new hair / youtube giveaway / spring blossom denim nails / FOTD / rainy night out cake addict / bourjois150 twitter party / pop tarts
Look how well I did at remembering to instagram this week! I'm managing to get into the habit of doing it more regularly, so we'll see if I can keep up the good work next week!
Over the past week I had my hair cut for the first time since before I went travelling - relief doesn't cover it! My fringe was getting out of control and the ends were so dry after the heat of Australia, it needed a decent trim.
I also reached the halfway mark of my first giveaway on YouTube, you still have till Sunday to enter if you want to be in with a chance of winning! :)
My best friend and I took advantage of the nice weather on Friday and went for a stroll! It was warm and sunny and the blossom on all the trees looked so pretty... sadly the spring-like weather didn't last! Saturday saw me heading into Glasgow for my friend Gemma's engagement party, and then a night out with a couple of other friends, in absolutely torrential rain! It was unbelievable, honestly, it felt like the middle of winter! The engagement party was in the beautiful Arta bar in Glasgow though - check out the amazing decor at the end of the post (I thought it deserved a special mention!).
I also tried out a cute denim effect nail polish from George which my lovely mum bought me as a wee present, and I'm really loving it. I've added a top coat which kind of took away the real matte denim look, but it has kept it chip free for days, so it's all good!
I have eaten several of these caramel tart cakes from ASDA (bad Lynsey), they are so good. What you don't see in this photo is the ice cream I put on it after the photo was taken... I must control my sweet tooth...
says she who had Pop Tarts for breakfast today! It was just one of those days.
In other news, I was lucky enough to be one of the winners of a lovely Bourjois goodie bag after joining in the #bourjois150 twitter party on Sunday night. I was so excited to get this tweet yesterday, will definitely blog about it when it arrives :)
This week also consisted of more and more soul destroying job hunting - anyone else in the same boat, please feel free to comment below and we can console each other! - and an actual interview, which I won't hear back about for a few days (so let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that it went well!).
What have you guys been up to this week? Leave me your instagram names below - I'm lynseymac1 :)
It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to share this place with the internet! It's not that it's some sort of private, hidden spot that no one else knows about, but to me it's the most perfect place on earth, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to share it with everyone! But the more I thought abut it, the more I realised it might make for quite an interesting little tag for other bloggers to do too!
I've spent so much time here, and have so many happy memories, but last October I hadn't been for five long years. My mum and I took a little road trip and I had the most amazing two days.
There are some really special places in this world, and over the past few months I've been lucky enough so see a couple of them. But nowhere will ever replace this loch in Scotland as my happiest place in the world.
At a time when I was stressed out of my mind about getting a job (little has changed there then!), this trip was exactly what I needed. And the most amazing thing was that while everything else in life felt a bit all over the place, and I was feeling a bit lost, nothing here had changed. It's perfectly preserved, with all my memories of my idyllic childhood holidays intact. From the smell of the pine trees to the huge rock in the carpark which my brother and I used to climb on every single time we arrived, it all remains beautiful and peaceful, and like a little bubble outside of reality. And any time I come here I instantly feel that sense of calm decend over me.
No matter where I end up, this place will always hold the most precious memories for me, and that's something worth posting about ♥
Where's your favourite place in the world? I tag you all to do your own version of this post, and leave me a link to it in the comments below :)
It's time for another weekly favourites! How the weeks fly by!
Track of the Week Alive - Bo Bruce
I have fallen completely in love with this track from Bo Bruce's album. I fell a little bit in love with her herself on The Voice last year - there's something about her voice that just gives me chills. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly mine! I love the lyrics of this song (written by Bo and her coach from The Voice, Danny O'Donoghue), and I've listened to it I don't know how many times this week!
Album of the Week The Great Gatsby Soundtrack
While I haven't listened to everything on it yet, my best friend just let me hear a few of the tracks from The Great Gatsby OST and wow. It's amazing. Definitely one to listen to! I'm including this amazing Florence and the Machine track, but look out for Andre 3000 and Beyonce's amazing rendition of Back to Black - it's insane!
TV Show of the Week Dexter - Season 5
This week I watched the last three episodes of Dexter Season 5 and was completely blown away. This show honestly just gets better and better and while I'm a bit behind, I can't wait to jump into season 6 now! Michael C Hall and Julia Stiles just blew my mind, there was an actual, palpable vibe every time they were on the screen together, it sounds mad but there were moments I was literally holding my breath (ahh the dramatic response of a film and tv graduate!). And Jennifer Carpenter was as brilliant as ever. I'm thinking of writing a separate post on this actually...
Film of the Week The Hunger Games
Again, this is something my best friend Emma and I were discussing, and we were actually talking about the problems with the film for people who haven't read the book first - there are definitely some things that you miss. However, I had read the book before I watched the film (way back last summer!) and I absolutely love it. I love the whole idea of The Hunger Games, and I think Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson (team Peeta all the way ;)) are brilliant. I am absolutely Hunger Games mad, by the way, and I'm currently rereading Catching Fire (juggling three books at once haha) because I got so excited when I saw the trailer for the new film!
Beauty Product of the Week Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry
I love my Maybelline Baby Lips which I picked up when I was in Hong Kong - why can't we get them here in the UK yet?!!
Book of the Week The Great Gatsby
I've literally just started it, but I need to attempt to read this before I go and see the film! I've wanted to read it for so long too, I don't know why I'm taking so long! I'm actually giving a copy away on my YouTube channel so check that out here :)
YouTuber of the Week The Bumps Along the Way
This is a pregnancy channel which I know won't interest everyone, but I stumbled across this video when a couple of people I'm subscribed to liked it - I just think it's the loveliest video. I was really touched when I read what the channel is about, and a bit about Missy and Bryan's story.
Sometimes you read someone's blog and think 'Yep. We'd definitely get along in real life!", and that's how I felt the minute I started reading the lovely Kirsty's blog! Last week was Kirsty's six month blogaversary (check out the post here!) and I look forward to many, many more months (and years!) of her posts! It's a really interesting mix, so go and check it out :)
Again and again I come back to this website - I can't get enough of it. Don't get me wrong, I blog about beauty and I'm just as guilty of catching up on celebrity gossip as anyone else, but sometimes it feels like there's a gap - like magazines spoonfeed us articles on beauty, fashion, sex and relationships and celebrities, without really getting to the heart of what ordinary women are interested in (thank goodness for blogging!). Enter, Hello Giggles. Without fail, there's an article on here every day that interests me, and I'm so glad it exists!
I think Isla Fisher got it exactly right for both the photocall for The Great Gatsby at Cannes, and the premiere itself. Her white Dolce and Gabana dress, black peep toe heels and bold red lip looked simple and classy for the photocall and then she amped it up with that stunning scarlet Oscar de la Renta strapless gown for the premiere. Nothing too fancy with the hair, just simple waves, and a statement necklace from Bulgari Heritage finished off the look perfectly. You've come a long way from Summer Bay, Miss Fisher.
So that's it for another week! Let me know what your favourite things have been this week :)
Cocktails with friends/Harvey Nichols+Grazia Beauty Parlour/Fifi Lapin Tote Birthday drinks/Marvellous Creations/Les Mis on DVD
Since I've never done one before, I thought I'd do a little 'my week in instagram' sort of a post - only issue is I'm a nightmare at remembering to take instagram photos! Must sort this out for future posts!
Last Saturday I met up with four of my lovely friends, three of whom I hadn't seen since I got home from Australia. We went for a couple of cocktails in Hortons Bar in Glasgow, and had a great catch up.
On the Wednesday, I went to the Grazia Beauty Parlour in Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh (I will do a full post on this at some point!). There were lots of interesting beauty related talks, a glass of prosecco on arrival and I got to catch up with Roisin (Lost My Heart in Wonderland) and Laura (The Likely Lady). Had such a lovely night and came home with a cheeky wee purchase from MAC ;) They also sent us home with a gorgeous Fifi Lapin Tote bag with some lovely samples inside, all of which I'll show you in my upcoming post.
The following Friday was my lovely friend Emmeline's birthday night out, so we went to Bread and Butter in Glasgow, a bar I had never been to before. I really loved it though - they had such interesting cocktails. I tried one called an Um Bongo (yep, just like the kids fruit juice, but with a kick!) and will definitely be going back again!
Saturday night saw me immerse myself in the first Battle Round of The Voice UK, and it featured some amazing and some downright terrible performances. It also featured Danny O'Donoghue (Ok, fine, I'm one of those girls who decided she fancied him once he became a coach on the voice!), so I was happy. I demolished half a large bar of Cadburies Marvellous Creations (the popping candy and jelly kind!) in the process.
And that brings me to today, which included job hunting, blog giveaway prize buying (keep your eyes peeled!!!), getting drenched in Glasgow with my mum - where is the sunshine?!! - and being unable to resist buying Les Mis on DVD... I swore I wouldn't buy it on day one, and totally failed!
So that's it for my first instagram post - I quite enjoyed doing it, so maybe planning posts like this will help me remember to make more use of instagram! Hope you're all having a lovely week, and remember to enter my YOUTUBE GIVEAWAY over on my channel here!
I've just launched my first giveaway over on my YouTube channel!
I'm giving away a copy of The Great Gatsby book, in honour of the film release, AND a Revlon Lip Butter of your choice!
Hop on over to my channel to enter, I'll embed the video below, but pop onto the channel and subscribe/comment for your chance to win :)
I arrived home from Australia on Saturday 27th April and on Monday the 29th I was lucky enough to be invited along to the I Need An Appointment (INAA) Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards (#shaba2013) 'Bloggers do it Best' Party, which was held in the swanky Apartment 29 in Glasgow.
The event was held to give us lucky bloggers a little bit of insight into who the frontrunners are in the lead up to the awards itself, which will be held on the 26th May. It was such a lovely event, and a great chance for me to catch up with some of my favourite bloggers (and meet some new bloggers I haven't met before!). We were greeted at the door with a lovely Long Vodka and the founders of INAA gave us a bit of background about the company itself, the Hair and Beauty Awards and then introduced Lauren Goodger (of TOWIE fame!), who was kindly donating some of her own beauty products from her range ''Lauren's Way'' as part of our goody bags!
Lauren Goodger*
After the introductions were out of the way, we moved through to another room where INAA had gone all out to impress! There was a tanning booth courtesy of Lauren's Way, Bumble and Bumble were there to give us some of their tips and tricks for styling your hair (lots of bloggers left with some amazing hair that night!), Bare Minerals had a stall to talk us through their lovely cosmetics and there was plenty of wine and some super cute INAA chocolates to keep us going!
Little miss jet-lag in the left hand corner there having a blether with some of my favourite bloggers!*
Posing with Lauren
Cute little INAA chocolates!
I had an absolutely lovely night thanks to INAA and Alison Jameson PR, who organised the event. At a time like this when the economic climate is so unstable and the weather's so rubbish, it's easy to get a bit down in the dumps, but treating yourself every once in a while to a little pampering is a sure fire way to lift your spirits! INAA provides a brilliant service that allows you to book an appointment for whatever treatment you desire with just a click of a button! Check out the nominations for the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards here, and if you fancy booking yourself an appointment for some sort of well earned beauty treatment why not visit the INAA website here :)
*Photos 2 and 3 are taken from the INAA facebook page :)
While I was travelling I didn't really have time to do these posts, and I've missed them. So, without further ado, here are the things I've been loving this week...
Track of the Week Can't Hold Us - Savannah Outen and Jake Coco (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Cover)
This week I've been testing how fast I can sing/sort of rap by having this cover of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on repeat on my iPod. Trust me, there's nothing like the feeling of satisfaction when you realise you've learnt all the words...
Album of the Week Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Ellie Goulding to pieces and this album is most definitely top of my playlist this week. There are a few standout tracks (Figure 8, My Blood and I Need Your Love being three obvious favourites), but there are a couple that really grow on you the more you listen, which is one of the things I really love about Ellie's music - Don't Say a Word and Hanging On are two examples of this.
TV Show of the Week Veronica Mars
I never need an excuse to revisit Veronica Mars and something told me (maybe all the Kirsten Bell interviews I've been watching!) this week that I should make the always exciting move of rewatching the Pilot - I'm hooked again already. Honestly, it is one of the best television shows of all time!!! I couldn't be more pleased that a film is finally in the pipeline!
Film of the Week Silver Linings Playbook
As I mentioned in my What I've Been Watching post the other day, I absolutely adored Silver Linings Playbook and went out and bought the dvd. Never, in recent times, have I parted with £12 for a newly released dvd - I'm more of a 'wait till it's been out a few months and get it cheap on Amazon' kind of gal. But in this case I couldn't resist. I love everything about this film, from the plot to the soundtrack to the brilliant acting from every single member of the cast (with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence both completely deserving their Oscar nominations). If you haven't seen it, you should! I know this is one I will watch over and over again.
Beauty Product of the Week Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon
I treated myself to this when they were on offer for £5.99 in Superdrug and I've fallen completely in love with it! I adore the Revlon Lip Butter's anyway, but this colour is gorgeous. It's much more vibrant than what I usually wear on my lips, but I really like it, and will do a proper review, complete with photos and swatches soon!
Book of the Week One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern
As you all know, I love Cecelia Ahern and I downloaded her most recent book on my Kindle while I was in Australia. I didn't get a chance to start reading it till I got home though, and I'm about a quarter of the way through it - really enjoying it so far. It's the story of a journalist named Kitty who has found herself in hot water after wrongly accusing a man of a crime he didn't commit, with disastrous results for her personal life and career. Alongside this, her friend, mentor and boss has just passed away, leaving her with a list of names connected to a story she wanted to write before she died. Kitty is left to figure out how these one hundred people are connected and hopefully write the story Constance never had the chance to. It's another interesting concept from Ahern, and I just love her writing style.
We all know I love Louise, but this week she uploaded an interesting video addressing the tricky subject of self-harm and I think she handled it brilliantly. It must be difficult for YouTubers with a lot of subscribers when people ask them to make videos on this sort of serious topic. But it was a well balanced, properly researched video and didn't go on for too long - it said exactly what it needed to say. Apparently it was mentioned on the BBC and Sky News too!
You know when someone has a distinctive style that you just instantly love? For me I found that when I first started reading the lovely Margaret's blog a few months back after meeting her at a blogger event in Edinburgh. I love the tone of her posts, the film quotes and the fact that she rarely writes a post that doesn't have me laughing out loud (I wish there was a way to describe that that didn't instantly make me see LOL in giant letters!), she just has a brilliant writing style. Anyway, go and check out her blog, and if you're anything like me you'll love it :) (http://roaringtwentiesblog.blogspot.co.uk)
Website of the Week Twitter
Loving twitter again - I found out about the Harvey Nichols Beauty Parlour through twitter last week and attended the event tonight! It was great fun and I got to catch up with the lovely Roisin from Lost my Heart in Wonderland and meet Laura from The Likely Lady for the first time, which was great (more on this event in another post)! I also thoroughly enjoyed the #lbloggers chat on Sunday evening, it was nice to join in again after my travels!
Style Icon of the Week Emmy Rossum
I'm just going to ignore the fact that Emmy Rossum's Donna Karan Atelier gown doesn't exactly fit with the punk theme of the 2013 Met Gala, because it is beautiful and I want it. I love the colour, I love the shape, I love the beaded detailing and I love that she didn't overdo it with the train. It's perfect. And her heavy smokey eye, nude lip, perfect brows and braided up-do compliment it perfectly. Love. It.
