The Glasgow Kiltwalk

Today I set off from Glasgow to Loch Lomond participating in the annual Kiltwalk for Scotland's children. I walked for Cash for Kids - a charity who helps local children in Glasgow and the west who are not as priviliged as some. 1 in 5 kids live in poverty in the local area yet most don't even know it, there could be children five minutes down the road from you in this situation. The unique thing about Cash for Kids is that every penny stays local and really helps the children. 2014 is the first year that Cash for Kids is a beneficiary of The Kiltwalk, along with six other amazing children's charities. Along the way each charity provided walkers with food, water and lots of support as well as people along the way who stopped to cheer us all on - what an atmosphere to be involved in. I completed the walk in 4 hours and 15 minutes with little pain and no blisters (hurrah!) but now that I've settled down at home my legs are feeling stiff and my ankles and feet are killing me - but it was all worth it and for an amazing cause and a bonus was the sun shone on Glasgow and when it went away there was no rain at all so all our waterproofs stayed in our bags! I would recommend it to anyone who wants a challenge for a brilliant cause!! Here are some memories:

Big Smiles,

Amber xo

Benefit POREfessional Review

After wanting to buy a primer for a long time, I decided to go and try a few out. I wanted something to hide imperfections and feel great on my skin. I tried a few on my hand and on my face, they all felt good but not spectacular and in my opinion were overpriced for the quality. On visiting the Benefit counter I tried two, my favourite was POREfessional as it's silky and light and leaves my skin feeling amazing - I was smitten. It can be used under or over make up and creates a lovely base for foundation which makes it sit much nicer. It hides the appearance of pores and leves a matte finish. Even better it's enriched with vitamin E and is the no. 1 best selling primer in the UK. Girls - you gotta get POREfessional! 

Big smiles,

Amber xo

The best kind of Naked

I adore my Urban Decay Naked palette and use it everyday without fail and have done for almost two years, so needless to say a few of my favourite shades have disappeared a little bit. I thought it was about time I treated myself to a brand new shiny Naked palette. Since I still have a lot of my original, faithful palette left despite using it daily I decided to go for Naked 2 or 3 and after muuuuuch deliberation and trying several shimmering and matte shades I went for number 2 (possibly perhaps because I have a touch of OCD and the palettes must be in chronological order or else something is wrong with the world!) and it has a lot of the gorgeous golden, brown and autumnal tones I like to enhance my brown/hazel eyes. The Naked 3 palette is also much more pink. Apart from being super excited about having more eyeshadows to play around with creating smokey eyes for different occasions, it came with an eyeshadow primer which I use before going on a night out, it makes the shadow last much longer. I would highly recommend the Naked palettes - all 3 - as I've created some great looks with the ones I have and the colours are amazing. The best quality brush is included (in Naked 2 I got a double-ended brush... Super excited!). At £37 each they don't come cheap but for all you eyeshadow lovers like me it's a MUST for your make up drawer/bag/room.

Big smiles,

Amber xo

Ps. There's ALWAYS a ps! Urban Decay now have a Naked Basics palette with some everyday block shades such as virgin white, pale pinks and charcoal black. They can be used alone or as a base colour for other shadows. Those everyday essential shadows that you always need come in at £22! Great value. Let me know how you find it! Xx

Foreign Fridays

I heart a summer glow, I love a deep tan and I treasure being a bronzed berry, but unfortunately in Scotland the weather is not suffice for this kind of lifestyle. So - like the many other girls - I fake it weekly. Every Thursday night without fail I slap on the fakey T, climb into bed and sleep frozen stiff, not daring to patch my masterpiece and rather suffering the pain of knotted shoulder and neck muscles for the perfect tan. This is how "Foreign Fridays" were born. I go to sleep on Thursday nights white and wake up on a Friday looking like I'm from Spain. I love it - and it's all thanks to L'OREAL. I have tried many tans - mousse, spray on, instant creams and powder - and this one works a treat because it's a gel. The gel is velvety, smooth and gives great coverage. Although it is clear if you stand in good light you are able to see areas you've missed and re-do them, but one layer is enough for a perfect tan (if you fancy it deeper just pop some more on the next night). On the bottle it is reccomended to wash off after a few hours but I prefer to sleep for 6-8 hours to really let it develop. Instead of leaving my skin dry and flakey, it feels nourished and moisturised and looks amazing. Always. I even use it on my face (ladies - don't forget the face - do not EVER forget the face!). I've been using this product for about 5 years and thought since it's my old faithful Thursday night chum it's only fair I share! I've also never been a fan of instant tans but the L'OREAL Sublime Bronze Gel Instant Tan is amazing and as you can see it going on you know where you've missed. It also builds up after 4-5 hours so it looks amazing and has a slight shimmer. I pack the instant tan on holiday for when I'm needing that extra glow at night - top tip is the classic - to exfoliate, moisturise and apply the next day and keep applying throughout the week if you want a richer colour. It also comes in light and dark but medium is perfect for me! 

Hope you all love!

Big smiles,

Amber xo

First day bond extensions review!

I have always admired Disney princesses and every girl dreams of having beautiful long sleek hair just like them... And I am no different. For a long time now I have been wanting to get extensions put in my hair for added thickness, volume and length as I felt my hair was growing but it was a boring shape and lacking oomph.

I decided to go for bond extensions which basically involves the hairdresser using a very hot tool to melt glue onto your roots and glue some extremely long bits of hair into your own. Although I've heard "horror stories" and people telling me "you'll go bald!" I was reassured by the hairdresser telling me they were put in with keratin glue which let's natural hair breathe underneath them and if you take proper care there's no way you will lose hair (unless you rip them all out... Unlikely!).

The girl who did my hair is a total pro so did my full head of Virgin Russian extensions in an hour and a half (I know, right?!) and it cost £250. A lot for hair some might say but these can last 6-8 months with proper care and I think it was totally worth it, I can justify the money as I love my new hair and I have gained an extra blog post from my experience (ha). I can't wait to share my extension journey with you so I am going to post a monthly review of them to see how long they last! But for now... I feel like Princess Jasmine!

Before and after length

Before extensions and after extensions and curls were put in

Overall I would totally recommend them as long as you have a Tangle Teezer to brush out nasty tugs (you can brush straight through the glue with these and they don't remove any bonds - most brushes get stuck) Tangle Teezers are £10.99 in Boots where I got mine! I was also recommended to use Aussie shampoo and conditioner and serum as it works best for conditioning the extensions.

Big Smiles (and even bigger hair),

Amber xo