Good afternoon!

It's been a diddly-darn while since I last wrote on my blog, but today I thought I would do a 'What's in My Bag' style post for those of you who like being an itsy-bit nosey and enjoy seeing what others carry in their bags on a day to day basis.

The bag I'm currently using on my days off is the Marc Jacobs 'Too Hot to Handle' Satchel - I love it! The size is so practical and the colour goes with everything. I'm usually always a sucker for black handbags but I thought the cement colour would be a nice change; I certainly haven't had any regrets. I purchased this bag last year (more about that here) and have been wearing it everywhere recently.

So... yeah. I carry quite a bit of tat around with me. The purse is a little on the large side and takes up rather a lot of space, but it can store so many pennies and cards that I refuse to downsize. The Louis Vuitton 'Cles' is what I use if I'm running out the house or on the move and don't require every loyalty card under the sun. It's such a handy little pouch - it's big enough to store cards as well as a couple of coins and also has a keychain where I like to keep a spare house key.

Yes, the pink glittery thing is indeed a braces case. Hopefully I won't be needing it for much longer, but currently I have an upper removable brace so I take the case with me everywhere as well as a mini toothbrush and toothpaste. SO sexy.

Ahh, perfume. I have used the same one for years. It's 'Viva la Juicy' by Juicy Couture, and I still love it as much as I did when I first smelt it. It's floral without being too overpowering or sickly sweet. The only niggle I have with this is that it doesn't seem to last long on the skin, but that's nothing that a fresh spritz can't fix.

Now onto the not-so-interesting stuff. A black Bic biro (other brands are available!) is somewhat of an essential, right?! You never know when you might need to take note of something when you're out and about, and while you can just whip out your iPhone and jot things down in the notes app, nothing beats physically writing something down.

A mini makeup bag is another essential. There is nothing worse than having a long-distance relationship with your makeup bag during the day, especially if your skin likes to get oily midway through the afternoon. Powder is essential. Other products I like to stash in my bag are lip balms/lipsticks and a waterproof mascara for teary-eyed emergencies.

Mini hairsprays deserve all the awards. They're rather bulky to carry but do allow you to say goodbye to unwanted frizz and flyaways. Alongside the hairspray, I always have a hairbrush on me just in case when my hair gets knotty.

Then there is, of course, my phone. It could easily be mistaken for an extra body part as I never go anywhere without it... i'm sure you can relate!

What are your handbag essentials?

Chloë

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I'm sure I mentioned in a previous blog post that I'd booked a short stay in Spain for three days. I ventured off in the early hours of Monday morning and stayed just outside the city of Málaga. It was SO lovely! I fall in love with Spain a little bit more each time I visit. It's so relaxing there; just being able to walk down the street without knowing anybody gives you such an overwhelming sense of freedom, and the endless hours of sunshine definitely help to put people in a good mood!!

I thought i'd keep this post quite simple and share a couple of photos below from my trip - hope you enjoy!

All photos were taken by myself using a Canon EOS M with a standard 18-55mm lens.

I've realised just recently that my skincare routine has taken a backseat. I was once that goodie two-shoes who would triple cleanse before bed to make sure every last scrap of makeup had left my face before hitting the hay, but all of a sudden I've found myself reaching for a pack of makeup wipes and totally disregarding any form of acid toner. I've moaned during the past month at the state of my skin; it's been patchy, blemish-y and shiny in all the wrong places. Feeling fed up of the state my face was in, I headed straight onto the Boots website in the hope of finding some super skincare products to give my skin the love (but also the kick up the backside) it needs to get back on the straight and narrow.

Boots have some incredible deals online at the moment, which gave me all the more reason to stock up on some of the products that I used to use time and time again until I forgot to repurchase them. One of those products being the Boots 3 Minute Clay Mask. Priced at £1.50 this is an absolute steal. I find it really helps to calm down my skin thanks to the extract of cucumber in the ingredients and it seems to make it appear much smoother and softer to the touch.

Rimmel's Hide the Blemish concealer has been around for years, and it's one of the first makeup items I ever owned. I remember liking it because it's very yellow-toned and has great staying power. I rediscovered this in my makeup collection the other day but it had worn right down to nothing more than a stump so I threw it out, but I'm glad I've ordered another one and look forward to giving it a go!

There's no better eyebrow pencil than Archery by Soap & Glory. I've tried so many drugstore/highstreet brow pencils and I always find they're too dark or too red-toned, or the nib breaks and never re-sharpens! This one has a super-fine tip so it leaves your brows looking soft and natural and it even has its own spoolie on the other end - perfect for saving that all-important space in your makeup bag.

Ah, the Clearasil pads. Whilst I'm aware i'm no longer a hormone-fuelled teenager, I grew up using these and they seemed to save my skin in times of desperation when a horror breakout occurred. I thought I'd give them another go as I have a few stubborn under-the-skin spots on my forehead and I've completely skipped using any sort of acid toner on my face for yonks. I figured these would do the trick and then some, claiming to not only even skin tone but also exfoliate, reduce shine & oil, unblock pores and remove dirt.

When I think of facial oils my initial thoughts are just "nope". I hate the texture for a start, but after reading the endless list of benefits I gave in and ordered the Botanics Organic Facial Oil. So many people have raved about this in the reviews section on Boots and I figured they can't all be wrong, so I pray this will be a product I fall in love with and banish my dislike of oils for good!

Last but not least, the Botanics Radiance Balm. Not something I necessarily need, but I tricked myself into thinking that this may just I've me the radiance i'm after, and I'm all for looking like a glowing sun goddess. I guess I just envisioned myself being hand-fed grapes while lounging on a sunbed in the mediterranean and, well, that was enough to get me to order it. 

Have you picked up any great beauty bits recently?

Chloë
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(Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All of the products mentioned above were purchased by myself). 

Today I wanted to try something a little bit different for lunch. Lunch is somewhat of a privilege for me as I typically don't have a break during my standard working day. 

As today is my day off, I decided to venture out in the pouring rain to go and pick up some goodies to make my very own plant-based pizza. 

I bought two thin and crispy pizza bases from Sainsburys along with a bag of spinach, some sweetcorn, a tomato and some tomato purée. 

Whilst the oven was heating up, I spread the tomato purée out onto the base and shredded up the spinach to add as part of the topping. Then I sprinkled on some sweetcorn and basil along with some diced tomato and placed it straight in the oven at 200 degrees for around ten minutes. Et voilà! It was absolutely delicious and totally guilt free! I was very impressed with how it turned out considering it was my first attempt; here's to many more in the future!

I'm currently sat writing this whilst being drenched in sunlight.

No, I'm not in a foreign country, I am in fact sat in the middle of my lounge in England enjoying the sunlight pouring through the windows. Madness, I know.

Today I wanted to share my breakfast with you. Well, not literally, but I took a few snaps on my new camera (Canon EOS M) which I'm loving right now. The image quality is dreamy! My only niggle is with the battery life, but that's hardly surprising considering how much the little guy can do; there are tons of cool features and to be able to produce SLR worthy images from a camera that is about a third of the size is phenomenal!

Anyway, back to breakfast. This morning I woke up with a spring in my step, despite being struck down with a cold/cough a few days ago. There's a bug going around at work (that I'm blaming on the builders for coughing and spluttering everywhere) and it's honestly infected 80% of the workforce! So, with having the constant need to cough or sneeze every .2 seconds I decided to go back to basics and keep my breakfast simple by just having porridge. Delicious porridge at that, mind.

To make:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup hot water (boiled)
• 1/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened but it's personal preference!)
• 1 banana
• coconut sugar to sweeten

I've recently discovered it's a lot quicker to mix the oats in a bowl and wang them in the microwave than slouching over the stove stirring like no tomorrow to make sure the oats don't stick to the pan.

All you have to do is pour the oats into a bowl, add the almond milk and wait for the kettle to boil. Then, pour the desired amount of hot water in and mix everything together before placing in the microwave for 30-40 seconds (depending on the microwave's wattage). It may look like a watery mess at this stage but fear not; the heat from the microwave will help it to thicken. After removing the porridge from the microwave, all that's left to do is add your desired toppings! I opted for a banana, some strawberries and a sprinkle of dried cranberries.

Aaaaaand you're done. A quick, easy & super tasty breakfast that's ready in just a matter of minutes :)

Hi lovelies!

This week seems to have been a somewhat lazy yet productive one for me, with the majority of my time being spent trawling the interweb gawping at anything and everything. I made a few rash purchases; some Soleil Tan de Chanel bronzer, a snazzy black and gold studded handbag that I had my eye on months ago (that I saw in a Zoella video) and a new camera somehow winged their way into my shopping basket... oh, the life of a shopaholic. 

Seriously though, i've been lusting over cameras since early December but couldn't make my mind up in time for Christmas. It was a struggle, but last night I decided it was to be between the Olympus Pen E-PL7 (definitely a favourite amongst bloggers right now) and the Canon EOS M. The EOS M is the slightly older model as its sparkly, new and improved M3 and M10 siblings are out now, but truth be told, I was after something affordable and didn't think the tilting screen was worth the extra £100+. You may have noticed that both of the cameras mentioned above are 'compact system cameras', or CSC for short. Essentially this means you can produce the same high-quality images that you would on a DSLR, but without the added weight and bulkiness of a larger camera body. Think the offspring of a DSLR, if you will. It was a tricky choice believe me; the Olympus Pen E-PL7 is certainly a super camera that would be sure to win 1st place in a technology beauty contest... the white one is so pretty! The Canon is certainly a lot less streamline but does have some advantages:

1. You can purchase a lens mount which allows any existing Canon EF lenses to be compatible - perfect if you already own lenses for a Canon DSLR
2. It looks a little more robust, thus less likely to get damaged
3. It's a Canon... 'nuff said.

So yeah, I went for the Canon. I figured it would be far more economical seeing as I already own a couple of Canon lenses and I've had my DSLR for years so I'm familiar with the settings. I'm hoping this means my blog photos will be nothing less than exceptional from now on!

Do you own a compact system camera?

Chloe

x

We're vastly approaching the end of January and it's suddenly occurred to me that I haven't written a blog post since last year... *gasp*. This year I haven't set any resolutions as such, but I have decided that it's time I started being more optimistic and appreciating the little things in life that truly matter. The year of 2015 saw me pass both my driving theory and practical tests first time, leave the country to visit the wonderful city of Paris with one of my closest friends and take the plunge to go ahead and get braces. Those are probably quite mere achievements in the grand scheme of things, but I am certainly not the most confident of beings so I'm rather pleased that I managed to get those things done and ticked off my ever-growing 'to-do' list.

So, what's next for 2016?

Well, I'm currently off work for a couple of weeks due to the shop undergoing refurbishment, so it's left me with lots of free time that I've been spending verrrry wisely trawling the likes of Expedia for any last-minute holiday deals. I'm pleased to say I've already got the first mini-break of the year all booked in for March so I'll be returning to sunny Spain in a matter of weeks.. yay! Also this year I'm hoping to step up my career game and look for another job with longer hours because, well, how else can I afford to live the lifestyle of a serial jet-setter?! 

In terms of accomplishments, I'd love to improve on my Spanish (seeing as Spain is practically my second home now!) I've already downloaded an app called Duolingo which is brilliant for learning the basics and it incorporates reading, writing, speaking and listening into each lesson which is great. I'd also love to plan and organise more mini-breaks for this year as I've really grown to adore travelling (despite not yet venturing outside of Europe, ha!) In general, I'm hoping to just spend this year having a good time and experiencing new and exciting things.

What are your plans for 2016?

Chloë

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