My name is Chelsey and I am addicted to Lush Products

There, I've said it! Lush is a firm favourite amongst bloggers and I'm no exception. The love affair started the creamy candy bubble bar and from then on I never looked back. My favourites are the bubble bars including the aforementioned creamy candy, the comforter, A French Kiss and Yuzu and Cocoa but I'm also rather partial to a bath bomb. You can't beat a colourful bath full of moisturising bubbles or essential oils in scents that are good enough to eat. My family and boyfriend know me very well and both bought me a box of goodies for Christmas. I've already used up the Christmas bathtime favourites box and I'm currently working my way through another gift box which is full of delights! 

Here is a sneak peek of what it's the box. The pink bath ballistic however isn't part of this set and I just wanted a place to store it. The gift set has 4 bath bombs and a bubble bar called Christmas Eve which has a lovely clean soap like smell.

The other night I used the Golden Wonder bath ballistic which looks like a little present and has a golden shimmer coating which makes your bath water sparkle.  

The bath bomb fizzed releasing an explosion of gold and green and tiny sequin stars. I'm a sucker for a bit of sparkle so I would definitely use this again if it's available near Christmas this year.

The Leopard on Bank Street

Everyone has been raving about the Wolf on Wall Street but the fact that it costs me and the bf a whopping £21 just for cinema tickets alone and my incredibly short attention span both put me off. Maybe once it comes out on DVD I'll be more inclined to sit through such a long film as I'll have the pause button to hand for tea and toilet breaks. Anyway, the title to this post is a little play on the title of the film as you can tell. Yesterday I went to the hairdressers and I had to walk past Bank Street in Canary Wharf, hence the Bank Street part.

Like Kat Slater, I've always been partial to a bit of leopard print. It's a timeless print with flattering colours and I have a few pieces in my wardrobe which always serve as a good pick-me-up. Tiger print is also fab so imagine my delight when I opened this long sleeved Zara dress on Christmas day which combines both prints. The fabric feels like neoprene and it is both stylish and comfortable. Like most dresses on me, it's a little on the short side but I can get away with wearing leggings with it at the weekend and I've already worn it twice since Christmas. I love the sweatshirt style detail on the neckline. I also received the matching satchel for Christmas from The Leather Satchel Company

I do miss my long hair but it was high maintenance and I've been wanting to get the chop for ages. I love the new length and all the dead ends and different lengths are now gone to make way for a fresh, blunt cut which is in better condition and should grow well

How I store my make-up and some of my favourite products

Like most bloggers I'm pretty obsessed with make-up. I love how it can transform your face, accentuate your best features and play down or hide the parts that you aren't too keen on. I rarely wear foundation, tinted moisturiser or BB cream as I like my natural skin, imperfections included to shine through and it often clogs my skin and gives me spots. I do occasionally try samples that you get free in magazines which offers a fresh change from my usual look. My desert Island item would probably be Eight Hour Cream by Elizabeth Arden as I suffer from chapped lips all year round which is a pain and this helps soothe them. One product I wear every day is concealer as I always have dark circles under my eyes. I usually use Fake Up by Benefit but I'm running out so I'm currently also using Wake Me Up concealer by Rimmel and Amazing cosmetics concealer which has great coverage.

I store most of my make-up in the top drawer of my dressing table and although I often end up frantically rummaging to find things on a Monday morning it's good to have all my essentials in one place. I'm also a bit of a hoarder and hate to see products go to waste so I tend to not throw anything away until I physically can't get any more out of it!

As you can see some of my favourite brands are Benefit, Smashbox, L'Oreal, Maybelline and Rimmel but I'm also a fan of No7, Revlon and MUA. Variety is the spice of life as they say. I am a bit obsessed with lipsticks as they are perfect to transform your look from day to night and you can never have too many shades of red. I store some of my palettes and perfumes in an alcove below my dressing table as it's quite easy to reach for when I'm getting ready in the mornings.

I'm a huge fan of Marc Jacobs scents and Daisy Eau So Fresh is my favourite as it's light and floral with musky undertones which is very me. I also love the Jo Malone colognes, particularly Lemon Tart and Blackcurrant and Bay which are both great for work. 
How do you store your make-up and what are your favourite products and perfumes?

Whilst typing this post I've been listening to SoundCloud which I love as you can listen to remixes and tracks that aren't readily available elsewhere. My favourites at the moment are Ready for your love by Gorgon City feat. MNEK, Double by Jessica Agombar, My Love by Route 94 Feat. Jess Glynne and Comedown by Audio Society. I would definitely recommend following all of these if you use SoundCloud. Also, if you don't follow me on Instagram already the link to my account is on the top right hand side of my blog so get following (Apologies in advance for the selfies)

Not so dry January

January can be a quiet month for most, especially those attempting my dryathalon who get a huge pat on the back from me for their efforts, but I find that January is a fairly busy month for me due to friends' birthdays. I also like to get dressed and get out in an attempt to beat the January blues. Even my lingering cough which is getting worse wasn't going to stop me! The outfit of choice was a top from French Connection which I got for Christmas. I love these loose, dressy T-shirt shapes and I have a few tops like these as they are great for hiding a muffin top because they just skim over this area. I wore it with my Banana Republic shiny brocade trousers which I bought in the sale for £35. The sizes seem to come up quite small as a size 6 actually fits me quite comfortably and I'm usually an 8, often a 10 in trousers. So if you fancy a bit of a size confidence boost then head to Banana Republic! I would recommend trying things on first though. Anyway, they are so comfortable and it was like wearing PJ bottoms! The picture below is the only full length one I have of my outfit but the lighting around my face is really unflattering. (The joys of toilet strip lighting)

This Picture of me with my friend Claire shows off my hairstyle better. It was inspired by Cara Delvigne at the Met Ball but obviously looked nowhere near as good! I just thought I'd try something different

It's Like Gold Dust; Urban Decay Naked 3 palette

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and purchased the beauty blogger's favourite, an Urban Decay palette. I actually wanted to try the first one but it seemed to be sold out everywhere and number 3 quickly grew on me so I took the plunge. At work I live in neutral make-up colours so it's perfect for an everyday palette. The shade I find myself gravitating towards regularly is Liar which is a metallic mink colour, light enough to wear every day. Another favourite is Blackheart but this is more of the type of shade that I would wear for cocktails rather than work. It looks great blended with Liar (see my dodgy eye shots below)

I've been watching a few tutorials to try and brush up on my application technique but I'm no Charlotte Tilbury so I think I need quite a bit more practice to get up to standard but here is my attempt anyway

Apologies for the not great quality pics, my camera is a bit hit and miss at times. Here I applied Liar all over the lid, nooner in the crease and Blackheart in the outer corners, blending together to create a shimmery, chocolate toffee look. Why does everything remind me of food?

Hello 2014

Happy New Year dear readers! (All 5 of you) I hope 2014 is a good year for you all. I never really enjoy this time of year. Getting out of bed to go to work in the freezing cold, dark and sometimes rain or snow is never fun but I am yet to find a job that starts at 11am but still finishes at around 5pm. I also feel like there's nothing to look forward to until Spring and there's an extra negative edge added this year as a close family member has to go into hospital soon for tests which I'm very worried about. I just hope it's nothing serious. 

I've never been one for New Years resolutions and I find that Spring is a much better time to reinvent yourself and do things like go to the gym regularly as the light nights and warmer weather motivates me far more than darkness and bitter cold. Anyway, I need the extra podge left over from Christmas to keep me warm at the coldest time of the year. Have you made any resolutions?

I definitely want to be involved in London fashion week this February, even if its just hanging around outside Somerset house taking pictures of stylish and uniquely dressed people. I also would like to include more beauty in the blog as there are only so many outfit posts and hauls you can do before you and your readers start getting bored. I am a huge fan of make up, bath products (especially from Lush) and the odd lotion and potion so it will be great to blog about another passion and add a different dimension to my posts.

I've been working over Christmas and new year but booked today off to try and get rid of my niggling cough which I've had for the past 2 weeks. Juggling full time work and a blog can be challenging and the eventual plan is to find a job which has less working hours so I have more time to devote to blogging and writing but I don't know if this one of those dreams that is too good to be true. 

I wish you all the best for this new year and I hope at least some of your dreams come true.