May Favourites

This is the first in hopefully a long line in monthly favourites posts!  I think that by doing my favourites monthly rather than weekly it'll be a more accurate representation of what I've been loving over a long period of time, rather than just for that week. So let's jump into the faves!

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

This has been such a good discovery this month. Pairing this with my next favourite is like my new fave makeup combo! I use it when it's wet and it does a really good job at making my foundation and concealer melt into the skin and really helps it to last all day. I'm finding that it's starting to get a little grubby and I have no idea how to clean this little sponge thing so if anyone has any ideas then please let me know!

L'Oreal True Match Concealer

I've professed my love for the foundation version of this little beauty on my blog before and the concealer does not disappoint. I got it as part of a 3 for 2 offer from Boots and just picked it up on a whim without really knowing much about it. I find that the coverage of this product is quite full and is able to cover up both blemishes and the under eye area with ease. I have the shade 02 vanilla and it is the perfect shade for me, I'm so in love with this product.

Eating Out

This month has been the month of eating out. I've been all over the place, both restaurants and cafes which means that in the upcoming weeks my Tuesday posts are full of good food, yay! I don't know where I think I've got all of this money from but recently I've been eating out multiple times a week. It's just so hard being in Nottingham and not wanting to try out all of the amazing places that it has to offer.

Tour de Yorkshire T-Shirt

This is a pretty random one but I got a little parcel through from home the other week and it contained this T-Shirt from my dad. I'm in serious love with it. Not only is it one of the comfiest things ever or that it's green but it reminds me of such a good day when I went home to go and watch it pass through the area near to where I live. Also I'm Yorkshire obsessed so it's nice to have a top to share that with the world!

Rainbow Roundup

We've come to the end of this little series and I've had a good time exploring the world of colour and it made me realise that I can get away with wearing more colour on a day to day basis. I've also realised that the easiest way, or the way I find easiest, to inject a bit of colour into my makeup is through eye shadow rather than anything else, however this could be because I'm still afraid of experimenting with lip colours. I thought to round off this segment by sharing the best and the worst of the bunch, let's go!

Best- Voluminous Violet

I loved this look, I loved doing it and I loved wearing it so it has to be an all round winner for me. Perfect for both day and night I think that it would look good on so many people .

Worst- Brilliant Blue

This one just didn't work out. I took the blue too low under the eye and although it did look better in real life than in pictures it still wasn't the best thing I've ever done.

Unexpected winner- Raving Red

This turned out surprisingly well. I didn't think that red would be a good one as I thought it would be hard to work with and that I would look like I had a disease. I loved the way that it turned out!

Needs a redo- Groovy Green

I still stand by the fact that I love the way that green eyeshadow looks but when I sat down and did it that day it didn't work out as well as it could of. If anyone wants me to redo it please let me know because I love wearing green on a day to day basis!

Nandos!

Nandos is one of those places that I'd never think to mention on this blog because I just think "Oh everyone's been to Nandos, no one really cares". But then I thought about it and up until a year ago I was still a Nandos virgin and the first time I went I had absolutely no idea what to order or how to work the system. So I thought it would be a good idea to share what I have and like so if you've never been it may persuade you to give it a try!

I'm quite boring when it comes to Nandos, I've been a fair few times and I pretty much always have the same thing. I had butterfly chicken with lemon and herb marinade, chips, garlic bread and perinaise. I like the butterfly chicken because I don't have to negotiate with any bones and there's a little bit of skin on it which is very tasty. I think I've mentioned it before on this blog but I've never been the biggest chip fan but recently I'm growing to love them. These chips are crunchy and soft and mixed with the perinaise, which was a recent discovery for me, it a winning combination. The garlic bread is on some kind of ciabatta and tastes really delicious (I always used to get two portions before I changed and got chips). I've had a wrap and a burger before I settled on this meal. The burger was very nice but with the garlic bread there was a little too much bread. I didn't like the wrap at all because there was too much salad and not enough chicken.

Writing this has definitely made me crave this...delicious!

Naked 3 Spring Daytime

So I may have delved into the 'world of youtube'... I know, hold the applause. It's quite a nice little achievement and I really enjoyed doing it, although it may have been spurred on by a little bit of essay procrastination. Prepare not to get too excited though, it's the standard first video, short, sweet with no talking and a 'plinky plonk' background music because trust me you don't want to listen to my awful voice. It's seriously horrendous. Anyway, seeing as though there's a video there's no need to do a full written description I'll leave you with a list of the products I've used. Please tell me what you think and if you'd like to see more, it would be much appreciated!

L'Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation // 11 Vanilla

L'Oreal True Match Concealer // 02 Vanilla

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder // 002 Pink Blossom

Soap and Glory Brow Archery // Blondeshell

L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper // Light/Medium

Maybelline Colour Tattoo // Pink Gold

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette // Strange/Limit/Buzz

Rimmel Kohl Kajal // Sable Brown

Seventeen Back Lash Mascara // Black

Soap and Glory Solar Powder Bronzer

Mac Satin Blush // Immortal Flower

Maybelline Eye Studio // Golden Beige

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick // Nudist

Round Up #1

George's Fish and Chip Restaurant

This was amazing! It opened in Nottingham earlier this year and I've wanted to go SO much so when the opportunity arrived I seised it. You'll be finding out details in a couple of weeks on the Tuesday food section of my blog but as a little taster the doughnuts were insane! Everything is seaside themed and the inside was like a really upmarket version of a normal fish and chip shop. Everything had a special little touch so if you ever get the chance to go jump at the chance, you won't regret it!

Cream Eyeshadows

I've always had a special place in my heart but this week they've been my life saver. I've had a few early mornings (and by early I mean 10am) and I really couldn't be bothered to do much face wise so I just put these all across the lid, put on lashings of mascara and at least then I looked half presentable. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly adventurous I'll even put an eyeshadow on top, I know, crazy!

Chav-tastic

This week's fancy dress Wednesday theme was chavs and after doing it last year it still remains as one of the best themes! I love the way that I can literally paint my face with foundation and it doesn't matter if my eyeliner is wonky because it adds to the whole effect. I also quite like my chavy hat. Overall it was a successful night which ended in a delicious McDonalds!

Voluminous Violet

We've come to the end of our colourful journey and I have to say I've quite enjoyed it! But it's not quite over yet because we still have one to go and that's (drum roll please)....violet! Purple is a really easy colour to work with on the eyes and always looks really good, kind of like a more colourful take on neutrals. Without further ado, let's get started.

I know that you think I'm going to prime my eyes with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot but I went for  change this week and used the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomegranate which is a red-y purple that makes a good base for this type of look. Using my Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette I took the colour Vanity and put it on the inner part of the lid and then took Bondage and put it on the rest of the lid. For this look I didn't go into the crease and the main focus was the colour on the lid. Using a fluffy brush I blended it out so that it went soft into the crease and then took Alchemy, a pink/purple, on a small brush and put it in the inner corner and then used the same brush with Bondage on and ran it underneath the eye. To finish off the look I took the Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Jet Black on my water and tight line and the Clinique High Volume Mascara and fully coated the lashes.

I love the fact that this look is really easy to do but is very sultry and smokey. I may have to use this on a night out one time because I love the way that it looks.

Bolster Moor!

Bolster Moor is a butchers in Hudderfield near where I live and it is the best butchers ever! I get all of my meat from there to take back to university with me (I know, taking meat from Yorkshire to Nottingham is a bit excessive) and I love it! In 2011 they opened a cafe and when I'm at home we probably end up going at least once a fortnight. They sell amazing cakes, tasty sandwiches and the best all day breakfast ever. This time that we visited we were having a pre Tour de Yorkshire lunch and I chose one of the spring specials, smoked salmon and scrambled egg on brown toast. When it came it looked very swanky with the rolls of salmon and the little garden of what I think was chives. The eggs were fluffy and really tasty, sometimes I find that they can be a bit watery but these eggs were creamy and delicious. The bread was thickly cut and brown is my favourite. The salmon was soft, tasty and perfect. If I had to complain about anything I'd say that there was a bit too much salmon (I know a bit weird, who can have to much salmon) and when I came to the end I had a lot of it left. But this could be because I wasn't overly hungry due to the fact that I was nervous about going and filming the cycling as part of my latest uni assessment.

If you're ever in the West Yorkshire area, seek this place out because trust me you won't regret it!

Newbie's Guide to Brights

As you'll know if you've read this blog before that I really shy away when it comes to bright lip colours. To try and get more out of my comfort zone I've been experimenting with different colours and if you're like me and want to test the waters in the bright lip pool then look no further than this handy little guide.

The Entry Level Bright- The first ever lipstick I bought last year was the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 28. I have no idea why I went for such a bright, bubblegum pink but I wore it everyday for three months until I bought my first nude. It's like a matte finish but not so drying and with a bit of a shine and can be worn bold or just patted onto the lips. I've chosen this as an entry level option for the fact that the shade of pink and the different options to wear it bold or not means that you can really test it out and see if bright lips are for you.

The Option For Bold- This Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butter in Tutti Fruitti is one of the best lip formulas to produce a bold lip. The fact that this colour is orange makes it different from the standard nude or pink but isn't as harsh as a red. Like the Kate Moss lipstick, it's easily build able, even more so, and the glossy finish means it's easy to wear and not scary to someone who is still a nude lover.

The Bold Nude- This is my most recent purchase in the lip department and I've fallen in love. I chose it as a spring colour and I feel that although it is quite a dark peachy pink, it's still not too over whelming for us newbies. It applies very opaque and has a really good staying power on the lips but isn't uncomfortable to wear. It transfers as very bright and pink on the lips but still doesn't look too in your face and more soft, I really like it and I've been wearing it a lot recently.

Festival Beauty

Just thought I'd share one of my recent pieces of work from my degree. It's a piece on what kind of beauty to take to a festival and if anyone wants me to do a proper post on it don't hesitate to tell me in the comments!

Big Blog Changes!

As you can probably see from the picture and the title there's going to be a little change to Friday's on this blog. Favourite Fridays have been a regular feature on this blog since October and I feel like it's time to do something new, and I've also run out of favourites! Instead I'll be doing a weekly round up, so I'll be sharing things that I've been doing that week, what I've been eating and, to keep a little bit of the favourites alive, what I've been loving. It should give a little more of an insight into my life outside of the blog and I'm really excited to get going (I also can't wait to do more collages, I loved doing this one!

Inky Indigo

This is one of my favourite makeup looks, especially if I'm going for cocktails or a meal as it's smokey but isn't a full on smokey eye. I started wearing this eyeshadow combo after becoming obsessed with Pretty Little Liars and particularly Hanna Marin or Ashley Benson. She wears dark eyes but the dark colours are only on the lash line as apposed to all over the lid. I was going to do this look last week for the blue colour but when I realised that I don't know how to distinguish between blue and indigo I thought I'd do the darker blue look this week.

I started off, of course, by priming my eyes with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot and used Heaven from my Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette all over the lid. I then went in Cashmere Bunny, a matte light brown, to darken up the crease in a soft way so that it gives more depth in the eye instead of just leaving it plain. Starting on the blue I took Freeze from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette and swept it close to the lash line using an angled brush, then blending it further into the eye with a fluffy brush. I then went over it with Heroine from the same palette very close to the lash line and smoking it out a little but not so much and so that you could still see Freeze underneath. Then I went underneath with Heroine, smoking it out and finished it off by lining my water and tight line with the Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Jet Black and used lashings of the Benefit Roller Lash Mascara.

I love this look, I think it's a nice way of doing a different smokey eye and not letting it become too dark. Let me know if you try this one out, I'd love to see a different take on it.

Chiquitos! (Take Two)

For the second time a girly meal has ended up at a lovely time in Chiquitos! The one that we go to in Nottingham is in the corner house and is such a great atmosphere. It's fair to say that we were a little early (half an hour, oops) so as soon as we got there we hit up the bar and I have to say the prosecco is second to none. When we got to the table I was straight away trying on the sombreros having a great time. Anyway let's get away from the Mexican hats and onto the food!

For starter I went for the Beef Chilli Tacos and they were divine! I had them as a main last time and they were just as good but there's something about the mini size that intensified the flavours. The onions were soft and sweet although they were hard to eat with the taco because the kept falling off. The cheese was nice and not too strong for my taste and the sour cream was delicious although it wasn't evenly spread on all of the tacos and was just dolloped on the top one. The salsa was nice, clean and fresh, but every time I went in for the dip half of the beef fell out! It was such a delicious starter and I'd definitely have it again.

For my main I went for a flatbread and chose the chicken, chorizo and sweetcorn medley. It was like a pizza but not, if that makes sense, and it was delicious. The base was nice and crispy, bread-y and pastry-like at the same time, and on the menu it said that there was a tomato sauce on it but there wasn't a considerable amount and I like a lot of sauce so that was a bit of a let down. The peppers were soft and the cheese was tasty and not over whelming. The chicken was soft and delicious and the chorizo and sweetcorn were really tasty. The only problem that I found with it was that the coriander that was on top of the flatbread was very overwhelming and I just found myself picking it up. Overall very good and the perfect portion size because normally I don't finish a pizza but I wolfed all of this down.

For dessert I nearly went for the churros again but I thought I'd try something different and instead went for the chilli chocolate fondant. I've always wanted to try the chilli chocolate combination and it was so good. I expected it to be quite spicy but instead it was a normal chocolate flavour with an after kick that made things interesting. It came with honeycomb ice cream and an orange sauce on top of the fondant which were both delicious. The fondant was perfectly oozing and the portion size was perfect. It was an all round great meal!

Mini Boots Haul

I just couldn't help myself. It's been a long time since I've had a proper Boots splurge so I had a great time having a root around the shelves! I'd just missed the 3 for 2 that was running throughout the store but L'Oreal and a few other brands were having the offer on within their stock so I took advantage. First off I needed to replenish my skincare routine. I was planning to repurchase the products I've been using for a while (click here to read my skincare routine) but I may have got a little bit side tracked. When having a browse of the Soap and Glory products I noticed that they had a micellar water so instead of being boring and buying the same old same old I branched out and so far I'm loving it! It gets makeup off really easy and makes my face feel really cleansed, but it does stink like cucumber. You do get used to it after a while but at first it is a bit much. Then instead of repurchasing my Body Shop Seaweed Toner I went for the Garnier Fresh Refining Toner which is for combination-oily skin. This is definitely one for stripping all of the oil off my face and although sometimes it can be a bit stingy it does what it's meant to do which is fine by me. Now for the exciting part, things to make my face look better! I started off my getting the L'Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation which everyone and their dog are raving about. I have to say it's one of the best foundations I have ever used. It prevents my skin from getting oily throughout the day and gives such good coverage that I don't need to use much concealer. Speaking of concealer I decided to give the L'Oreal True Match Concealer ago. I haven't really heard much about this one but I love the foundation and I have to say I'm so glad that I picked it up. It's quite a heavy coverage which is right up my street and reminds me a lot of the Mac Pro Longwear Concealer with the consistency and the fact that it stays on all day. Finally I thought that now would be to branch out into the scary world of brighter lip colours. If you're a long time reader of my blog then you'll know that I stick to the neutrals and nothing else but with spring upon us I decided to be a bit more bold. The packaging of the L'Oreal Colour Riche Made For Me range is so beautiful that I couldn't not buy one. I went for the shade Pink Passion and I feel like it's a nice colour to dip my toe in the bright lip pool. I can wear it bold if I'm feeling more daring or just lightly dab it on to create a nice stain. More in depth reviews will probably be posted on here in the future but I hope you enjoy this little haul because there won't be another one for a little while (unless I win the lottery!).

Favourite Friday: New Playsuit

I never normally mention clothes on this blog but this playsuit has definitely an exception! I mean look at it, it's gorgeous! It's from River Island, like 90% of my wardrobe, and is yellow and sparkly silver. I wear playsuits quite a lot when I go on nights out and I really like little collars so this is really up my street. I've worn it to all social events that I've been to in the past week so if thats not a testament to how much I love it then I don't know what its. I don't really know what else to say about this so I'll leave you with pictures of what it looks like on.

Brilliant Blue

Blue is probably one of the easiest colour eyeshadows to pull off so I wasn't too worried about this one (until I realised that I had to work out what colour indigo was but more on that next week). Over the past few weeks I've realised that the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette is literally the best for experimenting with colour and I wouldn't have been able to get through this past through weeks without it...well that was a little emotional, let's get on with it!

I started off by priming with, you guessed it, the Mac Painterly Paint Pot, and went straight in with the cream in the palette Truth all over the lid as a base colour. I used Freeze on the outer corner and through the crease and built it up a little with more on the outer corner. My favourite thing out of this 'blue eye' look is the eyeliner type thing. I've been doing this a lot recently because it does the eyeliner thing but is a little bit softer. I took Heroine on an angled brush and swept it along by lash line quite thinly and didn't wing it out at the end but finished it off with a slight flair, if you get what I mean. I took Freeze underneath the eye as well (I apologise because I took it too far down on one eye so I look a little bit demented, sorry!) Finally it's the standard combo, Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Sable Brown and the Seventeen Back Lash Mascara.

I quite like this look, it's colourful and providing when I do it again I don't make myself look like a crazy person with too much bottom shadow it looks pretty damn good!

The Orange Tree!

The Orange Tree is a small pub in Nottingham city centre. It's always looked really appealing but despite living near to it the whole of last year I'd never been until recently. Inside it's very wooden, which I like a lot, and there's a mixture of normal tables and big comfy sofas, you can definitely feel the student vibes. It was a very impromptu lunch when we went so I stuck to the lighter items on the menu but they did some really amazing sounding mains and desserts which I'll have to go back and try.

In the end I went for the Homemade Fish Finger Sandwich with chips and boy was is good! I asked for it on brown bread which was so soft but the downside was that it had a very hard crust, however it felt homemade. The fish fingers were more like battered fish pieces as apposed to your standard Birdseye, which I was completely okay with and happily lapped up. You got two big ones of those and the biggest chips you will ever see. They were huge! Some of them were a little bit too hard for my liking but most were soft and melted in the mouth. Insane. Inside the sandwich there were some salad leaves and a tartare sauce which went really nicely with the fish and added something a little extra. I'm definitely going to go back to The Orange Tree again. It was a good price and for food as good as that you really can't complain.

The Regrets

Now, this is a post dedicated to those times where you buy something that's quite hyped and your really excited to get it but it just doesn't work out. This doesn't happen very often but when it does I can't help feeling a little bit sad, especially when other people seem to love it. First up is the Tanya Burr Lipgloss in First Date. I was really excited when this range was brought out and was ready and raring to go when my Superdrug started stocking it. I bought two shades, this one and Champagne Toast which I really like. However, this shade does not apply well on the lips. I can't seem to make it work, it goes all streaky and when I press my lips together they stick and I have to prise them apart. I don't know whether anyone else had this problem but it felt like such a waste of money, which is a real shame because I think the other shades are fine. One of the first felt tip eyeliners that was released back in the day was the Barry M Wink. I mean what could be better and easier to apply eyeliner than a felt tip pen instead of a brush. When I first bought it I struggled to use it but I never thought anything of it because it was so 'revolutionary', but looking back the tip was so thick like an actual colouring in felt tip that there was no way of making it work. Since I've been introduced to the likes of the L'Oreal Super Liner this has been reserved for fancy dress makeup only. One of my impulse buys that didn't go to plan was the Makeup Revolution eyeshadow in Dirty Cash. It was only £1 and my logic was it was too cheap not to get. I didn't even have to pay, I used my Superdrug points. The problem is the colour, it's awful. When I use it on the eyes it just looks dirty. There's nothing wrong with the pigmentation or the quality for the price it's just the colour. Last but not least is the Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner. This little mini came free with Elle magazine a few months ago and even though I knew it had mixed reviews I wanted to try it anyway. There's no denying that this product stays put but I just couldn't use it. The whole squeeze and swipe did not work and it turned into a smudgy mess. Hopefully I don't do this type of post again in the future but sometimes it doesn't work out and it can't be helped.

Favourite Friday: Olly Murs

Here's just a little collection of photos from the Olly Murs concert in Nottingham last night. It was a christmas present so was a long time coming and it was insane. It was standing so when we got there we took the decision to stick to the B stage and as you can see from the pictures it was the right thing to do!