i love leggings!

Up until last year I hated leggings. I primarily associated them with having to be unnecessarily confronted with strangers underwear in the street, however, after being overly jealous of other people looking amazing in disco pants I thought I should explore the market and stumbled across this fantastic (totally non-see-through) pair. This sparked a love affair with leggings which has seen the original Matalan ones re-purchased and several other pairs bought.

The ones is this photo were picked up in Hong Kong for £6.50 and they are unfortunately designed for someone a tiny bit taller than me, but, as it turns out, I absolutely love them as capri pants. Non-branded shops in China are actually just like the international sellers clothing section of eBay (not even joking, sometimes the stock photo's you see on eBay are even stuck to the hangers in store) so I'm fairly confident that these £3.99 beauties are the rose-print version of these tropical ones. I'm all over garish prints this summers, so I'm just waiting for them to restock the medium size so that I can add them to my collection.

Any other recommendations for cheap (but not nasty) leggings? I'd love to check them out..

Necklace - Matalan | Watch - eBay | Shirt & Shoes - Primark

   

Wonderful Wednesday ♥ Beijing

The joys of completing an English degree is that whilst everyone else is doing exams, you've already lost most of your mind writing 20,000 words. My sleep-deprived deadline day fell a week into an already early exam timetable and I decided to resist the urge to curl up into the fetal position and weep, for the slightly more desirable option of running away for a month.

I'd saved up some money so I booked myself on a tour with a group called G Adventures, took a lot of anti-anxiety pills and got on a plane to Beijing! It was pretty intense; the smog, the crowds, the lack of Westernized toilets. It was also an absolutely phenomenal experience. I'm lucky enough to have been a couple of amazing holidays, but this was my first time "travelling". I ended up going up from one end of the country to the other via the joy of overnight trains and meeting some beautiful people and experiencing some crazy things.

I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of Beijing, and warn you that there will probably be more photo-heavy posts as I wade through the stacks on my memory card. Hope you enjoy! x

   

Revlon Colour Stay Ultimate Suede Lipstick

Whoever it was in the marketing department that came up with having regular 3 for 2 offers on cosmetics should definitely get a promotion as I always end up splashing out when the time comes. I need blush, foundation and a new pot of eyeliner, but since the foundation was reduced in Boots anyway it freed up the space for a cheeky purchase to make up my ‘3’ cosmetic picks. I really wanted a Max Factor Colour Elixir Giant Pen, but the make-up selection in my local Superdrug is rubbish so I picked up the equally pretty Revlon Ultimate Suede lipstick in Preview (whoever named that should possibly not be as high up on the promotion list) which normally retails for £8.99.

I’d not heard anything about this line of lipsticks. They seem to have been released in the US in January; if they were released at the same time here they definitely passed me by. I duly checked out the ingredients and was surprised to see that Ultimate Suede, pigmented as it is boasts the inclusion of Shea Butter, Aloe and Vitamin E. When you first apply the lipstick it does go on like a balm and appears to be very moisturizing, however, after about ten minutes it becomes a very matte, even slightly sticky, wash of colour. I can imagine that a fair few people might find it a bit drying, but what it does mean is that it has very little transfer when eating or drinking. This is the dream for me because, as I have mentioned before, a lot of lipsticks appear to literally fall off my lips a few hours into the day. Paired with the fact that I favor quite bright lipsticks both the prints I leave on mugs and resulting make-up look become absolutely ridiculous. I would say that a little touch up during the day wouldn't go a miss, but if you left the house without it you could easily get away with a 6 hour wear.

Aesthetically the design of the product isn't the best, although the packaging is very ‘handbag friendly’ as it has a click-on lid and is coated in sturdy plastic. I also don’t understand the thought process behind the name, or the tagline (suede and velvet are completely different materials, Revlon!). However, according to the Boots website there are actually 20 shades available in this range and if all the colours in the range have the same staying power as ‘Preview’, I’m definitely sold. Any recommendations as to which ones to get?

      

Multi Radiance Fluid

My regular day cream (Nivea Pore-Refining Day Cream) ran out recently, but luckily I was sent Olay Essentials Multi Radiance Fluid to test out. Since then have been using it every day for the last two months - I prefer to use a good moisturiser as opposed to a primer as I feel it’s better for my skin whilst still creating a good base for foundation.

I particularly like the light consistency of the Olay Multi-Radiance Fluid and because I’m lazy anything that has a pump dispenser is automatically better in my books, especially since it stops me using too much product. I use two pumps and it blends into my face and neck easily. It makes my skin feel really clean and awake in the morning, which is an impressive feat as I am definitely not a morning person. I’ve seen a few reviews that suggest it smells citrusey, and I will say that it smells good, but I can’t pinpoint what it is (it’s a tiny bit sun-creamy, if that makes sense?).

At first I thought that it didn't appear to have any particularly magic ingredients  but then I realised it contains niacinamide, which is also known as Vitamin B3, which is supposed to prevent skin from losing moisture and apparently works on wrinkles and skin discoloration  It’s also SPF 15 which is always handy (especially since none of my foundations seem to include this…). The only thing I can’t comment on is whether it’s ‘light reflecting particles’ make my skin appear more radiant as I slap on a full face of make-up shortly after using.

A 75ml bottle retails for £7.99 (but is currently £5.10 at Superdrug) and come in two varieties: dry to normal skin and normal to oily. I’m pretty sold on their normal/oily range and will probably be checking out the other items soon, any recommendations?

       

Girls like no other Girls!

Because I really only have one more month of student-ship before I have to join the real world I thought I should spend at least some of it checking I actually want to do the jobs I am applying for. Luckily, I ended up being allowed to spend some time at the offices of Gandey World Class Productions who are in charge of shows such as the Chinese State Circus and The Lady Boys of Bangkok. I ended up being allowed to go to see Glamourous Amourous, this years Lady Boys tour. I friggin' love shows - if you've never been to the theatre then you are missing out - but I don't think I've ever been to anything quite like this. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

First up, the venue is lush. Being a bit of a snob I enjoy pretending that I am well important when I am at the theatre. Lady Boys bring with them a purpose built venue called the Sabai Pavillion. It's like a giant big top, except that inside is a foyer, two bars, and a big area fronted by a stage. (Also, it's carpeted, and I for one genuinely enjoy the fact that you can carpet the inside of a tent).

Secondly, the costumes are lush. I would like to own every single one of them. I've no idea where I would wear them to, maybe I could just look glam whilst cleaning my house. Even the men had sequin suits on! Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if we were allowed to take pictures so I have the one cheekily snapped shot to back this statement up.

The show itself is predominantly cabaret, with a few cheeky drag numbers thrown in. Personally, I love drag (hello, RuPauls Drag Race and summers spent at Brighton Pride) so these interludes absolutely stole the show for me. However, I still had a blast singing along to the chart-toppers that the Lady Boys performed, and spent a fair amount of time marveling at how ridiculously good looking they are.

If you're looking for a memorable girls night out, I'd definitely recommend looking to see if the tour stops in your town. You could totally take lads along as well; a few were dragged on stage so we could watch them squirm with embarrassment!

       

If you head over to the Lady Boys facebook page there is currently a competition to win a goodybag from their sponsors Bad Apple Cosmetics (:

Sales All Year Round - Haul Post

We appear to have sales the pretty much the whole year round, and towards the end of February I managed to spend some birthday monies on the end of the Christmas sales. I ended up in Harlow, somewhere I’d never been before, and ended up parting with a fair amount of cash, but I’m pretty impressed with what I got for it.

80% of the stuff I bought was from the H&M sale which appears to still be going on online at least. I absolutely love H&M as there stuff is usually well made, and their sales usually have a few quirky pieces in (I don’t know how to say that without sounding like someone’s Grandmother!).

I’ve gone from being a skirt girl to being really into jeans at the moment (probably because this winter was so bleedin’ cold) and I was drawn to these tartan skinny jeans. I love them, but I find it really hard to know what to wear them with so if you have any tips, let me know! I also picked up the snood (£2) and a little bobble hat (£1).

I also got this tweed-style coat for the bargainous £10

and this bomber jacket for the even better £5 (similar style still available here).

In a vague attempt to be slightly more optimistic about the weather I also picked up this zebra print / actual zebra pictures dress for £7 (available here). I have worn it a few times, but I’m not massively keen on the dipped hem so when I get back to my sewing machine I might take it up a bit.

Because I do love pictures animals patterning my clothes I also picked up this swan print shirt (up until about 5 minutes ago I honestly thought it was flamingo print – whoops). It was only £5, but unfortunately it has fallen victim to the ‘weird cut’ problem that some H&M garments have. It fits fine, but it’s a hi-lo tunic and whereas the front tucks neatly into jeans, the back comes down to below my knees. I’m sure some people could rock that out, but it will definitely be going under the needle when I move back home!


I then went to Primark, and in an attempt to show restraint I told myself I could only buy sale items. I picked up two plain cardigans for £3. The black and yellow shirt for £5, and the hot pants for the same (rest assured that even though they look tiny, my butt doesn't hang out the back when I wear them!)

I also picked up these boots for £10; they make me feel a bit like I’ve let my 13 year old wannabe-grunge self dress me and have no grip, but I love them all the same. However, I saw later on FrockMeI’mFamous’ twitter that she had got them for half the price – rude Primark!

I bought a few other bits and pieces (but I didn’t think you’d want to see a bunch of pictures of tights and work trousers) and I had a lovely day, was anyone else lucky in sales this year?