Primark Haul | May 2017

I hadn't had a massive Primark shop forever so one day I decided to. I went to my local branch and ended up buying lots of things, which I'm really excited about. I have worn some of them already as I've been so impatient to!

4 Pack Fashion Tissues- Whenever I'm having a big shop in Primark I will always pick up these 4 pack of tissues. I always take them to school with me so I like to have more. These are great value for money as you get 4 packs for 50p and they also have cute outer packaging. 

These were 50p

6 Pack Mixed Hairclips- If you haven't read my last post (why haven't you?!?) you would know that I have been curling my hair a lot recently so I got these for that. I have used them but they were a bit fiddly trying to separate my hair so I might try them again or just not use them.

These were £1

Brow Bar Sunglasses- These sunglasses were hugly on trend last year thanks to the Dior version but I decided to pick some up because I really liked them and I feel like my usual Aviators make me look like a criminal so I wanted to get some new ones.

These were £2 (was £3)

Triangle Bar Necklace- Whenever I'm having a big shop in Primark I always end up buying a necklace and this was the one that I bought this time. I haven't worn it yet but I think it will end up looking cute with loads of outfits, especially ones with black jeans and something which is featuring in this haul.

This was £3

Pink & Leopard Print PJ Set- I've mentioned these a few times on my blog but that's because I really like them. They come with a plain t-shirt and printed pyjama bottoms, which are super comfy. These work out to be £3 for each thing which is great and that's why I prefer buying them in sets.

This was £6

2x Black Cotton Leggings- Primark have the best leggings and I'm always buying more. I wouldn't buy them anywhere else because they'll probably still split and in Primark I can buy 3 pairs for £7.50 but in New Look I can only buy 1 pair for £7.99 so I would rather buy them in Primark.

These were £2.50 each. 

Black 'The Slouch Tee'- I already have one of these but because it's a good basic to have I picked up another. I usually wear these under cropped hoodies because I like the look of cropped hoodies but I don't actually like wearing crop tops and things so I'll wear one of these underneath.

This was £2

Coral Pom Pom Shorts- If you know me you would know that I hate showing my legs so buying shorts is a bit weird for me. However I purchased them to be used as pyjama shorts. Usually in the summer I get really hot at night so I can wear these, even though they're not supposed to be. 

These were £2.50

Long-line Lightweight Blazer- This blazer is something that I've wanted for a while now (not this exact one but this style) so when I saw it in Primark I had to buy it. I love the colour and it will smarten up any outfit. I've worn this already with black jeans and boots and I think it looked really nice if I do say so myself. 

Nude/Light Stretch Vest- This is just something that I picked up to go underneath the pink lace top as I knew that I wouldn't have anything to wear underneath it so I bought this vest, which isn't something that I wouldn't wear any other time. 
This was £2.50

Light Pink Lace Top- This top looks perfect for spring and I think it could be dressed up or down, depending on what you prefer. As it's lacy I bought the vest above to wear underneath and I'll probably wear this with jeans and also boots for a really cute outfit for spring going into summer.
This was £6 from Primark 

Brown Cropped Hoodie- Everyone seems to have this or something like this and I really like the style. Every time I've gone to Primark they never had my size so this time so I could finally get it I sized up to a size 12 and it does actually fit well (apart from the arms are too long) and it also means that this isn't too cropped on me, which I love.

This was £6

There was another top that I bought but I've seemed to lost the picture somewhere either on my laptop or my phone but we'll just leave the haul here. If there's any blog post suggestions you have let me know in the comments below and follow me on Twitter (@thelipinsider) and also on Instagram (@thelipstickinsider). 

Get To Know Me | Tag

I didn't know what blog post to write today so I decided to Google some tag ideas and I really liked the idea of the Get To Know Me Tag as I don't really do many personal posts so this is a way of getting to know me and find out everything you ever wanted to know about me!

Vital Stats:
Name: Louise 
Nicknames: I don't really have any but some teachers call me Lou which I really don't like.
Birthday: 8th December
Place of Birth: Essex
Star Sign: Sagittarius 
Occupation: Student 

Appearance:
Hair colour: Brown
Hair length: Long but not that long (if that makes any sense)
Eye colour: Brown
Best feature: Don't have any :(
Braces: No
Piercings: I have my ears pierced if that counts
Tattoos: No as I'm underage but I don't want any
Righty of Lefty: Righty

Firsts:
Best friend: Can't remember 
Award: Some school award
Sport: Never played sport
Real Holiday: Spain
Concert: I've never been to a concert

Favourites
Film: Don't have one as I don't like films
TV Show: At the moment TOWIE as I'm watching it on Netflix
Colour: Bubblegum pink
Song: Secret Love Song pt.2 by Little Mix
Restaurant: Frankie's & Benny's
Store: Primark
Book: Billy & Me by Giovanna Fletcher
Magazine: Ok! Magazine
Shoes: Ankle boots or anything flat

Currently...
Feeling: Chill
Single or Taken: Single 
Eating: Not currently eating
Listening to: Capital Radio and some Dua Lipa song is playing
Thinking about: How much school work I have to do but instead I'm writing this blog post
Watching: Nothing
Wearing: An Ivy Park t-shirt and black leggings

Future:
Want Children: No
Want to be married: Yes
Careers in mind: I don't know
Where do you want to live: Around where I live now or west London

Do you believe in:
God: No
Miracles: No
Love at first sight: Yes
Ghosts: No
Aliens: No
Soul Mates: Yes
Heaven: No
Hell: No
Kissing on the first date: Maybe if it's love at first sight
Yourself: No

I hope you enjoyed this tag post and learnt some new things about me which you didn't know before. If you would like me to do anymore tags let me know in the comments below and I will be happy to do them. For more of me follow me on Twitter (@thelipinsider) and Instagram (@thelipstickinsider). 

Lee Stafford Chopstick Styler | Review

Recently I've been getting into curling my hair a lot more and my old curling tongs were really bad (they were £7.99 from Argos and took forever to curl a single piece of hair but I'll do a review on them another time) so I decided to get some new ones. I decided to get the Lee Stafford Chopstick Styler Curling Wand because I've heard good things about it and today I'm going to reveal my two sense on it.

Thoughts- 
-Curls are made really quickly so don't need to hold for long. This is probably the same with most curling wands but my old ones didn't so it was a really good feeling when these one did.
-Thin barrel makes really tight curls.
-Heats up quickly
-Hair feels silky and smooth because it is coated in ceramic.
-Great value for money- £19.99 from Argos.

Overall I think these are amazing and would recommend to anyone who is looking to buy new a new curling wand. As I said they were £19.99 from Argos which I think is a great deal even though they weren't on offer. I would rate these 5/5 as I couldn't find any faults with them.

Let me know anything else you would like me to review whether it's makeup or anything really! For more of me follow me on my Twitter (@thelipinsider) for random thoughts about life and follow my Instagram (@thelipstickinsider) for my life in pictures. 

Revision Tips & Techniques

As we are now in exam season I thought I would share some of my revision tips with you. These might not work for everyone but it's good for you to know them because they might surprisingly work for you. These tips/techniques can be used any time of the year so make sure you make a note of these.

Make a revision playlist- A mistake I used to make was listening to my normal Spotify playlist and that has some really fast songs on that you want to dance to so I have made my own revision playlist that has a lot of slow tempo and acoustic music on. If you would like to know what's on my playlist let me know and I can do a blog post about it.

Don't spend ages making notes look pretty- This is a mistake pretty much everyone has done but if you make your notes look pretty you will spend less time revising. I limit myself to a couple of colours because colours help the brain but I make sure my notes are neat so I can read over them but I will just do simple titles and no colouring in. 

Get everything on your desk before you start revising- If you don't do this you will find is easier to procrastinate as you might end up going downstairs to get food and end up watching Titanic, going for a run, knitting a scarf and before you know it it will be the day off your exam so have everything you possibly need on your desk or around your desk.

Write stuff down- You don't learn that much by reading over your exercise books so you need to write stuff down. You could do this in the form of making flashcards or posters or whatever suits you best. And don't copy it word for word, change it into your own words so it's more easier to understand.

Allow yourself free time- Sometimes it feels like teaching aren't giving you enough free time but you can have some if you manage your workload better. If you do all your homework/revision during the school week it means you have the whole weekend to do activities that you enjoy. 

Use revision guides- Revision guides are really useful because they usually contain extra information which your class teacher might've not taught and you never know that extra information could be a 6 mark question in a test (okay maybe not that much). I would definitely recommend to invest in these (they're not that expensive) and especially subjects that you struggle with. 

Mnemonics- If you struggle remembering the order of something, mnemonics might help. I am really bad at making my own but if you search it into Google good ones will come up and hopefully it will help you remember it. 

Ways To Revise
Posters- This is what I do most of the time because I just like writing everything down and it helps me remember quite a bit of information. I don't make them pretty just pack them with information.
Flashcards- I use these for geography because I struggle with it so I can condense all of the information and remember the processes and the steps.
Past exam papers- These are really easy to find online and it helps you to understand the style of question they ask and mark schemes. 
Mind Maps- I don't do mind maps but they are helpful for some people because all they have to do is think of a colour and then remember what was on that colour branch.
Videos- YouTube can be your best friend. Write in the topic that you are revising and then watch the videos and make notes. This is good if your someone who loves watching YouTube. 

They're all of my tips and techniques and loads of information on revision. I hope this helps and good luck in your exams. For more of me follow me on Twitter (@thelipinsider) and Instagram (@thelipstickinsider). 

Rimmel Volume Shake Mascara | Review

Last month I was makeup shopping in Boots when I saw this new Rimmel mascara and saw that it was on offer. I have never tried a Rimmel mascara before this so I decided to buy it and test it out. Also I hadn't heard anything about this mascara before (I haven't been watching many makeup videos recently) so this was very brand new to me and these are my first opinions. 

My thoughts- 
-It has a very wet formula which can get very messy and I did find that it went around my eyes but that's probably because I'm quite careless.
-It's very volumising which the same suggests and I really liked how my lashes looked after using this mascara.
-It also made my lashes quite long too which I weren't expecting but I liked it as I LOVE long lashes.
-The packaging is quite boring colour wise; it is also quite heavy (9g) which means you get a lot of product in. This mascara is supposed to last 12 months so that is pretty amazing.
-Wish it was waterproof as I feel more confident wearing waterproof mascara. I don't know if this smudges if you cried when wearing it as I didn't test that out.
-No clumps which is amazing!
-Would recommend and I would give it 4.5/5

The shake aspect of this mascara is pretty cool as it means when the mascara dries up you just shake the mascara and it will be fresh again. This is a genius idea especially as your only supposed to use a mascara for three months and it takes me more than to finish off a whole mascara.  

Overall I really like this mascara and would recommend it, especially if it takes you a while to finish a mascara or if you just want a good mascara as this is a good one! For more of me follow me on Twitter (@TheLipInsider) and Instagram (@thelipstickinsider)! 

UPDATE | May 2017

I just wanted to do a chatty post today to explain what's going on behind the scenes of The Lipstick Insider; that sounds really serious but it didn't need to be. Recently I haven't been writing my blog and scheduled posts have been going up instead. The reason why I haven't been writing is because I have been bombarded with school work and then when I finish the school work I haven't had any energy to write a blog post. Another reason I think that I haven't been writing my blog is because I wasn't enjoying the post I was writing. I was writing a Collective Haul but there was so much that is was getting very boring and there was too many pictures to edit and then some pictures weren't taken right so I just neglected that post. I have deleted that post now but I might do a mini haul. 

From now on the posts on this blog will probably be shorter and more chattier (a bit like this post). I already have my next blog post planned (it's a makeup review) and over the coming weeks there might be quite a few makeup reviews because I'm enjoying them at the moment and they're quick and easy to write. 

If there is ever a moment of slience of this blog where I haven't posted in a while make sure you follow me on Twitter (@TheLipInsider) or Instagram (@thelipstickinsider) because I have been posting a lot on there recently because it's a lot more simpler. My Instagram feed isn't actually too bad at the moment so go and check it out!

Thanks for reading and I hope you understand about all of this as I do think that I deserve some free time after doing loads of revision instead of writing a blog post. Bye!

Day In The Life | School Day Edition

I haven't done a Day In The Life post for quite a while so I wanted to do another one but with a twist as usually my days are quite repetitive so I wanted to do a Day In The Life on a school day. If you want me to do any other themed Day In The Life posts, let me know in the comments below!

6AM- I wake up at 6:15 and I will then have breakfast, which on a school day is always Cookie Crisp cereal. After having breakfast I will have a quick shower and get into my school uniform.

7AM- Next I will do my makeup and if you want an updated school makeup look, let me know in the comments below. After that I will then relax by going on my laptop and phone, usually stalking on Twitter or Facebook to be honest.

8AM- I leave at around 8 and walk to school and it I get there between 8:20-8:30am. Form starts at 8:45 and that is 15 minutes long.

9AM- 1st period (lesson) starts at 9 and as I'm writing this blog post on a Tuesday, my first lesson on a Tuesday is maths.

10AM- Our second lesson starts at 10 and by this point I am usually starving, which is uncomfortable when sitting in a lesson. On the day I'm writing this my second lesson was PE. 

11AM- Thankfully break starts at 11 and during break I will eat my chocolate biscuit bar and I will talk with my friends (although they probably don't like me; jk). At 11:20 third period starts and on Tuesday I have English.

12PM- For the first 20 minutes I am still in English as all lessons are an hour long but at 12:20 I then had science and like in second lesson I am usually really hungry, even though I did eat at break.

1PM- At 1:20 lunch time will start and it lasts for 40 minutes. At lunchtime I do basically the same as what I do at break time, eat and talk. My lunch usually consists of a chicken sandwich, crisps, a frube, tomatoes and a drink but some days I don't eat it all.

2PM- Finally last lesson has come but that is the lesson of the day when everyone is most disruptive (all the teachers hate us). On this particular day my last lesson was French, which always goes really slow.

3PM- End of the school day! I always walk home and end up getting home at around 3:30. Once I'm home I will get changed into more comfy clothes and I will then relax by going on my phone and laptop. 

4PM- During this hour I will be making mine and my sister's lunch for the next day and I will also make dinner too.

5PM- This is dinner time (where obviously I will be eating). After dinner I will go to my room and do any homework that I got that day or I will do revision but usually it is a mixture of both.

6PM- At 6 o'clock I will still be doing some school work or sometimes I will write a blog post. At about half six and I have been working for an hour I like to have a break but this break does usually go on for quite a while- I need to work on that.

7PM- Usually I am still relaxing by watching YouTube or Netflix until around about quater to eight where I will shower. I don't shower for long as I hate spending long in there but some nights I do need to wash my hair.

8PM- After getting into my pyjamas and taking my makeup off I will either continue with any work if I am in a productive mood or I will relax by watching YouTube and browsing the internet, especially Twitter.

9PM- If I'm doing work this is my cut off time because I don't want to be working too late. I go on my phone, watch anything, get lost in Twitter and just relax! I should probably read my book but I always leave my book in school.

10PM- This is when I go to bed and I go to bed quite early because I don't want to be feeling tired in school. 

That's an everyday, basic day in the life of me on a school day. I hope you enjoyed this and give me more examples of Day In The Life theme posts you want to see; maybe either a Saturday or Sunday theme? Follow me on Twitter (@thelipinsider) and Instagram (@thelipstickinsider).

Empties | April 2017

It feels like yesterday that I did my last Empties post but the bag which I keep my empties in is now full to the brim which signals time to do another Empties post! If you don't know what an Empties post is it is a post where I show all of my products I have used up and give you a mini review on them.

Bath/Shower
Lush Unicorn Horn bubble bar- This is a bubble bar exclusively for the Valentine's Day collection. It produces so many bubbles if you use the whole thing and it also turns the water pink too! I did actually buy another when it was Valentines but when I've used that one I won't be able to repurchase. 

Victoria's Secret Pink Fresh & Clean 2-in-1 Wash & Scrub- This is quite expensive for what it is so I do use it sparsely but I did use it up. It claims it is a wash and scrub in one and the actual product does feel like a scrub when you squeeze it out but when lathering it over your body is feels like a wash. I would repurchase this product.

Flower Pharm Wild Rose Bath Bombs- This was my Christmas present from my friend Nicha and I really liked these bath bombs. They had a really nice rosy scent and were also very moisturising, even if it didn't make any colours. I did like these but at the moment I have so much Lush stuff that I don't need more bath stuff.

Lush Creamy Candy bubble bar- This bubble bar has quickly become one of my favourites because it is like an all year Candy Mountain! It turns the water pink and produces so many bubbles! I love the scent of this so much as it has the Snow Fairy scent, which I love. I have already repurchased this.

Lush Cupid Bath Bomb- This bath bomb was also from the Valentine's Day collection. To be honest I wasn't that keen on the scent and it also was quite disappointing in the bath as it only made the bath light pink but it only did in one section so I think the product needs to be bigger. I wouldn't repurchase this.

Lush Supertramp bubble bar- I got this bubble bar in the Oxford Street flagship store and I didn't like the scent but I liked the colours of the product (mint green and bubblegum pink) so I was hoping it would make them in the bath but sadly it didn't and it just made loads of bubbles (good thing) that didn't smell nice (bad thing). I wouldn't repurchase this. 

Body

Dove Go Fresh Antiperspirant- In my bag I like to keep a little deodorant because I don't want to be smelly when I'm out so if I'm feeling like I'm a bit gross I can whip this out and spray it. I have already repurchased a new one as I really like the scent.

Victoria's Secret Pink Wild At Heart Body Lotion- This has taken my ages to finish so I'm glad it finally is. Saying that I did really like this body lotion as it was very moisturising and quick to absorb into skin. I'm currently using this but in a different scent.

Impulse Be Surprised Body Fragrance- To be honest I don't remember ever using this or even purchasing this but I found this empty so I just threw this into my Empties. I don't even know what this smells like or anything but I do really like the Impulse body sprays. 

Sure Bright Bouquet Antiperspirant Roll On- As well as finishing my handbag deodorant I also finished the one that I keep at home. I did really like the scent of this and I would repurchase but my new one isn't this and is a completely different brand because it was on offer. 

Random
Wilko 70 Soft White 70 Tissues- Every morning I use a tissue to dab off any excess makeup off my brushes and also kinda clean my brushes so I have started to go through packs of tissues faster than before.

L'Oreal Studio/Pro Lock It Fixing Hairspray- I didn't actually really like this hairspray because my curls wouldn't stay and then when they would fall out it seemed really unnatural as my hair would be so sticky and disgusting. I wouldn't and haven't repurchased.

That is all of the products that I have used up recently. I'll probably do another soon though so if you like these posts then that's good for you. Make sure you go and follow my twitter @thelipinsider and my Instagram @thelipstickinsider for regular updates!