Sunday Summary #70

1.Strawberry and passion fruit mojito 2.Lunch at Revolution 3.Cosy fire 4.Vintage shopping 5.Sunny Aberdeen 6.Afternoon cocktails 7.Burger and chips 8.Daffodils 9.Starter at Eat on the Green 10.ALL the desserts 11.Puppy pal

Whenever I'm on "holiday" all I ever seem to do is eat and drink, and those are the best kind of holidays in my opinion! I haven't been anywhere exciting, just visiting my parents near Aberdeen, but it has been nice to have a little break and spend some time away from my laptop. It was my mum's birthday on Friday so we went out for dinner to Eat on the Green, a lovely wee restaurant not too far from our house. They do 'taste selections' for starters and desserts where you can try mini versions of some of their most popular dishes, so I of course had to order both! I'm not really much of a dessert person (shock horror) but I loved being able to have a little sample of a few different things. I particularly liked the mini sticky toffee pudding, yummm. We've been to Eat on the Green quite a few times now and it's always excellent, so if you live near Aberdeen I'd definitely recommend it.

Just by chance, whilst I was up staying with my parents Lauren was also in Aberdeen, so on Thursday we met up in town for a spot of shopping, cocktails and food. I really needed a necklace to go with a new dress from Topshop which I've bought to wear to the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards Evening tomorrow, so we popped into Primark and I picked up a nice little spiked number for the bargain price of £4. I got a couple of other little jewellery bits too but none of the clothes particularly caught my eye. After that, we headed over to Revolution for some cheeky little (large) lunchtime cocktails and some burgers. Nothing like a nice fruity cocktail in the afternoon sun to make you feel like it's summer!

I got the train back down to Edinburgh this afternoon and I must admit it is rather nice to be home now! The flat is in dire need of a good tidy but that can wait for another day, tonight I'm going to plan my outfit for tomorrow's event, catch up on all the TV I've missed over the last week or two, and eat as much ice cream as humanly possible. What have you got planned?

Gillian x

Mixtape: April

April Mixtape // via Spotify

It seems like quite a few of my favourite bands have released new albums recently, and luckily they've all been pretty good. I'm loving the new album from The Stokes, it sounds very '80s which is right up my street! As for Alkaline Trio's new album, even before I listened to it I had no doubts that I was going to love it. They've been my favourite band for forever and the new album really reminds me of some of their early albums. Ah, to be 15 again! I'm really enjoying the new offering from Hurts too; I don't think it's quite as good as their first album but it's still pretty great.

I've also found a few new bands and artists to add to my favourites this month thanks to TV and film soundtracks. Soundtracks are probably my favourite part about watching films, I love love love it when the music is really well put together and it's always a bonus when you discover new songs. I've been watching Hemlock Grove on Netflix this month and the music in it has been really good, I especially love the last song on this playlist which was played at the end of the last episode of the series.

Hurts // Only You
The Strokes // One Way Trigger
Wale & Lady Gaga // Chillin
We Are Scientists // Can't Lose
Alkaline Trio // Young Lovers
Two Door Cinema Club // Sun
Hooded Fang // Love Song
Orange Juice // Rip It Up
Sarah Jaffe // Fangs
Perfume Genius // Sister Song
Listen to "April" here.

What have you been listening to this month?

Gillian x

Recipe: Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You really can't get much better than a huge batch of freshly baked cookies, can you? I amalgamated a couple of different recipes recently to make these amazingly chocolately, but not too sickly, cookies which have been keeping me supplied with afternoon treats and midnight snacks for the last couple of weeks. I love chocolate (especially Dairy Milk, which is what I used for this recipe), but I'm not too keen on chocolate flavoured things, so I kept the actual cookie dough lightly vanilla flavoured to balance it out. They are amazing straight from the oven when the chocolate is still all gooey and melted, but they're just as good saved in the cupboard to enjoy later on too.

You Will Need (makes approx 24 cookies):
150g caster sugar
150g soft brown sugar
200g butter
275g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
400g milk chocolate

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
2. Add the egg, followed by the flour and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Add in the vanilla extract. The mixture should start to come together into a dough, but if it's a bit dry and crumbly just add a tiny splash of milk.
4. Break up the chocolate into medium-sized chunks. I used two Dairy Milk bars; the first I broke up just using the squares on the bar, and the second I chopped up a little bit smaller using a sharp knife. Add the chocolate to the bowl and mix well to combine it with the dough.
5. Cover a baking tray with tin foil and roll out small balls of the dough. Unless you have a giant oven (of which I am well jel), you'll probably need to do it in batches - I did 6 cookies at a time.
6. Bake the first batch for 10-12 minutes, and remove from the oven once the edges start to turn golden brown. The cookies will need around another 20 minutes to set properly, so lift the foil off the baking tray and place on a flat surface to continue cooling.
7. Put a fresh piece of foil on the baking tray and repeat the process until all the mixture is used up.
8. Eat them warm straight out of the oven, or leave to cool and store in an airtight container.

Yum! What's your favourite flavour of cookie?

Gillian x

Sunday Summary #69

1.Pink Gin Fizz cocktail 2.Angels Share bar 3.Mini beef burgers and black pudding & pork belly oatcakes 4.Flower of Scotland cocktail - with a real flower encased inside an ice cube! 5.The Following and ice cream 6.Chandelier in the Angels Share 7.Tiny moon 8.Sunglasses weather

This week's Sunday Summary is coming to you from a slightly different location than usual; this weekend I'm at my grandparents' house in the Borders. It's my Grandma's birthday on Tuesday, so this weekend my mum, dad, brother and I are staying over, and this afternoon my aunt and uncle and one of my cousins are visiting too. We're having a big Sunday roast today to celebrate, so I better go off and help to peel tatties or something soon! My parents are going back home on Monday so I'll be hitching a lift back home with them too to have a little holiday. I was planning on going home around Easter, but I seem to have been really busy for the last few weeks so I'm only getting around to going home now!

This week has been the first week in aaaages that I haven't had any uni work to do and it feels GREAT. I've been catching up on so much TV and spending most of my time snuggled in my bed not doing much of anything. My brain is definitely appreciating having a little break! I started watching The Following this week and managed to watch all 13 episodes of the series so far in, erm, a day and half. Oops. I've also been catching up with the last season of True Blood, ready for when the next series starts soon. It's so ridiculous but I love it! In a similar vein, I've also just started watching Hemlock Grove on Netflix which seems quite True Blood-ish although not quite as good, but I'm only a couple of episodes in so far so I hope it improves as the series goes on.

I managed to drag myself away from the comfort of my bed on Thursday evening, though, for the launch of the Angels Share Hotel in Edinburgh. I went along with Lianne and we had a few drinks and canapes in the newly opened bar. The decor was lovely, lots of shiny surfaces, chandeliers and exposed brickwork - right up my street! We got to try some complimentary mini versions of some cocktails and we both loved the Pink Gin Fizz so much that we ordered full sized versions. They even came with a little sprinkling of popping candy on top, amazing! The canapes were really tasty as well, I think I'll definitely have to go back and sample the proper menu some time soon. I particularly liked the mini burgers - make anything mini and I will automatically like it 10 times more! The Angels Share is located just behind House of Fraser at the corner of Princes Street, so will be perfect for grabbing something to eat and and a wee cocktail or two - plus they have hotel rooms so it might be worth checking out if you're planning on booking a holiday to Edinburgh!

What have you been up to this week?

Gillian x

Outfit: Leatherette

Cardigan: Primark via Ebay
Dress: Shelikes*
Leggings: H&M
Boots: Ebay
Belt: H&M
Ring: Vintage

I really, really, really didn't need another black dress... but this one has leather sleeves so that makes it okay, right?! I love this Tahlia dress from Shelikes as it's a nice comfy jersey fabric, but the leather-look cap sleeves make it a bit more dressy than some of my other casual black dresses. Although, it's still pretty freezing up here so a cardigan is definitely necessary! I got this bargain one from Ebay a couple of years ago for about £3 and I've had so much wear out of it. The floral print is really pretty but not too printy (if that makes any sense!) so it's really easy to chuck on with a plain dress or a top and pair of jeans.

The studded boots are another Ebay bargain which I'm sure you'll have spotted in previous outfit posts if you've been following the blog for a while. They're my current go-to footwear when I want something a bit nicer than my New Look biker boots but it's not quite nice enough weather to break out the ballet pumps yet. I really need some more "inbetween" shoes as all I seem to have are big boots or flimsy flats, what do you wear in the spring?!

I wore this outfit yesterday to meet Lianne for a couple of drinks, and it was perfect early-evening pub attire. We went along to a little launch night for the new Angels Share Hotel in Edinburgh and had a wee catch up over some cocktails and canapes. It was really nice in there and I think I'll definitely be going back, but I'll save the photos for another post!

Gillian x

Adventures: Rediscover Hilton Doubletree at Dunblane Hydro (+WIN £100 Voucher!)

1.Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro 2.Stag statues at the entrance 3.View from the bedroom window 4.Bed 5.Seating area in the Junior Suite 6.Bathroom 7.Cocktail masterclass 8.The Kailyard Restaurant 9.Starter of grilled trout 10.Main course of featherblade of beef 11.Dessert of passion fruit creme brulee 12.After dinner strawberry daiquiris

This weekend (as you may have noticed me tweeting and instagramming about!) I was kindly invited along to the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro as part of the Rediscover Hilton campaign. As I am other half-less, I took my gal pal Morag along with me to sample dinner, bed and breakfast at the hotel. I've tried to whittle down the photos for this post a bit, but be sure to check out the rest of them over in my Facebook album, and watch my vlog too! I've been to a couple of the other Scottish "hydro hotels" before, but this was my first stay in Dunblane and I must say the Doubletree by Hilton hotel had everything I could have wanted and more! Dunblane is only around an hour away from Edinburgh or Glasgow by train or car, so it's not too far to travel for a weekend away even though it feels like you're right in the countryside. The hotel is less than a 10 minute walk from the train station which made it really easy to get to for people like me who don't drive!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by friendly staff and a delicious warm chocolate chip cookie (which was much appreciated as I hadn't had any lunch!) and made our way up to our room to settle in. We were in one of the Junior Suites on the 3rd floor which had lovely views of the hotel grounds and the town. The bedroom had a nice big, comfy bed as well as a desk area and huge TV, and through in the living room area there were plenty of seats to relax in and another TV. There was also loads of storage space which would be great if you were staying for a few nights. The bathroom was also lovely, very clean and bright with complimentary toiletries and plenty of fresh towels.

At 5pm we headed down to the Cocktail Bar for a cocktail masterclass with one of Dunblane Hydro's expert cocktail waiters; I thought it was a really nice touch for the hotel to put on a special little event event for us bloggers. I also thought it was great that the General Manager of the hotel came to meet us and join in with the masterclass, showing that the head staff take an interest in the guests as well as the running of the hotel. We got to sample lots of cocktails - some classics like my favourite French Martini, and some new mixes like the R&E Collins which had raspberries, elderflower liqueur and mint leaves, yum! Our waiter was very knowledgeable and even provided us with the recipes so we could try out the cocktails for ourselves at home. Will definitely been trying out some of them soon!

Morag and I had booked a table for dinner in The Kailyard restaurant for 6.30pm, so we headed down the corridor from the bar and were seated at a table right beside the window with yet more lovely views. The evening meal was probably the part of the whole weekend I was looking forward to the most, I love a good meal out so I do! The Kailyard includes lots of signature dishes from Nick Nairn, who has worked closely with the restaurant's staff to produce high quality food using local and seasonal produce. I chose the grilled trout with "Nick's" potato salad, beetroot puree and fresh horseradish for my starter, followed by slow braised featherblade of Scottish beef with mustard mash, Swiss chard, truffled celeriac and red wine gravy for my main course. Both were presented beautifully and tasted amazing! After all that I still managed to squeeze in a pudding, and opted for the passion fruit creme brulee with chocolate chip shortbread. So good! After dinner we joined the other blogging ladies, Charlene and Ayden, and their other halves for one last cocktail before heading to our room to watch a bit of TV in bed and then get an early night.

Breakfast was served until 11am so we didn't have to worry about getting up too early, which suited me fine! We wandered downstairs around 10am and filled up on a delicious cooked breakfast, and some fruit salad and pastries too. As always, the staff were very polite and helpful and the food was of a great standard. Sometimes I think hotel breakfasts can be a bit hit or miss, but the Dunblane Hydro got it spot on! If we had been staying a bit longer, we probably would have tried out some of the spa and beauty treatments at the health and leisure club but sadly it was time to say goodbye to our beautiful little room and head back to the train station, after a quick explore of Dunblane.

I can't really think of a single negative thing about my entire stay, it honestly was probably the nicest hotel I've stayed in. It definitely isn't a budget hotel, but if you're looking for a luxury weekend away then I think the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro is worth every penny. The room and the meals were of equally high standard, and every member of staff I came across was very friendly and helpful. My only slight down point was that I found the bedroom a bit too hot for sleeping comfortably in - but I'm a weirdo who likes Arctic temperatures so for most people a cosy bedroom would probably be a plus point!

And now, if you managed to make your way through all those words and pictures, time for a little competition! If you'd like to get your hands on a £100 voucher to spend on a Hilton getaway weekend, then all you need to do is be a follower of my blog through either Google Friend Connect and/or Bloglovin, and enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. The voucher is valid for one year and can be redeemed in any Hilton hotel within the UK (I'd recommend Dunblane Hydro if you can't decide where to go!). The giveaway is open for 2 weeks, so get entering now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What do you think of the Dunblane Hydro?

Gillian x

The complimentary stay at the hotel (including dinner, bed and breakfast) and giveaway prize
were kindly provided by the Hilton. As always, views are my own.

Sunday Summary #68

1.Exploring Dunblane 2.Dunblane Cathedral 3.Margaritas and Mexican food at Tex Mex 2 4.Drinks at 99 Hanover Street 5.Nando's 6.Frisky froyo 7.Sneaky train pictures 8.Room at the Dunblane Hydro 9.Strawberry daiquiri 10.Featherblade of beef with mustard mash at The Kailyard 11.Cocktail masterclass 12.R&E Collins 13.Breakfast
It seems like it's been quite a while since I've had such a photo-heavy Sunday Summary! This week has been pretty busy, mostly with nice things like eating and drinking, and the occasional boring uni thing. I had my last (ever!) essay to hand in on Thursday so it's good to know that's all done and dusted now. I've still got a couple of coursework things to finish up in the next few weeks, but from now until the end of August I'll mostly just be getting my dissertation done. Still haven't chosen a topic yet though...

At the start of this week one of my friends was up visiting so we managed to fit in a couple of meals out and a few drinks. On Sunday evening we went for some Mexican food (and, more importantly, frozen margarita pitchers) at Tex Mex 2, and then headed round the corner to 99 Hanover Street for a couple of drinks before heading home to watch some films on Netflix. Sadly I was stuck in the library for most of Monday trying to get my essay done, but in the evening we had dinner at Nando's, followed by some frozen yoghurt from Frisky. I'm so obsessed with froyo at the moment, so goooood. After that, we also squeezed in a trip to the cinema. We went to see Lincoln, which I've been wanting to see for ages, and it was really good. It was probably a bit long and boring for some people, but as a history student I loved it! I mainly study Scottish history, but I must say I am rather partial to a bit of Civil War-era American history too.

I spent all of Friday in a bit of a post-essay coma, but by Saturday I was feeling perky again and headed through to Dunblane to stay at the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro as part of the #rediscoverhilton campaign. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram I'm sure you'll have seen me getting a bit snap happy! I won't say too much about it here as I'll be writing up a full blog post in the next couple of days, but I had such a lovely stay in a beautiful room with a great meal and lots of cocktails too. Perfect! It was a bit of a struggle to leave this morning, knowing I'd be coming back to my boring little flat!

My blogging partner-in-crime, Morag, and I had some time to kill before our trains this morning so we thought we'd explore Dunblane a little bit before we left. I was hoping to have a look round the shops or maybe stop by a cafe, but being a Sunday literally everywhere was closed apart from Tesco! We still had a wee wander round though, and stopped to take a few pictures along the way.

What have you been up to this week?

Gillian x

Call Me Maybe

Let's talk about phones! Most bloggers are constantly glued to their phones, and I'm no exception. Whether tweeting, instagramming, checking emails, reading blogs, watching youtube videos or, shock horror, actually making a call, my phone is always on hand to ensure I'm up to date with everything. So today I thought I'd talk a little bit about my phone and my favourite apps and accessories.

The phone itself is a Samsung Galaxy SIII in Blue. At the time I bought it, Asda Direct was the cheapest place so it's definitely worth shopping around to find a good deal! I bought it SIM-free as I was happy with my existing contract (which was no longer available to sign up for) and didn't want to cancel it. My first port of call after my phone arrived was Ebay, to find a phone case. I had the black version of this case for my previous phone, but decided to go for something a bit more colourful this time and ordered an aquamarine glitter case from this Ebay seller. It makes me think of mermaids, and I love it!

Recently Phones 4 U sent me a little phone accessories gift set to review, and not only are the products super cute but they're also really useful too. The Mini Buddy Owl Speaker* is a small, portable speaker which plugs straight into your phone's headphone socket. I was really surprised by how good the sound quality was from such a small speaker, but it's really clear and loud enough to fill the room if you need it to. In the mornings whilst I'm getting ready I like to catch up with my subscriptions on Youtube, and this speaker is really handy for being able to hear everything nice and clearly. I also sometimes watch Netflix on my phone in the mornings too (cheeky episode of Dawson's Creek? Why not) so it's great for that too. The speaker is rechargable (there's a USB cable included so you can easily charge it up using your computer) which means there's no need to worry about batteries. The Owl Headphones* are also really useful for listening to music when I'm out and about, and as they just have a normal headphone jack I can use them with my MP3 player or laptop too. The set also came with an owl-themed protective sock, but my phone is too big to fit in it - I think it's designed for iPhones, but I'll probably use it to store my MP3 player in instead! The speaker and headphone gift sets are available in Phones 4 U stores, as well as online.

So, what about my favourite apps? In addition to the usual culprits (Twitter, Gmail, Instagram, Facebook etc.) there are a few others I use a lot. Wunderlist is a great listmaking app which I use to keep track of, well, pretty much everything. To-do lists, shopping lists, wishlists, blog posts I need to write, films I want to watch, uni work I have to do... I'm sure you get the idea! You can set due dates for tasks so it's easy to keep track of what needs done when, and you can tick things off as you go so you can feel nice and accomplished once everything is scored out. To keep up to date with my favourite blogs, I like to use the Bloglovin app. I've been using Bloglovin as my reader of choice for a couple of years now, and being able to use it on my phone is great. If I've got a spare half hour somewhere with nothing to do, I'll have a scroll through my feed and catch up with some blog posts. You can also have a look at the Popular Posts or Top Blogs section if you want to have a look for something new.

As for less useful (but perhaps more entertaining) apps, the background on my phone is from the Vortex Galaxy app. It's a live wallpaper so it gives the illusion of moving through a rainbow galaxy. LOVE. Another space-themed one, Google Sky Map is great for amateur stargazing. Just point your phone at the sky and it will tell you exactly what you're looking at. It's great for identifying stars or planets in the sky, and you can also 'time travel' or set a different location to see what the sky looks like elsewhere. I don't have that many games on my phone but I do love The Sims Free Play which has a surprising amount of things to do considering it's a free game. You can create Sims, send them to work, make friends, and complete challenges just like you can in the original games. The only thing that really annoys me is that you can't queue actions, aarrrggghh!

What accessories and apps do you use?

Gillian x

Today's Makeup #1: Barely There

I thought I would start a new feature on the blog to show you how I put together different makeup products, in addition to straightforward reviews. Although, I'm fairly boring when it comes to my makeup, and I tend to stick with what I know and love, so don't expect these kind of posts to be too frequent! I've been pretty busy the last few days so have wanted makeup that's quick, easy and fairly natural looking, and these are the products that have been helping me look presentable in the mornings.

To start off, I applied some of the NARS Orgasm Illuminator all over my face to brighten up my complexion. I love using this under foundation as it gives a nice glow without looking overly highlighted. Then I used some of the Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation in shade 72 Rosé Clair. I had completely forgotten I even had this foundation until I was tidying out my makeup drawers recently; it used to be my favourite everyday foundation when I was at school and I'm pretty sure I haven't repurchased it since I left 5 years ago soooo... this bottle should definitely be in the bin! It has a really nice light finish with decent coverage, and it feels really hydrating. This one is a bit too dark for me though, so I think I might have to admit defeat and throw this bottle out soon, perhaps I'll replace it with the Bourjois Healthy Mix instead as it has a slightly wider range of shades and always seems to get rave reviews. To finish off my base, I used some Benefit Fake Up Concealer* in Light to brighten up under-eyes and cover any blemishes.

I don't like to go overboard with blusher, especially in the daytime, so a nice soft rosy shade is perfect for me. I absolutely love this matte Nude Rose shade from Estée Lauder (far left of the compact) as it's not too obvious and looks quite similar to the actual colour of my cheeks. Sadly it seems to be discontinued, so I'm on the hunt for something to replace it. Any suggestions for a nice matte dusky rose blush? The Revlon Lip Butters are also great for quick and easy makeup, so I've popped a little bit of the shade Sweet Tart on my lips. It's the perfect pink shade which gives a soft wash of colour, or you can build it up for a bright and bold lip if you prefer.

Rather than my usual liquid eyeliner, I've opted for a slightly softer version of my favourite cat-eye flick using the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. Using the Real Techniques accent brush from the Starter Set, I smudged the shade Faint along my top lid, then used a little bit of Crave in the outer corners to create a little bit of a flick. I also applied a tiny bit of Crave to the outer part of my bottom lid, then used a blending brush to soften everything up. I finished up by curling my lashes and applying some of my favourite mascara, Benefit They're Real.

Gillian x

Sunday Summary #67

1.Flowers 2.At the Zen Beauty Event 3.Library

I feel like all of my Sunday Summaries start off by saying I haven't had time to do anything exciting this week, and guess what? I haven't had time to do anything exciting this week. I'm still in the midst of essays and coursework, which will hopefully be finished with soon and then I can relax a little bit before starting on my dissertation. I've got one more essay to hand in this Thursday, and then a presentation to do for my internship at some point in the next few weeks. As always, I've left everything to the last minute so I've got lots to do at the moment!

One of my friends is coming to visit for a few days this week which will be really nice, not sure when I'm going to get time to write my essay though! 4,000 words is nothing, right? I think we're off out for dinner tonight but haven't chosen where to go yet. It feels like I haven't been out for dinner in a loooong time, so I'm quite looking forward to it.

The only exciting thing I've done this week (unless you count spending endless days at the library. Which I don't) is go the beauty event at Zen. I got some HD Brows done whilst I was there, and I love them! You can read all about my new brows here. It's so nice to see lots of blogging events popping up in Edinburgh and Glasgow, we never used to get any up here but in the last few months there have been hundreds (slight exaggeration). Any excuse to have a drink and see my blogging pals is good enough for me!

What have you been up to this week?

Gillian x

HD Brows at Zen Lifestyle Spa

I'm sure you all know what HD Brows are by now. I first heard about them a couple of years ago and have been toying with the idea of getting them done ever since. I came thiiissss close to booking myself an appointment towards the end of last year, but then I got a full fringe cut in and decided it would be a bit of a waste to get my brows beautified if no one could see them! So when Zen Lifestyle held a beauty networking event this week to celebrate the Teviot Place salon's recent makeover I jumped at the chance to try out the HD Brows for myself.

After a catch up with some of the Scottish bloggers and a few (too many, probably) glasses of prosecco, I had an explore round the salon. I've walked past many a time as it's just across the road from where I have my university classes, but this was the first time I'd been in to Zen. The upstairs was lovely and bright, and was decorated beautifully. I can imagine it has a really nice, calm atmosphere if it's not packed full of bloggers! Downstairs, there are more treatment rooms which looked really relaxing and I loved the soft purple lighting and super pretty white furniture. Fiona, Zen's Director, talked us through some of the treatments they have on offer - everything from massages to facials, and laser hair removal to shellac manicures. For a few more photos of the event, have a look at my blog's Facebook page.

After a look around, I headed back to one of the treatment areas downstairs to get my HD Brows done. It was a pretty quick process (only around 15-20 minutes, for some reason I expected it to be longer!) and my lovely therapist talked me through what she was doing. You start off by discussing what you'd like your brows to look like - I was pretty happy with the overall shape of mine, but I wanted them to be a bit neater and more symmetrical. Then you can lie back and let someone else do the hard work! The HD Brows treatment consists of a tint, as well as shaping, waxing, threading and tweezing, and is finished off with some brow powder and mineral makeup to make sure your brows are looking as good as they possibly can. I've never had my brows waxed or threaded before (I know right) so was a bit worried that it would hurt, but it was really quick and not at all painful.

Overall, I really love the results. My brows weren't in terrible shape before so there's not a huuuge difference, but I can definitely tell they're much neater and more precise than before. If your brows are badly in need of a reshape, I would definitely recommend trying out HD Brows! I think the thing I'm most impressed with is the eyebrow tint - it's not too obvious, but just subtly darkens the eyebrows to give a fuller, natural look. If I'm doing very natural makeup I don't want my brows to look over done, but I hate leaving them completely naked, so this is perfect to make them look a bit more shapely without having to fill them in. I haven't quite decided if I would get the HD Brows done again - I really like the result, but not sure if there's a big enough difference for me personally to continue getting them done. On average, the results should last around 4 weeks and it costs £38 per treatment. I do, however, love the tint and even if I didn't get the HD Brows again I think I would definitely get my brows tinted - Zen also do an eyebrow tint for £13 which is a bit more purse friendly! I'll be closely keeping an eye on my brows this month to decide whether to get them HD'd again.

Thanks very much to Zen for hosting a lovely event and letting me try out the HD Brows, I'm sure I'll be back to sample some of the other treatments soon too! As well as Teviot Place, Zen also have salons on Hanover Street and Bruntsfield Place if you're in Edinburgh and fancy treating yourself.

Have you tried HD Brows before?

Gillian x