Photo: Taken by myself on a Canon 700d, Krakow Town Centre 2017. 

The past few years I feel have been rather difficult. Maybe difficult isn’t the right word, perhaps even a little bit overdramatic. What I mean is that in your early twenties I feel immense pressure and confusion to make decisions.

See the thing is, I want my own space, I want to move out but then there’s the decision of renting or saving for a mortgage. I want a stable and growing career, but also to enjoy it. Perhaps what I want in life is a risk, a job that isn’t conventional and something you can’t just qualify for and then do. My degree is in English and Media, it made sense to me at the time, I enjoy reading and writing, I love film, images and videography. To me the perfect job would be blogging full time, not for the PR packages or the good pay packet or even the attention. It’s a job that is filled with everything I enjoy. But I’ll never take that risk to just quit a job and go for it. I’m not that brave.

So that leaves me to a point where you ask yourself, so what now? What exactly do you take the risk for? I haven’t quite figured that out just yet.

One thing I do know is that before I settle down into anything, I want to explore. This world has so much to offer, and I want to experience it all. Push myself to my limits. So that’s what I have decided. I decided to finally do it, after talking about travelling with my boyfriend since we first met, now felt like the perfect time to go.

On January 2^nd, I will be travelling South- East Asia for 3 months, so longer than a holiday but not long enough to feel like I’m gone forever. Just enough to experience somewhere else.

Life is confusing during your early-twenties, and I wrote this post to get it all off my chest and to see if anyone else could relate. Sometimes you have to follow your heart, and just think fuck it, life is too short, there’s plenty of time to worry about careers and a place to make a home. 

There’s so many more experiences to have, more people to meet and food to taste. Sometimes we forget how young we really are, when I’m 60, I want to look back and remember these experiences, that’s why I decided to take some time from work, to be twenty something and make memories.

I hope some of you might think the same, stop stressing and have fun.

I’ll be posting mine and my boyfriends adventures online, if it’s something you’d like to see, then I will share our social and website with you.

Emma :)

I caved and I bought the new Fendy Beauty products, but can you blame me? I'd watched like 4 review videos on YouTube and I was convinced that I needed it in my life.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, base make up is literally the most important part of any make up look. Yes, you can have eyeshadows that slay and eyebrows on point, but it doesn't matter if your base isn't quite right. So this range is right up my street! 

I was going to order it online but thought I'd rather go in store and give it a proper look, At first I thought I was going to be shade 170 or 190 in the foundation but boy was I wrong, I ended up going for the 150- let's just reflect on how pale I actually am. This foundation does dry a little bit darker so that is something to remember. 

Next I went for the trio sticks, I think these are good value for money as you get three for £46, whereas if you buy them individually they are priced at £21 each. I went for the lightest shades, they are creamy, so easy to blend and even more importantly they do what they say! My face looked defined and concealed, so what more could I want.

I went a bit crazy when it came to highlighters and ended up buying two as well as the brush. I felt like I couldn't get Fenty beauty without getting the trophy wife colour- despite the sales assistant insisting this wouldn't suit my skin tone. I thought it would be perfect for the inner corners of my eyes! I also bought the double highlighter in the lightest shades and this is amazing.. a little really goes a long way!

If you'd like to see a full video of me using the products and my thoughts then just click below! 

Have you bought any of the products? What are your thoughts?

Emma :)

When it comes to makeup, I've always been interested in foundation. For me, it's the most important part of any make up look- if it's wrong, it's wrong. There's no clawing back a bad base. I don't know if it's the same for everyone else, maybe you're more interested in your eyeshadow or your eyebrows, but when you've suffered with acne for years as a teenager, any sort of cover up is a blessing.

My skin has changed quite a lot over the years, from really oily to dry, to combination (which is where I'm at now.) So once I find the right foundation, I don't tend to change it much. For the past year or two, I've been using Too Faced Born This Way- which is also absolutely amazing so check it out if you haven't. I had no reason to change from it, other than the fact I stumbled into Sephora in Dubai and found myself at the Tarte section. I'd hear about their Under The Sea foundation but they didn't have it in store, and the lovely sales assistant was showing me the Amazonian Clay Foundation instead. It is oil free, and felt so lightweight as soon as she put it on my skin. The coverage and matte look was exactly what I wanted and so I wanted to know more about the range!

About ten minutes later, I ended up with the primer, the brush and the foundation and I left Sephora so happy! I felt confident and yet, not full of makeup. My skin can breathe with these products, and it actually doesn't move from my face. Even though I don't suffer from severe acne anymore, I always want to have a good coverage foundation and I honestly can't recommend this one more. It's hard to buy in the UK as we don't have any stores where you can have a colour match, but if you want to buy it online then just click here.

I know the base of your make up can be boring but it's so important! What's your favourite make up product?

Emma :) 

I've always been very passionate about skincare. After suffering from acne in my teens, it's something I've been self-conscious about and so, I always make active decisions about what skincare to use. I know for some people it's just a case of whatever is easiest but for me, it's not quite the same. I hated my skin, to the point where I felt like I couldn't go anywhere without wearing makeup- whether it was to the gym, to work, or just to the shops. I couldn't go outside without covering up my spots.

I'm much more confident in my skin and my outlook has changed quite a lot, but that doesn't mean that I don't invest my time and money into a good skincare routine. I was recently approached by Preen.Me to take part in a current campaign with Dermalogica. As you can imagine, I was thrilled! And very intrigued to have my face mapping experience. 

I visited my local salon to see what all the fuss was about, and the specialist that helped me was so nice, I couldn't fault her. She told me all about the different areas of my skin and the products that I should be using to help tame my redness/dryness etc.

Dermalogica kindly sent me 4 of the recommended products from my 'prescription' if I didn't believe in these products then I wouldn't be sharing them with you. So I can confidently express my positive opinion on these products. 

I have been using these for about 3 weeks and I can safely say that my favourite product is the UltraCalming face mist. It does what it says, it calms my skin! I use it every morning after my cleanser and its so easier to just spray it on and let it air dry. I've noticed some redness going down and I think this will be perfect for travelling as you can keep your skin hydrated on the go. 

I also received some other amazing goodies, as I suffer with dry patches (particularly around my eyes) I have been using the UltraSmoothing Eye Serum. You only need a tiny bit as it's quite strong but it does the job and was the perfect size for my recent trip to Krakow. 

The other two products are weekly treatments, I guess we don't want to put harsh products on our skin too often. To be honest, I feel like I haven't used these enough to give my honest opinion, with being away recently I had to let my skincare slip a little. (The joys of having hand luggage only.) But I wanted to mention them regardless- Gentle Cream Exfoliant  and Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque 

Have you ever tried any of these products for yourself? I'm super impressed and so grateful that I was given the opportunity to try them. 

Emma :)

Hello!

I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year. I certainly did! I'm trying to get back to normal with uploading both on YouTube and my blog so keep your eyes peeled this year for some (hopefully) amazing posts. 

I recently uploaded a video on What I got For Christmas so feel free to check it out. I received a lot of skincare and beauty products this year and I've already been using them non-stop. Just some of them include the Clinique Sonic Cleansing Face Brush and the Rose Gold Oral B Genius 9000. 

I might post an updated skincare routine and some products that I've been enjoying so that I can give you a bit more of a review and just my general thoughts on the products. So if that is something that you would be interested in then be sure to let me know. 

Here's to an amazing 2017 with many new products to come. 

Emma :)

It's time for a giveaway!

I've never done one of these before so I'm a little bit nervous to say the least. But I'd been thinking about it for quite some time now so figured I'd just do it now!

I posted a video on YouTube explaining what it is that you can win and how to enter so if you'd like to watch that then click here.

It's pretty simple, you just need to enter your details into the rafflecopter below and the more things you complete, the more entries you get! Simple! a Rafflecopter giveaway

How cute is this necklace? I was lucky enough to receive this from Teardrop, and I absolutely love it! They have a lovely range of jewellery, all of which are perfect gives with heart felt notes written on the bottom.

I decided to go for 'bee happy' as I thought this was really sweet and a good little thing to remember when wearing it. It came packaged up so nicely- as you can see, with the gold wrapping paper. You can also write a personal note yourself on the card that it comes on! I just feel like the whole idea of it is a lot more personal than just buying a plain necklace as you can pick something that is special to you, leave a heartfelt message and write your own!

I know I'll be wearing my little bee necklace all the time as it's so light and cute. If you'd like to check out their other designs, then head on over to their site or their twitter is @TearDropDesigns

If you do get anything then let me know.

Emma :) 

Last month I was lucky enough to attend an event held by oka-b! The shoes themselves are originally worn at spas but are now a lot more of a holiday essential. They can be washed in the machine which I thought was simply amazing! No more sandy shoes forever.

The real reason I wanted to try out the brand was because I have such terrible problems with my feet, shoes always seem really hard to walk on and leave me with dry, rough skin. Oka-b however, have the most comfortable shoes available ever. I've tried out a pair myself, which are photographed above, they are so cute and my feel are definitely happy in them. I'll be taking them on my america trip this year.

Not only did I get to try out the amazing shoes (which you can customize btw.. :D), but I also had the pleasure of receiving a reflexology session, something I have never experienced before. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. I nearly fell asleep but that's not unusual for me.

Glow Hush had a range of candles and wax melts available too, I went for the sweet opoppanax because sweet scents are my absolute favourite. It was difficult to decide which one to go for because they all smelt so nice. So if you're a candle lover, I would definitely check them out.

I enjoyed the event so much so I'm glad I can finally share it with you!

Let me know if you try the shoes or candles yourself.

Emma :)

I think I've found a potential favourite brand, and I've only tried three products.

You might have noticed in pictures or vlogs, my lips are always incredibly dry. I'r tried a million lip balms, one minute they seem to work and then a few days later and they are back to their horrible old self. 

But I've found the perfect solution and you wouldn't believe how much it cost! Sephora's own branded products have done nothing but please me since the moment I tried them. I purchased these items in Rome when I went for a short visit, and they are fast becoming favourites. 

The first is of course, the lip balm. It's a clear stick that smells really nice and feels nourishing. It's helped my lips much better than any other products and it seems to have helped them in the long term too, preventing dry lips even when I don't use it. The best bit, it cost me 4 euros!! I can't recommend this enough.

The next product is another dry skin related problem. This time for my hands, I tend to have a problem with picking a good moisturiser that isn't too greasy. I'll admit, my first use of this I thought I'd picked another bad one. Turns out I squirted too much on my hands and when using a smaller amount, it has again prevented the dry skin and instantly moisturisers my hands. It's a nice little size for your handbag too- always a bonus. I can't remember the exact price, but I'm sure it's around the 6 euro mark. Another great bargain! 

The last product is the one I was originally looking for. I've heard so many good things about the red shade lip stains from Sephora, so I wanted to try one for myself. This one is in the shade 03 and is easy to wear. It looks a bit like a gloss but it dries matte, the only problem I've found is that it takes a while before it stops smudging. So I'd advise to put it on early, especially before you eat or anything likewise. Regardless, I still like it and I'm excited to use it more. 

If only there was a Sephora near me! 

Emma :) 

I was lucky enough to receive a medicine cabinet shelf and a medicine cabinet divided organiser from the Lenny Agency. Now I know what you're thinking, how does that relate to beauty? Well I decided to use them as a way to keep my make-up a little bit more organised!

At the bottom there are grips so they don't topple over and spill the contents everywhere. The simple colour means that they can match pretty much any room. 

On the shelf you can see that I've chosen to place some of my everyday products, such as foundation, eyeshadow etc. in the divider, there are four compartments. In the back two I've put my rather messy brushes and in the front two, my concealer, mascara and lipstick.

They are both only £6.50 each and It's definitely easier to know where everything is by seeing it on your worktop! Buy them both at www.oxouk.com

Emma :)