my beauty fails

I decided that this would be a sort of fun post, to sit and list the things I either need to improve on, beauty wise, or to give you a chance for you to laugh at how much I fail at female-ing.

1. I constantly forget to clean my make up brushes. I know, ew! I try to clean them once every few weeks, honestly. I know you're supposed to clean them every week but, ain't nobody got time for dat.

2. I don't tweeze my eyebrows. Or wax them. Or even really shape them myself. For two reasons, 1) I'm scared that I'll mess up the shape and 2) I don't like the pain I cause myself. I am a massive wuss when it comes to tweezers and my brows, so I just don't bother. Give me a tattoo or piercing any day, but keep those tweezers out of my hands. That's what professionals are for. (professionals are for tattoos, too..)

3. I can't apply false eyelashes. I just can't. I've only every tried maybe twice or something. Both times I either glued my own eyelashes to my eyelid and then rubbed them furiously creating one lovely, large, lashy clump or I glue them directly to my eyelid. Nope, mascara will do me fine, thanks.

4. I don't wear bronzer. I like my skin pale, and because I don't tan AT ALL, I just don't own a single bronzer, I've never had the need. And I know some girls use it to give their face a bit of.. shape? But, doesn't your face already have shape? Like your face shape? I don't know, it's all so confusing.

5. I only wear foundation on my face. - gasp - I know a LOT of girls who wear their foundation down their neck close to their collarbone. Yep. I don't, though. I don't know if I'm the weird one or they are, but maybe because I wear foundation that matches my skin tone, I don't need to plaster it everywhere to change the actual colour of my face? I didn't think that's what foundation is for. I could be wrong. - I don't think so...

6. I don't think I'm wearing nude lipstick correctly. Either that, or I don't own the right nude lipsticks. I think when I wear it that it looks more like those girls you seen in high school with concealer lips. It's so very attractive.

There we have, a little list of some of my beauty fails. But trust me, that list could go on for a while. I thought I'd stop it there. Make up gurus, help me!

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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holidays are bad for my bank account

I very rarely post about clothes on here any more, but seeing as I'm holiday at the moment and have a lot more free time to go shopping (much to my banks disappointment) I'm finding myself buying little bits and bobs that have become regulars in my wardrobe. Given that it's summer, albeit a Scottish one, I am trying to dress appropriately. Can't stay too clear from neutral black though..

It's no secret that most of my clothing comes from Primark. I don't tend to spend a lot of money on clothing. I know someone people prefer to buy statement pieces that are more expensive but will go with a lot more outfits, but I'm the opposite. I'd rather have more clothes and have the ability to mix and match. I spent a grand total of £32 the other day but managed to walk away with three tops and a pair of jeans. The jeans are probably my favourite, they're an odd shade of grey/blue with rips at the knees. I've been wearing them quite a lot recently.

I also already own around five or six white and black striped tops, but each are slightly different, as I've had to explain to my boyfriend on many occasions. Some have bigger stripes, some the stripes are closer together, it's all very complicated. I bought this one because it's slightly longer than any of my other ones, and because it's stripy. Did I mention I love stripes? Yes, okay then.

I picked up the little vest on a whim. I'm not sure if I'll be able to wear it as 1) I don't have the boobs for it, it could possibly hang down to low and let my bra see the light of day 2) It sits a little too high up my torso, not having the confidence for a crop top quite yet and 3) It's Scotland, and our summer is terrible right now. I'll figure something out, the lacing at the bottom is too cute not to try and wear it.

Lastly, another staple tee. This one has a chiffon bottom, which is pretty sweet. I wore it out to dinner the other day, it was sort of casual yet done up at the same time. Looking like my outfit effortless is a skill by the way, but this tee helps.

I'll probably make another appearance in Primark on my two weeks holiday. Maybe two. Depending on payday. We'll see.

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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How I decorate my planner pages

This is a post that I get quite a lot of requests for. I've been using a planner for a good few years, going all the way back to my high school days. It's only been the last two or so years that I've been using Filofax or binder type planners. I'm a member of a few of the Facebook groups for Filofax and planners and regularly post pictures of my decorated weeks for others to see and maybe get some inspiration from. I like to decorate my weekly planning pages, as I think that it helps me write in them more, especially if they're nice and colourful.

I mainly decorate with washi tape and stickers, quite a simple way to decorate but it's a very quick and easy to add some colour to your planner. I also like to use some page flags and sticky notes, the ones pictured are from Target. A lovely lady from one of the Facebook groups kindly sent me from the US, seeing as we don't have a Target store in the UK. I like to decorate at the top and the bottom of the pages, adding some colourful washi tape or stickers. I don't tend to put too much in the middle of the boxes as it takes away space to write in. Having a personal sized planner, you kind of need as much to room to write as possible.

I don't add too much to a new week until I have it properly planned out. The week pictured here is actually starting the 27th of July. I like to decorate in advance, that way I can write things down for the next few weeks. I will put down stuff that I know is guaranteed, like my holiday finishing, my family visiting and the fact that I'm buying a beautiful Gillio planner. I like to use sticky notes to roughly write down what I plan to do in that week and then once I've confirmed the dates and times I'll use pen to write it in permanently.

You can see above that this is a decorated week, with a sticky note of other plans. I used washi tape and the top and the bottom, along with a little sticker decorating the middle of the bottom washi tape. I used a little gold arrow to show that it's the last week of my holiday. I drew some fancy lettering on the Sunday to show the end of my holiday along with a few to-do's for that day that will need to be done on the Sunday. I've also used a page flag to show that my mum and brother are visiting my on the Saturday into the Sunday.

Everyone decorates their planner differently, but I thought I'd show you how I do mine! If you decorate your planner or even use planners like these, let me know. I'm always eager to find other people who share my hobby!

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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Wishlist - living room inspiration

Pinterest is a bad influence on me. After considering moving flat with Craig, Pinterest has been my go-to for inspiration. I do love a good home inspiration board, I think everyone who has a Pinterest account has one, so I don't feel too weird for browsing for hours on end. Everything in this wishlist is just perfect! I cannot wait to actually move (or buy, depending on how much we can save), and to find a nice open flat, with clean white walls and wooden floors. In fact, anything like Kate's flat would be ideal. She has a beautiful flat.

I will get my dream flat one day. Until then, Pinterest wishlists will do.

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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The Scottish Tag

I seen this tag done by the lovely Charlotte over at Colours and Carousels and then by Hayley at Water Painted Dreams and decided to take part too. I like doing little tags like this so thought I'd post my answers too.

Whereabouts in Scotland are you from?

I'm from Blantyre, a little town outside of Glasgow. I lived there my whole life, up until a few years ago. Now I'm living in Edinburgh.

Where is your favourite place that you've been to in Scotland?

My absolute favourite place in Scotland is Loch Lomond, more particularly Balmaha. It's so quiet and peaceful and have spent many summers there at the beach and just roaming around. It's a special place for my family, we planted my Gran's tree there and scattered her ashes on the beach. It was her favourite too.

Where would you like to visit in Scotland?

I would like to visit the Orkney Islands and venture up to the Shetlands, as well as Ben Nevis and the rest of the Highlands. For someone that's lived in Scotland my whole life, the furthest north I've been is Aviemore. I'd love to go camping up north for a week or so and enjoy the peace and quiet.

What is your favourite Scottish film?

I don't actually know, I like Gregory's Girl and Shallow Grave, but can't really think of many other Scottish Films that I'd consider a favourite. Does Braveheart Count? What about Highlander and the amazing Christopher Lambert's accent?

Do you match up to any Scottish stereotypes?

I'm very pale and ginger. I've always been really pale and incredibly prone to sunburn, and I was born with ginger hair, that my mum liked to call strawberry blonde. It's not so much ginger any more, more of a gingery/mousey brown colour now. I drop my T's from words annoyingly, a habit I've never been able to get out of. 

What is your favourite Scottish food?

I love haggis, especially in chicken balmoral, which is chicken stuffed with haggis. Or haggis neeps and tatties, which is haggis with turnip and potatoes. I like Irn Bru as well. Oh, and short bread. I can't decide.

Do you follow any Scottish traditions?

Other than singing Auld Lang Syne at Hogmanay, not really. I do take part in Ceilidh dancing and weddings at such, but I wouldn't say I follow that as a tradition.

What is your favourite Scottish word?

Aye (yes), naw (no), cannae (cannot), wain (child), gonnae no (don't do that), wit (what). It's mostly slang, but I'd say that 'aye' is my most used.

What is your favourite Scottish song?

I absolutely love Touch The Sky by Julie Fowlis. I like a lot of her stuff actually, but I like this one the most because it was featured in Brave. I love The Dark Island, too.

Can you recommend any Scottish bloggers?
I follow quite a few Scottish Blogs, a few favourites being Elevator Musik, Behind These Closed Eyes, The little Magpie, Colours and Carousels and Water Painted Dreams.

If you're Scottish and follow my blog, post your answers too! I'm always curious to see where any of my fellow Scottish bloggers are!

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The Don't Judge Challenge

I have a real problem with something on the internet. This is going to be somewhat of a ranty post, so if you don't want to read it, skip past it and read something on here a bit happier. Or youtube some kittens. Win-win.

I'm aware that the internet is a wonderful place that makes a lot of people happy and such, but it's also a place to allow people to feel bad about themselves. There has been a recent trend circling, which I think started from Twitter and has slowly made it's way onto Facebook and other social media platforms. This trend is the Don't Judge Challenge. I have seen so many of these videos floating around, and annoyingly the trend won't die, but my tipping point was my little cousin taking part in the challenge and posting it on her Facebook page for the whole world to see.

Now, my little cousin is a beautiful little lady, she always has been. If you had to put us side by side you wouldn't know that we were directly related, given her clear even skin, long thick blonde hair and slim figure. It's kind of unfair actually, but shan't complain.

This new trend has people make themselves look "ugly", generally by drawing on spots/blemishes, wearing glasses and drawing facial/body hair. They then cover and uncover the camera and in the blink of an eye they have turned into a "beautiful" person, posing and winking into the lens. That is pretty much the entirety of this challenge.

I think when it started it was supposed to be a way of saying don't judge a book by it's cover. But to me, that's not what it's saying. What it's saying is a lot worse than that. This challenge says that people don't think they can be beautiful with spots. Or with blemishes. They can't be beautiful with glasses. They can't be beautiful if they have hair in the "wrong" place. They can't be beautiful unless they look like they've taken three hours to get ready in the morning. This challenge is just people making themselves look unpleasant and then changing into what they deem to be beautiful for an excuse to pose and smile to the camera.

This is wrong.

The only thing these people are doing is enforcing the idea that beautiful is a one size fits all stereotype. When in fact, it is the complete opposite. Beauty is not for someone or some thing to decide, and it is certainly not as as simple as black or white.

The people doing this challenge need to realise that it's doing more damage than good. All the people out there who have a problem with spots or acne, have unwanted facial hair or need to wear glasses are having it reinforced to them by the world that they are considered ugly. They are the before stage and they have not reached the next stage yet, the beautiful one. They are the ugly duckling, the book that was judged by it's cover, and they have still to transform into something beautiful.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Fuck this challenge. Seriously. I've seen some pointless things online but this is right up there with some of the worst things I've seen. I cannot wait until this challenge just disappears. The quicker it happens, the better.

Sorry for the huge rant there, but it's been grinding on me for the last few days now. I'm probably thinking way too much into it, but it just got to me. If anyone agrees (or disagrees) let me know, I'm curious to know how other people are perceiving this challenge. I might just be a grumpy lady who can't see the fun in it, you never know.

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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fresh flowers make everything better

Like most Scottish summers, the weather has been a bit rubbish recently. It's been really sunny, then it'll pore down with rain, we'll get a little bit of thunder and lightning, then it'll bounce back to being sunny again. The weather has been so unpredictable! It makes dressing for going outdoors really annoying, too. I've been waiting for a decent summer pretty much since winter started last year, and I've yet to see it.

Luckily, Debenhmas Flowers offered to send me a beautiful bouquet from their Summer Flowers range to brighten up my day. I love having fresh flowers around, I would have flowers in every room if I could. There's just something that's entirely homely and well put together about flowers. I had a little browse on the website, which I didn't know existed until around a week ago, and settled for the Peony Perfection. Peonies are one of my favourite flowers, so I couldn't resist ordering myself a bunch. I ordered them on Friday and had them delivered for Saturday, which was my day off work. Sure enough, the postman dropped them off in a sturdy box in the morning, which was surprising as usually next day delivery has me doubting that it'll actually happen. I love good surprises. I've had them around a week and a half now and they're still fresh, pink and beautiful! A few of the larger petals on the outside have started to yellow at the tip very slightly, but I imagine it's because I've had them sitting in the sun too long during the day.

I've got them sitting up on my window seat so it's one of the first things you see when you walk into my living room. They look so pretty, sitting pride of place in my window. Luckily, my cat doesn't bother with flowers, so I can have her around them without worrying that she's going to eat them and make herself ill.

As a little pick me up to everyone else currently not feeling the weather in the UK right now, I've got a discount code to share, which will give you 25% off! DFBLOG25 - I'll be using the discount code too!

click here for more information - Next Day Flowers / Debenhams Flowers

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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a little catch up

It seems as if the months are flying by like minutes right now. It's already the first week of July and I can safely say that I don't know where the last six months have went. They've kind of flown by in a blur of work and other various boring things. Not much of note. My life is as interesting as ever, it would seem.

I did, however, have a very interesting June.

1. My dad and his partner had their baby girl, a beautiful little cherub named Molly. As they live down in England, I've yet to meet her, but I am so excited for when I do.

2. I had my 24th birthday, to which Craig spoiled me for. I was pampered to a new haircut and colour and taken for a day of shopping accompanied by tasty lunch and drinks. He even decorated the flat in balloons and banners for me. The rest of the weekend was spent out drinking with friends.

3. I got two new tattoos for my birthday, courtesy of my lovely mamma bear. I completely forgot how much of an annoyance tattoo after care is. It's so itchy and all that bapenthen is sticky!

4. My not-so-baby brother turned the grand old age of 20 and he celebrated by starting a new job that week. What a lovely way to be welcomed into adulthood. He's already decided that he'll be buying a guitar with his fist proper pay.

5. I realised that my work is awful, so I've decided to start looking for work elsewhere. I love who I work with, don't get me wrong, I just can't stand the business any more. I've been tweaking my CV and updating my online work profile on Linked In, Reed etc. Let me know if you need someone to babysit your cat, I'll be right on that.

All in all, June was a pretty good month for me. I'm really looking forward to see what comes in July! I do have two weeks holiday coming up, I'm off work from the 20th of July onwards. Hopefully I'll have something productive planned!

thank you for reading! ♥ // bloglovin | twitter | instagram

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