GlossyBox Review || July 2013

I bought my first ever GlossyBOX in july and I must say I was mightly impressed! The products came in a little turquoise box with little coral images on it (very suitable for the month). 

I wanted to start off with my favorite product from the July box, the "Bamboo Style Boho Waves Tousled Hair Mist". Normally on a day-to-day basis I dont like doing anything fancy with my hair, it takes way too much time and effort for the 5 minutes I get in the morning before college (I confess I am that person who will skip doing their hair occasionally in the mornings), but spritzing a couple of pumps of this each morning gave my natural waves a boost and transformed them into cute curls instead of frizz. I've been dying to get some sea salt spray for months and now I can't live without it!

For those of you living in or visiting hot countries this summer staying cool is essential and so is this facial spritz by antamologie. One thing I want to highlight is that it has a very unique smell as the product also contains lavender! I honestly don't know how to explain it except by using the word "fresh". I would of preferred this as body spritz instead of facial spritz.

One product I didn't enjoy was the "Sleek Pout Paint", it was a very big disappointment. Supposedly "Lip Paint" is meant to provide you with long lasting and full colour however when I tried it it actually felt like I was applying acrylic paint to my lips (not a nice experience). Apperence-wise it looked like a young child had drawn all over my lips in windows paint, definitely would not recommend this.

I didn't have much use for this "Coola Mineral Suncream" as I live in the UK (it rains A LOT). However my new NARS foundation (as you may have seen on my youtube channel) doesn't contain SPF, which being a "pale freckled red head" was my worst nightmare! People with fair skin have to take extra precautions to protect their skin as we get sunburnt easily which causes skin damage, wrinkles and could leave us with a high risk of skin cancer (so for extra protection I used it under my everyday make-up). It's scent is almost a combination of plastic and suncream, but it left my skin soft and protected, which made me feel good inside and out.

Last but not least is the "Essie Sleek Stick" which I had high hopes for after reading rave reviews about "Essie's" nail products. They come in a range of different patterns which all look lovely however most of the nail stickers said to have been "designed to fit perfectly for my nail" really didn't and only covered up about half of my nail. Also I found that I the nail stickers were very delicate and would bend on themselves if brushed against something slightly making them very impractical. In the end they were half-peeling off my nails by a few hours so I decided to take them off. I liked the look of this product however these beauties were not long-lasting!

All together I was very happy with my first beauty box, and I am looking forward to trying out and reviewing even more unique products in the future.

What beauty boxes have you tried and tested? and which one is your favourite?

Tweet me at @AnnieeeMAC

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Joining AWWCollab

Quite a while ago I auditioned for a collab channel called “AWWCollab” there was a massive response to the audition’s and many youtuber's entered. I didn’t get a place on this channel but added one of the founders on tumblr anyway because she seemed really nice and she had an awesome blog. Earlier tonight I saw a post on her blog saying that the collab channel’s Wednesday had dropped out of the collab, so eagerly I typed a message to see If I could reapply for the channel. I just got a message back from the collab and not only did they say “I remember your audition” and “you were one of the people we really wanted to pick” but they said “WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU ON THE COLLAB CHANNEL”. I literally freaked and stopped breathing…..seriously. I cannot thank you guys enough for letting me join this awesome collab!

SO GO SUBSCRIBE TO THE COLLAB HERE OR BE SQUARE!:    http://www.youtube.com/user/awcollab

also check out my personal youtube:

www.youtube.com/anniemac3295

and my twitter:

@annieeemac

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"Exploring Canada" continued

For the last post in my "Exploring Canada" Series I head off to Ottawa to visit my relatives. Since 2011 I've only been on a couple of city holiday's (i.e. sightseeing) with my mum, and this year after finishing my A2 exams it was really refreshing to go on holiday to just relax by the pool with an ice cream.

We took many (too many for my tummy) trips down to the quaint town of "Merrickville" for original ice cream, including a watermelon flavor and an orange/black licorice flavor (yuck!), we also had a couple of boxes of "Poutine". Now for those of you who have no idea what i'm on about "Poutine" is a traditional Canadian specialty, made up of chips smothered in gravy and cheese curds. Sounds disgusting right? It has to be one of my top must-try food's if your heading to Canada on a holiday! It tastes delicious and is highly addictive.

For a fun activity we decided to go out white water rafting for the day, perfect for a hot summers day! We went with OWL rafting who provided us with excellent (not to mention gorgeous looking) guides for the day, and we set off on a yellow school bus (I have an unhealthy obsession with these vehicles). During the day we paddled our way through several rapids and even surfed against a few! Due to being in a sports raft (6 people) instead of a 12 man raft we were bound to find ourselves in the rapids a little...big understatement.

This is my favourite shot from the holiday, it's my younger cousin "Drew" and myself at his 16th Birthday party. To conclude this post I had a lovely time in Canada and I can't wait to go back next year! It was a wonderful way to socialise with my much missed cousins and the trip really motivated me to get off my sofa and do something with my life, so here is a little bit of motivation for you:

Hope that gives you guys some happiness for the week, do tell me if you would like to see more travel posts or motivational posts in the comments below or tweet me at:

@annieeemac

Also I have joined bloglovin! So remember to follow my blog on there and my "Exploring Canada" video should on Youtube by monday :)

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"Exploring Canada" Day 3: Walking on the Edge

I headed to Toronto for a special reason and that is to attempt the Edgewalk challenge, a walk around the top of the CN Tower (that's 1,168 ft above the ground!)

I'm attempting this walk in memory of my grandmother Maisie who suffered with Alzheimer's and sadly died in 2008, I have decided because of this to fund-raise for the charity "Alzheimers Society". This special charity works to improve the quality of life of people affected by Dementia; including myself. The word Dementia describes a set of symptoms that include memory loss & mood changes, there are also several different types of Dementia. During my own family's struggle with Dementia, "Alzheimers Society" provided us with information, care workers, equipment and most importantly gave us support when some days it all got a bit too much.

I was really looking forward to the walk and seeing the CN Tower for the first time cemented my excitement. We had about 30 minutes of safety talks and checks (including a Breathalyzer, metal detector, a pat down and our harness' checked about 8 times) then it was off to the top. The view of Toronto was spectacular and exhilarating and took a while to get over! Whilst on the walk we did a couple of activities including "Toe's over Toronto", leaning backwards and forwards off the edge, and walking on the edge; we also found out that we were part of the Guinness World Records for walking the highest walk in the world (pretty exciting!).

Afterwards I met with a lovely representative from "Alzheimers Society of Toronto" named Bev. We took some photo's together for the charities facebook page and then I was treated to a refreshing  ice cream (well appreciated when the temperature outside was reaching heights of about 36 degrees!)

Highlights from the Edgewalk DVD will be going up on my Youtube channel in a couple a weeks, until then feel free to check out some other video's I've made on my channel here

So what things do you have on your bucket list?
Leave a comment or just tweet me at

@AnnieeeMac

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"Exploring Canada" Day 1 & 2

I have just arrived back from my 12 day trip to Canada visiting relatives and tourist sights. I have been to Ottawa in Canada a total of four times now to visit relatives and I can't get enough of it!

We started off in Toronto, the big famous city of Canada, (despite Ottawa being the capital) and straight after we arrived we jumped right in by taking a stroll on its sidewalk's. For newbie travelers out there, NEVER let a man lead you in a foreign city. My dad felt very confident repeating "I know exactly where i'm going! I don't need a map!", but I got an extra map just in case dad's new-found confidence faltered and got us lost. It's safe to state I should never trust him with directions  ever again; as he successfully managed to get us lost in the gay district of Toronto, to say spotting black spandex mankini's in a shop window was mentally scarring is an understatement.

For our second day in Canada we took a trip to the beautiful Niagara Falls with the tour company "City Sightseeing"! I don't think words can do this magnificent and overwhelming place enough justice, as expected both Me and Dad got soaked even with "raincoats" (i.e. plastic bags) on. We also went on the famous "Maid of the Mist" boat ride which takes you right up/under the falls (an unmissable experience and highly recommended for great views and fun!). The tour also let us explore the surrounding town and an "Ice Wine" tasting session, the 'wine' was had a sweetness level of over 20/30!

For day 3 of 'Exploring Canada' featuring the "Edgewalk Challenge" click here

I hope you feel inspired to write about your summer travelling whether it may be abroad or just down to the beach with friends!

Tell me what you guys have been up to by sending me a tweet:
@AnnieeeMac

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