Mugs

I have a little obsession with mugs. I'm not sure why but I love buying them and looking to my cupboard to see lots of pretty or quirky mugs. It's something about me that my mum absolutely hates because she sees it as clutter. So when I was shopping with her in Sainsbury's and i saw these I begged to let me buy them. 
It may seem silly to write a blog post about new mugs but I just thought that I loved the designs and they were too pretty not to share. 

Beth x

Small and Silver | Beloved Bijoux

A while ago I was searching for some simple little plain silver earrings and I discovered that Etsy was a haven for this kind of thing! There are so many little stores that sell their hand crafted jewellery and their all so adorable. So I thought I would invest in a couple of pairs as I am hoping to get a couple more piercings and I think that all silver studs look really nice and simple especially when their small and dainty like the ones I've picked. 

The little shop that I discovered is called Beloved Bijoux and I would most definitely recommend! The seller adds a personalised thank you note into your purchase and packages them beautifully. I just had to share them and give them the appreciation they deserve! 

Winter Favourites | Raise.com

Look! I'm back! 
And I've got some favourites to share with you from this chilly season, as well as some exciting offers. 

1/2/3/4/5

1) This winter I have been loving my poncho, it's something I never would have even thought about wearing before, but it is so warm and cosy, perfect for those winter breezes. It's right on trend and looks great with a pair of jeans and boots. 

2) As I have dry skin I definitely have to moisturise, especially so in winter! This Origins GinZing energy boosting moisturiser, is so light and sinks in super quickly, perfect for winter mornings. It even smells like fresh oranges, a flash of summer for you.

3) Everyone knows that the classic winter lipstick is a bold red. I'm loving the matte look this winter but everyone knows matte lipsticks can be drying. So Bobbi Brown to the rescue with this creamy matte lip colour, keeping your lips hydrated throughout the crisp winter months.

4) Obviously keeping warm is at the top of everyone's lists, and scarves add an extra cosy look to any outfit. Tartan is very in this season and can be the pop of colour or pattern to add to a simple outfit. 

5) Finally a new winter scent really can bring the season in, I think this fragrance would be a perfect gift christmas. It is one of those that would suit anybody and is a lovely mellow fragrance. 

Now onto the exciting part, for those of you in the US you can visit Raise.com and find discounted gift cards for a massive range of shops! That means you can grab these products I've mentioned and many other like them for less! From Zara (poncho & scarf) to Sephora. As well as this you can sell any unwanted gift cards you have at Raise too. 

As for my UK readers don't worry, Raise is working on bringing it's facilities to us too! 

Go ahead and check it out, as it's christmas time any savings help out along the way right?

To buy visit here and to sell click here.

A Little Hiatus

So the last time I posted was in August, mid August, and at the time I was stressing out about scheduling posts so that I could enjoy myself while I was away on holiday. However when I came back from holiday I found that all my effort to keep posting during my break went to pot and no posts actually went up. So instead of stressing again I thought I would take a break and start again in September, when I was more organised and back to reality. But then I got caught up in the new term at college and starting all my classes again and coursework and as time went on I felt like I'd left it a little to late to just start writing again. Then I didn't know what I'd write about and coming back seemed like less and less of a good idea. 

But then I was chatting to my family about uni and my choices, English Literature with a tad of creative writing if you wanted to know, and they suggested that I should write a blog. Granted my family didn't and still don't know that I already have one! So I began thinking about how much I enjoyed writing on here before I stopped and how much I actually missed it, I even stopped reading blogs! Being totally out of the blogging world makes the blogging world seem like a totally separate place, so coming back into after so long is a bit daunting. I feel a bit out of touch and like I've missed out a lot. But, there's no time like the present and if I don't decide now I'll just keep putting it off and putting it off.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, I'm coming back! But I will be changing it up a little bit. I've said before that I wanted to expand my blog from just makeup and I think that's more prevalent now than it was then. So I'm in the process of re-designing and renaming this little blog. I hope to all my current followers that's ok, I will still be posting about beauty and fashion as I am still very interested in that however it will be in a mix of more of my lifestyle too. 

I realised that I've been looking for a place to write about my thoughts and ideas, but I didn't even realise I had a perfectly good opportunity here! Hi again and I'm excited to be back.

Festival Fashion

Festivals are going on left, right and centre, so I thought what's more relevant to write about than the fashion going on at these events!

Crop tops, flower crowns, denim shorts, kimonos, baggy shirts, hats and of course a staple pair of sunnies. That's all you'll need to suit yourself for the weekend of dancing and music. There's quite a grunge-y, boho look to the festival fashion that is popular and personally I love it!

Vanessa Hudgens is the ultimate boho queen and you can just look to her for the epitome of a festival wardrobe. She pulls of the festival vibe effortlessly and essentially breathes cool.

So I thought I would put together a collage of simple, yet boho-chic outfits to guide your festival wardrobe this summer; featuring Vanessa of course!

Fringe, lace and crochet are very popular when creating a festival outfit, they allow for skin coverage yet are breathable when you're stuck in those hot and sweaty crowds (gross I know, but we have to be realistic when it comes to comfort!).

Personally I love this cardigan and think the crochet pattern is really pretty! This could be paired with any outfit therefore is very versatile. 

source:Asos £35

Playsuits are your best friend when it comes to packing light. They are a top and shorts all in one plus they look so cute paired with a handy backpack and a floppy hat, just like VH shows above. A bit of advice though, they can be tricky when it comes to going to the toilet in an Portaloo! So beware to those who can be on the clumsier side.

I love the mix of fringe and tie dye on this piece, very on trend and very simple to pull off.

source:Asos £25

Loose shirts and crop tops are perfect for keeping you cool, yet still looking effortless and plus you can put them with pretty much anything, bonus!

You could even mash the two together and match this baggy crop top with some denim shorts. I love the print on this top and the shape would flatter anyone.

source:Motel Rocks £28

Don't forget to accessorize with a hat and some sunglasses, whilst making you look good they also help to keep the sun of your head and out of your eyes, which is important if you're in the sun all day! A bag is also much needed to hold all your essentials as you're out and about all day.

source:Asos £20

source:Asos £55

source:Asos £45

source:Asos £12 £9

source:Asos £12

And of course, you have to be prepared, so wellies are an absolute MUST! Most of the time festivals = muds, therefore you don't want to be ruining your perfectly nice boots, when wellies are festival tradition anyway.

I hope this was helpful and inspired some new choices in your festival fashion, let me know which outfits you like the look of or what your favourite trend is this year for festivals :)

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My Brow Story // Maybelline Brow Gel and Pencil

I was never really into doing my brows. I always left them and assumed that as long as I kept up with plucking the strays every now and then, then they would be fine. I always thought that doing your eyebrows was just another expense and more time required in the mornings when getting ready. However, my  brows have always been a bit on the wild side and never really wanted to sit where they're told; so I soon invested in some clear brow gel to tame them and keep them in place throughout the day, this then progressed to Maybelline's Sculpting Brow Mascara just to add slight colour and to fill out the sparser areas as I was to frightened of brow pencils or anything more intimidating, yet still felt I needed something extra.

One of my pet peeves is bad eyebrows. One's that are completely the wrong colour, totally unnatural shape or just plain fake. I think for me it just looks so out of place and I've always been scared that if I did anything to mine that I would look like that too.
However I was constantly reading how your brows frame your face and how much difference they can make when they are filled in and shaped properly, so being a part of the blogging world I thought I'd take the plunge and just try it out.

The first thing I did was go to my local  No3 Lash & Brow Bar, to get them shaped. They were so so lovely and helpful, considering I didn't really know what I was doing and had never gone before. They measured out the points of my eyebrows and showed me where my arches and ends were supposed to be. Once I was happy, they waxed them into shape (not painful at all!) and showed me where I may need a tad of filling in to help them shape wise. 

So there begins my ventures with a brow pencil. I had already been using the Maybelline Brow mascara for a while therefore was slightly more confident with my brows being more prominent and noticeable. I decided to stick with the same brand as I liked the colour match and they are very affordable. The pencil isn't too waxy and also isn't orange which is a common problem in blonde brow products (see: Avon Perfect Eyebrow Kit), so I'm very happy with that. It's easy to get natural 'hair' looking strokes with this pencil as long as it is kept sharp, which I think is very important for keeping your eyebrows looking as real as possible. As you can see in the swatches above the shades are quite ashy, which is perfect for matches my brows as I have quite fair hair. However it doesn't take much to build up the colour, therefore it is important to step back and have a look at them as you go else you may end up with very dark brows that can appear orange tinged in some lights (as I found out the hard way, damn it).

If you wanted a stronger brow look you could combine these to products, the pencil to fill in and the mascara to set, however I tend to go for one or the other depending on how much time I have when I'm getting ready.

I hope this was helpful and can aid any of you who are slightly shy of the brow department as I was to begin with. However I have noticed a massive difference since I began filling my brows and they definitely do frame your face! So if you are uncertain, there's no harm in giving it a go, or even building your way up, through tinted gel to get you more confident with it.

I am dabbling with other products at the moment that I will review in the near future once I have used them a little more and I definitely have a list of brow products I'd like to try out such as Benefits Brow Gimme Brow and Anastasia's Brow Wiz and possibly using shadows to fill them out.

Let me know what products you like to use in the comments below, I'd love to try out some new products.

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Current Summer Obsessions

Orange

(1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9)

Kimonos

(1/2/3/4/5/6)

Bomber Jackets

(1/2/3/4/5/6)

Ponytails 

Smoothies & Lemon Water

What have you been obsessed with lately?

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