My Birthday Round Up! 🎉

My birthday falls towards the end of January and if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a few pictures I already shared from the day. I intended to write a blog post as well sharing what I treated myself to throughout January. There were a few items I wanted to get my hands on and I totally used my birthday as an excuse!

A couple of days before my birthday I booked in for an hour long therapeutic massage and it was lovely to be pampered. My muscles were a little sore the next day but thankfully the day after that on my birthday the aching had subsided.

My birthday was very chilled out. I woke up at 4:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up around 6am to feed Halo, tried to go back to sleep for a little while but wasn’t able to. At 8am I got up properly and started the day with a coffee in my favourite cup. Mum and I went out to get a chocolate sponge cake and for the majority of the day I did chores around home. I showered, listened to music and did my makeup in the afternoon ready for my boyfriend to pick me up in the evening. We’d decided to do an evening treewalk through the local forest and it was magical, all the lights are beautiful! My favourite section was one that looked like the lights were specks of glitter. I took plenty of photos and videos and loved the experience. I’m not worried about heights so being up in the trees didn’t scare me and because it’s dark you can’t see the ground and it doesn’t feel like you’re up high.

I don’t expect presents from other people and it’s truly the thought that counts. People say that I’m hard to buy for but I joke in response they don’t know me well enough! I don’t mind spoiling myself anyway, it’s the whole independence thing. My mum gave me money and my boyfriend got me a beautiful pair of earrings. My brother is giving me a Sephora gift card which I plan on putting towards the Pat McGrath Mthrshp Mega: Celestial Divinity Palette.

Here’s what I treated myself to:

Bras from Triumph

I find bra shopping difficult as I have very narrow shoulders and I’m petite but curvy. A lot of straps are too wide set and slip off my shoulders. I purchased two bras from Triumph last year and they fit incredibly well, they’re stylish, comfortable, good quality and the straps don’t fall down. I purchased three bras at the start of January and the order came to less than $100 which is very reasonable for lingerie. Understandably I’m not going to share pictures of me wearing the bras but the collage above shows the styles and colours I chose.

BECCA Highlighters

BECCA highlighters have the most beautiful formula, they’re soft, buildable and blend like a dream! Pretty much all of my highlighters are BECCA and it’s fun to mix and match which shade I wear based on my makeup look that day. I purchased the BECCA x Barbie Ferreira set from Sephora which contains three mini shades: Vanilla Quartz, Rose Quartz and Champagne Pop. I already own a mini of Champagne Pop so I will gift this to someone. Vanilla Quartz is stunning and a great one for day to day.

I also purchased the full size of Prismatic Amethyst (not from Sephora). I love purples on me and the duochrome shift in this shade is surprisingly wearable and doesn’t look too intense. This can be applied with a subtle hand or really built up to intensify the purple, it looks great with all purple makeup too!

BECCA Lipgloss Trio

I actually made two Sephora orders in January and this lipgloss set was the basis behind the second order. This set is also part of the Barbie Ferreira collaboration and the glosses are absolutely stunning. There are three shades Sparkle (a sparkly gold), Facet (a sparkly purple and my favourite shade in the set) and Foiled (a sparkly pink). Foiled is the most pigmented in the set but honestly all shades are wearable and are great as lip toppers. The gloss is not sticky at all and the small size is great as it won’t be difficult to use these up!

Fenty Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow

I’m having a moment with lipgloss lately. I’m loving wearing glosses on their own on no makeup days to keep my lips nice and plump and applying glosses as toppers over lipsticks. Fenty Glow is the original gloss bomb shade and it’s supposedly universal and suits everyone. On first impressions I did find the shade a little warm but it’s still nice. I look forward to wearing it more and finding lipsticks in my collection to pair it with.

Benefit Pencil Sharpener

This is the most basic item to purchase but it’s a necessity. My old pencil sharpener from school days is cracked and everytime I’d go to sharpen my Rimmel brow pencil the lead would snap and I’d end up wasting a lot of product. This sharpener caters for three different sizes and it even comes with a handy little cleaning tool. This sharpener is also baby pink so it’s totally my aesthetic.

Marc Jacobs At Lash’d Mascara

I added this mascara to my order on a whim so I could qualify for free shipping. I have really enjoyed trying sample mascaras this past year and this sample was $24 for 8.4g of product which was a lot fairer priced than sample mascaras from Tarte or Benefit. I haven’t tried anything from Marc Jacobs before but this mascara sounds good, it aims to lift and volumise which sounds great for my lashes. The black and gold striped tube is neat too!

Body butters from The Body Shop

Ever since The Body Shop store in my city closed down I have missed it greatly. I now am strategic when I buy and try to make a bigger order as I can’t pop into town for a look anymore. I wanted to utulise my 20% off birthday discount and I was running low on body butter so purchased two in scents I hadn’t tried before. I purchased a 50ml of British Rose as I didn’t know if the scent would be too strong (it’s not on first sniff) and a 200ml of Japanese Cherry Blossom Strawberry Kiss. I finished up the regular Japanese Cherry Blossom a little while ago and it’s one of the best I’ve tried. I love the strawberry range too so the combination of both scents is a match made in heaven.

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Do you treat yourself for your birthday? Have you tried any of these products?

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Let’s Talk, Bras!

Hi everyone! I was inspired to write this post after a recent experience I had bra shopping. If you read my previous post, Weekend Beauty Haul, you’ll know I picked up a new bra and it was the first time I’d been bra shopping in a looong time. Bras are part of our everyday lives but for many of us it’s hard to find ones worth investing in and ones that suit and flatter our shape.

Despite being short and quite small my chest has always been on the larger side. Realistically I don’t know where I fall on the spectrum size wise, whether I’m considered small, large or in the middle but I’ve always been happy with the size I am. I’ve never felt unhappy and like I needed to change anything. I’m sure there are women out there with smaller chests who wish theirs were bigger and vice versa but I’m a happy medium. I’m curvy and it’s all part of growing up and being a woman.

The hard part is when it comes to buying bras and figuring out what size you are. You could be completely different sizes from one brand to the next and there are so many cuts and styles it’s hard to know what’s right for you. I think you just have to do your research, read up about the different styles and next time you’re out looking, grab a few options to try on. That way you know what you like and what you don’t. Personally I’ve never been measured but lots of places offer the service for free. There are also plenty of guides online to assist with where to measure and how to measure. You could even enlist your friend (or partner) to help!

One of the biggest problems I have had in the past is bra straps falling down. I don’t know whether it’s because the bras I’ve had have had wide-set straps, my shoulders aren’t broad enough or I’m just wearing the wrong size. The bra I purchased at the weekend is the first one where I haven’t had to adjust the straps 20 times a day. I did go up a cup size which might have something to do with it!

Another issue I’ve found is the selection of bras isn’t always appropriate for my age. There seem to be bras for more mature ladies and the rest are all sexy, skimpy and not appropriate for work and daytime wear. I’m a 21 year old, I don’t want plain, shapeless bras or lace cups with ribbons and diamonds on the cleavage. I want something with a bit of vibrancy, colour and classic but not boring. There are plenty of bras that are pretty but a lot of them either look flimsy or aren’t practical.

I’m still not entirely convinced I’m on the right track bra-wise but maybe one day I’ll pluck up the courage to get myself measured. Until then I’ll keep searching, fidgeting with bra straps and trying to figure out what size I am in the quest to find the perfect bra. Does it exist? I sure hope so!

Let me know if you’ve experienced any of these problems or problems of your own.

Weekend Beauty Haul

Hello everyone! I was out shopping at the weekend and once again purchased some beauty bits I want to share with you. A few of these items are essentials; I’m nearly out of nail polish remover and bras are just part of everyday life. The other items I purchased because they look interesting and when you’re a beauty blogger there’s always temptation to buy a new product to test it out and hopefully rave about it to your fellow bloggers.

1. Berlei Barely There Contour Bra

I can’t tell you how long I’ve had my current bras for and how long it’s been since I purchased a new one. Berlei is a brand I’ve heard of but haven’t tried before and what drew me to this particular bra was the colour (it’s called Picnic Pink) and how comfortable it looked. I tried this on in the changing room and it was just as comfortable. This bra has padding in the cups which normally I don’t like (or need) but it didn’t bother me when I tried it on. I purchased this bra in a cup size up than I’m used to but as I said I haven’t purchased bras in a while and it’s likely I’ve changed size.

2. W7 In the Nude Palette

W7 have created dupes for the ever so popular Naked palettes from Urban Decay. $70 is what it would cost me to buy a genuine Naked palette so I thought, why not spend $12 on a dupe instead? The shades aren’t going to be the same or of the same quality but $12 is a heck of a lot more justifiable than $70. In the Nude is the dupe for Naked 3 and I went for this as these colours appealed most to me and I felt the Naked and Naked 2 dupes were similar to my Maybelline ‘The Nudes’ palette. Let me know if you have this palette or have tried it!

A closer look at the palette:

3. W7 Power Puff

If you’re as big a fan as I am of Karen from Confetti and Curves’ YouTube videos you will have seen her video last week comparing the original Beauty Blender and a W7 Power Puff. Again, this is a product designed as a dupe and I picked this sponge up in a huge discount makeup sale (along with the W7 palette) which comes to town a few times a year. I wanted to try applying my makeup with a sponge to see if it gives as flawless a finish as everyone says they do and even if this product is not that great I haven’t spent a fortune on it. Thanks for the heads up Karen!

4. Cutex Strengthening Nail Polish Remover

I have been using Cutex’s nourishing nail polish remover and I am undecided whether I like the product or not. On one hand it removes certain polishes quickly and doesn’t have a strong nail polish remover smell but when I use it to remove red, it’s pretty bad. Regardless of what shade I’m removing I always have to wash my hands a couple of times afterwards to get rid of a sticky feeling it leaves behind. Hopefully this one is better.

5. Rimmel Apocolips Show Off Lip Lacquer

The bulk of my lip products are traditional bullet lipsticks but I really like glosses that aren’t sticky and pack a punch colour wise. I’ve been wanting to try Rimmel’s Apocolips Lip Lacquers for a while and I picked up three; there was a three for two offer on. The colours I had to choose from weren’t the complete range but I went for: 102 Nova, 200 Comet and 201 Solstice. Comet and Solstice look really similar but Solstice is slightly lighter and has shimmer running through it. These lean towards brown/dark pink which are not shades I’ve tried but I’m impressed. The formula is creamy, not sticky and very pigmented.

Rimmel Apocolips Swatches

Clockwise: Nova, Solstice and Comet.

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Let me know your thoughts on what I picked up and what you got up to at the weekend! Did you go shopping like I did or spend time with your loved one for Valentine’s Day?

Sleep Chic

Happy Friday lovelies! Today things are going to get a little bit sexy round here and I hope you don’t mind. As women we like to feel good about ourselves and beautiful in what we wear and lingerie is one of many ways we can achieve that. Whether you’re buying to please yourself or someone else, *wink emoji* we all deserve to feel sexy and confident.

I will be honest with you and admit I was in two minds about doing this post. I struggle quite a bit with insecurity about how my body looks and how I feel about myself. I find it difficult to think anything I wear could look sexy or that anybody could find me sexy but these feelings pushed me to go ahead with the post anyway. Maybe it will inspire someone out there who feels the same.

I have selected five gorgeous sleepwear and lingerie sets Adore Me have to offer to demonstrate a few different styles to you.

Pastel colours suit all skin tones and are perfect if you want to inject a bit of oomph into your lingerie. Pastels allude to delicacy and femininity. The soft tones offer up a dose of demure sexiness without being in your face.

Some of us have a more traditional approach to sleepwear and like to be comfortable. On those cold winter nights there’s nothing more inviting than getting home from work and curling up in your pyjamas. A set like this is sure to keep you warm whilst looking stylish.

Girly girl, check! Lover of pink, check! The blush tones combined with the black, bows and frills make this set utterly adorable. Whilst being girly, it’s not childish and still looks sophisticated.

If colour is not your thing, black and white always looks classy. The lace trim adds a bit of sexiness and transforms what could be something quite plain into something seductive. The camisole cutout makes it even more stunning!

Do you like to make a statement? Lightweight, lacy, bright – a match made in heaven for those sizzling summer nights. I also think this style would suit petite, boy-ish frames especially; the material skims over everything and gives the illusion of curves.

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I hope this post has given you some inspiration on how you can spice up your lingerie drawer and some of the styles that are out there. Which style is your favourite?