South Africa

Hey folks, I know I've been a bit absent from the blog this week but I thought I'd do a little post to update you all on the reasons why I've been away! I travelled to South Africa for a two week school trip on the 7th and only got back on Sunday, so while I don't have a full post explaining and showing you everything I thought I'd put up a few of my absolute favourite pictures from the trip to tide you over until my big, all encompassing post on Sunday- then we should be back to blogging normality on Tuesday! 

See you Sunday!

New Girl on the Blog - London Calling

As you may have been able to tell from recent posts, Rachel has jetted off to sunnier climes and so I (Laura, how do you do?) am stepping in to fill what I can only assume is a gaping hole left in the blogosphere.

(Blurry proof of my actually knowing Baechel and not hacking in to live my dreams of being a beauty blogger)

I can't be too jealous of Rachel's adventurings however, as tomorrow I am train-ing it down to the Big Smoke to spend a long weekend wearing leather skirts and pretending to be Kate Moss. So, with this theme in mind, I have compiled a playlist which reminds me of the one and only London town. While there are whole albums which remind me of city livin' (Eliza Doolittle's self-named debut, Noisettes' Wild Young Hearts, David Bowie's Hunky Dory) I made a rule to only include one song from each artist. So, for your listening pleasure......

                                          

Eliza Doolitle | Rollerblades

The Kinks | Denmark Street

The Libertines | What Became of the Likely Lads?

The Jam | Going Underground

The Moons | Chinese Whispers

Blondie | Die Young, Stay Pretty

Noisettes | 24 Hours

Primal Scream | Rocks

The Zutons | Valerie

David Bowie | Oh, You Pretty Things

The Smiths | Shoplifters of the World Unite

The Undertones | Male Model

The Vaccines | All In White

 And the bonus track of the namesake's London Calling by The Clash because ever since it was used for the 2012 Olympic Games I do feel incredibly fond of Britain whenever I hear it.

What are your favourite London-esque tunes?

Travel Trilogy Part 3- Holiday Beauty!

Hey folks, it's time for the final part of my Travel Trilogy and today's post is all about the beauty products I find save my life on holiday. 40 degree heat is hardly brilliant for wearing heavy make-up but I still need a few bits and pieces to tide me over and stop myself from scaring any of the people I'm travelling with with my bare face!

1. Conceal (Don't feel, don't let it show..)

I find foundation a little too much in any kind of heat and you want to try and avoid having products on your face that stop your skin from getting the benefits of the sun, however concealer is still an essential for me and helps to bridge the gap between bare face and full face of make-up. I rave about the Collection concealer on a nearly weekly basis on this blog but it really is my favourite, I use shade 3 which is normally a touch too dark for me but whilst I gradually start to tan I should still be able to stick to the one product!

2. Define the brows

I'm renowned for having quite thick, pronounce brows in day to day life and if I suddenly stop applying that, my face changes completely- so it's near essential for me to keep doing this. I should really get my brows tinted before a holiday like this but until then, sweeping a brow tint product like this Model's Co More Brows through my bushy brows will have to do me!

3. Bold Lips

I'm always a fan of a bold lip but especially on holiday, particularly if you can find a product with an SPF. I have an old nivea lipgloss type thing that I use over any lipsticks to ensure my lips don't burn, but I adore using lip stains like this Rimmel Provocalips, which won't budge even if you decide to go for a little swim! Make sure you have a make-up remover with you if you do decide to go for a product like that though!

4.  Suncream

Sun lotion isn't given the credit it deserves on a day to day basis, not only is this stuff essential for ensuring your skin doesn't burn, which can be horrific, but it also works as an amazing moisturiser and is proven to keep your skin looking younger for longer, meaning that 40 year old you will thank you for putting up with the slightly greasy feel!

5. Liner

I feel like if you are going to want to look like you have a full face of make-up on, even whilst on holiday, you only need to do a few things, conceal, define your brows and lips, and then sweep a simple line of black gel liner over your eyelids. This one I have from Maybelline isn't strictly waterproof but it has great staying power and stops my eyes from looking tiny!

There we go, please do let me know about any of your beauty essentials for going on holiday down below and I'll see you guys again soon. However for the next week I'm actually giving my blog over to my friend Laura to blog for you, but more on that on Sunday!

Travel Trilogy Part Two- Hand luggage Essentials!

Morning again folks, it's time for the second part in my Travel Trilogy- and this time we move onto the hand luggage preparation. Often I have to put a lot more thought into the hand luggage than elsewhere as obviously there are much harsher restrictions. I'm aware that many choose to take liquid products in their hand luggage and that's great, but since I'm travelling with a school party this month I want to avoid any possible problems so I'm going for a no liquid policy.

To give you a bit of background, I travel from Glasgow to Dubai, have a 4 hour lay over in Dubai and then travel from Dubai to Johannesburg. This takes about 21 hours and while that seems horrendous enough, we then have a ten hour bus journey upon arrival in SA to reach our destination. Yes, you did read that correctly- ten whole hours. This means I need a LOT of entertainment and things to keep me occupied. I thought I'd show you some of the things I'm taking to help me bide the time and last the flight!

iPod Nano

Music is a must for me on any long journey, but I think I'd actually internally combust if I didn't have music for a 35+hour journey. Therefore my trusty iPod nano is coming along with me for the ride, I've had this for well over 5 years now but it's still going strong, the battery lasts far longer than most of the modern Apple products and I'm so sentimentally attached to this little piece of tech that it's embarrassing. 

iPhone 4s 

Continuing with the Apple theme, (I promise I'm not sponsored, I wish I was though!) I have my phone, which is actually my old phone as I've recently updated to the iPhone 5S. This is mainly to stay in touch with home, but obviously I'll have music and apps etc on here too, and in a push it will do for the occasionally selfie! I didn't want to risk taking my new phone as it's so lovely and new and so it made sense to just pick up a PAYG sim from EE, who were super helpful, and take this instead!

Face Wipes

These should really be at the top as this is my ultimate MUST have product for travelling anywhere. I'll probably have a little make-up on before I get on the plane but I imagine that that will pretty much make it's way off my face by the time we're in SA, so these are essential for everything from wiping my face clean, to freshening up a little upon landing, to wiping up anything spilled on the plane. They make you feel a million times better when travelling and they're so cheap!

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith 

A book is always essential for any journey and although I'll probably take a few, I've loved the first two books in the Child 44 trilogy by Tom Rob Smith and so I can't imagine I'll have any problems with the final book in the series! Whether you're a big reader or not, you need to have at least one book for poolside reading!

Blog Notebook 

I have posts (such as this one) planned for whilst I'm away but I'll need to be doing some blog post planning while I'm over there, plus you just never know when you'll be struck by inspiration and nothing would annoy me more than to have a decent idea for a blog post or series and forget it whilst I'm away!

Snacks 

Snacks are one of my essentials for life in general, but whilst travelling there is absolutely nothing worse than getting hangry! We're lucky enough to be flying with Emirates so I imagine we'll be pretty well provided for on the plane, but for the 10 hour bus journey I will need to be extremely well fed, at all times. Hence there will be many little bits of food kicking about my hand luggage to tide me over.

Hair Ties

This is one of my other essentials, as I have pretty long hair that tangles quite easily, it's best to have hair ties on me at all times to ensure that if my hair starts annoying me, I can push it out of my face. More importantly hair ties are one of those essential things that everyone might need at some point or another, so it's always fun to be the prepared one!

There we go, I hope this has been helpful for any of you who plan on travelling any time soon! I'll be back with the final part of my Travel Trilogy on Thursday so I'll see you soon!

Travel Trilogy Part One- How I Pack My Suitcase

Morning everyone, my post for today is a little look at how I pack my suitcase. I'm no packing genius and I certainly don't claim to be a lifestyle guru, but I have managed to pack more than the required clothing and accessories for a two week holiday into one decent sized bag, and I'm not struggling for space in the slightest. Anyway, here's my tips for getting the most out of your packing!

1. Stuff your shoes

This is a fairly widely known tip but it really does work wonders, not even for saving space but for ensuring that your shoes don't get completely squashed out of shape whilst travelling. I'm taking a couple of pairs of converse style flats with my to South Africa and then would both be totally destroyed by the multi-flight journey- so stuffing them with underwear, socks etc really helps!

2. Bag your Beauty 

One of the ultimate disasters when travelling is shampoo blowout, or similar liquefied dramas, whereupon your product, opened by the shaky journey, ends up exploding all over your well packed clothes, jewellery and other items. Nightmare. It seems obvious but placing everything that has even the slightest possibility of spilling, including foundation and concealer, into sandwich bags before packing them is a totally easy and nondescript way of stopping a genuine disaster before it happens. 

3. Don't Skimp 

There are a lot of posts on various sites heralding a way of packing all your possessions into tiny bags or showing you ways to do without some of the essentials you want to pack. However, unless you're planning on only taking hand luggage, or have a hideously low baggage weight allowance, there's no reason to limit yourself. I have 30KG for SA which is extremely high, but most airlines average at 20KG and up, which really does let you take everything you need, Obviously don't waste space on things you won't use, but if you want to pack something- take it, you won't regret having the options whilst away. 

4. Share 

This isn't technically a packing tip but it applies to going away in general, particularly if you're travelling with a group of friends. There is simply no need for a room of 4 girls to have four sets of straighteners, four curling wands and four hair-dryers. Talk to your pals before hand and agree on who is bringing what, and then share out the weight between all of your luggage. You'll end up sharing things in general anyway but actually having planned it before hand makes saves you time and money. 

5. Pack Strategically 

It can be super important to consider what you're going to need when you first arrive at your destination whilst packing, it's all well and good to have managed to fit your PJS into the tiny gap at the bottom of the case, but will you really thank yourself when you have to destroy hours of careful packing in order to find your toothpaste when you finally arrive? It's best to leave a change of clothes, whether that be day clothes or your jammies, and your toiletries near the top of your luggage. Think 'ease of access' at all times, as you're gonna be both tired and probably crabby when you get there!

This is actually the first in a series of 3 Holiday related posts I'll be putting up over the next week, so  be sure to check back on Tuesday and Thursday to see them, but until then- have a lovely week!

Primark and ASOS Shoe Haul!

Morning folks, this is just a quick little post for you all as I'm currently in the middle of a crazy busy week preparing for South Africa on Saturday! I picked up a few pairs of shoes as part of a rather excessive pay-day spree on Saturday and I thought I'd show you them as I'm rather fond of them!

Asos Firedance Flat Sandals

I needed a pair of comfy sandals that still gave me the little bit of extra height that my 5" frame desperately needs, and these pretty much fit the bill. They're made of a flexible white plastic that looks like leather and from my limited experience they don't seem to rub at all. I'm expecting to have to be well prepared with plasters for this holiday but I'd like to minimise the damage to my feet if possible! These are very pretty, super practical and I love the gold detail on the heel! 

ASOS Checked Slip Ons

These are a little bit of a let down for me as they were pretty much exactly what I was looking for, flat comfy shoes that shouldn't cause me any serious foot worries whilst walking. I'm a size 6 pretty much across the board in terms of foot size and whilst it's not completely unusual for me to have wider feet than the average shoe, I rarely find that size 6 shoes are too small for me. However these are incredibly small, to the point where I'm almost unable to fit my feet in with socks on, which is weird as normally I can even squeeze my feet into a size 5. These were sale shoes so even though I'll return them if I can't stretch them, I can't get a bigger size. Lovely shoes and good quality, but not what I need!

 Primark Navy Striped Flip Flops

The next few pairs are your fairly basic cheap Primark shoes, but since I'm only away for two weeks I'm not really looking for quality. These are your basic foam flip flops with the suitably uncomfortable bit that goes between your toes. Standard. and they came in at a bargain price of £1.

Primark Gold Bow Sandals 

Another pair of Primark flip flops that were only a pound, which considering these actually have a bit of detailing on them, is amazing! I actually really love the little bow detail and whilst these aren't particularly fancy or anything, they'll do just nicely for padding about the hotel or by the beach!

Primark Black Slip Ons 

I've been looking for a pair of shoes similar to the Vans slip ons and try as I might I couldn't find any that were cheap enough to justify not actually buying the Vans model. Therefore when I finally found these in Primark yesterday I was over the moon. As you can see they're not particularly high quality but they only cost £2.50. Yes, you heard me right, TWO POUND FIFTY. I love Primark!

There we go, I hope you guys enjoy seeing what I picked up- there will be a lot of travel related posts going up over the next 2 weeks as I'm away so everything is queued. I hope you have a lovely week and I'll see you on Sunday!

FOTD #2

Hey hey folks, I have another Face of the Day for you, courtesy of last Friday's ceilidh (which I spoke about in my January Round Up.) I wanted to do a lighter eye look than my last, vampy FOTD so I went for my classic gold smokey eye and dark red lips. Luckily my lipstick matched just about matched my tartan sash so it all came together quite well!

What I used;

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (52 Vanilla)

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (Shade 3) 

Max Factor Creme Puff (13 Nouveau Beige)

Sleek Face Contour Kit (Medium)

Model Co More Brows (Medium/Dark)

Discontinued Mac Paint Pot (Genuine Treasure) 

Urban Decay Naked 2 (Half Baked/YDK)

Maybelline Gel Liner (Black) 

Lollipop Kohl Liner (701 Goodbye Moon)

Youinque 3D Fibre Mascara (Black)

Mac Lipstick (Kinky)

I had a lovely time at the ceilidh and in general my make-up stayed in place, especially my lipstick which I had to scrub off at the end of the night. I hope you liked seeing my make-up look and I'll be back on Thursday! 

January Round-Up!

Morning everyone, today's post is the first of my 'Round-Up' series, where I walk you guys through the highlights of my month. January is a notoriously shoddy month and even though I have felt like this month has dragged, I've had a lovely lovely time and I have a few things to talk about. I'm really looking forward to writing these posts so let's get going!

The first main event that kicked January off was New Years, which I spent with a group of friends at a one of their houses for a big house party for all age groups. It was truly lovely and I didn't get home till after 4am, which demonstrates how much we were enjoying ourselves! It was also a great excuse for a slightly blurry selfie (like I need an excuse.)

The first couple of weeks of the year were fairly uneventful as I returned to school after exams and settled into study leave, which was hard at times as the weather was unseasonably bright and sunny, even if the temperature didn't get much higher than 5 degrees!

I've also been continuing my shifts at one of my local cafes which has been a little slow this month, but it's all made better when the view is as beautiful as this on my walk to work!

As a 'end of study leave' celebration, several of my friends and I went for breakfast at Reids, a cafe in the centre of Perth. As you can see, they did an excellent job and I can honestly say that nothing beats tea and pancakes with friends on a sunny Sunday morning!

Continuing the theme of food with friends, we all met on the last evening of study leave to have a 'fajita party' at my friend Beth's house- which was so lovely, and featured a LOT of laughing. I took my camera which gave me the excuse to take pictures on the way home that looked as silly as this! 

The last event of this month was also the final fundraising event we'll do for our school trip to South Africa (which I leave for in less than a week,) a ceilidh at one of our local hotels. It was a lovely evening with lots of true Scottish-ness and Highland dancing galore. Perfect, and a wonderful way to cap off a year of raising money that's seen us raise in excess of £6000! 

There we have it, not the most interesting month I'll ever have but a really lovely time none-the-less. I love the idea of these posts as it will remind me at the end of the year of my highlights. I like to think of them as a digital version of those jars that all the girls on Tumblr seem to have, where you put all your favourite memories into a mason jar? Regardless, here's to a not so rubbish January and roll on February! Have a lovely rest of your weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday!