SUNDAY FUN-DAY!

Hey guys! Despite the fact that it is finally brightening up outside compared to the horrible, stormy weather that us people in the UK have had to deal with over the past few months, I love spending my Sundays pampering myself, blogging and catching up on work from the comfort of my own bed. Personally, I used to hate Sundays- the dreaded day of rushing to finish things that should have been done days ago and the day where all you can think about is returning back to school/work the next day. However, nowadays I like to spend my Sundays treating myself and relaxing. Here are my top 5 ideas for things you can do on a Sunday...

1. BAKE
One of my favourite things to do when I feel like I need to unwind a little is bake up some sweet treats for myself. My favourite recipe at the moment is this Cinnamon Rolls one that I discovered the other day whilst browsing through Cupcakes & Cashmere (which, by the way, is one of my new found favourite blogs)- I tried these out yesterday and they turned out absolutely beautifully. Another all time favourite of mine is Lorraine Pascale's Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies - personally, instead of the 200g of dark chocolate I prefer to use 100g of dark and 100g of milk to create a less rich flavour. Super, super yummy, trust me!

2. RELAX
Pampering myself is not just something I do on a Sunday, however I feel like it is the perfect time to do so. I love to give myself a full manicure and then apply a face mask- my favourite at the moment is one that I know is also a favourite of other beauty bloggers, which is the Superfacialist by Una Brennan Tea Flower Pore Purifying Clay Mask. At just £8.99 it is a bargain and it leaves my skin feeling super soft. Then, I like to just sit back and read my book for about 15 minutes before washing it off with cold water.


3. SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS
Of course, spending time with family is important any day of the week. I often meet up with members of my extended family on a Sunday, having a roast dinner or going out on a day trip. Even if it is simply going on a walk with my parents and siblings, having just a little time to relax with the people you love is an extremely important thing for me.

4. SHOP
I find that whenever I want to just a little bit of shopping, my favourite time to do it is on a Sunday. The town where I live is nowhere near as busy than it is on a Saturday, so whenever I need to pick up a few bits I like to do it then. I always find coming home with a bag of goodies (usually food and beauty related, sorry not sorry) so satisfying!

5. CATCH UP
Whilst the last idea is more suited to days when the weather is miserable and dull, Sundays are PERFECT for catching up on TV shows. My personal favourites at the moment are Orange Is The New Black and Greys Anatomy, but every once in a while I will snuggle up in bed and laugh for hours upon end over the good old F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (which, by the way, I would do ANYTHING to get a new series back on TV).


So, what are you going to spend your Sunday doing? It's Father's Day today in the UK so I'm going to be spending some time with my dad before going to meet up with some friends! Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, leave a comment below about what you're doing today (I get so interested in what you guys get up to, in the most non-creepy way possible). 

MINI BEAUTY HAUL

Hey guys! I just thought I would do a quick post telling you about the beauty products I have picked up over the past few days

Naked 3 Palette: Yes, this happened and I do realise I'm a little late to jump on the bandwagon. I have wanted to buy the Naked 3 ever since I first saw the pre-release photographs and on multiple occasions have I wandered over to the Urban Decay counter in my local Debenhams and restrained myself, but yesterday I finally gave in. The rosy, pink toned shades in the palette are absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to try out some new looks that are different from my religiously used Foxy all over the lid, Bootycall in the inner corner to highlight and Busted in the crease look from my Naked 2.

Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed Face Mask: I haven't tried this yet but have heard very good reviews about it. My skin hasn't been in the best state recently so I'm hoping this stuff will work its magic and give it a little TLC. I'll let you know my full opinion when I've used it a few times, however I did use it the other night; the sensation of the warming was REALLY weird but it didn't take very long and left my skin feeling as smooth as a baby's bum!

The Body Shop Passion Fruit Shower Gel: I actually only went into The Body Shop on this occasion to buy a present for someone but when I spotted this in the sale section at £3 I couldn't exactly resist. It smells absolutely divine and I love shower gels from The Body Shop. Also, I just want to add how good the customer service is and how nice all the staff are... the lady serving me today was kind enough to provide very generous samples of 5 different products, which I really appreciated!


Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water: When I heard people comparing this to Bioderma, a highly coveted product that is incredibly hard to get hold of in the UK hence why I haven't tried it, I knew I needed to get my mitts on it. So far, so good- it successfully removes my make up and leaves my skin feeling very clean. Obviously, I can't comment on how it compares to Bioderma though.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush: Again, something I have been wanting to buy for a while but just haven't got round to for some reason. I really love Real Techniques brushes, for both their quality and their price. I've been desperately in need of a new brush like this for a while now so I'm hoping that this will work as well as my other brushes by Real Techniques do.

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in the shade 'Elusive': Oh. My. God. This stuff. Guys, if you haven't swatched these yet then I urge you to go do it right now. The shade range is amazing considering they have only just been released and the formula is just... ugh, oh so pigmented. I bought the shade Elusive in Superdrug for an introductory price of £5.99 (instead of £7.99), which is a beautiful pink colour and as you probably know, I am a real sucker for pink lip products.

I hope you liked seeing some of the products that I have bought recently! If you enjoyed this post, please comment and I'll do some more hauls in the future.

BUYING TIPS

Hey guys! Being a self confessed shopaholic I felt it was time to write something I felt could really actually help people out- so here are my top tips when buying clothes, shoes and accessories.

INVEST

I would say my top tip would be to invest in items... this may sound scary and I'm not saying you should go out and buy a Chanel bag right now, but more of investing in higher quality high street pieces and if you can afford it, designer is certainly good. This is for two reasons- one is quality, which is obvious (I know that not every shop that has higher prices is necessarily going to last any longer, so be careful with this) My second (and my main reason) is for reselling. If you are prepared to pay say £30 more for a pair of jeans then the likelihood is that you will be able to resell them at a fair price as long as they are in good condition. Personally, I love the quality of items from American Apparel, Jack Wills and All Saints. I'm not totally against shops such as Primark and New Look, but when I buy an item there I buy it knowing I will not be able to sell it again. However, in my experience, buying from American Apparel etc. is certainly worth it- for example, I bought a hoodie from Jack Wills a few years ago for £60, wore it non stop for a year and sold it for £40. I would also recommend that when buying things you plan to sell in the future that you keep the tags, authenticity certificates, bags etc., as these will prove your item is genuine and may in fact fetch you even more money.

SHOP SAVVY

In my family, we are all about the sale shopping. Ever since the age of around 9 where I was allowed to start picking out more of my own clothes, my dad pressured me into looking in the Sale section before I looked at anything else in the shop. For years, I hated this, as I hardly every found anything I liked. However, now I am glad of this and people are constantly saying to me how they wished they shopped in sales more often. It is definitely worth being patient! Half price studded leather Zara brogues are my best buy at present!

DON'T WASTE MONEY
If you are unsure, don't get it. Simple. However, if you are the type of person that really doesn't know what to do when stood in the middle of Topshop with a beautiful winter coat in your hands that you're not quite sure will match your new outfit (and believe me, this has been my situation many, many times), think of two things. Firstly, is it really worth it? Check the material, will you get enough wear out of it, will you be able to resell it? Secondly, you need to work out whether if you take it home and decide it was probably a mistake to buy it, will you realistically have time to bring it back in the returns period? If not, then don't buy it. If you do, remember to keep the receipt.

COUPON IT
If like me you are completely addicted to buying fashion magazines, then you will probably know about the various discount codes that can be found- usually in Grazia etc. Discounts range from 10-25% and some really good shops are included! Also, when you make an account with a shop online such as American Apparel, DO x100 click in the 'Email me offers etc etc etc' box. This sends you things like invitations to join preview sales, special offers and discount codes- American Apparel in particular are very good for this, as every couple months or so I get a 30% code (with their astronomically high prices, this probably isn't enough, but even the slight reduction counts in my eyes).