The Beginning of All That Shimmers! BLOG RELAUNCH

 So, some of you may have noticed that my blog has been down for the past couple of days, showing up as "private" or just not loading at all... This is due to it having been under construction! I bought a new pretty domain name, but I'd been having problems linking my domain name with my blog (boo) so I had to transfer the domain name to another host-y website in the end, then now there's problems with the wrong URL on bloglovin... All that matters is that it's finally back up and running!

As well as the new name, my blog's design is looking a whole lot different too - everything is new! Eee! I'd been wanting to buy a domain name for so long, but I didn't want to get tied down with a name that I wasn't sure on, so I decided that I'd buy one when I felt that I'd found the perfect name, the one where you just know... you know? Well, that day has finally come, welcome to www.allthatshimmers.co.uk!

One of my favourite quotes is "All that glitters is not gold" so inspired by the quote I had originally wanted "All That Glitters" but ofc other people like the quote as well and had the same idea, so I couldn't use that - then it struck me that I absolutely looove shimmer products! My favourite moisturiser, eye shadow, fake tan AND foundation all contain shimmer (shine bright like a diamond) so put the two together and that's how All That Shimmers was born!

Old blog layout!

New blog layout!

I'm v.excited about the new look and name of my blog, and I am so much more confident about the posts I have lined up over the next few weeks - so make sure to keep an eye out for them! I would love to hear what you think of the whole blog relaunch! 

Emma xo

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Annoying things about working in retail (in gifs!)

Like many other people my first job was in a retail environment (yay...) luckily, I now have my current job working in an office so I'm free from these woes! Here are some of the annoying things I came across in my own personal experience.

The "do you work here" question - no I'm just wearing the uniform for the fun of it.

Coupons. Need I say anymore? They were always a pain to put through the till. 

The breaks you get are no where near long enough.

When a customer tries to return something without a receipt... especially when it's clearly been used.

When a customer's telling you their life story when there is a massive queue behind them

All you can think about is going home after your shift...

Although you earn minimum wage, so you can't go too crazy...

If you work in a well known retail company the employee discount is normally only 10%

When you have to get a product from the stock room for a customer, the dark, scary stock room..

When a customer claims a product is a different price to what's showing on the till. It could be a 10p difference but they still want the money off, making the process of serving them even longer as you have to leave your till to double check.

When a customer comes and messes up a shelf that took you ages to tidy

When someone's card gets declined...

When you get called to come in on your day off

Struggling to be polite to the rudest of customers

Customers who form their own queue, then get pissed off when you continue serving the actual queue

4 hours feels like 4 days

When you put your hand out for money and they place it on the counter anyway

Last but not least - people who are still wondering about even though the store is clearly closing! And you sort of stand there watching them hoping they eventually get the hint.

Are any of your experiences in retail similar? Let me know!

Emma xo

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Cosmopolitans Fashfest 2014

Guess where me and Abi (Meet me in Mayfair) were on Thursday night? We were in Battersea Park, London for Cosmopolitans Fashfest! It was the 4th day meaning it was the Catwalk show - where they were showcasing many looks that are currently hot on the high street from shops such as ASOS, New Look, River Island, boohoo.com and many, many more! It was definitely was a fun filled night - here are my photos from the event!

Pre-Fashfest

My Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Tights: Primark

Abi's Top: Misguided 

Abi's Skirt: Miss Selfridge 

Outside the venue!

The venue was gorgeous, literally located in the middle of Battersea Park - which made it very difficult to find! Luckily we found 2 other girls who were also lost and together we found our way! P.s. notice Fran from Made in Chelsea's photobomb in the bottom left?

Pre-Catwalk

Before the Catwalk show we walked into a hall that was full of stalls from so many companies such as Urban Decay, Barry M, Fudge Urban and so on all offering free treatments such as manicures, hair styling, eyebrow threading and even spray tans! There were so many stalls to choose from and too little time! We spotted Louise from Made in Chelsea before we got to exploring the stalls properly. (I really weren't too hot on this photo so I drew over the annoying bit of hair)

One of the stalls was held by a company called American Dream Hair Extensions and I was extremely lucky as I was one of the very few people that got a full head of complimentary clip-in hair extensions put in and styled (which I also got to keep, woo!) I was literally over the moon with this as I was planning on buying a new pair anyway!

Catwalk Show

When the stalls and bars were closing we went and found the table we had been placed on and just look how close we were to the front, we were SO lucky - the venue was massive, pretty sure there were over 100 tables and ours was this close!!!

The Catwalk show was hosted by the gorgeous Laura Whitmore who was wearing a stunning black shimmery dress with a white peter pan collar.

I've put together a video above of all the clips I got on my camera from the show and put them into a video so you can get a taste of what the show was like! Enjoy!

The Goodybag

Inside: 
Dark Chocolate Rice Cakes
Barbeque Crisps
Cadburys Marvellous Banana Caramel Crisp (yum)
Little Miracles Green Tea
^ all of which I ate/drank on the train ride home! haha.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer (Long Lasting)
VO5 "Nourish my Shine" Spray
Toni & Guy Cool Defining Cream
L'oreal Kerastase Laque Noire
Nair Hair Removal Cream
Balmi Lip Balm
Sienna X Bronzing Gel
Dermalogica Mini's
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil
(and a Barry M Gelly nail varnish which I forgot to photograph, whoops)

Chocolate Orange Coffee
Beauty Tea
Chocolate Baileys
Beverly Hills Toothpaste
ANNND lots of leaflets with money off from various different companies!

Lots and lots of fabulous goodies! Definitely been spoiled, thank you Cosmo! Same time again next year?

Extra photos!

Emma xo

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Review of: Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Volume Shampoo and Conditioner

So inside this months issue of Cosmopolitan there was a free sample of the new Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner so I thought "why not give it a go, free hair wash and all" and before I get into reviewing this properly I can safely say this exceeded all of my expectations and this is why I have decided to write about it!

Let me start off with the smell.... it smells absolutely AMAZING. Like Starburst or Chewits. It was a very nostalgic smell! When I read on the back that it had a grapefruit and mint fragrance I just assumed the mint would over power the grapefruit but it really didn't and I couldn't get enough of the smell, not quite like the women on the adverts going "YES" but was pretty close. Definitely going to be telling people to smell my hair. Is that weird?

As my hair has been bleached it felt a bit naff after just a shampoo, which sort of put doubts into my mind but shampoos are meant for cleaning your hair and removing your hairs oils and the product claims to remove any residues from your hair (which it did the job perfectly fine!) but then I put the conditioner on my hair and left it on for the rest of my shower it definitely made my hair feel a whole lot smoother! Even once my hair had dried it still felt really smooth and soft which is always a bonus.

The main selling point of Clearly Naked is that is has zero parabens, sulfates and silicones. See I could understand sulfates as it is corrosive, but parabens and silicone? So I thought I'd do a bit of my own research as to why they would be so bad and it turns out parabens have been linked to breast cancer and silicone coats your hair meaning any other product you use after it won't be as effective! I always thought silicone was a good thing in hair products so I'm really glad to have done my research! Learn something new everyday and all.

I do definitely recommend this product if you're like me and absolutely love toiletries that smell delicious! With the bonus of the product being "naked" meaning your hair benefits more from it than it would any other shampoo and conditioner whilst still feeling soft and smooth. Then it'll have the normal affordable prices of Herbal Essences, so what is there to lose!? Definitely going to buy this myself when I'm in Boots next!

Emma xo

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Goodbye Summer...

So this Summer has well and truly come to an end, September is here and the weathers slowly creeping back to it's normal cold, windy, rainy self - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it means it is time for warm jumpers, onesies, countless hot chocolates from Costa and Starbucks and of course, Christmas! I love all of those things and I couldn't be more excited that it's the right time of year for them again, definitely going to start Christmas shopping ASAP! But before all that, I want to kick it off with a recap of the Summer I have had! 

It's been a long Summer as I actually finished college in June and I don't start University till the 29th of September, however the months have absolutely flown by and like everyone else who lives in the United Kingdom will tell you, I really can't believe it's September already! Crazy.

I didn't get to go away on holiday this year, but I've still had an amazing Summer and have created memories on many days and nights out that I will never forget.. I'll start of with meeting Radio 1Xtra's MistaJam at the very beginning of Summer, I was not very sober as we were in a club and before getting a photo I had the opportunity to have a conversation with him aaaaaand I asked him if he had a long drive to get to Southend... Smooth!

Now I have never really written about my music taste on here before but I'm a fan of Drum n Bass believe it or not! I attended Hospitality: Mid Summer Special which was an all day BBQ. It was an amazing day, especially the point when I lost my group, a few days before the event I broke my phone screen (which is fixed now) meaning I was phoneless and when I got lost I was wondering around this massive place without my glasses looking for my friends and failing horribly! I then bumped into a duo who were later on DJ-ing called Fred V and Grafix and I got talking to them (so gutted I couldn't get a photo, stupid phone) then I mentioned I was lost, which is when they begun to help me find my friends, asking what they were wearing and such. Then they actually helped me find them as they'd noticed a group of people wearing Cyberdog clothing and they happened to be my friends woop!!!

Also this Summer was me and my Boyfriend, Jakes first anniversary! So to celebrate the occasion we went to Colchester Zoo for the day, I took literally hundreds and hundreds of photographs of the animals - safe to say I went a bit camera happy!

Then the day after our anniversary we were up first thing in the morning heading to Global Gathering! A 2 day long festival and my first festival! Luckily I was with a load of people who had been to festivals before as I really don't think I would have survived on my own! I found out what camping is like, turns out I'm not a fan...

In August I got my college certificates - which I am really chuffed about as I got triple Distinction on my Level 3 Diploma in Creative Media Production. Which lets me go on to my University choice, I had gotten an unconditional offer from Anglia Ruskin to do Film and Media Studies which I had accepted, I however had a bit of a freak out about if I really wanted to do Film and that I didn't want to be away from home which is when I called up Anglia Ruskin and got them to put me into clearing (scary!) and I then rung up first thing on results day and secured a place at my local University to do Journalism and Media!

Then to end the Summer it was my Boyfriends 21st Birthday!!! I was probably a lot more excited for his birthday than he was! I gave him his present and his cake then we spent the day exploring London and my favourite part was definitely pedal boating around Hyde Park!

What are your favourite memories of this Summer?

Emma xo

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The emotional stages of fake tanning (in gifs)

1. You start off by choosing which bottle of fake tan to use out of the millions of choices... Gradual? Instant? Wash off? Dark? Medium? Light? Matte? Shimmer? Spray? Lotion? Biscuit? Cat wee?

2. Once you have *FINALLY* chosen you begin to apply it to your body. Not knowing if you've missed bits... Where are people when you need your back tanned!? Should I tan my ears? What. Then come the smells. Strong smells. Bad smells. Stale biscuits and cat piss.

3. When (you think) you've finished applying the lotion you get a strong sense of fear about going to sleep, not knowing what you're going to look like in the morning... Making yourself stay up till eventually you give in. 

4. First thing you see when you wake up is stains. STAINS EVERYWHERE. Will it wash out the bed sheets? Why didn't I change the bed sheets before I did this.

5. Then looking in the mirror to realise you've forgotten to exfoliate beforehand...  Random patches. Random patches everywhere. *stress levels rising*

6. Also the crappy tanning mit leaked through. Fingers looking like you've eaten too many cheesey Wotsits. Yummy. No soap will get them off. You will try just about every single soap in your house and end up pouring bleach onto your hands.

7. Prepare for Oompa loompa jokes. Lots of them. They don't get funnier the more they're said I reassure you. 

8. After doing your make up you realise that you've got a tanned body with a ghostly white face... No one will notice. Right!? Right...

9. Then going out to a night club to find out it has UV lights, which make you look very dirty, or very racist. Searching frantically to find the best lighting in the building before people notice and stare. 

10. When your tan begins to fade, it NEVER fades evenly. Even more patches to go along with your patches. This is great.

NEVER FAKE TANNING EVER, EVER AGAIN.

Emma xo

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