Many of you will soon be heading off to school again so you'll probably be having to think about some more natural everyday looks that won't feel too heavy on all day. You'll probably want something quite bright and wakening since back to school usually means early mornings. With this in mind I put together this supernatural barely there make up look.

I popped some concealer under my eyes to cover up dark circles and on the little scar I have on my nose but that was it in terms of coverage. When I was at school I didn't like wearing foundation because it felt like it was heavy on my face and wearing it everyday for school would probably cause spots. To combat shine throughout the day though you may want to pack a little powder in your school bag. 

To awaken your face more you're going to want to put on a light peachy toned blush, start on the apples of your cheeks and spread it backwards towards your temples. Over the top off this add some highlight on the tops of your cheekbones and in the inner corners of your eyes. This will wake up your look instantly. That's all I did for the eye area apart from curling the lashes and applying mascara which will open up your eye hugely. I haven't applied anything to the lids or eyebrows. I find that when you're younger you usually don't have to fill in your brows as much and quite heavily filled in brows can make the face look quite harsh and aged. For the lips all you're going to need is some lip balm in the morning so it will sink in during the day.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you're starting school soon then the best of luck to you!

xxx

Thoughts on & Tips for A-Levels:

I'll start with tips, and my first and most important one would be don't underestimate just how big a work load it's going to be! All my teachers and all the older students tried to warn me about just how huge the leap between GCSE's to A-Levels and I just didn't believe them I was sure that they'd phase us in slowly and we'd be used to the change but oh how wrong I was! There is no time for phasing in! Trust me when I say (depending on the style of subjects you take of course) that if you want to do well then you'll have to work hard and continue working hard from day one.

A tip to help with that would be stay organised! You can feel easily overwhelmed with the amount of work laid on you but try not to just look at that pile of reading and coursework etc. to do and think you'll leave it to tomorrow because by tomorrow you'll have even more to do. A tip that may seem to contradict this one however, is try to stay calm and relax as much as you can. Yes, do your homework and make sure your notes are in order and you're not missing anything important, but when you've done that take some time out. Catch up on Youtube, read some blogs whatever you fancy just do it. My friends and I cared a lot about our grades and I think put too much pressure on ourselves to the point were we were taking sick days because the thought of going back in made us want to cry.

I don't want to scare you if you're already worried but I feel I have to be honest and this is what my experience was like. I would also say make sure you take the first year as seriously as you can. Don't just tell yourself you'll catch up your grades next year because the better you do in the first year the better you'll do in the second year which is what will get you into University or not. Speaking of University, make sure you book plenty of open days, do your research into what you want to do and sort your UCAS out as soon as you possibly can, believe me I remember everyone telling me to do it and I just couldn't be bothered, but once you get started you can do it fairly quickly and it's a huge weight off your shoulders as well as the fact now you've applied to Universities you know what grades you've got to work towards. 

One thing I will say though is that don't let it get you down too much. Constantly remind yourself that it's  not life or death. If you don't understand something then it's your teachers job to help you. When it comes to results day if you don't get what you thought you would then I wouldn't let that upset you too much. That's what insurance offers are for! Or even clearing if you need it. There's no shame in it and I know of people who went through clearing and now couldn't imagine themselves anywhere else. 

In terms of my personal experience with A-Levels, I'd say in all honesty that it did nothing but bring me down and make me doubt my ability and intelligence. At the end of the day my grades were my own (I got a B in Psychology and 2 C's in Theology and English) and it was my responsibility to work towards what I wanted, but if I was to blame something in particular for my grades not being where I wanted them to be (2 A's and a B) then I have to say the teaching staff at my school was pretty shocking. In my first year I went through 3 English teachers, because 2 of them left to have children (of course not their fault), I then went through 3 Theology teachers because one of them had a serious illness and the other refused to teach us the new curriculum! Literally refused, he was determined on teaching us a course from the 90's. As for the third teacher he was new to the subject so he really shouldn't have been teaching A-Level, he didn't seem to know what was going on himself. As for the second year they bought back the teacher that was teaching the wrong curriculum and our other teacher was far more interested in telling us about his holidays and getting distracted (that was if he ever bothered showing up at all to teach us!). We had two new English teachers, the first was another fresh out of University who would there with her mouth hanging open, when she did talk to us it was (I kid you not) her going on about her ex-boyfriend. Whenever we tried to ask her a question we'd be met with a long gormless pause and then an "Ummm...I'll Google it". There was many a time we'd all walk in sit down and she wouldn't even have planned a lesson. She'd ask us what we thought she should do and sit there texting. Our other English teacher I have to say was a complete and utter ANGEL! She saved us all and taught us not only her side of the course but everything else we were missing out on in the other lessons. She was the kindest of women and became all of our shoulder's to cry on whether about our home lives or A-Levels. 

Personally, I think A-Levels are just a letter at the end of the day. They don't represent intelligence just ability to remember folders of information. They're also dependant on how you're feeling on that one day of your exam, what questions come up, how harshly they are being marked and so much more. I may have passed mine but even if I didn't I don't think that they would affect who I am as a person. I also think it's far too much pressure to be putting on a person who isn't even legally an adult yet to chose their future when all they should be worried about is having fun and being young. By putting kids through this they either have to sacrifice their youth or be called stupid and have to sacrifice their grades. I believe that our grades should be about how much effort we put in throughout the year, how well we have developed, how well we know the entire course not just the random questions put into the paper. 

If you're going through A-Levels then do take them seriously but please remember they aren't the end of the world! 

xxx

"How Many Stupid Times a Day I use the Word I"

Yes I am using a Princess Diaries quote as the title of my post, because I love it it's one of my favourite lines from the movies. (Perhaps besides the famous "make all the boy moose go muuuahhh!" from the second film!) I think the reason it sticks with me so much is because personally I really relate to it. I'm the first to admit after taking a look at myself that I can be a very selfish person. I mean, who isn't when it comes right down to it. This sounds very harsh I know but have a proper think how many times have you had a conversation with someone and found yourself replying with something like "oh yes that happened to me" or "I know how you feel, I remember once..." e.t.c. and then going on to talk about yourself? We don't even know we're doing it!

Even when blogging it's hard not to just talk about yourself. This is my favourite product, I wanted to do a post like this, it suits my skin tone well and so on. I hope I remember this post in future so up coming reviews can be more about what other kinds of skin people would suit basically about talking about someone other than me. Of course I can't realistically say that I'm never going to mention myself or my views in my posts because at the end of the day this is my blog and reviews will be from my point of view. 

When someone asks you a favour, do you find yourself agreeing more if it suits you and your plans? Maybe you don't and I really am just a selfish person, but I have a feeling it's a part of human nature to be a little selfish. Now there's nothing wrong with being selfish sometimes you really need it. For example cutting someone damaging out of your life because they were just bringing you down, but we all need to do good for others too. That's definitely something I want to work on.

*image from weheartit*

I don't really know what I'm trying to get to happen with this post, but I just found it an interesting topic, if you do too then please do start a discussion in the comments. I think the main thing to come from this blog, for me at least, is that I'll try to listen to others and instead of turning a conversation on to me perhaps ask how they feel about a situation or what their opinions of something are. Or even if you're just quite a closed off person giving someone a big hug when they need it. I hope this post didn't come across preachy because I really don't want it too, as I've said I too am a selfish person and this is something I've found about myself that I don't like and wanted to talk about it. No one is perfect.

xxx

Review: Nspa Coconut Body Set:

I bought this set a long time ago but it's taken me a while to get through it because of all the products I had. The set includes a rich body butter, a shower and bath gel and a daily refresh shower scrub.

I worked through the scrub the fastest, although I have a sneaking suspicion that my family have helped me getting through. It had plenty of particles in it but they didn't seem very scrubby. They're very good for refreshing your skin and getting the blood flowing but less good if you want to actually scrub off dead skin cells. 

The shower gel was very nice and very strong smelling, I used it not only as a shower gel but also as a bubble bath. It made lots and lots of sweet smelling long lasting bubbles and made my skin feel really clean and soft.

As for the body butter it had a good balance between thick and moisturising but light and able to sink into the skin straight away so you're not left feeling sticky and left unable to put your clothes on for a while. This too left my skin feeling very soft and well looked after.

All three products claim to be full of natural vitamins good for the skin and they really must be because I have to say whilst using the set my skin felt so soft that I can't remember it ever feeling so good, the scent also lingered well in between washes. The coconut scent is lovely for summer but there are plenty of other scents available and I'll definitely be tempted to try them out now I've finished these.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you've got any other skin care suggestions then please do let me know.

xxx

Review: The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisturiser's:

As the massive fan of The Body Shop that I am I'm sure you won't be surprised to know they make up most of my skincare routine. I've tried their moisturisers before and they've never disappointed me.

I went for the Vitamin E cream because Vitamin E is just a great skin vitamin all round. Both the day cream and the night cream are amazing and do absolute wonders for my skin. 

The day cream is a very light formula but you can still feel that it moisturises the skin. It sinks in as soon as you rub it into the face so if you wanted to you could start putting your make up on straight away. It is very moisturising which is very good considering it is marketed as a moisture cream. After using it there's not a dry patch of skin to be felt and everything feels very soft and smooth. If you don't have any problems in particular with your skin or perhaps a little dryness then I'd definitely recommend picking this up.

The night cream is marketed as nourishing, which is certainly true. When waking up having put it on the night before your skin genuinely does feel like it's been really well looked after . It is a much thicker formula than the day cream but it's still fairly light and sinks in well to the skin. Not that this has anything at al to do with how well the product works but I also love the fact it's a cute baby pink colour. 

All in all I'd say that the body shop skincare is pretty much as close to perfect as you can get. They've a wide range for every skin type and their products don't break the bank. But what do you think? Let me know if there's any amazing brands or products I've been missing out on!

xxx 

What's In My Makeup Bag 2014:

I'm thinking of making these post's an annual thing. I did one last year  so here is this year's edition.

The Base:

(In Order of Application)

Seventeen Flawless Poreless Primer

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - Shade 51

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Shade 2 

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer - Shade 10

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - Translucent

The Body Shop Honey Bronzer - Shade 3 

(either as bronzer or contour)

Either 

Sleek Blush By 3 Cream blushers - Californ.I.A 

or

Accessorize Baked Blusher - Bombshell

Bourjois Java Rice Powder Highlight   

The Eyes:

Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette (A good mix of brights and neutrals) 

W7 on the go palette ( the brown compartment, mainly used for brows)

Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express - Black Drama

The Lips:

M.A.C. Amplified Creme - Girl About Town

M.A.C. Matte - Please Me

Nspa Glamour Lipgloss (Unnamed).

That's the makeup I tend to use on a regular basis, if you want a more indepth review of anything then please let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you all next time.

xxx

Review: The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter:

I've been using this cleanser for a fair while now and it's yet to disappoint me so I thought it had earned a review. First of all the packaging, as with all The Body Shop products is lovely. (Although just to point out it's a screw top don't make the same mistake I did and spend a good ten minutes trying it pry it open before someone points it out). 

It also smells amazing very true to camomile, and so very calming, perfect for before bed. As with most cleaning butters you scoop some out and rub over the make up on your face and it will break down into oil and melt the make up away. This is a very oily product but I find that once you've washed it away and dried off your face then all you're left with is soft feeling and very pampered skin. There's no film left on your face. Not only this but it is amazing at removing make up effortlessly, you don't need to stand there for hours scrubbing away or double cleanse. The product glides through even waterproof mascara and the brightest of lipsticks as if they aren't even there.

A little goes a long way too just take a small amount onto your fingertips and you should be able to cover your whole face, this combined with the fact it's fairly purse friendly at just £12 compared to the likes of Clarins or Emma Hardie means that you're getting an amazing value product that will last you a long time for highstreet prices. Add to this the fact that The Body Shop almost always have some form of discount or deal I wonder why you aren't running to your nearest store right now! If you're worried about it being too oily for your skin then don't as I said it leaves no oily film or residue, it's marketed for all skin types and even oily skin needs some nourishment every now and again. I highly recommend this product and am struggling to find any flaws, so if you use it too or have anything to try next then please do let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you all on Tuesday!

xxx

NOTD: Purple & Silver Glitter:

I very rarely do nails of the day but I'm so in love with this look that I had to take a few pictures. I always love a glittery accent nail because it adds a little sparkle but is so much easier to get off than having glitter on every nail.

For my main nails I used Nails inc. in Marble Arch which I have to say is probably my favourite shade at the moment. Its a beautiful light pink almost lilac colour which I find goes will with anything, and both short and long nails.

For the accent nail I used the Fearne nail varnish in Devilish Diamonds which is a very fine silver glitter shade. It's very opaque so you it's not just chunks of glitter but a block of shimmering silver.

That's all for this post, I personally really like seeing people's nails, but let me know what you think? 

xxx

Healing Hands; Hand Cream, Cuticle Butter & Nail Strengthener:

I think it's very important to look after your hands, after all they do show age well and in my opinion to look after your hands shows that you look after yourself.

The Vaseline healthy hands and stronger nails handcream contains both keratin and stratys which are very moisturising. I find that it sinks in fairly quickly and makes your hands feel very soft and well looked after. I can't describe the smell but it's really refreshing. I'll admit there's nothing extra special about this handcream that makes me want to yell about it from the rooftops but it does what it was made to do and for that I'll keep using it. 

This Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter (is not only fun to say but also) is amazingly moisturising. The texture is a little strange it's almost bitty when you take some out but as you rub it in the bits seem to disappear and melt into the skin. It's things like that which confirm to you just how much time and effort LUSH go into with hand making all their products. The tiniest little dab of this and you can do every cuticle on your hand a little goes an extremely long way. It can be used for more than just your cuticles it can be used on any extremely dry areas of skin. It does leave an oily residue on the skin which sinks in over time, personally I like that especially before bed as it makes you feel nice and pampered. Last but not least the lemon scent is incredible!

Rimmel bought out their Nail Nurse range a while a go and my mum went crazy for it buying, I think, every product in the range.The Nail Rescue nail hardening treatment is my favourite. It lasts 14 days, you apply a coat for the first two days of both weeks then spend the rest of the days letting it work its magic, sinking into the nails. I'll admit I don't quite know how it works but the more I grow my nails and paint them the thinner and more flimsy I found them, whereas know I feel like they're so much stronger and less likely to break. 

That's all for this post I hope you enjoyed it, please do let me know in the comments if you did and also if you have any requests for review or other posts.

xxx

GRWM: Boyfriend's Birthday Meal:

 This is going to be my first ever Get Ready With Me, so I hope you enjoy it and let me know if you'd like to see more.

The first thing I do in the morning is workout, this isn't something I ever used to do. I don't go crazy with it but I find that it's made changes to my body already and makes me so much more confident. I then go downstairs and eat my breakfast whilst watching Keeping Up With The Kardashian's. I just love that show, my non-guilty pleasure.

I then had a bath, in the bath lately I've been using Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky shampoo and conditioner, because I've been suffering from dandruff lately so this makes a nice difference. 

As for my body I've been using Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush set.

Out of the shower I first put on my deodorant, currently Right Guard Extreme Dry. The I applied a face mask (Soap & Glory's No Clogs Allowed) since my skin just doesn't seen to know what to do with itself lately. After washing off I used my Botanics Rose Water Toning Spritz, which I let sink in then applied my vitamin E day cream from The Body Shop and Puffy Eye Attack eye cream from Soap & Glory. 

For my body I continued along the Sugar Crush road finishing off with their moisturiser. Then applied yet another Soap & Glory product, this time their foot cream Heel Genius. As for the hands I used Vaseline's Healthy Hands and Stronger Nails cream, Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter from LUSH and painted my nails, using Max Factor's Glossfinity in Forever Glam.

I actually used heat on my hair for once! To protect it and help the curls straighten I applied John Frieda's 3 Day Straight. This has it's own day by day review, if you'd be interested in reading it then click here.

I didn't do much to the face I went very minimalist with very light products since, as I've said, my skin is pretty much in meltdown. My dress was from GAP, but sadly last year so I doubt very much you'd be able to track it down now. My shoes we're from Primark, but again sadly last year.

I hope you enjoyed this post if you would like to see more Get Ready With Me type posts then please do let me know.

xxx

My 1st Blogiversary!

Today it's been a year since I made this blog, in other words it's my blog's first birthday. It's also my boyfriend's birthday which I have to mention because bless him he spent his birthday sat down convincing me to start blogging and making it for me, I wouldn't have blogging as my hobby if it weren't for him and now I don't know what I'd do without it so I wanted to say thankyou. (Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) 

The first post you can read on here isn't until the 12th but I actually put up a post on the 7th but took it down over time because it was just so awkward and badly written. I thought I'd commemorate my first year of blogging by having a look back and forward. 

As for looking back, I would say that I never used to take blogging as seriously as I now do, I didn't have a schedule or care at all what the pictures looked like. I'd take pictures on my phone in the night with flash which would look just awful. Along with that I didn't like to take pictures of me or even know how to pose or what to do. I feel like I've done better with that. Also when I started I read hardly any blogs and so didn't really know how the community worked or what kind of posts to put up. I still don't have a lot of followers compared to lots of blogs I know, but considering I didn't even have facebook until the very end of 2012 let alone twitter, instagram and the like I'd say my view count and followers aren't too bad. I don't mind about the amount of followers as long as the ones I do have enjoy reading what I put and always come back to have a look. 

In terms of looking forward, I still use my phone for pictures because at the moment it's all I have but I wait until proper day time and do the best with what I have. I definitely want to get a proper camera with time and I'll certainly be saving up for a nice one. I'd love a Canon DSLR one but I know I'm going to have to start smaller and work my way up to a big camera, I also intend to teach myself how to use it well. I now have a schedule, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays there's always a post up. I schedule posts in advance so I never disappoint anyone. I want to keep up regular posts not only in hope of gaining more followers but also because I've truly fallen in love with blogging! I have to stop myself from scheduling too many posts at once because I get too far ahead. Also in the future I'd love to get a redesign and have a very professional looking blog, as much as I love my pretty pink girly blog, I'm trying to take it much more seriously now and I think I'm beginning to grow out of that kind of style. The blog design I'm currently in love with is Lily Pebbles' blog, it's the perfect mix of girly and sweet but professional, clean and minimalist looking. 

That's all for my post, I still can't believe it's been a year already, I hope my blog continues to grow and I want to say a huge thankyou to anyone that's ever left me a comment or even just enjoyed my blog because it's made me fall in love with it even more!

xxx

Review: LUSH Catastrophe Cosmetic :

A few weeks ago my skin went into meltdown I thought a face mask would help soothe it. I went to LUSH because I've never tried but heard amazing things about their masks. The women in there really know their stuff, she listened to the problems with my skin (sudden sore spots that I'd never had before) and went through all the masks on offer telling me what would be best for my problems. I have to say the women in LUSH have always been lovely and ever so helpful.

She recommended this one because it claims to "calm and cleanse the skin" It has blueberries for antioxidants, chamomile to soothe, and Irish moss and calamine to gently cleanse. I used this mask for the first time before bed and I have to say it was amazing! I woke up looked in the mirror and thought "where are all my spots gone?!"  It was amazing and made my skin feel clean and fresh, soothing down all my spots instantly. As you can see since that first use I've used plenty more of it! It's yet to disappoint me, I like the fact it has chunks of real blueberries throughout. I also like the fact it dries a bluey grey colour because it makes me think of whenever I was young and watched those girly films where the woman had a mask on, a proper old style mask! 

If you've had similar issues to me then I would definitely add this to your wish list, the only downside if any is that it needs to be kept in the fridge and you've got to use it up within 28 days, which I have to be honest I don't think will be a big issue because I love it and I'm sure you'll find yourself using it all up in no time! I hope you enjoyed this post if there's any more masks or LUSH products in general you think I should try then let me know in the comments!

xxx

Bringing Scrunchies Back:

Nineties fashion has undeniably been coming back lately, the tartan skirts, the jelly shoes, and the denim. One thing that seemed to come back then jump straight out again was scrunchies. I personally love them and want to bring them back. They're really quick and easy and add a nice summery touch to your look, as well as being something different than just a bobble. As well as this they're much less damaging to your hair and much less likely to break your hair than a bobble.  

So what do you think of scrunchies? Love or leave? let me know in the comments because I'd love to know how many people like me would like to see scrunchies back for good! 

xxx