Summer Beauty Bits

Hey Ya'll, so the other day I made my way into Superdrug because a girl's gotta get her stuff together for summer! The number one essential out of these for summer is Veet, this baby sees me at my worst but transforms me to my best haha :) Seriously when I was in primary school I remember my friend had really smooth hairless legs and I was like whaaat?? And she was like I used cream...and I was like WHAAAAT? Haha razors are a pain for me this is just such a simple way and with the sensitive formula I've had no irritation whatsoever.

There was a deal on the nail polishes for a £1 off and since Rimmel nail polishes are my #1 fav and I needed some summer colours I made a dive for them. This is my first decent orange nail polish and I am in love! I think this may not only become my summer love but my yearly favourite. I'm not too sure on this shade of yellow yet as it can come off mustard if you don't layer it. However you can counteract the dull tones by using white polish underneath.

The last three things I bought on a whim. Well I'd run out of vaseline (£1) and this stuff lasts me years as it's more of a medical essential since I don't use it often. I bought the wipes(£1) as emergency back ups if mien ever run out. My friend told me about the nose strips(£2) and how they pull out the dirt and blackheads from your nose. Well I don't have blackheads so I gave these a miss for a while but recently I could visibly see my pores were clogged up with dirt so I gave them a whirl. I was impressed, however the next day the dots on my nose were back. On the plus side they have looked faded since so I think they're worth it, my tip is to try and cover the worst parts of your nose.

Are you excited for summer? My last exams are on Monday :)
xxx

This or that tag- Beauty edition!

Makeup
blush or bronzer-Blush
lip gloss or lipstick-Lipstick
eye liner or mascara- Mascaraa
foundation or concealer- Concealer
neutral or color eye shadow -Neutral
pressed or loose eye shadows-Pressed
brushes or sponges- Hands!..and brushes


Fashion:
jeans or sweat pants- Leggings :)
long sleeve of short-Short
dresses or skirts-Dresses
stripes or plaid-Stripey
flip flops or sandals-Flipy flops
scarves or hats-Scarves
studs or dangly earrings-Studs
necklaces or bracelets- Bracelets
heels or flats- Flats (tall people alert)
cowboy boots or riding boots- Cowboy!!
jacket or hoodie -Jacket
forever 21 or charlotte russe - Forever 21?
abercombie or Hollister- Same difference
saks 5th or nordstrom- eh what?


Hair:
curly or straight- Naturally straight
bun or ponytail- Bun
bobby pins or butterfly clips-Pins
hair spray or gel -Spray
long or short -Short O.o
light or dark-Light
side sweep bangs or full bangs- Sweeep
up or down-Down down down


Random:
Rain or shine- Both at the same time with intense humidity xD
Summer or winter- Here comes the sun...♪
Fall or spring - Spring
Chocolate or vanilla - Chocolaté
East coast or west coast- East Coast (Florida)


I tag you all!! (Pictures are not mien)

Natural collection

Hi my lovelies this is just a quick post to show you my natural collection concealer,cover up, and lipstick. I have already tried out all these products so I can give you my honest opinion. Now I don't tend to wear foundation but concealer is something I always love to apply as I get a very red T-zone. I have tried a few concealers, I still haven't tried the collection 2000 one as I'm not sure if it's worth it. However I'm sure it's better than this one as I'm afraid this concealer doesn't provide much coverage, it's in the shade fair yet it had orange undertones. 

I'v never tried a green cover up stick but I really do enjoy this formula and I think it work well to combat redness, after application you apply concealer on top so that you don't look like an alien. The lipstick is such a gorgeous colour (cranberry) it's my new summer time fav! I'll be getting lots of use out of it as it brightens up my features. The staying power isn't too bad for the price and it doesn't leave any dewy texture on your lips after a long day.

All these products are from Boots at £1.99 each, and 3 for £5. It's not a popular brand but if you need some on the go/travel makeup for summer than it does the job nicely.

Speak to you soon! xx

Graze

My discovery of graze was when I saw someone on instagram post a code for a free box. Well being one for healthy food and since I'v been trying to tone my body it caught my attention. When I visited the website I was overhelmed with the amount of snacks they had to choose from. I found out that you can get a regular subscription but you can cancel any time (even after your free box). The box it comes in is biodegradable and they give you biodegradable leaflets telling you about their business and what you have in your box (as well as expiry dates). There is also a little napkin provided, basically they give you everything you need to be happy.

You can go throught the list of snack and choose which is to your fancy and which you'd wish for them to never send you. So for me I searched chili and clicked 'bin' for all in that category as I'm not a fan of spices. The next part was easy just enter your details and they give you an estimated arrival time. The boxes are made to fit through your letterbox, but be careful as mien is oval so I had to pick up my box from the post office. To avoid this you can pick your delivery date.

So far I'm very pleased and will not be cancelling, I think it's perfect for revision season so that I snack less on chocolate. I think I'll keep it up for the following years between the months of January-June.

What I'v tried so far:
Scrumptious Blueberry Swirl: This is super lovely and sweet. It has bluebeery yogurt raising,rasperry cranberries and blackcurrent. To me the dried blackcurrants taste likt the sweet Black Jack and the red one like the sweet Tutti fruitti. The yogurt raisins are quite nice but I'm more of a chocolate raisin girl myself. But to provide a nice alternative to nuts, breadsticks and savoury foods this is perfect.

The British Barbecue: I love the rosemary croutons in this, so delish. The seeds had a lot of flavour and a hint of spice (but not hot). The basil breadsticks were also a lovely addition, nice and savoury. Great if your not looking for a toothache.

Billionaires shortbread: Fudge,almonds,chocolate buttons and cranberries; what a combination! The almonds are without skins and are a great source of vitamin E. The berries add to the chocolates sweet flavour, and the rest is all a bit 'naughty'. 

Apple and cinnamon flapjack: Mmmmm these taste so good at my school they have greasy oily plain flapjacks in comparison these taste like they were made in the clouds. Compact bites with a burst of apple and touch of cinnamon entwined with oats, so lovely. I usually put both these flavours in porridge so it's like my porridge in a bar.

If you want to get your free box, use the code P4JTYWT

Exams Exams Exams

Things have been so hectic recently, it's crazy! My fellow year 11's out there will understand how I feel. Basically revision has been like a tidal wave especially since my school decided to not give us study leave!!! So unfair as many other schools left 2 weeks ago, it sucks but I always said I would take my own study leave one way or another....

Yeah so I didn't go to school today, I have 3 free periods so what was the point? I had so much to catch up on. I normally have 100% attendance so mi madre wasn't best pleased to say the least (eeep save me!) but I'v isolated myself in my room so I can finally get a good chunk of work done. On Monday I had an RS exam, Tuesday a Biology exam (so unbelievably hard-B3) and tomorrow I have my Spanish reading and listening exams.

Berry/cranberry juice smoothie

To be honest I'm finding it really hard to keep calm and can't wait for it to be over. On the plus side I have been exercising as I have prom to look forward to!! Also I got my first penpal from Singapore which is aweesomme.

What do you do to relax?

Beauty Haul +FOTD

Hello beautiful people! Yesterday I popped into superdrug and picked up a few beautry essentials. I don't wear makeup to school but I picked up this foundation to use for prom and for when I start sixth form after summer. I am very pale so it's hard to find a shade to match my skin tone but miraculously this one did, it smells fresh and looks almost invisible, I am in love! It was £10.99 but if you spend over £12 you get a free blusher, however nothing else took my fancy so I stuck with this. 

Instead I picked up the MUA mosaic blush in English Rose, this gives a lovely flush to my cheeks, a light pink. Normally the 'flush' look is something I avoid as I have cheeks that may as well be constantly red due to blushing but on top of foundation it goes well and I find it also acts as a highlighter.

I'm new to primers of any sort so I can't give my views on this one as of yet but at £2.50 I'm not risking much. This eye shadow palette caught my eye I know there have been many reviews but I think it has lovely neutrals I bought it especially for the gold's, this will be a staple for my prom look.

My acne has been improving greatly, but I'm off the doc's med's and trying to keep everything as natural as possible. Clean and clear is the only cheap brand aimed as blemished skin that I trust for an everyday fix so this was something that I picked up just as I needed something, I have only tried the exfoliating version before though. I have never tried oil papers but again my skin can get oily and I think this are an essential for prom and could come in handy if you do P.E/sports. 

On my face I have the primer,foundation,blush, eye shadow in shades naked,shy, and lavish, as well as my Natural collection lipstick in the shade cranberry, my MUA eyebrow kit,Witch Pressed powder, and No7 extreme length mascara which is my favourite.

Tell me if you wish to see a review of any of these products!

xxx

Republic 'story'

Let me start off by saying this isn't much of a story. But I had never previously shopped at Republic until I picked up a dress and bracelet there over the half term. As they are closing down with all their stock on sale they have a no-return policy. I'd tried the dress on in the store and as I was happy with my purchase and knew it was non-returnable I binned the receipt. Well I tried it on  again the other day to discover a security tag on the underskirt. It was so unnoticeable to the eye so I can understand if the cashier didn't notice or suspect it as I couldn't even feel it when on.

I was pretty gutted as this had never happened to me before and this so happened to be...my prom dress!! Uh huh I'm a bargain hunter like that :P I'd picked it up in Westfield after watching The Host (I'd give it 3 stars out of 5) and I went to my local Republic today to see if they could help. Now I understand it is partially my fault but I don't think anyone was to blame, and so they said they couldn't help me. I was disappointed so I just ended up prying it off myself and luckily no ink split just a small hole that I have to sew up.

Yeah that's it, sorry it wasn't very interesting but something else happened to me straight after so I felt like sharing that at least. If you've got exams I hope you're procrastinating revising like I am. :)

Share your experiences!!
Loveee x

Tutti fruity

For my birthday my friend got me this gift set from Lush. Boyyy do I love it I was smelling the box for ages as it had the smell of the shop, but the contents were actually even more intoxicating! In the box is a Miranda soap which is very fruity it smells like a fruit cocktail. I wouldn't recommend using this for your face but I'm sure it would do well for your hands. The happy Hippy shower gel contains grapefruit but is not over empowering together they leave you feeling like you've stepped out of a goddesses bath tub. The gel can be used for hair, but I haven't tried that as I feel it would be a waste of the product. But they both lather well and if you use a loofah you can create plenty of bubbles. I would also like to say that I love the way gifts are packaged as they come in cute lil boxes full of potato starch puffs, yes that's right! How cool, which makes them biodegradable and edible. Here's some of the ingredients....

Miranda Ingredients: 

•  Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil
• Kiwi
• Banana's
• Cherries
• Oranges
• Ylang Ylang oil

Happy Hippy Ingredients:

• Bergamot Oil,
• Grapefruit juice

EcoTools Bamboo Travel set

As you probably know my Seventeen kabuki brush saw the end of it's days and as I use powder daily I needed a replacement. A youtuber recommended on a video to buy this set of brushes as they are just over £3 on ebay (here and here). This is a MASSIVE bargain as this travel set is £20 at boots. They are honestly lovely, the brushes are all very soft, gliding across the face. I was slightly shocked at the size of them to be honest as they are quite small, so I think I will be using the powder brush instead of the kabuki as it's hard to hold. I can not guarantee that they are genuine but it doesn't matter as I'm not disappointed. As you can see the handles are sturdy are made of Bamboo so I can hope these last as long as my previous brush. 

These are ideal for mineral makeup, as I don't currently wear foundation this are suited to me. EcoTools also guarantee's it is one of the most environmentally friendly brands which makes me very happy as it is a concern that I am deeply interested in and wish to pursue in a possible career. The bristles are synthetic, the handle both recycled and natural, and it comes with a useful cotton bag for easy storage to pop into your handbag.

What do you think of EcoTools?

The host

Yesterday I went to see The Host with a friend at Westfield, it was enjoyable and entertaining but if you haven't read the book you might find it slow. The cinema at Westfield has a bigger screen than usual so you might want to check it out. After we were full of food (the food hall is great) we went shopping. I didn't intend of spending money but I still hadn't bought my prom dress.  The dress pictured above is really pretty but no, it's not the dress I bought I'm going to keep it a secret, until my prom in July. Also if you have a Republic near you I really suggest you go as they have beautiful fashionable pieces at a low price.

In case you were wondering though, Republic is not actually shutting down...neither is HMV.

Love xxx

Recent Primark Purchases

Hello lovelies, so this is about half the amount of stuff I have bought in the past few weeks. I previously mentioned that I really wanted new jumpers but I settled for these cardigans instead at £5 each. For my birthday I had a sleepover and I love Primark's pajamas so I bought these lovely floral cotton bottoms. The jeans were reduced to £7.90 (i think?) and normally I'd avoid red but the colour was so eye catching, a deep wine red, so I snatched them up. Lastly I bought 3 vest tops for £2 each, these are ideal as it's still snowing, I'v now developed my second cold this year. But also I think these will work well for layering in the summer time, there's so many colours to choose from so I'm loving these!

Are you saving or spending?

Primark Nails

Angelica is a nail polish brand that is best known for being sold in Primark but can be found in other smaller places too. I purchased Angel 93(blue), Brit pop 92 (glitter), and a top coat. For my birthday I tried and tested the glitter, this is the first glitter polish I have used and I was pleased with the results, it was easy to cover the whole nail and looks very glam. I know people have problems getting glitter polishes off but I found no problems. 

I tried the blue polish for Easter but was fooled as it does not appear blue on the nails! It looks like something a toddler would wear as the pigment is very faint. However I think it will make an excellent top coat on top of a pastel blue nail colour. I have been desperate for a top coat as I only own a pink tinted one. I find the top coat to be average it does the job but is nothing special. I purchased these for £2.50 each, a good price but I doubt I will be re purchasing.

Hope you all had a splendid Easter! 

xxx

Sweet Sixteen

Hello beautiful people! You may have seen my brief post announcing my birthday which was last monday. To celebrate I had a few friends over and a sleepover! I had a lovely time, but a warning if you play Never Have I Ever things can get out of hand! Haha. I just tried to relax as school leaves me feeling very stressed. The last picture shows skittles shots but I promise mien was mostly lemonade.

Oddly I feel things have changed now and life doesn't seem so simple. It's sad really as I didn't realise before how innocent I was. Yet at the same time it's exciting as I know there's so much more to learn and even if I don't want to grow up it has to happen. I have been doing this blog for over a year now (not frequently) and I love to throw an update of my life in here and there. So for all the British teens I am in the process of choosing a college/sixth form and freaking out over exams. Plus procrastinating BIG TIME. However I always work hard for what I want in life otherwise goals won't be reached.

Hope you are all well
xxx

Hair treatment: Coconut oil

Coconut oil is good for Skin,nails and hair as it contains protein (like egg). It's supposed to help with frizzy, dry hair to make it more silky smooth. To do this I applied it all over my hair by melting it between my palms. I then left it for 30mins-1hour before washing out. You could also apply to ends of comb a bit through you hair with your fingers to style it. I also tried putting it in a bottle and mixing it with water. This wasn't a clever idea as the coconut oil solidify's.

My verdict:

Keeping in mind I haven't use it long....I am disappointed as I feel it made my hair frizzy and limp! A good conditioner is more effective. However I will now continue to use it on my face as it supposedly helps acne as well. I imagine if you have a dry scalp this will work. I will still continue to use it on my hair to see if there's any long term effects but I prefer using egg and olive oil.

Here's a more informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_l9caSqIxs

Hope you're all well 

xxx

Death by kabuki

                         























Ahhh today my kabuki brush broke! To be fair it's lasted me 3 years and I use it a lot, but I'll have to go the next week without it. Since it's my birthday soon I'v been receiving parcels, this red letter meant we had to go to the post office, but it was only letter size, they could have put that through the door. Then I went shopping in primark and also to a cheap store to pick up some decorations and treats. While I was waiting for my mum I decided to buy a McFlurry, I never ever have these, but it was so good :) For the rest of the evening I'v been practicing for my Spanish exam for next week and eating my mums yummy food. This is an odd post but hey ho, I felt like procrastinating!

Hope your all well
x

Instagram #2

1.Garland I made on my wall with pics of Emma Watson and Marilyn Monroe  2.Frilly socks; Primark   3.Lush timeee   4. Hot choco and homemade cookies

Hola! Not a lot happened recently same old. Except I got some GCSE results last thursday (which were good) so I treated myself to some retail therapy with my friend last weekend. Now it's back to exams though for a couple of weeks....

@Fluffycandyflouds

Hair treatment: Olive oil+eggs

Hair treatment and honey face!

Slightly damp hair

Oh my! Lately my hair has been getting on my nerves, dry, limp, every girls nightmare! Well before hitting the shops to look for products I thought hey, lets try a home remedy. I'd seen this one circling a lot...

I used:

1 egg

5/6 tablespoons olive oil

(Add more according to hair length) 

Simple right? You betcha, apply to dry or damp hair, separating into parts with a clip to make it easier. Leave for 30 mins, give it a good rinse and wash with shampoo. I suggest putting your head forward in the shower so the oil doesn't run down your back! While you're waiting you can also apply a face mask, I added honey to mien. I was so skeptical since I didn't think it would be strong enough to have an affect, but from the moment I rinsed it from my hair I started to feel it's effects (silky smooth). Once my hair began to dry it didn't retain all of it's silkiness but it had more volume! The picture above is of my hair semi-dry, when I combed my fringe out properly the next day it was so full and thick, I got many comments! 

Now some of you might be thinking egg is slightly random but it's great for your hair. Raw eggs contain essential proteins and nutrients, this protein can be used to strengthen hair follicles. Likewise, the nutrients work much like conditioners to add volume and shine. Ya'll can also add honey for it's anti septic properties giving a deep clean and condition, or a touch of lemon juice to lighten hair.

Next up I think I'll be trying coconut oil! But I think I'm going to stick to using this 2/3 times a week in the meantime to get its full affects, I'm super happy with the results so far.

What's your hair care routine?

Simple Nutella Cookies

Hey Guys! So a while back I saved this recipe to my favorites on instagram! It's super duper easy, not a work of art, but is great if you're craving chocolate and feeling kinda lazy. Also since it's simple it's flexible to you.

On Instagram the ingredients said: 1 cup Nutella, 1 whole egg, 1 cup flour, bake for 6-8mins at Gas mark 3.

What I used: 1/2 cup Nutella, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 cup flour, 1 whole egg, a few drops of milk, bake for 15-20 mins at Gas mark 3/4

So as you can see this is totally flexible just whisk an egg, add your choice of  ingredients, and mix together, I only used half a cup of Nutella as I didn't want to waste it :3 You could add chocolate chips, melted chocolate etc. I know this isn't healthy so I will be trying some more healthier options in the future and share them with you, but this is a good alternative to Nutella on digestive biscuits!

Enjoy! xxx

Acne: My story

From the age of about 10 I started to get my first spots, as I entered secondary school these became a regular thing. I only tended to have the odd spot here and there, but never did I have clear skin. One or two days since then have I had almost clear skin and boy did it feel good! Well over the past 3 years these spots which I regarded as normal became more frequent in numbers. I could have it on my forehead chin, and cheeks on a bad day. This is when It started to affect me, I wanted it gone as it was not something I wanted to have to live with for the rest of my life. I'm not someone who wears a lot of makeup to school and it begun to really upset me and have me feeling very self conscious all the time. I feel like people judged me on it as I knew it didn't look good, but I never asked for it, so why should it affect who I am?




My acne is mostly on my cheeks and skin. But I also had acne on my back, for about 5 years I found myself self conscious in summer as my shoulders were exposed and my spots could be seen by anyone and everyone. Spots on the back? How odd! You hear about spots on the face but people tend to avoid talking about acne on the back and you never see it in person. It wasn't painful when I lied down but it was always there and started to irritate me. As my acne on my face expanded so did that on my back, from my shoulders to my waist.











I have tried so many products out of boots/superdrug/lush etc, but these just made me frustrated as I felt they have little or no affect on my skin. I'd watch beauty gurus saying how all these products had worked wonders for them,seen great reviews online, but they didn't work for me. Well all this changed last November after I had seen a new beauty guru talk about using the contraceptive pill for her skin. I never go to the doctors so I plucked up the courage to ask my mum if we could go as she's always busy. To my relief she said yes! And then my medication chapter began.

P.s I still use these products!

My doctor first confirmed for me that yes it was acne and not just spots, that I should have come
sooner, that it's very much treatable. First of all she gave me a a cream called Duac, how excited I was! Yay a cream that to cure spots how simple and wondrous  Well the result was that I was left lying in bed with tears streaming down my face as I felt like I'd stuck my face in a furnace. This stuff was good, but too good for my sensitive face. It worked well on my back but I couldn't be bothered with the fuss and pain (I'm a germ freak!).

Then we moved onto the pill. The ever dreaded question of ''Are you sexually active?'' came up in conversation, it's an important question nevertheless! These seemed much more simple, pain free, just take it routinely every day. After 3 months of treatment my acne seemed to finally improve, spots on my back retreated to my shoulders and disappeared, the spots on my face became smaller and less fierce.

Another thing I find is that my diet affects my acne, when I drink water/eat more fruit my skin appears clearer, In comparison to eating chocolate and junk food which break me out. On a handout my Doctor gave me it said some rare causes of acne are makeup,sweating,tight clothing, sugar diets, milk and picking spots. But I'll tell you something even if you manage to lead a life without all of this you can still get acne! It may improve it but might have no difference whatsoever!

My skin today (after 4 months treatment)

Now nothing in life is perfect, my face and back are still likely to get the odd spot day to day, but I'm now learning how to control it. Different things work for different people, and I'd like to say that I'm not bashing products just stating what affect they had on my skin. Same with the drugstore products I still use some of them daily and will talk about that more in the future if your interested. But if you have been suffering for acne for a while I do suggest going to the doctors if drugstore products don't work for you. As you can see my skin is starting to improve (loss of inflamation) but I'll keep you updated on my journey as my skin still has breakouts and scars, so I have a lot way to go yet.

Do you have acne? What products/treatments work for you?

MUA Eyebrow kit

The MUA Pro Brow Kit contains two shades of brown, a matte highlighter, a setting wax, a double ended applicator and tweezers. I'd first like to say that I'm sorry I didn't include a picture of my brows but I don't feel they do this justice as they're not very shapely. My eyebrows are very light since I'm blonde and until recently I'v never used/done anything to them. 

I began to see how a bit of preening could really make a difference to the face. I began by using the natural collection clear mascara, which held them in place and darkened them very slightly. I also use nail scissors to keep them tamed (anyone else do that?!). But after a while I began to feel it just wasn't enough that I was due to get my self a kit of some kind. Now there's not many on the market but there's a few, mostly expensive! But woahhh hold your horses this is MUA which meant it was only £3.50!

Now I believe this is the only palette they have to offer, being blonde i tend to used to lighter brown lightly but I think the dark brown would work well for brunettes and maybe even those of you with black hair, I'm not too sure, but you have blend the colours together to create your own look. The wax works well and also darkens your eyebrows further, I don't always apply it though as it's oily so I'm afraid of getting spots in my brows!

This has now become one of my go-to products that I use every day as I feel it gives that extra something! You can get this at Superdrug, for the price it's worth trying!

Hope you're all well

xxx