Boxing day x

Hi lovely readers! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas with friends and family and have enjoyed the seasonal pleasures of eating and drinking until near explosion as well as opening gifts and just generally chilling out. I'm currently relaxing on the sofa watching the IT crowd and filling up on white wine, pizza and vegan sweets - literally the best way I could think of spending time off work! Although I've had an incredible Christmas period altogether, boxing day really stands out to me so I wanted to share a few pictures on here...

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Secret Santa with HQhair!

The other day I received the most unbelievably amazing box of goodies* from HQhair  - and I am talking seriously unbelievable here! Imagine my delight when I open up the surprise package to find: a HD brows eyeshadow palette, a pur minerals eyeshadow palette, a Grow Gorgeous overnight hair mask, Redken metal fix hair colour, a Maybelline contouring palette AND a gorgeous peachy HD brows gloss amongst other things!... Yes, I have well and truly spoilt rotten.

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Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Baby Love

Hi readers! After yet another long break I'm finally back with a review of my absolute favourite and most beauuuutiful blush ever. I won't bore you with excuses for my absence (new job and life just getting in the way), instead I shall just get straight to singing this product's praises!

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Lookfantastic 1st Birthday Beauty Box

To celebrate their first birthday, LookFantastic put together a special Birthday edition Beauty Box* to spoil all of us beauty junkies with an array of fantastic products. As someone who was lucky enough to receive one of these boxes, I couldn't wait to dive straight in and get my hands on all the wonderful goodies to pamper myself and try out some new brands. Now I've had a while to use the different products I'm excited to share my thoughts with you and rave about a couple of the things I've fallen in love with!

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Paris // 2

Hi lovely readers! I'm back with the second instalment of my Paris posts and if I remember correctly I had just left off after enjoying a delicious lunch in Montmartre. After our meal we headed off to the metro once again to make our way to the Arc de Triomphe.

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Paris // 1

As some of you might know if you follow my instagram I recently got back from the most amazing trip to Paris! I went with my two best friends so obviously we had an absolute blast and took loads of pictures while we were there. I'm so excited to share our trip with you and fill you in on everything we did, but just so I get to ramble on a bit more than usual I decided to split it up into two posts!

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Denim on Denim

Jumpsuit - Topshop // Jacket - Vintage

With so many people rocking double denim right now I thought I would dive right in and try to pull off the look myself! The topshop jumpsuit is a really unique design and I love how it comes in with the cut-out triangle at the waist - it's quite slimming in that respect. Another huge thing I love about it is the pockets just because they add a bit more of a casual feel to the design so it looks less statement and more suited to every day wear.

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DIY: Insta-worthy smoothie bowl!

If you're a big user of Instagram like myself then I'm sure you're no stranger at all to the 'smoothie bowl'. The bowls, full of (you guessed it) smoothie, often feature toppings such as nuts or seeds alongside the remaining unblended fruit, making for a snack that's equally as nutritious as it is insta-worthy. Creating your own smoothie bowl really is as simple as picking out the fruit you want to blend and then whizzing it all together (before arranging it so it looks pretty for social media, obviously) but for anyone who wants a mini step by step I've thrown a super basic one in below:

Firstly, pick your fruit, cut it all up for blending and then put half of that to one side. For this smoothie bowl I went for strawberries, blueberries, nectarine and banana. I also added a bit of vegan yogurt for extra flavour!

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21st birthday... and a return to blogging

Oh hi, still remember me? Don't worry, I don't blame you in the slightest if you don't. Obviously I've been away for a significant amount of time due to various life circumstances (well, actually just one job that completely consumed every inch of my existence) but I recently decided it was a great time for me to have a fresh start (having just graduated and all that) so I moved my life back home ready to start all over again. I'll have to admit I'm currently struggling downsizing from Manchester big city life to being back where I started out but on the plus side it means I actually have some time to invest in my little corner of the internet again!

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Vintage Florals

Skirt - vintage (Cow) // Top - old // Jacket - Topshop (old) // Boots - asos

Photographer - MCH Photography Manchester

Hiiii readers. It feels so good to be posting on here again! I've just started a new job amidst the stress of third year exams so when I say I'm pushed for time I really do mean it. However, I'm definitely going to keep up with 'she dreams' as much as I can even if it means just squeezing in a little post every week or every other week! I'm so excited to be able to share these pictures on here because I feel like I haven't done an outfit post in forever. I headed off into Manchester's Northern Quarter about a week ago and met up with the lovely Monika who had got in touch about taking some photos with me. Obviously I jumped at the chance to create some new blog content and had a really lovely time trying all the different ideas that Monika suggested, and for someone who feels like an absolute idiot in front of a camera she definitely made it as easy as it could be for me (posing in public when there's people walking by is sort of my idea of hell).

I absolutely adore this skirt that I picked up when the Cow Vintage near me was closing down to move to a different location, and because they were getting rid of all the stock I got it for like two quid or something ridiculous - bargaaaiiinn. Everything about it is perfect, it's so long and floaty and feminine in it's shape, the floral pattern is completely gorgeous and the material is unbelievably soft and silky-feeling. I decided to play it safe and wear it with black to sort of toughen up the look and give me a chance to show off my new boots (yet another bargain)!

The one thing I really dislke about these photos is my frizzy hair which I haven't done a thing with for at least six months. I'm currently rocking the dry, damaged, haven't-had-my-colour-done-for-half-a-year look, so when I get a little more money the hair salon will be the first place that I visit! If anyone has any advice in the meantime it would be much appreciated, I do sleep with coconut oil in it every so often but I think it's so far gone that even that isn't really doing anything for me.

Thanks so much for stopping by especially as I haven't been very active on social media or anything lately. The blogosphere is such a big place I do worry that I'll get swept under the carpet by not engaging in blogger chats or twitter conversations but hopefully when things settle down I'll have the chance to be more involved with the community again!

♥ Keep up to date by following me on: ♥

twitter // instagram // facebook // bloglovin'

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Pro Go Mini Brush Set

I've been absolutely loving using these Makeup Revolution brushes recently! The Pro Go Mini Brush Set* includes 4 mini brushes: an angled brush (so perfect for brows), an eyeshadow brush (probs the least used out of this set for me), a foundation brush and a face brush. Not only are they super cute but the fact that they are so compact means they're obviously really easy to pop in your bag and take with you for touch ups! The brushes are also made of synthetic hair so any of you readers who are animal-lovers like myself have absolutely zero to worry about here.

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Manchester Fashion Industry - Nude Tones Event

Yesterday evening I headed into town and made my way to the extremely swish Manchester House Restaurant and Lounge where I zoomed up to level 12 to be greeted by some absolutely stunning views...

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Motel Mini

Skirt - Motel // Top - Topshop // Shoes - Public Desire

I think I've discovered the perfect mini skirt! And best of all it's only a tenner in the asos sale, yep, for realz. It's the perfect shade of blue, the perfect shape and has a really cool zip through front design. Basically, I'm in love. For a casual look I paired it with this high-ish neck topshop t-shirt and my current boots of choice, but it's the kind of item that will go with most things in my wardrobe.

I'm super sorry that I've been absent on here lately but I promise I'm trying to fit in posts when I'm not working on my dissertation! I have no idea how some of you manage to juggle regular blogging with uni, jobs and anything else that might be taking up your time because honestly my mind just boggles when I try and fit everything in. I'm trying to keep active online with social media as much as can as well but even that's proving a bit of a struggle, however I did host the #cfbloggers cruelty-free twitter chat last night for an hour and that was a load of fun! If it's of interest to any of you you should definitely get involved and join in next week as everyone's lovely and it's a great way to discover new cruelty-free makeup options. Anyway, I hope you like this outfit post albeit a rather brief one and hopefully I'll be posting on here again soon!

♥ Keep up to date by following me on: ♥

twitter // instagram // facebook // bloglovin'

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I ♡ Makeup Black Velvet Palette

I ever so kindly received the gorgeous Black Velvet Palette* from Makeup Revolution recently and due to large amounts uni work I have only just got round to testing this bad boy out! The shades are so so beautiful and perfect for the smoky eye looks that I absolutely love creating - I especially love the 3 shimmer shades with 'Cry' being my overall favourite (second to last shade on the third row).

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B. Creative - Pro Face Kit

Hiiiii. How are all you strangers doing? I'm not even gonna bore you with any excuses, I've just been a bit of a shitty blogger recently, so without any further ado let's get onto the focus of this post! I picked up this B. Creative art edition Vol. 5 Pro Face kit- Light from the Superdrug B. range a few weeks ago and have literally been using it every day since then, so it definitely deserves a mention on here.

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Makeup Revolution - I heart Obsession

I was recently lucky enough to receive the new Makeup Revolution 'West End Girls'* and 'Wild is the Wind'* palettes from their I <3 Obsession range, and as always I was so excited to try the products out and see how the different shades would look once applied to the skin. I decided to swatch my favourite out of the two palettes, 'Wild is the Wind', so that you can see the shades in a bit more detail and get a clearer idea of how pigmented they are.

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Funnel Neck + High Waisted Jeans OOTD

Top - Topshop // Jeans - Topshop // Boots - John Lewis (old) // Watch - Folli Follie

I'm so glad I've finally found a spare hour to blog again! Honestly I feel so bad for neglecting things over here but I'm running round like a headless chicken at the minute trying to do uni work and it just feels like there aren't enough hours in the day - third year woes!

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Get More Sleep with More Drinks

This week is National Sleep Awareness Week, so to help me get prepared for a week of good sleep More Drinks have kindly sent this kit - including their Multivitamin drink* to keep my immune system topped up! I always find that getting into a good routine of eating healthily (plenty of water and fruit and veg) and exercising a few times a week really helps me to sleep well at night, and these drinks are another fab way of making sure that I'm keeping healthy by not missing out on any vital vitamins.

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The Miniaturist Review

After finishing The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton I couldn't wait to share my thoughts on here as I really got stuck into it and thought it might be something a few of you readers could be interested in too. I won't lie, the cover completely drew me in to begin with, along with the 'Haunting, magical and full of surprises' slapped right on the front, but luckily this wasn't a case of pretty cover, shitty book, so we're all good!

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NEW Makeup Revolution Oil Control Fixing Spray

I was so so excited to receive this brand new product from Makeup Revolution recently because it sounded completely perfect for my troublesome skin. The pro fix oil control makeup fixing spray* aims to deflect surface shine, keeping you naturally matte throughout the day, fixing your makeup in place so that foundations and eye products resist smudging and fading as the hours go by. I suffer from annoyingly oily skin with shine so persistent it seems to be able to break through any products and powders that I apply, so I was really intrigued to see what effect this spray would have - if any!

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Healthy, tasty (vegan-friendly) lunch ideas

The new year really gave me a kick up the bum when it came to eating healthily and taking part in regular exercise, and the motivation that I had to get fit at the start of January still hasn't worn off (yet).

A really big thing for me is to make sure that I'm eating meals that I actually enjoy so I don't end up begrudging the whole being healthy thing (no processed shakes, skinny soups or cardboard-tasting rice cakes in sight). The way I see it, if I can eat meals that taste nice then I'm much less likely to slip back into other bad habits, and my little theory seems to be working out pretty well so far. I know that a lot of people are still aiming to get fit at this time of the year so I thought it might be useful if I shared a few easy meal ideas on here - all vegan of course. These 3 lunch ideas are all super tasty as well as being really quick and easy to make, so hopefully there will be something below that you might enjoy!

Avocado on toast

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The Vegan Kind - Chocolate Heaven Box

When I saw that TheVeganKind had teamed up with Considerit Chocolate to create a Valentine's Day box full of delicious vegan-friendly treats I just knew that it had to be mine. For only £13.15 the box swiftly arrived in a couple of days, full of the prettiest and tastiest chocolates you can imagine. In my box, I received a cranberry crunch chocolate bar, raspberry chocolate truffle bar, chocolate and honeycomb bar, a bag of chocolate shards and a mini box of heart shaped chocolates in flavours salted caramel, chilli, chocolate truffle and raspberry.

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Snooping around Manchester museum

The other week I decided to go look round the Manchester Museum because I pass it basically every time I go to uni but have never actually bothered to go in before. I didn't really think it would be anything special as I never see any hype about it or anything (then again it is a museum, I don't really know what I was expecting) but honestly it was SO cool! I turned into such a child while I was there, eagerly snapping away with my camera and getting overly excited about every single thing that I saw (especially the chameleon!!) so I was really glad that I'd made the trip as it was definitely worth it. Just in case any of you readers are interested in going - which I would 100% recommend - I've added a few of the pictures that I took there so that you know what to expect! Basically just lots of dead things.

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