Why The National Portrait Gallery is the Best Source of Inspiration.

Photography has recently become very much 'my thing'. I love it to pieces and really do appreciate any type of photography but especially magazine shoots. The look, the concept, the model, the styling, just everything about it excites me.

Picture from victoriasadler.com

I went to the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday to visit the Vogue 100: A century on style exhibition, so ready to take a look at all of the magazine images and I was not disappointed. The images are all so stunning and if you are a very visual person then this is definitely something to go and see because there isn't too much writing to read. The images were so stunning but unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take any photos in there so obviously I had to treat myself to the Vogue image book so I could keep them all and it is honestly the perfect coffee table book that I think I'll have in my living room on my coffee table for years to come!

As you walk into the exhibition, you are greeted by bright magazine covers from the past 100 years followed by a glass room reflecting the amazing imagery with some very known faces making a few appearances. After that, its up to you. Choose where you want to start and you will quickly become engulfed in some amazing photography from some very inspiring photographers such as the amazing Mario Testino and Tim Walker, who quickly became my two favourites. Take a look at the time line of how the Vogue cover has evolved and peek into the life of the person who chooses each final image before looking at each and every amazing and iconic vogue shot from the last century.

All I want to do now is pick up my camera and set up for a few editorial shoots now. If you love photography and you're feeling as though you're in bit of a rut then its definitely worth going as you gain so much inspiration and even if you're just into fashion or vogue itself, I could not recommend it enough!

(Just wanted to clarify that this post is not sponsored - I just 

love photography and it really excited me! I went to it
 on a college trip and just wanted to share the love!)

♥ 

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Getting Creative with Stamps.

I've really been getting into fancy nails recently after enrolling in an acrylic nail course and I've started spending a little bit more time on my own nails so I thought I'd show you this really easy design I created a few days ago!

I love this colour and it's a little bit different for me; I usually stick to my dark reds, purples and browns and possibly a nude every now and then but because I'm not really too much of a pastel girl, this is definitely as spring like as I'm going to get!

I used a stamp to create the design on my ring finger, I love how intricate it looks but it was super easy to do. The stamping plate I used is this one from MoYou Nails London and I purchased it when I attended the Professional Beauty show in London a few weeks back. It is honestly really simple to do once you've got the knack of how much polish to use and how hard to press which was a little frustrating at times because all the girls at the show made it look so easy but I love the plate never the less and already have my eye on some others!

The polish is an OPI one in 'Just Lanai-ing Around' which I only recently added to my collection and I believe it is part of the Hawaii collection for Spring Summer 2015 so you know, even though it isn't part of the Spring Summer 2016 collection, I still absolutely love it and wanted to share it with you!

♥ 

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Just a Casual Tuesday Afternoon.

So this was my casual Tuesday afternoon a few weeks back when my Mum and I visited Ickworth house. I took my camera and she, well came with me and bought lunch. She did however also take my outfit posts and kept me company so I can't forget about that but anyway, it was lovely and quiet and I think I got some pretty good shots so I thought I'd share them with you and I also threw a few outfit posts in there too. 

Coat | Topshop (old)

Jeans | Topshop Joni Jeans

Trainers | Aldo

Jumper | Karen Millen

I love this Jumper because of the shape but it also has a black chiffon triangle at the back of it which just adds so much interest and makes it super pretty. It's also the perfect dress up, dress down piece which everyone needs in their wardrobe.

The sheep that were roaming about were so heavily pregnant some could hardly stand let alone walk. I think I'm going to try and go back once the lambs have been born to try to get some pictures of them too.

(This was me listening to people behind the row of tress talking about a tree that looked like a dragon. It was strange, trust me.)

There were honestly so many squirrels and robins roaming about. I think I followed the one in the top photo for a good 15 minutes trying to get some good shots of it. 

I know this post was a little bit picture heavy and I couldn't really talk about much but I just wanted to share them with you because what use are they all stored on my laptop doing nothing. 

♥ 

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Are These The Only Palettes You'll Truly Ever Need?

So today I thought I would do a post on my two ready made MAC palettes. I've owned them for quite a while which has given me time to get a good idea of what they're like and what I think of them.

Top | MAC Warm Neutral Palette

Bottom | MAC Cool Neutral Palette

Both of these palettes retail for £65.00 which is a really good price for a palette filled with shadows. The shadows alone retail for £10 each so instead of spending £150 on shadows, you're getting the shadows and the palette for only £65 saving yourself over £100 which is a bargain too good to miss if you ask me.

I have owned the warm palette since the end of October last year and the cool one, I got for Christmas so I have had a good play around with both. Personally, I prefer the warm one just because I wear a lot more warm tones because of my hair colour being a warm brown and red but that doesn't mean I think the warm one is better. I love them both, I just get more use out of the warm one. It would be up to you to decide for yourself what one you would prefer and which would work best for you.  

Swatches from left to right | Divine Decadence, Unwind, Honey Lust, Amber Lights, Dark Brew, Gingersnap

Some of the eyeshadows in the palette are from the permanent MAC eyeshadow line whereas others have been created and made exclusively for this palette. 'Amber Lights' is one of my favourites in the palette and is the perfect bright, pigmented gold. Even if you don't want this palette, I would definitely recommend buying Amber lights separately as it's just so gorgeous. 

Swatches from left to right | Black Tied, Deception, Pearled Earth, Crushed Clove, After Dusk, Sun Tweaked

These are my absoute favourite shadows the cool palette, especially 'After dusk' and 'Sun tweaked'. Because of this one being cool toned, I mostly use this on clients and other people just because I don't really suit the shadows at the moment. 

Every colour in each of the palettes just seem to work together; you could pick any two colours and they always seem to match. These palettes are great for someone who is starting out in makeup and wants to invest in a palette that they will get a good amount of use out of and is worth investing in. If you have ever used MAC shadows before they usually always blend perfectly and have a good pigment to them which is also completely true for these and they can create anything for a natural eye look to a bold, smokey one.

As I mentioned earlier, they are also great for your kit if you are a makeup artist as they have worked well for everyone I've used them on and are just a great addition.

Have you tried these palettes? What are your thoughts on them?

♥ 

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The Three Step Miracle Skincare.

My skin has been horrendous lately. Oils, blemishes, scarring, the lot; But I think I have finally solved the problem: 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar 3-step Anti Blemish System | Available here

This stuff is amazing! I picked this up recently after looking at the Effaclar duo [+], I decided to just invest in the set of skincare and purchase something that would really work for my skin instead of purchasing some skincare that would make it worse like I have done before. I think a face wash, toner and a cream is everything you need in your routine and I have no regrets about buying this.

Step One: Cleanse. The face wash claims to reduce any excess sebum and leave the skin nice and clean which I would agree with. Once I've washed my face and patted it dry, it definitely feels fresh and squeaky clean and removes any makeup that was missed when taking off my makeup. 

Step Two: Tone. A toner will close any pores that were opened when washing your face stopping any dirt from getting in them. I'm not entirely sure I have noticed a dramatic difference in my skin from this product exactly but I think it has evened out my pores making them less visible under makeup.

Step Three: Correct and Hydrate. This is the miracle product! Although I haven't been using this skincare all that long, I have noticed a dramatic difference in the appearance of my blemishes and scarring. Within a few days, the scars had lightened and after two weeks they have almost disappeared. At the moment, my skin has been breaking out quite a lot but this product is pulling out all the crap under your skin and once it has all been extracted, it will stop it all going back in. I think it has also evened out the texture in my skin and has removed all the oils meaning that I don't turn into a river of oil after two hours.

After using all three items all over my face for a week, I decided to stop using the cream on my cheeks as these were never spot prone or oily, but the cream was making them feel slightly dry so if you already have dry skin then this probably isn't great for you but I just apply a thin layer of moisturiser on my cheeks at night and in the morning. 

Pros:

• Reduces the appearance of any scarring.
• Evens out skin texture.
• Extracts skin impurities and reduces blemishes.
• Reduces oil on skin.

Cons:

• Can make skin dry so is suited for people with oily skin.

If you have been thinking about this skincare then I would definitely push you to get it. Although it may seem a little pricey, it is worth every penny and is on offer on the boots website at the minute saving you about £8.00 so now is the time to do some shopping!

♥ 

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The Trainers You Need In Your Life.

White 'Elza' trainers | Aldo

It was time for an upgrade in the trainer department. I used to wear Nike high tops, these exact ones to be exact and I wore them until they fell apart but after that I moved onto some slightly better looking ones but never really fell in love with them the way I loved my 6.0s. Then came converse which was a whole new thing. I loved my converse but now they are saved for college, casual summer outfits and work. When I was in America last year, I spotted these and instantly fell in love but they didn't have my size no matter what shop I went in so as soon as I got home, I ordered them and I love them.

I think a pair of classy trainers is perfect with any outfit. They are the kind of shoes which look cool and like you tried even when you threw an outfit together in 2 minutes that morning. I think it's because of the patent and leather with the gold hardware. They have structure and just look so cool when wearing them.

Aldo is the perfectly place for trainers especially if you don't particularly like ones with the normal sportswear brand name plastered all over them with wacky colours. These are also in the sale so even more of a reason to buy a pair now or take a look at some of the others they have online.

No, this post isn't sponsored, I just blooming love these trainers!

♥ 

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Making Time to Relax.

I get told this on the daily.

I wake up on my days off at 7.30. I'm up, dressed, tidied both my room and my office and eating breakfast by 8.15. To do list has been written by 8.25 whilst sipping on my latte that is needed to keep me going and then thats where the chaos starts. Off I go, feed the rabbit, clean out the hamster, organise those drawers, sort that box, finish those mood boards. A possible break for lunch at about 12.30 and then it continues: wash kit makeup brushes, sort lipstick tray, do some revision, complete another moodboard and I'll be lucky if I actually allow myself breathing time during this day. 

This is a typical Monday.

Having been recently told that I have both Anxiety and OCD, my life feels far from calm. I organise to control my anxiety but it makes me look like a sorting machine. Just earlier today, I opened my wardrobe for a split second, noticed one pair of heels were out of place and a jumper had fallen off its hanger causing me to become severely stressed, pull everything out of my wardrobe and drawers, shoe rail and all, almost have a panic attack because I felt so overwhelmed and claustrophobic about the amount I had and then put it all back in again. Many people do a wardrobe clear out once every maybe five or six months. I do this on a weekly basis. 

I admit it: I just can't relax. If I'm sitting on my bed scrolling through Instagram and I remember my foundation drawer being slightly messy then thats it. No more reading for me until its tidied. Relaxing just doesn't happen.

But it should and you should make time for it. Just because you are in the bath, just laying there, doesn't mean you should be doing anything other than just chilling. If you know someone who is totally relaxed about everything and a deadline doesn't cause them rely on red bull and coffee because they are so tired from being up all night working on it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's bad thing. Just make time for yourself and switch off. Scroll through Instagram, go for a run, meet with friends. Everything is going to be ok and 10 minutes out of your day isn't going to stop that. I just can't stop and if nothing needs to be done then I will make work for myself but sometimes its ok to chill. A calm life can often be much better than a hectic one. 

♥ 

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