The Big Blogmas Project + December Blogging Schedule

Hello!
So today is the last day in November and wow how quickly has December come around. It honestly still feels like it should only be September!
 
This year, I'm taking part in The Big Blogmas Project, which is a little blogging project that so many bloggers are taking part in this year. Basically, you will get one post from me each day from 1st - 25th December and a majority of the posts will be Christmas related.
 
I've decided to create a bit of a 'December Blogging Schedule' so I can do certain types of posts of certain days, which will definitely make it a lot easier to plan. Here's how I'm hoping it will go ~
 
Monday: Interview Day!
I'm going to be interviewing 10 of my current favourite bloggers! Two bloggers will be featured each week and I'll be asking them a range of questions about their blog. I've already got the answers back from most of the bloggers I've emailed and they're all fantastic so I'm really really really excited to be able to share them with you lovely lot.
 
Tuesday: Tag Day!
There are so many lovely Christmassy tags floating around the blogging world at the moment so I've chosen four of my favourites for me to pop up on Tuesdays.
 
Wednesday: Random Post Day!
Along with Thursday and Sunday, Wednesday is my 'Random Post' day. There isn't going to be a set theme so I'm going to be blogging about a range of different things on these days. Some of the things I have planned for Wednesdays include 'My top 10 Christmassy songs' and 'DIY Christmas Cards' so keep a look out.
 
Thursday: Random Post Day!
As I said earlier, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are my 'Random Post' days. There isn't going to be a set theme so I'm going to be blogging about a range of different things on these days. Some of the things I have planned for Thursdays include 'Last minute gift ideas' and 'Christmassy room inspiration'.
 
Friday: Review Day!
I have been wanting to review so many products for so long but I've never got round to it so I've decided to make Friday my review day, and throughout December you'll be seeing four reviews of a variety of different beauty-related items.
 
Saturday: #BritishBloggerSelection
As usual, Saturday is the #BritishBloggerSelection day. I have been a bit naughty and I've missed the last two or so weeks but I promise I'm going to make more of an effort to take part each week.
 
Sunday: Random Post Day!
Another 'Random Post' day. As with the other two days, there isn't going to be a set theme so I'm going to be blogging about a range of different things on these days. Some of the things I have planned for Sundays include my 'Winter Bucket List' (tomorrow's treat for you all) and my 'Current Beauty Favourites'
 
So that is the schedule for December. I really hope you enjoy my Blogmas posts! If you have any requests for posts you would like to see, drop me a comment and I'll do it I promise!
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx
 
P.S: If you're taking part in Blogmas, let me know so I can have a look at your lovely posts.

Beauty Tips and Tricks

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know about my obsession with pinterest. One board I seem to be constantly using at the moment is my 'beauty tips and tricks' board where I repin lots of little beauty-related tips and tricks. So many of these have really come in handy so I thought today I would share a few of the tips I've found most helpful.
 
Tip 1 - How to achieve 'Clump Free Lashes'
I have honestly found this tip to be the most helpful and I really really wish I had known about it sooner. It's a little tip that only takes about 5 seconds but makes such a huge difference to how your eye makeup ends up. Before you put your mascara on, wipe the wand on a piece of tissue or a cotton pad to wipe off any excess product. This really helps you to achieve clump-free lashes, and it also helps to give your lashes lots of volume.
 
Tip 2 - Applying concealer under your eyes
Before I discovered this tip I always applying my concealer under my eyes in a similar way I applied it to conceal blemishes. I'd apply a little collection of dots under my eyes and then I'd just blend it in. But I've learnt that it's better to apply under eye concealer in a triangle shape (like the image shows) as it helps to give saggy eyes a lift and can make you look more awake. This tip really works and if (like me) you always have dark circles under your eyes, it's a lifesaver.
 
Tip 3 - Making your eyeshadow really stand out.
I hadn't even considered this before I saw this tip on pinterest but if you colour your entire lid with white eyeliner before you apply your shadow, it really helps to make the eyeshadow colours pop, and it makes them seem brighter. I also found that it helped to make my eyeshadow last longer, which really helps.
 
I hope these tips are helpful. If you want to see any more posts like this in the future, just let me know.
 
Have you got any beauty related tips and tricks?
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx

"I'm a Beauty Blogger Get Me Out of Here!" Tag


I've seen this tag floating around the blogging world since the start of I'm a Celebrity 2013 and as a huge fan of the show I thought it would be fun to mix two of the things I'm loving the most at the moment (I'm a Celeb and blogging) and have a go at this tag!
1) You can only take ONE product into the Jungle (aka your luxury item). What would you choose and why?
This is such a hard question for me because even if I was in the jungle I wouldn't be able to go without makeup. Being the sneaky person I am, I'm going to cheat and say I'd take the Benefit How To Look The Best At Everything Complexion kit (c'mon, it's all in one box, that surely means it counts as one product doesn't it?) as it contains a primer, foundation, concealer and powder, so my face could look lovely.
2) What would be your main pre-jungle worry?
I don't think there would be anything I wouldn't be worried about! I'm terrified of any type of bug, I hate camping and I don't cope well if I haven't eaten a proper meal. The trials would be one of the worst parts of the experience for me personally because lots of them involve very enclosed spaces and as someone who's really claustrophobic, I don't think I could cope.
3) You only have five minutes to get ready before going in the jungle, what would be your quick beauty routine?
I'd throw my hair up in a messy bun and pop some foundation and concealer on my face, finished off with a touch of mascara and some lip balm.
4) Last year we saw Helen Flanagan wearing her hair in a top bun. What would be your signature hair style?
I think in conditions like Australia you really need to have your hair up and off your face so I'd either go with a messy bun or a high ponytail.
5) For Moral Support, which female celebrity would you like to be in the jungle with you?
Definitely Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella)! I think we have fairly similar personalities and we'd have the same sort of fears about the jungle so we could tackle it together.
6) Everyone's given a role in the camp. What lifestyle skill would you bring to the jungle?
Oooh that's quite a hard one as I rely a lot on modern technology in my life so I'd struggle with the whole outside no electricity element of everything in the day to day life in the jungle. But I'd probably say cooking, possibly? I'm not too bad in the kitchen so I think I might be able to help a bit with the preparing of the meals.
7) What one thing about being a beauty blogger sometimes make you want to scream 'Get Me Out Of Here'?
When I have no post ideas what so ever. I just find it so irritating.
8) Challenge - This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're up for a trial to face your fears or try something new, what would you choose to do any why?
Try something new. Definitely. My biggest fears are needles and small spaces and literally doing anything involving those two things causes me to have a panic attack so I just couldn't do it. I'd rather try something new and not know what it's going to be like. If I was given a trial involving one of my two fears (how they would be allowed to have a needle-related trial I don't know but anyway) I wouldn't even attempt it, because it's really not worth me suffering as much as I do, just so the camp can have food other than rice and beans.
I tag ~
http://emmihearts.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.pinkiepromisebeauty.blogspot.co.uk/
 And any of you lovely bloggers who also want to give it a go!
Lots of Love
Chloe xxx

My Beauty Wishlist

I feel like I haven't done one of these wishlist posts for absolutely ages (slight exaggeration there Chloe... it was only October) so I thought I'd share with you some of the beauty pieces I want to get my hands on. My expensive taste seems to be showing here as all bar one of the products are high end so I think I need to start saving my pennies.


1 ~ Sleek I Divine Eye Shadow "Au Naturel"
£7.99: Superdrug
I have fallen madly in love with the Sleek palettes. Literally. I have the "Oh So Special" palette and it is my most used palette. The shadow lasts all day and the colours are stunning! The "Au Naturel" palette contains lots of lovely darker shades which I think are perfect for the winter months we're in now. I also find that the Sleek palettes are so cheap yet still as good if not better than some of the more expensive palettes around.
 
2 ~ Soap and Glory "Peaches and Clean" 3-in-1 Wash Off Deep Purifying Cleanser
£8.00: Boots
Soap and Glory is one of my favourite brands. I absolutely love their bath and body products and they always work wonders on my skin. The "Peaches and Clean" cleanser seems to be a really popular cleanser. I've heard so many fantastic reviews about this product being great for clearing up the skin and preventing future breakouts, and as someone with dreadful skin, that sounds amazing!
 
3 ~ Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Liquid Makeup
£24.00: Boots
I've been on the look out for a skin clearing foundation for the last few weeks, as I feel that even though my Rimmel Match Perfection foundation provides a good coverage and doesn't seem to cause anymore breakouts, I'd quite like a foundation that helped to clear up my skin as well as cover it up. This foundation is quite a bit more expensive than I normally pay for my makeup but based on some of the amazing reviews I've read about this product, I think it's worth it.
 
4 ~ Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
£8.99: Superdrug
This seems to be one of the most talked about makeup brushes at the moment, especially by bloggers and youtubers, and I'm constantly hearing amazing reviews about it so I really want to see what the hype is about. I've never tried any of the real techniques brushes before but I'm on the look out for a new fantastic face brush and based on what I've heard, I think this little beauty might be perfect.
 
5 ~ Benefit Boi-ing Industrial-Strength Concealer
£17.50 Boots
I haven't tried any of the benefit face products before but I absolutely love some of their eye products so I thought I'd give this a go. I'm always on the look out for a good concealer as it's one of my staple makeup products and it was the 'industrial-strength' element of this that caught my eye. I find I always get worried about whether or not my concealer is still covering up all my blemishes (even though 99% of the time it is - good old Rimmel wake me up) so to know that my concealer is going to stay on all day whatever would be so lovely.
 
Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?
What's on your beauty wishlist this month?
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx


Review: Barry M Matte Nail Polish in Espresso - Guest Post

Hey guys!
As you all probably know, Chloe has gone on holiday to France and as she was looking for some guest bloggers, we love the idea of guest blogging so jumped at the opportunity! We are Georgia and Kate from loveand-haute and today we'll be doing a review on the Barry M Matte nail polish in espresso.




We had both been desperate to get our hands on some affordable matte polish and when we saw this Barry M one in Boots for £3.99 we couldn't resist. We have to say, we did have our doubts about whether or not it would be any good,but it has exceeded our expectations!


It has a great smooth finish and is pretty chip resistant. The only downside to this product is we've found it really difficult to get off, maybe we just need to get some better nail varnish remover!
Despite that this overall is a fab product and we definitely recommend it, the other colours available are also gorgeous for winter!


We would love to hear your opinions on this polish! Is there any nail varnish you recommend?
Thankyou for reading
Georgia and Kate xx


Friday FOTD - Guest Post

Hello all you lovely readers of Chloe's blog, if you hadn't guessed already, this is not Chloe! *dun dun dunnn* A little while ago, she posted amount asking for some people to write guest posts as she was going away for a little while, I quickly volunteered and here we are! So I must introduce myself, Hello! I'm Isabella from Pinkie promise. (nice to meet you!)

Today is a glorious Friday, a day eagerly anticipated since Monday, so happy Friday! Friday nights a great for going out with friends, staying in and watching a little Graham Norton, or whatever you like it's weekend! Ironically I was utterly makeup-free today at school, but since I'm going to meet some friends and had a little extra time to get ready (a.k.a more than the normal 5 minutes) I thought I'd have a little play around. This is my makeup for this fantastic Friday...




 Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation 
 Diorskin nude concealer 
♥ Sephora Blusher in 'No 5 Sunbaked'
♥ Sleek Palette in 'Au naturel'
♥ YSL Shocking mascara
♥ L'oreal super liner perfect slim liquid eyeliner
♥ Bourjois Colour Boost lip crayon in 'prune'

Overall I really like this look, a good base with a lovely soft blusher, slightly smokey eyes, lashings of mascara and a quick swipe of berry on the lips.


I would love to know what makeup you're wearing on your beautiful faces today!
Thank you for this reading this post and have a lovely weekend.

Lot's a love 

Isabella

My Winter Essentials #1 ~ Parkas

I've decided to do a bit of a mini series of posts where I share my 'winter essentials', with you lovely lot. It's going to be a mix of fashion and beauty pieces that I think wouldn't be without during winter. If you have any requests for a certain type of product do be featured, such as lipstick or jumpers, just let me know and I'll do it!
 
Up first we have my all time favourite type of a coat: parkas.
I love parkas because they keep you so toasty and warm, which is a must with a winter coat. I'm practically living in my parka (if you're interested I brought it from Fashion Union about a year ago) and it's so practical at this time of year. It helps to keep me all cosy while I tackle the 40 minute walk home from school in the rain.
 
You can find parkas both with a furry hood and without. Personally, I prefer to not have one as I find that they can be quite itchy and annoying, and I still think parkas look fabulous without them.
 
Here are a few of my favourite Parkas you can find on the high street ~
 
 1 - New Look
2 - H&M
3 - Miss Selfridge
4 - Topshop
 
What is your favourite winter coat?
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx
 
P.S: I don't think you're going to hear much from me for the rest of the week as I have a sixth form opening evening tomorrow and then I'm off to France on Thursday. I have some lovely bloggers posting guest posts on Friday and Sunday so I really hope you enjoy reading what they have to say! x

#BritishBloggerSelection ~ About You Q&A/Interview

Join #BritishBloggerSelection
 
I'm part of the #BritishBloggerSelection which is run by the lovely Ellie and basically each week those taking part receive an email from Ellie, telling them what this weeks theme is. This week it's an "About You Q&A/Interview" and I love doing Q&A posts so I thought I'd give it a go! If you want more information on how to join the group, I wrote a little bit about it as part of my "Let's Have A Little Chat" post from a few weeks ago or you can have a look on Ellie's blog.
 
Now, onto the post...
 
Why do you like blogging?
I love how my blog is my little space on the internet where I can write about anything I want. I can do absolutely anything I want on my blog and it's ok. I also love the sense of community that comes with blogging and how you can share your thoughts and opinions with people who share the same interests as you.
 
How did you come up with your blog name?
Back when I started blogging I didn't really think I'd be as passionate as blogging as I am, and I thought it would only last a few months at the most so instead of taking the time to think of a short catchy nice name, I just went with the name of my tumblr "RealityLeavesLotsToImagination". It's a shortened version of one of my favourite quotes from one of my hero's John Lennon. To be honest, I probably should change it but after I year I've sort of grown quite attached to it.
 
Where in the UK do you come from?
I come from Peterborough, which is near Cambridge.
 
Favourite colour?
I'm one of those annoying people who doesn't actually have a favourite colour - I have a few. I love mint green, silver and then all the pastel shades of colours like pink, purple, blue, yellow and orange.
 
Do you like Lana Del Ray?
I've never actually properly listened to her so I don't really have an opinion on her!
 
Hidden Talents That You Have?
I don't really think I have any...
 
Celebrity Crush?
Ross Lynch! If you're not familiar with him, he's in one of my favourite bands R5 and he also stars in Austin and Ally on Disney Channel.
 
Favourite Blog of All Time?
My favourite big blog is Zoella but one of my favourite smaller blogs at the moment is Emmi Hearts
 
What made you want to join #BritishBloggerSelection?
It seemed like a lovely way of discovering blogs you otherwise wouldn't have know even existed . I also love the idea of lots and lots of blogs posting about similar things each week as it brings together people with similar interests.
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx
 
P.S: If you haven't already, make sure you go over to Ellie's blog and join the #BritishBloggerSelection!

Review: Maybelline Falsies Mascara

 
A few weeks ago I picked up the Maybelline Falsies Mascara. This little beauty seems to be one of the most talked about drugstore mascaras and it has very quickly become my all time favourite mascara.
 
This mascara is perfect if you want one that curls your eyelashes and adds length. It actually curls my lashes so well that I never need to use my eyelash curler (if you're interested though, when I do curl my lashes I use my Emite Eyelash Curlers that I received in a glossbox). The idea of this mascara is that it looks similar to false lashes (hence the name) but I think it actually looks a lot nicer than your typical false lashes.
 
I have it in the shade "Black Drama" (before I tried this product I was unaware there was more than one shade of black but apparently there is!) and it really defines your eyes and produce a really bold eye. One of my favourite aspects of this product is how buildable it is, which makes it perfect for the transition between day and night.
 
I especially love the mascara wand. It's a different design to any wand I've ever used before but I found it made it so much easier to use. It's curved which really helps to cover each of the lashes, as well as curling and lengthening them.
 
The only downside to this product is I found it was a bit clumpy. Because of this it's fairly messy to apply but once you've neatened everything up it how lovely it looks really makes up for the trouble you have to go through to apply it. I'd just advise you have a few cotton buds on hand to clean up any messy bits.
 
Overall, I love this mascara and any negative aspects of using it are really worth it when you look at the final result. You can get this mascara for around £8.00 and personally, I think it's a very reasonable price for such a good quality mascara, and I'd really recommend this mascara to anyone looking for a good lash-defining product.
 
Have you tried this mascara? What did you think?
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx

Winter Lush Haul!

So I may have 'accidently' popped into Lush a few days ago and spent a bit of money... oops.
 
It was the first time I'd been in Lush since they've put out all their fabulous christmassy goodies so I couldn't not buy anything could I? I probably did spend slightly more than I needed to but it's me in Lush so what did you expect?
 
Tea Tree Water Toner Water
£7.50
First I picked up my all time favourite toner! I'm not going to blabble on for ages about this product because it's just a repurchase so if you want to read a bit about it have a look at my Lush Favourites post from a while back.

Celestial Facial Moisturiser
£11.95
I was given a sample of this lovely pot of goodness last time I was in Lush and I absolutely fell in love with it so I picked up a full tub. It smells like vanilla and it is so moisturising it's incredible. My skin always feels so soft after I've used it, and it keeps my skin in tip top condition for such a long time. I can really see this product becoming my staple winter moisturiser!

Magic Wand Bubble Bar
£4.95
This little piece of joy was featured on Zoella's Christmas Lush Haul video and the minute I saw it in the shop I knew I had to buy it! My favourite of the lush bath products are the bubble bars and my all time favourite lush scent in Snow Fairy so this is just heaven in bath form for me. I haven't tried it yet so I can't properly review it but I already know it's going to be amazing! 
 
Christmas Eve Bubble Bar
£2.95
This is one of my favourite lush Christmassy products! It smells absolutely amazing and it produces so many lovely bubbles. Plus, it leaves my skin feeling all soft and lovely which is such a bonus! The design of these bubble bar seems to change each year though and it seems to keep getting smaller which is so annoying (Lush - sort it out) but the actual product is amazing!

So White Bath Bomb
£3.25
Apologies for the terrible photo (and with the next product too) but my camera does not agree with lightly coloured bath bombs! So White has to be my all time favourite lush Christmassy product. It smells amazing and it leaves your bath such a lovely rose pink colour. I always end up buying about 15 every time I pop into lush during autumn/winter because I'm constantly using them! In my opinion this is one of the best Christmas products ever, not just out of the Lush products, it really sums up Christmas for me and I really wish Lush did it all year round!

 Dragons Egg Bath Bomb
£3.25
Thee last thing I got isn't a christmas product but I've been wanting to give it a try for a while so i thought I'd buy it! Although it may not look like it (stupid camera) this is Dragons Egg, I promise. I seem to be pretty late jumping on the bandwagon with this bath bomb as looking through the Lush website everyone seems to love it so I don't know why it hasn't been on my radar until now but I can't wait to try it out! According to the lady in the shop, this one seems to be the bath bomb that puts on the biggest show when popped into the water but I haven't tried it out yet so I'll have to get back to you on that one.


So that's all I brought! I'm planning on going back to Lush at some point soon to buy more goodies so expect another rather large haul sometime soon!

What are your favourite lush Christmas products?

Lots of Love

Chloe xxx

P.S: I'm still looking for another lovely blogger to write a guest post! I already have one lovely blogger who has volunteered to post on one of the days I need guest bloggers for but I'm still on the hunt for another! If you're interested drop me an email (realityleaveslotstoimagination@yahoo.co.uk)!

Guest Posts?

I'm just writing to ask a bit of a favour from one or a few of you. I'm off to France in just over a week for a history trip so I won't be able to write any posts! So I was just wondering if any of you would be interested in writing a guest post? If you are please can you either drop me an email (realityleaveslotstoimagination@yahoo.co.uk) or leave a comment and I'll get in contact with you! You can write about anything you choose, as long as it fits in with the theme of my blog (beauty/fashion/lifestyle ect)!
Thankyou!

Lots of love

Chloe x

Makeup of the Day

I haven't done one of these posts before so bare with me, but I thought I'd share my 'makeup of the day' with you. Today was a fairly relaxed day, I went out to Costa with my dad and I did a bit of shopping whilst I was there. This is also going to be the makeup I use when I go to see a band at my local pub tonight as it's fairly casual but I'm wearing enough makeup for it to be a more dressy look too.  Let's go...
 
(Apologies for my hair looking horrendous! I leave it to try naturally at the weekends so it was still wet!)
 
Foundation ~ Rimmel Match Perfection in Ivory
Concealer ~ Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory
Powder ~ Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
Eyeshadow ~ "Gift Basket" from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette
Mascara ~ Maybelline The Falsies
Lipstick ~ Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss in 08
 
Let me know if you want more of these and I'll get round to it!
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx
 
 
 

1st Blogging Birthday!

 
I honestly can't believe I'm writing this but today, my little blog turns 1.
 
When I started writing 'RealityLeavesLotsToImagination' I didn't think it would last a month let alone a year. I never thought one year later I would have a blog that I'm proud to write, and I never thought I'd have 80 followers.
 
To quite a lot of you, 80 followers may seem like nothing. And to be honest, looking at blogs such as Zoella, that have over 50,000 followers, 80 followers is a tiny amount. But to me, no matter how small the number is, it's still amazing. I started blogging with the belief that nobody would want to read my ramblings but the number of lovely people following my little slice of the internet keeps growing and I can't describe how much that means to me.
 
I want to thank every single on of you reading right now for continuing to take the time to read my posts, it means the absolute world to me. Every time my phone flashes up to tell me I have a new comment or a new follower, I just can't help but smile because I never thought this blog would get this far.
 
Writing this blog for the past year has been incredible and I'm so excited to keep building up my blog over the next year. Hopefully this time next year I'll still being here rambling on about anything and everything. Thank you for your continuous support and love, I love the blogging community so much and it's a honour to be part of it.
 
Lots of Love
 
Chloe xxx
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