January Favourites

The first month of 2016 is gone already - that's so scary! Time is going so quickly. Anyway, here were some of my favourite things in January. 

Bare Minerals Blusher in 'Your Highness'

For Christmas my mum got me a bare minerals set with an eyeshadow, lip gloss and blusher. These are the first bare minerals products (apart from a lipgloss) that I have tried and wow! I'm impressed. I love all of the products in the set, but as I wear the blusher every day that I'm wearing makeup, I'd say that it's a firm favourite. This blusher is so pigmented that you need very little and it's so easy to blend! I also love this specific colour and think it's great for everyday! 

Skinny Dip London Sassy Unicorn Phone Case 

I saw this phone case and had to get it. It has unicorns and it's sassy - what's not to like? I really wanted a phone case that was clear to show the colour of my phone through and saw that skinnydip had lots of cute/funny cases. I had been eyeing up the popcorn one for quite a while, but thought the Googly eyes might fall off. I saw this one instead and I love it!

Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Perfume

This perfume is one of my favourites, but I ran out of it a while back and got a new bottle for Christmas. It smells amazing and the bottle is gorgeous too!

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

After all of the hype I've seen on blogs and YouTube, I had to try this cleanser. I wash my face with it every morning and every evening before bed. I think it's great for making my skin feel refreshed and also for removing all of my makeup thoroughly!

Pretty Little Liars

I got really into PLL again in January. I hadn't watched it in a while, partly because of school and partly because I got a bit bored of it, so I was still on season 5. But as a way of procrastinating, instead of revising for my mocks (oops), I whizzed through the 5th season and I'm now finally caught up! Aaaaand I'm kinda hooked again. Darn those PLL writers with their addictive storylines! 

Fabulous Hannah 

I started watching Hannah's videos around the end of December and I've been loving them recently! I had a bit of a binge watch through all of her videos and now I love them. Hannah is so bubbly in her videos and it almost seems like she's a friend talking to you! 

What were you loving in January?

Sarah-Michelle x

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Eleanor & Park | Book Review

I finished reading this book quite a while ago and I finally have a review of it!

"Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're 16, and you have nothing and everything to lose.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love."

I first started reading this novel in September, but because of school, and partially because it didn't immediately grasp my attention much in the beginning, I only read a page here and there. Even though it didn't grab my attention at the start, I wanted to finish it because I hate leaving a book unread! So, I thought that I would take it on the plane to Kraków and read it then. As the novel progressed, I got so into it that I read most of it on the way to Kraków and didn't want to put it down!

It follows the story of quirky Eleanor, whose home and school life is less than ideal, and quiet Park, who is just trying to fit in. On her first day at school, Eleanor is forced to sit beside Park on the bus and continues to do so each day afterwards. As the book continues, their relationship grows and we learn a lot about the characters' lives.  

It's told from the point of view of both Eleanor and Park. The chapters alternate between the POV of the two. I love this narrative style as it gives us insight to the thoughts and feelings of both characters throughout, rather than only providing us with the thoughts and feelings of one character and leaving us to wonder about the other character. 

Although the book deals with quite a few heavy subjects, such as first love and domestic abuse, there were also some humorous parts to balance it out and make it a little bit more light hearted. I also love the little references to music and artists such as The Smiths, The Beatles and U2 throughout. 

There was quite a major plot twist that I wasn't expecting at all(!!) towards the end of the book and it made it that much more interesting. So much so that I was reading any chance that I got, including during all of my free periods at school that I'm supposed to use for studying (oops!). 

After the climatic plot twist, I was quite disappointed with the ending of  the book, as were many of my friends who have read it. Then again, the ending does stick in your mind as it leaves you to ponder what happens next in Eleanor and Park's story.  And I must admit, I did shed a tear or two at some points towards the end. 

Have you read Eleanor & Park? What did you think?

Sarah-Michelle x

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Adrianna Papell Dresses

Hello! 

I haven't blogged in about two weeks now, but I've been busy with coursework and revising for my upcoming mock exams next week. During any of my free time, I've been searching online for a dress to wear to my school formal. There's one brand that has stood out to me whilst looking online: Adrianna Papell. I've seen so many gorgeous dresses on their website and I'm going to share a few of my favourites with you!

If you're a Pretty Little Liars fan, you may recognise the first dress. This is the dress that Spencer wore to the ball in Series 5 Episode 13: How the 'A' Stole Christmas. I thought it looked absolutely stunning on her and decided to Google it, searching for similar dresses, and found the exact one instead! It's really elegant and has a vintage vibe to it which I love. 

I'm not sure which dress to get for the formal, and there are many more gorgeous dresses on the website to choose from. Which dress would you choose?

Sarah-Michelle x

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My Highlights of 2015

Happy new year! It's hard to believe it's 2016 already; to me it still feels like it's 2006! Although 2015 had it's ups and downs, it was a wonderful year. Here are some of my highlights of the year.

My School Formal 

My first highlight of 2015 was my school formal way back in March. It was a chance to get all dressed up, sit down to a meal and party with all of the people in my year and the year above. It was such a fantastic night - so fantastic that we didn't get home until 4 in the morning!

The Vamps Concert 

Another of my highlights was getting to see the vamps perform. I had seen them live before at The Wanted's concert the previous year, but this was their first ever headline arena tour and it was bloomin' amazing! 

Starting my blog! 

In 2015 I started my blog! It's crazy to think that I've nearly been blogging for a year. I'm so glad that I plucked up the courage to start writing my blog because I love blogging so much!

My cousins wedding 

I had a really great time at my cousins wedding. It was really different from the traditional wedding that I've seen over and over again. It was small and intimate and really great craic! I got to spend time with some of my family that I hadn't seen in ages (and watch them embarrass themselves as they tried to drunkenly dance!). 

Belsonic with Bry, Twenty Øne Pilots  and All Time Low

I finally got to see my favourite band All Time Low perform live and Twenty One Pilots, who I had only started listening to at the time, but now love. Belsonic also helped me to discover the youtuber/ singer Bry. And overall I just had a really good time with my friends!

Results day/night 

After months of stressing, I was finally able to find out my AS results which I was really pleased and pleasantly surprised with. I'm a worrier and have anxiety attacks due to exams and results a lot, so this was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I had a great night celebrating with all my friends!

Kraków

It was so interesting to experience a new country, culture and food. I also learned a lot about the war from Schindler's factory and Auschwitz. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience. 

My 18th birthday 

In 2015 I turned 18 and officially became an adult! I had the best time celebrating with all of my family and friends, and there was plenty of cake, cocktails and partying!

Halloween

This year was the first year that I had really done anything for Halloween. My friends and I dressed up and had a house party which was so much fun! 

Christmas 

Of course Christmas was on this list. It's a highlight for me every year! I was so blessed this year to receive such wonderful presents from my family and friends and I loved spending some much needed quality time with my friends and family. 



I hope you all had a wonderful year and hope that 2016 will be even better! Let me know down in the comments what some of your highlights of 2015 were.


Sarah-Michelle x


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