The Body Shop Skin Care Haul (and review!)

Hola lovelies!

Oh my, it has been far too long since I last wrote on here! So much has been going on since 2nd year began and I feel like I've barely stopped!
So, it is exam season once again and even though I have plenty of work to be getting on with I am far too excited about some new skin care things I bought recently. I normally don't spend a lot on skin care, but I feel like after a Easter holiday full of essay writing (and a bit of travelling here and there), I wanted to treat myself, and luckily for me, The Body Shop had 40% (!!!!) discount online! PERFECT. Also, because most of this stuff I have either had for 3/4 weeks or about a week, I can give you a little review of everything!

The first thing I bought was this Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter. I'd always liked the thought of balm cleansers, or butter cleansers but they'd always been way of my budget (Emma Hardy I'm looking at you). However, I found this beauty of cleanser on the website, with raving reviews and decided for £7 with discount, it was a pretty good buy!
I've now been using this for 3 weeks and it is just lovely. It melts onto the skin and leaves it feeling so beautifully soft and hydrated. Although I don't usually wear a lot of face makeup, when I have I've been able to use it to remove makeup, even stubborn mascara, without too much trouble. I just smooth it into the skin and remove it with a warm muslin cloth. I feel like this product is going to last forever, since it has only a minor dent in it and I've used it for 3 weeks solidly! (£12 rrp)

The next thing I bought was this Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask, which is meant to be to cleanse and purify your pores, whilst pulling out all the rubbish from your pores. I've used this three times now and it does exactly that, although this does mean that I've had a few more spots than usual! But, of course this means in the long run my skin is being cleansed thoroughly, so not bad ;) It has such a nice cooling effect on the skin and has that satisfying changing of colour thing as it dries, making it so easy to know when it is ok to take off. It also comes in quite a big pot, making me think this is going to also last for a good amount of time. Again, like the cleanser it was around £7/£8 with the discount. (£13 rrp)

I recently ran out of my Nivea daily moisturiser, which I've used for a few years now but have been finding that it is becoming too heavy for my skin. My skin is not really oily nor dry so I have found that it can be difficult to find a moisturiser that is light enough to not make my skin feel greasy but also hydrating enough! Luckily, I heard good things about this Vitamin E Moisturiser (and the whole range in general), so decided to give it a go and it is really good! I have only been using this one for around a week, and so far I really like it. It is really light, and seems to disappear into the skin quickly. This was about £7 with the discount too. (£12 rrp)

I know I just said that I don't wear much face make-up very often, however I decided that I wanted to try some of The Body Shop's make-up range, mostly because Gracie Francesca on Youtube had raved about The Body Shop's All-in-One Instablur primer and Corrie from DizzyBrunette had recently bought the All-in-One BB cream of theirs. I really like this duo, I think I may have got a shade too dark (I got shade 01 instead of 00), but I can work with it so it is fine, and will probably work well for summer. It gives a good glow, really natural and stays put all day. For me, it isn't very obvious I have make up on, which is good since I don't normally wear make-up, so it could be more noticeable. The BB cream is really intriguing since it comes out a white liquid, however once you rub it in it is like these little beads pop and release the colour, I was a bit worried the first time I tried it! Basically, I really like these, I think together they work really well and I can see myself repurchasing these in the future. The BB cream was around £7 and the primer was around £8.50 with discount, of course ;). (£12 and £14 rrp)

And finally, I have finished! So this was quite the haul but it was over two orders (which is just as bad I realise...) but I am so impressed with The Body Shop, I have only generally shopped there for Tea Tree Oil and body butters back in the day when they were first popular! Also, just a little heads up, they ALWAYS have 40% off which is a really good deal so if you want to try any mid-high end skin care or make-up things! 

 Hope you enjoyed reading this, and I promise I will be back soon with some more things to blog about.

Bethany xx

10 Things That All Freshers Should Know!

Hola lovelies!

So now I'm back at university and in my second year studying, I thought it would be fun to do a post on some things I wish I had known when I was a fresher.. hopefully you find this funny or maybe even helpful!
p.s I was not perfect and some of this advice I didn't take myself but wish I had done (i.e 7..)

My diary for this year

1. DO NOT panic buy your books!

It is well known as a second year, or even just after your first semester at university that lecturers seem to be pros at panicking everybody. "You definitely will always need to use this £80 book so you better buy it NOW" when in reality you will probably only need to read a chapter for the first week and then it will sit gathering dust for the rest of your degree... sad. It is always safe to wait - maybe your department will have a book sale and sell those books for cheaper or maybe you can find the ebook online.. there are always solutions!

2. Everyone is in the same boat

I know when I started I felt that somehow everyone will be so clued up on university and know exactly what they're doing and I will be that loner on the sideline that isn't involved. This wasn't the case - nearly everyone I met during freshers felt the same and that is only a good thing! This meant that we had something in common and we learnt together as we went along.

3. Going out on a Wednesday is perfectly acceptable

Going out midweek is one of those things you will only be able to do whilst you're at university so you better make the most of it! Even if you don't drink, going to the 9am lecture the next morning and seeing everyone with drooping eyes and looking worse for wear is definitely good entertainment.

4. However going out is NOT the be all and end all

Although going out can be fun, if it is not your scene that does not matter. I think a lot of pressure is put on students to live up to their stereotype but most of the time it can be just as fun if you stay in with your friends with good food and a good film. Going out is just about making friends and being sociable and there are loads of ways to do that that don't involve going out, and if you don't, don't worry that you will be lonely, there are ALWAYS others who think exactly like you.

5. Societies are good

Every fresher should jump head first into university life - get involved in societies and their socials, get involved with their flat/house and just get involved academically too. Your first year doesn't count so you can afford to maybe have a little bit too much going on. It is of course a fab way to make friends but also to work out how much you can do with your time when your work counts towards your degree. Have a say on what is going on at your university or try something new - it's all good experiences!

6. Try not to rush into houses for second year

So I know at my university everyone started looking for houses in November... yes not even 2 months after we had started!! It was so early that most people are now living with those who they don't necessarily get on with. Luckily for me that is not the case... but we did rush into finding a house. We know that if we had left it a little longer there still would have been houses for us to go into and there wouldn't have been an issue of us being homeless second years studying for our degree in a park. 

7. Try not to get absolutely smashed

Obviously for most people going out and having all this time away from your parents judging eyes is a free pass to get off your face. This can be fun, if done within your limits, but perhaps try to save your crazy dance routine or puking antics until you have made some friends that you can trust who will look after you. Also, you KNOW there will be some really embarrassing photos from that night out during freshers...

8. Work hard

This may be a really boring point to make but it's really important that you go into second year with confidence knowing that you can do the work they will set you. Practising academic essays and presentations will be essential for your degree. Obviously they don't count (normally) so maybe don't spend a month on each thing, but definitely put in effort. It is even good just to make you feel like you have achieved something! 

9. Be yourself

I think it is really important that you try to be yourself at all times. You're moving to a new place and meeting new people and it is easy to try to impress those around you to try and make friends. But generally, just being yourself will generate friends in time, and they'll be more genuine in the long term. Also, staying true to who you are will make your experience so much better.

10. Have fun and enjoy yourself

University is obviously the place where you get yourself a degree and work incredibly hard in the process, but as a second year coming to the end of first semester I can tell you that time will FLY. University has been the best experience of my life so far, so much fun and so many opportunities. You need to make sure that whatever you decide to do with yourself whilst you're there, that you're always having fun and making memories - you will never do this again so make the most of it!

 

Housemates 

    

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Bethany xx

My Summer Travels: Prague, Czech Republic

Hola lovelies!

Our cool musically themed room!

So after we left Vienna we were very excited to be going to Prague. After 5 hours on a train entertaining ourselves (cue games of poker with sunglasses on and beers on the table...)!

We finally arrived in Prague and found our way to our top floor apartment just outside of the centre of Prague, it was pretty cool with different themed rooms!

After visiting some museums (like the beer museum which was fun to visit) we decided to visit a popular tourist destination.. Charles Bridge. The day was fairly warm and the sun was out for most of the day. Charles Bridge was really nice, full of stalls of arty things and buskers which made the atmosphere on the bridge that little bit more exciting. 

Charles Bridge from afar

We also managed to visit that day the John Lennon wall which was a very surreal place, there was Beatles music being played as we got there. The wall was in a very unsuspecting place, nothing was around and it wasn't that busy. I felt like it was a little unknown gem of Prague. 

On the way there too we saw a little bridge that was full of love locks, similar to the one in Paris but REALLY small in comparison. I loved this little quarter of Prague, it felt like it was the tourists way of saying how much they loved Prague.

Love Locks and John Lennon wall

We also managed to go to Old Town Square where we saw the astronomical clock. Whilst here we were also bombarded with people on segways! All of them trying to offer us deals to go on a segway for a day.. really expensive though!

In the evenings Prague had a nightclub that was meant to be the largest in central Europe, it had 5 floors and an ice bar haha! But also very cheap beer, so that obviously pleased all of us. It was a lot of fun and we spent most of our time in the 'oldies' room - who doesn't enjoy all the old classics?!

Dan and I in the club!

So, as this was the last place on our trip we had one last meal in a very cute café (feeling slightly hungover) and got a plane back to London. 

The trip was some of the most fun I've had, I loved travelling around and I definitely will do more in the future, without a doubt!

This is also the last post in this series! I hope you've enjoyed it.. let me know in the comments if you have!

I have some plans for future posts so watch this space :-)

Which country is your favourite? Have you ever been to Prague?

Bethany x

My Summer Travels: Vienna, Austria

Hola lovelies!

The view from Schönbrunn Palace looking over the gardens

After 4 nights in Budapest, it was time to move on to a different country. We caught a train at 6am to Vienna, Austria! I had heard how beautiful this city was so I was excited to see it in the flesh. I was not disappointed! 

We were only there for 2 days and 1 night so we tried to cram in as much as possible whilst we were there. We stayed near the Schönbrunn Palace, about a 10 minute walk away, which was perfect. Not only was the palace an amazing sight, the gardens surrounding the palace were absolutely stunning. I couldn't help but take about 10,000 pictures of everything. The gardens were so peaceful and were unlike anything I'd seen in any other European countries.
Dan and I spent a long time here, just taking the sights in and trying to get over the amazing views. The others we were travelling with were arriving later in the day as we got different trains to Vienna. 

Schönbrunn Palace

View looking over the gardens, Palace and the city

Vienna also had a very famous cathedral - St Stephen's Cathedral - which was so beautiful. We visited the inside and could have walked up the 400 steps to the top.. however we had very aching feet from all the walking and decided not to (we already had really good pictures of the view of Vienna from the palace!). 

St Stephen's Cathedral

Dan and I also visited the Rathaus (Townhall) whilst the others visited the palace we had seen the day before. It was a bit of a spontaneous decision as we ran off the metro stop, but turned out to be a nice one. The townhall wasn't spectacular but there was a lovely park next to it, and we saw a part of a carnival.. not sure what it was celebrating but it was a colourful parade and very cool!

Rathaus building

The cute park next to the Rathaus

On our only evening of Vienna, we went for drinks in a very classy place (after having lost each other and thinking we were at the same metro station for around 40 minutes..! haha). It was actually in a square surrounded by museums - in Museumquartier. The drinks were ridiculously expensive but I stretched to 5 euros for a small beer and admired my surroundings. As everyone was a bit tired, we decided to save going out until we got to Prague, so got some 1 euro pizza (delicious and the loveliest man served us!) and currywurst and went back for the night. 

River Danube at sunset 

I would love to revisit Vienna again for a longer period of time as I think we weren't able to delve deep enough into the city in two days! 

Have you ever visited Vienna? What did you do whilst you were there?

Follow me for updates on when I post my next post on Prague in this travel series!

Bethany x

My Summer Travels: Budapest, Hungary

Hola lovelies!

 
After I came back from Montpellier, it wasn't long until I was back on a plane travelling again. This time it really was a holiday.. no school involved (yay!). Early September some friends, my boyfriend and I embarked upon a little European tour, where we visited Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Today's post looks at Budapest. It was a city that I can definitely see myself living in when I'm older, or at least revisiting!

Some elephants in Budapest Zoo

Not only was the nightlife very busy - we went to some crazy bars and pubs - but the history and architecture was beautiful. Personally, I'm not normally one for commenting on art but even I could appreciate it.

Heroes Square

There was one monument that really caught my eye, it was the Statue of Liberty which was situated on the top of a massive hill. The statue was a woman holding a feather above her head, and it represented Hungary being free from Nazi power. I really loved it as it reminded me of what this city had seen not that long ago. Also the views from the top were amazinnng! 

Statue of Liberty

The view from the top - looking over the River Danube

We were only there for 4 nights and 3 days so had to fit in a lot in a very small space of time, but I think we managed pretty well! 

Follow me for updates on when I post my next one in this series! 
Hope you enjoyed :-)

Bethany x

My Summer Travels: Montpellier, France

Hola lovelies!

So I have had probably the best summer EVER! 

My summer started in June and I will return to university pretty soon, in about a week.. sad but also exciting! However, I have managed to pack in so many things! I am planning to do a series on the different places I have visited, with some pictures of sights I saw and people I shared my experiences with. 

The first instalment in this series is Montpellier, in the South of France. I spent three weeks here at a summer school as part of my university course, as I study French and Spanish. These three weeks were absolutely amazing and jam packed full of learning and cultural discoveries. The weather was perfection, however I did find the heat difficult when in 4 hour lessons during the day! I love the look of Mediterranean cities, the colours are predominantly light and the buildings are painted unusual colours - a nice change from the British greys. 

We visited so many places, too many to put a photo of everything on this post. Being so close to the coast though allowed for the breathtaking coastal views nearly every place we visited. I ate at so many little French cafés and probably ate my body weight in gelato, which in my book only tells me that I enjoyed myself to the fullest. Every Friday in La place de la Comédie in the centre of Montpellier, there was 'Les Estivales' where little craft and food stores lined the square and live music was playing in each corner. It seemed like everyone came here each Friday and we weren't even deterred by the hour long thunderstorm that we experienced the first Friday. It was a lovely atmosphere as everyone scoured the stalls by night, listening to music, eating good food and drinking good (but inexpensive) wine! 3 glasses for 5 euros definitely caught our eye! 

Although I learnt a lot of French, and essentially spent three weeks soaking up the French culture and trying to pretend to be Française, it wouldn't have been the same without the 20 something other students who were also on the trip. 

 I can't wait to revisit Montpellier, and other southern cities of France, and eat more chocolate brioche everyday for 50p (and learn and use French... of course hehe).

Have you ever visited Montpellier or the South of France? 

Bethany x

Favourite Fashion: Summer edition!

Hola lovelies! 

In the UK at the moment everyone is suddenly aware that summer is upon us. The weather has been unbelievable the last couple of days, and I am writing this now from my bed in which I am sweltering. But I shouldn't complain.. I love the sun and all that summer brings, including new clothes!

In a recent post I shared with you some new shoes I had bought for summer, and today I will share some of my favourite pieces for summer. Some are new but these are my go to clothing items at the moment.

-- First up is this gorgeous top from Topshop. I have seen a lot of bloggers with the stripy version of this, but my best friend bought me this a few months ago for my birthday. It is just perfect for summer, especially the flower details around the hems. Just too cute and simple! There is also a pale pink one in store now which I am dying to get my hands on. Because it is just white, it goes with everything which makes things so easy! 

-- This dress is probably my favourite thing at the moment. This is from River Island and is the perfect smock dress for summer. The material is light and flows perfectly. I have worn it so many times, even when the weather maybe didn't even constitute wearing a dress! I think they have it in loads of different prints too so go and check them out. I believe they are £25 normally - totally worth it! I also think this may even be in the River Island sale right now.. no excuses!

-- I know these may not seem like a summer item, but in the UK it isn't always really sunny and hot so I need options! These Vero Moda jeans are in the 'mom' style and are super super high waisted which makes wearing crop tops with them just perfect. They also finish a little above the ankle which I think accentuates your shape in a weird but wonderful way! The colour is the loveliest colour for a pair of summer jeans. These are the same jeans that I recently picked up and although I haven't had them for a full summer yet, I know I'm taking them away with me and they will become a definite favourite for evenings. They just jazz up an outfit for summer when the sun hasn't shown itself.  

-- Lastly, these shorts I bought in the Topshop sale last year (no longer available, sorry!) and I have loved them ever since. The embroidery on the front and back is just lovely and adds so much to it! They are high waisted and if you are careful, they don't show your bum either! I am just so happy with them, they were originally around £30/£40 and I got them for £15. There are loads of shorts around at the moment with similar things, so go check them out! 

So these are the clothes I will be wearing this summer! I hope these pictures are ok, I am still working out how to take good photos for this blog!

What summer clothes do you love? Have you found any bargains or beautiful summer finds for this summer? 

Bethany x