Liebster award!

Hello! So, kiana west from teeninthetwentyfirst nominated me for the Liebster award. Im going to follow the rules she put in here post, they are-

• List 11 facts about yourself
• Answer the 10 questions asked by the person who nominated you
• Nominate a 5 more bloggers 
• ask them 10 questions

11 facts about you

1.  I was born in Sheffield (UK) and have lived here all my life.
2.  I can't really imagine living anywhere else, I defiantly wouldn't be able to move to somewhere that isn't a large city. 
3.  I only started my blog a few months ago but I'm loving it so far.
4.  I'm the middle child of 3 girls.
5.  I LOVE makeup. Really, I can talk about it for hours.
6.  Still most days I wear none (just because I'm lazy).
7. Recently I dyed my hair red (from light brown/ blonde ombre) and neither of my grandmas seemed to notice...
8. I'm in the process of sorting out/ redecorating my room. It's talking months of pure procrastination, though I've moved my bed, donated my old storage and bought a new wardrobe, chair and lamp (grown up? yeah?)
9. I spend way to much time on my phone. Watching tv, youtube, reading blogs, Twitter, Facebook and shopping. It's an addiction.
10. Me and my sisters share an Asos addiction too. We have been 'Asos premier' customers for a very long time.
11. Some bloggers I'm loving at the moment - Essiebutton, Beautycrush,  Joyce (she got me into blogging), Nadia Aboulhosn

Answer questions set

1. How did you pick your blog’s name? I make flower crowns and I was going to set up an etsy store (decided against it in the end) my mum came up with the name because she said the crowns look like "clouds of flowers". I love the name so much I used it for my blog instead.
2. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self? Don't give up, don't let people get to you and try not to worry all the time (that's a bad habit of mine).
3. What’s your favourite TV show? Hummm there's a lot but recently  Orange is the new black, breaking bad (I've not finished it yet!) and catfish.
4. What are three things you cannot live without? My phone, my family and comfy pjs - not so original.
5. Who is your favourite fictional character? "science bitch" Jesse pinkman.
6. What is your most prized possession? I'm not sure, maybe my camera?
7. Describe yourself in three words. This is a tough one. Trusting, thoughtful and realistic (not the best choice of words but I was stuck!)
8. What is your guiltiest pleasure? I wouldn't say guilty... Chocolate.
9. What single quality do you most appreciate in people? Loyalty
10. What’s your favourite post that you’ve written? (Link, please!) limecrime velvetine review

I now nominate these people-

1. http://fairysocks.blogspot.co.uk/
2. http://ardenttreasure.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.thebeautyideal.blogspot.co.uk
4. http://laurajonesbeauty.blogspot.co.uk
5. http://amzyinwonderland.blogspot.co.uk/

To answer these questions (a few I stole from Kiana)-

1. How did you pick your blog’s name?
2. Why did you start your blog?
3. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self?
4. Where were you born and were do you live now?
5. favourite makeup product at the moment?
6. favourite shop at the moment?
7. list a few of your favourite blogs/ bloggers you are loving at the moment.
8. Describe yourself in three words.
9. What single quality do you most appreciate in people?
10. What’s your favourite post that you’ve written? (Link, please!)

Everyone who does this please comment your blog post!

Thanks so much for reading, Alex.

John Lewis price match HAUL!

Last week there was 'price match' at John Lewis, certain brands were on 10-25% off (I believe). Most beauty brands at John Lewis were included in this as I believe the prices were matching the Debenhams promotions. This usually happens a few times a year- fingers crossed there will be one near Christmas like there was last year! Obviously I bought a few things, all beauty of course. I bought things online and in the Newcastle Eldon Square store because I was staying with my sister over the weekend. Unfortunately the promotion ended on sunday but its definitely worth a check next time they do price match!


Mac Lipstick in Cyber- Normally £15.50 bought for £13.95 -A beautiful 'almost black' purple, satin finish lipstick. I've been wanting to get this for a very long time but never had the guts. I love any kind of dark lipstick and this is my darkest yet. I've tried this on once and its amazing. You'll be seeing plenty more of cyber on my blog!

Mac Prep + Prime Lip - Normally £13 bought for  £11.70- I've heard great things about this lipstick primer and because I have a lipstick addiction I thought it is worth a try- especially for my matt-er shades. I've been waiting for this to come in stock for ages on John Lewis so the timing couldn't have been better.

The Real Steal - They're Real eyeliner and mascara- normally £19.50 bought for £15.60. Yet another thing I've been dying to buy. I did have a sample of the mascara a while back and was very impressed but until my Le volume de Chanel ran out I didn't have an excuse to buy an expensive mascara. Also I've heard mixed reviews on the eyeliner so the mini size is perfect for a trail run.

Babyliss Boutique Soft Waves - out of stock similar curler here - (cheat this item wasn't on price match but it was pretty cheap at £24.95 with 5 years guarantee) I have needed a curler for a very long time and as my hair is very long, finding a wide long barrel is essential. I was planning on buying this styler online but it went out of stock just before I tried to buy it. I saw it in the Eldon Square store and got very excited, at £25 you can't go far wrong.

Thanks for reading, Alex.

LUSH mini haul and favourites

The other week I went into my local Lush in Sheffield with my friend Joyce from fairysocks. I picked up a few things (as always) so I thought I'd just show you what I bought. I have used up all my bath bombs so of course wanted to stock up. I usually gravitate to fresh smells- citrus in particular (happy hippy shower gel is amazing) but I was a bit more adventurous this time.


Granny Takes a Dip £3.25 - This one smells sort of soapy (if thats a thing?) and slightly citrus, according to lush it is ginger, pepper and lemon scented. It makes patterns in the bath that look like they came straight for the 70s!

Twilight £3.25 - This one smells very floral which is not a usual pick for me. Honestly I mostly picked twilight because I heard fellow Sheffielder velvetgh0st raving about it! It is made with essential oils and scented with lavender, it makes swirls of pink and purple in your bath -can you see a theme here?

Space Girl £2.35 - This smells bath bomb like again with a hint of sweet. Its made with grapefruit oil and bergamot oil and POPPING CANDY! This one is sparkley and purple so it should be a winner!

I hope you enjoyed this mini haul, I have a few ideas of new posts so watch this space!

Thanks for reading, Alex.

REVIEW! Limecrime's velvetine in wicked.

My first review!

Limecrime velvetine in the shade 'wicked'

On the limecrime website it describes the product as "Matte burgundy-red. Ground-breaking formula that goes on liquid and dries completely matte. Touch-proof, transfer-proof, long-wearing and utterly addictive!"

I would say the colour is spot on and it's gorgeous! I also love how matte it is and I don't find my lips to look flakey at all (sometimes mine do with lipsticks or lipliners)

It isn't the easiest to apply but after 4 or 5 applications I've got the hang of it - I use my real techniques detailer brush from the core collection round the edges first then fill in the the 'doe foot' applicator it comes with. The packaging is exactly like a doe foot lipgloss, so the fluffiness of the brush makes it hard to apply crisp lines.

Once you've applied the velvetine it does become matte and pretty much non transferable after about 30 seconds or less. 

I do have a pet peeve with the application and that it that it never sticks to the part or my bottom lip closest to my teeth, it's probably because this part is too wet naturally but when I pout or pull a silly face you can clearly see the area of pink next to the deep red and I don't find this with my MAC Russian red. 

I would say this product is long wearing UNTILL you eat. On me it tends to take off the inner part of my lips lipstick and doesn't like nice, it doesn't fade like if say Russian red does, it just takes parts completely off. Of course you can reapply these bits but it doesn't look as nice as at the start of the day. I have heard reviews of people who haven't had this problem so it could just be me?

I would consider this lipstick a winner but not for meals out - for nights out it's perfect! No more reapplying in the toilets all night long. And I am in love with the colour. I believe it now comes in 7 colours in total.

before setting

after setting

In terms of where to buy it I found the shipping to be a ridiculous price for the uk - http://limecrime.com/

But I used 'cocktail cosmetics' as the velvetines are sold for £13.50 this was quick delivery (£3.50) and they provide you with a tracking number. I believe I received a discount code if I ordered again within the next month. - http://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/

Amazon also sells limecrime but for some reason it was ridiculously expensive!  I can't work out why. For example http://www.amazon.co.uk/LIME-CRIME-Velvetines-Liquid-Lipstick/dp/B00L6Q3BH6/ref=sr_1_1/276-9362928-5375748?ie=UTF8&qid=1409765336&sr=8-1&keywords=lime+crime+velvetines

I also found another website called 'Cutecosmetics' - http://www.cutecosmetics.co.uk/ this was pretty similar in price to cocktail cosmetics but I just chose them because of their excellent reviews. Though I'm sure this website is just as good!

Thanks for reading! X

Update and advice?

My friend has encouraged me to carry on blogging (not that I ever really got started) but I'm going to try to blog more consistently, and as you are aware I'm not the best at writing so I've decided to post the quicker the better, so I have less time to worry about the perfect wording and just get it out there!

Also because I don't always have access to a computer (I share with my younger sister and she currently is going into her second year of A-levels) I am going to see how this one turns out on my phone, I might get an iPad when I have enough money- does anyone do blogging from their iPads? Or have any advice you can give me?

One last update/ question for anyone reading- I had trouble with my layout and banner etc, it just looks really boring and plain (it's basically just what the blog automatically sets up like) so does anyone have any ideas or tips on how to get to grips with this or any great websites to create free banners? I welcome all tips as I'm a complete newbie!!

Limecrime review coming later!'

Thanks for reading! X

Makeup brush spot cleaner recipe/ DIY

Recently I've been getting into keeping my makeup brushes clean and a spot cleaner is ideal to do so. It is great for between deep cleans and to stop you having to deep clean as often. I find this cleaner especially great for my eyeshadow addiction- I like to have a clean brush for each colour and a clean blending brush too. I first took this 'recipe' from wikiHow but have changed a couple of things.

1. Put 250ml of bottled water into a jug (jugs are best because you will want to safety pour the mixture into a bottle at the end)

2. Add 50ml of surgical sprit to the jug- it will become cloudy, thats fine.

3. Add 1/4 tablespoon of dish washing soap into the jug- this is what turned my mixture yellow.

4. Add 1/2 tablespoon of gentle shampoo into the jug

5. Stir up and pour mixture into a spay bottle

The original website says to use this to lather then put brushes under a warm tap. I don't use it this way- I simply spray the brush and wipe dirt off on to kitchen roll. I find that this works for me. Obviously I am no expert in this area and I am no makeup artist but I find that using this between deep cleans (with water a gentle shampoo) it keeps my brushes in good shape. Surgical spirit disinfects and dries quickly- this is idea for a 'quick clean'. The other ingredients are good for the bristles and keeping them conditioned. I use this cleaner on synthetic and natural brushes. I hope this is helpful!

Dirty brush

Clean brush (this brush hair tends to go a bit crazy when its wet but dries like normal)

Brush mid-clean

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My trip to Edinburgh zoo!

Heres a few pictures of my trip to the zoo a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

spot the animal!

this is my favourite picture- because of the day old chick!

penguin selfie