The Student Loan Haul #2 | Clothing & Skincare

It's that time again, the loans are in and we're off. Considering that the first 'student loan haul' was my most popular post, ever - I thought I'd use that as an excuse to do it all again. Needless to say, #sorrynotsorry is the story of my life right now. LET'S DO THIS!



First stop: Topshop! Remember these scalloped vests? Of course you do. Everyone and their mother had one last summer, well, now they're cropped! The second I saw them, I knew they had to be mine. You can't ask a girl to choose between fluro coral and mint, so I bought both. With summer coming our way, I decided it was time to grab some sandals! These Hansel Woven T Bar Shoes are absolutely perfect! I know full well my boyfriend is going to hate these but what can you do.



New Look are doing everything right at the moment and I've had my eye on these tops for the past month now, what better time than the present? This baby pink boxy top has a gorgeous gold zip at the back and I just think would look amazing with any of the gold necklaces from New Look. And as for striped tops, you can never have too many. For me it's such a staple that I will always buy them. The fabric is great too, quite thin and stretchy. 



Primark is pretty hit and miss for me but I had a little look and found this gorgeous black faux leather clutch bag with gold details. I love anything that's black and gold and it's a nice big size too. Very practical! I also grabbed these baby pink pajama trousers, they're really loose and perfect for bed. I know that as a beauty blogger I'm supposed to hate makeup wipes but I don't! Primark do two packs for £1 which is great value for money and these ones in particular are surprisingly good quality.



Last but not least is a little online order from The Body Shop. Whilst I was taking advantage of their next day delivery for Mother's Day, I stumbled across an offer that let you order £40 for £20 - so obviously, this happened. I've heard so much about the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter that it was the first thing I went for without a second thought. The hype around the Vitamin E collection has been pretty huge, everyone from Caroline Hirons to EssieButton have been raving about this Overnight Serum-In-Oil and if it's good enough for them... I also picked up a 'hair butter' which I thought was a really interesting concept and then to make it an even amount I got a Vitamin E Sink-In Moisture Mask.



I did buy a couple of makeup bits but I'm planning on featuring them in a seperate post, maybe with a first impression/review sort of thing. Let me know if you'd like to see a further review of any of these skincare bits and I'll make sure to do that for you.

What have you been treating yourself to lately? Let me know in the comments along with links to your posts or just blogs! I would love to have a look!

What's In My Clutch Bag? | Night Out Edition

Keys? Check. Money? Check. Phone? Check. That's all there is to it right? Not when you're a girl! You've spent hours curling your hair, perfecting your makeup and picking out that dress - it's only after the pre-drinks, several vodka and cokes later, that you remember your clutch. I've forgotten everything I own more times than I can count but no more. Every girl should have an emergency clutch at the ready, perfect for those impromptu nights out - this is mine! 

Clutch bags are my weakness and this one is my absolute favourite. It's something I wouldn't have expected to find in Primark, the monochrome and gold are so on trend this season and the box shape is really gorgeous but also quite unusual. It comes with a thin, black leather strap that hangs to your hip but can also be tucked away inside. For only £10, this bag was such good value considering it's already a staple piece in my wardrobe.

Wherever you're going, you don't want to be carrying about your entire purse. That's why I love this card holder from Topshop, I got it years ago but I'm sure you could find something similar in most fashion outlets. The pattern is really cute and it just keeps everything together as well as making it more difficult to lose! I also use this for my cash and bus tickets, so everything is in one place.

No self respecting girl is going to leave the house without a hairband, especially if you're planning on ending up in a club. There's nothing worse than hitting the dance floor and getting all hot and bothered because you can't put your hair up. Hair accessories are essential!I always like to keep a few bobby pins in the bottom of my bag too, you never know. (Hint: drunk bun!)

Jewellery is another must in my books. I'm loving midi rings at the moment and always have some lying around - usually because I end up taking them off and stashing them in weird places. These ones are from H&M, they came in a big pack and were really cheap! Which is good because I have a habit of losing rings! I also like to keep a chunky, gold necklace in my bag because you never know where you're going to end up. This one from New Look is a great way of dressing up an outfit quickly.

Finally, lipstick. If you're wearing lipstick out, it's always a good idea to bring it with you just to top up every now and again and if not, I like to have it just in case. It's a good way of perking up your look without having to carry around an entire makeup bag. This lipstick holder, also from Topshop, is great because it has a little mirror inside so you can use it anywhere.

What do you keep in your clutch bag? I want to know all your night out essentials!

Flawless Dewy Skin | Bourjois 123 Perfect & Seventeen Skin Wow!

When I think about spring, I think pastel nails, bold lips and most importantly flawless, dewy skin. SS14 is all about getting that 'inner glow' whilst maintaining the illusion of being completely bare-faced. Stepping away from powders and matte, heavy-duty foundations and embracing all manor of highlighters and BB creams isn't easy but I think I've finally found the perfect combo.

Seventeen's Skin Wow! 3 Way Highlighter is the first liquid highlighter I've ever tried and I am head over heels in love with it. It's supposed to 'wake your skin up with a luminous glow' and I honestly couldn't have put it better myself. Seventeen, I know I'm talking about them again, suggest that you could use it in 3 different ways, as a primer, mixed in with your foundation or as a classic highlighter on your cheeks. I like to use Skin Wow! over a primer, you can get a really flawless application this way but before my foundation. It gives you a really pretty, natural glow that's spot on this season.

Bourjois' 123 Perfect Foundation contains 3 'correcting pigments', different colours that work together to give you a flawless complexion. The yellow combats dark circles whilst the purple makes your skin look brighter and the green works against redness. It's definitely the best foundation I've ever used. The shade 'light vanilla' is a perfect match for my skin, I would say it's a must for anyone with fair skin who usually struggles to find a match. Since I switched to Bourjois I've had so many people asking what foundation I use and as you can imagine, I'm more than happy to recommend it!

I love using these two products together, they compliment each other perfectly and create an inner light that looks entirely natural.  If you're looking for that flawless, dewy skin then look no further!

How To Start A Beauty Blog | Secrets To Success

The world of blogging can be a daunting place at first, you've decided to start a beauty blog but have no idea where to begin. We've all been there. Whilst there's no official guide or rules to follow, these posts from Kate, Lily and Anna pretty much cover the basics and should get you up and running - what I'm talking about is what they don't tell you. The things that you have to learn for yourself along the way, the secrets to a successful blog. These are my top tips, now, let's skip to the good bit.

TURN OFF CAPTCHA
If you do one thing in life, turn off captcha. With Blogger, it's an simple as settings/ posts and comments/ show word verification/ no - for other platforms I'm sure a simple Google search will tell you exactly how to do this. It's irritating and puts people off commenting, simple as.

ALTERNATIVE COMMENTS SYSTEM 
For me, Disqus is the one to watch. There are so many things wrong with the in-built comments systems, the most important being that it does not facilitate discussion. Why would you leave a comment if you couldn't then see the reply? Disqus allows for replies, which in turn encourages readers to return to your blog. I actually dislike using anything else.

SYNCHRONISE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA 
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook - you name it! In my opinion, social media is the best thing you can do for your blog. You are projecting yourself online and in doing so are allowing your readers to see the person behind the blog, don't make it difficult for them! Try and keep both your profile pictures and usernames recognisable, you're creating an image for yourself and the clearer it is - the better.

MAKE IT FOOLPROOF 
If I have to struggle to find a follow button - then I won't. Just like that, you've lost a potential follower. The same goes for social media links, why would you make it more difficult than it needs to be? Make sure that all important information is clearly signposted at the top of your page. Your name and email address doesn't hurt either.

GET INVOLVED - A LOT 
The most effective way to get your name out there is to get involved in the community, what community I hear you ask, #bbloggers - of course. Now, I didn't even know that this existed when I first started and now that I do, it's my favourite part of blogging. The hashtag is pretty much universal, you can use it on every form of social media and it just lets other beauty bloggers know that you're there. There's a chat on twitter at 8pm on Sunday and Wednesday nights, get chatting!

Although this post has been aimed at beauty bloggers, the tips do apply to starting a blog in general. I hope you've found these tips useful and I do promise if you put them into action - you will see a result! Let me know if you've got any other secrets to blogging success that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!

[This is my 50th blog post and I've just reached 400 followers, something I never thought would happen! I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me in this, I love my little blog and the friends that I've made through it - I love you all and I can't thank you enough!]

Gelicious Hybrid Gel Nail Colour Review | Little Prince George

If there's one thing I'm good at it, it's nails. It's taken several years, tears and a lot of time and effort but finally I have reached the point where I can say, I will always have flawless nail varnish. We all have our calling, for some girls it's makeup and others hair, but mine is this. Needless to say, I'm always on the look out for new products that are going to take my manicure to the next level. So, when Gelicious contacted me asking if I'd like to try out their gel nails, I jumped at the chance and this is what happened next!

Gelicious Hybrid Gel Nail Colour* is exactly what you would expect it to be, it's a salon-style gel nail colour which you can apply at home using a Gelicious UV LED Nail Lamp. I've had gel nails done before but I never thought it was something that I would be able to do myself. Similar to acrylic nails, gel nails are a longer-lasting alternative to nail polish however gel nails are more natural than acrylic and leave your nails in a much better condition afterwards.



I expected the process to be very difficult and time consuming but using Gelicious Nail Colour was just as easy as applying regular nail polish. The step-by-step instructions provided are so simple to follow and each step takes no more than 2 minutes to complete. Essentially after each layer you paint, you 'cure' the coat under the LED lamp, and that's the only difference! My favourite thing about Gelicious is that once you're finished applying the colour, there's no waiting around for it to dry. It's dry as soon as you're done so you don't have to spend hours wandering around waving your hands about only to get them all creased going to bed later on!

Gelicious sent me their Mani-Pedi Starter Pack which includes a UV LED nail lamp, the Ultra Glaze Top Coat (which is essential for gel nails) as well as a Gelicious Gel Hybrid Nail Colour. I have the shade 'Little Prince George' which is a gorgeous baby blue with white polka dots inspired by Kate Middleton's dress in the first pictures of the baby! I thought this was such a great idea and absolutely love the colour. But if this isn't quite your style, Gelicious have over 50 different colours to choose from so there's something for everybody.



When I first tried Gelicious, I had a few problems with peeling which apparently is a common problem with first-time users just because it takes a bit of getting used to. I emailed them asking for some advice, they were so helpful and gave me a list of tips to make sure that you get the best wear out of your nails. Make sure your hands are dry and clean, any moisturiser is a big no-no because the gel will have nothing to hold on to. Buff and shape your nails before beginning and paint with very thin coats - it's not like nail polish, you don't need to make sure it's opaque!

I would say that the Gelicious Nail Colour didn't last quite as long as I was hoping, mine lasted for about 5 days before it began to chip and being a perfectionist I then had to take it off completely! I'm sure it could last for longer, it just depends on the application. Considering 5 days is about the length of time regular varnish lasts for me (with a top coat), I wouldn't say that's too bad! Don't worry about taking the gel off either, you just soak it in remover for a few minutes until it softens then it pulls right off without damaging your nail at all.

I've had so many compliments on this that I would definitely wear it again and am looking into purchasing a few more different shades to have a go with this spring, my favourites are 'Strawberry Milkshake' and 'Aztec Blue'. What are yours? Let me know if you've tried Gelicious before or are going to after reading this - I would love to know what you think!

*PR Gifted Sample