Minimalistic

So, apparently at some point I turned into a real life adult, and I'm now looking at flats and apartments and getting ready to move out of my Mum's. I said I didn't want to stay at home for longer than a year after I finished uni, and that's only 2 months away, so I've been spending every spare minute looking for furniture. I want to get my furniture sorted before I find a place or I know I'll end up really irritated with having space but nothing to fill it with. I'm going to take most of my bedroom furniture with me, so my main focus has been the living room. Pretty much all of this is from Ikea, but I'm really liking how it's looking. I definitely want to go for a grey, black and white theme, with the main feature being a massive grey sofa. I've always wanted a massive bookshelf for the living room too so I can put all my books and candles there. I'm so excited to start buying things!

Hair Musings

All images from Pinterest

Like the rest of the blogging world, I'm completely obsessed with Pinterest. If I'm not scrolling through Instragram, you can guarantee I'm mindlessly scrolling through pictures of fashion, home decor and hairstyles. I recently cut all my hair off to a collarbone length bob and my New Years resolution was to find different ways to style it. I can never be bothered to do much to it, but I love the whole straight-out-of-bed-messy look. My hair is naturally a disaster. Nothing but frizz and curls in all the wrong places, but I'm trying to get in the habit of blow drying it straight and adding some texture. I feel like I'm going to need to stock up on a million cans of Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray this year! 

L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream

This may be the shortest review for the smallest product ever, but I love it so much that I had to give it a mention. I'm subject to dinosaur skin hands in the winter (think super dry skin, my hands don't shrink up like a T-Rex just to clarify) so hand creams are a must. I was drawn to this for the lavender scent, simply because I think lavender is the nicest smell everrrrrrrrrrrrr. It's actually done a great job at rescuing my hands too. They're noticeably softer and have stopped peeling (sexy image there). Basically if you like lavender and want soft hands, buy the L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel

I swear product names just get longer and longer.... Anyway. Every now and then I like to switch up my skincare routine. If I stick to the same products for too long, I stop noticing the benefits and I'm just not happy with my skin. I found a massive La Roche-Posay stand during a recent trip to Tenerife so decided to make an impromptu purchase. The Purifying Foaming Gel is for oily and sensitive skin, which describes mine down to a T, so I off to the till I went. I've been using it for about two weeks now and so far I'm really happy with it. It makes my skin feel squeaky clean, really soft and keep any imperfections at bay. Using this with my oil-free moisturiser has really helped to control my shine, and I've not had any breakouts in a while (fingers crossed!). 

Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins

Unfortunately, I'm on team oily skin, and I'm constantly trying to find products to help keep my shine at bay. I really wanted to be taken in by the Origins GinZing Moisturiser hype that went around a few months ago, but the description was definitely a no for my skin. I searched the Origins website desperate to find a substitute, and came across the High Potency Night-A-Mins cream. Anything oil free is automatically a thumbs up from me, but something that's oil free and smells like chocolate orange? Gimme. This makes my skin seem so much more refreshed without adding extra shine, and I haven't had any breakouts since using it so it seems to be doing the job!

Current Favourites

I'm back! Blogging had to take a back seat recently. I've had such a hectic few months, with finishing university, graduating, working full time, and going on holiday! I'm jetting off on another two holidays in the next few weeks, but I've just finished my current job so I finally have some free time. I thought I'd start off by showing my favourite current face products. I'm not actually sure this counts as a face product, but I had to mention the Benefit Gimmie Brow in Light/Medium. Everyone and their mother has already raved about this, but it really is a miracle product. I'm cursed with really light, sparse brows (cheers mum), and every other product I've tried has looked way too dark for my skin. But this really works at picking up the lightest of hairs, and is the perfect colour for me. Next up is the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla. This does such a great job of brightening under my eyes, and actually covers blemishes really well. The Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 2 is my new favourite product everrrrrr. It provides the perfect amount of coverage for me, medium but edging more towards the sheer spectrum. It evens out my skintone brilliantly and covers my imperfections. To make this base even more perfect, the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light dusted on top creates a lovely natural glow, and does a great job at setting my foundation.

The Narsissist Palette

Okay, so this post is seriously delayed. I actually got the Narsissit Eyeshadow Palette in the first bunch released on the NARS website (sorry bank account, I did try resisting, honest...), but I got it sent home instead of sent to uni. I only went home last week so I've only just been able to use it, and I can now say it's definitely worth the price! I'm a fan of NARS eyeshadows anyway, they're always so pigmented and have brilliant staying power, and I'm a neutral eyeshadow girl at heart, so this is definitely love. I've been using the lighter browns and beige colours to create a minimal every day smokey eye (especially with a red lip!), and the darker browns and blacks are perfect for an evening look. I usually apply the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer before, and these shadows then last all day with minimal creasing. There are both shimmer and matte shades in this palette, giving the ability to make so many different looks. The only slight negative comment I can say about this is that I wish the shades were named. I love how the Urban Decay palettes state what the shades are called in the palette, and I wish the Narsissist palette did the same. None the less, I'm totally smitten and I can't see myself using anything else for a while! This keeps popping in and out of stock on the John Lewis site, so keep your eyes peeled because it won't stay around for long!