HOW TO GET BRONZED AND GLOWING SKIN

At this time of year, some of us have naturally bronzed and glowing skin from holidays and others are religiously packing on the bronzer in order to convince the world that they did in fact go on holiday this year. I thought I would share some of my favourite products to use when I'm trying to look naturally tanned and glowing. 

First off for glowing skin I like to use some kind of brightening primer, like MAC's Skin Base Visage, which I've reviewed 'here' and the Bare Minerals Brightening primer. Both are pretty similar and include tiny little shimmer particles, that look very natural under make up and just give a nice glow to the skin. I also like to use Benefit's Sun Beam highlighter mixed with my foundation if I want a really glowy finish. 

For foundation, I like to use L'oreal Lumi Magique as the name suggests, it gives a gorgeous dewy finish. I also like to use Bare Minerals Original foundation as it gives a naturally fresh, healthy and radiant finish to the skin. 

MAC's Give Me Sun bronzer is my absolute favourite bronzer in the whole world, it's just perfect. A little goes a very long way so it's very quick and easy to apply. It's a gorgeous warm colour that instantly makes you look so healthy and radiant. The colour is dark enough for fake tan wearers but also suits very fair skin tones, as I've also convinced my sister to buy it and she uses it regularly on her fair skin too. I also like Benefit's Hoola bronzer, but I just don't reach for it as much as Give Me Sun as it's just not as warm and 'look at my gorgeous bronzed, healthy glowing skin' as Give Me Sun.

For highlighter I like to use MAC's Soft and Gentle. I only apply it to my cheekbones and under the brow as I naturally get a tiny bit shiny on my t zone throughout the day so I don't need any extra on my forehead or nose like some people with dry skin like to do. 

What are your favourite bronzers and highlighters?

FRESHERS SURVIVAL GUIDE #4: WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN

I am now a full grown graduate of university, therefore, I have been through all of the stress, the anxiety, the 'shall I just run you over and you run me over, so we don't have to take our exams' - scenarios and yes that was a legit conversation. My point is that I now feel that I am pretty experienced and can offer some advice about all the things I wish I knew when I was at uni, to make sure you get the most out of your uni experience. 

If you're going to uni next month, you may want to read my previous 'fresher's survival guides' about packing, making friends and fresher's week, for some extra tips. 

When I started university I don't remember being overly excited about it or particularly wanting to go, it was just what you did after sixth form or you would end up a failure at life - which obviously I now know isn't true, but someone may want to tell the sixth form teachers that! This leads me onto my first tip:

Only go to university if you want to

Yep, seems pretty straightforward. I am glad I went to uni but thinking about it now I would advise people who are unsure to maybe wait it out a few years to see what you really want to do. There is no rush in going to university and if you're relying on student finance I think they only help you for one degree, therefore if I now decide I want to be something very specific that I need a different degree for, I'll have to fork out a small fortune. If you work for a couple years or study at college or anything else, you will have more time to figure out what career you actually want to do. I think it also helps to gain some experience in the working world so then if you do go to university you have some kind of work experience on your cv to give you a head start once you graduate. I remember one of my teachers once said to me it is very sad that you don't know what you want to do in life... bitch please, I'm 14! You have your whole life to decide! 

Pick a degree that you're actually interested in

If you've read any of my other posts about uni, you'll know that the majority of the time I absolutely hated my degree. Lucky for me I now have a law degree which is considered to be a good one to have, so secretly I'm glad I chose to study law, but seriously the degree will be so much easier if you are enjoying what you're studying! During the third year I enjoyed my modules so much more because I had picked them and knew they were subjects I was more interested in. 

Have fun!

So, this is the section I think I failed at most. My degree was extremely demanding and I spent pretty much all of my time doing my seminar work, research, lecture reading, seminar reading, listening to lectures, reading more, writing essays, reading even more... I now seriously regret not making more time for having fun. I don't feel like I had the time to have fun and do well but I wish I had done, especially in first year. As we all know it doesn't reaaally count all that much so I wish I had gone out more, spent more time with friends and just have more fun in general. I feel like I wasted the fun side of my uni experience which is supposed to be one of the greatest times of your life. So, have more times when you start your 3,000 word essay at 9pm the day before it's due and finish at 4.30am and when you have a presentation to prepare for the next morning but instead you stay up chatting with your flatmates until 2am and then start the prep so you're ready for your 9.30 seminar - go on I dare you! 

Move far far away and don't come back

Typing that sounds a little depressing but it's not! It leads on from my previous point of having more fun while at uni. I only went to a uni which is about a 2 hours drive from where I live, which seemed a good idea as I had a boyfriend at home. I ended up living at home the second and third year and commuting in.  If I were to do it again I would go to somewhere a lot further away and stay at uni for the whole terms and only come home for christmas and easter break. I would definitely live there during the whole of university too, to really gain the whole uni life experience. In my first year I wasn't making the most of uni and spent most of my time wishing I was home so I would go home every other weekend. If you stay at uni and make more effort with doing more with your friends, you wont need to go home. 

You don't need to have a boyfriend/girlfriend

I still have the same boyfriend that I did during school, sixth form and uni, but it hasn't been easy. My boyfriend stayed at home and got an apprenticeship, so worked all week. At the beginning of uni it was the hardest because we were literally living opposite lives; he was getting up just as I was getting in from the nights out - and I'm not even a crazy partier! I'm glad we have made it through everything and I do not know what I would have done without his support throughout the three years. My main reasoning for not having a partner when you go is so you can just do your own thing without having to worry about anyone else. I think you need the time to figure yourself out and what you want and need in life and it's a lot easier to do it on your own, without always considering someone else. If you do have a boyfriend/girlfriend, don't worry, it can work out if you both put in the effort. My main point here is I know as a 18 year old girl it seems important to have a boyfriend but you're all that is important and you have time for boyfriends later. My boyfriend and I both say now that we wish we would have met in a few years time, we're happy together but if we could chose we actually still wouldn't have met. 

The morning I left for uni above and my graduation below, with my boyfriend

Stressing will not get you anywhere 

Definitely easier said than done, I know! This only really hit me during exam period in my final year. I think I had spent my last oh I don't know, lifetime worrying and stressing about school work, sixth form work and then uni work that I had out worried myself and physically did not have it in me to stress any more. I realised that you just have to get on with it, work hard but understand you're not perfect. When I started to realise this I just got on with revision and essays, it wasn't easy but I did it by believing that I could do it and just not thinking the worst all of the time. During my second year I stressed and panicked so much about the exams that I couldn't sleep and when I did sleep I had crazy nightmares which I never normally had, I suffered from a small amount of hair loss and just general anxiety and sickness feelings all of the time, which obviously is never going to help. A slight proof of this may be that I did a lot better in my final exams than the second year ones. 

Everything you can possibly know about the law
Yeah... that would have been a helpful thing to know before uni. 

Overall, uni is definitely what you make it. As you can see my main regret is not having enough fun and enjoying myself while I was at uni. The majority of my friends who weren't on my course did a lot less demanding degrees and therefore had a lot more spare time and I don't think they ever understood my work load and always thought I was just being useless with them. If you're going to uni next month, my advice is to enjoy it! Take all the opportunities offered to you, make as many good friends as you can, try new things (sports, hobbies... not anything bad)! Obviously be safe, do your work, call your parents but just remember that this time is all about you and it can be the best time of your life. 

You can read my guide to what to pack, how to deal with homesickness and making friends and fresher's week 'here.'

A SUMMERS EVENING WALK | OOTD

One of the benefits of living in the countryside is definitely having a lot more space to walk around, where it's quiet, peaceful and very picturesque. There's something about the way the sun looks in the evenings, as it's just getting ready to set, when it's still bright enough but a lot lower in the sky, that makes me want to get outside and go for a nice evening stroll. In case you forgot I am 21, not 61, but I wouldn't blame you for mistaking the two after that declaration. 

Top: River Island

Shorts: River Island

Shoes: Converse 

Nail Varnish: Barry M Coconut

I really like these River Island shorts as they're not too short that they reveal way too much of certain parts of the body that should never be shown in public, but they're still fitted and pretty flattering. I like the buttons on the back of the top and the colours, it's also very easy to wear and pretty different to anything else I own. I've had my converse for probably around 7 or 8 years and they're still in pretty good condition as I'm not really a trainer kinda gal, but for walking around in fields and playing in the park... which obviously I'm far too grown up to do... they are perfect. 

In case you haven't already met him on this blog, this is my boyfriend, Jamie. I like to drag him along on these walks quite often, luckily he doesn't seem to mind. Although I hate to say it, I already feel like summer is over; The shops got rid of all of their summer clothes before the kids even broke up for their summer holidays and now seem to be denying they ever stocked anything other than dark prints and boots. I'm still trying to hold on to summer as I haven't even been away on my holiday yet and lets face it, it's only August 11th! 

I hope you're all enjoying our on and off summer, in between the torrential rainfalls and hurricane winds. Do you like summer evening walks as much as I do or is it just me? I'm going to have to stop typing now because my boyfriend is currently sitting next to me going through my camera and laughing at my selfies... :( 

JULY FAVOURITES

My best friend text me earlier, saying, "3 months today until you are a bridesmaid for me." That was pretty exciting until I realised that she is getting married in November - how the hell is November only 3 months away!? I can't contemplate that at the moment so lets stick with it being just about the start of August and therefore time for July favourites, which doesn't even seem possible, but a tiny bit better than the thought of November! 

I've always focused more on make up than hair, but this month my friend who is an amazing hairdresser, cut my hair and completely changed the way I look at it. I've never been loyal to a hairdresser and therefore, not really been a regular, so I was very glad when she offered! I never know what will actually work for my hair and the hairdressers never really seem to do that great of a job. As it was my friend cutting my hair, I trusted her opinions and she actually offered so much in put as to what would work best. She was telling me that I should use a mousse as it helps fine hair have more body and also controls any fly aways. The Vo5 mousse does just that, yet doesn't hold down my hair or make it feel sticky or hard at all. Once I've blow dried my hair and styled it, I use the L'oreal volume supersizing spray to add some extra body and texture. It smells so good and really seems to help lift my hair.

I've owned the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette since last December, however, I haven't paid it much attention at all until now. The black is amazing, the browns are great for the crease area and the lighter shades make great highlights or lid colours. I've also been using Faint and a tiny amount of Crave for my brows, which seem to be working great! 

Another Urban Decay product, is their new Perversion mascara. I currently only have a sample size but will definitely be buying the full sized version. It's probably the best mascara that I've tried; it applies so easily, so quick, it's so black, gives great length and volume and doesn't clump or flake off at all. 

On to Bare Minerals. My skin was doing very well, until it had a random break out recently, I applied the Blemish Remedy and by the next morning the spots had considerably gone down, after a couple more uses they were completely gone. If you've read my 'skincare saviours' post, you'll already know that this is one of my go to products as it is just amazing! 

Finally, I've been really enjoying wearing bright coral lipsticks this month and one of my favourites and easiest to wear is the Bare Minerals lipstick in Go the Distance, with the lip liner in Energized. The lip liner can be worn alone or under the lipstick to prolong the wear, which is already amazing! The colour of the lipstick isn't too bright so it's great for when you want a great summer colour but you're not feeling brave enough for such a bright shade. It's also more day time appropriate if you ever feel conscious about wearing a bright lip. 

So, that's all of my favourite products from the month of July. I hope you've all had a great July and that August is also kind to you, especially if you're an A - level student awaiting results! 

MY GRADUATION | OUTFIT & TIPS

 The other week I graduated from university with a law degree. I'm not sure how I even got to this stage, as even in third year I would walk into university and think, how am I already at university?! and now I have finished! I've already rambled about finding out my result, so if you fancy reading you can read it 'here.'

I thought I had planned my outfit months in advance, however, I then realised that a lot of the gowns and hoods sit best if you have something to pin them to, like a button on a shirt. The dress I chose had delicate lace at the top section and I didn't want to have to safety pin the delicate material. I rushed out the day before graduation to find a better dress - apparently no one wears nice dresses any more, unless you're 50+. There was nothing suitable in so many shops that I looked at, until I went into Oasis and then I found two that I liked. The other dress was a gorgeous bright orange/red which I loved but the one I chose seemed more appropriate and I knew the colour would suit my gown. Annoyingly, as you can see from the photos, I had a more modern style hood which sat perfectly as it had more of a shape and a button attachment, so it didn't need any support from the outfit underneath. I would still advise you bring safety pins and roughly plan your outfit around this just to be safe. Also, luckily or maybe unluckily - I seem to have a big head so my cap sat very snug, however, a lot of other girls had to pin their's onto their heads, so definitely bring bobby pins just in case! 

Dress: Oasis 

Shoes: Christian Louboutin 

My boyfriend very kindly and extremely generously, bought me a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, as a congratulations present for finishing uni and graduating. I tried to wear them in during the weeks leading up to my graduation so they were remotely comfortable, however, when it came to it, I decided to wear my trusty Zara lace up heels as I know I can walk in them and I didn't want to risk tripping over while walking down the cathedral to collect my degree. If you can, I would definitely recommend wearing comfortable shoes or maybe taking those roll up shoes to wear before you walk down in front of everyone, as my feet have never hurt so much from all the standing around for hours before the actual ceremony. 

Shoes: Zara

Hannah's Dress: from a local designer shop but there is an identical one in New Look

Hannah's Shoes: New Look

Make up wise, everyone says go for your usual natural make up look, however, my make up is never overly natural so I chose a cool toned smoky eye instead. I'm used to wearing heavy eye make up so I would have felt strange without it. I chose a cool toned look as my dress was grey so it seemed to work better than my usual warm browns. My only advice for make up would be to bring a powder to touch up and use a setting spray, which also helped cool me down as it was so hot.

On the day it was lovely to see everyone again, catch up a little and reminisce on the years. The ceremony was pretty boring; it was mostly focused on the chancellors and some other 'academics' who we had no idea about and as it was in a large cathedral and the graduates get the worst seats, we could hardly see or hear what was going on. We got hardly any attention throughout the whole ceremony and it felt like they were happily rambling on about themselves and then thought - oh yeah, I guess it's about time we call out some names and get them to walk down to a woman sitting down at the side just leaning over to hand you your degree certificate. The cathedral was beautiful so at least the settings were nice. The music was a little dramatic - the organs were very loud and apparently the song we walked into the cathedral was Hitler's favourite song... just what you want! Oh, I know that because my boyfriend's kind of a geek about those kind of things.

My 15 seconds of fame during the ceremony  was actually pretty nerve racking! I didn't think I would be nervous, but I think the formality of the whole event made it quite scary. Also, they didn't really tell us where to go once our names had been called and we had to go and shake the chancellor's hand, so I was slightly worried I wouldn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but it all worked out fine! My sister and boyfriend commented how they were surprised at how happy I looked, I think it was more to do with it was scary and I felt awkward so when I feel awkward I just smile away and no one knows any wiser! We had to walk straight down the middle of the cathedral in front of everyone, just staring away, which was also pretty awkward but I was too focused on walking to care! 

I still don't really believe that I've done it, finished university and actually obtained a 2.1 degree in law. All those tears, the stress, worry, anxiety and the constant moaning, has all been worth it. At the end of the ceremony they asked us to applaud our family and friends who had supported us throughout the degree. I felt so thank full for my boyfriend and sister as they are the ones that endured all of my stresses and even came to my final exams with me and helped me cram the morning before. Hannah even said to me that she even felt like she would know what to write in the exam, she had sat there for so long listening to me. Jamie, my boyfriend even remembered some of the cases better than I did!

If you've got your graduation soon I hope you have an amazing day and feel proud of yourself - oh and don't forget to constantly smile, because you will learn what it's like to be a celebrity constantly getting papped! 

SUMMER NIGHTS STYLE

I was going out with friends for the evening and decided that since I was all dressed up I might as well do a quick OOTD. I have since realised that only one or two posts down I'm wearing the same top. In the words of Kate Sanders, "Lizzie you are an outfit repeater!" (Lizzie Mcguire - you know)! I don't think it completely counts as It's only the top I'm repeating but still! 

Top : H&M

Skirt: River Island

Shoes: New Look

Watch: Fossil

 I recently bought this pretty flower skirt from River Island. I absolutely love everything in River Island at the moment. The skirt is so pretty and feminine, it is short but not too bad unless you're planning on bending over a lot, then perhaps go for something different. I had to resort to my mum taking these photos and she's probably the worst of the poor innocent souls that I force to take these kind of photos of me. It's hard enough just getting her to take a normal picture, let alone a shoe shot, so I'll just link the photo of the shoes 'here.' I think those are the right ones, but I'm pretty sure mine aren't the 'wide fit.' They're really easy to walk in and comfortable but you've still got a decent size heel when you want to dress up summer outfits a little. 

My watch is from Fossil and my nail varnish is Tanya Burr's Bright and Early, although it's looking a lot more coral in the photos. I love summer clothes but find it's always hard to dress well but still suitable and comfortable with the hot weather, so you don't look like you're just hanging at the beach. This outfit was very cool to wear, yet still looked a little dressed up. 

I kept my make up pretty simple as it was sooo hot - have I said that yet?! I went for a kind of summer appropriate smokey eye and used mostly the Make up Geek shade in Country girl, which is a warm red/brown, so not as harsh as black but still pretty and smokey. Everywhere else I packed on a lot of bronzer for that summer bronzed glow. 

 What are your favourite outfits to wear with this lovely summer weather?

EYE SHADOW LOOK MAC CLUB & MAKEUP GEEK | FOTD

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I buy all these different eye shadow palettes and then end up rarely ever using them. If you've read my Prom make up post, you wont believe what I'm about to say next, but Club eye shadow by MAC is one of those neglected eye shadows. If you have read the prom post, you'll know that I also used it on my sister for her prom, however this make up look was from the same day and while we were debating which shadows to use for her she said she liked mine and just wanted that, so there you go Club, neglected for ages and then used twice in one day!

I've never been a natural eye kinda girl and prefer something more intense, smoky or subtly colourful, so on a whim I paired the eye shadow with an orange shade from the Sleek Del Mar palette - oh how daring of me! I like how it turned out, definitely not for your usual everyday look but it would work well for a night out or summer festival kind of look. I used warm shades through the crease and added a tiny bit of the orange from under the eye to join it into the look more.

Details:

Primer: MAC Pre + Prime Skin Base Visage (review here)
Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum
Concealer and Under Eye: Collection Lasting Comcealer, MAC Highlighter in Radiant Rose, MAC Emphasize powder
Powder: Bourjois Healthy Mix powder
Bronzer: MAC Give Me Sun
Blush: MAC Peaches
Contour: Benefit Hoola
Highlighter: MAC Soft and Gentle

Eye Base: MAC Painterly and Quite Natural Paint Pot
Eye Shadow: MAC Club and Carbon, Make up Geek: Peacock, Peach Smoothie, Creme Brule, Cocoa Bear (crease) Sleek Del Mar Orange eye shadow (lower lash line)
Eye Liner: Immortal Gel Liner, Make up Geek
Mascara: L'oreal False Lash Flutter
Lashes: Ardell Demi Whispies
Brows: Espresso Eye Shadow MAC and Maybelline Brow Drama


I really like how this eye look turned out and it's made me excited to try out more colours and be more adventurous. What are your favourite more daring eye shadows?