Style: Recent Zara Favourites

I can’t even tell you how obsessed I am with Zara at the moment. Friends have always sung its praises, but it wasn’t until very recently that I started to get onboard. I have a suspicion that this is probably something to do with the fact that I’ve recently dropped a few pounds; their sizes aren’t exactly inclusive. A Zara large comes out as a 14, which is the size of the average UK woman nowadays. Their size guide says that an XL is then a 16, and an XXL an 18, but I can quite honestly say I’ve never found any item in an XXL in their store, and often the only options (even online) are S, M, or L. 

Anyway, I’ve managed to shed a few recently, and my newfound ability to fit into - and even look nice in(!) - Zara’s inventory is giving me some of the willpower to continue my healthy eating regime. A vast amount of my recent purchases have been brought from there, and most of the stuff I’ve put back on the rack are now on my “barcode scan history” portion of the app. I wanted to show you guys what I’ve been loving but am not quite confident - and/or advanced - enough to be posing for outfit photos. So I’ve put together a little collage above, and thought I’d do a quick run-through of what I’ve got (or want) and why. 

Black shirt dress (item code: 2183/243)

This is probably my ultimate favourite of recent purchases, which is hilarious because I very nearly didn’t try it on. I’ve been obsessed with shirts recently - I’m loving how easy they are to wear, and how I can smarten them up for work or wear one more casually for an off-duty, but still sophisticated, look. This is long enough to wear with tights, but leggings and/or jeans also work. The long sleeves are great for this in-between weather, as I can wear it alone and then put a cardigan on top if I get too cold. It’s slightly pricey at £29.99, but I’ve already reached for it enough times to make me sure it’s worth it. Also, it’s super-soft and not so sheer that I have to wear anything (bar a black bra!) underneath. 

Oversized hooded sweatshirt (item code: 4873/274)

I picked this up on a bit of a whim as it was near the changing rooms, which is a scenario that normally ends up with me either returning the item or regretting it. However, I’ve worn this a few times since I got it and while I think I probably got caught up in how much I loved everything I was putting on, it will still serve me well for the colder months. The selling point was definitely the Vetements-vibes I was getting from it; I’m hoping to channel off-duty Kendall Jenner in it! I just wish I looked a little thinner underneath, as the bagginess is a bit overwhelming at times. 

Printed velvet dress (item code: 8119/131)

I absolutely loved this, and would have taken it home if it hadn’t been just under £50! Considering there were coats in store for only a tenner more, it seemed excessive and unreasonable to spend that on a dress. I’ve included a photo of myself in it (right) to contrast my bigger chest to that of Zara's model; I think it looks great on both of us! 

Knit cardigan with zip (item code: 2162/102)

I own a lot of black cardigans, because I’m always looking for the perfect one, and I was drawn to the zip on this one, which makes it different (and slightly edgier) to the rest of my collection! I’ve had it a few weeks now, and worn it probably almost every day. It’s so cosy and comfy; baggy enough to be flattering but not so much that I look like I’m wearing a sack. I’m seriously considering buying another one for when this one wears out, as the price (£19.99) is also pretty reasonable! 

Lace midi dress (item code: 5149/231)

I was pleasantly surprised with with how nice this looked, as I’ve tried these two-layered dresses before to find that the inner slip is far too clingy. In that case, even the looser top part can’t save my figure! But this was quite flattering, and not too fancy for me to consider wearing it to work. I haven’t bought it yet, as I’m hoping it’ll be reduced at some point soon; my priority at the moment is more basics pieces. 

Poplin shirt (item code: 1971/152)

The only reason I didn’t snap this beauty up was purely because of the sheer amount of white shirts I’ve bought recently! I’m absolutely obsessed with them, but I couldn’t justify spending another £25 on adding this one to my stack. I’m finding shirts in general so wearable, and because I wear a lot of black, white gives a nice contrast within an outfit. Again, I may have to wait and see if this one makes its way into the sale anytime soon! 

Knot blouse (item code: 7915/201)

Having just re-found this item online, I’m a bit bummed to see it’s now been reduced to £12.99! I bought it at around £25, but haven’t yet worn it because it does draw attention down to the belly - which, at the moment, is a problem area for me! I suppose that’s just life, and it makes me more hopeful that other items I’ve left behind will be cheaper in the future. However, it’s sure to become a staple because of how casual and wearable it is, whilst also being a little different and special due to the twist front. Most other tops with a tie-front style have stuck out so much that they've made me look quite chunky, so the streamlined look of this drew me in. It’s also worth noting that I had to size down to a medium, as the style bagged-out a bit in the large. 

Travel: Harry Potter Studio Tour

OOTD: Samsoe & Samsoe shirt,
Topshop leggings and socks,
H&M boots

One of the reasonably few loves my other half and I have in common is a love of Harry Potter and Disney. So, with my birthday approaching - and both Harry Potter and Disney World firmly unattainable due to budget - we booked a visit to the Warner Brother's "Making of Harry Potter" studio tour in glamour-ridden Watford! Having spent a rather hefty seventy pounds on the tickets, I must admit that my default negativity was kicking in; would this really be worth not just the ticket price, but also the added expense of the hotel we'd booked, and the cost of travel? I am therefore very happy to report that the trip so far exceeded my expectations that I just had to write a post to encourage anyone else sitting on the fence about it to go!

Siegfried and I booked the tour tickets for my actual birthday (around two months in advance, but they were already only selling start-times post 3pm!) and then decided to get a room in a nearby pub (on booking.com, via stayinapub.co.uk) for the night before. We'd already searched for hotels, with little success considering our limited finances and dislike of chain, super-budget places - but then my mum suggested finding a pub with rooms, which we hadn't thought of! It was a great idea because we ended up getting a room and breakfast for a little over thirty pounds each; bargain! The pub/inn was called The Two Brewers in Kings Langley, and although it was in the middle of nowhere and fairly nondescript, it suited us down to the ground. The room was clean and comfortable; we were perfectly situated to kill the morning shopping in Watford town centre; and the breakfast was superb. If you'd like more info, you can read my TripAdvisor review here, and book a room here. 

After spending some time in Watford shopping (I think Zara are absolutely killing it at the moment; I bought three things and could’ve gotten about thirty more!), we headed to the Studio Tour. We got parked quickly and easily, and picking up the tickets was also speedy. They have a lot of staff there so everything runs really smoothly (take note, almost every other business in the world at the moment!). As we had a half an hour or so before our entry time, we hit the H U G E shop in the lobby. They sell basically everything you can think of that you’ve seen in the films, and it was so much fun just walking around and looking at all of that! Especially because nothing was obviously Harry Potter-branded; whenever they bring out themed merchandise I think how unrealistic and inauthentic they make it. Did Harry Potter sit on the train to Hogwarts unwrapping a chocolate frog with “Harry Potter™” emblazoned across it? I don’t think so! 

I was also pleasantly surprised with how accessible everything was. For example, the wands - which were stacked up in a sort of mock-Ollivander’s - had a large display where each box was opened, in order to let you see and touch as many of the wands as you'd like to before buying. And everything that was too expensive to do this with was shown in a display case, so you could see exactly what you'd get. I think that's important to do when dealing with such potentially large and extravagant purchases. For another thing, the prices weren’t actually that ridiculous! Like, yeah, there were £500 wizard chess sets and £90 Deathly Hallows necklaces - but then there were always cheaper alternatives; standard silver-plated jewellery, or a £50 plastic wizard chess set. We actually ended up buying most of the stuff we wanted from the Platform 9 and ¾ shop halfway through the tour, which we were quite pleased with ourselves for thinking of, as it meant we skipped the long queues in the main shop. We got a postcard, a fridge magnet for my parents, a replica Hogwarts Express ticket (a bargain at around £5, because I’d been thinking about spending £50 on a print of the exact same item from the “Graphic Art of the Harry Potter Films” exhibition on that we’d seen in London a few months ago!), a chocolate frog, and a Deathly Hallows necklace. Oh, and on our way back through the main shop (the tour exits right into it) we picked up a hilarious replica of the Knight Bus’ shrunken head - it even has recordings of his catchphrases and is now proudly hanging from my rearview mirror. 

There's a good pit-stop halfway through,
where you can grab a Butterbeer

The tour itself starts with a briefing from a staff member, and then a short introductory movie (starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson of course!). Without wanting to give too much away, you then get to hit the Great Hall - they even let me push the doors open because it was my birthday! (I legitimately started low-key crying. Shhhhh.) That’s the last section that you could call “guided”; you’re gently moved on to the area/s that you can go through at your own pace. Quick note here: our ticket time was for 3:30pm, and we didn’t get out until it closed at 8pm. A staff member at the beginning said their longest tour was twelve hours, and their shortest only about forty-five minutes. We really wished we’d been able to get earlier tickets, so if you’re pretty huge fans I’d say go no later than around 3pm (Also, the opening times change so check online before getting tickets and/or planning your visit!). 

Again, I don’t want to give anything away, but the rest of the experience was awesome. I’d been pretty skeptical about the steep entrance fee, but I’d say you most definitely get your money’s worth. There’s so much to see, and tons of interesting information to take in. There’s short movies to watch, and lots of behind-the-scenes displays in addition to the complete sets that they’ve reconstructed right there for you. Also, I was really impressed by how many interactive activities there were. Some of the displays had buttons you could press to make things happen, and there were things like “wand workshops” where staff members gave you wands and taught you different spell-casting techniques/routines. You could climb onto the Hogwarts Express, walk through the Dursley’s house and down the Hogwarts bridge. Everyone gets into the spirit of things so you don’t feel silly or self-conscious, which is great because I can be quite shy. And - obviously - people are just constantly taking photos and videos and messing around pretending to be in the movies or indulging the child they once were, who played pretend Harry Potter games for hours on end; I know I definitely was! We tried to limit the amount of time we spent on our various phones and cameras, but when there’s so many good photo opportunities it is really difficult! 

One of the many photo opportunities we
took advantage of!

One of the parts that I think people get the most excited about is the green screen experience, where you can do things like fly a broom whilst they superimpose you onto a background to make it seem like you’re flying over Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts Express, the castle, etc. The staff give you instructions like “lean to the left, and now the right, watch out behind you for dementors” etc. It’s really fun and the others in your party can watch it happening live on a screen, but at the end they offer it for sale, which actually ruined it for me because the prices were just so stupidly inflated (£20 for a USB of a thirty second clip - really?!) that my cynicism returned fully-fledged. Also, the staff member that we were unfortunately paired with during that section was possibly the least enthusiastic person I’ve ever met. I know she’d probably repeated that exact same speech about a hundred times that day alone, but others were still making a concerted effort, even if it was just for the behalf of the small children. Our narrator just spewed it all out in a monotone whilst looking like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world. A big shame, because everyone else had been so great, so she stuck out like a sore thumb and is remembered for all of the wrong reasons!

Like I said, we didn’t get out until right when the place closed at 8pm, and even then it was only because we had to leave; we could’ve spent a lot more time just wandering around absorbing everything. The last room was especially impressive, so we took a little time to just sit and reflect/enjoy ourselves there. I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting a fun, interesting, and unusual day out - and if you’re a Harry Potter fan I’d say it’s a must-see. I’m already considering another trip sometime in the future!

Have any of you guys been? I’d love to hear what you thought or what your favourite part was. Feel free to leave me a comment!  

Travel: The New Forest...in a tent

If you’d asked 15 year-old me, “what’s your idea of hell on earth?”, one of the answers very near the top of my list (I was an angsty teenager) would have been “camping”. When I was younger, and we camped in the south of France almost every summer, I loved it - but camping and female adolescence do not mix, in my opinion, and my enjoyment had plummeted. School trips in the midst of my earliest menstruation, Guide camps in ancient, leaking canvas tents, and the prospect of festivals meaning no indoor plumbing for four days sort of killed my buzz about it. 

Fast forward to 2016, and I’m in a long-term relationship with a boy who possibly loves the outdoors more than yours truly. Eeeeeeeek. So, last weekend, I finally bit the bullet and agreed to go for a one-night camping excursion in the New Forest - conveniently, only about an hour from my own bed. I approached the “adventure” (the boyf’s words, not mine) with increasing trepidation, and imagined long, painful walks in the pouring rain, damp, sleepless nights breathing in mouldy air, and an abysmal diet of custard and Mars bar pieces (okay, so that one was definitely a hangover from my Guide camp days).

So, imagine my absolute shock when…I actually had a good time! If I ever needed the reminder that getting out of your comfort zone is a pretty invaluable thing, it was now. Sure, we weren't wild explorers sleeping under the stars and trekking from campsite to campsite, but I was still pretty proud that I not only survived but also enjoyed myself. Of course, a lot of that was to do with Siegfried, who was more than aware of my reservations and went above and beyond to ensure I was comfortable and happy.

We took the car, which gave us the means to have all of the essentials with us, as well as a space to secure them in. We booked in at Ocknell campsite, which was just over £20 for the night, and had toilet blocks (although no showers; I’d decided that as we were only away for one night, I could forgo that luxury!). We headed there first to scope the place out and nab a good pitch. Despite a small issue with my booking, they were very helpful and accommodated us whilst that was being sorted. Heading away from the hard-pitches that resembled caravan car parks, we found a nice spot where we could park the car as near to the tent as we liked, and which was surrounded on three sides by bushes. Siegfried had supplied the tent - a simple 2-man REI set-up that blew all of my recollections of struggling with poles and pegs out of the water - and within minutes we were headed out again, off to a walk that I’d found online. 

Forever petting random dogs that cross my path

That didn’t take us as long as we thought it might, but truth be told we were about ready for a drink and some food by the time we came full circle. My parents had told us a hilarious story about their trips to the New Forest, which consisted of getting “completely rat-arsed” (my mother’s actual words!) at local pub The Sir Walter Tyrrell and walking the mile back to their campsite pretending to be aeroplanes… So we thought it only fitting that we stop by for a drink in their honour. It didn’t seem to have changed much, and was a nice pitstop before we got ourselves back to the tent and set up our extremely sophisticated camping stove, inherited from my parents. Instead of finding a local restaurant or pub, we had decided it would be much more authentic to cook for ourselves - and we managed a pretty decent feast: steak, onions and mushrooms, corn on the cob, half a baguette, and a good bit of cheap white wine to wash it down with. 

Upon finishing dinner, I was surprised to realise just how exhausted I had been by the day’s activities. Proving that I am definitely not yet ready to graduate Camping 101, we drove to the toilet blocks for a last wee and teeth-brush, and clambered into the tent and our sleeping bags. Inside, with the minimal 3G that had haunted me all day, and with nothing to do but actually talk to each other, I was pleased to discover just how nice that is: just talking to Siegfried, with no distractions or alternative activities. It sounds extremely sad, but I’d forgotten just how much fun we can have when chatting complete shit to each other! 

Camping: always a great time to
catch up on some reading

With the help of a sleeping pill, and Siegfried’s ever-willingness to get up and cook breakfast whilst I sleep longer, I slept somewhat soundly through the night, and woke up feeling refreshed, happy, and more at peace than I had in a long time. As a compromise for me going hiking and camping, we spent that day in nearby Lymington - a cute little seaside town with a picturesque harbour and plenty of pubs and coffee shops to keep me ticking over. Because is it really a trip away if you don’t have cake?! 

In that vein, Siegfried wrote in more depth on his blog, about his tips to get your reluctant girlfriend (aka me) to go camping with you. We may be chalk and cheese sometimes, but this trip confirmed that that really works sometimes, and there’s no one I’d rather leave my comfort zone with (or, as my mother put it, Siegfried is my comfort zone).  

Opinion: So-Called "Clean" Eating

I was on the sofa the other night, scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I came across a link a girl I used to go to college with had shared. Entitled “Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets”, the screen cap showed a young girl unknown to me (who, it turns out, is Grace Victory: “the internet’s big sister” and UK lifestyle and advice blogger with 106,000 Instagram followers and 209,600 YouTube subscribers…oops) holding a green smoothie and a plate of that hipster go-to of the moment - avocado on toast. The original Facebook post was by a girl I don’t know, who’d written a rather long paragraph about how “dangerous and unhealthy” she feels the clean eating regime has become, from personal experience with it. I was a bit skeptical at first - the clue is in the name, how bad can clean eating really be? - but the original poster claimed to have come to this conclusion from studying nutrition, and my curiosity was really quite piqued, so I clicked on the link. I figured I would watch the first five minutes or so and see whether it would be worth a watch. I ended up stuck to my iPhone screen, watching the whole thing right through to the end. It’s a really fascinating and somewhat unnerving look into a fad that seems innocent on the surface but actually harbours some disturbing information that definitely isn’t advertised under #cleaneating. I’m always a bit wary when writing these opinion posts, because I don’t want to pretend I’m some huge expert and expect some people will be offended by what I say, but I think this is an important issue that needs more coverage. 

Travel: Brighton Micro-Trip

My boyfriend and I have been trying to spend some time travelling England recently; he’s here for the whole summer and we don’t have the funds to travel further afield at the moment, so we’re taking advantage of places close to home. I had a couple of days off from work this last week and we headed to Brighton! I completed my degree at the nearby University of Sussex, and lived in the city for three years - it’s one of my favourite places in the world. We visited most of my BTN must-dos, and I wanted to mention them here. 

Travel: Ultimate Washington D.C. Guide!

I’ve been wanting to write a post about Washington DC for a long time now. In fact, I think I said I would last time I returned from there, but...didn't (oops!). You may or may not know that I studied abroad in DC for the 2013/14 academic year, and that's where/how I met my (American) boyfriend. Since then, I've returned to visit around four or five times, so I consider myself pretty well informed on the city. 

DC is a strange place. Specifically designed as the capital of a then-new United States, it still sort of feels like a faux-city. It's split into four, somewhat diverse sections: North East, South East, South West, and North West - like on a compass. Some of these areas are extremely affluent, clean, and business-oriented, whilst others are strikingly under-developed and lacking in resources on many levels. That being said, I haven't seen nearly all of what it has to offer, but what I have, I love. 

I've broken the post down into several components: things to do; places to eat and drink; places to shop; how to get around. I intend for it to be a pretty comprehensive guide to what I consider to be the best of DC. I'd love to hear your comments or additions, whether you've been to DC or not! 

Product review: Kylie Jenner Lip Kit

Let me start off by apologising about how long it's been since I've posted! My few weeks in America really threw me off, and since I've been back there's been lots to do to prepare for my boyfriend coming over here in the next week. I'm in the middle of writing a bumper D.C. guide/post, so hopefully that should be up soon too. 

I finally caved into the hype and ordered a Kylie Jenner “Lip Kit” (i.e. matte liquid lipstick + matching liner) when I realised it was going to be my last time visiting the States for a while, as my boyfriend is spending the summer here. I’d tried so hard to resist, for a number of reason, not least the pretty hefty price tag: $29 + U.S. sales tax + $8 shipping = $37.95 (or around £27). And additionally, it’s Kylie Jenner. Does she really need the money/publicity/business? The kits have been on sale - sporadically - since the beginning of the year, and I think the general consensus is probably not. I’ve heard a multitude of horror stories about all parts of the process, from people being completely unable to get one to others buying multiple units without their knowledge or consent. I for one find it pretty unbelievable that a company with Kylie Jenner behind it (and therefore the ability to employ a multitude of people who know exactly what they’re doing) can continually mess things up as much as they do. When do you ever hear, for example, of NARS selling out of a product? Or MAC sending you an empty box instead of the lipstick you’ve ordered and paid for? Added to which, I knew even getting one would be stressful, as the restocks come randomly and normally at strange/different times. Hilariously, info about restocks are posted on Kylie’s app, which will cost you an additional £2.29 per month… Thank god for the kindness of strangers/bloggers, who repost the info for free and even write whole guides on how to get your hands on one. 

Product review: Bleach London's White Toner Kit

From my Instagram: @coffeeandundercuts

I bought the Bleach London White Toner care when the salon’s home haircare range first came out - exclusive to Boots and Bleach’s own website - in October 2013, but have honestly only just gotten around to using it! I bought one of their “Super Cool Colours”, in the shade Out of the Blue (it appears to have been discontinued, but there’s still two blue shades: Blullini and Washed Up Mermaid) and had a rather unfortunate experience with it. Because my hair was already bleached, it grabbed onto the blue and would not let go. I was blue-haired until I finally managed to grow/cut it out about six months later. Not great for a “non-permanent hair colour” that was recommended for previously lightened hair and supposed to last “2-5 washes”… I think they probably had a fair few people complain, because I notice that the colour range now comes with more detailed advice: “fades out over time depending on hair porosity”, and the blue shades in particular carry the warning “because of it's blue base, this colour can fade to green/blue which can be stubborn to remove. We recommend you do a strand test before use”. 

Lifestyle: Stress Relief

Like a lot of people, I’ve got a rather long and complicated mental health history. But recently, I’ve been hopeful that I’m coming out on the other side, and wanted to share with you guys what helps me keep happier and calmer day-to-day. These are probably things that you’ve heard before, and might seem obvious, but it’s also a way to remind myself of what tools I have to deal with on bad days. 

Travel: Disney World, Florida (part 3 of 3)

Day 4 Friday 18th March 2016

Friday started late because someone (who shall remain nameless, but I'm sure you can guess!) ended up drinking a little too much the night before, and spent the morning with his head stuck down the toilet - while I slept in. We'd planned to return to Typhoon Lagoon, so weren't too disappointed, and instead got to Hollywood Studios in time for me to meet up with some of the rest of the group to ride the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Siegfried's scared of heights, so didn't want to partake in this, and lovingly spent the time getting me a drink and a snack. We then headed to what I was probably most excited about: "For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-a-long"! It turns out we probably didn't even need FastPasses, as there were shows throughout the day and you just stood in a waiting area before filing into the theatre. Mostly I was just glad that we decided to see it at all, because it's probably now my favourite memory of the trip (bar Be Our Guest, of course).

It wasn't just a basic sing-a-long, but an interactive one, with two Arendelle "historians" recounting the Frozen storyline, with pauses for the songs. These two characters actually kind of stole the show - they were so funny, and had loads of jokes appropriate for all of the older viewers (i.e. mums/dads/siblings/boyfriends etc.). Siegfried got a bunch of hilarious footage; neither of us are gifted in the singing department! But it was fun to be able to sing a long without caring what you sounded like, and during the grand finale Elsa and Anna came out to many awesome effects - including fake snow!

Travel: Disney World, Florida (part 2 of 3)

Day 3 Thursday 17th March 2016

Thursday was an extremely special day, as Siegfried and I had a table booked at the Magic Kingdom's Beauty & the Beast-themed restaurant, Be Our Guest. I'd been wanting to go here since I'd heard about it from a university friend who went during our year abroad, but this desire significantly increased after Siegfried and I watched the film not long after we got together. The movie occupies a special place in our hearts; we think of it as "our" movie (like when couples have particular songs). So the first thing we'd done when we decided to go to Disney World was to ring for a reservation. Having done extensive research, I was keen to get a lunch reservation, as it reflected the best choice and value for money. But when we first rang (literally about six weeks prior to our trip!), Be Our Guest could only offer a breakfast reservation. Thankfully, after two more weeks of ringing almost daily and a tip to not try again until the week before we arrived, we managed to book an 11:30am table. 

Travel: Disney World, Florida (part 1 of 3)

Warning: this post is probably going to end up being much, much longer than intended! I knew I’d want to blog about my time at Disney World because it's such an exciting place to have been able to visit, but we packed so much stuff into just four and a half days that now I don't know where to begin! I think I'm going to split it into days, and cover a couple of days per post - that way I’ll also get in some time to gather my thoughts properly.

I haven't been to Disney World in Florida for 15 years (I felt so old when I figured that out!); I still can't believe I didn't make it there during my year studying abroad in the States. I'd definitely planned to, but life happened and I never really had the time and money to spare. When I moved back to England, it seemed even more out of reach, even though my boyfriend is (thankfully) also Disney crazy. His family actually used to have an apartment in Florida, so he's been to Disney World a lot, but financial issues meant they've since had to sell the condo.

Anyway, amazingly, his friend Katie kindly invited us to be a part of her Spring Break trip this year - her parents are part of Disney's "Vacation Club", which is kind of like a cross between getting a holiday on finance and having a timeshare. So they had "points" (how it works is very confusing; I looked it up and was still a bit baffled) to use up, and Katie booked a two-bedroom villa in Disney's "Old Key West" resort for us! It was three couples and two of her single friends - a really nice group. Even with free accommodation, my boyfriend and I were still a bit worried about cost, but we decided it was worth the splurge if it meant going to Disney World together!

Product Review: ColourPop Cosmetics Ultra Matte Lip and Lippie Pencil

I first saw ColourPop lipsticks on one of my favourite bloggers (as featured in this post), Nicole Alyse, as she’s a big fan of matte lip products. But they really appeared on my (/everyone’s) radar when Kylie Jenner’s “lipkits” were released; yes, unfortunately I fall prey to krazy Kardashian marketing sometimes (see what I did there). Consisting of a lipliner and a matte liquid lipstick in the same shade, they retail for $29/£20 plus nearly $8/£5.50 for (U.S.) shipping - if, that is, you can get hold of one (they frequently sell out in 10-15 minutes, and are restocked sporadically). So, naturally, many people - myself included - started searching for cheaper dupes. In fact, one conspiracy theory that went viral was that Jenner’s lipkits were actually ColourPop lipsticks simply repackaged. And whilst I have no idea if that’s true, a quick Google search for “Kylie lipkit dupes” throws up a ton of similair ColourPop offerings - at the incredible price of $6/£4 for an Ultra Matte Lipstick and $5/£3.50 for a Lippie Pencil (liner).

As ColourPop currently only ship to the U.S. and a select few other countries (with possible “additional duty fees”), I decided to take advantage of my American boyfriend by ordering some products to his student dorm in Washington D.C. for me to pick up when I next visited. As everything was so cheap, I ended up getting two Ultra Matte Lip colours and one Lippie Pencil; although shipping is $5/£3.50, you can get a $5 off coupon when you sign up for their newsletter, so my total was only around $17/£12! I’d heard some pretty bad things about the delivery, but mine got to my boyfriend within about a week and it was packed really well. I opened it up when I got to him a few days ago, and was really impressed with the packaging and appearance of the items.

Product Review: Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation

I’m not entirely sure how long I’ve been looking for a "perfect" foundation, but I know it’s taken me two BB creams and two liquid efforts to find it. Until I was about eighteen, I didn’t wear much make-up (or at least I can’t remember doing so!). I can recall using a lot of cheap Seventeen pressed powder compacts, and then making do with just a basic concealer dabbed on the most offensive spots. For special occasions, my sister usually made me up, so I wore whatever she had in her make-up bag! Then there came the big ‘Beauty Balm’ (BB) explosion, and - off the back of several rave reviews I read in magazines and the like - I bought Smashbox’s ‘Camera Ready’ version. This worked for quite a while, as it boasted SPF 35 and was a lightweight, low-coverage option for my low-maintenance needs. However, as those needs developed into more complex (some may say borderline obsessive…) demands on my make-up, I started casting around for alternatives. This was whilst I was living in Washington D.C., and when I heard that Benefit had launched their "bigger than BB" Big Easy "liquid-to-powder" product, I popped down to the Sephora in Georgetown to pick it up for (slightly) less than I’d be able to in the U.K. Unfortunately, all that did was convince me that I was definitely a liquid, and not a powder (or liquid-to-powder!) kind of girl. It also made me aware of how annoying it is that you can’t really test products before you purchase them. Sure, lots of beauty counters offer mini-makeovers these days, but if they really know what they’re doing they’ll use an abundance of things (clever lighting, mirrors, sales people etc.) to convince you to buy. 

So I was pretty pleased when I found an "invitation" (read: coupon) from Estée Lauder to get a "10-day sample of your perfect foundation" - Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup - in a recent copy of Elle. My knowledge on the brand had somewhat increased in the recent months due to my outrageous obsession with all things Kardashian (no judgement, please); Kendall Jenner is their newest spokeswoman (read: stupidly high-paid model). I started looking for opportunities to visit a counter and take advantage of the offer, but it wasn’t until the New Year that I managed to get to one. The process was quick and easy: a friendly Estée Lauder consultant matched my shade by working with me to narrow it down from her three original picks to the one I felt would work the best with my skin and its needs. This was 1N1, or "ivory nude", and I got a 4ml pot to take away with me, tucked inside a little leaflet with details of the shade written down. 

Café Review: Reloved Tearooms (Dorchester, Dorset)

It feels like I’ve only just managed to sit down after one of the busiest weeks ever! I worked six days in a row, with three of those days being 10+ hour shifts, and I am shattered. Even after I finished yesterday afternoon, I immediately had to leave for a trip to visit my grandma (what a romantic start to Valentine’s Day, eh?!). 

So today’s post is just a quick review of a café my mum and I came across today in Dorchester. We’d left dad going through the list of odd jobs Granny’s always got stacked up for him, and took the dog for a wander through the town. When I was little I used to find Dorchester really boring and uneventful, but it’s sort of come into it’s own recently! Little independent shops and boutiques have sprung up, and their trusty department store Gould’s has had a much-needed facelift. It’s sometimes difficult having the dog with us, but a few places are happy to let him come in with us, or we take it in turns to browse whilst the other one waits outside!

Birchbox Review: January

I really liked this month’s box; not only did it come with some great products, but there were two freebies in the shape of a cute “#nofilter” slogan pocket mirror and five awesome postcards with some lovely quotes and graphics on them! Again, it was apparently a collaboration with Pinterest but I've yet to see exactly why... Anyways, I’ve also just opened this month’s (always behind, me!) and it looks just as promising!

Travel: Bristol

Why have two cocktails when you can have four (for the
price of two?!)

So my trip to Bristol was far too short, especially once I'd realised how well this city and I would get on! I was visiting a friend who's just moved there, but she had an exam the following Tuesday, which meant that I didn't go until Saturday afternoon, to give her time to revise. We'd booked a table at Turtle Bay, a Caribbean restaurant that has an amazing 2-4-1 happy hour - a rare find on a Saturday night! Apparently it's a chain (normally when I go somewhere new I like to find a more local place to eat), but we couldn't resist BOGOF cocktails! Apparently neither could anyone else, because the place was rammed! We managed to grab some drinks just before happy hour ended, and even a seat to drink them at while we waited for our table. It’s a good job we did, because the trip seemed a little wasted once we realised just how hot all the food was! Neither of us are big spice people but we figured that if we went for some safe options (i.e. nothing with the words “chilli” or “jerk” in them) we’d be okay. Uh-uh! Cue lots of water-downing. So, whilst I could appreciate how quick and fresh the food appeared, the experience was kind of wasted on us.

Travel: Prague (part 2 of 2)

Day 3 (Tuesday January 5th)

This was one of the days I was looking forward to the most, because it was the day we headed to the zoo! My boyfriend and I spend a lot of time at the zoo in Washington D.C. because it’s fun to get out of the house (i.e. student digs) and see all kinds of different animals - and it’s free! Zoos in England are generally very expensive (as in, £20-30 a head), and Prague was an absolute bargain for 140Kč/£4/$6! We’d had several recommendations and it’s regularly on lists of the top ten “best zoos in the world”. Even though it snowed pretty steadily all day, this only added to the atmosphere. Obviously it wasn’t packed, and it was nice being able to wander around without getting in people’s way or coming across too many others. It was an easy ride tram-then-bus ride from the city centre, and both modes of transport had extremely clear electronic signs to show you which stop you were at/which direction you were going in/etc. 

Birchbox Review: December

This month my Birchbox was actually a Birchbag; a really cute, emerald green/sparkly/velvet beauty. I haven’t had the opportunity to use it as a clutch yet, but apparently you can also buy a chain on the website and make it a cross-body bag too! Which is great because I always forget to pick clutches up (eyes covered monkey emoji). I also got two, as I bought my sister a subscription for Christmas! So I was a little cheeky and swapped a few things around (shhh, don’t tell!). To be fair, she’s pink-crazy so I was kind of doing her a favour swapping her red lipstick for my pink one!

Travel: Prague (part 1 of 2)

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for so long! I’ve always enjoyed travelling, but I’ve definitely been more inspired to travel since spending a year studying in the United States. I also met my boyfriend there, who is very passionate about seeing the world. So when he comes to visit me, we try to get somewhere in continental Europe together; obviously it’s much easier to get to from here than from America! 

Last January we went to Paris, and this year it was Prague’s turn! We chose Prague mostly because of recommendations from friends, and also because of how cheap it is. It’s the first country we’ve travelled to both having never been before and where neither of us could speak the language (we picked up some essentials from this guy on YouTube!). We were there for four nights, three full days and two “half”/travelling days, but managed to squash so much in that this is going to be part one of two! I’m hoping this will be helpful to anyone thinking of visiting the city; enjoy!

Day 1 (Sunday January 3rd)

Having arrived at Stansted at 4am for our 6:40am Ryanair flight (never again; even easyJet was better!) we were pretty knackered once we landed in Prague at 10am. So the first thing we did was decidedly un-European: got a McDonald’s! But at least that gave us fuel for finding the apartment, because transport into the city centre had us a bit muddled! My boyfriend went to get us 3-day transport passes (only available at select metro stations but also at tourist information points; there was one of these in the airport’s arrivals area). They cost 310Kč (approx. £8.60/$12.50) but we ended up getting “Airport Express” (a private service, not public transport) tickets too, as we thought they took us directly into the city centre. Actually, they kind of did, but had two stops: one to connect to the B metro line (passes work for all forms of Prague’s public transport: trams; buses; subway/underground) and one to the A metro line. Therefore that was a bit of a waste of money - although only about £7 - because the public bus does exactly the same thing, just a little slower! We also didn’t know how to get to the metro from the bus stop, but found it after several wrong turns! I’ll talk more about transport later but the long and short of it is: Prague’s public transport is amazing and I want every city to follow their lead!

Our apartment was absolutely gorgeous; we found it via Airbnb, which I use regularly. It was a perfect size and everything we needed, especially as we wanted to be able to self-cater to keep costs down. After a quick nap, we headed out to do a food shop - getting an incredible amount of stuff for around £14/$20! Prague has Tesco supermarkets, and while I know it’s a bit of a cop-out, it was nice to have something so familiar and (somewhat!) easy to navigate in amongst all the foreign-ness.

By that time it was time for dinner; I’d used Yelp! to find a couple of local, authentic restaurants that wouldn’t break the bank, but the first one we got to had an hour’s wait so we quickly moved onto the one slightly further away: Restaurace Mincovna. This was meant to be because we had an incredible meal there; we loved it so much we visited again on our last night! It was just off Old Town Square (a popular area/neighbourhood in the centre of Prague) but not packed with tourists and with very reasonable prices. We shared a veal tartare to start, and then I had veal schnitzel with a potato salad, and my boyfriend had the “knee of roast piglets”. The name was a bit off-putting but it was possibly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted; so tender, literally falling off the bone! With a glass of wine for me and a half-litre of tank beer for him, the meal came to 1000Kč with tip - around £27/$40. We were floored by both the price and the quality, so I’d definitely recommend it! The staff were extremely friendly and - like most of the people we interacted with - fluent in English. 

There were still Christmas stalls set up around the square (as well as the biggest Christmas tree I think I’ve ever seen!) so we wandered around a bit after dinner, and discovered an amazing traditional Slovak pastry: trdelník. This is rolled dough wrapped around a stick, then grilled and dipped in a sugar and walnut mix. Most places also offer it with Nutella spread inside; anything carb-loaded and dipped in sugar/Nutella/both is an absolute must for me. As it was pretty cold (around -3 degrees centigrade!) and we were still quite tired from travelling, we didn’t stay out for long, but it was great to see the square all lit up in the dark. 

Day 2 (Monday January 4th)

View from the Charles Bridge

We must have needed to sleep because we didn’t manage to drag ourselves out of bed until 11am on our first morning! I did feel a little guilty, but what’s a holiday if you can’t do exactly what you’d like?! In the end it was a perfect day; we wandered over the Charles Bridge* - five minutes walk from our accommodation - with snow falling! On the other side we visited the John Lennon Wall^; a tribute to the musician which was famously re-created each time Communist authorities whitewashed it. It’s full of paintings of Lennon, Beatles’ lyrics and quotes. My favourite was “may the best of your past be the worst of your future”, although this is apparently originally an old Irish saying! 

Next, we headed to a museum we’d read about in our Lonely Planet Pocket Prague guide book, about a Czech man named Karel Zeman who was known for his contribution to film special effects. At 140Kč - or £4/$6 for a student ticket (always check for a student price as many places offer a discount as long as you have some kind of student ID!) it was perhaps a little smaller than other museums we visited in that price range, but nonetheless very interesting. I hadn’t heard of Zeman before but he really was a pioneer of special effects, and the exhibits showed you exactly how he created innovative footage. There were also lots of hands-on, interactive things to get involved with (fetchingly modelled here by my boyfriend), which broke up the reading and made the experience fun and memorable! 

Now I don’t know about anyone else but my boyfriend needs to eat around four to six times a day, so by this time a refuel was needed! In another twist of fate, we failed to find the nearby cafe I’d found on Yelp, and headed back towards the Charles Bridge. On the way we chanced upon Pekařstvi Karmelitské± - a lovely Czech café/bar/bakery where we gorged on sandwiches, crepes, and pastries washed down with a French press of coffee for around £5/$3 each! Again, the woman behind the counter was very helpful and it was a great place to sit and catch our breath; we both read and my boyfriend journaled for a bit. 

After wandering back over the Charles Bridge, we stopped off at the apartment to decide on a place for dinner. We ended up at the Globe Bookstore and Café - an English language bookshop with a pub-cum-restaurant-cum-bar in the back. Unfortunately the store - one of the main reasons we’d gone - closed whilst we were still eating; when we’d looked at the website the “opening hours” displayed were 10am-midnight but it seems this must have been just for the café. Regardless, we had a good meal and mega cheap cocktails, so it wasn’t the worst thing to happen! 

So that’s days 1 and 2 - I hope you enjoyed it; part two (days 3, 4, and 5) will come later on this week. And if you've been to Prague, please let me know in the comments!

*Charles Bridge - Karlův Most, 110 00 Praha 1

^John Lennon Wall - Velkopřevorské Náměstí, 100 00 Praha 1

±Pekařstvi Karmelitské - I couldn't find a website for this but it's address is next to/very near to Karmelitská 268/26, 118 00 Praha 1!