A Little Catch Up!

Hello, lovelies!

I hope that you’re all well! I can’t believe that we’re almost half way through October already, where has this year gone?! Anyway, I know that I’ve been super absent on the blogging front lately, so I thought that I’d do a little post for you guys and let you know what I’ve been up to!

So, to begin with, I started back at uni a few weeks ago – I still can’t believe how quickly my summer holiday flew by, I feel like I was only off for a few weeks, not for four months! Despite only having been back for a couple of weeks, I already have a tonne of coursework to get through. I’m in my third year of uni now, and I already feel that it’s a huge step up from second year. I have more days off this year than I had last year, but I still don’t get very much ‘me’ time on those well-earned days off! As well as having a dissertation to write, I have essays, presentations and exams to prepare for – all before Christmas. Stress! I feel like I have very little time to squeeze in blogging nowadays; when I’m not at uni, I’m at home doing my coursework or I’m visiting my boyfriend (he lives away to go to uni). I’ve tried scheduling my posts in advance, but not having the time to publish them isn’t really my problem – I just can’t seem to find the time to sit down and write up new posts! By the time that I get home from uni and get everything else out of the way, I’m usually too tired to even think about writing a new post – I feel like I would just be posting for the sake of it, and not because I actually have something that I want to share with you guys! So, for the next little while (until I get my hectic schedule sorted out!) I’ll be trying to get at least one post up each week for you guys. I’d just like to say a huge thanks to all of my beautiful followers and readers for not getting bored of me and unfollowing my blog while I’ve been gone – you’re all amazing! 

(Sorry about the rubbish phone camera quality!)

My boyfriend and I also celebrated our three year anniversary last week! As I mentioned before, Calum lives away from home to go to uni, so I actually travelled to Aberdeen so that we could spend our anniversary together. We couldn’t celebrate together last year because neither of us could get the time off, so we had an amazing day together this year – I got some lovely gifts (how cute is this little koala necklace?!) and we went out for dinner at night. Calum surprised me by taking me to Prezzo – I’ve never been there before, but they served lovely Italian food which was right up my street!

So, that’s about it for now, guys! I don’t have anything super exciting planned for the next few weeks – I’m heading back to Aberdeen next week, though, so that’s something to look forward to! (The only part that I hate is having to get the train, it’s so boring! What do you guys do to pass the time on long train journeys?)

Thanks so much for reading, I’ll see you all next time! Oh, and if you guys have any tips on how to juggle blogging with uni, be sure to let me know! I’d really appreciate it!

Much love,

        

Review | Kate Moss 'Lasting Finish' lipsticks.

Hello, lovelies!

I hope that you’re all well! I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting very much over the past few weeks – between uni and a few other things, I just haven’t really had the time to sit down and come up with new post ideas! How do you guys juggle having a job and going to college or uni with your blogs? I love to hear your advice!

So, today I’m going to be doing a review of the Kate Moss ‘Lasting Finish’ lipsticks from Rimmel! I currently own two of the lipsticks, one of which has turned out to be my perfect A/W shade, so I just had to share it with you guys!

The first shade that I purchased was the shade 01 – I bought this well over a year ago now and it’s still the best red lipstick that I own! 01 is a dark, almost vampy red, which is perfect for both elegant daytime looks and more dramatic evening looks. The blue undertones of the lipstick make it a flattering shade for both warm and cool skin tones – I’ve found that a lot of other red lipsticks that I’ve tried have more orange-y undertones which don’t suit my super pale skin! Despite having a matte finish, the lipstick is actually really hydrating which is great news if you suffer from dry lips like me! With a lot of other bright lipsticks, especially reds, I find that I have to keep reapplying them every so often as they tend to wear off pretty quickly, but I was really surprised by the staying power of this lipstick – I’ve only ever had to reapply it after eating! And, as if all of that wasn’t enough, even the lipstick itself looks and smells fab! The packaging is sleek and pretty, and instead of smelling like the typical, waxy lipstick, it has a lovely, sweet vanilla smell! What more could you ask for! (In the swatch picture below, 01 looks a really orange, almost coral colour – I think it was because I took the picture in really bright lighting! I promise that it comes out the same dark red on your lips as is it in the second picture!)

01 - left, 107 - right.

So, last but certainly not least, I have the lipstick in the shade 107. I purchased this a few weeks ago after it was recommended to me by a few lovely ladies on twitter and I’ve fallen in love with it! I’d been on the hunt for a berry coloured lipstick for A/W, but I couldn’t seem to find the perfect shade. After this shade was recommended to me by so many people, I just had to check it out. I was a little sceptical when I first saw it as it looks like a dark red/purple in the packing, so I was super excited when I swatched it and realised that it was exactly what I had been looking for! Shade 107 is a gorgeous, dark berry colour, perfect for this time of year. Like shade 01, it also has a matte finish which is definitely my favourite lipstick finish! It’s super pigmented, so it only takes one or two coats to achieve that lovely, rich colour! Shade 107 is a little more drying than shade 01, but I just apply a little lipbalm under the lipstick which seems to do the trick! The staying power of this shade is also brilliant – I apply it in the morning and after a full day of uni, it’s still going strong! Oh, and like shade 01, it also has the lovely vanilla smell – another bonus!

So, there you have it! I’d definitely recommend the Kate Moss lipsticks to anyone who’s looking for a pigmented, long-lasting lip colour. I’ve only tried these two shades so far, but they have a whole range of gorgeous colours – I’m dying to try out some of the pink shades! You can purchase these lipsticks at most drugstores, and at just £5.49, they’re a bargain!

What shades would you guys recommend I try next?

See you all next time!

Much love, 

     

Quick Guide To: Surviving Uni!

Hello, lovelies!

I hope that you’re all well! So, it’s that time of year again where a lot of us have to (unwillingly!) wave goodbye to summer and either start back in our next year at uni, or start uni all together! I know that going to your first day of uni can be an intimidating and nerve-racking experience, so myself and the lovely Katie from Katie's World of Beauty have decided to put a little two-part guide together to give you guys some tips on how to survive those first few weeks of uni!

In this post, I’m going to be sharing my tips on how to stay organised and keep on top of course work, as well as how to cope with living away from home! In Katie’s post, she’ll be helping you guys out with some tips on how to meet people, make new friends and get involved in new social groups! Be sure to check out her post here!

So first things first – stay organised! Before you even get to your first day of uni, it’s a great idea to find yourself a good diary or planner and write down your timetable (if you have it! If not, you can just jot it down once you get it), any important events or meetings that you have and, last but not least, any Fresher’s events that you want to go to! That way, once you get to uni, you’ll know exactly where you need to be and what you need to do – simple! As well as keeping your timetable written down in your diary, make sure that you record any other important dates in there too, such as coursework deadlines or exam dates – can’t forget about those!

As well as your diary, what else should you take along to your first days of uni? Make sure that you pack your bag with any other essentials that you might need, such as any important paperwork that you might need for your registration/induction days – remember to keep them somewhere safe, such as in a plastic folder! It’s also a good idea to make sure that you take along any materials that you might need for your lectures, such as pens, notepads and any textbooks that you might have been asked to bring. Some people also like to take their laptop or iPad to uni as it makes it easier to take notes quickly!

Next up: Plan, plan, plan! Planning is key to avoiding unnecessary stress in your first weeks of uni. In your first few weeks, a lot of new information, dates and deadlines can be thrown at you, so, to avoid any last-minute coursework stresses, be sure to plan out your workload well in advance! Don’t leave studying and coursework until the last minute – once you’ve been given your exam dates and coursework deadlines, work out how long you have until they’re due and plan how you want to space out your workload. Of course you don’t have to spend hours every single night working on your coursework, but doing it little and often means that you won’t end up getting stressed out and trying to finish it at the last minute! As well as planning in advance, make sure to borrow any library books that you might need for your coursework nice and early – leave it too late and all of the good ones will be gone! As well as using books for my coursework, I also found it useful to voice record my lectures – most of the time, your lecturers will describe a given topic in a whole lot more detail than the PowerPoint/presentation from the lecture will, giving you a lot of extra, useful facts!

So, what if you’re staying away from home? A lot of people worry about moving away from home to stay at uni, not just because it’s their first time staying away from home and living with, well, strangers, but they also worry about how to balance their new-found social life with their coursework. First things first – one of the easiest ways to feel more comfortable and at home in your new room is to get settled in and add all of your own personal touches. Add some pretty bed sheets and blankets, or maybe fill your shelves with your favourite photos or with some of the décor from your bedroom at home. Secondly, make sure to spend a lot of time socialising with your new flat mates in those first few weeks. Getting to know the people that you’re living with and becoming friends with them is a great way to settle in to your new surroundings!

So how can you balance nights out with your new friends with keeping up with your uni work? Well, for starters, don’t become nocturnal! And by that I mean try not to stay out until six in the morning and sleep in until four in the afternoon – by the time that you get up, you’ll have wasted half of your day and you’ll be far too tired to get any work done! Of course it’s a great idea to go on nights out and meet new people, but just make sure that you’re doing it in moderation –if you have a deadline at ten the next morning, it’s probably not a good idea to spend the night partying!

So, last but not least. Those who have lived in halls will know that it can sometimes be a fairly noisy environment – especially in the first few months! With your new found freedom comes the ability to invite lots of people over and throw parties whenever you want to, which is a great and fun way to meet new people in your first few weeks at uni, but it can become a bit of a nightmare when the flat upstairs is blaring out music while you try to write an essay! Not to worry – if trying to get coursework done whilst you’re staying in halls ever becomes too difficult or stressful, just head to the library! The library is a great place to get some peace and quiet to study or get some work done, and, just to sweeten the deal, most university libraries (in the U.K at least) are open 24 hours a day, so you can head over there any time that you like! 

There you have it, guys! I really hope that this post has been helpful to some of you. I know from my own experience that starting uni can be an exciting and scary time, so I thought that a nice little guide like this might give some of you guys a few helpful tips and might help to put your minds at rest! If you have any more questions or need any more advice on anything mentioned here, don’t hesitate to ask! I’m more than happy to answer your questions and share my experiences.

See you all next time!

Much love,

        

September Wishlist!

Hello, gorgeous girls!

I hope that you’re all having a fab week so far! So, I recently realised that I’ve never done a wishlist post before, so today I thought that I’d jump on the band-wagon and share my September Wishlist with you guys! Let’s get started!

1. So, the first thing on my wishlist is the super cute purse! I’ve needed a new purse for a while and the monochrome design on this purse really caught my eye. You can get this purse from ASOS for £15! 

2. . I’m ashamed to say that I don’t already own the next item on my wishlist – the Rimmel Apocalips in Apocaliptic (I know, I’m terrible!). I’ve been meaning to pick up some shades of the Apocalips since the came out, but it’s just one of those things that I’ve never gotten around to doing! I love how bold a pink ‘Apocaliptic’ is – you guys know that I’m a sucker for a bright lip colour! You can get the Apocalips at most drug stores for around £6.50.

3. The third item on my wishlist is the gorgeous ‘Citybag with Zips’ from Zara! I’ve had my eye on this bag for so long – not only do I love the exterior design of the bag, but the inside is also filled with loads of handy compartments to store your stuff in so that it’s not all bashing around and getting broken inside your bag! The Citybag is a little on the pricy side at £59.99, but the quality and design make it well worth the price.

4. The next item on the list is this super cute little bracelet from Urban Outiftters! I was having a little snoop through their jewellery section when I came across this gold turtle bracelet! I just thought that it was super simple and pretty and it could be worn with pretty much any outfit! It’s only £8, too, which is a great price!

5. The fifth item on the list is another item that almost every beauty blogger owns…except me! I’ve wanted to try Bioderma for the longest time, but it’s one of those things that I just keep forgetting to order! The bottle on my list is the smaller 250ml bottle (I’d rather try the smaller bottle first to see if I like it!) and it’s only £7.45 from eBay!

6. Next up is just a simple pair of Converse. I absolutely love Converse, I’m always lusting after a new pair! Not only do I love the maroon colour of this pair, but I think that they’d be super simple to pair with a lot of different outfits! You can pick these up at Office for £45!

7. So, last but not least is the gorgeous Dandelion blusher from Benefit! I’ve had my eye on this particular blusher for so long, but I just haven’t been able to justify £23.50 for the tiny box! The blusher is a super pretty ballerina pink, which would look great with my everyday make-up look and would really help to brighten up my complexion!

So, there you have it guys! I hope that you guys enjoyed seeing what’s currently on my wishlist! If any of you guys have done wishlist posts, be sure to link me to them – I love seeing what other people have their eye on, it’s such a great way to discover new products!

See you all next time!

Much love,

         

Review | St. Ives Apricot Scrub!

                                       

                                       

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you’re all well! I can’t believe that it’s Sunday already, where has this week gone?! So, today I’m going to be doing a little review of my latest favourite skin care product for you all!

As some of you guys will know, I was recently away on holiday. I always find packing an absolute nightmare, especially when it comes to toiletries! I can never decide on which products I absolutely need to take, and which can be left at home, so I always end up taking a lot of products that I don’t really need and end up not using – which means that not everything fits in my wash bag! So, this year I decided to buy quite a few mini products so that I could take everything that I wanted away with me – why didn’t I think of doing that years ago?! – and this little beauty happened to be one of my favourites!  

St. Ives is a brand that I’ve heard a lot about, but I’d never actually tried out any of their products, so when I saw this cute little tube, I just had to pick it up! The ‘Fresh Skin Invigorating Apricot Scrub’ (quite a title!) gently exfoliates away any dry surface skin cells, leaving your skin looking healthy and radiant – as well as super smooth! The scrub is suitable for all skin types and it’s oil free, which is great news if you already have slightly oilier skin!

I’ve no idea why it’s taken me so long to try out the St. Ives products – I’ve only been using this scrub for around three weeks now and I’m already in love! As someone who has fairly sensitive skin, I often find it difficult to find a good deep cleanser that isn’t too harsh on my skin. For the past few months I’ve been using the Clearasil ‘Vitamins and Minerals Scrub’, which leaves my skin looking super radiant and smooth, but it was just far too big to take on holiday! The Clearasil scrub has lots of tiny ‘beads’ in its formula to help with exfoliation, whereas the St. Ives scrub has an almost ‘gritty’ consistency – I was worried that this might be too harsh for my skin, so I was pleasantly surprised by how gentle it felt when I massaged it into my face!

The main reason that I had been using the Clearasil scrub was that it claimed to unblock and reduce the size of pores. I have fairly large pores around my nose and chin which I feel pretty self-conscious about, especially when I’m not wearing make-up, so I really wanted a product that would shrink them, or at least make them less visible. The St. Ives scrub doesn’t have any mention of pore unblocking on the packaging, but after using the scrub for about a week, I was surprised to find that it had actually made a really noticeable difference to the size of the pores on my nose and chin. They definitely look smaller and much less visible, which I’m super happy about! Oh, and not only has the scrub made a big difference to my skin, but it also smells amazing too – what more could you ask for?!

So, there you have it! I’m really excited to try out more of the St. Ives products, seeing as I’ve been so impressed with this scrub! In case you guys were wondering, I picked up the St. Ives scrub at Asda for around £1.50! What products would you guys recommend?

See you all next time!

Much love,

 

'Be Happy' Post Series | Be Yourself!

Hello, lovely ladies!

Hope you’re all well! I feel like I haven’t had a ‘proper’ post up in absolutely ages! As you guys know, I got back from my holiday last Thursday, so between catching up with things and going to work, I just haven’t had the time to write lots of new posts! Boo!

Anyway, today I’m going to be sharing my second post of my ‘Be Happy’ post series! In case any of you guys missed my first post in the series, ‘Confidence is Key’, you can check it out  here! This week’s post is all about being yourself!

‘Be yourself’ is a phrase that we hear being thrown around all the time. Whether we’re going for a job interview or to our first day of school, one of the most common pieces of advice that we’re given is to always be ourselves. But what does ‘be yourself’ really mean? And why does it have such a big part to play in our happiness?

Admit it – at some point in our lives, we’ve all pretended to be someone that we’re not. I certainly used to do this a lot, particularly during my early teenage years. The majority of us will have gone through the stage of trying to ‘fit in’ at some point in our lives. In high school, a lot of us want nothing more than to fit in with the ‘popular’ crowd of people – I know that I did. I’d always get super nervous when it came to meeting new people or making new friends because I was so worried that people wouldn’t like me or accept me for who I really was. As a result, I’d act like a completely different person, just to get these ‘popular’ people to like me, or think that I was ‘one of them’.

It took me a good few years, but I eventually realised that being ‘popular’ didn’t make these people any happier. I had tried so hard to change who I was just to fit in with these people, and for what? It certainly hadn’t made me any happier – trust me, keeping up the constant façade of being someone else made me nothing but miserable, and, more importantly, it hadn’t made me any real friends. Yes, I had this group of people that I hung around with, but at the end of the day, I had no one who I could really turn to when I needed help, or who I could just relax with after a long week.

So, how did I eventually learn to let go and just be myself? And, more importantly, how can you really learn to be yourself and be happy? Well, my first piece of advice would be to stop caring about how other people perceive you. How can you possibly be yourself and be truly happy when you’re so caught up in worrying about what other people think of you?! Lots of people are going to like you, but at the end of the day, some people aren’t. Those are the people who aren’t worth worrying and bothering about! The only people in your life who matter are the people who you can totally be yourself around – the people who’ll never judge you, no matter how weird or crazy you act when you’re around them! Stop focusing on negative thoughts such as ‘am I pretty enough?’, or ‘am I smart enough’. Stop trying to please other people, and start focusing on developing your talents and strengths! Maybe you want to join a certain club or even start a blog, but you’re worried about what other people will think? Who cares about them?! Forget about what other people think – push yourself to do the things that make you happy, and be confident about doing them!

Next up – take the time to think about what you value about yourself, and consider what really makes you, well, you! You can’t really begin to be yourself unless you know and accept yourself first! Whilst doing this, try not to dwell too much on the past. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with reliving your favourite memories and moments from your past, but don’t allow yourself to be defined by a particular memory or moment in time – I completely understand that for a lot of people, this is far easier said than done, but by overly fixating on the past, you’ll spend your time trying to still be that person from the past, rather than focusing on growing and becoming the person that you want to be! Learn to forgive yourself for your past mistakes, and learn to accept the choices that you’ve made in life – okay, so maybe we aren’t proud of some of the things that we’ve done, but that’s exactly what they are: done. You had your reasons for making these decisions at the time, so instead of burdening yourself with your past mistakes, treat them as a lesson learned - allow yourself to move on and be happy!

Another important factor in learning to be yourself is to stop comparing yourself to others! If you’re constantly focused on trying to be someone that you’re not, you’ll never be a happy person – simple, but true! Comparing yourself to others will only make you want things that you think you don’t have. So what if that other girl has ‘perfect’ hair or a ‘perfect’ figure? By comparing yourself to someone else, you’re giving their appearance far too much power - why do you care so much about what they look like? You’re beautiful, just the way you are! Idolising another person is completely normal, but instead of aspiring to look like someone else, concentrate on following your own style and expressing your individuality! Dress to fit your sense of style, listen to the music that you enjoy – don’t just go with the flow, do what makes you happy!

Oh, one last point to remember – it’s never too late to start again.  Maybe you’re unhappy with where the decisions that you made in your past have lead you to today, or maybe something in your life is preventing you from becoming the person that you really want to be and expressing who you really are – it’s not too late to make a change! Whether you want to go back to uni or get a new job, fall in love or travel the world, write a book or just change your hair colour – don’t be afraid to make changes in your life and do what you want to do, don’t let anything hold you back from happiness!

So, there you have it! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed this post and that some of you are able to take some inspiration from it – I’d love it if you guys could give me some feedback and let me know what you’ve thought of this post series so far! Thanks for reading!

See you all next time!

Much love, 

 

We're all going on a... Summer Holiday!

Hello, lovely ladies!

I hope that you’ve all had a fabby week! I can’t believe that we’re into September already – where has this year gone?! Anyway, as some of you guys will know, I’ve just arrived home from my holiday! My boyfriend and I spent a lovely week in Lanzarote, relaxing by the pool and eating far too many snacks!

So, I figured that I’d do a little post for you guys on our time away! We didn’t do anything super exciting while we were gone, mainly because there wasn’t a whole lot to do around where we were staying. That suited us fine, though – we were perfectly happy to have a chilled, relaxing holiday! There were plenty of lovely restaurants and a few little shops around our hotel, so we had plenty to do in the evenings.

Anyway, let’s just jump right in! The majority of this post will be pictures of the things that we saw or places that we visited, so, I hope you guys enjoy! (Apologies in advance about my super boring outfits – it was really hot and windy the whole time we were there, so all I wanted to wear was loose, comfy clothes!).

Last but not least, a few cat pictures for you guys - it wouldn't be a normal holiday if I didn't manage to make friends with the local cats! (I'm a secret crazy cat lady!).

So, there you have it! I hope that you guys enjoyed this little post! Where have you guys been going on holiday to? Let me know!

See you all next time!

Much love,