Basket of Favourites

I haven't been writing much for the past week or so as I'm only a couple of weeks from the start of exams, but I thought I'd put together a short, picture-heavy post on what I've been loving for the last month or so.

So, here is my basket!

Hair bits

Percy & Reed No Oil Oil (free in magazine but would buy full size)

Coconut oil

Eye bits

MAC Paint in Untitled

Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl pencil in Taupe

Urban Decay Naked Basics palette

Lip bits

L'Oreal Glam Shine Stain Splash (101 Lolita and 102 Romy)

Lush Mint Julips lip scrub

Extra bits 

Geodesis Fig Tree candle
Origins Gloomaway body scrub

Sentimental bits

Sofa snugs with a bear
An insulin-dependent cat
A cup of tea in a Nicholas Mosse mug

I have Twitter!

Decided to finally catch up with the rest of the world and create a Twitter account. If anyone out there is reading this and has Twitter themselves, please follow me! It would make me very happy and I'll definitely be following back :)

@PoppyWithLove

Fuss free nails

I have no patience with nail polish. I can never seem to wait long enough for them to dry fully without smudging them, or if I have painted them before going to bed, I invariably have imprints from the cotton sheets in the morning. I've been thinking it over and I'm not sure if it's because I put too many coats on, or whether they're too thick, or that I'm not waiting long enough for them to dry. I think it could be a combination of these, plus my general lack of skill, and that most of my nail polishes need multiple coats for opacity.

I'd like to stress that I DO normally use a top coat and I still mess it up and/or chip it!

However, I picked up a couple of nail polishes the other day that seem idiot-proof. Both are from Topshop, whose nail varnishes I have never tried before (I know I'm really behind the times but I seem to have only bought OPI and Essie for the last year), and I was very impressed.

The first colour is this gorgeous rose gold colour called "Suffuse". In the bottle, the shade looks slightly orange and "off", but on the nails it dries to a beautiful colour. Even a friend, who usually not a fan of rose gold polish, commented on how pretty it was.

I tried my best to find good lighting on this dull day but I think it looks a little browner that it really is here

It's worth mentioning that I took these photos three days after painting them and in that time I went drunk bowling and out for a wild night too, as well as all the mundane, everyday tasks like washing up! Pretty impressive in my opinion for a polish to have survived so well after all that potential wear and tear as I honestly wouldn't have been surprised it half of it had fallen off by now.

The second colour I chose was this metallic, slightly frosty, pink called "Beam".

Although it is a beautiful colour, it is a little too pink for me on my fingernails. I will, however, probably have this on my toes all spring (I'm not counting the current weather as spring) and summer, too!

When I go home for a belated easter holiday next week I'm going to see how it holds up playing ponies to give it the most thorough road test I possibly can (I'll do a quick update then)! However, for now I'm going to say that the wear time is very good for both. It took a couple of days before it started to chip, which for me, was excellent as I've usually ruined it somehow within a couple of hours. I love, love, love the formula, it didn't smudge or crinkle and it dried extremely quickly and I mean TOTALLY dried, and so I didn't even use my Insta-dri top coat (in case I smudged that or it went bubbly). It was also opaque within two coats and was just a general joy to use. These are the kind of polishes that make me want to paint my nails on a regular basis, rather than just on special occasions!

It's definitely worth checking out the selection in Topshop. I'm completely clueless as to why I avoided them for so long. I picked both of these up for £7.20 (2 for £8 offer plus student discount), which I was thrilled about, frankly and I will definitely be picking up more. I'm already looking up swatches for other colours, I can feel a slight obsession coming on.

"HAPPINESS IS A PONY" - I could hardly agree more

Anyone who knows me can verify that I have a slight obsession with pottery (and horses). My favourite pieces are by Nicholas Mosse, a love affair I have inherited from my grandmother, who would dutifully pick up pieces from the wonderful Broughton Crafts, to add to her collection.

I am also a big fan of Brixton Pottery and the occasional Emma Bridgewater piece. Particularly because both have equestrian related ranges and if I see a bowl, or mug, or plate etc. with horses on, I WILL buy it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing in Rossiters of Bath and this set caught my eye:

I am aware that maybe this is more for children and that the pony on this pattern bears no resemblance to my boy (horse, not human), but I can't help lusting after it. I think that the same way some girls go crazy for shoes, I go crazy for pottery.

After showing my mother this snap, she laughed and told me I had enough horsey tableware and she's right. However, the burning desire will not go. I have a feeling that when my student loan finally comes in, this mug, bowl and plate set could serve as wonderful revision motivation.

I have a feeling that at some point, I'll go wild and do pottery collection post, or really let loose and do a video of my favourite pieces. 

Does anyone else feel like this about pottery?!

Hair hero #1 - Rituals Shikakai Secret Conditioner

I picked up this little wonder-tube at Arlanda airport shortly after New Year, following a snowy, snaps-fueled Christmas with my Swedish family. With a lot of time before my flight and the duty free urge but not a lot of money, I stumbled across this: 

I wasn't expecting it to be up to much. I only bought it because it smelt good and 40:- wasn't even going to buy me a sandwich. Although I'm a relative novice on the skincare/makeup front, I like to think I'm very experienced when it comes to hair products, especially deep conditioners. I have very dry and damaged hair that hates the regular highlights it's subjected to, as well as occasional heat abuse. I hardly ever find a product that can make a difference to it (including salon products), it's almost fine and coarse at the same time and there's a fair amount of it! In desperation, I have even tried the conditioner I use on my horse's mane and tail before.

However, this conditioner is DIVINE, it really is. Not only does this smell absolutely incredible, it leaves my hair so soft and shiny without being weighed down, I can barely believe it's my own. Not only that, but the smell lingers in your hair and so you get the occasional waft of fragrance, which I appreciate. I can't work out what I love about it more; how it makes my hair feel, or how it makes it smell.

Although I've been trying to save this for special occasions, I am nearly at the end of this bottle now, and as soon as I have finished my nothing-special-but-half-price conditioner, I am investing in the full sized version of this one as I really can't say enough good things about it.

Also, at under £10 for the full size (£8.50 to be precise), it costs considerably less and does a lot more than a lot of products out there, not to mention, a little goes a long way. I'm going out tomorrow night and I'm really looking forward to drenching my hair in this beforehand, although I'm not sure if that says more about the conditioner, or how exciting my life is currently.

Hello world

I've actually wanted to start a blog for some time now, and seeing as I am a month from the start of my uni exams, maybe it's not ideal timing. Regardless, I'm grabbing the bull by the horns and diving in now!

I’m a true country girl at heart and it’s only in the last few months that I’ve taken more of an interest in beauty bits as I realised that maybe I should smarten up! I’m happiest in jodhpurs and wellies and a fleece and I tend to live in the same clothes year after year.

I'm no expert on make up and skincare, I just thought I would start this blog to document my voyage from being relatively clueless to clued up (and hopefully better groomed), as I'm 22 and it's time for me to grow up before I go out into the big bad world.