Tuesday 17 September 2013

Little Luxuries

I'm aware that the past couple of posts have been very much focused on me and what I've been up to lately, to the point where I haven't done a blog post on anything beauty-related in quite a while (I have no idea out of the few of you that actually read my blog posts what you enjoy reading the most, so as I am still blissfully unaware of what you may find terribly boring I shall continue and hope that I'm not sending anyone to sleep!). 
I took I trip to Leeds with my mum this weekend for some retail therapy after a full on return to Sixth Form, and as I have saved up a little bit from my wages, we decided that a shopping trip was in order. I didn't go completely crazy and empty my bank account, however I did decide to indulge a little on some beauty products as a treat for myself:



Mac Lipstick in Chili
Essie Nail Polish in Fiji
Revlon Lash Potion Mascara


I was particularly excited about this purchase, as this is the first Mac lipstick that I have ever bought because I wanted to be 100% sure of the one I wanted before parting with the money it cost (because lets be honest, Mac lipsticks may be amazing, but they aren't cheap). And I have been searching through Boots, Superdrug and even Topshop over the past year trying to find a red lipstick that I can actually wear, without any success. A lot of red lipsticks that you see people wearing who are brunettes or blondes, have blue undertones, which isn't a natural red, and that sort of shade looks really awful on me; and even though I have bought multiple red lipsticks in the hope that they will be different from the last one, it has all been in vain. So when I was in Leeds I found this colour, which is called Chili, and it's more of a rusty red and when one of the girls working on the make up counter kindly put some on my lips so I could have a look and see if it suited me, I was pleasantly surprised that finally I have found a red lipstick that I can actually wear! And needless to say, it's lovely and I can't wait to get some wear out of it this Autumn and Winter. 



Next thing on my luxury list, is this Essie nail polish in the shade Fiji. I have seen a fair few bloggers and youtubers talking about this colour, and I finally decided to get one as I don't have a colour like this in my vast array of nail polishes, and it's safe to say that I absolutely love it. I've had in on my nails all week and it's such a lovely colour, and like all Essie nail polishes it goes on really well and looks fab once applied. You'll have to excuse my shoddy nails/painting in the photograph, although I enjoy doing my nails, I'm not really the best at it in comparison with everyone else. 



And my final product I picked up, was this mascara from Revlon. I actually have seen this on the internet as well, particularly on Fleur's blog and youtube channel, but she said that it was only available in America so much to my dismay I forgot about it and expected not to be able to get my hands on it for a while. So when I spotted it in Boots in Leeds I immediately grabbed one and have been trying it out this week. Overall I like it, it makes my lashes look long and gives them volume as it says on the packet, plus the wand has bristles and isn't plastic which is always a bonus for me. Also, the packaging is so pretty, that even if I didn't like it, I might just keep it anyway to look at - which I sad I know. The only thing I might say negatively about it, is that it can get a tiny bit clumpy on my eyelashes if you apply too many layers, but that is only a minor thing and it's not been an issue for me since I've been using it, so it gets a thumbs up from me! 

And that just about concludes my few little luxuries that I bought for myself. I hope that you've enjoyed reading a post that wasn't a lifestyle one for a bit of a mix up, adds a bit of excitement.. maybe? Anyway, I will stop rambling. I hope everyone has a lovely week and hasn't had too much of a miserable Monday! 





















Friday 6 September 2013

Trip To Filey

I've been meaning to write this post all week, but as I've just gone back to Sixth Form I literally haven't had the time at all - I seriously underestimated how much work I was going to be set in my first week back, but I can safely say that I am swamped with lots of lovely vocabulary to learn and essays to write. 

Anyway, moving away from the dismal topic of education, and onto the not so long ago Summer holidays which have sadly just ended. As far as I'm aware, there's been a tradition in Ellie's (one of my absolute best friends) family for quite a while now, that on the last day of the Summer holidays every year, the girls in her family take a trip to Filey for the day. And I was lucky enough to go with her, her Sister, Mum and Grandma two years ago, so was so excited when she asked me to come again this year! Her sister Maddy drove us (Me, Ellie, Maddy and Natalie) there, which was super fun as we listened to a tape (that's right - an actual tape - so retro) called 'Beach Party' which has the cheesiest but best, old summer songs on it; which include Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard. Oh yeah. 

So we arrived there late morning and immediately headed for the beach, hooray. We were insanely lucky with the weather, the sun was shining, the sky was crystal clear and it was actually warm as well. Perfect beach weather. We set up picnic blankets and scattered our buckets and spades across the sand in preparation for the construction of the ultimate sand castle we proceeded to make. Building the sand castle (or should I say, a re-construction of Camelot from Merlin, as Natalie suggested), was the first thing we did, and it was complete with a huge moat, steps, all sorts of towers, and a wonderfully sculpted bridge, courtesy of Ellie. After the strenuous task of creating our masterpiece, we had a really cute picnic, and the other three girls got into their bathing suits (I tactfully 'forgot' mine) and decided to go for a quick dip in the freezing cold sea. I was delegated the job of photographer, and managed to get some lovely photos of the three of them looking in absolute agony from the freezing cold sea, which caused me great amusement. After a while their lips started to turn a light shade of blue, and the tide began to come in, which was an indication that we should probably pack up our things and re-locate onto the sea front higher up for ice cream - but not before Ellie and Natalie busted some moves to our cassette, had a sword and wand fight with the spades, and done some serious air guitar for all those on the beach to see. 

We had a wander round the town of Filey, not really finding much, so decided ice creams were the best plan. Ellie's was very impressive; I think she ordered pretty much everything you could possibly have on top of an ice cream (there's a picture if you scroll down). By then we were all tired and hungry, so decided to drive back home. 
To finish off the tradition, we met Ellie's Dad and Natalie's parents in our local fish and chips restaurant for tea, which was just what we needed. After checking out how burnt me and Natalie were (we both have red hair and deathly pale skin - so exposure to sun can cause extremely funny but painful sunburn). I later discovered that my burn was only getting worse and I went to bed looking slightly like a tomato/lobster. 

It was a really lovely end to the Summer holidays, and I really hope we get as lucky as we did this year with the weather, next year when we go again (I say with anticipation). 
I'm sorry if I have waffled on too much, has anyone else been to the beach this Summer? Or Filey even? I hope you all had a lovely Summer, and are not finding the return to school/university/work too taxing. Remember it's the weekend tomorrow so that's something to smile about! 

Here are some of my favourite photos from our trip - I hope you enjoy them! 
Thanks for reading as always 

Love Harriet x