Happy List #89

Hi!

I've had quite a busy but mainly fun few weeks since my last Happy List. Josh and I had a little break away in Portsmouth which I blogged about here and we both handed our final projects in last week, I'm really proud of how it turned out in the end I just have everything crossed now that I get the mark I'm hoping for! We've also had a few nice nights out seeing the comedian Chris Ramsey and a Paul McCartney thing at the cinema earlier this week. Next week marks my final ever week at university and I really don't know how I feel about it. I'm thinking of doing some uni related posts when I finish such as my experience there, how I'm feeling about finishing etc. One good thing about finishing though is I'm going to have over a month of spare time on my hands before moving back home and entering the real world of looking for a job so that should mean lots of blog posts in the form of recipes and days out (can we please have some sun now as well so I can actually have nice days out?!).

Strawberry lemonade / Strawberry surprise cupcake (recipe here) / Chris Ramsey tickets / MUA Power Pout - I've worn this all week it's so good

Catching some rays in Portsmouth / New folding makeup storage so I can actually see my stuff now

Pretty photo in Portsmouth / My new friend in Portsmouth / My final project (well the essay part of it!)

P.S I currently have a small blog sale on here

Review: La Roche Posay Effaclar A.I

Hi!
Today I have a review for you, La Roche Posay have been doing the rounds on blogs for quite a few months now with their Effaclar Duo becoming quite the cult product, upon reading more about it, it didn't really seem like the right product for me however the Effaclar A.I did. I'm no beauty blogger but I do like to write occasional reviews and I'm always honest with what I write, I know people don't like to be negative but it feels like there's an abundance of positive reviews out there and not that many that highlight bad experiences which can be a little misleading when it comes to deciding whether to buy something or not. I don't know about anyone else but it's very rare I come across a negative review. So that's what I'm writing today because for me Effaclar A.I has to be one of the worst products I've ever come across.

What La Roche Posay Say

 Targets individual spots and breakouts, helping to reduce their appearance and prevent residual marks. Contains LHA's and Niacinimide.

Who is this for?  Oily skin prone to localised imperfections and blemishes. Targeted care for individual spots and breakouts. Suitable for sensitive skin.

What does it do? Skin looks and feels clearer and smoother. Imperfections are visibly reduced as are residual marks.

How to use. Apply to the affected areas morning and evening. Suitable for use under make-up.

What I Think

Oh where to begin. I took quite a while deciding whether to buy this. I don't mind spending some money on good skincare although I have a much lower budget than most skincare fanatics. At £9.19 for 15ml I consider this to be expensive but I was willing to pay if it was going to do everything it promised. I don't have bad skin but occasionally I get spots on my chin,sometimes very sore red bumps under the skin which take forever to go down and 99% of the time I'm left with scars so this sounded as though it would be the perfect product to help the spots heal and minimise the risk of scars. 

Sure enough a few days after buying this one of those horrible under skin spots started to make an appearance so I cracked this out and began whacking it on. This is where the problems started, I knew you wouldn't need to use a lot but seriously as soon as you put some of this on it starts to kind of ball up and rub off of your skin, not a good look which made me already disagree with La Roche Posay's statement of this been suitable for under makeup.

 A few days passed of me applying Effaclar A.I before bed and I started to notice the one under skin spot had grown a friend right next to it, slightly annoyed I slapped more A.I cream on. A few more days passed and the original under skin spot had grown into a family of spots all right next to each other, all very painful and all very horrid looking as by this time some weren't under the skin anymore and now had lovely heads on them (sorry for the beautiful image I'm painting here!) and the whole area was dry and flaky. Sexy or what.

At this point I stopped using the A.I cream, I can hand on heart say I have never ever had skin that looked like it did in that week, what made it worse is the spots took so much longer to heal and I was left with a cluster of scars. I can only put the horrid breakout down to the A.I cream, I have never been more annoyed and disappointed with a product than this. 

I'm obviously not saying that this will be the case for everyone but this was my personal experience with the product and it wasn't a happy one.

Tag: I heart spring!

Hi!
I've seen this tag floating around on a few videos and blog posts recently so I thought I'd give it a go. I was going to film it but I wanted to write instead. Spring in Britain is pretty rubbish most of the time but I do love those days when you wake up to beautiful blue skies and sunshine. The weather isn't too bad here at the moment but it's supposed to rain the rest of the week which is pretty rubbish!

Favourite spring nail polish?

Mint greens and coral everytime! These too are Models Own Apple Pie and Barry M Papaya

What is your must have lip colour for spring?

My current favourites are MUA shade 7 which is a lovely coral pink colour and Topshop's Brighton Rock which I wore constantly last spring and summer!

Show your favourite spring dress

Most of the dresses I own I like to wear in all seasons. The green one I haven't actually worn yet as it's quite new but when we finally have some really nice weather I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it as it's everything I love in a dress, the colour, the lace and the fit. It's from Primark. The second one is the dress I wore for my 21st birthday last summer and it's probably my favourite dress ever.

What is your favourite flower?

Daffodils and tulips, they're just so bright and look so pretty

What is your favourite spring scarf or accessory?

Sunglasses! Any excuse to wear them, although I usually can't see too great with them on as they're not prescription one's. These one's are about 5 years old and from Dorothy Perkins and they're still going strong!

Which spring trends are you most excited for this year? (Makeup, fashion or both) 

If I'm honest I don't really get excited about trends, I'm not one to go out and buy something just because it's 'on trend' I quite like it when 60's inspired stuff makes an appearance though!

Favourite spring candle?

Any candle! I bought a pineapple one from Primark recently which was actually really nice.

Favourite perfume this spring?

Marc Jacobs Oh Lola! I received two bottles of this for my birthday last year after wanting it for ages, it's just such a lovely scent

What is spring like where you live?

Pretty unpredictable, most of the time it's dull and rain but we do get nice days occassionally

What is your favourite thing about spring?

 Waking up on days when it's blue skies and sunshine oh and blossom on tree's

Are you a spring cleaner? 

Definitely not! I'm such an untidy person

Any plans for a spring holiday?

I wish more than anything I could day yes as I need a holiday but unfortunately I won't be getting one. We did have a few days away in Portsmouth last week though and we're going to Liverpool for a few days in June.

I tag anyone who wants to do it! If you've already done this let me know in the comment so I can have a look!

 

A Mini Break in Portsmouth

Hi!

Yesterday I returned from an impromptu mini break in Portsmouth, on Sunday afternoon Josh and I were waiting to hear from his parents as they were thinking about visiting us for the day on bank holiday Monday, by Sunday night things had changed and we were packed and ready for his parents to pick us up on Monday so we could all get away for a few days. To say I was excited was an understatement! A few days away from uni work was just what I needed. The weather was just perfect, Portmouth was beautiful and I had a complete break away from everything. It doesn't get much better does it?! The weather was so warm it was almost like been abroad (I say almost because for me nothing is quite like having a holiday abroad!), I'd like to say I even came back with a sun kissed golden glow just to make it sound even more perfect but the reality is I have the outline of a vest on me, a burnt shoulder and a little red nose, my arms are quite golden though! Whilst down there we also visited Josh's grandad as he lives in Littlehampton which isn't too far away from Portsmouth, I made a new best friend with Josh's grandad's dog Tigger and we had a BBQ and turned into true Brits who'd rather wrap up in borrowed coats and shiver a little than go inside on the night of the first BBQ of the year. By now I think you've got the picture that I had a really lovely couple of days, but incase you need further evidence here's some pictures.

Recipe: Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes

Hi!

On Saturday I did a little bit of baking, I wanted something quick and easy but that tasted really nice (who doesn't?!) so I decided to make these cupcakes and they were sooo good! Fluffy vanilla sponge with a hidden strawberry, topped with pink buttercream. They're perfect for the nice sunny weather we've been having!

What You'll Need

125g Butter

125g Sugar

125g Self Raising Flour

2 Eggs

Vanilla Essences

Strawberries

Pink Food Colouring

Icing sugar and butter for the frosting

Method

Make a basic vanilla sponge with the eggs, flour, sugar and butter and a drop of vanilla essence. Divide the mixture into bun cases or tins and bake for 20 minutes at 180c or gas mark 4.

 When the buns are cooked leave them to cool and once they're cool cut a hole (strawberry sized) into the top, the hole needs to be dip enough to fit a strawberry in so cut out as much as you need to without going the whole way through. Pop a strawberry into each bun then mix up some buttercream with butter and icing sugar and add a drop of pink food colouring then pipe it onto the buns making sure to cover each strawberry.

And that's it all that's left to do is tuck in!