Inspirational Interview - Beauty's Bad Habit

Hello my lovelies! I can't believe that I'm bringing you my first February Inspirational Interview - this year is quite simply whizzing by isn't it?! I'm delighted to bring you an interview with the fabulous Lily from Beauty's Bad Habit. I was lucky enough to meet Lily at an Aussie event last year and she really is incredibly stunning and a really sweet girl! Enjoy :)

Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed! Firstly, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself please?

Thanks for asking me! I'm a 19 year old, make-up obsessed, folk music loving, cider swilling, relaxed, happy art student from Manchester.

How long have you been blogging and what was it that inspired you to start a blog?

I started blogging last May after stumbling upon Lipglossing's blog. I hadn't really been interested in blogging since then and thought most bloggers were Americans/ Canadians writing about American/ Canadian products - not that useful for an English girl! I started looking for other UK bloggers and was hooked. Around this time I also had no way to record Youtube videos, so I turned to blogging as a way to unleash my make-up rambles instead!

What are the best and worst parts of being a beauty blogger?

The best part is definitely being able to chit chat with other bloggers and people who comment on my posts. The blogging community is so inclusive - I love how long term, well known bloggers will still go out of their way to help out and chat to new, lesser known bloggers. The worst part...I suppose that has to be not being able to post more often!

Your blog has taken off really well - how does it feel to have such a well loved blog?

Pretty surreal. I really didn't expect anyone to "follow" me! 

I utterly adore the range of posting topics on your blog - do you have a particular favourite type of post to do or do you love them all the same?

I love when I'm writing about a product I adore and feel like EVERYONE should know how amazing it is. I get to the point where I'm just like, 'Buy it.Please buy it. But it and agree with me about how stunning it is! DO IT.' and wish I could send every reader some of it!

What has been the highlight of your time as a blogger?

Oooh. Probably the Aussie event in Leeds! It was so strange to see people who you recognise from their blog - strange but lovely! 

Your FOTD posts are incredible - where do you find your inspiration for them?

Sometimes it's seeing some colours together that you wouldn't expect to see together, or an object that's out of place, a pattern on somebody's shirt, a picture in a book, an exhibition I've seen, a conversation I've had, people I adore, what sort of mood I'm in, tea cups in charity shops, interior design, antiques....There's a shorter list of uninspiring things - plastic cutlery, caravans and carpet shops.

How do you spend your free time when you're not blogging?

Listening to music mainly - I love folk, metal and experimental music. I used to go to gigs three or four times a week! Other hobbies include - drawing and painting, baking amazing cakes, eating my own weight in bacon butties and talking utter crap.

You've already trained as a wigmaker and a makeup artist - what's your plan for the next few years and where would you like to end up working eventually?

I applied for uni not so long ago! So hopefully I'll be able to do the course I'm interested in - a Bachelors in Design for Special Effects. I'll often watch a rubbish film over and over just because the effects in it are incredible; my favourite films always include strange creatures/ machines/ settings combined with CGI - Hell Boy, X-Men, The Matrix. Eventually I'd like to work for either a creature creation team or a special effects team working in film.

What can readers of Beauty's Bad Habit look forward to over the next couple of months?

More reviews, more FOTDs, more rambling, more photos - just more of everything!

Your blog has gorgeous photography - what sort of set up do you use (camera, lights, background etc)?

I use a Canon 450d camera, standard 18-55 lens and built in flash. For product photos, my background is a cheap A3 sketchbook I bought from The Works for about 99p....5 years ago. I usually prop some 1m x 50cm reflectors on either side to bounce the light evenly, especially if I'm taking pictures at night. For FOTD pics, my background is just a plain, cream wall, I rarely use reflectors and I just got a 200 watt soft box studio light. I use Photoscape to correct colours etc.

What inspires you to keep blogging?

New products, new blogs, new ideas...old products, old blogs, old ideas!

You're a big fan of budget beauty brands and indie makeup companies - who are your current favourites?

I'm a fan of Sleek, the quality of their products is fantastic and I love how they're always releasing new things. I've always liked Fyrinnae, they were the first indie brand I bought from, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for them!

Ok time for some quick fire questions:

3 Favourite Items of Make up:

Collection 2000 Matt + Minerals Foundation

Topshop cream blush

MAC 'Honeylove' lipstick

3 Favourite Foods:

Curry

Cake

Potato waffles with cream cheese, grated cheddar and tomato and pepper relish. Sound gross, but it's mind blowingly good.

3 Desert Island Items:

A big sharp knife.

A indestructible net.

A huge roll of tarpaulin.

3 People who've inspired you:

My parents. They can count as one, right?

My boyfriend.

Stan Winston.

3 blogs you'd like to recommend:

Haha, now THAT is a difficult question. I tried to write my top ten favourite blogs and ended up with a list of seventy.

3 words of advice:

Never give up!

Lily, thank you so much for taking part - I've loved getting to know you over the last few months and I'm utterly in awe of your beautiful FOTDs. Ladies, I recommend you head along now and follow if you don't already xx