Lights Camera Action | My New Blogging Camera

Okay, so I have been without a camera of my own coming up to nearly a year now and I thought it was about time that I put some of my hard earned cash to good use. And what better way to justify spending some money than by buying a new camera…

Of course my main intention for buying this camera was to take pictures for my blog. I am really taking this whole blogging scene seriously and want to express this to you wonderful people through not only my writing, but my pictures too! As well as this, a camera of my own allows me to capture some of the best moments in my life, I will definitely be taking it with me when I go on my travels over Easter (just remind me not to take this one out on a night out beforehand).

Naturally I decided I would do a bit of research in advance to see what the best cameras were on the market for bloggers like myself, and I narrowed this down to two brands, Canon and Nikon. I didn't really have a budget in mind when doing this but obviously I didn't want to be forking out hundreds of pounds on a camera when this could be put towards travelling money. As long as I wasn't compromising over quality I would be happy, and as you can imagine, these days you can get a lot more for your money than you could say last year. Yet after purchasing this little beauty at just £89.99 I did wonder if it was too good to be true! A 16 mp bridge camera with 26 x wide zoom, it was simply perfect for someone just starting off in the blogging scene. Unlike compact cameras, these cameras really allow you to zoom in on those finer details which is exactly what I was looking for. 

Both Canon and Nikon offer a wide range of cameras in all shapes and sizes and I do recommend you having a good look at this before making any quick purchases. Obviously  my main priority was getting a camera before I wrote any more blog posts, but a word of advice, don't let the cheaper cameras put you off.  Mine has tons of positive reviews and it certainly does the job, a quality camera at a quality price.

Nikon Coolpix L810

L.A

xox

My Beauty Essentials

I know this is a popular topic amongst beauty bloggers so I thought I would ‘jump on the bandwagon’ essentially and share with you some of my beauty essentials.

We must begin with my favourite make-up product, one that I couldn't possibly live without, my Clinque Anti Blemish Foundation. In fact this foundation has been a personal favourite of mine ever since I turned sixteen (or old enough to start wearing make-up). I used to suffer from pretty bad acne in my teenage years so finding a foundation that wasn't oily and was designed for covering blemishes was essential. This foundation is very light on the face and doesn't clog your pores like a lot of liquid foundations often do so say goodbye to any further skin imperfections! I think I last paid around £22 for this foundation but it is a great foundation to wear either in the day or at night and therefore well worth the money. You don't need a lot of this foundation to achieve flawless skin so it usually lasts me a good couple of months. However, if you do want to build cover and go for a more ‘painted on’ look essentially, then the precise applicator allows you to measure out exactly how much you desire.

My second beauty favourite has to be my Mac eyebrow pencil. Big eyebrows are very much in at the moment and I love this eyebrow definer. It is very easy to apply and looks very natural to the brow line. It doesn't smudge (so perfect if you like going out clubbing like me) and can often last all day; I never feel the need to reapply. On the downside it is fairly expensive for what it is (£12) as I always end up using it very quickly. However I don't mind paying for quality over quantity in this instance. After trying numerous eyebrow pencils over the years, this has to be my favourite! It comes in numerous different shades and with it being a Mac product you can get one of the beauticians in store to test this out on you beforehand. I usually go for the spiked shade which is one of the darker shades but blends in great with my eyebrows!

Concealer: now I have always struggled to get a good concealer, hence why I have so many different brands of concealer in my make-up bag! However this little beauty has to be up there with some of the best on the high street. Benefit erase paste concealer which is used under the eyes and on skin imperfections does a great job of covering those dark circles in particular, something I know too well about. The great thing about this product is you only need tiny amount and it works wonders! Even though it is fairly expensive (£26) and prominently used under the eyes, it comes in three different shades and is very long lasting. Seriously say goodbye to those bags ladies!

FIND OUT MORE IN MY NEXT BLOG POST...

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New Year`s Eve | What To Wear?

What to wear on New Year`s Eve is a question the majority of us probably asked ourselves last night. Well it is the most hyped up night of the year after all. I personally despise going out on New Year`s Eve for these simple reasons; the drinks are overpriced, the clubs are crammed so full that you can’t even breathe, and the taxis triple the usual price they usually charge. To be honest I would have a much better night sitting at home with a bottle of wine, a few friends and a good film (yes I realise this makes me sound old and boring).

However I guarantee that like me you did end up going out somewhere and over thinking every detail of your outfit because if you can’t look good on New Year, when can you look good? It is the time to go all out, to treat yourself to a new outfit and spend a ridiculous amount of time perfecting your look before you spend another ridiculous amount on the actual night itself. The pressure to go out and spend your night with complete strangers baffles me as isn’t that what the Christmas period is all about after all, spending time with loved ones? Once again I was left on New Year’s Eve still deciding on where I would go out, never mind an outfit.

Anyway to cut to the chase, this is the outfit I decided to wear last night, a LBD (little black dress) a classic look when you can’t be bothered to look for something new or are having a last minute fashion crisis where nothing looks good! With a good pair of heels and some simple jewellery I recreated this look, one that I wore for New Year back in 2011. In actual fact I think this was the first Christmas and New Year that I didn’t buy a new outfit specifically for these events. Yet is there really any point these days on splashing out on a dress that you don’t really need or will wear again. I despise buying things for the sake of it and often will recreate looks to get my money’s worth even if means having photos of me in the same outfit on Facebook twice!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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Pastel Crazy

So I have just tested out the new pastel hair craze (better late than never) and unfortunately I am not best impressed with the result. After a quick last minute shopping trip into town before Christmas, I grabbed the first lilac hair dye I could find in Superdrug, this being Loreal Feria pastel toning conditioner. Seeing as this is a prestigious hair and beauty brand I did not think twice about the £8 I was handing over, nor the end result. However this product disappointed for numerous reasons.

After washing my hair as instructed my first attempt was pretty much pointless. It was only after I had got my hair bleached blonde again (costing me another £40) and attempted to use this product for another couple of times that I could actually see some results. Luckily you could use the product multiple times once the seal had been broken.

The general reaction from my family and friends was as follows; my mother said the product had aged me and looked ‘grey’. My boyfriend on the other hand happened to quite like the colour, as did I, however would have much preferred it to have taken to all of my hair as opposed to random sections. This product certainly did not do what it said on the box and I am sure after one or two washes I will not even be able to tell that I have used this on my hair at all. Even though it was advertised more as a conditioner I expected it to do something to my hair at least and therefore I will not be giving this product the thumbs up!

Overall rating 2/10.

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It's All About Me

Hello.

So I figured in this first blog it may be useful to introduce myself, who I am, what I do for a living and what I hope to achieve by setting up this blog. So I will begin with the very basics, that being my name, Laura Atkins and why this blog is so essential to my career path. Well I am a recent English graduate hoping to follow through with a career in the fashion and beauty PR industry. This blog will enable me to share my passion for writing along with the consumer industry.

Not only do I have a strong interest for anything creative which includes fashion, cosmetics, art and food, I am also a keen writer whose ambition is to inspire women like myself through my weekly blog posts. My ideas will span from season to season but I will also blog whenever I see something  interesting or something that catches my eye, which knowing me, will often be completely random!

The main theme of all my blogs will relate to the current fashion industry and how this undermines many women out there today. As you can see through my blog title, I am strongly against the use of size Zero models and want to give women a way to feel good about their bodies without depriving themselves of their daily needs.

My goal is to use clothes, food and fitness to inspire women and hopefully make them happier by the end of next year. My own journey with food will come into play along with my dissertation which focused on the beauty industry today and how the media manipulates many women into seeing the ‘skinny ideal’ as the one we should all aspire to.

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog much as I will enjoy writing it but that’s all from me for today, time to enjoy some festive drinks with my friends.

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