Beauty | Topshop Lipsticks

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to try these.

Life | Things I've been loving recently

Life | Looking After Yourself

Don't be swayed by the title- I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, that's your business, but I am going to take a wee bit of your time to emphasise how important it is to look after yourself with a bit of 'me time'. I'm a huge pioneer of this on my days off or on a boring Saturday night in. If you find yourself with a rare whole day to yourself, like I did last week, here's a few things you could do!

Beauty | Back to Where it all Started...

Wow... so it's been a while, I've neglected my blog for a bit too long....

"Happy Hair Days"- Review

I've been a dedicated user of Aussie hair products since I was about 16 and have never really strayed from their "Miracle Moist" or "Frizz Miracle" ranges. I know. Call myself a beauty blogger and I don't even change up my shampoo and conditioner every now and then. Well, no more.

I was perusing the shelves like I do most weekends, but with Aussie not on offer and my last few student loan pennies in my pocket, I had this sudden urge for a change. So I had a look elsewhere. I was instantly grabbed by Happy Hair Days and they were on offer. What's a girl to do?

So, after much deliberation and picking up and putting down various bottles, I went for their Argan Oil Intense Repair shampoo and conditioner. I have been tempted by Happy Hair Days before, purely because of the professional and expensive-looking packaging, but had always stuck with trusty old Aussie. But, with my new found spontaneity, into my basket they went.

Back to Basics- Skincare

Recently my skin has been feeling really dull and just generally icky, so I thought it was time to start making a habit of carrying out a full and thorough skincare regime every morning and evening. To do this, I had to go out and buy a few little additions- in other words, the time has come when a face wipe and a quick smear of moisturiser just isn't enough anymore!

My eyes in particular have been pretty needy recently because I suffer from hay fever and my eyes bear the brunt of my allergic reaction. I end up rubbing them until they are so sore, puffy, red and dry that I actively contemplate plunging my entire head into a bowl full of ice cold water to soothe the pain! With this firmly in mind, I knew I needed a couple of products to try and combat this problem (as well as making sure I took my hay fever tablets!). Because my eyes are now pretty sensitive, I did go back to basics and purchase some Simple products. I've used at least one product by them in my skincare routine since I was about 13, be it face wipes, moisturiser, skin clearing products and so on, so they are a brand I do trust, but also a brand I do forget about from time to time.

So these were the three products I picked up:

Beauty Redsicoveries

One of the beautiful things about living at uni but still coming home for the holidays is the amount of rediscoveries of products during those holidays. I'm heading into my last week of the Easter break before returning to university until the summer. I was rummaging through various make up bags and boxes of beauty products that had been forgotten about and found so many little gems! Make up, skincare and hair products were all amongst these rediscoveries and I've chosen my favourites to share with you!

Spring Make-Up Treats!

With the turn of the season comes the inevitable strain on the bank balance as the shelves of every Superdrug, Boots and all the rest of it become laden with a sea of pastel colours, welcoming the transition from winter to spring.

Seeing as it's a little too chilly to be parading around bare legged (although I am guilty of doing that as soon as the sky turns from grey to blue, regardless of the temperature), a wardrobe revamp is still on hold, but the make up revamp is well and truly in full swing.

I had a mini beauty binge this week starting with a discounted beauty store near me which sells NYX, Essie, Revlon, Butter, Tigi and a hell of a lot of perfume for a fraction of the RRP (past seasons, limited edition stuff, that kinda thing) and ending up in Superdrug, frantically tracking down Tanya Burr's new range of nail polish and lipgloss.

Here are the little treats I got myself!

Popping my Essie Cherry

Good morning my lovelies!

Okay. I admit it. I have only just, after almost a year of blogging and a life long love of nail varnish, purchased my first Essie Nail Laquer.

It's taken me so long for a number of reasons. But predominantly, I am a cheap skate. I don't like spending more than about £4 on a nail varnish because I have so many and Essie's are £7.99. But the other day I just fancied a change and the Essie counter was calling out to me and I was feeling very reckless and spontaneous and thought it was high time I owned one. Afterall, it seems one cannot call oneself a beauty blogger without an Essie lurking in their collection.

Dupe Alert!

Hello there my beauties,

Yes, I know. I am rubbish. Again. I have been suffering with a major case of writers block recently, so felt a break was needed!

Now, I'm sure many of you are aware that one of Benefit's best selling products in the Porefessional. Nope, I'm afraid this is not one of many recent reviews on the new Porefessional powder, instead I am sharing a magic dupe that I found for a fraction of the price. I know there aren't many of us out there who can afford the luxurious products all the time, so this might make your bank account breathe a sigh of relief...

2013 was defo the year of Baby Lips. Maybelline released the lipbalms here in the UK after huge success across the pond in the US. Much to every blogger and their cats delight, I might add (myself included. I have too many...).

At the beginning of January, I was perusing the shelves of Superdrug, as I do far too often, and I found a new product in the range. "Baby Skin" is a pore erasing primer. (Do you see where I am going with this?) As I read the packaging I realised this product was claiming to do essentially the same job as the Porefessional. I looked at the price tag and within seconds I had swiped the last one and legged it up the the checkout. It was £7.99, a complete bargain when the Porefessional retails for a (rather extravagant for what it is) painful £24.50 for the exact same amount of product.

Camera didn't fancy focusing today...

The New Love of my Life!

So I think I must be one of the only girls in this country who has never owned their own pair of hair straighteners. For years and years I have begged, borrowed and stolen from anyone who would let me. Thankfully, I'm not one to straighten my hair often because it is naturally curly and I'm lazy so I do tend to just leave it, however recently I discovered a magic way to make my hair a bit curly and completely frizz free, but alas it required a sacred pair of straighteners.

My Mum clearly read my mind and treated me to these little beauties for Christmas.

Top 5- Boots Beauty Advent Calendar

So last Christmas (God it feels weird saying that!) I thought it was high time I invested in a beauty advent calendar. About 5 years later than everyone else I know, but I got there in the end! I went for the Boots one (simply because it was the cheapest) and was actually pretty happy with all the products I got.

But it would be tedious of me to blog about each individual product, so I've just selected a top 5 for you guys to ponder.

Free Fashion Magazine!

Hi everyone!

Very brief post today. I got an email the other day about a new fashion magazine called Clique.

I was so excited when I read this! The idea is to create a free print magazine which is delivered to your door every month. The magazine works hand in hand with an app to make it the worlds first shoppable magazine. I don't know about you but I love having the actual physical magazine to flick through, but the use of the app is great and works well with the magazine, not against it. And did I mention it's free?



Sign up here!

Loving.... L'oréal Skincare

Hello my pretties, sorry for my lack of posting recently, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook then you might know everything has been a little crazy recently and all my uni work has suddenly come at once and I'm getting ready to start a new job as well soon, so many apologies for forgetting about my blog for a couple of weeks!

Anyway, so today I am writing a little review on L'oréal (again, I know, they're just great at the moment!), but this time I'm going to review a few of my favourite skincare products.

First up is the 'Skin Perfection Purifying Cleansing Wipes'. To my knowledge, there are a couple of different types, but as you can see these are the 'Refresh and Rebalance' ones.

L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil- Review!

I've never really been one for hair oil. I didn't really understand why you would put oil in your hair- surely that would make your hair greasy? But, after the surprise summer we had (I know, seems like a distant memory now!) my hair became much drier than usual. I have naturally very curly hair, so my hair is often dry and with the addition of the sun, I think it's safe to say my hair was as silky and nourished as straw.

I searched on many a beauty blog for some advice and it seemed the most common response was to get myself a hair oil, and so I finally began my quest to find the perfect one. I tried a couple out, but, after seeing it on offer in Superdrug, I picked up the L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil.

Autumn and Winter Lip Favourites!

Now Summer has well and truly left us, it might be time to invest in some more seasonal lip colours! I'm talking reds, purples and the occasional neutral, to liven up a more autumnal wardrobe. I always get really excited when buying new lipsticks, especially when they are in a completely different shade to what I have been used to. With it being Summer, I have been wearing lots of bright and pale pinks but now it's time for a change!

Before I get into my favourite colour choices, it becomes even more imperative this time of year to ensure your lips are well mousturised before you apply your lipstick. To do that well, you need a good lip balm. I'm fairly sure most of you can guess which products I am going to suggest now. Yes, Maybeline Baby Lips. I'm not even sure why I love them so much, but I do and so does every other beauty blooger out there- they're really cheap too! But, if you do fancy a change, I also really love the MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint and Balms- they mousturise just as well but give you a flash of colour for the same price as a Baby Lips balm.

Benefit Binge!

Last week, I was invited for a Benefit make over and pamper evening with 30% off all products and a cheeky glass of champagne! As you can imagine, a few accidents happened as a result! Thankfully, these very naughty splurges were evened out by the arrival of my student loan this week.

So, I've been using these products for a few days now and thought it was time to let you all know what my must haves are at the moment!

 

the POREfessional- £24.50

Taming Frizz

Hi everyone!

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been buying a few too many beauty products lately. My hair is SO frizzy as it is naturally very curly, which means it gets dry and looks a bit like Mia Thermopolis pre- princess make over.

but worse.

Breaking Out!

A brief beauty review for you all today!

So I've been suffering from a bit of a break out recently, which is fortunately a rarity for me. I've been using the Superdrug sachet masks for ages, but I wasn't really using the full sachet so was getting a lot of waste, so I went hunting for a tube version. I found a little selection in Superdrug- they were all on offer and weren't massive tubes so if I didn't like it, there wasn't too much financial or physical waste.

Aztec Nails

Hello my lovlies! It's been a little while since I've posted anything about nails, so here is a cheeky little how to for you to feast your eyes over.

Aztec is arguably one of the key trends for summer every year, so why not channel it through nail art?

I had a little time the other day and thought I would try out my brand new Barry M Nail Art Pen.

Black Nail Art Pen, £4.99, Barry M

It took a little while to actually get any polish out of it, had to pump it a good few times on a tissue before it worked properly, which was quite annoying but in the end I got it working. It is worth knowing that, at the minute, this pen also comes in white and pink.

Anyway...

First of all, after my base coat, I painted my nails with Barry M's Ridley Road Textures Nail Paint, (the review can be found here). 

Once I let that dry, I experimented with painting aztec patterns on my nails and, after many variations, I came up with a pattern that was easy enough to do and looked quite nice, and here is the finished result!

Paint a quick top coat over the top to seal it and you're good to go! I will say, usung the pen over textured polish was harder than using it over normal nail paint, but I really like the colour! The pen was quite difficult to use, but that might be down to the textured polish. I will try it on normal polish and let you know!


What do you think? What patterns do you like to paint on your nails?

Just a cheeky little reminder- my blog now has it's own Facebook page- fancy! So click here to give it a like!

Also, I'm starting to get a little bit of bloggers block and don't wanna keep churning out the same content, so if there is anything you want me to blog about then please let me know!

Hope you're all okay!