// WHERE ARE YOU? //

I know I haven't posted in a while and I'm really sorry about that! I've been ill recently which has made me ridiculously tired and I haven't been able to update my blog and I'm sorry to say that this isn't going to improve over the next few weeks!

On Monday night I'm flying to the Philippines with my mum for 3 and a half weeks! I'll try and get out a blogpost or two but I don't think I'm going to have a lot of access to the internet so my blog, twitter etc is going to die for the next few weeks so I apologise for that. I promise that I will pick it up when I get back mid-April but until that time - "Paalam!"

Chop it all off?

I've been unintentionally growing my hair for almost two years now, but due to a binge session of Parks and Recreation I've been tempted to chop it all off. I think that I need to think about it for a little while to make sure that it isn't just 'a passing fancy' but I have been considering it for a while due to the ridiculous amount of time and effort that I have to put into my haircare routine. Don't get me wrong, I do love having long hair, but if I could have it without all of the fuss that would be a thousand times better!

I've been scouring the internet to try and find pictures of bob length/medium length hairstyles that I like, but I'm still no closer to choosing. I thought that I would do a blogpost on my favourite hairstyles and see what you guys think!

Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation

Okay, so I recently sat down and worked my way through Parks and Rec in a few days. I'd started watching it last year because my History teacher told me that Aubrey Plaza reminded her of me, so I thought that I would check it out. I got halfway through season two last year and decided to start watching it again last week. If you haven't seen it, I really do recommend it, I genuinely think that it is one of the funniest shows out there. Anyway, I love April's style throughout the series, she always wears colours which really suit her complexion and I also love her hair. I think that if I was to go back to short hair, I probably would go for something like this.

I love Emma Stone's sweeping fringe (as well as her new hair colour but I could never pull that off) and I love the length of her hair!

Source: http://www.patriciabright.co.uk 

I loved it when Patricia Bright cut her hair! She did a whole video on her new haircare routine (link here) and I loved the way that her hair looked! I've had my hair bob-length short before when I was younger and I did like it but I'm not sure if I want to go back to it.

Source: http://www.katiesbeautyblog.com/

I'm thinking that if I get my hair cut, I might for for this fringe, but with the length of the Aubrey Plaza haircut above. I'm not sure though! I do miss having a big fringe but having second day hair was always a greasy nightmare.

I'm so undecided! Do you guys like these styles? Leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading!
Beth xxx

instagram: @bethssecret
twitter: @bethssecret
e-mail: beths-secret@live.co.uk

#2014BloggerChallenge Nail Favourites

The theme of the #2014BloggerChallenge this week is nails! Now, I'm awful with nails. I can't grow them long because then it makes it difficult to play my violin (plus long nails really creep me out) and I've only recently started painting my nails often and taking an interest in nail polish. Today, I wasn't sure what to do with this topic as I'm not very good at nail art and I can barely paint my nails as it is, so I thought that I would do a post on my favourite nail related things. Some of these polishes are no longer available however I will try and find similar products. Hope that you enjoy!

1. Boots Essentials Cotton Wool Pads £1.39
2. (similar) MUA Nail Polish in Bold Blue £1.00
3. Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Black Espresso £3.99
4. Collection Gothic Glam in Deadly £3.19
5. Barry M Nail Paint in Clear £2.99
6. (Marks and Spencers Polish in Dark red - similar) Essie Winter Collection in Shearling Darling £5.99
7. Superdrug Beauty Essentials Nail Polish Remover £1.09

I always use the Boots Baby cotton wool pads as you they're quite soft but still remove makeup and nail polish effectively, I prefer using the cotton wool pads to remove my nail polish as I find that with cotton wool balls the fibres tend to come apart and so easily stick to other bits of nail polish which make it a pain.

I am a BIG fan of the MUA range which you can purchase in Superdrug, I have several of their products and even though admittedly some of the products are a bit hit and miss, a good majority of them are good quality at a great price. I love this bright blue colour in Spring and Summer and seeing as it's coming up to those seasons, I wapped it out again in eager anticipation. I find that the polish doesn't chip too easily and with two coats it does provide a solid colour. Strongly recommend checking out their polishes!

The Barry M Matte Nails are all that I wore throughout December and January, I did a blogpost on another shade of this polish (available here) and soon after I picked up the shade in Black and I honestly love it. They're not ridiculously expensive, especially as there's normally 3 for 2 deals at Boots and Superdrug and they don't chip for a few days. I also feel just a little bit cooler wearing black polish.

Another of my favourite polishes is the Collection Gothic Glam in Revenge. I did a blogpost on this here so  I won't ramble on too much, but I do still love this. It's perfect for a more formal occasion and adds a little bit of 'glam' to a look!

I used to use a Sally Hansen base and top coat, which was very good however it was quite expensive so I started using the Barry M base and top coat instead and it does almost as good a job but at much less of a price. It adds a high shine to a polish and does increase the amount of time that the polish stays on the nails for! I really like this product and if you're looking for a new top and base coat, try this!

Finally in the polish picks is this nail polish that I actually received in a gift set so I linked a similar one. It's just a deep red that is perfect for winter-y days. I like the whole burgundy trend, especially in terms of makeup. I also feel pretty hot when I have painted red nails, I'm a loser, right?

My final favourite is the Superdrug Nail polish remover. I know that MammafulZo uses the acetone-free version of this remover, however I find that this one is great. It's a large bottle and lasts a really long time and removes nail polishes really effectively. It doesn't dry out my nails and it's super super cheap. I definitely recommend trying it out!

Those are my nail favourites, thanks for reading! Have you tried any of these products? Leave a commend below!

Beth xxx

instagram: @bethssecret
twitter: @bethssecret
e-mail: beths-secret@live.co.uk

February Favourites

Anyone else struggle with the spelling of February? No? Just me? Aw. 

February has been a short month, however for me it's gone pretty quickly! I've been ill for the month with glandular fever and a throat infection so I haven't really been doing that much so my favourites for this month are quite boring and there's not very many! I'm going away at the end of next month for about 3/4 weeks so blogposts will probably not be that frequent, but I should have a lot more favourites!

My first favourite is the Intensive Hand Cream from Superdrug that I picked up for £1.49 a few months ago. I kept this in my bag because as it was cold, my hands were pretty awful! I actually lost this for about 2 months and found it when I switched up my room out of boredom a few weeks ago and I've realised how good it actually is! It's perfect for winter and chapped, dry hands and it's an absolute lifesaver. As well as this, it's also only £1.49 which is an absolute steal.

My second favourite would have to be the Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle at £6 (quite often on 3 for 2). I've heard mixed reviews on this product but I picked it up in December and have pretty much used it every time I've washed my hair since. I just use this after blowdrying my hair dry to give it some volume in the roots and finds that it does the job! However, I have found that I've used up a lot of this product and I find it quite expensive so I'm not sure if it's something that I will repurchase. I hate the overpowering smell that comes with dry shampoo so I need to try and find an alternative to get some volume into my hair!

I have been absolutely loving the Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation that I picked up from Boots last month for £8.99 and I've started using it as my everyday foundation. I love this, it's not too heavy but still provides a good amount of coverage. I picked it up in the shade 'Shell' however I think I would go lighter if I was to purchase it again as I think it's a tiny bit too dark and it does cling to dry patches, but other than that I love it. It leaves a glow-y sort of finish and isn't shimmery like the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation which I reviewed back at the end of November. I love this foundation and want to try out the powder from the same range!

Now, a programme that I literally could not stop watching was Game of Thrones. I know I'm late to the game what with Season four about to start, but I finally sat down and watched it and I absolutely loved it. I got through 3 seasons in under 4 days and it was time well spent. If you're a fan of dramas or things like Lord of the Rings I would definitely checking out the series. I thought it was the perfect mix of drama, love, sadness and humour. I did the heathen thing of watching the series before picking up the books but I've just started reading the books (no thanks to play.com for severely messing up several of my orders) and I'm addicted, it's ridiculous. Go check it out!

My final favourite is a YouTuber who you will have heard of who goes by the name Essie Button! I started watching her about a year or two ago and regrettably stopped until recently and I'm hooked! She does her make-up perfectly and is absolutely hilarious, I love her vlogs as well as her beauty videos and she's absolutely gorgeous. If you haven't ever watched her videos, I would thoroughly recommend pressing that subscribe button!

So, those were my favourites from the past few months. What have been your favourites in the past month? Have you tried any of my favourites? Leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading,

Beth xxx

instagram: @bethssecret

twitter: @bethssecret

e-mail: beths-secret@live.co.uk