Sunday Night Pamper Routine

Sunday nights were made for pampering yourself, right?! Its a time to get your shit together, and make yourself feel ready for the week ahead. 

Sunday evenings can sometimes put a bit of a downer on your mood, because you've got a week of work/uni/school ahead of you, that it can seem a bit daunting. However, if you push that thought to the side and take some time out for yourself to relax, Sunday evenings quickly become something lovely, and enjoyable. The first thing I like to do, is take off any old nail polish from the previous week and pop a fresh new colour on. Lately I've been reaching for Essie Chinchilly and Bahama Mama. Both perfect for the autumn months, Bahama Mama being a rich reddy/purple and Chinchilly being a muted grey/brown.

Once my nails are freshly painted and looking presentable once again, I pop my pyjamas on and start my skincare routine. I like to take a bit more time with my skincare routine on a Sunday, just because I feel like I have more time and it preps my skin for the week. I think I'll do an in depth review of my current skincare routine soon, so I won't go on about every product I use. However, I will mention the Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser, which I've been loving and makes my skin feel squeaky clean. I also like to use an exfoliator, which I obviously don't use daily as it'd be too harsh on the skin. For this I've really been loving the Botanics All Bright Purifying Face Scrub*. It feels quite gentle, but still does the job of buffing away any dead/dry skin left. And what would a pamper evening be without a face mask? One I've been reaching for a lot recently is the Lush Mask of Magnaminty. A firm favourite of mine. It feels so refreshing thanks to the peppermint oil, and it really helps to calm the skin, which I need as I have quite bad scarring from break outs. 

Once the skincare routine is done, and I'm in my fresh pyjamas, its time to relax. I usually sit on the sofa with my laptop, a mug of mint green tea and catch up on blog posts. Oh, and chocolate, I always have some chocolate to hand haha. If I'm not catching up on blog posts, I'll be watching something on Netflix or YouTube. I'm currently making my way through Stranger Things, as I've been meaning to watch it ever since it came out. I'm also loving Riverdale, but I have to wait a whole week for a new episode of that...ugh! Anyway, thats my Sunday evening routine and as its currently a Sunday night now, I'm off to bed - hope you all have a wonderful week!

- Lucy

Gifted items/PR samples*

My First Glossier Order

It will come as no surprise to the majority of you reading, that Glossier has landed in the UK. Its safe to say, I was so bloody excited about it too, as I've had my eye on so many of their products over the past year or so. So, as soon as UK shipping was available, I placed my first order. 

I was quite restrained, I must say but thats mainly because I can't afford to buy every single product on the site haha (I wish I could)! It was a struggle to decide what to order first to be honest, as everything looks amazing. One thing I knew I had to have however, was the Milky Jelly Cleanser. I love my skincare, and I'm a sucker for a good cleanser. This retails for £15, which isn't too bad, but it certainly isn't drugstore price. The packaging of this is so chic, so as well as it being a great cleanser, it also looks very pretty on your skincare shelf haha. 

Okay, enough about how pretty the packaging of this is, and onto my thoughts of the cleanser itself. In short, I absolutely love this stuff. I was a bit skeptical when purchasing, as I'd heard it was great for people with dry skin, and my skin is far from dry. However, this feels really soothing to apply and has a lovely subtle rose scent to it. It removes any traces of makeup I have left that my micellar water didn't get off, and leaves my skin feeling refreshed and clean. 

The second thing I knew I had to have in my first order, was the Priming Moisturizer. Due to my combination/oily skin type, I've struggled to find a good primer to start my base off with. I don't tend to use moisturiser before applying makeup either, as it just adds to the oiliness throughout the day. So, I was very keen to give this a go and see if it could answer all my primer/moisturiser prayers haha. I've been using this for about a week now, and have to say it feels really nice on the skin. Although I haven't seen a noticeable difference with how my makeup stays on, or how my skin feels, so we'll see I guess!

Lastly, I picked up the Lip Gloss. I'm not sure what attracted me to this so much, as I'm usually a matte lipstick kinda gal but I really wanted to give a clear lip gloss a try. The packaging is so cute, as is it with all their products. I find this to be the perfect lip product if you're having a no makeup, makeup day as its so natural. Its a bit sticky, but I expect that with most lip glosses to be honest. It is priced at £11 though, which I'm not sure its worth but nonetheless, I'm sure it'll last a long time.

Do you have any Glossier recommendations? If so, please let me know!

- Lucy

The Sun And Her Flowers

Coming at you with something a little bit different today. I recently picked up Rupi Kaur's latest poetry book, 'The Sun and Her Flowers'. I absolutely love 'Milk and Honey', so of course I was going to love this too. Rupi Kaur writes the most beautiful poetry, and it always seems to make me feel something. So, I thought I'd share a few of the poem's from this book that I love the most. 

'a lot of times 

we are angry at other people

for not doing what

we should have done for ourselves' 

- responsibility

'the right one does not

stand in your way 

they make space for you

to step forward'

'never feel guilty for starting again'

'we have been dying
since we got here
and forgot to enjoy the view'
- live fully

I know this post was quite different from my usual stuff, but I thought I'd give it a try and who doesn't love a bit of poetry?! Happy Sunday.

- Lucy

Life Lately: A Catch Up

Its a Tuesday evening as I'm sat writing this, Bake Off is about to start and I'm absolutely shattered. I thought it was about time I did another little 'life lately' post and just have a bit of a catch up. 

Soooo, I guess I'll start with the fact I'm a month into my first year at uni now. I'm studying photography, and so far I'm enjoying it. Although it is a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. I am pretty worn out, I won't lie, as I have my part time job that I do on the side as well as uni, and its all getting a bit much. I suffer with derealisation, which I don't think I've ever spoken about on here, but it was getting quite bad recently and I've felt pretty spaced out, so I think its time to cut down on some of the work I'm doing!

In other news, other than the amount of work I have to do - I got a tattoo (lol that unintentionally rhymed). Its a basic little sunshine on my ankle, and I love it. It has a small meaning behind it, which is simply that it symbolises positivity. After going through a rough time with my mental health, I felt like I needed something to symbolise happiness and just to remind me that it always gets better.

To be honest, I've just been really busy with life and haven't had the chance to blog, which is so sad. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back to it this week and start posting regularly again, because I miss writing on this lil space. Hopefully another post will be up Sunday, if not Wednesday - yay!

- Lucy

Preparing For A Good Nights Sleep

I used to struggle quite a lot with falling asleep, and I still have the odd occasion where I literally cannot fall asleep. I thought I'd share a few things I like to do before bed to help myself drift off a bit easier, and if not, it at least makes me feel more relaxed!

I recently picked up the Lush Sleepy Body Lotion, and I can safely say its the best body lotion I've ever tried. This stuff smells heavenly, and is so perfect to apply once you've hopped out of the shower or bath. Its lavender scented, so as you can imagine, its perfect for helping you to fall asleep. I've heard a few people say that this has helped with their insomnia, but I don't think its proven, so don't hold me to that one haha. Staying on the lines of lotions, having a good skincare routine really helps me with feeling relaxed. I've been loving the Botanics 100% Organic Rosewater Toning Spritz*. I think its the rosewater infused in it that makes it so relaxing to spritz over the face. Obviously, doing a face mask always works wonders too!

Alongside the skincare, switching off before bed can be really helpful. Whether thats reading a book, I'm currently reading Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland, or maybe reading a magazine. I've really been enjoying Bedboat, which is a lifestyle/beauty/photography magazine which is definitely my cup of tea. 

Do you have anything that helps you prepare for a good nights sleep?

- Lucy

5 Reads To Help You Out With Blog Photography

When I first started out with blogging, I must say my photography wasn't quite up to scratch. I'm sure there were articles out there that would've helped me, but I definitely wasn't looking in the right places haha. So, I thought I'd put together 5 reads that can help you out with your own blog photography!

Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

This book really is a life saver. I really do believe that to get the most out of your camera, you should shoot on manual. It gives you the most amount of freedom, as you can adjust all the settings yourself. This book helps you to understand what these settings are, and also talks about composition and other aspects of photography that really helped me out.

Lonely Planet's Best Ever Photography Tips

Another super handy lil book. This is really visually pleasing to look at as well as having some brilliant information. It also helps you to understand aperture, ISO and shutter speed when using the manual setting on your camera. Its an easy read, and the tips are very easy to apply to blog photography.

From Roses Flat Lay Photography Cheat Sheet

Rebecca has such an amazing photography style, and I'm sure its not just myself that takes inspiration from her gorgeous photography. This article is perfect if you're trying to master the ways of flat lay photography. It definitely takes a lot of practise, and you really have to work hard on composition to get it just right. Hopefully this will help you out!

Kate La Vie's 4 Tips For Brighter Photos

I always find nice bright photographs at the top of blog posts very visually appealing and definitely draw me in. Its also quite apparent that most bloggers (including myself), like to have that lovely clean, white finish to their images. This post by Kate is really helpful, and if you're struggling to get those bright images you're after, give this a read!

Pint Sized Beauty's Keeping Your Blog Photography Interesting: Backgrounds and Props

The queen of beauty photography in my opinion, Lily. She has such a beautiful, effortless style when it comes to product photography. This is a really handy post to help you keep your blog photos interesting, and what sort of props/backgrounds to use in order to make them stay interesting. 

Do you have any articles that have helped you with your blog photography?

- Lucy