Resolutions 2015

It's December 30th, and 2014 is almost over. A year ago if anyone had suggested making new year's resolutions I'd have laughed in their face. But here we are a year later, and a lot has changed. I've pretty much had to question every aspect of myself this year, and I've got to be honest, I'm glad it's over! 

I'm looking forward to 2015 starting, and the chance to make some changes. I need to do more things that are good for me and that make me happy, and these are some of those:

Do more yoga and get back into running

Drink more water

Don't beat myself up for focusing on my mental well being over my achievements - I should always come first

Read more

Blog more

Seek out positive and healthy connections and relationships

Pass my degree

Get a job after graduating

Work on being as body positive as I can be

Live in the moment more - enjoy the little things

End the year in a good place as much as I can.

Work on being my own best friend, not my own worst enemy.

What about you? What do you want to change in 2015? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a happy new year, and enjoy whatever you do to celebrate it. 

  

Boxing Day at Forty Hall

 This morning my mum came into my room with a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea and announced 'we're going for a walk.'

My family love to soften the blow of bad news with food, it's how we operate.

Anyway, I groaned and complained, as did my brother, but we were dragged along on this walk. We decided to make the most of it and have a mini photoshoot.

We went to Forty Hall, a local house and gardens near my home. I spent lots of childhood walks there, and going there always makes me feel a little nostalgic.

I took the opportunity to wear one of my Christmas presents - this lovely jumper from Joy. It's wintery but not Christmassy, so I can wear it for January and February too.

Jumper - Joy, Jeans - Topshop, Boots - Doc Marten, Coat - Primark. Belly bulge - Christmas food!

Glasses - Gok Wan for Specsavers, Lipstick - GOSH in Yours Forever

I'll probably do a post soon about all the new lipsticks I've bought recently. I'm really liking this one from GOSH - it's in a lovely colour and the formula's really moisturising.

I've barely ever actually been inside the hall itself, they hardly ever used to open it. Nowadays they have lots of events going on inside it, which is nice because it's a really beautiful house.

This and the following photos are all taken in the Rose Gardens. There aren't many roses there this time of year, but during the summer it looks beautiful. It's the perfect place for a game of hide and seek too!

I've had this Primark coat a few weeks now and I really love it. It's huge and shapeless and I feel like an overgrown bat, so it's exactly my kind of thing. The boots I've had since September, and I bought them in the softest leather they have so they barely took any time to wear in at all.

After our walk we had lunch and then me and my mum went to see the new Hobbit film. I cried, a lot!

I'm going back to Norwich on Monday, because I've got to finish my dissertation and I can't have any more distraction. It's due on the 13th of January and I've probably done nowhere near enough of it, so the next few weeks will be work, work, work. Christmas always goes too quickly and I can't wait to hand the damn thing in.

That being said, I'll probably write a post before or on the new year. Resolutions will be made!

Happy Holidays!

Add me on Instagram: @charlotteearney

Happy Holidays everyone! Outfit photos are pretty hard to take when I'm at home, but I thought I'd put together my Instagram photos from the last month. See you again before the new year!

1. Showing off my lovely new Primark christmas jumper, 2. My uni house's adorable christmas tree, complete with little crochet squares made by yours truly, 3. The feminist society christmas meal, wearing my adorable little present earrings from Accessorize, 4. Taken before the Alumni LCR at uni, 5. Before Alumni with my lovely friend Sophie, 6. Grabbed the new Bourjois Happy Nude Year velvet matte lipstick before they all disappeared, 7. London Christmas shopping with Bee and Sophie, 8. Wetherspoons selfies with my gals from home, 9. Cute notebook from my secret santa.

OOTD: 'It was my mom's in the 80's'

I just found this old drafted post that I seem to have forgotten about from back in August, so here's a little throwback for you all. Look at my hair!

Denim Shirt: Wrangler, vintage, Blouse: Vintage, Skirt: Oasis, Shoes: Clark's, Glasses: Gok Wan/Specsavers

A few weeks ago I went back home to London for a long weekend to celebrate my brother, Harry's 15th birthday. It wasn't the best weekend due to family problems, but we both spend one of the days in Central London together. It was a really lovely day, we don't tend to spend a huge amount of time just us when I'm home, so it was great to bond and know that we can both rely on each other in tough times to come. 

Outfit poses in public are hard!

I love this old shirt that used to be my mum's back in the day, it's cream silk and I've managed to go a while without spilling anything down it, which is a personal achievement (white is the enemy of clumsy foodies). The skirt I bought the day before in the Oasis sale, and had been discounted down to £5, which I was extremely happy about. The shoes I bought last year when I was working at Wetherspoons, I needed some sturdy shoes that were black, but I actually like to wear them for everyday too. 

I'm overdue for an eye appointment, so I decided it was high time I started actually wearing my glasses. I'm getting a test soon, so I'll probably discover I need to wear them all the time, so I need to get used to doing so. 

Aren't we a beautiful pair of siblings?

OOTD: Feeling Christmassy

There's something about this red and blue plaid button down dress that really says 'Christmas':

Dress: Primark, Boots (if you can see them!): New Look

It's actually really warm and sturdy too, which is something I don't tend to expect from Primark. I bought it a little big, assuming it was supposed to be one of those big waist dresses (my favourite kind) but I'm not sure it was actually meant to be. I really like the fit though, and it's a really cute, comfy dress that I can probably get away with wearing all year round.

I'm still figuring out how to pose, it's a little bit of a learning process  

Every year I go on a bit of a hunt for a really good christmas dress, and it seems this year the hunt was over a bit quicker than normal.

Also this is a rare ponytail appearance from me - I hardly ever wear my hair up unless I'm doing sports. This morning though, my hair was gross and I couldn't be bothered to wash it, so I decided to throw it up, and then proceeded to flick it around/pose a lot:

I've been keeping makeup a little more minimal of late, partly because I'm lazy, partly because it gets me a cheaper bus ticket. I still break out the lipstick a lot though, of course!

OOTD: CHEVRON

Yep, it's been a while... This is what happens when you have no blogging schedule and lead a busy life clearly!

It's been a while since I've bought myself anything, so I took advantage of the black Friday sales to do a little pre-christmas shopping. One of the things I bought for myself is this rather lovely black and white chevron midi skirt:

Skirt: Boohoo, Top: Zara

It's not necessarily the kind of skirt shape I'd normally wear, especially for the daytime, but I have a huge thing for chevron at the moment after getting these glasses, which have little metal zigzags at the corners:

Glasses: Gok Wan for Specsavers, Lipstick: MAC Pro in Unlimited

Once again, I find that I keep buying clothes that I wouldn't normally wear. Once upon a time the idea of wearing a large graphic print on my lower half, especially something quite tight, would have been an absolute no. But actually I'm really happy that I keep pushing myself in terms of beauty standards, because this is something that's actually turned out to be really me. 

Also I'm really glad I've finally sorted out somewhere in my room that I can take photos. Expect more outfit posts to come (Maybe? Soon? I'm bad at this whole scheduling thing).

OOTD: Happy September!

Blouse: H&M, Skirt: Modcloth, Shoes: Schuh.

              

              

              

              

              

I've been working in my university's box office over the summer, and while I don't have to dress smartly, I do like to make an effort. I got my paycheque the other day, and it just so happened to coincide with my finding out that Modcloth now ships to the uk (little bit late to the party I know). I couldn't resist, so I treated myself to a few pieces. One of those things was this midi skirt in this lovely terracotta colour. I thought it was perfect for autumn, so I decided it was the best thing to wear on this warm day in early September. It came with a little plaited belt which is a similar colour to my tan leather shoes, which are loveably scuffed and finally worn in after several years of wearing them.

While it's been nice working a lot and it's given me something to do over the summer, I'm very much looking forward to term starting back. I miss feeling like a student, and I only have a year of that left so I plan to savour it. Plus loads my friends will be coming back to Norwich, and I'll finally be moving into my house for a year, so there's plenty to get excited about. 

New Hair

I'm always intrigued by the phrase 'new hair'. It always implies to me that you've shaved your head and got hair implants, but it does remain a useful phrase if you haven't cut your hair (in which you can just say 'new haircut') but dyed it or something. Nevertheless, I have new hair, whatever that means.

Since I had to dye it back to brown in May for a family wedding (my mum didn't want me to have 'funny coloured hair' in front of my relatives. I wouldn't have given in, but the red didn't really go with my dress) it was starting to fade through a little bit making the main bulk of my hair go a strange strawberry blonde colour. I tend to get a bit itchy when I haven't done anything drastic with my hair for a while, and since I'm trying to grow it out I decided that bleaching the crap out of it was a great idea.

I got a dip dye kit from Bleach London, and as my hair was already kind of bleached it ended up as a very graduated ombre. I've also been meaning to change my parting up for a while, as I really like the look of middle partings, and I've been stick with the exact same side parting since I was about 13. I had a side fringe cut in though, meaning when I tried to part my hair it just completely misbehaved and refused to comply with my middle parting vision. I decided the best move was to cut a full fringe, because then it can all grow out at once and be parted as it grows. I forgot, though, that I broke my straighteners recently, so one side keeps going wavy as it dries, making it look like I didn't cut it right. I think I have a spare pair at home, though, so I'll grab those and hopefully that'll work. If not, I think it's time to buy some new ones. And maybe a decent curling wand finally.

M.A.C Lipsticks

In my previous post I talked about some of the more high end products I've bought recently, including three MAC lipsticks that are really the three main lip colours I tend to wear. I decided to go for familiar colours as it means I know I'll wear them, and get my money's worth from the lipsticks.

As well as the three lipsticks, I also have a bit of a thing for lip liner, and I have three that go perfectly with each shade I have.

A friend asked me the other day why I always wear lipliners with my lipstick, as most people we know don't, and I'm not really sure. I think it's just because I tend to smudge my lipstick a lot, and lipliner is less likely to smudge. Also I have quite small lips so it helps to make them look a little bigger. I realised recently too that what lipliner you use can change what the lipstick looks like, so I can get several different tones and looks with just one lipstick, which adds a bit of value for money.

The top two are both Rimmel, the first is shade 004 Indian Pink, which I've found is ridiculously versatile with lipstick that has a pinky undertone. I also like wearing it with my Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 107, but that's for another post another day.

The second is shade 063, Eastend Snob, which makes for a great lipliner for any neutral lipstick. It's about the same colour as my lips but with a few extra tones, and is really easy to wear. The only problem I've really found with this one is that the tip is constantly breaking off. I'm not sure if it's just the way it's dispensed (a twist top with an angle for application) but it's very irritating.

Finally the bottom one is a Max Factor colour elixir lip liner in 10 Red Rush. It's a very bright red, which is a bit of a contrast to the darker Russian Red I wear with it, but I find it adds some dimension to the look.

Here are the three MAC lipsticks I own and the lipliners next to them.

Top: MAC Russian Red and Max Factor Red Rush, Middle: MAC Pro Longwear Unlimited and Rimmel Eastend Snob, Bottom: MAC All Fired Up and Rimmel Indian Pink

 This next bit is very selfie-heavy, so please excuse my ridiculous expressions.

MAC Pro Longwear in Unlimited and Rimmel Eastend Snob

MAC Russian Red and Max Factor Red Rush

These are both MAC All Fired Up and Rimmel Indian Pink, but the first photo looked way too similar to the red (i'm using my IPhone camera as my actual camera's packed away in a garage somewhere) so I tried it with the front camera and it looks more pink.

On an unrelated note, I'm not really sure what's going on with my hair at the moment. It used to be bright red, but I stripped the colour a few months ago and then dyed it back to my natural colour because it went a funny blonde. That seems to be washing out a bit now though, and I've got this strange grown out light gingery brown thing going on, which i'm not really sold on. I'm considering dip dying it again, and then maybe adding some bright temporary colours, but I'm not completely decided.

Finally, for a bit of fun, some selfies that hopefully prove that I'm capable of doing actual face expressions:

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'High End. VIP. Exclusive'

I've been buying and using makeup for many years now, but until recently I've always avoided more high end products. I think it's mostly because my allowance wouldn't cover for it, and if I could get a cheaper version of something I always would. However I did always used to trawl the MAC website to look at what I'd get if I ever did get anything. The eyeshadow in 'Woodwinked' was always something I looked at, and I think I even put it in my cart a few times, but I never went through with it. 

A month or so ago, though, my dad went on a business trip to America, and he asked me if I wanted him to get me anything. I knew that lots of brands like MAC and Benefit are actually a lot cheaper in the states, so I asked him if he could get me some makeup. I then did some extensive research to decide what I actually wanted. 

Lots of my friends have MAC lipsticks and said they were the best value for money, as they last a very long time and are excellent quality. I had a look at what various bloggers I follow wear, and I settled on Russian Red, obviously a MAC classic. I also saw a post by one of my favourite bloggers Keiko Lynn, which was about her favourite lipsticks. One of them was a gorgeous dusky rose pink in the pro longwear collection called Unlimited. As i'm a big fan of any pink that can be described as 'dusky', I decided this would be a lovely everyday colour to get.

I also asked him for the two Benefit mascaras I've always coveted; Bad gal Lash and They're Real. I love a good mascara, and while these are usually a little pricey for a mascara that only lasts for two or three months, they were a lot cheaper to buy in America. 

After using all of these I realised I'd maybe always been a little too cautious when it comes to high end makeup. While I certainly don't really need to spend any more money, I realised it might be worth investing in more staple items so that I don't keep buying the cheaper versions that don't have as good an effect. I decided the next thing I should get should probably be a really good foundation that is actually my skintone.

I've always had problems with this, as I am quite pale. However my skin tone is quite warm, which was a problem when it came to drugstore foundations as the paler tones are usually a lot cooler, or just strange pink tinted shades. Also the consistencies are often quite thick, which might work for some, but as I have freckles and don't really want to cover them up, I prefer lighter coverage.

So one day I decided to have a look in my local Debenhams and find, once and for all, my perfect foundation. I tried plenty, but the one that worked the best was this Clinique Superbalanced foundation in Alabaster, the lightest shade they have. I had to buy a pump for it as I wasn't really a fan of the way foundation was dispensed from the original bottle, but I've used it most days and it is absolutely my perfect foundation. 

I also needed a proper face sun cream, as my face always tends to react badly to having actual sun cream on it, as well as any SPF moisturisers. I decided to try out this Soap And Glory one, which was pretty expensive just for the tiny bottle but is SPF 50 and a little goes a long way. Again, I've used it most days since buying it, and my skin hasn't reacted which is fantastic. I would highly recommend this if you have sensitive skin, as it's a lot gentler and lighter than normal sun cream, and actually the small bottle is useful as it can be carried around all the time. 

Finally the other day I popped into Jarrold, as one of my friends is about to start working there and me and my other friend Bee wanted to see where she'd be working. However, we got a little distracted by the MAC counter, and both ended up buying a lipstick. I bought the Retro Matte lipstick in All Fired Up, which is an absolutely gorgeous colour, a bright raspberry pink.

Next post I'll show you all the lipsticks properly, but until then I'm glad I did decide to branch out into some more high end products. I'll still always buy cheaper makeup, especially when trying out new colours and looks, but it's also nice to have things that are a little special.

The Dreaded Chub Rub

It's the summer and most of us are dressing accordingly so that we don't overheat. This means ditching the tights and wearing more skirts and shorts, which is fine for some, however can cause a few problems for the rest of us. As a slightly bigger girl without a thigh gap, I usually suffer a lot this time of the year from what is affectionately known as Chub Rub. This is when your thighs rub together when you walk, making the skin chafe. Lots of people get it, of all genders and sizes, and I decided to make it my mission this summer to try out the three options I've heard of, so that I can actually wear short shorts and skirts again.

Before I start this post properly, I'd just like to mention that this post will contain mentions of sweat and upper thighs, sometimes even in the same sentence. If this is something you don't think you can deal with then you a) probably don't get chub rub and b) probably shouldn't read any further. Let's begin.

First I read that aerosol deodorant can help if you spray it onto the areas that usually rub, as there is a powder that settles onto the skin when it is sprayed, which helps keep the skin dry. I decided to get a mini deodorant so that I could carry it around with me and reapply when needed. 

This was great when I first put it on. However, within a few minutes of walking out of the house my thighs started to rub again, and obviously it's a little awkward to keep spraying deodorant in that area every few minutes, especially in public. 

After that I kept looking for solutions, and another I came across was sports chafing gel. This makes a lot of sense, as it would be something that it designed to stay working while keeping active, so a bough a tube of it and tried it out. 

This was way more effective. I could walk around for ages without any rubbing, and I was convinced I'd found the solution. But then I sat down for a bit, and as it was a hot day I sweated. When I started walking again I found that the gel had basically sweated off, and my thighs continued to become a painful, chafed mess. I tried to keep reapplying during frequent trips to the ladies', but the same thing kept happening every time I sat down. I decided to keep looking.

I honestly didn't think that Tumblr of all places would lead me to the solution, but one day a post came up on my dash that suggested Lush's Silky Underwear Dusting Powder as the perfect Chub Rub solution. It's only £4.25 for a 60g bottle, so I decided it couldn't hurt to give it a try. 

It was great when it came to walking around, but I was very wary about how it would be after sitting down. I stood back up again and continued walking, and waited for the pain to start as the sweat dried. It never started. I found that once my legs had dried they felt just like they'd felt when I'd just applied the product in the morning. It continued to stay the same all day, whatever I did. Since then I've been able to wear pretty much whatever I've wanted this summer without having to worry about the chub rub pain, and as you can see from this picture taken today, I've barely used any of it. I would definitely recommend this dusting powder. Plus, as it's from Lush, you know that it's handmade and wasn't made by testing on animals, which makes it even better. Thumbs up!

Back Again

It's been over a month since I last posted, as I've been a little busy recently. I've moved (a few times), visited my family in London, worked a lot, went to Latitude festival and reached the A-List on Kim Kardashian Hollywood (I'm a little bit addicted). Now that I'm finally settled, I've found myself living, rather unexpectedly, back on my university campus for the rest of summer. As my job is on campus and I get to live with two of my best friends this has turned out to be a pretty great thing, although it's weird living like a first year again.

Of course in the past few weeks I've managed to buy plenty of things, and now that I'm living with someone I can probably persuade them to take a few outfit pictures of me. I'm really going to try and make a habit of it, even if it means I have to dig stuff out of the wash to show you. In the meantime I can definitely write a few makeup and product posts, a few of which I'm queueing up now.

Generally I've been trying to improve myself a little. Sharing a room with someone means I have to try and keep the space tidy, and because I have the majority of my things stored in the garage of the place I'm moving into in September it's easier to keep things neat. I've also been cooking a lot more now that I can buy my own food and have a kitchen I can cook in again. I forgot how freeing it is to be able to cook for yourself, and it was one of the main things I was looking forward to when I first came to uni. My mum's home cooked food is always great, but it's nice to have more control over what I eat and when.

I'm also getting ready for the busy year that my third year will undoubtedly be. I'm doing a dissertation next semester, plus I'll have my job and I'll be in several societies, one of which I am President of. I'm going to need to learn to be ore organised in order to keep on top of things, but I also want to really make the most of university life while I'm still a part of it.

Anyway, that was just a little life update. Hopefully I'll be able to keep on top of things and post regularly for the next few months, but mostly I'm just going to try and enjoy my summer while I can. It's my last proper summer holiday after all.

Revlon Lip Butters

These lip butters are one of those things I've always wanted, and since I seemed to be on a lipstick buying spree I decided that I may as well go ahead and get them finally. I first bought Raspberry Pie, which is a lovely bright pink, and I liked it so much that I decided to get another one in a more red tone - Candy Apple

The packaging on these is unusual but quite nice, featuring the Revlon quilted effect. They're a bit annoying to open though, because the lid is so huge. They look nice next to my other lipsticks though, and it's easy to spot which colour I'm looking for which is great because I'm always putting on my makeup in a hurry.

The first colour, Raspberry Pie, has a stupid name but I really loved the colour. The payoff is great as well, which is didn't expect from such a balm like lipstick. I lined it a little around the edges but otherwise it doesn't really need much else other than a touch up from time to time.

Candy Apple, however, was a very different story. I wanted a red that was easier to wear and I assumed the colour would be as strong as Raspberry Pie. What I got instead was much more of a tinted balm finish, which was kind of disappointing. It came out quite streaky as well, which seemed not to stop however much I kept reapplying. I found that with a lip primer underneath it was less streaky, but it's still not quite what I thought it would be. I'd say that this lipstick would be great if you're a bit afraid of wearing red and you're not sure it'll suit you, because it still has a hint of the colour but isn't very powerful.

Top colour is Candy Apple, bottom colour is Raspberry Pie

It's kind of a shame because I was so impressed with Raspberry Pie. What I can't stand, though, are the stupid names. Why are makeup companies obsessed with naming products after food? Also none of the colours really appealed to me other than these two, there were some that were glittery, which looked kind of weird and others that were just strange tones.

Kind of disappointing, but as I've said, Raspberry Pie was great and I'd really recommend it, that at least was worth the wait.

Little Sparrow Cosmetics

It's been a while, but since I blogged last I've started two jobs and began moving out of my current student house, so I've been pretty busy! It's all starting to calm down now though, and I'm getting into a bit more of a routine, so I will still be blogging lots.

During the time I've been away I've been buying plenty of stuff, too, so I have lots of post ideas coming up.

The first thing I bought - actually quite a while ago, but I accidentally got them sent home so I didn't get to pick them up until last weekend - were some lip jellies from Little Sparrow Cosmetics. 

I'd first heard about Little Sparrow through a Tumblr post, of all places, which had a list of vegan cosmetic alternatives to Lime Crime. I'm not a vegan, I've barely ever gone a day without eating meat, and I'm not against animal testing for medical purposes, but I am against makeup companies testing on animals. Torturing animals just so we can looks pretty seems wholly unnecessary, so where I can find companies against animal testing I always like to try them out. 

I have a lipstick from Lime Crime which is ok, but it was quite expensive and the company isn't actually as good as it claims to be, so I'm now a lot more wary of them. Little Sparrow, though, seems like a very good alternative, and it's much cheaper, so I decided to try some of their lip jellies out.

Lip Jellies in Rust and Oh My Papaya

They're not really jellies as such, they're kind of packaged like lip balms, but the colour payoff is way better than a lip balm. I wanted to try out some shades I wouldn't usually get, as I tend to buy a lot of the same colours and one of the things I liked about Lime Crime were the unusual colours.

This first one I got was Oh My Papaya, which was a light orangey pink shade. This went on quite thinly, but has a really lovely texture and the colour is nice and subtle. It's a great colour if you want to try out more orange and coral toned lipsticks but are a bit scared of them (like me!)

The second one, Rust, was a bit more daring, as the colour payoff is a lot stronger and the tone is a bit more unusual. It kind of comes off as a browny red, which I was kind of terrified of at first but it's actually very flattering. I'd recommend it if you have warm toned skin, as I'm not sure how the brown would come off on cooler complexions, but otherwise I'm really impressed with it. The texture was again really amazing, it just felt like a balm. It transfers quite easily though so you'd need to keep topping up, but that's to be expected from a moisturising lipstick.

Top is Rust, bottom is Oh My Papaya

Overall I really like these lip colours and I'm looking forward to trying out more of the products. They ship from America so they took a few weeks to get here to the UK, but the prices were so good that I was ok with that. They even included a free little sample of one of their blusher/bronzer products, which I'm really looking forward to trying out.