Clothes Haul - Primark, Warehouse & Zara

This is a joint clothes haul from two fun days out I've had recently!  The first one is from when I went to Glasgow with Hayley and Charlotte.  We went shopping then had a late lunch/early dinner at Zizzi - the new one in Royal Exchange Square - which was so good, you can see what we had to eat in Hayley's post.  Then finally we met up with Morag and went to a food event at Sloans, which was quite nice but not particularly vegetarian friendly, Morag and I spent the time trying to pick out chips from under pieces of chicken carcass!  I didn't spend too much money as it was just before payday but I got some bits from the Zara sale - first Zara purchases ever!

I am going to Italy on Saturday so I was looking out for holiday clothes.  I got this lovely floral skirt for £9.99 down from £22.99.  I have been wanting denim shorts for ages but I haven't liked any of the styles but I found this pair and they cover my arse cheeks - yay! - they were £15.99 from £22.99. 

Yesterday I went to Livingston where there is a shopping centre and designer outlets.  They have a really nice Primark, I think because it's new it's still quite clean and tidy doesn't look as bad as they usually do!  I went on a bit of a workwear splurge - yes, I am technically unemployed but always got to be prepared for interviews etc...  Then I finally managed to get some bikinis from Primark!  I knew they had some nice swinwear but all the ones I was in would just be a riot and only have tops or bottoms, or random sizes so I was really pleased to get these two intact.  

Pencil skirt with floral panel - £10

Zip detail straight leg trousers - Sale for £7

Cream blouse - £8

Top - £8

Bottoms - £4

Top - Sale £2

Bottoms - Sale £1

We popped into Warehouse as when walking past my friend Ashleigh fell in love with a coat so we went to investigate.  I had a rummage through the sale rack and found this beauty down to £35 from £80!  I tried it on and fell in love, then remembered I have a wedding in September so it was the perfect excuse to get it haha!  Unfortunately it is a size 6 and the waist band is a bit tighter than I'd like - it doesn't actually sit on my waist?! - but I squeezed myself into it!  Not sure how good that will be for the wedding breakfast but never mind, as long it looks good, eh?  I will need to get a stick on bra too, I've never had anything like that before.  I also got it for nearer £30 with student discount, yayy!

<3

Nail Varnish Challenge #16

 

Okay I'm back on the Challenge again!  I have failed a little bit with the 'no buying new nail varnishes' part of it though haha oops.  I won 3 Models Own ones, bought another 2 and then bought an Illamasqua speckly one...

I'm really not sure about this one at all!  It looks okay from far away but I really don't enjoy the VNL (visible nail line - worse in real life too) and close up I feel like my nails look a bit diseased!  They are very shiny though which I do like.  While wearing this a lot of people commented on my nails!  They were sort of either "omg I love your nails!" or "what the F*CK is wrong with your fingers?!" haha!  I decided to remove it after only about 30 hours...

In case you haven't seen any of my other Clubworks nail swatches, they came in a Christmas set and don't actually have any names or numbers... so yeah, this is just the orange one!

I think this one might be going in the 'get rid of' box.

<3

Lime Crime Velvetines in Red Velvet

I've had my Lime Crime Velvetine in Red Velvet for quite a few months now and I am really enjoying it.  I was very kindly sent it by the lovely people at cutECOsmetics so that I could feature it in a post on their blog but due to the shortage of the Velvetines at that time it wasn't posted!  So I've decided instead to do a quick review on here.

I love the packaging!  As always, Lime Crime has really cute designs for all their products, with such nice attention to detail even to the box, I felt bad about binning it...  I also love the frosted glass, I think it makes it a bit different and nice to touch - bit creepy? :/

When you open Red Velvet there is a doe foot applicator and usually a lot of product already on it.  I made the mistake of applying it straight to my lips when I first got it - not good, a little goes a long way!  I prefer using a small lip brush to apply it but if I'm feeling lazy I just wipe of any excess product from the applicator onto the side of the tube before applying.  I found the Velvetine really strange to apply, quite liquidy - sort of like a thick stain.  It dries pretty quickly to a lovely matte finish and lasts for hours!  It also comes off relatively evenly but if you were eating it would probably need a wee touch up after in the centre, drinks however seem fine!  

I photographed these swatches of Lime Crime Velvetine back in February and my lips were quite dry but surprisingly I did not find them drying on the lips and I don't think it shows up too badly either.  I often suffer from dry lips and putting lipstick over them can look horrible sometimes so I'm glad this one is okay!

I love the formula of these and really want Suedeberry too which is referred to as a "vibrant, strawberry red", as opposed to Red Velvet which is a "rich, velvety red".  You can buy them from cutECOsmetics for £11.50 which I don't think is unreasonable, I think the product will last for ages as well.  Lime Crime are cruelty free and vegan!

Have you tried any Lime Crime products; got anything on your wish list?

<3

Paperbacks & Beauty Facts: Favourite Book

This week we are talking about our favourite books, mine is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

<3

Now What!?

On the 3rd July 2013, I officially graduated from university with a bachelors degree in mathematics, yay!  I guess the hard bit is over, but is it?

Now I just have the wonderful task of trying to find a full time job!  Currently I still have my weekend position which will keep me going for the time being and is certainly better than just being unemployed.  I don't even know what sort of jobs I am looking for to be honest, I don't know anything about finance which is what a lot of maths based roles tend to be, or computer programming ones which I'm no good at either!

I also have my fashion make up HNC now but I swear (cruelty free...) make up counter jobs are harder to find than maths-y ones!!  Ideally I would prefer to get out of retail as I've been in that side of things for the past 4 years but as I have a lot of experience it would always be good to start out there.  Even if it just gave me something to do while looking for another job.

If I don't have anything by the end of August I am going to volunteer with Project Scotland who are an organisation to try and get young people employment experience, you do 30 days and they give you money towards your travel.  The ones I was offered are helping out at a petting farm with horses, donkeys and small animals; and a more business/office type of job which gives you lots of training - I haven't chosen one yet!

I thought I would just give you a little update about my life at the moment - if you have any job role suggestions for me PLEASE do let me know!  I need other keywords to type into my job searches!

<3

Paperbacks & Beauty Facts: Favourite Bath Product

A short video about my favourite bath product which is Dorothy from Lush!

<3

Holiday Habits Infographic

I recently took part in Money Supermarket's blogger survey to uncover our holiday habits and they have taken all the data and created this colourful infographic to display the results!


Image source: MoneySupermarket Travel Insurance

<3

Empties #10

I seem to have gone through quite a lot of products recently, it's not often I have one so soon after the last!  Also for a nice change, they're all cruelty free!

Organic Surge Blonde Boost Shampoo

Thoughts: No, I'm not exactly blonde but at the time on Naturissimo it was this one and another type which were available and the blonde one suited me best!  This was fine, SLS free which is good but still foamed well.  £5.99.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: I'd like to try other Organic Surge shampoos.

Organic Surge Blonde Boost Conditioner

Thoughts: No issues with this at all, worked well as a conditioner.  I found it so strange that although it cost £5.99 too you get a 50ml less than you do in shampoo!  However I still finished them both on exactly the same day, freaky!

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Same as above.

Lush The Comforter Bubble Bar

Thoughts: I love Lush's bubble bars and this is definitely one of my favourites.  It smells like blackberries and it's such a lovely, relaxing scent.  The bar itself is huge and you can get about 4 uses out of it, probably more if you cut it up in advance.  The Comforter is vegan.  £4.25 here. 

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Yes.

Montagne Jeunesse Juiced Orange Body Wash

Thoughts: The lovely girls at Beauty Without The Beasts included this little sachet in a goody box they sent me a while ago.  I hadn't tried any of Montagne Jeunesse body washes before and it was quite nice, but I'm not a huge fan of orange scent so I wouldn't buy it myself.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

The Body Shop Green Apple Bath & Shower Gel

Thoughts: I love apple scented things but I was a bit disappointed by this to be honest.  It was a very artificial scent and it actually reminded me more of Apple Sourz rather than actual apples - which isn't the best when you're showering with a hangover, boke.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

<3

NOTD: Summer?!

I decided to take a break from my Nail Varnish Challenge as all the colours left are a bit drab and Autumnal, and go for something brighter while we're having nice weather!  So I tried out a new polish I was lucky enough to win in a Giveaway last month ran by Fashiony Nails, I love it!  This is Bubblegum from the Models Own Ice Neon Collection, and as always, neons are a bitch to photograph!  It is recommended that you keep these in the fridge to keep the colour from fading, however I haven't really done that yet!  I found it was rather thick and gloopy to apply but it was almost opaque in one coat, after application I put it in the fridge and it did seem smoother.  I really want to try Luis Lemon!

<3

Paperbacks & Beauty Facts: Evening Makeup

Here is a little video of me doing a night out make up look :)

<3

London Trip (IMATS)

Kryolan Stall, pretty colours!!

Here are some photos from my trip to London for IMATS at the weekend!  Very photo heavy but not too many words so it should be easy to scroll through quickly :)

The, ahem, lovely view from our hotel...

An Indian restaurant on King Street where we had dinner the first night, it was so good!! 

Arrived at IMATS!

 

Student Competition

 The Victoria's Secret window displays!

Gatsby Collection in Tiffany's *drools*

 The Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street!  The queue was huge!

<3