Update!

I haven't written an update post in months, so you would think I'd have loads to tell you. I don't. My life is a simple one. But here I am, updating you on the few things that have happened recently!

Lets back track to the end of July. I received my first year uni results and I was very happy with them. I achieved two 1sts and four 2:1s. I wish the first year of uni counted towards your overall grade now!

Since July, I've been ill. Two. Whole. Months. First of all, I had a throat infection, along with every other symptom you can think of. Once that eventually went, I acquired another bug or some kind of allergy, because I had this really bad mucus thing. I would go through a whole roll of tissue in 1-2 days. Gross, I know. Sorry about that. Being ill on top of Shadow dying in July means my Summer hasn't been the best. Anyway, it's starting to clear up now, so I think I'm going to be better in time for uni! 

Speaking of uni, again, I found out my timetable for next year today. I'm in 10am-2pm on Mondays and 9am-1pm on Thursdays and Fridays - Not bad! I didn't want any gaps in between my lectures (I didn't want to wait around) and I didn't want to finish late, so I'm happy with my times. I prefer having early lectures over late ones.

I dyed my eyebrows the other day. My mum was dying her hair a chocolate brown, so I borrowed a little and applied the dye with a small make-up brush. I dyed them because the base of the hairs were white, making my brows look sparser than they were. Now, they don't need to be filled in as much.

I had my hair cut on Saturday! 2-3 inches were taken off, so it feels quite short now. My hair's still in my lower back region though. I also had my layers shortened, so now my hair is flicking in every direction possible. They give my hair some shape though!

I've been online shopping a lot these past few days, especially on eBay. In the post, I have an NYX cream blush, a penguin memory stick, a duvet set, some bright leggings to wear around the house and to bed in the Winter, a couple of men's t-shirts to wear with the leggings and three Essie nail polishes from Fragrance Direct. They were only £1.99! I'll post about them when they arrive :)

I'm on a mission to find a simple, and slightly stylish, coat with a hood. I've looked at hundreds and still haven't found one I love! More coats on the British high street need hoods. The few I have found and like are £50+, but I don't want to spend over £50. Maybe if I stop looking, I'll actually find one. Fingers crossed!

On the 31st August, I will have had this little monkey for three years. I love Jessie so much!

Affordable Necklace Storage and eBay & Etsy Necklaces

Good evening! I thought I'd show you my new necklace storage I assembled today, which is practical and pretty. I used hardwall hooks, which are very affordable. I bought a pack of six from Wilkinson for just over a pound, but you can get them from a large range of stores. They are also quick and easy to put in. It took me just a few minutes to hammer them all in. They will leave small marks in the wall though, so you may want to consider that.

Half of my necklaces are from eBay and Etsy - They are great places to buy affordable jewellery from. Below are my eBay and Etsy necklaces with prices and links to the listings.

£1.47 - Here

£1.25 - Here

£1.38 - Here

I bought this one from Etsy. If you search 'bronze leaf necklace', a variety of similar necklaces appear. I've just had a look and may have to buy a few of them!

I bought this a few years ago for about a pound, but the seller is no longer selling it. There are some listings at similar prices, but the sellers' ratings aren't the best. Here is a Buy It Now listing from a top rated seller. It's a little more expensive, at £1.95, but it's still very affordable and it's from the UK. Also, this seller has a handful of listings which you can bid on.

Peacock necklace - Again, the seller I bought this from has stopped selling it! And the few listings I've found want £6-8 for it. If you don't mind paying that, here is a listing from a top rated seller (I only buy from top rated sellers) and here is an Etsy listing.

Watch necklace - You guessed it! I can't find a specific auction because I bought this years ago. I feel like such a failure haha. However, there are thousands and thousands of different watch necklaces on eBay and Etsy, and most of them are reasonably priced. This watch necklace is pretty and only £3.29.

Look what I just found on Etsy! The Hunger Games Mockingjay pocket watch necklace! And it's only £4.51.
Oooh, and look! A Harry Potter Golden Snitch pocket watch necklace! Okay, I'm getting too excited now.

I'm now off to buy some necklaces! First stop - Etsy.

Models Own Champagne

Natural light

Flash

Models Own Champagne is one of my favourite shades. The colour is subtle and elegant, while the metallic shimmer gives it an edge. It's a lot more sparkly in natural light than the first photo suggests. I also have the lilac shade (Mystic Mauve) from the collection, which is another polish I'm particularly fond of.

I hope you're enjoying your Sunday! I had to fill out a booklet of forms for the dentist, which was not fun! I also put some hooks in my wall for my necklaces to hang.  They look quite pretty hanging there, in my opinion. I'll probably show you in another post.

Good evening!

Louise xo

My Top 5 Nail Polishes

Hello! Today, I guest blogged over on the lovely Alison's blog - Rock and Glitter. You can view the post here. It discusses my current top 5 nail polishes (and a couple more!).

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Thank you, Alison, for asking me to feature on your blog :)

Nails of the Week!

Natural light

Flash

I wasn't going to blog about the nails I've been sporting this week, but I'm in a blogging mood! I couldn't decide on a colour, so went with four shades. On my baby finger and thumb I have OPI's No Room For The Blues, on my ring finger I have China Glaze's Make Some Noise, on my middle finger I have Barry M's Boots Limited Edition, and on my index finger I have OPI's Shorts Story. They don't exactly go together, but that's what I like about them.

I'm taking these polishes off tonight and will be painting my nails with Models Own Champagne. I haven't worn it for a while and it will make a nice change to the bright nails I've been wearing lately.

I hope you enjoy your Thursday evening! I'm going shopping tomorrow, so expect a haul. I'll be on a mission to find a nice coat with a hood. You would think that clothing stores in rainy Britain would stock more hooded coats than they do, wouldn't you? Silly sausages.

My Current, Daily Beauty Routine (Evening)

Hello, all! Welcome to the second part of my current, daily beauty routine. You can find my morning routine post here. 

I shower in the evenings because I leave my hair to dry naturally and prefer to have relaxed mornings. I've been washing my hair with TRESemme's Salon Silk Shampoo and Conditioner (Superdrug, £4.99 for a 900ml bottle) for a while now. I usually buy them when they're half price. They're so affordable and last for months! I've also been using Liz Earle's Botanical Shine Shampoo* and Conditioner for Dry and Damaged Hair* (Liz Earle, £8.50 each). The shampoo is SLS free and contains many natural ingredients, so I've been using it every couple of weeks to give my hair a deep cleanse. Every time I've used the conditioner, my hair has gone dry, which is weird considering its claims.

After I've shampooed and conditioned my hair, I've been washing my body with Treacle Moon's One Ginger Morning Shower Gel (Tesco, £2.99). I love it so much! It smells like Starbursts. I then shave, which isn't interesting! and then I've been washing my face with No7's Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser (Boots, £9.95). It removes my make-up well and leaves it fairly soft. Not as soft as Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish though. I've also been trying out Nelsons Pure & Clear Purifying Daily Facial Wash* (Boots, £7.85). It removes my make-up well... that's all I have to say about it, really. It's not an exciting product, but it does the job.

I don't regularly moisturise my body, but I've been making an effort to do so more often. Once out of the shower, I've been using Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturising Body Oil (Boots, £5.10) (Review here) or The Body Shop's Coconut Beautifying Oil (The Body Shop, £9) (Review here) to moisturise. If I don't use those, I'll use Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion (Boots, £3.77) or The Body Shop's Raspberry, Mango and Sweet Lemon Body Butters (The Body Shop, £12.50 each).

Once my body is moisturised, I moisturise my face with The Body Shop's Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream (The Body Shop, £11) (Review here) or Simple's Kind to Skin Sun-Kissed Moisture Cream (Boots, £4.99). The Simple cream gives my skin a light tan, making it look healthy and glowing.

Next up to receive some TLC is my hair. I use Aussie's Miracle Hair Insurance Leave-In Conditioner (Boots, £4.49) and/or TRESemme's Salon Silk Serum (Boots, £4-5) on the ends of my hair. I don't use these every night. I use them once or twice a week.

And that concludes my current, daily beauty routine!

Thank you for reading!

*PR samples

My Current, Daily Beauty Routine (Morning)

Good evening, everyone! Here are the products I am currently using every morning. They are mostly make-up items because I shower and use my body products in the evenings. A post for my evening beauty routine will be up shortly.

Before I apply my make-up, I quickly wipe my face with a facial wipe to get rid of any excess oil and then use a light moisturiser. I'm currently using the Nelsons Pure & Clear Purifying Daily Facial Wipes* (Boots, £5.49) and Nelsons Pure & Clear Balancing Moisturiser* (Boots, £8.49). The moisturiser is light and absorbs into my skin well, which is just what I need before I apply my make-up. The facial wipes have a plastic lid on them - I wish more brands did this! Before I started using the Nelsons products, I was using Skin Therapy's Facial Wipes (Wilkinson, 2 for £1) and The Body Shop's Vitamin E Moisture Cream (The Body Shop, £9).  Once I've finished using my current face wipes, I'm going to buy a big packet of baby wipes because you get more for your money.

Once my moisturiser has sunk in, I apply my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer (Boots, £4.19) to any blemishes. Before applying it around my eyes, I use Witch's Anti Blemish Skin Clearing Primer (It's not showing up on Boots' or Superdrug's websites, but I know they stock it. I think it's around £5) because I have oily eyelids. I also sometimes use ELF's Eyelid Primer (ELF, £1.50). My skin normally looks quite even by this stage, so I just use ELF's Mineral Booster (ELF, £5) to keep any shine at bay. I then use my trusty ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Medium (ELF, £3.75) (Review can be found here) to fill in my eyebrows.

Blusher is one of the only products that I change daily. Above is some of my most used. At the back, you have Sleek's Pixie Pink, Flamingo and Rose Gold (Superdrug, £4.49), Natural Collection's Pink Cloud and Peach Melba (Boots, £1.99), 17's First Kiss (Boots, £3.49), Revlon's PhotoReady Cream Blush in Flushed (Boots, £5.99) and NYX's Cream Blush in Glow (Joy017, £6-7, including P&P). As you can see, most of them are warm toned. They look the most natural with my freckles and ginger hair.

For months and months now, I've lined my eyes with NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha (Joy017, £4-5, including P&P) (Review can be found here). Recently, I've been using the NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Campo de' Fiori* (NARS, £17), which is a beautiful gold. It is strongly pigmented and lasts for hours. This is great for someone like me who cannot be bothered to touch up my make-up throughout the day. I then curl my lashes with ELF's Eyelash Curlers (ELF, £1.50) and use Maybelline's One by One Mascara (Boots, £8.49). I've repurchased this mascara so many times. It has a plastic brush, so I was sceptical at first, but I was pleasantly surprised and haven't looked back since. I love it because it separates every last eyelash, making them look natural. If I want to wear an eyeshadow, I've recently been opting for Maybelline's 24HR Colour Tattoo Gel Cream Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze (Boots, £4.99), and if I want to use a liquid eyeliner, I've been using Collection 2000's Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Black (Boots, £2.99). Both the eyeshadow and felt tip liner do not budge once dry - I love them.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced mocha, NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Campo de' Fiori and Maybelline 24HR Colour Tattoo Gel Cream Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze

Like the rest of my make-up, I like my lip products to be fuss free and last most of the day. The shades I've been wearing the most are Collection 2000's Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Creams in Fairy Cake and Cotton Candy (Boots, £2.99) (Review can be found here), NYX's Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan (Joy017, £5-6, including P&P) and Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart. Sweetheart is not available in the UK, but you can buy other shades in Superdrug and Boots for £5.99 at the moment (Normally £7.99). The Balm Stain is quite bright, so I like to sheer it out with my finger.

Collection 2000 Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Fairy Cake, Collection 2000 Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Cotton Candy, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart

That's it for my make-up! I'm left with a natural look. The brushes I use are by ELF Studio and Ecotools.

I don't use any products on my hair in the mornings. I just straighten or curl my hair using my Remington Pearl appliances. The Remington Pearl Curling Wand (Review can be found here) makes the curls in your hair last for days, so I don't need to use any hairspray to keep them in place.

And that's me ready for the day! Holy Moly, this post is long. It's because of the make-up products. My evening routine post shouldn't be as long!

*PR samples

The Vampire Diaries Tag

Good afternoon! I started watching The Vampire Diaries last month and finished the current 66 episodes in 6 days. I can't get enough of it, so decided to do this tag! It's actually a YouTube tag, made by Ingrid and Joey, but I thought I'd participate in blog post form :)

Source - The girls look beautiful in this picture, as always!

1. How did you discover the show? It's been out for years, so I just generally knew of it.

2. Who's your favourite character? This is hard! I like all of them, but I especially like Damon, Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline and Lexi. I also really like Matt - I feel sorry for him and want to give him a hug!

3. If you were a vampire, would you live on human or animal blood? I love animals, so couldn't kill them! I would live on human blood, but it would be from a blood bank. If I was a vampire though, my decisions would probably be different from the ones I've just discussed because I would think differently.

4. Team Stefan or team Damon? At first, I was team Stefan, and I think Stefan is better looking, but I'm now team Damon. I love his character so much. His personality makes him attractive (And his looks help ;)).

5. What's your favourite supernatural power? I've always wanted to have the ability to pause time. Casting spells would be cool too because you could do a variety of things.

6. If you were to be a character, who would you be? I'm going to be predictable and say Elena. Two men are in love with her - I want to be loved!

7. Have you read the book series? No. I was going to, but I haven't got round to it.

8. Who's your crush on the show? There's so many good looking people in The Vampire Diaries! I really like Jeremy. I wouldn't say no to Damon or Stefan either. Or Tyler... Or Mason, if he was still alive.

9. What was your first initial thought of the show and did it change after watching it? I always thought it would be cliche and cheesy because the vampire genre has been so overdone. That's why it took me so long to start watching the show. The first episode didn't change my mind - Girl loses parents, girl meets mysterious boy who comforts her etc. However, after watching all three seasons, I love it. It's much darker than I thought it would be, which is great.

10. Who was your favourite villain? I like Katherine. At first, I despised her, but since The Originals came along, I've realised that she's not too bad. Also, I sometimes like Klaus. When he fell for Caroline and drew her that picture, it was the cutest thing!

If you do this tag, I would love to see your answers!

Back to School Stationery Haul

Hello! I'm going into my second year of university in September and I've now bought most of the stationery I'll need, so I thought I'd show you it. Stocking up on stationery for the next academic year used to be as exciting as Christmas when I was younger. I still love buying stationery, but for the last few years, I've bought the basic, cheap necessities, and that's it. This year, I wanted to add some more colour to my notes, because I can (We were only allowed to use black or blue ink in school). The prices of things didn't really matter to me this year, so you can probably buy some of the things below at a cheaper price from a Supermarket own brand.

Last year, I found that display books worked well for my course, so I've bought a few more this year - One for each module. Display books usually contain about 30 pockets, and I usually put 2-4 pages in each one, so they are a good size for my needs. The blue, purple and pink display books you see above are from WHSmith and were £4.99 for all three. They were in the 'Back to School' section and were 75% off :) I then bought three popper wallets for my assignments - They're perfect for my ideas, plans and drafts. They were also from WHSmith, but I cannot remember the price. They certainly weren't the cheapest though - I'd suggest buying some from Tesco.

The Ryman notepad was £1.99 and 3 for 2. The paper is thick and I like it because the lines inside are narrow, so they're great for my small writing. I bought the Pukka Pad yonks ago, so cannot remember the price, but you can get them for £1-2 when Tesco have their Back to School deals on. During the rest of the year, they're about £4.

The Stabilo highlighters, Staedtler fineliner pens and Paper Mate black ball pens are all from Ryman, but they can be found in many other stores. The highlighters were £5.99, the fineliner pens were on offer for £4.99 (And still are!) and the Paper Mate black ball pens were £1.99. I've used the Paper Mate pens for years and always repurchase them. I used to only be able to write with fountain pens, which was annoying because ball pens are so much cheaper, so I'm glad I can now write with ball pens!

The coloured Paper Mate ball pens are from WHSmith and were £2.49.  These were an impulse buy really. I liked the look of the colours and packaging! The pencils were also from WHSmith and cost £2.24. They're not the cheapest, but I couldn't be bothered to search any more stores. I always buy pencils with rubbers on the tops because I'm lazy. Picking up a separate rubber when I've made a mistake is just too much work! haha. Also, once a pencil is blunt, I tend to move onto the next one, instead of sharpening it. As I said, I'm lazy.

The Tesco sticky and film index markers were £1.18 and £1.41. Last year, I found out how useful these are! The sticky index markers are great to write annotations on and the film index markers are great to bookmark textbooks.

The 2012-2013 academic elephant diary/planner was £4.50 from Paperchase. It looks small, but there is plenty of room for me to write what I need. It has a week per two pages layout, which is the layout I prefer. Also, how cute is it?!

My pencil case is by Cath Kidston and cost £3.50 in the ASOS sale. It's meant to be a purse, but it's far too big to be one! It's the perfect size for a pencil case though.

My school bag is also by Cath Kidston and was £11.50 in the ASOS sale:

I've used this bag for the last year and it's still in perfect condition, so I'll probably use it for the next year too. However, I've been eyeing up another design, which I may have to purchase! I just think they're perfect for school and uni. They fit in all the books and folders I need and the oilcloth material allows me to use them when it rains.

And this is the end of the post! Phew! I still have to purchase some printer ink and maybe another memory stick, but that's about it. Oh, and I obviously need to buy some new clothes ;) I bought two more pairs of jeans from New Look yesterday and love them. One pair are high waisted, so I cannot wait to wear them.

The Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil

The Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil 100ml - £9

After trying the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil (Review can be found here), I just had to try another. I had been looking at The Body Shop ones for a while, so when an offer came along, I added the coconut variety to my basket. This body oil is very similar to the Palmer's one. It absorbs into my skin incredibly well and doesn't leave a greasy residue (Body oils seem to be less oily than body butters!). It's less greasy than the Palmer's one, which is good, but it doesn't leave my skin as soft and moisturised. It still does a better job than some of my body butters though. The scent is amazing - It smells just like coconut and reminds me of Summer.

£9 for 100ml is expensive, especially when the Palmer's one is £5 for 250ml, but The Body Shop always have offers on, so you will never have to pay the full price of £9. At the moment, The Body Shop's body products are 40% off, making the body oils £5.40. 

If you want a cocoa butter scented body oil, I would favour Palmer's over The Body Shop's, but if you would like another scent, I would definitely have a look at what The Body Shop have to offer. They offer a range of scents, such as mango, strawberry, sweet lemon, pink grapefruit and more.