Winter leggings

Hey guys,

So first I want to say I am sooooo sorry for not blogging for so long! I am seriously ashamed of myself! But it's not entirely my fault, we had to scrap my laptop so I have been without a computer for months :'( Luckily I still have my phone, and today I have managed to sneak on my sister's laptop while she's out!

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Because it's winter I have decided to say a bit about my most worn winter item... leggings! I am a bit of a leggings addict, they are so comfy and you can get them in so many different patterns and colours. My favourites at the moment are part wool leggings because they keep you really warm and I love the patterns on these 3 so much...they aren't very good pictures but you get the idea!

1) New look, £8.99

2) New look, £12.99

3) Jack Wills, £29.50 (I think!)

I love the New Look leggings because the material is really soft and easy to wear. The pattern on the orangey-brown pair is bold but you'd be suprised how many tops they go with. They aztec design can make any outfit or plain clothing look interesting! The only thing I can fault about these is that they wear very easily and I don't think the seams are very strong, but for the price it doesn't really matter.
The Jack Wills leggings have a much more subtle design.They are obviously a much higher quality material and I prefer the fit, but they do cost a lot for leggings and I think New Look have a better range of patterns and colours.

I have so many more leggings that I love, but a lot of them are too thin for cold weather. In the spring I will try to do another post about some of my other favourites. Thanks for reading!

Lorna xxx

P.S. I am hopefully getting a new laptop soon (once I have saved up a bit more), so then I will be able to blog more regularly again. Keep a look out for my posts;)

Review: Max Factor volumising mascara

Holaaa!!!!

Today I thought I'd do a quick review of my new mascara- Wild Mega Volume by Max Factor. My sister works in Superdrug (which is great, especially the discounts!) and she bought me this mascara for only £4.50, which I think is amazing as it's a relatively new product.

I admit that I did not take this photo, but I think it's good because you can see the wand shape really clearly. The wand is quite large with thick bristles, and is slightly curved in the middle so it follows the shape of your lashes. The size of the wand is good because you can cover all of your lashes at once, but it has become a bit gunged up after everyday use.

The actual mascara has a creamy consistency, which I prefer to gel and liquid mascaras. It makes your eyes look really big and dark, and really volumises (is that a word?) your eyelashes.

The downside is that the heavy consistency of the mascara means that it clumps very easily, which I think is quite common in volumising mascaras. To solve this I use a Boots own eyelash comb, which seperates the clumps and makes the mascara look more evenly applied. In the photos below I didn't use an eyelash or brow comb, which is why the mascara looks a bit clumpy and uneven in my right eye.

Personally, I don't think this mascara suits my eyelashes. I tend to go for definition and seperating mascaras, not volumising ones, but I guess Wild Mega Volume does makes a nice change. I would recommend it for a night out, especially for girls with light, thin or spread out lashes. And definitely for bargain hunters like me!

Thanks for reading :)

Lorna xxx

Brighton Haul

Heyyy guys,

I promised that I'd post about my impressive haul from last weekend, so here it is! If you didn't see my first post then let me fill you in- I went to Brighton with a few friends and basically went a bit mad in Primark and a couple of my other favourite shops. Here's what I brought back with me...

The only thing I really needed to buy in Brighton was a bikini, but I came back with a bikini plus a dress, a skirt, a top and sunglasses. And I was trying to save up my money!? Anyway, I was on a hunt for a bikini and I'd seen that there was a swimwear sale on the Hollister website, so that was where we went first. But unfortunately, we were too late and the only bikinis left were in extra larges sizes and were a bit mismatched. So we went to the other end of the scale, Primark.

I lurrrrve Primark, and once again it didnt let me down! I picked up a bikini for the brilliant price of £4 (top and bottom). I like the design, it's black with a simple tie up halter neck, which somehow makes it look kind of classy, but then it has bright pink stripes. It has I was lucky because it was the last one left in my size. The material is quite flimsy and soft though, which makes me think that it won't take long to get worn and out of shape. But at the price that it was, it doesn't really matter. So at last I won't have to go swimming in the sea in my bandeau! I think this bikini will be perfect for my holiday in a few weeks time, we're going to Spain! Sooooo excited!!!

We were in Primark for ages and I also bought myself a top and a skirt. The skirt is a short, denim skater skirt, which will be nice for the beach because I can just wear it with a bikini top or a bandeau. It looks really good with the top that I bought, which is a baggy burgundy t-shirt. Together they make a super comfortable, summery outfit which will keep me cool on the really hot days. As we were in the queue I also grabbed a pair of sunglasses for £1.

After that I planned to start window shopping, but I saw a gorgeous dress in H&M and I couldn't help myself. It was £20 which is quite expensive for H&M, but in other shops I'm sure it would have cost a lot more.

I adore this dress! The pale blue denim and the simple design are so pretty. It's really just a denim bralet attached to a skater skirt, but as one piece it looks really lovely. I have seen similar dresses in Topshop and River Island and I was suprised to find it in H&M. It didn't seem like their usual style. I can picture this dress with a pair of plain sandles and red accessories.

That was the end of my clothes buying, but I had one more thing to get... macaroons!!! I love macaroons but you can hardly get them anywhere, not the proper ones anyway. On the way back up the high street we went into the Cocoa Patisserie, and I am literally drooling thinking about it.

I could easily have bought the whole display of cakes, tarts and other nibbles, but I was drawn to the massive selection of macaroons. The cool French guy over the counter gave me what looked like a menu with the different flavours on it, and I settled for a vanilla macaroon, a chocolate one and an intriguing pistachio one which was bright green. I ate them before I had a chance to take pictures, but this was the menu I was given.

Of all the shops we went to over the day, the Cocoa Patisserie is the one I would most like to go back to! I shared the macaroons and we all thought they were delicious, although they were ridiculously overpriced. But if you've never had a macaroon, I seriously recommend them!

Anyway, that's all I have to say about our day in Brighton! It was nice to go to some of the shops that I don't have near home, and also to see the amazing graffiti walls. Thanks for reading!

Lorna xxx

Brighton trip

Hey guys,

I am sooo sorry I haven't blogged in so long! Everything has been a bit hectic and I figure that there's not much point going back to Day 8 of the brand challenge after missing like 3 weeks. I don't know where the time has gone!

Anyway, on sunday I went to Brighton with a few friends. I love Brighton so much, it's definitely my favourite shopping town. We had a really lovely day and spent lots of time in the Churchill Square shopping centre, but we also visited the amazing graffiti walls, which are in the more residential area of Brighton. It was kind of creepy getting to the graffiti walls because you have to go down all of the back roady bits, but it's worth it. Here are a few photos...

It was such a good trip and I brought back a nice haul, which I will try to blog about tomorrow. Thanks for reading!!!

Review: Sweet Lips lip scrub

Heyy guys,

It's Day 6 of the brand challenge and my product for today is the Sweet Lips lips scrub from, of course, Lush. I've been using Sweet Lips for years (literally) and I love it so much. 

Lip scrubs exfoliate your lips, and Lush has come up with this clever scrub in the form of flavoured sugar. And here's the other thing... you can eat it! Although I wouldn't use it in baking :P What you do is scoop out a bit of the sugary stuff, rub it on to your lips, and lick it off. It doesn't actually tell you to lick it off, but the shop assistant said I should, and everybody with a Lush lip scrub seems to do it.

 I love Sweet Lips, and I use it almost every day. It leaves your lips so soft and smooth, and helps if they are chapped. It is vanilla and chocolate flavour, and tastes and smells delicious. The sugar doesn't make your lips greasy, but removes dry and dead skin. I find it really useful if I want to apply lip gloss/lipstick, because it smoothens your lips and rubbing on the sugar even plumps them up a bit.

The downside is that the sugar can be a bit messy. It sticks to your face, and obviously if you get it on your cheek or your nose (like I did) then you have to have a seriously long tongue to lick it off. Because of this, I can't put it on without a mirror, which is annoying if you're somewhere without one. Also, if you get it wet when it's on your skin then it goes very sticky, and if your don't manage to lick it all off it kind of congeals on your face. Urgh.

The only other thing is that it's quite expensive for a very simple lip product. It's £5.25, so it's worth considering cheaper options too. Still, the pot lasts an extremely long time, but it does go a bit weird after a while, like normal sugar. I accidentally got a droplet of water in the pot and it dried in dark lumps. But that was my fault. Here are some more photos of Sweet Lips and me using it...

 

Despite the negatives, I do love Sweet Lips, and also another of the Lush lip scrubs, Bubblegum flavoured, which is bright pink and tasted like candyfloss. I definitely recommend Sweet Lips for people with dry lips, but for people with already lovely lips, I think a cheap lip scrub from Boots or a good quality lip balm might be just as effective.

Thanks for reading!

Lorna xxx

Review: Lush Breath of Fresh Air toner

Hey guys,

Today I tried my first toner! I've been wanting to try a toner for soooo long, and I thought this would be a good one to start with. So for the 5th day of the Brand Challenge, here's a quick review...

Breath of Fresh Air facial toner

Because I'm new to toners, I wasn't sure what to buy. My skin has got very dry and sore in places from the chemically skin products I've been using, so I wanted something that would sooth and hydrate my skin, but wouldn't give me an allergic reaction. I have super sensitive skin.

I was stuck between two toners, both from Lush. Breath of Fresh Air and Eau Roma Water. But Breath of Fresh Air seemed to have more natural ingredients, so I bought it. And I'm so glad I did :)

Breath of Fresh Air is a really lovely product, I used it in the morning before I went out and it really refreshed and invigorated my skin. You are meant to spray it directly onto you face, and my face felt soft and smooth afterwards, which it hasn't done in a while. It looked less chapped and dry. The sore patches on my cheeks stung a bit when I first used the spray but then they went down loads and this evening they feel a lot better. 

On the bottle it says 'the sea breeze captured in a bottle', and I think this is a really good way to describe it. I can't help imagining shells and waves! If you've tried it you'll know what I mean. As a facial cleanser it was great and it opened my clogged pores. The smell wasn't particularly nice, in fact it didn't smell of that much. One of the main ingredients is Aloe Vera gel, which I guess doesn't have much of a fragrance in it. It would be nice if it was lovely smelling too, but it doesn't matter much in a toner.

I would like to try some more toners, any suggestions would be great!

Thanks for reading :)

Brand Challenge Day 4- solid perfume review

Holaaa!

Today I'm going to change the subject a bit from bath ballistics and soaps, to perfumes. And not just ordinary perfumes, but solid ones. 

I bought my first solid perfume last year- I really wanted to get one, and my friend recommended Lust from Lush. However, I found this way too strong for my liking, so I decided on another perfume from the same range (Gorilla Perfumes) called Vanillary. 

At the time, Lush's solid perfumes came in little tins, though they now come in tubes. The tin on my one didn't come all bent out of shape, but being an idiot, I thought the lid of the tin was a pull off one, so I tried pressing  and bending and levering the lid off before realising you just had to twist it. Oh dear ;) The actual perfumed bit inside is a creamy colour and you rub it on your skin. I go for my wrists. This is one of the things I love about solid perfumes- because you just rub them on yourself, they don't really ever run out. Literally, it would take years.

Also the tin is handy and fits neatly in your pocket, so you can carry around or put it in your handbag without having to worry about it leaking like a normal perfume. Then you can reapply it whenever you need to.

The thing about Vanillary is that when I first put it on, it's so overwhelmingly strong that sometimes I end up coughing. Sounds awful, right? But after 10 or so minutes it really dies down and then the fragrance is subtle and sophisticated. I love the vanilla fragrance, it's so rich and creamy, and there's also a hint of jasmine which adds a floral touch. The smell lasts for hours doesn't really matter how long it lasts because it's so easy to reapply.

The downside is that I can't really wear it during the week, because I have to get ready quickly and it doesn't have the chance to die down before I go. I did once try going to school with the solid perfume on my wrists, and it was so strong that I'm sure I got some weird looks over the day. But Vanillary is perfect for an evening out, and it's just something a bit different from your average perfume. The only other thing that I don't like about the product is that the edge of the tin picks up specks of dust or dirt- you might be able to see what I mean in this photo, but it's quite hard to see.

I've heard that others from the Lush 'Gorilla perfumes' range are lovely too. The price depends on what quantity you are buying, but I think I got mine for £7.00, which I don't think is too bad. It's a cheap alternative to expensive perfume, and one I definitely recommend.