I'm Back, Baby!

So, apparently its been well over four months since I last blogged. I must be the worst blogger ever. To be honest, so much has happened over the last few months that I really haven't had time. For one I've gone from a part time Sales Assistant to a full time Ladieswear Assistant, which means that a lot of my time is filled. I've also been up to a lot of fun things, and I've also bought quite a lot recently, so I definitely have a lot to share.

So this is a big hello from me, and more of a reminder that I'm still there... and therefore will be paying a lot more attention to this space. Stay tuned!

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Instagram Update

Cold mornings / Cute summer dresses / Matalan shoes / Got my nails did / Love this

quote / Selfless selfie / Glow in the dark bowling / New Years Eve / New boots. 

 

I'm well aware that I've been away for a very long time, due to certain issues, but I'm back and have lots to share with you all! Hope your Christmas and New Year was lovely! I'm still getting back into the swing of blogging but I have lots of exiting things lined up, and I can't wait to get started!



Instagram Update

Kisses / Besties night out / Combo dinner with the cousin / Mojito night / Champagne cheers / 

Night out / Hello Leeds! / Leeds view / Kids in Glass Houses / Vintage teacup /

 Ed's Diner - Best burger! / Abacus lunch

As you can see, this Instagram Update features a lot of food and drink related pictures, which says a lot about my life for the past month or two. I have recently found my love for burgers that aren't McDonalds - Ed's Diner burgers are to thank for this! I took a weekend trip to Leeds to celebrate my best friend's 23rd birthday & it was such a lovely weekend, Leeds is a beautiful city too. 

Time seems to be flying by at the minute, but I can't wait to see what the next few months have to offer.

Orly Gel FX Manicure

I've always been someone whose loved painting their nails, but I can honestly say I'd never ever thought about NOT doing them myself. I've been a huge nail biter since I was young and was frankly too embarrassed to let anyone look at my nails, yet alone paint them. After years of really hard work (it was super hard!) I stopped and got my nails into a good enough condition that I felt comfortable letting someone loose on them. I read a lot about Shellac and was totally set on the idea, so I rung up my local salon to enquire and they turned me onto Orly Gel FX. They gave me a bit of information about it and I booked myself in straight away, but also went home and did a little research too.

Orly say that Gel FX is no ordinary manicure, and that 'Antioxidant vitamins A and E help to promote healthy nails, while pro-vitamin B5 protects the structure of the natural nail.' Orly have also taken over 60 of their best-selling colours into the Gel FX range, so there's definitely enough choice! I was told that depending on your nails and what you do, the colour can last between two to four weeks, although some clients keep theirs for up to six weeks. I pay £20 for my manicure, but keep in mind that you do have to have the gel soaked off before they can be repainted.

This is the third time I've had my nails done with Gel FX and I can honestly say it is absolutely amazing! I've noticed that different colours last better on my nails, and the best yet has been four weeks with a colour called 'Terracotta.' I've noticed that my nails have become so much stronger while having this polish on, and amazingly the growth of them is unreal. They've literally never ever been this long, but obviously when I have my manicure I do have then filed down.

I'm going to do a little week by week post to show you all what the manicure looks like and how it keeps. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone and I've got nothing but good words to preach about this!

Instagram Update

New nails / Sunny Bakewell / Baseball love / Mulberry / Moet kinda night / New bedding /
Holiday blues / Birthday girl kisses / An old favourite.

A Few Holiday Outfits

1. Vest - H&M / Shorts - Primark

2. Vest - Topshop / Shorts - Miss Selfridge (Christmas sale) / Sandals - Primark

3. Playsuit - H&M (Last summer) / Sandals - Primark

These are just a few of my night time outfits I wore while I was away on holiday. I went to Magaluf a few weeks ago now on a girly holiday. The weather was gorgeous and hot, but it did get quite chilly and windy at night. I didn't take anything too over the top and basically just lived in shorts and vests/crop tops at night, with the occasional dress or playsuit. I didn't buy anything too expensive as I knew it was more than likely going to get ruined from the crazy drinking nights out... kinda! Doing this post is giving me major holiday blues, good job I have another in the pipe line! Yay!

What are your favourite outfits to wear when you're on holiday?

My 22nd Birthday, better late than never!

Dress - Miss Selfridge

So my 22nd birthday was literally three weeks ago, and since I've dropped off the blogging network it seems like I have a lot to blog about. This is just a little post to mainly show what I wore out for my birthday and a few of the best snaps from the night. The day before my best friend surprised me with an amazing Spa morning at the Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest. I'd never been before and it was so amazing to literally relax in steam rooms, outdoor pools and jacuzzi's all morning before having a big night out.

I was feeling majorly old from turning 22 but you can always count on friends to cheer you up. The song '22' by Taylor Swift was a very fitting theme tune for that night, which the girls persisted to request in EVERY single place we went. Somehow, I felt less old dancing around to Taylor Swift...

Long Time No See..

Hey bloggers,

I literally haven't blogged in over a month, so please forgive me. The past month or two has been literally a crazy roller-coaster of ups and downs, but I'm back smiling and ready to get back on with my blogging. I have so much to catch up on and so much to tell you guys about, so keep your eyes pealed in the next week or two. There will be lots and lots of postings coming your way about the last month, as I've literally done so much.

It was my 22nd birthday on Friday, so I have lots to blog about surrounding that. I've also returned with a clear head and I can't wait to get back into writing posts again. Its so weird how much you miss doing something.

So yeah, I'm back and rearing to go :) Let me know if there's anything you would like to see on here in the next few weeks.

My Day To Day Face

I thought I'd show you all my day to day face and make-up, as to be honest I don't tend to wear loads. I work extremely early mornings and at half past six I don't really have the mental capacity to put on a lot of make-up. In these cases I just put on a bit of foundation and concealer, then dust over with my powder and spritz my face with my setting spray. When I'm going out somewhere I fill in my brows and add a bit of mascara, but for work I find that there isn't much point when I work mornings. When I have a little more time I guess I do spend a lot more of my make-up, but to be honest I don't think I wear that much at all. I should probably do a 'going out' or 'night time' make-up post to follow this, just to show the difference between my routines.

I tend to go for quite a natural look with just a really well done base and a dust of blush or bronzer - I'm slightly steering towards bronzer a lot of the time at the moment. Sometimes I'll do a little day time eye, but a lot of the time I find that I literally forget or don't have time.

So my day to day face - As you all know I massively struggle when looking for a foundation that I absolutely love, but at the minute Bourjois Healthy Mix is my saviour! I absolutely love it at the minute and I find that its the perfect coverage for me at the minute. I have it in Shade 51 which I think might be the lightest shade, but I'm really going to stick to using this because I love it. Its nothing new that I use Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, like every other blogger, and I just love the coverage it gives. Perfect for my dark circles in a morning. Sometimes when those bags just won't cover I bring out my YSL Touche Éclat  but I try not to use this as much because I don't want it to run out.

Something I've just started using again is the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. I used to use it years ago but for some reason it dropped from my make-up routine, and I've literally just this minute discovered it again after watching one of Tanya Burr's tutorials. I don't know why I haven't had a powder in my routine for so long, but I can really tell the difference now I've started using one again. This powder seems really good at setting my make-up and just evening everything out, which I definitely needed.

I tend to use Benefits BADgal Lash mascara  because it lengthens my lashes just enough for a nice day time look. I fill my brows in using the HD Brows Palette in 'Foxy', using the bottom right brown as I find it suits my brows really well. After that I spritz my skin with MUA's Pro-Base Fixing Mist which I bought a few weeks ago. In all honesty I don't really know if this is working for me or not, I just can't tell, but I thought I may as well continue using it anyway - I'm going to a review of it soon.

So there we go - my super simple day to day routine. I'm finding that as I read more into make-up, I'm finding out what really works for me. As well as this, I'm picking up some really good techniques and tips.

OOTD - Stripy Shirt & Jeans

Shirt - H&M

Jeans - Zara

Watch - Armani 

I decided to do another little outfit post, as I'm trying to get into doing this more but I'm just not very good at it. As I've said before I never think people will be interested in what I wear, as to be honest I don't think I dress all that amazingly half the time. I vowed to do more posts like this as a kind of New Year's Resolution so I'm trying to keep to it.

This is probably one of my favourite outfits to wear in the day, just because it is so comfy! These Zara jeans are my absolute favourite thing EVER, I wear them so much. Zara is the only shop where I can get jeans that with me perfectly everywhere, but unfortunately I can never find this style anymore. I love the colour of them and I find that they literally go with anything, which is a major plus as I practically live in jeans. The shirt is from H&M a couple of years ago and I absolutely love it, its definitely my go-to comfy shirt. The only problem is that its super long so I have to tuck it into everything I wear, but I just love it.

I got my watch last Christmas and I wear it every single day. I was originally going to get a Michael Kors watch like every single other person in the word, but I spotted this one in Beaverbrooks last year and fell in love. Its Armani and to be honest is the same kind of style as a Michael Kors - I just mainly wanted to be a little different. It was around the same price as an MK one too, so really it seemed the better thing to do in the hope that not many people would have it. I wear it to work, to go out with, even when I'm just around the house... its got to the point now where I feel bare without it.

Instagram/Update

Snowy branches / Healthy breakfast / Tequila with the girls / Snowy garden / Healthy eating and exercise / Trying out samples / Alfie and Pluto / Me and my cousin / Mulberry

Just another little update guys as I haven't actually got a lot to tell you about at the minute. The snow has finally gone, thank god! I hate the cold and its been awful trying to get around in my little car in the snow, I'm glad its finally on its way out. Me and the girls have finally booked our summer holiday to Magaluf and I'm super excited! I need some sun and a tan in my life. I've been working like a mad woman so the only thing I've really done if have a night out for the last three Saturdays with the girls... I don't know what's wrong with me going out all the time. Its mega spending time from now as I have a lot to pay for, but there's so much I want. I have a huge list of new make up I want to try, its going to be so hard to budget.

Instagram/Update

Snowy garden/ Nights with my bestest/ Pluto / Healthy eating kick/ Power cut/Gorgeous journal/ Reading material/ Mickey Mouse Pjs/ Down time

I haven't done an Instagram update in a while, I've decided to make it a regular thing. I know its only Tuesday but I thought I'd show you all a bit of my life from the past two or three weeks. I've been working loads since Christmas and I'm only just starting to have time to myself. As you can see, where I live has been hit by the snow! I hate it for driving and just the cold in general, but I have to admit its so pretty. I've got so many exciting things to plan too, which I've finally started thinking about. I'm going to make sure this year is the best!

What have you been up to this week? Anything exciting?

Christmas Beauty Presents

I know I've done a little Christmas post already showing a few of my presents, but I decided to show some of the beauty presents I received. Christmas is always the perfect time to add a few essentials to your list and get stocked up, so that's exactly what I decided to do. My family know I'm a lover of anything beauty/make-up/skin care related so I guess I'm pretty easy to buy for. I love getting sets because I'm absolutely stocked up on shower gels and bath things for literally months. My favourite is the Soap and Glory set that my best friend bought me, Soap and Glory is always a winner with me. I also love anything Nivea, so obviously I got two sets filled with moisturisers and lip balms. I guess I'm a bit of a lip balm hoarder, I think I have enough now for one in every single bag as well as my coats and car.

Another winner with me is nail polishes and really anything to do with my nails. I'm a tad obsessed with doing them too so I think I've been stocked up for life. My all time favourite is Models Own. My mum tried to get me the Winter Wonderland collection but it was sold out everywhere, so she was super cute and bought me a few of the individual polishes from the set. I've only tried Southern Lights yet, but its absolutely gorgeous.

My boyfriend bought me the Ted Baker wash bag and I was so surprised when I opened it. I absolutely love  dogs and having this little cute French Bulldog on it was the best! At least I think it is one, that's what I've been calling it... but anyway they're my favourite! I don't really tend to have a wash bag as such for my toiletries and things, so this will definitely be handy when I go away.

Anyway I'm starting to ramble a tad now, but these are a few of the beauty presents I received. No doubt there's things I've missed off but I'll probably be doing reviews soon so it'll give me chance to see if I've missed anything.

What was your favourite beauty present?

My Winter Coat

Primark Coat - £20.00 (WAS £35.00)

I thought I'd give all you bloggers a little insight into this years Winter wardrobe, as I don't often do many fashion-based posts. I've seen this done on a few blogs that I've been reading recently, so I decided to follow the trend. Anyone who knows me will know that I absolutely love coats/jackets/blazers and I've actually started to build up a little collection. It really is as bad as me having three of the same style quilted jacket... but in different colours, but a girl can never have too many coats right?

I don't usually have a standard 'winter coat', as I usually just wear a jacket or blazer with things layered underneath. I saw this absolute beaut in Primark a few weeks ago on a little trip round Lincoln with my cousin and I instantly fell in love. I'd seen a slightly similar one in Topshop, but it was more of an oversized boyfriend blazer and had a lot more fur around the collar. As well as that the price was considerably more expensive and with it being Christmas, I just couldn't budget to spend that much on myself. Anyway, I found this little beauty and instantly had to have it. I did try and talk myself out of it (honestly) so I'm going to blame my cousin for making me buy it! It was also marked down at £20.00 from about £35.00 I think, or it may have been £40.00... anyway I definitely wouldn't have paid the normal price for it so I guess I got myself a bit of a bargain. 

The coat itself is quite thick and even though it doesn't look it, it's actually super warm and cosy. The fur on the collar can be removed really easily with a few buttons, which to be honest I thought would have been off straight away. I've come round a lot to fur (faux obviously) and I've been longing for a fur scarf for agers now. The coat is zip-fastening too which I thought was very different, but actually I don't think I've even zipped it up yet and I've worn it nearly every day. I absolutely love the pattern too and I've found that I can wear it with just about anything, its a really versatile coat. 

What do you think of my winter coat? What's your favourite style?

The Christmas Tag

1. What is your favourite thing about christmas ?

I think my most favourite thing about Christmas and the whole period in general is getting to see all my family loads, and them actually all being together. 

2. What is your favourite make up look for festive the season?

 I don't really have a favourite I guess. I love big black lashes and maybe a red/plum coloured lipstick for a party look? I'm definitely determined to have a smoky eye at least once!

3. Real tree or fake tree?

I absolutely love real trees so much! They look absolutely gorgeous and there's nothing better than the smell of a real Christmas tree. At home we do have a fake one, just because of the space mainly, but I know my Mum would love to have a real one.

4. Giving presents or receiving presents?

I love the whole shopping for presents process, and the wrapping, and the giving... I just love everything about it :)) But then again I do love getting presents too, like everyone, so both?

5. Do you open presents christmas morning or eve / evening

Always open presents on Christmas morning. We go to my Nan's for dinner so on the way we always call at my other relatives and open our presents there too. When I was younger I used to open my presents from my great Nan and her family on christmas eve when I went to visit, but seeing as I usually end up working I don't get the time to anymore :(

6. Handmade christmas cards or bought?

I love handmade cards but unfortunately I'm not really the most crafty person around, so I usually just end up  buying nice cards. Saying that I only buy them for my close family though, I don't tend to send a lot now.

7. What is your favourite christmas film?

I know it'll probably be the same as everyone else's, but I absolutely love Elf. It makes me so happy every time I watch it and its one of those films I could watch over and over again. I've actually just bought it on DVD too, so that'll definitely be happening in the run up to Christmas.

8. What's your favourite christmas food?

I've never ever been a massive fan of the whole roast dinner thing, but Christmas is the only time I actually look forward to it. For some reason cheese and crackers always reminds me of Christmas time, so I tend to stuff my face with those for days around this time.

9. What's your favourite christmas song?

I don't really have a favourite, but I do really love WHAM's Last Christmas. Working at Matalan you kind of get sick of listening to Christmas songs as they play them constantly from about November-January.

10. What's your favourite christmas memory?

Again I don't really have a favourite memory as such, I guess its more of a favourite tradition that used to happen. On Christmas morning we could always drag our huge Santa sacks into my Mum and Dad's bedroom, then sit on the bed and open them all. They'de be sat in bed with a cup of coffee, while me and my brother would cover the whole bed in wrapping paper. Then we'de take all our presents downstairs and lay them out in the dining room and they wouldn't move for days. 


I'd love to read your Christmas Tags, so feel free to leave your links below. 

The Best Bargain Slippers

Primark Slippers - £3.00

This might seem like a bit of a lame and pointless post, but recently I've seen a few blogs doing a kind of 'favourite buy of the week' so I decided to join in. I never ever wear slippers and hate having anything on my feet, but I think I've got such bad circulation because my feet are ALWAYS cold. I decided that it was about time I grew up and actually bought some slippers, so made it a little mission. I saw these exact slippers on llymlrs and instantly fell in love! They're so Christmasy and cute, so I went straight to Primark and invested. They're super comfy and are all fleecy inside, so my feet are nice and toasty all the time! The huge pom-pom on the front is totally ridiculous but that's why I love them! Primark have some amazingly cute slippers at the minute too... maybe they'll end up being my new favourite thing!

What I Wore - 27/10

Beth - Black Dress - Primark
Me - Peplum Dress - Primark

I think this may be the first ever What I Wore post that I've done, or one of very few anyway. I never really have the courage to show off my outfits, but I decided that since myself and Beth made such an effort I may as well. Beth is my cousin and we do so much together, so it came around that it was time for our monthly night out. We don't usually tackle Saturday nights, mainly for the prices, but decided to give it a go. Recently I've really got into wearing dresses and I seem to have accumulated quite a few over the past few months. As readers know, I used to hate the Peplum style but after buying and over wearing a jersey Topshop vest, they are now one of my big loves!

This Peplum dress was from Primark of all places, and cost me a whole £16! How good is that? It is a really long, classic style and cut but I decided to shorten it a little and just put a little tuck in each side. I ended up wearing it long later on in the night anyway, just because I was sick of having to keep straightening the hem out. I teamed it with some open-toe New Look black wedges, which I absolutely love! I can only walk in a wedge and I've found New Look do amazing styles... not to mention the price is amazing and they are so comfy. Beth's dress was also from Primark and funnily enough her wedges were from New Look too, I kind of talked her round to buying some. I really want the dress Beth has too. just because it is so classic and I think you could genuinely wear it in a number of different outfits. Anything black is always good in my books, as long as you style it properly and use the right accessories.

What do you think of our outfits?

My Christmas Daily Want #2

Real Techniques Core Collection and Stippling Brushes

I know that all Real Techniques brushes are kind of famous in the blogging world, as I don't think there's a day goes by where I don't see them mentioned in a post. I have to say I've never really been interested in make-up brushes.. I just used to use any old brush to apply my foundation and other make-up. Since I've been blogging my eyes have almost been opened to how important your brushes are to your make-up routine, so I decided to try out the EcoTools brushes. Now I do love them and everything, but I cannot help but really want these Real Technique brushes to try.

I've done my bit of research and I think these five brushes would be there best for me, not to mention the brushes I'd probably use the most. Another thing to add to my Christmas list of three items up to yet... I need to get a move on!

My Pandora Love

As I've been thinking of how to start this post, I've been looking at my Pandora bracelet on my wrist and remembering how many memories it brings up. My boyfriend, Frazer, is a typical boy in saying that "they're only pieces of silver" but I guess to me each little piece of silver tells a story or makes me remember something. Two years ago I'd been the one who was like I need a Pandora bracelet, but now its sort of turned into something really nice for me. I don't really see them as something someone can buy me for Christmas or my birthday, I see them as something that's quite memorable.

I now have three bracelets, about 20 charms and two rings. I think its safe to say this little one-time thing has become quite the collection for me. I just love how I can look at a charm and think "so and so bought me this" or "I got that on this day" etc etc. I like anything that can bring up nice memories. I know this is quite the random post but I really love anything personal at the minute, and I know a lot of people will be able to relate to this.

Are you a Pandora fan?