My Subscriptions.. Hey Estrid!

I am an absolute sucker for a subscription and a tik tok ad, put the two together and what do you have.. hey, Estrid!

I've seen so many people talk about the Estrid razors and I had to try them out for myself. Prior to this I used Venus my whole life and it was a brand that I stuck to through and through. Over the years through prices have slowly crept up and the quality differs so much between different blades. I was never fully satisfied and always found myself using more that 1 razor at a time for different purposes. This Estrid razor has honestly put them to shame and now it's the only one I use.

To start off it's super affordable with the starter kit starting at £7.95. This includes the razor, 2 blades and a little holder you can pop on the wall. I got mine in the shade bloom and I also got the case (£5.95) which is perfect for travel. How it works is you subscribe and get 4 blades delivered to you every other month at the cost of £9.95, which is really good for 4 blades. However if you feel your blades still have a little more life left in them, you can skip the month or change your settings to get them how little or often as you need them.

After using estrid it leaves my skin feeling smooth and soft. There's 4 individual blades that make up 1, it's perfect for a close shave and lasts a long time in between shaves. I use to shave my legs once a week but with Estrid I can get away with a little bit longer than that. 

Rating Rare Beauty ♡

Alike many others I was ecstatic to hear that Rare Beauty was launching in the UK back along on February 1st. Prior to the launch I was reading up on other reviews similar to this one to see which products would work best for me. Here's what I got..

My first purchase consisted of the soft pinch liquid blush in the shade 'joy'. I was looking for a blush with peachy undertones, all of my current ones are pink. The pigmentation on the blush is insane and this bottle will honestly last me a very long time! It blends perfectly with my foundation and gives off the perfect peachy summer glow. 

Next up is the brow harmony pencil and gel. Prior to my order I was a huge fan of the Fenty brow MVP but one day the led snapped and completely fell apart.. tragically I was standing over a sink when it happened and I watched the led fall down the drain 😭 I'm sorry Ri Ri but this new Rare Beauty one had to take it's place. Again the pigmentation is incredible! I find myself often using the brow mascara on a daily basis and if I want a stronger brow I will use both the mascara and the pomade. I do feel I should have gone a lighter shade in the colour. The colour I bought was 'cool brown' but overall very happy with this.

Now the most talked about product from Rare Beauty would have to be, the liquid touch brightening concealer in the shade 120c. I've seen so many people use this concealer and I've seen how far the product goes. It's honestly so worth the hype! A couple of dots can cover your whole face and is perfect for those no make up, make up days. Unfortunately again I do think I bought this in the wrong shade 🤦‍♀️ this is much much lighter than my skin tone and I thought I was very pale. It just goes to show how inclusive the range is and that there is a perfect shade for everyone. 

25th April a new product was launched at Space NK in the UK which was the highly anticipated positive light tinted moisturizer with SPF. Just in time for summer! This tinted moisturizer is super lightweight and feels like your wearing nothing at all. I like that you can build up the coverage with this if you wanted too and it works incredibly well with the rest of the Rare Beauty collection. 

This is a look I put together using all of these products. This look is perfect for summer and truly imbraces all of my qualities. I'm honestly super impressed with this range! Prices are affordable compared to other beauty brands and the quality is insane. I can't wait to try out more products from Rare Beauty ♡

i'm back

This post has been a long time coming. I've been wanting to restart my blog for months and I'm so happy that I'm finally in a position where I can do that. A lot has changed since my previous post, things are definitely looking up for me!

At the beginning of the year I passed my driving test and got a new car. Going into test day I didn't feel at all confident as I missed some lessons leading up to the big day. I was very lucky that I had a great examiner and a relatively easy test, passing was a huge relief for me as it opens up so many doors. Me and my boyfriend have been looking at moving in together properly and now we can look wherever we want, as we can both now drive to work.

I also got a new job! Unfortunately things in my last job were spiralling and slowly going down hill. It was becoming a very negative and stressful place to work, so I made the hard decision to leave. I was fortunate enough to land one of my dream jobs with a company who has amazing values behind them. My new job is also less hours which was very appealing to me as it means I can focus on my other passions (including my blog 😉) alongside my work. I'm honestly living the dream at this point.

The past few months I've been planning and creating new content for you to enjoy. I have so many things to talk about now and new ideas that I can't wait for you to see. If you like what you see please pass this blog onto a friend to read so we can keep the conversations growing.

where i am now

This past year has been one of the hardest for me. I've dealt with disappointment, grief and a whole lot of rejection. Not to mention constant lockdowns and uncertain times in our society. I've been spending a lot of time reflecting and asking myself what do I really want from life? Which I have a few things I can say about now.

Before that let's rewind 2020 wasn't that bad. Before the world stopped I went to Disneyland and experienced the holiday of a lifetime. I also saw Halsey play a sold out show at the 02,  as well as lots of other antics in London that I got to experience with my incredible boyfriend Henry (2 and a half years and still going strong). Then the first lockdown hit and boy was that a roller coaster of emotions.

In the summer of 2020, I went camping for the second time in my life.. the first being Boardmasters which I will never do again! We went to the very lovely Roadford Reservoir and I got very sunburnt! Then towards the end of summer I went to Longleat! This is now one of my favourite places, what an experience that was. The place was buzzing was some interesting animals and some interesting tour guides. We got to experience one of the boat trips which was incredible and our tour guide was super funny, even though he picked on me!

Come the fall it was time to celebrate Henry's 24th birthday. We experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity, in having dinner at the aquarium in front of the shark tanks. A week later I was then invited to stay with my cousin Marcus at Landal Gwel An Mor. It was so kind of him to invite me to this little getaway and boy did I need it.

Then in November the second lockdown hit and I was once again off work. I did feel better about this one though. As it was the lead up to Christmas it was nice to have some time to experience cosy winter days and binge watch lots of Christmas films. My birthday fell right at the end of that lockdown and we made the most of it with what we could. Henry decorated the living room with balloons and I was very spoilt with my gifts. Once the restrictions lifted we spent time with close friends to celebrate.

Christmas was such a weird time with the rules changing last minute, but yet again we made the most of the situation and spent it with family. Shortly after Christmas we were plummeted into another lockdown (hopefully the last). And yet again my emotions were a roller coaster.

During the lockdowns I was trying my best to stay active and stay creative. I've always been a creative person so why not explore that while I had the time? I made wax melts, did a little cross stitching, made birthday cards, completed jigsaw puzzles, made some cakes and played a hell of a lot of animal crossing. Time well spent right?

I also realised during lockdown that as much as I love my little flat, I need more room so me and my boyfriend can live comfortably. We viewed a couple houses and made an offer but unfortunately didn't work out.

Then coming out of lockdown my cat, Scamp, started getting sick. It started off as an overactive thyroid and ended in kidney disease and a tumour in the back of his throat. He passed away early June. This was honestly one of the hardest times in my life and I still struggle with his loss most days.

I recently went for a promotion in the company I work with, which unfortunately I was unsuccessful with. They say bad things come in threes so my bad luck must be running out by now, right?

On the brighter side of things my very clever boyfriend has landed himself an apprenticeship. It's one he'll have to commute to for a bit but we hope to move closer to where he works to make life easier for him. Soo much has happened this year and there's still so much to come. I really want something good to come from this year so, from now on it's positive vibes only. I am finally excited about the future I get to build from now on. After all I'm in the drivers seat and I get to control my own happiness.

The BEST Pancake Recipe!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all okay 🥰

First off hapay pancake day! To celebrate I thought I would share with you my recipe for the BEST pancakes!

I've had a lot of trial and error with this recipe as I was trying to get the perfect balance of crepe/American style and this recipe is bulletproof. This batch will make roughly 4 pancakes, which doesn't sound like a lot but they are very filling! Perfect for 2 people I'd say but obviously you can double the recipe to make more ect.. so here goes!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Plain Flour

1 Cup Milk

1 Medium Egg

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

First step get your hob nice and warm and then whip up these ingredients! Drop of oil in the saucepan and then I use a ladel to pour the mixture into the saucepan. Using something like this will make sure that your pancakes are roughly the same size. These cook super quick, will probably take 30 seconds if that on both sides and then what I normally do is pop them in the oven on a medium temperature to keep them warm. Once your pancakes are all done it's time for toppings!! My favourite toppings are bacon and maple syrup but I'm also a sucker for some Nutella! There you have it the perfect pancake recipe!

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe out at home 🥞 And what toppings you'll be putting on your pancakes today! 

D.I.Y Autumnal Wreath

 

As this got a lot of attention over on my Insta story, I thought it deserved it's own blog post, so here goes! I've recently been living on Pinterest from re-organising my kitchen cupboards to baking.. I've done it all! Recently I've been seeing a lot of very beautiful Autumnal wreaths and after trailing the internet looking for the perfect wreath, I wasn't satisfied at any of the results so I thought I'd make my own. 

As the inspiration was already fresh in my mind, I knew exactly what I was after. I wanted a rustic, quirky wreath, with some orange elements. I planned a trip to hobby craft to get some supplies and after being distracted by lots of the amazing things that hobby craft had to offer.. I picked up the bits for my wreath. I decided to go for a rustic heart as my base. I also picked up an amazing wreath kit which had everything in that I was looking for.

Then onto the fun part.. putting it all together! I started by laying out all of my decorations and playing around with the layout of how I wanted everything to look. Once I was happy with the arrangements I took a picture of it and started pinning some parts down and hot gluing the rest! I've never actually owned a hot glue gun before, this was my first time using one properly. I got this bright pink one also from Hobbycraft.

Before I reveal my wreath to you all.. I wanted to share with you 7 resosons why Autumn is my favourite season.. let's go!

1. Autumnal fashions.. I love layering, sweaters, scarfs, beanies and teddy bear jackets 🛍
2. Coffee shop dates.. Pumpkin spice lattes are one of my favourites!☕
3. Cosy fort days.. This is something I do all year round but in Autumn it just feels 10 times better, especially when it's raining outside and you can hear it pour down onto your windows #snuggleseason 💕
4. Halloween.. I'm a sucker for dressing up and what better time of year to dress up than Halloween. Also even though I haven't been yet (there still is time) I absolutely love pumpkin picking and carving them, although I'm not too keen on the smell 🎃
5. TV.. I'm currently watching Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing and Little Mix The Search 👌
6. Going for walks.. Seeing the trees change colour, walking on autumn leaves and getting to wrap up all snug 🍂
7. Decorating the house.. This time of year I make a few subtle adjustments to my flat to make it feel that extra bit cosy! I change my bedding, all the cushions in my house and of course pop up some Halloween decs and now I can add my wreath to that too! If you'd like a separate blog post on how I make my flat ready for AW then comment below 🍁
8. Countdown to Christmas.. I think it goes without saying that I love Christmas! And after Halloween we can start getting ready for Christmas which I really enjoy! 🎅

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for I present my wreath.. 

It may not be perfect, some of the pieces may fall off.. but I absolutely love it and it makes me so happy every time I walk past my door! Doing this project has really inspired me and helped get my creative juices flowing. I'm sure I'll be taking more trips to Hobbycraft, especially with Christmas fast approaching!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I'll speak to you in the next one! Take care and stay safe..

Things I Bought During Lockdown

I pretty sure everyday I spent in quarantine, I would spend a portion of my day browsing through the internet of thing that I could buy. Whether that would be clothes, make-up or things for around the house.. even if I didn't need it I thought there's no harm in looking. I'm sure I'm not the only one who did this.. I mean what else was there to do in times of boredom? I thought I'd show you guys some of the things I bought during quarantine. I didn't actually spend too much surprisingly as I would look at things most days, I would usually add things to my basket and chicken out when I'd seen how much I'd spent. On that note let me show you what I bought..

The very very first thing I bought when we went into lockdown was animal crossing. Henry recommended me to buy it as he knew I'd get bored straight away. It took a little while for me to get into the game but now I'm completely obsessed! During lockdown I'd usually spend the first few hours of my day playing this and even now on my days off that's what I'll do. My island is called 'Wolftown', the name came to me straight away. I'm really happy with my progress on my island. Every now and then I'll see my friends post things they've done on their island or I'll see a YouTube video of a 5 star island and it really inspires me to make mine better. Here's a few pictures of what I've done..



At the beginning of lockdown I had a huge wardrobe clear out as it's been something I've been meaning to do for a while. A lot of things no longer fitted me or I'd outgrown or were just very old. Something that I did need though, were some new joggers for lounging around the house in. I'd normally buy some cheap ones as no one would see me wearing them but they usually wouldn't last me very long. I decided to spend a bit more on them, so they'd last a bit longer. I ended up buy these ones from Urban Outfitters. I'd seen a lot of people wearing these, they looked super comfy and over-sized, which is why I picked them. I also ended up buying the matching bubble hem sweater. I got a good deal on these, after downloading the UO app I got given a voucher for 20% off which was even better. I'm really happy with this set I'd rate it 10/10 for comfort and the quality looks good so far.

Another thing I bought to help with isolation boredom were these jigsaw puzzles. I honestly woke up one day and had this intense desire to do a jigsaw puzzle but didn't have any in the house. I bought these two from Utility Gift. I really like the design of these two, plus they were both 1000 pieces so I knew that would keep me occupied for a while. I did these on my make up desk, which is also part drawer and has a slot in the middle to pull out, when I did the second puzzle one piece fell though the slot. If you look really closely on the second picture you'll see one missing piece, which is really annoying but there was no way to get to it. 

Before Christmas my headphones broke, luckily I found a pair hidden in one of my cupboards, but the quality on them weren't that great so I thought it was about time I'd have an upgrade. I saw an AD for the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ and I thought they looked super cool. Henry recently bought a pair of the wireless Jay's buds and after trying them out I knew I wanted something similar. Over the bank Holiday weekend Samsung were doing a great deal on the Buds+ reducing their price by £80, anyone who knows me knows I love a good deal and I had to snap them up! The quality is amazing and the battery life lasts so long. They sit comfortably in my tiny ears (which is something I was afraid of) which you can see below. I absolutely love these and would be lost without them now!

I hope you guys enjoyed this little round up of some of the things I bought during lockdown, comment below any purchases you might have made. I'll be back with a new haul post very soon!