My Haircare Routine

Hello!
Wow, it has been a LONG time since I have last posted, but alas, nothing has changed as I simply just want to share my passions with you.

So, today, I thought I would show you my hair care routine as I have never done anything to do with hair on my blog before.

I hope you enjoy!

When do I wash my hair?

Usually, I wash my hair every other day, but days where I have been particually busy I end up washing it every day- which I know is bad for you hair, however I despise my hair when it doesn't smell like shampoo. (Weird, right)

Even though I wash my hair every other day, sometimes I can get to 4 days without washing my hair- I feel so disgusting sharing this- and it normally will still look like freshly washed hair. I am not sure if this is only because I have medium cut length or whether its as I have the thicker side of having fair hair or not.

What products do I use?

I recently took a trip to boots to buy some new hair care products as I wanted to try something new as I had been using the body shop: banana shampoo and conditioner, which did work wonders on my hair. Moreover, I still love the product, but it was just time for something new.

Currently I am using Lee Stafford: my big fat healthy hair (shampoo and conditioner) and I am also using, Lee Stafford: for hair that never grows past a certain length (hair mask/treatment).

I LOVE the smell of the products, I believe the scent is floral with a fruity twist.

The shampoo instantly makes my hair feel fresher and I have noticed that my hair is a lot smoother than before. 

The conditioner is perfect as it leaves you hair feeling soft and moisturized, thankfully not greasy.

I typically use the hair mask in the shower after using the shampoo and I leave it in for 2-5 minutes, massaging it into the roots of my hair. This is beneficial to me as I pull strands of my hair when I am stressed, ( so everyday) which I great as it calms the roots of my hair when I use it. 

The mask also has the same scent as the other two products.

How do you dry your hair?

I don't actually blow dry my hair as I like to leave it to dry naturally, plus It makes my hair frizzy, despite using heat protection (mine is a duo protection).

And that is it!

I hope I will see you in my next post!x

Rimmel London Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder: Review

Hello!
Sorry it has been so long since my last post (I don't actually have an excuse as to why I haven't posted) so lets just ignore that factor as today I will be reviewing my new transparent powder!

Please feel free to recommend any drugstore products that you have found to be amazing.

To start of, I should have bought this powder before, rather than waste my money originally on the collection one (oops!) as it is much better; which I expected considering its Rimmel!

The packaging is very simplistic and very easy to fit into my makeup bag, which is rapidly getting harder to close- which obviously means I have spent too much money on makeup these past few months. 

My only concern is that the plastic top may break if something accidentally prods it (fingers crossed that doesn't happen!) and that I won't be able to cover it back up.

The base colour of the packaging is very cute as its a pastel green/mint, but it would look even prettier if Rimmel did coloured powders with a different base colour each time, eg. Medium could have a pastel pink color- just to make things fit in together, rather than being anomaly's.

Now, on to the powder!:

After all the raving reviews I had heard on this, I definitely knew what I was buying. The powder itself is not heavy and does not leave a caked residue, and can easily be rubbed off any item of clothing. Moreover, because the powder is so light, I wasn't that surprised to see that it didn't stay very long, (probably only an hour) despite what the packaging said as it claimed to stay on for 5 hours- which seems a bit surreal. I don't necessarily mind that the product doesn't last 5hours but would at least expect it to last more than 1 hour as here I am, reapplying it once again.

Despite that, I was generally pleased with the purchase as it was only £3.99 at my local boots and wasn't likely to leave me loathing it.

Thank you for reading, I will be back with another post soon.

~Jade

What's in my Makeup bag:

Hello!
Today, I thought I would do a what's in my makeup bag blog post because my makeup collection has grew slightly- keeping in mind that I only started wearing it in march!
I will not be reviewing ALL of the products in this post because I have a feeling it would be extremely boring.

So this is my makeup bag, which is from the Body shop a few years back, it is perfect for travel, however doesn't give much space so I will not be using it for long

The Products I use are:

Showgirl Barry M mascara

No7 powder brush/ blush

Natural Collection shade Mermaid

Natural Collection shade White Opal

Collection Lasting Perfection powder

Collection Eyes uncovered palette

Collection white eye crayon

Collection Lasting Perfection concealer

Real Technique brushes

New Look base shadow brush

When I got this powder, I didn't realise I picked up the wrong shade and was confused to why it was very orangey. It doesn't stay on my skin very well and is VERY powdery. I personally wouldn't buy this again so please leave some suggestions for some transparent powders.

This concealer is the right shade, however, it builds up an orangey tone to it when applied to blemishes and doesn't blend very well at all, I am currently looking in to buying a seventeen one as I find it very difficult for concealers to made my skin tone. This concealer is very thick and I find it easier to blend with my finger, rather than a brush (I have been told not to use my finger but brushes don't cut it for me)

I LOVE this eye crayon! It is very brightening on my eyes, and is good for lining and can be blended easily- to give a pearly impression! I would definitely recommend this as it is very smooth and the colour is perfect for brightening your eyes and could be passed off as an eyeshadow, despite it not having a powdery texture (which I really dislike about eyeshadows). I would wear this any day.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I am sorry it is short, but expect a better post next week!

Collaboration: Baking With Maddie & Jade

Hello!
As promised, myself and Maddie are doing a monthly collaboration and this is our first one.
We decided to bake Double Chocolate Muffins, considering we are soo advanced in baking! This was a challenging process, but the end result was worth it...
Please feel free to comment any suggestions for our next collab!

The ingredients you will need are:

30g of Cocoa powder
140g of Self raising flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
50g of light muscavado sugar
170g of milk chocolate (roughly chopped)
2 eggs
6tsp of milk
80g of lightly salted butter (melted)
80g of plain/dark chocolate (roughly chopped)

This recipe will make 12 muffins.

METHOD:

The first thing you will need to to do is WASH your hands (because everyone does that...) and then preheat your oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. After that, you then need to line 12 muffin cases on a 12-sectioned tin.

Next, sift the cocoa powder and flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and then stir in the light muscavado sugar and the chopped milk chocolate.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and butter (melted) with a fork until you see a smooth consistent mixture.

Once you have completed that step, you will need to pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and gently fold using a metal spoon.

As soon as the mixture has been folden, spoon the mixture into the cases, making sure they are level with the top, and place them into the oven to bake for 15minutes. (Make sure the muffins do not burn)

Once 15 minutes is up, place the muffins on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Then, break up the dark chocolate and place it in a heat proof bowl, and then place it over a saucepan with hot boiling water.

Finally, drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooling muffins and volia!

We hope you enjoyed this collab, please leave a +1 and a comment if you did.

The Next collab will be on Maddie's blog next month!

Maddie's blog: http://lifestyleblogger2001.blogspot.co.uk

Collaboration

Hello!
I am sorry but me and Maddie will not be collabing monthly anymore as we haven't found the time to, plus blogging together is quite inconvenient as its more of a solo job, but please still do check out her blog as it is probably my favourite! (haha)

Maddie's blog link: http://lifestyleblogger2001.blogspot.co.uk/

Collective Haul

Hello!
Welcome back to my blog! Last weekend I did a lush bath bomb haul and today I have another haul for you!
Also, please excuse the photos I have taken as they are not as good as they could be because I didn't use my phone to take them, next week expect better photos!
I hope you enjoy this post.

The first item I picked up was a thin jumper from Topshop and it was in the sale. I saw this jumper last week, however was dissuaded by the price, but it now had £18 off the original price; obviously I could not resist!

As this jumper is quite thin- but thick enough to not be see-through- it is perfect for a transitional season like spring and can easily be matched with high-waisted black jeans or leggings.

Two things that I love about this jumper are that the sleeves come in on the wrists, and are elasticated- I think that is quite cute and would look perfect with a watch- and that the back doesn't have the same pattern that is on the front.

From the back, it gives the impression that only the sleeves are the forest green, flowery pattern; ultimately not making the jumper too busy. I liked that the black back really made the jumper feel complete.

I bought the jumper in one size bigger because I found that the sleeves were quite short when I tried it on, and I wanted the jumper to swing from my hips when I walk as it really emphasizes the pattern.

I was rather pleased with this purchase as I saved quite a bit of money, which then let me buy these next items.

I then picked up this pink strapped, rose gold watch and I was mesmerized by how gorgeous it was and the price! The watch was only £12.99 ( a very good price) and it doesn't look cheap at all. I bought it from New Look, and this was sadly the only item I bought from the shop.
The pink and the rose gold elements really go well together and are very subtle and will go with most outfits.

The detail on the watch face is so beautiful as the flowers really tie in the theme of the watch. I would recommend looking at some of the watches from New Look as they are probably some of the prettiest I have seen in a while! The watch fits perfectly on my wrist, and as the strap isn't too thick, I don't have the problem of worrying about my wrist feeling sweaty.

After picking up that item, I went to lush again and picked up three bathbombs- like usual.

This time I bought my all time favourite; dragons egg which is a sweet bathbomb that smells like lemon sherbet and lot's of citrus scents.

If I am remembering correctly, dragons egg is only £3.65 and I think that is a fantastic price for this bath bomb as it is one of the larger ones- so you can have bigger baths- and doesn't loose it's scent.

Another bathbomb I picked up was Twilight, and the scents were similar, but twilight has a mild sweet scent, mixed in with a toffee or caramel. I have never used this one so I am very excited to.

It is said to help with sleep with the lavender scent so it is perfect for a relaxing night in or a pamper evening. Your bath turns a deep purple with this bath bomb, like the night time sky.

The Last bathbomb I picked up was Fizzbanger, which like twilight, I have never used before. The three bathbombs I picked up had very similar scents, but fizzbanger was more fresh and has popping candy in.

I could smell cinnamon in it too and it is very soothing for your skin and makes it feel very moisturized. I could also smell sweet apple in it, so it is obviously a fruity bath bomb.

Now, the last item I picked up was from boots. I bought the Soap & Glory: Face Soap and Clarity, Vitiamin C Facial wash. This was £6 for 320ml, some could argue that that is a bit pricey, but I was interested to try it as I have very sensitive skin and struggle finding a face wash that doesn't give me a rash or swollen eyes (which is what I got from Boots hypo allergenic wipes) and decided I would give it a shot.

I was very surprised that when I used it last night, I found that I didn't need to moisturize after, which is the opposite to what I have to do when I use The Body shop: Green tea facial.

The scent of the facial wash was very sweet and relaxing, it was the perfect amount.

When using this, I found I only had to use a small squirt of it as that would cover my whole face. Also, the face wash does take of makeup very easily, so I recommend buying this instead of splurging on a very expensive remover.

I really hope you have enjoyed reading this post and I will see you with another blog post next week!

Lush: Bath bomb haul

Hello!

I thought I would show you my new bath bombs that I got on a recent trip to a different city! You can still buy all of these bath bombs, and I recommend you to buy some as they smell absolutely gorgeous, and don't cause irritation!

To start of, I thought I would say that I have very sensitive skin, and it gets irritated a lot, so finding a shop, like lush, which doesn't irritate my skin was sure to put a big smile on my face. Also, lush do not test on animals which is one of the reasons why they suddenly became popular as it attracted different groups of people.

The first bath bomb I picked up was Avobath as it is one of my favourites, as it smells so sweet with the prolonging lemon scent. I think it is very similar to Dragons Egg which has a lemon smell too, with other similar sherbet scents. The bath bomb itself is a generous size so it is perfect for those who have larger baths!

The bath bomb leaves my skin feeling nourished and moisturized as I feel it makes the bath water-that it turns green- softer due to the mashed avocado in the product.
Overall, it is consistently up to the standards I would expect, and never fails to disappoint me!

The Next Bathbomb I picked up was Space Girl, which I had never bought before, so was very excited to try. Even though the worker in the shop told me it had grapefruit in, all I could smell were sweet flowers, not at all like roses, but a very sweet flowery scent. However, I could smell the grapefruit, which was very strong too and another citrus scent too, which I couldn't figure out.

The only thing I would change about the bathbomb would be the size; I would make it bigger! It is an average size but I think it would be so much better if it were slightly bigger. (Anybody else agree on this?)

The Last bath bomb I bought was Big Blue as one of the workers overheard me talking to my mother about having dry skin, and recommended this as it had seaweed in it, which was apparently very good for dry skin. The Product smells like a weak lemon and lavender, as the two scents would probably not go the best together as they would contrast too much, and the lemon helps to sooth the mind- which I DEFINITELY need at the moment!

The only thing I am worried about is that there may be too much seaweed, which somebody had said previously on their website, as I'm not sure about you but, I'm not the biggest fan of seaweed getting tangled between my toes![?]

Thank you for reading this post!

{IF YOU ARE STILL READING, COMMENT YOUR FAVOURITE LUSH BATH BOMB!xx}

Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette: Review

Hello!

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, unfortunately I was having a love- hate relationship with blogging, so I took a break.

But I am back!

Today I will be reviewing the Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette. My friend Hannah, who has a blog, also has this palette and I thought it was gorgeous and a key necessity for my growing eye shadow collection!

Going to my local Superdrug, I walked over to the Collection stand and was on the hunt for this palette and found it almost immediately, I was overly-excited about the price too as it was only £3.99 and couldn't wait to experiment with the different neutral shades.

When I got home, I started to get my Real techniques brushes out to apply the eye shadows on to my eyelids. The eye shadows were surprisingly good for £3.99 as they didn't powder on to my eyes, instead the eye shadow applied smoothly and blended excellent into the other shades to create a more gradual look.

I think this is a fantastic palette for people who are new to makeup- like myself- and to those who want a more natural subtle look.

Even though the palette does come with a small double sided brush, I used the Real tecniques BASE SHADOW brush as I knew it would be a lot better and is softer on your skin, rather than using a hard sponge brush.

The shades (from left to right) are called:

White Chocolate, a pale cream shade, which is also good for highlighting.

Buttercream, a slightly darker cream shade with elements of pale gold browns in.

Biscuit, it is perfect for a light base shadow as it brightens your eyes up.

Chocolate Milk, I use this one for working into the crease as it blends nicely to create a lighter smokey eye.

Brown Sugar, I mostly use this for going over the Chocolate Milk shade for two layers, which balances it out on the eyelid more when blending.

Espresso, I haven't used this shade much as I have quite pale skin and it is very pigmented and is too dark, but it is perfect for a smokey eye on somebody who is looking for a sharper finish, or somebody with darker skin.

I really hope you have enjoyed this blog post and aren't too angry that I haven't posted as often as I probably could have!

Q&A | Spring

Before I start this post, I'd like to thank my friend Hannah, who also has a blog (hannaporterx.blogspot.co.uk) for helping me find a new passion and keeps encouraging me to continue!

What is your fashion staple item for Spring 2015?

I'd have to say that my spring fashion staple is a good pair of light jeans as in spring it is still quite cold, so I'm not very likely to wear shorts! I find that during spring, all the high street stores start to release some really nice light wash jeans!

Light wash jeans are mandatory for me in spring because I start to create outfits that are generally lighter colours and I feel jeans will usually balance out your whole outfit.

Also, you can wear jeans all year round and nobody will know that you bought them last summer!

Jeans are very versatile, and in spring 2015, I could easily pair them with a simple crop top and a hoodie! (if needed)

There are so many different fits and colours so I do recommend you try on a few pairs and get ready for spring.

What is your favourite nail polish for Spring?

My favourite nail polish for spring would probably be The Natural Collection: Shimmer Pink. I initially thought this nail polish would not apply very nicely as it was a very cheap price, however I was surprised and intrigued by the colour as it was absolutely gorgeous! The nail polish does need a few coats in order to get the solid colour, but it is worth it because of the alluring colour. As it is a light pink, it definitely fits in with spring colours.

What is your favourite colour/pattern during Spring?

During Spring, I really like florals as I feel they are more popular and present within clothing and items during spring time. Also, they include shades such as pale/pastel pinks, light greens and plain whites.

Nevertheless, my favourite colour during spring is light pink as it really brings out the colours in certain items of clothing and it is similar to the nail polish I showed previously.

What hairstyles do you like to wear during Spring?

Usually I like to wear my hair down and straighten it during spring, but this spring I would like to have it wavy more often so it's not as boring as it has been in the past few years.

If it gets too hot- which I highly doubt it will- I put my hair in a high ponytail as it gets it out the way. But to make it not as boring, I braid a small piece of my hair and wrap it around the hairband, and then secure it with a bobby pin, to create the impression that I have a braided hairband. I think this looks very pretty because it makes a boring ponytail, not as boring.

My hair is quite short and its about 2 inches past my shoulders, so some hairstyles, like a fishtail braid may not work but could work on others who have longer hair with less obvious layers. I am hoping to keep this length for a while so I won't be able to do these sort of braids unfortunately!

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post.

Self Confidence

Welcome back to my blog, I hope you enjoyed the last post!

In this post I am going to be giving you the top 3 tips for how to have confidence in yourself, as many teens and adults seem to be lacking in confidence in recent years.

Only do it for yourself

If you want to loose weight, or gain weight (if you have trouble with putting on the pounds) then only do if for yourself. You shouldn't have to change to match others opinions, otherwise we would all be the same- what a boring world that would be! You don't have to look a certain way to fit in. Nobody actually does fit in as we are all different by a mile!

If you're "friends" are making you change your looks (and you don't want to) then they are probably not your friends.

Think Positive

Nobody has a perfect life, and nobody will. However, you can make your life much more positive by doing simple things!

Smiling can boost your confidence, even if it is not a true smile. By just smiling, you can look happier and feel happier! It's such a simple thing, and works (believe me).

Everybody has their own way of feeling positive, even if it is just listening to the right music!

Don't compare yourself to everybody else, as you were made to look like you, not them.

If you think positive, then you will gradually become a more positive person.

Saying Yes

There is probably something we have all been putting off for a while, whether its being too nervous to start the club you signed up for, or even meeting new people.

Even these things can lead you to start amazing things. Everybody needs a bit more of yes in their life, and it could lead to so many possibilities!

For example, if somebody was first in line and they didn't want to go, volunteer to go before, you will sound brave and you will get what you are doing, done and over with. It also boosts your self confidence.

It's impossible to say yes to everything, however saying it more than you usually do is taking a step forward, rather than backwards and can sometimes boost relationships with peers!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post.

My Favourite Book of the Week

To start of my first blog post, I thought I would show you my favourite book of the week. Reading has always been a big part of my life and I have always loved it! I hope this may influence you to purchase this book.

Girl Online: Zoe Sugg

I have recently just finished reading this and absolutely loved it!

I am not going to deny that, before reading, I expected it to be a lot less detailed. However, when I started to read it, I was very surprised to how much detail it went into.

I thought the story line was well planned out as something new was always happening in each chapter, and also that it was quite a large book. At first, I assumed the book would only be a 200 page book, considering it was the first book. But when I bought the book, I was ecstatic to see that the book was much larger.

Penny, the main character, deals with panic attacks and has to learn how to deal and control them. I thought Zoe had done a great job with this part, especially because she also deals with panic attacks, and it was another way of explaining how she feels, and what other people feel when they are happening.

In these situations, we see how Penny reacts to what is happening, and also the people who love and care for her watching. Zoe explained in the book that people want to help Penny, but don't know what is happening, so they then feel sorry for her. Penny, in these cases, didn't want people to feel sorry for her, she wanted them to understand.

In one chapter, we see Penny and another character, Noah, on a car journey and Penny gets a panic attack. When it's over, she asks if he is angry with her. Zoe has  showed an event (not necessarily the car journey) where she has asked if they are angry at her, so she keeps saying sorry.

To link to that, in one of Alfie's vlogs (pointlessblog) he explained that nobody wants a panic attack and that Zoe does feel sorry for whats happening. I do feel that Zoe has linked all of her experiences into this book, which is one of the reasons why it was as successful as it was.

I hope you enjoyed my first blog post! <3