Quick Little Post

Okay so here's a quick little post because I really have not blogged, in forever!!! I thought I'd better pop by and say I'm alive if anyone really does keep checking my blog. I thought I'd better do it now, otherwise it'd be December and I'd not have blogged for yet again another month.

Basically, I've been working all of the days and I'm exhausted. I've done a few 6 days in a row, and I don't really get two days off in a row anymore. So on my one day off I'm mainly catching up on sleep (my sleeping pattern is crazy right now), trying to see friends and I went on a Hen Weekend! I wish I'd been doing more fun things that were keeping me busy, but sadly not. I've barely even had a chance to skype with my boyfriend. He moved to Portugal in September and we talk most days using an app, but I've been too busy working to try to arrange long chats face to face via skype. Which is kinda good in a way because I'm too busy to miss him terribly but I get to see him in less than two weeks, yay!

So a bit of a rambly post, I will try to sort out a normal post soon, and reply to comments, and maybe do a few competitions I think I've missed about 5....and I am really scared to catch up on my blog reading! I know I could just start from scratch and not catch up but I don't want to miss things! I would catch up tonight, but surprise surprise, I'm closing! I really need to sort out my online life, oh and my real life too! Ha.

Boohoo blogger Challenge

Well I'm always late to the party aren't I? I'm doing the £50 Boohoo fashion voucher blogger challenge now with a few minutes to spare! Crazy! I know I've not been updating a lot either but I've been working loads of nights shifts and generally being like a vampire with the sleepING part, which isn't fun! I have loads of blog ideas in my head, and this was one of them. So in theme with the 'vampire' part, but not really, I decided to go for an all black outfit.

Fashion vouchers teamed up with Boohoo to do this competition, where you create an outfit under or up to £50. Up to four people can win £50 in vouchers to spend in Boohoo and could get the outfit they created!

Bascially, I just looked at the clearance page and wanted to buy ALL the things!! If I don't win, I really want to go on a shopping spree but I'm meant to be saving. I have mixed feelings about all the pretty clothes I could have since they're on sale, but would like to have money for Paris and Portugal, ah descisions! Anyway there were loads of different outfits I could have created, but as I said I went for all black as you can never go wrong with that.

I built the outfit around the leggings. I've wanted galaxy leggings for a while and will have to finally get some! Since they are quite a statement piece themselves I wanted to pick more simple items to go with it so it wouldn't clash with anything. So I added a beautiful side mixi skirt, with a mesh sleeve crop top that matches well with it I think. I wouldn't show my stomach with it, but I'd tuck the crop top into the mixi skirt since it's long enough to do so. To add some height with the very long skirt as I'm only 5'5" I picked some lace up boots. It says they're sporty which is 'on trend' but they don't look to sporty to me, but they're purdy anyway. I love heels but find it hard to walk in them usually, but these look sturdy enough with their chunky heels!

Altogether this outfit came to £47, which is just under the £50 budget! I would wear this outfit on a night out, or just going to the cinema to watch a film. It's casual but not too casual and would be great to wear in Winter with a nice warm coat on top. I can't wait to start layering up! And hopefully win a voucher to buy all these pretty things!

Roller Derby

My scuffed skates and rabbit socks peeking out of them

Sorry for the lack of updates, I lost my phone connector to my laptop, but now I've found it! Yay! So, I joined Roller Derby. Which is SO. MUCH. FUN! I even used caps locks! That's how fun it is! Sure it's exhausting, sweaty and you get bruises, but it's really a lot of fun.

I first learned about Roller Derby when the film Whip It came out in 2009. I's based on a novel by the same name, and Drew Barrymore directed it, starring Ellen Page. I love Ellen Page and if you like her films, you'll like this one. I didn't think to check if Swansea had a derby team, and they didn't then, but in 2010 they created one. To cut a long story short, I was too chicken to go on my own, and saw a friends friend on fb had been going and asked her about it, so off I went!

Last session, half of the ones above it was their first ever session

I was really nervous, but everyone was extremely nice, and there were all sorts of girls there. Younger girls, older girls, smaller girls, bigger girls, girls with crazy hair colours and tattoos and girls without. There were students and nurses and shop assistants and so on. If you feel intimated by going if you feel like you won't it in, don't. Everyone fits in. And it makes me want to dye my hair really bad now haha. 

They teach you to fall properly, and give you equipment if you don't have it so it's safe, but I did fall backwards about two or three times which give me lovely bruises! But I got better and didn't fall over last week. It's two hours long and boy did I feel it! But hopefully I'm getting fitter, I really need to! I already had my own skates, but they're outdoor skates so not as good but they'll do for now. It is an expensive hobby if you get into it, but with my local team they lend out kit which is nice. First things I'm going to buy though, are my own knee/elbow/wrist pads as the ones they give out stink! Oh em gee it's horrible!

I bought a t-shirt, mainly to wear for practice, no way I'll be on the team for months and months :P

I've been going for three weeks now, and I've improved so much! And my friends and their friends have started coming now, which is great, but where were they all when I was too chicken to go? Haha. If you're interested in joining, just look up your local roller derby team, and they'll probably have a facebook page and just go, I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. And that's a little of what I've been up to!

Last few weeks of Summer, Instagrammed...

Costa. Passout. Road. Carmarthen.
Glossy Box. Dog sitting. Mini flood. Sundae.
BBQ. Giant Rabbit. Chickens. No 7 makeup.
Owly gloves. Hunger Games. Sprinkles and Cupcakes. Cocktails.
Baby shower cupcakes. Winnie the Pooh Onesies. Mist. New Hairs.

Well, here's a little bit of what I've been up to in the last few weeks of Summer. I didn't take a lot of photos, and only picked a few. Some of these photos are from mid August! Ooops! I had Costa trips for catch up with friends, celebrated birthdays, my car broke down again! (I was stuck in a car park, so took a picture of the road while I was waiting) and drove on the Motorway for the first time and went to Carmarthen!

I've received one Glossy Box, and two She Said Beauty boxes, but haven't done a review on them yet, which I meant to do, and took one instagram pic of one Glossy Box haha I suck. I babysat, which also included puppy sitting! Olive, the dog, is kerazy! But cute, look at her with her teddy! We then had a mini radiator flood in our house which made the house stink for days! It was horrible, but okay now, sorta. We're just scared to use the radiators! And I had a Harvester catch up with my uni friends, where we always go and had ice cream Sundaes yum, yum!

I went to my last BBQ of the year I think, a leaving do for my boyfriend with his family. It rained in the morning so they set up tents and a gazebo, and then the sun came out before everyone arrived! During the BBQ I held a giant rabbit, called Cuddles, and said hello to their three chickens! Dorothy, Other Chicken and I can't remember the others name. (They also have one small child, bearded dragon, another rabbit, and the puppy Olive!) In that row of photos, I also bought some No7 Makeup and moisturiser, which I love.

In thanks for babysitting, they got me some owly presents, which was so nice of them! I got owl gloves and an owl scarf which are both awesome! I've worn the scarf a few times, and can't wait for it to be cold enough to wear those adorable gloves! In other awesome news, my DVD of Hunger Games arrived early! I'm obssessed with the books/film, love it! I only got the 12a version, but I've seen the 15 version and it's only a little bit extra of killing so I don't mind. I baked cupcakes in my new silicone molds which were a hit, everyone liked playing with the molds! And I went out with work for a few drinks in a cocktail bar, I had a Starburst, a Grasshopper and a Screaming Orgasm, all of which tasted magical. I need to go to that Cocktail bar more often, it was 2 for 1!

And for the last row, I half organised a baby shower for my friend, I made cupcakes, a terrible cake, paper bunting, and other food but didn't instagram it. Lots of other people brought food or baked cupcakes which was really nice too, and we played baby shower games. I bought some mini trophys from Tesco as prizes, and the games were hilarious. And my friend loved it. I bought a tonne of Winnie the Pooh clothes (that's the nursery theme) and these are two of my favourites. He is going to be the cutest baby evah!! The misty picture is just there to symbolise summer coming to a close, because wtf weather? It looked like something out of Silent Hill, but it's been a lot nicer since. And the last picture is of my new hair after donating the rest of it.

Beach

Beach by lisamello featuring french connection

So as I mentioned in my last post, my boyfriend has moved to Portugal. I miss him, but I've been keeping busy working or going to Roller Derby! I've spoken to him a few times, and he has a lush flat now, but the internets not working properly so we can't skype each other yet. I'm planning on going out there in the end of October. Just need to confirm a few things then hopefully I'll be booking my plane tickets this weekend before they keep going up!

Anyway this is a little outfit which would be cute to wear on a beach out there (even though he's not next to the beach, we can catch a train) and the weather should still be warmish in late October I'm hoping! I'm really liking blue and pink together atm, and find it's more of a Summer colour combo than an Autumn one so I'd like to get it out of my system now if I can!

I've been making some dip dyed shorts, and want to tone up my legs before I wear any (hello derby!) but I love them, and based the outfit around the shorts, keeping it simple with same colours, and brown accessories. Ah Portugal, I need to be there now please! Instead, I'm going to work a close now, boo! Is anyone else sad that Summers over? We never get them anymore do we? 

Donating my hair

Firstly, sorry for the lack of online presence, both with blogging, reading and commentating. My boyfriend moved to Portugal today, and I'm staying here, so I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. And I helped him pack and sort out his life too so I didn't go online much. I'm a lovely girlfriend I packed his whole suitcase! He only took one suitcase and a bag! How do guys manage to do that? I'd want to take more than that for a holiday, let alone living in another country for the next year or two! He also picked today of all days to travel (Sept 11th, RIP) and I'm muchly sad now, and will probably be spending a lot of time online.

Anyways I digress. So above is a picture of my hair, not the best sorry but it was in the morning right before I went to get it all chopped off! I've been saying I'd donate my hair for months, but then I started to take care of it, and started to like it and want to keep it long! Even though I never did anything with it. I had thick, long, half way down my back length hair and I could do a Lady Godiva... if I wanted too! (Which I don't). The end 3/4's were dyed, but it'd faded as I haven't dyed my hair in over a year. I've had a few trims in the years but the last huge haircut I got was two years ago and I cut it shoulder length. (Then dyed it practically black after a break up, worse decision ever!) Yeah so that's a little hair history for you, sorry for boring you to death!

I went to my local hairdressers, who I go to about once a year (I hate going to hairdressers! I used to make friends come with me haha). I said I wanted to donate it, and I'm guessing they don't really have that many donate requests, and were all really proud of me! So that was a big ego boost! Plus it was quiet and only one other woman was having her hair done, and they all watched my hairdresser cut off my ponytail (She looked scared!), and said I should of have had it filmed! It was really weird though when it was cut off, I wasn't said or anything but it felt really light. She cut less off than I would have liked, because she wanted more to work with afterwards, but oh well. I was taking it home with me so wrapped it up in some tissue and put it in a bag. To donate, not because I'm a creepy hair collecting lady! But I did have fun freaking my brothers out with the pony tail afterwards haha!

I said I wanted a long bob, long enough to put up and I really liked what she did. She also thinned it out for me, but it's still too thick! It's really short at the back which I couldn't get a decent picture of and when I went home I saw my shadow on the ground and my hair was bouncing! Fun! So I like short hair, but I can't do anything with it! I'm useless at styling so it'll never look that nice again, and it's a little bit too short to put up, as its still thick, really silky and won't stay put! I am missing my long hair a bit, but my hair feels really healthy now. Plus I don't miss how long it used to take to wash and dry! Only the end bits still have dye on (I've been dyeing it since I was 12) but I am planning on dyeing it blonde soon! As I'm already bored with my natural colour which is darker than the photo above.

Anyway, the point to this blog, was not just about my hair, but about donating it! I volunteered in a school during my last year in uni, and this little girl in my class had leukemia, so she spent a lot of time out of school, and when she came back all her hair had gone. She wore scarfs a lot, but came in one day wearing a wig made out of human hair and I thought it would be nice to donate my hair, but I thought I couldn't because I'd dyed it. However, a few months ago I looked it up, and they accept all kinds of hair, as long as its over 7 inches in length, and not old ponytails! At the time I looked I thought I couldn't bleach it (I wanted ombre hair) so I didn't, but it turns out you can donate that too! 

The charity I'm donating my hair to is called Little Princesses and you can learn all about the rules here. The wigs for children are free and it takes about 8-9 ponytails just to make one wig! I just donated my hair and some money, but wish I'd done a fundraising event for it, but I was a bit too... um shy/awkward to ask people for money. But I'm glad I did it. I'm sharing this here, in case anyone else is thinking about cutting their hair. If you're cutting a huge amount off maybe think about donating it? You'll feel like a super person afterwards!

The Magic Number: No 7

Last week I was browsing around Boots, and I was thinking of maybe getting a proper foundation and to get my colour matched. I'm a bit shy so didn't really fancy the thought of sitting in a chair and having my make up wiped off for all the world to see my bare, horrible skin, but I did it anyway! So I'm kinda proud of myself! Now I usually wear powder foundation, either Tesco's own or Benefit (Obviously Benefit is waaay better, but the amount of times I've dropped my make up, the cheaper Tesco version is better for my purse). Now what I mean by proper foundation, is I wanted either a liquid or mousse foundation, and not the cheapy kind since if I was going to do this I wanted to do it properly. 

Anyways, I was looking round the No 7 aisle and an assistant came over and asked if I needed any help. She was older than me, and I don't know if you do, but I get a bit intimidated by the younger girls? So glad she wasn't a young, pretty, heavily made up girl, I thought I'd ask to get colour matched and then she had my on the chair and took off my make up. She said a mousse would be better for my skin type than a liquid foundation, as it's more matte (I have combo skin). She used a brush and put it on and it was like magic! It lasted all day and I only put a bit of powder on afterwards as I had a tiny bit of a shine.

I was going to buy it there and then, but she said that next week (as in this week) they were getting new products, shades and a machine that would match your skin colour waaay better and she recommended that I wait. So I waited, and waited, and waited and was really excited when I went back to Boots (I'm sad, I know). I was with some friends this time and we went to a different Boots, but one friend was really excited about getting her skin matched too when I mentioned it. So again it was like magic seeing my skin transformed, and my friends expressions were funny since they said it was so good, and I had Beautifully Matte in Cool Ivory and my friend had a liquid foundation.

The assistant at that counter, like the other, asked me about my skin routine, and I said I used Simple moistersier and she said not to use it. She didn't force No 7 moisturiser on me, but said Simple was meant for people with good skin, so it didn't really do anything for me. Since there was a 3 for 2 deal on, me and my friend got our foundations and I got the moisturiser as well. Oh another tip she said, which we'd been discussing anyway, was about face wipes. She said don't use them either. Once in awhile is fine, but she said it doesn't help your skin. I've been about 50/50 with using face wipes or cleansing my face, since when you're tired it's easy to use them, especially if I'm over my boyfriends but now I'll only use it sparingly or to take make up off and then cleanse my face. 

I've been using the moisturiser everyday now and I barely need to use any of that, or the mousse, and it's been working way better for me. I've ordered some brushes so I'm just using my fingers atm (using the spatula thing to take it out first), so it's not ideal but I cannot wait for the brushes haha. The only downside is, that I do need to use powder on top when I'm working as I'm rushing around in work and I get boiling, but its barely anything. I've been drinking more water lately and that's also making a huge difference, and I finally got an appointment with my Doctors for my skin! However, its on the day my boyfriends leaving for Portugal, so I'm going to be all over the place then but it'll be worth it.Hope you enjoyed my review!

Keratin Smooth: TRESemme

I saw Jess review TRESemme's Keratin Smooth Deep Treatment Masque last week on her blog and knew I had to try it out for myself. Like her, I also have really long thick hair and whilst it's not overly frizzy or anything, I did want to tame it some more and make it feel extra soft. I've been trying out a few products for my hair and really wanted a hair masque, so when she mentioned this, and that Boots had taken 1/3 off the price making it just £3.66 I snapped it up when I next went into Boots. 

From the photo above, you can tell I love this! I've only used it twice so far but there is a huge difference, and I'm actually sad that I didn't bring it down my boyfriends to use. I also didn't buy the shampoo or conditioner to go with it, but I'm pretty happy with what I already have (Aussie products) so I didn't bother.

Inside is a thick white cream which is kinda runny, so be careful when you scoop it out, as I dropped a little when I first did it. You slather it on like a usual conditioner, but I put it on my roots and wished I hadn't. I don't condition the top half of my hair as it makes it greasy, and I found that happened with the TRESemme split remedy shampoo/conditioner when I put it all over, but I somehow thought this would be different haha. Anyways the second time I used it, I put it on the bottom 2/3s of my hair and it was fine. My hair was lovely and soft, and I know I always say that but it really does make a huge difference, and more so than other products I've used. I straightened my hair afterwards which I don't normally do, and it felt super soft and sleek.

Overall I would recommend buying this, and it's making me not want to cut my hair as I like the way my hair looks and feels now I'm taking care of it. However the reason I'm taking care of it, is because I will donate it... eventually. I'm just finding it hard to say goodbye, plus I hate going to the hairdressers! I'm like an awkward turtle in there!

Jolie Moi Wishlist

1 // 2 // 3
4 // 5 // 6 

Considering the last time I did a Wishlist post was in April, I thought it was about time I did another one! Jolie Moi has been making the blogging rounds it seems, as that's where I've discovered them, on other peoples blogs! It's kind of been like torture though, since I don't really have money for all these beautiful, fanciful clothes, but I can't help looking through the website wishing they were all mine.... but I couldn't help it so made this wishlist!

The two dresses (1 and 2) are both super cute, one in a silly way (hello roaring tiger on a little pink dress! I would wear you with a black leather jacket and doc martens if I had any!) and the other is so cute and dainty and pretty and the colours are so gorgeous, almost like a sunset?

The tan bag (3) would be perfect for Autumn, but who am I kidding? It feels like Autumn already and I want to wear you despite your tinyness and price! Whereas the green sequined collar top (5) could be easily transitioned between the seasons, and would look great at Christmas time, since its green and sparkly!

With the skirts (4 and 6), I know they're the same, (or almost as they have slightly different names?) but I couldn't decide which I liked better, the black or the nude. They are both floaty and elegant, but I would probably wear the black more as it's more practical, but the nude one would make me feel like a ballerina princess. I suppose the black skirt would make me feel like one too though tbh!

Anyways, these are a few things I've been lusting after. I'm going to try and make this a regular feature again because they are fun, and easy to look back through and see what I want or wanted. Plus I love looking at other peoples wishlists, and wishing I had all those items too.And nothing much has been going on in my life except for work, which should quieten down when school starts up, and apart from that I've been reading, babysitting or being ill like today.

Aztec doodle

Oh wow, the quality of this is sooo bad! Smudges (to hide the writing on the page behind it), thick wonky lines, uneven legs and random black squidges! My oh my definitely not my best. I like wearing this outfit a lot, with my Katnis style braid, aztec vest and black jeggings from Primark and plain black shoes from New Look and a stone arrowhead necklace which was a christmas present, it's an easy outfit for me not to wear considering I usually wear dresses all the time. The outfit does look nicer in person rather than my terrible painting of it.

However I've just finished an eight day streak in work, so had nothing else to put up as basically I've done nothing but work every single day for just over a week! Fun times yo! (I may have slightly gone mad, maybe...). I am exhausted, but luckily had today off, but I had to do a course thingie for four hours which took an hour to drive to and back so it wasn't really a day off, but I do get tomorrow off yay! I plan to watch The Lorax, yes I am a grown up thank you very much!

Oh and today I went on the motorway for the first time since I passed my test, which was last October. It was scary but easy! And oddly quiet... and I made my mum come with me haha, but she only screeched a little so it was okay. I did see a car on fire though! That was quite scary, it on the other side of the motorway luckily, and I don't think anyone was injured as no one was near it. We saw loads of police/ambulance/fire engines going past as we went further on slowing traffic, but yeah, not exactly the best thing to see when you're already nervous! But  car got me there and back again safely, and everything was cleared up by the time I came back so it's all good!

Mermaiden

Mermaiden by lisamello featuring corset crop tops

It's been awhile since I had a little play on polyvore, and I decided to go for a inspired-by-a-mermaid theme when I saw this template. And oh my days, I'm in love with this outfit! I wish I had it! I mean I'm no where near confident enough to wear this, but its so pretty.

Firstly the hair, its big, curly and blonde!  Can you imagine if it had a blue or green tint to it? Very mermaidy. I picked a green velvet skirt 'cause ya know, mermaids tend to have green tails in the stories. I love velvet, I'll have to get a few velvet skirts for winter to live in, because they look and feel so nice. Plus velvet is kinda shiny, like mermaids tails! I wanted to keep the top simple to focus on the skirt, so picked a simple lace bralet, which one day I shall wear (when I drop about a million dress sizes ha!). Then for the accessories I picked green wedges (gorgeous dark colours om nom) to match the skirt, and a sparkly gold purse and gold anchor earrings to fit in with the colour scheme and template, and sparkles are always nice. Plus where else would a mermaiden be than on a boat or near the sea with a steering wheel and anchor right?

Ah if only I was rich enough to buy all the things! One can always dream right? How's everyones weeks going? I'm on day 3/8 of working, and it is not fun already! My feet are killing me :( I hate ten hour shifts and I'm not sleeping so well in the nights despite being exhausted and waking up early. Oh and plus! My car didn't work when I finished work today, so I had to wait TWO hours for them to come fix it (which only took two minutes, thanks!!) so I'm not getting much change to read blogs and write them, hence this little polyvore number. Anyways! Enough of the complaining, I'm going to try to sleep, yay sleep!

In the summer time

She Said Beauty Box. Ombre nails. Neighbours cats Lightning and Mattie.
Moonrise Kingdom ticket. Cupcakes. Atmosphere. Orange Sunglasses.
Broken Glass. Beach View. Costa. Me on a Dragon Pedal Boat.
Sand. From where I stand. View from the Library. Library Haul.

Okay so a bit of a mish mash post, maybe from the last two weeks. I either take loads of pictures on Instagram (username is lisamello) or I forget all about it for a few days. Oops. I've gone to the beach a few times, and even on kinda cloudy days, if its warm enough to sit on the beach then I don't mind, its so relaxing to just dip your feet into the sand. I also went to the Library which is right next to the beach, I need to go more often! I got a new Library card from my local one the other day, and can use it at Swansea Library too, which I'm planning on spending a few days reading there in the sun with the pretty views. I also took out a few books, which have similar book covers...

Um from the top not including beach photos, I had my second She Said Beauty Box (well actually I had two, I'm confused) and took photos of my neighbours cats like the cat stalker that I am. Lightning the grey one, he never comes near us, but watches us, and Mattie is such an attention whore she'll flop dramatically down on her the floor for you to rub her belly and joins me whenever I sit outside. I love that photo of her sticking her tongue out though. (One day I'll have pets of my own again dammit!) I painted my nails using an ombre technique which I LOVED but the photo doesn't do it justice, and reminds me of the sec on the beach cocktail with the colours.

I went to see Moonrise Kingdom which was fantastically whimsical, and is one of the few films I've actually paid to go see in the last few years since they didn't show it in the cinema where I work :( I made patriotic cupcakes for a night in with my friends, except the blue didn't turn out except in the icing, so I'll have to try gel food dye next time instead! I also had a games night with work people and my boyfriend who used to be a work person, where we played Atmosphere! I love that game, its so silly. Did you ever play it when you were younger? And speaking of work, we have this new promotion where we have bright orange t-shirts, glasses and wigs to wear! It was dead in work so me and four other girls dressed up, it was hilarious, but I did love the glasses. The t-shirts were a nice fit too, as we usually get large t-shirts if we get any.

Then a quick mish mash of the other photos, my brothers cat got broken into (nothing was stolen) and while gutted for him, since every vehicle he owns gets broken/stolen/smashed/dies, the broken glass was kinda pretty. I've tried a few of the costa cooler things, and got one to match my dress the other day! Not on purpose, but it was funny. I had orange and raspberry which was gorgeous, only because mango and passion fruit was sold out, and red berry  another time which I didn't really like the after taste. So I just need to try mango now, but I'm glad I tried the orange and raspberry one, its gorgeous! Oh and then there's me on a Dragon Peddle boat. So much fun and relaxing. I'd never been to the ones in Singleton Park despite Swansea being my home town all my life! So I had to fit it in with my boyfriend before he left, and I took lots and lots of photos.

Okay so that's a quick post, I'm trying to post more regularly now, but I've also been working and enjoying the sun whenever I can. And now I'm off to a Olympics closing ceremony party down my boyfriends. Has everyone been enjoying watching it? I'm so proud that we've come third overall! I never intended to watch any of it except for the opening ceremony but have watched it here and there, and wish I'd watched more, it's a bit addictive isn't it?

Just another manic Monday

On Monday I finished work early, and decided to go round the shops and had a mini shopping spree. I really need to stop doing those, but I figured since I'd been paid recently, and it should be fine s'long as I don't do it again for awhile (I'm trying to save up money for big things). Anyways since I picked up two extra shifts yesterday and today, and next weeks crazy, it kinda makes up for me finishing early and spending lots of money-ish. I didn't spend too long shopping as I was meeting my boyfriend, but I did go to Primark and New Look. Most of what I own is from Primark, New Look and H&M, I think I should branch out a bit... oh well, they have cheap pretty clothes! 

I've lusted after the studded collar dress from New Look for awhile now, and finally decided to buy it, since I had 20% vouchers off for being a store card member, and decided to get the t-shirt as well which is kinda   weird for New Look don't you think? It's all spacey with lepards and triangles saying 'MY WORLD' but 'world' is backwards. Anyway as I got to the till and pulled out the vouchers I realised they ran out the day before, gah! But I still bought them anyways!

In Primark I bought a few things (and a dress the other day but I don't have pictures) but these were the two main things (I did buy a scarf, socks, etc but they were a bit boring). I've wanted Dr Martens for years, but don't have the money to buy them, so bought these cheapy super shiny lookalikes from Primark for £18. I'm hoping they'll look better when scuffed up a bit, but I like them regardless of the shine, my boyfriend however hates them haha. I also got that flowery vest top too, since I have a similar vest from there in a see through aztec print which I love and wear all the time. I also figured I could potentially wear that if I worked in a school, since you never know I might get one eventually, but there's no jobs being advertised! Swansea sucks!

In Primark I also bought the false eyelashes, and nivea hand cream on the bottom left of the photo, since they were a pound each. I love the hand cream. It was an impulse buy in the queue, but I always run out of hand cream, and need ones that last me awhile, which this one does. What I mean by last for awhile, as in the effect it has on my hands, so I'm not reaching for the hand cream a million times a day, so then it will last longer too. As for the eyelashes, I haven't tried them out yet but they look more natural than the pair I got in my glossy box (i.e no rhinestones!). I really enjoyed wearing those, which was my first time so I'm looking forward to wearing more false eyelashes now that I've gotten over my 'fear' of applying them, since I thought they would be too hard to do.

The rest of the items I got from Superdrug, and I love most of them. The two dry shampoos were part of a deal which I couldn't resist but they are awful and make my hair look worse! Definitely would not recommend them! I was planning on keeping them in my locker in work to deal with my terrible hat hair but but I think I'll stick to batiste or tesco's own (which works just as well and is cheaper), but I like to get batiste if its on sale since it tends to smell nicer.

I love Aussie products but only buy them when they have deals on, and these were two for £6 or £7 I think. As I've mentioned in loads of posts I'm trying to look after my very long hair right now in order to eventually donate it, so I've been wanting to get a leave in conditioner or hair mask, and then I saw the miracle hair insurance leave in conditioner. Since there was a deal on I also bought the three minute miracle luscious long hair treatment conditioner, and both of these products are magical. My hair felt so soft afterwards, and smelt great too and the leave in conditioner wasn't even noticeable apart from the lovely smell and extra softness. I actually look forward to showering with these products, sad I know!

The two lipsticks were MUA and Beauty UK. I was introduced to MUA by Catherine in the blog package swap I took part in. For such cheap prices they're really fun to try out different shades of nail polish, eye shadow, lipstick and more but I've only bought a few lipsticks so far. I'm trying out new shades of lipstick atm to see what suits me, and decided to try out cheap lipstick first before I get the more expensive lipsticks to see what I like. The MUA one is perfect for the day, as its a subtle pale coral colour, and the Beauty UK, is more of an orangy colour, more noticeable but not too much so but I love it. I didn't think I'd like it that much even though I bought it! I thought it would be for more daring days, but I could easily wear this whenever and not feel self conscious about it. I think both were a pound so you can't really go wrong with them there can you?

The last thing I bought was a superdrug mud mask tube to use when I'm down my boyfriends since I can't really cart my lush face masks back and forth, especially since they need to stay in the fridge. I've used it once, and it reminds me of when I was younger and used to do mud masks. It dried really quickly on my face and as usual, left my skin feeling nice and soft. I'm aiming to use masks a lot more lately and see if it helps my skin over the long run, because it's horrible right now.

Anway thats my rambly post on my mini shopping haul, with some reviews thrown in too! What do you think of shopping haul posts? Do you like them, find them boring, too boastful or don't really care? I like seeing them, as I'm a nosey person, and also tend to buy things people suggest too that I wouldn't otherwise normally think to buy. Hope everyone's having a lovely time with the unexpected sun, want to take any bets on how long it'll last this time around? As this is being posted I'm currently at work where there are no windows, is that a good or a bad thing I'll never really know!

Catastrophe Cosmetic: A Lush Review

You could say this is part two in my Lush Fresh Face Mask reviews, with part one being here with Cosmetic Warrior. Even though I loved Cosmetic Warrior, I wanted to try out different face masks, and since I have bad skin, I opted for Catastrophe Cosmetic which claims to help skin 'when disaster looms', which is every day with me right now. 

I keep trying to make a doctors appointment for my skin but my doctors are stupid and you have to phone at 8am in the morning to try and book an appointment for 2-3 weeks in advance and I am always working in the morning! And when I'm not working, they're fully booked and I have to wait till the next week to book it! It's absolutely ridiculous, I have been trying for over a month now and nothings happening so I decided to buy another face mask. 

It retails at £5.75 which is a decent price, especially if you just buy the £1 face mask pouches you can only use once, this works out to be waaay cheaper in the long run. As is says on the lid in the photo above, it contains blueberries, chamomile, Irish moss and calamine, all of which are meant to sooth, calm and cleanse your skin. As with all fresh face masks from Lush, they need to be kept in the fridge and have a short life span, but if you use them all the time like me then you tend to use it all up near the end of its shelf life anyway.

This is what the consistency looks like in the pot, and it's more paste like than Cosmetic Warrior, which I'll probably compare to a lot in this post, since its the only other one I've used. When I first started using it it had a bit of liquid in the top, which was fine when I mixed it in with the rest of it, but now it's gone. It obviously smells like blueberries, what with them being an ingredient for their anti-oxidant purposes. So it smells nice, but a bit powdery. However if you don't like the garlic smell of Cosmetic Warrior for your bad skin, then maybe Catastrophe Cosmetic is better suited to you (sorry if the names are confusing as they both have 'Cosmetic' in them!). 

I'm not showing any pictures with the mask on my face like other people do sorry, but it covers my face evenly and looks more like a face mask usually does, with the occasional blue berry on your face. It says to leave it on for 10-15 minutes, but I usually leave on for longer, and forget to wash it off as I'm reading some blogs at the same time so its very dry when I wash it off. Unlike Cosmetic Warrior, its a bit harder to wash off. I wipe it off my face first to get all the crumbs off (am I the only one who does that?) and then it leaves a powdery substance behind which feels a bit weird, which I then wash off. It does reduce the redness in my skin but doesn't quite have the same effect as Cosmetic Warrior did on my skin. Whereas I used that in the morning or before going out for the night because it helped with applying make up, I use Catastrophe Cosmetic whenever, in the morning, day, night but usually after a shower since it doesn't do that much for me compared to the other mask. While I do enjoy using it and have seen improvements, I would recommend Cosmetic Warrior (which I reviewed here) over Catastrophe Cosmetic, unless you don't like the smell of garlic you vampires :P

Maxi Skirt

It's been a really long time since I put up an illustrated outfit picture, so I had a look through, and only had two drawings, and only one had been painted, which was this one, so that's why this is up. I should probably take these pictures in daylight but its 11pm and I have work tomorrow (why did I agree to do extra shifts? >.<) so sorry for the poor quality. I actually drew this back in May I think, when I went to London and this is the outfit I stupidly wore to a Theme Park and fell off a ride (at the end when you get off anyway!) I'm such an idiot! Still its a nice outfit to wear on a hot sunny day. The top actually has more white in it at the top, and the white blobs are meant to be swans, so its meant to be swans swimming in a lake with trees and a sky which I forgot to add. Both that and the maxi were from Primark. I need to stop going in there or that's all my wardrobe will be made up of!

Glossy Box vs She Said Beauty

Sorry I kind of took a little blogging break there! I tend to do that every now and then, but not on purpose, oops. I really need to work on that, sorry! I've not even been that busy or anything and I've had a few post ideas too so I don't know what I was doing. I meant to post this Glossy Box Vs She Said Beauty box review last month (it's already August, where did July go?) but I never got round to it. I got the She Said Beauty Box at the start of the month (my first one) and the Glossy Box at the end of the month so it wasn't really the best timing but I wanted to compare the two boxes in the same post, rather than do two separate posts if you get what I mean? I'm going to carry on getting the two boxes for another two months and then maybe pick one to get or try out some others, I don't know yet. And as for the format I might compare them each month, or do two separate posts. 

I've been with Glossy Box since last year, and while it has been awesome, I wanted to try out other boxes since I while I loved Glossy Box, I wasn't in love with Glossy Box anymore. However since Glossy Box was my first Beauty subscription box, I didn't want to quit outright and wanted to compare it with other Beauty subscription boxes. I swear I'll start to compare them now, but remember this is for July not for August.

Okay so starting with the small stuff, price, delivery's and packaging! With Glossy Box (GB)  it's £10 p/m + p&p which is about £12.95 and She Said Beauty (SSB) is only £9 p/m + p&p which works out to be about £11.95, so price wise SSB wins! (Side note: For the first box SSB I used a code, meaning I paid £9 in total but full price for this months box). With the delivery's as I already mentioned GB sends it out at the end of the month and SSB sends them out at the start of the month. Now onto packaging, GB comes in a black box with the logo stamped all over in Pink, whereas SSB comes in a bright hot pink box which is very noticeable! For the actual boxes GB usually comes in a pale pink box with a separate lid, but for special boxes they do change the colour sometimes. SSB comes in a pretty turquoise box with a subtle pattern as you can see above, but it doesn't have a separate lid which I wished it did, but its okay as a fold-able type of lid. Both boxes have little cards with the info and sometimes extra little cards for specific infomation, and both have little straw? like pieces inside which is pretty but annoying, and SSB has less than GB which some may dislike but I prefer as that stuff gets everywhere in my room!

Debenhams reward card. Time Release Blemish Cleaner. Honey Moisteriser.  Ice Crystals Anti Aging Prep & Polish. Eden Natural Polish Remover. Love Phat Liner. S-File. 

SSB came with 5 items, with an extra in the form of a Debenhams beauty reward card. While its a nice touch, I already have one and with an extra lost one!

Time Release Blemish Cleaner by Murad is okay, it helps my skin a bit but I have horrible skin and I'm a bit wary of using this as it also claims to battle wrinkles. I can't remember where I read/heard this information, but I heard you shouldn't use anti aging products until you need to use them as it can cause damage? I really should look this up, but this knowledge whether its true or not keeps me away from anti aging products and I tend to give any products to my mum as I don't have wrinkles.

Honey Moisteriser by LaylaD Natural Beauty is amazing. I've been using it as a hand cream since my hands get super dry really quickly, and it keeps them feeling soft and hydrated and smells of honey too which is a bonus. I love the smell of honey, even if I don't like the taste.

Ice Crystals Anti Aging Prep & Polish by Freeze 247 is another product I've not really used much of because its anti aging. It does help make my skin feel soft but apart from that I can't really say anything about it.

Eden Natural Polish Remover by Fresh Therapies was too small of a sample! It removed the polish after awhile, but I don't really like liquid polish removers as it takes forever, and I like to use polish remover pad things, or those pots you dip your fingers in and twist.

Love Phat Liner by Miners Cosmetics is amazing! I love, love, LOVE this product and use it every day. I will definitely be buying it when I run out as its only £3.99 (but right now its only £1.99 on the website!) I'd actually just lost my previous eyeliner which I loved from Accessorize and then my replacement one from Boots  straight afterwards. I find most eyeliners don't stay on my eyes for long, but this one does, and its really easy to use and when sharpened I don't poke my eye out like I sometimes do with others as I am clumsy and stupid. It can be used as a liner, definer and all over eye pencil too which I haven't done just yet, but if you guys want to, go ahead!

S-File by Stylfile was created by a The Apprentice Winner apparently? IDK I don't really watch it apart from the off episode here or there, but there was a card mentioning it with the box. I was hoping I'd get this in my box though from seeing other reviews and sneak peeks as I'm growing my nails out and needed a nice and lovely file. It's fun and easy to use, following the shape of your nails and I use this all the time.

My favourite SSB product from July, the Love Phat Liner!

Colour & Care Shampoo. Monu Golden Glow. Jelly Pong Lip Frosting. Skin Balancing Lotion.
HD Brows, Eye & Brow Palette. Skin Balancing Kit.

July's GB also came with 5 items, with an extra item added in too. They do give extra items out every now and then, and the extra for this months (Skin Balancing Kit) was better than the SSB box of a reward card. GB also has themes for boxes, with this months being "Festival Glam". Now I can see the uses for some of the products in a festival, but it doesn't seem like a festival box to me. I'd rather see a good moisturiser, mini spray, fun make up etc.

Enrich Colour Shampoo by Clynol Salon Exclusive is meant to be a shampoo for coloured hair with UV filtres to protect your hair from fading. I'm growing my hair dye out so the top of my hair is my natural colour and the ends are faded. I decided to use it anyway, and it left my hair looking really greasy on the non dyed parts so I'm not sure if I'll use this again until I dye my hair again. 

Golden Glow by Monu is a good moisturiser like I mentioned above, and comes in handy considering the sun is barely out lately and does gradually build a small tan. However the product I'm currently using does a better job, (some cheap Sweedish stuff I got from Buyology) but it does smell better than the cheap stuff!

Lip Frosting by Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics smells amazing! I want to eat it all up, but don't worry I won't. It comes out in a dark pink colour which looks nicer on your lips, with a subtle shine and isn't too sticky, I hate sticky lip glosses. It's also a decent amount for a lip gloss and now lives in my purse. 

Visible Difference Skin Balancing Lotion and Line Kit by Elizabeth Arden is a small product but has more in it than you think it would. I've actually lost it so only used it for a few days but it was like most other moisturisers I've used, leaving my skin feeling soft, I just need to find it to use it again. Now with the Kit I enjoyed using them but they were small smaples so only used them once. The kit came with a exfoliating cleanser, skin serum and sachet of the lotion. They left my skin feeling fresh and soft, but I didn't notice any other effects after only using it once, but it was a nice extra product. 

Brows Eye and Brow Pallete by HD Brows is something I'm really glad I got. I've been meaning to try a brow kit for awhile, but never felt like I really needed one so haven't bought one. When I got it in this box, I thought, this is why I started to subscribe in the first place, to try out products I wouldn't usually buy. It's a bit too dark for my hair colour, but I use the lighter shades to fill in my brows. I'm only a beginner though so I need some more practice with it as I've accidentally put too much on before, oops. It's fun to use though and I hope I get the use of it and will probably use it quite a lot in the future!

And that's the end of the product reviews finally! I hope I didn't bore you, it actually took me aaages to write this post. To compare the two boxes, neither was amazing, but they both had a product which I loved with SSB's Love Phat Liner and GB's HD Brows kit. GB's product was more expensive so better value for my money, but SSB's product is something I use every day whereas with GB's product I'll use every now and then, but probably on nights out unless I get the hang of it. Overall I think GB was better this month, but only marginally so, so we'll see how August boxes are!

Pink and Grey: An Outfit Challenge

Foxy ring // Peter Pan collar dress // Tights // Brogues

The Discount Coder is running a challenge competition to celebrate reaching (almost) 1000 followers on twitter! (So go follow them!) The competition is to create an outfit for £100 or less from the ASOS website in order to have a chance to win a £100 voucher they're kindly giving out to one lucky blogger! And I, as usual, left this till last minute! I had seen two or three other bloggers do this a few weeks ago and then I promptly forgot all about it until today!

I decided to go for a pink and grey colour scheme as those are my layout colours atm and I'm pretty partial to them. I picked some grey and pink brogues and built the outfit around them, as they are gorgeous! I love brogues and a grey pair is next on my list. Then I needed to find a dress ast I live in dresses, and like brogues, I love peter pan collars! The colour of the dress does actually match the shoes better than what it looks like, but I picked the wrong colour to do the banner and arrows, so it looks a bit bright. Considering the weather we're having though, the brightness of the dress would suit both sunny and cold days, depending on what else you're wearing with it. I went with a more of a cold theme, and picked sensible shoes and some pretty tights (I love the lightning bolt!). If it were sunny I'd probably go without tights and wear some nice sandals. And to top it off I paired it with a silver fox ring, since he's cute. I was going to add a necklace but I thought with the collar and belt it doesn't really need anything else there, and I'm recently getting into wearing (animal) rings lately, and  matches the shoes, and it all works out to be £94.50!

The competition is open until midnight so you still have time to do it, this took me less than half an hour!

Little bits of Summer

Sending off my giveaway parcel in the post office. Sparkly nails and a foxy ring. Swansea Beach. The Night Circus.
Heroes chocolates. Pub quiz. Shoes. Weird clown thing.
Krispy kreme trip. Mug drawing. My neighbours attention seeking cat. New necklace from Delilah Dust.
Still reading A Clash of Kings. Glossy Box. Mumbles Sunset. Sandal buddies.

So it turns out we're getting a bit of a summer right now, is everyone making the most of it? I am trying to but still not as much as I'd like considering it might not be here next week! Silly, mean British weather, y u no make up yr mind?! Anywho I didn't really know what to call this post other than 'Week in Instagram' so I called it 'Little bits of Summer' even though not everything is summery, ah well.

I've been to the beach of course, but they're more like evening or afternoon strolls with my boyfriend or my friend, not proper beach visits. I went to Cardiff for some shopping (was meant to go Ice Skating but we got there too late) and I tried my first ever twinkies (didn't like it) and my first ever Krispy Kreme donought, well two actually (they were heaven) so it was fun. I tried out a new pub quiz with my boyfriend and we double dated with his friend, me and his friends girlfriend just left it up to the boys and we came third! (Out of er...four oops!). On the way to Cardiff though they had all these street performers from the town centre to the train station which was a bit bizarre but a cool concept called 'A Welcome Disruption to Life'. I drew on a mug as a birthday present, and got a new necklace from Delilah dust which reminds me of being a teenager when I had loads of crystal necklaces, they're so pretty though. I won a box of Heroes in work for being super (well sorta) and I got this months Glossy box so I should do a review on that and She Said Beauty soon. I also stole cat cuddles with the neighbours cat who is an attention whore, but I love it. With my old cat she never really liked that much fuss so its novel to me for a cat to demand attention, it makes me happy.

I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which is really good if you like realistic magical books which involves pov's from multiple characters and a Romeo and Juliet style romance. I half wish I was still reading it, as I didn't really want it to end. However I also need to finish A Clash of Kings which is the second in the Game of Thrones series by Geroge R. R. Martin. These books are taking me forever! The Night Circus I finished in less than 24 hours, I read it late at night over two nights. This is usually typical for me to read a book in one or two goes, but these books? Take forever. I think its because the pov changes every chapter and it takes awhile to get into it. I also put it down a lot since the end of each chapter is always an easy place to stop reading compared to other books as that section is done for the time being. I decided to stop reading it to finish watching the TV series as some things were out of order and I was getting confused. So I waited until I caught up on the TV show and started reading again. I will eventually finish these books, and hopefully if I read them before the next series start that'll be better. I only had this problem with Lotr when I was 11! I read the first book after watching the first film and that took awhile, but the second and third books I read before the films and they flew by so I'll have to do that now. Sorry for the little book essay, I like reading books!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, I'll be wokring later but had this day and tomorrow off so that makes me happy. Did anyone watch the Olympics Ceremony last night? How weird was that? It was like Loft at the start with the shire and then the fires haha, I saw so many comments on fb, twitter and instagram about how weird it was. It was good, but it took awhile didn't it? I really liked the Queen/James Bond bit, Mr Bean, the NHS moon bed bit, the flying bird cyclists and that guy from Two Door Cinema club singing as they lighted the 'Cauldron'. I thought it was really awesome how they did it and liked the fact that they let teenagers light it instead of themselves. So overall it was weird, with some good bits inbetween!

TRESemme Split Remedy Review

My mum came home the other day with two of the above samples, saying she got them from somewhere (I can't remember) and gave both of them to me as she usually does whenever she gets samples. Now I have seen a few reviews of these today on some blogs, where I think it came as part of a small beauty box? Which I don't get, so it's just a review of TRESemme. I have used it in the past about a few years ago and did like the products, but then never really bought them again, even though I didn't mind, but I don't usually buy shampoo. The new products are designed for helping repair split ends, which loads of other shampoos do too so I as a bit skeptical. I'm treating my hair better lately and trying out new things so I thought why not.

It comes in three steps, or three sachets rather. You use the shampoo, then the conditioner, and then once you're out of the shower, put the leave in conditioner. My hairs really long and thick so I used each sachet up on it, but you could half it if you have shorter hair. On the directions it says to use 2-3 pumps, which I think they mean from the full size bottles, which works out to be roughly the same size in the sachet so maybe you are meant to use all of it.

The consistency was nice, and there was a subtle smell (I'm not the best at sensing scents though!). The first time I used all three, I think I either put too much in my roots, or didn't wash it out enough because my hair looked greasy as soon as it was dry, not a good look. I usually shampoo the top half of my hair and then let the water run the rest of the shampoo through it (a tip I read somewhere) and then I condition the middle and the ends of my hair, as the top half can get greasy quite easily. I didn't do that this time as I put the conditioner everywhere before washing it out. Then I towel dried my hair and put in the leave in conditioner, mainly focusing on the ends as that's what its meant for. This was my first time using it so it was interesting to see how it would turn out. I didn't really notice it once my hair was dry, and it did feel soft but the top half of my hair greasy which was the conditioner's fault.

The second time I used it I had much better results. My hair wasn't greasy, as I didn't touch my roots except for the shampoo and made sure I rinsed everything out thoroughly. My hair felt soft again, and continued feeling soft the next day. However it's too short of a time to see if it made any difference to the ends of my hair, but it can't hurt to try. When I eventually cut all my hair off I'll ask the hairdressers what they think of it.

I probably won't buy the shampoo or conditioner, because sometimes I do condition the whole of my head and don't want it to be super greasy, but I did love the leave in conditioner as I didn't really notice it was in like I thought I would have, I thought it would feel heavier or I'd feel it once dry. It also made the parts of my hair I used it on really, really soft which is always nice. So I'll keep a look out if I see in the the shops. I hope you enjoyed this review, I'm going to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics with my family now, is anyone else exciting for the show? I'm hoping Doctor Who will appear to light the torch! And yes I'm a geek :D

Patterns

My friend gave me a belated birthday present a few weeks ago, and I decided to try it out today. She gave me a kit to customise a mug which I think was from Paperchase. She didn't tell me, but I saw one in there the other day, but can't find it on the website if you want to get one. I love how she got me something crafty to do, I love presents like that! I thought up a few patterns to draw on it but was too scared to actually do them! So I bought some other plain white mugs to use for practice, which is the one you see above.

I'd seen this pattern somewhere before ages ago but I can't remember where, and decided to recreate it. Now I don't have a steady hand at all, so my lines were thick and wobbly which hopefully adds to it! And drawing on a mug wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but it wasn't too bad. I can't wait to add to this collection, and the pen that comes with the mug is supposedly dishwasher safe after 72 hours. However I don't have a dishwasher so I won't know if that works!

If you don't have a kit or fancy getting one, Elsie at A Beautiful Mess gives some tips to draw on your mugs with sharpies which I'll definitely try out for different colours, you put them in the oven to set the pattern and then you have to wash everything by hand. If you attempt or have attepted to draw on mugs, plates, bowls or whatever let me know, I like checking out things like that :)

Hope everyone has a lovely week, looks like the Sun has decided to visit us so enjoy it while it lasts!

Bristol Zoo Times

Last Saturday me and the boy went to Bristol Zoo! I've always wanted to go to the Zoo and now I finally have! I mean, I have gone when I was younger, and apparently to Bristol Zoo but I don't remember. I only remember bits and pieces from a trip to Longleat and I've been to Folly Farm in Wales but its not a zoo, it's a farm, albeit it has Giraffes though I think! We basically spent all day travelling to and from there and only about three hours in the zoo, and part of it was when we stopped to have lunch.

We just missed our train to Cardiff, and had to wait half an hour for another so I had a Costa hot chocolate, and then when we got to Bristol there was a Gay Pride festival on so all the buses were extremely late, about 40 minutes. Last time we went on a trip to explore Castles, there was a March on in Cardiff and all the buses were late then too! I think we're destined for transport to never go our way haha. When we left the zoo the buses were still late and it started raining, so we were soaked despite umbrellas and coats waiting at the bus stop, and then we just missed the train back to Cardiff so had to wait 20 minutes. Then we we finally got to Cardiff we had to change trains to Swansea and got on the wrong train heading back the way we'd just come! And then! The next train going to Swansea was going all the way to Llanelli first and then we had to change there and head back to Swansea. Oh. Em. Gee! It took us hours and hours and we were about two hours late returning back when we were meant to go to a BBQ. I don't even want to add up how long we spent travelling/or waiting for transport, it'll hurt my head. Anyway enough of the transport rant! Now onto the animals!

It was awesome! We didn't get to see everything we wanted, and skipped some animals since there were too many people around, but we did manage to see the penguins and sea lions getting fed, which was really cool, and funny. The animals all seem to know when it's feeding time, which is the same time every day. I took a cute video of the penguins all forming a line heading down a rock to show my nana who loves penguins. We saw a lot of fighting or stealing of fish during that, poor penguins. Then for the Sea lions or seals (I can't remember the difference oops) we saw them getting fed, and doing tricks. The one above was called Artex I think (Is that from The neverending story?) and he was doing all these neat little tricks, and there was a baby sea lion who kept having a temper tantrum since they were going to feed him last and kept making the funniest of nosies. He also kept close to his mother, keeping his face on her tail, even while she was 'walking', sooo cute!

We saw loads of animals, including a dog on the train. He was gorgeous, and reminds me of my dog from when I was younger, and he was a guide dog. We looked after him while the owner went to the toilet and so many people petted him as he walked past, I really wish I had a dog, I'm not allowed to have any pets, not even a hamster or fish! We saw a baby lemer being washed by his parents above, he was so tiny you can't really see him in any of the pictures I took since they were sheilding him from view. And one of the cutest animals there was a little deer, called a Pudu which was so adorable, I really want one as a pet. And Bristol Zoo even had dinosaurs roaming around! Okay, well not real dinosaurs, and they weren't roaming around but were fun the see. I took so many photos of the animals that my phone actually died even though I'd charged it up in the morning, and missed out on a lot of animals, but I still think I took about 300 photos! Yeeesh I think I have a problem haha.

All in all it was a really fun trip, and you should definitely check it out if you want to go to the Zoo. We also had two for one tickets using our student cards (there's no date on it so we can still use them!) if we showed we travelled by train, but tickets are only about £12 anyways. The next Zoo I want to go to now though is the one in London next time I'm up there. Has anyone been there before?