I'm on Pinterest!

Just a quick note to let you know that you can now follow me on Pinterest where I have been spending a fair amount of time (inbetween spring cleaning, boiler and cat dramas) looking at, and adding lots of pretty pictures and getting inspiration for all kinds of things, including my wedding. I've added a new button to the sidebar for ease. Let me know if you're on there, would love to have a nosey at your pins/boards.

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

I Trended on Twitter (in Manchester) AND I'm Number 6 on the Ebuzzing Beauty Blog Chart!

I'm just a little excited that I was trending on Twitter last night (in Manchester)... it's such an insignificant thing in reality, but it gave me a nice surprise to have it happen anyway. :-)

I also noticed that I was at number 6 on the Ebuzzing Beauty Blog list (formerly Wikio) for January. Again, fairly insignificant within the 'bigger picture' of life, but it's the highest I've been on there and I am chuffed to blinkin' bits. :-)

Please Nominate Me in the Marie Claire Blog Awards?

I know that there are a myriad of beauty blogs out there, but I'd absolutely love it if you might consider nominating me as 'best beauty blogger of the year' in the Marie Claire Blog Awards. The nominations are open until 31st December and I'd be over the moon if 2012 started with being told I had been nominated!

xx

Follow By Email!

Just to let you know that you can now follow The Beauty Scoop by email now. Just enter your address into the subscription box as shown above and you're done!! Easy! x

Handbag.com Beauty Awards 2011!

This is just a quick post firstly to say thank you to anybody who nominated me for the Cosmo Blog Awards, unfortunately I didn’t get shortlisted (which was no surprise as there as soooo many fabulous blogs for them to choose from) but I do appreciate all of you who read my blog, and those who also took the time to nominate me.

This brings me onto my other reason for posting, as I got an email telling me that the Handbag.com Beauty Awards are now live, and there is a ‘Best Beauty Blog’ section that will basically work much like the Cosmo awards did, in that you nominate your favourite blog in that section in the hope that they may be shortlisted.

So, if any of you lovely readers of mine would like to take a couple of minutes to nominate me, I would be VERY grateful and love you forever. If all that isn't heartwarming enough, you could also win some brilliant prizes for taking part in the voting.

Thanks in advance to those that do! x

Voting Link! 

Wikio Top 20 Beauty Blogs... I'm At 20!!

I only went into the chart last month, at 74, so imagine my surprise when I saw that I was positioned at 20 this month - a nice surprise, obviously.

'The Beauty Scoop' Android App and Button!

Hello my lovelies, I know I've been lacking on the beauty front for the last day or so whilst I have been tweaking the design bits of the blog, but I just wanted to let you know that I have now got an app that can be installed on any Android device (mobile phone, tablet computer etc). It's not available in the marketplace, only on here (currently) as it's just a way to try to make mobile viewing even easier for those of you who view my site this way!

I've also adapted one of my other buttons and added the Android logo so that it matches up to the rest, on the right. I am actually quite proud of myself for doing that, without help! It links to the website that I used to convert my site to a .apk file (android install file) where you can download it straight to your mobile device. You will need to view the 'web version' of this site to do this as it's currently an optimized mobile version as standard, but this is easily done.

To make things even easier yet again, I have also added a QR barcode on the sidebar (and the last 'image' in this post), for those of you who have cameras and barcode scanning apps on your handsets.

What do you think? Is this something you will use? x

New Blog Buttons!

This is just a quick post to let you know that I have, and am still changing my 'follow' option buttons on the sidebar to the right to make them a bit fancier (with the colour change when you roll over) but more in keeping with the new blog design.

I think they're currently all working, but if you find anything wrong with any of them, please do let me know. There are some 'widgets' on there that I just can't figure out if I can make them fit in a little more with the rest, so they may look a teeny bit out of place, but I am looking into my options for them to see if I can make them any better!

I still need to tweak some things (like the layout and some sizing) and possibly add a couple in but I just wanted to let you know what was going on in case you came across any issues... or thought you were going mad when they change, or if I accidentally muck some of the site layout up (it shouldn't happen, but you never know)!

Hope you like them!?

I've Had A Makeover... Well The Blog Has!

Hello my lovelies. This is just a little post before I put a make-up post up later (call it a pre-post), to alert you to the fact that I’ve given my blog a little makeover (if you hadn’t already noticed, obviously) and find out what you thought of it?!

I’ve had a few difficulties with the header being in the right place on different screen resolutions, so if there are any issues on your screen, please do let me know (including your screen size and resolution) in the comments below and I’ll get my geek head back on and see if I can resolve it for you (and for my own sanity)!

Anyway, I really do hope you like the changes I've made (nothing *too* drastic), please do feel free to comment below to share your thoughts!

xx

Shock News of the Week - Wizard Blogger Award!!

I've just received a very lovely email from the equally lovely Heather at Wizard PR telling me that I've been awarded their FIRST blogger award!

"Wizard has decided to acknowledge the blogging community and those bloggers that go above and beyond and are as influential as the print media.

Weekly Wizard will award the ‘Wizard Blogger Award’ to a blog that has exceptional content, personality and talent that creatively demonstrates their passion to the beauty, grooming and lifestyle industry.

Congratulations! We think you are a Wiz at Blogging!"

I may have let out another little squeal when reading the email - notice a pattern here, I should probably try and rein that in - but thankfully nobody was around to hear me (or see the little hop-type thing that went along with it, but the less said about that, the better)!

The award will be promptly added to my mantelpiece... I mean sidebar!

Thanks Wizards! x

Shock News of the Week - Top 50 Beauty Blogs of 2011!!

A few weeks ago I was told that I had been put into the running for a place on EverydaySale.co.uk’s ‘Top 50 International Cosmetic Blogs’. Of course I was completely thrilled about the email even just to be considered, but kind of put it out of my mind almost instantly as I never in one million years expected to get any placement on anything like that, as there are so many amazing, totally brilliant blogs out there from all over the world that could/would be considered for this!

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather when almost 3 weeks later, I got an email congratulating me for making it into the ‘Top 50 Beauty Blogs’ list; I *may* have let out a little squeal whilst reading the email. I followed the link given in the email to see the other winners and found that I came 7th in the Top UK Beauty Blogs category! Other categories included Best Beauty Review Blogs, Professional Blogs, Stylish Visual Beauty Blogs, and Top International Blogs.

I honestly did not expect this at all, but I’m delighted that I made the grade – especially to be included with 'blogging heavy hitters' such as Christine (Temptalia), Charlotte (Lipglossing), Fleur (Fleur De Force), Karen (Makeup and Beauty Blog), Yinka (Vex In The City), and Emma and Katie(The Beauty Button)!

I’ll be placing the 'winner' button (very proudly) on my sidebar very shortly - woop! x

A Little Blog Makeover... Whaddya Think? Suggestion Welcome!

As you may have noticed, the background image from the blog has now gone – this is just the start of a little makeover of the blog as I felt it was all getting a little bit cluttered and busy, don’t you think?

So, this post is basically to let you know what’s going on, in case any of you catch it in ‘testing’ phases and think something is wrong. I also wanted to take this opportunity to ask you what you’d like to see on here; be it in terms of design (bright/neutral/a mixture/larger photographs?), content (more swatches, reviews, specific brands you might like to see) or anything else that you can think of.

I am completely open to suggestions – in fact I welcome them as I really want you to feel that you want to come back and visit! :-)

In other news... here's a cute photo of a baby seal, just because!

I'm Back From My Holidays....

I had a fantastic time in Egypt, even though I caught some kind of bug over there - along with 6 others from my travelling party! Normal service shall be resumed ASAP; I just need to get my luggage (that was heavily over my weight limit due to the masses of beauty products I took with me) unpacked/dealt with first, otherwise I'll never do it!!

Wordless Wednesday (...Just About)!

Bottlegreen limited edition bottles in aid of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity's Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC)!

Bottlegreen FTBC sparkling pressé collection is available from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Budgens and Booths from April, RRP £2.40. Flavours include, elderflower, pomegranate & elderflower and ginger & lemongrass.

Slightly Speechless Sunday - Fearne Cotton!

I just love Fearne Cotton’s new hair, I first saw it on Celebrity Juice when she had it curled – and then also on Comic Relief where she wore it straight and both times it looked amazing (as did she). It’s such a perfect style to wear straight or curled which is why I’d love my hair to be like that too, but unfortunately I got layers cut in a couple of months ago so it needs to grow out a little before I could do so!

 

The ‘do was done by Lyndell Mansfield who explained that it was achieved by cutting her hair into a sharp bob and then ‘shattering’ the ends... which is what I’d expect you would need to tell your hairdresser should you want them to recreate the style on your own hair.

What do you think... do you love it or hate it?

Doing this post got me looking through some more of her hairstyles on Google, and I thought I’d also show just a selection (well slightly more than I thought there was) of those that I also loved in this post too...

 

Beauty Blog Link Love!

This week's Beauty Blog Love Links:

B eMiss Beauty Nerd dishes on Asia's hottest and most coveted product - BB Creams!!

Jellyminx shares a Jessie J inspired makeup tutorial.

K from Beautifully Addicted To gives us a look at ELF Mineral Glosses.

Anita over at Pleasureflush sorts through her stash of mascaras to find out which ones are keepers and which ones are heading for the bin!

Fee at Makeup Savvy takes on this year's Spring/Summer key fashion trends with a series of inspired nail art tutorials!

Phyrra's Indie Spotlight for March is Epically Epic Soap Co. Learn all about Allison!

Getting downright swatches spring blushes and tries to decide between Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent!

Ooh, shatter! Musicalhouses shows you an awesome black and silver shatter NOTD with Barry M Instant Nail Effects!

Krasey Beauty hobnobs with makeup royalty, and learns of new beauty releases, while she's at it!

Beauty's Bad Habit shares her favourite eyeshadow bases and primers for vivid, 'life proof' eye make-up that lasts.

Checked outELF's black bottles yet? Queen of Turquoise has!

Welcome to your new addiction - Alyson reviews the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams at The Gloss Menagerie.

Tracy at Beauty Reflections gets a 70s makeup vibe with Rimmel Glam'eyes Quad Eye Shadow that fits right in with the 70s fashion trend!

The Pink Sith won't be able to kill your lemming for this new Armani Beauty Eyes To Kill Intense Silk Eyeshadow in # 4 Pulp Fiction.

Who said neutrals can't be dramatic, Madame B Fatale shows you how!

Kimberly takes the Dare To Wear Charity Challenge: For Japan Are you up for the challenge?

Hop in the car for a roadtrip with My Lips But Better and OPI's Fall 2011 collection, Touring America.

Are you a Kate or a Vanessa? You'll find the answer at Musing on Beauty, by comparing Chanel Rouge Coco Shine and Dior Addict lipsticks.

The Chantecaille Sea Turtle palette came swimming into Cindy's life, see if she thinks it's worth the $79 price tag.




***

Did you hear? BarryM may come to Canada!! To celebrate Spiced Beauty is giving away a huge 5-piece prize pack.

Want to win 2 NARS blushes + other goodies? All you have to do is be a follower of StealMyHeartLovee's blog for a chance to win.

Music and Makeup has been going for 2 years! Jo celebrates with a giveaway of some of her favourite products.

theNotice is giving away a ridiculously glittery Honeycat Cosmetics lipgloss. Whether you're a cat lover or a glitter girl, you *need* to check it out!

Slightly Speechless Sunday - Rose McGowan!

I came across this image of Rose McGowan yesterday and instantly thought she looked stunning in it - glamorous but effortlessly so. Her lipstick is stunning, I now need to find out what it is – or at least find something similar as I lurrrve it; and her eye make-up just works so perfectly with it.

Her skin looks amazing and glow-y, but still natural... like it’s had little to no touching up which is refreshing to see as she’s so beautiful without the need for it. I also adore her blush; it gives her the perfect flush of colour for her skin tone. Lush.

What do you think? Is it a look you’d go for?

Bourjois Round Little Pots - 03, 25 and 94 Swatched!

As promised yesterday, these are the second set of swatches from my Bourjois little round pots; this time I have swatched shades (L-R):

Shade 03 – Indigo blue, brilliant when wet... a bit powdery and disappointing when dry, however I’m happy enough to use it wet and it makes a great liner when used with a precision liner brush and a bit of saline! It’s not quite as bright as the swatches with flash show it to be, which is why I took a photo with no flash used – sorry for the bad lighting, I don't think it helped much at all.

Shade 25 – A glittery silver that is quite sheer when dry, but verging on metallic when used wet – I experienced a moderate amount of fall down with this which was expected with the glitter content.

Shade 94 – This is an ivory creamy colour and another disappointing when dry shade, you can barely see it on the swatch which shows 2 swipes, the same amount as I’ve done for every swatch in this range so far. It was a different story when wet though thankfully, another shade that I’m more than happy to use wet when required.

Flash:

No Flash:

I don’t mind the disappointing when dry shades in the range, so long as they’re good to use when wet as that’s how I prefer to use my baked shadows anyway and luckily every one of them has been brilliant when used wet!

I also wanted to add pictures of all the products available and the ‘groups’ that they come under within the range - see below!

Bourjois Round Little Pots - 07, 13 and 74 Swatched!

In the past I’ve always found Bourjois eye shadows to be a little bit too hard which made them appear to be less pigmented than other shadows I used, and as a result I found them hard to work with so they drifted to the bottom of my makeup bag; I always loved the colours in the Bourjois range so it was always a shame that I could never get them to perform for me.

I learned a while ago that they’d had a bit of a revamp and was sent these to try out, and I’ve been very impressed. When used dry the shadows are much easier to use with the new formulation, but as they are still baked shadows, they really come into their own when wet – as you will see in the photo’s (the top row are wet, the bottom are dry).

I’ve swatched the 6 shades that I was sent, but will be doing 3 only in this post and the other 3 in a separate post so as not to make such a picture heavy post. The first shades up are (from left to right):

Shade 07 – A gorgeous, metallic-like black/green duochrome. I think this has such a huge transformation when used wet, it's beautiful, I love it.

Shade 13 – A glittering, glistening prune shade. It did have some fall out, which is to be expected really with it being glittery but I loved it all the same.

Shade 74 – A fabulous brown that is almost metallic when used wet – I love this so much.

Wet (gorgeous, just look at that first shade especially):

Dry:

I’ve used water only for the wet swatches, I think saline solution or MAC Fix+ (or similar) are much better options, but I wanted to use the bare minimum with these so that the products stood out on their own merit, which is why I applied with the supplied applicators too.

No Flash:

Flash:

Edited to add this other photo, with flash that I forgot the first time - I wouldn't usually bother but I think this shows the shadows quite well:

Talking of the applicators, they’re not great... they're not the worst I've used but they’re just too small; I understand this is to fit them in the pot but they’re way too fiddly. They may not be that bad if they were a bit bigger, but then they wouldn’t fit in the pots then so I guess there’s no other option for Bourjois to include an applicator.

All in all I really love these new shadows, I really think that Bourjois have made a positive change with these and can’t wait to get more of the shades into my collection.