Avril

Can you actually believe that it's May?! Seems like yesterday when 22nd of December, 2012 arrived and we all waited with baited breath wondering if the World was going to end, and now... we're nearly half way through 2013! That's just crazy...

I don't know about you, but I have been suuuuper busy. Uni is just crazy, and I know I've been harping on about exams and stuff, but exam prep has stressed me out to no end... However, March and April have been two of the best months ever.

On the 22nd Apr, a couple of friends and I went to see Daughter in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Holy Moly -- they were sensational. Elena Tonra's angelic voice resonated around the beautiful building and left me will chills all down my spine. We actually managed to squeeze ourselves to the front row too. Not gonna lie - emotional tears were shed at that gig. (If you don't know their music, I strongly suggest checking them out... My favourites are Still, Landfill, and Medicine)

We also met their opening act - Bear's Den. They were also incredible and I urge you to check their stuff out too! Favourites include Agape and Pompeii.

We also finally organised everything to head off to Mombasa in June. We sorted out hostels to stay in the night before we fly, all the immunisations and the malaria pills.. Good stuff! Literally buzzziiingggg to go off to sunny Africa...

This month, I didn't buy much new beauty products to try out. I've started this thing where I try to use all the stuff I already have. So without further ado, here are my March and April favourites:

First up is the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation in 20 Beige. I must admit, the first time I used this, I was not a huge fan. I found the formula too watery and I wasn't quite sure why it got so many brilliant reviews. However, I found that the best way to apply it (for me) was with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. With a medium coverage, it gives a flawless finish, and because the formula is quite thin, it allows layering without looking cakey. The colour match for me is perfect as well.

Second is my favourite palette at the moment -- Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins. I'm a nude gal when it comes to everyday shadows but I've been trying to branch out of my comfort zone recently and I just think that this gives the perfect everyday eye with a unique pop of colour. I use the light pink shade all over the lids and the darker shade on the crease and lower lashes. Standard application, really.

Favourite lip products of the month are -- surprise, surprise -- Tom Ford Lipstick in True Coral and YSL Rouge Volupte in 13 Peach Passion. Both are perfect spring lips. If I feel that my outfit needs a bit of perk in colour, I found myself gravitating towards True Coral, and when I'm feeling a bit nudey -- as per -- I reach for the YSL one, which gives a lovely pale pinky hue to my lips.

On to fragrance. My favourite combination is Jo Malone Ginger Biscuit  and Dark Amber and Ginger Lily. These two fragrances just complement each other so beautifully, and because I've been wearing them both at the same time, it gives me such a unique scent. Not gonna lie, I've been stopped on the streets with women asking me what I'm wearing! Unfortunately, the Ginger Biscuit one is sold out because it was from the Sugar and Spice collection, but the Dark Amber and Ginger Lily one is absolutely stunning on its own too.

As for my room, I have been burning this Diptyque Candle in Baies non-stop. It smells beautifully fruity and fresh, making my room very cosy and lovely.

For music, I have been loving a bit of Bastille and Daughter. Absolutely addicted to their stuff, and I'm actually going to see Bastille in Manchester later this year - eeeep! And for TV, I have been l o v i n g the new Game of Thrones season... Danaerys is my queen! :')

Before I finish off, I must include this little beauty:

I only picked this up in Zara only last week so it's a bit of a cheat putting it in April favourites, but I just love this bag. It's the perfect neon orange bag that just gives my normally very monochrome wardrobe a bit of a change, and I can fit enough stuff in there to take to uni as well! At only £22.99, I thought it was a good investment... Yes, that's what I tell myself anyway.

So that's it for this month! The next month will be full of nonstop revision and stress, but hopefully I'll survive... If not, I guess Liverpool One is never too far away for a bit of retail therapy... *cue evil laugh*.

Toodles!

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo

An Ode to My Sister

So it's National Sibling Day.

I have one incredible, beautiful sister. She's doing her Masters in Clinical Psychology at the moment and words cannot possibly describe just how much I love her. This is going to be cheesy, but what better day to give love to a sibling than today?

My sister and I are ridiculously close -- we did acrobatic gymnastics together and we were actually a duo for 5 years before I grew too tall for her to throw me around. In school, we sang duets together in concerts and lived in the same boarding house. Even though we live in different countries now, I still have all the memories we shared together over my lifetime, and it makes me happy even though we are so far apart, she is literally just one text or one Skype call away and just a conversation with her can lift my spirits sky high whenever I'm feeling down.

Some people might think its weird that we still share a room at home at the ages of 19 and 23, but since I went to boarding school when I was 12, we never changed our room even when our parents offered to renovate the flat so we can have individual rooms. There was nothing more comforting than coming home in the holidays and knowing that we can have those cheesy, sisterly chats at night.

Naturally, there are things that annoy me about her. For example, the fact that she never goes clothes shopping, and when we go together she never buys anything. But that night when we go home, somehow all my new clothes will have magically migrated to her wardrobe. :O And sometimes -- because I only get a 23kg limit on my suitcase to bring back to uni and so it is impossible to for me to bring back everything I want to bring back -- I see that she starts wearing all my clothes and BAH! That kind of annoys me. But I like that we share things. I see sisters who never speak to each other, or they are always fighting and can never get in a word of agreement, and I am just thankful everyday that my sister and I have a good relationship. I don't actually remember ever arguing with my sister, and to be honest, I don't think I could go a day knowing that I was in a fight with her...

People always say this, that they can never wish for a better sibling, but I can honestly say that there is no better sister than mine. She is caring and loving and probably the only one who gets my bizarre sense of humour -- seriously, when we start laughing together, there is no stopping us...

Oh, did I mention? Her name is Sarah and she is one hell of a sister :')

The Weekend #1 | Jayesslee

My sister and I have been watching these girls Janice and Sonia on YouTube for several years now, and we are just such big fans of them. Their voices, their music and their story is so beautiful and inspirational... So you can imagine our excitement when they announced their first show in Hong Kong couple weeks ago for Saturday the 6th! With much help from our parents (and some of their colleagues at work...), we finally managed to snag two tickets, with seats quite close to the stage too! :') 

Their songs were flawless as ever, and they shared with the audience how they got inspired to do what they do, and the painfully heartbreaking story of their mother (tears were shed at this point). 

However, the highlight of my night was definitely the meet and greet we got to do in the end... They were very strict and we weren't allowed to take our own photos, but here's the one taken by the official photographer man. 

To be honest, my sister and I were too busy fan-girling to remember what we actually said to them. I remember some hugging *squeals*, and they actually said that they liked our accents! Ahhh. The excitement! But we were soon shooed away by security because our conversation was taking too long...

Oh yeah - we watched a video on Sonia and her hubby Andy's channel where she says that she loves olives, so we thought we'd buy her one (hahahahaa). Yes... we're very random and weird...

Quick outfit and face of the night: I wore Topshop Sleeveless Striped Shell Top and American Apparel Disco Pants with an H&M cardigan thrown on top and finished off with Zara Basic Velvet Slippers. For my makeup, I wore basically the same makeup as described in my Daily Makeup post, but with a thicker swipe of MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack on my upper lid and  NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Jardin des Plantes on my lips instead.

Sigh... I really wished we could've taken a better picture as it's really not the best pic of any of us, but hey - I met Jayesslee! :) :) :)

Hope ya'll had a lovely weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo

Daily Makeup #1 | The Orange Lip

Thunderstorms have been hitting Hong Kong bad, and I'm fed up with the terrible weather... So, I've decided to wear some bright, bright make up in attempt to make myself feel like it's spring, and that the weather is beautiful outside. And also because I've been staying indoors loads due to revision (*cough* procrastination *cough*), I've been a wee bit bored and depressed, so I hoped that this would cheer me up a tad, and it did :) 

As you can probably see, my skin is most definitely not perfect. It's more on the oily side, and a recent discovery is the NARS Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-Free Moisturizer that works wonders for my skin. It sinks in like a dream and doesn't make my skin feel tacky. It's also a brilliant base for make up - so that is what I used to prep my skin. I also prepped my lips with with a generous swipe of Vaseline.

Next, I used Revlon 24h Colourstay Foundation in the shade 180 Sand Beige in the formulation for Oily/Combination skin. I swept NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the shade Vanilla under my eyes. This is also a new discovery, and I find that it sits really well under my eyes and does a brilliant job of hiding my dark circles -- the bane of my existence at the moment. I dabbed a generous amount of MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC30 to cover my blemishes and set the whole creamy madness with MAC Select Sheer Pressed Powder in NC30 as well. 

To contour and highlight my face, I sucked in my cheeks and violently swiped MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Coffee Walnut under my (basically non-existent) cheekbones, and swiped Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar on the apples of my cheeks and down the bridge of my nose.

I'm a sucker for a strong brow, so in attempt to channel my inner Cara Delevingne, I brushed my brows through with No7 Lash and Brow Groomer and filled it in with MAC Eyebrow Pencil in Stud. Because I wanted to have a bright lip, I kept my eyes very simple. I pushed some Alhambra (the metallic almost-rose coloured shade on the top right corner) of the NARS And God Created The Woman Palette over my lids and used about 3 coats of YSL Shocking Mascara in Black for my dainty Asian lashes... aaaand I just realised I forgot to feature that in my photo above. Oh well. Just imagine it's there... Oops.

Now for the star of the show: a slick of the Tom Ford Lipstick in True Coral. My pride, my joy, my everything. Ok maybe that's a bit of an over-exaggeration but hey. It's bloody gorgeous. Yes, it broke my bank, and I never thought I'd be an orange lip lover, but I'm a total convert... It looks almost red in the picture because my stupid camera is crap, but honestly, it's the brightest orange-coral ever, and it is b e a u t i f u l. Ugh. I love it. There are no other words...

And blaaam. I was done! I'm not actually doing anything exciting today apart from revise Haemotology. But there is never an excuse not to sport a beautiful lipstick, is there?

So here I am, kitted out with my nerdy glasses, too, ready to battle through some revision. I think I've procrastinated enough now... Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo

Stress Relief

Exams are looming and my stress levels are increasing at the speed of light. Every day I wake up and all I could think of is aarrggghhhhoa;kdvn;abg revisiiioonnnnn... and it is absolutely killing me.

Well, since I have a couple friends visiting Hong Kong this holiday, a shopping trip was inevitable. So, in feeble attempt to make myself a little bit less stressed, I thought it'd indulge in some retail therapy... I haven't actually had any time to go shopping in a while, so I can't lie -- this little trip had my spirits soaring high.

Naturally, the one and only place that dented my bank account yesterday was the floor with Lane Crawford and Facesss in TST (HK-ers will know... that place is basically a blackhole for my precious savings)

The products that I picked up and can barely wait to try out were Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins, YSL Rouge Volupte #9 Pink Caresse and #13 Peach Passion, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar, MAC Lipstick in Ronnie Red (from the Archie's Girls collection) and in Crosswires, NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Jardin des Plantes, Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge in #9, and last but not most definitely not least, my new pride and joy, Tom Ford Lipstick in True Coral.

I battled between True Coral and Cherry Lush for a good 15 minutes, but the lady at the counter suggested the former, so I gave it a gigantic (£36-sized, to be precise) leap of faith and added it to my already overflowing basket. So far, I haven't regretted it yet... These puppies are so expensive but I am so impressed by it that my amateur self might have to whack out a cheeky review later. I'll see. Uni might get in the way...

The only justification I have, is that I purchased MAC's Crosswires through the Back-to-MAC programme, so really, I only have 8 new babies in my makeup collection. That's not too bad - is it?!

I guess you can say I have a bit of a lipstick obsession, and I guess the only reply I have to that is guilty... Oops. But everyone needs a pick-me-up now and again, don't they? Mine just happens to be in the form of new cosmetic products...

Hope ya'll had a wonderful Easter :)

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo

For I have sinned

Shock, horror - Claire tried to give up shopping for lent, and needless to say, it was more than a fail. I was going strong for 3 weeks, but after that I cracked. I am embarrassed to say I can't even go 5 weeks without shopping - ugh. Therapy, you say? Don't worry - I agree. Shame all my money has gone towards clothes and makeup so I can't afford it...

Nevermind. Here I am again, going to talk about the new products that I recently purchased.

I've never bought anything from Lush before. Everytime I walk in, I feel like I'm being slapped in the face with an overpowering scent of every. single. product. merging together. However, I desperately needed something to try to salvage my horribly dry and damaged hair. Bleach is not good for your hair, kids. 

The lady at the store was very helpful. She recommended the H'suan Wen Hua hair treatment, which is a deep hair conditioner that you're supposed to apply all over dry hair 20 minutes prior to showering. She also noticed that my hair was quite flat -- not gonna lie, I wasn't too chuffed when she pointed it out quite bluntly -- and she suggested I try the BIG sea salt shampoo. It's a clarifying shampoo that I should use once or twice weekly to 'have my hair lifted on a sea breeze'. I haven't used this product yet, but keep your sparkly eyes peeled at this space for potentially a wee review on this bad boy.

Another thing I really needed was a face mask as my skin has been acting up pretty badly recently. As I'm allergic to tea tree oil, spot control can be a bit of a hassle, but I was recommended the Catastrophe Cosmetic fresh face mask. It's made of blueberries and I have to say -- I found it hard not to want to lick it off my face as I applied it last night. It left my skin feeling very soft and refreshed, but I haven't noticed any differences in the appearance of my spots yet. But then again, I've only used it once.

I'm a sucker for things that they dot around the cashier -- all the items there just seem to be irresistible. So that's how I bought the Lemony Flutter cuticle butter. I have very dry hands, elbows and ankles, so I just thought it would be a nice, very hydrating product. It smells divine -- very much like lemon curd, and I did find that it made my cuticles look a tad more hydrated than normal.

Just before I left, the lovely lady who served me also gave me a sample of the Ultrabland face wash/ make up remover. She said it's very good for people who has sensitive skin, like me, so I'll give that a try at some point, I guess.

Whoa. That was an unexpected shopping trip. We only went into town to grab lunch, but who are we kidding now... Liverpool's shopping is so good I just can't resist. Lord, save me. 

Ugh, I just can't wait to try all of these products properly! They all smell so gooood (with the unfortunate exception of HSWH hair conditioner...) and I'm so happy with my purchases :')

Holidays are here - had my last lecture of the semester just now... Where is first year flying to?! Cannot believe we have 2 months of first year left -- then hopefully, just hopefully, I'll carry onto second year. Ahh, life is going so fast, I can barely catch a breath.

Anyways, best to stop rambling now.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo

What are your favourite Lush products? Have you tried the ones that I bought? What do you think of them?

My Strange Addiction: Claire's Version

Hi My name is Claire and I'm addicted to.... Jo Malone.

Have you ever done well on a piece of work and you felt like, it's only right to treat yourself to a little shopping trip? Don't lie to me, sisters, I know you all have ;)

Well, in case you're one of those gals who have incredible self control -- teach me, Master! -- I'll tell you how my day went yesterday:

The results of our SSM (Special Study Module -- I'll call it 'coursework' to make life easier) finally came out the day before yesterday and I was shocked to pieces when I got a grade higher than I expected. No joke. I did not expect to have done this well. So I thought it was only right, it was only fair, that I rewarded myself a little bit, so my friends and I wandered into town for a wee look see in the stores.

As you may know, Jo Malone has released a Limited Edition line of colognes called the Sugar and Spice Collection. Having a massive sweet tooth and an unhealthy appetite for anything Jo releases, this was right up my alley. There was five of these heavenly bottles to choose from (L-R on the picture): Ginger Biscuit smelt like Christmas, Lemon Tart is perfect for citrus scented lovers, Redcurrant and Cream is the sweetest of them all with a bit of vanilla mixed in there, Bitter Orange and Chocolate smelt exactly like a Terry's Chocolate Orange and last but not least, Elderflower and Gooseberry smells.... I can't really describe it. Unique and fruity are the only words that springs to mind. (Sorry, ya'll, I'm crap at describing scents!)

The redcurrant and the elderflower one immediately caught my eye nose. I was dying to buy one (two was taking the mick a bit, I thought...) and the fact that its 'buy now or never again' because they're not releasing anymore into the whole wide world just made me crave it that little bit more! So.. long story short... I congratulated myself with a beautiful bottle of Redcurrant and Cream. Buyer's guilt is settling in...

Please excuse the terrible pictures -- was only taken with my phone 'cus my camera is broken! :(

This little baby smells delicious and I cannot WAIT to spritz it all over me starting from tomorrow morning. They all smell divine, actually, so whoever is even thinking of buying one of these - go for it! Actually, ahhh, no, Claire, you shouldn't be condoning shopaholism! But hey, if you've done something worth congratulating... This might be the perfect gift!

*Each bottle is 30ml and will set you back £38. Bit pricey, but absolutely worth every penny. You'll have this ridiculously adorable bottle on your windowsill or your vanity, plus you'll be smelling delicious...

This post was a bit more rambly that I thought... Woops!

Hugs and kisses,

Claire xoxo