Questions from the Natural Confectionery Company

Remember the days of sleepovers filled with an endless supply of lollies and late nights playing 'truth or dare'? Then things became more complicated and such simple pleasures weren't appreciated in the same way that they once had been. I recently discovered that The Natural Confectionery Company had little questions on their wrapped lollies (how long has this been the case, by the way?) and thought it was the perfect opportunity to re-live the days of giggling over silly questions with friends, except I thought I would do it online with fellow bloggers! Just a side note before we begin - I am no way associated with The Natural Confectionery Company (in fact I'm not really a huge fan of their lollies anyway) but I thought their very clever marketing strategy would be an excellent opportunity for a fun blog post. I'm going to answer some of the questions that can be found on the lolly wrappers!

The Questions

1. What's the number 1 most played song of yours of all time?
Well, according to my iPod it is 'Breath of Life' by Florence and the Machine although that may have something to do with the fact that I accidentally left it playing on repeat for an entire weekend when I went away...my next most played song is 'Heavy in your arms' by Florence and the Machine...followed by 'Sweet Nothing' by Florence and the Machine, so I guess it's not really a surprise.

2. What are you saving for right now?
I'm not exactly saving for anything, but if I was to splurge on something it would be the Urban Decay Naked Palette or MAC lipsticks and eyeshadows.

3. Broccoli: Love, hate or ambivalent?
LOVE! I love Broccoli so much!

4. If you could be any singer or musician who would it be?
Florence Welch, because she is just incredible in every way.

5. What's your special talent?
Oh my gosh I hate this question...I'm a quick reader...is speed reading a talent?

6. What's your favourite playground equipment?
Without a doubt, the swing.

7. What was your favourite toy as a kid?
I had a little plastic motorbike that you moved with your feet that I loved to sit on and drive around the place!

8. What was the last music concert you went to?
Probably the Big Day Out in 2012, although I wouldn't really call that a concert!

9. What is your favourite sport to watch?
AFL footy, especially if I'm actually there at the game!

10. Who would you like to be related to?
Emma Watson - she is so intelligent and beautiful and can you imagine the life stories she would have to tell! My goodness!

12. What is your favourite holiday destination?
Anywhere where it is stinking hot and there are books to read and fruit to eat!

13. What's the first thing you notice about people?
Well let's be honest here, most certainly their clothes, although I usually only take real notice of clothes that are a little more 'out there'...standard clothes I'll just see and then dismiss as unimportant.

14. What song do you secretly love to listen to?
A song called 'Be What you want' by Robin Loxley and Oliver Jackson. Why in secret? I first heard it on an advert and fell in love with it. My Dad and brother despise the song so I literally have to listen to it in secret or else they will be yelling at me to "turn that horrible song off!"

I had a lot of fun answering these questions imprinted upon the wrappers...feel free to purchase your own lollies and make a Q&A post if you like too, I would love to read your answers!

Q&A - Beauty

Back when I had my giveaway one of the optional entries was to submit a question that I could answer in a Q&A post...here are the remaining questions I've not yet answered, all of which are beauty related!

1. If MAC were to approach you telling you they wanted you to help make a new lipstick, what colour would it be and what would you name it?
First of all, coolest question ever. Second of all...this is so very hard to answer! I think I would go with a beautiful pinky peach summery lipstick shade suitable for all skintones...kind of a my lips but better shade. As for the name, something clever I would hope! But honestly, why stop at a single lipstick? I would have a whole range related to book characters so like Hermione Granger would be a fiery red shade, Katniss Everdeen a nude shade etc. and all the lipsticks would be named after their corresponding character. Now that would be cool...

2. Please do a tutorial on eyebrows (products and tools used, how to apply etc).
I would love to do this but the only problem is...I don't do anything to my brows. Nothing at all. I just pluck any strays and occasionally I'll use a clear lash and brow gel, other than that I literally do nothing to them.

3. How much makeup do you wear on a daily basis to school?
At my school we aren't allowed to wear makeup, but if you're clever about it and just use it to slightly improve your skin and enhance your features nobody minds. I wear my Garnier BB cream (for oily skin), a bit of Face of Australia concealer in neutral, a coat of Covergirl mascara and my Nivea Fruity Shine Lip balm in Guava.I'll also use a setting powder, often one by Face of Australia, so that I don't get too shiny throughout the day.

4. When did you start using makeup and why?
I first took an interested in lip balms when I was 12. At 13, I wore tinted moisturiser (as more of a tinted sunscreen for my face) and then by 14 I wore a single coat of mascara. By the time I was about 15 I was experimenting with lip products, foundation and eyeshadow, and at 16 I got into anything any everything playing around with eyeliner bronzer, highlighter and blush. Despite this my makeup has always been worn for the purpose of enhancing as opposed to covering up which I think is a lot more flattering than packing it on because of insecurities. I wear makeup for fun and because it makes me feel good, not because I feel insecure without it.

5. What is your favourite nail polish brand?
It used to be Ulta, but then Face of Australia smashed out some incredible polishes (Hello Pastels and Glitterati ranges and now the new Carnivale polishes!). I don't own many Revlon polishes, but the ones I do own I adore. Essence also have some lovely polishes...clearly I can't pick a favourite!

6. What is your favourite eyeshadow colour?
Either a shimmery golden toned champagne shade, or a golden brown shimmery shadow.

7. How do you keep your makeup from not melting in the heat and still looking beautiful?
I use a good primer when I really need my makeup to stay put, as well as using waterproof or more matte makeup in addition to finishing it all off with a really good setting powder. Still, sometimes there is nothing you can do about your makeup when it's 40 degrees and you're all gross and sweaty. In those times you've just got to embrace it and go with the flow!

8. What is the best makeup brand to use for sensitive skin?
I'm really lucky not to suffer from sensitive skin but unfortunately that means I don't really know the answer to this question. I imagine any of the brands that pride themselves on being all natural and free of unnecessary chemicals would be good. I've also heard that the more expensive brands like Clinique are excellent for that.

9. If you could own one beauty brand which one would you own?
Probably Face of Australia because I love love love their products, they are of course Australian and they're really good about things like not animal testing. They have an excellent range of products and they're really affordable...all the things I want in a makeup brand!

10. What's the best nail polish to use to strengthen your nails?
I don't know about a polish, but I know that the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream is really good for strengthening dry and brittle nails.

11. What are the best products for frizzy hair?
Oh my goodness I wish I could answer these questions for you but I am so lazy with my hair and own no frizz targeting products. I am sure that if you went into somewhere like Price Attack of Hairhouse Warehouse they could suggest something to you.

12. Do you like Asian skincare products?
I have no idea, I've never tried any!

Thank you all so much for these questions, I wish I could have answered some of them in more detail!

Q&A - Life

Here I am to answer some more questions that you asked when I was running my giveaway. The questions in this post are questions about life.

1. Where is your favourite travelling destination?
Cambodia was my favourite place that I have ever been, but it is hardly a regular travelling destination that I go on! Darwin was another amazing place I've been. I especially liked swimming in the waterfalls at Litchfield National Park. In general I like to travel places that involve road trips and the coastline.

2. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who sniff instead of using a tissue. It honestly drives me crazy. Also, when people yell to me from across the other side of the room instead of just walking over to me. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much but it does!

3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
I am so boring but I would honestly stay right here in little old Adelaide.

4. Do you have any weird food combinations?
Sadly I don't but when I was tiny apparently my absolute favourite thing was warmed pineapple juice. Disgusting!

5. What's your favourite school subject?
Biology is my favourite, closely followed by English. Maths and Chemistry are the other two I will be studying next year in year 12 but they're not my favourites.

6. What are you plans for once you finish school?
At this point in time, I want to volunteer overseas for a couple of months, then return to Australia and study Speech Pathology at University while working a part time job. I want to cross off a few things from my bucket list...all those things you hear about in stories like road trips, watching storms on the beach and learning languages (I want to learn sign language!).

7. What has been your favourite age to be?
Well I'm only 16 so I haven't got too many ages to choose from...when I was 12 that was a good year because I was in my last year of primary school which I absolutely loved and I didn't have a care in the world. 16 (this year) has also been a nice age because I'm old enough to look after myself in almost everything (except for driving, hanging out to get my P plates!) but being in year 11 has been pretty stressful at times. I imagine it only gets worse in year 12 and then uni!

And there we have it, another Q&A post down. The last one will be next week, another one full of beauty related questions.

Q&A - Blogging

Here is the next installment of questions and answers from when I had my giveaway and you lovely people submitted your questions for me!

1. Why did you start blogging?
I was going through a really tough time back when I started my blog and I needed a way to shut off from the world and just focus on something else. I had been reading blogs for ages and wanted to write book reviews but didn't feel confident that I could read enough books to justify having a blog in addition to actually writing reviews! The only other kind of blog I was aware of was beauty blogs, so I gave that a shot. Best decision ever!

2. Which camera do you use?
I actually have no fancy camera whatsoever, and I know nothing about photography. I don't even know what the name of my camera is...so I took a picture of it for you all. It's really nothing special, I promise, but I think it takes satisfactory photographs for my blog.

3. What do you do when you don't feel in the mood to write a review?
Excellent question! This has been happening to me sooo much lately...I've just been lacking in both inspiration and motivation. When I feel like this, I do my best to do something whether it be as simple as writing the title into one of my posts, taking a photo of something, uploading a photo into my post or finding out the RRP for a product I picked up on sale. Sometimes doing these tiny little steps prompts me to do a bit more and suddenly I find myself churning out an entire review. Other times that seems like so much effort that I can barely even do that...it is these times that I just forget about it and do something else because there is no point trying to write a post when your heart isn't in it - your readers can tell.

4. Do you get given a lot of samples?
Sometimes! When I started blogging I was so little and inexperienced that I didn't even know bloggers sometimes received samples to review! The first time I was approached I nearly had a heart attack and died. But honestly, I have been very blessed to try out some cool products...it comes in waves. Sometimes you get lots of PR requests and then you can go for months where it's all quiet on that front. That's not what blogging is about, it's about enjoying yourself and connecting with people. Samples are just an amazingly cool bonus that you may or may not get.

5. How do you find inspiration for writing on your blog?
Well my blog is mainly filled with reviews, so I don't really need to come up with creative posts. However, sometimes I think it gets a bit tiring just having one review after another so I do attempt to think of new and interesting post ideas. I get inspired by other blogs, youtube videos, things that happen around me. I kind of treat my blog like a friend that I want to tell stories to - which is what happened with my travel series. I wanted to share the amazing experience I had with my friends! I was inspired to make the Behind the Blog series after reading some cool facts about another blogger and realising that often you don't know much about the person whose blog you love!

6. Can you make a post about dupes/product comparisons?
I would love to...if I had dupes to talk about! Whilst my makeup collection is quite extensive, I don't feel as though it is at that stage where I have millions of repeats. If I come across some I will be sure to post about it!

7. Can you do a review on products for acne problems?
I am lucky not to have acne so I actually don't have a clue about skincare for acne prone skin. I can't help you out there, but I bet my house that there are some amazing reviews on other people's blogs that you could check out.

I love answering your questions...the next Q&A post will be those questions you asked that are about my life.

Q&A - Beauty

When I had my latest giveaway, one of the options to earn additional entries was to submit a question that I would answer as part of a Q&A post. I had so many more questions than I was expecting so I think I will do a couple of different posts! The first is questions post addresses some of those questions related to beauty.

1. What is your holy grail beauty product?
Excellent (but ridiculously tricky) question. I can't name a specific product (there is so much I've not yet discovered!) but lip balms in general are my absolute saviours!

2. What are your thoughts on high end makeup?
Being a 16 year old kid, sadly my budget does not accommodate for high end makeup of any kind. I own one or two 'high end' products from being blessed to win them in giveaways but I have never purchased any myself. For those who can afford it, I say go for it, but for me 'drugstore' makeup is perfectly fine...in fact I think some of the cheaper brands have amazing products that would probably rival high end products anyway! If I was to buy something right now, it would be a lipstick or eyeshadow from MAC, a blush from NARS, Chanel Foundation, YSL lipstick or Hoola Bronzer from Benefit! Wow, there is so much that I would love to own one day!

3. Do you ever feel like you have to gain a sense of self control after starting a blog since there's always so much temptation?
I'm guessing you mean self control in regards to spending money on makeup! Absolutely, since starting this blog my desire to buy more, more, more has skyrocketed as I am constantly aware of what's newly released and popular among other bloggers. Luckily, as I mentioned, being a student I don't have the opportunity to go crazy, but I've certainly had to think about my purchases a lot more!

4. What is your current "Slap on face and run out the door" look?
I have been doing a heck of a lot of this lately!
1. Garnier BB cream for oily skin
2. Face of Australia stick concealer
3. Maybelline Dream Matte Powder
4. Covergirl Lashblast length waterproof mascara
5. Nivea Fruity Shine Lip Balm in Guava

5. What is your favourite makeup brand?
This just about killed me this question! I love Essence because it has a small number of incredible (and cheap) golden products! Maybelline is good for eye products, Revlon wins in the lip department...Face of Australia is just all round amazing...Okay so that's four!

6. What is your favourite skincare product?
A quality moisturiser is the most important thing I can have!

7. What inspired you to become a beauty blogger?
I initially wanted to have a blog full of book reviews but I wasn't confident that I was capable of writing a quality review on a book, and that I would be able to read and review enough to post regularly. I found that it was easier to talk about beauty products so I decided to give that a shot and here I am now!

8. Would you rather wear the same lipstick or eyeshadow for the rest of your life?
Definitely the same eyeshadow (a golden champagne colour that blends into the lid but is still noticeable enough to look pretty!)

So there are 8 questions to get these Q&A posts started...thanks for your questions!