The Book Thief

One of the books I read whilst I was on placement in London was this one, The Book Thief.

The blurb reads:
"Liesel, a nine year old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street with the bombs begin to fall."

It's written in the voice of Death, which takes a little bit of getting used to, but the concept is really good once you get your head around it.

So this young girl moves to an unfamiliar area with unfamiliar people, no family or friends around her. Death is telling us about her relationships with the kids on the street, one espeically who becomes her best friend, her new foster parents and the neighbours in the surrounding area.

World War 2 is probably one of my favourite history stories, but I have always read about it from a British point of view. I never really considered the impact it had on the German's, how many of them did not agree with what Hitler had to say, and how our bombing affected innocent neighbourhoods. Families pulled apart with homes and lives lost. This book gave an insight of a different perspective to an all so very familiar war.

Sorry for my absence

Hello friends!

I apologize profusely for my absence the past couple of months, I have been on placement in London and not had much time for myself!

I have been using some fantastic new products and I can't wait to catch up and tell you all about them.

I've read a few books in the company of fellow London commuters, and I really need to tell you all about them as well.

Speak soon,

xxx

Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Protector: Combination to Oily Skin in Light

I don't have the best skin. It's oily and sensitive, I break out in spots and then continue to have blemishes that seem to last for ever.

So as well as wanting a product that will cover my blemishes and even out my skin tone, I also need to take into account my skin type, and use products that are oil free. I also didn't want anything too heavy, especially in the hotter, summer months.

I picked up this BB Cream for £9.99 at Tesco, and I chose this one because it was specifically for oily skin. BB stands for Beauty or Blemish Balm. The best way I could describe what a BB Cream is, is a mixture between a tinted moistuiser and a foundation. I found it with all the moisturisers, as opposed to with the make up. It also has an SPF 20 which can only be a good thing.

I chose the colour Light because I don't have particularly dark skin and didn't want to look orange, even if there was only a little bit of colour in the cream. I hadn't tried it before so didn't really know what to expect.

I first noticed it has quite a thin consistency. I first tried applying this using a foundation brush, but found I could work it into my skin better, and get a more flawless look using my fingers. I rub a small amount in between my clean fingers, dab it around on my face and then work my way around my face and down my neck carefully rubbing it in.

The coverage is good and natural, it evens out my skin tone well, but I do need some concealer around the more prominent blemishes and to cover any under eye circles.

Bare Face

Garnier BB Cream 

BB Cream + concealer

I don't really like the packaging, because the screw top is difficult to replace with the cream on your hand, because if you tilt your hand to screw on the lid, the cream will run away. A pump or clicky lid would be better.

The colour does not last all day and you may need something with a little more coverage if you want more of an all day foundation look. It doesn't really bother me though.

Also, even though this BB Cream is designed for oily to combination skin, my skin can look oily after only a few hours, however I am yet to discover a foundation type product that keeps my oily skin at bay. I will always put a bit of powder on-top to keep the oiliness away for as long as possible and then throughout the day.

So, if you want a product with medium coverage, which is light on the skin, then a BB cream might be for you. There are lots of options out there, this was just the one that I tried.

Any questions, just ask?

Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in shade 080 Strawberry Shortcake

I don't usually wear lipstick, and if I do, it is a natural or nude colour like I'm not wearing any at all.

I recently bought this one which had good reviews from some of the YouTubers I subscribe to - Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi), Tanya Burr (pixi2woo) and Fleur (Fleur De Force).

I really like the packaging as it has a luxurious feel to it where the top is slightly engraved and the metal casing looks nice.

I really enjoy wearing this pretty pink colour, and because it is a lip butter the colour isn't too intense, but you can definitely tell you are wearing something, as well as feeling really soft and moisturising.

I will definitely be picking up a few more colours of this lip butter and I recommend it to people who want to wear a bit of colour on their lips but nothing too over-powering.

Glossy Box: Impress Press-On Nails by Broadway Nails

I recently posted a picture on Twitter of the contents of the August Glossy Box, my first Glossy Box.

The concept of Glossy Box is to allow consumers to test 5 high end products each month and to rate them. You pay £10 a month (+p&p) and your hand-picked products arrive mid month in a beautifully presented box. The products are selected for you according to the beauty profile that you provide them with.

If you want to find out more check out the website here.

So, I want to do a review on the imPRESS press-on nails (seen in the top right corner of the picture left). They are false nails which take minutes to apply and last a week. They come with adhesive already on the nail so no need to mess about with glue.

They were super easy to apply.

I ensured I had no left over nail varnish on, so quickly went over each nail with nail varnish remover. The kit came with a little cloth to clean your nails too, but I thought the nail varnish remover had cleaned my nails enough, so didn't use the cloth.

I emptied all 24 nails in front of me, selected the ones that would fit each nail and laid them out in order. I like colour and pattern on them. My skin tone can carry strong colours like this. They recommend that you should use a nail that is slightly smaller rather than slightly bigger if you can't find one that fits perfectly. I had to chop all of my natural nails off to ensure they weren't too long to show above the fake nails. (My thumb nails were, you can see how short the press-on nail is on my thumb in the photo below, and I have not filed that one down)

I started with my left hand, little finger, and peeled off the little sticker on the back of the nail. I put the cuticle end down first, ensuring it was lined up correctly, and firmly pressed down on it with my thumb. Simple.

I did the four fingers on each hand first, leaving the thumbs last, and here is the finished result. They are stuck down immediately, no waiting for the glue to dry. However, this does mean that is you position the nail incorrectly, you can't really remove it and try again. Once they are stuck they are stuck.

I did get one or two a little wonky, so I used my nail file to make sure the tip was straight, so no one would ever know.

My initial reaction was how unnatural they looked. I am not used to wearing fake nails, so all I could see was fake nails, and the pattern was nothing I had worn before. Every time I looked at my hands, I saw these dark fake nails. I was unsure.

I was in work that evening, and my friends were saying they looked really good, and thought they were the foils/papers that you cut to size and stick on your actual nail, not fake nails at all. The locals noticed them and also commented on how good they looked, however I was still unsure.

They have just been applied

That was Tuesday night, and it is Thursday now, and I have grown used to them. They don't look so strange to me any more or feel so unnatural. One nail of my right hand popped off last night, and the stickiness had gone, however there were many spare nails left in the pack and I found another one that fit. Apart from that one, they still feel really secure and no where near dropping off yet. 

The fact that the adhesive is already on the nail is a blessing, however a nuisance as well. On some the the nails, you can still see some of the glue underneath where the glue goes up further than the natural nail. This has attracted fluff and looks dirty underneath, however these nails are opaque so you can't see it through them. The opposite problem also occures where the glue isn't present far up enough the fake nail so it leaves a gap, no attaching itself to the whole nail. I understand that because the adhesive is out of the consumers control, it won't be perfect on every nail, but if I had a preference I would rather too little glue than too much. I'd rather a small gap, rather than fluff.

The pattern on the surface of the nail is starting to wear off around the tip, but only I can notice that really. It does not take away the effect the nail aims to give.

I don't know whether it is because I have applied them slightly incorrectly, but sometimes when I run my hand through my hair, hair can get caught underneath the cuticle end of the nail, which can be a bit annoying, but something I can deal with.

I do like how the nail is quite soft so bends to your natural nail. I have worn fake nails in the past where your natural nail aches because they are being forced to adopt the shape the of the fake nail that has been applied. These are really comfortable and don't ache at all. Some of my nails are quite flat and some a quite curved and neither feel under any pressure at all.

Overall, I really like this product, and I would purchase it if I wanted a quick long lasting manicure. I would like to try some of the different patterns and colours next time though.

Tropicana: Mango, Peach & Papaya

Who gets bored of Orange Juice in the morning?

There was an offer in Tesco where you could buy 2 cartons of Tropicana for £2.

Now don't get me wrong, I love a nice cold glass of OJ. So I bought a carton of freshly squeezed orange juice with bits, and this one!

What I love about Tropicana is that they are 100% pure squeezed fruit juices, not from concentrate. So they are as healthy as getting some fruit and squeezing it yourself, just without the mess and hard work.

As soon as I got this home from the super market, I wanted to try it. I gave it a little shake and popped open the screw top lid. I watched the smooth liquid pour from the spout into the glass, as took in the colour and the smell. It is a fantastic deep orange colour and smells super tropical, I just couldn't wait to devour it.

A few gulps and it was gone, making me want another glass almost immediately. It is such a refreshing drink, and perfect to accompany a healthy breakfast, however I don't think I am going to be able to limit this delicious juice drink just to breakfast time. I could use this as a quick sweet pick-me-up in the middle of the day too.

Even though nothing compares to a cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, this is definitely worth trying, or maybe for a special occasion if you have visitors for breakfast. Unless you are really fussy, I can't imagine anyone not liking this tropical smooth juicy drink.

Vaseline Essential Moisture: Body Moisturiser

I am quite lucky when it comes to dry skin, in the fact that I don't really get it. However, I like to keep my skin moisturised to keep it looking healthy.

This is my favourite cheap brand of body moisturiser to smother myself in after my morning shower. It just soaks into the skin so easily leaving the skin feeling hydrated all day without feeling greasy, like some heavy moisturisers can do to my skin.

I especially like to use this one after shaving my legs because my skin can get quite irritated and applying this soothes the skin and stops it from itching.

This particular one smells fresh and natural, as do the other flavours. Even though sometimes it is nice to lather my skin in a sweet smelling, coco butter or mango or coconut moisturiser, sometimes I find these smells overpowering throughout the day, and would prefer to use scented ones in the night time.

At the moment I believe Tesco have an offer of this moisturiser, along with the other scents, so if you want to try it out then go and get some for cheaper than usual.

If there is a moisturiser that you like to use, let me know and I will try it out.