Beauty Blogger turned Daily Vlogger?!

WHOA.

Okay... so almost a whole year ago, I wrote a post on this blog saying how I had become some born-again-blogger, with bundles of inspiration. Since then? Nada. I really do apologise, I had every intention to start blogging again!

So why am I posting now?? Well, I haven't been completely absent from the internet. My boyfriend (Tom) and I, decided to start vlogging. We never intended to start 'daily vlogging' but it appears that is what has happened... So if you wanna hear what I sound like (I always found it extremely odd watching a blogger on YouTube for the first time!) then come and join us on our YouTube channel! It's mainly for our own benefit - Tom's memory is similar to that of a goldfish and I am just very sentimental. But it's kinda cool to share with other people too!

I'd really love to know what you think of our videos! I've also got a few blogposts planned out in my head (mainly reviews, because I miss writing them!) so maybe this is the comeback that I had planned last summer!

Anyway guys, thanks for reading! And thank you so, so much if you've gone to check out our YouTube channel. Don't forget to subscribe whilst you're over there if you liked it!

Natalie

Dusting off the keyboard

Okay, so where do I start? In all honesty, I don't know if any of you guys even remember my existence! My last blog post was published last May - a whole year and 3 months ago! I didn't write a 'goodbye' post, or announce that I was 'taking a break'... why? Because I never really decided that I was giving it up, it just sort of happened? Somewhere along the way I just lost motivation.

Having said that, I've still been keeping up with the blogging world and I'm still an avid blog reader! Recently though, I've been wanting to get back into blogging more and more. Writing here was something that I used to love, and I've been missing it! This isn't my comeback post, it's just me saying hello and that I'm feeling inspired to do what I used to love :) I'm not sure what kind of direction this blog is going to take now - I still love beauty, but it's probably going to be more of a miss mash of lifestyle (god I hate that phrase!), baking/cooking and fashion with a strong influence of beauty. There may also be the odd health/fitness post from now and then as well, as I've lost quite a substantial amount of weight since I last blogged! Basically, any part of my life that I can document :)

I did think about deleting all of my previous posts, because god, some of them are dreadful. But, it's good to be able to look back and see how far you've come - and I guess there will be some of you who need to refresh your memory of who I am!

So hello!
It's nice to see you all again :)
Natalie

Week in photographs

Homemade bruschetta - Whitebait starter - Chili squid & chorizo linguine - Disaronno, liquid heaven - Brighton beach in the sun, my favourite place in the world - Brighton wheel! - Hot, fresh doughnuts from the Pier - Amazing Diet Coke can - No your traditional Sunday lunch - Bunting in The Lanes - Awesome comic shop - Street art - Pretty church, blue skies! - More cool street art - Amazingly expensive boat

The weather has been miserable for absolutely ages, but the sun decided to show it's face at the end of the week, so I had no other option but to spend it moseying along Brighton beach and through the lanes. Perfection. Hope you had a great week! (Sorry for being an absent blogger, please forgive?)

Twitter: @_natalieread

Instagram: _natalieread

XO

April Wishlist

Xen-Tan Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe

The short spurt of sun we had a little while ago, which is now long gone, had me running to my Dove Summer Body and my St Moriz. After a long old winter embracing my pasty hue I forgot how good a tan makes you feel. I've never really branched off into 'high end' fake tans and I think it's about time. I've heard nothing but good reviews on Xen-Ten products as a whole, but this one seems to stick in my mind.

Feel Unique, £29.70

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow

I am seriously loving this new generation of foundation think Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and Jemma Kidd Light as Air. I once was a full-coverage fiend but I have been well and truly converted to a lightweight more natural finish. This is the next I want to tick off my list.

Boots, £24.50

Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector

I'm gonna throw it out there, I'm not a 'gloss' person. So why on earth do I want this? Purely because it's raved about in the beauty community, comes in gorgeous colours and promises moisturisation. I've found myself skipping lipstick in favour of a balm lately. I've been switching between wanting the Nude one and the Apricot one. Which do you prefer??

Boots, £16.00

LUSH Catastrophe Cosmetic

This is hands down the best face mask I have ever used, and I'm craving it's blueberry goodness. If you haven't tried it, pop in and get a sample because it is amazing. That is all I need to say.

LUSH, £5.75

ASOS Patent Watch

I have been eyeing up this watch for as long as I can remember. It's nude, patent and gold. Screams 'I will go with everything' but doesn't have anything too blingy about it.

ASOS, £25.00

Blistex Med Plus

How has no one ever told me about Estee from Essiebutton? Well, anyway, I have literally been watching the backlog of her videos for days (entirely creepy I know), and I've noticed she is in love with this lip balm. I'm a firm supporter of Carmex but a change is as good as a rest, as they say (or is this just my Dad?).

Boots, £2.59

Chloé Eau de Parfum

Most perfect Spring-Summer time scent. I don't know why I haven't bought this already because it's one of those perfumes that I always spray in Boots/Debenhams. You guys do that too right? And how stunning is the bottle?

Boots, £39.50

ASOS Fine Cross Bracelet

Dainty bracelet are really catching my eye at the moment, as is gold. This paired with the nude, patent watch, amazing.

ASOS, £6.00

Sorry this was such a rambly post! I haven't blogged in ages and I feel like I've just let out 1 month's worth of blogging in one post. Haha! If you've tried/have any of the things on my wishlist please let me know what you think :)

Oh and ever since the new blogger interface came in (which I hate by the way) I've been much prefering using bloglovin' so definitely come and follow me on there!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

XO

Still alive!

So... long time no see right? I feel so out of the blogging loop, it's been a good few weeks since I last posted! I've been doing so much overtime at work recently because if you follow me on twitter (@ntlieread) you know that I've recently written off my car *applause* so I'm in need of some new wheels! I thought I'd just post some photo's of what I've been up to since I've been away, I warn you now, this will be photo heavy.

The damage to my poor car ~ Vodka jellies to start off the night ~ Starbucks spelling fail, Nataily? ~ Surprise tickets to X Factor tour from the bf ~ Dean likes Coco-cola? ~ Most delicious burger from Frankie & Benny's ~ Ice cold Magners in the sun ~ Tiny can of Pepsi Max ~ Best sweets ever ~ Standard Sunday afternoon ~ Creme Egg McFlurry ~ Tuna salad, nom ~ Tiramisu

So apparently, apart from crashing my car... I've been eating? Ha! I was driving a long the bypass and my tyre blew - spinning off the road at 70mph was the scariest thing that ever happened to me, but I'm extremely lucky that no one else was involved and I had escaped with nothing but a graze on my shoulder. As well as having a hero of a boyfriend who came to console me. I hope everyone has been okay and hopefully my blogging mojo will be back!

Follow me on twitter (@ntlieread) and Instagram (natalielinsayread) because I am always updating on there!

XO

Volumous Curls

This is my absolute favourite way to wear my hair, big and bouncy curls! I want to say 'Victoria's Secret' hair but it seems so cliche and clearly, I'm no VS Angel.

To achieve this hairstyle I spritz a bit of dry shampoo into the roots for volume (backcomb for a night out) and then I curl my hair with my wide paddle GHD straighteners, because these tend to give a bigger, looser curl. Although you can get the same curls with a thinner straightener but not twisting as much. I always make sure I curl away from my face because it's much more flattering. I also make sure that the curls aren't to uniform... starting from different parts of the hair and alternating between looser and tighter curls. I then brush through the hair with my fingers, spray some hairspray et voila!

What is your favourite way to style you hair?

NATALIE, XO

Week in photos

Chicken nuggets are the bomb ~ Lindor Lindnt eggs are my life right now ~ Fresh orange juice and toffee milkshake at the diner and the most delicious pancakes and syrup ~ My cat being an absolute  cutie ~ New dressing table mirror which I'm in love with ~ Finished reading The Hunger Games in a day, incredible ~ Free drinks voucher for Starbucks, ta very much ~ My bed in the most comfortable place to be ~ Night out on Saturday, the Cheryl lashes were my lash of choice ~ HELLO EARLY SPRING!

I also got an iPhone this month! I waved goodbye to my shitty blackberry and never looked back. I am already slightly obssessed with it. Been taking a lot of pictures with instagram lately (as you can probably tell) so definitely follow me on there! username: natalielinsayread.

Hope you've all had amazing weeks!

NATALIE, XO

Project healthy hair

I've been such a bad blogger recently. It's been just over a week since I last blogged properly! I've hit a bit of a slump and haven't really had anything to blog about! I've been trying to save lots of spare pennies which means I haven't really buying much stuff (although I had a bit of a splurge recently so there will probably be a haul soon) so yeah, I'm sorry guys!

Annnnyways. About a week ago I went for a long overdue trip to the hairdressers. I'm definitely not someone who sticks to the 6-8 week trim rule. To be honest I hadn't been in a bout a year :/ if any hairdressers are reading this - I apologise! My hair was pretty much frazzled, split ends galore. Here's the before...

Now I'm not gonna lie, the 'results' are not that much different, as my boyfriend so nicely pointed out. Purely because I'm happy with the style and length I just told the hairdresser to keep as much of the length as possible and make it healthy!

Split ends gone! She gave me a nice blow dry and now me and my hair can start a fresh. From this day forward I pledge to do weekly deep conditioning treatments, put the straighteners down from time to time and give it some TLC.

Not a very exciting post, admittedly but I tweeted about going to the hairdressers and someone said I should blog it :)

NATALIE, XO