January Favourites

The first month of the 2016 is finally over! January always seems to be a slow one and a month most of us want to see the back of! Nevertheless this month brought some new beauty bits my way and some rediscoveries that made January go a little smoother! Before I get started on sharing my most loved pieces from the month, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who shared the love on my 6 blogging anniversary post, it really meant a lot 🙂

Starting off with two palette favourites! First one up is an exciting new addition to my eyeshadow collection, the Tartelette in Bloom palette. I have the original palette which I am still needing more wear out of but as soon as I seen this I knew I needed it in my life! The outer packaging firstly is just so beautiful and the gold with pink/purple floral design is just so pretty! The inside contents obviously matters most and it doesn’t disappoint! The warm shade range is perfect and there is some real stand outs amongst the bunch especially the bronze shimmer shade which is so pigmented! All of the shadows are super buttery and most have great pigmentation! Look out for a more detailed look at this palette later 🙂 The other one is no surprise seeing as it was mentioned in my Charlotte Tilbury post. The gorgeous Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette is so beautiful for faking the most perfect cheekbones! The powders are super fine and blend like a dream! The shades are also such a perfect match for my skin! Love, love love!

I also mentioned picking up a few new bits from Illamasqua this month so it wasn’t surprising to see one of those included in my favourites. I have been constantly reaching for the Katie/Ambition Blush Duo this month to help add a little colour to my cheeks. The two shades are highly pigmented and so require a light hand but add a gorgeous flush of colour and sit nicely on the skin!

I may be the biggest idiot ever having photographed two lipsticks in this post which look pretty damn similar and I have no idea what they are! I basically jumped on the nude lips thing (not that I didn’t dig it before cause I did!) and got a little spendy at Mac. One of which I know for sure is Mac Faux which is a satin finish. The satin formula is my favourite and is super creamy but has a near matte look. The shade is a perfect mauve colour and great for everyday wear. Now the other shade in question, I really am not sure! It is either Mac Mehr or Mac Velvet Teddy! I am edging on the Velvet Teddy side of things since it is new in for me this month. Again this is a cult shade and in a matte formula but still remains comfortable to wear without feeling drying. The shade is more brown toned than pink which is a little different for me but I do really like this one!

Lastly, I have two skincare picks! I can’t be the only one suffering from the winter weather causing havoc with my skin. It’s cold outside but too warm inside that I need to constantly give my skin some hydration! The first pick has been something I’ve reached for a lot over the month to really refresh my skin. It is The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist, essentially what it says on the tube. It has a rose scent which I am not particular a big fan of but I can overlook it for the hydration it provides. Another hydrating product which has came in handy is the Aesop Hand cream which has been the perfect pick me up to treat my hands at night. The citrus scent is lovely and really makes my hands feel refreshed and super soft!

What have you been loving this month?

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Life Lately #1

It’s hard to believe that the first month of the year has nearly came to an end! January always tends to be the most difficult month of the year coping with the aftermath of Christmas. This month was definitely a lot more busy than last month with the chill time round Christmas and being back at uni means I am having to get back into a more hectic schedule again. Before I forget, If you are reading the title of this post with slight confusion then just to address I have decided to change things up slightly with my Monthly round up post. Nothing major, just a new name which I am going with ‘Life Lately’ which just seems a little more interesting! I don’t mean to seem cliched but it is nice to start things a fresh come a new year and I am looking forward to another year of blogging and hopefully this year I can really find my footing with my blog. Also, there will not be a monthly playlist this month since I did my 2015 playlist!

Anyway as I said earlier I am back at uni again! I had exams at the start of the month which did take up a good bit of my time and wasn’t the nicest feeling especially right after Christmas but oh well that’s life! Now that I have started back properly again, it will be a bit of a struggle with blogging like last year as I can expect. I don’t have a lot of free time in between uni and working so fitting in time to dedicate to my blog is difficult although I will be trying my best to stick to my usual schedule! I can only apologize though if I do miss a post or two and happen to be less engaging on other blogs! Hopefully though I will try to get into a routine of some sort and be a little more organised!

Speaking of being organised and all that jazz, you may have seen I mentioned about being on a stricter budget this year in my 2016 goals. This month I have began taking a note of what I am letting myself purchase and also setting myself a monthly budget. To be honest I didn’t do too badly although there was a few more spendy purchases than I would have liked but I mean there was a few good sale purchases and I did pick up a few things I would have bought in the next month anyway! I did tick off a certain nail polish from my 2016 wishlist and I also finally got my hands on the Oskia cleansing gel I had my eye on for ages! It just happened to be my luck that a lot of my skincare products ran out at the wrong time!

I also developed a strong(er) passion for candles over the month. I don’t know whether it’s been the poor weather or just the need to get through my collection of candles everywhere but I have had a few on the go this month! I now have my eye on the beauty that is the limited edition Diptyque Rosaviola candle which just has the most beautiful packaging! I am not the biggest fan of rose scented things but it does have a violet scent too so I will need to go give this one a little sniff first! February purchase, who knows?

Catch up on January posts: 2015 Beauty Favourites Part 1 & Part 2, Trying out Anastasia Beverly Hills, New in from Charlotte Tilbury, My Makeup Geek eyeshadow collection and a little Illamasqua haul.

What did you get up to this month?

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January Favourites

Can you believe we have reached the end of January already *gasps* time always goes so fast! Anyway before I get stuck in to this months favorites, exciting announcement…*drumroll* Today marks this blog’s 5th anniversary!! How crazy, 5 years of blogging wow. Thank you to every one of you who reads my blog and makes it seem like I am not talking to myself all the time haha, Thank you all so much 🙂 Heres to another 5 years, right!? 😉 Anyway back to the favourites, this month has been quite unusual as I pretty much didn’t leave the house for the whole month and never really wore makeup. You can probably tell from the chilled out vibe image above which doesn’t really resemble the usual monthly favourites shebang but hey ho.

Adidas Maroon Gazelles – I have had my eye on these beauties for a long while and finally picked them up during the month. I got them from ASOS where they were on sale for a decent £52. I love a bit of maroon, it works so well with my wardrobe and I am totally loving the camel coat and trainers combo.

Friends – Do I even need to talk about how good Friends is? I am sure like pretty much everyone, their Gran and dog has watched every episode of friends and during my time off I decided to go for the full on 10 season marathon. I don’t think I have ever laughed so much at a TV series, nothing beats Friends, ever.

Looking For Alaska – For Christmas I got a selection of the John Green books after falling in love with his writing while reading The Fault in Our Stars. I have started reading Looking For Alaska which is about a boy who moves to a boarding school and falls for a girl named Alaska. I haven’t finished this book yet but I am loving it so far and John Green is just so great at twisting the conventional love story.

Essie Avenue Maintain – I picked up this nail polish in the Look Fantastic winter sale and its currently on my nails for the time being. Its a pretty “Parisan light blue” colour which is quite different to anything in my collection. The lasting power on this formula has been pretty decent as well, keep an eye on my blog for more on this polish later…

What have you been loving this month?

 

January Playlist

Having a lot of time off recently for Christmas has made me spend a large part of my time listening to music. With the Christmas music far, far away, this month I’ve been listening to some old favourites and some newbies in the music scene. I have been loving ‘Something I need’ by the X Factor winner Ben Haenow who did a superb cover of the One Republic hit. I also discovered the talented gem that is James Bay who actually performed at the Burberry S/S 2015 show, Burberry always show some amazing artists and I can see James being an artist to watch out for in 2015. I also rediscovered the 1975 with their album being played on repeat the whole month. I also can’t forget to mention Uptown Funk, what a tune!

What have you been listening to this month?

 

My 2015 Resolutions

I could start this post with the cringy quote of “New year, new me” but I think I’ll pass on that one. Anyway its 2015! How crazy! Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all had a nice New Years whatever you got up to. So to start 2015 I have came up with a few resolutions of what I want to achieve this year. We all make new years resolutions and a couple of weeks later we forget them but I have made realistic aims so hopefully they won’t disappear into thin air… like previous years.

1. Live a more healthy and active lifestyle – Okay, okay we all say this right!? However last year (feels weird saying that!) I did take up a spot of running in the mornings during Summer, crazy I know. So hopefully while its a bit chilly to go for a run just now I am hoping to get my running gear back on for the warmer months. Last year I also became a little more cautious over what I was eating so hopefully this year I can continue that but also cut out more fats and learn to cook more healthy meals.

2. Improve my photography skills – Now I hope you can’t tell that I take my blog photos with my iPhone 4S… oops! I do own a digital camera however its pretty useless so I’m stuck with an also useless phone camera. Hopefully I will have some better lighting in the year (new lightbulbs! haha) and maybe even indulge in a new camera!

3. Continue to improve my blog – I have had this blog since 2010 (crazy how time flies!) and I have only really began to get blogger serious this year. Last year was probably the biggest year for me blogging as I changed my fashion based blog to be more beauty based and a bit of lifestyle so I would like to continue to keep up with my blog and also hopefully get to connect more with other bloggers – Hello 🙂

4. Improve my skincare routine – Again in 2014 I only began to take my skincare a little more seriously but I would like to add to it as I do suffer bad breakouts quite a lot and I want to ensure I have healthy glowing skin!

5. Look after and embrace my hair more – My hair and I. A love-hate relationship. I have the frizziest and curliest hair and I just am no fan. I can never leave my house in the morining and come back later with the same hair, it always ends up a disaster – I’m blaming fresh air. Okay well I can’t really blame nature but I want to be able to style my hair better and find better hair products that can make my hair healthier and nicer. Yes nicer.

So what is your New Years resolutions?

 

 

Pick of the Month:January 2014

Happy New Year! Sorry for the delay but I do hope you all had a great Christmas and New year 🙂 This months pick of the month is this cute ice blue knitted jumper from Topshop. The festive season may be over but we are still in a midst of winter and a knitted jumper is very much needed with the cold weather. At a price of £36/$72 this is a must for your winter wardrobe and can manage to make you look stylish yet keep you warm which of course is very important! Dressed down with a casual dress/skirt or a pair of jeans is the perfect way to make a statement in this sweater.  Are you a fan of this jumper?

Credit to Topshop for image.