Review: Avon Totally Kissable Lipstick in Smitten Red

I've tried different lipsticks before but was never quite satisfied with colour or texture, often finding them either quite drying or sticky. As such I pretty much stopped wearing lipstick altogether. But this lipstick is my new best friend (sorry Nora!).

I usually prefer to play up my eyes and keep my lips more neutral, but I've fallen so in love with this lipstick that I've been wearing it a lot and keeping my eyes simpler.

It has such a lovely texture, creamy and moisturising but fairly matte and not at all sticky. Then there's the colour. That gorgeous bright red which is so classic and so versatile. It is truly gorgeous on its own but I also like layering it over a bright red lip liner to give it a little extra pop, or over a darker red liner to deepen the colour and give a more sophisticated look.

It comes in a sleek silver applicator tube which not only looks pretty, but is comfortable to hold as well. In addition, it has a sweet but subtle smell which I just love.

If you'd like you can buy it here.

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(Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post, nor was I asked to link to the website. I bought the lipstick, I was not sent it. I have in no way gained by writing this post. All views are entirely my own.)

Autumn Jumpers

I've been wanting to get a nice jumper for autumn/winter but I find it really hard to find jumpers that I like and think suit me. I would say I'm a curvy girl, I wear a UK size 14, and so I always feel like thicker knit jumpers make me look very chunky/heavy. On the other hand, really skinny jumpers & cardigans also don't look right on me, I think they make me look really odd - the super skinny sleeves always seem stretched over my arms and it just doesn't look right.

This year I was determined to find the perfect jumper. I wanted something heavy enough to provide a little heat but light enough that I wouldn't be too warm and would be able to be layered with other things. I also wanted it to be a lighter colour as I wear a lot of darker colours and wanted something a little different.

After a nosey through a few shops today with no luck, I finally found not one but two lovely jumpers in Matalan which not only looked nice on the hanger but also looked pretty on me. My mum very kindly bought them for me as I'm saving for a holiday over Halloween! I was really rather pleased.

The first was a lovely little cream number. It's super soft, light but warm, so comfy, and rather cute I think.

It has a little zip at the back of the neck. It's a little tricky to get zipped up when on but it doesn't really need unzipped (I was wearing make-up and had my hair up when I'd put it on so wanted to make sure everything stayed as it should - the zip gave me that extra room). It's so comfy to wear though. The only thing is as I'm not used to wearing lighter colours, I'm terrified of getting it dirty - especially with my two dogs and their dirty paws about.

The next wasn't what I'd been looking for, my mum spotted it, but I instantly loved it. It's an adorable little grey number with a white peter pan collar and white sleeve cuffs.

I think this is just the cutest little jumper ever. It's super comfy and is warm enough to wear without a vest underneath, although on colder days you could definitely pop one on if you wanted. It has a button closure on the back of the neck which I am having some difficulty getting the hang of - it's a very small button and an equally small button loop.

I feel like it's very like something Zoella would wear? Opinions?

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Uninvited

Just thought I'd do a quick little "how-to" post. Warning: very picture lacking (sorry!)

How to cope when you're the only person not invited to the 18th birthday party

So tonight I am sat at home alone - not that different to most other Saturday nights - but all my friends are out at the 18th birthday party of a girl in my year at school. I was not invited.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not in the slightest bit offended or upset about this. I barely know the girl and have only talked to her a few times. But I know it can feel a little lonely and disappointing when it seems like everyone is at this party and you were not invited.

First of all, not 'everyone' was invited. There were plenty of other people who weren't invited either. Get over it. If it was someone you considered a close friend and they didn't invite you then feel free to get offended - but if, like me, it was someone you barely know: just forget about it, they didn't intend to leave you out, they probably just didn't think to invite you (because, you know, you aren't really good friends?)

Secondly, you most likely have other friends who were not invited to this party (go to a different school/live outside of town/not friends with the party person/etc). If you're feeling really lonely then why not have a night with your other friends? Either have a night in (watching movies, having a drink (if you're old enough/allowed), eating some good food, having your own mini dance party, whatever you want to do), or go out - just avoid the place that the party is being held, you don't want to look like you're being jealous and party-crashing.

Alternatively, enjoy having the night to yourself. Relax, watch a film, read a book, have a bath, make yourself a cuppa. Just have a nice quiet night in and chill out. Personally, I much prefer having nice quiet nights in (on my own or with my best friend/family) rather than going out to a bar/club.

Now stop being miserable and go have a good Saturday night!

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School Health

It's back to school time for many of us, whether we are going back to school/college/uni or starting somewhere new. Everyone wants to start the year off right and that means being well and healthy, and able to attend all of your classes and focus properly.

image from We Heart It

I seem to find that I often get ill at this time of year with various bugs and viruses, anything from a simple summer cold to a more draining flu or stomach bug. The summer holidays let us relax and unwind, we maybe aren't around just so many people and we don't come into contact with as many germs and viruses. So when we arrive back at school we're thrown into a class of 20, 30, 50, 60, maybe even 100 or more people and that's perfect breeding ground for a whole variety of common illnesses. 

image from We Heart It

But there are a few things you can do to help prevent you from getting sick so you can make the most of the start of the new year. A lot of these things might seem pretty darn obvious but a little reminder never hurt anyone. 

Firstly, make sure you wash your hands often - especially before eating! I know what you're thinking, 'that's so obvious, everyone washes their hands', but you'd be surprised at how many people don't wash their hands after going to the toilet - then they're spreading those germs onto everything they touch. Yuck. I'd recommend getting a little bottle of hand sanitizer and keeping it in your bag/pocket and using it every so often. Try not to touch the banisters/hand rails if you can manage it - they're touched by so many people and all sorts of dirt and germs are spread on them, and they're rarely cleaned. 

image from We Heart It

Drink plenty of water! Water is excellent at flushing toxins out of your body, so those germs are gone before they have a chance to affect you much. It's also brilliant for your skin and hair! It's recommended to drink at least 8 glasses (or 2 litres) of water a day. At first this may seem like an awful lot, and you may feel like all you do is pee, but you get used to it pretty quickly. If you're finding it hard to get your water intake up to 8 glasses, start with whatever you can manage and try to drink one glass more each day (or even each week).

image from We Heart It

Get enough sleep. Try to get 8 hours each night, if you can. It'll help keep your immune system up so you'll stay healthier, plus you'll feel more energised and focused. Getting enough sleep will also help prevent you from getting too stressed. Your body repairs itself at night when you sleep well, so the more of that uninterrupted deep sleep you can get the better!

image from We Heart It

Eat enough fruit and veg. This is so important as fruit and vegetables are packed full of essential vitamins and minerals to help keep us healthy. Not only do they keep your immune system strong, but they're also great for your hair, skin and general well-being! Maybe even think about getting a multi-vitamin to help boost your intake, talk to your doctor about what would be best for you.

image from We Heart It

Get some exercise. It's great for your heart and will help you to feel more energised and awake. A little daily exercise will also help to reduce stress. You don't need to do a lot, even a simple stroll around town or your campus every day would be a good start - but some cardio would be even better. Plus, if you're outside you'll boost your vitamin D intake (which helps your body take in calcium). The trick with exercise is to pick something you enjoy, whether that's walking, running, cycling, yoga, trampolining, skipping, or even hula hooping. If you have fun you'll look forward to exercising and you'll be more likely to keep at it. 

image from We Heart It

Wash your bed sheets often. You breathe out all sorts of germs on to your sheets at night and they stay there in your nice warm room and multiply to maybe cause an infection later. Washing at least your pillow case more often will help prevent this. The same applies to your clothes. We all have that one favourite jumper/top/hoodie that we wear for weeks before we eventually give in and wash it. Especially if you wear it to school/college/etc, it will be picking up all the germs from your surroundings too, so do try to wash it once a week!

image from We Heart It

Don't share your lip balm - especially the ones in a pot! You never know what someone may have just touched or what germs they may be carrying (they may not be ill themselves but could still be carrying the germs for an illness). It might also be good practice for you to wash your hands before using lip balm as you never know what you might have just touched too.


Hopefully trying some or all of these things will help keep you healthy at school/college! I know they've helped me. Have fun, good luck, and stay healthy and happy!

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Planner Love

I have recently fallen in love with the whole planner/filofax craze! I have actually owned this planner for almost 3 years now. It was bought to me for Christmas by my aunt but I have never been able to keep a diary and at 14/15 I didn't exactly have a busy schedule to keep track of, haha. Basically I didn't know how to use it really, I wrote a few bits and pieces in the diary section but that was about it. So it ended up somewhat abandoned beside my bed until this summer. 

Recently I have gotten into watching YouTube more and reading blogs a lot more, and I had seen a few videos/posts about filofaxes. Planner/filofax decoration and organisation also seemed to be popping up on Pinterest a lot recently (I am a total Pinterest addict, FYI!!) so when I was doing a bit of a clean in my bedroom and came across this somewhat forgotten planner I was really quite excited as I had wanted to get more organised seeing as I go off to university next year (hopefully!) and will need to be so much more independent and will have to keep track of what needs to be done without having anyone there to remind me.

I've been using my planner for about 2 weeks now and with starting this blog I thought I'd jump on the planner bandwagon and share what seems to be working well for me in this planner as my first post!

This planner is from Paperchase, it is the pocket size (81mm x 120mm) and came with the 2012 diary inserts. I'm pretty sure you can't get this design anymore but there are loads of other lovely designs and colours.
I'm not usually a great fan of pink but there's something about this shade that I absolutely love! It's a sort of soft leathery material and is very smooth on the outside with a little bit of a leather texture on the inside. The pattern on the front of the cover is a sort of cut out or embossed (I'm not sure of the proper name). It has a magnetic closure and a 'leather' (same material as rest of planner) pen loop which I keep a mechanical pencil in. I like to colour code everything in my planner so a pencil means if I'm out without my pen set I can just pencil in anything I need to and later erase it and rewrite it in the appropriate colour (and I don't have a pen that fits in the loop.....)

Staedtler pens - Tesco

I use these Staedtler pens for my planner (and school work) and I am in love! I bought them in Tesco as I happened to be in doing a shop and saw they were half price but I'm sure most, if not all, other major supermarkets and stationery shops sell them too. I'd wanted to get these for quite a while but had never bought them before as they are quite expensive. I think they're normally about £8. But now that I've tried them I'll definitely be buying them again when this set runs out! They give a really nice colour with plenty of pigment but they don't smudge or show through on the other side of the page.

Year calendar

2 months to a page

Daily pages

Week to a view 

(the first not filled in one, that's why it's a month ahead!)

Gift lists and wish lists

(the gift list is filled in on the other side, promise!)

Finances and an envelope

I made the inserts for this myself as the inserts I had were from 2012 and I didn't like the layout of the address inserts. I do have some other inserts such as birthdays/contacts/addresses but as they are filled in I didn't want to post them online. I also have a return information sheet in the front but as it is also filled out with my name and phone number I won't post that either.

I made the envelope in the last photo and I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. So far it's empty but I plan to keep receipts in it to keep them in one safe place so I can find them easily if I need to. I'll probably empty them out every couple of months (for now) as I don't buy an awful lot so don't get a lot of receipts (the perks of living with your parents!)

I keep my planner pretty simple and don't decorate it. I prefer having a cleaner, more minimal layout and just using my coloured pens as I find it less distracting and I can see what's going on more clearly. Also, as this is the pocket size, there isn't a lot of room for decorating so it would get far too crowded and messy!

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