July Playlist

1. Speakerphone - Rixton

2. Malibu - Miley Cyrus

3. Still Into You - Paramore

4. Don't Look Down - Martin Garrix (feat. Usher)

5. No More Sad Songs - Little Mix

6. Animals - Maroon 5

7. The Greatest - Sia

8. Despacito - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee (feat. Justin Bieber)

9. Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs (feat. Rizzle Kicks)

10. Learn To Love Again - Lawson

11. City of Angels - 30 Seconds ToMars

12. Counting Stars - OneRepublic

13. Stitches - Shawn Mendes

14. Payphone - Maroon 5 (feat. Wiz Khalifa)

15. Disturbia - Rihanna

Happy Things #23

 

1. After working six days in a row, it's finally time for a day off tomorrow. I'm definitely going to make pancakes for breakfast as they make any day automatically amazing! I'm planning to chill out and watch a film later in the day.

2. I've made plans to catch up with my best friend on Saturday and I'm super excited as it's been too long! I love a good dinner and chatty evening out with her, I'm going to be in such a good mood afterwards and it's something to really look forward to.

3. Another week, another hope of finally sorting out a gym membership. I really, really want to start getting fit; it's not even about weight, it's about feeling healthy and good about myself.

4. I'm going to try and make my way through some of my reading list as it's become so long it's actually a joke... Literally, there's over 20 books waiting to be read; spread out all over my room, oops.

5. I want to keep up posting regularly on my blog, as blogging has been fantastic for my mental health and it's genuinely a lovely hobby. I've really enjoyed blogging for the past year and it's something I want to continue doing; I've been working hard on improving my content, so hopefully you guys will like my new posts too.

 

TMI Tag

 

Hello again! I found this tag through the lovely Beth from LifeWithB as she also posted this on her blog; I'm not a confident enough person for making YouTube videos, blogging is much more within my comfort zone as I love writing and photography. I do quite enjoy doing tag posts as they're basically a form of Q&A without the stress of asking for questions on social media (and not getting any as I'm such a small blogger) and I do like being open with whoever does bother to read my posts - if you do, I appreciate it so much as I often feel like I'm typing to myself, eek! Enough of rambling, here's the tag!

What are you wearing?

I've literally come home from work and changed into comfy clothes, so I'm wearing a Gryffindor t-shirt from Primark, a pair of checked berry red pajama trousers also from Primark and my slipper which were a gift from my trip to Poland from my mother in law.

Ever been in love?

Yes, I have. I'm such a hopeless romantic that for a long time I misunderstood the concept of love, whereas now I'm really at peace with not only myself, but to the point where I'm able to love and be loved. #cringe haha!

Ever had a terrible breakup?

Yes, I've experienced an extremely traumatic break up, it's something that I'm not fully happy about addressing if I'm completely honest, even though I'm much, much happier without that person in my life.

How tall are you?

I'm super short, literally just 5ft tall!

How much do you weigh?

I've been told that I weigh far too much for my tiny height, in fact my GP is certain that I have super heavy bones as my height, weight and dress size don't correspond. I'll admit that I'd like to be thinner, but it doesn't control my thoughts like it did when I was teenager.

Any tattoos?

Yes, I have a dog paw on my right forearm with a red heart in the centre. It's my only one, but I'm debating whether or not to get another.

Any piercings?

I have a lot of piercings! 3 lobe piercings, a rook, tragus and an auricle piercing on my right ear; 4 lobe piercings and a conch on my left, my left nipple pierced and my belly button. I would say piercings are very addictive.

OTP?

I actually had to google this as I had no clue what it meant... Apparently it means 'One True Pairing', which to be honest still doesn't make sense to me, but I'm going to say my boyfriend as he's very close to perfect for me. 

Favorite Show?

I actually don't watch television that much (not like I used to) but my absolute favourite show growing up was Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which is pretty fitting as it's having a moment right now as it's been 20 years! That said, another classic for me is Friends so I'm definitely a proper 90s child, oops.

Favorite bands?

There are actually so many, I'm a big fan of Foo Fighters, Panic! At The Disco, Placebo and White Lies just to name a few. That said, I listen to so many different kinds of music that it's actually hard to put my iPod on shuffle as I never know what I'll end up listening to... It could be Slipknot, Katherine Jenkins, One Direction or Britney to give you a taste of how random it really is.

Something you miss?

I really miss Poland; it's not a country I would ever have dreamt that I'd visit if I hadn't have met my boyfriend, but I've really fallen in love with his city and spending time with him and his family.

Favorite song?

At the minute my favourite song is most likely Hard Times by Paramore, it's actually such a tune... It's stuck in my mind all day long!

How old are you? 

I actually turned 24 literally about a week ago!

Zodiac sign? 

I'm a Taurus, which I feel fits my personality fairly well.

Favorite Quote? 

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live - Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It's definitely a quote that encourages me to stay positive and enjoy the moment.

Favourite Actor?

I like a lot of actors, but one who comes to mind is Jennifer Aniston as I've enjoyed anything I've seen her in that I can think of.

Favourite Colour?

Green, but when I was a young child it was always Purple.

Loud music or soft?

Mostly loud, but it does depend on my mood.

Where do you go when you’re sad?

I like to nest under my duvet until I feel ready to face the world.

How long does it take you to shower?

Surprisingly not that long. If it's just to be clean, around 10 mins. If I want to relax and take my time and condition my hair and use a fancy body scrub then probably 25 mins.

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 

Around 30-40 mins if I'm not putting make up on. If I'm wearing make up it'll be another 40 mins on top of that, which is why I don't bother wearing make up to work.

Ever been in a physical fight?

Yes, I was actually quite a horrible child in school. I could be bad as often as I was good, which I'm not proud of.

The reason I joined Blogger?

I originally joined Blogger back when I was at university as I thought blogging was so easy, how wrong I was! I posted a few times and then I ended up doing uni work instead. Roughly a year ago I decided to start up blogging again as I'd been through a bad break up and wanted a distraction. As I studied a Fine Art at university and I wanted to find a creative outlet, I've not looked back since.

Fears? 

I'm absolutely terrified of flying, which kind of makes sense as I hate heights too.

Last thing that made you cry?

I had a nightmare a day or so ago and it felt so real that I honestly had a massive cry. Mental health issues can be super hard.

Last time you said you loved someone?

I say it to Piotr at least once a day. Today I said it as I left to go to work.

Meaning behind your youtube/ blogger name? 

Actually it took me ages to decide. When I first started blogging, I was interested in fashion, so I was called 'artaccessoriesattire', but a year ago when I overhauled my blog I wanted something that was more general and less of a mouthful. Blogging full time is a dream job for me, which is where the dream comes from. I'm blonde, and an online thesaurus suggested pearl as an alternative word so that became pearly as pearldream or pearldreams were taken already, so it resulted in apearlydream which is fairly generalised and easy to use as a social media name.

Last book you read?

A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman, I can't rave about it enough. Absolutely fantastic read.

The book you’re currently reading?

The Muse by Jessie Burton. Also a beautiful read, it's so addictive.

Last show you watched?

When writing this, I was in the living room with my nana and mum; nana likes quite niche tv shows, so we watching something to do with life in Alaska. I was more typing than watching, but it's an interesting take compared some of the other reality shows.

Last person you talked to? 

A hungover boyfriend, he's definitely not feeling his best haha. He did manage to laugh at me, so he'll survive this pain.

The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

My mama, I told her we'd go to the other side of London ok. The journey was super annoying.

Favorite food?

Definitely fish and chips. If I don't have any chips for a few days I'm genuinely missing eating them, it's not a surprise that I'm not skinny hahaa.

Place you want to visit?

To be honest, there's so many places in Europe that I'd like to visit, but I'd also like to see a lot more the UK too. For example, Amsterdam, Prague and Budapest in Europe, in the UK I'd love to visit Edinburgh, Cardiff and Cornwall.

Last place you were?

Yesterday I was at work and my house before visiting Piotr's family, this morning we're still at the other side of London, but we're in London at least (zone 6 is an effort to reach... from zone 2)

Do you have a crush?

I'm forever crushing on my boyfriend, I think it's healthy to be in a place where they're forever attractive to you. (Mentally and physically)

Last time you kissed someone?

A couple of minutes ago, when I left bed and someone is too hungover to leave bed, so he got a kiss and allowance to stay in bed haha.

Last time you were insulted?

I don't really remember anything specific, other than a customer at work verbally abusing me over a month ago. He called me various names, wasn't pleasant.

Favourite flavour of sweet?

Berry flavoured; raspberry, strawberry, blackberry etc.

What instruments do you play?

When I was younger I played a few instruments; flute, recorder, bit of violin and piano. Ever since my school messed up my options for GCSE I never really kept up the skill, but I do still own some recorders and a flute.

Favourite piece of jewellery?

I actually own so much jewellery; a couple of years ago I would've said my pandora bracelet but I don't wear it much now. My favourite piece of jewellery that I wear all the time is probably the gold star currently in my tragus.

Last sport you played?

I've never been a sporty person, I could manage sports but that was it. I always preferred dance, particularly ballet. But that said, I stopped going to ballet when I was 17 and I really miss it.

Last song you sang?

Burn by Ellie Goulding.

Last time you hung out with anyone?

This weekend I've spent time with Piotr and his family, last weekend I saw my bestie so I've had a pretty sociable couple of weeks without realising it.

Who should answer these questions next? 

Anyone who wants to, it was quite enjoyable. There's a lot of questions but they're not too hard to answer, which is nice.

 

Essential Apps for Bloggers

 

Phonto

Although it's not an app that I reach for constantly, it's a useful app to download. It's an alternative editing software app, but the main reason that I've included it on this list is because it's great for if you want (or need) to add a watermark to your photographs. As you'll see in the screenshots above, I've added an @apearlydream in white to show you how it can be used. From a text-based perspective, this app is fantastic as not only is it free, but it allows you to choose the colour of your and font of your text, but the size, shape, angle... It's great if you want to make a watermark work for any photo and I suspect many of the millions who watermark on instagram will use this app as it's so easy to use and very customisable.

Facebook

This app is not a must unless you want to make use of your page within the app. I, myself have only recently got back into making an effort on my Facebook blogger page. I admit I don't love it as much as I've started to love Twitter, or my beloved instagram but it is a great way of updating your social media. Bloggers can advertise for free on Facebook and other social media so I feel like any form of advertising that's free should be something utilised fairly frequently. One downside to having a Facebook page is that it's harder to reach out to new followers unlike on instagram or twitter, but it's another great way of registering a business, brand or website.

Repix

Personally I think this is a really useful app, it's definitely an essential for me. When I'm taking photographs for my blog I always edit them afterward and this app is great for adding little girly touches to photography. It's free to download but some of its features are only useable via a purchase. I've never purchased anything as I like the free 'flares' that you can draw freehand onto images for a nice effect. If you look at the screenshot above, you'll see that there is a lot of the photographic bokeh technique across the blog photograph; the reason why I love this app so much is that it adds a special something to photographs without having the need to be a fantastic photographer or use fancy equipment. It's so easy to use, you literally select flares and then pull you finger across the image. I feel like it makes my blog photography a little more interesting.

VSCO

I never used to see the point of VSCO as I felt that whatever it could do, could be done via instagram as it's ultimately a filter app. However, now I don't think I'd be able to create nice blogger photographs without it; I love how it converts bland colours into bright, vibrant textured photographs with simply the choice of a filter. I like the studio aspect of the photographs too as this means I can plan how to edit my photographs so that they have a similar layout and colour scheme; I'm not massively keen on themes but I do like to have some consistency. The filter F2 is my favourite, although I love how easy to use VSCO is. With the touch of a finger on a screen, it's simple to change the brightness, contrast, crop, saturate, temper and grain an image. It's a basic version of photoshop that even allows you to choose the size and quality of your edited image. Since I've rediscovered this app, my blogging photography has improved so much without the need to buy expensive equipment.

Twitter

I've only recently joined the twitter hype, several years too late... I've learnt in the past few months how much utilising various forms of social media can really help with exposing your blog to more traffic; since becoming more active on twitter, not only have I found many more interesting bloggers within the community to follow and blogs to enjoy, but also a way of engaging with others easily. It's also free promotion for your posts and a great way to gain inspiration through following those such as @Bloggeration @FemaleBloggerRT @TheGirlGangHQ or @BBlogRT to name a few accounts that promote your blogs to their followers, basically free advertising from within the blogging community. I deliberately made my twitter handle the same as my blog and other social media so that all of my accounts are easy to find and there's a consistency in all areas.

Instagram

This app is definitely an absolute must for any blogger; there are so many bloggers, new and old, of all kinds of genres from fashion and beauty to lifestyle and fitness all over this app. It's such a fantastic way to put yourself and your photography, your blog, likes and opinions out through using a mostly visual layout. As blogging is such a visual way of expressing yourself, it works really well alongside instagram as a way of promoting your work for free. It allows you to build up a network and focus on your branding; I'm not a huge fan of instagram themes, but I do like to have some consistency in my feed which will ensure that the search option will suggest profiles and feeds that match with mine, that will interest and inspire me. Likewise with my other social media, it made sense to match my profile name to my blogging name as it does make it clear where to find me across all areas of the internet.

 

Happy Things #15

 

1. I'm looking forward to the weekend, I've got 5 days off and I'm seeing my best friend for a good old catch up, which is always exciting. I've had a bad start to the week as my cat was super unwell and unfortunately didn't get better, so it's nice to have something positive to think about doing.

2. I'm in love with this sunny, warm weather at the moment. I'm not a fan of sunbathing at all, but I do enjoy the days being longer and the blossoms growing around the trees. I love going for walks in this weather.

3. Fingers crossed my gym membership will be active by the end of the week so I'll finally be able to start trying to improve my health. I want to exercise my mind and body, I'm hoping this will really help my mental health and keep me positive.

4. I'm enjoying the book I'm reading the at moment, hopefully I'll finish it this week and write a book review on it. It feels like it's been a while since I've read and written a book review and I've actually missed reading and letting my mind travel to another place.

5. So ready for a day off, as I've worked six days in a row now, I want to just sit back and relax. I'm ready for some quality time with my family and boyfriend, I'm planning to watch Paper Towns and Fantastic Beasts sometime during this week.

 

MOTD: Smoky Eyes feat. Nude Lips

Hello again, sorry for the delay in posting this as this was actually a post that I meant to upload during my holiday in Poland but somehow it never really happened, oops. I actually have been wearing less make up recently, but when I really want to make an effort and look nice I do wear quite a bit. During the time spent in Poland with Piotr and his family, I wanted to look and feel nice so make up definitely made my skin look a lot nicer. I don't suffer with very spotty skin but it's not a flat colours, there's a lot of dry red patches which I like to colour correct whenever I want to look and feel flawless. None of the images below have been edited, so to show the power of the make up worn. To start I use the Maybelline Baby Skin Primer to prep the skin for the make up. Priced at £7.99, it's not only good value it makes my skin look poreless and smooth. After, I use the Rimmel Hide the Blemish Concealer in the shade ivory, which priced at £2.99 is very cheap but it's concealing power is fairly basic. I use this concealer as a base on top of the primer around my eyes and nose to set on top of the primer and preps for the bb cream I put on next.

My preferred base is the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream in the shade ivory which I love. It feels super light coverage wise, and does an excellent job of covering my uneven skin tone. I literally pour some into my palms and rub it on top of my skin with clean hands. The next step I take is using the Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Concealer in shade light (which is £7.99) I press the concealer into each of my under eye bags in a triangle shape and press into my nose and brow bone, as well as any spots. I use the Real Techniques concealer brush to blend it into my skin before using a RT expert face brush to set my full base with the Maybelline Matte Maker Mattifying Power in shade ivory all over my skin. It's my favourite powder and reasonably priced at £3.99 too. The next step I take is to contour my face using the Kate Moss for Rimmel Sculpting Palette in shade #002. (Priced at £6.99) I start by using the bronzing powder using a RT setting brush to place some colour under my cheekbones, along my jawline and across my forehead. I use a small brush as where I'm so pale I try not to over contour my face. Next, I use the blush from the same palette and another RT setting brush to gently brush it along the apples of my cheeks. Then, I blend in using an RT powder brush so that it looks more natural on the skin. The next step I take is to use the Sleek MakeUp Brow Kit in the shade light, using the powder to fill in my brows (with one of the brushes provided in the kit, which is £8.49) which are naturally quite thick and dark. 

 

 

 

 

I then use the L'Oreal Paris Colour Riche La Palette Rose 2 to blend a natural pink matte shade into my crease before a shimmery pink toned eyeshadow over my lids as my skin is pink toned, so the pink complement the look well. The palette is £14.99 for 10 different shades, so extremely good value for money as they're super pigmented. Next, I use an MUA highlighter in the shade iridescent gold swept on my brow bone and on the tops of my cheeks, my Cupid's bow and along the bridge of my nose, using a RT setting brush. For £3, it's highlight is super blinding and packs in a lot of glitter onto my face. I do blend it in using a RT powder brush to make the glow look far more natural. I then go back in with the Sleek Brow Kit to fix my brows with the wax using a brush provided in the kit. This means the brows won't move and will look flawless throughout the day. I then use the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade London (priced at £5.50) and put it onto my lips. It's such a gorgeous nude shade and makes the whole base of my face look much more natural and I adore this lip product so much, it glides on my lips.

Finally, I wanted to create a smoky eye but as I'm so pale, it made more sense to create a smoky eye using eyeliner. My preferred eyeliner is the L'Oreal Paris Super Slim Eyeliner in intense black and it's so easy to use, it's pen style nib flows along the lid and creates a lovely line. (It's the best I've used and only £6.99) It's blackness makes up for the light eyeshadow that creates a nice contrast to the nude lips. I used a black eyeliner pencil by MUA to fill in my waterline and pushed it a little underneath to add an extra smokiness for the bargain price of £1! Finally, I used the Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express mascara in very black which was £7.99 and it is an amazing mascara, it lengthens, separates and volumises my lashes so much and it really finished the whole look off nicely. This was my go to make up look throughout the holiday and I felt so feminine but fierce.

 

Reading Lust List

 

Having recently rediscovered a childhood love of reading, I feel like the list of books that I want to read is literally growing to the point where I feel like I'm going insane. I work, I blog, I have other things to do yet all I seem to do is find another book that I'm desperate to read. I will never say that reading is a bad thing, as I learnt so much from reading. I watched a video the other day that directly confronted whether young girls actively gain confidence from reading and I would say that reading definitely gave me confidence growing up. Even at aged 6, I was way above the average in terms of my reading skills but this video stated that not enough books were about girls. More importantly, girls who weren't princesses or the like. They were focussing on females as the protagonists of a story. Females who wrote their own tales and trod through their own paths. In all honesty, my favourite books as a child were; The Harry Potter series, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Ballet Shoes. All of these books contained very strong female characters although I never really thought about this at the time. I came from a female dominated household and family to the extent that I was always told that I could be whatever and whoever I wanted to be, regardless of gender, age, etc. I don't think young girls reading about princesses is a negative things; I think the more important lesson here is that we, as a society encourage ANY child to read about whatever they're passionate about. As adults, we forget that we are constantly reading.

Whether that is reading signs, blogs, text messages, etc. We literally read constantly. I don't think it matters what people of any age (but particularly young children) read is what is important; the important thing is the keep teaching them a skill that will ultimately stay with them for life. At the moment my reading list is super full, yes. But I'm actually enjoying reading and getting my mind lost within a story. I have to be honest and say that my favourite books do tend to be those with a strong female lead, or in fact those with a strong lead, male or female. It should abou the content within a book, not about what gender a character is. As a reader, it's possible to learn from either gender in a positive way and a lack of female roles won't stop me reading, or from encouraging someone of any age to read. At one point I would only read Fantasy based fiction, due to my infinite love of the Harry Potter series. All that happened is that I ran out of stories to enjoy because I wasn't being open to anything and so it's important to simply encourage any kind of reading, not only one kind. Rant over!

Reasons To Stay Alive - Matt Haig

The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton

The Muse - Jessie Burton

A Year of Marvellous Ways - Sarah Winman

 

Łańcut Castle, Poland

I feel like I've often mentioned that my boyfriend is from (and grew up in) Poland and that we visit sometimes. The first time that I travelled to Poland with Piotr we literally visited for a weekend and I felt like I saw so many things; this time we're visiting for ten days and I definitely feel like I didn't see much at all last time. He's not from the city of Łańcut but it's a close drive away. He knows me well enough to know that I love architecture and parks, having grown in Greenwich, London - which has arguably some of the most beautiful architecture and surrounding park views at least in London. I don't know the Polish language so it was hard to understand the information boards, but Łańcut Castle was very lovely to visit. Piotr drove us there and he loves driving so that was nice, it's relaxing watching him enjoy cruising along. Łańcut is actually close to the borders of Poland with Ukraine. The castle is rather huge and the architectural style is very different to British architecture so I loved it. I enjoy different cultures and seeing different places. I feel like it would be even more beautiful in summer, especially in the surrounding park a it has various statues and plants that can be seen from all areas of the vast land.

 

 

After the visit I had a google search to try and understand more of the history of Łańcut Castle, rather than simply enjoying its physical beauty. It's an originally sixteenth century set of buildings with surrounding park. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century the Duke and Duchess Lubomirski transformed the buildings based on a love of baroque architecture, which then transformed the castle into a palace. According to the internet, Łańcut Castle is one of the most famous aristocratic buildings in Poland which has become a museum full of art and stunning interior design. It has a long history and one that reflects the Polish culture of Pre World War Two; if any of you ever visit Poland, its definitely worth a visit. I definitely wild visit again in the summer months when the Parks are in full bloom. I also visited only the Parks, not the inside of the castle so I want to see inside too.

 

Happy Things #13

 

1. So for the next week I'm in Rzeszów, Poland where my boyfriend grew up. I like seeing his culture and spending time with him, especially now that we're not working together, it makes the time together really important to me.

2. A holiday is always a good excuse to eat and drink whatever you want, particularly with his mums amazing cooking skills... I swear all I do in Poland is eat! (Oops)

3. I worry a lot less when I'm in Poland, although I suspect that's most likely because I struggle to understand anything. Piotr's translating skills are pretty good, but I still struggle a lot with the language. I've been attempting to learn but it's a really hard language for me, I don't even know why, but it is.

4. Since making an effort my mood swings are a lot better and I've been having panic and anxiety attacks, but I think having Piotr by my side for the weekend and upcoming week is what truly made a difference to my mood; I really enjoy spending time with him and especially in his country.

5. So far I've seen quite a bit of the city but I do really love seeing it, every single time. It doesn't feel like a massive tourist place which is great as you can explore freely without millions of people around you. I'm looking forward to seeing more things and spending time with family, it's always nice to relax every so often.

 

A Mini Haul #7

Hello again; sometimes it's nice to just window shop, which I have to admit I do fairly regularly. As I get older I'm definitely starting to make much more considered purchases. I used to literally buy whatever I saw if I had the money, whereas now I prefer to actually have a think and decide whether or not something is worth it first. I'm a bit of a sucker when it comes to beauty products, I love them all whether that is make up, perfume or general skincare. I feel like I haven't indulged in any make up recently, or at least not during this month so obviously that was enough of an excuse to pop into Superdrug and have a look at what's available. Over the past couple of months I've been loving wearing mascara and different perfumes more than anything else, as you'll have seen fairly recently in my perfume collection post. In all honesty, my worst habit is probably having so many perfumes as I'm always dreaming of more and running out of space to display them. 

 

The Britney Spears perfumes are a definite love of mine, I love how the bottles are designed and the different scents are always too my taste for such reasonable prices, too. The one pictured, Rocker Femme Fantasy is a new find for me and I love the way it fits in so well with my other scents. It's actually not my favourite out of my collection but its also not my least favourite; it's definitely at a happy medium. For the price I paid of £8, from Poundland of all places I'm not complaining about it at all. I'd been tempted by the fragrance for some time, having seen it online but it was much cheaper in store, which was a pleasant surprise. Another amazing find from Poundland was a Sleek eyes-lips-face palette, for the price of £1. I didn't even check the colours (oops) I literally just snapped it up, which I don't regret but the shades are a little too dark for my super pale skin. For the price I have no regrets, but I'm deciding what to do with it as I know that I'll never use it as it doesn't suit me. However, for anyone with darker toned skin this palette would be such a fantastic addition to a make up bag!

 

Ever since I started watching sophdoesnails on YouTube I've definitely become a convert to the powers of contour and especially highlighter as before I was always afraid to use these kinds of products with my pale skin. Just a couple of weeks ago she posted a video on her channel that featured some of the highlighters from this range and so I was inspired to invest in some. They're by MUA and are honestly really good value for money at £3 each. I chose two iridescent shimmers in the shades Pink Shimmer and Pearlescent Sheen. I love how shimmery but subtle they are, for the price you can't really go wrong. They're pigmented and feel light on my skin, which is also good. The wave pattern they make in the pan is lovely too, very instagramable but the iridescent sheen doesn't translate well on camera, unfortunately. I was inspired to try out the pinky toned highlighter as I do have a similar skin tone to Sophie and I feel like it could work well as a blusher and highlighter in one, alongside sculpting the planes of my face. We'll see soon enough, which is exciting. So far it's looked lovely in tests and swatches. 

 

So, after going into Superdrug I decided to treat myself a little but mostly through buying the essentials; I really needed a new mascara. As always, I found so many different things that I wanted but I wasn't able to buy it all, so I did have a bit of a decision making crisis. I ended up buying two mascaras as they were on an offer of buy one, get a second for half price. Which is a bargain in itself, but also one of the mascaras was a on a sale price too, which helped with my decision making a lot! I bought two by Maybelline, one of my all time favourite make up brands. The Colossal Volum' Express (in 100% black) has always been a much loved mascara of mine, to the point that I can't remember why I ever stopped using it. It makes my eyelashes look super long, thick and luscious; the fiber brush works so well for me and I never have to curl my eyelashes or anything, one coat of this mascara and I'm good to go for any occasion. I would recommend this mascara to anyone, I love it.

 

The second mascara I bought I've never really noticed or used before but seemed to be a sister of the first mascara so I decided to try it out and take advantage of the offers available. The Rocket Volum' Express has a similar packaging shape but has an electric blue shade, which will be easy to find in a make up bag for top ups. Although it's a similar mascara, the brush is very different, made out of plastic and it seems really bulky in comparison. But I do actually love this one just as much as the first; it's a really clumpless, separating mascara that doesn't feel too heavy on the lashes. I've found that one coat is enough, without having to curl my lashes beforehand, which is great. I'd say that I prefer the Colossal Volum' Express simply because the wand is smaller so easier to manoeuvre but overall the effects of both are very similar and I've had a lot of complements about my lashes recently so that's always a nice confidence boost. The mascaras were £6.99 each but with the offer one of them was half of that price, so I'm very happy with both of them, especially for the price. I've used more expensive mascaras results not so good in the past.

 

What's in my (everyday) make-up bag?

Hello again; I've read so many blog posts and watched so many YouTube videos about what's in a persons make up bag that I finally decided to talk about mine... Except I thought that I'd detail what I carry around in a make up bag to work or just generally everyday. I have quite a lot of different make up products but for work and general use I do prefer to have a more minimal make up style for everyday wear. The make up bag that I use for carrying the basics in my bag is from Victoria's Secret and I actually got it in a sale (for a great price) as part of a set of three different sized bags and actually I use all three of them for different reasons and regularly. The striped one below I use the most as it's the largest so it holds the most, but at the same time it isn't so big that it won't fit into a lot of different bags. 

 

I have very pale, almost paler than ivory skin so all of these products are the kind that suit that; the reason that these items have been picked out for my everyday make up bag is because they're not only pale enough, but also feel light enough on my skin that I don't feel like I'm wearing too much make up. I'm become more confident in not wearing so much make up recently, which I think is a good thing as my skin is getting clearer. The Bourjois CC cream shown below is honestly my favourite everyday face product ever as it's not too heavy on the skin, it's more of a colour corrector which is what I need; I don't have problem skin but it's very discoloured in places and it doesn't stick to my dry patches. I've detailed the prices next to all of the items shown in the images below and put them into sections, for example base, eyes and lips as I feel that makes a lot more sense visually.

 

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream in the shade ivory £9.99

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm £2.99

Maybelline Concealer Cover Stick in the shade ivory 01 £3.99

Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil in the shade Dark Blond £2.99

 

NYX Merci Beaucoup Love In Paris Eyeshadow Palette £7.99

Maybelline Matte Maker Mattifying Powder 10 Classic Ivory £3.99

Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher Rose D'Or 34 £7.99

Sleek Makeup Brow Kit Light £8.49

 

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shades London and São Paulo £7.99 each

Bourjois Rouge Edition 12 Hour Lipstick in the shade 35 Entry VIP £7.99

 

MUA Eyeliner Pencil in Black £1

Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express mascara 100% black £6.99

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde mascara £9.99

L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Perfect Slim Intense Black £6.99

 

Happy Things #12

 

1. This week I'm only working three days, so I'm planning to spend some time with my family, dye my hair, watch television and most likely read a few books and magazines before the weekend.

2. This weekend, Piotr and I are going to get on a plane (argh help me!) to Poland and spend some together as well as with his family, which will be nice. I like seeing where he grew up and understanding more about him as well as having some time to relax and not have to overthink. It's strange how being in a country where most people don't speak your language is actually rather comforting, I feel like I don't have to force conversation or worry about anything.

3. This week I'm going to be good and try and pack what I want to take to Poland fairly early on in the week so that I don't stress nearer to the time as the flight is at an awkward time of the day.

4. Going to try and organise my life a bit thug double checking that my gym membership is confirmed and getting a boarding pass sorted... Oh the fun times of being an adult! 

5. I'm trying to keep onto a positive plane this week and try to be less moody. I'm having some real issues with my mood swings right now so my focus is going to be on that area of my mental health. Feeling so up and down isn't great and it's not helping me in my everyday life so it's something that I definitely want to improve on.

 

My Perfume Collection #9

Hello again, it feels like a while since I'd updated you all on my perfume collection. In all honesty, it's a bit of a naughty addiction as I doubt anyone in this world needs as many perfumes as I actually have, but still... I can never resist a good perfume. I love the smell and how much more confident I feel when I'm wearing perfume. It's most likely all in my mind but I just feel like I look better whenever I have a perfume I love on. Different perfumes remind me of different good times, for example I wore a Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume to my graduation ceremony from university so it will forever remind me of finally feeling free from education. The past couple of months I've been fairly good and not spent too much money on things like perfume so this one was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. 

 

I'd been lusting after the Britney Spears Rocker Femme Fantasy for quite a while after seeing it listed on fragrantica. It was released a few years ago in 2014 and I actually found it in a shop I'd never have thought about; my local Poundland had a bunch of perfumes available to buy for £8 and for that price 30ml seemed like an absolute steal as I'd seen it listed for more than that on various online retailers, so I was super excited to finally get my grubby paws on this perfume. It's a much smaller bottle than my other Britney Spears perfumes but as I didn't pay much that seems fair. It's quite a flirty, fruity scent with notes of blackberry liqueur and coconut cream, alongside violet, gardenia, jasmine, amber, musk, cashmere and vanilla. For me personally the strongest notes of the scent are the blackberry, jasmine and vanilla notes. I have to say that it's not my favourite of the Britney scents, but I doubt that Island Fantasy will ever be topped for me a that smell of lime is absolutely lush!

 

The bottle is very similar to many of the other scents from the Britney fragrance line, with a circular, curvy bottle, transparent circular lid and a swirly pattern around the neck of the bottle. It's definitely an edgier perfume from the look of the bottle but to me ithe scent is very similar to the original Fantasy. The mix of hot pink and black fits well with the idea of feminine rock chick; this is a perfume that my teenage self would've been obsessed with, but I can't say that I'm a massive fan of the scent as it's very similar to the original to me, but I do really like how the bottle looks and it was incredibly good value for money. It looks nice visually with the Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy perfume as it's a gorgeous cherry red shade which complements th pink tones of Rocker Femme Fantasy. I feel like the pink and red tones of the two Britney perfumes work really well alongside Daisy Eau So Fresh Blush and Daisy Dream Blush by Marc Jacobs as they're all very girly, fruity, floral and flirty scents that look lovely together on display in my bedroom.

 

Although it's not my favourite from my collection of Britney Spears perfumes as I've said earlier I do love how the pretty the bottle is and I've found that it complements so many other perfumes from my collection, such as Rosa Excelsa by Dolce and Gabbana, Hippie Princess and Preppy Princess both by Vera Wang as well as Dolly Girl by Anna Sui. The different shades of pink complement each other really well and give a lovely girly feel to one corner of my room. I think that I'll prefer wearing Rocker Femme Fantasy during the spring and summer months when there's much less wind! I hate putting on a scent when it just gets blown away... That being said, for £8 it has been well and truly worth every penny. Britney perfumes are a great part of my collection as they're wearable, affordable and lovely to look at.

 

How I Edit Photos on an iPhone

 

 

 

The above three photographs show the three main stages of how I edit using my iPhone. The first image is the flatlay that I prepare on a cream fluffy rug, (that cost me £8), as having a nice background genuinely makes all the difference to your photography. I've found that having a neutral coloured background really makes the items you're photographing stand out. I studied photography at A Level and at university but I actually take all of my blog and instagram photos using the camera on my iPhone 6S. If you can't afford lots of expensive equipment there are definitely ways around it. On my iPhone I've made a folder (called Essentials) of really useful photography apps (other than instagram) to use for blogging. The first app I use is VSCO which is great for adjusting brightness, contrast and natural filters. My preferred filer is F2 as it really picks up the cream background of the rug and makes the whole photograph look much less dull. Although there was actually nothing wrong with the original photograph, I feel like with the filter it does look much more put together and appealing to an audience.

 

If I need to make a collage of photos; for example when I write posts about what photographs I've posted to instagram in a month I like to try and condense the amount of photographs in a post as I'm aware of how image heavy posts can be to an audience. The app Fotor is so easy to use for beginners upwards as it clearly lays out different layouts for different amounts of photographs. Once you've picked a layout (for example of 9 photos) you literally pick 9 photos and it slots them in for you. From there you can choose curved or straight edges and different border thicknesses, which is another nice feature. I use this app regularly and have a lot of success with it as it's so simple to use.

 

Another holy grail app in my collection for blogging is Repix; I actually found out about it through reading a post by Lauren about different ways to edit photos for instagram and as a result I've found an app that I really love. It does quite a lot of different things, but you need to purchase more access. I have the standard access which suits me fine as the only option I use is the Flares effect. It allows me to draw light flares with my fingers that give off a bokeh style effect, one that's often used by photographers. I'm my own worst critic and thought that my photography was really lacking and desperately needed improvement. Through editing using these apps I feel like my blog photography has come a long way; one of the best parts of blogging is learning as you go along, and learning from reading and admiring other blogs, which is exactly what I did. Yes, I did study photography but I still had (and have) so much to learn, which I'm trying my best to embrace. Hopefully this will help someone out there that's struggling to take the perfect photograph! Much love xx