Wow this is so exciting!!! When I started my little blog back in September I set myself some goals by the end of the year and my Twitter followers goal was 550, who would've thought I would double my goal! I recently reached 1000 followers and as I promised, here I am with a giveaway! I would love to take a moment to thank you every single one of you that check out my blog occasionally or even if you're brand new to Beauteur for taking the time to visit, it really means a lot to me!

2016 GOALS FOR BEAUTEUR

Happy New Year Everybody!

We've just entered 2016 and just like every year I have some resolutions. Normally they are all about me, you know, the typical losing weight, be more organised, save up, etc. This year they're all about my blog. For once I have stuck with my blog for months and I plan to keep doing it and get better and better at the whole blogging thing. In the past I've started about five blogs and given up after a few weeks when things didn't go the way I wanted but with Beauteur is different, I treat it like it's my baby and for once I'm actually loving it. At the beginning of October I posted about the goals I'd like to achieve before the New Years and I actually reached all the goals by November so I was chuffed and it gave me the confidence to reach myself higher goals. So without further due, here's my New Year's blog resolutions.

• I'd love to reach 30.000 views this year. I'm only on 6.000 now and some may say it's a bit of a crazy goal but I really believe I can do it in a year!
• I want to attend more blogger events and socialize more with other bloggers.
• I want to take some kind of photography course to take better photos for the blog.
• I'll keep posting three times a week without an exception.
• I'll always have about five back up post for when I'm not feeling well or for when I'm away on holidays.
• Getting a new and better camera.
• I am currently on about 900 followers on Twitter and I'd love to double it up by the end of this year.
• Get at least 5 guest post.
• Do a give away when I reach 1000 followers on Twitter and another one when I reach the 30.000 views.
• Discover at least one new blog a day and comment on at least 5 a day.
• Have 500 bloglovin friends.
• Continue to have fun with my blog!

What are you New Years Blogging Resolutions? Do you think these are achievable?

HOW NOT TO BREAK THE BANK WHEN BLOGGING [PART 1]

*stock photo thanks to Monique at SHE WHO LIVES*

Part 1

We all know how hard it is to blog on a budget, most of us are either students, saving or working on minimum wage so it is a struggle to come up with blog posts where you don't have to get new products or fancy equipment. In my case, I'm still paying my wedding back, saving to buy a house at the same time as paying rent, bills and all the rest. Even though I am saving like mad, I still end up spending a lot more money than I should or I'd like but I can't help it, I have an obsession with buying make up. Yesterday alone I bough five lipsticks, FIVE lipsticks. Do I need any more lipsticks? I already have over 50. The answer is no, I do not need any more lipsticks however, I could not help myself. So, apart from those little moments of weakness that I'm sure we've all experienced I've come up with some of my tips on saving money when blogging. 

• Don't be scared to ask for samples. Most high end brands offer samples not only for foundations but eye shadows (if they have a new collection out), primers, etc. If you're going to buy a product to review and you hate that product it does feel like a waste of money and you'd probably wish you could've tried it before buying it so this is the best (and cheapest) way to find out and you can always review the product mentioning you've tried it from a sample, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
• If you've been blogging for a while, go back to your old post and re-write a post. It's likely that you didn't get as many views when you started as you do now so a lot of your readers might have missed out on that amazing post you wrote a year ago.
• Also going back to the start of your blog, try products you reviewed a while ago again as your opinion might have changed after a year or two, give products that didn't work on you back then another chance, you'd be surprised!
• Write about things you already have, favourites and collections are really good ways to blog without having to buy new products. For example, your favorite red lipsticks, favorite blushers, all the products you own from a specific brand, etc.
• Make Up looks are also free and very interesting. I love seeing make up looks as it gives me ideas and inspiration for my own make up. Tutorials are great too!
• You don't always have to review high end brands, in fact, I believe most people would rather read reviews about more affordable brands.
• Places like Home Bargains, Poundland and Savers sell high street brands slightly cheaper than Boots or Superdrug so it's always worth having a look there first as it might save you a couple of £.

I have quite a few more tips that I want to share with you so I decided to do write this in two separate parts as I wouldn't want it to get too long!

Do you find these tips helpful? Is there anything else you do to save yourself some money when blogging?

PARTY POPPERS

I knew my husband Jac truly loves me when he came home with the Benefit's Party Poppers Advent Calendar. I've never liked chocolate so I haven't really had an advent calendar for years so you can imagine my excitement when he handed me that box. He seriously got himself some brownie points there.

I have to say it was super hard to open one every day and a few times I was so tempted to just open every tiny box all in one go but I didn't, I opened one by one for 12 days. Now that there isn't any more to discover (and that makes me very, very sad) I thought it'd be cool to share what I got in my advent calendar. I haven't had the chance to try all the products yet so I'll only describe the ones I've tested so far and I shall write another post once I've used them all.

Here's what I got in my Benefit's advent calendar:

• the POREfessional PRO balm
• BADgal lash volumizing mascara
• lollitint poppy pink lip & cheek stain
• ooh la lift undereye brightener
• they’re real! lengthening mascara
• they’re real! remover
• rockateur famously proactive face powder
• high beam complexion enhancer
• total moisture facial cream
• hoola ultra plush lip gloss
• sugarbomb ultra plush lip gloss
• watt’s up! soft-focus highlighter

So far I've been using the porefessional primer (which is amazing to cover my enormous pores), the badgal lash mascara and the what's up highlighter. I can say that I love them all so far and I cannot wait to try all the other products properly!

Benefit is not what I'd call cheap (not the most expensive either, but definitely not cheap) so I'm always very scared to pay £20 for a mascara (for example) just in case I don't end up liking it! I think this was perfect for me as I hadn't really tried many Benefit products so the little testers are great to try and then decide whether you want the full sized option.

Did you get a beauty calendar this year too? What did you get in yours? Have you tried any of these products? If so, which ones do you love or hate the most?

LET'S BE BLOGGING FRIENDS!

Hello!
This week I decided to write an extra post (look at me, more than three post this week!) because I thought it would be a good idea to set up an advertising page on my blog and what a better way to advertise than swapping buttons?

Everything cost money these days (including advertising) so I thought it'd be great to meet some bloggers (bloggers I already know are still more than welcome to participate!) and swap buttons on each other's blog? That way we'd help both mine and your blog to get more views and followers simply by having each other's buttons displayed in our blogs and it would be completely free.

So if you'd like to swap buttons and be blogging friends you can either send me an e-mail to montse@beauteur.com or you can leave a comment underneath with your blog link and button (and please let me know where in your blog I can find my own button)!

My buttons:

xxx