MEET RIKKI ETC.

Hello lovelies,

I haven't been very active in the blogging universe recently because of the stresses of uni exams and work, however I have now officially finished second year!! (lol what?) and I want to use to summer "break" to focus more on my blog. I thought a good way of getting back into the blogging scene was with an interview. I have never done one of these before but my friend from school very kindly agreed to help me by being my interviewee. Fellow blogger, Rikki, has her little corner of the internet over at RIKKI ETC. I asked her questions all about her blog and her experience with blogging over the last few years.

1.    Can you tell my readers about yourself and your blog?

Yes, of course! I’m Rikki, a 19-year-old student at the University of Reading, studying English Language. I started my beauty blog around 5 years ago and although I mainly post beauty reviews, I do occasionally like to switch it up with DIY’s, holiday posts, fashion posts and interviews.

2. How did you first get into blogging?

I started blogging for numerous reasons. Firstly, I was in the midst of GCSE’s and I took them really seriously. So, I found myself getting really stressed out and decided to start blogging to relax me- (it worked!). Also, I never really had a talent or hobby, so wanted to find something that could fill that gap. I knew that I liked doing my makeup, I loved creative writing and I thoroughly enjoyed photography, so blogging was the perfect way to combine all 3! The last reason I started blogging was because I had ALWAYS wanted to start a YouTube channel, but I was super young and was really sceptical of YouTube at that time. I was scared of random people watching and judging me, so blogging seemed like a good alternative- and it was. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever pursued!

3. What inspired you to start your blog?

When I was around 15, I started getting into makeup. I’d go to my local Superdrug and would go crazy buying “loads” of makeup. (At that point, loads of makeup was a new concealer, mascara and lip gloss- oh, how times have changed). But I’d come home and either be really disappointed or would be really excited to show up to school the next day with my ‘new look’. I really wanted to share my opinions of products with the public so that largely inspired me to start a blog. I was bullied at school and the last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to myself, so I actually kept my blog a secret for years (although some people did find it). Now, I feel comfortable being a lot more open about it.

4. How would you describe your blogging style?

This is a difficult one. I feel like my style has changed over time… I have always written in a chatty style, but would avoid using swear words or slang, because you do need a certain level of formality. However, I have never sat down and structured a post. I just type how I think, because I feel like it can sometimes seem ‘staged’ and ‘fake’ otherwise, whereas this way it feels 100% genuine.


5. Who are your favourite bloggers and why?

I genuinely don’t have ‘favourite bloggers’. I much prefer to spend my time discovering more new bloggers rather than reading the same ones. I will say that I feel as if there are sooo many underrated bloggers out there. I have found many bloggers in my time who have less than 300 followers, yet I enjoy reading their posts more than those with 300,000 followers, because they are passionate about what they do, and it shows!




6. Have you met anyone interesting/famous on your blogging journey?

I have interviewed a few cool people over my time, like Caggie Dunlop from Made in Chelsea and Jemma McKenzie-Brown from High School Musical 3. I also went to ‘The Clothes Show’ a while back, where bloggers had their own little room to stay in. It was right next to the celebrity room so I met some interesting people there, mainly reality TV stars. I have been invited to many events over time, but I’ve always been way too scared to attend them, so have missed out on some great opportunities at companies headquarters or London Fashion Week events etc. I’d love to attend one this year, but I just find the concept seriously daunting, especially when you’re alone, so have missed out on meeting so really interesting people, as a result.


7. Do you have any specific goals for the rest of this year?

Definitely! I like setting goals because it helps me stay on track and be the best I can be. As for my blog, I’m simply working on making my photography, content and layout better. With my Instagram, I have more of a milestone I’d like to reach, which is 5000 followers by the end of my Summer holidays. I know it is a MASSIVE push, considering I’ve only just hit 2K, but it is important for me to keep growing, particularly because of the career in marketing/ advertising/ social media, that I want to pursue.

8. Would you encourage other people to start a blog and why/why not?

Starting a blog was the best decision I personally ever made... The good points definitely far outweigh the bad, however, it is extremely time consuming, competitive and hard-work. One thing I would stress is that you should never start blogging if you’re doing it for the wrong reasons (because you want followers or free products etc.). If that is the motive, then your readers will honestly see right through it. If you’re really passionate about something though, then it’s definitely worth starting a blog where you can share this.


9. How do you manage to get such banging photos for your blog and instagram, both of yourself and of products? Do you take your outfit photos yourself or get others to take them for you?

Ahh, haha, thank you. I’m not entirely happy with my photography yet, but I am a bit of a perfectionist. For my blog, I use a ring light (which is really useful in the winter, when the lighting is awful) and I use a Canon 700D. It was pricey, and you definitely don’t need to invest in a fancy, expensive camera. My Instagram pictures tend to be a bit more personal than my blog, in the sense that they are normally selfies or pictures with friends/ family. I deliberately wanted my Instagram to be like this, because although I adore blogging, it’s really difficult to get that personal touch, so that’s what I try to achieve through Instagram. My selfies and mirror pictures are taken by myself but my full-length posts are usually taken by somebody else… I use anyone that’s around me at that time, whether that’s my sister, the boys that I live with at university, or one of my best friends- Isabel, who seems to always take the best pictures of everyone! I just use my iPhone 6 for that.

10. What is the best thing about blogging?

There are so many things, it’s hard to pick one. But, I’d probably say the community. The blogging community are honestly amazing and are always willing to help each other out. It’s a really warm and friendly environment where all are welcome!


Thank you so much Rikki for agreeing to be interviewed! Please read Rikki's blog and follow her on Instagram and Bloglovin'.

Rikki can be found on these links:



Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this post!

With love, Chloe x



Testing Makeup Revolution

Hello lovelies,

Once again, I tell myself that I am going to blog really often, but surprise surprise, it's been months again! Sorry!



This week's blog is going to be a testing Makeup Revolution post! Makeup Revolution is a brand that is unique to Superdrug. I, like about every single girl on the internet, have been DYING to try Makeup Revolution's £5 Foundation Stick! After seeing review after review online, I finally decided to head to Superdrug and splash the minimal amount of cash to buy this product, and I thought I'd try out (almost) a full-face of base products from the low-cost brand.

Also pictured are some W7 makeup applicators which I purchased on the same day so I thought I'd add these to the review.

*Disclaimer- This post is not sponsored by Makeup Revolution or Superdrug in any way. All views on this post are my own and are truthful.*

First of all, I'm going to talk about the main attraction, the £5 Makeup Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick. I picked up the shade F2, which seems to be a pretty good match, if slightly too light for me- it doesn't matter, I darken it up with bronzer. I LOVE this foundation. For a fiver, it's amazing. The formula is so light and creamy, which makes it perfect for super dry skin like mine. The creamy texture means it is really easy to blend out- I use a damp beauty blender for this- and feels really lightweight on the skin. The only issue is that the formula might actually be too creamy, even for dry skin like mine, because even with 2 different face powders, the foundation still tends to come away a bit if touched. This isn't too bad if you hardly touch your face throughout the day, but if you're a serial scratcher or like to rest your head on your hand, this is something to think about. The coverage is pretty good too, it's a medium-to-full coverage that is easy to build, and leaves a dewy finish- again, good for dry skin. All in all, despite the transfer throughout the day, for only £5, this foundation is bloomin' good and such a bargain!



Next up is the Conceal & Define concealer. I picked up the shade C1 because I wanted to not just conceal but highlight too. This baby cost just £4. I do really like the finish of this concealer, dewy and fresh, and it isn't too much lighter than the foundation, which is good because I didn't want it to look stupidly light on all my blemishes and bring more attention to them. However, this concealer is THICK AF. Seriously. The tiniest bit goes a really long way, which is good because you get more use out of it. The problem is though that if you do accidentally use too much, it can look very cakey on the skin- not a good look. However, like the foundation, for such a low price you can't really complain and the thick formula means it definitely does what it says on the tin- conceals. As long as you don't overdo it, this concealer is pretty good!


Now for the Bake & Finish powder. This cost me just £5. I really wanted to like this powder. I've tried it several times now to see if I can make it work. Apply more and buff it around the face more. Apply less and keep it concentrated. And everything in between. However, I just can't make it work. It just does not sit well on my skin. Maybe if I tried it with a different foundation it would work, but with the above foundation-concealer combination it just finishes looking really cakey and drying- not what you want considering the dewy finish of the other two products. It is also SUPER light. I thought that the white colouring would mean translucent powder. BOY was I wrong. It lightens the products so so much and I ended up looking like a ghost. Maybe it works for someone, but right now it does not work for me.

The next product I picked up was the Revolution Strobe Highlighter in the shade 'Ever Glow Lights'. I picked this shade up partly because of its gorgeous shimmery colouring but mainly because it was the only one I could see in store and I didn't actually realise it came in different shades until I got home. This only cost me £3, which is quite good. This highlighter is not bad. In fact, it creates a really pretty, natural, light-kissed look, which is perfect for you girls and boys looking for a natural every day highlight. However, for those of us who like a really EXTRA highlight, one that is blindingly bright- this is not for you. It's nice, but not quite what I was hoping for.


The final Makeup Revolution product I purchased was their Pro Fix Amazing Makeup Fixing Spray, which comes in at £5. This product seems to do what it says it will. I haven't tried the above products without setting them with this spray, however, this seems to do the job of setting everything in place relatively nicely. There is still a bit of transfer from the foundation, but I think that is the foundation's fault rather than the setting spray's. All in all, this is a good product. 



Moving onto the W7 makeup applicators. These only cost me £2.99 each so I wasn't expecting much from them. The sponge is pretty decent, seems to work similar to the beauty blender, however it is quite a lot firmer. I find that the firmness makes blending out foundation flawlessly quite difficult, but it works really well for baking with powder. The silicone pebble, however, doesn't have such a good review. The pebble claims to create a flawless finish without wasting any product, as there is nothing for the product to sink into. However, I found that instead of blending, the pebble was just smearing the product around and more product stayed on the applicator than ended up on my face. I will continue to try and use this applicator because I know it works really well for some people- I might try it with a different foundation that I squirt directly onto the pebble rather than a stick which I draw onto my face, to see if it works any better, but in the mean time, I'll stick to my trusty ol' beauty blender thank you.

So there you go, that is my honest review of five different Makeup Revolution base products, some of which I loved, some not so much.

I hope you liked this post as I really enjoy writing makeup posts. If you have any other brands of makeup you'd like me to try out please comment down below!

With love, Chloe x





New Year's Resolutions

Hello lovelies,

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is 2018! Wow, 2017, what a year! 2017 was a really strange year for me, in some parts, I had a really good year, but I definitely had some struggling times throughout the year and I can definitely say that 2017 was not MY year. Every year I make some New Year's Resolutions. Some I stick to, some I don't, but after such a strange good-but-bad year I decided that in order to make 2018 MY year, I needed to try and make resolutions that I could stick to. They aren't super strict and difficult, and for some of you they might seem really trivial but they are important to me. I tried to make them slightly more vague so that I didn't stress out about not having gained a certain amount of followers over the year or not having lost a certain amount of pounds each month, and I tried to vary them as much as possible, so here they are, my 10 New Year's Resolutions for 2018.



  1. Drink more water. I actually got pretty good at this during the beginning of 2017 because being at uni, water was the only thing I could afford, but after coming back for summer, I got very bad at it and haven't really improved much since- oops.
  2. Get more sleep. I am ALWAYS tired, and I want to try and improve that by trying to sleep slightly earlier. That way, I will *hopefully* get up slightly earlier and will *hopefully* be more productive during the day.
  3. Eat more fruit and vegetables. I don't really struggle with veg because I'm pretty good with what I cook at uni, but I hardly eat fruit, which is such a shame because I actually love it- I'm just bad at remembering that it is in the fridge and then by the time I remember, it is out of date- OOPS.
  4. Exercise more. I know I'm not fat but I would like to exercise more often to feel healthier, sleep better and relieve stress. I would like to lose a bit of weight this year but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I just want to feel healthy. In the beginning of 2017, my flatmate Ellie and I were running at least once a week but over summer we both stopped and haven't yet started again so we need to start that up.
  5. Work on my mental health and be happier. I am in no way suggesting that I suffer from depression or anything of the sort, but I have had a pretty difficult 2017 so I want to sort myself out and get my happiness back on track.
  6. Stop accidentally pushing people away. So by suffering with stress and mood swings and blah blah I have actually pushed a few people away over the last year. I was really horrible to my mum and Sam and a few others (luckily they were amazing enough to keep coming back) but I don't want to lose anyone I love again so I need to stop taking my mood swings out on those I care about.
  7. Continue to work hard at uni. I did well in my first year but not as well as I'd hoped so I need to continue working away and trying my best. Hopefully I finish second year with *at least* a high 2:1. Fingers crossed.
  8. Continue uploading a blog post once a week. Again, this is something I got quite good at for a while and then let trail off towards the end of the year so I want to keep that up this year so that my blog will continue to grow.
  9. Get more involved in the blogging community. Similar to the one above, I did get really good at reading lots of other blogger's posts and commenting on them I joined a whatsapp group with some other female bloggers which are lovely but we haven't used the chat in months which is really sad. I'd really love to go to some blogger meet-ups this year and really get stuck in in the community, which will hopefully lead to lasting friendships and possibly better networks for the future- in blogging and outside of it.
  10. Have fun and smile. As I have mentioned before, I want to make 2018 better than 2017. I am determined to make 2018 MY year and enjoy every second!
Happy New Year! I hope you had a fabulous Christmas and New Year and I wish you the best for 2018. What are your New Year's Resolutions?

With love, Chloe x