Real Techniques Expert Face Brush Review

Hello my lovelies, today I'm going to attempt to write my first ever product review. I'm going to be sharing with you my thoughts and opinions on the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. 

I wanted a foundation brush for some time as up until recently I'd been applying my foundation with a brush that was far too big to apply product to smaller areas of the face, for example, the sides of the nose and around the eye area. Having been an avid viewer of the sister duo PixiWoo, who film makeup related videos and tutorials on YouTube, I decided that purchasing their Expert Face Brush would definitely be an investment as they use the very same brush in their tutorials and the looks they create are always flawless.

I first spotted the brush in Boots for £9.99 but I came across the same brush in Asda for £8.98 and I decided then that I just had to buy it. As I state in my video below, I would honestly be prepared to pay double the amount of money I paid for this brush. It's definitely worth the money!

For me, the brushes I've tried in the past to apply my foundation with have absolutely nothing on this brush. The Expert Face Brush does exactly what it says on the tin packaging; it gives me expert buffing and blending power, if there were such a thing.

If you would like more information about this brush and a more in depth review of why I love it so much then please check out my video below. 

Amy x

The Almost Total Flop In Our Stars

Admittedly I'm totally failing at keeping my blog up to date. Here I am, weeks after I actually went to see The Fault In Our Stars at the cinema, writing a book and film review 'mashed' together with a blog post to make what I hope will be a delicious Hazel and Augustus mash potato. That was the probably the worst metaphor I've ever used - more cringe worthy than the one used by Augustus when he's telling Hazel that cigarettes are only harmful if you light them. Oh so deep.

I first read The Fault In Our Stars last year and my reason for choosing to spend my time reading the novel was because tumblr was full of people taking photos of the book, posting quotes and talking about how the book had had a profound impact on the way they live their lives. Overall, I'll have to agree, the book did move me but no where near to the degree that the teenagers on tumblr were saying it would. I found myself smiling after one chapter, crying after another, then smiling and crying all over again but it wasn't one of those books that becomes one of your favourites. The tragic storyline may have pulled on my heartstrings but it by no means had the ability to rip them from my chest. You may find that slightly dramatic but it's what I look for in a book if it's going to make my favourites list.

Although the book did make me cry and smile in the parts that I was supposed to I don't think the book had the effect on me that John Green fully desired. The main reason for this is his poor character development. I fail to see how both Hazel and Augustus develop and change as people throughout the novel. Apart from the fact that they've fallen in love with each other they're the same when they first meet until (SPOILER ALERT) Augustus dies and I feel that Hazel just carries on after his death as the same person she was before. The reason the character development is so poor, is due to both Hazel and Augustus being portrayed as having such a large amount of wisdom from the very start of both the novel and the film. Thus it's made it impossible for John Green to explore their personalities fully as the audience can grasp from the first few minutes of the film and from the first few chapters of the book, what Hazel and Augustus are like as people.

Maybe I'm being overly critical of Green's work because I don't fit into the age range of his target audience. He writes for young adults but I'd say the book and most definitely the film is aimed at teenagers who are aged sixteen and under. This could be the reason for the poor character development as the audience may not be able to cope with the adult subject matter of cancer along with then keeping up with the development of two main characters. Despite his writing being aimed at younger people, both Hazel and Augustus have several speeches in the book in which they talk about oblivion and their love for each other amongst other philosophical topics. The speeches were at first difficult to understand and so I found myself re-reading some sections of the book in order to fully appreciate the meaning in the character's words. The speeches are very well thought out but at the same time is that really how typical teenagers would speak about life, love and loss? I don't think they would. Green heavily relies on these long speeches to carry the novel and these are also present within the film. I don't believe that either the book or the film would have received such high ratings had these unrealistic speeches not been included.

Below are a few photos from when Chris and I went to watch The Fault In Our Stars at the cinema for our two month date.

Before we went to the cinema. Chris has uber fluffy hair :3

Sitting down after the film to roll a cigarette because he was too upset to stand up :')

I lost my dating virginity!

Hello Lovelies, I can't believe I haven't actually written a blog post since the beginning of March - I have neglected my blog so much! I feel as though my life has completely changed since the last time I even bothered to write a proper blog post and not just post a few photos with dreadfully uncreative captions. It's not only my relationship status that's changed; I honestly think that over the last couple of weeks my entire outlook on life has changed again. It's entirely the wrong time for this change to come about considering I've now finished my exams and my new found motivation to actually want to achieve something with my life has decided to just appear. Typical.

But less about exams and more about the date...

Getting ready for our first date.

On the 31st May (yes I know I'm late with this blog post), my boyfriend and I visited the Bellasvista, a small Italian restaurant, to celebrate one month of being together. The waiter who greeted us at the door led us to the table furthest away from the other diners. From this I immediately gathered that we must have looked like trouble. However, this didn't stop another waiter, who can only be described as being overly camp, overly annoying and over staying his welcome, from spending a little too much time talking to Chris and I. Normally I'd be quite happy to talk to a waiter about which food or wine he recommends (more so the latter) but in this case the conversation was bloody tedious. He started talking to us like any other normal waiter would, 'What would you like for your starter?', 'What would you like for your main course?', 'Can I take your menus?' etc etc, but this particular waiter obviously wasn't satisfied with simply doing his job. He felt the need to stay and pursue what should have been a very awkward, in depth chat about my relationship with my boyfriend had I not been almost entirely focused on removing the eyelash that was stuck to my eyeball whilst trying not to smear the wing of my eyeliner across my face. At one point he wanted Chris to lean across the table and kiss me. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with publicly displaying my affection but I don't think neither Chris or I wanted to pretty much privately display it in our secluded corner for this creepy waiter. Long stay story short, this guy was ridiculously irritating and both my boyfriend and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he finally decided to leave and actually place our order.

For the rest of the evening we were left alone to enjoy our food instead of feeling like we had acquired a third wheel. The food was absolutely insane, there isn't any other word I can use to describe it. The pizzas there are always to die for. Chris and I have joked since that next time we go we'll just order numerous plates of cheesy garlic bread because it was so delicious!

We ordered a portion of cheesy garlic bread as a starter.

For my main course I had a pretty huge pizza and Chris had Calzone which from what I can gather is Folded Pizza in Italian.

We weren't massive fans of the plastic flower that they'd placed in the middle of our table but here's a selfie of us with it in the background anyway.

After we'd eaten :)

January and February's Disposables

Hello Lovelies, I haven't really been in the mood to write blog posts recently so I thought I'd share with you some of my most recently taken photos. If you read my last blog post then you will know that I take disposable photos so I decided to share with you some of the photos I have taken so far this year using a disposable camera.

Ben had a Buddha in his bathroom.

Ben with his kitty.

Caitlin, Me and Ellie

Knives, no shit Sherlock (I'll write a blog post about him soon).

My velvet dress along with part of my finger and a few strands of my hair.

Katie spilt vodka on her jeans. Amy is pointing out the spillage. 

Lewis and Connor.

Katie and Luke.

Daniel and I.

My current read along with the scarf that my Grandma gave me to.

Will and I.

Finn, Georgia and Luke.

My dad bought my mum some flowers.

A very badly taken photograph of some love heart sweets.

Luke with his tea for one.

A romantic walk back from the café ;)

Elliot snorting sugar.

We made bacon on Valentines Day.

Elmo under a chair.

Elmo eating a grape.

Elmo running/hopping for a grape.

I went for a walk and I tried to take a photo of what I was listening to but the flash ruined it.

Metallica were on the front cover of Kerrang!

All the pretty pens.

I love Chanel perfumes.

I still have my toy horses.

My prize possession; my Sherlock box set.

I live in my leather jacket.

I promise that next time I upload some disposables that they'll be more interesting than the majority of these photos. I hope you enjoyed this short blog post and I hope I'm feeling upto writing better posts during March.

Amy x

Disposables FAQ

Hello Lovelies, admittedly I'm procrastinating yet again but I haven't written a blog post in a while, it feels like that anyway so here I am trying my best to write something that I hope you will enjoy reading whilst I think about starting my Sociology work. As I've mentioned in previous posts I have a blog on Tumblr. This blog consists of various band photos along with photos taken on disposable cameras.

Here are the disposable cameras that I use. They come with instructions on the back that are quick and simple to follow.

Some of you may be thinking that it seems a little odd that I choose to take photos on such a 'poor' quality camera when I can afford to buy a digital camera so I've devised a list of the most frequently asked questions I get on tumblr regarding disposable cameras.

How do you get that effect on your photos?
Honestly there's really nothing to it. When you're taking any photo on a disposable camera you have to make sure that the flash is on so you get the 'grunge' effect. It also helps if you switch all the lights off and make the room as dark as possible.

Where can I buy disposable cameras?
I usually buy mine from Boots but you can buy them from a lot of different shops including places online such as Amazon.

Where do I get my disposables developed?
Usually the place where you bought your camera from will have a photo developing facility. If not I would recommend Boots because you can have your photos developed within an hour whereas with a lot of places you would need to go back the day after.

How many photos can you take on disposable camera?
I can take 27 photos on the ones that I buy, although I think it varies deepening on the make of camera you buy.

How much does it cost to buy a camera and then get the film developed?
The disposable cameras that I buy are £8.50  each but there are also cheaper and more expensive alternatives. I think I pay around £7.00 to get my photos developed although I can't quite remember. That includes getting the photos on a CD as well.

Do your friends think it's weird that you take photos on a disposable camera?
Some of them thought it was weird at first but I've been taking disposables since I was three years old, although people's heads were usually missing from the pictures. I know a few other people that use disposables as well so it isn't that weird anymore.

Why do you choose to take disposables and not digital ones?
I think disposables cameras are much easier to use when you're out because you're not worrying about dropping or smashing them like you would with a digital camera. I just really love the effect that you get with a disposable camera. If you take photos in the dark you get a grunge effect but if you take them in the light you get a warm, vintage effect. I love how there's people on Tumblr like myself who have blogs dedicated to disposables because we can reblog each others photos, yay.

Click here to purchase the disposable cameras that I use!

Here are some of my own disposables that I've taken from my Tumblr :)

Amy x