What I Got For My Birthday

What I Got For My Birthday

And I'm back...just under a month later! I am such a awful blogger, but I'm back with a really exciting post. I have finally left my teens! I say finally, but really I was quite emotional about the whole thing. I do not feel ready to be a proper adult!

But "What I got for my birthday" posts and videos are some of my favourite to read/watch, so I have put together a little one of my own. As always a little disclaimer, I am not trying to brag about anything. I was incredibly lucky this year to get some really stunning gifts. Mostly white and pastel as my family and friends obviously know me very well!

My my little sister I got this stunning white little tray, which I am sure you will be seeing a lot more of on here as it will be so useful for blog photos. I got a few candles, all white and all smell divine. I light a candle almost every night before bed, especially as it gets darker and colder so I cannot wait to start burning these. And then I got some absolutely stunning jewellery from some of my favourite places, Estella Bartlett and Accessorize, featuring some of my favourite things, stars and elephants!

Estella Bartlett do some of my favourite jewellery pieces. Everything is so delicate and beautifully made, but they also do some lovely cute designs. And after a long love affair with gold I am really getting back in to wearing silver jewellery.

And I couldn't not show you a close up of these absolutely adorable elephant earrings. I know that my elephant obsession is a little crazy, but these are just the cutest. And still so delicate and subtle.

Displaying all of my new beautiful white candles on my tray. The little one at the front is made in Sevenoaks, my little home town! And I am actually burning the big glass jar one from Next as I write this post - it smells divine.

Of course I was lucky enough to get some lovely bath bits. My little sister got me the Body shop products as she knows the shea butter scent is my favourite. And at the moment it is a little too hot but when it gets colder I can't wait to start having bubble baths with this huge bottle of Sanctuary Spa!

A little treat from The White Company...one of my favourite shops of all time.

My girls at uni were so generous. And they obviously know me so well! I got the softest and most comfy pair of lounge pants, and they are grey and white striped with lace trim; very me! And the pastel pink pouch feels so luxury and beautiful made.

And some lovely home bits. How pretty is this little mug? I'm going to keep this one by my bed and use it for my green tea before I go to bed.

 

And finally a couple of books. As I am working in London I would really love to try and tick off some of the places in this really cute book my John Sykes. And then a Vogue colouring book! I actually really love colouring in the evening before bed while I watch some Netflix. It's so therapeutic and relaxing.

So I hope that you enjoyed having a little peak at some of the presents I got for my birthday! I was incredibly lucky this year. So sorry I seem to have taken a little bit of a break from blogging at the moment. I'm finding it hard to find the time to create the posts that I want to write. But hopefully soon things will have calmed down here and I will get back into more of a routine.

But I hope you are all well and enjoying a lovely Summer. Speak soon xx

 

Sun Daze

Sun Daze

I am fully aware that by the time this post goes live it will no longer be a Sunday, and my title pun will have less of an effect! But I am sticking with it anyway.

This Sunday, one of the hottest days of the year so far, I went to my boyfriend Jacks house for a family barbecue. After weeks spent revising in tracksuit bottoms, my hair in a messy bun and no makeup on it was nice to get a little bit dressed up. It was also lovely to put a pretty blouse on and not have to worry that it wouldn't even be seen under a coat or jacket!

We had such a lovely time in the sunshine chatting, drinking and eating barbecue food followed by the most incredible pavlova.

I decided to keep my outfit fairly simple, jeans and a white blouse, and then add some pretty accessories such as this satchel bag, delicate jewellery and sunglasses of course.

Top - New Look
Jeans - Topshop
Satchel - Accessorize
Sandels - River Island

I think I have finally mastered the art of hair curling with straighteners! I'm not perfect, or particularly quick, but I love how natural these loose waves look. I also love the detail on this New Look blouse. I bought it in the sale and have had it for years but it is still one of my favourites. Also how adorable is my gold elephant pendant which my little sister bought me!

I also kept my makeup fairly simple, so that it wouldn't all melt off in the sunshine and heat! I kept my skin dewey, classic brown eyeshadow, fluttery lashes and my favourite nude matte lipstick. I am definitely going to have to write a post on this lip product fairly soon as it is all I have been reaching for recently.

I love how simple, girlie and understated this whole look is. It is the perfect combination of put-together without looking like you have put too much effort into it. And I can't believe how well my shoes and bag match!

You might recognise these beautiful shoes from a fairly recent post. I got them from River Island and I am just in love. For a while now I had wanted a pair of Summer heels that I would feel comfortable wearing during the day. These shoes (which I found in the sale as well!) are exactly what I was looking for. They are simple, comfortable and the nude shade means they are wearable with so many different outfits.

...And pout!

Yesterday was just as hot as Sunday, and I spent most of the day lying in the sun with the latest issue of ELLE Magazine and a berry smoothie! Not a bad Monday I guess! Today however is a totally different story. I went into town with my brother to pick up some ingredients as I am going to do some baking soon, and just as we arrived the torrential rain started. The saying "and the heavens opened" was very appropriate! But it was still so humid, so I was wondering around wearing a t-shirt and carrying an umbrella. Very strange!

I'm off to do some baking (and eating!) now. Speak soon xx

New and Nude

New and Nude

I have finally taken my umbrella out of my handbag and swapped it for my sunglasses, which means Summer is well and truly on the way. And while I will be the first to admit that I do not need to be doing anymore shopping I somehow ended up buying two new pairs of shoes yesterday. Such is life! So in an attempt to make myself feel slightly less guilty about my purchases I thought I would share them on my blog.

Last Summer I bought a pair of beige slip-ons from Accessories for only £10, and my love for slip-ons was born. They were comfy, went with everything and just looked cool. Sadly like most things in life, they didn’t last forever. To be honest I am actually embarrassed by the state that they are currently in and the fact that I hadn’t replaced them sooner.  I spotted these beautiful replicas in Schuh and fell in love. They are exactly what I was looking for and I actually prefer that they are slightly more pinky. They also feel much better quality so hopefully if I look after them they will last a little longer! And at £25 I think they are a total bargain as I know I will be living in these this Summer.

 

The second pair of shoes were slightly less justified, however I have been looking for something similar for a while now. I saw these in a haul by FreddyMyLove, and immediately clicked the link to have a look at them. So when I saw that they had gone down to £20 in a recent promotion I was sold. I have wanted a pair of Summer sandals with a small heel that would still be wearable for a smarter everyday look. These clog style shoes, which are everywhere at the moment still feel pretty and feminine and the nude colour will work with most of my wardrobe. I think these are also going to be really versatile and work well with skirts and dresses but also cropped jeans and a pretty blouse.

Now that I am writing this and looking back at the pictures I have absolutely no regrets! I can start to pack away all of my Winter boots and look forward to wearing these beauties.

And in case you wanted to treat yourself too the links of both products are below.

Schuh Natural Slip On Flats 
River Island Pink Leather Clog Sandals

Happy Friday everyone! xx

September Favourites

September Favourites 

So here are the things that I was really loving in September. There aren't very many of them so you can trust that they were all very well loved this month. And is it just me or does this favourites picture look very Summery? Maybe it is just my love for pastels that means whatever time for the year it is I will always be wearing them. 

Firstly I have to mention this little gold Topshop elephant necklace that I have worn almost everyday since I bought it. It is so delicate and pretty and a slightly longer pendant. And elephants are my favourite animals so this makes me very happy.

The first thing that I have been using a lot this month is the mini They're Real mascara from Benefit. I had a pack with six little Benefit minis in and I think this has to be my favourite. I like to use this for evenings and nights out as it creates quite dramatic lashes that really do look like you could be wearing falsies! What I really love about this though is that I can put loads on and it won't go clumpy. And during the day I have just been wearing my Benefit Roller Lash mascara for a more natural look. I am so impressed by Benefit mascaras right now. 

This has been my favourite lipstick for the last month. As it is started to get a little colder I have been getting out some deep reds and berry shades, but when I think about it, this is what I was reaching for the most. It's just a beautiful pretty "your lips but better" shade. And how pretty is this packaging? I think sometime soon I am going to do a whole post of this and show you some swatches or a makeup look. 

I actually did a whole post about this Essie nail polish a couple of months ago which you can check out here. This is just a really unique greyish shade that looks really minimal and chic. And the fact that it is an Essie polish should come as no surprise!

Finally my favourite Ted Baker beauty bits. I use this lovely hand cream every night just before I go to bed and it smells devine. I just really don't want it to run out as it looks beautiful on my bedside too! And I have loved wearing this body spray on days when I am just going into uni and wearing a perfume seems a bit too much. It smells floral and fresh and again I love the packaging.

Hope you liked this little favourites. Let me know in the comments below what you have been loving this month. xx

September Favourites

September Favourites 

So here are the things that I was really loving in September. There aren't very many of them so you can trust that they were all very well loved this month. And is it just me or does this favourites picture look very Summery? Maybe it is just my love for pastels that means whatever time for the year it is I will always be wearing them. 

Firstly I have to mention this little gold Topshop elephant necklace that I have worn almost everyday since I bought it. It is so delicate and pretty and a slightly longer pendant. And elephants are my favourite animals so this makes me very happy.

The first thing that I have been using a lot this month is the mini They're Real mascara from Benefit. I had a pack with six little Benefit minis in and I think this has to be my favourite. I like to use this for evenings and nights out as it creates quite dramatic lashes that really do look like you could be wearing falsies! What I really love about this though is that I can put loads on and it won't go clumpy. And during the day I have just been wearing my Benefit Roller Lash mascara for a more natural look. I am so impressed by Benefit mascaras right now. 

This has been my favourite lipstick for the last month. As it is started to get a little colder I have been getting out some deep reds and berry shades, but when I think about it, this is what I was reaching for the most. It's just a beautiful pretty "your lips but better" shade. And how pretty is this packaging? I think sometime soon I am going to do a whole post of this and show you some swatches or a makeup look. 

I actually did a whole post about this Essie nail polish a couple of months ago which you can check out here. This is just a really unique greyish shade that looks really minimal and chic. And the fact that it is an Essie polish should come as no surprise!

Finally my favourite Ted Baker beauty bits. I use this lovely hand cream every night just before I go to bed and it smells devine. I just really don't want it to run out as it looks beautiful on my bedside too! And I have loved wearing this body spray on days when I am just going into uni and wearing a perfume seems a bit too much. It smells floral and fresh and again I love the packaging.

Hope you liked this little favourites. Let me know in the comments below what you have been loving this month. xx

H&M Beauty Bits

H&M Beauty Bits 

Last weekend I made a little trip to H&M to check out their new beauty range. They have just brought out a 700 piece collection, including lipsticks, eyeshadows, face products and lots of beauty tools, with prices starting from £1.90. So naturally, I had to go and cover the back of my hand in all the different colours.
Thankfully they provide makeup wipes!

Firstly I actually love the packaging of the products, the white and gold is right up my street. It looks so sleek and expensive.
Eyeshadow is probably my favourite makeup to shop for, I love looking at all the different colours (even though I am always drawn to the neutral shades!). H&M had a whole stand for all the different individual eyeshadows. They have such an incredible selection of matte, shimmery and really glittery shades in a huge range of colour. And what did I go for? An almost matte light brown!

The shade that I went for is called Candied Almond, which I think is a really cute name. I love the warm tones and how this appears to be matte until you look really closely and see there is a slight shimmer. I tried this shade the other day all over my lids, blended into my crease and then a little along my lower lash line. I was so impressed by the pigmentation and how easy this was so blend. For the price of £4.99 I definitely feel that these are some of the best eyeshadows that the highstreet has to offer. And I will definitely be going back to try some of the other shades. 

The other section that I was drawn to was the lipstick collection, again the beautiful white and gold packaging in so many different shades. I was drawn to this beautiful deep red shade as I thought it would look perfect for this time of year. The shade is called Fareham Brick and it's a matte shade but still very creamy. I wore this a couple of days ago with winged liner and lots of mascara and it looked so chic. This is beautiful to apply and lasted a good 2/3 hours before I needed to reapply. I think the deep red is a really unique shade and looks so pretty for Autumn. 

I have needed a new makeup bag for such a long time now, my old one has lost all of its colour and actually looks pretty gross. But trying to find a pretty and practical decent sized makeup bag actually proved a lot harder than I expected. So when I spotted this one in the makeup section I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for. It's in a gorgeous taupe colour with a gold zip on the main compartment and a little front pocket. I am just in love with this and I think that it looks so much more expensive than it really was. 

I also picked up these pretty gold eyelash curlers as my ones at the moment have definitely seen better days. Even a deep clean didn't save them this time. However these H&M ones are not what I am used to. At the moment I am finding it hard to get the curlers right up to my lash line to get a really good curl. Although I am going to keep trying with these an then let you know what I think. 

The last thing that I couldn't resit was this delicate gold layered necklace. H&M jewellery is a little hit and miss for me. I find their chunkier statement pieces a bit too much. But they also do some really delicate necklaces that look really minimal and modern. This one just had the three layers and is slightly longer than most of the pendents that I own.

Hope you liked this little haul. Overall I am so impressed by H&M makeup. The prices are good, the packaging is lovely and the quality is so lovely. I would definitely recommend you check these out if they look like they are up your street. And let me know in the comments if you have tried anything from H&M beauty range and what you thought of it. xx

H&M Beauty Bits

H&M Beauty Bits 

Last weekend I made a little trip to H&M to check out their new beauty range. They have just brought out a 700 piece collection, including lipsticks, eyeshadows, face products and lots of beauty tools, with prices starting from £1.90. So naturally, I had to go and cover the back of my hand in all the different colours.
Thankfully they provide makeup wipes!

Firstly I actually love the packaging of the products, the white and gold is right up my street. It looks so sleek and expensive.
Eyeshadow is probably my favourite makeup to shop for, I love looking at all the different colours (even though I am always drawn to the neutral shades!). H&M had a whole stand for all the different individual eyeshadows. They have such an incredible selection of matte, shimmery and really glittery shades in a huge range of colour. And what did I go for? An almost matte light brown!

The shade that I went for is called Candied Almond, which I think is a really cute name. I love the warm tones and how this appears to be matte until you look really closely and see there is a slight shimmer. I tried this shade the other day all over my lids, blended into my crease and then a little along my lower lash line. I was so impressed by the pigmentation and how easy this was so blend. For the price of £4.99 I definitely feel that these are some of the best eyeshadows that the highstreet has to offer. And I will definitely be going back to try some of the other shades. 

The other section that I was drawn to was the lipstick collection, again the beautiful white and gold packaging in so many different shades. I was drawn to this beautiful deep red shade as I thought it would look perfect for this time of year. The shade is called Fareham Brick and it's a matte shade but still very creamy. I wore this a couple of days ago with winged liner and lots of mascara and it looked so chic. This is beautiful to apply and lasted a good 2/3 hours before I needed to reapply. I think the deep red is a really unique shade and looks so pretty for Autumn. 

I have needed a new makeup bag for such a long time now, my old one has lost all of its colour and actually looks pretty gross. But trying to find a pretty and practical decent sized makeup bag actually proved a lot harder than I expected. So when I spotted this one in the makeup section I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for. It's in a gorgeous taupe colour with a gold zip on the main compartment and a little front pocket. I am just in love with this and I think that it looks so much more expensive than it really was. 

I also picked up these pretty gold eyelash curlers as my ones at the moment have definitely seen better days. Even a deep clean didn't save them this time. However these H&M ones are not what I am used to. At the moment I am finding it hard to get the curlers right up to my lash line to get a really good curl. Although I am going to keep trying with these an then let you know what I think. 

The last thing that I couldn't resit was this delicate gold layered necklace. H&M jewellery is a little hit and miss for me. I find their chunkier statement pieces a bit too much. But they also do some really delicate necklaces that look really minimal and modern. This one just had the three layers and is slightly longer than most of the pendents that I own.

Hope you liked this little haul. Overall I am so impressed by H&M makeup. The prices are good, the packaging is lovely and the quality is so lovely. I would definitely recommend you check these out if they look like they are up your street. And let me know in the comments if you have tried anything from H&M beauty range and what you thought of it. xx

Benefit Minis

Benefit Minis 

As I have mentioned several times on this blog now, last weekend my bestfriend go home from America. This year we actually missed each others birthday which was really sad. I am 5 days older that her so usually we do something on the day of each of our birthdays so it is like we each get two birthdays!

Anyway, I saw her this weekend and we had such a lovely girlie sleepover with yummy food and chick flicks! We also exchanged some very belated presents, and it made me laugh how we had both had the same idea and got each other some nice makeup. I gave her the Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette as I have it already and I knew she would love the colours. And she gave me this super cute set of little Benefit Minis. The set comes with six little products in the beautiful Benefit packaging. And I love minis as I think that they are a great way to try out products, especially more expensive ones without having to commit to buying the whole thing. Also mini products just look so cute! 

The first two, Sugarbomb and Ooh La Lift are both highlighter kind of products. Sugarbomb is a pretty pinky shimmer that you are meant to swirl the shades together and sweep over the face. I think I will be using this one as a blusher highlighter hybrid just on my cheeks for a bit of a glow.

Ooh La Lift is meant to be used under the eyes and I have never tried a product like this so I am excited to see how that turns out. Although I hope it doesn't make my under eyes shimmery and draw even more attention to my bags!

This mini makes me very excited as I have wanted to try this mascara for ages. I am currently using the new Benefit mascara, Roller Lash which I absolutely love! I already tried this one yesterday and I already love it. I was rushing out with no other makeup on and did a few stokes of this on each eye. I wasn't at all clumpy and it just looked really pretty and natural which I loved. 

Sun beam is a highlighter that I already own and love so I might let my sister try out this little mini, I also have two Benefit tints, Posie Tint and Cha Cha Tint so I can't wait to see what Lolli tint is like in comparison.  

Lolli balm looks like a really beautiful lip balm, although I had a little look and it only twists up about 4mm so that probably isn't going to last me very long the rate I get through lip balm. I think I will have to save this one just for when I am wearing Lolli Tint!

Hope you like this little post. I would love to hear in the comments if you have tried any of these products and what you thought of them! Speak soon xx

Benefit Minis

Benefit Minis 

As I have mentioned several times on this blog now, last weekend my bestfriend go home from America. This year we actually missed each others birthday which was really sad. I am 5 days older that her so usually we do something on the day of each of our birthdays so it is like we each get two birthdays!

Anyway, I saw her this weekend and we had such a lovely girlie sleepover with yummy food and chick flicks! We also exchanged some very belated presents, and it made me laugh how we had both had the same idea and got each other some nice makeup. I gave her the Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette as I have it already and I knew she would love the colours. And she gave me this super cute set of little Benefit Minis. The set comes with six little products in the beautiful Benefit packaging. And I love minis as I think that they are a great way to try out products, especially more expensive ones without having to commit to buying the whole thing. Also mini products just look so cute! 

The first two, Sugarbomb and Ooh La Lift are both highlighter kind of products. Sugarbomb is a pretty pinky shimmer that you are meant to swirl the shades together and sweep over the face. I think I will be using this one as a blusher highlighter hybrid just on my cheeks for a bit of a glow.

Ooh La Lift is meant to be used under the eyes and I have never tried a product like this so I am excited to see how that turns out. Although I hope it doesn't make my under eyes shimmery and draw even more attention to my bags!

This mini makes me very excited as I have wanted to try this mascara for ages. I am currently using the new Benefit mascara, Roller Lash which I absolutely love! I already tried this one yesterday and I already love it. I was rushing out with no other makeup on and did a few stokes of this on each eye. I wasn't at all clumpy and it just looked really pretty and natural which I loved. 

Sun beam is a highlighter that I already own and love so I might let my sister try out this little mini, I also have two Benefit tints, Posie Tint and Cha Cha Tint so I can't wait to see what Lolli tint is like in comparison.  

Lolli balm looks like a really beautiful lip balm, although I had a little look and it only twists up about 4mm so that probably isn't going to last me very long the rate I get through lip balm. I think I will have to save this one just for when I am wearing Lolli Tint!

Hope you like this little post. I would love to hear in the comments if you have tried any of these products and what you thought of them! Speak soon xx