The Weekly Round Up #6: Advent Calendars, Christmas Jumpers, Lost Voices & Catching Up on I'm A Celeb

The Weekly Round Up #6: Advent Calendars, Christmas Jumpers, Lost Voices & Catching Up on I'm A Celeb

Monday, 7 December 2015

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Happy Monday my lovelies! Sorry that this post's a day late. As you could probably tell from the title I've lost my voice, I don't know how Ariel coped through almost an entire movie, I've not had my voice for nearly 3 days and it's driving me cray!, I've got a pretty nasty sore throat and a temperature going on. So apologies for missing yesterday's post.

Anyway! The first week of December is over and I don't know about you, but, sickness aside, I am well into the Christmas spirit! After a successful but very long day of Christmas shopping at Lakeside on Saturday with my cousins, I feel more organised and like I can face this Christmas head on. So turn up that cheesy Christmas music because Santa, I'm ready for you!

But first things first, with 17 days left until the big event, let's round up this week.

Cadbury's Advent Calendar - no longer available

I started off this month having completely forgotten to buy myself an advent calendar. November went by so quickly that by the time I realised I needed an Advent calendar, Cadbury's obviously, they'd all gone. But after I called my mum and whined down the phone to her, she got on the case and I became the proud owner of one of the last Cadbury's Advent Calendars in the land (I might be exaggerating just a tad here). 

Christmas Jumpers - £14.00  each from Primark, available here & here

One just cannot get into the Christmas Spirit without a tacky Christmas jumper, and I've got two so I am doubly festive. I love Primark at Christmas time. It's my first port of call when all I want is festive jumpers, pyjamas and socks, which is always. After popping into the giant Primark at Lakeside on Saturday and spotting these two festive numbers I couldn't resist. The cardigan is amazingly tacky,  just looking at it puts a big cheesy grin on my face, and the gingerbread motif on the jumper is Christmassy and really cute. I'm so pleased with my purchases and will be getting so much wear out of them both this festive season. 

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - episodes available on itv.com

Over the last couple of weeks I have worked a ton of overtime and ended up missing a load of I'm a Celebrity because I was so tired. (Side note: I am so happy Vicky won #TeamVicky) So I've spent the last couple of days catching up on all the stuff I missed. I can't decide what I've loved more: Vicky, the so bad it's oh so good banter between Ant & Dec or the general drama at camp. This series has been excellent I have to say.

Like I said earlier I have got a really nasty sore throat and have completely lost my voice. It sucks, massively. Though I'm sure some people are definitely relieved. I've been drinking a shed load of hot lemon and honey and going through cherry flavoured soothers like there's no tomorrow, in the hope that it will come back, but no luck so far.

On that note I'm going to make a steaming hot mug of lemon and ginger tea and watch The Grinch in bed.

Love love love xxx


P.S. for regular updates check out my twitter, instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat - search lolarocknroses - & pinterest x

Lola Rocks #6... The Summertime Playlist

Lola Rocks #6... The Summertime Playlist

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

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Technically it's Summertime here in the UK, if only the weather would act like it, and despite the fact that I'm still taking a hot water bottle to bed with me I'm really in the mood for happy, summery music. These are my favourite songs to get me ready for the (eventual) hot weather.

You Always Make Me Smile by Kyle Andrews



Accidentally In Love by Counting Crows

Ugly Heart by G.R.L 

Summercat by Billie the Vision & the Dancers

Love is Endless by MoZella 

I Wish That I Could See You Soon - Herman Dune

All these songs are really happy and summery and leave me with the biggest smile on my face. They're such good summer time songs.

What are your favourite summertime songs? Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin, pinterest & snapchat - my username is lolarocknroses - for daily updates. 

Hope you guys are having a great week, I've got to get back to my essay but I'll be back soon. Hopefully Sunday but we'll see. 

Love love love xxx

*Disclaimer* I own none of the videos used in this post. All videos were used for entertainment purposes only. 

Friday I'm in Love #6

Friday I'm in Love #6

Friday, 25 July 2014

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IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY! Is it just me or has this week really dragged? Anyway it's Friday, and I adore Fridays for 2 reasons. 1. DUH it's Friday and that means it's the weekend! and 2. I get paid weekly so Friday = Payday! Winner!

Due to my absence -I'll stop mentioning it now, I promise!- I have loads of loves this week. So many in fact that I'm not sure I can squeeze it all into just the one post but hey ho I'll give it a try. 

L'Oreal Paris True Match Foundation in Vanilla Rose

Rumour has it that the L'Oreal Paris True Match foundation is a dupe for the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation. Now I haven't tried it so I don't know if that's true or not, but I can tell you that this is my absolute favourite foundation, and the reason it's my favourite is because it's amazing. It's really lightweight and blends so easily but gives really good coverage which can be built up. The colour perfectly matches my skin tone and leaves a flawless finish. I love it 

Rimmel Match Perfect Concealer in Soft Beige 

I was in dire need of a new concealer and had heard some good things about Rimmel's Match Perfection so I thought I'd give it a try. It's yellow toned so reduces the appearance of redness making it excellent for spots which is something I suffer with from time to time. The coverage is really good and it comes in a squeezy tube with a brush tip which I kind of love but don't really use, preferring to dot the concealer onto the skin and then blending it out with my Real Techniques setting brush. I like it a lot. 

MAC Creme Amplified Lipstick in Girl About Town 

I bought this 13 days ago and in  the last week alone have mentioned it no fewer than 3 times, because it is that amazing! If you want to know more on my thoughts about this lipstick read about it here and here. But all you really need to know is that I am obsessively in love with it. 

Sleek Face Form Contouring & Blush Palette in Fair

(Sorry the swatch picture is a bit naff)

In the past few weeks I have been taking my first tentative steps into contouring using this pallet and the Real Techniques contouring brush (I'm a bit obsessed!) and have somehow managed, by some miraculous twist of fate, to not go out looking like, well like this...

(How hilarious is this picture?! Picture via funnygirlconfessions.wordpress.com)

The pallet contains a contour powder, a highlighter and a blush. I was a bit wary at first because the actual contour powder is quite orangey in tone but after a lot of practice and blending it actually works quite well. The highlighter is a bit too shimmery for my taste but I really like the blush. It's a really pretty shimmery gold toned pink that looks lovely on the skin and really warms up the complexion. I still find contouring quite scary and am scared that one day I will go massively overboard and will end up looking ridiculous but this pallet makes it a lot easier and I like it a lot.

Real Techniques Brushes 

(From left to right: Contour, Blush, Buffing, Setting, Pointed Foundation & Concealer)

Ahh the Real Techniques Brushes aka my new obsession. I've been building up my collection over the past couple of weeks (I bought the Stippling brush on amazon not two hours ago) and I have to say I am very impressed. My personal favourite is this bad boy (read about it here)

(the Buffing Brush)

But I have been using them all on a daily basis. I've been using the contour brush with the Sleek Face Form pallet to define my (non-existent) cheek bones and it is awesome. The setting brush has been used in conjunction with the concealer brush to buff in my concealer and they both give really good coverage for those pesky blemishes that I just can't rid myself of. Overall they are  really good brushes. They're synthetic so they don't soak up too much product and they are so ridiculously soft it feels like I'm applying my make up with a kitten! Which I admit is an incredibly strange thing to say but I think I've made my point. They're amazing. Before this my make up brush collection consisted of a Bobbi Brown set and a Ted Baker set I got over two Christmases ago. Don't get me wrong I still love them BUT they are a bit on the knackered side so it makes a nice change to be using the Real Techniques brushes. 

Wax Lyrical England Highly Scented Tealights and Candle in the scent Couture.

Firstly Wax Lyrical has to be the best name for a candle company ever! Secondly they smell incredible. I bought the tealights in Tesco a couple of weeks ago and went through them in like a week, so I just had to go back for the candle. Couture is my favourite because it smells amazing. It makes my room smell absolutely gorgeous without being overpowering. I always find it so difficult to describe scent but this kinda smells like vanilla and baby lotion - in a good way, it smells incredible!- mixed with fresh washing. The overall fragrance is divine. Plus the packaging is gorgeous!

And now for my SOTW: 

My First Song of the Week this week is High Hopes by Kodaline.

   

To say I am obsessed with this song is a major understatement. I don't know where I was or what I was doing when Kodaline were becoming a thing last year but I am so glad I have found them now. This song is so moody and sad (which is my favourite kind of song) and I just love it. It's awesome. I have downloaded their album and I have to say I am rather enjoying it. 

My Second Song of the Week is Broken by Jake Bugg. 

                              

Until recently I didn't really get Jake Bugg. I didn't like him, I didn't dislike him just thought he was alright but not someone I would go out of my way to listen too. And then I saw The Fault in Our Stars (read my review here)and heard the song Simple As This  and loved it, then me and my best friend were talking about music, as we so often do, and she played Broken for me. And DAMN that boy can make some beautiful music. His voice is so sultry and smokey and moody. I have listened to this song more times than itunes can count which should tell you everything you need to know. It's so good. 

This was just the tip of the music iceberg, in the past few weeks I have listened to (and loved) loads of music. So much in fact that it's been really difficult to limit myself to just 2 Songs of the Week! So with that in mind I was wondering if anyone would be interested in reading a music post? Let me know below or on twitter using the hashtag #LolaRocks! 

So those were my loves for the week? What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let me know via twitter, using the hashtags #FIIL or #FridayIminLove. I am also on facebook, BlogLovin, instagram & pinterest if you fancy checking me out and giving me a cheeky like/follow ;)

Right lovely people I will be back on Monday with a new post all about my very mixed feelings about the season finale of How I met your Mother. Until then I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. 

Love love love xxx

2 Stars & A Wish #6

2 Stars & A Wish #6

Wednesday, 9 July 2014

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It's Wednesday and that can only mean one thing, well two things: Firstly we are now more than halfway through the working week,  meaning we only have 2 more days to go until the weekend! Yay! Secondly, and more importantly, it's time for 2 Stars & A Wish! So let's stop dillydallying and get this party started! (Sorry, super lame) 

My First Star this week goes to Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Huckleberry. 

When it comes to high street nail polish Barry M is the undisputed King. He just is. Now personally when it comes to nails I'm usually not a great fan of pastels, preferring my nail colours to come from the louder and prouder end of the spectrum. Having said that when Barry M's new summer collection dropped I could not wait to get my hands on them and they were almost exclusively pastels. I grabbed this, and 2 others - it was 3for2, in a mad dash through Superdrug on Friday morning and I absolutely love it. It's a really lovely pale mint green/blue (depending on the light) which is so summery and pretty. Usually with colours this pale a white base coat is an annoying requirement. But because Barry M's formula, particularly the Gelly formula, is so kick ass it doesn't need it. It does however require one extra coat for opacity. Other than that it's amazing.

Garnier Simply Essentials Soothing 2in1 Make-Up Remover 

I've been testing out a lot of cleansers of late and I bought this after a very favourable recommendation from my step-sister. Now being a sensitive skinned, blackhead prone (gross!) lass I'm a bit wary when it comes to oil based cleansers. I'm also allergic to oil based paint so that's a worry as well. As a general rule I try to steer clear of oil based products because I don't know how my skin will react. However the conversation with my equally sensitive skinned step-sister, who absolutely raved about this product, convinced me and I thought I'd give it a whirl. I've been using it for the past 5 days and it. is. awesome. It removes my make up so quickly and effectively that my skin care routine is no longer the ball ache it once was. As it's oil based it removes all traces of eyeliner and mascara, even waterproof, so easily and it's not at all sting-y on the eyes which is nice. It's really good. I don't love it as much as the Nivea Daily Essentials 2in1 Cleanser & Toner (read about it here and here) which I think is more soothing on the skin but I still like it. 

My Wish this week goes to Maybelline's Babylips in Cherry Me 

I've been umming and ahhing about what could be this week's wish as I have had a really positive week make up wise, (life wise not so much.) And then I remembered this.  I had a bit of a shopping spree last weekend because it was payday and I was naughty -haul post to follow-. Anyway I was in Tesco with my step-sister,  who is just as bad as I am! And somehow, quite mysteriously, we wound up in the make up aisle, where they had Babylips for 2 for £5. Now I'd never tried Babylips before but had heard some generally good things so I thought why not? And that is how Cherry Me and Pink Punch found their way into my basket, alongside Maybelline's Forever Strong Super Stay 7 Days Gel Nail Colour in Surreal (which I loved! As you can see I've clearly forgiven Maybelline for their shoddy excuse for a foundation, read about it here.) Babylips were marketed as super pigmented, lipbalm lipstick hybrids. Whilst Cherry Me is a deep red lip balm that smells gorgeous (like cherry drops!), is very moisturising and has very cute packaging the pigmentation leaves much to be desired. In a word it's crap. I'll carry on using it as a lipbalm but as a lipstick it's a bit meh. Very disappointing. It took ages to get this kind of colour pay off for the swatch... and it's not even that great a swatch! Having said that I had absolutely no qualms with the Pink Punch, which smells like peaches (yummy), is a really nice shade of baby pink and is so pigmented, leaving the lips looking glossy and nourished. 

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know using the hashtag #2StarsandaWish or comment below. I love hearing from you lovely people! :)

Anywho I will be back on Friday with Friday I'm In Love #6 where I will be talking about my loves for the week. I'm also hoping to get some posts up over the weekend but that all depends on whether or not I have the time. I am super busy this weekend. But until then you can check me out on twitter, facebook, BlogLovin, instagram & pinterest for your daily fix. If you need one that is ;)

Love love love xx