Denim, waves, & floral print.

I find myself going through phases of liking my hair a certain way, or wearing a certain color or pattern excessively (such as black...ahem), etc. and i'm going through one of these phases at the mo!  I've really been loving denim jackets, beachy/wavy hair, and floral prints (in case you didn't catch the hint from the title of this post ;).  All three of these current faves are orientated around spring/summer, so i think these will be loves of mine for a while...

1. Denim jackets: The jacket i'm wearing in the photos in this post is from the beloved Primark.  It's crazy how many outfits you can put this over - dresses, dressier tops, more casual tops, the list goes onnnnnn.  It makes me feel a bit more put together and i don't know about you, but i just feel a bit 'cooler' wearing a jean jacket... maybe i'm just a dork. ;)  Many people may say you shouldn't wear denim-on-denim, but i think as long as you're not trying to match the washes of the denim, it's fine (as i display below with the jacket in question and some dark-wash skinny jeans).

Denim jackets are perfect for the spring and summer since they're light, but still provide a bit of warmth and coverage, and are versatile. :)

2. Beachy/wavy hair: I believe this current love of mine was sparked by the purchasing of Charles Worthington's Front Row Rough & Tough Salt Spray, which i got in Boots whilst in London.  It helps add a bit of texture to your hair and helps to bring out my natural waves.  My hair routine as of late has been as follows: shower at night, brush hair out with Tangle Teezer (that bright pink thing in the photo below), fishtail braid my hair, spritz it with hairspray and let it dry a bit overnight.  The next morning, i then take the braid out and it's still a bit damp, so i ruffle it a bit & scrunch it with my hands as well.  I spray the Salt Spray all over and with a diffuser, i blow dry my hair, scrunching more with my hands as i go.  Once it's dry, i hairspray it and if i want, i'll use my straightener to curl a few pieces of my hair.  I then finish off with a bit of Umberto Giannini's Backcomb in a Bottle. :)

Since i don't wash my hair everyday, i simply brush out my hair again with the Tangle Teezer before i go to bed (my hair still maintains a bit of the waves) and put my hair back in the fishtail braid to sleep.  Sometimes i add a bit more of the Salt Spray in the following morning and scrunch it, if not i just hairspray it and put more Backcomb in a Bottle in.

3. Floral print: I don't think i'll never not like myself a bit of floral print to be honest.  It makes me feel so girly and there are so many different ways to wear it... speaking of, i am really craving some floral shorts and floral sneakers at the moment, they would be so perfect for the summer!  The top i'm wearing in the photo above is another piece i got from London and it's from New Look.  It's so flowy, sheer, and gorgeous.  I'm obsessed.

What are you currently loving?

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What's in My Makeup Bag? ♥

Now i'm one of those girls who tends to carry her life around in her bag, but recently i've tried to minimize the amount of quote-unquote "crap" that i carry around with me - to save both my shoulder & my sanity.  Whilst rummaging through my bag and trying to make sense of all the mess, i first & foremost stumbled across my makeup bag and thought it would be a good idea to downsize the amount of junk i tote around in there.

I came to the conclusion that i really didn't need to carry around 50 hairbands & an entire palette of eyeshadows 24/7, so i took out all the unnecessary & excess baggage - resulting in a minimal, yet efficient makeup bag to tote around all the essentials i need on a daily basis :)

What are these essentials you ask?

I guess i'll let you all take a little peek ;)

The bag itself

This bag actually came free with a subscription to Teen Vogue.  I like to switch up my makeup bag quite a bit, but this is the one i'm currently using!  It's spacious on the inside & easy to find in my handbag.  It's not the most gorgeous thing ever, but i think it's quite nice & is easy to clean!

01. Compact mirror - Very handy to have a mirror (obv!) - for touching up makeup, fixing your hair, etc etc :)

02. Tresemme Travel Size Tres Two Hold Hairspray - Another very handy thing to have for long days at school and running about town.  Tres Two is my go-to/everyday hairspray, but the bottle is absolutely massive & definitely not something you would want to have to carry around!  If you live in the States, Walmart always has a little travel section with sample size products & such, which is where i got this bottle!

03. Eyelash curlers - I don't really like reapplying mascara, so i take my trusty eyelash curlers around in my makeup bag to give my eyelashes a little perk during the usually long, dragging day!  These particular ones are by Maybelline, but any would be fine :)

04. Facial tissues - aka Kleenex!  I have a little thing of tissues in my makeup bag at all times, even if i don't have the sniffles!  I can't tell you how many times i've went to the bathroom in a stall that didn't have toilet paper!  Very useful thing to have in those situations haha.

05. Clinique Stay-Matte Sheer Pressed Powder - I can get quite oily throughout the day, so this is an essential if i want to prevent looking like an oil well!

06. Bobby pins - Pretty self-explanatory :)  My hair is usually a mess, so these definitely come in handy.

07. Lip products - I put the lip products (lippie & lip gloss) i'm using in a particular day into my makeup bag to touch up throughout the course of the day.  These two are my very well-loved Revlon Matte in Pink Pout & Maybelline Color Sensational in Pink Please - two you've all heard me rave about before, which are the two most likely to be floating about in my makeup bag.

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That's honestly all i carry around!  What do you girls always have to have with you in your makeup bag?

My next post will probably be on the few bits i got from Forever 21 yesterday.  Until then, hope you're having a lovely weekend!  ♥

Ask me anything / Tweet tweet!

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Recent Beauty Purchases ♥

I have to admit that i haven't been buying as much makeup as i'd like, but literally all the money that i've been making has been going toward either saving up for driver's ed, or saving up for my trip to England & France in April.  Since i don't have a job, i've been doing petty chores around the house & spending as little money as possible.

That being said, whenever my mom offers to take me shopping & spend a little money on me - i have to accept!  On one of our recent shopping outings, she took my to Walmart where i bought a couple things :)

♥ Clairol Natural Instincts Rich Color Creme Non-Permanent Hairdye in 31 Coffee Creme (Rich Darkest Brown) - around $5 with coupon
This is my third time purchasing this line of hair dye (i can't bring myself to branch out!), i've done a post before with the result of the last time i dyed my hair, so if you want to read that click here :).  I'm not sure exactly when i'll be dying my hair, but sometime soon for sure!  I'll definitely be doing a post on it so look out for that :)

♥ CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Waterproof in 825 "Very Black" - $6 with coupon
This mascara is one of the staples in my collection.  I had a $1 off Covergirl coupon so i thought i'd pick up another tube :).  I've never tried the waterproof version, so i thought i'd try it out for a change.  Three cheers for pretty lashes :)

♥ Tresemme Curl Hydration Lotion Creme - $4-$5
I was strolling down the haircare aisle in attempt to look for a new hairspray when i spotted this.  From what i read on the bottle, it's basically a leave-in conditioner & not exactly 'curl-specific', which is good as i was actually on the hunt for a leave-in conditioner :).  Haven't tried this yet, but i'll test it out & see how it goes!
I also bought a backup of my favorite hairspray, Tresemme Tres Two Hold Hairspray.

♥ Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in 025 Pink Please - on sale for about $5
Another repurchase!  This lipstick is one of my faves & definitely my most-worn lipstick.  It gives just the right pop of color, but is still quite subtle.  I have a full review here if you're interested!

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I hope you ladies are all having a lovely week!  Tomorrow's Friday, yay :)
I'm off to go get ready to go see Lady GaGa tonight!  So freakin' excited ♥
xoxoxo

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Tag: What's In My Bag? ♥

This tag is a classic, it has been going around for years and it's a favorite of many!  I've done this once before but i think i deleted it yesterday when i was going on a deleting-my-old-cringey-posts spree ;).  Anyway, i thought i would update you all with what's in my bag :).  I was also reminded of this tag by Holly, who did this post recently!

I was also tagged agessss ago by two lovely girlies, Alexandra and Julianne, to do this so yeah, two more reasons to do it!  Haha.

*Time to show off the bag i suppose.*  So yes, this is my bag (many people call it a suitcase) from Urban Outfitters which i got on sale for $38 i believe.  This puppy has been featured in a couple of my posts now so some of you ladies might recognize it.

I also use this as my school bag (which is the main reason i bought it & also the reason it's so big!) but i took out all my school stuff, so i'll show you all what i carry around when i'm going out for the day!

♥ Back row, left to right: Victoria's Secret makeup bag, wallet, Forever 21 sunglasses

♥ Main row, left to right: water bottle, The Catcher in the Rye book for English class, planner, peanut butter crackers (haha ew), Trident gum, bobby pins, BlackBerry (her name is Daisy :), iPod (her name is Gemma :), and hairbrush

The contents of that Victoria's Secret makeup bag:

♥ another little Clinique bag that holds that Bare Escentuals brush & mini foundation

♥ Germ-X hand sanitizer

♥ Tresemme Tres Two travel size hairspray

♥ Vera Wang Princess perfume

♥ Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in 025 Pink Please (or whichever lipstick i was wearing that day)

♥ Maybelline eyelash curlers

♥ Sephora compact mirror

♥ tissues

The contents of my wallet - note all the hearts, lips, & stars covering things haha - just for safety!  There are creeps in the world...:
♥ Yaz birth control

♥ Sephora Beauty Insider card, American Eagle All Access Pass, Borders Rewards card, Hot Topic frequent buyer card, nail salon discount card

♥ Starbucks, Urban Outfitters, Borders, PacSun, & movie theater gift cards

♥ spa discount card, AT&T phone card

♥ school ID

♥ library card

♥ movie ticket for How To Train Your Dragon (so cute!)

♥ Culver's Scoopie Tokens (haha)

♥ money

♥ pictures of one of my sisters & my cousin

♥ coupons

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I take anyone that fancies doing this :)

Put a link to your "What's In My Bag" in the comments if you've done one!

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Tag: 8 Most Worn Things ♥

This tag has been floating around for a while, especially on YouTube and i absolutely enjoying watching & reading everyone's, so i thought i'd do one!

If you don't know what this tag is, you have to pick one item out of each of these categories that you wear the most:

♥ most worn lipstick / lipgloss

♥ most worn earrings

♥ most worn shirt

♥ most worn nail polish

♥ most worn shoes

♥ most worn hair product

♥ most worn perfume

♥ most worn hangbag / purse

So let's get started! :)

♥ Most worn lipstick / lipgloss:

I'm not too big into lipgloss although i still wear it, i'm just more of a lipstick kinda girl :)  Pink Please (025) was the first drugstore lipstick i bought - pathetic right!?  It's my go-to lipstick, it looks natural - a pinky-coral color and it looks very nice.  I have a full review on it here if you're interested!

♥ Most worn earrings:

My most worn earrings are these faux-pearl pair that i got in a 3-pack from Forever 21 for $3.50 i believe (it came with a smaller pair of pearls & pink rose studs).  I love these, they are just about never out of my ears!  Ever since i had a scare a few months ago about loosing one of my real pearl earrings my dad got in China when i was about 8 yrs old, i've been wearing these fake ones more regularly.  They're slightly larger than regular pearls, which i really like.  I think every girl needs a pair of pearls - they're a classic and definately timeless.

♥ Most worn shirt:
I was originally going to put my white or black tank tops as my most worn top, because they are - but i just thought i'd make this interesting by moving away from the basics.  This top is from the H&M Garden Collection and was about $12/$13 i believe.  It's shorter in the front & drapes down into the back and has little gold buttons.  It's cotton, which i looooove - cotton is my absolute favorite fabric for everyday - and the top isn't a solid white, it has little lighter bits throughout it - i don't know how to explain it!
I wear this top with leggings & usual a cardigan of some sort.

♥ Most worn nail polish:
My most worn nail polish has got to be OPI's Got a Date To-Knight.  It's a light creamy pink and it's just gorgeous.  It's not amazingly pigmented, it usually requires multiple coats and it has the tendency to fade at the tips, but it's still a gorgeous color & i get compliments when i wear it!

♥ Most worn shoes:
I got these puppies about a month ago and i've been wearing them basically everyday since - these were featured in my April favorites post as well, so if you wanna go read that that would be fantastic :).  Anyway, these Keds really go with anything, jeans, leggings, shorts whatevs - it looks super cute!  Love love love.

♥ Most worn hair product
What can i say, i can never be without hairspray.  Especially Tresemme's Tres Two Extra Hold Hairspray - i don't know what i did without tbh!  I bought this after Makeupbymel raved about it in one of her hair videos.  It holds your hair the way you want it to be and it smells really nice as well :)  I'll repurchase this hairspray again & again!

♥ Most worn perfume:
I've been using Vera Wang Princess for a little over a year now and i suppose you could say it's my signature fragrance.  It's sweet and musky and fairly long lasting.  I'm running out (but you can't tell since it's laying down) and although i love this scent soo much i actually am thinking about trying something new - suggestions? :)

♥ Most worn handbag / purse:
This big beauty is what i use for school and if i'm staying at a friend's house for the night.  I also mostly use it whenever i go out, haha so basically i use it for everything.  I got this massive thing from Urban Outfitters & it was on sale for $38 i believe.  I get a lot of comments like "hey Laura, nice suitcase!" when i wear it, but i love this bag and hey, if i were to be stranded on an island i could probably survive off of all the things i keep in there! :)


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FOTD: Girly Nautical - Lush Times & an Award!

I feel like this posts contains waaay too many photos of me...hope i don't seem conceited :O

So as you may have read in my previous post or on Twitter (same on you if you don't follow me! Click here if you don't already! ;), i dyed my hair!  I'm still loving it & i've really enjoyed styling it :)  I thought i'd show you all one of my favorite looks i've had this week.

I felt so girly wearing this & actually had an "i feel pretty today" kinda day ♥  I wore my sailor shirt (i haven't worn this in for.ev.er.) which is fitted & very flattering and i wore my anchor earrings to match which i actually made myself, as well as a bow i made.  My hair is messy & looked better IRL than these pictures show..haha oh well.

I feel like my FOTDs are pointless because i pretty much do the same makeup look everyday..i just thought i'd post this anyway.

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F A C E

Bare Escentuals Prime Time primer

Revlon Mineral Mousse Foundation in 010 Light

Bare Escentuals Foundation in Fair to set

Bare Escentuals Warmth as bronzer

CoverGirl Cheekers Bronzer in Golden Tan to contour

CoverGirl Cheekers Blush in 110 Classic Pink

Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil

E Y E S

L'Oreal Lash Boosting Serum

UDPP

Urban Decay "Midnight Cowboy Rides Again" e/s (all over lid & into crease)

Lancome "Lezard" e/s (outer corner blended into crease)

Sephora "Aspen Summit 23" e/s (inner corner & eyebrow bone highlight)

Bari Cosmetics liquid eyeliner in Black Tie (upper lashline)

Love My Eyes by Bari Cosmetics Kohl-Kajal Eyeliner Soft Crayon in 808 White (lower lash line)

CoverGirl Lash Blast masacra in Black

Maybelline Define-a-Brow Gel

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in 006 Hazel

L I P S

Maybelline Color Sensational l/s in Pink Please 025

H A I R

Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray

straightened with Remington straightner

pinned shorter layers up with bobby pins

Tresemme Tres Two hairspray

DIY bow

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I was flicking through my Lush Times the other day and came across this!  I LOL'ed & just had to take a picture to show you guys :).  It's a spoof on Twilight featuring one of Lush's Massage Bars!  Too funny ♥

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I also was given the Sweet Blog Award from Brooke, she's such a sweetie!  Thanks sooo much dollface :)

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