I'm 18!

I'm really sorry for not blogging much recently, the last four days have been filled with my birthday celebrations so all of my free time has been taken up by homework to make sure I could do all of the awesome things over the last few days!

On Wednesday, me and my college friends went to Pizza Express for a birthday meal as everyone gets Wednesday afternoons off college. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to do something with them that didn't include school! We had a really nice meal and I even got a mini chocolate cake with a candle on! I got my presents early from them as I don't see most of them around college apart from my friends who are in my lessons. 

Lots of chocolate!

Beautiful purse with a mirror in the back, a pen,
desk organiser and animal rubbers!

I now have enough chocolate to last me until Halloween, let alone Easter! I love the little French purse so much because it's just so me! French themed and with stripes?! Yes please. I also love the pen and organiser, definitely helps for Uni in September! I really don't want to use the rubbers though, they're way too cute!

My birthday was on the Thursday and it was an amazing day! I woke up and had to get done quicker so I could open my presents - I GOT A CAR!!! It's also insured with Compare the Market so I got a meerkat toy with it which now sits in my car! I got baby Oleg and  he comes with the most adorable grub! My parents said I would get my car at the weekend but I came home from college and it was sitting on the driveway! My car is a red VW Up and I've decided to call him Perry! I've been out in him quite a bit considering I only got him on Thursday and I love him - he's really great to drive and has a lot of room considering he is actually only a 3 door car!

I love my car so much! And the bow on top!

Oleg, his grub and his bed!

I got money from quite a few family members but my grandma got me a couple of really pretty bracelets that I can't wait to wear. My auntie and uncle got me a gorgeous silver trowel necklace which came in a brilliant little box that is so clever as it looks like a special (small) finds box! It's possibly one of the prettiest and well thought out pieces of jewellery I've ever been given!

The bottom bracelet was given to me by a friend on Wednesday.

I'm in love.

My mum's friend also made me 24 minion cupcakes which are chocolate and taste amazing! After we got back from our meal out, I also got given a minion lemon birthday cake which looks and tastes just as good!

These are the cutest little cakes ever!

I can't believe how talented my mum's friend is!

On Saturday, I had some old friends over for a movie day as I didn't want to involve alcohol and we couldn't afford a big party. It was a lot of fun and we ended up watching Pacific Rim, Despicable Me 2 and part of Monty Python's Life Of Brian. I love catching up with my old friends as I don't see them much any more due to work which is sad, but we act like we only saw each other yesterday when we do see each other again!

The Fault in Our Stars poster, it's so gorgeous!
From Julia.

Loki sticker also from Julia!

Weeping Angel and TARDIS biscuits also from Julia!

Julia is basically the girl who gets me tonnes of fan stuff and it's always the best! I love it all so much!

Bourjois little round pot intense eyeshadow in 08, Maybelline jade high heel mascara in brown,
Maybelline illegal length mascara in black, Dainty Doll eyeshadow in 002 Treat Her Like A Lady,
Maybelline colorsensational lipstick in 380 Sweet Bordeaux,
Maybelline colorsensational lipstick in 720 Drive Me Nuts.
From Lisa.

Left to right: Sweet Bordeaux, Drive Me Nuts, Bourjois eyeshadow in 08,
Dainty Doll eyeshadow in 002 Treat Her Like A Lady.

I'll probably review all of these at some point but so far I'm loving them!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass by Lewis Carroll and
The Collected novels of The Bronte Sisters. Also got a really cute badge that says 'I read therefore I am'.
From Krissi.

Box of really cute goodies from Katie!

For when you're out and about and have the moments of inspiration for a blog post,
new outfit whatever it is, you can put it in this!

To get the creative juices flowing I guess you could say, or maybe just because
TASTY SWEETS!

This is a memory jar.  Any good memories from the day, write them down on the block then fold up
and put in the jar. Only at New Years eve can you look through all your memories from the year.
It's a good way to remember all the positive stuff and that maybe the smallest of things can be the best!

My old friends have obviously known me longer than most people outside of my family and their presents are all so thoughtful and basically cover every part of my life that I consider important and fun outside of people I know! I really love them and can't wait to use them all!

Kate also sent me a present which was super sweet of her - it's a scarf and mirror! I love them both - the green of the scarf is actually one of my favourite colours so I'm so happy! Thank you Kate!

Overall, it's been an amazing birthday and thank you to everyone who has been involved to make it a really special 18th! I'm so so lucky and it's probably been the best birthday yet! 

Jess xx

A day with Kate take 3!

Half term is always a good time to meet up with people so once again, me and Kate decided to go to Guildford to get some time away from working and the stress of A levels on Friday.

I'd been saving up for this trip for quite a while so I actually got to buy some stuff which I'm happy about! 

Essie's Chinchilly, Rimmel stay matte pressed powder in Silky Beige,
Maybelline Baby Skin, MUA lipstick in Shade 6, Sleek blusher in Suede.

A lot of this has been on my make up wish list for a while so I was really happy to get it all! Ever since I bought Essie's Bahama Mama, I regretted not picking up the duo pack with Chinchilly too as they looked so perfect together. I'm so happy I now have both now! 

Everyone raves about the powder and blusher I picked up and they both seem really nice so far! The blusher is quite subtle so I'll have to see what I can do with it - I'll do a proper review once I've used it a bit properly! 

After buying a MUA lipstick (shade 10 I think...) a while back, I decided to pick up another as it was only £1 and this was the last one left of Shade 6 with the plastic wrapping still on! Its such a pretty pink and I love it so much! The quality of these lipsticks is really good for the price!

I'm probably going to end up taking Baby Skin back as I tried it on my face when I got home and it made my face go really red and basically did nothing to my make up! As it was £7.99, I'm going to try and get a refund from Boots on Monday when I go back to college so I can use the money somewhere else!

I was so happy to finally pick up The Rosie Project, I've been wanting it for ages! I've read the first few chapters (maybe the first 10...) and I'm loving it so far, it's really entertaining and very hard to put down! I can't wait to do a full review! I also picked up Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell as I've heard that it's really good! 

Being true to the traditions of Guildford, I also picked up some sweet treats from the American sweet shop but most of them were meant for my whole family and aren't in the picture. I did figure out that popcorn and candy corn are an amazing combination though!

Me and Kate had such a great day catching up and visiting old shop favourites, it was a great way to take a break from doing my work! 

Jess xx

Favourites of 2013

I would do posts with specific topic favourites but there isn't enough time left in this year to do that so I thought I would put all of my favourite things from this year into one bigger post!

Make Up

BadGal Lash Mascara - Benefit 

I love this so much and always reach for it when I'm wearing make up. It makes my lashes look so much longer while still looking natural which I think is really great! It also doesn't give me panda eyes and only comes off if I rub my eyes so for a non-waterproof mascara, it's amazing! My new MAC mascara might overtake though because it's also amazing!

Bahama Mama - Essie

I know I didn't get this too long ago but I love it so much that I couldn't not include it! The colour is probably one of my favourite Essie shades that I've tried out to date and it's such a great colour for this time of the year. 

Alice in Wonderland eyeshadow palette - Urban Decay
I've actually had this for years and will do a proper review eventually, but I started using more make up this year and these eyeshadows are by far my favourites. The colours are all limited edition and they're so gorgeous, mainly shimmery which I love, and so long lasting!

Kate Matte Lipstick in 107 - Rimmel
I've already reviewed this here but I have to include it as I wore it so much this year. I love the colour, the smell, how long it lasts, just everything! If you only ever buy one red lipstick, make it this one because it's probably my favourite.

Whipped Creme Foundation in Natural - Max Factor
This is the first foundation I've tried that actually covers up the redness and dry patches by my nose so that says a lot. It's so light and the shade is perfect for me so I'm really happy to have discovered this beauty!

Baby Lips - Maybelline
These have been saviours on more occasions than I can count. They smell amazing, look amazing and give a subtle wash of colour if you aren't feeling too adventurous. They also make my lips super soft which is great!

Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudists and Raplumzel - Soap and Glory
I love these so much. Both colours are fantastic, applying them is super simple and they last for quite a long time for glosses. I reviewed Raplumzel here.

Books

How To Fall In Love - Cecelia Ahern

I bought this for 99p on my kindle a few of days ago and I finished it yesterday. I'm not usually a fast reader but I tend to read faster on my kindle and when the book is good and boy, was this book good. I love Cecelia Ahern and the new book of hers is no exception. It's such a sweet story about helping someone else and inadvertently helping yourself at the same time. Cecelia definitely knows how to write a good character and a realistic storyline, I recommend this book 100%!

The Last Letter From Your Lover - Jojo Moyes

I read this book over my half term holiday as it was the only one that looked interesting in the sadly lacking selection of books that they had at the holiday home. I'm so glad I decided to pick it up though as I was, again, completely hooked! I didn't like how it was written point of view wise but once you get over that, it's such a great read and has a great ending that was unexpected and so heartwarming! There are a lot of lost memory, self discovery books out there but out of the ones I've read, this is probably my favourite one by far! It follows two storylines in different times and the ending brings them both together in such a great way! It's almost a love story mixed with a detective story and I found it so exciting, I had it finished in about 5 days, in between going out and doing holiday homework!

Films

Despicable Me 2
I loved the first one and this one was possibly even better! The minions are my favourite things in any film, they're so adorable! Apparently they're making a minions film so I'm super excited for that!

Monsters University
I saw this twice, once at the cinema near college who hold a free film night once a month and another later on. First off, it started with a short film called "The Blue Umbrella" which is honestly the sweetest thing on this planet. I loved this film so much, it was funny to see all of the characters we know and love earlier on and to see how they became that way (Randall anyone?!).

General

Costa
The mid-week saviour for me and a couple of friends. It's quieter than the Starbucks just down the road as less college students are there so it's perfect for chatting and getting on with work as it feels more relaxed and laid back. Another plus point is that their coffee doesn't make me feel ill which is always nice!

Car boot sales
I only really went to these in Summer with Mark as my mum doesn't like them but they were always so much fun! I got some amazing deals on a lot of books and just trawling through all of the stuff at each stand made it just that bit more satisfying when I found something great.

My Burgundy Crew jumper
I've only had it for a week or so but I love it and it's probably my favourite jumper I have. It's super warm, looks great and is a really pretty, neutral colour. Definitely going to be a firm favourite for 2014 too!

I hope you guys enjoyed looking through my favourite things from this year, it was quite hard to choose as I've changed a lot and have quite a short memory span so thinking back to Summer is hard, let alone January!

Jess xx

Maybelline color tattoo in Metallic Pomegranate

This is the second item I bought yesterday! I've heard good things about this so I decided to get it in Pomegranate as it was my favourite colour of the available selection. It's a cream eyeshadow which I haven't tried before and so far I'm quite impressed! I love the packaging of this product, it's small and compact which is good for flinging in bags on your way out the door!
I used my fingers to put it on because I wasn't sure how it would act if I used a brush and it went on really smoothly! It's a really pretty red-brown colour but looks more brown than red when on! It has some really gorgeous golden flecks running through it which are really pretty, I think that it would be great as a general wash over of colour or an eyeliner!

Such a cute pot!

I love this colour!

It looks so different on but it's so pretty!

You can buy this from Boots or Superdrug for £4.99!

Have you tried any of this range? What do you guys think? 

Jess xx

Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick in Summer Pink Review

After enrolling back into college yesterday, me and my friend Liv had quite a lot of time free before out first lesson so we headed into town to have a look around! As per usual, I had my look around boots and I found a gorgeous pink lipstick! It looked so pretty so I went back and bought it today!

Maybelline Coloursensational Lipstick in Summer Pink is a gorgeous bright pink colour. It has little pieces of glitter in it which is subtle and gives your lips a slight shimmer which I really like! I wouldn't usually wear a pink that's this bright but it surprisingly works as an every day colour! I put it on just after I bought it and it was still there over 3 hours later! Most other lipsticks I own have faded after 2 hours or less so I've been majorly impressed so far! It doesn't dry out my lips and it smells so great so there are so many plus points for this product! I think the only issue I have is that the shape of the tip doesn't fit my lips very well but apart from that it's great! The packaging is also really sleek and looks more expensive than it was! It reminds me of the Revlon Lip Butter packaging a bit! 

I love the effect it has on my lips! It has a slight golden shimmer.

All in all, I'm actually really impressed with this lipstick and I might have to buy some more...again! Superdrug seem to have more of a selection of colour so I might have to have a look there!

Summer pink can be bought from Boots (this product isn't on the internet weirdly...) and Superdrug for £7.19

Jess xx

Blog's first birthday!

It's been a year since I wrote my first blog post (I was the ultimate cringe, forgive me!) and what better way to spend it than with my one and only friend made from blogging, Kate! We went to Guildford and did quite a bit of shopping which was loads of fun!
A year has gone by stupidly fast and even though I only have 10 followers, I appreciate every single one and anyone who reads my blog for that matter! Every page view makes me happy! -virtual hug-

Getting in to Guildford was rather stressful - my train decided that it would be delayed for 20 minutes before showing up and Kate also had train problems so yeah....that was a good start! We ended up wandering around for a bit and then decided to go to New Look where we ended up buying the same skirt! Luckily we don't see each other often enough for it to matter, just another thing to show our similar tastes! I've been looking for a floral skirt that I like for ages and this one is perfect; I have lots of nice tops that have pinks, reds and white in them so they'll go perfectly with it! The skirt is made of a really light and soft material and is really swishy (if that's even an adjective...) so it looks really pretty!

I love it so much!

I love the pattern so much! 

It wasn't a true trip to Guildford without a visit to the American sweet shop. I haven't bought any for ages so I think I was well restrained! That, and the fact that the stock they had wasn't terribly good. I got my usual favourites and also picked up a box of berry flavour sour patch kids which are really good!  

I've heard countless bloggers rave on about these tinted lip balms for months now, but they've only been available in UK shops since the beginning of the week. There's a 3 for 2 on Maybelline at Boots so instead of just getting the 2 colours I wanted, I also got a 3rd free of charge! 

Baby Lips are supposedly super moisturising and make your lips softer and I can tell you, the hype was definitely worth it because these are the best lip balms I've ever had (either equal to or better than my tinted Burt's bees lip balms but yeah, still really good!). Their claims are pretty big but they're definitely up to scratch; I've been wearing one for an hour and a half or so now and my lips already feel softer. Quite a few lip products are quite sticky but these aren't at all, they feel light and you barely notice them! It takes a couple of goings over to get a really strong/bright colour but it also means that you get a choice with the strength of the colour you decide to make your lips which I find really good!  

From left to right: Pink Punch, Cherry Me, Peach Kiss

How cute is the packaging?!

They each have a smell corresponding to their names (Pink Punch is just fruity) and they're just fantastic! I think overall Peach Kiss is my favourite because the colour is more wearable every day as it matches my lips almost exactly and I'm a sucker for anything peach so it's perfect! Cherry Me is also a lovely smell but it takes longer to get it to an equal colour over all of my lips so it isn't as good for me. I really like Pink Punch but I have a feeling I'd need to be in the right mood to wear it because it is pretty bright. The colour and smell are still nice though! 

We went to H&M because there are usually pretty good deals in the sales and boy did I find one! This deep orange jumper was originally £7 in the sale but it had 2 holes in (one on the shoulder, one on the left of the jumper on the pic) so I managed to get the price down to £5 because they were pretty bad! Luckily my grandma is a dab hand at sewing and sewed the holes back up so now it looks brand new and I got a big discount from it! It's quite baggy but still looks good, plus it has a really cute neck too! I can't wait to wear it through autumn with some leggings and my brown boots, hopefully it'll look good!  

As I said earlier, I'm a sucker for anything peach and when I was at Sicily, the only alcohol I liked was Bellini (Prosecco and Peach puree). I came home from my trip today and mum had bought me this! It's a non-alcoholic version of Bellini but it tastes almost identical, even keeping the slightly sharp/bitter aftertaste and fizziness of the Prosecco! It's also amazing because it apparently has 1 of your 5 a day so it's even healthy!

All in all, I think today was a pretty brilliant way of celebrating my blog anniversary, thanks to everyone who's been a part of this so far! I hope you keep reading! 

Jess xx

P.S. You know I said I'd keep you updated on the Barry M nail polish? Yeah...it hasn't worked out so great! 

Left hand

Right hand

As you can see, they haven't lasted very well! I haven't used a top coat because I don't own any but they had already chipped a little bit the night after I had put the nail polish on which doesn't bode well. The nail polish also stops looking as shiny and nice quite quickly and now looks dull and smudged even though I didn't touch it at all while it was drying (I left my nails for about half an hour before checking them). I'm quite glad that it's only cheap because it wouldn't be worth any more sadly! It's a shame because the colours are amazing! I might just have to invest in a top coat so my Barry M nail polish isn't a waste!