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Wednesday 30 December 2015

Anti-Bucket List!

Like everyone else around this time of the year I tend to think of goals to set ourselves for the new year but sometimes we forget that we should be grateful for things that have came our way in the past year. Although things have not worked out how I planned, there are also things I feel grateful for and thought I would share what I've achieved whether it was big or small as one of the favourite quote is "Don't worry too much on your mistakes. Mistakes become experience". 

This post was totally inspired by Olivia's post highlighting how we should remember how far we've came because no-ones going to give you a pat on the back for your personal goals apart from yourself! Now saying that I will also have new goals for the new year :) especially travel wise as travelling is something I really want to achieve in my 20's so there is places I want to visit but at the same time I wanted to highlight how far I've got with 2015: 



1. Visiting New York City (Was no.1 on my travel list) and first ever helicopter ride - For some one that is afraid of heights I thought I did well at staying calm our helicopter flew us around NYC and it was a small helicopter to begin with (hating small spaces and all that) so thumbs up for that! NYC was truly how I imagined it and if anyone is going there soon I am so jealous right now as it did not disappoint me but I will share more in tomorrows Travel Thursday post :) 

2. Letting go of my part time job - Will truly miss working for them (and the staff discount) but working a full time and part time job was getting a little too much for me so I needed to let go!

3. Exploring my city more - Living here basically all my life I never have truly appreciated what is close to home I was grateful that I did a bit of exploring and took advantage of bank holidays and went to good old tourist spots. 

4. Had my first afternoon tea experience! - Okay so not a major goal but I finally got to see what the fuss was all about and I loved it! have tried a few places now and I have to say it is a great concept as it's a nice way to chill over some tea and scones!

5. End of last year/start of this year I visited my grandparents who live a wee bit away from me so I don't get to see them that often and with my grandad being ill he can't travel to see us so it was lovely to see them after so long. As my nanny and nandad passed away two years ago I want to be able to see my paternal side more and now that I don't have to worry about exams and what not I'm hoping to see them more often now. 

As mentioned there was much more I had planned for 2015 but things don't always go to plan but I'm grateful for the little things that have happened :) 

Have you written one of these as well ? Send me links and I would love to check it out

Friday 25 December 2015

Christmas Nails! OPI & Barry M


Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays Everyone! 

I hope everyone it enjoying their holidays, I'm hoping to just chill, eat and watch all today! 

Pretty self explanatory post but I thought I'd share my festive inspired nails for this week, spontaneous choice but I'm happy how messy it looks! For the base I used OPI's Got the blues for Red and my layered it with a limited edition Barry M polish in moonlight. Hope you like and I'd love to see your festive inspired nails, link them below :) 

Do come back tomorrow for a Boxing day Sales Shop pick post! 

XX T XX




Wednesday 23 December 2015

What I'm wearing for the holidays ♥

Short and Sweet post but I thought I'd share what I'm will be donning in the coming festive days! I picked up this pretty little number in Toyshop's tall range for my birthday and because I love it so much I'm going to wear again for the the festive days as its so nice and comfy but at the same time it's dressy I thought for £36.00 this was a bargain! It's made of a cotton material but the lace detail gives it that edge. It's also one of those dresses that you can wear all year round and its one of those shapes that will be forgiving when loaded with food....

What's your go to piece for the holiday's ? Link your post below :)

                                                   Topshop Tall Embroidered Dress £36.00

XXX T XX

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Claire Facial Jewellery!

Hi everyone!

For all facial piercing lovers!! I thought I'd share with you some jewellery pieces I bought from Claire's Accessories, if you have multiple ear piercings or want to try faux nose jewellery Claire's accessories have a small stand where they sell different types of facial jewellery such faux septum and nose rings and also ear cuffs. I went crazy and bought the whole lot but Claire's were having a offer of buy three get three free! so I could not pass it down. My sixth item was pair of false lashes and my total came to £27.00 which I thought wasn't too bad and I really wanted to try a black nose ring. Is there anywhere else you would go for nose/ear jewellery ?

XX T



Monday 21 December 2015

Christmas Wrapping/Baking Stuff!

I know this isn't a very typical topic to blog about but I love Christmas wrapping and decorating and I thought I'd share with what I bought this year! Even though I love buying wrapping paper and what not I like getting them on the value for money side of things as we all know the minute you go down the stairs on Friday or hand over the present the wrapping is all down the drain as we all are eager to open our presents (or this just may be the case in our household) therefore I don't like to get overpriced decorating items but at the same time I'd like it to be nice and sort of my style! I also like to go for a theme, I know some people like to buy all sort of styles and use them as wrapping but I tend to go a particular colour scheme and stick to that :) (does anyone else do this ?) This year I've went for the traditional Red and Gold theme with hints of maroon and green! I found all my items in Poundland! honestly the best place to go to for christmas decor as I also found some nifty christmas themes baking items which my sisters and I will use for our cupcakes etc. I hope this gives you an idea of where to go and let me know if you have a key place to buy crimbo decor. 

XXX T XXX





Sunday 20 December 2015

Beauty Fanatic's Christmas Wish List!

So We're all in the process of getting everyone's present ready (if you still haven't have a look at my unisex wish list here) but what do we want this year ? As a beauty lover there are some products that I've had my eye on that've been roaming around in the beauty community and I would love to try! Here are my top picks, is there any that you are looking forward to receiving on the big day ?



BECCA Highlighter in Champagne Pop £30.00 - Now if you haven't heard about this product then you've been under a rock! This is such a raved about product, it gives an illuminating glow to the skin and also brightens any complexion.  Although there are alternatives (see my MUA version here) for some reason you can't beat the original! Its now available in Space NK and it's definitely something I want to try as I've been really enjoying highlighter.
Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette £40.00 - I have to say I loved No Doubt and always thought Gwen was league on of her own when it came to female singers. When I first heard about this collaboaration I wasn't sure if it would be up my street as I thought colours would be OTT (as are some UD palettes) but once the pictures came out I couldn't believe how wearable the colours were! really lovely neutral colours with some hint of pinky colours which is what I like and UD shadows never fail to impress me.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Contour Kit £39.00 - Now I have to say I have a love hate thing for contour, it doesn't always work well for my face shape but at the same time I think contouring helps get that "defined" look. That being said a lot of people have taken define to levels to I can't compare too but I think if you are looking to experiment with looks or just thinking of adding this to you professional kit this this would be great! It's powder form so it is more subtle than the cream form.
Huda Lashes £Varies - Now if you love following make up bloggers on Instagram then you know of the famous lashes created by fellow blogger Huda Khattan. These lashes are meant to be really well made and worth the price! So I definitely want to try this out.
Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick - £23.00 Now the packaging for this lipstick is to die for! I haven't tried anything from this brand yet so I think starting with the lipstick would be ideal and I have my eye on Birkin Brown (pictured above), In no doubt I'm sure the quality of the lipstick would be great as it's raved about by so many beauty bloggers.
Sunday Riley Juno Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil £70.00 - Now this is big money we're talking about! Although I've heard it's worth every penny of it. It's been a celeb and blogger fav and it's meant to be really good for the skin (for that price it better be!) and helps reduce dullness and boost radiance which for a mid twenties gal would be good...
Two Faced Born This Way Foundation £29.00 - I've seen a few WOC beauty bloggers/youtubers rave how flawless this foundation makes their skin and creates that high definition whilst also making your foundation look like second skin, very intrigued to try this!
Eccentric Molecules, Molecules 01 £65.50 - Now I'm pretty sure you can get smaller bottles of this if you want to try this out as again this products has been in the beauty blogging community for a long time. Essentially this perfume smells different on different people as it react to your skin (?) This is also a perfume that other people can smell even if you can't. I usually opt for sweet scents so it would be interesting to see what scent this would give off!

Hope you like this list, what would be on your wish list beauty wise?



XXX Tami XXX

Thursday 17 December 2015

Throwback Travel Thursday: Berlin !

Keeping on with the #throwbacktravelthursday I'm going to let the picture do the talking here, but Berlin is beautiful place to go for a winter break. I went there in January 2014 and it was soo cold (like -10!) but for some reason it didn't feel that bad as people there were used to it and were still going about their daily routine. Berlin has so much history and if you were a History geek like me you would be interested and appreciate in seeing some of the aftermaths of the post war era and how Berlin capture it all. They have so many museums and historical spots such as the Berlin Wall that you would never get bored there. There's so much to do there and and food is affordable there as well. My pictures don't do it justice as I didn't have proper camera then so all was taken on my good old phone! Anyway Berlin would be another place I would love to go back and explore more as I feel like I could have seen a lot more..
               Have you been to Berlin ? Top place / thing to do there ? :)

So close to the holidays as well :D

XXX T XX







Monday 14 December 2015

Update & Current Love ♥

If anyone reading my blog (hey btw) are wondering why no post yesterday that is because I didn't have a chance to post my Sunday reflection, also I don't like the idea of putting up a post for the sake of it and thought I would take this one days break from it. I'm not that well planned ahead when is comes to blogging loads in advance as my posts are literally written that day but I'm hoping to preplan this week and get some post scheduled so I can keep up with #Blogmas

Having such a fail with my YouTube channel, I recently made a new one so I can start afresh but my google account for blogger is connected to my old channel! so in order to keep it all uniform I've reverted back to my channel and will continue on there. But on the up side I didn't realise you can change your channel name and URL so it worked out well because now my old channel has the same name as my blog. If you're interested in watching me ramble then click here :) 

As mentioned in my November favourites video, I'm obsessed with candles at the moment! They just give a really cosy feel to any room not mention also make your surroundings smell lovely (the whole purpose of it!). I think it also this time of the year when days are shorted that the burning a candle feels right! I've bought every version of the Primark's Sweet Vanilla and Coconut candle and love the three wick version that I have. Just love how strong and sweet the scent is and if your looking for stocking fillers these would be great! Recently purchased Primark's Patchouli and Amber candle, not going to lie solely purchased so it can match my room decor but I will let you know how I get on.


 I really want to try out other brands that are affordable, if you have an suggestions please send them through :) 

XXX T XX



Saturday 12 December 2015

New Lush Products

Lush is a place I like to go to when I'm in the mood to have have pamper bath but recently I was on hunt to buy some products with "less" chemicals I guess. Now that my hair is a lot longer its has been weighing down my hair, making my scalp look thinner therefore wanted a product that would help hair regrowth.  The lush assistant recommended me their shampoo bar which helps stimulating the scalp boosting blood flow which then should help with hair growth. This really intrigued so I had to get it! on the plus side as well it's meant to last 60-80 washes! 
On the topic of less chemical products I really want to move away from standard deodorants and one thing lush offered was their deodorant powder which help eliminate odour and can be used for underarms and feet (won't be using it for that), I've tried their deodorant bars before and I thought it was Ok not that effective (tmi) so I'm hoping the powder will be a bit better. 
Of course I couldn't leave Lush without a bath ballistic and this blackberry bath bomb was meant to help you feel relaxed and distressed which I definitely need at the moment! I've already used this and love the smell and colour it left my bath. I much prefer the ballistics to the bath melts but it terms of use of money I would recommend getting the bubble bars as you can break them up into pieces and use it for numerous baths! All in all Lush can be a tad expensive in terms of their bath bombs but the other products I got I think are good value for money. This doesn't mean I'm not going to their sale after Christmas ;) 

The lovely Lush assistant also gave me a free sample of their toothy tabs which was a new concept to me, basically their toothpaste that will dissolve in your mouth once you start brushing, haven't tried it yet but will report back! :)

Have you tried of these, if so what do you think of them ? 

XX T XX



Friday 11 December 2015

Gifts for All! Unisex Gift Guide Under £20.00

Two weekends away from Christmas !?!

This month is literally going in a blink of an eye, currently struggling on what to get for friends and co-workers for Christmas and I'm assuming I'm not alone in this. If you have a lot of people to get presents for and need the odd present as a "back up" than look no further. I've gathered some gift ideas that I myself would love or if I was to give this to a male friend he would like it too! best thing about the stuff, its all under £20.00!



Harry Potter Box Set £19.99 - #Hogwartslover but i personally think any favourite boxset would be perfect as nowadays we all love to binge watch and this is great for people who love to collect DVD's.
Hemp Moisture Gift Set £8.00 - This is great as a stocking filler and will come in handy in the upcoming colder months and great for travel!
Groupon Spa Deals £Varies - If you think your person has every item they could possibly have then why not treat them to a spa deal, Groupon (or any discount website) do a lot of affordable ones and if you sign up to the website emails they send out a lot of extra offers! 
CK One Unisex EDT £12.99 - I think this might be a marmite product you either love it or hate it, I personally like strong scented perfumes and for the price and amount you get is brilliant! I'm still using my one I got from last Christmas. It's a Unisex EDT so it would be great for anyone as it suits both female/male.
Evil Eye Bracelet £4.50 - Saw this on Esty and thought it was lovely for anyone who is looking to buy understated jewellery that has good meaning behind it and because its small in size its great for layering with other jewellery...
Starbucks Tumbler £10.00 - Anyone starting a new job or travelling soon ? This would perfect for any coffee lover or anyone you know that has a long commute to take.
Globe bank £15.00 - A Detailed map and money box in one! this is my personal favourite and I'm hoping some loved ones are reading this! So perfect for anyone that is planning to save in general as t's not your everyday looking money box. 
Humans of New York Book £17.59 - if you know anyone who love's Brandon's Facebook page than this lovely to have, reading stories from the page makes you think about people around the world and the book is like a keepsake. Getting a book in general for avid readers is lovely especially if they have moved into a new house then a book would lovely for their coffee table..
Portable Phone Charger £9.95 - Ok so nowadays everyone is glued to their phone and for anyone that is complaining about not having enough battery would love this as this just sticks on to your phone like a cover! If you don't have an iPhone eBay have so many other models but I would keep an eye on the location of the seller as overseas parcels can take some time. 

Hope this is useful (I think my favourite is the globe bank) and let me know if you have any gift guides, because I love reading them :) 

All images taken from respective website and this post was not sponsored!

XXX T XX

Thursday 10 December 2015

Throwback Travel Thursday : Amsterdam

Hi everyone!

I thought keeping in line with #blogmas I would start a little edition this month and do throwbacks of my travels. One thing I always said I would talk about if I restarted the blog would be travelling as its started to become a goal of mines to do and I honestly believe travelling opens up your eyes to the beauty of the world. 2013 was the year I started exploring outside of my comfort zone, slowly but surely I've had a few city breaks but its my plan to do so more next year, be it on my own! I've got a few places to go and I'm hoping I can share it all with you! 

The first edition to this Throwback Travel Thursday (maybe i should patent this :P) post is the time I went to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is beautiful and cultural place and its great if you a looking to go for a long weekend break. I loved every minute of it, this was the second European country I visited and I love the European vibe I felt! We went in December 2013 and the Christmas Markets were there as well so got an added bonus of visiting a market full of food (foodies dream)! it was also a city that never sleeps as there were people roaming about after midnight.  If you love learning about the history and culture then this would be perfect as they had many museums and exhibitions to go to! If you are planning on visiting Amsterdam soon I highly recommend getting the I Amsterdam Card, the card gets you access majority of the museums as well as covering the costs of transport and we even got a canal ride included in ours! It's so worth the money and if you trying you pack a lot of things in a few days this card would be perfect for you. 

I think my favourite part of Amsterdam  as I mentioned was how friendly and laid back the people were, whenever we needed help with directions people were more than happy to help. English is spoken widely there so there was no language barrier issue. I know some people associate Amsterdam with "party" weekends but I can assure that its definitely a place to visit if your looking for a relaxing cultural break. We went there for four days which I thought was ideal enough as we were able to visit all the places we wanted to see. It's definitely a place I would go back and visit in the future :) 













Sorry for the quality of the picture some were taken with an iPhone 5 (#bloggerfail).

Have you been to Amsterdam or are planning to visit ?

XX T XX

Wednesday 9 December 2015

November Favourites!

Hi everyone!

Better late than never, seeing that I've decided to get back into making videos I thought I would share my favourite products of the month! This video was meant to up sooner but iMovie is not my friend and decided it wanted to crash on me every time I wanted to edit this video. Anyway hope you enjoy and apologies for the choppy editing it was a 20min video so wanted to crop some parts out!

I know this post is super late but Youtube uploads for us mere mortals is a pain (really wish everyone was allowed to schedule videos)

XXX T xx
 
                               

Tuesday 8 December 2015

MUA Radiance Palette

Highlighting/strobing has became a key make up trend in the last few months, one product that has been in nearly everyone's wish list is the BECCA highlight trio, unfortunately it's not easy to get here appose to it being widely available in the states (kicking myself for not getting a Becca Highlighter in September when I was in the states). One day I was roaming around the MUA counter in Superdrug looking for their new make up brushes until I saw this. My eyes literally popped out when I seen the colours! I haven't seen anything like this in the high street, has any other brand done this ? It instantly reminded me of the Becca trio but without the high price tag. 

When I swatched it in store they were so creamy and pigmented, no specs of glitter, just a nice iridescent. My swatches do not do it justice but I highly recommend having a look at it in store and for £8.00 I couldn't put it down! As you can see from my swatches they colours are so subtle however at the same time it is build-able depending on your preference. The three colours are great for so many looks, my favourite has to be the middle as its suits my skin tone well. I also love how there is a mirror included so its great for travel with. 

This would be great for any MUA or make up lover who wants to get on this trend. When I bought this Superdrug were having a offer where you get a free eyeshadow palette when you spend over £8, so I got two beauty palettes for under a tenner!

Let me know if you have or thinking of getting this :) 

xx T xx




Monday 7 December 2015

Birthday Make Up Ft. MAC Whirl Lipstick & Lipliner

Hi all, 

Continuing on from my birthday weekend I thought I'd share the make up I wore yesterday, absolutely loving MAC's Whirl lipstick at the moment which to me is the perfect everyday lipstick for autumn/winter. A gorgeous medium dark brown with a hint of red which MAC's website describe as a dirty rose colour. It's a matte finish but so far the lipstick hasn't dried my lips! I've also been loving wearing make up again, for the past few months I've just been wearing make up just to "cover up" than anything else but the last few weeks I've enjoyed trying new techniques and what not, I guess it might also be this time of the year when all my favourites trends appear. 

Also I have been really into wearing brownish blushers as a contour product as I think its a bit more subtle and balances well with the extreme highlight look. Does anyone else do this ? 

Xxx T





Sunday 6 December 2015

Turning Twenty....

....Six!

Happy Birthday to me!

Can't believe another year has gone by, I seriously don't know where my twenties are going! All I can say is that the last few weeks have made me determined to make 2016 my year! I have plans and goals for next year that I want to fully commit to and I want to focus more ever before. I think for a lot of people birthdays can a mix bag of emotions which I'm feeling right now but one thing I can say is that I am grateful for things that have came my way and appreciate the people in my lives as many people have come and went but its the people who stick by it that show their true commitment.

Anyway I just spent my birthday weekend in Dublin which was lovely to get away from "normal life" and have some time to reflect on the past year. Things don't always go the way you plan it but at the same time I truly believe everything happens for a reason and things always work out well in the end. I think I think I've rambled on about some deep stuff so I'll leave you with a word that I want to make 2016 my motto!

On birthdays my favourite thing to is go shopping with my sisters and having a nice meal outside! What would be your birthday ritual? I hope everyone is having a brilliant Sunday!

XX T XX

Source

Saturday 5 December 2015

Reign Love ♥

Posting a bit late but I wanted to keep up with #blogmas! :)

I think the wintery nights have definitely made Netflix binges more attractive (especially with the aftermath of Storm Desmond!). I've been watching so many series through this and my favourite so far is How to get away with murder and Reign. I hardly hear about Reign on the blogosphere and feel it's a under rated series. To me it's a mix between Game of Thrones and any teenage rom coms! I love the Queen Mary's and her ladies styles, their costumes have such a modern vibe and their accessories always beautiful. Their storyline is keeps the show going and I've felt bored yet! Currently on season 2 and loving it, is anyone else watching this ?

I bought earring from good ole Primani that were inspired by Mary's style and thought these earring would be brilliant for the party season.  Is there any characters your inspired by and let me know if there is any Netflix series I should watch :)

Xxx T


Friday 4 December 2015

Stocking Filler Idea: H&M Jewellery

When it comes to costume jewellery my favourite place to go would be H&M. I always drawn to the accessories section in any shop but I can never seem to leave H&M without a piece of Jewellery! I love their simple pieces as well as their statement jewellery, they always seem to bee spot on with their style. Like with all shops it can be a hit or miss but at the moment H&M seem to be on fire. 

These pieces I picked out for myself but they would be great stocking fillers for anyone and the necklace would suit anyone! They don't have a great collection online so I would highly recommend going in store to grab them and checking out what they have to offer. H&M prices are always reasonable so I recommend going there for high street costume jewellery. I would love to know where your go to costume jewellery place would be :) 





Thursday 3 December 2015

Lipstick Lookbook: MAC Smoked Purple

Ok so I didn't keep my promise of posting everyday in December but I only missed out on one day and after watching people's dedication to their vlogmas videos I'm feeling inspired to power on with my posts. What better way than to have the return of good ole lipstick lookbooks :) If you don't know I've went through a few blog names in the past (maybe its a good thing youtube don't allow username changes!) and my blog was previously known as Leopard Lipstick, cringing a bit at the thought of that name but the purpose was to blog about my favourite make up product which is lipsticks... anyway I will continue on with the same blog post title and try and upload these regularly because as you can imagine I love blogging about lipsticks. For me personally I like to see lipstick swatches on the lips as it shows accurately as it looks against on your skin tone and what not and if you have pigmented lips like me you'd want to know how true to colour the lipsticks are.

So on to the lipstick in question this was my go to dark lip last winter and I have been wearing it now and then through out the year as well. It's a matte finish so I would be weary of the dry aftermath but I do love the cool tone to it and how it adds the vampy-ness (can this just be a word for this post ok?) to any look! I haven't seen many people talk about this lipstick so would love to know if anyone has this or is planning to buy it. Or even better would be if anyone knew of a creamy dupe of this shade :)





XXX T

Tuesday 1 December 2015

Hello December

Hey everyone! 
As December is my favourite month of the year (for many different reasons not just my birthday!) I thought I would celebrate it by posting everyday:) I would love to film #vlogmas but unfortunately would not have time to do so. Watch out for winter and festive inspired posts and as always anyone reading this do let me know what content to put up. Happy December! 

Xx T 


Sunday 22 November 2015

Sunday Reflection ❣

In the past few weeks I've had to make some important decisions (one of them being trying to focus on my blog again), some of decisions have made me feel anxious and nervous all at the same time but it's made me realise everything happens for a reason. I can only learn from my decisions, that being said I will let you know more in the future.
With the past events that are happening in the world it has also made me feel more grateful of what I have and thankful for the people in my life, friends have came and went but my family have been there for me through thick and thin.
On to less quote worthy stuff news I have a new youtube channel and plan to get back into youtube and blogging again. I love being a part of the community and love talking about everything and anything. I'm hoping to make my blog and channel a lifestyle outlet. So peace out and hope you all had a lovely weekend.

xxx T