Zoe's Musings

Wow it has been a long time since I've done a favourites post! My last one was way back at the end of November, so I figured I was well overdue an update, and thought I'd tell you all the things I've been loving this month!

My first favourite is a book, which is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (who actually liked my tweet recently so I got very excited lol). I've read a few of her books before and absolutely loved them every time, so it didn't take me long to get into this book. I adored the characters and I was absolutely gutted when it ended because I completely fell in love with the story.

In terms of makeup favourites this month my first favourite is the Makeup Revolution baked highlighter in Golden Lights. This is a lovely shimmery champagne highlighter, it's so pigmented that it needs a light hand so as to not look like a glitterball. My only gripe with this product is the packaging, it feels quite flimsy, and the writing on the front is already coming off only after about a month of having it!

Another product from Makeup Revolution is the blush palette in Blush Queens. I really like this, it's really subtle, and a couple of the shades make really natural highlighters. I do wish there were one or two matte shades in this palette, but this one is so gorgeous I don't mind! I use almost every colour on it apart from the darkest one. I have my eye on the Hot Spice blush palette next, and also on the I Heart Makeup Blushing Hearts.

My next favourite is the MUA Hall of Fame eyeshadow palette. There are some great shimmery (but not chunky) shades, the pigmentation is really nice, and they don't crease much at all either. It was such a cheap palette, and I'm definitely going to get some more! A few on my list are the LUXE eyeshadow palette in Utopia (which looks absolutely stunning), and also the palette called Romantic Efflorescence. They're such good value for money, I can't wait to try these out! Let me know if you have any recommendations from MUA, or from any of the other brands I've mentioned, as I'm in the market for some new makeup!

A couple of months ago I upgraded my phone (only to an iPhone 5S so don't get too excited), and I'm so happy with it, it's so much faster than my old one and my apps work quicker and it's just generally a really great phone and a great size, it's fast and the photo quality is great, perfect for out and about photos. Going along with the phone theme, I've been loving snapchat this month, it's been a great way to document my year, and I do love the odd snapchat filter! I also have a couple of app favourites this month, the first being Instagram (if you don't follow me then click here!), I've posted quite a few pictures this month. I've also been loving the game Disney Magic Kingdoms, which (as a hardcore Disney fan) is right up my street!!


I have several song favourites this month, including Wherever I Go // One Republic and This Girl // Kungs & Cookin' On 3 Burners. I'm going to do a June Playlist post in the next few days, so look out for that to see what else I've been listening to this month!

Those are my favourites this month. What have you been loving? Link your posts down below so I can have a look!

Love,

Unfortunately I failed last month and didn't manage to get a favourite posts up, but this month I've managed to come up with a decent enough list of favourites to write a post about.




1. The Red Berry & Jasmine candle from Primark
Considering it cost me £2, it is one of the nicest smelling candles I own, and it's the one I always light when I'm in my room.

2. Simple Kind to Skin Pore Minimising Toning Cleanser
I use this as my second cleanse, and am absolutely loving the effect it's having on my skin. I'm currently writing an updated skincare routine so that'll have a more in depth review of it, but it's safe to say it'll be sticking around in my routine for a long time!

3. Hello by Adele
Not sure it's necessary for me to explain why I love this song. It's absolutely incredible, and I'm so so so glad she's back.

4. SacconeJolys
I've watched the SacconeJolys since before Anna and Jonathan got engaged, but over the last few months I've really got back into watching their videos every day, and it's the time of day I most look forward to. Their happy little vlogs really have helped to cheer me up recently, and I can't thank them enough for all the positivity they've brought to my life. If you've not watched any of their videos then I strongly encourage you to!

5. Red lipstick
I've really fallen back in love with red lips this month, and my two favourites in particular are Rimmel Kate Moss 107 (a classic dark red) and Kiko's Smart lipstick in 908 True Red (which is a gorgeous bright red).

6. Paperchase postcards
I mentioned these in my Homeware Haul post, but since I've doubled the amount of postcards I have. They just make me smile whenever I sit down to revise, and they're great for adding a bit of colour into my otherwise quite plain and personality-void bedroom.

7. Strictly Come Dancing
I always love watching Strictly, and I'm really enjoying this season so far. Anita and Helen are my favourites so far, but they're all amazing! It really makes me feel like Christmas is on the way when Strictly starts up again.

8. The Apprentice
There's nothing better than sitting down with a cup of tea on a Wednesday night and watching The Apprentice, it's so funny, and I love the challenges Lord Sugar has the candidates do.

9. Sue Perkins
Last week I had the honour of meeting Sue Perkins (known for presenting the Great British Bake Off) at a book signing for her new memoir Spectacles. She was as funny and lovely in real life as she is on TV, and I can't wait to start reading her book!



10. New Americana // Halsey
Halsey is a babe, and this song is sooo bloody catchy I've had it on repeat recently!

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's already time for August favourites, I know everyone says it but it really does feel like a few days ago that I was trying to come up with my July favourites!

So, August is coming to an end, and I have to say I'm pretty happy about it. I've got another month before I go back to uni so it's not like my summer is ending yet, but August has been very up and down so I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine in September. Plus stationary shopping for uni is in the cards for the next few weeks so that's exciting!!

Since moving to my new house I've not had to worry about little dogs knocking my candles over so I've been burning candles non-stop. My favourite scent has definitely been Frosted Cupcake from Bath and Body Works (which I've had for so long that I don't know if they even do that scent anymore) but it's effectively just a vanilla scent. I've been feeling pretty anxious this month and so I've really found that this has been calming for me.

A beauty product I've been loving this month is the Rimmel Nude Collection lipstick in 45 (what an inspired name..). It's my perfect nude shade and it's stunning, I love it!

I've also been loving the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine nail polish in Rosehip, which is a really pretty baby pink, so pale it looks white in some lights.

I've been really into skincare this month, and I've loved the Vaseline Intensive Care essential healing body lotion (which I talked about in last month's favourites as well as in my recent beauty/skincare haul!). It smells really good and leaves my skin feeling amazingly soft.

I've recently discovered the studyblr community on tumblr (if you're not aware studyblrs are basically tumblr blogs dedicated to studying and motivation etc, and it's really making me want to go back to lectures, so much so that I've made my own studyblr which you can check out should you wish!

My favourite show of the month is definitely Great British Bake Off (even though we're only 4 weeks in). It's brilliant, Mel and Sue are brilliant, Paul and Mary are brilliant, and I want Flora to win!

My favourite food of the month is Magic Stars. They remind me so much of my childhood, and I got some recently and remembered how much I loved them. They're so addicting, I've been munching them nonstop for the last few days!

One of my favourite songs of the month is Drag Me Down by One Direction. It's so catchy, the video is amazing, and it's made me fall back in love with them! If you want to check out all the songs I've been loving this month then check out my August playlist!

And last but not least, my film favourite of the month is Legally Blonde. I bought it a few months ago on a whim because I knew that I liked it, and I watched it again the other night for the first time in years and completely fell in love. Elle Woods is my inspiration. Seriously, if you haven't watched it and love empowering chick flicks then 100% watch it.


And that's it! What've you been loving this month? Tune in next Saturday for my makeup wish list!

I don't have lots of favourites this month so I'm not going to do it in my regular category style, instead I'm just going to tell you what I've liked in a bit of a random fashion. Also, apologies that this post is a little later than I originally anticipated, but I spent a week away in Liverpool, Birmingham and London last week so I had very little time/Internet access with which to blog!

Anyway, without further ado let me tell you my favourites.

My first favourite is the Vaseline Intensive Care Body Lotion, which I featured in my recent haul. I love the smell of it and I've found that it makes my skin feel amazing! Another thing I love from my haul is The Righteous Butter from Soap & Glory. It smells AMAZING and leaves my skin so so so soft. It's a lovely thick body butter and the scent lingers so long on the skin and it's gorgeous.

My fashion favourite is this black crop top from River Island. It's super comfy and lovely and I like wearing it with my high waisted jeans and black shoes.

My favourite book this month has been Life With a Sprinkle of Glitter by Louise Pentfold of Sprinkle of Glitter. I loved it so much I'm currently writing a review post so look out for that soon!
I watched Love Island non-stop this month. It's one of those trashy reality shows I couldn't help but become obsessed with!

My film favourite this month was Magic Mike XXL. I mean, Channing Tatum is gorgeous, so what's not to like?! Also, Jada Pinkett Smith's character is brilliant, it's worth going just for her being in it!

A bit of a random one, but this month I've been loving London! I've been twice this month, one to meet up with my best friend who lives pretty far away so I don't get to see her often, and another time to visit my boyfriend, and I've had such fun being a tourist in my own capital! There's so much to do in London and I've not even explored half of it yet, I can't wait to explore more when my friend from Canada comes over to visit! I might do a post on my favourite places in London or on tips for getting the most out of the city so if you're interested in that then let me know!

And my final favourite this month is my new Rimmel Nude Collection lipstick in the shade 45, again mentioned in my most recent haul. It's a perfect nude shade without being too similar to my skin tone (lets face it, foundation lips is not a good look for me!), and it smells really good, isn't too drying and is all round really nice to chuck on just before I'm heading out the door.

So that's it for my july favourites! What have you been loving this month? Please let me know!

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