The Liebster Award

Hello there! This is just an extra little thing I thought I would do since the lovely Isobel nominated me for the Liebster Award. The low down on the Liebster Award is that it's a small tag type thing that is going around the smaller blogs at the moment and it's a nice way to learn more about each other since we have to answer 11 questions about ourselves. So thank you Isobel for tagging me and thank you to anyone who reads!

Here are the rules: 

1. Link the blog that nominated you for the award.

2. Choose 11 bloggers to nominate who have less than 200 followers.

3. Answer 11 questions given to you. 

4. Let people who you have nominated know you have done so.

5. You can't nominate the person who has nominated you.

6. Create 11 questions for the people you nominated to answer.

7. You must follow the blog that nominated you. 

Here are the questions I have to answer:

1.Why did you start your blog

I started my blog because I became obsessed with reading other people's blogs and kept thinking about how I would review different products and imagining outfit posts. Basically I wanted a piece of the action.

2.Where are you from?

I'm from the North West of England. More specifically Manchester and more specifically than that, a town just south of Manchester called Stockport. I've lived here my whole life and it doesn't seem as though I'm leaving anytime soon.

3. Favourite music artist/s?

My favourite artist is a singer-song writer called David Ford. He's rather unknown but he can write a damn good tune and his lyrics are so clever. My favourite band is the Gaslight Anthem who I have seen live. They are a rock band but it's really easy listening as in it's not too loud and they actually sing the songs which are really catchy. However if I'm being totally honest, on a daily basis I mainly listen to musical soundtracks. 

4. What did you/do you want to be?

I have little idea what I want to do. All I know is that I want it to be something to do with design. Possibly interior design, maybe fashion design. Theatre set design has also popped into my head on numerous occasions. There's too much choice and my head feels like it's going to explode every time I think about the future. I'm such a together person. 

5. Have you dyed your hair before?

I died my hair a veerrryy long time ago and it was an 8 week type thing and it looked exactly like my normal hair colour. I wouldn't mind some temporary colour in the form of hair chalks though as this seems like very little upkeep and I am supremely lazy. 

6. Favourite make-up brand?

I had to actually come back to this question after answering the rest because it is such a hard question. One I don't actually think I can answer. I have such a range of products from many different brands. For example I probably like Revlon the most for lip products but I don't own any of their foundations. My favourite foundation is from Estee Lauder but I haven't tried any other products. But if I HAD to choose I might say Rimmel because it's an oldie but a goodie. It was one of the first makeup brands I got in to and I've tried something from each section like mascara, eyeliner, foundation, blusher, lipsticks and nail varnish and they've never let me down really. I'd say its the most reliable low end brand. 

7. The worst food ever?

Tomatoes. I bloody hate tomatoes. The look, the texture, anything to do with tomatoes (unless its the sauce on top of pizza, yum!)

8. Heels or flats?

I'm gonna be difficult and say neither... or both. Somewhere in the middle. I like a bit of height but I don't like tottering around on skyscrapers all day. Shoes with a heel like the Vagabond Dioon shoes I featured in my wishlist post here are the perfect height for me.

9. Do you have a special talent?

I wouldn't say it's a talent but I really enjoy doing accents or impersonating people. Also pulling weird faces.

10. What was your favourite subject at school?

At high school I would probably have to say textiles. My best friend was in the class with me and it was something I felt I was good at. In college it would have to be sociology. My teacher was Irish, not to mention a total dish. I had that class for an hour everyday... it was a good two years.  

11. What's your favourite city? If you have one. 

I'm gonna be a walking, talking cliche right now and say New York or Paris. I have visited both and there's something amazing about them. It's like I feel like a different person when I'm there. I would happily go back to either of them tomorrow. 

And now for my 11 questions:

1.What is the meaning behind your blog name?

2.Do you prefer high end or low end makeup brands?

3.Who is your girl makeup crush? (celebrity/guru whose makeup you wish you could have/copy)

4. What is your favourite tv programme?

5.What is your most treasured item? (doesn't have to be beauty/fashion related).

6. If you could move to anywhere in the world, where would it be?

7. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?

8. Have you ever broken a bone?

9.If you won the lottery what would be the first thing you'd buy?

10. What was your first word?

11. Are you a cat or a dog person

Now its my turn to tag 11 people

1. mollywishes (my sister)

2.inourownprettyways

3. Lipstickloveheart

4.therebellejournal

So I managed to tag an almIGHTY 4 PEOPLE. Don't judge me okay I'm a very small blog, very small. So I hope you enjoyed reading this. I thought it was a nice little extra thing I could do on this very boring Sunday. 

Thanks for reading! Lots of love,

Outfit of the day #3

H&M Blouse- £14.99

H&M Bowler Hat- £7.99

Primark Necklace- £3

New Look Skirt (Old)

New Look Coat - Sale

Asos shoes-  Canvas version sold out, patent version here

Lips- Sleek Pout Paint in Powder Pink

So if any of you saw yesterdays wishlist, you may have noticed that I have already bought the shirt I featured. My self control is top notch. I wasted no time and have worn it already with, surprise surprise, a black skirt! I'm so imaginative. I just tucked it in at the front so as not to lose the floatiness of the shirt. 

I bought the bowler hat on a mad dash around H&M and I have no regrets. Who knew such a simple accessory could add so much interest to an outfit? Probably lots of people. But it's new to my world and I am welcoming it with open arms. I put the gold chain on because I wear it with everything apparently. I don't think there's many things it doesn't look good with.

This coat is perfect because it is completely plain black so it goes with everything and because it's a boyfriend coat it is really on trend at the moment. I find it to be a really flattering cut as well. These type of coats always add to outfits rather than take anything away. There's nothing worse than having to put on a coat that doesn't quite go with what you're wearing.

The shoes are the same shoes I featured in my first ever outfit of the day which you can find here. I am always slightly nervous to wear these on a day to day basis because of the height of the heel but they are so easy to walk in and I never have any problems.

Moving on to the rings. The little midi ring is one from a Primark set but the real standout piece is the Love/Hate ring which I found for £1 in New Look. Thats right Ladies, £1. I know this won't be a lot of people's cup of tea (I'm pretty sure my mum only pretended to like it) but I think it's so cool. It has 'love' written on one side but when you flip the little heart over it says 'hate'. I wear it with the 'hate' side facing up because I'm so dark and deep. 

On the lips, I slapped on the Sleek Pout Paint in Powder Pink. It's your basic everyday pink but there is something really lovely about the formula. It's a no nonsense lip product that I find really easy to apply and it looks really nice as well. I currently have 2 in my stash and I definitely wouldn't say no to more. 

 This was just a quick little outfit of the day and be sure to look out for some of these items in an upcoming haul! 

Thanks for stopping by. lots of love,

wishlist #1

H&M Blouse
£14.99 - hm.com

Monochrome Checked Skirt
£17.99 - newlook.com

Vagabond Dioon Shoes
£65 - office.co.uk

Cheap Monday Wallet
£20 - asos.com

Topshop ring
topshop.com

Forever 21 jewelry
forever21.com

Boohoo Faux Fur Mitten
£8 - boohoo.com

Clarins Instant light natural lip perfector
£17 - boots.com

Clinique Stay Matte foundation
£22 boots.com

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Honey Lip Balm
£9.50 - Escentual.com

MUJI Acrylic 5 drawer storage
£24.95 - muji.eu



I think I might be ill. It took me so long to think of these 10 things that are on my wishlist at the moment. My wishlists tend to consist of A)Things I know I am never going to own (I can dream, can't I?) followed by B) the more realistic and C) the dreaded essentials. Ugh. Thankfully I'm going to spare you the boring bits and let you in on what I've been hankering for lately.

1. Just a smidge late on the bandwagon with these Clarins lip perfectors. But there is something so satisfying about the packaging. They're pastel and they're sleek and shiny and thin and I just really want one OKAY?!  But £17? For real, Clarins?
2. I already have a silly amount of acrylic storage and I don't need a 5 drawer tower but my makeup is overflowing and its very inconvenient. A girl needs her storage.
3.  This Cheap Monday purse is my favourite item on my wishlist. I get bored of purses really quickly but I loved this one as soon as I saw it. Its so simple yet interesting because of the colour and fabric. and it's unlike other purses you'd normally see on the high street. 
4. I keep seeing this shirt in every H&M I go in and it looks much nicer in real life I promise. Its made of chiffon so its quite sheer and floaty. It's also cropped so it hangs nicely and I can imagine it being really comfortable. It's also not ridiculously priced, thank you H&M.
5. Moving on to the second lip product on my wishlist and its the Nuxe Rêve de Miel Honey Lip Balm. I know its not a new thing on the beauty blogger circuit but I have perpetually dry lips and I like to switch up my lip balms so my lips don't get too used to a certain formula. I was really intrigued by this because of the number of people who have raved about it so hopefully I'll be able to try it some time in the near future.
6. I want real silver midi rings. I know the rings I linked aren't real silver, they were just there to represent my need. I have such a number of midi rings but they tarnish after one wear and then I don't like to wear them again. But this brings me to another problem and my dilemma is two fold. Number 1: I want them to be cheap which probably isn't possible because its real silver. Number 2: I don't know what size the top of my fingers are so I wouldn't know what size to order. #beautybloggerproblems.
7. Oh Clinique, you had me at 'Stay Matte'. This foundation already ticks all my boxes. Oil free? Brill!
Matte? Yes please! Now the only question is... does it work? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to buy it and find out. 
8. This skirt is representative of my need for more clothes for my bottom half. I am very much a black skirt kinda girl and its getting kind of boring. I need to break out of my black skirt rut and try something new, hence the patterned skirt. I like this one because the pattern is not too over the top or in your face. Its exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Sadly, its out of stock in my size. Curse you, newlook.com!
9. We've reached my resident 'thing I know I'm never going to own'. The Vagabond Dioon Shoe. These shoes are everything I could ever wish for in a shoe. They're black canvas so perfect for everyday wear. They have a 6cm chunky heel so they give me the height I love whilst the platform makes it feel as though you're not wearing heels. They also stop below the ankle which means they'll be no attack of the cankle. It's a win win win win situation. However there is one loss. The price. I can't pay £65 no matter how deep my love. 
10. Lastly is these cute little (big) mittens from Boohoo. I've been stalking these for so long but have never bought them. Every time I walk out the house and I'm cold I think about these mittens. They're completely covered in fur so they must be super warm. One day, Boohoo faux fur mittens, one day. 

Thank you for taking a look at this post! If you have any suggestions for me be it silver midi rings or ideas for my bottom half woes please let me know in the comments! 

Lots of love,

Review + Swatches: Revlon Colorburst Matte and Lacquer Balms

Lacquer: Demure, Coquette. Matte: Elusive, Unapologetic, Audacious (top to bottom)

 Demure, Coquette, Elusive, Unapologetic, Audacious (left to right)

Demure: pale, shimmery pink

Coquette: Shimmery pink

Elusive: Everyday matte pink 

 Unapologetic: Bright pink with blue undertones

Audacious: True, almost fluorescent orange

I know you'll all have seen these a billion times by now but I needed to do this to feel like a true blogger. I am only able to show you 5 of the 20 new offerings from Revlon as, obviously, I'm not made of money, I couldn't buy them all but I think I got a decent spectrum of colours (okay maybe I was leaning towards the everyday pinks a little bit). 

Demure is the lightest colour you can buy and it looks super light on my lips but I think I quite like it. It's possible that it washes me but I kind of like the dead look. My least favourite is probably Coquette because it reminds me of a colour that young children would wear and think they were the bees knees in. My favourite of the lot has to be Elusive because its a really easy to wear pink but isn't so boring that it gets lost in your face. Unapologetic is a bright pink, which looks darker in this picture. I do really like this colour but I'm not quite in the fluorescent pink mindset yet. Audacious is my wildcard of the bunch. Orange is a colour that I don't think suits me very much and when I ordered it online I didn't realise how orange it was. I think I'll have to wait until spring or summer to know how I really feel about this one. 

In regards to the shades that I didn't buy, I don't feel desperate to add any to my stash which is unusual for me. Maybe they look nicer on the lips but i think I'll save my pennies this time around.

The formula of the matte balms is really nice. They glide on really easily and it doesn't feel like you've just painted a layer of cement on to your lips. I have worn these to work and I have to say my lips did feel very dry by the end of the day but that could be the air conditioning that sucks the moisture out of EVERYTHING. The formula of the lacquer balms is much more moisturising (duh) however I find them to be just a tad too shimmery, they verge on glittery.  

Overall, I do like them however I am tempted to reach for something else when I'm deciding what to wear on my lips in the morning. I feel like I have to wear them because of the hype around them rather than because I actually want to wear them, d'ya feel?

Which colours did you get? Do you agree with me?

Let me know! Thanks for reading, love,

Outfit of the day #2

T-shirt - Men's section of Tk Maxx (£12.99)

Skirt- Asos (old)

Shoes- Topshop

Coat- New Look

Hat- Tk Maxx

Lips- Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm in Demure

Rings and Watch- Primark

I feel so bad that I haven't blogged for 2 days. The batteries in my camera died and I kept forgetting to buy new ones. It was really frustrating as I felt like I was just getting to grips with this whole blogging malarkey. Anyway I'm coming back at you this fine Tuesday evening with an outfit of the day. I went into town with my friend with the intention of handing out CVs as we have both been let go from the company we both worked for. However after plucking up the courage to go into all of 2 shops we sacked it off and went to the cinema. It ended being a really nice day (even if the film was 3 HOURS LONG). 

I decided to take my new Toki Yo! t-shirt out for a spin and I'm glad I did. It's so comfortable to wear and the material is so soft that it hangs off me in a way that stops it from looking like a man's t-shirt. It's also a little bit see through which means there's a hint of the sassy about it. 

I tucked it into this plain black skirt just to emphasise my waist to make the outfit a bit more feminine. 

Then I donned my New Look coat which you can't get me out of at the moment and threw on this hat as the burgundy red colour corresponds with the red lines on the coat. Plus it was friggin' chilly today.

Lastly I added some silver jewellery and my trusty Topshop shoes which you can tell I wear a lot because they look absolutely horrific in this photo, sorry! Then I trotted out the door (completely forgetting to take outfit photos, these were taken when I got home. Oops!).

Are you one for a statement tee? What do you think of mine? 

Let me know!

Thanks for reading,

I went shopping...

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation in 010 Light Porcelain (Review here)

Rimmel Stay Blushed in 004 Sunkissed Cherry

 Max Factor Wild Shadow Pot in Auburn Envy

 Revlon Colorburst Matte Balms in Audacious, Anapologetic and Elusive (top to bottom)

Revlon Colorburst Laqcuer Balms in Demure and Coquette (top to bottom)

Seche Vite Top Coat

 Makeup Bag- Primark (£3)

 Bag- Topshop Sale (£15)

 T-shirt (mens) - Tk Maxx (£12.99)

 Jumper- H&M (£14.99)

Necklace- Primark (£3)

Jumper- Zara Sale (£12.99)

You have no idea how much I want to tell you that this haul has accumulated over about 2 weeks but I'd be lying because this happened in 2 days. 2 days. It's a problem, it needs to be addressed, but lets move on to the haul. 

I've already done a review on the Stay Matte foundation so click here if you want to give it a read. I also got the Stay Blushed cream/liquid blusher to go along with it because I happened to swatch it and really liked how it looked. I find it to be a more spring/summer colour because its a coral shade so I'm looking forward to trying that when the weather gets a bit warmer. 

This Max Factor eyeshadow was a totally random purchase. I like the colour but I don't think it's that pigmented. I'm going to keep trying it though and see if my opinion changes. 

Next is something that I've been rather excited about but have to admit I'm the teeeeeensiest bit disappointed with. Its the Revlon Colorburst Balms. Mainly I'm disappointed with the colour range. I'm just not that thrilled by the shades. Saying that, my favourite is 'Elusive' which is a matte balm and it's a really nice deepish pink colour. There will probably be a review with swatches on the way though so I won't give too much away.

When perusing the aisles in Boots I happened upon this Seche Vite Top Coat and I launched myself at it. My local Boots is rather small so I didn't even know Seche Vite was stocked in larger Boots or if this is a new arrival. Either way, there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be mine and I am expecting wonderful results. No presh Seche.

Next I bought this little makeup bag from Primark which has telephone boxes embossed on it. I've been looking for a cute little makeup bag for ages because my on-the-go makeup sloshes around the bottom of my Tardis bag and I can never find what I'm looking for. This will do the trick very nicely.  

Moving on to clothing items! I don't usually go in Topshop but I was killing time and popped in and spotted this bag. I love it because it looks like a vintage item and best of all it was only £15 reduced from £40. 

I don't know why I was so attracted to this t-shirt from TK Maxx as I don't usually go for slogan tees or anything of that variety but I found the 'Toki Yo!' slogan really unusual and cool.

I love how distressed this jumper from H&M looks. I've already worn it and love it. 

As if I don't already have enough gold necklaces! This one from Primark is really heavy which in my mind equals good quality. 

Lastly I bought this jumper from the Zara sale and I think its so unusual with the raised leaf design. It was originally £45 which is absolutely mind blowing but I got it for a cool £12.99. What a steal.

And that concludes my haul. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things I shouldn't have bought. 

Any tips on how I can curb my spending? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for visiting,