Autumnal Makeup

It's not until I look back on my YouTube channel that I realized I hadn't uploaded a video since February. Where has the time gone? In that space of time I sat my exams, got my results, hit my blog's 2nd birthday and now it's almost Christmas! I made the decision to delete all of my old videos and start afresh. So, this is the first look on my new channel! I recreated one of my favourite looks of all time - a golden, simple eye (using the Naked palette) and a bold, berry lip. To watch this tutorial, click here. :)

I hope you enjoy my new videos and if you'd like, you can click through here to subscribe to my channel.

Franglais | 01

I'm sure I've mentioned that when I was in school, I dreaded French - that and P.E, but what girl really likes running, getting sweaty & pulling their hair from their lip gloss every 3 minutes anyway? I've always wanted to learn another language from a very young age but hated learning it in a school environment. Much like blogging I find that if I force myself to do it, I won't enjoy it. That's what happened in school. To pass my exam and get the qualification, it meant I needed to do at least two writing and two speaking assessments with my French teacher. Being painfully shy and embarrassed to try and make sure that I was speaking 'confidently', it was one of the worst experiences of my life.

When I left school and became home schooled it became one of my favourite subjects. Even though I needed to do work on time in order for me to pass my exam, I could still take it at my pace and wasn't rushed into keeping up-to-date with homeworks and the ability of the rest of the class. Duolingo became my best friend right up until my exam and I was completely obsessed with the thing, prioritizing French over any other subject because I thought it was so fun. I passed my exam with a B and haven't done anything French-related since. It's only recently that I've been starting to pick it back up again and this time around I'm hoping to learn how to speak more than, "Hi, I'm Elise, I'm sixteen and have a pet cat". Also, I know how to order tea and croissants, ask where the toilet it & describe my brother's hair colour. Oh the things you learn at school!

I'm hoping to introduce a new feature over here on the blog, documenting how I get on with what I like to call 'Franglais'. This is where I'm handing over to you - do you speak another language? How easy did you find it to learn?

Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner

I have a real addiction to liners, and since writing my post about The Low-Down of Liners I've somehow accumulated a whole tray of them in my makeup storage. The latest to my collection is the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel liner, something I picked up after my mum was looking for a brown gel liner that's a cheaper alternative to the Bobbi Brown one. The first thing that surprised me with this liner is the consistency; much more creamier and wetter than the gel liner from the likes of Bobbi Brown.

I actually prefer the wetter consistency as opposed to the thick gels which seem to dry up easily. This liner makes a great base for an intense smokey eye to get the blackest of the black eye makeup look. It's also much easier to create a nice, defined line & also clean up where you've made a mistake with a little cotton bud. This liner also comes with a brush which I haven't tried because I love the Real Techniques Silicone Liner brush with any gel liner. The brush doesn't necessarily look the best, I think the shape of it would be too big to create a nice thin line.

I've also heard that this is an amazing dupe for MAC's Fluidline Gel liner yet just a fraction of the price. It's smudge-proof & waterproof and once it's swatched on the back of your hand, it's going nowhere. The one gripe I have with this product is the colour. I'm either a soft brown or bold black liner kind of girl and this falls somewhere in between. When you first apply it, it looks amazing - a bold, intense black line but then fades to an off-black which I tend to re-line once it's dry to darken it.

November

Do you ever write a word that many times that it starts to lose it's meaning? That's what's happening with November at the minute. After spelling out the word with some gold sticky letters, I started to question whether I'd actually even spelt it right mid-photograph. It's one of my favourite seasons for a few reasons - Bonfire night (although I'm quite terrified of how Meenie will react to fireworks all night long!), my 2-year blog anniversary month and only one month to Christmas! I always feel like when Halloween is over, it's acceptable to talk about Christmas & do lots of present shopping. Socially, it probably isn't OK but I like to think it is! I went to a Halloween party last night with my dad & brother and dressed as a half-burnt person. It doesn't sound very exciting but it took so much effort - almost 2 hours sat at my desk, applying latex and fake blood to half of my face! If you wanted to see the result, it's on my Instagram. When I came home my mum told me that we'd had a grand total of 0 trick-or-treaters, so I jumped in bed and eat the sweets for myself.

Happy late-Halloween and happy November!