High Street Lipsticks

Up until recently, I was never a big lip product fan. In the last 6 months or so, however, I've developed a major love for them and a few weeks ago I decided to pick up a few from Superdrug as I wanted to expand my collection, and decided to try out different types, brands and shades.

The first product I picked up was the Bourjois Shine Edition in 20 1,2,3 Soleil. I'm not going to lie, the main reason I was drawn to this was the packaging. I think it's absolutely gorgeous. It feels a bit like a mixture of a lip butter and balm, and is so moisturising on the lips. It's super super pigmented for the texture it has and I love wearing it.

The next product I picked up was the NYC City Proof Twistable Intense Lip Colour in 050 Park Slope Peach. Since buying this, I've picked up a few more lip crayon products, but this was one of the first nude-y colour that I picked up. I really like the colour of this and really liked the idea, but it really dries my lips out and I don't think the shade quite suits me.

(dat miserable face)

Then I found my new favourite lipstick - the Maybelline Superstay 14 Hour Lipstick in 150 On and On Pink. If the colour of this lipstick wasn't enough, it lasts all day and smells like berries. Do I need to say anymore?!

The next lipstick is the one that impressed me the most. This is the MUA Matte Lipstick in Peachy Keen. For those who don't know, MUA lipsticks are only £1 and are sold in Superdrug and on the MUA website. I absolutely love this colour and think for £1 it's an absolute bargain. I've been wearing this quite a lot in August as I love how summery it makes me feel.

This next buy was my throwback. This lipstick is the Miss Sporty Perfect Colour Lipstick in 032 New Age. I haven't worn anything Miss Sporty for about 10 years, and that was only when I used to raid my older sister's make up stash. I was sort of looking for a lilac-y colour and I found this. The only adjective that comes to mind for this is 'frosty' as it's got quite a sheer look on the lips. It's not something I'd wear often but I though it was fun.

Have you invested in any new lipsticks recently? Which are your favourites?

Let me know below!

NV Colour products.

 So a few weeks ago, NV Colour started following me on Twitter so I decided to check out their site and see what they were about. All of the products on their site  looked great to me, with some really vibrant colour choices and I didn't know where to start!  After a long time deliberating, I decided to buy a nail varnish in the colour Lemon Drop and a Chunky Lip Crayon in Watermelon.

I decided to wear them on a day that me and Matt spent in the garden (these pictures were post-water fight.) I initially thought the lip crayon was going to be drying but I didn't find it to be at all. The nail varnish took about 4 coats before I got it to the colour I wanted as the colour wasn't as strong as I had hoped, but all in all I was very happy with my purchases and would definitely buy NV Colour again!

I'm currently loving the look of their Ingot/Nude Duo Eye Crayon, Coral Eyeshadow and Spiced Plum Lip Crayon.

Have you tried any NV Colour products? What do you like the look of?

Let me know below!

Kelly Brook for New Look

#UKSummerBookSwap

As a big fan of Hayley's blog over at Water Painted Dreams, when she made a post filled with details of a book swap she was planning, I knew I definitely wanted to be part of it. All I had to do was send her an email with my most and least favourite book genre as well as my contact details. One of the main things I liked about this book swap is that who I sent my book off to wasn't the person who was sending theirs to me, and I liked the feeling of being involved in a big long chain of books!

Charlene from tartanmouth was the blogger that I was paired with, and the genres she gave as her favourites were Children's Literature, Young Adult, Thrillers, Modern Fiction and Dystopia. As Young Adult is my favourite genre, I thought that it would be really easy to find a book for Charlene. It turned out, however, that it wasn't as easy as I thought. I am one of those people that if a book is hyped up, I've probably read it. Fearing Charlene was a similar type of reader to me, all the YA books I could think of I thought she would've read. Luckily for me, there's a bookshop in Oxford that sells quite unique books that I hadn't heard of, and I picked up Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine.

The initial reason I picked up this book was because of the cover as I thought it was really cool. Then once looking inside the front cover, I saw that Jenny Valentine also wrote Finding Violet Park which I haven't personally read, but I've heard great things about so I decided to get it. Charlene has told me that she has finished the book and loved it which is great!

As for receiving a book, I actually received two from Claire over at Agent Smyth. As she's said in her #UKSummerBookSwap post, what I had put as my favourite genre, Claire had put as her least which is why she proceeded to send me two books as she was unsure if I would've read one of them. The two books she sent me were Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan and A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern. 

                              

Now, I had previously tried to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but I didn't know anything about the story, and I didn't know there were two Will Grayson's and when they met I got utterly confused. This time round I have started reading it with my boyfriend, and we're reading alternate chapters to each other to stop confusion and it's going well so far, but we haven't finished it yet. I haven't started A Place Called Here yet but it looks really interesting and a close friend of mine loves Cecelia Ahern and says I have to read it!

Have you read any of these books? Have you been involved in a book swap?             Let me know below!

Holiday Reads

Everyday FOTD

Products used:

Rimmel London Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair

Rimmel London Natural Bronzer in 022 Sun Bronze

MUA Mosaic Blush in English Rose

Rimmel London Stay Matte Compressed Powder in 001 Translucent

MUA Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tint in Stay

MUA Mega Volume Mascara in Black/Brown

Penny Eyeshadow from the MUA Matte Palette (Brows)

Rimmel London Exaggerate Lip Liner in 063 Eastend Snob

Mac Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup 

Howdy!
I am back from holiday and full of new ideas for posts.
I thought I would post a FOTD as I've never actually done one before.
So here is my day to day make-up look for you, it's strange when I actually look at all the products used and see they're mostly from the same brand.

What look do you go for day to day? Are you a regular FOTD poster?

Let me know below!

Fave 5s #2 - Cities I Want to Visit

It's not uncommon to want to travel. In the future there are so many places I want to explore, be it countries, cities, villages - there's just so many places. So for the second instalment in my Fave 5s series, I thought I'd let you know about the top 5 cities I want to visit.

#1 - New York

I've got such an obsession with NYC. It may have something to do with my love of Gossip Girl and wishing I were Blair Waldorf, but I really want to go. I also would love to see such iconic landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square.

#2 - Venice

For me, Venice is the most romantic city in the world. I know everyone thinks it's Paris, but for me, I don't get it. The thought of taking a gondola ride down the Grand Canal, inspecting the architecture and the galleries. Take me there!

#3 - Los Angeles

When it comes to LA, I don't think there's much point listing the endless iconic spots. This paired with the gorgeous weather and awesome style, tell me,  how can I resist?

#4 - Paris

Okay, so I know what I just said about Paris, but I don't want to visit Paris on the basis of its luuuurve status. 3 things make me want to visit Paris. Style. Disneyland. Macaroons.

#5 - Dubai

I'm not too sure what appeals to me so much about Dubai, I think just the fact it's so different and diverse to anywhere I've ever been. I'd love to go.

What do you think about my top 5? How does yours differ?

Let me know below!

Fave 5s #1 - Book Quotes

Hey guys,
With it nearing the end of my first year of college, I haven't been posting.. well, at all.
I've decided to start a series of my top/favourite things, to make sure that I'm posting at least once a week.

So, today's post centres around my favourite book quotes.

#1 "Girl scouts didn't teach me what to do with emotionally unstable drunk boys" - Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins

#2 "A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship" - The Book Theif, Markus Zusak

#3 "Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there.' I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful" - Looking for Alaska, John Green

#4 "She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something" - Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell

#5 "You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real." - Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

What do you think of my top 5 quotes? What would you put into your top 5? 

Let me know below!

playlist #1 - sunshine playlist

• Mr Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)
• Kiesza - Hideaway
• Mideau - Way With Words
• Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
• Tove Lo ft. Hippie Sabotage - Stay High (Habits Remix)
• Sigma - Nobody To Love
• Ellie Goulding - Goodness Gracious
• The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather
• Nina Nesbitt - We'll Be Back For More
• CHVRCHES - Gun (Groundislava Remix)
• CHVRCHES - The Mother We Share
• Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones - I Got U
• Katy Perry - International Smile
• Chris Malinchak - If U Got It
• Disclosure ft. Eliza Doolittle - You & Me (Flume Remix)
• Miley Cyrus vs. Cedric Gervais - Adore You (Remix)
• Tiësto - Red Lights
• Alesso vs OneRepublic - If I Lose Myself (Alesso Remix)
• Arctic Monkeys - Arabella
• Foxes - Let Go for Tonight
• Shift K3Y - Touch (Oxford Remix)

Shopping with my mum - Argos, Superdrug and a trip to Burford.

Howdy.
This week I've had a really good week.
I'm having my weekly reflection as I'm getting ready to settle down for the evening before work in the morning.
Now that I've moved out, I spend every Tuesday with my mum and we try and do something a little different.
This Tuesday started with a trip to the tip (standard) and then we drove to Burford, had lunch and then had a little look around the shops.
The only thing I actually bought in Burford was macaroons. I've sparked an obsession.
Seeing Maison Blanc up ahead, I kept nudging my mum and pleading "can we go in? They might have macaroons!"

They set me back £6 for 4 of them, and I actually preferred the ones that I had before, and I could only tell that the orange one was Orange and the beige one was Caramel. Hey ho, they were still enjoyable.

Then we popped into a little shop that sold lots of jams and I got really excited, but I couldn't really justify buying any more jars as I've got to keep up with the jars I currently have.. oops.

Next, we headed to Argos as my mum had to pick up a few things. My mum bought me a cheap hand mixer because I didn't have one, which makes baking SO much easier, and she also bought me a cheap hair dryer because - shock confession - I've never owned my own hair dryer. I always just shared my mums. Now that I've moved out, I don't have anyone to hair-dryer-share with, and I've just been tying my hair up after a shower, leaving it to go into frizz overload, so my mum has saved the day!

The hand mixer cost about £5/6 and the hair dryer was £14.99, not expensive but hopefully they'll last. (My fingers and toes are crossed)

Then we popped into Superdrug (yay for student discount!)

Whilst I was in there, I obviously had to buy the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, and I also bought a VO5 Dry Shampoo and Heat Protect spray, as well as some more cotton pads. Then, on Friday, I was cheeky and went back and bought some shower gels and the MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter.

I wore this today and really liked it, and a bargain for £3!

Do you have special days out with your mum?

Have you had anything nice bought for you recently?

Let me know!

Renewed baking obsession.

I love to bake.

It's my secret obsession, and yes I feel like Zeke from High School Musical every time I let people know.

Baking really relaxes me, and I don't do it very often any more, so the other day I decided to make some cakes.
I have a great recipe that makes delicious sponge cake, and thought I would adapt it for fairy cakes... however I forgot to change the recipe so we ended up with 30 cakes. You can't have enough cake, right?
I love baking a little too many of whatever I'm making though, because I like people's feedback on my baking!

My lovely boyfriend was my sous-chef, and after the cakes had cooled we decorated them. Half of them were covered in plain icing, and we melted chocolate to spread on the other half. They were yummy if I do say so myself!

Also, I've become obsessed with jam. Eating it, and more recently, the idea of making it. I haven't actually gotten round to making any yet, but I've found this recipe that I'm really excited to try out - so I'll let you know how it goes!

Do you like baking? What's the best thing

you've ever made? Let me know!

Book Journal - for the perfect book review.

On Sunday, I had to take a trip into Oxford for the first day of my new job (how exciting!)

However, I managed to over-estimate how long the bus journey would take..

This left me with about an hour to kill beforehand, so I popped into Costa for a coffee, then wandered the streets a bit. I tried to be nifty with the situation, and didn't go strolling off into any of the shops in which I usually spend all my time and money.

 Instead, I popped into Paperchase. 

Now, I think I've only ever been in this shop once before and I didn't buy anything. I was only really thinking I would buy some new post-it notes - what a thrill(!) - but instead I stumbled across this Book Journal and sort of fell in love, which is a bit strange, I know. 

(I think it's just like the cutest thing ever.)

I've been really wanting to getting into writing book reviews and haven't really had a place to write them, and haven't really had a clue how to organise them, so this is great for that - hurrah! I really like the font on the front cover, and I also think the way 'Paperchase' is positioned on the back - quite small, and not on a sticker/ticket - is lovely.

The front half of the book has 'book reviews' pages on each side of the double page, and in the latter half of the journal, the left side has a 'books to read' title, and the right has a 'books borrowed/lent',

I then decided, firstly because they were only £1, and secondly because I'm a massive child,  to pick up some star stickers so I could give ratings to my book reviews. I then found the journal has a little envelope type pocket at the back, which I've quite happily stored my stickers in!

I managed to get 10% off with my student card, but all in all, I paid £10.80 for a journal  and some stickers, which is quite expensive in my opinion. I do hope to get good use out of this though, and I loved it so much, I just had to buy it!

Have you got a special journal of any sort? What do you think of 

Paperchase? Let me know below!