This Girl Can: My Top 5 Fitness Tips

If you're not living in the UK at the moment, you probably haven't heard of the 'This Girl Can' campaign. The campaign is about motivating women to get active and to overcome that fear of judgement when exercising so I thought I would write a post about my fitness regime and what I do to keep fit (plus I just got back from a run so I'm in a very motivational mood). If you haven't seen the advert watch it here!

1. Grab a friend

The best way to start getting fit is to grab a  friend who has the same goals as you. Personally, I'm a runner and it definitely helps to having someone to run with so you don't just concentrate on your inevitable stitch or how similar you sound to a panting dog. They can also send you little motivational messages to make sure you're keeping to your goals and recommend exercises.

2. Don't make excuses

We are in the day and age where we don't have to leave our house to exercise; there is a wonderful thing called YouTube where fitness videos are in abundance so you actually have no excuse. My favourites are PopSugar Fitness and Blogilates, both channels post very good videos that make your heart race even if you don't have a huge amount of time. Cassey Ho, the most motivational woman (aka Blogilates), even has her own calendar of what videos to do each day for each month which is available on her website!

3. Buy some workout gear

Probably the weirdest fitness tip ever, but workout gear does the trick! You don't have to spend lots of money on big fitness brands such as Nike; the highstreet stores have clocked on to the fitness fandom and have started to produce their own sports clothing. My personal favourite sports clothing lines are H&M and Primark! Both have some seriously high quality stuff and it's good if you don't want to splash out.

4. Log what you've done each day

When you've done some exercise, you can log what you've done in a diary/journal and you instantly feel so much better about what you've done that day and motivated to do more! I write in mine along with any thoughts or feelings and what could be improved about the day's exercise.

5. Start small and aim for bigger things

If you've got a goal, aim for it. My goal this year is to run a half marathon which I have signed up for so I am currently undergoing training which consists of three runs a week along with three Cassey Ho videos each day I don't run. If you start running, try to run a mile and stop, keep running that mile until you've mastered it and then just extend them further and further. Once you can run a mile, it's so much easier to add on the miles and get quicker! Gym-bunny's to be, try a few reps of an exercise and then increase them as you get stronger to push yourself; there's no point doing an exercise if you're finding it easy.

So there's my top 5 tips on how I exercise! How do you exercise? Have you got any tips?

Thanks for reading, I'll see you soon.

xoxo

Review: Benefit Push-Up Liner

Jumping on the beauty wagon yet again, I have picked up a sample (from Boots) of Benefit's Push-Up Liner! Being brave and asking for samples from counters always works well and surprisingly you get quite a lot of product in the tester! Not too shabby...

On with the review, bottom line, this product is awesome. Usually I'm not a supporter for high-end makeup as I'm a total drugstore girl and love the quality of some of the drugstore products but this one is that little bit better. For those of you who have been living under a rock and do not know what makes this liner so special, this liner is gel liner in a pen!!!! Say what? The pen has an awesome nib which allows you to get close to the lash line and get a seriously precise line, very good for drawing flicks for your cat eye.

Benefit claims a number of statistics:

' 91%  of women said it was long wearing, 81% of women said it was waterproof, 88% said it hugged the lashline, 84% said eyes looked visibly larger'

So let's discuss these claims. I agree with the claim that it is long wearing, I've been wearing it from the morning to the evening and it lasts all night.
The waterproof claim, I have no opinion of because I haven't tried it with water but I know that it is an absolute pain to remove. You're going to need some very good eye makeup remover for this one (examples, Garnier Micellar Solution or Lancôme's eye makeup remover) as makeup wipes will not do the trick.
As expressed before, I agree with the fact that it hugs the lashline but I did have to do some tightlining as well to make sure the line was very black.
'Eyes looked visibly larger' well is it just me but do all eyeliners make your eyes look big? Probably just me but I think mascara is the real secret behind bigger looking eyes.

The one complaint I do have about this is that I found that it smudged a little but it could have been this or the pencil I used  to tight line as I have found some rather random black patches.

If I could, I would buy this product but on a student budget, it's really not feasible at £18.50 per tube, but if you really want this (I would recommend it) then here's a link! Even if you're not going to buy it, check out the awesome nib on the liner, it is truly magnificent.

Overall, application: very good, lasting power: very good, removability: extremely difficult and price: slightly overpriced.

 Love you guys lots and speak to you soon

 

xoxo

My Favourite Makeup Brushes!

Today I thought that I would talk about make-up brushes! Obviously these are an essential part to a make-up kit and can make your make-up look that extra special! I have quite a collection of makeup brushes for some strange reason, but today I'm showing you my favourite ones!

The Foundation Brush - Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

I think you guys all know how much I love this brush as I did a whole review on it which you can see here. But basically it is one of the best foundation brushes that you can buy, honestly. It really buffs make-up into the skin to give that all important natural look! However it is also a multi-purpose brush which is something that I look for when buying makeup tools; I use this for foundation (obviously), concealer and any cream products that I have as this brush blends product really quite well!

The Powder Brush - Real Techniques Powder Brush

Although this brush is absolutely huge and completely swallows my face, it is also a fantastic brush to apply bronzer AND powder ( I love these multitasking brushes). Admittedly, it is quite huge as previously mentioned and therefore I don't use it as much as I use my other brushes.

The Blush Brush - Real Techniques Blush Brush

This blush brush, oh my lord. Again, another multitasking brush which I also use to contour as the brush itself it quite tapered therefore making is easy to stick to the cheekbone. For blusher it is also really nice and applies blusher beautifully. I do highly recommend this brush if you're a makeup junkie and love blushes.

The dupe of the MAC 217 - No 7 Eye Contour Brush

This is a brush that I use on a daily basis for eye contouring and blending. As someone that cannot afford a MAC 217, I went for the next best thing and I must say it does a great job. There are a lot of these brushes that try and dupe the famous MAC 217, but this looks exactly like it? I use this with my favourite contouring eyeshadow (sable brown by Estee Lauder) and it works an absolute treat. If you're looking for something similar to the MAC 217, then go straight for this.

The smokey eyeliner helper - No 7 Smokey Eye Brush

I use this brush when I'm bored of my winged eyeliner and decide to go for a brown or if I'm feeling a bit edgy, a black eyeliner. Using this brush makes smokey eyeliner no longer a chore and it gives great, great results. I like to apply my eyeliner across the front of my eyelid (it doesn't matter how messy it gets, trust me) and then I smudge it using this brush; afterwards it looks like I've walked out of a salon or something, it's that good.

 

 

The multitasking eyeshadow blending brush - Autograph Eyeshadow Blender Brush

This brush is one I use everyday, however, I do not use it for eyeshadow blending (hence the subtitle 'multitasking'). The label says 'eyeshadow' but I like to bend the rules when it comes to makeup application. This is a brush that I like to use for concealer as it is super duper fluffy so it blends product like a dream! On the rare occasion do I use it for what it's actually meant to be used for (that was a mouthful) because of my trusty No7 MAC 217 dupe,

The eyeshadow application brush - Autograph Eyeshadow Brush/Sponge.
When I was naming this I wasn't sure what to call it as it is a brush but looks like a sponge? But this brush is good for when you want to apply a heap of product (par exemple, the first layer of eyeshadow on your lid). Admittedly it does look like the freebie you get in most eyeshadow palette and actually it is, but it's so good for applying a lot of product to give more coverage.

So ladies and gents, that is it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I liked to write about it. If you have any comments please leave them below, tell me about your favourite brushes and the techniques you use with them. I would love to hear from you!

 



xoxo

Gingham Skater Shoes

I know I've said this far to many times, but I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while and I have no excuses left to give you. This week I'm writing about a recent purchase that has become my favourite pair of shoes that I own (and I own a few). 

These are the beauties!!!

These are my most recent purchase from the TopShop sale, which has been quite a good'un so far. These were £20, reduced to £10, BARGAIN! I've wanted these shoes for a while so when I saw they were in the sale I was on it.

The shoes themselves are gingham print, a print that is bang on trend for summer going into Autumn and honestly, they are super duper comfy. I'm yet so wear them for a walk round a city so I'll update you as soon as I have. The shoes themselves are very casual but you could smarten them up with a white blouse and black trousers/skinny jeans. If you would like ideas on how to wear skater shoes comment below and I will do a skater shoe lookbook!

Sorry for such a quick post, but I hope you understand how much  I like these shoes and well done TopShop for putting them in the sale, I am eternally grateful.

Have you raided the summer sales? What's been your favourite item that you've found?

xoxoxo

Divergent

Hey guys! I haven't spoken to you in so long and I'm so sorry about that. I love talking to you guys, telling you what's on my mind; but life gets in the way and I'm not always available to tell you what i'm up to, what products I like or in this case, what film/book I have been loving.

 MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

In the UK Divergent came out on Friday the 4th, I'm a massive fan of the book series written by Veronica Roth and the series is one that you can get really emotionally attached to. I love book that are set in the future (dystopia) because I love to read peoples perceptions of what our future as humans will be like. For those of you that don't know what Divergent is, it's about a character called Beatrice (Tris) who lives in a society where the city she lives is divided up into five factions: Erudite, Candor, Amity, Abnegation and Dauntless. All of these factions relate to a certain characteristic that the person acquires, so: intelligence, honesty, kindness, selflessness and bravery respectively. The book and film shows Tris, as a character, develop into something that everyone should aspire to be, I certainly have. She goes through certain problems that every teenage girl has gone through, just in a very different environment.

Being such a big fan of the series, I developed an emotional attachment to the characters and how they change in this beautiful love story (to an extent) as well as a battle for what they truly believe in. The film also has the most amazing soundtrack that truly depicts the feelings that the viewer is feeling at that specific point. The soundtrack features Ellie Goulding, M83 and Zedd as well as lots of other artists.

I would love to applaud the people responsible for casting these characters as they got the characters completely spot on. Shailene Woodley is playing Tris and Theo James is playing 'Four'. Both of these people are perfect for their characters, Shai knows exactly how to portray Tris and her journey of development whereas Theo James shows the true feelings of Four and how brave he is but also very sensitive. Apart from these two, my favourite casting has to be Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews. WOW. Again congratulations to the casting team, excellent choice.

After seeing the film, admittedly, I have watched way to many interviews with Shai and Theo, but I can honestly say that they are the most down to earth people I've ever seen. Shai has this wonderful organic lifestyle where she fetches her own water and buys local produce, she's also so open, funny and genuinely someone who I aspire to be. Theo is just a great guy, very funny but he does swear a lot, which is quite hilarious to an extent. Apart from his personality, he is a very good looking man, well done Theo's parents, you have quite the genes.

So if you haven't seen it already or read the books then I highly. highly recommend them.

Have you seen/read Divergent? What did you think of it?

My Mascara Collection

Hey everyone! Happy New Year and welcome to 2014 on Collars and Chocolates. This year I promise to blog much much more than I have previously, although I'm still a student so the posts may not be a regular as I really would like them to be! 

However, today I'm going to be showing you guys my mascara collection! Mascara is something that I love to try out. Some beauty bloggers or makeup enthusiasts may have a rapidly expanding collection of lipsticks or eyeshadows; for me it is mascaras. I love how they can completely change your makeup look and open up your eyes. If I was asked: 'What are your essential makeup items, if you were trapped on a desert island?', my first answer would be 'mascara'.  

I'm a bit of a drugstore girl so I love affordable mascaras and they take up pretty much the whole of my mascara collection. In total, I own about 9 mascaras. That's a bit much I know but I did get 5 of them for Christmas this year. I have 3 waterproof mascaras and 6 non-waterproof ones. 

Waterproof Mascaras: Maybeline Rocket Volume, Maybeline: The Falsies, MaxFactor: False Lash Effect

Waterproof mascara would be my favourite thing if it was easy to take off and didn't damage your lashes so much. My favourite waterproof mascara would probably be the false lash effect as it gives so much volume but still manages to look natural? I haven't a clue how that works. The mascara doesn't clump either which makes them look that much more natural.

The Maybeline mascaras are pretty good, although I prefer the rocket volume one purely because of the brush, which is incredibly similar to the MaxFactor one. The only problem I have with Maybeline ones are that they have a funky plastic smell which I'm not a fan of. But the longevity of them is incredible; I went on holiday and used the falsies and it stayed on whilst I was snorkelling, in the pool, everywhere! The only problem with the falsies, is that it clumps the lashes as it has a weird 'spoon' brush. But apart from that the maybeline ones are pretty good! Just not as good as the MaxFactor ones.

Non-Waterproof Mascaras: Soap and Glory: Thick & Fast, Bourjous: Volumizer, No7: Extreme Length, MaxFactor: Masterpiece MAX, Estee Lauder: Sumptuous Extreme, Smashbox: Full Exposure. 

In all honesty, the first point I will make is that the high end mascaras are not worth the money. There are much better ones at more affordable prices. The Estee Lauder one is my least favourite as it severely dehydrates your lashes and they feel like they could snap if you touch them. The smashbox one is good, it gives great volume but I still prefer my drugstore ones. 

My favourite one of all has got to be the Soap and Glory: Thick and Fast Mascara. This product is absolutely amazing, it has the biggest brush I have ever seen but it gives amazing volume and the longevity is great. My next favourite one is the MaxFactor: Masterpiece MAX. This is a brilliant mascara as well; it has a much smaller brush that the S&G one but it catches every lash when you sweep it through them. I have been using this mascara for many years and will probably continue to do so! The Bourjois mascara is practically plastic in a bottle. It's very clever as it has two parts, one for separating lashes and one for volumising; it really does work a treat, except the smell is really funky and a bit odd. My last mascara, the No7 one is great, but just for bottom lashes. The brush is tiny and quite scratchy if you use it for your upper lashes. For bottom lashes it works an absolute treat!

So there we go guys! I hope you enjoyed having a sneak peak into my mascara collection! If you liked this type of post then please comment below and suggest things that you would like to see.

Thank you guys and I'll speak to you soon!

Have a great day 

xoxoxo

Christmas Wishlist!

Hey Guys! I know I haven't posted in absolutely ages but it's nearly a month till Christmas and I'm super super  excited, so I decided to take to polyvore and pick out things that are on my Christmas Wishlist this year. I hope you guys like this! Put a comment below and tell me what you think of the things on my wishlist.

Christmas List! by collarsandchocolates featuring cotton t shirts

Topshop smocked dress
topshop.com

River Island cotton t shirt
$29 - riverisland.com

Zara flat boots
zara.com

Zara scarve
zara.com

Mac cosmetics lipstick
maccosmetics.com

NAKED 2 eyeshadow palette
$60 - debenhams.com

L'Oreal Micellar Solution

Hello my lovelies!

It's been nearly a month since I last posted which is crazy and I really need to get back into blogging again seeing that it's something that I love to do. However, yet again, life got in the way of what I love to do, but now I'm back! 

I really ought to do my August favourites, however, my camera has broken so I can't do a YouTube video to express my love for certain products. But, I know that I hadn't posted in a really long time and thought that I would shoot a few pictures on my phone and write a blogpost about a particular product that I have been absolutely loving this month. From the title of this post, I think we all know what it is. Cleansing waters have become the rage of the beauty community, everybody has one that they know and love, for example, Bioderma or this L'Oreal one. This L'Oreal Micellar Solution has taken the beauty world by storm so Bioderma may have some competition, particularly because this L'Oreal 'dupe' is a lot cheaper and much, much easier to get hold of here in the UK.

The product claims to do three things: dissolve make-up , unclog pores and remove impurities and tone and soothe the skin. I have to agree that it does these three things for the face, but eye-makeup such as mascara is more difficult to remove with this product, especially if you're using a cotton pad. However, it does what it says on the tin for the rest of your face, your make-up is completely gone when the cotton pad, that you have placed the product on, sweeps across your face, although it takes more than one cotton pad, obviously. This product is so long-lasting. I've had it for nearly a month and I'm not even half way through the bottle yet. 

For me, I find that there is one disadvantage and that is that it does take some of the moisture out of my face so that my skin does feel a bit tight, but as always this can be fixed with some moisturiser! Another disadvantage (for US residents) is that this product is currently unavailable in the US so the next time you come to the UK, you're definitely going to need to stock up on this product. 

The advantages overrule the disadvantages though. Firstly, the price is unbelievably low at £3.99 a bottle which is so much cheaper compared to other cleansing waters. Secondly, It does what it says on the bottle, thirdly, it's suitable for sensitive skin and finally it's so easy to get hold of (if you live in the UK)!

Overall, I would say that this product is amazing, and the best thing I've used to get the make-up off my face quick and easily. I've used other brands such as Estee Lauder, but this one from L'Oreal works so much better.

So that's it my lovelies! I'm going to try to post much more regularly as I love to tell you about products that I'm loving and seeing if you like them as well! Please comment below if you also liked this product and follow me on gfc and bloglovin'

Bye my lovelies!

xoxo

DISCLAIMER: All my opinions are my own and I'm not being sponsored to do this review, I did it because I wanted to share this product with my followers. 

Reunited

Hello my long lost lovelies that I haven't spoken to in ages!

So basically we (you and I) have been reunited after a long time of unnecessary absence so I thought I would tell you about where I have been for such a long time! As absolutely none of you know, I have been on holiday or 'vacation' recently to the beautiful island of Menorca! For all of you that don't know, Menorca is a small island located in the Mediterranean sea in a small group of islands called the Balearic islands. The Balearic islands consist of three islands. The first is Ibiza, the party island; then there is Majorca and after that Menorca! 

Menorca is Majorca's little brother/sister, whatever your preference and I can safely say that Menorca is the nicer island of the two, I have no opinion on Ibiza seeing as I have never been. Menorca was just such a beautiful country with some amazing weather and people come from all over the world to be on this one small island. 

I met people from all over Europe, I met people from Italy who were so lovely, funny and very kind. I also met people from around my country and they were lovely too! Everyone was very polite and it has been the only island that I have felt truly safe in. 

At some point in my life I would love to visit there again or even live there in the future!

So that's the end of my life update and now on to the emotional part!

Recently, I have hit 1,000 page views which is absolutely incredible and a huge achievement for me. I didn't think anyone would bother to read this blog so to know people from all over the world have read this blog and that some of you have commented or even followed/subscribed to this small space on the internet makes me so happy. It also lets me know that what I love to do is being appreciated by so many of you and I thank you for that.

Thank you so much my lovelies

Don't forget to follow on gfc or bloglovin' and comment, I will probably always reply back.

Byeeee!

xoxo

Random Favourites & YouTube

Hiya Lovelies, 

I thought I'd do another blog post because I have some more favourites to add my July favourites and I thought that I should explain the purpose of my YouTube channel and explain why I started it I suppose!

JULY FAVOURITES

We'll start with the July Random Favourites, I'm going to start with music seeing as I've discovered two new bands and I love them a lot so I thought I'd share them with you.

1. Saint Raymond

DISCLAIMER: Image is not mine, copied from google images,

Saint Raymond is a lad called Calum from the UK and I discovered him through iTunes' free songs. I love his songs and my favourite one is 'Everything She Wants' because it has such a good guitar bit and it's such a good song! 

2. The Neighbourhood

DISCLAIMER: Image is not mine, found on google images.

The Neighbourhood is an alternative rock band from California and they make such good songs. My favourite songs are 'sweater weather' and 'let it go'. I found this band because of Ingrid aka MissGlamorazzi. She has her own YouTube channel and this was mentioned in one of her favourites. But this band have such an edgy take on rock and I love their music a lot because it's quite different and quite dark? Also, all their music videos are in black and white and I love me some black and white.

3. Iced Tea

Next up, is my favourite drink. I have had an addiction to Iced Tea, I love it so so much because of the fruity flavours you can get, mmm, it's delicious!

So that's my random favourites!

YOUTUBE

So, as many of you may know, I have recently started a YouTube channel called CollarsnChocolates. Now you're probably wondering, why did you start a YouTube channel when you already have a blog? I thought that I would start a YouTube channel because 1. it makes it easier for me to review things or tell you about my favourites. Secondly, I've always wanted to start a YouTube channel, but I've never had the courage to do so. Thirdly, I have made videos and edited them since an early age and I thought I would make good use of my skills. 

I just love video making, it's an opportunity to meet even more new people and share a passion over the internet and I think that's amazing. YouTube is also a place where I can be myself rather than being my normal quiet self. 

So if you're interested in looking at my channel please click this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/CollarsnChocolates 

Please comment and like my videos as I love to read comments about how I'm doing. I've had a couple of comments already and they've made me so happy and made me want to continue making these little videos that, hopefully, help you guys out. Hopefully, I can bring something new and fresh to the beauty community! If you're also feeling extra nice, you could subscribe to my channel! I would genuinely love you forever.

Thank you for reading as always, I love you all and I'll see or type very soon! 

Bye lovelies!

xoxo

P.S A new YouTube video is going up today at around 4pm GMT so go on to my channel or follow my twitter for updates! 

July Favourites Video!

Hello Everyone!

I've decided to have another go at making YouTube videos! Today, it's a video about my July Favourites!  I know you all like to read my favourites blog posts (even though I haven't done one in a while) so hopefully you'll like this new way of showing you my favourites.

If you want to, please comment on the video and on here giving me feedback on how I've done! Also, please like the video and subscribe to my channel as I hope to do more videos if you give me suggestions on things you would like to see!

Sorry, the video is quite long (10 minutes) but if you could spare that time to watch it, it would be great, get comfy and click play!

I hope you enjoy/have enjoyed the video and a new blogpost will be coming next week along with a new video (if you want, please give me feedback)

Bye my lovelies!

xoxo

Primark Mini Haul!

Hello my lovelies!

Wow, it's been quite a while since I wrote on here last! Mainly because I have had blog writer's block and have had absolutely nothing to write about and the fact that I have been quite busy and my camera ran out of battery and I lost the charger. Sorry for that quick 'life update'. 

Anyway, recently I have become a little bit addicted to Primark, which is a good thing for my purse as their stuff is cheap and cheerful but also, the quality of their items has improved! So, this is a collection of things that I have bought recently for me to show you as Primark doesn't have an online shop so you never know what is in there. Also, I know I like to be nosey and see what other people have bought in Primark, so I guessed that my readers would too. 

Let's crack on!

Maxi Skirt with Slit: £8

Firstly, I bought a maxi skirt! Now, I'm not one for flowing dresses or long maxi skirts but this one just caught my eye because it has a slit in it down the front! I've got to admit, the slit does come up a bit high but that's something that we can all work with. Also, it does give you an opportunity to do an 'Angelina Jolie', meaning that you stick your leg out of your skirt/dress and consequently, get your own twitter account made about it. Anyway, I thought that the material was pretty decent, and it looks very pretty and it is an evening essential if you're going away somewhere or a night out! You could team this with crop tops, vest tops, any top you liked really! 

Collared Shirt: £8

The second item that I bought will be no surprise to any of you, but I bought a collared shirt with little rolled up sleeves which I think is super cute. It does come in a range of colours and I do aim to buy all of them because I am that sad, but I chose yellow because it's a bright summery colour and it looks very pretty. The material is of a good quality, except it's see-through so you will need to wear a cami underneath to protect your modesty.

T-Shirt Dress: £5

Moving on to dresses! Now, this dress is an absolute bargain at the small, minuscule price of £5. This is perfect for those of you that need a day dress for a cheap price and they do these in a range of colours too, for £5 and some without the polka dots. Again, it's a tad see through but we can work around it! This dress is also really, really flattering. It starts to clinch to the body at around the bottom of your ribcage so it's really flattering and makes you look very, very skinny which is an added bonus. 

Butterfly cut-out dress: £13

 This dress has been very popular in my local Primark as there was barely any of my sizes left but luckily, I found one! I love, love, love this dress and the fact that it has cut-outs at the waist. It is such a gorgeous material so it's good quality and has a zip-up back. The material isn't very flexible so make sure you get the right size. But apart from that, this is a lovely evening dress.

Shirt Dress: £10

I  thought that this dress was super-summery and had a bit of a tropical feel to it, which I love. Primark have detected the issue of the fact that the material is quite sheer, and have provided a yellow dress lining inside which is great, and it's sewn in, so you won't lose it. The material is of good quality and the dress comes with a belt, which isn't attached so you have to look after that part of the dress. I really like the little gold-coloured buttons on the front as they suit the dress really well.

Sandals: £2.50

Moving on to shoes! Well more specifically, sandals. I have a major problem with feet, I just really do not like them, especially my own. Therefore, I'm trying to learn to like them by wearing sandals! This pair were 2.50 and they look really nice, however, they can feel a bit  tight. I have bought these for beachwear mostly. But they were a complete bargain and they come in black, white and pink? (I'm not too sure if they do anymore colours). 

Gladiator Sandals: £6

This last item was a pair of gladiator sandals. So I was in Primark, looking for another pair of sandals, and I fell head over heels in love with this pair because they look absolutely gorgeous (well done Primark). This pair was the last in my local Primark so you can tell that they've been loved by many. They are so comfortable, I've been wearing them around to get used to them and they're doing very well. The cage is a bit big but it's something that you do get used to and it's a benefit as it makes them easier to wear? That's just my opinion though so yours may be different.

So that's the Primark shopping bag emptied, photographed and reviewed! I hope you liked this post, if you did, don't forget to comment on this post as I love your feedback and go ahead and follow me on gfc and bloglovin'!

Thank you for reading!

Bye lovelies!

xoxo

DIY Bunting

Hello lovelies! 

It has been far too long since I last posted and I apologise for that but I have been so busy and haven't had a clue about what to post...until now!

Today I thought I'd do a completely different post for you! At the moment, I'm on my summer holidays and hence, have a lot of time on my hands; so I decided to make some room decorations as my room is in desperate need of some homemade touches. 

Pre-warning: These are not the most professional bunting flags, but I made them how I wanted them! 

You will need:

Scissors, Fabric, String (whatever length you would like, Pen/Marker, Sellotape,Paintbrush (optional), Acrylic Paint (optional), Cardboard template, newspaper and water!

Method!

Step 1: Make your cardboard template!

             

You can make you cardboard template by drawing any size triangle you like and cut it out! I used a cereal box for my cardboard template.

Step 2: Draw your triangle on to the fabric!

Place your cardboard template on to your fabric and then use your marker/pen to draw around the outside of your cardboard triangle template. 

Step 3: Cut out the triangle!

 Use your scissors to cut out the triangle you have just draw on your fabric.

Step 4: Repeat! 

Repeat this step until you have enough triangles for your string (you decided how long you want your string) 

Step 5:  Cut out circles on your template. If you don't want to paint polka dots on your flags, then skip steps 5 and 6.

Firstly draw around something circular, perhaps a glue-stick lid and then, using scissors, cut out the circles!

Step 6: Paint your polka dots! 

Using an acrylic paint of your choice (fabric paint would be better) paint your polka dots onto the fabric using a paintbrush. I used acrylic because I know it dries fast and it doesn't come off easily. 

Step 7: Attach the flags to the string

If you wanted to do this properly, you would use ribbon and a sewing machine except,I don't like sewing machines hence why I did it the cheap-skate way! So, after the paint dries, turn over the flag and then attach it to the string using sellotape! I left several inches between the start of the string and the flag and then two inches between each flag. 

Voila!! 

 I hope you guys liked this post as I had a lot of fun doing DIY! If you want more of these homemade things, then please leave a comment below! If you actually make these, send me a picture!! Either by e-mail, twitter or under the tumblr tag #collarsandchocolates. I'd love to know that I'd inspired you to do this.

Thank you guys for reading! 

xoxo

What I wore: Restaurant (2)

Hey Lovelies!

I know, another 'restaurant' post. What can I say? I eat out a lot... But the restaurant was so so pretty and it was such a lovely day.

But anyway, I quite liked my makeup so I thought I would share that with you today!!

This is now probably my go-to summer going out look (that was a mouthful). I absolutely love the brown eyes and then the bright red lip and I will most definitely be wearing this when I go out!

All the products that I used

So, firstly I applied my concealers which is collection's lasting perfection one and No7's calm and conceal. Then I put on my foundation, which is Rimmel London's Wake Me Up foundation as I find it makes your face glow, which is perfect for the summer. Whilst that was soaking into my skin, I filled in my brows with an Estee Lauder eyeshadow, from the palette in the left hand corner, called Wild Sable from the Pure Colour collection. I then went on to my eyes! I covered the lids of my eyes with Sugar Biscuit, from the same Estee Lauder palette I love Sugar Biscuit and I have been using it for years, it's such a nice, light shimmery colour. Next, I put 'Wild Sable' into the crease of my eye and slightly on the lid and blended the c=two colours together. After that, I added another darker brown eyeshadow from Max Factor (which I can't find the name of, sorry) just above the crease of my eye and blended that colour with the Estee Lauder eyeshadow. I then lined my eyes with the Estee Lauder Pure Colour eyeliner - Blackened Cocoa. This eyeliner is very similar in colour to MAC's eyeliner - coffee so check Estee Lauder's eyeliner out MAC lovers! 

After this I contoured my face using the sleek palette in the top right hand corner. Firstly, I used the brown shade to contour under my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose. I then went down the middle of my nose with the highlighter and on the top of my cheekbones and after that, I added the shimmery blush on to the apples of my cheeks. After, I applied my Bourjois bronzer to every part of my face that the sun would touch and set my makeup with my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. 

I then used my most favourite red/orange lipstick in the entire world, which has been discontinued much to my disappointment  We all have those lipsticks that we don't use, well this was one of them until a week ago when I absolutely fell head over heels in love with it. It's such a gorgeous colour and has a bit of shimmer. It is the Pure Colour lipstick in Tangerine and it was a beautiful lipstick (Estee Lauder please bring this back!) I'm trying not to use too much of it so it will last me a long time, hopefully. If any of you know where I can find a lipstick similar to this one, please comment below because I need another one like this in my life.

After, I then painted my nails with the Max Factor Max Effect nail polish in Deep Coral which is the same colour as my discontinued Estee Lauder lipstick. I find that this nail varnish dries really quickly and I'm not a patient person so this is a very handy nail varnish indeed!

So Ta Da! That is my complete look! I hope you enjoyed this blog post because I enjoyed writing it and, it took me such a long time to write! 

Thank you for reading, please comment below if you have any suggestions (especially regarding the lipstick) or just any general comments about the look.

Bye my lovelies!! 

xoxo

Review: Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Hey Lovelies!

Today I'm going to review the Real Techniques expert face brush by Samantha Chapman. Even though there are so many reviews on this brush, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to review it as it's another point of view to hear from.

The first thing that I'm going to say is, this is the best brush that I have ever bought. I love it a lot, and these are the reasons why:

1) Coverage: This brush makes a small amount of foundation go a long way. And it gets into every curve in your face making sure that every aspect of your face is completely covered. You may wonder, how does it do this? It's able to achieve this because of it's curved bristles, which are very handy indeed. The only problem I have with this brush, is that when I'm blending foundation into my skin, I feel like I am putting a lot of effort into doing it, I haven't had this with other brushes. 

2) Uses: I absolutely love this brush because I use it for my concealer and I also use it for liquid foundation therefore it is a multi-purpose brush, unlike some of the other brushes that I own. This means that I don't have to waste money on buying more brushes for every single part of my make-up; thank you real techniques!

3) Price: Obviously, this is what is on everyone's mind when they're buying make-up brushes, especially if you're of a young age when you don't have that much money to spend. However, this brush is a superb cost of £9.99, although I got it for £8.99 in Superdrug! Result! 

4) Quality: For a cheap brush the quality of it is outstanding. The bristles are so soft on the skin and don't shed when they are washed/deep-cleaned. Apparently, they are also cruelty-free which makes them even better. The handle is really nice, it's made of aluminium and is built for your hand so it's very comfortable. Another thing is that it stands up on it's own which I think is an added bonus!

Overall, I would thoroughly recommend buying this brush if you have £10 to spare or if you're looking for a new make-up brush. In the future, I really want to buy more of these brushes as they're really lovely to use and of such great quality. Personally, I would love to buy the blush brush and the travel essentials kit as I know I'd use those brushes a lot.

Thank you guys for reading! There will certainly be another blog post soon as I have plenty of time to spare now.

Another thing, if you don't follow me on bloglovin' please do, as Google reader and Google friend connect are shutting down very soon so please head over here (http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/8016727) and make sure you click the follow button so you don't miss out on any updates.

Please comment below on what you think of this post and if you want, suggest ideas for me to do in the future!

Thank you again

Bye lovelies!

xoxo