FIVE HOLIDAY SONGS I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO

All I seemed to be doing recently was sitting by the pool under the hot sun, which must mean one thing - I was on holiday! (A post about that later). 

For me, there's nothing better than sitting with my headphones in listening to my 'holiday' playlist whilst drinking cocktails and getting tanned. I'm also a strong believer that music heavily affects your mood so I had to choose wisely when putting my playlist together. Here's my top five favourite songs I couldn't get enough of on holiday;

(In no specific order)

1. Hangover - Taio Cruz

2. Wasted - Tiesto

3. Break free - Arianna Grande

4. Nobody to love - Sigma

5. Infinity - Guru Josh Project

My list consists of new and old music beauties and without these songs my holiday and mood wouldn't have been the same! They all just put me in a brilliant mood as soon as I hear them and go perfectly with the hot sunshine! 

#TBT: BEAUTY PRODUCTS - SO...? KISS ME FRAGRANCES

Whether you're 16 or 26 (and probably older), you will most likely have had some kind of So...? Kiss Me product on your shelf when you were younger. My Christmas and birthdays were full of receiving many So...? Kiss Me products whether it's perfume, sprays or socks (yes, really) and I loved it!

So...? is still very popular now and growing up the amount of So...? presents have decreased, until my last birthday when my house mate wanted to reminisce and bought me this So...? Kiss Me original perfume and I love it now just as much as I loved it back in the day. I always try to buy So...? body sprays every time I see them too just because it reminds me of my childhood - a place in my heart that I treasure deeply. So basically, if you ever want to get me a birthday or Christmas present, you're always safe with anything So....?

Can you think of a #TBT beauty product? Comment below and I'll feature it on my blog.

PACO RABANNE LADY MILLION PERFUME

I was extremely jealous - slash happy - when my boyfriend bought Paco Rabanne 1 Million Men's Fragrance. I absolutely adore the men's version of 1 Million so next time I was in a perfume shop, I took a sniff at the women's version, and even though nothing can beat the gorgeous smell of my boyfriends aftershave, I was pretty impressed with this one. So naturally, this was high on my wish list.

A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to get this perfume (50ml as well!) and I can only explain the fragrance as classy and very feminine. It sound silly but it makes me feel very special. It just as gorgeous, and lasts just as long as the men's fragrance - me and my boyfriend are matching, isn't that cute?! Unfortunately, he doesn't think so.

As you will know, Paco Rabanne is known as a high end fragrance brand so as you can imagine, it isn't the cheapest of perfumes but it is definitely worth the money. This is my 'special-occassions' perfume (don't you think it's silly how we have different perfumes for different occasions?) and I have been complemented on my smell a lot when wearing this perfume than any other of my fragrances - it's nice to know that other people can smell the feminine perfume too, that's always a bonus!

#TBT: BEAUTY PRODUCTS - NEUTROGENA WAVE

This is my new feature - #TBT (Throw Back Thursday, for those of you who don't know). Every Thursday I am going to be reminiscing on the beauty products that we all remember. First of all, Neutrogena Wave - the facial cleanser every teenage girl wanted, including myself.

A little handheld machine which cleanses your face when applied with refill cleansing pads. The advert also starred Vanessa Hudgens and it was the 'craze' back in the High School Musical days so obviously, every young girl wanted to use the same as Vanessa did.

This product is basically non-existant in highstreet stores anymore and it definitely isn't nowhere near as popular as it was. Every one I knew wanted the Neutrogena Wave as part of their facial routine and I used to love it! It wasn't the best of cleansers - especially thinking back on it now - but it was fine for my growing and fresh skin when I was 13/14. I do miss this little product, however I have found other facial cleansers which really do the job!

Can you think of a #TBT beauty product? Comment below and I'll feature it on my blog!

MY ON-THE-GO BEAUTY BAG

Every girl carries beauty necessities in their bag every time they leave the house, whether it's going on a night out or going to work. Unfortunately, I haven't been going out much recently, but here is my on-the-go work beauty bag. It contains:

Clinique lipgloss in Passionfruit

Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer

Soap & Glory Hand Food

E.L.F Sheer Mineral Booster (Powder)

I have been getting a lot of spots and red blemishes recently and ever since then, I have had to keep my concealer close by. The concealer last for ages any way but spots can never be too concealed after all! I have recently bought E.L.F's Sheer Mineral Booster (which I will uploading a post about very soon) and because of the amount I work at the moment, and the spots that keep reoccurring on my chin, the powder has to come with me to stop unwanted shine and to cover up even more the red spots.  I'm not really one for lipstick - I have a couple that I hardly ever use - but I much prefer lipgloss. I got Clinique's lip gloss free in a glossy magazine a couple of months ago, I remember loving it as soon as I tried it but somehow it got lost in the massive piles I lipgloss I already own. Thankfully, I have found my trusty new lipgloss and now it never leaves my side. I don't normally have a problem with dry hands, but ever since I have started working in a pub the alcohol has ruined my hands and now I can't get enough of Soap & Glory's Hand Food. This product is a must at work.

BEAUTY TIPS: A TIP I SWEAR BY

I have heard my fair share of absolutely ridiculous beauty tips and this one might sound crazy but trust me it actually works - applying toothpaste to spots. Silly, right?

I'm being completely serious here and it does work. Next time you have a couple of spots that won't go away apply toothpaste to them and you will see later that day (or in the morning) that the spot/s have gone down a considerable amount. I had many really red spots on my chin a week ago and applied toothpaste to my spot once a day for a 2 or 3 days and even though I still have small red marks (which are going down), the spots themselves have gone! Voila!

Have you got any weird beauty tips you'd like to share? Let me know!

TOP 10: DISNEY FILM SONGS

Okay so I know that this isn't a beauty post, but I'm going to start posting lifestyle, fashion and music pieces on this blog as well so I hope that you enjoy them all.

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a bit of a Disney geek and I know very few people who don't like Disney films and the music that comes with it. There's nothing better that reliving your childhood and the enjoyment and fascination of watching a Disney film for the first time. So on this lovely Saturday morning/afternoon, come and join with reliving 10 of my favourite Disney films. Make sure you comment with your favourite or if there's any that I've missed off!

10. You've got a friend in me - Toy Story

9. How do you know - Enchanted

8. Kiss the girl - Little Mermaid

7. Colour of the wind - Pocahontas

6. He's a pirate - Pirates Of The Caribbean

5. Friend like me - Aladdin

RIP Robin Williams

4. A whole new world - Aladdin

3. Tale as old as time - Beauty And The Beast

2. Let It Go - Frozen

1. Circle of life - Lion King

THE BODY SHOP MANGO BODY BUTTER | PRODUCT REVIEW

It's no secret that I am completely and utterly in love with The Body Shop and their Mango body butter was the first product I bought from there and three years later it's still high on my shopping list. There was so many to choose from and I have tried plenty (the Christmas vanilla was too die for!) but as soon as I took a whiff of this one I was convinced.

This is made with mango seed oil which makes the fragrance very strong and smells heavily on mangos (well, durr). But the 'butter' element in this body butter can be smelt too as the fragrance is completed with a nice creamy smell. And it lasts for hours - I can apply it in the morning and by night time I can still smell it on my skin. But don't get me wrong, it's not overwhelming at all. The smell compliments the thick yet creamy texture of the body butter very well. And you might think that I'm talking a bit too much about the smell of the product instead of what the product actually does, but the reason why is the fragrance is 100% the reason why I bought this product and for me personally, it makes moisturising that little bit more enjoyable. Can you tell that I like the smell of this product?

Well enough about that and let's get on with it, shall we? The body butter itself it very thick and immediately after looking at the silky moisturiser I could tell that this was going to do the job. With this a little bit goes a long way because it is so thick. I scoop a bit with my finger and that'll do for the bottom part of my leg, including my feet and knees!

This is one of my most re-bought items just because the end result is like something I've never experienced before. Other moisturisers do the job, they moisturise. But The Body Shop's body butters moisturise, they replenish, they make the skin literally silky smooth and they smell damn good (sorry, back on that topic again).

And it does exactly what it says on the tin: "24 hour hydration for very dry skin". Now my arms and legs aren't the driest (they can have their days though, believe me!) but even at their driest days the hydration and moisture stays all day. I'm more of a fan of moisturising at night rather than in the day (just simply for the reason that when I moisturise in the morning, it's hard to put any clothes on because the textures sliding on each other don't react well) but when I wake up in the mornings I still feel that my legs are moisturised.

As you can probably tell I am completely in love with this product and want to try the strawberry one next as I smelt it in store and it smelt like Hubba Bubba! I brought chocolate the other day though so I'll let you know how I get on with that one! But no matter how much the strawberry and chocolate take my fancy, nothing will compare to my first love: mango.

RIMMEL LONDON 60 SECONDS RITA ORA NAIL VARNISH - BREAKFAST IN BED

If you read my last nail varnish review than you will know that I wasn't happy, it was really lumpy and took a lifetime to dry. Even though I loved the colour I wanted to get another nail varish in a similar colour but a different brand - a brand I could trust. Rimmel London are a popular high street brand - as I am sure you are all aware - so when I saw their 60 seconds Rita Ora collection for £2.69 (TWO POUND SIXTY NINE! How good is it?!) I couldn't resist and I am so glad that I bought it.

It glides on like a dream and there were no lumps in sight. Hooray! And it does what it says on the tin, it's probably not 60 seconds but it does dry very quickly. The colour is gorgeous and I couldn't stop looking at it the day I first wore it. I stays on for a while to, it's not ever lasting but you can tell that it has been produced by a professional beauty company.

It is quite thin so I had to put 3 layers on polish on each nail but the result product is beautiful. I will definitely buy more of Rimmel London's 60 Seconds Nail range - Clear and Lets Get Nude are on the top of my list.

This particular colour has also been chosen specifically by Rita Ora (hence the signed picture on the top) which makes this nail polish that little bit cooler! For tips on how to neaten up nails, click here.

HOW TO: KEEP YOUR BEAUTY ROUTINE THROUGHOUT UNIVERSITY

University: a place where many of us will go and I am sure that a fair few of you reading this now will be going to university in September, whether as a first year (wheeyyyy fresheeer) or a returning student - I fall into the second category. I have found that whilst I'm at university, my beauty routine - and therefore, my appearance - slip away. With all the late nights, early mornings, revising, essay writing, societies, fairs and food making I just struggle to fit in anytime to look nice. Unfortunately my course is one of the few courses at my university to have 9 - 5 practically every day which meant getting up early in the mornings despite getting in late at night. In the mornings I would wake up, whack any piece of makeup I could find on my face and head off to my lectures. Moisturising and nail painting was practically non-existent in my life until midway through my second year when I stopped and thought that I need to take care of myself more.

The first couple of weeks as a fresher, at night time I would always put as much effort into my appearance as possible, but when it come to day times I stopped caring - it's bad, I know. So if you're the same, or if you going to uni for the first time in September, read the list below to make sure you take care of yourself and appearance.

Bedtimes are you friends.
When you're having a night in, use your time before bed wisely. When watching the TV or waiting for your food to cook, paint your nails, put on a face mask or moisturise. If you use a overnight serum then make sure you apply it every night, you know just as much as I do how much that serum improves your skin.

Always take your makeup off before bed
No matter how drunk or tired you are JUST DO IT. You will thank yourself for it in the morning and you won't be waking up looking like a clown.

If (when) drunk, down a pint or two of water.
This is my go-to move when I've had a few too many. As soon as I am home I down a pint of water, not only doesn't it decrease the hangover the next morning but you are hydrating your body, therefore hydrating you skin - if you do this, as well as taking your make up off, you're golden!

Sundays.
Ahh Sundays. The day of rest, especially if you're a part of a society. Many sports teams train on Saturdays so you only really have Sundays to relax. I was part of the cheerleading society and always called Sunday's my pamper days. Shower. Moisturise. Blow dry/straighten hair. Paint nails. Face mask. Relax.

It may be expensive but make sure you wash your clothes.
Eww, right? This is simple hygiene but make sure you do it. Nobody likes someone with scruffy and smelling clothing.

Before going to uni, master the 'I-can't-be-bothered-to-do-my-hair' up do.
I have this look nailed to perfection. For some people it might be a messy bun, or others it might be the plait but make sure that you have a quick, stylish hairstyle you can do in the mornings when you just can't be bothered. 

Three pieces of makeup to always use: mascara, concealer (under-eye concealer) and bronzer.
Using mascara and under-eye concealer will open your eyes and make them look fresh and will hide the dark circles, which will make you look as if you have had a lot more hours sleep than just 3 hours. Bronzer will give you more colour and brighten up your gorgeous face so if you're not feeling so fresh, you will definitely look it.

MY INSTAGRAM HAIR DIARY

From hair cuts and frizzy curls, to messy buns and slick pony tails - for the past couple of weeks I have been uploading pictures of my average-day hair styles to my Instagram page. Follow me @beautyhighstreet.

RIMMEL LONDON PROFESSIONAL EYEBROW PENCIL AND BRUSH | BEAUTY REVIEW

Eyebrows have suddenly become a big thing, just out of the blue. 5 years ago nobody really paid too much attention to them but started to pluck them as thin as possible. But now it's bigger the better. I have had my fails with my eyebrows in the past, unfortunately I didn't realise they didn't suit me until a couple of months of shaping them that way. If you're new to the eyebrow shaping scene then experiment different shapes and thickness on your own in a locked room preferably, it can get ugly! However instead of plucking them until there's none left, use a pencil to try different looks - I recommend Rimmel London Professional Eyebrow Pencil - 'professional' it most certainly is.

However if you are completely happy with the shape of your eyebrows and want to fill them in and make them look fuller, than I still recommend this one. I've tried the bigger look and it just doesn't look right on my petite-looking face. Without the pencil, even with plucking and shaping them, they're still not perfect. There's parts that are missing (don't ask me how) and they just don;t compliment my face.

I use the pencil and outline the top and bottom of my eyebrows and then colour them in - this is where colouring in between the lines all my life has come in handy! Afterwards, it looks like someone has just gone over my eyebrows with a marker pen and as you probably would agree, it's not attractive. However I use the brush that comes with the pencil to even out the colour and the hairs and I also use it to give them a little bit more shape. This is the finished look -

Okay so they probably don;t look as amazing as other people but they are significantly different than my eyebrows before the pencil. I love this pencil because the pencil helps defines the eyebrows and the brush helps keeps the shape and helps it look less in-your-face. This pencil comes in so many colours etc and is very cheap from local high street beauty stores.

Fun fact: Up until the age of 13, I thought eyebrows were called eyebrowns because a lot of people's were brown - Unfortunately, this is 100% true.

TED BAKER BRIGHT PINK AND DARK PURPLE LIP CRAYONS

 I got these for Christmas in a Ted Baker makeup box set - alongside these I got eyeliner, eyelashes and nail varnish but these lip crayons are the product I most use from the set. Both colours are completely different but are both stunning! The glide on like and dream and the colour pigment is wonderful, the only criticism I have is that they don't stay on for as long as I'd hoped, but with the little packaging, they are very easy to carry on in your bag, either in the day or at night.

I would definitely buy Ted Baker's Makeup range again, especially their lips range. For two colours that are so different, I wear both of them quite a lot!

AN EASY WAY TO CLEAN UP YOUR NAILS | BEAUTY TIPS

I hope I'm not alone when I say that I am rubbish at applying nail varnish! I have the shakiest hands known to man and the nail paints gets everywhere (literally, once I found it on my elbow... don't even ask, I have no idea), so there's no surprise that my nails don't have a professional look when I'm finished. What I am good at however is cleaning them up, and I have found a brilliant way to clean up the edges of your nails. Hint: nail vanish remover pads are your best friend!

There may not seem a massive difference between the two above pictures, but look closely around the edges of my nails and you will realise that a lot of the paint that was originally on my skin has been removed, making them look a lot neater. As I work in a pub where there is a lot of exchanging on money and drinks, my nails are on show a lot so I can't afford to have messy nails.

HOW TO DO IT
Take a nail varnish remover pad and fold it into a quarter. Using the edges and point of the pad, move it around the edges of your nails (be careful not to take any paint off of your actual nail) and remove all of the excess polish from your skin - do this for every nail on both hands and you should be golden!

Let me know if you do try this and tell me whether it worked! Also let me know if you have another way of getting rid of messy nails!

BAREMINERALS PRIME TIME PRIMER | BEAUTY REVIEW

I have heard many great things about bareMinerals but never (until recently) used any of their products. The name itself shouts "WE'RE KIND TO SKIN". You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know the minerals are pretty darn good for your skin This is why, when receiving my first pay packet from my new job, I jumped at the chance of getting a product by bareMinerals. And the chosen product: Primer. I've never used primer before (shocking, I know) but I had pretty high expectations.

And the overall outcome: good but not brilliant. The primer helps my foundation smooth on easier, and I can tell that it is protecting and sealing my skin from the rest of my makeup. The liquid itself is very thin but it still does the job - you only need one pump of the bottle each time you put your makeup on.

It's helps get rid of dry patches, but when it comes to making my makeup last longer, their's not much difference, which is disappointing.

I do love this product though, and even though it has it's downsides and I've only been using it for a while, I can't bare to put any makup on without it now! So it's definitely not terrible, but I will keep shopping! However, I have heard in the bbloggers world that there are bareMinerals products that are so much better, so I won't abandon the brand as a whole!

PAMPER DAY

This is my first proper day off from work in about two weeks and if I'm honest, I'm a mess. Nails are chipped, my legs are dry and my eyebrows are unexplainable. So I think it's time for a good ol' pamper day, don't you? Here's the plan -

Run a bath

Add some bubbles - I love Gok Wan's Bath Essence

Exfoliate like a mad women - Today I'm using The Body Shop's Coconut Cream Body Scrub

Wash hair - At the moment I'm using Dove's shampoo and conditioner range

Get out the bath and wash my face with Simple Facial Wash Gel

Moisturise my arms and legs - my favourite moisturiser: The Body Shop Body Butter in Mango

Tan (of course)

(Whilst the tan is drying...) Pluck my eyebrows

Take off existing nail polish and file nails

Paint with a gorgeous pretty pink

What's you pamper day routine? Is there anything I have missed off? Let me know. 

THINGS I AM GREATFUL FOR

We're now in a life when we have advance technology, well paid jobs and a very controversial celebrity culture and it is very easy to get caught up in all of these things. Especially as a beauty blogger, I find myself always wanting new stuff and sometimes it gets to the stage when I'm so caught up in my life and getting annoyed a the little things - like not getting beauty products - and it's made to realise that there are so many more important things in life. I want you all to stop what you're doing for a second and think about the things that you are truly grateful for. Here's mine...

Family

Boyfriend

Friends

Education

My good luck

Living in a clean and safe house

Owning all the stuff I do

People reading this blog

My job

July 2014 has been a pretty good month for me. Things that I have yearned for for so long have finally happened - such as getting a part-time job whilst I'm back from university for the summer, learning that I gained a 2:1 in my second year of uni and getting placements at not one, but two huge glossy magazines (I'll let you know a little more about those when they happen) and all of this I owe to my family. They were the ones who pushed me to do as well as possible at uni, reading through my work and helping me revise. My mum was the one to find me my job and my family and my boyfriend were always there to pick me up after I had yet another 'no' from a placement opportunity, but then saying that I should't give up.

Going to university has been a massive eye-opener for me. I have realised that not everything has all the luxuries and a loving family. They don't all have money to spare and struggle to get by at the best of times. This has made me even more thankful and grateful for everything I have - and everything I have, gained or succeeded in all comes down to one thing; my family.

So tell me, what are you grateful for?

AUGUST WISHLIST: BEAUTY

July has been a good month: I have been blogging properly and starting up a fan base (thanks guys) and I have also come across some amazing products which I have either blogged and reviewed, or blogged and wished. This post is the latter. There has been some very exciting news in the beauty world this July which obviously means that bloggers such as I are queueing up to purchase the new kids on the block. Here's my August wish list.