The Haul – treatyoself!

I’ve been saving up for a long time for a BIG summer shop. And it was BIIIIIIG. Seriously, I think the only way to make this manageable is to divided it up, so I’m gonna do a beauty haul of what I got now, and then a ‘lookbook’ with all the clothes I got! Note to self – swatching multiple lipsticks and then trying on mainly white clothing is not a good idea….

I also have a Makeup Revolution order coming too (I told you it was big aha), but I’ll do a separate post for that so I can be more detailed with all of the products and not have crazy long posts! Also I’ll do more in depth reviews on the products after I’ve used them for a while!

Here are the beauty bits I picked up:

1. Makeup Academy Pro-Base Fixing Mix

I’ve never had a fixing mist before but this was only a fiver, and I was excited to try it. It smells really good, but I’ll hopefully get a good idea of how well this works this weekend, as I’m going to a wedding!

2. Loreal Color Riche LeKajal

This was a bit of an impulse purchase when I was in T.J. Hughs, (seriously, what a store). My liner that I was using before was just the Natural Collection’s black one, and I wanted to see if this was better at staying!

3. The Eraser Eye by Maybelline

Everyone under the sun raves about this concealer! I was using Rimmel’s Wake Me Up, but I was seriously disappointed with the coverage and staying power and really didn’t think it was very good at all. This hopefully will do the trick with my crazy under eye bags! I tried it when I got home and so far I’m really happy with this product!

4. ColorMates brow and brush comb

Another T.J. gem – this was only 99p. I just grabbed it for the days when I’m not wearing any makeup at all, but still want to brush my brows through.

5. Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Brown

I love this product – you can read my review here  – but I wanted to pick it up in the darker shade, just for those days when I want a stronger brow.

6. W7 The Big Five lipgloss in ‘Hint of Pink’

Seriously, T.J. Hughs has my back. Grabbed this for a few quid instead of a more expensive highstreet brand and its perfect. Just needed a good, easy pink to wear whenever I needed a subtle lip colour.

7. Collection Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner in Black and Teal

I feel really bad cheating on my Seventeen liner, which is unmovable and brilliant, but I wanted to try a felt tip liner as it might be slightly easier to apply. After I saw Ana from Ravishing Roses say it didn’t move at all, I knew I wanted to give this a go. I also grabbed the Teal because it’s summer so why not eh.

8. Barry M Lip Liner

I don’t know if this has a name, but it’s the orange one. I ordered 2 orangey lip colours from Makeup Revolution and so wanted a lip pencil to go underneath. This was the only one I could find, and the consistency doesn’t feel great, but hopefully it will work better once it’s warmed up a bit.

9. Duo Lash Glue in Dark Tone

I bulk buy my lashes off Amazon, so I need glue. Simples!

10. Clearly Youthful Retexturising Glycolic Peel Off Mask

I have completely changed my skincare routine using only products from this range, so I picked up the mask. I’m going to do a complete review and post with before and after pictures when I’ve been using the products for a little while longer, so stay tuned for that!

11. Loreal Collection Privee by Heike

Again, T.J. Hughs!!! I wanted a pale easy pink to slap on whenever and I think this was 3 pounds. Bargain. So far, so creamy!

12. Seventeen CCream in Light

If you’ve read pretty much any of my posts, you’ll know that this is my favourite brand ever. I grabbed this to wear in the summer as a lightweight alternative to foundation, and can’t WAIT to do a proper review on it. I popped some on as soon as I got home and it is beautiful.

Sooo… that  is the end of part one of the crazy haulage… Have any of you tried these products? I’ll try and get the outfits up as soon as possible, but the weather is currently awful so I can’t get any good pictures!

Hope you’re all well, and much love

xoxo

Podcasts!

I hope everyone is having a great lazy Sunday! I love a good podcast, and finding new ones to listen to. In the hope that I can introduce you guys to some awesome ones, here are my favourites:

• Grownups Read Things They Wrote As Kids

Does what it says on the tin, and it is absolutely hilarious, with many actual laugh out loud moments. I highly recommend this if you need cheering up!

• The Worst Idea of all Time

Another very very funny one. In season 1, Guy and Tim watched Grown Ups 2 every week for a year. In the second season they’ve decided on Sex and the City 2. They basically watch and review this one film until they go crazy. Plus they have amazing Aussie accents, which is an added bonus!

• The Complete Guide to Everything

Not as laugh out loud funny, but still very enjoyable. Each episode focuses loosely on a topic but mainly branches out into just chatting. Great for popping on in the background and tuning in every now and again.

• Early Middle Ages (from the Open Yale Courses)

I found this lecture series on ITunes U, which is amazing if you have an iphone/ipad etc.. You can basically download a bunch of lectures on loads of different topics. They are lectures that are given by actual historians, so it can be a tad dry if you’re not interested in that, but they’re a very easy way to pick up some extra knowledge. My favourite is the one on the ‘Splendour of the Abbasid Court’.

• Welcome to Nightvale

This is the one that got me into podcasts originally and I am still enamoured with it the most. It is brilliantly weird and wonderful and so so atmospheric. Perfect for a dark stormy evening, it’s also brilliant to drift off to, especially on long journeys. If you do start, then stick with it for a couple of episodes, and you’ll find yourself sucked into the fantastic alternate world.

So there are my podcast choices! I know it’s a bit different to what I usually post, but I was thinking about taking my blog in a more lifestyle type direction, as well as doing all the reviews and fashion posts (as if I could give that up!). What do you think? What do you like to read? And what are your favourite podcasts?

Much Love xoxo

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Catch Up

Hello hello!

I am so so sorry I have been AWOL for more than a little while recently…things have been a bit hectic!

I had my exams, then a couple of weeks of crazy – I was in a music video (so cool right), and had several end of year parties etc etc, then I went home for a week and now I am back up in Newcastle for the summer!

This summer I have been awarded a Research Scholarship by my uni, so essentially I am being paid to act like a real life grown up academic… My topic of research is titled ‘Beyond the Harem: Challenging Western Perspectives of Women in the Medieval Islamic Age’, which sounds very professional and is actually fascinating!

I am spending a lot of time holed up in the library so whilst I may not be able to go back to posting twice a week straight away, I will certainly try not to disappear entirely all over again…(hint to myself – be more organised!)

Whilst I sort out my life, you can always keep up to date on my instagram and twitter – cfwood and charlottef_wood respectively 🙂

I hope everyone is well and I have missed you all very much so lots of hugs all round.

Much Love

xoxo

Brush Hack!

So I was procrastinating by watching beauty videos on Youtube, as always, and I came across Danielle Mansutti’s channel. One of her videos was a ‘Beauty Tips’ style one and I picked up this tip which honestly resulted in me having a sort of halleluiah moment, which I of course had to share with you all!

I’ve been looking for a cheap fan brush forever but they don’t seem to exist in the highstreet. Now I don’t need to look any more!

Just grab an old brush and slide one or two bobby pins in and there you go – automatic fan brush. I’ve tried it with my smaller slanted brush and my super large face brush and they both work so well! I use the smaller brush for highlight and the larger for bronzer and I honestly couldn’t be happier with the results.

Fan brushes distribute face product so beautifully and they’re perfect for a natural look. I would definitely recommend trying this with bronzer to avoid that stripe which often can happen!

What do you guys think?

Much Love xoxo

The Haul

Buckle your seat belts guys… this is going to be a long one.

The start of spring and summer means new clothing is needed! Here are a few things I’ve picked up. Okay actually quite a lot of things I’ve picked up…

First I got a jar from Wilkos for 3 pounds to tidy up my cotton pads, which has made such a difference! Boring I know but I love these little things that just make your life prettier!

Before…

…and after!

I took a quick look at the asos summer sale, and I have several ball type events coming up so I got two dresses, this lime green one and then a more casual red maxi dress from Mango for when I feel like dressing up as a princess!

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Next stop, Primark. I grabbed these two tops which will look great with several things I already have in my wardrobe!

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In New Look I found a cream pencil skirt, which is something I’ve been looking for forever!

14.99

Also I spotted their makeup range, which I hadn’t seen before, so I decided to pick up this Pure Colour eyshadow pencil in the pale gold colour, and then this tiny spray perfume in ‘Pure Touch’.

both 2.99

This is such a great, fresh scent that doesn’t dry into something weird smelling, like I find most cheap perfumes do, so I am very impressed with that!

Then I went to H&M and this is where things get a teensy bit crazy.

First are these shoes which I have been eyeing up forever. They just look so cool and go with pretty much everything I own, as well as being very comfortable.

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I also picked up a new pair on ‘mom’ jeans which were half price, as I love that style of jean.

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Then was this amazing dress which was also half price. It doesn’t look that special on the hanger, but it fits amazingly well when it’s on, something which I find H&M do so well, especially for a highstreet store!

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Finally I hit the jewellery stands and picked up these 2 multipacks of jewellery, as well as this gorgeous necklace which will just look great with so many outfits.

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It wouldn’t be a haul without a few beauty bits… Boots had 3 for 2 so I chose this new Barry M palette in Natural Glow 2, a nail polish in ‘Rose hip’ and an eyeshadow by Seventeen (my all time favourite highstreet makeup brand) in ‘Walnut Pearl’. Side note: these shadows are so beautiful and so creamy! Major love.

From left to right – 3.89, 3.99, 4.49, 6.49.

I then picked up a Sleek blusher in ‘Rose Gold’ which honest to god is gorgeous, and then this MUA highlighter in ‘Iridescent Gold’, which is also just damn beautiful. My cheeks are looking great at the moment!

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Seeing as I’m currently in my exam term I had to get new stationary because new stationary = good grades of course. I chose these 3 notebooks, one for each module. I know the colours don’t look very pretty together but they do go with my filing system which is lovely and colour-coded. Would you guys be interested in a post on my study organisation?

6.98 for 3, part of a 3 for 2 offer

I then picked up this pencil case from Paperchase for half price and it’s so so cute! Zebra love.

6 pounds

Finally I had to get a new fountain pen because I misplaced my old one over Easter. I seriously have a problem hanging onto these – I swear they run away from me! I didn’t want to get another Lamy because I felt like I would be cheating on my old pen (crazy I know but I get very attached to stationary), so I picked up this bright pink one by Parker instead!

9.99

Pheeew. Congratulations if you made it this far! Safe to say I probably will not be doing another major haul anytime soon, but hope you enjoyed this one!

Much Love xoxo

Skin Talk

It’s the Easter Weekend! Hope you all have a wonderful time and eat loads of chocolate 🙂 It’s not really Easter themed, but I’ve been really excited to write this as recently my skin has been looking great thanks to a few new products that I’ve picked up!

First, some skin background – mine is very sensitive and very dry, but can occasionally get weirdly oily on my nose and sometimes forehead too. This makes finding products that work a bit of a ball ache as more often than not my skin won’t react well at all. For the past year (ish) I’ve been using La Roche Posay’s cleansing milk and Hydreane Riche moisturizer. I love both of these products but I often felt like the cleanser wasn’t quite removing all my makeup.

My last semester at uni was probably the busiest I’ve ever had, and so that meant lots of late nights, not eating well and not drinking enough of the right stuff – more wine than water is never good for anyone. It obviously took a toll on my skin and left it looking really dull, and whilst I don’t really break out massively I do get small ‘spots’ under my skin especially on my forehead and cheeks.

In order to try and get my skin back on track I turned to the internet of course, and Yesstyle.co.uk. This is a great website – it ships pretty much anything and everything from Asia and offers free delivery when you spend over 20 pounds as well, which is amazing. The variety can be a bit daunting so it took me several days to find products that I was happy with. In the end I settled on a gel cleanser, a night cream and an exfoliating massage pack.

They arrived within 2 weeks of me ordering – all of them were in the ‘usually ships in 24 hours’ section so that obviously speeded up the process but still, they arrived very rapidly and nothing was damaged in the process – something I’m always paranoid about when I order something that has to travel a long distance!

I love all these products! The cleanser is a foaming gel cleanser, which means that it doesn’t dry out my skin too much at all. Some people had said that their skin felt so moisturized after using this that they didn’t need a moisturizer, but I definitely do. However, it doesn’t dry my skin out one bit and leaves it feeling so smooth and thoroughly clean.

Soothing and Moisture Aloe Vera Cleansing Gel Foam by Nature Republic

The exfoliator is firstly adorable, and secondly works really well! I found several conflicting instructions on how to use it online, but the method I’ve been favouring has been to rub it into my skin for a minute or two and then leave it for 30 seconds, before rinsing it off. I use this twice a week and I haven’t had any issues with it inflaming my skin at all, instead it really brightens is and makes it look much clearer. I have pretty pigmented cheeks and this helps just to even out my skin tone and make it look super healthy.

Appletox Smooth Massage Peeling Cream by Tony Moly

The third product is the night cream, and I am loving this. It is also a brightening product, and when I use it I wake up with the most glowing skin ever! As my skin isn’t that old I don’t want to overuse the anti-aging products hence why I only use it 3 or 4 times a week, but I have really been able to see a difference in a very short space of time.

Vanpir Dark Repair Cream by Ladykin

I would strongly recommend doing research into Korean skincare if you are having trouble with your skin – their beauty industry is way ahead of the West’s and the packaging is also pretty adorable for everything. This isn’t really an important factor I know, but every time I see my little apple on my shelf it does make me smile.

What do you guys use? Does anyone else have those stubborn little bumps which don’t seem to go away? If so what do you do for them?

Much Love xoxo