Mani Monday

This week on my nails I'm wearing the Maybelline SuperStay Gel Nail Color in Surreal (635). It's opaque it two coats and is a lovely cool pastel lilac. So pretty for the spring or cooler months!

Current Skincare Routine

Hi guys!

Today I'm coming at you with my current skin care routine. This does tend to change quite often but I have a really good bunch of products at the moment so I thought I'd share with you what I've been using on my skin recently. 

First up, cleansing. I'm using two cleansers at the moment which I sort of switch in between depending on what I'm in the mood for. Currently on the go in my skincare stash are the Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil and the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. Both give me a really deep cleanse and really nourish the skin at the same time. I really enjoy using the oil and it's great for taking makeup off and actually cleaning my skin at the same time. The Cleanse and Polish really soothes the skin and I find it really helps with pesky hormonal break outs. Both cleansers are ones that I would repurchase over and over again. 

I will just briefly talk about eye make up remover, even though it's not something I always use. Generally my cleanser will suffice, but if I've gone particularly heavy on the eyes or my winged eyeliner just won't budge I'll grab some cotton wool and an eye make up remover. This Garnier Express 2 in 1 is a bi-phase solution meaning it contains an oil as well as a conventional makeup remover. Just shake it up and you're good to go. This isn't the best one I've ever used, but it's certainly does the job!

Next up, toner. Now I'm not usually too fussy with toners, I'm quite happy with an affordable one from the high street but I have the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic in my stash at the moment so that's what I'm using. It's very herbal and really calms the skin. I would say that you can find toners that are just as good for a fraction of the price but this is a lovely one to have if your budget stretches. I just splash a little on to a cotton round and swipe it all over my face and sometimes my neck too. 

Now on the moisturising my skin. Right now I'm usuing the Garnier Moisture Nourish + for dry to very dry skin. Love the moisturiser as it is a non-greasy formula that thoroughly moisturises dry skin and keeps it plump throughout the day. My only bug bear is the packaging. The product itself is too thick in consistency to be in a sqeezy tube, in my opinion. It's just too much hard work trying to squeeze the product out. Yes this is the more hygenic option to a tub, but honestly I think that would work better. 

For eye cream I'm using the Boots Vitamin E Gentle Eye Cream. I don't need anything heavy as I'm only 19 but I find that this just gently mositurises the sensitive eye area which can get dried out from concealers and powders. A little bit goes a long way with this stuff.

There are two masks that I'm reaching for currently, again, depending on what issue I'm drying to tackle. If I'm having an oily day or if I'm seeing some break outs I'll grab the Lush Mask of Magnanimity. It's a thick green paste that dries in about 15 and really purifies the skin. I can definitely notice the difference as it pulls the oil out of my skin without drying it out. 

If, on the other hand, my skin is feeling particularly dry I'll slap on a bit of the Balance Me Radiance Face Mask. I spoke about this in my April favourites so I won't say too much about it, but it gently exfoliates dry skin whilst penetrating the skin to deeply hydrate and moisturise. Not a massive fan of the smell, but the product really works! I tend to leave this one on for about 5-10 minutes then wipe of with a damp muslin cloth.

Finally, for when my skin just needs a good old scrub when I'm feeling particularly gross and scaly, I use the Ocean Salt scrub from Lush. This is suitable for the face and for your body ( gotta love a good two-in-one). It's really salty and zesty and gets rid of any pesky dry patches. Just make sure you moisturise afterwards because this one can be quite harsh on the skin.

So there you have the skincare products I'm currently using. What are you skincare saviours?

May Favourites

I'm back from my brief break for exams (which means my first year of uni is over!) which also means it's time for my May favourites as we have already reached June!

This month has been pretty boring for me as it's basically just consisted of me washing my hair as little as often, hardly getting dressed, eating and revising. Such a glamorous life I lead...Hence the lack of loads and loads of beauty products. However the bits and bobs that I have been enjoying must be good if they've made the cut when it's been a very non-beauty month. So here they are:

Let's get the most boring thing out of the way, the Barry M Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail Hardener All in One. Yep, literally a clear nail polish. Now I know this sounds very yawn, but I've been giving my nails a break recently from coloured polish and false nails to get them nice and strong again. So instead of colour I've been slapping a layer of clear polish on my tip every day to keep them shiny and strong. This one was only about £2.99, but honestly who wants to pay any more for no colour? Works a treat and I have actually noticed a difference in the strength of my nails.

Next up is the Le Blush in Rose Pastel by L'Oreal (Who seem to be featuring a lot on my blog right now, I'm having a bit of a love affair with their products!). It's the perfect cool toned light pink blush which just gives me the right amount of colour on my cheeks. If I've bothered at all with makeup this last month it's usually been a few blobs of concealer, this blush, something light on the brows and a swipe of mascara. Super simple but just about enough to make me look slightly human. 

That "something light on the brows" I just mentioned comes in the form of the Rimmel Brow This Way tinted brow gel in 001 Blonde. This comes in four shades: a clear gel, the Blonde one, a light brown and a dark brown. So this hasn't had the greatest reviews from other people as the brush is quite large and seems to dispense a bit too much product, but honestly it's not too much of an issue. I'm okay with the size of the brush and just find if I wipe of the excess product I'm good to go. It sets the brows in place without them feeling crispy and gives just the right amount of tint so you can layer it with other brow products or just use on it's own. Ooo, also, it's the perfect ashy blonde, no red tones in sight!

My next favourite is a body product which comes in the shape of the Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub. Mmmmm, it smells SO good! It's the prefect consistency for a body scrub and is packed full of brown sugar, lime, almond and macadamia oil. It gets rid of dry skin really well and leaves skin feeling moisturised after. And the smell....I could go on forever about the smell. So zesty and fresh. Yum!

The final product I've been loving this month has been the Schwarzkopf got2b Oil-licious Styling Oil. Finally a decent hair oil that doesn't come with a hefty price tag. I picked this up from Boots for £3 when it was on offer but the usually retail price is still only about £4.99 which is a total bargain. This one contains argan oil which we all know is good for out hair and it comes in a handy 50ml which makes it great for travelling/chucking in your handbag for on the go. I've been using this on wet hair pre-blow drying and on day between washing to nourish my ends. I really like it!

No fashion favourite this month as I've just been living in pjs, but hooray for pjs, they're the best.

A TV favourite this month has to be Pretty Little Liars. I've heard people rave about it for years, but never really got round to watching it. So as soon as I'd finished my exams I got home and cracked on with season one. I'm already half way through season two and really enjoying it- I'm totally hooked!!

That's all from me for this monthly favourites, I'll speak to you soon....

DIY-How to distress jeans

Hello!

Today I have a little DIY project for you. Distressed and ripped jeans are very in at the moment but that doesn't mean that you have to rush out and pay more than you need to for a pair of jeans that have already been ripped. Instead if you spend a little time you can transform an old pair of jeans. 

For this you'll need 

A pair of jeans

Scissors & Tweezers 

The first thing you need to do is have a look at your jeans and decide where you want to cut them. 

I decided to rip both knees first off.

Lay your jeans flat, pinch them slightly (make sure you don't pinch the front and the back as you don't want to turn them into shorts) then make a little cut. Now cut a straight line with your scissors.

Depending on how big you want your rips/holes leave a few inches then make an identical cut below.

Then what you want to do is grab a pair of of tweezers. You want to gently pull the threads away from your cuts. This starts to give the rips a bit of a worn in look. Don't worry about this too much though because you will be throwing these in the washing machine which will do the hard work for you. 

At this point I had

a quick look at my jeans and decided I wanted some rips further up the leg nearer the thigh. My advice would be start small, you can always make the cuts larger if you want to!

Keep going until you're happy with the look of the jeans. Try them on a few times and see if you want to make any more cuts. As a final step, throw them in the wash. This will just get rid of any loose threads and distress the rips even further.

I hope you enjoyed this little DIY!

The Liebster Award.

Hi everyone!

I know I told you guys I was taking a little break due to uni, but I found out today that I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by my bestie and fellow blogger Megan, from her blog  Breakfast at Tiffanys Challenge. For those of you that don't know, the Liebster Award is basically a tag amongst bloggers, to give recognition to their favourite blogs that have under 200 followers/subscribers. The aim is to share your favourite blogs with each other and give recognition to smaller blogs that don't always get the attention they deserve. 

So how does it work? Those that are nominated have to answer 11 questions set by the person that nominated them, they then have to set 11 questions for their nominees to answer. Simple as that!

Here are the questions Megan set me:

Where were you born and where do you live now?

I was born in Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands and I currently live between in East Yorkshire(for university) and North Lincolnshire.

What is your occupation?

I'm a full time Law student and part time beauty/fashion blogger.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Yep! An older brother and sister.

When did you begin your blog, what made you begin?

So I started Charlie's Closet April of 2014, but I have been blogging since the age of 16 on my first blog which was called Beauty By Lottie. Last year I had a big change up of blogging style so started fresh here.

What is the aim or purpose of your blog?

My aim is to share my passion of beauty and fashion with my readers. I love sharing opinions and finding out what you guys like too. 

What are your passions and interests?

I'm extremely interested in the beauty and fahsion industry( hence the theme of this blog). I also enjoy politics, philosophy and history (especially 1920s onwards, with a focus on WW1 and WW2.)

How would you describe yourself in three words?

This is actually really difficult! I'd probably say focused, silly and thoughtful (I hope!!!)

What is your pet peeve?

I have two- people that chew with their mouth open and people that leave doors open.

What is your favourite book or film?

I'm going to cheat and tell you my favourite book AND film. My favourite book would be Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks (Female British spy during in France during WW2) and my favourite film is Bridget Jone's Diary- I've seen in more times than I care to admit to and can pretty much quote the entire film. Bridget is my spirit animal, hehe.

Who are you closest to in life?

My parents, my boyfriend and my cat, Marley (affectionately known as Bob)

What are your ambitions?

I'd really like to do well in my degree and hopefully some day work for the British government/ in the Forces.

So there are my answers, which have probably helped you learn a little bit about me!

Here are my nominees.....

Charlotte from Jotlotte

Kitty from KittyBlackadder

Here are my 11 questions:

How old are you?

Where are you from?

What was the first blog post you ever wrote?

If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be?

What made you start blogging?

What is your ultimate goal for you blog?

If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you want with you?

Any pets?

Most annoying habit?

Favourite era for fashion?

What are your holy grail beauty products?

So there we go. Thank you to Meg for nominating me and I hope you've enjoyed this post!

 

Time for a little break...

Hi guys,

No beauty post today I'm afraid. I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking a little break from blogging whilst I focus on university for the next months; I have all my assignments and exams going on in the next few weeks and really need to devote all my attention to that and then come back when I'm done and pay attention to my little blog.

I will be back a month today (June 6th) with beauty and fashion posts galore for you. I'll also be doing a round up of my first year of university and a few other uni/life related posts.

See you next month!

April Favourites

Hello!

It's the beginning of May which means April is over (I'm such a genius...) WHICH MEANS it's time for my monthly favourites. I've been mixing things up a lot this month and trying loads of new products which has been fun. My skin has also been going CRAZY thanks to exam/assignment/general university stress. Thanks life. So yes, lots of new things that I love. Without further ado....here's what they are. 

The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil- This is a beautifully soft and moisturising cleanser that I've been using morning and night. It retails for £12 which is a great price considering the quality of the product. I use two pumps in the morning, work it all over my face and rinse with warm water. In the evening (when I'm removing makeup) I'll use three pumps to really break down the products on my face. I'll definitely be re-purchasing this when I'm done.

Next up in the LOreal Infallible 24 Hour Matte Foundation; I've already raved about this in my review I did the other week so I won't go on and on, but I really do love this. It has fast become my favourite drugstore foundation.

The Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Rose Gold is the prettiest lid shade, just worn on it's own, with something a little darker in the crease or under other shadows. It's the PERFECT base for the Naked 3 palette. It also lasts ages on the eyes and doesn't crease.

The Benefit The PoreFessional is an old favourite, but I'm especially appreciating it now as the weather is starting to get warmer and I'm needing to make my makeup last longer. I use this just on my t-zone (forehead, nose and chin) leave it to set for a minute that carry on with foundation. It's a great primer, what more can I say?

As I said, the weather is getting warmer and I'm starting to feel more summery so I want a bit of glow on my face, without being oily. The highlighter from the Sleek Face Form Palette (Light) does the job really beautifully. It's a golden toned shimmer so looks nice and natural on the skin and gives just the right amount of glow.

I've really been enjoying the LOreal True Match Concealer. It covers my under eye circles really well and also acts as a bit of a highlighter. It's creamy, but not too thick and blends in really smoothly. 

My skin has been going a little nuts recently...I've been breaking out, but at the same time my skin has been very dry. To combat the dryness I've been using the Balance Me Radiance Face Mask. I've got a creamy texture, but also has a bit of grit to it (due to the walnut shells in there to polish the skin). I leave it on for about 10 minutes, rinse off then moisturise thoroughly. It re-plumps my skins and gets it feeling nourished again.

My final beauty favourite for April is Daisy Dreams by Marc Jacobs. I usually like darker floral fragrances, but this perfume is just so pretty I can't help but wear it. It's light and fresh, but sticks around on the skin for a long time. And the bottle is just SO pretty!! I also have the accompanying body wash and lotion which really helps to amp up the fragrance. It's perfect for Spring.

On the left- Sleek Highlighter, on the right- Maybelline cream shadow.

My fashion favourite for this month has been my limited edition Star Wars Vans. 

Not only are they super comfy, as with all of Vans shoes, they have Yoda on them AND the aglets( the plastic bits at the end of the shoe laces) are light sabres. Yes, slightly geeky I know, but I think these are great and perfect for any Star Wars fans out there or just those that like to have slightly quirky shoes.

So there you have it, my April favourites. What have you been loving this past month?