My Favourite Autumn Face | Beauty

Are you bored of talking about autumn (And all things "autumnal") yet? 

I hope not. 'Cause I got a whole heap of autumn comin' at ya. 

I know I'm not alone in saying that one of the wonderful things that autumn brings is the fashion and beauty. Nude lips, berry nails and golden eyes are just some of the classic autumn looks that I love to wear this time of year and I thought I'd share my everyday make up look at the moment, with some of the star products that I love. 

Every product that I talk about here is under £10 (most are under £5). I really like saving my more high end products for when I'm not sitting vacantly in uni. I don't think my lecturers will fully apprecite a £30 foundation or £25 blusher so I'd rather not waste it on them. Sorry, Bob, mate.

The Art of Productive Procrastination

~ setting the scene ~

Okay. So, you're sitting at your desk. Piles of books and paper strewn around the room. Words don't look like words anymore.

You've pretty much lost the will to live. (And no, I'm not being dramatic).

So you check your phone... Have a little browse on twitter. Maybe even Facebook, even though you don't even like Facebook.  Next thing you know an hour has passed and you've done sweet F all. 

Sound familiar? That is pretty much my daily routine, so I speak with authority on this matter. 

If you're going to procrastinate (which you are, don't even lie to yourself) at least do it right. If you procrastinate productively you don't even have to feel bad! 

Try these suggestions to get a little bit more out of your time.

Clean.

Some of you may groan at this but having a little tidy up, putting your floor-drobe away (I know I'm not the only one) or cleaning your make up brushes is a great break. These are all things that need to be done at some point, so as long as you don't decide to go on a giant cleaning mission, spending twenty minutes having a little tidy-up is very productive!  A clean workspace should get you more motivated, too.

Switch it up. 

You're bound to have a to-do list of other MUST DO SUPER IMPORTANT LIFE CHANGING work to do. Pick something else to do for a while! Instead of that horrendously boring reading, why not write a plan for that essay coming up? It'll either be even more boring and make you appreciate how wonderful that other work was, or it'll be fantastically exciting and you'll manage to be productive for a while. Win, win!

Colour. 

Honestly, all the cool kids are doing it. Including me, obvs. Colouring has actually been suggested to de-stress and relax you so it's an ideal way to take a little break from work. You can buy adult colouring books (not, like *naughty* ones) or you can even download an app. I've got Colourfy and I looove it. There's just something so therapeutic about it, not to mention creative!

Blog.

Give yourself half an hour and brainstorm some new post ideas, write or edit a blog post, take some photos, or schedule tweets (you KNOW you're bored when you'd rather schedule tweets). These are all really important things for an important part of your life so it's okay to give it a bit of love while you procrastinate. Just make sure it doesn't turn into a blog reading/tweeting marathon. You should come back to your work energised, inspired and a little bit happier.

Basically, just do anything other than aimless social media browsing, I beg you! (If all else fails, watch an episode of Friends or Bob's Burgers. JUST ONE) then back to work you go!

Do any of you struggle to stay focused? 

Are you as guilty of endless procrastination as I am?

Cotton Traders Kindness Box #CTWorldKindnessDay

Some of you may not know that Friday 13th November was World Kindness Day. Well you do now!
I actually didn't know myself until Cotton Traders got in touch with me asked if I would like to be part of their campaign, which of course I was more than happy to!

Sunday Smiles #5

I'm gutted I missed my Sunday Smiles post last week, especially because it was such a great week!
That's actually why I missed it, I didn't stop for breath all week. In the best possible way. I thought I'd be able to be a potato and chill this week. But, obv not. It's been just as busy.

I actually debated whether it was appropriate to post Sunday Smiles this week in the wake of the of the atrocity that's shaken the world. I decided that it would actually be more inappropriate to not post. People have lost their loved ones, people are scared and a whole city, if not the whole western world, has been turned upside down. Surely it's more important now more than ever to appreciate every little thing that makes you smile and be grateful and happy.

I feel so grateful and humbled.
We don't know how lucky we are to wake up surrounded by our loved ones.

Lush Blogger Event #LushWinter2015

All bloggers and girls alike love Lush, and I am no exception.
I am very partial to a bath bomb or bubble bar which they are obviously most well known for, but I am a big fan of their other bath and beauty products.

So, naturally, I was more than a little excited to be able to attend their blogger event this week where they gave us an after-hour tour of the shop with demonstrations and tasters of some of their gorgeous new Christmas goodies. (Which we all know are the best things about the Christmas period).

Mini Haul of Loveliness | Drugstore & Cruelty Free

So much for my spending ban... I know you girls feel me.

I feel like I have two states of being at the moment - in pyjamas, drinking tea and "doing uni work" (AKA stalking twitter and instagram) or spending money (AKA filling my room with stuff I don't need and haemorrhaging money). Life, man. LIFE. 

At least I get to share some of the lovely things I bought with you. Totes worth it. Also my face & nails are hella on fleek with all my new purchases. I was actually lucky enough to get nearly everything I bought on a 3 for 2 offer apart form the brushes and the lipstick. 

It's like they know how to taunt and tempt me. And it works.

Only Ever Yours | Book Review

Only Ever Yours is one of the most disturbingly real and relevant books that I have read, and I couldn't wait to share my thoughts on this bizarre book with you.

Lou Lou's Vintage Fair, Cardiff

 A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending Lou Lou’sVintage Fair in Cardiff, and what a lovely afternoon it was! I attended as press for Cardiff Uni’s Quench magazine but now that I’ve written that article, I’m excited to tell you gorgeous people all about it. *kissy face emoji*

The fair is so much more than teacups and trinkets (although there are plenty of those); there are clothes, accessories and memorabilia from pretty much every era you could imagine, a vintage tea room, music and a vintage hair and beauty salon. Whether you love the fifties pin-up look, are a seventies lovechild at heart or are all about the nineties grunge you are spoilt for choice. Honestly, pre-sixties fashion isn’t for me. It doesn’t suit me and generally it’s just not my taste so I won’t talk about that. (All I can say is that there is a lot of stuff and you won’t be disappointed!). You know when you go to a charity shop or a “vintage” shop and you have to sift through piles of utter shite to find an amazing piece that’s actually wearable for the average person? That is not the story of Lou Lou’s at all. Which is great for absolute lazy buggers like me! 

I was tasked with a “blogger challenge” of creating an outfit for £30 which was pretty exciting. I generally pride myself on being able to find little gems and dress myself well at a reasonable price, so this was right up my street. I went in with a completely open mind and wanted to base my outfits purely on what I came across rather than find stuff to fit an outfit I had in mind. I could have made a gazillion outfits on the day, (Seriously there is SO MUCH STUFF) but I settled on my two favourites.

I chose these absolutely adorable dungarees to wear with this tie-dye t-shirt for outfit one, coming to a grand total of £25. So obviously I selected a pair of incredibly cool sunglasses for a fiver to top of the look. Seriously though, I’ve never seen so many sunglasses and I would probably have worn every single pair. (Not at the same time obv. Lolz).

Any vintage fair worth it’s salt will have to to-die-for collection of Levi, whether it be jackets or shorts. Lou Lou’s certainly didn’t let me down in this respect. I was practically salivating over all the denim. I loves me some denim, and that’s where I started for my second outfit. Some damn cool legit Levi shorts for £15 and a plaid shirt, with some amazing costume-type jewellery to complete the look. Clearly £30 isn’t enough to get a complete outfit with shoes, but to get a top, bottom and accessories I’m not complaining!

 

Don’t forget to stop and enjoy a piece of cake and a cup of tea. Which, if you’re anything like me is not going to happen – tea and cake are permanently at the forefront of my mind... There’s something just so lovely and quaint about drinking tea and nibbling cake from delicate china. I normally drink it out of a giant sports direct mug, so the fancy things in life clearly are a luxury to sad little me. Not to mention the retro tunes from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” as a more than fitting soundtrack to the morning.

I left the fair with my belly full, finger bearing a gorgeous ring, a wish list as long as my arm and looking forward to going back when it returns to Cardiff on the 29^th November. I hope if you’re local I’ll see you there!

Teri-May

xxx

Sunday Smiles #4

Happy November, everyone!
Another month gone. AAAHH. 

This week has felt weird and non stop, hence why I fell behind with my blog posts and only managed two this week rather than three. My bad! I'm all organised for next week now, I hate feeling unorganised so much. If anyone wants to come and work as an unpaid, overworked PA for my life the next couple of weeks you are more than welcome... I'll make you tea and let you cuddle my new unicorns.

Halloween and fancy dress prep was a contributing factor to my stressy busy-ness this week, I think. (More than uni work which I did practically none of... Woops!). How was everyone's halloween? What did you go as?! I'd love to see some pictures - link me to any halloween blog posts, guys!

If you follow me on twitter, this won't be news to you, but... I got a job! That's obviously been the biggest "smile" this week and I really can't wait to start. A job where I get paid to talk about and play with make up all day sounds good to me! (There is obviously more to it than that, but let's just not think about that yet!).

I've been initiated. Oh boy. Most people getting "initiated" into a society or sports team tend to be freshers, so being initiated in my fourth year is pretty grim! Serves me right for waiting this long to join in with anything, I suppose! It was Noah's Ark themed and I was assigned a parrot to dress up as and my night consisted of taking part in ridiculous challenges and games that saw me covered in flour and carrying my best friend home covered in sick (her, not me) at ten o'clock. What a boody night.

My unicorn army is growing. Anyone been to Asda recently? GO NOW. They have giant unicorn cuddly toys on offer at the moment, so obviously Martin bought me two. Seeing a minuture "grown up" with a big, pink, fluffy unicorn under each arm prompted a few giggles from some kids. Bitches be jel.

A good new book. I feel like I never have time to read these days (thank you, Martin), so any book that I find that makes me make time to read is a winner. I'm half way through and I think it's phenomenal so far - so relevant, intriguing and scarily real. Keep your eyes peeled for a review, you're all going to want to read this!

Sister's reunion. It's no secret how much I miss my sister and today we are both going home for the day. I'm going to do my round of visits, spend some time with some adorable little toddlers that I haven't seen in a while, and most excitingly have a good old catch up with Josie.

What's made you lovely lot smile this wek? :-)

Teri-May 

xxx