Top 5 Lipsticks of the moment

Hello!

Recently I've been wearing lipstick more often with my everyday look. I prefer to wear lipstick in the winter time as winter shades suit my skin tone much better than the usual summer shades.

I prefer to go with matte or satin lipsticks and I'm not a huge fan of very glossy ones although I will occasionally wear sheer lipsticks, but only in nude colours. I love love love berry tones as they really suit my pale complexion, and I've included my fave berry tone in my top five, with out further ado, here they are!

L-R; 1. Sleek- Liqeur 775, 2. Rimmel Kate Moss- 08, 3. Revlon- Rich Raisin Frost 383, 4. L'Oreal- Blake Lively Red, 5. MAC- Captive

Lilia xoxo

White (Jeaned) Christmas

Hello lovelies and Merry Christmas Eve!

I bought a pair of white jeans back in the summer and wore them to death because I loved them so much. Because I loved them so much, I thought, who says I can't pair them with a chunky knit and wear them in winter too?! So I did just that! I styled them with an oversized grey jumper and some chunky black boots. I finished off the outfit with a silver clutch and voilà! White jeans in winter!

Jumper- H&M

Jeans- Pull & Bear

Boots- H&M

Clutch- Urban Outfitters

Hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow, whether you celebrate Christmas or not :)

Lilia xoxo

TheBesty.com

Hi all!

Recently I was contacted by a website called The Besty. The aim of The Besty is to help people find some of the best restaurants and food in the world. It gives people a chance to recommend food places they love and also find new ones, so when they asked me if I wanted to suggest some of my favourite places to grab some food, my answer was an obvious yes!

I'm a huge food lover and am always looking for new places to eat and The Besty provides an easy way to discover new things. Simply add your location and what you're hungry for and it will give you a list of some of the best places to eat! I really love the concept and was flattered that they asked me to take part!




I think this website will be great when you're searching for places to eat on holiday! A lot of the suggestions they have on the site are in America, so when I'm there next, I shall definitely be using this website to find some fab restaurants!

If you want to be a part of The Besty too, simply sign up at TheBesty.com and start adding your fave places to grab some food! You can find other blogs that are signed up here, and you can find my profile here! I've just followed Kim Kardashian's profile, because, well, who wouldn't want to know where her favourite restaurant is?!

Lilia xox

New York I Love You XOXO

Hello lovlies and long time no see!

College has been mega busy and stressful at the moment, what with starting my second year at college and applying for University (eek!) but I thought I'd quickly make a blogpost about something mega exciting that happened recently. Last month, I had the chance to go to America on an exchange trip! In June, the Americans came over for 2 weeks to spend some time in sunny Worthing, and in October, it was our turn to stay with them!

I went with a group from college, as it was a college run trip, and before the exchange part in Ohio, we got to spend 3 days in New York! I have always wanted to go to New York and hope to live there one day, so I was MEGA excited to finally go- I was one step closer to living out my Gossip Girl themed dreams! After a wonderful time in NY, we hopped on a plane and flew to Cleveland, Ohio, to stay with our hosts. This part of the trip was as great as the NY part- we had the chance to attend an American high school, eat copious amounts of Chipotle and spend some time with some great people, who are definitely going to be friends for life.

I took loads of photos on my trip, so I thought I'd share some with you guys!

The last three were taken in Cleveland and the rest is obviously NY! I can honestly say that I had two of the best weeks ever on this trip and I will never forget it. Now it's back to boring college and the never ending coursework- hooray!

Lilia xox

OOTD 31.8.14 Goodbye Summer

Hello!

It's the last day of summer today, and although I don't officially go back to college until the 10th of September, I still feel as if summer has drawn to a close and it's almost time to get the jumpers back out again.
This summer has been pretty great. It wasn't particularly packed for me as I mainly worked and recovered after my AS exams, but it gave me a chance to make some changes to my life. Since the beginning of summer, I've cut out the toxic people who were holding me back from being myself. I also have a new found confidence which is going to benefit me so much in my last year of college and especially at Uni. I now feel that it's OK to feel OK with myself. The past few years have been hell for me and I got to the point where I felt it would never get better, but now my outlook on life has completely taken a turn. I'm so much more positive and I feel so confident that I can overcome certain struggles that I'm going through. For the first time in forever, I feel happy again.

Right, enough of the soppyness, here's what I wore today! I wanted something bright to reflect my mood and to make the most of the last day of August.

Top; Topshop £8 ~ Skirt; Primark £12 ~ Bag; Primark £8 ~ Shoes; Primark £10

I hope you've all had wonderful summers!

Lilia xox

OOTD; 19.08.14 Post V Fest Vibes

Hello!

I am currently suffering from post-festival blues as I arrived home yesterday from an amazing weekend at V Festival. It was my first ever festival so as well as being MEGA excited, I was also pretty nervous- the thought of horrible loos and not showering for 3 days terrified me! But I survived and had the best weekend ever, seeing 18 acts in total! I may end up doing a V Fest post including some of the pictures I took on my disposable cameras, but let's face it, I'm not one to commit to these sorts of things so if I don't, here's a short summary!

Some of the pictures I took!

Justin Timberlake and The Killers headlined this year and they were both incredible; seeing JT perform SexyBack and singing along to Mr Brightside have to be two of the best experiences ever! I also saw Dan Croll, George Ezra, Tom Odell, Neon Trees, Kaiser Chiefs, Bastille, The Human League, Example, Ed Sheeran, M People, Aloe Black, Sam Smith, Childish Gambino, Rudimental, Lily Allen and Paolo Nutini (who is GORGEOUS by the way), so it was a pretty full on weekend! It seriously was the best weekend ever!

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At the festival, they had various stands selling different items and I came across a clothes stall and me being me, couldn't resist buying something. I spotted these gorgeous trousers and just had to get them! It took me about 15 minutes to choose what print I was going to get as there were too many to choose from! You could get 2 pairs for £15, so my friend got a pair also and it worked out as £7.50 each, which is a total bargain!

The trousers are so comfy and easy to wear, plus I love a good vibrant print! The grey, ribbed crop top that I'm wearing is from Topshop, my Leather Jacket is from Primark, along with the sandals and bag. 

Trousers: £7.50 ~ Top: £8 ~ Jacket: £18 ~ Bag: £6 ~ Sandals: £10

Lilia xox

What Lilia's Loving: MAC Face and Body Foundation

Hello lovlies!

I know I've been awful at updating this blog for the past few months; college, work and everything inbetween all got on top of me a bit and I've not really been in the blogging mood. Summer holidays are well and truly under way for me as I finished college at the end of June, however in the past four weeks I definitely haven't been using my time off to the full and have either been working or sitting on the sofa, on Netflix, not moving for 8 hours. I have been taking advantage of the lovely weather England's been having lately, with a few trips to the beach, although my tan couldn't be worse! I naturally have very pale and sensitive skin, which the sun doesn't take kindly to, so even with factor 50 on, I turned into a lobster! Never mind, the patches that did get hideously burnt have now turned brown and I'm hoping the weather holds up so I can even it up.

Anyway, the other day I was at work, bored out of my mind (work was horrendously quiet- nice weather + living near the beach= zero customers at work), when I had a little brain wave. I decided to start a segment sort of thing on my blog; introducing....What Lilia's Loving! I'm going to try post these frequent little blog posts of things that I'm loving at the moment. These things could be anything; beauty, fashion, film, books, music etc. I'll give some opinions on it and voilà, there's what I'm loving!

So to start off this new series/segment, I'm going to be talking about MAC Face and Body Foundation. As someone with very dry skin, I can often find it difficult to find a foundation that doesn't end up looking cakey or even drying my skin further. I have been a huge fan of Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation for a while, but found that recently it had been making my skin look a little flakey, plus, I was in the mood for a change. I've recently been getting more into MAC products, however I sometimes find the prices a little off putting and for someone who's a struggling student, spending £15 on a lipstick can often break the bank a little. But as I've been doing extra hours at work, I decided to treat myself.

I've heard excellent thing about the face and body foundation and I was particularly drawn to the light coverage. I'm not someone who needs a heavy coverage; I don't really suffer too much from breakouts, but I do suffer from quite dull looking skin and also redness on my cheeks, so I wanted something light that will even out my skin tone but is also buildable if I do need that extra coverage on red patches.

I went to the MAC shop in Brighton as it was the closest one to where I live. Normally, I'm not the type to go ask an employee for help as I'm a little shy, but I thought that, with something like foundation, it's often hard to get the exact shade right so it was better to get a little advice. The employees at the Brighton store were extremely friendly and helpful, asking if I needed any assistance right away. The lady who helped me was very knowledgeable and shade matched me to my perfect colour, N1.

The foundation comes in 2 sized bottles and I went for the smaller one, just in case I decided it wasn't really for me. The smaller bottle cost £21.50, which I was a little reluctant to pay at first, but I bit the bullet and went for it. I can honestly say that it was definitely worth it though.
The foundation is super light and applies so well, (I use a Real Techniques buffing brush to apply it), it's really easy to blend into the skin and leaves a really natural, dewy finish. I currently only apply one coat for my everyday make up and it's just enough to even out my skin in the morning and give me a fresh faced, glowing look. Because it is so light, I don't need to use that much, meaning that this foundation is going to last me a long time, making that £21.50 seem much more reasonable.
Overall I am in love with this product and would highly recommend it, especially to those with dry skin like myself.

Hope you enjoyed this little review and tell me if you'd like to see more things like this!

See you soon
Lilia xox

A Short Trip to London

Hello all!

The past week has been half term, which meant that I got 7 college-free days- a wonderful thing after having 5 exams! My family and I had planned to do a few things in London and so we decided to make a mini-holiday out of it and stay for 2 nights.

We left Wednesday morning by train and got to London at midday, which gave us a couple of hours to explore and eat before going to see the matinee performance of Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. Before going to explore, we went to check into our hotel and drop our luggage off. We stayed at the Thistle hotel at Marble Arch, which was possibly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! It was super fancy and the staff were all so lovely.
The theatre was right near China Town, which is where we decided to have some lunch. China Town was so beautiful and interesting, and I wish we had got to spend longer there, but soon enough, it was time for the performance. My family and I are all big fans of Les Mis, so we were all super excited to see it on stage- plus Carrie Fletcher was playing Eponine, and I am a massive fan of hers, so I was even more excited! The show was amazing and it took all my efforts to not start singing along with the cast! If anyone is debating whether to go or not, definitely go- you won't regret it!
After the show, we all got Bubble Tea (which is my new fave thing-I'm obsessed!) and did a bit of shopping in Oxford Street.

1. Mine and my sister's hotel room. 2. Outside of the Queen's Theatre. 3. China Town.

On Thursday, I had a very exciting day; I got the chance to intern at Heat magazine for the day. It was such a great experience, especially considering that I want to go into journalism! I was able to write 2 articles, one of which was posted on the website (!!). I had the best day and it was amazing to see how everything worked in the magazine world.
For the day, I wore an outfit which was almost entirely from Primark, all apart from the shoes. I wasn't sure what sort of thing I needed to wear for an internship, so I went for smart-casual with a floral blazer, cream cami and black jeans.

4. The Queen's Theatre's amazing ceiling. 5&6. My outfit for my internship.

Friday consisted mainly of shopping. Staying right near Oxford Street meant that we didn't have to stray too far and that we had most of the shops right on our doorstep. I probably spent more money than I should have but who doesn't when visiting London?! I mainly went to Topshop, Pull & Bear and Forever 21, and I managed about 20 minutes in Primark before I couldn't handle it any more- it was horrendously crowded! 

7. Selfridges window. 8. Fancy Figi water. 9. Chanel window display

I just had to go to Selfridge's, even if it wasn't to buy anything, just to drool over the Chanel or all the expensive make up- although I did end up buying two things; a bottle of water and a MAC lipstick! It was amazing in there and I spent ages just looking at everything because it was all so beautiful, especially their window displays which they are known for. 

We had lunch at John Lewis and discovered that they had opened a rooftop garden. We decided to have a look and were able to see an amazing view of London. The garden was beautiful, adorned with flowers, deck chairs and even a juice bar! 

10. Little shed on the rooftop garden. 11. One of the many bumblebees in the garden. 12. Outside of Selfridges.

Sadly, by the afternoon, it was time to go home. I had such a wonderful few days and I've definitely decided that I want to live in London one day! 

13, 14 &15. Some of the beautiful architecture in London.

See you all soon!

Lilia xox

Update

Hello all!

I know I've been majorly slacking in the blogging department lately, but college has been hectic these last few weeks. Between finishing off art coursework and frantically trying to cram for my exams, I've barely had time to breathe, let alone blog! 

So far I've done four out of my six exams for this year, with my fifth on Thursday. Now being the world's biggest procrastinator doesn't just come with a fancy title, it comes with major stress and only a few days before each exam to basically learn the whole syllabus again, so I've been having to revise day and night in order to cram everything in! Maybe next year I'll finally learn and start my revision early!

Anyway, I should finish college for the year at the end of June, giving me a long summer and lots of time for creating blog posts. I have some exciting plans for the next few months, so expect lots of posts soon!

Hope you are all well!

Lilia xox

PS. Thank you SO much for over 200 followers on Bloglovin! It really does mean a lot :)

OOTD 27.4.14: Jailhouse Rock

Hiya all!

It's been a while since I did a good old fashioned OOTD. Today's outfit was just a simple one as I only went out to see my grandparents (super exciting, I know!), but I felt that it worked out pretty well. Also I feel very Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock, hence the title!

I'm wearing a dress that I got recently from Zara. I'd seen it on the website and fell in love with it, and luckily when I went to my nearest store, they had it in stock. It was an amazing price at £19.99, and is really good quality. I love the details on the sleeves and think it has a really unique feel to it. Plus, I've become a little stripe obsessed recently; I think that they're my spring must have, so this dress is a perfect addition to my wardrobe. It's such an easy dress to wear because of it's shape, and will look good with or without tights, so it's an all year round dress.

Next off it my denim jacket. I completely forgot I owned this until I found it today. I got it a couple of months ago in the Urban Outfitters sale, and I think it was an amazing £15! I like it because it's a really nice shape with the fitted sleeves. I'm a big fan of the boxy shape at the moment, so I'm super glad that I rediscovered this jacket.

Lastly are my shoes. I'm so glad that skate shoes are in- I think they were the only shoes I wore when I was about 11! I love the laid back style and think they're perfect for spring and summer. I'm planning on stocking up on a few more pairs before they sell out everywhere. These black ones are from Topshop and were £20. They're good quality, but were quite uncomfortable when I first bought them, so they needed a bit of breaking in first. I would also recommend getting a size up from what you usually are as they are a bit of a tight fit.

Hope you like the post!
Lilia xox