Music of the month - September 2014

Hello there readers - I do apologise for not blogging that much over this month, I am back in the humdrum sixth form lifestyle, I'm actually doing my last year of A levels so it's a pretty important year but I don't want blogging to take a backseat so I'm still going to try and upload as often as I can! As you can tell by the title, it is time for another 'Music of the month' post (you can read my last one here) because whilst I am spending most of my time crying over the fact that I'm doing A levels and I want to melt my face because of that, I am still listening to music so I have been listening to a few songs on repeat this month!!

1. Babooshka - Kate Bush

I've been listening to Kate Bush a lot this month because my Philosophy teacher loves her, and at the beginning of every Philosophy teacher he recommends some music or a film or a book to us (and then we can recommend something if we want to), and he's recommended Kate Bush a fair few times so I've been listening to her a lot. I turned to her popular tracks on Spotify and Babooshka was the third one in there and I just like how quirky it sounds, and I also think she has a great voice.

2. Every Other Freckle - Alt-J

I have been listening to Alt-J's newest album on Spotify non-stop since it was put on there, it's slightly different from their old album but still has some similarities. Every Other Freckle is fairly similar to the songs on their last album but less chilled and more 'groovy' - I really didn't want to have to use the word 'groovy' in this post but that's what it's like, don't judge me.

3. Lovely Day - Alt-J

As I just said, I have been really enjoying Alt-J's new album. It sounds a little bit different from their first album in some ways but it's also similar enough that if you liked the first album you won't be disappointed with this one. This song is a bonus track on the album and I really like it because it sounds a bit strange and quirky but it's a nice chilled song.

4. The Girl in the Dirty Shirt - Oasis

I have liked Oasis for a long time but I haven't heard all of their songs so I'm always discovering new ones. I feel like all of their most popular songs like Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova (which I love don't get me wrong) sound quite similar but this song provides some variation. My family are always criticising me for liking Oasis (they prefer Blur) because all of their songs sound the same, but this one sounds slightly different and a bit more 'rocky'.

5. Lullaby - The Cure

The Cure also aren't a new band to me but I don't know that many of their songs, and I think this song came up on my tumblr dashboard and I instantly liked it. It's another chilled song but it's more upbeat than Alt-J. I'm never sure if it's wrong for me to like The Cure seeming as The Cure fandom seem to hate The Smiths fandom (please just let me love who I love)

Thanks for reading this month's 'Music of the month'!!

What music have you been enjoying this month?

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?