Don't be coasting through life, yo!

Apologies for the lack of activity on the blog-a-sphere! I have been crazy busy with university, school and life in general, so it has been hard to find time to sit down and write a blog post worth reading. It's nearly midnight now but I wanted to do a quick post to say 'hello' and share a little tidbit with you.

Last week I was driving down the road (yes, a road) and I came across a Land Rover parked up on the street. On the side, in huge letters, it said 'One Life Live It'. It sort of hit me hard because I know how stressed out I have been recently, really moody and narky because of all the pressure at university, and I could not think of one think that I had done recently that I would say fitted into 'One Life Live It'. I've sort of been coasting through life doing everything I can to pass this course.

It is so easy to get lost in areas of your life that don't necessarily count as you 'living' your life. Think about the last time you got some negative feedback at university or work; how did it make you feel and how long were you in the dumps? Now take a step back and think about all the positive things in your life that you take for granted and look at ways to enhance them and really live your life. What is the point of life if you don't live it?

I am giving myself a goal to try a new thing every week (everyday would just take the fun out of it and it'd become a chore) and I have already took a step to accomplishing it. I have booked myself some guitar lessons! I am so excited! I cannot wait to rock out to Oasis, Maroon 5 and Coldplay.

How are you changing your life to suit you?

Tagged by Mittens

Being new to the Blogging World I have not yet participated in any tags, but I received this tag from by Mittens so thought I'd give it a whirl myself :)

Rules

1) You must answer all 5 questions

2) You must tag 6 other beauty blogger's

3) You must link the blogger who tagged you in your post

The 5 questions

1) What is your favourite part about blogging?
I love the sense of community on here ~ I get a buzz when I get see new faces on my followers list; I get an even bigger buzz when I have see the same faces leaving comments on my blog knowing that they come back to read my posts because they enjoy it. I love the encouragement and support provided by other bloggers on here and I ensure that if I see a new blogger I give them the same support I received when I started out.

2) Is there something you dislike about blogging?
It makes me sad when bloggers leave comments like, ' Follow me and I'll follow you back.' Blogging isn't about the numbers on your followers lists and how many hits you get everyday, it's about doing what you love. I always make sure that I check out the blogs of people who write on my posts or follow me.

3) What are your favourite types of posts to read?
I love reading anything and everything. I follow blogs about beauty products, fashion, cooking, life, general musings and baking. I love how diverse this community is.

4) What's your favourite post from your own blog?
Meeting my all time fave make-up artist, Lisa Potter-Dixon, and my day at Benefit in Harvey Nichols. 

5) Which beauty product do you want to purchase due to reading another persons blog?

The Clarasonic (is that even how you spell it?), it sounds like it does an amazing job! Bit pricey though so it can stay on my wiishlist until they have a 90% off sale.

I am not going to tag bloggers with this tag because I know a load of you have done this before. However, if you haven't done this then please have a bash at it on your blog or in the comments below :)

Benefit Exchange!

Please excuse the files and upside down octopus in the picture!

A recent conversation with one of my best friends led to her professing her undying love for YSL make up. Shocked, I asked her what happened to her Benefit make up that she had starter collecting a few months ago and BOOM, I got a whole load of barely used make up for a mere £35!

I was very careful about hygiene; I sharpened the eye liner until it was all new product and I threw away all the make up brushes that she had used with the foundation and blushers. 

I am so excited about using these products. Have you ever tried any of them? What were your thoughts?

Have you ever done any make up swaps with your friends?

B.right Day!

As many of you know, I am a massive Benefit Cosmetics fan! It has killed me not having the Radiant Skincare range starter kit because it was out of stock. However, after months of pining after this kit, I was ecstatic when my nearest Benefit counter stocked up on it again and I was able to purchase it. It is an amazing little starter kit with 6 deluxe samples of the skin care range.

It contains a foamingly clean facial wash, refined finish facial polish. moisture prep toning lotion, triple performing facial emulsion, total moisture facial cream and it's potent! eye cream. I am not going to go into too much detail because I know that this kit has been reviewed to death! However, I will say that it is one of the best skin care ranges I have tried. I am currently using up my Clinique 3 Step products and the Benefit products are so much better! Clinique tends to dry my skin out whereas Benefit moisturises and hydrates. It literally makes me feel so happy using it because it smells gorgeous and my skin feels so clean afterwards. I have used this a few times but I'm going to use the rest up after I have used my Clinique 3 step (I'm not one to waste products). 

The reason I got the little tester kit is because I also have to try my new L'occitane purchases and I really want to try the Liz Earle Try Me kit. Your skin builds a sort of immune system to products if you use them for a long period of time so I try to change my skin care routine every few months. 

This product is out of stock on the Benefit Cosmetics website and sold out in most stores again, but you can get it from Asos.

What is your current skin care routine?

SheSaidBeauty? More like 'SheSaysByeBye'...

                       

I popped my Beauty Box cherry last month with SheSaidBeauty. I was completely in love with the whole concept; you do an online beauty profile and they send you samples that are catered specifically for you. I loved the box last month so I was really looking forward to finding out what products they were going to send me this month. Disappointed is not the word - after seeing the contents of the box I immediately logged onto their website and unsubscribed. I'm getting really mad just typing this out - ARGH!

I got a Sun Lotion (Green People) which retails for £17.95, it has got SPF 15 and accelerates your tan by 25%. Erm, I'm Asian, I have a permanent tan, why are you giving me this? I told you in the beauty profile the colour of skin. And, have you seen the weather? I thought it may be a good product for people who need protection in the sun and actually want a tan, but after reading the feedback reviews on this product on the site I can tell you that no one is particularly impressed with it. 

I got soap. I got SOAP?! It retails at £8.50...for SOAP?! It is a hefty size but it is nothing special...it is soap. Natio is also a cosmetic company, I would have preferred to try some make up than soap.

Some eyelashes. They retail at £6. They are okay.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! I hate Kim Kardashian with a passion, and I hate this perfume even more. It smells so bad. It's sort of musky and really heavy. Why would you do this to me?! I would actually just like to point out that I don't hate this perfume because I hate Kim Kardashian, I mean I don't like Justin Beiber but I think his perfume is okay.

I was looking forward to trying this lip whip by Inika. They do cosmetics that are vegan and halal friendly and free of animal cruelty. These retail at £14.30 and I think they are the biggest rip off's in the world. It has a gloopy consistency, it left my lips greasy, it smells gross and it tastes awful. 

I also got some Snowberry samples of their skincare range. The samples were too small, they had a horrible consistency and they smelt awful! 

Is anyone else subscribed to SheSaysBeauty?

What were your thoughts?

What box would you recommend?

Good Hair Day

I have been cursed with naturally curly (but really frizzy) hair - damn you genes - and I cannot live without my trusted GHD's. I nearly had a heart attack when they broke last month....

I got my first pair of GHD's when I was in Y10 when I decided that I could no longer with a frizzball on the top of my head. They lasted me for about 4 years before they gave up on me. I then went to Toni and Guy and purchased another pair for £115; they were limited edition, pretty, and I got a free travel sized hair dryer and a heat proof bag with it. Unfortunately, my latest pair decided to break on me after 3 years of taming my hair. I didn't mind too much because I felt that I had got my moneys worth (I use them pretty much everyday). I just want to say that GHD products are really good and my straighteners always broke due to my own neglect. 

                                

This time I decided to ring up GHD customer service because one of my friends told me that they might be able to fix them for me. However, it turned out that they didn't provide this service if you didn't have a receipt (gutted) but the lovely guy on the phone gave me a great offer instead. He said I could have a pair of GHDs from their classic Gold collection for £95 (it retails for £119) AND £30 of free hair products. I jumped at the chance because I knew I was getting a great deal.

He told me that if you already have a pair of GHD straighteners and they break, you can ring up and get a discount on a new pair if you give them the make of the ones that you own. What a great idea!

The GHD's are pretty much the same as my old ones but slightly prettier. It has got smoother plates, it also feels a lot lighter and it has got sleep mode (so if you forget to turn them off, it will turn itself off). My life feels complete again!

What can't you live without?

'Who wouldn't be interested in free products?'

I <3 getting free stuff, oh yes I do! 

I popped into my local shopping centre today because my eyebrows REALLY needed threading and I have had a pretty shit week so I wanted to buy something to cheer myself up. I had a look in Superdrug for the Sleek 3 Blush set because I have heard such good reviews about it, but, alas, there was none. Deflated, I started to head back to my car but a very smiley sales assistant from Clarins stopped me. They were giving away free samples of their foundation and would I be interested in trying it. 

I have never tried Clarins skin care or make up range so I thought I'd pick up a sample and try it out. I expected to only get a sachet of their foundation but the lovely sales assistant threw in a moisturiser and gel cleanser as well. I have now added those products to my growing samples of Clarins products that I really need to try out!

Have you used Clarins?

What did you think of their products?

Lippy in London Giveaway Win

I am one of those people who never.ever.ever.ever.ever win anything, so you can imagine my excitement when I won a giveaway hosted by Hannah from Lippy in London. She held the giveaway to celebrate the 100 followers milestone - I was quite surprised by this because I have been reading her posts for a while now and I feel that she deserves far more followers than that! Her blog is a mixture of beauty reviews, style posts and an introduction to quirky products. I would definitely recommend you check out her blog!

This is what I won!

Hannah had only listed the Colour Tattoo eyeshadow, Loreal eye liner and Revlon Lip Butter in her giveaway but added a sample of a body moisturiser and a Clarins exfoliator. I won these last month and I feel that I can give honest opinions on these products because I have tried them out over a long period of time.

I have been meaning to try the Maybelline Colour Tattoo eye shadows for a while now but I never got around to purchase so I was really excited to see the gold one in my parcel. I was a bit dubious about whether or not it would last for 24 hours, and I haven't actually worn it for 24 hours straight, but I have found that it lasts for the 16-18 hours that I do wear it. They remind me of the Benefit creaseless eye shadows and I would recommend them as a cheaper alternative.

The Revlon Lip Butter was another product that I had heard about a lot but hadn't got around to trying. I find that my lips get really dry throughout the day so I don't wear lipsticks or anything that can emphasise the dry lips. I was pleasantly surprised by this product though because even though it gives great coverage on the lips and it is pigmented, it manages to moisturise my lips rather than dry them out. The pink colour is also really eye catching without being too overwhelming. 

I hadn't heard much about the Loreal  Super Liner but I am really impressed with this product. It has a spongy applicator, which took me a while to get the hang of, but when I figured it out applying the eye liner was super easy. You can build up the line for a night look or go for a more natural look during the day. The only thing I would say is that make sure you don't give your eyes a rub when wearing this because you WILL have panda eyes!

Have you tried any of these products? 

What is your opinion on them?

Who doesn't like free beauty products?

I have been really impressed this month with the quality of 'free gifts' that some of the magazines have had this month. A little trip to Tesco for some stickers for my Year 1 class ended with me walking out with 3 Glamour magazines, InStyle and Marie Claire (the latter 2 I don't even read). These are the free gifts I was tempted with!

Glamour Magazine teamed up with L'occitane and had 3 skin care items up for grabs free with the magazine. I am nearing the end of my Clinique skin care products so these deluxe samples were perfect for me! I have always wanted to try L'occitane but it's always been a bit pricey for me - I cannot wait to try out this skin care range! You have an option of a cleansing gel, face toner and a hydration cream (moisturiser). I haven't tried these yet but I have listed some information about each product below for you to have a look at! The total of these deluxe samples was around £36 so it's not too shabby!

The Angelica Cleansing Gel contains essential oils of organic angelica which works brilliantly at removing make-up but not drying out the skin. It also turns into a foam when combined with water (I hate my Clinique soap because it doesn't foam). The Face Toner is also enriched with angelica essential oil which 'moisturises, refreshes and cleanses the skin of impurities'. The Hydration Cream boasts of being fresh and silky smooth and revitalising the skin. Have you tried any products from L'occitane? What were your thoughts?

Marie Claire have teamed up with Body Shop to give you the chance of picking up one of their cheek and lip tints. There is a choice of this red one or a more bronze-ey one for the summer. These retail for £10 in store so I had some really high expectations! I have also lost my mini Benetint (sad face) so I thought this would make for a cheaper substitute but boy was I disappointed! It was gloopy and and had a really chemically taste to it. I will not be using this as a lip tint. It works far better as a cheek stain but it does take a while to build up the colour. Have you tried this? What were your thoughts?

I was really excited to extend my Nails Inc collection when I heard that InStyle had 3 Nails Inc polishes up for grabs with there magazine this month. I was planning on getting all 3 but I ended up just getting this pink pastel colour because the others didn't really appeal to me (a baby blue and a pinky white one). I absolutely love this colour and the quality of the polish. I was worried that it might not be up to the normal Nails Inc standard because it was just a freebie with a magazine but one coat lasted me for a whole week (excluding some chips). Have you picked up any of these polishes?

I was, however, super sad to find out that RED magazine had the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish product as a free gift last month. I have been meaning to try that and I was gutted when I found out that I have missed out!

Have you picked up any good magazine freebies this month?

Are there any recommendations you would make?

Foodie Weekend

Happy belated Bank Holiday Weekend!

I spent my weekend literally walking around like a stuffed penguin after the amount of food I consumed. Friday evening I decided to treat my little sister to Frankie & Benny's so we could indulge a little bit and catch up. The original plan was to go just for dessert and drinks but it ended up being a full blown meal! After the garlic dough balls and a main of pasta AND chips [it was chips or salad so...] I managed to fit a slice of chocolate brownie fudge cake into my tummy [it was literally the size of my head!].

On Saturday I went to Manchester with some of my friends. There was no plan on the agenda apart from catch up and eat...and eat we did! We met up at a Chinese restaurant called RICE and were blown away by the amount of options we had. I settled on a Sweet Chilli Thai Chicken with noodles. OMG - it is officially the best thing I have ever ate in my life! I wasn't able to finish it all because it was such a massive portion but trust me I tried! I was surprised because it was only £7.99! Be warned though - a can of Tango costs £1.50 - WHAT?!

Across from RICE was Patisserie Valerie so we HAD to go inside. We were tempted by this gorgeous cupcakes but we decided on truffles because we were saving room for drinks later.

After getting our munch on, we decided we needed to go for drinks. I recommended a bar that I had been too called Zouks, they make the best drinks! We literally filled ourselves with sugary goodness!

It was nearing half 5 by this point and we decided that we needed to do something a bit more productive in our day out...so we went for cake! There's a little dessert parlour called Treat on Wilmslow Road in Manchester that one of my friends had been to before so we decided to check it out. I tried this bubblegum sponge cake - it was so yummy! We were going to go for seconds but by that time we were all close to bursting out of our clothes so we thought it best that we didn't.

 How was your weekend?

What are your favourite places to eat at?

A glimmer of Hope...

Hey ladies and gents, this is how I am feeling right now! It is ironic that my last post was about being positive and finding the silver lining in every situation when all I want to do right now is crawl under a table and weep my poor sleep deprived eyes out...

I thought I would do a quick blog post to show my followers that I am still alive and I have so-so-so-so-so-so many amazing products, events and moments to blog about but alas, I never get the chance. Doing a postgrad course, being on placement and trying to find a job all at the same time is really hard work. I give myself 30 minutes everyday when I allow myself to come on here and catch up on all the blogs I follow as I find it therapeutic - however...I never post anything because I know all my self pity will seep out into my writing (like it has now).

I am really excited about the long weekend coming up because I will get a moment to catch my breath and do some blogging. Watch this space homies!

What are your tips on time management?

What do you like to do to calm your self down after a long day at work?