Friday 27 April 2012

online friendships - why the stigma?


The majority of us spend a copious amount of time online, whether it be on facebook, watching videos on youtube, or online shopping, the web has become a standard part of our every day lives. With social media sites popping up all over the place such as tumblr and twitter giving us an insight to the lives of millions of other people, whether it be our fave celebs or those who share mutual interests, it's becoming increasingly easy to spark up conversation and friendship with individuals you've never met, from all over the world.

Now, I'm not saying making friends with a random stranger is without its dangers but the social stigma and sneering at those who choose to form strong friendships with others irks me and is surely completely outdated in this day and age?
Some people find it harder to communicate with those around them and whilst I don't advocate becoming a complete social recluse and never seeing daylight and bothering with friends you may have 'in real life'  I really don't see the problem with bonding with another over mutual interests online.

I met one of my closest friends, Rachel, online over three years ago and since then we've been come extremely close and my friendship with her is probably more sincere than past relationships I've had with so called friends who've bitched about me and put me down.
Transatlantic relationships do work, and we're the proof.
We became penpals, skyped, and are currently planning a trip for her to visit me here in London and for me to stay with her next summer in America as well as the added bonus of international makeup swaps which I've always thought it a really exciting concept and something I've always been dying to try as it enables you to try out brands you wouldn't be able to find in your own country. Obviously, we got to know each other for a lengthy amount of time before any personal details were exchanged as you can never be too careful, but we skyped, and spoke almost every day online for over a year and I'm so glad I'm able to call her my friend as I can confide a lot in her and vice versa.

 Why should the friends we have be restricted to the country or town we live in? That just sounds silly to me.
Not only has it given us opportunities to travel and experience new cultures but using the internet as a platform to find others that share your interests can lead you to meeting the most lovely of people who you would never have had the chance to meet and become friends with otherwise. For example, the hashtag ##bbloggers led me to meet lot's of genuinely sweet girls and it was in fact Jade, a fellow beauty blogger and overall stunner, who inspired and encouraged me to write this post.

As long as you're sensible and don't get sucked in to handing over say your address and pin details to any old scam artist there are plenty of genuinely nice people out there and I think sometimes the media focus too much on the negatives of online communities.

The internet is not only a place to look at funny photo's of cats and facebook stalk but a place where you can find friends and those who want to sneer at you or call it 'lame' or 'naive' are the one's missing out.

I know this isn't my usual type of post but I thought I'd just share this with you and I'd love to know your opinions!


Sunday 22 April 2012

sunday session #5

Chinese Takeaway/Top Shop Vectra's arrived!/Out with my girls/double rainbow/20th Cocktails!/Free goodies from Bourjois

This week has consisted of a highly unhealthy diet, turning twenty and spending my last week back at home before facing the dreaded upcoming month of uni exams and no social life. I must admit turning twenty is pretty scary as the realities of the real world are knocking on my door and I'm still hesitant to open. But some good news is that Jon and I are back together and hopefully my not so great start to the year will pick up from here, fingers crossed.

Follow me on Instagram @ohlittlered

Friday 20 April 2012

Top Shop Lipstick in Coy

TopShop Matte Pencil Form Lipstick in Coy available here for £7

I was yet to purchase from the TopShop beauty range which I've read an array of positive reviews on and being a lipstick girl decided to try out their pencil form lipstick in the shade Coy.
 One of the things I find aesthetically pleasing with the TopShop Beauty Brand is the packaging which goes against the standard glossy black and opts for a matte white with simple graphic design. One fault if any with the packaging is, like NARS standard rubber finish, the products can get grubby pretty easily!

Coy is the not the typical muted coral lippie as it leans slightly pale pink with neon qualities especially on us fair skinned ladies, so I don't tend to apply this product too heavily as a little is enough for me and its fairly pigmented. It's a gorgeous summer shade which will pair up greatly with pastels.

 As it is a matte it can tend to highlight any dry areas on your lips so I normally scrub my lips with Lush BubbleGum Lip Scrub prior to use, but a bit of balm or Vaseline should do the trick as well. The pointed tip makes the product easy to apply and unlike some matte lipsticks it did not tug at my lips and glided on quite well, lasting up to three hours before I had to re-apply.

Will you be trying anything from the TopShop beauty range?



Thursday 19 April 2012

twenty


Two decades of my life are now complete and I'm edging closer to the real world and things are becoming slightly scary but also tremendously exciting. I'm no longer a teenager and although I feel no different that kind of saddens me as everyone also reflects upon those mischievous teen years and I hopefully made the most of mine bar these last few months, which I will now call a minor blip in my life and soon to be forgotten, fingers crossed.

This is not your standard beauty blog post but I thought I'd just share with you a snippet into my life at the moment which consists of me sitting cross legged on my bed cramped for spaces as it overflows with revision notes, past exam papers, and highlighters congregating among packets of Haribo.

I'm sorry for the lack of posts recently and for the next month I will be off the radar as exams ensue and my nails become non existent. I'll endeavor to blog whenever I can and you'll probably find me on twitter in full on crisis mode panicking about failing this year at university and craving food, no change there then!

But here's too the next decade in my life, let's virtually toast to things going onwards and upwards!

Hope you're all well!


Thursday 12 April 2012

Body Shop Body Butter in Passion Fruit


Bargain Alert! For those of you who, like me, love Body Shop's brand of Body Butters but find that a tad too steep in price there is currently a 50% off offer on 200ml tubs, a much more budget friendly £5, available on selected scents which you can have a browse of here.

However, I'd like to review one of my personal favourites within their collection alongside Coconut, which sadly I'm afraid isn't in their discounted offer at the moment, Passion Fruit. The scent is mild and unoffensive to the senses, think a passion fruit yoghurt and you're not far off!

Passion Fruit Body Butter is aimed at dry to normal skin which I find works best for me and I love the thick creamy consistency that your skin just soaks up without leaving any unwanted greasy residue on the skin. It always leaves my skin feeling soft and supple with that gorgeous mild scent lingering on.

Body Butters are one of my top moisturizers packed with fruit seed oil which leaves you skin silky smooth and so I urge you to check out the offer going on right now and try it out for yourselves as there are a wide range of scents to choose from!






Sunday 8 April 2012

sunday session #4

Kopparberg Pear, The Gorgeous Lily, Whipsnade Zoo, Bingo!, Friday Night with the Girls, Lush Bath Bombs

Okay, I admit I've taken to splurging out a bit too much moo-la on things I don't really need this week but I haven't had the best of times recently and thought what the heck? I'm going to treat myself! I've caught up with a lot of people this week and spent time making time for the little things that can spread a cheesy grin on your face like no other.

Gala Bingo host free nights on Thursdays so I herded up the girls to sign up and give it a go and I must admit I was pretty excited about getting my hands on one of those dabber pens! Simple things! It was such a laugh and the old biddies take it a lot more seriously than is necessary but it was nice to something different and without having spend any money, but boy do they reel off those numbers quickly!

I've been rushed off my feet with drinks in our local, organising Reading Festival bits and bobs, Kopparberg Mixed Fruits being top of the list, as well as heading off to Whipsnade Zoo yesterday with everyone. It was a bit odd at first because it was all couples and then Jon and I but we soon got over that and were coo-ing over the baby elephants! Talking of babies I met up with my friend Becky during the week and got to meet her gorgeous daughter Lily who happens to be the most adorable thing ever and got me all broody!

When I finally got a chance to relax this week I treated myself to a Lush filled bath as my bath bomb collection has been sitting there patiently as I'm not able to use it at uni as we only have a shower, nothing beat a good hot soak in the tub! Oh, and Easter eggs to munch on after..

How was your Easter weekend?


Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait


I'm sure you're all aware of the hype surrounding the new Revlon Lip Butter's, and many of you have been flocking to the shops to get your hands on some of these gorgeous lipstick/lip balm hybrids, so I won't blabber on for too long!

I've already reviewed the Revlon Lip Butter Range and the shade Strawberry Shortcake which you can find here and the second buttery balm I added to my collection was the shade donned by the gorgeous Emma Stone in the promotional ads, as can be seen above, which is Peach Parfait.

Peach Parfait is highly popular and seems to be flying off the shelves which is probably due to its gorgeous light coral tones which always seems to do well but I was lucky enough to snatch one up in my local boots. This shade may also be more popular as the warm peachy tones compliments almost every skin colour, however those of you with more pigmented lips may struggle to get a great colour pay off as this shade isn't as pigmented as others in the collection, it is one of the subtler toned shades.
 I find this shade 'parfait'! for my paler skintone and it really compliments my auburn toned hair which is why Emma Stone is so well suited to this shade in the promo's! It has iridescent flecks of golden shimmer throughout which bodes well with the coral undertones and is a great everyday shade especially for spring time and the summer months!

For £8 it's at the higher end of drugstore makeup for a lip balm/lipstick hybrid and could easily be compared to 17's Mirror Shine Lipsticks at nearly half the price at £4.59. However, I was drawn in by it's moisturising qualities as it both glides on like a traditional lip balm but also leaves a decent colour pay off with a light glossy sheen which I prefer over a sticky lip gloss any day! The packaging reflects the somewhat steeper price as the lip butter is encased within a quilted plastic cover that reflects somewhat the shade inside.

Overall, I really do love like the lip balm/lipstick hybrid and these buttery balms have found a place within my everyday makeup routine! Peach Parfait is the perfect shade for me and one that I would recommend picking up before they sell out!




Sunday 1 April 2012

sunday session #3


Sunday has swung around quickly yet again and another week down until the dreaded university exams begin! My plan of action for this week was to get quite a fair bit of revision done but that somewhat failed so this mission has been passed on to next week, it will happen...I hope.

1. I've missed my girls a lot whilst I've been a uni and it was really nice for us all to be home around the same  time to catch up and go on a girls only night out...however that was slightly interrupted by the boys being in a club just down the road and getting a bit rowdy. I managed to get my hands on the teal playsuit, that I mentioned in my last weekend wishlist, that I've been lusting after as it was reduced to £20 in the sale! And as always, I ended the night with some greasy chip shop grub, splendid.

2. I've moved into my dads house for the week as tensions are running a little high with my mum as we're both stressed about upcoming exams, my mum is at university too you see. It's a much calmer environment, apart from when spurs are playing and my dad transforms into the biggest lad going screaming at the tv! Recently two furry new editions have been added to house called Rocky and Lyla and they're the cutest cats I've ever seen and make a very good hot water bottle...

3.Okay, so duck isn't exactly the healthiest of foods but I've been trying to cut down on junk food, minus the  drunken dash to the chippy. I've been making salads most days and swapping bacon for sardines. It's not to lose weight or anything like that but I just think I should improve my standard of food.

4. Recently my heads been all over the place with my ex giving me many mixed signals and re-enacting jekyl and hyde, not good. So really old friends have been my saving grace the past week, calling me at any hour to take my mind off things and cheer me up. One of them is a guy going through a VERY similar situation and it's always nice to know you're not the only one going through things and that you're not going stir crazy! And yes, I do look like a boy in a dress...

Hope you have a lovely week ahead as always, and may the weather please make up it's mind, sunshine or snow?!


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