I'm hoping to make this a monthly feature as I think it's SO important to acknowledge and share blogs that us bloggers love to read too! It can be a real self-esteem boost being told that something you work your ass off for is being enjoyed by other people, and of course it feels nice to be nice too!

1. Very Berry Cosmo

I love Very Berry Cosmo AKA Kayleigh because she is so REAL. Her writing style is so friendly and inviting, and her actual content is always compelling and refreshing.  One of the first of her posts that I read was titled 'My Experience with the Contraceptive Implant'; something which I'd be thinking about for a while.  Reading this post was what motivated me to get in touch with my GP regarding the implant and although I didn't go through with it at the time, it's something I will pursue with my regular GP back in Devon (who knows more about my medical history!) so I have her to thank for that.  I also met Kayleigh about a month ago at a blogger event in Sheffield and she is just as lovely in real life as she comes across in her blog.

2. Britton Loves

She's probably bored of my sycophancy by now as I have tweeted her on multiple occasions to tell her how much I enjoyed her latest YouTube videos but Britton Loves AKA Lauren is a real inspiration to me for many reasons.  I love her positivity that comes across in her Youtube videos, blog posts and on Twitter; I love her attitude to health and food (including her recipe and foodie blog posts!); and I love her blog photography which is always so obviously well thought-out and flawless.  As you can see from the above photo, she also reached 1000 blog followers recently which she totally deserves and so much more.

3. All Things Beautiful
I find myself constantly revisiting Jessie's blog because it always has so much great content! There is honestly something for everyone on this beautiful blog - from travel to beauty, fashion to fitness. Moreover, as with Lauren (Britton Loves), her blog photography is another favourite of mine. Her photos are consistently so sharp, crisp and pretty to look at! She's also a Welshie and as a Cardiff Uni student, this is a winner for me! I'm hoping to attend some blogger events when I'm back in Wales from September and perhaps see Jessie there too!

That's this month's round-up of inspirational bloggers, and I'm hoping these beautiful bloggers might inspire you too! Let me know your thoughts below!

I've been to six (I think?!) blogging events in the last four months and I just wanted to share some of my experiences and some tips I've picked up along the way! Obviously I don't class myself as any kind of expert - I've been blogging for less than 5 months - but as someone who has been there recently, who has felt physically sick with nerves on the way to multiple events, who has regretted being so shy and hardly speaking moments after I've left venues, I thought it'd be a more unique perspective than from someone who may have been blogging and attending events for years. Sorry for that lengthy sentence. Let's begin!


1. BE YOURSELF. Ugh, I really don't want this to be a generic "meeting new people" kind of post. But this is so important! Be that person you are with your best friend, family, partner. Don't worry what people think; at the end of the day we're all in the same boat, we all have the same interest in blogging, and in general people in the blogging community I've met along the way have been some of the nicest, non-judgemental people I've ever come across!


2. ASK AWAY! Take the opportunity to talk to other bloggers face to face. If you're just starting out with blogging, chances are there will be other bloggers there with more experience and blogging events and meetups are a perfect opportunity to ask questions. I've done this quite a few times now and it's been really useful - things like what camera they use, what events they've been to before, any tips they'd give to new bloggers. (Plus, let's be honest: 98%* of people LOVE talking about themselves. It's the PERFECT icebreaker if you're feeling nervous!)

*This statistic may or may not have been made up in my head with no evidence to back it up.


3. PRE-MEET UP. A couple of times before events I've opted to meet up with a couple of bloggers an hour or so before the event and I would REALLY recommend this if you're feeling nervous! It allows you to get all those pre-event nerves out before the actual event and takes away the intimidation of being bombarded with loads of new people on your own.  I've also stayed friendly with a lot of the girls I've met up with before events which is always a bonus! On the subject of pre-meet up, most events will have a Twitter hashtag, so be sure to be using this beforehand so you can see who else is attending!

I hope this has been somewhat helpful; please feel free to ask me any other questions in the comments or by tweeting me (@charli_bblogger)!

I have a confession. I have never bought anything from George at Asda. BUT. I have a very good reason for this. Everywhere I've lived - from Devon to Cardiff to South London - there has never been an Asda store nearby.  However, I have recently seen a lot of bloggers talking about the clothing range and having had a sneaky browse myself online, I am so impressed at how nice and on-trend some of their pieces are! You just don't expect to go into a supermarket for your weekly grocery shop and come out with the perfect outfit for your Saturday night out. So I jumped at the chance to preview their Autumn/Winter '15 collection in Mayfair last week.


After walking around the block about three times before finding the venue (it was actually very obvious, I'm really not sure how I missed it!) I was greeted by so many lovely smiley faces who all made me feel very welcome.  A lovely girl who I THINK was called Amber (my memory is horrendous!) showed me around and I oggled over many a beautiful piece. They even had a corner of flower arranging whereby you could make up your own bouquet of flowers (with or without the help of an expert - I opted for the former).


After taking lots of photos and just generally being constantly amazed by the quality and price of the clothes on show, I got talking to George's social media manager (her name escapes me - sorry!) who showed me some clothing pieces that had been launched in store on the day of the press event.  She ever so kindly gave me a few of the clothing items in my size to take away with me - much more than I expected! Look out for an outfit post featuring some of these clothes in the next week or so!


I made up my bouquet with some beautiful white busy Lizzies and headed out with an Autumn/Winter wishlist as long as my arm.  Below I'll show you a few of my favourite key pieces:

This is a pretty poor throwback post as this only happened a few weeks ago! But I wanted to share with you guys the craziness that was 23rd May. It was honestly one of the most surreal days of my life and I was absolutely shattered by the evening!

I had been planning to go to Comic Con in London with my brother and his girlfriend for a couple of months.  The plan was for them to stay with me at my flat for a couple of nights so we could make the most of the Saturday at Comic Con.  All sorted.  In the week leading up to Comic Con, I received a message from a fellow blogger, Ali, who had won two tickets to Beauty Con and wanted to know if I'd like to join her. I'd seen that Beauty Con was happening in London and thought it looked amazing! I jumped at the chance to go for free but then realised it fell on the same day as Comic Con.  However, I was determined to do both!


We got up early on the Saturday morning and dressed up in our Pokemon-themed costumes - I went as the Pokemon trainer Misty, my brother went as Ash and his girlfriend went as Pikachu.  I must admit, the postman gave us some very odd looks as we walked out at 8:30am dressed appropriately to battle any strange Pokemon lurking in the tall grass. We made our way to Excel at Royal Victoria Dock and were greeted by thousands of people dressed in the most amazing costumes I'd ever seen! We walked around the stalls in awe looking at all the fantastic merchandise for sale. Some people even asked to have their picture taken with us so that was pretty cool! I didn't want to buy much but I did end up getting three cute button badges with the original starter pokemon faces on which will take pride of place on my wall very soon! While walking around I saw Bethan Leadley aka Musical Bethan doing a meet and greet and so I was lucky enough to get a picture and chat for a bit with her too. She was really lovely and I wasn't expecting to see her there so that was a nice surprise!

Just after 12pm, I departed and headed to the bathroom for a quick outfit change.  Luckily enough the clothes I was wearing were pretty normal (compared to others at the convention!) and so I only had to change my top half and take my hair down. I jumped on the train/tube to the other side of London to Kensington Olympia.  I met Ali by the entrance and we proceeded to make our way around the various stands and stalls, including brands such as Benefit, NYX and Liz Earle.  I picked up some fabulous Liz Earle goodies which they were giving out in return for an Instagram post - DEAL. We were lucky enough to meet, chat to and get photos (some not so great quality) with so many of my favourite bloggers and YouTubers (including Tyler Oakley whaaaat) and they were honestly all so lovely.  I don't dub myself a fangirl but oh my god I fangirled so much. I kept forgetting how to do simple, innate things such as talk.  Although after meeting a few people I gained a bit more confidence and ended up talking to Lily Pebbles, Anna (from Vivianna Does Makeup), Becky Sheeran (from Talk Becky Talk) and Holly Sheeran for ages.

The sun is finally showing its face, the day is lighter for longer and this makes me VERY happy.  Summer is definitely my favourite season and it holds lots of happy memories and hopefully more to come! For me, one of the many positives of summer is the make up.  Wearing a lighter make up base, summer-bright nails, coral lips and golden brown eyeshadows all come to mind.  I've bought a few new make up pieces recently -  a lot of which will get a lot of wear throughout the summer - and I just really want to share them with you! So here we go:

1. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Permanent Taupe & On And On Bronze (L-R) - £4.99

I'm a bit late on the bandwagon with these! I've heard bloggers and YouTubers raving about these little pots of joy for over a year so I seized the opportunity to buy a couple when I saw a 3 for 2 offer on Maybelline products (the other product I bought is also featured in this post!) in Boots. I'm a big fan of the colours I've picked up and they're so easy to apply. I'm excited to use these more in the upcoming months, especially the bronze colour.

2. Rimmel London Stay Matte pressed powder in Transparent - £3.99

Ah, a trusty favourite.  I have repurchased this powder more times than I care to remember and it never disappoints. A quick dusting of this powder over my T-Zone is perfect particularly in the summer when my skin is slightly oilier and I want to reduce shine.

3. Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara - £7.99

This has famously been dubbed as a dupe for Benefit's Roller Lash recently so having almost used up my Elle magazine Roller Lash freebie (see my Roller Lash vs They're Real post here), I had to check this out! I bought this along with the Colour Tattoo shadows in Boots' 3 for 2 offer. I've used it a few times now and I love it! I can definitely see the comparisons to Roller Lash, although I'm not sure I'd call it an identical dupe - for example, I don't think it separates the lashes as much as Benefit's Roller Lash does.  However, I know I'll be getting a lot of wear out of this mascara!

4. The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Dome in shade 02 Pink - £8


Bit of a cheat here as I didn't technically buy this one - I received it in a goodie bag from The Body Shop product launch event - but this hasn't stopped me falling in love with it! Now I love me a versatile beauty product and this cute little dome can be used as a shimmer highlighter or can be built up and used as a blush. The colour is gorgeous and the shimmer isn't too in your face. This is definitely one of my favourite of The Body Shop's new releases.  (You can see my review of another of their new releases here).

5. Topshop Lipstick in Infrared - £8

Ooh I do love a bright coral lip for summer! I've been wanting to try Topshop make up, particularly their lip products, and I finally took the plunge last month. I love the longevity and intensity of this lipstick - I think it'll be perfect for a night out.  I've only worn it once so far (on a date night with the boyfriend) but I'm looking forward to wearing it more during the summer.

6. Essie nail polishes in Status Symbol & Strut Your Stuff (L-R) - £2.49

If you've read any of my recent posts you'll know I've become absolutely obsessed with Essie. I mentioned them in my May Favourites and I did a comparison post with a Rimmel polish. The colour range and their lasting power on my nails are like no other I've tried and I can't wait to pick up more soon! These retail at £7.99 in the drugstore but I picked up this bargainous pair online for £2.49 each at Fragrance Direct. You're welcome.

I hope you've enjoyed this small beauty haul - what are your favourite summer beauty products?!

"This Summer, I want dull and tired-looking skin". SAID NO-ONE EVER. Cue The Body Shop's new Vitamin C face moisturiser which boasts its abilities to "fight the look of fatigued skin".  The winter months have finally passed and while the sky is brighter, my skin is not so much.  So when I received this product in a goody bag after an event* I couldn't wait to try it!  I have been using it every morning for about three weeks now - it was featured in my May monthly favourites post here - and I'm excited to share my views with you!

I've loved The Body Shop for so many years now - I remember buying my first product from there when I was about 11 (it was a strawberry lip balm) and I've always been a fan of their products. The quality, the packaging, the scents and (generally) the pricing always draw me in!  The packaging for this product is sleek and simple (which I love) and I prefer it to tubed moisturisers that you squeeze out.  The texture of the moisturiser was a new one for me: it's more of a gel and reminds me more of the texture of some primers I've tried in the past rather than any other moisturiser I've used! However, I quite like this as it feels so refreshing when you put it on your skin.  It's very lightweight and it soaks in really smoothly and easily.  Let's move onto the scent because OH GOODNESS IT SMELLS SO GREAT.  It's so fresh and fruity (but not in a sickly way like some fruity scents can be) and it's the kind of scent that actually wakes me up in the morning (other than coffee).


This product has been a dream to use for the past few weeks. I usually go for moisturisers that target blemishes (for that dreaded teenage acne scarring) but this moisturiser makes my face feel incredibly smooth and soft.  I wouldn't say I have seen drastic changes - for example, my skin is not glowing and sparkling like Edward Cullen (although this is probably a good thing) - but it is a lovely and easy moisturiser to use and the smell itself is enough to give me a boost in the morning! 



This product retails at £16 which is a bit more than I would usually spend on a moisturiser.  Having said this, I am leaning towards the idea of paying a bit more for moisturisers seeing as this is probably the only face I'll ever have and so I should probably look after it more.  I have to say though, a small amount of this product goes a long way and it looks almost untouched after nearly a month of use! So I have a feeling it'll be a while until I even have to think about repurchasing this product.

Have you tried The Body Shop's new Vitamin C range? What are your thoughts? I love reading and replying to your comments on my product reviews!
P.S. Sorry Mum for the chipped nail varnish in these photos.


*Although I did not buy this product myself, all views in this post are my own and I have not been asked to review it!

Finally, my first monthly favourites post! May has been a pretty hectic one, but not hectic enough to stop me falling in love with some wonderful beauty and fashion items.  This month I was also able to attend a few blogger (and non-blogger) events which were all so exciting, including the Urban Food Fest blogger meetup, The Body Shop summer product launch and I even attended Comic Con and Beauty Con in one day! Here are some photos that sum up my month of May:

4. Essie nail polishes


I was introduced to the wonder that is Essie earlier this month and OH MY GOD WHY HAVE I NOT OWNED ANY OF THESE POLISHES UNTIL NOW. I've known about the brand for so long but always thought Essie can't be much better than my budget nail polishes.  I was SO wrong. Although I'm still not prepared to spend £7.99 on every nail polish I buy from here on out, I'll definitely be buying some more staple colours from the brand.  See my comparison post with Rimmel's £2.99 nail polishes here.

5. Calvin Klein Ultimate Edge Lip Gloss Pots


Quite an unusual one for me I think - a family friend bought me a set of three of these for Christmas, but I've only just started using them.  I have to say though, I am so impressed!  I love to wear these when I just cannot be bothered to wear a lipstick or I have quite dry lips.  They're very moisturising and give a lovely "my lips but better" colour. I'm not a massive lip gloss lover but these are just so easy to use and pop in my handbag! They'r pretty affordable too!

6. Topshop Joni Jeans


A quick fashion favourite to finish with - my DIY ripped Joni jeans! I live in my black Joni jeans - so much so that I bought two pairs. I bought them both second hand off Depop at around £15 each.  One pair ripped slightly in the leg so I thought instead of just throwing them out I'd make it look purposeful! These jeans are just so comfortable and I love flashing a bit of leg skin (lol) coming up to summer!

Have you written a May favourites post? I love reading them so please leave a link in the comments below!