Book Review - Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Photo: www.zoella.co.uk

One of my greatest passions in life is literature - I absolutely love words, reading, and writing. I have a book collection larger than my makeup collection (which is really big!) and I am studying English as my major at university. So, it's safe to say I've read quite a few books. Everything from the classics - Austen, Bronte, Joyce, Woolf - to my current favourite genre, Teen fiction. Yep - it's summer and I want to read fun stories without any effort. So when my sister kindly bought me back a copy of the first novel by YouTuber Zoe Sugg or 'Zoella' I couldn't wait to get stuck into it.

Girl Online (RRP: $19.99) is the story of Penny who writes a blog as the anonymous 'Girl Online' where she goes to be herself and share all her feelings about boys, friendships and family. The story is light hearted and really adorable, making me smile with feelings of absolute joy.

Zoe Sugg is famous for her YouTube success, so she is not a writer and as her first novel, you can definitely tell. The writing is, well, bearable. Perhaps it's because I'm not a huge fan of really bad metaphors or maybe I shouldn't have been looking for sophisticated metaphors in teen fiction, the point is I didn't choose this book for it's ground breaking writing style. It's well known that Zoe used a ghost writer which I have zero problems with, except maybe they could have done a bit more editing.

However, I was incredibly impressed with the story itself and it's characters - all Zoe's own work. As I mentioned before, the story is a complete cute-fest (which I loved!) and the character's are surprisingly really interesting to read. For example Penny, the protagonist, suffers from anxiety and the way this is dealt with in the story is really thoughtful and constructive. Penny's best friend Elliot is another character I really loved to read. The relationship between Penny and Elliot is portrayed as really genuine and authentic friendship.

Overall a great, easy read that is perfect for summer. If you are a fan of Zoella's Youtube channel or follow her online at all I would definitely recommend Girl Online, especially over the holidays!

xx Catherine

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Essie Button made me do it!

As someone who spends a lot of their spare time blogging, I also really enjoy reading other blogs and watching beauty gurus on Youtube to get inspiration and learn about new products. One of my favourite beauty bloggers is Estee from EssieButton. While I mostly keep up to date with her videos on Youtube I recently came across one of Estee’s blog posts where she shared the products that she was inspired to buy from other bloggers. This made me think of how many products I’ve bought because of watching EssieButton!

1// The Body Shop Honey Bronzer

This beautiful bronzer comes in three different shades, which is fantastic because the lightest shade is fantastic for those with really pale skin. It is perfect for a subtle contour but my favourite use for this bronzer is to sweep it all over my face and blend it with whatever blush I’m wearing to give my face a little extra colour.

2// Maybelline Colour Tattoo in ‘Bad to the Bronze’

I already owned a few of the Maybelline Colour tattoos before I heard Estee rave about the shade Bad to the Bronze. I rushed out to get it and it has been my go to everyday ‘all over the lid’ shade or base for a smokey eye. I 100% recommend the colour tattoos – probably the best value drugstore eyeshadow.

3// Almay Intense i-colour smokey-i Kit

I had forgotten about this one but remembered seeing how gorgeous the colours were and then when I went to check it out at Priceline it was on sale! These shadows are so smooth, apply easily and blend out beautifully. This is definitely one of those products I wouldn’t have picked out without hearing about it otherwise.

4// Tarte Amazonian Clay 24 Hour Blush in ‘Natural Beauty’

This is one of my favourite blushes in my collection. The colour is gorgeous and leaning towards red gives such a natural flush of colour on my pale complexion. I also love that this blush is super long lasting, blends out beautifully and gives a beautiful natural finish - not too shimmery, not too chalky. I definitely want to get my hands on more shades of these blushes and hopefully when Sephora opens in Australia they will be in stock.

5// MAC Lipsticks in ‘Lady Danger’ and ‘Plumful’

Some of the newest additions to my MAC lipstick collection but ones that had been on my wish list for ages after seeing Estee rave about them on her Youtube channel. It was definitely love at first application for both of these lipsticks. Plumful is one of the most beautiful lipsticks I’ve ever worn, as a lustre formula it is moisturizing, glossy and makes the lips look full and plump. I love wearing this with an everyday makeup look. Lady Danger is everything that a bright lipstick should be – pigmented, super matte and extremely long lasting. I wore this to a recent blogger event I attended and not only did I get a few compliments but I didn’t have to worry about it coming off when I was eating or drinking. Not to mention it is such a beautiful orange red shade. So in love!

6//Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation

Another Tarte product I picked up because I absolutely love mineral foundation and was intrigued to try a high end one. This leaves the most beautiful airbrushed finish (as promised in the name) and just melts into the skin. I love how it blurs out my skin, feels completely weightless and provides a good base for blending powder products on top. I really enjoy wearing mineral powders as a base and this is definitely a good one!

That’s some serious money I’ve put down because of Estee! Which of your favourite bloggers are your biggest enablers?

Xx Catherine