Whilst out shopping on Tuesday morning, I decided to pop into Waterstones and pick up popular blogger and YouTuber Tanya Burr's new debut book, 'Love, Tanya.' Luckily, I was able to get the last copy in the store - apparently its been selling like hot cakes (which I am not surprised by!) Without even meaning to, I got so engrossed by the book that I have already read its entirety, and so I thought that I would share my thoughts and opinions on it with my lovely followers!
Ever since Tanya announced that she would be writing a book, I was really excited by the prospect that she would be sharing lots of aspects of her life that we didn't already know about. Within the book, Tanya delves a little deeper into her childhood and how she has grown up over the years. Plus, she has also added some more lighthearted sections to the book too - such as skincare, make-up and baking! There are twelve chapters in total and my two personal favourite topics are Love (where she talks about her relationship with Jim) and Confidence & Happiness (where she talks about learning to love and accept herself.)
The book itself has been put together so well; everything from the colour scheme and photography is perfect! You can really tell how much time and effort Tanya and the people helping her put into making this book so wonderful. Not only is there a gorgeous shot of Tanya at the start of every chapter but there are also so more personal, never seen before photographs too.
Also, another unique element to the book is that there is the occasional page where you can write about some of your own experiences. For example, within the 'Growing Up: Part Two' chapter, there is a place for you to write about the ten things that have shaped who you have become. Although this may be a fun and interactive aspect for younger readers to make them feel more involved, I personally think that the book is just too nice to write in!
Overall, I think it's safe to say that I really enjoyed this book considering how quickly I read it! As well as enjoying the more heartfelt and personal parts of the book, I also really liked the fun chapters on all things health & beauty too! I also really want to try making one of the recipes in the book, as they all look super yummy and the recipes look easy to follow. To summarise my thoughts, below is a list of pros and cons about 'Love,Tanya.'
Pros
Lovely photography
Contains great hints and tips on a wide range of topics
Appealing to a wide age range of girls
High quality design
Reasonable price point
Cons
The book is too nice to write in yourself (in my opinion!)
'Love,Tanya' retails at £12.99 and is available Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith. Will you be getting a copy?
Hi guys. Today I wanted to write a little review about these gorgeous 'Girls Night Out' lashes from Tanya Burr's new collection. I have been a huge fan of using lashes ever since I initially wore them for my Year 11 prom back in 2010 (god, time flies!) As a girl with short and fine lashes, fake ones are an essential for me on a night out or else my eyes will have barely any definition. Over the past year or so, I have been wearing Ardell's demi wispie lashes, which I absolutely love. However, I still like to try out other brands from time to time and as these lashes looked quite similar to the demi wispies anyway, I just had to give them a whirl!
The main thing that I love about these lashes is how lengthening and fluttery they are and the fact that the outer corners wing out really opens up the eye area. These types of lashes are often my favourite as they really suit my preferred make-up look, which tends to be a cat-eye using liquid liner paired with a bold lip! If you would like to see how these lashes look, I recently featured them in my 'A Soft & Smokey Eye Look' blog post at the end of November.
If the 'Girls Night Out' lashes do not tickle your fancy, Tanya also has five other sets of lashes in her range that you may prefer; Bambi Eyes, Date Night, Everyday Flutter, Pretty Lady and a set of individual lashes. All of Tanya's eyelashes cost £5.49 and can be purchased from Superdrug (both online & in store) and Feel Unique. The range is really fantastic and you can definitely create a bunch of different looks with them! There really is a pair of lashes for everybody in my opinion.
Overall, I'm not quite sure if they have over-taken my love for my Ardell lashes quite yet but 'Girls Night Out' are a great pair of wispy and fluttery lashes that can be used for lots of different occasions and make-up looks. They add drama to your eyes without looking too over the top, which is exactly what I look for in a set of fake eyelashes!
What do you think about the 'Girls Night Out' lashes? Have you tried any of Tanya's false lash collection? Please let me know by leaving a comment below!
Hi guys. Unfortunately I have come down with an awful stomach bug this week but whilst I had some energy, I wanted to write up a quick post for you all. On Monday, my very talented friend and make-up artist Chloe (otherwise known as Glam By Coco on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) used me as a model to promote her freelancing! We decided to take me out of my comfort zone and start experimenting with eyeshadows because I usually stick to winged liner and not much else on my lids. Eyeshadow is something that I have struggled with in the past but now that I am growing to love it, I am even getting the Naked 2 palette for Christmas! Chloe did an absolutely amazing job and so I though that I would quickly share with you the products that she used to achieve this soft and smokey look!
Here is a list of products that were used:
MAC Swiss Chocolate Eyeshadow
MAC Embark Eyeshadow
MAC Carbon Eyeshadow
Clinique Quickliner in Intense Charcoal
MAC Coffee Eye Pencil
Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Holy Smokes!
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
Tanya Burr Girls Night Out Eyelashes
Albeit rather short, I hope that you liked this post and I will hopefully be doing some more make-up looks or tutorials in the future. I am hoping to be on the mend as soon as possible, so that I can back to blogging properly once again. As always, please let me know what you think of this look by leaving a comment down below. Thank you!
Hi guys. I haven't done any food related blog posts in quite a while, so I thought that it was about time that I posted another recipe for you all. Many of you may have seen Tanya Burr's recent YouTube video making White & Milk Chocolate Cookies and I'm sure you'll agree that they looked really tasty, so I wanted to make some of my own. The only difference is that I wanted to change up the recipe just a little so I swapped out the white chocolate for some orange flavoured chocolate instead. The beauty about this recipe is that you can substitute the chocolate to whatever type you like, so feel free to experiment yourselves or just simply follow the instructions below. So, without any further ado, here is my recipe for Orange & Milk Chocolate Cookies. Enjoy!
Here are the ingredients that you will need:
325g self-raising flour
300g caster sugar
200g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 egg
200g milk chocolate
200g orange flavoured milk chocolate (mine is from Mr Simm's)
Dash of milk
Before you begin, you will also need to preheat your oven to 200°c and line two baking trays with grease-proof paper.
1. Using an electric whisk, add both your sugar and butter into a bowl and whisk until they are fully combined. Then add your egg into the mixture and whisk until smooth.
2. Next, adding a little bit at a time, whisk your self-raising flour into the mixture. Once combined, your mixture should look crumbly and dough-like. At this point, if it looks a little on the dry side, add a little dash of milk to your mixture too. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
3. Then, it's time to add up your chocolate. Break up both your milk chocolate and orange flavoured milk chocolate into squares and then add it to your dough. Make sure you disperse the chocolate evenly throughout your dough so that your cookies are even and all have a good amount of chocolate in them later on.
4. Grab little handfuls of the completed dough and roll them into balls and place them on the baking tray (I managed to make eight large cookies but you could make smaller ones if you would like, as long as you adjust the cooking time.) Ensure that the cookies are spaced out as they do spread out a lot whilst in the oven.
5. Place your cookies into the oven and cook them for 10-12 minutes but no longer. The cookies may look not fully cooked when you take them out but I can assure you they are, plus the continue to cook outside of the oven. The cookies should look crispy around the edges but nice and gooey in the centre.
6. Allow your cookies to cool for around half an hour and then tuck in!
So that's it for my Orange & Milk Chocolate Cookie recipe. They were super easy to make and were even more delicious, the chocolate just melts in your mouth and the cookie has a wonderful soft and gooey texture. I hope you enjoyed my adaptation of Tanya's original recipe. Please let me know if you give this recipe a go for yourself by leaving a comment below!
Hi guys. I have been a fan of wearing fake eyelashes on nights out and for special occasions for years now, ever since I first wore them four years ago to my Year 11 prom. As I have naturally short and fine lashes, mascara just isn't enough for me at night time to get the dramatic look that I desire. I have tried many different pairs of fake lashes over the years but this pair that I want to talk about today are my absolute favourites. So today, I thought that I would do a quick little post talking about these lashes.
I first heard about the Ardell Demi Wispies in one of Tanya Burr's videos a little while back, so I decided that I wanted to try and hunt them down immediately! I tracked them down in my local Sally's Beauty, which I luckily have a trade card for as I took a three day nail course with them last October (which you can read about here.) As I own a trade card and it was VAT free day in store too, I got these lashes a lot cheaper than usual but they retail at £5.49 from Boots.
Initially, on the tray, the lashes looked a little different to what I would usually go for. My lashes of choice before I converted to these lashes were usually Eylure's Katy Perry Cool Kitty Lashes (£5.95,) which are a different shape and style entirely. However, once I applied them, I was in love. The Demi Wispies add amazing length and volume without being too in your face or over the top. One thing I especially love about this particular pair is that the lash band is virtually undetectable, unlike some other high street brands where it is really obvious that you are wearing fake lashes. I absolutely love the fluttery and full effect that these eyelashes give, especially paired with some nice winged liner too, which is always my go-to evening look. The only down side to these lashes is that the version I bought did not come with any eyelash glue. However, I luckily have multiple tubes of Eylure glue that I have stashed in my drawer that I can use instead!
Overall, I absolutely adore these lashes and I highly recommend them. They are both lengthening and voluminous, which gives the most amazing end result. Not only this but the lashes hold their shape really well too, which means that you can get multiple uses out of one pair if you look after them properly! Have you ever tried these or any of the Ardell lashes before? What are your favourite fake lashes to wear on a night out? Please let me know by leaving a comment below. Thank you!
Hi guys! Today, I thought that I would do something a little different and talk about my top five favourite fashion and beauty bloggers. I really got into YouTube around this time last year after somehow coming across one of Zoella's videos, (I cannot for the life of me remember how that happened,) and ever since then I have been hooked! I have always been a girly-girl who loves make-up and shopping but over the past year or so, my passion for this has really developed. Even though I am just a regular girl with quite a small budget, there is nothing I love more than going into Boots or Superdrug and trying all of the newest products on the market. I am definitely a make-up hoarder! So, without any further ado, here are my favourite YouTubers that I always enjoy watching and who have really influenced me since I have started watching these types of videos. Enjoy!
1. Zoella
First up is the first fashion and beauty based YouTuber that I ever watched, Zoella (Zoe Sugg.) She is by far my favourite YouTuber for several reasons, however, I think that the main reason is because Zoe also suffers with anxiety like me. When I came across her infamous 'Dealing With Panic Attacks & Anxiety' video, I really connected with it as Zoe spoke about a number of topics that all applied to me and my current situation. Not only this, I absolutely love her style! I often look at Zoe's clothes for inspiration as she is petite, like myself, and so I know that her fashion will also suit my small frame. I also love to watch Zoe's vlogs on her second channel, where we get to see more of her day-to-day life. Overall, I think that Zoe is a very inspirational girl and her videos always interest me - especially her HUGE hauls that show which fashion and beauty items she has bought!
2. Tanya Burr
Next up is the gorgeous Tanya Burr (formerly known as Pixi2Woo.) Tanya is renowned on YouTube as being a trained make-up artist who posts a tonnes of excellent tutorials showing her viewers an array of different looks. The main reason that I love watching Tanya's videos is because I have picked up so many beauty tips from her that have completely changed the way I apply my own make-up. As well as this, I love Tanya's whole outlook on life - she is always smiling and is such a bubbly person. I love watching her vlogs because of this reason and in particular I loved watching 'Vlogmas,' where Tanya filmed every day up until Christmas. Plus, I think that her and her fiancé Jim Chapman, who is also a YouTuber, are the most adorable couple ever!
3. Glam Life Guru
Glam Life Guru, otherwise known as Tati Westbrook, is a YouTuber who I have really grown to love over the past couple of months. I think that the reason behind this is because Tati posts such a great variety of videos AND posts several videos a week. One of my favourite things about her channel is 'Madness Monday,' where she goes to various American drugstores and does huge hauls. She then often reviews all of the new products she has bought in a separate video. The only downside to watching Tati is that because she lives across the pond, sometimes she reviews amazing looking products that I cannot find easily in the UK (which makes me a little sad at times!)
4. Fleur De Force
Fleur is another one of my favourites because she seems like a really kind, down to earth person which is really refreshing. I find that I get a lot of good product recommendations from Fleur's channel because I am also blonde and fair skinned, so I know that what she uses will also suit myself. Plus, I love her timeless style and clothing - it is very classic and sophisticated. I love watching her main channel videos but not as much as I love watching her vlogs, mainly because I love being nosey and she always seems to have exciting projects that she is a a part of!
5. Essiebutton
Last but not least is the lovely Essiebutton, who I have only recently subscribed to despite knowing about her channel for ages. I have become instantly hooked to Estée's channel and every time I have some free time or I am bored, I watch her videos. I love Estée because she, again, is a very bubbly and down to earth character. Her reviews of products are really helpful and honest, which often influences me to take a trip to my local Boots and make some naughty purchases (oops!) I really enjoy her Body Shop hauls in particular as I am not really familiar with the brand apart from their body butters, so it is nice to learn about what other nice products are out there.
So, those are my top 5 fashion and beauty gurus on YouTube. I found it very hard to whittle my favourites down to just a mere five, so I would also like to give a quick nod to Sprinkle Of Glitter (Lousie Pentland) and Miss Glamorazzi (Ingrid Nilsen) as both of them just narrowly missed out on spots in my top 5!
Who are your favourite YouTubers to watch? I would love to know, so please leave a comment below - I love recommendations to new channels! I am also thinking about doing another post about my favourite non-beauty related channels, so let me know if that is something that you would like to see in the near future. Thank you :)
