Battle of the Liners. Liquid V Gel.

For a long time now I have been the ultimate lover of the Benefit They're Real Push up liner. I really really do love it, there is not denying that. But I think I have just met it's match.

After using liquid liner for a long time the They're Real Push Up Liner from Benefit was released and I immediately knew it was the liner for me, it's blacker than black, stays on all day and glides on beautifully, and I swore I would never go back to a liquid. I admit I have never tried any other gel liner, never gone for a pot and a brush instead, the idea of that intimidates me slightly, but a couple of months ago I found myself buying the Soap&Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen.

Now this is a liquid liner in pen form and holy moly I love it. I do have this in the original size, not the fat or skinny pen. But it stays in place all day, and is super black, the only thing that makes this budge is if my eye has been super watery that day, or I'm crying, I am a crier, and cry at most things! But I am super impressed with this liner, and a bonus is that it is a lot easier to remove at the end of the day compared to the "They're Real". Also, the They're Real liner I feel ends up wasting a lot of product as the top bit dries out, so you have to wipe that off before using it. Now lets put it to the test, and see a swatch.

If anything I now feel like I get a cleaner line with the liquid and with the felt tip style I am able to vary the thickness. Think I'm going to have to re-purchase my "Supercat" when it eventually runs out!  

Are you a liquid or a gel lover?!

Recommend me some other liners to try! 

Charlotte Rose 

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Monthly Book: February

This month I have re-read the amazing book 'The Curious Incident of the dog in the night time' written by Mark Haddon and it is truly incredible. I first read this book for my literature A-Level in a matter of days. If I'd had theme I probably could have done it in a day, it's a really easy read, and the writing style is very simple due to the nature of the story itself.

Now, as much as this a story about a curious incident of the dog in the night time, the back story and the true meaning of this book is learning about the protagonist, Christopher, a young, 15 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. This is a truly breathtaking story and written from Christopher's perspective we can get a true feel for what it's like to live a life with Asperger's and we are able to find out so much about Christopher due to this curious incident where Christopher pushes the boundaries of his home life and comforts and travels way pass the end of his road by his own, making the terrifying journey to London by his own in search for something he once thought was lost. I say this as I don't want to reveal what it was that he began to uncover through the story.

We see life through Christopher's eyes throughout this book, showing his love of math with his diagrams and equations, and how he can't really understand people and their emotions because there is no factuality behind them. He also hates to be touched, so those small moments where he actually accepts someone reaching out to him are truly amazing and you feel proud to be a part of that moment.

This book will truly make you feel the most amazing feelings and I really really can not recommend it enough, when I was first told to read this book I wasn't overly interested, but now I have lost count of the amount of people I have told "Borrow my copy. You have to read this." and every single one of those people have come away with a different outlook and complete happiness and awe for this story.

I really do hope you will take my recommendation,

it's a life changer.

Have any of you read this story? Leave me a comment below!

Charlotte Rose

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February Favourites...

This month has gone pretty god damn slow, don’t get me wrong, I have loved some of it, Valentines with Will was really nice, just a shame we only had the evening together. I have been pretty hands on in the making of my sister’s wedding invitations, she has designed them all herself we just spend a couple of nights putting them all together and ready to be mailed out so that was super fun! The downside of this month has been constantly working, I am still working two jobs and that means I have only had one day off this entire month, and it wasn’t even a weekend so I spent it by myself! 

I am still loving the ‘Game Of Thrones’ books, I featured the first one in my monthly book series, and am currently reading the second one, I am featuring a different book in the 2nd part of that series this month though, but keep an eye out for ‘Clash of Kings’ in my March monthly book. It’s really keeping my attention and I don’t want to put it down, but everything else has taken over this month and I haven't had chance to pick it up as much as I would have liked! 

I picked up the Nyx ‘Cannes’ soft Matte Lip cream early this month and I really really love the colour, a deep pink I would describe it as, you can see the colour in the photo below. But I’m not a fan of the formula at all, it’s very thick and pastey. I much prefer their liquid suede formula, so if any of you have suggestions on a good dupe of the colour of this one it would be amazing if you could leave it in a comment below! I don’t care if it’s a liquid lipstick or just a normal lipstick I just want that colour! 

Oh my goodness, Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Mascara is amazing. Definitely my holy grail mascara, I was gifted this mini for my birthday and I have been trying to keep hold of it as long as I can. I have never ever had a mascara that after one coat looks this beautiful. I will add a second coat just because I do really love my eyelashes thick but you wouldn't need to if you didn't want them extra clumpy. This mascara makes my lashes look full and long and separated in one sweep. It’s super black and I would say a fairly wet mascara so if you are not into that let it dry out a bit and it will still work wonders for your lashes. Beautiful. 

New season of ‘Call the Midwife’. Now this may not be everyones cup of tea, or you may not of even considered watching it. But you should seriously reconsider if that is the case. This show has got me hooked,  and I disappoint myself when I think about the fact that I didn't watch the first and maybe the second series, I think thats all I missed. I stumbled across my mum watching it one day and you know what its like, you’ll sit on the sofa for just 5 minutes an then realised you have watched the whole show and you couldn’t walk away. Now I will pre-warn you, this show is a tear jerker, but I love that, it is a happy show though, don’t get me wrong, there are sad moments, but overall I think but the end of each episode you’ll defo be in a feel good mood! 

Do you have any things you are loving this month? 

Charlotte Rose 

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Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion Review

A few years ago I used to use the Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion religiously. And I did love it, but I will admit that I had only used really cheap moisturisers before and thought that this new more high end moisturiser I found to be amazing. I would class it is as a mid market/high end product pricing at £27.00, though it can still be found in some drugstores such as boots.

The scent of this product is really pretty and not too overpowering, the product definitely has a scent but it's not very light, but equally not strong enough to give you a headache. It is a really great moisturiser for dry skin as it gives your skin a real boost! I personally have normal to dry skin, I suffer with eczema and sometimes this affected my face and it helped to clear that up. The only thing I would say is I wouldn't recommend putting anywhere near you eyes, it really does sting!

I also think it's really really good that the moisturiser contains SPF15, a lot of various make-up products have SPF in these days and I would suggest especially in the summer months to always have   some sort of SPF based product to protect your skin from the sun. The sun can cause a lot of damage that is invisible to the naked eye but could have long term effects!

I am now using the Liz Earle moisturiser that goes with my skincare routine using the cleanse and polish set, but I would still recommend the Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion as it really does what it says on the tin, just find something else for your eye area!

Do you have any moisturisers you swear by?

Charlotte Rose 

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Monthly favourites!!

How has your January been? As dull, dreary and dragging as mine? I thought so!

January is the worst, no-one has any money, the festivities are all over and everyone is holding out for pay-day, but don't worry it's all over now! It's 324 days until the next January..... scratch that I don't want to think about it.

What have I been loving this month?! Aren't you all dying to know? Lets start with my new found love. 'Etsy' planner stickers oh my christ  these have made my life, better, organised, and cute! I bought quite a few as the clock struck 12 on NYE and pay day came in! I have work ones and cleaning ones and gym ones. You should really check them out and I don't go all out mad and have a full weekly spread like you see in YouTube videos, no no no, I just have them stuck in my little 'Paperchase' diary that I bought towards the end of last year. I'm thinking of doing a post on my fave 'Etsy' planner shops soon? What do you guys think?

Okay, okay, moving on before I get obsessive. My super duper cute River Island double pom pom hat I got for christmas, it's that perfect cutesy pink and I know you are probably thinking, "Charlotte, you knit, make one yourself!" But I saw this online back in November and asked for it for Christmas, and I didn't take it off all day after I took it out from under the tree!

I am absolutely loving my Urban Decay Ultimate Basics palette for a matte neutral eye and then adding a pop of colour under my waterline with MAC 'Stars n' Rockets' or 'Aquadisiac' really adds something else to a simple day look I think! Pair it with MAC's Whirl or Velvet Teddy Lipstick and you are good to go!

And my final love which has only been the last two weeks of the month is getting back into the gym and having a personal trainer, my PT is really helping me to push myself a lot further than I have been doing before and I am really feeling that muscle ache still a few days after each session now rather than just a little for the next day! I really hope I am going to tone up quickly and lose those bits of weight that appeared during that last year of uni from all those take-aways and lack of exercise. I have two amazing hen-do's this year, one which I will defo need a bikini for and then two equally amazing weddings to follow them and I want to be feeling my best. Plus I have some really hot skirts that either can't fit into or don't feel good in anymore! I want them back in my wardrobe!

Have you kick-started January with a BANG?!

Charlotte Rose

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Monthly Book Series: January

So I wanted to start something new on my blog this year, something that I really love and can commit to on a regular basis and something that really ties in with what I am doing everyday anyway.

One of my New Years Resolutions is to read at least one book a month. I have chosen to do this as I want to fall back in love with reading, I am such a huge book worm but over the past couple of years life has taken over and I just haven't picked up a book in a long time that I have really gotten stuck into!

So what is my first book you ask? A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.

So, lets start. This book is part of a series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire' there is currently 5 books in the series but Martin has said he plans to write 7. It falls into the political strategy and epic fantasy genre. The main theme running throughout the book is family, honour, the throne/royalty and treachery, andI think these are going to be key things that continue throughout all the books.

Tyrion Lannister is probably my fave character. He's a dwarf who is part of a well respected family. He is seen as the outsider because of his disability, rejected by his father because of this very reason, which I think gives him a very different perspective on life, he's pretty straight up and forward in his attitude which can be pretty dang funny. Basically, he won't take no shit. He has a big effect on Jon Snow's attitude, Eddard Stark's bastard son, due to being an outsider also, he makes Jon realise that he must decide his own way in life and not be held back his fathers family name and being a bastard child. I equally love Arya Stark, even as one of the younger children of Eddard I feel she doesn't act the innocent or the child, she tries to break the boundaries that being a women would mean for her and she's not afraid to say no to anything that would be against her views and values, she holds family close, and see's herself closer to Jon her half brother, than her full sister Sansa, who could not be more opposite to Arya.

At first I really struggled to get into this book, I have a very busy lifestyle so I can't sit down and read for a couple of hours unless I do that at like 10pm which isn't ideal, so I just get half an hour here and there, so I think that's part of the reason. What I struggled with is being introduced to A LOT of characters straight away. Which if you have previously followed the TV show, shouldn't be a problem. But I haven't followed the show at all so it was getting a little confusing for me as the names of characters are pretty similar to one another an I had no face to give those names to, but you get used to it and learn the personality traits etc etc which differentiate each of them.

I loved seeing the book unfold and how the different characters and families and events all tied to one another, it was a really interesting book and quickly became something I didn't want to put down and would reach for at any possible moment!

I would highly recommend this book to any of you that love a challenge, love something that's a little different, and includes not only the drama of war and conflict but having some romance in there as well! But holy crap there is so much graphic detail, whether that be someone being murdered or good, old-fashioned sex. Just a little pre-warning for ya there!

Have you read this one already? What are your thoughts? 

Happy reading my lovelies!

Charlotte Rose

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