Getting Healthy!

I wasn't sure whether I should write this blogpost or not as I know weight is a touchy subject for a lot of people. I also found it hard to come up with an appropriate title; something along the lines of 'My weight loss journey' seemed to provoke the wrong meaning for what I was aiming for with this post, as it's not just about me losing weight, it's about getting healthy and changing my lifestyle. I guess I should start at the beginning.

When I started Uni Sept 2011, I weighed 8 and a half stone and was a UK size 10. Everyone's heard about the Fresher 15, right? Well, it's unfortunately it's not a myth. Living by myself for a year, and getting my evening meals provided for by Uni (part of my accommodation deal, I'm not just lazy haha) meant the pounds were slowly creeping on. I'm the first to admit my eating style back then was shocking. I came home every weekend, so for 5 days of the week, I would have a bowl of cereal for breakfast then not eat anything until half 7 at night when I would get either a burger or a baguette, accompanied with a load of chips. Despite my bad diet, I would lose half a stone in 5 days and put it all back on over the weekend when I would binge on Chinese takeaways and Cathedral City cheese (the luxuries us students can't afford ;)

I moved back home for my second year, but my diet didn't get any better. Spending 4 hours a day on a bus to get to and from Hull, meant not only I wasn't getting any exercise, but I would also just shove crap into my bag in the morning when I was rushing, such as crisps or chocolate bars.

The last time I weighed myself, I was ten stone and luckily I'm still a UK size 10 (I don't know how either.) You may be reading this and thinking, well why do I want to lose weight? Especially if I've not even gone up a dress size. I'm going to put this out there now. I DO NOT think I'm fat, so please, no horrible comments telling me I'm complaining about nothing. This is to do with me feeling better about myself and hopefully, giving me some motivation. It's about changing my diet and not feeling bloated and dehydrated after a greasy takeaway (anyone else ever get that?) Also, I'm a big lover of vintage clothing, and own quite a few dresses. Everyone knows vintage is a one off, and I'd be absolutely gutted if the clothes I've worked hard for and looked after no longer fitted me. There's been a few times when I've tried a gorgeous dress on for it not to fit and I've thought that if I weighed what I did three years ago, it would be mine.

People may also know that I'm getting married next year. This is not a motivation for me to lose weight. I hate the idea that all brides should look the same, and be skinny, just for one day in your life. You should only lose weight if you want to, not because some wedding magazine, or some stand at a wedding fair, tells you you have to be a size 8 to be gorgeous on your wedding  day. I think there's so much pressure on brides these days, but I'm going off topic, so I'll stop there haha.

I think I should put it out here that I also have the contraceptive implant, but I do not think it has contributed to my weight gain. I got it done 6 months before I started uni and didn't put any weight on in that time. It may have increased my appetite, I'm not sure. But I don't like putting the blame on contraception. My body would not have been able to cling onto fat, if I didn't shove the fatty stuff into my mouth in the first place.

I joined a gym in Jan, like most people, and sometimes I go three times a week, sometimes once. It depends on how much work I have. I will have a week of healthy eating, loose 4 pounds, then think 'oh great, I've lost 4 pounds, I can treat myself to a takeaway.' But then the treats last all week, and I pile the weight straight back on. Because sometimes, I don't get back from Uni til half 6 at night, I just eat whatever has been cooked in the house, and 9 times out of 10, it isn't healthy food.

The idea of me blogging about this is to hopefully, give me some willpower. I'm going on holiday in three months and would ideally like to be down to nine stone. At the gym I'm at, they have a machine where they tell you your accurate weight, height, BMI and fat percentage. I'm think I will use it once a week and post the results on here, whether I've lost or gained weight. This is a big step for me, as I'm sure it would be for anyone, posting their weekly weight on the internet for strangers to see.

I thought whilst I was doing this, it would give me a chance to try out some of the Slimming Solutions Boot Camp Body Wu Long Tea given to me at a blogging event I recently attended. I have already tried some, and  it doesn't taste bad at all. I will do a more in depth review in a
few days.

Hopefully, I'll find time to go to the gym a bit later on today. In the mean time, if you are reading this, and have any suggestions or recipes, I'd love to hear them :)

Don't forget to follow me on bloglovin if you want to see how I get on.  

My top 5 products under £3!

I've been thinking of doing this blog post for a while now, but I wanted to make sure that the products I've included are products I actually love and use myself that I think are brilliant for the price. As a student, I know how it is when you're feeling a bit tight with money, but hopefully this blog will help fellow makeup lovers to update their makeup bags without spending a bomb in Boots.

The first product on this list is naturally my NYC liquid eyeliner. I first saw Suzanne Jackson on sosueme.ie review this and apparently Megan Fox uses this eyeliner. As someone who is not a big fan of liquid eyeliner, I can safely say this is one of my Holy Grail products. I use this nearly every day. I find it so easy to create the perfect cat eye flick, as although it is a brush. it's shaped like a pen rather than a nail polish (if that makes sense.) I'm still on my first tube but I know this is a product I will buy over and over again. I put the price as £1-£2.49 as I bought mine from Superdrug for £2.49 but then saw it appear in Poundland.

My Miss Sporty Dr Balm is another goody found in Poundland. I was going to put my Maybelline Babylips on here, but I've decided I like my Dr Balm so much more. I love the taste and the formula feels more nourishing than Babylips. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Babylips, I just think for £1 cheaper, I would probably go for Dr Balm. The one thing I will say is that I'm not sure if this product contains SPF whereas Babylips does. Again, this is £1.99 in Boots/Superdrug but I got mine in Poundland.

Of course, I had to include an MUA product in this blog post. I recently bought an MUA eye primer after using up my Smashbox one and for the price, I think it's brilliant. Of course, it's not going to be as good as my £15 high end one, but for £2.50, I can't complain at all. Eye primers are new to me and I can't believe how much difference these make to my makeup.

I literally bought my Collection 2000 Lasting Colour lipstick a couple of weeks ago, and I've already made my mind up that I love it. I chose the shade Queen of Hearts, a deep bright red that's very similar to my No7 Love Red lippy, but there are 11 other shades to chose from. This lipstick has SPF 15, so if that's something that's important to you, you don't have to worry about that. I will be adding more of these lipsticks to my collection, I like them that much.

The last item in my list is the L'Oreal Colour Infallible eyeshadows. I have two of these at the moment, and I love them so much. You may see this product in the list and think that they're £5.29, £2 over my £3 limit. But I don't buy mine from Boots/Superdrug. I first discovered them on Fragrance Direct for £1.50, which I think is amazing. I know with the postage it would actually make the product £3.50, so unless you're buying other stuff, it would push it over the £3 limit. The other option is Ebay. On Ebay, you can find these for around £2.20 (depending which buyer of course) with the postage included, still a lot cheaper than the shop price. The only bad thing about buying this product from these sites, is the lack of shades.

So here's my list :) I hope you saw something you'd consider buying and I hope I inspired you if you want to give your purse a bit of a break.

Don't forget if you like my posts to follow me on Bloglovin :) Link at the top of the page.

Superdrug Mini Haul

I don't know what it is, but I always feel a tad guilty purchasing makeup from Boots and Superdrug when they don't have their beloved 3for2 offer on. I just feel like kicking myself each time I buy over two items because I know if I waited until these offers were on, I'd save so much money. But maybe that's just me.

As I mentioned on my last post, I went to Hull on Saturday with my friend to attend the Hull Blogger Meet. I'm in Hull at least three times a week anyway for Uni, but I'm usually on my own and don't really head into Princes Quay which in my opinion is a better Superdrug than the one in St Stephens because it stocks Sleek and other brands. But as I was in there, I decided to treat myself to a few bits, as all the previous beauty talk made me crave new things.

The products I bought weren't expensive. Three were from the MUA range and 1 was from Look, but all of them I'd had my eye on few a couple of months.

The first thing I picked up was a Look Mini Makeover Palette. I think Look is a brand not really talked about in the blogging community, but I'm not sure why because they have gorgeous blush palettes and they're not exactly expensive. The Mini Makeover Palette was on offer £3 for instead of £6 which I was delighted at. I was going to buy it a few weeks ago when it was on offer for £4 but they didn't have the one I wanted. At least by waiting, I saved a quid. The palettes are adorable and I think such good value for money. You get 8 eyeshadow shades, 4 lip colours and 1 blush. I haven't used the eyeshadows yet, but the blush is so pigmented I actually had to blend it out quite a bit. Next time I'l remember not to be so heavy handed! The lip products are also good. The one thing I like about this product is that there are four different palettes to choose from, all based one different eye colours, apart from the 'Rock Chick' one. I chose the shade 'Baby Blue Eyes.' I think, if I decide I like the eyshadows, I will probably purchase the other eye colours. This is great for something to simply pop into your handbag.

The next thing I picked up is the MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder. I've wanted this since hearing someone on a youtube video describe it as Benefit's High Beam in powder form (I forget the youtuber, sorry.) I'm trying so hard to get into highlighters as everyone swears by them, but up to now, I haven't found one I love, so hopefully this will change that. This cost £3.

The next thing I picked up was this MUA Trio eyeshadow palette in shade Chocolate Box. This cost £3 I was instantly drawn to this because of the colours. They're pinky shades and so shimmery and gorgeous. I know the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay has pinky shades too, so I thought that until I can afford that, I'll stick with this. Unfortunately this isn't as pigmented as I'd like it to be, which is probably expected at £3. I find that tapping the product on rather than stroking it on works better. I also find that two of the shades are actually very similar. However, when I have it on, it looks so pretty with a nude lip.

The last thing I bought was an MUA Pearl eyeshadow that only cost £1! This is a gorgeous dark purple almost metallic shade, and I can't wait to use it. I've heard that these work best if the brush is a little wet, so I'll be sure to try that technique. The shade I bought it in is shade 24

Overall, my products came to £9.50, so something was on offer I wasn't aware of, but I've lost the receipt so I'm not sure. I'm happy with all of the products and they will keep me going until Superdrug announce another 3for2 offer. Have you tried any of these products before?

Hull Blogger Meet 22nd March 2014

If you follow me on twittter, then you'll already know that yesterday I attended the Hull Blogger Meet Up. It was my first ever blogging event and I was so excited and happy that I got a chance to go.

The event took place at The English Muse on Newland Ave. Me and my boyfriend were going to have something to eat there back in January but it was fully booked, so I was glad that I'd finally get a chance to see what it looked like inside. If you're into books, art or simply places with a lot of character, then you'd love this place.

I attended the event with my friend Abbey. It was only by chance I discovered this event existed. I had English Muse on my facebook and they revealed that they were holding a beauty blogger event, whilst sharing the blog of Charley, the organiser. I tracked Charley down on twitter, asking her if she'd let me know if she ever organises another event, and to my surprise and utter delight, she told me I was more than welcome to attend yesterdays. I asked if it was possible to bring a friend who also blogged and she said yes.

At first I was nervous; I've only been blogging a few weeks and I don't have hundreds of followers so why should I even be attending a blogging event? I didn't know what to expect at all. But I needn't have worried. About 12 girls attended the event; each one with different blogging experiences. Everyone was so lovely and welcoming.

We all ordered our drinks and shimmied round so everyone had somewhere to sit. The drinks were amazing! I ordered a cookie and cream milkshake (sorry diet) and Abbey ordered a mint ice tea.

We chatted for a little while and everyone introduced themselves and said where they blogged. Then we got given the goodie bags. Oh my God, the goodie bags. I don't think anything more could have been crammed into them. I'll write another post in a couple of days detailing what was in the bags, but as you can see from the photo I posted on Facebook there was loads. Everything from slimming tea, to skin products, to makeup to some quirky jewelry. Plus I have some discount codes for my readers :)

After the goody bags, we did the raffle. To my joy, I actually won a prize (I never win) but then I found out Charley had enough prizes so everyone won. Why doesn't every raffle do that?! That idea needs to catch on and fast. The raffle prizes were amazing too; I won a Baylis and Harding bath set which was huge and so did Abbey. Other's won makeup brushes, February's Glossy Box, fake tan and more.

After another hour or so of chatting, we all heading into town to do some shopping. Unfortunately we lost everyone as we went on separate buses, but we only had an hour or so anyway before we had to catch the bus back into Grimsby. Abbey spent about a months wages on Lush bath bombs, and I got a couple of bits from Superdrug but I didn't go wild because I was already carrying a bag full of stuff I hadn't even gone through properly yet.

And that was the meet up :) I think if you're considering going to a beauty blogger event but are a bit nervous because you are a newbie blogger (like me) then just go for it. Nobody is going to think you don't deserve to be there because you have less than 100 followers. You might even get some great tips from other bloggers on how to build your blog up. Overall, I had a great time and I can't wait to attend other events in the future :)

Mini Boots Haul

So yesterday was the last day of the beloved Boots 3for2 offer, and I was thinking to myself how I hadn't really taken advantage of the offer. I've spent a lot of money this month on new storage and Mother's Day presents so I kind of put myself on a spending ban. At the start of the offer, my boyfriend treated me as I did well in my uni results and I also stocked up on some Soap and Glory skin care range, as I would have bought it all eventually anyway. But that was it.

However, I remembered I had some points on my Boots card. Not many, about £8.50 worth, but I thought I may as well go into Boots and spend them as two of the things I wanted weren't expensive anyway.

The first thing I picked up was the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer. Considering I've been reading blogs for over a year, and blogging for 2 months, I should really have owned this by now as nearly every beauty blogger loves this product. But to me, it was something I kept saying I would buy next time (I set myself a budget each month, whether I stick to it or not is another story.) But today, I finally purchased it, to see if it lived up to the hype. I chose the shade 'cool medium' as when I tested them on my hands, it seems the closest one to my skin tone. There's little difference between this one and 'light' but I thought as it's coming up to summer, my skin will darken soon anyway. I have this concealer on now, and I must say I'm quite impressed  at the coverage. I'm going out to dinner soon with my friends so it will be interesting to see if it lasts all night. 

The second thing I put in my basket is this Soft Khol Kajal eye pencil in white by Rimmel. I've wanted a white eyeliner for ages to line my waterline with and make my eyes look bigger. I didn't want to spend more than £3 on one, as I don't really like spending much on eyeliner. I was torn between this one and a Natural Collections eyeliner, but I went with Rimmel as it's a more well known brand, and I don't own anything from Natural Collections. 

The last thing I bought was a Collection 2000 Lasting Colour lipstick in the shade Queen of Hearts. I recently saw Annie Pancake wear it in this blog post and I thought it was a stunning shade. I was shocked that it only cost £2.99, the packaging is nice and sturdy. I wore this out tonight as well and it reminded me of my No7 Love Red lipstick but I actually liked the Collection 2000 one a lot better. Even through a full meal and one messy pudding, my lipstick lasted. I'll definitely be checking out other shades in the Collection 2000 range. 

Overall, I'm pleased with my products and I think it was 718 points well spent. Did you make any last minute purchases in Boots yesterday? 

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder Review.

Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder is something I've been using for the past couple of months. I kept hearing mixed reviews about this product, however, after seeing it in BodyCare for £2.99, I decided to give it a go to make my own mind up on it. I got the shade Peach Glow.

The first thing I'm going to talk about is the packaging. You see the state of the product? It's left my house twice. Yes, TWICE! The first time, I popped it in my bag when I went to uni and when I got home, I discovered a crack in the plastic casing. Slightly annoyed but just figured I must have dropped a book on it or something. I wasn't going to take it out again, but on a night out, I quickly chucked it into my bag so I had something to keep shine at bay (the clubs in my home town aren't known for their air con. It gets so hot.) Anyway, I was sat down, rummaging through my bag for my phone, when this fell out. I was sat down so it wasn't like it had far to fall, but the lid went flying off and a huge chunk of product chipped away. At least it wasn't the whole thing. So, yeah, if you buy this, either keep it in a tough makeup bag so nothing can get to it, or just don't leave the house with it, as I can guarantee it will break.

Other than the useless packaging, I was quite impressed with the product. The product claims to provide natural shine control for up to five hours and help minimise the appearance of pores. I wouldn't say it lasts for five hours but I think it depends on what I'm doing that day and how warm it is. I tend to touch up before I go into class anyway, so this is about 3-4 hours after applying the powder for the first time and I don't notice too much oilyness at this point. But if I don't touch up, by the time I get home, I look awful.

I couldn't comment on the appearance of pores as mine aren't that big anyway.

I will definitely buy this product again, as for around £3, I think it's amazing. I've just recently bought the Stay Matte foundation so it will be interesting to see how long the powder lasts using that as well. I would recommend this to anyone, as I think it's very subjective to your skin type, so for £3 you may just end up discovering a great product.

Fragrance Direct Haul #2

So I wasn't expecting to place another order on Fragrance Direct quite so soon as my last one. However, my mum said she wanted some bits off there for Mother's Day. After trying to get out of her what she actually wanted, I was quite unsuccessful so I got her around £25 worth of stuff to surprise her with. I'm not going to put on here what I've got her in case she decides to have a nosey :P

I also wanted some bits for myself, although I told myself I would wait at least another month. But as I was already placing an order, I thought I would save on postage and get the things I wanted now.

The first thing that went into my basket is the Revlon Colorstay foundation for combination/oily skin in shade ivory. I've only ever owned 2 different foundations and both were by Maybelline, but a lot of bloggers talk about this foundation and say it's a dupe for a Mac one. My foundation has been looking a little dark for my skin lately, so I got this in the lightest shade possible and so far, I'm quite happy with it. Although, I'll probably be too dark for it again in a few weeks, the way this weather is going. This cost me £6.99, quite a big difference from the £12.49 RRP.

Rimmel Stay Matte Shine Control foundation went in second. I received a sample of this in a magazine a couple of months ago and really liked it, although the sample was only big enough to use twice. Again, I got this in the lightest shade possible. I used it again today and I really like it, although like most other drugstore foundations, the lightest shade is still a bit too dark for me. Nothing a lot of blending won't fix. There's another version of this foundation on the site, with the packaging seen in Boots and Superdrug and it's simply called Stay Matte, so I'm not sure what the difference is between the two foundations, whether the new one is just updated packaging. Anyway, this cost me £3.25.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch in the shade Radiant Rose went in next. I wasn't sure what this was when I added it, but I was intrigued so I bought it anyway. After using it and doing a little research online, I've found it's almost like a highligher. It adds a glow to the skin and also a hint of colour, not so much as blush though. I'm still figuring out if I like it, but for £2.25, I couldn't really go wrong.

Last time I ordered, I said I wanted to try out a couple more of the Dainty Doll Eyeshadows, so two more went into my basket. I chose the shades Lollipops and Roses and Jungle; Lollipop is a bright pink and Jungle is a teal colour, both bright, pigmented and gorgeous. I still can't get over how cute the packaging is for this product either. My only complaint is that the shade isn't written anywhere on the packaging, so it's quite annoying having to open all three of the pots to see what colour they are. It was easier when I only had one! Again, I'm really impressed with this product and especially the price which is £1.99. There are three shades left on Fragrance Direct that I haven't got, so if they are still available when I order next, they are definitely off in my basket.

I also got another L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eyeshadow in shade Up All Night. I'm not going to go on about these, as I think most beauty bloggers own one, but oh my, this shade is gorgeous. It's a deep blue that would be perfect for any evening look. I can't wait until Friday when I can try this out. I'm definitely investing in more of these shadows. These cost £1.50.

The next two products were also L'Oreal. I got two L'Oreal Colour Riche Made for Me Lipsticks in shades Sparkling Amethyst and Orange Fever. I chose the Sparkling Amethyst shade as my favourite Rimmel lipstick is called Amethyst Shimmer. The colours are quite similar but I'd say the L'Oreal one is a bit brighter. It has specks of glitter in it, which like it's name sake, makes it sparkly. I bought the Orange Fever shade as I recently bought a Revlon Matte balm in an orange shade (might have been audacious?) and I loved it. I thought I'd get a non-matte lipstick to see what it's like. I must say, I don't like it as much as the Revlon one; it's almost too bright, but I will keep at it. Both lipsticks were £1.99 each.

The last thing I bought was a Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in shade 201, which is the lightest shade available on the site. I got this because like most people, I always want things I can't have and Hard Candy is a US brand not available in Boots or Superdrug. The packaging on this is amazing as you can see from the photos. It's so bright and quirky! The lipstick however, I'm still undecided on. It's a really pale pink with a shimmer and I'm not used to wearing shades like that. I've worn it twice, and the first time I hated it, the second time I thought it made my lips look a bit bigger. I think it depends on what makeup I'm wearing with the lipstick.

So there's my second haul :)

Revlon Color Stay Foundation £6.99 - RRP £12.49

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation £3.25 - RRP £5.99

Rimmel Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch £2.25 - RRP £4.99

Dainty Doll Eye Shadow (x2) £1.99 -RRP £11.50

L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eyeshadow £1.50 -RRP £6.99

L'Oreal Colour Riche Made For Me Lipstick (x2) £1.99 -RRP £7.99

Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick £1.95 - RRP £8.50

So all together I spent £23.90 instead of £77.94 saving a massive £54.04, which I think we can all agree is pretty amazing. Have you ever bought anything from Fragrance Direct?

(Oh, and can we all take a moment to admire the background for my blog my boyfriends making for me. It's not finished yet, but I'm loving how it's starting to look :)

The Liebster Award :)

So I got home from uni yesterday to find out I had been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Own Kind Of Beautifulx. I've never been nominated for a blog award before, although I have only been blogging for a few weeks, but it was a lovely surprise :)

The idea is to answer 11 questions set by the person who nominates you, followed by 11 random facts - so here goes :)

1. How would you describe your personal style?

Erm, my style changes daily depending on how I feel that day, what the weather's like and whether I have time to iron my outfit. I love vintage clothes though and love wearing playsuits, and the small selection of original vintage dresses I own. A compliment from my dad is 'You're looking very modern today.' as he hates my vintage clothes haha. My style icon is Katy Perry and I love the quirkiness of her outfits so I try to follow that with unique bags and unusual hair accessories :)

2. Do you have a nickname?

My name is Lucy so it gets shortened to Luce a lot. My friend also calls me a name that rhymes with my last name but it's quite rude so I won't put it here :P

3. What's your favourite ice cream flavour?

Chocolate, or coffee  :)

4. What was your favourite programme when you was a child?

Er, this is a tough one. When I was a toddler, apparently I used to watch Barney a lot and as I got older, I tended to watch most programmes on the Disney Channel, so Lizzie McGuire, Suite Life, 8 Simple Rules etc...

5. If your life was a movie, what would the title be?

Tough questions! :P Maybe a title from a song I like, something angsty like 'Awful' from Hole.

6. What made you start your blog?

A lot of things... I study creative writing so writing is a hobby anyway and this was one way of expressing that, that doesn't cost nine grand in tuition fees. I also read a lot of blogs and kind of wanted to put my own opinion out there on products I like.

7. What music do you like?

My music taste is so weird and varied... My favourite band is Blink 182 and my first tattoo was their logo. I also love Taylor Swift. My ipod is just full of different artists from Miley Cyrus to screamo. It would be easier to say bands I dislike, which are any bands that fit into the 'Indie' genre, especially if they're British. I can't stand bands liken Artic Monkeys, I don't know why, I've just never liked them. I much prefer American bands.

8. What are your main interests?

Obviously, blogging and makeup would be too obvious. I love reading, and I'm in my third year of uni studying English Literature at the minute. I also love vintage; I go to a lot of vintage fairs and enjoy visiting the one local female vintage shop we have. Also, a big interest is my wedding which is happening next year :)

9. If your life was a movie, what actor would you get to play you and why?

Jennifer Lawrence because she trips up almost as much as I do.

10. What's your favourite food?

I love Chinese food, we get a Chinese takeaway at least once a week. In fact, me and my family are on first name terms with the  lady who owns our favourite Chinese and she brings us presents back from China haha

11. What is your favourite quote?

What a horrible question for an English student! I have 'And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.' tattooed on me and it's from The Perks of Being a Wallflower which I read about 6 years ago when I was 15 and it changed my life.

Also, 'All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring.' which is from Chuck Palahniuks Invisible Monsters, which is my favourite book.

And lastly '“They say women can’t play guitar as well as men. I don’t play the guitar with my fucking vagina, so what difference does it make?” - Brody Dalle. I consider myself a feminist and think this quote can be applied to pretty much anything girls get told they can't do as well as boys. 

11 Random Facts

.My birthday is on Halloween.

.My boyfriend proposed to me on my 19th birthday. A lot of people said we were too young. 2 years later, we set a date to get married. 25/07/2015 :)

.I have 2 pet geckos.

.I'm in the middle of watching 90210 after discovering it on Netflix and I'm addicted. 

.I didn't own a foundation until last year.

.Me and my boyfriend are off to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria this year. 

.I'm naturally blonde.

.I'm about 35 books in on a 100 books to read before you die list.

.I can't walk in heels, something I really want to do.

.I own a dress that's around 70 years old.

.I  used to have my septum pierced.

That was fun to do :) I hope you enjoyed finding out a little bit more about me. Keep an eye out for new blogposts over the weekend, featuring a new haul from Fragrance Direct. And don't forget to follow me on bloglovin :)

Poundland Haul

This post may seem a bit weird considering in my last blog I was talking about a high end brand, but recently I've found myself heading into Poundland to see what they have to offer in their beauty aisle. I only started buying beauty products from Poundland in the last 3 months or so- I've always known they sold beauty stuff but always thought it was the cheaper brands or brands I've never heard of and it put me off. However, after seeing a blogpost (and I have no idea whose blog this is, I read it about 3 months ago as I was just googling stuff) and seeing someone else's Poundland haul, I decided to take a look at what they have to offer.

Everything I have bought has been over the space of a few weeks and has been from 3 different Poundlands. Annoyingly, they never have the same stuff. But here's a quick run through of the goodies you could potentially find if you happen to head into one :)

Skin Care

I always have a pack of baby wipes handy - I use them for everything. If I'm feeling lazy, I will use them to remove my makeup. I even use them when cleaning my room to remove any marks on my floor or to wipe down a shelf. I probably go through a pack a month, so I tend to pick some up in Poundland every few weeks to keep me going.

I picked up this mud mask after wanting something to do one evening, however, it's not very good. I think I have quite tough skin but this made me irritated and sore and I probably won't use it again.

Hair Products

I love looking at the hair stuff in Poundland, you can usually find well known brands, some relatively expensive, like Aussie, and try out some of their stuff. I will say one thing though - Even though the product appears cheap at £1, you should look at the amount of product you get, as some bottles in Poundland are often smaller than if you get them from Boots or Superdrug and it works out more expensive. However, if you simply want to try a product out, they go ahead. I haven't followed my own advice here, as I didn't check whether a product would be cheaper anywhere else before buying it, but as I bought 2 of the products to try out, and 1 because I was in a hurry and had no time to go anywhere else, it doesn't matter too much.

The V05 Volumising Spritz spray was one of the first things I bought. I love my hair to be big and bouncy so I decided to try this. Unfortunately it doesn't really do much, or not that I can tell anyway, so I simply use it like a hair perfume now. So if I've been cooking and want to head out, I'll just give my hair a quick spray with this to make it smell a bit nicer. My hairs naturally curly so spraying my hair allows me to scrunch up my hair to bring the curl back but I get the same effect with water. I was not impressed with this product.

I also got an Argan Oil hair mask, which I actually love. I've got a more expensive sample hair mask which I got free with a magazine a while ago and loved the feeling it gave my hair, so I bought this. Although it doesn't do quite as good a job, for £1, you can't complain. I will definitely buy this again.

The last is a conditioner. I bought the Garnier Fructis shampoo from Savers and I quite like it, so I just picked up another conditioner when I was in Poundland as they are the same price as the Saver's ones.

Nail Polish

One thing I've been getting into recently is nail polish. I'm quite lazy and can never be bother to paint my nails, and there was a period of about 3 months when I couldn't for work, but lately I've been building my polish collection up.

The first one I bought is an OPI Shatter Polish in black. My sister was actually quite shocked that I got this at the quid shop as she's a beauty therapist often uses OPI on her clients. I like the effect this polish gives my nails, it almost reminds me of leopard print.

The next one is a Graffiti polish, and I'm actually unsure of the brand. It may be Poundland's own creation, I'm not sure. Like the shatter polish, this is more for a nail effect than a polish on it's own and I painted this over black and loved it.

I recently bought the Sally Hansen polish and the Rimmel polish. I was just instantly drawn to the colours, although I haven't had a chance to wear them yet.

The last one in this pile is a Miss Sporty polish which actually came with a lip balm and some nail stickers. Yes, three products for £1! To be honest, I only bought this because I wanted the balm and although I haven't used the polish yet, I can't imagine I'll like it. It's a reddish brown colour.

Nail Tools.

I bought these items more because of how they looked rather than desperately needing them, but I think that's the case for most of the stuff I own. The nail files come in a pack of six and I thought they were so cute and quirky, I just had to have them. I love anything vintage/retro looking so these really appealed to me. I'm not a fan of these types of nail files, I prefer metal or glass ones but now I have enough to simply pop one in my bag, another in my dressing table, another by the side of the bed etc...

The second thing I bought was a little manicure kit. I was in desperate need for some nail scissors anyway so this gave me the perfect excuse to buy it. I think this is so adorable! I love the film Breakfast at Tiffany's so I decided I must have this. I think the quote is amazing and the little purse would be perfect for travelling, even if I do swap some of the things inside for slightly better quality items.

Makeup 

I left the best til last. I was surprised by how many brands like Rimmel, Revlon and Maybelline were sold in Poundland. I don't know that much about the products, whether they were discontinued or not, but I think some of the products are lovely all the same. I was also very excited to see that they sold some US brands like Hard Candy and Wet n Wild which you can't buy in the UK (unless of course, you find them in Poundland.)

I'll start with the US makeup first. I have 2 eye crayons and a baked eyeshadow by Hard Candy. I actually used the eyeshadow yesterday and I loved it. It reminds me of a Bourjois one I own, but obviously cheaper. I wasn't so impressed with the eye crayons. I found them difficult to use and they weren't very pigmented. Although I did use the darker purple one for a base so it wasn't a complete waste of money. The eye crayons were 2 for £1.

I also got a Wet n Wild blush which I'm also very happy with. It only takes one sweep of a brush to enough blush on there, in fact, sometimes there's too much so I have to tap it off. It's very pigmented and for £1, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I have yet to use the Rimmel lip liner but I don't own many lip liners so thought I would buy this to try it out. It's a lot darker outside the packaging; it's more of a brown than a red.

The mascara is a Maybelline one and I was intrigued as I have never seen it before. To be honest, it's not a bad mascara, but it's not amazing either. It's brown rather than black so I would perhaps wear it at work if I didn't want a thick mascara look but I wouldn't pick it up for everyday wear.

Lip Balms

The last two products are lip balms. I love my Miss Sporty Dr Balm, in fact I think it's better than Baby Lips. The taste brings back some nostalgia for me as it reminds me of the first lipstick my mum ever bought me. The lip balm is orange and I think it tints my lips slightly, though doesn't stain them. If you're a fan of Maybelline Baby Lips or just love lip balms in general, I recommend heading over to Poundland to get one of these. In Superdrug they are £1.99 so you're saving money.

The second one I included in my February favourites and it is the Carmex lip balm. This stays on the table next to my bed and I was so happy to find it in the quid shop as I've been wanting to try this for ages.

So there's my haul :) Have you picked up any gems from Poundland recently?