Wordless Wednesday

Nivea Express Hydration Primer

I don't wear foundation, so up until a few months ago, I didn't feel like I needed to use a primer. However, I wear concealer on my eyelids because they can be quite red, and I started to notice that the concealer would crease throughout the day because of how oily they are. I also found that concealer wouldn't apply smoothly under my eye area, so I would end up being quite rough when applying it. After applying primer around my eyes for a couple of months, I started to apply it to anywhere I would use concealer. A few weeks ago, I saw the new Nivea Express Hydration Primer on Superdrug's website for £3.99, with free delivery, so thought I would give it a go.

Price: It's very affordable! I think it's usually meant to be £4.99, but it's currently £3.99 on Superdrug's website with free delivery until the 4th December. There's two varieties of this primer: One for normal/combination skin (the one I have) and one for dry/sensitive skin. Both are the same price.

Packaging: This primer comes in a box and the actual product is contained in a glass jar. I like it! I know some people prefer pumps because they're more hygienic, but I'm really not fussed.

Consistency: It's a gel/cream hybrid and has a thin consistency. I thought this would affect the results and it wouldn't be as good as the Witch primer I was using, but I was wrong.

Results: The primer moisturises your skin, provides a smooth base for make-up, and keeps your make-up in place all day. You need the tiniest amount, so I can see the jar lasting a while. It also absorbs quickly, which is perfect for when I'm in a rush. Like I said in the first paragraph, my eyes and make-up don't go well together, so they were the ultimate test for this product. With it, my concealer goes on smoothly, meaning I don't have to pull at the skin, and my lids stay crease free all day. I like it just as much as my Witch one. I do think this is more moisturising though.

Would I repurchase? Definitely. 

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser (with Liz Earle and No7 comparisons)

In the last few months, I've really been getting into hot cloth cleansers. I love that they gently remove all traces of make-up and leave your skin soft and moisturised. I've tried Liz Earle's and No7's offerings, and thought I would try Superdrug's, seeing as the price is so affordable.

Price - Superdrug's Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser is £5.99 for 200ml, but is currently on offer for £4.99 (with free delivery on Superdrug's website!). Compared to No7's (£9.95 for 200ml or £4.95 when the vouchers are around) and Liz Earle's (£24 for 200ml), it's the most affordable hot cloth cleanser I've tried.

Packaging - The cleanser comes in a box with a muslim cloth. The box makes me feel like I'm purchasing a more expensive product, which is a nice touch. The actual product comes in a tube, rather than a pump like No7's and Liz Earle's. I don't mind if a hot cloth cleanser comes in a tube or pump, as long as I can reach all the product!

Formula - It's thick and creamy. Thicker than No7's, but not as thick as Liz Earle's. The scent is similar to No7's - It's just a standard, soapy, clean one. I really like it and prefer it to Liz Earle's.

Results - It removes my make-up incredibly well, like the other two, and leaves my skin soft and moisturised. It leaves my skin much softer than No7's and nearly as soft as Liz Earle's, which is great praise!

Overall - I really, really like this product and will be repurchasing it. I think it's on par with Liz Earle's hot cloth cleanser, but it's much more affordable. £5.99 is cheap, but it's regularly on offer, so you're likely to get it for even less.

Coconut Loving

I've always loved coconut scented products, but in the last few months, I've really been loving them. In fact, I've only been using coconut oil on my body as of late. My dad says I've been smelling like Nice biscuits haha. I'm not complaining - I love Nice biscuits!

When getting out of the shower, I've recently been using Superdrug's Coconut Oil (£2.29) or The Body Shop's Coconut Beautifying Oil (£9). I mainly use them on my chest because I want to keep my boobs stretch mark free. I also use them on my legs when I've shaved and moisturise my elbows with any left over oil. The Superdrug Coconut Oil is solid, so I like to heat it up with a hair dryer and then pour the oil into my hands. I've also used these in my hair a few times as a deep conditioning treatment and the results were good.

The Boots Extracts Coconut Body Butter (£2something or £7.95 for a 200ml tub) isn't a product I use as often as the others, but I like to keep it in my uni make-up bag in case of dry skin related emergencies! Mostly for my hands and elbows.

I love to spray myself with The Body Shop's Coconut Body Mist (£7.50) before I leave the house. I would take it with me, but it doesn't fit in my bag and it's in a glass bottle.

My favourite coconut scented product at the moment is The Body Shop's Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel (£2.50). Oh my. I will definitely be buying a few more bottles of this. It doesn't smell alcohol-y at all and the best part is that the scent lasts on your skin for a couple of hours. I must admit, I use this more as a perfume than a hand gel!

I also like to use Superdrug's or Boot's coconut hair masks, which are around £2 a tub. When I have them, I use them in place of my normal conditioner to make my hair silky smooth and soft.

Do you love coconut scented products? I also love mango and lemon scented ones - Maybe I'll write a post on those too!

Latest Buys (ASOS, Illustrated People, Cath Kidston, H&M and more)

I've had these photos on my camera for a couple of weeks now and I fancied blogging tonight, so here we are!

ASOS: Cath Kidston purse £8 in the sale, Models Own Luis Lemon nail polish £5, Barry M Blink eyeliner £4.59

I had a 25% off code, so the above items were a fair bit cheaper than the prices I've given. 

I bought the purse because I didn't want to lug my huge one around if I was only going to the shops or something. It turns out that everything from my old purse fits in this one, so this is now my full time purse! On the back, it has a clear slip and I'm using it to display one of my favourite photos from my childhood.

The Models Own nail polish is quite sheer, so I think it'll work best with a white base coat. I'm excited to use it though because it's such a fun, bright colour!

I have yet to use the new Barry M eyeliner, but I can't wait to. From a swatch I did on my hand, I can tell you that it's pigmented, but I'm not sure how waterproof it is. It's definitely not as long lasting as my Collection 2000 one.

ASOS: Illustrated People owl jumper £20 in the sale

This was originally £35, but it was in the sale and my 25% discount code worked on it, so I ended up paying £15! It looks great on and I'll definitely be buying some more in the future.

New Look: Vest tops £2.49 each

I included some New Look vests in a previous haul, but they were a little big, so I gave them to my mum. These are a smaller size and fit perfectly, so I'm happy :)

H&M: Parka coat £39.99

I finally have a Winter coat! I've been looking for a coat for months. I wanted a parka, and there are some on the highstreet, but none of them cut it for me. I saw this and it was love at first sight. Yay!

Lilac Glitter Nails

After having natural nails for the last two weeks, I wanted something fun and bright this week. I was going to paint my nails with neon blue and yellow polishes, but the formulas weren't the best, so decided against it. Instead, I went with something pretty and girly. Above, I'm wearing Barry M's Berry Ice-cream with Barry M's Pink Silver Glitter on my ring finger.

I hope your Monday hasn't been too bad! I'm freezing at the moment, so a hot chocolate is in order (Tomorrow, I will have one with a spoonful of Marshmallow Fluff because I'm buying a jar!)

Hey, I put some new shoes on

And suddenly everything's right!

Recently, I've been wanting some more sophisticated, 'grown up' items in my wardrobe. When I saw these boots on the New Look website for £24.99, I added them to my basket straight away (New Look's checking out process hasn't been working properly for months, so I checked out as a guest and used a different email address). I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived yesterday. They look great with shorts and black tights. The only problem is that they are so out of my comfort zone - They have a heel! Even though it's not a big heel and I can walk in them, I'm afraid I'm going to slip over. I do feel like they're too stylish for me and people will look at me funnily. I'm going to keep them though, find the confidence to wear them and work them! I'm going to need to sandpaper down the soles - Just the thought of falling over is embarrassing enough.

I then picked these up in Primark yesterday for £8. They're from the wide fit section, but they're not wide fit at all! I'm going to go to the section more often because it was the only section that was fully stocked. Every other pair of shoes I wanted in Primark had no size 7s left. I like these shoes, but I can tell the fabric is going to attract a lot of hair, and when you have seven animals, it's not the best situation! I also don't like the lining and would have preferred it to be black, but I can live with that.

Funny story - I took off my boots and socks to try these on, and when I went to put my socks back on, one was missing. The man sweeping the floor must have swept my sock away as he went past. I then had to go the rest of the day with one sock on haha. Thankfully, the pair of socks I was wearing were not new or my favourites.

I've also bought some other bits and bobs in the last couple of weeks, but I'll show you them once my latest order arrives!

Models Own Nail Polish Collection

Nude Beige, Champagne, Disco Heaven, Ibiza Mix, Mystic Mauve, Beth's Blue

Balearic Cool, Hedonist, Fluro' Orange, Beach Party, Luis Lemon, 3 in 1

When looking for a new nail polish, Models Own isn't one of the first brands I go to. I think it's because they're a little more expensive than some others, at £5 a bottle, and the range looks rather cheap. I've either won the polishes above, bought from an ASOS sale or bought from a blog sale, so have never paid full price. Saying that, I do really like Models Own nail polishes. The brand offers a large range of colours and finishes, and the formulas are good. I also used to own Pastel Pink, but it looked tipexy, so I gave it to my mum. My mum gets all the products I don't want haha - She's not complaining though!

Superdrug Purchases!

Superdrug have free delivery until the 24th October, so I thought I'd stock up on some essentials. I stock up on so many things, my beauty draws look like a small shop!

The Superdrug Foam Colour Hair Dyes are for my mum. They were buy one (£5.99) get two free, so these were just £2 each! I bought her one Medium Brown 5.0 and two Light Browns 6.0.

I then added the Simple Baby Wipes x80 to my basket, which were £1.99. The normal facial ones are £2.99 for 25, so these are much more cost effective (and they're practically the same things!).

I'm running low on my much loved Witch Skin Clearing Primer and it was half price at just £3.49, so I couldn't resist.

I also wanted to try the new Nivea Express Hydration Primer, which was only £3.99. I love the packaging - It comes in a glass jar! It's lighter in consistency than the Witch one and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'll test it out tomorrow and see if my concealer creases on my eyelids (I have red, oily eyelids, you see... mmm, sexy).

I added Superdrug's Coconut Oil to my basket because I've been meaning to purchase a pot and it was only £2.29. I already have a coconut oil, but I wanted to try the solid, natural form.

I've tried Liz Earle's and No7's hot cloth cleansers, so wanted to buy Superdrug's Hot Cloth Cleanser to compare. I've been liking hot cloth cleansers because they're gentle and moisturising on my skin. This one was on offer for £4.99 (normally £5.99).

I then bought another bottle of Cutex's Nourishing Nail Polish Remover for £2.15. This is my favourite nail polish remover because I really like the smell and it does a good job at removing my nail polish, funnily enough.

Lastly, I stocked up on Superdrug's Hair Grips (£1.39) and Superdrug's Emery Boards (99p). I go through so many packs of these. I don't know if that's because I use them all the time or because they go missing all the time!

And they're my purchases! Oh, I do love free delivery.

How I revise and organise my time

Now that the academic year has started, I thought I'd show you how I organise my time and revise!

I use a week-to-view diary/planner so I can easily see what I have coming up in the next week. Here's a quick guide to what you see above! My lectures are highlighted in orange, the pink sticky note bookmarks what week we're in, so I can quickly turn to it, and the green sticky notes bookmark my assignment deadlines. When I've completed something, I draw a line through it, and when I don't do something and move it, I put diagonal, squiggly lines through it. As you can see, I didn't write this post yesterday, so scribbled through it and moved it to today. I've also scribbled out one of my English tasks and moved it to next Tuesday because I have the day off.

Sometimes, I plan my days out by the hour. Don't worry, I'm not that organised - I only do this on the days when I have a lot of uni work to do. For the purpose of this post, I've quickly written one up today. 

As you can see, I have an hour in between each task. I find that this usually gives me the motivation to do my work. If I can't be bothered to do a task, I just think that in an hour, it will be over and I'll have an hours break.

I never used to do this and just tried to revise for as long as I could so I could get it over and done with. This wasn't a good idea because it used to make revising a daunting task, rather than a manageable one.

Some people may think that I lose a lot of time revising like this, but when I start early on my days off, I can revise for 6-7 hours a day. 

Here are some of my revision notes from last year. I never used to have a revision technique and it really damaged my year 12 grades. I then stopped trying to make fun revision games and did what came naturally - Writing lists! I break down the notes in my folder and list the main points. I then memorise the lists until I know them off by heart. To memorise them, I either repeat them in my mind or write them down countless times. It may seem tedious, but it works for me and that's what really matters!

That is how I organise my life and revise for exams! When I write assignments, I do what I've done in the second photo. Obviously, If I'm 'in the zone', then I'll write for longer than the hour provided.

Washi Tape Haul and Notebook Decorating

I've been meaning to buy some washi tape for months, so when eBay had a £5 off code the other night, I thought it was the perfect time to order some!

If you don't know what washi tape is, it's coloured and patterned masking tape which can be used to decorate nearly anything.

Here are the ones I ordered. I have a tendency to collect things, so I couldn't just buy a couple rolls! The descriptions below are linked to the washi tapes' listings:

Mint green

Green stripes 

Yellow polka dots

Red floral

Roses

Blue and red little hearts

Pink polka dots

Teal pattern

Yellow

Blue

Most of the tapes above are from the same seller and P&P is 70p, no matter how many rolls you buy.

I've just ordered a red polka dot one as well! Next on my list: Some orange varieties.

With some of the washi tapes, I decorated this notebook (Paperchase, £1.50). I love it! I can't wait to decorate more things. Next, I'm going to put some washi tape on the ends of my make-up brushes because I have multiples that I use for different purposes. Also, I'd love to decorate glass jars (Fill with sweets and you have a great present), a photo frame and make my own birthday/Christmas cards.

Do a quick Google search and you'll find thousands of ideas!

Do you own any rolls of washi tape? If so, what have you made/decorated with them?