Summer Bronzers 101

So this post may be slightly pre-emeted, but I just can't wait for Summer 2016! So let's get those summer vibes going with my top 6 Bronzers to give yourself that sun kissed glow...

Benefit

£23.50

Just turned 15! Hoola is benefit's world-wide loved matte bronzer. I can't get enough of it, I use it all-year-round! It's great for stroking over your cheeks to wake up your skin, I also use it when contouring for nights out.

Too Faced

£25.00

This is another beaut! Slightly dimmer than benefit's hole but suits all complexions, giving a chocolatey layer that can be used all over your face to help give you a more chic than bright-and-cheap look.

Rimmel

£5.99

This just has to be one of the best bronzers, as well as one of the cheapest, this is a definite steal! whether your 12 and buying your first bronzer or a 22 year old off to work, this is great for day-to-day wear. 

the Balm

£15.00

Now unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of trying the Balm's Bahama Mama, so this feature should alternatively be on the I WANT list. I have only heard great reviews, suggesting its on par with the likes of Benefit. So when I get my hands on this one you guys will be the first to know!

Bourjois

£6.39

This was probably my second love, after Rimmel, a timeless classic that will be there for me through and through. Whenever times are hard and i'm low on cash this is the best bronzer to give me my daily need.

Bobbi Brown

£33.00

This one is slightly cheeky of me, as Its not actually a frequent member of my own makeup bag, it's always in my mums! I can't help sneaking it into my clutch for a night out when i'm in a shimmer bronzer mood, rather than my usual matte (sorry mum!).

K.

Splurge Vs Steal

I've been wanting to do a Splurge Vs Steal post for a while, but because of being so busy with uni work have fallen behind with blog posts! So here it is, my very own Splurge Vs Steal, although my splurge may not be as upmarket as some peoples as I am a university student on a budget...

Round 1: Liquid Blusher

Benefit (£24.50)

 

This Lolli tint liquid blusher is one of my favourites, its a candy coloured cheek stain that leaves my cheeks looking great! It lasts a few hours and is perfect for adding a hint of colour.

Rimmel (£4.49)

This is the closest rival to the benefit Lolli tint! Rommel's Stay Blushes leaves your cheeks looking a sun-kissed pink, but unfortunately last for little over than an hour 

Winner: Benefit! 

Round 2: Make-up Remover 

Orico (£16)

Orico's Orange Micellar make-up remover not only smells amazing as it's infused with a citrus smell, but takes a few wipes to get your makeup off. What I really loves about this product was that it doesn't sting my face as I have really sensitive skin. It also has anti-inflammatory calendula flower extract, which soothed my eyes before heading to bed. The only downside to this product is the price! 

Soap and Glory (£6)

Drama Clean make-up remover is my current micellar water, its lush! The cucumber juice and peach fruit leaves your skin smelling sweet, feeling soft, and left soothed. It wipes your makeup off instantly, a no fuss remover for before bed! 

Garnier (£3.33)

There's no doubt that this is my ultimate make-up remover winner. It's the best value for money and removes dirt and purifies your skin within seconds. The only downside is that is doesn't have a fruity smell, but some people prefer it that way!

Winner: Garnier!

Round 3: Concealer

Rimmel (£3.49)

This concealer is great for simple every-day makeup to throw under your eyes and on your pimples as soon as you wake up in the mornings. Its a smooth quick-fix but doesn't last all day, so you'll need to touch up. 

Benefit (£17.50)

This is the best concealer for blemishes and spots, lasts for hours and a must-have for a night out as there's no chance of it melting off. Not one to pop under the eyes as it's not a smooth as some concealers and does tend to crumble when applied in large amounts.

Winner: Undecided

Round 4: Hand Cream 

Bodyshop (£4)

Honestly, the only positive I can say about this product is the smell as i love Bodyshop's coconut smelling products. I suffer from dry skin in-between my fingers during the winter and this product did not help at all, unfortunately it soothed my skin for minutes, before getting dry and continuing to itch hours later. 

Palmers (£1.99)

Not much I can say about this product, never disappoints, keeping my hands smooth all the way through the bitter weather.

Winner: Palmers!

Hope you enjoyed reading my first ever Splurge vs Steal!

K.

Milk! Almond, Coconut, Soy or Dairy?

I Don't know about you guys, but recently i've been bombarded with thousands of articles, posts and pins trying to convince me why Soya is the new Dairy, or Almond is the new Coconut, or even some that tell me to forget everything i've read and just stick to cows milk for a healthy source of calcium and protein. So I've decided to strip it back to the basics and look at each milk individually by looking at their ingredients and determining health benefits and disadvantages. 

Almond

Alporo Fresh Almond Milk

Per 100ml-

Fat 1.1g

Calcium 0.12g

Vitamins D, E, B12, B2

Carbohydrates 0.1g

Protein 0.4g

Sugar 0.1

Salt 0.13

Cholesterol -

Lactose -

Almond milk has a creamy and nutty taste. It is often used by those that are lactose-intolerant or vegan.

Soy

Alpo Fresh Soya Milk

Per 100ml-

Fat 1.8g

Calcium 0.12g

Vitamins D,B2,B12

Carbohydrates 2.8g

Protein 3.0g

Sugar 2.7g

Salt 0.06g

Cholesterol-

Lactose-

A dairy alternative that is considered to be just as high in protein. Although you may want to consider a vanilla flavoured version. Soy is an acquired plant-like taste (not my personal favourite) with a thick texture. 

Coconut 

Koko Dairy Free

Per 100ml-

Fat 2g

Calcium 0.12g

Vitamins D,B12

Carbohydrates 1.9g

Protein 0.2g

Sugar 1.6g

Salt 0.1g

Cholesterol-

Lactose-

*Contains MCFA's (Medium-chain fatty acids)

*Fruit not nut, good for those looking for a dairy alternative but are allergic to nuts

Coconut milk comes from the meat of the coconut, it is not the water retained within the shell that is sold separately as coconut water. I use it a lot for cooking curries and sauces to create a sweet and creamy thick texture. The downside of coconut milk is that it is high in saturated fats, you may decide to use it occasionally rather than an every-day ingredient. 

Cow's Milk

Tesco's Semi-Skimmed 

Per 100ml-

Fat 3.6g

Calcium 0.124g

Vitamins B12

Carbohydrates 4.8g

Protein 3.6g

Sugar 9.6g

Salt 0.2g

Cholesterol- 5g per 100g

*Contains MCFA's (Medium-chain fatty acids)

*Contains lactose, a sugar and carbohydrate that is a digestible source of glucose (energy). It is made up of glucose and galactose. Often when people refer to 'bad' sugars they are referring to sucrose of fructose, and consuming these is large amounts can lead to negative effects on the body. Lactose is seen to benefit the body, one example of this is that is supports the development of the brain in children. 

We are the only species that consume milk in adulthood, cows milk is meant for a baby calf. Some people believe that it is not 'needed', although some research has suggested that humans' genes have adapted to include dairy in our diets. 

This is a study by Hartman et el in 2007. It suggests that when comparing milk protein with soy, milk protein demonstrates a higher rate of muscle protein synthesis (building muscle)

I hope this information has helped you out. My conclusion is that it entirely depends on what you are lacking and need more of in your diet. If you want to build muscle, chances are you're better off drinking cows milk. If you are looking for a low fat alternative Almond and Soya are what you're after, these are also good if you're trying to cram some extra vitamins in. Coconut and Soya are good if you're looking to cut carbs. Therefore, before looking for a dairy alternative I would suggest looking at your diet and seeing what you need more and less of, and whether the change is needed. Another factor that affects this is also taste! I love the taste of almond, coconut and dairy milk, but unfortunately can't bring myself to use soya, and whats the point of eating/drinking something you don't enjoy?!

K.

My Workout Playlist

Hey Guys! As i've had a recent change of gym I thought I'd share my new playlist with you to give a taste of the sorts of songs I use to keep myself hyped on a workout...

1. Work : Rihanna & Drake

2. Missing : EDX, Mingue 

3. Breathe : Wilkinson, Shannon Saunders 

4. Lush Life : Zara Larsson 

5. White Tiger, The Heaveytracker Remix : Izzy Bizu, Kano 

6. Stay : Kygo, Maty Noyes

7. Good Times : Ella Eyre

8. Something Special (into you) : Fastlane 

9. Ex's and Oh's : Elle King 

10. Alive : Chase & Status, Jacob Banks 

SUPERSET

1. Breakn' A Sweat : Skrillex, The Doors, Robby Kreiger

2. Go : The Chemical Brothers 

3. Better Love : Foxes 

K. 

The F-Word

So here it is, I have finally plucked up the courage to write a blog post on the F-word, yeah you guessed it, feminism. Over the past few months I have become increasingly agitated by this topic and conversations surrounding it, so here it goes, here's to my feminist rant...

I'm not one for labelling, I highly dislike confining an individual to a specific genre, style, group or lifestyle. Contrary to this I would in fact consider myself a Feminist. There I said it, that dreaded word that many of my friends curl their nose up at, I am a feminist, and to be quite honest I am proud of this. As a current third year English student, when it came to deciding a dissertation topic I knew that I wanted to explore Feminist Theory, Literature and it's influence on modern-day popular culture. In the past year or so the word feminist has frequently popped up in the media, and although many people may believe that feminism is now an outdated and obsolete movement- yes we women do now have the vote, but our struggle does not end here- feminism is still very much alive. You only have to look at J Law's, Meryl Streep's and various other celebs recent speeches to see that females are still subjected to inferiority between genders, the pay gap, lifestyle opportunities and gender performance issues. So why is it that when I say to some of my closest friends 'What do you think about feminism?' or 'are you a feminist?' do they tend to roll their eyes and say that they in fact are not? Saying that I myself am a feminist does not make me man-hating, or mean that I believe females are the superior sex. No. This word, and what I have come to learn that the word means, is that I believe females and males are equal.

One of my closest friends seems to sum up the general consensus on the word quite nicely, 'I am not a feminist but...' she then went on to say that she believe's in equal pay, the equality of men and women and that females should be able to use contraception. This is where I got very confused and slightly angry, I then turned to her and asked 'So why do you not consider yourself a feminist?' To this she replied 'Well i'm not one of those extreme women who'd go out burn my bra and believe that men shouldn't hold a door open for you.' Unfortunately, I hadn't the energy to argue, you see so may women and men hear the word feminist and think of Radical feminism. Radical feminism was a form of feminism that originated within the second-wave in the 1960's, a perspective that holds the belief that MEN OPPRESS WOMEN. Well i'm sorry to offend anyone but I believe this is a highly outdated way of thinking, and that this issue shouldn't be a US vs THEM argument, men can be feminists too, I like to think my father one, my boyfriend one and many of my male friends to be feminists, although many boys seem to squint at the topic and are scared to share their opinion, in fear of being beaten down by a man-hating psycho bitch. 

And so, I could rant about this topic for hours, days or even years, but I would like to leave you with this; if you find yourself answering the question 'Are you a feminist?' in the same way my close friend did, 'I am not a feminist but..' Are the reasons that you are about to state not those that in fact make you a feminist? Do you not believe that men and females are both equal, and should be treated that way? I'm fed up with this negative stigma that looms over the word, you are a feminist, believe me you are.

K.

Life as a Fashion Intern

After having an interview for a paid internship the other day (which sadly I did not get) and speaking to 6 other girls at the assessment day, I've realised that all fashion interns have experienced the same soul-crushing treatment over and over. We chatted about this whilst eyeing up our competition and secretly thinking 'oh god please let it be me getting my first proper paid job.'

So here are just a few of the situations fashion interns are faced with every day ...

1. Trying to look like the latest Vuitton, Acne and Chloe cookbooks when you are skint trying to style out last years Primark.

2. Having to eat last nights dinner left-overs for your packed lunch whilst surrounded by Pret, Itsu and Benugo.

3.Having to look your employed friends in the eye when they ask 'do you enjoy interning?'and silently nod and smile because they just won't understand. 

4.Going to multiple interviews and being told that you are overqualified by some and under qualified by others! Will the vicious cycle ever end...

5. Finding yourself drooling over the samples that get thrown around the office like thrift-store garments.

6. Having to style out the comfiest flats you own as your bound to be sent out on a 40 minute wild goose chase around London.

7. Knowing you could go and apply for any regular office job but don't because you're so desperate for your dream job that you'll live with mum and dad until your 30.

8. Having to pretend that you haven't just seen Kate Moss enter the building, it's no big deal, and you haven't just texted your entire contact list to record the incident. 

9.Remembering when you thought that interning would be glamorous but have now come to terms with the reality that sometimes you even have to take the boss's dog out to do a number two (this one might have just been me)

10. Thinking it's the end of the day, oh no you silly intern you've just been given 4 more tasks to do before tomorrow morning, hurry along you little unpaid being...