Every day+night skincare routine!

Skincare is something that varies a lot between individuals and its common to read other bloggers rave reviews of some products, see how well it has worked for them and then once you have tried it realise it doesn't work the same on you, gutting isn't it. I for one, chop and change my skincare routine fairly regularly but this is one I have kept up for a while and find that it's really working. First things first, as soon as I wake up in the morning I find that my skin can be a little oily especially if it's warm so I give my face a quick wipe over with an 'ultra soft, fragrance free' baby wipe, nothing fancy. I have found these have really helped stop my make up looking oily during the day. At night I keep things fairly easy. To remove my make up on a typical night I use Simple's moisturising facial wash, the moisturiser in the wash helps fight the effects of dry skin. If I am feeling lazy I will just use a make up remover wipe, normally of the sensitive skin kind, to take off my make up then jump straight into bed. After that, on a typical night, I will apply either quinoderm or clinique's anti-blemish gel on any horrible spots I have. Twice a week I apply a sudocrem face mask which I have found really helps reduce redness and size of blemishes and thoroughly moisturises. E45 cream is so good at relieving particularly dry skin, I use this so much in the winter. A fairly simple skincare routine I think, it works and its helping my skin, Finally! 

XC

CNL: Coral Crave!

 Essie's 'Tart Deco' & Models Own 'Ibiza Mix'

Two things that have been swirling around the bloggersphere recently are essie and coral shades, okay so coral shades are a little 'last month' but I am a little slow on the uptake. I am rather happy that Essie has become more widely available in the UK now because all their varnish shades are so pretty, I literally want to buy them all! I picked up 'Tart Deco' on a recent trip to boots, restricting myself to just one was hard, I love the shade because its like a mix between a bright and a pastel coral depending on what light its in. Ibiza Mix is featured in pretty much every CNL I have done since I got it because I love the thick glitter so much! I think it goes with everything so why not wear it with everything!? Just a note to say, I did clean up my nails after taking these pictures.. Now, UKers, get out in your gardens and enjoy the sunshine while we still have it!

XC

A Peek At My Week (#8)

Finally on the last Harry Potter book/ Healthy eating/ Clean brushes/ Blue skies/ OOTD/ Cards/ Another OOTD/ My tanning area in the back garden/ I went shopping.

How hot has it been this week? Hotter than Spain apparently. I have never been so happy to say goodbye to the rain for a few days and welcome the lovely hot sunshine with open arms, so much so that my arms are a little burnt. (Note to self: always listen to mum when she tells you to put sun cream on..) I spent nealy all my free time basking in the heat in my back garden whilst reading magazines and keeping up with lots of blogs on my Ipad. I have broken out the shorts and have been wearing a different summer themed outfit every day just to get my full use of my favourite part of my wardrobe before the rain heads back to dampen the mood (great pun, ey?) I am heading off on holiday in 6 or 7 weeks so I am attempting to cut out the junk food a little so I can have a bit of a bikini bod during my week away, not as easy as it sounds, I have a rather obsessed sweet tooth. I went shopping this morning with my mum and Debenhams are having a 10% off all beauty & fragrance deal at the moment so me & my £10 voucher stopped off at MAC and I picked up a couple of items from their 'Hey, Sailor' collection which I will be doing a post on later in the week, I think. I am just about to head out of the door to get a shoulder, neck and back massage because I am so tense and my back is quite painful then I'm off to my aunties house with my mumma for a BBQ in the sunshine with all my family! Perfect summer activity. 

Have a lovely day! 

XC

Featured Blogger - Nicole!

Nicole is a fashion blogger, fairly new to the scene as she has only been blogging for a few weeks! Nicole blogs over at from Nicole with love so take a peek!

The Blog: My blog is a fashion based blog I like to do a mixture of outfit post and other fashion based post for example wish list and mood board post. I have also included a few beauty post in my blog before such as hair styles and Nails of the day. My blog includes mainly pictures with some writing which is friendly and easy to read. I like to attend fashion events such as fashion shows so when I attend events I will also be posting about that too :) 

The Blogger: So I’m 17 years old and currently studying in sixth form, I’m taking my A levels in Media Studies, Textiles, Business and Sociology. I love everything about fashion, and on the weekends I love socialising with friends. I hope in the future that I will work in fashion, my favourite colour is pink! I love going on long shopping days in London. 

The Facts:

- My favourite show is the only way is Essex 

 - I love bakery 

- I'm a good water skier 

Thank you for participating Nicole!

XC

Enrapture Amplify Jumbo Waver - Review!

Enrapture are a brand that has been featured on many different people's blogs or youtube channels for, probably their most popular product, the encode totem styler which from the reviews sounds rather amazing. However, I feel that it somewhat over shadows the jumbo waver. I am, like most girls, a massive fan of the 'beachy waves' and it is a style I have been trying to perfect with my GHDs for a year and always failing to get the look I want and of course taking up a lot of time attempting it. When I started seeing reviews of the totem styler appearing I decided to do a little research into enrapture products and was automatically drawn to the jumbo waver. I plucked up the courage to walk into Argos (also available on amazon and in debenhams, boots, next) and depart with just under £70 in return for the jumbo waver. I was like an excited child at Christmas when I got home, unpacking it from some very stylish packaging  (whilst taking pictures for blogging purposes) and plugging it straight in for a test. It.Is.Amazing. It takes about a minute (or less, I haven't really timed it) to warm up fully as I have it on the highest heat setting and gets to work waving your hair in mere seconds. The waver comes with a booklet with advice on how to create perfect wavy styles, immediately struck by the boho waves. It takes me around 10 minutes to wave my entire head and I am someone with fairly long, thick hair so that's not bad considering. I section my hair into 1 to 2 inch sections and clamp the waver over sections for around 5 seconds before moving down the hair. I was a little worried at first that this would end up looking like I had crimped my hair like you do/did when you were about 10 and going to a school disco however, the waves came out perfectly and just how I wanted them to look. The harder you clamp the more defined the waves are so it can be adjusted to suit the style you are going for. This has been my go to hair styler since I bought it, so much so that I have packed up my GHD's into their carry case and pushed them to the back so this has pride of place on my chest of drawers. I highly, highly recommend this to you all, I haven't actually tried the totem styler but I would pick this over it, if I can even have that opinion..

XC

P.S. 

BE CAREFUL!!

I am in no way holding enrapture or the design of the waver responsible for this burn, it was purely my own fault.. Don't make the same mistake I did and hold it away from your neck!

OOTD: Summer, Summer, Summer time!

Yes, That's right, the summer is here for a few days so I am making the most of it by dusting off my  favourite summer items and wearing them on these gloriously warm days! I haven't got too much planned today except seeing my friend but of course it will take place outside because I can't waste this sunshine cooped up indoors. Anyway, I have a little OOTD for you today. Unfortunately the pictures aren't as great as I hoped due to the fact my camera is now flashing red at me because I have neglected to charge it recently (my fault completely) so sorry! 

Playsuit; Angel at Marks & Spencer

Denim Jacket; Primark

Belt; Primark

Cowboy boots; Schuh

Bag; Louis Vuitton Speedy 35

I hope you all have a wonderful day with whatever you are doing and enjoy the sun if you've got it! 

XC

CNL: Navy Blue

Left; Missguided 'Misstique' 

Right; BarryM 'Navy'

Two colours that I've had for a while and that should would need a lot more wear because they are really nice, good quality colours!

Decided to do something a little different than the normal 'ring finger a different colour' so I alternated the two colours on each hand. I'm sorry about the quick and rather uninteresting post today, my laptop is a bit broken at the moment so I was unable to write the post I wanted to today because the pictures I wanted are stuck on my laptop! Grr technology! Attempting to get it all sorted today so I can blog properly tomorrow. Time to get reading other peoples blogs on my Ipad, have a good day! 

XC

A Peek At My Week (#7)

First Daisystreet order/ Company high street ed/ I got a cold/ Animals have never been so close/ Taking Jasper to the groomers/ The Avengers!/ Captain America!/ Featured blogger/ Lots of work!

Another Saturday, another peek at my week. This week has been quite work related, once again one of my teachers told us on Tuesday that our assignment was due in on Friday so I spent most days attempting to complete it and 4 pages later I managed to hand it in on Friday! On Monday I  received my first shoe order from Daisystreet.co.uk, I already have a wishlist started for my next order because all the shoes on there are so so nice and affordable. I met up with Matt this week too which was nice just to sit and chat. I managed to get a horrible cold last weekend which is refusing to fully leave me alone, I'm over the worst bit aka not being able to breathe and sounding like an idiot when I talk but its been a nearly a week now and I'm still feeling it a little. A peek at my week is not complete without a picture of my dog, this week I am spoiling you with 2 and some cats, I had to snap a picture of the three of them within 2 metres of each other the other day because normally they can't stand being anywhere near Jasper. Speaking of Jasper, I took him to the groomers, boy does he love being in the car! He sprints to the car, leaps in and sits staring out the front window the whole way. I went to see the Avengers on Wednesday, what an amazing film! I am your typical rom-com, chick flick kinda girl but give me a superhero movie and I will watch it happily, especially Captain America, he's hot. Lastly, Yesterday I was featured on Bloggers.com as one of the "Editor's Picks of the Day" I know that so so so many get featured on bloggers.com's twitter page ect but to see me on the home page as an Editors pick was actually quite an achievement for me and my little blog! I'm proud of it.

XC

What's In My Clutch?

I'm not one who gets a massive thrill out of going out and when I do go out I'm in no rush to join a queue outside an already heaving club with sticky floors, expensive drinks and pervy drunk men ready to meet me on the inside. Oh no, this 19 year old goes to a bar with her friends to listen to her friend DJ, and by DJ I mean play all his girlfriends current favourite songs because lets be fair a happy girlfriend equals a happy relationship, sip on some cider (one please, college at 9am!) and have a laugh. Sophistication, maybe, perhaps not. A fun night out however. 


Onto the actual point of this post, What I take with me in my clutch/any evening bag I take on the night out. First things first, my ID, in the gold cover thing, I am one of those people who happens to look about 7 years younger than they actually are so every time, without fail, I get ID'd. My phone, for obvious reasons. My keys, also for fairly obvious reasons, plus I feel bad waking my mum up if I happen to get home later than 12. I always chuck whatever lipstick or lipgloss I am wearing that night into the bag but tend not to re apply it. A mirror to check for any make up smudges or awkward lipstick on teeth issues (don't deny it, its happened to you before!) Finally, money! I take £10 max, that way I can't waste a load of money and can keep my whole 1 drink thing in check! I don't like to take too much out with my and tend to keep it simple. 
What do you take with you on a night out? 
XC

Everyday Makeup Routine!

I was pretty strict when picking out my products for this post, I debated including eyeshadows that I occasionally reach for but instead I kept it to products I wear, without fail, every day. So to start with I spray my face a couple of times with Urban Decay's 'De Slick' setting spray and once its dried I apply a pea sized amount of Rimmel London's Fix & Perfect primer all over my face. I use collection 2000 concealer, along with Sigma's F70 brush, on any particularly annoying blemishes then get to the foundation, 2 pumps of 17's miracle matte foundation applied with ELFs flat top buffing brush. To set my foundation I use Rimmel London's match perfection pressed powder and Sigma's F30 powder brush to dust it lightly over my foundation. Using the sigma F40 angled blush brush to apply vivo's baked blush in 'Peaches & Cream' before spraying my face with De Slick to set all my make up and brushing on two coats of what ever mascara I am using at the time, currently collection 2000 super size mascara. 

Very quick post for me today, time to get some work done!

XC

Featured Blogger - Intro!

itscharr is getting interactive! I decided to do a bit of a blogger interview type thing on a regular basis and I'm naming it 'Featured Blogger' My aim for this set of posts is a way for less know bloggers getting their name out there or for a bit of shameless promotion of your blog. I think it will be a fun way for me to get to know all of you a little better and for everyone else to get to know you too! I'd prefer it, if you want to get involved, that you are following me so I can give something back to followers instead of a random person! If you are interested please can you email me at itscharr@gmail.com with:

- Your Name

- Age (optional)

- Blog link

- How long you've been blogging for

- A description of your blog in 100 words max

- A description of yourself in 100 words max

- 3 random things your readers should know

Depending on the participation this could be a monthly thing or perhaps every few weeks, don't be afraid to send me and email and let me know if you are interested! 

XC 

OOTN: Drinks!

Top: Primark

Shorts: Missguided

Boots: Boohoo.com

Clutch: Matalan

Please excuse the horrible eyebrows! 

Eyes: Mac's 'Digit' & 'Stars & Rockets'

Face: Bourjois 123 perfect foundation

Cheeks: Mac 'Pinch o' Peach' 

Lips: Topshop 'Rio Rio' lipstick

So on Thursday night I headed out on the town with a few of my friends, I hadn't been out for quite a while so it was nice to get out and have a laugh and a drink with everyone. I am not a big drinker as I really don't like the 'Alcohol' taste but finally I found something I like and that doesn't taste like alcohol, Strawberry and lime cider, so delicious. I was a good girl and only had one drink and was home by 12 due to having college at 9am the next morning. 

XC

A Peek At My Week (#6)

Slipper Swag/ Presents from mumma/ My signature dish/ Yummy costa strawberry lemonade/ Email from missguided about shoes/ The sweetie isle/ Pretty nails/ Going out for drinks/ New toy

It's been a week of buying new things this week, like most weeks really. On Sunday me and mum went to my grandma and granddads house for dinner, my feet were killing after work so I decided to reach for the comfort of my slippers to go out in, does anyone else do that? First lot of purchases were done by my mum who decided to treat me to a few things, FINALLY got my waterfall skirt that I have been searching for for months! My signature dish has got to be scrambled egg and beans on toast, so delicious, professional chef? I think so! Costa has just opened in the town near college so me and the girls took a trip down and I got the new strawberry lemonade, oh.my.god. it is so freaking nice! New favourite drink from there for the summer! Missguided Emailed me to let me know the shoes I've been lusting after for ages were back in stock but when I went on the website they were already sold out again in my size :( Every time I go shopping when I'm hungry I seem to get sucked down the sweetie isle, cue me buying more than I really need just because everything looks so good. I did a CNL on the nails in the picture on Thursday so feel free to have a better look at those! On Thursday night I went out for drinks with some friends, I was a good girl and only had 1 due to me not being a massive fan of the 'alcohol' taste and because I had college at 9am on Friday, That was the outfit I wore (maybe an OOTD coming soon!) Finally, my biggest purchase, a little something from Enrapture! I love it and I will be reviewing it soon. What is it? Can you guess!? ;) 

XC

CNL: 'TGIF' Broadway Nails

I was having a little mooch around boots after college today and spotted these. I haven't heard of the brand 'Broadway nails' before but this pretty pattern caught my eye. Priced at between £7.99 for plain nails and £8.99 for patterns the imPRESS press on nails were a good purchase, I'm trying them out now and am already planning on stocking up for holiday in July because they are so easy to use and come in so many pretty patterns. To apply these you have to wipe the nails with the imPRESS prep pad and file down any dodgy nails then simply size up the nail to your actual nail, peel off the sticky tab on the back and press them down onto your nail and apply a little pressure for a few seconds to make sure they are properly stuck down and there you have a pretty press on manicure! In future I think I will size up the nails and peel all the backing tabs off first as they get a little fiddly when you have some nails on already! 

on the nails

Broadway Nails imPRESS stick on manicure in 'TGIF' 

XC

Broadway Nails are NOT paying me for this post, all opinions are my own. They have no idea I am doing this.

OOTD: date with the bestie!

Cardigan; Debenhams 

Top; New Look

Skirt; Forever 21

Tights; Tesco

Bag; New Look (Limited Ed)

Shoes; Primark

You may or may not be happy to know that this will hopefully be the last webcam quality OOTD as I am investing in a tripod for my camera to take some decent pictures for future OOTD posts, about time! I'm pretty sure that whenever I decide to do an outfit post Jasper has to go and photo bomb my pictures and as you can see, today is no different! Anyway, I am off out for lunch today with my best friend who I feel like I haven't seen in about a year and then I'm coming home to do some assignment work like a nerdy little student! 

Hope you all have a good day!

XC

What's In My Shower!?

I have seen this tag around youtube a lot recently so why not blog about it!? Now I share the shower in my mums bathroom because the one in my bathroom is one of those in the bath ones and despite living in this house for 9 years I haven't actually got a shower curtain! Anyway! My shelf in the little shower caddy thing is the top one (with the excess of products in it) 

So, first thing I have is my neutrogena face scrub which I will use every time to clean my face, love this! Next I have Dove's damage therapy shampoo and conditioner 'Heat Defence' version because I straighten my hair a lot of the time but this has really helped keep my hair looking healthy despite the constant heat abuse. My all time favourite body wash is the Nivea Happy Time one as it smells so divine! Of course I apply it on my pink puffy thing (never know what they are called!?) which I find exfoliates my skin a little which is always helpful especially after I have shaved my legs with my venus razor! 

I want to see what's in your shower so if you do this post let me know! 

XC

Skin Saviours!

Now I have acne, like I'm talking like a proper break out every month consisting of more that one pimple that most people cry "acne breakout" over, In my opinion that's not a break out, what I have is a break out! I was recommended this by my friend at college after she took me with her to get it one lunch time (after she lost hers in the boot of her car) Quinoderm cost's around £3 and can be bought over the counter at boots, or any pharmacy I guess. It works wonders on a fresh breakout or on pimples that have been around for months, rub a little of the cream over the area morning and night and within a few days the spots are going, going... gone! I have to say this does sting a little bit on any broken skin but its minimal and wears off in a few seconds. Need a quick spot fix, you need this in your life! LINK 

Do you ever get those super annoying spots that just pop up under your skin, create a massive red lump and hurt like hell? No matter how much you poke and prod it just wont come through the skin? I think everyone has at some point. This little beauty from Clinique (£12.50) is your best weapon against those buggers. Apply the smallest amount on the spot after you have cleaned your face fully and allow it to soak in. It feels a little cold and can sting a bit but trust me, its doing good! Within about 2 to 3 days the redness has gone and so has the lump. Yes the spot is out but applying this for a couple more days and the whole thing is gone completely. LINK


I have been swearing by these two products lately and they are thoroughly benefiting my skin!
XC

A Peek At My Week (#5)

One Direction Pyjamas courtesy of my dad/ ASOS magazine/ I had a clear out/ Baking cookies/ Jasper/ It's May! + I redesigned my blog a little/ dying my hair a little/ New colour.

This week seemed to be the week of change without me really realising it until right now. On Monday I culled my wardrobe because I have so many clothes that I don't wear any more and I kind of feel like my personal style has changed a bit so some clothes I own I just don't want to wear any more. I was nice and gave a lot of them to charity & the rest I will try and sell. I changed the design of my blog a little, like the background and colours but its still pink! (typical..) I changed my hair colour, I went 'Mahogany' to be honest there isn't much difference but it was something different for me. 
I decided to wear my one direction pyjamas that my dad bought me for my birthday, I swear I really am 19! I baked some cookies this week which I was rather proud of! they tasted delicious if I say so myself ;) And of course no week is complete without a cute picture of my dog, Jasper, he decided to tuck himself up in my bed for a nap. cutie! 


Hope you all have a lovely weekend, see you on Monday! :)
XC

My First Hair Dyeing Experience!

For a while now I have wanted to do something with my hair but just didn't know what. I considered cutting it to shoulder length but then my friend reminded me how long its taken me to grow it to a length I like so I ruled that one out. My other option, colour! I haven't coloured my hair in the whole 19 years I've had it so I decided to take the plunge and do it! Now I didn't do anything too drastic, as you will see, but in six weeks time I will be changing my colour completely! (if you follow me on twitter you may have seen the picture I posted of my colour choice) anyway.. 

I chose Garnier's Nourishing Foam (Permanent) in Iridescent Mahogany which has a nice red tint to it. I found the foam so easy to use and it took me about 10 minutes to apply it fully all over my hair, just like I apply shampoo as the instructions say. It says it should be left on for 30 minutes but on the advice of my friend who dyes her hair a lot, I left it on for an extra 5 minutes. It says that this dye has a 'Fruity Scent' LIE! It smells horrible and gave me a bit of a headache during the 35 minutes but once it was off the headache faded. I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn't dyed their hair before because it is so easy! 

Left; Before. Right; After

Just to start, I didn't change the length of my hair, I took the 'After' picture today in natural light so you can see the change better. As you can see there is only a little difference in the two, my hair is a little lighter and has more of a red tint too it now. In hindsight I wish I had picked up the red shade instead of mahogany so it was a bit more noticeable but as I said, in 6 weeks I will be changing it big time! hahaaaaa! 

XC

April Favourites!

Hollister 'Solana Beach' Hand lotion & Body Spray

These smell like summer has been squished into a bottle! They scent isn't as over powering as other hollister scents, this one is nice a fruity!

Nivea Happy Time Shower Cream

I have been using the happy time body moisturiser for years so when I saw this I had to have it! The is smells like lots of citrus fruits, so nice, plus the scent lingers for a long time after its been used in the shower.  

Topshop Lipstick in 'Rio Rio'

I've been on the market for a proper red lipstick for a while now and when I spotted this one from topshop it was perfect! I apply it using sigma's E65 small angled brush, not what the brush is used for but it works!

Revlon Lipbutter in 'Cupcake'

I got sucked into the lipbutter hype but restricted myself to two shades. Cupcake is my favourite out of the two as its a nice soft pink shade that really moisturises the lips. I like that they have a sweet scent to them too!

MAC 'Pinch o' Peach' Blush

Full review right here!

My fake Lita's from boohoo.com

I have been wearing these at any opportunity because they are so comfy, easy to walk in and go with anything. I love them!

XC

CNL: Wyndham Place

I spotted this little beauty when out in Woburn with my grandma last week in a little second hand shop. Originally £11, I got this for only £3, yes £3. Bargain? I think so! I love the shade of this polish, its like a maroon-y, deep purple-y, deep red-y shade (great description, I know) but it changes slightly depending on the light that hits the nails. One thing that makes this polish really me is the slight, super finely milled glitter running through it which you can kind of see in the line of the flash from my camera (this polish really didn't want to be photographed)

I learnt the importance of using a top coat recently as I completely forgot to put one on after finishing my nails and two days later, they were destroyed! I'm a little gutted I didn't get more wear out of this polish, next time I will remember the top coat! 

XC