4 STAPLE TRAVEL ITEMS

As I am going travelling abroad in the next couple of days, I thought I would do a post on the 4 essential travel items that I feel are very important when I'm on holiday!

1. Lip Balm 

I wear lip balm almost ALL the time now! I AM OBSESSED! 

Before, I wasn't the one for lip balm until a very unfortunate beauty incident happened where I cut my lip and since then, I've been applying lip balm every single day. Luckily, this helped to keep my lips moist and helped the skin to heal.

I think lip balm should be an essential item in your travel bag, (specially if you are going to a hot country), as the sun dries out your lips, since we don't have sebaceous glands in our lips  (thanks for the fun fact mum 😉), we need lip balm to help soften and moisten our lips! 

I absolutely love my lip balm and need to purchase another one before I go on holiday as my tube has nearly come to an end due to its overuse!

Lip-Balm also acts as a clear lip-gloss, so if you can't take your lip-glosses/lipsticks with you, you can use your a lip-balm!

2.  Travel Hair Brush

I love this travel hair brush because of the pattern! I adore the flamingo print as it reminds me of SUMMER!!! 

I have wanted one of the 'Skinny-Dip' tangle-teezers for ages, and I'm so glad I have it as it is such a good size for travelling as it can fit easily into any handbag large or small! 

I love how it comes in a case as well because you can just pop it in your hand-bag. The case is good as it stops the hair going into your hand-bag. This item is so compact and ideal for taking it to the beach, showers or 'poolside'. 

3. A Good Book 

Whether it's reading on a plane or by the pool I love reading on holiday!! I feel that this is the time where I can fully relax and not have to stress on what to do or have to constantly check my phone. 

I am currently reading 'GirlHood' by Cat Clarke and can't wait to finish reading it just so I know what happens in the end! I find reading so tranquil when I'm away as I know this time on holiday is 'my time' to spend doing what I want, which is different from when I'm reading at home as I have too many distractions! 

4. A Nice Pair Of Sun-Glasses 

I love going on holiday because that means I get to wear my sunglasses as there's not many opportunities in the UK!! I FINALLY get to wear my Ray-Bans (see my previous post on this item). I haven't had the chance to wear them since I bought them, so I am very glad that I get to wear them on holiday! I can also accessorise outfits around them, which I am very excited about! 

Thank you for reading this post, I won't be blogging now until I return from my holidays  x 

Keep your eyes peeled in the next coming weeks when I come back, I'll blog my holiday!!

xNx

MY BIG CHANGE: THE LOB

As part of my early birthday present, I decided to go for the chop and have my hair cut into a totally different style!! I know it sounds scary, but I've wanted to have this hair do for a while, as my friends suggested this specific 'LOB cut' would suit me.  

Originally, I was going to have this cut done before my birthday as I wanted to have something else done too, (keep your eye-peeled for another blog-post), but I decided to have this hair do in 2 parts! I needed a hair cut- and if I had this done as well as the other thing (part 2) I would've been sitting in the hair-dressers forever. So to save time, I split the hair cut into 2 parts.

 When I went into the hair-dressers, my hair dresser who I have known for ages and who I connect well with, asked me how I wanted it done, and I said to her I wanted it in a LOB, but I also asked her her opinion first. I wanted to know her opinion as other people's opinions are better than your own. She said I would look 'nice with a LOB as I am very fashionable and would carry it off well', so, with what she said in mind, I went ahead and had it cut. 

As I was having my hair cut, I was scared at the outcome, but when she had finished cutting and  styling my hair and showed me the end result, I was happy with the outcome and felt it suited me to a t!! 

However, the colour I already had in my hair, was nearly all gone but I was glad, as some of it had stayed, and it stood out and looked better than before giving my hair a new hi - lighted look!!

I love my new LOB cut because I have wanted to have my hair styled differently for ages, but I didn't know what style I wanted; I wanted something grown up (but not too grown), I wanted something which suited me! 

When my friends said a LOB would suit me, I looked at Pinterest (who wouldn't) at the different LOB styles, and because I loved the style, I instantly wanted to have it cut in that specific way!!! 

However, if I hated it, I knew I could grow my hair out again, but as it turned out I LOVE IT!! 

I wouldn't have my hair cut in any other style for now, I LOVE THE LOB!!

Behind 

To the side 

Than you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of this post, which I will upload in the upcoming weeks!!

xNx

My 4 Famous Fashion Statement Pieces

As I am going on holiday in a week, I thought I would share my favourite clothing pieces. I chose 4 pieces as I think these fashion pieces are  staple items people need to have in their wardrobes; 2 of these items are clothing items I have worn frequently, whereas the other 2 (the trousers), I have not worn yet as the weather has not been kind enough to wear these items. I'm thankful that I am going on holiday shortly, as I will wear the striped trousers a lot whether it's hot or cold! 

The first item that I absolutely adore is this suede jacket from Zara. 

From the minute I laid eyes on it, I knew I had to have it! I can remember I was with my friend, and she was egging me on to buy it! I remember frantically trying to find a 'small' size, but because the fit was too tight I went with a  'medium' size in the end!

At first I didn't want to purchase the jacket because of how expensive it was, but I knew I couldn't leave Zara without it! I did what most teenagers do and sent snaps to my friends while wearing it so that they could see it on me, this was so they were able to say if they liked it on me. Fortunately, my friends loved it on me and I bought it! I knew it was a good purchase as I knew I could style it up and on colder occasions, I knew I would be warm if I wore this! Whenever i put this jacket on, I feel like Sandy from Grease! 

It makes me feel so fashionable and chić! I love wearing this, and it goes with every outfit I pair it with such as trainers, jeans or blouses! 

This jacket come in a pastel blue and yellow, but I loved the pink one as my favourite colour is pink! (I was nearly going to buy the pastel blue, but they didn't have my size)! Oh well.. 

Another piece I love wearing is this skirt from Topshop!

 This skirt is just marvellous! I love the pleats in it and I love how elegant and dainty it is! I remember buying this and treasuring it like it was my child! I had seen many people wearing this sort of skirt and I wondered where they had got it! When I cast my eyes over it in Topshop, I knew I had to get one, as I had pined over one for so long! Luckily, they had my size, and I didn't even care how much it cost as I knew I had to have it! 

And since we had some sunny days in Britain ( for once), I wore this thing to DEATH!!! I loved it, and I am so glad I can wear this again! I can style this with anything as this is a very versatile piece I have in my wardrobe! You can make it casual or elegant depending on what you wear and how you accessorise it! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PIECE, and I would buy another skirt like this in a heartbeat!

I actually got these slacks because I've seen many people wear them and I instantly fell in love! I also needed some smart slacks to wear to school! (These were from H&M)

These smart slacks are from H&M, and when I was doing a shop for some school clothes (yes, I know...) I fell in love with these and I was so thankful that they did my size as I have wanted a pair of these for AGES!! And when I say AGES, I mean AGES!!! I have seen many people style them down, and that looked so cool! I have wanted these for ages, and was sad when they didn't have these in a wider leg. I have only worn these once, casually with some trainers, and I can honestly say I loved the whole smart/ casual vibe!! I cannot wait to style these with a graphic tee and trainers as I feel that these will look so 'on-trend'. 

My last item that I love but haven't worn yet (because of the British weather) are these stripped wide-leg trousers from Urban Outfitter!

I actually purchased these on a whim really! I originally went into Urban Outfitter to buy some face masks (stay tuned for the blog-post) as I had seen their wide selection of face masks! After a long day of not finding the trousers I had wanted, I decided to call it a day; so I bought the face masks and left! However, I decided to do one last look around to see if they had the trousers I was looking for, and HEY PRESTO, I found them! Thank God they had my size!! 

I went to the same check out lady who I bought the masks from, and she just laughed! I was so happy with my purchase I made!! I haven't worn these trouser yet, but I know I will wear them when I am on holiday as I feel they are the perfect trousers to pack! I know I can style these up with any casual top and accessorise it with my RayBans glasses (see earlier posts) as I know they will go with them! If I add heels and a nice white blouse I know they will look good too, all you have to do is just style them up with neutral colours to make these trousers pop!! 

Thanks for reading,  I am not a stylist but someone who enjoys having fun with fashion, these are just my opinions! 

ENJOY! 

xNx

Can We Talk About: Harry Styles

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how hot Harry Styles looks in this picture.  I know... dreamy isn't he. 💖😻

I wanted to download his album because I wanted to see if his singing lived up the same standard as his acting. Yes I know his album has been out a long time, and yes, I know that I am late on the bandwagon again! I'm sorry!! 

I had an inkling his album would be good after I watched the Dunkirk movie, as his acting skills certainly matched up to his singing skills!  I have to say, Styles' acting lived up to my expectations! I wanted to go and see Dunkirk as soon as I saw the trailer (and no, I didn't want to see it because of Harry's performance, but that would be another reason as well), so, as soon as we got back from holiday, we watched it. 

In my mind, as soon as you say 'oh this artist is playing a role in a film' my mind soon fills with disappointment as the artists role isn't usually good, they can sing but not act and with Styles I thought exactly that! 

However, as soon as I watched the movie I was pleasantly surprised, his acting was one of the best performances I had seen! I knew straight away that I should check his album out, and as soon as I got home, I was straight on iTunes. 

I had come across the album before as I had previously bought Sweet Creature, but I didn't want to buy the rest of the album because when I first heard his new song 'Sign of The Times' I honestly thought it wasn't all that. When I read all the reviews I knew I may have judged it way too early, so I bought the album expecting to hate it, but I have got to say I LOVE IT!!! I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO IT!! I have even fallen  in love with 'the Sign Of The Times'!!!

Harry's acting and singing are equally amazing, as his singing has an indie/rock kinda vibe to it, while he acts like a professional actor! I love Styles' music as each track has it's own vibe to it, which is so cool! There are a total of 10 tracks on his album and, while they are all so unique and quirky, I absolutely love Carolina, Two Ghosts, Sweet Creature, Only Angel and Kiwi! 

 I wish I hadn't judged a track by its album  cover and had bought the album when it was first out, not when I had just watched Dunkirk, but I had forgotten my love for Harry Styles as a musician.

I'm currently listening to his album as I am writing this post because I can't get enough of it! 

This is a little bit different to my other posts, so thanks for reading x 

xNx

Zoella Beauty's Jelly And Gelato Product Review

 Yes I went there and I am doing a review on Zoe's products. So deal with it!

 I bought 7 items from the 8 product line (I didn't buy the makeup bag because I already have enough makeup bags to deal with.) 

The seven products I bought  ranged from £5-£8 and each product is affordable for how much product there is in them. The most expensive item was the makeup bag, which is priced at £14 (again, affordable);  but the most expensive I purchased was the scent (£8). 

If you purchased them on FeelUnique, students, you will be happy to know that you will get a Student Discount (can be found if you download UniDays on the app store.) For me, this was  GodSent as I used my student discount, and, because I ordered 7 items, I didn't have to pay for packaging which reduced my order from £46.50 to £41.85. This to me sounds like a really good deal. The shipping didn't take long either because it arrived within a few days. 

I will now talk about each product and give my opinions on them. 

The Gelat'eau scent 

As you may already know, when Zoe brings out new products, she will usually bring out a specific scent which encapsulates her brand. This time, the scent was a gelato scent, and I loved her sense of humour as she used rhetoric with gelat'eau. I found that very quirky indeed. 

Looking at the packaging, I loved the aesthetic of the bottle and the daintiness with the gold cap. 

When I smelt the scent, I immediately thought it was going to smell like gelato, but was surprised, as to me, I thought it smelt like pineapple!! When I run out of this scent, I will have to purchase some more as I can't get enough of it and for £8 a bottle, it's really affordable! 

This is a firm favourite as the scent is not too sweet and absorbs quickly! 

The Shower Shake 

I loved the design of packaging of this one, as this is one of the most unique body washes I have ever seen! I also love the pastel colours, the pink and the orange really contribute to the aesthetic of the whole collection. I especially love the golden writing, the tiny details really emphasis the daintiness of the packaging!  

When I tried the product out, I really loved the scent as it doesn't overpower you with it's sweetness and keeps your body smooth and smelling great, you only have to squeeze out a little bit. A little goes a long way. 

I love layering this over all the other products I purchased as I think this gives the best results.

The Cream Scrub 

Again I love the packaging, especially the baby pink candy cane swirls which cover the sides of the tub. When I opened the tub, I never expected to see mango yellow scrub! It wasn't what I had imagined, I thought it was going to be a sugar scrub with the sugar particles visible to the naked eye! However, how totally wrong was I! 

When I scooped it up, I was surprised how much it lathers, it is similar to the Shower Shake as you don't need a large amount to work with! You will come out of the bath feeling smooth and smelling great! I love layering this over the Shower Sauce and Shower Shake. When the tub has finished, I will most likely choose this over the BreakFast Scrub. 

Sorry Soap & Glory, but I think this has got to be my new winner!

                          

Bath Frosting 

Since I hadn't experienced a bath product like this before, the bath frosting  product from Zoe's line intrigued me the most. As soon as I got the product in my hands, I was quite sceptical on how to use it! I thought it was going to be completly full to the brim full of sugar crystals similar to another Zoe product (http://www.feelunique.com/p/Zoella-Beauty-Sugar-Dip-Scented-Bath-Salt-Granules-200g). But I was suprised to find out that inside there were 4 pouches full of 'bath frosting' which was powdery. When you put one of these pouches into the bath, the milk turned frothy and milky. I thought it was going to be really bubbly, but, to my surprise, it wasn't! However, I could not smell the scent too much, but my skin was feeling very soft when I finished bathing in the bath frosting. 

The Shower Sauce and  Pink Bath Waffles 

The shower sauce had the same texture as one of other Zoe's ranges, which I wasn't mad at. I loved the colour of the product as it felt like you were actually drizzling strawberry sauce on you! I loved the scent, and again a little goes a long way! You can use this on its own, or, by layering it up with her other products!

The pink bath waffles also intrigued me as I wanted to know if they smelt like actual pink wafers (I was surprised I didn't eat one!). I loved the size of the bath fizzers, but I was let down as it made no difference to the bathwater whatsoever. I won't be purchasing this again, but it's good if you want to test this product out! 

The Body Pudding 

I love the fact that Zoe put the pink particles in here again! I'm in love with them, and how fast they absorb onto the skin! The scent was not too overpowering, and I love the packaging, not the typical tubes/tubs packaging Zoe usually put her body creams into! I think she improved the formula too as the cream absorbs quicker than the rest of her creams! I love this product as it leaves a cool sensation after I have rubbed the cream in! I will be purchasing this product again!

I just want to say 'Well Done' to Zoe for creating another great range of products! I look forward to seeing her other homestyle range and her Zoella Beauty Range. 

I hope you enjoyed this review and thank you for reading. 

xNx

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Holding Up The Universe

Once in a blue moon, I will choose a book to read, and read it from start to finish! I read this book in the Easter holidays, and, I have got to say I LOVED it! I don't usually like reading books (not a good thing if I want to study English at Uni), but I don't, and that's the truth. However, this book is something else and I honestly couldn't put it down. The bad thing was I wanted to savour this book, but the fact that I couldn't put it down really says a lot! 

I first heard about this book when Zoe tweeted about it on her Twitter last year. And since I had read another Jenifer Niven book called All The Bright Places, I decided to give this a go, because I absolutely adored All The Bright Places. I fell in love with the character Finch, and I absolutely loved the plot and I wanted to see if this book Holding Up The Universe would hold a place in my heart!  

The first thing that attracted me to the book was the front cover, yes, I went there, I judged the book by its cover! It's really simplistic and doesn't really reveal anything about the book at all, which I really loved! Another thing I loved, was the fact that Zoe was the one to recommend it, and if Zoe recommended it, it had to be good! (All The Bright Places was one of her picks in her 2016 book club). I knew I had to pick this book because I loved the way that Niven wrote; I felt all the emotions coming from the pages and was very attached to the characters of the book. I longed for another Jenifer Niven book to read since I loved All The Bright Places so much; so, when Zoe tweeted that Niven was coming out with another book, I knew I had to purchase this book! 

In early 2017, I purchased the book and received it from Waterstones. I decided to read this book in the Easter holidays, as I was still in school and just wanted to read this book when I didn't have as much work to do. I read the synopsis first, and I knew this book was the one  because I got into the synopsis straight away. I started reading and after a week, (yes I know I'm a slow reader) I finished the book! 

The book was INCREDIBLE!! Niven's plot, characters and the way she flips between storylines was absolutely amazing; she is such a skilled writer, and one of my favourites because this book was just ,  superb! The book is set in America, and focuses on Jack Masselin who has prosopagnosia (inability to recognise people's faces) and Libby Strout (branded the 'fattest teen' in America) she put on weight due to her mothers death. The story flits between both characters storylines, until they meet in school due to an unfortunate event, when a love story commences. Niven beautifully moulds both storylines together and the way she digs deep into the  issues of Libby's story is just fantastic and how Libby deals with her issues is wonderful!  Niven brings up real-life issues and, because of this, readers are able to deal with these issues because of how Niven writes about how to deal with them. This book is full of twists and turns, and will make you laugh and cry! 

If you want to read romance novel which deals with issues that can help you fit in with society, this is the book for you!   Niven writes this book with so much enthusiasm that you will become attached to each characters and their families, that you won't know what to do after you've finished this book! This book is just magnificent!  I have heard that a film version of All The Bright Places is being made, if that is true, I can't wait to see it! It would be even better if a film version of Holding Up The Universe Came Out; I would be the first person to see it! 

Now that I have finished this book, I am reading one of Zoe's other Book Club Books from her 2017 range called GirlHood by Cat Clarke. Comment down below and let me know how you found it. 

I hope you enjoyed this 

xNx

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Not Your Original Pair Of RayBans

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You may be wondering why the title of this post reads as 'not your original pair'.  The answer is that they aren't an original pair of RayBan glasses, they are my own customised version. I decided to get these specs purely because I needed a new pair of sunglasses. I know what you may be thinking, I should've bought makeup, shoes or even a vintage backpack, but, how often do girls think to themselves 'I need a new pair of sunglasses?' I don't think I've ever even questioned it myself up until now! 

While on holiday in Budapest, (see my previous post) I was staying at the Stacio Hotel & Spa Resort with my mum and my mind started wondering on what to buy. Prior to this, my mum had already told me 'don't spend this money on makeup' (because I  had lots of makeup already); instead, I picked up my phone and  scoured the web to find  the most popular sunglasses sites.  

My first search was actually Quay Australia, but, alas, they did not have the sunglasses that I liked. Sadly the sunglasses I wanted were out of stock.

 Straightaway I opened another tab, and before I knew it, I was on the RayBans website!  I immediately went to the Aviator style sunglasses because I knew they were the most popular (thanks to Top Gun), and  was actually going to get this pair of customised Aviators  https://www.ray-ban.com/uk/customise/rb-3025-aviator-large-metal-sunglasses (I even tried them on with the help of a  a virtual model. This is done by showing you how the glasses will look like on your face; and  is easy if you let the computer have access to your camera.) This tool is extremely helpful if you want to try the glasses first before you purchase them. I definitely recommend doing this, because you don't want to purchase something that you think is perfect on the website, but might not suit you when they're on your face. 

However, something stopped me. I knew I didn't want to follow the crowd by purchasing the Aviator style glasses, so, I decided against them and picked the Ja-Jo REMIX style glasses; a rounded style (think John Lennon) https://www.ray-ban.com/uk/customise/rb-3592-ja-jo-sunglasses?token=7018F0E4-7AD2-4B3F-956E-E7179CD72BC8.

 I FINALLY picked the  style of glasses I wanted and when customising them, I decided on a gunmetal frame, pink lenses and light blue tips! ( I wanted something unique and classic to fit my own individual style, and of course my love of pink and pastel colours.)

With that, there was only one thing I had left to do! That was picking the glasses case, so, I decided to pick the leather grey one because I thought it was the perfect colour scheme, matching the glasses. I also had the case engraved with my name on the centre of the case (which is extra cost). When engraving your case, you can fill 2 lines with 18 characters (like Twitter minus the 122 characters) and emojis. You could pick a heart, musical note/s, sun or a smiley face. Mine has a heart and a smiley face. 

However, I couldn't purchase them until after the trip, so I kept the tab open. When me and mum eventually came back,  I couldn't wait, so I bought them as soon as we entered the house. We came back on the 22nd, and the glasses arrived on the 26th. They arrived pretty quickly,  considering they came from Italy!!! 

As soon as I received them, I fell in love with them straightaway! The glasses were exactly as I customised them, and look so pretty and vintage. I loved the RayBans box it came in, and the case was everything I dreamed of, it suited my aesthetic so well! I especially loved the blue tips; I think it really adds that little bit of uniqueness to the glasses, which contrasts with the pink lenses. I love, love, love the little RayBans trademark sign over on the left-hand side of the glasses, which makes me want to treasure these forever!!! I can also mix and match them with different outfits, neutrals or bright colours.

However, despite everything which is so perfect with these glasses, I have to say, I struggled with the sizing of them. One, because I didn't want to pick the wrong size (if I did purchase them in the wrong size, I would then have to pay more money to get it measured to fit my small head) and two, because I had never experienced sizing before; due to the fact that these are the first real sunglasses I have ever  purchased. The ones I had before were from NastyGal, and don't get me wrong I love them, but they came in one size that fitted all. On RayBans there are two sizes standard size, and large size. (I picked standard because RayBans states 'they are the most widespread' size). Fortunately, when they came, they fitted me like a glove!!!

Despite the cold weather, I will wear these glasses on  future holidays,  in the hot weather or if I need an accessory to spice my outfit up, these glasses can be worn whenever (well, not if it's cloudy) haha. 

Thank you for reading this post, and taking time out from whatever your doing. 

xNx