Weekly Obsessions #1: Flowers!

So in my attempt to a. revamp my blog and b. get myself back into the swing of blogging, I have decided to do something new. I've always found monthly favourites posts tricky to write (I never seem to be able to remember enough things and it'd be an understatement to say my favourites photography is questionable) so I thought it made sense to replace it with something else. Weekly obsessions makes a lot of sense for me to do - it lets me spotlight on something and means that I don't have to save things I love for the end of the month! Plus if I promise them weekly I'll have to make sure I post pretty regularly!

As you can probably tell from the title, I have been completely obsessed with flowers and all things floral! It started with accessories - a few weeks ago I bought a flower crown and last week I bought myself  a cute flowery necklace. So flower crowns were a bit of a thing a while ago, and I think they're super cute! I think they go really nicely with a cute white summer dress.

The necklace was slightly more adventurous, it's far from subtle but I do really love it. At first I wasn't quite sure I liked the way it looked on but after a few hours I was in love - pink flowers and a rose gold chain is just so me, I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of it!

While my obsession with floral print clothes has been going on a while (I'm often spotted in high waisted floral miniskirts - they're definitely my go-to outfit) I've been adventuring a bit more with florals recently. Last week I bought an adorable red floral playsuit (shown above, on me) - play suits being another recent obsession of mine - and I am extremely happy with it, even though red isn't a colour I normally go for. Sorry that it's not a full length pic by the way - hopefully the photo above should give you a good idea of the pattern anyway!

All of the items mentioned were from H&M so clearly that's the number one spot if you're a floral addict like me, I'll be sure to pop in again soon to see what they've got!

Please let me know if you like the idea of weekly obsessions posts, thanks for reading and let me know what you've been obsessed with this week!
Eleanor xx

Why It's Best To Be Motivated

I'll be the first to admit that I've suffered from lazy-bones-itis in the past. I would feel as though getting stuff done that needs to be done is just too boring. Obviously, that is the wrong attitude to have. In the moment it can feel like you'll be fine - having a good time is much better than working, and you still have a whole season of your favourite netflix show to get through! But what I have realised since then is that when you're getting stuff done it feels a whole world better than you feel at the end of your 15 episode marathon. But I recently had a change in attitude, and it's one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

It all started in February, or around then as far as I can remember. I had a piano exam coming up (and they're pretty damn stressful - it doesn't count as a real exam if you don't break down crying at least 4 times in the process) so I had work to do. My teacher recommends an hour a day for the higher grades so my practise time up until that point was pretty substandard. At the rate I was going, there was no chance that I would pass.

And then I realised that I wasn't going to go anywhere in life if I didn't put some effort into things every now and again. So I worked my butt off - an hour a day, until the end of March. It payed off, I did pretty well and my teacher was thrilled (a rare thing, I can assure you) so I knew that my time slaving away at the piano was worth it in the end.

But how does this relate to the rest of my life? Whilst I was getting organised with my practise I started to think "I should really get my shit together and start taking care of my other responsibilities." And I did. I buckled down and did some revision, cleaned out the fish tank and generally made more of an effort in life. Finally motivated, having realised that I was wasting the hours between practise doing nothing.

I'm writing this on my blog because we all need a reminder to get stuff done, and to think about the impacts our procrastination could have on ourselves and how getting everything done can make you feel far happier and at peace with your own life - I know that I feel less stressed knowing that I'm putting time and effort into my endeavours. Being underprepared and coming out of something knowing you've done badly is one of the worst feelings that there is.

If you're currently feeling lazy - do something about it! It'll make you happier in the long run, I promise. Whether it's preparing for an exam, writing blog posts more often or just something ordinary  like tidying up, it will be worth doing it. Once it's done the relief is the best feeling in the world.

Thank you so so much for reading, I know I've been MIA from the blog recently but I have been extremely busy and I was extremely lost for inspiration and ideas. A much needed rethink of my blog and posts has happened and I'm hoping to keep my blog alive now that I have the time and the ideas.

Nice to chat to you again!
Eleanor xx

Rimmel Waterproof Kohl Kajal VS Urban Decay 24/7 Liner

Top - Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof  Kohl Kajal
Bottom - Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil

Two popular eyeliners, both good. I like them both and they do have very similar formulas. But which is better?

Starting with the obvious, Rimmel is cheaper. Their eyeliner is £3.99 whereas Urban Decay's is £15.50 - quite a difference.

Urban Decay, however, has a whole lot more colours than Rimmel. There are 7 shades from Rimmel and 37 from Urban Decay. You can get almost any colour that you could possibly need from Urban Decay - perfect if you need something ununsual!

Although these eyeliners are different colours (Rimmel = 001 Jet Black, Urban Decay = Stag - a fairly dark brown shade) Rimmel's is far more intense than Urban Decay's. I find that I get immediate and powerful colour from Rimmel but have to press much harder and spend more time applying Urban Decay. Strange considering the price!

I actually don't rate either of them particularly highly in terms of lasting power. Rimmel isn't waterproof as it claims, I find it underneath my eyes later in the day when I use it on my waterline - not ideal! It does still leave me with eyeliner in my waterline though. Urban Decay doesn't give me the eyeliner under my eyes issue however it does fade throughout the day meaning that I'm eventually left without any colour there at all. Again, not ideal.

Overall I'd recommend either or these eyeliners but given the price I would have to give Rimmel the crown. Sorry UD - I still love your eyeshadows!

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Oil Review

I've gotten a little bit obsessed with skincare recently so it's only natural that there should be some kind of review of a product that I'm using up on the blog, right?

Clinque "Take The Day Off" Cleansing Oil; £22; 200ml has been my cleanser of choice these past few weeks. It's simple to use, with just one or two pumps you can take all of your make up off (including eye make up!). All that you need to do is to massage it into your face and then remove it - and your make up - with a flannel/cotton pad.

Initially, I hated this cleanser - it actually dried out my skin and made putting make up on the next day hurt! But I persevered and now my skin has no complaints with it. I'm still slightly wary of the effects of this on my skin because of that incident however nothing more seems to have happened so I'm hoping that nothing more will.

My make up seems to be 100% removed after using this which is obviously one of the most important things for a cleanser. My skin looks slightly clearer as well which is also nice. I don't think any of my skin issues (spot scarring + redness are my main troubles) can really be solved with a good cleanser and I'm not exceptionally spotty so I can't comment on whether it would help in that respect.

For reference, I have Combination-Oily skin. As it initially dried my skin out I don't know whether it would be any good for skin that is already dry in the first place however it's always worth getting a sample if you can as in my opinion it is a pretty great cleanser.

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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MAC Studio Finish Concealer Review

As dark circles are the bane of my life (I'm sure some of you will relate!) trying out new concealers - regardless of price - is something that I'm always willing to do. Having heard good things about MAC's Prolongwear concealer I headed to the nearest counter and had it tried on me. It didn't cover my dark circles (which was unsurprising, but still disappointing) so I ended up trying EVERY SINGLE MAC CONCEALER. I was there for more than half an hour. And by the time I'd tried all of them I discovered that none of them actually did what I wanted. Great. But I did find and purchase what I (and the lady trying all the different concealers on me) considered to be the best.

MAC Studio Finish Concealer, £15.50, 7g; comes in a small pot and has quite a thick formula. I have it in the shade NC20 as that is my skin tone however you could potentially buy it in NC or NW depending on the colour you want to balance out (like a corrector).

I've been using this concealer for a few months now and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it. The coverage is decent (I meant to get a with/without concealer photo to demonstrate however you actually couldn't tell the difference in any of them, so I guess this isn't a good concealer for photos?). I definitely look less like a sleep-deprived zombie with this on. That's the most important thing, I guess.

The annoying thing about this concealer is the staying power. It's not the best. I'd say it vaguely conceals under the eyes for the whole day but it is definitely more than three quarters gone (and kind of cakey where it still lingers) by the time I get home.

I tend to apply using my fingers and tap gently to blend as it definitely gets swept away by either swiping to blend or by using a brush. Having to rub my fingers into the product each time seems somewhat unhygienic to me. As it's quite a heavy concealer it's quite difficult to use without foundation so on a light make up day I definitely wouldn't go anywhere near it. It is pretty good on spots, though - so it is a multipurpose concealer!

To sum up -

PROS:

• covers dark circles reasonably well
• can also be used on spots
• decent amount of product in pot so will last me a long time
• SPF 35

CONS:

• not much staying power
• can't really be worn without foundation
• quite expensive
• fairly difficult to blend

Overall I would say that it's a good concealer, not my holy grail concealer by any means, and I might repurchase it in future if I don't find something better. I would recommend it, but it would be best for short uses rather than all day in my opinion.

Thanks for reading,

Eleanor xx

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Yes to Tomatoes Daily Balancing Moisturiser for Combination Skin

(sorry about the paws - Domino decided to sit uncomfortably close to my photo set-up)

Earlier this month I spent £11.99 on a moisturiser that I thought would be fantastic. It's designed for combination skin (which I have) and claims to help clear your skin. It was definitely a product that I was excited to use.

So on first use I was thoroughly surprised to find that it made my skin sting a bit and look somewhat red.

"It's just because it's working," I said to myself. Wrong.

The next morning when I used it again, the same kind of thing happened. Covered up the redness with make up and thought no more of it. On another evening application I soon realised that the moisturiser wasn't absorbing into my skin either. Super useful. I woke up with my skin still greasy from the previous night.

Worst of all, it dried my skin out to the point that in parts (weirdly the same parts that had been most oily before) it was actually kind of flaky. Pretty sure that's the opposite of what a moisturiser is supposed to do.

I don't have sensitive skin and I see no reason that the product shouldn't absorb into my skin. So I'm officially ranking this 2/10, would not recommend to a friend.

Rant over. If anyone has any good moisturiser please tell me, I'm kind of stuck at the moment!
Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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Kiko Water Eyeshadow Review

Kiko Water Eyeshadow (Shade 209)

Finally trying out a brand that you've been eyeing up for a while is always great - more so if you end up loving the product that you pick out. Which is exactly what has happened here (hurrah!) so I thought I'd share with you my thoughts on this gorgeous green eyeshadow from Kiko.

Kiko's Water Eyeshadows (usually £8.90, currently on offer at £4.40) can be used wet or dry and are available in 32 shades. I went for 209 Olive Green, a gorgeous green shade which I absolutely love.  I found from testing it that the colour easily transferred to my brush and to my eyelids, plus it stayed on very well throughout the day. The product is unusually shaped in the pan, it looks a bit like a fingerprint but is absolutely gorgeous.  I discovered from swatching that it is slightly more intense in colour when used wet:

(swatches taken in natural light)

The eyeshadow gives a more even colour when wet and fades much more slowly than when dry. It could be used to give a more subtle effect when used dry if that's what you prefer. Kiko themselves say that it has "a highly adjustable finish, for an effect ranging from sheer to full and intense" which I would agree with - you could easily apply it slightly differently in order to alter your eye make up look.

Although I mostly wanted to talk about the formula as shade colour is more of a personal choice I will say that this is a very pretty shade that gives a pop of colour whilst still being fairly neutral (I find this a lot with green - my theory is that the Naked 4 will be made up of mostly green/mossy shades). If you're looking to buy one of these shadows I would highly recommend this shade, but I did also like 203 Burgundy, 205 Chocolate and 229 Pearly Gray.

I am very pleased with this purchase and am looking forward to trying the other product I got (a shadow stick - also green - which I might do a review of once I try it) so am very excited to try more of Kiko's range in the future!

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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Colour

Spring is on its way! (Sort of). I love brighter clothing - although I do dress in black a lot, oops - and spring is the perfect opportunity to accessorise with bright colours. My favourite way to do this is to use bright bags; yellow, pink, green. LOVE.

Seeing as I tend to dress in darker colours (although I did buy a very pretty yellow blouse the other day, which doesn't really count as dark) I am all for spicing up my outfit with a pop of colour. My most recent bag purchase, a yellow bag - £17.99 from New Look, has come in particularly useful. Yellow is one of my favourite colours and a spacious bag is something I'm always lacking. Feels pretty good quality for the price as well, I'm very pleased with it.

I am extremely excited to bring these colours into the spring (although the green satchel was from an AW14 collection - seems more of a Spring colour to me) and for the weather to make it easier to be more colourful. And to ditch coats, they get in my way.

Do any of you like colourful bags/accessories/clothing? I just think it's a lovely way to make your outfit more interesting.

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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Ecotools Brushes

Who doesn't love getting new make up brushes, right? I know I do. And as I recently needed a new powder brush I thought I might as well try a brand that I hadn't before - Ecotools.

There was some sort of offer on so I had nothing to loose - I picked up the powder brush that I needed ('Large Powder') and an eye brush set (including 'Shade', 'Define', Blend' and 'Smudge'). The double ended feature of the eye brushes tempted me, as it obviously reduces the amount I brushes I need to do my make up.

I love the design of the brushes, slightly different from your basic black handle with silver metal design, and they are very soft and easily transfer product onto your skin. But mostly importantly, Ecotools is 100% cruelty free! Even if you don't actively avoid products that have been tested on animals it's always nice to know that the product you're using is kind to animals.

The brushes are nice to hold (I think the powder brush is weighted, actually) and feel sturdy enough to last me a long time. I would definitely try more brushes from Ecotools and I would definitely recommend them if you haven't tried them already.

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

Skincare

I'm incredibly ashamed to admit this to you but if I'm being completely honest I've only actually set up a skincare routine this year. I know, I know. I'm awful. (Please don't throw rocks at me).

Within the six weeks that I have been using my products, however, I have noticed an enormous difference in my skin. My skin was OK, not great. I don't tend to get spots (touch wood) but when I do they scar for AGES which has left my skintone fairly uneven. After 6 weeks (?) my skin is far more even and I definitely would feel more confident going out without make up on. AFTER SIX WEEKS. Amazing.

I will say that the scars have not disappeared (recommendations welcome) and I still have horrific dark circles (not sure there's much I can do about that, sadly) but the change is truly amazing. So in this post I'm going to:

1. Remind you to get on top of your skincare if you aren't already
2. Share with you a couple of products that I think have made the difference

As we all know, exfoliating  is very important. Sadly for my skin, I was very lazy with it until recently. Mostly because I hate doing it - it always gets in my hair. But the St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub (£4.29) has changed my mind. Yes, I still hate doing it. With a passion. But I can now see the benefit. St. Ives have a range of scrubs including one for blemishes and one for sensitive skin so you're sure to find something you like. And on top of that it smells great. What's not to like?

I've also been using The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask (£10) once a week. While the tea tree implies that it fights blemishes I have read that tea tree only works at 5% tea tree oil or more so the fact that Tea Tree Oil is quite far down the list of ingredients suggests that it is not ideal for this. What it does do, however, is make my skin SUPER SOFT and help it clear a little bit. My theory is that if it tingles, it works. And this tingles, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that it does something.

Do you have any skincare recommendations? Please let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Eleanor xx

The Glam Guide by Fleur De Force

More and more YouTube stars are bringing out books but very few take my interest. Fleur De Force's 'The Glam Guide' tempted me, and when it was half price at WHSmith (£7.50!) I couldn't help myself. So I bought it, and I read it.

The first thing that struck me about this book was the illustrations and the photographs. They were gorgeous, well placed and really added to the experience of the book. I do love a good picture, after all.

Her book has a number of sections; beauty, hair, fashion, travel, health & fitness, life and youtube & blogging. I found all to be entertaining and informative, both reinforcing things I knew and giving me inspiration for hair/fashion/life etc. The beauty section was the least useful to me however it was an enjoyable read and I did learn a few things. (Absolutely never would have thought about using a tiny paintbrush dipped in nail polish remover to tidy up home manicures but will absolutely be doing so from now on). Plus there was a section on homemade face masks which I was pleasantly surprised to see included a range of ingredients and their individual skin benefits so you can mix and match to suit you. Definitely going to be trying that soon!

A page from the beauty section, describing how best to wear red lips

My personal favourite part was the fashion section - from how best to accessorise, how to buy the perfect jeans to the top 10 fashion basics to have. I was thoroughly impressed with that section and will definitely refer back to it. Fleur is so stylish and I love her taste so fashion advice from her is exactly what I wanted!

A page from the fashion section, describing how to pick the perfect shoes

The other sections were great, too. I am now a lot more motivated to eat the right foods, to work harder in general and to be more confident. Plus I learned some things about blogging which I didn't know already!

A page from the Health & Fitness section, listing foods that are good for your skin

I would highly recommend this book, it's fun and it's informative and I personally thoroughly enjoyed it. So congratulations to Fleur for all of her hard work - I'm sure it's quite a struggle to write a book such as this with very little experience but she did it beautifully!

Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

Brown VS Pink: Battle of the Neutrals

I'm definitely a neutral eyeshadow girl, unless I'm going for something dramatic my eyes don't tend to stray far outside of my typical comfort zone. I own countless neutral palettes yet having recently tried a vaguely pink eyeshadow from Urban Decay's Naked on the Run set and having also tried the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Pink Gold I can't help but think I've been missing out on a whole world of neutral that I'd never even considered.

Maybelline Color Tattoo (Pink Gold)

Brown, bronze and beige eyeshadows are extremely popular and almost always look good - it's very hard to go wrong with these colours. But pink, in my opinion, actually looks even more subtle than brown whilst still looking special. It can look tacky, no doubt about it. It can also be completely gorgeous.

Obviously shade choice is key - anything too pink can be a bit much - but most of the pink shadows I've seen are amazing beyond belief. The Naked 3 palette (not something I own, sadly) contains some great shades, even if it isn't the most popular of the Nakeds.

So I think I'm going to be trying out various pink eyeshadows for a while. Might even purchase the Naked 3. Who knows?

What do you think about pink eyeshadow? Any shade recommendations? Let me know!
Thanks for reading,
Eleanor xx

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PS: I have a £20 MAC voucher to spend - any suggestions?