2015 BEAUTY FAVOURITES

Well my friends, we're wrapping up 2015. Almost there. The last few months have been a bit of a fail on my part. I haven't had the time to create regular content. It's been a huge bummer for me because I well and truly love this crazy little thing called blogging. I wish I could say that that will all change come the new year, however it might take a little longer before everything is back on schedule. For now, I've got a big ol' Holly jolly post for you – my 2015 Beauty Favourites!

UPDATED MAKEUP STORAGE

Remember when I promised a room tour about three months ago? Well guess what! We're not doing a room tour today. Yaaayyy. How anti-climactic was that? I should  be a screen writer. I do have a little something to offer up in place of room tour however. I revamped my makeup storage a few days ago and it looks a million times better, if I do say so myself. Toot toot. So of course, what kind of self proclaimed beauty blogger would I be if I didn't show you the new set up?

COLOURPOP, YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!

I've gone and done it again, haven't I? I ordered some Colourpop a few months ago and I was so many degrees of impressed. The formulas were all on point and the prices were scrumtrulescent. So obviously I had to go back for more, she said, her eye twitching ever so gently.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE SKINCARE TEAM

My skincare routine has changed quite a bit since the last time I talked about it. I feel as though I've managed to find a good balance for my oily, yet winter-weathered skin. I've completely given up all benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid and taken a new approach.

DAMN, THAT'S SOME SOFT HAIR

Apparently it's time for a post about something outrageously expensive. I received the Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-Aging Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner in my gratis a few days ago. I hadn't really given the line much thought because, let's face it, anyone that calls their haircare “caviar” is kind of a douchecanoe. Well, it turns out that I must be somewhat of a douchecanoe myself because, having now used this lavish duo, I'm surprisingly tickled.

THE TOO FACED CHOCOLATE BAR EYE PALETTE

It was becoming abundantly clear that I didn't exactly have a large selection of eye shadows to create looks with for work. So I made the decision that I was going to invest in a palette. At first I thought that the Urban Decay Naked 3 would be the one. I love the tones in it, however when I thought about it, I reckoned I could get a lot more variety out of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. One birthday celebration later, it became mine. So, thoughts and feelings....

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: MAKEUP

The most exciting part of the gift guide is ready for you guys. I'm not *making this up.* I've picked out some slammin' deals. Some of these sets are worth so much more than they're valued at so I hope you find something good!

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: SKINCARE

Part two of the Christmas Gift Guide is here! Next up we have skincare. I've put together an array of skincare items ranging from stocking stuffer sized to full fancy gifts. So get ready to gift up your friends and family or... let's be real... TREAT YOSELF.

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: BATH & BODY

It's that time of year again my friends. Time to drain your bank accounts and adorn your friends and family with lavish goods. That's right, time to drown them in festive bubble bath, smother them in lusciously scented oils, and spritz them in the finest perfumes. This year I'm starting nice and early with a three part gift guide: bath & body, skincare and makeup. Beginning with bath & body.

6 BANGING BEAUTY TOOLS

Banging. What a revolting word. My gift to you. What we've got here today are some top notch beauty tools. I love a good beauty tool. They make life so much easier. Got a unibrow? Not anymore. TWEEZERS. Got excess facial hair? Not anymore. TOUCH UP RAZOR. How 'bout those blackheads? I don't think so. BLACKHEAD EXTRACTOR. You get the picture. Onto the six tools that I've picked out.

PROJECT: TRY ALL THE FOUNDATIONS

I've been working on a little project of late. A project I like to call “try all the foundations.” Seeing as I now have access to almost every high end foundation on the market, I figured, why not take advantage? Each day I take home a sample of a foundation and the next day I put it to the test. I'm only part way through my trial, but if you guys like what I'm doing I'll do a part two and maybe even a part three. I've got nine foundations to run you through now. A little background on my skin: it's combination (quite oily through the t-zone), sensitive, I get some breakouts, a little bit of flaky skin from retinol use and bit of redness throughout my cheeks.

FASHION GRUNGE

I've been digging the grunge look lately. I have to wear a fair bit of makeup to work and I'm not usually a glam kind of gal, so it's kind of slapping a face on while still being me. After all, you know, I like a little I don't give a shit bad-assery. Lols, like I could be bad-ass. So I'll take you through one of my go-to grunge looks.

OCTOBER FAVOURITES

I have warn more makeup in this month than ever before in my life. While I might be dying to scratch it all off my face by the end of the day, the actual process of experimenting and playing around with it has been loads of fun! I have so many favourites for the month, but I'm forcing myself to narrow it down to just six.

SEPHORA GRATIS HAUL: OCTOBER

As I've mentioned more than once now (I'm quite good at beating a dead horse, if I do say so myself), in the beginning of October I started working at Sephora. One of the perks of working there, aside from being surrounded by makeup (which is simultaneously quite dangerous) and receiving a discount, is that you get sweet, sweet gratis. Theoretically, the idea is to give the employees a chance to try out products and be able to speak with experience, but also, how can I put this elegantly?... we likes the stuffs. So I wanted to show you guys the stuffs that I received in October's gratis. I shant go into too much detail because that'd be a monster post. I'm spoiled rotten, I know.

MY 10 MOST USEFUL BLOG DESIGN POSTS

That title really makes it sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but I didn't know what else to call this post. Basically I just wanted to collect together my top blog design posts and put them all in one place for anyone out there looking to start a blog or do a redesign. So here they are. Additionally, if anyone has an idea for a design post that they'd like to see come to life, please let me know!

GO BOLD OR GO HOME: TRAIN BLEU

I have been lusting after the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Train Bleu for years now. I never went for it before because I lived on an island where men seem never to have heard of makeup. That's all good and well, but when you decide to actually wear lipstick and you receive about twenty comments in one day saying “huh, you're wearing lipstick,” well, you just kind of give up. However, my recent move into the city warranted a celebration of makeup. And thus, Train Bleu finally became mine.

THE NEW H&M BEAUTY LINE

I sensed some curiosity in the force. I just watched the new Star Wars trailer and I am literally wetting myself with excitement. But that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about today. I'm talking about the curiosity surrounding the new H&M beauty line. I've seen surprisingly little info on the new launch and I wanted to test out a few pieces and give you lovely people the low down.

FALL NAIL COLOURS

You're going to fall all over these nail colours. Zing. I'm a self professed non-nail-girl. Very catchy name I know. Most of the time I can't be bothered to do my nails. You know how it is. You paint your nails and then you can't dig into a bag of potato chips for at least 10 minutes. What kind of madness is that?! Buuttt, since I've started working at Sephora, I've actually had to keep my nails looking half decent and, I'll admit, it's been fun.. So here's what I've been painting dem claws with.

SWEET MOTHER OF BERRY LIPS

I was looking through my lipstick collection the other day, because, you know, that’s how I do, and I thought to myself good lord, I have a ridiculous amount of berry toned lipsticks. Well my friends, you know what that means. It’s swatchy, swatchy time. Everyone goes nuts for berry lips come fall and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. They’re sophisticated, sultry and brave.

10 MUST SEE BEAUTY VIDEOS

Youtube was my first love. The blogging world came later for me. I've been watching beauty videos for over five years now and, you know what, it feels good. Maybe I should be ashamed of my addiction, but I'm not. I love it *she inhaled with her trembling breath*. So I've seen a lot of videos over the years, as you can imagine, and these are a just a hand full of the ones that stuck in my mind.

SEPTEMBER FAVOURITES

We're well and truly in fall now. There's a myriad of gorgeous russet and soft yellow leaves lining the streets. The rain has come and the air has that crisp smell to it. I always talk about that crisp smell, but I think it has to be my favorite part of this season. September was a fun month in which I caught up with old friends, decorated my new bedroom (pictures will be taken as soon as I can get enough sunlight!) and enjoyed some great TV shows. I'll run you through it all.

GOALS REVISITED

Bonjorno. I'm back for an update! Now I know hearing about my thoroughly unexciting life may not tickle everyone's sister, but for those few that have a strange curiosity about the least interesting woman in the world (no Dos Equis for me), you're in luck? A question mark seemed to be the only appropriate punctuation there. I wrote a post about goals for the coming months back in June and some big changes have happened since then. It would feel strange not to tell you guys about any of them.

MEET ASH & KRISTOFFERSON!

Say hello to the two newest members of my fam jam! This is Ash (coco bear) and Kristofferson (vanilla bear). I'm in love. These two fellas came home with me two weeks ago. Unfortunately, as soon as Ash got back I realized something was wrong. I took him to the vet and it turned out he had a respiratory infection. He's spent the past couple of weeks on antibiotics and the boys had to be separated for the duration of that time.

5 ESSENTIALS FOR BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHY

Ahh photography. My old friend. How you challenge and frustrate me always. Photography is possibly the most difficult, but rewarding, part of blogging for me. I think a lot about how to improve my blog photos and I enjoy studying what the most successful beauty photographers are doing right. I thought a lot about what good photography boils down to. I went back in forth in my noggin many a time and finally decided that these are the five essential points.

WHY EVERYONE SHOULD BE USING RETINOL

In the past few years I've seen everyone go absolutely crazy over BHA and AHA toners. They seem to work wonders for a lot of people, but no matter how much I tried, they weren't cutting it for my acne prone skin. That's where retinol, or retinoids, came in. They added that extra boost that helped to drop kick my skin problems in the pantaloons. They're kind of a wonder product that does it all, which is why I wanted to run you guys through the basics of what they can be used for, how they work and how they should be used. Come along with me!

OMBRE LIP AND COPPER CAT EYE

I'm really digging this blurred lip trend that Maybelline is spreading around the internet. I've seen it on the catwalk for years and I've always thought it added a really beautiful, effortless effect to the lips. I particularly love the effect when it's done in pink. It's such a fresh look. So I figured, why not pair it with a copper cat eye and make a day of it?

8 BEAUTIFUL FREE FONTS

I've become a font hoarder over the past year. To be fair, it's not as bad as my makeup hoarding or my clothes hoarding... or my skincare hoarding... or my homeware hoarding... I've just seen a bit of a trend cropping up. Moving swiftly along, I've searched Dafont and Fontsquirrel to their darkest corners and I've resurfaced with some beauties. A couple of things to note before we delve in. One, I'm a big fan of using fonts in their uppercase form. May as well put that out there. Two, remember that font spacing can be just as important as the font itself. Now knock yourselves out!

SOMETHING SPECIAL

When I first starting blogging I was a drugstore girl to the core. I loved finding dupes for high-end products and feeling like I was seeking out the diamonds in the rough. I still love that. You can't keep me away from the drugstore. But I've also come to realize how nice it is to have a few things that are truly special, things that you can really indulge in. It makes the whole process of makeup application that much sweeter. So what are my indulgences? Well, I shall tell you, because when have I ever not?

THE MOST MAGICAL BOOK I EVER DID SEE

I wanted to tell you guys about a gift I was given. It's a colouring book, which I know sounds odd, but my goodness it's majestic. It's called Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt And Colouring Book. It's essentially a grown up version of the colouring books we had as kids. This one has thick, luxurious paper and a front cover that will make you want to “casually leave it lying on your coffee table” for appearances sake. Full of extremely intricate and beautiful designs, it makes you feel wonderfully childish and like a sophisticated adult all at once.

10 COMMON MAKEUP MISTAKES & THEIR FIXES

I've been meaning to do a post like this for so long! I wanted to create a little guide to commonly made makeup mistakes and, at the same time, offer alternative methods to those mistakes. A lot of you guys will probably already know this stuff, but some of us have a bit less experience with makeup. I know, for example, that it's a newer venture for a lot of my bum chums back home. So this is for you lovely people. Hopefully you find something in here that's helpful.

PASTEL TRAIL PRINT GIVEAWAY

I'm really happy to be coming to you guys with a lovely giveaway today! Pastel Trail contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in giving away one of their beautiful art prints. A little background on Pastel Trail: they're an Etsy store that creates designs based on positivity towards life. That's something that I could use a healthy dose of these days so I told them I would be absolutely tickled to team up with them. I was a bit cheeky and asked if they would do a custom print for you guys – combining my favourite background and favourite quote. They kindly obliged and BOOM, that's what we've got here. So please, enter away if you desire.

7 MURDER MYSTERY SHOWS TO WATCH

I have gotten so into murder mystery shows in the past year. Who's with me?! There's something wonderfully captivating about them. I think it's because I love to guess what's going to happen and when I get it right I feel like I might secretly be a genius. You take what you can get when you're a college dropout. I'm particularly keen on English murder mysteries (again, because they make me feel clever and sophisticated), but I've seen some top notch American ones too. So for you lot out there that are as sick in the head as I am, here are some leads (yyyyeaaaahhhh).

LIT FROM WITHIN FOR PROBLEM SKIN

You know, sometimes the hardest part of a post to write is the very first sentence. So that's it. That's my first sentence. Quite. My skin has been going crazy the past few months. It'll be completely clear and then, as if to punish me for the good fortune, it'll break out like crazy. This means I'm left with a bumpy texture and, as much as I love cream products, they aren't ideal for that kind of problem skin. They tend to wiggle their way into crevasses and emphasize pores.

SHU UEMURA ULTIMATE REMEDY HAIR MASQUE

I've mentioned the Shu Uemura Ultimate Remedy Hair Masque a few times before, but I've never given it the proper ego tickling that it deserves. Today is the day that it gets the royal treatment because this is without a doubt the most glorious product ever to have touched my hair.

THE EYE MAKEUP REMOVER SHOWDOWN

I've fallen in love with a new mascara, the L'oreal Miss Manga Rock Waterproof. It gives loads of volume and length and it holds a curl like a steroid fuelled 20 year old Arny. The only downside is that, being a waterproof mascara, it's a righteous douche canoe to remove. Of course this presented an opportunity, an opportunity to have a bit of a makeup remover showdown – a fight to the death if you will.

AUGUST FAVOURITES

August has been a strange month. I've basically been living out of a backpack, moving between houses. We've technically moved into the city, but as both Jaseface (boyfriend) and I have still been working on the island we've been staying... not in our new house... because that's how we roll. The whole living out of a bag thing has been surprisingly fun though. For one thing it's actually been quite freeing not feeling tied down to so much stuff. It's also meant that I've been forced to really enjoy what I've had with me. The things that made it into my bag got a lot of love over the past month. Starting with...

EMBRYOLISSE LAIT CREME CONCENTRE

I want to start today by apologizing to you guys. The past month has been total chaos. We've moved house and still haven't yet managed to unpack. I feel like I have so much stuff I have to get done and at the same time I'm trying to enjoy the last of the short summers that we get here. As a consequence I haven't had the time and energy that I would like to have had to put into Bloomin' Rouge. I know everybody says "you do you, post as much or little as you like." But it's important to me to be regularly producing fresh content for you guys. I'm sorry that I haven't been doing that. It will probably be a few more weeks of madness and then I should be back in the swing of things.

5 BEAUTY PRODUCTS I WISH MY PAST SELF HAD HAD

There are many things that I wish I could go back in time and warn myself about. For example, don't bother killing yourself over grades or don't date that giant douche nozzle or don't cut off all your hair when you dress like a boy and don't have any boobs. You know, those types of things. But this is a beauty blog and you probably haven't come here to hear my life woes. Instead I'm going to tell you about all the beauty products that I wish I'd known about years ago, the ones that rocked my world when I discovered them.

5 MAKEUP BITS TO TRY

In the past few months I've gone a bit crazy trying out new products. I should probably cool my jets for a bit for the sake of my bank account. On the bright side I've found a lot of fantastic products, many of which have made their way into my daily makeup bag. I'm having trouble waiting until the next monthly favourites to tell you guys about them. So I'll just tell you about a few of them for now.

HART & STONE JEWELRY

Where to begin? A few months ago I got an email from a very lovely lady, Emily McPhee. Emily is the founder of Hart + Stone, a jewelry line based out of the West Coast of Canada. She offered to make me a couple of pieces from her line. I was unbelievably excited by the offer. I should explain why.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR IPHONE PHOTOS LOOK PRO

As I'm sure you've all heard a million times before, photography is a major part of blogging. It's what initially draws people to your blog. For that reason you want your photos to look beautiful and professional. A DSLR camera with a nice lens is obviously the easiest way to achieve that. I'm very fortunate to have been able to invest in a nice DSLR, however, I'm aware that not everyone has the budget for that. And, honestly, there are some things that a phone camera just does better. So, in keeping with the photography theme of my last post, I wanted to show you guys how you can get your mobile photos looking in tip top shape.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CORRECTING LENS DISTORTIONS IN PHOTOSHOP

It's time to get picky with it. I think if you want your blog to get noticed for its photography, which, let's face it, we probably all do, you have to be anal about the details. People often register the details without really consciously noticing them, if you catch my drift. They make all the difference. So I think it's important to train yourself to consciously notice little imperfections and to correct them in the editing process. One of those imperfections is lens distortions.

THE PERFECT AM & PM CLEANSE & MOISTURIZE

In the past year I've tried a fair few cleansers and moisturizers. I've tested the waters, grazed the lands, soared through the skies on an eagle's back, and I think I've come to some conclusions. I've landed on my favourite AM/PM cleanse/moisturize duos and, well lads and lasses, I'm here to share them with you.

DANIEL WELLINGTON CLASSIC SHEFFIELD

A short while ago Daniel Wellington approached me and asked if I'd be interested in doing a post on one of their watches. I've been fairly obsessed with those watches for a good solid year. Liiiikkke I ogle pictures of them on Pinterest more often than I ogled the cast of Supernatural back in the day. So you can imagine I was happy to accept their offer. They gave me the option to pick any watch and, surprise surprise, I chose the *Classic Sheffield Watch in Rose Gold.

A HUGE HIT AND A LITTLE MISS

I've been feeling like my lashes have been looking a little less than fantabulous lately. To be fair, MAC Extended Play has done me quite well for the past few months. It brings the length and separation and it doesn't smudge in the slightest. However, it does absolutely nothing in terms of volume and if I'm going to bring the DRAMA (betch please, lashes 4 dayz drama) Imma need some volume. So, as I've said so many times before, the hunt was on! The game was afoot.

BEST YOUTUBERS TO LEARN MAKEUP FROM

I love learning about makeup. It's been a passion of mine for many years now. I love watching tutorials, I love listening to pro tips and I love hearing about product recommendation. I swear Youtube has taught me more than makeup school ever did (not that I didn't love school too). Over the years I've grown quite attached to a few Youtubers, ones that never cease to impress me with the breadth of knowledge and their ability to teach. These are my top ladies.

THE DO IT ALL BRUSHES

Brushes are to makeup as fancy language is to a pretentious douchebag. Essential, compulsory, pivotal, obligatory. Take your pick. Trololol. But in all seriousness, brushes are super important to me. It's quite amazing what a difference a good brush can make. It can completely change the way a product works. For that reason I love testing the waters and I've found three face brushes that I reckon are quite exceptional in all that they can do.

WELL, NOW THAT STROBING IS A THING...

When I first heard the term strobing, like many others I'm sure, I kinda rolled my eyes. Once I got over the unnecessary name though, I actually started to enjoy the concept. I could never really get on board with the intense contouring trend. I don't mind it used with a light hand, but I never warmed to the Kardashian thing. Instead I've always been more drawn to simply working with light, or highlighter. That seems to be the essence of this whole strobing trend – bringing luminosity to the face and lifting it, without any of the heaviness of contouring. It's a technique that I've noticed on the runway for years and I'm glad that it's finally catching on in day to day life.

FOREVER 21 STAPLE PIECES

For some reason I never really do posts on fashion. I don't know why. I love fashion and styling almost as much as I love makeup. In my 5 Plans To Update My Personal Style post I mentioned that I wanted to focus on purchasing simple, staple pieces. Ones that are clean, classic and pair nicely with one another. Well I did a little haul from Forever 21 and I think I found some nice pieces that fit the bill.

THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE

What's that? A CD? Never heard of it. Music is such a big part of my life. It has the power to completely absorb me, to change my state of mind, to bring me joy and to break my heart. It's wonderful. So I had an idea. I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourite songs of all time – the ones that have stuck with me over the years – and to tell you a little bit about each song's history for me. Here goes.