What I bought from Primark

I nipped into Primark before I went into uni the other day to see if I could find anything to tide me over until my student loan came in. To be honest I was quite disappointed, the sizing of their tops don't match the sizing of their dresses!

Not only that, but Newcastle's Primark didn't have the majority of the items I went in to buy! I'm going to check out Liverpool's Primark over Easter which is usually a lot better.




Blue Daisy Peter Pan Collar Blouse £8
Black Sunflower Dress £13


I've seen a few girls blue this top and I'm in love with. I had to buy a size 12 even though in every other shop I'm a size 10 because I couldn't fit the 10 past my boobs...
This is so summery and I can't wait to wear it with some rolled up jeans and my ASOS sandals!


I bought this in a size 10 with enough room for my boobs, thank god. It's not very complimentary to my figure so I'm going to wear it with a belt of some sort, but I couldn't not buy it because it's soooo pretty.

Also, if you have noticed there are foundation marks on the collar (thanks Primark) so I'll have to wash it before I wear it.


I was hoping to buy more but i'm going to try Liverpool and see what other bits I can get.

BVL
xxx

ASOS Gladiator Sandals & My Story

Hey lovelies. If any of you follow me on twitter (@bvelvetlover) you may have seen me tweet about some ASOS Sandals I picked up and why they were so important to me.

If you didn't know, I'll fill you in. It's March 2010 and I'm revising for my last GCSE Maths exam. I'm messing around being a stupid 16 year old. I needed something from a cabinet in my dining room, so I go to get it. For some unknown reason I look down at my feet and think if I shut the door there will be enough room for it to sweep past my feet and it will be fine.

No. No it wasn't. I slam the door (because I am clearly insane) and make a car crash out of my feet. A fair bit of blood and a lot of crying and I'm clutching them in pain.

3 operations down and in 10 days (I think) I'll be off for my (hopefully) final one. As I stupidly injured my feet in March, I couldn't wear sandals that year or the subsequent ones following, so I've not had my feet out or worn sandals since I was 15.

As I am quite hopeful that this was my last little operation, I thought I'd have to make up for lost time and buy some amazing sandals! I am beyond excited to wear these! It won't probably be for another 6 weeks but when that time rolls around I'll be wearing them 24/7.




I also managed to buy these in the sale from £45 to £24.50! I got nominated delivery as I am a premier member (which is amazing, you should sign up).




Let me know if you bought anything in the sale! If I had the money I would have bought so many things!

BVL
xxx

GHD IV Pastel Stylers Review

I thought I'd give you a bit of background as to why, at 20 years old, these were my first pair of GHD's. About 7 years ago my parents bought me some Remington straighteners, and as a girl with curly hair with it prone to a bit of frizz, I was over the moon. They did the job. They had a temperature control button and they served me well.

Well 2 weeks ago they decided to break. Just as I was halfway through straightening my hair, ready to go out. I was beyond upset. I should have seen it coming shouldn't I. But I didn't. I thought what am I going to do! My boyfriend actually said "you can't not have straighteners". Don't get me wrong, I do love my hair when it is natural, but it isn't practical all the time. I was thinking I may as well get some GHD's so I looked on Look Fantastic and decided to get the new pastel stylers. They come in Periwinkle (light blue), Lavender (lilac) and Jade (mint), but as blue is my favourite colour I went with my instinct. I love these. I'm sort of glad my old straighteners broke when these had just been released because I've not seen anyone I know with these yet and they are so pretty!!





I know this is short and sweet! There is only so much a girl can say about her straighteners without sounding weird. I'm happy I have something reliable and colourful to add to my room to make my hair less frizzy and more classy!

Laura
xxx

Perfect Eyelashes Review

I am in love with these eyelashes! They are called *'Perfect Eyelashes' by Agnes dos Santos which are 'Luxurious Strip Eyelashes' and I was lucky to receive a pair to review! I chose the style 'Intense'  out of the four options.

I cut them to fit my eyes and applied them using my Eyelure eyelash glue. The only difficulty I found in applying them was this style have smaller lashes towards the inner corners of your eye, and as I apply any false lashes with my hands, I did get the tiniest bit of glue in my eye (oops!) . Aside from this trouble (which was my fault not the products) the application was a smooth process.


Before Mascara

After Mascara



As you can see, there is a big difference from using just mascara and using the Perfect Eyelashes! I did apply a bit more mascara to help them blend to my own eyelashes a tiny bit more, something I do with every pair of eyelashes.

They've also been worn by Lucy Watson from Made in Chelsea!

They're currently £19.99 and you can buy them (here)

Hope you all enjoyed my review! Sorry for the bad camera quality (used my boyfriend's ipad).

As stated before, these were kindly sent to me to review, I did not pay for them myself and I was not paid to positively review the product, but I really do like them (or I'd tell you!) so check them out!

BVL
xxx

Have you discovered... Primers

No7 Beautifully Matte Make up Base

(picture source: boots.com)

I've only ever had one primer; the No.7 Beautifully Matte Makeup Base. It is a hypo-allergenic primer that is supposed to give you a matte base before your foundation. It definitely says what it does on the packet!

You only have to use a tiny amount and it lasts you absolutely ages! I don't use it every day as I don't need to, but when I need a primer this is what I reach for.

The reason I've never tried another primer is because I've never had to. It doesn't make me break out, I love the matte base and it doesn't leave my skin oily afterwards. 

When I first tried this I didn't like it but it's because that's because I was 18 and didn't fully understand how a primer worked. The consistency is like a paste, compared to other cream primers. It gives quite a chalky finish if you overdo it but it works perfectly with my skin and foundation.

My skin can get quite oily and I know that a primer cannot 100% prevent this, but when I do use it I notice a significant different, as well as barely being able to see any pores. My makeup lasts so long when I use it and it definitely helps.

This primer is amazing on your eyes. I went to see Fall Out Boy two days ago, and put it on, then my foundation and then eyeshadow. I came back about 6/7 hours later and my makeup hadn't budged. It looked like I'd only just applied it.

I've never seen anyone talk about or actually see people use this so I thought it would be perfect for the 'Have you discovered....?' series that I'm part of!

Let me know if you've tried this or have any questions!

BVL
xxx

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation Review

I recently bought the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation after I saw a lot of people rave about it and at first glace I thought it was amazing. I was wrong.



The consistency wasn't as thick as I thought it would be but I went with it anyway. It applied nicely and looked normal on my skin. I did apply another layer as it wasn't as thick as I wanted it to be.

I wore it for a few days and removed it each night properly and thought nothing of it, until after the third or fourth day and realised my skin had came up in huge dry patches on my nose and cheeks. I upped my moisturising and tried a lot of things to get the moisture back into my skin but nothing worked.

I stopped using the foundation for three days and visibly noticed a huge difference. The dry patches had nearly disappeared and my skin was looking a lot better. To make sure it was the foundation I gave my skin time to recover and then on one day where it didn't matter what my makeup really looked like I applied it again, but with one layer of foundation, and waited.

The exact same thing happened. Scaly dry patches. I was so disappointed. I'd spent £8.99 on this and after 5 applications I realised I had completely wasted my money.

Don't get me wrong, I love Rimmel's 24 hour lasting foundation and their lipsticks and nail varnishes, but there was something in the Wake Me Up formula that just did not like my skin at all.

My usual sort of foundation is Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation and I went back to that and my skin didn't react.

Regarding colour I am usually the shade 'Ivory' in foundations and the colour was almost exact as my Maybelline one, so there were no flaws there. 

Apart from the dry patches I'd say this foundation would have been about a 7/10, but it isn't worth ruining my skin over, so for someone who is (rarely) prone to dry patches or reactions to products I wouldn't recommend this foundation.

Has anyone else had this problem? If you have any recommendations to products I should try?

BVL
xxx

Boyfriend/Girlfriend Tag

Hey lovelies. So I know I like doing tags, but thought it would be cute to do the boyfriend/girlfriend tag so you can get to know both me and Andy a little better!



We plan on doing the 'boyfriend does my makeup tag' when we have a bit more time, but until then, here are the questions:

1) Where did we meet? 

We met on the first day that we moved into our university 1st year accommodation. We were allocated bedrooms next to each other (mixed sex halls).

2) Where was our first date? 

April/May 2013 but we had already been 'officially' boyfriend and girlfriend by this point

3) What was your first impression of me? 

He said quiet, kind with a similar personality to his
I thought he was quiet too and well spoken!

4) When did you meet my family? 

Briefly May 2013 but properly, and staying over in mine was July 2013
I met his family in June 2013

5) Weird habit of each other? 

My weird habit is hiccuping a lot, and his weird habit is he doesn't like anything leaning off the edge of things, such as a phone only half on a desk, he has to fix it immediately 

6) How long have we been together? 

11 months

7) Do we have any traditions? 

We like going down to the river with a sandwich, we always have tea together and watch a programme during it, we probably have more but I can't think!

8) An animal that resembles one another? 

He says I resemble a panda because I'm cute, cuddly and lazy.
I think he resembles a dog, he is quite cute, he loves his food, and he is loyal.

9) What was our first roadtrip? 

We've not really had one! Unless you count going on trains...

10) First thing you noticed about me? 

I had pink hair

11) What pisses him off? 

When he is trying to revise or do work and I sing really badly to annoy him

12) Favorite feature about each other? 

My favourite feature about him has got to be his kindness. He looks after me well.
His favourite feature is that he thinks I'm cute.

13) 3 things I am good & not good at? 

Good at: reading people's emotions, cheering people up, being motivated when I want to be
Not good at: tidying, taking a compliment, taming my frizzy baby hair (really annoys him)

Andy is good at: getting good grades, knowing a lot about geography that I don't understand, making me laugh
Not good at: being on time, resisting food, picking good username/email names

14) What do we argue about the most? 

Plans. I love planning in advance and get a bit moody sometimes when things don't go as planned, I'd say they were disagreements though, not a full blown argument. 

15) Do I have PMS? 

No

16) Who wears the pants in the relationship? 

Andy. Definitely. 
I have a more bossy personality but he makes the decisions :)

17) Do I have any weird obsessions? 

Milkshake. I almost got addicted to Nesquik last year and he made me go cold turkey. That was a sad day.

18) Nicknames for each other? 

Babs, Babby. We call each other the same things but that's because he called me them first. When we are messing around texting we sometimes say goodbye as "tra hunni oxoxoxo" but that isn't a nickname

19) What is my favourite restaurant? 

Frankie and Benny's

20) If I am watching TV, what am I watching? 

Pretty Little Liars

21) What is one food I do not like? 

Bananas

22) What drink do I order when we go out to eat? 

Fanta or Rosé

23) What size of shoe do I wear? 

4/5

24) My favorite kind of sandwich? 

Chicken Tikka with Mayo

25) What is one talent I have? 

I can burp then hiccup, or hiccup then burp quite a lot

26) What would I eat everyday if I could? 

Savoury: Chicken Tikka Masala
Sweet: Kinder Bueno

27) My favorite cereal? 

Maple and Pecan Crisp Cereal by Tesco

28) My favorite kind of music? 

He doesn't know specifically but knows I love Bastille

29) My favorite sports team? 

Liverpool FC (obvs)

30) What is my eye color? 

Blue
Andy has brown/green eyes which are adorable

31) Who is my best friend? 

Katy from Liverpool

32) Something you do that I wish you didn’t do? 

He wishes I didn't throw my things everywhere in his room
I wish he wouldn't 'fanny around' when we need to go somewhere

33) Where am I from? 

Liverpool

34) What kind of cake would you bake me on my birthday? 

Toffee
I'd bake him a chocolate cake.

35) Do I play any sports? 

He said no, not anymore

36) What can I spend hours doing?

Nothing 
He could spend hours on his PS3



Hope you all enjoyed this! If you would like to see more boyfriend/girlfriend things in the future leave a comment!
I'd love for anyone else to one of these tags as I love reading them!

BVL
xxx

TMI Tag!

I thought as this was a popular tag, I may as well give it a go!

1: What are you wearing? 

Pj bottoms, a Batman top (boyfriends) and boyfriend's hoodie. Stylish, I know.

2: Ever been in love? 

Yep! I've been with my boyfriend for just under 1 year.

3: Ever had a terrible breakup? 

Nope!

4: How tall are you? 

Just about 5ft 4"!

5: How much do you weigh? 

Just under 10 stone. That hurt writing that!

6: Any tattoos? 

Sort of. I have one that a friend did using a needle and tattoo ink 2 1/2 years ago but it's really faded.

7: Any piercings? 

I've got my lobes pierced 3 times. I used to have my cartilage and belly button pierced but they didn't work out. I lost my belly bar in the swimming pool in Center Parcs

8: OTP? 

Cal Lightman & Gillian Foster - Lie to me. So cute.

9: Favourite show?

Lie To Me, Dexter, Pretty Little Liars, Don't Tell The Bride, Waterloo Road, The Walking Dead, Suits, Outnumbered..

10: Favourite bands? 

Foo Fighters, Bastille, The Pigeon Detectives, The Vaccines...

11: Something you miss? 

I miss having a cup of tea with some Rich Tea biscuits with my Nan. She lives back in my hometown (well, city) Liverpool and I'm in Newcastle, so we only sit down and have a good natter a few times a year!

12: Favourite song?

At the moment, Riptide by Vance Joy

13: How old are you? 

20

14: Zodiac sign? 

Libra

15: Quality you look for in a partner? 

A decent sense of humour, but also a bit of dirty humour. I don't get offended easily! Also a caring nature, I don't like the whole 'bad boy' type of lad.

16: Favourite Quote? 

Treat people how you'd like to be treated yourself (thanks nan).

17: Favourite actor? 

Umm... I don't?

18: Favourite color? 

Blue!

19: Loud music or soft? 

Loud!

20: Where do you go when you're sad? 

My bed. I snuggle up in my duvet and have a little cry (aww)

21: How long does it take you to shower? 

Without washing my hair, about 5-10 mins. With washing my hair, about 15-20 minutes. Depends how many times I shampoo (minimum 2 times)

22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 

Including a shower without washing my hair, inc makeup and getting dressed about 30 minutes.

23: Ever been in a physical fight?

Apart from little play fights with family/boyfriend, no.

24: Turn on?


Tallness, dark hair, really gorgeous eyes.

25: Turn off? 

Rudeness, no manners, bad smells

26: The reason I started blogging? 

To express my views, review products, to get in touch with people with similar interests..

27: Fears? 

Bridges and Crabs. I also don't like ladders.

28: Last thing that made you cry? 

I'm not even sure! Probably something stupid

29: Last time you said you loved someone? 

Today :)

30: Meaning behind your blog Name? 

I'm blonde, and I love velvet.

31: Last book you read? 

The Killing Room - Richard Montanari. So sinister.... His books are amazing btw I've read every one and will buy every future one.

32: The book you're currently reading?

Apart from revision books I will be starting RM's most recent book!

33: Last show you watched? 

Pretty Little Liars

34: Last person you talked to?

My boyfriend

35: The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

My best friend

36: Favourite food? 

Indian or Chinese

37: Place you want to visit?

Anywhere in America

38: Last place you were? 

My bed, and before that, uni

39: Do you have a crush?

My boyfriend?

40: Last time you kissed someone?

Boyf

41: Last time you were insulted?

As a joke, probably today. Offensive, probably backhanded in the house I live in not so long ago

42: Favourite flavour of sweet?

Oooo. Sweets. Toffee.

43: What instruments do you play?? 

I used to learn to play the clarinet, keyboard, guitar but the only thing I have a grade in is the clarinet.

44: Favourite piece of jewellery?

Either my Fossil Rose Gold Original Boyfriend Watch (bought by my boyfriend, oh the irony) or my Guess Rose Gold Bracelet, also bought by A.

45: Last sport you played?

Hahahaha. Me playing sports? Hell no

46: Last song you sang?

I keep singing "Milk and Cereal" to A on purpose to get on his nerves but the last proper song I sang was Migraine by Twenty One Pilots

47: Favourite chat up line?

Oh helllllllllllll no

48: Have you ever used it?

^

49: Last time you hung out with anyone?

Today, I met up with some of the girls in uni

50: Who should answer these questions next?
ALL OF YOU!

Hope you liked my answers! Now go and do this tag, pretty please?

BVL
xxx