April Favourites

April Favourites already?!

I can't believe we are already coming to the end of April, Its May next week. Holy moly! 

Additionally, I'm officially on my summer break, I know I have a VERY early summer but I'm certainly not complaining - so technically speaking that is my first favourite - YAY! 

But now onto my actual April favourites...These are the products that I have been loving during the month of April!

Lets start with the bloggers favourite, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. Now obviously there has been a lot of hype over this product over the last few years, with people saying that it really is everything you need in a concealer..and then some. It certainly doesn't disappoint! Not only does it provide excellent dark circle coverage, (cancelling out my deep purple bags) its also adds a highlighting effect that when paired with a matte - semi matte foundation it looks beyond beautiful! I'm in the shade Honey, but as we get further into summer I imagine I will need a darker shade, so I will certainly not hesitate in purchasing this again! 

My second is another make-up item, this time its from MAC. This past month or so, i've been cutting out foundation. I feel like i'm at a point in my life where  finally i'm comfortable with my skin, its been a long journey but i'm finally there. I still get blemishes, but no where near as bad as I used to. So I think why wear foundation everyday, when really I don't need to be using it on a daily basis. I want to let my skin breathe. So i've been heading towards this Mineralize Skinfinish power in the colour Medium just to sweep over my face to help set my concealer, and also to help with any shine throughout the day *oily gal here* Unlike other powders i've tried this doesn't look cakey on this skin and leaves my skin feeling silky smooth! 

As I said, I feel happy about my skin at the moment. I had acne, and now it has left me with a scarring. I find my skin, scars very easily and a spot can take up to 8-10 weeks for it to fade completely. Which can be a right pain in the bum. When it was first suggested that I try Bio-Oil, I had a mini panic.."I already have oily skin, why would I put more oil onto my face." Boy was I wrong, not only does this provide moisture it's doing wonderful things to my scars! I'm not completely happy with them yet but I feel that this is 100% making a difference to my acne scars.

Multi-Vitamins + Iron, a little unconventional for a favourites..Perhaps..But something I'd recommend to anyone without question.  I have never reaaally been a tablet kinda girl, I kinda just ate what I wanted, didn't really think too much about the consequences. Since taking these I have found an improvement in a number of aspects of my life. I wake up refreshed rather than STILL tired, my skin has more of a glow, my under eye circles are less prominent, and my hair is growing a lot faster too! I don't know why I didn't start taking these earlier!

Dr Paw Paw is the balm of all balms! It's multifunctional, it doesn't leave a slimy feeling, soaking in to leave silky smooth feeling. I only really tend to use this of an evening, focusing on my lips and on any dry patches. It can be used on nails and cuticles too. 

Finally, is this Zara perfume in Oriental. I've kinda always turned a blind eye to the Zara perfume range, I guess I always just assumed they'd smell a bit cheap and overpowering but I was very wrong! This one is the perfect light spring/summer scent. I have been using the My Burberry perfume but I found it to be a too heavy scent with the warmer months rolling in. This has a light and fruity scent which is exactly what I was looking for so, needless to say this has fast become my statement smell and for only £5.99 - bargain!!

What are your April favourites!?

Batiste VS Herbal Essences - A Dry Shampoo Off

Dry Shampoo, what did we ever do before this stuff?! Honestly, it is such a game changer in my routine. I am first to admit, washing my hair is a massive chore. I read somewhere ( It could very well be an old wives tale ) that if you wash your hair everyday it can actually be doing more damage than good! It's essentially stripping your hair of the oils that allows it to maintain its healthiness. Since I am trying to grow out the colour in my hair, I have taken this advice into account. With perseverance and a good handful of "Oh my god, my hair is so greasy today" I have now got it into a routine of washing it every 3 to 4 days..but on that 4th day oh laawwd dry shampoo is my best friend!

I have tried and tested a good handful of dry shampoos and until about a month ago, Batiste was the bae. Big time. Until I went to Asda and I saw a Herbal Essences option for cheaper...and now I'm completely undecided. 

Batiste

When I think of dry shampoo, I think of Batiste. I feel like they were the first to really bring life to the product and to create the popularity for dry shampoo that we know today. The range they offer is unbeatable, from colour specific bottles, a Pixie Lott Colab (which smells amazing I must say ), Volume Boosting just to name a few and of course their range of scents to their dry shampoos are really incredible.  

The product itself is very fast acting, it immediately eliminates excess grease

 on the hair without leaving a heavy almost crunchy feeling on the hair. Additionally they do not stick to the hair, you hop in the shower wash your hair as normal and Poof* its gone. I tried the Tresemme volumising one once, and it would not budge, for a good few washes my hair felt dirty and it didn't really do what it said on the tin so needless to say that one went straight in the bin.  The Batiste range is incredible and it is such a worthwhile purchase!

Herbal Essences Nearly Naked 

Herbal Essences, you think of THOSE adverts and pretty incredible smelling shampoo. So when I noticed a few weeks ago that they had a dry shampoo I was very interested to try it. The smell, oh can I just get a moment for the smell....It is SO good. Its like fruity and just really great tbh. So big thumbs up for that one. I feel like this dry shampoo is good, but in a different way to Batiste. To me this is slower at taking the greasy look away from the hair, so I tend to spray this on my hair and night put my hair in a bun and let it work its magic over night, you wake up with grease free hair - YAY. I mean it can be used as a quick fix but you do really need to work it into the hair to get it to absorb the grease, so for a quick fix Batiste wins one that one. Another difference is the feel, when I use the Batiste my hair doesn't look or feel greasy, whereas with the Herbal Essences I feel that it may not look greasy but it does still feel it. 

Overall, Although I do like the Herbal Essences dry shampoo, but Batiste wins this one!!

Whats your favourite dry shampoo?

Any tips for growing hair?

Job Interview Tips and Tricks

Its fast approaching the end of the academic year, with many people graduating from university, leaving college, school and even people simply looking for a new job.

With this in mind I thought I'd bundle together a few of my top tips for interviews. I will be graduating next year, so in no time interviews will (scarily) be becoming a huge part of my life.

I know the title of the post is "Interview tips and tricks".. but pre-interview is the job search and it is just as important. There are so many job searching websites out there, it can all get really overwhelming but City Calling is a great tool in finding the right Jobs Online for you, you as the job seeker are in control. You provide a little information about yourself, your CV and your personality and then sit back and let City Calling do all the hard work for you! What's more you can even search in cities worldwide - How cool is that! In my opinion its a seriously innovative method of searching for Jobs Online - take a look for yourself.

I can't say that I feel completely at ease in interviews, I mean who does?! Your basically being judged, which really isn't a nice feeling for anyone but its turning those negative feelings the word interviews (shudder*) gives us all, and turning them into positive ones! Doing so allows YOU to become in control of the situation and ultimately your life!

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!

To some this may seem like a bit of a no brainer, but you'd be surprised by the amount of people that do turn up to interviews blind! You need to know this company like the back of your hand, be prepared for them to ask you almost anything that is related to their business. This could be to do with new and exciting developments within the sector, or even to do with their annual turnover..Know your facts! A handy way to keep you knowledge on the topic fresh is to set up Google alerts - it is a tool that sends you an email anytime a new story appears about the topic. How handy! It will seriously become your best friend!

A SOCIAL MEDIA SPRING CLEAN

The technological age that we're living in today means that a lot of the time an employer can easily do some research of their own...on you! I am the first to admit I LOVE social media, putting selfies up with my friends, pictures of my pets you name it, its probably on there. Do your friends enjoy this content, probably yes, will your future employers..my guess?! No. It's shocking how easy it is for people to have a snoop around your Facebook page without you knowing...so remove any questionable images, and get your privacy settings to the max. Same applies with Twitter and Instagram, Privatise!

STAY CALM - BELIEVE IN YOU!

You've done your research, you look professional, now believe in you!

Nerves are a completely normal pre-interview feeling, own in on them and take your nerves to a place where they help you. Instead of fear...excitement, you are ready to boss this interview! Arrive with plenty of time to spare, run over your research and don't forget to smile! Be warm and friendly, show your interviewer a part of your personality, they've probably already interviewed a good few other candidates,so you need to be memorable - in a good way of course! 

ASK QUESTIONS!

Ok, so your interview is over. You have researched the company/the business sector etc, so have some questions prepared to ask your interviewer. This shows that you are genuinely interested in the career, and you never know it may be that one things thats makes you memorable. It's a way of showing that you are keen to learn!

Do you have any interview tips you swear by?!

I will need all the advice I can get for next year.

Til' next time

Sponsored Post* www.citycalling.com*

My Longchamp and me...

My bag of the moment is without a doubt my Longchamp Le Pilage Small.

I've had my eyes on this bag for a while so when I was lucky enough to receive it for my 21st I was over the moon - It is so simple yet so sophisticated.

This is pretty much my go to bag, and I very rarely use any other. It gives any outfit a beautiful finish - very parisian chic! 

As you probably already know my wardrobe is a rather muted one, so with that in mind I love the pop of colour that the brown and gold details give to an outfit. ( you know your wardrobe is seriously lacking colour when you think brown is a pop of colour! haha) 

I've matched my Longchamp with a couple of new purchases. It was loan day last week and my housemate Amy and I had been drowning in a pool of trend related work and thought bugger it! We had the day off uni work, went a little crazy with the shopping and to top it all off had a yummy Wagamama's - so overall a VERY successful day!

I bought the black jeans (£19.99) and the blouse (£25.99) from Zara, and the shoes (£10) from Primark.  I have been looking for some leopard print shoes for a while now, after being inspired by a pin i'd seen on Pinterest, but just hadn't found the right pair for me so when I saw these beauties in Primark I was very impressed! Not gonna lie, Primarks shoe collection is seriously on point at the moment. Usually Primarks shoes are more hassle than they're worth for me as they give me blisters after blisters but they've obviously sorted their life out as like I said - they are killing it!

Urgh - these shoes! I am so in love! If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen these beauties make an appearance or two! 

My love for Zara is little overzealous so I may have gone a little crazy so I'm sure my other purchases will make an appearance soon enough!

In exciting news I have pretty much finished my 2nd year of uni! I've just got to label and print out my portfolio and I'm done!! WOO!

Til' next time..

Boots 3 for 2!

Just a quick one today, as deadlines are getting crazy. 

I have a week and a half left, then i'm FREE...until september.

I really want to have an amazing summer, this academic year has been incredibly stressful for a number of reasons, so giving the elbow to Uni for 5 months on the 23rd will be the dream.

I have a few plans for this summer, I'm going to Florida for a month to visit famalam which I am incredibly excited about..SEPHORA ANYONE?!

Also, there has been word of a potential explore of Europe for a couple of weeks with my chummy which gets me incredibly excited. 

                                          But onto the post eh?

I was back in the 'Shire last week for Easter and my attention may have diverted into Boots, and the 3 for 2 offer may have caught me out. I was having one of those days where everything went wrong, including smashing my phone screen..so the 3 for 2 purchase was obviously justified..

I've been using the MUA eyebrow palette for about 2 years now, but due to re-shaping my eyebrows I've began filling them out slightly differently. The colour in the MUA palette was WAAAY to red-ish and my eyebrows just looked a hot mess. So I Picked up Soap and Glory Archery in the colour "Hot Chocolate." I've used a similar product before, the MAC eyebrow twist pencil but it just ran out so fast that I couldn't justify paying that amount of money to repurchase it. So far I am loving the Archery product, the colour is almost a perfect match for my brows and the spooley on the other end is incredibly useful for those times when you have a bit of a heavy hand and need a bit of a blend.

Next I went for the Seventeen Falsify HD! I have heard such great things about this product, giving natural lengthening with one coat but also with the ability to build for a more dramatic look. What can I say, I am IN LOVE with the product. It is so affordable and really does what it says on the tin! 

For my third item I went for the Rimmel BB Matte Cream in Medium. I'd seen Shani Grimmond on Youtube use this a few times and the coverage for a BB cream was amazing. I've not had the best of luck with BB creams if i'm honest, i've never found one that I love..so I'm hoping this will be the one! The light in this is very pink in its undertones so I had to go for the medium. At the moment this is too dark for me so I will have to wait a while to give it a try but I am excited to give it a whirl. 

Have you been suckered in by the Boots 3 for 2? What did you buy?

Also, do any of my fellow oily skinned ladies have any recommendations for a good BB/CC cream?

See you later...

Slogan Tees, and Puppies!

Happy Easter! 

This weather though!? Yes pleaase. Today has been the first day where I have really felt that summer is coming, it was lovely, even gave me a chance to crack out my new sunnies...and not have to wear a jacket, YAY! 

As mentioned in my previous post I picked up this slogan tee from Missguided. I've been on the hunt for one for a while now, a nice oversized one that doesn't drown me, and of course a good slogan that isn't cringey 

a la yolo, or love life. No thank you!

I came across this one last week on the Missguided website, and thought it was perfect. Monchrome, check. Oversized, check...and for £10, I could not say no.  I love the slogan too, Paris is always a good idea...Yes, yes it definitely is! 

I've paired it with black Topshops Jamie jeans and my New Look sliced booties. 

Again, I bought these shoes last week but this time via ASOS. I have noticed that ASOS have been really upping their shoe game, so when I spotted these and saw that they were New Look I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't 100% sure when I bought them, but once I tried them on I knew I'd made the right choice. I am a 5 and a half, which can be an absolute pain in the bottom, as a lot of the time a 5 is too tight and a 6 is way too big, but I have found that a New Look 5 always fits perfectly. So if you have the same trouble with shoes, take a gander in New Look. 

On to the puppies!!

 This is Dillon, he is 7 weeks old and a black Labrador. He's a big chunk, loves to sleep and play with his brother Dave. 

This is Dave, he's 10 weeks now..I think and a Border Terrier. He is mental, absolutely bonkers. He doesn't stop, ever! Which has earned him the nickname crazydave. He has so much sass already, him and Dillon have so much fun, I can't wait to see them grow together. 

How cute are they!?

All I want to do is cuddle them!

Til' next time.