Benefit Hervana blush

It's fair to say I love Benefit blushers. Coralista has always been my favourite blusher of all time, up until now. I absolutely love the idea behind Hervana, a 'good karma' face powder. It's made up of four different colours that swirl together to create a gorgeous flush.

When I first opened it, the first thing I noticed was the smell. Yeah, I never knew blushers could have a scent either, but this one does and it's actually quite nice! It goes on really easy and you can use as little or as much as you want to get the colour you prefer, which makes it perfect for those that only like a touch of colour.  Overall this is an amazing blusher, which provides a lovely colour that stays on all day. Plus, if it lasts as long as my other Benefit blushers, I'll be continuing to enjoy for at least 2 years!

Dan xx

A Topshop wishlist

1 2 3 4 5 6

Oh Topshop, how I love you. This is a small (believe me, I could have put so much more on here) list of things I wish I could buy right now.

I absolutely love this blazer! The colour is gorgeous, and perfect for summer, unfortunately the price tag means this will probably never be mine, sob. The dress I thought was quite cute, and would look lovely with a tan, and the same with the top (number 3). Although I tried to stick towards summery pastels, I couldn't resist picking out this black collared top. I always tend to favour the colour black when dressing,  and am trying to get out of this rut, but I think I can make an exception for this beauty! I have a big obsession with shoes, and would love to add this pair to my collection sometime soon! Finally, i'm loving statement necklaces atm, and this one is perfect.

What are you wanting from the shops at the minute?

Dan xx

Sunday Recollections #6

Ashleigh has some great advice for new bloggers 

This dress looks lovely on Chloe, I want it!

I'm even more excited for summer after reading this post.

Kim shares some more gorgeous nail designs

Gem's coverage of LFW is hilarious and a complete must read

Trying not to spend much money / Failing not to spend much money / Lunching at Slug and Lettuce / Being a loner without Tom all week / Laughing lots on a trip to Bradford / Eating too much food!

Dan xx

on the edge

dress - topshop, blazer - missguided

Afternoon lovelies! I'm currently catching up on blogs on a break from applying for placements! I had an interview on Tuesday which I think went ok, so fingers crossed! I seem to be spending my life writing cover letter after cover letter these days, but hopefully it will all be worth it.

I spent last night enjoying food and wine times at my friends house last night, as I've been abandoned all week by my boyfriend. He's back tomorrow though, so I'll be a loner no more! Looking forward to proper meals again, cooking for one is no fun.

Almost weekend!

Dan xx

Manchester Benefit bloggers event

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Benefits first northern blogger event at Harvey Nichols, Manchester. Sick of London having all the fun, Benefit wanted us northern bloggers to get in on the action and put on a wonderful event to get to know a couple of us.

The event started by giving us a bit of insight into Benefits history, which I always find really interesting. I was then lucky enough to receive a facial before acting as the model for the day, whilst Catriona demonstrated how to use different products.  I jumped at the chance to try out their new foundation (which isn't out until 31st March, but I can confirm will be worth the wait!) and the Hervana blush which she also used on my eyes and lips. That's multi use for you!

The whole afternoon was lovely, a really nice opportunity to really get into what Benefit stand for, and I loved their whole approach to the event and us as bloggers. I think we all left feeling like our opinions (and us!) were important to them, and actually got to have a really good chat with the Benefit girls.

Big thanks go to Catriona for an amazing facial and makeover, and Shell and Leanne for organising the whole event and spoiling us with lovely goodie bags. It definitely brightened up my Sunday!

Dan xx

Sunday Recollections #5

Katy's post on insecurities and bullying is beautiful

Pancakes. That is all.

I want to visit Whitby after reading this post

Emily's post on how to get your money back on make-up is a must read

I love this outfit!

Reading The Hunger Games religiously / Recovering from a weekend in London / Eating too much food / Enjoying a wonderful Valentines day with my boyfriend / Spoilt by the lovely people at Benefit / Meeting new bloggers / Applying for lots of placements / Getting organised

E.L.F

Until a couple of weeks ago, E.L.F was a brand I'd read about on various blogs, but never ventured into trying it myself, but as soon as I saw they had free postage and a mystery gift on offer, there was no question about me placing an order.

I decided to go for some brushes (powder, blush and eyeshadow), as I've seen the powder brush around and was dying to try if with my foundation. I can honestly say I'll never go back to the usual foundation brushes. On my trip to london last weekend, I took my old brush as it's smaller, but immediately regretted it as the finish was nowhere near as good as with this brush. The blusher brush is perfect for contouring, as it's shape is perfect for getting just under the cheekbones. The only brush I'm not as impressed with is the eyeshadow brush. It does the job fine, but I just feel it's a bit of an awkward shape. I also chose a blusher (I think it might be called Peachy Keen, but I'm not sure and it doesn't say on the packaging!), which is a lovely colour and goes on easily.

The eyeshadow palette, nail varnish and eyeliners are what I recieved as my mystery gift, which I think is great! You definitely can't complain at this for free.

Overall I'll definitely order from E.L.F again. I was slightly put off ordering online as it's difficult to get a sense of the true colours, but the prices mean that if they're not fantastic it's not such a big deal. The delivery and service was excellent. I'm a convert!

Dan xx

Weekend in Photos: London

TOWIB / Prezzo starter which didn't last long / Prezzo baked carbonara / Carnaby Street / Liberty / me / Hummingbird bakery / The Diner / cheese burger

After a bright an early start, Saturday found me in London for the weekend. I headed down for The Only Way Is blogging, which I'm not going to go into much detail about, as I know there's been a lot of drama surrounding it. All I'm going to say is I had a pretty good time, and met some lovely bloggers, and am glad I went.

I spent Sunday wandering/getting lost around London, hitting Oxford Street (of course!) and Carnaby Street, as well as general touristy places. After seeing many a blog post about the Diner, how could I not go whilst I had the chance? I had an amazing cheese burger (which was supposed to have bacon on it, but lets not dwell on that) and fries. So glad we went, although it was absolutely packed! I also had my first visit to the Hummingbird bakery, which was absolutely delicious, as expected.

I had a really lovely weekend, although I must say we walked about 10 miles yesterday! Hopefully I'll be back to London soon, this was only my third ever visit to the capital!

Dan xxx

frost bite

top - Topshop, leggings - Internationale

I bought this the other day, after realising I have literally no casual tee's at all. I paired it with these leggings for a day wandering round the shops and meetings to discuss uni work.

This morning I finally managed to fix my computer, although it now seems to have another problem! For the last couple of months  it's been extremely slow, and all the windows have been flashing, making it really difficult to do anything on it. I finally realised that it was a game Tom somehow managed to save to my computer, changing the BIT(?) to make it run, which then managed to up my CPU to 97%! Now it's deleted  my laptops running perfectly again, but now the fan seems to have broken and it keeps overheating. There's always something!

Getting really excited for TOWIB now! Only a 4 hour shift to get through tomorrow before it's time to go!

Dan xx

chance is in the h..air

After having the same haircut for an absolute age, I finally decided to go for a change. Getting my hair cut always makes me so nervous, if you don't like it there's not a lot you can do! I decided to get a fringe, and to be honest I'm not sure about it! It kinda makes me feel about 5, but maybe I'll grow to like it. What do you guys think?

On a completely unrelated note, it's only a few days until TOWIB! Who will I be seeing there? I'm looking forward to meeting some new people, but pretty nervous too. I'll be travelling from Leeds, and seeing as my student budget will only extend so far will be taking the megabus, at the joyous hour of 6:00. Hopefully I'll be nice and awake by the time I get there! I'm sticking around until the Sunday evening, hoping to see a bit more of London, so really looking forward to it!

I'm off to try and get rid of this awful headache I got as soon as leaving the hairdressers.

Dan xx

Topshop nail varnish - Gypsy Night

I got this a while ago with the Hyperreal one I posted about. I love the look of black nails, and am also loving glitter at the minute, which makes this perfect! As always, Topshop nail varnish is great quality, however I do feel with this one that you need two coats for a good cover. The colour is lovely, a black with a subtle multicoloured glitter, perfect to go with pretty much anything. Overall a lovely colour worth a purchase!

Dan xx

Sunday Recollections #4

Becky's 'Fitness Friday' posts always inspire me with my healthy living plans.

I love a good peek into what people get up to, and Lily's instagram post is one of the best.

How amazing do these look?

The photography in this review post is one of the best I've ever seen!

Tor's 101 in 1001 list has made me want to create one.

Absolute shoe envy here.

recieving Uni grades - pleased so far! / getting back into the swing of Uni / hitting the gym / catching up with girls over lunch / working / watching too much American TV / trying to stay warm

Dan xx

lazy days

top - Urban Outfitters, skirt - Topshop

Sometimes, you just want to get dressed without putting any thought into your outfit. A quick, comfortable outfit is all you need. This was one of those days. I got this skirt around a week ago, and have already worn it to death! It really is perfect for days like this, paired with pretty much anything it looks like you've made an effort. Perfect!

Dan xxx

MAC blusher - Style

I was treated to a (very welcome!) Mac voucher for Christmas off my mum, which I finally got round to spending yesterday, and one of the items I purchased was this blusher in 'style'. I've heard great things about the blushers, although this is my first one. It literally took me ages to choose, as I'm so pale I never know if they'll be too dark for my skin tone, however this one is perfect. I wanted a colour that's easy to wear for everyday use, that would instantly just brighten up my skin without much effort going into it, and this is perfect! It really is such a pretty colour, slightly matte but with a hint of shimmer. I'm in love!

Dan xx