Programme Preferences

Today's post I thought I would let you in on some of my favourite TV-shows. I'm not a massive watcher of the television in all honesty but I do have my favourite programmes which I love to stay caught up with. Although I tend to watch a lot of them on the laptop. Does that count as TV?!

1. Pretty Little Liars -

This programme really isn't what you would expect, it definitely wasn't what I was expecting put it that way! I thought it would be a bit of a bitchy, girly series, however it's completely different. The programme features 4 girls who are all best friends and are working together to investigate the murder of their former friend Allison Dilaurentis. They experience life and death situations, avoid their stalker and possible culprit titled 'A' and are determined to get to the bottom of their best friend's murdercase. The show is dark but has you completely on the edge of your seat, I was completely hooked after the first episode.

2. The Vampire Diaries -

This TV show has been a favourite for quite a few years. Some people say it's a rip-off of Twilight but I completely disagree. The show has a lot more complexity and narrative than Twilight ever had. The programme captures the story of the female protagonist Elena Gilbert who is an average high-school girl with friends and boyfriends until two vampire brothers, Damon and Stefan come into town in search of something. The two mistake Elena for their former love-triangle contributer Catherine, who is Elena's doppelganger. The show goes deep into Elena's feelings for the two brothers and the love triangle between them and takes you on the journey as Elena, the brothers and soon after, her friends, overcome visits from original vampires and evil spirits.

3. Two and a Half Men -

First of all, to be clear, I prefer Two and a Half Men with Charlie Sheen in. I do like Ashton Kutcher in the newer series, however you can't beat Charlie Harper! The show is a comedy, as Alan is kicked out of his house after a divorce with his former wife, Judith, he has nowhere else to go other than his brother's house, home of Charlie. He and his son Jake live there, with the supposed intention of eventually buying a place of their own, however with financial issues on Alan's behalf, Charlie knows it won't just be a temporary arrangement. However, despite Charlie's ways, he likes having the two around and the banter between the three compiles an excellent comedy show.

4. The Big Bang Theory -

Now, who doesn't watch this? A very intelligent, hard-to-live-with physicist seeks a roommate early in the series, however they need  to abide by his extremely OTT rulebook. He eventually finds Leonard, also a physicist, to share a room with. Despite Sheldon's irritating personality and ridiculous actions, the two become friends and Sheldon is forced to interact with others. As the series continues, a friend group is formed between Sheldon, Leonard, Raaj and Howard, with the addition of Leonard's love interest across the hall, Penny. This really is a laugh out loud show and I never miss an episode!

5. The Following - 

If you are looking for a TV show with structure and an absolutely amazing plot, this is your one! Joe Caroll is both a writer and a teacher, and is fascinated by literacy but he is also slightly cookoo to say the least. He is obsessed with the notion of murder and therefore carries out several. Kevin Bacon, who plays police officer, Ryan Hardy, is out to get Joe and stop his disgraceful activities. However Joe is clever and proves difficult to deal with as due to his charismatic personality has formed himself a cult who are ultimately devoted to him and what they deem his 'wonderful doings'. The show explores the struggle to capture Joe and charge him for his murderous behaviour.

6. Waterloo Road - 

This is an old favourite and I definitely prefer the original cast shown below. However, the show is still really good with the new actors nonetheless! You could class this programme as reality TV I would say as it ventures into lives of Seconardy School and Sixth Form students who attend Waterloo Road, whilst also embracing relationships between characters, bad behaviour, troublesome homes etc. I find the show to be a bit unrealistic at times as I highly doubt one school could have so many problems, but despite that, it makes a good show.

7. Whitney -

This programme portrays Whitney, as a fictionalized version of herself. She lives with her supportive boyfriend, Alex. The two characters decided early-on that they won't commit to marriage but despite this, Whitney does question how committed they are in their 3-year relationship. She believes she is starting to experience boredom with their relationship and worries what could happen next that might end their relationship. She uses unconventional methods to keep the romantic flames glowing with Alex, often seeking the help of her close friends. 

 8. Da Vinci's Demons -

This show explores the untold story of Da Vinci inventing the future at a time in history when thought and faith are controlled. However Da Vinci is determined to set knowledge free. Da Vinci is a man of great wisdom and intelligence and is originally undermined of his abilities. Although, leader of Florence, Lorenzo soon snaps up his capabilities, seeking war equipment. Da Vinci falls for Lorenzo's Mistress, Lucrezia, who is a spy for the opposing "team" of Rome. The series has just begun, therefore the story is left to be told...

Hopefully this was interesting to you and maybe you learned something about me.

Share your favourite television programmes in the comments if you like.

Stay safe. ♥

Starting YouTube

Quite a few months ago, probably closer to a year actually, I received a message from a subscriber of my YouTube channel seeking some advice on how to start her own YouTube channel but also some ideas and ways of approaching it in general. Because of this, I’d felt inspired ever since to speak about it and give my stance on the subject and perhaps help a few of you out there who may want to start a YouTube channel too but are sceptical or are generally unsure of the idea. Therefore, in this post I will try my hardest to cover every query and question regarding starting your own channel. Please remember that the content in this blog post is merely my opinion, my strategies and strictly what I did/thought when starting my channel so take from it what you will! 

Why did I start?

I first discovered beauty videos when I was around 13 years old as I was seeking a hair tutorial that could show me something quick and easy to achieve for school. The first YouTube video I ever watched was by xrubyredlips and was a ‘5 Simple Hairstyles for School’, from there I noticed ‘related videos’ and kept watching and watching and practically spent all night watching girls do their hair and makeup. I’d practically found a new interest. I loved the different looks they created and inevitably started experimenting with my own hair and make-up as I was completely inspired. I purchased a ridiculous amount of make-up (good and bad) and built up a nifty little collection which I thought was the bees knees at the time. However, I look back now and think “Did I really wear pink eyeshadow?” and cringe slightly. To cut a long story short, after around a year of watching these amazing girls on YouTube I was ridiculously inspired to create my own channel but initially was frightened if anybody found out, which I think is most people’s concern. However, I persevered and made one. My current YouTube channel was not actually my first, I did have one before called ‘jennsmakeup’ but deleted it after around 3 months and in all honesty, I can’t remember anything about it, not even the first video I made but that doesn’t matter because I now have Makeupxxo!

How did you start?

Disregarding my old channel completely, as I stated that I literally can’t remember anything about it, I will answer this question in relation to my current channel. How I started was kind of on a whim you could say, it had been about 6 months since I’d deleted my old channel and of course I still watched YouTube, but I still had the thought in my head “I want to do YouTube” and I remember I was watching one of Michelle Phan’s videos and thought “I’m going to make a video”, so that’s what I did! I picked up my rubbish Samsung camera and I recorded an outfit of the day. I didn’t edit the video and just did a one-take as I didn’t know for the life of me how to use editing software. After I’d recorded it, it ran through my head whether I wanted to upload it or not, I contemplated it for a good hour or two and finally just decided to put it up. I was scared of the reaction it might get, the comments, the rates but again, if anybody from school saw it. Nevertheless, I shoved that to the back of my mind and kept the video on YouTube. After checking on the video an hour later it had 9 views and I remember I was ecstatic . After around 3 days, the video had gained a ‘Like’ and this provoked me to want to make another video as I was happy with the positive response. Therefore, there commenced the video-making...

What should my channel name be?

As you can tell, my channel is name is oh so creative! Major jokes. I don’t know why I called it Makeupxxo, but I did. In all honesty, I quite like it, it has a nice ring to it and it states what my channel is all about in a nutshell practically. When deciding on a channel name, I would maybe suggest incorporating your name into it, maybe along with something you find interesting, whether it be a movie, food, book, colour, etc. Anything that gives your channel originality and is something that you like and will continue to like.

What is a good first video to do?

I think this is merely down to your own personal preferences. At the time, I really enjoyed watching outfit of the days from other YouTubers and had a real interest for them. I would suggest that doing a short video introducing yourself might work better as a first video as it doesn’t appear long or boring and is enough to leave your potential audience wanting more. I think something like a haul or a tag might appear rambly and you want to make a good first impression, right?

What if people at school/college find out?

This is the real bitch I’m afraid, but you do have to consider it and you need to think through whether you could deal with everybody knowing. Would it bother you? I mulled over this worry for ages, I thought “What will they think of me? Will they think I’m a freak for talking to a camera?” but then I came to the conclusion that I didn’t care, I wanted to YouTube, therefore I was going to do it. If you feel strongly enough about wanting to pursue your own channel I think you just have to go with it and deal with everybody finding out when and if it happens. Luckily for me, nobody from College knows and equally in Secondary school nobody found out as I only told my best friend Megan, and to this date she hasn’t told a single soul (thanks Megan, love you x). If you do tell anybody, I would recommend only telling those you really trust as you could be in for a bit of gossip if not! 

How do I get views and subscribers?

There is no easy way to get views, patience is a virtue I’m afraid. I am no Zoella with 1 million subscribers, I have 700+ subscribers and am completely grateful for each and every of those people who were lovely enough to hit that subscribe button. The best advice I can give is to be patient, promote your channel but not by spamming, nobody likes a spammer! Feel free to check out other people’s channels and leave them a comment promoting your channel, but do it in a non-annoying, friendly and complimentary way that will make them want to visit your channel. Don’t ask for shout-outs either, that’s not the way to go about it. Promote yourself but remember to be patient.

Does it matter that I don’t have a Nikon or a Canon?

Who cares if you don’t have a fancy £800 camera to shoot your videos on, I certainly don’t have one of those! I have a Panasonic HX-DC2 and that works perfectly for me, it records in 1080p HD, has auto-focus, is 14.4 megapixels and was only £160. So it proves that you don’t need to spend loads of money to get a device that will still capture well but equally keep those pounds in your pocket. When I first started I had a £100 Samsung camera which didn’t have auto-focus, didn’t record in HD and only had 8 megapixels but for me, it worked perfectly fine as a first camera. You need to consider whether you’re going to keep your channel up before you invest in anything really expensive because if you pack it in then you’ve wasted £800, right? Record your first video on your phone if you have to, it really doesn’t matter as long as the picture is crisp enough to see your face, what you’re doing and what you’re saying.

How would I deal with hate?

In life, there are always going to be nasty people, people that will insult you and bring you down for no other reason than the fact that it makes them feel better as a person. People are significantly more abusive online because they are hidden behind a computer screen and think that they can get away with it. It’s inevitable that through your entire YouTube experience you will end up with at least one mean/hurtful comment but you really have to just let it slide and show that person that you don’t care. Simply delete the comment and be done with it. Of course you will feel hurt by your first mean comment but don’t dwell on it because at the end of the day, they’ll be winning... I once received a comment on one of my videos calling me a ‘BITCH!!’ (quoted). So what did I do? I saw the comment, laughed and I deleted it. I thought to myself “Am I a bitch? No. So that’s that”. Show them that you have the upper hand, it’s your YouTube channel, and they can post as many mean and degrading comments as they like but guess who will always have the ability to delete them? YOU!

As far as this post goes, I feel I have covered as many points about starting a channel as I can physically think of. If you have anything else you would like me to answer, leave it in the comments and I will get around to replying to your question. One last piece of advice I would suggest is to build other platforms for your subscribers to follow you on, whether it be Twitter, Instagram or Blogger, this increases your audience consumption and builds you a bigger fanbase. The bigger the better in my books (that’s what she said). 

I hope this helped you all

& stay safe. ♥

Fresh and Flirty

It's Bank Holiday Monday, praise the lord! Although, it now feels like Sunday still... Today I kept it minimalistic but still pretty with a simple t-shirt and leggings (you guessed it!) but jazzed it up with a statement gold necklace I bought last week which I'm thoroughly in love with. I will definitely be getting more necklaces like this as they definitely help bring that extra oomph to an outfit. Leave comments below on what you think of the outfit!

  T-Shirt - New Look £7.99

Necklace - New Look £5.99

Flatforms - Primark £10

Nails - SinFul Colours 'Soul Mate'

Lipstick - Maybelline 'Rose Diamonds'

Stay safe. ♥

Spring/Summer Essentials

As we all know, Summer is fast approaching (GAH my favourite season!) and  I’m so glad England has finally decided to have some nice, sunny weather after such a long, dreary and desolate 5-month winter. I think we deserve it. Besides the beautiful weather Summer entails, I do love the bright colours, make-up looks, patterns and textures of the season too. I’m all for jazzing up my Summer wardrobe at the moment and have been inspired to switch up my make-up routine from a less heavy look to more of a sun-kissed, bronze goddess look (although, me, a goddess?). I’ve also been pampering my skin for the build-up to the Summer months, as we all tend to wear less clothing in Summer and like to ensure our skin looks its best, right? Therefore, let’s hop into my Summer essentials kit and have a snoop! 

Topshop Cream Blush in 'Morning Dew' [£6] -

Some may deem this cheating because I've actually only owned this product for a couple of days but I know for a fact this is going to be an essential in my Spring/Summer kit. I can best describe this colour as prominently pink, however with an ever-so-slight tinge of peach, giving your cheeks that femine, peachy glow that is perfect for the season. I like to apply this cream blush with the Real Techniques Blush Brush as I feel as though it picks up the product well and evenly distributes over the skin, leaving a powder finish, looking completely natural. I reckon with simply a good base and some mascara, you could rock an extremely simplistic yet Spring/Summer-appropriate look.

Avon Lipstick in 'Apricot Mystery' [£4.45] -

This beautiful coral peach shade is Spring/Summer in a nutshell. It isn't too strongly pigmented which I like, as I find this colour could perhaps be too intense if any more opaque. With my naturally fair complexion and green eyes, I find this to compliment them nicely and look really flattering. I also find with this lipstick, it has a slight blue undertone and can be slightly noticeable when on the lips, giving it a hint of uniqueness. I would highly advise picking a colour of this nature for the season ahead as I reckon it would suit a lot of different skin shades.

Soap and Glory 'Sugar Crush' Body Scrub [£8] -

I've primarily been using this product to prepare my skin for applying fake tan which I've been really enjoying doing recently. As we all should know, prior to fake-tanning, exfoliating the skin is key to a smooth and even application and I, personally, really notice the difference when I don't exfoliate beforehand. I notice unevenness and streaks and all of that is solved instantly if you simply remove the dead skin in preparation. This, therefore, has been my exfoliator of choice as it smells delicious, is gentle on the skin but still gets the job done!

Olay 'Complete Touch of Sun' Body Moisturiser' [£2.99] -

As stated above, I've been really into applying fake-tan recently. However not like all these girls seem to do where they lather themselves up with the instant stuff and have blotchy orange skin and white patches, I like to do it properly to ensure it looks natural. I only ever use gradual tan as I find it to give more natural-looking results and is easier to use. I also like the lotion form as I find it a lot more controllable and easy to distribute in comparison to spray-on tans. I like this because on the back of the packaging it gives you an idea of the how the tan will look in several days. Despite being naturally very pale, I find the 'Deep Glow' colour fine for me, not looking orange but a light golden brown on the skin. Love!

Natural Collection Tinted Moisturiser [£1.99] -

These last few days I've felt as though my regular base has felt a little to heavy in the nice weather that we've had recently, and was seeking something a little lighter-feeling. So I delved into my makeup collection to see what I could find and came out with this. I tend to use this product when I'm on holiday as I find it's perfect to add a little wake-me-up to your skin and even out your complexion. With concealer, as normal, this has been a substantial base for the more summery months. I would say it has light, verging on medium coverage but I find this to be enough personally.

Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer [£6.99] -

I've finally come out of my rut of not wearing bronzer and am completely feeling it. In collaboration with the Topshop Cream Blush in 'Morning Dew' I've been contouring and bronzing my face to give a sunkissed look, whilst adding a hint of warmth to my complexion. I love this bronzer as it's mostly matte, however offers a very slight, almost barely noticeable shimmer, whilst still looking natural and minimal.

Share in the comments your Spring/Summer essentials!

Stay safe. ♥

Review: Argan Oil Products

I'm always one for bargains but who isn't really? When I see a bargain my first instinct is, grab it! So that's what I did. I went into Poundland which in all honestly, I rarely go into, merely because nothing really appeals to me in there despite everything only being £1. Although, I saw these two products and was intrigued to say the least. On the YouTube and blogging scene Argan oil and Moroccan oil have been a big hit, making the hair healthier and smoother. I love anything that makes my hair feel more silky and look healthier and more shiny. So what do I think?

Argon Oil Shampoo [£1] - 
In a nutshell, this is the first bad review I think I've done... As stated prior, I bought this with the hope that my hair would feel smooth, soft and generally look in better condition. I've only used this product twice and it was enough to shape my opinion as I got build-up after only 2 uses of this shampoo. It made the roots of my hair feel extremely greasy and made it look very stringy. When lathering this product up in my hair, it also had a very strange and obnoxious smell which I found very unappealing. I like products that offer a nice scent and this just didn't do it for me. I also didn't really notice that this shampoo did anything in terms of making my hair look healthier or feel smoother. I wouldn't recommend this at all.

Argan Oil Hair Treatment [£1] - 
Once again, this product did absolutely nothing for me! With this hair treatment, the idea is to distribute 2-3 drops through the lower sections of your hair and near the ends once it has been towel dried, in aim of making your ends feel nourished. I've used this product twice also and both times this treatment made my hair feel very greasy. I ensured I had distributed this product evenly through my hair and worked it in completely, however even when my hair was still wet it felt immediately greasy. Despite this, I dried it in hope that it would feel less oily, although this pnly accentuated the greasiness and made my hair feel disgusting. I would perhaps expect this if I had used the treatment up near the roots of my hair but infact I only used it on the lower sections of my hair and the ends which I found bizzarre. Again, I would not recommend this.

Lesson learned, you get what you pay for!
If you have this, let me know whay you think of it in the comments.
Stay safe. ♥

Review: Rimmel Apocalips Lip Laquer

Now if you haven't heard of these infamous lip products, where have you been exactly? Every beauty blogger and vlogger has been raving ridiculously about how great these lip laquers are and being such a beauty addict myself, I always want to try products out on recommendation from those I trust. Therefore I thought "Well if they like them, I will too". So keep reading to find out what I think...

                                                                                               Shade: Nova                                                                                         

Cost -

I find this lip product to be actually very well-priced when considering how drugstore prices have shifted to the slightly higher end of the scale recently. This retails for £4.99 in Boots and Superdrug and most likely other retailers. Rimmel prices had crept up the last couple of months but the brand has kept these pretty low. For now anyway...

Application - 

The best way to describe to application of this product is: silky. The applicator has a nice soft feel to it and picks up the right amount of product that will glide onto your lip smoothly and easily. This colour isn't a colour you can swipe on no-fuss without thinking about, much like you can do with a lipgloss. As the colour I've chosen is quite bright I need to apply this with precision, assuring I don't go out the natural line of my lip. I usually go around the outsides of my lips and then fill in the rest which I find works perfectly.

Pigmentation & Finish -

The shade I got offers fabulous pigmentation, however I do not own any of the more neutral colours, therefore I couldn't tell you what the pigmentation is like for the less vibrant colours. The finish comes out very true to colour when looking at it in the packaging, it comes out a very vivid mauve pink which is exactly what I wanted from this product as it is unlike any lip product I own. The finish of this is mostly matte, although it does offer a slight sheen initially when applied, that does settle as the product dries onto the lips.

Lasting -

Whilst the actual colour of this product lasts well on the lips, I do find my lips to become quite dry. I don't whether I just have naturally quite dry lips or whether this product causes them to dry out, but nevertheless it is not something drastically unlikeable. I find this happens after about 4/5 hours of wear which when considering the lasting of many other lip products on the market, it isn't bad at all. When the colour does fade slightly after several hours of wear, it leaves a slight pink tint on the lips which looks simple and pretty, still ensuring your lips have a natural colour to them.

Overall Thoughts -

I am very impressed with the Rimmel Apocalips Lip Laquer and as a result I would be more than interested investing into some more of these. I would like to try the red colour they offer and maybe even try out a more natural colour, as we all know I love my neutrals!

If you have this, let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

Stay safe. ♥

1D

Last night my friend Megan (she actually has a YouTube channel so check it out here) and I went to see One Direction! If you are not a fan of One Direction then you probably don't care but I personally really like them. The show started at 7.30pm and had supporting acts Camryn and 5 Seconds of Summer which I really liked in all honesty. I'm not usually a big fan of the supporting acts as I just want them to leave and for the main act to come on. However I did actually enjoy their performances and feel as though I may have found some new and upcoming artists to add to my Itunes library. As far as this post will go, I don't have any video footage or images of the concert to share with you as I find I can never get any good quality content. Although, I'm simply going to share some photos Megan and I took before leaving and maybe you can get an idea of what we wore and how we did our makeup. If any of you would like a tutorial on the makeup I did just let me know and I can do a video!

Kind of a random post with no real point but I hope you liked it nonetheless.
Stay safe. ♥