What I'm Reading

I generally can only read 2 books at a time, but I ended up with 4 on the go after I sort of forgot about one. So...here's my current reading list. Hope you enjoy!

 

The first book is also the newest I've started. It's the April Grove omnibus by Lilian Harry. This book is MASSIVE - holding it for too long gives me arm ache! But there are three stories so it makes it worthwhile. I've only read a few chapters so far, but it seems good. The book is set during WW2 and, while the stories are fiction, the writer has obviously researched the setting well. It's informative as well as enjoyable, and I can't wait for the weekend so I can get stuck in!

 

Cyanide in my Shoe by Josephine Butler is really interesting. It's a memoir type book of the life of Butler, or 'Jay Bee' - the only woman in Churchill's Secret Circle. Put simply, it's the true story of one of the most amazing spies in history. And the book totally highlights this! I'm about halfway through and I can't put it down. The book is amazingly interesting, and I find it even better knowing it is a true story and not just a work of fiction. I highly recommend this to all you guys.

 

 



This is 4 books in one. Breakfast at Tiffany's is the first story in this Truman Capote collection, and is the only one I've read. I adored Breakfast at Tiffany's! It was one of the most gorgeous and amazing love stories I've ever read, and I'd recommend it to anyone. If the other 3 books are as good as the first, then I can't wait to finish the rest of this book - and then be sorry that it ended so quickly!

 

I have this book on Kindle, and so this image is from Google Images. Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum by Mark Stevens is a factual non-fiction book about, well, Broadmoor Asylum. I usually don't like non-fiction, and don't read a lot of non-fiction unless it's for college, but accounts of prisons or criminals and things like that have always interested me (yeah, I'm weird I know). I haven't actually started this book yet, but I'm looking forward to reading it, and I'll let you know what I think of it.

 

So that's what I'm currently reading. I love reading and any suggestions of books you've enjoyed are greatly appreciated. Let me know if you've read any of these, or if you're planning on doing so. See you soon!

 

Alicia xoxox

Review: Batiste 'Blush' Dry Shampoo

Hey guys! I've used this dry shampoo for almost a year now, and I've gone through 3 bottles (cans?) of the stuff. Originally, I wanted to try the Lush dry shampoo but this was cheaper so I thought I'd better try it first. 

 

How it Works: You simply shake the canister, and spray a little onto the roots of your hair. Massage it into your scalp, leave for a few minutes and then brush out. It's really easy to use, and it comes in a variety of different scents (I picked this one at first because the canister is pink and loved the smell so much I repurchased). You can even buy 'blonde', 'brunette' or 'red' dry shampoo, presumably for those colours of hair. The powder is white (in this one, at least).

Value for Money: Batiste is £4.99 or £2.99 (depending on the size of the canister) from Boots. However, I buy mine for £1.29 (or something like that) from B&M, and it's basically the size of the smaller Boots canister, maybe a little less. I would say that it is good value for money, but if it's your first time trying it, maybe go for the smaller canister to see if you actually like it.

Verdict: Batiste dry shampoo is actually quite good. With college and other commitments, I usually only have time to wash my hair very other day. However, I don't use Batiste everyday I don't wash it. Sometimes my hair looks okay, especially if I put my hair up into a bun or ponytail. But sometimes my hair just  doesn't want to play ball, and that's when I use Batiste, or risk looking like a deep sea oil spill! Batiste is generally very good at keeping my hair looking fresh and non-greasy. The 'Blush' one smells lovely (I can't speak for any others). The only thing I don't like is that, sometimes, there is still a bit of white powder in my hair after I've brushed it through. Of course, as my hair is dark, it's more noticeable than if I were fair, and I have to strategically place bits of hair to cover this. I don't know if the 'brunette' Batiste rectifies this problem - maybe I'll try it and let you know if it's any different. I also don't know how this product compares with more high end stuff, like the Lush or other, more 'professional' haircare brands. But I can say that Batiste is a good enough product for when hair is just slightly greasy (it's not so good for REALLY greasy hair), it's good value for money and it smells nice and fresh.

I'm going to give this product 4/5 stars, and maybe next time I go to Boots, I'll try the 'brunette' one and see if that helps the white powder problem. But definitely try it out, and let me know how you get on. See you soon!

Alicia xoxox

Miss Selfridge and New Look Haul

Hey guys! So, I did a spot of shopping yesterday and I thought I'd show you what I bought.

Ok, for some reason, this picture isn't the right way up. Being new to this, I'm not sure how to rotate it, so if anyone knows please tell me and I'll correct it. Anyway, this is my New Look top. I actually went in after seeing two tops in the window that I really liked, but I couldn't find them so I came away equally pleased with this one instead. I just think it's really cute, and quite girly in the colour but not overly pink. It was £12.99 which I thought was quite good, considering I got 10% student discount as well.

 

These jeans were from Miss Selfridge. They were the only thing I set out to buy, purely because you can never have enough jeans. They're just a normal blue colour, but in real life they are actually different to 'normal' jeans in the texture and look. They were £38 and I got 20% student discount because the shop had just reopened. I sure know how to pick shopping days :).

 

 



Isn't this packaging just so cute?!? These tissues were £1 from Miss Selfridge and they have 10 in them. I literally bought these for the cute little hippy caravan - I actually have no intention of using them! Kinda defeats the objective of tissues but oh well...

 

 

And finally...*drum roll*...we have my freebies! As I mentioned above, Miss Selfridge had just reopened the shop, and they gave their first 100 customers a free goodie bag! I got (from the top, clockwise): Eyelure Natural Texture eyelashes; Bourjois Blackjack mascara; MUA Magnetic Nails nail polish in Regent Street; and Bourjois Smoky Eyes eyeshadow set in Rose Vintage. I haven't used anything yet, but I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes.

So that's my haul! Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you soon.

Alicia xoxox



Boots Natural Collection Haul

Hey guys! So, I had the afternoon off college today (the only perk of mock exam week is that I only have to go in for my exams) so I did a little shopping while I was waiting for my bus. I wandered around quite a few shops, but didn't really buy anything - I'm supposed to be cutting back :). I bought two things, both from the Boots Natural Collection. This range seems really good value. I'm not sure if the goods are up to scratch yet as I haven't really tested them (look out for a review later on), but at such cheap prices I thought I might as well try it out.

 

I bought the SunTint Bronzing Powder in 'Sun Shine' (left) and the Loose Powder in 'Neutral Translucent' (right).

The bronzer seems to be a very nice, natural shade. It's not too dark and so will probably blend well with my skin. It looks as though the finish will be slightly sparkly, but hopefully it will blend enough to make me look naturally sunkissed and not so much like a disco ball in training. I did try to swatch it, but honestly, in the picture you couldn't really see it. I'm hoping that's a good thing (it won't make me look orange or dirty) and not a bad thing (it's not pigmented). Only time will tell - but I will take a photo of me wearing it when I try it so it will be kind of like a swatch. This was only £1.99 so even if it doesn't work out exactly how I hope, it's not to much money to waste.

 

 

The powder is pretty much transparent, so there wasn't much point in doing a swatch. To get the product, you can tip the pot upside down and then unscrew the lid, or tip a little product into the lid. This is just a transparent powder to go over foundation and it reduces shine to give a more matte finish. I think this will probably be quite good, and I'll try it soon (possibly tomorrow) so I'll do a review when I've tried it out a few times. Again, this was £1.99.

So that was my little Boots haul! I'll see you guys soon

Alicia xoxox

Hey Everyone

Hey guys!
So, this is my new blog, and it's going to be all about EVERYTHING! I'm going to do outfit of the days, makeup tutorials, reviews of everything from my favourite books and movies to amazing makeup. It's also going to be about the world and life in general - my writing, photos, travel, studying, the pains of growing up. I hope you enjoy my blog and I hope there will always be something for everyone. I'll try to post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (depending on how much college work I have to do) and maybe some weekends if I can.

I have Twitter (allie_jm) and Instagram (alliej_xoxo) so add me if you want. See you soon!

Allie xoxox