An Ode to Essie

Sand Tropez, Chinchilly, Angora Cardi

Ever since Essie nail polishes hit the high street there isn't a beauty blog out there that hasn't mentioned them at some point. I've bought a handful over the past few months, and these three are my current favourites.

Sand Tropez is described as a 'soft sandy beige' and I guess that's pretty correct. It is very pale, so looks nude on my nails. However, it doesn't give me zombie hands as I am extremely pale anyway. I only bought this last week and have worn it a few times since. I find it to be a little bit thinner in consistency than the others, so the first coat applies slightly streaky, but this disappears with a second coat.

Chinchilly (the cutest name ever) is a cool grey colour, with a hint of mauve in it. I love a good grey nail varnish and this one doesn't disappoint. I don't have any issues with the consistency of this one, and you could get away with one coat. 
You can see a combo of Sand Tropez and Chinchilly in this blog post.

Angora Cardi is my ultimate favourite. This photo doesn't do it justice, in real life it isn't as red - it is more of a dusty rose, brown, mauvey mix. This blog post shows it in its true glory. I've been wearing this constantly; the consistency is perfect, and can be opaque in one coat, but I always apply two. It's just stunning, I urge you to go take a look!

As everybody always says, the new wide brush is brilliant; it makes application quick and easy. I find it also helps to get an even coat.
I always use the Revlon Nail Treatment as a base coat, and the Liquid Quick Dry top coat - both of which I recommend.

Thanks for reading x

Birthday Bits and Pieces

It was my 21st birthday on the 1st October, and I thought I would show the things I was gifted, and the things I bought with money I received. Just a note to say - I'm not bragging, I am very aware I was very lucky and appreciate everything I received.

My sister (I'm a twin) and I bought each other watches this year; I was toying with asking my parents for a Michael Kors watch, but mum wasn't keen on the idea, as apparently there's an old wives tale that says buying a watch means you're saying goodbye to someone, I don't know.

Anyway, Colette lives in York for uni, and lives near a Fossil outlet. She bought me this absolutely gorgeous stainless steel Fossil watch, and silver feather ring and bracelet. I adore feathers, I was overjoyed with this set. I haven't taken the ring or watch off. I'm a bit more wary about wearing the bracelet as I have the wrists of a toddler, so I haven't had the courage yet. 

These Nike SB Stefan Janoskis were from Reece. He was asking me for weeks what I wanted and I just couldn't decide, I'm rubbish to buy for. I knew I wanted some trainers, and initially looked at some grey New Balances, but every pair I wanted was sold out in my size. Then I saw these. The bottom sole is the same minty green as the swoosh, they are beautiful and so comfortable. He got them from the Nike website - they're still available here; I literally saw they were in my size and he bought them instantaneously. Being a size 4 is tough sometimes.

Reece also bought me The XX's new album Coexist which is stunning. I forgot to photograph it though. 

I bought these New Balance 410s after seeing them on Meg's blog in this post. My grandma, cousin and auntie all gifted me some money, and these are what I chose. I got them from this ebay seller, brand new. The colour is stunning, and considering I mainly wear grey/black/white I get a considerable amount of wear out of them. They do come up a bit small though, so if you're looking into buying New Balances, I'd suggest going half a size up.

I really want a pair of grey 420s now. Maybe for Christmas.

My best friends bought me a cafetiere and Starbucks caramel sauce as I am obsessed with Caramel Macchiatos. They also bought me some coffee which has a hint of butter toffee in it as is delicious. They also bought me a little charm for my Lovelinks bracelet, which I haven't photographed as I am terrified of dropping it and losing it as I haven't put it on my bracelet yet.

The perfume is Stella by Stella McCartney - a scent I have wanted for months - and was bought with money gifted to me by my elder sister. It is a gorgeous scent and last for ages on my skin. I can spray it at midday one day, forget to spray it the day after and I can still smell it. Amazing. My parents also gave me some money so I bought a few bits and pieces I had been after for a while. The laptop case was one of them - a complete bargain from ebay (again). You can get it from this seller.  

These last bits were bought with the money from my parents. The jeans are these grey BDG ones from Urban Outfitters, the dress is from Vila, via USC, and the boots were £30 in the Office sale. A complete bargain. 

I have also ordered this coat from Asos and cannot wait until it arrives!

So, that is everything! I'm very grateful for everything I received, and think that I have been quite careful with my spending, as most of the items were sale buys or had considerable discount. I'm very happy with everything!

Thank you for reading :) x

My Work Experience - Publishing

So I am currently sat at my desk at my work experience placement taking a break (ahem) from doing a bit of events promotion, so I thought I would write a quick post about my time here.

I am working at a small independent publishing house, called Comma Press, located in the Northern Quarter in Manchester. This particular publishing house specialises in publishing collections and anthologies of short stories. I've known for a couple of years that working in publishing is something I wanted to do after I left university, but had little knowledge of the industry. After looking around and applying for a handful of internships in London, I decided to try contacting independent publishers back up north.

I mailed around, with a concise covering letter and my CV attached, explaining what I wanted to gain from a work experience placement with each publisher. Comma were extremely friendly and helpful and arranged a start date for me.

I have been working here since the beginning of September, mainly helping with events promotion (using social networking - Twitter, Facebook etc) and sending out email invitations.

I have also been proof-reading material for upcoming publications. This may sound dull, but it is my favourite part of the job! 

I am overjoyed to be a part of Comma, as they have been extremely accommodating and flexible. I currently work here one day a week.

Tips when looking for work experience:

• If/when emailing a company you want to work for be clear and concise. No waffling (a bit rich coming from me, I know). State your case and availability.
• Have a decent CV ready to send out - I highly doubt my CV is anywhere near as good as it should be, but it has all the necessities on there. Also explain in your email why a placement at the particular company would be beneficial to you - tailor each email to each particular company - make it personal and professional.
• Be flexible - I know this can sometimes be tough, but the company has no obligation to offer you any placement, so if possible, work when is best for the company. I am extremely lucky that my current placement is very flexible and take into account the fact I am a third year student, and therefore cannot work as often as I would like.
• Be persistent. I emailed a different publishing house in February looking for work experience, however, they were booked up until the end of July. Instead of accepting this, I emailed again in June and got myself a few days work experience in November.

I hope this has been interesting/informative (if not I have a couple of beauty posts due later this week so keep an eye out for them!)

Thanks for reading x

Weekly Summary #35

Ootd feat. Nike Janoskis, Ootd feat. New Balance 410s, Starbucks boy was a sweetheart,

Cheeky mid-week sale purchase, Post is good, Ootd for Jonny Craig,

Jonny Craig, Late night purchase, This happened - bye bye red.

1. This week has been a hard one. I'm not going into details but the latter end of this week has been horrendous.
2. I also spent quite a bit of money this week - justification: birthday money, but I am definitely on a spending ban now, especially as I really don't need anything else! I'm waiting on the jacket in the post and then that is it!
3. I spent Thursday and Friday with Reece, after the bad news I received a cuddle and a shoulder to cry on was definitely needed. We went to go see Jonny Craig at Leeds Met Uni Bar. To be honest, he wasn't half as good as I was expecting. His voice is brilliant, but he was pissed off his head and came across as a bit of an arse. The vocals were great though!
4. I dyed my hair (semi-permanent) brown last night. It's definitely a change, I do quite like it though. It initially came out way too dark so I washed it twice with fairy liquid and it stripped some of the colour out, leaving a reddy-brown, which I do quite like. However, I doubt I'll be keeping it.
5. I have a couple of posts planned for this week - now I finally have everything from my birthday purchases I'll be doing that soonish. It's definitely not in anyway bragging, I've been lucky (and a bit of a bargain hunter) with my birthday money this year. Mid-season sales are my friends.

I hope your weeks have been better than mine! 

Thanks for reading x

Most Read Blogs - Take 1

1. Lips So Facto

Meg's blog has been a firm favourite for a while now; I found her originally via youtube (her channel here) and then discovered her blog. Her posts are mainly beauty, which are very clear and precise. It's because of her I bought Stella by Stella McCartney perfume! I also love her sense of style, and fully appreciate the fact she is an English Literature graduate. I always find it inspiring when I discover others who study/have studied English. Not entirely sure why. Meg is just the kind of person I'd like to have as a friend and chat to about eyeliner and books. She also likes Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, which are signs of a winner in my book.

2. Essiebutton 

I again discovered Estee through youtube (channel linked here). Like Meg, her posts are mainly beauty related. I love Estee's blog because her writing style is so distinctive; if you've watched her on youtube, she writes exactly the way she speaks, which is refreshing as sometimes beauty blogs can be a bit clinical. She has a complete personal touch.

3. A Little Bird Fashion

Jen's blog is one of the first blogs I truly started reading. If I find a blog I really, truly love I tend to sit down and read every single post right back to the beginning. That reads as 100% creepy written down, but it's true. Jen's personal style is fantastic, classy and stylish (and she manages to pull off yellow, I always admire someone who can wear yellow). The photography is always lovely too. With Jen's blog you can tell a lot of time and effort has been lovingly put in. Each new post is a pleasure to read.

4. Neon/Bible

Aimee is a fashion student from London, and I basically love every single piece of clothing she posts about. Her style is everything I want mine to be: using basics to create lovely, simple looks. I adore the layout of her blog, it is so clean and not at all fussy. Her haircut is amazing also, completely stunning.


5. A Little Lipstick

The last blog I'm going to mention in this post is Jade's. The thing about Jade's blog is that it is completely honest, and completely 'Jade'. She's a lovely girl and therefore her blog is lovely too. The writing is exquisite (yet again another former English student) and always a pleasure to read. I suppose Jade's blog would fall into the category of 'lifestyle', with posts about her various goings on. I find A Little Lipstick to be a wonderful read, and provides a real insight. I'm not entirely sure how to go on about Jade's blog without sounding like a creep, so I'm going to stop. Basically, go read it. Now. She may not post often, but each post is exquisite, with a lot of time and thought behind it. 

A little bit of a different post from me, but I thought I'd show you the blogs I read often. These five ladies are by no means the only blogs I read daily - I'm sure there'll be plenty more of these posts, but these five are the ones that popped into my head first.

I hope you all give them a read, if you haven't done so already.

Thanks for reading x

All images belong to the bloggers mentioned.

Weekly Summary #34

Epic food shop, Pasta Norma, Dissertation meeting,

Cinema Trip to see Perks, My favourite men, Birthday pressies from Reece,

Cuddles with Oscar, Birthday present from me, And another.

1. I hope you'll forgive the Monday post (yet again) but I've had a massively busy week! I had my first dissertation meeting and I think I may have the basis of a decent project, I just need to get my nose stuck into reading some Virginia Woolf and soon!
2. I was still ill for the beginning of the week so I missed work experience on Tuesday to recuperate in bed.
3. I went to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Abbey on Wednesday and it was brilliant. I wasn't a massive fan of Emma Watson as Sam, I always envisaged her to be a bit more ballsy, but she was good regardless. The screen play was written by the author anyway, so it was never going to be bad. It was great.
4. I stayed at Reece's on Friday night as we were supposed to be going to a gig (Jonny Craig in Leeds) but it has been postponed until next Thursday so we just stayed in bed and watched Homeland (which I haven't finished yet, but it is amazing!) I was also given my birthday presents, which I am in love with. The Janoskis haven't left my feet.
5. My New Balance 410s also arrived. They are like hugs for my feet. I love them.

I'm thinking of doing a post on the things I have got for my birthday (not a bragging one, obviously) if you would like to see it. I was given some money and have bought a few things. 

Thanks for reading :) x

October

Parka and Necklace - Topshop, 'A Casual Vacancy' - Amazon, 

Nike Janoskis, Fossil Watch

It's finally October! October is my favourite month, and not just because it's my birthday month. October cements the fact that Autumn is here, the weather is turning colder which means big coats and scarves. I just love it.

However, there isn't much in the shops that is catching my attention at the moment; I am on the hunt for a parka as I want a slightly lighter coat, that's warmer than my leather jacket, but not as toasty as my Paddington Bear duffle coat. I've been drooling over this Topshop one for ages, but there is no way I will ever spend £95 on a parka. 

I also saw this necklace on a recent shopping trip, but again couldn't justify the price tag. I rarely wear necklaces so it wasn't worth the splurge. It is absolutely stunning in person though!

My copy of A Casual Vacancy arrived in the post this morning and I thought it deserved a mention. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I am definitely excited to get stuck into it. J.K. Rowling is all kinds of fabulous, in my opinion.

The last two items are items that have received/will receive for my birthday. I turned 21 today and my sister and I bought each other watches. I chose a simple steel Fossil watch. I initially wanted the Michael Kors version, but Fossil are about half the price and just as gorgeous. Fossil apparently make Michael Kors watches too, so paying the extra £100 just for a name seemed a tad ludicrous. 
My boyfriend has bought me the Nike Janoskis, after a long time of searching for a pair in my size. I love the colour way as the Nike 'swoosh' and sole are a light minty green, which paired with the grey is lovely. I don't get them until Friday, and I am so excited!

September Soundtrack:
Swim Good - Frank Ocean
Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean
Angels - The xx
Let Me Love You - Ne-yo
I Don't Mind - Defeater

Thanks for reading x