Wednesday, 17 December 2014

What a Year: My 2014.

Wow, so we've nearly made it through another year. For me 2014 has been a roller coaster and I'd be lying if  I said I wasn't a little bit relieved to see the end of the year. However, as well as the lows of twenty fourteen there have been lots of highs too, so I thought I would dedicate a whole post about my 2014.

For me 2014 was all about new discoveries from new products to discovering new places. Let's start at the beginning of the year when I became obsessed with Pukka Tea Peppermint & Licorice which is the ultimate comforting winter drink, I currently have a box in my kitchen, ready to take to work. Last last year I also found out I was heading to Cyprus with uni, so I was full steam ahead in picking up some beauty goodies. My love for The Body Shop has grown even more this year and for me the Olive range has become my number one love.

Fast forwarding a few months and I re-discovered my all time favourite bubble bath from Clarins. This is the ultimate relaxing scent and the perfect amount of bubbles, I adore this stuff and need to get it back in my life. As well as finding new (and old) beauty products I found the cutest gluten free cafe in Manchester. Tea 4/2 do the BEST GF cake ever invented and have become a regular eatery for me this year. 

Spring brought all kinds of newness, from visiting a new country to buying our first house. I headed to Cyprus earlier this year and had an absolute ball and completely fell in love with Cypriot people. The trip was the perfect way to begin spring time and I would go back in a second if I could. Around March time we set our sights on buying our first home, which was a long and stressful process but i'm happy to say we will be bringing in the New Year in our very own home. 

Moving from spring to summer I headed out to Barcelona for a few days of relaxation in the sunshine as well as taking a cheeky trip to North Wales in August. Although I've been to Barca several times before, the city always surprises me and I remember how much I love it. Anglesey was probably one of the nicest holidays we've had in a while. I've never seen such beautiful places in the UK and I am definitely retiring in Menai Bridge. 

Twenty fourteen was all about pastel nails and nude eyeshadows. I've found a new love for Rimmel 60 second polishes, which are to die for (plus an absolute steal). I also picked up the Naked Basics 2 this year, which was the perfect addition to my make up collection and has had a lot of use since picking it up in August. 

Probably the most exciting thing for me this year was bringing Luna home. She is the perfect addition to our little family and although she can be very cheeky, I wouldn't change that little face for anything. Autumn saw me returning to uni for my final year, but that wasn't before I headed to a super relaxing spa day with South Beach, which was incredible. But, not as incredible as meeting Charlotte Tilbury just a few weeks ago (whose make up has become my obsession), rounding my crazy year off perfectly. 

Hope you've enjoyed this quick whistle-stop tour of my year, how has 2014 been for you?

Katie xx

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Lip Liner Convert.

I'm ashamed to say I've only just got on board with the whole lip-liner thing. However after watching Amelia Liana applying lip liner as an all over lip product, I know I needed to try. I've never understood the importance of lining lips, but I'm beginning to see what the hype is all about. 

I began my lip liner journey with purchasing some of the Essence lip liners, which are an absolute steal at £1 each. I initially picked up the middle pinky shade which is number 12 Wish Me a Rose, this is a gorgeous pink your lips but better shade and goes amazingly well with my all time favourite lipstick - MAC Patisserie. 

After being super impressed with my first shade, I then went and picked up 08 Red Blush and 11 In The Nude, which are gorgeous colours and will certainly match well with some of the lipsticks in my stash. 

For the price these are incredible. The staying power is great and although these are quite drying as a full lip colour, they help your lipstick stay in place and give you a much more defined shape. I have fallen in love with these and I feel like I certainly need to pick up a few more shades and maybe try another brand. Of course, I have my eye on the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk but now I will stick to this budget friendly alternative.

Katie xx

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Clothes Show Live 2014.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you'll know the Clothes Show Live has just finished it's yearly visit to Birmingham. I was lucky to receive a bloggers press pass for the event, so I headed down with Lindsey (go check out her blog here!) for some retail therapy. I've been to the Clothes Show a few times in the past, so knew what to expect, but this year was slightly different as the bloggers were given their very own private space. We were also lent cameras from Olympus which was amazing. We both completely fell in love with the Olympus Pen camera and desperately wanted to take them home. All of the images on this post were taken with the camera and sent via Wifi to my phone before we left.

We spent the morning browsing the stands and headed to the main stage for the catwalk. As always the models and set was incredible and we even got a sneaky peek of Peter Andre with Henry Holland before the show. I've never really watched many of the other catwalks at the Clothes Show but we popped along to the graduate show and completely fell in love with some of the pieces. I was  in awe of the fashion students work, I can certainly imagine we will be hearing more from them in the future.

I managed to pick up a few bargains in the show. Ciate had great deals on nail varnish and their advent calender. I managed to get a good few Christmas presents which is fab. I picked a goodie bag up from A Touch of Silver too which is jam packed full of hair products (expect a haul). Plus if you bought any goodies from them you could have a free hair makeover. The image above is the pretty style I was given at the show, I totally wish I could recreate this look myself.

Did you head to the show this year?

Katie xx

P.S This isn't a sponsored post, I'm just in love with the camera!