This is a bit of a cop-out of a post, because it's a video. I much prefer to dedicate detailed blog posts to products I'm really loving and would wholeheartedly recommend, but I wouldn't necessarily wholeheartedly recommend every product in my current skincare routine, so I thought I'd do a video of it and talk you through what I'm using at the moment. If I ever do really love something though, you'll know, trust me, I'll probably talk about it on here at length.
I also didn't mention this in the video, but my lip balm of choice is Carmex Original. However, even though I do really like this one and would recommend it, I am on the lookout for a new one so if you are aware of one that doesn't test on animals (and if possible, is vegan) I would much appreciate!
When I was younger, I really really did not like licorice. It was the one form of sweet I would not put in my mouth under any circumstance (and believe me, I put a lot of sweets into my mouth as a child #fatkid). However, thanks to Essie, I have now developed a love for licorice.
This is the first Essie nail polish I have ever bought. £7.99 always seemed a bit much (or a lot much) to spend on a nail polish, but I cracked (here). I'm actually glad I cracked because the formulation of this nail polish is the nicest one I've ever tried, and I've tried a fair few in my time. Nail polish is hard to get right with me for several reasons:
1. I can't apply it for fudge, seriously if it's not a big brush, I just can't do it so -clears throat- I like big brushes and I cannot lie
2. Even if I have managed to apply it nicely, I can't keep my hands still, I have to do things and that usually entails smudging my averagely applied nail polish so I need as quick drying a formula as possible
3. I do a lot with my hands, I have to write long essays (I do Philosophy and History A level, it's a bundle of fun) and I play piano (grade 8 is no joke folks) so this leaves my nail polish prone to chipping, so I need a nail polish that chips as little as possible
4. I need one coat wonders with nail polish, I can't sit for ages applying coat after coat with a streaky nail polish because, as the wise Kimberly 'Sweet Brown' Wilkins once said, 'ain't nobody got time fo' dat'
5. I don't really have a fifth reason, I just wanted a list of five to emulate Rob Fleming from High Fidelity
I'd be lying if I said this nail polish didn't chip, I found minute (literally tiny tiny barely noticeable) chips after a day or two of wearing them, then I found after vigorously playing piano (seriously, I meant it when I said grade 8 piano is no joke) that it chipped a little bit more but it was nothing a touch up job couldn't fix. I've only found that I've only had a small issue with chipping if I'm playing a lot of piano or if I'm trying to get a tricky bit of plastic wrapping off from a DVD* and even then it's nothing a touch up job can't fix, otherwise we're coming up to 5 days strong.
This is possibly the quickest drying nail polish I've ever used, thoroughly dry within 2-3 minutes. Probably quicker than that, but I get concerned about the possibility of smudging, so I haven't tried touching it before then, but even so that's pretty darn impressive. A factor of the fast drying property is probably the fact that you only need one coat, it's opaque and the brush is wide so only one coat is really need.
So whilst £7.99 may seem a lot for a nail polish, it's pretty hard to fault, and I'm pretty certain I'll be buying more Essie nail polishes in my future nail varnish ventures.
As you may or may not have known, I put myself on a spending ban in January because I felt I had been buying too much makeup, but I broke it a few days ago (lasted a couple of weeks extra than I had planned) and did some naughty hauling*. I can assure you I won't be shopping like this again for quite a few months, but I won't be on a full-on spending ban again, I'll just make sure I'm only buying essentials y'know. Anyway, without further ado, I will show you what I bought.
As you can see, I spent rather a lot but due to A levels I don't really go shopping too often anyway so I probably won't go properly shopping again for a few months (so you can stop judging me now).
Have you tried any of these products? If so, would you recommend them? *Makes it sound as if I've been buying toys of the sexual persuasion, I can ensure you that I have not and if I were I wouldn't show you, we cater for prudes everywhere on 'fashion, beauty and an existential crisis'. **I was under the impression that I had bought Medium Deep, this is a tad too dark for me - darn. Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram
Hello readers, hope you're all well. It's the end of August which means it's time for a wishlist for the month of September, if you look below you'll see an image of the things I want with links of where to get them and whatnot. It's a somewhat longer wishlist than usual because Autumn and Winter fashion is what I live for (I just can't get by in the summer, I need the darkness that only colder seasons can provide)
The makeup brushes are from eBay for only £8.95 in a variety of colour, the picture actually doesn't show all the brushes that come in the set because it's actually a ten piece set which is amazing value for under a tenner. I've read a review on them and apparently they're very good for the cost, and you can get them in a variety of colours like black, white, blue and pink - I'm actually thinking I might go for the pink ones because they look really cute!!
The Revlon lipstick in Really Red is £7.49 in Boots and Superdrug at the moment but in Boots you can get 2 for £10 on Revlon products which is amazing so I'll probably buy it there, plus I prefer the points system in Boots. This is a well known dupe for Mac's Ruby Woo and it's half the price of a Mac lipstick which is great value, I think red lipstick looks really nice and I'm becoming more confident with wearing bright lipsticks now so I think this would look really nice in the Autumn/Winter.
The oversized jumper from H&M is £12.99 which isn't bad for a nice quality jumper, I have barely any jumpers and I think I need to get some in for when the weather gets colder. I'd like either a burgundy one or a black one for winter colours I think.
The boyfriend jeans from H&M in the picture were £13 but they are now sold out, so the ones I have put a link for are similar but just darker and they're £29.99 which is a little pricey for me as I hardly ever wear jeans due to body confidence, but I would like to buy boyfriend jeans and gather the confidence from somewhere to wear them because I think they can look really nice.
The scuba skirt from H&M (can you tell I love what H&M currently has in stock??) is only £10 at the moment, I reckon it will be sold out soon but I essentially just want a black pleated skirt. I have a white one that I ordered from boohoo a while ago but I think a black one would be more versatile, and I'm always looking for new skirts as I wear skirts whenever I leave the house (why bother to wear a skirt at home when you can wear pyjama bottoms?)
The pleated skirt from H&M (I think I'm going to be shopping at H&M a lot over the next month!!) is only £12.99 which is a really good price, I love the polka dot pattern on it and I also love navy as I think it suits me? I think this would be a versatile item that could be worn in the winter and in the summer.
The black platform sneakers from H&M cost £14.99 but I know for a fact that Primark is doing some like these so I'll probably just buy them from there. I'm 5'7 so I'm aware I don't need the height, but I think platform shoes look really nice and make your feet look a bit smaller so I'm all about that because I have pretty big feet (you know what they say about big feet right?)
I recently went shopping with my friend Isabella (she has been inactive on blogger for a while but she said she is planning on making a comeback and possible showing what she bought so please do go over and follow her) and picked up a lot of things from Primark, I also went shopping a couple of other times and bought a few bits and bobs so I put it together in a youtube video which you'll find below.
As promised, I have pictures of a couple of the outfits, two of the nail polishes, a sneak peak of what Isabella bought and close ups of some of the other item, also there are some things I've bought since filming the haul so I thought I'd throw those in here too.
These are the nail polishes I bought. From left to right: Seaside, Rose Hip, Pearl
This picture includes the nail polish Isabella bought as well, it's one of the chameleon nail paints but I'm not sure of the colour
From left to right: Baby lips SPF20 and Collection Mardi Gras strawberry lipbalm
These were both bought by Isabella: an MUA lip liner and a Kate lipstick (both were under £5 I believe)
This is mine, it is the Collection lasting perfection concealer in warm medium
This is also mine, this is a P.S love primark brow pencil in the colour medium
These are mine and Isabella's sunglasses, I bought the pair at the top and she bought the other ones, they were all £2
These were Isabella's: a Watermelon scented candle and a Vanilla one, they both had a strong scent and were under £2
These were Isabella's, they're a collection of gold hoop earrings ranging in size, and this was £1
This was Isabella's, I've used Argan Oil before and it made my hair very soft, I'm not sure whether she's gotten round to using it yet though
This is the Rimmel 25 hour foundation, as you can see it's not very thick and it's not very thin and I think that's good as it's buildable - I got this in the colour True Nude which has pinky undertones but seems to suit my skin tone, and it stays on all day and gives my skin a natural look
This is what the Pearl nail polish looks like on, it's matte but shimmery which is nice - plus it dried so much quicker than the gelly one!
I apologize for the mirror selfie, taking a nice photo on an iPhone is almost impossible without either another person or doing a mirror selfie
Kimono - Primark
Shirt - Primark
Skirt - Forever 21
Tights - Primark
Ponyo necklace - Etsy
Sigh, another mirror selfie..
Shirt - Primark
Skirt - Forever 21
Tights - Primark
Ponyo necklace - Etsy
The packing of the things I ordered on etsy was too cute not to include...
The Harry Potter Marauder's Map one can be ordered here
They're both from the same seller so the postage was cheaper, they're both of good quality and arrived quickly too!!
This is what the Rose Hip nail polish looked like on, honestly I'm a bit annoyed with it. It stayed tacky for ages because it took so long to try.. although it did come out quite shiny but I didn't keep it on for very long as the tackiness upset me too much
Another mirror selfie...
Shirt - Primark
Skirt - Forever 21
Tights - Primark
I bought this a while ago at the Who shop in Upton park, it was only a pound and there's a mini museum in the shop too which is a must-see for any whovian (although it took a long time to get there and there's not much else to do in the area unless you go over to the Stratford Westfield, but I still enjoyed it)
