2013

2013, has definitely been really mixed for me. 2012 was the worst year I've had, everything that could go wrong did, the last part of the year involved my Mum passing away after spending a month in hospital, trying to start at uni and a relationship break down, which also resulted in friendships ending. Most of this year has been spent trying to pick myself back up again, but I feel like a much stronger person than I did 12 months ago.

At the end of January I decided that I didn't want to be at Uni and needed time to come to terms with everything. I live with the best Nan and have a close family so was able to take time at home and work part time to tide myself over. February and March were spent readjusting to being at home and trying to have a bit of normality. I took my Nan to see the Jersey Boys and saw Russell Kane at my first comedy gig!


April was better! One Direction fever kicked in, I saw them twice in a day at the O2 and became a raving fan girl! I also cried my eyes out when I hit a 1000 blog followers! April ended with an absolutely amazing evening with my best girl Amber, seeing Beyonce! She was incredible and it was an 'I am watching an icon' moment.

May was a great! After years of promising, my Dad booked to take me, my brother and Amber to Florida! I genuinely couldn't believe it and cried for a week with happiness. My persistence also paid off. My Nan caved and said we could get a puppy! To be fair it only took two weeks too convince her. We met Bertie and brought him home two weeks later. It was love at first sight!


June was spent adjusting to Bertie, a dog really does completely change your life! Me and one of my best buds Sophie booked for the One Direction tour next year, the fan girling continues. The most amazing part was that I was seriously lucky to be shortlisted for Best New Beauty Blog at the Cosmpolitan Blog Awards, something I still can't believe happened.

July was my 19th birthday, I didn't really do much as I found it quite a difficult day without my Mum, but I had a lovely meal with my family. I also took my Nan and Aunt to see Michael Buble, he was absolutely incredible! He is another huuuuuge love of mine. I was lucky to attend some fab blogger events by Soap&Glory, Benefit, Simple and a couple more!


In August I went to the YouTube convention 'Summer In The City' with Sara (who is now one of my closest friends) and it made me decide to start YouTube. I was thrilled to briefly meet Louise (Sprinkle Of Glitter), she is a huge inspiration too me, she has been through similar things in life and is such a beautiful person and one of the people that inspired to start my own blog! I attended an amazing event with Remington, you can read about here. By now I was seriously excited for Florida and buying all the Disney Primark tops I could find. I also was really lucky to head to a screening of the 1D film 'This Is Us' on the premiere day with Sophie, it just made our obsession much worse.

September was the Cosmo Blog Awards, it was a really fun night. I still can't believe I was shortlisted. There's not much I can say for October apart from Florida. I had the time of my life and am gutted it's over but can't wait to go back one day. It made the year anniversary of my Mum passing a much easier to deal with as we were in Disney World!

November was the Brighton Stagette weekend, a memory I'll definitely never forget it. I was finally able to look for internships and jobs within the beauty industry too. This month I completed a two week placement at LOOK Magazine on the beauty desk, which I really loved doing. I can't wait to see what the new year brings job wise.


I've met some lovely people, made some amazing friends and had some great experiences. I've met lots of people I've admired for ages and became really good friends with lots of bloggers, blogger friends are by far the best. I got to experience Disney  and have a properly incredible 'time of my life' holiday. I went to some brilliant concerts and attended some great blogger events. And I gained a new best friend in Bertie!

This year I have put a huge amount in to my blog and it's been so rewarding to see it grow over the year. I have also really enjoyed starting YouTube too. If you are reading this then thank you, I owe so much to the readers of my blog. You make my day, every day! My blog and YouTube are like my babies! I work really hard on them and nothing makes me happier than knowing someone has enjoyed them. If you read my blog, subscribe to my YouTube or follow my daily rambles on Twitter than I am eternally grateful to you.
Personally I feel better within myself than I have in a long time. I'm a much stronger person, and I might have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm starting to build myself back up again.

2014, I think I'm ready for a new start!
HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Now Magazine and Body Shaming

You've probably seen this picture floating around Twitter the past couple of days, it's from this weeks issue of Now Magazine and the headline pretty much speaks for itself. I don't even know what to say. I am so angry that someone could even consider this an article, let alone actually publish it and put it on the front page.

The media is one of the biggest influences around and the fact it is being used to shame celebrities for their bodies is awful. It's really not surprising that the amount of females suffering with eating disorders is at a high when you have things like this broadcast for anyone to see. Of course everyone is entitled to have an opinion but it is in no way acceptable for a publication targeting young women to use images of celebrities that they deem to have unattractive bodies on a front cover or anywhere inside their magazine. I am genuinely appalled by this, there is no such thing as a 'normal body' and to put people that are small and big on the front cover of their magazine and basically ask us to cast judgment on them is one that should not be allowed. It probably isn't going to make people who see the magazine who think they are similar to the images feel that good about themselves if they are able to compare themselves to an image deemed as 'shocking'. I also cannot imagine how much it must hurt to be one of the women shown as having a 'shocking body', they seem pretty happy in the pictures too me and not afraid of wearing a bikini on the beach! I think its great they are showing real women instead of a photoshopped stick, but they way they have called these celebrities out to say they are 'abnormal' is something that should not be even considered as a publishable idea.

I personally, like most, have issues with my body and there are lots of things I'd change if I had the chance but looking at the front cover of Now does nothing to make me feel better about myself or that I am 'normal'. All it does is assure that I will never be purchasing Now again. It's not just Now that body slam, I wrote an open letter to Heat magazine a while back, which you can read here. I am absolutely sick of the media being obsessive and mostly negative about the way people look, young girls are growing up in a world where they are being told certain body sizes or shapes are wrong and as much as size zero is becoming less desirable, it still seems that unless you are a size 10 or below there is something 'shocking' about you.

I really hope that Now, it's writers and the editor are ashamed of themselves for publishing this, but my hopes aren't that high as nobody involved with the magazine has said anything about it online or even hinted at an apology or statement to explain why they decided to publish this.
I really think its time media moved on and stopped shaming women for their bodies and started to be a more positive influence for the next generation.

What I got for Christmas 2013!

For all you people like me who love a nosey into what people got for Christmas then here is a brand new video for you! If you prefer to watch on YouTube you can do by clicking here.
Typical disclaimer, not bragging or anything like that, just sharing the lovely gifts I was lucky to receive from my family and friends. You'd make the end of my year a brilliant one if you fancied subscribing to my YouTube channel here!
I'd love to read/watch your Christmas posts if you have made one, so please leave them in the comments below!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have an amazing New Year!

Review | TShirt Store Floral iPhone Case

 












































Floral iPhone 5s Case* £19

As sad as it might be, one of my favourite things about having an iPhone is all the snazzy cases you can get to protect it! I recently upgraded to the iPhone 5s and was kindly sent this absolutely gorgeous case from the TShirt Store. I suggest only going on their website if you don't mind creating a huge wishlist! The Tshirt Store has a huge range of unique, high quality and fair trade tshirts, jackets, phone cases and so much more. They add new designs every week and make every thing themselves so that you know the quality will be excellent, plus there is free shipping!

My iPhone is now well kitted out with the Floral case, I absolutely love the print and how bright the colours are. It's really cheered me up when the weather has been awful the past week. I take my phone with me everywhere so having a bright and pretty case that I love is definitely important to me. The case keeps my phone well protected, handy as I am known to be very clumsy. The material is very soft and easy to grip, I've yet to drop it on my face when lying in bed!

If you need a new phone case then definitely check out the range here, they have so many fun designs for lots of phone models.The pug in the tutu is definitely next on my list!
What do you think of the floral print?

*pr sample sent for consideration of review

Review | Enrapture Encode Totem Styler

  



Enrapture Encode Totem Styler* RRP £60

If you keep up with the beauty blogosphere then you are probably aware of Enrapture, they have been all over blogs for the past year or so with nothing but glowing reviews for their range of hair styling products. Well, this is another rave review from me after having the pleasure of testing out the Encode Totem Styler! I own far too many hair tools, I've been buying them for about 10 years now (scary thought) so I know what I like and what works for me.

The Totem Styler is a curling tool with a unique barrel that is separated into three independent zones. It sounds like it's complicated, each zone can be set to a different heat setting number of either 1, 2 or 3. 1 is for waves/loose curls, 2 is for medium curls and 3 is for tight curls. The brilliant thing about the Totem Styler is you can customise the barrel to match the style you are after by using the three dials on the handle. In the picture above I used setting 1-2-2, this gives me a loose wave at the top and a slightly tighter curl at the bottom of my hair. There are so many different looks you can create with this, it's seriously impressive and much better than a standard curling wand barrel.

The Totem Styler is quick to heat up too and comes with a heat resistant mat to keep your surfaces safe, there is a little stand to keep the tool standing up but you can remove this if you want too. The barrel is titanium plated meaning that it stays hot until you turn it off and easily works to curl all types of hair. The styler also has a clamp option to help hold your hair in place whilst you curl or you can simply use it as a wand. I actually prefer to use the clamp as it creates much better curls, I clamp the end of the section of hair at the end of the barrel then twist it up and hold for 10 seconds before releasing.

I could go on about how much I love this for days but basically if you like to have curly or wavy hair then you need this in your life. It takes me less than ten minutes to curl my hair completely and the curls last all day. I really like using this on the 2-3-3 setting and then brushing the curls out as it leaves me with big waves that last til my next hair wash.

The Enrapture Encode Totem Styler has a RRP of £60, (which is well worth the money) but is often on offer at different stockists. It's currently on offer at Amazon for £35 here, it's been spotted before for around £18 so it's worth checking out for discounts!

*pr sample sent for consideration of review

Christmas | Argento Christmas Swap #loveargento

Last week I was lucky enough to receive a Christmas present courtesy of the lovely people at Argento and one of my best blogging friends that I have made this year, Gemma. If you haven't read Gemma's blog, Flutter and Sparkle, then you are seriously missing out! I have known Gemma through Twitter for ages now, but was finally able to meet her on our bloggers Brighton Stagette trip. We got on so well with each other, so the chance to pick her a Christmas present was really exciting!

Argento were really generous and offered us the chance to pick each other a gift from their huge range to celebrate Christmas. Gemma got me spot on and picked this really lovely black leather bracelet with a rose gold clasp. I am still obsessed with all things rose gold! I have been wearing this every day and really love it, it goes with everything (well at least I think it does!)

 If you want to see what I picked for Gemma then click here! A huge thank you to Argento for this opportunity to pick something lovely for each other just in time for Christmas.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

*gifts courtesy of Argento

Christmas | Benefit 'Under My Spell Noelle' Perfume

 Benefit 'Under My Spell Noelle' Eau De Toilette £29.50

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! I cannot believe how close it is to Christmas now, I'm pretty much in denial about the whole thing to be honest as this year has gone by so fast. I'm definitely looking forward to eating my body weight in food and spending time with my family!

If you are like me and love Benefit, then you have probably admired the really cute 'Crescent Row' range of fragrances, each one is packaged in the same bottle but with a different snazzy print, and they all have fun titles with girls names in! For Christmas this year Benefit have released Under My Spell Noelle, I'm a bit late to the party with this but it's a gorgeous scent that I will be wearing for months to come, and you never know it might go into the post Christmas sales!

I absolutely love the packaging, the box is so cute and the same size as the perfume, (does it annoy anyone else when perfume comes in a huge box?) so I've kept it like this on my dressing table! The box design is set out to look like the entrance to a VIP Party, and I love how the box opens up to reveal the mini staircase up to the perfume. The bottle itself is perfect for the festive season with the gold print, it reminds me a bit of a cocktail shaker!

Under My Spelle Noelle is described as an exotic and glamorous scent, with notes of cardamom, black pepper, jasmine, vanilla and orchid. It's a beautiful blend of spicy and floral to make a really different scent that is a lovely mix of woody and sweet notes. It's definitely unlike any other fragrance I've owned, I tend to like really sweet scents, but I am full on addicted to this. I'm pretty sure I will be wearing this until Spring comes!

If you ever walk past a Benefit counter then give it a go!

*press sample

Christmas | Gift Guide for Men

With  a week to go now until the big day, and if you are anything like me you are probably panic buying or are convinced that you have forgotten to buy someone a present! I thought I'd put together a gift guide for the men in your life, homewetbar.com have a fab gift guide here, which I used for a bit of inspiration!

Fragrance is a great gift to give as a Christmas present, if you know their favourite scent then it's fool proof, otherwise it gives you the chance to buy something new! I personally love Bleu by Chanel, it's a gorgeous fragrance and probably a brand that the male you're buying for wouldn't treat themselves too that often.

For some reason, men always seem to love gadgets and novelty toys.. Remote control anything always goes down a treat for guys of any age, not just the kids! I'll admit my knowledge on this sort of thing isn't that strong but this remote control helicopter has four spinning wheel things on top and looks snazzy!

Another fun novelty gift idea is this scratch off world map, it's something I'd personally love too! The owner can scratch off the countries or places that they have visited, I think it's a great way to keep track of your travels and plan where else you'd like to visit. If you have an explorer in your life then this is a perfect gift!

In my opinion you can never have enough socks, but who really spends a lot of money on socks apart from for presents at Christmas? I challenge any man to not be happy to receive a pair stylish socks that come in a gift box. You could of course splash out even more for luxurious materials, this Calvin Klein set looks good and would make a lovely gift. 

Another safe option is an iTunes voucher, (well only if you know they use iTunes!) It's a gift you know will be used and appreciated, also a fab idea if you aren't the best present wrapper. 

My last idea is to pick a gift that you can personalise. For example this hip flask would be a great gift for my Nan's brother, he is partial (loves) whiskey, this would be a bit of a different and more personal gift to give instead of the same bottle of alcohol he gets every year. There are so many different gifts that can be personalised it's something definitely worth investigating!

What do you think of my picks for men?

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

 

*pr collaboration  

YouTube | November Primark Haul!

There is a new video up on my YouTube channel and it's a Primark haul!
I hope you enjoy! :)

Luxury Wishlist

 

It's a bit of a 'want but can't afford on an intern lifestyle' wishlist today. Christmas coming means I find myself spending longer than normal browsing online stores and making wishlists. The Urban Retreat Boutique stocks a big range of brands from all price ranges, including Clarisonic, Elemis, Essie, Laura Mercier, NARS, and so many more!
First up is a perfume by Clive Christian. Yep it's expensive, but a girl can dream right? The 1872 perfume sounds right up my street, it's floral and fruity, the main ingredient only grows for three weeks each year so I can kind of understand the price tag!
I had a sad moment the other day where my GHD's decided it was their time to go. They had a good run but I am ready to welcome a new pair into my life. (Well I'm not as my bank balance can in no way afford it!) I absolutely love the colour of the Wonderland Styler, it's holographic and has sparkly plates! If anyone fancies treating me....
Lastly is a cult favourite. I'm starting to become a bit candle obsessed, and who doesn't want to own a Diptyque candle? My justification is that afterwards it would make the loveliest brush holder! I think the Baies scent would be gorgeous. (This is a 1.5kg candle, hence the price tag.)

What are you lusting after?

*post in collaboration with The Urban Retreat Boutique

Beauty News | Soap & Glory Mega Discount!

 
































It's that time of year again. From tomorrow you will be able to purchase the Yule Monty mammoth Soap & Glory set for the fantastic price of £27 reduced from £60! The gorgeous gift bag has been designed especially by Jonathan Saunders and inside you get 9 full size products!
Inside you get:
-Thick and Fast Mascara
-Sexy Mother Pucker Extreme Plump Gloss
-Heel Genius Foot Cream
-Hand Food Hand Cream
-Sugar Crush Body Wash
-The Scrub Of Your Life Body Scrub
-The Righteous Butter Body Cream
-Peaches and Clean Cleanser
-Butter Yourself Moisture Lotion

If you are after this I really recommend placing your order online from Boots as soon as you can tomorrow or getting straight down to a Boots store as this deal always sells out quickly! Perfect Christmas present to yourself, and you'll be set for pamper goodies for ages.

Review | Our Moment One Direction Perfume

Our Moment Perfume by One Direction £39 for 100ml gift set

There was no way that I wasn't going to buy this! It's like the two of my favourite things combined to make something that for me was too much to ignore and not buy. Our Moment is the debut fragrance from One Direction and is everything that a typical 1D fan is going to want and more. The fragrance is inspired by the fans and 1D were apparently involved with all parts of creating the fragrance to designing the packaging.

I'm undecided on the bottle, most of me loves it but a tiny part of me knows its a bit tacky, the fan girl inside of me is taking over on this one though! I like that the perfume is pink, keeping with the whole theme of the fragrance. I do think the packaging is perfect for a 1D fan, the images of each member on the box and the little note inside from the band with printed signatures is a nice touch too. It's probably sad how happy the whole thing makes me!

The sparkling, juicy and feminine fragrance is made up of splashes of fresh fruit and seasonal flowers infused with undertones of warm musk. The pink grapefruit, wild berries and redcurrants, combined with the delicacy of jasmine petals, and frangipani with the dry woody tones of musk and patchouli leave an enticing and playful scent on the skin.

It's definitely very young and sweet, lots of floral notes and a very feminine feel. I personally love it as I am a fan of sweet scents. It's more of a spring/summer fragrance and is not too overpowering. Unfortunately the lasting power is pretty rubbish. After a couple of hours I can no longer notice it that much. It's a shame as I really love the fragrance, I've been sticking to wearing this when I'm only going to be out for a few hours, it definitely won't last the day.

Are you a 1D fan? Have you tried Our Moment?

Our Moment 100ml is currently avaliable in a gift set here for £39 with a body lotion, shower gel and a rollerball.

Giveaway | Win a £50 The CityRack Voucher

If you haven't been on The CityRack before then you are in for a treat! The CityRack stocks a huge range of clothing, shoes, accessories and jewellery at really affordable prices. I have already made a huge mental wishlist of things I am after. My favourite part of The CityRack is the Celebrity Look part, where you can purchase items worn by some some of the most fashionable celebs!

The fab team have kindly decided to help us all get in the Christmas spirit by offering one of my you the chance to win a £50 voucher to spend at The CityRack and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is fill in the Rafflecopter form below!

The giveaway is open to anyone and everyone. It closes Christmas Eve. Remember you can use the tweet entry every day so come back to get your entries in!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*prize provided by The CityRack

Review | Make Up Atelier Corrector Concealer Palette

  
    















  


Make Up Atelier Corrector Concealer Palette £25*

Make Up Atelier is a brand that create products for professional use, so obviously I was expecting a lot from this palette. I think the palette is a brilliant idea as it means you have a range of colours that can be used where you need them, for example I tend to use a brighter shade to conceal dark circles but want a shade that matches my foundation for blemishes. Our faces are not one colour so it makes sense to use different shades of concealer where necessary.

I really like the packaging of the Corrector Concealer Palette, it's sleek and professional looking, plus it means you know what shades you have instead of rooting through your kit to find what you are after. Everything you need is in one place! Inside the palette are 5 concealers in different shades. It's not bulky packaging and is very portable.

The first is a salmon/peach colour, which is the creamiest of the bunch, it's so smooth and easy to blend. This is what I have been using for under my eyes to brighten and hide darkness. The next four shades are still creamy but slightly firmer in consistency. The second shade is what I have been using to conceal blemishes, it has a really high coverage and matches my skin tone really well. The next two shades are unfortunately too dark for my skin tone but I might get more use out of them in the summer time. The scary looking green is perfect for covering up redness, I like to blend this in before foundation to even out my skin tone a bit more.

All of the concealers have a great high coverage, which blends brilliantly so you only need a small amount. I've used this every day since receiving it and think it's a fab kit. It has everything you need to conceal any problem areas on your face and I love how creamy they are. The product lasts about 8 hours when set with powder, I think this would be great for all skin types apart from very oily skin as the concealers are very creamy. I can see this palette lasting me a seriously long time.

The Make Up Atelier Corrector Concealer Palette costs £25 here, which for 5 concealers is a great price.

*pr sample sent for consideration, review 100% honest as always

Review | Eva Professionals Mystic Diamond Elixir

Eva Professionals Mystic Diamond Elixir*

 For anyone with hair like mine that is prone to dryness, dullness, frizz and generally having a life of it's own then you probably understand how much a hail oil can improve the condition of your hair. I've been using hair oils every time I wash my hair for over a year now and I hate to think of the state it must have been in without them!
Mystic Diamond Elixir is no normal hair oil, it contains diamond powder! It sounds like a bit of a fad but the powder of diamonds is proven to help prevent aging of hair and too regenerate it, as well as making hair super shiny. Argan oil is brilliant for nourishing hair and keeping it smooth, it's also rich in vitamins to help keep hair strong and healthy.

It's a lightweight oil, which is great as it means I can use a few pumps and it won't way my hair down or make it feel greasy which some heavier argan oils can do sometimes. Because of how lightweight it is I have been using it on both damp hair after washing and dry hair that needs a bit more shine or nourishment. I apply it from the midway down my hair to the ends and think it's a great product. It adds a lot more shine than other oils I have used and leaves me with hair that is much more healthier looking. A small amount really goes a long way and if you love having glossy locks this is worth the investment in my opinion. It's the only hair oil/serum I have used in three weeks and it's made a good chance to the condition of my hair, it leaves it seriously soft and more shiny than it usually is!

Mystic Diamond Elixir is available here for £22.90. It seems pricey but my bottle barely looks used, so if you are into hair oils this is worth it!

*pr sample, review 100% honest as always