January Favourites

So here we are, a whole month into 2014 already, now that went fast... I hope this is not too late for a favourites post but I've been almighty busy with all sorts of bits and bobs.

TOPSHOP NAILS// BOY NEXT DOOR
This is a beautiful pastel mint colour from topshop that I have been loving recently. Pastel's like this are my favourite colours for my nails. Some people only wear pastels in summer but, quite frankly, I love them far too much for that, so its all year round for me!

TOPSHOP LIPS// MACAROON
Firm favourite of the month; I really am loving this at the moment! For a full review look HERE!

RIMMEL SCANDALEYES// NUDE 
At the moment I'm loving wearing this in my water line to really brighten up my eyes! I would thoroughly recommend this as it does make a great difference to a simple everyday look. To make it even better it was an absolute bargain -I found it in the bargain bucket at superdrug!

BOURJOIS HEALTHY MIX FOUNDATION// 51 LIGHT VANILLA
I am absolutely and completely in love with this foundation, its such a lovely formula, easily blended, natural looking but great bendable coverage. I take the shade 51 and its the perfect match! I recently purchased the L'oreal True Match but I've reverted back to this as overall I think it gives a much more natural finish. Big recommendations!

SEVENTEEN BROW'S THAT BROW KIT//
I'm afraid I think this was limited edition as it was part of a 17 offer on around Christmas but I couldn't leave it out because my, oh my, I love it! I find it really hard to find the perfect matte brown to fill in my brows so this is a real gem. The colour is just perfect and gives a lovely natural effect.
The kit comes with a wax and highlight also, but I don't use the wax as, honestly, I'm too lazy -Bad I know... Mostly I don't use the highlighter either as I much prefer the one from my sleek contour kit but it seems like a pretty decent highlight. Nothing special, but nice.

DRAWING & DOODLING//
Recently I've rediscovered my love for doodling. I think there's nothing nicer than sitting down and having a little doodle to relax. I've also decided that I have way too many notebooks!

TOPSHOP CRUSHED VELVET SKATER SKIRT// SILVER
I am in love with this skater skirt, I am a great lover of velvet as it is but this is just beautiful. The silver isn't something I would usually go for but I think that's the reason I love this so much! It can easily be dressed up or dressed down for any occasion, so basically its perfect!

Well there we have it; my favourite things of the month of January. Lets see what February brings us!

Topshop Macaroon Lipstick

I've decided i have an unhealthy addiction to lip products, mainly lipsticks... I popped out for a little shopping trip with my dear friend and well, I returned with two new lipsticks and one of the Rimmel Apocalips in the shade Apocaliptic the jury's still out on that as I can decide if I love or hate it... Probably the latter... I digress.

One of the lipsticks I bought was the topshop lipstick in macaroon.

Macaroon is a beautiful coral, peach pink shade perfect for everyday where. In my opinion it looks similar to the YSL Peach Passion lipstick that Zoella wears in her everyday make up routine video, I think its a little brighter but near enough. That's just my idea, as I don't own that YSL lipstick, dammit, I cant be sure.

So for packaging. Topshop hit the nail on the head for this every time. I am such a sucker for beautiful things and all of the topshop make up is presented so beautifully I want to buy it all simply to look at it and its BEAUTIFUL-NESS... I'll stop now, I'm sounding like a crazy woman. But anyway, I give ten out of ten for packaging as the swatch on the bottom is an accurate representation of the colour and it looks stunning; not cheap or overdone.

Now for the product, it applies nicely straight to the lips, I do find it can accentuate any lines in your lips slightly so make sure your lips are well moisturised before applying this as it has a matte/velvet finish. The lipstick is well pigmented giving good colour pay off and I would say its fairly long lasting, touch ups throughout the day are needed but most lipsticks are the same. Overall thumbs up for this lipstick I would give it a 9/10!

I wear this lipstick everyday as part of a natural makeup routine and love it! With a bit of gloss over the top its the perfect everyday lip, i think this will be perfect for summer but for now I'm happy wearing it in winter!

I am loving this lipstick and cant recommend the topshop make up line enough, I need to try some of their other shades but in the mean time this is fast becoming my favourite lipstick! Get your self down there and give it a go.

Learning.

Well I'm back from my travels and can say I've easily had one of the best weeks of my life. I can also happily cross a number of things of my list! Five down Nineteen to go and so far I'm super happy with how things have been turning out.

I think going away for a week with a group of people who actually didn't know me all that well, something which quite frankly scared me,  turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I have made some amazing memories and some even more amazing friends, but I've also learnt a lot about myself. If I take only one thing from this it'll be that sometimes you've just got to let things happen and see how they turn out because nothing is ever as bad as you worry it'll be; in fact it could be incredible.

Well that got deep...

I just wanted to check back in and say quick something. Originally I sat down to write a beauty review of a new topshop lipstick I've bought but then I wrote that, and thought... I cant really follow that with lipstick...? Can I?

So that's all I have to say really... I will put up that review, just not today, so bear with!

Just a Word

Well, here's just a word to say a big thank you to the lovely Elizabeth from MungleVille for giving me the versatile blogger award! I've done a post of a similar kind for the Leibster award way back when which I'll link below so I'll just make this a quick post to say thank you very much!

Not only that but i'm heading off to France tomorrow for a week Skiing in the Alps! Words don't describe just how exited I am, although I'm a little concerned as its been about 5 years since I last went skiing so lets all hope I remember how it works... But, that does mean that it'll be very quiet round here for the next week or so as there's no wifi *DUN dun DUH* !

Well that's all for today,

-alex x

Leibster Award Post

Soap and Glory Dr. Spot

This was a cheeky little Christmas gift of mine from ma famille and I've been using it daily since. So I thought today I would write a little review of it for you.

Firstly lets take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the soap and glory packaging is, I am such a fan of all of their product for the simple reason they just look so darn gorgeous. Its a simple metal tube with a screwy (??) lid, very similar to the craft glue you can get which is a little weird... The writing and is instructions are also ascetically pleasing but they do lack in detail but I'm not sure that's much of an issue as its fairly self explanatory.
So for packaging overall I would give a wonderful 4.5/5!

Now for the product itself and application, Dr. Spot is clear in colour and a gel like formulation. It's smooth and applies easily it should be left for a minute or two to be absorbed and is a little sticky but I think its fine to carry on with your usual skin care routine over the top at this point. It has no sent which I really like as I don't think with a spot treatment product you should be adding chemicals and sents or colours.
For the product I am giving Dr. Spot a 4/5 as there's nothing offensive or wrong with it it just takes a minute or two to soak in which can be a little annoying if you're in a rush.

And now for results, over the Christmas period my skin has been awful. This is, I think, down to stress and bad diet. So I wasn't expecting a miracle worker, and I'd be lieing if I said I have perfect skin now, but the a lot of the redness and actual spots/acne are now gone and I'm just left with scarring which in time will hopefully shift so I can safely say that yes this product has worked a treat! I apply it once in the morning and once in the evening in conjunction with my usual cleanse, tone and moisturise routine. I think this has to be the best spot treatment product I have come across and that's including the, much raved about La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo  which I tried but had little success with.
So finally for results I give the Soap and Glory Dr. Spot a 4/5!

Well I'm off on a ski holiday this Friday *dances with joy* but I am hoping to schedule some posts for you whilst I'm away, so I'll leave you now to go try, note the try, and pack!

-alex x

24 Things in 2014

Some people make new years resolutions. And I have to admit to being one of those people who makes then but never, I repeat never, keeps them... So this year I'm trying something new.

I'm writing a list of 24 things I want to do in 2014; my new years resolutions if you like. I'll cross them off when they're completed. I've set up a page for this post so hopefully I wont forget about them and can keep track of how I'm going.

1. Start blogging again.
2. Swim in the sea.
3. Save money
4. Clear my skin
5. Worry less
6. Eat healthier
7. Learn an instrument (and stick at it)
8. Travel somewhere on my own
9.Come out of my comfort zone
10. Do something, just for the hell of it.
11. Find some new blogs to read -recommendations?
12. Organise myself
13. Re-arrange my room
14. Finish my photo wall
15. Write at least 50 posts
16. Find a new moisturiser
17. Buy a MAC product
18. Find some good bands -recommendations?
19. See the sunrise
20. Read a good book
21. Stop panic buying
22.Have a movie marathon
23.Stay up all night
24.Still be blogging in 365 days time

Lets see how this goes, wish me luck? What are your goals for 2014?

If you're doing anything similar then I'd be curious to see so do link below. Equally link below if you've done this before and tell me if I'm making a horrific mistake...

-alex x

New Year. New Start.

source

Oh yes, your eyes do not deceive you. That's right, this chic is back in the game.

Its 2014, its a new year ("Its a new dawn, its a new day")  and so I thought, you know what, its know or never! ..and here I am.

I'm not going to promise how long I'll stay, but hey, I'm afraid you'll just have to cope...

So I've been away, where have I been? Watching a shit tonne of Christmas TV. Who hasn't? Lets all take a moment to appreciate all the awesomeness that has taken place over the past few weeks.

I believe there's something I have to address:
Sherlock. TWO YEAR WE HAVE WAITED MOFFAT. *whispers* Two years... and all you give us is three episodes.... Three? THREE? But, I will admit they are worth the wait. I'm still really confused though.

Anyway rant over I'm back with whole new list of posts I wish to write and a I hope I'll stick at it a bit better this time. Its third time lucky they always say.

Bear with my dears.

-alex x