Twitter Chats - What & When? // TIPS & TRICKS

I would say that my number one source of blog traffic is from Twitter, largely thanks to the various blogger chats! If you didn't already know what a blogger chat on Twitter is - you use a certain hashtags at a set time on a set day and talk to other bloggers using the same hashtag. The chats typically last an hour long, and are at the same time every week. There are lots of chats for all sorts of bloggers and vloggers, whether you write/talk about fashion, beauty, lifestlyle, parenthood or food, anything really!

There will often be a topic, picked by the chat host, such as your favourite summer travel essentials, but the topics vary for every chat and for some chats there is no topic at all, you just have a general talk. At the end of the hour you then share you link out with anybody who asks (a little tip - if you only want to see the tweets of the people asking for links, let's say in the #fbloggers chat, just search "#fbloggers links"), which is a great way of getting your blog recognised, especially when you're a newbie! You may also find some new reads of your own, because I know that I definitely have.

Aside from the traffic side of things, Twitter chats are also an amazing way to make some new blogger friends and find people with similar interests to you. I will often ask during the #bbloggers chat for product suggestions and opinions on any products that I am on the lookout for, maybe a nice MAC eyeshadow shade! Although be warned that you may come away from a chat with a very big blogger-inflicted wishlist.

There are loads of blogger chats, so I've written a list of some of the main ones and a little information about each! As a note too, when I say there is a topic every week this is usually true, but the person who runs the chat may decide that it's just a general chat that week, so keep any eye out for that.

Monday:

7-8pm BST - #bdib (bloggers do it better) - For all types of bloggers interested all sorts of topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @Blogsdoitbetter.

8-9pm BST - #healthyselves - For those who like to discuss health, be it mental, physical or fitness - Topic every week - Hosted by @chathealthy.

8-9pm BST - #fbloggers (fashion bloggers) - Various fashion topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @BeckyBedbug.

Tuesday:

7-8.30pm BST - #craftblogclub - Various craft topics for craft bloggers - Topic every week - Hosted by @CraftBlogClub.

8-9pm BST - #fblchat (fashion, beauty, lifestyle chat) - Various topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @fashbeautylife.

9-10pm BST - #bloghour - For all types of bloggers interested in all sorts of helpful topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @UKBlogAwards.

Wednesday:

7-8pm BST - #lbloggers (lifestyle bloggers) - Various lifestyle topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @Lbloggerschat.

8-9pm BST - #bbloggers (beauty bloggers) - Beauty chatter - No topic - No host.

Thursday:

8-9pm BST - #vloggerschat - Various topics for vloggers - Topic every week - Hosted by @whatshedidx.

9-10pm BST - #cfbloggers (cruelty free bloggers) - Various topics for cruelty free bloggers - Topic every week - Hosted by @CFbloggerschat.

Friday:

6-7pm BST - #beautychat - Various beauty topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @BeautyHigh.

7-8pm BST - #bdib (bloggers do it better) - For all types of bloggers interested all sorts of topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @Blogsdoitbetter.

Saturday:

6-7pm BST - #socialbloggers - Various topics for all bloggers - Topic every week - Hosted by @Noor_Unnahar & @skinnedcartree.

Sunday:

7-8pm BST - #lbloggers (lifestyle bloggers) - Various lifestyle topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @Lbloggerschat.

8-9pm BST - #bbloggers (beauty bloggers) - Various beauty topics - Topic every week - Hosted by @bbloggerschat.

9-10pm BST - #pbloggers (parent bloggers) - Topic every week - Hosted by @pbloggersnet.

What's your favourite blogger chat on Twitter?

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Clarins Summer 2015 Collection - Aquatic Treasures // REVIEW

In the past couple of years Clarins have seriously upped their game, which is why they have become one of my favourite brands, so whenever I have some new goodies from them to try out it is very exciting. This summer's collection is called Aquatic Treasures (pretty name, right?) and it contains lots of glowy and golden products to help you look your best this summer! This collection is available from May, hence the lack of links to any products, but I reckon that it will sell extremely well because there are some gorgeous products.

Clarins Ombre Iridescente Cream-To-Powder Eyeshadows* - Aquatic Rose (01) & Aquatic Grey (03) - £19 

I own a few Clarins eyeshadows already and they are beautiful shades, with equally great pigmentation, and these two are definitely no exception! One of the things I love about the Cream-To-Powder eyeshadows too is that the powder is very soft and smooth, which makes the application of them really nice.

Aquatic Rose is a champagne-rose gold shade, with a shimmery finish, which I seriously adore as it's just such a gorgeous shade! It has a pretty dimpled rose gold lid too - I mean who doesn't love a bit of rose gold?! Aquatic Grey on the other hand is a shimmery, slightly navy, dark grey, with the same dimpled lid but in navy. I don't know if these coloured lids are a new thing for Clarins eyeshadows, or if they are exclusive to this Ombre Iridescente line, but I love them!

As I said, the formulations of them are gorgeous as the powder is very finely milled and soft, so they are a dream to apply. The lasting power is great too, and lasts perfectly throughout the day!

Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base* - Golden Bronze (05) - £26

Another couple of products in the new range were two new shades of the Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base! I am a big fan of the original shade Rose, so I was looking forward to trying one of the two new shades, Golden Bronze. This one is a dewy, well, golden bronze shade, that has a very similar formulation to Rose.

It "illuminates and corrects" and helps to reduce the appearance of pores, so it does the same job as a primer, whilst giving a gorgeous glow! You can wear it by itself, or mixed with your foundation to give you that bit of extra colour. I will admit that as soon as you pump a little bit onto your hand it does look extremely daunting, but once you blend it out it turns into a pretty light golden shade!

Currently I have only been using it for contouring, but during the summer I barely tan on my face, because there is SPF in my foundation, which is what would make this perfect for getting rid of that white face-tanned body problem! 

Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer Bronzing Compact* - £30

Every summer Clarins release a new bronzer, and this year it is a big round compact with four different shades, ranging from a fair bronze to terracotta, with a pretty marine montif. It has a lovely, soft and blendable powder, which is always great because it makes application very nice. Also, as a little note - I did try to get a photo of the swatches of all four individual shades, but for some reason they all showed up the same colour on the camera, so I just did a swatch of them all mixed all together, but each shade is quite different to the other! 

£30 may be a fair bit of money for a bronzer, but this is honestly a massive compact, and you are in effect getting four different bronzers for the price of one! 

Clarins After Sun Shimmer Oil* - £32

Strangely I'd never tried any skincare products from Clarins, so when I saw that I had been sent the After Sun Shimmer Oil I was really looking forward to trying it. It is a "fine, lightweight beauty-enhancing oil with subtle iridescence that nourishes and illuminates the body with a soft golden shimmer" which describes it perfectly! 

It contains hazelnut oil, helping to replenish the moisture your skin loses whilst tanning, and it also has lots of shimmer, as you've probably noticed from the photos, so it really helps to reflect light off your skin to help emphasize your tan. Even though this is an oil it doesn't have a particularly "oily" feel either, more of a dry oil, which is nice!

Admittedly I haven't had much use out of this yet, since I haven't spent enough time in the sun to account for using it, however I can't wait to get using it more throughout the spring and summer. I reckon that this will be one of the biggest selling products from the range! 

Again, I think that this is another great collection Clarins! I'm really excited to see the autumn collection now (oh no, we are almost 5 months into the year), as there will hopefully be some more lovely products. Definitely have a look at this collection if you spot it at a counter from May, because I'm sure you will love it just as much as I do!

What is your favourite product from the Clarins Aquatic Treasures Collection?

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Birchbox Royally Good - April 2015 // REVIEW

To celebrate the birth of the second royal baby (which should be happening on the 25th of April I believe) Birchbox have given this month's box a royal theme! Named Royally Good, you get the surprise of either receiving the baby blue/mint green box or the pretty pink box, AKA the boy or girl box. Contained within the box there are five luxury products and a bonus product, all for £12.95!

There seemed to be quite a few well known brands popping up in this month's box, including Liz Earle, Percy & Reed and KORRES, but the brand focus was Laura Mercier. You could choose one of three products - their foundation primer (which I know a lot of people adore), mascara or eye pencil!

I was sent the blue box, which I personally love as the design and colours are so pretty! My products were all packaged up in nice woven mesh drawstring bag, and would be handy for me to use as a little makeup bag to pop into my handbag. In my box I found a 0.8g Laura Mercier Longwear Creme Eye Pencil in Black Violet - a creamy deep purple eyeliner pencil. A 40ml KORRES Bergamot & Pear Shower Gel, which quite frankly smells absolutely amazing! An 8ml Lola Barcelona Nail Polish in Gracia - which is a fuchsia pink shade. A 30ml Percy & Reed Smoothed, Sealed & Sensational Volumising No Oil Oil (yes, that really is its actual name), which does exactly what it says! A 30ml Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash, that is a 2-in-1 cleanser and exfoliator. There was also a 4 week supply of the Inner Me Energise Me Supplements!

The Inner Me tablets actually really interest me as they are supposed to help increase energy levels, improve muscle function and regulate blood sugar level, so I will definitely be using those over the exam period in May and June!

The Birchbox Royally Good Box* definitely is great value for money! Honestly I can't see myself getting much use out of the eye pencil and nail polish, because they just aren't my sort of colours, but I'm really looking forward to trying the others out and I would say that the £12.95 is worth that for those four products alone. With Birchbox being one of the cheaper beauty boxes on the market, and always seeming to keep to a good standard (unlike some other beauty boxes), I'd happily try more from them in the future!

What do you think of April's Birchbox?

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Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette // REVIEW

Before I start, sorry for the lack of posts recently! I've barely had any time to do blogging stuff, since I have been revising for my exams which are in May/June, but once they are over I will hopefully be back to normal posting times.

Even though it was launched back in late 2013, the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette is still talked about so much! Urban Decay really do make great eyeshadows, hence why it is my favourite brand for those, because they are of very high quality and there are some gorgeous shades - especially to a neutral eyeshadow fanatic like me. If you didn't know, the "Naked" line contains quite a few products, but the main focus is around the Naked eyeshadow palettes. There are three of these, aswell as the two Naked Basics palettes, all with fairly different shades!

I had only tried one Urban Decay palette in the past (Naked Basics), and I adored it, so I was pretty set on buying the Naked 3 palette once it launched! I almost bought it in January 2014, however I actually won it in a giveaway within days of telling myself to hold off buying it for a bit, so I really could not believe my luck. Obviously I was excited for the palette to arrive and get testing it out, due to the level of hype surrounding it and of course it is a very pretty palette!

Naked 3 contains twelve different eyeshadow shades - three mattes, and nine shimmers! There are six pink/rose gold toned shades, five taupe/bronze shades and then a stunning foil-like gold shade called Trick. Aswell as that, it's all wrapped up in a rose gold casing, which I think you will agree is beautiful. Like the two previous Naked palettes, this one comes with a big mirror and a brush, so it is perfect for when you are on-the-go!

All of the eyeshadows blend beautifully and most of the shades have great pigmentation, but admittedly the matte shadows' pigmentation aren't the best! This is a big shame, considering the pigmentation of the matte shadows in the Naked Basics palettes, but oh well. I'd say that the most pigmented shade is Trick which, as I said, is that foil-like gold shade, and the least is Limit, a pretty matte light pink. The lasting power of all the shades is great, and they easily last all day on my eyelids (which are on the oily side) without any creasing at all!

I really could not recommend this palette enough! It is on the pricey side at £38, but it definitely is worth the investment if you're going to use it a lot like I do. I would say to go and have a look at it in real life though, since I know those with skin on the warmer side have found that these shades sadly don't suit them too well!

What's your favourite Urban Decay palette/eyeshadow?

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