November Favourites

Hello all!

I hope you're all doing well. Mother Nature has been more lenient and we've been blessed - finally - with sweater weather. But of course, the wave of cold weather brings sickness and cold; stay strong, stay moisturised, and fight through it!

Helping me combat rough, scaly skin is the Creamy Madly Dreamy body lotion from Zoella's core collection of products. With a light, floral scent, this lotion is thick but absorbs into the skin quickly, replenishing moisture.

For my lips I recently picked up this Wild Argan Oil lip balm from The Body Shop to replace my ancient Nivea tin. For $109, this little 20ml tin is on the pricier side; nonetheless, I believe it is worth every dollar because it truly does moisturise my lips well. I apply this every night before going to bed, and before I apply a matte lipstick to avoid my lips from drying out.

Personally, washing my face in the morning is a chore. I'm perfectly fine with washing my face at night because I do it in the shower, but in the mornings I'm often barely awake. Using facial wipes isn't quite as effective as properly using a cleanser, but the tea tree wipes from Superdrug have really helped me out. After using it on my face it leaves a tingly, refreshing feeling, and my face feels nice and clean after. I was shopping one day when I came across them and decided to give it a go; for only $20 these wipes work really well!

Here's a fun little fact for you: my whole family's quite into Lush. I've mentioned my love for Lush products in previous Favourites, and for this months I have included their American Cream conditioner. Originally my mum bought this to use in her shower, but I took and started using it! It smells divine, as Lush products do, and my hair has definitely become less tangled up when I come out of the shower.

Through November, I delved more into the world of hip hop and rap. Tyga found his way into my playlists and I've been listening to his songs all month, particularly the 2011 hit 'Rack City', his sick collab with Chris Brown 'Ayo', and his latest single 'Dope'd Up'. I mentioned Kid Ink last month but 'Iz U Down' featuring Tyga popped up and earned a permanent spot in my music library. 

I really must applaud Justin Bieber on 'Purpose'; it was nothing like I imagined it to be and I absolutely love the album. The dance videos accompanying the release of the album are amazing. 'Sorry' is my favourite on it, along with 'Company', 'No Pressure' featuring Big Sean, 'Where Are Ü Now', 'Life Is Worth Living' and 'The Feeling' featuring Halsey. Speaking of Halsey, 'Coming Down' from 'Badlands' is another track on the favourites list. Her voice is pure liquid gold!

Power girl group Little Mix dropped their new album 'Get Weird' this month and it would be a crime not to include it in my favourites. It's nostalgic to see how far they've grown, as I've been a fan since their early X-Factor days. Tracks I love are the cheeky 'A.D.I.D.A.S.', 'Grown' and 'Secret Love Song' featuring Jason Derulo. Little Mix is the ultimate epitome of a perfect girl group (imo!) and I'm super happy that they are attracting more attention. 

To end the music favourites, I'm including Nick Jonas's 'Levels', Daya's 'Hideaway', and Panic! At the Disco's horrifically entertaining 'Emperor's New Clothes' (THE MUSIC VIDEO!).

And those were my November Favourites! November has been a slightly icky month for me, and I'm hoping to regain balance as we head towards the end of 2015. Have you been feeling like that too? Nonetheless, here's a little Pinterest inspiration!

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Have a great day! x

Autumn/Winter Lip Product Picks

Hey there!

With the colder months here, a whole new set of lip colours is required to go with the change of attire. My pinks and corals are retiring for now, and I'm bringing out deeper, more autumn/winter-appropriate shades. 

Topshops's Matte Lip Bullet in Get Me Bodied is the perfect maroon shade, complete with a not-overwhelmingly-dry matte formula.

VDL's Expert Colour Lip Cube in 502 Hello Stranger is a nice bright red that's an alternative to the traditional scarlet. It's such a Christmassy shade and it gets me excited for the festive season.

When I first swatched VDL's Festival Lipstick in 501 Bordeaux, it immediately reminded me of Lorde; the name of the shade suits it very well! The shine of this product is fantastic, making it less Halloween and more vampy-glam.

Probably my favourite out of the set is Mac's Whirl. Dubbed as one of Kylie Jenner's 90s lip colours, I am absolutely in love with this neutral shade, along with Velvet Teddy. Whirl is slightly darker than Velvet Teddy, and Autumn and Winter are great times to rock those darker shades. 

Rimmel's Apocalips Lip Lacquer in 008 is a smooth blue-toned pink. The formula applies very well and the product is quite moisturising. 

L-R: Topshop bullet, VDL lip cube, VDL lipstick, Rimmel Apocalips, Mac Whirl

What lip products will you be wearing this Autumn/Winter?

I'll see you next time! x

Sick Beats and a Splurge | October Favourites

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Hello all!

Now that October has passed, it's only appropriate for me to do my October Favourites. Last month went past as a blur as two major things happened: I went to Borneo for a week with the school, and I moved house! I'm back and settled down, so prepare for a chatty post today.

The month of October was a month I splurged on a couple of items. First is my Kate Spade Ceder Street Stacy purse. After several years of switching between Accessorize and Forever 21 purses I decided to invest in one that would last me a long time without going out of style. I decided on the Stacy because it's roomy enough for all things necessary in a purse, and still sleek and compact. Black was an obvious choice as a. it tends to hide stains, marks and scratches better than other colours, and b. black is a timeless colour. Another splurge is Mac's Velvet Teddy lipstick. Thanks to Kylie Jenner, I have found a nice shade that goes with pretty much everything! The matte finish isn't too drying, which I find is the case with some matte lipsticks.

From Borneo I brought home a few henna cones, and it truly is addicting to draw designs on your arm. It's a fun way to accessorise without all the commitment or pain of a real tattoo.

My TV show favourite of the month is ABC's 'Quantico', a thrilling series that follows Alex Parrish, an FBI agent who has been accused of a bombing in New York. The show very much reminds me of an all-time beloved, 'How To Get Away With Murder', as it is set in the present but flashes back to the Quantico training. Priyanka Chopra, who plays Alex, is gorgeous and it makes me happy that they cast a woman of colour as the lead; you don't see that too often!

After a month of dawdling I finally purchased 'The Wrath and the Dawn' by Renee Ahdieh. It had been on my books-to-buy list for quite a while, and I am so glad I did eventually buy it.  The story is an adaptation of the classic 'A Hundred and One Arabian Nights', revolving around Shahrzad, a girl who sacrifices herself to be the Caliph of Khorasan's next wife. The reason why I love this book so much is that the description is lusciously rich, similar to Erin Morgenstern's 'Night Circus', my all-time favourite book. I would highly recommend this book to anybody remotely interested because it truly is a hidden gem.

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In Borneo I rediscovered old songs from the group of people I went with, and discovered my appreciation for rap music. I started off with Kid Ink's tracks after hearing him on Fifth Harmony's 'Worth It', and after listening to his album 'Full Speed', it's safe to say he's now one of my favourite artists. Spotify has been my go-to app lately for discovering music because they've got hundreds of playlists made according to genre and mood. Through one of their hip-hop playlists I started listening to Big Sean's 'I Don't F*** With You'; granted, it's not a song you can go round blasting out of your speakers, but I can't deny that it's catchy! Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's 'Downtown' is a spunky, magical creation and the choreography videos I've seen on YouTube from the likes of Kyle Hanagami, 1Million Dance Studio and Matt Steffanina perfectly capture the different moods expressed through it. Tracks I've picked up from dance class are Dawin's 'Dessert' featuring Silento and Redfoo's 'New Thang'; I am an absolute sucker for danceable songs as dance is one of my favourite hobbies. Justin Bieber is making quite the comeback with the new releases off his coming album 'Purpose' and my favourite so far is definitely 'Sorry'. The hottest new track that literally everyone has been playing is Drake's 'Hotline Bling' so it's not a surprise that it's included in my Favourites. To conclude everything, my last favourite is Troye Sivan's 'TALK ME DOWN'. The Blue Neighbourhood trilogy is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking, and, along with thousands of other fans, I am secretly waiting for a Part 4/3 because the ending to Part 3 was undoubtedly brutal. 

Ahhhhh, I've missed writing long posts! I'll see you in my next one! x