Collecting Memories 2016

9:50pm

I love taking photos. I must admit that i may have too many but in years to come i might thank myself for capturing these moments, not because i'll forget about them but because it's always nice to have physical evidence of such events that you can appreciate and maybe even have the chance to slightly relive these moment. I have all my photos saved to my computer but in case technology one day catches up with me i print out my favourites every 6 months or so. I had a deal on groupon to get 300 prints for £3 so i decided to go for it, here are some of my favourites of my favourites ;) -

17th Birthday party with friends.

Family Photos

Photos with friends.

Some family photos from when i was younger.

Center Parcs for my 16th birthday last year.

Wireless 2016

Family Florida Holiday 2015

K

Let's change the subject...

10:27pm

It's been 2 years since i've been on this blog but i've been thinking about it a lot and decided to start posting again. However, i'd like the change the subject...instead of sticking to beauty and fashion related posts i'm going to write about whatever i feel like. Wether it be sharing my favourite film with you, writing about a day out i had and occasionally even beauty if i so feel like it. i'm attempting to keep it casual and hopefully one day i can look back at this and reminisce.

The six weeks have just begun but due to college and as exams i had an extra four weeks off before that and i am officially b o r e d ... i have some things planned here and there but other than that i'm struggling to find things to do. I have a list of tv shows lined up to watch but for some reason the thought of getting emotionally attached to a new show and its characters seems like a lot of work and time investment for me right now and i'm still not really over the walking dead, orange is the new black or prison break which i recently watched so i'm taking a break from netflix and television series except for my guilty pleasure of 'keeping up with the kardashians' once a week but here's a list of shows i'd like to eventually watch:

-How to get away with murder

-Bates Motel

-Gavin and Stacey 

-Community 

-Bad Education

-Gossip Girl 

Most of those are quite old but i'm not very up to date, i might write about my favourite tv series at some point. None of those in my list majorly stick out to me so for the time being i've been watching films and even though i claim to hate them and always refuse to watch them i've been loving a good romance, actually more of the sad romance films tbh. I watched 'if i stay' which i'd never seen before, 'the fault in out stars' which i've seen many times and still cry hysterically at every time (i even cried at the book i love it so much) and finally 'the last song' with miley cyrus who i've always loved and liam hemsworth (wow), i watched this film when i was a lot younger and had forgotten the whole story line so thought why not give it a watch...well i bawled. like a baby. omg that was the biggest mix of emotions i have ever felt but its such a wonderful film and it features such a beautiful song which i have rekindled my love for called 'when i look at you', so for me it's an oldie but goldie! The song set me off listening to much slower chilled out music which isn't normally what i go for and i created a playlist called 'youth' which features a collection of ballads and slow music which i have started listening to in the evening, i've been especially loving the song 'all i want' by kodaline. 

I've also become very determined to sort my life out recently, i've been feeling very lonely and small and quite horrible with myself and  i thought it was time for a change (i'll talk more about that another time) but i'm hopeful for the future and we will see what it holds, hopefully i can look back at this blog and say that i achieved what i was hoping for and be proud of myself.

and that's it for this ramble, i'd like to keep this up mainly for myself but only time will tell.

K

A Rambly Autumn Update of very exciting things.

So I haven't written a blog post since September 15th because I've been so busy with friends and family, events I've been to and I went on my work experience for 2 weeks therefore i decided to give you an update of what I've been doing the past two months as they have been hectic but so much fun.(None of these photos are in date order)

(First photo)
I've had a lot of cosy Autumn nights in, scrolling through tumblr and drinking hot chocolate while snuggled up in my duvet with some candles lit and of course I had the urge to snap a 'tumblr inspired' photo. As much as I love going out and doing things all the time it's nice to have just a relaxing night in to yourself sometimes.

(Second & Third Photo)
When I was doing my work experience my mum was working just around the corner and one morning when I was sat with her in her shop a little bird flew in and landed on the inside windowsill so my mum picked it up to take it outside, it was so cute and i managed to get a few shots of it before it flew away. (It wasn't hurt at all, he flew away after a little while)

(Fourth, Fifth and Sixth photos)
Me and my friends went to MCM Comic Con this year and it was our second year going, we mainly hung around the VidfestUK section and met some amazing youtubers such as Emma Blackery who was super nice, TomSka who was funny and Jack Howard and Dean Dobbs who I am so glad I got to meet, there were so nice and funny and I wish I hadn't been so embarrassed in front of them but I managed to get a selfie and their signatures so better luck next time for me...maybe?

(Seventh & Eighth Photo)
We all got the train back from Comic Con and one of the change over stations we had to get off at is Stratford shopping centre in London and some of us fancied a drink and seems as it wasn't too late we went inside and on the way in on the video billboard thing Zoe's banner/video thing came up and I squealed with excitement because I love her and her videos so much and it kind of makes me happy that there are good nice people like her doing so well for themselves. We went in and got a Starbucks and I got a hot chocolate and some shortbread biscuits which were delicious and on the train home there weren't any seats but because we were SO tired and our legs ached there was some standing room so we all decided to sit on the floor (it might sound gross but it's not that bad) I had my favourite scarf on, my coat, rolled up jeans, converse and my Starbucks cup and because I've been on tumblr too much I snapped another 'tumblr inspired' photo...aren't I cool.

(Ninth photo)
After Comic Con I stayed round my friend Beth's house and I had a lovely time, we took this photo with our matching Jack and Dean t-shirts on that we brought from Comic Con and we like them a lot. We also carved a pumpkin together with Dan and Phil's faces on.

(Tenth & Eleventh Photo)
Halloween was a few days away and it's been years since I'd carved a pumpkin and this year my dad got me one so I had a lot of fun doing that and I felt like a Kid again. I gave the Pumpkins to my nephews because they really liked it and I sat with all my family having a chat and we all laughed a lot and my nephew was being so cute and he asked if we could take a selfie.

(Twelfth & Thirteenth Photo) 
Beth posted a photo of the Dan and Phil pumpkin we carved on twitter and tagged me, Dan and Phil in it and we had a major freak out because Phil retweed the tweet and our phones were going crazy with mentions and favourites and retweets and we just couldn't handle the fact that Phil had actually retweted Beth's tweet. A week or so later after the commotion of people retweeting etc I was scrolling through some peoples twitter profiles and I went on Dans favourites and had realised that he had favourited Beth's tweet and we hadn't even realised and then we had another major freak out and couldn't handle it all but it was a good laugh and also very cool.

(Fourteenth & Fifteenth Photos)
Me and 2 friends also went to see Ed Sheeran in October and it was AMAZING but I'm not going into to much detail as I will do a separate blog post on that but it was one of the best nights of my life and I had so much fun and I lost my voice.

(Sixteenth Photo)
If you don't know I play guitar and have been doing Grades for my classical Guitar and I very recently managed to pass my Grade 5 Classical Guitar exam with a Merit and I'm so happy because I really thought I wasn't going to pass.

Also I'm going to a big fireworks night on Saturday and was thinking of doing a mini vlog style follow around kind of thing so go and check out my youtube channel to have a look I haven't posted anything yet but I'm hoping to quite soon as I have some ideas in mind.

Sorry if this post was rambly but I've done lots of exciting things recently that I wanted to talk about.

Also follow me on twitter and check out my tumblr page because I reblog some cool stuff...
Twitter/Instagram: @karas_blog
Tumblr: winterberrycoffee

What's your favourite thing about Autumn?

Kara'xo

What's In My Bag: Back To School Edition

I dread going back to school but for some reason I absolutely love stationary shopping, I get this thought in my head that i'm going to be super organized and study loads and I go out and buy everything I think I need and then I go back to school and realise im super lazy (which is not good but I am going to try harder this year *cough*) , however I wanted to share with you the essentials that I have in my school bag every day. So here goes.

I hope this has given you an insight to what you might want to keep in your bag for school.

YAY FOR SCHOOL.

Kara

xo

Zoeva Luxe Colour Blush

Months. It's been months since I said I wanted to buy something from Zoeva but there was just that little voice in the back of my head telling me not to spend my money. Months later when I finally decided I needed a new makeup brush I pushed that voice far, far back and forced myself to go onto the Zoeva website and get one (blog post to come) and while I was there I thought since I was in need of a new blusher I would just go ahead and get one. Spur of the moment decisions eh?

I had heard many good reviews of their brushes but never really heard anything about their products so this was a new thing for me to try out myself. They had a small range of 6 individual blushers, 2 loose powder blushers and a blush palette. I wanted a light pink shade that wasn't too in your face but was still noticeable so I chose the colour 'Gentle Touch' and without even the slightest thought of regret I clicked the buy button, too late to turn back now.

When a box the size of a shoebox showed up at my door I was confused, I hadn't ordered anything this size. I went ahead and opened it anyway, hell it was addressed to me why wouldn't I? After using scissors, a chainsaw and a blowtorch to get the tape of, inside was about 2 million air pockets which lead me to think what needs this much packaging, well at the bottom of this massively packaged box was my brush and blusher. So apart from the rain forest that was over my bedroom floor I was excited to find out what this blusher was going to be like.

In my opinion the blusher is just the right size, not too big that it takes up your whole make up bag and not too small causing there to be very little of the actual product. It's a delicate little black case decorated with black silky patterns and the little name 'Zoeva' in white in the bottom right hand corner. 

There is a beautiful little mirror when you open the blush which has the name 'Zoeva' written across the bottom middle and I think it looks very professional. The only thing I find is that the product ends up getting on the mirror making it difficult to see in.

I was very pleased when I eventually tried out this product because it was just what I wanted it to be, extremely pigmented with a subtle but noticeable colour and I also love that it has the Zoeva Slogan imprinted into the bottom of the blusher which is 'Color. Love. Makeup.' This Blush has a little shimmer to it but it is hardly noticeable at all which is perfect for me as I do not always get on with glitter/shimmery things.

So the moral to this story is, try out new things because you never know, you might just love it just like I did.

This is now one of my favourite and most used blushers and will hopefully purchase some other colours and possibly products from Zoeva.

I also thought this wasn't too expensive either so go over to the Zoeva website and check it out now.

Kara
xo

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow

Did you see my blog post about my trip to Florida in April? 

Yes? Good, 10 brownie points to you. 

No? (this should not be an option) Well I suggest you go and read it right now...please ;) - http://karakillington.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/florida-disney-trip-2014.html

How is that related you might ask. Good Question. 
We went to a variety of malls and outlets while we there and I picked up a few bits and bobs.

While trekking around one of the outlets we came across a shop called 'The Company Store' which was filled with make up.Of course we went in no doubt about it. I struggled with choosing because it wasn't very big inside and hey didn't have as much as I thought they would but I settled on 2 things, one being this Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow.

I was in a bit of a rush so just picked this up because I liked the colour, once I got back to the hotel and looked at it I saw it was a shimmer wash eyeshadow which instead of being a block colour you can put all over your lid it just added a bit of gold shimmer which I didn't like at all and I was very disappointed.  

A few weeks later after I was home and had recovered from the holiday blues I pulled this out and decided to give it another go and I am so glad I did, you can apply this over the top of any eyeshadow to add a nice shimmer and it works for day and night, there a many different ways you can apply this and it is a simple step to add just the tiniest bit of definition.

(Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow in Beige 17)

What a simple but sleek little case. Plain black trim featuring a little window with Bobbi Brown written across. This looks gorgeous in my makeup drawer/bag and adds just a touch of professionality. Also I may be weird but I love the sound it make when you open and shut it, there is something about it that is just truly satisfying.

Champagne. Bubbles. Confetti. That's what the colour reminds me of. I suppose that seems fancy and elegant but it is such a nice champagne/ gold shade that just makes your eyes stand and and glow, only it's a subtle glow which I much prefer. The colour of this eyeshadow is called Beige 17. 

This is a very pigmented eyeshadow. I lightly brushed my finger across the product to swatch and it came out very well, this will last a long time because you do not need to use very much at all. 

Overall this grew on me and I will hopefully be able to try out some other Bobbi Brown eyeshadow soon.

You can follow my blog on bloglovin and I also have Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat accounts which can follow/add me on, all of which are:

karas_blog

Thanks 

Kara 

xo

Top Tuesday: Drugstore Concealers

I only own 4  drugstore concealer. Out of the 4 I own i have chosen my 3 favorite and put them in order from 3(least favorite) to 1(most favorite).

I use concealer everyday i wear make up, I use it to cover up spots and red areas and under the eyes to hide dark circles so I think it's important to find a concealer that works best for you, here are my top 3 concealers and why I think they are good:

#3 - Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate concealer.
I brought this because i'd been watching a lot of videos and loads of people had been recommending it, I got this in the color Fair 1 which is the lightest because I have relativity fair skin ~in other words i'm as pale as a ghost'~ this was very light in color and I this may be just a little bit too light for my skin, however its has a nice creamy consistency and blends very well. Unfortunately the words are starting to rub of the tube which I don't know about you but it really annoys me when they do that. The only bad thing about this product was the price compared to the size of the tube, this is a smaller tube than normal concealers and I paid £4.19 for this which in comparison to the tube size is a lot of money and I would at the most expect to pay £2-£3 for this. Other than that this concealer is very good. You can buy this online here:
http://www.superdrug.com/Collection/Collection-Lasting-Perfection-Concealer---2-Cool-Medium/p/870557

#2 - Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer.
Once again, beauty videos and recommendations, i'd previously been using a cheap concealer and knew it was time for an upgrade so I brought this,still a drugstore concealer but a little more expensive to what I was using before. It claims to have Anti Fatigue effect and Radiant Glow and it does just that, not only covering up my spot and dark circles under my eyes but it brightens up my face and stops my looking tired. I got this in the color Soft Beige 40 which is the lightest and is more of an orangey color, perfect for blending into foundation and straight onto skin. I paid £5.49 for this and it is a normal sized concealer tube, its very affordable and overall a good product. You can get this product online here:
http://www.superdrug.com/Rimmel/Rimmel-Wake-Me-Up-Make-Up-Concealer-Soft-Beige-40/p/435455

#1 - Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer.
A three-piece flaw camouflage kit, under eye brightening concealer with PUFFEASE-8, SUPERWEAR lightscramble face concealer and Concealer sealing powder with INSTA-FIX polymer technology. That's what it says on the box and it claims to do a lot. Well it's not my #1 concealer for nothing, it does exactly what it says. I got this in the color light because of my pale skin and I was amazed when I first used it because I didn't expect it to be as good as it is. Step one is the under eye brightening concealer and is more of a skin/pinky color perfect for covering under eye circles, Step 2 is the face concealer and is more of a yellow color which is great for concealing spots and Step 3 is the concealer sealing powder which is just a white/transparent powder that sets the concealer and helps it stay on for longer throughout the day. I paid £10 for this which is a little more expensive than other concealers but it is definitely worth it for an all rouond good concealer.  You can get this concealer online here:
http://www.boots.com/en/Soap-Glory%C2%99-Kick-Ass-Concealer%C2%99-Three-Piece-Camouflage-Kit-2-x-2-6g_1243294/

So there are my Top 3 Drugstore Concealers and I use all of these quite a lot.

Twitter: @karas_blog

Thanks for reading

Kara
xo