October Favourites

It's that time again. November has arrived and Christmas is just around the corner! Here are my October favourites!

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

I had wanted this mascara for a while, so when I was in Poland I decided to buy it. I've used it everyday since getting it and I really love it! My lashes are noticeably longer and more curled. I will definitely be repurchasing this when it runs out!

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Marble Print Skirt

For my birthday my mum and dad got me a skirt and top to wear on a night out. Unfortunately, the skirt that they bought me was too big and there were no smaller sizes. However, it did mean that instead I got this gorgeous skirt from a little boutique in my town. I don't usually wear bodycon skirts because I'm pretty self-conscious about my hips, but this is so flattering! The pattern is really unusual and gorgeous and it's easy to wear with a black top and black heels. 

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Scream Queens

I've only watched two episodes of this so far after hearing about it everywhere online, but I'm hooked! It's really dramatic and mysterious with a bit of humour as well. It's also quite gory though, which I was shocked by because I didn't think it would be so graphic. 

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Milk Bottles and Paper Straws

Another thing that I got for my birthday from my parents and that I loved were these milk bottles and paper straws. I see these on pinterest all the time and think that they're so cute, so now I get to use them myself and be all pinterest-y!

What were you loving throughout October?

Sarah-Michelle x

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October Roundup!

October has probably been one of the busiest months for me this year (so far). Pretty much every week there was something happening! 

As you might know from my previous post I was in Kraków for 4 days. I went as part of a school trip and had a really great time with my friends! You can read all about it here.

This month there were a few birthdays, one of them being my own 18th birthday! I was completely surprised on the Friday night after my birthday when I got home from shopping with my sister to find all of my friends up stairs! I was so shocked that all I could say was 'oh my god' over and over again. I had originally planned to curl up on the sofa and watch high school musical  - such a mature movie for an 18 year old, I know - but a surprise party with my friends and family with a lot of food, cocktails and a chocolate fountain was a much better way to spend the night! 

The next night I got all dressed up and went out for dinner for my birthday with my friends as I'd planned it before I knew there was going to be a party for me. They made me wear a birthday badge as well so I got sang to by a few drunken guys which was pretty funny! 

It was nice spending the weekend with my friends and family to celebrate my birthday, especially considering on my actual birthday I spent the night doing coursework! 

A week later it was my sisters 30th birthday, so my family and I just had some food, presents, and cake at the house for her. I spent the whole day searching through our massive collection of family photos trying to find the most ridiculous ones to post on her Facebook wall. Am I a good sister or what?

The night after that I was at a house party for my friends 18th birthday. As it was the night before Halloween we all decided to dress up for the occasion. I went as where's wally because, 1: I thought it was fitting saying as my last name is Wallace and it gets shortened to wally a lot; 2: I was a lot more comfortable wearing blue trousers, a striped top and converse than a dress; and 3: I already had the costume in the house so it was easy to get! I just curled my hair and added a gold smokey eye and a bit of red lipstick to make it a little bit more girly! It was a great night, even though we didn't get much sleep!

What did you do in October?

Sarah-Michelle x

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The Craic In Krakow!

On Thursday the 15th of October I travelled to Dublin to catch a flight to Kraków in Poland. It was my first time going to Kraków, so I was very excited to be going there along with some of my friends! It was quite a long journey; we were travelling from 11.30am and didn't reach the hotel in Krakow until about 10 pm that night (although that includes travelling to Dublin and time hanging around the airport). 

Our first day was spent having a guided tour of the city of Kraków - on foot - visiting the palace as well as many other landmarks. The palace was very pretty and my friends and I spent a lot of time admiring it! Then we walked to Schindler's factory and had a guided tour of it. My feet were very sore by the end of it. The factory was very interesting and we learnt a lot about World War II.

After Schindler's factory, we made our way to the town square to do a little bit of shopping! In the town square there was a market with lots of different stalls, selling souvenirs, jewellery, and many other bits and bobs! I bought a few souvenirs for myself and also some pressies for my family from the market. 

It was an early night on Friday night because we had to be up and ready for 6 o'clock the next morning to travel to Auschwitz concentration camp. We had a guided tour around the concentration camp who showed us around some of the barracks which have been converted into museums. It was a shocking experience. Pictures, statistics and possessions of the camp prisoners could be seen everywhere. For me, the most shocking and unsettling part of Auschwitz were the glass cases that were filled with just a portion of the shoes, suitcases and human hair of the millions of innocent people who were killed at the concentration camp. Our tour guide also showed us around one of the barracks that is still in its original state. 

Our guide then gave us a tour of Birkenau. The sheer size of Birkenau was one of the most shocking things about the camp. One thing that we found incredible was the fact that although Birkenau is a massive piece of open land surrounded by many trees there was so sign of any wildlife; you couldn't even hear any birds singing. My friends and I said it's as if they knew something horrible happened at the site. 

Although Auschwitz was a very emotional, unsettling place, I would recommend that you visit it if you ever find yourself in Poland. It's an extremely eyeopening experience that truly shows the extent of such a horrific historical event. 

After Auschwitz, we needed something a bit more easy going, so it was time for some retail therapy. The shopping mall was huge! It had so many shops, but unfortunately we didn't have time to go to them all. We did, however, make time to go to Sephora as there are no Sephora shops in the UK. There were so many lovely makeup items that I wanted to buy, but I settled for only buying the Benefit Roller Lash Mascara which I've wanted for AGES! I also went to a little accessory shop where I bought a cute little gold necklace with a feather charm.

Later that night we headed back to the town square for our last night in the city. We went to a restaurant for some traditional Polish food (which was really yummy!) and some traditional Polish entertainment. We were treated to some traditional Polish songs and dances, they even pulled some people up to dance with them, including a few of my friends, which was quite funny. Then we wandered around the square for a little bit, taking some pictures of it lit up at night.

Our last day in Kraków was spent at the salt mines. It was really interesting to see and to hear about. There were some amazing statues made entirely from the salt rock. Inside the salt mine there's even a Chapel that people attend and some even get married in the salt mines! After a quick stop at the souvenir shop, we once again headed back to the shopping mall to get in some last minute shopping before our flight.

I had an incredible time in Kraków and it was such a beautiful city! I would definitely recommend going to Kraków if you've never been before!

Sarah-Michelle x

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Collective Haul!

Before I went to Poland (post about my trip coming very soon btw!) I had to do a little bit of shopping to get some things that I needed - and wanted - before travelling. I haven't written a haul post in a while, so here's what I have bought recently!

In Boots I bought my good old faithful, the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation (£10.99). I love this foundation because it's not too heavy, so it looks quite natural. Also, I find it good for my dry skin!  I also picked up the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder (£3.99), which I haven't used in about a year, but it's a lot less messy than the loose powder that I usually use and it's good for setting my makeup without looking cake-y! Another thing that I always have to buy when I'm shopping is some Burt's Bees Lip Balm (£3.69). It's great for keeping my lips moisturised and chap-free. 

I've wanted one of the Zoella Beauty Makeup Bags for a while now, and a travel makeup bag was the perfect excuse to buy one! I love the colours of this bag and it holds quite a lot of makeup as well. It was £8 in Superdrug. 

I didn't intend to buy any nail polish on my shopping trip, but while browsing in Boots, I spotted these pretty polish colours. They're the Rimmel 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish in Pillow Talk and Rimmel 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish by Rita Ora in Roll in the Grass (2.99 each). There was an offer on at the time as well so I got one for half price! Bargain!

I love dry shampoo for those days when I'm running late, or when I'm just being lazy. I also love it for adding some texture and volume to my hair so that I can create certain hair styles. My go-to dry shampoo is the Batiste cherry scented dry shampoo (£2.99 for 200ml). 

I couldn't resist picking up this 'Central Perk' T-Shirt in Primark. I'm a big fan of friends and I've seen every episode about ten times each! The material of this t-shirt is so soft, especially for Primark and it was only £6!

I went to Waterstones because I had to buy some books to read on the plane. I chose Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, both by Rainbow Rowell, from my long to-be-read list. Both books were £7.99 each.

Finally, I bought the gorgeous pastel checked scarf that is the background of all my pictures, from Accessorize. It was £19 and possibly the most I've spent on a scarf, but it was definitely worth it! I love the colours of the scarf and it's so soft and extremely thick. It's a blanket scarf and on the journey home from the airport in the wee hours of the morning I actually used it as a blanket. It will certainly keep me warm during the winter months!

Sarah-Michelle x 

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The Versatile Blogger Award

Thank you to Everything Erin, whose blog I love reading, for nominating to do the Versatile Blogger Award. You should definitely give her blog a read if you haven't already!

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you at the start of your post and link their blog somewhere in your post.

• Tell the person who nominated you 7 facts about yourself.

• Nominate 15 blogs that interest you or that you have recently found you like.

Seven Facts About Me:

1. I'm 17 years old, but I'll be 18 in a week!
2. One of my favourite films is How to Lose a Guy in 10 days.
3. I'm currently studying Spanish, Moving Image Arts and English Literature at A Level.
4. I love Australian accents.
5. My favourite social media is Tumblr and you can follow me on it here :)
6. My favourite bands are The Vamps, All Time Low and 5SOS. I've seen The Vamps and ATL in concert and I'm going to see 5SOS in April next year! 
7. I can listen to any kind of music; pop, rock, country, anything!

My Nominations:

Velvet Lilies

Olivia Redfern 

Ellie Muldoon

So Sophie

comealongbeth

Chasing Belle

Emily's World

Jess' Journal

At the moment I can't think of 15 blogs, but if I haven't nominated you, go for it anyway!

Sarah-Michelle x 

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September Favourites

• Garnier micellar water

I love using micellar water for removing makeup as it's quick and it's easy (I'm all about things that are quick and easy!). After using the Simple micellar water for a while I decided to switch it up a bit and use the Garnier one. I prefer the Garnier micellar water to the Simple as my skin feels a lot more hydrated afterwards.

• Half Baked from the Naked palette 

Oh. My. Word. How do I even begin to describe how much I love this eyeshadow?! It's super pigmented and the most gorgeous colour ever! I love wearing it as part of a gold smokey eye, and it makes my blue eyes pop. I never knew an eyeshadow could be so beautiful, but I was definitely proved wrong! 

*Shout out to my sister for letting me use her Naked palette and giving me the pleasure of discovering half baked haha!

• L'oreal Superliner Perfect Slim 

In September I was all about the winged liner. Usually I'm not a fan of wearing winged liner (purely because I'm not very good at doing it!), but I found the L'oreal Superliner quite easy to apply. I'm still not perfect at doing my left eye, but this liner definitely helps make it a little easier! 

• Starbucks java chip frappuccino 

This year September was probably warmer than the summer in the UK, so I found frappuccinos were great for cooling down, especially after a day's shopping! Normally I'm a caramel girl, but I'm fully converted to java chip now; it tastes amazing! With chocolate chips and a dollop of whipped cream, what more could a girl want?

• Twenty one pilots

After seeing Twenty One Pilots at the end of August, I spent most of September listening to their music and I like them a lot more now than when I first saw them. Some of my favourite songs by them are Tear in my Heart, Migraine, and Holding Onto You. 

• Caleb Rivers from PLL 

So, I'm finally on season 5 of pretty little liars and I'm in love with Caleb. Seriously. He's a badass, but a complete sweetheart at the same time. He treats Hanna so well and I think that nearly every girl wants a guy like Caleb. Also, he looks even better with his shorter hair in season 5. *insert heart eye emoji*

This post was a little later than I anticipated, but better late than never, right?

What were you loving throughout September?

Sarah-Michelle x

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Music Monday | Top 5 Songs - 05/10/15

I've been so busy with school recently and I feel like I haven't blogged in ages! There have been so many good songs released recently so I thought I would write a 'Music Monday' post. It was hard to whittle it down to 5, but I managed eventually! Here they are...

1. Wake Up - The Vamps

"So wake up your sleeping heart, and we will dream a dream for us that no one else can touch, my dear."

I love The Vamps and I'm so happy that they've finally released some new music! I loved this song from the first time I heard it and I now play it all the time. There are 3 different versions of this song on the EP: the original, the acoustic version and the Spanish version. I love all 3, but I'm a sucker for songs in Spanish! The video was only released today and it features Brooklyn Beckham and The Tide as well! 

2. New Americana - Halsey

"Survival of the richest, the city's ours until the fall. They're Monaco and Hampton's bound, but we don't feel like outsiders at all."

I've heard a lot about Halsey and everyone on Tumblr seems to love her. However, I've only heard this song on the TV recently, but I really like it! It's a song that I find myself singing quite a bit and I'll have to listen to the rest of her album.

3. What Do You Mean? - Justin Bieber

"When you nod your head yes, but you wanna say no, what do you mean?"

I'm not usually a huge fan of Justin Bieber's recent music (I'll admit I was a big fan back in the 'Baby' days though), but there's something about 'What Do You Mean?' that I really like! It's quite a repetitive song, but then again what song isn't these days? It only succeeds in getting it stuck in my head!

4. Victorious - Panic! At The Disco

"Champagne pouring over us, all my friends were glorious, tonight we are victorious."

Some of my friends and I got really excited during one of our free periods last week when we saw that this song had been added to Spotify as we love P!ATD, so obviously we had to listen to it straight away. I loved this song as soon as I heard it and my friends and I agree that it would be perfect for dancing to, haha!

5. Love Me Like You - Little Mix

"Tried to find somebody new, baby they ain't got a clue, can't love me like you."

I've been loving Little Mix recently and their newest single is no exception. The 60s inspired song is so catchy and after listening to it a few times you'll be singing 'sha-la-la-la' over and over again. I also love the prom themed music video. 

What songs have you been loving recently?

Sarah-Michelle x

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