Me, the Sea, and a Pair of Leggings

Can I just put this out there first of all and say how bloody hard it was to find a decent title for this post. I didn’t want anything The Little Mermaid themed, or mermaid for that matter, because that’s just been done way too much, and yeah I hate that shit.

Finally I came up with one which is actually some sort of meaning to it. I was intending to use some sort of lyric but I just couldn’t settle on one which sucked. I looked at certain band songs I’ve been loving at the moment but nothing really matched. So I just left it as something simple, and relevant.

One of the last days of our holiday in January 2015 we went out for a walk along the harbour and for a drink or two. There are huge rocks lining the sea which you can climb across, and sit on. I of course did the latter, alongside a bit of standing up too. I used to climb along these rocks all the time as a child, and it was a treat to look out at the ocean. The views are fantastic from those rocks, and some of the beautiful and fond ones I have of Fuerteventura.

I really love these pictures, and they actually cause me to miss Fuerteventura a lot. It’s my second home, and one I would live at permanently one day…

My outfit isn’t anything spectacular, I know. But my leggings are pretty much the whole outfit, the rest is just complimentary.

I’ve owned these Black Milk Clothing leggings for quite a while now, since 2014 to be exact and for ages I have wanted to write a look book post on them, but alas I haven’t until now. The pictures in this post are from my holiday to Fuerteventura at the start of 2015, again just over a year ago now. Which let me tell you, has flown by! Since then I’ve finished my masters, got a new job, bought a new car, AND gone on holiday to Fuerteventura again.

I don’t think I have ever spoken about my Black Milk leggings on my blog until now, so I may as well talk a little about them. They were find via eBay (oh I love eBay!) and at first i didn’t win the big, but someone pulled out and alas I was there with my money to snap them up. I think I paid just over £35 for them, which is a lot but considering how much they are direct from Black Milk, and custom fees it was well worth the money! PLUS you can’t buy this design anymore, so I have a limited pair. WOOP!

I teamed these up with my amazing Darth Vader Vans slip ons, which I wear quite a lot, even a year on. I wore these religiously on holiday as I had just bought them in the January sales for £20.00, a complete bargain. I wish I hadn’t worn socks with them at the time, but I think I was trying to avoid getting any sunburn on my fight. Oh and my feet were in really bad condition that holiday… So I was probably trying to hide how minging they were.

During that holiday I was a bit of a hippy with the way I had my hair, and the jewellery I started wearing. I wore loads of friend bracelets, and necklaces. My hair was forever curly, and wavy, which I loved!

I loved that holiday, and I remember on the way home crying because I missed it so much. The second time I went back in 2015 was November to December. I was pretty numb flying back, and didn’t get upset. But I still didn’t want to come back to the UK.

I hope to go back again soon, I really miss it there, and pictures like these remind me of why I love it so damn much.

I hope to buy myself another pair of Black Milk leggings soon… Hopefully another mermaid pair. Watch this space!

Do you own any Black Milk Clothing pieces? If you don’t, which pieces would you like to own? Make sure to let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, take care all and hope you’ve had a great weekend!

2014’s Top 10 Favourites

Image taken from weheartit.com

This is a post that is long overdue, and I’m finally getting the time to write it! As regular readers will know I’ve been away on holiday the past two weeks so any posts I usually have up on my blog at the start of each month, haven’t really been there this month. Great start to the year eh?

But better late than never eh?

I’m going to show my top ten favourites from the year and there might be a few from 2013, but I don’t care. If it’s a good product, I’m mentioning it!

• Garnier Pure Active Wasabi Fresh Face Scrub.

I’ve mentioned this on my favourites in the past and it has definitely been a great scrub to add to my bathroom in 2014! It’s actually for men, but this works perfectly on my female, sensitive skin so I’m not complaining. My boyfriend uses this too and I noticed a dramatic change in his skin, so it isn’t just me who noticed how good it is. This isn’t the cheapest scrub but I’ve owned this for months now, I use it twice a week and it’s still lasting me ages. There is also a face wash to go with the scrub but I won’t be trying it, maybe my boyfriend will in the future. Since using this scrub I’ve noticed any dry patches on my face have vanished and any signs of blackheads have dramatically evaporated. I highly recommend this scrub, even if you have sensitive skin like I do.

• Lush Comforter Bubble Bar.

I love Lush, regular readers will know this. I bought this bubble bar for the first time months ago when I went to Bristol for mine and my boyfriends first anniversary and it’s safe to say I have fallen in love with it. I’d always smelt it in the shop and loved it’s replica smell of Ribena but as soon as I eyed the price I left it. I regret never buying it until 2014 as this bubble bar lasts ages! The scent is so strong that you only need a little chunk and it’ll go a long way. I’ve found myself getting a good six baths out of one bar, some may prefer to use the whole bar in one bath or two halves to make two baths but I’m quite stingy with my Lush products and I like to make them last. This is really good for the skin and not only does it leave me feeling nice and soft, but it leaves me smelling gorgeous too! I love using this on days where I’m having a lazy day in the house and want a pick me up. It’s also nice to use before you go to sleep as when you get under the covers you can smell it for ages. This is definitely going to be a bath staple for me now.

• Easy Nails Fast & Fruity Nail Polish Remover.

This is by far one of the best nail polish remover pots I have ever used and that includes Bourjois too. Bourjois nail polish remover pot was the first one I tried and for how much it cost, I was incredibly disappointed. I’ve recently got it back out of my nail polish drawer to try and use up as I’m sick of the sight of it now. For less than a £1 you can pick up the Easy Nails pot and it does a hell of a lot more than the Bourjois one has ever done. I pop my finger in, twist it back and forth ten times and I’ll pull it out as clean as the nail was before I applied the polish on the nail. I stock up on these as soon as my current one feels dry. With glitter nail polish I don’t find it works as well as the aluminum foil technique does (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google it. But I will write about this technique very soon) but I don’t want it to get rid of glitter polish. It’s just so great to use and quick too. I wish I had taken one on holiday with me as it would have come in handy when I painted my nails there.

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet.

I’ve written a review for this before and whilst I’ve now replaced this with Clinique, I still loved it in 2014 and would be lying if I said otherwise. This was perfect during the summer and my prayers were answered when it came out as it was boiling outside and this really did cool me down. As well as that it left my skin feeling super moisturised and feeling soft. This was rumoured to have some sort of matte texture to it, but I didn’t really notice that myself. I took this on holiday with me and it really did keep my skin feeling cool, soft as well as feeling good in the evenings. This is great to use both in summer and winter but I do find the benefits of the cooling sensation work a hell of a lot better when the weather is warmer. If you want to read more about this, definitely check out the review for it!

• Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm.

Another product I’ve reviewed  and used time and time again. I’m currently using it as it’s my go to lip balm whilst I’m in the house. I first tried this after attending VintSetFest and this was in my goodie bag. I’d heard nothing but good things about Carmex but never really thought to use them before but now I love them! I even bought the strawberry flavour not long after getting the original one, which I haven’t loved as much but it’s still good and what I used whilst I was on holiday. I probably won’t buy another one of these for a while just because I want to use my current lip balms up, but I think the next one I will try out will either be cherry or mint.

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector.

I’ve mentioned this hand cream many times and a year later I’m still using the same tube! This tube really is huge and a little bit of this hand cream does go a long way. As this one is for dry to very dry skin it’s perfect for when my hands begin to show signs of eczema and so far my hands haven’t had any issues… Well apart from when I landed in the UK from my holiday, my one knuckle split. Hello cold weather, much? I use this before I head out and whilst I’m out and about, as I often use other hand creams in the house. I definitely recommend this hand cream to anyone who suffers with eczema like myself.

• MAC Lipstick in Goddess of the Sea.

This is the last MAC lipstick I bought and it’s definitely one of my favourites. It’s a gorgeous purple shade and is cremesheen so it not only lasts ages but looks slightly glossy too. I can’t wait to try this underneath my new Estee Lauder lip liner as I’m sure it’ll look beautiful. I have used it with a dark purple lip liner and it looks really dark and gothic, which I rather like. I especially love the packaging for this due to the water effect, something I am a huge nerd of (I love water!) so this appealed a lot when I went to buy it. I don’t wear this shade as much as I do with some of my MAC lipsticks because it’s limited edition. I think if I find it somewhere cheap I’ll definitely buy myself a back up.

• Viktor & Rolf BonBon EDP.

Since the start of 2014 when bloggers started to announce the release of these and tell us all the notes and how yummy it smelt I was excited. So when it finally came out in the UK and on the shelves to test out and buy, I gave it a sniff as soon as I could. I fell in love with it, but however I didn’t fall in love with the price and for ages I put off buying it. However before I went to uni I decided it was time to use the points I earn at work to use to buy this, so this cost me NOTHING, not a single penny! I took this on holiday with me and was lovely to wear on days when I wanted something light, but powerful enough to last all evening. If you haven’t smelt this yet, please make sure to as it’s not like anything that is out there at the moment, plus the bottle is adorable.

• Macadamia No Tangle Brush.

I’ve owned this brush over a year now and it’s by far the best brush I have ever owned. I got it for £10 at VintSetFest and since then I’ve not replaced it, although I do need to buy another one asap as this one is getting a little battered now. It’s a no tangle brush, as the title states so it helps me to brush my long hair without ripping, causing damage, or causing any pain to myself. It also feels really nice to use due to the soft bristles. I especially like that this has a handle as it’s easier to hold and means I can have control whilst brushing my hair, unlike brushes like Tangle Teezer’s. I definitely recommend this brush over the Tangle Teezer.

• OPI Nail Lacquer in How Is Your Dane?

This is by far my favourite nail polish by OPI that I own and there’s a couple of reasons why. First of all the name, which is shared by my boyfriend, who is called Dane. I of course love the shade too, which is a beautiful chocolate-brown shade with a gel like finish. I was going to wear this on holiday but decided against it incase it got ruined due to the heat, or any other reasons. This is definitely the perfect polish to wear throughout autumn and winter, but will be nice to wear throughout all of the year. I like to wear it with glitter nail polish, as well as with a matte top coat to give it a different finish.

So those are my top ten favourite products from 2014! There are already so many more things I’ve found for my top ten for 2015 already.

What were your favourites from 2014? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all.

OPI Peanuts Collection For Halloween 2014

I can safely say I have never been so excited about any collection as I am about this one. Peanuts have teamed up with OPI to bring us this collection for Halloween 2014 and I am counting down the days for it to land in the UK.

As a child I watched Peanuts on and off and I have a fond memory of when I first discovered it. I was watching Mary Poppins with my Dad and accidentally changed the channel to an episode of Peanuts which my Dad changed back to Mary Poppins after discovering my error. I was somewhat gutted as Peanuts being a cartoon I began to enjoy the few minutes it was on for and ever since then I have loved that show.

Since this collection being revealed and posted about on pretty much every beauty blog out there, I’ve started to watch Peanuts episodes and films again, and realised how much I loved it as a kid. I love it so much I even have my little Snoopy dog who sits on my bed. He’s so snuggly, nice to cuddle when you crave one and no ones around.

ANYWAY back to the amazing nail polishes!

Peanuts by OPI brings to life Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip characters for Halloween 2014. Inspired by “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” the four new limited edition nail lacquer shades include seasonal yellow and black crèmes, as well as two black-based glitter hues.

“‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ is a classic, beloved film,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Co-Founder & Brand Ambassador. “Peanuts by OPI celebrates the fun, youthful nature of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy with four limited edition nail lacquer shades designed to capture the spirit of Halloween. With two crème and two glitter options, you can switch between a cheery yellow or chic black look, or try adding a layer of glitter for a unique finish.”

There are four polishes in the collection:

Good Grief – A bright yellow shade, the same as Charlie Brown’s t-shirt.

To Be or Not To Beagle – A glitter polish with pretty much every colour of the rainbow inside! OPI have said “Snoopy’s happy-dance of colours in a joyful glitter.”

Where’s My Blanket??? – Another glitter polish but this one has black and orange glitter running throughout, perfect for Halloween!

WHO ARE YOU CALLING BOSSY?!? – A black creme polish that is meant to signify Lucy’s black hair.

If you wish to see swatches of these there are actually quite a lot out there on the internet now, but here’s a couple I shall link you to:

imabeautygeek

swatchandlearn (Good Grief) & (To Be or Not To Beagle)

cosmeticsanctuary.com

 beyondblush.com (WHO ARE YOU CALLING BOSSY?!? & To Be or Not To Beagle)

As well as buying these all in their full-sized individually you of course can but them in their mini forms in a gift box, which also comes with stick on nail decals too! I think these will be what I pick up, as let’s face it, I won’t use the full size polishes and if I really want to get one shade in the full size I already know it’ll be To Be or Not To Beagle.

These are said to come out in September, but seeing as they’re available over the pond already then I assume we won’t have to wait TOO much longer for them to arrive here.

I assume they’ll also be the same prices as usual £11.95 for a full size bottle and about £13.95 for the mini set.

I can’t wait for these to come out, soon as they do I’ll be buying them!

What do you think of this collection? Will you be buying?

Hope you enjoyed this post, until next time take care all!

2013’s Top 10 Favourites

Image taken from weheartit.com

Well I can’t believe 2013 has come and gone, and boy what a year it has been! I’m glad to be starting a New Year and with that I thought I would share my top 10 favourites from 2013! I probably couldn’t have picked any favourites from December itself as due to Christmas and such I was so busy trying to get everything sorted, as well as working and being with my boyfriend, my family and my friends.

So here are my top 10 favourites!

• Sure Maximum Protection Anti-Perspirant Deodorant Cream in Sensitive.

Since buying this deodorant in the summer time, it’s by far one of the best things I’ve EVER bought and since getting it, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without it. I sweat terribly during the winter time so when the summer comes upon us I panic like crazy about if I’ll leave patches on clothes or smell really bad. However since buying this stuff I’ve not had an problems at all! You’re meant to apply this before you go to bed and even if you shower it off in the morning, it’ll still work. However I just apply it when I’m getting ready after a shower and it works for me that way. I’ve only recently started my second one of these, so it lasts a long time as you really don’t need a lot of product, it goes a long way. I have this in sensitive due to my sensitive skin. This isn’t cheap and costs just over £5.00 but it’s definitely worth it if you suffer with terrible sweating like myself. I was close to going to my doctor for help, but this stuff has saved me the embarrassment!

• Diesel Loverdose EDP.

I’ve owned this perfume for quite a while now, since it came out in 2011 to be exact and since November time it’s been running out and I desperately need another bottle! My boyfriend loves when I wear this perfume and I do too as it smells gorgeous and nothing like I’ve smelt before. It contains various notes such as liquorice, vanilla, mandarin, star anise and dry woods. This is a scent I wear all year around, but more so during the colder months as it has a lovely warming scent to it. I was going to try and pick another 30ml bottle up in the sales but I really need to save money right now. Hopefully I can get a bottle in the near future, as when this runs out I’ll be rather sad.

• Dettol Honey Nourishing Hand Wash with E45.

I LOVE this hand wash and although I’ve been using it more towards the end of the year it has fast become one of the best hand washes I’ve ever used. As regular readers will know, I suffer from eczema on my hands and most hand washes can irritate it and make it worse, however this hand wash helps it and keeps my hands lovely and soft. This is because of the E45 and after you wash your hands with this you can feel how soft it leaves your hands afterwards too, which is great. As well as that it smells of honey and the Dettol inside makes sure to wash off any bacteria, thus leaving your hands smelling lovely, feeling soft and being germ free. What more could you want from a hand wash?!

• Aqueous Cream.

As well as the steroid cream I get from my doctor for my eczema, my aqueous cream is amazing stuff and seems to be the only thing that keeps my hands soft and smooth. I use various different hand creams and more during December than any other month, so I didn’t feel I could really include those in my top 10 for 2013, but I’m sure they will feature in a post in the near future! However aqueous cream is an amazing invention and my boyfriend bought me this massive tub a few months ago as something to use alongside my eczema cream. I use this alongside that, as well as on its own but it’s also amazing to use on any dry patches on skin, which I sometimes get on my face. You don’t need a lot of this and it goes a long way and I always apply it after washing my hands to ensure that my hands stay lovely and soft. This huge tub cost £2 and for the new year I’m going to be finding a little pump tub or tube to keep this on for when I’m at work. I recommend this stuff to anyone, it’s especially lovely to use in the bath if you’re suffering from dry skin, as well as using it in place of a shower gel. Amazing product for not much money!

• Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo.

Over the year I’ve owned this shampoo a couple of times and the first time I owned it, I really couldn’t get on with it and if anything I hated it. I felt that it was making my hair thin, not thick like it is supposed to. You need to ensure your hair is soaking wet to ensure you get a lather with this otherwise it won’t give you any lather, I learnt this after months of usage. This shampoo smells amazing and I love sniffing my hair after I use it (didn’t just sniff my hair!) and I don’t really know if it’s making my hair thicker, but my hair feels and smells lovely and clean, as well as leaving it feeling soft and gorgeous looking. Over the past month or two I’ve only just started to enjoy this shampoo and use it once a week, alongside my tea tree shampoo which I use once or twice a week. I would love to try more of the Philip Kingsley shampoos, as they seem like amazing products and well worth the money!

• Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Lotion.

I bought this lotion back around the start of 2013 and around the end of spring I sadly stopped using this due to work and being too busy to apply it due to needing to leave the house in a rush. This being said this lotion is amazing and is the most used one of  2013! Since getting loads of Soap & Glory products in the Yule Monty gift set I have realised I do really need to keep my body moisturised and it’s something that a lot of us seem to neglect due to lack of time or laziness, mine being the latter. Since Christmas Day I have been moisturising more, only not doing it on the odd occasion due to not feeling too well. Smoothie Star is one of my favourite lotions as it smells of vanilla and honey, which is of course a smell enjoyed by many, including myself. I will be using this body lotion before work as it’s a very nourishing lotion but it’s rather thin so as soon as you rub this onto the skin it will begin to sink in and get to work, which is good! It only takes me 5-10 minutes to apply this to the skin and doesn’t feel sticky or take ages to dry! I can’t wait to start using this again and probably will for my birthday in a couple of days!

• Montagne Jeunesse various face masks.

I love Montagne Jeunesse face masks, usually clay or sheet ones as the peel off masks really irritate my sensitive skin and causes break outs to happen. But this being said the clay and sheet masks leave my skin feeling clean, soft and fresh and usually something I use at night-time during a hot bath or whilst I do some blog writing. My favourite this year is probably the Tea Tree and Dead Sea sheet masks, alongside the Chocolate clay mask. The Tea Tree mask helps when I have break outs as it calms them down and stops any redness too, this one proved to be amazing during the summer as the tingling and cooling feeling the mask left behind on my skin really helped to cool me down during the hot summer nights. The Dead Sea mask is just lovely to have as a treat if my skin is feeling and looking a little dull and needs some perking up, I use this one at least once a month, maybe once every two months depending. Like the Tea Tree mask, it leaves my skin feeling tingly and a little cold which is lovely during the summer too. Finally the Chocolate mask is a winner and one I pick up whenever I know I’m running out! It’s a very thick mask and smells just like Cadbury’s chocolate! This mask helps to soften your skin and leave it feeling clean too, which is what I always look for in a mask. Some of the masks I’ve tried by Montagne Jeunesse have left me with break outs days later, but as of yet I’ve never had a problem with the Chocolate mask… Well apart from wanting to eat it off of my face, of course! I recommend these face masks as whilst they aren’t the cheapest out there, they are by far the best and worth every penny! You can pick these up in Home Bargains at 3 for £2, which is pretty good. Primark also sell these at 99p each and Body Care sell them at around that price too. Also check out Montagne Jeunesse’s Facebook page as they have some great offers on there and competitions where you can win loads of their face masks.

• MAC Archie’s Girls Lipstick in Daddy’s Little Girl..

I couldn’t pick one MAC lipstick but I finally came to one choice and it was Daddy’s Little Girl, which came out in March for the Archie’s Girls collection. I debated for ages which lipstick to buy from this collection and Daddy’s Little Girl was at the bottom of my list, as swatches of this lipstick online were completely wrong and made the lipstick look bright purple! Instead it is a subtle purple pink that can be worn all year around, which is why it has won a place in my top 10 favourites for 2013! I wore this lipstick loads during the year and most people I know really love this lipstick. I wear this for work quite a lot too as it lasts ages and looks lovely over the end of summer, during autumn and throughout winter so far. Most of my MAC lipsticks can be worn throughout the year but this is the one I seemed to reach for the most. I don’t know if it’s due to its purple pink colour, or because of the limited edition packaging shouting out at me, but either way I love this lipstick and the day it comes to an end, is the day I’ll probably pay a lot to get a new tube of this lipstick. If you wish to read more about it, please check out my review!

• Nails Inc Nail Polish in South Molton Street.

Since I got these at the start of 2013, I have discovered that I have never EVER used a nail polish as much as I have with this one, as you’ll see from the image above. This is a gorgeous pink manicure pink and I used to wear this in my old job to try and make my nails looks healthier than they probably are, even though I wasn’t allowed to wear nail polish, sneaky Nat! It dries with a slight gel feel to it and with two coats it looks beautiful on the nails. I wear this for work now and I’ve had many compliments on it! As well as that, I wore it for New Years as I really couldn’t be bothered to paint my nails all special and such and I had lots of compliments on how healthy my nails looked, if only they knew! I kid, I told them it was nail polish! My Mom bought me South Molton Street in a two pack set for about £20 which is good considering Nails Inc nail polishes sell for £12-£12.50. So I’m glad I have a back up of this polish as I know I’ll probably be finishing this bottle off during 2014! I will be writing up a review for South Molton Street early 2014, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

• The Body Shop Shower Gel in Strawberry.

Last of all we have the amazing Strawberry shower gel by The Body Shop. It is by far my favourite shower gel EVER so the fact I own a huge 750ml bottle, as well as a cute little 250ml bottle makes me very happy! I got the little bottle for just a £1, thanks to the £3 gift card I got from Glamour Magazine in November and I picked up the massive bottle for less than £6.00, bargain huh? They’re selling for £8 at the moment in The Body Shop and as tempted as I’ve been to buy another, I’m being good and not doing that, however I did pick up a Satsuma one too so I have plenty of shower gel to last me until the end of 2014! Anyway, a story about this shower gel. When I was little my Mom would take me to The Body Shop once and month and buy me a bottle of the Strawberry and the Satsuma shower gels to use before school, as well as in the bath after school and over the weekends. I would be so excited to use them and as soon as they ran out she would take me back to The Body Shop to buy more bottles. The scent of them both just reminds me of my childhood, the Strawberry one more so than the Satsuma one. Sadly after a while she stopped taking me to The Body Shop and therefore I stopped having the lovely shower gels in my shower. I’m so glad to have picked these us up and both at bargain prices too! I’m going to have a lovely smelling 2014 me thinks.

So that’s my top 10 for 2013! It was hard to pick all those items, but I’m rather pleased with what I chose.

So, what top 10 products did you love during 2013? Do you like any of the ones I mentioned? Let me know in the comments down below!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you’re not feeling too hungover and if you’re a Sherlock fan, make sure to watch the first episode for series 3 tonight! I know me and my boyfriend will be eating yummy food, playing Beyond Two Souls and watching Sherlock all day!

Here’s to 2014! Take care all and have a great New Years Day.