Avon | Ultra Colour Lipstick & Extra-Lasting Plump and Stay Lip Colour.

Hello loves,

First of all I want to apologise for my lack of posts and activeness on social media lately. I had my birthday (which you can read about here) then I fell ill and had zero motivation to live let alone blog and then to top it off I had no wifi for 2 weeks, nightmare! But I'm back and here to rant and rave to my heart's desire.

I want to talk about my two favourite lip products of the moment which are both from Avon. Now I know I have spoken about them before but it's honestly because it's only recently I have appreciated their brand properly and I'm now obsessed!

The first one is this gorgeous purple lip colour I'm sporting. Now I think I've mentioned this in one of my earlier posts that I was on the hunt for the perfect pigmented purple shade and luck was obviously on my side this day because I found this Ultra Colour Lipstick in their clearance brochure for the bargain price of £2.00, saving £5.50! I was sold. It's in the shade Vixen and it's that beautiful warm toned plum colour I've been searching for. Paired with their Ultra Glimmerstick Lip Liner in Deep Plum, I literally wear this everywhere, everyday whether it's to the shops, work or a night out I can't get enough. I think it even warms up my face too because I am very fair skinned even with make-up on.

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The second lip combo I am adoring is a relatively new product. It's the Plump and Stay Lip Colour in Plumful from their Extra-Lasting collection. Now you'd be lying if you haven't been through the phase of dreaming of Kylie Jenner lips without the harmful side effects and surgery so I thought I'd give it a go to see if my lips actually plump out. My lips are a "normal" shape and size but I did see a difference when I applied it. It's a 2 in 1 design with the liquid lipstick on one side and the gloss on the other. I don't know exactly what is in the gloss but when you apply it in the centre of your lips it gives that tingling sensation which is a bit of a strange feeling but it doesn't last long. It also claims it lasts 8 hours so here are the results.

11AM | 5PM | 9PM

So I had it on all through my shift without any re-applying and eventhough the colour slightly faded the glossiness and pout remained. The texture is slightly tacky and sticky so if your not a fan of that this wouldn't really be for you but I do really adore this and my lips do look different which is fun. I paired it with the Ultra Glimmerstick Lip Liner in Pink Cashmere to give it that bit more definition and I got the both for £8.00 in one of the brochure offers but you can purchase the Glimmersticks for £6.00 RRP and the Plump and Stay for £8.50 RRP. But like I said every brochure has an offer so always keep an eye out, currently this look is only £5.00!

One final note, Avon have just launched their Matte lipsticks claiming they are "More Matte Than MAC" and I cannot wait to get my hands on one. I have a tester but really need to do the comparison for myself and for a fraction of the price of a MAC lipstick at only £5.50 RRP!

Anyway, have a lush day darlings.

Katie x

{disclaimer: i am not an Avon rep and all these views and opinions are entirely my own}

Album Review; Mikey Bromley - This One's For You

Now if you know me, follow me on Twitter or anything like that you should know I support artists that are just coming out of their creative shells rather than the likes of Justin Bieber and One Direction {who are still both amazing and I sing their songs 24/7} but also this is why it's tricky for me to be like "I'm a fan" because I don't feel like a fan of them, I was a fan of The Wanted, a fan of Little Mix but this to me is different and less cringy so I stick to the word "support". 

Anyway also if you have followed me for some time you will know I stuck by a little band called Only The Young, prior, during and after their X Factor experience {they came 7th in 2014} but they have since called it a day and this is where this guy comes into equation; Mikey Bromley.

The 21 year old from Carlisle is heavily influenced by the likes of Mcfly {Tom Fletcher especially} Jason Mraz, James Bay, Joe Brooks {where he has even covered his song Superman to be a part of album} and so many other guitar-based artists which really reflects through his album; This One's For You. 

There are 9 tracks; Miss J, Safe & Sound, Next Stop The Universe, Snake In A Mercedes, Run Away, Coca Cola, Laugh Smile Kiss, Girl On Girl and Superman.

Whilst they all stick with the same genre and guitar, each one has their own uniqueness to tell them apart, not to mention the smart yet simplistic lyrics which is key if you want your audience to be singing Miss J through an 8 hour shift! {thanks Bromley!}

As soon as you press play you go on his emotional journey from an encounter with a teacher to falling in love with a lesbian {i know ..?} but strangely the set list does tie in quite nicely together to make an easy-listening, chill album that you can either stick your earphones in and blast out or have it on in the background whilst doing housework. {this is from experience I have been known to dance around with the Hoover} 

The one thing I love the most about this, is he's finally 100% himself and comfortable in what he is doing and it really shows, I actually saw him on Wednesday and he's never looked so relaxed and happy. I'm so proud of him.

So if any of what I have said appeals to you then This One's For You! {I'm sorry I couldn't resist}

It is available to download NOW on Spotify and iTunes or if you pop into your local HMV you will be sure to find it if albums are more your thing. Help this lad out to get the recognition he deserves. 

Love you all,

Katie x

21st Birthweek | My Trip To Dublin

Hello my loves,

So as you may or may not have known, I turned 21 on Wednesday (3rd Feb) and to celebrate I went to Dublin for 4 days as part of my birthweek, and let me tell you now, it is the most beautiful, relaxed city I have ever been to. I took quite a few pictures so I thought it would be nice to share with you what I got up to whilst I was there and maybe even give you a few ideas if you ever decide to go.

Day 1:

Our journey began very early on Monday morning so we could travel to Bristol Airport and everything ran smoothly and we got there with plenty time to spare. Little did we know we spoke too soon. Basically because our good friend Hurricane Henry was in the midst of blowing all over Dublin our flight was delayed. What a nightmare, I just wanted to get there. BUT he must have known it was my birthday as we were only delayed by half a hour. FINALLY WE'RE IN DUBLIN. Yeah .. that was short-lived excitement when we got lost and ended up roaming the streets of Dublin trying to find our back alley hotel! It doesn't help being in a different country with no data so we had to find Wifi to figure out exactly where we were every 10 minutes. But eventually after 12 hours of travelling we were in our hotel finally able to relax. Just down the road we had a giant Spar shop, which to be honest I don't really rate in the UK but it seems Dublin corner shops are slightly different. They serve hot food, have seats to eat in, they have a deli counter and a coffee shop as well as convenience items, this was our go-to place all week! Amazing.

Day 2:

Our first full day in Dublin, we planned to go to on a City Tour of Dublin but first of course, food! In our trusty Spar shop we purchased a breakfast roll, something the Irish highly recommend. It's basically boiled egg, hashbrown, sausage, black/white pudding, bacon and whatever else you might want to add and it's just 3 Euro! Bargain and it filled us up most of the day! We then went onto O'Connell Street to find the City Tour bus. There are 3 Hop On-Hop Off buses to choose from; Red, Green and Yellow. Some can be pricey but the Yellow bus CityScape is currently on offer for 10 Euro each for a 2 hour and 35 minute tour and I highly recommend it!! The journey is enjoyable and the commentator is warm and friendly and very Irish, and luckily the sun decided to make an appearance along the way! Also with a CityScape ticket you can get discount off other attractions including the Guinness Storehouse and you also get offers such as 2 for 1 Meals and a free glass of Guinness in a pub.

Guinness StoreHouse

Dublin's smallest pub. Capacity: 25 

Oscar Wilde statue

Ha'penney Bridge

Kilmainham Jail

The Spire or "Stiffy By The Liffey"

Aviva Stadium

Also, we came across the amusing trend of heels on electrical wires!

The city is surrounded by beautiful Georgian buildings and parks it is definitely worth a tour to see everything!

We ended the day with some Retail Therapy and a few drinks to bring in my birthday!

Day 3:

It's our last day in Dublin, (boohoo!!) but it's my birthday, 21 to be exact yaaaay! Yesterday we were informed that every first Wednesday of each month access to Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Jail is completely free saving at least 20 Euro so it is well worth knowing about so obviously today we took advantage of it and went to Dublin Castle which was right down the road from us. I recommend having a Guided Tour as apposed to a Self-Guided because you also get access to the remains of the Gun Powder Tower, the Records Tower and the chapel which is pretty amazing to see. Then you see the inside of the castle with the multiple rooms, absolutely majestic.

We then came back to my hotel and there was a bottle of Presecco delivered to my room, how cute of them! But we decided to save it until after we went to dinner with my two Irish friends Soph and Megan who I haven't seen in almost 5 years. It was so lovely to have a catch-up and eat Eddie Rockets (Irish version of Ed's Easy Diner) and boy it was goooood! Then we went for a wander to Grafton Street and Stephen's Green Shopping Centre which looks incredible.

I can't do a post without mentioning Twitter so I'd like to thank everyone for their birthday messages and my favourite part is the balloons that come up on my profile, so adorable!

And that's about it. I know this is a bit lengthy so thank you for sticking through this post, and thank you for taking the time to read all my posts. So happy. Here's to the rest of my 2016!! 

Love you lots

Katie x