Busy Bee

Once again I have been slacking on the blogging front...

After a somewhat hectic week that flew by in a blur of difficult accounting equations and marketing strategics, I finally escaped to a little town not far from Cambridge, called Huntingdon, to spend the weekend with The Boyfriend.

On Friday night we went to the fair, which turned out to be so much fun considering we're both in our twenties and were therefore the oldest people there. We went on a ride called The Waltzer which spins you round so fast, and we were on it for a good ten minutes at £1.50 each which I thought was such good value for money!

Saturday consisted of shopping in Huntingdon. I was disappointed to find that the Huntingdon branch of Boots did not sell the Soltan tanning mitt. The woman behind the counter said 'we don't stock them at this time of year', which was a classic case of bad product knowledge.

I picked up a gorgeous gift bag in..wait for it...Card Factory! lol purely because I adore the print. If someone could tell me where on earth you can get the wallpaper that has this print then I would be ever so grateful!

(ignore my accounting coursework...and that there on the right would be my hippo keyring:P)

The print is felt and is raised from the rest of the bag..cute huh? and only 99p! As you can see i had to purchase :)

We spent the evening in with milk and cookies and the X Factor..perfect :)

Speaking of which, I am off to watch the results now.

I'm thinking Miss Frank and Rachel in the bottom two...with John and Edward sneaking in to stay for another week..shocking!

Holly

xo

Lets talk MAC

I am going to confess to being a total MAC virgin. My boyfriend bought me a set of MAC brushes for my birthday last year, but I do not own any MAC makeup, and up until the weekend I had never had the privalege of wearing any products by MAC.


So for my same birthday a year ago, my brother bought me a makeover experience day at DoubleTake Studios in London. Admittedly I felt like a bit of a plum about the whole thing and cringed at the thought of posing (akward, akward, akward!) for photos so I put off booking the shoot up until recently, a whole year on! If I'd known what was in store I would have booked it a lot sooner!


I basically had a wonderful makeover using all MAC products, and I fell in love. Here is a picture I took of my makeup at about 10pm, and considering I'd had the makeover at 1 o clock in the afternoon I think this just demonstrates the quality and lasting power of MAC products, as the makeup stayed firmly in place and was still flawless well into the evening.




Ta daaa!
Definately a MAC convert. When my finances are in order I plan on visiting my nearest store and purchasing some products as recommended by some of my favourite beauty bloggers.



Hope you're all having a lovely week:) will leave you with a teeny picture I scanned from the shoot!
(if you are thinking of booking a DoubleTake shoot, as a prewarning your photos cost £70 each..extortionate, yes?!)





Holly xo

Club Review; The Forum

Name: The Forum
Location: University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus, Hatfield, Hertfordshire


This new £38million pound venue was built to replace the existing student union club, Font Bar, which they are soon to convert into offices. The Forum is now the largest venue between Hertfordshire and London, and has already played host to some big names and acts despite being open for less than a month. It is the home of some of the UKs biggest and most renowned student nights, including Flirt, Bonk, and the newest addition, indie night 'Propaganda'. It also hosts Hertfordshires biggest alternative music night, F-Alt.






The Forum

In terms of layout, The Forum is quite similiar to Oceana clubs, in that it has several seperate rooms that party-goers can wander between throughout the night.

The Auditorium:



This is the main club room, that boasts an enormous dance floor, stage, three large bars, seating areas, and incredible lighting and sound systems. The dance floor is lined by two staircases that lead up to the Balcony Bar, the auditoriums fourth bar that overlooks the dancefloor.

Next to the Auditorium is the Style Bar, the Forum's very own cocktail lounge that provides a stylish and relaxing space to chill out with your favourite cocktail when you fancy a break from the dance floor. Not forgetting this is a student venue, it is impressive to have a cocktail lounge on campus, let alone one that stocks champagne for those students with expensive taste, and a bottomless student loan;p



Up another flight of stairs is the Attic, a much smaller club room than the Auditorium, with a dancefloor and bar, that plays host to a different genre of music than downstairs, depending on the night, to create even more diversity and choice for the students.



In the month that The Forum has been open, acts such as No. 1 artist Chipmunk, Wiley, Vengaboys, Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity, The Doves, Funeral for a Friend, Hadouken! and bigname Ministry of Sound DJ Joshua Roberts have graced the Auditorium stage, and acts such as N Dubz and Deadmau5 are booked to appear in the near future.



For nights such as Bonk and Flirt, the Forum has a student only policy, in which members of the public can only attend if accompanying a UH student, however on other nights the venue is open to the public.



It is definately a very impressive venue and a guaranteed good night out, but definately a young persons venue as it has a very prominant student vibe about it. As a UH student of three years, I must say I miss the homely and familiar feeling of the Font Bar (RIP!) but the Forum is definately what student unions are all about:)


Classic pre-Forum pose!
Dress: £20 New Look
Shoes: £60 Topshop
Wine: £cheap and cheerful Lambrini from Asda haha..poor student much?!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend
x

AWOL.

So once again I must apologise for my lack of blogging. I blame this largely on university, as my Masters course has literally taken over my life! My timetable is manic, although I get Tuesday and Friday off (Tuesdays are spent working at New Look, Fridays are spend pampering for clubbing in the evening!) but the days I am at uni are jampacked with Accounting, Marketing, Strategic Marketing and Post-Grad Research Methodology...exciting right?:P

But yeah, apologies, and I hope everyone is well :)

Due to my severe lack of finance, I havn't purchased any new products lately, but will be reviewing a couple of products already in my collection this week (in amongst my epic mountain of coursework), so stay tuned.

I'll leave you with a pic of another New Look bargain I picked up recently.

Me and my beautiful flatmate Charlie :)

A metallic gold dress with a (sort of?) halter neck made from gold sequins. Can't quite remember how much I paid for this. Would guess around £18, still cheap and cheerful for a going-out dress.

Shoes - £60, Topshop (the comfiest shoes I have ever worn...could literally run the marathon in them. Looking a little battered and worse for wear now though sadly..but at 60 pound a time I couldn't really afford to buy a backup pair!)

Whats your favourite pair of shoes?

Holly

xo

My 22nd Birthday =]

Heyhey. Apologies for my absense from the blogosphere lately, so much has been going on in terms of starting my Masters and trying to sort out the finance for it, among other things!

So on Saturday 26th September I turned the grand old age of 22! I went to the amazing new venue that has just opened at the University of Hertfordshire, called The Forum, which I will review at a later date when I have experienced all that it has to offer.



Me with my favourite doorman, Rob. Wearing my trusty New Look £6 bargain dress, its my favourite clubbing outfit:)

So for my birthday I recieved some really lovely and thoughtful gifts from my nearest and dearest, and here is a selection of a few of them.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, my wonderful boyfriend did indeed purchase me nine bottles of the wonder fake tan that is St Moriz! He had them sent down specially from the North because you can't purchase them anywhere near where I live, bless him. He also bought me my favourite perfume, YSL - Elle, which to me is the sexiest fragrance I've ever smelt, and one that never goes without a compliment on a night out. Definately more of a night time fragrance than a daytime fragrance, but it smells gorgeous.

My mum bought me the gorgeous storage/decorative boxes on the left of the picture. I think she picked them up in TK Maxx (she is an addict to that shop!), along with the pink box to the right of the St Moriz which contains a gorgeous set of sleeping products, including a lavender spray for your pillow that actually knocked me out like a light last night. If you are a troubled sleeper like moi then I would highly recommend a spray of this sort.

Thats all for now, as its late and I have to get up early tomorrow to purchase my hot new mobile phone, excited!! Hope you all had a lovely weekend

Holly

xo

Product Review; No7 Protect&Perfect Hand Cream

"Younger longer
This quickly and easily absorbed moisturiser vanishes to reveal beautifully younger looking hands with fine lines appearing reduced in just 2 weeks"

Just thought I'd throw in a product review because my last few posts have been a little off topic!
I gave this product a go myself, but I also put it to the test on my other half as he actually suffers from dry hands due to the nature of his job. He is a newly qualified radiographer (proud!) and because he is working in a hospital all day he is forever washing his hands with that special hospital soap, which is incredibly drying to the skin after multiple washes. This makes him the ideal candidate/guinea pig for testing out moisturisers.

He and I both agree that this product is 'quickly and easily absorbed', like it states. It really does sink in incredibly quickly. In my personal opinion I like to feel my moisturiser on my hands for a little longer, but this product is perfect for those who don't. It is very lightly fragranced, not at all overpowering.

I have the 25ml travel size, which I believe I aquired from my mum (although I really can't remember!) but this product retails in Boots at £10.25 for the 75ml tube. My boyfriends only qualm with this product is that mine isn't in a bigger bottle!

I would say definately the perfect moisturiser if you just want to moisturise and get on with things, but if your anything like me and enjoy moisturising as part of a pampering session, I wouldn't say its my favourite.

What are your favourite moisturisers? If you have any that I can reccommend to my poor dry handed boyfriend then please do leave a comment :)

Holly
xo

Ins&outs

Seen this tag floating around and decided to get on board!

Ins:)

~ Supercars; today has only served to enhance my love for fast, expensive automobiles!
~ Galaxy Cookie Crumble; if you havn't tried one of these yet, I suggest you do. Immediately if not sooner!
~ Tinted moisturiser, I'd be lost without it! Lovelovelove No. 7 Tinted Moisturiser..and hurrah for the Boots £5 off vouchers!
~ Freshers Week! I'm getting a little old for Freshers now but it hasn't lost its appeal yet

Outs:(

~ Career Developement Loan; so annoying that you can't get a student loan to cover masters, despite the fact that universities/government know that students cant afford to pay for it themselves. Instead you have to get out a scary bank loan which you have to start repaying one month after your course finishes. :(

~Being broke. Its just lame. I'm sure you'll agree?

Holly
xo

Eee!

So I spent this morning in Oxford in the company of some of my most favourite names; Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Audi R8:)

Bit of a non beauty product related post...but these beauties are definately worth a mention. I am without a doubt in love with the Lambo, it just looks and sounds so impressive. This is the first time I've ever been in such close proximity to such a collection of expensive cars, and until I marry Fernando Torres of Liverpool FC, this will probably be the only time too:P

I bought my boyfriend a Lambo driving experience for his birthday through Red Letter Days

The day included a few test laps in a Subaru Impreza, followed by six laps in the Lambo, or car of your choice from the website. If you're stuck for gift ideas for the other half/male friend/male family member then I would definately reccommend a driving experience, especially as most men really love their motors! Seeing the look on my boyfriends face when he pulled up in the Lambo was priceless, he absolutely loved it.

Me with the Lambo :)

My other half with the Lambo:)

Me with the Audi R8 :)

Outfit:
Vest top: New Look £12
Leggings: New Look £8
Gold pumps: Primark £4
Cardigan: Miss Selfridge £Christmas present
Bag: Topshop £Valentines Gift

Hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

Holly
xo

Window shopping

Due to the realisation that I am flat broke, I was reduced to window shopping today at work. Sad sad times indeed.
Especially since a customer returned probably the most gorgeous pair of pumps I have ever seen (not sure on her reasons for the return, even if they were uncomfy she should have kept them purely because they are so pretty!) They are £20, silver (although they come in a pearly colour also), with jewelled detailing on the front, as well as little pearls and little flowers. Sadly my limited description doesn't do them justice, and I can't find a picture on the New Look website. I've been informed that they come in high heels too, lovely! Roll on payday! When these beauties are mine I will photograph and post:)

Incase anyone is interested, just a heads up that New Look is offering 20% off starting from Monday, for students holding a valid student/NUS card.

Also just wanted to say a big thankyou (and hello!) to you lovely ladies who have chosen to follow my blog, very much appreciated :)

Holly
xo

Broke!

I am absolutely mortified after checking my bank balance today. It wouldn't be unrealistic to say I barely have a pound to my name right now. However it didn't stop me purchasing a top after my shift at work ;p

This vest top was £12, cheap and cheerful. It does come with pink flowers but that particular style has sold out at all of my local stores. This is the new style we've just had in, very pretty and girly. The actual style of the top is lovely; it has a really low scooped back which makes it a bit different from other print vest tops. They are extremely tight fitting..I usually wear a UK size 8 but I bought a 10 in this top and its still very figure hugging. But i like ittt:)

Just a quick Outfit of the Day for you too. I only went to work so didn't get too dressed up, but I really adore this top! (Please ignore my dodgy pout face and the whole Myspace-esque mirror shot..nobody was around to take the pic for me!:p)

This top was another New Look bargain, at about £12 again. I looove it.

Currently testing an Olay facial scrub (Olay Daily Facials Clarify Renewing Scrub) Review coming soon :)Holly
xo

Products i'm using right now.

Shampoo & Conditioner: I'm using two different brands, in the effort to use less of my favourite. For everyday use (im one of the unlucky ones whose hair gets greasy super quick so I have to wash it everyday) I bought Timotei Golden Highlights Camomille flower & Amber shampoo and conditioner, as they were on offer for £1 each lol. They actually smell really lovely. The conditioner isn't as conditioning as I would like it to be, but meh. The other, is the Toni&Guy Detox shampoo and the Daily Style Conditioner. I am in deep deep heart with both the shampoo and the conditioner. Not only do they smell gorgeous, even my hairdresser agreed & has since been on to purchase them, but the shampoo leaves my hair feeling so so clean, and the conditioner leaves it feeling super soft. I love the finished result after I've used these products and blow dryed my hair. Love love love them.

Shower Gel: Ted Baker Bodywear bodywash

Styling products: Toni&Guy matte paste, and Toni&Guy Firm Hold Hairspray. Once again, nothing but praise for these products by Toni&Guy. My hair is really fine and gets greasy so quickly, so I find a lot of products make this worse and make my hair look dull, but not these. They are both extremely lightweight and non dulling and hold my hair brilliantly. Would highly reccommend.

Body moisturiser: Nivea Hydrate body lotion. I think thats what its called, my bottle is in Spanish because I picked it up in Tenerife, but I'm pretty sure thats what it translates to!

Deodorant: Nivea Double Effect, and also Dove Go Fresh

Fake Tan: Probably goes without saying..St Moriz lol, the miracle fake tan. I also think the Rimmel sun makeup is really good when mixed with moisturiser.

Skincare: Skin Therapy 3 in 1 Facial Wipes.

Primer: None.

Foundation: No. 17 Skin Perfecting

Foundation brush: My foundation brush came from a set of brushes that I picked up in Tesco, called Eco Tools, but i tend to apply my foundation with my fingers

Concealer: Rimmel Hide the Blemish concealer in Sand 002

Powder: Don't use powder

Blusher: Benetint from Benefit

Bronzer: Absolutely couldn't tell you who makes my bronzer, a friend gave it to me. It's in a silver compact and it looks lovely on, but it has no branding whatsoever on the packaging lol. When it runs out, I'm screwed :P

Highlighter: None

Eyeshadow base: I apply concealer to my eyelids before applying eyeshadow

Eyeshadows: Barry M Dazzle Dust, my numero uno favourite being Mushroom

Eyeliner: Barry M Intense Black Eyeliner Pen. It's my favourite eyeliner, and to be fair I've tried countless. This one is exactly as it describes itself, an intense black, and stays on for hours with little to no smudging.

Curler: None

Mascara: Currently Barbara Daly High Impact Mascara from good old Tesco

Lipstick: I rarely ever wear lippie largely due to my annoyingly dry lips (any advice on how to overcome this would be mostwelcome :P )but saying that I went out yesterday and purchased a Barry M lipstick in 101 and I really do like it

Lipgloss: No gloss. Just Nivea lipbalm

Nail Colour: Right now, OPI Nail Lacquer in 'My Daddy's The King'

Holly
xo

Club Review; Amika

Club: Amika
Location: High Street Kensington, London
"London’s prestigious High Street Kensington plays host to a new super elite, acutely vogue concept in members club. A unique playground for the extravagant, designed for affable debauchery and indulgent fun, without pretentiousness but exuding an abundance of class and style, it is the ultimate destination for major players and glitterati alike."

Not entirely noticable to pass by during the daytime, but at night this club is lined with well dressed Londoners queueing to get inside to see what Amika has to offer...and what it has to offer is really something! Amika was voted Best New Club in 2007 and Best Club 2008 at the London Bar and Club Awards, and after a night out here it really is easy to see why.

In terms of decor, this club is beautiful. After spending an evening chatting to the owner over a bottle or three of Dom Perignon champagne, it was evident that he'd clearly put a lot of thought and attention into the decor of this club.

The VIP Lounge

We were lucky enough to have the table at the forefront of the picture, where we were presented with two magnums of Grey Goose vodka. The staff are impeccably dressed; the men in smart suit trousers and shirts, the women in tight black trousers and pink and black corsets.

The corridors are black marble, and branch off into the VIP Lounge, the main room, and the cocktail bar. The music in the main room is fantastic, and without a doubt the best music I've heard in a club in a long time. The DJ actually works hard, he doesn't just press play, he mixes and remixes songs fantastically, and the vibe is awesome. On our second visit to Amika we were invited to dance in the dancers cage up above the DJ booth in the main room. It was immense! The walls of the main room are decorated with retro black metallic wallpaper (I want it in my bedroom please!)

Like a lot of London clubs, Amika operates on a guestlist and membership basis. Entry for non members is £20, although girls get in free before 11.30pm. Annoyingly, drinks at Amika are not cheap unless you have access to a guestlist table, but again I think this is standard at most London Clubs. London is renowned for its extortionate drinks prices. I have been fortunate enough not to have had to pay for drinks at this club but I believe a spirit and mixer costs around the £14 mark (yes I am talking singles, extortionate!) Ordering a bottle of alcohol for your group or table is an exciting occasion, as they are presented to you by the stunning staff, with lit sparklers in the top. It's always fun watching to whom these bottles are presented to, incase you happen to spot a celeb or footballer! Nelly, Usher and Kelly Rowland are among numerous celebrity party goers to attend a night out at Amika.

The owner Ali & I, with a bottle of delicious Dom Perignon champagne :)

On my first visit to Amika I wore a total New Look bargain;

Dress; or should I say vest top. Black with greyish streaks, and dotted with glitter. Love love love this outfit. £12 (down to £6 with fabby 50% staff discount)
Peeptoe Heels; £22 down to £11

Drinks prices aside, I would highly reccommend this club, for the music and for its stunning interior. It really is beautiful :) Always an occasion to get dressed up in your favourite outfit!
Gogogogo :)

Holly
xo

Skincare.

Just thought as a first post I'd talk about skincare, & what products I use etc etc :)

To be honest with you I don't follow the 'cleanse, tone, moisturise' routine that a lot of people follow religiously. If that works for you though, thumbs up!

Let me give you a little bit of history about my skin first of all, to highlight the problems I have had with it. All through school, so from age 13 to probably about 17 or 18, I suffered from severe acne. I tried everything, and I mean everything, from tea tree sticks to face washes to scrubs to cleansers. I had multiple visits to the doctors and was prescribed everything, from the pill to topical treatments, to tablets, and eventually to a drug called Roacutane, which despite its horrendous potential side effects, turned out to be an absolute miracle worker for me (most doctors will take you down the same route of treatments and leave Roacutane as a last resort)
So since being on these tablets, my skin has cleared up wonderfully. I still get spots every now and then, but nowhere near as badly as I did before.


I wash my face with Skin Therapy 3 in 1 Fragrance Free Facial Wipes.

I purchase mine from Wilkinsons, where they nearly always have a deal on for two for 99p. There are 25 wipes in a pack. They are the cheapest facial wipes I've ever come across and I can't knock them one bit for quality. They are dermatologically tested, PH balanced, Allergen free, and are described to 'gently cleanse, tone & moisturise delicate skin'.

What I find with this product is that if I don't use them, then my skin doesn't like it. Since using them I have had perfectly clear skin, which feels clean and fresh after usage. Highly recommend!

* My Northern flat mate has just informed me that Trotters in the North sell these in packs of 40 for 60p or two for £1....he is having a moan that Wilkinsons is the rival of his dad's store and that I should not be bigging them up, but pfft :P*

If I feel like my skin is playing up and that I'm about to become victim to a breakout, I'll whip out the trusty lemon juice, which I know a lot of bloggers swear by. It really is very good. I use the bottled Lemon juice from Tesco. It's strange because I have tried the lemon juice in the lemon shaped bottle, it might be called Jif? I'm not too sure. But I found it to be less effective. Perhaps it isn't pure lemon juice, I really don't know as I don't have it to hand to check.

But anywho. I try to avoid anything on my face that might cause me breakouts, such as fake tan.
Apart from the above, thats all I use in my skincare routine. Cheap & cheerful :)

Holly
xo

Introduction

Hi everyone:)
My name is Holly, thats me over on the left, stroking a cat in Tenerife, as you do.





Just a bit of a brief introduction about moi & what this blog will be about!
I'm a 21 year old English Literature, Media Cultures & Journalism graduate and am about to embark on a Masters in Marketing. I am an avid reader of the vast array of fashion & beauty blogs that are circulating the internet and felt inspired to write one of my own :)
Now bare in mind that I'm a student with rent & bills to pay (boooo) so sadly I can't afford to shop at the high end of the product spectrum, so I'll be reviewing products as and when I can afford them. I'm sure one day I'll lose my MAC virginity but until then, its drugstore products all the way! Not only that, this blog will cover my fashion finds {I work as a New Look sales assistant so my wardrobe is probably 95% New Look ;) lol} as well as reviewing any clubs & bars i frequent as I am a total party girl :) Not to mention blogging about anything else that might take my fancy!

That said, I hope you all enjoy
and if you like my blog, please feel free to follow:)

Holly
xo