Friday, July 28, 2017

WHAT I GOT FOR MY 22ND BIRTHDAY


Ready for the most overdue post on my blog this year? My birthday was on May the 31st, and I was waaaaaaay too excited, busy and drunk to take pictures of all my gifts and write a blog post sooner. Sorry! So instead I’ve dug out a few pictures taken over my birthday week that show you roughly what I received and what I was getting up to.

First things first, and the bestest and most exciting thing ever, was my new MacBook Pro. Technically, this wasn’t supposed to be a birthday present, as it just so happened that I spilt an entire mug of tea over my old one the day after my birthday. Cue the tears and the dramatic overreaction on my part, and my dear mum taking me off to Bromley to see if we could get it repaired. We couldn’t, it was soaked, and so mum surprised me by splashing out on a new one for me. I did lose all my uni work from last year, all my photos and youtube video files, all my passwords and my sims 4, BUT, I ended up with a shiny new MacBook and I'm so grateful and pleased. And so the worst part of all that? The wasted cup of tea. 



Then on the plane back from Venice (Yep, my mum is so extravagant and extra that a trip to Venice was 100% necessary for my 22nd (but honestly I’m so grateful and so lucky and omg it was the loveliest four days ever ever ever)) Mum decided to splash out  f u r t h e r  on a bottle of Chloe perfume, which I’ve wanted for the looooongest time. I’ve been spraying it on me in Boots for the longest time as I’ve been fancying the smell of this more than my signature Daisy by Marc Jacobs, and I’m so lucky to now own it.



A few new pairs of lingerie never hurt anyone on their birthday, did it? These were technically presents to myself, because it’s probably very inappropriate to ask the grandparents for a new set of scanties, right? These are both sets from Primark - the bras are around £8 each and the pants are £3. Both these sets are bloody gorgeous, feminine, sexy, flattering, and above all - they fit my minuscule chest. Weeee!


Moving on swiftly to my baby pink Italian leather backpack from Venice (thanks again mum, I am forever in your debt), which was hilariously rammed into the face of some Italian dude on the Vaparetto just minutes after purchasing it. It. Is. My. Everything. I never knew you could feel emotion towards a bloody backpack, but I do. I’ve always been a backpack kinda girl, I like having both hands free for my phone, glasses of wine, handrails when you’re falling over from too many glasses of wine, for example. It’s pretty big inside and fits all my essentials in, and injects a splash of cute baby pink into my exclusively black outfits. 


Dinner date! Chris took me to Côte Brasserie for a beautiful 3 course meal. I’d never been to Côte before, because I’m a bit sketchy on all that French fodder, but it was soooooo lush and I ate myself almost to death. It was a while ago now, but I remember that I had Egg Benedict to start, and Chris had Calamari and shared Olives. I say ‘shared”; I mostly pulled faces at the grapes of satan and dug around in the bowl for the garlic, pickles and sun-dried tomatoes. We both had minute steaks with fries, and for desert I had sorbet and he had frozen berries with melted white chocolate. Then we drank far too much and it was fabulous. 

All in all, my birthday was absolutely fantastic. I definitely did the whole “I’m 22 OMG I’m nearly dead” semi-mid-life-crisis, but the fact I had my mum over for it was amazing, and Chris was wonderful and my best friend came up to spend the day with us all, too. My Dad is paying for me to go to Ibiza later this year, and I got a few cards with a few dolla billz inside, which have probably all been spent on Five Guys by now, but hey ho! Thank you to everyone who made my birthday beautiful, I’m so lucky. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22! 

Lots of love,
Jasmine x

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

MY FAVOURITE SKINCARE



I've been really inspired recently to fiiiinally make this video all about my ultimate favourite skincare products. There's a wide range of products, from cleansers, body scrub, pore strips and face masks in here, so I really hope you discover a new product that may potentially help you, too. Don't forget to Like, Comment and Subscribe if you enjoyed watching!

Products mentioned:
Clarisonic Mia 2
Garnier Micellar Water
La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo
Etude House Blueberry Sheet Mask
Superdrug Spa Charcoal Nose Strips
Grounded Coconut Coffee Scrub
GLAMGLOW Supercleanse Mud To Foam
Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser
Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic
Liz Earle Skin Repair Moisturiser Oily/Combination
Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

Lots of love,
Jasmine x

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Monday, July 24, 2017

MY BEST SKINCARE SECRET | IN-DEPTH REVIEW



If there’s one thing that really gets me excited, it’s finding a skincare routine that makes my face look and feel gorgeous. I’ve struggled with various skin problems for most of my teenage years, and spent countless pounds on trying all different kinds of products from loads of different brands. Some have worked well, for a while, and some have done the exact opposite and made my skin 100% worse. I swear by La Roche Posay’s Effaclar range, and the Origins face masks are a luxurious treat for my skin every now and again. And I’ve now discovered a routine that works wonders for me, too. 

I’m sure everyone has heard of Liz Earle by now; their Hot Cloth Cleanser went a little bit viral and it seemed to be a blogger favourite for aaaages. I first bought it on my 21st birthday, and when that ran out earlier this year, I decided to invest in the 3-step range because I’d loved using the cleanser so much.

I’m 22 now, and I am lucky to be over the worst years of painful, red spots. However, I do still get the odd gigantic crimson boulder pop up (usually directly before an occasion where I’d really prefer it not to), and I’ve always had an oily forehead and nose, and the odd dry patch. My lips are also always really cracked, but I’ll get onto that in a minute!

The Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is the cult favourite, and it has become my new favourite cleanser. I am cautious about using foaming cleansers nowadays after realising they are super drying and leave my skin feeling tight. This cleanser is creamy and silky, and the cloth helps to lightly exfoliate and remove all the dirt on my skin. I usually wet my face using hot-ish water, massage 1 pump’s worth of cleanser into my face for about 3-4 minutes, and then wipe it away using the cloth and very hot water in circular motions. Sometimes, before I use this cleanser, I like to fill a bowl with boiling water and steam open my pores up, which lets you clean your face a bit more thoroughly. 

After cleansing my face, I grab the Instant Boost Skin Tonic which is essentially a posh toner. I sweep it over my skin using a cotton pad. Liz Earle describes the toner as refreshing, soothing and brightening on the skin. It improves the appearance of skin as it is non-drying, gentle and alcohol-free. It smells really lovely, it reminds me of flowers, and the ingredients are natural. This toner contains aloe vera to hydrate, calendula, chamomile and cucumber to soothe and refresh, and vitamin E which is an antioxidant.

After the toner has settled into my face and dried off, I reach for THE BEST MOISTURISER I HAVE EVER USED. It is called the Skin Repair Moisturiser and I chose to buy the oily/combination formula. There’s also a dry/sensitive formula. I take an almond-sized amount and dot it on my forehead, each cheek, chin and nose, then massage it into my skin until it’s smooth and even. This moisturiser spreads around like a dream, so you don’t need to use much. Again, it contains naturally active ingredients which don’t over-egg the pudding and really work to brighten and soothe the skin. I absolutely loathe most moisturisers because I walk around looking and feeling greasy as anything, but this one sinks in and disappears, and is always very comfortable. The one thing that irks me a little bit about this, is that it doesn’t have any SPF, but I can just about live with that because it’s so comfortable and lovely. 

Back to my dry lips; I’ve always struggled with cracking and dry lips, and it was a friend who first mentioned that it could be because I always use foaming, oil-reducing, magnifying facial products. I never thought it would affect my lips, and even though I thought I was avoiding them, evidently all the moisture-sucking properties of my previous products were making them super dry and gross. They’ve improved a lot since starting this 3-step routine, and lip balm is actually starting to do its job!

A couple of annoying negatives are the sizes of these 3 bottles are a bit inconsistent with each other. The cleanser will run out waaaay before the toner or the moisturiser, and then the toner will run out and I'll have loads of moisturiser left. They’re all also a bit pricey; the cleanser is £14.50, the toner is £15 and the moisturiser is an eye-watering £19.50. But, I am a firm believer in ‘you get what you pay for’! 

My skin always feels much more balanced and hydrated, it looks less tired (despite my ridiculous sleeping pattern at the moment) and it’s making my makeup look better because of the smooth base it is being applied on to. Although I still get the odd spot, I feel like my skin is much less angry because I'm not slathering a load of harsh chemicals onto it constantly. 

I hope this in-depth review was helpful to you, and if your skin concerns sound similar to mine, maybe you could find your next favourite skincare product. I will also mention that the ladies on the Liz Earle counter in Boots stores have always been soooo kind and helpful (they do try to slide in with the cheeky upsets and promotions) and they ask loads of questions to help you find the most helpful bits and pieces for you!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x

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Saturday, July 22, 2017

YOUTUBE: GREY 90S INSPIRED MAKEUP



Products Used:
NARS Pore Refining Primer
Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in Porcelain
Too Faced Born This Way Concealer in Light
NARS Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder
MAC Studio Fix Powder + Foundation
MAC Powder Blush in Taupe
Soap & Glory Voluboost Brow Fibre Gel in Talk Of The Brown
LORAC Pro 2 Palette - Shades: Snow, Beige, Cool Gray, Chrome and Charcoal
Revlon Colourstay Liquid Eyeliner Pen in Black
Urban Decay Perversion Mascara
MAC Matte Lipstick in Stone
Lipcote
Makeup Revolution Highlighter in Peach Lights

The music I've used in this video is my incredibly talented boyfriend's original song 'Landmarks'! You can find him at
https://soundcloud.com/bearsandmirrors

My Clothing:
Pretty Little Thing Cropped Jumper

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this video were purchased by myself, and the opinions are my own.


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Thursday, July 13, 2017

INSTAGRAM CATCH-UP | JUNE '17


SO OVERDUE SO LATE SO DISORGANISED I’M A USELESS BLOGGER! The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic for me. My life has been busy, stressful, full-on and a bit chaotic so I really apologise for the lack of posts lately. I really struggle with ‘blogger’s guilt’, like I know many of my fellow bloggers do, but it’s been so important for me to take this time to look after myself and those close to me. What better way to kick myself up the bum than with a June Instagram catch up?

VENICE was completely amazing and was part of my birthday celebrations! My mum came over from Australia and whisked me off on a 5-day trip to Venice, somewhere I’d never been before. We left on Thursday and had an incredible long weekend soaking up the culture, sun, food and drinks, and even had a couple of spa treatments each at the hotel. The full blog post can be read HERE!

PINK HAIR I had a sort of mid-life crisis after turning 22 and went immediately to Boots and bought a load of pink hair dye, and then booked myself a spray tan to top it all off. I’ve always been notoriously pale, so a spray tan was pretty hilarious (and I’m not sure I was 100% a fan) and the pink hair transformed me into another human being for a couple of weeks. My Insta theme is always a million times prettier when my hair is pink, though…

DATE NIGHTS have been coming thick and fast lately, since me and Chris are both working and we’ve got more time to actually go out for romantic dates. We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean, we’ve been for steaks, we have been doing lunches and picnics, and it’s been so lovely. The next few things on my wishlist is a cocktail bar crawl in Soho, a comedy club evening and maybe a trip to the zoo.

What were your Junes like? Although mine was busy, I'm so enjoying being away from university for the summer and making the most of having time to myself. I’m also going to set myself a one-post-a-week goal to make sure I’m avoiding the blogger guilt and so there’s always new stuff coming up on my blog. I hope you enjoyed my instagram catch up!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x

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Tuesday, July 11, 2017

THE H&M WRAP DRESS






This is just a super duper snappy post to show off my new H&M wrap dress that I found while I was digging around in the sale last week! 

I don’t know about you, but I very rarely even bother with the sale rails. There’s never anything in my size, you’ve got to wade through the knee-deep mess AND you practically risk losing your life in a fight if you’ve got to argue with someone about snagging the same thing. 

So this little baby was hanging right by the entrance and was the only one I could see. It was reduced to a mere tenner, and after trying it on in the changing rooms, decided it was definitely a find. 

H&M have a section that really reminds me of All Saints clothing; the style is similar with earth toned colours and comfy jersey fabric. I think this had come from that section because it does feel very grungy and understated, which is something I love. But I also think it’s girly and quite pretty, despite the charcoal colour, because the silhouette is so feminine. 

For this outfit post, I paired the dress with Primark’s fishnet socks and my black Old Skool Vans. It looks really effortless, and I was super comfy all day. If you like this dress, it might be worth digging around in your local H&M to see if there’s still any left!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x



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