Sunday 30 October 2016

Update

Hey guys,

I'm very sorry I've been totally MIA since the end of September! After my last post I was very unwell and turns out I now have glandular fever. It's been messing with my head and making me really tired all the time so I haven't been able to actually write anything. I'm going to try and write a post to go up sometime in November but since I've now missed a lot of school the past few weeks, I really need as much time as I can to recuperate and catch up on all of the mountains of work I have missed.

Again, I'm very sorry, but I will be back!

Love you all x

Saturday 24 September 2016

School stresses

Hey guys,

I can't believe I haven't posted since the end of August! Life has been so chaotic the past few weeks, what with doing my DofE and getting tonsillitis! I missed the entire first week of year 13 which wasn't so great... Daytime TV isn't all that great either, I managed to watch a tonne of Friends episodes and almost a whole season of Supernatural! If you're ill I would suggest DVDs and box-sets rather than channel-hopping!

To top it all off this past week has been one of the busiest ones ever! I've also been thinking a lot about this blog and how badly it's going at the moment. I can't put the time I want into it, but still want to be able to comment on it in my personal statement or portfolio. It's a tough predicament... sorta... so I've decided to just post once a month until I have finished my A-levels. It means I can spend the time I want to on posts but spread it out a little more than usual, and can go back to doing more DIY posts. It will also mean less stress worrying about the fact that I don't have a post ready to go up for that week and having a mountain of homework and coursework to do too.

I'm sorry for being dreadful with posting these past few weeks. The posts I do put up from now on will (hopefully) be a lot better, and less short and rambly! I'm pretty sure I hate them as much as you!

Again, sorry! x

Wednesday 31 August 2016

My bucket list

Hey guys,

When I say the phrase 'bucket list' I guess some people either think I have a weird love for buckets (which I don't) or that I'm dying (which I'm not). I remember writing down a list when I was about 8 years old and thinking it was such a fantastic idea! The things I put on the list weren't even all that special, some of them were just to try a certain food. I've added to it over the years, as I've grown up, and the things I've added have changed accordingly. I've even managed to cross a few off the list in the last year or so!

1. Learn to drive - This one is actually complete now, I learnt for 4 months and passed my practical test on the 15th of April this year. I can remember wishing I was older when I was 13 just so that I could learn to drive. I didn't just want the freedom it gave, because I had quite a bit of freedom anyway, what I really wanted was to be able to do things for myself more. To make spontaneous decidions about where I'm going to go one day and not have to ask for a lift. I was so excited that the first thing I did was go and buy my mum a bunch of flowers and surprise her with them to say thank you for ferrying me everywhere for 17 years!

2. Buy my own car - This is another completed item. I brought my first car last weekend and I totally love it! It's a grey Toyota Aygo and it's even sparkly in the sun!

3. Go to Australia

4. Try a cheese and ketchup sandwich - This one is slightly odd. I can't for the life of me remember which book I read about it in, but I knew I just had to try it, just because it sounded like a weird mix!

5. Run a marathon - Even though I don't run (I have actually started a 'couch to 5k' programme I made this week, so I guess I have to say I do run now) I've always wanted to run a marathon. My dad ran the London marathon back in 2010 and since then all I've wanted to do is follow in his footsteps.

6. Complete a triathlon - This one, again, is inspired by my parents. They trained for and completed a section each, along with my uncle, however, I want to take it one step further and train for and complete a whole one on my own!

7. Travel the world

8. Fly in a helicopter - I had a weird fascination with aircraft and helicopters for quite a while. I used to watch 'aircrash investigation' all the time and I even began to know what brought a plane down before they'd even got to explaining that part... I still love aircraft and finding out random things about them but I have calmed down watching so many TV shows about them!

9. Get a Saturday job - This, again, is another completed one. I got a job at House of Fraser last August (a year ago last Sunday) and I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Some people think I'm a little weird that I actually love the hustle and bustle of the Christmas period!

10. Be happy - This one is probably the biggest point and, even though I might not always be able to acchieve it, I want to spend the vast majority of my life as happy as possible.

Unfortunately I couldn't actually find the list I wrote all those years ago, so I can't remember exactly what was on it. If I find it I may do an updated list in a few months or so!

I hope you're having an absolutely lovely week so far!

Love you all x

Wednesday 17 August 2016

The Cursed Child Review

Hey guys,

I hope you enjoyed all the posts that went up whilst I was away. I had an amazing holiday, it was the perfect temperature and we got to do so much!

After I got back, I went to the Harry Potter studio tour in Leavesden and it was a-maz-ing! I will do a post on it soon to give you all a sneak peak into what there is there. On the same day, I borrowed 'The Cursed Child' and I couldn't wait to read it. There has been so much attention on this story and originally I wasn't sure if it would be able to live up to the original series but it was so well written and I adored it! Absolutely adored it!


It is written as a script and I managed to devour the whole book in 2 hours, a new record, even for me! Once I started reading it, I just couldn't stop! I even forgot to eat breakfast I was so captivated by the story. It ties in aspects of the original 7 books but also adds new information. There are shocking aspects and heartwarming aspects alike, and every little part just felt like it all fitted in perfectly.

It is definitely worth the money and the time, especially if you're a total potterhead like me! It just added almost all of the information I was so intrigued by at the end of the 7th book. However, I'm not going to tell you the big secret, you're going to have to read it yourself to find it out.

I really hope you have a read, and I really hope you love it as much as I do!

Love you all x

Saturday 13 August 2016

Makeup revolution eyeliner review

Hey guys,

A while ago, whilst I was searching for different coloured lipsticks, I stumbled upon the makeup revolution website. It had a load of different products that I had never seen in any Superdrug stores. I saw this eyeliner and was pretty surprised that it was only £1.50. I originally thought it had to be not so good quality-wise as other, more high-end eyeliners but I was very pleasantly surprised! It was very easy to apply and the brush nib is a good size to create a cute little flick.
The best thing about it was that it was waterproof, and by waterproof I definitely mean it was about as waterproof as it could get. It might have been slightly too long lasting though as it was slightly hard to get off using my wipes and micellar water. I did like how it would stay put if I accidentally wiped my eyes or something though. It made me a bit more confident that I wouldn't end up with eyeliner on my chin by the end of the day!


I hope you don't mind that this post was slightly shorter, but I think short and sweet reviews are the easiest to read (and the easiest to write) and you get more of an accurate opinion. I also had to improvise a little on the photo because just as I wanted to take it, it started raining...

I hope you are all having a lovely week!

Love you all 
x

Monday 8 August 2016

Holiday staples

Hey guys,

Sorry some of the photos in this post are a little dark, the English weather is so frustrating! It was so sunny before and now it's trying to rain and cloudy! Not a blogger's best scenario! I've tried my best to lighten them a little, but I'm not the best at editing photos, I just take them.

Every year, there are a couple if items that I know I just can't cope without (I could probably cope, I just wouldn't really want to). They include simple things, like a hat and sunglasses. The hat was £4 from New Look, it's currently in the sale and the glasses were also from New Look, but I brought them 2 years ago so I don't know whether you would still be able to find them or not.


I also like having different body sprays. When I'm at school and it's hot it's nice to be able to just quickly spray and feel a bit less like you've been sat in hot classrooms all day sweating. However, they are like gum at school and as soon as you whip it out, everyone wants to use it. I love the impulse sprays, they're lovely smells, but I also like the Superdrug own brand ones, which are slightly cheaper at the moment. They're still great smelling and I just feel like I get more for my money with them.


It's always a good idea to have a good lip balm and moisturiser. They help with the dry skin you sometimes get if you spent too much time in the sun. I will always love this simple one, it just works really well for me and I think it is definitely worth the money. The little pot of it is from Primark, I brought it just before I did DofE so that it was nice and compact for me to carry, I think it's only about £1. I don't actually know where this lip balm came from, I know it's from W7, but I have no idea here you can buy it unfortunately. It is similar to the EOS lip balms in it's design, an it is really smooth and pretty good for keeping my lips nice and soft.

(I'm really sorry this photo is so dreadful, everytime I tried to lighten it, you couldn't see the bottle clearly!)


This is the last one on the makeup front; setting spray! Honestly, this is probably one of the best purchases I have made in the last year. It is only £5 from Superdrug (and it's also by my favourite brand) and it holds my makeup in place really well! I'm always so pleased, it helps to stop me sweating it all off in the summer months.


Another summer must-have of mine is my camera (which obviously I can't really take a photo of). I love taking photos on my holiday but also just of the regular things I see, bugs, flowers, happy people...  I just love that I can take it anywhere and take any photos I like (within reason of course). 
The last one has definitely got to be a good book or 2! I love reading generally, but when it's combined with summer and sitting relaxing in the sun, reading just trumps everything! I chose 'The List' by Nicola Yoon and 'Everything, Everything' by Siobhan Vivian to take with me and I will hopefully be posting some book reviews about them in September/October time. I really liked the blurbs and am really excited to read them! However, anyone that knows me will know that these wont be the only 2 books I take on holiday with me... and they would be right! I am taking a couple of others, which I will also hopefully be doing some book reviews for. 


I hope you are all having a lovely week so far!

Love you all 
x

Thursday 4 August 2016

What's in my holiday makeup bag?

Hey guys,

I hope you enjoyed my favourites post on Monday! This one is a holiday edition of 'what's in my makeup bag' (not that I've done one of those before anyway).

I don't tend to wear very much makeup on holiday, and what I do wear is very minimal. I've made the mistake that past few years of taking way too much, and then just never wearing it! This year, however, I have decided to just take the basics for my usual, everyday look and then a couple of extra bits for if I decide to add a lippy, or eyeliner etc.


The makeup bag I have decided to take is this purple and red-ish one from Toni and Guy, I actually got it free when I went to an apprenticeships fair with my school. It's the perfect size to hold everything I need, but isn't too big, and its not a totally awkward shape to try and pack. I will probably put it into a bigger bag with all my other toiletries, just so it's all together.


I decided to take my make-up revolution Euphoria palette because it has all the neutral and gold toned eyeshadows I wear on a daily basis, but it also has bronzer, blusher and highlighter, all in one place which is pretty handy! I love both of the palettes I have from make-up revolution, they're such great quality and all the colours are so lovely to use.



I didn't want to take any actual foundation, because I want to give my skin a bit of a break, but I am going to take a concealer and powder too just control any shine if I'm going out anywhere or to just cover over any major breakouts.



I also have the other 'main' pieces, like mascara, pencil and liquid eyeliner and lipbalm, and then I'm also taking a couple of lipsticks. I have 3 colours (a red, pink and darker red) and then a neutral one for more general wear (if I can be bothered to put any makeup on in the first place!). I also have 2 nail polishes, a neutral one and the green/turquoise I currently have on my toes, so that I can top it up if needed.





To make my makeup looks stay put for a little longer I'm going to take my makeup revolution setting spray and a No7 eye primer. If I go to the effort of putting makeup on for an evening, I want it to actually stay put and this setting spray is actually very good at doing just that!



I don't think you need to take very much makeup on holiday, it gives you a chance to give your skin a break and no one will massively care that you don't have 3 layers of mascara on on a particular day. (Or at least, I wouldn't).

I hope you are all having a lovely week so far!

Love you all 
x