Music of the month - December 2014

Here it is, the last 'music of the month' post...

until next year.

I tried not to make this month's edition completely Christmas songs although that is 98% of what I've been listening to.

1. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

I have a feeling that this has been everyone's favourite song this month. I have a friend who has been a fan of Bruno Mars since he first hit the charts and she suggested this song to me, and I was hooked from the first time I listened to it. It's so upbeat and fun, I like Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars but I honestly didn't expect this song to be that good and I was genuinely impressed.

2. Black Ballerina - Ariel Pink

I can't remember how I came across Ariel Pink, and I don't think you'll like his music if you're not into more alternative, quirky music. This is a very random song but I really like it and I've listened to it a lot.

3. Blank Space - Taylor Swift

When I heard that Taylor Swift had removed her music from Spotify, I was a bit annoyed and I refused to listen to her new songs to make some sort of protest, but I gave in and listened to Blank Space when the video came out and it's such a good pop song. I've heard a few other songs from the album (I haven't bought it yet though, yeah I know a bit late..) and I'm quite blown away. I loved Taylor Swift when she came out with Love Story when I was about 12 (I distinctly remember making a dance for it with some of my friends.. yeah that happened) but I slowly went off her as her music became a bit too samey for me, but this album is genuinely a good'un from what I've heard.

4. Runs in the Family - Amanda Palmer

What initially introduced my to Amanda Palmer was the fact that she had worked with Ben Folds before, Ben Folds has a permanent space in my favourite all-time artists (and bands if you include Ben Folds Five), and she does sound very Ben Folds-esque with the heavy piano.

5. The Passenger - Siouxsie and the Banshees

I think I had heard of Siouxsie and the Banshees through Tumblr but I hadn't ever really listened to them, but I decided to give them a go so I went to Spotify and listened to their top track which was this, and I think the instrumentation is great, and it sounds a little bit like The Smiths. Coincidentally, Siouxsie featured on a Morrissey song so I listened to that too and I think that made me love Siouxsie Sioux that much more.

I also have to give credit to Fairytale of New York by The Pogues because that has been my top Christmas song this year.

What music have you been listening to this month?

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What I got for Christmas 2014

I received some really lovely bits for Christmas so I thought I would show you as that's what all the blogger/vlogger folks seem to be doing, plus they've been some of my favourite posts/videos for a long time!!

What did you do for Christmas?

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How not to do a GRWM: Christmas edition

If you click on the video below, you'll see my very first GRWM/see me fail at doing my makeup on camera if you want to watch. If you see further below that though, you'll see all of the products I used :-)

You may be wondering why my hair isn't resembling a bird's nest as per usual, my sister styled it but it didn't really suit my what-I-call big head so I wasn't a giant fan unfortunately.

Base:

• Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Nude in 400 Natural Beige (perfect if you want a strange orange/pink finish, just saying for all of you out there with an ancestry tracing back to those known to work in chocolate factories)
• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Warm Medium
• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 25
• Collection Sheer Loose Powder (Review here)

Brows:

• Essence Lash and Brow gel
• Dark brown shade in Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette

Eyes:

• Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze (Review here)
• Light champagne (almost white) shade and Dark greyish black shade in Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Palette
• Essence Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (Review here)
• L'Oreal Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara in Black Angel
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Nude Eyeliner
• Essence Kajal Pencil in Black

Bronzer/Highlight/Attempt to achieve Kim K contour:

• MUA Bronzed Perfection (Review here)
• No7 Highlighter in Makeup Set - super sorry but there are no details about this kit on the back, it's just a pinky/white highlighter

Lips:

• MUA Lip Liner in Red Drama
• Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Really Red (Review here)

What type of makeup did you have on Christmas?

Or did you rock a no makeup/onesie look which I am prone to do but for some reason opted out of this year?

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Autumn favourites

Another season has passed since my Summer favourites, we are all a little older, and most likely a little fatter since Christmas is next week (I'll try and contain my excitement for this post). If you click on the video dooblydoo down below, you can watch me talk about non-beauty and beauty favourites but in the blog post it's more beauty favourites (see you're really missing out if you don't watch the video see)

1. Essence colour and go nail polish - 113 do you speak love? Review here

I essentially declared my adoration for this product in the review but I have literally been wearing this for the past month and a half, which is strange for me as I usually like to shake things up a bit with my nail polish (after all variety is the spice of life). It's cheap, it's a pretty autumn/winter shade, it dries quickly and it gives a nice gel effect without the tackiness for hours after (Barry M, I'm looking at you)

2. Makeup Revolution Rebel with Cause Review here

I made it clear how much I love this in the review I did but again it's just been such a great colour to wear throughout Autumn, it's allegedly a dupe of Mac's Rebel but, classic Bess, I haven't splurged on the high end product to verify this. It can be a bit drying as it's matte but if you exfoliate and let a lip balm (see below) sink in beforehand, there shouldn't be much of a problem with this. 

3. Carmex Classic

This is a bog standard lip balm but surprisingly I don't think I had tried it until very recently, always considered myself a vaseline girl but this is the Beyonce of lip balms, guys it is Queen B. It is so moisturising and it actually sinks in rather than sitting on the lips much like vaseline does. If I know I'm wearing lipstick the next day, I'll exfoliate my lips the night before and slap loads of this on so in the morning my lips are ready for lipstick, it's also just a lifesaver during the colder months when you're more prone to chapped lips.

4. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On bronze Review here

Okay, I'mma let you finish but this product is THE BEST product of 2014. I raved on about it in the review but I just can't get enough, it's pigmented, easy to apply, long lasting and best of all it does not crease at all. I really want to try out some more shades in this range.

5. L'oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara

I bought this mascara a few months ago and I have been wearing it everyday, it volumizes and lengthens, and it doesn't really go clumpy unless you apply too much but I find this with all mascara. It's also fairly easy to use on lower lashes with is surprising with a volumising mascara as they tend to have bigger brushes and are harder to use down there, but this my friends is a good'un.

6. Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry Review here

Whilst this lipstick doesn't fully set like a matte one making it more prone to moving around my face (that is only if my hair gets involved, it doesn't understand boundaries), I do really love this shade and I do like the finish. As long as you use a lipliner, it doesn't bleed and if your hair is less of a bird's nest than mine I'm sure you won't have a problem.

7. Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Sultry Review here

This has been a nice everyday shade for me (although I do wear bold lips for sixth form a lot), it's a matte Kylie Jenner-esque balm stick, long lasting and for the most part isn't particularly drying. After wearing it for a day at sixth form it starts to feel a little bit dry but other than that I have no problems, and it's nice if you want a more interesting lip than just a nude.

8. Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Really Red Review here

How do I put my feelings about this into words..? BEST. MATTE. LIP. EVER. Seriously, not at all drying, doesn't cling to dry patches, long lasting, pigmented, it is just the nicest matte lipstick I own, plus it's a blue-toned red so it makes your teeth look a little whiter. Apparently this is a dupe of Mac's Russian Red, and I think this is something that would suit all skin tones.

9. Leaf Necklace

I was given this by my Aunt when she went to New York a couple of months ago, and it's made by this person on Etsy but this particular necklace isn't on there. She told me that they take the leaves in central park and use it as a template for the necklace, so each one is unique. It came with a card that tells you what the leaf means, apparently this one is a Birch leaf which means good fortune, not sure whether I believe in that but I think it's such a pretty necklace and it really personifies Autumn. Plus it's silver and I prefer silver to gold generally.

10. Advent Calendars

A strange favourite for some perhaps, but I really wanted to share my advent calendars. I was given a Dan and Phil one from one of my friends, and a Disney one from my parents and I absolutely love both. The Dan and Phil one has selfies of them behind each window which is nice, although I have a tendency to forget to eat the chocolate so I end up eating about five in one go to catch up.

What have been your favourites this season?

What advent calendars do you have?

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Review | Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry

After hearing so many good reviews about Sleek in general, I knew I had to try something from them, and at the moment I'm just really loving my lipstick - ergo I picked up the Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry.

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry - £4.99

Let's start off real basic here. The packaging is so-so in my opinion, don't get me wrong I absolutely adore matte black packaging, it just makes a product look a lot more sophisticated, but the packaging of this lipstick is matte and rubbery so it feels a bit cheap, maybe that's just me and from just looking at it, it doesn't look cheap but it feels it. The lipstick is also a bit smaller than your average, this isn't a complaint as you get your average amount of lipstick in there all the same but it feels a fair bit smaller.

If you're not into vampy reddish purples, this may not be the right lipstick for you, but at the moment I am absolutely loving that look and it looks really Autumnal/Wintery so it's seasonally appropriate. It's quite sheeny which worries me a bit with such a dark colour because it could just get everywhere (which happened a couple of times because my hair flies about and whips it all over my face, on the contrary to Willow Smith I don't whip my hair back and forth, it whips back and forth of its own accord) and I did find that this didn't really set, and it felt a bit wet all day but it didn't bleed most likely because I had a lip liner on underneath. I didn't find it drying and it did last me a good 7-8 hours, but keep in mind that this was with a lip liner.

Overall, I really love the finish this product gives and it's a nice change from my usual matte lipsticks, and whilst it can sometimes transfer to other parts of my face due to my hair living by its own rules, it doesn't bleed out and it's generally just a darn good product so I reckon I'll be wearing it right up until Spring rolls around.

What's your current favourite Autumn/Winter lip?

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Review | Revlon Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick in Really Red

For a person who doesn't like looking too over the top for everyday, I sure do love me a red lip (as my growing collection would surely indicate)

As you may have seen in this haul, I picked up a Revlon lipstick in a deal at Boots (spend £9.99 and get a ColourBurst Matte Balm free, seriously it would have been offensive to refuse that). I picked up Really Red as I had read on many reviews of it that it was a dupe of Mac's Russian Red, me being Miss Stingey I can't verify that as I haven't splashed out and bought any Mac lipsticks (commence the mob of beauty bloggers coming after me with pitchforks)

Revlon Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick in Really Red - £7.49

The packaging is really nice and classy, it's very basic but it's nice all the same. It's a matte lipstick, but amazingly this isn't drying at all for the most part (at about the 7-8 hour mark, it started to feel a little dry but not too badly). It didn't cling to any dry patches, although I make an effort to exfoliate my lips and balm up those bad boys before applying lipstick in general so there weren't really dry patches to be clung onto.

It appears a little more orange on the picture but it doesn't come out orangey at all in real life.

As you can hopefully see, it's really pigmented (perhaps not a colour for the faint-hearted) - as the name would suggest, it is indeed 'Really Red'. It's a blue-toned red so it makes your teeth appear slightly whiter, although don't expect to put it on and instantly become Simon Cowell.

Overall, I absolutely love this product - I actually think it's my favourite matte red lipstick that I own (not that I own loads, but I do now own a fair few).

What's your favourite red lipstick?

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Review | Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr in On and On Bronze

I think I've made it pretty clear that when it comes to beauty, I'm not very experimental so I tend to stick with what I know. Regarding eyeshadows, this meant I stuck to powdered ones. However, after reading so many positive reviews and generally hearing people rave about this cream eyeshadow from Maybelline, I decided to give it a go.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr in On and on Bronze - £4.99

I am a total convert from powder to cream, this shade is beautiful and very similar to one of the bronze type shades in my Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 palette that I had hit pan on. I also have to mention my love of the packaging, I'm not sure if it's actually glass but if not it's very sturdy and well made plastic, sure it makes you think there's more in there than there really is but hey. I'm generally not a girl to judge by appearance, but it's always a bonus to have nice packaging.

As per usual, the swatch doesn't do the product justice, seriously though *11/10 would recommend this

It is extremely pigmented and glides on with ease. You can swipe on one layer for a less strong look or to use as a primer, or you can build it up for the ultimate bronze-splosion. What really impresses me with this besides from the amazing pigmentation and how easy and quick it is to use, is the fact that it does not crease whatsoever and I find with a lot of powder eyeshadows that it creases after a day of school, but this one not only lasted from 7:30am to 16:00pm without creasing, but it lasted until about 23:00pm that evening and it was still a clear, mostly uncreased bronze so I am thoroughly impressed.

Overall, I am really impressed with this eyeshadow and I want to pick up a few more, although from the reviews I've read this seems to be the best one in the range. For £4.99, the quality is absolutely fantastic and I'm pretty certain this is going to become a part of my daily makeup routine!!

What's your favourite cream eyeshadow?

*Statistics in this post may be false

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Drugstore/high street Beauty haul - Superdrug, Boots, Wilkinsons and more

Remember the days when I would walk into Superdrug and walk out with £10 worth of makeup at most? Yeah, well my bank account misses those days.

Makeup Revolution Palette - £4.00
Focus & Fix Liquid Concealer - £2.00
The Matte Effect Foundation - £2.00
Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner -£1.50

Carmex classic - £1.32

Revlon lipstick in Really Red - £7.49
Revlon single eyeshadow in Onyx - £2.99
Revlon colourburst matte balm in Sultry (Review here) - free with £9.99 purchase

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and on Bronze - £4.99
Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 25 - £5.99

Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara in Extreme Black - £6.99
Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeshadow stick in Bootleg Brown - £4.49
Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl eyeliner in Nude - free with 3 for 2 purchase

Garnier micellar water - £2.99
Nivea refreshing toner - £1.99
Nail scissors - £1.00

Sleek lipstick in Cherry - £4.99

Essence top coat in Circus Confetti - £1.80
Essence lipstick in Natural Beauty - £2.30
Essence kajal pencil in Black - £1.00
Essence lash/brow gel - £2.00

Stay tuned as there will be reviews of nearly all of these products!

Have you tried any of these products?
If so, would you recommend them?

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Review | Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Sultry

Despite the fact that I am an amateur in the world of beauty and I don't like to overcomplicate my daily makeup routine, I had never used a chubby stick before now and I think I really need to buy more as they're low maintenance and idiot-proof.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Sultry - £7.99

I bought the Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in the shade Sultry because it looked like a nice everyday somewhat nude or your-lip-colour-but-better for darker skinned people like myself. Plus I don't really have any nude or everyday type lip products (except for lip gloss and lip balm) in my collection which is silly giving that they're a lot more suitable for sixth form, so when my Auntie kindly gave me a £20 voucher for Boots I decided to pick this up as there was a deal if you spent £9.99 at the Revlon counter you could get this for free, there was really no way I could avoid it.. right?

On the swatch, it appears to be a brownish type nude which is essentially what it is but it has hints of dusty pink in there too (a little bit Kylie Jenner) which makes it such a beautiful and versatile shade. I absolutely love it and it's a bit more vampy than your run-of-the-mill nude which I am aware sounds ridiculous but it really does look a bit vampy for a nude!

It glides on like an absolute dream, you would be surprised that it's a matte shade given that it feels so moisturising on application. It does dry matte but it isn't at all dying, however I did find that after a day of sixth form my lips were feeling a little bit dry, but the fact that it lasted me from about 7:30am to 16:00pm is pretty astonishing and honestly not what I was expecting! 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this product and I am already fighting off the urge to dash back to Boots and buy some more from this range (and the other chubby sticks, I needs all the chubby sticks now).

What's your favourite chubby stick?

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Primark haul

I did a wee bit o' spending at the end of November in Primark so I thought I'd present you with a blog post and video showing you what I got. I must warn you, there is quite the Harry Potter theme.

Collared jumper - £10
Cable knit jumper - £12

Shirts - £6 each

Pyjama bottoms - £8

Sweatshirt - £10

Chequered shirt - £8

Cosy socks - £2

Are there are pieces you want to pick up from Primark at the moment?

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December wishlist

I feel like the obligatory 'I can't believe how fast the year has gone' comment has to be made, so there it is. I am getting increasingly excited for Christmas, but I also have my eyes on a few wintery items that I thought I'd share with you.

If you couldn't tell, I'm really wanting to buy into the tartan look over winter. The two skirts are pieces from Primark (which unfortunately I didn't see when I went in recently, however keep an eye on my blog for an upcoming Primark haul) and I think they just look lovely especially  for this time of year, yes you can wear tartan all year round but I personally think it looks great with thick black tights which isn't so easy to get away with in the summer due to the fact that I'll be writhing around on the floor in my own sweat complaining about the heat.

The nail polish can be bought from Wilkinsons and I know it's boring and black, but hey *I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside. Plus I think I raved on enough about one of the other Essence nail polishes for it to be obvious that I think they're pretty good value. Unfortunately this wasn't in Wilkinsons when I went so I may just look for another black gel nail polish (not from Barry M, I had a traumatic experience with their Gelly nail polishes).

It is cold and who says being warm can't be fashionable? Whilst it's unlikely I'll fork out for this Dorothy Perkins boyfriend coat I know for a fact there is one exactly like it in Primark which I'll hopefully pick up next time I'm in there.

Again with the tartan look, I really like this dress from New Look. It's a swing dress so it'll probably cover up the food baby conceived around the Christmas period, it's a bit more than I'd like to spend on a basic dress but this sort of style would be great.

What are you hoping to get over the next month?

How excited are you for Christmas?!

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*If you don't get the reference, try listening to The Smiths it'll change your life.

Music of the month - November 2014

As we enter the last month of 2014 (cray cray right?) I present to you another Music of the month post, so on we go!

1. Passionate friend - The Teardrop Explodes

I'm not sure if it's weird that I have such a similar taste in music to my parents, but at least it means I always have people to go to for music suggestions. My Dad has been playing The Teardrop Explodes' Wilder album a lot this month and this is the song that stood out for me on that album, but generally The Teardrop Explodes have become a new favourite. This song sounds a bit like R.E.M combined with Ben Folds Five and I love both, the instrumentation and harmonies in this song are pretty darn cool.

2. The boy who blocked his own shot - Brand New

Brand New are a group I gave a listen to a while ago but besides from Jesus Christ, none of their songs really stood out for me. I quite like the lyrics in this song even though instrumentally it's not particularly interesting, but I have been listening to this song a lot this month.

3. Undercover lover - Emma Blackery

Emma Blackery is one of my favourite YouTubers, so when her new EP came out I knew I had to give it a listen. I expected it to be generic pop to be honest but I gave it a go regardless and I wasn't disappointed - she really pulled it out of the bag, she reminds me a lot of classic Paramore/Hayley Williams combined with Harriet Wheeler's voice from The Sundays, and this song is really catchy.

4. Fluffy - Wolf Alice

If you don't follow me on Twitter, you may not have seen me freaking out about getting Alt-J tickets for January (SO EXCITED!). The relevance of this is that Wolf Alice are one of the supporting acts! I listened to Wolf Alice a while ago after seeing them appear on my Tumblr dashboard a few times and I quite liked them, so to find out they're supporting Alt-J is amazing so I've gone and listened to their songs again and I've listened to this one a lot. This particular song reminds me a bit of Hole, they sound a bit grungy so maybe that's why I like them.

5. Seaside - The Kooks

How did it take me so long to discover The Kooks?! I had heard Naive when it came out and I really liked it but I had never really given the rest of their stuff a proper listen, and now that I have I am obsessed.

I'd also like to give a special mention to all of the McBusted songs that have been released as I love love love them but they didn't quite make the cut, also I've started listening to Amanda Palmer but she's not quite made it because I've only just discovered her, I've also been loving Taylor Swift's Blank Space but I refuse to give her a proper spot in my Music of the month on the basis that she's taken all of her music off Spotify - sorry T Swizzle.

What music have you been loving this month?

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