NEW BLOG!

Aloha!

I have decided whilst doing my university work this would be the best time to get back into blogging! So here is the link to my new blog, I will be blogging about food, travel, beauty and general experiences of a 20 year old!

I hope you pop over to my new blog and see whats in store for the future! Please bare with my, I have no idea how to make my blog look pretty yet so its still a working progress.

Click here to visit my newest blog!

 

A.x

REVIEW: Barry M Gelly Hi Shine | Greenberry

Hello!

Today I have a review for you! I recently purchased this Barry M gelly nail paint whilst on ASOS and ive finally tried it out!

Unlike my other two gelly nail paints this seems to be a thicker more pigmented colour. The first coat was thick enough that if you were in a rush it would do. But when I applied the second coat I fell in love! This is such a beautiful summery colour! And for £3.99 a steal, ive never really gone for such a bright colour but this is fabulous and I have a feeling I will be wearing it a lot this season. The greenberry shade has restored ny faith in Barry M hi shines and I am intrigued to try some more now!

Lots of love
A.x

Haul: ASOS

Aloha!

With unidays offering 20% student discount on ASOS I would of been silly not to take up the offer and save my self a few pennys! I treated myself to a few new bits so I thought id be lovely enough to share them with you all!

The first is a crop top from the glamorous range and was only 13.50 without student discount so a steal already but at 10.80 I was even happier!  It is a white and mesh stripped top so I will have to have a play around with how to wear this without it looking too riskayyyy...

The next steal was this gorgeous stripped swing dress fron the asos range and was £15 so only 12 including my discount! The darker stripes seem to be a kind of grey/black tie dye sort of pattern and its a really nice flowy dress, also the back has a fabulous shape to it but wearing a bra with this dress is probably out of the equation!!

The last two things were two barry m hi shine gelly nail paints in *prickly pear* & *greenberry* these colours look fabulous for summer but the proof will be in the pudding! My last hi shine I wasnt all too keen on so we shall see, these both retail at 3.99.

So thats it for now folks! Im pretty happy with my purchases and as always asos' delivery times were super speedy and only took 3 days to arrive using their free postal service.

Much love
A.x

Tips: Student Saving

Hello!

After being at university for a year now I thought I would do a post on tips I've picked up on how to save money, which when you're a student is a big thing! A few ££ here and there does all add up so I think these are things all worth doing!

#1 Get a points card- So many shops do these now! Boots, Superdrug, Costa, Cafe Nero & Tesco to name a few. These all mean everytime you spend money you get something back in the future like money off, vouchers or a free drink!

#2 Shop around- Don't just do your weekly shop in one place! Look around and get the best deals. Tesco has good prices on meat but the fruit can be expensive so for fruit I go to Asda or even cheaper a market stall!

#3 Buy value range when possible- Tesco have a brilliant value range which can be easily identified by the simple packaging and great price tag! Things like spaghetti, bread and even meat I try and buy from the value range, but be careful, things like eggs from value ranges are usually caged hens which mean the eggs don't always have the best range of nutrients and isn't animal friendly!

#4  Think before you buy- Impulse buys are when you will spend money on items you don't really need and these all rack up to a hefty amount if you're not careful! Justify to yourself if you really need that £10 yankee candle or your 7th nude lipstick.

#5 BUDGET!!- Budgeting is a huge key to not overspending. At the beginning of your university year add up your loan and take away your accommodation/commuting costs. What your left with will then have to see you through your 9/10 months of university, so make sure you budget how much you can spend/live on per week including food, travel and going out.

#6 Withdraw cash weekly- Once you have budgeted what you can spend every week/month withdraw this cash from your bank and hide your card for the rest of the week. If you physically have the cash you are more likely to keep track of what you have spent and shouldn't over spend!

#7 Put a jumper on - If you don't have your bills included in the price of your accommodation you will notice that you cant really afford to have the heaters on full whack 24/7 so invest in a big jumper or a nice fluffy housecoat to wear when you're cold!

#8 Term travel tickets- If you commute to university it is much much cheaper to get a term time train pass, it will save you about £100 in total which can be put towards other things!

#9 Group cooking - When you live with a group of other people it works out much more cheaper if you all chip in a bit of money and do a group meal a day. Me and my flat mates all sat down and listed what food we liked and created a menu. We would then have a meal off this each day that one or two of us would cook. This meant a big hearty meal would only cost £1/2 per person which really does help save money.

#10 Do you need that gym membership? - gym memberships can be very costly, £20+ a month can really add up to be a waste of money. Instead why not invest in a workout DVD? these can be done in the comfort of your own room with out having to go anywhere! I noticed that doing the Insanity workout DVD actually helped me lose more weight and tone better than the gym ever did!

#11 Gumtree/Ebay - These two websites are a God send!! I bought Insanity off Gumtree for £30+p/p instead of £120 that it retails at. And Ebay means I can sell all my old things for some extra cash. Just keep an eyeout on EBay's charges as they can rack up where as Gumtree has free ads.

Well there we have it! My top 11 tips on how to be a savvy student. I hope you enjoyed reading this and take some of my advice away with you. If you have any other tips let me know by posting a comment!

 Loves & Hugs

A.x

America Haul!

Aloha!

My nan recently went to Canada and Las Vegas on her travels so it meant she came back with lots of goodies for me and the family. I thought I'd do a post to share my new bits and bobs with you and I might review them at a later stage too!

Everyone seems to rave on about bath and body works so of course I had to try some of their candles out as I'm so obsessed with candles and nice smells. 

                                 

**watermelon lemonade & garden bouquet - 10 hour burning  Strawberry Picnic - 20/30 hour burning**

The bigger size was 2 for $25 and the small ones are 3 for $10 at Bath&Body Works. They all smell amazing and I can't wait to burn them but I never want them to run out!

                                 

I've heard a lot about CoverGirl so really wanted to try a few of their products out especially the lashblast mascara! I got the mascara in black and it is meant to volume as well as lengthen so sounds perfect for me. As well as the mascara I got a bronzer in *copper radiance* which has a slight shimmer to it (but its pretty small!) and a fabulous coral lipstick in *405 fairytale* .

                                

     

I think I was most excited about these little beauties!! These are the EOS lipbalms that are 100% natural. I was lucky enough to receive 3 *summer fruits* *strawberry sorbet* *passion fruit*, they are the cutest little lip balms ever! The box of two retail at $6.99 and the single lipbalm was $3.49 ( I think!) in England these are on amazon for about £10/12 which is ridiculous! 

As well as these fabulous fabulous things I got lots of American and Canadian yummyness including Hershey's chocolate, Lucky Charms cereal, Canadian salt water taffies and the most amazing Purdys chocolate. 

I am so grateful for these things and I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got! 

                                                     A.x 

Mini Haul: ASOS

Aloha!

I had a little snoop on ASOS the other day and couldnt help myself to a couple of new dresses! I'm not usually one for dresses but these were so nice and summery I couldn't not get them!

                   

*left: river island @ ASOS misha Mexican dress £28 -- right: ASOS mini bandeau sundress £14*

The River island dress has such a gorgeous pattern on it, but it's actually from River Islands beach range so I'm guessing its actually a beach coverup?! It's quite sheer but ill have to give it a trial run to see just how sheer it is.. I got this is an XS but its not as fitted as I'd like it to be and I'm a size 8/10 so I'd be a bit weary when picking a size in this dress.

The ASOS dress is just the cutest little dress ever! It's going to look so good with a tan and it has an adorable love heart neck line. It comes mid thigh so a bit short but fine for a hot summers day or on holiday!

I always opt for free p&p with ASOS as I was in no rush to get the dresses and it only took 3 days to arrive! Perfect.

                                             That's all from me any who,

                                                               A.x 

                              

                           

My List revisited!

Hellooo,

I've just been mooching through my old blog posts from two years ago, and came across a list! This had things on that i wanted to do and achieve in the future so I thought it would be nice to look back and see whats changed! It was a bit weird reading things my younger self had written and wanted for the future.

1.Go see my bestest friend in Coventry -this didnt happen :(

2.Learn how to drive - Finally got round to this at the age of 18! and still learning!

3.Drive to many cool places including:

-the traf centre

-london

-somewhere so fabulous i haven't though of it yet.   - this hasnt happened as I've still not passed my test

4.Go on regular runs - I started but never carried this on but I now exercise a lot more

5.Improve my posture - I went to physio a whole 2 times and couldnt be bothered...

6.Go to Switzerland - I atually went that year and it was amazing!

7.Book a holiday to Jersey - I flew out that summer and went camping with my friend for a week :)

8.Buy my self some designer goodies - I have a michael kors purse now and some viv westwood jewellery

9.Keep my room more tidy - This was never going to happen
10.Make my room pretty - Im still in the process of collecting cute things
11.Think before i speak - Hmm I'd like to think i did this but..
12.Get rid of some people in my life - I have no idea who this was ever even aimed at!
13.Dance til my feet hurt - On many nights out i have achieved this one
14.REVISE - Sadly i didnt for my alevels and only achieved average results
15.Do well in my exams - I didnt do too well at Alevel but i hope to in my Uni ones I've just done

16.Go on to my second year in college - Yep did this and now just completed year 1 at uni!

17.Follow my heart - I'd say i do everything that makes me happy!
18.Make some new friends - Ive made lots at uni and hope to make even more :)

19.Stay close to the people who mean the most to me - A few friends have drifted but i still have some amazing friends that im so close to

20.Start saving my pennies -Ive become better at saving and managed not to blow my whole loan yet!

21.Be Happy - Check!!

 

All in all I've managed quite a few things! I might update this list and add a few more things in, its nice to look back and see what i wanted and what i ended up doing/achieving! i reccomend writing one and going back to it in the future :)

 

Lots of love

A.x