Insta Snaps #12

Just a few pictures recently that sums up my life recently..

 For Dan's birthday I decided to organize a surprise birthday meal for him and all his friends and to show his appreciation he bought me such a beautiful bunch of flowers and a card.  The flowers actually survived for over 3 weeks so I was chuffed!

  

About a month ago I decided to buy these babies off ebay!  I think they're such a classic staple to have over this summer and I know it's all about cleated soles so I though why not.  I know La Moda do the exact same but I think it worked out cheaper to order them off ebay.

Unfortunately I'm a nail bitter so I can sometimes find it hard to find nice shades that don't look ridiculous on my nails.  I've been wearing white so much this summer and with a tan it looks amazing and I especially love this white polish from Mode's Own due to it smelling like coconuts!  I also love this pink and red.

The other week I decided to make tea for all the family and I found this yummy recipe for creamy pasta from the fabulous Kate.  I fellow blogger and Youtuber.  It was such an amazing dish if I do say so myself.

On the 23rd July 2011 Amy Winehouse passed away resulting in it being 3 years since she died on the 23rd.  I was such a big fan of Amy and her music and I was absolutely devastated when she died.  That summer I travelled to London and I went to visit her house in Camden to pay my respects, it was so emotional.  Because it was that summer she died there were many fans and people laying flowers and sending prayers for her.

Each Sunday I visit my nan who lives in the heart of Liverpool so on our way back we always travel through the city center.  Most Sunday's there's always a cruise ship docking at Liverpool so we always like to have a little peep and see what it has to offer, as you can see in the background of this photo.  I absolutely adore my city I think it's so beautiful and some of the buildings are amazing.

For all of you peeps who don't know where this picture was took, it was took in Liverpool's city center at 8:30 in the morning.  I think there's something beautiful about an empty city.

 This week I've been running so many errands and this outfit above was not even thought about.  I was having such a shit hair and makeup day so I threw my hair up in a top knot and threw some cat eye sunny's on and I was good to go!  My outfit just consists of a breton crop top from topshop, asos jersey shorts and my ebay sandals!

This breakfast was just..nom.

For ages I've always looked up to Fearne Cotton.  I think she's such a fashion inspiration and she always looks flawless and well put together and I just adore this photo of her.

Love my ziggy!

~ Leigh.x 

Empties post #3

After saving all my empty products in a box for many months I'm now onto my third empties post...enjoy!

Maybelline New York ~ Great Lash Black Mascara, Lush ~ Ultrabland cleanser, Lush ~ Eau Roma Water / Toner Water 

Lush ~ Ultrabland Facial Cleanser

I know I've been saying I'll do a full Lush skincare post but I've been so busy and I just haven't gotten round to it yet but I will do soon , promise!  Anyway this cleanser is amazing if you suffer from red skin like myself.  One of the ingredients is beeswax which can help calm down redness so it's great!  It's more of a balm I would say it can be a little hard to remove.

Maybelline New York ~ Great Lash Blackest Black Mascara

To me this was just a bogstandard mascara, nothing special.  The brush is a little old school and not really modern so I wouldn't rave about this product if I'm being honest.  To me however all mascaras make my eyelashes look the same so in that respect it is good I suppose.  Would I repurchase?  Maybe I'm not too sure.

Lush ~ Eau Roma Water / Toner Water

This product is also included in my Lush skincare and it's honestly so lovely to put on.  I have oily skin which is disgusting especially because I suffer from redness and large under the skin spots so when I pop this onto my face it automatically refreshes my skin and makes it feel clean and lovely again.  I also find it helps relax me especially before I'm going to bed and for the smallest bottle retailing at £3.95 it isn't bad!  Definitely repurchase, I've now finished my second bottle!

What prouducts have you all finished?

~ Leigh.x

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My first year in college ~ what my college course entailed

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my first year in college and there was a bit of interest into what my college course was about and what it entailed.  If you haven't read my first post you can find it here.

So if you didn't know I've just finished my first year in college and I studied a level 3 health and social care subsidiary diploma.  In this post I will just be describing and telling you all about what I learnt in my first year in college and what the course taught me.

When I signed up to do health and social care I thought I would be learning a lot about psychology, sociology and a bit about philosophy.  How wrong I was.  Over the year I covered 6 units.  Here's a break down of what all of them entailed:

• Unit 1 ~ communications.  Within this unit I was taught all about how to communicate with different types of people within the health and social care setting.  I learnt that you have to alter how you talk to people depending on what audience you are talking to eg if you are talking to a patient you will have to speak in a professional way whereas if you are talking to a child you can talk more informally.  Most of my assignments were essays for this unit.
• Unit 2 ~ Equality, Diversity & Rights.  This unit for me was linked into communications and was taught by the same teacher.  I found this unit a little bit more tricky than communications though.  For me you learn about acknowledging different beliefs, views and values depending on religion and different audiences.  One of my assignments for this unit included watching a horrific video about a care home with violent members of staff in it abusing the service users and we had to write an essay on it..lets just say it was a long winded assignment guys.
• Unit 3 ~  health and safety.  This unit is all to do with being safe within the health and social care environment.  I completed risk assessments, essays and presentations all to do with being safe within health and social care.  
• Unit 4 ~ life stages.  This unit is all about learning all the different life stages you will experience while growing up.  You will learn about what it's like to be a baby to being on your death bed and all in between.
• Unit 5 ~ Caring for children.  Within this unit you will learn about mostly laws and legislation to do with looking after young people and children.  You will be taught on what happens to children in care who are being abused and all to do with care orders and court cases.
• Unit 6 ~ Vocational experience / health sector.  This is all about going on work experience during the course.  For me I was placed in a nursing home and my old school which I really enjoyed.  This gives you a good feel of different sectors within health and social care and might make you realise what you want to go into when you're older.

Disclaimer ~ not everyone will do these units above.  You might get taught some of completely different ones, it all depends on your college.  For me I thought I would learn more about the biology side but I think I'm doing that in my second year.  I was surprised to learn so much about law.

For anyone who is umming and arring over doing this course my advice would be just to do it!  If you end up hating it it's not the end of the world you can always change.  One thing I would say though is that you have to be very committed and realise there's a lot of writing so if you hate writing essays then maybe think twice.  If you have any questions feel free to comment below or tweet me!

~ Leigh.x

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Empties post #2

Over the past few months I've been saving all my empty products in hope to make successful 'empty posts' I've already done my first so I'm now onto my second...

Rimmel London ~ Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation, Superdrug ~ Camomile Facial Cleansing Wipes, Lush ~ Aqua Marina Facial Cleanser 

Rimmel London ~ Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation // 100 Ivory

I am absolutely in love with this foundation from Rimmel.  For the price it is seriously amazing.  I feel as if drug store foundations get dismissed in the blogging world and they aren't really looked at as much as higher end products.  I first picked up this foundation back in January this year due to my Mac Studio Fix breaking me out quite a bit and I was looking for something that suits a tight budged and this caught my eye.  At the time it was only £5.99 so I thought why not?  It's only recently that I have truly fallen in love with this foundation. It leaves a duey finish on the skin which I LOVE especially for summer but you can matteify it with a powder.  I bought the lightest shade and I would usually say it's too dark but I blend it really well and it gives me a slight tan without it looking obvious, I just love it and I repurchased it so I'm now coming to the end of my second bottle.

Superdrug ~ Camomile Facial cleansing wipes 

Ok so I'll be honest these weren't that great.  They were ok as makeup wipes go but I found that I had to use 2 or 3 just to remove a days worth of makeup..not good!  I only really picked them up because some of the profit goes to Marie Curie Cancer care so I thought that would be a good deed done but I probably wouldn't pick them up again.  I love the smell of camomile it reminds me of my childhood but I just know it won't be doing any good for my skin, however they didn't actually break me out surprisingly. 

Lush ~ Aqua Marina Facial Cleanser

Usually all my skin care products come from Lush but I just haven't been able to keep up the routine due to being on a budget.  I will do a full skin care routine post soon so I will go into further detail on the product above.  However what I will say is that I love this cleanser.  It smells like the sea and also tastes like it which isn't great ha!  It's meant to calm down redness and along with my other 3 products it does wonders for my skin.  It contains little pieces of seaweed which I thought was quite cool.  As I said I will do a more in depth post on my Lush products.

~ Leigh.x

Insta Snaps #11

~ Leigh.x

My 2014 Summer Bucket List || Dollypiee

Every now and then I get random thoughts and I think "oh how cool would it be to do this?"  I think we all get them?  Right?  However most things in this day and age cost money..a lot of it!  So quite often I can't really do what I wish to.  

Each summer I think of things I wish I could do if I had countless amount of money and my supply of money just went on and on.  Below are some things which I would love to do this summer (realistically and things which involve A LOT of money!

1.  GO TRAVELLING 

So many people I know and also bloggers would love to go travelling.  Whether it be just around their own country, on holiday or all around the world.  For me I would love to explore America the most, The USA just fascinates me.  I was lucky enough to go to New York a few years ago but unfortunately I have never been back since and it is only my dream to go back one day.  If I had all the money in the world this summer I would love to go to California, San Fran and New York and that's all in The USA tbh.  In Europe I would love to go back to Lanzarote (such a dream place!)  And also I would love to go to Venice and Amsterdam.  There is something appealing to me to go travelling by myself to certain places however I would like to go to the majority of these places with Dan especially Venice.  I am actually going to London this summer for an amazing opportunity so at least I'm going somewhere aye!

2.  MEET NEW PEOPLE 

For me meeting new people is amazing!  Don't get me wrong I am more than happy with the people I know now and my friendly and family but I think there's always room for more people in my life.  Whenever I go to gigs I always wonder how people would react if I just went up to them and started gabbing to them.  I know if someone did that to me I would be over the moon but I realise some people find it a bit fucked up so you never know what to do.  

3.  GO TO A FESTIVAL 

Unfortunately this year I'm not going to any festivals, sob.  However I would still really love to go to one.  Hopefully next year aye!  It would be an absolute dream if I was able to one day go to Glastonbury or Leeds!

4.  STAY OUT OR STAY UP UNTIL SUNRISE

A few days this summer I've been on the phone to a close friend for absolute hours resulting in staying up until 3 in the morning.  By this time you can start seeing the sun come up but not fully and I must say it is honestly one of the most beautiful things to watch.  I would love to fully stay up and watch the sun rise with either a close friend or Dan I just think it would be amazing and staying out until that time would be even better.

There is so much more I would love to do this summer but I would be here for ages explaining it all to you guys!  What would all you lot like to do this summer?

~ Leigh.x

Wishlist #3

Wishlist #3

Last month in June I was looking through the shop websites and shops themselves to see what took my fancy and there were quite a few things.  Below are 4 things which I hope to buy very soon!

1. Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer  - I've had my eye on this primer for months now but never actually got round to buying it due to having my Beauty UK one and my Smashbox one. I have heard many bloggers talking about this Max Factor primer and I haven't seen one bad review apart from the packaging.  Every review I've seen on this primer explains that it does the job in keeping your makeup in place and keeps your face looking fresh and clean. 

2. Black Topshop Joni Jeans  - Back in October last year I bought my very own pair of Joni jeans however they were the dark blue denim pair and not these black ones.  I always used to wear black skinny jeans but they never really felt comfortable on my waist and I just find high waisted things more comfortable.  To be honest I don't think Topshop jeans are the best quality however I am still a fan.

3. Max Fix + - I always see the lovely Gracie over at the ugly face of beauty rave on about this product from Mac and ever since I seen her talk about it I really want to get my hands on it.  She says this product is great at keeping all your makeup in place and it adds a refreshing spritz to your face.

4. Mac's Ruby Woo  - How gorgeous is this lipstick please?  I am in absolutely in ore with the product from Mac.  I am such a big fan of their lipsticks and I happily pay £15 for just one!  I have had my eye on this matte redish pink lipstick for ages it's just so beautiful and I think it would go really well with my pale skin tone but I can also see it going well with a nice golden tan.  I sen one blogger describe the lipstick with a blue undertone and I can see where they are coming from!!

What products have you all been lusting over this month?

~ Leigh.x 

June Favourites || Dollypiee

June favourites ~ Malibu rum, St Moriz tan, Model's Own Coconut Cream nail varnish, Vera Wang Princess perfume.

I cannot believe it's already July and we are more than half way through 2014 :o ! I know I'm a little late on the June favourites post but I've been so busy so apologies!  Lets get onto it...

Malibu Caribbean Rum with coconut flavour 

In the summer I really like to enjoy a nice Malibu and lemonade!  Malibu just reminds me of summer.  I first drank Malibu back a few years ago in Lanzarote so it just reminds me of that holiday and just generally summer.  I love that a nice Malibu and lemonade or Malibu and coke doesn't taste anything like alcohol because I hate the taste of obvious alcohol and the good thing about Malibu is the fact that you can drink it all day and not even get pissed from it :) 

St. Moriz instant self tanning mist 

Now that we're coming into the summer months I have to start fake tanning seeing as I am unable to catch a tan with my milk bottle skin.  I really don't know why I can't tan seeing as all my other family members can. I generally just stay white or burn, never ever turn brown.  I really only use the St. Moriz fake tan spray or moose and I just think it gives a really nice golden tan to my skin and suits me.  Surprisingly I use the medium shade and not the light, I find the light doesn't really show up that well.  If you don't like the normal smell to fake tan (biscuits) then you won't like this ha!  But it's okay for me because I actually like the smell.

Model's Own nail varnish // Coconut cream

A few months ago I won a Model's Own giveaway on Twitter which included 4 nail varnish's.  I will do a separate blog post on the 3 others though.  I am just in love with this white shade from the collection, I just think it's so flattering on my skin tone especially when I have a tan..oosh!  I also love the fact that it smells of coconuts which also reminds me of summer!  If you put a base coat on and a top coat then I think this varnish stays in place for a good few days.

Vera Wang // Princess 

I have ranted and raved about this product many times but I am just obsessed.  Dan got me this perfume 2 Christmas'es ago and I still love it.  I think you can wear it all year round but because it's a floral / sweet smelling fragrance I would say it's more suitable in the summer.

What products have you all been loving this month then?

~ Leigh.x 

Insta Snaps #10

~ Leigh.x

My first year in college

About a month ago I finished my first year in college and lets just say it's been a world wind and I didn't expect anything like it.

For people who don't know I left high school in 2013 and the school I went to wasn't your normal big comprehensive school.  I attended a tiny little Victorian like school with only 10 girls in each YEAR not class, year.  I absolutely adored my school and I wouldn't of changed it for anything however going to a school like that you only get to know the same 10 girls and unless you get yourself out there you're not going to know anybody else.  I was lucky though, I had other friends and of course I have Dan which made it easier for me.  

When I was in my last year of high school I applied to many colleges.  I applied to do BTEC health and social care and also art & design & photography but I was really unsure whether I wanted to a a BTEC course or A-levels.  If you don't know the difference BTEC courses are made up of coursework and NO exams and A-levels are exams and a tiny bit of course work.  If you are shit at exams (like me) then maybe doing a BTEC would be better for you. There is speculation that if you do a BTEC course in college you are thick and stupid however this is very un true.  If I wanted to I could of done a-levels, I got enough GCSE's at the right grades to be able to do them however I just thought that a BTEC would be better for me seeing as it's laidback however its NOT!  People miss-judge BTEC's I think.  Usually people think it's a sit off and you don't need to try however you do.  If you do a BTEC course you will know that you are constantly on the go trying to meet deadlines however I think if you do a - levels I think you can afford to slack a bit and work hard towards the exam.  Just my opinion though.

I did actually apply to a levels.  I was going to take health and social care dual award, art and psychology.  When it came to GCSE results day though I thought I wouldn't be very good at a - levels so I opted for the other thing.

So lets just make this clear.  I decided to take Health & Social care Level 3 Extended Diploma.  However because I didn't pass my maths I had to take a Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma.  I can't really explain the difference apart from the fact it offers less UCAS points than the Extended.  You can still go to university with BOTH diplomas though.  

From September 2013 - February 2014 I hated college.  Well that's a lie, I hated the college I attended but I liked the concept of college.  I liked the freedom that school didn't give you and I loved the fact that you could call the teachers by their first names and also that you were allowed to wear your own clothes.  The reason I hated my college was the fact that I felt like I couldn't be myself with the students, they just weren't like me and I felt like I didn't fit in with anyone.  I made 2 friends but they just weren't like me however around February time I made a very good friend and I soon became friends with most people in my class.  I will probably do a separate blog post on what the health and social care course entails because this post will be far too long.

How to fit in:

I can't really answer this tbh because it all depends on the person and the surrounding you're in.  For me I suffer really bad from social anxiety and I find it impossible to speak around new people and I worry that everyone is judging me so for me it was hard to go from a really small school to such a big college knowing no one.  One day I was so fed up of being down about the college and feeling shit about myself so I forced myself to just pluck up the college to speak to people because what was the worst that could happen?  The more I spoke to my fellow class mates the more friends I made which was surprising for me.   

During my first year in college there were many times were I thought that I couldn't attend no more and I wanted to drop out but I knew if I did that then I would of failed myself and I knew that I would regret it so much so I decided to stick it out.  I'm not going to lie I did find college a struggle.  Not necessarily the work but the social aspect of it.  When I finished a month ago I felt so proud of myself. Not only did I feel proud of myself because I finished my first year with a Distinction* but because I faced up to my fears of being in social surroundings.  This time next year I will hopefully be finishing with enough UCAS points to get me off to uni..lets hope aye!!

~ Leigh.x 

Insta Snaps #9

~ Leigh.x