Life Post: University, first semester!

Hey there everyone!

This is going to be a life post today because I see my blog as a place I can track what, where, who when and why things are going on in my life. Kind of like a diary so I can look back and be like "haha, oh how funny I was and still am" and so on and so forth! So without further a do I am going to introduce you to my Life post! 

I have written a previous post on my feelings towards university which you can read here. When I was writing my first post I was quite homesick and was enjoying myself but wasn't really fitting in (or so I felt.)

However, now I am loving it and I was actually quite sad to leave for Christmas and am definitely missing Liverpool! Needless to say I am also loving being back at home with my family, friends and my lovely animals. I just thought I'd take to my blog to let you all know what I had been getting up to in university and how I dealt with it all.

When I first went back I after the short break I had had in September/October I was feeling very negative about the whole experience and i was getting myself all worked up. Changing universities and packing up and leaving even crossed my mind for a second but then I thought "Hey, that's not me at all!" So I decided to take a positive look on life and things literally were up from there! I decided to kick my butt into gear and started to go to (mostly) all of my lectures and seminars and started to enjoy the course more and what it had to offer. This also made me appreciate movie nights and weekends more as i could just chill out after i had done all my work and assessments during the day.

I literally just sit in my pj's with a cup of tea/hot chocolate(given i have whipped cream) and watched movie after movie with my candles lit after I'd done all my assignments and it was just so cosy that I became to love the environment I'd created for myself in this small boxy student flat. Hard work definitely paid off as the more I went into university the more people I became close to and I now have a number of good friends in my classes which I adore! I also got all my assignments done and did my first assessed presentation which was a big milestone for me as I HATE talking in front of people.

Now i look back and I'm definitely glad that i stuck out university and made the most of a bad situation because it's really all a frame of mind, if you believe it will suck, then really its going to suck cause you're refusing to have fun and look on the bright side of things! University is a daunting and scary experience but once you've passed the crying over everyone you miss (took me about a month  it really is a lot of fun and a good change! Definitely embrace it! :)

On that happy note i'll leave you with a christmassy mouse!!

Alicia x

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Six pieces of advice for my 16 year old self TAG! :)

Hey there! :D

So I came across this tag when scrolling through Louise's blog (Sprinkle Of Glitter) and I thought I'd give it ago because it could be quite nostalgic as we'll a good laugh and everyone needs a bit of a laugh from time to timeeee! So it's the 6 things I'd like to say to my teenage self tag, here we go!

1) Don't worry about trying to please people, people will do what they want anyway and its much more rewarding in the long run to do what makes you happy.

2) Invest in some hair care products. I had long hair and it was so incredibly damaged that the ends just kept falling off and it was so sad cause my hair was so lush and it makes me cry to think I never used heat protectant or got it cut!!! I deserved it in the long run my poor hair.

3) Stop eating so much crap cause one day your metabolism is going to slow down. Needless to say it did and I put on two stone. I don't mind my weight now but I think I might try and lose it again. Look better in those disco pants!

4) Don't worry about relationships that went wrong because in 2/3 years you wont even bother with those people who were "your everything" well you might bother with them I'm still friends with them, but I have no feelings towards them and I think that's a good thing. Things are better and easier now and I can think straight!

5) Lay off the eyeliner!!! I was in a serious emo phase and i was loving the panda eyes look and the checked hoodies and all of that and was forever wearing black and red one my nails it was disastrous!!

6) Have Fun! 16 is by no means "grown up" even if you can legally ..you know...hehe. But I think we are humans wants to grown up as fast as we can disregarding all the responsibility that comes with it. If I could give my 16 year old self one piece of advice it would be to Have fun, focus on school and spend as much time with the people I love as I can because I'll soon be grown up and having to go off to university with all my debt and what not. Now or never!

What advice would you give to yourself??

Alicia x

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My Christmas Wishlist! :)

1.Gold sequin peplum skirt  2.Chain link necklace 3.Long sleeved crop top 

4.Real Techniques make-up brush set 6.Burgundy mystic symbol t-shirt 5.Navy disco pants

 7.Studded bottom handbag

This is my christmas list for this year, I don't really ask for much! Just stuff I've wanted for ages I tend to throw in my list! Plus since I'm 19 (almost 20) now my parents tend to focus on my younger sister in terms of presents which is fair enough, I've had a good 19 year run, haha!

What's on your christmas list?

Alicia x

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Get to know me a little better with my ABOUT ME TAG! ❤

Basics

Me: Alicia

Nicknames: Leak, Leaky-loo (cringe), Aliss

Birthday: 23/04

Birthplace: Bolton, UK

Zodiac: Taurus

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student/waitress

Residence: Liverpool/North Wales

Screen name: Aliciajadex/Aliciabirt

Appearance

Hair: naturally blonde/dyed brown

Length: Mid legnth

Eyes: Blue

Best Feature: Lips/eyes

Height: 5ft 2"

Braces?: Nope! Never have :)

Glasses?: For reading

Piercings: Ears, Nose, Belly button

Tattoos: None yet

Righty/lefty: Righty

Firsts

First best friends: 2 in infants called Alyssa and Kayleigh

First award: Dianne Evans award for most improved student 1998! awwww yeeee

First sport you joined: Netball

First real holiday/vacation: ...Rhyl 

First concert: My Chemical Romance

First love: cringeeeeeeeeee

Favourites

Movie: Back to the Future trilogy/LOTRs 

TV Show: The Hills/Made In Chelsea/Geordie Shore

Colours: Purple/navy blue

Song: At the moment M83 - Midnight Cty

Candy: Fizzy cola lances, yummmm

Restaurant: Hard Rock Cafe/Pizza Hut

Store: I have a few but Primark and Topshop are my main

School: fave "school" is probably uni so LJMU =P

Book: I don't really have a favourite!

Magazine: Company

Shoes: Heels defnitely!

Currently

Feeling: Content :)

Single or Taken?: Taken

Eating: Nothing

Typing: This post

Online?: Yes...obviously!

Listening to?: M83 - Midnight city and My boyfriend killing people on the "X-men Origins: Wolverine"

Thinking about?: Christmas and hoping it'll be good!

Wanting: Christmas presents

Watching: I said earlier 

Wearing: Rabbit onesie!

Future

Children?: Yes :) 2 hopefully!

Married?: I want to be

Careers?: Journalist/PR/Fashion (or combined ;) )

Where do you you want to live?: London/have a villa somewhere hot/have a cottage in Wales haha

Have you ever

Kissed a stranger?: Yes

Had Alcohol?: Yes

Smoked: Yes

Ran away from home?: Nope!

Broken a bone?: Yeps

Got an X-ray?: Yep

Broken someone's heart?: Don't think soooo

Broken up with someone?: Yep

Cried when someone died: Yes! As bad as it sounds, I didn't cry when my Grandma died until the funeral then I was balling my eyes out. But when my cat died I cried for weeks. Cat lady problems.

Cried at school?: Yes.

Do you believe in

God: No (No offence intended to those who do, I respect others' views.)

Miracles: No

Love at first sight: No

Ghosts: No

Aliens: No

Soul Mates: Not really

Heaven: No

Hell: No

Kissing on the first date: Yes, doesn't do any harm.

Yourself: Of course :)

I tag everyone who reads this! Link me your responses!!!

Alicia x

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A weekend with: Ellie Goulding and Florence + The Machine

When first going to these gigs I had a case of "pre-gig laziness." I don't know if this is a genuine thing or if it's just me and my boyfriend who get it(?)

Before any gig we seriously cannot be bothered and don't want to go but when we get their we become like children at Christmas!

On December 8th 2012 we went to se Ellie Goulding at the O2 Academy in Liverpool and it was honestly one of the best gigs I've ever been to in my like (so far) her new album Halcyon is so honest and raw that everytime I listen to it I feel as if you can feel what she went through when she wrote it I just love it.

Then on December 10th 2012 me and another friend attended Florence + The Machine at the Echo Arena in Liverpool again it was fabulous and Florence really interacted with the crowd and we were basically on the barrier and we're really giddy cause we could almost touch her, haha.

What are you favourite gig memories?

Alicia x

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Beauty TAG: My beauty firsts! :)

My beauty firsts!

Following the video from Lily Pebbles and ViviannaDoesMakeup I researched into this tag and also found a friend of mines blog - Hollie Bradbury of Goodgollymisshollie.co.uk - had featured this tag as well so I thought I would give it a go. Tags are probably my favourite thing to do along with hauls and favourites posts! Bit of useless information about me there haha! Here we go!!

1) What's your earliest beauty memory??
Hmm, I had to think about this for a while. My earliest memory of beauty would be flicking through Bliss magazine (oh back in the day!)
I used to love looking at all the different hair styles and make up looks and trying to recreate them. Needless to say I always failed to my disappointment haha!
My first make up memory would be when I was 13/14 and I decided I was going to try and sport the black eyeliner/panda eyes all the time look in my emo phase! Need I say more? DISASTER!

2) What was your first beauty purchase?
My first beauty purchase was probably mascara or eyeliner when I was about 13/14 again as I said in the previous question and it was a win lose situation as now I cannot live without my eyeliner I think it is a staple in any make up bag but also it was a learning curve for me as I now know not to overload my eyes with it! Oh the other hand I looked awful and washed out and gothic for about 2 years!!

3) When did you first wear make-up
My very first memory of putting make-up on when when I was around 5/6 when you get those little make-up cases and you get a dolls head with them as well. Anyone remember those? The make up was for the doll but I used to paint myself, the walls, the cats, basically anything I could. MUA in the making! (Not, haha!)
I first started wearing make up full time in year 8.

4) When was your first beauty disaster?
My first beauty disaster was with hair oil, I didn't put two and two together and figure out too much oil = greasy I just doused my hair in this "Vaseline Intensive Care Hair Oil" I found in my mum's room and left it on my hair for half an out, when I say doused I mean literally soaked - half a 500ml bottle style. My hair was greasy from then on for about a week after washing it and washing it. I am now very cautious when using any oils, maybe too cautious! Greasy hair is definitely not a beauty lovers favourite look.

5) Who was your firstbeauty crush?
My first beauty crush was probably...Avril Lavigne. I was really into the skater girl look and being all punk as cringey as that is! Nowadays my beauty crush is probably Rosie Huntington-whitely/Cara Delevingne

6) What was your first brand crush?
Well, I was never really a one brand person but if I had to chose the brand I bought the most and loved it would be Rimmel London as I regularly bought all of my makeup items from this brand due to the fact it is available in my local Tesco!

7) What is your longest standing beauty love?
An item I will repurchase again and again is Marc Jacobs' Daisy Eau De Toilette. This is my signature scent I will forever purchase this item because I just think it smells divine. My favourite make up purchase has to be MAC face and body, I purchased this a while back and loved it more than anything make up related I've ever bought. Unfortunately according to my budget I haven't been able to afford it since I've tan out but as soon as I am paid again it will be mine!

So that's my beauty firsts tag! I tag anyone who reads this! make sure you link me to your blog, i love finding and reading new blogs. :) I hope you enjoyed it and/learned something new from it and thank you for reading!

Alicia x

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HAIR CARE: L'oreal Anti-Frizz Serum & Aussie 3 Minute Miracle.

Hey!

My hair had been on a bad way for a few years now and it just refuses to grows.

I opted for hair extensions and did love them for about 3 months but being the lazy natured person I am I couldn't be bothered spending money on hair that would become tatty and ruined within the next 3 months so I decided that I would accept the hand that I was dealt in the fact my hair will never grow again *sigh*

I never stopped to think how I was causing damage to my hair every single day by hair drying it on the hottest heat and straightening and curling it on a daily basis without heat protection spray. I decided that if I was truly committed to growing my hair out that I would have to stop using heat on it until it decides it feels healthy enough to grow.

My journey has begun and I have used no heat on my hair (apart from my fringe, which grows now) for about 2 weeks and it is already in much better condition! My hair wasn't in terrible condition before this it was quite manageable it just refused to grow any longer than shoulder length because as the roots grew the ends would split and fall off (sad face)

The product I have been using to help me "fix" my hair are Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Frizz Remedy and L'oreal Anti-Frizz Serum. They are both available in high street/drugstores in the UK such as Superdrug and Boots!

Since I am only two weeks into this new way of hair life (lol!) I cannot yet say it's repaired my hair but my hair is significantly less frizzy and more manageable!

Are you trying to/have you been growing your hair out? Why not join me! What are your most recommended products?

Alicia x

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Studs and Spikes! OOTD: Primark, Topshop, Boohoo and New Look

Hey guys!

This is an outfit which I wore for university today! Just something simple and warm for these chilly winter months and it's all quite cheap! All from high street shops and current season!

Studded charcoal jumper - £8, Primark
Peace sign print legging - £10, Boohoo.co.uk
Spiked Necklace - £5.99, New look
Beanie hat - £3, Primark
Animal print Socks (not pictured) - £3.99, Topshop
Initial necklace - £1.50, Primark

 

What's your favourite Winter outfit? Let me know!

Alicia x

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Gradual tan: Superdrug skin soft in medium to dark. REVIEW

Winter is the time for (fake) tan.

Ok, I hold my hands up and admit that I'm not the most tanned person (massive understatement!) But I do like to have a little bit of a sun-kissed glow to make my skin look healthy and nice!

After mulling over whether to repurchase my Garnier Summer Body in light -medium (which i have done a review on and you can read here!) or to be more risky, and try a different brand, I opted to take the risk and bought this, Superdrug Skin Soft Gradual Tan in medium - dark.

Let me just start off by explaining that I am very pale and so I get medium/dark to speed up the process, you don't have to do this but I find that it works exactly the same as light - medium overall but in la ess amount of time.

Ok moving onto the review:

I showered and exfoliated removing all residue oils and tan from my skin so that I was fresh and ready for a brand new tan, I then rubbed a generous amount into my skin, covering all majorly, visible areas and not really being too fused about places I couldn't reach like my mid back because hey, no one see it during the day!

Because this is a gradual tan I had to wait a number of hours for it to come out against my skin and me being me, not thinking, I did this at 12am on a weekday and had to get up at 8am the following morning for uni. This was my downfall and I didn't have time to correct any mistakes before going to uni (not a morning person I cherish my sleep) and therefore ended up going into uni looking like I'd just fell into a mud puddle, even my face. It was DISASTROUS to say the least!

However this may have been because I applied it dip dab and thought it would come out perfect, WRONG. I should have put a less amount on and done it on a weekend giving good time to even out the kinks.

I waited for this tan to wash off and replied it lightly on my skin and then used my St Moriz instant spray tan over it. This time it came out beautifully, I cannot describe how good I looked and felt! I have never had a tan so strong and even and it lasted me days without even patching up.

I would definitely recommend this gradual tanner although maybe not as highly as I would recommend the Garnier Summer Body one because that is my ultimate favourite (and one I will repurchase when this one has emptied) if you're new to tanning maybe go for a light shade before taking on the big guns like I did, I made the mistakes so you don't have to! Haha.

This tan was £4.99 from Superdrug and the bottle is 250ml!

What's your favourite tan/tan routine? Let me know!

Alicia x

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REVIEW: Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Ultra Brights in Raspberry Rebel. - I'm going Ombre to bright pink!

Basically, I was getting bored of my hair and wanted a change, I've been feeling like this for a while but didn't really know what to do with it as it's not exactly long and the colour I had it (brown faded into blonde/ombre) isn't my natural colour, I'm naturally dirty blonde!

So I began trawling the internet for ideas on beauty/style blogs and didn't really find anything (boohoo :( ) and then I came across a girl, named Georgia...who had bright pink hair but it wasn't scene kid/tacky type pink, it was like a nice girly colour so I didn't really spend much time thinking about the pro's and con's of it, I just went out to my local boots and bought this:

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXl Ultra Brights in Raspberry Rebel £4 in Boots (at the time of writing this post)

It's a semi-permanent ultra bright colour that lasts 6-8 washes, so its more a wash in-wash out type of thing really! It comes with 2x conditioner, a pair of protective gloves and the tube of hair colourant, no mixing needed! You simply pierce the tube and squeeze the contents onto your hair! 

Where i applied it to my hair was bleached so my hair came out very very pink and i am in LOVE with it, the colour is vibrant and very pink and girly and doesn't look tacky, the conditioner made my hair very soft and smelt lovely. The dye itself didn't even smell like hair dye which is a plus because the dye fumes usually sting my eyes, Boo hoo!

BEFORE: (not a brill pic but I don't have one where it properly show!!)

AFTER:

I absoluuuutely love it and would recommend this hair dye to anyone who wants to dye their hair very vibrantly but not permanently! I will definitely be dying this colour back in when it fades because it's just so good on the hair and it has left it looking lovely and not wrecked and also because I will eventually want to go back ombre so I don't want to go permanent!

Thanks for reading!

What're your favourite hair colours? would you ever go this bright? Let me know!

Alicia x

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Review: Primark's HASK - Argan Oil Healing Shine Treatment AKA Hair food!

HASK Argan Oil Healing Shine Treatment - £2.50, Primark

They say "For a silky smooth finish with exotic shine. Lightweight oil infused with keratin enhancers"

Recently I've been bleaching and permanently dying my hair a lot, due to my ombre phase! As a consequence of this my hair has been looking kind of dry and the ends are very brittle. Trust me when I say I am NO hair expert, it is not my forte, for example the last time I had my hair cut professionally was when I was doing my GCSEs and I'm now in university...and I took a gap year! so it was around 3/4 years ago that I had my hair cut (professionally) just because I hate the hair dressers and how they do everything wrong (no offence to hair dresser this has just been my experience and I haven't found one yet who cuts it how I like it or isn't scissor happy!)

I was browsing around Primark, the love of my life, and I saw these little bottles of Argan Oil and since I used to buy the big bottles of Moroccan oil i thought that I would give it ago as after some research I've discovered the ingredients are essentially the same and these small viles are only £2.50 a pop!

I used it a week for I was due for a hair dye after every shower, I shower every other day and I applied it onto wet hair (this just worked best for me.)

applied it to the lengths and tips of my hair avoiding the roots by about 2-3cm, simply because the roots are oily enough as it is without extra oil to tempt it into greasy hair hell! After this I dried my hair as normal and styled it.Oh my god my hair was amazing I cannot describe how good it felt, it felt like I shredded silk and used it as a wig. I LOVE this oil and would recommend it to anyone who is currently in dry hair hell! It has a very...oily(?) consistency (I just didn't want to say greasy...) and has a wonderful smell, I could live with this smell in my nose for ever, it smells like oranges! It lasts me around 4-5 uses and I have medium-thick hair!The shampoo and conditioner I used it with is L'oreal Elvive Nutrigloss £2.49 a bottle from Home Bargains and it's the one with the little "crystals" in (or glitter as I like to call it!) Do you have any hair saving remedies? Let me know!

                                             Alicia x 

  

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Skincare Alert!!! Neutrogena Visibly clear: Review.

As I am sure many of you are also suffering from, my skin is horrendous for break outs and I am very lazy when it comes to my skin I must admit. I like the idea of having a skincare regime but I just never get round to actually finding out what suits me and my skin best. I have combination skin (oily chin and nose area, dry everywhere else) and every time I buy a product it works fine on my cheeks but not on the oily areas and breaks them out so eventually I gave up and just used soap, that also started to dry out my skin and I figured I just couldn't win and gave up.

However, I was recently strolling around Boots (a UK drug store) in Liverpool and being as shallow as I am when it comes to products, found a cute pink packaging caught my eye, I just couldn't walk out of the shop without having bought it so i picked up the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit daily scrub and oil-free moisturiser and took them home to become my new facial care regime!

So far they have proven to be very good, at first they were breaking me out a little but they made my skin very soft and also made my skin look for awake and vibrant which has to be a good thing! After a week of using them my skin cleared up (with the occasional spot, nothings perfect!) and i was very happy! 

I am still using them now and will continue to do so until they run out, I am undecided as to whether or not I will repurchase to go for something different but if I do I will post it here and let you all know!

What are your skin care favourites? Let me know!

Alicia x

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Recent drug/high street store beauty purchases/Staple items in my make-up bag!

There are few items that seem to impress me on the market when it comes to my facial area, which is why I seem to stick to what I know, simply because I know it works! I'm not an adventurous buyer in the make up area, yet I am always open to trying new things if they appeal to me and if they have had good reviews.
Recently I've been trying to widen my range of make up and try new things and so far I am pleased with what I have found! so I'll run through a few of them!
New Items in my bag:

So these are the new items in my make-up bag. I'll do a quick run through of my thoughts of them.
L'oreal True Match Foundation in Rose Ivory: I love the consistency and the colour of this foundation I've found it matches my skin tone perfectly and lightens areas of my face that are otherwise dull. It's quite watery so doesn't give a matte coverage but you can build upon it as it allows that sort of application. Before this I used Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid in Light Porcelain, I could never find a shade that didn't turn me slightly orange, however when I blend the two together it gives me full coverage and a very even tone to my face! I would give True Match a 6/10.
L'oreal Super Liner Ultra-Precision: I am a liquid eyeliner FIEND. I cannot have a make up bag without some liquid eyeliner in it because i use this every single day without fail! I have been searching around for a liquid liner that dominoes start to crack and chip away or run from my eyes after an hour of application. Before this I tried the Black Lacquer version of this which was also brilliant except I didn't like the applicator too much! This however has a sort of rubbery applicator that doesn't bend horrible or smear eyeliner all over my face which is why I LOVE this product! 9/10.
Soap and Glory Sexy Motherpucker lip plumper: I have never tried a lip plumper for the simple reason that my lips are quite proportionate to my face anyway. However, i decided to give this a try simply because i was envious of Lana Del Ray! This is a fantastic product and you can see it working in seconds, in my opinion and as weird as it sounds i love the tingling feeling it gives you as it gets to work! 8/10
L'oreal Caresse lipsticks in Rock n Mauve and Impulsive Fuchsia I was a bit apprehensive at trying these lipsticks simply because i like to stick to what i know and I wasn't willing to pay near £8 for a lipstick which i'd heard nothing about. However, i loved these shades so much that i bought them and they have no disappointed me yet! They go on nicely covering any and all imperfections in the lips (within sensible reason) and they give a nice gloss coat which moisturises your lips as you are wearing them. They a long lasting and definitely worth the price! 9/10
Revlon Colour-burst Lipbutter in Strawberry Shortcake This lipbutter was also highly priced at £8 and to be honest it isn't really anything special, don't get me wrong I love it. The colour is gorgeous and it smells lovely however, it does nothing for my lips and it doesn't last as long as I'd like. I would recommend this as a going out lipstick or a meeting type lipstick as if you're planning to drink and eat it will come straight off! 5/10
M.A.C Creme Sheen Lipstick in Pink Pearl Pop A52 Need I say more? M.A.C have a reputation for being brilliant with lipsticks as well as all other kinds of make-up and i must say this is one of my favourite lipstick to wear of all time. I'm not too fond of the price at £14 (bare in mind im a student!) i was nearly crying parting with my debit card but I would definitely purchase another M.A.C lipstick very soon!! 9/10
Staples in my bag:

 














Maybelline the Colossal Volume Express Volume Express Mascara: Cat eyes: This has been my favourite ever since it came out. I love how you can build upon the lashes to make them ever more cat like and how it stays and doesn't chip. Every girl needs mascara and this is definitely my favourite!
Rimmell Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown: Simple and effective, it has a shaper on the lid, stays all day and has a nice natural colour!
Maxfactor Flipstick effect lipstick in Boreal Mauve 15 I love the colour and the staying power of this lipstick, it's been my favourite ever since I discovered it a few months ago, you will rarely see me without this lipstick on my person/lips on a night out, definitely something I would repurchase again and again!
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection lipstick in Cherry Pop 8 There is a simple explanation as to why this is a staple, its cheap, very good and every girl should own a red lipstick! I was apprehensive on first purchase as sometimes cheap really does mean cheap, however I bought it tried it and loved it!
Let me know what your favourites/staples are!
Alicia x

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