This Material Culture Jewellery

I'm not often great at accessorising; never really knowing what suits me, or how to wear jewellery at work. So when This Material Culture got in touch with me and offered to send me a piece from their range, I jumped at the chance.  This Material Culture are a Liverpool brand who provide handmade, unique pieces 'inspired by the world'. When they contacted me I took a little look around their social media, and found their Instagram here. It's a delightful insight into the work they put into their brand, their beautiful jewellery and the inspirations behind it all. It's really nice to see a local business doing well for themselves.
I was able to choose my own piece from the collection, and I decided to go with the beautiful Arrow Necklace* I had my eye on. I was so happy when this arrived in the post, because it was even prettier in real life. I absolutely adore delicate, simple necklaces rather than big, chunky ones so I knew I had chosen right for myself. The quality is amazing, and for only £5 I couldn't believe it. I decided to team it with a white tee with navy stripes. Something about this combination just screams Spring to me, and I loved it. I've been wearing my necklace everyday and gotten compliments on it already!
If you feel like supporting small business, head on over to This Material Culture and browse their huge collection. I'd like to say a big thank you to them for thinking of me, and I wish them every success in the future, as they are a wonderful bunch!

*Item was gifted, not sponsored. All views are my own.

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Meet Luna

If you haven't seen my Twitter or Instagram, you won't know that on Friday we finally brought home this little bundle of joy. We decided a long time ago we wanted to get a cat, and we've been waiting a few weeks to bring this adorable kitten home with us. We originally thought she might be a boy! But there's nothing like a surprise ending is there? We did discuss girls names already, and we knew 'Luna' was top of the list.
I spent the whole weekend falling in love and being mesmerized by this cute kitty, that I got hardly anything done truth be told. I was worried she would be really scared of us at first, but the opposite seems to have happened; she's really clingy and hates to be alone! My poor heart breaks if I leave the room more than a few minutes and she starts crying. She only has a very tiny, squeaky meow right now and it makes my heart ache! It could be that she's still not used to being without her litter of brothers and sisters, but she's settled in perfectly otherwise. We spent the first few nights while Gary was in work cuddled in bed together. No matter how many time I put her in her own lovely bed, she insisted on getting in bed and cuddling up to me. How can I say no to that face? Clearly she's going to be the most spoiled kitten ever.
Anyway, just thought I'd introduce you all and give you an insight into the weekend I've had. I'm so happy right now I could burst; but I wont.. I'll settle on spamming my Instagram with cute cat photos.
Bye guys!



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Dramatic Makeup: Mermaid Inspired

Every once in a while, it's fun to play dress up. Or at least the grown up version of it; if I can't be head to toe dressed as a fairy, complete with light up wings... I'll go a little wild with my makeup at least. Inspired by Holly's recent makeup post, which was strikingly beautiful; I decided I wanted to get a little more creative with my own face. True, I can't exactly go to the office like this without turning some heads, but this is what the weekends are for. Painting your face a spectacular combination of colours, letting your hair go a little bigger, a little wilder, and truly taking on a new persona for the day. I really had fun creating this look, and would love to take it further one day. A full mermaid outfit, and even more dramatic eyes could make for a good Halloween costume this year. What do you guys think?

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Beating The Sunday Blues

Let me talk you through a quick scenario; It's about 8pm, you've had a nice day, you've got a few more hours to kill before bed, yet you're wasting it feeling miserable and there's a small feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach. It's Sunday night. - Sound familiar?
This is me every single Sunday evening, until recently. I've always made the most of the weekend and seen Mondays as a hellish ordeal to try and get through as quickly as possible. Which means every Sunday night feels like the time for fun has come to an end, and I have to get back to all my responsibilities. I wanted to change this as much as possible, and I've managed to make things a lot easier for myself recently. I thought I'd share some of these tips with you guys, in case any of you suffer from the Sunday blues too!


1. Give yourself something to look forward to: Gary and I have started a new routine which has really helped me feel more positive about Mondays (and weekdays in general). We now have a plan which means every Monday after I get home from work, we have a movie night with snacks and pamper ourselves. Okay, I pamper. Gary just goes along to cheer me up (he's a good'un I know) and it really works! I now get through Mondays knowing we're gonna have an awesome night together doing something special. It's a great start to the week.
2. Plan and organise: Okay, admittedly part of the feeling of dread is because all my responsibilities seem to come crashing down on me Sunday night/Monday morning, and I don't have to let it happen. It sounds boring, and I guess it is a little; but getting everything prepared and not leaving anything until last minute really helps. Got a deadline to meet? Start planning it out into steps and feel accomplished when you start it early, even if it's a very small step. Big day coming up? Plan your outfit, your bag with everything you'll need, and even your lunch (if you take your own). Knowing you've prepared will make it a little less daunting.
3. Midweek treat: A little like number 1, but for the middle of the week. Don't make weekends the only time for fun, spontaneity and freedom. Go out after work, even just for an hour! See a film, buy that dress you wanted, or even just catch up with a friend. Make sure fun is always sprinkled throughout your week and it won't feel so monotonous. 
4. Make a change: Is it possible for you to do something completely different sometime this week? Learn something new, find a new hobby, make an effort with a new friend, go somewhere you've not been before. When you look back on your week, you'll feel really satisfied with using your time so well.
5. Make someone else feel good: It's the easiest way to cheer yourself up, and you're killing two birds with one stone - Oh god I hate that saying, it's awful isn't it?! Please don't kill birds! - But doing something for someone else will instantly lift your own mood. Send someone you care about a handwritten letter; it's one of the nicest things these days in a world of emails and texts. Check in with friends you haven't seen in a while, arrange a date with them. Live with your other half? Make them their favourite meal and run them a bath. It can be so simple and easy to give you both a smile :)
6. Recognise it for what it is: Sometimes I can make myself feel awful and I won't even know why. But if I remind myself this happens most Sundays and I'm probably overreacting, it really helps. Talking myself down makes me see how silly I was for feeling so bad. These feelings are valid and real, but recognising that they're simply an effect of small troubles that I can conquer through these steps, makes all the difference. 


I know not everyone works Monday to Friday or is in this sort of routine at all, but you can apply this to whatever day suits you best. I hope this helps someone else like it has helped me. Let me know what you think?





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Easter Treats

As if I needed another excuse to indulge in some yummy treats, it's almost Easter! Next week means we're all going to be surrounded by chocolate (probably, if you do this sort of thing) and enjoying a long weekend to do with what we please. I decided to get started early and make some Easter cupcakes, making a total mess of my kitchen as usual.
I followed this recipe for simple vanilla cupcakes, and bought ready made purple icing (lazy I know) to decorate with. Then I added some mini eggs on top and edible silver balls to make the whole thing pretty :)
They turned out so yummy, and they were so super easy to make; I definitely recommend you all give them a try. I'll probably be making another batch this weekend with pink icing and more pretty decorations.
Will you be making any Easter treats for next weekend? Let me know!





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Spring Inspiration

Spring has sprung! I'm rather excited for the typical British Spring at the moment; the pastels, the flowers, the rain... It's inevitable really isn't it? Why not embrace it I say! I'm feeling really inspired by everything Spring themed at the moment and while none of it is particularly new or revolutionary, it's definitely making me want to try new things for over the next few months.
I'm loving cute dungarees and denim shorts so much, I definitely want to work them into my daily outfits at some point. I'm never one to bare my legs but maybe I'll get brave this year? Especially teamed with cute tees and accessories, as shown above. I'm feelin' it! I also want to experiment with my style overall to be honest; playing about and trying new things for my hair (the style, not colour! lol), makeup and accessories. For too long I've let my insecurities dictate what I'll wear, and I'd like this to change. I'd like to actually wear the styles that represent me best!
Other than fashion and beauty, you can expect Spring to inspire my artwork - bringing in a lot more pastels and 'girlier' pieces, I think. And maybe over the next few months I'll finally do a tour/snippets post of our home :) We want to wait until it's all done nicely first. I have already started bringing in pastels and Spring inspired homeware though; yay!
I realise this post is a bit chatty and unorganised, I hope you guys enjoy that. I just wanted to share my excitement for this new season, and how it's motivating me lately.  Are you excited for any changes this Spring?



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Goody Bag Haul

If you read my post last week about the North West Bloggers meet up in Liverpool, you'll have read all about my excitement and happiness at having such a wonderful day meeting other bloggers. I also shared some photos of the amazing goody bag we all left with, but I hadn't had the chance to really get stuck into all the products yet. Now that I've had a week to delve into all the wonderful treats, I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you guys and this might be a longer, photo heavy post today to do it justice.

There were a bunch of non beauty goodies filling up our bags on the day, and these products were especially awesome. We had beautiful and unique jewellery provided from Peace Love Free Spirit, and Estella Bartlett, and I bought myself a quirky necklace from JunkBox because I couldn't resist some of the beautiful products they had on display at the meet up.

Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette

If you've followed this blog for a while you'll have noticed that I only post beauty/makeup reviews on products I'm really excited about, and today is no different. I don't buy products simply because they're new or popular, and I never bother writing about products that haven't impressed me much. So you may have wondered why today I'm only just writing about the Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette; after all I know it's been out a while now. But it's because I like to take my time getting to know a brand and using their products steadily over time, rather than just buying everything immediately. I was browsing my local Superdrug recently and this palette caught my eye. Not only is it super affordable at only £6, but it has multiple uses. It can be used to highlight, contour and blush; perfect.

Things I'm Thankful For

I've been on a high of pure happiness this week (a week off work'll do that to ya!) and I felt like spreading the joy over here on the blog. Nothing totally huge or life changing happening lately, but it's all those little things that make life amazing anyway, isn't it? :)

1. Having days off with Gary to spend as we please.
2. Seeing Big Hero 6 in the cinema finally (we're big kids).
3. Collecting pineapples. Not the actual fruit; trinkets, stationary, prints, clothes. I'm obsessed. 
4. Longer evenings of sunshine - Spring is here!
5. Spring Fashion. Pastels and florals are my fave. 
6. Instagram; forever inspiring me and curing boredom.
7. Meeting other Bloggers. This has been an amazing month of finally putting faces to names!
8. New eyebrows. This sounds weird, but I've definitely gotten more confidence/compliments since!
9. Catching up with old friends. Yesterday I had the best day/evening out ever with a group of old College friends. Drinking, laughs, silliness; Just lovely.
10. Reaching my blog birthday! Dorkface just turned 1 year old, yay! Check my full post here.

Hope everyone else had a lovely week. What's been making you smile?





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One Year Blogging

Exactly one year ago today, I published my first blog post here on Dorkface. I had dabbled in other blogs before; much smaller, badly thought out, and I never stuck by them. Last March however, at a time when my anxiety, stress and unhappiness was at an all time high, I decided to create a blog that I would really put all my effort into. I wanted to create a place that would become my online 'home', where I could put all my creativity to some use, write about things that interested me, and focus my life on the things that mattered to me.
And so my little journey began. This blog encouraged me to be a positive person, to strive to be better wherever I could, to step out of my little bubble and open myself up to the world and all the different  and wonderful people in it. I didn't realise this at the time of course, I was simply writing about beauty products in the beginning. It took a while before I realised I wanted to also write about my experiences, my thoughts, Art, my inspirations and all of my dreams.
I've had the most amazing things happen to me since I began this blog, and I'm grateful for new things every single day. I've made some wonderful friends, I've been brave and put myself out there, I've gone to meet ups and found the loveliest people, I've somehow gained followers who read my words on a daily basis, I've felt more creative than I ever have before, I've been invited to special events because of my blog, I've gained a support system I never knew existed, I've changed my career and I have become a totally different person. I can barely recognise the girl I used to be, as she was nowhere near as happy as I am now. I feel like I was living in my own little cocoon, and this blog gave me the drive to push myself free, and burst out into the sunshine in my truest form.
I almost can't believe a whole year has gone by already, yet I feel as if I've been doing this forever. I really struggle to imagine what the hell I used to do with my time before this blog. I simply cannot imagine not doing this now, and I'd never want to. I've learned so much in such a short space of time, and so much has changed. I wonder what life will look like in another year?
I'd like to just take today to say a huge thank you to anyone who ever visits this blog and cares what I have to say. No matter what you're reading; whether it's my latest beauty haul, thoughts on current events, my artwork, empowering other women or just checking to see what I've been up to this week - you have made me so happy and it does make a difference. Thank you for encouraging me and believing in me and giving me a place to stay. Because when you visit this blog on your laptop/phone/tablet; you are giving me a little place to share my thoughts with you, you are letting me into your life, if only for a moment. I'm eternally grateful for that time and space in your mind. 
Knowing I can write these words down and people will come to read them... Amazing. I hope I do you proud.
I have no idea what the next year has in store for me, but I'm feeling good about it. I feel like I can handle anything bad, and I'll be grateful for everything good that comes my way. I hope you continue to join me on this journey, because it's a hell of a ride.
I love you all.




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Lord & Berry Makeup Review

I recently had the pleasure of trying out some Lord & Berry products for the first time, and wanted to share my thoughts and first impressions with you guys. I've had around two weeks trying each of the products, and thoroughly tested them in various situations (I drink a lot of coffee and never have time to reapply my makeup in work!), so I feel I can confidently share my thoughts now.

I don't know why I've never tried Lord & Berry before, it's just never really hit my radar until now. A lovely friend kindly gifted me with some products she thought would be perfect for me, and I was thrilled to take them on a test drive. I've been using the semi-matte red lipstick in 'Vogue', eyeliner in 'Sparkle Black', and the stardust loose eye shadow in 'Gold Black'. Maybe these choices were on a whim, but I prefer to imagine my friends think I'm very suited to smoky eyes and red lips; oooh yes, suave and sophisticated I am.

Is there anything quite like unwrapping a new lipstick, popping off the top, turning the base and revealing that beautiful colour for the first time? Just look at this beauty, it's a stunning shade of deep cherry red.

From the first smooth swipe across my lips, I knew this lipstick was just made for me. It's a semi-matte finish which means it stays in place very well, but is still full of enough moisture to make your lips feel soft and supple. I always fall for a really good red when it comes to lipsticks, and this one is no different. I feel it strikes a good balance between a daytime red and nightwear too, which is usually as hard as it sounds. This has quickly become my new staple lipstick. The formula is beautiful and I'm already looking at other shades in their range.

When I first tried out the sparkle black eyeliner my honest reaction was, 'Ooh!' - I'm easily impressed. But I think I've only ever used plain black eyeliners, so the idea of a little sparkle appealed to me greatly. 

As you can see from the photographs, this eyeliner offers a strong, deep black with delicate flecks of silver/white sparkle. I have to tell you guys, I love this! It's so pretty and powerful all at once. I've only used this for evenings and special, dressier occasions as I find it make me feel a little more 'dolled up', but you could easily rock this style daytime if you preferred. 

And finally I've been using the Gold Black eye shadow that you can see above, which is so beautiful. It really is made for a sultry smokey lid and killer cats eye. I do really love this and I'll be using it as much as possible, however; I do worry it's wasted on my eyes as I have hooded lids unfortunately. Which means you can't always see the work that goes into my eye makeup, but there we go. I'll be enjoying this anyway.
Have you tried any products from Lord & Berry before?





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The Wonderful #NWBloggersMeetUp !

Source - Hannah 
Considering I only attended my very first blog event 2 weeks ago, I think I've done fantastic to attend another in such a short space of time! This one had been planned and in my diary for a long time though, and I was so excited for months leading up to it!
A group of 25 North West girls all together in one bar swapping tips, having a laugh and enjoying some lovely gift bags? Pretty perfect. The event was held in Kabinett just outside the very center of Liverpool, and is as quirky and beautiful as I could ever want. With plenty of sofas for relaxing, and a playlist to die for; they have made my dream bar to be honest. We each were given our gift bags upon arrival and they had a range of amazing things inside for us. We had one bag designed especially for us from Wild Thang filled with goodies from various brands I'll mention in a moment. Then we also had a very generous gift bag each from Utility, and finally one from Natalie Roche. So yes, we were spoiled!

Source - Sammy

Once we had all chatted among ourselves and I had finally met some girls who I'd spoken to for months online (yay!), we had a good mooch around the two brands that attended the event; Lucy who represented Natalie Roche, and Carrie from Junkbox. Natalie Roche are UK distributors that represent Amazing Cosmetics, GLAMGLOW and Xen Tan. We got the opportunity to test out the brands, talk about the work that goes into them, and even get some samples in our bags! Carrie from Junkbox was an absolute sweetheart, I'm not even exaggerating. She was the loveliest and coolest person I've ever met, haha! She had a table full of her products including hats, tshirts, jumpers, necklaces, stationary, mugs; and they were all beautiful. I honestly wanted to buy everything, but I settled on one of her unique necklaces. 

Source - Hannah

Malinki HD Brows

Hello my lovelies! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and you're all ready for the week ahead bright eyed and bushy tailed. Speaking of bushes (don't..), I'm so excited to share my recent eyebrow adventures with you all! Yes, eyebrow adventures, that's right.
You know those girls who have just perfect eyebrows, beautifully arched, natural looking & just pretty splendid? Well I've honestly lusted after girls like this for the longest time, seriously. I mean, with eyebrows like that, they obviously have their whole life put together don't they? They're the type of girls who always look stylish, who are beautiful without makeup, who never spill anything, and who understand taxes and other grown up things. Those be boss bitches, and I want a piece of that. Sadly, as soon as I looked in the mirror and studied my own eyebrows, I was always left a little disheartened. For someone who is naturally brown haired; I have super light brows, and really thin. Non existent is a better description to be honest. If I ever took my makeup completely off, it looked like I literally had none. So I've always been hunting for the best pencils, powders, kits to help me look a little more normal. And every morning I'd try my best to fill them in without reaching the level of 'Scouse brow' - eek. This was the only part of my beauty routine I really hated. I thoroughly enjoy applying my makeup and transforming my face, it's such a great way to feel powerful and pretty if I need it. But my brows? Ughh, I'll happily pay someone to do them for me.
Enter Malinki.

Malinki is situated on Rodney Street in Liverpool, and is just a little bit swanky; without making you feel out of place. Maybe it's just me and my bright green hair/awkward personality that feels like this in many beauty places, but I always worry about going somewhere new like this. I worry that I'll feel like I shouldn't be there (god knows why) and that I'll be judged. Because let's face it, some place ARE like that, and it doesn't help my social anxiety. Anyway, we (I brought a friend for support!) got buzzed into the building and made our way up to the top floor and introduced to Frances; the absolute sweetheart who was to take care of my brows. I immediately felt more comfortable than I expected, as we were in a small room getting them done. Much better than a huge open place where everyone is getting different things done, and all listening into each others gossip as you do.

I sat down, got comfortable, and then had a chat with Frances about what I was hoping for. I warned her I didn't have much for her to work with, and when she cleaned off my brow powder she got a good look at what I meant. I explained I didn't expect miracles since they were so thin and light, but anything that made them a little more defined would be brilliant. She explained everything she was doing, asked about the exact shade I wanted and offered brilliant advice which I really appreciated. Honestly, I was clueless and she was beyond lovely. The only job I had to do then was sit back, and let her work her magic. She proceeded to wax away strays (did not hurt one bit!), create a better brow shape for me, and tint them to a much better suited shade for my face. It's at this point she would use your hair colour as a good factor in deciding the shade for your brows, but since my hair is green; that didn't really come into it. The best part of this was that she kept wiping away the tint so I could see what shade they were at, and we could decide if we wanted to go darker or not. So it was a gradual process with regular checks, which meant I knew exactly how they were turning out - Not a Scouse Brow in sight!
When I was all done, I finally got to see the finished result. So here we go, the before & after photo we've all been waiting for...

I'm sure you can all see now what I mean about having Casper-like eyebrows. But yay for getting this fixed! Apologies for the crappy photographs, but I've had a few camera issues this week. Hopefully you can see the massive difference this session has made to me already. I plan on just leaving my eyebrows completely alone, letting them grow however I can, and visiting Fran again in a few weeks time. I will happily pay for this every few weeks just to make myself feel a little more groomed and special. Even now, when I'm sat here writing this at night with not a scrap of makeup on; I feel so much prettier. I have an arch and shape to my eyebrows, and they are clearly visible without any brow powder in sight. I couldn't be happier! I feel less naked, if that makes sense?

I know some of you are blessed with naturally beautiful brows, but if you are someone who would like them a little more defined, or shaped a little better; then I definitely recommend you go to Malinki (if you're in the North West!). I'm not the type of girl who usually indulges in various beauty treatments, but I really wanted to share this experience with you guys because I was SO happy with the result. I also wanted to feel a little better about myself for those days going makeup free. Confidence should come from within, but sometimes a little treat like this helps massively. And for only £25? Bargain!

If you're interested in giving your brows a little extra love, then you can get in touch with Frances on Twitter, Facebook or the Malinki website. Also in case some of you are wondering, I've not been paid or sponsored at all to write this post, I just genuinely had a wonderful experience and wanted to thank Frances for helping me look and feel a little bit better! It's hard to find such lovely beauticians who really listen to you, and make you feel good.

*Image courtesy of Malinki

You can find more photos of me being a little poser, all confident with my new brows here and here ;) Have a great day everyone!

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Week In Review

I apologise for this being a photo heavy post, but I took quite a few snaps I wanted to share over the past week. It's been one of ups and downs to be honest. But mostly ups, so we'll concentrate on the good stuff and hopefully encourage more of it :)

On Tuesday I had the day off with Gary (for once!) and we thought we'd make the most of it. We went out for morning drinks at a local Central Perk 'Friends' themed coffee shop and enjoyed the cosy sofas, constant Friends episodes being played, and a quiet and chilled atmosphere. It's not too far from where we live, and I have a feeling it'll be our new 'spot' as it's so chilled in there. I love coffee shops and cute cafes but they're usually so busy in town! This place however, in the mornings can be an isolated little gem.. before the local students wake up ;)