Recent Purchases

As I'm sure I have said many, many times, I have a knack for spending too much money. This weekend has been absolutely no exception to this rule! However, for once, (most of) the items bought were needed. Summer makeup must haves, brighter lip and nail shades, lovely, summery, pink blusher... things every girl needs, right? 

I am a real big fan of MUA. You really can't complain about the quality of their products, especially considering the budget prices. Recently I've bought two of their lipsticks in shade 16, nectar, a lovely coral shade which is just perfect for summer, and shade 14, bare, a gorgeous pale nude colour that avoids giving you the whole 'foundation lips' look. At £1 these are absolutely fantastic, they're very well pigmented and feel really creamy and moisturising on the lips. I also got my hands on three of their nail varnishes in Ameretto Crush (coral), Bold Blue and Deepest Purple. Again at £1 a pop and currently 3 for 2 at Superdrug, there is no complaining. I'm get to try any MUA nail varnishes but keep your eyes thoroughly peeled for reviews! Last but not least out of the MUA bundle I grabbed their loose matte perfect powder in translucent for just £2.50. I tend to get really shiny in the summer as I'm sure many do and this claims to have "shine control" - exactly what I need!

The Garnier products I bought are repurchases, but I can still rave on about how great they are. Both of these items, the make up remover and the refreshing toner were just £1.99 each from Bodycare, my go to place for beauty items (as you can probably tell, I love a good bargain!). The toner is a really good pick me up for both normal and combination skin - I myself am a combination girl and I absolutely love the stuff. It smells fresh and feels great, and I find I can make a bottle last me for at least a month even after toning twice a day. The make up remover really does exactly like it says on the tin, however do be careful that you don't smudge your mascara all over your face as I find this can happen with this budget make up remover. That very tiny negative aside it's still absolutely perfect especially for a budget product.

Before I start here, yes I'm one of those girls. A self confessed candle lover. So when I saw that Clinton's were having a 25% off sale on all Yankee candles and reed diffusers, I made a beeline. I'm so in love with Yankee candles but they do tend to be a little out of my price range, so I made the most of this offer (which unfortunately ends today). I picked up a large jar of Strawberry Buttercream for £14.99 and sample versions of Soft Blanket, Summer Scoop and Lake Sunset for £1.35 each.

As well as everything above (this list feels never ending!), I got myself again the Supercat eyeliner pen from Soap & Glory in Carbon Black for £6 at Boots. In addition to this I picked up two more of the Barry M Hi Shine Gelly varnishes in Passion Fruit (seen on my nails) and Mango. I also have the shade Green Berry. I'm really undecided on these yet - I absolutely adore the colours but have a love/hate relationship with the formula. These were £3.99 each from Boots or buy one and get the second half price, which is exactly what I did. In much need of a good but low priced blusher I snapped up Natural Collection's blusher in Pink Cloud for £1.99. I don't buy any other products from Natural Collection but this blusher feels really pigmented, soft and has a very attractive price tag. In addition to eeeeeeverything else, I grabbed Lush Cosmetics' Solid Perfume in Karma for £5. This has such a gorgeous scent and is perfect for summer. 

So that's everything! After spending a frightening amount of money it would be very rude to not fully review most of these products so be on the look out for those. However I do think it is worth mentioning that I will be moving shop in the next couple of weeks I think - buying a domain and totally revamping my blog. I will be posting about that as and when it happens and I will be leaving this blog open instead of transferring all of my posts, this is just a heads up!

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Weightloss #1

Tonight's post is a little different. For a while now I have been a little body concious after piling on a fair amount of pounds after the addition of the contraceptive implant so I figured it was about time I did something about it. I've always been a little on the chubby side and the smallest my 5ft 8 frame could pull off is a size 12 as I'm not 'built' to be any slimmer than that and I have never been bullied about my weight so there is no bowing into pressure here - I am aiming to lose weight to be comfortable in myself and that is my only aim.

Above are photos from late last year but they are just to give a general idea on my rough size. I'm the one in the red hoody and I'm around the size 14/16 (UK)

My goal is to get back down to a size 12, which I feel is more than possible for me. To achieve this I have recently increased the amount of exercise I do and I have a stationary bike in my bedroom and I have also been eating much cleaner (virtually no processed foods where I can avoid them!). Come Monday I plan on starting Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred which has proved a success for a lot of people I have spoken to on the matter, and once I start work I'm going to get myself a gym membership - although I don't feel this is necessary to lose weight I think it will motivate me to workout more if I'm paying money for it! 

I have a very supportive boyfriend and lovely friends who have been helping me and I know will stick by me on my way to achieving my goals. I have one incredibly inspirational friends, Ellen, who has been on her own journey and she looks absolutely gorgeous - the proof that a better lifestyle is there so here I go!

I'll be keeping track of my weightloss on here. Weigh ins, significant changes in appearance, that sort of thing. I will ignore any negativity posted on the subject of my weight and/or appearance. 

Do you have any good tips for weightloss?
(NO FADDY DIETS WELCOME!)

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Hello!

For a long time, starting my own blog has been high on my list of things to do, yet it has always been put to
one side. Whether that has been to do with college or the fact that initially I had no idea exactly what it was I wanted to post about I have no idea, but all I did was keep putting it off.
Finally I had enough as it occurred to me that I have so much spare time on my hands but do nothing productive with it. That, along side the baskets and baskets of beauty products and some encouragement from my good friend Fiona (northwesternbeauty) resulted in this post on this blog.
Infact, Fiona was the person who initially got me so into beauty products. Throughout my earlier teenage years she would frequently drag me to Selfridges and boots over the weekend to pour over the many makeup stands and counters, particularly benefit and Nars. As well as this she'd make me up like her little doll. Since this I have gradually gotten more and more into beauty and taking care of myself.
After a few months of watching Fiona's blog progress and reading up on some of my favourite and also the more prestigious beauty blogs I took the plunge.
On here I will be posting honest reviews of any products I buy, any samples I pick up or anything I may or may not get sent to me, things about my own beauty routines and snippets from my not-so-glamorous lifestyle. Wish me luck!

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