Sunday 11 November 2012

Ode of Remembrance

Please, everyone, take a moment to remember all those men and women who fought for Great Britain, who made this country what it is today and kept us safe. Remember those who have fallen, who have been injured and those who survive on today; remember those who are fighting right now to protect us.

Without them, without people like my Father who fought 3 wars, we would not have the freedom, rights, liberty and lives that we live today.

Lest we forget.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Natural Collection Lipstick in Crimson - Review + Swatches!

Today I am going to be reviewing the first ever lipstick I bought - Natural Collection's Crimson! It is sold in Boots for around £2, however, for some reason they just don't sell it on the website.. Weird I know. But it's an absolute bargain, and spoilers, I do not regret buying this product!


The packaging, for £2, is completely acceptable. A simple white tube, plastic, does it's job just fine.




Unfortunately this picture is a bit blurry and I never realised until now :( But you get the point, it's just a simple red bullet (well, was a bullet until I accidentally squished it into the lid..)




Ignore the other swatches, I was on a swatching roll that day! But as you can see, it comes off as a shiny bright red colour, as it is a "moisture finish" lipstick.




On the lips, it is vibrant and long lasting. I can eat a three course meal and it still looks just as red as it was before, it honestly lasts all day, and for £2, the quality and colour payoff is outstanding. I highly recommend these lipsticks if you are just starting off in the make-up world (like I was), as they are cheap and really good quality, and I am definitely thinking of going to buy more.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, what is your favourite cheap lipstick, or what was the first lipstick you ever bought? This one was mine! Have a wonderful day and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Saturday 3 November 2012

FOTD 02/11/12 - Bronze on the Eyes, Wine on the Lips!

Hi everyone! Last night I went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in my town, and I was in a really lazy mood.. However my Mum told me that I had to glam myself up, and this is the look I went for! I took my favourite bronzy smokey eye and added in the new trend this season; a dark lip! Together it creates a dramatic look which is perfect for not only night-time but during the day too, dramatic looks are all the hype in Autumn!


 I have just put my hair into a fishtail braid which I explained (kinda) how to do here if you want to check that out. I haven't washed my hair in a few days so it holds a plait a lot better than if it was fresh (that makes me sound a bit disgusting.. I washed it on Thursday okay!)


Bet you are thinking "Damn, why is she so fine?!" Truth is, I don't know either.

(Kidding!)


Make-up I'm wearing:

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation
Mac Powder Blush in Buff
Topshop Smokey Eye Palette in Tawny
Rimmel Lasting Finish By Kate Moss in 107

Overall I really love this look, I have totally fallen in love with both the bronzy smokey eye and the dark lip and I will be pairing these together again very soon; a staple look for me in the making!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Friday 2 November 2012

NOTD #2 - Galaxies and Carnivals Galore!

Hello everyone! Thought I would do a NOTD as I absolutely love my nail combination, which consists of two nail polishes from Urban Outfitters (Galaxy and Carnival) that cost £6 each or 3 for £15, and I obviously got 3 as I am a sucker for deals!  :)

This first nail polish is Galaxy, which is a gorgeous dark purple and when the light hits it, it shimmers gold. The purple and gold compliment each other beautifully and it's overall the perfect representation of what a galaxy should look like!
Galaxy is a sheer nail polish so you will need several coats, I had 3 on my nails in this picture. You will also need a base and top coat, as this gives ultimate shine and keeps the nail varnish on that extra bit longer; however, this does chip easily, as in a couple of days, which is a disadvantage.. But the colour is just so unique that I don't even mind.


This sparkly nail polish is Carnival, which I think is a top coat, however I just used it on it's own! It has chucks of blue and pink glitter throughout it and comes out on the nails thick and not sheer at all, for a change with these types of nail polishes!

You only need two coats of this nail varnish, well, that's what I used anyway. It still chips but not as fast as Galaxy, however it is a pain and a half to get off; you have to scrub your nails to death! However, again, the colour payoff is just too good to resist, and together I think both these nail polishes compliment each other wonderfully, as seen in the pictures below.
So as you can see I put Carnival on two nails and Galaxy on three, as Carnival is extremely glittery/sparkly whereas Galaxy is still shimmery, but isn't as "in your face" as Carnival, so it balances it out.

Overall, these nail polishes are good, but I wouldn't say that they were drop dead amazing. The colours in Urban Outfitter's range are all so unique and there aren't many colours like them on the market right now, especially for such an affordable price of £6. The quality.. is okay. I feel Carnival has better staying-on-the-nails power than Galaxy, just because it's a glitter nail varnish, but the fact that they both do chip easily disappointed me a bit. Galaxy is sheer, so if you don't like nail polishes that you have to work with a bit, this isn't for you. Carnival is better, as you only need 2 coats at most, most likely, again, because it is a glittery nail polish.

However, don't let me put you off! I still do like them and am considering going back into Urban Outfitters to see the other nail polishes/order some online as the 3 for £15 is a good deal. The link to find their nail polish collection is here (sorry, the nail polish is mixed in with all the other accessories also!)

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Monday 29 October 2012

Update; where have I been?!

The answer; I've been here all along, reading other people's posts, but I've never had the time to sit down and write one properly.

I'm currently in week 6 now of University, it's my first year, and I'm doing Psychology, Law and History. I knew I was taking on a lot of work but I never realised it would literally take over my life.. And I'm not even joking. I study everyday, I have tests and essays due in all the time and I'm constantly stressed/worried/tired.

I'm sorry I have been neglecting you all, I will be doing blog posts again very soon, I have lots lined up and in the making but I haven't had the time to sat down and actually type them all out, however I will have time this weekend, it'll be my first free weekend to relax and actually, like, leave the house and do things that normal human beings do..

Sorry this is just a quick update, I am super tired and still have more studying to do tonight, will be up until 1 no doubt!

Talk to you all very soon, hope you've all been having a wonderful day! :)

Hannah, xx

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black - Review + Swatches!

Hello! Long time no see! I've been very busy recently, however blog posts are starting up again, have you missed me? ;) Let's get right into this post!

This is the first liquid eyeliner I've ever bought and it's the Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black. I have been afraid to try out liquid eyeliners for absolutely ages because I have super shakey hands and I was afraid that it would just go everywhere and I wouldn't be able to apply it properly, so when I saw that this had a felt tip applicator I thought why not? Surely that makes life easier for me, right?

But before we get onto that, the packaging is quite cute I think. It's designed like a pen, with a lid that pops off to show the felt tip applicator and it's just a plastic container, it's thin and lightweight and easy to throw into your bag for on the go, and the lid doesn't come off very easily which is again a bonus, no one wants eyeliner all over everything inside your bag!


As you can see the felt tip applicator does have a super sharp point, however material is soft so if you accidentally stab yourself in the eye it shouldn't be that sore. What I like about this is that the entire applicator has the product on it, not just the tip so you could run not just the tip along your lid, but the thicker part also to create a thicker line on your eyelid which is what I have been doing. Because of the felt tip applicator, I feel like it's a billion times easier to apply this onto the lid, even if you have a shakey hand it is fine, I haven't made a mistake yet. It also dries instantly, meaning it won't crease on your eyelid or smudge about if you move your lid too much, which I love, as everything on my eyelid seems to crease like crazy, I need an eye primer so bad!


This is just a picture of the type of eye look I've been going for with this liquid eyeliner, I've been doing more of a thick winged line as I feel this is more in trend for Autumn however if I play up my eyeshadow a bit more I will only draw a thin line to give definition but to make my eyeshadow stand out more.


I can't say enough good things about this product, for £6 at Superdrug, that is an absolute bargain! I've completely fallen in love with this product and I will definately be trying out some of the other liquid eyeliners from Maybelline, and maybe some of the pencils also.

Do you recommend any liquid eyeliners/pencils that are good value for money?

I hope you enjoyed reading this, have a wonderful week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Monday 17 September 2012

Topshop's Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in Saddle - Review + Swatches!

I feel like all I ever do is review things, I swear I'll have a better variety of posts up soon, I have just been so busy and I have doing about 10 posts a day and then spreading them all out, I'm starting Uni soon and everything is a wee bit mental! I'm currently at my Freshers week in Glasgow so I'm never really at home, therefore all these posts are pretty much queued up, so bare with me whilst I start a new chapter in my life!

But onto why you are here, reading this post; Topshop's Kohl Eyeliner in Saddle! I bought this about 3 weeks ago and have used it a fair few times and have came to my final verdict on whether I like it or not.

First of all, the packaging is quite cute isn't it? I love the Topshop signature spots, I think they are adorable and are very aesthetically pleasing, for me anyway. It's just a plain pencil with a little white lid, which I am unsure on whether it is really that secure, I would watch if you are carrying it about with you, I feel like the lid could come off if something pushed against it.


The pencil is pretty self explanatory, it's just a plain brown pencil, this is it swatched onto my hand along with Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Eternal Gold and Maybelline's Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black, as you can see I take my blog pictures all at once! On the hand it looks fine, the pigmentation is.. Alright, I suppose, I prefer it way more on the top of my lashline, as on the waterline it comes off quite easily. It is a little bit tricky to put on your top lashline though, it doesn't apply very smoothly and you have to keep your hand still or else it will smudge everywhere, which I don't really like again, I prefer my eyeliner to be a straight line.


As you can see the one time I actually take a picture of me wearing Saddle I have an extremely thin line making it barely noticeable, if you saw yesterdays blog post you will have seen that I like both my liquid eyeliner and my pencil eyeliner quite thick, however I was going for a rather natural look here. So yes, I do quite like it on the top of my lashline, I think it compliments my eyes well and is a lot more subtle and natural than a black line.


As I said earlier with the smudginess, that could be seen as a good thing if you smudge the outer corners of your eye to create an almost smokey eye effect with a pencil eyeliner which is quite good and saves you the hassle for doing a smokey eye using eyeshadow, it could be a quick alternative for a smokey eye.

Overall, for £4 I think it's alright. Not the best I hoped it would be, but not the worst. I don't think I will repurchase it after I have used it all, I will try Maybelline's brown eyeliner as I absolutely adore their liquid eyeliner so hopefully their pencil eyeliners are just the same.

Do you have any recommendations for brown pencil eyeliners, and if so, what are they, and what are your favourite eyeliners?

Thank you for reading, I hope you have a wonderful week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Sunday 16 September 2012

Maybelline Eyeshadow Quad in Coral Drama - Review + Swatches!

So Superdrug had a 2 for £10 on all Maybelline products.. Guess who got sucked in on this offer.. Not me.. Just kidding, course I was, you know I love offers! I am honestly going to end up with no money if all these offers continue, however I feel I'm going to be shopping in Boots a lot more for make-up as I get 4 points per £1 I spend compared to only 1 point per £1 in Superdrug.. But there is a Superdrug 5 minutes away from me, whereas Boots is a bus ride away.. LIFE IS SO DIFFICULT!

Anyway, onto the product. I bought this Maybelline Eye Studio Silky Glam Quad in Coral Drama. I picked this one up particularly because of the red and gold colours, I felt like it was quite a unique quad compared to either a neutral quad or a smokey eye quad.

The packaging is pretty nice, it is quite small though and for £7.19 I feel like you pay more for the packaging than for the actual product. I quite like the design of the lid and how it comes in to the middle, giving it a indentation which is different to a plain case. It comes with an applicator so you can easily reapply on the go.


As you can see, the colours you get are all very shimmery and metallic, the colours look pigmented and rich and I just really liked the combination of the colours. You get a light shimmery white colour, with the hint of beige in it, I used this for a highlight on my brow bone and in my inner corner of my eye. The gold shimmery colour I used all over the lid, and put the bright light coral colour at the outer corner of my eye/in the crease. The final dark burgundy colour I used on the outer corner.

However, when I first used this product I was really disappointed. It seemed like when I put it on my lid, it stayed on fine, but when I put another colour on top the original colour disappeared, along with the first colour. I feel like you definitely need a eye primer or a base eyeshadow or something underneath this eyeshadow to make it stay on the lid. I ended up using MUA's Eyeshadow in Matte as a base as I don't have a eye primer yet, which is at the top of my to do list to buy!

With a primer, the eyeshadows stay on reasonably well. I personally don't think the colours blend well together, I feel like when I put the light coral shade in the crease it just kind of disappeared into the gold. I have only used them all once though, so I may do an updated blogpost on this product once I know more about it, but this is my first impression.


As you can see on my arm they look beautiful, they are extremely shimmery and I really do want to love these eyeshadows. I'm not saying this product isn't good, I'm just saying it isn't as good as I thought it would be. I will be working with it, trying new ways to apply it and seeing what it's like with a proper eye primer perhaps, when I eventually get one.


If you don't have really oily eyelids like me then this quad might give you no trouble at all, but for me personally, it just isn't doing me justice quite yet. I will do an up-to-date blogpost on this when I use it more and will let you know my final verdict, but don't let me put you off buying this, if you think it looks amazing then go for it, I think it does but it just didn't pay off as nicely on the lids as it does in the pan/on my arm.

I hope you are having a wonderful week, and I will talk to you very soon. :) 

Hannah, xx

Friday 14 September 2012

Guess who passed their driving test?!

Meeeeee! Yaaaaaay!

Oh dear, it was so scary and nerve-wracking. For all you people who haven't taken your test in the UK, or if it's different outside the UK, basically you have a bunch of lessons with your driving instructor in their car, which for me I had 25 lessons, and then the day of your test you have an hour warm up with your driving instructor and then the driving test marker person comes along and you go out driving with them.

So I had my warm up, and I didn't do too bad. Made some silly mistakes, but overall was fine, I stalled once (basically means the engine cuts out, it's not really that good) but it's alright as long as you react quickly and don't cause problems for any other drivers.

But as I was coming into the test centre, I was really getting nervous. Like, I was shaking, and I tried reversing into a parking space and there were cars around me with people about to sit their test in them, and I wasn't doing too good under the pressure even though they probably weren't even looking at me.

And then I burst into tears.

Yep, I burst out crying. My driving instructor started freaking out, but I do cry a lot when I get nervous and I'm all under pressure and worried, so it was almost a good thing I did cry, to get it out my system before the actual test. So I went to the bathroom, had another cry then told myself to man up. Now, before I went to the bathroom there was no one in the test centre so I wasn't that bothered because no one would see my red and blotchy face.. However, when I came out, there were about 10 people sitting staring at me and I was so embarrassed.

I then met my driving test marker person, her name was Isabelle, and she checked my eyesight, then asked me to open the bonnet (which I couldn't do) then asked me about the engine oil and stuff (I froze and nearly forgot the answer, but I was fine) and then asked me about my head restraint and how to adjust it etc etc and away we went!

She basically took me all through the big town next to my wee town, through the countryside a bit and into a dual-carriageway, and I did stall on my turn in the road (basically a 3 point turn, where you face one side at the start and face the other side at the end) but it was fine because I fixed it super fast and didn't affect anyone.

I did all the horrible roundabouts I said I hated, I did the big town which I said I hated, and I only got two minors! (meaning I got two little faults) which were the stall on the turn in the road, and one for vehicle checking, which means I didn't check around my car properly once, and I passed! Yay!

My Dad is already looking at cars, we've seen a nice blue Toyota Aygo which I am slowly falling in love with, but we shall see.

But yay, go me! :) Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hannah, xx

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Review/Warning/Stay Away..

Today I am here to tell you that this shampoo.. Is horrible. Okay. I said it. It is nasty, horrible, does nothing but damage your hair.. Let's get into ripping this bad boy apart, shall we?!

This shampoo that I am about to complain bitterly about is the Herbal Essences Beautiful End Split End Protection Shampoo and Conditioner (as you can see in the picture below)


I originally got this shampoo a few weeks ago, I think my Mum bought it for me obviously because I have long hair and she thought it would be nice to help my hair. So I thought, why not, I'll just try it. I used it for about a week and I did notice a difference, but not a good difference. It made my hair heavier, which I thought, maybe it's just me changing shampoos as I had used the Herbal Essences Fresh Balance for a long time before that (much better)

However, when I went to the hairdressers about a week later to get my hair done, my hairdresser asked me if I had changed my shampoo, to which I obviously said yes. She then told me this shampoo was doing nothing but making my hair worse, it was making my hair extremely heavy and flat and then to top it all off, it was producing a layer of grease and chemical badness on the top of my head.. Yeah.. You can kind of work out how I reacted.

She told me that there isn't really a cure of split ends and that this shampoo/conditioner certainly wasn't helping, especially the shampoo, she said it was just making it worse. I then immediately changed my shampoo again, but this time to Herbal Essences Dazzling Shine and noticed a huge difference. My hair was bouncy, it was light and didn't feel greasy at all and it had a lovely natural shine to it.

So yes, if you see this shampoo in stores or know anyone who uses it or wants to try it, take it away from them! It does nothing good to your hair and just makes it more damaged than what it already is.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, have a wonderful week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Benefit Erase Paste - Review + Swatches!

Hello there! Today I am going to be reviewing a little pot known as Erase Paste by Benefit. It is said to be a brightening camouflage for eyes & face. I was originally introduced to this last year by my cousin who said it was amazing for hiding spots if you were going for a flawless finish, so for Christmas last year my Mum bought me the pack with the Erase Paste and The Porefessional. I use the shade fair, as there are only 3 shades which I think is a bit poor, everyone's skin tone and colour is different therefore they all cannot fit into 3 shades; fair, medium and deep.

The packaging is so cute, I absolutely love it! The pot has a lovely sheer pink pot and a purple lid, making the packaging colourful and more asthetically pleasing. You also get a lot of product inside the pot which is good, I hate when the packaging takes over and there is hardly any product. The price is £19.50 and the packaging definitely reflects that. Also, the pot does have a protective clear shield that goes between the concealer and the lid to keep them separated. Furthermore, the only bad side to the packaging is the fact that it is in a pot, make sure that your hands are clean before you dip your fingers in, germs are everywhere you know!


This concealer is very creamy and definitely full coverage, a tiny bit honestly goes a long long way. If you put too much on, yes you will look cakey and it will clump so be careful and use little, you will see the wonders! I love this for all over my face, as it cancels out any darkness under my eyes and brightens them, it cancels out any redness and the original reason why I bought it, if you have spots, they honestly disappear if you pop a tiny bit of this on top, it's like magic! As you can see from the photo below, I have had this concealer for ages, I think I got it at Christmas and that is all I have used.


As you can see from the photo below, it comes out slightly lighter than my natural skin which is fine as then it will definitely brighten up underneath my eyes and it won't look too light, if you get me, it blends in super nice either using your finger or brush, however I prefer using my finger (middle finger, your eye area is sensitive remember!)


Overall I really love this product, it is great quality and for every part of the face it works beautifully. It may be close to £20 in price, but it will last you months and months on end, it has lasted me 9 months and I've hardly made a dent. If you don't like full coverage then maybe this isn't the concealer for you as it is definitely full coverage but honestly, even if you don't, still give it a go or ask for a sample because it is a great product to have in your make-up bag!

I hope you enjoyed reading this and have a wonderful week, I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Benefit's The Porefessional PRO balm - Review + Swatches!

Today I am here to show you the wonders of Benefit's The Porefessional PRO balm, I absolutely love it. At first, I had no idea what it was or where I used it on my face/what it's purpose was, as I got it as a present, but after reading it on the website I understood exactly what it's purpose was, and I love it! It says it is oil-free, lightweight, translucent and silky. It is meant to minimise the appearance of pores and make your makeup stay put.


I really like the packaging, it's lightweight and easy to throw in your bag for touch ups throughout the day. It's a squeeze tube so beware of germs, but apart from that I really like it. However, for the price of £23.50, as much as it is a cute little bottle, they could have maybe made it look/feel more expensive.


The product comes out as a beige liquid, that is extremely soft to the touch, almost silky (which is what it said on the bottle, and it is totally right!) Once you blend it in it becomes literally invisible (as you can see in the picture below), you can hardly see it, if you were right in someone's face you might be able to notice it but from far away it just looks like your normal skin. It is not clumpy, or cakey, it is smooth, lightweight and very soft to the skin. Honestly, when you feel your skin with this on, it honestly does feel like silk, it is such a nice feeling!


It is a very good primer, once I put my foundation, concealer and powder over it the silky feeling is still there and you can even put it over your make-up for the added smooth effect. I really enjoy this product overall, and I use it every time I put make-up on as it makes such a difference.

However, I really don't know how it will work for super oily skin. I have normal skin, with dry patches and oily patches here and there, and as I only use this product on my nose and under my eyes, which for my skin are just normal areas, I can't say how well it works for dry or oily skin. For people with dry skin, moisturise before applying this and hopefully it should be fine, and for people with oily skin, it does say oil-free so they should be telling the truth if they put it on the bottle!

Overall I really do enjoy this product, I love the feeling it gives my skin and I love how it becomes invisible, I sometimes just only apply this and not foundation because even though it gives virtually no coverage, because it's not meant for that, I don't have particularly bad skin, I don't have acne *touchwood* or bad breakouts so I don't need to wear foundation everyday, I love letting my skin breathe and I can still do this with The Porefessional.

So, if you are looking for a new primer or just want to give it a go, I did link the website in the first paragraph. If you are scared about the price, just know this; it is the best selling primer in the UK and is highly rated everywhere I have looked, and I would rate it highly also.

I hope you are having a wonderful week, and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx

Goodbye Summer 2012, hello the rest of my life.

As you all know, we are now in mid-September and it is definitely getting a bit chilly outside here in Scotland, I have a hoody on, my thickest t-shirt and wooly bed socks on my feet to keep the snug. Now, mid-September means a lot of things to people; the cold weather returns, back to school, back to work, but for me, it means starting a new chapter in my life.

University.

I officially start University on the 25th this month, which was scarily two weeks yesterday, but my Freshers starts this Saturday. If you don't know what Freshers is, it's basically a week of parties, meeting new people who might or might not be in your classes and enjoying your last scrap of freedom you have before a hellish year. Therefore, really, my Summer ends this Saturday, and really my childhood too.

I would just like to say, I am terrified. I am truly so nervous for it all it's unreal. Excited, but nervous. I have always been a nervous person, ever since the day I started Secondary School (basically since I was 11 or 12.) Tests, exams, talks in front of teachers, meeting new people, making friends.. They all do not come naturally to me. I have to study really hard to get the grades I want, I have to force myself to be sociable and not to shy away in a corner like my natural instincts tell me to do. I am also quite an unsociable person, I am extremely shy and do not like new things, like meeting new people. I feel like I'm quite a quirky, or to put it simply, a weird person. I'm afraid people judge me on things that aren't true, and that people find me weird and then don't like me. I try really hard to fit in and be normal but it makes me sad, I'm so scared of what other people think that it restricts me on what I want to do. I'm scared. It's going to be difficult I know, but it has been my dream for so long, to go to University, to further my education in things that fascinate me. 

You see, I was picked on a lot throughout the years, I was always called slow or stupid or blonde. Now, to most people those comments might have just been a joke, but it always hit me hard. I don't have a lot of common sense, I am clumsy yes, but I am clever. I am smart, I know my stuff, it's just people never see that. Even some of my best friends called me stupid. I struggled so long in school, especially in Maths. I would come home crying every night, I would cry in class during tests and I would cry in exams in front of a hundred people because my mind just went blank, the pressure was too much and I couldn't cope. My parents started getting worried about my mental state because I would torture myself over it, I eventually began to believe I was stupid and I started to give up on myself.

But I couldn't let this stop me, it would destroy me in the end. I got a tutor, I made myself do extra Maths every night and revise every night and eventually, my confidence picked up. When I say it picked up, I mean I didn't cry every night, but through my hard work and determination over 6 years of Maths in Secondary School, I got a B. That's been my biggest achievement yet. I don't care if it wasn't an A, I passed, I passed Maths. I still got extremely nervous before every class test and before every exam, but I worked so hard for them all and I passed, with a higher grade than I could have ever imagined. The look on my parents faces when I said I passed, was pure happiness. They knew I struggled. I never told anyone, because I didn't want them to take it as  a weakness against me and use it to make me feel worse.

The same happened for English, although this time I reacted a lot quicker. I got a tutor almost straight away, and worked ridiculously hard. I did past papers and essays almost every night, and I got an A. My teacher didn't even have hope for me, she said to one of the other students in my class that I tried hard, but never got anywhere.

So this is to all the people that didn't have faith in me, that didn't believe I was smart enough, clever enough, intelligent enough to get into University and do the thing I wanted to do. I did it. I got in without even needing anymore grades, but I sat an extra 4 exams so I could get more grades to fall back on. I got 5 A's and 4 B's. Let me just tell you that that sentence is my biggest success and achievement yet. That sentence gives me hope when I will feel down at University, when I'm struggling in lectures, when I have essays due in, when I have class tests and when I have my final exams, that sentence will show me that I can do whatever I want to do, and even through the tears, the nerves and the hard work and dedication, I will get to where I want to be in life, no matter what people do to try and hold me back.

I am saying goodbye to the girl that was pushed around, called stupid, called slow, called blonde. I am saying goodbye to the girl that was too afraid to go out of her comfort zone. I am saying goodbye to the girl that used to want to give up.

I am saying hello to the young woman who is dedicated, who will work as hard as she possibly can to achieve what she wants, who will go out and meet new people and will try her best to not care what other people say, and who will be the person she wants to be.

Hello Hannah Burrows.

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Thick Eyeliner, Golden Eyes + Berry Lips = Autumn! FOTD 11/09/12

I would first of all like to say that my heart goes out to all the families and friends that have lost someone on this tragic day 11 years ago. Rest in peace to all those who sadly passed away that day, you will never be forgotten and you live long inside everyone's hearts. <3

Moving on, today I would like to show you what make-up I am wearing. I experimented with Maybelline's Eyeshadow Quad in Coral Drama which I have a blogpost coming up on in the next few days, all I can say now is that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would! I also chose to go with a darker, berry lip as we are transitioning into Autumn.


Here's a picture of my eyes, but more importantly, we have a cheeky little nostril shot going on there! No, please ignore my nose, I got a bit carried away with the angles but this picture of my eyes and my eyes only (lies, I want you all to see my nostril.. not) was the best one out of the pictures I took. My eyeliner is probably the main part of my eye, as I made the line bold and thick and I took it out a little bit in a wing, thick eyeliner is a trend this Autumn/Fall this year folks! My eyeshadow was meant to be a golden-coral almost smokey eye look, but instead it just looks golden, which disappointed me about this eyeshadow (look out for the blogpost in 2 days!)


 I just used a mini lipgloss I got as a present from Accessorise on the lips, it is a dark berry colour and it is the exact shade that is in for Autumn, I will definately be going out and buying a lipstick form of this shade extremely soon! Do you have any recommendations of good darker berry lipsticks?


Funny faces time.. I wore my hair in a simple side braid as I had a shower this morning and was meant to be working tonight but I got sent home, so I didn't do anything too fancy with it, it's actually still wet in these pictures, I am so lazy when it comes to drying my hair!


 Make-up I am wearing;

Benefit The Porefessional
A tiny bit of Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation in "Believe in Me Ivory"
Benefit Erase Paste in Light
Mac Blush in Buff
Maybelline Eyeshadow Quad in Coral Drama
Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner in Black
Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara
Accessorise Lipgloss

I hope you enjoyed reading this, I really love the dark lip and thick black eyeliner combo, I will be wearing it a lot this Autumn. I hope you have a lovely week and I will talk to you very soon. :)

Hannah, xx


Welcome Autumn!

It is now mid September, and in Scotland, that means Autumn is finally here! Meaning that the summer shorts are shoved up to the back of your wardrobe and you bring out and dust off the old pair of wooly tights and coats AND scarves that you have. I have a serious love/hate relationship with Autumn, as some days it will be FREEZING and you bring out the big wooly coat combined with a scarf, hat and a pair of gloves, but then half way through the day the sun will come out and you are boiling! You can never predict the weather in Autumn, but here is an outfit that I wore quite frequently in Autumn and Winter last year and I feel that it is still in for this year.


This jacket is my all-time favourite, I absolutely adore the colour, detail and shape of it. It's literally a bright orange, but don't mistake it for a neon orange as it is not that shade, it's more a bright orange with red undertones, but it is still more on the orange side. I love the puffed up shoulder detail, it gives the jacket immediately more elegance and class, and I also love how it comes in at the waist slightly to give your figure a curvy edge. The brown buckles at the front are also lovely, I really am so glad that the buckles are brown because they are neutral and mean I can wear a brown bag and it will look fine.

 I got this from a boutique called Yumi in York, I think they have stores only in England, but they have an online store (yay!) which you can see here :) My scarf is unfortunately does not have a tag on it to show where it is from and I can't remember what store it is, however I got it in Edinburgh this year and I love it, it's just a silky kind of material with white hearts all over it, it's quite thin so I wouldn't wear this in the dead of Winter as I would freeze :(


The pockets are just normal except the detail into the pockets is beautiful, it's a bow shape and it has the same material at the back (as you can see below) and I just think this, along with the shoulder detail, makes the jacket so so so so SO elegant and overall beautiful to wear on every occasion. The jacket also comes out a bit from the buckles down, as because the buckles stop quite high up the jacket just flows to each side, again creating a curve to your figure, and the slit from the buckle down doesn't really bother me, it doesn't let the cold or anything come in, the jacket usually does just stay put so it keeps all the warmth inside!


Along with this jacket I wore a cosy furry grey hoody from Mantaray in Debenhams which I don't think is on sale anymore as I bought it last year, sorry! I also wore my treasured black Vans and my converse bag which I got in Germany, to give the outfit the extra pop of colour, as the bag basically has lots of bright converses all over it (quite ironic when I'm wearing my vans.)

So that's about it! I love this jacket so much, I will be bringing it out very soon as for the first time in months I actually wore a hoodie, so soon it will be jacket time. I hope you enjoyed reading this and have a wonderful week. :)

Hannah, xx

Monday 10 September 2012

South Africa in OOTD's!

I thought today I would do a cheeky little holiday OOTD since this summer I went to the beautiful South Africa, which is my favourite place to visit in the entire world, it's honestly just amazing, I love everything about it there. Now, I went in July which is Winter there and the weather varied from raining to hot and sunny, so you will see a variety of outfits here. Let's get started!


I'm sure this was one of my first days there (I should of mentioned I went for 3 weeks) and the view in the background is Llandudno, which has a gorgeous beach, it is one of my favourites around Hout Bay, which is where my family and I usually visit. I'm wearing one of my proud bargains of the summer, I bought this dress in Tesco (a British supermarket) for about £15 and absolutely ADORE it, it's just a straight down dress with lace detail all over, it is sleeveless and the colour is a pink peach which I love, it is so in this year! I paired it with a brown belt I bought years ago, black tights as it was still quite chilly, brown flats from Element, a cream cardigan from H&M and my bag is from Yumi (which is the only bag I brought so I won't repeat the bag over and over again.. Take note!)


This is in the V&A Waterfront, look at that elephant, it's made out of beads and wire, it's incredible! It was quite cloudy that day as you can see so I was sporting this loose stripy tank top from H&M, which was one of my personal favourites this summer, I love the combination of bright and neutral stripes. I paired this with a light brown cardigan from H&M, jeggings from Asda (they do great jeans) and my treasured Vans.


This picture was taken in Simon's Town at the beautiful harbour, honestly, it was stunning, I will do a South Africa memories post if you would like. I am wearing the same jeggings, shoes and bag from the last picture, but my Mickey Mouse sleeveless top and my denim shirt are both from Topshop and I love this combination, it is so cute and I will be wearing it this Autumn. I am also wearing a necklace form Topshop, which is gold and long and has sunglasses and a moustache (very in!) which again I love. My sunglasses are from Burberry. :)


As you can see from the background I was at Bloubergstrand which is the famous beach where you have the perfect view of Table Mountain. As you can see, this is the same dress I wore in the first picture but this one is bright green, I got 3 colours of this dress, I also have a white one because I loved it so much! I have paired this instead with a black belt and my black Vans, but everything else is the same.


Here I was at the Cape of Good Hope, this is after I climbed the huge hill/mountain by myself, I asked some random person to take a picture for me! It was extremely windy that day so I went with my navy blue jeans from Dorothy Perkins, my black Vans, my Yumi bag, my scarf from a stall at a market in South Africa, my leather jacket from Topshop and a white top.. which I can't remember what it is, but let's just say it was nice okay! What I love about this outfit is the leather jacket, as it isn't that heavy/warm so I can wear it throughout Summer and Autumn and it will do me just fine.


Look at all the pretty penguins! This was at Boulders Beach where all the penguins live, and I am wearing this lovely jumper from Topshop, and what I love about it is that it's quite short so it sits just on my jean line which I think is cute, and also that it is quite thin, so I can wear it in Summer and then layer it up in Winter. I paired it with my Burberry sunglasses, jeans (no idea what jeans as I can't see them/can't remember), the cutest moustache necklace from Topshop, and most likely my black vans.


This is my final outfit to show, which is one of my favourites. The view behind me is of Chapman's Peak, which is meant to be one of the most scenic drives in the world. This dotty dress is from Henry Holland in Debenhams and I bought it whilst it was on sale (bargain!) and I love that it can be either super dressy or super casual. I paired it with my brown flats from Element, a silver bird necklace from Fossil and my burgandy necklace from a boutique in Kalk Bay, the beads are meant to be lucky. I also paired this with my brown cardigan from H&M.


Just put this picture in because a) I love this picture, b) I love this view, c) I love my dress and d)... I just love everything.


And that's it from Timothy the penguin and I, also the accessories I have been wearing in all the pictures are either my Chanel J12 watch, my Fossil watch, my Daisy Chakra bracelet and a gold ring my Mum gave to me. I hope you enjoyed reading this, have a lovely week and I will speak to you all very soon.

Hannah, xx

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