February Birchbox Unboxing!

After seeing countless of adverts about Birchbox on youtube, I decided to bite the builet and get a £12.95 a month subscription for it. If you don't know what Birchbox is, its basically a subscription service from which you get a box every month that includes beauty samples that match your beauty profile on their site. You also get a full size product in every box of something that is currently on promotion.


List of products inside:

Full size Spectrum C06 Brush: RRP £4.99
A sample of the NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Oil: RRP £17.99 for 50ml
A sample of POP Beauty trio eyeshadow: RRP £15.50 for 10 eyeshadows and brush.
A sample of Beaver Professional Daily Moisture Conditioning Spray: RRP £11.50 for 150ml
And One KEEOME Hydration Therapy Mask: RRP £29.00 for 6 (£4.83) for 1

What do I think of these products?

The spectrum brush I LOVE! It blends my eyeshadows really well and it is super super soft. The small point at the end of the brush helps to get into my crease as well. To be honest I had very high expectations for this brush, as Spectrum are widely known for creating some of the best brushes.



I have used the NUXE Oil a couple of times, but very sparingly as it is only a small size and I have oily skin as well, so adding too much excess oil may make my skin worse, I mix it in with my Dermalogica Matte Moisturiser every other night massaging it in thoroughly all over my skin and my neck. Seeing as this is multi-purpose oil, it can be used all over the face, body and even hair which I haven't tried yet! I have to say I do wake up with smoother, but not (as) oily skin. Mixing it into my moisturiser really helps.


I have used the Beaver Professional Daily Moisture Conditioning Spray once, and it does smell a bit chemically, but it is bearable. Having thick hair as well I do get a lot of tangles especially after showering, when I sprayed it onto my damp hair from mid-length down. When I sprayed it, the product doesn't distribute everywhere it only goes where you spray it, if you know what I mean. After drying my hair it felt so so smooth and there were absolutely no tangles, so apart from the smell which I personally am not a fan of, this product definitely does the job.





I love all the colours in this trio eyeshadow, you're able to use all 3 of them in one look. They are super pigmented, which I am very happy about. This brand I had never actually heard of so was a bit sceptical of how they would turn out but I am very very happy and I am considering re-purchasing the full sized palette, as I think £15.50 for 10 colours is reasonable. I love the colours too, the transition to neutral colours and then to a warmer colour is right up my street.


Seeing as there was only one mask in the Birchbox from KEEMO I made sure I didnt use it until the day I started writing this post, because I have oily skin as I've mentioned before, I am very cautious about adding excess moisture to my face, but I wanted to try this anyway, on the back of the packet it says 'The KEEMO Hydration Therapy Mask has been created to help you recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life that causes your skin to feel greasy, dry or tired' So from this, I gathered that it caters to all skin types. The KEEMO Mask is supposed to 'create a barrier on top of the serum and reduces contact with air, allowing more of the vitamins and active ingredients to be absorbed into your skin'. I was very excited to try this mask, and recently I have been really obsessing over sheet masks.

VERDICT: Upon opening the packet and taking the sheet mask out, the product from the mask dripped everywhere on my floor which was annoying but once I put it on my face it was bearable, it still dripped a bit from the chin so I payed my head flat and that helped. Because of the amount of product on there too, it did slip a bit. I left the mask on for 25 minutes as instructed and once I took it off and washed my face with warm water, my face felt tighter and very smooth, as if the vitamins had actually been locked into my skin, good thing? I think so!

 Seeing as my first Birchbox was so successful, I will definitely be keeping my subscription to it! I cant wait to see whats inside March! Would you like me to keep doing unboxings like this? Please leave a comment below! Do you have any beauty subscriptions?

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TMI Tag

I thought this time I would do something different, and considering I am on the way to getting a camera very soon, I wanted to try and refrain from posting anything that required photography, even though the next post will have some photography in it. So I decided to do a TMI Tag, inspired by all the lovely youtubers who have done it in the past.

I'll also credit those who have kindly contributed to this by asking me questions via twitter and instagram

1 - How many siblings do you have? None, I am an only child and have grown to enjoy being one. I used to always want siblings because I got bored easily, but I learned to love having my own space and becoming independent from an early age.

2 - Ever been in love? Honestly, I don't know, I have had relationships in the past where I've thought to myself yeah maybe I do love this person, but I've never even 100% sure if its 'love'. Lol

3- How tall are you? I am around 5 foot 4 I think, I used to think I was 5 ft 2 but then I met someone who actually was 5 ft 2 and yeah I was a tad taller.

4- Do you have any piercings? Yes, I have 5 piercings, my first ear piercings I got was when I was about 10, I got my belly pierced when I was 16 and I recently got my second ear piercings. I do want my nose pierced but my parents would NEVER allow it, so I'll wait until I move out (sorry mum & dad) I also want my cartilage pierced which I am debating getting very soon.

5- Do you have tattoos? No, I don't, but I do want one however I think its something that does need a lot of considering before you get it as it is permanent and you could get a design, wake up the morning after and completely hate it.

6- What would you tell your 16 year old self now? This would be the age I've just finished my GCSES and would be starting A levels. I think I would tell myself, to keep going with what your doing because you'll get there in the end. The friends you have now, may not necessarily be the friends you have in 2 years time but thats ok, you'll make life long friends at university.

7 - Favourite makeup brand? There are so many! But the ones I always reach for are; MAC for foundation and concealer, Urban Decay for eyeshadow, Nyx for their setting spray and bronzer, Sleek for their ultimate highlighters and Zoeva for eyeshadow also.

8 - What brings you joy? I think what brings me joy is seeing other people happy, I hate it whenever my friends are upset or I've personally upset someone (without knowing) So it definitely brings me joy when I see other people around me are happy. 

9 -What is your zodiac sign? I am a Scorpio, which are described as 'strong, commanding, intense, passionate and zealous. Driven, dedicated and loyal, they also are ambitious and security-loving' Which to some extent I agree with, I am very proud to be a Scorpio. 

 10- What are your fears? I am deathly afraid of spiders, for example last week my mum found a HUGE spider in our bathroom and I hadn't even seen it and I was on the brink of tears! Clowns also I have a big fear of but not as much as spiders. And also, on a deeper level, I fear that when we die, that is it, we find out there is no after life, no heaven or hell, just literally you live your life and thats pretty much it. 

 I could have done many more questions but I thought I'd stop with 10. Thank you so much to Holly | https://hollykategladwell.blogspot.co.uk , Lily | http://lilymyaxo.blogspot.co.uk , Melissa | http://www.lovemelissax.co.uk and Majean G | http://majeang.com for contributing to this post! 


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L'Oreal First Impressions

So a few days ago I went to Boots to get some Lucozade and ended up buying some L'Oreal products, the True match foundation, True match highlighter, The False Lash Superstar X Fiber and the True match LA Touche Magique. Seeing as I have never tried these before I thought I'd do a first impressions post.

Lets start with the L'Oreal True Match Foundation, I got the lightest shade (Rose Ivory) as I have very fair skin and it matches my skin perfectly, the description on the bottle says 'Super-blendable foundation perfectly matches skin colour and texture' Which in my opinion is true, when I popped it onto my beauty blender and onto my skin it matched it perfectly and didn't oxidise one bit. The only thing however, is I think for me it is a bit too watery? I don't know, I just felt like it wasn't giving me much coverage and I am so used to full coverage foundations that maybe I was just expecting this to be full coverage too I don't know. But I do like it, I wanted another foundation that I could use daily and wasn't breaking the bank and this is perfect for me, and I am able to build up a full coverage look with this foundation as well - even better!





I usually stick to the Collection lasting perfection concealer because it is my all time favourite concealer ever, but when I saw in Boots that they didn't have my shade, I thought to myself that I should try something new, so I got the true match concealer, it was a pain to get the product out at first as its one of those clicky ones, but once it started to come out and I applied it to my under eye, I really loved it, it did look a bit yellow at first but when I blended it it match perfectly. Again, I got the lightest shade. 

Since I ran out of my two faced better than sex mascara, which is also one of my favourite mascaras EVER. I looked at all the mascaras L'Oreal had to offer and got the False Lash Superstar X Fiber mascara. It has 2 ends one that primes the eyelashes and makes them look thicker and the second side that has 20x more fibers to add extra volume to each lash. In all honesty, when I first tried it I really didn't like the look of my eye lashes, they looked a bit clumpy and dry but when I put it on the next day, I really saw a difference for the better, my eyelashes look so volumised, with no clumps at all and I think in general, applying the mascara for the second time was so much better than the first time - this happened to my friend Holly who recommended the product, after I told her how I felt using it for the first time, she agreed with me that the first application isn't great but when you apply it regularly you do see a better result AND SHE WAS RIGHT!



And last but not least the True match highlighter in the shade Rose Glace Glow, this can be used multiple ways such as a primer for your foundation or you can mix it into your foundation to create a dewy effect. I used it as a primer and really saw a difference my skin definitely glowed! I also used it by putting a small amount on my beauty blender and just dabbing some where I would usually highlight so just on my cheek bones and blended it in a little bit and it certainly highlighted that area! I was glowing.




I really recommend all of these products and I am so glad I tried something new for a change I don't ever usually reach for L'Oreal's makeup products mainly just their skin care range but I am happy with the outcome!

What L'Oreal products do you have?

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Social Media & Blogging

I've been blogging for almost 2 years now on and off but towards the end of last year I really started getting back into it with regular posts, starting a new Twitter and Instagram for blogging purposes as I didn't want to bother those who weren't interested in reading my blog with endless self promos from me on their news feed.

Starting these 2 new accounts on Twitter and Instagram has been tough, seeing as there are more and more people on social media than ever before it is harder i think to get a strong following shortly after you start a new account - I knew it was going to take time, but at the same time seeing my personal accounts have over 1000 followers, it is frustrating to only have a few hundred followers. But, I am grateful with how surprisingly quickly my Twitter and Instagram accounts have come from already having over 200 followers on both in just over 2 months, in my opinion is great and I am proud of myself and thankful for those who followed me.

How do you promote your blog on social media?

There are so many accounts on Twitter such as 'TheBloggersHub, GRLPOWR and Blogginggals' which are dedicated accounts to retweeting your posts such as a new blog post tweet - these really help to get across to a large audience seeing as these accounts have a lot of followers, I usually try and tweet them all at least once a day - which may seem excessive but seeing as twitter is always updating with new content it is likely that your tweet will be way at the bottom after 5 minutes of tweeting it, so don't worry about clogging up anyones news feeds. These Twitter accounts also hold chats throughout the week where you can engage with them and other bloggers/youtubers as well which will help you feel more comfortable in the blogging community as well.

Following and commenting on other peoples blogs really helps to build up your followers and views too, the more you engage with other blogs and other peoples social media accounts, the more you will see a difference in your own social media accounts.

Facebook on the other hand is a tricky one, seeing as I'm friends with people who have different views etc than me, I always find myself deliberating whether I should post my link to a blog post I've done when not a lot of people will be interested in it - seeing as they're not friends with me purely because of my blog. However, I do sometimes post if I think its something a lot of people may want to read. Although, I did pay £7 for one week for my blog post to be properly promoted and I did see a major difference in my view count (obviously as it was paid for and it was reaching over 2,000 people) But I don't think I would do this all the time, I would much rather a niche audience that I know are following me and reading my blog posts because they actually want to and not because I've paid a social media platform to plaster my blog post on everyone's news feeds.

Bloglovin' in my opinion is good too, its kind of like Pintrest I would say but purely for blog posts only hence the name. From what I've read from other blog posts, a lot of bloggers have a love/hate relationship with it, but I personally like it, I can keep track of how many followers my blog has, my posts that I put up go instantly onto my Bloglovin' page. The only thing is I would say is that its not very interactive, like I find it hard to communicate with other people on there, if anyone else has Bloglovin' do you know what I mean?

How do you promote your blog?


Losing followers

Losing followers is inevitable, but that doesn't take away the slight sadness you feel when you wake up and see that you've lost 5 followers in the space of a day, dramatic? Maybe. Understandable? Yes. For instance the other day I had 236 followers on Instagram, then when I checked it later on, I saw that I had lost 15 followers. It's just annoying when you're trying hard and then see 15 or how many people choose to unfollow you when you're putting a lot of effort in you know? Although, this does make me want to do better and earn the followers back, its better to try and see what you can do better with your social media accounts than it is to see what you're doing wrong with them. 

Try and not be disheartened when you notice you've lost followers, the way to building up a strong social media following does come with setbacks as well, but thats life, nothing is going to be handed to you on a plate without a hiccup or some kind of obstacle that temporarily stops you from reaching a goal, you can't start up a Twitter or Instagram account and expect to have 1000 followers instantly, these things take time and a lot of patience - you'll get there!!

How do you deal with losing followers on social media?


Using social media for blog content

When I am stuck on what to post about I tend to turn to social media for help, whether I do a poll on twitter or looking at other peoples blogs of what they have posted in the past for inspiration I find this does really help when I am stuck on what to blog about, it doesn't come naturally! And i'm sure other bloggers/youtubers will agree with me that it is frustrating when you can't think of anything to post about, is there such a thing called bloggers block? And in my opinion, I don't want to post something just for the sake of it you know? I'd rather post something relevant to my blog or myself or something I know people want to read.

How do you use social media for content? 

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MAC X CAITLYN JENNER LIPSTICK REVIEW


I bought one of Caitlyn Jenner's limited edition lipsticks in the shade 'Rockit!', the description on the website says the lipstick is a 'Midtone-Beige' colour, which in my opinion is very true, it is one the dark side of the nude colour wheel. It is also a creme sheen finish, which, for me this is my first creme sheen lipstick, and I quite like it, seeing as  am always reaching for matte finishes, I thought it would be good to change things up a little bit and go for something out of my comfort zone. It is so creamy and easy to apply, I do however need to add 2-3 coats for it to show, but other than that I love it. I really recommend this to everyone and I am so glad I got my hands on it when I did, the packaging of the lipstick as well is really aesthetically pleasing to the eye with the gold lid with black writing and black bottom, they really compliment each other well.




You can see my mac makeup collection post here if you haven't already! What mac lipsticks do you have/recommend? Want to get my hands on a few more!
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The Implant & I

I've seen so many blog posts recently about people sharing their experiences on contraception, but in my opinion I have only really seen posts about the pill and not so many about the Nexplanon (Implant) Which, I got back in 2015 so I thought i'd share my experience having the impact in case anyone is also thinking about getting it.

In all honesty, it wasn't entirely my decision to get the implant, once my mum guessed that I... 'did the deed' She immediately wanted me to get contraception that worked for me. In my opinion, I am glad she made me get contraception as I have seen so many people end up pregnant at such a young age - which by all means there is nothing wrong with that, if they choose to have the baby or not thats their choice but I personally do not want to get pregnant until I am at least 25. Anyway, I researched the pill, the injection you get every 12 months or so in your bum and the implant, these all of course had negative reviews as well as positive because everyones body is different and so we are all going to have different reactions to what goes in our bodies. 

I did however read more negative reviews on the pill than I did with the bum injection and the implant, so I decided not to go with that type of contraception, besides I know myself I wouldn't be able to remember taking a tablet everyday. 

So I opted for the implant, a 40mm plastic thing that goes into the inside of your arm (sounds horrific I know) But when I went to have it done, the doctor numbed my arm A LOT, and I didn't feel a thing, I did feel a bit of tugging but that was it, it didn't hurt at all either. I simply stared up at the ceiling while the doctor did her thing. After she inserted it she put a plaster on it and bandaged it up to make sure it stayed in place and I didn't risk knocking it, she advised me to leave the bandage on for at least 4 hours after the implant was inserted, which I did. When I took it off, I did see a little bit of bruising, but that was expected and it didn't hurt at all. 

Now, about 3 weeks later after I had got the implant I started my period - which was also expected as the implant can either stop your periods all together, not stop them or make them sometimes irregular. I wasn't really phased by this, but my period did end up lasting about 4 weeks, it wasn't a heavy period it was so light that sometimes I didn't need to wear a tampon or pad and I had no period pains whatsoever. But seeing as I had a period for over a month I went back to the same doctor who inserted the implant, told her about my periods and she gave me the pill to take as well, as it would help balance out my hormones or something like that. I took the pill as well for another 3 months, and ever since I haven't had a single period. 

I have heard from friends and other reviews about the implant that it made them very moody but for me, nothing seemed to change (or at least I don't think so) I remained myself throughout the early stages of the insertion. Again though, everyone will have different reactions to getting the implant or another type of contraception seeing as we are all different. 

I would however really recommend every girl getting or at least really looking into getting the implant, it lasts for 3 years so you don't need to worry about repeat prescriptions or anything like that, after the 3 years are up you can get it taken out and have a new one in, but if you don't want to you don't have to. And if you get it and end up not liking it soon after, you can also get it taken out before the 3 years are up as well. 

This is what the Implant looks like, scary looking I know . 


Shout out to Loulabellerose who convinced me to share my experience about getting the implant!

You can read more about the implant and its effects here to make sure its right for you or for anymore additional information. 
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Nighttime Skincare Routine

Seeing as I did a daily skin care routine which you can see here, I thought it would be good to do a nighttime skincare routine and it also got the most votes on my twitter, which if you aren't already be sure to follow me - izziebxo!


I ALWAYS start by using the Simple Facial Cleansing Wipes which are £3.25 for 25 wipes at Boots, however I buy mine in bulk and get 6 packets of wipes at around £8 from Costco as I use them all the time. My skin is very sensitive but also on the oily side and I personally find these to really help my skin when I take my makeup off, they're also really soft so aren't harsh on the skin at all.

When I'm wearing more makeup than I usually would for instance if I'm going on a night out or going out to dinner, I find that just using skin wipes isn't enough to make sure that I have taken all of my makeup off, so after using my wipes I use the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water £5.00 at Boots for a limited time only for the 700ml (usually £7.99) I bought this earlier this year from seeing loads of reviews about it from other bloggers and youtubers and I have to say, it certainly does the job, a little bit of it on a cotton pad and it goes a long way and takes off any makeup that wasn't removed by the wipes.

Because I have oily skin I need to remove as much excess oil as possible - not all the time but every other night I use the Seaweed Clarifying Toner £7.50 from The Body Shop. It really does the job, I always feel a difference after I have used this. Like I said though I only use it every other night as I do find it a little bit strong sometimes.

To round off the routine I use the Breakout Clearing Overnight Treatment £13.10 from Dermalogica, this really helps to reduce redness and the breakouts that I may be having at that tie. In fact I am having quite a bad breakout at the moment and I have been putting this on my face everyday since and it is slowly helping each night, it shouldn't be long till Im spot free (hopefully)

What are your go to skincare products? Comment below!


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