Tom Rosenthal

Happy summer chickens! Recently I have had a lack of new music and for the days where all I want to do is chill in the sun there is nothing worse than having nothing to listen to. First world problems. Luckily I have stumbled upon the talent that is Tom Rosenthal, insert wiki information “Thomas Alan Smith "Tom" Rosenthal is an English comedian, film and television actor. He is best known for playing Marcus in Plebs and Jonny Goodman in Friday Night Dinner”.

So if you are looking for a new fresh sound give him a listen! I’ll link some of his songs below, hope you are all well my huns!

Drinks in Shoreditch

Face: Rimmel London Matte Perfect in 103 True Ivory, Rimmel London Stay Matte Transparent Powder, Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer, Bourjois Paris Maxi Delight Bronzer, Natural Collection Blush in Rosey Glow.

Eyes: Mac in Jest (lid), Elizabeth Arden in Lagoon (crease), Rimmel London Scandaleyes in Black, Bourjois Paris Volume 1 Seconde Mascara Waterproof.

Brows: Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Brown.

Lips: Revlon Colour Burst in Peach Parfait.

I have lived in east London for just under a year now and one thing is certain, I absolutely love Shoreditch! I am lucky enough to live just round the corner from Brick lane so I make sure I take it for granted by going as much as I can for either a meal, the markets, rough trade or even just for a few drinks with friends.

I find this is a good look for it as it’s simple but also has a little shimmer to it so you don’t get lost in the lights of the cocktail bars. In words it looks like a lot of products were involved but when actually applying it time is definitely not an issue.  The key to this look is the brassy colour of the eyes paired with the light pink shade on the lips that can be created straight from work/university by adding a little shimmer eye shadow and a colour to the lips.

The last thing to say is if you ever find yourself in London make sure you get yourself down to Shoreditch to either Vibe Bar or 1001 for a cool atmosphere and a true feeling of east London!

Sunny Day Necessities

It’s rare to get a sunny day in the UK so when we do I feel obligated to make the most of it, i.e. spending every moment in the park. I was however blessed with having very pale, easily burned skin which means I have to take extra precautions when enjoying the suns raise as should everyone. Sun burn is not fun or pretty. Here I am going to share my sunny day necessities which I use whenever the clouds break and Mr Sun shows his face.

Clinique Super City Block in SPF 40, £17.00

This is a new product for me which I invested in because I was sick of getting a Rudolph nose every time I step outside. It’s not a cheap product but I am very happy with it as it is easily applied and soaks in really quick fast. Also the women at the Clinique stand told me it can be used as a primer which is always a bonus! I went for SPF 40 as I need it but it also comes in SPF 25 if you do not burn as easily as you do but you can never be too prepared when it comes to skin care.

Nivea Sun Moisturising Sun Lotion in SPF 30, £5.00 (half price in Tesco’s)

Nothing special here, just your regular all over the body sun cream; this can be used on your face as well but I find they cause my skin to breakout so I just stick to the City Block. It does everything it says on the bottle, protects you from the sun and as its Nivea you know you are going to get a quality product.

Nivea Sun Protect Lip Care in SPF 30, £3.50

Again this is a must for me as I have sadly suffered from burned lips in the past and trust me, it ain’t fun.  You can probably get better SPF lip balms then this but for the price it’s great just to throw into your bag before going out and it’s very easily applied. Only thing is that it does leave a white colour to your lips and it does not last that long so constant application is needed but I still wouldn’t leave the house on a sunny day without it.

My last few necessities which I take with me for a fun day in the sun is some reading material (this month’s ELLE is a treat, amazing interview with Pharrell), sunnies and of course some of that delish H20! To make mine more exciting I just added a few frozen berries I had on hand which gives it a lovely fruity hint and just helps liven up some normal tap water.

 I hope you are all enjoying the sun where you are and remember to be safe in the sun by using  SPF and keeping hydrated.

What are your sunny day musts?

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!

Ah my god where the hell has this year gone?! I am about to finish my first year at university and I haven’t blogged since January…*insert small panic attack*. I am truly sorry for the lack of posts but I just literally have not had the time recently between starting a new job and my exams I barely have time to sleep. But there is a light on the horizon and that is that my last exam is on Monday then I am free as a bird yeeeeey and I plan to get back into a swing of blogging things. I also plan to do more varied subjects because as you know variety is the spice of life and that. I don’t want to give away too many plans just yet so just sit tight and everything should unfold soon!

If anyone out there is in the same boat as me and are dying exams then I feel ya sista (and brothers) but hold on tight as it’s all nearly done! So yeah, this is just a quickie to tell you guys that I am still alive and kicking and I will be back to proper blogging as soon as my exams are finished.

Love you all mwah mwah!

Uni Days

Merry Tuesday kittens! Whoever designed my timetable for university this term is a definite hater in that I have 9am starts every day, booooooooooo. Any reader who is at university or has been will be feeling my pain right now and how much of a struggle in is to get in every day AND to make yourself look presentable to the world. Ah maaa gaaaahd it’s hard! To survive this I have made a morning routine which can be done in 30-40 minutes (depends on how fast you can move in the mornings) so you can have those extra few minutes in bed.

1)      GET OUT OF BED! Hardest step of all

2)      Drag your ass to the kitchen to get yourself a coffee/tea which ever you prefer

3)      Wash your face using a simple cleanser, preferable an energising one as you are probably still asleep

4)      Moisturise, I use Nivea Soft as its light to use and acts as a lovely base to your make up

5)      This leads me on to make up, keep it simple! I normally just use a slick of foundation (depending on how my skin is), wee bit of concealer, powder, mascara (normally use quite a lot to make me look more awake), eyebrows and blush then you’re done!

6)      Hair, my favourite thing to do is just to tie a section of it up and leave the rest down. It’s so quick to do and yet looks so cute and pretty

7)      Dress, think about what you’re going to wear as you’re getting out of bed and making your coffee/tea to speed this process up

8)      Brush teeth, spray on perfume, grab bag making sure everything you need is there then boom you’re out the door!

Don’t worry if you’re mornings are a mad rush everyone’s is, just follow these steps as loosely as you want and it’ll help you not to lose your head. For a little more help on a quick make up look the beautiful Tanya Burr has done a simple school make up look which I think is so good to use so I will leave a link for that down below for you to have a look.

Last thing I want to say is good luck! I am not a morning person and I know it’s hard to get up early but just think, when you get home you can nap! Naps always help.

Diamond Boxes

A while back I did a post about cheap storage devices I used for when I first got to university and I didn’t really have the money to buy anything else, I will leave the link here for it. For Christmas though I was spoilt of my momma who bought me some beautiful jewellery boxes as she found me keeping my jewellery in a tin not very lady like and since I am now 20 I should really be using something nicer.

I got two boxes, one a smaller mirrored box with a lid and matching mirrored set of draws with I love so much! One of the best things about them is that the inside of the box and each draw is felt so it gives some protection to the things that are inside. I use the box for my bigger necklaces, they fit in a treat and it’s big enough so that they don’t get all twisted in each other which is one of the biggest pains in the world when you are in a rush! I then have put my rings, earrings and bracelets in each of the draws of the one. For my earrings (the top draw) I placed a smaller box in as well (which I think I got a bracelet in but I can’t really remember) to hold my studs and smaller in earrings in so they don’t go roaming around the draw.

Another amazing thing about these boxes is that since they are just mirrored and not coloured they can fit in to pretty much any room with any decorations. I didn’t ask how much they were as it’s a bit rude to ask how much presents are but I did find out they are from the TU line in Sainsbury’s which I was surprised about as they are so pretty and I have never really had a look at the line. So if you are looking for some jewellery boxes or just a pretty box to put some nic-nacs in then get yourself down to your nearest Sainsbury’s! 

Disco Bus

2013 brought the signature nail (this just means one nail is painted a different colour to the rest) and I have a feeling it’s here to stay. Not going to lie, it is a favourite of mine as it is so simple and easy to do yet add something a little different to your regular nail varnish design. The easiest way to do it if you don’t fancy having different coloured nails is just to add a glitter top coat to one of the nails which I have done here, it doesn’t look it as this is a quite heavy top coat but believe me it is!

For the base coat I used Rimmel London I Love Lasting Finish in 030 Double Decker Bus which I got for my birthday and for the glitter top coat I went to an oldie, Models Own in Southern Lights. Both of these are drug store brands so are easy to get your hands on and are relatively cheap. So if you haven’t already give this a go to give your nails a little more jazz than normal, the nail you choose to stand out if up to you and so are the colour combinations.

Music wise this week I have been OBSESSED (capitals are necessary) with alt-j An Awesome Wave, this album was hyped big time about this time last year and I have just got around listening to it and can’t stop. If you are fans of dance/electro/indie music then give it ago; my favourites are Breezeblocks, Taro and Fitzpleasure. 

I am looking for new music so please recommend below! 

Book Club: Divergent

“Here’s to books, the cheapest vacation you can buy.”

—	Charlaine Harris

As part of my new year’s resolutions is to read more…well I’ll be honest here I just need to start reading! My sister is a little book worm and has always tried to push books on to me to read so I have decided to actually read them, how thoughtful of me. As motivation for me to keep this up I am going to (try my very best) do a book review once a month on this blog reviewing a book I have and one which I think you will like as well.

The first book I am going to review in 2014 is *drumroll* Divergent by Veronica Roth, OH MY GOD THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! I’ll admit it isn’t the highest quality book on the brain stimulating side but it got me finding it hard to put it down and if that isn’t a sign of a book then I don’t know what is. If you liked the Hunger Games books then you will love this, it is the first of a trilogy and is going to be made into a film this year which I cannot wait for! I’ll leave a link for the trailer down below if you want to take a wee look at that.

Not giving too much away, Divergent is about 16 year old Beatrice who lives in a futuristic world which is split into 4 factions. When you turn 16 you have to choose which faction you want to spend the rest of your life in, you can either stay in your faction or move to a different or join factionless which are a population who either make it into a faction or choose to live there. The story starts with Beatrice making her decision with the help of a simulation test which is supposed to give you a clear idea of which faction you live in but things don’t go too smoothing for dear Beatrice…

Over Christmas I read both Divergent and the second in the trilogy Insurgent which is equally as good so go read it! If you do read it or you have already read it please tell me below what you thought of it. We can make this a little community book club thing…good descriptions there Hann.

Divergent Trailer, out April 14th (UK)

What books have you been reading and loving recently?

January Blues

Hold on to your hats cats here comes the first beauty post of the year; put your hand up if you just imagined a bunch of cats wearing hats *raises hand* I am going to start with one of my ultimate beauty faves, a good old nail varnish that I got off my darling mother for Christmas. I don’t own my Jessica nail varnishes but as they are my mums favourite she’s always getting me them, I ‘m not complaining though! The cover is amazing, no more than 2 coats are needed, the colours are beautiful and they last really well; I would put them up with Nails Inc. and OPI for quality.  

The colour I am wearing at the moment is called Jessica Estate and is a dark metallic blue/grey/dark green in some lights; it kind of reminds me of petrol. I love colours like this because they change colour depending on what lighting you’re in and it just keeps things exciting...yes my life is that exciting. It’s also good for my fellow pale gals as it doesn’t make your hands even paler like wearing black does but it still means we can wear a dark shade with pride. Safe to say this is my colour of the moment, thanks mam!

As it would have been rude I didn’t ask the price of the nail varnish as it was a present but I have left the link to the website so you can have a little look for yourself. I don’t think Jessica is stocked in many drugstores but I know they do in Sally’s and are available in most beauty salons (if you do find it in a drugstore please tell me!)

What’s your nail varnish favourite at the moment? 

Also as a little musical extra, a band which went to high school with have just released their first music video and it’s amazing and I highly recommend a listen! I have seen them perform live and they are extraordinary so please help support them; they are going to big so get in there before anyone else.  

LISBON - BLUELOVE

Frozen Banana Treats

The thing I find the hardest about eating healthy is taming my sweet tooth, it rules and is impossible to control. I have now found a nice little treat which is sweet and healthy, frozen banana bits. Simple and yet delicious! Firstly you choose your bananas, ones which are ripe are the best to use but the size doesn’t matter as you are going to cut them in to slices any way. A normal butter knife is fine to use to cut the bananas into slices (the size of the slices is up to you) then places the slices into a sandwich bag; try to make sure the slices are not attached as they will freeze together. Place the bags into a freezer and leave for a few hours till frozen; once frozen they can be enjoyed on there’s own as a snack, with cream or ice cream as a dessert or if put into a blender as part of a smoothie.

This is a treat I am going to use (especially in the summer) instead of reaching for ice creams as a healthy treat so tame my sweet tooth.

What healthy treats do you enjoy?