Books I Read This Month

...that you may want to read too!

Guys, I've been reading. For pleasure. Not something that has happened on a regular basis over the last three years, I am ashamed to admit; uni seems to have a magic gift for eating up all my fun reading time. A big shout out has to go out to my girl Ellie for lending me such sweet reads this September; it's been a great month for bedtime stories, I'm telling you!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
I've already written a mini review on this book here as it's one of those novels that left me desperate to talk to someone about it... As you'll see from that post, it wasn't my cup of tea, for very good reason; but it's still a powerful read.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
I don't often bust a chuckle when reading books, but this did have me beaming and even giggling away while reading on the bus to work. I definitely think I would have loved this even more as a teen, but I still felt it was a hugely enjoyable read and a nice healthy antidote to traditional adventure tales.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris
This novel is as delicious as you would hope, given its title. The language of this one was what had me hooked: "literary feast" is a term that has never been more relevant, let me tell you. It's also good to see that style did not triumph over substance, as this book is as more-ish as its namesake, with every page tempting you into the next. I loved it; I can't wait to buy my own copy and read it again in a few months.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kiebler
This is one of those stories that I wish I had written. Simple but powerful stuff, I felt it handled lots of issues really well; and I loved the relationship between the two narrators.

Please do let me know if you've read any of these - and if you have any recommendations!

A Week in Photos #6

Swooning over Betty's in Harrogate | The view from our hotel | A sad drive home

Missing my room already! | Now officially working remote | Oh Bertie Boo look at you

Enjoying the morning light in my otherwise super dark room | WAFFLES | Lunch with the most gorge gals evz

September Lifestyle Favourites

I've really enjoyed this month... It's been a bittersweet one as good times were jumbled up with slightly sadder ones... can there be a law against saying goodbye to people? I've also found some great lifestyle favourites this month, that I cannae wait to share with you...

On TV: I've had a phase of watching feel-good comedies this month and Brooklyn 99 was a real hit for me. I'm pretty sure it's made with some of the people who made Parks and Recreaction, so if you love Parks and Rec you'll be into this too I reckon!
On the big screen: My big brother made us all watch The Grand Budapest Hotel and I absolutely loved it. In fact I spent the whole time exclaiming about how French it was, as it's easily as quirky as a good Jean-Pierre Jeunet film.
On my bedside table: My favourite read this month was definitely Chocolat by Joanne Harris. It's a stunning delicious read... check out this post for more of my thoughts on this and other reads from September!
On my iPod: I am obsessed with this beautiful song by Aux Verba. The CHILLS. The beautiful chills.
On YouTube: Cloudy Apples is amazing and if you've missed out on her funny and insightful videos, I suggest you spend today catching up... She's a babe.
On Bloglovin: How have I only just found Bless The Weather? So gorgeous, so stylish, it's a blog I'm happy to get lost in... Ditto The Dauphine. OH boy do you need to read if you don't already...

A Few Stylish Additions

Guys, I'm a shameless spendaholic.

Shameless.

But I'm an honest spendaholic, so I'm about to divulge the delicious deets of my tasty crimes.

Let's do this.

Peplum Action
Despite being somewhat petite in my derriere, I failed to grasp that peplum styles are the ONE if you want to fake a far more fabulous booty than nature bequeathed you. This sexy momma is from H&M and it cost me a mere £12.99 (similar ones here and here). A small price to pay for self esteem. Hands up if you can name the show responsible for that quote. It is beautiful and I feel sophisticated without even trying... and as far as I am concerned, that is the dream in life.

Leather Jacket (OOOOSH)
This wins the award for the most impulsive purchase of the month, hands down. My first leather jacket is not actually made of leather (not gonna lie there was no way an actual leather one was a good idea with how often I spill stuff) but it is from Zara and it is amazing. In my humble opinion. Here is your link if you feel like snoopin'. This was purchased with a little encouragement from Ellie, who assures me I need it and will wear it always. I'm not gonna lie, I'm writing this the day after and I already agree with her.

Oh My Clumsy Heart Perfection
Yep, I bought two. Call me crazy, but I fell head over heels with this two, which were part of the OMCH secret sale... This ring necklace is very similar to the one pictured, and is also from OMCH; meanwhile this beautiful necklace on Anomie is the necklace that inspired the bar necklace purchase. I love them as dearly as if they were my own children*.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little style post - which of these pieces was your fave?


*joke stolen from Ellie - I love you girl

Big Brow Lovin'

I am all for a little makeup experimentation to brighten my day, and lately I've been trying a bit more brow definition to change things up a little bit. Exciting stuff, I know...

(PS Look at that attitude in the top photo... I shocked myself with the intensity of it!)

I've found that working the stronger brow - on my face, at least - is not nearly as easy as the Caras of the world would have you believe; my initial efforts involved a big brow and bare lid combo and while I'm not going to show you any photographic evidence of that particular look, let's just say, really not good. Some folks work that look. I'm not one of them.

I was undeterred, however, and tried again to get some brow that wasn't overly pow, and recent forays have proven to be far more successful; I have taken to pairing my eyebrows with a smokily defined eye and sincerely digging the result.

While some will tell you that a strong brow + strong eye is too much, I'm hoping to convince you that it's actually kind of awesome; admittedly, I do need to find a brow shade that suits my natural brow hair colour and the red of my barnet, but I'm still pretty happy with my attempts.

For the above look I layered Maybelline Brow Drama, my bae, over shades from the original Naked Basics Palette and I was pretty pumped with the result.

What do you guys think of a stronger brow? Does it thrill and enthrall you, or are you keener on a softer look?

A Week In Photos #5

HELLO US BEAUTY HAUL | Became a clichéd cactus owner | Also a clichéd Moleskine owner

 Lunch with my bestie | Snapping photos of everything on a walk with Dad | Ahh village life

Getting more and more into Le Blanc De Chanel | It's offish, scones = the new crême brulée | Am I Simon Larsen yet?

VIDEO: US Beauty Swap with SassyBrownBeauty!

Ah yes, it's an exciting day!! Sabrina and I did a lil beauty shopping for each other and it's safe to say, I was excited.

Seriously, I use the word excited like a million times in this video...

Check it out here!

Weekend Wishlist: Birthday Edition

I swear there is no motive behind this post, none whatsoever...

In case you didn't know, my birthday is next month and I am getting excited about it already... not least because my 21st was a very relaxed affair and I am hoping that my 22nd will be a little more out there...

I'm gonna stop rambling and just get down to it:

Superfluous Glamour

OMCH Verity Necklace | Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk | Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream

Sophie's designs always give me chills and I love her ring necklaces... This one is just divine. Then we have some Charlotte Tilbury goodies; I love the sound of her lip liners and as a skincare junkie I love the sound of her Magic Cream (it felt fabulous on my skin when I was at the counter!)

Beautyfull Recommendations

The Balm Mary Lou Man-izer | Butter London Bossy Boots | Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate | Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist

Essie Button was the lady that sparked my desire for this The Balm highlighter - she always looks flawless in it! Then Ashley from MakeupTIA is responsible for my Butter London cravings, while it is my babe Beth who is deepening my desire for Kiehl's Midnight Recovery. Last of all is a recommendation from me to you: you need Soap and Glory's Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist; as do I, as mine is now all manky and sad.

A Girl Can Dream...

Tom Ford Indian Rose Lipstick | Kindle E-Reader | Zoeva Luxe Complete Set

That Grace Girl is to blame for my obsession with Tom Ford Indian Rose; it is just such a beautiful shade. My Kindle Kuriosity came about after Mum leant me hers; somehow an e-reader sceptic has been converted... Then it wouldn't be a birthday wishlist without some brush action, would it? Zoeva's offerings are extensive but I think this is the one I have eyed up the most...

Underrated Beauties

This post was originally going to be a Products Worth The Hype post - and while that's an idea I'm happy to come back to, in searching for products that had earned their solid rep, I actually found myself picking up things that I felt were seriously underrepresented in the beauty blog community.

Today, the aim of the game is to right some wrongs; here are a few fellows I feel deserve a lot more love...

First up is my first MAC eyeshadow love, one that I swatched for years before he found his way into my stash. I'm talking of course about the gorgeous McGorgington that is MAC Vex. This is one of those shadows I urge you to go and swatch in person; otherwise you're likely to miss out on viewing the subtle duochrome beauty that is at play here. At first glance, you could be fooled into thinking that Vex is simply a silver eyeshadow; I am here to tell you that you are dead wrong, this is a silver that contains a pink and a green pearl that combine in the most divine fashion imaginable. If you are as fair as I am, this will look stunning all over your lid; if you are darker in skin tone, this would look stunning as a highlight on your browbone or inner corner. I could go on about how unique this shade is all day.

My second find is a recent recruit to the army that rules my desktop (yeah I don't know where that metaphor came from either...) is the Rimmel Pink Rose Blush. I've heard Tanya Burr professing her love for Rimmel's Santa Rose blush, and initially that was the blush I thought I'd be treating myself too; but I was far more drawn to Pink Rose... It's much less golden in colour, making it more wearable for my paler redhead ways than Santa. Heh. That sounded funny. It's surprisingly pigmented; I've gone overboard more times than I'm happy to admit with this, but the love remains and for £3.99 you can't really go wrong.

Rounding things off is MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer in the shade Reckless, which I fell for so deeply I was merrily sporting this shade in the height of summer, though the cool red tones are probably somewhat more suited to a chillier season.

VIDEO: Red Lip Tutorial on Ellie

Ellie was sweet enough to by my beautiful model for this week's video, and I did a winged liner and red lip combo on here. Needless to say, she looked AMAZING. As per. What a beauty.

Simple Pleasures

•            
• Wearing socks and boots after a summer in the crummiest pair of sandals ever
• Spending an entire evening giving myself a facial
• Fresh fruit first thing in the morning (*cough* hipster *cough*)
• New nail polish
• LIE-INS. After a bonkers week.
• Whole Nut chocolate... AKA the chocolate of the gods.
• Finding new artist I love on Bandcamp
• Marathoning CloudyApples
• Pole seshes... preferrably with Ellie, miss you girl!

A Week In Photos #4

I'm warning you now, this one is going to be longer than usual! Also I am really considering making these a weekly thing... Is that cool with you guys? Do let me know.

The week I am showing you involved a healthy dose of bestie time with my gal Ells (may or may not have filmed a tutorial on her...) a good amount of work which was not photographed and a gorge trip to a fair, church and country house with my momma and her bro Leslie.

Let me retell that story visually for ya:

A rare good liner day must be selfied | Rimmel polish lovin' | These turned into some mega cakes

Ells picking apples | Bloody brill bench this one | Also in Ells' garden

Brush laundry at last | Love me a sky pic | Getting cosy with LM Crème Brûlée

This deck looks much better in B&W | What a hedge | Tried for a complex landscape shot

Oosh | Love me this fountain | Windows are always picturesque

Beautiful church floor | Another gorgeous window | Really lovely church all round!

Scones are now my world | This clock just stopped time for me | My new dining room table

Bulrushes in an allotment as ya do | Just my grand piano, lookin fly | My falconry team

One of my gardens | Found this sink, was weirdly into it | The view from my bed

One Sweep Wonders

Guys, I have a confession.

I am ridiculously lazy. Especially when it comes to my makeup.

Now I'm all for the occasional full-on, slap-it-on-with a trowel makeup session; if I'm putting on makeup, I am putting on makeup.

But if I am just trying to make myself that little bit more presentable for a day at work, it's quick and easy all the way. I am super into my smokey eyes (this look is the one that started a mad love affair) so I've assembled a crack team of shadows that produce a great smokey with just one sweep...

We're starting with my budget beauty babe, which is Maybelline's Eyestudio Mono Eyeshadow in Silken Taupe. This little lady is living proof of the fact that gorgeous things can occasionally come in less than gorgeous packing; feel free to quote me on that line. At just £4.09, this is a gorgeous pinkier taupe, with a decent formula and major brownie points for looking more like a high end shade. I could bang on about it all day quite frankly.

We're going higher end with my next picks, the first of which is a must have for anyone with green eyes... In case you missed the excitement, I treated myself to a little Charlotte Tilbury lovin' last month, and this stunner is the beautiful Colour Chameleon in Bronzed Garnet... AKA my fave eyeshadow pencil to date. This guy blends out so easily, meaning that a swipe of the pencil followed by some finger action (HEY, down in the back) is all you need for a stunning smokey eye. Plus you're brush free, so another chance to skip brush laundry.

Last of this easy peasy trio, it's Clinique All About Shadow in Olive In My Martini... This hot mama is a JennyPurr fave, and mighty good looking it is too. A great alternative to a brown smokey eye, this shade is just so uniquely lush that it deserves to shine on its own. I love this paired with a sweep of Charlotte Tilbury Rock 'n' Kohl in Barbarella Brown and a mother-ton of mascara.

Oh boy, I'm writing this with a makeup free face and I am desperate to go running up to my makeup table to slap one of these beauties on! But before I go, what did you think of my picks? And do you have any one sweep wonders of your own? Let me know down below!

VIDEO: Empties #1

Greetings to you gang... Today's video is all about some empty products that I stashed for ya... You're totes welcome, you're totes totes welcome... Enjoy!

If You Do One Thing This Month... #4

Bake something!

GBBO has been on our screens which means the urge to don my apron and make a mess in our kitchen is stronger than ever, so when Lizzie came to stay at the end of August, we decided to give macarons a shot.

We have a confession... ours were out of a packet from Sainsburys, but they tasted great and have re-ignited my desire to make them from scratch again!

If you bake anything this month, you should totally tweet it to me and I will commend your efforts (I promise to be far kinder than Paul Hollywood).

A Shamelessly 90s Playlist

So while 90s fashion and makeup has been everywhere this year, I'm also eager for 90s music to be given the representation it deserves.

The fact is, prior to the pre-Millenium fashion trend sweeping in, we would all have agreed that by far the best thing to come out of the 90s was the music... Brown lipstick can only remain cool for so long.

Today's post is all about my five top tracks from the decade that gave us excessive uses of tartan and the greatest children's TV of all time.

Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer
This song immediately throws me into an amazingly good mood... The lyrics and altogether feel of this song are so innocent and sweet; I can't help but think of gorgeous summer holidays when this is playing.

Proud by Heather Small
Not just amazing for its references on the TV show Miranda, this track is one of the most uplifting tunes ever, I swear to you... Many a montage has been made with this song and rightly so, as it's just one of those songs that lends itself to healthy bit of nostalgia and of course pride.

Heaven by Level 42
This is one of my favourite songs of all time. If I want to pump myself up for life in no time whatsoever, this is my go to; it's a song I recommend you play loud and proud because it's utterly amazing.

Thank You by Dido
Ahhh, Dido... Is there ever a day when I don't miss her? This one just encapsulates that whole quirky world music thing that was going on in the 90s... I also know all of the words to this one, so don't play it when I'm drinking or you will receive ear damage.

Waterfalls by TLC

The opening bars of this song magically take me back to my childhood... So, so great, I am so proud that this was given a special mention in Meet the Millers because it is just fantastic.

That's me done; now the question remains, what are your favourite 90s tracks? Leave them down below and we can reminisce/weep together!

Skincare Experiments...

I've said before that I am a bit of a skincare fanatic and I realised I'd not blogged about skincare in far too long, so this post is about to remedy that!

I have been testing three new products on ma face space lately, and these are the results of my experiments...


The Body Shop Facial Massager
This little gizmo has been seriously talked up in the blogosphere in recent times; it has been claimed he will perform a myriad of miracles, the most exciting of which was that he could reduce the appearance of scarring. As a pale and acne prone person, I was eager to get my hands on this £6 saviour... but I haven't seen any discernible difference after nightly use. I'm not gonna lie - I am somewhat crushed about this one. If you've seen an improvement in your skin, can you be so kind as to let me know how often you used it and for how long before changes became apparent? I would love to know!

Coconut Oil
I have long read about the virtues of coconut oil, and it was a very excited Anna that prised open her first jar of the stuff. My first experiments involved using the oil as a hair mask, but this trial has since been abandoned as it's just to rich for my tresses to handle. I've since moved onto using it as an eye makeup remover, to greater success; far more effective than a number of expensive oil based removers that have littered my past. I'm also keeping an eye out to see if its lash lengthening/strengthening properties will bear fruit on my peepers; so far, I think they seem a little stronger and thicker, but this experiment is still in its early days.

Garnier vs. Bioderma: a Micellar Showdown
My last experiment of today has involved a cheap newbie against a pricier classic. When I first used the Garnier Micellar Water after months as a fully fledged member of Team Bioderma, I was convinced I had found an exact dupe; a good few more applications more, however, and I've noticed a few differences. Garnier is ever so slightly more stinging on my sensitive eyes, and possibly a fraction less effective in the mascara removal department... though if I'm honest Bioderma is also far from perfect in that respect.
For the moment, I'm happy to stick with Garnier, as it is around £10 less than the big B; however, this experiment has served to convince me that neither is my dream pre-cleanse, so once Garnier gives up the ghost it's likely I will move on to pastures new.

I hope you enjoyed my foray into cosmetic science; are there any experiments that you think I need to get in on? And what are the things you are trying (and hopefully digg) at the moment? I would simply lurve to know!

VIDEO: A Vlog From Lizzie's

Today's vid is a little vlog from when I went to visit Lizzie a couple of weeks ago... Check out the vid after the jump!

A Week(end) in Photos #3

Saturday - Amazing decor in an American diner | Burgery beauty | Fairy lights are the one

Sunday - Vivianna action | Macaron makin' | Blog shoot (!)

Monday - Collars are my obsession | Rice cakes are my new fave snack | Oscar looking GORGE