Things I'm looking forward to...

Over the past couple of days I have been feeling quite down, I've had a lot of things to deal with as well as assignments and exam revision to complete. I started to feel a bit overwhelmed and had no motivation to write a post, hence my absence last week (sorry!)

This week I thought I would try to remind myself of all of the things that I have to look forward to over the next couple of months. I also said in my blogging goals post that I wanted to make my blog a little bit more personal and this seems like a pretty good way to do that.

I'm looking forward to....

1. A good ol' house party.
One of my closest friends from college is throwing a house party and I am so looking forward to it. Lots of us headed off to university in September and so haven't seen each other in a while. Obviously, it will be nice to have a catch up with everyone, but I've also missed the excitement of a house party. Flat parties at uni just don't feel skins-esque enough!

2. Watching my step-sister's final college performance.
I haven't been able to see any of her performances over the last two years of college as they have always been really awkwardly timed. Each time my mum and step-dad have gone alone and come back telling me how amazing the performance was and I've always been gutted that I couldn't go. Although this performance isn't the most conveniently timed, May is honestly the busiest week of my life. I'm making going to travel home for one night to see her, I can't wait!

3. Going to Slam Dunk for the first time. (expect a review to follow!)
We booked our tickets on a bit of a whim after debating over going for months. We're going on the 28th of May to the Leeds and I'm so excited. We mostly booked out tickets for Bowling for Soup but I'm also looking forward to seeing We The Kings (bit of a throwback for me!), With Confidence and lots of other bands that we'll have to squeeze in.

4. My mum's wedding.
This one is probably top of my list, understandably of course. My mum is getting married on the 3rd of June and my step-sister and I are bridesmaids. It's been a long journey of dress fittings, makeup trials and shoe shopping - finally the big day is almost here. I have a couple of things left to sort out for myself and then I can relax!

5. Our holiday to Edinburgh.
If you've been here from the very beginning you'll remember my post about our trip to London. This year we've booked ourselves a little getaway to Edinburgh in July. We've got lots of exciting things planned, the thing I'm most looking forward to being a trip to Edinburgh Zoo to see the pandas (childhood dream come true!) This will also be my first time ever venturing to Scotland so that's exciting!

As always, I hope you enjoyed this post! Writing this really did help me realise how much I've got to look forward to, despite all the other not so fun things!

-Chloe

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Patent Pending @ The Academy 3 | Manchester

On Thursday, 20/04/2017, my boyfriend and I went to see Patent Pending at the Academy 3 in Manchester. I realise the majority of you will probably have no idea who this band are so I'll give some background. They are an American rock (I'd consider them more pop punk) band formed in Mount Sinai, New York in 2001.My boyfriend introduced them to me and we've been to see them each year ever since. Up to now I think I've seen them 5 times which is quite a lot! They're sort of "our band".

The Academy venues are part of the University of Manchester's student union, there are four in total and as of now I have been in three of them (I am yet to venture into the academy 2!) Normally Patent Pending are in the Club Academy which is in the basement but this time we were in the Academy 3 which was a little strange at first. I personally prefer the Club Academy as it has different zones whereas the Academy 3 is literally one big room. Also in this venue the merch was outside which was a little weird, I picked up a t-shirt like I always do, I'm a bit of a tour tee hoarder. We also picked up their new album 'Other People's Greatest Hits' which doesn't officially come out until next month! When we got inside Joe (vocalist) was stood near at the door signing tickets and taking selfies with fans which was really lovely, I haven't come across any other artists which do this!

First support was a band called Sweet Little Machine who are from Sheffield. I really quite enjoyed them! It's always nice when support acts interact with the crowd and aren't awkward. They dedicated one of their songs to someone in the crowd's boss which was quite funny. They were also giving away their newest ep for free at the merch stand and selling possibly the cheapest t-shirts I've seen at £5! The second support were Eternal Boy, previously The Spacepimps, an American Pop Punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These guys were absolutely hilarious. They made a lot of inappropriate jokes which I wont repeat but trust me, they're funny. Most of their songs were inspired by the lead's ex-girlfriends, one of which they dedicated to a girl named Katie in the audience.

As always, the atmosphere at this Patent Pending gig was amazing, you really do feel like you're part of a little family when you're there. Their tours always have a 'theme' and this years theme was stranger things which I think is my favourite to date, they came on strange to the stranger things theme song which was was pretty cool. They gave their usual inspirational speech in the middle of the set which always manages to make me tear up a little bit! They also performed their cover of Spice Up Your Life for the first time on this tour which is great live! The infamous annual Crowd Swimming tournament was won again by Joe, next year he promised to convince Anthony to compete so I'm looking forward to that!

Due to popular demand they performed a medley of three old songs (Los Angeles / The Way You Make Me Shake / Cut Copy Paste) which was lovely. Followed by one of my personal favourite songs which my boyfriend and I sang along to quite badly, I was a little tipsy by this point! I think that this was possibly my favourite tour I've been too, I mean I enjoy them all but there was something special about this one for me.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post! This band means an awful lot to me so I really enjoyed writing this, if you're remotely interested in pop punk music I would recommend you give them a listen, their gigs are by far the most fun! You can really tell that they enjoy performing and it's really nice to be part of it all!

-Chloe

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Mask of Magnaminty | LUSH Review

Some of my favourite things to talk about and spend money on are skincare products. If you've read a few of my other posts you will know that I have suffered with acne prone skin for a few years now, I am constantly on the hunt for new products that might be able to help with my troublesome skin.

Don't mask those spots - Mask of Magnaminty them!

I picked up the Mask of Magnaminty from LUSH following a recommendation from a good friend of mine. I have the 125g pot which is available for £6.50, they also have a 315g and a 600g pot. This particular mask is also available in a self-preserving formula as well as the original formula for the same price. I personally prefer the self preserving masks, simply because when I'm at uni I don't want to fill the communal fridge with facemasks, I can just keep them in my room. Also I believe that the self-preserving masks have a longer life, this one in particular can be stored for 4 months which is perfect for me as I only really have a pamper session once a month. The original formula dries more thoroughly when applied, while the self preserved version has a higher honey content so is thicker and remains wet. Although this is not too much of an issue it is quite wet when on the skin, personally I prefer masks to be a little drier than this one.

A minty, multi-purpose mask with a mixture of gentle yet effective ingredients, including honey and kaolin, to help you maintain your magnificent skin.  You can also use this mask on both face and body!

Easily smoothed over the skin, this mask is made with peppermint oil to stimulate, marigold oil and chlorophyllin to treat the skin; evening primrose seeds and aduki beans to gently exfoliate as you wash it away. The mask is green in colour, it also contains particles that exfoliate the skin when you rinse the mask off.

The directions are relatively simple. Apply a generous layer over the face, avoiding the eyes. Leave on for five to ten minutes, then gently scrub off with warm water. I have used this mask a few times over the past couple of months. I tested it out again with my boyfriend earlier this week to get his opinion on it. Now... I can't confirm this myself but according to him the product also has a minty taste. I wouldn't advise anyone else to go around eating face masks but I assume they are safe to eat as they are made from all natural ingredients.

In his words; "it's like having a packet of Wrigley's Extra strapped to your face." Personally, I think that's a bit of an exaggeration but it is quite a strong scent. If you get the product to close to your eyes it can make them water due to the strong peppermint scent

This peppermint mask does everything it can to fight eruptions and outbreaks and return your skin to tip top condition. Tingles on problem areas which is encouraging as it shows that the product is actually working. Does feel a little bit itchy towards the end of the ten minutes. My skin genuinely did look a bit brighter after I used it and did feel smoother. It is rare that I am able to use any product containing peppermint as I find that they can irritate my sensitive skin but so far I have had no trouble with this one. Although there are some immediate effects I can't really comment on the long-term effects of using the mask as I change my skincare routine too often to put any changes down to one product alone. That being said it is one of my favourite face masks that LUSH do. I am quite keen to try the Cosmetic Warrior mask over summer when I have access to a bigger fridge!

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post.

-Chloe

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My Blogging Goals For 2017

I would like to begin this post by apologising for my inactivity over the last week and a half. If you're following me on Twitter you may have seen that my laptop decided to break. Timing wasn't ideal as I have been in and out of the library trying to finish assignments but thanks to my uncle my laptop is back and fully functional... hooray!

I had a lot of time to think about my blog and where I want to go with it. This has inspired me to write this weeks blog post. I know most people write these kind of posts at the beginning of the year but better late than never!

1. More lifestyle posts.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy writing about skincare and makeup bits that I've been enjoying but I feel that I've lost touch with what I originally set out for this blog to be. I wanted to write this blog like a journal and I think I have been to nervous to do that up to now. I hope to write more personal posts with the aim of this blog becoming more based around lifestyle. I would like to start writing 'life update' style posts at least once a month and writing more 'review' style posts of places I visit and things that I do.

2. Blog re-design.
I have a bit of a complex with my current blog theme. I can't make much progress on this goal until my assignments are all handed in but by the end of the summer (at least) I hope to have completely re-designed my blog. I'm planning to do some research into which platform is best suited to me, I started this blog with absolutely no knowledge of platforms and I think it will be beneficial to have a look at some of my options. Following this I hope to find a new theme that I am happy with and then finally get to a point where I'm content with how my blog looks.

These next two goals aren't directly related to the blog itself but more related to me.

3. Be more active on Twitter.
Although I do try to tweet at least once a day I still feel that I am slacking a little bit. I hope to encourage myself to participate in at least one of the 'Twitter chats' per week, I always seem to miss the beginning of them! I'm going to make it my mission to know when one is about to begin and be prepared to participate. I also want to be more interactive with other bloggers rather than just reading through.

4. Be more consistent on Instagram.
I just can't seem to get the knack of Instagram! I just never feel like I have anything worth posting. I'm hoping to force myself to post at least once a week by the end of the summer, even if it is just a nice quote that I've found on Pinterest. I also want to start being more interactive on Instagram. I want to put in more time to comment on other bloggers posts as I feel that just leaving a like is a little lacklustre.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and I would just like to apologise again for not posting last week, I really missed writing!

-Chloe

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All Time Low @ The O2 Apollo | Manchester

On Thursday, 22/03/2017, my boyfriend and I attended our second concert of the year. We saw All Time Low at the O2 Apollo in Manchester. All Time Low were my favourite band a few years ago, as cliche as it sounds they were there for me when I was experiencing trouble with friends at age 14 so as you can probably appreciate I was pretty excited for this!

This was my first visit to this venue, I'm one step closer to being able to say I've visited every concert venue in Manchester! First impressions of the venue: It's massive! It is a Grade II listed building, with a capacity of 3,500. It's among the biggest venues in Manchester, second only to the Manchester Arena. I'll be honest, from the outside the venue does appear to be in need of some TLC but inside the character really does shine and you get a real theatre feel. The venue features a permanently seated balcony and a downstairs that can be either seated or standing. The seats in the venue were rather comfy, a step up from the moth ridden ones found in Arenas! As it is an O2 venue those of us who are on the O2 network can make use of the priority queue which grants you with priority access, although for us this wasn't very useful as we were seated anyway, still pretty cool though! Whilst queuing we were also given a free copy of this months 'Rock Sound' magazine which helped kill some time in the queue.  

First support was an American pop punk band named Waterparks. I really enjoyed their set and I even knew one of their songs already, which is rare for me because I'm quite out of touch with new music (something I'm trying to work on). The second support was an American punk rock band names SWMRS. (pronounced like swimmers) These are not really my style but they were still very much enjoyed by the crowd. They were very excitable and genuinely looked like they were having the time of their life. Although they did get a little political in the middle of their set which was a bit strange.

All Time Low were amazing. It was everything I hoped for and more, I sang my little heart out to every song that I loved when I was 14 years old. As you would expect with an All Time Low show there were a fair few 'dirty' jokes made, nothing too raunchy though. The atmosphere as a whole was beautiful, from the chemistry between the band and between fans. They played a great balance between old songs and new songs which I was very grateful for. Listening to Alex sing Therapy live was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, it gave me goosebumps! A final honorable mention must be given for the lighting team on this tour. The lights were INSANE and by far the best I've ever seen.

Overall I had the best time and I desperately wish I could go back and relive it all over again. Hopefully I will get to go to their next Manchester show!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post! These types of posts are my favourite to write so hopefully there will be more to come.

-Chloe

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Mother's Day Gift Guide

Mother's Day is coming up and if you're like me you'll want to spoil your mum to show her just how much you appreciate her. BUT as I am living on a student budget I have been on the hunt for some gifts perfect for my mum that wont break the bank, and I thought that I would share some of them with you.

1. Flowers are a classic Mother's Day gift, in fact it's what my mum normally gives my grandma for Mother's Day. Although I wont be gifting my own mum flowers, she's not the best at keeping plants alive, I have found a couple of places with some lovely bouquets available. Morrisons have always been a go to for my family when it comes to flowers, they have bouquets available ranging from £5 to £20. Many mainstream retailers also have beautiful flowers available including M&S (they are giving away free chocolate with some of their bouquets!), Next and Debenhams. There is bound to be something to suit your mums taste!

2. A gift hamper is my usual go-to gift for any occasion. You can either create your own or purchase a ready made one from a range of places including Debenhams and M&S. For me personally I like to make my own hampers, you can fill them with all of your mum's favourite things from chocolate to beauty bits to candles. The possibilities are infinite!

3. Going out for a nice meal on Mother's Day is a tradition for my family. Usually we will just take a trip to a local pub for some food but if you're more adventurous than us you could venture into a fancier restaurant. Whatever your mum's favourite food is. My family prefer English pub food but for me personally I would rather go for an Italian any day!

4. Breakfast in bed, this isn't exactly a gift but it is something I used to do for my mum when I was younger and didn't have any money for gifts. I remember I made my first attempt at scrambled eggs on Mother's Day morning one year for my mum and being heartbroken when she didn't eat it, I don't blame her though to be honest! But nowadays I think I could cook up something a lot better for breakfast.My suggestion would definitely be a big plate of pancakes!

5. The Hotel Chocolat Mother's Day collection features chocolate boxes ranging from £8 to £160 (yikes!) and also some hampers featuring Prosecco starting at £25. Thorntons also have very similar gifts starting at £5. If your mum is a bit of a chocoholic I would definitely recommend you check some of these out. It would be cruel for me to gift my mum chocolate as she is avoiding snacking to fit into her wedding dress, this would however mean that I would be able to eat them instead....worth considering!

Thank you for reading! I hope that this post gave you a couple of ideas for Mother's Day and I hope you enjoyed!

-Chloe

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ghd Copper Luxe Premium Gift Set

Achieve criminally smooth results with the ghd V copper luxe premium gift set...

If you read the post I made about My Christmas Day you will already know that for my main present I received the ghd V Copper Luxe Premium Gift Set. I have only ever used ghd straighteners on my hair as my mum has always had them and I got my first pair when I was around 12. I have been in need of a new pair for a while now as I managed to burn through the wire of my old ones... oops!

In The Box...
- ghd V copper luxe styler
- Copper luxe heat-resistant bag
- NAILS INC® nail polish

First of all, the copper straighteners are very pretty. But looks aside as with all ghd products they are really great quality and create amazing looks with as little damage to the hair as possible. Each ghd V classic styler features advanced ceramic heat technology delivering the optimum styling temperature to create sleek and smooth everyday styles with enhanced shine. The rounder barrel and smooth contoured plates allow you to create bouncy curls, tousled texture and the ultimate sleek look, so you always so you can be ready for whatever the party season throws at you. They heat up impressively quickly which is perfect when I'm getting ready in a rush. My favourite thing about ghd straighteners is that they feature an automatic sleep function which switches the straightener off automatically after 30 minutes, which is really great for peace at mind on rushed days.  

The set also comes with a nail polish to match the straighteners, how cool is that? But in all seriousness the nail polish is actually really good and I have used it a couple of times. Although it does come off more gold than copper so not an exact match unfortunately!

The gift set that I have is currently available for £115 (£20 off!) at ghd and feelunique!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!

-Chloe

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