It's beginning to look a lot like .. Spring! (A Chit Chat)

Hello everyone!

This is the kind of blog post that I wish I had a YouTube channel for. You know, a chatty, lifestyle, update kind of thing. You can't fully achieve that with a blog post.

Spring has sprung guys. Tomorrow the clocks go forward to the absolute disgust of my sister who will 'lose an hour of her weekend' hahaha. The nights will be lighter which I thoroughly enjoy, the weather should start picking up and everyone will feel bit more uplifted. Hopefully! Do you prefer hot or cold weather? I'm definitely for the hot weather. 

I bought myself some Tulips to brighten up my bedroom yesterday. I never buy myself flowers. I must have caught some mother's day bug as flowers are everywhere. They are beautiful though. They look very happy sitting in the sun on my windowsill! 

I also started burning a new Yankee Candle in Vanilla Lime. My Mum bought me this for Christmas and I saved it for Spring! I was burning Black Cherry but I've put that one away for a bit now. 

I absolutely love the scent of this. It's zesty and refreshing and clean. I love it. Definitely a good scent for the Spring/Summer. 

Another switch around happened in Hector's tank over the weekend. He got a new background! Tom printed it off at work and it brightens his tank up and looks so cool, Hector was very thankful.

In April I've had Hector for 2 years! It's gone so quick and I just love him. I don't know what I did with my time before I bought him! 

Some other bits and bobs I thought I'd mention:

My last uni class happened this morning! I have a revision class on Tuesday but today was my last official lesson at MMU. I may never sit in another lecture theatre again! I don't know whether I'm happy or sad haha. I still have deadlines approaching though, I have an essay and creative writing piece in next week then I have April to write my dissertation then when that's handed in I have one exam in May. And that's it! 

I have opened a new Instagram page which you can follow.

TheMysteriousNeonLights

You might remember my old instagram but I had to close it because of reasons. I've had this one for a few weeks so there's a few pictures already up that you can look at :)

I think that's everything... 

If I remember anything else that's happening I'll let you know in another post!

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Barry M Textured Nail Paint | Princess

 Hello everyone!

I have a nail polish to show you today. It's the Barry M textured nail paint in Princess. It's a beautiful polish, super sparkly, baby pink, gold glitter, could you ask for any more?

This is my second polish from the textured range at Barry M and I really, really like them. I also have the shade Countess which you can see a review of HERE.  Frequently with glitter polishes I find that they serve more as a top coat but these are much more. They apply with such opaque colour after only two coats, you don't have to put on a base colour then go over with the glitter, they work amazingly on their own.

As I mentioned above you only have to apply two coats for full coverage and it dries surprisingly quick for a glitter polish. The Countess polish I have only requires one coat for a full coverage look so I think the light shades do need a little more effort with the application. 

Although the polish is a 'textured' effect you don't have to apply a top coat to smooth it out (unless you really don't like the texture) as it doesn't catch on anything and doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. Staying power is pretty good with this polish too, after about four days it starts to look worn but it doesn't start to chip for about a week on my nails. 

Princess is a baby pink colour packed with gold and silver glitter. It's so gorgeous and not too bold, it actually looks like your wearing quite a nude nail polish but when you look more closely you can see how pretty the glitter is. I think this would be the perfect addition to anyone's spring nail collection!

What do you think of the Barry M textured polishes?

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Step by Step Face Cleanse!

Hello everyone!

I'm having a bad skin time recently. It just doesn't want to stay blemish free. As soon as one thing disappears, something else appears. I've been trying a few different things to try and rectify this problem, the best that I've tried up to now being the Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash/Mask. In this post, I thought I'd share with you what I've been using to cleanse my skin and try to reduce blemishes. 

You may have seen me talk about this Visiq Electric Facial Sauna in this post. I originally bought it last year to help my headaches. I suffer with migraines and headaches almost every day, especially when it's warm weather, and I was advised to buy one of these as the steam helps to relieve the pain. 

Anyway, as well as headache relief this really helps to make my skin feel clean and smooth, it's intended purpose I suppose. When I use this I fill it up with the cap sized amount of water and basically keep the steam on my face until it's boiled dry. It says 10ish minutes but I sit in the steam room at my local swimming pool for a good half an hour so I can tolerate it. 

This doesn't have as good of an affect as a real steam room does but it does help to maintain healthy skin throughout the days that you can't go to the swimming baths. 

I use this as my first step to properly clean my face before moving on to other things.

Within the water that I put in the face steamer I add a few drops of this Origins Super Spot remover. I do use this directly on blemishes at night but I thought it was a good way of getting it all over my face through the steam. 

I occasionally put Vicks in the water too when I have a cold or a blocked nose and that works really well to clear your sinuses. 

After about 20-25 mins the water has usually boiled dry and I can dry my face off and apply one of the Biore Nose Strips. I leave this on until it's set on my nose and very carefully peel it off.

I think it depends how sensitive your skin is but these hurt significantly when I take them off. I see some people just ripping them off which I do not advise doing, you could seriously harm your skin. I just gently pull it off  and it works fine. 

I continue to use these because they do a great job of smoothing out the skin on my nose. I don't use them often because, as I said, it does hurt to take off but I do like how they work and I think you can definitely see a difference after using them. I like to apply one of these quickly after using the face sauna as my pores are still open and the strip can do it's job more effectively. 

The last step is to use the Neutrogena Visibly Clear as a mask. I apply this just on my chin, nose and between my eyebrows because if I apply it all over my face on places where it's not needed it has the tendency to leave my skin feeling very dry. After about 5 mins until I can feel my skin starting to sting I wash it off and clean my face for the final time. 

All that's left to do is moisturise your face to revive some of the moisture that you have stripped away! 

I hope this was helpful. You don't have to use the same products I did if you have something that works better for your skin, this was just a guide and what has been working for me over the last few weeks. 

Thanks for reading, 

See you next time, 

Leanne x

Do Kalms really work?

Hello everyone!

This is a strange one, I know, and I totally understand if you're not interested haha. I just thought this might be useful to a few people so here I am writing a post on Kalms anxiety relief tablets. 

A few weeks ago I had to do a presentation for one of my classes at university. It was worth 25% of that unit's mark and I was nervous as hell. It's my least favourite class to start with, not to mention that I'm an extremely anxious person in general especially when speaking in front of people. I'd rather have got up and spoken in front of a room full of strangers than my actual class but hey ho, it had to be done. (Even though I did debate whether it was worth even trying presuming that I'd receive a terrible grade anyway).

I bought these from Boots the weekend before my presentation in the hope that they would do something to help. I wasn't sure what to expect, it's a herbal remedy and my thoughts were, even if they just had a placebo effect it was better than nothing. 

After reading reviews online which said for the tablets to work you have to start taking three a day for about a week prior to the nervous event. By time I'd read this I only had 2 days to go so I started taking them in the morning, dinner and mid-afternoon in the hope that they'd start building up in my system. 

Initially I think they did have some calming effect on me, that knot feeling in my stomach did subside a little and I found that I wasn't dwelling on the presentation too much. 

On the day of my presentation I took one when I woke up (7am), one around 11am then one at about 2 in the afternoon (my presentation was at 3.30pm). This may be considered too many in a short space of time but I was desperate for all the help I could get haha!

So, Did they work? 

Sort of. 

As far as I could tell they definitely helped that horrible nervous feeling you get in your stomach when you're anxious. You know the feeling that someone's tugging on your insides? That definitely did subside. 

On the other hand, my worry and lack of confidence still remained. So although I didn't FEEL nervous I still thought nervous thoughts and seriously lacked confidence. 

If you're wondering, my presentation wasn't the best and I did sound nervous and still struggled to form coherent sentences which bugs me because I have no idea why I lack confidence in public speaking, I used to be hugely confident.

Overall, I think these tablets are helpful. Although they didn't alter the inevitable fail that was my presentation, at least I didn't have to suffer with an anxious stomach too.

£7.60 - KALMS

Have you ever tried Kalms?

What are your thoughts on them?

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Night out Makeup!

Hello everyone!

On Saturday Tom and I went out for a few drinks so I thought I'd show you my makeup! I had quite a while to get ready so I played with some different bits and pieces and I was really happy with how it looked! 

I went for a brownish smoky eye which I thought turned out well considering I don't have much practice creating that look. The colours I used on my face really complimented my outfit which consisted of some black disco pants, a burgundy coloured long sleeved top and some black heels! Simple but it looked nice :D

Products used (In order of usage)

Garnier 5 Sec Blur Primer

Bourjois Healthy Mix

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (Used to conceal and brighten parts of face)

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer

Rimmel Stay Matte (all over face)

MaxFactor Creme Puff Powder (Just to contour certain parts of my face and add some depth)

MaxFactor Bronzer (lightly all over face)

ILAH Brow Powder in Brown

Urban Decay Naked Palette (shades Sin, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal)

L'Oreal SuperLiner in Black

Divaderme Lash Extender 

Sleek Blush in Flamingo

Accessorize Blush in Shade 3 (used as cheek highlight)

Revlon Matte Lip Balm in Unapologetic

Sleek Smoulder Lipstick (mixed in to deepen shade)

I really liked the look I finished up with, I was just experimenting with a few things and it (luckily) turned out well! 

The Divaderme Lash extender consists of a mascara and a tube of fibres which you apply to wet mascara to create the look of false lashes. I absolutely love the look you can achieve with this product and I think it's a million times easier than false eyelashes. Would you like a review on the product?

Thanks for reading, 

See you next time, 

Leanne x

P.S. I STILL can't follow any blogs on GFC! It seems, though, that people can still follow me. As soon as it's fixed I'll follow people back but atm I'm just using Bloglovin to follow blogs as GFC isn't working for me. Extremely annoying!

Also, Tom and I watched The Wolf of Wall Street for the first time yesterday...
It was a good film but I was shocked at some of the scenes in it. My 16 yr old sister has watched it :O
Definitely not one to watch with the parents. 

ILAH Brows | Travel Kit

Hello everyone!

If you've been reading my posts for a while, you'll have noticed that I often talk about the ILAH brow powder. ILAH has been my brand of choice where eyebrows are concerned for well over a year now and I will definitely continue to use them until I find something I like even more. 

I recently bought the Travel Kit after I ran out of my single eyeshadow so whilst it's all shiny and new for photos unlike my battered single powder I thought I'd review it for you!

In the travel set you get 3 shades: Blonde, Brunette and Dark. You also get a white highlight shade and a setting gel. Along with the compact you receive an angled brush and brow stencils. 

ILAH Say:

'Ilah brow powder is a semi permanent mineral compact that is sweat resistant, splash resistant and even UV filtered... don't worry your brow will still be there if you get caught out in the rain'

The powders are said to be semi-permanent, which I kind of agree with. You can remove the colour at the end of the day with a muslin cloth etc so they aren't actually permanent. However, these powders definitely don't smudge throughout the day, and in rain they won't run either. But it can be removed at the end of the day.

My favourite shade to use in the Medium colour. It's a dark brown shade which (although I have blonde hair) defines my brows nicely, matches the rest of my face and doesn't make me look washed out. 

You can see the other shades below:

Although I do enjoy having the compact with different shades in it I don't have much use for the light and dark colours so, for me, it's more efficient to just buy a single. 

The powder itself is really nicely pigmented. It applies with full colour after only about two coats and makes your brows look full. One thing that does annoy my is you get quite a lot of fall out, the same way you would with an eyeshadow. This only happens with the compact shades though, when I had the single powder there was rarely any fallout upon application. 

I think the brush they provide you with is brilliant, it's very sturdy and compact with bristles. One of mine I've had for over a year and it's still going strong! On the other hand, I don't get much use out of the stencils as I find them far too large for my face, that will obviously differ depending on the person but for me, I'm not keen. 

I much prefer using these powders to an eyebrow pancil as I think you can achieve a much more natural and full brow.

If you want to visit ILAH's website, you can click HERE.

If you'd like to purchase this product I'd recommend that you download the Groupon and Wowcher apps on to your phone as that's where I find most convenient to buy them and they are regularly featured! From what I've gathered on the ILAH website you have to buy in bulk.

Hope this was helpful, if you have any questions, ask away!

See you next time, 

Leanne x

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Hello everyone!

I woke up this morning to a lovely surprise, having been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by Elizabeth Breygel from Beauty Angel! I'm so pleased to have been nominated, and I'm excited to nominate some other people too, thanks Beauty Angel! :)

You can find this image HERE.

The Rules

1. Thank the person that nominated you and leave a link to their blog. 

2. Display the award on your post.

3. List the award rules so your nominees will know what to do.

4. State 7 things about yourself.

5. Nominate other bloggers for the award.

6. Contact your nominees to let them know you have nominated them.

7. Provide a link to your post.

8. Proudly display the award logo (or buttons) on your blog, whether on your side bar, 'about' page or a special page for awards!

Seven Things About Me

1. 

I study a combined honours degree in English and Linguistics. I also studied German for the first two years of my degree. GUTEN TAG!

2. 

I have a Bearded Dragon called Hector. 

When I have my own place I will collect reptiles. 

3. 

My guilty pleasure is thoroughly enjoying a dance around my room to 80s music. Some of my favourites being The Cardigans - LoveFool, The Culture Club - Karma Chameleon and Madonna - Like a Prayer!

4. 

None of my real life friends know about my blog.

5. 

I am addicted to coffee and have been since about 2 years old.

6. 

I'd like to travel the USA and when I've done that I want to emigrate to Australia.

7. 

Green and Black are my favourite colours.

My Nominees

Abstermac

AmBlog

YetAnotherMakeupBlog

TomKanePhotography

Thanks again to Beauty Angel for nominating me!

See you next time, 

Leanne x

What's up with GFC?!

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to quickly mention the problems I'm having with GFC. 

Every time I try to follow a blog with GFC it asks me to log in with my Google account then just says 'There has been an error, please come back later' ... This has been a problem for DAYS now and I'm so annoyed with it. I can't find a solution online but I've read that lots of people are having the same problem.

If you've managed to follow me on GFC I'm not ignoring you, I just can't follow you back on GFC. I've been following people back on Bloglovin instead but it's still frustrating. 

Does anyone have a solution or know what the problem is? 

Are they trying to phase out GFC altogether? 

Let me know if you're having the same problem...

Leanne x

China Glaze | Sun of a Peach

Hello everyone!

I have a quick review today on the China Glaze polish in Sun of a Peach. A bit out of season I know but Spring is in the air and this shade is currently on offer for £4.95 on Nail Polish Direct. It has been for a while but I think when the weather starts warming up and summer rolls around it will go back to full price. 

I've worn this shade twice since I bought it and it has fast become one of my favourite nail polishes that I own. It's so bright. More bright than the pictures make out. Even at night this glows. If you're going to somewhere with UV lights this will be amazing. It also makes even the palest of hands such as mine look tanned haha... imagine how it will look in summer! 

The colour that you see on the pictures is after 3 coats of polish. It's not the easiest to apply because it has such a thin brush which is the only downfall for me. You definitely need more than one coat as it starts of with not much colour. As you can see though, it does build up colour. 

The best way I've found to apply it is using thin coats because it's quite a liquidy formula so if you put too much on at once it will run. Despite applying 3 coats it dries reasonably quick. Probably 10/15 mins before you can confidently get on with other stuff.

Overall, I think this polish does take a little extra effort to apply but when it's on it looks awesome! 

China Glaze - Sun of a Peach

Have you tried this polish?

Do all the China Glaze polishes apply awkwardly?

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Collective Haul | Primark, Boots, Coolway, eBay...

Hello everyone!

Over the past few weeks I've been making a few little purchases here and there and suddenly everything just mounted up and I decided to write a haul post before I forgot about them. Some of these things I bought before my Cheshire Oaks haul but I didn't include them because they weren't from Cheshire Oaks!

So in no particular order... let's get cracking!

The first thing I picked up, a few weeks back now is these Coolway Boots. I love boots, they are the only item of foot ware that don't rub my feet and I saw these and thought they were pretty unique! I can't find this exact pair online but you can see similar ones on THIS WEBSITE.

The RRP prices on these boots are around £110 ... I bought mine from TKMaxx for £35.00! 

The next thing I bought was a scarf. This is from Sainsburys and it was £8.00.

It's made of very thin material but there's lots of it so it'll keep you warm but I just thought it'd be nice for them brisk spring days! I also love the little Zebras on it! They had lots of different designs, I could have bought them all. 

Moving on now to a few makeup items.

I finally caved and bought the Revlon Colour Stay foundation. I've worn it a few times and so far I really like it. My skin's been a nightmare lately though so I'm looking forward to using it when everything's back to normal, I think it'll look lovely. It's a bit pricy at nearly £13.00 from the high street, but I've seen it on THIS WEBSITE called All Beauty for £8.00 which is probably where I will buy it from in the future. 

REVLON COLOUR STAY FOUNDATION

I bought two of the Revlon Matte Lip Balms in Unapologetic and Sultry and to go with them I also picked up the Rimmel Lip Liner in Eastend Snob.

REVLON MATTE LIP BALMS

RIMMEL EXAGGERATE LIP LINER

I needed to buy a new Rimmel Stay Matte as mine was dangerously close to the end and unfortunately my Collection Lasting Perfecting Powder it's quite as good at the job.

RIMMEL STAY MATTE POWDER

I have bought 3 nail polishes of late, The first one is China Glaze's Sun of a Peach. I bought this for £4.98 from Nail Polish Direct. I have it on my nails right now and it's so bright. It's going to be beautiful in summer. The only thing is that the brush on it is awful, it's really thin which is a bit annoying but I can live with it. 

CHINA GLAZE SUN OF A PEACH

I picked up two Barry M nail polishes in Passion Fruit and Princess. I haven't used either yet but I'm excited to see how bright Passion Fruit is! 

BARRY M NAIL PAINT PRINCESS

BARRY M NAIL PAINT PASSION FRUIT

I usually use dry shampoo for some volume in my hair but recently I've been fed up with the powder it leaves behind. So I picked up the Charles Worthington Volume and Bounce Texturising Spray. I've tried it a few times and it does it's job really well, I like it a lot! It is a little pricey though...

CHARLES WORTHINGTON TEXTURISING SPRAY

As I mentioned previously my skin's been very naughty lately. I have a feeling it's stress related, I have a lot of university work at the moment and a few weeks ago I had to do a presentation which I was ridiculously nervous for, maybe it's the outcome of that. 

Anyway, I picked up the Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 wash and mask which helps get rid of your blemishes. I never buy anything like this because my skin doesn't really break out so I just bought what was on offer and looked good. I've been using it twice a day for the past 5 days and it's working a treat. I'll write a review soon.

VISIBLY CLEAR 2 IN 1 WASH / MASK

Moving on to Primark now, I finally bought a CB Tan. I got a bit ahead of myself last week when we had some sunny spells and kind of decided my skin needed to be summer ready. Turns out, it doesn't, we're back to the usual doom and gloom. But I bought this after reading some positive reviews and so far I think it's quite nice. The colour of it is very natural but it's difficult to get even application, especially around your hands and this stuff lasts for days. I'll write a more in depth review on that.

I bought 3 tops, also from Primark, which were a steal at only £3 each in the sale! I bought a light grey, dark grey and a burgundy colour one which I forgot to photograph because I was wearing it when I took these... If you're following my Instagram though (TheMysteriousNeonLights) you can see it on there. 

They aren't exactly warm, you have to wear a vest top underneath but they certainly look nice and they're long enough at the back to wear with leggings which is a bonus :)

I was thoroughly enjoying perusing the Homeware section of Primark, I could have spent quite a lot of money on decorations and lights and bedding. But I reigned myself in and settled on these silver sparkly butterfly lights! I bought them especially for my blog so you'll be seeing them in the background of my pictures within the next few posts. These were a bargain at only £3.00.

Also from the Home section I bought this double duvet cover which I'm in love with. I think bedding is so expensive and I'm just not prepared to pay £40 on bedding. This was only £12! It's really nice and comfy too and they had lots of different designs so I can see myself going back for more....

Lastly from Primark, remember that sunny spell I was talking about? Yep, that's why I bought these! I love them, for £1 including a little case for them, can you beat it? I thought that they were so cheap because they don't actually protect your eyes but they have stickers on them saying '100% UV protection' so, I just love them. I bought them in blue and black and they both have mirrored lenses and I can't wait to wear them! Funnily enough Tom claimed the blue pair when he saw them so I'll probably have to buy myself another pair when I next go in. 

Last of all, I bought a necklace extender from a seller on eBay. You might think this is a little boring but I'm including it just incase, like me, you didn't know these existed. I have lots of necklaces which I love but they don't hang down as far as I'd like. So this chain extender basically attaches to the clasp at the back and makes your necklace a few inches longer. 

I bought a 3 inch chain and that was £2.15 with free P&P.

If you'd like to use the seller you can see them HERE.

So they are the bits and pieces I've picked up over the last few weeks!

My favourites are the Revlon Matte Lip Balms, they're so pretty, I can feel a collection coming on :D

What's your favourite recent purchase?

See you next time!

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

P.S.

It's strange how fast you can write when you're just rambling on. I took 5/6 hours two write 1,200 words for my Shakespeare essay today. Could have wrote that in half an hour on the blog hah!

I'm on the verge of buying the Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation... Anyone have any good/bad thoughts on that foundation? 

I recently customised my 'Popular Posts' Widget so the pictures are the same width as the sidebar. Would anyone like a tutorial on how to do that? I struggled to find a clear 'how to'!

Posts may seem a little scattered these days, I'm trying my best to post something regularly but March is a busy month this year, uni wise! So. Many. Essays. Bear with me guys :D 

Last but not least, a massive Hello to all my new Bloglovin' followers!  I've gained about 20 followers in the last few days which I'm over the moon about!!