Christmas Day 2013

26 Dec 2013

Merry Christmas, everyone!

So its boxing day, the only day of the year its ever fully acceptable to stay in pyjamas and do nothing but eat... also known as my favourite day of the year!
 I have had a lovely couple of days spent at home with family, watching movies, playing games and eating everything in sight.
 This Christmas I definitely feel a lot more content with life than I have done in a long, long time and it has made me realise and appreciate everything I have and the amazing, supportive family and friends I have around me.

I hope everybody reading this has had and will continue to have a wonderful Christmastime and I hope you have all eaten yourselves into a chocolate induced coma. I actually can't believe it's almost all over for another year and in a week we will all be waving a last goodbye to 2013! Boo!


Festive lounge, its good to be home! 

Snowman hairband!

Delicious Christmas lunch!

Champers for breakfast.

Sister, Sister.

The Christmas tag!!

12 Dec 2013

    

Like most people I'm sure, Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year. I think because I live far away from home its extra exciting just to be able to go home for a few weeks and spend time with my family and friends. I thought I would do the Christmas tag today as I am feeling that extra bit festive!


1. Whats Your Favorite Holiday Movie? 
Oh I have so many- The Grinch, Love actually, Elf. I think my favourite Christmas film of all time has to be 'The Santa clause' with Tim Allen. My sister and I have watched this film every year since we were tiny and still love it now. It just brings back really happy memories for me and it is definitely a Christmas tradition in our house.

  2. What Are Your Favorite Christmas Colours?
I think it would be the classics red, green, gold and silver.

3. Do You Like To Stay in Your PJ's Or Dress Up For Christmas? 
Dress up. I do a lot of family visiting on Christmas day so I do have to get out of the onesie for a bit and into something relatively fancy. I don't actually mind, I really enjoy getting all dressed up for Christmas and buying a new lovely outfit for the day!

 4. If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?
Probably my mum, or a big joint one for everyone in my family, if I were allowed to cheat.

5. Do You Open Your Presents Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning? 
Christmas morning!! Opening your presents on Christmas eve is just plain wrong!

6. Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House? 
 No, I really don't think I have the patience to deal with something so fiddly.

7. What Do You Like To Do On Your Christmas Break? 
 I don't have much of a Christmas break this year as I'm staying in Carlisle (where i go to uni) working until the 22nd and then travelling home that evening, however, I am so looking forward to just spending time at home with my family and doing festive things and just chilling out, I haven't actually been home in over 3 months!

8. Any Christmas Wishes?
  Just to have a nice, peaceful, happy Christmas and for everyone around me to have the same and get everything they asked for.

9. Favorite Christmas Smell?
Anything spicy, cinnamon and apple scents and of course, Christmas lunch cooking!  

10. Favorite Christmas Meal Or Treat?
Christmas lunch! Chocolate! and the cheese board and crackers... ohh the cheese board <3




Piercings// PaintingFaces

19 Nov 2013


(Photo courtesy of Tumblr,!) 


A few tips for people thinking of getting piercings in the future! I'm no expert but I thought this may help someone out there!

1. Do your research!
Finding a decent piercing shop is one of the most important things to do when planning a piercing. You want to find somewhere clean, reliable and with a good reputation. If you can find someone to personally recommend a shop to you then even better! Usually you can tell from a shop weather or not they are at a high enough standard but if in doubt there are always Internet reviews!

2. Think of the future!
The thing I love about piercings are the fact they are an expression of your 'individuality' but aren't permanent like, say a tattoo. However, while you are able to simply remove a piercing if you don't like it be prepared that they sometimes can leave scars I for example have had my nose pierced a twice and the first time I had it done and was left with a scar its not massively noticeable but I do notice it, this is something you have to think will you be able to live with it? The same can happen with any other sort of facial piercing.

3. Jobs!
As I said before piercings are easy to get done and they are just as easy to take out, most companies these days are not as strict with body modification policies as they used to be however a hell of a lot of places do still judge people based on tattoos and piercings. If you are employed by a company its probably a good idea to research their policies on piercings, similarly when you are going for job interviews I would advise to double check with them first before getting a piercing or discussing their policies if you already have one.

4. Aftercare
Once you have your piercing its so important to look after it correctly, it is incredibly easy to get an infection especially with facial piercings. The most obvious way to protect your piercing is to clean it with a cotton bud and warm salty water or surgical spirit (although I would recommended the water as its more gentle) I did this twice a day or when necessary to remove blood etc. Another tip is to not mess with the jewelry too much, twisting and messing with it will irritate the wound especially in the early stages of the healing process not only this if you are twisting a ring in your ear, nose, lip etc you are getting bacteria into the wound making you more susceptible to an infection.

Just some side notes:- Piercings can take anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks to fully heal however this can vary on the placement, I would recommend not changing your jewelry for at least 4 weeks. You can usually tell when a piercing is healed, it will become less sore and swollen.
If you experience bleeding after you've been pierced don't worry this is completely normal, I've had a few piercings and all of them have been completely different, If you are still bleeding a week or so later then maybe consult the person who gave you the piercing for some advice.

I hope I have covered everything there, as I said I am not an expert on piercings but I am just talking from my own experience!


Current everyday make up // Autumn '13

5 Nov 2013



     

...

Rimmel wake me up foundation
Collection lasting perfection concealer
Rimmel stay matte power - 003 Peach glow
Collection intense pencil for brows - Brown
Benefit Dallas for bronzer
Rimmel blush - Santa rose 
Rimmel white eyeliner in the water line
Naked palette - Virgin, Naked & Toasted 
Benefit They're real mascara
MAC Dark side lipstick 

Just a quick look at my current go to make up, I have been loving keeping everything toned down recently my skin isn't too bad at the minute so it means i can get away putting on less make up which I love! The main feature of this look is my lipstick in Dark side. I have mentioned it a lot on this blog but it is  literally the most perfect deep burgundy, autumnal colour. I think this just livens up the look whilst still keeping it muted and perfect for everyday.
Also please ignore my strange outfit in these pictures, I am wearing a mini mouse hoodie because the heating doesn't work so if I don't wrap up I'd freeze to death!! :(


Halloween '13

1 Nov 2013

Halloween has to be one of my favourite occasions of the year, I think I just wish it was socially acceptable to dress up in costumes and crazy make up every single day... must be the *actor* in me talking.
 My costume and make up this year was a bit last minute, I was supposed to be going out but decided against it due to lack of funds and what not, however one of my friends decided to have a little get together at her house which actually turned out to be so much better! 
Costume wise I had to improvise with what I could find laying around my room, In the end I think I ended up somewhere between a witch/ vampire with out the fangs. I used the eye shadow colours Creep, Gunmetal and Virgin from the Urban Decay naked palette on my eyes and blended them in a winged effect right up above the crease and underneath the eye  and then added a shimmery red/cranberry colour from the Sleek storm palette along the edges to soften the lines and add more dimension. For my face I used my usual foundation (Rimmel wake me up) but just packed on the matte powder- white face paint would probably have created a better effect. With a matte black eye shadow I contoured my cheek bones to make them appear razor sharp and filled in my brows with the same colour I added liquid liner to my eyes and then drew a little spider on my forehead for some detail. I think a black or purple lipstick would have looked awesome with this look but the only dark colour I could find was my MAC lipstick in Dark side which didn't look to bad in the end. 

For my hair I parted it in the middle and pinned the two front bits back with bull dog clips and then back combed the rest of my hair to make it massive, I used batiste dry shampoo as a substitute for coloured hair spray to create the aged effect on the front of my hair! 
The party ended up being so much fun and probably better than a night out, we played games, Bobbed for apples and watched Hocus Pocus - Perfect Halloween in my opinion.

September beauty favourites

2 Oct 2013


September passed me by in such a blur it was difficult for me to collect a selection of things I have been loving throughout the month. I haven't really done a good job at keeping up with this monthly favourites thing, mostly because I tend not to venture out of my comfort zone much, I know what I like and I stick with that.
 This month, however, I have been using a couple of new products especially skin care wise, I purchased a new cleanser at the beginning of the month and had one of the worst skin reactions I have ever experienced because of it, seriously not a good look. As my skin is so sensitive its always a risk trying out new skin care products, my skin also isn't great at repairing itself very fast so any spots I do get take forever to heal and I'm then left with scars which also don't heal. Sadface.

Anyway onto the favourites!


Swatches L-R- Smog, Toasted, Sidecar

Seventeen Beehive 

1. Urban decay Naked palette £37.00 (Link): This month I have been leaning towards simple make up a lot more, possibly due to laziness, never the less my naked pallette has come in rather handy for this when I feel like just using one colour across the lids to liven up a plain face my favourite colours to use have been Smog, Toasted and Sidecar (swatches above).

2. La roche posay effaclar duo £13.00 (Link): I purchased this around the same time as my mega skin break out and became slightly suspicious of it not knowing weather it was the culprit or not. Since I've tried this out again I have been pleasantly surprised with the results, I use this product as a serum after cleansing and before my moisturiser and it seems to work ok although I'm not totally sure what it does, it seems to be helping my skin so its a winner for me!

3. Soap and Glory for daily youth moisture lotion £12.00 (Link): I picked this product up on a whim a few weeks ago because I needed a new moisturiser and simply wanted to try something new. I really like this moisturiser, it smells heavenly- like peaches and feels very hydrating on the skin. I use this both morning and night and find it gentle enough even on my sensitive skin.

4.  Origins super spot remover £14.00 (Link): Simply a godsend for me this month. Applied to a blemish with a cotton bud over night I find this just calms the blemish and speeds up the healing process. I try not to use this so often because it does dry out my skin if overused.

5. Rimmel salon pro kate nail polish- Rock N' Roll £4.49 (Link): I am a huge fan of this range of nail polish and have featured a few other colours in other posts. I love this dark vintage red it looks very classic on the nails and it is perfect for the autumn/winter months

6. Seventeen mirror shine lipstick in Beehive £4.79 (Link): An old favourite I rediscovered recently, the perfect peachy, nude shade for my skin tone. Despite usually steering away from glossy finishes I really like the glossy look of this lipstick and I also love the new packing of Seventeens lipstick range.

What are your favourites for last month?

Back to reality.

27 Sept 2013


Today is a glorious day, today I am writing my first blog post on my laptop in my new house! Yesterday, after 3 long, dull weeks we finally had broadband installed in our house, I couldn't have been happier. There was a problem with the previous tenants contract meaning it took an absolute age for our internet to be installed, but hurrah, we are finally connected and all is right with the world again.

Due to this I have been severely lacking in the blogging department, I have actually really missed it. Blogging is my favourite little past time and my little sanctuary to escape to when life gets on top of me so to be without it for 3 weeks wasn't ideal. My timetable for 3rd year is looking pretty damn empty at the moment so fingers crossed I can start blogging and getting back into the community a whole lot more now!

A few random pictures of what I have been up to for the past few weeks.

 Finally got my nose pierced again after wanting to for over a year!

Heaven
 Bargain spangly midi skirt- £8 Primark
 My 3rd (and final) Freshers bar tour! :'(
 I made my own bath bomb!
 Latest addiction.
...More cocktails >_<


Recent purchases

9 Sept 2013

Hey guys! 
Sorry, again, for not posting for a while. I've moved back to university and my new house doesn't have broadband yet (sigh) it's been a week now and I'm already having Internet withdrawal symptoms! For the next few weeks I will unfortunately be blogging from my trusty iPhone, so do excuse the quality of the next few posts...

Aside from moaning about the internet, i actually managed to step out of the house and have been shopping a fair bit recently so I thought I would share some of my purchases with you! 

L-R, Primark, Riverisland, Primark, New look coat, Primark scarf.

L-R, Newlook heels, Primark, Primark 

Cambridge satchel knockoff from a boutique in Newcastle. 

L'oreal caresse in Rock 'N Mauve, La Roche posay effaclar duo (post to follow) 

I hope this post wasn't too boring, it's difficult working without Internet. I feel totally out of the loop without It. I've come to realise I not only need it but I rely on it for soooo many things everyday. Total first world problems! 

Hope you're all having a wonderful day :) 

22.

25 Aug 2013

Birthday cake - Tickets for London arrived! -  I went to the zoo - Pretty Card - Bargain shoes (New look) -  Liverpool night out -  Best thing about birthdays.

Hey guys
I haven't posted anything on here in so long! I've been so busy recently I thought I would post a little catch up!
 It was my 22nd birthday this week, I can't believe I'm that old already... where have the last few years gone?! Anyway, I didn't really know what I wanted to do to celebrate as it was on a Wednesday so me and my sister decided to take a trip to Chester zoo and actually had a really fun day together. You have no idea how much I wanted to take on of those baby elephants home!

On Friday night I headed out to Liverpool with some of my best friends, it was my first night out in about 2 months and I actually had an amazing night despite my lovely new shoes' valiant attempt at crippling my poor feet! 
Note to self: tequila, cobble stones and 5 inch heels are a definite recipe for disaster.

This week I'm off to London for a couple of days. My mum is taking me to see the Lion King in the west end for part of my birthday present, Its become a sort of tradition for me and her to go to the theatre together. I'm super excited to go and hopefully I can squeeze in a cheeky shopping trip whilst i'm there!

This is also my last week at home as I'm heading back up to uni next Sunday. I still can't believe how quickly this summer has gone, it seems like yesterday I was moaning about having 4 months off and now I'm trying my best to eek out these last few days!

x

The real deal.

8 Aug 2013


Before application
One coat

Hey Guys!
First things first, if you do not own this mascara then you are seriously missing out on some epic eyelash... magic(?). Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years I assume you will have heard/seen/read countless reviews and opinions on the coveted Benefit 'they're real!' mascara.I was always a bit dubious about trying this particular mascara partly because of the over-hype and secondly, the price. I felt happy enough muddling through with my old trusty L'oreal false lash telescopic, that was until I decided to pick up a mini bottle of they're real at the till in Boots and from then on it has been love. THIS was the mascara I had been searching for!
I was reluctant to do a 'review' as there has been so much hype surrounding this product but oh boy, is it worth it!
Admittedly I am quite picky when it comes to mascara, it needs to be able to lengthen, volumise, hold a curl and above all else not smudge! My number one mascara issue is smudging- many a time I have looked in the mirror a few hours after applying mascara and discovered it has melted down all over my cheeks! I am happy to announce that this baby satisfies all my eyelash-y needs, and then some!
My natural eyelashes are short, black and not very curly, once I apply they're real even after one coat I can see a massive difference, the plastic wand creates the perfect spidery, doll eyed look that some people may not be so fond of, but I love! The spikey ball at the tip of the wand is perfect for catching those difficult to reach inner and outer lashes.
I have heard a lot of complaints that this mascara is a real pain to get off and while I won't say it is the easiest to remove, I find that when I use a creamy cleanser and a cotton pad it comes off with minimal scrubbing. Despite ticking all my boxes I do think the formula dries up a lot quicker than other mascaras I have used which is quite disappointing considering the price tag. All in all I have to admit this is one of the best mascaras I have ever used.  If you get the chance to try it out, definitely do!
  Benefit has an offer on at the moment; £19.50 for a full sized mascara and you also receive a mini size for free! Bargain.
Have you tried this mascara? What did you think?
  

Quick Review: 17 High Drama Intense Liquid Eyeliner

22 Jul 2013

I have always been a liquid liner kinda girl, over the past 5 or 6 years I've been using liners I've dabbled with them all gel, kohl etc, but I always seem to be revert back the brush-free, fuss-free liquid eyeliner camp! I am not particularly loyal to any certain brand when it comes to my eyeliner, I'm always on the hunt for something to blow me away.
I decided to pick up this 17 High drama intense liquid eyeliner a couple of weeks ago, I haven't tried a lot from the 17 range but what I have tried, I've been pleasantly surprised with. I think this is a new release from the brand so I was intrigued to give it a whirl.
I'll start with application, the nib is quite a stiff, precise pointed tip it can be a little tough to apply at first and I did find that it picks up quite a lot of product which can be messy if you don't take care, once you get the hang of it though, it works well in my opinion.The colour pay off it really good, it claims in the name to be 'intense' and I would agree it's a very pigmented black liner that dries black too! Hurrah, no more grey liner!
 The 17 eyeliner claims to hold for up to 25 hours and while I'm not too sure about this, I do think it lasts a decent amount of time on the eyes and doesn't budge throughout the day. I even wore this liner when I was performing in a show at the weekend and even with the ridiculous heat of the theatre and the studio lights, it stayed put all night!
Anyone looking for an affordable, good quality liquid eyeliner then definitely try this out!

Weekend roundup

21 Jul 2013


Hey guys! 
Just a quick one today as I've been super busy! I thought I would do an update of my weekend so far.
 For a while now I have been involved in my local towns 'got talent' show and on Saturday it was the finals, I'm a musical theatre singer so I chose this song to sing, it's been one of my favourites for a long time so it seemed appropriate! The show went amazingly, I was so shocked by the amount of talent on show and to my amazement I actually managed to come in 2nd place out of 24 acts! It was such a lovely, fun experience and I'm currently feeling very sad its all over!
Today I have been to my lovely cousins 6th birthday BBQ. It was so nice to spend time with my family as we don't really get to see each other much anymore! The sun wasn't quite on our side today but it was still nice to chill out in the garden.

Anyway I'm now off to the cinema to see Monsters University and I'm so excited, I've been wanted to see it since it came out!!
Hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful weekend too :) 
Ciao 

Friday Favourite #3 Statement Necklaces

19 Jul 2013


Hi Guys! 
I have been loving statement necklaces this week! The sun has been shining recently here in the UK which means summer clothes have been a necessity and I don't know about you but my summer wardrobe is definitely lacking in oomph!  Basically I'm just wearing whatever keeps me the coolest! So in order to spruce up my outfits I have been turning to accessories, most notably the statement necklace.  Over the years I have established quite the collection the ones above are some of my most worn and most versatile. I like to wear them with dresses, under collars on shirts, or just to dress up a plain tee. They just add the right amount of  bling to even the simplest of ensembles in my opinion. 


Jess x

Portugal 2013

15 Jul 2013

So last week I took a little last minute break and headed off to the beautiful Algarve region of Portugal. I had such a lovely relaxing time, this was actually my second visit there and I would highly recommend the town Albufeira to anyone! The weather is gorgeous, the people are always friendly and the nightlife is great! What more could you want?!
 I didn't manage to take that many photos but here are the best ones of the bunch!

1. Weird mini knife and panini. 2. Pretty spa house at hotel. 3. Hotel room. Veiw from room. Little cat I made friends with. Fave necklace + sunburn combo. Best strawberry daiquiri ever. Being vain. Sea view. Looking terrible but tanned. Beach. Pretty poolside. Parrot show. Welcome to Portugal. Car. Airport. Flying home! :(


If any of you are interested I've put a couple of items up on my eBay, if you fancy having a look click here


Jess x

Hello!

12 Jul 2013

Hey guys!
So it's been a little quite on the blogging front this week, you may have gathered that I have been on holiday! Although I did schedule some posts to go up while I was away, they didn't publish for some reason and to add to my frustration my phone has some sort of international block on it so I couldn't use it for blogging or anything during the whole time I was out of the country!  
However, I am back and despite everything I am feeling very relaxed and refreshed. I think I am going to post about my trip away at some point this weekend although I kind of neglected my camera while I was there. I'll say it was because I was way too busy but in reality, i'm just really really lazy. Oops.
In other news i'm toying with the idea of posting some snaps of holiday outfits I put together while on my hols, I didn't manage to get any while I was away (again, so lazy) but I thought it might be nice to do some posts on what I wore on holiday or maybe how I style summer wardrobe staples etc? Who knows. I've wanted to introduce more fashion related stuff on this blog, so maybe this is a good place to start...

Jess x

Friday Favourite #2 MAC Dark side

5 Jul 2013







I been falling into a major makeup rut recently tending to opt for the same base, eyes and lip combo every single day. I think we all get like this from time to time, life gets in the way and lets be honest, there are more important things in life than worrying what lipstick you're going to wear tomorrow!
However, because of this I've found that I was letting some of my favorite products gather dust in my make up bag unused and unloved. So I have decided to make a conscious effort to dig these little beauties out and start falling in love with them all over again! Starting with this lipstick, MAC's Dark side.
Dark side is described as a deep burgundy and I would completely agree, It is an amplified finish - a highly pigmented colour which is moisturising and doesn't dry out the lips, I think I would say this is my favourite lipstick finish from MAC as it's creamy without being too much and because the colour is so intense you only need to apply a little bit meaning it will last longer, win! 
I find the colour to be so versatile and appropriate for both day and night time. My favourite way to apply is straight from the bullet either tapped on the lips for just a light wash of colour or applied all over for a more intense evening look.
One of my all time favourites and since rediscovering It has made a swift transition in to my everyday make up bag!  

Jess x



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