Book Review - Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3) by Wendy Higgins

It's time.

Evil is running rampant, and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody know when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anythin necessary to rid the earth of demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forced proves to be perilous - especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust send Anna's great love, Kaiden Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she's prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet. Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom. 

 

Overall I must say, I really loved this series, between Sweet Evil, Sweet Peril and Sweet Reckoning, tears were shed, the laughs were out loud, the nerves were jittering and the smiles were often - so it hurts me to say this but... I was a bit let down with Sweet Reckoning not because the story wasn't great because it was, it just didn't really draw me in - I found it quite slow paced throughout and towards the end when I was expecting the grand finale - it just kind of sizzled. 

 

All of the characters are back in Sweet Reckoning which I loved - especially Kai (dreamy) and there were even some new editions that we only heard glimpses of in the past books so that was really good.

There was quite a lot of drama happening throughout the book as well especially between the Neph and Anna bestfriend Jay - some of the drama I was not expecting! Like at all, I honestly think I stared at the pages with my mouth hanging open in complete shock! haha those moments I think were the best, when I thought I new what was going to happen but it completely turned on its head and had me thing, (wtf...) 

 

I also loved the part at the end of book when we meet them again 6 years later - I wasn't expecting that and I was really surprised about what I read - I'll admit I got a bit teary, mostly from shock and happiness just the closeness I felt with the characters, it was a great insight into the adults that they've become and I was just incredibly happy for them

 But I don't want to go into too much detail about the drama and what not because I don't want to spoil it for anyone - but overally I would give this book a 3/5 because of the slow pace and also the fact that the cover was changed from red to pink.. Red signified Kai and Anna, it was their "colour" so to speak so I'm just baffled, but yeah :)

 

 

 

 

 

The World Skills Competition

The World Skills is a competiton that is held all over the UK covering a number of different courses/areas - there are two entries into the competiton, Level 2 and Level 3, and two people from each level from each different course is nominated and entered into the competition... I was nominated for this by my two lecturers along with another girl from my class for the Northern Ireland Level 2 Beauty Therapy heats which was being held in the Beauty Salon of Belfast Met at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. 

Altogether including myself there were five girls, which I was a bit shocked at as I thought there would have been more competing, but sure, that made it worse as it meant they had more time to watch and scrutinise.

We had to complete a Half Leg Wax in 30 minutes, an Evening Make-up Application (with false eyelashes) in 60 minutes and a Mini Manicure in 30 minutes. I was most worried about the manicure, as it is very precice in the way that they don't want you to flood the cuticle but they want you leave the tiniest gap imaginable around it to make it look professional, plus I have shaky hands so I was just buggered lol.

I think it's fair to say that I was pretty much the most terrified, nervous and grateful person there. I personally, don't do well being put under pressure, yes it makes me work faster but I'm then more prone to mistake and as I said before, I have shaky hands so being under that much scutiny  while trying my best to stop my hands from shaking was pretty difficult. Though I will say that I am grateful for my leacurers in entering me into the competition, it was a great experience and if I can work under that kind of pressure I can work anywhere haha.  

I am proud to announce though that I came in Third Place or the Northern Ireland Heats - which I was so not expecting, but I am grateful for the experience :)

 

My Summer Essentials/Tips

We all know that once June hits, everyone goes a bit summer mad, and living in Ireland, it's pretty hilarious to watch and see. The majority of people here don't protect their sun when out in it, and to be honest I don't really blame them because, we don't get a lot of it - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful with what you wear, and what you put on your skin. 

And for me, being so pale and only having a tendency to burn, it is very important - so here are my...

Summer Essentials/Tips

1. Some Form of Sun Protection

The reason why I didn't write sunscreen was because you can have SPF in a number of different products, such as your foundation, primer and even moisturiser - I will admit though, that it is pretty difficult to find a product of these that have SPF, they are pretty limited but with that being said, it doesn't mean you shouldn't look. The product I use on a daily basis is my Simple Kind to Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream (SPF 15). I love this product and I would use it nearly everyday as a primer for my foundation - it just gives such a nice and healthy glow to your skin without making it look shiny.

2. Appropriate Clothing

This breaks my heart saying this... *deep breath*.. but black during the summer for me, is a big no no. As I'm sure you's know, black attracts and white reflects heat, and for me personally, when I get too warm I tend to feel physically sick, crazy right? But not even that, black is just an incredibly dark colour and is far better suited during the winter because in summer everything is bright and colourful, and so should my clothes. Although in saying that, a small part of black is okay, like just say a crop top or vest, I wouldn't advise black skinny jeans or something like that. But from now on during the summer I intend to wear bright, colourful clothes that really emphasise the season such as; yellow, green, sky blue, lilac, pink and white etc etc. and even just really bold and colourful prints or floral print clothes.

Clothing that is too tight is also a no no, I want my skin to be able to breath, I don't want to drown in my own fluids :) so nice loosely fitted jeans, shorts, skirts, wavy tops etc are all in my wardrobe

3. No Make-up Make-up

The worst thing that could happen during summer, is your face melting off. So light make-up is one my most important essential for summer and in order to achieve this, I use my Bourjois Happy Light foundation along with a beauty blender. I love this foundation in general, but in summer it's just my holy grail, this is because the foundation is incredibly light feeling on your skin (clues in the name) and gives really good coverage even with only one application. Its also very luminous and gives a really nice glow to your skin. Using this product with the beauty blender also means that you don't use nearly as much as you usually would as a little goes a long way and the beauty blender really helps to cover all of your face and blend it really well :)

Excuse the dirty beauty blender haha, it's being washed today :)

4. Hydration
Staying hydrated is key to having good skin, and during the summer we all know that sweat tends to just come out of everywhere, which dehydrates your body and your face, so staying hydrated is super important and you can do this by drinking water or using skin products that are designed to rehydrate your skin. I'm not a big lover of water I'll admit, the only way I can drink it is if it's flavoured or with diluted juice, but I have discovered a product which I am in love with and is really good and rehydrated my face even over my make-up and it is the Simple Kind to Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist. I would definitely recommend this product, and as it's decently sized I can carry it with me in my bag :)

I hope you like this post :) If you have any questions then drop me a comment
:)

Nail Polish Storage

So if you're like me and you just kept all of your nail polishes in a make-up bag under your bed, then you need to read this post. 

As I'm sure we all do, I love a bargain and E-bay is my bargain palace, I love it. the main reason I was hunting on E-bay was because I had recently read that it's better for your nail polishes if you keep them standing up straight, as when they're just lying around they tend to become more gloopy and gunky and all of that nasty stuff - so I was on a mission to find a storage solution for my polishes... and I found it. 

Behold, my Nail Polish Acrylic Stand

Dimensions - 29cm wide x 16cm deep x 19cm high

If you wish to purchase or look at this item then click this link

It has four tiers and can hold 40 nail polishes, though I've found that if you have quite small nail polish bottles you can hold just few more than that. I bought this item last week and it was delivered two days after I bought it, which I thought was amazing! And it was only £12.29 along with free delivery. 

I went for an acrylic stand because I wanted to match the acrylic drawers I purchased off muji for my make-up, I like to co-ordinate like that :)

Here are some pictures of my stand with my polishes :)

:)

College

As use all know, or for those of you who don’t know, I was in college doing an NVQ Level 2 Beauty Therapy course, and I’m so happy to announce (even though I said it before) that I passed with flying colours and I have also been accepted into the NVQ Level 3 Beauty Therapy course, yay!

I will say though that beauty therapy is not what I expected, most people, especially those in university always judge those who do beauty, and class them as drop outs, lazy or just not smart, but let me tell you, the amount of biology and detail that is involved in beauty is really quite shocking, it is very intense, not because it’s hard, but because of the sheer amount that you have to know which is why it’s essential to revise in order to know it because there is no way you could learn it all just off the bat.

I did love it though, as a lover of biology I will say that I was a lot more excited about the biology aspect of the course rather than the actual practical, and I found it a lot more interesting than the others in my class (they thought I was nuts, lol.) But it has been one of my best life choice I could've possibly made, I can't wait to get stuck into Level 3 and who knows what may come after?

It's pretty exciting :)

Where Have I Been?

Yeah… I am a pretty sucky blogger. I know in my last post I had said that I would try to get a post-up every week or so, but clearly that hasn’t happened as of yet… and I know you may think I’m going to make up all these excuses but in all honesty, my laptop broke and I had no motivation really to do them, like, at all.

During that time I had been in college doing my beauty therapy course (which I passed with flying colours, yay!) but it was incredibly intense, with two tests for each unit along with a number of different assessments for each unit and piled on top of that was the interview, exam and skills test in order to get into Level 3 of beauty therapy, plus I’m also working part time, at night, so my days were incredibly full, so I apologise, but I am back now and I have my list of all the blog posts I intend to do, including book reviews… there is quite a list there, it appears I have bought a number of books since my last post, but it will be fun.. so yeah, I hope you stayed tuned

:))))

Sorry! - What I've been up too & Christmas

I honestly can't believe how long I've been away! From the new year I'm hoping to post at least once a week. 

I've been so busy with college with all the exams and assessments I honestly forgot about my wee blog, sad face - but it has been an amazing month and I've passed every exam and assessment with flying colours :) yay. 

I've really missed blogging, which is why I have taken an hour out of my day to write and talk to you guys - because I love doing it :)

So I guess the most important thing is Christmas right? Christmas was awesome, unfortunately it didn't snow but hey, two more months of winter so you never know :) I was spoilt this Christmas, from my family and my boyfriend, I couldn't ask for any more special people in my life, they really did make Christmas. I'm not going to list what I got and from whom I'm just going to name a few things...

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette 

White Water Speaker

Lady Gaga Perfume

Books

Dresses and all that good stuff 

Then it was mine and Lee's two year anniversary on Boxing Day, *aww* so we went out for dinner and exchanged gifts, it was very sweet, I love him lots :)

And for New Years Eve, I don't know what's happening yet, though it will probably involve a lot drinking and dancing - hopefully lol. 

I hope you's all had a wonderful Christmas and have a fab New Years and I'll talk to you guys soon :)

Rachel x