As the weather's taken a bit of a turn this week, I thought it would be nice to reminisce back to a few weeks ago when I went to Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales with my family to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday. It was great to spend time with everyone in one place for the first time in a long time, and the scenery was almost as good as the company. My uncle and my cousin's boyfriend took part in a fell race on the Saturday, and some of us walked from Kettlewell to Buckden to cheer them on. It was a long and tiring walk, but the pretty pictures I was able to take are some consolation.
The next day we went to Bolton Abbey, and originally just wanted a leisurely stroll along the riverside, but ended up in the woods, which my grandparents handled surprisingly well. Apparently there are over 60 miles of walks around Bolton Abbey and the surrounding area, but don't quote me on it! It's definitely somewhere I'd like to revisit.
Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane.
I feel like I haven't done an outfit post in ages, so here goes nothing! This has been my go-to outfit recently for when the weather is reasonably nice, but not too nice. The trousers are quite thin but not the most comfortable when things start to get a bit hot and bothered. I went to a family get together the other week, which was loads of fun, and quickly got my sister to take some pictures before we left.
I have had these trousers for ages, and they are one of my favourite pieces. They're super easy to style, you can just chuck on a black or white vest and walk out the door. They are also really versatile and can be dressed up, with heels, or worn more casually like I did. I decided to style them with a white vest, black cowboy-style boots, and a trusty leather jacket.
The pictures don't really do this outfit justice. This is definitely going to be a staple of mine over summer. What are your go-to pieces this time of year?
I actually love this look a lot more than I thought I would, and it is surprisingly wearable. I used the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in Moscow and I did review this product a little while ago (here) so I don't want to babble on too much about that. Although this isn't the best liquid lipstick ever, it does work if you persevere, and I found it worked best when you apply it one coat at a time and let it dry down slightly in between each one.
As this is such a bold shade, and I am still a bit of a make-up noob, I decided to keep the rest of my face pretty simple, just sticking to my everyday make-up routine, you can find the basics in this post. I just added a light brown eye shadow to the crease of my eye for a bit of definition, and added a lot of mascara. I wanted the lipstick to be the star of the show.
I personally think this looks best with a good contour and highlight combo, it just makes it look a lot more polished.
This isn't the easiest look to pull off, but I am in love, and am definitely going to be taking more risks with my make-up in the future. Let me know what you think of this look. Is it something you would try?
I love wearing "pink" make-up in general, but I especially like it when the weather's nice so I thought now would be a perfect time to show you guys one of my favourite make-up looks, and how I achieve it, hope you enjoy!
There are a fair amount of Soap and Glory products in today's look. simply because they're great products, great quality and really affordable. I started with their One Heck of a Blot foundation, which is a medium to full coverage. For the rest of my face, I used the Bobbi Brown palette and L'Oreal brow gel to define and tame my eyebrows, I used the Maybelline Master Sculpt compact to define my cheekbones, and I then used my trusty Topshop highlight on the high points of my face. I haven't actually featured this clinique blusher in a make-up look before, which is a surprise as I wear it almost every day. It's a lovely pink-coral shade with quite a bit of shimmer, but it doesn't leave your face looking glittery, instead it leaves you with a fresh natural glow.
For my eyes, I went in first with the shade 'Pink Diamond' all over my lid, then I used 'Favour' in the outer corners and underneath my eye, both from my Makeup Revolution palette. I then packed on this super glittery pink shade from my Bobbi Brown palette, which is just stunning.
I then just added a thin line of black eyeliner, as a base for my Fleur de Force eyelashes, and added a thin coat of mascara before putting on the lashes in 'Fleur Loves'. Finally, I moved on to lips, and this is one of my favourite ever combos. I slightly over-line and fill in my lips with this Max Factor lip liner in a pink-mauve shade, before adding this Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker gloss in this light pink to make my lips look super plump.
And here is the final result! Let me know that you think.
The pictures really don't do this super pretty glittery eye makeup any justice at all!
So we've come to the end of May, which means the start of summer, if we are so lucky. It also means that it's May Favourites time.
Beauty
Beauty-wise I've been loving a couple of things, some old and some new. One of the new products that has made it's way to my favourites is this Skin Wow illuminating 3-in-1 product by Seventeen. I personally use this under my foundation as an illuminating primer, but you can mix it in with your base or use it as a highlighter on the high points of your face. Although this looks quite glittery and scary when you swatch it, once you put your foundation over the top it just adds a really nice, natural glow, which I have been loving.
I recently used this Clinique Chubby Stick in Ample Amber in a make-up look, which you can check out here, so I won't go on too much about it. I just really love the shade and think it really compliments my eye colour, and looks good with a tan as well!
My sister got me this Bobbi Brown palette for Christmas a few years ago, and it really is stunning, especially the glitter shades. But this month I've been using it for another purpose. I use the two brown shades to define my eyebrows, as it adds a natural but neat finish.
This nail varnish is an old favourite of mine, but I recently been reaching for it more and more often. My nails are slightly chipped in this picture, but I've had it on for a good 5 or so days. This is the Maybelline Super Stay in the shade 'Golden Brown'. I don't know if I would say this lives up to it's 7 day claim, but it does do very well in the longevity department, and I would definitely recommend it.
Homeware
I have a few favourites from this category. The first being this room scent from Marks and Spencers. As soon as I smelt it, it had to be mine. They do a whole collection in the scent, Neroli Lime and Basil, including oil diffusers and candles, but I went for the Room Spray as it was only £5. Admittedly, I only got this a few days ago, but as I'm already obsessed with it I thought I would include it. I know that Jo Malone are releasing a similar fragrance in September, which will be very tempting indeed.
Another thing I have been loving is having fresh flowers in my room. I bought this jar from Joy a little while ago, and I just think it adds a really nice edge.
Fashion
I have been getting into going to the gym recently, probably to destress from exams and other stuff, and I do like to look good whilst doing my work out. If you guys want to see a full post dedicated to what I wear or my work out routine then do let me know! But to represent all of this, I thought I would include these Nike Juvenate trainers, which I got for just £15 from the Nike store at York Designer Outlet - such a bargain.
Other
Music-wise, I've been loving the song Blame by Denai Moore, I would really recommend checking her out, this song has been on repeat ever since it popped up on my Discover Weekly.
I also watched the show Master of None on Netflix, and really enjoyed it. It's just one of those shows that's easy to watch, and is really funny as well. On the opposite end of the scale, I've been loving The Killing. I'm only on Season 1, but I don't know why I've never watched it before, as it's right up my street - I love a good crime-thriller.
