The Scottish Tag

I found this tag on Hayley's blog but it was originally created by Scottish Youtuber, BeautyCreep  (original video link) who I weirdly know from school and work, small world!!

Whereabouts in Scotland are you from?

I am from a town in West Dunbartonshire which is about 30 minutes north-west of Glasgow.  My mum is from this area but my dad comes from Glasgow, I have lived here since I was born until I moved to Manchester last year.

However my gran is English and I believe one of my great-grandparents is Irish so I am a bit of a mixture!  I'd love to look into our family tree more, I think it would be so interesting! 

Where is your favourite place that you've been to in Scotland?

I am going to go for Loch Lomond which is where I was brought up so I am a bit biased!  It is a stunning area and it's privilege to have lived so close (and hopefully will again soon!) to such a place.  I definitely recommend it for anyone wanting to visit Scotland, it's really scenic but less than an hour away from Glasgow by car/train. 

Where would you like to visit in Scotland?

There's loads of places I want to visit including, Arran, Inverness, Arisaig, The Fairy Pools (Skye) and Fingal's Cave on Staffa.

What is your favourite Scottish film?

Erm... *Googles Scottish films* Okay so I have only actually seen a couple of these!  Filth is probably my favourite out of the list but not overall...  Trainspotting is certainly worth a watch but it's rather gritty.  I do love Brave actually but it's not technically Scottish is it...

On a similar note, I have never seen Braveheart, I'm a terrible Scot!

Do you match up to any Scottish stereotypes?

I LOVE Irn Bru, to point where it is actually a bit of an addiction... 

I also swear quite a lot around my friends but tone it way down for family and in public!

What is your favourite Scottish food?

Pizza Crunch Supper?  I think this is Scottish... it's basically deep-fried battered pizza which you get from the chippy.  Pretty much a heart attack on a plate but SO GOOD!  I also like the traditional (vegetarian) haggis, neeps and tatties but I don't have it very often. 

Do you follow any Scottish traditions?

I do enjoy a good Ceilidh (which is traditional Scottish dancing) and also follow the tradition of 'first-footing' at Hogmanay (new year).  If you are the first person into a house (be it your own or someone else's) after midnight on NYE then you should always be carrying something as a gift, even if it is just a bottle of juice and some biscuits, which bring good luck for the coming year.  The first person bringing it in should also be a tall, dark and handsome male, but we can't have everything, eh?

What is your favourite Scottish word?

So many!  Living in England I am continually discovering words/phrases which I use all the time that I didn't even realise were Scottish until I get some blank, bemused looks from my colleagues...  As for my favourite, well, here are a few:

Fanny, dour, fusty, mink, boggin, mingin, clatty, gubbed...

What is your favourite Scottish song?

I used to study classical singing and a lot of the songs I sang were traditional Scottish songs which I maybe wouldn't have come across otherwise.  Obviously O Flower of Scotland is up there which is basically Scotland's unofficial national anthem, along which Highland Cathedral which is really nice.  

Wild Mountain Thyme is lovely, also Ye Banks and Braes and My Love is like a Red, Red Rose - ahh there are so many!

There are also loads of hilarious ones like Ye Canny Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus and The Jeely Piece Song (ye canny fling pieces oot a 20 storey flat), hahah... please do google these if you're unfamiliar!

Can you recommend any Scottish bloggers/vloggers?

My fave Scottish bloggers would obviously be Water Painted Dreams, Colours and Carousels and Mo'adore! Also love BeautyCreep's youtube channel.

~

I tag anyone who wants to do this, even if you're not actually Scottish but just love the place!  Let me know in the comments if you have done it so I can go and have a read :)

<3

Marks & Spencer Nature's Extract Anti-Perspirant Roll-On

It's no secret that the bane of my cruelty free life has been finding a decent anti-perspirant deodorant!  A lot of the cruelty free options tend to be 'green' which in itself is great, but this means that they are usually only deodorants and not anti-perspirants.  I'm not a particularly sweaty person (mmm!) but I'd rather just avoid it if I'm honest rather than stopping it from smelling which is what plain deos are made to do.

BLOG SALE - HIGH END MAKE UP BRANDS

It's blog sale time again!  I have all of these things on my Depop but I thought I would put them on here as well as I know some people don't like using that app.  All prices include postage but if you are buying a few things then of course I would be happy to give a discount, also feel free to make me an offer!  Everything is 100% genuine branded products.  Any questions just get in touch either in a comment, twitter or email.

All payments through Paypal, I will send an invoice so please give me your email address along with items you want and it will be posted once payment has come through.

Limited edition Nars palette Barely used, a couple of colours swatches and the lipbalm used once. Includes Orgasm blush - all products listed in 2nd photo. 

£25 SOLD

Benefit Finding Mr Bright Brand new, never used. 

£20

Bobbi Brown Bronzer/Blush Duo with Bahama Brown and Pink Peony. Brand new, never used. 

(RRP £30) £23

Illamasqua Powdered Metal in Ether Highlighting face and body powder with a golden sheen. Only swatched a couple of times. I think this is discontinued? 

£14

No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser brand new (without cloth). 

£6.50

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Golden 6 Brand new, never used. 

(RRP £30) £23 

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation in Warm Sand 2.5 used once. 

(RRP £30) £19

Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Lipgloss in Black Ruby used once with brush
(RRP £17) £12 

Clarins Kabuki Brush in case with mirror. Like new. 

£20

Bobbi Brown Foundation Brush £27

Bobbi Brown Lip Brush (extendable with cover) £17.50

Bobbi Brown Angle Eye Shadow Brush £19

Bobbi Brown Concealer Brush £17.50

MAC 109 Small Contour Brush £21

MAC 227 Large Fluff Brush £18

I have got some clothes and other bits on my Depop which I've not added on here yet but feel free to have a look at my page here and get in touch if you're interested in anything.

<3

My Perfect Nude Lip Combination

I mentioned in my recent Louise Loves post about a lip combination I have been using a lot recently.  I wanted a lipstick which would give the 90s style nude/brown effect which are all over the place at the moment and I was lucky enough to find it in Superdrug for under a fiver!

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel Review + Brow Tutorial

I have been through numerous of Liz Earle's Eyebrow Pencils (review here) now so I decided to try something a bit different.  The Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel has been around for a while but only recently have they added a wider colour range.  Strike was the original which is for brunettes; they have now added Glimpse for redheads; Awe for blondes and Stare for dark brown/black hair.  I went for Strike as although my hair is light brown with blonde through it I prefer my brows to be darker.

The Nude Bandeau

Pineapple bedding from Primark!

Just a quick one to share with you a tip I've discovered, I'm sure most people have come across it before but here it is for those who haven't!

Louise Loves #11

H&M Necklace

I bought this necklace a couple of weeks ago from H&M for £7.99.  Now, I am the sort of person who wear the same 2 costume necklaces on rotation so I thought I would mix it up a bit and get some new ones.  I am on the look out for longer ones as the ones I usually wear are short chunky pieces.  I got a lovely one from Topshop but it broke the day I got it so I took it back and didn't bother getting a new one.  This H&M one caught my eye because it looks much fancier than it is.  You can't see in the photo but chains are actually beads which are multi-facetted which makes them really sparkle in certain lights.  I love that I can just wear a plain top and throw this on and it looks like I've made more of an effort!

Gosh Nougat Crisp Lip Liner & Make up Revolution The One Lipstick

I wanted to find a product which would give me the sort of nude/brown 90s style lips that are all over the place at the moment but I have quite strongly coloured lips so I wasn't sure if it would suit me.  I found this combination in Superdrug for a total of about £5 so I could try it out without spending too much money!  The liner is really nice, it's a softer version of the colour of my lips and it applies easily.  The lipstick is a semi-matte nude and works well on top of the liner in the middle to lighten my lips slightly.  I will do a separate post on this with photos of them together on my lips.  I also got another lipstick which is more nude and true matte but I haven't tried this properly yet as I loved the first one I tried so much! 

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel

I've had this for a while now but I'm going to be honest, it scared me a bit!  I was really excited when it first arrived in the post but when I tried it out I realised you can't just paint it on as you would with a pencil or eyeshadow, so I took to youtube and found some gel brow tutorials and now I am loving it!  I am going to do a post soon to show you how I use it, what tools and other products I use it with.

<3

Household Empties #2

Hello!  This is the second instalment of the household empties post so let me know if you want to see more.  I thought I'd just mention a change that my blog is going through, you might have noticed that I've taken down my cruelty free lists!  This is simply because since moving down south and having a pretty stressful job my blog has suffered, so my cruelty free lists have been neglected.  I decided to take them down and go through each brand and give it a good overhaul to avoid providing outdated and false information!  However, I still don't have much free time at the moment so please bear with me until it's all sorted!