Pastel perfect!

Bit of a late in the day post, written to you about bright colours whilst I watch the darkness that is Game of Thrones! Stupid Joffrey is annoying me again.. 

Anyways, finally, Spring is upon us, and that means the shops are filled with pretty pastels and florals (my next post) and I must say, I'm enjoying all of the brightness on the shelves.

Unfortunately, funds are so tight because of holiday saving I can't buy anything to show you, but of course I've been window shopping (well, can you call it window shopping if it's online? Browsing just doesn't sound as good…) and thought I'd show you all some of my top picks online for the pastel craze. 

The Scuba Skater Skirt £10, Woven shorts £10.50, Nude Pink mid-heels £17

My favourite of the three has to be the skirt, only £10 from Boohoo.com, they've done it again with their affordable on trend fashion! I'm not usually a fan of scuba skirts, I don't know why but this one is pretty lovely. It also comes in blue, blush and lilac, but I have a certain thing for mint coloured clothing at the moment. 

The shorts are so simple and yet, so pretty! As usual, Forever 21 gives us inexpensive items but at great quality, I mean a pair of shorts like this at somewhere like Dorothy Perkins and they'd cost you almost double! They look so light as well, definitely one to be adding to the holiday wish list!

I don't know what it is about these shoes (from NewLook @ASOS) but I just love them. I'm not usually a heel type of girl, to be perfectly honest, they hurt my feet and I'm much more comfort orientated with my shoes. But they are a mid-heel and they are pretty! I might just have to go and try them on if I see them in-store, girl's gotta have new shoes! 

Miss Selfridge cami £14, Oh My Love lace camisole dress £12, Boohoo crop fluffy jumper £20

I love a good cami. It'll go with anything, they're light and ahh look it's mint! They do sell this swing style cami top in Boohoo for only £6, but the red one I bought sort of stretched after washing so it's gotten quite baggy, either that or I've lost weight (woo!). This one also comes in peach, which is another of my favourite spring colours.

This lace camisole dress is so gorgeous! It was £32 and is now reduced to £12, also comes in peach, but I just preferred the grey. Now I know what you're thinking, grey isn't really a pastel colour, but this is sort of a dusky looking grey so it sort of fits in. I'm currently torn between this and another dress that I want for my holiday.. I may just have to get both I think.. It's Greece, I'll need dresses!

This jumper is one for those early Spring days when it's not that cold to wear a jacket, but you still need a little something to cover your arms. Plus, it's fluffy, so come on, you know it's gonna be pretty darn cosy. It also comes in mint (of course it does), pink and lemon. 

River Island earrings £2, Miss Selfridge Petites nude blazer £39, TopShop crochet flower bracelet £8

Now, I don't have my ears pierced, which pains me, silly allergies, but I love looking at earrings. These little heart studs are so dainty and cute and at only £2 are a right steal! God, there's so much pastel green about, I love it!

The blazer, is a little pricey for my usual picks, I'll admit. But there's something about it that just makes me want to wear it everywhere. I love this blush sort of pink, it makes you look quite tanned and for a girl afraid of fake tan who has pale skin, that's a really good thing! Blazers are also a great staple item for your wardrobe and can be both dressed up and down, so are good for those chillier of Spring days.

I love crochet! I wish I could crotchet myself, but I just don't have the patience to learn something like that. At only £8, it's a bargain and would add something extra to any outfit. Sort of looks a little vintage as well, which is always a good thing.

Stone and Pink Winged Satchel bag £19.99

Last but not least, you may recognise this bag. It may have been featured on my blog before.. you got it? That's right it's my very own beloved winged satchel bag from New Look! I adore this bag, it's so stylish and goes with absolutely everything and is my everyday go to bag, the only problem is it's a tad awkward to get in and out of because of the clasps. Now of course I don't have this exact bag, I have the grey and black version, which don't get me wrong I love, but I kind of want this one now.. There are no rules about having the same bag twice right? 

What pastel coloured items are you loving at the moment? Let me know below! 

xo

Birchbox March Review

So a bit of a late one here, I meant to post it in a video, but then my body decided to give me a coldsore and Elephant Man Tasha is not something you want to see in HD. I'll try and get the next one filmed as a general unboxing :)

This month's box was the LuLu Guinness collaborated box. Although this was a bit of a disappointment considering this was pretty much it for the LuLu-ness of the box besides a black and white striped stick of rock for the 'lifestyle extra' which was actually quite nice! I love black and white as much as the next former goth sort of teenager, but I was expecting a little bit more. 

This month's contents. It looks a little empty I know, but I think that's just the way I've arranged it..Yes I did already eat the rock before I took the pictures this morning.. 

First item is the Dr. Brandt 'Pores no more' pore refiner. Pretty similar to that of the Benefit POREfessional that I received in my first ever Birchbox. I got a pretty respectable 7.5ml size and I must say I love it! In my opinion, I actually prefer this one to the Benefit alternative I was raving about. It smooths your skin a lot more and gives more of a flawless look. The full sized bottle is £39 for 30ml, which is pretty darn pricey, but I'd definitely say it was worth it.

Next up is the Korres Citrus Little Body Milk. I've not really used this product much, so I can't really say a great deal about it, but it does seem to make your skin a little softer and the smell is pretty good! Not something I'd necessarily buy, but I'm more of a facial skincare kind of girl, not the biggest body milk/butter fans. The full sized bottle is £9.50.

The English Laundry no.7 for her perfume was a pleasant surprise. After the amazingness of the Elizabeth Arden sample I received in one of my first ever beauty boxes, everything I get is compared to it. This perfume, although lovely, still doesn't come too close. It has a bright and fruity scent and is one I'd say I like, but it's a bit pricey at £47 for the 50ml bottle. 

This is the Molton Brown Rhubarb and Rose Replenishing hand cream. Right now, I love beauty boxes. I love getting skin care samples. But I literally have hand cream samples coming out of my ears now! I do not use them! I always get disappointed in body lotions and hand creams, no matter how nice the scent is. This one again, does smell lovely but it's just not something I'd use so I feel like it's a bit of a waste. I'd like to see more make up products from these boxes!

We got a 7ml sample and the full sized bottle is £10 for the full sized 40ml.

Maybe one for Mother's Day?

The star product and LuLu's pick this month was another Benefit product! I'm not going to complain, I love Benefit just find it so expensive. This is the Stay Don't Stray in light/medium. I'm glad that Birchbox paid attention to my skin colour and sent me the lighter version, there's nothing worse than a sample that's too dark for you. You place three dots under and on top of your eyes and then blend it in and it's supposed to keep your make up from 'straying' all day. I've used this a few times, and considering I don't use concealer, it's worked amazingly. I put it on in the morning and my make up is still there come dinner time! It's definitely something I'd recommend. 

It's £20.50 for the full sized bottle and definitely worth the splurge. 

Oh, here's the striped stick of rock I was on about earlier. Was peppermint and lovely :)

Stay tuned for the April Birchbox that I should be getting within the next two weeks, got to choose my own colour of nail polish this month, so have high hopes for lots of Spring inspired pastels in this box! 

Have a great Friday xo. 

What I ate Wednesday.. On Thursday

Ah my damn memory, I forgot to photograph anything yesterday so thought I'd give you last weeks WIAW considering I couldn't post due to computer issues and add it to a What I ate Thursday!

 

Last week's breakfast was pancakes with greek yoghurt, red currants, blueberries and strawberries with some syrup. I adore these banana pancakes, and literally could eat them everyday, but you apparently shouldn't have too many eggs in a week and considering these are two eggs per recipe, probably best to leave it at just a few times a week. Either way it was lovely!

This morning I actually had something completely different! I'm not usually a fan of porridge to be honest, but I added some cinnamon, a handful of mixed unsalted nuts and raisins and some red currants and blueberries and it was pretty great! So filling as well. 

Last week's lunch was homemade leek and potato soup with sweet chilli crackers a handful of grapes and an apple. I literally am addicted to making my own soups. Yesterday's soup was swede carrot and leek with thyme and coriander. They're so filling and so healthy! Makes me feel less guilty if I skip out on my run on a Wednesday.

Thursday is gym day with my personal trainer, so I always have something chicken related. Usually it's chicken with rice but seriously there's only so much chicken and rice one person can eat. This is with a vinaigrette dressing. 

One of my favourite meals lately is Nandos rubbed chicken with cous cous and salad. This is the lemon and herb Nandos spice packet with Aromatic Thai style cous cous. It's so filling and oh so healthy too! I realise it must look like I eat healthy like literally all the time, but trust me I don't, I tend to eat healthy meals and then snack.. everyone deserves a little binge day once in a while! 

As if to prove my theory above right, I had chicken and bacon pasta with garlic bread for dinner. Yeah it was like way over however many calories I usually have for dinner, but I'm 20, can't deny myself a nice carby dinner once in a while! Actually this was the first time in about 3 or 4 weeks I've not had pasta so it was deserving, especially after going up another 10kg on my squats and going up to a 105kg on the leg press! I always make my own creamy sauces, this one was done with light philidelphia, a little milk some garlic and chives and parsley added in.

I had pudding today and considering I'm out of my ski mousse's I had some strawberry blubbery and red currants with natural yoghurt and a little maple syrup (like a teeny bit I promise this looks like more than it is!)

Last week's snack was my homemade oatmeal cookies a few fruit buttons and a cup of Earl Grey (of course!). I'm addicted to these little oatmeal cookies and the chocolate ones tastes like a brownie! 

Anyways there's my WIAW's (sort of) I hope you enjoyed reading them! Feel free to post yours below, even if it's now nearly Friday I'd still like to read!
xo.

Life Update!

I've been away for a while, so I thought I'd give you a little life update. Would have been posting more often but I've been so busy with interning and also my computer decided that it would have a bit of a wobbly moment which resulted in having to get an entire new trackpad meaning I was a week without my Mac! Almost killed me I'll tell you!

Tayla's getting to be a right little madam! Only three years old and going about 15! I don't know how you women out there have two of them, I take my hat off to you. Well, I would if I had a hat on.. thank god it's nearly summer. I can't wait for the long summer days where I can finally crack out the shorts again, although I have the palest legs every and fake tan looks awful on me so it's not the most amazing of sights..

Luckily, the weather has been picking up lately so we've been able to go outside! My brother's currently landscaping the garden so we don't have much grass and room to play but the playhouse is finally in! Got to love the afternoons of playing big bad wolf and blowing bubbles :). 

I haven't really been buying much in the way of fashion/beauty products lately, I just don't have the money! I tell you, trying to save up over £400 before June is not an easy task. I've been frantically looking for a job to earn some extra cash, but that along with the HypeBadger site, Tayla and uni work I haven't had time for much in the way of free time. I did however get to go to the beautiful Alexandra Palace (or 'Ally Pally' as it's called!) at the beginning of March to see Bastille! That is Dan there in the bottom middle picture, as blurry as he is. I love love love Bastille and was so glad I got to see them again, despite the fact I could barely see and we had to queue outside for over 5 hours in the freezing cold. 

Another thing I've been really into lately is baking. I've always loved cooking and considering how hard it is to eat healthily when you have a gigantic sweet tooth, I've been trying to find some good recipes for a few healthy snacks and cakes. I am absolutely addicted to these cookies (above) the chocolate ones taste just like a brownie and are pretty much just oats and cocoa powder! I've been thinking about posting a few recipes and such on here considering I can't really afford much in the way of new products to show you all. What do you think?

Anyways, that's pretty much been my life over the last few weeks, what have you all been up to? 

Would love to hear below! 

xo

Repair and Refresh

Ah stupid dry skin and dry hair.. I know I've been banging on about this a lot lately, but I've been trying new products and needed to share them with you!

I was wondering around Boots a couple of weeks ago in search of some repairing and refreshing hair and face products to help combat my dry skin and hair lately. 

I didn't have much to spend, due to the fact I have so much to save for for my holiday in June (that I may have only saved £63 for..) so this is great for those on a budget too!

First up hair - I bought the Umberto Gianni Indulgent beauty moisture mask. It's only £5.61 for a pretty big tub and it's lasted ages, I'm still under of a quarter of the way through it! It's a typical once-a-week hair mask as we wouldn't want to over condition our hair. It's a very thick formula which I wasn't expecting as I'm used to the Herbal Essences hair masks which are a tad runny, but this wasn't a problem and I actually found it went further. Oh and the smell is amazing! Smells just like you've had your hair done in a professional salon. 

Result: Well if you haven't washed your hair in a few days and you leave it on for a while (I've been putting it on in the bath then sitting there for half an hour before rinsing it off) it will do wonders for you! The tub says the longer you leave it on the better, and I completely agree. It makes your hair soft and bouncy and feels so fresh. Go buy a face mask (or make your own honey and lemon one here) light some candles and feel pampered for a an hour or two and come out with amazing hair!

Now for the skin care - This is the Soap and Glory Peaches and clean 3-in-1 deep purifying wash off cleanser. It's the first Soap and Glory product I've used and I can tell I'll be buying more from them. It's only £8 for a 200ml bottle and it's got a push pump top! I find it so much easier to use products with a push pump, you just get the desired amount far more than a squeezy bottle. Although I do sometimes mistake my soap dispenser for my toothpaste as they're both push pumps.. which as you can guess doesn't end well even if the soap does smell of cola bottles! 

Anyway, I use about 3 pumps of the stuff, and as with all cleansers, just rub it all over your face and leave it a few minutes then rinse off. It smells amazing, I'm just in love with all things fruit-smelling lately, it's making me think of summer! 

Result: I've been using it a few times a week (you can use it everyday, I just forget) and my cheeks have been a lot smoother. I think if you used it everyday for a fortnight you would definitely see a difference in your skin, it'll look healthy and feel great so I definitely recommend!

What new products have you found to try and combat the winter weather?

xo.

The haircare saviours

As a beauty fanatic I'm always trying new things, I get pulled in by the gimics and all the 'shinier, healthier hair' stuff. But at times there are always those few products that you know you'll stick with forever. 

My old faithful is the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration shampoo and conditioner. 

Lately my hair has been very dry, I think it was due to the loreal repair shampoo, it seemed to be drying it out.. That added to the fact I dye my hair quite a bit, it was feeling pretty straw like and was in desperate need of some TLC.

I swear this stuff is magic! I've been buying it at least 3 years now once every two months or so. A week of using just this every other day (I can't wash my hair everyday anymore, feels horrible) and the results are incredible. It's like I've just gotten a whole new head of hair! It's soft, silky, feels refreshed and of course it's coconut which is one of my favourite scents so it smells amazing too. If there's ever a time when you feel like your hair is in dire need of repairing, but you don't have the time to bother with hair masks, this is the stuff for you. 

What is your old faithful product? Let me know below :)

xo.

Wednesday Recipe - Corn Chowder soup!

Instead of the old WIAW where I eat pretty much the same thing I did last week, I thought I'd show you all a recipe for what I'm having for lunch; Corn Chowder soup!

I found the recipe somewhere online, but changed it quite a bit so I suppose it's pretty much my own now. I'm always annoyed that recipes are for loads of people, so I've tailored this recipe to one serving to make it easier, although obviously you can just double it up for 2 people.

Ingredients

- Anchor light spreadable 7g

- Red pepper - 30g diced

- White onion - 10g diced

- Turkey bacon (or pancetta whichever you fancy) - 2 rashers cut into strips

- OXO chicken stock cube made up to about 250ml

- Sweetcorn - 75g

- Potato - 70g cut into cubes

- Onken Fat free natural yoghurt - 30g

- Parsley

- Cumin

1. Melt the butter off in a saucepan and then add the onion, pepper and turkey bacon. Fry off gently until softened.
2. Add the stock and bring to the boil, this is where I added a dash of cumin as I wanted my soup to have a bit of spice to it, this is completely optional. 
3. Leave to simmer for a few minutes and then taste to see if any salt or pepper is needed. Then add the potato and bring back to the boil.
4. Add the sweetcorn and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potato is cooked.
5. After the potato is cooked, transfer to a blender and blend until pretty much smooth. It will still be a tad thick and a tiny bit lumpy, but that's normal and I mean come on, nobody like a watery soup.
6. Put back into the pan and add the yoghurt, cooking gently on a low heat. Then add the parsley and a few cubes of crispy pancetta on top if you want and you're done! 

If you want to made this soup a few days ahead, just make up to stage 5 and put in a sealed container in the fridge. Just heat back up then add the yoghurt and simmer for a few minutes on the day you want to eat it! I had mine with a few crackers but you can serve it with bread or anything you like really. It's a really filling lunch and only 259 calories with only 7 calories from fat. Perfect for these chilly winter days.

Hope you have a great Wednesday and as always, feel free to post your WIAW's and comments below!

xo.