Wednesday 28 November 2012

Guest Post - Alex Talks


A few months ago my gorgeous (real life) friend Alex started up her own blog - Alex Talks. With an unpredictable illness meaning I am not always fit to blog I thought it would be a great idea to have Alex do a guest post for me. I hope you all love her as much as I do and give her blog a little follow.

As a bit of a beginner to make up, and blogging, I was very shocked and happy when Maxime asked me to write a post for her blog, stating my favourite Autumn/Winter lipstick for you all, obviously I couldn't not say yes, and as soon as she asked me, I already had a lipstick in mind
Seeing as our weather has turned very autumnal now, and the leaves are on the ground, I've actually been wearing this lippy quite a bit (to my surprise!). When I bought this and got home, I thought maybe this colour was rather brave. I’m not normally one for using a lot of colour on my lips, and up until one on Maximes birthday parties, I wasn't one for lipstick, so my collection isn't vast!
However all of that being said, I completely love this now! It’s a very buildable lipstick, and you can apply it very lightly for a stained look, or blot and layer up for a deep rich look! And for a £1, who’s complaining? Plus, it being a Nivea (who I never knew did make up!), it’s really moisturising too.
My pictures do not do it justice either, the picky of the lipstick on its own, is a much truer look at the colour.
Hope you like my lipstick choice, and thank you to Maxime for inviting me to do a post!
TTFN. xo


Lipstick - Nivea Beaute, Raspberry

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Thanks for voting

Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll. The Lipstick Blog is now officially "Bella Belle" after all but one voted for a name change. 
You can now find me and my blog at www.bellabellex.blogspot.co.uk and contact me at MaxiBellabelle@hotmail.com
Normal posting with resume as soon as possible. 

Thursday 22 November 2012

Bella Belle?

Hello Hello
You may have noticed a few changes.
When I posted about my Fibromyalgia I had no idea I would get the sort of response I did. I was so overwhelmed by all your comments and couldn't believe how many people were in a similar situation. I considered writing more posts on my Fibro and other illnesses to help support those in a similar situation and make others aware of such illnesses. 
The Lipstick Blog  was created because of my obvious obsession with all lip products but I have slowly started mentioning other things I enjoy.

Bella Belle is actually the nickname I call my mums dog and for me it just flows off the tongue, plus Bella in Italian and Belle in French are both "Beautiful" which would make my blog "Beautiful Beautiful" 

The reason I am writing this is because I would love to know what you think, Should I stick to being "The Lipstick Blog" or continue on my new journey with "Bella Belle" 

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you want but please vote on the poll in my side bar >>>>>>>


Saturday 17 November 2012

NOTD - Skyscraper

No words today, just nails.

Base Colour - Topshop, Voltage
Main Colour - China Glaze, Skyscraper




Tuesday 13 November 2012

A totally unrelated post


Living with an invisible illness should be something I am well used to by now. I have had at least three of them in my life time. Each just as debilitating as the last. But realistically I don't think it is something I will ever get used to and hopefully something that I don't have to.
Mid September I was diagnosed with having "Fibromyalgia" however it looks like it is something I was battling against for around a year without a clue.
I finished my 10th big theatre dance show in June 2012. It had been one of the most difficult shows I had ever taken part in. I was plagued with back ache, jarring knee pain and exhaustion. I simply put all these things down to being unfit and slightly over weight. Midway through the shows I developed shin splits and was unable to walk backwards and forwards to my dressing room without help, "It's just the stairs" I told myself and battled through dance number after dance number for 5 days. Come the end of the show I was totally unable to walk and took a week off of dance class to heal but a week later I was back to lessons and finding even the simplest of movements agonising. After half an hour of nothing more than warm up exercises I disappeared out the back door and sat down to compose myself. A quick sip of water and I was back in to the studio and carried on my lesson. This incident repeated for 3 weeks until it was the school holidays. By this point I wasn't leaving my bed at all during the day. Exhaustion washed over me with the slightest of movements and even the simplest of tasks were becoming too much.
I had felt this feeling before, it was all too scarily familiar. Back in 2001 I was diagnosed as having M.E, Otherwise known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I left school when I was 13 and was known as the girl who "Just gets really tired" (if only it was that simple)
Although the familiarity of the tiredness was ringing through my head I had never felt pain quite like this before. The pain seemed to be spreading. The arch of my foot would swell up, the side of my foot would often feel like a sprained ankle. My knees would crack with every movement and the pain would be so intense I felt sick. My hips stung like a knife being drive in to my side. My lower back pain would consistently drive me to tears and my arms would ache so badly I just hung them by my side as if they weren't even attached to my body.
After many tears, sleepless nights and doctors visits I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. As with M.E, Fibro is characterised by many many MANY different symptoms and no two people will ever have the same ones, but for me everything was suddenly falling in to place.
Those chronic stomach pains and the extreme sickness I was getting from suspected IBS was linked with Fibromyalgia.
The constant sniffing, runny nose and sinus related problems were Rhinitis caused by the Fibromyalgia.
The return of my panic attacks which have plagued me since I was 7 were also caused by the Fibro.

Sadly you can not have a blood test to see if you have Fibromyaliga. You can't simply pee in to a bottle to get your diagnosis and no amount of x-rays will show anything. It is a long, lonely, frustrating road of trial and error to get to the desired conclusion.

Fibromyalgia, M.E, and Depression are just three of the many invisible illnesses that cripple thousands of people every day. Just because someone looks perfectly healthy doesn't mean they aren't suffering on the inside.

Friday 9 November 2012

LOTD - Sassy

This was my first venture in to berry lips for this year. As with most people at this time of year I love to wear a dark red lip. To me it is almost the nude of the winter. It goes with nearly everything and really helps to pull any outfit together. 
Sassy is a new lipstick in my collection and on first glance it was perfect. I love the dark red glossy finish and the moisturisation that comes with it. Unfortunately it is ever so slightly sheer and therefore it does tend to go a bit patchy in places. However that is nothing that can't be fixed with a lip liner or a base coat of an opaque red lipstick.

Lipstick - No 7, Sassy



Wednesday 7 November 2012

Things are changing


After three weeks of two difference illnesses I haven't worn a drop of makeup so I am seriously lacking in LOTD pictures. I have a great idea for a winter lips post but unfortunately that will have to wait until my immune system sorts itself out.

I think I am going to start slowly making subtle changes to my blog. Nothing drastic, just adding more structure to my posts and hopefully some more regularity. I have been massively inspired by the fabulous Makeup Savvy recently. Her blog is very neat and organised with well laid out, practical posts and I would love my blog to become more like that.

I don't know if you have noticed but I have been playing around with my camera settings and computer editing to try and get the best looking pictures possible. I don't think I am quite there yet so please bare with me. Any hints, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see on the blog. I have some more "What was I thinking" posts lined up after being asked a couple of times to see my lipstick disasters. I also have a "Lips tips" idea. 

On that note I will bid you farewell and hopefully I will be back very soon. I'll keep popping the pills until I feel half decent and get back on the blogging train. 

Maxi
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