Top 10 Favourite Films

 

1. Juno

2. Ballet Shoes

3. Little Miss Sunshine

4. Love Actually

5. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

6. Hot Fuzz

7. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

8. Bridesmaids

9. The Five Year Engagement 

10. 27 Dresses

I've watched all the films listed above a ridiculous amount of times; during my alevels I used to do my homework whilst watching films to make myself to do. I'm not the most self motivated person, so it meant that I did my work as watching a film stopped me from getting bored. I'm not often a fan of books being made into films but the Harry Potter series has always had a special place in heart, both the films and books. I'm a bit of a creature of habit, I like the same kinds of films; Fantasy, rom-com's or comedies... I absolutely hate scary films, not because I don't find them exciting or scary or because I can't handle it but because I simply don't find they hold my atttention enough, whereas other genres do. What are your favourite films?

Christmas Present Ideas For Her

- iPhone - Pandora - The Body Shop - Jack Wills - Cath Kidston - Instax - Orla Kiely - Clarks - Radley -

 

Every year, various members of my family complain that I'm 'so difficult to buy for', whereas I would say I'm quite easy to buy for. I don't have the most expensive taste, considering my favourite present from last year was a pair of fluffy socks that came with a foot cream; but I did get some lovely other things as well. For the present ideas pictured above, I tried to think of things that would last some time; for example Radley purses are so worth the money, they have multiple compartments and do look nice, with the pretty dog based patterns. Would be a perfect gift for a dog lover and they do seem hard wearing. Mine is two years old and still going strong.

An iPhone, or some kind of every electrical item is an obvious choice if you have the money to spend. I have an iPhone 6s and I love the iPhone system, although I know others don't. I've pictured the iPhone 7, but I'm sure about it not having a place for headphones. If a phone is outside of your budget, then a phone case is always a fantastic alternative and there are so many to choose from. I personally like the Jack Wills cases as they're incredibly durable, come in a variety of different patterns and are priced affordably. Cath Kidston cases are also lovely as they're always beautiful patterns and very strong but they are priced higher so only consider if your budget is a bit higher. Instant cameras have had a sudden resurge in popularity and so they're another good option to buy any age group; instax or instax mini are the easiest versions to find and are fairly reasonably priced. Although that said, the films aren't so reasonable as they work out £1 each, but they are fun and make nice memories too.

A watch suite a traditional Christmas present and there are so many different brands, shapes, patterns to choose from. The Orla Kiely range is definitely one most will be lusting after because they're so chic. The geometric, multicoloured prints really stand out on the wrist and the leather straps show the quality of the watches; they'll last for a good couple of years and not go out of fashion as they're all classic designs. Cath Kidston makes similarly beautiful prints and the bags have definitely increased in quality in the past few years. The 'busy bag' looks so versatile and has so many pockets and compartments it would be great for work, school or travelling. Plus, having a nice pattern on your bag on a dull day really brightens up your day sometimes. Clarks shoes are so comfortable and last well because they're so well made. Brogues are always in fashion and go with so many different outfits that you can't go wrong rally, especially in classic tan or black shades.

Another obvious choice is a gift set as so many people like beauty related items whether that's a body cream, shower gel, deodorant or make up. The Body Shop have some lovely scented creams and gels that are packaged so nicely. If you suffer from sensitive skin they're such a good option, and for the price are excellent value for money. Make up or travel bags are also great, as well as stationary, perfumes or pajamas. Anything that would make for a good girlie pamper on a rainy day when life feels like it's too much. I actually love choosing presents for other people at Christmas and always have all my shopping done before December even arrives... A little crazy, yes but it does mean I don't stress when it's too late! Hopefully this post will be helpful for someone. See you soon :)

November Favourites

I always seem to have a lot of similar Favourites every single month; I really love perfume, my iPhone as well as various different kinds of make up. This month I've gotten a bit more into make up again, although I'm still wearing much less than I used to. I've recently purchased a new Britney Spears perfume and I absolutely loved the packaging. I love the designs of perfume bottles in general, actually. Where it's getting colder no I'm thinking about keeping warm so my uggs have literally been a saviour the past month, however ugly they may look.

 

1. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose

2. Nina Ricci Mademoiselle Ricci L'eau

3. Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream in Ivory

4. Britney Spears Island Fantasy

5. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in London

6. Vera Wang Preppy Princess

7. Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Concealer in Light

8. Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy

9. iPhone 6s 64gb rose gold

10. Ugg Australia Classic II Short Boot

A month in Instagram - November

Overall, November has been slightly unexpected; it feels as though it has literally disappeared, it's gone so quickly. On a positive note, this means Christmas is coming  and therefore so is all of the fun stuff that comes with holiday time. At the start of the month of November I watched the bonfire night celebrations with my boyfriend who hadn't been before. His comment was that fireworks are always nice but didn't understand why we celebrate omeine who tried to blow up our parliament buildings. Fair point, I suppose... Especially as I couldn't even give him an answer. Clearly didn't pay enough attention in history lessons in school.

 

During this month I've definitely eaten far too much and naturally with that comes far too much weight gain, oops. But to fair, living with someone who has a good appetite is the perfect excuse to eat nice things, like pancakes with golden syrup, cream and fruit. Plus, I've learnt that the only way to love your life is to appreciate every part of it, and that definitely includes good food. I went on the night tube a couple of times, which was a fun experience I suppose. Most people are either drunk, begging or on the way to or from work. It's a bit like getting on a shit night bus, but faster. I bought some uggs which have literally saved my life in this cold weather... My feet suffer the most of my whole body during the winter months and after using my brain for once I finally decided to look after the, with comfy and warm shoes. 

 

The end of the month brought another unexpected journey, Piotr and I went to Poland for a few days. The country is nice, but the flight really wasn't. The positive side to flying is that it wasn't too long a journey but the downside is that it made my anxiety absolutely awful... Like really, really bad. I spent much of the time really confused due to the language barrier, but thankfully I did have a translator with me all the time. It was so cold, to the point that even wearing uggs all the time I struggled to keep warm but it was nice, the view of the city lights from the hills was amazing. I tried to take pictures but wasn't successful, sadly. I've never seen such pretty cakes and sweet things in my life!

 

My Perfume Collection #3

My last two Perfume Collection posts have detailed perfumes by specific creators, which were Britney Spears and Vera Wang. In this posts there is actually a slight mix of designers, but the reason for coupling them into a group was so that these posts literally don't go on forever! I've come to the conclusion that perfumes are almost a means of self expression; the scents you like differ from person to person, I'm definitely someone who prefers floral scents, although sometimes I do surprise myself and go for something a little more unexpected with more musk and exotic fruits. I also have a penchant for pretty bottles; the bottle designs definitely influence my purchases.

 

I currently own two perfumes by Anna Sui and in all honestly, the designs of the bottles are the biggest pull for me. They're so attractive to the eye; the first that I purchased was Dolly Girl after seeing the bottle and thinking how lovely it would look displayed next to my other perfumes, shallow as that may sound. I have the 50ml version as I'm realising that with so many perfumes it's not only more affordable to purchase smaller sizes but also more sensible as otherwise I have a lot of perfume to wear and it feels a little excessive. I paid around £15 for this perfume which is amazingly affordable; it's very fresh and feminine using mostly florals to encompass the overall scent. Smelling of lily, cinnamon, melon and bergamot mixed in with notes of apple, magnolia, strawberry, jasmine and raspberry. Plus the bottle itself is very pretty, featuring a pale pink head shape with darker pink facial details and a plain silver cap.

The second and only other perfume I own from Anna Sui is La Nuit de Boheme. It is, in my opinion one of the most aesthetically pleasing bottle designs that I have in my Perfume Collection. I chose the 50ml version again, mostly because the sensible part of my brain told me that I was only really buying it for the pretty gold bottle; made up of four large shaped roses and topped with a butterfly on the cap, it definitely is one that stands out from the mix. Costing only £25, it wasn't ridiculously expensive and is a lovely scent for the price. Comprised of mandarin, blackberry and apple, it has lower notes of sandalwood, plum, blossom and jasmine. Although I don't use either of the Anna Sui scents that often, they look and smell gorgeous so I tend to use them for more formal occasions.

 

The final Perfume to detail in this post is by Jean Paul Gaultier, who is famed for his classic torso shaped perfume bottles. My Perfume is one of the limited edition versions of Classique. It's actually from the 2014 Collector's Edition collection, the 100ml bottle, costing around £70 if I remember correctly. My mother has always loved the bottle designs of Jean Paul Gaultier (awkward because she hates the smell of perfumes) and I know that they're not to everyone's tastes, but I fully understand her love for them. They're so creative and simply stunning to look at due to the level of detail that surely must've gone into both designing and making the bottles. As it was a limited edition, it came with a necklace that has a 'JPG' and a mirror which I prefer to keep wrapped around the body of the bottle, I like how it looks as an accessory, of sorts. This is definitely the most expensive perfume that I own but probably my favourite. A romantic scent, with notes of orange blossom, tangerine and ginger alongside ylang-ylang, vanilla, amber and orchid. Possibly due to the design of the bottle, it's a very sexy feeling scent.

My Perfume Collection #2

Hi again; once more it's a small snippet of my Perfume Collection. If I'm honest I have a such wide array of them the only way that I could talk about any of them was to split them into groups. The last post covered all of the perfumes that I own from Britney Spears and so following on from that this post is going to detail all of the perfumes that I own from Vera Wang. I have five perfumes from her princess range all different sizes, colours and editions. I love perfume, I feel that it can make you feel more confident about yourself with just a little spritz. It makes me feel ready to face the day ahead whenever I need a quick pick me up.

 

I have two 100ml bottles from Vera Wang, the first I'm going to detail is the second perfume that I ever bought from the range, Flower Princess. I paid roughly £30 for the 100ml bottle, which seems like a reasonable price for the size of the perfume. From what I know it was a limited edition fragrance for the summer of 2008 and this one is my favourite scent of the bunch; I love the floral, feminine smell and how it makes any outfit feel suddenly more fancy. The bottle itself is very pretty, with the pale pink heart shape combined with a little silver bejewelled tiara cap. I really adore how the whole range has such a distinctive bottle design, they look so nice as a set. Flower Princess smells of tangerine, lotus and rose mixed in with peach, amber, woods and musk. It's a surprisingly light fragrance considering the range of smells comprising the scent.

The third perfume that I bought from the range is definitely one that even my teenage, slightly rebellious self would've loved when I was going through the emo kid phase. I bought the 100ml bottle for £20, which seemed very inexpensive for the size. Rock Princess is a fragrance that most alternative people would adore. For me, it brings back memories of things that I did when I was younger, even if I didn't wear any perfumes of any kind at that time. If I had of done, this certainly would've been the one I would have worn. The black bottle with slightly unconventional graffiti style white patterning definitely catches the eye and it stands out against the rest of the set. It smells of peach, raspberry and musk with undertones of jasmine, rose, lily and spicy accents of woods and coconut. It's quite an unusual mix of smells, but together is actually rather lovely.

 

I also own a 50ml bottle as well, which is the Glam Princess version. This was the first Vera Wang perfume that I purchased, it was a bit of an impulse decision as I had heard of the brand but didn't really associate it with perfumes. If I remember correctly I paid around £30 which isn't much but quite expensive for the size. However I really like the design of the bottle, especially how the spritzer is capped by a cute little tiara; it makes for such a lovely added detail. The pink and gold tones of the bottle definitely confine to the ideal of 'glam' and this scent has the nicest bottle design overall, in my opinion. I bought it online and so I didn't even smell the scent before buying it, which was a bit risky in hindsight. I did read a description and some reviews of the scent, so for the price decided to just take the plunge and purchase. Once it arrived I really loved the smell which was not only a relief but a pleasant surprise. The scent itself is kind of cutesy, with notes of pear, honey and orchid combined with cedar, marshmallow and orange tree blossom.

 

Finally, I also own two 30ml bottles of her perfumes from the same Princess collection. I bought Preppy Princess at the same time as Rock Princess and it's a complete contrast to that scent; not only in looks but also in the smell. I paid around £20 for the scent, which I felt wasn't too expensive but you can now get the 100ml for the same price, which is good but annoying for me, haha. Preppy Princess is very cute and girly with a pink bottle and messy tartan stripes; although perhaps the smaller bottle size contributes to the feeling of sweetness, alongside the very musky and sweet scent. This bottle looks really nice when placed with others in the set. The smell is rather feminine and fruity with notes of red apple, red berries and jasmine. There's also hints of honeysuckle, wood and coconut. It's probably the lightest to wear out of all of the Vera Wang scents I have.

The last perfume that I bought from the collection is Hippie Princess, one that I had been considering for a while. As you can probably tell, Vera Wang has become one of my favourite producers of perfume, not just because of the bottle shape and design, but because of the scents being so wearable for so many occasions. I would say that one of the negative aspects of the range is that so many of them are limited editions and so become difficult to find after a short amount of time. The smaller bottle are much more affordable and actually the heart shape is much nicer to hold than the larger ones. I paid £29 for the bottle and a free gift of a watch, so a good price I think. Hippie Princess is a nice tone of pink and aqua, with a central heart surrounded by a paisley print, alongside the signature tiara closure. The scent itself is rather fruity and floral with some exotic undertones of mango, apricot and lotus flower alongside musk, vanilla and nectar. 

Life as a Bucket List

 

The other day I had a discussion with my friend and I came to the conclusion that the reason so many people are unhappy with life right now is due to the fact that so many of us, intentionally or not, view life in a 'bucket list' format. A lot of my friends definitely view life as a success only by 'ticking off' goals or fulfilling expectations of either themselves or others. I, myself am also very guilty of this. The struggle is, I suppose, managing somehow to find happiness and not measure it in any way. However, that seems like an unrealistic expectation for anyone, as happiness is always measured somehow; either by yourself or by those surrounding you.

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Albert Schweitzer

BE REALISTIC

This is definitely key to feeling better about life; having a positive attitude will enable you to to focus. If you stop measuring life by what you've achieved or not and instead concentrate on what is going well in your life, you will automatically be happier. By not having any excessive expectations of yourself you can find a find of contentment without feeling the need to be in constant control. I've become a bit of a perfectionist with age, so this is something that I do have to work at. However it's important to learn how to channel your inner control freak. Sometimes you have to think to yourself that if you're obsessed with having better, it will be impossible to be happy with what you do have.

"Life is like a camera... Focus on what's important. Capture the good times, develop the negatives and if things don't work out, take another shot." - Ziad K. Abdelnour

FOCUS ON YOU

Most recently, I've learnt that putting yourself first doesn't make you selfish. Sometimes you have to think about yourself in order to be happy, or at least feel happier. I'm sure everyone has that friend who never seems to be around when you need them, or when you have a problem. I've learnt that sometimes you need let these people drift out of your life. There's no point in begging people to be around you, especially if you're not feeling positive as it will just drag you down again. If you continuously focus on what makes you happy, and what you want then you're much more likely to get it. Confidence is genuinely the key to providing happiness, as difficult as it is to find. I doubt that anyone in the world is 100% happy with themselves but the sooner that you accept yourself for who you are, the more likely you are to find like-minded people and therefore grow a new, more supportive friendship group.

"Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it will always get you the right ones." - John Lennon

FIND AN OUTLET

Blogging has become a really useful way of letting out my emotions; I spent a long time thinking that life wasn't worth living and that I had nothing, when actually sometimes you need to make you life the way you want. I've always been creative and so that was an obvious thing to re-ignite within my life. As I enjoyed photography so much during my studies, I knew that was something I wanted to go back to, blogging has become a great way to mix photography with reality and it has become a visual diary for me. In the next few months I'm looking forward to starting to scrapbook alongside this as a way of keeping positive. I'm planning that whenever I'm down, I can look through the good times and remember that it can always get better. I've had a really rough year, most of it ruined thanks to negativity and depression but I feel as though I'm finally back on the right track; at last I'm looking forward to the future and actually feel in control of it.

"An entire sea of water can't sink a ship unless it gets inside. Similarly, the negativity of the world can't put you down unless you allow it to." - Anonymous

A Mini Haul

Hello again! Being the nosy person that I am, I genuinely love reading what other people have recently purchased, or what they're loving at the minute. After reading many, many blogs over the last few years I definitely have a preferred type of post to read; lifestyle and beauty tend to be my Favourites as if I see holiday or travel posts I get so much wanderlust it's ridiculous... After having a completely shitty year and barely spending any money on myself I decided it was finally the right time to have a little spend and make myself feel a bit more positive about life.

A couple of months ago I smashed my phone screen and a Cath Kidston iPhone case, which literally broke my heart as it wasn't exactly cheap. Since that time I've been somehow surviving using a bargainous 99p find from eBay, but I wanted something more substantial as I am a bit of a clumsy mess (already smashed the screen twice in a year) and I'd been literally looking through the internet for absolutely ages to find an iPhone case that would last. I did buy a Ted Baker one for a pretty high price but it actually wasn't that strong and cracked fairly quickly. For normal people it would probably be fine, but for someone like me... Not good! I've been debating between getting a Cath Kidston case or a Jack Wills one as the physical case quality is very similar. However, I settled for the Jack Wills one, mostly due to the much lower price of £14.50 (buy here) and I liked the subtle tartan pattern which looks so classic and seems to go well alongside the current winter weather and fashions.

 

Following on from my last post, I purchased a Vera Wang 50ml perfume, Hippie Princess. (Buy here) I absolutely love the heart shaped design of the bottle and the little princess tiara cap. I'm definitely a bit of a perfume addict and the Vera Wang princess line never fails to please me, visually as well as the scents themselves. I like how they have a specific theme. This scent is both fruity and floral, with a delightful mix of mango, freesia, apricot, lotus flower and vanilla. A new favourite in my collection. I also bought a range of make up items. I've actually started to wear much less make up than I used to around 9 months ago, partly due to having a confidence boost from my boyfriend, who insists that less is better. 

Now that my make up style has 'matured' (?) a little, I don't tend to wear much foundation so I instead opted for a CC cream as I do have quite an uneven tone across my skin as I have very dry patches. I want a light coverage that will hide blemishes but not look as though I have a mask on my face. I got it for the bargain price of £11.99 (buy here) which for a brand like Bourjois isn't much for the quality. I chose the shade ivory and I'm excited to try it out as it says it's a hydrating cream which should be great for my dry, eczema prone skin. To top off the skin products, I also bought the Maybelline Matte Maker powder. (Buy here) I actually swear by this product, you can either use it lightly or build it up for a full coverage. I tend to use it around my t-zone as it gets very patchy and red otherwise. For £4.49 it's definitely worth the money as it lasts for ages and lets your skin breathe. I bought it in ivory which is a perfect match for my incredibly pale skin.

 

I also purchased two eye based products, both of which are products which I've bought and used to death before. The L'Oreal superliner in perfect slim is the best felt tip pen style eyeliner that I've ever used. (Buy here) £7.99 is definitely a bargain as it lasts for a long time and doesn't dry out. It has a very thin tip which is great for everyday liner as well as cat eye flicks for special occasions, plus the intense black shade looks good, glides on well and dries quickly on the lid. I use this eyeliner everyday to awaken my eyes and brighten up my facial features. I always use the Sleek brow palette, but before I do so, I like to brush through and gently line my eyebrows using a lighter shade to get a perfect rounded arch shape. I always find that Maybelline match my pale skin and hair tones well. I love the Master Shape Brow Pencil (buy here) to achieve the perfect Brow shape. For £3.99 you can't go wrong. I actually have light brown eyebrows but I use the shade dark blond as it matches really well. This is one of those products that I buy again and again because I love how it works on my face. 

Lastly, I've been so tempted to try a NYX lip cream for absolutely ages; this is definitely a YouTube and blogger made me buy it purchase. I've watched so many videos and read so many posts that rave about these lip creams so I've finally bitten the bullet and bought one. (Buy here) Which at £7.99 seemed a little pricey but I can't wait to try it; if I like it then I'll definitely be buying more in different shades. I chose the shade London because I wanted a peachy brown nude shade to wear for everyday but I think it'll look good for more dressed up occasions too. I've wanted a nude lip shade for a while, and having seen bloggers with similar skin tones to me swatch this shade I'm sure it'll look really nice. I feel a little more positive now, let me know what new things you've bought recently or if I've persuaded you to buy anything! :)

Favourite Instagrammers - November

Hello again :) As I do every month, I have been using Instagram a ridiculous amount... I'm not posting so many photos as I used to, but I've been spending a lot of time searching through and find new accounts to follow. At the moment I'm loving seasonal and architectural posts. Definitely need to keep this addiction in check a bit; I spend literally so many hours using the app, it's almost a joke haha.

 

sallysaysbeauty 

I followed Sally because her feed is so aesthetically pleasing; her photos are always shot from a nice angle and using good lighting which makes me want to look at either her linked blog posts or scroll through her older posts as well. I would say she's a seasonal poster, as the 'theme' seems to change slightly dependant on the weather. She's one to follow if you like lifestyle and beauty posts as many of the photos focus on make up, food, accessories and outfits, alongside the occasssional selfie.

 

helena.moore

An American based artist, I absolutely adore her photographic style. Very autumnal favoured colours sweep across her feed, with some fantastic use of light and dark tones to highlight key focal points in the photographs. The photos focus on lifestyle and fashion, many of them featuring cats, coffee and windows. I'm so in love with her Instagram feed, it's literally the stuff of dreams for someone like me who loves arty photography (thank you art degree...) although simplistic, each photo is so interesting that you could scroll though her feed for hours.

 

katy_who

Katy has a really lovely feed, full of beautiful landscape shots. She's also clearly a book lover by how many photos feature books and bookshelves literally full to the brim, with books of all different colours, ages and sizes. Many of the photographs focus on lifestyle and outfits, for example her graduation from university, what she's readings, what she's loving and some truly beautiful photographs of the English countryside. Her whole outlook is very faerie-like and she looks almost ethereal in her self portraits.

 

quietblessings 

Ana only uses an iPhone for her Instagram photos, which shows how fantastic the quality really is of cameras on phones these days. Her posts are often of home interiors, nature and landscapes. She has the most beautiful cat; a big, fluffy handsome boy who features in many of her photos taken around the house. Recently she has definitely embraced the changing seasons of autumn and winter with many photos of landscaped parks, leaves and pumpkins scattered across her feed. 

 

seethestarsblog

Sarah definitely fits into the more atypical blogger and beauty guru aspect of instragram, posting many many photographs of different kind of make up, from brushes, to lipsticks or eye shadows. She often posts motivational quotes that help people like me feel a little more positive about life in general and it's a nice break inbetween many photos of beauty products. She's been getting into seasons recently, with Halloween make up ideas and now currently with seasonal Christmas coffee cups. Plus the little snippets of her life, like her piercings and what cameras she uses to film with are interesting to see.