On Sunday 13th August, my best friend Sophie and I attended an incredible workshop in London in exchange for an honest blog review. After receiving a generous email to attend a beautiful flower crown workshop, courtesy of the wonderful Obby team, we jumped at the opportunity! We absolutely love to travel to London together (maybe not the constant tube hopping but hey ho, it is certainly worth it!) For those of you who haven't heard of them, Obby are an amazing company that collate all the fabulous creative workshops currently available in and around London, make them readily available for you on their website and allow you to safely purchase tickets to some super innovative work shops and classes. From cocktail making to perfume creating, Obby have a vast range of different opportunities that will suit anyone of all ages. There are so many beauty, food, craft and photography classes I would be surprised if you couldn't find something that interested you!

We arrived in Battersea just on time, walking into the beautifully decorated Square Gallery. The room was very rustic, with wooden furniture and flowers arranged in buckets. Not only was the scenery inside amazing, the area they chose to hold the workshop was ideal - unfortunately, Sophie and I couldn't stay long but the streets were stunning and there were plenty of bars and restaurants nearby if we wanted to stop for a spot of lunch before heading home. On arrival, the Bloomon team greeted us with a friendly welcome and instantly offered drinks. I had a glass of white wine and Sophie opted for a soft drink. Everything in the room had a perfect touch and suited the Bloomon floral style down to a T. 

There were roughly 8 people in our class, including ourselves, so we received a lot of attention which was useful and extremely worth the money you would pay for the class. We had a lovely chat with the woman who ran the class; she walked us swiftly through the process at the beginning and we were glad to find that the flower crown making wasn't as difficult as anticipated. She even informed us that we could make our own at home if we bought the required tape and accessories from Amazon! Who wants Sophie and I to film us make one on our Youtube channels?! We would love to do it because it was super fun. One of the men helping out also took some cute shots of Sophie and I mid-crown making. It was nice to let off some steam, relax and get inspired with the crafty task at hand. 

Both of us were super proud of our final products - mine definitely escalated as we proceeded but I still love it! I composed a mixture of blues, pinks with a hint of orange. Sophie opted for a more warm-toned flower range - I think her crown compliments her hair gorgeously and I love how our finished pieces match our personalities! At any given opportunity, I ask Soph to snap a few photos of me and what is more convenient than a bright blue house opposite the venue?! Thank you to Sophie, as always, for doing a little mini photoshoot of me with my flower crown whilst the queuing traffic stared at me extremely confused...haha! 

Find Sophie here:

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Would you like to make your own flower crowns? Have you ever done a fun, creative workshop?

Lots of love

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This workshop was complimentary of Obby; however, all opinions are honest and my own.

Over the past two years at sixth form, I feel like I've undergone HELL...in the nicest way possible. Alongside the constant work load, extra reading and continuous revision, I've gone through so much emotional and mental stress at home and through my school life. Sixth form was such a intense environment with people setting expectations, people still having their 'cliques' and people STILL judging others for choosing to live their life differently to theirs. Unfortunately, despite my intuition that sixth form was going to be positive, 'friendship groups' abolished and everyone was going to focus on themselves rather than demoralizing, it quite simply wasn't the case. Over these two years, I have come to realise that no matter what age you are, maturity levels rise at different times for different people - and for some, probably never. I cannot wait to be surrounded by people at university with a similar mindset to myself; I've learnt to focus on my achievements, goals and what I want in life rather than judging others. I'm not saying I'm not judgmental at all because that would be lying. We all make judgments; however, I've learnt to bury mine quite quickly. For instance, a minor case, such as an individual choosing to wear something that isn't my style, instead of thinking 'ew why would anyone want to be seen in that?!' I try to appreciate their confidence for wearing something out of the ordinary. Basically, what I'm trying to conclude is that everyone is different, we all have different aspirations and I've conclusively learnt to have a positive outlook on life. 

"I want to move on, forget the past and start a new chapter"

One thing I'm looking forward to about moving out and living in my own space is the amount of independence I will gain. In the most non-intentional way, I seem to rely on others to keep me happy and keep me company. Although I love chilling in my room alone, I find it hard to be independent outside of my own comfortable space so I feel university will really help expand my confidence. Being in a completely different town in a whole new environment is super exciting for me. I despise the place I live in now - specifically because there is NOTHING to do. It feels like I have to travel miles to do something mildly pleasing. The only convenience is that all of my family live close by, which is obviously wonderful. In my head, university is going to be a life-changing experience for the better and I really hope that my expectations haven't built too high... I'm looking forward to new experiences and being surrounded by unknown places. The quirky cobbled roads, the independent shops, the cute cafes, the gorgeous architecture on the buildings and the beautiful Bradford Quay. As you can tell, I admire Lincoln as a city and cannot wait to be living in a place bordered by endless activities. 

Photos taken by my incredibly talented best friend Sophie Jolley. 

Sophie's Social:

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Giving my skin a bit of TLC is something that I always enjoy. Looking after my complexion is so important to me and I feel like it always disregarded by many, due to the lack of understanding we have about our own skin. Over the years, I have learnt so much about my own skin, how it is personal to each individual and how you have to be educated on your skin before knowing what products are perfect to treat it correctly. For anyone who hasn't had a free skin consultation, I definitely recommend it - I have seen many brands do it like The Bodyshop or my favourite skincare brand, Dermalogica, that I worked with closely at the beginning of 2017. I learnt so much about my skin in those 20 minutes than I had over my 5 years of 'being obsessed' with beauty. It was insane how much I didn't know about my complexion, what my skin needed and the products I required to keep my skin in the best condition. 

However, since I've been educated on my extremely dry skin, I have never indulged in the ongoing launch of electrical skin care products. Multiple brands have released products over the past couple of years that involve technology - although I've always been intrigued with these sort of things, I've never looked into purchasing one myself. Fortunately, the lovely team at Sensse Beauty have given me this gorgeous new tool to test and give an honest opinion about my results after trialing it.

PACKAGING

The Sensse Deep Pore Suction tool is perfectly designed to ensure sufficient pore cleansing and the ultimate skin detox we all need. Encased in a luxurious white box, the essence of the brand is sleek, simple and super classy. In the centre of the box, the brand's name is embossed in a gorgeous rose gold, framed by a thin rectangle-shaped line. The box insanely complements the design of the actual product  - again, a compact and sleek look with hints of rose gold detail around the circumference. Inside the box, there also holds a rose gold stand for the product to stand elegantly on your vanity and a port to re-charge the Deep Pore Suction. To satisfy all skin types, there are 3 different nozzles to help unclog pore - a small pore suction, a large pore suction and a specific black head remover to cover all angles.

MY THOUGHTS 

For the most effective use, I've found that the product works best on the second intensity and to slowly move the black head remover nozzle across my nose. You can use this product across your whole face but most of my black/white head area is concentrated around my nose region. To product is super easy to handle and use - a hold of the 'on/off' button turns the product on or off and a simple tap to change the intensity of the cleanse. Prior to activating the suction, I highly advise adding water to the product underneath the nozzle for a greater cleanse (although you don't have to do this for results, I find it leaves my skin feeling refreshed). Over the past few weeks, I have been using this device twice to three times a week to get the best use and review the product as honestly as I possibly could. Overall, I have seen a massive difference in the amount of dirt and clogged pores on my nose - the blackhead remover has been a life saver and cleared up the amount of white/blackheads lingering in that region. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking into taking that extra bit of care with their skin or someone who suffers with bad skin/has common occurrences with blackheads.

If you want me to show you how I use this in a skincare routine, make sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel. Alternatively, if you want me to show you how I use this in a more daily/lifestyle routine then make sure you're subscribed to my vlogging channel here!

What is your favourite skincare product? Do you have a strict regime?

Lots of love

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This product was sent for review purposes; however, all opinions are honest and my own.

Festivals have never really been my forte - despite loving music, dancing and experimenting with makeup, I don't like the idea of camping in a crowded environment and constantly surrounded by drunken people both day and night. I guess that's me just stereotyping the whole event, but nothing has ever ridiculously appealed to me, other than the fun makeup and hair styles people create for the day. Being a glitter addict, I just had to buy some beautiful face glitter to experiment with and create my (non) festival makeup look. This is the first time I've ever created something bold, glittery and unique to my standard style so I hope you like it. As always, I am no makeup artist so I just play around with my products and pray that the end result isn't a complete shambles.

Before I get into all the makeup I used, I would love to mention that this post is in collaboration with one of my lovely blogging friends - Emily Styles from the blog Beauty N Brushes. She is such a lovely fellow blogger of mine and always puts her heart and soul into her posts. It would mean the world to me, and herself I'm sure, if you went and read her post after this one. She's also created a festival/summer perfect makeup look so head over there after! 

FACE

The wonderful PR team at Benefit Cosmetics kindly sent over a Festival Survial Kit - the packaging was adorable and I shared it over on my vlog channel last week (Charlotte Emily Vlogs). Encased in an adorable pink tin are 5 mini Benefit products. I decided to use the tiny Porefessional to prime my face; I love this because it evens out my skin tone, allowing my foundation to apply super smoothly. For foundation, I blended Tarte's Empowered Hybrid foundation into my skin with the Real Technique's Complexion Sponge. This foundation is a life saver for dry skin; it makes my skin super glowy, look healthy and leaves a stunning dewy finish. I concealed my under eyes and highlighted the centre of my face with the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer. For contour, I opted for my Chanel Tan de Soleil - this cool toned cream product works wonders at carving your cheek bones. I finally reached for my Live Love London Bronze and Highlighting palette to, as the name suggests, bronze and highlight my face. I applied the white highlight to the high points of my face - above the brow bone, cheekbones, cupid's bow and tip of my nose. 

THE FUN PART! To accentuate my cheek bones and to get into the full swing of festival makeup, I bought myself some beautiful goodies from Festival Face. After applying a small amount of the Glitter Fix Glue to a small, dense brush, I popped it into my two glitter pots - Unicorn Dust and Iridescent Flakes. They both pair to make a stunning combination; making you feel sassy, sexy and glow to the extreme. I am a MAGPIE when it comes to glitter...I love everything that sparkles so these made me super excited and really helped to complete the overall complexion.

EYES

As always, I use my trusty Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in the shade Chocolate to draw on my brows. I further set them in place with a new holy grail...Benefit's Gimme Brow. This product was my go-to on holiday. I cannot believe how fab this is at setting my brow hairs and lasting all day long. For eyeshadow, all I did was apply Urban Decay's Moon Dust shadow in Solstice all over the lid with a flat top brush. I then moved onto liner. To change up from my usual routine, I used my Tarte Amazonian Clay liner in Fairy Wings (how cute) to create winged liner. I love how the holographic shadow and purple complement each other. To lengthen my upper lashes, I used Maybelline's the Colossal Big Shot, whilst applying Arbonne's Royal Purple mascara to my lower lashes for that extra pop of colour! I feel like purple really made my brown eyes turn hazel...

LIPS

To finish the look, I reached for some products that were sent to me absolutely ages ago. They came from a trio set from Cailyn Cosmetics; I remembered creating an ombre lip with them so decided it would go well with this jazzy makeup look. I used the bright purple to line and use as the darker colour - popping the bright pink in the centre of my lips to form the gradient effect. I love how this brought the whole look together and intensifies the purples/pinks used on the eyelids.

Check out Emily's Festival Look over on her blog if you want to see how she achieved this gorgeous look. Let us know what you think and if you want to see us collaborate on more makeup looks together. 

What are your holy grail beauty products this summer? Are you attending a festival this year?

Lots of love