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