Body Shop Coconut Haul

Hello lovlies! Today I'm going to do the first review of the many beautiful beauty birthday presents I received, and I have to start with my body shop haul because these products are literally to die for. I absolutely love the smell of coconut and literally haven't stopped applying these products since I opened them! 

The products pictured above are;

1. Coconut Shimmer Body Butter - £13

2. Coconut Exfoliator - £12.50

3. Coconut Shower Gel - £4

4. Coconut Body Mist - £7.50

I have always been a big fan of the Body Shop's body butters- they are thick, creamy and leave you feeling instantly moisturised. They are great at keeping dry skin away, and I also find that they help to stop fake tan becoming streaky. This "Shimmer" body butter is actually even nicer, as it has a subtle sparkle which adds a natural glow to your skin, almost acting in the same way a hi-lighter would on your face. If applied down the front of your legs it will not only moisturise them but also help to slim them as the added shimmer reflects the light beautifully.

I had never used the Body Shop's exfoliator before, and since I've started using this one I can't for the life of me think why! I exfoliate quite regularly, as I often apply fake tan so it is important to ensure you have no dead skin or dry patches beforehand. I usually exfoliate whilst in the bath, and then apply my body butter after I've dried off. I love that now both of these products are from the same range, meaning the smells compliment each other and the products work really well together.

The shower gel is thick and luxurious, the smell is divine and it is really easy to lather up, meaning it can also be used in the bath as a "makeshift bubble bath", allowing the beautiful scent to full soak into your skin and leave your skin feeling incredibly soft and smelling amazing!

Lastly is my new body spray. I don't use body sprays all the time, I'm more of a deodorant and perfume type person, but I do love using body sprays if I'm just nipping out, or want a subtler more casual smell. I have actually also been using this body spray as a room spray as I love the coconut smell so much I absolutely love walking into my room and being greeted by the fresh smell.

Let me know in the comments below what your favourite body shop products are! I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin' and don't forget to check out my twitter and instagram!

A Week of Instagram #6

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Starting from top left:

1. A photograph taken before my birthday meal and drinks on Thursday night (see ootd here)

2. Me and my lovely girls in a bar in Manchester the same night

3. The two absolutely beautiful, delicate friendship bracelets from two of my gorgeous friends

4. My slice of brunch birthday cake in a local farm shop cafe on my birthday morning

5. My baby, Minnie, helping me to unwrap my presents 

6. It may be 9 years too late but my Hogwarts letter has finally arrived!

Good morning! It is a very birthday related "Week of instagram" this week! I have genuinely had one of the best birthdays of my life, so this week has just been absolutely amazing! It's so lovely when people just go that extra little bit to make sure you have a special day, and I have been absolutely spoilt with the gorgeous gifts I have received! My boyfriend, knowing how much of a (not so secret) Harry Potter geek I am, sent me a Hogwarts acceptance letter which was just so funny and sweet. I went to a lovely local farm shop cafe in the morning for brunch with my mum, and started the day very healthily with a lovely piece of Victoria Sandwich- but if you're not allowed to eat cake for breakfast on your birthday, when are you allowed it?!

Yesterday the celebrations continued at a family meal at a lovely restaurant, and I had the most gorgeous feta cheese salad full to the brim with cherry tomatoes, which are my favourite food in the world, and considering I am now on my TWELTH day with no chocolate or biscuits, I treated myself to some honeycomb icecream for desert, and a belated birthday treat, and some much needed sugar relief!

Thankyou so much for all your birthday wishes, your comments over the last week have been so lovely as usual, so make sure you keep reading and commenting, and I will try my hardest to respond to you all! I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin' and check out my twitter and instagram!

Lace Tops and Leather Pants- Birthday OOTD

Laundry Boutique Leather Look Pants; £29

Laundry Boutique Lace Top; £29

Carvella Nude Heels; Size 5; £100

Laundry Boutique Clutch Bag; £25

Thankyou all so much for your lovely post-birthday wishes yesterday! I really have had one of the best birthdays ever, and the celebrations are set to continue into the weekend, starting with a family meal today, with my brother who currently lives in Barcelona so it's very rare we ever actually all get together! Today I'm going to share with you the beautiful outfit that I wore on my birthday night out on Thursday. (I really have to apologise for the quality of the photos, the lighting in my room was awful at the time and I didn't have my proper camera to take photos with!). The majority of it was bought from "Laundry Boutique", which is a small independent boutique in my local village Stockton Heath, however they do have a website and other boutiques in places like Manchester, Altrincham and Chester, so if you live anywhere near these areas I would definitely recommend a trip down! I personally love this shop, as it's great for finding clothes that you can be certain no one else will own! New stock is bought in every single week, and it literally is a case of "once it's gone, it's gone".

I have been looking for some leather style pants for a long time, but I am so glad I held out and waited to find these, as they fit me like a glove, are incredibly comfortable and are so flattering too! They feature three gold zips on the front of the pants which means gold accessories really work with this look. I teamed the pants with a lace flower patterned top, also from Laundry Boutique. The top can be worn both tucked in or outside of the pants, but as the weather hopefully continues to become warmer, I will start to pair the pants with crop tops and leotards for a slightly more revealing night-time look.

The outfit was accessorised with my new red/coral box clutch bag, which I am absolutely in love with! The gold chains hanging down really add something different to the outfit, and draw attention to the gold detailing on the front of the trousers. The colour of the clutch brings out the red flowers on the top, and really just brings the whole look together! I wore my trusty nude Carvellas, which are possibly the comfiest pair of heels I own, and literally go with any outfit! A pair of nude heels is an absolute must as we head into Spring and Summer- and you will get so much wear out of them it's definitely worth investing in a high-quality pair.

Let me know what you think of this outfit in the comments below! I love reading your thoughts and always try to respond to as many of you as possible! I'd also love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin' and check out my twitter and instagram!

Birthday Haul

Hello lovelies! Sorry for not posting yesterday, but it was my twentieth birthday! I had such a lovely day and got so many beautiful presents from everyone! Therefore I thought I'd give you all a sneak preview of some of the lovely gifts that I will be reviewing over the next few days! I woke up bright and early with my lovely cats, and opened my presents in bed before going for a lovely brunch with my mum, followed by a lovely meal at the Alchemist in Manchester with my friends. 

My lovely friends that I live with bought me two gorgeous bracelets, pink fizz, biscuits and chocolate and a topshop voucher (which will definitely be spent very soon and I'm sure that purchase will be shared with you soon too!) So I was feeling like an incredibly special lady indeed! Then my lovely university course friends all chipped in together to get me a gorgeous Benefit makeup gift set (and we all know how much I love Benefit!). My brother continued the Benefit theme and got me "Hoola", one of Benefits "box o' powders" that I have been lusting after for a long time!

Pictured above are some of the other beauty products I received from various other family members, including the absolutely exquisite smelling "coconut" body butter range. 

Make sure you keep reading over the next week, where I will be reviewing all these products for you, and I also have a few more OOTD's lined up for you too! Please leave comments below, and I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin'!

M.A.C. Syrup Lustre Lipstick

Hello again! I'm posting extremely early again today, but the birds are tweeting and the sky is a beautiful shade of pink so life is good! Plus it's my birthday tomorrow, how exciting! I'm slightly depressed at the fact that I will never again wake up as a teenager though! I have been doing quite a few OOTD posts recently after lots of requests, and I have a few more of those in the pipeline, but today I'm going to review this fabulous M.A.C. lustre lipstick in syrup that I recently purchased.

For a while now I have been lusting over a purple lipstick, but I am just not brave enough to actually buy and wear one! I usually wear nude lipstick or my beautiful bright pink No7 lipstick (read a review here), but last week I decided to make a baby step towards buying my so lusted after purple lipstick, by buying this subtle plumby-nude colour from M.A.C. The lipstick has a sheer finish, leaving your lips looking dewey and moisturised, and contains mauve undertones which help to create that purple tint when caught in the right lighting. The lipstick really compliments pale skin and blonde hair, it subtly adds a bold colour to your make-up look meaning it doesn't over power your face, but it still has enough impact to really stand out. The great thing about this shade is that it works equally well for both day time and night time. It is subtle and complimentary enough to wear as an every day lipstick to university or work, but it is also bold and powerful enough to be pulled off at night time and add those subtle, sultry lavender tones to your evening wear look.

The lipstick is priced at £15.00, but lasts an incredibly long time. I'm sure most of you will have used M.A.C lipsticks at some point before, so you will know that they are excellent value for money. The lipsticks moisturise your lips leaving them feeling plump, and they have great staying power too, meaning you don't have to spend all day worrying about whether your lipstick is still in place or not. So if, like me, you want to go for a slightly darker purple lips look this season, but aren't quite brave enough to dive straight in, I suggest you use this as a "transition lipstick" like me, and gradually build yourself up to using darker shades!

Please comment below and let me know what you think, and I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin' too! 

Spring Haze

Miss Selfridge Quilted Skirt; UK Size 6; £25

Next Vest Top' UK Size 6; £4.50

Topshop Blouse; UK Size 8; Not currently in stock

Firstly, my soap and glory giveaway ends in a number of hours, so make sure you ENTER IT HERE!

Wow it's early this morning! Since I'm driving into university from home this week, I am having to wake up super early to make sure I can get there in time and avoid the bulk of the rush hour traffic, but it's completely worth it to have those lovely home comforts for a while! I actually can't believe how nice the weather is already this morning, and it isn't even 7am! It makes such a difference waking up and leaving the house in the light. Fingers crossed this weather marks the start of Spring. Today, I've got another OOTD post for you (told you I keep my promises!) I bought this skirt a few weeks ago, and I have had so much wear out of it! I am such a huge fan of quilted fabrics, and as soon as I saw this skirt I knew I had to try it on! 

In the top picture, this skirt is teamed with a simple plain black vest from Next (of which my wardrobe is full), they really are such a staple item that you can wear with so many different outfits that if you don't have some I really suggest you go and stock up! They only cost £4.50 and come in every colour you can imagine. The second picture shows the skirt with my lovely faithful Topshop blouse. Unfortunately, I bought this blouse a few seasons ago, so it is no longer in stock, but Topshop have some absolutely lovely blouses and shirts in store now, so I'm sure it won't be difficult to find a replacement and recreate this look.I love wearing this blouse and skirt together, as the burnt orange/ brown in the shirt really compliments the orange detailing within the skirt.

Sometimes it can be hard to know how to dress this time of year, as Spring is approaching and the weather is nice, but there is still a breeze and a cold chill in the air... and in Manchester it certainly is not warm enough to walk round in short sleeves and no tights just yet! Therefore, adding the blouse and tights is a perfect way to make this Summery look slightly more appropriate for this time of year, and as it (hopefully) continues to warm up, the blouse can be swapped for a string vest or a crop top and the tights can be removed!

Let me know what you think in the comments below! I really love reading all your lovely comments, and I will try my best to reply! I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin' and check out my twitter and instagram!

Hello Flawless

Morning lovely followers! Today officially marks one month of blogging! I never dreamed that I'd have 600 followers in that time so thankyou so much! I know I've been doing a lot of make-up and beauty reviews for you recently, but I have some fab OOTD posts lined up so stay tuned for those! 

Today I'm going to review the Benefit "Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW" foundation. To be perfectly honest, I am not a fan of liquid foundation, mainly because I have never really suffered from bad skin, and became worried that a heavy liquid foundation would clog up my pores and actually cause my skin to become greasy and I would begin to develop spots. However, then I found this foundation and my opinions were completely transformed! It is an oil-free brightening liquid foundation which you can build up from a very light, natural covering, to a heavier, darker and more obvious look. This foundation is incredibly smooth, and almost feels like a moisturiser as you rub it into your face, leaving a dewy flawless feel. Personally, day to day I prefer a matte foundation, but if you apply "POREfessional" (read review here) beforehand, it will take away the shine leaving your skin looking matte and flawless.

The foundation also contains SPF 25, which is just another great feature of the product, and one of the highest SPF protections I've ever seen offered by a foundation. All in all, this is an incredibly light foundation, that is easily build-able to create a more dramatic evening look, however, if you suffer from very bad skin or an uneven skin tone, this may not be the product for you, as it is designed to look like there is no foundation applied. However, if you're looking for that flawless finish whilst still aiming to look natural, then I cannot recommend this product enough!

Priced at £25.50, as with all Benefit products, the price is higher than a typical drugstore brand, however the quality of product matches the price, and as I always tell you, I do think it is always worth investing more in your staple make-up items! The foundation is available in nine shades, so you are pretty much guaranteed to find your perfect match (I actually own two different shades- a lighter one for day to day, and a darker shade which I apply at night time if I want a fuller and darker coverage).

Please leave your lovely comments below as I love hearing what you have to say! I'd love it if you'd follow me on bloglovin and check out my twitter and instagram too! Also my soap and glory giveaway is nearly over so make sure you ENTER IT HERE! 

Batiste Clean and Classic

OK, so you will all probably stop reading my blog once I admit to this... but hand on heart, I only wash my hair twice a week (three at an absolute push). But before you assume I walk around with disgustingly greasy hair all week long, trust me when I say washing your hair everyday is actually bad for it, and will actually result in your hair producing more grease! I am by no means suggesting that this regime is suitable for everyone, as everyone's hair is different and you know what works best for you, however, it is a common misconception that heavily dyed, fine hair needs washing and deep conditioning all the time to keep in good condition! I have incredibly thin hair, that has been completely dyed blonde for the last eleven months, but despite this, my hair is in surprisingly good condition!

One of the products that I credit for it, is "Batiste clean and classic" dry shampoo. It is a staple product of mine that I use on a daily basis without fail. Batiste offer an extremely wide range of dry shampoos, each promising to produce a different result, and having tried a number of these, including "Blush" which promises to emit a floral and fruity fragrance whilst providing added bounce and texture, and "Fresh" which is their cool and crisp unisex dry shampoo, my personal favourite has always been the Batiste "Clean and Classic" original dry shampoo which instantly leaves your hair feeling clean and fresh, whilst helping to hold in place when backcombing or adding extra texture. Although the added scents and properties of the other varieties are nice, personally I prefer hair products that make it seem as if you actually have no hair products in! I like my hair to look natural and seem effortlessly soft, and this product does just that! It removes grease and adds bounce, but is scentless and colourless so providing it has been thoroughly rubbed in, no one need know you're actually wearing it!

Every morning, I turn my head upside down, allowing my hair to fall in-front of my face, and hold the dry shampoo about 30cm away from the back of my hair and spray. I rub this in with my head still upside down, and give a quick spritz of hairspray (using this technique adds tonnes of natural volume to your hair!). Once This has been fully rubbed in, I flip my hair back to its natural position, and apply more dry shampoo along my roots, ensuring that I fully rub in as I go to make sure no grey powder residue is left behind. 

Priced at only £4.99 in Boots, and pretty much always part of their "3 for 2" offer, you really can't loose with this product! I use it every single day and a can still lasts around 3-4 months! 

As usual, I LOVE hearing your opinions so leave comments below and I will do my best to reply to you all! Don't forget to follow me on bloglovin', check out my instagram and twitter, and ENTER MY SOAP AND GLORY GIVEAWAY HERE