Behind The Scenes Of Blogging TAG!

I was very kindly tagged by Megan from The Beauty Pier, to do this tag so lets get going!

COPY AND PASTE THE RULES

1. You MUST state that this TAG was created by www.thebeaubow.blogspot.com (Lauren)

2. You must use the image I have provided in this post on your post.

3. You must title this post 'Behind the Scenes of Blogging TAG' so everyone knows what it is about!

4. You must tag at least one other person, but there is not a maximum limit! -You will need to comment on their blog to let them know that they are tagged.

5. Thank the person who tagged you and link their blog.

6. You must answer all the questions

7. HAVE FUN!

1.Do you plan for each/some of your blog posts, if so, how do you do this?

Yes, I do plan most of my blog posts but some days I just like to sit down and write about something different, for example: The Weekend Post. I like to take a job lot of pictures, upload them to my laptop and then write about them when I get time. If I get stuck for ideas then I, have a flick through some magazines or have a look at other people's blogs.

2.Do you have a blogging notebook/diary where you write and plan about things to do with your blog? 

I do and I use it to jot down notes and blog ideas in. It makes it easier for me because I can plan what date I'm going to upload blog posts on.

3.Do you feel pressured to buy things so that you have something to review on your blog?

No, I only buy things that I really want and if I'm in need inspiration/ideas, then I'll have a look through magazines. I don't just blog about beauty though, I enjoy writing about fashion and accessories too!

4.Has your style of your blog posts/blog been influenced by someone else. If so, who?

I love Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup, thats where I got the idea 'The Weekend Post'. I have a blogroll at the top of my blog if you want to check out other blogs I enjoy reading, and I get ideas from all of them really. I like a nice simple layout for my blog too.

5.What are your favourite posts to plan and write about?

I really enjoy writing reviews because they are always so helpful for other people. I love to plan fashion posts as well.

6.Do you think that your knowledge of makeup (and applying it) has improved because of blogging?

My knowledge has definitely improved but I've learnt most of what I know about makeup on YouTube. I've watched makeup videos for years now and have picked up a lot of tips along the way. 

7.Do you test all of products for a certain amount of time before you review them?

I review a product when I feel like I've used it enough, for example a nail polish wouldn't take too long to test out but if it's a products that claims to for example: give you an even complexion in 4 weeks, then I'll test it for 4 weeks and give you the verdict. 

8.Do you have any other websites for your blog? (e.g, twitter, YouTube, Bloglovin' or a Facebook page etc. )

I have a Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Hellocotton and Bloglovin' account. They are all on the right-hand side of my blog, to follow me just click on them. I like to have lots of different accounts so people can follow me on various different things.

9.Do you feel the need to buy something you have wanted EVEN more when you see your favourite blogger talking about it?

YESS! Definitely. I love watching hauls, and whenever I see one of my favourite blogger talking about a product I love already, I decide I NEED to have it!

10.Do you find taking pictures to be a chore, or not?

I get annoyed when I can't get a good photo but most of the time I enjoy taking a few snaps of my makeup for the blog. I don't have a professional camera or anything like that so I don't find it as easy as other bloggers.

Now for the people I tag:

Tasma from TasmaViolet

Ashlee from widewildsky

Natalia from Natalia's Makeup Counter

Annie from You Me Friday

Amy from Amy Perrett Make-Up

You don't need to do it but it's just a bit of fun!

The Edit: 5 Product Face

We all have those days where we 'simply cannot be bothered' to do anything but we still want to hide those dark circles and those pesky spots here and there. Or maybe you're just in a rush because you've spent too much time lounging about in your onesie, when you should of been getting ready? Well here's a round-up of quick makeup products that you can throw into your makeup bag and do on the go.

Dr Jart Water Fuse BB Cream (full review here) £18
This bb cream will save a lot of steps, it has advanced water bead technology to help hydrate your skin and give you a natural, healthy glow. It contains sunscreen, aloe leaf juice (which slows the water loss from your skin), and will soothe and calm your skin covering any blemishes, uneven skintone and red-ness. No need for powder because the bb cream will take care of the oil.

Max Factor Eye Brightening Mascara £7.99
These come in three different shades, one to suit everybody whether you have green, blue or brown eyes. The formula contains light reflecting particles to instantly brighten up your eyes and the gem-toned colour beads will help enrich eye colour. As well as diminishing dullness this mascara will also give you long lashes and lots of volume.

Stila Convertible Colour £16
This is versatile, so you can use it on your lips and cheeks, so you don't have to faff about with lipstick. This creamy lightweight product will effortlessly brush onto your skin leaving you with a healthy pop of colour on booth your lips and cheeks. One to suit every skin tone and trust me ladies, you won't regret picking this up. I also talked about this in my March Favourites post.

Mac Omega Eyeshadow £12
Just run this through your brows to make them look a but tidier (obviously you may need a different shade but this is my particular choice) as I can't be going out without sorting my brows out! A soft muted beige-taupe shade, it's easy to use and you'll never look back once you've got within your grasp.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Pink Gold' £4.99
I use this shade on a daily basis, it's excellent to use as a base for other eyeshadows to make sure they stay in place all day long. Or to use on it's own, the creamy gel-like formula makes these babies easy to apply and blend onto your eyelid. They come in a range of different shades so there's one out there everyone. A lovely long-lasting pop of colour that won't fade throughout the day either.

The Weekend Post #7: A Jolly Good Combo!

Dr.Jart Water Fuse BB Cream | Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Recently, I've been finding myself mixing products together to create a perfect solution for my skin. The culprits are: Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB cream (full review here) and Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. With the weather being a bit better recently- finally -I prefer a lighter base that will keep my skin looking glowy and radiant but still have a bit of coverage to it. There's nothing more I hate than a mask-like foundation (yuck).
 Bourjois have changed the formula of their Healthy Mix, I have the older version but I will be getting the newer version soon. This foundation does wonders for my skin containing apricot (for radiance), melon (for hydration), apple (an antioxidant) and ginger (energy). It glides on my skin leaving me with a fresh even base. My skin feels like it can breathe when I'm wearing this.
 Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB cream is one of my more recent purchases, and it ticks all the right boxes for me. It has a little thicker consistency than the foundation and it keeps the skin moisturised all day. It makes my face look lovely and dewy (without looking greasy). If you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on this then click here.So that's what I've been using as my base for a while and If my skin needs a bit more 'glow' then I add a bit of Benefit High Beam into the mix.

Do you enjoy mixing products together? If so, what are your favourite combos?

The Fashion post #3: Cute Makeup Bags

I love to store my everyday makeup and beauty essentials in a makeup bag, but I find it quite hard to come across one with a cute design so I thought I'd show you some of my favourite picks to save you some time.

Forever 21 French Bulldog Cosmetic Purse £8.40
This cosmetic purse would be perfect for storing your things in for a few days away, or even keeping on your dressing table. The cute bulldog print is hard to resist and the mint green shade is very suitable for Spring. Very similar to the Ted Baker Ditsy Dog print makeup bags only with a much purse-friendly price tag!

Cath Kidston Daisy Rose Cosmetic Bag £12
I love all Cath Kidston designs but this one really stood out to me. It's pretty, dainty floral design on a wipe-able surface is ideal to house all your on the go makeup and beauty products. It's a lovely handbag friendly-size so you won't need to take nearly everything out just to fit it in.

Initial Wash Bag by Alphabet Bags £20
Simple but great for those who want an adorable beauty bag that will stand out from the crowd and it doesn't have a crazy print or bold colour in sight. Excellent for throwing a few hair and makeup bits in if you're in a rush to work or you've finished a session at the gym.

Topshop Fluro Plastic Makeup Bag £8
Spring isn't all about pastels and floral print. So why not mix it up a bit and go for a neon bag? Small and easy to carry a few bits and bobs around with you when you're having a 'cba' kinda day. This quirky little bag will attract attention, but in a good way.

River Island White Perspex Colour Block Makeup Bag £13
If you're someone who carries a lot of things around with you, then listen up. See-through so there's no way you'll lose anything in there and light-weight too. Great for busy days when you're on the go but you want to keep organised too.

So here are my favourite choices. What are yours?

The Weekend Post #6: Rose, Rose And More Rose!

                                                                                                                                                                                                 

This week I've been finding myself using quite a few rose related products and I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on them this weekend. Rose isn't usually a scent I'd lean towards (as I'm not a huge fan) but I wouldn't outline using any rose scented products at all.
First on the list is the Aromatherapy Hydrating Rose Cleanser. I received this is Red's latest magazine. If you didn't already know, Red are currently giving out some Aromatherapy products. They are three to choose from: the Hydrating Rose cleanser, Rose Face Mask and a Rose Moisturiser  I was on the hunt for the Rose Face Mask, but after searching in numerous WHSmith's, Tesco's etc... I got bored and plumped for the cleanser instead. I was pleasantly surprised with how moisturising this cleanser was and how soft and smooth it left my face feeling. The minute I applied this to my face I immediately felt the effects and my skin feels set for the day after using this. Even with my oily T-Zone.  
Next up is the Balance Me Rose Otto Intensive Lip Salve, to me this smells very herbal-like and isn't really my cup of tea, but I managed to look past that. It's 100% natural and claims to 'plump, smooth and hydrate' your lips. When I've applied this my lips do feel plumper, and the lip balm feels to sink into my lips instead of just sitting on top of them. (I can't stand it when a lip balm just sits on top of your lips!)  Due to the scent, this is one I prefer to use before I hit the hay.
Last on my list is Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Perfume, now this doesn't smell entirely like rose but it does have notes of rose in it. This is my favourite perfume ever. I've been wearing this for about a year now and it's basically my signature scent. Perfect for Spring/Summer, as it's light sweet and floral. This will have you sniffing your wrists every few minutes, and at £48 for 75ml, you can't resist. I own the mini travel size version but I can guarantee you I'll be picking up the full size bottle ready for Summer. And to top it off, it's housed in a beautifully designed bottle. What more can I say?



Do have any rose-scented products? What do you think of these?

The Makeup: Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream | Review

Even though BB Creams have been out a good while now, I'm really late jumping on the bandwagon with this baby, but as I was browsing through Boots the other day, I simply could not resist having a sneaky look at the skincare. I noticed this was actually on offer for a bargain-licious £11.99. My eyes opened wider than wide and I quickly shoved this in my (already full) basket. Yes, you could say I was excited.

I'm more of a foundation gal, but I wanted to give it a go, and core-blimey I'm glad I did.
With its light coverage this is perfect for Spring/Summer, as there's nothing I hate more than wearing a really heavy, mask-like, foundation in the (hopefully) warmer months. I apply this like I would any base, by applying a small amount to my face and blending it out using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush. The thing I love about this is that it's oil-free, which is great news for me as I suffer from oily skin and I sometimes feel like foundation is gradually slipping off my face (yay). However when I use this my skin doesn't feel like an oil-slick at all and it stays put even without the use of a primer.

It's not to thick but not watery either and leaves my skin looking glowy, healthy and natural. There are other BB Creams from Dr Jart+ but this one particularly caught my eye, oil-free with SPF, Aloe leaf juice to prevent moisture loss and anti-redness ingredients, what more could you want eh?
The fact this only comes in one shade, I'll admit did kinda scare me at first, what with my pale skin but I was pleasantly surprised and I didn't leave the house looking like I'd had a fake tan disaster after all. This with a bit of bronzer, blusher, mascara and a neutral lip is purrfect.

The coverage as I mentioned before is light, so I did still have to use a little bit of concealer under my eyes but you can definitely go without a powder with this BB Cream. As far a moisture goes, I still prefer to use a tiny blob of my usual moisturiser beforehand but you probably would be able to get away without using any.
I do love to use this on its own but it's great to use under any foundation, as it helps stop oily skin, so you could just use it like a moisturiser and then go ahead and do your thing on top of it.
This would usually be a rather pricey £18 from boots but I wouldn't hesitate buying another one, as I think this is going to be my Spring/Summer staple. But as it's on offer, get yourself down to boots and pick one up, you won't regret it.

The Weekend Post #5: Saving

My bank balance has been suffering quite a lot recently due to the 3 for 2 makeup offers in Boots, but I've decided I need to start saving up some money (finally) and I wanted to make something simple but cute to collect it in.

So after finishing my Spaghetti Bolognese, I cleaned out the jar and added a few 'decorations' to it.
I used a couple of coats of a glitter nail polish on the lid to add a bit of 'sparkle' to it. I was going to paint it but I would've had to buy some, which would of been silly seen as I'm supposed to be saving my money. I tied a bow around the top using some string and then stuck a little piece of paper on with 'savings' written on it. I really am hoping this cute little jar will encourage me to put a few pounds away every week. I'm also coming to the conclusion that I might own a tad too much makeup and I'm on a mission to use up at least 5 products before I buy any more. Now I'm not promising but I will try, haha!

What do you do to help you save?