have rather odd, straight lashes that defy most mascara's curling/volumising powers, but I have to say I am really impressed with the Roller Lash. When applying it I can really feel it gripping the lashes and going about their curling business, it certainly makes them look longer and separates them a lot better than many other mascaras do.

I am already a huge fan of this mascara and have been recommending it wherever I can and I think I'll definitely buy the full size of this one.

Have you tried the Benefit Roller Lash yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments...

Sunday Summary #6

Unbelievably we're nearly into the second week of February. Last week I mentioned I had my final contact lense appointment, which went well. I'm officially a contact lense wearer, although I don't wear them every day. After the appointment I had a bit of a look around town and bought a few bits. I also popped into the hairdressers and got my hair chopped, eek! The place is actually a drop in one so there's no appointment needed and it costs just £9.90 for a cut and then an extra £9.90 for add ons. Anyway as it was a pretty cheap cut I wasn't expecting anything too impressive but I do like it. I got it cut just above my shoulders, which is quite a change as it was down to my waist! I'll try and get some pictures of it soon!

This week has been a bit of a stressful one to be honest, but I got some nice flowers and chocolates from work on Tuesday as a thank you for my hard work, so that was pretty lovely!

On Wednesday I attended my second spin class! I'm pretty proud of myself for going actually. After a stressful day at work it was probably the last thing I wanted to do but I didn't want to give up after one class so I forced myself to go and wow was it painful this time around. I think the first time I went I must really not have pushed myself enough as this time around I really tried to keep up with the instructions and I could barely walk afterwards. I guess that's the sign of a good work out! My legs haven't hurt too badly this past few days but I did have to have a hot bath on Wednesday night to help ease them a bit. I'm looking forward to going again and seeing if I can get my resistance up a bit more. This class just gone I managed 21.5km which is an improvement on the previous week, where I got 18km!

Also this week I went along to my second crochet class. The classes are every other week but I feel like I need them every week just because there's only so much you can practice the same stitch over and over again. I think I'm just too impatient and I want to start making things already! During the class I learnt the triple stitch (I think!) but I was getting pretty frustrated with myself throughout as every time I come to the end of a line I'm finding it difficult to tell if there's a stitch left or not, most of the time I think there isn't when there actually is and I'm ending up with a bit of a jagged edge, oh well, practice makes perfect I guess…maybe two weeks between classes isn't so bad after all. I also managed to pick up some different patterend bits of card for my blog photo backgrounds, so look out for those!

Vince and I have been discussing painting some of the house this week. We want to paint the bathroom, which is currently a disgusting snot green. I want a light, minty green shade but Vince prefers blue. I think we've settled on a light blue shade, which does actually already match our shower curtain and bath mat so I guess that's what we're going to go with. I don't think it will be too bad as there's only really one main wall to paint.

Vince also wants to paint and sort out the conservatory. The conservatory is pretty unusable most of the year. In the winter it's extremely cold, you can't sit out there without freezing and in the summer it's insanely boiling so again, you can't sit out there! Anyway, I told Vince he could do what he wanted with it…so he's bought Spice Red paint…eek! Luckily, as most of it's glass there's not much to paint. I'm sure it will look fine!

Yesterday Vince had the day off work so we had a huge lie-in and I did plan to take LOADS of blog photos as the lighting was perfect but instead I sat on the sofa most of the day watching episodes of Prison Break, oops! I am aiming to get them all taken today as I have quite a big of a back log of products building up, wish me luck…

Catch up on the week:

Georgio Armani Bristol Beauty Blogger Event

My fragrance collection

Georgio Armani Bristol Beauty Blogger Event

My Fragrance Collection

Since photographing these pictures I've actually bought a new perfume but I was too lazy to re-take thev pics. Anyway, today I thought I'd talk about my fragrance collection as it is getting rather big. I'm clearly not one of those people who stick with one fragrance every day and wait until it's run out until I buy a new one. Oh no.

I like to use a different fragrance every day otherwise I find that I get too used to it and can't really smell it anymore. I know fragrance is really meant for other people to smell on you but it's always nice to get a whiff every now and then!

My current favourite, and one that isn't pictured as it's new is the new DKNY MY NY fragrance, which I picked up in the January sales. It came in a box set with a body moisturiser and little purse for £25, a bit of a bargain I say!

Marc Jacobs is a brand of fragrance that I absolutely love, as you can probably tell. I recently got the Pink Honey edition for my birthday back in October and I absolutely love it, the bottle especially. I'm a sucker for a perfume bottle, which is why I really want the Daisy Dream one!

Most of these perfumes have been given to me for birthdays, Christmas' or from brands for consideration for the blog. One brand of perfume I really enjoy is the French brand, Yves Rocher. I was sent its Flowerparty By Night fragrance, which I featured here. The L'Eau Moment de Bonheur and the So Elixir Purple are two more favourites of mine from the brand too.

Sometimes fragrances really surprise me and brands I thought I probably wouldn't like or scents that I'm not keen on at first, really start to grow on me and they become firm favourites, such as the Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude, which contains a lot of notes of wood and musk, when I'm usually a more fruity or floral scent wearer.

When it comes to fragrances I think you need to really give them a chance. It's always a good idea to spray it on yourself in the shop or wherever you are and then carry on with your shopping. You can then let the fragrance sink in and really let yourself get used to it, if it still smells great after an hour or so then you've got a winner! As much as I do it, you shouldn't judge a perfume on its bottle, sometimes the best looking bottles don't smell too good!

I couldn't tell you what my favourite perfume is, it changes pretty much every day! The Marc Jacobs Daisy is a really special one though as it's one of the first really nice, expensive perfumes I got and this is pretty much where my love of perfume started.

What's your favourite perfume? Are there any you'd recommend I try? Let me know in the comments.

*This post contains some PR samples.

Sunday Summary #5

I've just realised it's actually February 1 today, where did that come from? January went SO quickly. This past week has gone pretty quickly too, as I mentioned last week I booked a spin class for Monday but unfortunately my car flashed up at me the fact it needed new brake fluid so I took it to my parent's after work so my dad could do it for me and had to cancel the class. However, I did re-book for Wednesday evening instead!

I felt a bit silly at first as I really didn't know what I was doing. When I walked in everyone was sat on their bike and there were only two free right at the front. I had no idea how to make the bike my height so had to wait for the instructor. She finally turned up and showed me what to do etc and then the class got started. I don't know if it was because I was sat under the air conditioning or if I wasn't doing it properly but everyone else seemed to be sweating buckets and I wasn't! I'm thinking I probably didn't push myself hard enough as I was brand new to it and just sort of kept at my own pace but will have to try harder this week. My legs and bum definitely hurt for a few days afterwards though, those seats are NOT comfortable! I'm going to go on Wednesday again this week and then I think my sister is going to join me on Monday evenings.

This week I also have another crochet class so really need to get on with practising that. I haven't done very much at all compared to my mum, who has even started teaching herself new stitches, teacher's pet!!

Yesterday was a pretty busy day as I attended another blogger event. This one was in Bristol (yay for nearby events!) at the Georgio Armani counter in House of Fraser. I'm actually going to write a dedicated post about this one, which should hopefully be up this coming week, but it was really nice to go to another event as I don't get to go to them very often. Most events are in London on a week day and obviously due to work I can't attend but this one was on a Saturday afternoon! I actually popped into Primark beforehand and bought a few bits, which wasn't a good idea as those make-up counters aren't very big and I kept bashing everyone with my massive Primark bag.

I then had to catch the train home and get ready to go out for a meal with my friend Sarah, who I used to work with. We haven't seen eachother since before Christmas so we went out for a Thai and a couple of drinks, which was really nice. The food was so good too!

I was planning to take blog photos this morning but, being realistic, I probably won't before I go to my mum's for lunch and then into town later this afternoon for my contact lense appointment. This appointment is the final one and hopefully I can get myself some lenses to wear whenever I like. I might pop into a few shops while I'm in town too…oops.

Have you got much planned this coming week? I've got my crochet and spin class and I am thinking of trying Zumba too, let me know if you've tried it and what you thought.

Catch up on the week:

Makeup Revolution Naked Chocolate Palette

Clainrs Garden Escape Spring Collection Joli Rouge Brilliant Sheer Shine Lipsticks