A quick apology...

I just thought that I would take 2 minutes to just explain why there has been a distinct lack of posts lately here on RL. Anyone who is a university student will understand. Last month I had the stress of Dissertation Deadline which pretty much drove me into the ground. Now I am under constant stress due to revision. I have exams over the next two weeks and then I have finished my university life. After these next two weeks, I will be back to blogging as normal. There will still be a few blog posts here and there whenever I get a spare few moments.

Thankyou for being so understanding and I can't wait to get back into the full swing of things! 

Bravo Boots, Bravo.

Firstly, let me say HELLO! You may have noticed that things have been quite on the blog front for me recently. Well let me just say exams. I'm in my final year of university and having handed in my dissertation a the end of march and having a few days rest, revision has now taken over and blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat. Fear not, everything will be back to normal very, very soon.

On to the post. Today whilst browsing the aisles of Boots, a personal hobby of mine, I couldn't help but notice small changes. Once I had got my head around this, I noticed exactly what the changes were. Their beauty department has expanded! In my local branch (Manchester's Market Street for those wondering) has had considerable changes to it. In particular, Nails. There were a lot of brands that normally had small (very, very small) sections in the aisle where you would normally find the false nails and eyelashes. But now have found themselves with full stands. I was so impressed, that I found myself taking a few sneaky pictures.

I especially liked the inclusion of a stand for Revlon Nails and Sally Hansen. I have only ever seen these in very small quantities so it was nice to see that there are more shades out there other than the ones that are normally available.

There were also many items I saw that made their sneaky little way onto my wish list. The Revlon nail duos (I'm not sure of their actual name) look amazing and I cant wait to add them to my collection. I had seen these one a few blogs but had never actually seen them in the flesh so it was nice to see how beautiful they actually are.

I had also heard that Sinful Colours were making their way onto the Boots stands. I have seen these on quite a few American blogs and in Sally's when my mum was buying them for her salon, but have never tried them. I did pick up two colours today, after looking through the huge amount of shades that they have.

Overall, I'm so pleased that nail products finally have full size stands, and are now amongst the likes of Essie and Models Own. I can't wait to see what other goodies Boots have in store for us.

MUA Undress Your Skin Foundation

As the sun has started making an appearance, it's time for the lighter coverage foundations to come out of hiding. Enter MUA's latest offering. 

A couple of weeks/months ago, MUA revealed their latest offering in the form of a new range for natural looking makeup. There are quite a few products in this new range including the Undress Your Skin Foundation, a highlighter, a primer and concealers, to name a few. 

Today, I'll be reviewing the Foundation as I've been wearing this for a while now and think I can give it a full review. When I first picked this up, I thought "Woah! £5 for an MUA product? What is the world coming to?!" Then I realised that I have paid much more for a drugstore/highstreet product so I put it in my basket. One thing that I did notice though is that, whilst the packing looks pretty and simple, it felt as though it was half empty. In my hands it felt really pliable, like it was more air than actual product. I did check to make sure it hadn't been opened by some grubby little monster in Superdrug, but it hadn't, so this did put me off a little bit.

The foundation itself is really, really runny. It's the most liquid foundation I've ever tried which did surprise me as I thought it would be more of a gel like consistency. However, due to it been so liquid, it does blend effortlessly and requires much less work than my MAC Studio Sculpt. I like to work this in with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush as I find that this gives the best overall finish.

The finish of this is quite dewy, with an overall look that is not too dissimilar to that of Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation. I find this this really brightens my skin and gives me a wide awake look that looks great for this time of year. It does provide a light to medium coverage at first but when worked in fully, it definitely gives a coverage that is medium that is easily buildable.

I do really like this foundation, just for its simplicity. If you're on a budget then this is perfect. 

This is available online from MUA's Store, and from Superdrug for £5

Have you tried this? What's your favourite foundation at the minute?

It's not easy being Plus Size

Okay, so today's post is going to be different. I'll warn you that it is a little bit of a rant and it's rather lengthy, but it is something that I know affects a fair amount of people, me included. 

I have always, always been on the larger side. Genetics and a love of food haven't helped me in that department. But just because I'm bigger, doesn't mean that I don't like to look fashionable. Shopping is actually one of the worst activities when your plus size, or I think so anyway. There are hardly any shops that stock on trend, plus size clothing. If you're like me, then you will know how complicated it is to find on trend clothes. Sure, there will be always be people thinking "Why not do something about it and go on a diet?". Well, I've been there and done that, and I have honestly never found a diet that works for me.

This is my rant. Who in the world decided that clothing that is on trend is completely off limits to those over a size 16/18? I'd like to know who it was, because it certainly feels like this is the law of clothing. I've always refused to dress "frumpy". I hate wearing oversized items, but there really isn't much of a choice sometimes. Honestly, sometimes it goes like this: "Oh, you're a size 18+, here is some ugly, oversized, one shoulder, sequinned, leopard print, tunic and a pair of black leggings", I don't want to wear stuff like this. It's very rare to find a store that does carry larger sizes, never mind any trendy. 

Us Plus Size lovelies shouldn't be punished for wanting to wear nice things. Nor should we be made to feel like we can't go into a store and try something on, just because I'm quite obviously over a size 16. From personal experience, some shop assistants are the worst for being judgemental. Now I don't want to tarnish everyone with the same brush because I know that there are some lovely, helpful shop assistants out there. But, I have been in a shop, ahem Topshop, before with a friend (who is a a lot slimmer than myself) and I was trying on a dress. My friend tried on something and when we were exiting the changing rooms, the shop assistant said to my friend "Oh that's lovely, it will really suit you", then turned to me and said "Did that dress really fit you?". To save myself the embarrassment, I just replied "Yes", even though it didn't, and I walked back to the rack and hung it back up. This isn't the only time that something like this has happened, but my point is that it should never have happened in the first place. Then you get some high street stores like Primark and Dorothy Perkins who stock up to a size 20. Well, Primarks size 20 is more like a realistic size 14, and good look finding anything other than basic vests and camis in a size 20 in DP's.

Recently, more and more shops have become a mecca for plus size clothing, which is great, and they offer just the same as what they would to those who are slimmer. I love being able to walk into New Look and going to the Inspire section and seeing all of the lovely things that they have to offer. I like that I can wear the same things as my friends and not feeling like the "fat one". The high street has finally evolved! But please, sort out your dressing room mirrors, they do not make people feel good about themselves! 

Image Courtesy of weheartit

It's still a struggle finding plus size clothes, but more and more stores are starting to carry larger sizes. Here are a list of some links of my favourite places for a bit of plus size shopping:

New Look: Inspire

SimplyBe

ASOS: Curve (also teamed up with New Look's Inspire range)

Evans

I'm sorry that this has been a rather long and ranty blog post, but I am miffed off with the High Street, and cannot wait for more places to carry larger sizes.

If you're a plus size beauty, I would love to know how you feel about larger sizes on the high street, and where your favourite places to shop are :)

Sleek Mirrored Pink Blusher

Last month saw the release of Sleek's new Aqua collection. This collection includes a new i-divine palette, a blush and nail polishes. I bought the palette straight away but disregarded the blusher, I only wish that I had picked it up sooner because it is a beauty!

Unfortunately, I haven't included any pictures of the packaging because I just couldn't get a decent image for you.

I would say that this blusher is the cooler toned version of Sleek's ultra famous Rose Gold Blusher. RG is more coral toned whereas this is definitely a more pink based shade. I would describe it as a girly bubblegum pink shade with gold shimmer included for good measure. When looking at this blush really closely in the pan, it does look as though there are silvery/blue toned shimmer particles in this, but I assure you that they are gold and come out lovely on the skin.

The pictures above show the blusher with flash (top picture) and in natural light (bottom picture). You can probably see that the shimmer is quite strong but once applied, looks lovely on the skin. I must add that  think this is probably suited better to those with light-medium skin tones as I think that it could look slightly ashen on darker skin tones. 

In terms of wearability, I found that this lasted right throughout the day, from putting my makeup on at half 8 in the morning to taking it off at 8 that night. It had faded slightly and another application wouldn't have been a bad thing, but it was still detectable after all that time.However, due to the heavy shimmer in it, it will enhance any visible pores, so a primer is a must.

Overal, I love, love, love this blusher and can see myself reaching for it most days throughout summer. I only wish that I had picked up a back up due to it being limited edition.

You can pick this up from Superdrug stores or online from here for £4.49

Shopping my stash #4

This week I have definitely being stuck in a makeup rut. Things needed changing desperately and the only way to do that was to rifle through my collection and pick out some new products.

Here's what I picked this week...

Firstly, my skin has been terrible for the past few weeks after getting really dry skin in Prague. As a result of this I've had a few red patches and my skin has been really uneven so something full coverage is essential. This is why I've chosen MAC's Studio Sculpt foundation and Kiko 3D Lifting Concealer. Both of these will give me the coverage I need to cover up any of the uneven areas. 

I also chose MAC's Fluer Power Powder Blusher. Simply because I'm bored of my taupe shade from the winter and now that the sun has made a small appearance, I think it's time to start cracking out the pinks and corals.

For my eyes, I picked Sleek's i-divine palette in Oh So Special. I really like these soft pinks and browns for a simple but effective eye look. This was one of the first Sleek Palettes that I purchased, so it's about time that it got some loving again.

Finally, put away those winter hues and get out your bright lip colours. The first product I thought of was Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick. This is a beautiful bright pink shade that dries to a near matte finish and lasts for hours and hours on the lips. Perfect for spring.

Have you shopped your stash this week? I'm really looking forward to getting more spring make up out  and ready for the sunshine.

Prague Haul

Whilst in Prague last week I was keeping my eye out some amazing finds in the stores there. In the City Centre there were just the typical souvenir shops that you normally expect to see. However, I did buy a few bits in Duty Free and in Sephora, so I thought I would show you the things that I bought.

The first thing was something that I have been lusting after for along time and that is MAC's Russian Red. I couldn't decide between that and Ruby Woo but after seeing swatches on various blogs, I was sold with RR.  With the duty free price being £12.00 I couldn't resist.

I also bought a Paint Pot in Soft Ochre. I do already have one of these but I am running really low, so while I was there and it was cheaper I thought I may as well buy another. The Duty Free price of this was £11.00.

When in Prague, I didn't expect to see a Sephora. When I walked in, I noticed that everything from Sephora's was 3 for 2 so of course I had to buy three items obviously. The first thing I picked up was the Super Gelee Makeup Remover. I didn't really need this but curiosity got the better of me.

My skin was also super dry whilst I was there due to the freezing temperatures so I picked up the Flawless Moisturising Lotion. This is so so nice, I'm starting to regret not getting a back up. Expect a full review soon.

The third thing I bought was a small lip balm. I did take my Balmi one with me, but I just really liked the look of this one so couldn't resist. It does have a tiny bit of shimmer in and I've found it perfect for applying under lipstick.

So that's my small-ish haul from my trip. I can't wait for my next trip so that I can get more MAC products from Duty Free for a cheaper price.

My Trip to Prague

**Slightly picture heavy post**

You may have noticed that I have had no blog posts on here for well over a week now. Well that is because last monday, my boyfriends mum, Sarah and I,travelled to Prague for two days. I was going to schedule some posts to go up whilst I was there but time got the better of me and they were left unfinished. So, just to let you all know what I've been doing, here are some pictures from my visit...

The Old Town of Prague is so beautiful and is full of history and culture. The locals are so friendly and welcoming, so much so that you didn't feel like anything was too much effort for them. If you are going to go to Prague, I would recommend checking the weather forecast before you travel and so that you know that you have packed the right items. Before we travelled we checked the weather and it was around the zero degrees mark. When we arrived it was minus 6 and it never got above this the whole time we were there, with the coldest being minus 14. Luckily we had packed warm clothes and extra layers.

Unforutnately, I had started with a cold on the day that we went into the town of Prague so the photos of me are not at all attractive. It was also so cold out there that it was hard to stand for photos because you just wanted to keep moving to remain warm 

The views from Charles Bridge were just stunning. If you are thinking of going to Prague then I would definitely recommend this. The bridge does get quite busy with tourists and we were there at around 10am and it was starting to fill up. On the bridge there are lots of different architectural features, such as the famous "Love Locks" where a couple would write their names on a padlock and attach it the the iron on the bridge. They would then throw the key into the water and they will never be divorced. How true this is , I don't know, but I did think it was such a sweet and lovely tradition. There are also a lot of stalls and attractions on the bridge which sell unique souvenirs that are bargain prices.

No trip would be complete without a few a lot of cocktails. The rooftop terrace that we went to had the biggest variety of cocktails I have ever seen. They were also bargain prices with each cocktail being no more than £3 and that was right in the city centre.

The shopping in the town is amazing! Everything is so cheap and of really good quality. There are a lot of souvenir shops but all of them offer something unique. The market that was in the Square in the centre was beautiful. It reminded me of the German Markets that we get in most major cities around Christmas time. The smells that were coming from the hot food stalls and the mulled wine stalls were amazing and really made it feel festive, even in march. 

I did buy a few things whilst out there so keep your eyes peeled for a haul post very soon.

Also, there is still time to enter my Mystery Box giveaway here