May Favourites

So since it's been a while since I properly blogged, I decided since it's the 1st of June today and since I am quite out of practice, a favourites post would be the best way to go. Some of these favourites may be from before May because I haven't been blogging and so I haven't really been keeping up with new products and new things in my everyday life, but it's just some things I've been loving recently!

I'm going to start off with makeup, I haven't really purchased anything new really recently but I have purchased a few new products since I last wrote a makeup related blog post. 

The first thing I wanted to talk about is the newest addition to my eye shadow palette collection. I had seen Morphe palettes all over Instagram and I thought they looked absolutely amazing and completely affordable for what you get. So, I decided to have a look and find one that I thought was really nice and one that I would be able to use on an everyday basis, nothing too bright or extravagant. I went for the 35W palette which has a lot of browns and burnt oranges as well as some greys and pinky purples. You can create so many different looks with this palette and I have been loving it so far. I don't often have time to do my makeup properly with eye shadow and everything else, you know the full monty, but when I do I really enjoy having lots of colours to play with. Some of these colours are more pigmented than others, I would say the lighter the colour is the less pigment you are likely to get out of it, but that is on my skin and with this particular palette so it is worth experimenting with.

The next makeup product I want to talk about is the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation. It has been a long time since I found a foundation that I thought really lasted all day. This I find, with some powder to set can get me through a whole day at school and a whole 9 hour shift at work without needing topping up. By the end of a day at work or school, I do notice a little bit of shine on my nose from the natural oils in my skin but other than that the foundation is perfectly in tact keeping bronzer, blush and highlighter pretty much in tact too. I would definitely recommend giving this a try. 

The final makeup product I want to mention for this month is a Sleek blush in the shade 142 'Antique'. I have been using this blush straight, every single day for about 2 months now. I say every single day, I mean the days where I have worn makeup because I have a lot of no makeup days these days as a result of tiredness and laziness... Anyway, on days where I have been wearing makeup I can guarantee if I had a blush on it would have been this one. It's quite a distinct colour and I wasn't sure I would like it at first but on the skin it looks really pretty and isn't too strong or overpowering. It does have quite a significant shimmer in it so highlighter is not necessary, but I like quite a lot of highlight so I put highlighter on as well as this. I also love the little mirror that comes inside, you'd be surprised at how handy a little mirror that size is.

Still beauty related but not makeup, I have been using and loving Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water as my holy grail for removing my makeup and cleansing my skin. A few drops of this on a large cotton pad and your makeup just comes straight off. No hassle at all and there's none of that aggressive rubbing of the eyes that leaves them red and sore because it takes makeup off so easily. It also makes my skin feel really nice and I think it has significantly improved my skin from the days of being lazy and just using a makeup wipe and nothing else to remove my makeup and cleanse my skin. The 400ml bottle also has approximately 200 uses and it has lasted me a really long time so far, so I think it's really good value for money. It's certainly lasting me longer than your average pack of 25 wipes would.

And the final beauty related product is a perfume. I don't often talk about perfumes and sprays because I've never really found one that I thought was really worth raving about. For my birthday at the start of this year I received the Marc Jacobs original Daisy perfume in a set and I have used it to death ever since. I go between 2 perfumes and a body spray on an everyday basis but this is definitely my most used. Looking at how much is in the bottle and thinking my birthday was almost 6 months ago, you wouldn't think I'd used it much but it just seems to be lasting a really long time, which is fine by me because I love it so much! It's such a fresh smell, I can't really explain it so you'll have to go and smell it yourself if you've never smelt it before.

A fashion favourite I have really been loving recently is Topshop's Joni jeans. I have seen these jeans worn by most girls I see at school or just walking around town and there have been many times where I have considered buying them and have put them back, mainly because of the price. However, I realised that I have a job now and I can afford and need to buy myself some decent jeans because my ratio of pants to tops is very unbalanced. So, the first pair I bought was the washed out black pair and I loved them so much that I went back and bought a blue pair. They are so comfortable and so easy to move in and I have eventually found a style of jean that fits me right. I can see why people wouldn't want to spend £36 on a pair of jeans especially as a teenager because money can be hard to come by and trust me I know that from before I had a job and still even now with my job, money is always an issue. But, if you are looking for a good quality pair of jeans that will last you I think Topshop Joni style is the way to go. There are so many colours to choose from as well so it can suit everyone. 

So now my more random favourites... My friends have been watching The Vampire Diaries for god knows how long now and they have been hounding me about watching it ever since they started watching it. Honestly, at first I had absolutely no interest in it but then when they were talking about it and telling me about it more I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I still have one exam left to sit next week but I have had 5 already and my aim was not to start watching it until my revision was over and so I waited until about 2 weeks ago and then I started binge watching. After watching the first episode I couldn't stop. I have however had to stop watching it late at night because it was starting to run around my mind a bit too much when I was trying to sleep. But, I am still watching it during the day whenever I get a chance and I absolutely love it. I am currently on season 2 so please NO SPOILERS because I really want to get all the way through without any! I can guarantee my friends will let something slip at some point but I would like to keep that risk to a minimum! If you haven't watched it before, I recommend watching the first episode. But if you're in the middle of exams wait until they are over!!! You will be addicted, especially if you are a fan of Pretty Little Liars, this will be right up your street.

And that's it! I'm pretty sure I've covered the main favourites of this month in this post and it felt really good to be able to sit down and write a post. Something I haven't done in what feels like forever and I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope that I wasn't too rusty and that everything made sense... Not writing for 6 months and the calm after the storm of exams has me completely run down but this felt good. 

See you soon,

Becca x 

Another Year Over...

Happy New Year and I hope your 2016 is going well so far!

 

I posted just before Christmas and said there were going to be a number of posts over the Christmas break and I am more than aware that that never happened. All I can say is that I'm sorry for being so inactive at the moment but I'm not going to bore you with the details too much because I know I've said so many times how much I underestimated A levels etc.

 

I actually wrote a new post last week but when I put the photos into the post I really wasn't happy with how it looked at all so it wont be getting posted, apologies.

 

Away from all the negativity, I had my last mock exam today so I'm taking this time after revision but before work starts again to write a little post looking back through 2015. I did a post looking back through 2014 at the start of 2015 which you can read here. I read through that the other day and it made me really happy so I wanted to do it again this year. 2015 has been quite a big year for me in terms of my blog because something just seemed to take off a little more than usual and I don't know why. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blowing my own horn here, I now have 45,000 views and almost 300 followers on Bloglovin', and I know that's not amazing, but for me that is incredible and I can't believe my page has been clicked on that many times, whether people read the whole thing or not! The fact people even just show some interest in what I do here makes me incredibly happy and I couldn't be more greatful for the increase in my blog and how much it took off (not much to you but a lot to me) this year. 45,000 is a big number for someone who didn't ever dream of reaching 1000!

 

Anyway, time to start looking back through my 2015!

 

Of course I started off 2015 with my birthday as I do everywhere! Less than 2 weeks until I turn 17 and can drive! How insane is that!? I wrote a post all about my birthday party this time last year! I love posts like this with my friends - it's like a photo diary for all the fun things me and my friends do all in one place!

Read it here!

 

 

I also wrote a post as part of the SBP (Secret Blogger Project) entitled 'Accepting Me' back in April last year that is still my most viewed post even today. It was a huge success for a reason that it still unknown to me but I feel it carries a very important message and I absolutely loved writing it.

Read it here!

 

 

 Another one of my incredibly popular posts was another SBP theme, Natural Beauty where I showed you how to be naturally beautiful and embrace your own natural beauty!
Read it here!

 

 Another SBP saw me go right back to the start of my life and share a huge amount of photos right from the year I was born until now!
Read it here!

 

 I also did a number of shoots with Jess last year for outfit posts and we had so much fun on our day out and her pictures turned out fabulous as always!

Read them all here:

How To Make A Smart Shirt Casual

Double Denim

OOTD | Summer Walk In The Trees

Maxi Dresses In Summer

 

 

I also wrote a lookbook post with a bunch of summer holiday outfits from my holiday to Mallorca in the summer!

Read it here!

 

 

 

One thing I did for the first time in 2014 was a PR review, I got the chance to do another one of those in 2015 too! I reviewed a pair of Hippie Chic sunglasses that were very kindly sent to me. I can't wait to get them back out in a few months time!

Read it here!

 

 

2015 also brought me some wonderful guest posts from some lovely bloggers from all over the community which has been an absolute pleasure of course to have their content on my page and I thank them all very much for that!

You can read some of the guest posts I featured here:

Peter Minkoff: Style Crush | Iggy Azelea

Kate Rose: My Top 4 Blushers

 

2015 was a great year in all, I passed my GCSEs and started my A levels and I've just had a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what 2016 has to offer!

 

What was your 2015 like in review?

 

Love, Becca

-xoxo

October Favourites

It feels like a really long time since I did a favourites post, saying that, it probably hasn't been that long but to me it feels like ages! 

I can't believe October has been and gone already! I've done 2 months of sixth form!? Time files when you're having fun, eh!? 

So, since it's been the end of another month I thought I'd share a few of the things I've been loving this month. There aren't as many things in this favourites as I normally have done in the past but there's a few things you may be interested in hearing about! 

Oh, and I apologise in advance for the varied lighting - the sun was not on my side whilst taking these photos... I guess it looks cool on some of them but I'll let you have your own opinion on that one...

I received these in one of my Pink Parcel boxes a couple of months back and they are the best things for taking eye makeup off and that is no exaggeration. I don't use these if I only have mascara on because I don't often have problems getting mascara off. I like to use them when I have eyeliner or a lot of eyeshadow on because it makes it so easy to get it off without irritating my eyes from scrubbing them so hard. 

From looking at this you would think I hadn't had it long, but I think I've had it for almost 2 years now... But I love it! Still going strong! This is the Strawberry Sorbet eos lip balm and if you have had an eos before you will understand how good they are. So moisturising and super quick and easy to use on the go. I've been using this a lot more recently now the colder months have come in and I've started to get chapped lips.

This is another product that I received in my Pink Parcel box a while ago and I think it's meant to be like a loose eyeshadow but I have been using it as a highlight. It doesn't specify what it is exactly so I think it's perfectly reasonable to use it for whatever purpose I fancy! 

One of my favourites for a while now is the One Direction Our Moment perfume. As you can quite clearly see, I haven't got much of this left! I started out just using it for special occasions because in my opinion, it's that kind of going out smell, but then I just got too obsessed with it recently and I've been using it probably 3-4 times a week. I cant describe scents for the life of me but it's a very girly and fresh scent, perfect for all occasions. 

This is another product I received courtesy of Pink Parcel in one of my more recent monthly boxes. It's the Bourjois Dark Khol Mascara, a product I hadn't really heard of before I received it. However, I have been using it throughout October and I've been absolutely loving it. Really good quality and really easy to reply. It also doesn't fall down your face during the day which is a huge bonus for me personally because that is incredibly annoying.

And of course it wouldn't be a monthly favourites without this month's favourite candle! I got this 3 wick copper candle from Next for £12 which I thought was a very reasonable price for a large candle such as this one. I cant actually find this on the Next website to find out what the scent of it was but I believe it was sandalwood and something else, try looking at your local Next Home department and see if you can find it and give it a sniff because it's a lovely smell! Plus, it's copper and we all know copper is totally in at the moment, it just looks super pretty sitting pride of place in the middle of my windowsill.

The final favourite of mine is actually a bit of a cheat, well actually, I suppose it's not. Let me explain, I've been watching a lot more TV recently and I've fallen in love with 2 programmes. The first is River which I've been watching throughout October and absolutely loving. If you haven't seen it yet, go catch up on BBC iPlayer because it's brilliant! And the second is The Bachelor. I caught the last episode of The Bachelorette and then moved onto The Bachelor. The reason I think this is a bit of a cheat is because this was right at the end of October and into November the last couple of days so it isn't really a October favourite... But I included it anyway! You can catch up with the first 2 episodes of The Bachelor on ITV Player or it is on ITVbe at some point during the week, I believe it's a Friday but you would need to double check.

What are your current faves?

Love, Becca

-xoxo

Drugstore Beauty Haul

Long time no see! 

I know I've been incredible inactive at the moment, but I tried to work the guest posts I had around this time where I haven't had much time to write a post myself so I hope you enjoyed those posts from Peter and Kate - I think we can all agree they were fabulous posts! 

I did explain briefly on my last post that I am going to struggle to be posting regularly now that I have started my A levels because I honestly just don't have the time. If I could make a living out of this and not have to go to school, there's no doubt in the matter I would be doing this. But, unfortunately that's not how things work so my blog is going to have to take the back seat for now. I'm not giving this up completely or at all, I am still going to be posting as regularly as I find myself able to because I love doing this so much I don't want to stop completely. I just hope everyone understands that school is really important right now and so posts aren't going to have any particular schedule, it will literally just be whenever I can. I feel absolutely awful and it really upsets me that I cant post as regularly as I would like to but it has to be done and I know a lot of people will be able to relate to that.

Anyway, enough of me rambling about how time consuming A levels are and onto the actual post for today!

Since getting my first job back in August, I've had a little extra money in my pocket so I took the opportunity to replenish my makeup collection a little. I didn't go mad because I have some control, but there's a little bit here that I thought I'd share with you lovely lot!

I was desperate for a new foundation and one of my friends recommended the L'Oreal Infalliable 24 Hour Foundation to me after she saw it in one of Zoe's videos and so far I can totally understand why because I'm loving it! This was £9.99 which to me is a very affordable price for a foundation. Stay tuned for a a review!

I have recently developed a love for Topshop lipsticks. I bought this one first and then went back to get another which you will see next, and this definitely isn't the end of my Topshop lipstick collection! This is one of the birthday ones I believe and it is in the shade 'Beguiled'. It's a very deep berry tone so it's perfect for the Autumn and Winter months! 

So after absolutely loving 'Beguiled' I went back to get a colour that is completely out of my comfort zone... purple... I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull it off but I really wanted to try and I honestly love it so far! This one is in the shade 'Inhibition' and it's another perfect Autumn and Winter colour. For only £8, Topshop lipsticks are totally affordable.

I realise that I am very late to the band wagon on the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and I honestly have no idea why. The first time I used it I literally said 'oh my god' out loud! It's brilliant! Someone tell me why I didn't get this sooner! For £4.19 you really can't knock it! 

Another Topshop piece is their eyeshadow pencil in the shade 'Vicious Circle'. This is slightly too dark for the colour of my eyebrows but by using the brush on the other end to blend it out, it looks the perfect shade, I've never been a person for spending hours on my eyebrows because to be honest it's my least favourite part and I just can't be bothered to mess around with them. So, for me a pencil is the easiest way, very lazy, I know. Someone come teach me how to do them properly please? I believe this was about £6 which again is super affordable.

Just to add to my brush collection, I picked up the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush because it's one that I've wanted for a little while now. My brush collection is something that I feel quite proud of so far and I am continuing to grow it, most of it is Real Techniques to be honest. Can't really knock them... This was £9.99 which I think is a fair price for a brush of this quality.

And that was my little spend! I hope you enjoyed this as my first post back after a little while and I hope it won't be too long before I have another one up for you! Taking advantage of this week off and getting some posts written for you so I have something to put up over the next few weeks! Hate abandoning you all! 

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them?

Love, Becca

-xoxo

Review | All The Bright Places

Another book that I included in my 4 Summer Reads post which I read on my 2 week holiday was All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I had heard not only Zoe, but many other people saying how good this book was and how important it is to the public views on mental health, so I knew I had to read it.

I don’t suffer from any mental health illnesses myself, but I have come across people in my life who do and I have seen stories on the news etc. about people all over the world with mental health illnesses and I knew how awful it can end for people or how hard it can be to live with. I think Jennifer hits the nail on the head with this book, it shows exactly how hard mental illness is to deal with as well as the extreme result of people going without the help and support they truly needed.

This book follows the story of Theodore Finch and Violet Markey, 2 people who both suffer from mental illnesses and they meet on the top of a clock tower, where they are both about to take their own life. That’s about all I’m going to say about the actual story line because 1. I could never do the story justice trying to tell it myself and 2. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who has not yet read it and would like to.

The relationship between the 2 characters grows throughout the book, and you feel like you are in that story with them, not just a reader. You get so emotionally attached to the characters in this book it is impossible to put the book down. Every chapter ends with you wanting to move onto the next straight away, because you’re constantly wanting to know more about the 2.

Another thing I love about this book is that it swaps between Theodore and Violet’s point of view throughout the whole story, so it isn’t just from one person’s perspective. You get to know both sides of the story and I think that allows you to become really involved with both Violet and Theodore, because you know what is going on in both their minds, not just one. I think that’s what made this book really interesting for me because most books are just from one person’s point of view or from the point of view on the outside, so you never really get to see inside the mind of more than one character. I think for a book about mental illness this is really important because you see the way the person acts in front of another person, but you also see how that person is feeling inside at each moment which is something totally unique.

Overall I absolutely loved this book and I think it took me about 3 or 4 days to read which shows I clearly enjoyed it as I honestly picked it up at every free moment I had, and then proceeded to struggle to put it down!

This is probably one of my favourite books now and I would definitely read it again, huge recommendation!

Have you read All The Bright Places? What did you think?

Love, Becca

-xoxo

Day Out In York

So, I'm currently feeling like the worst blogger in the world...

I haven't posted anything in about 2 weeks and honestly I can say this without any lie, there isn't one day I haven't thought about how bad of a blogger I am for leaving my blog to die for so long, I hope you can all forgive me.
Going back to school has really taken it's tole on me and I've honestly been so busy and I've also had a really nasty virus which I still have now but I am feeling a lot better. So, it's safe to say I just really haven't had the time to do anything and I don't know how long it's going to be that way for.
I'm sure a lot of you guys will be in the same position as me and if so I really hope you can see where I'm coming from in the matter that I have had so much school work and I really just haven't been very well at all.
This post I actually wrote about a month ago but I wanted to put something up for you tonight because I felt it had been way to long and then I realised I hadn't yet put this up so this is what you're getting tonight I'm afraid! At least it's something!
I hope you enjoy it and I hope you don't all hate me for abandoning my blog for so long because I love you all very much and I hate leaving my blog for such a long time.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post and don't hesitate to contact me through social media or through the comments because who knows when my next update will be! Hopefully not too long, mwah x



York is possibly my favourite town in the UK if I'm being completely honest. It's so cute, has pretty decent shops and it has all the history that still stands stronger than a lot of other cities. Yes, all cities have cathedrals that are years and years old but York just has a really historical feel about it and it makes me really happy. Who doesn't love York I mean come on...

I went to York on a day trip with some of my closest friends a little while ago and I decided I would do a little post about it. Slightly out of date but you guys don't mind! As always, this is a lifestyle day out type of post so there are going to be a lot of photos to explain the day really! 

The weather was pretty rubbish but you can never guarantee good weather in the UK because it's just so unpredictable, even in the middle of August. But, we still managed to make it a fun filled day, but it did get very stressful very quickly... I'll explain at the end...

So I guess we'll start from the very beginning at Newcastle Central Station at 8.30 in the morning, Starbucks in hand, of course.

And then we arrived!

I believe this is the River Ouse but I'm not a local so I'm probably wrong.

This is possibly one of my favourite parts of York, the Minster, it's just so pretty and I love it a lot.

Of course having such a beautiful photo feature meant we had to take multiple photos with it...

And into the Shambles! Possibly the cutest part of the town!

When there's a Nando's, you just have to go!

And that's about all the photos we took because it was too rainy to whip our phones out.

I hope you enjoyed this post because we had a lovely day.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about our stressful end to the day! We got lost basically and caught our train with about a minute to spare. We went the complete wrong way and ended up asking multiple people, including Siri, where we were and how we were meant to get back to the train station. It was extremely stressful because I think we had all accepted the fact we were going to miss our train by the 10 minute warning for our train and we still weren't at the station. Lesson to be learnt: leave plenty of time to get to the train station.

Have you ever been to York?

Anyway, until next time! 

Love, Becca

-xoxo