Tiny Bird Heart Takeover | Abzmeet and How to organise your own blogger meet up

Almost a year ago, I organised the first ever Abzmeet. It all began when I started chatting to local blogger and same time baby-mama Sarah of Sarah Rooftops. After a while we wanted to meet in person and discussed the idea of holding a local blogger meetup.

Photo Credit to Sam from Rose Bud Annie for the photo

We got in touch with some other bloggers we knew from the area, arranged a time and date and that was pretty much it! There were only seven of us back then but we started to meet regularly, I set up a Facebook page (which now has 44 members), and earlier this year I set up a weekly Twitter chat, #abzchat. Although we started off as strangers it really feels like we are friends and part of a supportive community now!

Now I'm no expert, but here are my tips for starting a blogger meetup:

Get in touch with people you'd like to invite

Start liking and following bloggers you'd like to meet and strike up a conversation. You might want to use the opportunity to ask if they'd be interested in attending a meetup and if so what they'd like the event to be like.

Decide what kind of meetup you'd like to hold

It might be specific to a type of blogger or include everyone from a specific area, you might want to have a casual meetup or organise a sponsored or ticket only event. If you've asked potential attendees what type of event they'd be interested in then it's more likely they'll attend.

Organise your meetup

Decide on dates, times and a venue. We try to go with a different cafe or restaurant each time and stick to coffee/brunch in a central location so that it keeps the costs down for everyone. You might want to get in touch with local venues and ask if they can do a special deal or book an area but this may depend on the number of people attending.

Advertise your event

Once you've organised the detail, advertise! Invite those bloggers you'd love to meet, post it all over social media and your blog and ask others to share and invite people who may be interested. I set up a Facebook page after the first event as it was much easier to track who was attending and who'd been invited. We usually ask questions about where and when people would like to meet next but I've found it's better to give a couple of options and see what the majority choose as there will always be people who can't attend.

Organise people on the day

You want your event to be success and for everyone to feel welcome so as the organiser you'll want to familiarise yourself with the bloggers attending. We usually share our blog links on Facebook prior to meetups so that we can read about those attending and get to know a bit about them.

Get feedback

After the event you'll want feedback. Find out what people thought, what they liked and didn't like, how the meetup could be improved, and if they'd like to attend more. Ask people to get in touch with links to their posts if they write about the event and share and comment on them.

Good luck!

Have you organised a meetup or do you have any tips? Let me know below!

Natbees Fashion Takeover | 3 of my Favourite Places to have Breakfast in Edinburgh

Every time we are down in Edinburgh I am on the task of exploring the city with the ultimate purpose of finding the best coffee shops, places to enjoy a nice cup of tea and relax. After searching online for reviews and playing the investigator myself, I have finally managed to narrow down my list to these three gems. I am sure there are loads more that I haven't been yet but for the time being these three places hold a special place in my heart. 

Starting with my most favourite one; the Richmond Cafe in 52 West Richmond Street. This is a cute little place we found after being desperate for some bougatsa, a pastry pie that for Greeks is what sausages & beans is for Brits, aka the best breakfast ever! Luckily enough, this place offers not only bougatsa but in general the best Greek food that someone can have outside Greece. When we were there we ordered-apart from the infamous bougatsa- spinach pie and coffees and we were left with the best impressions ever. Did I also mention that the location of the shop is right next to our flat? Win-win!

Next is an old favourite one; the Black Medicine in 2 Nicholson Street. This is a place for the coffee lovers as its name suggests. As it is located on a very busy street this is a great place for something on the go, quick service and quite strong coffee. I, personally am in love with the interior, wood, plants and mirrors, makes the place feel so cosy, so if you choose to sit in make sure to take a book with you and enjoy the atmosphere. Usually it is full of students writing up their assignments so very relaxed vibes, however if you take a sit by the window I can guarantee you, you will observe all the city action :) 

Last but not least is Mimi's Bakehouse in 63 Shore Street, a paradise for ladies meet ups and cupcakes lovers. Upon arrival you get struck by the lovely deco, so pretty it makes my heart sing! All of the cupcakes and muffins they offer are delicious and oh, so beautiful, its like they create art and not baking goods. My personal favourite is the egg nog cheesecake-so mouth watering! Not to be missed!

 

So these are my 3 top places to have breakfast or coffee on the go in Edinburgh. 

Have you ever been to either? If you have any other suggestions please let me know, I am always eager to find new places.

Anastasia.

Barcelona Baby

 
By the time you read this I'll be long gone...... to Barcelona baby!

As you guys know from my last post I am off to Barcelona with my hubby this week and as is a tradition with Granite City Girl and I guess now Hannah Adams Make Up Artistry, I will be taking a little, tiny wee break to refuel, recharge and have myself a jolly good time abroad. Did I mention I run on solar power? Ach see now you know why I've been a big bogged down, I just need to catch me some rays! But my absence of course doesn't mean no content, heavens no! Instead I'll be handing over the reigns of Granite City Girl to some friends from the #Abzmeet gang namely Anastasia of Natbees Fashion.

You can of course keep a spy on my Twitter and Instagram if you want to keep up with what we're doing in Barcelona , where we're going and what we're seeing. Otherwise have a lovely, lovely week guys and I will return next Wednesday as per with brand new content and hopefully a photo diary of Barcelona and our adventures.

Until next time folks, love ya bye!

H.Elizabeth x

Everybody makes mistakes | My Biggest Ever Beauty Blunders

Even make up artists can get it wrong sometimes. When I was a children boy did I make a good few facial doozies when it came to my make up application, technique, product choices, let's just say, if it could go wrong it did. So today in light of my recent trips down memory lane (i.e. my old Facebook profile pictures) I thought I would share my biggest and baddest ever beauty blunders and hopefully prevent some of you younglings from making my mistakes.

Liquid liner in my waterline

In what world is this a good idea, particularly for an individual with me who has watery eyes? Liquid liner and damp areas simply do not mix, it's a recipe for gooping, running, smearing and unfortunately coloured eye gunk, my goodness the eye gunk! Don't follow in my footsteps, be smart, pick the pencil!

Using only my right hand to apply mascara

I'm not sure why I regarded my left had as the inferior helper when it came to mascara, but when I first ever got my hands on that coveted Rimmel Volume Flash mascara I refused to let my left hand do any helping. Resulting in overly coated lashes which unfortunately flaked all over the sink (sorry mum) as well as my school uniform through the day, and if I was REALLY unlucky a big blob of thick black mascara over the bridge of my nose, guys it's called goth mascara chic okay?

Ill coloured foundation

Top of every 20 something girls list of beauty blunders seems to be the highly sought after Dream Matte Mousse by Maybelline,  which I bought in seemingly every colour BUT the one that made my face match my neck! Not only did I completely miss the mark where my skin tone was concerned but I totally misread what my skin wanted and needed, and that my friends was intense moisture which, clue in the name, a matte foundation just wasn't going to give me. Woops, sorry face! 

Using my fingers as application tools

You name it, I applied it with my fingers, be it foundation, be it concealer, eyeshadow (what a mess!) you name it I had it ALL OVER MY FINGERS! Now I'm not saying using your (clean and sanitised) fingers isn't great for really warming the product up and pushing it into areas that need that coverage (i.e. eye primers, concealers etc) but when you're smearing your black as night eyeshadow and hot pink glitter pigment across your lids like war paint, it might be time to invest in some finer tools.

Using frosted eyeshadow to fill in my brows

Forgive me fleeky for I have sinned. It could be said my under plucked, non waxed or styled brows were absolutely not on fleek, and this carried on until I was about 20! That's how recent my blunders are bringing me. I would (sigh) dust brown eyeshadow with a cheapy applicator across my brows all to match my hair..... enough said really right? Don't do this! Get your brows shaped and invest in a brow pencil at the very least.

Dazzle dusting all of the things

Who remembers the Barry M dazzle dust pots? I know my mum does since I spilled an entire black pot on her pristine and clean flooring at the tender age of 15 (I've said sorry okay?!) At the time, of course being a hardcore advocate of using my fingers as my primary make up tools I would get this stuff everywhere, I always applied it dry, and for some reason it always seemed to be black! To be quite fair though the fallout did sometimes make me look like I had chic, high fashion black freckles, though most of the time it did just look as though I had been chimney sweeping. If you're going to use a pure glitter pigment I seriously suggest using a damp brush to pick it up and press it on to the area you want it (and you know put down a tonne of black bags to protect your floors)

Hopefully in some way this has helped you, saved your adolescence perhaps or maybe even just made you cringe laugh at my misfortunes, either way it's a win! I'm sure in future I'll look back at myself in my early 20s and cringe at whatever I'm doing now, who knows maybe winged liner and bold brows will be ridiculed in future (NAT!) Make sure you leave your biggest beauty blunders and downfalls in the comments below, if at the very least to make me feel like a bit less of a twat, come share them with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or you can just keep up with my recent cringes on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, blundering my way through the MUA world!

H.Elizabeth

Prep and Prime | Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo

 

As you lovely ladies and gentlemen should know by now, I've always been all about that base, and these days it's not just my face base I'm obsessing over. Nope, it could be said I like to cover all of my bases and none seem more important than our eye base. They say eyes are the windows to the soul, and I love nothing more than decorating mine with some of the finest drapings my local make up counters have to offer. But what I don't love is when my shadow slips, slides or worse gathers in my crease! But luckily there are so so many products out there that can not only stop your eyes from slipping down to your chin or crawling into your hairline, but give you  a fierce, fierce colour pop that you can create a multitude of looks with, and today I'm going to share one of my faves, the Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo.

These cream shadow products come in a wide range of colours and finishes, from mattes to shimmers and even a leather finish came on the go a while ago and whether you're just using this as an eyeshadow as intended or the way I use mine as a primer then you're set to achieve an eye poppin' look. As you can see I have mine in a multitude of colours from their creamy neutral creme de nude to my deep dark pomegranate shimmer which was my go to favourite during the holiday season and finally my brand new colour pops of teal and purple. But today I'm going to focus on my creme de nude as this is what I typically use for a base. 

If I'm working on a client with these I'll pop some of the product out onto the back of my hand and work through it with a brush and gently press the product across the entire eye lid and go back in with my ring finger to press it on that little bit more and blend it so there are no creases. If however I'm working on myself I'll take some on my finger and gently rub and press it along my eye lid and socket, this typically works much better than a brush because the product will have warmed up and will be easier to apply and move, but of course brushes are just fine they simply take a little longer.To set that in place I'll take an eyeshadow that is around the same colour as my skin tone, perhaps a little darker if I'm going for a dramatic look and sweep that all across my lid where I placed the colour tattoo product.. This will help set the primer and mattify your lid so colours you go in with from this point are true to form. You should now be good to go with whatever eyeshadow drapings and looks you desire because my dear your eyeballs are prepped and primed! 

These colour pots retail at £4.99 each but usually there is a deal on in Boots so you could end up getting a 3 for 2 or walk away with a gift of some sort. As you can see these are far, far more cost effective than their high end counterparts from MAC, but of course the only downside is that they don't quite have the range of colours or finishes as the paint pots in MAC.

Let me know in the comments below if you've ever tried using these coloured shadows as eye bases, how did you find them? Or have you found something that's even better than Maybelline? As per I hope this was helpful, useful in some way, maybe funny or maybe I've just aided in your procrastination of the day! Either way I'm more than happy to oblige. If you want to procrastinate even further come chat with me on Twitter, like my new make up snaps on Instagram or you could just stick around and follow the blog using Bloglovin!

Until next time folks, this ain't no slip n slide!

H.Elizabeth x

Updated Brush Cleaning Routine | How to care for your brushes

You guys will maybe remember that about a year and a half ago I shared with you just how I was cleaning my collection of make up brushes of the time, you remember, all 5 of them.. Well today I'm here to tell you to scrap that, because with my new found MUA in training wisdom I'm here to lay down some truths, home skillet, on how you should really be cleaning your make up brushes so as to avoid the dreaded fallout (it can actually be avoided, trust me) 

When you think about it all of the tips and tricks I'm about to share with you really ought to be common sense and it all revolves around the make up and design of your actual brushes themselves, but if you don't know, you just don't know. Your brush bristles are glued in to the base of your brush, but that base doesn't go as far as you can see, it goes even further usually going right to the base of your handle, so if you get warm water or really any foreign liquid into the brush you'll loosen the glue bonds to the point where eventually your bristles will fall out.

With that firmly in mind, here are my biggest do's and don'ts when it comes to safely caring for your facial tools:

DON'T submerge your brushes in water. Water will loosen your glue bonds and fall out will occur over time.

DON'T tap your brush on the side of a counter or on your hand to remove excess powder, this can also loosen glue bonds. Instead Potter it up with a graceful swish and flick.

BEAUTY BLENDERS should be placed in a pillow case and washed in the washing machine (sorry guys but this is the only way to effectively sterilize them)

MUA TIP: DO wash your brushes after every client you've worked on, don't compromise on cleanliness when your business is on the line!

DO hold your brush downwards at an angle under a slowly running tap to help wash your brushes. NEVER hold them upwards as water will enter the base of the brush and .. you  guessed it.. loosen the glue bonds.

DO use a gently cleansing shampoo such as Johnson's Baby Shampoo to wash the product out of your brushes and gently swirl them in the palm of your hand to work a gentle lather.

DO rinse them thoroughly always holding them downwards at an angle.

DO lightly spritz your make up brushes with an alcohol solution such as surgical spirit to keep them squeaky clean and free from bacteria.

DON'T dry your brushes roughly with a towel, instead dab them to remove excess water.

DO reshape your brushes and leave the tips of your brushes hanging over the edge of a counter so they don't lose their shape.

DO store your brushes in a safe, clean place such as a make up brush belt, or you could even store them upright in a wee decorative pot, as you see many MUA's and beauty bloggers doing (for the pics guys, for the pics!)

If you follow the above tips, theoretically your brushes should last you a good few years, in fact my Glam Candy coach had a brush in her collection that she has had for 15 years, so just let that sink in for a moment!

Hopefully some of you have found this helpful, I know this has worked wonders for the tools in my kit in that I haven't had to rush out and replace my brushes every month or so. Be sure to leave your top brush cleaning tips in the comments below, come share them with my on my Twitter, Insta, Bloglovin whatever and wherever you fancy, I'm just a beep boop away!

Until next time folks, I'm gonna wash that tan right out of my brush!

H.Elizabeth x

Hannah Adams Make Up Artistry

Well guys, it looks as though this has snowballed doesn't it? Today I launched Hannah Adams Make Up Artistry professional services for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on Facebook and hopefully I'll get myself all sorted with a new website very very soon. Over on the page I plan on sharing what's in my kit, which looks and techniques I've been loving, faces I've been working on and of course any beauty features I be writing on here.

I'd love it if you'd head on over, give me a cheeky wee 'like' and of course if you're a blushing bride, aspiring model or you're just looking to get all glam for your next night out give me a buzz. I can come to you (if you're in Aberdeen!) you can come to me, the sky is very much the limit. 

Before I sign off I just want to say a big thank you to my friends and family for helping me start up my exciting new venture, with a particular shout out to my hubby who has put up with my moans, groans of setting up and of course the glitter and pigments ALL OVER the living room and kitchen...bathroom...bedroom...car...on the cat, everywhere really! 

Though I have launched my professional services to all of you lovely ladies and of course gentlemen out there I would still love to work with any local photographers and models who want to try a few more creative bits and cut my teeth on some more 'out there' edgy looks so do get in touch by emailing hannahadamsmua@gmail.com if you've got any ideas or shoots in mind.

As usual you can keep up with my own latest looks and portfolio images (and the occasional foodie post) on Instagram, you can still catch me chit chatting on Twitter and now of course Facebook!

Until next time folks, this is Hannah Adams, professional make up artist signing off!

H.Elizabeth x

Face Off with the Body Shop | Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

Who doesn't want to slather butter all over their face on a nightly basis in the name of beauty? To be quite honest as a former 'fat kid' that's kind of my idea of heaven and thanks to the Body Shop my dream has become my reality, now I've just got to tick off giant edible gingerbread house and I'm all set for life (another job for the Body Shop?) Move over micellar, get out of the way cleanser it's all about balms, butters and basically the ability to melt your face off.

As you guys perhaps deduced from my last couple of posts my beauty routine has had a serious ice bucket challenge wake up call through these last few weeks. This is namely due to my shameful overuse and abuse of make up wipes which dried out my skin so badly that my face looked worse than nuked (yes nuked, not naked) Superman (comic / movie geeks know what I'm talking about!) And what would you know, the Body Shop held the answer!

I'm sick of Micellar waters, and I'm so over using a separate eye make up remover, it's costly and I always feel like I'm wasting so much product, not to mention damaging the skin around my eyes with rubbing! Enter the Camomile Cleansing Butter. The product retails at £13, which at first I thought was a bit expensive, but I have been using this for a couple of months now and I've only just hit pan! It comes in a 90ml round tin, smells divine and is designed with all skin types in mind. So there's no need worry if you're excessively dry, overly oily, extremely sensitive or you're just a hoverer like me, the forumla is designed to be gentle enough to suit everybody, and bonus, it can be used to remove all types of make up, that's right even waterproof mascara!

To remove your make up you rub your fingers into the product to warm it up and get a little on your hands, and you basically rub it all over your face and melt your make up away. Now at first I got in SUCH a mess, honestly I looked like I was set to go to war or I had just come back from a day of chimney sweeping, needless to say this was not the smokey eye look I was going for! But all of the trauma is short lived when you wash it all off in the sink and marvel at just how much product you had on your face that day. There's something that is just so satisfying about seeing how much make up you've had on your face all wash away in the sink (not so much when you think of how much it all cost though!)

What I love about this product is that it has made something I used to consider a chore a more enjoyable experience and it's so so quick to do it honestly takes less than a minute, and eye make up? GONE completely. My skin isn't dry anymore, it isn't red or rough from constant rubbing with pads, it feels much softer, and after using this product it smells fantastic (not that my skin had a particularly unpleasant aroma before!) I highly, highly recommend purchasing the Camomile Cleansing Butter at least once in your life I implore you people, and if we're friends IRL come to my house and give it a go!!!

I hope you have enjoyed yet another peek into my new updated skincare and beauty favourites, if you'd like me to do something that's a little more specific for example a look into my skincare routine, a look inside my kit at my go to skincare products then please do let me know in the comments below. Otherwise you can catch me on the usual channels Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and of course the blog on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, butter me up boys!

H.Elizabeth x

Granite City Girl Goes Glam | Training with Glam Candy

Perhaps it won't be very much of a surprise to those of you who have been stalking my instagram of late, between the packages in the post, the obsessive 'liner on fleek' posts and the hashtags, my goodness the hashtags, but I have somewhat of a little life update / announcement to make that has the potential to change the path of my future forever. Not that I'm melodramatic or anything!

It's no secret that I am a make up obsessive. In our house you can't open a drawer without coming across something that either belongs on a face, has fallen off of a face (sorry Nick for all the false lash / spider / bug scares you suffer though!) or even has a face of it's own (face charts guys, face charts) and having been interested in make up and the intricacies of make up artistry for a long time, it feels natural for me to enroll in a starter make up artistry course, and so I did just that, with the one and only Glam Candy. 

Now by the time this post is live I'll have finished (and fingers crossed passed) my course, but wait there's more! I've enrolled in another which is due to begin in June, so the saga continues. Today I'm not going to go into the intricacies behind the course, or too much on why I've decided to go down this route etc etc, but if you'd like a post detailing the course and my experience let me know in the comments below. Instead I've decided to keep it short and sweet, just in case you wondered why you're seeing more and more beauty posts, tutorials, how to's and make up blunders (trust me I've had plenty!)

Of course if you're an Aberdeen based gal I'd love to hear from you if you'd be so kind as to let me borrow your face for learning purposes, practice and just some general carrying on with make up drop me an email, Tweet, Facebook message...just get me okay? I've already have a few lovely ladies sit  in my chair, Sarah from Blogs Vlogs Etc, Julia from Just Julia and Ani from A Fusion of Brunette to name a few, and I have so enjoyed working with them (thank you ladies!). Likewise if you're a photographer in the area and you're looking to build your portfolio I can be your go to gal!

If you'd like to see a bit more of what I've learned, how I'm building my kit or which products I have been using lately as well as whose faces, then head over to my instagram, come visit me on Twitter, or if you just want even more content follow Granite City Girl on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, getting my Granite City glam on!

H.Elizabeth x

It was mine to give | Mine Pop Up Boutique Aberdeen

Hands off fool, it's mine! Don't worry guys I haven't been getting into scraps over jewellery...again... but there was plenty of potential when my friend and I visited Aberdeen's hottest new jewellery pop up Mine last weekend and went cray cray for some lovely, shiny new brands.

Mine is the brainchild of Amy Donaldson, a local entrepreneur and jewellery lover who saw a gap in the online and pop up independent jewellers market and sought to fill it with all kinds of fabulous. Bringing together jewellery from as far as Australia and as close as Aberdeen, Mine is turning the jewellery market on it's head delivering fun filled brands such as Les Nereides contrasted with something darker and a little more moody like Wolf and Moon and those are just a couple of my own personal faves.

Visiting their Aberdeen pop up so late in the month for me was perhaps a mistake, I could have honestly walked away with half of their stock! Instead I opted for a wee geometric gem of a necklace that goes with anything and everything and hasn't left my neck since I left the shop (a part from for you know, washing and sleeping...) I'll certainly be back visiting Mine when payday rolls around, I have my eye on so many gems from Wolf and Moon and of course my fave, fun and fab new love Les Nereides, but more so I'm looking forward to all of the new and exciting brands Mine are going to introduce to my life in these coming months.

Not fortunate enough to be in the Granite City? Don't worry, you can stay updated with Mine on Facebook and keep in the loop with when they'll be opening their online store so you can get your hands on all of the shiny, lovely jewels I've been basking in latelty (sorta)

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this peek into my very new and very shiny jewellery box and of course what goes on in the Granite City, if you'd like to keep up with me, the 'deen, the blog or you're just downright nosy you can catch me on Twitter, Bloglovin' and Instagram.

Until next time folks, back off fool, it's MINE!

H.Elizabeth x