BACK TO COLLEGE ESSENTIALS

I go back to college next week on Tuesday 8th so I've been feeling that September motivation for the next academic year, which also happens to be my final year at college before university. One of the best bits of the year for me is the buying of new stationary, and boy do I love stationary. (A thing that must also be noted here is that W.H. Smith always has a back-to-school stationary sale near the end of the holidays and it's very exciting.) I've complied a list of some of the things (minius the pens, pencils, etc. stuff) that I think are essential for going back to school/college, all of which will be making their appearance in my bag come Tuesday.

Ringer Binders
Being at college rather than school, I work solely with paper and ring binders instead of out of work books. I love pretty folders and I buy all of mine from W.H. Smith. I use one of the regular two-ring ones on a daily basis, I only use one folder so that all of my work is in the same place and I only have to carry one around with me everyday. At home, however, I like to have the massive lever arch files, which I keep all the work I no longer need in, this way I'm only carrying what I need to college and my small folder doesn't get too full. I don't study a-levels, and my college course is split into nine different units throughout the year, so I only carry the work of the units we are currently studying around with me, and all the work from the completed units is kept in my lever arch files at home.

Folder Dividers and Plastic Wallets
I love folder dividers for separating each different unit in my folder, and they're a great way to keep organised. I have to hand in my college work as a physical copy, so plastic wallets are really useful for that. Each unit is handed in in its own plastic wallet so it's all kept together and there's no risk of anything being lost. I also find plastic wallets useful for booklets that cannot be hole punched but I want to keep in my folder.

Paper
This is pretty self explanatory, I write on paper that I then put into my folder. I normally use the W.H. Smith A4 sheets (as seen in the picture), though I am a notebook fiend so I do like to keep a few A5 notebooks around as well.

Planner
Organisation is a thing that I love, so obviously I can't not get myself a planner. As sad as I've been told it is, I get great excitement from writing in my planner and organising my life. I have a little tick sheet at the back in the notes section showing every piece of work in every unit, and I get to tick it in one colour if I've completed that piece of work, and tick it again in another colour if I've handed it in. Very satisfying. My beautiful planner is from W.H. Smith, they have an amazing selection of planners and I spent a good 30 minutes standing there trying to decide which one I wanted.

Pencil Case
Also self explanatory, everyone needs a pencil case. I sneakily like to only keep one pen at a time in mine so that I never have one to lend out to anyone and lose it. I absolutely love my pencil case, it's from Cath Kidston, I got it last Christmas and I think it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Rucksack
I prefer using a rucksack for my school bag as two straps is so much easier and less painful than carrying a bag round on one shoulder. You may recognise the picture below of my rucksack from my ootd post at the end of August. This bag is from Accessorize, though I do have the back-up bigger rucksack if this one proves to be slightly too small for a folder, which it might well be.

IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT MY NEW RUCKSACK - #OOTD 26/08/15

I'd wanted a leather rucksack for so long but real leather ones are just so expensive. And then I saw this Accessorize beauty online. This rucksack was literally perfect, it's fake leather so still has the same look as a real leather one just for a fraction of the price, and it was just so beautiful I couldn't resist. The only problem was the £35 price tag, I told myself I couldn't justify buying it until I got a job. Two months later I had my first pay day of my new job, and the first thing I did was go and buy this bag. I am a very happy bunny. This bag is also the perfect size, it fits all my everyday things with room to spare, and I'm confident that it's also going to be able to fit all my college stuff come September. I am in love.

Bag- Accessorize (£35)

Jumper- Boohoo (£12)
Top- H&M (£9.99)

Jeans- Topshop Jamie (£40)

Boots- Dr Martens (£100)

OUTFIT OF THE DAY - 20/06/15

First things first I have a couple of guilt points to mention. Firstly, I meant to photograph and upload this way back in May/early June and I'm majorly annoyed with myself that it's only getting uploaded now. Secondly, I've been neglecting my blog for so long, it's not a good feeling, but I've had loads of deadlines and I don't know where the time has got to. As of next week I'm officially on my summer holidays, and that is all.

This is basically to show off my new favourite trousers, the most beautiful pair I have ever owned.

Trousers- Topshop (£40)
Necklace- Accessorize (price unknown)

25 DAYS OF BLOGGING CHRISTMAS- DAY 2 | DECEMBER 2ND- WINTERLISCIOUS TAG

I thought we'd start off the 25 Days of Blogging Christmas with a post to get us feeling all nice and Christmasy. I got the Winterliscious Tag from Sprinkle Of Glitter's Youtube from Christmas 2012 but I thought it was such a nice idea and the questions are fabby, so here we go:

1. Favourite winter nail polish?
Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Plum- an absolutely gorgeous purple colour and, as I have stressed before, it doesn't chip! It comes out as a beautiful really dark purple with two coats and I can see myself wearing it through the majority of December. Highly recommend their whole gelly range but Mr Barry M please please please please bring out a black in this range please.

2. Favourite winter lip product?
This was featured in my autumn tag and will probably be in many more favourites but I am absolutely in love with the Accessorize lipstick in Infatuated and it is the best lipstick ever ever ever and I just love it so much. Sorry about that.

3. Most worn winter clothing piece?
It has to be my tartan coat from H&M last winter, it is beautiful and I probably would have frozen to death without it (this November has been ridiculously cold and I am living in fear over what the cold might become in December).

4. Most worn winter accessory?
Last year I got a chunky knit, blue bobble hat from Accessorize and I just love it so much that I want another one this year (possibly in moss green?) the only downside to this hat is I can't wear it to school as it gives you the worlds worst hat hair.

5. Favourite winter scent/ candle?
The Yankee candle Christmas collection all smells amazing and I will expand on this later in the month but you can also never go wrong with a vanilla candle in the winter.

6. Favourite winter beverage?
Anything from the Costa Christmas range (yes, I know I have a problem) or Wispa hot chocolate.

7. All time favourite Christmas/ holiday movie?
My favourite Christmas movie is probably Muppet's Christmas Carol because it has no faults and I recommend it highly to everyone as it is just so brilliant (I am getting all fuzzy just writing about it).

8. Favourite Christmas/ holiday song?
This was a near impossible question and I spent a long time consulting the Christmas CD before answering this but I'm going to have to go for Step Into Christmas by Elton John because it's such a feel good song and the Fairy Tale of New York by the Pouges because it is a classic and so unbelievably fun to sing/ yell along to at the top of your voice with friends and family (also it has some absolutely brilliant lyrics). You can also never go wrong with yelling along to Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas or The Twelve Days of Christmas, I DON'T KNOW I LOVE THEM ALL. (I feel super bad for not choosing Slade or Wizzard or John and Yoko or Paul McCartney but I can't decide between them).

9. Favourite holiday food/ treat?
Soup. Ohmigod soup. Soup has got to be the greatest creation ever I could live off soup.

10. What is your favourite Christmas decoration this year?
Every year we get a new random Christmas tree decoration from somewhere we've been that year and this year's one is this lovely one from Disney Land in Florida (they have their own Christmas shop there and it is amazing). My all time favourite, though, has got to be William Shakespeare because it is just so weird.
My apologises I currently cannot find the new decoration to take a picture of.

11. What's at the top of your Christmas list?
Probably Finnick Odair (or the actor Sam Claflin, whichever one of them really) from the Hunger Games Catching Fire (which is absolutely amazing if you haven't seen it already and the books are even better). I would like him wrapped up in a box under my tree in a suit come the 25th please thank you Father Christmas that would be wonderful.

12. What are your plans for the holidays this year?
Thankfully this Christmas promises to be much calmer than last year when we tried to get the entire family together and everyone ended up bitching about each other in between watching Pokémon movies. This year will be back to normal with my Grandma coming over on Christmas eve, then seeing the family on the 27th for George's birthday (what an awkward date to have it) and then going up to see the rest of the family in the North. Simples. (Judged if you didn't read that in a meerkat voice).

*NOTE: Some of the things I've mention only briefly here because I will be talking about them more in later posts*

THE PERFECT PALETTE

So I haven't been wearing eye shadow for all that long and I'm a bit new at the whole thing bit I am completely in love with basic and nude palettes so I have got together a collection of my favourites. All of these palettes are under £10 as what is the point in splashing out on a Naked Palette costing £36 when you can get something a lot cheaper that has basically the same colours on the high street?

This is an awful photo but I couldn't get a decent one to show what the packaging looks like

1. Boots own palette (roughly £6)- I was given this for Christmas 2012 so sadly it is not available anymore but every year Boots bring out their own cheap makeup range with are all small and adorable and make the best gifts. I absolutely love this palette, it has six great colours that all have a slight glitter effect to them without being too overpowering.
It is definitely worth having a look at the Boots own makeup range every Christmas as last year's was really good, you can find it online in the Christmas section under 'teen beauty gifts' or in stores.

This is my favourite palette by far- you can't see well but all apart from the black are matte, the black is sparkly, and the one in the bottom right is a pale pink

2. Accessorize palette in Exposed (£8.95)- This is the most expensive palette I am going to review but it still comes to under £10 which I personally think is great for how many colours you get (32). This palette probably has every brown, pink, gold, copper or nude colour you will ever want or need in it, plus a couple of blues and a black as well. I saw this reviewed online but then couldn't find it on either the Accessorize or the Superdrug websites and had a bit of a freak that I could never have it and I wanted it, much to my great joy though they were selling it in my local Superdrug. A lot of these colours are shimmery or very VERY shimmery and I would much prefer a more matte selection for everyday use but they are great for going out or for special occasions. This palette is lovely but it is too shimmery for my taste, Accessorize have gone a little too over the top in their use of glitter here.

3. MUA (Make Up Academy) palette in Shade 12 Heaven and Earth (£4.00)- I was a bit wary of using MUA eye shadows as I have very sensitive eyes and I didn't know if cheap eye shadow would aggravate it like cheap eyeliner and mascara does but I couldn't resist this palette at £4.00 with such lovely colours. Heaven and Earth is MUA's best selling palette, and I must say it looks so much nicer in person than it does online; I was not as keen on this palette when I saw it online but now that I own it I am completely in love with it. It has the most beautiful colours that can be put together to make the prettiest eye lid ever and I just love love love this palette so much.
Another MUA palette that I wanted was Undress Me Too (also £4.00) but it was very similar to Heaven and Earth (which was my first choice) and it was always sold out in my local Superdrug so I decided to see how I got on with Heaven and Earth before I got another one; Undress Me Too is a beautiful palette though and it was an almost impossible choice deciding which one to get.

You can't easily see what some of the colours are here (sorry for natural lighting) but the top row first on the left is a creamy colour, top row third from the left is a goldy colour, and bottom row third from the left is a light beige colour.

Other beautiful palettes that I have found but won't be looking at here are:
-Soap and Glory Lid Stuff (£10)- Comes in three different choices which are all beautiful
-Flutter Pretty Purple Eye Palette (£4)- (available from Superdrug online) beautiful selection of purples, appealing even to me who is not a great fan of bright colours on my eyelids.
-The Lolita by Marc Jacobs (around £40 I believe but don't take my word on it)- Very pretty but you can still get great dupes on the high street for a much more reasonable price.
-Nude Tude Eyeshadow Palette by The Balm (£26)- I love this but (as you may already know) I am not a fan of spending overly large amounts of money on things like this; absolutely adorable packaging though.

I am thinking of starting a MAC palette in pinks, browns, neutrals and maybe a white, but as they are super expensive (£10 each) I am currently unsure. Much to my great joy though, MAC do palettes in a smaller size to fit only four eye shadows pans; still expensive but much cheaper than a full palette, and also perfect for holiday-ing as it is small and light.

AUTUMN TAG

I love autumn, not as much as winter, but autumn is still great and everything is pretty. I saw this Autumn Tag on someone's blog and thought it was such a great idea that I would copy it, basically... (I have edited some of the questions to make it easier for my English ways).

1. Favourite autumn lip product?
As everyone knows I am a self confessed lip balm addict and I get super dry lips all your round but especially in autumn/ winter time I obviously have a million lip balms on the go at one time but my favourite at the moment is obviously Burt's Bees because that is the best and it can be worn under lip gloss or lip stick to stop your lips drying out; dark coloured lip sticks are also perfect for this time of year, the one  I am currently using is the Intense Colour Lipstick in Infatuated (Shade 7) by Accessorize which I bought on a super-quick Superdrugs dash for Halloween but I have completely fallen in love with it as it is the nicest colour EVER and I want to wear it 24/7 (I will write a full review later at some point in the near distant future).

It looks more burgundy in the tube but actually comes out as quite a brightish purple colour

2. Favourite autumn nail polish?
Any dark red is a perfect autumn colour and this year I have gone for the Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Burgundy Crush; dark purples, dark reds and greys work well in autumn. I really like matte top coats all year round as well and they work with any colour.

3. Favourite autumn drink?
It has got to be either the cinnamon or gingerbread latte from Costa- very autumn/ wintery flavours (I like Costa A LOT I go there far to much and my Costa points card is not a valid excuse to go there so much).

4. Favourite autumn candle?
Yankee Candle Spiced Orange- I absolutely love this, the orange and clove scents are perfect together; I don't actually own this candle as the scent can get really strong after a while but it smells amazing in the jar.

5. Favourite autumn accessory?
My current favourite necklace is my Orange Calcite necklace which 'aids learning, study, memory and increases energy' as it goes with everything and I do believe that stones have powers; my father calls it the 'Stone of Education' because he thinks he is funny.

6. Favourite autumn clothing item?
This isn't really an autumn-specific clothing item but I am really loving my lace top from Topshop as it has the cutest little collar and looks amazing under any and every jumper.

7. Favourite seasonal movie?
I can't think of any autumn movies apart from Halloween ones but every year my friends and I have the Halloween sleepover where we basically just eat a lot and scare ourselves shite-less; it has become a tradition that we watch Trick 'r Treat every year even though it is awful but I will choose it anyway for my favourite movie purely due to tradition.

8. Favourite Halloween food?
At the moment I am completely in love with cinnamon whirls from Sainsburys they are the greatest food in the world and I would live off them if I could.

9. What is the strangest thing you have ever dressed up as for Halloween?
For Halloween I was a Sith Lord from Star Wars purely so I could walk about with my Lightsaber (yes I have a Lightsaber). This year I went as the three peas in a pod from Toy Story 3 with two of my friends, took a lot of effort explaining to everyone why we were dressed entirely in green. This year I also dressed up as a bearded lady as I had a dress I wanted to wear and I had a beard from when I was Joseph in the church Nativity.

10. What is your favourite thing about autumn?
Basically the fact that it is nearly Christmas and I enjoy being able to wear coats, hats, scarves, gloves and thick jumpers all the time.