Versatile Blogger Award! Plus 7 random facts about me...

I was super excited to see that Dipsy_Donz , author of the blog Love.Make Up.Fashion.Life. nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award :D Thank you so much! 

I hadn't heard of it before so I'm a little unsure about what I have to do next, but as far as I can make out you have to nominate a bunch of fellow bloggers, in doing so spreading the love in the blogger community :) 

The Rules

1.Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.

2.Inform the bloggers of their nomination.

3.Share 7 random facts about yourself.

4.Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5.Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.

As I'm relatively new to beauty blogging I didn't think I'd be able to pick 15 bloggers, as I'm still exploring and finding blogs to read! But once I got going I realised I'm following so many great blogs that I'm determined to read much more regularly. Here goes! (In no particular order- they're all great!)

1. Keeping Up With Carmen
2. A.M.A xoXo
3. Twenty One Forward
4. A Child of Sundays
5. the girl next door diaries
6. Looking at a ginger in the mirror 
7. What Charlotte Did
8. Beloved and Beloving
9. A Voice Released
10. Bags of Beauty
11. Beauty Badger
12. Clouds Are Pink
13. Em's Mixed Bag
14. Hope, freedom & love
15. Lotty's Luxuries

All of these blogs deserve recognition, whether they cover beauty, life or random stuff! All brilliantly written and often with great pics too :) 

Right, so, seven facts about me!

1. I used to think that Cheerios had feelings. If I was almost finished with my bowl of cereal I'd make sure there were at least two hoops left, so they could keep each other company. The more I think about this, the more I wonder if this really happened... I'm sure it did though. Go figure.
2. I hate clumps. Anything clumpy freaks me out, for example coffee beans clumped together, knobbly bits on tree trunks, stones clumped together on walls, M&Ms in a glass jar... Sometimes if things are really clumpy I feel physically sick and have to fight the urge to heave. 
3. I'm clearly slightly bonkers.
4. I'm addicted to magazines. So much so that I have regular magazine festivals: Magazine Tuesday is when all of the gossip weeklies come out and Midweek Monthlies is when the monthly mags are released, typically on a Wednesday or Thursday, hence the 'Midweek' part. Then there are the American magazines, the writing magazines, the history magazines, the home magazines, the baking magazines. So many magazines, so little time!
5. When I was younger I thought I looked like a boy. I attribute this to the vast amount of comments I received along the lines of 'you look so much like your father!' I still have this hang-up; from time to time I convince myself I look like a male with boobs. It's a combination of my jaw line and the Massey square head shape. My head has sharp edges. To me, it's masculine. And to make matters worse, I can't even wear hats to hide it because they don't fit properly. Sigh.
6. My obsession with beauty products started when I was approximately seven or eight. I used to beg my mum to let me buy Shout, Bliss and Sugar magazines (she disliked the 'adult content', ie, pages advising the best kissing techniques), so that I could copy the make-overs and spend my pocket money on Collection 2000 clear mascara, Superdrug's Secret Weapon hair mascara & roll-on body glitter, and those cheap fruit flavoured roll-on lipglosses you find on market stalls. In Year 7 I became known as the girl who spent her lunch money in Woolworths on the way to school each morning, on beauty products. Those were the days! 
7. When I was younger I ALMOST met Geri Halliwell. She was auctioning off her her Spice Girls clothing and due to family connections (not to her, to the auction house!) I was invited to try her stuff on and to meet her. I got to try the clothes on, and I've got photos of me wearing the famous union jack dress and her platform boots; but unfortunately I couldn't go to the dinner she hosted. I did, however, receive a signed letter. So it wasn't all bad. P.S I was a HUGE Spice Girls fan and still am, although Mel C was my favourite because I was a voice snob and liked her due to her ability to hit the high notes. I used to watch their official Spice VHS video after school every day for about a year. Viva Forever!

And now, the Versatile Blogger Award logo:

I hope that's all been done properly! 


:) xx 

So what could I afford if not luxuries? Essentials! Weekend haul!

Perhaps I was a little too harsh on Primark in my previous post. If there's anything Primark excels at, it's the three P's: pants, pyjamas and pumps. I can't get enough of them and I always find myself grabbing random 'P' items as I go through the store. The best part is, they're cheap! It doesn't matter if a PJ top isn't that strong material-wise because you only wear it to sleep in. And it doesn't matter if a pair of pumps suffer a little wear and tear after a few weeks because they're the kind of thing you might want to change regularly anyway, for colour-coordination/British weather purposes. 


And so, although I couldn't quite justify spending money on the fabulous outfit featured in my last post, I could justify picking up some 'essentials' this weekend; things I know I'll wear regularly, for work and play. Here they are!


Primark's finest:p a cute set of flowery pyjamas perfect for the upcoming summer weather:

Primark PJs

How sweet do the little blue flowers look? £3 top and £3 pants, I couldn't resist. 

PJ print

I also picked up some nude pumps for work/everyday wear, as I LOVE nude pumps and wear them throughout spring/summer until it gets too cold to go out with partially naked tootsies. 

£4 Primark pumps 

One last purchase from Primark: a pink scarf to liven up my usual array of white tank tops and black cardigans for work, particularly useful for fooling the kids at school into thinking I don't wear the same outfit every day (the shame of being told that I do has yet to fade). 

£3 scarf with tassels! 

Oh wait, that's a lie, one more thing made it's way into my arms, but it's an actual NECESSITY: a little black shoulder strap bag to use on nights out, as I can't keep lugging around my huge handbag! 

£4(?! I think!) Primark bag 

Moving on from Primark, I picked up a few bits of jewellery in H&M:

Bracelet £2.99, gold leaf design ring £3.99, set of three gem rings £3.99 

I love cheap jewellery as you can mix it up and chop and change whenever suits (although I wouldn't mind some real diamonds, if anyone has any to spare?!) Just a few items to jazz up my outfits. 


Next up was a quick trip to New Look, where I snapped up a new wallet and a pair of dangly earrings. I'm usually a studs kind of gal but I thought this pair in particular weren't too dangly and I like the mix of pink and gold:

£3.99 New Look earrings 

£6.99 wallet- I love a neutral! 

Finally, a shopping spree wouldn't be complete without a trip to Boots and Superdrug to check out any special offers etc... Lucky I did, because Boots 17 has a 3 for 2 promotion running and I decided to indulge, before heading to Superdrug to pick up L'Oreal's new Lumi Magique foundation and L'Oreal Triple Active day and night creams:

L'Oreal and 17 selection 

Oh, and you see that cute little pink-tipped blusher brush? That's from Primark too. So I actually seem to have gone a little Primark crazy this weekend. Who would have thought?! 

'Pink Grapefruit' and 'Glisten'

L'Oreal Triple Active Day and Night 

Swatches and reviews to follow! 


Of course, it has occurred to me that for the cost of all of the above I could probably have made a real crack at getting my hands on the River Island/New Look evening outfit I'm lusting after (see previous post). But sometimes in life you have to bag the essentials and lust after the luxuries a little longer. 


OK, so perhaps none of the above qualify as real 'essentials'... But when you have thirteen year olds asking 'Miss, why do you always wear the same clothes?' and your reply 'why do you always wear a school uniform?' doesn't quite cut the mustard, the pressure is on to at least fool them into thinking you're wearing something different each day. Which is where essentials such as scarves and pumps play their part! 

I want these clothes. I need these clothes! I don't want to be the duckling any more! Feat. River Island & New Look evening wear

Typical. I've got no money but I've seen so many things I'd like that would be perfect for certain upcoming social events. I'm taking to this here blog to do a spot of cosmic ordering, in the hope that by visualising being the owner of these beauts, they'll somehow find their way to my door via the postman. 

First up, some River Island goodies. I just love these little      gold stud earrings (I like Granny-chic!):

Gold tone knot stud earrings £2 River Island 

I saw this lace cream top while doing some internet 'window  shopping':

Cream scalloped hem top  £25.00 River Island 

I spied the following pair of leggings on one my friends and immediately wanted them; they have ribbed panels down the sides and look AMAZING on:

Black ponti ribbed seamed leggings  £20.00 River Island 

And then I spotted these pale pink textured bad boys on New Look's website...

Textured Cut-Out Platform  £29.99 New Look 

So now I've got serious clothing envy and NEED THE ABOVE ITEMS. I bought a hair doughnut thingy for £1 in Primark yesterday and I've been experimenting with that, and I desperately want to wear my hair in a big fat bun with these clothes and shoes, with subtle false lashes and black liquid eyeliner. Bah. 

Perhaps I'm too materialistic and a slave to consumerism, but I can't help but think that if I can get my hands on these goodies I will be transformed. Rather than feeling like the perpetual ugly duckling who doesn't help herself by wasting money in Primark on things that inevitably fall apart/don't fit properly (I had to return five items yesterday. Five!) when she could be spending her money on INVESTMENT pieces, things that will withstand wear and tear, things that will fit properly and make her feel like a princess. 

While I'm on this downward spiral into Disney fantasy and consumer consumption, it's occured to me that the only time I've ever worn something that made me feel like I wasn't the ugly duckling but could quite possibly be a princess version of myself was when I wore a beautiful floral maxi dress at the BBQ I threw the summer before last. I LOVED that dress. I still do. I want to replicate that feeling WITH THE ABOVE ITEMS. 

I have this constant nagging fear at the back of my mind, a fear I've carried around with me for all of my adult life, that if I ever get to plan a wedding I won't ever find 'the one'. As in, the dress, the perfect dress. It makes me feel quite queasy just thinking about it. I'll be trundling down the aisle in something awful, something that doesn't fit and that breaks and that looks hideous in photos. 

Anyway. Rant over. Now to think of a way to fund the above. I won't sleep until I've clicked the 'place an order' button!