Liz Earle Package! + Chats

Hello there long lost blog! I'm going to write in you today.

Let's have a small update on the current situationia.

Okay, so, I'm in the process of writing three ugly, ugly, HIDEOUS assignments. So at about midnight on Wednesday, I, reaching a point of desperation, sat hunched over a university computer with my credit card in hand and partook in a somewhat extensive online skincare binge from my little fave, Liz Earle.

Can I just say that when the package arrived this morning, I was hysterical. So happy, excited, happy, excited, happy! I can't truly express how much I love this brand/ talk about it/ dream about it. It has refined my skin so entirely that I cannot believe it, I'm just HOOKED. On the scents, on the sheer effectiveness of the products, on the luxury of it all... So when this box arrived this morning, you can imagine my excitement. My boyfriend and I attacked the package with a vegetable knife in a frantic attempt to unveil our goods before dancing around and laughing at how ridiculous we were being. Here's what I ordered babycakes...


Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish-

small 50ml size for aforementioned boyfriend who keeps nicking mine, the little twit

Instant Boost Skin Tonic-

Repurchased. I refuse to be without this, ever. It smells like the woman I want to become. It's glorious, sophisticated, but pure, rose-petal loveliness.

Gentle Face Exfoliator-

Tried this before as a sample and finally gave in and picked up the full size version. I suppose I could go without this, and if I was new to Liz Earle and was only picking one thing I wouldn't choose this ( I'd choose the Cleanse and Polish). That said, it's the best scrub I've ever used. And I've used a LOT of scrubs. I mean, this noticeably reduces blackheads and pore size on my nose, and that, to me, is a winner.Look forward to using this twice a week.


Brightening Mask and Deep Clay Mask-

I bought these two in 15ml try-me sizes. I think it's great to have that option on their website, as that way you don't end up shelling out £14 to be disappointed with a product. Will possibly do a comparison review of these two to see which is best compatable with my combination skin.


In a final note- It's good to be back on my blog again, I have changed a lot in the past year since abandoning it, but I feel that I've discovered excellent products in this past year, and experienced things that I'm finally excited to share again.


I'll head back to these disgusting assignments now, but before I go I'll leave you with a scene from my recent stay in the Welsh Valleys with lovely boyfriend. We stayed in the most idyllic cottage you could imagine, all trickling streams, a single village pub, wooden beams in our bedroom and horses on the hillside from our window . I'm also makeup free in these, as a full face of MAC did not fit in with the natural beauty of the Wye! Hope you like them :)

Much Love to All, Alanna x x

Ps- I really wanna get into blogging regularly. Comment on my posts/interaction really encourages me so don't be shy!

Spring Love List

1. Minty green nail polish

particularly when worn with apricot,stunning colour contrast,UO do a beautiful one

2.Oilatum natural repair face cream

a recommendation of PixiWoo's was never really going to disappoint, was it ?

3. http://igorandandre.blogspot.com/

Artist, Fashion Photographer + Blogger Danny Robert's baby. Without a shadow of a doubt my all-time favourite blog. Inspiring to the point of leave me mouth-open and thoroughly shaken up at the sheer artistic genius of this young man. He's physically beautiful too. Stunning portraits. Something so fresh and dreamlike about his style. Could trawl through his work for hours. (A love affair with an artist is definitely on my to-do-before-I-die list. Imagine the late-night off-the-wall conversation, the inventive romantic gestures, the spontaneous trips... and I have it in my head that an artist would just have to be an incredible kisser..) JUST VISIT.

4.Boots Coconut Leave in Conditioner Spray

now the only product I need to style&soften my hair;spray on damp hair and scrunch/plait for silky and sweet smelling! summery spirals

5.The Only way is Essex

secretly well jel of the perfect bodies/eye makeup of these girls- just can't take my eyes off the wee tangerines

6. Tanya Burr on pixi2woo @ youtube

the beauty has been one of my top youtubers for a while now and deserved a mention; Make up your mind Monday reviews are a saviour to me; I LOATHE buying products only to have them disappoint me

7. Swimming and Dancing

the only forms of exercise I will ever be able to say I enjoy =)

here's to the colt-like legs of one-day dreams

8. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain

the radiance of this POWERHOUSE is breath-taking. Giz yer skin plz darling!

9. Origins VitaZing eyecream and moisturiser/tinted moisturiser

enabling me to sort-of look at myself in mirrors come early mornings..

10. Collection 2000 Lasting Finish Concealer in 01 Fair

I have an attrocious case of undereye darkness & this makes me look like quite normal

and one final necessity...

11. SPF !

stayed in the sun for 15 minutes 4 days ago and I am STILL nursing peeling, rough, parched, burnt skin all over my face. Never again. Oilatum/ E45, thank you babies

I'm pink and black and blue for you

My relationship with daisy-chains is a nostalgic one. The mere sight of those prettily woven buds can transport me back to the integral sunny moments of my youth. They allow me to revisit my 8 year old Easter holidays, full of pink chalk, concrete and plaiting strawberry laces with the boys who lived down my street. They whisk me back to the days of basking, in the mid-afternoon heat, top rolled up, on my trampoline aged 16, surrounded by books, ice-cold drinks and fresh fruit while studying for my GCSEs. When I think back to then I can't help but smile. My life was blissfully in order, I was in love, and I had wonderful friends around me so my spirits were high. I was working towards the life I am currently living. University seemed a long way away, but I knew to work hard all the same, I had delightful ambition and motivation for someone so young. All of these daisy-chain evoked moments have one thing in common; the sense of freedom and inner contentment that strikes me as I watch my former self dance around a sweltering summer garden alone, glass in hand, heart on sleeve. Today I wore this wee daisy-chain headband and smiled into the sun! As my 19th birthday approaches, my heart is still in exactly the same place. How does that make me feel? Well, put simply, that maturity is over-rated- give me pink chalk any day. =) And as for my 16 year old self, she had both her heart and her head in the right place- I should take a leaf out of her silken paged book and find a perfect balance between dreaming and working towards the future I am more than equipt to carve out for myself. So Topshop, I salute you for your daisy wreath. It allowed me to both revisit and learn from my youth. Best fiver I've spent in a long while =)

Everything was going wrong today... until I saw this

The realisation that someone, somewhere, in this little yet vast world of mine, laboured over the creation of this stunning pair of petal shoes has somehow lifted my mood entirely. To me, this image is not simply an example of the mastery of the shoe designers of this world. It stands as an example of the mastery and the capabilities of humanity as a whole. It speaks to me as a reminder that beautiful things do not always naturally occur, but often have to be pained over. These shoes did not spring from the earth, but the roses that inspired them did. And while my future self is not currently within the vicinity, I will work towards her, one icing pink petal at a time. It's a case of extracting our naturally beautiful features and aspects and crafting them into a masterpiece that in our final moments we are proud of. It's about dusting off the heavy, blinding soil that has been tossed in our respective directions and fighting our way towards a sunlight we are deserving of.

I am my own work of art, and simultaneously my own artist, both the labourer and the shoe. How have I never seen it before? Into my own hands

I take my self =)

False Lashes on a Budget

Recently I made a beauty discovery that I wish to share with my fellow lash-enthusiasts. Poundland, of all places, stock a couple of different varieties of HOT FALSIES. Not exactly your first beauty port of call, and obviously the glue is a bit useless, but the lashes themselves rival Eyelure or M.A.C's in my fine opinion! Just invest in some good lash glue + see above for photographic evidence of flutter-bility :) x x x