Jumping on the Bloglovin' Bandwagon

Hello lovelies. This post was well due for as I have the exciting news to announce that Lily Rose is now on Bloglovin'! Well, it has been for a while now but let's just say I haven't been using it to its full worth because I wasn't aware of its full capabilities. Let me explain to you why Bloglovin' is so wonderful and why you should all join it right now to follow me or your other favourite blogs.

So firstly, what is Bloglovin'? It's basically a 'reader' which allows you to follow multiple blogs from a variety of platforms and read them all on the one site. A huge fan of Zoella's website? Love that girl's blog on Wordpress? Know a friend who's using Weebly but your on Blogger? I'm sure you're tired of typing the endless URL links. Well not now as Bloglovin' enables you to read all your favourite blogs from any platform under the same roof, in one feed! It's just as easily convenient and addictive as scrolling through your Twitter timeline or Facebook feed. 

All you need to do is set up an account like any other social media site, and hey presto, you can start following blogs! If you are a blogger yourself, just type in the name of your blog and "claim it" so people know that that blog is run by that account. For instance, my account is Lily Lowe and I use that to follow other blogs and comment on posts but I leave a link to my actual blog Lily Rose on Bloglovin' so people follow that and not my account. It's a bit like your Google profile and the GFC members which i will explain in a separate post for those who don't understand. Another quick analogy if you aren't fixed up on the blogging terms and think I am talking a foreign language, it's also like being a businessman and asking people to follow your business site instead of your personal profile - it just so happens you need a personal profile to run a business site. Make sense? I hope so!


HERE'S HOW TO JOIN THE BLOGLOVIN' BANDWAGON:

• Go to Bloglovin’ and sign up. All you need is an email address! Already nice and easy.
• Bloglovin' will immediately suggest blogs for you to follow or you can import all of the blogs you were reading with Google reader (if you were) to your feed.
• Next to each blog is an easy way to unfollow or assign them to a group. So you can have your favourite beauty bloggers in one group, the YouTubers you watch who also have a blog in another etc. Great for any crazy organisers out there!
• If you’re a blogger, you’ll want to claim your blog. Simply search for it, and click "claim your blog" (Bloglovin' will then ask you to prove it's actually yours by posting a link in your latest post - nothing difficult!) Once you claim your blog, you’ll have access to all the cool shiz like your blog analytics and will also be able to get the Bloglovin' button (A.K.A the best thing since sliced bread) that you can paste into your blog template.      

Now for the part where I get all desperado on you people and BEG you to follow my blog on Bloglovin'. Just kidding,  but it would be lovely as it just gives me that little confidence boost to carry on doing what I'm doing as some people out there might just be enjoying it. 

HOW TO FOLLOW ME (WHICH OFFICIALLY MAKES YOU A LOVELY PERSON):

• And the final step is of course to follow my blog Lily Rose. Simply click here which will navigate you straight over to my blog so all you need to do is click 'follow'. How easy was that??

Thank you if you got to the very bottom of this.

Lots of love,

Lily

Valentine's Red Velvet & White Chocolate Brownies

I have a confession to make. I can't lie and pretend this post is something its not for those of you have clicked this expecting to see proper red brownies and that. I tried making them red velvet but my food colouring wasn't co-operating with me (where's the festive spirit, colour of love?) so unfortunately that means my brownies are more 'brown/terracotta velvet and white chocolate' which quite frankly doesn't have the same ring to it and makes them pretty un-Valentine's. Infact, they're so far from Valentine's that this might aswell be an anti-Valentine's recipe for any single pringles staying in on the 14th and looking for a chocolatey, comforting treat to spend the night with. Nevertheless, they taste good and if I chuck on a couple of heart borders that makes it fit for the holiday of love, right?

Ingredients:

1 cup of caster sugar

3/4 cup of plain flour

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

8 tbsps butter

2 eggs

1/2 tsp cider or white vinegar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

White chocolate buttons

1 tbsp of red food colouring OR save time and don't bother!

Mix together the melted butter, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt and red food colouring. 

Whisk the eggs in a seperarate bowl and pour in the mixture along with the vinegar.

Fold in the flour and pour into a greased tin.

Add the buttons for a gooey white chocolate twist!

Pop it in the oven at 176 degrees celcius / 350 degrees fahrenheit /  gas mark 4 and leave to bake for 30 minutes and enjoy warm or cold!

Apologies for the amount of brownie recipes already on my blog. I promise I can think outside the brownie box, just leave your suggestions below as to what recipes you'd like to see next!

"No relationship is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storm together." - Unknown

Lots of love,

Lily

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit: Worth the Hype?

Top L-R - Sand, Vanilla, Banana

Bottom L-R - Java, Fawn, Havana

Oh yes... I indulged in the kit of contour from the one and only Anastasia Beverly Hills. Any contour fantatics will have probably seen and heard about this everywhere, but if you're not aware of this, it's basically a palette full of light and dark, warm and cool toned powders. 

These powders are best used on top of cream contour, so you can go about your usual contour routine, be it concealer, foundation or even a bit of highlight and bronzer, this will completely set it in place and keep it from slipping and sliding all day. 

What I like to do is use a light concealer and dark bronzing cream to essentuate my features and I will then follow up with Fawn (the lightest, cool toned powder) on my cheekbones, temples of forehead, sides of nose, and under bottom lip to create shadow and definition to my face. I really like this colour because of its ashy tones which makes sculpting the face a lot more natural looking.  I'll then bring light to the centre of my face like the forehead, rest of nose, under the cheekbones and chin using Sand or Vanilla. I find that Banana is great for combatting certain pink tones, but overall can be a little too strong for my fair skin and would be better suited for olive skin tones. As for the other bronzing tones, they are again a bit too dark for my fair skin and are also a bit too reddish for my liking but I think they will come in handy when my skin is a bit darker and I am looking for a more bronzed look. 

As for the overall quality of these powders, I find the blending quite difficult at first. At first application, the powder can appear quite chalky on the skin so it takes quite a bit of thorough blending until everything blends seamlessly. As for the lasting durability though, I find this really does last all day and makes for a lovely, natural looking, flawless finish. 

I'm not sure if I'll be splashing the cash for this again in the future as I do think there are very similar if not better and more affordable options on the market. I do really love the concept of having all the varying tones in one palette however, it just makes life a lot easier and would be great for travelling. 

"The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday." - Unknown

Lots of love,

Lily