Disappointing Product #1- Nails Inc Porchester Square

Please excuse my red tinged nails, that was a stubborn one to remove!

I have to admit I don't like being negative about a product. I feel that the majority of the time there is an alternative use or method of using that may be able to redeem it. Sometimes though, it has to be said, 'I just don't like this'. This is unfortunately how I feel about Nails Inc Porchester Square. I feel like I'm betraying Vivianna Does Makeup for saying this but it's true.

I don't know if it's because I went in with such high expectations that it disappointed but it just wasn't the perfect nude polish I hoped for. This polish doesn't actually belong to me, my sister got it in a pack of editors picks or the likes (don't quote me) but I had it on my nails before she even had a chance to get the rest of the wrapping paper off. She wasn't happy, let me tell you.

I think the problem was that it just doesn't compliment my skin tone. It seems to just look 'meh' on there. Nothing special. This could also be because I love my brights and nudes don't come naturally to me but I really tried hard to love this. It wasn't meant to be...

Despite my disappointment, the mauvey grey polish did last well (two to three days on my nails, which is a god send for my poor nails) and it did have a shininess to it even before a topcoat. In this NOTD, I used the Barry TopCoat featured here (LINK) however I must let you know, I've crumbled. I've bought Seche Vite. I'm currently testing it for review but I've found it works better with different polishes. Anyone else find this?

Buy Nails Inc Porchester Square- LINK

What did you think of this polish? Overrated by bloggers or loving it?

 

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Montagne Jeunesse Face Mask Review

My sister and I decided to have a pamper morning on Christmas Day so we used these Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks in Mint Choc Chip and Blackcurrant Burst Peel Off. You may have seen them in this haul LINK. I've got mint choc chip on and my sister, Olivia, has Blackcurrant Peel Off.

My Verdict
This mask makes for the perfect pamper night. It smells delicious! Just like mint choc chip ice cream. I was almost tempted to lick a bit off but I've made that mistake with beauty products before! More than once... It is one of those masks that dries hard, as you can see in the picture above, which I was worried would be hard to take off. It wasn't though, I just wiped my face with a flannel and although some parts were more stubborn, I wasn't having to tug at my face. This mask claimed to hydrate, cleanse and get rid of impurities. My face felt quite fresh afterwards but I wouldn't say it was particularly hydrated. I have quite dry skin so it would be quite a tall order to complete.
Overall, this mask is great to get that clean feeling on your face, but nothing revolutionary. I can't hold that against the product though as for 90p, it's a nice treat.

Olivia's verdict
I love the smell of berries so for me this was the perfect face mask. However this particular mask was very thin, so when it came to applying it, I found it very messy. I also didn't have enough time to apply another layer as the face mask had already begun to set. I wasn't too keen of the feel of it on my skin either. I could feel it setting, which wasn't pleasant. It was extremely difficult to remove as only parts were peeling off properly and the rest came off in lumps of goo. Despite having to wash it off with face wash in the end as it wasn't peeling, I found that my skin was extremely smooth after. This mask was supposed to pull impurities out of your skin and I wasn't too sure whether it fully achieved that. Overall I wasn't a huge fan of the product however as I'm new to this whole beauty thing Alex does, I'd gladly give it another shot!

And there's Olivia's debut to Alex Georgie! Hopefully she'll be my guinea pig for more products soon! I can't find these anywhere online but I bought them from Primark for 90p each. I think they may be exclusive to there. Weird that I can't even find them on Montage Jeunesse's official website though.. If you want to check out more masks from them you can here- LINK

Hope you all have a great week! What face masks do you like?

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Diary post #1

 

Hi everyone!

I thought I'd do a bit of a chatty, informal post today. I don't do these sorts of posts often so thought it might be fun to just type and see where it goes. A Dear Diary sort post if you will..

So it's after Christmas and New Year and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. At university, I'd gotten into a bad habit of staying up late so when I came home I thought I'd get out of that habit. Wrong. I seem to staying up later somehow. My mum's forced bed time of ten-ish (she can't sleep unless everyone is..weird I know) isn't cutting it. I'm staying up until one or two o'clock on my iPad, all the time wondering why I'm doing it. I'm not even a late night person! Half 9 bed time as of now! Promise.

As always when I come home, I've packed on the pounds. I'm not sure how much as I still don't own scales but I can feel it. I've got that sluggish feeling and my jeans are a tad tighter than I'd like. I really restrain myself at university as I hate to spend money on food/ bus travel I don't need. However once at home, my mum treats me to my weaknesses (chocolate and Chilli Heatwave Doritos) so it's almost inevitable that I'm going to put on weight. To add to that, I ride my bike at university and walk everywhere else whereas at home, pretty much everything is by car. I don't like the fact that my weight is yo-yoing. It's only by a little bit, but I come home and put it on and go back to uni and lose it (I must be doing something wrong, everyone else is the other way round!) Now that I'm going back to university though, I've decided I'm going to try the 5:2 diet. You eat normally for five days and then fast (can have up to 500 calories) for two days. Fasting is meant to be good for your body if done intermittently so I'm hoping for some health benefits from this too. To go with this, I'm going to up my water intake. Water is a natural appetite depressant, and it also aids in weight loss, hydration and body functioning. Lastly, I'm going to attempt running again, I've downloaded an app that tells you how many calories you've lost from it so I'm hoping if I can see that, it will encourage me. I don't hold out too much hope as I hate running but wish me luck!
You can see more of my weight posts here- LINK

I'm going back to university in a few days to start a new semester and I'm really looking forward to it. This last semester has been really hard going, my adviser described it as the hardest semester of my degree and I hope he's right because I've definitely struggled. However this term I have got to pick two out of three of my modules and I'm excited to get learning. Last semester had me really doubting my passion for law but my excitement for the semester means that I must still have it! Also I got a volunteer job, yay for experience! And I'm looking forward to starting that this term.

Lastly it's my mum's birthday today! Happy birthday, if you happen to be reading, Mam! We're not doing anything special, I think she wants a quiet night it whilst she turns 21 again ;) However we're going to breakfast tomorrow morning with some friends which should be lovely. I'm going to cook her a nice dinner tonight, maybe a cheeky glass of wine and a pamper evening. Sounds perfect, if I do say so myself!

I think that's all I've got to catch you all up on really. I just wanted to point out my blogging schedule if you haven't already worked it out. I didn't want to put anything in stone as I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep it up but I have done so for the last three months so I feel like I can handle it. I post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and it is a mixture of beauty, lifestyle and the tiniest bit of fashion. I'm still branching out to the fashion side of it with hauls as I'm not yet comfortable with outfit posts (awkward poses anyone?) and my fashion sense is anything but revolutionary but I'll see how that goes.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Have you got any plans?

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Breakfast Porridge "recipe"

I thought this was a very apt post for the New Year. A fair few people will be on a health kick and this is my favourite (and good for me!) breakfast. Porridge with hazelnut milk and apples! The hazelnut milk adds another flavour and the apples go all soft and gooey...delicious!

There are various ways you can make this breakfast. You can obviously switch in different fruits, types of milk and cooking methods depending on your preference but this is the way I like to make it.

I've called this a recipe but really it's more of a 'throw some ingredients in a bowl and hope for the best' type thing!

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Rolled Oats

Apple/any fruit

Type of milk

(Optional) Cinnamon, ginger etc

Steps:

1. Add your porridge oats to your bowl, depending on how much you like. I usually fill the bottom of my bowl.

2. Add your type of preferred milk. Here I'm using hazelnut milk but you could use any sort of milk. I fill it with the same amount I'd use if it was cereal.

3. Add in your chopped apple or other fruit/s. I sometimes swap in banana.

4. Put in the microwave for 2 minutes (I use the microwave because I don't want to stand over the hob and it saves time but the apple goes gooey-er and the porridge less dried if you do it over the hob).

5. Add extra milk and flavouring (I like cinnamon and sugar) to taste.

And there it is! 5 simple steps to a tasty and healthy breakfast. Tweet me @alexgeorgie_ if you try this! Do you have any tips and tricks for a healthy breakfast?

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New Years Blogging Resolutions

Source

 I wasn't going to do any New Years Resolutions this year. I feel like I'm setting myself up to fail. I ALWAYS break them. Get fitter; I put on weight. Eat healthy; I'll binge eat chocolate for a week straight. Do my work sooner and here I am sitting with two pieces of coursework to do. As the Lean Machines said in a video recently, it doesn't matter what day it is, new year or not, just start doing something! (I'm not practising what they're preaching unfortunately!)

I suppose you're wondering after that extremely long intro, why I'm now writing a resolution post? I found that when I wrote this post (LINK) about blog goals, it really spurred me onto reach those goals. I only fell short on one, which I think is pretty good! So I thought instead of personal resolutions, I'll do some blog ones.

1. I'd love to grow my audience more. By the end of the year, I'd love to have 150 followers. Just under five times what I have now. Better get promoting!

2. Relating to my first goal, I'd like to become a bit more clued up on SEO, photography, HTML and the likes. I know the basics of these but I always think you can learn more and improve.

3. I've recently given my blog a cleaner, more minimalistic design so I'm quite happy with it at the moment. However I'd like to keep on top of it this year instead of having to spend hours all at one time to get it how I would like it (and therefore avoiding the meltdown when the HTML isn't working how I'd like it to!)

4. Comment on more blogs. I know this seems like a really weird thing but I read so many blogs on bloglovin' on my iPad that it makes it hard to comment on them. I'm more likely to read and exit, even when I have an opinion on something, which is crazy!

5. Make more blogger friends! I love chatting to other bloggers so I'm going to make a more concerted effort to do it!

Do you have any resolutions, personal or blogging related?

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December Favourites

I'll get one of these favourites posted on the month it was for one day! As I'm at home, it made it a tad easier to see which product make the cut. Onto the products...

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick- Girl About Town

Is it a cheat when you've only had the product for 6 days of the month? I can hear you screaming yes and I'm going to ignore you! I love love love this. The colour and the finish. It's an amplified creme which my research tells me it meant to be smooth, creamy and colour packed. I 100% agree with this. You can barely brush the lipstick on your lips and you've got a lovely colour. A new meaning to buttery soft for me

Montagne Jeunesse face masks

The mask pictured above is more an example of the whole brand as I obviously haven't tried that one. I remember these being a treat at sleepovers when I was younger so it's nice to see a brand make a comeback a such. They have some really nice masks that seem to have done wonders for calming my breakouts this month.

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturiser

I don't think I've mentioned these before which is crazy as it's my go-to spot treatment! I dab a blob of this on my spots at night and it calms them and makes them less angry in the morning. I was at first using it as an all over moisturiser but my skin didn't agree with it. It has salicylic acid in it so that may be why. Localized to an area though and it works wonders. A product I've been reaching for during post Christmas breakouts! :(

Exfoliating Gloves

Or scrubby gloves as my family call them. I've come to really appreciate these this  month as I've been going back and forth between university and home, sometimes without them. You just can't get an exfoliation like them. They're not too abrasive, just perfect for getting rid of all that nasty dead skin, as well as boosting circulation. Bonus!

PLJ

If you don't know what this is, it's pure lemon juice. You put a few drops in water and it's meant to curb cravings. I really hated this stuff. It tasted like grassy/ lemony water and not in the good way. My mum kept handing me glasses of water, which I'd take a gulp of before realising she'd put some in. Sneaky! I think it's actually starting to work though and I'm not completely hating it! I'm going to try it with hot water as a detox sort of thing and see how that goes

What have your favourites been? Mine have been a bit restricted with all the travelling this month

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Happy New Year and What I Got for Christmas

Another week late post. It's starting to become a trend isn't it? Anyway, the usual disclaimer that I'm not bragging about what I got. It's simply that I love reading these posts (because I'm a nosy gal) and also wanted to see how creative I could get with the photography (answer: not very!). I'm not going to look up how much everything was as I don't want to know but I'll try and give as much detail on the items as I possibly can.

Make Up

I didn't get much make-up this year. I don't think my family really know of my secret make-up addiction. What I did get though were these amazing lip colours. When I opened Mac (Girl About Town) from my sister, I squealed and even teared up a little bit. This is my first Mac lipstick and I couldn't be happier with the colour. I think picking a lip colour for someone else is a bit tricky, with personal preference and skintone to take into account but she did an amazing job! Even more so when I found out she had to order it so couldn't even swatch it! I also got Clinique's Chubby Stick in Pudgy Peony from my cousin, which also induced another squeal. Another perfect lip colour choice!

Apparel

I got these boots from Tesco from my Nana. I think she saw me traipsing around with wet feet (Converse don't hold up in the rain well) and decided to put an end to it! Thank goodness! From my aunt and uncle, I got this Matalan tartan onesie and I haven't been out of it since! It's made of that slightly fuzzy material (anyone know what I'm talking about?) and is so cosy. I love the fact that it has a hood too. Also from my aunt and uncle, I got this amazing techy warm set. Making perfect sense as usual. It included headphones incorporated in ear muffs, touchscreen gloves and a little phone sock. I probably won't use the phone sock but the others are coming in handy already! My other aunt got me this thick infinity scarf from Sainsbury's; another item that has hardly left me. I've even taken to wearing it in the house because I love it so much!

The slippers are actually from Next. They have a cushioned sole and feel so plush!

 

Other things

My mum got me a diary and calendar set with apt make-up quotes inside (she knows me well!) and also we're going to go to the theatre in the New Year which is exciting. I haven't been in years! What is Christmas without a selection box, this year a Galaxy one. The other bits are from a Next Cashmere Gift Set from my sister, which smells quite good.

I've taken a few things back to university already as it's less to bring back in the new year, so I did get a few more cheeky gifts including:

Cadbury's Chocolate

Money

Backpack (seen in this haul- LINK)

Matcing calendar to the diary

Amazing scrapbook with lots of pictures of me and my friend

I'd like to say a big thank you for all my presents (if any of my family happen to be reading this) and that I'm so grateful for all of it. I definitely did so well this year (present wise), despite that not being what Christmas is really about. I enjoyed spending some good quality time with my family and I cherished this even more this year, as there was a Grandad shaped hole in it for the first time.

I hope you all had an amazing time and HAPPY NEW YEAR. What did you get for Christmas?

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