Finishing University and Starting Life as a Proper Grown Up!

Hey guys! I've FINALLY finished university, almost two months after the rest of my course, and am feeling so freeeeee!

Don't get me wrong I'm already missing uni so much, I actually cried when it came to moving out of my lovely little flat in halls and saying goodbye to all my amazing friends, but I'm certainly not going to miss the constant pressure and stress of work and deadlines, I'm amazed I've come out of my final year without having a complete mental breakdown!

Standard Dissertation Selfie!

It has now been two weeks since I handed my last pieces of work in (my dissertation and portfolio, the two most stressful things ever!) and I've already had my results back. I ended up finishing with a 2:1, which is great! If I'm honest I was really really hoping for a First, but considering I missed the last part of the second year coping with my beloved grandmother being diagnosed with terminal cancer and the breakdown of a long term relationship, and then also missed the first half of my final year when my poor Grandma eventually lost her battle after a really horrible fight, I'd say I've done pretty well, since a year ago I was seriously considering not returning to uni and giving it up altogether!

So the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of deciding what to do with myself. I've had so many ideas for things I've wanted to do after uni and things I haven't let myself do because I knew it would distract me from work, that I have just sort of thrown myself into doing all these things.
Aside from copious trips to the beach with the dogs, and shopping days in Newcastle with my mum, I started off by sticking my long dead kindle on charge and getting stuck into a good old book, something I've really missed being able to do, as I know once I get into a story I won't put it down! I've been reading 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, as I loved the film back in 2011 and wanted to see if there were any parts that had been missed out! I then realised that there was going to be a new book out by Harper Lee, author of the classic 'To Kill a Mockingbird', so got stuck into that in preparation for the sequel, which I now have and am waiting to read. As well as these two, I've also spent most of today reading Louise Pentland, or as she is better known Sprinkle of Glitter's new book, 'Life with a  Sprinkle of Glitter', which I absolutely LOVE. I'll do a few book review posts once I've finished them all too!

This actually brings me on to the next project I have thrown self into, which is my bedroom! Back in March me, my mum and our two cats moved out of our cosy little home down in Lechlade, in the Cotswolds and lugged all our stuff up to Morpeth in Northumberland (not far from Newcastle) to move in with her partner, his two sons and three dogs - it's quite manic to say the least! But we love it. So I now have a lovely blank canvas of a bedroom to work with which is perfect for my new life as a post-graduate-proper-grown-up-adult type! I've already had my mum's poor partner putting up a new light, shelves and a mirror for me, as well as helping me move furniture around many times until I was happy with it! I also spent last week tidying and sorting, since moving up the country and out of uni at the same time left me with a LOT of stuff that didn't have a place, safe to say it was a mess haha! One wall has now been painted and decorated and I'm trying to decide what to do with the rest of them, a new duvet cover and cushions have been bought for my bed, as well as a load of trinkets and picture frames that I'm going to paint various different colours and put photos of my favourite people in. I also have some artwork by the amazing Babe and Butter that I need to frame and get put up, as well as put together a few cute ideas that I picked up from Louise's book that I mentioned earlier, it's all very exciting! I'll put up a blog post and possibly a room tour if I'm brave enough to video myself when it's all finished!

Another thing I have loved since finishing uni is having nails again! For those of you who have been following my blog since the start you may remember I used to post a lot of nail related stuff, and was constantly obsessing over new nail polishes etc...
When I started university I annoyingly started participating in the habit of biting my nails - gross I know! I don't know how this started, I've never bit my nails in my life, not even as a kid, but for some reason the stress of having work made me do it, so there was no point posting pictures of my disgusting nails and to be honest I stopped buying nail polish because it ended up chipped and looking awful.
Well, in the last two weeks they've come back! I'm so happy, it's amazing how quickly they grow when you aren't constantly attacking them! So watch this space for some nail related posts very soon!
My make up is another thing that's suffered over the last three years, I used to take some much time and effort over doing my make up every day, but that sort of stopped when I went to uni. Don't get me wrong I couldn't leave the house without some make up on, no one at uni has seen me bare faced I can safely say that! But I certainly didn't bother with anything fancy, just a bit of foundation, eyeliner and mascara, shudder. So I'm back to my old ways of watching youtube tutorials and experimenting with this wonderful stuff again!

As much as this is all very exciting and sounds fairly productive, I should probably mention that I have also delved right back into the wonderful world that is netflix, and haven't even started job-hunting, naughty Rachael! (monkey covering his eyes emoji!) so I'm hoping to do that this week, and I've got so many exciting ideas for this blog now that I have time to do it again, so please keep checking back, hopefully it won't be too long! I'm hoping to get a few more written this week.
Please let me know if there is anything you'd like me to write about, maybe you need advice because you're just starting uni yourself, or you're also undertaking an interiors project and can offer me some advice! Anything at all, get in touch, I don't bite!

Thanks for reading! xxx

My Everyday Make Up...

As I was putting on my make up today I realised I'd never done a 'what's in my make up bag' type post. I've done lots of reviews but never an insight to what I wear every day, and since I haven't blogged in a while, I thought this might be a good start...

To start with i'm currently using Clarins 'Daily Energizer Moisturiser' I won't go into detail as I have a full Clarins review planned, but here's a picture:

The foundation i'm loving right now is L'Oreal Paris 'infallible brush', i've done a review on this before here so I won't repeat myself. I'll just add that, as much as I do love this product, i've been having a problem with it when I come to the end, i'm the sort of person who likes to get their moneys worth, and the last two bottles of this i've had have broken when I get near the end, i'll think i've got enough left for another couple of days use but when I twist the end the 'spinny thing' that is supposed to move down stops going down and the foundation squeezes out above it. Really hard to describe but basically it stops working and you lose the last bit in the bottom. I've even tried smashing the bottle to get it out i've been that desperate not to waste any! So I just thought i'd mention that since the review of this i've linked above mentions that none of the foundation gets wasted because of the way it comes out, and that was true of the first couple of bottles i've had so it may just be a case of being lucky or unlucky with it. Apart from that problem I absolutely love this foundation and keep re-purchasing it.

Once i'm happy with my foundation I will use one of three things, either my No7 'Sun Kissed Bronzing Pearls' which I tend to use mainly in the summer to enhance my tan, or in the winter I use No7 'High Lights Illuminating Powder' in 'Dandy Pink' to give me a nice rosy glow. The last of the three is by a brand called 'Ultimate', I had never actually heard of them before but I got this from a swap on Big Wardobe and I really like it (as you can see from the pictures as there's not a lot left), I've only really been using this for the last few months but I like the way it does the shading for you, you just have to sweep your brush from side to side to keep all the colours in the right place, rather than in a circular motion, and when you put it on your cheek it looks really well blended and you haven't had to do any of it yourself.

Next up I'll put a primer on my eyelids, I use a Mac 'Paint pot' and I have this in a shade called 'Painterly',  it's basically just the nearest colour to my skin and I use it for two reasons, firstly, it's actual use is to give my eyeshadow a base and to give it something to hold on to so it lasts longer, but I also like to use it to lighten up the skin around my eyes, I put it on right up to my brow bone and it's perfect for those days you wake up and your eyes are looking really dark.

The brushes I use were given to me as a present and are made by 'Arbonne' which I think is an American company and not many people here know about it. They're really good, not the absolute best quality as the bristles sometimes come off on your face, but brushes are so expensive that i'm happy to put up with that. Here's a picture: (these are the main two I use out of the set I was given)

I have to admit that when it comes to eyeshadow I am an absolute sucker for 'Urban Decay', I do own eyeshadows from other brands but the 3 Urban Decay palettes I have just seem to be the ones I reach for everyday. My favourite is the much sought after 'Naked' palette, that was incredibly hard to get hold of for a while as everywhere seemed to be sold out. I will generally just mix up the colours from this, I'll usually put a lighter colour, such as 'Virgin' all over my lid and up to my brow bone, then a slightly lighter colour up to the crease of my eye and a darker colour, my favourite being 'Underground' from the 'Deluxe Shadow Box' palette, which I actually completely used up and ended up buying the colour on it's own (third picture down) as I hadn't used nearly as much of the other colours so didn't want to purchase the whole palette again. I think the reason I use the naked palette so much is because it's so much more neutral, as the name suggests, Urban Decay are very well known for their vibrant colours, which are great for nights out or special occasions, but when you work 5 days a week as I do, you can't be rocking up to work with bright purple eyes! Therefore, the subtle yet pretty colours are really great for everyday wear, and Urban Decay eyeshadows are some of the best quality i've tried, they really stay on all day and are so well pigmented your eyes really do look amazing.

I will generally, unless i'm feeling really lazy, always put on this next product, it's a 'Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon', they do loads of colours in this, as you would expect from them as they're a very colourful company much like Urban Decay, but for an everyday staple look, I will just put on a line of this just above my lash line, to compliment the eyeshadow and finish off the look, as long as you don't put any eyeliner along your waterline this shouldn't make your eyes too dark for work or anything like that. It's still quite subtle when it's part of the whole look. 

To complete my look, I will curl my eyelashes with just a standard eyelash curler (mine is from the collection by Jemma Kidd) and then apply one or two coats of whichever mascara I happen to be using. My staple favourite is the 'Maybelline Volum Express Cat's Eyes' which I recently did a review on here, but at the moment I am using the 'Maybelline Falsies Volum Express' just to try it out as it is fairly new, I still prefer my Cat's Eyes one, but this really does create a falsh lash effect and is a perfect 'going out' mascara.

Thanks for reading!! I know it was a really long post but I hope it was still interesting! xxx

Review: Maybelline Volum Express Cats Eyes

Hey guys, hope you all had a great new years! I'm back again with a review on my current fave mascara. I literally can't get enough of this, it goes on like a dream. My eyelashes don't stick together, I only need one coat and it keeps them in place all day!
I'm talking about the new(ish) mascara from Maybelline, it's called Volum express Cats eyes (yes I did spell that right), and I can definitely see where they got the name from, it seems to make my outer lashes flick out a bit creating a cats eyes effect. Don't be scared off by that though as it's very subtle! I am currently coming to the end of my second bottle of this baby and am planning on getting a third soon, it retails at around £7.99 which I think is really quite cheap for a mascara, even for maybelline.
As you can see from my pictures it has a curved brush, which I like as it saves time when putting it on and helps stop the eyelashes sticking together. The pictures of my eye were taken in the evening when I'd had it on all day so don't really do it justice but you get the idea.

- I know i've said it all before but I am so sorry for the lack of blogging, I've been going through a tough time, not enjoying the job i'm in and missing my boyfriend. I really am trying but it's hard to get inspiration when you're miserable, blogging will stop being fun for me if I force myself to do it. I am so grateful that you have all stuck with me, I lost a few followers in my absence and really don't want to lose any more because I WILL be back! That's a promise. Hope you all understand :) -

xxx

The decorator

An interesting little story I was given in my Body Shop make up training...

If you were having the decorator in to emulsion your lounge walls and he came in and took the lid off his paint, dipped his hand in and put the paint on the walls with his fingers, you'd think he was slightly mad and would want him out of the house quickly.

If the decorator came along and used a huge sponge to paint the walls, he'd get a nice finish but he would use five tins of paint.

If the decorator came along and used a brush to paint the walls, he'd get a nice finish and only use the one tin of paint that the job required.

Therefore, if we use our fingers to put our foundation on, they are warm and so is our face so the product will start to dry and not spread very easily and we are not going to get a good result. Then we wash our hands and most of the foundation goes straight down the plug hole.

If we use a make-up sponge to put foundation on, we are going to get a better finish even though we wipe off nearly as much as we put on. However we then come to wash the sponge and again a lot goes down the plug hole but also a lot stays in the sponge which is wasteful and a bringing ground for germs.

(The point is, we should use a brush to put our foundation on)

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I found this really interesting as I used to use a brush and have since got into the habit of just using my hand, the decorator story makes you realise how obvious it is that you should use a brush. I personally don't use brushes from the Body Shop, only because my Grandma bought me a set from Arbonne and I don't really need more than one of each. But I have them in my kit and have used them and they're great, definitely recommend them!

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Another little bit of advice they gave me:

When doing a facial, pat the eye cream on with your ring or little finger. Firstly, these two digits are our weakest fingers and so are gentle around the eye area. The reason we pat is because we don't want to drag the delicate skin by rubbing the cream in and the other advantage is that we have natural drainage all around our socket bone, so if we pat it encourages any fluid build up to drain away naturally which is a great tip for the morning after. We also have natural drainage around our jaw line.

Thanks for reading!! xxx

March Haul

I've been trying not to spend too much this month, so apart from essentials all I really got was a bag, a photo frame and a new nail polish. Quite boring I'm sorry guys! Anyway, there's still quite a lot of it so instead of doing one very long, tedious post I'll spin it out and do a few products a day, that's a bit easier to handle I think :)

Products:
Boots expert cuticle and nail moisturiser: £4.09
Boots expert nail strength solution: £4.09
Garnier comforting cleansing milk (make up remover): £2
L'Oreal infallible foundation: £9.99
Maybelline dream LUMItouch highlighting concealer: £6.99
Neutrogena oil-free moisturiser: £4.07
Revlon Sunshine Sparkle nail polish: £6.49

Hessian bag £28 GLAM Originals
LOVE frame £8 GLAM Originals

My mum does a Jamie at Home party plan business and has a friend who does a similar thing but with GLAM Originals, basically, they host parties at peoples houses and show them their products, usually with a few discounts or freebies thrown in, they're fab! The two of them hold parties for each other and my mum recently had one, I love their stuff, their stock has expanded so much since the last time they had one, it used to be just jewellery and shoes but now they've got clothes, accessories, home stuff and all sorts. I am an absolute freak when it comes to photo frames and got ridiculously excited when I saw she had some I couldn't choose! My mum split her commission with me and these are the two products I bought:

The picture frame is so cute, it's on my windowsill now and I love the way our heads in the picture each go into the bumps of the heart, well planned ;). The bag is lovely, I'm not entirely sure what it's made of, I think it's hessian but it smells like horse hair! Yeugh. It looks good though, and is pretty big so it's practical, whoop! It does up with a toggle which I think is cute aswell.
I'd definitey urge you to check out the GLAM website, as far as I know I think they only ship to the UK but I could be mistaken, they've got all sorts of lovely products!

Thanks for reading! xxx

Day 19 - Your favourite look from a beauty guru...

My favourite look from SWalkerMakeup is this one here: link. It's the one she created for the A level results night out and it's so easy yet absolutely gorgeous. As she says at the end, all you need is a black eyeshadow, a bronze eyeshadow and some masking tape. Simples!!

Thanks for reading!! xxx