Here comes the graduate

Just a quick blog post today... My head is all over the place with emotions today.

I now have my final degree grade. And I managed to achieve a...


YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

I thought I got a 2:1 when I was trying to work out my grade... And that was what I was expecting to read (which I was already very happy about!). When I read that I got a First Class grade, the tears flowed. A LOT. So much so, my mum thought someone had died before I told her (haha true story).

I honestly don't like bragging much about things, but... There's nothing wrong with being proud with your achievements, right? I could literally scream from the rooftops because I'm so happy. After messing up my A Levels and my 2nd year of uni, I've had to work SO hard to get this. And it's paid off (:

I must say a MASSIVE well done to all of my fellow journalists too, because we've all achieved so much and done so well :) we all have a lot to be proud about right now. WE DID IT. Bring on Graduation! (in November... what a long wait!)

Now, I'm on the job hunt for lifestyle writing, broadcasting or social media. If anyone knows of anything, please let me know ;) Preferably in Birmingham or Bath/Bristol... Money is a bit too tight for me to go anywhere else right now!

Good luck to you if you're waiting for any grades at the moment :)

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My holiday day outfits!

We didn't take many outfit shots during the day (because let's face it, I lived in bikinis majority of the time!) so here are just a few... You can find the links directly to each item or to an alternative, as majority of these are from last year's collections!


Playsuit: ASOS (similar to this)
Sunglasses: Topshop (alternative)
Flip flops: Topshop
(see a trend forming?!)


All Topshop! (trend's still going!)
Top alternative
Shorts alternative
Headband alternative



All Topshop - again!
Hat alternative
Top
Shorts alternative


Bikini: I'm sure you can guess where! (alternative)


Bikini: Topshop (alternative)
Sunglasses: Fake Raybans from Tsilivi (hooray, something not from Toppers!)
I promise you - my nighttime outfits are a lot more varied! Majority of what I wore during the day are from last year, so I doubt you'll be able to buy them now. I feel like hanging my head in shame right now. I'm a bloody Topshop advertisement as per.

I had two other bikinis with me, but no photos of them, and they're both from last year so I can't find the links to them! They were similar to these and this top and bottoms though :)

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Holiday make-up

When it comes to wearing make-up on holiday, there always seems to be a contrast and many questions asked - What kind of make-up should you use? Should everything include SPF? Do you wear make-up to the beach or poolside? There's never a right or wrong answer, it's purely opinion.

For me, I never wear make-up during the day. Personally, I don't see the point in it as I don't want to worry about my eyeliner smudging and running from the water... and to be fair, you sweat somewhat when you're somewhere hot! Make-up would melt off my face. Gross but true! I do feel a bit strange wearing no make-up, especially eyeliner and mascara... But I got used to it after a while. My eyes were hidden behind sunglasses a lot of the time anyway so it didn't really matter!

I have no problem with others wearing make-up though. I noticed Lily talking about how she wears make-up on holiday, and that some agreed and disagreed with her. It's her choice, as it is everyone else's, if you want to wear some or not. You're entitled to your own opinion and your own choice... No persuasion or hating needed. (:

Now obviously, I took some make-up for the nighttime but I only ended up using a few products when my tan started appearing (my foundation would look sooo weird if I applied it on top of a nice tan!) So here's what make-up I used...


Clinique Stay-Matte Sheer pressed powder in 02 Stay Neutral, Barry M's Wink Marker Pen, Benefit's Posietint, Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer, Models Own's nail polish in Blooboo, Barry M's 3 in 1 Mascara, Collection 2000 Angelic Eye Palette, ELF's Eyebrow Kit.
I also took Benefit Play Stick foundation in Paper Doll, Bare Mineral's foundation in Medium, Witch Anti-Blemish pressed powder, Benefit's Benetint and Benefit's High Beam. I used the Bare Minerals foundation before my tan appeared, along with Benetint on my lips. Everything else wasn't touched! Bit of a waste, but never mind, I had to prepare ;)

And here's the first go at my Models Own nail polish that I was sent a fair while ago...


Bit of a messy job... I stupidly forgot to take some nail polish remover to tidy it up! Ah well!
I must say, I absolutely love the colour! Made sure I had a couple of coats on so it showed up nice and bright. I usually go for nude or pale pink coloured toenails on holiday, but I think I've converted to bright, summery colours from now on! It went on very well and dried pretty quickly... It did chip, but I think that's purely because I was on holiday and doing a lot of things, like waterpark etc. Since I've been home (from Friday morning) the colour has pretty much stayed put so I'm pretty damn happy with it!

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i'm baaaack

My Greek holiday is officially over - I'm back on UK soil and already losing my tan. Waaa!

I had such a great time and wish the week didn't go so fast! We had many sunbathing sessions, and went to the waterpark, turtle spotting (I've never been bothered about turtles but, I must admit, I was very excited when I saw one!) and hired a pedelo (by a Greek guy -who runs the watersports in Tsilivi, Zante- who used to work at West Midlands Safari Park, which is about 5-10 minutes from where I live... What are the odds?!) I won't go into the pedalo story today though, it doesn't end well!!

Whilst still having this blog in my mind, I have many outfit and makeup photos to share with you from the past week, so expect to see those at some point this week, along with all my holiday stories! :) I won't ramble on too much about it, as I could be here allllll day writing!

Today, I've been busy trying to sort out my CV so I can get myself out there in the media world. If anyone knows any media jobs in or around Birmingham, please let me know! ;) shameless plug for a job there!

I'll be posting properly soon... I still feel like I'm in holiday mode, so it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of things!

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Goodbye Kidderminster... Hello Zante.

So, it's officially the day I leave for my holiday! EXCITED. A week in Tsilivi, Zante. Yay. After everything that's been going on lately, and even feeling pretty ill during the last two days, I really can't wait to just kick back and relax in the sun for a whole week. I'm hoping it will help me get motivated when I'm back to start writing properly again.

I've had my pampering sessions so I'm raring to go. Is it just me or is the pamper session just as exciting as the actual holiday? It always makes me feel really good afterwards, and the holiday adds to it.


You get to be nosy in my suitcase!
I'm all packed now - I hope I haven't forgotten anything but it usually happens! My mum is pretty damn good at holiday packing (she enjoys it... So I didn't stop her helping me, haha) so I'm pretty sure I have everything I need. I even have kitchen roll, aha! Numerous outfits (with added cat hair, thanks to Xander for casually walking ALL over my open suitcase yesterday) at the ready... Including a new twill skirt, black ALDO sandals, pink bandeau playsuit and a white t-shirt dress that I'll be using as a cover up. Photos will be on here when I'm back, so you'll see various outfits then (: I would have taken some photos to show you them properly, but they're ironed and folded nicely, so I daren't risk creasing them up more ;)

However I did get a sneaky shot of my new hand luggage bag... It's an Urban Outfitters beaut!


I shall see you all on the 25th (: Have a fabulous week!

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Barry M sends his congratulations

If you follow Barry M Cosmetics on Twitter, you may have noticed that Barry takes over the account now and again in order to offer free make-up to a select few people who he thinks deserve it at the time. This is such a lovely gesture for him to do, and equally a lovely surprise if it happens to be you!

I guess I tweeted at the right time! Not realising he was back to find some deserving people, I tweeted about the fact I can graduate. He tweeted this...


(: !!! Must admit, it really made my day! And these are what arrived on my doorstep yesterday...





I had a quick test (and made some pretty rubbish swatches - sorry!) and I'm really pleased with all the products. The Wink Marker pen is the perfect alternative to a liquid eyeliner. I always use a pencil liner because I never get on well with liquid, but this is so easy to use. It's also really easy to create the look you want, whether it's thick liner for intensity or thin lines with flicked sides. The Trio Eyeshadows (mine is called Golden Goddess) are subtle and shimmery, which is the effect I want for everyday use and for during my holiday. They're easy to blend together, although the cream base colour doesn't show up well (as you can see on the swatch) so you need to apply a fair bit. The 3 in 1 mascara (which volumises, volumes and curls your lashes) didn't clump and it lengthened my eyelashes really well. It's only available in black though, but they have a different mascara in various colours to suit your vibrant needs!

You can buy these products, plus many others, on the website... The Wink Marker Pen costs £4.59, the 3 in 1 Mascara is £6.19 and the Trio Eyeshadow is £5.99. I loved everything I got from Barry M, but I must say that my favourite is the Wink Marker Pen!

What do you think of Barry M? Do you have a favourite product in the range?

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we love tom's mum

Last week, I visited Bannatyne's Health Club and Spa in Brindleyplace (Birmingham) and had a few too many drinks with my best friends. We've never done anything like this together before so we were all super excited! And the day/night didn't disappoint.

We managed to get 2 for 1 vouchers for the spa, which included a Swedish back, shoulder and neck massage or Elemis facial, and finished off with a scalp massage. We were all cheeky and asked to swap the scalp massage for a leg massage... and went for the back, shoulders and neck too. It was bloody painful! I definitely felt a difference in my shoulders and neck, but a day or two later, I was aching so much. We spent majority of our time in the jacuzzi though... Didn't get chance to make use of the pool or gym because we had to relax after treatments. I also found out I'm not a fan of saunas or steam rooms... My face did not react well to them and it ended up looking spotty and burnt! I expected some redness but that was beyond what I though! I'm a bit of a wimp though - I think I lasted less than a minute in both of them before I felt like I was suffocating. Oops.

After the spa, we checked in at the Travelodge on Broad Street and sloooowly got ready for the night out. We ate at Around The World in 80 Dishes - I've never been before. I'm always wary about buffet-style restaurants because I'm such a fussy eater, but I loved it! We had cosmopolitans and wine then headed out to a bar. I won't go into what we witnessed at the first bar but it was disgusting. It could have easily been a scene from a Chinese porno (not that I know what they're like, hahaha) but you get the idea!! Bleurgh! We left for Walkabout and ended up staying there for the rest of the night, getting free t-shirts and having a good ol' dance! Good times.

Introducing 'The Wednesday's do Birmingham/Brummie Shore' (not really... we were well behaved! And we went on a Wednesday and wanted a group name... we're not weird. Honest.)










And just in case you were wondering... This is Tom's mum!


My dress is vintage from Cow in Sheffield a couple of years ago. I wore some grey New Look wedges with it, a black heart-shaped bag... and a free 'I heart Tom's mum' t-shirt, c/o Walkabout! I felt a bit like I was reliving my university freshers week - not every night you get a free tee to parade around in!

Have you ever been to a spa? If not, I highly recommend it, especially if you find a special offer! If you have, where did you go and what did you think? (:

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hello and good night blogosphere

Possibly the quickest blog post I have ever written! My first week back at work has left me so tired, then I was away for two days... I completely forgot about my blog and my writing. Not good.

Say hello to my new pretty feather earrings, courtesy of Victoria. She still sells them in various colours so go and grab a pair before they sell out!

I'll be posting all about my spa day and night out in Birmingham during the week - it was so much fun! Definitely need to plan more stuff with my girls more often... We never get chance to go away like we did, but I'm pretty sure we will all try and make some time in the future to do something similar again. (:

I go on holiday on Thursday. YAY! The boyfriend is already tanned, so I've got A LOT of catching up to do. Bought a couple of new things for my hols, which I'll share with you before I pack them away! I already started packing last week for it, so I must be excited, haha.

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hawaiian air

Cape shirt: Bank
Skirt: H&M
Tights: Primark
Socks: ASOS
Wedges: F&F at Tesco
Necklace & Cameo ring: danijewellery
Notice the necklace? You can buy that (obviously a brand new one, not THAT specific necklace!) or a Teacup necklace for £5 at my shop (: I'd also like to apologise for this outfit post, as I've blatantly cheated today. It's waaay too hot for this outfit! Truth is, I wore it a few days ago. I'm quite glad I had it for today's post though, because I'm wearing the exact outfit as this one right now, apart from the sandals - bought some beautiful Aldo ones, but I'll showcase them another day!

Ever since I saw Topshop's cape shirt a couple of months ago, I wanted to buy it - but I couldn't justify spending around £45 on one. Of course, I regretted it ever since and have been hunting eBay a lot in order to win it... It never happened. Now, I'm not one to shop in Bank (apart from my Hooch and Bench days back in high school), but this shirt caught my eye as soon as I set foot in there (my nephew had some clothes to return, which is why I was in there in the first place). £25 later, and this is beautifully hanging in my wardrobe! I'm actually really happy that I didn't buy the Topshop version - not only for the price, but personally I think it's much nicer and better quality.

The boyfriend is currently sunning it up (and most likely getting sunburnt) in Cyprus right now. I've been trying to keep myself occupied this week by shopping, cleaning, gardening and working (well, that starts on Monday, but it still counts as he's not back until Wednesday). My holiday with him is in 2 weeks and I can't bloody wait. We're off to Zante for a week - never been to a Greek island before so I'm nervous/excited! I've been pretty busy buying things for the holiday, including some new clothes, so I may do a little blog post on summer wear soon (:

But before that, I'm going on a spa day and night out in Birmingham with my best girly friends. We all deserve it and it'll be amazing - we haven't done anything like this before so it's fair enough to say we're buzzing!! haha. Exact a couple of blog posts full of our antics on Thursday/Friday!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts! I'm off shopping to (hopefully) buy the last few things for my holiday! (:

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hello change!

I've almost neglected this blog to the point I can't even be bothered with it anymore. The thought of stressing about what items to search for my Sunday Wishlist, or ensuring I have a product ready for the Wednesday Review, is getting a bit too much for me. In all honesty, it's making me lose my passion in blogging. Waaa!

I don't want to copy the thousands of blogs around that do similar posts already. I want to be myself, writing about the things I really love, having a place to rant and moan if I needed to, and make new friends along the way. If there was a product I loved enough to talk about, then of course I'll share it with you, but I don't want to feel like I have to buy something new every week to fulfill the Wednesday Reviews. There's only so many products I need after all! As for the Sunday Wishlist, the only thing I'm bothered about now is getting money, buying a VW Beetle or a Mini Cooper and getting a full-time job. That's not the point of the Sunday Wishlist, and I'm not eager enough to go through every website to find something random that I want (at the time... A week down the line and I would forget it exists).

These posts will appear randomly (I haven't completely given up on it!) - I just need to find my passion and enjoyment out of blogging again, and I think this is what I need to do so. I'm on a mission to find my own blogging style!

I'm going to redesign my blog too - I need something simple/almost classic looking... Whether I will achieve this look by myself, I have no idea (my graphic designer boyfriend is in Cyprus for a week now. Lucky for some, eh!) but I'll give it a go ;)

Don't give up on me yet guyzzz! (:

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