White Rose Haul

Last Monday I went to White Rose with my Mum as it was a Bank Holiday and I needed some stuff for my holiday. I always find White Rose to be fairly calm ever since the Trinity Centre was built. I like it when it's calmer though as I'm not a fan of crowds, plus you get more of a chance to look around when you're not being pushed and shoved all the time.

Zara

please ignore the fake tan mishap on my hands, it won't happen again

Zara Trafaluc High-Waisted Shorts in Yellow - £9.99 (on sale & can't find link)
Zara Trafaluc Crochet Crop Top in Mid-Ecru - £25.99
Zara Trafaluc Crochet Shorts in Light Salmon-Pink - £25.99

First up, we went into Zara. By far one of my favourite shops as I can actually fit into a lot of their pieces, something that is a rarity for me. Ah the perks of being a pear (don't know your body shape? find out here)! I managed to snag quite a few items, all of which are perfect for my upcoming Cypriot holiday. I adore this white crochet crop top, it makes a nice change from all my vests! I feel like it could be easily dressed up or down, simply depending on what kind of bottoms and shoes I opt for.
The last time I went to WR I saw these yellow shorts and tried them on in green, but just wasn't happy with the colour. Sadly they didn't have any of the other colours in my size. So, when I went back and found the yellow ones, I just had to get them!
The last piece I got from Zara were these peach crochet shorts. They're fairly loose, so perfect for the heat, and they have pockets! This sounds weird but if I ever find 'hidden' pockets on bottoms, it makes me really happy. I often can't wear bottoms with pockets on as they make my hips look wider, but if they're 'hidden' like these, they give me all the satisfaction for lipgloss and BlackBerry space, without making me look like I've put on a stone round my hips. Brilliant!

Miss Selfridge

This is what starts to happen when all the photos are going wrong...

Miss Selfridge Petites Lime Crop Vest - £12
Next, we popped into Miss Selfridge. Now, I don't normally go in here as I find it can be kinda pricey but the window display featured some fabulous outfits. Despite not getting the outfits I (and my mum - yes my mum) loved as, like I said, they were fairly pricey, I got a beautiful, vibrant lime-coloured and white-speckled loose vest top.

H&M

H&M Skater Skirt - £14.99 (can't find the link)
We then went into H&M where I was finally able to get a co-ord. Well, I already had the jacket from a previous trip but after spotting this skater skirt in the exact same print I just couldn't help myself! Sadly, when I got home, the skirt and jacket didn't work together in the way I'd hoped. Seperately, they were beautiful, but together they made me look bulky. I kinda guessed that would happen but I'd hoped for the best anyway. Plus, I thought the jacket was shorter. Sigh. Still, it's a beautiful skirt, it just looks like I'm still on the hunt for my ideal co-ord.

Superdrug

B. Pure Micellar Water - £2.47 (half price)

I popped into Superdrug and got two more of their Micellar Waters from their B. Pure range. I got my first one in my last haul and although I'm not obsessed with it, it's pretty good for the price. Plus, it was still on offer so I thought I might as well stock up as I've gone through the first one fairly quickly so far.

What have you purchased recently?

♥

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints - the Spring 2014 Collection

from left to right - Sugar Apple, Rose Hip & Huckleberry

I know I'm pretty late to blog about these but I've only just recently got them. As you're all aware, I'm a huge fan of the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints, and I'm even more excited about them since they added 3 new colours to their range - Sugar Apple (soft mint), Rose Hip (pale baby pink) and Huckleburry (it could be Huckleberry but I have no idea...it's a pale baby blue, that's all I know).

from left to right - Sugar Apple, Rose Hip & Huckleberry

These shades are so sweet yet wearable. Perfect for work as they're so classic! I actually wore Huckleberry to work a few weeks back and I received so many compliments for it, with people thinking I'd had a gel manicure (yet again)! I'm practically a walking advertisement for Barry M, what can I say...

I just adore all three colours, they remind me of macarons (that I am yet to try. Sigh.) and ice cream. Aaaaand now I'm hungry...

What is your favourite shade? 

♥

Leeds Haul

A couple of weeks ago me and my friend Shannon popped into Leeds for a few hours on a miserable Thursday afternoon. Leeds is the home of the Victoria Quarter and Trinity Centre, making it one of the best shopping destinations in the UK (if you haven't been and you adore shopping, you need to visit!). I feel pretty lucky to be able to have almost every shop you could imagine all situated in one area. My purse, on the other hand, doesn't love it so much.

Surprisingly, I didn't actually go into Leeds with the intention of buying beauty products, I actually went because I really really reaaaally wanted Iggy Azalea's The New Classic album. HMV did have it, but didn't have the Deluxe edition, which is what I wanted. So of course, I had to cheer myself up with make-up...I just had to.

The Body Shop Hair Chalk in Tickle Me Pink - £5

I'd seen this in an e-mail I received a few weeks back and after looking it up on their website I really wanted to try it out. Now although I work in a hairdressers and therefore get my hair done for free, I've never actually had my hair dyed. I'm pretty lucky to have hair that's in good condition and I know what dyeing can do to your hair so I've always been put off. Because of this, I'd been wanting to try hair chalks out for a while so when I found out that Body Shop were selling some in pink and in blue, I knew I'd have to try it out. For £5 why not?!

Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Foundation in No2 Ivory - £5.99

I like (but not love) their Lasting Perfection Concealer and I've been wanting a cheap (but good quality) foundation for a while so I picked this up. When I got home so many people had said bad things about the foundation and despite the colour (I didn't realise they had a Porcelain shade), I actually like it. I might do a review on it sometime in the near future so keep your eyes peeled!

Natural Collection Loose Powder in Cool Translucent - £1.99

As I've said many times before, I adore NC's Pressed Powder. I also adore their Loose Powder and decided to pick up two!

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Sugar Apple & Rose Hip - £3.99

Ah, my one true nail-love. Adored by many, raved by me. These were the last two I needed to complete my collection...until I found out that Barry M were releasing MORE shades, this time a Summer 2014 collection (read about the Summer 2013 collection here). I'll obviously be buying the Summer 2014 shades too, and there shall be a post on the Spring Collection up soon. I LOVE THEM.

Natural Collection CoverUp Cream in Fair - £1.99

As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, I don't love the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer as much as everyone else seems to, therefore I am still on the hunt for 'the perfect concealer'. As I love everything I've tried from NC I thought I'd have a try with their CoverUp Cream, and so far, I'm impressed.

Montagne Jeunesse Blemish Mud Face Mask - £0.79

Me and my mum are (secretly) obsessed with Home Bargains. If you haven't already heard of it, it's basically a shop that sells well-known brands (and some unknown ones) at a cheaper price. Sometimes a super cheap price, but not always. I'm a lover of Montagne Jeunesse and their fab face masks and whenever I get them, I get them from Home Bargains. They always have a good selection and they always seem to be on 3 for £2, that's why I bought three!

What have you purchased recently?

♥

I Love My Body

Before I get started I want to write a little disclaimer. I tried not to make this a rant but me being my over-dramatic self made it into one anyway, so be warned! This is entirely my opinion on the matter of 'body shaming' and I know this a fairly controversial topic. It is one that is predominant in many teenage girls lives, as well as everyone else's. I don't want to come across as bitchy or nasty, I just felt like I should air my views from the 'slim side', and give you all a taste of what it's like to, despite having a so-called 'envious figure', receive a lot of hate for it.

There was a Victoria Secret campaign a couple years back called 'Love My Body'. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the campaign, with people saying that the models bodies were unattainable and unrealistic. I can understand to a certain extent why there was so much hate directed towards the photo, but at the same time it seems that those people need to be reminded that the campaign wasn't titled 'Real Beauty' like the Dove campaign back in 2004, it was titled 'Love My Body'. Therefore, I don't understand why it's so preposterous that these models shouldn't be happy in their own skin. You get told that you should love the skin you're in but just because these are supermodels that are the envy of many a woman, they shouldn't love themselves, and that being naturally slim is wrong and not beautiful too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning that being underweight or overweight is good, as it can affect your health. All I'm saying is that this prejudice over being 'too skinny' is getting ridiculous. I have read countless articles in magazines from overweight women saying that being slim is 'disgusting', and that 'size 0 isn't a size', but being a size 18 (and at risk of several serious illnesses including heart attack and diabetes) is beautiful and 'curvy'. See, that's another thing. The word 'curvy'. To me, being curvy is like Beyonce's figure. She's a US size 2 but well known for her curves, despite having a flat stomach and being generally slim. Yet in these magazines these overweight women claim that they're the curvy ones, and that unless you are 'fat' you can't be considered curvy. I couldn't disagree more. Like I said, Beyonce is a size 2 and curvy, and there's no denying that. It's just in my definition curvy is having a small waist and either big boobs, wide hips or a big booty, or all three. But maybe that's just my opinion.

I don't understand how it's wrong to call someone fat but to call someone 'disgustingly skinny' is perfectly acceptable. It completely baffles me. You wouldn't ask an overweight person 'why are you so fat?' so why is it okay to ask a slim person 'why are you so skinny?'. This body shaming has lead to a serious increase in eating disorders, something that people seem to forget about when they're calling someone vile for being slim or disgusting for being overweight. Sometimes it just can't be helped!

I'm 5ft2, weigh 7 stone, have a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.66 and I'm a dress size 4(UK). According to my BMI of 17.9, I am classified as underweight for my height. To me, I'm perfectly fine, and as long as my rib cage isn't showing then I'm happy. Because I'm a US size 0, people seem to instantly think that there's something wrong with me. I'm naturally slim, it's not as if I starve myself or eat nothing but low-calorie foods, I just have a very fast metabolism. But still, all they hear is 'size 0'.

You hear of many overweight people struggling to lose weight and to diet whereas for me, you could say that I struggle with my 'anti-diets'. Because of my super fast metabolism, it's very difficult for me to put on weight. If you didn't already know, I'm a vegetarian, and so a lot of the food I eat is fairly healthy and I like it, except my thyroid (the bit of your body responsible for your metabolism) doesn't. If I eat healthily for too long I lose too much weight and that's when I have to start going on my 'anti-diet' where I eat nothing but calorific, fatty foods. It's disgusting. I know most of you will be reading this and thinking 'I'm so jealous, I wish I could eat as much as I want whenever I want!' and don't get me wrong, I used to love being able to eat loads of fast food and not put on weight. But it's not until you eat healthily that you realise how awful bad foods make you feel. They make me miserable, tired, and weak. Not fun.

A few months back I saw a tweet from a boy that said 'I don't understand why girls are so obsessed with having a thigh gap', and I agreed. A friend of his then went on to reply with something along the lines of 'Yeah but if they don't have a thigh gap they're fat'. Wow. As I gave you pretty much all my details on my weight and size, you know I'm slim but I don't have a thigh gap. I'm considered a pear shape 'cause I have small boobs, a small waist but wide hips and 'large' thighs for my size. That tweet drove me so far up the wall that it will forever be angrily engraved in my skull. I'm blatantly not overweight, but because I didn't have a thigh gap I was still considered to be 'fat'. Guys like that that obviously don't understand the female body and our ability to have curves are one of the many reasons why cases of eating disorders are increasing.   

I'm going to do something that slim girls have been shamed into not saying. I love my figure. I do. Although I've been told countless numbers of times that I'm 'too skinny', that I 'need to put some meat on' and at one point even got asked if I was anorexic, I love my body. I have flaws, like everyone else, but I'm truly happy with my figure because there's no point in thinking otherwise. I'm not going to stand in front of the mirror in my underwear beating myself up over the fact that my hip bones stick out, nor am I going to cry over not having a thigh gap. I am who I am and I'm freaking proud of it. Don't like it? Then you know where you can put your opinion.

♥