Inspirational Interviews - All that Glitters and Sparkles

It's Saturday again, and that can mean only one thing - it's time for another Inspirational Interview. Today's interview is with the wonderful Jen from All that Glitters and Sparkles. Jen is the very first beauty blogger that I met in real life a couple of months ago when we went to a Cloud Nine Shoot. She is such a lovely, sweet person and I really would recommend reading her blog (especially if you like nail polish - this lady has a fab collection!)

Firstly, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I am 24, I live in Manchester and I'm a mum to an almost 3 year old who takes up lots of my time. I love makeup and have since being a young teenager, its only been in the past year that I've

started to be a lot more interested in it.

 

How long have you been blogging for and what inspired you to start a blog?

I've been blogging for just over a year now. Sam from Pixiwoo inspired me, I was a member on Makeup Advice Forum and I remember Sam being bored when she was pregnant and setting up the YouTube account so I subscribed and became addicted! I would sit and mess about with my make up all the time and I watched her videos to help me do my own wedding makeup. As I got really into it, I had nobody to talk to really about it so I decided to start a blog where I could post pictures and have a ramble about makeup. Even if nobody read my posts I felt better by writing down what I had discovered or done with my makeup that day.

What's the best and worst bit of being part of the beauty blogging community?

The best part is definitely the friends you make along the way. I've not been to many events, but the ones I've been to I've met some lovely bloggers and then there's the banter between everyone on Twitter which I always enjoy. Its a good tool for the blogging community. I don't really know what the worst part is, possibly nasty comments though I haven't had any myself, its not nice and completely unnecessary.

What's been the highlight of your life as a blogger?

Being an Aussie Angel! Well I was an Honorary Angel for most of this year and went to a couple of events and the girls at Aussie are really lovely and friendly. I became an actual Angel recently and even though I've missed out on the first two events I love it! Its a good way of meeting other bloggers and meeting the people behind the brand.

You post on quite a range of topics, but nails are the thing that seem to come up most! How many nail polishes do you own? What are your favourite brands/colours?

Yes, I find nail posts the easiest at the moment. Alice is nearly 3 and as she gets older she needs more of my time and attention so some days my makeup isn't worth talking about, or I forget to take a picture of it before it gets destroyed by paint, and yoghurt and other messy things! I think I possibly own about 80 nail polishes, which compared to some isn't a lot, however when I first started blogging I owned one nail polish and never painted my nails. Now I paint them every couple of days. I think Models Own are my favourite brand, I haven't used any high end polishes only OPI, Essie and Nails Inc. But Models Own apply beautifully and last really well, the best part is the are only £5. Before I discovered Models Own, I loved Barry M polishes, but some of them can be a bit hit and miss in consistency.

You've been blogging for well over a year now - what keeps you writing? Do you ever go through phases where it feels difficult or can you always find something to blog about?

I have phases like that quite a lot, being a full time mum means I don't have the money to be constantly buying new products to review or post about so this is why I turned to Nails. I can buy a new nail polish for £5 or less. I find it easier to do photo's of nails and I can sit and do them after Alice has gone to bed so I'm not worrying about playing with her or keeping her occupied. So I do find it hard to keep up with a lot of the blogs out there that post every day or a few times a week. Sometimes I'm really good and will schedule a few posts but its very rare! When I do get back into blogging and people read your posts and leave comments, I realise I should put more effort in. But then all good intentions go out of the window and its hard to find a good balance between being a blogger and being a mum.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Drinking wine! Haha no, I do like wine but I enjoy lots of things. I love spending time together on a weekend when my husband isn't working, we take Alice out and try and do something fun with her. I love shopping when I have the money, I used to love reading but again its one of them things I can never quite fit in.

What can readers of All that Glitters and Sparkles look forward to in the coming months?

Hopefully more posts, Alice goes to nursery in January and I'm hoping to go back to work (after not working for three years it will be a shock to the system!) so hopefully I'll have more money to buy nice new makeup and Alice will be tired out at nursery and go to bed earlier leaving me more time to write posts!

Ok time for some quick fire questions:

3 Favourite Items of Make up:

Urban Decay eyeshadows

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection foundation

MAC blushers!

3 Favourite Foods:

Italian

Chocolate

Cake

3 Desert Island Items:

iPhone with an endless power supply

Wine - if I'm just going to be sat on an island all day I may aswell have some wine to hand.

Biscuits so I didn't have to eat fish (yuk!)

3 People who've inspired you:

This is hard...I'm struggling to think of 3 people!

My parents are the only ones I can think of.

 

3 blogs you'd like to recommend:

http://www.lipglossiping.com/

 

http://birdsdecoratebranches.blogspot.com/

 

http://www.theglossgoss.com/

 

3 words of advice:

Always be truthful.

Jen, thanks so much for taking part in Inspirational Interviews. I hope that you manage to find some more time to blog soon and that you enjoy coming back into the scary world of work! Ladies, go show this girl some love :)