Yves Saint Laurent Belle D'Opium Fragrance Review

Hello Everybody!

I've been a lucky, lucky girl. My parents recently treated me to a bottle of Yves Saint Laurent Belle D'Opium Eau De Parfum. I know it retails for around £75 on Amazon, however my stepdads sister, Caroline, sells luxury beauty products so I think my stepdad managed to get it at a good discount! 

I have to say, I genuinely feel so spoilt to have gotten this before Christmas! It smells incredible - I don't really tend to do fragrance reviews on here as I'm not 100% confident in my ability to deliver an accurate, well written review on a scent, but I will give it a try for you today!

Yves Saint Laurent Belle D'Opium is a musky, oriental, earthy scent, with a woody top note, and a floral undertone. It's warm and sexy, and is a strong feminine fragrance. I think it's quite a night-time scent, well suited for a date night, and isn't for the faint hearted! It's seductive, and it's a scent that will linger and wouldn't be forgotten easily. If you wanted to make an impression, this would be the scent to go for. To me, this is a luxurious scent, and it is the kind that could inspire even the meekest of girls to feel like sassy, powerful, and confident, women. 

You know when you're in a club, and there's always that girl who comes in, with perfect hair, flawless makeup, a killer LBD, and even though everyone's watching her, she doesn't seem to even care? She just strides over to the bar, eyes all over her, and orders herself a drink, refusing the men close by who offer to buy it for her. She's sexy, she's cool, she's confident. Belle D'Opium is the kind of scent that that girl would wear. Every girl wants to be her, and every guy wants to be with her. It is seduction, and confidence, wrapped up lovingly in a gorgeous, musky, fragrance.

As for the packaging, it is just beautiful. We all know that Yves Saint Laurent aren't a brand to just meet the standard. They over deliver, and make sure that every product they create is amazing, and Belle D'Opium does not disappoint. This is genuinely probably my favourite perfume of theirs. My mum is obsessed with their Cinema perfume and always asks for a bottle at Christmas! I genuinely think that Belle D'Opium might be my new personal favourite. It's seriously impressive! It just smells so luxurious, it has the whole Chanel No. 5 feel to it, it isn't a cheap smelling perfume. You put on a tiny amount of this, and whoever smells this on you knows that your perfume was expensive! It's so classy, and I'm so lucky to have such amazing parents to have treated me to it!

I really hope that this post hasn't come across as bragging or anything like that, I'm not that kind of person, I am honestly really grateful that I've been treated to something so nice, and I thought that I'd like to share with you my first thoughts on it, and show it to you guys.

I hope you guys have all had an amazing Halloween!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

Blackpool 2015 Road Trip

Hello Everybody!

You may or may not have noticed, I've been a bit AWOL this past week.

These past couple of days my family and I took a mini excursion to Blackpool. We've not had any time off together this entire year, so when we finally did we thought it would be nice to get away for a little bit!

I'm not really sure why we chose Blackpool - I think my mum wanted to go as she'd never been before. It's a three hour drive from where we live in Scotland so we drove up on Thursday morning, took Rhys to the Sealife Centre in the afternoon, watched the Blackpool Illuminations, and had dinner along the seafront in the evening. We stayed at The Lawton Hotel which was roughly a ten minute easy walk from the town centre/seafront, and then on Friday my mum and I really wanted to head to Primark (I'll be showing you guys my Blackpool Primark Haul in my next post!) in the morning, and take my son Rhys along the seafront for ice cream and to the arcade to go on all the rides in the afternoon. We also won him a giant George Pig toy which is as big as he is but he absolutely loves it!

Here's Rhys just chilling watching Peppa Pig on my iPad when we first arrived at the hotel!

For comparison purposes - my son is an 18 month old toddler. Look at the size of the crab in the Sealife Centre!

Rhys enjoying the teacups!

Waiting patiently for his dinner at Captain Jack's!

I didn't get any pictures of The Lawton, where we stayed, as we took all our luggage up with us to our first visit to the room, so by the tone I'd thought to take a picture the room was just chock full with bags and suitcases, and I didn't want to give an unfair representation of the room. I do recommend it though, it was friendly, served breakfast in the morning, the beds were comfortable and it was only £60 for 4 people overnight. We all agreed we'd definitely stay there again. We also met an absolutely lovely Czechoslovakian couple with three kids, an 11 year old boy (who I've forgotten the name of), a 9 year old girl, Selma, and a 3 year old, Sienna. I spent most of late Thursday evening in the hotel common room playing mega Jenga with Selma, who was crazy good and very competitive, and is easily the loveliest 9 year old I've ever met. All of the adults were drinking, buying beer and chatting, and my stepdad and Selma's dad played a few rounds of pool as well, while I played with Selma and Rhys (in between my gulps of Malibu and Coke!). It was just so social and nice to meet such friendly people! The family were also leaving Friday morning, which was a shame, but before they left they gave us their tickets to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, as they'd wanted to visit but hadn't had the time on their holiday, which was so nice of them! 

The best part about the trip for both me and my mum, and I'd say Rhys too, was visiting the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. My mum and I were really excited about going, as we know a few episodes of Strictly Come Dancing were televised there and we're huge fans of Strictly! We had such a lovely time in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, it's a huge ballroom, obviously, and it's so ornate and beautifully structured! There was a musician playing an organ to the rumba, the cha cha cha, the pasa doble, the charleston, and many other songs. The best bit was that it was so lively, there weren't many people sitting down, there were so many couples dancing and a lot of them danced as a hobby and had beautiful gold dancing shoes. It was just so fun and active, no one was shy about dancing in front of an audience. My mum, Rhys and I sat down for an afternoon tea, of egg mayonnaise, and ham and cheese sandwiches, scones, strawberry tarts, and tea while we watched everyone dancing and it was such a lovely way to spend the afternoon! My mum wants us to take her back there for her birthday, it was really good fun! Also, you weren't allowed to take pictures in the building but I took a sneaky few for you because I really wanted you to see what it was like! 

I took a few obligatory snaps of the seafront as well, because you can't go to a seaside town without taking pictures of the sea! All in all, it was a lovely trip and really nice to get away!

Hope you guys are having a lovely weekend,

Lots of Love,

Sam x

Primark Autumn/Winter 2015 Haul

Hello Everybody!

As you may or may not know, recently myself, my son Rhys, my mum, and my stepdad all took a little trip down to Blackpool for a couple of days. While we were there, my mum and I both did a Primark haul as the closest one to us is seventy miles away, so we like to stock up on bits and pieces when we can!

Homeware

I'm going to start with the homeware pieces first - I bought this cushion in the clearance sale for £2, and I think it's so beautiful, and this lovely copper/rose gold candle for £1.50 to match. When I do up my bedroom I want to have little rose gold accent colours so for a total of £3.50, I thought these were a total bargain.

Accessories

When you're in Primark by the till, you always (well, I always) get tempted by the little bits and bobs close by. I bought a pair of Shapewear Black Tights, an egg shape makeup sponge (a Beauty Blender dupe), and a cute little gold and marble necklace. Everyone seems to be really into marble accessories of late so I thought I would give that a go!

Clothes 

The first clothing item I picked up was this navy, chiffon-like material shirt dress for £5. I thought it was such a bargain, and dresses really suit my shape so I want to wear more of them, and this was perfect for Autumn/Winter. Very sorry for the picture looking a little scruffy, I initially thought it looked quite artsy and windswept but on second glance, it doesn't look that way anymore!

I also bought this monochrome boucle top for £8. It went really nicely with the maroon knitted skirt I bought (also £8), but I thought the top was also really versatile as you could still wear it with leggings, jeans, whatever you feel like! This also looks really trendy and flattering on and I just love the colour and the shape of the skirt!

Shoes

I've been on the lookout for these tan heeled boots for a while. They're a really comfortable height, but still look stylish and good quality when they're on. I featured these on my recent Primark Wish List Post, so I'm really glad I got them! They were only £18, and I'd seen a similar pair for £40 in New Look a few weeks ago so I'm really glad I waited! I love the durability of the leather, when the weather can be a bit unpredictable so I know I'll wear these a lot and get a lot of use out of them! I also like that they'll look really nice with the navy shirt dress, black tights, and the marble necklace.

I also picked up a black pair of pumps to go with the maroon skater skirt outfit! Pumps are always good to have and my old ones have been lost for ages so I thought it was about time to pick some more up!

Rhys

While I was there, I couldn't resist picking up these super cute pyjamas for Rhys for £3.50, as well as the Christmas socks for £2, and the toy dinosaur for £1. I thought the pyjamas were just too sweet to leave behind, and in my house his socks are a nightmare to find so he can always do with more! He also just really loved the dinosaur toy and I just can't say no to him when he's acting all cute with it! It might look a bit stingy that I only got him a few bits, but I've already bought him loads of new clothes for Christmas so he didn't really need any, plus my mum bought him some more bits while we were in Primark, and we spoiled him absolutely rotten on the Blackpool trip! He went on every single ride in the Coral Island Arcade, I also bought him a giant George Pig soft toy that was as big as he is (and he loves it), and we had ice cream and chips along the beach too, so Rhys has by no means missed out on anything!

I did also go to Boots as well just to browse, as the Boots in my local town is tiny but the one in Blackpool is huge! But then, I found a discounted Yankee Candle stand, and everyone loves a Yankee Candle! I picked up this Vineyard one, which smells of mulberries and blackberries and is a really berry-ish autumn/winter scent. It was only £5.50 so I just couldn't pass that up!

So, that was everything I got in my Primark Haul, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and are having a lovely weekend! 

Lots of Love,

Sam x

My Makeup Vanity & Storage

Hello Everybody!

I'm so, so, so excited to post this one up. I've been getting very easily frustrated of late, because I've had nowhere to store my makeup properly for a long while, so recently I went out and bought myself this totally bargainous, secondhand vintage 60's dressing table, for all of £20.

£20, and it's huge. There is so much to it, and I personally absolutely LOVE the way it looks. I know not everybody likes vintage, but I really do, and I can't imagine finding anything that I liked more than this one. It is literally so my style. It's perfect, and I have been crazy excited about showing it to you guys. 

The last makeup storage blog I wrote was posted around two years ago, when I was living in London in a tiny poky flat and there really wasn't the space for anything. I'd never have fit this dressing table in my old flat! But now I'm living in Scotland and honestly in comparison, the flats here are huge. So now was the perfect time to really think about having some more personal touches to my living space, and what with my ever-growing love for makeup, a dressing table has been the top of my wish list for a long time now, so was the perfect place to start! Obviously I store all of my makeup in here and I'm also going to show you the products I own. As for the boring disclaimer part, of course I'm not trying to brag, there are so many people who have way more makeup than me but I personally love makeup and interiors, and I think it's always interesting to see parts of other people's homes, or the way they store things, their dressing tables, their makeup collections and their personal touches! So I'm going to include all of those for you in this post!

On top of my dressing table, I have my makeup brushes in a cute Cath Kidston soup mug, with an empty Benefit Moisturiser pot that I like to store small things like bobby pins, rings, and earrings in. 

I also store my favourite, most used Nails Inc polishes on the white, glassy bit. I think that the white bit lights up because there's a little switch at the side, whoever owned this vanity previously decided to cut the wire to the plug though so I can't really use it! It doesn't really bother me though as I was wanting to get fairy lights to put around it as I think they look super cute, but my stepdad reckons he can fix it, so we'll see what happens!

I also store my most used perfumes there, too. My favourites are Versace Bright Crystal, and Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh.

In the top left drawer, I store my skincare products. I really love the Neal's Yard Geranium & Orange Body Lotion (far right). 

In the bottom left drawer, I have all my lip products. They're pretty much all pink, or red! I do have one berry lipstick though which is my absolute favourite, it's the Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in the shade 30.

In the top middle draw, I store all of my foundations and face products, so I keep my primers, blushes, bronzers, concealers, and highlights in here too (Also, a close up of my laptop for you, because that's the way the picture went! Mine is the Magenta HP Stream).

Underneath that draw, I store all my hair products, but I didn't take a picture of it because the draw is an absolute mess! I keep all my haircare products, brushes, and tools and tongs in there.

In the top far right draw I keep my eye products. All my mascara's, eyeliners, eyeshadows, brow products, and palettes live in here. My favourite product in here is my Stila In The Light Palette, and I use the shade Bubbly pretty much every day! I also keep my false lashes, glue, and curlers in here.

In the bottom right draw I keep my samples and tester products. I really like this draw, because I love the cute smaller sizes of things but also when I'm going away it's really easy to just take a handful of products to try, and take up less space in my luggage! I also have false nails at the back.

So that is pretty much everything! I store all my body moisurisers, shower gels, hair wash and such all in my bathroom so they're not in my vanity. The more I look at how everything is laid out in my dressing table, the more I realise that I really don't need to buy any more makeup for a long time! Which would be great, however I've just started my Glossybox subscription, and have asked for the Urban Decay On The Run Palette, a Real Techniques Bold Metals Blush Brush, and a Chanel Chance fragrance, for Christmas. So I guess that ideas well out the window!

Hope you guys have enjoyed this post!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

Primark A/W 2015 Wish List

Hello Everybody!

One thing I love about Primark, is that year after year they always continue to come out with really lovely, fashionable items. To me, every year they out-do themselves, every season is better than the last. This Autumn/Winter, there have been so many things I am absolutely loving in Primark. I'm going there later on this week so I wanted to have a look at their current stock and see if there was anything that caught my eye, and it's safe to say that quite a few things did!

Firstly was this mustard skinny jumper. The skinny material is so much more flattering than a chunky knit, and I have wanted to wear mustard coloured clothing for years, but being pale and blonde, it has always made me look really drained. So this year, where I'm pale and have dark hair, I'm hoping I can pull it off so I'm going to get this and hope for the best!

Secondly, was this burgundy-red tasseled bucket bag. I just think it looks so unique and much more expensive and stylish than it actually is! As it's limited edition I'm really hoping I can find one because I think they're just so cool. I've never owned a bag like this so hopefully I will be able to get my hands on one!

Thirdly, is this gorgeous pair of tan heeled boots. I just think these will look so nice with blue skinny jeans tucked in, and the mustard jumper at the top, with the bucket bag! I think together these will look so cool and autumnal. With the obligatory Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte in your hands, of course.

There are also so many gorgeous dresses this season!! Frankly, I want them all. But these are my top three!

Last but not least, a Christmas scented candle would go down a treat. Who doesn't love the cosy scent of cinnamon and spices during the colder seasons?!

I cannot wait to head to Primark! I'm genuinely so excited to pick up these goodies! The nearest Primark to me is seventy miles away so we tend to plan our trips there seasonally. Roll. On. Friday. 

Lots of Love,

Sam x

Halloween Dress Up - Hipster Disney Princesses

Hey Everyone!

Halloween is fast approaching - And for one night only, you can be anyone you want to be! Who are you going as? In case you haven't decided yet, I found some easy Hipster Disney Princess Halloween Inspo for you! I kind of want to go as Ariel, but since my hair is dark brown and I don't really want to dye it (nor do I own a red wig), I might go as Belle instead. I love the Disney Princesses, and I personally think the hipster versions are cool, modern, easy dress-up options if you don't particularly want to go full whack.

1. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

I think the Converse and the glasses are such a nice touch! 

2. Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

I could totally see Modern-Day Belle in a gloomy but cosy little coffee shop, reading the blues away. The boho boots are my favourite part of this outfit, and you could totally get away with is for Autumn/Winter daywear. How snug is that jumper?!

3. Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

This one, for some reason, also reminds me of Regina George in Mean Girls. Remember ladies, Regina George is flawless. But I love the cute romantic look it has for Aurora, too.

4. Snow White 

I think this one, with all of the bright colours, would be the most easily distinguished. I think a red lip, red nails, porcelain skin, and Tanya Burr's Bambi Eyes False Eyelashes would pair perfectly with this look.

5. Cinderella 

I just love is one so much, and if I was still a blonde this would be the one I would do! I just think it's so adorable, and that up-do is just divine.

What could also be really fun, is to get all the girls together to dress up as different Disney Princesses! I fully believe that if you want to be a princess, you're never too old to pretend, even for one night! Frankly, if I could be Belle every day of my life, chances are, I probably would. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, and if you didn't have a Halloween outfit planned I hope this has given you some Inspo! Hope you guys have the best Halloween ever!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

QOTD

Hello All You Beauts!

As we are now in October, recently I have had a little bit of time to think and contemplate about this past year. I've been thinking about everything, my goals, what I wanted to achieve this year, what I have achieved, and the things that I haven't. The set backs, the good parts, the bad parts, the moments I will remember.

Some day, we will live in a nice flat, and have a car, and I will have a good job, I'll be saving to take Rhys on a surprise holiday to Disneyland, and I will pick him up from school, and he'll be telling me about all the things he did that day, and we'll go home and play together and make hot chocolates, and I'll cherish those moments with him, and times like recently, where we've struggled a lot, will all be a distant memory.

The point of this particular quote, is acceptance. I fully accept I'm not perfect, and I'm okay with that. Who is actually perfect? Nobody. (Except Kylie Jenner. Obvs.) The thing is, is that I may not have the time to be perfect, because I'm too busy focusing on real goals instead of materialistic, artificial ones, however I wholeheartedly believe that you should always be the best version of you that you can be. I don't want to go through my twenties feeling like I never tried enough to have the things that I wanted. I don't want to feel like I wasted my years. I believe that your twenties are about finding yourself, and making things right for you, maybe travelling a little, experiencing life, and your thirties are for settling down and having children or whatever. Obviously I already have a child so I need to provide a certain level of stability for him, which of course I do, but we can always aim a little higher. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best future you can have, and not just settling for second best.

Onwards and upwards!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

FOTD Autumn 2015

Hello Everybody! 

Today I thought I would do a Face Of The Day post, to show you guys the kind of look I typically go for and the makeup I wear. 

Since dying my hair darker, I tend to wear braver makeup choices. As we're now in the Autumn season, I love to wear a dark, plummy berry lip, with winged eyeliner and a subtle contour and blush.

I absolutely adore this lipstick colour! 

The Look

For my face, after cleansing and moisturising, I used my Beauty Blender to apply Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Vanille Clair. I then highlighted my under eye area, nose, and chin with Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer before applying bareMinerals Ready Foundation in the shade R150 all over my face to give it that flawless finish. I then contoured using MUA Sculpt and Bronze Contour Kit, applying the highlight just above my contour. I then used Bobbi Brown Rose Quartz Shimmer Brick to the apples of my cheeks. 

For my brows, I used my Barry M Angled Eye Brush to apply the shade Sandstone from my Stila In The Light Palette. I then brushed them through with an eyebrow spoolie, and used the shade Bubbly from the same palette to apply all over my eyelid. I used the same angles brush (after giving it a clean with a baby wipe) to apply Maybelline 24 Hour Drama Gel Eyeliner. I curled my lashes and applied two coats of Urban Decay Perversion Mascara. 

I applied Nivea Lip Butter in Blueberry Blush to keep my lips hydrated, before applying Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in the shade 30. I then spritzed MAC Fix+ to set my makeup.

Hope you guys love this look as much as I do!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

My Holy Grail Makeup Product - Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer

Hello Everybody!

Firstly, I have to say - Oh. My. Goodness.

The topic of this post today is literally amazing. 

You know in Mean Girls when that Asian guy is talking about Regina George and is saying '"Regina George is Flawless." -' That, my friends, is exactly how I feel about my Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer. 

*Whispers* "My Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer is Flawless."

But seriously. 

I bought it because I have really prominent, very blue veins around my eyes and I get more self conscious about that than I do anything else about myself. I'm trying to do the whole 'pale skin, dark hair' thing and I really can't be doing that with people constantly telling me I have pen on my face. Which, by the way, they do say that. Total strangers. I mean, I know they're trying to be helpful but it then makes me feel like a total asshole when I have to reply to them, "No, that's just my face." I want to appear like I have perfect Snow White, Porcelain skin, but Snow White never had those problems even though she's so pale because she's a fucking animated character. 

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. 

The thing is, is that other than the veins I'm perfectly comfortable with how I look. I actually feel kind of fifties pin up, with a dark curly bob, porcelain skin, jet black winged eyes, and cherry red lips (which is how I look basically every day now). I knew I wouldn't be comfortable until I had sorted out the vein issue which is why I headed over to the Estée Lauder Makeup Counter in the first place.

So, I started off in Boots and I was looking at the Max Factor Colour Correction Crayons with my cousin Jess, who suggested that the Green Colour Correction might be the thing to cancel out the blue vein. So I applied a bit over and it's safe to say it did not colour correct my skin, it sort of just looked like I'd forgotten where to apply my eyeshadow (Thanks for the suggestion, Jess) and after we'd laughed at my skin even more, we thought that maybe the makeup artists on the high-end counters would be able to point me in the right direction as to what I could use to conceal it.

When we got to the counters, we waited a while but nobody turned up, so I started perusing all the options myself. Initially when I swatched the Double Wear Concealer I thought it was far too thick (it's a very creamy consistency) and I didn't think it would work with my skin but I dabbed a bit on anyway and it actually concealed the veins and gave me that Kim Kardashian super highlighted under eye look that she has. It made my eyes look much more awake and illuminated, and the Double Wear Concealers (and Foundations) are known for and hyped about because they have a really long lasting formula, and obviously I would want my makeup to last all day and honestly it's such a good concealer I would actually go as far to say that if I could only have one makeup product in my life, it would be this. It's pricey at £22 but it is, in my opinion, totally worth it. It's cheaper than having surgery to discolour the vein so I can't really complain too much about having to spend little over £20 on it!

Lots of Love,

Sam x

My Experience with Kiehls UK

Hello Everybody!

Those of you who have me on Twitter might have recently seen my tweet about my order with Kiehls Skincare. To give some light on the situation, I tried for forty-five minutes to place an order through the Kiehls UK website. Although this is a positive review, I do have to mention that the Kiehls UK Site is seriously mobile-unfriendly, and there is definitely some room for improvement on that. This was my tweet to the company and their initial response. 

While I was placing my order and just about to make my payment through PayPal to Kiehls, the site redirected me, but not to PayPal. Kiehls redirected me to sign up to recieve emails about their promotions and offers, and there was no button to close the pop up window, so I had to do it in order to (I thought) process my transaction, but it instead totally wiped my order. As you can imagine, after spending forty five minutes trying to navigate a site having tech issues I was not very happy.

I wasn't overly satisfied with the site or their response, and although it was inconvenient I didn't feel like there was anyone directly I could blame, as we all know how technology could be sometimes! So I let it go, and just said to myself I wouldn't order anything from Kiehls again as it was just such hassle. We don't have a Kiehls in my local town and the nearest store is an hour away, I have a toddler and I don't drive so it's not particularly easy for me to get to, which is why I decided to order it online. 

As my tweet to them was the only course of action that I took to resolve the issue, you can imagine my surprise when a Kiehls box arrived at my door!

The box contained the moisturiser that was my only order, and a couple of individual sample items. I've wanted to try the moisturiser for a really long time, following all the hype about how good it is for your skin, and at around £15 for 75ml I didn't think it was that bad a price, and I've been running really low on my Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream but didn't want to have to fork out another £30 for it! 

I also want to mention that in no way did Kiehls send me this box to get a review or anything like that, it was purely to show good customer service and I think it was a really lovely gesture as obviously they didn't have to. They didn't charge me anything at all for these products and I just think it's admirable that such a large company who really didn't have to take any course of action, accepted that there was an issue with their site, and were kind enough to send me the product I had tried to order, totally free of charge. It was absolutely nobody's fault so it was really lovely of them to do that. 

So I have to say, although my experience with Kiehls started out really badly, their customer care is actually really good, and I would definitely buy from them again based on this experience (although, I will probably wait until I can actually get to a store, rather than trying to purchase anything through their site).

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, and I also want to say a big thank you to Kiehls for their top-notch Customer Care.

Lots of Love,

Sam x

My Autumn/Winter 2015 Makeover

Hello Everybody!

Firstly, I want to say that this is super scary to post as I have never done a big makeover, I have always been very blonde and I'd really appreciate no negativity surrounding this post. I'm not a particularly confident person and I rarely feel good about myself. Only now am I starting to feel better about myself, and if this look isn't for you, that is also totally okay. 

Recently, with the new weather drawing in, I have been feeling very drab, boring, and uninteristing. I have always had pale skin and blonde hair, but my hair just felt so lacklustre and dull, I was desperate to perk things up a bit!

This is how I've looked for years. Now, there's nothing wrong with it... But the thing is, is that we don't all want to look like Barbie, with long blonde hair, bright pink lips, etc. That look isn't for everyone and it didn't match up to my personality at all. 

When I was deciding on a new hair dye, I had no inclination whatsoever to go mahogany brown, but that's the colour I chose! I went for Clairol Nice n' Easy in Natural Medium Mahogany Brown. I don't really know what drew me to this one. I think I just wanted to be brave and try something really different and for me, this ticked all the boxes! I have to admit I was a little worried though, as once I had dried it seemed so dark it looked black! 

But when I woke up this morning I was determined to make the best of it. I was debating whether to tan a little but I'm glad I didn't as I feel like it looks more unique to be pale with dark hair. I had wanted to find a (kind of) signature look, with interesting yet flattering hair and makeup, and classic yet sophisticated clothes. Throw those all together, and you get an immaculate, polished look. Throughout all my years of blonde hair I have never once felt that way about myself. Now, I feel like it's time for a change, and to be the person I want to be, rather than the person I've been for years but was always to afraid to be anything else. I have also wanted a more professional look for a long time, I want to be working on the Estée Lauder makeup counter in our local department store and I just feel like the darker hair has a much more mature, 'saleable' look. 

I've been starting to wear more flattering clothes for my body shape, too. I'm a petite 10-12 but what with having a one and a half year old, I have been living in jeans every day these past two years. Today, I stepped it in a cream long sleeve blouse with a polka dot print, with a black pencil skirt, and black heeled court shoes. I just felt so much better presented today than I have done in a really long time. I feel like this is the new me (super cliche, I know), and I want to keep it up. 

I hope you guys have enjoyed this (very different) style post today, and I hope you're all looking forward to a lovely weekend!

Lots of love, 

Sam x

Beauty On The Go

Hello Everybody!

As you may or may not know, I am crazy busy all the time! I am never at home during the day and am always out and about. At the moment, I'm doing nursery runs, driving lessons, being very active on my blog, dabbling in photography, as well as starting a makeup portfolio, and hoping to start a makeup artistry course around Christmas, as well as being a full time single parent. 

I have three main reasons as to why I write my blog, and I shall share them with you now. The first, and most important, is because there are those of you who regularly read my blogs, and I'm so grateful for that even as a low profile blogger. As long as I'm not talking to myself I will continue doing it. The second reason, is because I love it! I learn so much through reading other people's beauty blogs and it's such an amazing little online community where we all share with eachother everything beauty related, and I love that. The third reason, is for work purposes. The job I want the most at the moment is to work on the Estée Lauder Makeup Counter in my local town. I adore Estée Lauder, and it's really practical as it's ten minutes away from my sons nursery, and I write my blog, and am making a portfolio (I apply makeup on my friends and take pictures to get comfortable applying makeup on other people) to show my keenness and enthusiasm to work in the Beauty Industry.

So today, I wanted to share with you my Beauty (and fashion) On The Go products and items that I use pretty much everyday and always take out with me. 

I always use my black leather Prada bag. I've had this for years and years and can't remember the name of it, it's at least five years old but it's still going strong. It's a really good size and leather is so practical.

Here is a close up of the makeup products. I have the Stila In The Light Eyeshadow Palette, Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, Garnier Tinted Under Eye Roll On, Nivea Lip Butter, Seventeen Cheek Stamp Blush, Urban Decay Perversion Mascara, and Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh perfume. I like to pack these into a compact makeup bag to take out with me. I don't always have time before I leave the house to do my makeup, so once I've dropped my son off at nursery I head to the local coffee shop to grab a moments peace, a caffeinated drink, and quickly apply a little makeup and brush my hair to make myself look a little more human.

I love a statement necklace and always keep this one in my bag just in case. Chances are that I'll use it, as I wear it most days, and as soon as I feel more ready I'll pop this on and spritz on my Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh. It's such a pretty fresh scent, I feel like it just completes the whole look. I typically wear jeans and black heeled leather boots most days, and throw on a nice top or jumper to go with it.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, and have found it useful also if you too are busy a lot of the time! 

Love, 

Sam x