Adventures in Liverpool

This is the first of two posts today – my posts are obviously a little like buses, they take a while but often come all at once. Whoops, bad beginning blogger.

This post is about my little visit to Liverpool this week, basically for the Noel Gallagher concert at the Echo Arena on Thursday night, but once we booked our concert tickets months ago myself, my mum and my aunty decided to make a proper little touristy trip out of it and see a few things whilst in the ‘pool.

Firstly, the amazing weather whilst we were there was such a blessing, literally t-shirt weather and it was lovely to be able to stroll along the water front beside the Albert docks and enjoy a few rays. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in Albert Docks, purely for convenience as the Echo Arena is literally facing it, so travelling to the concert was a tiny 2 minute stroll from door to door, so yay for laziness convenience!

Mum looking for willy sculptures at the Tate, View from the hotel room, Yummy dinner!

We arrived on the Thursday and had a quick stroll around the docks and wandered into the Tate Modern, which had a few weird and wonderful things in the sculpture gallery for us to have a nosy at, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. Weirdly, a lot of the pieces had sexual connotations to them – apparently including part of a tree trunk covered in black rubber, I spent a while scratching my head trying to figure that one out. Whilst I’m immature in certain situations, I’d forgotten just how giggly my mum gets around things like this, can’t take her anywhere!

Salvador Dali's Lobster Telephone, Hans Bellmer's 'The Doll'

For dinner we went to a lovely bar/restaurant in the docks which ran a deal specifically for concert goers which was nice of them, and I quickly devoured a starter of garlic mushrooms with goats cheese and lemon, followed by a chicken and chorizo pasta topped with grilled halloumi, yummyyyyy.

Then of course came Noel himself, who was on top form and sounds every bit as impressive live as he does on his records, would definitely recommend seeing him in concert if you get the chance! There were some crazy characters in the crowd that night, including a guy who’d clearly indulged on the alcohol beforehand and insisted on taunting the poor steward by dancing in the aisles despite being told off several times –made amusing viewing I can tell you. 

View of Albert Docks from the Duckmarine, and the view from the big wheel

The hotel itself was lovely, although unfortunately because of where our mine and mum’s room was it was pretty noisy with people hanging around outside bars and loud music. After a hearty (all you can eat) brekkie we ventured out for a look around and travelled around Liverpool in style – on a yellow duckmarine! 

First it whizzed us around the city centre where a rather animated scouser tour guide pointed out notable spots, including the Liver building, the cathedral and even where the Sherlock Holmes (Robbie Downey Jr version!) set for ‘Baker Street’ was. Then it buzzed us back round to the Albert Docks and took us for a quick sail around there where we hopped back off and went for a spin on the big wheel outside the arena for views of the city, then popped into the new Museum of Liverpool, which genuinely has something to suit everyone’s interested, whether it be Liverpool’s most famous TV/music exports to Liverpool  through the ages and how much it’s changed over the years. After grabbing a quick bite to eat at a little French crepe café, it was time to drive home, and to be honest I was exhausted! But I definitely did love me some Liverpool. 

Review: Revlon ColorStay Foundation

My latest purchase is something I’m very pleased with indeed, and, fingers crossed that I’m not speaking too soon, but I think I may have finally found a foundation to suit my somewhat strange skin! My skin can be what you’d call ‘difficult’, red and blotchy with large and noticeable pores, can get very oily around the t-zone/forehead area, very light in skin tone and to top it all off, often prone to quite large, angry looking spots that I’ve previously found very hard to cover.

Having given up on the hunt for my ‘perfect foundation’, for the past six months or so I’ve been using Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Foundation (which, by the way, does have it’s perks and I particularly liked the slight glow it gave my skin). However, I was nearing the end of my second or third bottle of the stuff, and after growing tired of my make up just sliding off and having a seriously oily forehead within a few hours of application, I decided it was time to return to my unfinished mission and find something much more suitable for my skin type!

I started looking online for foundations specifically for oily skin, as especially with some of the (albeit very rare this year!) slightly sweatier days during the summer my skin has been particularly greasy and shiny. I came across a few options, and I whittled it down to either Benefit’s ‘Hello Flawless’ foundation, which boasted an oil free formula for a ‘natural finish’ and cost around £25, No7’s Beautifully Matte foundation which claimed to balance oil production and keep you shine free for 12 hours and costs around £13.50, or finally, Revlon’s ColorStay Foundation for combination/oily skin which apparently lasts for a whole 24 hours, costing around £12.50.

I did my research on each and I found that the most reviewed in the blogosphere was definitely the Revlon ColorStay, which was raved about repeatedly mainly for it’s staying power. Then I saw Becky’s review (from Milkbubbletea) and her comments about how well hid her pores and prevented oily patches, and I went and picked it up from Superdrug the next day.

The foundation does come in two different types, combination/oily and normal/dry, so kudos to Revlon for tailoring ColourStay to everyone. Although Revlon’s website indicates a large range of shades available, in store at Superdrug (and in Boots) there didn’t seem to be a massive range, and I went for the second lightest in the store, shade number 150 (buff). In terms of presentation I think the glass bottle it comes in makes the product look quite classy and semi-expensive, but the most annoying thing about the bottle is the lack of pump, as it does mean its more difficult to get the right amount of foundation for a single application and ultimately means some product will get wasted. 

In terms of the foundation itself, it has quite a creamy consistency and blends quite well, and I feel it dries much quicker than my previous foundations. I’d the say coverage is fairly heavy, judging on how well it covers my redness and even my spots and under-eye dark circles, but by no means ‘cakey’. Once applied this foundation really will not budge, which is something of a revelation for me, although I can’t vouch for the 24 hour stay claim as I never have my make up on for that long at once. On the whole it lasts all day without really needing any touch ups, and definitely stops my oily forehead problem. I love the natural finish the product gives, and given a few minutes to set I do think my pores are a lot less noticeable too.

Overall, I’m VERY happy with this foundation and will definitely be repurchasing, and at £12.50 it’s far from a bank breaker.

Has anyone else tried this? Or the normal/dry skin version? What do you think? 

OOTD/life update

Excuse the slight scruffiness today, but once again today is another lazy one spent indoors so my hair has been hastily plonked on top of my head for the purposes of these pictures.

Shirt – little random shop in Richmond, Leggings –Missguided 

Both the shirt and leggings were birthday presents and I haven’t really worn either much yet. The shirt is a cute little tiger print, spotted in a little shop in Richmond whilst visiting my aunty recently with my mum. I tried it on and my mum and aunty both insisted it was too nice to leave in the shop so my aunty bought it for me as an early birthday present. The leggings are from Missguided and are kind of half way to the much heralded ‘disco pants’ but are more like thick leggings with a bit of a sheen. Nevertheless, the quality is lovely and although I’m usually on the fence as far as whether I’d wear leggings as trousers, these are thick enough that the old 'bending over and your leggings turning see-through' isn’t an issue.

This week has been a quiet one as usual, involving a trip to the Job Centre (really exciting!), watching ‘Ted’ at the cinema with my dad and brother (brilliant by the way, a must see!), a family outing with the cousin, aunty, mum and grandparents for some lunch, and a visit to the world’s worst Italian restaurant with friends last night. Note to self, never get taken in by a sign saying ‘5 courses for £9.95’ and expect to get a good meal, it IS too good to be true!

Outfit post/weekend ramble

Hello there! These pics are just of an outfit I wore around the house the other day when the weather was lovely and warm, as today’s outfit only consists of my pyjamas so far, not the most flattering attire for a blog post. 

The blouse was from Primark a few months ago and is something I’d normally shove on with my old chinos or tuck into my denim shorts, but upon spotting these old faithful shorts of mine, (also from Primark but an absolute age ago), I decided this would be an appropriately lightweight little outfit to keep me from collapsing from the heat in my house at the time – it was ridiculous!

I do love the cute little collar on this blouse, and even though these pictures don’t show the colour off very well, the dusty pink colouring doesn’t drain my pale skin too much (these pictures were before I’d had any chance to smother myself with fake tan).

Blouse and shorts both Primark, Earrings - Debenhams

             

This weekend I haven’t done an awful lot, finally went to see Magic Mike on Friday night with my lovely friend Becky, which I have to say was very disappointing. Aside from the stripping scenes, which on the whole of course were the highlights of the whole film, the actual story to the film was a little lacking, a few parts of the film felt like they were literally just there to fill time, and one of the characters in particular was really quite pointless. If you’re planning on seeing this film, just watch the trailer and you’ve more or less seen everything worth seeing!

After that we went for a few quick drinks at Becky’s local pub and grabbed a lovely fatty kebab and strolled home, then spent Saturday babysitting her cousin’s 8 month old baby. Today’s a lazy one, applying for yet more jobs online and watching plenty of How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory whilst overdosing on tea. If anyone is reading this, hope you've had a nice weekend too!

Perfume Review: Gucci Flora: Gorgeous Gardenia

So it was my birthday a couple of weeks back and among the lovely gifts I received was this little beauty. Part of the limited edition Flora Garden Collection, Gucci launched Gorgeous Gardenia, along with two other fragrances Gracious Tuberose and Glamorous Magnolia, earlier this year and I’d been eyeing this one up since sniffing it a couple of times on passing flits through Boots. So I was very pleased indeed upon finding this in the pressie pile on my birthday.

I think if I was to describe this perfume in a single word, it’d have to be ‘feminine’. The scent is very light and sweet, and despite the obvious references to flowers/gardens in the name of the perfume itself and the range to which it belongs, I definitely feel it has a more sweet fruity smell to it than a floral one. As silly as it might sound, wearing it makes me feel that little bit more ‘ladylike’ – at least until I open my mouth to speak and reveal otherwise – and even the glass bottle’s sleek and expensive looking design and the pink tint to the perfume screams ‘classy’.

Having had a scan around the net for the product specifics, the Debenhams website tells me that the perfume has top notes of red berries and pear, heart notes of white gardenia and frangipani flower, and base notes of patchouli and brown sugar accord.

Overall, I love this perfume and despite its rather hefty price tag (for me, being unemployed for the time being), I think I will definitely be repurchasing this lovely scent before it disappears from shops. The only little niggle I have is that it doesn’t tend to last the whole day like my previous perfumes have, which leads to me more or less bathing in this if I’m going out for longer than a few hours, but admittedly I would much prefer this to an overpowering smell that practically assaults the nostrils of anyone who comes into contact with me.

You can grab yourself a bottle of this lovely stuff for £63.15 on Amazon.co.uk for 100ml, which is the cheapest I’ve seen it as it seems to average at around £72 most other places. The 50ml seems to average at around the £50 mark.

Have you tried/purchased this perfume? What do you think?

Hi!

Hello there! Somehow you seemed to have stumbled onto my tiny fragment of the internet – so welcome!

I started this blog a couple of months ago with the intention of inflicting my thoughts and opinions on the world on a regular basis, but for whatever reason I’ve kept putting it off until now. I started following several blogs last year on the recommendation of my lovely friend Hev (whose blog is right here), and decided that once I’d finished uni I’d give it a whirl myself. So finally, here it is, my first blog post!

Just so you know a little about this random rambler, I’m a 21 year old Northern girl who recently waved goodbye to her little uni life in Chester and moved back in with the parents just outside Manchester. Now having a journalism degree under my belt but almost no work experience, I’ve found myself on a permanent job hunt interrupted only by the occasional outing with friends and incessant watching of Keeping Up With The Kardashians or any other TV series I can watch online that I haven’t already exhausted. 

In an ideal world, at some point I would land myself a dreamy job – I have ambitions to somehow get myself on a traineeship to become an assistant buyer or merchandiser for a retailer, or the ultimate dream would be to find myself a cosy little corner of the Beauty PR world. But for now my main aims are to get out from under my parents feet and potentially move in with the boyfriend in lovely Edinburgh, and finding a job that earns enough for me to live.

This blog will most likely include my ideas and opinions on fashion and beauty, the occasional rant update on whatever happens to be going on in my life and possibly a few other bits and bobs thrown in for good measure.

If you've just read all that, give yourself a large pat on the back, and thank you!