Zoe's Musings

When I was a young teenager I used to spend most of my free time at the library finding new books to devour. I'd devote most of my free time to reading, and got through 20 or so books a month. I'm sad to say that this habit has taken a backseat the last few years in favour of the internet, but this summer one of my goals is to read as many books in this list as possible. I've already checked off 2 in the last couple of weeks which is a pretty good start if I say so myself!


The books I'm aiming to read this summer are:

• Fangirl -> FINISHED!
• The Manifesto on How to be Interesting -> FINISHED!
• Spectacles (I went to her book signing and got it signed but still haven't read it!)
• This Book Will Change Your Life
• Tales from the Arabian Nights
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin
• The Jungle Book
• My Name is Memory
• A Hat Full of Sky (I think I've read it before but I can't remember it!)
• The Wee Free Men (ditto!)
• The Legend of Aranrhod
• Go Set A Watchman
• Divergent
• The Alchemist
• The Book Thief (Can't remember if I've read it or not!)
• One Day
• Paper Towns
• Around the World in 80 Days (read this when I was younger and want to reread it!)
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet (again want to reread)
• A Little Princess (I've started this many times but never stuck with it!)
• Jeanne Fille Du Roy (Studied at school in French class, want to give it another go!)
• Bonnheur De L'Occasion (never managed to finish this!)
• All I Know Now (Still haven't picked this back up, its so bad because I love her!)

So I've *finally* got back into reading this month, and I've bought a ton of books recently and read a few of them so thought I would share what I've been reading this month with you!

So the books  I've bought so far this summer are

Divergent, which I am so late on the bandwagon for, as the film has been out for a while now, but I want to read the books, so I picked up Divergent. It seems to be done in the same style as the Hunger Games, but it's not completely comparable. I think I'm going to take this with me and read it at uni.

I can't believe summer is over already, it feels like just yesterday I was walking out of my last exam and graduating secondary school, but that was over 3 months ago now. I have 1 month to go until I start university, and I can't wait to start doing blog posts leading up to that.

I'm definitely going to miss the summer and the warm weather, because autumn means lots of rain for us in England.

This post, as said in the title, is going to be all the things I've been loving this month, in terms of beauty, fashion, food, music, tv, and any other random things I can think of. Best get started!

Beauty/Skincare

I have a few beauty and skincare favourites this month, as I've been trying out a lot of new products. I'm hoping to do a skincare routine soon so I'll mention a lot of these products there too, so look out for that in the next few weeks.

My first favourite is the Along Came Betty Pure Pores 15 Minute Detox Mask. I've been spending a lot of time working this last month so have been wearing a lot more makeup & have been sweating a lot more because of the heat, so I needed something to really cleanse my pores, and this does the job really well. I try to use it once a week when I remember, after cleansing with the Along Came Betty Pores For Thought De-Stress Face Scrub and it really does a good job of leaving my skin cleansed and refreshed, and not too dry. I'm going to try their hot cloth cleanser next, as it sounds really good, and it's really inexpensive as well.

I've also been loving the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Night Treatment Gel, I use it every night after cleansing and it's been really good! Recently I've been waking up with oily skin, and I struggle with acne so have been using this when I go to bed, and it's soothed my skin, reduced redness reduced breakouts. It's not completely cleared up my skin, but has definitely helped reduce oil production and calm everything down. It contains witch hazel and tea tree oil, which are both renowned in their benefits to your skin. I've been trying out a few other products from their line, and will do a brand review once I've used them some more.

I am a big fan of the company Fruits & Passion, which we don't get in the UK, but I repurchased my favourite body butter just before I moved, and I'm just coming to the end of it now. It's the Coriander and Olive Tree nourishing butter, and I absolutely adore it. It smells amazing and is so nourishing, I just wish they had stores in the UK! (Can't find the link)

I've also loved the Natural Collections WaterGuard mascara it doesn't budge much and has become one of my favourites, it looks really natural. It's really cheap, and amazing!

I bought the NYC Lipstick in 407 Smooch ages ago, and have dug it out for these summer months. It's a nice orangey pink lipstick, however the formula is quite drying, so I just put on some lip balm underneath it (currently using the Nivea milk & honey one) and I'm good to go. I don't know if it was limited time, as I can't find the link to it anymore.

My favourite perfume this month is Our Moment by One Direction. Even if you're  not a fan, you should still check this out, as it's a really gorgeous smelling perfume and I get complimented on it a lot. It's a really fresh scent, not too old for me, not too flowery or anything. I'm awful at describing scents, but after doing some research it's got pink grapefruit *a scent I don't usually like*, jasmine, wild berries, red currants, frangipani, musk and patchouli (according to The Perfume Shop).

Fashion

I don't really have many fashion favourites this month, I bought a new ring from Accessorize as I've realised I don't put an effort in with accessories at all. It's a gorgeous silver ring with a purple stone in it *it looks like an amethyst but I'm not sure it's real and I reckon it's just glass as I only paid £15 for it, but it's pretty nonetheless*.



I've also been loving wearing my New Look Super Soft skinny jeans, they're dark wash and super tight but really stretchy so I'm able to move pretty well in them. They're super comfy, and I adore them and have pretty much lived in them since I bought them. For under £20 they're really really good.

TV

X Factor has come back this weekend, and I love all the auditions. I dislike how they do the X factor, with all the sob stories and things, however I love Louis Walsh and would watch it just for him :P

I'm also loving Great British Bake Off (as are approximately 90% of English people), it's just sooo good!

Food

I've been addicted to Galaxy chocolate bars this month, and I can't get enough of them, they're so good!

Music

My friend has been trying to get me into Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj for the last month, and I can't stop singing it. It's not the best song at all, but it's just so catchy I always find myself singing it. Another song I keep singing is Maps by Maroon 5, it's constantly stuck in my head. I've also been loving Classic by MKTO, it's such a feel good song and I really like it.

I've become EVEN MORE obsessed with 5 Seconds of Summer since I saw them live in June, and I currently can't stop listening to the songs What I Like About You, Don't Stop and Good Girls. I've also been listening to all their old covers, and they look soooo cute and young and nervous in them. :P I also have gotten into The Vamps, their songs are so happy and cute, I especially like Somebody to You with Demi Lovato.

Book

My favourite books this month have been Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I took both of them on holiday with me and I love them both so much.

Shop

My favourite shop this month is definitely New Look, I've found so many great items in that shop this last month or two, I've been loving it.

That's it for now, I have a Book Buys of August post that's going up tomorrow, which I'll link here when it goes up.  Let me know what you've been loving this month!

Zoe