Life update

Ahhh! I'm so excited to be blogging again! Finally, all of my exams are over and I now look forward to a relaxing summer - except having to do lots and lots of summer work! I posted a poll on Twitter about a couple of days ago asking what post you would like to see and a life update was by fair the most requested, so here goes...

I have been busy studying for my GCSE's the past couple of months and on Friday 24th June, I finished them. Although I know I made some mistakes (which is inevitable) and I found some papers very tricky, overall, I think they went well. I now have to wait until late August to collect my results. In terms of what I am doing next year, I have applied to do my A-levels - which is what all of the summer work is for. After spending a long time deliberating, I have chosen to take: physics, maths, chemistry and french. I was originally going to do biology instead of french but I have such a passion for the language that I couldn't face dropping the subject. I'm not entirely sure what I would like to do in the future with these, at the moment I am considering physics but that may change. I tend to change my mind a lot, my 8 year old self would want me to become a sweetie shop owner!

As I haven't posted on my blog for a long time, this summer I want to upload lot of posts to make up for it! I'm not sure that I'm going to stick to a particular schedule though, as I would normally try to - I'd prefer to write posts as and when. This summer, I do have a 2 week holiday followed by another further week away so in that 3 week block, posts will become less frequent but I'll address that nearer the time.

My personal goals for the summer are to try to get fitter and eat much more healthily. Over the exam period, my diet became very poor so I'm going to make an active effort to improve it. I also have a fitness routine planned out - it may not always happen but I will endeavour to keep it up. I normally enjoy exercise so I hope this will get me out of bed this summer and stop procrastinating!

As well as fitness and diet, another activity I'd love to do lots of is reading. The last time I went to France I brought home many french books to read and I'd really like to have a go, to prepare myself for A-levels. Most likely, I'll end up reading a paragraph and have to look in a dictionary for many of the words but I'll be improving that way.

I hope you have perhaps enjoyed getting to know a little bit more of my current life and plans for the future. Thank you so much for sticking with me through exams!

What are you planning on doing this summer?

xox

A lovely week in Cornwall

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I went on a holiday to Cornwall this week! We often travel down there at this time of year with our dog - who has the best time running along the beach. For me, this was a perfect chance to get away and experience a different scenery whilst I am currently  revising for exams. What made the week was the beautiful weather; it was definitely a nice change from the weather we normally have at home! Although I am wearing jeans and a jumper in the photo above (jeans were such a bad decision to wear on the beach), it was evening time when it was taken. 

This time, we spent most days on the beach! I went surfing a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it as usual! When you catch a wave, it is honestly the best feeling. Although, sometimes, it can be embarrassing when younger children are so much better than you but I still love it! I was really silly on the first trip out and forgot to wear suncream, meaning that the rest of the week I resembled a tomato!

As I still have many exams, I had to stay at the apartment a couple of times, when everyone else went out, to revise. This wasn't that bad though as I could get away with working outside. In our small porch area, there were some beautiful flowers such as the one above! 

I had such a wonderful week and I hope to go back in the future! Have you got any exciting trips planned?

xox

Promenade Style

Even though a number of days at the moment don't seem like it, summer is right around the corner. A few weeks ago, I went on a holiday to the south of France and experienced some lovely weather. One day it was particularly warm so I decided to take some outfit shots in front of the beautiful Mediterranean sea. 

My family and I enjoyed a relaxing stroll along Nice's promenade. For a long walking day, I like to wear clothes that are really comfy, hence my Topshop jeans which I live in! They are 7/8 so they are perfect to roll up or down depending on the weather. Generally, I believe that Topshop jeans are a great investment and I am guilting to owning many pairs!

My off the shoulder top is from Forever 21. This is my only top like this that I own, although I do love the style of it. This particular one is slightly cropped so I tend to wear it with high-waisted jeans or shorts. What I think initially drew me to this was the beautiful dusty pink colour and the frills at the bottom. For this weather, it was perfect as it wasn't quite warm enough not to have sleeves. 

Ever since purchasing these Nike trainers, I rarely ever wear my other trainer shoes. They are so comfy and don't pinch your toes like converse do on me. I'm so glad that I didn't wear sandals, which I was considering, because my heels would have been tore apart by the end of the day. 

What are your go-to comfy outfits?

xox

Yalla Yalla | London

Yesterday, I went to London for a lovely day out with my family. After a morning of shopping, we needed some food and a long sit down so we ended up in our favourite restaurant - Yalla Yalla. A couple of years ago, my dad found this on Trip Adviser as a recommend place for a meal and since then, we rarely eat anywhere else.

I can be, sometimes, a very fussy eater so when my dad suggested a Lebanese restaurant I was unsure whether I would like the food. I can confirm that I very much do! My favourite dish is chicken livers in a pomegranate sauce (shown below). Also, they do an amazing homous and pitta bread! One of my closet friends surprised me in London when we both ended up in Yalla Yalla; I think she gave the food a big thumbs up as well!

When we eat there, we order a selection of dishes so that we can experience a variety of flavours. However, if you prefer to have a main meal, Yalla Yalla offer that too! The restaurant we go to is just off Oxford Street on Winsley Street so it is in a perfect location if you intend to do some shopping.

I never really write posts about restaurants but, as this is my favourite and I visited yesterday, I decided to, incase anyone is in need of restaurant ideas in London!

What is your favourite place to eat?

xox

4 things that made me smile this week

I'm so sorry about my uploading schedule; I've been very busy doing schoolwork recently. Throughout revising for my upcoming exams, I like to think of the end result as an incentive to work really hard and stop procrastinating. However, I do tend to forget about the good times in the present by always looking ahead! Today, I'm going to share 4 things that made me smile this week so I can look back and realise that, although revising sucks, it's not all bad!

Having a night off revision with my mum. 

This may seem really counter-productive but if you're not in the right frame of mind for work, you will tend bore easily and not be very efficient. One night after school, mum just suggested that I had a night off; we spend a lovely evening together: walking the dog (I find this therapeutic because of the fresh air), chilling and watching some Home and Away together - our favourite TV programme.

Watching a football game

I'm awful at playing football myself but I love to watch it on the TV. I find it so interesting how the players interact and it's always so exciting when the team you are routing for score! 

Sunny lunchtimes 

Last week, when it was sunnier than it is now, my friends and I enjoyed several lunchtimes on the field at school. I love spending time just chatting and forgetting about work for about an hour. Even though I'm not very good, I get involved in any sport we play and I think my friends enjoy watching me make a fool of myself!!

Spotify playlists 

My music taste is very varied: ranging from Twenty One Pilots to Drake. This week I have made multiple uplifting playlists that I have enjoyed dancing around my room to! I learnt the fast part of Rap God and I now think that I'm a gangster rapper! I can nearly do it to speed but, gosh, it's quick!

What has made you smile this week? 

xox

Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Colour

I purchased this lipstick in Monoprix in France last week and this shade has fast become one of my favourites in my collection. It's such a beautiful pink, perfect for an everyday makeup look or an evening out! I tend to be such a creature of habit with my lipstick shades, always sticking with nudes so I'm glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone. What I find most impressive with this product is how long lasting it is! With my MAC lipsticks, the colour fades away after eating or drinking but I don't even have to reapply this one afterward - Revlon is also a much more affordable brand! The shade I have is 600 however, come summer, I will probably be popping into Superdrug for some more! The applicator makes the product very easy to apply without a lip liner. It goes on your lips as quite glossy but drys to a matte formulation which isn't patchy! Also, on a side note, the lipstick smells amazing - if that is a considerable factor when you purchase a beauty product?!

Have you ever tried out this lip colour collection?

xox

(Due to exams, the quality of my posts will be affected as I will have little time for blogging! However, in the summer, I have many exciting posts so I hope you stick with me for those)

An eventful journey to France

Hello again! It's certainly been a while since I have posted and if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me apologise for this. Over Easter, I went on a holiday and 2 short breaks so I didn't have a chance to upload - sorry again! Now I'm back, my uploading schedule will hopefully go back to normal! I do have upcoming exams, therefore I may have to miss a couple of entries but I'll do my best!!


Last week, I went on a holiday to France and I had a great time - more on this to come soon! However, getting to France was certainly not easy! I have to say that this journey was my most eventful yet and arriving at my final destination was such a relief!

To set the scene, it was 5:45am on a Sunday morning and I was awake - something extremely rare! We had booked a taxi from our house to drive us to Gatwick at 6:30am. Come 6:30am no taxi had arrived. At this point, we just assumed that the driver was late and waited until 6:45am to see if he would come; there was still no sign then. Knowing that allowing him anymore time to pick us up would impact on our time at the airport, we took a risk and drove ourselves to Gatwick. This seems like a good solution and some of you may be wondering why we didn't just drive in the first place but our flight back was to Luton. So our car would be stuck in Gatwick on our arrival home. Rightfully, we didn't want to miss out on our holiday therefore we decided that we had a week to come up with a way home. Originally, we were just going to have a taxi home from Luton. In the end, my dad came up with a plan to hire a car from Luton, drive to Gatwick, pick up our car and drive home! A solution was found but it came with so much inconvenience. Our taxi driver not picking us up caused so much added travel time and stress.

Back to the journey to France, upon arrival at Gatwick there were self-service bag drop machines - technology that I hadn't heard of before! I decided that I'd have a go at doing my own bag first and all was good until I put the baggage label on it! The label was not stuck on properly and before I had a chance to rectify this, my suitcase had been taken off on a conveyer belt! Me being me, I spent the whole journey worrying whether my bag would reach our arrival airport - luckily it did but the label had been wrecked in the process!

So we had just gone through security, spent some time in duty free, walked over to our gate and got onto the transfer bus before we were told that we would have a 2 hour delay! I had never been on a flight that had got delayed so I was preparing myself for a very boring 2 hours. After watching Nancy Drew on my iPad for that duration of time (amazing film), we were called back over to the gate to be told about a further 2 hour delay! In total, our flight was delayed for 4 hours!!

Eventually, the plane took off and thereafter all was good but the journey was awful! In a sense, it was all worth it because spending time in France was lovely!

Have you been on any eventful journeys before? If so, I'd love to hear your experience!!

xox

Spring style

Now it's officially spring, I am excited to build my seasonal wardrobe and style different outfits. In winter, I usually opt for mono-tonal colours but as it's spring, I will be wearing my brighter clothing items. One of these is this shirt from Topshop. I saw it a couple of days ago and fell in love; I don't own many items like it so I thought that there would be space in my wardrobe. In the spring, I like to wear tops that show more skin such as: an off the shoulder blouse or a shirt like this one. I can imagine this shirt paired with ripped denim jeans and converse in the warmer months of spring - eek, I'm looking forward to better weather! Even though I do love comfy jumpers, I certainly prefer spring style as you don't have to wear that many layers and it can be hot enough for just a t-shirt! I hope that this Spring I get to upload many fashion posts as they are amongst my favourite!

What fashion are you hoping to rock this spring?

xox

Silver shampoo experience

As I have brown hair with blonde highlights, I assumed that using a silver shampoo would not be for me - I thought that you could only use it if you had silver/platinum hair! After being told about the benefits by my hairdresser, I purchased a bottle to try out for myself. The one that I have is by the brand 'Matrix' but I know there are so many other companies that sell similar products. It comes out of the bottle bright purple which at first terrified me as I didn't want the colour to dye my hair. Fortunately, it doesn't do that to your hair; what is does do I am really happy with. If you have dark hair with blonde highlights, you may notice that the blonde can turn quite brassy. I, personally, want highlights that are more platinum looking instead of appearing yellow so I use a silver shampoo to cool down the gold/brass tones. Don't quote me, but I think it works as purple is exact opposite of yellow on the colour wheel.

I use this shampoo about twice a week and I concentrate it where most of my highlights are, which is at the ends of my hair. Depending on how long you leave it in before washing out correlates to the working power of the shampoo; I tend to leave it in my hair for about 2minutes. After using it once, I couldn't notice a big change but, now, following washing my hair with it for 2months, the difference is definitely apparent. I will continue to use this in my hair care routine as it's become such a staple product for tackling my brassy highlights.

Have you ever tried out a silver shampoo? If so, what has your experience been of it?

xox

Memories of my childhood

A couple of weeks ago, I uploaded a personal blog post highlighting some aspects of my personality and life so far. Many people actually engaged with this post and asked for some more similar to it. So, today, I am going to be sharing with you some random stories, not in chronological order, from my childhood that I can vividly remember...

Playing 'Monsters' around cars

This is probably not your typical childish game. My very close friend and her brother used to visit our house with their parents and when it was time for them to leave, we would start procrastinating - something I am still good at to this day! As there were three of us, one person would be the 'monster' and they had to chase the other two round the cars on our street! Thinking about it now brings back so many happy memories of dunking down out of sight and screaming with excitement as the 'monster' tagged you. It was then your turn to be the 'monster'! This is just a little game that we always played; we still joke about it!

Going to the London 2012 Olympic games

This was one of the most exciting experiences of my whole life! I throughly enjoyed myself and am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go! My parents and I watched the Women's 3m diving final in London; I remember being so eager to watch it as I thought I would appear on telly as well! I didn't but the day itself was amazing because it was the weekend when many GB team members won medals. I think it was called 'Super Saturday' but I may be wrong! Whilst we were there, Andy Murray had won his title and in the evening there were many athletics finals. Unfortunately, no GB divers reached the final we watched, however the event was still incredible!

Playing with Barbies

Ages ago, I wrote a post explaining that I had never really watched Disney movies and whether it was too late to start. This was because I spent most of my childhood playing with barbies and watching the films! I have no shame saying that I still watch them! I used to force my mum to play with my barbies in my dream house for hours on end. Eight year old Laurel was so proud that she had managed to collect unique barbies from France to add to her collection! It was honestly the best part of my day - haha!

Going on the merry-go-round in Cannes

The south of France holds a very special place in my heart for being my home away from home - virtually every summer we used to visit! In Cannes, there was (and a think still is) a really large roundabout that used to excite me so much. I begged my parents to let me have a go on it and raced onto the roundabout to find the best horse to ride on! I'm not 100% sure but I think there was one with my name on which drew me to the ride even more! After a days shopping, which never used to interest me that much (it certainly does now), this is what I looked forward to!

Have you got any special memories from your childhood that you cherish?

xox 

How I wear blue lipstick

The first time I wore blue lipstick my parents thought that it was a joke. After telling them that it wasn't and I actually liked the shade, they were more welcoming towards it. Blue is definitely not a traditional lipstick colour but I think this is what draws me to it; I find enjoyment in coming up with different eye looks to go with the lipstick. Today, I wore a sparkly smokey eye with winged eyeliner. Even though this is quite dramatic in itself, it still doesn't detract attention from the lips. 

The lipstick is from MAC and it is the 'Royal' shade - I don't think you'll be able to miss it on the stand! It is a matte formula which is my favourite; I'm not sure how I would feel about it if the lipstick was shiny! I find that if you don't actually like the lipstick looking very blue, you can apply it more gently and it actually comes across as purple. In terms of application, I'm not going to lie to you, it is difficult! As there aren't many blue lipliners on the market, I would recommend a blue eyeliner instead - although I just about manage with the lipstick. 

Do you have any crazy colours of lipstick in your collection that you love wearing?

xox

Revision tips and tricks

Plan out your revision

I always find that planning out revision is always so much more appealing than actually doing the work! If there was an exam in efficient planning, that would be great for me! Unfortunately, I won't be sitting that test but I do find that planning out what you want to revise is helpful! It gives me some daily goals and it keeps me more motivated as I like to tick off things once I do them! I have a weekly planner so I can see my revision on a wider scale.

Take regular breaks

I used to revise for about 2 hours without taking a break and this wasn't helping me at all. I'm not sure about others but I learn best in short snippets of time! If I revise intensely for 30mins, I will actually be able to memorise more things than if I was to revise for longer. Taking breaks gives your brain a chance to have a breather. I like to revise for 30mins and then have a 5minute break!

Don't over revise

This is similar to revising for long periods of time with no breaks. If you set yourself to much to do in a night, the likelihood of it is that you won't be able to complete everything. Learning something really well is much better than kind of understanding lots of topics. It may actually save you time in the future because you won't have to keep going over things that you've already revised - the information will be stuck in your head.

Make revision fun

This might sound strange to some as revision isn't typically what many people want to spend their time doing and it isn't always a fun exercise. However, making revision fun will make you more willing to spend time on it rather than procrastinating - my worst enemy! I like to do this by using sparkly pens, lighting a candle, listening to some gentle music and coming up with some weird revision techniques. My friend and I once came up with a rap for Chemistry and I can still remember it! Revision won't always be thrilling but it can become more bearable.

Mindmap and questions method

For me, this is how I best revise. I started using this strategy a couple of weeks ago and it's really been helping me retain information. What I do is draw out a mindmap for a specific topic and on that page I include everything that I need to remember. I will then write a question sheet in which the answers are on the mindmap. Next, I put together an answer sheet for these questions without looking at the mindmap so I'm answering the questions just from the knowledge that I have gained from completing the mindmap. Finally, I will check my answers with the ones on the mindmap and if I have missed out any key information, I will add it to the answer sheet. I then have a revision source that I can keep going back to. 

Stick important information all over your room

If you are seeing something everyday, you are more likely to remember it! I like to draw out important diagrams or equations that I need to revise and stick them on my wardrobe door, making sure that the writing/drawings are big enough that you can see them from a distance. I haven't been doing this long enough yet but in a couple of weeks, I will swap out the posters and put up some new ones.

Have the end result in mind

To put it simply the revision is for the exams that you will be sitting. For me, once these are over, I have the whole summer off where I can switch my mind off from school work. I hope that putting in all of the effort now will result in me being proud of the grades that I achieve. When I'm having a boring night revising, I think about all the fun that I can have once the exams are over!

Do you have any tips and tricks that you use for revision? I'd love to know! 

xox

Sharing our makeup routines | Mother's day

My mum and I have many shared interests: cushion collecting, watching Home and Away in the evening and shopping, to name a few - yes, cushion collecting is an interest! However, one of our main loves is makeup! My mum means so much to me and I am forever grateful that I have such an amazing mum! Some of her makeup expertise has been passed down to me and I hope one day, I can pass mine down to my own children. Today, we thought that it was be nice to gather our everyday makeup and share it with each other. I thoroughly enjoyed spending this time with my mum; it was lovely speaking to her about her routine. This is just one of our common interests but I've been inspired to spend more time together doing the things we both love to do.

My mum's everyday makeup routine - (in the first person)

Ever since I was a teenager, I have always had some sort of daily skincare routine. The products that I have used have changed over the years but essentially the routine has stayed the same. Having moisturised, I tend to use a facial primer; right now I am loving the YSL Touche Éclat Blur Primer, which is lovely as it has a bit of sparkle and provides a nice base. My go-to foundation is the Bare Minerals powder in medium beige - I find this gives me a natural coverage. On to concealer, I loooveeeee (a lot) the Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brighter. Next up, is my MAC blusher in 'desert rose',  I also add a little bit of the Bobbi Brown face highlighter to make my face more dewey and shiny. These days I tend to not wear much eyeshadow, but if I do, I quite like the "pen sticks" (not sure that's quite what they are called, mum)! At the moment, I'm opting for the Lancôme ones - I particularly like the shade  'turquoise infini' as it's perfect for a pop of Spring colour. Day-to-day, I tend to just wear black eyeliner along my lash line and a good coat of my Chanel mascara. To finish off my look I apply my Dior lipstick in Nouvelle femme!

My own everyday makeup routine

After completing my skincare routine, I apply some of my Benefit Porefessional Primer to my T-zone. This is a tester but it works so well that I'm tempted to buy a full size! I then, using my Real Techniques Expert Face brush, dot my foundation on areas of my face and blend it in, if I'm honest this is my least favourite bit as it takes so long to blend it in! Next, I apply my Collection concealer on any blemishes, normally the concealer ends up on most areas of my face (urgh), and my MAC concealer under my eyes. I bought this in a shade lighter so it really helps to brighten up my face and cover any dark circles. As my face tends to get quite oily throughout the day, I pat some powder all over to reduce shininess. Onto blusher - on a day to day basis, I don't really bother with bronzer, I love using the Posietint by Benefit; it gives such a lovely rosy flush to your cheeks! Like my mum, I don't tend to wear eyeshadow daily so I would then curl my lashes and apply some Rollerlash mascara. Brows are my next step; I have struggle constant struggle to make these look even! I use the Soap and Glory Brow Archery to fill them in and then a brow gel to keep them in place. Finally, I apply some of the Zoella lip balm to finish of my routine!

Do you and your mum have any shared interests which you love to spend time together doing?

xox

Collective haul | Primark, Brandy Melville + Pink

I posted a poll on Twitter a couple of weeks ago asking if anyone wanted a Primark haul. The majority said 'yes' to this but it ended up that I didn't buy as much as I expected. So, I thought that I would combine some other items in this post as well from Brandy Melville and Pink - things that I purchased when I was in London a few weekends ago.

Primark

I had my trip to London in mind when I bought this as it is such a great size and it can be worn cross-body. This is the day bag that I carried; it was perfect for what I needed. The reason why I was drawn to this was because of the pattern on the front and, of course, the tassel as well. It reminds me of the bohemian style which I hope to rock (or maybe not) in the summer time!

This is probably a boring purchase but I needed a new hand gel for my rucksack and this one smelt really nice. It was also quite cheap from what I remember.

Brandy Melville

Brandy Melville sell such lovely, soft t-shirts which I always lust over. This particular one has stripes on and is in a creamy/yellow colour which doesn't sound very nice but looks great in person. I can picture me wearing this in the spring with 3/4 length jeans and converse.

Another t-shirt! This is quite basic but I thought it would be nice to wear in the summer tucked into some denim shorts. I am a big fan of the red neckline as it makes the t-shirt more interesting than if it was just plain white. France is also one of my favourite countries!

Pink

I purchased two pairs of the Pink yoga leggings because my dance teacher wears them and they are really stretchy and comfortable. If you didn't know, I dance at the weekend so I thought I could wear them to my classes.

Finally, two body sprays! These were an impulse buy because my friend and I were spraying them and I couldn't resist not picking one up; in the end, I couldn't choose between these two, so I purchased them both! They smell amazing and linger for a really long time!

Are there any exciting purchases you have made recently?

xox

Attempting red velvet cupcakes

Yesterday, I decided to bake some red velvet cupcakes using the Hummbingbird bakery recipe. Now, it wouldn't be a true Laurel baking session without something going wrong. If you read my 'Taking another shot at cooking' post, you would know that I am a dreadful cook - absolutely horrific!! This weekend, I attempted to bake these cupcakes with no issues (this didn't happen), however I have surprised myself with the outcome! They actually taste quite nice and I didn't manage to get icing all over the cupcake case!!

The recipe for these cakes is really easy to follow if you remember to read every step! I was proud of myself, thinking that I had managed to make the batter and place it in the cases, before I realised that I hadn't included all of the ingredients! Begrudgingly, I then had to scoop the mixture out of the cases and put it back into the bowl to add in the white wine vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda. Thankfully, I realised this before I put the cakes in the oven - they wouldn't have risen! Once repeating the steps again, with all of the ingredients, I could put the cakes in.

From when I last baked cupcakes, I learnt that if you melt the butter, for the frosting, you wouldn't get any lumps of butter in it. This doesn't sound very revolutionary, but it was news to me - again, I am a dreadful cook. So this time round I thought that I was being really clever by melting the butter. Another ingredient that I included was cream cheese. Once mixing the icing sugar (which took forever to sieve 600g), butter and the cream cheese together, the buttercream still had lumps in it! I melted the butter but didn't account for the cream cheese; trying to be clever backfired - at least I know for next time!

I am rather impressed that I managed to use an icing bag without the icing going everywhere and the bag splitting. A top tip, which you won't hear many of from me, is to put the bag into a deep cup with the top bit of the bag wrapped around the rim of the cup. You can then easily put the icing into the bag without too much mess! I then piped the buttercream onto the cupcakes and sprinkled hundreds and thousands and honeycomb on the top.

Aside from the many mishaps that happened in my kitchen yesterday, the cupcakes taste great! I've had the thumbs up from my family members and some family friends so I'm taking that as a success! However, I think I'll leave it a while before attempting them again!

What are your favourite baking recipes? 

xox

The person behind the blog

For today's post, I thought it may be interesting for you to learn a bit more about the person behind this blog. I find posts like this fascinating to read as I love to know about the different members that make up the blogging community; we are all really diverse and all have varying interests and talents - it's lovely to get to know a bit more about each other. So, here goes...

Interests and hobbies

I couldn't do a interest and hobby section without including blogging! Blogging is one of my main hobbies; I enjoy doing it so much! When I'm bored or daydreaming throughout the day, I think of new posts ideas and what chats I could join that night! It seems to me that blogging is always on my mind and I am slightly obsessed - but that's a good thing, right? With blogging, comes photography which is another one of my interests. My dad and I share this passion and frequently discuss photography together, it's lovely having a shared interest with a family member! Finally, another hobby that I have, which you may not know about, is home decor. I love to decorate and organise rooms and constantly rearrange my things into a different style. Also, if you count cushion collecting as a hobby, that is definitely up there with my others!!

Sport

I've always been a sporty person who regularly attends evening clubs. Currently, my main sport is badminton and I play at least twice a week! It is a perfect sport for me as I haven't got a great stamina so I struggle with running up and down long pitches/courts. I found this out when I used to play netball! Centre was just the worst position for me because I couldn't physically keep up; I ended up playing GK for the majority of my time at netball club as you had the least amount of court to cover!!! Actually, I was one of the tallest people there so that was probably another reason why! Aside from badminton and netball, I also surf! I am definitely not the best at this but I really enjoy doing it - falling in isn't a negative, for me, it's quite fun! I'm going surfing again this year and I'm so excited - catching a wave is the best feeling ever!

Subject favourites

Throughout my schooling years, I have enjoyed a variety of different subjects and my favourite one has always changed. In primary school, English was the best lesson of the day; I could get to write stories and read new exciting books! However, as I have grown up, I found a deeper love for science and maths. I'm so interested in how the world and further places work scientifically. Physics is definitely my favourite subject which links in nicely with maths. Aside from the sciences, languages is my other passion: I am currently learning French and German. With learning a language comes learning about different cultures - this really interests me. At home, I speak in multi-lingual conversations with my family which is quite fun swapping between the three. I'm also trying to learn a little Welsh but all I've grasped so far is 'Bore da' - which means good morning! Oh, I have a long way to go!!

Media preferences 

In my spare time, my favourite thing to do is to watch/read different forms of media. Youtube, admittedly, is the one that I am constantly on - the amount of makeup collection videos I have watched is obscene! I also love to watch Netflix - as many others do! Religiously, every Wednesday, I watch the new Pretty Little Liars episode. If ever I am feeling down or just want to chill out, Netflix is my first point of call! In terms of films and book genres, my favourites are Sci-fi or stories based around real life, relatable happenings. I really don't like fantasies or superhero plots; they don't interest me, although I know they do to many other people! My favourite films include: School of Rock, The Martian and Annie. 

Future plans

With regards to a career, I'd love to go into Medicine or something to do with Astro-physics - both are science but different ends of the spectrum! I know that these careers are so competitive but I am willing to work really hard for a career that I will love doing. As well as this, I'd like to go travelling and do some aid-work. I'm so privileged to have the life that I do and I want to help others that aren't so fortunate. This is honestly one of my main aims in life. In the further future, I would love to have a family one day! As many of you may know, I love a good quote so am going to leave this one here to end, 'You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them,' - Desmond Tutu.

xox

Sunday market style

Coat - From Germany

Top - Primark

Skort - Topshop

Shoes - Adidas 

Bag - Primark 

Necklace - Forever 21

This morning, the day of publish, I went to London's Brick Lane market. I had never been before but I know that I want to go back - to be surrounded by a melting pot of cultures was incredible. Every market stall was different, there was Chinese food on one and the stall next door was selling bicycles so the market was very diverse!! I'm really sorry that I couldn't get any photos of the stalls themselves but it was very busy at the time, however, the pictures online definitely by the market justice. 

For my outfit, I decided to go for a comfy option but still dress up slightly by wearing a nice top and necklace. I feel like my necklace is very appropriate for Brick Lane market because it has many different styles as the place does. The shoes that I am wearing were perfect; I didn't get any blisters (as I always do when I walk for a long time) and my feet didn't kill by the end of the day - another bonus! On the topic of easy long-wear items, my bag from Primark was a good option for a market: I could keep it next to me at all times and it also meant that I didn't fill a large bag with lots of unnecessary stuff! I really like the pattern on the front of the bag, it has a slightly hippyish (not sure if that's a word but I'm going to go with it) design and it fits in really well with the style of the market. 

I would definitely recommend a visit to Brick Lane market if you ever get the chance! What would be your perfect outfit for a morning out at a market?

xox

Music for varied emotions

If you didn't know, I love listening to music and although many others may disagree, I really like my music taste! I thought today I would share you with you some songs that I like to listen to when I am feeling a particular emotion, either to carry me out of it or to boost my mood! 

Songs for when you need motivation:

• Warriors - Imagine Dragons
• What a wonderful world - Louis Armstrong
• True colors - Cyndi Lauper
• Imagine - John Lennon
• Titanium - David Guetta

Songs for when you feel like have a dance party in your room:

• Raise your glass - Pink
• Black Widow - Rita Ora and Iggy Azalea 
• Mr Brightside - The Killers (Mine and my mum's favourite song)
• Aint it fun - Paramore 
• GDFR - Flo Rida

Songs for when you need a mood booster:

• Centuries - Fall out boy 
• Shut up and Dance - Walk the moon
• Rock and Roll - Avril Lavigne
• Don't be hard on yourself - Jess Gylnne
• Fight song - Rachel Patten

Songs for when you feel like performing in the shower:

• Focus - Ariana Grande
• You don't own me - Grace, G-Eazy
• Chandelier - Sia
• Who wants to live forever - Queen
• Cool kids - Echosmith

Songs for when you feel like rapping your heart out:

• Rap God - Eiminen (I actually know the words to the really fast bit but can certainly not rap it to speed)
• Monster - Kanye West
• Hotline Bling - Drake
• Black Widow - Rita Ora and Iggy Azalea (again!)
• Starships - Nicki Minaj 

Songs for when you need calming down:

• A thousand years - Christina Perri
• Everything has changed - Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran
• A year without rain - Selena Gomez
• Just give me a reason - Pink
• Royals - Lorde

Songs for when you are feeling nostalgic:

• Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus
• Breakthrough - Hope 7 
• Sk8er boi - Avril Lavigne
• The Climb - Miley Cyrus
• Cheetah love - The Cheetah Girls

Songs for when you feel like singing your heart out:

• I wasn't expecting that - Jamie Lawson
• Dreamed a dream - From Les misérables 
• 7 years - Lukas Graham 
• Writing's on the wall - Sam Smith
• Give me love - Ed Sheeran

What songs do you like to listen to when in a particular mood? Would your choices vary from my own?

xox

Blush baby

Posie Tint

This is such a beautiful petal-pink shade that I love to wear on a daily basis. It is a lip and cheek stain but I don't ever tend to apply the product to my lips as it doesn't suit me very well; however, on the cheeks, it is stunning. The wet consistency gives you a lovely sheen to your cheeks. Something that I will say is that you have to blend it out quickly because if you leave the initial application on your face for too long, it stains (as it should) and doesn't blend out. Before I learnt this, I would have two small dots on my face, from using the applicator, that just wouldn't blend. Aside from that, the product is one of my favourite blush looks that I go for regularly and if you don't particularly like the shade, Benefit have many others in the same range. 

Body Shop Shimmer Waves

This is very similar to the Bobbie Brown Shimmer Brick but is a fraction of the price. I love to swirl my brush around to pick up all of the beautiful shades in the blush. However, you could just wear one of the 5 shades instead of applying all of them! As the name of the product suggests, it is really shimmery so I don't tend to wear a lot of highlighter with it! I think, sometimes, that the Body Shop doesn't always get the recognition that it deserves for its makeup - I think that it's such an amazing brand with a lot to offer! I have actually worn this so much that I've broken the lid off the packaging! 

Coralista 

Coralista was one of my first high-end beauty products. After searching for a new blush, I came across the Benefit box blushes and fell in love with the range of shades. This one took my fancy the most and I'm so glad I purchased it! It is such a lovely coral colour and it has some pretty gold shimmery undertones to it. As you may be able to tell, this is well loved product in my collection; I rarely ever hit pan on powders! For me, this is the perfect every day shade and I'm sure that I will re-purchase it once I start to run out!! 

What are your favourite blushes?

xox