Summertime Sadness

So summertime is nearly over, it feels like it's well and truly over in Newcastle. The weather has been awful lately really cold and wet- I've even had to get my winter coat out! Now I know that I get cold easily but having to get a winter coat out in August is just a whole new level of bizarre. So anyways off on a tangent there but the thing I will miss most about summertime is being able to wear sunglasses. I absolutely love wearing sunglasses, as a child I always wanted to wear glasses and have braces (two things I never had) weird I know! But sunglasses are the next best thing. So

I thought I would share my favourite sunglasses with you.

Primark Round Sunglasses 

Leopard print is my favourite print ever so when I saw these sunglasses I had to have them. These were an absolute bargain too, I think they were only £2! And you get a free fabric case to keep them in. Primark do some amazing sunglasses and if you're anything like me and clumsy there is no point spending a fortune on sunglasses because you'll either lose them or break them.  I've loved all of the round sunglasses that have been popular this year and I love how thick the frames are on these ones. LaModa also do some amazing ones too for really reasonable prices! 

Topshop Cateye Sunglasses

 

These are my go to sunglasses at the moment when we actually experience sun up here. I love the Cateye shape of these, I've never had this shape before and I would definitely buy more in this shape. I got these from Topshop for £16 and I got these from the Oxford Circus branch when I went to London to see Black Sabbath at Hyde Park earlier this year. I had forgotten to take sunglasses and it was such a lovely day, any excuse to make a purchase ;). Although these exact ones aren't on Topshop's website anymore they have loads of cateye styles still on there.

Topshop Tortoise Shell Sunglasses  

These sunglasses have to be the ones I've ever owned for longer than a year. I got these I think 2 years ago from

Topshop and they are so durable it's unbelievable. I've dropped them, dropped stuff on to them, threw them (by accident) and they still haven't broke- not that I'm complaining. I really love the shape of these ones and think that they suit my face shape which is always a bonus. I can't remember how much these were but most of Topshop sunglasses seem to be £16 so I would have thought around that price point. Topshop don't have these stocked on their website but many places do similar styles- primark did a really good dupe of these. So if you like these, definitely have a check in Primark. I also love the tortoise shell effect these have as they aren't as harsh as black and I like how the sides are really thick and gold, just makes them a bit more interesting.

So although I'm sad to see summer going as I won't get to wear these for quite a while I do love Autumn/Winter fashion and I prefer it to Spring/Summer. I can't wait to start layering and getting some thick knits :). What do you prefer Spring/Summer fashion or Autumn/Winter? Let me know in the comments :).

Much love,

Lucy x

Lazy Sunday- Reading and Outfit Planning

I dunno about you but I just love having a Sunday off. I don't really know why as it is now kind of seen like just any other day but I still feel like it's really lovely having a Sunday off. Normally I always have something planned or I'm recovering after a night out but this Sunday has been the best as I've had nothing planned and I had an early night last night too, so woke up feeling very refreshed. I haven't had a pyjama day in so long and so I thought it was about time. I realise this is not a usual post for me but I've had a lovely lazy Sunday so I thought I would share. 

So I absolutely love reading and I have done since being young as cheesy as it sounds I like how you can get totally lost in a story. My favourite book of all time is Christmas at Tiffanys by Karen Swan. If you like romance novels I would definitely recommend this. I love fiction novels that include romance and are light hearted nothing too serious as we all have serious things to deal with day to day so it's nice to escape that for a little while. At the moment I'm reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, I've had this book for a while now and I'm only half way through! I wish I had more time to read but at least I managed to get some done today :). I'm a bit confused with the story in this book at the moment but I'm sure it will all make sense the more I read it. I'm really enjoying it so far though. 

Another thing I've done today was plan my outfit for tomorrow. I'm at work tomorrow so have to be up early and I would rather have longer in bed so what I've started doing is planning my outfit the night before. As I've mentioned before my favourite colour is black so in my outfits you will probably see at least one black item haha. My outfit tomorrow includes mainly black oops :). So I've paired a motel open shoulder black dress with a Topshop black duster jacket and added a statement necklace from

Freedom at Topshop. To complete the look I've added floral Dr. Martens. I love the material of the motel dress it's very soft like a chiffon type of material so it lies really nice when on. I also love how this has cut out shoulders makes it more interesting than just a plain black dress. I love Motel and I'm always checking their website for new items I'm currently in love with their navy velvet baby doll dress it's beautiful! http://www.motelrocks.com/products/Motel-Babydoll-Dress-in-Navy-Velvet.html

Duster jackets seem to be getting popular for Autumn/Winter and so I thought I would invest in this black one from Topshop as I think it will go with a lot.... I think I want the white one too haha. I love big chunky necklaces and I think this necklace adds interest to the outfit and brings it together. Now I know Dr. Martens won't be everyone's cup of tea but I love my three pairs that I own. These floral ones are my oldest ones and I got them for my 17th birthday which was 5 years ago! I actually like them more now than I did back then. I think they look much better now they are more worn. I've heard a lot of people say they get blisters when they are breaking their new Dr. Martens in but I've never had any problems with mine- always been super comfy. They are quite expensive but they last sooo long, they are more of an investment, I think so anyways.

 Motel dress: http://www.motelrocks.com/products/Motel-Savannah-Cold-Shoulder-Dress-in-Black.html

Topshop duster: http://m.topshop.com/mt/www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?searchTerm=Duster&storeId=12556&productId=15294719&urlRequestType=Base&categoryId=&langId=-1&productIdentifier=product&catalogId=33057

Sorry I can't find the Dr. Martens or the necklace on line so I will link similar items.

Floral Dr. Martens: http://www.drmartens.com/uk/Floral/c/Floral

Statement necklaces: http://m.topshop.com/mt/www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?pageSize=24&catalogId=33057&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&beginIndex=1&categoryId=208556&langId=-1&storeId=12556&parent_categoryId=204484&un_jtt_redirect

So apart from reading and planning my outfit the only other thing I've done is work on my blog. I'm not technically savvy (I always think that's a funny term no idea why :)) so it's probably took longer than it should but at least I've done it- I added some social media buttons and some pages. So if you would like to follow me on any social media sites you can just click on the buttons and it'll take you to my page,  simple :). I've also been working on a few future blog posts as I'm hoping to post every day or at least every other day so keep an eye out :).

I've also spent quality time with my family which I love doing and because we all work and go to school we don't get to do it as much as we like but it's really nice when we are all off together 💕.

Much love, 

Lucy x

The Body Shop Goodies

So I like switching up the cleansers I use I dunno why exactly but I just do. My skin is very easily aggravated and it seems like most things I have used before do break me out so I am constantly looking for skincare that won't do this. I love The Body Shop ethos and all of their products that I have tried I have always loved.

So a couple of days ago I went in their looking for a cleanser to remove my make up as my Garnier Micellar Water had ran out (by the way I have to say that Micellar Water is amazing if you haven't tried it I definitely recommend!). I knew that I wanted to try out an oil based cleanser as I hadn't tried one before. After looking around for a while I came across the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil. First of all I like how the Camomile range is for all skin types so would hopefully not break out my combination skin. The first night I tried this I instantly fell in love with it! All you do is pump a few squirts out and rub it all over your face. After a few minutes you could see all of the make up move all over your face and it even dissolved my eyeliner. Then you just add warm water to it and wash it off. Normally when I use a cleanser it takes a few go's for it to remove all of my make up but once I added the water to this oil and rinsed it off, all my make up was off. I can be quite lazy when it comes to taking my make up off so this was a massive bonus. I was amazed and I am so glad I bought this I will most definitely be repurchasing this. My skin felt sooo soft after using it too, absolutely amazing.

Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil £10

So when I got to the till the assistant told me that it was 3 for 2 an all their products.... well I couldn't resist and went off to find two more products. The next two things I bought were actually inspired by another beauty blogger, you have probably all heard of her- Gabriella aka Velvetgh0st. She talked about these two products in a couple of her YouTube videos and because she recommended these, it inspired me to try them. The first one is the Honey Bronzer in the shade 02. Now because I am very fair skinned most bronzers come off looking far too dark for me- even if I just use the slightest bit. I was amazed when I used this for the first time. Not only is the packaging amazing, I mean I was drawn to it, it's soooo beautiful and I know the packaging isn't everything but I do enjoy things that are packaged nicely. But apart from tha,t this is the perfect shade for me. This is the first bronzer I have used where I can actually build up the colour on my skin and it doesn't look absolutely ridiculous.It is also matte and you know I love matte make up products! It doesn't have any particular smell which doesn't bother me and is perfect for girls with fairer skin tones looking for a product that they can bronze their skin with and contour- I love a bit of contouring especially since I have a round face just gives a bit of definition :). Love this my new must have bronzer!

Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder £13

The second recommendation was the Instablur primer. This is described as an "All in One 5-action perfector". Now I'm always a bit skeptical when it comes to primers as all of the ones I have tried previously haven't seemed to actually do anything well... I've never noticed a difference. So I was a bit unsure about getting this product but I thought to myself it's 3 for 2 so I may as well try it. So the consistency of this is very similar to Maybelline's Baby Skin when I squeezed it out. This is also universal so all skin tones can use it as it doesn't have any colour added to it. I have to thank Gabriella for recommending this as even before I put my foundation on I could tell a difference. Now I wouldn't just say that, I was so shocked when I applied it, it actually did blur my pores and make my skin look better than it had looked. So anyway I carried on and put the rest of my make up on and I have to say I don't have the best skin but it looked pretty good once I was finished doing my make up- better than usual. I'm actually amazed at how good this is as I said I didn't really "believe" in using a primer but after trying this I can see now why people do and I am so glad I picked this up.

All in One Instablur Universal £14

So all in all a successful trip. I hadn't had the best of days and when I popped in to The Body Shop the lady who served me was so lovely and had amazing customer service and I left in a much better mood than I had went in with. So if you're in Newcastle I would definitely pop in, the staff are lovely! I am so happy with all the things I have got and I would recommend them all. If you have any recommendation from The Body Shop please leave them in a comment below I would love to try more products! Also just in case you don't know who Gabriella is, I am sure you will, but just in case you don't here is a link to her blog http://www.velvetgh0st.co.uk/  . You can also find her on YouTube if you search Velvetgh0st, I really enjoy her videos.
Much love,
Lucy

*Disclaimer: I would never recommend products that I don't actually like, that isn't me and no amount of money would make me do that. All of these opinions are my own and I bought all of these products myself :).

Face mask Friday- Mask of Magnaminty

I was thinking of a series I could do on my blog and I thought of Face Mask Friday! I love doing face masks because of the way they can make your skin feel and also they're just quite fun to do while your having a nice relaxing night. As I'm currently writing this it is Friday but I'm currently in the process of setting up my custom domain and google said it can take up to 24 hours to process and it still hasn't at the moment so it could well be Saturday or Sunday before you can read this sorry :( !

Anyways.... So the mask I'm trying this week is Lush's Mask of Magnaminty. I had watched and read a few reviews on this mask and was persuaded to try it. 

Now I'll tell you a little bit about my skin to put this into context. So I believe I have combination skin, I get quite oily and not just in my t-zone but all over and I also have very sensitive skin. So I breakout really easily and many skincare products have really aggravated my skin and caused spots. I am currently on an acne gel which I got prescribed by my doctor which has really helped my skin but I still do breakout from time to time normally because of products I am trying out. Now the main reason I try new products out is because I am still trying to perfect my skin routine, I'm sure I will finally get there at some point haha. 

So before using this mask I did have texture on my face I had a few small spots on my right side of my face and I had a gigantic spot on the left side. This mask is specifically for people with problematic skin. 

When I opened the mask the smell that came from it was delightful. It smelt like mint chocolate chip ice cream. I love when face masks have a nice smell to them because let's get real, who wants to put something all over their face that smells vile?! The lady who sold me this at Lush told me that this mask is now self preserving so it has a slightly different texture to the old formula but now includes things like Aloe Vera in it so is even better for your skin. 

I kept this mask on for 10 minutes like it advises you to do and then I washed it of with warm water. When I first applied the mask it had quite a cooling effect to it that most products that are minty have (I don't think minty is a real word but oh well :)).

This mask is very grainy so when washing it off it seems to exfoliate your skin too. Once off I have to say I'm very pleased with the results. My skin looked quite a bit calmer than it had. The spots are smaller and less angry looking and the redness in my skin has definitely calmed down. My skin also feels so soft! I love this mask! I can't wait to use it again I feel like it really does help skin with spots. I also think this mask is really good value for money- for the huge tub you get you only pay £9.25 bargain! Find it at: https://www.lush.co.uk/products/masks/mask-magnaminty 

I will be doing another one if these next Friday I'm not too sure what mask I will be trying out as of yet but if you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments :).

Much love,

Lucy x

Makeupsocial Review

So this is a slightly different post but I feel like I had to share this with you. So I've stumbled upon this new app and if you love beauty products like me, I think you will love it! It's called makeupsocial and it's basically a cross between Instagram and Facebook but it's specifically for everything beauty wise. There are several things I love about this app and I thought I would share them with you.

So the first thing I like about this app is that you can sign in with Facebook which is sooo convenient. I don't know about you but I have literally so many different usernames and passwords for so many different apps and other things it's so hard to keep track of them....first world problems I know. So by being able to sign in with Facebook it means I don't have to make yet another username, bonus! 

The second thing I like about this is that on your feed you don't only get to see posts from people you have followed like Instagram, but you get to see posts from people who you aren't following. I like this because basically I'm nosey and I love looking through photos that's why I like and use Instagram more than Facebook but it also allows you to see what different users post and you can then find people to follow who you may never have found otherwise.

Instagram has an explore page and the discover page on the makeupsocial app is so similar. However, it doesn't just show photos that have been posted but you can discover written posts and products that have been posted about. I think this is a really good idea as it gives users options and I love having options haha.

So this is where you can write your posts and post your photos. You can also write reviews on beauty products you have used which is a good way to express your thoughts and opinions on various different products. I love how you can select a category for your post as it gives it a very organised feel and because I have a slight OCD tendency about organisation I am a fan of this. I also love how you have the option to have your post uploaded to your twitter or Facebook, so convenient! 

This review page is amazing! I love that this app has this page. It allows you to read reviews that people have posted on all different products. I love this because it allows you to read pros and cons on products you might not have heard of before and it has introduced me to products I had not known of before and now I want to try so many new beauty products! Love this!

Like Instagram and Facebook you have a profile page on this app. As you can see I don't have many followers or people that I follow which hopefully will change :). It allows you to see what photos you've posted, what written posts you have done and reviews you have written all in their own separate tabs. Very organised! When setting up your profile you select you age, skin type, hair, eye colour and these are all displayed under your photo. I like this little touch, I think it's really personal and let's you know a bit about the people you follow. I really like it!

Overall I am really enjoying this new app and I would recommend it to anyone who loves beauty products and using social media. Best part it is free so I don't know why you wouldn't get it. If you would like you can follow me by searching lucyabbaszadeh this is the same as my Facebook and Twitter. If you try it let me know what you think of it.

Much love,

Lucy x

Follow me on Bloglovin- lucyabbaszadeh 

Top 5 Heels

Seeing as I hadn't done a fashion post on here yet I thought I probably should do and as I love heels I thought this would be a fun one to do. Now I know my favourite heels that I own won't be to everyone's taste but I love them. As you can see 4 out of 5 of them are black. Black is my favourite colour and I know somebody is probably thinking black isn't a colour but we constantly refer to it as a colour so it's my favourite colour :). These heels aren't heels that I would wear every day as some of these are really high but I do wear these on nights out and other special occasions.

#5 Nude Court Shoes

Now these are a pair of heels I think every girl should own. These are classics and nude goes with a lot of different outfits. I love how these are patent and the heel on these isn't too high. I bought these from ASOS and I only paid £25 for these which I think is really reasonable. These heels are quite special to me as I wore these on my 21st birthday to a family meal. I wouldn't wear these on a night out as they probably would get ruined but I would wear them to meals and occasions like weddings. The only downside to these are that they are quite narrow and I have wide feet so initially these were quite uncomfortable. However if you don't have wide feet you won't have this issue.

 Find them here: http://m.asos.com/mt/www.asos.com/asos/asos-panorama-high-heels/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=3533119&clr=Nude&SearchQuery=court+heels&un_jtt_v_frompage=1

#4 Seduce Heels

As soon as I saw these shoes I knew I had to had them. I kept putting off getting them and then they went into the sale and they were such a bargain, I couldn't resist. These beauties are from Topshop and some people probably hate them but to me they are perfect. One of my friends call them my Marilyn Manson shoes which I find quite funny but I feel like they suit my personal style :). I have only worn these once but I did find them quite comfortable and quite easy to walk and dance in. Because these heels have a big platform and have laces they feel quite secure on my feet and don't seem as high as they look. Definitely a good buy! These are no longer available on the Topshop website but you can find them on EBay.

Find them here: http://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=Topshop+seduce&isNewKw=1&_pgn=1&epp=24&itemId=&isRefine=true&mfs=GOCLK&acimp=0&sqp=topshop+seduce&trksid=p2056088.m2428.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xtopshop+seduce

#3 Extreme Platforms

These shoes are just amazing! I love them! I love the cleated heel, I love how high they are and I love how you can remove the ankle strap or keep it on. I personally like to keep it on as I think it makes these shoes easier to walk in. These shoes are a cheap alternative to the Stella McCartney cleated sole shoes. I got these from garage shoes which sell some amazing shoes for really reasonable prices. I think I only paid £40 for these! The only bad thing about these was after a night out I woke up with a horrendous blister on my foot....not nice! But because they are so beautiful it was so worth it haha. These are sold in quite a few different places but they are no longer available on the garage shoes website. However an identical pair are available from Missguided. I would definitely recommend these.

Find them here: http://www.missguided.co.uk/mairin-extreme-platform-heels

#2 Cleated Soles

These heels are beautiful! Very similar to the last pair so people could argue why do you need such a similar pair but to me these are so different! These were actually a birthday present off my boyfriend although I did choose them, I was so grateful he got them for me. I wore these on my 22nd birthday night out and although I did last all night in these, the ball of my foot literally felt like it was going to burst into flames by the end of the night. I got so many compliments in these shoes though so in my opinion 100% worth the pain and for the first few hours these were so comfortable. So if you get these maybe only wear them for 3/4 hours for the first time if you don't wear heels all of the time. Also because the heel is so high they make your legs look sooo long- always a bonus! These were also from garage shoes and I think these were around £40. I couldn't find these on the garage shoes website anymore but there were many similar ones from various different websites.

Find them here:

http://www.missguided.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/112351/s/mirella-extreme-platform-buckle-heels/category/752/

#1 Spiked Litas

❤️ Absolute favourite heels of all time! I feel as though there was a phase last year or maybe the year before when these first came out and everyone owned them. These are the only pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes I own but I would definitely consider getting more. These were pretty expensive for a pair of heels but I have gotten so much wear out of these and they are so amazing I definitely think they were worth it. These are quite high but because they are a boot you feel so secure in these. You can definitely tell these are high quality. I love wearing these and can't see that changing anytime soon. I love the spikes on the heel but can hurt your hands when trying to get them off your feet! These are the most comfortable out of all of these heels and probably are the ones I can wear for the longest. I originally got these from the Urban Outfitters site but they no longer stock them on there but I did find a website that still stocked them, I'll list it below :). 

Find them here: http://m.zalando.co.uk/jeffrey-campbell-lita-sparks-high-heels-black-je711c00e-802.html?gclid=CIeDy_6Jm8ACFSLnwgodtA4A4w&size=4&wmc=SEM44_CR_EN_2103106.&opc=2211&ef_id=T5xPcN2YGlIAAMRp:20140817195437:s

I hope you enjoyed this post and it has given you an insight to the type of shoes I like and what my personal shoe style is. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this post and will do more fashion related posts soon. Let me know if you have or like any of these heels and what your favourite heels are. 

Much love,

Lucy x

Top 5 Mac Lipsticks

These are my current 5 favourite Mac lipsticks and I wear one of these everyday at the minute. Now rather than say I love this one and this is another one that I love I thought I would do a top 5 countdown and write what I love about each one and things that I might not love as much just to give you a little bit of info on each one :). 

#5 RUBY WOO

I absolutely love the way red lipstick looks but I've always struggled to find my perfect red. That was until I found Ruby Woo. This is the perfect true red for me. Because I am so pale and more cool toned I do not suit orange based reds and a lot of the reds I had previously tried looked awful on me. Ruby Woo isn't orange based and I think because it is a true red I suit it more than any other I have tried. I love how pigmented it is and I love that it is a matte finish as that tends to be my favourite kind of finish for lip products. The only thing that I would change about this lipstick is how matte it is. Now I know that sounds crazy considering that I have just said that I love matte lipsticks but Ruby Woo is matte to the point where it is hard to apply it. And because it is sooo matte it also means it's quite drying on the lips and can leave them quite chapped after a full day of wearing it. Apart from that though it is an absolute beautiful lipstick and my number 5.

#4 DODGY GIRL

This lipstick was part of the Kelly Osbourne collection and was the only lipstick from this collection that I was able to get my hands on. I am soooo glad I managed to get this one though because the colour is so flattering on and is very wearable for being a light purple. I am quite confident in wearing bright and unusual lip colours but if your someone who isn't I would totally recommend starting with this one as it is so wearable. It has got blue undertones to it so really suits those with cool undertones in their skin tone. The formula of this one is also matte but is no where near as matte as Ruby Woo. This glides on your lips and leaves them with a nice matte finish that I don't find drying on my lips. I've worn it for a full day and when I took it off, my lips weren't chapped at all. Love this one and if you can get a hold of it I would definitely say get it!

#3 MYTH

This has been my favourite nude lipstick for at least 4 years now. Because I am so pale I found it very hard to find a nude that wasn't too brown, too pink or too orange. I literally thought I would never find my perfect nude and then I stumbled across Myth. At first glance it did look a bit too orange but I had read a few reviews on it and thought I may aswell try it. Once on I understood all of the hype about this lipstick. It is the perfect nude and is my go to everyday lipstick. The finish of this lipstick is a satin and it does leave a nice sheen to the lips but doesn't look overly shiny which I do enjoy. This lipstick glides on nicely and is so creamy. I have went through so many tubes of this. I don't have a bad thing to say about my number 3 and would recommend anyone to try this who would like to find a good nude lipstick, I even got my mam loving this one.

#2 SAINT GERMAIN

This lipstick though! It is the most perfect pink I LOVE it. This has blue undertones in it so is perfect for those with cool undertones in their skin which is why I think this suits me. Even though it does have blue undertones I do think this colour would suit many different skin tones and still look fabulous. This is an amplified formula and is very bright once on so maybe not for those who don't like bright coloured lipsticks. However I love it ! The only thing I find with this one is that I have to reapply it quite often but because I love the colour I don't mind doing so.

#1 HEROINE

Love Love Love!!! This colour is the most perfect purple and is so wearable I absolutely love it. This was a birthday present off my boyfriend and is my favourite lipstick ever. The photos don't really do it much justice and it is much brighter than it looks in the tube. This is a matte formula but still glides on nicely and lasts all day long. I have nothing at all bad to say about this one. I am so glad Mac brought this lipstick back out as it was unavailable for a while. I love bright lipsticks and I think this is one of the best and is my current favourite. I am constantly trying to wear outfits that go with this lipstick because I love wearing it. Perfection!

So that's my top 5 Mac lipsticks. Now I realise Mac is expensive but I do believe their lipsticks are worth the price. Each of these probably do have dupes so if anyone knows some good dupes for these lipsticks please share! I got a few

of these from the back to Mac programme which is where you take 6 empty Mac containers back to your nearest counter and swap them for a lipstick of your choice. I think this is an amazing idea and love when I have 6 empties that I can swap!

Much love,

Lucy x