August favourites 2012

Wohoo my first favourites post! I've loved this month! I'm really enjoying my break from uni, if anything uni's taught me to love home again and how lucky i have it to have a stable family and home to come back to!

So here are my favourite products for this month...

Soap and Glory Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em body buff

I bought this as i wanted a new scrub and Soap and Glory products were 3 for 2 at Boots at the time! I have to say i'm very impressed! It smells divine, the actual scrub is gorgeously pink and my skin feels so smooth after i've used it. I'm nearly 6ft tall and i'd say i'd get about 5 full body scrubs out of a tub maybe more! Will definitely be repurchasing! 

Venus Breeze Razor

I love this razor! Bye bye disposables, it's time i started really taking care of my skin by using good quality shaving products! I bought this after zoella talked about it in her favourites video! The razor is pink and the razor heads smell divine (there's a scratch and sniff on the packaging, if you ever see it be sure to give it a sniff!) and they have 2 pink moisturising pads either side of the blades which keep the skin happy! The idea is to use it wet or in the shower and the pads provide a lather. This is actually really hard to use dry so if that's your thing i wouldn't recommend this! From now on i'm definitely investing in shaving! 

No. 7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water

This is a lovely cleanser- i might be able to find better but for the £9 price tag it does quite well! My skin gets on well with it and i think it does a better job of removing make-up than cream cleansers! This is something i've totally incorporated into my skin care routine and have really enjoyed using! 

 Benefit The Porefessional Primer

Everyone knows about this product so i won't go on about it too much! I got my sample from Glamour magazine when they did their annual collaboration with Benefit. It's lasted me well. I use this on my nose where i have larger pores and make up doesn't last as well. This product really helps with that and i will definitely be purchasing the full size! 

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation in B10 

I've really been into lesser coverage foundations lately and this is a great one! I only used to use it as a "layering foundation" ie i'd apply it over what was left of my day foundation ready for an evening out. But now i embrace its more natural coverage. It still let's some of my flaws show through but just makes my skin look much better. See it in my FOTD blog post here. 

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Mascara

I wasn't very impressed with this mascara but after it's dried out a bit I'm in love! It gives great length and definition to my lashes! I will repurchase this soon! 

As you can see the wand is slightly curved which helps to "push the lashes up." 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balmstain in Honey 

One of Revlon's newest releases. The UK didn't get the same colour selection that the US get- no surprise there. But to me Honey is the most wearable and it has been gracing my lips a lot this month! I don't need a mirror to apply so it's great on the go and is actually quite moisturising on the lips! 

Here are a few pics of me wearing it...

Yes those are my lips, i'm not pouting i promise! 

So there are my favourites, what are yours? 

Becky xoxo

To tell or not to tell...

That is the question. Who to tell about your blog?

At the current moment in time my boyfriend knows i'm writing a blog and we're having a text conversation where he's trying to convince me to let him read my blog but i'm not sure...If someone in my life finds my blog on their own terms then fair enough but i'm not sure i want to advertise it. I'm certainly not going to be to my friends "read my blog read my blog."

I'm actually quite a private person (Not the ideal quality trait in a blogger ey?) I was once in a relationship with a person who was the opposite to this. I really didn't like it when he told everyone things i'd rather be kept private, just things i'd said to him in texts etc. It didn't end the relationship but it taught me that I value my privacy in all aspects of my life. I know who i wouldn't want to know certain things etc.

I worry what people will think. People who know me know i have a large make up collection but may not understand why blogging about beauty is something i'm enjoying. Having a twitter and a facebook is pretty standard now but having a blog is still quite taboo. On twitter i might say i found £1.40 in the washing machine earlier and was wondering whether to keep it. On facebook i might put up pictures of me with my friends. But to put up pictures of my eyeshadow on a blog, or to write a post containing my thoughts on the honeymoon period in a relationship is something very different that you don't get anywhere else except your blog.

I also think that the person you are when you write may well be different to who you are to others in real life. For example I found a blog of someone i know who writes poetry- something i never knew about them, or i know that someone else i know is a lot more depressed than she lets on. Would she post these things if she knew i was reading them? I don't want to feel like i have to restrict what i say because people i know will be reading. I used to be pretty deep. Only listening to songs whose lyrics related to my life etc. Back then i was an awkward teenager and probably not genuinely happy. Now i don't do that anymore because i'm happy with who i am and i'm happy in my life. I don't have the huge lows where all i want to do is listen to songs to make me cry. Moving to university and being in my first serious, happy relationship has definitely changed me!

Lastly, along similar lines of writing about what i want, there are ways i know i want to use this blog. So for example if i want to talk about my own relationship i can. What i don't want to happen is to say certain things because i know my boyfriend is reading, or this housemate knows about my blog etc. I don't want to post making subtle hints or jabs towards my boyfriend in the hope that he might read it. Kind of like back in my msn days putting song lyrics in the personal message box to send hints to people. (Just me? Oh well...)

If you've got to the end of this ramble congratulations! Have a virtual cookie...

Do people in your real life know about/ read your blog?
Becky xoxo

I'm going on summer holiday!

Hi all!

My boyfriends been here for the past few days and I'm off on holiday today with him and my parents! I have some scheduled posts going up so blog won't be neglected! But I thought i'd let you know the reason why i havent been replying to comments and commenting on your lovely posts!

Becky xoxo

My skincare routine

Hi everyone,

Today i wanted to talk a little about skincare. My skincare routine may seem minimal but my skin is fussy (it didn't get on with the cult classic Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish- its that fussy!) I know how i like it to feel and how i like it to look so these are the products i use for my current skin care routine, though i don't switch it up that often! I have combination skin in case anyone is interested!

Step 1.) L'oreal gentle eye make-up remover

I've used this eye make-up remover religiously since i was in year 9 at school. That's about 6 years now. I go through a bottle once a month but its cheap as chips to buy- between £2-£3! It removes all my eye make-up and doesn't irritate my eyes at all! I've never wanted to stray away and try something new and i never will unless it is discontinued!

Step 2.) No. 7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water

The newest addition to my skin care routine, replacing the Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion. It's much less messy to use than a cream cleanser, removes my make up effectively and easily and its about £9 to repurchase! The main deal breaker for me though was that my skin seems to agree with it! It's marketed at those with normal/ oily skin so if that's you i'd definitely recommend trying it! 

Step 3.) Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash and Mask

This is a great dupe for the Dermalogica Dermal Clay Cleanser! It has the same white clayish texture but is a bit more creamy than the dermalogica cleanser! If you have oily skin clay cleansers can be great to sort the oil out! I give this product credit for sorting out my skin and reducing spots to give me clear skin (though there are 2 other products i give credit to that i mention later in this post!) I don't hear much about this product in the beauty world, though recently both Estee from Essiebutton and Sara from SWalkermakeup mention that they love this product too! I use it every evening but I used to use it in the mornings too when i wanted my skin sorting out!

Step 4.) Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser 

I prefer this moisturiser to Simple's light hydrating one and have used this for ages! I use it morning and night and Simple is a really inexpensive brand so you can't really go wrong! 

Step 5.) Dr Nick Lowe Dark Circles Correcting Cream 

When I remember I pat some of this into my orbital bone. It's pricey but i did notice a difference when i used it morning and night religiously for an extended period of time. 

*Worth a mention* 

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit facial wash & daily scrub

I used the facial wash morning and evening religiously when i decided i wanted to really sort my skin out (the bottle i have left is a little gross now so please ignore!) Before this i used the pricey Dermalogica clay cleanser i mentioned earlier so no longer believed in drugstore skin care but i became a poor student and so gave these a whirl! I used the scrub every couple of days and i did see a difference in my skin! I don't know if it's because my skin got on well with the products or because i began to wash my face in mornings but these products did blow me away. Though i will say i found that the facial wash did not lather very easily so i used it with the scrublett from the L'oreal perfect clean  range (mine is at uni so i can't show you in this post) which helped a lot so i'd definitely recommend that! 

So there you go, that's my skin care! Pretty simple I know but my skin's happy and I don't get breakouts very often so that's good enough for me! 

What skin care bits do you love? 

Becky xoxo

My brain is turning to mush...

I think the title sums it all up really. And i think my brain is turning to mush for 2 different reasons...
1.) British schooling
2.) Summer holidays

Back when i was in senior school, what i would give to be that carefree again, like most i studied many subjects years 7-9, then 10 subjects in years 10-11 for GCSEs. This got cut down to 4 subjects for A levels, Biology, Psychology, Maths and History. Now i study 2 subjects at university, Neuroscience and Psychology. I remember a week during my AS mocks where i had an exam in a different subject each day; biology one day, psychology the next etc. I remember being sat in my history exam beavering away at my essay on Henry VIII and being so "in the zone" for history that i thought 'how am i ever going to be able to do a maths exam tomorrow?' and sure enough the next day i sat there in what i thought of as my "maths frame of mind." I was amazed at my brain's ability to think in different ways- though given my degree subject i think its safe to say i am a bit partial to brains! :P

But now i don't know if i could do trigonometry (it took me 2 attempts and a lot of sounding out to even spell it!) I think the specificity of degree courses and the dropping of maths after As level (maths and i weren't meant to be!) closes off an ability that i once had. I know its impossible to be great at everything but it amazes me how one of my best friends since we were 5 who lives in America studies chemistry, french, psychology and probably lots more.. I do like British schooling. Its got me where i am today and it allows you to specialise quickly and to drop the subjects you hate, like physics (as a biologist i am scared of physics, proven by a module i took this year where they tried to teach us about seeing membranes as a circuit and my brain shut down because it has a physics phobia.) But I can't help but worry about my possible declining mathematic ability, or my uneasiness of writing a timed essay because only 2 of my modules so far in my degree have required an essay. In third year nearly all modules require an essay, which is the sign of in depth knowledge and is how final year modules should be examined. But i worry about my ability to show my knowledge within a time constraint and how to plan it all effectively. I suppose i will be taking advice from my boyfriend who does history and can bang out essays like there's no tomorrow.

Secondly i went from exam hell and revising solidly for about 13 hours a day to nothing. I can't imagine being back in lectures having to learn. I'm spending my free time reading blogs and watching videos about beauty, something which i love and enjoy don't get me wrong, but i feel my academic mind fading fast. I feel my motivation slipping. I don't want to go back to deadlines and trying to prove to staff and myself that i'm clever and deserve a good mark. I have intelligence but i really have to work for it to come across in an exam.

So i said to a lovely coursemate of mine about my mind turning to mush and she told me about TED (not the film as i first thought) but TED :
  http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/science
It looks amazing and i cant wait to explore more... as soon as their isn't an episode of Pretty Little Liars or The Glee Project to watch. Oh deary me, what is this madness!

That's all for now, apologies for the ramble. I can't shut up sometimes when i type!
Becky xoxo  

Face of the Day- Tea and Cakes

Today i went for a tea and cake afternoon at one of my friend's houses. We all baked something to take along, i baked slutty brownies (link here but i used my own brownie recipe) and oreo brownies. I think its safe to say i'll never be hungry again! But i thought i'd show you the make up i wore!  

On face: Benefit Porefessional primer, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation in B10, various concealers to cover my troubling dark circles, MAC mineralize skinfinish natural in Light Plus, MAC Pink Tea blush, MAC mineralize skinfinish in Blonde, Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray. 

On eyes: Benefit lemonaid eyelid corrector, MAC paint pot in Bare Study (base), MAC eye shadow in Naked Lunch (lid), Urban Decay eyeshadow in Tease (from Naked 2 palette, on outer corner/ crease), MAC Nylon eyeshadow (inner corner), NYX super skinny eye marker (top lashline), Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous mascara, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Perversion (waterline)  

Have you guys tried any of the products i use? 

Hope you enjoyed! 

Becky xoxo

All that glitters- a late discovery.

Fishing around in my make up drawer I randomly decided on a sweep of All That Glitters by MAC, a cult classic, across my lids. I'd had this in my collection for well over a year and never gave it much of a chance. I never really got why so many people had this as one of their favourites. Boy was i wrong about it! 

As you can see in the pan it looks like a general champagne lid colour. I'd always dismissed it in favour of my beloved Naked Lunch, also from Mac.

Even as a 'hand swatch' to me it doesn't come across as anything special..

But as a "finger swatch" there's something special about it that i never noticed. A shimmery copper hint...

(I recommend clicking on the photo to view it larger-you'll see the copper hint!)

Now i am not usually one to put coppers (or pinks for that matter) anywhere near my eyes but on an impulse i went for it and i'm pleased to say i'm in love! 

Eye make up: Mac Bare Study paint pot (base), MAC All That Glitters eyeshadow, NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker (top lashline), Maybellie Lash Stilleto Volumptuous Mascara and what's left of my Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion (waterline)

Now you have to excuse my late night photography- the eyes are most certainly not in tip-top shape by this point- but i hope you can see how lovely it is! 

It's a truly lovely quick-and-easy lid that i will definitely be sporting once back at uni. I have hooded eyes so crease colours fade quickly and for me often aren't worth it so wash-of-colour shadows are my fave! 

That's all for now,

Becky XOXO

Introduction and blog schedule

Welcome to my little world! I'm currently a university student but will soon be out into the big wide world! Come with me as I blog about relationships and beauty! 

SCHEDULE! 
Beauty Tuesdays- A new beauty post every Tuesday including everything from favourites to hauls. 
Saturday thoughts- A new post every Saturday covering any topic to do with life

Enjoy,
Becky XOXO