The #RushBloggerMeet

Last week I was pleasantly surprised by an invite that popped up in my email for a bloggers meetup, being a big newbie in the world of both blogging and beauty I was instantly buzzing with excitement (more like screaming the house down) and rsvp'd straight away!

I headed down to London all dolled up, donning a bright red primark dress and some cute black heels ready for the evening event. Safe to say I wasn't expecting to get there 2 and a half hours early, for the heavens to open (turning my sophisticated evening look into more of a drowned rat) or my heels to cause me a pain similar to someone chopping off my toes, but the main thing was I made it. This was my first time traveling to London alone, so I was very nervous (probably looked like I has having a seizure to onlookers). So after helping myself to a cream cooler and Costa's free wifi, I still had an hour to kill, luckily the National Art Gallery was just down the road and my inner art student couldn't resist a visit!

Finally the time came for the meet-up to start, I was still a little early so I took full advantage of the free manicures before any queues started (My nails were painted with O.P.I's Big Apple Red) and had a little explore before the venue got packed with bloggers. The event was being held at the House of Rush in Piccadilly and was organised by top beauty bloggers, Becky (Lipgloss and Lashes) and Laura (Lauzzenger). I travelled upstairs to find dazzling chandeliers, trays of mouth watering nibbles, free bubbly and a range of treatments and products for us bloggers to try.

This was also where I met my first blogger friends Natalie (TheFashFeed) and Angelica (LoveFromAngelic), we quickly got chatting and realised that we all had a lot in common! We all headed upstairs to experience a mini "Oxygenator Facial", the machine pumps out  pure oxygen, which is  sprayed or 'air-brushed' over your skin giving you instant hydration, whilst also smoothing out any fine lines or wrinkles. I really enjoyed how this made my face appear hydrated, and fresh, whilst keeping my makeup in tact! This facial made me feel much more awake for the rest of the night.

I also managed to observe the Live Botox session where Dr. Gillian Carver applied a "Top-up" to the clients previous Botox instalment. I was taken aback by how quick and small the procedure was, as-well as how natural the finished product looked. For anyone interested in future Botox treatment I recommend looking into Epsom Skin Clinics.

I met so many lovely bloggers during the course of the night, here are their links and i thoughrly recommend you check them out: 

Olivia (BeautyfromtheFjord)

Angelica (LovefromAngelic)

Monica (MakeupandLondon)

Rachel (BeautyQueenUK)

Dani (SoManyLovelyThings)

Sophia (BeautyinmyMind)

Zoe (FaceValueBlog)

Tijan (TijanSerena)

Anna (AnnaNuttal)

Amanda (HoneyPopKisses)

Carima (Scrapbookofallsorts)

Selina (MissFashion1994)

Natalie (TheFashFeed)

Sheen (GoldenandSheen)

I also got a cute little goodiebag which contained:

A Catherine Colebrook Tote Bag

A Smooch Blusher
2 W7 Lipsticks
Some Magic Soap
A South Beach Discount Code
A Sample of Structure Paste

A massive thankyou to both Laura and Becky for organising this wonderful event and to Rush Hair and beauty for hosting.

P.S. If you guys want to have any treatments done at The House of Rush you can quoteBLOG20 for 20% off any Beauty Treatments and MICRO50 for 50% off Microderm Treatments.

But this expires on the 31st of October!

AnnieMAC

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EXCLUSIVE: Mariah Carey inspired nail polishes coming soon to O.P.I !

O.P.I has just announced the launch of 18 new limited edition holiday nail polishes inspired by international superstar Mariah Carey. I had a sneak peak at the new colours at the Olympia Beauty show and they are gorgeous! And also perfect for the festive holiday season. I spotted an assortment of red, burgundy, maroon and chocolate brown hues, along with glitter-packed gold, bronze and pearl shades which all looked fabulous!

The collection also features 6 new Liquid Sand polishes, which range from icy blue to frosted pink to sparkling graphite.

"Mariah Carey  is truly synonomous with the holiday season" says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director, and I cant help but agree full heartedly with this statement. In all honesty I am obsessed with christmas, and by 'obsessed' I mean listening to "Jingle Bell Rock" on repeat mid May...

Here's a sneak preview of the collection:

Visions of Love || Warm Me Up || Wondrous Star

All Sparkly and Gold || Sleigh Ride for Two || Ski Slope Sweetie

All I want for Christmas is O.P.I || Cute Little Vixen || Underneath the Mistletoe

In my Santa Suit || I Snow You Love Me || Silent Stars Go By

Baby Please Come Home || Make Him Mine || Its Frosty Outside

My Favourite Ornament || Emotions || Kiss Me at Midnight

My personal favourite from the new collection is "All I want for Christmas is O.P.I" because of its gorgeous ruby red colour which brings back memories of the many happy Christmases I celebrated as a child.

So are you as excited for these new christmas shades as I am?

Tell me which polish you most looking forward to down below!
You can also visit the O.P.I official website for more information


AnnieMAC
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Beauty Blogger Tag!

Hello! Since I got a few new followers and also started writing some more posts I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself a little more with Beauty Blogger Tag! Even though I was not tagged by anyone I will still do it just because I like it. If you want to do this or have done this in the past - leave a link in the comments, I would love to read your answers!

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

My hair is naturally wavy, unfortunately If I try to brush? Frizz.

2. What is your natural hair colour?

I've dyed my hair a lot but my hair was originally a light auburn.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

My mum works at a salon so I go there :)

4. How often do you wash your hair?

Every other day is enough for me. I have an oily scalp but I make sure to not wash my hair too often otherwise my oil glands would be confused and make my hair greasy enough to fry chips on.

5. Do you wear the same style every day or change it?

I like a change but I usually wear my hair naturally wavy with wispy bits of hair tied back with bobbi pins.

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

My mum is a beauty therapist/hairdresser so she normally does my nails, unless Im feeling extra creative with nail art.

7. How often to you change your nail polish?

I only paint my nails for special occasions, vacations or events. I normally have Gel nails which last about 2 weeks.

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter, too or just in the summer?

Only in the summer. I don't bare my legs after September so I don't bother painting my toes.

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup?

Usually around 30 minutes before school or if I'm in a huge rush I can take 15 minutes and be ready to go. If I'm going out for something more fancy I take about 50 minutes.

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

I make sure to do my face first, as sometimes I find it difficult to avoid my eye area when I'm trying to blend or apply my powder .

11. Do you "collect" makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

Since I'm only 18 I can't buy everything I want and just mainly stick to something I need. I'm sure I will start collecting more once I have a regular job/income.

12. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

I only wear them for very formal events and shows (I'm a performer!).

13. Do you do a full face of makeup every day?

For school - yes. I just feel a ton better with makeup on.

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)?

Never. Why would I want to clog my pores even more, especially if I don't need it.

15. Will you leave the house without makeup?

No! But I do minimise how much I put on depending on the weather and if my acne is acting up.

16. How many high end products do you have?

Only my Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in "Raisins, NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in "Gobi" and NARS Blush in "Orgasm". Im on a student budget at the moment so I mainly own budget buy's.

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes?

I try to deep clean them every week but I tend to get lazy with that.

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you are getting dressed?

I plan my outfits every so often when I have the time.

19. How often do you change your handbag?

I don't usually. I have a few but when I buy a new one I tend to stick to it. 

20. What time do you get up & go to sleep?

On school days I wake up at 6:00am and go to sleep at 1am. On the weekend, since I'm a night owl for sure, I go to sleep at 3-4am and wake up at around 12pm if I don't have work.

21. How often & when do you workout?

I don't, apart from walking to college! Although Im about to start up dancing again by buying some Zumba DVD's.

22. Left-handed or Right-handed?

Right-handed.

23. How tall are you?

157cm or 5'2"

24. Do you speak a foreign language?

I speak English rather well. But I also speak basic French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin and Italian.

25. How many pets do you have?

Just a dog but we're expecting to add a cat to the family soon.

 26. How often are you on Blogger?

Every day!

27. Do you read the comments posted on blogs?

Yes! Every one!

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yes. I like to research and if I need a particular item and see a post I will put it in my wishlist so I could remember to buy it when I have money.

29. How did you come up with your blog name?

I've been called Annie for as long as I can remember and I admit, the name has more ring to it then "Anna". My last name is MACfarlane and I really wanted to incorporate my full name into my blog name, and of course MAC is one of my favourite makeup brands!

30. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

For now I use my phone's Samsung Galaxy 4's camera and it works pretty well in my opinion, aswell as my Canon 650D when I have the time.

31. How often do you clean your house? (Daily, weekly, other)

I try my best to do that weekly but it usually doesn't happen.

32. What is your favorite colour?

Red ♥

33. What is your favorite beauty/fashion magazine?

I do like a monthly "COMPANY" magazine.

34. Do you swear?

Yes.

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

It's already 10.30pm so I'm going to watch a film then sleep.

Hope you liked it

♥

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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

♥

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

♥