Time really does fly by...

So, I can now confidently say I have finished my stint of student life and I have never felt so excited and apprehensive over the next chapter of my life. Major changes seem to be happening in all aspects of my life. I now have my own 'adult' flat and it all feels very new and strange, especially with having a whole host of new responsibilities. Not to mention me starting a brand new career which I didn't anticipate would come around so soon. Finishing my time as a student almost feels like the end of a chapter, a very exciting one at that!

Cutting a long story short I have wanted to get back into blogging for a while but working and having a whole variety of tasks to complete and barely having time to fit in a social life has left me not being able to successfully do so, unfortunately blogging fell to the bottom of the list. I feel that I'm now at the make or break junction where I either jump back on the band wagon or leave it for good. But I feel like it is a hobby that I would love to incorporate back into my life. A lot of things have changed from when I first started blogging but this is it I am going to give it a go.

 (cute flat warming gifts)

 (my new evening view)

Happy Reading x

Brita Fill & Go Bottle: Review

I am forever getting nagged at for carrying around a half crushed, scrunched up, nasty looking plastic bottle around with me. I have a terrible habit of buying bottles of mineral water that are designed to be used only once, and instead refilling them over and over again for convenience. I like to drink a lot of water and usually aim to drink 2 litres a day where possible. This helps me to feel healthy and also to keep my skin looking healthy and hydrated.

I have finally taken the plunge and bought a BPA free water bottle which is what my boyfriend has been telling me for a while now! Using disposable plastic water bottles for more than a week is said to put your health at risk due to the nasty chemicals from the plastic eventually breaking of into the water, via the process of erosion. When browsing the shelves of my supermarket I decided why not buy a Brita Filter -Fill & Go bottle!

This bottle did not cost much more than an average good quality, BPA Free water bottle. The bottle retails at £7 and is available online or from many well known retailers. It comes with 4 filters to start with but you can buy these filters for a very reasonable price online. The bottle itself is very sturdy and the cap is very secure to prevent any unwanted spillages! I also think it looks quite sleek and I'm feel confident in knowing that the Brita Filter design is helping to filter out the unwanted nasties from the large amount of tap water I drink.

I hope this post has been of use, I would highly recommend getting one if you are in need of a new water bottle!

Soap & Glory "The Full She-Bang" Gift Set

For the past four years I have been lucky enough to receive the big special edition Soap & Glory set for Christmas which contains 9 full size products! I am a huge Soap & Glory fan so every year this has but a gleaming smile on my face!

I love being able to try different products from this brand and this edition has not been a disappointment my favourite products in the 2015 version is the Thick & Fast collagen mascara, which I would say is comparable to my all time favourite Lancome Hypnose Mascara. This edition of the gift set also included an interesting product which I hadn't yet seen before. It is a tinted body lotion with a hint of shimmer I think this will be useful to add a touch of bronze to my legs on a night out! I will let you know how I get on with this as it claims to be 'smudge resistant'.

If you haven't yet received one of these gift sets keep your eye's peeled for the 2016 edition! It's so worth it you get £75 worth of products for less than half the price!

Happy New Year to you all.

A few Boxing Day bargains!

It's a tradition of mine to always wonder into town on Boxing Day to suss out the post Christmas bargains. This year I unfortunately couldn't get very far due to the flooding in the North of England. However we have a few stores in my  home town within walking distance and I luckily managed to have a browse in these stores.
In New Look I found a good few bargains. I managed to pick up some new going out boots reduced to half price! I love New Look footwear as I think for the price they are decent quality and nicely designed. These boots are crazily high but for a girl of 5 foot this is appreciated! I got these boots for £15 and you would expect them to be much more with the look and feel of the boots.

I also picked up a couple of costume necklaces both in gold that I thought would be useful to dress up some outfits. I love statement necklaces as a way of jazzing up clothes for a night out and I feel that these two designs will complement quite a few of my dresses.

Thanks for reading Ladies!

Visiting London for the first time 🇬🇧

Shock horror I know, what British person hasn't visiting there own capital city before!? Especially in a country as small as ours. However I am one of the few that hadn't yet visiting the busy and vibrant city, I was promised a trip to London for my 21st from my boyfriend my birthday was months ago but we had to postpone due to us both being so busy with work and other things. So here we have it pictures of my time in London over three days! We had an amazing couple of days exploring the city we ate out at some amazing restaurants and my favourite breakfast had to be at The Dutch Pancake House - amazingggg! (Photographed below). We visited the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Natural History Museum, Buckingham Palace, The British Museum - we had a very busy couple of days but it was so worth it to see all the fascinating sites. One of my favourite parts had to be the Egyptian displays in the. British Museum the Ancient Egyptians have always faciniated me from being a young child so this bit was by far the best for me! Definitely go and give these museums a look if you haven't already! 

Thanks for reading guys and please let me know your favourite places to visit in London.

Are you a positive thinker?

I feel like this topic is something that we all need to explore. Life is in no way simple and in the society we live in we are constantly being confronted with stressful situations, huge responsibilities, family issues, money issues and the list goes on... 

This post is basically me emptying my brain of my views and beliefs regarding life's pressures. I regard life as an emotional roller coaster. I am almost sure that most people will agree with this analogy, each and everyone of us will reach ultimate peaks and downhill troughs in our lives. But this post has been written to identify how we deal with these experiences. I am obviously no expert on this at only 21 I haven't got heaps of life experience, but I find my own ways to deal my stresses and I think these are worth sharing with others. 

First off you need to identify your priorities - you need to realise who is important in your lives and respect these people keep them close. After all these will be the people to help you when you experiencing your lows or trough's as I described them earlier. 

You also need to be resilient in order to be a positive thinker, you need to use your initiatives and positive life goals to bat away all of those upsetting and negative emotions. This will prevent bitter and negative emotions affecting who you are, and stop it corroding your sparkle! Unfortunately one thing I have realised in recent years is that there are some very nasty and selfish individuals in life and not everyone is as 'nice' as you would like. This goes against idealistic thoughts of peace and harmony and can create mess if you let it, but that's the whole point of this post we need to work together to protect ourselves from negativity and being dragged down by life's stresses. It's going to keep throwing them after all - but have that cricket bat at the ready and never let them knock you down, stay creative and keep fighting to be a positive influence to today's society. 

As 'deep' as it might be we have one life on this planet and in order for you to make the most out of it you need to do what makes you happy and never stop battling for happiness. Think about your actions and how they influence others but not to the extent of changing who you are just always treat people how you wish to be treated and try and realise negative energy in other ways rather than at the expense of others. 

This topic is something very close to my heart as I have experienced and will continue to experience negativity in my life. But I am determined this will not change who I am and I hope this post will inspire other blog readers in the same way as it has inspired me by writing it. Keep working hard and make the most of every minute and every hour of everyday. 

Loving at home henna 🌺🌸

A few months ago now I decided to experiment with henna. I've always loved henna designs I think they are very beautiful and intricate. I have always being an 'artsy' person and thought that this would be a great way of getting creative and being able to make up some interesting designs.

 I have inserted some photographs of the first henna designs I have created I am in no way a professional at this but the ones it have done so far I have thoroughly enjoyed doing, I find it very therapeutic and a really good way of relaxing. Living in a house of girls it also makes the perfect girly night in getting everyone involved and the girls loved me being able to practice on them [warning! Always carry out a patch test before applying henna due to it being a common allergy]. You can buy henna from many places I picked mine up for £1.99 for 3 tubes on eBay! 

Happy Henna'ing girlies! 

Nail Polish of the moment: nude icing by models own

I have finally got some time off work and decided to bag myself some acrylic nails. Every timeI have  acrylic nails applied (not very often) I always swear I will never get them again due to the damage they cause to your nails. But with the neat and sleek look they give I always end up getting them again. This time around I got long pointed nails as I felt that they would look glamorous especially painted with this gorgeous nude shade! 

I took into the nail bar with me this frosted glass bottle of nail polish from models own, the shade is nude icing and the only way I can describe it is as a pink based/beige shade. I am normally one for a much brighter choice of nails but after having these on for a few days now I am loving them and the biggest perk is that they go with any clothing/accessory choice - Amazing! They also compliment my Pandora ring I got a gift for my 21st birthday which is also plus side of this beautiful colour! 

Whilst in the nail bar the nail technician also have me advice stating that the quality of nail Polish is often given away by where the nail polish is manufactured, she stated that products manufactured in China are of a poorer quality. Models own is made in the EU which ensures the products are of a high standard. Anyone looking for a new nude shade for their nail polish collection definitely give this one a go! 

It's time for a blog update! @beautifiedculturex

Recently I been looking for new things to get involved with, since the beginning of the year I have really been getting into working out at the gym and choosing healthy lifestyle choices and decided I would make an instagram account to share with everyone my progress, hints and tips.. Follow me @beautifiedculturex
When browsing for a new hobby I remembered the satisfaction I used to get from my old blog beautywondersUK and decided that It was time to revamp my blog and start posting regularly. I am hoping to not just fill this blog with beauty advice and reviews but also provide life inspiration for my readers.
I am really enthusiastic about this change and am planning on investing in a new blogging camera to improve the quality of my blog photos and to give me the motivation to make this blog a success

xxx

MAC Pro longwear concealer: Review

This concealer is by far the best I have ever used it is perfect for disguising dark circles under the eyes as it is crease proof and lasts all day and most concealers tend to smudge and crease underneath the eyes, so finding this product was a win for me. 
It also has many other uses as It is brilliant for using on the eye lids as an eye shadow base as it is from the pro longwear range it really does keep everything in place so instead of using an eye primer this works just as well underneath powder and cream eye shadows. 
I mainly use this product around the eyes put you can also use it on any pesky spots that your foundation doesn't cover it is guaranteed not to crack or crease and stay on all day. My only complaints with this product is the fact it is in a glass jar which means that it can be easily broken, it also has a pump that is difficult to control which sometimes means you end up wasting some of the product as you get more than you actually need especially if you are using it just for the eye area. But over all this is the best concealer I have used so I can put up with the packaging.

You can pick up this concealer at MAC for £15.50, please leave comments and let us know what your favourite concealers are, thanks for reading <3

Halloween Antics 2013

Halloween is the day of the year that you can dress up and not worry about over stepping the mark. We love the excuse to come up with creative ways of creating the scary looks for Halloween, so I thought I would share with you our Halloween 2013 looks!

I dressed as zombie school girl which was the perfect opportunity to cover myself in blood, cuts and scary face paint, i used a black eye shadow to make my eyes very smokey and to contrast the white face paint to give it a more gory look. Laina dressed up as a spider women and drew on spider webs to create a spooky look, Natasha dressed up as a zombie cat with cute black cat ears and then did a smokey black eye shadow look using Barry M dazzle dust she then added fake blood for a more dramatic effect.

(Kirsty)

(Left: Laina, Right: Natasha)

 (Zombie & Cat)

I hope you all had fantastic Halloween celebrations and thoroughly took advantage of the excuse to dress up spookily and if not there's always next year!

Happy Halloween from us at BearingBeauty!

<3

Various Hair Oils

Today I wanted to talk about hair care and specifically hair oils: I sufferer with dry, coarse hair (through over styling and colouring) so this type of product has been a staple in my hair care routine. I am going to show you the three oils I use I tend to use each one at different times of the week depending on how I am styling my hair. All of these products are from different price ranges and therefore this blog post is suitable for all readers, the cheapest of the oils can be picked up for just £2.99 and the most expensive which is the Ojon - rare blend oil which retails at £30.00.

• MATRIX - total results Sleek - Silk Wonder, smoothing oil- controlled, defrizzed (available at: http://www.beautybay.com/haircare/matrix/totalresultssleeksilkwonderoil/ for £9.23)
• Argan Oil - hair treatment with moroccan argan oil extract - intensive hydrating treatment (available on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/281151125244?lpid=83&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=83 for £2.99)
• Ojon- rare blend oil - Total Hair Therapy (available on the Ojon website: http://www.ojon.co.uk/product/5069/22034/Gifts-Sets/shopbycategory/Best-sellers/Rare-Blend-Oil/Total-Hair-Therapy/index.tmpl?77tadunit=7b2a860c&77tadvert=24135755402&77tkeyword=&77tentrytype=s&77tentry=shopping_feed_ppc&gclid=CMednomUpboCFZIPtAod-m8AJA for £30.00)

My favourite hair oil of these three is the Matrix - Silk Wonder I find that this product doesn't leave any residue and doesn't weight my hair down. You can also use this product on dry hair just on the ends to tame frizz without making it looking greasy instead it just gives a healthy shine to the hair. But all of these products are recommendations I haven't been disappointed with any of them for the price of the Argan Oil it works very well but it must only be used liberally as it is easy to over load your hair with the product so one pump spread through the ends of your hair is more than enough, the smell of this one isn't too pleasant but for the price it can be dealt with. The Ojon rare blend oil and the Matrix silk wonder both have nice scents to them which is usually the difference with higher end hair products.
If any of you are looking for hair oils I hope this blog post has been helpful
Thanks for reading, 
Kirsty <3

Kevin Murphy Color.Bug

I have loved the My Little Pony hair colours that became so big this year, but wanted to try something that didn't involve such a large commitment, and along came Kevin Murphy Color.Bug. I seriously cannot get enough of these! They are little hair shadows and are so perfect for if you want to add a bit of colour to your hair for a night out, and they wash right out, so you don't have to worry if you have work the next day!

I apply a bit of hair gel or wax to my hair beforehand to give the colour something to stick to. I've tried them without using any product first and found that the colour doesn't last nearly as long, nor is it as vibrant, and it runs like anything down your neck/clothes.. not a great look. Considering that I have quite dark brown hair, I wasn't sure that the colours would show up too well, but my hairdresser convinced me to give them a go and I was pleasantly surprised to with the finished result.

They are so easy to use - you just rub the chalk over your hair, blending as desired - make sure you are wearing old clothes or have a towel over your shoulders to protect your as it can get a bit messy! One thing that I would say though, is that having darker hair means I probably do have to use more of the product to get the desired vibrant result, compared to someone with lighter hair. The colour is buildable though, therefore the more you use, the more vibrant the finishing colour.

(This is the pink chalk on my hair, with a gel to hold)

They come in a range of colours; Pink, Purple, Orange, White, and Neon, which is a yellow-y shade. I have them in both the pink and the purple and have loved using both. They cost £13.95 and I buy mine from my hairdresser, but they are available to buy online.

What do you think? Have you ever tried them or any other wash out colours? Let me know in the comments!

Love, Natasha

Jimmy Choo EDP & Body Lotion: Review

Today I am going to review the Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum with the matching Body Lotion, I have lusted after this fragrance for a while and kindly received it as a leaving present. The scent has chocolate base notes which gives it a sweet but sophisticated scent. I have also tried the Eau de toilette version of this and think that it is more of a summer or day time fragrance, I personally think that the EDP version is much more suited to the evening. 
I have found that wearing  the body lotion and then a few sprays of the perfume makes the fragrance even more long lasting and also means that the fragrance will be evenly distributed over the skin. 
(Perfume tip: instead of rubbing the wrists together when spraying the perfume, spray a small amount on each wrist as this will make the scent smell much better as it has settled naturally into the skin without ruining the base and top notes of the fragrance) 

"Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum expresses an aura of strength and beauty. Glamorous in attitude, confident, intelligent and with a sense of fashion and fun, the fragrance is a modern Fruity Chypre with warm, rich, woody depths. It's a fragrance inspired by modern women strong, empowered, beautiful, seductive and alluring with a hidden and mysterious sense of confident sexuality."

Thanks for reading! Leave any fragrance recommendations in the comment box below, 

Kirsty <3

Bobbi Brown: Autumnal/Berry Look

Autumn is here and there is the trend for bold berry lips and warm toned blushers, I am going to show you some products that I think are beautiful for the Autumn time these are the Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Chocolate Cherry 7 and the Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Colour SPF 12 in Crimson 16. These two products are dark and quite bold but when applied liberally they create a lovely Autumnal look. 

 (Pot Rouge: top, Lip colour: bottom)

Thanks for reading, I hope this post has inspired you to be daring and try some warmer shades of make up for Autumn/winter 2013.

Kirsty <3

September Glossybox: The London Edition

For those of you who may be unaware of just what exactly Glossybox is, it is a beauty box subscription that you receive once a month, and the box is filled with samples of 5 beauty products that might be new to the market, or even not yet available in the UK. One of the things I love about Glossybox is the amount of effort that goes into the design of each box - they all have a different theme, with this months theme being 'The London Edition', filled with goodies inspired by London Fashion Week.

Rimmel | 'Stay Blushed' Blusher

 

I was rather excited to receive this in my Glossybox this month as it is a product I have been meaning to try for quite some time. Blushers are one of the beauty products that I tend to shy away from as if you get the wrong shade, I think it can look bad. Anyway, this is Rimmels first liquid blusher, and the description reads: 'Lightweight liquid blush blends instantly and seamlessly'. Lightweight it certainly is! I received it in the shade '001 Pop of Pink' which suggests to me a fairly natural colour, but when I squeezed some out I was taken aback by how bright it appeared. Not to worry though, it blends beautifully and the colour was a perfect shade of pink, not too bright at all. Overall I was rather pleased with this! A full size 14ml bottle costs just £4.49.

 

TONI&GUY HairMeetWardrobe | Classic Shine & Gloss Serum

 

 

This was a product that at first glance I thought 'probably not going to use that' as I am not a huge fan of shiny, glossy hair - I much prefer a more natural look. However, as one of the whole points to Glossybox is trying out products that you may not necessarily usually go for, I thought I may as well give it a go. This is a limited edition bottled designed by Lulu Kennedy for HairMeetWardrobe. On the bottle it claims to 'control frizz with lightweight shine and alignment' which seemed a bit of a bizarre description to me - aligning hair?? But nethertheless I tried it out. I applied it to dry hair and blended it thoughout the ends of my hair, and definitely noticed a difference to the shine and the texture of my hair appeared much smoother. It retails at £7.19 for 30ml.

 

Eylure | Pre-glued Lashes

 

 

I used to be an avid eyelashe-wearer whenever I was going out somewhere in the evening, but then about a year ago, decided to take a break as I just found them to be too high maintenance for a night out - who wants to be constantly checking that they don't have a stray false eyelash halfway down their face when they're supposed to be out having fun? But I have recently been coming back round to the idea of them, so these arrived at a good time. Eyelure are definitely my go-to brand for false eyelashes as they are such good price for such a good price - these ones retail at £5.06 for one set, but are reusable.

 

Elizabeth Arden | 'Untold'

 

I wasn't overly fussed about receiving this scent - I've never been a fan of the Elizabeth Arden perfumes to be honest. The smell of this is quite strong at first sniff, but does settle down after a while. A 50ml bottle of this is £48, £69 for 100ml and to be completely honest there are many other perfumes out there that I love and would rather spend that money on. It is definitely not one that I will be purchasing myself!

 

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics | Onyx Eye Liner

 

I'd never actually heard of Be a Bombshell before receiving this product. It's an eye liner that comes in the form of a felt tip pen, much like the L'oreal Superliner. I love these as are so easy to use - there's none of that difficulty of doing one stroke too thick on one eye or whatever - you literally just draw it on. This one is Onyx' best-selling eyeliner which gave me high hopes, and I wasn't dissapointed. It retails at $14 for 3g, and I don't think it is actually sold in the UK at the moment, so for those of you from the UK or elsewhere who are interested in the idea of this product, I would recommend the L'oreal Superliner.

Overall, I think this was a pretty average box in terms of how much use I am likely to get out of some of the products, but I am pleased with the blusher and eyelashes and will certainly be staying subscribed to see what's in the next box! Are any of you subscribed to Glossybox? Let me know in the comments what you got in your box. Thanks for reading!
 

Love, Natasha

x

Blog maintenance - changed URL!

Hello everyone, just wanted to inform you all that the link to this blog is no longer beautywondersuk.blogspot.com and instead the link is now bearingbeautyuk.blogspot.com 

I didn't want to lose you followers! 

So I hope you all stay tuned for the blog over haul there's exciting new things happening! 

Kirsty <3

Blog recommendation - Elleellelle

Hi guys,

I haven't posted in quite a while but I just wanted to let you all know about a YouTube girl that has created her own blog to go along side her videos. I have been watching Lashanna's videos for quite a while and thought that her videos weren't getting enough credit with the amount of effort she puts in to them. 

Lashanna does make up and hair tutorials and she is definitely worth checking out with some great posts & tutorials coming soon! 

Check out her blog at elleellelle.blogspot.co.uk

Also her YouTube account - elleellelle

Facebook - facebook.com/ytelleellelle  

NYC Apple Lip Balm: Review

I picked up this NYC Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm this in superdrug it was very inexpensive at £2.49. I have never tried any NYC products before apart from a few nail polishes so this was a bit of a random purchase but I am very happy with the formulation.

I picked up the shade 355 - Applelicious Pink which a reddish pink that looks beautiful on the lips with it being a tinted balm it is ideal for individuals who are scared of using bright pinks that are highly pigmented. This lipbalm is handy for on the go it is very hydrating and smells lovely and fruity. Due to it being very inexpensive it is ideal for carrying around with you when you feel you want a nice pop of colour on the lips. I will probably pick up the other shades in the range on my next visit to superdrug. 
Thanks for reading 
Follow me on twitter @beautywondersUK
<3

Introducing E Fox City!

This website has some fantastic, exquisite pieces at very reasonable prices. They have a range of many different designs for both casual and formal events. They also have a brilliant range of jewelry with some individual designs that make the perfect glammed up accessories for any outfit. I would definitely recommend checking out the website http://www.efoxcity.com/ and browsing through the wide range of beautiful pieces that are available. They ship internationally which makes the site brilliant for all of us around the world. 
The evening dresses available on the website are beautifully designed and are perfect for all occasions - summer balls, proms, weddings, a day at the races and many more.

 womens fashion wholesale

wedding dresses under $100

drop ship clothing

2013 evening dresses online(http://www.efoxcity.com/evening-dresses.html)

 

2013 wedding dress(http://www.efoxcity.com/wedding-dresses-01.html)

 

sequins prom dress(http://www.efoxcity.com/prom-dresses.html)

They also have some beautiful Jewelry designs like these necklaces below:

Hope you have enjoyed this recommendation for http://www.efoxcity.com/
Thanks for reading
Kirsty <3