Pretty and Pink

I love having flowers in the house whenever I possible can. Especially roses. These tulips are pretty too, I’ve never seen ones like these before. They look frilly!

Hope your’e having a nice day!

Christmas, New Year and everything else!

Guys, guys. Don’t hate me. I have been soooo busy. I know I’ve neglected my blog and my readers and I’m sorry. One of my main resolutions is of course to post regularly for the new year. Christmas time was just crazy for me as I was still working throughout it, so there was shopping and working and wrapping and decorating and works parties and just absolute exhaustion throughout the whole month! But I am back now and I am sorry! I know it’s soso late but I’m going to give you guys a peak at what I got for Christmas and a hint at some of the upcoming reviews I’ll be doing. Here goes!

Firstly I will have a geek out by starting with this Harry Potter book set my boyfriend got me as a surprise. I grew up reading Harry Potter and as with the rest of the world, it’s one of favourite book series. This set has the newest illustrations which are beautiful and it was just a lovely, thoughtful gift, especially considering my boyfriend is awful at picking presents!

He also surprised the hell out of me by sending me a £100 Mac egift card! It came by email, 8am on Christmas morning and he badgered me to read it while we were chilling in bed. Suspecting junk mail I was obviously really surprised. He of course knows I love makeup (he’s forever listening to me talk about makeup and knows way more about it than a man should) and he knows I’ve never had any Mac makeup (there’s no Mac stores where I live) so he was thoughtful enough to get me this wonderful gift. He was actually worried it would seem a lazy present but I love it. I still haven’t used it as I’m waiting for a few things to come back in stock, but I can’t wait!!

The rest of the Christmas presents from my boyfriend I picked myself. This is a necessity for us as he believes he’d be no good at picking me gifts himself (in the typical man way) but judging by the few surprises I received off him this year I think he’s underestimating himself! More makeup was of course of my wish list and I was not disappointed.

These lipsticks are by Sunna Claore Cosmetics and I was put onto them by a makeup artist I follow on Instagram. I got the colours Goddess and Glamorous. Goddess is a nude with pink undertones and Glamorous is a deep browny pink. I won’t say anything about them now as I will be doing a full review later on.

I also picked Motives Cosmetics Little Black Dress gel eyeliner. Again I was cued into Motives (who I’d never heard of) by following makeup artists and tutorial pages on Instagram and of course Motives is a big and popular brand and all I’ll say is I can see why! Again a review to come.

I also got another makeup product from my lovely boyfriend which again I picked but unfortunately had to send back. I’m sure a lot of you have been seeing Younique 3D fibre mascara all over your various news feeds, same as me. The stuff looks amazing right? I knew straight away I wanted to try it as it seemed to make everyone’s lashes humongous and I hate putting on falsies. Well, my beau got me it, I was majorly excited and decided to try it out for Christmas Day aaaand was completely let down. The stuff did absolutely nothing to my lashes. I honestly get more volume and length from my normal mascara. I also noticed the fibres flaked off during the day, falling into my eyes and irritating them. I tried it a few more times using different techniques but to no avail. Cue an annoyed and disappointed email to the seller. To be honest my boyfriend did (rather naively) buy it from eBay which I pointed out probably wasn’t the best place as it could be a fake. The seller did have five stars though and when I emailed assured me the products was new and genuine. He also agreed to a refund once I sent it back. So whether I received a fake kit or the stuff simply doesn’t work for me, I don’t know but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Now! I also picked this beauuuutiful necklace which I love to wear and will love even more in the summer!

It sits perfectly on the chest and I love the way it moves, all linked together but kind of slinky. We also had a little trouble with this. My boyfriend ended up having to pay another £15 to the post office for “handling” for this, which was a load if bull poop and ended up over paying for it, in my opinion, even if I do love it. He got it from Etsy along with two other gifts and I was kind of disenchanted with the site. Everything on it looks so wonderful, but the fees for postage and the quality of some of the items for the price you end up paying is seriously ridiculous. But I digress.

He also got me a ring; a lovely silver band with vine and flower engraving. But I stupidly read my size wrong on the ring tape and it ended up being too big. I had this foreboding that it would fly off my finger while I was wearing it and it seemed to do just that. I was wearing it out one day, went to the ladies, looked down while washing my hands and it was gone. I was obviously really upset and annoyed at myself for wearing it without getting one of those ring tighteners, but can you do? Life goes on!

The last of my boyfriends gifts to me came a few days ago as it was shipped from Australia and all I can say is he clearly knows what I want more than I do. This one was a shawl from Etsy again that I thought I loved but once it came I was completely disappointed. It was beautiful but so not worth the £60(!) he paid for it. I also didn’t have a clue what to do with it. I think I was just drawn in by the colours and pattern without ever thinking about whether I would use the damn thing. I think I would have kept it if he hadn’t paid so much for it, but I can think of so many better things you can spend £60 on than a pretty scarf. So unfortunately I’m sending that back too. Etsy kind of disappointed; it advertises products using really beautiful photos, with a big price tag and the products actually turn out to be kind of cheap and tacky. Wow this really has turned into a depression session! Moving on!

My beautiful sister got me some wonderful presents. Again I picked them all, but I’m kind of a brat about what I want and she’s more like a boy in the sense that she can’t pick gifts either, so it all worked out. Firstly she got me this sexy black number that I always use for work.

It’s such a big bag, which is good for all the crap I cart around, but I also tend to knock things from shop shelves when I’m carrying this beast! Oops.

She kind of surprised me with this vintage beluga whale locket, as I’d seen it on Etsy, fallen in love and specifically told my sister if you don’t get it soon, it’ll go to someone else and I really want it, so if you don’t get it, I’ll buy myself it. She kept saying she would get it and then one day it was sold and I was so annoyed cause I really wanted it! And low and behold Christmas morning there it was, the lady gift she let me open, grinning cheekily. Monkey! I do really love this locket and wear it a lot, but again Etsy isn’t as good as it seems. While the locket itself is lovely and clearly vintage, the chain is cheap and brassy and will be getting changed as soon as possible!

The last gift I got from my sister is something I’ve been wanting for ages!

Review to come soon!

This I received from my Aunty as I’d asked for something Body Shop. She did admit however she mainly picked this because of the box, which she thought was so me. She’s right of course, the packaging is so cute and vintage looking, I’ll probably end up using this little box for makeup storage. I haven’t tried any of the actual products yet. I’m not a huge fan of bath sets like this to be honest as people never really use them, especially the shower gels! Rose also isn’t my favourite scent (though it’s clearly my favourite flower!) but I wouldn’t mind using the perfume as a room spray. And the box is to die for.

My mother got me a few bits and bobs, mainly chocolates (I’m diabetic mother!) some pjs and weirdly a pepper and salt set! But I also got this little lovely.

I really like the Sanctuary scent (slightly spicy with orange undertones) but again I don’t use generic bath sets that contain shower gel and body lotion. So I was pleased when this turned out to be for the house rather than my body! It contained two small candles (I’m burning one right now) a bottle of room spray which I’ve used almost half of and two reed diffusers, both of them in action in the bedroom and living room. They smell delicious; they’re strong enough to fill the room but not so strong that they bother your nose or eyes, which I really like. The packaging is again lovely and inside on the crepe paper there is a cute little poem.

The biggest surprise from my mother however was the card that came with my presents. It ended up being a Cars card and it stated that the company I work for (owned by my mothers partner) would be paying for all my driving lessons and tests! My mother wrote “no more peasant wagon, no more getting coughed on.” If you’ve ever had to get the bus to work everyday during flu season you’ll get it. Yaaaay! No more peasant wagon! Well… Once I pass that is. Eek.

And so that was basically my Christmas in gifts! I got money off everyone else, while always helps when your paying gas bills during winter! I had a really lovely Christmas; I got to spend Christmas Eve with my boyfriend for the first time and in our own home no less! It was lovely waking up with him and opening gifts with my first ever Christmas tree twinkling at us. We had a big Christmas dinner with his family then spent the evening chilling out with mine and I felt I was pretty spoilt with all the gifts I got! Who doesn’t love that?! So I’m now ready to start 2015 and I hope it’s better than last year which was tough to get through.

But I’m heading into the new year with some big hopes and aspirations. I’m wanting to get fitter and healthier, not just for my weight but mainly for my diabetes, so hopefully I develop some willpower soon! I also want to keep writing – not just my blog but also some actual novels. I’ve always wanted to be a published writer and it’s time I actually did something about it! Hopefully this year will finally see me driving (fingers crossed!) And maybe the other half and I can sneak a holiday in somewhere. I hope all you lovelies out there also had a wonderful Christmas and new year (I was at work – ugh!) and I hope 2015 holds love, happiness and success for you all. Love and kisses!

Also here’s some Christmas jumpers.

Birthday, bitches!

Hey guys! I know I promised you a birthday post aaages ago but I’ve been so damn busy! So it was my birthday on the 9th and I had a really lovely time. I had a BBQ at my house with my family, which I loved and the. My boyfriend surprised me to a nice meal after work on my birthday. I’m so lucky! I also got a few wonderful beauty presents (some of them from myself to myself!) and the one I was moooost excited about was the Naked 3 Urban Decay palette from my boyfriend!!! I was also psyched about the stack of new books I got from him and my sister.

This is the beautiful little pile of presents from my boyfriend. I mean yeah I picked them all but can you really expect a boy with a total boy mind to understand which makeup you like? I don’t think so, that is why I gently guided him to these gifts (by taking him into the shop and saying that one.) He also treated to a steak meal at one of our favourite Italian restaurants which was lovely. I got a cheeky Cosmo.

I got money from everyone else which I suppose is what happens when your 23 and all grown up! But I preferred that as I could then spend it on things I knew I wanted! Namely makeup! He first thing I indulged in was my first ever limecrime product. I opted for the Coquette opaque lipstick and I won’t say too much about it now as I will do a full review of all the beauty products I feature. But I’ll leave you with a sneak peak.

I also picked up another lip product; Bourjois’ Rouge Edition Velvet liquid lipstick. I suppose I went with this one because I’ve been interested in matte lipsticks lately and I just wasn’t ready to bite the bullet and pay the extra amount to get a limecrime Velvetine as I’ve heard mixed reviews. Again I will give a proper review on this product.

I also got myself the Sleek Face Form kit which I’ve fell in love with! More to come on that later! Ohhh okay here’s a little look!

No doubt I have also bought a million other things like clothes and makeup and meals with my birthday money but these were the main ones I wanted to show you! I hope everyone has a great birthday whenever that happens to be and I hope you get lots of makeup-y presents! Loves and kisses!

Ahhhh!

My beautiful readers I graduated from university today! Woooo! I can’t tell you how happy I am that’s is all over! I’m sorry I didn’t manage to take a selfie to show you the way I did my makeup for the important day, but it was just all so hectic and fast paced that I forgot! My day started at 5 AM and I am only now cooking down as I lay in a hot bath writing this post. And I still have to work tomorrow! I’m only two days in and I already need a break!

The day (apart from a stressful and frantic hour and a half when my boyfriend lost his phone) was quite pleasant, although tiring. The only people missing were my youngest sister who’s in Canada and my amazing dad who I lost last year. The only reason I managed to persevere through the last year of uni was knowing that it would make him proud and did already make him proud to have his daughter in uni.

So despite the blisters, awkward robes, sweltering heat, nerves and mishaps, I enjoyed the day and was grateful to my family for coming out to support me and show their love. I’m so glad I can officially move on from uni, which was a difficult experience for me particularly when I lost my father, and carry on with the rest of my life. First things on the list: moving into my own home next week and training up to do my new job. I’m also going to make a conscious effort to start writing again. It may be the only way if I definitely want to be an author… Ha! I bet many of my beauty readers didn’t know that I want to be a novelist did you?! I’m sorry, In rambling! Anyway, I shall leave you with two more pictures, one of myself and my mother and an old one of myself and my amazingly handsome dad. I wish you could have been there today, seeing me graduate.

Guess who’s got good news?

Hey guys! So not only did I start my new job today, I also have a confirmed move in date to rent my very own house! Wooooo!

I started work today at a security company and what I basically do is call people up when they’re house or medical alarms go off and check that they’re okay! I’m such a nice person and now I’m being paid to do it! ;D Now of course you guys all know how much I love beauty and writing and my ideal dream type job would be something to do with either of those (either amazing makeup artist or amazing best selling novelist) but until either or those happens, this job is a perfect way for me to fund my little house and save a little money for driving lessons and maybe a little holiday. I also think this job will give me very good experience of the work place as well as the opportunity to learn new things and work my way up to higher positions. So I’m feeling good about it!

And during my first day, I got a call from the letting agents saying everything had went through for the cute little house I applied for and I could set a moving date! ^.^ so in two weeks time I will be living in my own home and I can *squeal* DECORATE! So I am pretty darn good right now? How are you lovely people?

Maleficent Magnificent!

Hi guys! So the boyf and I did indeed go and see Maleficent the other day and I did indeed attempt to create a Maleficent inspired face. As you can see I got the pale skin, red lips and stand out eyes down, however after watching it I realised that her eye makeup was a lot softer and I should have used powder to create the wing rather than liquid eye liner. I also struggled to create those sharp cheeks as the bronzer I have is not really suited to contouring since it is slightly shimmery. I still really struggle with contouring, even though I do it the exact same way as the tutorials. I think it’s probably to do with the makeup I use, my concealer palette just isn’t right. Back to the Maleficent look I also couldn’t quite create those Jolie angled eye brows, as mine are so thick and rounded. You can see by the photo how odd my eye brows are. One is pretty straight and normal, while the other is like a Nike tick! I don’t mind it so much though. The eyebrow has a kind of cheeky, come hither look to it.

So anyway, I thought Maleficent was amazingggg! I love fairy tales and magic and anything fey! Angelina Jolie was phenomenal as always, I loved her as Maleficent and the story was really sweet and funny and even a little sad at times. It really is a great watch, everyone in the world should see it and if you do go see it, try your hand at Maleficent makeup! I’d love to see some other looks! That’s all from me for now, kisses!

Beauty Bank Holiday.

Happy Monday beautiful readers! I had a surprisingly pleasant day today, filled with makeup, food and good friends. I say surprising because I barely got any sleep thanks to the party boy next door neighbours who had extremely loud music blasting out of their house with a multitude of drunken people screaming, shouting, banging and singing for the whole entirety of Sunday right through to Monday afternoon (although it went on through the whole weekend, last night was the worst night.) It was next to impossible to sleep, the din was so loud I could hear it through ear plugs. So I was expecting to be grouchy and moody today (which I was for a little while) but it turned around when I got chatting to my house mate.

The idiots next door still had their damn music pounding and we needed to get out of the house. The sun came back for a visit today after a good solid week of torrential rain so we had a nice walk out for some food. We stopped at a Chinese buffet, filled up appropriately then had a little foray over to pick up some groceries. I once again had a look through the local pound shop (I love that place) and picked up two more discount beauty buys (more on those later.)

After that we got home to find out other housemate was back from her weekend away and we all sat down in the living room to chat. I’m usually a private, quiet housemate as I’ve lived in a few different places and have never really made friends with anyone. This house has been different though. The two girls are amazingly nice (we even had a cheeky night out after my final exam) and now that the guy of the house had left it’s a lot nicer to just sit and chill.

It somehow came about to do a sort of girly night so I got out my makeup and brushes and nail polishes and did both their makeup and nails, just for fun. It made me think that I really should of trained to be a beautician. I enjoy it immensely and it would be wonderful to home my skills. A little regret about university seeped into my mind at that point, but there’s no point in regret!
After the mini makeovers we all sat down (glamorous to the maximus) and watched the soaps!

Not the most crazy day but I’ve enjoyed it! Hopefully tonight I can get some sleep! How did everyone else spend their bank holiday weekend? Anyone training to be a beauty therapist? Hit those lovely buttons and send me some comments, they make me so happy! Loves.

It’s Over.

Ah my beauty bloggers it’s time to rejoice, for I am officially no longer a student. Woooooo! The exams weren’t as bad as I was imagining, I probably stressed myself out a little more than was necessary, but hey that’s what it’s like to be a student! I am so unbelievably glad that university is over. It’s an amazing experience for most people, but for me it’s kind of been horrid. I wish it hadn’t been. But I didn’t make many friends and the ones I did weren’t very good friends. It’s funny but the only decent, genuine person I met was right toward the end! But I digress. It’s over, it’s done and soon it’s time for me to go home!

I can’t wait to get home and begin the process (again!) of finding a place of our very own with my lovely boyfriend. The job situation is still up in the air but I’m sure one will come about soon. When your aim is to be a published writer, you go for any job you can. Writing takes time, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it! That’s all from me anyway beauty’s, just wanted to share the happy news! Loves!

Mama Knows Best.

A very good afternoon to you my beautiful lovely readers whom I luuuurve! So yesterday was a good day, because my mama kind of spoilt me! She came with me to view a house (I might have my own house soon! Eek!) and while we were waiting for the letting agent, she realised she still had two gift cards in her handbag from over Christmas time. How this woman, who inspired my beauty and fashion passion, has gift cards that can be used for makeup and clothes unused in her bag almost 5 months after getting them is beyond me! On the other hand, my mothers bag is like the bloody Bermuda Triangle. Anyway, after the house viewing we went to Boots, the very home of makeup, health products, perfume and creams, lotion and potions and my mother, very generously (after I flat out asked her) gave me one of the gift cards which had a very respectable £20 on it. So of course I bought make up 😁 My mammy spent the other on my youngest sister as it’s her 18th birthday this weekend. Afterwards I felt pretty bad that she hadn’t spent it on herself, but then I remembered that my mum has a millionaire boyfriend who buys her anything she likes and I calmed down.

Anywayyyy, thanks to my very lovely and generous mother I have some more lovely cosmetics to share with you all! And here they are!

The total was £21.52 so I didn’t have a lot to pay toward it at all. The makeup was also on a 3 for 2 offer which was great! Let me give you a run down of what I bought and why. First things first is the foundation.

I went for the Bourjois Happy Light Foundation as there has never really been a time when I’ve had more foundation that I’ve needed, I always just have one at a time. Now as a budding beauty blogger I figured it would make a lot more sense to have as much makeup as I can possibly manage (you know for blogging purposes and not cause I’m addicted) and I was attracted to this foundation as it not only boasts 3hour hydration, but it claims to give you a “luminous, flawless complexion in ANY light.” Well how could I say no to that? My current foundation is also a little thick and can sometimes leave me look a bit flat, so the words luminous and light also drew me in.

Next up is my new mascara.

I opted for Maybellines Colossal Go Extreme mascara as currently I only own my Benefits They’re Real mascara and Bourjois’ Volume Glamour mascara which is almost dried out. I got this new mascara as I liked the shape of the brush and I don’t think you need to spend masses of money on products like Clinique and M.A.C when you can get brilliant brands like Maybelline or Bourjois for a lot less money and which are always high end in design, texture and outcome. I also wanted a mascara that I could use for every day rather than using my expensive Benefit mascara which always seems to run out quickly!

Next I went for some Barry M lipstick which was the cheapest of my three products and therefore free! I was actually surprised that the lipstick cost less than £5 as I find Barry M to be a really good makeup range, especially they’re nail polishes.

I went for a rather nude colour as a lot of my lipsticks are quite bright or highly pigmented and I thought this would be nice to just slick on with every day makeup.

Last but not least I grabbed some of Boots own coconut oil which can be used on anything; skin, hair, you can probably even cook with it! I’ve used this before, years ago and I remember adoring how it melted in seconds, from solid to oil on your skin. It just felt so luxurious. I got it this time after reading a post from a blog I follow, Fran’s Makeup Menu, about caring for long hair. Fran’s tip was to cover the ends of your hair in coconut oil once a week, sleeping with it in a braid and washing your hair the next day. I’m hoping this works for me as I suffer horribly with dry ends.

So those were my lovely treats from my even lovelier mammy! I hope everyone else had something happen to them that made them feel all fuzzy. Everyone go give your mothers a hug! Love and kisses!

Sunshine and happiness!

It’s sunny AND warm in Leeds today and I can’t believe it! Warmth in England! Hallelujah! I’m not usually a sun and heat type of person, as I get hot and sweaty really easily (gross.) However today has put me in such great spirits! Not only is the sun shining and beaming down, filling people with lovely vitamin D (giggles… D) but my hair and make up went great, I got to wear a new t shirt and rock the 90s look, I was early for university, I made a new friend(!) and I found a few little bargains in some charity shops! So yeah, I am happy today, send in the trumpets! I’ll be doing some proper posts later about some stuff I’ve bought and a few reviews on some products, but I just wanted to share my happiness and hopefully make a few other people smile! Be happy, be spontaneous and smile! Happy Thursday everyone, I hope it’s the best Thursday ever! Love love love.