Simple Daytime Look Using Naked

After the gloriously hot and sunny day yesterday today is a little bit of a disappointment, to say the least. I was planning on lying outside in the garden, reading and sipping fruit juice until evening. Instead I'm sitting on my bed, my dressing gown on for warmth, looking sadly out of the window at the cloudy sky :( England is just so mean sometimes!

However because of this I decided to make a casual daytime look using my Naked palette, I only bought this a couple of weeks ago so it's still all new and pretty, I just want to pet it and tell it that it's mine * _____ *

Anywayyyyyy, this is the simple look I came up with, something I'd wear going out shopping or to a family occasion (like my Grandma's birthday this weekend :D).

 

These are the colours from the Naked palette which I used, I also used the lid colour under my eyes from the outside to halfway in.

 I used Benefit's Bad Gal mascara for my lashes (my favourite mascara in the world ever).

Also my boyfriend is coming over next week (yay ^ - ^) I don't know how much time I'll have to blog because I want to show him around. He hasn't been to my new house since we moved so I have loads to show him, including the woods where the deer live! ^ - ^ It's going to be a good week, but I have a feeling today and tomorrow will go by extra slowwwwwwwwly :P

Sunny xxxxx

Witch Stick Review

I'm back home! I'm sorry for being realllllly rubbish with keeping up with my blog for this past week (only 1 post and no time to look at other peoples blogs = hell :P), but I've had the loveliest time catching up with friends and staying at my boyfriend's house :)

I've done a lottttt of walking this past week, and I mean a lot, it's three and a half miles from my boyfriend's house into town, there are no buses near his house and he can't drive. And I've sprained a ligament in my leg :P But now I am home and I have time to heal (and have a cool new knee bandage now, so I can do gentle exercise whilst I heal).

Anyway, whenever I leave home my skin gets bad, really bad. I don't keep up with my skincare routine very well, I don't eat healthily (why pay for salad at a restaurant when you can pay for bacon?), and I drink....a lot :P So unsurprisingly I've broken out, not really really badly, but still not exactly nice.

So I decided to pick up a Witch Stick, this is a product I haven't used since I was 15 (when I suffered with REALLY bad breakouts) and I honestly don't know why I didn't buy another one sooner. This little blue stick contains witch hazel (unsurprisingly :P) which is a great plant extract well known for its anti inflammatory properties.

I just dot this onto where I need it once in the morning and once in the evening, after cleansing my face, and let it do its magic. It seems to work best on large icky spots, drying them out in one or two days until they're just a small red mark, once it's at this stage my usual face washing routine clears them up and I don't need the Witch Stick anymore.

Overall I really like this product, it helps spots and pimples dry and clear up a lot faster than they would if left alone. However as it is in stick form, I'm a little concerned about the hygiene factor of using the same stick for every spot. But it hasn't seemed to have any adverse affect on my skin because of that, so the antibacterial properties of the stick must kill anything gross :P

You can pick this up at Boots for £2.89 which is a complete bargain as it lasts for ages, depending on how often you break out.
Sunny xxxxx

Liebster Award

Hello :) I've been sooooooo busy this week, I honestly thought I'd have a lot more time to blog, but catching up with friends can be really tiring! Especially when you have no car and have somehow injured your knee... (but I'm getting the knee thing checked out tomorrow :P). Seeing all my old friends has been amazing though, tomorrow I'm off for a very girly sleepover, films, chocolate and tequila ^ - ^ Eeee, excited :)

So I got awarded the Liebster blog award by Josephine, I really love doing these tag posts with facts and questions, because I want you guys to get to know me, and also because they're fun :P

Okay so the rules (which I may or may not decide to follow properly :P) :
1) Post 11 facts about yourself
2) Answer 11 questions, and make 11 questions
3) Tag 11 people

Facts about meeeee :
1) I like my own company for a day or two and then get really lonely
2) Sometimes models in magazines really motivate and inspire me, other times they just depress me
3) I find it really hard to remember to drink enough water
4) When I'm really happy I do a wiggle dance
5) I really like it when animals yawn
6) I love watching entire series of television shows in one go
7) I hate waking up to an alarm clock/a person waking me up, I'm always in such a better mood when I wake up naturally
8) I read health magazines and then don't follow the advice
9) I have chipping off lilac nail polish on at the moment
10) I love plugging in headphones and zoning out on long train journeys
11) Right now I'm obsessed with mint green

My questions :

1. Why did you decide to make a blog?

I'd been reading blogs and watching beauty gurus on youtube for ages, and I just decided, why don't I give it a go too? It's so much more fun to be actively involved rather than watching from the sidelines.

2. Favourite food?

Ahhhhhh, ummmmmmm... > . < Soooo hard, right now I'm craving Chinese, so I'll say beancurd and black bean sauce, with egg fried rice, and spring rolls, loads of spring rolls....

3. What colour are your room walls?

White :( They're so boring.

4. Oreos or choc chip cookies, and WHY?

White chocolate chip cookies = heaven, my favourite cookie/biscuity type thingy. Especially when they're a bit squidgey.

5. Your dream date?

Hmm, a picnic by the seaside, a (gentle :P) bike ride, and then going home and curling up together to a movie WITH TONNES OF CHOCOLATE :D

6. Best feature in a guy, explain your dream guy!

Best feature would have to be a good sense of humour, intelligent and witty :)

7. Western or Asian make-ups?

Ooooh hard, I prefer Asian BB creams (because they're just better :P), I don't think I've tried enough Asian make up > . < even though I bought a load on my Korea holiday :P

8. Your current favourite piece of clothing/accessory/shoes?

Right now I keep wearing light summery scarfs in pastel colours, I'm loving my pastel green Forever 21 scarf and my baby pink scarf :)

9. Your favourite chocolate, or your favourite fruit? Maybe both?

Favourite chocolate issssssssss galaxy cookie crumble *drools*, favourite fruit is hard, maybe blueberries because I have them on my breakfast every morning and get sad when we run out > . <

10. Favourite fast food outlet? Or favourite place to eat?

Me and my boyfriend always seem to go to Wagamamas whenever we go out to eat :P I love the food there and it has loads of great memories, but I think we should probably branch out a bit more :P

11. The place that you most want to travel to?

The place I most wanted to travel to for the past 3 years has been Korea, so I'm so happy I finally managed to go! I'd love to go again though :P It's an amazing country ^ - ^

 

My questions for you to answer!

1) What is your favourite brand of make up?

2) City or country life?

3) Do you have any pets?

4) Where's the furthest you've ever been from home?

5) Do you prefer to wear a bold eye or bold lip?

6) Favourite childhood film?

7) What do you like to do on rainy days?

8) Favourite high street shop?

9) Where is your favourite place to be?

10) Favourite item of make up?

11) What makes you happy? :)

 

Okay so I've done the tag, I just need to choose a few people to pass it on to :P This award is supposed to go to bloggers who have less than 200 followers, which I think is a great idea, to help bring attention to great blogs with fewer followers :) Here are some of my favourites :

 

Natasha

Angel

Jetleyface

Sammy Scribble

Samantha Ayson

MuiMui

 

Okay I would put more people on, but I'm sleepy now :P Feel free to do these questions if you're reading this post!

 

So veryyyyy sleeeepyyy

 

Sunny xxxxx

 

I found this in town :)

 

 

Getting Rid Of Dark Circles

I've just been on a really really long dog walk and now I'm starting to feel sleepy. We walked around a gorgeous lake, which also happened to be where the river bits of Chocolat were filmed (loooove that film). Now I'm back and ready to curl up and blog :)

I've had really bad horrible evil dark circles for ages and ages and I've always hated them, but recently they've actually been getting better (haven't disappeared completely yet though :P). I thought I'd share a few of my favourite tricks.

The biggest thing that has affected my dark circles has been changing my diet. I didn't know for months and months that the reason I was ill all the time (every single day :P) was that I was gluten intolerant. Now that I've cut out gluten a very welcome side effect has been a decrease in the darkness of my under eye circles. Obviously this won't affect most people, but it has been the case for me.

Another thing has been sleeeeeeeep. Not a shocker really. But over exams my sleeping patterns became really erratic and fragmented. I'd get to sleep about 5am, but keep tossing and turning waking up every 20 minutes or so until about 11am when I'd start revising again (this is not a good way to revise btw...). So since coming home and getting to sleep at normal times my bags and circles have lessened, (my skin and energy levels have gone up too :P).

Evening Cat, getting his beauty zzzzzzzzs

This time of year is horrible for allergy sufferers, pollen flies about everywhere bunging up your nose and giving you puffy eyes. I always have an allergy tablet every day in the summer (and whenever I'm around my little fluffy cats) to prevent this. Also, my biggest biggest biggest downfall when it comes to eye circles if rubbing my eyes when they're itchy. I literally can't help myself, and rubbing your eyes breaks all the teeny delicate blood vessels under your eyes, causing really awful dark circles. I can always see the next day when I've been rubbing my eyes.

My mum bought me this eye mask which you put in the fridge to cool your eyes. I love this and it really helps with puffy eyes. Anything cooling is good, not just gel eye masks. I used to use tea bags soaked in cold water (the ingredients of the tea also help de-puff) but I always doze off with one of these masks on, and I always ruin the pillow cases with tea stains :P Other good options are cucumber or tomato slices.

Finally a good night eye cream can be really useful. I got this Beaute Initiale Eye gel as a free sample when I bought my Chanel foundation and I've been loving it. I've been using it for a month and it's just about getting to the end, this one is 3ml, and it's £42 for a 15ml bottle, which should in theory last just over 5 months. I really do like this product, and I can definitely see results, my eyes feel a lot less puffy and my dark circles are reduced after using this for a month. If I could afford the full size version (which I can't right now :P) I would definitely buy it.

I'm off to Kent for a week and a bit tomorrow to see my friends and boyfriend :D I'm so excited > . < I haven't seen some people since I went to uni in September! I will be bringing my laptop along too though, so there will be plenty of posts :P

Sunny xxxxx

I Won Yoshi's Giveaway :D

I won Yoshi's (from the super cute blog The Cute Side Of Life)  giveaway :D Yays ^ - ^ The prize is so completely adorable and fantastic, it's lots of little things, and honestly, opening the parcel felt like Christmas :P Everything was so sweet and she sent a really cute letter as well :) It was such a nice surprise in the post this morning.

I won't go into everything I got because as you can see the prize is hugeeee! Lots of cute stationary, little bags (the teddy bear bag is soooo soft), Hello Kitty things and some make up too!

One of the things I'm really excited about are the My Beauty Diary Black Pearl masks, they look really good :) Also the eyeshadows are so gorgeous, I really like the ones with the butterflies on the lid, the pigmentation (yes I've already been swatching :P) is fantastic :)

Another cat update :  My numpty cat who dislocated all of the bones in his lower leg is back home from the vets! Unfortunately for him he has to be in solitary confinement for two weeks, which means that my dad has to give up his study for two weeks as well :P Also the vet told us a metal claw was going to be used to rejoin the bones back to their sockets, I assumed this mean inside his leg...oh no, I was veryyy wrong about that. There's now a massive metal claw sticking out of my cats leg and going back into his foot > . < it's so very icky. I was considering putting a photo of it on here, but I don't want everyone reading this to faint from the grossness :P So you'll have to use your imaginations instead :P

Sunny xxxxx

How I Clean My Make Up Brushes

Right now I'm curled up with my cat, warm and cosy in my house whilst the weather is STILL awful outside. This would be quite nice on a winters day, but it's not what I want in the summer > . < I want shorts and dresses and sunglasses! :( Sometimes living in England is just no fun.
Anywayyyy, I washed some of my brushes today and I thought I'd share how I do it. Obviously washing make up brushes is really important, for one thing to get any colour off which you might not want to apply next time you use the brush, for another re-using unwashed brushes results in bacteria being transferred and causing break outs, which is never good.

Unwashed brushes

I don't tend to have a fixed schedule for washing my brushes, for my eyeshadow brushes I usually try to wash them more often as I don't have many and need to keep them in circulation. But as for my face brushes, these get washed a lot less frequently, every other week probably, if I remember that is :P

I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo to wash my brushes, this is better than soap because it washes out easily not leaving any residue and keeps the brushes soft, whilst still cleaning them. I like to squirt a large blob out next to my tap at the sink, because it's too much hassle to pour out individual bits for each brush. Then I run a tap of lukewarm water slowly, so it's a constant flow, but not too strong. Then I just swirl each brush in the baby shampoo and rinse under the tap. If I'm washing eyeshadow brushes I have to do this a couple of times to get the colour out. For larger brushes I make sure the baby shampoo gets all over the brush instead of just swirling it in the shampoo, before rinsing.

Then once all the brushes are clean I lay them out on my windowsill, waiting for them to dry ^ - ^

Nice clean shiny brushes ^ - ^

Quick cat update : My ridiculously silly Evening Cat has managed to dislocate all of the bones in his lower leg! He's staying at the vets for a few days for his surgery, and should be fine, but we still have no idea how he managed it > . < What a silly kitty :P

Sunny xxxxx

Bright Summer Nails

It's amazing how quickly home can get boring isn't it? During my last few weeks of uni I was pining for home, for my dog and cats, my comfortable bed, my room full of mess and a clean kitchen. But now after 3 days home (since I got back from visiting friends) I'm bored. > . <  Oh dear, I'm thinking summer project? I just need to decide on one first!

To counteract my boredom and the miserable weather outside I decided to wear gorgeous bright blue nails to liven things up a bit. I got this polish from Skin Food during my holiday to Korea two and a half months ago (it feels like it's been so much longer than that!). I actually only bought it because I fell in love with the cute frosted bottle, but after wearing this on my nails today I'm now in love with the colour too.

Ahhh, just so happy ^ - ^

I'll keep you updated if I find a summer project, maybe doing the garden, getting a job, getting fit, eating healthily...who knows :P Of course there's still the possibility that I will win the lottery, become a millionaire and go on a fabulous holiday this summer... :P

Fingers crossed the sun comes out :P

Sunny xxxxx

Very Restrained London Haul

I feel as though I've been away from my poor blog for years and years even though it's only been a week, my poor lonely little blog > . < But I've been having a fantastic time visiting my friends and having fun so it's not all bad :P I spent four days with Daydreamer and then another four in London with another friend. I've had such a busy, but fun week :P

Even though I was in London for the Jubilee I didn't go down to the river to see the procession, the weather was just too awful! I heard people saying you got shouted at if you put up an umbrella, so I'm quite glad I didn't go :P Even so there was a really festive spirit when I did go out, loads of people wrapped in Union Jacks and lots of pretty bunting everywhere ^ - ^

Of course when I went to London I had to go shopping, because, well it's London :P I was really rather restrained, I bought two things (although I'm showing you four because I got two things before I left for my visit :P). But that doesn't mean that I didn't spend a lot, trains, the tube, food and clubs are expensive in London :P (But I did manage to go to Ministry of Sound which was sooo much fun :D).

I finally got Naked, the Urban Decay kind, not the socially awkward arrest worthy kind... I literally ran into House Of Fraser, grabbed Naked, paid and ran back out because we were dashing to catch a film :P (Avengers again :P I love it too much). It was one of my fastest shops ever :P

Used it once it London, bring it home only to find the mirror smashed on the journey > . <

I also popped into Primark to pick up a onesie :P But I've decided onesies are practical student wear, so I HAVE to have one. Next year when I can't afford heating and I'm freezing up in North Wales I will spend all day in my teddy bear onesie, cute and warm :P I've already worn it back at home, despite it being June it IS England, and as I write it's pouring it down outside :(

Finally my before London buys, I got two Andrew Barton products from Asda, these were two for £6, such a brilliant offer. I've been using The Frizz Tamer everyday before I go out and it makes my hair so much sleeker and shinier, really in love. Yesterday I used the hair mask for the first time and loved it too, it smells incredibly yummy and although it is a bit of a hassle to use (wash hair, put on mask, leave overnight, rinse in the morning) it really has made my hair lovely and soft.

That's it for now, in theory my hauls should stop until I either get a job or go back to uni, but lets be honest...there's no way I could ever show that kind of restraint :P

Sunny xxxxx