Beneath the Makeup;

I've been thinking a lot about my blog recently, which is odd considering I haven't put together a post in over a month now. So I thought I'd take the time out tonight, while I can't sleep to write a little about why I haven't posted in such a long time and what I'm hoping for my blog in the future.

I'd been an avid blog reader for a long while before I started my own, I love hearing other people's opinions in a less formal way than a magazine article or a book and it got me thinking yeah I could try my hand at that too. I mean I definitely have a lot of opinions. So around this time last year I began spending time here, writing, taking photographs and really enjoying myself. It felt amazing to spend my time doing something I felt was creative and productive with my spare time, even if it was only for myself. It felt like I finally had my own little corner of the whopping world wide web.

At this time I was working at a bar in my village for anywhere between 30 - 50 hours a week, and my time off was midweek and before 6 o'clock. Which meant that my friends and family were all at work and I had all of the time in the world to write. I'd become a barmaid to fund my studies in law, in a part time and mostly at home course, and last year I was offered an assistant job in a real life law firm in their property law department. I now get to see my studying paying off, I have help with tuition fees, the opportunity was, and still is amazing. My career is finally moving, my work feels a lot more rewarding and definitely keeps me on my toes! This means I work full time, and when I get home I need to give my brain a rest. I'm now on a higher level on my course, which is more taxing and time consuming with a lot more coursework. I'm also learning to drive as I now live a 20 minute journey away from most of my friends and my parents, which isn't a lot but can feel like a world away when you need a cuddle from your mum. Trying to fit that in with spending quality time with my other half my spare time is also non-existent. Not to mention the fact that during winter it is almost impossible to take a decent blog photo after 6 pm. So its safe to say my blog is sitting in the back seat in the vehicle of my life.

Another thing that has been plaguing my thoughts is the future I want to take with my blog. I fell into the very common category of 'beauty blogging', and it was easy for me because I love makeup. Makeup is another creative outlet for me, experimenting with colour combos and products is something I really enjoy. But lately I don't read a lot of beauty blogs, I feel like beauty blogging is changing a lot its really become an industry rather than an activity. There are a lot of people seeking out to make a career of blogging, and if you can do it that's amazing. However posts that are written with a professional voice with facts and figures are things that belong in magazines. I loved that blogs gave a place for someone to voice their opinion and show a bit of personality. I try to fit that in to my posts, even if I'm only writing a short review of the product. I am no skin or makeup expert and sometimes I struggle with enough to say I just know I want to say something!

When it comes to makeup I've never been someone with an everyday routine, I like to vary it. But I now have time to spend around 20 minutes to get ready in the morning I tend to blindly grab for the same things, which wouldn't make for exciting writing. I have this entirely self inflicted feeling that now I've started to blog about makeup I've put myself in a box. Although I still want to write about makeup and beauty I do want to change up my blog, so when I feel uninspired by makeup I want to start writing about other things.

So I'm sitting here with my to-do list of blog ideas, hoping that they will actually (someday) turn into posts. I just wanted to put the girl beneath the makeup out there. And say hey, I'm Tamara-Jayne, unedited and unspellchecked and I promise to blog again sometime in the future.

The Body Shop Cleansing Butter Review;

My skincare routine has always been very simple, and as far as cleanser is concerned I mostly use Micellar Water. But recently I've heard a lot about the Body Shop Cleansing Butter be compared to a lot of higher priced skincare brands and I had to give it a try.

The is a waxy feeling balm that melts to an oil when rubbed into your skin. I wasn't sure how to use this at first because I'd never tried anything like it. After having a quick Google (and yes it really came to that) I found out that the best way to use this is to apply is directly to the skin with your fingertips and massage the product into the skin. This lifts any makeup, even mascara leaving you looking like a melting panda. If you have any allergies this can sting a little when you're around the eye area, but its never given me any visible reactions like some products I've tried. Then the product needs rinsing, I do this just with a wet cotton round. At this point this cleanser leaves a slight residue on the skin, leaving your skin feeling a little sticky but not oily. I find this a little annoying, but I always double cleansed with Micellar Water just in case I missed any bit and to cleanse the skin underneath my makeup. When I use this Cleansing Butter for my first cleanse there's a lot less makeup left on my skin when I come to my second cleanse than with just Micellar Water. So I definitely think this does a good job at keeping my skin clean, and my skin  always feels really soft after I use it.
The Body Shop claims that this is indulgent, but gentle on the skin to leave your face feeling clean but pampered. This isn't a product that will completely clears breakouts, or stops my skin from ever being oily. But it is something I've been reaching for a lot, am really enjoying using, and a product that makes you feel pampered, without half of the effort.

Soap & Glory First Impressions

Soap & Gory are a brand I always go to when I feel like I need a bit of pampering, but in the past year they've been just as talked about for their makeup and its probably about time I tried a few things.

I decided to pick up the Love at First Blush, the Sexy Mother Pucker Matte Lip Stick and Lip Plumping Gloss. The first thing I have to mention  about all of the items is the packaging, its like all Soap & Glory products. Absolutely gorgeous. The main colours are black, gold and pink with details of retro pin-up girls. These are the kind of products you wouldn't mind leaving on top of your dresser.

I had to grab the Love at First Blush, because its a totally 'me' shade. This isn't a highly pigmented colour on my skin this adds more of a pink sheen as its more shimmer than pink, but without chunky glitter. This is one of those blushes that definitely doesn't need a highlight, and if you applied this too heavily you could look very 'disco ball'. I think this is a shade for lighter skinned girls, I think this would be more highlighter territory for anyone with darker skin. I personally really like this as its easy to wear, gives me a healthy glow to the cheeks. I think I'll be grabbing this when I'm wearing with a bolder eye or lip, or to pop over a matte blusher. 

This is is the Sexy Motherpucker Matte Lip Stick in the shade Blush Pink. This is a pink berry shade, its a perfect daytime berry shade that is noticeable without being in your face. This formula to this is like no other matte lipstick I've tried. The lipstick glides on to the lips, actually feels moisturising! It has a thin consistency while being completely opaque when you apply it. This means that you can move your lips, and rub them together without your lipstick smudging away. I've heard other bloggers make that claim about a lot of lipsticks that make that claim but this is the only one that works for me. This lipstick doesn't last as long as some mattes that I've tried, but longer than glossy colours. But this is the first where it continues to feel comfortable and moisturising while you wear it, and it wears away to nothing rather than leaving a line around your lips. I can't say enough good things about this I need to get my hands on some more of these! 

The Sexy Motherpucker Lipgloss was one of the first makeup products that Soap & Glory sold, its my favourite gloss ever and I've had one in my collection since I was about 14. I picked it up in the shade Nudestar this time, which is completely new to me. As the name suggests this is a nude shade, that doesn't adds a translucent splash of colour which is packed with tiny specs of glitter. This one of those plumping glosses that tingles the lips, in fact with this it almost makes your lips vibrate. I know that can turn some people off, but I think it really helps with the plumping effect. It also has the strong scent that most plumping glosses have when applying, but once its on your lips you don't really notice. This gloss is a little sticky, so its not ideal for windy days with your hair down. But this gloss is only one I've tried that lives up to the claims that your lips will be plumped, and it actually lasts. Once applied this gloss stays put for at least 1-2 hours on my lips, when most glosses have all but disappeared in 5 minutes on me. This looks really great over a nude liner and I can see me reaching for it a lot paired with a smokey eye.

What are you favourite Soap & Glory makeup pieces? I must try more!

Girl About Village 2015 Highlights;

2015 has been a great year for me. I celebrated some great results in my law course and am continuing my studies at a higher level. I said goodbye to my part time bar hours which was sad as it was a job I loved, but I started my career with a full time job in property law. I've learned a lot in my new job and I'm still really enjoying it. After a long while off I finally decided to start learning to drive again and am hoping to take my test early this year so I can get my car off of the drive. Along with that I think I've learned a few life lessons, I spent a lot of my teen years waiting for 'life' to start but I've realised that I might not be where I hope to be in the future yet, but enjoying the journey is a big part of life. I've taken a lot of opportunities and lived in the moment a lot during 2015 and I hope to do the same this year.

2015 has been a good year for Girl About Village, I started this blog a few years ago but never stuck to it. This year I finally started regularly posting (though it did dwindle towards the end of the year due to a lot of life changes) and I hope to keep it up this year. I found my love for writing and photographing and I love having this as my little project that I'm always thinking about and planning and hoping to improve. So today I've decided to a post of few of my favourite posts from the last year to look back on.

My First Mac Lipstick

My second post of last year (which wasn't actually until March) was a review of my first (and only) Mac lipstick. I really like this as I tried to experiment with my photography and tried a lip swatch. I don't think its the best of quality but I really enjoyed everything about creating this post and its quite nice to look back at.

Spring Makeup Staples

I'm really seasonal with my makeup, pink eyeshadow for spring and red lippy for Christmas. This was something I totally intended to keep up throughout the seasons and unsurprisingly I didn't. I hope that I can continue this year.

Concert FOTN

I love face of the day posts, I love creating different looks with makeup and I think you never know how well a product works until you see it on the skin. This was a look I wore to a McBusted concert, which was absolutely amazing they completely rocked my world (like they always do). This was quite a short post, but I think sharing a look for an event gives me the perfect balance of beauty and real life because I get the excuse to stick some personal photos and opinions on whatever I did.

Project 10 Pan

I'm not sure if I'm really allowed to include my Project 10 Pan as a favourite post, because I've such a fail at updating it. I found out about panning challenges this year, the idea is to challenge yourself to use up products in your makeup/ beauty products. I love treating myself to makeup, but the whole idea of having makeup is to use it and this has really helped me. I do have an update coming soon and I hope to continue panning this year.

Slide The City!

This was such a fun post, and such a fun day. I think shaking things up with a different post is a good way of keeping my blog fresh. I love sliding around in the sun so much that this post was so easy to write the words just rolled off of my fingertips!

5 Looks 1 Palette

My 5 Looks 1 Palette post is the most I've worked hardest on ever, on 5 different days I showed a different look and tried to incorporate as many colours as I could. The Makeup Geek Palette was perfect for this as there's so many shades to chose from. I love experimenting with makeup and this pushed me to use colours that I might not have before. I also think this was a better way of reviewing a palette because I don't think you know how good it is until you see it on the eyes. I really hope to try this again this year.

The Mid Toned Pink

It was my mission for such a long time to find the perfect mid toned pink it all came together. I really like this photo as well, and I found it so fun to review all of the lip colours at once!

My Current Fashion Favourites
Fashion was something I always wanted to include on this blog, but taking photos in a small bedroom with bad lighting makes it so tricky. It took a lot of work and perseverance for this post I had to wait until I had the right light and make a camera stand with various books etc and then stand awkwardly for 10 seconds before the timer went off. This is something I really want to work on and I hope to share more fashion posts in the future.

 Warner Bros Studio Tour

My last favourite was a post about my favourite place in the world! This post is special to me because I had such an awesome time with my family, I loved all of the photos I took here and it was nice to have a blog to share them on.

December Favourites;

January 2016 has come around so fast but before I can sign off on last year, I wanted to look back on the things I've loved for the month of December.

Since my last favourites post (back in October) I've treated myself to a whole host of new makeup pieces, but my first favourite item is something I've featured in a post last year. This is the Avon Argan Oil Leave-In Treatment, I use this stuff all the time! But since the weather has turned cold my hair has been really dry and I've really noticed the effects of this. When my hair's wet this detangles it and leaves it looking and feeling healthier. But I also use this on dry hair and it makes my hair glossy as well as covering my awful split ends!

I recently picked up the Body Shop Cleansing Butter. This is unlike anything I've ever tried, its like a balm that melts into an oil that breaks down makeup. Its gentle on the skin and leaves it feeling clean and pampered. I shouldn't say anymore as I'm hoping to review this soon.

Dry hands are another thing that has plagued me since it got colder, my palms were completely cracked! I picked up this Garnier Deep Restoring Hand Cream at Boots during a break at work. This is a thick cream that really did a great job at repairing my hands, and it isn't at all greasy and dries really quickly. This has earned prime place on my office desk.

Onto the makeup favorites of the month, this first thing I lusted after before it was even released. Of course this is Makeup Revolution's dupe for the newest Naked palette the Iconic Smokey. I'm a sucker for a smokey eye, but as well as some shimmery greys and dark colours, there are some gorgeous light glittery neutral shades and some mattes that are just perfect crease shades. With the party season I've been reaching for this one a lot, and I'm eager to review this too!

Another eyeshadow I've been wearing a lot is this Tanya Burr Eyedust in Creme Brulee, this was limited edition for the holidays from her Beauty Advent Calendar. This is a gorgeous, glittery copper shade, that is so multi-tonal that I've loved wearing this alone all over my lid.

For cheeks I picked up the Collection Contour Kit. This has been all over the blogs and I can completely see why. The matte contour colour is extremely pigmented, but blends out really easily and even works well on my pale skin. The highlight is shimmery without being glittery and works well to create a lit from within look without looking fake. At under £5 this product is a complete steal!

Lastly we're onto lips, something I reviewed a couple of months ago Max Factor's lipstick in Rosewood which I'm still completely in love with. This is quite a natural pink lip shade. Subtle enough that I wear it nearly every day to work, but I still reach for it when I'm going out as it offsets a smokey eye brilliantly.

My other lip love is Makeup Revolution's Ultra Velour Lip Cream in Can't We Just Make Love Instead. This is a liquid lipstick that is neither completely matte or overly glossy, but an opaque brownish, nudey, red (official colour description). This is another subtle colour that goes really well with the smokey looks that I've been opting for over the last month. This isn't the most long lasting, but it isn't at all dry and I've been loving it.

The non beauty favourites include Winter Candy Cane from Urban Outfitters, I really love having a specific candle for the Christmas period because as soon as you burn it you instantly feel more festive. This smells really sweet with just a hint of peppermint which was a really nice change after the spicey scents I was burning in Autumn and early Winter. I already can't wait to get this out again next year.

I also had to include my Harry Potter Colouring Book. Colouring books for adults have been all the rage recently and I can completely see why, dragging yourself away from your TV or iPhone and indulging yourself completely in your colouring is so relaxing. I got this as a Christmas gift from myself and I completely love it, its full of intricate decorative patterns and scenes from the films it looks so cool! I also bought my sister one of these and on Christmas Day we actually sat down together and coloured which was so old school and really relaxed me. But I did forget how long it took to colour a whole picture, and I really want to finish the entire book I'm addicted!

Ferrero Rochers are another favourite of mine, hard chocolate covering soft chocolate centres and a hazelnut, what more could you want? I've definitely taken advantage of the festive season and all of its foodie goodness. My last favourite really just has to be christmas. I'm all for sparkly lights, I love gift giving and wrapping gifts. I spent my christmas amongst great friends and family. I played board games, gorged on buffets, Turkey and celebrated with a few too many glasses. I hope you enjoyed the festive season as much as I did!