Black Cap State Of Mind

 

 

Little bit obsessed with this black cap from ASOS right now. It cost me £10 and I've literally been playing around with it in my outfits for hours now - its so cute! Also, sorry for the turquoise bra strap appearance, someone needs to tell Victoria that her secret is out.

 

Cap - ASOS

Velvet Crop Top - Urban Outfitters

High Waisted Skinnies - New Look

 

I hope you are having the greatest day!

Emily xoxo





DIY Iced Mocha

I've always been a fan of iced coffee, but it occurred to me recently that it might not be that difficult to recreate. I was right! I presumed I'd need a blender and loads of complicated ingredients, but you really don't need that much at all. And the end result is so good I could cry (if I do say so myself).

Ingredients
Coffee Granules
Water
Ice
Milk
Hot Chocolate Powder
Sugar

Step by Step

• Boil the kettle and put one heaped teaspoon of coffee granules into a mug. Also add two heaped teaspoons of hot chocolate powder into the mug.
• Add boiling water until the mug is full, and stir the mocha.
• Put the coffee into the fridge and leave it for 2-3 hours until it is chilled.
• Add ice to a tall glass - the amount of ice really depends on how big your glass is, but since my mason jar is HUGE I usually put about seven cubes in.
• Pour the chilled coffee into the glass and stir in cold milk until the glass is almost full.
• Add sugar to taste, and then enjoy!

What Coffee Shop drinks do you like to recreate?
Stay beautiful!
Emily xoxo

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Hair Products

Hi guys!
Over the years I've accumulated quite a few hair products, some have been a complete win, but some have been really disappointing. Even though I know its important to tell you about products I love, I feel like its within my duty to warn you about products that I found to be a complete flop. A couple of the products I mention aren't photographed above, since I threw the products away!

THE GOOD
VO5 Smoothly does it straightening cream -
A few years ago a hairdresser told me that the best way to tame my curly hair was not to use a curling mousse (I had tried many at this point, and failed to find a good one) but to use a straightening cream. Often, products do the opposite of what they say on the tin, and I find this to be the case with this product. I absolutely love it, because it controls my hair and any frizz that may come along with it.

Fudge Urban Hairspray and Dry Shampoo -
I adore Fudge Urban products. The hairspray and dry shampoo are my favourites, and I use them pretty much daily. They smell delicious, and are good value for money considering how well they do the job.

The Body Shop Beautifying Oil -
I think I've mentioned this in a favourites post before, but I will continue to mention it until I post no longer. I put this oil on the ends of my hair after I wash it, and it makes it feel so much softer! I recommend this, especially for people with damaged or coloured hair.

OGX Shampoos and Conditioners -
Okay. Every shampoo brand needs to get on this level. The packaging is gorgeous, the product is amazing - lovelovelove. I've tried a few variations from the brand, but at the moment I'm loving the argan oil collection as it works to repair the bleached ends of my hair.

THE BAD
Loreal Studio Salt Spray -
I'm not sure if my hair is just not compatible with salt spray, but this product didn't work for me at all. I didn't get a textured look when I used it on my hair, but it did smell nice - so every cloud!

Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner -
Pantene hair products leave my hair feeling clogged up and dirty, and I've tried many of the variations but none of them seem to work well with my hair type. I know that lots of people love Pantene, but I'm just not feeling it.

Tresemme Hairspray -
Let me start by saying that this isn't ALL bad. I like the smell of the hairspray, and it isn't too overpowering. Straight after I use it, my hair holds fine, but within a few hours the hold is gone and I'm left with half curls that haven't stayed in the whole day. I may return back to this hairspray and give it a second chance, but for now I'm sticking to my Fudge Urban.

THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY
Pantene Defined Curls Styling Mousse -
On the bottle it says you put a small amount of this mousse through the ends of your hair, and it controls frizz and leaves you with defined curls. This is 100% NOT what I got. It made my hair dry with what I can only describe as a 'crunchy' texture, you know the one? When your hair looks wet even though its dry, and it feels crispy? I hate this product (Sorry to be harsh) and the one time I used it I had to come home from shopping purely to wash it out of my hair. Ew.

Batiste Brunette Dry Shampoo -
Oh god. This one was a disaster. The dry shampoo is brown, to blend in with your hair colour and avoid the 'white hair' look. What it fails to mention is that it transfers brown powder to your face, that is surprisingly hard to remove and makes you appear to be some kind of modern age chimney sweep. I did not like this. At all.

So there you have it, my best and worst of hair products!
What products did you feel disappointed in?
Emily xoxo

The Sky

You painted the sky

And then tore it down before my feet

I woke up next to a stranger

With eyes that I recognised but did not understand

I felt it break and wondered if

Maybe I meant to break it

Weary minds leave shattered paths

And I couldn’t pretend anymore

When I woke up this morning

I forgot

And when I remembered I didn’t feel a thing

Is this what it feels like to be free

Of a former self

A weaker self

Charmed by words that weren’t her own

When I stepped under the morning rain

I stayed a moment too long

To wash it all away

And when I spoke to the boy he made me laugh

Like you hadn’t for a while

Butterflies plagued me

That felt strange

I painted the sky myself

And when I looked up

 I saw the person

I wanted to be

 

I wrote this just over a week ago and forgot to post it, so here you go!

I hope that you had a good day,

Stay beautiful!

Emily xoxo

Laugh Your Way to a Happier Existence

 

I think laughter is so important to our health. It's really strange, the sound that escapes us when we find something funny. Occasionally we don't even find anything humorous, it can be a nervous laugh, or a fake burst of laughter. But the true laughter, the kind that makes you smile as wide as the sun and makes your heart beat out of your chest? I've been thinking a lot about that. (P.S. this post was inspired by the sheer amount of time I spent last night with one of my best friends, laughing about the hilariousness of our own laughs.)

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, which give us a happy feeling inside that can last minutes, or hours. It has the power to relieve pain and inspire us, and even boost our immune system. It actually also increases blood flow to the heart, protecting us from the risk of heart attacks and various cardiovascular problems. Isn't it cool that an action so spontaneous and easy can relieve our bodies and minds so much? As for mental health, laughter allows us to see situations in a less threatening way, and develop a newfound perspective.

There is benefit to laughter as well in the method of just 'laughing something off'. If people say things about you, things that you know aren't true, then the act of laughing it off is the best revenge. I heard a comment about me last week that really offended me, but when I thought about the source of the comment, and how unbelievably stupid it was, I was able to laugh with my friends about it and feel better instantly. We can choose how we let people affect us, and it can either be to tear us down or make us stronger. I definitely feel stronger for laughing about it all, because now I'm able to see how
immature someone has to be to make a comment like that.

To conclude this little ramble, just laugh. Laugh at stupid things, laugh at awkward moments, laugh at the little things that make our lives light. Because truly, laughter is the best medicine in the world.

Emily xoxo

Spring Vibes

 

 

Sunglasses - Cotton On

Necklace - FatFace

Dress - Forever 21

Tights - Forever 21

 

I think I'm a teensy bit in love with the sun at the moment, I couldn't help it, I HAD to bring out the sunglasses!

Stay beautiful!

Emily xoxo

So Very, Very Naked

Hi guys!
Okay, so I know that this review is long overdue. Everyone's moved on by now, there's been two other palettes following the Naked 1 palette - but I can't NOT blog about it! I feel like it's my duty to talk about this, maybe to reignite people's passion for Naked.

 

I've never really been an eyeshadow girl (apart from Maybelline Colour Tattoos) up until 2015. I received this palette for Christmas, and ever since I started using it I've been amazed by not only the quality of the eyeshadows, but how easy it is to apply and blend. I'm a complete novice myself, and only a few tries into using the palette I found that I was creating relatively professional looking (okay, well probably not that good) eye looks. I've been enjoying layering up the colour, using a light shade on the lid, a slightly darker shade in the crease, and then an even darker shade on the outer corner of my eyes. The shade 'creep' works as a good eyeliner, especially on the lower lash line. I think my favourite shade out of all of the colours would be 'toasted', which is a warm brown. This palette retails at about £38, but I got mine from FeelUnique with a discount code that enabled me to get 25% off, so the price was pretty reasonable. The brush included with the palette is good quality, and washes easily (I hate hate hate brushes that take an age to wash, its literally the most tedious job in existence). Basically, I give this palette a solid 10/10, and I've already put the Naked Basics palette on my birthday wishlist - 20 sleeps to go!

 

Stay beautiful!

Emily xoxo

The Inevitable After School Snack Binge

Hey guys!
I've been trying lately to mix up the snacks I've been eating when I get home from school, because I usually just get in and eat whatever I can find. I'm the kind of person that can completely forget to eat one day, and then stuff my face the next - I chose three of my favourite ideas for this post, one healthy, one in between, and one completely unhealthy because I would seriously struggle without my dose of chocolate and sugar.

1. The healthy idea.

 

When I get in from school, I usually can't be bothered preparing a snack, and just opt for grabbing what's right in front of me. Lately however, I've been slicing up a red pepper and dipping it into sauce - and surprisingly it tastes SO good. You could pretty much use any dipping sauce, but my favourites are salad cream and BBQ (hey, don't knock it til you've tried it). I load it into my 'dipping cone' from Lakeland and munch away whilst I watch a youtube video or two before I start my homework for the night.

2. The Nostalgic Snack.

I'm pretty sure that this is one of my favourite snacks of all time. Do you remember going to tea parties when you were five years old? And the table was laid with party rings and sausage rolls and...cheese and pineapple? Party food ridiculously excites me, so I've been making it a lot recently - its really easy to make, you just combine a cube of cheese with a chunk of pineapple. It sounds like a crazy combination, but I swear it works SO well. Enjoy!

3. The Friday Night idea.

 

I admire people that can sit down on a Friday night and eat raw vegetables. But honestly, I'm a teenage girl and if I don't get my chocolate fix I start to go into withdrawal. It's okay to eat an unhealthy snack now and again, you only live once! What I like making is a 'DIY Trail Mix' thing, where you basically just mix some of your favourite snacks into a bowl. For me, you can't go wrong with pretzels, wine gums and smarties.

 

What are your favourite snacks?

Stay beautiful!

Emily xoxo

Something a Little Different

Fashion has become somewhat of a creative outlet for me in the last couple of months, a distraction from everything else that I've wanted to forget about. Today's outfit was a little different to anything I'd normally wear, but I like it!

 

T Shirt Dress - ASOS

Necklace - Urban Outfitters

Knee High Socks - Forever 21

Make up - Revlon 'Black Cherry' lipstick and the Naked 1 palette

 

Emily xoxo

Space

The space between my fingertips has never felt so apparent

Three months full and now the emptiness is blinding

Not necessarily in a bad way

Just different

There’s a space on my pillow and a space in my heart

I’m learning to fill it just like the expanses of time

Sleep is easier now

It consumes me like the spaces between my ribs

I count them, one, two, three

And the spaces between meals are ever longer but

I’m trying to change that, like the cloak of knots

That fills the space in my lungs

The silence is deafening, but peaceful in its own way

Time to heal

Space to heal

The space between sentences, words dripping from my lips

Into constellations of confessions

But never actually making it outside

I thought I was alone but the space is what I needed

To feel comforted by my own existence

Again

How do you clear up everything in your head? For me its writing but I know its different for everyone! This poem is a mish mash of subjects all rolled into one, with the theme of 'Space'. The last week has been such a weird one for me, but I think it was what I needed to look at things in perspective and see that sometimes, things happen that are hard, but they're for the best and they allow you to then fix other areas of your life as well.
Stay beautiful!
Emily xoxo

Playlist #1

Red Love - Pia Mia (Listen here)
Sex - The 1975 (Listen here)
I Choose You - Sara Bareilles (Listen here)
Square One - Lauren Aquilina (Listen here)
Sledgehammer - Fifth Harmony (Listen here)
Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's (Listen here)
Missing You - Tyler Hilton (Listen here)
Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon (Listen here)
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood (Listen here)
Come & Get it - Selena Gomez (Listen here)
Style - Taylor Swift (Listen here)
Cool Kids - Echosmith (Listen here)
Roots - Orla Gartland (Listen here)

Stay Beautiful!
Emily xoxo

A French Braid and an OOTD

Hola bloggersphere!
I'm really enjoying uploading outfit posts at the moment, so I thought I would continue with that theme and upload some photos of an outfit I wore last week to college.

 

 Black Long Sleeved T Shirt - Gap

Scarf - Forever 21

Velvet Skirt - Forever 21 (£6 in the sale, can I get a hoot hoot?)

Tights - Peacocks

Boots - Peacocks

Ear Cuff *insert heart emoji here* - Accessorize

 

Stay Beautiful!

Emily xoxo

10 Ways to Make Your Day a Little Sunnier

Some days suck. That's all there is to it, and we all have them. I've had my fair share, warranted or not, and since I'm usually quite a positive person I'd like to think that I combat them pretty well. Here are some tips for combatting a bad day!

1. Cry. Just let it all out. This way seem like a weird way to make yourself feel better, but I promise that sometimes, it may just work.

2. Wear matching/your best underwear. Putting on my favourite underwear always improves my day, a little extra confidence boost never hurt anyone!

3. Online shopping! Nothing solves my issues like a bit of retail therapy, and there's something so calming in scrolling past hundreds of dresses searching for just the right one.

4. Throw yourself into something productive. Last time I felt down I wrote 4000 words of my book in one day - it was tragically magical.

5. Go for a walk. If possible, go for a walk on the beach. I love breathing fresh air, and escaping the confinements of a house, and occasionally all we really need is to escape, even if only for a little while.

6. Drink lots of water. Water is so good and cleansing for your body, and even if you're just spending the day on the sofa with a boxset, drinking cold water will definitely improve your attitude.

7. Turn your phone off. Nothing you see will change how you feel, and its best to just put it down and take a wifi detox, letting yourself wind down and make peace without a constant 'ping'ing in your ear.

8. Start a book, and then finish it. Nothing is classier than a woman with an educated mind, am I right?

9. Make the house feel cosy, don't sit there in the dark and sob over a pack of Kleenex. It won't help, and eventually you'll reach the point where you're feeling sad purely because you're feeling sad, and not for an actual reason.

10. Take advantage of the people in your life. Hug them, pester them until they give you great advice, whatever works for you. And NEVER let a specific person make you feel like you don't deserve to be happy - just because they don't see how special you are, doesn't mean that you aren't amazing (because you are!)

Stay beautiful!
Emily xoxo

A Little Boots Haul

Hi!
So the other day I popped into my local Boots store and bought a few things - I really should never be allowed to go shopping the day after my payday! I needed a new eyeliner, and the rest just kind of spiralled from there.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 'True Ivory' - I am not a very adventurous person when it comes to foundation, I've been using my No7 one for so long now I forgot that there were other types out there. I think its the fear of spending money on a new foundation, and then it being the wrong shade for my skin (sigh, so freaking annoying). I'm going to try this one out though, and its off to a good start because I just realised that it uses a pump to dispense the foundation. A PUMP! Seriously, other brands need to get on Rimmel's level.

Maybelline Colour Show Nail Paint in 'Latte' - This colour is da bomb. I'm loving basic colours on my nails right now, and this nude shade is so beautiful I cannot even with my even. Also, doesn't the name just call out to you? How mellow is the name 'latte'?

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black - Due to my last eyeliner being left in a woodland lodge (I could literally kick myself, why do bad things happen to good people) I desperately needed a new one. This liquid eyeliner is kind of like a felt tip, which is a major throwback because my first ever eyeliner was pretty similar. So far I love it, and its easy to apply, which is my main want in an eyeliner.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara - When I see a new Maybelline mascara, I'm not going to lie I get pretty excited. I used this today, and oh my goodness they have outdone themselves. So much volume! Can you tell there was a 3 for 2 deal on Maybelline products?

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer in 'Ivory' - This is my first ever liquid concealer, and a tiny part of me is quite scared. I have high hopes for this though, since I've seen many a good review on youtube about it.

What have you been hallin' recently?
 Emily xoxo

Who Inspires You?

Today I wanted to write a post about some women in today's society that inspire me and I feel have had an impact on my life (beside the obvious ones like the women in my family and my best friends). I'm lucky enough to be in a good place at the moment, and I think that having role models and inspirations has been part of the journey to getting there.

 Okay so first and foremost I've chosen Miss Taylor Swift. If you know me at all (which lets be real you probably don't, I'm just a random girl on the internet) you'll know that Taylor has had a major impact on my life. I started listening to Taylor when I was 11 years old and just starting out in high school. High school was a bit of a weird one for me, I kind of loved it and I kind of hated it, and for the moments when I truly hated it I could always go home, shut myself in my bedroom and listen to Taylor's early albums on repeat. Not only has her music been essential to my growing up experience, but I really admire her as a person, and the outlook on life that she has. She's taught me how to be passionate about the things that I love, and that the most important kind of love is the love that you have for yourself (because without that, how can you really learn to love anyone else?)

Next is Sarah Dessen, a contemporary young adult author. Sarah's books are the genre of books that I hope to write myself, and throughout the years I've collected all of her titles and know some of the characters pretty much as if they're my friends. The road to becoming an author was not easy for Sarah, and I respect the determination of pursuing a dream and following it through to the end. I've gained so many writing tips from her, and I think that her writing has had a great influence on my own stories. If you haven't read her books, please do!

Lastly I chose Meghan Reinks, a youtuber and blogger. I think that the way Meghan approaches life is a really good way to tackle it, and her struggle with mental health was very relatable to a girl scared stiff about the same things going on in her own life (did I really just refer to myself in third person? Did I?!) I've watched her videos for what feels like an age, and I admire the way in which she tries to channel positivity into everything that she does, because I feel that that's something I should do more often. Her visual poem entitled 'Spark', which I mentioned in a previous post, is something that always provides me with a quick pick me up, and her courage to speak out about important issues is a rare thing that I don't think should be ignored.

Who inspires you?
Emily xoxo

February Favourites!

Hi guys!
Today I thought I'd do a favourites post, since I haven't done one in FOREVER. Most of these items are make up, but I added a shampoo into the mix as well to spice it up a bit. I haven't really used any new products this month, but I've rediscovered items that I used to love way back when.

1. Maybelline Colour Tattoo - I'm pretty sure I've raved about these before, but if you don't know what they are (where the heck have you been) they're basically cream eyeshadows that you can use for a base, or just on their own. I've been using the shade 'Pink Gold', and on days when I've been feeling fancy I've been using it as a base with 'Sin' from the Naked Palette on the lid, and 'Toasted' on the crease.

2. Clinique Chubby Stick in 'Voluptuous Violet' - Okay so autocorrect just informed me that 'volumptuous' doesn't actually have an M in it...wut. This is basically a tinted lip balm, and although the packaging looks scarily purple, its actually just a super cute shade of pink when put on the lips. I'm slightly sad because I've actually nearly run this lip balm out, and it is way too expensive for me to repurchase right now *cries*.

3. Bronze Glow Mosaic bronzer by Collection - I've never really been a bronzer person until this month. I received this in my glossy box last year and was put off by the shimmery effect to it, but I've now come to terms with the shimmer and now basically use it every single day of my life. I put it wherever you usually put bronzer (don't know how I'm going to explain that one, but I'm sure google knows) and I've just been loving it! Also, its pretty cheap so if you're looking to try out bronzer for the first time, this would be a good'un.

4. Rimmel London Professional Eyebrow Pencil in 'Black Brown' - This is the first eyebrow pencil that I've ever purchased, and surprisingly, I really like it. I usually use a brown eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows, but this month I thought I'd try something different and hey, it gets the job done. Its the perfect shade of brown for me, and is easy to use - the only thing I don't like is the attached brush, because its too coarse and I end up using a different brush.

5. Rejuvenating Cherry Blossom Ginseng Shampoo by 'Organix' - Okay, so one of my best friends got me this for Christmas, and its now my holy grail shampoo. It smells so sweet, and leaves my hair feeling softer, which my bleached ends highly appreciate. Its quite expensive, but I will definitely be repurchasing because I don't know how I could let myself part from such a great hair product.

What were your favourites for this month?
Stay Beautiful!
Emily xoxo

What is the Definition of Beauty?

Okay. This post has been swirling around in my brain for quite some time now. There's something about my posts, and about the blogging world, that just doesn't sit right with me. I don't think we can really blame the issue on anyone, it was probably just an unfortunate choice of words that stuck with us, but I still don't feel that I can carry on blogging without writing this post, otherwise the guilt would eventually drag me under.

The worry first came to me when I wrote a post a few months back (I'm not sure if it's still there, it may have suffered the cut) about my 'beauty favourites', which basically consisted of a load of make up items. Lying in bed that same night, it kind of hit me how false it is to label these kind of posts 'beauty' posts. Even though only a small number of people read the words I write, I would hate for anyone to come across these posts and consider a concealer stick and a mascara the key to achieving beauty. Do you see what I'm getting at here? I believe our posts are putting across an opinion that none of us intend them to - beauty is being materialised, and is evolving into a definition that doesn't even begin to cover its true meaning.

For me, I find that make up makes me feel beautiful, because it makes me feel confident. But it isn't the make up that provides the beauty, its the confidence that was already within me. I think that beauty is something that you can view on the outside, but also something that you can feel on the inside. It's a heck of a lot more than a bronzer. When I see a girl, makeup on OR off, its her smile, or the way her eyes light up, or the way she holds herself that is beautiful. Its the witty remarks she offers, or the books she reads or the way her mind folds itself into paths of intelligence and humour and grace.

This has turned into such a ramble, but the bottom line is that I don't want any of my readers to believe that if they don't wear makeup, that they can't be beautiful. THIS IS SO NOT TRUE. Society has sentenced beauty to be something that we can wear, and that we can buy, and touch - when beauty is something that we simply are.

Do you feel the same way, or am I just going mad?
Emily xoxo