Five Good Things

1. The snow. Although I'm not its biggest fan, I do enjoy looking at it out the window when Im cosy inside. It has also meant that my college lecturers have been snowed in and cant get in to college, which for the lazy students like me means we get to go home and not do any work. Yey!

2. My UCAS form has been all checked and is fine and ready to be sent off. One less thing to think about.

3. Tomorrow is Decembeer 1st, which if Im a lucky girl means I'll be receving an advent calendar to open in the morning. I have to do it as soon as I get up before anything else at all every day in December, and perfectly as well. All the tinfoil has to be taken out properly and the door folded back neatly. This litle ritual is always what really gets me in the festive mood. However, I only seen one advent calendar in my mams weekly shop, which would mean one for my brother and not one for me.
   Also my Dad thinks he is Santa Claus. Every year we have a little advent calender with pockets in where youput your own stuff. He has always done little scavenger hunts for us, with a clue in the calendar leading to locations around the house and eventually, a little gift. Once we got older the tasks got more challenging he even created puzzles for us to work out , bless him! But these have faded out now Im older and we only get one on Christmas Eve now. Hmph the joys of growing up!

4. Online shopping, and free asos delivery. Basically Ive bought all of my presents (female at least) from asos last night. They will be arriving sometime next week without any physical effort from myself going out in the cold and the hustle and bustle. Fabulous! However I do enjoy a little dabble in real Christmas shopping, I love the atmosphere. So maybe I'll leave a few things to the real shops.

5. Its my brother Ben's 13th birthday. I feel so old! Happy Birthday! xxx

xoxo

November Favourites

Heres a few products Ive been really loving this month, along with a few random things too...

Cosmetics:

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion; I bought a small bottle of this at duty free in Spain just to try it out and Ive been using it morning and evening ever since. A little really does go a lnog way so dont let the teeny bottle deceive you, it'll last! Ive had this bottle a month with everday use and as you can see theres still loads left.

Barry M Nail Paint in Raspberry; Currently finding it difficult to reach for any other nail polish. Im in love.

Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Gel Eyeliner in Funk; Obviously not your every-day eyeliner of choice but its good if you really want your eyes to sparkle on a special evening. I do enjoy a bit of glitter on a night out and this stuff just wont budge from where you want it to be.

Combination of Revlon Double Twist Mascara with L'oreal Paris Telescopic Expolsion Mascara; My current mascara combo of choice. Im normally a "False Lash Effect" kinda girl, but since that dried up Ive gone back to a few Ive had in my collection going unloved. These two are working nicely for me at the minute. As Ive had them for so long theyve both lost most of the design and text on the packaging so they're both just red tubes. Im a little ashamed of them they look so tatty, I couldnt bring myself to take a photo.

The Body Shop Viamin E Body Lotion; Lovely and rich but not too much so, sinks in wonderfully and doesn't leave a greasy sheen. It smells so good too like a baby product. Lets just pretend theres no Spiderman mug sitting in the back of my photo...

Brown eyeshadows:
Natural Collection Willow; inner corner
MAC Woodwinked; entire lid
Natural Collection Asteroid; crease

In order: Willow; Wookdwinked; Asteroid

This has been my eyeshadow routine of choice recently, really simple and pretty much foolproof. Easy to do on a morning without worrying about it, it kinda will always look good.

Same order as above

Drink: Green Tea. I know its pretty boring but I like the flavour, and I like feeling like its doing me some good with its naturally high antioxidant content. Im not fussy on brands, just whatevers there in the shop when I need it.

Food: Foxes Whipped Creams with a hint of lemon.

 Foxes biscuits in general are always pretty fantastic, but these are like the God of all biscuits. Im not a biscuit expert or anything, so Im not going into intricate descriptions of its creamyness and crumble factor, but trust me, these are some good quality biscuits. They come either with a splodge of "lustful lemon" or "sinful strawberry" jam in the middle, but just the right amount. Ive only had the lemon kind and I'm addicted. I urge you to go find a packet of these!

Let me know if you'd like to see any other "random" posts in my favourites posts...or even if you would rather they werent there at all.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: A picture of my best friend(s). Its very rare that me and my firneds get a good photo together. I couldnt actually find a single one with everyone in my "group" of friends in it. So heres one of most of us on a birthday night out...

*David, Amy B, Amy C, Joe, Hayleigh, Caroline, Dan, Natalie, Me and Helen*



and my girls who werent in that photo...

*Stacey, Tabitha, Me and Jen*

I couldn't do the whole picking jsut one best friend thing, I think its a little childish. All of these lot are my best friends and I value and love them all :)

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12, a photo of me. Im pretty sure this means a photo of my on my own. Im not a person who likes the limelight, I really dislike having a photo taken alone, fine with someone with me, but alone, no. So this has proved a little difficult.
   There was one time however that I really didnt mind, in Florida, at Disney's Magic Kingdom. This is without a doubt my favourite place in the world. I know its all man made and not a "natural" beauty or whatever, but its amazing, and I cant wait to go back. I would seriously live there if i could. So here I am, on my own, with Sleeping Beauty's castle and Walt & Mickey in August 2008. The photo is deceiving, it wasnt that dark and cloudy, I actually got sunburnt, American weather can be hard to judge. I look like I'm frowning but the sun was in my face, all of my summer photos turn out like this Im terrible for it.

Love you Mickey!

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 11

On to another day of the challenge..Day 11, my favourite film.

I have three films that are my favourites beyond any other, Sex and the City the first movie, Love Actually, and my all time favourite is...

Im sure everyone knows whos hiding behind those ridiculously massive knickers, the lovely Bridget Jones.

I think I love her so much as she represents a sadly average British female, well most I know anyway. I have practically the same pyjamas shes wearing above, and can relate to her in every single way. Shes hilarious and I love her and can recite her every word from both the films. Safe to say this is my favourite film of all time.

xoxo

Santa Baby...#2

My Uggs really arent holding up well with all this snow, and for some reason I haven't got round to buying any decent boots this year. So these little beauts are on my list...

Theyre £74.99 from River Island and can be found on their website here!

xoxo

F.O.T.D... Shopping in the Snow

Since Ive been out all day shopping in the snowy weather traipsing around the shops trying to find Christmas and birthday presents for numerous family members, today probably wasnt the best day for a "Face of the Day" post. But never someone to do things the normal way, I thought I'd give it a bash. Apologies for the bad quality photos I had to use my phone.

My make-up today was quite rushed and natural looking, and in these photos my face and hair had taken quite a beating from the wind, cold, and snow and this is the results after a 3 hour shopping trip...

Products:

Skin: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser, L'oreal Studio Secrets Smoothing & Resurfacing Primer, Revlon Beyond Natural Foundation in "Light", E.LF blush and bronzing duo for blush and a hint of bronzer.

Eyes: Boots No7 Amazing Eyes Pencil in "Blue Grey", Revlon Double Twist mascara in "Black, L'oreal Paris Telescopic Explosion mascara in "black", and The Body Collection eyeshadow palette using the colour "Gunmetal".

Lips: E.L.F Theraputic Conditioning Lipbalm in "Strawberry Creme", and Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in "086 Sugar Plum"


So thats all I used this morning at around 9:00AM, and these photos were taken at 6:00PM... I think my make-up lasted quite well consdiering. If you want any extra information about the products or the application of them jsut leave a little comment below :)

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 10

And the challenge continues...

Day 10, a baby photo of myself.

I always find it hard to choose just one for these things, so heres a few:

Teeny tiny baby me! With such long legs, that didnt last.

My Dad is a photographer, which explains the more "professional" looking pictures.

How cute is that bonnet? I need to find it.

This is just hilarious, how awful is my hair haha scarecrow!

xoxo

Boots Bargain

This little steal was brought to my attention by my dearest mother while we were out Christmas Shopping yesterday. We were looking around Boots, and came across the Fearne Cotton make-up range. I haven't personally tried any of her make-up but it looks good enough to me. Most of the gift sets were quite small, 3 lipglosses for £10 and the like, but then there was this beautiful hat box filled with make-up goodies whic looks like this:

The box was a good size, and look how gorgeous it is with its bow and floral patterns. I would definately be using this to store something in my room. Along with that the cosmetics seemed lovely as well, the website description is as follows:

"A gorgeous hatbox of make-up for girls who rock an edgier look. It comes with a sweet heart-shaped make-up bag and mini marvels for creating dramatic eyes – 5 eyeshadow compact, 2 eye shimmers, 2 chunky eye pencils, a mini eye pencil with smudge and a mascara. Plus an animal print powder puff, 4 lip glosses and a lipstick to create lush, pouty lips."

Sixteen cosmetics, along with the powerpuff, make-up bag and the hatbox for £20! Its normally retailed at £40 but has been reduced for a short period of time, and I honestly dont know when this deal ends but I think its a bargain. On checking the website today the price has laready increased to £26.00, but to me this is still a complete steal. Needless to say we snapped some up as gifts, I even got a sneak peak that my ma got one for me for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

xoxo

Santa Baby...#1

Rather than doing a HUUUUUGE post of my christmas list I've sent to the North Pole this season, I think I'll just do a few individual posts of things I've been loving and hope to find under the tree this year. Maybe it'll give you a few gift ideas to buy someone you love or even to ask for yourself.

Top of my wish list this year is this beautiful speciman...

   I'm literally in love with this watch. I don't really wear a watch a the minute as Ive been waiting to find one which I really really love and know I'll wear often. This Michael Kors Horn Acrylic watch does the trick for me!  I love how its like a twist on the current styles that are everywere at the minute like brands such as the Toy Watches. But the pearly colour of it makes it so different which is just beautiful.

I've seen it in numerous department stores such as John Lewis, Fenwicks and Harrods, and I beleive amazon.com have it in stock as well. Its a little pricey at around £160 in the places I've looked, but to me its an investment and its worth it. If I don't get it for Christmas I might just have to treat myself ;)

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 9

Today asks for something Ive always wanted to do. For me, this is easy, my passion is New York City. It may sound silly to say Ive never been, but frankly I'm a little obsessed anyway. Anyone who tells me theyre off for a trip to NYC has me green with envy, which is probably not a very nice personality trait. Its hard to explain what attracts me to it, but its fairly obvious to say that it probably all stemmed from the day I became hooked on Sex and the City. Since then all I've ever really wanted is to live in a little New York apartment with a huge wardrobe, to be able to scream "TAXI" and have one stop right beside me, and meet friends for lunch in some nice restaurant to talk about men and go shopping for beautiful shoes. Very sad I know, but one day it'll happen.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Day 8...my favourite band/musician. Recently I've been listening to a real viariety of artists. When I was younger I'd become obsessed with one artist and literall y only listen to that artist constantly. I think Ive grown out of that phase, anything from Beyonce to Arctic Monkeys had my full attention at any one time.
One person I'm really enjoying at the minute is Ellie Goulding...

She just seems like a lovely person, and her voice is so beautiful and relaxing I could listen to her all day and she can really change my mood and make me mellow and happy. Her version of "Your Song" is amazing, Ive been repeating it constantly. The Writer is another favourite of mine, I think everyone should check her out shes amazing.

30 Day Challenge: Day 7

Im having to play catch-up with this challenge since I had to do yesterdays today. So this is day 7, the one which I am meant to be doing today anyway, which requests a photo of someone who I love. I found myself torn chosing between my boyfriend, my parents and my brother, so theyve all made it here...

My boyfriend of 2 years, David, on our most recent holiday to Majorca in a restaurant which really was THAT close to the sea.

Me aged 11 with my brother (then 5, now 13, yikes!) and my dad catching my brothers first, and last, ever fish in Scotland. I cried and made them throw it back in the water after this picture was taken haha. Luckily it survived to tell the tale.

Me aged 4 (aww) with my mam on a holiday again in Majorca. I have this framed on my bedroom wall its my favourite picture of us.

p.s. I know my only posts recently have been for this challenge and not much beauty related, but I will get into it soon i promise! Lots of coursework deadlines and a faulty internet connection/rubbish camera arent helping the siuation

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 6

My laptop just completely stopped working yesterday so thats the reason for the lack of challenge posts. For now Im having to use my really slow old computer so we'll see how this goes.

Day 6 asks for a photo that makes me laugh, Ive taken laods of pictures over the years that I can have a giggle at, but I'm finding it hard deciding on one to put here. Most of them are only funny to me because of some in joke with someone, or something really silly, I cant really find any that would make a complete stranger laugh... so Ive just picked one that I love.

A few winters ago me and a few friends went to the cinema and for some really random reason we tried to impersonate this from Friends...

Considering our location, the ladies toilets in the cinema, we didnt have much to work with apart from a full length mirror, and this was the result using an awful camera phone...

Thats me second from top... I didnt wanna be the one sat on the floor in the toilets! This picture just makes me smile, all of my best friends from school doing something silly like we always used to, and I barely see them anymore so its just good memories and it makes me laugh at how wierd we were.

xoxo

Topshop Lust List

I think I might have a little bit of a Topshop obsession. Too bad my bank balance cant always support it! Heres a few things that I'm really loving at the minute, might give you a few ideas too...


Sabine Jumper Dress by Motel - £39.00



Puff Sleeve Dress by Quontum - £56.00



Foil Flower Pleat Tunic - £45.00



 

Badger Print Tee - £20.00



Knitted Deer Valley Lace Trin 3/4 Sleeve Sweater - £38.00



Premium Gold Lurex Pleated Skirt - £35.00

 

Primrose Ruched Strap Heels - £95.00

Pale Grey Leather Piped Detail Satchel - £50.00



Leather Bow Chain Strap Bag - £40.00



Borg Lined Faux Sheepskin Mittens - £18.00



Zig Zag Snood - £16.00

  That list turned out longer than I'd pllaned but never mind! I think I may have to pay a trip to town to purchase one or two of these pretty soon.

xoxo

Holidays are Coming....

Sorry for the cheesy Coca Cola advert inspired title but I got a little over excited by it today. I'm normally the type of perosn who can't get excited for the holiday season until around December time. Last year I didnt feel anything until around Christmas Eve *SCROOGE*. But this year the Christmas Television adverts are really heart warming and I think its down to them that I'm feeling all Christmassy already.

   Theres the obvious Coca Cola ad that is possibly the thing I look forward to the most all year. Once I first see that Big red lit up truck and hear the song, Im in complete Christmas mode from then on. Its been something ever since I was little, I'd see it on television for the first time every year and get SO excited, screaming to everyone in the house "ITS ON LOOK THE ADVERTS ON", and I'm still the same now.

   But more to the point I was thinknig about, theres the star studded M&S ad with Dannii Minogue, Twiggy, and my two loves Peter Kay and Jamie Redknapp, but even that wasnt getting to me. Along with the sweet DSebenhams advert with Coleen Rooney Iive seen a few times which is also quite nice.

   But Im really loving the John Lewis one which you can see here! Its something everyone can relate to, trying to sneak gifts past the children and wrapping them up when you think nobodys there to take a look. It really shows a British christmas and I jsut lvoe the cosy feel of it all, especially with Ellie Goulding's veriosn of "Your Song" on it. I adore Ellie Goulding, her music, her style and everything about her and Ive had this song on repeat for days.

Apologies for this rambly video about adverts of all things, nothing beauty related at all but hey ho. 

xoxo 

30 Day Challenge: Day 5

   Today I am meant to come up with a picture of my favourite book. This feels like a particularly tough one, as I do love to read but rarely find the time. I'll often sit down and start a book and never get the time to continue reading it so get halfway through a million books without ever finishing them. Some of the most recent books I've read have either been for coursework and completely mind dumbingly boring, or easy "beach reads" on holiday which I would'nt particularly say have been favourites of mine.

   So I think I'm going to go with the books that has been my favourite over my lifetime which I think I will always love and that is this...

   I've always loved Roald Dahl ever since I was a child, I would listen to my mam read them to me at bedtime , and the read every book myself as soon as I knew how and became hooked. I love all of them, partilcularly Matilda and Fantastic Mr Fox. I think Roald Dahl writes beautifully and in a similar way to Walt Disney has touched the hearts ofso many children and adults alike. I cant see a day when I will ever grow out of these stories, and I will definately read them all to my children some day too.
   I know it might seem like a childish choice but Irarely get time to read now and I have so many fond memories with these books they hold a special little place in my heart.

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 4

I was meant to do day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge yesterday. But I got stuck at my grandma's house all day and night so couldnt get to a computer. Not sure if this means Ive failed, but nevermind, I got to spend some good family time which was well needed, and Im going to carry on regardless.

Day 4 aks for a photo of the last place I went on holiday, which was Puerto Pollensa in Majorca. I went there in Spetember with my wonderful boyfriend *awww* and its one of the most relaxing and beautiful places Ive ever been. So heres the pine walk by the sea we walked along each day and the view of the bay and the sea.

Sorry for the bad lighting! On the last night we took our last walk along to the seafront bar and restaurants and the sunset was amazing!

Apart from my windswept hair and my startled expression on my face I love this photo. Its such a gorgeous place and I cant wait to go back sometime

xoxo

30 Day Challenge: Day 3

Ive been rather busy today, Im at my mams house helping prepare for a party she's hosting this evening and I've literally cooked and cleaned more today than I have the rest of my life. But being the budding little dedicated blogger I am, Ive escaped for a bit to do todays challenge.

So day 3 asks for photo that makes me happy. Well I could make a whole album of photos that make me smile, but Im quite resticted by the photos available on this computer. But I still managed to find one of my favourite ever photos lingering around in the mess of files on here.

This photo was taken quite some time ago. This is me and my three oldest friends on oiur local beach in summer 2006. I know its not the best quality, but I'm guessing it was taken on one of our old school phones at the time. Ive known these girls basically my entire life and I dont know what I would do without them. Weve had some good times on that beach and this photo captures how carefree and silly we were when we were a few years ago, no stress of college or uni deadlines or work to think about. Just good fun summers whith nothing to do but hang out with friends on the beach in the sun :)