My Top 5 Tips for University

Now, I know the University year has already started and you freshers are stuck in bed with freshers flu, however now being in my second year I have now realised just what the DO's and DONT'S are when it comes to university: so here are my TOP 5 TIPS:

1. Under NO circumstance get NETFLIX or any other similar platform.
-Yes, you may have spare time -  and believe me in first year you do, but do not get sucked into the emotional vortex that is netflix. You will start a tv show and then feel so attached to that show that you will never work, never sleep and never eat. This is coming from first hand experience. By all means, catch up on television shows - but i made the massive mistake of starting to watch a show that already had 8 seasons, and managed them only in a few weeks.

2. DON'T just speak to those who you live with, because chances are they're all horrible or too different to you anyway although in my exception, my flat mates were lovely. JOIN SOCIETIES because it fills up your empty time to refrain you from doing point number one^ but it also gives you the opportunity to meet new people who share the same interests as you. If your university is anything like mine there is societies from things even as weird as BACON! 

3. READ, READ, READ - Just because you have copied down your lecture notes, it does not mean you are done for the day. Additional reading around your subject is KEY.

4. An obvious one - but DON'T leave your assignments to the last minute - I did that last year, and boy did I suffer. Plan ahead!

5. Actually HAVE FUN! yes ultimately it is down to the studying, but explore your new town, go out and get drunk occasionally, meet best friends for life, enjoy your course.
BUT if you're not having fun, there are people you can talk to!
 

As you can see, I have met an amazing group of people here, and just want to make everyone's university experience how good mine is!

If you have any questions about university - then don't hesitate!

Until next time, Lauren. x

Top 5 Tuesday | Hair Care

Hey Everyone!

Hair care is always essential with me, due to the fact that I have relatively long but very very thick hair. This means that it can knot really easily and struggles to keep styles. Naturally, my hair is wavy therefore i don't very often have to curl my hair, which is a god send because it would take me hours. However, I quite often straighten it. Therefore I need to protect and keep my hair healthy. So here is my current ( and I say current because they are very likely to change) favourite hair care products!

1. Herbal Essences - Limited Edition 'Dazzling Shine' Shampoo and Conditioner

- This shampoo and conditioner set is so amazing and SO AFFORDABLE, don't be put off by the fact that there is a celebrity endorsement crowding the whole packaging this stuff smells amazing and works incredibly. It has made my hair much healthier than normal and my split ends seemed to have cleared up! I also go to this brand when in need of a quick cheap buy because I know how good it is and don't feel guilty purchasing it. 

2. Charles Worthington- Front-Row - 'rough and tousled salt spray'

Now it is summer time, I am really enjoying wearing my hair in a beach wave style with loose curls (natural). This product enhances the look of beach waves with also giving it loads of volume! You simply spray on the ends or on your curls and scrunch your hair up. The product is also non-visible in your hair once applied. It does have a slight smell to it, that i'm not sure I like, however isn't noticeable. So all in all it's a nice easy product to use for simple wavy styles 

3.Aussie - Miracle Recharge Lightweight conditioning spray

At first, I wasn't at all happy with this product, I thought it made my hair greasy and didn't do anything to the shine. However, I found it again a few weeks ago and decided to give it another try. This time round I absolutely loved it. It's a leave in conditioner so perfect for on the go and it really does create a really healthy shine for you hair. It's amazing in this weather as the sun can be really damaging to your hair, but leaving this conditioner in just helps keep your hair vibrant and hydrated. You can apply it to wet or dry hair however I prefer putting it in wet hair as sometimes when applied to dry hair it doesn't apply evenly and you do end up with greasy looking patches. It also, like before, has a smell that I don't find pleasant, but disappears after a while. 

4. TREsemme - Salon touchable feel Ultimate Hold Hairspray

It keeps your hair in place, and like I said before, I have such thick hair that just doesn't keep styles, so this is like my GO-TO product when i'm having a bad hair day!

FINALLY - 5. Lee Stafford - Argan Oil Miracle Heat Defence Spray

It is sooooooo important to protect your hair from heated appliances such as hair straightners, and this product seems to always make in into my basket when im in the drugstore. Firstly, Lee Staffords range is really quirky and it smells amazing, and with the added argan oil it really does wonders for you hair. Secondly, it is really affordable and almost always on a 3 for 2 offer in Boots! 

Like I said, my hair care products quite often change so I will review and new products I find and fall in love with.

What are your favourite hair care products?

Until next time,

Lauren x

June/July Favourite

Hi Everyone!

Now, I realise that I am a bit late in order to be blogging my 'June Favourites' and too early to be blogging my 'July Favourites' however, recently I have brought a lot of new products and wish to share them all with you with my reviews of each one. I realise that I could possibly call this a haul, however these are only a few of my new products and are selected as my favourites, so; here we go!

1. Mac Blush in colour 'Fleur Power'

2. Sleek Eyeshadow Palette in 'Au Naturel' 

3. Bourjois Bronzing Powder

4. Soap and Glory 'Scrub Your Nose In It' facial scrub

5. Soap and Glory 'Supercat' Liquid eye liner pen

Numero Uno:

This buy was quite a long time ago, but was using my other blushes before heading onto this one. Believe it or not, this was my first and ever MAC purchase as the products are a little out of my price range. However, I brought it with some leftover birthday money back in February. Yes, back in FEBRUARY. This makes me really angry at myself because the minute I used it, I fell in love. It's a really pigmented blush as its a very corally pink colour therefore a tiny bit goes a long way and is perfect for a summery shade. Intentionally, I was looking for more of a subtle shade when I went into MAC however couldn't find anything I liked, but the man behind the counter (who was wearing more make up than myself, so I knew I could trust him) kindly convinced me that this colour would be perfect for me. Which, I believe is true. Therefore, this buy has persuaded me perhaps to save more money and try other MAC products and venture out of my comfort zone. 

Numero Dos: 

Sorry for the poor quality photo, my camera decided to act all weird. But, this has to be my favourite purchase out of them all. For ages, I was contemplating whether spending £37 pounds on an Urban Decay Naked 3 palette was worth the money, and all that time I tried to convince myself that it was okay, the reviews have been amazing, i'll get my money's worth. However, this palette has all the same sort of natural colours as the Urban Decay palette for less that a third of the price! I paid £10 for this on Amazon and I am having so much fun testing out all the different colour combinations. They are so pigmented as well so they stay on for ages and are really noticeable! Easily recommendable. 

Numero Tres:

 Now, I was expecting huge things from this bronzer as I have heard such amazing reviews. I was not disappointed. For ages I have been using the Body Shop Bronzer: 'Trio Shade: Warm Sunset' and hated it because it was far too shimmery. This bronzer however, even though 'filled with glints of sunshine' is so much easier to use because it goes on more matte than previous bronzers. Also, its perfect for my skin tone so i use it all around the edges of my face and under my cheek bones for a flawless finish. Also to mention, as everyone does when reviewing this product... IT SMELLS AMAZING! by the way, please resist the temptation to eat it, I don't know about you, but I get such chocolate cravings when I see this. 

Numero.... Four: 

BREATHE LAUREN BREATHE! I get so so so excited when I mention this product to anyone because it really is a life saver. I struggle day to day with extremely oily skin especially on my T-Zone. So I have been in search of a cleanser or a moisturiser that will reduce the size of my pores and help clean up my oily skin. THE SEARCH IS OVER LADIES AND GENTS, because VWA-LAH. A small amount of this over damp skin and massaged in for 2 minutes and afterwards it feels as if you have just had a facial. Not only does it feel good, pores literally are vanished after using it. The blackheads on my nose are visibly clearer and my skin is far less oily. I usually do this after a shower and then apply my normal facial moisturiser. 

FINALLY.. Numero Five:

Lets all just sit and reflect for a minute.. remember that time you spent nearly an hour just purely on mastering your winged eyeliner for a night out? Or the time you wiped off your entire eye make up because your liquid eyeliner just went everywhere? 

*POP*

Thought bubble gone, because the answer is here! This is honestly the easiest and best liquid eyeliner pen I have come across so far. First of all, just look at the packaging! But honestly, it's super black therefore makes eyes look dramatic and the nib is both thick and thin for all the styles from think cat eyes to thin day to day looks. For all you long wearers out there as well, it lasts a long time and also doesn't smudge on to your upper eyelids either. Perfect for ALL occasions. 

So there we have it, for now. Just some of the recent beauty products I have been lovely this summer. You can purchases these items in high street or drugstores, apart from the Mac Blush in which I purchases in Debenhams. Any one else used these and found them as good as I have?

Also, any recommendations for future purchases?

Have a lovely day, until next time

Lauren!

x

Lush Bath Bomb: Secret Garden

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the lack of posting, i've just be super super busy lately! But, because i have been super busy, i have treated myself to a few pamper and make-up products that i wil feature here on my blog. 

First of all, just a quick one, I recently was recommended by a friend to go into lush and purchase their bubblegum lip scrub, now I was a bit reluctant at first. This was mainly due to the fact that I had no idea what it did. However, after having a long conversation with a very nice customer assistant called Tom about the ins and outs of the product, i couldn't have got my purse out quick enough! 

Basically, its a lip scrub for people with dry lips. You simply use your finger to scrub the product straight onto your lips to make them nice and smooth for when you are having a chapped lip day, or it even works wonders to use before applying lipstick so it doesn't look all chapped and nasty. BUT, the best thing about it is, after you've applied it, instead of wiping it off. YOU CAN EAT IT! This is the reason I brought the bubblegum one, it tastes delicious. However, there is other flavours including popcorn and mint. 

The product is £5.50, however even though the tub is relatively small, it lasts ages because you only need a small amount! 
Here is the link if you feel like checking it out! 
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/67/Bubblegum-Lip-Scrub

Now, on to the actual main bit of my blog post.

This, I am ashamed to say, was my very first experience of a Lush bath bomb, or bath ballistic. (All lush fans will now come and throw things at me) however, I can say I am thoroughly impressed. I brought two today, one being 'Secret Garden' which will feature in today's post, but also 'fluffy egg' which I haven't used yet, but am dying to because it smells like Snow fairy!

Here they both are:
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/154/Fluffy-Egg  - This is the 'Fluffy Egg' £2.95
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/6292/Secret-Garden - Here is today's feature 'Secret Garden' £2.95


SECRET GARDEN BATH BOMB

This is what the bath ballistic looks like, I was immediately drawn to how pretty it was, and it smelt incredible. 

So I ran a clear bath, I didn't put any bubbles or anything it it, and simply dropped it in.

This is what the ballistic did to my bath water!

This was so exciting, because not only did it turn my bath water an incredible mix of green and pink, or just make it smell amazing, BUT, in the middle also were little flower petals that just topped the whole experience off. 

The flowers floating in the water!

So, I can honestly say that my first experience with a Lush Bath Ballistic was one I will never forget and it is 100% that I will be returning to buy many many more to try!

What are you favourite Lush products?

Until next time!

Lauren!

My First Time Tag!

Now, technically this isn't my first blog post, however I deleted all my other posts as I have decided to take a different route towards blogging. I've chosen to pursue life's destiny for me and use my excellent skills of chatting and become a chatty blog. This means I will write about my feelings, my opinions, reviews of things, day to day things really. So where best to start than the 'My First Time Tag'? but before that, here is some information about me... 

Name: Lauren Balchin (The amount of trouble my surname has given me through life, bumchin, bollockchin it's endless. Also, teachers can never spell it, Does anyone else have a weird surname?)
Age: 19
DOB: 7th February 1995
Hometown: Westbury, Wiltshire
Job: In university at Bournemouth, studying Media and Communication
Favourite colour: Green
Favourite Food: Anything that contains chocolate 
Ambition: become a well-known journalist or columnist. 

Any questions, don't hesitate to comment below!

Now, here goes.

1.First best friend: I remember my first best friend very clearly due to the fact that she just so happens to be my best friend now. Her name is Katie and our parents were best friends. Our birthdays are very close so we used to have cute play dates when we were very young and continued on to going to the same schools and staying very close! 

2. First concert: well, this is a tough one, because what I would describe as a concert would be going to see a band or a singer in an arena, which means therefore my first concert was the Xfactor tour the year that One Direction were there. However, the first 'celebrities' or 'artists' (if you can call them that) I saw were Lemar and the Cheeky girls at a party in the park type scenario. Although, i'm not counting them, sorry guys. 

3. First celebrity crush: This is an embarrassing one, I would love to say the usual's of Zac Efron in High School Musical or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean however, when I was younger I used to watch way too much Nickelodeon which was the reasoning behind my crush on Natt Wolff who was the lead singer of 'The Naked Brothers Band'. Still haunts me today. I can assure you that my choice in celebrity crushes has matured! 

4. First Word: I had to venture to my Mum for this one, as obviously I wouldn't know, and she replied with 'I can't remember that, probably dada, or I could lie and say it was something intelligent!'. So I guess that one can't be answered, sorry!

5. First Job: When I was 13 I got myself a paper round, however I can't really class that as 'MY' job because my mum used to drive me round and do most of the delivering for me! But, when I was 16 I became a waitress and stayed there until I left for university last september!

6. First Phone: oh wow, well, I got my first phone when I was around 7-8 and it was a Nokia 3310 which had a Manchester United case on it, and all I ever used it for was to download ringtones and play snake! 

7. First Tweet: I can't be 100% sure, but I'm vaguely sure it was something about not understanding twitter!

8. First Kiss: I'm not going to name names, but all I remember is that a group of us were on the primary school field one lunchtime and it was one of those peer pressure moments of 'You guys should kiss' and well, we did, everybody went 'ewwwwww' and I felt ashamed. 

So there we have it, that's just a few of my 'First times'
Hopefully I can keep this as quite a regular occurrence as I failed miserably last time!

Until next time folks, I shall leave you with my favourite song at the moment..
Beyonce - Drunk in Love

Lauren!