A vision for the future!

So I kind of left the world of blogging/YouTube/Twitter for a while...

My somewhat petty excuse for this is that life simply took over! Having spent a year out of college and realizing that having no job and barely any money was far less glamorous than it seemed, I decided to go back and finish out my degree in University in order to save myself from a life of depression and loneliness. So, in September of 2012, I returned and I can now say that it was the best decision I have ever made! An incredible amount of changes have occured in the past ten months - I have made a whole new group of friends whom I know I will keep until the end of my days, I ended a long relationship which was seriously tough but was totally the right decision and I passed my second year in English and Sociology with ease!  What a year so far eh?!

Unfortunately for me though, the craziness that followed these events meant that I completely and totally disappeared from my YouTube channel and other social mediums, which had been gathering up some serious, unexpected momentum! I'm so sad that I did this as I did enjoy it and it kept me going through a tough year in my life. I had made quite a few friends through YouTube and Twitter but since taking my leave from them, I have lost all contact! Boo :( 

However, I am now on Summer holidays and it has suddenly dawned on me that I could return to the things I used to and still do love - makeup and writing! As much as I loved the interaction associated with my YouTube channel, making videos takes so much time, space and energy which I am realistically not going to have much of as I enter my final year of University in September. So to promise to stick at that would be unrealistic and unfair to anyone who watches. 

But, on the other hand, there is blogging! Although I had only written a few blog posts, I do love it! Writing is a huge passion of mine, as is reviewing and beauty so the obvious conclusion I came to is - why don't I focus on my blog?! It hit me like a magical burst of goodness and excitement and I know that I will be able to continue blogging, even when term starts again because it won't require as much time or hassle as videos do! 

So here it goes ladies (and gentlemen perhaps)! I wish to update my blog at least 3 times per week for the next year. Yes, you read right! No matter what's going on in my life, beauty and fashion never leave my interests and I'm forever catching up on blogs, reviews, YouTube and new product ads! Therefore, my blog is going to embody all of that, let it be an Outfit of the day, a product review, nails of the day, purchases made, things I'm loving - just my own little world where I can share with you all the things that I love and hopefully entertain you readers and inspire you in a way also! 

I'm determined! This is something I would love to make a little career of and I really hope that, with your support, I can have my own little community where we can all interact and share our loves and hates, likes and loathes and just be girly and creative, supporting each other along the way! 

So without further ado, let's get the ball rollin'! I'm going to attempt to keep you all updated in small pieces through Facebook and Twitter also, so if you could be so kind as to follow me through here and through those mediums also, I would love you forever! I will leave links below and you can chat to me there if you so wish :)

Thanks so much for reading and I hope to interact with you soon,

Charlene

xoxo

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/smokeysurprise

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smokeyeyesurprise

April 2012 Hits and misses!

So here we are again! We've reached yet another new month of 2012 and, in true Irish fashion, are not seeming to be having any nicer weather :( Boo hoo! But at least us girlies have some beuaty comforts to get us through the dull depressing days :) 

April, I must say, has been a month of testing out new skincare products. This is an alien thing for me to do as I tend to spend all my money on makeup or haircare, just because it's way more fun to me! Alas though, as I am only mere months away from leaving behind my teenage years, I feel it's high time to start giving my skin a bit of protection for the years that are to follow. Oh the trials and tribulations of leaving your youth behind lol! So I've been using scrubs, cleansers, moisturisers and the like and I must say, I am starting to see a stark difference in how my skin behaves. As you will see in my video below, I have two products that I am in love with!

I have also been loving the pastel nail polishes in April! They just make me happy, that's all I can say! A bit of pastel fun makes all the difference and I would have to say, the two brands I have mentioned in my video (Barry M and Catrice) would have to be my favourite nail polish brands all around but they do a fantastic range of pastels if you are on the lookout for them. They're also some of the most affordable, good quality ones on the market too! 

Apart from these two big fetishes I've had in April, I have a few other little mentinables but also two things I haven't been getting along with, one of which has quite an embarrassing story to accompany it as you will see haha! 

So yeah, please give my video a watch and see what you think! If you have tried any of these products, do let me know your opinions and also what you have been loving or hating for the month of April :D

Thanks for reading/watching lovelies,
Take care,
Charlene
xoxo

 

Obsessed with ObsessedJewellery :D

Ok, so I will be the very first person to admit that I am VERY choosey about the jewellery I will buy or wear! I don't really have a reason for this other than that I love unique pieces and things that I often see in shops such as Penney's or even dedicated jewellery shops are just too plain and common for me to wear. I guess you could call me a jewellery snob!

However, one day as I was browsing through my tweets, I seen that a friend of mine on there, Rachel aka Aprettyobsession, had started up her own online jewellery store. Rachel already has her own successful blog and a YouTube channel and I love her style as it's similar to my own so I was compelled to go have a nose at the items she was selling! And OMG, it was like I had clicked onto a page where all my wildest dreams of unique, stand-out, eye-catching, funky jewelled accessories had met and become available to me! I found myself getting so excited that I couldn't focus on what I wanted to look at first - no joke! This rarely ever happens to me but let me tell you, I was wanting to click "buy" on almost everything. What surprised me most was that the gold pieces were even attracting my attention, which NEVER happens me as I am a silver girl all the way! I think I own about two gold things in my whole jewellery collection! But these items weren't your traditional, dare I say, tacky looking accessories, they looked vintage in a way. The kind of pieces you would see selling in higher end boutiques for a fortune. Yet these were unbelieveably reasonable in price! I think pretty much everything on Rachel's site is under the ten euro mark which is a rariety for pieces that are so well made and unique as hers. 

Anyway, I decided I would go for a necklace called "the music lovers necklace", a daintey silver chain with a peachy cello, treble clef note and a little keyboard hanging from it. It had my name all over it as I love jewellery with musical themes and they are so hard to find so I wasn't surprised to see it on the Obsessed Jewellery site. 

I placed my order (which Rachel kindly accepted a Postal Order for as I don't have a PayPal account) and within two days, this beautifully and carefully wrapped little package arrived in my mailbox!

 There was no way the necklace could have gotten damaged as the little box had been carefully wrapped with bubble wrap and the actual necklace inside the box was wrapped in lovely, delicate, pink tissue paper, an added touch of detail and cuteness to the experience!

As expected, the necklace was gorgeous and the quality was noticeable. It actually doesn't have a clasp, instead it simply slips on easily over your head which I didn't know until I received it. However, this is a brilliant idea as any necklace I have ever been unfortunate enough to break had been by the clasp snagging on something so I know that won't happen with this. The necklace itself is strong and of high quality, even the little musical pieces are quite thick, meaning they won't break off easily.

I apologise for the quality of the photos, the lighting wasn't great. The actual colour is a peach/pink although it is showing up very pink here, it isn't. I really love how the necklace sits once it is on (as shown below). It is a perfect length in that it's long enough to go past the nape of your neck, which adds a more lack back style to an outfit, which is what I go for a lot of the time

Music Lovers Necklace - 8 euros (bargain) :)

All-in-all, as you can probably already tell, I am totally in love with Obsessed Jewellery! I regularly snoop the site for new additions and I know that I certainly will be making another purchase soon! My will power is slowly deteriorating by the day haha! 

I strongly recommend you check out this site it you are looking for well-made, stand out pieces of jewellery that are still affordable. I guarantee the service is fast and that Rachel will take the best care of any orders she sends out. Please check her and Obsessed Jewellery out on the links provided below!

Take care loves,

Char 

xoxo

Obsessed Jewellery: http://obsessedjewellery.bigcartel.com/

Obsessed Jewellery Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ObsessedJewel

Rachel's blog: http://www.aprettyobsession.com/

Rachel's Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/aprettyobsession

Rachel's Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/APrettyObsession

My YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SmokeyEyeSurprise

My Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SmokeySurprise

Lace and Neon Trends: Wear them without breaking the bank!

I seen on Xpose yesterday that lace and neon are two big trends for the Spring/Summer months of 2012. Admittedly, those two things are quite hard to pull off at the best of times. Or so you would think...

While in Penney's today, I spotted two acessory items that caught my eye, not only because they were pretty and affordable, but also because they incorporate the two big trends coming up!!

Wired lace headband - 2 euro
Neon "LOVE" ring - 3 euro

The headband is wired with a gorgeous, soft white lace material which feels more expensive than the 2 euro I paid for it! What I love about wired headbands is that they don't slip off your head like most headbands tend to do. Also, they are easy to put on and can be worn so many different ways (as the accompanying picture supplied shows). Celebrities such as Rihanna love to wear their hair up with messy curls and tie one of these around their head to amp up the look, which I think looks beautiful and is also a big trend for spring/summer. So this inexpensive accessory incorporates two big trends and doesn't make it seem like you're trying too hard! It's a simple way to rock some fashion musts in an everyday way :)

A picture of the many ways you
can wear your wire headband.

 The bright, bold, yellow/green neon "LOVE" ring was only 3 euros and looks so funky on! Again, it incorporates the neon trend along with the fashion ring fetish that seems to be rife these days! Personally, I love wearing pieces like this with simple clothes, for example a black dress, and pairing it up with neon rings, shoes or handbags to add that "wow" factor. It's an easy way to style an outfit fashionably while not going overboard! 

So, as you can see it is super easy to add statement trend items to your outfit, even on an everyday basis! All you have to do is scout the shops and find the right item that works for you, which is just as easy because all shops work by the same styles! 

Happy shopping loves :)       

Charlene xoxo

--->Both items are currently available in Penney's stores nationwide.

http://www.youtube.com/SmokeyEyeSurprise - My YouTube channel

http://www.twitter.com/SmokeySurprise         - My Twitter

And So It Begins...

Here we are: my very first blogpost! To be honest, I really do not know why I haven't made a beauty blog sooner, seeing as I've been making videos on the subject for almost three months now! I have had a blog or two in the past but nothing that entailed real interaction with other people so I feel that now I have reverted to the beauty community, that is all about to change. I really and truly want to get to know lots more girls like me who love beauty and just want to make friends and share their knowledge. Not only that but I've always been a big journo-head and I love writing about everything and anything, so on the days where I'm not filming a video or just feel like ranting, I know this will be absolutely fabulous! :) 

So, for today, I'll ease you all in by just telling you my story so far (but in a revised way, don't worry). For years, I've lived, slept and dreamt music! My other YouTube channel, Musicqueen05, shows that love in all it's glory! I cannot get enough of it! When I discovered I was quite good at teaching myself to play guitar, I literally locked myself in my bedroom in my parents' house for about two years, just singing my lungs out. I played open-mic nights, did talent competitions in school and of course broadcast some covers to my ever growing fanbase on YouTube. However, once I left school and home to go to study Media Studies  at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, I found myself having less time for guitar and singing and more time for socialising! Which, I suppose, is what happens when you reach that stage in your life. Everything is new and brilliant and you just want to bathe in your newfound life! So music took a back seat. For a year and a few months, I loved my new life but I didn't like my direction. Media Studies wasn't working out and I decided that October 2012 was the time to really try and find myself - no matter what! My theory is that you only live once and if you cannot take the time to really get to know yourself and see what you want out of life, what is the point of anything? So I left! I moved into my own apartment and here I am, with no job, little money and still no idea of what I want to do in life.

However, one thing I've discovered is my newfound passion for beauty. In actual fact, it's not really newfound as it had always been there, I had just never really put too much emphasis on it. To everyone, I'm known as "the musical one" or the girl who wants to be involved in journalism, not a "beauty enthusiast". I, however, know that since I was around fifteen years old, I have adored makeup and what it can do, how it can transform you into someone completely new looking. I have learned all the tricks I know from magazines and watching countless hours of YouTube tutorials, reviews, rants and raves. It is only when I left college and had nothing else to really focus on for the first time, I discovered that yes, I would love to start making my own videos and making a new type of audience; one who knew me for a different reason other than music and media! This idea gave me a burst of enthusiasm and I could not wait to get stuck in!

So here I am! Three months into making my own beauty videos. But be under no illusion, I'm still very much an amateur! Just as I was vefore starting my music channel, I am learning as I go but I do see tiny improvements now and again! I haven't met too many new people but I am starting to find my feet! I still feel as though I haven't found my niche yet but that takes time and I'm prepared to run with it and get to a place where I feel comfortable. After all, the best things take time and effort and will pay off when you least expect it!!

Hopefully this blog post didn't bore you and you feel a little bit more enlightened as to who I am. Even in months or years to come, viewers and readers can come to this to see who I was when I started out! Also, it's a nice way to start off a blog about me and what I love!

Take care everyone and I hope to interact with as many of you as is possible.

Stay cool and ROCK YOUR STYLE,

Charlene

xoxo 

http://www.youtube.com/user/SmokeyEyeSurprise

https://twitter.com/#!/SmokeySurprise