Back to reality: Home from London...

Hello!! I feel like it's been ages since I've blogged, even though it was only really the weekend. I had an awesome time in London, it was great to see my friend again! I didn't get a chance to take any photos specifically for here (my friends don't know about my blog) so apologies for the 'Facebook' photos!! I really need to hire someone to start taking photos for me so I don't look like a complete idiot.

We flew down, me and my two friends, and I am NOT a good flier. The flight was only an hour long but I still got myself in a state. Ugh. Anyways, here's a photo of what I travelled in:

Primark jumper

Primark belt

Forever 21 skirt

Primark socks

Primark boots

Love me a bit of Primark. Also love these socks, seem to be wearing them a lot!! So after the flight it was an hour's bus journey to where my friend lives, so we got to hers about eleven thirty at night. A few drinks then bed! She lives really central so it was awesome.

Blog GIVEAWAY & Laaandaaaan tomorrow! + Day 3 :)

Just a reminder that I am doing a Blog Giveaway because I reached 50 followers (thanks!!), the link is HERE to find out more and to enter. This is the prize:

Now, I'd probably have closed the comp on Friday cause I figure that's plenty time, but I'm running it until Sunday because I'm going to London tomorrow!! One of my best friends moved there to work at the end of August and a few of us are flying down tomorrow to visit. So excited! This is my group of besties:

I'm second from the right, and Mandy (who we're visiting) is furthest right.

50 Follower GIVEAWAY!!

Oooh, so excited! Reached over 50 followers on my two week anniversary, thank you guys!!

So here is my 'Beautiful Bathtime' giveaway prize:

This set contains:

• Two 'Bomb Cosmetics' bath bombs
• 'Next Paradise' body products
• Soup and Glory 'Flake Away'

Blog GIVEAWAY, Challenge - Day 2, Wee update!!

Ok, so this is just gonna be a wee quicky/random post, so bare with me pleeease! Firstly, HAPPY TUESDAY! I love Tuesdays, because I have two zumba classes and a Thai boxing class on, which are all awesome fun (maybe not as much the boxing but I know it's good for me!). It's also Heat and More! Magazine day, which is pretty much the highlight of my week. Tragic. So anyways...


My 30 Day Challenge (click to see original post)
Day 02 – The meaning behind your Blog name

This is really easy for me to answer because I already covered it on my first post! If you click here, you can find out why I called my blog Cosmetics, Kittens & Classrooms. Although to be honest, you don't exactly have to be a rocket scientist to work it out. =p

A photo of Max and Dana as kittens to give a big clue lol!

Moving on! You might remember I am currently an unemployed primary teacher. Well, I got a call today from the supply list I'm on asking if I can work tomorrow and Thursday morning. You get the school name and that's it, it could be any size of class, any age from 4-12 basically, a mixed class, there could be work left but there might not be etc etc. It makes me feel physically sick doing supply, I hate it. But tomorrow's only gonna be my fourth days work since August, so I gotta just go for it. Wish me luck!! :( :( :(

Seriously.

The last thing on the agenda today is me being SUPER excited because I started my blog exactly two weeks ago today and I'm nearly at 50 followers! So to celebrate, once I reach 50, I will do a little blog giveaway. Obviously this is my first time doing this so I'm exciiiited! Thanks for all your support guys!!

~ Lauren ♥

30 Day Challenge!

So I've seen quite a few people doing these challenges, and I had a look and the one that appeals to me the most was the one I saw on Nykki's Blog - the 30 Day Challenge! Basically, I'll be letting you guys know a little bit more about me, alongside the usual kinds of posts obv! If anyone else decides to do this challenge or a similar one, let me know so I can check out your answers! <3

Day 01 – A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02 – The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03 – A picture of you and your friends
Day 04 – A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05 – A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06 – Favorite super hero and why
Day 07 – A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08 – Short term goals for this month and whyDay 09 – Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10 – Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11 – Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12 – How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14 – A picture of you and your family
Day 15 – Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16 – Another picture of yourself
Day 17 – Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18 – Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19 – Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20 – Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21 – A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22 – What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23 – Something you crave for a lot
Day 24 – A letter to your parents
Day 25 – What I would find in your bag
Day 26 – What you think about your friends
Day 27 – Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28 – A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29 – In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30 – Your favorite song.

I can't wait to find out more about you guys, and to share some info about myself!


Day 01 – A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Me and my boyfriend Scott at a wedding last month

1. I am a qualified primary teacher (pretty scary to think I'm teaching the next generation!)

2. I spent three months in California and one month travelling two summers ago and it was the best experience of my life.

3. I don't like chips, Chinese food, Indian food or any form of spicy food.

4. My life's passion is animals! I would love to own my own animal shelter.

5. I don't think I've ever bought an item of clothes from Topshop.

6. I will have been with my boyfriend Scott for seven years in February. We have a huge height difference; he's 6"4 and I'm 5"2.

7. I am a qualified pharmaceutical dispenser and am the one all my friends turn to for questions about medicine and illness! I have quite a few medical problems myself and take at least six tablets a day.

8. I'm pretty obssessed with Zumba right now, I can go to six classes a week!

9. I love sooo many different kinds of music, from Lifehouse to Eminem to Britney to Chase & Status. I also love songs from musicals.

10. I am a total and utter bookworm - I read like crazy and recently got a Kindle which barely leaves my side.

11. I don't want to grow up, but when I do my dream is to make a difference. I just don't know how yet.

12. People sometimes judge me differently on how I look, but I'm actually pretty smart. I have eight 1's at Standard Grade, five A's at Higher level and a First Class Honours Degree. It's pretty much the best you can get.

13. I live near Glasgow in Scotland, but one day I'm emigrating!

14. I am quite claustrophobic, am terrified of spiders and flying!!

15. I am stupidly excited over my blog and am loving the new community I'm joining!

Ta da! Hope that wasn't too boring and you learnt a bit about me.

Make sure you let me know if you're doing this too!

~ Lauren ♥

False Eyelashes: The Cheat's Way to Perfect Application!

I have recently started wearing false eyelashes a lot more often, I used to only wear them for a night out but now I have my secret weapon, I pretty much wear them whenever I step out the house! Today I'm going to show you how to apply false lashes, both the traditional way and the cheat's way! =p

Firstly, there are obviously a wide variety of eyelashes available. Because I wear them a lot, I tend to go for cheaper, 'throw-away' ones. I bought a set of ten off eBay recently for £1 lol. As you can imagine, they're not fantastic quality, but they do the job and hey - I'm on a serious budget right now.

So here's an example of some of the eyelashes on the market:

They look a bit ratty because they're well loved lol!

So the top one is the one I'm going to apply to show you the 'everyday' look with falsies, the middle I'm going to apply to my other eye for more of a dramatic look. I'm not actually a huge fan of the bottom lashes, think I wore them maybe once, they're just too much for me. I like them to look quite natural.

There are also different glues you can get, typically white, black or clear. I hate white glue, my preference is black but I'm going to use the clear glue with my day lashes and black with my night lashes. The clear glue btw is obviously ELF, and the black I got off eBay (maybe not the safest thing ever...)

Day Eyes

I'm going to apply the day eyelashes the traditional way. So first, I apply all my eye make up as normal. Usually it's a good idea to do a slick of eyeliner as this will help the eyelashes to blend in.

So, Step One. Apply your chosen glue to the eyelashes and leave for 20-30 seconds until it becomes tacky.

Step Two. I then carefully hold the lashes and position them right above/behind my real eyelashes so it's they're almost on the lashline. Some people use tweezers for this.

Step Three. Gently lower the falsies so they are sitting on the lashline right behind your real eyelashes. When they're in position, I gently press down on either corner for about ten seconds and then run your finger along the whole lash line, pressing down to make sure it's all secure. If you're not happy with the first time, just peel them off the re-position, the glue should still be sticky enough to let you have one more try!

Step Four (optional). Use eyelash curlers to help blend your real and fake eyelashes, and another coat of mascara if you like.

Ta da! Finito!

So that's the day look and the traditional application. Now I'm gonna show you the night look using the CHEAT'S WAY!

Night Eyes

Here's my night time make up without falsies obv.

Step One. Whip out the magic tool (not as exciting as it sounds)!!

This is my actual lifesaver. It's a serious beauty essential now. I got it from ELF (obv) and it's bascally a false eyelash applicator. It's so easy to use and basically gives perfect results in about thirty seconds lol. So here's how to use it.

Step Two. Put false eyelashes in applicator (just by squeezing one end to open it up and sliding them in). Make sure they're the right way up. Apply glue to the visible lash line. I'm using the black glue because it acts as like an extra eyeliner for night eyes. Remember let it get tacky for about 20-30 seconds.  

Step Three. Basically just line it up so the falsies are touching the eyelid lashline, and hold it there for about ten seconds. Then squeeze the end of the applicator to release the lashes and they should be perfectly in place! You can use your finger to gently press on them to make sure they're on securely.

You can curl or whatever then if you want to blend more.

Honestly, using the eyelash applicator means it takes me about five minutes to do my false eyelashes and I'm good to go. I highly recommend them, and the one I have from ELF is part of a set that includes the applicator, the clear glue, the thickest eyelashes pictured above and a little eyelash stand for only £3.50, available here.

Well, it's been a long post but I hope I've shown you how eyelashes can be worn daytime or nighttime, and the really easy, fool-proof way to apply them! You'll never look back, I promise. ^_~

~ Lauren ♥

OOTD - Would you rock white tights??

Hellooo. Yesterday me and two of my best friends felt like a catch up (even though we see each other at least once a week!) and decided to go for lunch and drinks. Now, baring in mind me and one of my friends, let's call her Ben - because that is actually what we call her - are unemployed, we wanted to to be a reasonaly cheap day/evening. We settled on November Cafe in Glasgow for lunch and a couple of cocktails to start.

November is a really pretty, chic place to have a drink, it's in a more upmarket area of Glasgow and I really like having a few cocktails there. BUT we were on a budget so after a two course lunch and a couple of French martinis...

... it was off to Wetherspoons lol.

We don't really frequent Wetherspoons that often but I'd seen an advertisement of cocktail pitchers for a fiver. A fiver?! SOLD. But when we got there, it was suddenly two for £14..? Hmm. So we got four pitchers and whiled away a few hours chatting! Lovely.

So what did I wear? Well, it was cold and wintery, so I decided to play on that and dusted off my white tights. Now I know they're not everyone's cup of tea; they're not overly flattering, they really stand out and they can make you look about six, but I love them!

Wearing:

Forever 21 dress I got in New York

Red belt from Primark

White tights from Primark

Boots from Primark

Sorry the pictures, again, are poor quality. For some reason I thought it would be a fantastic idea to wait until I got home to take the photos, and it probably wasn't my best plan ever. So they're a bit blurry as  I  the camera was struggling to focus, and the lighting is all wack because it was nighttime so I had to put on my spotlight on my ceiling which cause crazy shadows.

But! Anyways. What do you think about white tights? Have you worn them before? If not, is it a look you'd try? Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Thinking about Threading??

I hate my eyebrows. They are a horrible shape, are blonde, and just don't look like all the celebrities' do. My sister started plucking them for me when I was about sixteen or seventeen,  but I could never keep it up myself and she'd always dispair when she had to start from scratch every time. When she moved out, I either had to face having unruly brows, or do something about it. I decided to try waxing.

I don't mind getting my eyebrows waxed, sure it stings and makes my eyes water like crazy woah, but it looks ok and lasts ok.

But when threading became more widely available, I decided to give it a try. It's basically a Middle Eastern technique where the technician uses strands of thread twisted together to pull out the hairs as they catch between the threads.

Here's a video of when I first got it done (Scott thought it was hysterical and videod it without me knowing!):

I've had it done a few times now, mostly at Superdrug, and here's my summary:

Advantages:

• It's over really quick, takes ten minutes tops
• It's cheap! £5 at Superdrug, about £10 in a salon
• It leaves a lovely shape
• It lasts about a month

Disadvantages:

• Not gonna lie; it hurts!
• In Superdrug it's always busy and people are always staring
• You have to help out, pulling the skin this way and that

But overall I feel the benefits of threading win, so here's some photographic evidence. Please bare in mind I have no make up on cause my eyes always water so there was no point!!

WARNING! Hideous photo alert!! These are my eyebrows before threading:

Very furry and ugh. You can see I'm a bit pants at the whole tweezing/tidying thing. Can you believe I went out like this??

I met my friend Heather just before I went in for the threading, and she agreed to take some photos of me during the treatment (thanks! ^_^). Unfortunately Heather is not much of a photographer and all the photos were veeery unflattering. Here's one tho:

Check out the double chin lol!!

This is where I was having to hold the skin taut to make sure the shape stays neat and tidy.

And here's the results!

Right eye:

Before                            After

Left eye:

 Before                                After

What do you think?? When I got home I added a bit of make up so you could see what it looks like normally:

I know my eyebrows seem slightly different shapes, the girl that did my eyebrows today was a new start, but tbh they don't look uneven in real life so I'm happy with them!

What do you think, have you tried threading before? Are you thinking of trying it? Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Graduate Fair OOTD - APOLOGIES for the photos!!!

Ok, first off, before I ever start this post, I just want to apologise whole-heartedly for the photos in this post. My camera died and I was in a rush, so I took some quickies with my phone and didn't bother looking at them until oh, five minutes ago. And they are pants. Poor quality, poor lighting, and like a big stupid I took the photo in the mirror so you can see my phone taking the pics. DUH.

/sincereapology

Soooo, anyways...! Today I was kidnapped gently persuaded by my boyfriend Scott to attend a Graduate Fair with him. He's in his honours year at uni, and I'm an unemployed graduate, so it all seemed like a logical thing to do. Except I'm a teacher, and every single stand had to do with busines degrees. Meh.

I am like Scott's own personal PA/cheerleader though, and kept pushing him (literally) toward people to talk to. I am about half the height of him, here's a little picture to show scale:

(and I'm wearing high heels in this obv)

.. so it was like a midget pushing a giant around saying 'This is Scott! He wants to know more about your graduate scheme!!" and then jumping in the convo with my notepad at the ready and my pen tapping my chin, "soo, what is the chance of progression in your company? How many grauduates are you taking on?? What are you looking for in an employeeeeee???" All the while poor Scott stands there looking bemused.

Needless to say, I didn't get offered any fantastic jobs, so I'm back to claiming jobseekers today, YIPPEE.

So let's get these horrendous photos out the way.

Whole outfit - Primark

I thought I'd go smart, but with a quirky twist of the knee high socks. I am a bit of a Primark whore, just realised the whole outfit came from there. It's a little skater dress with gold buttons on little fake pockets, I just love skater dresses, I think they are so flattering for my figure.
I love the cardigan too, got it last year and it's a bit Chanelesque. =p Over the knee socks are my winter staple right now, so I had to throw them in with a wee pair of sensible shoes.

As it turns out, all my effort (ha) wasn't worth it but hey, it was worth a try!

Going to get my eyebrows threaded later today so if you've never had it done and are curious about it, make sure you check back tomorrow for my threading post!

~ Lauren ♥

Hopefully The Firminator will become my new hero!!

The past couple of weeks, I've started to realise if I want to lose weight/ tone up, I gotta do something about it! I've started going to Zumba between 4-6 times a week which I LOVE, and Thai Boxing once a week. I'm trrrrying to eat healthy, but I'm just not very good at it!

So, on my last (dangerous) journey to Boots, I meandered over to the Soap & Glory section and saw it was on 3 for 2 (veeery dangerous). After quickly checking the Boots website for reviews, I decided to buy The Firminator Body Contouring Gel.

It has received great reviews, people saying it firms them up after just one use! The idea of it is as follows:

Soooo... no idea what most of that means. But the general idea is you massage it into areas that need firmed up twice a day, and after 56 days (roughly 2 months), you should be all nice and toned!! I'm a liiiiittle bit sceptical, but two months takes me up to about Christmas so I'm going to give it a go. It says it works better alongside exercise, so that's good.

It looks like this:

A cool feeling gel that once you've rubbed in all the areas you want to tone up, starts to tingle a bit so it does feel like it's doing something! It's quite pricey at £10.21 as reviews say you go through bottles quickly, but with 3 for 2 deals usually on it works out a bit better.

I'm going to try it on my thighs, tummy and upper arms. I'll let you know how I get on!

P.S. here's some more nail art I did today.. =p

These are my 'city lights' falsies, don't know why I picked such big nails!!

I thought I'd do something a bit more simplistic, just a monchrome look with a colour pop. I didn't have any tape to do straight lines so they're a bit wobbly!!

Took my Shellac off and tried some fruit on my nails... a lime, strawberry, orange, watermelon and lemon!

Hope you like!

~ Lauren ♥

Nailed it! (or not... =p)

So, in the past oh, ten years, I've been in a constant battle to quit biting my nails. Sometimes I've managed really well, stopped biting for like six months, but I always fall back into the horrible habit. I'm in a kind of in-betweeny stage just now, my nails have grown a lot (they're miniscule when I'm in Bite Mode) but I'm still nibbling the sides of them. The thing is, I LOVE having long nails! I love to paint them and look and them and tap-tap-tap them on anything that stays still for more than three seconds! So to help me grow my nails, I tend to paint them a different colour every day or do cute wee patterns to make me not wanna bite them and ruin the pattern!

I discovered Minx about two years ago, when my sister first got them done and I could only look down at my own little stumps in dispair. So as soon as I'd grown my nails long enough, Minx were my addiction! I buy them off eBay and do them myself, and when I ran out of money to fuel this addiction I switched to generic types (3 packs of foils for fiver?!).

 Real Minx (above), fake Minx (below).

Then, when my sister bought a Shellac kit and did this for me, I was also hooked! I liked my nails so much that I didn't wanna bite! Howeeever... even Shellac is starting to wear off on me now (or maybe I just need some new colours!). So I'm on to nail art.

I still have Shellac on my nails just now and since they're only two weeks in I wanna keep them on for a bit longer so I started practising my nail art on falsies! And since it's cold outside and I was sitting in front of the fire wearing cosy knits, naturally my first thought turned to Christmas:

So we have (L-R) a snow scene, a snowman, a present, a Christmas tree, and general Christmassy colours. I don't have any nail art tools eg a nail pen, so it wasn't the easiest of tasks but I think they turned out quite cute!

My next thought was that maybe I should concentrate on something a little closer, so here are my Hallowe'en nails! This time I blu-tacked them onto my nails to get a better effect.

 A scary pumpkin and a little ghosty! I stupidly didn't let them dry fully when I stuck them on my fingers, hence the smudges where I've pushed down on sticky polish.

Then, and by this point my family were starting to worry for my sanity, I decided to work on a season-free design. I settled on some cute cupcakes.

They look a bit odd with the blu-tak sticking them on cause they were glittery clear at the cuticles but have a blue-ish tinge because of how they've been stuck on.

So here's my finished hands!

What do you think?? Hopefully when I take off my Shellac sometime in the next week I can do some designs on my nails for real!

~ Lauren ♥