Christina Grimmie

Listening to this first thing in the morning has put a really positive spin on my day!

If you're feeling stressed, down in the dumps or unmotivated give this a listen, it definitely put a smile on my face.

Spring! (Co-Lab Thursday)

I really don't enjoy winter, so when spring comes around I tend to start getting excited for warmer weather, flowery scents in the air, wearing fewer layers and little groups of adorable goslings waddling about - if you live in York you'll know what I mean! (See above). I absolutely love the sunshine, however whenever the weather severely changes I always feel like my wardrobe needs a bit of an update - does anyone else do the same? So to celebrate spring arriving I did a bit of shopping (oops). A little retail therapy never did anyone any harm, right? Here's what I bought...

Sunglasses: H&M. 

The sunglasses were something I had been after for a while - I had bought the previous pair while on holiday last year, they were white with a beautiful floral pattern and only cost me 10 euros in a mall in Tarragona. These broke while in my bag back in the summer so I wanted a new pair which looked as cute as I thought those did! This pink pair fit the bill I reckon, plus they were so cheap!

Dress: Outfit.

As you are probably aware pastel colours are very on-trend at the moment, and luckily for me, I adore pastels. I love that this dress has a cute white collar and combines my love of blues and pinks together into a cute summery checkered pattern. It's absolutely perfect for spring and summer and I can't wait for the weather to get warmer and brighter so that I can finally wear this. I'll probably dress it with a white or black cardigan and my cream/off-white pumps, it will go great with the sunglasses too!

Rimmel Colour Rush Lip Balm: Superdrug

I love Rimmel Colour Rush, and although I already had two of these ('Fire Red' & 'Keep on Mauving') I couldn't resist getting a third when the Rita Ora range came out. They are extremely pigmented, and the colour lasts a long time. I'd actually describe it more as a super moisturising lipstick than a lip balm. Plus they smell lovely, like vanilla. Can't go wrong with vanilla! Mmm.

Sleek Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette: Boots/Superdrug

This is something I had been after for a while, so I'm really happy to have finally bought it! I needed a better powder for contouring, the shimmery highlighter is a bonus and the blush in a rose gold colour is beautiful. I will be doing a full review on this in a separate post later this month so stay tuned for that if you want to find out what I thought and how the colours look. 

Hair Accessories: H&M, River Island

I have developed somewhat of an obsession with bow accessories. It came to my attention recently, while deciding what I would do with my hair that day, that I had been neglecting the hair accessory department a little. So when I spotted these (two hair-ties, two clips) in H&M I picked them up straight away. The hairbands turn a boring ponytail into a cute, girly, up-do and the clips to add a nice swept-aside touch to my hair when I wear it down (usually looks best when I have it slightly curled). The giant scrunchie meanwhile was something I found in the sale at RI and picked up on impulse! I still haven't found the best way of wearing it yet, (I'm no Cressida Bonas) so any tips or ideas would be much appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I bought for spring. I don't know about you but I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that we can bring out our summery outfits! What have you been loving or keeping your eye on this month? :)

This post is part of The Bloggers Collaboration's Co-Lab Thursday! Check out other posts here:

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Award Rules
1)Thank & Link.
2) List rules & display your award.
3) 7 facts about yourself.
4) Nominate other amazing blogs and comment to let them know, linking them to your post.
5) Optional. Proudly display the award logo on your blog (eg. side bar) & follow the person who nominated you (if you didn't already).

Thank you Petra and also Grace for nominating me! As my first award I really appreciate this. :) x

I nominate...
Linderella (Fab beauty & lifestyle posts)

Elisse (My first ever follower!)
Vanessa (Brilliant photographer)
 Beth (Very cute beauty blog)
Jemma (Love just about all her beauty posts)
Bea (Another gorgeous beauty blog,
and she shares my love of Tanya Burr lip gloss!)
Elizabeth (A relatively new blogger like myself!)

Tanya Burr Lipgloss

Earlier this year one of my favorite Youtubers, Tanya Burr, released her own make-up line - how exciting! When the line first came out I couldn't wait to get my hands on one of her products. Tanya's collection includes a range of lip glosses and nail polishes in some absolutely gorgeous colours. I took forever to decide which colour I wanted, and I'm a bit indecisive but I eventually picked two, one of which I bought to give to a friend as part of her birthday present. Unfortunately I couldn't try the polishes because I have an allergy to an ingredient which is used in most nail polishes, however the colour 'Little Duck' looks beautiful and I know that would be the one I'd order if I could!

The Colour

The lip glosses come in a variety of shades and colours. I chose one I thought would be pretty and girly and not too bold or glittery (some shimmer and some shine!) so I went for a kind of nude pink, named 'Afternoon Tea', how cute! In the tube it looks slightly brighter than it actually goes on (see my swatch below) however the subtle pink makes for a perfect day-time look, and I find it suits my pale skin very nicely. It's definitely one of these my-lips-but-better products and has been finding its way into my handbag on a regular basis.

The Design

I love the design of the tube, from the simple black lid and matching brand name text to the little pink heart printed on the top. The wand tip has a curve to it which fits to the shape of your lip, which makes for super smooth and easy application. As for the gloss itself you'll notice that it smells incredible, like strawberries and cream, it's lovely. I like to apply two coats when I wear 'Afternoon Tea' for the best coverage, however the gloss is very pigmented and creates high shine which lasts longer than I expected it to. It's also not too sticky which is great as I find some lip glosses to be a bit 'oh-good-the-wind-blew-and-now-all-my-hair-is-stuck-to-my-mouth'.

Whats more, both the lip glosses and nail polishes are pretty cheap to purchase. I ordered mine from Feel Unique and the delivery did not take long at all, very impressed. If you bought one of Tanya's products let me know, which one do you like the most? (I'm so jealous of all of you who can wear her nail polishes!)

Silly Quizzes

Probably one of the best ways to procrastinate from doing something rather important is by doing pointless things like this on the internet! (Plus, you know, I can't resist anything related to Frozen...)

Trying to focus on an important task or writing an essay? Want to waste what little time you have? Find out which Frozen character you are and try the quiz for yourself here!

(Now get back to work).

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Frozen!

If you haven't heard a million people talking about Frozen recently (although I'm sure you have) it's a BEAUTIFULLY animated Disney film and probably the best one I've seen. I shan't bore you with a summary, as really for those who haven't seen it you can quite easily find that on IMBD or Wikipedia and I don't want to give too much away anyway, so instead, here is...

FIVE REASONS I LOVE FROZEN!

5. The Animation
As I mentioned already, the film is animated wonderfully. If you've seen Tangled you'll have noticed it is the same kind of animation, however it seems to have been notched up a grade with more cinematic shots, vast snowy landscapes and great attention to detail such as the plaits and many other hairstyles the girls wear during the film (which I adore, Elsa's coronation chignon is beautiful).

4. The New 'Tangled'
There are many similarities between Frozen and Tangled. The animation is very similar, and the characters have fairly similar roles (a heroine taking on an adventure during which she meets the hero who helps her on her quest, along with the help of his anthropomorphised steed - be it horse or reindeer - and a small friend of the heroine, also with very human qualities).
Many people have been comparing the two films to the point of speculating that the characters belong in the same world (did you spot Rapunzel and Flynn turning up for Elsa's coronation during Frozen?!) Anyway, I loved Tangled, and I'm now obsessed with Frozen.

3. The Quirks
Frozen is not your obvious fairy tale style Disney movie. This is mainly down to the characters - they're not your stereotypical types. The one who freezes the entire town is not the bad guy (who isn't actually revealed until the climax of the plot). Anna, as the heroine/princess of the story, is described as 'completely ordinary' and has odd little quirks that make her seem a bit awkward in the most comedic yet endearing way. We are clearly in a new era of cleverly written, well animated, top-notch Disney movies with more relatable protagonists.

2. The Songs
Frozen is filled with brilliant songs that are climactic, emotional, quirky and delightful. If you know me then you'll know I'm not usually one for musicals, and while my friends sat cringing and cracking jokes about how long it would be until the characters burst into song once more, I actually really enjoyed the songs and some have become very popular (you'll probably have already heard 'Let it Go' and 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?')

Here's one of the more funny, light-hearted songs featured in the film, from the Disney Youtube page:

1. The Characters

 There are just so many brilliant characters in Frozen, namely the loveable companions who aid Anna during her adventure. Olaf, as you can see in the video, is hilarious. Kristoff is quite a realistic character who you can't help but love for his hidden good-guy qualities. Sven is adorable, and there's something very childlike and amusing about the way Kristoff gives him his voice. Then there's the trolls!

So if you haven't yet seen Frozen, and this sounds like your kind of movie, then what are you waiting for? :)

Comment below if you've seen the film and what you loved (or hated) about it (without any spoilers please!)