Morning (Pre-Make-up) Skincare Rountine

Every morning, before applying make-up, i like to exfoliate my skin and use a light moisturiser. I exfoliate because i think it really wakes my skin up and buffing away blackheads and dead skin cells provides a smooth base for my make-up. I also like to use a very light moisturiser because I find anything too thick makes my face oily which results in my make-up sliding around on my skin and looking shiny - not a good look!

The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator,  E45 Moisturising Lotion

*The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator*

I used to use a Clearasil exfoliator. I started using it during school to combat my acne that I developed as a young teenager. However since i've aged my skin has (obviously) changed. Instead of mostly oily skin i now have skin that seems to change it's type everyday. Some days it's oily, some days it's dry. I still get the odd breakout but then next to that i'll have a sore, dry, flacky patch - it's just very awkward! I discovered the seaweed range at the body shop last year and this exfoliator is just perfect! It smoothes away dead skin cells and clears away blackheads, without being drying. It leaves me with lovely soft skin. It's a little pricy, but it last's me ages; using once a day, most days of the week, a tube this size (75ml) will last me a good 5/6 months. Available here.

*E45 Moisturising Lotion*
This product is perfect for my skin after exfoliating; because it's E45, it's formulated to work on very dry sensitive skin yet because it's a lotion it's extremely thin and doesn't leave my skin oily. Often i find moisturizers that are great for dry skin, but are thick so make me oily, or ones that are thin enough for oily skin but they don't do anything for my dry patches. This is the best of both worlds. And, it's super affordable! You only need a tiny amount so a bottle that size (200ml) would easily last over a year. Available here.

Mermaid Hair & Too Much Make-up - F&OOTD

I washed my hair yesterday evening and let it air dry until slightly damp. I then did a french plait on either side of my head and slept in them. I do this a lot since i'm extionally lazy when it comes to washing, drying & styling my hair. This way, i can simply whack it in two plaits without have to dry it and wake up the next morning with it practically styled for me. With a bit of wax and hairspray added, i really like the way it looks. Also, doing this most of the time saves my hair from a lot of heat damage! I applied my make-up as normal, expect for lipstick. (Please excuse the slightly eccentric dressing gown.)

I undid the plaits and gently ran my fingers through them. I then used some hairspray and Garnier hair wax to add volume, before pinning back my fringe/top/side section which is at a very strange awkward length at the moment, so with me being too lazy to trim it I have taken to just pinning it back. Then i put a bit of lippy on (Beguiled by Topshop.... you could've guessed).

• Outfit (not sure what my left arm is doing?)
• Long Sleeve Black T-shirt - New Look
• Check Shirt - Hearts & Bows @ Asos
• Skirt - Primark
• (as usual, worn with my charity shop boots, bag & camo jacket with Topman hoody underneath)

Topshop Organza Trim Socks

Just been browsing Topshop's 'New In' and spotted these lovelies! Aren't they just the most adorable socks ever!? I have no idea what I'd wear them with, but they're just so cute, i had to share!

(Apricot, Lilac, Mint)

My Nightly Skincare Routine - It's Simple!

Recently i noticed a theme in my evening skincare routine, that id somehow never seen before - Simple. 

Something that I really love about the Simple products is the lack of alcohol, oils, perfume and colours. I have very sensitive, easily irritated skin, which can often end up feeling dry and sore after using some skincare brands. However, I love knowing that I can use Simple's products without having to worry about upsetting my skin. Another great point is that it's really affordable too! 

Cleansing Wipes, Hydrating Moisturiser, Eye Make-up Remover, Refreshing Face Wash

*Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes*

These wipes have been a staple in my nightly skincare routine ever since i started wearing make-up. I have tried others but I always go back to these. The wipes themselves are super soft and thick and they stay wet, unlike a lot of other brands which i find sometimes dry up really quickly. 

They gently cleanse my skin and remove my make-up really well, even my waterproof mascara. They leave my skin feeling super soft - not too oily nor dry and irritated. They are just perfect.

I always start my routine with these in order to remove the majority of my make-up. (Available here)

*Simple Refreshing Facial Wash Gel*

I've got to admit, i didn't know if simple even still made this! I bought this product years and years ago, i honestly dread to think how old it is, and i know i probably shouldn't be using it, but i really have just fallen back in love with it over the past few months. I never used to bother with a cleanser but decided I should probably use one so started using this again since i had it lying around at home. The gel formula is really light and produces a nice lather. It also has a really nice smell - nothing it particular it just somehow smells really clean and fresh. 

I use this after the wipes to give my skin a deep cleanse and remove any last traces of make-up. (Available here)

*Simple Eye Make-up Remover*

This is another staple product of mine. It is an absolute champ at removing waterproof mascara and is really gentle on my eyes. I just dab a bit onto a cotton wool pad and gently sweep it across my eyes, to remove any traces of eye make-up that may have been missed by the wipes and loosened by the face wash.  (Available here)

*Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser* 

Lastly, I use the moisturiser to give my skin a good burst of hydration overnight. I really like it and actually find it quite thick and luxurious considering it's supposed to be 'light'. Although, i think that's because I only ever normally use extremely thin, light moisturisers since anything too think can worsen my oily skin. I find this to be just right, thick enough without feeling heavy, and i also think it's best to have a thicker cream at night anyway. (Available here)

I will sometimes use these products in the morning too. On days when I don't intend to wear any make-up I'll just use the cleanser and the moisturiser. However, for most mornings, pre-make-up, I use two different products which i'll do a separate post on over the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that!

What do you like to use to remove your make-up before bed? Have you tired any of these simple products and what do you think of them? 

OOTD - Too Cold!

I wore this on Friday to go into town and meet my boyfriend off his train. Being silly, i thought it looked fairly sunny (so perhaps warm) outside so thought this outfit would be sufficient. It was not. I was absolutely frozen! More appropriate updates to it would be a thermal top layered underneath the grey one, ear muffs, gloves and a scarf. Oh and thick, fluffy socks under my boots.
I paired it with (as always) my little charity shop bag which you can see patiently sitting on my desk in the background.

Camo Jacket - Charity Shop
Grey Hoody - Topman (here)
Heavyweight Black Leggings - Topshop (here)
Grey Oversized Tee - Topshop (here)
Boots - Charity Shop
Nail Polish - Beth's Blue (Models Own) (here)
Lipstick - Beguiled by Topshop
Gold Stag Locket - Present from Boyfriend

Weekly Wish - Hand Cream

I've been looking out for a hand cream recently since my hands keep feeling really dry and sore - i think it must be this weather! Also, i know i'm only 20, but i do feel like it's time for me to start taking good care of my hands. I already feel like they resemble old lady hands and not taking care of them isn't going to make them look any younger!

I saw this Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Hand Cream (available here) last sunday on Rhiannon's (fashionrocksmysocks) blog in her 'Week in Photo's No.39' post, and it's been hanging around in it's own little tab ever since. I think it looks really cute and it's nice that they do the mini versions to try out. However i do think the price (£8) is still a little steep for such tiny products.

Another hand cream that caught my eye is The Body Shop's Vitamin E Hand Cream (available here) which also promises to condition nails and soften cuticles - that's 3 jobs done in 1! This made me happy because, being very lazy, I am a lover of any product that does more than one thing at once. I do think that £8 is still a little steep for 75ml of product BUT there is 40% off everything online and instore at the Body Shop right now which would re-price this little lovely at the much more agreeable price of £4.80 - perfect!

Models Own - Beth's Blue

I always tend to wear dark nail varnishes in winter and save pastels for spring/summer time, but recently i've seen a lot of gurus such as zoella and fashionrocksmysocks sporting pastel blues or purples along with their think coats and wooly scarves, and i think it looks great. The pastel nails just add a lift to the outfit and can stop dark coloured wintery clothes looking too drab.

So tonight I decided to paint my nails with Beth's Blue, a lovely blue grey with lilacy undertones, for a change. It looked lovely at first, and i was really pleased with it, but then it started to bubble horribly - now it looks awful! Why do so many of my nail polishes do this as they dry? Its so frustrating!

(Buy here)

OOTN - Girls Night Out

Went out for cocktails with the girls the other night, this is what I wore:

Cropped Bralet - Boohoo
Crushed Velvet Skirt - Urban Outfitters
Velvet Block Heel Shoes - New Look

I wore this with my leather jacket and my trusty charity shop bag.

FOTD | Beguiled by Topshop

This winter I finally decided that it was time for me to try out the plummy/vampy lip trend. I knew i wanted a Topshop lipstick because I find that, for the price, they're pretty good quality and always seem to last really well on my lips. I had a small dilemma between Beguiled and Wicked, which was part of their limited edition "Dark Side of Nude" Collection (the eyeshadows of which are still available, and absolutely gorgeous). I went for Beguiled in the end though because i found it was more pinky/magenta toned than Wicked, and i always find pinky tones easier to work with. It looks more pink in the photos above than it does in reality - i'd describe it as a warm red wine colour with a pink undertone.

I picked it up from the Nottingham Topshop store around the start of December and have practically worn it at every chance since. I am in love with the colour, especially how (as shown in the swatch) you can blend it out to give your lips a stain, or build it up to achieve a really bold, statement lip, making it wearable for both day and night. I always make sure to build it up slowly using a small lip brush (i use the detailer brush from the Real Techniques Core Collection) in order to achieve a crisp, neat finish.

I'd definitely recommend Beguiled for anyone who wants a plummy dark lip without looking too vampy.

Snow Boots! :D

Bought these gorgeous furry boots from Brantano a couple of years ago and i absolutely love them <3 they're so warm and cosy and just perfect for venturing out in this weather!

Has anyone else been outside today? What have you been wearing to keep warm? :)

Weekly Wish

So I thought it might be nice to do a small post about one thing each week that i'm currently coveting. This week, after looking through Topshop's 'New In' it would definitely be these jim jams. I have a real love for cute pajamas and i just think these are so simple yet adorable. They look really comfy too!

'Moon and Back' Tee and Short - £22

CHVRCHES - The Mother We Share

Such a beautiful uplifting song <3

(Late) New Years Resolutions. 2013.

Like most people, i always make New Years Resolutions but rarely stick to them. I do still like to make them though. I think it's always important to try to better yourself and aim for certain things. However, i think it's also important to remember to keep your goals realistic. If you make them unachievable you will only end up stressing yourself out and feeling disappointed.
So here are my resolutions for 2013 (even if i am two weeks late).

 *Drink More Water*

I'm definitely with Zoella on this one - I always feel so much better when I make the effort to drink more water. And my skin definitely benefits from it too. I always take a bottle of water to Uni with me but often don't finish it even though it's only 75cl. Not drinking enough also results in me having terrible headaches every day which make me feel tired and fed up.

*Eat More. But Healthily*

Since starting Uni in September I've lost weight. Some girls might think that's brilliant but for me it's terrible news. I was underweight before starting (thanks to my super fast metabolism) and I always struggle to keep weight on, let alone put more one. I've been the same weight for about the past 5 years!  So losing some was really not what I wanted. It's just hard at uni, having the motivation and the energy to cook anything substantial as well as fitting three meals a day around my awkward timetable - i often start at lunchtime and once a week I'm in till 9 making having any sort of proper dinner impossible. This term (and for the rest of the year) I'm determined to push myself to eat proper meals regularly in order to try and regain the weight that i've lost. However, i need to make sure I do it healthily - i can't just start living off Dominos and McDonalds because it won't do my insides any good and it'll only leave me feeling sluggish and lethargic. This is not going well so far - i've had two huge McDonalds meals in the past 5 days.

*Go To Bed Earlier*

When i lived at home it was unusual for me to stay up very late, now i'm at Uni though its so easy to lose track of time (not even doing anything important) and end up not going to bed till 1/2 in the morning. It's really not doing me any favors - i'm tired all the time and find it so hard to get up in the morning before about half 10. I really need to get my body clock back in order. I need to start going to bed around 11, especially on nights when i have Uni the next day! I'm hoping it'll also allow me to get up earlier in order to take advantage of the whole day to get stuff done. Which leads me nicely on to my next resolution.....

*Stop Leaving Things Until The Last Minute*

I am the biggest procrastinator I know. I'm so easily distracted as well. Everything I do gets left till the last minute - from packing before going away, to getting my uni work done. I really need to stop doing it because it frustrates me so much and only causes me way more stress in the long run. From now on i'm going to push myself to be more productive with my time and not get so easily distracted. When I get given work next semester I'm gonna start it straight away instead of leaving it until a week before the deadline!

*Be More Selfish*

This might sound like I strange resolution, and just to clear things up I don't mean being selfish as in not being generous and kind and helpful, i just mean i feel like i need to look out for myself more often. I'm often way too tolerant with people, and too nice and never stand up for myself which ends up meaning people just take advantage of me and walk all over me and i'm always too shy, too scared and too nice to say anything. It's got to the point where i really need to stop taking shit from people because it just makes me feel so unhappy. I need to start doing more for myself, looking out for myself, and most importantly standing up for myself! I need to stop people taking advantage of me and I want to find nicer people to surround myself with. People who make me happy, instead of making me feel drained and bad about myself. I also wanna focus on doing the stuff I want to do. I feel like I need to have some new focuses this year as what I've given all my focus and efforts to over the past year could unfortunately disappear at any moment. This year I wanna be able to make myself happy instead of relying on someone else to it. Something that, sadly, i haven't been able to do for the past 3 years. I seem to have forgotten how to. Hopefully this will result in me feeling more positive and happy.

OOTD - Camo & Tartan

Ear Muffs - Asos
Tartan Scarf  - Asos
Grey Hoodie - Topman
Camo Jacket - Charity Shop
Black Vest Top - New Look
Black Body-Con Skirt - Primark
Boots - Vintage from eBay
Hangbag - Charity Shop
Tights - (they're just tights)
Lipstick - Beguiled by Topshop

My little charity shop hangbag <3
It's just the right size for use everyday, and i love how it has a cute little handle as well as a long shoulder strap.
It has loads of useful little open and zip-able comparments making it good for nights out too.
I also love the little gold hardware detailing on the front with the ring of tortoiseshell.
Picked up this little vintage treasure from a charity shop last year for just £4!
This is sure to pop up in many more outfits of the day.

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Sainsbury's TU Candles - Christmas Spice

Food shopping in Sainsburys with Dad a couple weeks back I spotted a some of the TU range and noticed they had some rather nice looking candles. After slinking away from Dad and the trolley towards the home section I had a quick look (and a sniff) around before making a grab for two of the 'Christmas Spice' scented candles - one in a lovely burgundy shiny glass jar, and another in a shallow red tin covered in little gold stars. The smell is divine, just inexplicably smells like Christmas. It's probably a little late to be telling you about how nice they are now, after christmas, but if they do have any left i should think they'll be half price and i know i'm going to be burning mine until the end of winter so they're definitely worth picking up even now. Or you could always stash them away till December! Either way, they're very affordable, around the £2 mark, and smell delicious :)

Sleek Make-up Au Natural iDivine Palette Review & Swatches

I'd been coveting this palette for quite a while as a cheap alternative to the urban decay naked palette, and i'm so so happy with it. I got it as a christmas present and have been practically using it non stop since. The colours (all but one which i will mention later) are super pigmented, and the mixture of mattes and shimmers make it super versatile meaning i've been able to wear it in the day and at night.

To start off, the packaging is nice and simple. It reminds me slightly of the Nars palettes. It is worth noting however that it gets dirty incredibly quickly. Any traces of make-up or grease seem to show up on this more than anything else in my make-up bag, and once those marks are on there, they're surprisingly hard to get off. So keep that in mind if you're a little ocd about keeping things looking like new. It comes with a massive mirror on the underside of the lid, and a double ended sponge applicator.

There are a total of 12 colours in the palette - 4 shimmers and 8 mattes - ranging from a very light matte cream called Nougat, to a deeply pigmented matte black called Noir.
To the right of Nougat is Nubuck - a pale mauveish grey. This is my least favourite of the eyeshadows, which is unfortunate since i do like the colour. However, the colour payoff is terrible. I really struggled to get it to show up on my skin (as you can see below) even swatching it layer upon layer, it just wasn't pigmented enough.
Next to that is Cappuccino, a slightly dirty light brown - basically a cappuccino colour. This is very well pigmented however is another colour that didn't show up when swatched because it's practically the same colour as my skin. Then there's Honeycomb, a lovely yellow toned cream which again is extremely similar to my skin colour. After that is Toast, a light burnt orange before the far right of the top row, Taupe, which is a beautiful rose gold colour filled with rose gold and silverish shimmer particles.
The first colour of the bottom row is Conker. This is a warm medium brown with bronze shimmer. After that is Moss - a khaki toned brown with gold shimmer. Then there is another matte colour - Bark. This is a simple medium cool-toned ash brown, great for everyday definition. After that is another gorgeous shimmer called Mineral Earth. This is a much darker brown than conker, still very warm, but with very slight khaki undertones. Next is Regal, a matte dark warm-toned brown, before lastly, Noir - a matte black which is really well pigmented. Unfortunately it came out looking more brown in the swatch photos, but in reality it is a jet black.

Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe, Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir

You can get your hands on the palette for £7.99 from bigger (and more organized) Superdrug stores, or from sleeks website - http://www.sleekmakeup.com/eyes/shadows/i-divine.