Sunday 1 November 2015

Halloween

This Halloween I didn't have a great budget and I really wanted to try something I haven't done in previous years. I tried latex and I picked this up from a local fancy dress shop for about £3.00, it doesn't smell to great but it really adds some great effects to your face. Luckily, I live with a make-up artist so I was able to have some guidance through the making of my zombie. I looked up a few images on google (which I suspect everyone does this time of year) just to grab some inspiration and the internet is such a great place to find this sort of stuff.
After layering loo roll on my face and plying/ripping with some tweezers it began to resemble flesh. I added a contact lense to my 'dead eye' and basically just worked with some make up that we have in the house to create the effect.
I also hand made a little floral headband similar to the ones I kept lusting over on my Instagram feed. I wasn't feeling too optimistic about my creativity, but it paid off and I'm even thinking about making one for my brothers wedding haha (minus the blood splats)
For little under £20, I was able to create a good Halloween face and despite not having a costume I still felt that I had made a reasonable effort.
Latex is definitely something I want to learn more about and I think I'll be doing some more experiments in the future.

Please excuse my terrible hair and bare face in the photographs.





Day 1

Day 2
 


Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!

Rach x

Sunday 18 October 2015

Favourite Beauty Products

Sundays are my favourite day of the week, I get a lie in and I can spend some time on me. These three products are some which I would like to share with fellow bloggers. They are part of my Sunday routine and it would be good to hear about any products that you love, I've narrowed mine down to my three favourites.




Body Shop body butter is an absolute blessing in my opinion. The first time I got this product was for Christmas, it was part of a lovely gift set from my Aunty. If you've been in the store you will know all the different scents they do, this one is pink grapefruit which I do like, but the mango on is my favourite so far. If you're ever stuck for a girlfriends present, these sets are perfect, who doesn't love a pamper? The 200ml tub lasts me quite a long time and I never find myself having to constantly reapply, it has a lasting effect and leaves your skin feeling like silk. My Mam always used to comment on the nice smell it gives off aswell, another bonus!

 
Mask of Magnaminty is one of my lastest purchases, I've been going through an awful skin spell recently and I had tried every product you can think of to try and get my skin back to good condition. I  usually get bath bombs from Lush, however a friend recommended their beauty range so I went to have a look. The lady that served me was great and when I told her about how my skin had just suddenly changed she explained that everyones skin changes every seven years...something I wasn't aware of. I've never suffered from acne and had pretty good skin even in my teen years so I was super conscious when spots started appearing. This product has definitely helped clear my skin. At first I didn't like the texture of the cream, it has bits (similar to a scrub) so it was quite uncomfortable on my face however, I've got used to the feeling as I've used it more. It's like a face mask and requires you to leave it on the skin for around 15 minutes but it doesn't tighten to your skin like a facemask, its pretty easy to wash off. I think its a great alternative to typical spot creams. 
 
 
This is probably the only hair product I own. I quite enjoy having naturally crazy hair, I don't even own straighteners..is that bad? I bought this product last year in the summer season when I was getting a little tired of my mousy brown colour. I've never dyed my hair and god forbid if I ever did as my Mam would probably murder me! I bought this product as I read reviews online saying it made a difference but it wasn't too overwhelming. This was perfect for me, I only wanted a little change, nothing too drastic. It does make a difference and I feel like my hair is lighter even hours after use. You can apply on either wet or normal hair and just leave it to dry its that easy! I was going to upload a picture of before and after but as I've used the product quite a lot the difference isn't that noticeable. The first time I applied it, I did have a few comments about my hair being lighter so it does work! If you want some change but nothing too crazy I'd go for this product!
 
Hope you've had a good week!
 
Rach x


Tuesday 13 October 2015

New Purchases

Lately, I've been feeling that my wardrobe has been a little bland and I've needed to buy some new clothes to wear the Autumn and Winter season. Although, I didn't have loads to spend I bought myself a few little goodies to get the ball rolling.

Some of the purchases are from the vintage kilo sale, which I posted about, at the time they were getting washed so I wasn't able to share a photo with you guys. I'm literally in love with my denim shirt, (pictured at the bottom) as I bought it in such a large size it fits nicely as a dress when teamed with a belt and I've also used it as a jacket for uni, the material is quite thick so it does the trick.

I also took advantage of the 20% off at Topshop, they had some local DJ's from some clubs that uni students in Sheffield go to and it had quite a cool vibe going on. It was obviously aimed at the student market and I was just happy that I was in town at the time to grab some stuff with discount. I went for the orange skirt and a cute little necklace, I adore the skirt. I've never really been in the comfort zone to go for bright colours, but I really am happy that I went for this one over denim, it's added some colour to my wardrobe and I don't feel like I'm restricted to dark colours anymore, I'll definitely be looking out for some more stuff like this.

Thanks for reading

Rach x

 
Topshop £1.50

Topshop £24

Bought from Vintage kilo sale @ The New Shop/Sheffield


Bought from Vintage kilo sale @ The New Shop/Sheffield

Sunday 4 October 2015

Payday treats!

I've recently been paid after working the 'freshers' period and I thought I would splash out on some new bedroom decor. I've fell in love with the home section at Wilkinsons. I'd never have thought that they would have sold such nice items, but seriously, some great stuff for great money!
I decided to get some new bedding, nothing beats new bedding! I went for something different and vibrant to add to my (pretty bland) room and it did just the trick! The colours really compliment the Autumn season too, its made my room feel very homely.
I also treated myself to a new candle, I'm a sucker for Yankee candles but the Wilkinsons own brand had some gorgeous fragrances, I went with vanilla pod, its has up to 50 burning hours which isn't bad for £4.
Laundry is such an issue as all students know and my dirty clothes were usually dumped in a cardboard box until I got round to washing them (so embarrassing). I treated myself to a wick basket and even though it's full of dirty clothes it doesn't look too bad haha!

Where is your favourite store to shop for home décor?

Hope you've had a good week!

Rach x



Sunday 20 September 2015

Vintage kilo sale - The New Shop

As I live in Sheffield there are loads of cute vintage shops in the city. The New Shop was hosting a kilo sale, you can grab as many clothes as you like and you are charged £15 per kilo. It's a great way to stock up on unusual clothes and get some statement pieces. I turned up to the event pretty late so a lot of the good stuff had gone. I bought a new Christmas jumper and a denim dress which I am in love with!
The event supported The Rainbow Trust which was nice to see, this charity had supported my family when my younger brother was ill. I hope they made lots of donations!
If you love in Sheffield you should try and go to the next event, it's a great spin on just a typical days shopping!

 
                                    
 
Have you been shopping recently? 

Rach x

Monday 31 August 2015

The things I've learnt about uni.

1) Friends are so important
My first post is something which is quite close to me. At uni I know I definitely could have made the effort to be more sociable and it has reflected on my time at uni which is quite disappointing. I am now surrounded by some great friends but it's took time to get to this point. I think it's key to understand that not everyone will be your friend, however, freshers is a great starting point so just go for it! Don't hook to one person, surround yourself with a few, it's so easy to find out someone is not who you thought they were and can be super stressy if you have no one else to hang out with!
Make extra effort to stay in touch with your friends from home too, they'll always be there in your time of need, but it may also open your eyes to who is actually your friend - I've lost contact with some people that I never imagined I would!
2) Money
WHAT EVEN IS MONEY AT UNI? haha. You'll soon get used to praying for your next student loan instalment, it becomes a dependency but don't fear most people are in the same situation as you too. I'm a person who stresses easily so I took up a part time job to take the pressure off my money situation. I still live in my student overdraft but never mind - its nice to get a pay cheque at the end of the month. I spent farrrrrr too much at my first year freshers too, just take a considerable amount and don't try and blow the richness of your bank account all at once.
3) Uni itself
Ok, yes I paid £9000 per year, but is it worth it? In my opinion no, but the uni lifestyle is SO worth it. It's such a huge experience and you'll learn things about yourself that you never knew, I certainly have. If you think you were good at attending college or school, you'll soon learn how easy it is to have a cheeky skive for that 9am lecture...every week...for 3 years. But its not impossible to still pass (I'm living proof)
I hope you liked this weeks post, something different from me and I hope some freshers may find it a little reassuring! If you are starting uni in September have a fantastic freshers and first year!
Have a funny photo of me and my housemate paul dying from uni work


-Rach x

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Cleethorpes and The Deep, Hull

Uni can be stressful at times and this summer has really not been what I imagined it to be, I've had some amazing time with friends but back in Sheffield I'm already moving out of a home that was supposed to last my whole third year. Sometimes things just don't work out and I just needed a break from the city and some family time, I joined the family on their last night at a Haven complex in Cleethorpes. Despite only being there for the night it was nice to escape a box room and bring back some childhood memories! If you know me, you will also know I'm a sucker for amusements, so it was great to spend time with my brothers.





The following day we also went to The Deep aquarium which was a great chance to use my camera, as its been gathering dust lately. It's a great aquarium but it can be quite pricey, my family paid nearly £60 for admission only, never mind food and the gift shops. If you are passing though, I would recommend going to this attraction, there's so much to see and has a different edge compared to your standard aquarium. I also wanted the giant turtle in the picture below but my Dad wouldn't let me :(






 
Hope you're having a great week and sorry for all my late posts!
 
-Rach x

Saturday 1 August 2015

Tramlines Festival Sheffield

This was my second time at the inner city festival and it's such a great atmosphere. It has a very urban vibe and as there are so many locations the weather hardly effects the spirit. I went to the Peace Garden stage on the Saturday and then a few bars on the Sunday due to the rain. If you haven't been to a city festival I would certainly recommend if you don't like the thought of camping. If you book early enough you can get decent prices on hotels too. This festival doesn't have any age restrictions either (certain clubs may) be the outside venues were full of families too - a nice environment.
I preferred the line up last year but you cant turn down a festival, especially when its only a 30 minute walk from your house. I didn't manage to snap many pictures as I only braved my Samsung along with me as I know how much of a clumsy drunk I can be! haha
My highlight band was Smiling Ivy, if you are into music, check them out, they are worth a listen! A link to their Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/smilingivy
They also have a gig lined up for the O2 in Sheffield in September, hopefully I will get my hands on some tickets.

 



Hope everyone had a fab weekend!
Rach x

Sunday 12 July 2015

Ayia Napa

Ok, so I'm currently sat in the holiday blues :( I want to make this post about my holiday away with the girls. To say there was part of me that was unsure about going away, I now know I 100% made the right decision - I had the best time of my life.
Typical girl holidays include a lot of drink (ours most certainly did) but we made the effort every day to get up and do something, we were in Cyprus afterall. My highlight of the whole holiday was going scuba diving with Iona. I can't put into words how beautiful and clear the beaches are over there and it's refreshing to know that not all the world has beaches like England. This has been something I've wanted to do from such a small age and I knew I had to take the opportunity. It was hard to begin with, the nerves, the excitement, it made it hard to control your breathing but after a short practice I was under the Mediterranean Sea swimming with the fishes! 
Scuba diving wasn't the only thing we did, we did the 'crazy couch' water sport which is essentially a inflatable that you sit on attached to a speedboat. If you don't like getting wet this one isn't for you! I was a mess!! I lost my hair bobble, swallowed half the sea, had salt in my eyes, slavia all over my face, I must have look ridiculous, but so did the other girls too so it was alright (they'll kill me of they saw this haha)! 
If you go on holiday this summer do something amazing and make your holiday worthwhile, it's not too often I go abroad and this is definitely going to be my motto from now on. 
                     

                                           

           

           

           

           

Hope your summer has started!!

Rach x 
 

 
     
   

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Why haven't I been blogging

The last few weeks have been crammed for me. I've been to Ayia Napa with the girls, moved in my new uni home and also spent some time with the family before coming back to Sheffield. As I've missed so much, I've also got so much to share with you guys and I hope you haven't thought my blog was abandoned. I'm sure every blogger goes through a time when it's impossible to post, I hate it!! Haha.
Next weeks post is likely to be about my recent trip to Cyprus with the girls and all the photos I want to publish, yes I went SCUBA DIVING!!
I hope you will be around to read, leave your links below so I can catch up on some blog reading, I like to see what people have been up too. 

Rach x 

Monday 1 June 2015

Edinburgh zoo

This week I went for a visit home and as it was half term my family decided to have a trip to Edinburgh zoo. Recently, they have got some pandas so I was super excited to see these as they are the only ones in Europe! I've been to Edinburgh a few times to visit the zoo ecspecially in my childhood, I always loved the penguin parade. I have to admit a lot of the animals I remembered from my childhood aren't there anymore and that was slightly disappointing and after visiting London zoo in January I probably prefer that one now. I took some pictures whilst I was there so I thought I would share in this post, I didn't take my camera I just used my iPad as the weather wasn't great and I hate getting my camera in and out of its case all the time. If you love monkeys this is the zoo for you, they have loads of different breeds, I've decided that my favourites are the squirrel monkeys...you will see a picture of the little guys below. The penguin parade is also a nice touch to Edinburgh but it is voluntary for the Penguins so if they aren't feeling up to it you may miss out, we very nearly did due to the rain!
Sorry that my post is late this week, I hope you've had a great weekend :)
If you are planning on visiting the zoo I would recommend booking online, you have to pick times to see the pandas and they go very quickly, I'm so thankful I booked in advance or I would have missed seeing them as the time slots were rammed. After all the travelling I would have been devastated. Even though you have to book a time slot the viewing is free so don't worry about extra cost which is good, when I went to see them they were sleeping so I'm glad I didn't have to pay extra! Also, if you have a smart phone or iPad you can jump the queue on entering the zoo with a barcode that they send to your device - great time saver. 

Rach x

                                     

                                     

                                     
     
                                     
  
                        




Sunday 17 May 2015

Topshop ombré lips

After I finished my second year of uni I thought I would treat myself to a new lipstick. I don't tend to spend much on make up but I visited Topshop and fell in love with the colours they had. I'm a sucker for dark purple colours and originally I picked up one lipstick. Then I found the ombré selection and they were only £1 more and with student discount as well I had a cheeky 10% knocked off. I watched the Topshop video on YouTube to see how to apply the lipstick effectively and I quite like it so far, the colours match nicely and I feel I would buy the other combinations that they have to offer too. The product is quite long lasting but i feel my lips are dry after use, any recommendations?
If you do buy one of these do check out the video, it shows you some nice smokey eye looks that would go nicely with the lip effect, if only I was a make-up guru *sigh*

                                      
                                      

                          

                         

                          




Sunday 3 May 2015

Liebster Award

As I'm a newbie this is my first award I have been nominated for, so here it goes! 
Big thank-you to www.beautyreviewsbysc.blogspot.co.uk for nominating me. I don't think I've done it perfectly, but it's the participation that counts :) 



I am nominating blogs with under 1000 followers to do the Liebster award!
1. jennaloves3.blogspot.com
2. sophaparks.blogspot.com
3. jessicaxvictoria.blogspot.com
4. hannahdelacour.blogspot.com
5. lucy-boots.blogspot.com
Ps. thanks for following me on Bloglovin' 

The Questions 
 Where is your ideal vacation spot?
My ideal vacation spot would be somewhere in the sun and a location that has amazing views. I would consider some places in the UK to be good enough for me so somewhere like Scotland or Wales would be nice :)

 What is your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?
As 80% of my time is spent in bed on my laptop and watch Netflix it would definitely have to be something that screams comfort to me. Of course, I have my favourite clothing for going out etc but comfort is key when you spend the majority of your time indoors!

3. What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time?

Reading other peoples blogs is a great hobby of mine and I like DIY blogs in particular they also drive me to be creative and inspire to do things i probably wouldn't have thought about before, so yeah blogging.

4. What is something not a lot of people know about you?

Since starting uni I have really enjoyed cooking, as part of my dissertation for university I'm making a cooking blog so you should deffo check that out when its up and running!

5. If you could be any animal which one would you be?

I had this question in an interview once and I could have cried haha...erm...a monkey? They're quite fun and seem to be quite laid back.

6. What is your biggest fear?

Spiders. ew. 

7. What is the one thing you want most in this world?

Just to have an awesome career when I'm older, it doesn't have to be loaded with money just a job that I really enjoy and something that makes my university degree pay off. 

8. What is your fondest memory?

Now I'm at uni, I miss my family quite a bit so anything associated with them I class as my favourites. Photographs are all over in my room, just cause I love thinking back to good times :) 

9. What is your favourite thing to blog about?

Anything I want to share really, I don't really have a niche (bad blogger points). 

10. What is the one makeup item you could not live without?
Eyeliner, its an essential!

11. How did you get into blogging?

I've always wanted to do it, but sundae-spills is the only one I've really dedicated my time too, so I determined to progress from here!