October Favourites! | 2014

It feels like I haven't blogged in so long... I've been so busy with school - what with Spanish assessments and tons of Drama work. Today, I finished my ten hour drama exam! In total, we did six hours of acting and four hours of writing notes and beginning our portfolios (which we mainly get marked on). Obviously this was spread over two school days so I missed two days worth of lessons - aka, heaven. Drama is my favourite lesson so it literally didn't even feel like an exam and I was genuinely excited for it. I could do Drama all day every day for the rest of the school year, until I leave!

Anyway, lets talk about my favourites for this month. My November favourites that I posted last year is one of my most popular blog posts so I thought I might as well do an October favourites for 2014, if that's what you guys like the most. I haven't got too many 'physical' favourites (products etc); most of my favourites for this month are TV programmes and music.

Clothing!

I have literally been obsessing over my low white Converse throughout the last part of the month of October. My boyfriend actually bought me these for my birthday - which was on the 21st - and I am so grateful for them! I've been wanting them for so long and, once I got them, I wore them with everything. They're so easy to pair with outfits because they are so simple but they're really difficult to keep clean - I have to get the baby wipes out every time I wear them! At first they gave me super bad blisters but now they're becoming so comfortable and ahhh, I'm in love. :)

I've had these trainers for so long but I absolutely adore them. They're called Nike Satire trainers and as I have small feet, I can still buy Junior trainers from JD so these were only £30! I'm not sure if they do them in adult sizes because I can't seem to find anything like that on their website. Also, I can't find the same colour of these on the JD website either so they might've stopped doing them in these colours? However, like I said, I love these trainers so much and I tend to wear these with jeans and jumpers. They are one of the comfiest pairs of shoes I own! I wish I'd got them in all black because I think they would match more outfits but I do like having them in grey and mint because it livens up an outfit a little, especially if I want the main focus to be the shoes. I am such a trainer person - I find it difficult to find boots and pumps that I really like - so these are perfect for me.

Makeup!

I used to use this foundation all the time when I was around thirteen or fourteen but I stopped using it for a while because of the colour range. I use 100 ivory and it can be quite orange - I'm extremely pale so it's difficult to find foundations that match my skin tone but still make me look decent and doesn't make me look like I'm half dead. I can only really make this foundation work when I've got fake tan on, which is a lot of the time so it's not too difficult to use. I just need to say though that I love this foundation (apart from the fact it makes me look like an oompa-loompa). It has a good, full coverage and it really does last for a very long time. I'm not too sure about 25 hours as I tend to not leave makeup on my face for that long but it always stays put throughout the day and doesn't go patchy - which I've found with a couple of different foundations. It can feel quite heavy on the skin as it's so thick but as it has such a high coverage, a little can go a long way. If you'd like a seperate review on this, I'd be happy to do it!

Music!

I recently jumped on the Spotify bandwagon and my, oh my, why did I not download it sooner? It's the perfect platform to listen to a wide range of music - for free! Recently, I've been loving 5 Seconds of Summer's album - of course - and, in particular, the song Long Way Home. I don't know why but that song does something to me; it's so perfect. 

I've also been enjoying Ariana Grande's My Everything album. I have to say, I'm not a fan of some of the songs but I really like the majority of them and I've listened to a couple so many times, I'm actually sick of them now! I just think Ariana is perfect and her voice is mind-blowing. It's honestly such a great album.

Finally, I've been listening to Fantasy by Alina Baraz non-stop recently. It's such a relaxing, easy to listen to song and it's perfect to put on while I'm working as I'm someone who easily gets distracted by music so I prefer to work in silence, but this song is so soft so it creates the perfect amount of background noise!

Youtubers!

I've been watching Sophie Foster's videos for weeks now and she is literally the best! I love her style and she's so real in her videos - you can tell that she isn't putting an act on, like a lot of Youtubers tend to do. She's so funny - I follow her on Snapchat and the things she sends out are hilarious! She's one of those people who you wish you could meet and you think that if you did meet you'd click really well and you'd have so much fun! Is that weird? Maybe... I don't know. :)

I discovered Emily's channel through glitteralittle and I'm so glad I did. I'm in love with her videos; they're always so interesting and they don't last for half an hour, they're always short but sweet. I love to keep up to date with her vlog channel - I think vlogs are so fun, even if the person isn't doing anything particularly interesting. She just seems like such a lovely, funny person and oh my goodness, she's gorgeous too!

 I only discovered Rclbeauty101 about half way through October and literally binge-watched her videos. They're so unique and funny; she doesn't do the usual run-of-the-mill beauty tutorials or hauls every other video. Also, when she advertises products in her video, she doesn't do a long review, she subtly incorporates them into the video. For example, instead of stopping the video and speaking about Audible.com for a good five minutes (like a lot of Youtubers do), she'll show herself using it instead for a short amount of time.  I just feel like this is so much more effective than someone droning on about the product and how much they like it.

Television!

I recently re-watched Skins (series 3 and 4, aka the best generation) and afterwards I had nothing to watch so I started watching Gossip Girl because I heard a few people raving about it a while ago but never got round to watching it. I'm near the end of the first season and I'm hooked already! I absolutely adore Dan, I think he's the cutest but I think Serena takes him for granted sometimes... Again, I'm still on the first series so I'm not sure what unfolds in the later seasons so no spoilers please! I love Blair as well, she can be such a bitch but there are times when I really empathise with her and I just want to give her a hug. I can't wait to carry on watching but as I've been so busy with coursework in general, I haven't gotten round to it!

Other Favourites!

On the 15th October, my drama group and I went to watch the Blood Brothers musical at the Hippodrome in Birmingham. As I live in Nottingham, the journey took a while but I didn't mind it because my drama class is so amazing, I get on with everyone so well and we have such a laugh together!

We started reading the play in September and did bits of drama work on it but then we finally got to see it in the theatre! Our exam (which we did yesterday and today) was based on the themes and issues which are shown in the play and actually going to watch it helped so much, especially as, in parts of the exam, I had to act like Mickey when he was seven years old. Watching Sean Jones do such an amazing job, pretending to be a young child, really inspired me so I was much better portraying Mickey than I was when we first started studying the play. At first, I was so stiff and played with my hair a lot but today, I jumped around, pretended to shoot people, fell on the floor, mimed spitting and wiping it off my own face...I loved it! 

The play is absolutely fantastic and I would love to go somewhere like Manchester next year to see it again. I've been watching parts of the play from a couple of years ago - I watched the ending again on Youtube last night and I was in floods of tears, just like I was when I watched it at the theatre. There's so much tension throughout the play and I just think it's a must-see, whether you study it for drama or not. I can't express how much I enjoyed watching it - I wish I could go and watch it every day!

That's all my favourites from this month! Leave a comment letting me know what your favourite things from the month of October were. :)

November Favourites!

Happy 1st December!
It's crazy how fast this year has gone, it only feels like yesterday when we hit 1st January 2013 and I had to get used to writing 2013, not 2012, in my school books. I know I uploaded a blog post yesterday and I've been wanting to space my posts out a bit but since it's the first of the month, I thought it would be necessary and suitable to upload this one: my November favourites! Throughout the month, I've been trying new and different products and some of them I have really loved, like the ones I'm going to show now. I probably won't do a favourites blog post for every month as some months I don't find any new products I particularly like.
Also, I've been thinking of making Youtube videos. I have a channel (makelovepretty) but I haven't made any videos yet. Once I get a new memory card and a good set-up, I might start. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Anyway, moving onto this month's favourites...

Makeup Favourites

Face

Please excuse the obnoxious background, I wanted to get this post up asap and had nowhere decent to take pictures!

 This month, I've been really loving my Mac products: Studio Fix Fluid foundation and Mineralize Skin Finish Natural powder. I only bought them last month - my first Mac products! I never used to love high-end products (mainly for the fact I never have any money) and I'd only ever tried out Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation and a couple of their Boi-ing concealers (which I loved). However, I did always want to try out something from Mac and as I love a good full coverage foundation, I picked up Studio Fix. I have mine in NC15. You can buy it from the Mac website (HERE) for £21.50. An excellent dupe for this is the L'Oréal True Match which you can buy from Boots or Superdrug (HERE or HERE) for £9.99. Studio Fix has a matte finish so if you prefer a dewy finish and you don't like high coverage foundations, it definitely won't be for you. I've also been loving Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark. I have super pale skin so I don't use it to powder as I'd walk out my house looking incredibly orange and ridiculous! Instead, I use my Rimmel Stay Matte powder (which I included in my top 5 drugstore must-haves) and I then go on to use my Skinfinish powder to bronze underneath my cheek bones, around my temple and my jawline. I don't use it to contour, however. You can buy the Mineralize Skinfinish Natural HERE for £22. I think this will last me a long time considering the amount of product you get!

The final 'face' product is my Bourjois blusher in 34 Rose d'Or (Golden Rose). This is a gorgeous light pink colour with shimmer running throughout it. When it's applied to the face, it's very sheer so I might start using this as a bit of a highlight. It has a little bit too much shimmer for my liking (if you apply too much, it's possible you'll resemble a disco ball as soon as the sunlight hits your face) but I have been liking this product a lot as it can look very natural. It has a strong scent, though, which I don't particularly like.

Lips

I have two lip products that I've been loving this month. The first is Vaseline, pretty self-explanatory. This does an excellent job of moisturising my lips. I have mine in cocoa butter - my absolute favourite! This tastes and smells so good.You can buy Vaseline from almost any shop for quite a cheap price. I've especially been loving it because of the weather and season change.
The second lip product is my Revlon Lip Butter, which I have in 045 Cotton Candy. I also mentioned this in my top 5 drugstore must-haves but I didn't say too much about it because I've been wanting to do a full review later on. If you'd like to read a review on these lip butters, leave a comment below. I particularly like these because they are moisturising; I tend to stick to plain lip balms in the winter, so a type of lip balm with added colour is a must for me! Revlon do a whole range of different colours which I've been wanting to try out. Cotton Candy is a sheer baby pink colour. They would look a lot more natural if they didn't have as much shimmer but as they are very sheer and light, they are great to wear to school. If I'm doing a full make-up look, I love to pair this with a pink lipstick, to add a bit of shine so my lips aren't completely mattified (is that a word? I don't know.) The packaging is beautiful and handy too. It's very sleek and slim so it is easy to throw in your bag and the plastic surrounding the actual lip butter resembles the same colour as the product itself. It also has a nice 'quilted' detailing effect, which I love.

Eyes

Last month, I did a little (by little I mean a lot) online shopping on the Elf website (HERE). They had an offer on: get 50% off your final order, as long as it was over a certain amount, I believe. I ended up spending thirty pounds and I bought sixty pounds worth of make-up! If you'd like to see an Elf haul, let me know. Anyway, I bought two of their Baked eyeshadows. You can buy them HERE for £3.75 each. At the moment, you can also buy a whole palette of Baked eyeshadows for £10 (HERE). I bought Bark and Toasted. Bark is a very deep brown whereas Toasted is quite a coppery colour - a colour which really suits and compliments my - blue - eye colour. There are four other Baked eyeshadows (Enchanted, Pixie, Burnt Plum and Dusk) so six in total. You get quite a lot of product so I do think they will both last for a while, especially considering how pigmented they are, you don't need a lot to go a long way. I don't wear these as an everyday combination, I tend to only wear them if I'm going out in the evening (like to dinner). I place Toasted all over my lid then work Bark into my crease, blending them both together. I always use any white eyeshadow in my inner corners and on my browbone, to highlight. Elf's Baked shadows are very shimmery, which may not be to everyones taste. It's possible to blend them out so much that they aren't so harsh. I don't always wear them together; sometimes I'll wear Toasted with a matte brown or I'll wear any matte, neutral eyeshadow and run Bark through my crease, to contour and define. I can see myself wearing them a lot in the future!

Body/Skincare

In the Winter, it is (in my opinion) mandatory to moisturise. The weather change always takes a toll on my skin, leaving it quite dry, so a good moisturiser is key! I'm a big fake tan..addict, you could say. Recently I haven't been using my usual fake tan - I've been pulled towards the Garnier Summerbody moisturising lotion. I used to use this a long time ago but never got round to repurchasing when I ran out. This stuff smells amazing! It has an extract of apricot in it. However, I've started to get sick of the smell as it tends to make my clothes, pyjamas and bedsheets stink of it. Unattractive, I know. It has a gradual, 'natural looking' build up of 'sun-kissed tan'. In other words, as I use it every night, I look orange. Great. Despite that, I really do like this product as it moisturises my body and gives me a sun-kissed glow. When I use my usual fake tan, I don't tend to moisturise before applying as I find my tan doesn't stick to my body. However, this is a two in one, so I don't have to worry! It doesn't seem to go too patchy either which I like. You can buy it from any shop that sells beauty items; I bought mine from Boots (HERE). The second skincare item I've been enjoying using is my Soap & Glory Hand Food hydrating hand cream. I was gifted this in a Soap & Glory set for my birthday, back in October, and I started using it straight away. It leaves my hands feeling so soft and I think I may be a little bit addicted to the smell. I stopped using it for a little while after a couple of weeks of trying it out and I noticed a huge difference with how dry my hands got again. I take this everywhere now!

Hair (take a shot every time I say 'hair')

I'm always looking for hair products that create texture in my hair and give me volume as my hair is very thick and I have a lot of it, so it gets weighed down which causes it to look very flat and dull. I have been loving my V05 Cherish My Colour full bodied spray. I have dyed hair, so when a product says it can stop my hair colour from fading as quickly, I almost fly to the till in excitement. Cherish My Colour also claims to enhance the shininess of my hair and add natural bounce and thickness. This product gives my hair quite a bit of volume and, since I've been using it, my hair has started to look a lot healthier and shinier! I only apply this when my hair is damp, after being towel-dried. I don't like using products on dry hair as so many things can make it look and feel greasy. I definitely recommend this product to anyone with long, flat hair.
The final product I'm going to talk about is my Toni & Guy casual sea salt texturising spray which I bought from Boots for £7.19 (you may have gathered that I love shopping in Boots). Again, anything to stop my hair from looking so flat! This is the perfect spray to create tousled waves but if I use too much, it gives the appearance of my hair looking extremely matted and not very well cared for, so you have to be very careful. I normally use this on second to third day hair because I like to wash it straight out that night otherwise my hair gets super knotty. The bottle is quite big and because I don't use it every day, or very often, it should hopefully last me a long time.

So, that concludes my November favourites! I really hope you enjoyed this post and I'd love to know what your favourites for this month have been.