New Beginnings.

Topic 16 of the Blogger Challenge was to write about new beginnings. As I'm moving to University in 13 days (eek!) and I started my first job yesterday, it's a perfect topic!

I've been wanting a job pretty much since I started A levels 2 years ago but could never find anywhere to hire me as I had no experience and wasn't 18. During A2 exam time, I applied for a few jobs for over the summer and heard back from Marks and Spencer and Waitrose. The Marks and Spencer job didn't work out (luckily as it wasn't particularly nice in that one!) but I got an interview and job offer from Waitrose which I was really surprised about! I did my first shift there yesterday and really enjoyed it, I love getting to talk to the friendlier customers! My co-workers are also really friendly so I know I'm going to love it there!

I've started talking to a few people from my course and everyone is so lovely - it's making me really excited to start at Reading! I was a bit hesitant originally as it's so close to home but the more I think of the pros vs cons, the only con is the distance so it's an overall winner really! The course is fantastic, the campus is gorgeous, the people are amazing and the lecturers are enthusiastic about their subjects so I can live with not moving away from somewhere I know.

I'll keep you guys updated with my Uni stuff as it happens - not long now!
Jess xx

The Perfect Pair!

Topic 15 of the 2014 Blogger Challenge was to write about a pair that we think works perfectly together. The first thing that came into my mind was my favourite colour combination - navy and white! It's classy, pretty and suits me really well, plus there are so many pattern combinations that it's just perfect! Navy is basically a neutral so it also means that make up colours I can use isn't restricted!

I've decided to bring together my favourite outfits featuring navy and white that I found online as inspiration.

1. Casual chic.

Picture from here

I love this outfit, it's so casual and chic, I'd happily wear this out to meet up with friends. I also really love the mint colour trainers, they're so pretty! I'm also a sucker for a good scarf so this is just an all round great outfit!

2. Classy casual.

Picture from here

This outfit is more classy and dressed up and something I'd be more likely to wear out and about. I love the riding boots and the stripes!

3. Pop of colour.

Picture from here

I love that this outfit is nearly all navy and white apart from the lipstick and shoes - it gives the outfit another dimension and it's gorgeous! 

4. Just add a blazer!

Picture from here

This outfit is everything I love - blazer, navy, white, polka dots, heels and pretty coloured jeans. Yes please. 

I love all of these outfits and I wish I had everything to create them as I'd wear them all! 

Jess xx

Topic 14

Top 6 Films.

I've finally caught up with the 2014 Blogger Challenges! Topic 14 is about films and a I've decided to write a list of my top 6 films!

1. Aristocats

Easily my favourite Disney film. I learnt how to play 'Everybody wants to be a cat' on piano when I still played and the other songs are great too!

2. My Fair Lady

I watched this on YouTube about a week ago and I loved it! Audrey Hepburn is such a brilliant actress and I love the songs in this film!

3. Despicable Me 1 & 2

I know this is technically 2 films but I love them both so much, I couldn't pick which to put as my favourite! The first one is great but the second is probably better by millimetres as I find it so funny but cute with Lucy!

4. Notting Hill

Best. Film. Ever. Honestly my favourite film; I could watch this all day every day! It's such a brilliant rom-com! Spike is probably one of my favourite characters across all of the films I've seen, he's so funny!

5. You've Got Mail

I've only seen this a couple of times, it's so good! It's also about books and what they mean to people which is obviously a huge plus in my eyes!

6. My Week With Marilyn

Eddie Redmayne and Emma Watson in the same film is always going to be good but this is incredible. I had to study Marilyn Monroe in GCSE history so this film is a fascinating take on the missing diary entries of Colin Clark's from when Marilyn was shooting The Prince and the Showgirl at Pinewood Studios! It's such a great look behind the scenes at one of film's most renowned icons (even though it's partially fictional) and I really loved it.

I always find it difficult to decide on favourites but I think this is as close as I'm going to get to a top selection...I'll probably have changed my mind by next week!
Jess xx

Topic 13

Recipes!

Topic 12 of the blogger challenge is to write about recipes so I found some yummy things that I want to try to make at some point! I've already done a similar post here for a previous blogger challenge.

Peach Lemonade

This looks so nice and easy to make - I love lemonade and peaches so it's perfect.

Lavender Blackberry Scones

I love scones, they're one of the first things I learnt to make and these sound really good!

Healthy Smoothies

There isn't an external link because all of the information is on the picture! I want to try out some smoothies at uni so these seem good!

Jess xx

Lipstick Love!

For topic 11 of the blogger challenge,  we have to write about collections. As I already did a post about my nail polish collection for a previous topic, I decided to do a top 5 for my other make up collection; lipsticks! 

I have over 50 lip products so it's quite difficult to decide on my favourites but I think I've managed to cut them down to a top 5 pinks and others!

The Pinks

Left to right: MUA Luxe Velvet Lacquer in Funk, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink in the Afternoon, Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick by Kate Moss in 101,
Chanel Coco Rouge in 62 Irrésistible, Sleek Matte Me in Petal.

I mostly wear pink lipstick as it suits me really well, looks good all year round and goes with a majority of my outfits.
For a few months earlier this year, I became obsessed with light pink lipsticks and found the holy grail when I discovered Revlon's Pink in the Afternoon. It's creamy and has the nicest colour that in my opinion is a perfect light pink lipstick.
Rimmel's Kate Moss Matte lipstick is also a brilliant pale pink but is matte instead. This line is easily one of my favourites and this shade doesn't disappoint. This lipstick is equal with the Revlon for colour I think, maybe even slightly better, but is a bit less natural due to it being matte.
Funk is another matte lipstick but it's a liquid lipstick which means it applies with an applicator. This makes it a little trickier to apply but I love this colour and the look it gives - for £3 it creates a gorgeous lip and the colour doesn't budge for ages compared to usual lipsticks which is a major plus! This is the best lipstick I have for staying power out of the 10 I am showing by far, possibly in my entire collection! I just wish they did a bigger range of colours!
Petal is a newer discovery and is really gorgeous; I've worn it so many times already! It's another matte liquid lipstick and I would say it is most similar to Rimmel's 101 in colour, maybe a little darker. This one was easier to remove than the MUA but the extra price is still worth it as Sleek have a better colour range.
The Chanel lipstick is honestly my most loved lipstick as it's my first proper high end lipstick (MAC not being counted...I mean over £15). Mum bought it as an end of exams present when we last went to London as a family. It has a shimmer to it and is slightly darker than the other pinks but is so wearable and I tend to just put it on as I'm about to leave when I can't choose a colour to wear as it goes with everything! It also has a faint smell of rose which is absolutely heavenly, it reminds me of my macarons! It also lasts for a long time despite not being matte. I really want to save up and get some more of these lipsticks as they're so pretty and the colour range available is just incredible!

Left to right: Funk, Pink in the Afternoon, 101, 62 Irrésistible, Petal.

The Others

I decided that I had far too many favourites (and pinks!) To do just one top 5, so these are my favourites out of my other lipstick shades that I own!

Sorry for the slightly out of focus photos - the lighting was really iffy so I eventually gave up and picked the best out of a really bad bunch!

Left to right: Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker gloss stick in Raplumzel, Miners The Matte Factor in Deep Red,
Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in 107, The Body Shop Born Lippy stick Lip Balm in Plum,
MAC Amplified in Dark Deed.

The darker colours I own are mostly for Autumn and Winter as they go better with my outfits during that time. However, sometimes I feel like cracking out a red lip in Summer to mix things up a bit and I wear either Rimmel's Matte Lipstick in 107 or Miners' matte liquid lipstick in Deep Red as they're both great colours with long wear times. 107 is a darker red while Deep Red is closer to a dark pink despite the name. However, both are great and even though the swatches aren't brilliant, they are really lovely and matte. The Rimmel is my favourite of the two as it smells amazing and feels better on the lips. The Miners is still good and smells sweeter, like vanilla cupcakes but is trickier to apply as it requires an applicator, like the MUA and Sleek colours.

The Soap and Glory gloss stick is such a gorgeous colour that, despite being glossy, lasts for quite a while and looks amazing while giving off great colour. I have this in a pink that I got with a set around Christmas but I prefer this as the colour is super pretty.

The body shop lip balm is tinted so I counted it here as I've been wearing it a lot recently because it's so moisturising! The colour it gives off is obviously subtle but it's really pretty and gives a nice wash of colour. It also smells amazing - I think it's quite similar to the Maybelline Baby Lips and I think this one is more comfortable on the lips apart from Cherry Me, which is still a firm favourite. 

Dark Deed was bought for me as part of a pack this Christmas and I absolutely love it. It's the darkest lipstick I own so it's not brought out often because it's quite difficult to wear but when I do, it's perfect. It doesn't last as long as I would like but I have a lip liner that came with it to solve that problem. 

Left to right: Raplumzel, Deep red, 107, Plum and Dark Deed.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, I know I enjoyed really looking through my lipstick collection and choosing my favourites. Let me know some of your favourites and what you think of these! 

Jess xx

Hairspiration

Topic 10 of the blogger challenge was hair so I decided to put together a list of people & pictures that I would love to have hair like. My hair is quite poofy and frizzy and refuses to do what I want so a post about mine was out of the question.

1. Carrie - wishwishwish

Carrie has the prettiest of hairstyles and manages to pull of everything she does - I'm super jealous as it always looks so perfect! Can we also appreciate how gorgeous her outfits are too?! She always dresses so nicely.

She proves that you don't have to have super long hair (I sure don't!) to be able to do pretty and different things with your hair.

Picture from here

Picture from here

Picture from here

Picture from here

2. Zoe - Zoella

Pretty much everyone loves her but there's obviously a reason for that right?! I wish my hair was that long and still looked that good.

Picture from here

Picture from here

Picture from here

3. Carly - thecollegeprepster

I love her style so much and her hair is just amazing - this is the length I would love to have some day!

Picture from here

Picture from here

Picture from here

These are my current hairspirations that I can think of off the top of my head! 

Jess xx

Ingrid Michaelson - Lights Out

Exams brought my blogging to a halt, including the blogger challenges. That means I'm going to have to catch up with them and fast! 

Topic 9 was the first that I missed and it was about music. I've decided to do an album review for Ingrid Michaelson's Lights Out which came out just before this post was originally due! 

I've loved Ingrid's music for a long time and this album is no exception. It's a bit different from her older stuff as she had other writers helping her this time but I love it all the same! 

1. Home

I love this song, it has such a great tune.

2. Girls Chase Boys

Probably in my top 3 of the album - the video is also brilliant! It has such a great message and a catchy tune!

3. Wonderful Unknown (ft. Greg Laswell)

A slower song, but I love it! 

4. You Got Me (ft. Storyman)

This is such a different and more upbeat, poppy song for Ingrid but her and Storyman's voices work really well together to make a really great song.

5. Warpath

Easily in my top 3. Another upbeat song that I'm in love with - so easy to dance to and sing along to!

6. Handsome Hands

It's quite a slow song and I don't think it's as good as the others on the album. It picks up towards the end but I find it a little boring if I'm honest.

7. Time Machine

This one is a mix of pop and rock and is in my top 3, it's so catchy and memorable, I absolutely love this song and I'm constantly singing and humming it!

8. One Night Town (ft. Mat Kearney)

Another poppy and upbeat song. Too much 'ooh-ing' for my liking but it's still a good song!

9. Open Hands (ft. Trent Dabbs)

Not as good as the others in my opinion but it isn't bad - I just have others I would listen to over it.

10. Ready to Lose (ft. Trent Dabbs)

Another slow song but it's still pretty good! 

11. Stick

Okay...maybe I have a top 4. It's such a great song; less poppy than some of the others and it gives a nice mix!

12. Afterlife

A less dancy tune but equally memorable, I love it!

13. Over You (ft. A Great Big World)

Another great slow song - it's sweet and their voices are really nice together!

14. Everyone is Gonna Love Me Now

A lovely song to finish the album on, another slow one!

Overall I love the album and like with most others, it has stronger songs but its generally really good! If you haven't heard of Ingrid, I would definitely recumbent listening to her - the album is on Spotify and probably on YouTube too! 

Jess xx

1 down, 7 to go!

I've just come home from my first exam of the year which went quite well so I decided to do a quick blog post! 

- I hit 200 bloglovin' followers the other day which I'm so happy about, such a nice thing to have happen - I love that people are still reading my blog! 

- I've been quite ill for the last three days, pyjamas and flat lemonade have been my best friends.

- The only thought that has been getting me through revision is my plan to go to London the day after my exams finish...hurry up 18th June! 

- I bought a ticket to my secondary school's year 13 prom that I get to go to with my old friends and I'm so excited! My dress is so pretty and in the post! I should be getting it in the next couple of weeks so look out for that!

- I will be posting all of my 2014 Blogger Challenge posts that I've missed after exams, I'm going to try and make them extra special instead of rushing them and not really doing anything for them! 

- I haven't painted my nails for ages and it feels so weird. I just don't have the time to paint them at the moment sadly! 

Hope you guys enjoyed this little post, I hope to do a couple more as the month goes by - only 1 month and 2 days left until my exams are finished! 

Jess xx

A day out with an OOTD!

I MAY have forgotten to do a post for topic 7 of the Blogger Challenge so I've tried to incorporate it into this topic post as for my outfit post, I went to Reading as a revision break and had a friend take the photos there!

Topic 7 was to do a post about a day we've had and Topic 8 is to do a post about a Spring OOTD.

We had a walk around Waterstones which is always an amazing thing, I love bookshops!

We also went to Krispy Kreme and I had a Raspberry Chocolate Truffle doughnut! It was amazing!

I bought Paris by Edward Rutherfurd in Waterstones, a Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive from Boots and MUA lipsticks in shades 2, 3 and 8 from Superdrug!

Left to right: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive, MUA lipstick shade 2, 

MUA lipstick shade 3, MUA lipstick shade 8.

I had a really good day and it was a lot of fun to just hang around and relax instead of revising!

I thought that I would show an outfit that didn't include jeans so I decided to wear one of my favourite dresses! It was one of those odd days where it's sunny and warm one minute but bitterly cold the next, hence the sunglasses and boots and tights in one outfit!

Dress: H! by Henry Holland at Debenhams

Tights: M&S

Boots: Next

Sunglasses: Ted Baker

Lipstick: Rimmel Kate Mattel Lipstick in 008

Hope you guys enjoyed this mix up of topic posts! I've never done outfit posts because I've never been able to find someone to take photos for me so thanks Rob!

Jess xx

Challenge post 6

A bonus photo...what happens when I fail at keeping my balance!

Food, glorious food!

For this time round, our topic for the Blogger Challenge is food!

As I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands, I don't get the opportunity to cook much but when I get the chance, I love it! I'm actually not bad either which is always a good sign with Uni and having to cook for myself looming over my head!

As I wasn't really sure what to do for this post, I've decided to find links to recipes of sweet food/snacks I would like to try and make at some point in the future!

White Chocolate Candy Corn Popcorn

I was obviously going to include this - an improvement on my current favourite treat!

Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll

I love cinnamon and this looks so nice! I can't wait to make this one day!

Pink Lemonade Doughnuts

You may have realised I have a bit of a sweet tooth...these sound amazing and I assume they can be made with any fruit juice!

If you guys try any of these, tell me how they go!
Jess xx

Challenge post five.

My Nail Polish collection!

For this month's 2014 Blogger Challenge post, we have to write about something to do with nails and as I wrote a review of my favourite polish yesterday (well done Jess...very clever planning there...), I've decided to show you the rest of my collection!

Apart from lipsticks, nail polishes are my weakness and I own too many in my mum's eyes. As far as I'm concerned, they're all gorgeous and wearable colours that I will use over and over again when the occasion arises and they're all as necessary as each other!

From the top pink going clockwise: The Girls are Out, Naughty Nautical, Bahama Mama, Chinchilly,
Orange, It's Obvious, Tea and Crumpets, Mademoiselle, Ballet Slippers, To Buy or Not to Buy,
Mojito Madness, Muchi Muchi, Tart Deco, Turquoise et Caicos, Aruba Blue.

My most collected brand of  polish is Essie, of which I own 14. I got 6 from Fragrance Direct for Christmas at £1.99 each and the rest have been bought at Boots over the last year or so. The 3 for 2 offer they have has saved me a pretty penny in that time! The colour range available is gorgeous and I always get so confused when trying to cut down the colours I want to buy to three because I love nearly all of them! The quality of these polishes is second to none and they're easily my favourite in all areas. The consistency is amazing, colours great, application brilliant and it always looks professional as the colours are strong as opaque. Add a base/top coat and you have a long lasting set of gorgeous nails! 

The rest of my collection!
See below pictures for names.

Left to right: Prickly Pear, Blue Moon, Mint Green, Berry Ice Cream, Pomegranate.

I also have 5 Barry M colours, 2 of which are part of the Gelly range. Even though a lot of people swear by these, I don't like them as much. They have a really good colour range and the polishes are pretty, but I find that they chip really easily and the Gelly colours aren't actually that shiny once dry. I don't dislike them and if I looked I would still probably find a pretty colour and want to buy it, but compared to Essie, they just don't hold up to the same standard. 

Left to right: Double Decker Red, Tangy Tangerine, Diamond Dust,
Block Your Green, Marshmallow Heaven.

I also own 5 Rimmel polishes - 4 from the I heart lasting finish range and 1 from the precious stones range. I've only used one of these and I really liked it. Again, they chipped quite easily but I have a feeling that as I haven't used base or top coats with any but Essie, I'll need to test this theory again sometime soon and then see how they last! I've also used the precious stones polish as an accent nail and I thought it was really good! 

Left to right: Cosmic Crush, Black Cherry, Red Robin, Topaz.

As they are only £1.99 each, I bought 4 Natural Collection polishes which, for their price, aren't too bad! There is a limited range of colours but the two I have are pretty and chip in the same amount of time as the Barry M or Rimmel even though they are about double the price of the Natural Collection polishes!

Left: Miami.
Right: Peacock.

I also own two 17 polishes but I don't remember the last time I wore either of them! I really love the green colour, I actually accidentally bought it for a second time once because I didn't remember owning it! Luckily Boots gave me my money back!

Left to right: Vivid Violet, Pink Grapefruit, Elixir, Tangy.

In a box on my set of drawers, I found 4 No7 polishes, all of which apart from the orange one I don't remember buying as they're quite old! I think the burgundy shade was a present from someone but again, I'm not really sure.

Marilyn.

My only Jessica nail polish was a present from my parents for Christmas a few years back (as a joke because of the name I think!) and I only opened it a few months ago! It's really high quality and would have lasted longer with a base/top coat but the colour is gorgeous and it applied nicely - I definitely want to find more colours! It also has such a pretty name!

No name.

I bought this NYC polish years and years ago for a party and I haven't used it for about 4 years...I should probably throw this one out! I think I ended up just using it as a polish to do polka dots with when I was in year 9 or so as it was difficult to remove so I didn't coat my whole nail in it. I remember that it was also quite gloopy when I used it so it really should head to the bin...

Big Apple Red.

I got this free with Glamour magazine a while back and I love it. It's a Nails Inc/Kate Spade collab and you all know my obsession with Kate Spade so I had to pick one up! I'm quite sad that I didn't also get the silver one too because it was really pretty and they're also really good quality! Very shiny and bright! I might have to see if all Nails Inc polishes are the same!

All in One

Since I bought it a little while back, this All in One base/top coat has been my holy grail. It goes on smoothly and thinly, dries in an instant and produces the most amazing shine when used as a top coat. It also doubles up as a nail strengthener so it's pretty good! Last time I used it, I managed to peel my nail polish off instead of having to use nail polish remover which is also great because the chemicals in the remover didn't get to undo all of the good work the base had done! My current nails have been going almost a week with this on and they still haven't chipped so I think it speaks for itself!

I have no idea how many of these are actually still being sold because as I've said, some are quite old and I don't even remember where I got them from!
Hope you guys enjoyed this, it made me realise how many polishes I have!
Jess xx

Challenge post four.
Challenge post three. (with links to two and one!)

High End vs. High Street.

2014 Blogger Challenge post time! The topic this time is in the title - High End vs. High Street! 

I'm not really sure what counts as 'High Street' and 'High End' as where I live, there are pretty expensive shops but they aren't to the standards of brands like Gucci or Prada. 

Clothes

I think, as a student and having no income (yay for having no time for a job...), I would have to say High Street is my favourite out of the two as they're more affordable and last quite a long time if you choose wisely. Some of my favourites are probably New Look, H! for Henry Holland and Red Herring in Debenhams, Next, Banana Republic and Crew. 

I own a lot of clothes from Crew because there are yearly factory/warehouse sales which are great for buying their clothing cheaper. The quality is amazing and even at full price, spending the money is worth it as the styles aren't seasonal and can be worn for however long you want! 

New Look is great for vest tops and ballet flats as they last for ages and are super cheap for the basics. I'm not a big fan of most of their clothes but when they have pieces I do like, they last for ages and fit me perfectly. 

Debenhams are perfect. Red Herring do some of my favourite pieces of clothing that I wear and will go back to over and over again and my two all time favourite dresses come from H! by Henry Holland. They both fit perfectly, have cute, fun designs that still look good and are made of great quality material. They're also not outrageously expensive. 

Next are the only place I'll buy jeans from. I have quite big legs which makes it a problem for me to buy jeans from designer places but Next make jeans of great quality that last for ages and look good too! There are also loads of styles and not just drainpipe skinny which is helpful for me as I suit straight leg better. 

I discovered Banana Republic when I went to Covent Garden a little while ago and I fell in love. This goes at the more expensive end of High Street with Crew because they go on the same sorts of prices. They have a perfect mix of classy and casual pieces that are amazing and I would happily buy most of their shop if I could afford it. I rarely say that about anywhere so they must be pretty awesome! I wish I could go there more often because the two tops I have from there are both perfect and look great!

I'm not sure how many of these really count as High Street but they're mostly affordable so I think that's how I would class them!

I'm not really sure how to class High End because different people class them as different things. I'm going to say that my favourite (and only) High End brand is naturally Kate Spade though. Their prices are completely ridiculous and a lot of their pieces are very hit and miss with me but when I find something I do like, I fall in love with it and then cry about the price tag. I was over the moon when I found out that there was a Kate Spade shop in London and I was even happier when I bought my first ever piece from there, my stripy bow top. I also have a ring, scarf, purse, bracelet and mug from there and I love them all. The quality is second to none for the clothes and while the jewellery has minor problems (magnetically held bracelets are NOT easy to wear in daily college life), I still love them. I try to go there when sales are on as the price drops are crazily good and make everything vaguely affordable but they're still more expensive than most of theHigh Street brands I previously mentioned! I think if their prices were lower I would be so much happier but I think I'll just have to put up with just staring at the pretty pieces over the internet for a little while longer (or forever unless I get a REALLY good job). 

Make Up

I love pretty much every piece of make up I have ever bought so this is a tough one. 

I would have to say though that as my favourite foundation (Max factor), lipstick (Rimmel), blusher (Ruby and Millie) and nail polish (Essie) are all High Street brands, I'm starting to lean that way.

However, my favourite mascara (Benefit), eyeshadow (Urban Decay) and eyeliner (Eyeko) are High End, so it does even itself out quite well. 

I think that because I use my High Street products more as I don't have a problem with replacing them due to their cheap prices, I can say that I prefer them. I also have fairly good High Street options for mascaras and eyeliners to choose from as replacements for my High End versions. Urban Decay will never be beaten on the eyeshadow (or primer!) front though - I'm definitely willing to spend out for them as they're so good and last for so long! They're also cruelty free which is a nice addition!

I would happily use more high end brands for make up because they are good quality, but the high street ones aren't that much worse and the quality difference doesn't compensate spending another £10/£20 essentially just for a name plastered on the side. Yes, the packaging is prettier, but the product in the tube is what counts really!

I do love both, but for affordability purposes, High Street wins hands down here for me! 

Jess xx

Challenge post three.

Once Upon A Time

It's time for the third 2014 Blogger Challenge post! This time we have been told to write about books!

I love books and I'm an avid reader - I chose my a level courses as I knew I would get to read a lot and be exposed to new books and I haven't been disappointed yet! 

Whenever I have any free time, I'm always either blogging, reading or downloading new books on to my kindle, I can't get enough! 

After this last season of Sherlock, I decided to compare the original stories with the series and downloaded Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection for 77p on my kindle.

The first novel I read out of the 4 included was A Study in Scarlet. 

I've said before that I read quicker on my kindle but I devoured this. It was so thrilling and I couldn't put it down! Arthur Conan Doyle has such a great writing style that makes it an incredibly easy read which is also easy to picture in your head. 

The actual plot is mostly different from the Sherlock adaptation and it felt like a completely different story once Sherlock and John were introduced which meant I couldn't predict it as I was expecting to be able to! The novel is split into two sections and I got extremely confused when reading the second but once you get into it, it makes complete sense and it was genius! 

I'm honestly so glad that I decided to read the collection as it's fantastic and completely different! The original novel was written in 1887 and I love the Victorian era so reading something from that time that isn't a school set text is really interesting! I've also studied about some parts of the history that is involved in this so it's also a very interesting read about early America (the pioneers - definitely worth researching about!) and the presentation from an English person of the time! 

I really hope that some of you have read or do read it as it's a really great book! 

Jess xx

Challenge post one.
Challenge post two.

Skincare routine!

I've been wanting to do a post on skincare for a while but I've always had loads of other ideas that have taken priority so when Gaby came up with this as the topic for the second 2014 Blogger Challenge post, I was so happy! 

I don't actually do much for skincare but what I do seems to work so I stick to it!
I'm usually quite busy so I don't really have a set routine for when I do any skincare which is probably quite bad! However, when I actually do it, I use Neutrogena visibly clear 2 in 1 wash and mask and Neutrogena visibly clear oil free moisturiser. I use the wash/mask when I'm in the shower but never really outside of then because I don't usually have time. I then put on the moisturiser morning, evening and after a shower.
I have quite bad red patches by my nose which is also where the most dry skin is (and my forehead) and this seems to make the red patches better and make my skin less dry. Most other creams and lotions have just made it worse so I'm quite glad that I found a system that actually works pretty well!

When I have extra time at the weekend, it's also nice to treat myself a bit and I use the mask aspect of the wash/mask which is left on for a bit longer. This also helps my skin and makes it so much softer and smoother - I love it! I also like to use Waitrose's own brand rice, honey and tamanu shower milk by Umi (in store brand) at the weekend as it smells amazing and leaves my skin feeling super soft which I love!

I don't really do much skincare stuff and don't eat anything specifically to make my skin better, but I drink lots during the day and always make sure I take off all of my make up which probably helps!

Jess xx

Read my first Blogger Challenge post here.

P.S. I also reached 60 followers on GFC and 300 on Twitter! Thank you guys so much!! xx