Meet The Beauty Blogger: Avianne Robinson

It's time for part 2 of my Meet The Beauty Blogger series which I'm very excited for. I hope you guys all liked my last post, and for this one we're getting to know Avianne Robinson a bit more. I didn't know Avianne very well before writing this post so this just shows how this series can help intoduce you to bloggers you'd never spoke to before. 

What got you into blogging? I originally wanted to start a YouTube channel, but I was on vacation so I couldn't really film. I decided to just start a blog so I could be used to getting myself out there online. I wasn't that into it once school started back ,but I had gotten pretty ill during the school year. I was spending a lot of time at home not feeling well ,so I finally got back into blogging & videos as a way to deal with the things going on in my life. 

How did you decide to blog beauty? I started out with beauty because that was the first thing I was exposed to plus i started to get more into makeup. I later steered away from beauty and more to lifestyle when I noticed I wasn't that into doing tutorials. 

How long have you been blogging for? I have been blogging on and off (mostly off) for about 3 years. I have had like 4 different blogs ,and most of them had less than ten post. I really started to take my blogging serious this summer. I really only count these past 2 months. 

What's your biggest blogging achievement so far? As mentioned above I haven't been taking blogging too seriously until recently so I have really achieved anything major. I did just recently hit 400 subscribers on my Youtube Channel so I am feeling pretty proud about that. 

What post that you've written are you most proud of? My favorite post on my blog is actually pretty old. I help a discussion with authors who write in various genre's ,and we talked about their thought on young adult fiction. I think it's my favorite because it was just so much fun doing a collaboration post with multiple people. (http://www.xoavianne.com/2015/07/what-do-authors-think-about-ya-category.html)

What's your current favourite beauty product? My current favorite beauty product isn't a store brand product. I have been loving aloe vera. I buy a piece of the plant from my local grocery store ,and basically use it as a mask a few times a week. I immediately notice the difference in how my skin holds moisture .and how good it feels. 

What one item (beauty/skincare) could you not live without? I currently can't live without lip products! I love liquid lipsticks, liners, lip gloss ,regular lipstick ,and I just like to collect them. I'm getting into mastering false eyelashes ,and I think once I master them they will be my new obsession. 

Who's your favourite blogger of the moment? It's a tie between Helena Sula ,and Jemma from Dorkface. They are both so down to earth and real on their blogs! 

Are you happy with where your blog is right now? Honestly not at this exact moment ,but I am working on improving it and getting it to be where I want it to be. 

What's your biggest goal for the future of your blog? My biggest blog goal is to be a full time blogger. I think that being my own boss is the best thing for me ,and I just love getting to interact with other people. 

If you want to get to know Avianne a bit more, you can check out her blog here and her Youtube channel here. You can also go over and follow her on Instagram here. 

I hope you guys are enjoying this new series and feel free to let me know your opinions of it. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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See you guys soon x

My Current Lipstick And Lipliner Combos

I absolutely love lip products and find myself always trying a brands lipsticks when I'm new to their products. I'm one of those people that thinks you can never have too many lipsticks, so I'm constantly buying more. Along with lipsticks is of course lip liners, which I think not only help keep your lipstick in line but adds to the overall look too - especially if you use a slighly different shade. That's why todays post is going to be a look at what lipstick and lip liner combinations I've found myself using the most recently and why I love them so much.

Sleek Matte Me lip cream in Petal with NYX lip liner in Pink Cantaloupe - If you read my blog, you'll know I'm currently really loving light pink lips, and this Sleek lip cream is one of my favourites. The shade of this is so beautiful and is one of my favourite feeling lip creams - it feels so smooth and not at all drying. I think that this pairs really well with this light pink lip liner from NYX. The liner is slightly lighter than the matte cream which makes the lips stand out that bit more. This liner has such an amazing texture and is more of a crayon than a pencil which is my favourite kind. This also makes it very easy to apply and shade. It's so easy to wear and is currently one of my favourite lip looks to wear at the moment.

Jeffree Star velour liquid lipstick in Mannequin with Kylie Jenner lip liner in Dolce K - Now I've also really been loving nude and brown lips recently, and this nudey brown combo is just perfect for me. I do enjoy using the Dolce K lipstick but I find it to be quite drying, whereas I absolutely love the liner. The brown colour of Dolce K matches perfectly with the nude shade of Mannequin to make a lip I've been wearing constantly recently - actually most days to be honest. The velour liquid lipstick isn't drying on the lips at all so feels so lovely to wear, and this liner is like a crayon which is my favourite type to use. This is my go-to lip combo of the moment.

NYX Liquid Suede cream lipstick in Cherry Skies with MAC lip pencil in Burgundy - Another one of my go to lips is dark red, especially coming into Autumn. I think a good red lip can go with any outfit and I find it can be worn so easily. I'm really liking this liquid suede just now, even though my first impressions of it wasn't the greatest. The colour is really bold and goes so well with burgundy shade on the MAC lip liner. I love MAC lip pencils, even though I always say crayons are my favourite. They last so well, are great for shading your lips and are so easy to use which is why I love them.

MAC lipstick in Taupe with MAC lip liner in Etcetera - Now this lip combo has been one of my favourites for quite a while now. Brown lips are my go-to lips for everyday wear, and these two products go together so well. I feel like MAC made both of them to be worn together because they just suit each other perfectly, as the liner is just that bit lighter than the lipstick which creates a really great look. I love MAC lipsticks, and they're probably the only lipsticks I wear right now that aren't liquid or matte.

Let me know what your favourite lipstick and liner combinations are right now. Also let me know if you've every used the combos I've mentioned. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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Ultimate Blends: Mythic Olive Nourishing Balm

I suffer really badly from dry hair and it's something I've always tried to find solutions for. When I buy any new hair care products, especially shampoo and conditoner, I always make sure they make my hair feel more hydrated. When I was reading through my August issue of Glamour magazine, I found this little sample of Garnier's Ultimate Blends Mythic Olive Nourishing Balm and thought it was perfect for me. It targets dry and brittle hair and locks in the moisture, which is exactly what I needed. Since this is only a sample I was only able to use it a few times, but I have to say that I really loved it.

I never used to care much about haircare products - I only ever used to use whatever shampoo and conditioner was on offer. That was until I got a bit older and realised how thin and dry my hair really was, and that it needed a bit of TLC every now and again. I've tried quite a few different shampoos and conditioners in the past few months to add moisture and thickness to my hair, most of which have worked really well. But when I saw this hair mask, I thought it was such a good idea and something I knew I'd love using. Since it's only a sample I knew I'd only be able to use it a few times, but I got much more out of this than I thought I would.

To use this balm, you squeeze all the excess water from your hair and apply a generous amount from the middle of your hair to the ends. You then leave it on for 1-5 minutes (I normally leave it on for the full 5) and then rinse it out. It contains Virgin Olive Oil and Safflower Seed Oil which are known to lock in moisture and hydrate your hair. It smells and feels beautiful which is great, and really does leave my hair looking much healthier. I notice as soon as I towel dry my hair that it feels much less brittle and a lot more moisturised, and it's even more noticeable after I blow dry it. It also leaves my hair ridicoulously smooth and soft which is a massive bonus. It doesn't weigh down your hair at all and is very weightless, helping hair that's prone to breaking stay that bit stronger. I can definitely say that this has left my hair much more nourished and in a much better condition and I really want to buy the full sized version of this product soon.

I'm really happy with how well this has worked for my hair considering this was just a free sample. My hair is much more nourished and stronger, as well as feeling so soft when it's just been washed. I'm really impressed with this and want to buy the full sized version soon.

Let me know if you've ever tried this nourishing hair balm or another one - I'm up for trying other ones too. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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See you guys soon x

Meet The Beauty Blogger: Miss Cosmetic Blogger

I absolutely love blogging and meeting new bloggers, especially beauty bloggers like myself. That's why I decided to start a new series called Meet The Beauty Blogger, so not only can I get to know more beauty bloggers but you can too. I'm so excited to start this series and share the blogs of some really amazing people. Todays first post is about Beth, better known as MissCosmeticBlogger. I really enjoy reading her posts and was so happy that she wanted to get involved in this series. I've followed her on Twitter for quite a while and she's just so lovely.

What got you into blogging? I started blogging because I used to watch loads of YouTube and some of them had blogs. I couldn't do YT when I was first watching as I had no camera or confidence so decided a written version would be more me. 

How did you decide to blog beauty? I chose beauty as I found a love for makeup. I wanted to share my love with other people. And also my friends were really bored of listening to me drone on about the latest palette or makeup look I wanted to try. (To be honest I don't blame them, I did talk about makeup at least 90% of the time and as people who weren't as passionate as makeup as I would have found me boring. However, a couple of times when I was practising FX makeup I would send them snapchats which slightly scared them... which also might have been why they got bored.)

How long have you been blogging for? I think I've been blogging since around the end of 2012, my posts say otherwise as a few of my very first posts were embarrassingly bad. I properly started blogging in 2014 really.

What's your biggest blogging achievement so far? This was a difficult one for me. But I have to say that probably working with the likes of Nickelodeon to promote a show was pretty amazing. That and making blogger friends, I love the community of bloggers it is such an achievement for all bloggers, definitely not just me! Oh and furthering my makeup skills, I am so much better than I was.

What post that you've written are you most proud of? I've written quite a few posts now but simply due to positive response I am really proud of my oil pulling post. It is my most viewed and commented post and it still gets views even after a year.

What's your current favourite beauty product? Current beauty product would probably have to be my Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette. I use it almost every day as it has so many colours to play around with. It wasn't cheap but it was such a good purchase.

What one item (beauty/skincare) could you not live without? I love my mascara, my favourite being Soap&Glory's Thick & Fast. If I'm having a no makeup day it's likely that I will still be wearing mascara as it makes you look more awake.

Who's your favourite blogger of the moment? My favourite blogger at the moment is probably Cole from ColeoftheBall. I love her YT and of course her blog!

Are you happy with where your blog is right now? I am definitely happy with my layout right now but I think there are aspects of my blogging I can improve. My photography isn't the greatest however, I recently bought myself a proper camera, so I should be able to up my game a little at least.

What's your biggest goal for the future of your blog? Biggest goal has to be starting a YT channel. Now I have my camera I feel like I can start soon, I'm hoping halloween as that is my favourite time of year for makeup! I already know I am going to do a 'twoface' Batman tutorial so if you like gore my channel may be for you!

Make sure you go check out Beth's blog here and her Youtube channel here. You shoud also give her Twitter a follow here - she's definitely worth a follow.

I hope you guys like the idea of this series, so let me know your opinions or if you want to get involved yourself. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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See you guys soon x

High Street vs High End: Cream Contour Kits

NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette - £12

Anastasia Bevery Hills Pro Series Contour Cream Kit - £39

Now I'm not a makeup artist or amazing at applying my makeup, but one thing I do love to do is try contouring. I do contour daily using my powder bronzers and highlighters, but when I'm going out I like to use contour kits. I do like powder kits but I though cream ones would be easier to use and blend. That's why I picked up these two: the Anastasia Beverly Hills one and the NYX one.

High Street - I've became such a fan of NYX recently, especially their Soft Matte Lip Creams. Since I'd only ever bought lip products from them before, I decided I should try one of their other products so purchased this cream contour kit. I already had my ABH one, but since that one costs quite a bit and I use a lot when I contour, I wanted a more affordable one. The NYX one doesn't have as many shades to alternate between, but I don't use all the ABH shades every time anyway. I do have to say that I bought this in Deep, not realising how dark it was when I really should have picked Light. The first time I tried this out, I have to be honest, I really didn't like it. I though the consistency wasn't creamy enough and it felt like I was smearing mud on my face when I used the darker shade. I found them really hard to blend because of this, and they ended up looking very sparkly on my face which isn't what I was wanting. I've used it a few times since and have found them easier to use, but I'm honestly not a fan. I'm so disappointed because I'm such a fan of NYX and really wanted to like it, but I just haven't. I wish I'd just went for the powder version as it looks much better than this one, but I guess you live and you learn.

High End - When I bought my ABH cream contour kit, I hadn't bought anything from the brand before - I have done since though. I had heard so many great reviews on the product so when I decided to go for a cream contour kit, I knew I had to buy this one. It is a bit more costly than other kits but I wanted something that was good quality that I could wear when I was going out. I was honestly so excited when I finally bought it because it was something that had been on my wishlist for so long. And I have to be honest, I haven't been disappointed in it. This product was already featured in my June Favourites post here becuase I loved it as soon as I tried it. The consistency of the creams is just amazing and they blend so easily and beautifuly when you apply them. The colours match my skin really well and I find they look so professional when they've all been blended - and I'm definitely no pro at makeup. I've loved how easy to use this kit is and how great quality they are. You can tell by the photos this product has definitely been well used - I honestly can't wait to use it when I'm going out. If you're in the market for a new beauty buy or specifically a contour kit, I'd highly recommend this.

After reading this post, my answer to 'high street vs high end' can't really be a surprise. Even though I love NYX and high street products, I was so disappointed by this product and had really wanted to like it. The ABH one is great and is definitely one of my favourite beauty products right now, so in the battle of the cream contour kits, high end wins for me.

Let me know if you've used either of these product and what your opinions on them are. Thank you so much for reading my post and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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See you guys soon x