BEING YOURSELF?

As a teenager I always assumed by the time I was an adult I'd have it 'all sorted out', I'd know 'who I was' and that'd be that. Well, I'm legally an adult now and have been for a couple months and boy my theory turned out to be bullshit. I don't mean it's impossible to know those kind of things by 18 but I really feel that there's far too much pressure in society duping us into believing we should.

Being yourself is possibly one of the hardest things imaginable, as so often you are merely being the person you want to be perceived as by others.
I truly believe that in our world today we almost entirely live our lives for others without even realising.
How can we possibly be happy if we aren't even happy with ourselves?

Today I received some disappointing news and practically the first thing I thought was, 'what will other people think of me'.
Like wow.
So I sat down and tried to do something to help me snap out of that pointless frame of mind. Today's choice being watching Iris Apfel.

Iris Apfel is the most incredible person. Most people know and love her for her eclectic taste but personally her attitude is what particularly draws me to her.

She's so honest.
'I don't care what people think... I learned a long time ago... I was 19 and had a very traumatic experience... and I learned that I have to go to bed with myself at night and that I have to please myself... and as long as I don't go out of my way to offend anybody that I love, upset my mother or my husband... I'll do my own thing. And if the public doesn't like it, it's their problem, not mine'

This is so applicable to life generally, if you do anything today just try and think about yourself. Think about what makes you happy and sad, what you like and dislike, what you want in life, as after all 'you only have one trip. you might as well enjoy it'.

I've actually never seen the Iris documentary so I'm planning on saving my pennies to rent/buy it and expect some tribute to that sometime soon.

Botanics Skincare Range

may need to tilt your head to look at this one!

Recently I realised I was running out of a quick makeup remover, for when i'm too tired to do my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, and moisturiser and while i was browsing Boots i saw that Botanics had re-branded. Having liked the old products such as the makeup remover i decided to pick up these three products. So i just thought i'd review each... 

Botanics Gentle Cleansing Cream - £4.49

Botanics Gentle Cleansing Cream

I had very high hopes for this having liked the previous one, also i have extremely sensitive skin and so i have to be a little careful that i don't use products which irritate my skin. This claimed to be calming, gentle and perfect for sensitive skin, however i completely disagree. I found it stung on my skin and eyes and i really had to scrub at my face to even get my foundation off, let alone eyeliner. It left my skin red and really not very happy, moreover my previous fast makeup remover was Simple's Kind To Eyes Nourishing Eye Makeup Remover which was a mere £3.99 whereas when i bought this it was £4.49 and i found the Simple product actually did the job. 

Botanics Hydrating Day Cream - £8.99

Botanics Hydrating Night Cream - £4.99

Botanics Hydrating Day Cream

Unfortunately this was another no as i found it didn't particularly moisturise my skin and more importantly my skin again got quite irrated, red and quite tight. Defiantly not 'nourished' as it said it would... oh well

Botanics Hydrating Night Cream

Although i wasn't impressed with the other products i tried i actually quite like this. Plainly its a moisturiser which is basically slightly thicker than a day moisturiser, its not something i'll probably repurchase in a hurry but i'll most likely finish it as it does moisturise effectively and leave my skin feeling 'hydrated'.

However, if you are at all inclined to try any Botanics products run now and quick as they are pretty much all on offer in Boots for quite a lot cheaper!

Have a lovely day in the snow!

xx 

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation

I know this foundation has very mixed reviews and many beauty gurus hate the whole mousse concept; however as a often spotty and broke teenager i have been looking for a cheap, good coverage foundation for a long time. Often i find my foundation to be almost like a primer as they don't provide any real coverage, many of my friends of my more spot-prone friends had recommended this for good coverage so seeing it was on offer for £5 in Superdrug i bit the bullet and bought it.

(Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation - £7.69)

I find this to have good coverage and i think it isn't too thick and i find that it has fairly good staying power, i came home around midnight last night and it was definitely not flawless any more. I find the finish good, and i will be wearing this a lot i would recommend it for fairly normal to perhaps combo as i find it works on my skin. I wear the shade 004 - light porcelain.

I like this a lot and hopefully some of you feel inclined to try it, well if you do hurry to Boots as its only £5 at the moment!

xx

David Bowie 2013

The title is very vague but basically i thought i'd talk about all Bowie related things that i'm very excited about which are happening sooooon. I'm a huge fan of David Bowie and so as soon as his new single 'Where Are We Now?' came out i downloaded it. Its a ballad and i know many people have mixed feelings towards it but i love it!

For all of you who have no idea what i'm talking about, David Bowie is a singer from the - and was very known not only for his music but also for his 'fashion'. His shows were almost like theatre and he often wore quite outrageous costumes/clothes & makeup. I know this is not much of an insight but if you want to read more about him click here.

Anyway, as i said he has just released a new song which has an amazing music video, which you can listen to & see here, and is releasing a complete new album on the 12th of March you can get it from itunes i'm sure!

Finally but not at all least the V&A museum, which i did mention in a post before which you can read here, is hosting an exhibition of his life. The website says 'The V&A has been given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive to curate the first international retrospective of the extraordinary career of David Bowie. David Bowie is will feature more than 300 objects that include handwritten lyrics, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs and Bowie's own instruments.' The exhibit will run from the 23rd of March to the 28th of July and it sounds like heaven for any Bowie lover! (for any more info just check the website here)

I'd love to know if anyone else is excited as me, and i hope you all have a lovely day! I thought i'd just finish this with a link to one of my favourite songs of his called starman

xx

V&A Hollywood Costume Exhibit

This may seem like an odd post but i did promise variety and besides i love going to exhibits. Unfortunately i didn't write about another exhibit i went to in October (also at the V&A) which was of ball gowns and although i could now it would be of much use to anyone as it finished last sunday.

Anyway let me get back to the point, last saturday i went to an exhibt at the Victoria & Albert museum which is in South Kensington and literally a 2 minute walk from the tube. I went to see Holywood Costumes which was simply an exhibt of costumes from films completely ranging in genre and time.

My ticket was a little expensive but i did really want to go to i lined up bought it and went in. The exhibition was in 3 large rooms and were each named after an 'Act'. For example the first room was called 'Act 1: Deconstruction' and the text was themed about the Act's subject, there was plenty of reading things and even some clips of the director and the costume designer discussing the costumes for some of the films. Including one for Johnny Depp's costume for Sweeney Todd which i found was quite a goofy film but entertaining enough.

Some of my favourite costumes included one of Audrey Hepburn's dresses from the famous Breakfast At Tiffanys, a costume from Shakespeare in Love (im afraid i can't remember the name of the main actress who wore it), the Black Swan's costume from Black Swan, one of Kate Winslet's outfits from Titanic and Dorothy's outfit complete with the ruby red slippers!

There were so many costumes (perhaps a bit too many as i got quite tired!) and many i didn't recognise but many i did so it was quite interesting. I don't think it was as good as i thought it would be but i was still pleased i had gone.

The Hollywood Costume exhibt runs till the 27th of January and more details can be found here.

Have a lovely day!

xx

Natural Collection Lipstick in 'Pink Mallow'

Yesterday i went to drop off my latest roll of film to Boots to be developed and obviously decided to browse the makeup section. I picked up a Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Pink Mallow.

They claim to be 'high shine lipstick that gently moisturises the lips', i completely agree mine is extremely moisturising i don't think they are 'high shine' in fact i would say they are actually quite matte however i really like the effect. I find the staying is actually good.

I always considered Natural Collection as a brand we all bought from when we just started buying makeup however, i will be definitely be buying more of these lipsticks as at only £1.99 they don't even touch the bank and are very moisturising which is great for me as i often have chapped lips in the winter.

(Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in 'Pink Mallow' - £1.99)

The packaging is not very exciting at all however, it does the job and is extremely affordable.

Have a great weekend everyone!

xx

Well, What Can I Say...

So 2013 has just started and i came onto blogspot and realised i hadn't written a post in forever but i've been extremely busy with mocks, auditions for 6th form and the holidays of course!

However, I promise I'll make it up eventually as I have lots of posts half written and I will finish them, maybe that'll be a new years resolution...

Anyway I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and although it is extremely late, Happy New Year!

(sorry for the lack of focus, im working on it!)

xx