Makeup Storage I wish I had never bought

Well I actually bought this not so of a gem of a makeup box quite a few months ago, and have wrestled with it ever since.

For my day-to-day make-up; I store that in a make-up bag that just gets moved around the house as and when I use it, as it means I can just grab it and take it to whether-ever I go, and its all in one place.

However for my other make-up items that aren’t used on my face everyday, like many other girls, they were all thrown into a top draw of my dresser. This was a nightmare! I could never find anything, and regularly things would leak and ruin other items. So one day I decided enough was enough! I went onto amazon and started searching for vanity cases, I wanted something sleek, and not translucent, so I could just throw everything in, and no one would see the mess inside. I mean I am a lucky girl, and as I have a second bedroom, when I have no guests, this second bedroom is my walk-in wardrobe/ dressing room, it is literally filled with clothes, make-up and shoes, that I hide when I do have guests. So I wanted something that could be placed on top of the dresser, that looks good, but was more organised than a draw. Something that would make the most of my dressing room.

I decided that this was the make-up box I wanted, I liked the sleek curves of it, the fact it was black, and that it was cheap at £16. But god, I didn’t expect it to look so cheap! From the outside, it looks fine, but when I received it, its clear to see that a cheap price means cheap quality, it was not a bargain, it is just tat! The draws themselves feel like they are make out of cardboard, and its flimsy. regularly I’m fighting the draws back in. Its a lot smaller than I imagined, so only fits in like half of the stuff I wanted it too, so I still have a giant make-up bag that holds the other proportion of my make-up collection. Not the sleek, tidy and organised look I wanted for my dresser top.

So I am still searching! I have seen loads of great reviews and pictures of the Muji drawers, that I am tempted, but I didn’t really want a see-through storage unit, as when I have guests I don’t want my clutter being on show.

So if anyone has any other recommendations? Or can persuade me to buy the Muji drawers then give me your thoughts! I need ideas and solutions girls, before this vanity case drives me insane!

French with a twist| NOTD

Just a quick little post to show you my nails this past week. I used to always wear a French manicure day-to-day, but turned to colour a few months back, after becoming a bit bored, and receiving many pretty colours at Christmas. So this week I decided to bring it back, but thought it looked a little dull, and wanted to add something extra to it. I remembered I received some nail stickers in a 17 nail art kit at Christmas, and tried them out. I love the overall look, the nail varnish is just Rimmel London’s French manicure shades; that and the stickers lasted 4 days without chipping, so I was really impressed. This stickers themselves, were a little more difficult to remove, but I managed using nail varnish remover and a cotton pad, and just had to scratch at them. I think this is a great day-to-day look, as it is relatively simple, but still a little special.

A Pretty Face For Drake- FOTD

So as previous posts have mentioned, I went to see Drake the beginning of this week, and had an amazing night. This is the face of the day for that evening. I went very simple, with a smokey eye, nude lip, and bronzed/ blushed face. This tends to be my go to face if I am unsure what to do, or if I’m felling less confident, as I always feel sexy with a good dark smokey eye. It is definitely one of my favourite looks for makeup as it can be worn with anything and is a classic.

To achieve this look I used Urban Decay Naked Palette Dark Horse of the whole lid, then Mac Knight Divine on the outside of the lid towards the middle, then Naked Palette Virgin along the brow line and on the inner corners of the lid. Very simple!

What is your go to look for your make-up for evenings out? Do you also favour the smokey eye look?

Giant Clothes Haul

*Playsuit- New Look* *Printed Dress- New Look* *Maxi Dress- New Look* *Black Dress- Asda* *Tan Blazer- New Look* *Tweed Blazer- EBay* *Bird Print Dress* *Blue and Green Dress- Next*

It seems over the past few weeks I have spent quite a significant amount of my hard earned wages on clothes, some necessary, some not. However I claim it is all necessary as its a new season, therefore I need new clothes. So pretty printed dresses and playsuits are a must! 

As you will see a lot of my clothes were from New Look, but thankfully I had a voucher left from Christmas, so these clothes were technically were free… yeah! The bad thing is there are so many other things in many stores that I am lusting after… I already see next months wages disappearing quickly… not what I need. There are so many pretty blazers in H&M, River Island and Primark that I seem to want in every colour… a bit obsessed about blazers seems I’ve already bought two this month!

I have already worn a lot of these clothes already. As you will see that the Bird Print Dress I wore the other night to the Drake gig. I wear the tan blazer all the time, it seems to have replaced my grey blazer for day-to-day wear. The only dress I haven’t worn yet is the maxi dress, as it is very summery and it has done nothing but rain since I bought it, so I think I will be waiting a while till I am sporting that number, unfortunately.

What are you lusting after this month? Or season ?

Drizzy Drake- OOTD

Dress- NewLook

Shoes-Ebay

Balzer-New Look

Belt-H&M

Rings- Primark and H&M

For those of you who follow me on twitter, you will have seen me raving on about going to Drake’s gig in Newcastle last night. Now I’m not normally a girl who frequents concert halls, arena and gigs, but every now and again an artist comes along who I will go an see. Yet I am not the kind who gets involved in the action, you will find me propping up the bar at the back of the arena, not being squashed and sweated on at the front. So I seem to be quite dressed up in these photos, and I thought I was going to be overdressed, as I chose my outfit based on the notion that my friends and I were attending the after party, meaning I dressed for a night out. However I was actually rather under dressed and was showing a hell of a lot less skin than about eighty per cent of the other girls at the gig. Good grief there was some skimpy outfits… I sound like my nana… obviously showing my old age!

The gig itself was great, he sang all the songs I would of wanted him to, and put on a good show. The after party however was ridiculous! We went there straight after the gig, as although we had tickets, the club released more tickets than capacity, so I didn’t want to be disappointed. However the club became so busy, meaning it was not enjoyable, despite the good music being played.

So I want to know what others dress like at gigs? I made the mistake of wearing heels, so my feet gave up on me quite quickly, and there are still quite painful now… never again! Are flats a must? What are your wardrobe staples for gig going?

A lush time in Lush

Todays post is a haul, but also a recognition of excellent customer service. From working within customer service for the past 8 years I know that it is rare to hear of good customer service experiences, as it is always negative experiences that people remember and pass on to others. Today I am going to change that and tell you lovely girls about my wonderful visit to the Lush store in Eldon Square in Newcastle.

I decided to pop in to buy some little treats for my mum, and having not visited a lush store for sometime I took my time, browsing at many items. During this time, two members of staff came up to me asking if I needed any help, asking me about my day, and offering their advice and personal experiences with certain products. I noticed that the other members of staff we all interacting with the customers, showing demonstrations, talking about products etc.; no one in this store had a chance of being ignored.

I settled upon a facemask and a reusable bubble bar. When purchasing the product I was engaged in conversation with the server, the staff definitely weren’t having a conversation between themselves, like you see in many other high-street stores. I was told about how the products should be used, and about a campaign they currently are having against animal testing, offering me the chance to sign a petition and even write my name on their shop window in a sign of how many of us are against animal testing- which was a great personalised act.

Overall I left feeling I had been a valued, welcome customer; with a huge smile on my face; and even a spring in my step.  One thing I really enjoy is excellent customer service, and I have to say that the girls in this Lush store were above and beyond my expectations.

How have your experience faired in other Lush stores? Are all their stores excellent at delivering great customer service, or does Newcastle have a gem of a Lush store?

April Showers Don’t get Me Down| NOTD

*OPI-Strawberry Margarita* *Topshop-White*

It may be windy. It may be cold. I may be wet and rainy, and it may be the start of hay-fever season, but it won’t get me down. Especially when I’m sporty happy spring time nails like these! How can anyone be blue when your nails are so bright and summery; reminding me of flowers.

Its simple pleasure such as this that make days a little bit more cheery. I even managed to impress all my friends and brighten up our study session in the library today.

What simple pleasure has made you smile today? I hope you have all had a lovely day also.

Obsessed? Me? -Regional Obsessions

Image from the Daily Mail.co.uk

I read in the daily mail today that you can tell a lot by a women’s makeup bag and beauty products based upon where she lives in the UK. Research has revealed that women spend their money on different make-up products depending on where they live in the country.  But I suppose it makes sense if you were to compare the girls in the different reality TV shows on television. The girls of Geordie Shore and the girls of Made In Chelsea could not look more different!

Base upon where I live in Newcastle apparently we buy 15% more moisturiser than the national average. I don’t know about any other Newcastle girls out there, but I wouldn’t say I over buy moisturiser. I would say that I instead have an unhealthy obsession with Fake Tan and Mascara. I am a girl who would never, never, never leave the house without my mascara. I think I look like a bug or an alien without mascara being worn, so I would never be able to go without it, and I probably use it way too much. I am also a girl who hates to look pale, I have had an obsession with being bronzed since I was about 13, so its a good 10 year obsession I have. If I look at my arm and see it looking paler than I wish, I will definitely be applying tan when I get home. Thankfully I am smart and do not risk my health for this bronzed obsession, I have never been on a sunbed, and never would, I have very strong views about the topic of sunbeds, but that’s another story.

I think based upon the Geordie girls I would say that fake-tan and fake eyelashes are a big obsession here. If you go out on a weekend, tanned skin is on show everywhere, and a lot of skin is shown, whatever the weather! The girls seem to have no sensitivity to cold up here! In all the Boots and Superdrug stores there is always a large selection of fake-tans and fake-eyelashes. But then I have always assumed that fake-tan was a national obsession not a regional obsession, so I want to know what your obsession is?

What is your obsession? What can you not live without?  What does that majority of local areas seem to be obsessed with?

Do you agree with the results to the research?

Easter Week Through the Eyes of my Blackberry

*All packed and ready to go* *Me and new dog George* *Archie Relaxing* *Bargain sofa in Next* *Breakfast in bed courtesy of my friend*

*My Friend's mad dog Lola* *Signed my boy up to Graze box also* *Dominos rubbish attempt at a half and half* *Back on my smoothies*

*A gifted Laduree bag, if only it was filled with macaroons* *New books to read* *Reached 10,000 views*

I’ve had quite a busy few weeks, despite them not being productive, I have clocked up a few miles of travelling. I decided to treat myself to some quality time with friends and family before I start back on my university assignments.

Firstly I visited my home in the Lake District with my boy. We haven’t actually spent much quality time there together since Christmas, so it was great to catch up with my Mum, her partner and my Grandparents, along with all the animals, all six of them. The weather was not great, but we still managed to take a nice walk with the dogs one day…its these simple pleasures that make me happy.

When I arrived back in Newcastle from Cumbria I then took my first visit to Sunderland to spend some time with my friend whom I lived and studied in France with. We had a night of beautifying and cooking, then spent the next day leisurely shopping. It was great to finally see where she grew up and to meet more of her family. I have only worked since returning form Sunderland, so no excitement there, especially since I will be moving back into the library for the next two weeks again.

It was also a big week for my blog this week. I finally hit 10,000 views, so many thanks to each and everyone of you who dropped by to read my ramblings. I hope you continue to read, and maybe even follow to ensure you don’t miss any posts.

I hope you all had a lovely few weeks. How did you spend your Easter weekend?

Fitness Fridays| Smoothie Love

Firstly apologies for not posting any Fitness Friday posts over the past couple of weeks, I hope you understand I was busy with my dissertation. But fear not they will be continuing, and are becoming a little bit more personal, as I am currently starting a health kick, to ensure I’m looking super fit for summer. It is the perfect time to start in my opinion (if you haven’t already) as the short bursts of sunshine are really motivating to remind you that bikini season is just around the corner, June is only 2 months away!

As the title suggests this post is not really fitness, but diet related. For those of you have been a loyal follower of mine from the beginning you will remember that I adore a good smoothie, and if it is homemade even better! So for my health kick I decided the first small step I am taking is to change my breakfast from carby bread and cereals, to homemade smoothies. If you have a blender there really is no excuse, as they don’t take long at all, especially if your fruit is already prepared. And if you don’t have a juicer, you can buy them relatively cheaply on ebay for around £20.

Smoothies themselves are a great start to the day, here are some of the benefits for you;

• They are full of fibre, which will help you feel fuller for longer.
• If you add natural protein such as spinach or whey powder then the smoothie will keep you even fuller!
• Smoothies can contain 2 or 3 portions of your fruit or veg for the day… so it gets you off to a great start for hitting the magic 5!
• They are perfect for summery and spring days, as they are cool and refreshing.
• The vitamins in your smoothie will significantly improve the appearance of your skin, hair, and nails… great for us beauty bloggers especially with those close up photos!
• The high water and nutrient content will help keep you hydrated throughout the day.
• Obviously they are a low caloried option. The recipe below contains only 200 calories…great for girls wanting to shape up.

Here is a really easy one I have been making and drinking most mornings this week. It has three ingredients, and takes 2 minutes to make. Your ingredients are a packet of frozen mixed berries, a carton of grape juice, and a pot of natural yoghurt. Throw in a bit of each (I don’t know measurements I just throw it all together) and blitz… there you go breakfast! I admit this is quite a sweet smoothie, so not great if you don’t like sweet things, put you can Google recipes, or try your own!

I hope I inspire someone to give it a try. Give it a week, and you will notice your skin becoming a lot clearer, and maybe your waistline reducing.

*Apologies for the blackberry photos..bad quality!

Ebay Obsessed

As I have mentioned in earlier posts. I have become a little bit obsessed with selling my belongings on Ebay. I have always bought many bargains from the sight, however have been a selling virgin until the past month or so.

It stemmed from me successfully selling my old business books that I now longer needed, and making a tidy little sum of money. Although not reclaiming the hundreds I have spent on books it certainly helps my student income… which is limited!

After seeing a few of you lovely ladies successfully selling old makeup items, clothing items and accessories on Ebay, I thought to myself… rather than throw the stuff away.. which I do sometimes…I know, I know I should give it to charity.. I decided to give it a go myself. So far I have made £100 from old bags, and clothing items that I never use. I, like many others, find myself buying items to use them once, then never again. So they have no faults  or wear or tear; they just end up clogging up my wardrobe.

I now have the Ebay bug! Everytime I sell an item I do a little dance, I get so excited! I take great pride in packing the item up and posting it off, and I love knowing that someone out there will gain joy from an item that was previously sat in my wardrobe never seeing the light of day. I have even dedicated my spare room into my Ebay production line.

The downside is that I now find myself wanting to sell all my belongings and my boyfriend’s… I’m a girl obsessed.

I currently have six dresses, two tops, two bags and two skirts up for sale if anyone is interested. My shop is just Here.

What do you all think of Ebay? A great tool for finding bargains? Or is it just filled with everyone’s junk? Am I the only girl who is obsessed?

A New Month, A New Hair Colour

I think I’m a girl obsessed; I seem to change my hair colour before I even use up the 6 weeks of conditioner that comes in the packet. I realised the other day that my hair was looking a bit bland, a bit lacklustre in colour, it may just be the lighting in the library, where I am currently living, but I decided I needed to dye it immediately. So off to Asda I went, and picked the colour that took my fancy, which this time was a reddy/ plum colour… a bit more brave that my usual choice, but seems it was reduced to £4 I decided it was a must.

I have never tried Schwarzkopf  before, I was very surprised and anxious when I was applying the colour, because as you can see from the pictures, the colour in the bottle was carrot orange, and it went onto my hair in an orange colour.

Thankfully the result is not a carrot orange colour, but quite a reddy brown. It is more red than I normally go, but I still like it. I have found that it has taken about 4 or 5 washes to rinse the colour out in it entirety, so I would warn any of you who  have white towels or pillows to ensure you wash out all the dye, so as to not ruin your upholstery

I am wondering if there are others out there who impulse buy their hair colour? What influences your choice of hair colour? For me it is a combination of my mood, and what is on offer. I am not loyal to brands in anyway.

Celebratory dinner| OOTD

Dress- Newlook

Blazer- Primark

Belt- H&M

Bag-Stylist Pick

As many of you know, for the past few months my life has been pretty much none existent due to me having to write and finalise my dissertation. Thankfully, I handed said dissertation in on Monday, so since then I have had a new found social life, celebrating my new found freedom from the library!

I had a celebratory lunch with my friend at Revolution in Newcastle where we also treated  ourselves to a bottle of bubbly. We then wandered over to Jalou, a fairly new bar in Newcastle where they have happy hour 5-8 which means you get 2 for 1 mojitos during this time; so we took advantage of this obviously. My boy also treated me to dinner last night in Jesmond, which is where my OOTD comes from. We took a lovely walk through Jesmond Dene and went to the Italian, Scalini’s, and had many glasses of wine at Osbournes to finish. Overall I’ve had a lovely relaxing few days, which I think has been well deserved.

I have also been spending and making a significant amount of money over the past week. The spending isn’t so great, seems my wage is disappearing quite quickly, thanks to all the lovely spring and summer ranges the stores have. However I don’t feel too awful seems I’ve made a bit of money on Ebay recently selling clothes I never wear. I currently have few dresses, skirts and tops, if anyone is interested, just click Here. I’m planning on using said money for my planned travels around Finland and Lapland over the summer, and every little helps.

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and have some exciting plans for Easter. I’m hopefully off home to visit my family.

Graze Box Review

For a while now I have seen a few insert advertisements in a few magazines for Graze Boxes. The advertisement offered a free first box, I have always had my eye on them, but it wasn’t until the other day that I took the plunge and joined the website.

The idea of Graze boxes are that you sign up to the website, rate the products based upon whether you would like to try them or not, then based on your conclusions the company send out a random selection of the products you said you would like to try, so its like a little surprise. All the snacks are health and natural, making your snacking throughout the week a little healthier.

You receive 2 boxes a week, at £3.79 per box, you get to choose between the 100 different product, then they deliver them to your home or work.

In my box, I received honeycomb Flapjack, Copacabana, Salsa Mexicanos and Mississippi Bbq Pistachios. The calorie count for these boxes ranged between 51 cal and 290 cal. I enjoyed each of the products, especially the flapjack. For the entire range of products, due to my own personal taste, the products that I would like are quite limited, but this is due to the fact that I dislike dried fruit, and this features heavily in a lot of the products. Overall I love the concept, and will continue to order my boxes, as I know it will help me snack more healthily having one of these little boxes in my bag, rather than a bag of crisps.

As part of this scheme I have 3 vouchers for a free first box, that if are used by my friends, I get a pound off  future boxes for each one used. So if you are intreeged by this product and would like to try it, then comment below with your email and I will send you the voucher code for your own free box to try.  Its is only for the first 3 people, so be quick!