Life Through A Lens #10

I feel like I say this at the start of every Life Through A Lens post, but... It's that time again! Another month scored off the calendar and only three month left of 2015. Anyone else feel like this year has been a whirlwind? 
Seeing as this is going to be my last Life Through A Lens post brought to you from Finland, I thought I would bend the rules a little and round up a bunch of my favourite snaps from my time in this beautiful country. I hope you don't mind. 
Here goes!

Hiccup

Remember that time I waited a whole nine months until everything was finalised before I shared my. 'Big News' that I was moving to Abu Dhabi? Those nights I sat itching to hit publish on a hysteria riddled declaration that I wasn't going to have to spend another cold, dark winter in Finland? Okay, you probably don't know about that last one but there are pinky swears to be had that would confirm what I'm saying is true. 
And then...
Remember when I went and tweeted that we'd booked our flights and set our 1st of October deadline, by which point we'd be somewhere above the clouds and getting ready to embrace the balmy 45 degree heat of the United Arab Emirates? 
Well it turns out someone had already squatted over my chips and was getting ready to piss all over them!

Mobile Photo Editing Apps - Tried & Tested

Gone are the days of unedited Instagram photographs. It's all about getting that near perfect shot and tweaking it 'til your fingers bleed. Okay, I exaggerate, but if you're looking for cleaner, brighter shots, it's essential that you have a good photo editing app to back you up. 
I'd definitely describe myself as a perfectionist when it comes to my photography. I don't consider myself to be in any way a pro or claim to have the most, 'perfect' shots but I know what I like and I'm constantly pushing myself to get the best images that I can. Nine times out of ten, the editing can make or break a shot and today I'm going to run through the editing apps that I have tried and tested.  

Question Time

Today's post is going to be two things, unpredictable and proof that the internet is a magical place. I'm not even going to sit here and make excuses for how I came to Google, 'Random Question Generator' but I did and I ended up on this ol' site here. 
*I'd like to make it known that I do actually partake in, 'adult' activities now and again, (Drag your mind out of the gutter please) but today isn't really testament to that so... I'll maybe Instagram a bagel laterz. 
I have the tab open right now and I'm going to answer the first 15 questions that appear, no skipping! I have no idea how this is going to progress so I'll likely be just as confused as you by the time we're through. 
Are we buckled up kids? Here goes...

Smashbox Primer Water - Is It Love?

Primers and I have a tricky relationship. I absolutely swear by using a primer to prolong make up wear, plus I find that with a good primer, make up lies much better and looks more natural.
However...
Finding the perfect primer hasn't been easy for me. For some reason my skin seems to hate them! (She's clearly a diva!) I was using MAC's Prep & Prime for the longest time as it was the only primer I could realistically get away with that didn't break my skin out into a whole, pimpled mess. Don't even get me started on Benefit's Porefessional - my skin and that primer can't even be in the same room together without shit going down!
The problem I have with MAC's Prep & Prime, (not a problem per say as I do still like their primer) is that it really does nothing for my drier skin. I hover around the dry to normal skin type and if I don't make it my mission to inject moisture into my make up routine, you can guarantee that I end up a hot, flakey mess before the day is through. Not good. 

Bad Idea

So, the other day I was sitting at my computer and trying to ignore the gale-force winds and torrential downpours that were happening right outside my window. Well, not just right outside my window cause that would be weird, but since I've been back in Finland, the weather has been a giant, grotesque arsehole which is annoying because I swear, the whole time I was back in the UK, the sun was beaming! 
Anyway, due to weather induced boredom, I delved into the murky depths of the interweb and came across a website called Bad Idea T-Shirts... You can tell already that this is going to be an interesting post. 
Here are some of my personal favourites:

New Nip + Fab Glycolic Mask

Okay, disclaimer: I have been meaning to write this post for the longest time so I'm not sure if this product technically classes as new anymore, buuuut a little while ago, Nip + Fab released a few new goodies to their line of skin care products, one of which was the Glycolic Instant Fix Face Mask. I picked up a couple of Nip + Fab skincare products several months ago and was so impressed with them that I knew I had to get my hands on something else from their line.

My Current Favourite Scent

Way back sometime in August, I published an up to date Beauty Wish List, rammed with products that I was absolutely desperate to get my mitts on. Over the last few weeks, I've been scoring them off my list as I've been picking them up and a couple of weeks ago, whilst passing through Duty Free in Manchester airport, I finally got my hands on the incredible Le Jardin De Monsieur Li fragrance from Hermes. 

Smithills Open Farm - Bolton

As some of you may know, I've spent most of the Summer back in the UK, splitting my time between my home town in Lancashire and with Scott's parents in Edinburgh. In the last few years, each trip that Scott and I have made back home has always been super stressful, with very little time to relax and enjoy doing things that we want to do. With our wedding out of the way, we found ourselves with a spare Sunday afternoon. Scott was quite happy to sit watching TV and scoffing custard creams but the sun was shining and so I dragged him out of bed and along to Smithills Open Farm in Bolton!

A New Name

At the time of writing this, I've been married exactly ten days, give or take a few minutes. And whilst yes, greater things have happened in the world and I promise I'll calm down on the wedding posts soon, there's been a few interesting moments that I felt needed sharing with you guys.
First up, I actually don't know who I am anymore. I have a new name. I spent a good, solid 27 years living my life as a Miss Kirsty Dowling, so you can imagine the mind fuck of waking up, slightly hungover, to everyone calling you something completely different. Also, I have no idea who I am on Facebook, which has led to me believing my account has been hacked on more occasions than I dare admit. 

Big News!

A little over three years ago, I was scrambling off a plane in Qatar, nervous as hell over the fact that I'd packed up my old life, kissed goodbye to my family and friends, and made a life-changing move across continents; to the Middle East. I almost, almost chickened out, but I'm so glad that I didn't. 
In a few short weeks, I met my, now husband, Scott, and together we made some incredible memories. thirteen months later, with a pounding head from celebrating our engagement the night before, Scott had an interview with a construction company about a job prospect in Finland. Before we knew it, an offer had been made and we found ourselves packing up our apartment, and trading in our flip flops for snow boots. 

A Fab Contour Kit That's Cheap As Chips

Remember when strobing was set to become the new contouring? Being the anti-conformist that I am, I obviously ran out and had to buy myself a contour kit. Okay, not quite but when I spotted a limited offer on Seventeen products at my local Boots store, I panic grabbed this and one of their bronzing shimmer bricks. I muttered some excuses about double points to Scott and stuffed them in my handbag with a smug expression on my face. 
It turns out, I got a pretty damn good deal!

I May Have A Problem

Okay, I may have several problems, (inability to navigate myself out of a car park - check) but today I'm talking specifically about my obsession with Inglot eye shadows. I KNOW! You'd think I'd have gotten over my addiction to the Polish beauty brand by now but the love I have for their shadows runs deep. So I bought a shit load more - fourteen to be precise. And then because I clearly have no sense of financial responsibility, I went and bought another palette to house them in. I'd usually give some excuses at this point but to cut a long story short, the new one is white and can take any size pans - I have a Benefit shadow quad that I've been dying to depot for the longest time, so yea... there we go. 
Anyhoo, less of the waffle and let's crack on with why we're here... If you fancy taking a peek at my original Inglot palette, head on over here. The newbies are as follows, (and yes, I was having a bit of a matte moment!)

So... I Got Married!

I always want to start these type of posts with a little, 'Guess who's back... back again' rap but I'm figuring it's no longer acceptable when you've already done it three or four times. I need to find some new material. 
Anyway...
I'M HERE and more importantly, I'M MARRIED! I didn't bottle it and Scott didn't ditch me at the alter. *woohoo*
Our wedding day was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to share all of the deets with you guys. The weather was uncharacteristically sunny for Scotland and nobody said the wrong name at the crucial moment, well, except our celebrant but that's another story for another day - all in all, a resounding success! I'm planning to put together a whole host of wedding posts, but for now, you'll have to make do with some of the snaps that I've pilfered from my friends' Facebook pages. Don't tell me I'm not good to you guys!

I'm actually dying to receive our official wedding photographs as both Scott and I have so few pictures from our day. It's such a cliche but it really does fly by. In the meantime, I'm going to jump back into blogging with both feet and start where I left off nearly two months ago!! You can expect it to be business as usual around these parts, thank you all for your patience and I can't wait to get back into the swing of things!
Much love