Sunday 31 July 2016

MY LATEST BEAUTY BARGAINS - BEAUTY OUTLET!!

Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed my recent blog post about my trip to London, I love travelling and visiting different places and London is one of my favourite cities. Today I wanted to share a blog post about the latest makeup bargains I have picked up. I recently went to Dalton Park which is a outlet near where I live and I picked up these amazing bargains. 

Sleek Makeup Eye and Cheek Palette in Dancing Til Dusk
The first bargain I picked up was this Sleek palette, I have been looking at this palette for ages and always debated whether to buy it or not so the other day I decided to buy it. This palette is amazing as it includes 4 eyeshadows and 2 beautiful blushers. The eyeshadows in this palette are absolutely beautiful shades, it includes a shimmery gold shade, a matte cream shade, a shimmery charcoal shade and a matte charcoal shade. The eyeshadows are so easy to blend as they are so pigmented, I use these shades to create a lovely dramatic eye makeup look! This palette also includes gorgeous blushers, one is a beautiful hot pink shimmery shade and the other is a lovely bright shade perfect for a bold bronzed makeup look! This palette is normally £9.99 yet I managed to pick it up for £3.99 which is brilliant as I was able to save a little bit of money. This palette would be perfect for travelling as the shades are so versatile, they are perfect to create both day and evening makeup looks, the shades are gorgeous for both natural and bold makeup looks!!

Stila Lip Glaze in Roseberry
Another bargain I bought was this Stila lip glaze, if you have read my previous posts then you will know I received a Stila lip glaze in one of my Birchboxes and I absolutely love them. I bought another one as I love the lip glazes, they are so moisturising as they contain vitamin E which helps to keep lips moisturised and hydrated. I love the shade of this lip glaze, it's a beautiful sparkly plum shade, perfect to wear over a lovely lipstick or by itself! I can't wait to buy more lip glazes, Stila is an amazing brand and the quality of this product is amazing! Stila normally sells the lip glazes at £16 yet I picked up this lip glaze for £6 which is amazing!!

W7 Yummy Eyes Baked Eyeshadow in Gold Dust













This eyeshadow is absolutely gorgeous, it's a beautiful shimmery gold shade, perfect for any bold eye makeup looks! I use this shade as I apply it all over my eyelid to make my eye makeup bolder and sparkly, this works well with a chocolate shade in the crease. This eyeshadow is good as it's very pigmented and is so easily to blend. This eyeshadow is so, so sparkly, I love it!! This product was so affordable and the quality is amazing!

W7 Power Puff Beauty Blender
I bought this as I love trying new beauty blenders, I have a few and I love trying different brands to see if they are similar when I use them to apply foundation and contour. I bought this product as I wanted to try an affordable beauty blender, I use beauty blenders all the time so I like to try different brands and see which ones are my favourites. This one is great as it's so easy to blend and is so soft on my skin! I like this one just as much as the others I have used and think I would definitely buy this product again!

Thanks so much for reading!
Twitter: @1sup3rg1rl
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Never give up on your dreams xxxxx

Wednesday 27 July 2016

MY RECENT TRIP TO LONDON!!

Hello everyone, I hope you are having an amazing week, I'm so sorry I didn't post on Sunday, I was ill and I wanted to make sure I got this blog post up asap but I didn't want to post something I wasn't 100% happy with so this is why this post is up late as I wanted to make sure the post was professional and informative. I hope you all enjoy this blog post as it has taken me ages to write it. Holiday blog posts are my favourites, I love writing them, I always try to make them so detailed and interesting to the reader so I hope you enjoy this post!

I went with one of my friends and we booked our trains and hotel separately as this was most affordable, we booked our trains on www.trainline.co.uk and our tickets were £32 per person each way, we booked our trains about 16 weeks in advance in order to get a good deal so if you are planning a trip to London, I would suggest booking your trains asap in order to get them for the cheapest price. We then booked our hotel on the Travelodge website, we chose to stay in a Travelodge near Kings Cross as we wanted to be central and the accommodation was very affordable, it was under £280 for 4 nights for a twin room. I have recently booked another trip to London and the prices haven't varied that much so I don't think it matters as much of when you should book your accommodation as they usually have good deals. However, I would say about 12 weeks in advance would be the best time to book in order to get the best price.

Day 1: Thursday 14th July 2016

First of all, we went to Kings Cross tube station and bought Oyster cards, this was the most affordable option for travelling on the tube. We both bought an Oyster card and spent about £30 on travelling on the tube between Thursday and Monday. One good thing about getting an Oyster Card is it caps your spend so once you spend £6.50, it won't charge you anymore for that day, this is good especially if you are travelling to many different areas of London each day or you know you will make a lot of journeys that day.

We got the tube to Farringdon as we were staying at the Travelodge Central Farringdon however, we did get lost so we had to get a taxi to take us to our hotel, lol! It turns out we were only about 10 minutes away from our hotel. We later discovered that Kings Cross tube station was nearer to our hotel than the Farringdon tube station, however it was still a 15 minute walk away.
We were very organised and knew what we wanted to do when we arrived so we booked tickets for the London Eye and the River Cruise for the day we arrived as we wanted to make sure we spent our time effectively. This was about £30 and is definitely worth the money, the River Cruise was amazing, we saw so many amazing sights such as the Houses of Parliament, the Shard and London Bridge.
Some of the amazing photos taken on the River Cruise
These photos were taken at different parts of the River Cruise journey, I love how the weather in the photos contrasts and gives a different view of London in each, these photos were taken about 20 minutes apart.

An amazing view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Another great view of Westminster

These are some of the photos I took whilst on the River Cruise, the River Cruise is amazing, it lasts about 40 minutes and gives you an amazing view of London. This is a great way of seeing London, I actually preferred it to the London Eye as I was able to take clearer photos and see the wonderful attractions up close. This is the perfect attraction to do if the weather is nice as it's a lovely way to see London and see many attractions.
The London Eye

We also went on the London Eye which was good, we actually saw a proposal when we were on the London Eye which was absolutely adorable, it was such a nice trip on the London Eye, we were able to see amazing views of London and it was so much fun. I've been to London many times but this was the first time I went on the London Eye.

Amazing view of Westminster


Beautiful view of London




Me and Rachael on the London Eye


After we had been on the River Cruise and the London Eye we went back to the hotel for some food and unpacked as we had to be up early the next day to go to the Zoo. We got the tube from Westminster to Kings Cross.

Day 2: Friday 15th July 2016

On the Friday we woke up and got the tube from Kings Cross to Camden Town and walked for about 20 minutes to find the Zoo. London Zoo was amazing, when we first arrived we visited the Aquarium, this was one of my favourite parts of the Zoo!

This was a beautiful photo of some of the Coral, I love this photo, I think it looks absolutely beautiful!

This was also one of my favourite photos that I took, this shot is amazing as I managed to get a photo with a variety of different types of fish and I think it looks amazing!

I took a photo of this map as I thought it would be great to include on my blog to show readers what the Zoo has to offer and what animals people can see when they visit the Zoo. We saw loads of animals however I have only chosen 5 photos of different animals to show the animals I saw in the Zoo as well as to show some of my favourite animals.

One of the first animals we saw was a Gorilla

We also saw a few monkeys which were absolutely adorable!

These were the Giraffes we saw


We also went to a Tiger show and saw the beautiful Tigers 

Anyone who knows me well will know Penguins are my favourite animals so I couldn't wait to see them. I adopted a penguin for my birthday when I was little and went to see it at Edinburgh Zoo therefore since then they have always been my favourite animals. We saw the Penguin show which was amazing!

We spent all day at the Zoo from 10am till 5pm and we really enjoyed ourselves, we then walked to the tube station, however we got lost so we ended up at Great Portland Street tube station and got the tube to Kings Cross. It was quite good that we got lost as we were able to find out where Regent's Park was and we ended up visiting it on the Saturday!

We went to a lovely restaurant near our hotel for tea, we went to Mediterraneo on Kings Cross Road, this restaurant was rather charming and traditional inside, I really liked the decor. The food was absolutely amazing and great value for money.
The restaurant was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and the food was delicious.

 We both ordered pasta dishes and they were lovely, I ordered pasta with a vegetable sauce (sorry I can't remember the actual name) and we ordered garlic bread which was like ciabatta bread, however I really liked it. This restaurant was reasonably priced and the food was lovely.

Day 3: Saturday 16th July 2016

On the Saturday we had a really chilled morning as we didn't have anything planned until the afternoon so we went to Piccadilly Circus and had a look around the shops and visited a cute little cafe on the morning.

I ordered a ham and cheese toastie and a bottle of coca cola, this was about £7 however I don't think it's too bad as this was all I spent on lunch and it was in Piccadilly Circus!

This cafe was absolutely amazing, it was decorated like a cinema and went through the stages of cinema and theatre and had them displayed on the walls which was really cool and quirky.

I took a photo of the cafe we went to, it also has a bar and restaurant which look super cool and I think I will visit next time I'm in London.

We had a look around the shops and went to Regent Street

Piccadilly Circus is one of my favourite places in London, it is absolutely lovely and I love visiting tourist places

After lunch we then took the Bakerloo line and went to Baker Street as we were going to Madame Tussauds on the afternoon. We went to Regent's Park for a couple of hours on the afternoon as the weather was amazing and so warm, it was lovely!

We then went to Madame Tussauds which was amazing, we did book in advance and booked it for the afternoon, this was good as it was really busy on the Saturday but when we went at 3:30pm it was not as busy and the queue was much smaller.

Some of the waxworks at Madame Tussauds looked so realistic, as can be seen above, this is a photo of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah, I think these wax work models looked so realistic.

This is a photo of me with the Cheryl Fernandez Versini waxwork. I was so surprised with how realistic she looks. Cheryl has always been a massive inspiration to me so she was one of the only ones I got a photo with! 
One of my favourite sections of Madame Tussauds was the Fashion Week section which was so good, the waxworks they had were so realistic.

This was the Cara Delevingne waxwork, I think she looks so realistic. I love how they've put her on the catwalk to make it look realistic.

I also took a photo of the Kendall Jenner waxwork, I thought she looked so realistic and loved the way they decorated the dressing room to make it realistic.

I took so many photos at Madame Tussauds and I had a great time, however I couldn't put them all on this blog. I would definitely recommend Madame Tussauds to anyone who wants to visit something entertaining and fun in London as there were so many celebrities to see!

Day 4: Sunday 17th July 2016

On the Sunday, we got up early and headed to South Kensington to visit the Natural History Museum, we had a really busy day at the museum as we were there for hours as we wanted to make sure we saw as much as we could.

South Kensington was one of the cutest places I visited in London, the houses are absolutely beautiful and I took this shot as I wanted to capture the London buses and the beautiful houses in one photo!

The Natural History Museum was really interesting and I would recommend to anyone who is interested in visiting a museum as it is absolutely massive and has so many sections so there is something to please everyone! However, I would advise researching what you want to visit before you go as it takes ages to visit every section. Some of the sections we visited included Human Evolution, Volcanoes and Earthquakes and the Dinosaurs section.

After we visited the museum, we took the tube to Leicester Square and had a look around the shops, this was good as we were able to just chill and wander around. They were actually packing away the red carpet they use for movie premieres when we arrived. 

We then decided to get the tube to Green Park as we heard this was the best tube stop to get off at to see Buckingham Palace. Green Park tube station leads to the park and we wandered for about 10 minutes and then went to take some photos of Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace

Green Park

It was so nice to see Buckingham Palace, I had never seen it before in all my times of visiting London so I was so excited to visit it and see what it was like. Green Park was a wonderful park, it was a lovely sunny day, I took this photo at the entrance of the park nearest Buckingham Palace.

We then went back to Kings Cross and went to Five Guys for tea which was absolutely lovely, I had never been before so I was so excited to try it and see what the food was like. I ordered a little hamburger and medium fries, I was so surprised at how big the portions were and I have to say the food was absolutely delicious! I am so happy that I have found out there is a Five Guys in Newcastle and the Metrocentre as it means I can go more often and I didn't know there was some so near.

Day 5: Monday 18th July 2016

This was our last day in London so we decided to visit one of my favourite places in London, Covent Garden. Covent Garden is one of my favourite places in London, I absolutely love it, we did a little bit of shopping and then went to get a smoothie for breakfast. We then walked to Oxford Street which was about 20 minutes walk away, we went to Primark there and I bought a t-shirt and a new cup which I absolutely love!

On the way back to the tube we found the Great British Museum and went for a look around. This was my favourite museum we visited, I really liked the Roman section, I found it so interesting! I am going back to London in September and I really want to visit this museum again as we only managed to spend about an hour there so I want to visit it again and see more of the museum!
The Great British Museum

We then got the tube from Russell Square back to the hotel and checked out of the hotel. We had a late lunch and then headed to the train station.

I hope you have all enjoyed reading this blog post, I really enjoyed my recent trip to London and I can't wait to go back in September. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you like this blog post!

Thanks so much for reading!
Twitter: @1sup3rg1rl
Bloglovin': 1sup3rg1rl 
Instagram: 1sup3rg1rl
Never give up on your dreams xxxxx

Wednesday 20 July 2016

BIRCHBOX REVIEW - JULY 2016! & NEW BLOGPOSTING SCHEDULE

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having an amazing weekend. Recently my blog posts haven't been posted regularly therefore I have decided to change my blog posting schedule to every SUNDAY and WEDNESDAY, I think this schedule will work best to ensure my posts are regular. Today I wanted to create a blog post on my July Birchbox, it contains so many amazing products and I was so excited to try them. I loved the theme of this box, the box is absolutely beautiful and the products are amazing!














1. Love of Colour Ultra Gloss Lip Pencil in Bohemian Rose (worth £9)
This product was designed by Millie Mackintosh and as soon as I heard about her collab with Birchbox, I was so excited to try this lip product. This lip pencil is amazing, the colour is absolutely beautiful, it's a lovely pale pink shade, perfect for a lovely summery makeup look!! This lip pencil is amazing as it is so moisturising and the colour lasts all day.

2. John Freida Luxurious Volume 7 Day Volume In-Shower Treatment (worth £9.99)
I really like this product, it's great for giving your hair volume and lasts for a couple of days. I use this product regularly as I like to give my hair more volume as well as it makes my hair super glossy and soft. I love John Freida hair products, they are one of my favourite hair brands as their brands are amazing quality and so simple and easy to use. I don't really do much with my hair so I like using John Freida products as they are so easy to use and style my hair.

3. Nails Inc Nail Varnish in Eton Avenue (worth £15)
This nail varnish is lovely, I have used it a couple of times since this Birchbox arrived and I absolutely love it, this colour is absolutely amazing, I love it, it's a beautiful duck egg blue shade, it's absolutely gorgeous. The nail varnish is so good as its so long lasting and the quality is amazing! I have used Nail Inc nail varnishes before and they are so good, they last ages and the colours are beautiful!

4. Elemis Hydra-Nourish Night Cream (worth £43)
If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know I love trying different day and night creams as I love to take care of my skin. I use so many skincare products in my skincare routine and I have just started using this night cream. I like this night cream, it's so gentle and leaves my skin feeling soft, this product smells amazing and is very similar to my Garnier Day Cream, I love it!

5. Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Boosting Mask (worth £19.99 for 4 masks)
I haven't used this product yet but I can't wait to try it, the face masks look amazing. I love trying new skincare products as I love to look after my skin. These face masks are supposed to be amazingly hydrating and perfect for dry skin! I can't wait to try these face masks and as soon as I do I will post a review of my thoughts.

I hope you have all enjoyed reading this blogpost and are enjoying my Birchbox Series. There will be a blogpost on my recent trip to London on Sunday and next week there should be a new recipe on my blog too!

Thanks so much for reading!
Twitter: @1sup3rg1rl
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Never give up on your dreams xxxxx

Tuesday 12 July 2016

SIMPLE RECIPES: CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend, I hope you all enjoyed reading my latest blog post about the products I love at the minute and can't live without. I buy so many beauty products and always want to update my readers with the products I love. Today I have decided to post a blogpost on one of my favourite recipes on how to create delicious chocolate brownies. I shared this photo in my other baking blog post about the blueberry muffins I made a few weeks ago, I decorated the brownies with strawberries as I love strawberries and chocolate together and thought it would make them look more appealing.
Ingredients to make 12 chocolate brownies:
185g of Unsalted Butter
185g of Dark Chocolate
85g of Plain Flour
40g of Cocoa Powder
3 Eggs
275g of Caster Sugar

First of all, break up the chocolate and weigh the butter and then melt them together, I usually do this by boiling some water and placing my bowl over the top of the pan, this will take about 5 minutes to melt the ingredients. However, if you want a quicker way you could melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Once the chocolate is melted, leave and wait for it to cool down. 
In a different bowl, break 3 eggs and mix with 275g of caster sugar, I use an electric whisk to mix the ingredients together, this could take up to 8 minutes as you want to make sure the ingredients are doubled in size and a pale cream colour. After that I pour the melted chocolate and butter into the eggs and sugar and fold the ingredients together.
The next step is to sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the large bowl of mixed ingredients and fold in the mixture to mix the ingredients together. The ingredients will become more chocolatey and thicker and this is when you know the ingredients is ready to be poured into the baking tray.

Once the mixture is ready, I prepared my baking tray. To do this, I use butter to grease the baking tray and used grease proof paper to line the tray.  

I then poured the mixture into the tray and tried to spread it evenly to make sure the brownies were an equal size.

As you can see above, this is how the brownies should look once they are cooked. I baked them for 20 minutes at 180C.
I usually wait for the brownies to cool down and cut them into 12 before serving them.

Thanks so much for reading!
Twitter: @1sup3rg1rl
Bloglovin': 1sup3rg1rl
Instagram: 1sup3rg1rl
Never give up on your dreams xxxxx