tarte mystery bag: unboxing

28 Oct 2019

I'm a simple girl, I see makeup sales, I buy makeup. It's a vicious circle but a few weeks back tarte had a sale on and I definitely DID THE THING! The mystery bag (which cost me the grand total of £40) was purchased and on its way to me.

I've been slacking a lot on the old blog posting front lately because I'm so busy with uni so here's a rundown of what I got in my mystery bag along with some first impression reviews.



Mystery BAG
as it's a mystery bag, everything came along with a cute little makeup pouch which says 'never not busy' on the front which is the absolute TRUTH of a final year university student.


Stay Spray (Sample) (X)
I'm a die-hard Urban Decay all nighter setting spray type of gal so I was intrigued to see how this one compared. They're very different consistencies. The Tarte spray is a lot more liquidy than the urban decay spray which is an interesting change. It keeps my makeup on well though! I've just come home from a whole day at uni and it's still on my face!



Kitten Liner (X)
I was actually on the lookout for a new eyeliner and this one works so so well, it has the right applicator and just glides on very nicely. BIG FAN. Also, it has a little kitten head on the lid so what's not to love!

Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara (X)
It's nice, but it's not my favourite mascara I've ever used (hi too faced better than sex). It's lengthening, which as someone with naturally long lashes anyway, I don't really need so that's most likely why it didn't click with me. I did like it better on my lower lashes on my top lashes though. A good masacara, and in super cute packaging, but just not for me!


Tarteist Lip Paint (X)
Okay so if you know me you know that I love me some lipstick and ordinarily I'd go for a solid lipstick as supposed to a liquid lipstick but this liquid lipstick is EVERYTHING! I have the shade front row which is a really pretty dark mauve shade, which is one of my favourite lip colours! It goes on like a dream and is super long-lasting! A BIG WIN!


Rainforest of the Sea Palette Volume II (X)
When I pulled this out of the package I DIED! I've wanted this palette for so long I was STOKED. It's so pretty!! The colours are all neutrals and it's kind of similar to the tartelette in bloom which I already have but it's different enough to merit its own palette. It's not super-duper pigmented but I like that as it allows you to build up colours and keep it as natural as you want which is perfect for me for going to university.


Anyway, I'm a big big fan of all the products and definitely would purchase again even though it left me a little out of pocket I think it was worth it! Here's the finished look I did using all of my new products.


I also filmed a first impressions video if you want to take a look at that!




Have you used any Tarte products before? Let me know your thoughts!

Super Easy Scone Recipe

22 Oct 2019

I don't know about you but I bloody love the Great British Bake Off. I'm so excited for the final 2 weeks that I've been baking again! I made these scones last week and lots of you were asking for the recipe so here's a super easy scone recipe for y'all courtesy of a nice lady from church!


INGREDIENTS
500g Self Raising Flour
125g Butter
125g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
Natural Yoghurt
Optional: Cherries/Sultanas


1. Rub the butter into the flour

2. Add sugar 

3. Add dried fruit (if wanted)

4. Beat egg and add to mixture

5. Gradually add small amounts of yoghurt until dough is firm.

6. Roll on a floured board, cut into shapes and place on a baking tray

7. Bake at 180ºC for 10-15 minutes

8. Leave to cool on a wire rack



VOILA! Super easy, super delicious scones, best served warm with some butter MMMM! let me know if you make these I'd love to see your attempts! 

my enneagram and me: type 9

7 Oct 2019

This is basically just a personal waffley post mainly because I wanted an excuse to use the multitudes of pictures I took at the sunflower fields and haven't used yet but also because I've been thinking a lot about my enneagram lately and figured that there are definitely other people feeling the same way as me.


"TYPE NINE PROBLEMS AM I RIGHT!"

This is potentially my most used phrase. Hello, I'm Alice and I'm a type 9, also known as the peacemaker. Can my fellow type nines give me a whoop whoop! I'm not at all claiming to be some sort of enneagram expert and each enneagram type is distinct and different people express their type differently but this is just a few things that I notice in myself.


The Peacemaker, avoiding conflict is our big motivation but that can be both conflicts with each other, or with ourselves. This can manifest itself in many forms and as with everything, it can be in healthy doses and unhealthy doses. And at the minute I'm teetering on the edge of unhealthy so here's what I'm promising to do about it!


At their best type nines are at peace with themselves and able to form strong relationships with others, Deeply receptive, accepting, unselfconscious, emotionally stable and serene. Trusting of self and others, at ease with self and life, innocent and simple. Patient, unpretentious, good-natured, genuinely nice people who are generally optimistic, reassuring and supportive. Sounds great right?


However, as avoiders of conflicts, it can be very easy to diverge into less healthy levels. The second that a choice emerges, we tend to go with the flow and become much less peacemakers and much more just go-with-the-flow-ers. Saying yes to things just because offering an alternative would cause a very minor conflict to arise. We avoid asking for things so as not to inconvenience people and for lack of a better phrase 'keep the peace'.


This also leads to a lot of procrastination, and let me just tell you I am a MASTER procrastinator, I literally can't ride a bike because I procrastinated it too much as a child, start as you mean to go on I guess. 

This can occur with responsibilities but also with problems. Addressing the challenge at hand can sometimes seem too daunting a task so we just push them under the rug and think we'll deal with them later but hoarding up problems just leads to a multitude of problems to deal with at a later stage leading to overwhelming bouts of anxiety and stress.


I'm currently feeling very much stuck at a level of putting other people's plans and priorities above my own so that's something that I'm planning on working on this October. Making sure I'm doing things that I want to do and not things that other people want to do that I'm just going along with because I'm a go-with-the-flow-er, while also making sure that I'm being accommodating and positive about other people's ideas too.


If you don't know your enneagram type I'd definitely suggest looking into it, there's a test you can take to give you an idea. It's a great tool to use for your personal development and allows you to understand a little bit more about how you operate at healthy and unhealthy levels. 


Also definitely listen to Sleeping At Last's Enneagram EP because I guarantee that your song will give you ALL THE FEELS. I waited over a year for Nine but it was worth it!  



And if you know your enneagram type, drop it below because I'm nosy and love knowing people's types!