FASHION: SHOPPING, BOOTS AND FACTORIES

I have been wanting a smart pair of black boots for quite a while as the boots I own at the moment are quite casual and, as I have worn them a lot over the years, look a bit tatty. I went shopping in Milton Keynes (UK) yesterday and looked in all of the major high street stores; New Look, Topshop, H&M, River Island etc, and I couldn't find any that are what I wanted. Either they were not in my size or the heel was way too big for my liking. I wanted a pair that I could wear for work experience, work or job interviews and not have to worry about my feet hurting.

After a pretty unsuccessful day yesterday, today I popped into a small shoe factory in the town next to my home town to see what they had on offer. At first I was thinking the same as you probably are now: "It's just going to filled with shoes and slippers for old ladies", and it mostly was, however I found these really cute pair of boots which were exactly what I was looking for. And what's even better was that they were only £19.99!

It's made me realise that the high street isn't the only place that does nice fashion pieces and accessories, and it has really made me want to look in more smaller shops and factories. I've also heard a lot of people shop in charity shops these days and actually find decent pieces of clothing for the fraction of the price they would've paid for it in a high street shop. I really want to know if any of you have found smaller shops that do gorgeous clothes/shoes or if you regularly shop in charity stores. Let me know in the comments below.

BEAUTY REVIEW: THE BODY SHOP COCONUT SHOWER CREAM

As you may know, The Body Shop is one of my favourite high street brands for a number of reasons. 1) All of their products are animal and environmentally friendly, and 2) Their products not only smell great, but are of the highest quality. Last Christmas, I was given a lot of The Body Shop gift sets from my family and my boyfriend and one of my favourites was the coconut set. As well as containing coconut scented soap bar and body scrub (as well as a pouf I believe), my favourite of the bunch was the coconut shower cream. Before this, I had never used a shower cream before - from The Body Shop or anywhere else - so I wasn't too sure on what to expect. I had an idea that it would be a little bit thicker than shower gels, and given the scent, I decided to use this in the winter rather than save it for the summery months.

THE GOOD BITS.
For starters, I was right in thinking this would be a thicker liquid, but this doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. As it's a cream, it slides gorgeously onto my skin and I could immediately feel the difference in texture between this and a normal shower gel; it was thicker, creamier and smoother. Even though it's thick, it lathers nicely when using a shower pouf and doesn't lose any of it's texture mid-wash. I feel that this product also acts as a in-shower moisturiser and my skin was moisturised and smoother than when I usually get out of the shower.

Also, to think that this is 'soap-free', it does a pretty good job in cleaning my body and I don't really understand how it does that without the soap element (if you know, feel free to let me know in the comments).

I must admit that one of the lasting impressions I get from this shower cream is it's scent. From first popping open the lid, to hours after coming out of the shower, I can smell it. The coconut is not overpowering and, I'm not sure how it's possible, but it smells more creamier and thicker. I'm not sure how something can smell thick, but that's just the way it is! And when I say I can smell it on my skin hours later, I'm not exaggerating.

THE BAD BITS.
The one thing that I didn't get on with was the bottle. It was really hard to squeeze out the cream, especially with wet hands. And it got harder as less cream was in there. A lot of the time I resorted to pushing it against my leg, or the shower wall in order to squeeze it all out, or I would unscrew the lid and take it off. Without this problem however, it would be a 10 out of 10!

Let me know your opinions in the comments section below. Alternatively, you can tweet me.

BEAUTY REVIEW: PALMER'S COCOA BUTTER FORMULA LIP BALM

Hi everybody! You may know that I'm not the biggest fan of colour on my lips, but when it comes to lip care, I'm a big fan! My boyfriend bought Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm when I told him that I lost my Carmex (which I found the day after he bought it) and I had never used it before.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. I'm not normally a fan of cocoa butter scented beauty products but this smells gorgeous. The scent is not like any other lip products that I have used before but it totally works. It also has a SPF factor of 15 which is great as my lips get damaged quite easily by the sun. The only thing I would say about this product is that it's perfect for the winter and autumn months where SPF is still important, but as much as I love this product, I'm not sure that I would want to take it abroad with me on a summer holiday just because cocoa butter isn't the summery and floral scent that I would want. Regardless of that, it smooths out cracked lips like a dream and works extremely quickly. I normally put this on in the mornings when I am doing my makeup and I rarely have to apply it again through the day. Saying that, I always make sure I have it somewhere in my bag.  

I posted a picture of this on Instagram and someone commented saying that she didn't like the shape it, which is something that I never thought of before. Thinking about it, the shape is different from all other lip balms I have used however it has the smaller part of the balm to apply to the smaller part of your lips and vice versa. 

INSTAGRAM JANUARY/FEBRUARY

1. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water 2. Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Lip Balm 3. Starbucks Hot Chocolate whilst in the library 4. New necklace for Next 5. Makeup of the day 6. Beautiful quote 7. Barry M Gelly Nail Varnish in 'Almond' 8. American style pancakes 9. Dissertation & blog perparation 10. Valentines day roses 11. A trip to Bournemouth beach 12. A celebratory cider after handing in my Major Multimedia Project 13. Grands Designs and a Pizza Hut on a lazy sunday 14. My first subscription issue of Cosmoploitan 15. Pandora ring and Barry M nail varnish (with a bit chipped off 16. Phone case for my 5S 17. Shameless blog promotion picture 18. Where do they all go?! 19. Flamingo candle and melt 20. Such inspiration.

It's been a busy start to the year for me as I handed in my Major Multimedia Project at the end of January and now I am in the middle of writing my dissertation! Amongst all of this, I have also been applying for jobs for when I finish my degree (in 10 weeks time!!). It's crazy to think how quick time has gone and its true when people say that your last year of uni goes in a flash! I remember freaking thinking how there's only 10 months left before I finish and now there's 10 weeks!! Also in January/February, I have celebrated my third Valentines day with my boyfriend and gone Peppa Pig World for my nephews 2nd birthday. At the moment, my day pretty much consist of waking up, going to the library, coming home, have dinner and go to sleep. But I am so looking forward to the Easter Holidays and I'll let you know why when it comes to it, but I am so nervous and excited! Make sure you follow me on Instagram - @sophielaurablog. 

BEAUTY REVIEW: NEW GARNIER MICELLAR CLEANSING WATER

It has been a while since I last wrote a post but it has been a busy couple of weeks (you can read more about it in my next post). I thought that my first post in over a month should be a goodie so I've choose to write about my favourite new skincare product and a product that everyone else is screaming from the rooftops about.

For some strange reason, Garnier isn't a brand that I have used a lot in the past but after seeing people taking about this product on their blogs and twitter accounts I couldn't help but take notice - and as soon as my house mate started raving about it, I knew that I was missing out on something.

On the front of the bottle it claims to "removes make-up, cleanses and soothes" and boasts that it's for sensitive skin. As you may know, I do have a small-ish case of rosacea so my skin is pretty sensitive and it can get irritated very easily so I am always very careful of what I put on my face. But as this is hypoallergenic and uses no perfume, I thought this would be safe.

All I can say is how utterly in love with this product I am. I use cotton pads to apply the cleansing water and I can honestly say that it doesn't feel like I am putting anything on my face. It just feels like water, so much so that I started doubting it when I first used it. But nope. It's brilliant. It takes off my make-up like a dream - even They're Real Mascara, and you know how hard that is to take off! Like it says on the bottle, there is no rinsing needed. Just apply it to a cotton pad, wipe off your make-up and voila! And at only £3 or £4, you really can't ask for anything more than that!