OOTD | Sunday

Hello There,

Jumper - Primark

Jeans - Topshop

Thanks for looking. I hope you're having a lovely Sunday :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Benefit Haul

Hey Guys,

This is only a little Benefit haul (little but it cost enough!!) but I was far too excited not to share it with you. So my much loved Maybelline BB cream ran out and I find it impossible to ever get a foundation which matches my skin tone. I'm very pale with pink toned skin and the large majority of foundations either turn me even paler, turn me bright orange or look super cakey. There was no BB cream in light so I thought I'd look at the Benefit foundation, I had no intention to buy it but fancied looking a bit posh stood at the counter. So the lady came along and asked if I'd like to try it and I gladly caved in. So she used all of their moisturisers, primers, concealers, blushers ad the foundation and I quite frankly fell head over heels with the look of it as soon as I saw it. So I not only bought the foundation, but also the concealer and a tester size of the primer, moisturiser and an eye cream. They were all pretty damn pricey, my usual concealer is £5 but usually goes within 2 or so months but this one always get reviews saying it lasts ages, so it is worth it in the log run. Anyway after the super long intro, here are the products :P...

Hello Flawless Foundation, POREfect Radiance sample kit, Erase Paste

Thank you veeery much for reading. I shall be doing a review of all three purchases once I've used them for a bit :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

NOTD | Raspberry

Helloo :)

I found this Barry M nail varnish in Boots about a week ago and fell in love intsantly. This wine colour is one of my favourite for autumn and I've been buying lots of scarves and tops ad things in this colour and now have an amazing nail colour to match. It looks so good I keep wanting to lick it to see if it'll taste like raspberries  although i'm almost certain it won't so i'll give it a miss.

 

These pictures make it look more red that 'raspberry' but in person the colour is much more a 'purpley-red' nearer to burgundy. I absolutely love this colour for autumn and believe it will transition well into winter and I can imagine having it on at Christmas with a glitter top coat. 

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear what your favourite nail colour is for Autumn.

Lots of love, Lucy xx 

My Nail Polish Collection

Hey guys :)

So my nail polish collection is not very extensive as you can see and I am on a mission to get more colours. I thought i'd share it with you anyway... 

I own only three Models own varnishes and really want some from their mirrorball collection but they're completely sold out online at the moment. but anyway the ones I have are (from left to right) Golden Peach, Pink fizz and Indian Ocean.

I used to have more 17 nail polishes because they are cheaper and have so many colours, they're also pretty good quality, but more recently i've bee buying more Barry M and Essie polishes. These ones are (from left to right) orange soda, glisten and glitter top coat.

These two from Avon I do like, but their wear is pretty crappy, they usually chip within hours of applying. Also because you're ordering from a catalogue, it's hard to see the exact colours. These are (l-r) Ballerina and vintage boutique.

I have been loving Essie ever since they came out into the Boots in my town. The colours are all amazing although I find they chip easily, which makes me sad, although i'm hoping to invest in a real good top coat. I got most of these bar 2 from fragrancedirect.com where they were £1.99 so I didn't feel haf as bad buying them as I did buying them for £7.99 in Boots. These ones (l-r) are Vanity Fairest, Penny Talk, Muchi Muchi, Mademoiselle, Tour De Finance, Ballet slippers and Chubby Cheeks.

Barry M are like the best nail varnishes (in my opinion) ever! they're a fraction of the price of Essie but they seem to last much longer and are much more chip resistant. The ones I have are (l-r) Flamingo  Peach Melba, Strawberry Ice Cream, Cappuccino and Raspberry.

These are the two 'odd-one-out' varnishes from my collection, they are Natural Collections 'tip whitener' and N.Y.C Starry Silver Glitter.

Thank you for reading :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Beauty Vs Brains Tag

Hello :)

So this is a bit of a random post but I've seen it floating around and decided to give it a go, considering i've just got home from Uni and am in a pretty intellectual mood still.

1. Favourite book
I love books so this one is hard. A book i've been reading more recently is A Game of Thrones which is pretty amazing, it's very mystical and super-natural, but I like that because it's so different to real life you sort of teleport into another world. I also love Breaking The Silence by Diane Chamberlain. But I also like non-fiction books like The Quantum Universe: Everything that can happen does happen, which is a super nerdy science book.

2. Favourite Quotation 
I'm not too sure about this, I usually have quotations which I like which are from songs or modern books like in Eat Pray Love it says "In order to get to the castle you have to swim the moat". I do like a lot of Dr Seuss' quotes like..."We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone who's weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love" and also "Be what you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

3. English or Maths?
Neither but both? I've not done either in some 3 years now but when I was at school neither were really my favourite subject but I did pretty well in them. I liked English because you could be all imaginative and read, which I loved. But since I was very little i've been good with numbers and maths and the only way my mum could get me to stay at pre-school was by sitting me down with the main teacher lady so that I could help her count the money. I was a little geek.

4. 5 Musical artists that have changed your life.
Ehm, none have really changed my life? I love music stupidly loads and most songs relate to some memory or time in my life and then you have ones which help you through sad times or go along with the happy times. Although I can't say there are any which I can put my finger on and say "yep, that changed my life!"

5. Favourite and least favourite school subjects
One of my favourite school subjects was Science. I was a little science nerd and got A*s and As in all three, it came really easily to me and I looved doing experiments and learning about space. My other fave subjects were Performing Arts and Music. I took both for GCSE and was the lead in our like main school play (Audrey in little shop of horrors ;) ) which I had to audition for out of like 200 other kids. Least favourite would probably have to be ICT. My teacher was the most boring person in the universe and if you asked him for help he'd pretty much say he didn't understand then walk off.

6. Favourite celebrity "with a brain"
Stephen Fry all the way. I did Health and Social Care at college and we did loads about depression and things and watched lots of programmes and documentaries with him in about his bipolar. I think he's an amazing guy to have done so well. He's funny too. I also LOVE professor Brian Cox...I'm not sure if he's really classed as a celeb though.

7. If you could study anything anywhere, what would it be?
I love studying Ed studies at Worcester uni but I'd rather like to do science at Manchester Uni as i'm pretty sure Prof Brian Cox does some lectures there.

8. What is your 'nerdy little secret'?
I used to go to a maths masterclass on a Saturday! In like year 8 maybe some people from schools all around Worcester met up and were given lessons and lectures from mathematicians and uni professors because we were part of NAGTY (national academy of gifted and talented youth). So yeah, I did maths on a Saturday :/

9. Favourite beauty gurus who you admire for more than their love for beauty/fashion
Hmmm tricky. If we're talking about YouTube gurus it'd have to be Tanya Burr from pixi2woo. I really love her videos and she's like one of the most popular British beauty gurus on YouTube but she's worked hard to get there.

10. If your blog couldn't focus on beauty/fashion, what would it be?
It'd probably be something sciencey, talking about stars or moons or planets of sciencey news or something. Failing that it'd be book reviews.

11. Name a person who inspires you (no friends or family)
It's more a group of people than a single person. People especially children, who are ill but manage to stay cheery and achieve amazing things really inspires me. I think some people really take life for granted at times including myself, but you're always hearing about poorly children who have raised amazing amounts of money for charity. There are also people like Ellie Simmonds, who don't let their disabilities effect them at all.

12. Who is your intellectual soulmate?
I do not have a clue to be completely honest. I'm not super smart so I couldn't say like Einstein or Brian Cox. Although i'd love to meet Brian Cox so i'll just go with him...

Thank you for reading :) Hope you're having a fab Wednesday :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx      

OOTD | Shopping Trip With Mum

Helloooo :)

I decided that today would be the day to winter shop so I prepared for a long hard day of walking round town with mum and I thought i'd show you my OOTD :) I'm at my boyfriends and that what you can see behind me is all his mess, I couldn't move any further back and had to bend over which explains the awkward pose :P. 

Blouse - George at Asda (I was amazed that a supermarket actually did nice clothes)

Cami - H&M

Jeans - Topshop

Thanks for looking/ reading. Hope you've had a good Tuesday :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

BIG PRIMARK HAUL!

Hey everyone :)

So I hit Primark today searching for clothes for the colder weather considering my wardrobe currently consists of T-shirts, Ballet shoes, a few dresses, jeans and not much else. Here are the results...

  

Firstly let me apologize for the crappy picture quality. I'm at my boyfriends and his lighting is not particularly good, I'm also using my phone instead of a camera. I picked up two skater skirts, the stripey wine and black coloured one was £7 and the plain blue was £6. I'm planning on wearing these with a jumper and boots. They're not the greatest quality but i'd rather have a few of slightly less great quality which I can swap and change, than one amazing quality which I wear all the time.

This dress is black by the way, not navy just as a side note but anyway. I think that is is amaaaazing value for money. This is a body con dress that has sheer fabric around the bottom of the dress, except for a section at the front, which is floor length. I've seen these on quite a few people whilst out clubbing and in rather a few magazines. The most amazing thing however, about this dress is that it was £15. I was shocked and just had to get it, the body con part is really thick material too, so it'll be good for wintery nights out.

 

I already have a pair of Primark's flats on the left, in black, I was preferably looking for a studded pair which I've seen floating around the blogosphere and on YouTube. They didn't have any of those but they did have some navy blue ones which I really loved and they are only £6, plus I already knew that they were super comfy so it was a done deal. The boots I completely love! I'm a sucker for Primark boots although usually they seem a little lacking in the quality department but these are gorgeous. They're a faux leather and have a little heel so they seem pretty hard wearing and waterproof. The lining is also pretty (green with little brown polka dots). These were £15 so were not bad for a pair of boots, although they are pretty thin so I feel when the weather starts getting super cold, I will invest in some thicker ones from Office or somewhere, where I know they'll last me a few years.

I do like Primark's jumpers, they have so many in at the moment although all the ones I was going for had completely gone in my size :(. Although some of their jumpers feel as though they'd be itchy, some look really long or have a strange neckline and some have crazy colours. When I saw this one it went straight in the basket. It's a really soft material and has these little knitted wavy lines going up and down it. On the label, the colour is described as cream but it has red and blue flecks all over it. This was £14 but I can tell that it's going to be a very warm and well loved garment this A/W. 

POLAR BEAR PYJAMAS! I needed some new long pyjamas and I saw the polar bear top from like a mile away (I LOVE polar bears). I don't have much to say about these except for the fact that they are super cute and really soft, plus the colours and patterns are pretty. The top was £3 and the bottoms were £5. Would it be wierd if I went and bought the polar bear top to wear out? probably haha.

Finally I've been eyeing up this red bag in primark for ages. It is a deep red almost wine colour and the flap is ostrich print which is all over the place atm. I loved the colour for Autumn. I really need to stop buying bags but I've not stopped liking this for weeks and I don't have a red bag at all plus this was only £9. Finally I picked up a pair of tights, not super intresting really haha, they were £2.50.


Thank you very much for reading.If you've done a haul recently link me to it and I will take a look :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx 

NOTD

Hello Everyone :)

Just a quick NOTD for you :)

Base Coat, Vintage Boutique, Starry Silver Glitter

I think this combination is a little odd and I wasn't sure if it would work and tbh i'm still not sure but I like it haha. I've used Avon's Vintage Boutique all over the nail which is a lovely chocolate brown, great for autumn. But I wanted something over it to spice it up a bit so went with N.Y.C's Stary Silver Glitter over the top. This has small silver glitter, multi-coloured 'rainbow' glitter and bigger hexagonal pink and blue glitters. I think the colours go quite nicely together and the glitter jazzes up the nails nicely.

Thank you for reading :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

My Girl Crushes | Who I'd Quite Frankly Love To Be!

Hello :)

It's the first day of Uni today (BOO!) so I have decided to do a post on my girl crushes to get some ideas on new things to buy to look like them (I wish).

Ellie Goulding

I'm pretty sure I loved Ellie Goulding since her first record. I love her particularly because she's from Herefordshire, which is right next to Worcestershire (where i'm from). I think she is amazing, she's super pretty and I want her hair!! I spent most of my last year in high school trying to get clothes like hers. She has such a recognisable voice and if you haven't heard any of her songs...where have you been!? but you can also click here to listen to one of my particular favourite songs of hers. She's a bit kooky in her style but like amazingly cool and stupidly fashionable, and at the same time she seems like a lovely person. She's pretty big now and I feel like a proud gran or something because I can remember her getting the critics' choice award at the Brits when she was barely known.  

Zooey Deschanel

Loads of people like Zooey Deschanel and I think she became a favourite of mine when I first watched 500 Days Of Summer a few years back. She's pretty well known as being almost identical to Katy Perry, but (and sorry to major Katy Perry fans) I think she's better, I could just be biased though. She is supeeer pretty and again like Ellie, is pretty damn Kooky, but Zooey even more so. I read an interview once where she said she prefers skirts to jeans...cue me, hitting Primark to buy as many skirts and dresses as possible. She seems to be so effortlessly cool, she has this whole 'wierd and quirky' side but pulls off everything she wears amazingly, and way better than like 90% of the population would, i'm guessing. She did a video on YouTube following the release of 500 Days of Summer, of her and Joseph Gordon-Levitt dancing to a song sung by her which you can see here.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley 

Rosie is best known for modelling for Victoria's Secret and just modelling in general. I found it quite frankly impossible to find a bad picture of her on google images, which is annoying because if that were me it'd be the other way round. I honestly can't remember when she became one of my girl crushes although I can remember being like OMG IT'S ROSIE when I saw her on the cover of Elle. I read the interview they'd done with her and as a result my love for her re-kindled. She has like, the perfect face (in my book) and if she would agree to to do a face switch with me, I'd be greatly appreciative. She was in one of the Transformers movies, where she looked amazing (shock horror). When I found out she was making a line of lingerie for M&S, I was up there ready and waiting when they put it onto the shelves, the ladies working there was like "These only came in today!" which resulted in me being like "really!? I never knew" *shifty eyes*.

Thank you very much for reading :) Who are your girl crushes? 

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Preparing For Winter | Keeping Facial Skin Soft!

Hey Guys :)

So I typically have dry skin anyway but this always becomes worse when it's cold, wintery weather always makes my skin a lot more dry than usual, often causing foundation to go patchy and cakey. I thought I'd share with you some tips I've come up with over the years on how to keep your skin soft and dry-patch free this winter :)

1. Use an intensive moisturiser before bed - You don't always want to use something thick and creamy before you put on your make-up, but is you use something really thick and intensive before bed, it will help to nourish your skin over night. I use E45 cream, this is a cream usually used to treat dry skin conditions like Eczema as it contains liquid paraffin. It can be used on babies though so it is really gentle. I can honestly say this stuff is amazing and it's only £1.99 for a tube from Boots, so you can't really complain!

2. Drink lots of water - Water is one of the best things you can do to help keep your skin hydrated. Think about switching your glasses of coke or squash for a glass of water it's not very tasty but think of the long term benefits).

3. Use a moisturising face pack once or twice a week - If you have oily skin you want to do this less, but for those of you who suffer from the dreaded dry skin, this is  great idea. You can buy loads of face masks nower days which help to moisturise your skin, look around and see which one sounds best to you. Try Boots' Natural Collection's wild strawberry mask...it smells very yummy!

4. Use an SPF still! - I find in the winter when it's cold outside, I rarely think about putting on an SPF but it's still pretty important. Even in the winter the sun can damage skin so use a foundation or moisturiser with an SPF.

5. Give your skin a break - we all know the results of wearing make-up all the time (spots, dry skin...), so give your skin a break whenever you can and splodge on the moisturiser instead to really keep it lovely and soft :)

6. Use an exfoliator - There are loads out there (I like St Ives Apricot Scrub) but using one every once or twice a week (or however often it says on the pack), will help to get rid of flakey skin. You can moisturise to your hearts content, but that will only soften skin, not help to get rid of the dead skin causing the dry patches. It's therefore pretty important in my skin care routine to exfoliate.

And that's all I can think of at the moment. Thank you for reading :) let me know your tips for keeping skin soft in the winter.

Lots of love, Lucy xx  

OOTD | The End Of Freshers Week

Hellooo. 

So Friday was the end of freshers and was the 'freshers ball' which isn't technically a ball but the dress code for the club was 'formal'. My and my friends therefore wore dresses and this was mine...

On the left :)

Purple Dress - New Look

Gold Belt - Dorothy Perkins

Shoes - Primark

Thanks for reading :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

P.s...We got to see the Lovable Rogues AAAAAHH! :)

OOTD | Recovering Day

Hello There :)

I went on a bar crawl last night which lasted  hours meaning i'm having a recovering day today. I thought I'd do an OOTD of my relaxing outfit today.

Fleetwood Mac Jumper - Topshop

Skinny Jeans - Topshop

Hope you are having a lovely Friday :) It is the freshers ball tonight (where we are meeting and greeting with the Lovable Rogues ahhhh!) So I shall have an OOTD for you either later or tomorrow on that :)

Lots of Love, Lucy xx

Ten Day You Challenge | Day Ten

Hey guys!

Firstly let me start by apologising for posting nothing yesterday :O I've been super busy recently but don't worry, Monday I shall be buying lots more things to review and haul :)

Day Ten | One Picture of Yourself

This is a completely unflattering picture of me but I just had to put it on because of the kitten. My friends cat had just had kittens and at this point they were a few weeks old and still in their box tripping over their legs. I'm rambling about the kitten but seriously...so cute!

Thank You for reading :) Hope you've had a good week so far.

Lots of Love, Lucy xx

OOTD | Freshers Week

Hey guys :)

I've gotta start off by apologising for not posting and OOTD yesterday, with all the being at my boyfriends, then getting ready and so on, I completely ran out of time to do one, I also forgot to take the picture...Oopss...However we have one which was taken on the night which I shall include.

Me on the Left.

Me, second from Left

Strapless Top - Primark

High-Low Skirt - Miss Selfridge

Wedges - New Look

Thank You for reading :)

Lots of Love, Lucy xx

Ten Day You Challenge | Day Nine

Day Nine | Two Songs

This is such a hard one to choose. I am a music lover and have million of songs which I love.

1. Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows - I really don't know why I love this one so much but i've liked it ever since I was little and I could never listen to it too much. Counting Crows weren't the original singers but this version always seems to be my favourite.

2. Wonderwall, Oasis - I did Music GCSE some 4 years ago and this song has so many memories relating back to that and also to leaving school and to my best friend who did music with me. It also reminds me of my nan, i'm really not sure why. But all in all every time I listen to it it brings a load of happy memories back to mind. Oasis are my favourite band of all time anyway which makes this song even better.

These ten days are going so quickly, only one day left :O

Thank you for reading, what is your favourite song of all time?

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Ten Day You Challenge | Day Eight

Day Eight | Three Films

1. The Avengers - This is a pretty new movie but an amazing one none the less. I went to watch it with a load of friends and it's one of those movies where you want to run out after being a superhero, doing flips and things. So in this movie, all of the avengers (The Hulk, Ironman, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hawk Eye) and bought together to save the world from Loki (Thor's brother) and his army of wierd metal robot alien things. It's pretty serious at times and absolutely hilarious at others. I don't think you really even need to be a superhero fan to like this. People clapped at the end of the movie, that's how good it was!

2. 500 Days of Summer - This is one of my favourite movies of all time. It has two main characters, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) and Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Tom sees Summer and falls in love with her and the movie is based around their relationship. It's a real feel-good movie. A good one to watch if you're getting over a break-up or just after a girlie movie. I completely recommend this one!



3. Toy Story - This was my all time favourite movie as a kid and I still love it now, I never get bored of it. I'm pretty sure everyone knows the story behind Toy Story...Andy's Toys come to life and get upto all sorts of mischief (in-case you have been living on Mars for the past 17 years). I loved Toy story 2 and 3 also. Three was so emotional, Andy was off to Uni the same time as me and I felt his pain. End of an amazing era.








Thank you very much for reading. Look out for an OOTD up asap

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Ten Day You Challenge | Day Seven

Day Seven | Four Books


1. Breaking the silence, Diane Chamberlain - The cover sold this book to me (I'm a sucker for pretty covers) but it is literally one of the best books i've read. Amazon's 'Book description' states:

This book is from the number 1 bestselling author of "The Lost Daughter". Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple: to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard him speak of before. a woman who remembers nothing - except the distant past. Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make. But Laura's promise resulted in another death - her husband's. And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it...or to talk at all. Frantic and guilt-ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help, a man she's met only once before - a man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father. Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, tho two unravel a tale of love and dispair, bravery and unspeakable evil. This is a tale that links them all. It is a tale shrouded in silence. 

2. The twilight series, Stephanie Meyer - Yes I am a lover of the twilight books, but I honestly think they're amazing. Lots of guys (and some girls) often slate them saying "vampires don't sparkle" and such things (i'm pretty sure they're just jealous that more girls love a fictional character than them). But they are beautifully written, if they weren't they would not have become so popular. If you're on the fence about the books or down right refuse to read them....become a little open-minded and give them a try...

3. The family at red roofs, Enid Blyton - This is one I loved when I was a little un'. when I was too little to read the book, my mum used to read it to me and I was a little older I read it and read it. It's a lovely story. It's more 'real' than most children's stories, no faries, talking spoons or giants although it is still suitable for children. Amazon's description is: 

Molly, Peter, Michael and Shirley are thrilled with their lovely new house on the hill. It's just perfect, and they've heard it's a lucky house, too. But the luck doesn't last long, as their father goes to work abroad and their mother goes to hospital. Then some terrible news changes their life.

It's wonderfully 'real-life' and teaches the importance of family and friendship.

4. The Quantum Universe: Everything that can happen does happen, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw- This is my geeky pick of the bunch. As I completely loved science at school I invested, and I can't lie, it is a challenging read, but a good one also. Again Amazon give an overview of the book:

But just what is quantum physics? How does it help us to understand our amazing world? Where does it leave Newton and Einstein? And why, above all, can we be sure that the theory is good?

Here, Brian cox and Jell Forshaw give us the real science behind the bizarre behaviour of the atoms and energy that make up the Universe, and reveal exactly how everything that can happen, does happen
.

Thank you for reading :) Only three days left of the challenge, that does make me sad!

Lots of love, Lucy xx