Christmas Shopping. x

Shopping for Christmas presents is never the easiest job when you don't really have much of an idea what you're going to get people, but I just had the lovliest time with my mum today! It was so good to just have some proper girl time and retail therapy after a lot of work at Uni and you can't beat a bit of shopping to lift your mood! The little Christmas market stalls in Liverpool were so charming too, selling all sorts of yummy food and little crafts. I got some really nice presents for some of my 'giftees' and I was even treated to a gorge new coat from Miss Selfridge that I'm going to whip out to keep my nice and toasty in New York when I go there for New Year to celebrate the BIG 21! I'm actually feeling a little more festive now after feeling like a bit of a Scrooge for the last few days after being bogged down with so much work. I actually can't wait to give everyone their presents and spread a bit of joy. Whilst wearing my beautiful new coat. Only 26 days - and counting! :)

x

Little Topshop treats

Everyone knows that Topshop is a pretty reliable source when it comes to finding something that you DESPERATELY need to spice up an otherwise boring outfit or item of clothing. After taking myself on a little shopping trip to enjoy a bit of retail therapy I knew I had to get a few key items from Topshop such as the usual leggings and also a little black satin top to add to my mustard cable knit pencil skirt, what I didn't know was that I'd be tempted to buy any make-up...

I'd always seen the shop assistants looking gorgeous in a full face of the new(ish) make up brand and had been tempted but didn't want to risk buying it all to be less than satisfied. I knew the nail varnishes were all pretty good and I have some lovely colours, so when the cheeky shopping assistant spotted me trying to pick out a new colour, she grabbed her chance to give me the hard sell and persuade me to buy everything on the shelves. I eventually gave in after seeing how pretty her make up looked. I thought I'd try something new with it coming to Christmas and I'd treat myself. I found a little liquid eye liner in 'Tarnished' and was advised it looked best drawn thinly on over a black kohl pencil line on the upper eye lid, and I could imagine it looking pretty cute to jazz up any LBD over christmas and add a bit of subtle colour. I'm usually quite boring with eye liner and go for a safe thin black line bottom and top but I thought i'd be adventurous and for £8.00 I thought it was quite good as I imagined it would last a while as well! So far I've actually been pretty impressed, after wearing it on a recent night out I noticed that it didn't wear off at all and highlighted my eyes quite well. It does look quite dark when you apply it but it catches the light and shines quite nicely! Good find!

'Tarnished' Semi Permanent Liner - Topshop

Next, after still being mesmerized at this pretty ladys flawless skin, and knowing my reliable Touche Eclat had sadly run out and I was waiting for Santa to get me a new one, I was told that the Topshop version at only £7 was just as good (I wasn't completely sold on it being just as good but her persuasion skills got the best of me) and I thought there's no harm in trying - I could potentially just have found myself a cheap little version of a miracle...too good to be true, I know! The 'Brighten' concealer/highlighter in the 'Moonlight' shade prides itself on being a "Long wearing concealer to flawlessly disguise dark circles, gaining and even, seamless finish" - It doesn't do that for very long! I started wearing this straight away just for lectures and any other normal day to day activities, sadly it doesn't offer as good a coverage as I was hoping. It's not completely rubbish but it's not impressive! But I don't know, maybe just nothing can beat the Touche Eclat. I really can't wait for Santa to put it in my stocking on Christmas so that my late nights will no longer be shown to the world through my dark circles.

                                                            Brighten in 'Moonlight' - Topshop

Not a total unsuccessful trip, I did come away with a great little find to add a bit of glamour to my Christmas outfits (and I did get the top and leggings I wanted) I'll still probably treat myself to something else next time I go in! :)

x

Something old something new...

So...up to now i've been a blogging virgin; it's all pretty new to me and I'm still getting excited about making my page look pretty rather than what I write on it. But i've been inspired by lots of cute little blogs and I thought it's something i'd love to do myself. One that I especially love is dance with emily, not only because she's one of my best friends but because her beauty blogs just make me want to buy EVERY product that she writes about and I'm always interested in what she has to say and what little adventures she's been up to- and considering she lives in France at the moment they always make me super jealous and so keen to get on the next plane out there and go and play in Paris for the weekend!

I have many loves in life, including: clothes, beauty products, shopping, beautiful perfumes, being a little bit crafty and making cute little things, and reading. I also have massive amounts of love and respect for my beautiful family and friends and my gorgeous boyfriend who are there for me no matter what. They really are just the loveliest people :)

my lovely family x

my gorgeous boyfriend x

my beautiful friends x

I use this blog to write about all the pretty things I love in life and my travels and adventures to different parts of the world, as well as posts to do with fashion, beauty and shopping and little finds along my way etc. A little place for all my favourite things to be together. 

I hope you enjoy. Lots of love,

Zoe x