Lemon Nails - Nails of The Week!

Hey Guys,

So I decided to do another Nails of The Week segment as you seemed to like it so much last time. However I won't be able to do these type of posts every week like the title suggests as I just don't have the time at the moment; I will try and do them as much possible though!

So for this nail look, I decided to go quite simple as I had just bought this nail varnish and I wasn't sure if I would like it as much on my nails as I did in the bottle. Do you guys know what I mean when I say the colour it appears in the bottle is sometimes not even close to what it looks like on your nails? Also I find Barry M nail varnish quite thin, which isn't a bad thing it just means that I have to paint three coats instead of just two (with the occasional clear coat on top), thus taking longer to dry. 

This nail varnish was in the colour "Lemon" (307) and I decided on this one because my collection so far mainly consists of various shades of pinks and mints. Also it's nice towards the end of summer and the beginning of autumn to still have a little bit of sunshine on your fingertips! 

Considering I was very busy all week the nail varnish stayed on incredibly well and lasted at least 4 days before chipping at all. However once it had started to chip off, it all seemed to come off very quickly, and before long I was missing all of the nail varnish on about three fingers. I'm one of those people who really don't like wearing really badly chipped nail varnish at college or out and about so I have to re do it at the weekends, ready for the week ahead. 

As I had washed my hair four times, cleaned my room, went shopping, wrote a load of blog posts and did some painting all in one week, I think it stayed on surprisingly well. I also pick at my nail varnish a lot when I am bored so that may have something to do with it, haha!

I definitely recommend you try out this colour, but you have to have a lot of time to do this, as many of you already know three coats takes a looooong time to dry. 

Come say hi on Instagram or Twitter !

(This post is not sponsored!)

Sorry Guys!

Hey Guys,

Sorry I haven't been around much lately but I was away all last week so I didn't get the chance to post anything on my blog or my YouTube channel. However this week I have done nothing but make videos and write posts so my blog will continue as usual from today. 

Also while I was away we hit 1,000 page views which is amazing considering I only officially started my blog three weeks ago!

Thanks so much guys! 

And if you want to check out my YouTube channel if you haven't already here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/redhotblog

 

New Video: My Top Summer Must Reads!

Hey Guys,

So as you may, or may not know, I have started my very own YouTube channel which is very appropriately called "really redmeg". It is a place for me to post things visually instead of just writing them down all the time. 

This week I have uploaded a video on My Top Summer Reads and you can check it out 

here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMVf9i9XxRo

Videos are up every Friday!

It would be awesome if you could check out my channel and subscribe!

Mint Nails - Nails Of The Week!

 Hey Guys,

So I thought that today I would share with you my new favourite nail style and the beauty products I used to create this look.

The lighter colour that I decided to use is the Maybelline New York: Forever Strong Super Stay Gel Nail Colour in the colour Mint For Life (615). I really like this pale mint on my nails as I think that it goes with whatever I'm wearing and I can pair it with other nail varnishes and it still looks great!

I wanted to put another colour with the Mint For Life as I feel like I always wear just one nail varnish at any given time. So the colour I decided to go with was the Forevermore Green (625) in the same brand as the Mint For Life. I think that these two colours go well together, however I feel like the Forevermore Green is too strong for me to wear on all of my nails. 

As I felt like the Forevermore Green was very dark I decided to make it glittery without having to go out and get a whole new nail varnish; I'm also too nervous to use craft glitter on my nails!

I did this by grabbing a paint brush and the Barry M Fine Glitter Dust in the shade 26. I thought that this went amazingly well with the colours I had decided to use on my nails and it was only hanging around in my makeup draw doing nothing.

If you wanted to you could use the glitter on all of your nails if you were to wear them for a night out or just really love having glamerous nails, however I decided to go with just the ring finger on both hands. (Partly because I couldn't be asked and partly because I tried it on the other nails and messed up! haha) All I did was lightly dust the glitter onto my nail, while the nail varnish was still tacky, and then wait a while before gently washing the rest of under the tap. Once I was sure the nail was try I then applied Crystal Clear (25) nail varnish in the same brand over the top to make sure the shimmer glitter stayed on.

In the picture at the top I have two coats of the Mint For Life and the Forevermore Green, with another layer of clear over the top of the Forevermore Green.

After waiting for my nails to dry, I then went around the outside of each nail with a cotton bud (soaked in nail varnish remover) to make sure I had clean edges.

If you want to, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter @redhotblog or go check out my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/redhotblog

My YouTube Channel

Hey Guys,

Two weeks ago I started my very own YouTube channel called "really redmeg" where I talk about fashion, beauty products, my monthly favourites and a lot about books!

I just thought I would share this with you guys in case you preferred watching instead of reading, which I know I do sometimes.

Videos will be up every Friday so please take a look, I know its not much at the moment but I am always trying to make each video better.

There is currently only two videos up so I know there is not a lot to judge me on but if you like what you see don't forget to subscribe!

It would be so cool if you guys could check it out.

Link to my YouTube Channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/redhotblog

Silver Shadows

“What is it with you and girls, Adrian, dear? Why do they either mean nothing to you or everything? It's always an extreme."

Hey Guys,
I cannot tell you how long I have waited for this book! After I finished reading the fourth book in this series, The Fiery Heart, I had to wait for what felt like years for Silver Shadows to come out; the ending of each of the books leaves you on such a cliff hanger that you cannot believe that you have to wait so long for the next one.

I don't want to give too much away for those who are yet to start the series but this book was probably one of my favourites, along with The Golden Lily and The Fiery Heart. I have to say that I would have liked to have seen more scenes where Sydney and Adrian were together, those who have read this book or the previous one will know why, but I really do like the way that Richelle Mead creates her characters and takes them on a journey.

There was also a lot of character development within this novel which is unusual for a book so far along in the series, but I would actually recommend this book over The Vampire Academy Series. However to get a real feel of Adrian Ivashkov, the male lead character, you should really read The Vampire Academy series first as he also features in that as well.

For those who haven't started the series yet, I have to be honest, the first book isn't my favourite but it gets the series started and lets you get to know all of the characters. We are also introduced to another group of people in the Bloodlines series which are the Alchemists, which aren't featured as much in The Vampire Academy novels like the Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi are. 

These books are not really suitable for anyone under 12 so if you are under this age please ask a parent or guardian before reading them.
 You can find Richelle here and you can buy Silver Shadows here.
Tell me what you think on Twitter or Instagram.

Every Day

“The clock always ticks. There are times you don't hear it, and there are times that you do.” 

Hey Guys,

Now you will probably learn this the more I share the books I have read with you, but I only tend to read books from both ends of the spectrum; those that are about vampires and supernatural beings or those that could have been based on real people. Every day by David Levithan is somewhat in between the two, it could be true but there are still unrealistic qualities.

However I am extremely glad that I picked this book up, it's funny, romantic and unbelievably tragic all at once.

The only thing I wasn't keen about with this book was the front cover, which is saying something, because of the vibrant orange colour as it is very bright and does seem like its trying to copy the vivid colouring of The Fault In Our Stars. Nonetheless it did do its job in getting my attention in the book shop and I did end up buying it so maybe more authors should consider brightening up their covers.

Although I would consider this a romantic novel, I can promise you it will be like no other you have read before! Without giving too much away the protagonist - A - goes to great lengths to see the girl that could change everything and the ending is the make or break for the entire novel.

One of my favourite things about this book was the chapters, well they weren't really chapters, which is the point; the book is split up into days so they all differ greatly in length depending on how much there is to write about. I really like this layout as it suits the style of the book much better than chapters would have.

I really do recommend that you read this book; whether it in your back garden or by the pool in Italy!
You can find David Levithan here and you can buy Every Day here.
Come say hi on Instagram or Twitter!

I have decided to give this book 4 flowers. Tell me what you think in the comments below!

Trouble

"All I need to know if whether she's OK. That is all."

Hey Guys,
When I saw this book in Waterstones a few weeks back the first thing that intrigued me was the tag line, "A Boy. A Girl. A Bump." and the fact that I had never read anything like this before. It had me instantly thinking about teen pregnancies and maybe the fact that it was some weird alternate universe where the guy gets pregnant; it wasn't but that would have been good!

I have to admit it did take me a big longer to get through this books that some of the others that I have read but this novel has some serious plot twists and interlinking story lines that most young adult novels these days lack. All I can say is that the way it starts off is nothing like the way it finishes.

Non Pratt has split her book into two different points of view, one from the pregnant teen Hannah, and the other from her best guy friend Aaron. I normally don't go for books with split points of view but after reading Eleanor & Park I thought I would give this book a go. The best section of this book is about the last fifth of the pages but to get a feel of the characters and their lives you need to read the whole book; and please don't skip to the end! If you do I promise it will ruin the whole thing for you.

By the end of the book I did get really attached to the two main characters Hannah and Aaron, how realistic they were, like they could have been real people on an episode of Teen Mom or 16 and pregnant. (Not that the book reads across like that!)

As it is about a pregnant teenage girl and a lot of young boys, hopefully you can see where I'm going with this, I do not recommend it to anyone under the age of 14. However to anyone above this age I really think you should read this book as its both funny and sad, definitely one of my favourites!
You can find Non Pratt here.

I have decided to give this book 4 flowers. Tell me your thoughts and opinions in the comments below or on Twitter or Instagram.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

“I am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me.” 

Hey Guys,

After reading Every Day by David Levithan I decided to have a look at what else he had written; now don't get me wrong, I had seen Will Grayson, Will Grayson before in bookstores but never thought of reading it as it didn't really seem like my "thing". However now that I knew that this novel was a collaboration between John Green and the guy that wrote Every Day (one of my new favourite books!) I just knew I had to buy it and read it.

I wasn't really sure what this book was going to be like, since the blurb said something about a musical I thought it was going to be similar to a novelized version of High School Musical, with lyrics and stage directions in between chapters. Instead I found a genuinely heartwarming book about two guys who both happen to be called Will Grayson, meeting each other one day outside a very questionable shop. 

The novel itself is split into two, not directly in half but in the way that both authors take turns writing a chapter from their Will Grayson's point of view. I really liked this way of setting out the novel as it was evenly divided between the two so people could get to know one Will Grayson just as much as the other. However as much of a fan of John Green as I am, I actually found myself preferring the Will Grayson written by David Levithan, as he seemed to have a lot more character development and John Green's Will Grayson appeared to lack a bit of depth in some places.

One of the points that I really liked about this novel is the fact that it does openly talk about depression, and in a way that younger people would understand. Also, the Will Grayson written by David Levithan is gay, which I think is a really good way of getting young people used to the idea of one of the protagonists being gay instead of some muscular hunk that gets all the girls. 

I definitely recommend this book but it does have some very strong language so I don't think anyone under the age of 13 should try to read it. If you have already read this book let me know what you thought of it in the comments!

You can find John Green here - David Levithan here - and you can by the book from here.
Come say hi on Instagram and Twitter!

Smoothies & Juices

Hey Guys,
Today I decided to share with you a recently bought gadget that I got to hopefully improve my health and diet, and I can tell you that it really does work. This morning I have already eaten four of my five a day in just one smoothie, which I think is very impressive!

I thought that this post would go well on both my Recommendation page and my Fashion & Beauty page as I am recommending you guys to try it but once you have tried it, it can vastly improve your diet and your skin; and everyone wants clear skin!

 The juicer/blender that I decided to go with was the NutriBullet as I had seen a teleshopping advert a while back and saw how good it was at pulverizing anything you put in it, including nuts and ice. Also the NurtiBullet can do a lot of different things such as smoothies, juices and soups (I never thought of using it to make soup before!) so it is definitely worth the money.
You can find the NutriBullet here.

However any blender or juicer that you have already in your home is perfect to use to make this smoothie, which I am constantly drinking at the moment and would love for you guys to try it at home!

Recipe:

• Two and a half large handfuls of raspberries
• One and half large handfuls of pineapple
• Half a small handfull of blueberries
• Several almounds (I used 6)
• Half a small handful of pistachios
• Around 7 or 8 strawberries 
• A handful of raw spinach

Obviously if you are allergic to nuts you wouldn't include them but even if you don't like them you can choose to whether you include them or not as you cannot taste them, but they do add fiber, vitamins and other nutrients to the smoothie.

I also made a smoothie for my lunch the other day using all of the fruit pictured below; can you imagine trying to eat all of that at once?!

Thank you guys for reading this and I hope you enjoy your smoothie if you do try to make it!
Show me your smoothies and tag me in the pictures on either Twitter or Instagram.
(This post is not sponsored!)

Eleanor & Park

"Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something." 

Hey Guys,

I don't know about you but after finished The Fault in Our Stars I had an "okay" shaped whole in my heart that, I felt, needed to be filled. If I could award a book six flowers I would! This book is so delightfully heartwarming that I actually smiled the whole time I was reading it. I can see some people saying that you can't compare anything to The Fault in Our Stars, but these books, in many ways, are nothing alike. 

Rainbow Rowell has managed to effortlessly write from both a male and female point of view without it seeming too similar or feminine. The two main characters, Eleanor and Park, aren't the kind of people you would consider to feature in typical teenage romance novel, but that's why I believe this book is for anyone; so many people can relate to what Eleanor and Park are going through as they actually seem like they could be real.

Without giving too much away, I need another book to follow on from this one, simply because of the ending; the last four words leave the book on such a cliff hanger that you no longer know what to do with yourself after finishing it.

Eleanor & Park even has a quote from John Green himself on the front cover, stating his opinion on the book; he writes, "Reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."

On a side note I just wanted to mention that this book is written in third person, in case any of you guys prefer to read books that are in first person, as I know I do but I still recommend you to read Eleanor & Park as I think it will change your mind.

I seriously recommend you guys to read this book but unfortunately it is not for any young readers, (which I would consider to be under 12/13) so as much as I would love you to read this book, please don't if you are under this age.
You can find Rainbow Rowell here!

(You guys know how much I love to hear your opinions in the comments down below but please be wary of spoilers!)

Gossip Girl

"The problem with fairy tales is that they set a girl up for disappointment. In real life, the prince goes off with the wrong princess." - Gossip Girl

Hey Guys,

A few weeks ago I started watching Gossip Girl after recently getting Netflix, which I really shouldn't have been doing as I was in the process of doing my GCSE exams, and all I can say is that I was 100% totally and completely hooked!

In total there are 6 seasons on juicy, gossip filled episodes which each have their own mini cliffhangers, leaving you wanting. I think I ended up going to bed at about midnight on a weekday and around 2:00 am at the weekends (which I am not recommending you to do!) just so that I knew what was going to happen next between best friends Blair and Serena and how they were going to resolve this next problem.

I would have to say that my favourite character is Mr Chuck Bass, played by Ed Westwick who is my teenage crush, because of his sassy, unique attitude which makes him totally lovable in an unexpected way. If you guys watch this series you will find yourself loving him by the end! Honestly, I don't think I dislike any of the main characters (Serena, Blair, Chuck, Dan or Nate) but there are definitely ones that I like more than others. 

This show isn't just about the drama though, I fell in love with the clothes and the lifestyle! With their million pound penthouses and lavish balls I wanted to be one of them, to become one of those five teenagers who we, as an audience, follow for the next few years of their lives. I can't say that their lives are perfect, because their not and you will find out from watching the show, but I wouldn't exactly pass if I were given the opportunity to live like them.

With the sixth and final season airing in 2012 it made me want to watch it more as there wasn't going to be any waiting around for the next episode to come out in a few months. For those of you who have watched it you will already know that the identity of the "famous" Gossip Girl is revealed, but for those who are yet to watch it, pay careful attention as I bet you will be shocked at who "she" actually is, as I certainly was!

( I would love to here your thoughts and opinions on the show in the comments down below but please be wary of spoilers!)

The Fault in Our Stars

 "Okay? Okay."

Hey Guys,

The reason I started reading The Fault in Our Stars was not because I picked it up in a book shop or came across it online, it was because one of my friends recommended it to me in a maths lesson, having bought it the previous day at the supermarket. All she said to me was that I had to read it, so I did, and I fell in love; which is why I am recommending it to you.

There isn't anything you can't love in this beautiful story about a girl and a boy in what some people would say are unusual circumstances. I have to be honest, I was a little skeptical when I first started to read it as I thought it would be depressing, a little boring and have no reference to what someone with cancer would actually be going through. How wrong was I?! John Green is such a caring and loving writer, and you can see this in his novels, particularly The Fault in Our Stars, with his ability to mix humor and heartache into one without it being too forthright or unrealistic.

I am not a major fan of male authors writing from a female perspective, and vice versa, as I feel that they never seem to get the dialogue and thoughts quite right however by about the third line I was completely engrossed and forgot that John Green is, in fact, male.

My favourite character wasn't Hazel Grace but the charming and ever-real, Augustus Waters. If you were to ask me why, I couldn't say without ruining the storyline for you, but if I were ever to meet someone as delightfully raw as Augustus Waters I would never let go.

I went to go see the movie a couple of weeks ago for my birthday and have to say it definitely did the book justice and I am not ashamed to admit that I did cry several time throughout the showing! Let me know in the comments whether you cried a little, a lot or whether you were as dry as a bone.

I truly believe that The Fault in Our Stars deserves a 5 flower rating, and many books in the future will have a lot to live up to.
You can find John Green here!

Comment your thoughts and opinions down below but please be wary of spoilers!

Prom/Evening Makeup Tutorial

 Hey Guys,

In preparation for my Prom I tried out many different makeup ideas but this one was my favourite and the one I decided to wear on my Prom night. I wanted to show you guys to give you some ideas for your Prom or and evening out with your friends. Do what you will with this tutorial, change it up as much as you want but I hope you find it helpful. 

Now to do this tutorial you don't need the brands that I used and you could even decide to use completely different colours, as I have chosen to go with pinks and golds, but you could decide to go towards silver or bronze.

The first step in any eye makeup tutorial is to make sure you have your primer, concealer, foundation or BB cream on already before you start, as you don't want to cake your freshly stuck eyelashes with foundation. Personally I have very fair skin so I find it really hard to get the ride shade without it looking orange. If you have this same problem I have also listed the skin products that I use below, including moisturiser, primer, concealer and foundation.

 (Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Moisturiser, Rimmel London Fix & Perfect Pro Primer 002, Maybelline New York New Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Lightweight Primer, Seventeen Stay Time Concealer in Extra Fair and Rimmel London Match Perfection Light Perfecting Radiance Foundation in Light Porcelain)

Okay so now you've got all your skin done it's now time to do the eyes. To start off you need to make sure there is no remaining mascara or eyeliner from the day before as this can create an uneven appearance. Now for the next step I curl my eyelashes to make them stand out more but some people choose not to or already have naturally curled lashes so this step is optional.

The next step is the first coat of mascara, I say first coat because I tend to put on a sort of base coat at the start to build up as I like my lashes to stand out and be thick and long. You will also need to put another coat on later to blend the fake eyelashes with your real ones.

I then put on a fairly thin coat of eyeshadow because I prefer it to be more subtle but the amount you chose to put on is up to you. For this I use the 17 eyes in Funfair with the detailer brush from realTechniques by Samantha Chapman, but if you don't have any type of brush your finger will work just as well.

This next step is a bit trickier because you need to cut and glue your fake eyelashes on. I only use the outer corner half as I usually cut them up so that they are more comfortable to wear and appear more natural. Hopefully on the photos below you can see where I stuck the eyelashes, which is the outer half of my eye, where my lashes appear darker and fuller. Also be careful with how much glue you decide to use as this can effect how hard they are to get off afterwards.

Now you need to grab your eyeliner and draw a very thin, dark line from where your lashes start to where they finish, and could could get thicker as you head towards the outer corner of your eye. This step is just to help hide the thick, black line that helps to hold the eyelashes together. After you've done the black eyeliner you can then use the Barry M Bold Bronze Waterproof Eyeliner to draw a line just above where you've drawn the black eyeliner line, be careful not to touch the black eyeliner line as it can easily get smudged!

The last step is completely optional as you may decide you like your eyes as they are but you can also use the Barry M eyeliner to draw a faint line underneath your bottom lashes, from the outer corner of your eye to about halfway through your eye, this just helps to add a little more sparkle.

And now your done! I hope you love your gorgeous eyes just as much as I enjoyed making this tutorial for you guys. I just want you to keep in mind that I have no training in beauty or makeup, it is just a hobby. Please comment down below what you thought of my tutorial and if you would like me to do anything else for you guys!