End Of August Life Update

I wanted to write a quick life update because it's the end of August, and my blog is nearly a year old! Can you believe that it's the end of August already? Neither can I! It's insane how quickly this year is going, it'll be over before we know it! Thankfully it's almost Autumn which is without a doubt my favourite season - dark lipsticks, oversized jumpers and hot chocolates here I come! 

This Summer for me has been pretty amazing. I started to go out more, spending more time with friends I'd previously lost touch with and having the greatest time ever. I can't even begin to count the amount of time I've spent drunk over these last few months! I've spent so much time in the sun too, and even caught a bit of a tan which for me is an accomplishment because at the best of times I'm Caspar The Friendly Ghost pale. I've worked hard on this blog too, and made a lot of pals chatting on here and twitter which I'm really thankful for! Another accomplishment was passing my driving test FIRST TIME. Still can't believe it. I may...MAY of kept something a secret though. Four days after I passed, I crashed my beautiful Fiat 500 into a sign post. Thankfully only the side of the bumper and the door were bummed but I had to fork out over £1000 for repairs! We've only just got the car back too, and I'm a little scared to drive it! Oh well, I can spend the next month or so getting used to driving again - aren't I an idiot!?

I still have a month til I'm back at Uni, but I really cannot wait to go back. I'm getting quite bored now because I am lacking in money and I'm missing my friends from Uni who I haven't seen at all this Summer! I'm ready to get back into editing and shooting again, and of course learning! I bet by the end of September I'll be sick of Uni again but right now, I really want to go back! 

Ahh well. I hope you've all had a lovely Summer too and are ready for Autumn! Get your coats out for the lads! 

Don't forget that I have a MAC lipstick giveaway going on at the moment. It's on until the 21st September - click here to get involved.

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Win A Mac Lipstick Of Your Choice Giveaway!

So today I've decided to be a soundie and start a giveaway, this giveaway will run for three weeks (which is just enough time for my loan to come in!) 

Basically, follow the instructions on the rafflecopter below! I think it's only fair that you MUST be following me on GFC!

The prize is a Mac lippie of your choice! You can check out the lipsticks here.

Please leave a blog comment to say you have entered and that you are following! 

Giveaway ends 20/09/2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Teapigs - Super Fruit!

Due to the fact that I am deathly allergic to caffeine, I'm always trying to find some sort of replacement for my tea cravings. I've tried herbal teas before but the taste of them has always been too wishy-washy for me, half of the time it's just like drinking hot water - not nice. So when on Friday my Mum asked whether I wanted to top up my fruit/herbal tea collection I wasn't very excited. That is until we found Teapigs. 

I'd heard about Teapigs before, convinced that I'd read great reviews about these teas on various other blogs I picked up a caffeine free tea called Super Fruit, which claims it is bursting with actual berries which gives a really fruity taste. 

When I got home I made myself a brew. The first thing I noticed is that the tea is packaged in an almost silk like bag, such a lovely effect. Inside you can see that the tea is a loose tea, with actual pieces of berries and fruit in there, no typical tea powders in sight! It also smelt delicious! 

The packet recommends leaving the tea to brew in the cup for 3 minutes. I am not a patient person, but chose to follow the guidelines (in fact I actually just left the bag in whilst I drank it because I like my tea to be extra strong). 

This tea is absolutely gorgeous, and actually has a real taste to it. It's so delicious and refreshing and has really made me love fruit/herbal teas again. I know that I will purchase this tea again, and probably some more types from the Teapigs range as I was just so impressed!  

These teas are retailing at £5 in Tesco and Asda, but you can buy online here for slightly cheaper.

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MotelRocks' New Arrivals I Love!

I've just been browsing on my favourite online store of all time (because I'm ill and bored) and lusting after pretty much everything on there (as usual) and thought I'd pop up a small list of new arrivals that I really, really love! These are all super cute and I can really see myself wearing everything I've chosen. 

Motel Becka Zip Bodycon Skirt in Magenta Bubble Lace  / Motel Paulette Plunge Playsuit in Cream / Motel Bomber Jacket in Vintage Paisley Print / Motel Savannah Cold Shoulder Dress in Canton Night Print 

Motel Penny Babydoll Dress in Mandala Print / 

Motel Box Crop Top in Tonal Floral Mint / Motel Ghetto Smile Oversized Print Soldier T Shirt in Grey / Motel Olive Bodycon Midi Dress in Black and White

So what do you think of my picks? Anything you like?

Don't forget that you can get 20% off everything in your basket at the checkout by typing in the code MINICHIMP2001

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The Bath Boutique - Space Rock Soap

So as you know, my lovely wonderful friend Emily is the owner of The Bath Boutique and she makes gorgeous hand made soaps and bath bombs for super cheap prices. You can read some of my other posts on The Bath Boutique here & here. Well yesterday whilst I was around at her house she gave me a few cheeky samples!

I thought I'd start with my favourite soap that she let me have - the Space Rock Soap. This is an absolutely gorgeous blue and pink soap with glitter on the top. It smells absolutely divine (as do all of The Bath Boutique's soaps) and it makes your skin feel super smooth afterwards. Plus, the added glitter makes the soap feel really girly! 

As with all of The Bath Boutique's products it has been made with all natural ingredients, and though I've said it before all of the soaps I've used remind me of Lush products (but better and cheaper!) 

If you love soap, then this is the website for you! All of their products are priced around £1-£2 which is such amazing value for money and I really recommend you go and have a look! I also recommend you follow The Bath Boutique on Twitter, as Emily constantly has competitions and stuff on to win her soaps, and you can get updates on new products from there too!

www.thebathboutique.co.uk

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Mercedes-Benz Fashion Opportunity

Here's a super exciting opportunity for you all! Today I was contacted by Ally from Mercedes-Benz regarding a "Social Reporter Campaign". 

Here's what they said: "Submit an entry that represents your summer look of 2013 for the chance to win access to an exclusive fashion event with Mercedes-Benz. You will be mingling with celebrities and VIP’s and report your experience back via social media. Activities include interviewing Tanya Burr over lunch and attending a fashion party and events. Round trip travel to London, accommodation and a personal chauffeur are included. So decide your look – is it what you wore to a festival, how you styled your favourite summer trend or a selfie of you looking summery and upload to the Social Reporter site. Enter before the 28^th August." 

So in basic terms Mercedes-Benz are running a competition to find the summer look of 2013 and to enter all you have to do is send them a photo/blog post/tweet to win an amazing fashion experience which includes attending shows, lunching with top bloggers and attending an exclusive fashion event! Your look can be anything as long as it sums up your summer, it can be about makeup, beauty or fashion and can be entered here. It's really as simple as that. 

GOOD LUCK! 

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Introducing: efoxcity*

A few days ago I was introduced to a lovely website named efoxcity* which is an online fashion and clothing wholesaler. They sell loads of brilliant items of jewellery and wholesale clothing for both men and women. Everything on the site is really affordable and they have a great range to choose from, all of which is super fashionable and on-trend. 

One of my favourite parts about efoxcity is that you can actually buy the most gorgeous wedding dresses on there for insanely low prices. Though I'm not getting married, this is something I would refer to other brides especailly those on a budget. The dresses are absolutely gorgeous and I spent a lot of time browsing through the many pages imagining my own future wedding and dress - this one was my favourite and for only £87, can you believe it?!

Another thing I noticed is that they have some lovely pieces of jewellery! All of their jewellery looks really fashionable and there's absolutely loads of things I'd like to get my hands on, such as this cute gold chain necklace.

They also have a fantastic range of cheap evening dresses which are perfect for things like prom and cocktail parties, you could even make some of these work for a special night out.
Everything in their wholesale womens clothing section is to die for! There are some super cute t-shirts and jackets which I spent a long time drooling over, and all at really cheap prices!

Overall, I find this website to be brilliant and I'd really recommend that you check it out, especially if you want to grab a bargain!

http://www.efoxcity.net

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Ebay - Temporary Lip Tattoo

A friend bought these lip tattoos off Ebay (click here), they were 99p, so an absolute bargain and as neither of us had used them before we were super excited to see how they looked! 

The lip tattoos are a lot like those stick on tattoos you used to get when you were a kid. They're on a piece of paper with sticky back plastic on the other side. You pull the plastic off, stick them on your lips and drench them in water. Then push down on them and wait a few seconds for the tattoo to transfer. They're very fiddly and a bit hit and miss (we had to do it twice for my friend as the tattoo wouldn't transfer), but they look nice when on the lips.

Although very funky, I have to say that they were quite uncomfortable. And as I started to have a drink or move my lips too much the tattoo started to flake off...into my mouth. Not nice. They were also super drying and I found that I was in serious need of Vaseline after about 10 minutes. Needless to say, after about an hour I took the tattoo off and replaced with lipstick because I just couldn't deal with how dry my lips were. 

I think this is a good product if you're only going to wear it for a short length of time - for photographs or just for a laugh. This is not something I would be able to wear daily or on a night out because it's just far too drying and flaky. Personally I think lip tattoos are a nice idea, but just aren't for me.

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PASSED MY DRIVING TEST FIRST TIME!!

Just a quickie to say that I've just passed my dressing test! WOOHOO! 

These last few days and lessons have been so stressful, and I'd convinced myself I'd failed whilst driving round but oh god, I actually passed!! First time and everything! It started off awful, I couldn't even get the car to work, nerves completely got the better of me!! But I eventually sorted myself out and YEY winner winner!!

Look out world, here I come!

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MAC Ruby Woo - Unpacking!

So recently I won a Mac lipstick of my choice from Laura at www.lauralouisehaynes.com! I was so excited to receive the email saying that I'd won and oh god, I just couldn't choose what lipstick I wanted! In the end, I went with a classic - Ruby Woo. 

Today it arrived in the post and as soon as it came I whipped my camera out, I was so excited! This is my second ever Mac lipstick (I have another but got it literally YEARS ago)

I am a very, very happy bunny.

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Check Out My Guest Post @ www.jennadoesbeauty.blogspot.co.uk

Hello ladies! Whilst Jenna is on holiday I have written a little guest post for her blog! So if you want to go and read it please click here!

Also go and follow Jenna's blog, as she is a lovely girl and her blog is brilliant!

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MUA Intense Colour Eyeliners

I bought these two kohl eyeliners from MUA a few days back to use for my punk themed makeup and I have to say, I am seriously impressed. 

I chose two blue shades - Royal Blue (dark shaded blue) and Turquoise (light shaded blue) and chose to wear the two colours around my eyes along with some black liquid eyeliner. They looked amazing, were highly pigmented and seriously made my eyes stand out! 

The pencils have great staying power, I had these on for around twelve hours, with a nap in between (stupid overly drunk Jane), I didn't reapply when I woke up as they were still clear as day on my eyes and even in the morning after I still had some colour knocking about (I didn't wash my makeup off, I was too drunk, so sue me). 

They are really brilliant eyeliners and I know I'll definitely be purchasing a few more to add to my collection - and at £1 each how would I not? I really recommend these liners, much better than some of the more expensive color eyeliners I've used in my time! 

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Punk Fancy Dress Costume!

Here is my completed fancy dress costume for Blackpool! We went on Saturday and it was such a good night, I had a great time and everyone looked really cool! I wish I could dress like a punk all the time, but it literally took me 4 hours to get ready - too much effort for the laziest girl in the world! Please excuse the poses, I was channelling my inner punk!

And here is a photo of everybody that dressed up!

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Saturday Night's "Punk" Costume

So on Saturday I'm going to be nipping to Blackpool for the night! I will be dressed as a punk! I really can't wait, it's going to be hilarious and I've finally got my outfit. It's still not completely done, I mean, I'm still thinking of stuff to get but what I'm most worried about is my hair and makeup. I need some real help, especailly with my eye makeup as smokey eye looks ridiculous on me - so does anyone have any helpful ideas?! 

Here's the outfit that I have planned so far, obviously feel free to comment and tell me what you think I should add! I was sort of going for a Nancy Spungen sort of feel! I got the leopard print tutu for £10 on the market, it's so cute. The boots are full length docs and I made the top from two vest tops, marker pen and studs! 

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Instagram Update

1. I love Majorca, miss it so much / 2. My beautiful boy / 3. Don't ride a horse, ride a cowboy / 4. Cheeky selfie / 5. No laptop, bored, these are my feet / 6. OOTD for IJ's birthday / 7. Laptop surgery. I broke my laptop sob sob sob / 8. New book / 9. New laptop!

This last month has been one heck of a month, and I really cannot believe it's August already! How quickly is this year going? It's freaking me out. I'm going to be 22 in less than 3 months, can you actually believe that? I can't. Here are just a few snaps from the last few days. Nothing too exciting really. I broke my laptop the day I came home off my holiday, I was uploading all my photos and BAM, it died, and wouldn't come back on. I lost 50% of all my holiday photos which was the thing that most upset me. Thankfully my Dad is a computer genius and built me a brand new laptop, it's made from two other laptops and it's basically the Goliath of the laptop world! It's such with a ridiculous amount of memory and space in it, and oh god, I cannot wait to fill it up with all my girly crap and photographs!!

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Impress - Press On Manicure

Broadway's Impress Press On Manicure is meant to be a revolutionary new way of applying false nails. They come in loads of different designs and colours, here I am using a set of nude coloured falsies in the length "short".

These nails are great because they are no fuss, none sticky, easy manicure nails. They have a little plastic backing on them which you pull off to reveal the adhesive, which you then just pop onto your nail and yippee - lovely new nails! There's no glue to mess about with and the nails literally go on in seconds. The nails themselves are absolutely gorgeous too, shiny and pre-polished, completely ready for use!

They are also easy to take off...but in this case they are far too easy. These nails for me lasted about 20 seconds, as soon as I started to move my fingers or pick my phone up they fell off. One by one. Which is annoying when the product boasts that they will stay on with just the adhesive. If you are going to buy these nails you probably will need to buy some glue as well, just in case they fall off and you can't get them back on again. To be honest, it's a little disappointing. I expected more from these nails, I expected them to do what they said they would do - but they didn't, and they should not be boasting "no glue needed" when it definitely is needed.

Oh well, at least they're pretty to look at.

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Banana Berry Smoothie

I'm trying out this whole new healthier lifestyle thing. The thing is, I'm not a fruit and veg eater...I'm a chocolate and sweets eater! So getting my "5 a day" tends to be pretty hard, that's why I have decided to start making and drinking more smoothies! 

I decided to start with the simplest of smoothies, something that I like to call Banana Berry (basically strawberry and banana!) and over time I will start making "harder" smoothies and more veg/green orientated smoothies.

You Will Need

One small glass of fresh orange juice

Seven or eight large strawberries

One banana

Eight cherries

Ice

Smoothie maker or blender

How to...

1. Firstly cut up all of the fruit into smaller pieces, this includes cutting the cherries up and getting rid of the stone in the middle

2. Put a hand-full of ice into the blender

3. Put all of the cut up ingredients into the blender

4. Add orange juice

5. Blend

6. Enjoy!!

Okay, so it's pretty simple. But it tastes delicious and it's so refreshing on a warm summers day. Plus it's super healthy. Like I said, I'll be writing more of these posts, hopefully with some more exciting smoothies so just say if you want to see some more! 

What's your favourite smoothie?

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Derma V10 Day Cream

Derma V10 Q10 Innovations Advanced Formula Rejuvenating Day Cream

"Specially formulated to moisturise, tone and protect the skin against the damaging effects of everyday life. The unique blend of Coenzyme Q10 and Carnitine leaves your skin feeling refreshed, firm and radiant"

I love a good bargain, and one of the best bargain brands definitely has to be Derma V10. With most of their products ranging from £1 - £3.50, you can usually find them in pound-shops and places like B&M bargains, but please don't let this put you off! After the FABB event in Manchester I acquired quite a lot of Derma V10 products and I have to say, I am absolutely smitten with them! For the price, they are such good quality and I know I will definitely be using and repurchasing again and again. 

Today's review is on their Innovative Day Cream. This is one of the newer products from Derma along with their night cream and I have to say that I'm really impressed. 

The Day Cream is basically a face moisturiser. It comes in a clear white plastic jar which in my opinion looks really nice and not at all cheap. It's a product that looks good against higher end moisturisers in my bathroom. The cream itself is basically what it says on the tin. It has a thick, creamy texture and has a lovely light perfumey  floral scent to it which isn't at all overbearing or off-putting like I have found some moisturisers to be. Once on the skin it is easily blendable and soaks into the skin pretty quickly. It really does leave the skin feeling healthier and silkier, and keeps my face moisturised all day long. 

This product is an absolute bargain at £1 and I would really recommend it for those who want to moisturise on a budget. 

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Beauty Things I Suck At!

I really love reading these sorts of posts, and it makes me feel less alone in the world of beauty blogging. Honestly, I stalk so many girls on here who are absolutely gorgeous and have amazing fashion senses, and I just think "you don't have any flaws" and then I see their posts like this and think "oh wow, they're just completely normal" and it makes me feel so much better about myself! So for all those girls who are slightly ashamed to say they don't have a skin routine or shave their legs - this ones for you!

Beauty Things I Suck At:

Shaving my legs - I am seriously awful at this, especially in the winter months. I just don't see the point, I need my legs to be warm when it's cold! It just takes so much time and effort, and even when I do shave I never get every single hair, there's always one or two annoying ones just sticking out and I think WHAT IS THE POINT! I've found it very hard these last few weeks whilst it's been roasting in England because I've had to have a leg shave every few days so I can get them out but ah I hate it so much. I wish it were more socially acceptable to look like a monkey but alas, no.

Getting dressed - No not getting dressed up, getting dressed in general. If I know that I am not going to leave the house that day I will literally stay in my pjs ALL day. This is pure laziness on my part and it's one of the reasons that I don't do ootd's regularly - because I am never not in my pjs. 

Moisturising - As a girl, I know the importance of having some form of skin routine, but that doesn't make a single difference to me. I very rarely moisturise, unless I'm using a gradual tanner. It's just not something I make time for in my life and I know you really should because it's great for your skin and it makes you feel super soft but really...who am I trying to impress? 

Wearing make-up every day - I am not the sort of person that wears make-up all the time. I will wear it if I'm going to Uni or going out on a night out, but if I'm staying in or I'm nipping to the shop or whatever, I won't wear it. I'm so lazy, and it is a lot off messing about putting on a full face of make-up. Literally on a good lazy day I will probably draw my eyebrows on, but that's about it - I get a lot of complaints from Kieron about this "why aren't you making an effort/why do you wear make-up when you're out but not for me", honestly, anyone would think he thinks I'm dog ugly (thankfully I know he doesn't and he loves me just the way I am haha) 

Brushing my hair - Once again, if I have nothing planned my hair won't get brushed for days. I actually prefer my hair unbrushed, for some reason it seems longer and thicker. So maybe not brushing it actually is a bit of a vanity thing?!

French Plait - I. just. cannot. do. it. It's so hard. I can plait my hair absolutely fine, but god help me if I have to do something nice and proper with it. It's just too fiddly and messy and annoying and I hate it.

Plucking my eyebrows - I'm not even ashamed to say this, but I am guilty of being so lazy that sometimes I shave off the stray hairs. Plucking is such a long and tedious process, and having to sit down and endure all that pain for no reason just seems ridiculous to me. I do, do it every so often, but I've started to like my eyebrows being a bit thicker so I generally don't pluck them at all now. I'm really bad at it too, I make an absolute mess and neither brows come out the same. 

Getting my hair cut and styled - This is basically a never do for me. I haven't been to the hair dresser in months, maybe over a year. I hate it, I don't see the point of letting my hair grow to have it all cut off again. Dead ends can be sorted at home people! I hate sitting in the hairdressers chair and allowing someone free roam on my head, it freaks me out, they could be doing anything up there. They could be making a mess of it (and trust me, they have in the past) and you just have to let them because they are the pros and they know better than you. Well no thank you. 

What beauty things do you suck at?

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IJ's Birthday/Girls Night

Just a few photos from Monday night. We went into Preston for IJ's birthday, but ended up getting split up and it turned into more of a girls night. It was such a good night, honestly Squires played some amazing songs including YMCA and the Macarena (hahaha) and then played things like My Chemical Romance with Avril Lavigne and well... drunk me was absolutely LOVING it.

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