Summer Playlist

Hey there,  

                Now anyone who knows me will know there are only a few aspects of my life that are organised and they are my wardrobe, my makeup and my iTunes library, everything else  is pretty much up in the air at all times, like literally I'm a failure at life. 
But luckily enough we don't need to know about my shambles of a life and today I'm talking about my summer playlist. I literally make playlists for everything and I'm the go to person when any of my friends are having a party to sort of the Spotify selection for the night. I've been doing it for years and I've got the general ones you know like my 'I just want to lie in bed and cry' songs, my 'I'm practically Whitney Houston' shower songs, my 'I'm completely zen' bath playlist and all that. But I also make playlists for big events, like when I started my final year at school or when my best friend got her first car or my 18th birthday. You catch my drift. I like to do a mixture of old and new and you can guarantee Beyonce will appear on all my playlists at least once. 

Here's what's on my summer playlist for 2015

1. Feelin' Myself - Nicki Minaj Ft. Beyonce 
2. Prayer In C - Lily Wood and The Prick Ft Robin Schulz
3. Bitch Better Have My Money - Rihanna
4. Ship to Wreck - Florence + The Machine
5. The Wolf - Mumford & Sons
6. Don't You Find - Jamie T
7. Think Of You - MS MR
8. Bang That - Disclosure
9. Say Something - Karen Harding
10. Ring Off - Beyonce
11. Sugar - Maroon 5 
12. Get Busy - Sean Paul
13. The Blacker The Berry - Kendrick Lamar
14. Get Right - Jennifer Lopez
15. Hold My Hand - Jess Glynne
16. Habits (Stay High) - Tove Lo
17. Bills - Lunchmoney Lewis
18. All Cried Out - Blonde Ft. Alex Newell
19. Lonesome Street - Blur
20. Wish You Were Mine - Philip George 

It's a weird mix I know but I like a bit of everything and this has literally got something for all moods this summer. 
What's on your playlist this summer? Let me know! 

 X

How I Do- The 'Overdrawn' Nude Lip

Hey lovelies! 

                    Starting a new series today all about how I do all my favourite make-up looks! I'm starting with possibly the biggest trend of right now, the nude lip. The nude lip is something that has obviously been around forever but thanks to Kylie Jenner and those larger than life lips she's sporting, it's now everywhere! I love it and I'm all about the big lips. 
BUT I've seen SO many people get it wrong, it's actually painful. The key to a slightly overdrawn nude lip is for it to not actually look like you've drawn your lips on. Seems obvious right? You'd think so but a couple of scrolls on Instagram would suggest not everyones got it. 
Here's how I do it: 

Start with a dark lip liner to create the shadows, focus on the inner corners of the lips and underneath the bottom lip, where the natural shadow would lie. None of this has to be neat as everything gets blended at the end. 

MAC 'Chestnut' lip pencil 

Then go in with a nude pencil, slightly darker thank your own lip colour. Here's the important part - NEVER overdraw the corners of the mouth, this is what will give you away. Start from the inner corner following the natural line and slightly go above your natural lip line. Don't emphasise the cupids bow, go straight across (*obviously* don't draw a line across your mouth). 

MAC Pro Longwear 'Nice n Spicy' 

Now this is what will make or break the lip, (woah tense) you have to use a matte lip colour as anything with a shine will draw attention to the lip liner. My favourites are MAC 'Yash' and Illamasqua 'Bare' but you can just use whatever you have that works for you. 

MAC Lipstick in 'Yash' 

Then if you want to add a dab of concealer in the centre of the lip and blend out, as well as highlighting above the cupids bow. Get a lip brush blend up any lines so everything looks one gradual colour. Don't add gloss. If you feel you need it, add a clear or a lighter gloss in the centre. 

It's easy really. It's my go to lip at the moment and I love it, anything that makes you poutier can't be a bad thing, right? Let your inner Kylie Jenner soar my children. 

What's your favourite nude lipstick? I'm always on the hunt for more!

X

Liverpool Forever (Or The Next 3 Years...)

Oh hey there,

For many people, this September has brought about a terrifying reality- it's your last year of school/college and clearly the age of 17/18 is the perfect time to decide what you want to do with the REST OF YOUR LIFE...what?!

If you're like me and struggle deciding what you're doing on a Saturday night, this is probably causing some intense panic. Considering we're well into October, I'm assuming everyone who's going to uni is well submerged in UCAS applications, personal statements and open days (and if you're not, then God knows how you're being so chill about the whole thing). The thing with UCAS applications is, that you actually have to choose where you want to go for the next 3 years as well as what you're going to spend more than £27,000 studying (DA FUCK?!!!), the whole idea of this has my nerves gone, there's about 300 courses to choose from and that's not including the option of joint honours/major and minor subjects/years abroad etc. This is one of the many reasons why I've decided to stay in my wonderful city of Liverpool as quite frankly add a change of location into my already massive choice and my head will most likely explode.

If this applies to you and you've made the genius decision to stay here then you've probably been met with various questions like "don't you want to get the full uni experience?" "Don't you want to be independent?" "Don't you want to see other places?". I've had all of these as well as about 100 more, mainly from my Dad (to be honest, I think he just wants me as far away as possible so I can't ask him for lifts everywhere- yeah I'm onto you Paul) So here's all the reasons why I think it's perfectly acceptable to stay in Liverpool...

1) Liverpool has 4 universities!:- yes 4 and okay I know Edge Hill is verging on major wool territory but you catch my drift. The University of Liverpool is one of the top universities in the country for things like Dentistry and Nursing, it's also a Russell Group university which is basically the top 25 uni's in the UK and it's got a massive Management School which offers courses like accounting & finance, business management and marketing. You've also got Hope, JMU and Edge Hill with Hope and Edge Hill specialising in things like secondary and primary education, offering some of the best courses in the country for any future teachers. Not to mention, when it comes to student satisfaction and best nightlife, all Liverpool uni's always smash the league tables (well obviously) 

Just look how gorgeous the University of Liverpool is!

2) Independence is overrated: Hear me out for a minute here, I'm not saying stay at home with your mum forever if you're staying here for uni, cos to be perfectly honest I'm a bit jealous of all my mates who have got their own little flat and new life going on right now. But I am very much into the fact that my mum and her roasts are a bus ride away if I'm feeling a bit shit on a Sunday or my dad being able to come and get me when I'm stranded somewhere and I've lost my bank card again. It's going to be scary enough moving out and not being able to shout my mum when I can't work out if my foods done but moving that far away that I can't ring my dad to come and fix my telly if it's broken- no thank you, that's not happening. 

3) Uni is expensive: as previously mentioned, uni costs upwards of £27,000 for a regular student like me who won't be receiving grants or bursaries so would it really hurt to save some cash by being close to the Bank of Mum and Dad? I think not. Following on from my last point, not only is it nice to still have your parents around, it makes sense economically...I swear. Think of all the money you'll save on food when you get to go home, have your dinner and raid the cupboard for all those koka noodles and doritos your mums carried on buying cos she's forgotten you've moved out. Also if your mums anything like mine, the idea of mess doesn't bare thinking about. So you can pretty much guarantee a full room clean, duvet change and dish wash every time she 'pops round', it's like having your very own Kim and Aggie but without the bejewelled marigolds and over bleached hair. As well as all these, never underestimate how much you actually cost to buy for. My Sunday scrangover probably sets my parents back a good £15 a week, add in my inability to switch off lights and love for having the hot tap on whilst I'm in the bath, my mum and dad are gonna be minted when I finally get off next year. More money= happy parents, happy parents= increased generosity, increased generosity=more likely to give me a nice little hand out when I come round purely because I miss them. Don't feel bad about it though, you're not rinsing them, it's simply the circle of life.

4) Who wants to become a 'student'?: Now I'm not talking about an actual student of a university, cos that's pretty much the point of this blog post. I mean those people that show up in September and hang around concert square dressed up as a Smurf or Where's Wally and feel like UV/ foam parties are acceptable forms of entertainment for people that are supposed to be real functioning adults. If you're one of these people and the only reason you're even bothering to go to uni is to pull birds/ be a constant bevy victim, then please save yourself the £27,000 and go and work in Zante or Napa for a season or two, at least you'll have the weather. Seriously though, this is one of the MAIN reasons why I'm staying in Liverpool as I reckon it's moving away that does this to people. I'm sure not everyone who moves away for uni becomes a massive loser who you'd usually feel ashamed for if you saw them on a night out, but it happens to that many people, I'm not willing to risk it. Clearly when people move away, the fact that they can reinvent themselves is too much and they instantly become a uni victim, complete with freshers wristband and shutter shades. Maybe it's the fact that they no longer run the risk of seeing that tidy lad who you stalk on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook etc or that girl who always has perfect brows and is your secret sworn enemy. Whatever it is, I'm not okay with it. I like dressing up and going out looking nice and their is no way that I'm swapping my heels for a pair of Tom's just because I've decided to carry on with a glorified version of school, swerve that. If you move away you either beat them or join them and the odds of beating what so many wools aspire to be are slim to none, at least if you're still here you can stick to the safe perimeters of Seel Street and judge the kitten-heeled, ra-ra skirted wools with fellow scousers. 

5) You can still leave: This might come as a bit of a surprise to everyone who see's staying in Liverpool as a life-long sentence to never venture further than the Runcorn tunnel, but you can actually leave whenever you want to. Just because you choose to stay here for uni doesn't mean you can't visit your mates around the country or apply for graduate positions in London or Birminghan or Timbuktu when the time comes. When people leave, no one tells them they can't come back home, so why is there some sort of weird stigma attached to people staying here as if the trains and buses only go one way. Liverpool is one of the biggest cities in the country, there's no absence of jobs opportunities for students. We might not be London but our business sector is thriving and we've got amazing companies like Agent Marketing setting up things like their Agent Academy that offers people the chance to get 10 weeks experience of working in marketing to boost your CV and possibly lead to a job opportunity. You can still leave whenever you want to but with the business ventures that are popping up around Liverpool at the moment, do you really need to? 

All in all, I love Liverpool and I couldn't bare to leave it for too long but if you're one of those people that are moving away, good luck to you and never forget the great responsibility you have of representing Scousers everywhere in whatever city you choose to make your temporary home. If you are staying here, then congrats on being one of the 60,000 students that have also made such a genius choice. I'll be there in full Scouse rigout whinging about any student that dares step foot in Santa's with flashing bunny ears on or in fancy dress, you can swerve that right off.

XXX

She's A Liverpool Girl, She Loves A Dance...

 I love Liverpool. I love the people, the shopping, the architecture but most of all I love the nightlife and I reckon I'm dead lucky to live somewhere that definitely has some of the best bars around complete with tidy bartenders and even better bevys. I'm not arsed if you're a student or you're "only going for a quiet one" (when does that happen really?) you should always make an effort. Now I don't mean you have to have a spray tan/Illamasqua makeover and full professional curly blow every weekend cos let's be honest I get payed monthly and I'm normally skint a week after pay day but that doesn't mean you let your prin standards drop. If anything you should go out more in order to get better at the pre night out prep so you don't look shit when it actually matters. 

The basics are obviously tan, hair and make-up and what you're wearing but if you've got the first three sorted you can almost get away with your outfit being a bit more chill. 

Tan prep should start AT LEAST a full 24 hours before so you have appropriate time to exfoliate, shave and  moisturise before you even think about picking up that St Moriz. Please don't be one of those crazies who live on the edge and think doing their tan last minute is fine and end up being left with odd arms and a streaky back. None of that tar. 

Tan done, I normally do my hair before my makeup simply because I have more makeup than I care to admit and can spend about 2 hours arsing round when it comes to my eyeliner and fake cheek bones. It's up to you what you do with your hair but please do something, if you're really shit/have no time, scrape it back, keep it high and pretend you've intentionally gone for a catwalk style slicked back pony. Thankfully the hair Gods were looking down on me when I was born and blessed me with my own personal curly blower (my mums a hairdresser), but if this isn't the case for you, then heated rollers will be and should be your best mate. Lash them in before you start your make-up then all's youve really got to do is a bit of back-combing before you leave the house and you're pretty much sorted. 

I pretty much ALWAYS have my hair blown and curled, it's the easiest thing ever!

Contour game so strong

Now when it comes to make-up, there's no time for messing round cos this is where it becomes obvious who means business and who needs to be sent back across the Mersey from whence they came. If you're not on the contouring/highlighting bandwagon then get on it now. It will change your life (and your face). The scarier and linier you look the better, just for the love of God make sure you remember to blend it properly! It should be flawless, no big lines or white stripes across your face please ladies. When it comes to eyes, there always has to be something there. I don't care if you're 'doing a statement lip' or if you can't do a smokey eye for shit. Buy a Naked palette, a 217 brush and teach yourself how to blend. Don't throw yourself in the deep end with black though, leave that to the professionals or there's a 99% chance you will end up with a striking resemblance to a panda. Also I find it WELL better to do my eyes before my foundation etc, just in case I have one of those days when you get leaky eye syndrome and half your eyeshadows down your face because you blinked too fast. Do it first then you're free to wipe away any mishaps. Eyelashes should be your mate, don't be scared of them cos I really do think they can sense fear. Trim them, put your glue on, pull yourself together and just pray you don't end up looking like you've got one eye looking at you and one looking for you. I assure you that there's nothing that awakens my wooldar more than a bare eyelid complete with an untrimmed spider lash, THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. If this is you, now you know the error of your ways please correct it IMMEDIATELY or I will not be held accountable for my actions the next time this holy show presents itself to me. Soz rant over, please don't do it though, k? Boss. Lipstick should also be your mate. Whoever said you can't do lips and eyes is probably the same person who said you cant get your boobs and your legs out at the same time, clearly a boring bitch. I reckon a smokey eye and a red lip look fab and I wouldn't be seen dead without my lippy on a Saturday night. 

Once all this fun stuff is sorted you're now free to sort through those 25 outfits you and your mates have deemed acceptable, find something fabulous and then make sure it's slut-drop proof whilst listening to Beyoncé, with a bevy in hand whilst waiting for your Delta (get the iPhone app, it's well quicker). 

Town is BOSS, therefore you should look boss cos you always have a better night when you know you're looking fab!

Don't forget though, you've made all this effort so YOU have an amazing night so  please don't be the girl who stands at the bar pouting all night, eyeing up every fella who walks past and just waiting for someone to buy them a drink.  Swerve that. Be fab cos you want to be and not cos you're looking for a fella and you're determined not to pay for any of your own bevys. Get your birds, get your bevys and then find a big enough dance space to do the full Single Ladies routine and then slut drop for the rest of the night. 

XXX

Fake It Til You Make It - The Kylie Jenner Effect

Hey hey hey, 

So unless you've been living under a rock of late, I'm sure you've all been privy to the worldwide phenomenon that is Kylie Jenner's lips. 

Now I for one, am one of those people who has no qualms whatsoever when it comes to plastic surgery or fillers or whatever, so many people look amazing with it, many of whom I know. I'm also pretty sure that as soon as I can afford it, I will be getting a 0.5ml Juvederm syringe of filler in my lips to make me look pouty and fab. 

My problem however is that Kylie is telling the world she hasn't had anything done and is therefore responsible for girls everywhere drawing big lines on their face and passing them off as their lips as if no one can tell. I'm not saying she doesn't do it well, cos bloody hell that girls make-up is on another level of perfection but seriously who is she kidding? She's gone from this to this in like 6 months...

Girl please. 

If she want's to say she's had no fillers (which I highly doubt) that's cool, she's very clearly also over-drawing and rounding them off but can she at least say something? She's acting as if it's normal for your lips to just quadruple in size over night, which unless you've developed a particularly nasty allergy to something, they don't. Tell the world your secret before every girl in the world thinks that because they own a nude liner, they've cheated their way to new lips-you haven't.

My real problem here though, is the MAC problem. Ever since the new and surgically enhanced improved Kylie emerged, everyone and their dog has jumped on the bandwagon and sought out the lipliner that is apparently Kylie's secret- Whirl. That lipliner has been sold out for what, 6 months? This however has now filtered down into the other MAC liners and consequentially led to MY lipliner of choice for the last 3 years, Spice, being sold out for nearly 2 months in my two local MAC stores. WHAT?! Is this a sick joke? I've had to change to a pro liner in Nice 'n' Spicy, which is good but it's not the same. 

Seriously Kylie, what are you playing at? Just tell everyone your mouth is full of collagen and put the world to rights again!

XXX

All Night Long - Clutch Bag Essentials

Sup guys,  

               So I reckon over the past few months, I've finally sorted out my night out clutch bag essentials and I've basically got it down to a T. Now let me warn you in advance, I favour and over-sized clutch, simply because I carry a lot of shit needs lots of things. So this guide probably isn't going to be for those who want to carry some sort of wristlet invention (HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!). 

First the obvious: phone/cash/ID/keys. I assume these are everyones essentials for a night out, unless of course you like have a beard or don't use phones, have a bar tab and get into your house through the window at the end of the night. If you're not one of those people however, I assume you would need all these things. I personally don't ever take a purse on a night out as it just takes up unnecessary room in my already rather full bag. It's much easier to put your card/cash/ID in the zip compartment of your bag and not have the worry that if your purse mysteriously disappears, you're left with nothing (of course if you lose your bag, you would also be left with this problem so just don't lose your bag, okay?). 

Now lets get onto the important stuff. 

Firstly and possibly one of the most crucial part of any going out bag, EYELASH GLUE (unless you don't wear eyelashes *shudder*). If you don't take your eyelash glue out, you are playing a very risky little game and must be some sort of dare devil/adrenaline junky, cos really WHY you take that risk? Are you insane? What happens if you get caught in a twister? What happens if the tequila hits you the wrong way and you burst into completely unnecessary tears? Or most likely, what happens if those pesky corners come unstuck and you have to walk round looking a little bit gozzy for the rest of the night? Just take the glue,k? 

GOD.

Next, you should always take a powder and a brush. I know some people don't feel the need to carry make-up on a night out (I don't personally know any of these people obviously) but I really think you should. Think of that dreaded moment when you get the Instagram/Twitter/Facebook notification the morning after a night out, that you've been tagged in photos from the night before, you might look like a drunken mess but at least if you've been touching up all night, you won't be shiny *silver lining* 

I personally favour this one, as it's brilliant, has a nice big mirror and it looks pretty

Next, something that I've found particularly useful of late. As someone who favours a nice lipstick, whether that be a dark purple, deep red or a Kylie Jenner-esque nude, I'll always be wearing something. Obviously your lipstick fades throughout the night and particularly in winter, this tends to leave a bit of dry patchy lip behind. Which is why I feel lip balm is necessary. Put it on before you re-apply for a smoother application or put it on when you can't be bothered to put your lips back on and get a lighter and shiny version of your prior lip colour, simple!

That is what I'd call the bare minimum. I personally also take my lipstick, bronzer, bronzer brush, eye liner, chewing gum, plasters and a hair bobble (in case of the dreaded rain striking). But I personally think you could probably scrape through with that much. 

Let me know what you take on a night out, am I the only clutch bag hoarder? Tell me in the comments below!

XXX

You're Not 19 Forever, Pull Yourself Together...

Oh hey there, 

                     So here I am, crawling back to this blog, pretending I haven't been absent for nearly a year... but the dates don't lie and here I am writing a blog post. I've decided I've got some stuff to say and I've got to do SOMETHING to make a change before I turn the dreaded 1-9. Now  I know many people will be thinking, what's so bad about 19? A thought I shared with you until it started coming at me faster than I'd like to admit and I realised I'd done barely anything of interest in my first year as a real-life adult *let the sobs commence*.

So I'm going to blog again, cos then I can at least say I do something other than sleep, eat and watch Netflix...(I'm not sorry about any of those things btw). 

Also I still have a ridiculous need to buy beauty products and spend way too much money on them. This month is also filled with birthday funzies which means lots of getting my make-up done and new make-up to go along with it *cheers immensely*.

Gerd your loins kids, this is gonna get good. 

XXX

Happy me on my birthday last year, oh how times change...