Eeda's Atelier: Chasing Your Dreams

Hey hey hey!

Happy clocks going back day! Haha. There really ought to be a proper term for that. Today in the U.K we gained an extra hour, I love it when the clocks go back, I can sleep for longer and not feel guilty, I go around with a smile on my face the whole day knowing that I've managed to cheat time. I just feel generally great for some reason, 25 hour days are so much better than 24 hour ones let's be real... On second thought I might be a little too excited about this... Such a loser! Lol. Who cares! 

Remember sometime back when I stopped blogging and stuff and I mentioned one of my very good friends Eeda of Eeda's Atelier as part of my motivation for coming back? Well today I want to properly introduce her, prepare to be blown away! Eeda is an up and coming make up artist and I must say she is amazing, not only in her actual artistry but in her work ethic as well, I've seen her work and she is so passionate and dedicated to her craft, it almost makes me want to be a make up artist myself! Well maybe not a make up artist but it makes me want to put in the effort to be amazing at what I do. Okay, enough washing her let's get down to some pictures, I'm sure you're all dying to see! 

This client rocked her look to an engagement party, I especially love the eyes. Oh yes, Eeda did the gele (headpiece) as well.

Another happy client of hers!

She did these lovely bridesmaids too

This client got Nigeria's Independence Day inspired make up. Check the green white green lips!

She did this look for a client shooting a music video for a competition.

Eeda herself! Rocking a goth/vamp look. Aint she beautiful?

Check these different lip prints that she did. Top left: Tiger Skin (my fave!), Top Right: Ombre Lips, Bottom Left: Vamp Lips, Bottom Right: Caviar Lips

Of course being friends with her has its perks, not only did I get to go with her to a photoshoot  and watch her do her thing (more on this later), I got myself a free face beat and boy did she do a great job!

Don't watch that before picture, you KNOW that's not what I look like without make up, her camera is a liar! Lol. I look sick! I don't get it. I keep wondering whether posting this picture is a good idea... It probably isn't.

Here's a close up of the eyes. I'm in love!

Follow her on instagram @eedasateliermua to see more of her work, if Lagos' top MUA Banke Meshida followed her then you know she's a big deal, there's also some haloween make-up coming up soon, you don't want to miss that! Also like her Facebook page, she does personal shopping for people in Nigeria and has some great offers on products. (All round entrepreneur I tell you). I'd leave you guys with a sneak peek on some of the stuff she did at the photoshoot.

Can you imagine that she's mainly self taught as well. Well, she's inspired me to continue chasing my dreams, you never know when it can become your reality! Show her some love people and enjoy the rest of your evening. I hope everyone is ready for the storm that's meant to hit tonight/ tomorrow, stay indoors, stay safe and stay blessed!

P.S. Let's pressure her into starting some online tutorials! What do you guys think?

Reni x

The Mark Addy Surprise: Life's Random Moments!

So it's one of those rainy days here and I'm busy reminiscing on summer days. I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys about this particularly awesome day! It was nice and sunny and a couple of friends and I decided to take a stroll around town and since my favourite photographer was around I decided to take my camera out with me and have a couple of impromptu lessons! First up we had flowers! The first couple of pictures came out a bit like this:

Not great at all right?? I know, I kind of suck(ed) but after a couple of trys it got a lot better!

I learnt a lot of technical jargon about aperture, shutter speed, ISO and when to use flash, which apparently is never! Lol. Next I got to do building and bridges whilst we strolled towards Salford, I love photographing interesting buildings, I find it so much more interesting that photographing people. Which you might think is a little weird but hey! It is what it is.

I really liked the colours in this picture, that burnt rustic orange that's so typical of Manchester buildings. 

Whilst I was busy taking pictures of bridges Tomi and Nnamdi were arguing about whether Salford is a city or a part of Manchester and since I had refused to join in their argument (I just wanted to google it) they decided to ask a random stranger! Well turns out that Salford IS in fact a city and apparently the only city within a city in the world and the random stranger was not just a Salford native but the owner of the lovely pub Mark Addy that Tomi had been trying to make us go to! He told us to head in there if we fancied a drink or two and then disappeared somewhere.

Doesn't it look so unassuming in the background over there? Don't be fooled, it's pretty massive! P.S. Check Tomi out, looking all cute and shit! Lol

We got inside and settled down to order our drinks and browse the food menu when we saw the owner again. He was such a friendly down-to-earth guy and came over to have a little chat with us about Salford and why he chose the name Mark Addy and then bought our first round of drinks! There's nothing more awesome than free drinks, trust me! Seeing as we were pretty hungry and just got some free drinks, I decided to ditch the diet and fill up on a sandwich and fries. This wasn't just any ordinary sandwich though, it was full of flavour and much much better than the cold stuff you get at Sainsbury's or Boots!

Tomi and Nnamdi went for the fish and chips which was quite yummy as well and Nnamdi managed to bag the very last plate of chocolate eclairs. 

Much to his chagrin I'm sure he ended up sharing this with us as soon as we smelt it! By far the best part of the meal!

We got another round of drinks, paid our bill and headed off after saying bye to our new friend (at this point he was behind the bar helping his staff pour a couple of beers, see what I mean about being down-to-earth?). It's funny how life treats you with these random little surprises from time to time you know. Who would have thought that little old me would have ever met the owner of such a popular pub and get free drinks from it! Seriously if you are ever in the area and fancy a drink definitely head there, it cost us all less than a tenner each as well! We strolled back home extremely content!

On that note, enjoy your Sunday evening guys, in a few hours the madness will start again! And don't forget to appreciate life's little moments this week.

Reni x

Tequila or Lemonade? What to do when life gives you lemons.

So today I'm doing some blog jacking and I'm also trying something new. Blog jacking in the sense that the post you're about to read was actually written by me almost a year ago now and whilst I've edited it a bit, it's still largely the same. The 'something new' part has to do with the fact that I feel like it's been a while since I truly blogged, I'm usually talking about food or hair or holiday and whilst I love all those things I think it defeats the point of my blog if I never have any posts on here about my thoughts and opinions. Lilac tinted views is about my views after all, the way that I see things in the world. So in this post, there are no pictures... None. Weird right? Haha. I hope I still manage to engage you till the end. Here goes...

Today has definitely established itself as a duvet day in my books, it’s 2.30 on a Saturday afternoon and I’m still in bed, I’m starving but have neither the strength nor the will to get up and make myself something to eat. I just want to lay here all day and watch episode after episode of crappy TV show. Then I started thinking about how I have exams and really want to do well and why I even chose this masters programme and wondering what plans God has for me. I can only pray I’m on the right track. Then for some reason my mind wondered to the theme of unrequited love. Random you might think but it really isn’t so random. For instance, the love I have for chemical engineering is infinite even though it constantly makes me lose sleep, get stressed out and sometimes makes me borderline depressed! I would also love to work for an international oil company so I shall keep applying until someone says YES!

Anyways my mind quickly left the thoughts of chem eng and I started thinking of unrequited love in more of the ‘usual’ sense of the phrase. Take for example this relationship. This guy Seye has pretty much been in love with some girl Tami for the better part of his university career. He openly displays his affection for her through every possible avenue, he’s always there for her in times of need, and heck to all their friends; the two are basically together. Just one little problem. They’re not. Tami likes him, she thinks he’s kind and sweet and generous but as she’s been telling him since they met, she’s just not ready for a relationship and would rather focus on school at the moment. Also, she’s not ready to be tied down to just one person at the tender age of 20. She knows that Seye likes her and exploits it to her benefit a lot of the time. Don’t get me wrong Tami is not some evil bitch queen; it’s just human nature to satisfy your own needs first. So that’s how their relationship has been for the last few years, Tami taking what she needs and sometimes giving back in return and Seye constantly giving and loving and caring. Until one day after the long summer break, he finds out that Tami has a boyfriend! Now all that talk about wanting to focus on school and not being ready can be seen for the bullshit it really was. I just didn’t want to call her out before. Naturally Seye is heartbroken and depressed and gets nicknamed lonely boy.

I don’t know how many people can actually relate to what I’m saying. It is not easy to be in a position where the person you love doesn’t love you back. Rejection in life is always difficult but what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. The worst thing you can do after such an experience is become a bitter old hag and wallow in self-pity for the rest of your life (Think Miss Havisham from Great Expectations). Obviously this applies to much more than just personal relationships, everyone needs to know their own worth and realise that rejections are just a part of life. We all need to find our ‘selling point’ and not get overly frustrated when things don’t go our way. Yes it may hurt so deep down inside that we feel like we are breaking from the inside out but life goes on and allowing yourself to be sucked by darkness is not only unhealthy, but also life threatening. You are the only person who controls your happiness, so get up and start living! Make yourself the best possible version of you there can ever be so that when the opportunity does come your way, and it will, you are ready for it.

Anyways I kind of went of on a tangent there, which I apparently do a lot. My point is, when life throws you lemons. Make lemonade, and not the basic kind and some sugar to it! Even make it fizzy if you can! Or grab some salt and some tequila and have a Mexican themed par-tay! Whatever floats your boat, just find a way to turn it into something worth your while. At least that’s what I’m going to be trying to do while I start my next wave of job applications! I’m getting ready to be the best version of me I’ve ever been, you should be too.

I really couldn't resist including a picture!

Or you could be a total alcoholic... Just make good use of the darn lemons! Haha

Have a great weekend guys,

Reni.

On a completely unrelated note, it's so weird in life to think of how things have changed so much and how they also remain the same. Random. I'm still trying to be the best version of me out there but I no longer feel completely lost in life's maze.

Bon Bon Chocolatier

Do you know the worst part about getting your blogging mojo back? You never know when the mood is going to strike and for me it came at a moment when I wasn't exactly able to sit by the computer and type! My brain was exploding with all sorts of thoughts and ideas but I couldn't do anything about it because the last few days were just sooo busy! But finally, my body is catching up with my brain and I'm typing up posts that I've had in my head for months!

I thought I'd start today with something a little sweet, a small review of an afternoon well spent at Manchester's Bon Bon Chocolatier. I have a confession to make, remember those massive burgers Tomz and I had at Solita? Yeah we came straight here afterwards, and it felt so good to live in reckless abandon!  Lol.

This cute little chocolatier is on the corner of John Street in the Northern Quarter, just look at the charming entrance, how could we say no? Step inside and you're transported to a chocolate lover's heaven! There's so many different kinds and combinations to choose from, it is truly mind blasting! and although it's quite small inside, I think that just adds to its charm.

See what I mean? We even got this nice man to pose for a picture!

Okay, on to the fun part! What we ate! Haha, I'm such a foodie at heart it's a bit worrying. Obviously, having just finished some burgers we didn't go innnn! We just got a nice rich brownie and some natural flavoured frozen yoghurt in a waffle cone. Dee-licious!

I think it's safe to say that was a very good day in my life! Lol. If you're ever in Manchester make sure you pop down there to get a feel for some of this magic for yourself!

Reni xx

Guess Who's Back?

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left... I even feel like a bit of a traitor and a massive let down for leaving you kind people for so long but so much has been happening in the last month both physically and mentally that I'm not too surprised that I took such a long hiatus!

To be perfectly honest with you guys, I don't even really know where to start, last time I was here I was in the depths of dissertation waters, all that is over now, my project was successfully handed in on time! I was even ready the night before and not rushing till the last minute like I usually do, thank God for small mercies! Lol. And now, almost a month later I'm here and a lot has changed and a lot has remained the same.

September was one of those months were my spirits weren't as high as they usually are, the end of my Masters brought with it a lot of questions on what my next step in life should be and really challenged me into finding something that I really would love to do as opposed to what the world expects me to do. At this stage it can be very difficult to reconcile both and although I'm not there yet, I know exactly what I don't want to do which I'd say is a pretty good start.

I also saw some of the darker sides of blogging, there are many people out there in the world and not all of them have your best intentions at heart, some of them may not even have bad intentions at all but their actions could still have consequences. To all my fellow bloggers out there, stay smart and cautious, never give away too much information about yourself or your whereabouts. The world is full of mad men! Anyways, this post is starting to feel a bit deep which was not really how I intended my first post back after such a lengthy hiatus to go so let's change the pace a little and turn to the brighter side of life!

Let's talk about all the reasons why September was an awesome month for me! I turned 22 which is officially ancient but I'm so grateful to be starting another year of my life, I can't wait to see what this year has in store for me.

I took my brother to York where he's starting university and my cousin, who is more like my sister, to Coventry where she's starting too! It was so weird watching them go off into first year, all fresh and excited and it filled me with so much love. I can't believe it was already 4 years ago when I was first stepping off the train into the city I now love so much.

I saw most of my maternal side family members at a family lunch we managed to put together at the very last minute and it was the most amazing afternoon, family really is the most important thing in the world to me. I'm so glad for mine, as loud and consuming as they can be!

I had the time to read two whole novels! "Pear Shaped" by Stella Newman and "The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives" by Lola Shoneyin. Granted they are both quite short but having the time to lose myself in a book again was just pure bliss! I can't wait to see what my next choice would be, I have a massive list somewhere, I just need to choose one! Okay... There's a lot of exclamation marks in this section... Perhaps I got a bit overexcited. Lol.

All in all I'm happy to be alive and happy that my blogger's block seems to have vanished, although I must say I didn't do this all on my own. Special thanks to Mo of Within My Locket, Eeda of Eeda's Atelier and my lovely boyfriend A for reminding me time and time again how much I love blogging and why I should never ever stop!

I can't wait to catch up with everybody, I have about 200 unread posts waiting for me on Bloglovin and I'd be reading them all! Haha. If you have a blog and think I don't follow you then drop me a link. I have plenty of potential free time on my hands this month!

Reni J's back! Tell a friend to tell a friend! Haha

xx