Procrastination is my middle name

So here's the thing, I am smack bam in the middle of sitting my A2's exams as we speak, and this is no exaggeration, I took my Performing Arts A-Level a week ago, and my Psychology exam is tomorrow.. morning. Nonetheless, when it comes to procrastination I am the queen of it, if there was a chance to take an A-Level in procrastination, I'd A* it and be heading off to Oxford University to study it in September. Unfortunately this is just not the case..

Whilst boring myself to death with all this dire revision recently, I've been thinking, what do I really want to get out of my life (can you tell I'm swaying more to a lifestyle blog now). Now I'm not going down the suicidal road here.. I'm thinking more, do I want to change the way I present myself to people? What do I actually want to succeed at and whether I should start spending my income on more sensible purchases rather than make-up..

So here's the plan - A fresh start, a new beginning, and I'm determined to make this work. I feel as if I'm stuck in this delay, between childhood and adulthood, and with uni approaching (if this procrastination doesn't stop me from going) I feel its time to step up on that new level of maturity and take control of my life.
I've made a list, things I want to achieve, places I want to go and things I want to do, it's exciting and if I can complete it then that would make it even better.

I'm not going to post 'the list' but I'm going to do a different post on each part of 'the list'. They're going to start of as small changes and challenges and gradually increase till I feel like there's nothing more I can do.
I don't know how long it's going to take, it may still be going on after I've graduated and been in a job for 5 years, but I'm definitely kick starting this new start to life as of today.

Lots of love x

A REAL insight..

I'm going to admit it.. my previous posts have been, well, lets say, very 'cliché', very typical 'beauty blog', and although it may have gone un-noticed, my title clearly mentions that this is also a Lifestyle blog. So lets talk 'Lifestyle'.

I'm extremely lucky with the life I have, in fact, some may say that my 'lifestyle' reflects a very spoilt teenagers life, but what people fail to understand is that this is clearly just not the case. I enjoy delving into this 'Private School Cliché' because although I may be privileged enough to attend one, I'm far from your typical 'Private School Girl'. The main thing that interests me is this idea that we are these snobby, lazy, terrible human beings who do not understand the concept of living in a 2 bedroom house with a shared bathroom. It humours us 'Private School Girls' because in fact, many people fail to recognise that the people at our school are just as mixed and varied as those at any State or Grammar School. Does it surprise you that I've met people who attend Private Schools who live of benefits in a council flat? I thought so. Say hello to Grandad's bank.

Do not get me wrong, of course there are girls who appear to be your typical 'Private School Girl' and can relate to all of @PSConcerns tweets, (if you haven't already, take a look, even if you attend a Private School, they're hilarious.) But you will find those type of people at your local State School, it's luck of the draw, whether your 'Daddy' recieves £100,000+ a year or not, and whether he decides to put you into Private Education. Realistically, those people will have 3 cars, and an indoor swimming pool, and probably a french waiter called Pierre, but are they really all terrible human beings?

It upsets me that being the only Private School in the area, the girls who attend RMS are discriminated against outside of the school gates. It was one thing having local State School pupils asking you for more 'photos' in an extremely rude manor at the local train station, but when it gets to the point of travelling up the country and people knowing your school for its 'terrible' reputation, it makes it very difficult to not be seen as a typical 'Private School Girl'.

What Private Schools have which I'm pretty certain other schools don't have is what I like to call a 'Bubble'. RMS, the School I attend is a prime example of a 'Bubble', a family network, the ability to rely on almost all other RMS girls in times of need. The reputation of RMS is not brilliant, and this isn't down to our academics, it's the party lifestyle us 'RMS Girls' like to lead, and we are crazy, but what's the point in being boring. Nonetheless on leaving RMS, I have never heard of anyone not proud to be an 'RMS Girl'. The typical 'Private School Life' and 'Private School Girl' is just not as apparent at RMS and when people can begin to recognise that in fact us 'Private School Girls' are not stupid human beings living of Daddy's credit card, the better, as we're actually pretty decent people if I may say so myself.

"Once an RMS Girl, ALWAYS an RMS Girl"

Class of 2012

the big 1-8!

I had waited absolutely AGES to turn 18! Being a May baby I was practically the last one of my friends to turn 18 which meant I was missing out on loads of nights out which was just not good fun, especially when I woke up the next morning to find everyone drunkenly bbming either me or within the group bbm us RMS girls have - DEPRESSING!


Anyway the time was here and I couldn't have had a better time of my life, falling on the Sunday before bank holiday I thought perfect night out on the Sunday, recover on the Monday, and that's the way the antics begun.
After having a gorgeous lunch with my family and boyfriend during the day I drove over to Bushey and Miss Collings to turn ourselves a different colour with St Moriz and get very drunk on our bacardi mojitos and celebratory champagne! All I have to say about that is Georgina's white nipples and not getting ID purchasing my first bit of alcohol - very disappointing.


Rucks, Kimmy and Jos joined us on our messy, foamy, ridiculous night out and I can most definitely say being small is not advantageous at these type of events.. I'm relating this to serious suffocating from the foam, broken toes from people trampling all over me and grotty watty boys just being generally horrendous in every form.


After catching a chill from being soaking and wondering round Watford at 3am in the freezing cold, we woke up to matted hair, dryed out skin and patchy tan but seriously, what a night.

 

Birthday Girlllssssss

Then came Friday 11th, TOWIE night. This was the more 'planned' event that Steph and I had not stopped going on about for the past few months.. so when I say glitter, nails, tan, hair, I am not exaggerating, this was true RMS. Getting the drinks flowing began the night, with Fiona Rackers creating this amazing but deadly concoction that left a few RMS gals not feeling their best... I must say getting through 6 bottles of champagne, 4 bottles of Rose, 8 bottles of Cider, 1 bottle of malibu, 1 bottle of malibu cocktail, 1 bottle of vodka and numerous vodka jellies just explains how that night was going to head out..


WATFORD AGAIN, lets do AREA (awea) this time, me and steph had made a pact that we would stay till closing time to get some serious partying done, so cab was booked for 3.30am and that was it we partied the night away.. only to wake up with a serious hangover, but party hard or don't party at all.
p.s best part of the night was getting my boy Max into town because he was so sceptical about it and hates to admit it but l o v e d the dubstep room in area, bless him. 

  BIRTHDAY TWIN!

So I'm officially an adult.. I don't feel much different, forever a baby, me!


Lots of love x

Upgrading my face..

So recently I've been suffering really badly with my oh so lovely dry skin, which sometimes is just the devil. But really I had to approach the 'flakes' as hideous as that sounds and find some solution to make my skin look decent!               
                 So I'd really tried to find myself a good foundation which gives a more dewy finish, as I find it doesn't extenuate the dry patches on my face as much as a matte finish does. I've never really got along with 'Drugstore' foundations so was really hitting above the £25 mark with how much I was spending and wanted it to be worth the dollar.

                I came across the company NARS, after religiously following Made in Chelsea throughout the series and Millie continuously mentioning the make up brand, so thought I'd see what they had to offer. The NARS foundation I thought would be most suitable for my skin type was the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation which claims to give 'A glowing, satin-finish with sheer and buildable coverage. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother.' Naturally I'm shade 'Light 6' and they're right with the coverage being buildable as it provides a medium coverage dewy finish for me when I apply it at my own discretion. I find it does actually decrease the visibility of the dry patches, and what I find helps a lot is the NARS 'Pro Prime' as a base layer under the foundation, I was given it as a tester from the lovely lay behind the NARS counter in Westfield and am drying to get myself a full tube!

                However, with the Summer months coming up, the fake tan is starting to make itself more apparent in my daily routine. Because I was given such a light shade with the NARS, I felt I needed to purchase another foundation because simply adding my Benefit 'Hoola' on top was not cutting it, and a paler face compared to the neck and chest is one of my absolute pet hates!

              So I decided to purchase the new L'Oreal foundation; 'Lumi Magique Light Infusing Foundation'. I'd seen lots of bloggers raving about the product saying it gave a really lovely dewy finish, and as that's the look I'm going for at the moment I thought I should give it a try.

THANK GOD I DID. It is the godsend of all 'Drugstore' foundations. I bought it in the shade 'Rose Sand C5' and I use it whenever I've freshly applied my tan, and mix it with my NARS when my tan is beginning to fade. What I love about it is the fact the staying power is brilliant, I've put it on before I go to work and then 7/8 hours later I'll go to touch up before a night out and really I don't need to that much because it's stayed excellently, and coming in at about £10.99 compared to NARS £29.99 it might just turn into my everyday foundation once my NARS Sheer Glow has run out..

I've also been upgrading my concealer and powder as well, my recent trip to MAC introduced me to the 'Select Cover Up Concealer' in the shade NW25 and 'Studio Careblend Powder' in the shade 'Medium/Dark' however it's not very dark at all! I've always loved MAC and will always go back there for my concealers and powders.

Finally I've got my hands on the Real Techniques Stippling Brush by Samantha Chapman. I have been DYING to get my hands on some of her brushes and it is beautiful, creating a flawless finish with my foundation which I just adore! So now I'm after Real Techniques Core Collection, and with my birthday coming up it may be on my 'Birthday List'... at the top...

Sophie x

                           

Back on the Bandwagon..

So I definitely have not been blogging as much as I had hoped I would! I seem to only want to blog when I've got exams coming over and as I'm the worlds BIGGEST procrastinator this seems to pass the time!
So since I last blogged there has been a fair few things going on in my life!
* I celebrated my 2 year anniversary with my boy in Feb, weird to think we got together when we were 15 and still have not changed in the slightest! A take away chinese was our way of celebrating as we celebrate in absolute style and are the laziest people in this world... However Tims Tables once again was absolutely perfecto and it complimented our lovely night in!
* I've CONFIRMED LOUGHBOROUGH! waaheeeyyy!! Things are looking up on the Uni front! Mummavdb and I have started our uni purchases and im lusting over some Cath Kidston bed sets which im trying to persuade my mum to treat me to at the moment...
* After having to leave my beautiful Chanel job ( :'( ) I was on the hunt or a job for ages! I've recently started a new job at Hotel Chocolat which is doing nothing for my summer bod I'm trying to get at the moment! But the chocolate is beautiful, and "Once you go Hotel, you never go back."
* Im THIS close to passing my driving test and turning 18 (FINALLY) this means I can completely chill and just do whatever with my life with all this hidden freedom I would have never known about, plus my 18th is TOWIE themed; this means big hair, fake tan, big eyes and lashes and endless amounts of sequins and bling!
* I've got 8 weeks left till my A-Levels are done and im free from school, enough said.

I am ready to pardy with a d, and oh, my obsession with Made in Chelsea has got even more strong after being told I look ridiculously like Caggie for the 5th time. Happiness!!

Much more blogging to come!

Sophie x

Little Update in pictures for you!

                         

Make me Bronzed and Beautiful

Hey sweets, so for the past week my favourite topic of conversation has been the wonderful fake tan, and by today my friends were getting absolutely sick of me and my tan word vomit, and recieving my St Moriz - DARK today in the post I though it was about time I did a post on my day to day tanning routine and what I do on a big night out. 

I do own a fair few different brands of fake tan although to add to my collection Xen-Tan is on my list and St Tropez as I have actually never tried it! The one I use the most is the Fake Bake 'Luxurious Golden' Mousse which comes in at about £17.99 however I was lucky enough to get it at £9 thanks to my lovely friend who works at Boots and got amazing discount! This has a lovely texture with the mousse almost doubling in size as it is pumped onto your skin. 

My routine starts of course with... 

1. Exfoliating, I use exfoliating gloves and Soap and Glory 'Flake Away', I swear by this exfoliator, I've used many indiviual brands and one from The Body Shop as well but find this one is great as I can use it on my face too and isn't too rough. I exfoliate 24 hours before I tan because I find exfoliating just before makes the skin quite raw and can cause the tan to cause stinking, but that may just be my skin, it's quite sensitive. 

2. Moisturising, I moisturise the driest areas on my body with my Body Shop 'Sweet Lemon' body butter; these are my knees, ankles, elbows, and if I'm using instant fake tan on my face I moisturise my eyebrows and hairline because tan can stain if not careful! Then with applying my tan I always work from my feet upwards, some think its better to work downwards but I find if I do my legs first then feel I need another layer for deeper colour the tan will be easier to apply second time round on drier skin! 

3. Hands and Face It's very difficult not to get lines on your hands so what I found has helped is by using simple cotton wool double faced pads to just gently rub it round your wrists and fingers, not leaving the white patch in the middle of your fingers! Then with my face I use the same double pads to slowly rub the tan in circular movements into my face making sure I work down into my neck and not forgetting to do my ears! However mainly with my face I use the Garnier Summer Body 'Deep Sun-Kissed Look' as tan often comes of your face very quickly so a bit of this on your face before bed every night prevents the brown body, white face!

Then throughout the week I top up my tan with St Moriz, the saviour and god of all fake tans. Coming in at about £3.50/£4 it's great for topping up the tan because Fake Bake is quite expensive and would be far too expensive (on my tiny student budget) to re-purchase every month or so! I tend to update my tan every 3 days and exfoliate beforehand just to make sure all the dead skin is removed and the tan will sit better on my skin. Every night it is also essential that I moisturise to keep the tan looking fresh and natural and prevent it from streaking.

Finally for going out I tend to use my Rimmel Instant Tan in Medium Matte as it is such a quick way of getting a deep tan for the night and makes you look extremely sun kissed! Also coming in at about £5.99 its an absolute bargain! (Although dont get water/drink down you on a messy night as major streaking will occur!!)

FAKE TAN MUST HAVES

Left-Right

Solait Bronzing Lotion - £6.99 Superdrug

Pure Cotton Wool Double Faced Pads - £1.70 Superdrug

Garnier Summer Body - £5 Superdrug

Exfoliating Gloves - £1 Primark
Fake Bake Mousse - £17.99 Boots
St Moriz Normal&Dark - £3.50-£4.50 Savers/Amazon/Ebay
Soap and Glory Flake Away - £6.60 Boots
Rimmel Instant -  £5.99 Boots

Lemon Body Butter - £12.50 The Body Shop
Tanning Mit - £1 Primark

Hopefully this will mean I wont be bugging my friends now with my constant chatter on fake tan! 

Apologies for the extremely long post! Enjoy!

Sophie x

Ecotools

 I've always loved brushes, there's a certain addictive quality about them which makes me purchase a new load every few months. I've used MAC mainly, but have also been very lucky to get my hands on some Chanel brushes as well as owning a few Japonesque brushes. However it came to that time where I wanted to purchase some new brushes and had been eyeing up some Sigma brushes especially the flat top Kabuki F80 brush,

as well as wanting to get my hands on some of the Real Techniques brushes designed by UK professional makeup artist Samantha Chapman. However recently there has been a complete shortage of dollar, but my craving was still standing and it needed to be dealt with. So last weekend I decided to purchase a collection of 'Ecotools' brushes from Boots as I have heard great reviews about them being the best 'drugstore' brushes out there. I have to say I compeltely agree with that statement. The set I got was called the Bamboo 6 Piece Brush Set and included.. - £15.99 - Blush Brush - Eye Shading Brush - Angled Eyeliner Brush - Concealer Brush - Lash and Brow Groomer I also purchased the Bamboo Powder Brush on top of that - £9.99 I can positively say I absolutely love this little set, the powder brush is so soft, it reminds me of the Chanel's powder brush which is very impressive. The only fault I have about the set is the angled eyeliner brush just doesnt work with my Urban Decay NAKED palette which I live off as it doesnt want to pick up much of the shadow itself, which is a pain especially when im using 'Creep' for a dark eyeliner line on the top of the eye. What's also great about this cute little set is the fact it is so light and can be carried around really easily, also with their slogan being 'earth-friendly beauty' and studying Geography at Uni I think these brushes are highly appropriate! Sophie x