A Guide To Prepping For Summer // Leg Edition

Borrowed from here, edited by me.

As the northern hemisphere approaches the summer months I begin to think that it’s about time to start musing on how I’m going to set about getting my body ‘summer ready’. I’m not one for making drastic changes, maybe a little wash-in-wash-out hair dye to lighten my colour, a slick of gradual tan, and a change of wardrobe to welcome in the sun (if, and when we have any!). One part of my body that I’d love to start on is my legs. Having prepped and perfect pins for the summer is something I constantly long for, and removing my stubborn little leg hairs becomes the bane of my life (skin coloured tights anyone?). 

I’ve been looking at trying something new for updating my ‘leg look’ (and no I’m not talking about leaving them to grow a second coat for winter 2013/2014). I usually prefer getting my trusty Venus razor out but I thought I’d shop around the web for some other options, from budget creams to more high end procedures like laser hair removal.

Borrowed from here

Removal Cream The main brand that springs to mind here is Veet, who offer four different types of removal creams - in shower, spray on, standard and for the face. My understanding of Veet is that you apply the cream, wait a specified number of minutes and then simply rinse off. Sounds good to me and I'll be definitely picking up one of these to try out in the near future. 

Shaving I could stick with my preferred method of hair removal at the moment, using my trusty Gilette Venus razor. There are other razors available on the market of course but in my opinion no-one shaves better than a Venus. Simple and easy enough, shaving is great for a fast and effective hair removal, but it has a few negatives, like making sure you're careful not to cut yourself, coming to terms with the fact that replacement razor heads are extortionately priced and shaving foam can be a nightmare when you end up sliding around a bathtub. 

Waxing A step up from shaving and hair removal cream, waxing is something I've always been keen to try but haven't actually gone and done it yet. I've had my brows waxed but never my legs, or *ahem* 'other areas' done. I don't know if I'd trust myself to try waxing at home (I've read too many horror stories in the media!) so I'd love to make a trip to a salon and try it out. I have two tattoos, I could handle it, right?

Epilators If you're really brave you could try using an epilator. I've tried an epilator and it hurt so much (and I have a high pain tolerance!) that I won't be using one again. There's no doubt that it's a successful hair removal method if you can stand feeling of having multiple hairs tweezed out at a time. Not one for me, but perhaps an option for you!

Image borrowed from here

Laser Hair Removal The final method I've found, and one that I'd love to try, is laser hair removal. It's a natural progression from waxing and shaving in my opinion. One clinic I've found that offers laser hair removal across the country is Sk:n Clinic. Most reputable companies would have been based in London I would have thought, so I got excited when I found out that I could go to a local one! They explain that laser hair removal is a safe and virtually painless method of hair removal that's long lasting and can be used almost anywhere on the body. If I can pay someone to remove my leg hair in a painless, quick process I'm all for it! 

So that's my mini guide to the options for prepping your legs for the summer weather, I know that I'll be trying and testing out some hair removal cream and saving up for some laser hair removal in the future!

Do you prep for summer?

What's your preferred hair removal method of choice? 

*This is a sponsored post

Models Own Artstix // Jade Flakes

Let me begin by confessing that I wasn't the biggest fan of Models Own products. But that was before, much, much before I got my mitts on one of their new Artstix. And now I'm a convert...! 

Why was I orignially not a fan? Simply due to the way in which the brush works with the formula, the chipping after a few hours of application and how clunky the lid feels in my hand when I try and apply the colour from the nail polish bottle. However, this was set to change from the moment I laid eyes on the Artstix, as I've discovered that having a longer handle makes the application of this polish much more enjoyable (it's so much easier!) and chipping is, as of day two, non-existent...win!

The concept of the Artstix is great, but if you're much more clever than I am you'll have probably already paired two polishes together to make fab nail art and so these Artstix might seem a bit gimmicky to you. To be honest they're nothing new, just two of Models Own's existing nail polish creations, take the ones here for example, Jade Stone and Snow Flakes, and in turn they make 'Jade Flakes'. If you're a Models Own novice (or slight skeptic like me) then these Artstix are perfect for you to dip your toes into their sea of shades and get to grips with the brand. Priced at £6 (normal polish price £5 per bottle) you almost get two for the price of one, and, having never known anyone in my life to actually finish a whole bottle of nail polish, these smaller offerings may be better value for money in the long run. 

So yes, I am now officially a Models Own convert, oh the wonders of a longer brush handle eh?! I can only hope they will bring out more colours in Artstix form, the current range of eight is not enough for me!

What's your favourite Models Own nail polish colour?
Are you an Artstix fan?
 

OOTD // A Bunny Ears and Polka Dot Kind of Day

Thought I'd show you a quick OOTD from the other day when I went to sit in the university computer lab so type up my thoughts on how UK legislation should deal with prostitution. Fun. 

Leggings: £3 Primark
Polka Dot Dress: £32 Topshop
Map of the World Scarf: £18 Topshop
Bunny Ears Scrunchie: £4 Topshop
Ring: Birthday present from J when I was 20, but it's from Argos
Nail Polish: Model's Own Jade Stone

I usually have a 'uniform' so to speak. I live in my leggings and a long top or dress, or skirt and top. And everything's usually quite understated and plain but I jazz it up with accessories. Here, however, I let the clothes do the talking! Spots, a map of the world and some cute bunny ears on a scrunchie - what's not to love? If I'm clashing and offending your eyes I apologise...oh and I apologise for the awkward 'self in mirror' shot. I'm not to hot at this 'fashion' thing. Yet. 

Everything's from Topshop, how easy is that! I bought everything in a massive order from the web, so I'm not too sure if things are in store/how new or old they are, but at the time of writing they're all still  available online so if you click on the name of the item it'll take you to it's respective page. 

What'd you think?

Also, well done to Sophia for winning my Mega Milestones Giveaway!

Graduation Inspiration with Stylight.co.uk

I was recently contacted by Alex from Stylight regarding a competition that they're currently running to win 200 Euros worth of ASOS vouchers (I would presume they'd convert it into pounds if a Blogger from the UK won). I'd not previously heard of Stylight and am so glad that Alex got in contact me because this website is fantastic. 

You've heard me mention enough times already to know that I'm a compulsive list maker, namely wish lists of beauty products and bits and pieces of clothing and accessories that I really want to wear (but probably don't need...). Stylight is a fab platform to make those wish lists come to life through the mediums of music, film, photographs and text in the form of a 'board'. You simply search through the categories of products Stylight have to offer, or you can add your own, and voila, you've got a wish list that's come to life with the actual products, prices and links to sites to buy it from. What could be easier and more fun than that? 

I was tasked to create a board, and I thought I'd put my thinking cap on and create some inspiration for the kind of look I'd like to wear for my graduation from Durham in June. I'll be wearing the standard black robes, with a hood of (faux) white fur and purple so I want something that will be comfortable, stylish and most of all not clash with my hood. And yes, Stylight has helped me find the perfect style of outfit. 

I found creating my board very simple and fun to make. You simply pick out an item, hover over it and click the '+' to add it to a certain board and then return to your board for some jiggery pokery and hey presto, you've got yourself a professional looking screen of inspiration to work from. I absolutely love that Stylight enables you to envision a certain item as a complete look, for example here my main focus if the gorgeous dress I discovered from a company called TFNC, and then the accessories and jewellery I've chosen have been put there to enhance the overall look. I can almost imagine how it'd look on me, and that visual is really great to work from if you're having trouble finding what to wear for an important event. The pieces that I've picked here would look fab for my graduation!

So I'd definitely recommend having a look around the website, you might discover some brands that you've never heard of but love straight away - like I did with ME & ZENA, a fabulous jewellery company that have had me pouring over their website making yet another wish list! 

How do you envision a full outfit? Are you a mood/inspiration board fan like I am?

50 Day Spending Ban, Commences Now!

I've taken the plunge...I'm going to keep Marvelle company and join in with a little 50 day spending ban! (She's coming to the end of a much bigger and more respectable spending ban, but I haven't got the whatsits to join in with a great big one just yet!)

Why do I, Louise, self confessed shopaholic, want to endure the arduous torture of a spending ban? Just as an experiment really, to see if I can carry over my discipline and willpower and to hopefully begin to fill up my ISA again. J and I are moving in together in 8 days time (!) so every spare penny I have I will want to use to fill my little nest with lovely things.

So my ban begins today, April 22nd 2013, and will end June 11th 2013 (Just in time to treat myself to a dress for my graduation!)

My rules: 

• I am only allowed to buy essential makeup/skincare products when I have completely finished anything and everything like it in my 'stash'. 
• I am allowed to still buy my every -10lbs weight loss rewards 'cause I need something to keep me motivated with that, but each reward has to be between £15-£20 and not more. 
• I must not buy any takeaways/snacks, instead I must meal plan and economise with leftovers. 
• I am still allowed to spend my £5 weekly to attend my SW meetings. 
• I still, of course, need to spend money on bills (rent, phone, gym etc). 

And that's it! 

I'm excited (and nervous!) I have a wishlist as long as my 5'7 height so this will be hard, but also good and will teach me to stop being so wasteful, and who knows, I might use this in preparation for a bigger ban in the future.

Fancy joining in?

Planning My Nest (Flat) Decoration // A Next Homeware Wish List

As it stands there are t-minus 11 days before J and I receive the keys to our flat! As a result, and as a form of procrastination from writing about whether or not the National DNA Database has had any deterrent effect on crime rates, I took the liberty of browsing the Next homeware section on their website and came away rather more virtually lighter on the old bank balance. I have bought some of these things as I'll detail below, but if anyone knows of any money trees growing near by will you let me know...?

I might have mentioned that our little nest is being decorated by my own fair hand. Yesterday I rang up J to discuss my purchasing of a cream metal colander for him to reply with 'I don't mind how you decorate. Please just get bits and bobs and surprise me'. Win! So I'm having a cream/neutral house with accents of pastels in blue, mint, pink and yellow. I'm also not the kind of girl that likes dark wood so that's definitely out, and luckily all of the furniture that comes provided in the flat (I say all, and by all I mean two tables...) is a light wood which pleases me greatly. 

First on my wish list from Next is this gorgeous Kitty Heart Lace table lamp for £18. I'm in need of a new lamp for my bedside table and I fell in love with this one in the store yesterday. It'd also look fab on a table in my living room for when I want to cosy down at night with some mood lighting (oo er!) and hugging (read *hiding behind* whilst J watches a horror movie) these fabulous Blossom Woven Check cushions for £14 each, to decorate my white sofa. I'll probably rest a mug of hot choc on one of these four White Heart Coasters (£6.50 for 4, I've bought these already!) and gaze at a fab collage of pics of us and the family on the wall, this frame would be perfect (£25)

In the kitchen I'd love a chalk board and this Heart Detail Chalk Board (£12) would be perfect for writing messages on and do not forgets. Continuing the heart and cream theme I think this Kitchen Roll Holder for £8 is so cute (is that weird of me to think!?) and I wish I'd picked it up yesterday. 

In the bathroom I'll be having silver accessories, isn't this mirror so cool with the sparkly cracked glass effect on the bottom? At £28 it's quite pricy for a vanity mirror though but I can't help but love it!

Another item I purchased yesterday was this pretty little Lace Metal Tumblr for £8, to put our toothbrushes and toothpaste in on the side of the sink. Perfect. 

Those are my picks from Next's homeware department, they have such a fabulous selection I'm constantly eyeing up other bits and pieces to add to my ever growing 'Home Ideas' folder in my favourites! 

What colours would you have to decorate your home?

My Makeup Collection & Storage In My University Room

It's no secret that I love me a makeup collection and storage video/post. So today I thought I'd take a break from frantically typing away under an essay title asking me to write about the experience of giving birth behind bars in the USA and the UK and bring you some brilliant light hearted make-up fun. Be warned that this is just what I have left with me in my uni room. I'm moving house and won't have that collection ready for a while...it'll come though. Promise. (Prepare for lots of pictures...)

My makeup did live on my massive window sill...until I realised that the sun was melting my lip balm and that it really probably wasn't good to have it all up there. So my little Muji drawers migrated down to live in one corner of my desk with my brushes on top. There's really no real order to my drawers, it's simply just a case of 'let's fit as much in as we can' and that's that!
(Can you spot my 3DS game cases?!)

My brushes are held in a Cath Kidston mug and an Ikea plant pot and are a mixture of (predominantly) Real Techniques and MAC brushes. There are also two Lancome brushes in there, my Denman hairbrush, some Barry M brushes, and a Kim Kardashian pencil from the NYC Dash store that my housemate got for me. And yes, they need a wash.

 Drawer number one houses Benefit's Big Beautiful Eyes, Benefit's Peek-A-Bright Eyes, a Bourjois round pot blush, Maybelline FitMe powder and a spare Bourjois Healthy Balance powder I recently bought as my other one's about to run out.

 Drawer number two houses Nars Albatross, Topshop cream blush in Head Over Heels, Maybelline Eternal Gold and On & On Bronze Colour Tattoo, Benefit Hervana blush, a mini Benefit Stay Don't Stray, Benefit FakeUp, a mini Benefit Porefessinal and my YSL Touche Eclat.

Drawer number 3 is my dedicated MAC blush drawer. I have (clockwise): Supernova, Dainty, Lovejoy and Dollymix with a MSF in Soft & Gentle in the middle. I adore all of these blush colours and you can guarantee I'll be wearing one of them each day.

 Drawer number 4 is a bit of a pot luck drawer. It contains my HD Brows palette underneath Bourjois Healthy Balance powder, a Revlon lipbutter in Pink Lemonade, MAC's Creme Cup, Palmer's Cocoa Butter lip balm, an Elemis moisturiser sample, some hair clips, my Inika black eyeliner, L'Oreal SuperLiner, Maybelline The Rocket mascara and my little spot removal tool.

 Then, above my desk I have a 'beauty shelf'. Again this all used to live on my window sill but it all migrated for the same reason. I keep mostly skincare and perfume up here, clockwise from left: Batiste Blush dry shampoo, Origins Make A Difference + moisturiser, B.Pure Micellare water, Korres Sun Screen, Dove Pomegranate deodorant, Bourjois 1 second nail polish remover, Benefit Facial Rehydrating Mist, Bio Oil, Milk_Shake hair mousse, MAC brush cleanser, Burt's Bees coconut foot lotion, some Boots multi-vitamins, B.Pure day moisturiser, Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, Ralph Lauren Number 2 perfume, Jack Wills  perfume, Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume, Kim Kardashian True Reflection perfume and my Tiffany & Co sunglasses.

Next to my skincare etc I have these super cute white drawers that I found in Tesco as well as my Ted Baker makeup case (currently empty) and my MAC brush case peeking out from behind that. I keep my nail polish in my beautiful Cath Kidston floral makeup case and that lives beside these drawers.

 Drawer 1 houses my makeup pride and joy: my Chanel Fracas nail polish, Illamasqua Speckle nail polish, Chanel Vitalumière Aqua foundation, Chanel Boy lipstick and YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in shade 7. I also threw in a Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation for good measure (this is new, it doesn't have a permanent home yet).

Drawer 2 contains my two favourite skincare masks, Good Things Five Minute Facial, and Origins Drink-Up Intensive. Lots of love for these two products!

And then this bottom drawer houses my Dr Jart BB Cream, Benefit Hello Flawless foundation, Benefit Watt's Up highlighter and my Carex hand gel.

So there you have it, a whirlwind tour of my makeup collection and storage in my university bedroom.

Seen anything you like?
How do you house your makeup?

Sunday Snapshot #4

Last day at home today before I return to university for my final term as an undergraduate! I say that I'm returning for my final term but in fact I'm going back for only 2 weeks to write and hand in 4 essays (yep, the ones I should have started over this Easter holiday!) and then I shall be travelling down to Somerset to take over the keys to mine and J's new flat! We have a home :D 

Inspirational Images

All images taken from WeHeartIt

My inspiring images this week speak volumes about my home decoration tastes! Think neutral, white and clinical with a splash of floral and lots of pastel colours, mint greens, baby pinks, beige and cream and you're part way there in my brain. I can't wait to move in :-)

Seven Successful Things:

1. Lost another 2lbs at SW this week, meaning that I hit my 1 Stone certificate :D 
2. Travelled to stay with J this week and saw some of his family that I haven't seen since Christmas.
3. Made some more pennies on eBay...which promptly got spent on my phone bill :-(
4. I discovered the delights of holographic nails.
5. I actually cooked dinner (philadelphia stuffed chicken with salad I'll have you know).
6. I got my job (with the hint of a promotion) back in the town I left before I came to uni. Worry over!
7. We have a house! J and I signed on a little cosy nest for when I finish uni :D 

Have you had a good week?

Nivea Lip Butter // Vanilla & Macadamia

Another Day another lip balm! This vanilla and macadamia lip butter from Nivea completes my owning of the trio of flavours currently available from them (they also have raspberry and caramel - mmmm). I love these little pots, it's pretty simple really. They smell divine, and I absolutely love the smell of vanilla so it's been killing me not to dive in and use this before I managed to take pictures of it! I have used it now though, and safe to report you can't go wrong with a Nivea lip butter, it makes my lips feel lovely and moisturised. I usually use this as a bit of a lip pamper treatment before bed by applying more than I usually would for a day out and about. By morning it's sunk in and I wake up with my lips feeling lovely and nourished and ready for the day ahead.

For a cool £1.49, and available quite freely in Boots and Superdrug, you just can't go wrong can you?!

Are you a lip balm enthusiast? What's your holy grail product?

Holographic Nails // Topshop's 'Moondance'

Am I a bit late to the holographic nails party? I'm not sure...but if you're like me and only just loving holographic nail art you're welcome to join mine!

I spied this beautiful colour on a recent Topshop visit and had to purchase. For £6 I think you get a fabulous, unique colour. I prefer two coats of polish but it honestly looks great with only one (if applied well), two coats adds more depth to the colour in my opinion. I also absolutely love how shimmery this is on the nails when the colours catch the light and change, yet it doesn't have the texture of glitter and so isn't a pain to remove. It reminds me of the holographic foil we used to play with in art :) 

For something simple and a bit different I think holographic nails are a fab way to jazz up an outfit (or in my case, a lazy day around the house trying to write an essay). 

Are you a holographic fan? What's your favourite nail art at the moment?

I Went Into Topshop For A Look & Came Out With A Haul...

The short story here is that I got fed up and went to Topshop (holla at me if you're an emotional shopaholic too...). This wasn't all at once mind, I just seem to keep on dipping in and out of Topshop finding lovely things to purchase! Having lost a stone, and with most of the weight going from round my tummy (and fingers, strangely enough!) I've found I can now fit back into Topshop dresses :D This makes me super, super happy (but my bank balance weeps silently in the background).

On account of this I bought three items of clothing, two dresses and a top. The top is a fabulous oversized dipped hem dark navy/grey version of one I already have in white, and it's fab to just laze around the house in. My two dresses are gorgeous, this fab white lacy one which will be perfect paired with the brown sandals above in the summer, and this pretty rose print one I found in the sale for £20! I also picked up some knickers in their 3 for £10 range, two pairs I bought for my mum, and then a pair of floral lacy ones for me. 

Then I made my way to the accessories and makeup stands. I could have bought a million different pieces of jewellery, but I find Topshop jewellery quite expensive so I chose one I've had my eye on for a long time, this fabulous silver and rose gold triangle necklace. Like every other girl at the moment I'm loving rose gold, it's the perfect colour for a non gold lover like myself to dip their toes into the gold stream. I couldn't find it online, but it should be in store for £14. 

I couldn't pass by the Topshop makeup stand without trying out some of their nail polishes (currently on two for £8 ladies!). I'm obsessed with holographic nails at the minute (post coming very soon) and ended up purchasing two holographic colours, the silvery blue 'Moondance', and the pinky lilac 'Wistful'. I then bought 'Milkshake' and baby pink shade I've been lusting over, and 'Green Room' a fab jade green. I also got my first ever Topshop lipstick, I fancied a go at what I call 'marshmallow lips' and got the shade 'Saint' (beware that swatch online though, it's definitely not a pink in my opinion) which is a milky nude colour. 

And that was what I bought. Of course I could have parted with a lot more money, in fact I would like this dress very much and it'll probably find its way into my basket soon...

What have you been buying lately?

Just A Thought

Borrowed from Tumblr.

Here's a little motivational saying to keep you going in whatever endeavour you're currently undertaking. For me this relates not only to my weight loss journey, but also the 4 essays of between 2000-5000 words each that are my last chance to claw some marks for my degree. 

Even if you haven't managed to achieve all that you would have liked to on a particular day remember that tomorrow is another chance, and keep going. Don't give up. 

Just a thought <3

Sunday Snapshot #3

Another week over! Crazy how time is flying this holiday. Pretty soon I'll be back in Durham for my final term and tearing my hair out wondering why I didn't do more work this holiday. *Le sigh.*

Images That Have Inspired Me This Week

I love me some crepes! / New Chanel obsession / I keep seeing people with LV bags, therefore I want one /
VS Pink pool party, bring me summer / Take me back to WDW / Pretty cupcakes /
Always looking out for room-spiration / Bunny! / Rainbow cupcake baking
All images borrowed from Tumblr.

What I've Been Up To 

Presents / Sorting Out My Stash / Chanel Goodies / Chanel Makeover / Disney Shrine /
New Pandora Charm / The Two Of Us / Our 3 Year Anniversary / Lovely New Mug / Nandos :) 

Seven Successful Things This Week

1. I lost 6.5lbs at Slimming World, making me only .5 of a lb off a stone!
2. I made a start on my Cybercrime essay - yawn.
3. I tried an omelette, which is massive for me seeing as I cannot stand eggs. My mum disguised their taste with loads of herbs and tomatoes though so I could't taste it.
4. I filled another bag to donate to the charity shop :) 
5. I got my first YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick and now see why everyone loves them so!
6. I rediscovered some old school reports and work from Year 9 to Year 11 and had a great giggle at it all.
7. One step closer to moving in with J was complete this week, we're just waiting on details of a viewing with the estate agent!

How has your week been?

'No Thanks, I'm Just Browsing...Umm, Actually, Ok, I'll Take The Lot' - A Venture Into Chanel

So the other day I went shopping on my own. Despite what anyone says I actually enjoy shopping on my own sometimes, there's no one to trail after you, no men lagging behind and moaning 'cause they're bored and hungry, and no mums/friends/aunties/grans/sensible sisters to say 'you don't need that, put it back'. No, I like shopping on my own when I want to go serious shopping, I'm talking the 'get the bus into the city and return home 5/6 hours later' kind of shopping where you pore over each shop, trying on numerous items of clothing, swatching your little hands off and exercising that chip and pin (I like to think I'm a bit like the Queen - I never carry cash!). 

On this particular day I went into the city with one goal in mind, to get my brows done by the Benefit ladies. Mission accomplished. And then I stumbled blindly to the Chanel counter on the off chance I could swatch some lipsticks and decide between buying a Rouge Coco Shine, or a YSL Volupte. Well, I ended up in the makeover chair trying out many £££ worth of products and came home with two didn't I?! (I feel the title of this post sums this up very well!)

As I sat down at the fancy makeup station (complete with mood lighting) the Chanel lady pointed me in the direction of a gorgeous foundation, Vitalumière Aqua (RRP £32.00 - I got 10% off!), when I said I was on a quest to find my holy grail to combat patchiness due to my dry skin. If you saw my post here, where I relayed my make-up bag favourites, then you'll have seen that I'm really not a fan of my MAC Matchmaster foundation. In the heat of the moment I wanted to try something different and to be honest I was really after some samples, but the Chanel lady applied Vitalumière Aqua to my face and I felt instantly transformed, I was experiencing enough love already that I just had to buy it! 

Vitalumière Aqua is a light coverage foundation, it's very sheer, perhaps one step up from a BB cream, but this works well for me as I'm trying to get away from the heavy made up face that I'm used to. I thought this would be perfect for spring/summer as it's incredibly lightweight, I literally felt as though I had nothing on my face and yet when I looked in the mirror I felt like I was completely flawless. And best of all? Vitalumière Aqua didn't cling to, or accentuate, any of my normal dry patches (most notably on my nose), I could have almost cried with joy! I had this applied at the beginning of my shopping trip, just after I'd had my brows done, and then promptly spent 4 hours running around in changing rooms and trying on clothes and not once did my face look patchy or in need of a touch up - win!

Happy -10lb weight loss to me! 
(If you haven't read my Slimming World posts then this wouldn't make much sense to you, but I'm rewarding myself with a bit of makeup/skincare that I've been lusting over for ages with every 10lbs I lose. First reward was to buy myself a foundation - I wasn't banking on it being an expensive one, but hey, I felt good about myself enough to justify it.)

Apologies for the 'posy' pic. This was the best of the worst!

The other lovely product I picked up, and my sole reason for hanging around the Chanel counter in the first place, was a Rouge Coco Shine lipstick in the shade 'Boy' (RRP £24.00 - again I got 10% off). I was after a 'your lips but better' shade and the lady at the counter recommended this to me straightaway. Boy is a lovely delicate mauvy pink with a tiny hint of shimmer, but not enough to give you full on glittery lips, more like enough shine to rival a Revlon Lip Butter. It's very silky to apply, and sheer upon application, and as you can tell from my 'selfie' above it hardly looks like I've got anything on my lips, definitely the kind of 'your lips but better' that I was after. The longevity of this is not the best, maybe an hour, hour and a half at most, but that is made up in hydration as my lips felt lovely and moisturised (again, brilliant for a dry skinned girl like me), and looked healthy, I'm in love. As the French would say, parfait. 

Consequently, as a result of my dabble into the world of high end makeup, I now have a massive wish list which includes more Rouge Coco Shines, Les Beiges powder, Illusion D'Ombre Quads and much, much more. I wonder if J will let us scrimp on buying a sofa and allow me to indulge in buying beautiful makeup instead (the packaging's too hard to resist)...!

As Coco would say, 'A girl should be two things, classy and fabulous'.

And I couldn't agree more.

Are you a high end makeup fan?

Slimming World Week // Week Seven

Week seven's weigh in came as a total surprise to me, to be completely honest... -6.5lbs!! Baring in mind this weigh in was coming off the back of Easter most of the people in the group had seen themselves gain a pound or two, but here I am with almost half a stone loss in 9 days. I absolutely love slimming world! 

Over the Easter bank holiday I spent time with J and I inevitably caved in to some treats. I'm of the belief that you can't deny yourself something otherwise you end up binging on the lot, so I stuck to the 'little bit of what you fancy does you good' ethos and munched on chinese takeaway (chicken chow mein specifically - which didn't entirely agree with me), Cadbury chocolate buttons, cookies, bacon sandwiches etc - the lot. So I have to hold my hand up and say that I have no idea where this loss has come from, but I am glad I was slightly disciplined and didn't gorge and pig out like I'd used to do. Once the bank holiday was over and he had left me I was straight back on to it though, filling up on stir fry, wheatabix, fruit and salads - all of the super yummy free food Slimming World let you eat in unlimited quantities. 

As a result of this week's loss I was pleasantly surprised to find myself as 'Slimmer of the Week' :D I got another shiny sticker to put on the back of my book to keep my 1/2 stone one company, a fridge magnet and a certificate - hurrah! 

I'm so close to my 1st stone award, only .5 of a pound away, how gutting! But I know that if I work hard at it I will definitely be walking away with another sticker and certificate next week, and who knows, maybe even surpassing it! My aim for my Easter break from uni was to hit a stone loss and that's looking so likely it's making me giddy. For someone who's put on a lot of weight continually for the past 3 years for it to actually be coming off on a sustainable life change plan and not some crash 'shake' diet really excites me. I know it's working because I've managed to go down a size in Primark, and yesterday I bought a Topshop dress and it had room to spare around the middle! :) 

I also hit my first -10lbs milestone and rewarded myself with a rather expensive, but brilliant foundation, Chanel's Vitalumière Aqua. I'm going to pop up a little post about that soon. My next milestone reward will come in 7lbs time, and by then I'll have lost 20lbs.

So plans for this week are to stick at the plan, fill up on free foods and learn to like bananas again. As ever, wish me luck! 

Loss to date: 13.5lbs

Time taken: 7 weeks

Next milestone at: -20lbs

Reward: Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette