Sunday 30 March 2014

Bye Bye Winter, Hello Summer!

Hola! (I like the spanish I started last time) Today is the start of official British Summertime, so I thought I would do a special monthly top five and do a winter favourites, and what I'm looking forward to this summer!

Now, when it comes to showers, I am definitely a lotions and potions girl, which made washing a bit of a chore. So when I saw an advert for my first pick, I just had to give it a try! So, what is it? Nivea in shower body moisturiser. This has been a complete saviour for me, reducing my shower time by at least 5 if not 10 mins! What you do is you wash with your normal body wash, rinse off as normal, and while you are still in the shower, apply it over your skin, rinse it off and wala! Your ready to go straight out the shower! It does mean spending slightly longer in the shower, but far less than before overall. The only thing I will say is that it can leave your skin feeling sticky, but that's nothing a little talc can't fix. Oh, and one other thing: don't use it in the bath, otherwise you'll and up moisturising your hair, as I found out the hard way...eeeeew! Aside from that, it does an amazing job, leaving my arms and legs honestly feeling silky soft. I know that's a cliche, but its true!!! I can't recommend it highly enough!

Keeping with the skin care theme, my next pick is Simple kind to skin light moisturiser SPF 15. This was my first ever moisturiser and I love it. Ever since I started using it I have noticed a real difference in my skin, I get far fewer breakouts and my skin is softer and smoother. I have used it a lot this winter as the cold takes its toll on my skin, leaving it dry and rough, but this has really helped. I love Simple, and this is an absolute must-buy. 

Switching to fragrance now and I recently discovered the So.........? Fragrance range and it is amazing! I have so far tried Brit, In Love, Enticing and Fab. They are all really nice and all come in either a body spray or perfume, or I think you can even get lip balms! I am also aware that So.......? does hair care, which I am eager to try out as if it is as good as the fragrance I have very high hopes!

Onto make up now, and I have been using the Collection lasting perfection foundation, which  have in number 1 porcelain, on a daily basis for most of this winter. Now I must admit, I hadn't intended on actually buying this. I went to the collection stand looking for their much raved about lasting perfection concealer, but sadly they were out if stock, so I thought I would try the foundation while I was there. It promises many great things, but the truth is this: it gives a light coverage, doesn't hide any uneven skin tone but it does last very well but it looks best under powder. Over all I am quite impressed, although I wouldn't buy it again as I would want to try out some other foundation, particularly as the weather warms up. 

My next thing is a little on the odd side, but I'm gonna share it with you anyway! It's pumice stones. I don't know whether or not you have heard of these or not, but basically what they are is they are is a stone with lots and lots of very small holes in, and you rub dry skin on your feet with it, and it removes the dry skin. Some people think this sounds really painful or disgusting, but its about as painful and disgusting as shaving your legs! I think it really helps, but remember only to use one on damp skin, other wise is will hurt.


Now onto what I am looking forward to and according to Bliss Magazine, purple is the colour of 2014, which anyone who knows me will understand how amazing that is for me! I also think that colours are either going to be one extreme or the other: neon or pastel are going to be popular this summer. In terms if fashion, I recon flats are going to be big and for beauty, I think nails are getting more and more popular (woohoo!) so I think having the coolest, brightest nails is going to be very popular this summer. I also can't wait to try out the Tanya Burr lips and nails range. I love Tanya, she is a big inspiration to me, so her having her own beauty range is really cool! I'm also looking forward to what I recon is going to be a very hot summer here in Britain, which means lying in the garden with just shorts and a vest top, soaking up the sun. Heaven!


Saturday 29 March 2014

Lakeside Haul

Hola! Excuse the Spanish, but it's because last Saturday, my friend and I went shopping for our holiday in Spain at Lakeside shopping centre in Essex! We bought over £100 of stuff between us, but then again if you've been to lakeside, you'll understand how easy it is to spend too much there! We tried on about triple the amount we actually ended up buying! Anyway, I wanted to share what I bought with you.... Sidenote- thinking of changing the name of this blog to Splash of Purple-what do you think? Leave me a comment below. On with the buys!

Skirt~£3~Forever 21

Dress~£5~Primark

Scarf~£7.99~New Look

Top~£12.99~New Look

Top~£8~Select

Dress~£8~Primark

Nail Polish in strawberry tart~£5~Boots

Night cream~£2.99~Superdrug

Lip balm~£1.89~Superdrug

Thursday 20 March 2014

A Walk in the Park

Last Saturday, I went with my parents to Lee Valley white water centre. I took a lot of pictures as it was such a beautiful day so the lighting was gorgeous, which I thought I would share with you. I also have one my mum took of what I was wearing, which is definitely my favourite outfit at the moment. Enjoy!


Oh, and it is next to a canal!












Cover Girl

A few weeks ago, I was digging through my mum's drawers looking for some make up sponges, and I found a lot more than that. As I dug deeper and deeper, I uncovered more forgotten cosmetics, until I ended up this this big bag full...
Now, trust me, my mum is not a crazy make up hoarder, this massive collection is because of my great aunt (her aunt). My great aunt worked for an American cosmetic company called Cover Girl, which had a base over here in England, which she worked in. This meant that she was always bringing home samples which she gave to teenage mum and my aunt. She gave them so much that mum was still wading through it when she had me, so decided that she would wait till I grew up and give it to me, however the extent of it was forgotten, until now! Here are a just few if the bits I found. Oh, and if you want to check out Cover Girl, I recommend them as if they are good quality after 20 years of ageing, they must be brilliant new!









Sunday 16 March 2014

Sources

Now, before you make any assumptions of this being a boring bibliography that no one is actually going to read, I promise it will definitely be worth the read. Then again, I would, wouldn't I?

Anyway, the point of this is to share with you where I get a lot of my tips and tricks from, besides my own brain!

~Vogue Make-up~
This has been a complete bible for me, and is the reason I recently (about a month ago) went from thinking I knew everything about beauty, when believe me, I really didn't, to actually having a clue and now taking a full make up kit (emery board, cotton bud, the full monty!) with me and caring about my appearance! It is thanks to this book that I realised that I did actually need a moisturiser and that the "natural look" means a bit more than just lip balm. Basically, what I am trying to say is that without this book I would be nowhere in the world of beauty and, quite frankly, this blog would not exist (although people like Zoella, Sprinkleofglitter and Tanya Burr are also a massive inspiration too). So, if you have any interest in make up, skin care or nails, I can't recommend this highly enough!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vogue-Make-up-Juliet-Cohen/dp/1844421023

~The Wah Book of Nail Art~
Speaking of nails, this book was a present from a friend who new I had a huge interest in nail art, so decided I would like it. At first I wasn't too sure, but now I live it! What it is is a book by nail design company Wah Nails of Nail Art tutorials for beginners and more experienced nail artists. It is a wonderful book and Georgia, if you're reading this, thank you loads!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/WAH-Nails-Book-Nail-Art/dp/1742703208

~BLISS Magazine~
My favourite teen mag, their fashion and beauty sections are absolutely FAB! They taught me how to do proper mani pedis (which I intended to post my version of at some stage) and the advice is very useful. They also do a 'tried and tested' feature, in which they get one of the team to try out three similar products and feed back what they think of each, which I think is a wonderful idea as it is coming from someone who has actually used the product and can give an honest review. The fashion is always so up to date and on trend, this is a monthly essential for me!
http://www.mybliss.co.uk/

Thursday 13 March 2014

An Update

Just a little mid (ish) week post for you as I haven't posted in a while. I have two posts in the pipeline at the moment, and two probabilities for you, one which I hope to get up by the end of the weekend and one, hopefully two, by the end of the month. I also intend to get a tutorial to you at some point! Sidenote- tutorials: video or text and pictures? Will put a poll down the sidebar -->
I'm always looking for new post ideas, maybe something a little different? If you have any ideas you'd like to share with me, please either leave a comment below any of my posts, or send me a message via any of the accounts at the side.
Sorry I haven't done anything recently, but I have ideas and things coming, I haven't given up on this (not yet anyway!)

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Hello and welcome :)

Well hello!
Now, before I begin, I would just like to say that I am in no way a professional make up/nail/skin care etc expert, just someone who has an interest and would like to share her opinion with anyone who cares to read.

Right, well, hello and thank you for coming! My name is Alison and I am a British teen from Essex. Besides arty things, I have a massive interest (almost obsession, but not quite!) with all things fashion and beauty related, which I intend to share with you through the power of the interweb!

The plan is to post at least monthly with a 'Monthly top 5' of things I have been loving that month. I also intend to give you reviews, hauls and my personal tips and tricks from what I have used, worn or heard about, from make up to hair, nails to clothes and more, all of course will be lower-priced high street products that anyone could pop into a pharmacy (or drugstore in America) and pick up off the shelf.

Here's to the future of beauty blogging!