Quick update

Hi everyone, I know I haven’t posted for a whole week and I feel like it’s been ages since I blogged.  Anyway I just wanted to let you know the reason for this is that I have been working on moving my blog to WordPress.org, and have hit a small problem which I’m hoping to get fixed really soon. To make matters worse, my Internet router has died meaning that I’m posting this from my phone.  It means that I don’t want to do any real posts as I found that last time I posted the pictures didn’t sit in the same position as previous posts.  Anyway I’m hoping to get all of this sorted really soon 🙂

Two Year Blogiversary + Giveaway

I can’t believe Monday marked my 2 year blogiverary.  I found it so hard to believe that it was 2 years ago that I decided to start my little blog.  Blogging has been such a great experience for me so far and I love sharing my thoughts on beauty and fashion with you all.  It’s also allowed me to attend events and meet new people which I feel has increase my confidence 🙂 I really appreciate the time that everyone takes to read my posts and comment and I just want to say thank you so much.

I just want to say a massive thank you to all my lovely followers and have decided to do a little giveaway.  I wasn’t sure what to buy but I decided to stick with what I know I like and hopefully the winner will also love.  So here’s what you could win…

• MUA Cream Blush in Dolly
• Collecton Lasting Colour Gel Liner in Black
• L’oreal Color Infaillible Eyeshadow in Endless Chocolat
• Eylure Katy Perry Individual Lashes in Ka-Zaam
• Collection Limited Edition Mardi Gras Lip Balm in Strawberry
• Barry M Ultra Moisturizing Lip Paint in Vicious Violet (No 156)

This giveaway is open internationally but there are some rules so please read this before you enter;

1. You must follow via Bloglovin.
2. The giveaway will run for three weeks.
3. If your country places extra tax on items I’m afraid that it’s the winners responsibility to pay this.
4. The winner will be chosen using rafflecopter.
5. The winner will be notified by email and the winner will have three working days to reply and accept their prize.  If no reply is received a new winner will be chosen.

Enter using the link below;

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1671592/

 

Thank you much for taking the time to read my blog; it really does mean a lot 🙂

Summer Beauty Blogger Swap Parcel

I actually meant to post this a few days ago; I thought that I’d scheduled but it turns out I didn’t.   Silly me!  Anyway I received my swap parcel from the lovely Becky over at Peacock Beauty; I really recommend that you check out her blog for amazing make-up looks and reviews.

I absolutely love everything that Becky was kind enough to send me and will definitely be talking about everything separately and it more detail.  Unfortunately one of the shadows in the Wet n Wild palette broke but I’ve managed to fix it 🙂

Covergirl Lash Blast

Covergirl Outlast Illumina in Moonlight Mauve

Covergirl Line Exact Eyeliner

Milani lipsticks in shades; Dulce Caramelo, Flamingo Pose, Flirty Fuchsia and Pink Love

Wet n Wild palettes in Comfort Zone and Petal Pusher

I just want to say a big thank you Becky to everyone who took part in the swap, I had a great time organizing it and can’t wait to hear how everyone got on!

Marks And Spencer Limited Collection Butterfly Perfume

This post is a little different to my usual as it’s the first perfume review that I’ve done.  In the past I refrained from doing them simply because I find that things can smell a little different to different people.  But I decided that I needed to share this one with everyone 🙂

I don’t usually look in Marks and Spencer for perfume products just because I have a tendency to stick to the ones that I know I like, but I had heard that this was really nice so decided to give it a go.

*Above image from Marks and Spencer website

Butterfly is part of the Limited Collection at Marks and Spencer; and this EDT came in three sizes, 10ml (£3.50), 25ml (£6.00) and 90ml (£12.00).  The 90ml bottle has a beautiful butterfly top which may remind you slightly of another high-end perfume?  I chose the 25ml bottle as I wanted to make sure I liked it and its a great size for putting in your bag.

The fragrance has a scent of apples, cucumber, grapefruit, magnolia, rose and violets as well as having a base aromas of musk and amber.  I’m sure I’m not alone in not being able to smell every ingredient in perfumes; so to me it smells fruity and florally.  I definitely think that you can smell the apple in this and maybe the violets.  I find that the scent last around 5 hours before it may need to be sprayed again so you can smell it.  I think this is quite a good length of time and the size of the bottle is great for taking with you.  It is also BUAV approved meaning that it’s not tested on animals.

This perfume has a nice light fragrance which I think would be great for the up coming summer days.  I have seen a number of people compare it to different perfumes and  to me it smell a bit like Daisy by Marc Jacobs.  I don’t think that it smells exactly like it but I do thing they are similar.  I think it might smell closer to Daisy Eau So Fresh – I can’t say for certain as I don’t own it myself but I have smelled it a few times.

I will definitely be back in Marks and Spencer soon to buy the bigger bottle and just keeping the smaller one in my bag.  I think this is perfect if you want a lovely smelling EDT without having a huge price tag.

Have you tried any Marks and Spencer perfumes/EDT?  What did you think?

*The picture from the 90ml bottle was from the Marks and Spencer website and can be found here.

Summer Beauty Blogger Swap

 

Hi everyone that’s taking part, check your in-boxes as I have just paired everyone up!  Just a wee reminder that the amount to be spent on products is £15/€17/$24, (not including postage) please try to spend the full amount. *These are approximations as the exchange rate changes slightly all the time.*

Remember to tell your swap partner what products you might like to try/products that don’t agree with you ect. so that everyone gets products that they should love 🙂

It would be great if you could try and have your swap parcels posted out in two weeks time (23 May) and obtain proof of postage just in case.   If you blog about what you get in your swap I’ll add a post with links to your post about it 🙂

If you have any problems then don’t hesitate to contact me; sheslookingatthestars@gmail.com.

I am only organizing this swap so cannot be held accountable for any problems encountered between you and your swap partner.

Summer Beauty Blogger Swap!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you’ll know that I was planning to do a Christmas Beauty Blogger swap but this got postponed due to a slight lack of interest but I think that summer maybe a great time to do it as makeup brands have been releasing some new Spring/Summer products!  I’m hoping that this time there will be a lot more people wanting to take part, and I’m going to let the sign up be open for 4 weeks (it will close on the 1st May 2014) to give people plenty of time to decide if they want to take part and for more people to find it.

I would then aim to have everyone paired up by the 8th of May and ask everyone to have their swap packages shipped within two weeks this would be 23rd of May so that hopefully everyone would receive their packages by the beginning of June 🙂

 

There are some rules;

• This is open to bloggers within Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Japan (if your from somewhere else let me know).
• The amount to be spent on products is £15/€17/$24, (not including postage) please try to spend the full amount.
• I will pair people up by email so you can exchange addresses and what products you like/dislike, would like to try ect.
• If you want to be paired up with someone from a particular country so you can try some different products, let me know in the comments and I will try my best to pair you up.  Just note that I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to pair you up with someone from a country of your choice.
• Please ensure that you send the parcel to the blogger your paired up with and obtain proof of postage just in case.
•  I am only organising this swap so cannot be held accountable for any problems encountered between you and your swap partner.  So please only join if you genuinely intend to take part.

If your interested in taking part then please comment below with your name, blog link and email address.  If you’d rather not share your email address publicly then feel free to email me at sheslookingatthestars.com 🙂

A Little Update

I feel like it’s been forever since I blogged, it’s been 2 whole weeks!  I’ve had so much to do lately that the blog has been neglected a little 😦  I will be blogging regularly again soon; hoping to get another post up this week 🙂

Anyway I got a new phone!  I love it so much, and I can get Instagram on it meaning that I might become a bit more active on there since I no longer have to put the pictures on to my tablet before uploading them. I’m not sure if you can really see that it’s purple from the picture, which I really like as it makes it a bit different to the regular black and white ones.

If you know where I can get some cute cases for my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini) please let me know!  I also picked up these cute shoes which I think will be great when the better weather comes;

I’ve also ordered a sushi making kit, so I’m not sure how that’s going to turn out! But I’ll definitely let you know, I already think that it may possible result in disaster!

So I should have a new post up, by the end of the week at the latest, now that most of my deadlines have past I don’t really need to focus as much as I did with uni 🙂

A Month In Pictures

It been about a week since my last proper post, unfortunately uni has been a little bit demanding lately, with a report due soon and having to plan what to do for my dissertation.  There will be post on Friday, and it’ll be a lipstick review; you can see  what it looks like in the picture below.  Hope you all had a good month and remember that you can see all my pictures on instagram (I really am trying to post more picture on there!).

Baby Skin Primer (review here), my blog giveaway, veggie ‘chicken’ noodle soup, new organiser, NOTD – Pretty in Peach (post here), new notebooks from Paperchase, OOTD – Tartan Skirt (post here), Smooch Lipstick in , Eylure Katy Perry Colour Pop Lashes

Hope you like the post! 🙂

And The Winner Is…

My Belated Blog Birthday/200 Follower Giveaway ended last night.  I checked all the entries which took a bit of time as there was a lot!  Rafflecopter then selected a winner at random and that winner was Sammy! So congrats and sorry to everyone who didn’t win, if I could I would give something to everyone.  I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who follows my blog, it really does mean a lot 🙂

Sammy also blogs and she can be found here if you want a new blog to add to your reading list 🙂

 

Thanks so much for following everyone 🙂

The Blogger Made Me Buy It Tag

This tag was created by Danniella at Famous in Japan; and I knew I just had to do it.  You can check out her original post here.  There have been so many times that I feel that I have to buy something because I’ve seen one of my favourite bloggers talk about it.  This also makes it easier to use the “I’ll buy it for the blog” excuse if you’ve seen one of your favourite bloggers telling you that it’s the best product ever.

1) Who are your most influential bloggers?  Who are the ones that you really rely on for reviews and swatches?

I love the swatches from Adrienne from The Sunday Girl and Olivia from Beauty from the Fjord.  I only found Olivia’s blog recently but I really recommend that you check it out as her pictures are amazing!

2) Do you buy a product solely as a result from one review from your favourite bloggers, or do you look for more reviews from others?

It depends on the product really.  If I think I’ll use the product a lot then chances are I’ll just look at my favourite bloggers but if I’m unsure I’ll look at more reviews so that I know what other people think of it too.  I always look for multiple review for hair dye though so that can get an idea of the shade that it might go.

3) What is your most favourite item that you have ever bought as a consequence of blogs?

I would say that it has to be the Sleek Au Natural palette as it great for creating so many different looks and can be used to create both day and night looks.

4) What is your least favourite item that you have ever bought as a consequence of blogs?

I don’t think I’ve ever bought something I’ve seen on my favourite blogs and regreted buying it.  I think most bloggers are extremely honest in their reviews so I feel that you tend to know if your going to like a product or not.

5) Name 5 products you have bought recently as a result of blogs.

The last 5 I’ve bought recently because of blogs would have to be Lipcote, Barry M Vicious Violet, Maybelline Baby Skin (you can win one in my give away and my review of mine should be up tomorrow), Olay BB cream and Superdrug Vibrance hair dye.

 6) Have you ever given into blogger hype?  If so, which hype?

The Sleek Rose Gold blusher.  Everyone was talking about it and rightly so, it’s pigmented, a gorgeous colour and suits so many skin tones.  It’s one of my favourite blushers and I’m definitely glad that I gave into the hype.

7) Have you ever avoided blogger hype?  If so, which hype?

I avoided the hype of the Maybelline Baby Lips as I already had quite a few lip balms and didn’t really need anymore.  Also they didn’t really appeal to me as they don’t seem to have much colour pay off.  I’m also avoiding the hype around the Urban Decay Naked three palette; it maybe shocking to know that I don’t own any!  As a student though I just can’t justify paying £37 for an eyeshadow palette.

8) Is everything you buy based on blogger reviews or are there some items you buy without checking out a review?

I usually check reviews first but sometimes I’ll just buy things on a whim.  If I haven’t seen any reviews on something then it means that lots of other people might not have seen it to and I think it’s nice to review something totally different rather than just following the blogger hype.

 

So that’s my answers for The Blogger Made Me Buy It Tag,  hope that you enjoyed it and if you decided to do it please make sure you mentioned that it was created by Danniella 🙂