18 things I learned by 18

1. Always bring your iPhone charger with you, where ever you're going. You never want to be in a situation where your battery is too low to listen to You're Gonna Lose That Girl or Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now for the thousandth time. 

2. Never leave the house without a book. A bus journey without reading material is a bus journey not worth taking.

3. Don't forget that your journal is there for when you're feeling the bitter winds of teenage angst.

4. Saying 'I'm not a feminist, I believe in equality' is the most stupid thing a person can say. Embrace your feminism, educate the ignorant and don't stop complaining until things change.

5. Your parents were right about Morrissey and The Smiths. The years of denying yourself the pleasure of The Headmaster Ritual, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, and How Soon Is Now? are years you will never get back, so face facts and accept that when it comes to music your parents know what they're talking about - it will save you a lot of time.

6. Don't be ashamed of still not being over High School Musical, anyone who doesn't like it is a dirty, rotten liar and they need to get their head in the game. Also don't be ashamed of the fact that you still watch Disney channel and get excited when they show Hannah Montana.

7. Foundation and concealer do not make you look cakey and orange if applied in the right shade and with the right amount, you can cover up those dark circles that you hate oh so much.

8. Biology A Level was never going to be your thing, you knew that from the first week of sixth form and just because you got a B at GCSE in a ridiculously hard Biology curriculum (Cambridge iGCSE is no joke people) it doesn't mean you're going to become an expert in phospholipid membranes and tertiary structures, so don't stress yourself out about it too much.

9. Try not to let your anxiety control you, say yes to more opportunities, but don't feel bad and beat yourself up if you're not up to meeting up with friends once in a while, it's all about baby steps.

10. Doctor Who is worth the hype. Give it another go, start from Christopher Eccleston - enjoy.

11. Don't upload photos of yourself on Facebook at least until age 15/16, seriously anything before then is not a pretty sight and by the time you discover this there will be hundreds to go through and make private or delete - save yourself this time.

12. You don't need to buy every Beatles band shirt you find, if you have nearly twenty, you have a problem and an empty purse.

13. As much as you want to date Tom Felton/Draco Malfoy (in the movies of course because Draco in the books is an arse wipe) you are not a Slytherin, as you find out at age 17, you are a gryffindor (and it's great - go go gryffindor!)

14. Answer your phone. Seriously. People know you're scared of picking up the phone, and they're generally sympathetic, which is why if they're calling you it is important - so pick up your damn phone once in a while.

15. Reading reader insert fanfictions probably isn't the best use of your time, but if it helps you forget about the inevitability of you being forever alone, go right ahead and do it.

16. That existential crisis you've been having since you were 12? Yeah, that's not going anywhere any time soon. Just try not to bum everyone else out by talking about the inevitability of death and the insignificance of humankind because it's not the greatest conversation starter.

17. One Direction are not that bad. Perhaps pop music is all manufactured and a disgrace to the greats like The Beatles, The Smiths, Ben Folds Five, Arctic Monkeys (and so on) but they are catchy and can be quite fun. However, you can maintain that pretentious façade and claim you only listen to 'I want' because it's written by Tom Fletcher and because it sounds exactly like a McFly song if it makes you feel better.

18. You don't need to have your entire life plan figured out by age 18. Very few people do, enjoy the next few years and get some life experience (preferably experience that doesn't require a wifi connection, yes Tumblr I'm looking at you)

What wisdom can you pass on from your life experience?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Review | Essence Colour and Go Nail Polish in 113

I have to tell you something, it's been eating me up inside but I need to come out with it, and I hope we can see past this together - I don't like the Barry M  Gelly Nail Polish. Okay, I said it, and I'm sure you're now judging me pretty harshly as these are otherwise known as some of the greatest nail polishes in the world of beauty. I feel I should mention that I only tried out one, but I can't see how the formulation would be massively different between shades. 

Anyway, since trying out the Barry M Gelly nail polish, I have been on the lookout for a glossy, gel, pigmented nail polish without spending extortionate amounts, by which I meant £5 or more (hey, we're going through a recession don't judge my cheapskate-ness wise spending). 

After trying out various Essence products (which I've reviewed here and here), I came to the conclusion that Essence was amazing value for money and so when I saw they sold nail polishes I knew I had to try one, especially as they are gel nail polishes. 

The shade I picked up is 113 - do you speak love? I feel I should inform you that the number and the shade name isn't clear, you need to look at where the barcode is and it's in small writing, however I am glad they had a proper shade name rather than just a number. I refuse to have my beauty products reduced to numbers. It's a beautiful autumnal burgundy red so it's perfect for Autumn and Winter but I think red is generally the type of colour that you can wear all year round. 

I really love the packaging, it reminds me of Bourjois nail polishes because the lid is the same colour as the nail polish which also makes it easy to pick it out of a bunch. The brush is also amazing for application, it's wide so it covers the whole nail in one swift stroke - that's also the amount you need to get an opaque colour, just one swift stroke. You can go over with a second layer for longevity perhaps but I think it's fine with just a base coat and one layer. I've found that it lasts about a week before chipping really badly as in it has to be done a week later at the very latest otherwise  your nails are going to look a bit tatty and not nice. My favourite thing about this product has to be the fact that it dries so quickly for a gel nail polish, this was the problem I had with Barry M. With Barry M, my nails would be tacky for hours whereas with Essence my nails are fully dry in under 10 minutes, I'm sure it is even less than that but I paint my nails slowly otherwise I mess it up to such a large extent.

Overall, I love love love this product and I will definitely be trying out other shades. I find it hard to believe that such a high quality product only costed £1.60 from Wilkinsons.

What are your favourite products from Essence?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Book review - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Hello there readers, I am back with another book review. I know it's been a while but if you have me as a friend on Goodreads you may or may not have seen that I was reading a couple of historical fictions. Now I have nothing against people who enjoy historical fiction, some of my best friends like historical fiction, but I can't stand it so trekking through these books for History was a long, treacherous journey that I wish not to repeat. Once I finished those books though, I moved onto the one I am reviewing - Fahrenheit 451. This book is considered a classic by most literature nerds (of which I am one), so I knew that one day I would have to read it, but what really gave me the motivation to read it now was my Philosophy teacher who I have mentioned in countless posts now but he recommends books and films and whatnot and he recommended the film of this, and I like to try and read the book before reading the film generally so I decided to read it. Plus my parents have recommended it several times before, so the time was right.

I'd also like to point out that with this book, I completed my 2014 reading challenge which was to read 15 books, this may not sound like a lot but I really became unmotivated with reading last year so I'm quite proud of myself for doing it and completing it more than 2 months ahead!

Borrowing my parents books always means receiving a very old, battered book which for aesthetic reasons is  quite nice but makes it quite hard to scan into goodreads.. mostly because you need a barcode and there are no barcodes on the old books.

Synopsis:

Guy Montag is a fireman in a dystopian future where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy books along with the houses in which they are hidden, because they are the most illegal commodity.

Montag never questions this lifestyle, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family." But then he meets an eccentric seventeen year old, Clarisse, who asks him thought provoking questions and tells him stories of the past - back in the day when firemen used to put out fires rather than start them. Clarisse causes him to question his entire lifestyle, and the story continues on from there.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It was so easy to get into, and it wasn't written in a complicated way at all. My only criticisms are that it was split into three parts rather than chapters so it made it a little harder to decide when to stop reading, but it's a very short book regardless so I didn't have too much trouble with that. I was so gripped in the third part, so much so that I couldn't put it down which was nice because I haven't read a book like that in a long time. I also enjoyed the philosophical themes in it - this could be because I am a generic pretentious Philosophy student, I like reading and watching things that make me think. I really want to watch the film now!!

Overall rating:

I gave this a 5/5 on Goodreads - yep that's right, you read that correctly. I hardly ever rate books a 5/5 (with the exception of Harry Potter) but I can't point out any faults with this book really.

Have you read Fahrenheit 451?

Ed's Diner

The 50s style Diner has been used as a centrepiece in many classic films and television for a long time, such as in Grease...

and Seinfeld...

I was lucky enough to once visit the Seinfeld diner...

So to summarise, diners are the epitome of a cool dining experience, so obviously I couldn't resist showing you a few pictures of Ed's diner. I'm not sure whether it will be such a big deal to Americans seeming as you have a lot of diners (whether they're 50s themed or not I don't know) but in the UK they are about as rare as a memorable X factor contestant. 

Peanut butter milkshake a.k.a heaven in a cup

Whoever coined the idea of having the combination of Chicken and BLT - I thank you, my thighs don't, but I do.

Spot the Bess in this photo (just look for the big bird's nest I call a hairdo.. found me yet?)

The food here was pretty darn tasty, and as an enthusiast of 50s/60s music I absolutely loved the Jukebox thing they had going on. It cost 20p to queue a song in the playlist and there's a machine for it at each table and I thought that was such a cool idea, I can't imagine anything cooler than working at a restaurant where Elvis, the Beach Boys and Buddy Holly are played round the clock - can you?

Thanks for reading my post!

Have you been to a 50s themed diner before?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Review | Primark P.S Love Liquid Eyeliner

I apologise for the writing on the eyeliner rubbing off - it happens to the best of us, I hope we can move past this together.

About 4 months ago, Primark launched its own beauty range called P.S Love and caused quite a hype in the beauty blogger world for its inexpensive products. As a confessed Primark shopaholic and beauty product hoarder I knew I needed a slice of this cheap beauty pie (sounds pretty appealing right?)

I decided to try out their liquid eyeliner as I had read some good reviews and was looking for an inexpensive replacement for the Collection liquid liner, and as this one only cost £1 I figured I wasn't going to be losing much.

Formula wise, this is a great product. It is long lasting, very black and doesn't flake off for a long time, it also dries fairly quickly and doesn't transfer onto other parts of the eye area which is a benefit. As you may be able to see from the swatch below, it isn't matte but it isn't incredibly shiny either, and it is very black which is good.

However, the nib was an absolute pain in the backside for the most part. When it was fresh from the packet, the nib was very hard and very thin which is good to get a steady thin line but it was so hard that I found it quite painful sometimes. I found that the nib softened up after a few uses and was quite good for a while, but then the fibres kept coming out and I found myself constantly plucking out and snipping off these fibres - I'm not sure if that's normal for liquid eyeliner nibs but I've never had this problem before, this made application a hell of a lot harder as it was like using a mini cactus as a nib and it meant I couldn't make a clean cat eye flick easily.

Overall, this product is fairly good for the price and I love the formula but because of the problems I suffered with the nib I can't see myself repurchasing it any time soon - sorry Primark!

Have you tried any of the P.S Love Range?

What were your thoughts?

Review | Essence Studio Nails Hardening Nail Base

Just over a month ago, I heard that Wilkinsons had introduced a make-up brand called Essence and I was interested from the start as I've always gone for the most inexpensive best value products concerning make-up, skin care and clothes. I took a gander on the Wilkinsons website first and foremost so I could find out what sort of products I would be most interested in trying, and the first thing that caught my eye was their nail polish range and in particular their nail hardening products because I have wanted to purchase the Sally Hansen nail hardening products for a long time but I couldn't bring myself to spend that much - hence I decided to try out the Essence Studio Nails Hardening Nail Base.

The one thing that puts me off from wearing nail polish in general is the thought of it chipping quickly because I hate chipped nail polish and I always have a compulsion to remove it straight away even if it has only chipped after a day or two, that's why finding a good nail base was important to me. Furthermore, my nails are fairly brittle so this means my nail polish is more susceptible to chipping so this is why I needed a nail base that would harden my nails more than just prevent staining. This product was only £1.80 so it wasn't a massive loss at all. 

Whilst it looks glue-like in consistency and colour, I can assure that it is a very good nail polish. It dries clear and quickly, and makes my nails feel instantly stronger and it has now become a necessity when painting my nails. It makes my nail polish (the one on top of the base coat) last at least twice as long as it usually would as well when I'm wearing it so it is well worth the money.

I can honestly say I have no negative things to say about this product, it will definitely be a repeat purchase. Considering it was under £2.00 as well, I am pretty chuffed to have discovered this product.

Have you tried any products from Essence?

What do you think of it?

Summer favourites

Hello there readers! Today I'm going to do a monthly favourites, I haven't done one of these on my youtube channel or this blog but I used to quite like doing them on my old blog and I've collated quite a few items that I am loving, but I feel like firstly I need to majorly apologise for not uploading any blog posts throughout September. You can probably guess, but I've just been back at sixth form and it's my last year so I've had a lot of work to do and it's hard to edit videos and blog posts on top of that but I'm still going to try my best to upload as often as I can.

1. Max Factor Glossfinity in Snow White

I received this nail polish from my Mum who got it as a free gift with purchase, and I love white nail polish. I cannot recommend this nail polish highly enough! It's opaque, super glossy, dries in seconds and is long lasting! It could probably get away with one coat, I am awful with nail polish (brittle nails and poor application) but this really worked for me - go out and buy some!!

2. 'Episodes' the TV show

This show came out a while ago so yes I'm late to watching it however there wasn't a massive hype over it so it's not like I'm late to the bandwagon, right? When this show was originally on, I was interested by the cast (Friends is my livelihood so Matt LeBlanc was enough to get me onto it, I also quite enjoy Black Books  and Friday Night Dinner so Tasmin Greig also drew me in , and I've seen Stephen Mangan on Would I Lie to You? and I've thought he was quite funny). The idea of the show is that these two characters called Sean and Beverly have had this successful TV show in England, so they're asked to bring it over to the USA and it makes fun of the whole idea (come on, besides from The Office what show has successfully been brought over to the USA?) so I quite enjoyed that.

3. My Mad Fat Diary - Rae Earl

Anyone who has followed me on twitter for a long time you may remember my fangirling when series 2 of My Mad Fat Diary was shown, if you don't remember then don't worry I'm not judging you too much. When I found out that it was based on real life diaries that were turned into books, I knew I had to read them, and my good friend Meera lent the first book to me to read and I really liked it (you can read my review here) The characters aren't the same as the TV show exactly because they have nicknames like Haddock and Battered sausage, the characters in the TV show are a combination of characters. I'd definitely give this a read if you love Morrissey and the Smiths because there are references on every page practically.

4. Beauty Formulas mud mask

If you've seen my Collective July Haul, then you will know that I bought this inexpensive mud mask from Savers for a £1. It isn't the most amazing face mask I've ever tried, but it is the most amazing face mask I've ever tried that costs £1 for this much product. I use it twice a week, and my skin always feels so smooth afterwards, it also doesn't irritate my skin which is what I worry about with cheaper products.

5. 'Finding Carter' - the TV show

I'll be honest, I only started watching this show because of Kat Prescott (I'm a massive Skins fan and Emily was one of my favourite characters) but 7 minutes into the first episode and I was hooked. Carter is this girl who was abducted and then she gets reunited with her real family but she wants to be back with who she thought was her Mum, I think it's just a gripping show - once I had started there was no hopes of saving me.

6. DIY Lemon and Sugar Scrub

This is essentially a scrub made with sugar and lemon juice so it's pretty simple, but so effective. I have never had such good exfoliation, plus it tastes really nice (I know you're not meant to eat it but in the rare case than some slips into your mouth whilst exfoliating your face, you can eat it and it will taste good - it reminds me of Pancake Day because I will always take lemon and sugar on my pancakes over syrup)

7. Make-up Revolution Lipstick in Dare (Matte)

I have been waiting forever for Make-up Revolution to hit the shops, I thought they were meant to come into stores back in June or something like that but they never did - until August. I freaked out and now I just want to buy the whole range because it's all such good value for money! This lipstick is matte so it isn't exactly hydrating but it's not completely drying, it's extremely pigmented and fairly long lasting for £1 - I am thoroughly impressed. I'm also quite proud of my self for getting into red lipstick because I've always been a bit scared to wear it out of the house, but all I ever get is compliments on it and I feel this is the perfect shade to wear in the autumn/winter but it can be worn all year round!

8. Make-up Revolution Iconic 2 Palette

As I just said, Make-up Revolution seems to be amazing value for money! Similarly to MUA (their sister brand I believe), they have 3 palettes that are identical to the Naked Palettes by Urban Decay but they are literally 10 times cheaper. I was debating about whether to get the Iconic 2 or Iconic 1 palette but I decided on Iconic 2 (I will eventually get Iconic 1), and I have not looked back - extremely pigmented and long lasting for only £4, and they're all neutral brownish shades with a black/dark grey and a lighter grey shade which means I've been able to get use out of all of them!

9. eBay Makeup Brushes

First things first I'm the realest you can buy similar brushes here (the ones I bought are no longer available.) These brushes are amazing value. I might as well say that I'm not a complete makeup brush nerd, hence why I wanted to buy eBay ones because I didn't want to spend a large amount on expensive brushes if I wasn't going to use them often, but these brushes have become a staple for me. I bought them in the pink colour because I thought they'd be pretty, although they're not the pink that was advertised by the seller I'm not too bothered because I like the colour they are. They are super soft and apply makeup very well - what else could you want from makeup brushes/

10. Nivea Soft Cream

I may as well get this out there, this is quite possibly the nicest cream I have ever used on my skin ever. It is extremely hydrating (you can use it on your body and hands as well as just your face, but I only use it on my face), you get a massive tub (I only paid £1.99 for this massive tub) and you can use it sparingly so it will probably last me a very long time, and it has made my skin feel immensely soft, it also has a nice slightly floral scent which I think is lovely.

Thanks for reading/watching - I'll see you soon!!

Music of the month - August 2014

Hello readers, it's that time of month where I post another 'Music of the month'. I've listened to a lot more new music than I usually do recently, probably because I'm off school and I've finally discovered the world of Spotify - yes, I have moved over from Grooveshark to Spotify (you can follow my Spotify here), therefore this post is a bit longer than my usual 'Music of the month' posts but I should be back to normal once I'm back at school as I'll be too busy letting my soul die to discover lots of new music.

1. Rude - Magic!

I first heard this song on the Dan and Phil segment of BBC Radio 1 (which was on every Sunday and along with #SuggSunday on Youtube, was one of the highlights of my Sunday but now the show has been changed up and whatnot) and I remember liking it. Then I saw on Spotify that it's the number 1 track everywhere so I listened to it again and I just cannot grow tired of this song, it's strange for me to be into a 'mainstream' song (oh God, I bet I sounded like an utter hipster, I'm not, I just generally don't like many songs in the charts)

2. On the Radio - Regina Spektor

This past month has definitely been the month of Regina Spektor for me. I had only ever listened to the odd song by her (I love 'You Don't Know Me' by Ben Folds and she sings on that, so that was my first impression of her). She reminds me a lot of Sara Bareilles' old stuff which I used to love. I think Regina has such a great voice and I love musicians who mostly use piano as their main instrument in their music (this is probably because I'm a pianist so I'm a bit biased but hey)

3. I Want to Break Free - Queen

I have loved Queen for a long long time, but I go through phases with their songs and at the moment I'm going through a phase with this song. In addition to this being an amazing song, I really like the video. It's such a fun song to sing along to, and I love the guitar solo break in the song!

4. Better - Regina Spektor

I don't really have too much to say about this song but it's fairly upbeat, and I just needed another Regina Spektor song in this post because I listened to her non-stop for the most part of the summer - she really is just phenomenal.

5. Gorilla - Bruno Mars

I listened to this song when it was released and I remembered liking it but I had forgotten about it, seeming as I've made a Spotify account though I've gone and re-listened to a bunch of songs I used to like and honestly I've been listening to Bruno Mars' most recent album a hell of a lot which is weird because I never really rated him much. I have a friend who is really into him so she raved on about him and I guess I never saw what was rave-worthy about him, but he is such a good musician and performer and I think this song is really catchy.

6. Left Hand Free - Alt-J

I've loved Alt-J for a while now but I hadn't heard this song until someone I follow on tumblr reblogged it and I always try to make a habit of listening to all of or most of the songs reblogged onto my dashboard as I follow some really cool people who listen to awesome music, so I listened to this and my first thought was that this doesn't sound anything like Alt-J but I still really like it. I'm not sure what I'd compare it to, it's a bit like Arctic Monkeys and I love them so that could be why I like this.

7. Easy Money - Johnny Marr

I don't know whether this has come across on my blog before but if you follow my tumblr, twitter or instagram (cheeky self promo), you'll probably know I adore The Smiths and I think both Morrissey and Johnny Marr are incredibly talented human beings. I listened to Johnny Marr's last album and didn't think much of it (I reckon they're growers), so when I heard he had released a new single I wasn't particularly fussed but when I listened to it it just stuck to me, it's really catchy, the guitar part is amazing, and I'd probably be lying if I said I hadn't listened to it about fifty times since it came out - I'm very much looking forward to his new album now.

8. Stop the World I Wanna Get Off With You - Arctic Monkeys

I heard this song a while ago when it came out but with Arctic Monkeys I go through phases of their songs so I suppose I'm going through a phase with this one at the moment, I think it can be seen as quite a romantic song (Alex Turner - you can hide behind that leather jacket and your sunglasses but we all know you're a big softie), I'm also not sure but I think there may be a double meaning because 'get off' could be seen from two points of view I think - thoughts?

9. Arabella - Arctic Monkeys

Again, this isn't really a new song but it's one that I've rediscovered and just been listening to a hell of a lot. I think the whole AM album is amazing, although I think most Arctic Monkeys albums are evenly matched and it's hard to pick out one and say it's the best (but I think 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' possibly sticks out a tiny bit more for me)

10. Apres Moi - Regina Spektor

As I said before, I've been listening to a hell of a lot of Regina Spektor this month, I just think she's incredible, so it was very hard for me not to just put thirty Regina Spektor songs for this month's edition of 'Music of the month', I quite like this song because she sounds very passionate whilst she's singing it and she generally performs quite well, I won't try and figure out what the song means because from looking up the song meaning it has caused a fair bit of controversy.

Thanks for reading about my favourite music this month!

What music have you been loving this month?

September Wishlist

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?)

Thanks for reading my wishlist!

What's on your wishlist for September?

Drugstore/high street Beauty haul - Superdrug, Savers and more

Hello there readers, you may be shocked to learn that this month I don't have a Primark haul for you all - very sorry, I did buy one thing there this month which I'll show in this post but I have bought quite a few beauty items from Savers, Superdrug and from my local market that I'll show you. If you look below, you'll also see a video so you can grab a cup of tea and watch that, then look at the blog post or do whatever you want - live life on the edge, carpe diem, #YOLO (that's about as gangster as this post gets, sorry)

1. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - £2.99 from Savers

I've heard so many good reviews of this product and I felt I had avoided buying it for long enough, hence I bought it. £2.99 seems such good value for this big a bottle, it claims to give you 200 uses but I'm not sure how much I believe that - maybe I should make a chart of how many uses I actually get out of it?!

2. Nivea Soft Moisturising Cream - £1.99 from Savers

I hadn't really read any reviews on this product until after I bought it, but it was reduced and my friend who I was with at the time highly recommended it. I reckon it's going to be very moisturising as you can use it on your body as well as your face, which should be good for the upcoming winter months as I think my skin can get quite dry even though 

3. MUA Bronzed Perfection - £3.00 from Superdrug

I have been in need of a new bronzer for ages because the bronzer I have been using at the moment isn't even a branded bronzer (yes let me be shunned by the beauty community), I have been using a cheap bronzer that I got in a kit from when I was about 13 and as I use it everyday I figured it was time to buy a branded one even if it's MUA which is on the more inexpensive side. It's quite matte so I think that'll make contouring much better, it's also a massive size which is great value for money!

4. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - £4.19 from Superdrug

This is a repeat purchase, I don't think this concealer lives up to the hype it's given in the beauty world, but in that moment I knew I needed a new one and I didn't know another high coverage one to turn to. I got it in the colour warm medium which is a bit light for me but as winter is coming I'm sure it'll be fine as I get paler. It's so hard finding a good concealer when you're mixed race, most companies seem to think dark = dark orange which doesn't counteract my dark circles at all because I'm quite a pale mixed race person so.. it's a struggle to say the least.

5. Rimmel Lasting Finish Nail Polish - £1.00 each from Market

I'd like to firstly say, I'm sorry if you don't have a market near you that sells these nail polishes at such a low price, but I figured you'd still want to see them and you can get these nail polishes anywhere anyway. I got them in the colour Black Cab which is your staple black, and Double Decker Red which is your basic red. I think these are especially good Autumn-Winter colours so I'll be able to use them over the next few months as Summer is fleeting, but I reckon you can pull these off in Summer as well. I don't actually have a black or a red nail polish so when I saw them I knew I needed them, and for £1.00 each I couldn't complain.

Thanks for reading/watching!!

What beauty products have you bought recently?

Spitalfields market and the Breakfast club

Hello there readers. I thought I'd share a snippet of my life with you today, about this time last week I went to Spitalfields market with two of my closest friends and we had a really lovely time, and then went back to my friend's house for an 80s films themed sleepover so it was a lot of fun!

To kick start the day, we went to The Breakfast Club in Spitalfields.

No word of a lie, these were the best pancakes I've ever had. Ever since my holiday to the USA last year, I have been missing IHOP a lot especially when eating English pancakes and realising how ours don't even compare, but these may be even better than IHOP.

The Breakfast Club was full of notes from previous customers and random bits and bobs like concert tickets from people who had seen concerts in that area.

After stuffing ourselves, we went off to the market and the cute shops around it.

There was this shop selling vintage homeware and I couldn't not take a couple of snaps!

After buying a thing or two in Spitalfields, we made our way over to Brick Lane where we didn't buy anything but we did stop for a Starbucks - my first ever Starbucks, I feel like I've been truly accepted into the hipster lifestyle (don't worry I am being ironic)

After having a Starbucks and a nice sit down, we hopped on a bus and went to Oxford street mostly just for the Disney store and Selfridges - we found ourselves very overcome with emotion in the Disney store, I have no shame whatsoever. When we were finished on Oxford Street, we made our way back to my friend's house for some baking and 80s movies!!!

Can't talk about baking without a bit of food porn eh? This is the cookie dough we made for the slutty brownies!

This is the slutty brownies before they went into the oven (if you want a recipe post for this please comment down below and I'll make them again!)

The finished results.. believe me, the pictures do not do the brownies justice. I think I've only just started living since trying slutty brownies, and I think my friends are still a bit freaked out by the things I said I would do to this brownie..

Of course just slutty brownies wasn't enough, so we made two other types of cookies. This dough turned into delicious nutella cookies.

The recipe for these nutella cookies can be found here.

Top tip: eat these while they're hot, they're much tastier hot and soft!

My mouth is watering just remembering these chocolatey delights, of course that wasn't enough so we made BISCUITCEPTION (see below)

This is biscuitception a.k.a cookies with chocolate fingers inside, these were the softest cookies I've ever tried - it's like a cookie mixed with a cake!

We spent the rest of the night and the rest of the next day watching 80s films such as Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, E.T, Big, and The Goonies. I might as well say that 80s films are my absolute favourite films, we did plan for more but we didn't have time so we will definitely be doing another one at some point in the future.

We also managed to do a face mask in between and order pizza which was great.

Thanks for reading this lifestyle post!