£1 Top?!

I just wanted to quickly share this amazing bargain! My Nan found this top in Primark and picked it up for me in the cream colour below and also navy blue, she is such a sweetie ♥ and it's always nice to know someone has been thinking of you. I'm definitely not snobby about clothes or anything, but I didn't really know what to expect when she told me they were a pound each... however was so pleasantly surprised :) It definitely needs a top worn underneath as it's so sheer, but I love the lace panels and think it can easily be dressed up (maybe with a boob tube under instead) or worn casually, and looks lovely with a long gold necklace. The knot can be worn loose to keep the top hanging low for example with leggings (below) or tightened to crop the top and wear with high waisted shorts etc.

With flash, made it look a bit more sheer than in natural light

Excuse the bra strap!

Get Ready For College With Me!

Or in other words - how I make myself look a bit more human/less zombie troll in the morning. I don't make a huge effort to look amazing at college because to be honest, I'd rather have the extra time in bed, and I'm only going to be facing a computer screen doing work for the majority of the day. Plus I'm lucky to have a good group of friends at college that I'm comfortable around; we've all seen each other at some point with no make up or a bad hangover so it's not a big deal :) But it is nice to look somewhat decent.

8.00AM, you can see my lovely dark circles. My skin is already cleansed, moisturised and primed, but I need to be out the door by 8.45 and need to do my hair/get dressed as well!

Concealer lighter than my skin tone on the top of my cheeks, down my nose and on my chin to brighten me up...

After I had concealed my under eye circles with a yellow toned concealer, I applied Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation and set with loose powder. Contoured my face with a powder darker than my skin to make it look like I have cheekbones.  Then black eyeliner in my waterline and tightline...

Benefit Coralista on the tops of my cheeks...

Only 1 coat of Natural Collection Waterguard mascara, no time for eyeshadow (I would usually wear a crease colour and highlight) as I'm in a rush now...

Collection 2000 Cream Puff (Fairy Cake) on my lips and make up is finished in under half an hour :) You might have noticed that I haven't filled in my eyebrows, but I haven't actually applied any makeup on my forehead either, because my new full fringe covers them both I now have a chance to grow my eyebrows out a bit.

Needed to be out the door at this point so didn't have time to take a proper outfit photo! But I sorted my fringe out and wore the rest of my hair in a high messy bun, Primark dog print shirt with vest top underneath, gold crosses necklace, trusty camo jacket, black high waisted 'disco pant' leggings, and black Vans lookalikes. 

Have you got any tips for getting ready in a hurry? xx

MUA Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten Kit

I purchased this a few days ago from my local Superdrug - after a minor panic when I thought they had got rid of the MUA stand!!! When in fact it had just been moved to a different place - phew :) 

It costs £3.50 both online and in Superdrug, which I think is extremely reasonable for a concealer palette with 3 different shades. I chose the Porcelain - Beige as it was the lightest set yet still didn't look all that light. However once I had properly swatched it in the right light I was happy to see that the two concealer shades both blended in to my skin perfectly. 

I've been using the yellow toned colour to cover my dark purple under eye circles, however I need to go back to pick up and apply more product quite a few times to get good coverage. The peachy concealer is a good all rounder for correcting small flaws, but if I had a really red blemish I would probably choose a more heavy duty concealer for the job (such as my trusty Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection!) I'm not blown away by the highlighting cream but it is a nice addition to the kit and would work well in places where you need it to be more subtle, such as the cupids bow. 

Overall I think this kit delivers on the quality you get for the price, as do most of MUA's products! Which budget concealers would you recommend?? 
xx

Oreo Cake!

Me and my boyfriend made this cake for Valentines day (heart shaped tin optional!) and it was a taste sensation! We didn't follow one particular recipe but kind of combined a few different ones. 

First we made a plain sponge, just mix the following ingredients together in a bowl:

• 225g (8 oz) self-raising flour
• 225g (8 oz) butter, at room temperature
• 225g (8 oz) caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Then layered whole oreos on the bottom of a greased cake tin and poured the mixture on top, and cooked in the oven for about half an hour at 180. 

To make the best part the Oreo buttercream! We blitzed up a pack of Oreos, then beat 250g butter, added 300g icing sugar and finally the crushed oreos. 

We spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake but you could also cut the sponge in half and put buttercream in the middle if you preferred. We finished it by breaking up the leftover oreos and sprinkling them on top. 

I wish we had got a picture of the whole cake, because it was heart shaped it looked so cute! The photo's below are actually of the last slice, which shows how fast the cake disappeared haha.

Do recipe/cooking posts interest you beauty bloggers? xox

Fringin' ell!

Just over a week ago I took the plunge and got a full fringe cut into my hair!

I had one when I was around 15/16 and I really liked it, I can't actually remember the reason for growing it out. Anyway I'd been noticing full fringes on people and celebrities a lot recently... 

...and just fancied a change from my usual hair styles so thought what the heck, it's only hair it can always grow back.

This is mine having just been blow dried, and the rest of my hair looking a bit fluffy haha. I've actually been wearing it with a messy bun more than I have been wearing it down lately. 

What do you all think of the full fringe, do you think Emma Stone/Taylor Swift look better with or without?

xxx

River Island Jacket Lust

A spur of the moment post! I really don't need another new jacket... I just want them all :(

Aztec print fur collar jacket £80 - Cute and cosy!
Grey boucle boyfriend blazer  £35 - Looks smart/tailored and expensive
Black leather look waterfall jacket £60 - The contrast between the suede look material and leather gives added interest
Denim acid wash shearling collar jacket £65 -  Channelling the 90's trend
Beige biker jacket £35 - More girly than a black biker and perfect for spring
Monochrome patterned biker jacket £65 - Would look good on a night out, something a bit different!

Even if I could afford to splash out, choosing just one is so hard :( Which is your favourite? xox

Shiseido Day Moisture Protection Review

I was browsing the magazine racks in Sainsbury's recently (wasting time waiting for my pharmacy prescription) when Marie Claire happened to catch my eye - this months issue comes with samples of Shiseido 'The Skincare' range. I think there was a facial cleanser, night time moisturiser and maybe another moisturising product to choose from as well. 

Anyway seeing as the magazine was only £2 I thought I would pick one up as I am always interested in trying out higher end products when I can.

I usually use the 125ml Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser every day, it does the job well and only costs around £3. A 75ml bottle of Shiseido The Skincare Day Moisture Protection would set you back around £46, which in my opinion is seriously steep!

First of all, I was surprised at how runny it is, which makes it a little hard to pour out the exact amount you need. It spreads out surprisingly well and you need less than you would think. It does feel very moisturising and good for the skin, however a little greasier/more oily than I am used to. Lastly, I really like the scent, it smells exactly like when you smell a flower up close (I am a bit weird at describing smells.)

Overall I do like the moisturiser, it feels and smells good, hasn't broken me out or caused any other problems... but would I pay £46 for a moisturiser? The answer is still no! Have you tried any of the samples in this months Marie Claire or any other Shiseido products? xx

Lashes of London Wishlist

Hello hello! I heard about about this fun competition over at Abby's blog An Uninventive Name. The prize is a £200 voucher to spend on Lashes of London clothes! To enter, all you have to do is create your own 'wish list' style collage of your favourite pieces from the store and email the link to bloggers@e-tailwebstores.com.

Read the official competition blog post here,

And check out what's on Abby's wish list here! 

My favourite piece is definitely the studded playsuit! See it worn beautifully here by Charlene O'Rourke (Strutt) : http://struttlamode.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/skin.html?m=1

Which piece is your favourite? 

I'd love to see some different wish lists so please link yours below if you decide to enter :) xox 

Primark Embellish Review!

Hello! I bought the Primark 3D nails set the other day just to give it a go, you will probably be able to tell from the photo that I'm definitely not great at painting nails, nor are my nails in particularly good condition :( I don't bite them unless I'm really stressed but they're very weak and tend to break off in layers. Add that to my fingers being abnormally long and my nails starting quite far down, they don't have much of a chance to grow long and pretty. (Nail experts please comment with any wisdom you can share!) 

So whilst I can say professional nail tutorials definitely won't be on the cards any time soon, I will at least have a crack now and again and show you all the results.

The coloured varnish is a kind of raspberry red/pink, and it only took 2 coats to get an even finish. I used a little plastic tray to hold my nail over as I sprinkled the beads over my chosen 'accent' nail. I had to fill in some gaps by carefully placing individual beads by hand, which was quite tricky. In the time it took to put the beads on, the varnish begun to dry making it harder to get the beads to stick. The above photo shows what I managed to do but seeing as I'm a novice I'm sure it would look heaps better with practise. I like that the set included a little funnel so you can pour the excess beads back into the bottle.

Once the nails were all dry, I realised how easily the beads fall off. I could have tried putting a coat of clear varnish over the top to set them, but I ended up taking them all off and just painting glitter over the nail instead to make life easier. 

Overall I like the effect and think it would look lovely on someone else's (nicer shaped) nails! You could also use the beads with loads of other colour nail polishes other than what comes in the set. 

Thanks for reading! Have you tried the Primark 3D nails or anything similar? xox

Collective Haul; Mostly Primark

Hello! I picked up a few bits in town today, so thought I would chuck them into a collective haul (purchases from around the middle of January onwards.) I will definitely do a post on the Collection 2000 Cream Puffs soon, I've gone through 4 since I first bought one over a year ago and I bloody love them! I'll also be reviewing the Primark nail set once I've found the time to try it out - because I'm not allowed to wear nail varnish to work I want to be able to keep it on my nails for at least a few days :( Anyway ramble over! Onto the stuff...

Primark - Necklaces - £2 each

Primark - 3D Manicure set - £2.50

Collection 2000 - Cream Puff matte lip creams - £2.99 each 

 Benefit - High Beam luminescent complexion enhancer - sample (from a friend)

River Island - Acid wash high waist shorts - £30

Primark - Camouflage jacket - £18

Primark - Embellished vest - £7 reduced to £3 (present from Mum!)

Primark - Skeleton cut out shoulder top - cant remember the price!

Primark - 5 black socks - £2

Thank you for reading! Please let me know via comments if you would actually be interested in reading a review of any of the products :) xox