Today's purchases

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturising Lip Balm £1.69 and ... butter? £3.19

One lipbalm is part of a friends birthday present. This lipbalm is the first one my sister has completely finished, which is pretty good going seeing as me and my sister never finish lipbalms. I've also had one before and really liked it :)

The body butter is really weird. It's like a tub of Vaseline; solid and greasy.

I put some on my leg (By put I mean slowly melting some product onto my finger because it's too solid to scoop out) and it left my legs soft.. but greasy. After an hour, they're not really greasy, just soft.

I'm not sure what to make of this as essentially it's a large pot of greasy wax (one of the main ingredients)

Actually I'll post the ingredients:

Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum), Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Dimethicone, Fragrance (Parfum), Tocopheryl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Carotene (CI 40800)

So the wax and oil are what make up it's solid greasy formula. I'm going to research the product and see how to use it :)

EDIT: Apparently you just use it as a normal body butter, melting with the body temperature of your fingers. Most reviews also say that it's quite heavy and doesn't absorb into the skin quickly (That's why my legs were greasy for a while) but it leaves your skin extremely smooth. So it's best to use this product at night and when your in the house for a while, giving it time to sink in.

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Bikini Troubles!

How hard can it be to find a bikini I like?!

I don't want to spend over £20.. and the two I really like are over £20 (From M+S and Asos)

I don't like triangle shape bikini's and the majority are that shape so unlucky for me.

I've looked in countless stores..

I went to Tesco's today, found one I liked but surprise surprise, no size ten!

Then Matalan.. for the fourth time

Finally they had a size ten in this ^ but it flattens your boobs down. It was nice, but not enough to buy.

I really like this. Size eight was too small (Boobs have gotten bigger!) and the only size ten they had left was broken. I can imagine this flattening your boobs too but I really do like it.

The shape I'm looking for is like this ^ (From Newlook). Balconette looking.

I'm not too keen on the print and all the other designs have sold out so I'm going to have to wait!

I didn't want to spend £16 but with all the trouble I'm going through just to find one I like, I'm going to spend that much as soon as one is in stock, it will certainly be worth it.

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Bloomin' Cactus!

^ Sorry for the cheesy title, I had to!

Buttt I am very excited as one of my cacti is blooming. I've wrote a post on them before where I said three out of five had bloomed. All of the previous three have bloomed multiple small fuschia flowers.

This cactus is extra special because it's not your usual prickly plant, as you can see:

You can also see that it has bloomed a large orange and yellow flower!

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Nails Of The Week!

Barry M's Strawberry Ice cream 309

Compared to other Barry M Nail Paints, this is quite sheer, needing 3 coats. It's also streaky on the first coat.

I think the colour is really pretty though so I'm willing to over look it's formula :)

It works a lot better with a base coat. I used Collection 2000's 2in1 Base Coat and Ridge Filler, which evens out the colour of my natural nails beautifully.

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Yesterdays and Todays OOTDs and Plymouth University's Open Day and Today's Purchases

Grey vest: Primark

White board shorts: Primark

Navy cardigan: Primark

Gold bangle: Primark

'L' pendant: Accessorize

T-shirt: Republic

Denim shorts: Primark

Wooden bangle: Chinese hotel in Holland haha

(also wore white dolly shoes)

And I wore no tights today! I'm so proud of myself :D

So today I went to Plymouth University's Open Day! It was pretty good. As were on the coast, there are loads of water sports to do. They also have a four floor library with a cafe at the top and the student union was just voted best the student union in the country. It looks amazing, but then again, any university will look amazing compared to secondary school!

A girl said that she comes from Manchester and in the three years she's studied at Plymouth, she went back home to see her parents for a total of two weeks haha

The students were really nice! We went to a Psychology drop in session for my friend but I came out wanting to do it too haha

I wanted to go to an English drop in session but it didn't start till 2 and that's when we had to leave so I'm going back in September for their other open day.

One of the girls said she has friends who study at Brighton and Falmouth who love it there and they're the other two places I want to go :)

She now has a Psychology degree but is going to London to work on Media and filming and she also said she knows someone at the BBC who has a geography degree so degrees can be flexible to many jobs.

Hmm Psychology or English? I don't know!

I didn't like any of Primark's bikinis. I'm quite fussy when it comes to bikinis I've discovered. I don't like triangle shaped ones and would like support so my boobs don't look small!

They also didn't do any nice summer dresses :/

And their gladiator sandals were ok, but not enough for me to want to buy them.

There was a pair which were really nice though and I don't know why I didn't buy them. They were a goldish/creamy colour but not tacky looking and had three chains going across the top (ankle part) and a normal flip flop type bottom. Haha I am so good at describing! Don't ya think?!

They were £8 anyhow.. I'll get them when I go into town to buy some birthday presents.

Popped into Boots and got two boring items:

Natural Collection: Pink cloud blush and Waterguard mascara, both £1.99

I reaaaalllly wanted some 17 nail polishes but I have so many already. I wanted Parma Violet as I don't yet have a Lilac in my collection (I know I can't believe it either!) but I wasn't sure whether it would be streaky or not.

Oh and I had £7ish on my advantage card so the Natural Collection items were free. I wish I remembered I had that much on my card because I would of bought some 17 nail polishes. I wouldn't of felt as guilty buying them if I knew I would only of had to pay a few extra pounds on top of my advantage points. Ahh next time!

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University Questions

• What University do you want to go/are you studying at/did you go to?
• Why your chosen University?
• Do you want to move away from home/did you move away from home?
• Why?
• What course do you want to study/are you studying/did you study?

And if there are any other bits of information you want to add in you can :)

I'm just curious and need ideas!

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Nails Of The Week!

Fingers look stupidly long here :S

This is Miss Sporty's Clubbing Colours Nail Polish in Salsa - a dark coral. (The site has changed the finish to look pearly? But I assure you it's a cream finish)

This is with one coat!

This looks very similar to Eyeko's Coral Polish. As I don't have that colour, I don't know if it's a dupe but they look greatly alike.

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OOTD

Vest: Republic

Cropped cardigan: Peacocks

Denim shorts: Primark

Dolly shoes: Newlook

Today was the first time I have worn shorts to school! or in fact out anywhere for years. I have really pale legs so don't normally tend to. Plus the 'popular' girls have great legs so I didn't want to look crap next to them!

I'm wearing tights here, most people didn't even notice :)

Oh and in this photo my body shape looks really boyish :S It's more curvy in real life or what's the word.. sportish.

Boyish is straight down and sportish is slim with slight curves.

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Benefit's Conceal It Stick

"Oh Louise, really? Another blimming Benefit review?!"

I'm sorry! I had to!

So everyone knows Glamour magazine were (and still are if you can find any) giving away a free benefit pencil with July's issue. I chose the It Stick:

I'll just dive straight into this because you've probably had enough of these reviews!

Pros:

• Creamy
• Blends well
• Medium coverage
• Lasts well (I accidently went sleep with the concealer on and when I woke up, it was still had good coverage)

Cons:

• This isn't a con for me personally but I'm sure it is for other women. This stick only comes in one colour supposedly to suit all skin tones. Well as you can see it is very light and will not suit all skin tones. I have pale skin so it is the perfect colour for me but anyone darker will find this hard to use.

Would I re-purchase? I might buy another Glamour magazine because for £2, this is a decent concealer but I would never pay the £17 price tag.

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The Body Shop's Facial Cleansing Bar

Price: £3.00

What The Body Shop say: A vegetable-based soap that lathers onto the skin to leave it feeling cleansed, lightly moisturised, soft and refreshed. Especially formulated for use on the face, it can also be used on the body.

First of all, I really like the scent. Initially I couldn't pin point it but I knew I had smelt something like it before. I thought I was close when strawberry bonbons popped into my mind but my mum went 'ew no! that's not strawberry bonbons!' and then it hit me, turkish delight! That's why my mum isn't keen on the smell because she hates the sweets. My dad loves them so that's what I smell when he eats them.

It's not a strong scent so don't be put off if you don't like the smell of turkish delight. That's just what it reminds me of but it is a floral/sweet scent and it's gorgeous.

This is the best cleanser I have used. Now that's a strong statement but here's why:

• This lathers loads and I like my facial washes to do that as then I know it's working.
• It literally leaves my face squeaky clean.
• Afterwards my skin feels soft.

For a couple minutes after using your face feels slightly tight, but I love it when that happens.

Some people might say: 'It's a bit expensive for a bar of soap' and I will say yes it's a bar of soap, but it's a cleanser and £3.00 for a cleanser is great value for money. This also lasts ages! I've been using mine for a few weeks and it hasn't changed in size. I also read a review where it only slightly decreased in size after having it for a few months.

Would I re-purchase? Definitely, this is now my holy grail cleanser!

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I'm...

disappointed. I purchased The Little Red Tin from Superdrug today and in my previous post said I would compare it to Vaseline's Rosy Lips. Well I needn't to because this has no colour!

None at all. In the tin it looks all pretty - 'Look at me, I'm tinted and because I'm tinted you would expect me to give your lips a nice rosy tint. Buy me and then I can fool you!'

It has a nice strawberry smell on the plus side but apart from that, it's just like any other lipbalm, and definitely not comparable to Vaseline's Rosy Lips.

Damn you Little Red Tin!

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Today's purchases

The little red tin £1.27 from Superdrug

Superdrug have a new lipbalm out! (well this is the first I've seen of it) Their lip balms are like Vaseline but I much prefer these. There's 'The little blue tin' which is the original, 'The little green tin' which contains aloe vera and smells of apple, 'The little pink tin' which contains SPF 15 and now 'The little red tin' which is tinted and smells of strawberries.

I'm going to compare this to Vaseline's Rosy Lips which is the product Superdrug got their 'inspiration' from.

Next up are my free Barry M Dazzle Dusts, thanks to the vouchers in More magazine. It is only one per customer so I got my sister to pick me one up.

Mushroom 51 and Teal 94

In the pot, Mushroom looks like a grey with a few warm brown undertones. On the skin those brown undertones come through and it's beautiful. It also has a few plummy undertones and I don't have anything like this in my collection.

Teal is... well teal haha more of a bright blue though.

I was going to get 'Tan' number 39 but I have colour's similar to it, although I know it's a big hit in the blogging community as it's meant to be a dupe for Mac's eye shadow 'All that glitters'.

First of all I was thinking 'I shall get wearable daytime colours' but afterwards I remembered that I rarely wear eye shadow all over the lid but on my lower lash line instead.

So some of you may think that Teal is a colour I'll hardly use but I will use it more than neutral colours as I love to wear a pop of colour for eye liner.

There were so many to choose from! Might have to go back...

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Double it!

I, like many, can pin point every feature on my body which I despise and I can do so within seconds. As for pointing out the good? That takes a little longer... a lot longer actually.

I'm going to bullet point everything I hate about myself, physically and personality wise, and have to double that number for the things I like about myself.

Anyone can do this if they wish. I think it's a good exercise to do as we shouldn't always put ourselves down!

Hate:

• Although being slim, I've recently filled out and have accumulated a few stretch marks on my hips/bum. Although most underwear covers these, I'm still very conscious, so it looks like I will be wearing short shorts for the beach!
• I'm pale. I'm not even on about just pale - my legs are a pasty white! and every fake tan I've tried either makes me orange, or doesn't do anything. I might try St.Moriz...
• Fat cheeks. This one is the biggest thing I hate about myself. 'You must have hollow legs to be that slim and eat as much as you do!' 'No, actually, all the weight goes to my cheeks' haha. This baby fat better go within a few years.
• I over analyse everything. I'm shy when meeting people because all that runs through my head is 'I know they're thinking horrible things about me'
• I'm sensitive. One little comment will stick with me and I will take it personally.

So how many is that... 5! I don't even know if it's possible to think of 10 good things :(

The good:

• er... I'm slim? Yeah, that's one! 9 more...
• My freckles - awr the little cuties!
• I have a straight (button) nose
• I'm in proportion. No, this is not the same as being slim, it's a different point :P
• I'm a good listener
• I'm creative

I really can not think of anymore...

• Oh I like the shape of my eyebrows haha
• I'm smart(ish)
• I like to buy people presents
• I'm trustworthy

I can not believe I done it! It took me a long time, but it does make me feel slightly better :)

Have a go yourselves... or not, I don't mind :)

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Belly Bars

I got my belly button pierced when I was fourteen which means I've had it pierced for three and a half years :) some people may not agree with getting it pierced at this age but I don't think it's any different to getting your ears done. It's something for yourself.

I don't change my belly bar often but here is my collection:

Multiple designs including UV, glow in the dark and flexible plastic. Ebay, pack of 50 for around £6!

My favourites! Pearly and pretty. Again, from Ebay for a few pounds.

The only three which aren't from Ebay haha. First one is from a friend (a gem is missing :(), second one is the one I had my belly button pierced with. It's light pink and in the light it turns multi coloured :) and the last one is what my nan bought me for Christmas.

Ebay, couple of pounds.

Ebay, couple of pounds. In between the tear drop and 'pearl' was a butterfly but I didn't like it so I took it off.

Bad quality photo, sorry! Zipper belly bar and you guessed it, Ebay, a few pounds :D I'm currently wearing this one.

Some people might be a bit.. what's the word.. stuck up *cough* I mean worried that their from Ebay haha but their perfectly safe and clean and with any belly bars I get, I still sanitise them.

So there you go!

Toodles my little cupcakes

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Next Candy Lips Palette

I received this palette for Christmas a few years ago.

Matte casing with 'lips' in a glossy black. The flash makes the word appear white in the image but it's not.

Blow dried before photo was taken because I wanted to neaten them up haha

Left to right: Ice, Candy Cane, Sugar Plum, Raspberry and Cranberry.

Ice and Candy Cane are more for layering and adding a glossy effect which is why they are not pigmented. Left to right: Sugar Plum, Raspberry and Cranberry.

Sugar Plum has a satin finish, Raspberry has a glossy shimmer finish and Cranberry is a block red with fuchsia undertones.

Pros:

• Sleek packaging
• Large mirror
• Very pigmented - to make wearable just dab a little on the lips or lighten with the first two colours (That's why you can see different shades of pink/red in the second photo)
• Last a long time - they last a long time because of the lipstick formula. Their slightly sticky but that's what gives them the staying power.

Cons:

• The brush is 'flimsy' so I rarely use it.

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I'm ashamed...

to be writing this post but I have the urge, I really do!

In More you get a voucher which entitles you to a free Barry M Dazzle Dust (Can only be used in a Superdrug store). I bought two copies, for two vouchers. Now obviously I can not use these at the same time so I'm going to get my sister to use the other one and then give me the Dazzle Dust. I'm thinking Mushroom and Tan, gorgeous wearable colours but I'm also looking at getting a blue.

Glamour Glamour Glamour... I had to go to four shops! Tesco's - zilch, Co-op - nada, Newsagent's - nope. Then I went to the closest little shop near my home and where I thought wouldn't sell Glamour. Well they did. I picked up the last copy and it was the copy with the pencil I wanted in it!

I got It Stick as I'm not very interested in the other two. Knowing me though, I would of picked them up if I saw them.

The concealer is extremely creamy and for once I love my pale skin, because it's my skin tone!

I haven't bought a magazine in yonks and the last time I bought Glamour was exactly a year ago, which also had a Benefit freebie in.

One of the cover's had Fern Cotton on the front:

She looked absolutely gorgreous and I am in love with the dress.

I also bought a couple bags of Dorito's (because I know your interested :P), as a peace offering for a BBQ I'm going to tomorrow ha. I bought a bag for myself and I'm scoffing them as I write this. Yes I will eat the whole 225g bag tonight. And yes that is nearly 1200 calories hehe.

A sharing sized bag? More for myself more like!

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17 bronzer

I got this a few years ago in a set for Christmas so I'm not sure if it is still available. I've just looked on the Boots website but the new packaging of the bronzers means that you can not see the product from the outside so I'm not sure if the product I'm about to show you is one of them!

Obviously the name tells you this is a bronzer. Personally I think it is far too shimmery to be a bronzer (and this is coming from someone who loves shimmer!) but this makes a gorgeous highlight. The camera would not pick up the highlighting effect so I haven't got a photo to show you :(

Each individual colour is also beautiful as an eye-shadow. The first swatch picture shows you the highlighting/shimmering effect. No glitter, just baked shimmering goodness.

If anyone knows if 17 still do this product, just in new packaging, please let me know!

EDIT: Nicola has just informed me that this was Limited Edition :/

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