Tuesday 28 April 2015

The Spring ASOS Wishlist


My favourite blog posts to read are wish lists, so it was only a matter of time before I made my own one. There's no better feeling than making a list and then checking the items off one by one - whether that's a to do list or a shopping list! All the stores are absolutely killing the spring fashions at the moment (am I cool enough to use the word 'killing' in that context?), but the ones really hitting it out of the park are ASOS, New Look and Zara, so expect those wish lists to follow shortly.

I've recently had a bit of an epiphany with my fashion choices. I was a teeny tiny size 4 up until I was about 16 and I don't think I've ever really accepted the fact that I grew curves. I'm not overweight by any stretch of the imagination, but I've started to accept the fact that there's just no point trying to squeeze my boobs into tight size 8 tops. They're really not size 8 material. My thighs aren't exactly skinny either, I think I can thank my years of horse riding for that. But I do have a teeny waist, a true hourglass figure. The point of that digression was this: I need to dress for my figure. I've realised that I have a very similar body type to Demi Lovato so she has become my fashion inspiration, she dresses beautifully and looks so freaking hot all the time. 

As you may be able to see from my very artistically made collage (*cough*) above, I go for clothes that draw me in at the waist. I am totally head over heels for the stripy playsuit. The vertical stripes will slim me out and I adore the 40s feel to it. Plus they do it in petite so it won't drown me, score. It's definitely going to be my payday purchase. The oversized checkered shirt may have to join it too, it goes against everything I've said about drawing me in at the waist but it just looks so damn comfy.

New Look wish list next?

Georgia 
xxx





Saturday 25 April 2015

L'Oreal Infallible 24h-Matte


Freshly applied foundation (in shade 'Porcelain')
Taken after 10 hours of wear with NO touch ups (in shade 'Rose Beige')

It's no secret that one of my main missions in life is to find the perfect foundation, and as a result I have near enough 30 foundations, both high-end and drugstore, hidden away in my collection. I first heard of L'Oreal Infallible 24h-Matte when Amelia Liana raved about it in her New York vlogs and I just knew it was one I had to try. So egged on by Amelia and the Boots 3 for 2, I purchased the foundation in shades 'Porcelain' and 'Rose Beige' for both my pale and fake tanned days.

This foundation comes in a squeezy tube so you can get the exact amount you need and it's a fairly thick formula, more cream than liquid. Thickly formulated foundations usually make me run a mile because they tend to go patchy on my oily skin, but I gave it a go anyway and oh boy, it was love at first application. I have a lot of hyper pigmentation on my skin so I usually need to apply a lot of concealer over my foundation, but no concealer is required with Infallible 24h-Matte. The tube states that it is high coverage and it doesn't lie - if you're a fan of completely natural looking skin I would steer clear of this one. I also know that the term 'matte' on the tube would put a lot of people off, but as far as matte foundations go, I would say this one is pretty non-matte. It's matte (that doesn't even sound like a word anymore) in terms of it keeps my oil at bay throughout the day, but it doesn't give your skin that completely lifeless appearance that a lot of matte foundations do. I would describe it as a more satin appearance on the skin.

Now to address the 24hr claims. I work a 9-5.30 day Monday-Friday so I am a true test of long wearing foundation. There's nothing worse than looking in the mirror in your lunch break and seeing patchy, faded foundation. The first day I wore this I was absolutely amazed when I had my regular mirror check-up at lunch time and saw my foundation still perfect. Even in trouble areas, like around the sides of my nose (oh god how I hate how my foundation goes on the sides of my nose). It's fair to say I was impressed, and quickly stowed the concealer brush I had at the ready back in my bag. Even more impressive was when I got home at 6pm that night and it was still almost-perfect, just faded on my chin which I do tend to touch a lot.

It's fair to say that I am completely and utterly in love with this foundation, we're considering eloping.

Any other recommendations?

Georgia
xxx


Thursday 16 April 2015

Mon Jules


 




I realise I've written about lip products a lot on this blog already, but this is going to be the last one for a while, promise. I was umm-ing and ahh-ing as to whether I should even post this one but I have to share my new found obsession with the world.

I totally didn't mean to buy a new lipstick, I've put myself on a lipstick ban because I have way too many, but I was drawn to this like a moth to a flame. L'Oreal 'Mon Jules' is one of the new L'Oreal releases, for which 14 new shades were released to mark the 30th anniversary of Colour Riche lipsticks - who knew they've been around for that long?! I was having a swatch of them all (and btw there is not a single dud shade), but naturally I was drawn to the pinky purple shade. 

I would describe 'Mon Jules' as the perfect cross between MAC 'Rebel' and NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in 'Damned'. It has a very similar colour to Rebel (which y'all know is one of my favourite lipsticks ever) and the finish and lasting power of Damned. I'm usually not a matte kinda gal because I cannot stand how drying mattes are and how they settle in the cracks of my lips, but I feel like L'Oreal have got the perfect formula with this one: matte, but totally comfortable on the lips and, oh my god, this stuff doesn't budge. I've put it on at 8am, gone to work, eaten lunch, drank water, talked, everything, and then I've arrived home at 6pm and it's still there looking pretty perfect. Talk about staying power. I have to get a strong oil-based cleanser and scrub like crazy to get it off. 

I always have to choose between my love for bold colours and my need for a low maintenance lip, but now I don't have to. Love love love.

Georgia
xxx

Sunday 12 April 2015

Bedside Table Beauty









I always thought it was normal to have a box of beauty stuff next to your bed, but when a friend came round the other day and started questioning me on 'why are you so freakishly organised that you have a box of beauty things on your bedside table?!', I started questioning myself. When you spend as much time in bed as I do (for no other reason that my own laziness), you soon realise that you waste a lot of precious cosy time getting in and out of bed grabbing beauty bits. Therefore, over the months I have compiled a box filled with everything a lazy beauty lover could need within arms reach. It's an ever-evolving process but I've finally reached a stage where I rarely have to move for my next beauty fix. It's truly wonderful.

So, let's start with the boring stuff: I have my acne medication, Rennie's tablets, paracetamol and Feminax. Boring, yes, but vital. I also have my vitamins, which I would class as very very exciting, but others probably not so much. Selenium and vitamins A, C & E. I swear by vitamin E for helping to keep my skin in check.

Next up I have the Lush's Lemony Flutter cuticle butter (I've only just realised that rhymes). I made a pact with myself to look after my nails more because they really are neglected, Lemony Flutter is a super thick butter that smells incredible, and can be used on any part of the body, not just cuticles. I swear by it for my dry elbows and knuckles (ew gross). Hand cream is also a must, I usually go for The Body Shop Satsuma hand cream but Soap & Glory is what's in the box for the moment. I also usually tend to have a mini body butter/lotion of my choosing in there but it seems to have disappeared.

I don't keep too much skincare in the box because I know if I did I would overload my skin with unnecessary products, but I have to keep my Origins Super Spot Remover in there. I've tried a lot of spot remover products but this is the only one that actually does something, I find it shrinks those pesky under-the-skin mountain spots in record time. I also keep my Bath & Bodyworks hand sanitisers in there for two reasons: a) I'm very conscious about touching my face with bacteria-covered hands, and b) they smell incredible.

Finally, I keep an abundance of lip balms in there. I like to switch my products around depending on what mood I'm in. Excessive? Cocoa butter Vaseline, The Body Shop coconut balm, The Body Shop vanilla lip balm, The Body Shop Aloe Lip Care (for really intensive moisturisation) and The Body Shop watermelon lip balm. You may be able to tell that I am a massive Body Shop lip fan. I also have Lush's Santa scrub for exfoliating my lips once a week.

And that's it. What beauty products do you have to have on your bedside?

Georgia 
xxx


Tuesday 7 April 2015

TV Shows You HAVE To Watch

All you have to do is follow me on Twitter for 5 minutes to realise that I have a problem. A massive TV series related problem. I am addicted. I have an addictive personality anyway, so all it takes is for the first episode to hook me in and I'm trapped. Thinking back, I've had a thing for TV series for years but it got bad (like real bad) when I fell into The Vampire Diaries about 2 years ago. Is it wrong that binge-watching TV series is possibly my biggest passion and hobby? 

Therefore, I have decided to share with you my top 6 favourite shows. I couldn't cut it down to a nice round 5 because that would be like choosing a favourite child and that's not fair to anyone.

(Also, I have decided to illustrate this blog post with gifs from my favourite scenes from each show. You're welcome.)


Glee
In no particular order, my first TV show love is Glee. I know a lot of people said it went bad after series 3 but those people are wrong and you shouldn't have to have that kind of negativity in your life. Okay I admit, series 4 wasn't the best and didn't include anywhere near enough Santana/Brittana but if I can get over that, so can you. 
Out of all of these shows, Glee is the one show I could write an entire blog post about (anyone interested? ...no?) so I am going to summarise my love for it in as few words as possible: singing, musical theatre, Santana Lopez, Naya Rivera, Brittana.
Naya's voice gives me goosebumps every single time I hear her sing ('Songbird' is my all time favourite Glee song), Brittana was my first ship before I even knew what shipping was and Santana Lopez was the first character I ever fell head over heels for, she made me realise a hell of a lot of things about myself. Glee can make me laugh so much that it hurts, but it also makes me cry more than any other show. The episode where Finn takes Rachel to the train station so she can go to New York? You have never seen such ugly crying in your life.



The Vampire Diaries
I was never drawn in to that whole Twilight vampire thing, so I didn't think for a second I would enjoy this show. I was wrong. It starts off as a love story between Stefan and Elena, then inevitably Damon gets drawn in and a love triangle is formed (if you're not totally team Delena then I'm judging you). The first season is a bit naff and Twilight-esque, but it's so much more than that. Wait for series 2 and all the action starts; people die, werewolves appear, witches do witchy stuff, doppelgängers confuse the hell out of everyone, it's amazing. The main character Elena is a bit dull and I don't understand for a second why everyone loves her, but then Katherine appears, her badass 500 year old doppelgänger, and you realise what an amazing actress Nina Dobrev is. 
Side note: you may notice a running theme throughout all my shows in that I always love a bad guy (I use 'guy' here loosely), but Damon Salvatore is everything I want in a man. Vampirism included.



Pretty Little Liars
Ever since PLL has appeared on Netflix, I'm pretty sure the entire world has been sucked into it so I'm not going to rattle on about it for too long. I've watched it for nearly 2 years now and a large portion of those two years has been spend scrolling through Tumblr searching for all the latest clues and theories, and I don't regret a moment of it. If you like mystery, detective-style shows then you will love this. I know a lot of people are getting frustrated at not properly knowing who A is yet, but come on, that's the fun of the show. Personally I hope we never find out because the day PLL ends will be a sad day for all. Also, I have to quickly mention that Toby is hella suspicious, as is Hanna, Ashley Marrin knows something, Emily is my favourite liar and I ship Emison a lot. 

Also also, Shay Mitchell, along with my babe Naya Rivera, is my one true love in this world. I'm just waiting for her to realise and love me back.



Orange Is The New Black
Technically OITNB is not a TV series, but it's on Netflix so that counts. I binge watched both series is less than 4 days and to date, it's one of my biggest accomplishments. I regularly rewatch my favourite episodes, and I have a countdown on my phone to when series 3 starts (for which I genuinely considered booking a day off work). OITNB is about a woman's prison with lots of lesbians. If that doesn't take your fancy then I don't know what will. It's also one of the few shows where I really really dislike the main protagonist, but I've fallen so in love with the rest of the characters that that doesn't even matter. On a deeper level, OITNB shows that everyone has a history, everyone has a story - something which I think is easy to forget. Just because these woman are in prison, it doesn't make them fundamentally bad people. Everyone makes mistakes, some are just bigger than others. On the surface level though, Alex Vause *heart eyes emoji*.



Gossip Girl
Oh Gossip Girl. I fell head over heels in love with everything about this show, but in particular, Manhattan. Never has a show made me fall in love with a place so much. Again, I could do an entire blog post on Manhattan but I'll save that for another time. Gossip Girl is such a decadent show, based on characters who live the life of luxury on the Upper East Side, with a mysterious blogger, aka Gossip Girl, spreading rumours about them left right and centre. I think part of the reason I love Gossip Girl so much is because it has such an escapism factor to it, it's so far fetched and so far from everything I know, but it's everything I want in life.
Whenever I sit down to watch an episode (something I do on an almost daily basis), I find myself wishing I was Blair Waldorf; a strong, powerful woman who has Chuck Bass totally wrapped around her little finger. You may notice I have a thing for strong women. 



Orphan Black
Out of all the shows I have mentioned, Orphan Black is by far the most underrated and the most unheard of of the lot. A quick synopsis: Sarah Manning witnesses a girl who looks identical to her commit suicide at the train station. So naturally she steals this woman's identity and finds out that not only is she a clone, but there is an assassin out to kill them all. If that doesn't draw you in, I don't know what will. Tatiana Maslany plays all seven (so far) clones, and she is probably the best, most underrated actress of our time. It can't be easy to play so many characters, especially when there's so many scenes of just some of the clones conversing, but she does it flawlessly. There's only two series so far, but Orphan Black is definitely worth a good binge watch.

And finally, other notable TV shows which you should probably watch: The L Word, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Ugly Betty, Skins, Breaking Bad, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and RuPaul's Drag Race.

Have you got any TV series recommendations for me?

Georgia
xxx