Goodreads | 2016 goals

Last year, I set myself a goal to read 50 books in 2015. That didn't happen. Realistically, I knew it wouldn't because I had a pretty busy year, what with writing a dissertation and finishing university. So this year, I've set myself the target of 25 books. It might seem a bit low if you knew how much I read, but after 3 years where reading novels non-stop and at high speed was compulsory, I really want to get back into loving reading as much as I did before my degree.

I started the year off with The Colour Purple by Alice Walker and The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, both of which I loved and I read flat out because I just couldn't put the book down. I'm now on to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, which is a little bit longer (it's about 600 pages long), but so far I'm really enjoying it. I know some people find books like this a bit of a chore to read, but it's a nice change for me because I'm reading it because I actually want to, rather than because lecturers put it on the reading list. That said, I've got eleanor and park by Rainbow Rowell lined up next because it looks like a slightly lighter read.

Do you have any reading goals for this year?

n xx

MAC Haul

A new MAC store recently opened in Derby, which of course would happen the summer I finish uni (though my student loan probably wouldn't have survived regular visits). When I was up visiting Jay recently I went in for a quick look round and of course it ended in a bit of a spending spree. Don't worry about Jay, I bought him a caramel hot chocolate so he was okay.

If you're near the new store and you haven't been, I definitely recommend it because it's absolutely lovely. The store is quite big, so they've got heaps of room to display the products properly, and the people who were working that day were lovely!

I picked up a pro longwear eyeliner in Rich Experience first, because I've heard that the pro longwear liners are super long lasting and I wanted to pick up something a little higher budget that my normal Soap & Glory buy. I then spotted this colour in the lipstick display and instantly fell in love. It's D for Danger, a matte formula, and is the most beautiful deep pinky red colour. It's nothing like the other MAC colours I have, and I definitely think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this! When I asked for the lipstick, the girl suggested I try Nightingale lip pencil alongside it. I've never tried a MAC lip liner before, and I thought D for Danger would be a good colour to start trying one with. 

The last thing I picked up was the Mineralize concealer in NW15, because normally I go for NC colours, and that apparently might be where I'm going wrong if I'm using it under eye. I also seem to be slowly working my way through every MAC concealer available, so it seemed worth a try.

D for Danger £15.50

Nightingale £12.50

Rich Experience £16.50

Mineralize concealer £17.50

Have you made any recent beauty purchases?

n xx

Review | Soap and Glory Flake Away

The Righteous Butter

£10 / 300ml

As part of my use-up-what-you-have spending ban, I've been using up a lot of my Soap & Glory products, which I have an abundance of thanks to the massive Boots Christmas sets!

The Righteous Butter has the classic Soap & Glory 'Original Pink' scent with shea butter and aloe vera, though if you're not keen on strong scents then this might not be the one for you. I tend to use it before I go to bed, and I love the smell so it doesn't bother me too much. It's a formula for 'very dry skin', which is perfect for me because my legs are constantly too dry thanks to eczema.

I've really fallen in love with this moisturiser, because it really is super nourishing, and I've noticed that I've been having far fewer problems with dry skin since I started using this, It's also pretty good value for money; I'd guess I've been using it for about a month and I haven't reached the bottom yet! If you're a S&G fan and you haven't tried this, I'd definitely recommend it.

Have you tried this? What's your current favourite moisturiser?

n xx

Graduation

Three years, one string of fairy lights, four power cuts, six portfolios, nine formative assessments, five carnage shirts, seventeen notebooks, over fifty novels read, one third floor flat, two houses, eighteen modules, seven housemates, one broken shower (never fixed), one dissertation, two conker hunts, too many coffees to count (thousands), nine lecturers, one graduation teddy.

I wasn't going to post about my graduation, but university has been a massive part of my life. Graduation wasn't only the official end of my three years studying English with Creative Writing, but the end of a few other things too. Though there's a lot I'll miss, but I'm excited to move on to the next part of my life and lots of new adventures. I've learnt a lot, and there's bits I wouldn't live again for the world, but there's been so many more wonderful things too.

Good luck if you're still a student, whatever level you're studying!

n xx

Hassop Hall

Last weekend Jay organised for us to go away for our anniversary, which was a really lovely surprise, because it also happened to fall just after my graduation. We went to Hassop Hall in Derbyshire, which isn't a part that I've explored before so it was all new for me. The hotel was right in the middle of the countryside, which was amazing because we both just wanted some time together and to go for a few walks.

We had a meal at the hotel on the night we got there, and we had the choice of going for a two course or four course- we were defeated by the two course though so it's a good thing we didn't go for four! The food was lovely, but super rich, and the service was perfect. Everyone was super friendly and helpful during our stay. We also explored Chatsworth House, which was only a short drive away, and also Matlock.

I loved every second of our mini getaway, and I'd 100% Hassop Hall as a getaway if you're looking for somewhere with walks and lots of countryside!

n xx

What's In My Bag

I though it was time for an update about my current handbag must haves, since my last 'what's in my handbag' post was probably this one from summer 2014 (nice and recent, really).

The bag I use a lot at the moment is this one from River Island (similar here), but the reason I love this one so is because it can go from over the shoulder into a backpack, which is perfect for days where I want to wear my hair in bunches and pretend I'm not an adult. I also have this pom pom on the side, because why the heck not. 

Inside I try to keep things pretty clutter free, I have asthma, so there's always an inhaler lurking in all my bags. I'm obsessed with keeping my hands as soft as possible, and I find Soap & Glory Hand Maid and Hand Food are a really good combination for me, plus I don't like using a lot of cheap soap in public bathrooms. I'm currently keeping my pink theme with this Nivea Raspberry lipbalm, which smells absolutely amazing. I have Apple headphones, unless I'm going long distance, then I use these Urbanears. My keys have another massive pom pom on them, which makes them super easy to find, and a cute love key ring, as inspired by SatC.

I've just started using my Mulberry purse (post here), which I still can't stop staring at, and my phone case is from Sighh designs. It's the premium dottie case, and I'm liking it despite my usual hate for phone cases.

Is your handbag minimalist like mine, or pretty crammed full? 

n xx

Interrailing Planning

Interrailing

Later this year, I'm planning to go travelling, and as part of that I'm looking at interrailing. It's something I've only recently started looking at, but I've had quite a few friends recommend it since I've been looking. I'm hoping to either go for 22 days continuous or 1 month continuous, especially because since I started planning I've found so many cities that weren't on my original wish list!

I bought this map of Europe to use to help me plan where I'm going to go, which I'll use alongside some of the super useful map from here. It's also been useful because my geography isn't great.. I know a lot of people can just go and get on a train and go from there, but I'm planning a little bit more of a route hopefully!

Top five countries/ cities to visit:
Hungary / Budapest
Netherlands
Belgium
Italy / Rome
Czech Republic / Prague

Have you been Interrailing?

n xx

Recent Empties

It's been a while since I put up anything about products that I'm finishing up, and since I'm on a make up and beauty de-clutter currently (full post coming soon), I'm finishing products like there's no tomorrow and I'm on a spending ban until they're all gone.

I mentioned this Clinique Anti-Blemish 3-step Solutions set early last year (post), and I loved them a lot. They weren't too harsh, but I noticed a definite difference in my skin once I started using them. I'll definitely be looking at picking up a full size, either of probably the clarifying lotion.

Soap and Glory Super Cat (post) is my current go-to eyeliner, because I find it so easy to use, though it probably isn't the most long-lasting eyeliner I've used. The Collection Lasting Perfection is another staple that I nearly always have on the go, and this Max Factor Colour Corrector has been a real life saver since I discovered it. I originally started using the under-eye corrector (post), but this one is brilliant for the redness I get around my nose (goodbye Rudolf). This Body Shop frosted cranberry hand cream was a left over from last Christmas, but I find the size of these a perfect fit for my handbag.

Collab is my current favourite dry shampoo, though I am trialing out a few other brands at the moment. My favourite scents are Paris, Tokyo and New York, and I find it works instantly on my hair, instead of making it damp or streaky like some others do. I've been on a bit of a Lush spree recently, and I loved this tea tree toner. It's really gentle on my skin, and the tea tree leaves a slight tingle (the good kind) that makes my skin feel really refreshed. I like using it after the St Ives Apricot Scrub, which is blemish fighting, and is one of my favourite scrubs. It's exfoliating enough to be refreshing, but doesn't leave my skin feeling tight and uncomfortable. Lastly, I've gotten used to having a bottle of the Garnier  Micellar water around recently and it's made me a bit lazy in my skincare.. but it's perfect for lazy days or a second cleanse!

What have you been using recently? Are you a product hoarder like me?!

n xx

Mulberry Purse

Mulberry continental wallet 

steel blue

Normally I avoid shopping as much as I can during sale season (sale racks really bother my OCD and I can't stand to be near them), but the other week I stumbled into Mulberry in House of Fraser. As I was looking around, the purses caught my eye and before I knew it I was at the till watching my new purse be tied up in the prettiest bag I think I've ever seen.

I went for the 'continental' in steel blue, though I nearly went for this green version, but I thought the tree could end up being a bit of a hazard when you're as accident prone as I am. Inside, there's a coin section, 10 card pockets and an additional 6 pockets the width of the purse, plus a zipped section on the back. I love the purse I have at the moment but the space in this one seems a lot better suited to what I have in my purse. The colour has come out a lot darker in the photos than in real life, but I love how simple and elegant it looks both inside and out.

If you're wondering about Mulberry and their stand on animal rights (like me), read more here.

Would you splash out on a designer purse?!

n xx

Desk Space

I love having a tidy desk space. Being free of clutter and organised is such a satisfying feeling, so I always try and keep my desk clear at the start and end of every day so it's not the first thing to organise on a massive to do list. Since I had quite a festive desk the last few months, I decided to treat myself to this new wooden desk calendar when I saw it in the Boots sale (similar here). I've also got one of my favourite photos in a frame from Paperchase (similar), and I'm having trouble letting go of my Rudolph Starbucks mug at the moment. My calendar is a beautiful Disney one I got for Christmas, kept up to date with an abundance of stationary.

If you were around at the end of November, you might remember that my old laptop went ka-put very suddenly. I went for a HP from John Lewis this time, though don't ask me what model it is or anything because let's be honest, I'm just lucky I worked out how to turn it on. It was a surprise when I picked it up and it was white, but I actually really love it now I'm using it! 

What's your work space like? Do you like clutter or de-cluttering?

n xx

Skiiing in Meribel

Before Christmas, I was lucky enough to go with Jay's family to Meribel in France for four days of snow and I couldn't not share some of the photos I took. I've never been skiing on snow before (it turns out I'm so bad it's not even funny), or to that part of France. The scenes were absolutely beautiful, I drank far too much hot chocolate at every opportunity, and if you're into skiiing holidays then I'd 100% recommend looking into going to Meribel. The views are absolutely stunning, and that wasn't even in peak season. Plus the area is lovely, with so many places to go for food and just generally relax. It was lovely to go on holiday with Jay's family too, who luckily are all much better at skiing that me. 

I hope I get to go back one day just for the views!

n xx