Update + Latest Youtube Video ~ Lush Christmas haul 2012

Yes I know I've been away for a SUPER long time and I do really apologise! I haven't really mentioned this a whole lot but in September I started a Access:Health course to kind of aid my journey into university to become a registered adult nurse. 

If you've never done a access:health course or you don't know what it is, basically in my college the course is divided into Biology, Sociology, Health studies and Study skills. I study from 9am-5pm Tuesday and Wednesday, while having a part-time job, doing my voluntary work, doing all my assignments, completing the 2 hours study every night to get a distinction in every topic and basically trying my hardest to have a social life.

To put it in perspective I am a very social person, I normally see my external family (e.g. the family I don't live with) every two weeks if not every week. My course is that ram-packed that last weekend was the first time I got to see my external family since AUGUST guys! I am starting to get into a firm routine of getting my school life and social life in order, so I am starting to feel less stressed which is good for me and it's good for you guys cause I can start filming and blogging again!

I will be coming up to Christmas break soon (well in two weeks) so I am going to try making a 'store' of videos and blog posts, so that if i have an insanely busy week with college I can at least get up a video and blog post every week (I've decided that's going to be my new year's resolution guys!)

So for now I'm going to post my latest video (to date) that I've posted. My LUSH christmas haul!

P.S. I am going to a special opening of Lush Liverpool's new shop so I will be blogging about and possibly even try my hand at vlogging the experience, so keep your eyes pealed!

Elle

xoxo

Going to University Series

Hi guys,

Just a quick post to let you guys know that I am going to be starting my Going To University Series again, as I am going to apply again this year. I originally had to stop the series as my grandmother got seriously ill and I had to help take care of her. I am taking this series seriously now as I have emailed UCAS to ask their permission to make sure it was okay to film parts of their website so that I can show you accurate bits of information, instead of just me infront of the camera speaking and speaking! :)

So far in the series I am planning to do~
~An introduction video (which is featured below)
~Students applying in the UK
~Non-UK students applying
~Step 1 - Choosing your courses
~Picking your uni
~Writing your personal statement
~Open days VLOG
~Deadline dates
~Step 2 - Applying on UCAS
~Student Finance (Loans, Grants etc)

Let me know if you guys would like to see anything else in this series, this is just a so far list of planned videos!

Tip Friday #3 ~ Stained Nails? Not any more!

Right I promise you that the next tip friday is not going to be a nail post, I'll be mistaken for a nail polish blog soon! This tip I don't take any credit for I learnt it when reading one of the many fashion magazines. So onto the tip!

Now I've noticed that my nails have gotten stained lately from bright or dark nail polishes and I mean stained in the manner that when I take my nail polish off, my actual nail is like an 'artifical' yellow-ey colour on the top half. You know what I mean if it's ever happened to you, if not here's a picture to show you what I mean.

The trick that I learnt to get rid of them involves lemons and baking soda. Take a bowl or a little dish (I generally use a teacup dish) and mix one teaspoon of lemon juice with one teaspoon of baking soda, once I've applied it to every nail I personally like to leave it a couple of minutes. After the couple of minutes I wash my hands with soap and warm water and I find that it's one of the easiest, quickest ways to get rid of the yellow stains that are left behind from dark nail polishes!

New filming/blog schedule on the way soon guys, it should be hopefully in full effect starting monday!

Tip Friday #2 ~ Nail Polish Mistakes

Welcome to the second Tip Friday, last week I talked about the different uses you could get out of your nail polishes. This week's tip again is going to be nail related (I'm sorry, don't shoot me yet!). Now I'm not too bad with painting my nails but I can often make mistakes, go over the line or when trying to paint with my left hand things can just go plain wrong! I've been doing this when I do my nails for months, but it's recently come out in Bella magazine so it must'nt be wrong. 


So when I'm painting my nails I always have a little cap full of nail polish remover on the table, this is for when I make the dreaded mistakes. Now I've tried taking it off with a cotton bud soaked in nail polish remover but the extra cottony bits seem to come off and stick to my nail polish, very annoying! Moving swiftly onto my point, when I was younger and first getting into make-up I was bought one of those cheap 32 piece brush sets from ebay, granted a couple of the synthetic brushes weren't half bad but I ended up with a couple of lip brushes and short little synthetic brushes, so I decided to use one to fix my nail polish mistakes!


For instance when I've made a mistake on my nails. I take one of my old nail brushes and dip it in some nail polish remover and the gently rub it over the smudged nail polish, and then I wipe the brush off onto a piece of tissue or kitchen roll. I found this has given my nail a more polished look and wiping it straight off onto the tissue prevents the brush going hard.


Note: I do use a synthetic brush for this otherwise I'd worry that the bristles of a normal make-up brush would just go hard and become useless!


Check out my last video here (link for lush favourites)

My Top 3 Skincare Favourites

I think this is the first skincare post I've done on my blog, I did do a skincare routine video on my channel but it is from ages ago and my routine has changed. Today however I'm not gonna talk about my routine, I'm going to talk about my favourites out of all the skincare products I've used. 

So it's probably should tell you about my skin now right?! My skin is overall very dry with it every-so slightly oily on my chin and around the sides of my nose. I am still a teenage so I still get the annoying spots like every teenager but I mainly get them on my chin which is pretty manageable! Now I will say some of these aren't perfect, for instance I'm still hunting for the perfect moisturiser to get right of my dry patches, but this is what works for the minute.

Now this is my favourite facial scrub that I use as kinda like a face wash and facial scrub. This is the St.Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub, this is the invigorating one but I do believe they do them in all different types of same scrub but just ones for like more sensitive skin etc. This one does actually say that it is suitable for all skin types but I will mention that it is quite harsh, so if you find you have more sensitive skin then I'd try another one. The exfoliants in this scrub aren't like the little beads they are actually mini bits of walnut shell. St.Ives actually reccomend that you use it for 3 to 4 times a week but I do use it every other day and use my LUSH fresh pharmacy on the other days. I only got this a couple of weeks ago but it's already become a staple for me as it's helping to improve my overall skin tone. These facial scrubs have been very popular and you can get them from Superdrug, Boots, Tesco, Asda, even Home & Bargains (where I got mine), basically anywhere that sells skincare products. I definitely think it's worth a try at less once in your life!

You may or may not know but I don't use make-up remover wipes to take off my make-up, mainly cause I heard it was bad for your skin to use them on a regular basis. Granted I still do use them occasionally when I'm too lazy to take of my make-up properly and I just wanna get into bed and go to sleep. But most nights when I came be bothered to do it properly I use this, Garnier Soft Essentials Complete Cleansing Milk with rose extract. This is the one for dry and sensitive skin and they have different extracts for different skin types as well. Now this is sensitive for you to use on your face and your eyes and I have even in a clutzy, half-drunk moment got this in my eye and it literally does not even sting and I am not exaggerating at all! I just put this on a face cotton pad and dot some on my cheeks, forehead and chin and then I start to rub the cotton pad over my face and the make-up just comes right off. I find these less abrasive than the facial wipes and I find it actually takes WAY less time to take it off than with facial wipes!

This one I actually don't have a 'live' picture of it as it's actually a fresh face mask and I tend to get it every other month because you only get so many weeks to use it and then expires as it's made with completely natural ingredients. It's Cupcake Fresh Facemask by LUSH, now this is the one for supposed to be for younger skin and those who are new to the lush face masks. It contains cocoa powder, spearmint oil and vanilla absolute to help with spots. When I have this face mask I tend to use it 2 or 3 times a week to kinda use it up because a little really does go a long way and for £5.75 for a face mask that expires after just under 4 weeks, it is a little expensive but I find when I use it feels really moisturising and my skin feels really soft and smooth again so I definitely love it and it is one of my staples that I regularly buy and literally can't stop reccomending it to people! Just a little note: go with what you want with the fresh face masks or ask for a sample (my sample I got enough for two uses) because the one the lovely lady in my Liverpool LUSH reccomended to me I found didn't actually do that much for my skin or my spots but she gave me a sample of this at the same time and this worked wonders compared to that one (I think it was blueberry one!).

What are you top favourites for your skincare? What do you keep repurchasing?

Spring Nail Polishes

Now I don't stick to seasonal colours for my nails. For instance if I feel like wearing a light colour in the winter I will and if I feel like wearing a darker colour I will. Working in Monsoon we have stricter rules about nail colour and wear, we are for instance not supposed to have chipped nail polishes and we have to complimentary colours on both nails and toes to match our outfit. We are allowed to wear sandals and wedges in the summer do we do have to keep on top of the nail trends, the fun of working in a fashion shop eh?!

Now in no particular order ladies and gentleman, the nail polishes!


First is this lovely mint green colour by Barry M. These only cost £2.99 in Superdrug and almost always on 3 for 2, so what more of an excuse to do you need to go and try a couple of them! I got this last spring when it came out because I loved the colour and it was one of my go-to nail polishes for spring & summer and it's still one of my favourites this year! I've just started to wear it this last week for the first time this year and I am loving it. The polish itself is a lovely cream finish and is a more on the lighter end of mint green which is greater for you lighter skin tone guys like me but I think it'd look gorgeous on dark skin tones, so it'd make a great universal shade!

Now onto lasting power with all my nail polishes I use either my OPI top coat or my Rimmel 5-in-1 top coat and base coat. Now I am very hard on my nails in the manner that I use a touch-screen till at work so my index fingers are usually the first to show signs of chip, still on the hunt for a 'perfect' top coat, seche vite's topcoat is next on my list! I do find this nail polish lasts at least three days before chipping and that is three days of being banging on a screen and ripping open boxes, packages and wrapping, so it'll last much longer if your not as harsh on your nails as me!

Next is a shade I use on my toes more than my nails but come summer and the sunshine I wear it then. The shade itself is Sugar High by China Glaze. Not this is a great bright colour not to be mistaken for neon or highlighter pink. This is not neon it's simply a bright shade of pink! This again is a cream colour, don't know what it is with me and creams! But I think if this one was a shimmer or a glitter, I don't think I'd be keen on the colour as much. Now I don't know how much these retail for as I didn't personally buy this, I got this as part of a contest prize from Karen. I think China Glaze generally retails for around £12 but you can often find them cheaper at places like 8ty8 beauty and transdesign (note: I have never ordered from any of these sites so I'm unaware of any shipping or customs charges!)



I find when I apply these to my toes they last about 5/6 days with no top coat but I have been wearing boots and trainers a lot for running/workouts/gym and for work, so the staying power might change once I start wearing sandals and wedges.

This little beauty is actually an Accessorize metalized nail polish in the colour Gem. These little bottles only cost £4 which is a lot compared to brands like Barry M who only charge £2.99 for their polishes but I will admit and I am not ashamed to admit that I buy them from work cause I get them half price with staff discount, but honestly if I didn't work there I'd still purchase their 'effects' polishes just because I think they're worth it!


Now this is marketed on the bottle as being a one coat polish and I completely agree. In this swatch picture I have only applied one coat and you get a perfect opaque colour and they dry super fast compared to other polishes, faster than some of the marketed fast drying polishes! Perfect for those of you who don't have bags of time to do your nails.


The colour in the bottle is a gorgeous shimmery mash-up of pink and purple and on the nails the colour doesn't disappoint, you get exactly what you see in the bottle! Now for being one coat this last ages! I've worn it for a whole week without a top coat and only had a slight bit of chipping at the tips and I find it lasts even longer with a top coat. This a perfect nail polish for a day-to-night look because it instantly glams up any outfit and gives it that overall polished look without having a French manicure. Why not try something a little different and do a French manicure with a nice metallic colour like this on the tip?!

Keeping with the pink theme I seem to be on is this little polish from Barry M (I'm starting to see a trend here!). This is bright pink (279) which only costs £2.99 which is great little bargain buy or even just something to spend your pocket money or that spare bit of change on! Now this is not as bright as China Glaze's ' sugar high' and is just a lovely bright pink, perfect for those of you that are of paler skin tone like me (I swear you could mistake me for a milk bottle!) I must definitely be having a creme trend for nail polishes this spring bar the Accessorize one! Now this I love wearing it on its own or with my crackle polish over the top when I'm feeling that bit more adventurous. The colour itself is a blue toned pink which applies opaque in two coats and dries fairly fast compared to other polishes. Now this lasts me 4-5 days with slight chippage and that's 4 days of it being banged against the tills in work, being under water in the shower or when I wash my face morning and night and also from being in the swimming pool almost daily. So it staying power is quite impressive!

Next is this beautiful coral colour again by Barry M which is simply just called coral. Now I will say its a bit more red-orangey in person but it for some reason photographed differently! I blame it on the lack of flash on my iPod :) This like the other Barry M nail polishes lasts around 4-5 days. I will say thought that I haven't used this one a whole lot mainly because I've forgotten about it! But now the sun's coming out more I'm definitely starting to reach for it, to me it's just the perfect coral colour with it having needing only two thin coats to reach the opaqueness in the picture and it lasts for days.

Next I've been loving this concrete grey colour by collection 2000 called wham (number 27) and it is just a mid toned grey creme polish, these hot look nail polishes have probably been out roughly a year and I love them. I have a couple of colours from the line and you only need two coats to get the opaqueness in the picture! Price wise I don't actually think they cost a whole lot, roughly £1.99 or £2.99. I find its a great unique colour for spring if you want something a little different, I often add glitter or effects on top to change it up. The staying of these little bad boys is around 4-5 days depending on how heavy handed you are. Definitely worth a shot though!

Next is my perfect everyday no fuss colour, this by the brand 17 (you can buy it in boots) in the shade Forever. I think these little pots retail for around £1.99/£2.99 and it only takes two coats to get the desired look in the picture. This is a lovely pinky nude colour, perfect flesh tone colour! This'll be great for a range of people cause this doesn't actually wash me out, which is great. I often use this as an underneath colour for a French manicure and it worked out perfectly (I did a blog post on it). This polish is one of those shades that I'll always have in my collection as the colour doesn't clash with anything so I don't have to worry about repainting my nails!


Now with two coats and a topcoat, I found that it lasted at least a week before I started to get some chips, at that point I got bored and wanted to change my nail colour so it could of lasted longer because it was only slight wear and tear at the tips! Would definitely recommend for you all to have a nail polish this colour in you collection at all times and for pennies, this is probably one of the cheapest of the best!

This is probably one of the cheapest of the whole bunch, this is just a kind of all year favourite but I wanted to include it in this. This is by E.L.F and it's one of they're glitter polishes with the clear base whereas they have some that have actual colour nail polish bases. You can get these at E.L.F for £1.50 and that's ANY of their nail polishes for £1.50.


I use this one as a little added effect on my nails, I'll either put it on my ring finger of both hands or put it on the tips or just all over the nail (I've actually got an idea for an effect with this nail polish if it works!). I've actually found that the nails that I put it on they are often the last fingers to chip and they generally last about 5-7 days depending on what your like with your nails, I generally get 6 days out of it! For £1.50 it's always worth a try and if you don't like you haven't wasted a whole lot of money because some of the glitter polishes can be quite expensive (you could even possibly make your own! Possible future blog post there!)


So there's my favourite nail polishes this spring, I would love to get a nice yellow colour and a lilac and pastel pink (probably don't need that many pinks tho!)


What are your spring favourites?

Tip Friday #1 Different ways to use nail polish

Today is going to be the start of a new series on my blog. I may possibly take them onto my youtube depending on how it goes. So every friday I will be posting a blog post with a tip in; it may be beauty, hair, skincare, health, fitness, fashion or home decor related! As you can probably grasp these are only gonna be short and sweet blog posts, so let's get on to the first Tip Friday!


Now if your like me and try and get more for your money from the products you'll find this post interesting as it includes all the different ways you can use nail polish besides painting your nails!


One of my favourites ways to use it unconventionally is to change up your shoes. Your probably thinking what?! But if your like me and lust after Christian Louboutin's but can't afford to part with that much cash for them, buy a opaque creme red nail polish and use that. For this you will need masking tape and put it around where the sole meets the shoe (to prevent any shakey hand mistakes). Paint one cost and let it dry then paint a second for a more opaque finish and the best part is because it's nail varnish and not paint you can take it off with nail varnish remover! Note: This works best if you don't paint the bit you walk on, then it's less likely to chip!


This next option I use quite regularly when I wear my little ballet flats. Now I can often scruff the toe section of my shoes, so what I've started doing is having a colour of polish the same shade as my shoes so that I can just paint over the scuffs, this is especially useful when they are brightly coloured as you often don't get bright shoe polishes. Plus it's probably cheaper!


Now if you buy fashion jewellery, basically anything that is like a painted metal, you'll notice after a few wears the colour'll start to change because the metal is oxidising with the air so to prevent this you can take any topcoat (I just picked up a really cheap one that I use especially for this) and before you start wearing it, paint metal bit and the clear top coat will lock out the air. This will keep it looking like you've just bought it and not had it for donkeys years! This works especially well on large fashion rings and it's what all the girls in my work do when they buy their rings.


Another use for a clear top coat was something my grandmother always told me. It was to ALWAYS keep a bottle of clear top coat in your purse, just because you can use it for so many things. One of the reasons I personally like is using it if you've got a ladder in your tights, granted this won't work if the ladder is the size of your blackberry (the phone not the fruit) but if you've just got a little pull, put a little bit of the clear topcoat over the pull and around the outside edges especially and the edges will harden and prevent the pull getting bigger!


Hope you like the first edition of Tip Friday, I apologize for the latest I will more than likely be posting very late thursday evenings verging on friday mornings, so it's here for you guys to read!

Organize It! How I organize my jewellery

You may not know that I am a bit of an OCD freak, in the fact that I have to have everything organized and in its place and I HATE when my jewellery gets lost or I go to put on a pair of earrings to find I've lost them weeks earlier! It frustrates me being disorganized which I know isn't a bad thing sometimes, but it means I end up staying up till 1/2am doing things like ironing, laundry, tidying, organizing and cleaning!


I have been searching for must be months for a way to organise my jewellery. I've been looking for something that would keep it all nice and organised while keeping dust free and easy for me to view and pick jewellery out without having to take everything out and move things around. For this I use two different things.

The first is this which is a tackle box/organizer which I actually use to organize all of my earrings! I got this little box from home bargains ( it's a store in the UK which sells things at a discounted price, for those who don't know) I believe it only cost either £1.99 or £2.99. The make of the box is Stanley, the general/marketed uses for this was shown as like a drawer organizer for all your little bits and bobs. The box has moveable dividers in it if you wanted to hold other items in it or put bigger items in it, at most it has 32 sections in it. The top of the organizer also have strong clips that hold the lid on so if for instance you dropped it like I tend to do or accidentally knock it off wherever your storing it's not going to fall and earrings end up everywhere!

As you can see I don't really have any majorly big or dangly earrings which makes this perfect storage for me. I split my earrings up in this storage, for instance I keep all my pearl earrings together, I keep all my work earrings together, I keep small dangly earrings together, pink tones stud earrings are kept together etc. I find this the perfect storage for cheap and because it's flat you can store things on top of it or store it on top of things while keeping your earrings safe and dust-free and your less likely to loose one out of the pair!

Now this is where I store everything else. This little beauty only costs £3! Yes you read that correctly! I got this from Primark when I'd popped in there one day with my mother, I totally didn't expect to see this there in the home section. I know some primark's put it with the jewellery and some with the home, you just need to have a little hunt for it! Now these come with 16 small pockets on the top of both sides and then 8 bigger sections on the bottom of each section. Each of the pockets are wipe-clean plastic so you can also use this to put your jewellery in when travelling and just roll it up. This also comes with a hook like on hangers so you can hang it on the back of the door or hang it in your wardrobe (which I do). This is great if you don't have a whole lot of room for storage! I believe it also comes in several different colours.


Now I have been searching for one of these organisers for literally months but every one I found was priced in excess of £20 at least whereas £3 is much more cost effective and if your not that keen you haven't wasted whole lot of money. Now I will double things up like bangles or little bracelets or little necklaces (don't worry they don't get tangled!) so that I use the space more wisely. I do find if you use this kind of method or something similar you can store loads you could even use it for earrings if you want cause I know the long feather earrings fit in there and the feathers don't get smushed! (Little tip if you want to store large feather earrings put the little bit you put in your ear in first. Kind of like a weight, get it?) I personally love these types of organizers as I don't want to spend ages shifting through my jewellery and picking things up and having to untangle something for it to be tangled the next morning and having to do that EVERY morning! I'm definitely going back to get two more. One for all my work jewellery cause I'm mounting up quite a bit an one for when I'm travelling.


Now I have noticed Primark have started doing a whole lot of organizing bits for home and yourself, so I definitely be checking them out and reporting them back to you guys! Last time I had a quick look when I popped in there, they had what looked like a scarf organizer, so come pay day I will be checking that out! 


How do you guys store your jewellery? Have you thought of a new way to using something differently to the manufactures 'advertised' use?

Fitness Update #1

So a few weeks ago I wrote a post about fitness, healthy eating and training to run a 10k. So now I'm gonna write my first update, at first I was gonna do weekly updates but it takes a few weeks for my body to get used to a certain type of exercise well the more physical side of exercise cause I mainly am and always have been a dancer therefore I am rubbish at running (good for someone running a 10k in like a month and a half!)


So far I've been running mostly every other evening, I say mostly cause I personally prefer to run at about 5pm and as I sometimes work evenings this makes it harder but I still to make sure I run even if I don't feel like it. I still do bits of exercise on my 'off days' but not as often as I would like but starting Monday I will be strictly enforcing this!

I used to be a big soda drinker, diet coke was my weakness, partly because in my old job we sold it and also I was paid in cash and got tips so I was left with loads of change which didn't help but now I work in Liverpool I found myself drinking less. I drink probably average it to be 1 can every 2 weeks if that but the only soda I'll drink is 7up free which is a little bit better cause it doesn't have preservatives and things in it. I have found myself not craving crisps and chocolate but actually starting to crave fruit and salads, which is brand new to me cause I used to be more of a fruit person than a veg person. If I do feel like something salty I will eat a handful of sea salted pretzels which I can eat the same as a bag of crisps for like half the calories etc and I generally only eat maybe half a portion because I find them very filling.


I did start this at 65kg and currently weight 60kg so I have lost some lbs so I'm going to start focusing on toning now from monday so that I can start to see a change in inches cause they always say measure by inches not lbs cause muscle weights more than fat. I have had to get my body used to eating regular meals as I didn't use to I used to eat maybe 2 meals a day cause of scheduling so I'm making that one of my proirties with the toning.


I will not be posting before pictures just yet cause I'm really not comfortable with them myself! So been patience when I'm a bit more happy with my body I might do it for you guys.


My running training is getting there but I've had to sit it out this week because I had a muscular complaint with my Achilles heel first then I started to get pain in my left calf and couldn't walk up stairs without it hurting, the pain has since disappeared so from Sunday I will be starting up my running. I'm not sure if the problems in the bottom of my leg were just a fluke accident or to do with my knee condition but don't worry I run with my knees properly strapped up as to not risk anything! I am though going to up my training and start running everyday as much as I can. I am also going to be starting a gym I'm just looking at prices etc atm. I'm kind of swaying towards total fitness atm, partly cause my mum gets a discount but I might check out the gym I get discount on with work cause I get perks like with my job I also get BUPA discount if I wanted to join them. I found out the other day my 10k race will be timed with a chip in the back of my race number, so I might just post my finished race time, it might be a very embarrassing but oh well! :)


What's your usual workout at the gym? Have you ever tried total fitness?

25 Questions Tag!

So I was getting bored the other day and decided that I was gonna film a tag video instead of tidying my room, naughty I know! But my room is clean....now :) All I ended up doing for this was just basically putting 'tag' into the youtube search bar and picked the first one that took my fancy. The first one that came up for me that I watched was by Blair 'Juicystar07' but it seems like a very popular tag on youtube anyway with hundreds of people doing it, and its a great way for you guys to get to know a bit more about me! So here we are~

And here are the questions for all you lovely guys and gals:

1-Do you have any pets?

2-Name 3 things that are physically close to you.

3-What's the weather like right now?

4-Do you drive? If so have you crashed?

5-What time did you wake up this morning?

6-When was the last time you showered?

7-What was the last movie you saw?

8-What does your last text message say?

9-What's your ringtone?

10-Have you ever been to a different country?

11-Do you like sushi?

12-Where do you buy your groceries?

13-Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster?

14-How many siblings do you have?

15-Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop?

16-How old will you be turning on your next birthday?

17-Do you wear contacts or glasses?

18-Do you colour your hair?

19-Tell me something you are planning to do today?

20-When was the last time you cried?

21-What is your perfect pizza topping?

22-Which do you prefer hamburgers or cheeseburgers?

23-Have you ever had an all-nighter?

24-What is your eye colour?

25-Can you taste the difference between pepsi and coke?

Feel free to film your own version and either leave it on here or video response me on my actual video for me to see.

Stay beautiful guys!

Primark Pastel Blazer

I know this has done its rounds on the blogosphere and possibly on youtube as well, but I can't not tell you guys about this great blazer!


I love using light, thin blazers as cover-ups or take the chill off come spring/summer but they're also great fashion pieces. The blazer in question is the fabulous milky pink blazer from primark which only cost £15. Come spring I love these ice cream shades and when payday finally rolls around I might end up going back for the mint green colour! Apart from those two shades they also do it in patterns, I've seen it in black with an elephant pattern on it, I've also seen it in a white colour which I won't be buying because I always seem to spill something on myself when I wear white! :(

Now I only bought this blazer on friday and I am in love with it already! I am size 12 with an hourglass figure, I was also fortunately...well unfortunately granted big boobs thanks to god and genetics and I love that this doesn't button up as it's more flattering on my figure. It's a lovely waterfall front with white inside so if you wanted to roll up the sleeves you have the white of the interior and then you see the pink colour through it. 


I wore this for mother's day which if you live in the UK was time for sunglasses and I stayed lovely and cool! I'm going to do a seperate post styling this blazer, I might do some more spring/summer styling posts/videos.

This is definitely going to be one of my spring/summer favourites cause it's such a light silky material which means you means you can fashionable while staying cool. I know Primark have been increasing their prices but I feel that the quality of the fabric and materials are getting better so I don't mind paying the extra! 


What are your key spring items?

Collective Haul~Lush, Primark and Accessorize

Here's my latest video guys. Yes it's only a collective haul from Primark, Lush, Whsmiths and Accessorize, but I thought I'd start posting my latest uploads on here as well so you've all got more to read well see.

This was filmed a couple of weeks ago, yes I know it's getting a little bit old now! Although I will be filming a new video tomorrow which I will be writing a blog post about tomorrow for those of you that prefer to read blogs rather than watch videos :) 


Your all fabulous!

Fitness and Healthy Eating Routine

I'm doing a bit of a different post today. You guys probably won't know but in May I am actually running a 10K race in support of a charity, the charity I'm running for is The Olivia Rae Foundation. This charity is really close to my heart as it's was founded after the unfortunate passing of my best friend Olivia, her parents set up this charity as Livvy was really involved in the arts and this foundation supports projects in the arts in the local community. I will be doing another more in depth post about the charity later because it really is amazing!

So today I'm going to do a bit more of a fitness post, as attempting to run a 10k for someone who doesn't normally run will be a bit of a challenge but it'll give me something to look towards and hopefully it'll start me on the track to running more often because I've started to realise that I actually really like it.


I'll start of with the fitness side of it, I've started running in preparation for the 10K. I started on a Monday and run every other day, on the 'rest days' I still try to do some form of exercise. On the days where I run, I run for roughly 45-60 minutes as I am lucky to live 5-10 walk from the beach. I briskly walk down to the beach and the stretch once I reach it, I then run for 2-3 minutes and briskly walk for 1. I find this effective for me personally it also helps because I am new to running. I rarely go running without my ipod as I find I push myself further when I'm listening to music as I don't get as bored doing it. I try as run till I start to get tired or it starts to get too dark or my dog starts to get tired. I also walk my dog once a day for about 20-25 minutes (don't worry he gets more than one walk, we take it in turns).


On my 'rest days' I do activities like walking my dog, I do this once a day for 20-25 minutes. I also do my Pump It Up DVD, I try to do the warm-up and cool down as well as 3 out of the 5 workout sections. I also like to do a lot of household chores, your probably thinking what? You do household chores to burn calories! You can actually burn calories doing housework. For instance I'll try and hoover the whole house in one go, with having a dog and cat that is quite a task, stripping and making all the beds. Little things like that where I'm still burning calories but also being productive as well.


Now for the 'diet' side, I don't specifically diet or follow any diet. My 'diet' isn't a diet it's a change of lifestyle, a change of what I ate. This is what works for me and my body and my condition. Yes I have an invisible condition, to do with my blood. I am actually B12 deficient, now there are different types you can be and I will do a bigger post on my 'condition' later but for this post all your need to know is that my body doesn't carry B12 in my blood and doesn't absorb it from my food, therefore I have to have injections for it and to make sure I try and eat food that contains B12 in them.


On a usual day I try to follow this basic plan. I try to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with two snacks, one between breakfast and lunch and the other between lunch and dinner. For my snacks I try to stick to snacks that are 200 calories or under, for the rest of my meals I try to stick to healthy options. For instance if I crave pizza I will make my own (so I can control exactly what is in it) but I will pair it with a salad. I love using Sweet Chilli sauce as a dressing and topping to give it that extra flavour and the one that I bought from tesco's is only 56 calories for 2 tablespoons and i generally use less than that! I am also a HUGE chicken person, I don't often eat a lot of red meats, only occasionally when I have spaghetti bolognese. I eat chicken after I been running especially for the protein. I also eat a lot of fruit and have recently got into eating salads as well. I try and stick to having some protein, carbs, veg and dairy at meals but more so with my evening meals.


With the snacks I did a lot of research as to different snacks that are 200 calories or under and healthier. I'll list a few that I like:

• Apple slices with peanut butter and banana slices with peanut butter.
• If I'm craving something salty e.g. crisps I'll have a handful of salted pretzels or a small bowl of salted popcorn.
• If I fancy something sweet I'll have half a tube of smarties or 1-2 squares of dark chocolate.
• I buy frozen fruit as well as fruit for use in smoothies or for desserts/breakfast as I find they last way longer, therefore there's no sudden rush to eat them.
• I eat granola with yoghurt as a snack as well as for breakfast, I just half the portions.
• I love picking up fresh fruit when I'm out rather than buying a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps or some pop.

These are some of the things that work best for me and my body in particular. I am in no way a dietitian or nutritionist, I am just saying what personally works for my body and my lifestyle, before you undergo anything like this it's best to sit down, think about it and plan it out. You need to think 'Can I commit to having 3 set meals a day or will my job get in the way?!' 'Can I commit myself to running 3/4 days a week and still doing exercises on my rest days?' If your saying no to questions like these, you need to sit there and do research, try different things out till you can figure out which questions you can actually say yes to!


I will be doing more fitness posts and more posts about my 10K journey I might even film some vlogs along the way when I'm running (well when I stop for a break!) but I just thought I'd put it in here for a break from all the beauty stuff all the time! I will be spreading these posts out, possibly one every two weeks as it's only 3 months till the actual race! Nerves!!!!


What do you guys do to stay fit? Don't forget your fabulous no matter what you look like!

Nail Of The Day- French Manicure

So I though I'd take a crack at doing my own French manicure instead of spending money on getting acrylics or gels done. If Karen is reading this she might be slightly proud of this as we had a conversation about this! :)


This is what they look like, I used my OPI start to finish base and top coat then for the nude/ natural colour I use my 17 nail polish in forever. I've used this on its own a couple of times and I've found you have to use about 3 coats to get opaque and you can still see little bits of the tips underneath! For the white tip I used a polish I actually got in a prize from Karen, it's the Rimmel nail tip whitener with minerals. This polish has a slanted brush which I found made it easier to use and easier to get into the very corners on my tips.

Now I am not the best person in the world when it comes to painting my right hand, hence why I never try any nail designs. I will say bough that it took several goes at my right hand before I was left with something I'd be happy with for my first shot. It did take me close to an hour to complete this as my right hand was a big annoyance, but I'm going to keep practicing an hopefully get better! I do want to try doing different coloured French manicures.


What are you great tips for doing French tips when you do your nails?

E.L.F Haul

So I got this elf order when they were having their sale after Christmas (I know it's really REALLY late), but it some how ended up with school textbooks on the top and was left un-remembered (poor little elf haul) till now! Before we start a little warning this may be text and picture heavy!


I know your all waiting to see what I got instead of me rambling on! I'll post some pictures, swatches and first impressions of everything possible! The main reason I ordered was because they had some of their studio products on sale, luckily they were some of the ones I really wanted to try!

First off I got the studio matte lip colour in Tea Rose which I am in love with, normally I'll leave everything in the box/bag till I've hauled it but as soon as I got this it was straight into use. I find it the perfect pink for me, when swatched it's a lovely mauvey pink. I usually wear it with either my Rose Co Sweet Vanilla lip savle or my Rimmel Vinyl lip gloss in Take A Secret. I've also found a great colour combination with it which I shall do a seperate post on! I tend to wear this for work and it lasts me an 8 hour shift and by the end it has faded out really nicely. I paid £2.45 for this but it originally costs £3.50. I love the idea on the lip colour pens, as they are thicker than a lip liner pencil but thinner than a lipstick which I find easier and quicker!

I only bought one other lip colour, the Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink. This is one of those twist up type of lip gloss. Although this has a thicker consistency making it more like a lipstick albeit a really glossy lipstick but it still has that really nice different almost unique consistency. It's a lovely mid toned pink, perfect for the summer. Let's take a minute to discuss the packaging shall we?! It comes in a plastic applicator with the twist up function at the bottom and a soft doe foot applicator at the top, this lip gloss is also super light meaning you can throw it in your bag, beach bag or even clutch and barely feel it there! The applicator also makes it a must have for the summer with it being easy to apply without the need for a mirror! I do tend to wear this one solely on its own as to me this is literally a 'perfect pink' without the need for another shade of lipstick or lip gloss. The only problem I found was that I had to twist the tube a fair few times before I started to see any product come through the applicator, not uncommon with these type of applicators. These babies retail for £1.50 so you can get a selection of different shades without breaking the bank or your budget!

These are the two studio cream eyeliners I got. I decided to pick up the plum purple and the gunmetal colour. One of the main reasons I picked up the gunmetal was because I loved he colour but I thought I could always use them both as bases as well as eyeshadows! Unfortunately when I received my gunmetal one it had came away from the packaging but I've heard if you heat it slightly with a hairdryer then it's all good again. I really am starting to go for cream eyeliners more than pencil or liquid, because I find I can get more use out of them plus I find it strangely easier! The gunmetal shade is a typical gunmetal silver, although this is the only gunmetal eyeliner I seem to be pulled to! I really can't wait to try his with my naked palette. The plum purple shade is a stunning purple with understated gold shimmer running through it, which I feel will make it perfect for a base or even in the summer on the lower lash line with a neutral eye. The eyeliners come in a square pot roughly the side of a 50p, with a black plastic screw off lid and a clear see through bottom. They also put the sticker with the shade on on the side of the packaging rather than the bottom which I love because then you can see the product without the need to open it or memorise it. In each pot you get 4.7g or 0.17oz depending on how you look at it, you also get a little mini eyeliner brush with it. I find them useful if I'm washing my eyeliner brush I can use this instead and they're also perfect for beginners! Both of these were in the sale which was a bonus and they were £2.45 each, although they originally cost £3.50 can anyone say bargain?!

Next is one of the new additions to their eyelid primers on their basics range. I have yet to try this one besides a swatch on the back of my hand, so all I can fairly give it is a first impression although I will do a review on it if you guys so wish! These retail on the site for £1.50, which I believe is extremely cheap compared to say urban decay or too faced shadow insurance so if it turns out to be a good product I might try the other shades. I got it in the shade Champagne, hoping it could be a cheaper alternative to my MAC Paint Pot in  The only downside is that the product is a lot pinkier than the tube suggests, from the tube you get the impression that its more of taupey pink/brown. The applicator is similar to that of the UDPP's, with it having a soft doe foot applicator. When swatched this shade is very glittery with a subtle wash of colour. I hope this will be a great cheap alternative to my MAC paint pots and my UDPP.

This product I love, it's my favourite highlighter which I actually use every time I apply my make-up. E.L.F sells these for £1.50 which is really cheap yet really great quality. It's a pale, champagne colour with more goldish tones in it. I find that this actually makes it perfect for everyone and for £1.50 it's hardly gonna break your budget or your bank to try it out! This is one of the few products that I have repurchased but I also love using this as a eyeshadow in the inner corner or for a sweep across my lid, I also use it as a highlighter under my eyebrow when I'm travelling or when I'm just being lazy with my make-up. I'm not gonna say too much about it as I might be doing a full review on it!


Thanks to Karen I've really started getting into my nails, painting them and actually taking care of them! Not quite skilled enough to do the designs but still. I bought a number of different nail products and polishes.

The first polish I got was Smokey Brown, which I actually ended up receiving two of which doesn't bother at all because then I have a 'back-up', 'second one', 'spare'. This polish only cost me £1.00 in the sale, and for being good quality I don't think I could find another polish of the same quality for the same price! The colour is pretty true to the name. It's a lovely smokey brown polish with a cream finish, I seem to find myself drawn to the these colours as I just find I can wear them with anything especially for work. With these polishes only being £1.50 you can try out loads of different colours, with a decent top coat I find these last pretty good considering I have to tap on a touch screen at work. I might try some of the brighter shades for summer. Apologies for the pictures of the nail products as I don't have any swatches, I will be buying some nail round things to paint swatches on!

The next polish I got is Red Velvet, this again I got while I was in the sale for £1.00 but these normally only cost £1.50 so not that big a bank breaker! It's a lovely mid toned red with shimmer, I love how in the sun or when being photographed the shimmer really comes out. I'm starting to get into more of the brighter colours and not just neutrals and just looking at this colour in the bottle makes me happy! I've only really swatched this polish so I can't really give a full opinion, but I will do a post on my E.L.F nail polishes at a later date!

This is the shade out of the two red colours that I've been wearing the most! It's a lovely cranberry colour with a subtle shimmer running through it. I always think of it as a very grown up colour when I wear it, although I still love it all the same. I've been wearing it with the E.L.F nail polish in Twinkle over the top. I paid £1.00 again but these retail for £1.50, gotta look out for the sales guys! 

This is the lovely polish in Twinkle. I'm not gonna lie the name was half the reason I got it cause it was such a cute name for a nail polish! This is basically a clear polish with iridescent glitter in it. I generally apply 2 coats of this polish when I use it. I got this because I wanted to try the glitter polishes and not be worried if me and it didn't get along as it's only £1.50. E.L.F do these glitter polishes in several shades, they have Golden Goddess and Glitter Glam which are gold and silver versions of this polish.

I bought this to throw in my purse in replace of LUSH's lemony flutter cuticle butter. This only costs £1.50 like most of E.L.F products. It's also unscented meaning I don't get the strange looks on the train when I pull it out, well I might get a few but not as many as rubbing a bright yellow cream on my fingers. The actual product contains vitamins A, C, E and pro-vitamin B5 as well as aloe. I'm really bad and neglect them so I'm going to try and get into taking care of them especially with summer coming up thick and fast!

I mainly got this for the 3 other sides. It has a filing side, a side that removes ridges, another side that buffs the nails and another side that polishes the nail. I got this because before I got into my nails all I would basically do is cut them with nail clippers and paint them. Please don't kill me Karen! So I am determined to take care of them and give them time to breathe and be taken care of. This only cost me £1.50, I love getting nails bits from E.L.F cause they do them really cheap for really good quality products.

I originally ordered the smudge brush (with bristles not a sponge) but I received this eye crease brush, it's not that big a deal I'll still use it and just re-order the smudge brush at a later date. These are from the basics range that cost £1.50, they come with the pearlescent white handle and the silver farrel. From the e.l.f brushes I've had, there hasn't been any tops coming loose or glue not sticking properly and I actually really like these brushes as you can't get another brand of brush for £1.50 with such great quality.This brush just has short bristles, perfect for applying colour right into the crease and creating the outer V.

I got this to try as my first on the spot brush cleaner, yes I've never used one I generally just deep clean my brushes. I thought I'd try this before delving into different types or I might just stick with this one if I really like it. It comes in a black plastic bottle that you can actually see through with just a spray pump dispenser. I paid £2.45 but it retails on the website for £3.50 which is a great price compared to places like MAC. I haven't used this yet but I will either leave an add in note or will do an actual review on it, so stay tuned for that.

I bought this to try as a possible substitute for my MAC Fix+ with it being only £3.50 compared to MAC's £12.50 for the large bottle and £7.00 for a small bottle. I've heard different ways that people apply this, after their primer before their foundation or once all the make-up is applied. E.L.F themselves say you can use it to set your make-up or the refresh your make-up throughout the day. This actual contains aloe, green tea, cucumber and vitamins A, C & E which will be good for the skin. It comes in a small black plastic spray bottle similar to that of the brush cleaner. You receive 60ml of product for the price.

See you next time