October Favourites

Hello everyone!

Now, a little fact about me: I like to jump on bandwagons. Seriously, if someone has a good idea, I like nothing better than to shamelessly copy it (putting my own spin on it, of course). With that in mind, this week I give you: my October Favourites!

I know, I know, blogs and vlogs everywhere are probably going mad with all the favouriting now, and you might be sick of all the recommendations. But the way I see it, everyone will have different recommendations, right, so there's still going to be a good degree of variety in posts, right? Therefore, it's acceptable for me to do a Favourites post (also, they're my favourite kind of posts and I haven't done one before). Without further ado, let's get into the favourites, shall we?

BEAUTY: Neal's Yard Bee Lovely Busy Bee Balm and Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil

Two lip products have been my favourites this month... Surprise, surprise... NOT! I'm a lip product lover, and this month in the beauty department I stumbled across a brilliant new release, whilst rediscovering an old favourite at the same time. Bonus!

The new product is the Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil, which I reviewed in greater depth a couple of posts ago. I bought this product mid-October and I've been using it obsessively ever since, dabbing the pencil onto my lips for a subtle wash of colour or layering it up for a bolder lip. It's so versatile, long-lasting and really pigmented, and I love the shade of my pencil, which is "Keep It Classy".

The old favourite has been the Bee Lovely Busy Bee Balm by Neal's Yard - a highly moisturising lip balm that has been the saviour of my often dry and chapped lips this month. The Busy Bee Balm is lightweight, soft on the lips, and smells of (what else?) honey, making for a divine product all round, and I've barely gone a day recently without a swipe of it all over my lips.

FASHION: New Look Boots

D'you remember a while back, when I said that one of my desired items for Autumn/Winter was a new pair of boots? Well, I bought new boots not long into October from New Look, and they're so lovely. I've been wearing them non-stop since I got them. They're so comfy, have just the right amount of heel, and look great with any outfit. One of the wisest purchases I've made this month, for sure.

YOUTUBE: Essiebutton (Estée)

With it being October, YouTube was inundated with Vlogtober editions from various YouTubers, but by far my favourite vlogs have been Estee's of Essiebutton fame. I just love Estée. She's pretty, quirky and has a totally lame but kind of awesome sense of humour, and her vlogs make me so happy. I've just been obsessed with watching her and Aslan (her other half) this month. By the way, Aslan, man, best YouTube HAB (that's Husbands and Boyfriends - I just coined that phrase) of the moment goes to you. Also, Aslan and Estée have a greyhound. Enough said.

FOOD: Coffee

All this month I have been seriously obsessed with coffee. Now that we're nearing the colder weather, it is more socially acceptable for me to drink copious amounts of coffee and I LOVE IT.

BOOK: You're The One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher

This book is so so lovely - I've been really enjoying it this month. Basically, if you love romances, you'll like this book. I won't say any more, as I don't want to give anything away, so just read it. You won't regret it.

Right, I think that's it! Apologies for the lack of length today, but I've been pretty busy. I'll see you next week!

Olivia x

Current Music Loves

Hello everyone!

I know they say everyone loves music, and I suppose that's true, but I really, really love music. Music is the soundtrack to my life: it's what gets me through the long bus journey to school every day; it's what I dance to in my bedroom on a Saturday night when everyone else is busy having a social life; it's what I play when I want to feel happy, or sad, or romantic. Music is so, so important to me, which is why I've decided that this week I will share with you some of my current music favourites, bands and artists alike!

DISCLAIMER: Beware, I have a strongly Alternative music taste. There will be no Top 40 hits or pop tunes in sight on this blog, no siree. I will solely be including artists/songs that you probably won't have heard of, because I like discovering music slightly off from the mainstream.

ARTIST: Eliza And The Bear

I love this band. I discovered them a couple of weeks ago, purely by chance after listening to an advert for cider (their song "Friends" was the soundtrack to the advert; I looked up the sound and found them), and the rest, as they say, is History. The band has a very alternative feel to it, with echoes of influences from bands like Kodaline and Amber Run (both awesome bands, by the way). Some favourites of mine from the band include "It Gets Cold" (listen to the acoustic), a haunting display of simplistic piano and breathtaking harmonies, "Talk", a punch-the-air-give-it-some-welly tune, "Friends", a party number, and my all-time favourite of their offerings, "Light It Up", a real feel-good dance tune.

SONG: "Comfortable Shoes" by The Musgraves

Ugh. THIS SONG. I discovered The Musgraves via the Spotify 'Discover' section, clicked shuffle, heard "Comfortable Shoes" and never looked back. I've been singing it for the past couple of weeks, on and off, and every time it comes on I have to get up and dance (I'm a right saddo, I know). It's got a real Mumford And Sons vibe to it, with banjo and ukulele (I'm just going by my ears at the moment) being the predominant instruments of the song and the up-tempo providing the basis for some seriously cute lyrics ("I need to fall back in love with you" being one of them). Give this song a listen if you want to feel good.

ARTIST: Saint Raymond

I got to know Saint Raymond through a friend, and his/their (still haven't quite worked out whether they're a solo artist or a band) style of music is quite similar to Eliza And The Bear's, only a bit more alternative, I'd say. Saint Raymond's songs are the sort of songs that I'll get out my hairbrush for and karaoke along to, throwing in some dodgy dance moves as I go. Particular highlights include "Everything She Wants", a romantic dance-y song, "Fall At Your Feet", a sort of 'I-love-you-why-don't-you-love-me' kind of song, good for releasing tension, and "I Want You", my favourite, a song you could fall in love to.

SONG: "Pull Down The Moon" by Cattle And Cane

I only discovered this song last night and I've already listened to it six times. If that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what will. Cattle And Cane are a band with hints of country mixed with an alternative style, and the outcome is one that is very easy on the ears indeed. This song is such a lovely, happy song, with some great melodies and a good rhythm that makes it great to dance to (sensing a theme here?). It's one of those songs that I loved from the first opening harmony, right through to the last little tambourine shake. As soon as I heard it for the first time, I loved it. I could already sing you the entire chorus by now, I love it so much. "If I could, I would, pull down the moon/ you could, swallow it whole / through your fingers, let the beam shine..." I'm being embarrassing, aren't I? I should stop. I'll stop.

ARTIST: Train

I don't know how, I don't know why, but I've somehow fallen back in love with Train. I remember a couple of years ago being obsessed with "Hey Soul Sister" and not thinking that Train had ever released any other songs, so it's nice to come back to them now with a couple of songs I love that aren't hopelessly overplayed on the radio (I mean, it was a good song, but it was overplayed, you have to admit). If you haven't heard of Train, then they're a band with a sort of country band, very fond of the guitar and its family (which I am not complaining about one jot). I'm not entirely sure how to describe their style, except that it's good and I like it (good going, Olivia). Anyway. Some of my favourites from Train at the moment, songs that I've been singing non-stop for a few weeks (interspersed with the other songs/artists I've mentioned thus far), are "Marry Me", an unashamedly slushy first-dance-at-a-wedding or last-dance-at-prom kind of song, and "Bruises", a bittersweet song of love and regret, set against a stunning acoustic guitar riff.

SONG: "Blame It On Me" by George Ezra

I'll be honest here, I included this song mainly because of the connotations now associated with the song and the consequent meanings it has for me, but it's still a pretty damn good song. Although I liked Ezra's other significant offering, "Budapest", "Blame It On Me" is much more my kinda groove, with a guitar/ukulele (I'm hopeless at this) making up the backbone of the song and a great, fast beat that makes it great to twirl someone round a drama studio to. Cough. Moving on...

Right, I think that's it for this week's post! I hope you enjoyed reading about all of my current music loves and have been inspired to look up some new artists and/or songs. If you do listen to any of my recommendations or have some of your own, please let me know, I'd love to hear your opinions!

Until next week,

Olivia x

Cheeky Midweeker - Three Mini Reviews

Hello everyone! I'm back!

I know, I know, it's not Sunday. But my post on Sunday was a wee bit short (let's be honest here) and I wanted another post to boost my content a bit, so here I have a few mini reviews of some beauty products I've been purchasing and testing out recently!

From left: Maybelline Colour Drama Lip Pencil in shade "Keep It Classy", Maybelline Colour Show Nail Polish in shade "Wine Shimmer", Lush Wizard Bubble Bar

Maybelline Colour Drama Lip Pencil

This purchase was definitely enabled by ViviannaDoesMakeup (beauty blogger and vlogger; she's all kinds of awesome) and her latest video, in which she talks about her current lip product favourites. I'm a sucker for a lip product and I'd been searching for a nice matte colour I could wear in Autumn and Winter, so when she mentioned the Maybelline Colour Drama lip pencils and swatched the shade "Keep It Classy", I knew it had to be mine. This lip pencil is a beautiful deep plum colour with red undertones, making it more of a deeper pink than a vampy colour, and is perfect for me, as I've been dying to try out some darker lips, but my skin tone and hair colour doesn't necessarily allow for those sorts of colours. The price tag was also incredibly tempting - the product was a snip at £4.99. So I purchased this lip pencil with high hopes, and I wasn't disappointed. This lip pencil is AWESOME. It's matte but not drying on the lips, the large rounded nib of the pencil makes it so easy to apply, it doesn't bleed or get stuck on teeth, and it lasts for ages, through countless licking of the lips (a bad habit of mine). I'm regretting not getting any more colours now - I think I'll have to pop to Boots again soon...

Maybelline Colour Show Nail Polish

This was a bit of a spontaneous purchase (it came as my free product from the 3 For 2 offer). I was in a bit of a rush choosing my product and so I just grabbed a nail polish in a shade I thought I'd like, because nail polishes are always a safe bet for me. I chose a deep red with tiny shimmery flecks running through it, called "Wine Shimmer", and I like this polish, but it hasn't been an ultimate winner for me. I have no qualms whatsoever about the colour: it's a beautiful deep red with subtle shimmer and is perfect for Autumn and Winter, and looks lovely on the nails. It's the longevity of this nail polish that disappointed me slightly. The polish began to chip after a day and continued to chip in the days that followed, so if you're looking for a nail polish to last the week, I wouldn't recommend this one. That being said, it only cost £2.99 (even though technically I didn't pay for it) and for the price tag, this is not a bad product overall.

Lush Wizard Bubble Bar

If you read Sunday's post you'll know that this is the gift my friend bought for me last week, and I just had to include a little review of him here, because he's gorgeous. This little Wizard smells lovely, with hints of fruit and floral notes (Lush says it has tangerine oil and juniperberry extracts to help banish stress and rejuvenate you) - and he's even lovelier in the bath. Bubble bars are a very economical buy from Lush in my opinion because they give you multiple baths from one product, and I only used the tip of the Wizard's hat for my first bath, which produced a lovely amount of bubbles and turned the bath water a lovely lilac. I came out of the bath feeling refreshed and de-stressed, and at a price of only £3.25, I'd snap this Wizard up before he's gone, as he's only in Lush stores until Halloween.

So there you have it! Those were my three mini reviews of beauty products I've been testing recently. I hope you enjoyed this cheeky midweeker post, and I'll see you on Sunday.

Olivia 

Random Acts Of Kindness

On Wednesday, one of my best friends came into college with a present for me. Beaming excitedly (she's gorgeous), she handed me a little package wrapped in tissue paper. I opened this package to find a bubble bar from Lush, the "Wizard" bar (review next week). It's no secret that I LOVE lush products, and I was absolutely delighted to receive such a gift.

Now, before I go on, let me clarify: it wasn't my birthday, I hadn't just passed an exam or got a new job. I'd done nothing to warrant such a thoughtful gift. It was, my friend told me, a spur-of-the-moment gift because she thought I'd been feeling stressed recently and she wanted to cheer me up.

No ulterior motive, no special occasion. Just a random act of kindness by one of the people I love most in the world. My friend wasn't getting anything in return for this; in fact, she was probably losing money for paying for my gift. She didn't expect a gift from me as a result of her generosity. She just wanted to make me happy.

This adorable gesture had me thinking: when do we humans ever do anything that is purely NICE  for someone else without an underlying selfishness involved? When are we just kind to others for the sake of being kind? We live in a very cynical, selfish, competitive society, and I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, just that it tends to make us cynical, selfish, competitive people. And there's a time and a place for all that. We needn't be selfish all the time. It's mostly an unattractive personality trait, and one that needs to be stamped out occasionally. 

I confess myself to not being a great advocate of generosity (I'm still working on the whole 'sharing food' malarkey), and admit that it's something that I need to work on. I'm a selfish creature at heart, and rarely do things for other people if I'm not going to benefit from them in some way, a fact that embarrasses me.

So, I'm making a vow - to this blog, and to myself: to do nice things for other people without demanding attention or gratitude in return; to remind the people I care about how much they mean to me; to gain pleasure out of someone else's happiness and not my own. To be kind, because that is the best thing anyone could ever hope to be. And I want you to vow with me. This week, if you can, try to carry out a random act of kindness. It could be as big as surprising your friend or partner with a lovely meal, or as small as a heartfelt text. It could be sending a letter to someone you haven't seen in a while; buying your friend some chocolate at the supermarket because you know it's her favourite kind; donating some money to charity; volunteering at an animal shelter; anything. Whatever you choose to do applies, as long as you're doing something nice for someone else with no benefit on your part, aside from the pleasure of knowing you've played a part in someone's happiness.

Try it. You've no idea how rewarding it could be.

Until next week,

Olivia x

I'm A Magpie

Hello there everyone! Thank you for stopping by on this wonderful Sunday afternoon!

Right. I've been told, many a time, that the first step to solving a problem (be it mental or otherwise) is to admit you have one. So here goes. *Deep breath* My name's Olivia and I have an addiction to sparkly things. There, I said it! The truth's out now. No going back...

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a magpie at heart. I just can't help it - there must be some sort of receptor in my brain that goes off whenever I see something small and sparkly in a shop window (and here was me thinking that I'd never use Science again after my GCSEs). I'm automatically drawn to small presents, boxes, packages - anything that might contain something very small and very expensive inside it. Then there's the little voice inside my head which practically forces me to pull out my purse and buy the very small and very expensive thing, which keeps me happy until my next jewellery fix. Put simply, I have a problem. A serious problem. As a result of this problem, I have far too much jewellery, so I thought today that I would gather my sparkliest and most treasured items of jewellery and talk you through them all. Sound good? *THIS IS WHERE YOU NOD AND SAY, "YES, OLIVIA"*.

My favourite jewellery items, from left to right: Accesorize Ring, Goldsmith's Pendant, Goldsmith's Earrings, Pandora Charms, Accesorize Necklace, Debenhams Earrings

Accesorize Ring: £14.00

I bought this ring a few weeks ago when I was having a bad day and #feelingspendy (am I right, Amelia Liana?) and haven't taken it off since. I wear it everyday and I'm absolutely in love with its simple elegance and design. This is one of those rings that goes with everything and adds a certain something to the hands. I think you can still find this ring on the Accesorize website, which I'll attempt to link here.

Goldsmith's Pendant and Matching Earrings: I don't even want to think about the prices

I got this set separately, surprisingly enough. The earrings were first, a gift from my mum for my 14th (I think?) birthday, and after I spotted her wearing the matching pendant I immediately demanded that, too, to complete my collection. This set is my absolute-special-occasion jewellery, and is so special to me because my mum and I have matching necklaces now, so I wear mine when I think of her. I can try and link this jewellery on the Goldsmith's website, but I doubt you'd want to buy them, because they're worth at least a hundred pounds (eesh, I know).

Pandora Charms: About £40 each

From left to right: snowflake, Christmas tree, reindeer, Paris suitcase, Eiffel Tower, big apple, Statue of Liberty

I don't know when, I don't know how, but I've somehow begun a Pandora collection. It began last Christmas, when I received the first three charms you can see on my bracelet, and ends around two weeks ago, when I received the last two charms in the picture. What I love about my Pandora bracelet is that each charm has a lovely story behind it. The Paris suitcase charm I bought when I was on holiday in Paris, and the Eiffel Tower my mum bought for me to signify the trip. I received the last two charms on my bracelet for my GCSE results, and they're symbolic because I'm visiting New York in February (I'm sure I've mentioned it before as I'm SO excited), so they represent the trip I'm taking. I wear these charms on rotation and absolutely cannot wait to crack out the Christmas charms again now that Winter is approaching.

Accesorize Necklace: £5.00

I bought this necklace really recently and have been wearing it to death. I think that it looks way more expensive than it actually is, and is so timeless and elegant that it goes with whatever outfit I've put together. It's also great value for money, too - £5.00 is an absolute bargain in my book. I love layering this up with a pretty scarf over a jumper to look stylish in the winter months. I'll find a link to buy this necklace here as I think it's a steal that would be impossible to pass up.

Debenhams Earrings: £???

I'm afraid I have no idea how much these earrings cost, but I decided to include them anyway as they're just so pretty and have such sentimental value behind them. These earrings were the earrings I wore to my Prom and they contributed in making me feel really special and glamorous on the night - for that reason I'll always keep them because of the memories connected with them. I got these earrings from a store in Debenhams - I'll link the website here in the hopes that you can find them for yourself.

So that just about rounds up my jewellery post! I hope you enjoyed what makes my jewellery radar begin to bleep and hopefully, with your help, I can finally begin to recover from what has been a long addiction. I'm just off to Accessorize now to, um... Look for... A friend *cough cough* PROMISE!

See you next week!

Olivia x

An Ode To Knitwear

Oh, knitwear. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

I love the way you make me feel warm and snuggly, like I'm being wrapped up in a big hug.

I love how freaking comfortable you are to wear. Like, seriously. Wearing you is like wearing a soft, fluffy cloud.

I love how effortlessly put-together you make me look. I can throw you on with some jeans and have an outfit, just like that.

I just really love you, knitwear...

---

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Sunday Scribbles! 

So yesterday, I did a wee bit of shopping (oops) and I may or may not have picked up a few clothing bits for Autumn and Winter. I had a very clear aim for the day: to replenish my knitwear supplies, because they had been seriously low, and because being a sixth former means you have to put a new outfit together every single day (not as fun as it sounds, people) and I was running out of things to wear. So, find and buy knitwear I did.

Beady eyed readers may have noticed that a couple of posts ago I talked about how much the Autumn/Winter Primark collection this year had impressed me. Well, it impressed me so much that I decided to buy all of my knitwear for this year from Primark, and I'm absolutely chuffed with what I got!

The loot:

Mint Popcorn Jumper £10.00

How cute is this jumper? I fell in love with it in the shop, partly due to the gorgeous colour of it, and knew it had to be mine. I tried it on once I'd bought it and OH MY GAWD, it is soft. I absolutely did not want to take it off. I cannot wait till it's freezing cold outside and I get to pull out this bad boy to keep me warm and cozy. Ugh, Winter, hurry up!

Navy Striped Smock Dress £10.00

I thought that this little dress was simply darling. I'd been on the hunt for a dress I could wear to more formal events in Winter, and  I loved the nautical striped pattern on this one. The fact that the dress is knitted, so is suitable for the colder months, but is also super flattering and pretty, pleased me immensely. The price tag was also rather darling too, don't you agree?

Burgundy Jumper Dress £8.00

You can't see from my rubbish picture (apologies for that, by the way; I'm still getting the hang of taking good quality pictures for this blog) but this jumper-dress hybrid is a beautiful red wine colour and goes down to my knees, with some cute pockets added for good measure. I just loved this colour and thought it was high time I experimented with some deeper, more Autumnal colours (you'll be able to tell from this haul and also from my fifty facts post that I have a thing for pastels - and tend to dress solely in those) and branched out of my comfort zone. This is also really, really comfortable and figure-flattering.

Grey Animal Jumper £12.00

I had to throw a novelty jumper in there somewhere, didn't I? I just loved the little animals on this jumper (not entirely sure what animals they are: let me come back to you on that) and the grey colour of it. I also loved the fact that this jumper was quite loose and of a nice thickness for Winter. I can't wait to wear this when the weather turns! 

Pink Crew Jumper £6.00

This jumper was the cheapest of the lot, and coincidentally the most comfortable (although they're all pretty comfortable). I tried it on and just knew it was for me; it's so so soft! I also really love the colour of this (it doesn't show up great in the picture but it's a light rose sort of colour) and the shape - I deliberately got a size up so that it would be really loose and lovely to wear.

And that's all I got! I didn't think that the prices were too bad, really - if you think about how much I spent on five clothing items (£46), that amount would probably only get you one thing at Topshop or River Island. AND everything I bought was super pretty and warm and perfect for Winter. 

Until next week's edition of Sunday Scribbles,

Olivia x