My Week On Instagram

Hello and happy Sunday lovelies ^_^

Although perhaps not if you're dreading the Monday blues! Eek.

Today I'm summarizing my past week on Instagram!

Top to Bottom, Left to Right.

1. I shared my little afternoon craftiness I had with Clay. And it really was a fun little experiment.

2. ..Which actually made me this little beaded necklace. Cute eh? Find the DIY post here.

3. I captured the first glimpses of Autumn with excitement! 

4. Decisions...

5. A Selfie. Because I really love wearing glasses.

6. My adorable, cute, little unicorn plushie from Gary. It changes from male to female often :) <3

7. My best friend, my soul mate. Gary ♥

8. Just admiring the days makeup. Lots of covering dark circles lately, eep!

9. The nails I have at the moment. Do you like?

Remember you can follow me on Instagram here :)

Goodbye Summer Makeup

Loreal Paris 301  'Dating Coral' Lipstick -|- MUA 'Lolly' Blusher -|- Benefit High Beam Highlighter -|- Eyeko Liquid Eyeliner -|- Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 'Ivory'.

We all love a makeup post, so I thought why not share what I've wore the past two days on my face for you all to see? After all it can be nice to see what's behind the bright eyes (I wish) and perky cheeks (pfft..) sometimes.
To be honest as much as I'm loving that we're now headed into Autumn, I wanted to make the most of those Summer hues. So that's why I've gone for coral lips and cheeks, and a bit of Highbeam to brighten under my eyes and give a lovely dewy, glow. I've kept my eyes pretty bare as I have enough colour on with my lips and cheeks already.
Soon you'll be seeing smoky eyes, with red/plum lips. My fave hues for heading into Autumn! 
Do you have different looks for different seasons? Let me know! :)

BareMinerals Bareskin Foundation

BareMinerals are a brand I personally love, and their products almost always leave me super happy :)

So knowing this, I was thrilled last week when I seen on their Facebook they were giving away free samples of their new Brightening Serum Foundation 'Bareskin'. I jumped at the chance, and gave in my details to receive a sample. I also made my boyfriend do this, so that I could try two different shades, cheeky I know!

I opted for a light, porcelain and a slightly warmer natural shade. The only frustrating thing is that these samples do not have the individual names on them, so to purchase one of these specific ones I'll have to visit one of their counters with the sample bottle and ask. But that's not the end of the world really is it?

Each little sample contains 3ml, and while this doesn't seem much I must say it goes a long way. I this photograph below, you can see I only have a very small amount on my brush. This did my whole face, and neck too! 

I can't believe how buildable this foundation is. A little really does go a long way. It felt so soft and silky on my skin, and I can really see a great improvement under my eyes where I suffer from dark circles. The fluid and sleek application helped this product apply evenly over my skin, and I felt I got a really good coverage from this, without it seeming 'cakey'. 

I'm really glad I got to try the two samples, because I was able to see which shade suited my skin better. I decided that the slightly darker one was too much for my pale skin (see above), and decided to go with the more porcelain tone. I was so impressed by this foundation, it's definitely going on my list of products to buy in the next few weeks. I was going to make Estee Lauder Double Wear my next foundation to buy, but I'll probably get this first! Wonderful stuff.

Its SPF 20 (brilliant) and retails for £26 on their website. I'm so skint at the moment, but this definitely seems worth it, even to me! That's must tell you how much it's impressed me.

I felt beautiful with this on my skin.

Have you guys given this a try/will you?

Book Review: The Calling by Neil Cross

If you're an avid bookworm like myself, you might appreciate the odd book review here and there speckled between the beauty reviews, DIY's, lifestyle posts and such. If not, then maybe this isn't the post for you. I love nothing more than buying a brand new book, being so excited you start it on the the way home, and being kept awake until the wee hours because you can't put it down.

My latest experience of this is with Neil Cross' book 'The Calling'. This is a John Luther novel, and it's what the television series 'Luther' featuring Idris Elba was based on. But one thing I want to say straight away; you don't need to have seen the TV show to follow this novel, but I seriously recommend you do! It's a fantastic, addictive gem of a TV show, and it made me fall in love with Idris Elba.

But anyway, this book is one for you Crime Fiction lovers out there! It's a gritty, dark and compelling read following DCI John Luther on one of the most gruesome cases he's faced yet. He's an intense character, almost always on the side of good, but understanding of when he needs to cross the line to help the vulnerable. And cross it he does.

It's so hard to explain what makes Luther such a fascinating character to follow. He is a man of few words and many thoughts. Dark and moody, but a kindness within him that shines through the pages on his quest for justice. I challenge you to not like him.

In all honesty I loved Cross's writing style, descriptions are kept short but concise. He's to the point while still capturing the sense of place and characters in a fascinating way that keeps you interested. I loved that he wrote from the antagonist's point of view too, giving us insight into this dark character without ruining the ghoulish mood throughout the book.

I don't want to spoil too much from the story, but I will say it kept me hooked from the moment I began. I read this in two days, and while I'm a quick reader anyway this one was certainly because of late nights unable to put it down. I seen 5am at one point... Go, read this immediately. It's thrilling, your heart aches for Luther and beats faster for the chase. You'll love it.

Autumn Days

I think we can all agree Autumn is well and truly here now, and if you know me you know I couldn't be happier about this. I love Autumn more than any other season.

I wanted to give a photo heavy post that reminds me of Autumn or inspires me during this time, featuring some of my favourite things about the season. I hope you enjoy!

*Just to note - None of these images are mine, I have taken them from various sources such as Tumblr & Pinterest. I do not know the original owners, but if you do I will happily credit them. I am using these photographs purely as an inspiration, and do not claim them to be my own. I have also kept the original file names, if this helps identify sources.

DIY: Beaded Necklace

Oh how I love a craft post! I haven't done one in a little bit, even though I have so many ideas I want to try! It's just harder to find the time and space sometimes, but this week I managed to create something I'm really happy with.
Now if you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen me posting images of my latest creation.

Yes, I've been making cute beaded necklaces with a marble effect.

And if you fancy making your own, here are the things you'll need:

Polymer Clay (I got mine from Ebay!),

A Pin or Toothpick,

Some String, or whatever material you'd like your 'chain' to be,

Glitter (optional, but totally cute!).

And I'm gonna walk you through how I created this.

1. Assemble all your tools, in a clean protected work space.

2. Decide on what colour clay you want to use. If using two together to make a marble effect like I did, try to use two that compliment each other well.

3. Start to squish, roll and soften your clay. It's gona be quite tough at first so you really wana loosen it up. You could even use a glass or rolling pin to flatten and roll it out. You can also add glitter to it now if you wish.

4. Mix in your second colour, if you wish to use one, and then roll this all together into a ball. You can decide on the size . I did one big one, two medium, and two a little smaller. I also used a range of colours too. Once you have your balls, pop your pin or toothpick right through the middle. You want this to be the width of your string, so it can pass through easily.

5. Now pop all your little creations on a baking tray & cook in the oven for 20 minutes at Gas Mark 4. I'm not sure what the equivalent of this is outside UK etc, but it's easily googled! Once done, let them cool for another 10-15. They should be hard now, and not able to squish.

6. Now you're ready to loop the string through, adjust it to the length you like & cut where needed. Then just tie the two string ends in a knot to secure. And...

Voila! A pretty little creation to call your own.

This idea can be adjusted to make a bracelet, or maybe a key ring trinket etc. As you can see from the above photos, you don't just have to stick to spherical shapes either!

There's a lot of possibilities. I'm sure I'll be making a few more of these ^_^

What do you guys think?

Better Blogging In 6 Steps

So back in March I started Dorkface. An idea that had been swirling around my head for a while, and felt like a place I could call home. Six months is a very short time, but I feel like I've learned a few things in this experience to share with you. Six tips from six months blogging! Maybe you can relate, or maybe you're just starting a blog of your own? I am by no means an expert, obviously! There is so much I need to do myself to improve, but I'm simply sharing some tips which I've found to have helped me so far.


1. The biggest blessing is other bloggers ♥ I didn't realise blogging would have such a huge social aspect to it when I first began. For a start, you can get involved on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, follow other bloggers, take part in the scheduled chats and even attend blogger meet ups. I'm yet to do a meet up yet, but so keen! Other bloggers keep you sane when nobody else understands what you're doing. They help you with tips, tricks and general blogging inquiries. You find people who love the things you do and are so friendly! This is the best part about blogging for me personally.

2. You need to think about your skills ♥ If you want an audience that will appreciate your posts and visit again, then you may want to think about improving one or two skills. For me, I'm writing all the time whether it's for a post or not, because I want to improve as much as possible. For this same reason it's important to read as much as possible. Take in what other bloggers are doing, and how they do it well. You may want to practise your photography skills if your blog is photo heavy too. And I always recommend getting a good layout that suits your blog. Always look to improve where you can.

3. Be passionate ♥ Why do it if you aren't wholeheartedly excited by it? At the end of the day you should be doing this for nobody but yourself, and you've gotta love it. Write if you love to write, take photographs everyday if want to, create recipes to share with your readers, whatever. However you choose to express yourself, put your heart into it and remember why you started. A half arsed post that you've forced yourself to write last minute will be obvious to anyone who reads it anyway.

4. Honesty really is the best policy ♥ Always be true to yourself, even if you feel like the 'odd one out'. If you're reviewing a product, be honest with what you think about it. Don't feel pressure even if it's been gifted to you by a company, to lie. Or even if every other blogger out there is loving it. You don't? Say so! I mean, maybe don't be rude. But explain yourself, and you'll be appreciated for your honesty.

5. Lose certain expectations ♥ I can't count the amount of times I've visited amazing blogs and felt so intimidated by their successes and achievements, and left myself feeling bad. It's the worst thing you can do. Do not compare yourself to others! You are totally different people, on different paths. Especially if like me you've only been blogging a few months and you compare yourself to someone who has been at it for years. Don't expect magic to happen, you have to put in the time and effort. Don't do it for the numbers, do it for yourself, and the rest will follow.

6. Stay inspired ♥ There's nothing worse than bloggers block eh? You want to post, but have no idea where to start. It's annoying to say the least. I've found that the things that give me ideas and inspire me most are listening to music, taking a break from the computer altogether, visiting other blogs, going over your own archive and deciding what's missing, or what you'd like to cover again. For example maybe you're a beauty blogger & you could try out a whole new makeup look? Decide what makes you happy and creating posts based around that. Sometimes inspiration will hit you, other times you have to run at it and grab it by the horns!
Good luck! x