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Hey Guys,

I’ve been away for so long and I feel like I’m stuck in a little bit of a rut. Right now in my life I seem to be in a sort of limbo and today I had an epiphany that there’s no time to wait around for someone to pull me out, I need to dig, scrape and claw my way out ASAP. I thought about returning to this blog but to tell you the truth I’ve never been happy with it and it seemed a little amateur to me. I’ve started a new blog, right here on wordpress that is not going to be solely dedicated to beauty; but also fashion, cooking (attempts), lifestyle posts and general musings. I feel like this is the right direction for me to go in to start afresh and all of you are welcome to join me if you would like!!

Thanks for all your support with this blog – every like or follow means a lot to me and I would love to have you brought a little closer to my life rather than going 3 months with no posts.

My new blog can be found at: http://www.bonniesthinktank.wordpress.com

For now, that’s all from bonniesbeautyblog xx

I Have A Model

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Hello Lovelies, 

I just wanted to share the exciting news that I willing victim… I mean model, to help me out with future videos. She’s very beautiful and I hope you’ll love her.

I’d like to ask you guys what you’d like to see from us? I was thinking of doing a tutorial on how to may your lips look fuller without any weird suction/tingle techniques so let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in. Plus anything you’ve got your heart set on! Drugstore based tutorials… Orrrr something that I’ve seen requested a lot is a comparison between YSL’s foundations? The Teint Touche Eclat and the Youth Liberator? 

Anyway my dears, drop me a comment and I shall form your wishes into a reality. 

Love, Bonnie xx

Make-Up Musings

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Hello Lovelies,

I confess that since postly weekly has begun I have been itching to write almost every day. It’s funny how when you become so passionate about something, it can begin to lose the shine after awhile.. Like listening to your favourite song on repeat over and over and over again.
Make-up and I have the same relationship. I go through stages of not wanting anything on face at all to spending an hour perfecting a smokey eye. It’s funny also that make-up has become such an integral part of society.. And not always in a positive way. A girl at school daring to let a spot breathe is deemed ugly, a new mother with no time and a naked face deemed unkept, a mature woman letting her laughter lines show deemed old and tired.
Isn’t it funny how the very thing shown to the public that should tell a story of our lives is, in fact no more than a work of fiction.
Now don’t get me wrong, make-up is one of my biggest passions. I use it to make me feel confident, noticed and maybe even a little bit sexy (oo-er).

What I’m trying to get across to you ladies is that make-up doesn’t have to rule your life. We are all beautiful. When we can come to realise that a face is just a face, a tool for expression, emotion, communication we will wonder why we were ever so worried about making ourselves look like something we are not. Life is too short to cover all our imperfections, we need to learn to love them.

I’m challenging myself at the moment; to look at myself without make-up on, in the mirror, every single day. And do you know what? It’s working. You don’t need to think you’re God’s gift to the world to have a little self confidence. When I get the occasional compliment I still blush like an idiot and don’t believe it. But seeing your naked face and being happy with, I think that’s where self peace originates. Because if you’re happy with what you have, it’s one of the most beautiful things to behold.

So, my lovely, as you sit here reading this cringy and deep blog post, remind yourself of the things you love about yourself, and challenge yourself to do so every day. It’s something we can all benefit from.

Love, Bonnie xx

January Favourites – Links to Products

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Hello Lovelies!

Today’s post is going to be short and sweet as there is an accompanying video to this post but it is currently gluing itself together.. or something? I’m not really sure but there’s a long loading bar and it’s taking it’s sweet time to load that’s for sure.
Another niggle today is the fact that apparently Luvocracy just wasn’t made for Mac. I thought I was being clever organising my favourites into one simple collection for you but that’s not going to work… (believe me I’ve spent the last hour trying to make it do just that!).

Anyyyyyyway – I thought I’d go back to the old-fashioned of doing it and give you to the links to each individual item. If you want to hear me speil on about all them, stay tuned tomorrow!

Naked Care Mild Shampoo

Soap and Glory Butter Yourself Moisture Lotion

Revlon PhotoReady BB Cream

Dr Organic Dead Sea Mineral Eye Rescue Rollerball 

NARS Laguna Bronzer

Eyeko Eye Do Mascara

Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Eyebrow Pencil

Non Beauty Items:

John Grisham – The Testament

Vivienne Westwood Foggy Tweed Long Coat (picture only)

I hope you enjoy the video!
Love, Bonnie xx

Lazarus

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Hello Lovelies, 

I feel like an apology is becoming my trade mark start to a post. I’ve had the biggest bout of writer’s block and a hectic personal life meaning I’ve neglected my blog baby for over 2 months now. 
I wanted to come back with a new direction and a slightly more structured posting promise. My posts from here on out (I’m hoping) will include a lot more videos, will be a LOT more regular and will feed even the hungriest make-up maven inside you. As I’m making my comeback on a Tuesday, this is when I will posting from now on. I feel like once a week is a manageable amount for me at the moment and also gives me enough time to put together exciting posts for your perusal – I’ll have more time to research and test out products and hopefully it will make reading my blog a lot more exciting for you!

Seeing as it’s January (just) I think it would be rather fitting to see how I’m doing with my resolutions so far! 

My first was to get up earlier and so far I have failed so miserably with this! Hands up if you’re a serial snoozer! It’s so easier to set your alarm for 15 minutes later and have a little doze, so easy to think “well, my hair can go in a top knot today”, so easy to skip breakfast… Do you see where I’m going with this? If I get up earlier I can spend more time doing things, alleviating stress and panic and meaning I’ll be in a better position to get to places on time!

My second was to start blogging again and, like my first, this has also gone absolutely dreadfully. 

However, the good thing about resolutions is that you have a whole year to perfect them! So hopefully February will be a better month for me! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from me again, I’d love to know any of your resolutions if you fancy sharing them with me? I also wish you all good luck with accomplishing them! 
Love, Bonnie xx

Winter Series #2 – Body Care

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Hello Lovelies!

I’m back today with my body care recommendations to keep the cold from making your skin dull and lack-lustre. The most important to thing to do is exfoliate and moisturise of a regular basis, but I have a couple of hero products to give your skin an immediate lift if you haven’t much time on your hands.

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First off – my number one choice in exfoliator. This is the Pecksniff’s Sandalwood and Vanilla Body Scrub and it smells oh-so-good. This is a pretty pricey product; bought from a store this will set you back £25 but I found mine in Homesense for the bargain price of £4.99! The great thing about this scrub, aside from the heavenly scent is that it leaves a film of oil on the skin (which I know some people detest, but hear me out). It sinks in in a matter of minutes and leaves your skin feeling silky soft for days. I would recommend using a body scrub up to 3 times a week in Winter, especially if you have party coming up. 

A great choice if you hate body lotions or anything sticky is a dry oil. My choice is Champney’s Citrus Glow. This smells like oranges and lemons but also has a real warmth to it, making it a perfect Winter scent. This can be used in place of a perfume as the scent really lingers. It’s super moisturising and nourishing but opposed to a thin body lotion it sinks into the skin in seconds and you can get dressed right after applying this!

If you have a little more time on your hands I would recommend a thick, luxurious body butter. The Body Shop brings it when it comes to body butters and they do a wide variety of scents however my favourites are the Vitamin E and Papaya body butters. The Olive Oil one is also lovely. The Vitamin E one is perfect for before bed as you can really slather it on and by morning any dry patches will be moisturised and lovely – this is a great body butter to choose if you want a quick overnight fix for an event the next day. The Papaya body butter has a great summer scent to it – great if you’re making a Winter getaway to warmer climes! The scent isn’t so over-powering that everyone within a 5 mile radius gets knocked out by the smell, but lingers enough to encourage people to say “What IS it that smells so nice round here?!”.

My budget buy for body moisturisers is good ol’ E45 cream. For winter eczema patches, dry skin, blemishes, razor rash… Basically anything involving under-nourished, irritated, angry skin. I use this on my elbows, knees, shins and even on my face to lock in moisture after a face mask! This is a great product if you have really sensitive skin as it has no scent. It’s also great to use over the top of other body butters/lotions/oils to seal them and obtain maximum moisture.

I really hope you enjoyed reading this post! Please be sure to give it a like or hit the follow button if you want to keep reading my Winter Series of posts!
Love, Bonnie

Winter Series #1

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Hello Lovelies!
I thought I’d switch things up a little and do a series of Winter related posts advising you on what I would recommend to look after different areas of your body now that the nights are drawing in and to be quite frank, it’s getting bloody freezing!
Today I’m focusing on nails; an area I think a lot of people neglect and one that is easily damaged. Personally I think I have the worst nails possible – they are brittle, they split and break (if I haven’t bitten them that is!) and could generally just do with a little more TLC.
Winter is the time to up the anti on nails because dry hands and cuticles are SO. NOT. CUTE. My five main guidelines to follow are:

1. Moisturise your hands with a thick hand cream once a day at the very least (before you go to bed is a good time!)
2. Use a cuticle cream or oil. The Bodyshop do a lovely almond one or for those of you who have By Terry Baume de Rose that also makes a fantastic cuticle treatment.
3. Try not to paint your nails too much, and give them a few days rest between each application to make sure they don’t discolour.
4. Use a strengthening nail oil/varnish every few days, and use it with a lengthening one like me if your nails just don’t grow!
5. Don’t be lax about filing your nails – keeping them short and neat will make them easier to manage and they will be less likely to flake and break.

Just to add on that I’d really recommend the Sally Hansen Nail Treatment Varnishes. She does a whole range catering to all your nail niggles. The ones I use are: Green Tea and Bamboo Strengthener and Miracle Growth.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! If you did be sure to like it and give me a follow if you want to stay tuned for the rest of my winter series! Next up is Body Care, then we will delve into Skin Care and finally Hair Care. I hope you’ll join me for the ride!
Love, Bonnie xx

 

The Forgotten Post

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Hello Lovelies!

I’ve just been looking through my little archive of photos on my hard-drive, all eagerly waiting to be turned into a post for your delectation and noticed a photo AND a draft Word document that should have been posted 3 weeks ago!! How on earth did THAT happen?
Anyway, I’ve found it now and you’ll be pleased to know I’ve also tidied up that pesky hard-drive and future post-losses should be greatly diminished now! 
This post is about a couple of products from my trusty ol’ space.nk. They are two products I’ve never really tried before by my-oh-my ladies and gents, I can’t live without them now. Both cult beauty buys and absolutely worth their rather wince-inducing prices and also oh-so perrrdy.
NARS and Laura Mercier – you bring it!

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These two beauties are the much sought after NARS Laguna Bronzer and the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. I’ve used both of them nearly every day since their purchase and I’m absolutely loving them. Not much more needs to be said!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Stay tuned for a couple of reviews this week: Plum lipstick and nail-growth tactics! 
Love, Bonnie xx

REVIEW: John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shampoo and Conditioner

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Hello Lovelies!

I hope this post finds you well and you survived the Monday Madness! I’m going to talk a little haircare today which I think might be the first time this has happened on my blog! 
My hair is a rather dark brown with natural colour fluctuation but nothing exciting. The whole idea of the John Frieda products are that they lift your colour and enhance natural highlights etc. They do a version for coloured hair and a version for non-coloured, like mine. 
The bottles are 250ml and cost £5.99 each; a little pricey but you have to remember that this is a salon brand and also more of a sophisticated hair washing system than your normal H&S Shampoo for £1.99. If you shop savvy it’s quite possible to pick up 3 for 2 and Buy One Get One Half Price offers. 

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The smell of the products is heavenly; somewhere between chocolate and a floral kind of scent. Like those infusion chocolate bars that Montezuma’s do! The shampoo is a clear brown gel, quite a light consistency but easy to work with. You need to hold your hands over your head as you distribute the product between them otherwise the shampoo will make a run for it down the plughole. It doesn’t strip the hair, i.e. you won’t get that “squeaky clean”, which is good because if your hair squeaks when you pull the water out; you’ve washed it too much. However, saying that, don’t go thinking this doesn’t wash your hair properly because it leaves your hair really soft and light – I get the best blow-dry results from using this combination.
The conditioner is a thick, whipped consistency, Latte coloured and with a very similar scent to the shampoo. The conditioner leaves your hair feeling uber silky, you really feel like it’s giving your hair some good nourishment! It’s not too heavy-weight so if your hair is very damaged you may need to mix it with a mask or something. However if you have fine hair, this should be fine for you and not weigh down hair too much.

All in all this is the best shampoo and conditioner I’ve discovered for years and I think I may actually become a loyal customer! Normally I’ll buy whatever is cheapest but this combination is truly delightful.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post! Make sure to click the “like” button if you did! Also, the follow button is there if you want to keep up to date with all my latest posts. 
Love, Bonnie xx