Hello!
Another favourites post! I’ve done this one a little differently and separated it into different categories, but I’ve been loving a lot of things this month so let’s crack right on!
beauty
Highlighters are my new guilty pleasure and for the first time in my life I don’t mean the florescent stationery kind. My ‘go to’ every day make up is eyebrows, mascara, lipstick and highlighter because it just makes me feel cute because I have glittery cheeks. I picked up these beauties while I was home last week in the shades Iridescent Gold and Pink Shimmer from MUA and they were only £3 each! They’re super pigmented and the colour is really clear – it’s not very subtle but I like to go a bit overboard on the highlighter so if that’s what you’re into I’d definitely recommend them!
organisation
As I’m lacking in the florescent stationery highlighters, I need a new way to organise! Not really – I love my bullet journal and it’s good for organising the finer details of things but for an overview of what my month looks like in a more general way then I like putting everything into Apple Calendars. I like being able to have different categories and I can sync with my other Apple-product-using friends and I like having it on my computer where everything else is in my journal. I like the combination of the two.
food
I think it was April when my mum and sister came to visit and we drove to the beach and had ice cream but this New Forest Toffee Crunch Ice Cream was beautiful and I can buy it in big tubs at Asda but they’re £3 a pot and somehow a highlighter feels like a better way to spend my money. If you’re on the South Coast of the UK at any point over the summer I thoroughly recommend it! I might have to treat myself.
watching
Fairytale – my boyfriend is really into anime and he’s been asking if I want to watch this one for a while. He gave me no context of what it was about but the other day he said to me “I just want to show you the title sequences!” and then proceeded to show me all of episode one. Whilst I wasn’t too pleased to be manipulated into watching his show (when he outright refuses to watch anything I suggest even when he watched a couple of episodes and enjoyed it… not that I’m salty) it is actually really good – I often find animes to be too melodramatic and serious (which I don’t mind, like I still enjoy them but it’s a tiny grievance of mine) but this one is really funny and the title sequence song from the first arc is amazing, I thoroughly recommend putting this cover by NateWantsToBattle on repeat for a while.
Doctor Who – I’m one of those Doctor Who fans. I’ve been watching the series since Freema Agyeman was David Tennant’s assistant in 2007 and I’ve watched every episode since and this season is really close to being one of my favourites (but nothing will ever beat Matt Smith and Karen Gillan’s series 5) – I wish this was what Capaldi’s first season as the doctor had been like because I feel like fans would have liked that so much more (though I have a lot of opinions on Series 8/9 Doctor/Clara Who). It’s something I could write a whole blog post about so let me know if you want that!
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – I saw this film right at the beginning of the month so I couldn’t write a full on review for it, but all I can say is if you like comedy go see this film, even if you’re not into action superheroes and even if you’ve not seen the first film it’s absolutely brilliant. Personally I think it matched the first one in the perfect way without overshadowing it – the special effects were absolutely astonishing, the action moments were incredible, it was hilarious, surprisingly heartwarming and I wish I could afford to go and see it again!
Also Baby Groot – I’ll say nothing more.
things I’ve created
I wasn’t so sure of this as a segment but I’m really proud of this content and why not a favourites post to be able to share what I’m proud of?
2017 beginner’s bullet journal flip through – this whole video was really last minute and took me a surprisingly long time to edit but I’m really proud of it and the comments are so positive! I’m can’t wait to do another flip through in a few months or when I finish the book! I got to nerd out about organisation and stationery and I loved it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUxDHOLg6lB/?taken-by=ahealthiersophie
New instagram – ahealthiersophie – I started this because I watched John Green’s series ‘100 Days‘ and he said he found it was much easier to control his diet when he made himself document it all and that’s what sprouted the idea. But I didn’t want the account to be 100% food so I post twice a day to break it up a bit. The intent was to post lots of workout photos and show how I was being healthy in that aspect but that only really started in June when I started this 30 Day Ab Challenge but it’s been an outlet for me to talk a lot about my mental health. May has been a really tough month and I’ve multiple people message me like ‘u okai??!11!’ and I’ve had some amazing conversations with my friend Sarah about a potential diagnosis (obvs not going to say anything ‘official’ (???) until I’ve been to the doctors but I’m working on the courage for that) and it’s been very therapeutic. It’s also highlighted a lot of scary things that go on in my brain but I think that’s a good thing.
Lupton and Luckett – new YouTube channel with Alice! My friend Alice and I kinda joked in Instagram comments about starting a channel now here we are – Video 1 live, Video 2 filmed (it’s a baking video, I thoroughly recommend subscribing for that going live next Thursday!) and videos planed all summer. I love Alice and I’m so ridiculously excited to create with her. She’s so little and cute (and I look like a mouldy purple potato next to her) but I love this girl and I think you’ll love her too.
my ‘no spend’ month – the blog post I wrote literally two days ago! In May I found out that I had a savings account that I’d completely forgotten about and I closed it and withdrew the cash (which was vewy nice) but it’s going straight into my other savings account for my travel funds but on a similar note, I’m trying to really save my money and get out of my overdraft right now so I cut back a lot in May and I wrote a whole post about it which I’m really excited about because I tried a new kind of format and style and I’m really excited about it.
These posts always end up being really long and I don’t think I mind, because it’s nice to share things I like and just type and type and type and suddenly there’s a thousand words. Blogging is really therapeutic for me and I’m very excited about not having uni distract from it for a few months.
Thank you for reading,
Sophie xx
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When I’m applying make-up, I start with foundation – I use the Rimmel London Match Perfection because I find it’s quite thin but buildable. It’s really nice to apply and it smells really good too, which is always a bonus when you’re half asleep and trying to paint your face a little bit. The only reason I wear foundation is to cover some of the redness in my cheeks and I find it fulfils that purpose and could function for heavier coverage too.
But sometimes I need another concealer, for the really bad eye-bag days. This one is a little bit heavier and I find that it’s good for covering blemishes as well as under eye bags and it’s just good for the days when you need a little bit more support. Like a good push up bra y’know.
One thing I very recently acquired and I’m just starting to get the hang of is contouring – I picked up this ‘contour kit’ (if you could call it that) from Maybelline and so far I’m impressed with it. As someone who knows very little about make-up and contouring, I feel like it’s a good way to learn to start using it and to start learning more about the structure of the face, from a more technical approach to make-up I guess.
In terms of face make-up, the last product I use is a powder that I’ve used so much that the name and brand has rubbed completely off the lid. It’s nothing particularly special as far as I’m aware – I know my sister has a transparent powder whilst mine is a very light coloured powder but it makes my face less shiny and sets my skin make-up without using a setting spray as such.
Next step is my brows – I fill them in as accurately as I can by using a combination of the light brown and the blonde shades I just fill them in. I don’t pluck, shape or dye my brows because I’m not capable of getting it right or affording to go to a salon to get them done professionally. But I like filling them in because I’ve got very light brows and they need some colour in them just to be able to see them.
My next step is applying my lip colour – these Super Stay 24 Colour stains from Maybelline are my go to. Caramel Creme is my favourite nude colour but they’re such a solid, lasting colour. I usually apply the colour before doing my eye make-up and then apply the setting balm to make it shiny and keep the colour set for the rest of the day. These colours really don’t come off at all and I can’t wait for more colours to be released in this line.
My eye make-up is what I take most pride in but then, in terms of people who are actually good at make-up, I’m still not very good. First, I apply a base coat of a pretty neutral colour (usually the one third from the left on the top row), then putting the lightest shimmer shade on the inner corner of my eye and a darker colour to try and give my eye some definition and try to be better than what I actually am. This is a Revolution pallet and whilst it’s a little pigmented, I adore it.
My favourite eyeliner is this liquid liner from Revlon – it gives a really solid black colour and I find the shape of the pen makes for a really good wing too. I’ve got a few other eyeliners in my make-up bag and I often switch between a few – if I’m lining my lower lash line I’ll use a pencil I’ve got and a gel liner for when I’m feeling adventurous. Eyeliner is always my favourite but there are often days that I don’t bother with it because I know I can’t do it well – those are the tired days!
After eyeliner, I often use two mascaras – one to prep my lashes and one to really sculpt them. The first is the Wonder’Full mascara from Rimmel and to shape I use the 24 hour Super Curler, also from Rimmel. I couldn’t praise this mascara any higher – as someone who doesn’t have particularly long lashes, this eyeliner makes it look like I’m wearing false lashes all the time. It makes me feel powerful, like I could actually kill a man. Like, metaphorically, but cool.
So many spare lip products! More super stay colours – the top one is Caramel Kiss, the one that is too close to nude and you can’t actually tell I’m wearing it. The bottom colour is a bright red I’ve forgotten the name of, but I save it for a night out and I really, really love it. It’s a bit more difficult to apply because it’s a darker colour but I still love it.
Next is Tanya Burr’s lip gloss thing – I don’t really like this one but I don’t have anywhere else to put it really. The colour is a little bit too bright and it really doesn’t stay on the lips very well, as well as feeling sticky and uncomfortable. I’m not even subscribed to Tanya Burr as a YouTuber so I’m not even sure why I bought it to be honest.
This one is quite a recent investment – it’s called the Vivid Matt Liquid from Maybelline but I found that the colour isn’t as strong as it is in the bottle. I’m yet to try and test it properly but I wore it to work and it wasn’t as dark as I wanted it to be. But I am going to try and layer it a bit more as I think it could be buildable.
This is my favourite lip colour outside of the super stay ones – the only proper lip stick I own and it’s a proper dark red. It needs topping up fairly regularly to maintain it’s colour but it goes on really nicely and it’s super comfortable to wear. I always hope to find this colour in the super stay design so I can wear it more often.
These used to be my favourite lip pencil applicant things before I got the super stay ones – these pencils aren’t particularly strong in colour but they last really well, they’re super easy to apply and reapply and writing this post has reminded me of how much I loved these – definitely going to be making these more of a regular!
This eyeliner is a felt tip, I love the shape of the pen and it’s really accurate in terms of doing both lash liner and wings, but the colour fades fast and it looks like a pen running out of ink. I often use the liquid liner to top up the colour once I’ve drawn the shape with this pen. It’s a nice little, fairly cheap, high street brand.
This is the pencil I use to line my lower lash line – I don’t often do it because I generally just find it accentuating the bags under my eyes a few hours later but I love that it’s not something that you have to sharpen, you just wind it up and buy a new one when it runs out. I’ve actually been using these pens for years – I really do love them!
This last liner was my go to before my current favourite. It’s a gel, angled liner that, again, is good for drawing wings. I go through phases with eyeliner and I’m sure I’ll find a place for it again soon, but for now you can see how well loved it was from the eyeshadow distributed all over the rubber tip!
The last product in my make-up bag is an old mascara – it’s a sports, waterproof one again from Rimmel and like the Wonder’full one with Argan oil, it’s good for prepping the lashes for a stronger mascara. I should probably throw it away, because I’ve had it for a while but it’s always been a good mascara that I do go back to.
sophie counts clouds 