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

Topshop Make Up Review

Hello lovely people, hope you're well!

As usual I've been slacking in the blogging department lately due to my mountain of revision and coursework. I promise that once my exams are over though, I'll be posting loads more!

Recently, I found a £25 John Lewis voucher that I had been given for my birthday last year, but still hadn't used. I didn't really know what to buy with it; I was going to buy something for my room but never got round to it. But then I realised that as well as home things and clothes, John Lewis also sell beauty products. I thought about buying a nice face cream or eye shadow palette, but to my surprise, I found out that they sold Topshop make up. Now, I've never bought any beauty products other than nail polish from Topshop but I've heard great things about the products they have on offer.

I ended up buying 3 products; an eye shadow trio and 2 lip bullets. I've recently been trying to get into changing up my make up routine by using various shadows and lip products so I was excited to try these out.

The colours of the lip bullets are gorgeous; a dark plum and an pinky orange. I've been looking for the perfect dark lipstick shade for ages, but I could never find one that was actually as dark as I wanted. This one is a great purple colour and compliments my pale skin tone well. I really wanted an orange lip colour for spring; now, usually, brighter lip shades, like coral, don't really suit me, but this one is actually ok. It doesn't look as nice on me as the darker shade, but I think it will be better suited once I (hopefully!) get a tan this summer. 

The lip pens go on well and you don't need too much to get a bright layer. However, they come off quite easily, especially if you're eating or drinking, so you'll have to reapply frequently if you want them lasting all day. But overall, I love these and will certainly be buying more in the future!  

Shades: Heartbeat (Orange shade) & Bewitched (Purple shade); £8 each

Here's me looking very posey with 'Bewitched' on

The other product I got was this eye shadow trio, with a wine shade, a gold shade and a shimmery pale nude shade. I'm really into neutral and rose coloured shades at the moment after I got the Naked 3 palette for my birthday (hooray!), so I got this to use as an everyday thing. I love using the palest shade as a base and working the gold shade onto the outer corners and centre of my eyelids to create an almost gradient effect. The trio would be great if you're going out and want to create a dramatic eye look.

Eye Shadow Trio in shade Orion; £12

Overall, I'm super impressed with the quality of Topshop make up and will definitely be buying some more soon!

Have a great week!

Lilia xox

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Hiiii,

I got a wonderful surprise the other day when I was told by the lovely Hannah that she had nominated me for the 'Very Inspiring Blogger Award'! I want to say a huge thank you to Hannah as it means so much to me that people notice my blog and like it enough to do things like this! Hannah runs an amazing beauty blog, filled with great beauty reviews and my personal favourite, great finds from eBay. I highly recommend you follow her wonderful blog!




So here are the rules!

1. Link the person who nominated you
2. List and display the rules
3. Share seven facts about yourself
4. Nominate 15 other blogs and let them know they've been nominated

My facts are:

1. I'm currently at college and studying Maths, English Lit, Fine Art and Psychology
2. Last November, I met my favourite people in the world ever, One Direction and hugged Niall and got a picture with Harry; it was the best day of my life
3. It's my dream to one day live in New York
4. I hope to study English at Uni and one day become a writer or journalist
5. My ultimate dream is to one day write for Vogue
6. I love singing and acting, but I have bad anxiety which prevents me from performing in front of others
7. My favourite TV show is Teen Wolf

I nominate...

avococodo.blogspot.com
thegodk.blogspot.com.es
inthelandofjen.blogspot.com
girlycopyright.com
thesmilelog.blogspot.ca
littlelilley.blogspot.co.uk
fashionlovesblog.wordpress.com
eliseschoice.wordpress.com
thecosmeticeffect.com
danialexandra24.blogspot.com
fashionambit.com
blondevelvetlover.blogspot.com
sweethelengrace.blogspot.com
alatterdayteen.blogspot.com
amorinmay.blogspot.com

Thank you again to Hannah for the nomination! I've got some beauty-based posts planned for the next few weeks- sorry I've not been that active lately, exams are approaching and coursework is never ending!

Lilia xox

Bold Brows and Vivid Lips

Hiiiii,

I've been trying to experiment with my make up looks at the moment. My usual go-to look is natural lips and cat flick eye liner- It's quick and easy and suits me. But I'm getting a bit bored of it; I wear it literally every day, so I feel like I should try something different for spring.
I love lipsticks but I never really wear them. I find it quite hard to find a shade that compliments my skin tone, plus I think they can sometimes look a bit much when I'm just going to college. However, I am trying to be a bit braver and try out looks that I like but would not normally have the confidence to do and lipstick is one of them.

When I was younger, I always hated my naturally dark and thick eyebrows (my sister's constant remarks of 'caterpillar brows' probably didn't help!). It's only until recently that I have learnt to embrace them. Bold brows became a trend and seeing celebrities sport them gave me the confidence to show off my own. A major fashion icon for me is Lily Collins, who incidentally shares the strong brow gene. One of her signature looks is bold eyebrows and dark lips.



She opts for minimal eye make up, drawing more attention to the brows and lips. I love the effortless look it creates and decided to try it out for myself.

For my look, I went with a little bit of subtle gold eyeshadow and a minimal amount of liquid eyeliner. I left my eyebrows, only filling in a few gaps with a dark brown eyebrow pencil. And finally, for my lipstick I went for Seventeen's Stay Pout in the shade 'Rule Breaker', which is a dark pinky-purple. The colour is super pigmented and stays on for a good few hours before it needs reapplying.

Hope you like the look, and please feel free to recommend more for me to try out!

Have a good week,

Lilia xox

Update!

Hello!

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the Earth! I've had a bit of a crappy time lately due to college and personal things, so I haven't been in the best of moods. I didn't want to blog if I felt like I was forcing myself to, I enjoy it so I didn't want it to become a chore. But I'm starting to feel a little better and want to get back into it again. I'm going to try post at least once a week, if it's not an outfit post, it'll probably be a review/photography post/haul etc. It may end up being once every fortnight though, as my exams are fast approaching and I should be busy revising!

Anyway, thank you for sticking around, even though I haven't posted in almost a month! And thank you for 130 followers on Bloglovin!

See you again soon!

Lilia xox