Mooncup First Impressions

Warning: This post will contain in depth talk regarding menstruation and the female reproductive system.

I remember a few years back when I was in university and I first came across the idea of a menstrual cup. I was fascinated, but also very grossed out by the idea. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of ever using such a device. Somehow I kept it in the back of my mind, and each time I looked it up, I became more and more interested in the idea. Really I had no motivation to try the device because I was on the combined pill, and I made it so I would only have a period every 2-3 months anyway, so I didn't see the point in investing in one. Then just before Christmas I came off of my pill for a short while, and then when I wanted to be put back onto it, I was advised that I was now too overweight (more on this coming soon). As such I had to be put on the single hormone pill, which you still have regular periods on. This meant that once a month I now had to have my period, whether I liked it or not. So I bit the bullet and ordered myself a Mooncup in size B.

Triple Chocolate Mug Cake

Delicious triple chocolate mug cake

This week I didn't have as much time for baking as I would have liked, but I still wanted to share a recipe with you, so I chose to make a mug cake. Mug cakes are quick and easy to make, and can usually be made with a few simple ingredients that you should have in your cupboard.

Wishlist Wednesday: H! by Henry Holland

It's been a really long time since I had a good proper look at clothing, and H! by Henry Holland at Debenhams is by far one of my favourite labels. Their clothes are just so cute, and they have a good mix of basic staples and statement pieces. Here are some of the things that I picked out from the current collection that I would love to own!

The Doctor Who Experience

A couple of weeks ago Tim decided to take me away for a weekend in Cardiff to celebrate my 24th birthday. He has been trying to plan for us to go to the Doctor Who Experience for such a long time, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. That was until that weekend, and I was just super excited to delve into the world of Dr. Who.

Super Simple Shortbread Biscuits

Welcome back to baking on my blog! I'm hoping that this will once again become a weekly feature, seeing as everyone seems to enjoy reading these kinds of posts, and of course I absolutely love creating them. This week I decided to do something simple, and delicious, Shortbread!

Wishlist Wednesday: Disney Mugs

This week I've really been feeling very Disney, so I knew that when it came to my wishlist post that I would be looking at some Disney related items. I went to the Disney store website, and was immediately drawn to the mugs, they have such a beautiful selection, and I could easily own all of them! Instead I picked a small selection of mugs that I knew would be top of my list.

Happy Valentines Day!

I remember a time when I was single, and I absolutely hated Valentines day. In fact I remember a time when I was in a relationship and still didn't like Valentines day. Thankfully since meeting my current boyfriend, and love of my life (sick buckets at the ready everyone!), I really enjoy Valentines Day. I am a very lucky girl and Tim always spoils me rotten on Valentines Day (not that he doesn't the rest of the year).

The Oracle Valentines Event with Urban Decay

A few days ago I was sent an invitation for an event that got me very excited. It was a Valentines makeover event at Urban Decay in the House of Fraser at The Oracle shopping centre in Reading. Of course I jumped at the chance to get my makeup done, especially as I had never had it done at an Urban Decay counter before. So yesterday evening I made the journey into Reading, all set to be pampered like mad.

On arrival we were offered a sparkling drink, but as this was alcoholic I declined. Then once everyone had arrived the team started by giving us a little brand introduction to Urban Decay. I was obviously aware of Urban Decay before this event, particularly for their eyeshadow palettes, and eye primer potion. The team told us that Urban Decay was founded in 1996, because the founder thought that there was a distinct lack of colour in high end makeup. They also told us that their most popular products (other than the Naked palettes) are their setting sprays. 

Then we moved on to the makeover part of the event, and they explained that as it is Valentines this weekend that they would do the makeover as sort of a 'speed date'. So each of the team had their own station of either complexion, eyes, and lips. We would then take turns rotating around the stations until we had our makeup completed!

Master at work

That's a lot of face products...

I started by having my base done by the lovely Bradley. He started by lining up all of the products that he was going to use on me, as shown above. He did pick out three foundations to colour match me, but I advised I was most likely the lightest shade they had, and that was definitely the case. So we started with the B6 vitamin prep spray, to keep the skin happy. Followed by the pore perfecting primer, which is silicone based to help smooth out the pores, for a more flawless finish. Then we went onto the Naked Skin foundation, which I was personally dying to try. As soon as he put the foundation on I really noticed how light it felt, I really didn't feel like I had anything on. I was also very delighted and surprised that this covered a lot of my redness on my cheeks, and also a few blemishes that I had too. Then he used the Naked skin concealer, again in the lightest shade, this was just used under my eyes, to cover up my dark circles. We next moved on to the Naked skin ultra definition powder foundation, in the lightest shade. He used this to powder the foundation and concealer, as I had asked for a particularly matte finish, which is my favourite kind, due to having oily skin. To add a little colour and glow back into my face with the skin we used the bronzer and highlighter from the lightest Naked flushed palette. Finally we finished with the De-slick makeup setting spray, designed to control oil, and keep your makeup looking flawless.

The finished complexion

After having my skin done, I got to watch a few of the other girls having their makeup done, whilst waiting for one of the stations to become available. I always really enjoying watching people having their makeup done, I think it's something to do with the transformation.

Lisa of United Cakedom having her eye makeup done

Another complexion consultation in progress

After watching a few of the ladies having their makeup done it was time for me to move to the next station, lips. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of this being done to me, but all he did was use the 24/7 Glide-on lip liner in bang, which is a lovely bright red, all over the lips, and then on top used one of the Revolution lipsticks in a darker red. For the life of me I cannot remember what the shade he used was called, but the finished effect was a lovely sultry red, perfect for Valentines day.

A lip consultation in progress

Unfortunately I never made it to the eyes station, as the store closed at 8pm, and although the team were very happy to continue working on us, the shutters had gone down and we needed to vacate the shop. The team however were kind enough to suggest us booking in another time to come and get our full face done, which I am certainly planning to do! Finally we were given a Hotel Chocolat goody bag, and the team at Urban Decay were even kind enough to give us a goodie bag, which was very generous of them. 

Upon getting home and opening my goody bag I was delighted to see that it was bursting with Urban Decay products that I had never tried before! I will be doing an entirely separate post with swatches of everything I received but for now here is everything that I got in my goody bags:

• Hotel Chocolat Passion Fruit Truffles
• Urban Decay Little Perversions Set (includes: Mascara, precision eyeliner, all nighter eyeliner, lash primer, glide-on eyeliner pencil - all travel sized)
• 2 x Urban Decay glide-on eye pencils in Desperation and Deep End
• Urban Decay Brow Beater pencil and brush
• Urban Decay eyeshadow in Bust
• Urban Decay Afterglow Blush in Kinky
• Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Streak

As you can see we were very spoilt by the team, and I just want to say a massive thank you to Lauren of Frank PR for inviting me along to the event in the first place, also a big thank you to House of Fraser for hosting us! It was so great to get to meet some bloggers, and get our makeup done. I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday night.

Let me know in the comments what your favourite Urban Decay products are?

Valentines Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Beautiful marble effect heart brownies

It's about time that I got back into baking on this blog, and what better time to start than Valentines Day? I saw this recipe for some beautiful heart shaped Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies from Kawaiisweetworld on Youtube, and I knew that I had to give them a go. I will admit that I'm not 100% that I got the cheesecake part of this recipe right, but I'll get to that in a minute. You will also require Cup Measures for this particular recipe.

Ingredients needed for the recipe.

Ingredients for the Brownie:

• 1 Cup Caster Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter (113g)
• Pinch of Salt
• Red food Colouring (measurements mentioned below)
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 Cup of Plain Flour

Ingredints for the Cheesecake:

• 8oz Cream Cheese 
• 1/4 Cup of Caster Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg

Special Equipment:

• Cup Measures
• 8" x 8" pan: the one I used was about 8" x 11" so don't worry too much if the one you have is a little bigger
• Heart shaped cutter

Brownie making steps.

We start by preheating the oven to 170 degrees Fan (190 degress/Gas mark 5). Whilst the oven is preheating you will need to grease your tin, for which I used some of the extra butter I had. I then lined the tin with greaseproof paper, which will assist in removing the brownies later. 

To get started with the mix, first combine the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl, giving them a good mix. Next we add the red food colouring and this is where some guessing work comes in. The recipe I used states to use either 1 tsp of gel food colouring, OR 1 tbsp of liquid colouring. I used a cheap Tesco liquid food colour, and as such ended up using almost 3 tbsp of the food colouring. This is completely up to you, and your own discretion, add colouring until you are happy with the red colour you have gotten with your brownie mix. Once you are happy with the colour, you add your eggs one by one, giving a good mix in between each addition. The last thing to add is the flour, and just mix until completely combined. Then what you want to do is keep back about 1/3 cup of your mixture in a separate bowl for later, this is what we will use for the marbling effect.

Cheesecake steps, and brownie assembly.

Take the majority of your mixture and tip it into your prepared tin, smoothing the mixture out with a knife, to make it as even as possible. Set this aside and move on to the cheesecake mixture, for which all you need to do is combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Now once this was done I realised that my cheesecake mixture was very runny, unlike in the video. I Googled how much 8oz was and Google told me 226g, which is what I used, however in hindsight I think I would have just used the full container of cream cheese (280g) and that may have made it a bit thicker.

I poured the cheesecake mixture over the top of the brownie in the tin, and then smoothed it out over the mixture, making sure it was completely covered. This is when you bring back the mixture that you held back earlier. To make the marble design you simply need to blob the mixture all over the top of the cheesecake then run a knife through it to swirl it around. This was quite difficult as my cheesecake mixture was so runny, I think if the cheesecake mixture was thicker it would have been so much easier.

Then they went off into the oven for 30 minutes. Once they were baked I removed them from the oven and allowed them to cool completely in the tin. The final step once cool, was to cut out my heart shapes. The recipe on the Youtube video states that it should make around 11 heart shaped brownies, I managed to cut 9 out of mine. I think this completely depends on the size of your cookie cutter, I went for a medium sized brownie, but had I made them slightly smaller I think I could have gotten the 11 she mentions in the recipe.

The final result

Considering that before they went in the over my marbling looked a little bit pants, I am really happy with how these turned out. These are the perfect valentines treat for your special someone who has a bit of a sweet tooth. I personally think that they look really impressive seeing that they were simple to make. Upon tasting them I am even more convinced that my boyfriend is going to love eating these, and I know as much as he loves his sweets, they are all the more sweeter when I have made them especially for him.

Are you planning on baking anything for your special someone for Valentines day?

Wishlist Wednesday: Valentines Day Gifts

In case you didn't already know, it's Valentines day this Sunday, and I don't know about you but I already know what I am hoping to receive this Valentines. To make it easier on my boyfriend I like to make him a list with plenty of options for him to chose from. However he doesn't have to get me something from this list, he can just use this list as a sort of inspiration...

1. Chamilia Captured Hearts Charm: £45

2. Personalised Photo Frame Keepsafe Box: £17.95

3. Personalised 'Things I Love About You...' Pie Chart Poster: £12.99

4. Navy Heart Padlock Handbag: £17.60

5. Our Story Personalised Timeline Poster: £17.99

6. Nicky Clarke Hair Dryer: £34.95

7. Rose Gold Cushion Ring: £275

8. Square LED Mirror: £43.23

9. Rose Gold Plated Heart Necklace: £35

I will admit that I did put a little something in there that I really don't expect to receive because of the price of it, but a girl can dream right?

Let me know in the comments what you are hoping to receive for Valentines day?

Kiko January Sales Haul

So it feels like it's been an age since I purchased these products and they have been sitting in their lovely bright red Kiko bag, waiting to have their pictures taken so they could feature on the blog. So I finally got my bum in gear, and managed to snap everything that I bought from Kiko around the time of the January sales. Not all of these products were on sale, some of them just caught my attention and had to be bought. I also had a £30 voucher for the Oracle in Reading, so I knew that I just had to spend it all in Kiko. So let's take a closer look at what I ended up getting.

Cosmic Starlets Double Glam Liner: 117

 My first purchase was this double ended eyeliner which I had been looking at ever since the Oracle Blogger Event that I went to in November. This particular one caught my eye because it has the perfect dark colour for doing your waterline/lash line, but then it also has this really pretty shimmery shade which is amazing for doing your inner corner highlight, or even a brow bone highlight. The formula of these eyeliners is really creamy, meaning you don't have to press too hard to get a good colour pay off, which is always a bonus with products you use around the eyes, because of the area's sensitive nature. This eyeliner came from the Cosmic Starlets collection, which was Kiko's Christmas 2015 collection, and was reduced down to only £4.80, which is a bargain for two eyeliners.

 Mat Base Corrector Primer, Full Coverage Concealer in 01

The next two items I purchased are all year round products, and were things that I was in desperate need of at the time of purchase. The first item is the Mat Base Corrector Primer, which I picked up because of how oily my skin is recently. Currently whenever I wear make up it just seems to slide off of my face, particularly around my T-zone, and then I get very shiny. So I thought a matte primer would be the perfect solution. This particular one is very thick and tacky, making it perfect for my foundation to grip onto, and it was only £8.90. The second item on my 'basics' list was a new concealer, particularly for my under-eye area. As I have such big eyes, I tend to get massive dark circles underneath them, and I really struggle to cover them up. I have tried many a concealer, including Benefit's Boi-ing Concealer and none seem to do the trick. With that in mind I thought I would see what Kiko had to offer and I came across their Full Coverage Concealer. After a quick swatch on the back of my hand it certainly seemed to give a good coverage, so I popped one in my basket to give a go, at £7.50 I thought it was probably worth a try.

 Rebel Romantic Metallic Shine Eyeshadows in 01, 02, and 04

The next items that caught my eye were these Rebel Romantic Metallic Shine Eyeshadows. I am a big sucker for anything shiny, and these eyeshadows are certainly that. When I dipped my finger in the tester pots I was surprised at how velvety they felt, unlike any other kind of eyeshadow I had ever tried. Then I knew I had to have one, and when I say one, I mean one of all the colours that caught my eye, and I settled on 01, 02 and 04. 01 is a lovely silvery and yet creamy shade which is another perfect brow bone highlight, or even for just a small shimmer on the centre of the eyelid. 02 is a lovely pink champagne kind of colour, which I thought went beautifully with 01, and could easily be put in the same eye look. Then finally I settled on 04, which is a deep navy blue which almost appears black. Blue being my favourite colour I knew that I couldn't leave this one behind, and these little gems were reduced to £3.40 each.

Campus Idol Double Match Lipstick & Liners in Cool Rose and Strawberry Pop, Campus Idol Double Dare Eyeshadow & Liner in Copper and Chocolate

Finally whilst in the store I managed to stumble across Kiko's latest cosmetic collection, Campus Idol. The packaging is very bright, and mainly in primary colours, and each box has their own Kiko crest on them which makes them seem even more preppy. It was the Double Match Lipsticks that initially caught my eye, because not only do you get the lipstick, but you also get a matching lip liner in the other end, making these the perfect lip product to slip in your handbag on a night out. I was immediately drawn to the Cool Rose colour, as this seems like it would make a great nude colour for someone as pale as myself. Then my eye was drawn to Strawberry pop, which is a beautiful bright pink colour, with a hint of red in it. I was trying to chose between the two considering everything else that I had already picked up, but in the end I just couldn't decide, so I picked up both for £7.90 each. Finally I came across the Double Dare Eyeshadow and Eyeliner sticks, and after swatching a few I fell head over heels for the Copper eyeshadow, which comes with a chocolate coloured eyeliner, which I honestly don't normally wear, but for that copper eyeshadow I knew I would give it a go, and at £7.90 I knew I couldn't leave the copper behind.

So there is everything that I bought in the January sales, did you manage to get to Kiko in time for the sales? Let me know in the comments what your favourite item of my haul is?

25 Before 25 Goals List

Every year around the time of my birthday I write a list of goals that I want to achieve before I reach my next birthday and my next age. If you would like to see how I got on with last years list then you can read all about it here. So what would I like to achieve this year?

1. Become a healthy weight: This is always on my goals list, but this year it is more important than ever. The other day I checked my BMI, and I am only a few points off of being classed as morbidly obese. It was a great shock to me. I'll be writing more about this very soon...
2. Get my career on track: Again the same as last year, I still need to 100% pick what I want to do and stick to it, and start working towards it.
3. Make at least 2 Youtube videos a month: Ideally I want to post one Youtube video a week, but sometimes that may not be possible, so I think at least one video every fortnight is a much more realistic goal.
4. Move out of Tim's Parents place: Tim and I have been living with his parents for almost an entire year now, and it's really beginning to wear thin. We really need our own space, and we are CRAVING it.
5. Become 80% Fluent in Spanish: The app I use to learn Spanish (Duolingo) tells me that I am currently 30% fluent in Spanish, so by next year I hope to be at least 80% if not 100% fluent in Spanish.
6. Enter into the Race for Life again: Last year my goal was to beat my Race for Life time, however I didn't even manage to enter, so this year I'm going back to basics with this goal.
7. Try a new exercise/sport: I am really keen to get fit, and I would absolutely love to take up a new sport, due to my seriously competitive nature I feel like it would help me get into exercise.
8. Take a holiday outside of the UK: It doesn't have to be somewhere far away, and it doesn't even have to be a long holiday but I haven't left the UK since 2010... That is FAR too long ago.
9. Make new friends: One of the things I missed the most about being at Uni, is being surrounded by my best friends. I miss that feeling so much, so I need to get some local besties in my life!
10. Create a new make up look every week for my Instagram: I have a separate Instagram account for my MUA work, and at the moment it is very neglected, so I hope to create a new make up look every week (mainly on myself), to showcase. If you would like to follow my make up Instagram you can find it here.
11. Save at least £100 a month: Saving money has never been my strong point, but when I finally have a job sorted, I want to save at least £100 a month.
12. Visit Thorpe Park as many times as humanly possible: At Fright night last year, Tim and I decided to pay a little bit extra and upgrade our tickets to a year pass! So I intend to make the most of it.
13. Keep practising my baking: Before Christmas I was baking every week, and my skills were really improving, I took a break for Christmas and haven't managed to get back into it yet.
14. Finish the video games I own before buying more: I have a huge list of video games sitting and waiting to be played/finished. A full list of these will be available on my 25 Before 25 page.
15. Print Photos and Create a Photo Album/Scrapbook: Nowadays we take plenty of photos, and share them on social media, but how many of our memories do we print and keep close to us? I really want to make a photo album of my favourite photos.
16. Use my DSLR more and learn how to use if properly: Along the lines of the goal above not only do I want to cherish my photos, but I want to take better photos.
17. Go to at least two concerts this year: I really don't go to enough concerts, so I want to go to at least two this year.
18. See a West End Show: I have a long list of shows that I want to go and see in London, and I can't believe that I have reached the age of 24, and never been to see one. Top of my list are War Horse, Wicked, and Hairspray.
19. Write something other than my blog: I love to write, which is why I started this blog, but this is really the only thing that I do write. Really I like to tell a story, so I want to write a short story, or a script or something to that equivalent.
20. Stay Sober: I have now been sober for an entire year, and I plan to keep it that way.
21. Get a Tattoo?: This one has a question mark next to it because I am constantly on and off about whether I actually want to have a tattoo.
22. Do a 'couples class' with Tim: Whether it be couples cooking, or something else, I think it would be great fun to do a class together!
23. Volunteer at an Animal rescue: This is something I have always wanted to do, and I really should do this whilst I can.
24. Go on a road trip, and SHARE the driving: Tim and I often go off for weekends away, but he always drives. I'd like to go on a proper road trip with him where we share the driving. Ideally a road trip across America, but do I see that happening this year? NOPE!
25. Do something new every month: Such as horse-riding, Yoga, crafting etc.

So there you have it guys, my 25 Before 25 goals list. It took me SO long to think of all of these, but I am really happy with what I have come up with. Let me know in the comments what your goals are for the next year?

Also don't forget to enter my giveaway here, Three lucky people will win a NYX Liquid Suede of their choice!

Wishlist Wednesday: Adult Colouring Books

In the past year or so adult colouring books have become massively popular. There is something so calming about colouring in a picture, it's almost like a kind of therapy. Whilst for a long time I have been thinking about getting in on this trend, I am still yet to do so. My mum did buy me an adult colouring book for Christmas, but I just haven't had the time/motivation to get it out and give it a go. Either way, I thought I would have a look online and see what other colouring books caught my eye, and here is what I found...

1. Harry Potter Colouring book: £4.99

2. Secret Garden Colouring book: £7.96

3. Enchanted Forest Colouring book: £4.99

4. The Menagerie Colouring book: £3.99

5. The Can't Sleep Colouring book: £5.00

6. Tattoo Designs Colouring book: £5.00

7. Faerie Garden Spring Colouring book: £3.99

8. Inky Garden Colouring book: £6.99

9. Dreamcatcher The Tree of Life Colouring book: £4.99

Do you have any of the colouring books mentioned above? Would you recommend any of them?

24 Years Old Today...

Left to right: Me one year ago, Me last weekend

Today is my 24th birthday, and honestly I feel really unprepared this year. Normally as soon as Christmas is over I start planning for my birthday, and I always have some sort of plan. This year however I have nothing. To be honest a lot of it was down to how I have been really struggling with my mental health, and seriously haven't even been motivated to do anything interesting. Tim did take me to Cardiff for my birthday last weekend, posts on that will be going up later in the month! As for today we are going out for a posh meal together, and then later in the week I am going out for a meal with my family, so it's not really as if we are doing nothing for my birthday.

To celebrate my 24th, I thought I would share with you 24 memories (some good, some bad) from my life so far, in no particular order...

1. One of my most vivid memories is the day that my brother had an epileptic fit. It was summer, I must have been about 7/8, and my dad was looking after us, I was outside riding my bike with a friend and an ambulance pulled up at the end of the close. They wound down the window to ask for directions, and the address they gave was for my house, so I immediately panicked. They rushed in and I remember that my dad wouldn't let me in, and watched through the letterbox. It was such a surreal day... thankfully everything turned out OK though!
   
2.  One of my favourite things that we used to do at School every Easter was to paint eggs. There was a contest every year where you could paint eggs as your favourite characters from books/TV etc. and there were always prizes for the best. I just remember making these with my mum and it was always so fun.
   
3. When I was four my sister was born, when mum brought her home my first question was 'Where is my baby brother?', because my parents had really wanted a boy, and even made me waste a birthday wish on one. It wasn't for another two years that I finally got my baby brother.
   
4. I went to a Church of England primary school as such we celebrated all of the major Christian holidays, one of my favourites was Christingle, because we would spend a whole afternoon making oranges with little skewers of sweets on and a candle on top. Instead of concentrating on making as many as possible, I spent my time eyeing up what everyone else was doing and sussing out which one had the most sweets. This was so that later, at the church service, I could pick up the one with the most sweeties!
   
5. McDonald's birthday parties... I must have had a least four of them, and all it involved was trying to hide in the upstairs area of our local McDonald's playing hide and seek. By the time they actually got a proper party room I was too old for it, and resented them.
   
6. When I was about 6/7 my parents took us all to Disneyland Paris, I was ecstatic. My dad took me on the ghost train a.k.a Phantom Manor, it seriously terrified me. So much so that my teeth started chattering, much like Scooby Doo's, and they wouldn't stop for like an hour afterwards.
   
7. Also during that Paris trip my dad and I started to climb the Eiffel tower, whilst my mum stayed at the bottom with my brother and sister. When we got about half way up dad said, 'Let's get back down, your mum's probably getting cold', so I never got to climb to the top. I think my dad was just scared of heights...
   
8. When I was younger I overheard my mum talking to a friend and they swore, I copied them, and this resulted in my mum shutting me in the garden as punishment, in the dark, and I'm still afraid of the dark...
   
9. Back in my childhood one of mums great friends lived only across the road with her daughter, who still remains one of my best friends. One day we were in her back garden, mum and her had a few drinks, and we were eating ice cream. In their tipsy state our mothers were pouring ice cream sauce into our mouths, this resulted in us getting covered. So my mum decide's she'll run us a bath at our house. I used to have a MASSIVE crate of bath toys, and mum tips it into the bath, and with the toys is a giant spider, so we both scream and get out, and won't get back in until my mum fishes the spider out, which she had to do, whilst drunk...
   
10. In Primary school we always did a nativity play, one year when we had a new teacher they decided to do a 'proper' nativity, it was a play which I believe was called, 'Give thanks to the Angel' and revolved around how the angel was the most important part of Christmas and the Nativity story. Everyone in school wanted to be the angel, but I got chosen, and I was super smug about it!
     
11. One time Me and my mum were watching TV downstairs and my sister was awfully quiet upstairs, so my mum went to check on her. Mum called down to me to come to the bottom of the stairs, and she made my sister show me what she had done. She'd gotten into my 'play make up' and made herself look like a clown, she cried so hard that I couldn't be mad.
    
12. My brother used to have terrible anxiety/travel sickness, and he would always be sick in the car. Mum would make him have a carrier bag in his lap to be sick in, and me and my sister would always scramble to get out the car if he was going to be sick... it was so annoying because he would always do it at the most inappropriate time, thankfully he grew out of it.
    
13. I was bullied a lot in Secondary school, like most people right? Anyhow one time this girl poured a whole pot of yogurt on my head and I had to walk right through the busiest part of the school to get to the teachers lounge. It was the most embarrassing thing ever.
    
14. My childhood dog, Sadie, used to have what we called, 'a funny five minutes' where she was zoom around the living room. She also liked to pull out socks off of our feet, which always made us giggle when we were kids. She was the best dog ever.
    
15. When I was in year 9 I had a fight with a girl from my village. A lot of people had been gossiping and fuelling both sides, telling her I had said things which I hadn't and vice versa, anyway it culminated in her hitting me. So I flew off of a bench at her and we were rolling around on the floor hitting each other. We got in pretty big trouble because potential head teachers were visiting that day.
    
16. I used to be best friends with the vicars daughter, and I'd always go over there to play and stay for dinner. Much to my mother's dismay I repeated a lot of dirty jokes that I overheard at home to the vicar. He was pretty cool about it though, and even found them funny!
    
17. In my younger days we always used to holiday at Butlins in Minehead, and I had a mega crush on a red coat called, 'Shiny Shaun', my parents still taunt me about this.
    
18. In year 10/11 I was a 'Bus Prefect' which meant I oversaw everyone on my bus journey home, and made sure no one got bullied etc. This privilege got revoked however when a year 7 boy at the front of the bus was getting bullied by all of the other year 7's, so I moved him to the back of the bus with me. He clearly wasn't happy with this and his mother complained to the school because I should have moved the boy who was bullying him. Even if I had removed the one main bully the others would have carried on bullying him... I couldn't win.
     
19. When I was applying for university, the head of our sixth-form wrote my reference to the universities, due to a very personal issue that was going on at the time (outside of school). When he gave me a copy to read I was so angry and upset because there were several spelling mistakes in it... I genuinely cried for the rest of the day and thought he had ruined my chances of going to Uni. Thankfully that wasn't the case.
    
20. At university, out at my first social for the student radio station I tried to out-drink a second year. It was pub golf so we had to have a certain drink at each bar, and drink in a certain number of swigs to hit 'par'. This guy kept shouting fresher at me so I said to him if I beat him at pub golf, then he could never call me a fresher again. I was doing so well, then in the second to last pub I threw up. It's the only time I have ever thrown up in the toilets of a pub/bar, and honestly it was the worst, I was so ill that night.
    
21. My graduation day was one of my proudest moments, but at the same time it was SO boring. Sitting through a graduation ceremony takes serious patience. Oh and the guy calling our names pronounced my name wrong... despite me telling the ushers how it was pronounced...
    
22. I once got an after school detention for drinking beer on the bus journey home, I had one sip. I literally had the worst luck with getting caught out for things like this.
    
23. I once turned up for a Lady Gaga concert a whole day before the actual date of the concert. For some reason myself (and my boyfriend at the time) were so sure it was on a Wednesday night, so we got ready and my dad drove us all the way up there. When we got to the gate the guy informed us the concert wasn't until the next day, needless to say my dad was really pissed, and I felt like a right muppet.
    
24. I went on a Spanish Exchange trip when I was in year 9/10, and we visited a monastery, and did a Tai Chi class. Whilst we were doing some breathing exercises my friend had a really funny turn and became faint. A teacher and instructor took her and I aside and we got to me what I believe they called the 'head llama' of the monastery. He told my friend to close her eyes and picture him if she ever felt faint ever again. I was thinking, 'well this is a load of bollocks' and he turned to me, looked me deep in the eyes, and said, 'and you also'. I was convinced that he had just read my mind...

So there you have it folks, 24 memories from my life so far. I hope they have been an interesting read for you all. Let me know in the comments if you relate to any of these?

Foundations I Want to Try

Welcome back to my blog everyone, I want to try and spend more time writing about specific topics on my blog, as well as adding in random bits and pieces. One of the topics that I am going to be writing more about, is Beauty. So that will include a lot of make up mainly, with maybe a bit of hair care and skin care thrown in. Today however I want to talk foundations. I don't know about you guys, but I am yet to find my 'holy grail' foundation, I have tried a few foundations that I sort of like, but never found one that I am so in love with that I would never switch away from it. Due to this I always have a lot of foundations in my wish list, and below are just a few of them...

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 I have tried a tester of Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation and I have heard from a fair few people that the L'oreal True Match foundation is a good high street dupe for Double Wear. I did enjoy double wear but at £30 for the bottle I can hardly justify buying it for day to day use. True Match comes in at £9.99 on Superdrug's website (currently on offer for £7.99), so is only a fraction of the price of double wear. At this price it's definitely worth a try.

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This is a foundation that I am forever seeing my favourite Youtubers using, but have never really thought about buying myself. The name itself Nars 'Sheer Glow' has always put me off of it because I am not really a fan of a 'dewy' finish, and I just always assumed that was what you would get with this. However the other day I saw a post in a Facebook group I am a part of, and the poster was talking about having the same feelings about this foundation, however they gave it a try. What they found is that this is actual quite full coverage and isn't too dewy. Based on that post alone I have decided that I really want to give this a go. I am still having a serious think about it though because this foundation is £31...

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Last but not least is the Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation. Urban Decay is one of my favourite brands for eyeshadow, so why not try their foundation? This is another one that I have seen a fair amount of Youtubers using, and have always wondered about. Another thing that is pushing me towards this foundation is that I would like to try a high end foundation, as I am very prone to only ever spending less than £10 on a foundation, which I then never stick to. It's because of this that I wonder whether I would get more out of trying a high end foundation. This is another pretty pricey foundation at £27, but it is cheaper than the Nars Sheer Glow. Definitely something for me to think about anyway.

So there you have it, three foundations that I would like to try. Do you have any of the above foundations? Would you recommend them? If not, what would you recommend instead?