Easy Christmas Decoration

Its less than three weeks until Christmas as I write this and I'm bouncing of the walls with exitement. One of my favourite things to do at Christmas I decorating my room on the first weekend because I find it just makes me feel so much more festive and it really gets me exited.

First of all I placed a mini Christmas tree next to my bed and decorated it with tinsel and baubles 

Christmas tree (pre-lit): Asda £6

Bauble set: Asda £2.50

Tinsel: Asda £1 

After that I placed my favourite fairy lights from ikea all around my fireplace. I love these, I just think that they are the cutest things and they aren't too over the top.

Fairy Lights: £10 IKEA

As a finishing touch I hung a stocking up over my fireplace. This one cost me £1 and I really like it.

Stocking: £1 poundland

Even though I haven't done this you can also place tinsel around your door and stuff as tinsel is usually under £1 for a few meters and adds a beautiful festive touch to your home.

Little Ways to be a Lot Happier

No one ever feels happy all of the time, but no one feels sad all the time either. It is key to find the balance and for many people that can be a huge struggle. Sometimes people with mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression feel very sad and worthless and its important not too let these feelings get the better of you, so wether you are diagnosed with depression or if your just having a rough day these little ways will hopefully make you feel a lot happier.

 One of the thing I genuinely find really helps me is just curling up in bed with my favorite show (which by the way is The Mindy Project right now) and drink a hot chocolate maybe even eat a biscuit or two and just relax. It could be for one episode or I could be for ten (if I'm being honest I could usually watch a whole series without moving if I had the time) but this will definitely help you relax and feel calmer and happier.

Lighting a candle is one the easiest ways you can brighten up your mood. Pick a scent that's calming for you (for example at this time of year Christmas Spice would be appropriate) light it and just go about your work or whatever you have to do with a calmer (and nicer smelling!) atmosphere. Candles don't have to be expensive, I currently have a tin one from asda that cost £2!

I always think a nice walk can really help clear your mind, I doesn't have to be long it could just be a five minute walk to your shop for some milk but it will definitely help you think. Similarly a run or any kind of gentle exercise will have the same effect.

Sometimes when your feeling especially bad nothing can do what chocolate ndoes to help you feel better. I try not to eat too much but a Dairy Milk here and there never hurt anyome.

Finally a very important piece of advice, talk to someone. You don't have to know them you call Samaritans or Child Line and talk for how long and about whatever you want with complete confidentiality and some great advice will be offered.

Seven days 'till Sexy Skin

I used to overlook the importance of good, healthy skin. I would wonder why people obsessed over moisturizer and toner instead of lipstick and mascara. Then when I slowly started to get better at taking care of my skin, I realized that no matter how good my red lipstick looked. It still looked better if I had soft, pretty skin. Nowadays skincare is one of the most important factors in my "beauty life". That doesn't mean that I never fall asleep with my makeup on (because I do) or that I spend half an hour a night washing, cleansing, toning and moisturizing (um who has time for that?). But it does mean that I have tried hundreds of different lotions and potions and I now know what works best with my skin.

This routine is designed for people with normal/dry skin and I cannot guarantee that the exact same stuff will work for you.

The first thing I do in the morning is was myt face with my Clean & Clear daily face wash

Next I use my toner from Simple all over my face but especially my nose 

After that I make sure to moisturize all over my face to keep my skin looking hydrated and fresh. My moisturizer is just the soft one from Nivea 

Finally for the morning I do a DIY avocado face mask for five minutes whilst I apply my Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula 

In the evenings I make sure I remove all my makeup and that I use my gentle toner and moisturizer before going to bed.

You should be doing this all the time but during theses seven day rember to take special care to drink tones of water (and I'm talking absuloute minimum of eight glasses per day) This may seem liked a huge chore now but trust me your skin will see huge benefits. I like to add a few slices of cucumber, lemon and lime and a few mint leaves to improve the taste.

Three Ways to Double Up Your Makeups Uses.

I definitely don't have loads of money to spend so I always try to come up with new ways to buy less makeup. Here are my top three.

1. Use bronzer as a subtle eye shadow. 

Hell Yeah this is acceptable. I do this all the time. Also if the colors look right then you can use it as a brow filler.

2. Use lipstick as lipliner.

I do this way too much. It works really well though so I don't see why not. Just use the sharper end of the bullet to draw all slightly exagerated lip line and fill in with the same lipstick.

3. Don't always wear foundation.

You would be suprised at how good your skin will look if you just use concealer, bronzer ect. not only will your skin look good during but wearing less foundation will keep your skin looking good in the long run.

Finding the Perfect Budget Eye shadow Palette

When I first started to use eye shadows to define and shape my eyes I realized that I needed not only my one brown and one purple eye shadow but i needed to find the perfect palette with a selection of beautiful colors that compliment each other. Unfortunately for unemployed high school students (yes that's me) I soon discovered that most palettes are a little too pricey for me. That's when I decided to go on a search for the perfect budget palette and well here it is.

The cheap one.

This is the brightly packaged, cheaply made £3 palette. The colors don't really show up and never last more than an hour so even though this the cheapest one I could find I would not recommend it in fact I would suggest that it was just money down the drain.

Overall Verdict- 1/5 stars. 

The cute one. 

This palette was bought from M&S for about £5 and attracted my attention by using the most adorable packaging ever (call me childish). However upon closer inspection the colors where tiny I mean like there was almost no eye shadow in these pots. Also the colors where all very bright and garish so not really what I was looking for. Nonetheless its super cute and a great "first eye shadow" gift.

Overall rating- 3/5 stars (loved the tin though!)

The Tiny One

This is seriously one of the smallest palettes ever. I didn't actually buy this for myself, it was a gift but I belive it was about £5 from Seventeen. The colours on this are nice and they stay quite well but it lacks any basic whites, blacks and browns instead has gray, navy and a pale pink. However when I did use the colors they stayed Nickey and the double sided brush that came with it was really good (I have since lost the brush so sorry about that).

The Favourite One

I say the favorite one this was my favorite one. This palette can be purchased from MUA for £4, the colors are all very subtle and also all have cool names like "Babylon" and "Golden Sand". Maybe it's just me but I much prefer it when makeup products have different names rather than just numbers. Anyway the colors all complement each other and stay for a good few hours. This definitley isn't the best palette on there market but for £4 its the best value.

Overall Rating - 5/5 stars 

Blogilates

Not a day goes by when I wish I had more toned thighs, nicer abs or Michelle Obama arms and so I recently started doing some online research and decided to follow the "Blogilates Begginer Workout Calendar". I have seen other videos done by Cassie Ho (creator of Blogilates) and decided that since she did have a really nice body that maybe I should give her workout a go. So far I have completed every day and I feel great. I have also been trying to eat healthy and I recommend that you try this 30 day plan so far its really worked for me.

The DIY hair mask

Ever since I ombred my hair I have been struggling a lot with dry, broomstick like ends and my hair looking like a rats nest after an hour of being out. My hair is naturally on the dry side (though I am very lucky since I never have grease) and I have quite spirally curls, which doesn't help as curls bare very hard to maintain.

I often end up straightening my hair but even if I don't it still looks dry and damaged and most products didn't seem to be working for me.

This recipie (is it a recipie I don't know?) was one I found whilst scrolling through pintrest and I thought, well my hair can't get much worse, may aswell try and I'm glad I did. All it contains is:

1 egg

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons is honey

Then I just mix it up, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds and apply to my hair. The mixture is quite runny but it didn't slip of my hair at all. I left this mask on for about 30-40 minutes and then washed it out using shampoo and cold water (this is important because if water is too hot then it will start to cook the egg and that would be gross) and then washed and conditioned my hair normally.

After I got out the shower unwrapped my hair up in a towel until it was damp and then I applied mouse and put my hair up in a topknot. I don't wear my hair in a towel after its no longer soaking because I don't want it to ruin my curls, instead I put it in a topknot then just leave it to down to air dry. 

That's all I did to my hair, I strongly recommend this routine it really worked for me. My hair is in a lot better condition and feels a lot softer now!

DIY Gifts and Treats

It's October which means I am officially allowed to obsess over Christmas and I'm very exited. I know everyone says that they love October through to December but I really do.

This year me and my friends decided to do a secret santa (for those of you that don't know a Secret Santa is when everyone gets assigned a friend to buy a present for but no one tells anyone who they got) and we also opted for a ten pound price limit. This means buying a fabby present is going to be quite difficult.

Luckily I was saved the trouble of having to think up a cheap, creative idea by my favourite website...Pintrest. Yay!

While doing some skiming over Pintrest I spotted a photo of "10 easy DIY beauty products" such as body scrub and face masks and it gave me an idea. What if for Christmas I could make 10 or 15 different beauty products and pit them in a giant "Pamper Box" for my friend to keep for spa nights.

I then went out and bought all the stuff I needed and I will be making them next weekend at some point (Expect a post all about how that went) and now I can't wait to get started. Let's just pray I don't set fire to anything. 

Sixties Style

Recently for my fashion and textiles class I was asked to make a mood board based on an upcoming trend for Autumn/Winter 2014. I have always loved retro sixties style so as it was an upcoming trend I decided to do mine on that. These are some photos of it that I took before handing it in.

Five Fabulous Hacks that Changed my Life

Recently I was thinking about how I'm always in a rush to go somewhere and sometimes I forget little things. I realized all these little things add up and if you can make five tiny areas of your life better then the rest of the day will be easier.

1. Always keep a lip balm in your jacket and bag pockets 

This one I learnt from the fabulous Jim Chapman. Every time you buy a new bag or jacket then buy a tiny cheap lip balm to put in it. This is especially useful during winter times when my lips get very chapped and dry and horrible (seriously, I think I have a condition)

2. Sleep with your hair in plaits

This is the kind of thing I wish someone had told me about earlier, basically putting your hair in plaits has load of benefits and no downsides, you wake with tangle free, natural looking waves, it takes five seconds to style in the morning and it keeps your hair out your face.

3. Buy loads of mints

Every time I go to Tesco I find myself wandering down the confectionery aisle, and no not looking for chocolates (well, that to) but for big packs of mints and gum. I must get through about ten packs of gum a week, I keep one my handbag, one in my school bag, one on my desk. I always have a packet handy because if I ever have bad breath, need to del stress or trick my body into thinking I'm eating this is the way to go.

4. Pack your bag the night before.

You have no idea the amount of times that I've slept in, been running late and wish I'd packed my bag the night before. Now every time I'm in a rush instead of running around searching for everything I just grab my bag and run out the door. Easy!

5. Buy a wallplanner

My final tip is definitely my favourite on, buy a wallplanner. Mines is really cute, has a sticky back so you can move it around without nails and I bought it from Coles. These are so good you just write down all your appointments, meetings, homework assignments and anything like that so that each morning you can check it and you know what you have to do.

Weekday Morning Routine

Morning routines are my favourite kinds of videos on YouTube,  I could seriously just sit and watch them for hours every night. I don't really know why I like them but they really amuse me and I've always wanted to film one. Since I don't own a YouTube channel I thought I would write down what I do in the mornings instead.

First of all I wake up around seven (on a veeerrryyy good day) and half seven on a day where I want a lie in (these also to  e the days where I look like a troll so...) and I head to the bathroom.

My first step when I get to the bathroom is to wash my face with the Clean and Clear Morning Energy face wash, I love this stuff it smells sooo good and really wakes me up. After washing my face I moisturize with my trusty Nivea moisturizer and put on my favorite Simple Kind to Skin toner. I really recommend both these products for someone that needs a cheap but really effective skincare routine. 

Next I head downstairs and grab myself some breakfast, today it was a low fat vanilla yougurt from Tesco and I pop the kettle on. By the time I've eaten my yougurt my tea is boiled so I out away my spoon and take my cuppa upstairs! 

Now I need to do my makeup, usually I wear a heavier makeup look to school as my school doesn't really have any rules when comes to hair and makeup (we do have a boring uniform though). I have done a blog post on a lighter Back to School Makeup look so check that out!

After my hair ( almost always a top knot) I finish off my tea, pack my bag and get into my uniform. Then all I have to do is brush my teeth and I'm out the door!

Update and Chat

Hi guys, I just wanted to make this post for a chat (or a vent if you like). I recently begun school again and the stress is piling on. This blog is like my corner of the Internet, public diary, online scrapbook whatever but I love writing here it just sort of let's me let go and forget for a little bit.

I've been thinking of doing a post on "How To Have Great Skin in 7 Days" since I have really been getting into my skincare routine recently and discovered a few great new products that I'd love to share.

Not only am I feeling stressed but I've managed to do my usual and catch whatevers going around - this tine it's the cold/flu but I haven't managed a day off school yet.

And finally, I just want to drink hot chocolate and lay in bed, writing is that normal or weirdly antisocial. Probably just antisocial.

Back to School Makeup tutorial

I recently began my new timetable and since it's summer and the first day back is coming up then I thought now would be the perfect time to do a Back to School Makeup Tutorial. 

I begin by washing and moisturizing my face, I use the nivea moisturizer and simple face wash.

Next I apply an even layer of foundation all over my face and blend it in with a brush, right now I'm loving the Rimmel Wake Me Up.

I never get quite enough sleep so the next step for me is concealer,  my current favourite is the Collection true coverage, it's AMAZING. 

Now I apply I tiny bit of bronzer and a smidgen of blusher to give me a bit of colour.

Now for the eyes! I like to use neutral eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner for natural yet incredibly effective eye look. Just apply a shade of your choice all over your eyelids,  then choose a darker shade for your crease. Finish off with a bit of liquid eyeliner and a couple of coats of mascara ( Maybelline The Falsies is my go to right now) 

I like to fill in my brows with a dark brown eyeshadow and pencil add a touch of lip balm (baby lips is amazing) and I'm ready to face the day!

Always running late...

...then don't panic my essential super quick morning routine is perfect for when your running late for school work or anything really.

   If I'm running late it's usually (always) because i have slept in so the first thing i do is jump out of bed and make my bed. Even though making my bed might seem a waste of time when running late i think it's great, makes you slightly fitter and it only takes 15 seconds, plus it's always lovely coming home to a nice tidy room instead of one with the duvet on the floor.

 I sleep with my hair in two plaits for two reasons, one it gives your hair nice, natural looking waves and two it's great for times like this! Just pull out the plaits and brush out your hair into soft, effortless waves. 

After taking out my plaits i get dressed and do a simple makeup routine. If I'm in a rush I will only use foundation, concealer ( gotta hide those bags!), eyeshadow, eyeliner, blusher,  bronzer and of course lip balm. 

After that I grab my bag (get into the habit of packing your bag the night before if running late is a problem) head downstairs and grab a quick easy breakfast like a cup of coffee and some fruit and yougurt.  

Then brush your teeth and your out the door! 

I hope this post helps you to be even a little less late for things. Please follow and comment. See you soon.

Back to School Essentials

School is just around the corner (*whimpers*) so I thought I would make a post about back to school essentials. Every year I tell myself that I will be super organized, have amazing school supplies and be the queen of school organization, yet every year I end it with half a rubber and three pages of my planner left in my broken and grubby school bag, so this year I decided to make a list of my school essentials.


1. I always like to have a hand sanitizer in my bag as so many places in school are filled with horrible germs and bacterias and if I'm eating my lunch at school then I like to use this so my hands are nice and clean.

2. I like to bring a planner with me into school every day as these are fabulous for writing homework assignments, meetings and social events down and I make a point of checking this every day so I know what I need to bring.

3. If you wear makeup then I think a makeup bag is a great thing to have with you. It's a great way to make sure your powder or foundation doesn't explode ruining your nice bag and books.

4. My purse I something I never go without as it contains my money, lunch card and any other things like that I may need.

5. A little pencil case with pencils, pens, highlighters, and post it notes.

6. A body spray is great especially if you are worried about smelling funny or if you have PE.

7. I always pop a pack of mints or gum into my bag to make sure your breath smells nice after lunch.

8. My final essential is little notebook that's perfect for writing in extra stuff any phone numbers or lists of things to buy.

I hope you enjoyed this post and it helps you get ready for the new school year and please comment, follow and have a lovely day!

Ombre Hair Care

So I have ombre hair and I love it. It adds texture and volume to your hair and gives you the ability to look super boho or like the classiest girl in the neighborhood, unfortunately it is also very hard to take care of. Over time I have built up a collection of products that I find work the most effectively at keeping ombre (or any dyed/bleached hair) looking lush.

The first thing I would recommend is a good heat protector, this will stop your hair from getting even more frazzled by straighteners, curlers ect. The one i use is the Aussie Dual Personality Heat Protection.  I find that it works well plus it smells amazing.

The next thing I love is a big floppy hat, my ones was about £6 in primark.  The reason I love these is because sun and hot weather really damages your hair regardless of it being dyed or not , so my big floppy hat not only protects my hair from becoming even more damaged and looking worse it also shades my face.

Bleached blonde hair can turn gingery after a while and a great way to get around this is toner (Bleach London has a great one) but unfortunately after a while it fades so I like to keep on top of my blonde colour by using a toning shampoo. These are great because you can just use them like a normal shampoo as well.  The way this works is it has purple and blue tones in it which cancels out the copper and brass tones leaving fabulous blonde hair.

So those where my three ombre Hair care essentials be sure to like comment and follow

Change your Lifestyle Little by Little

Everyone thinks of Christmas as the time when we gain weight but I was thinking to myself yesterday and I am pretty sure I gain more weight in July than December. You may be sat here reading this and thinking that I'm out of my mind (and to be honest your probably right) because December is the time of turkey, Christmas cake and gingerbread *drools* but for me (please realize this may be completely different for you) summer is the time of ice cream, lounging around and not having to get up as early and going through thousands of bottles of sprite just to "keep cool". So this got me thinking, if your eating bad and being lazy all through summer then obviously you won't feel as good as you could. So i decided to make a list. A simple list with a few tips for making little changes with a big difference!

1.  Have a piece of your favorite fruit every time your craving something sweet

2. Make delicious smoothies with all your favorite ingredients instead of guzzling down liters of coke and lemonade

3. Do five minutes of yoga/stretching every morning or night (don't do it right before you go to bed or you won't be able to sleep)

4. Always remove makeup, if you get really bored,  forget easily or can't be bothered get some cleansing make up removal wipes. The Tesco pro ones are great for the price

5. Have a herbal tea instead of a coffee or hot chocolate,  I often find these not only taste good but make me feel a whole lot better on the inside AND help my hair, skin and nails (it's still hydration therefor makes your skin softer, hair shinier and nails healthier) Peppermint is my favorite flavour

6. Make sure the first thing you do every morning is SMILE the more positive you make yourself look the more positive you will feel

7. Use argon oil. I get mine super cheap from T.K Maxx, this stuff not only keeps hair looking healthy and helps detangle it also smells lush, just be careful not to use to much as it will make your hair look greasy.

8. Try to limit your Internet time (I can talk ha) seriously though it will help you sleep and give you a healthier outlook on life.


There you have it, eight tips on how to improve your lifestyle little by little. By the way please don't feel compelled to do all of these maybe pick 3 and add one each week.

MUA Alexandra Burke Lip Boom review

This lipstick has got to be one of my favorites ever. I purchased this when I was shopping with a friends and came across it in a Superdrug shop, the packaging caught my eye and although this isn't the colour that I originally intended to go for after seizing them all up (and trust me I did A LOT of seizing up) I decided this colour was the one! The colour i chose was "Its A Situation" and it is a deep purple. I was actually so excited to try this that I ran into the changing rooms at primark because I couldn't wait to get home! My first impression was that it was VERY dark and for a horrible minute I thought I had bought a colour that didn't suit me at all (to be honest that probably wouldn't have mattered as it only cost me about 3 quid!). Luckily my friend had a lip balm with her so what we decided to do was to apply the lip balm as a base coat and a top coat to sort of soften out the colour a bit and I have to say it looked great! The colour stays well and although the lip gloss included is very nice it's a bit thin and you have to apply about 5 coats for it to have much effect, also its VERY VERY sparkly so I prefer to not use it, still 100% worth it as I would have paid more than the price for even just the lipstick, I always find MUA is great value for money!

P.S Sorry for the crappy photo quality,  these where taken using bad artificial lighting and on the messy surface of a chest of drawers.