As a false lash obsesso [I've worn them daily for well over 5 years now] I've got through at least 234234 pairs, tried most brands and experimented with all sortsa different shapes & textures to find the best options for my eye shape. And I'm not a quitter - this is a life decision. I've got plenty of years of lash lovin' left in me before I turn into a proper crusty old woman and stop caring.

THE VALUE FOR MONEY. THE BEAUTY. MY EMOTIONS. I CANNOT COPE.

I do not like Autumn / Winter... but I DO love Halloween parties & the excuse to dress up. As a born party planner, I couldn’t not write a post about how to host the ultimate Halloween night in! With the occasion creeping up on us, it’s time to get your ducks in a row and grab everything you need to throw a great bash, no matter whether it's for you and your partner or a handful of your girlfriends.

Think about a typical night in – you’ve got your snacks, drinks, movies and cosy onesies all ready to go. But where a Halloween night in is concerned, you can go a little bit wilder than what you’d usually plan.

You just know a beauty box is gonna be a good one when there's that many products inside that they a] won't all fit in one flatlay and b] wouldn't even all fit in the box they arrived in! I've wept about this box countless times over on the 'Gram, and today's the day it finally hits down on me blog. Life's been so bloody busy recently that I'm a bit behind on everything blog-wise sorry, but I'll get there. Cos WHO NEEDS SLEEP ANYWAY, yeno?

Right. Well. This edit of Latest In Beauty is their Sainsbury's Beauty Awards 2019 box* and I genuinely think this might be my favourite curation of theirs to date. It's one of THE best value for money boxes to ever plop through me door - for the price [£25], there is just so much in there and so many fab brands to discover. In total, there's 14 products [all award-nominated] with 9 of these being full-sized.

I'm unable to even get my intense adoration for this box out into words. So it's probs time to roll out about 32,000 photos & hope you get the gist of what I'm saying through them instead, I guess 🤣

Before I went rogue & embraced self-employed life, I'd always worked in retail and sales. Well, aside from that stint I had with computers & apps and that for a while. Fashion retail was always my thing - I've worked in many different retail stores [including Quiz, Clarks, Hollister, Pilot, Lipsy & Next to name a few] in a variety of positions [employment wise, you derty dawgs xo] and I loved it. 

Yes, the hours were long, the responsibilities were pretty gargantuan and the pay was sh*te... BUT I loved the fashion, the merchandising, the sales, the targets, the customers, meeting new people and the lols this lifestyle brings about with it. And the Christmas parties. 

Due to this - and sneaky little tasters I've had into retail / customer service through visits and trade shows I've worked in in 2019, I've thought about - many a time - setting up my own sorta store? Like, for a short time I sold bits online [and created a bit of an Etsy store]... and I totally bought a domain, made a logo, planned a site / socials and sourced packaging for an eyelash venture I was gonna totally launch this year... but just imagine having a real life, gorgeous boutique fashion store; with a flower wall, stylish AF mannequins and properly sleek, style shop fittings?! 

The dream is there, the seed of curiosity is firmly placed in my mind and there's been times I've wandered through town [and other cities] looking at office spaces and empty store units just dreaming of what could be. I've become somewhat of a dreamer, multi-tasker, Del Boy and wannabe entrepreneur these days [I repeat: wannabe] and this anything is possible mindset is something I'm enjoying embracing.

I made a list of the things I wanna achieve / get over the next couple of years recently [thought I'd give that manifesting shizzle a go like] and I would properly love veneers yeno. As well as an assortment of botox & filler procedures, to try and maintain my youthful appearance for as long as I can [even though I'm already 31 and still get asked for ID pretty regularly in big Tescos.]

I personally find aesthetic treatments & things like cosmetic dentistry really interesting - there's so much technique & artistry behind these procedures, and there's no reason why [well, aside from if you pick one of them pyar backstreet ppl to inject ya, don't do that - always go to a qualified, insured doctor or practitioners] you should end up looking 'fake' or 'overdone.' I see so many people ripping people who choose to tweak their appearances, and I just don't get it. It takes all kinds to make a world huns - and if someone feels better about themselves / more like the person they identify as after aesthetic treatments, who are we to judge?

I put up an Insta story recently [on my personal account, not my blog one] with a filter on, which I'd captioned 'this filter makes me wanna get my lips done.' ALL BOYS [no surprise there, like] replied to my story, saying 'you're beautiful as you are, please don't do that' 'you don't need that' 'don't do it'... and I was just like 1. Like Cartman [in that episode of South Park where he dresses as a girl and goes on TV] 'I do what I want' and 2. Boys are so stupid - I've already had lip filler. Granted, it's pretty much worn off now, but pls. These pics you've been liking? Fulla filler babe. 

There's so many misconceptions about aesthetic treatments, what they'll make you look like and the people that choose to have them - which is why I've been talking more about aesthetics and my personal opinions on this sorta stuff more recently. 

I'd love a perfect, pearly white smile so much. Like, self-consciousness about my teeth has plagued so much of my life in a negative way, and seeing so many clinics and the amazing results that can be achieved there in modern day aesthetics is actually pretty inspiring to me. So veneers have defo gone on my manifestation list. 

My time at university was undoubtedly the best of my life [bar 2010-2011, good times.] I loved every single second, grew & matured so much as a person and made a group of friends I cherish more than anything in the world... and who I'll see as family for the rest of my existence. I actually wrote a bit about my experience at uni here, if you're interested; with a few tips for freshers.

The skills & friendships I developed during my stint as a student shaped the person I am today. Cheesy but true. I sing the praises of university to everyone & anyone who'll listen [literally, if you know me IRL you'll know I chat the ears off every man and his dog] so I always feel sad when I hear young people being put off this experience because of the horror stories they've heard re: student debt.

A huge thing that puts people off applying is the idea of the debt you'll incur & lug around for the rest of your life. For young people turning 18 who've never had a debt before [credit cards, overdrafts, loans etc] this can be daunting AF. So let's talk about it. 

I'm no stranger to loans - as well as my student finance, loans have helped me out of many tricky financial moments in my life. Unexpected bills, medical expenses and during times where cash has been tight AF I've used these kinda resources - and provided you use them sensibly and keep to your repayment agreement, loans can actually help you build a better credit score [and get you out of that tight spot!] Companies such as cashlady can help you find the best deal for your situation if you're in need of a helping hand financially. 

Student finance is an essential part of many people’s university experience - especially with the increase in the cost of fees. Loans [as well as {in some circumstances - where available} bursaries, scholarships & government funded grants] help cover living costs during the duration of your studies - and course fees. As you know, it's always important to fully understand what you're signing up to when applying for finance & how it's repaid.

So let's get onto debunking some student loan myths!

If - like me, you're a freelance kinda gal [or fella] and / or a Social Media Manager, you'll know how precious your time is... and how ground-breaking it can be when you discover a new tool to help you manage & optimise it. 

I've started writing more about useful resources, websites and tools I've located during my journey into freelance life on here recently - hoping to help others & share the love for software I've found to be pretty babein'. Which leads me onto the topic of today's post pretty nicely. 

I've recently discovered a new online platform to help plan, populate and publish marketing content - ContentCal. Using their easy-to-navigate software [which is beautifully designed & very user-friendly] you can collaborate, plan out content, handle inquiries and analyse your posts' performance with inbuilt reporting features. All of which are extremely handy tools - all in one place, for Social Media Managers to have access to. Saving you time and helping create better social media content; taking your clients' accounts to new levels.

With so many treatments [both surgical and non-surgical] on the market, new technology regularly breaking onto the scene, hundreds of Instagram accounts to keep up with and a lot of science-sounding words involved; it can be hard to navigate the world of modern day aesthetics. 

Everyone's sorta heard of lip fillers and botox - with rough ideas & perceptions of what these two types of treatment involve, but when it comes to other aesthetic options; information isn't as readily available and it can be a bit of a minefield understanding what everything means, who each treatment is right for and exactly what they involve.

I work with a few aesthetic clinics; meaning that I've become much more familiar with aesthetic treatments, how things work and what the latest procedures actually are / do; so I thought it'd be useful for some of you to write up a post explaining more about some of the most sought after aesthetic procedures on the market right now.

This is a collaborative post with Nu You Aesthetics Clinic, so I figured discussing the range of treatments available at their lovely practice would be a great way to share some of my new found knowledge with you guys. Nu You offer a range of non-surgical cosmetic treatments to help you on your journey to self-confidence - such as 3D lipo [something I've tried before!], fat freezing & Brazilian bum lifts [something I'm so keen to have] - so these popular treatments are gonna be the stars of today's post.

With the 'bigger is better' filler trend fading fast, more of us than ever are seeing out subtly enhanced pouts at aesthetic clinics [always go with a qualified doctor, nurse or practitioner for filler folks, pls swerve beauticians offering these kinds of treatments as a sideline to their other services & do your research to find a clinic you can trust.]

One of the UK's leading practices - who operate under a natural look ethos; using minimal product to create maximised results for their patients, are Trikwan Aesthetics. Their work revolutionises & sculpts industry best-practice - and founders Dr Sanjay Trikha & Dr Zoya Diwan have created a beautifully understated, new injectable technique [their signature Trikwan Cupid's Bow treatment] in response to the demand for more subtle facial tweaks. This lip filler advancement [exclusive to Trikwan] has gained a legion of followers and coverage for being a game changer in the aesthetic industry.

We need to talk about adult acne. Not in a like, SIT DOWN WE NEED TO TALK way or a 'we need to talk' break up way... but we, as a society, need to talk more about adult acne & the physical and mental implications it can have on sufferers. Recent research has revealed that the % of women who struggle with adult acne is on the rise - and that unfortunately; it has a huge negative impact negatively on their careers, money, time and mental health. 

In 2012, the American Academy of Dermatology found that more than 50% of women aged 20-29 were affected by adult acne; making those in their 20's - fighting to cave out a career for themselves, most susceptible. And studies conducted in 2018 show that up to 22% of women aged 26-44 suffer with adult acne - a figure significantly higher than the percentage of adult men struggling with their skin [approx. 3%.]

The effect adult acne can have on our well-being is huge -  shocking studies conducted by the British Journal of Dermatology found that sufferers are 63% more likely to develop depression than those without the condition.

Regardless of the gender you identify as - acne is an issue that affects all. And we need to bust the taboos surrounding it, help & support sufferers and realise that this painful condition is something that actually affects a HUGE amount of adults... not just teenagers. Think My Pale Skin Blog - the content she posts & her videos have shocked and helped so many... but the horrible comments she gets from some highlight exactly how much we need to be talking about adult acne to increase understanding.

InMode's cutting-edge Morpheus8 technology is one designed to treat active acne & reverse the appearance of acne scarring (even pitted scars) in a way never seen before... helping acne sufferers reclaim confidence, careers and cash - so it's something I wanted to cover in today's post.