Little Black Books

 

 

 

H E L L O !

 

We are eternally sorry for the complete lack of posts! I wish we could give you this fantastical story of adventure and distraction but unfortunately we are lazy. Typical of our age, if we have more than one thing happening then it is too much to handle and we have to sleep for three days.

 

We decided that as a classic new years resolution (that we can't promise we will keep but we will promise that we will do our best to try) we will try and post at least once a fortnight! It might not seem like much but with everything that is happening it is better than nothing-haha!

 

It has been an interesting term starting A Levels and has been difficult for us to be going to different schools. However slowly we have started to adjust! Not seeing each other everyday is the weirdest thing because you don't have those spontaneous and random thought conversations that would sound totally mental to anyone listening but to you the other person is a total genius and you can't understand why you aren't comedians!!

 

So, to combat this, we have decided to purchase little notebooks and we write down every couple of days ,or more, in them with our thoughts/things that have happened/ feelings etc. etc. You could only imagine the weird crap we have written in it! We swap these books every time we see each0other (when we remember to bring them that is, *cough* Isabelle *cough*) Then we read through and have a giggle and then reply to what the other has written and then write about our days.

It probably sounds boring but it means that we can still keep in tough properly and it gives us an extra excuse to see each other! It feels as though because we haven't been seeing each other everyday our friendship group meets up *out of sixth form* more than it used too now we have the motivation. As a result we have been making some brilliant memories and have already been planning some stuff for April half term and the summer holidays after our AS exams!!

 

The point is, we're excited for what is a head of us and although the next two years will be challenging and need a lot of work, we have no idea what is going to happen and that is pretty awesome. We aren't going to let something like being in different schools separate us and there is no way in hell we will be able to get rid of each other any time soon! You CAN NOT have one of us without the other! We are using these books as a fun way to stick together.

  

Toodle-oo

❣
Izzy and Isabelle

 "The best prize in life is working hard at work worth doing"

 

New beginnings!

It has got to that time of year again where students have been getting their exam results. Which in turn means that its getting closer to going back to school or starting a new college, sixth form, university etc. We thought we would to write this post together as its affecting both of us and it's important to remember you are never alone in these situations.

(random photo of us sledging)

 We have recently received our GCSE results. I think both of us weren't too happy or too disappointed about them but both of did pretty well. What we learnt was not to compare ourselves to others. Some people in our year got all A* but that doesn't matter because i think everyone tried their hardest and got the results they worked for and deserve. Comparing our results to someone who did better wont change what we got, only make us sadder (don't know if that's a word!). 

In England we finish 'high school' at 16 and then have 2 years in education which can be a sixth form which is attached to a school, a college which is independent from a school or an apprenticeship which is work experience. What can be know as college in the US is just University to us.

(Me: Left, Izzy: right) 

Even though me and Izzy haven't  been close friends for that long we have always been in the same schools and this will be the fist time we've been separated since year 1! I am staying at our schools sixth form while Izzy is going to college. This is because our sixth form is a lot smaller than most others and I feel that going somewhere bigger I would get lost in the crowd, it would cause me too much anxiety meaning I don't think I would succeed as well in my A levels.

*Passes laptop to Izzy*

I decided to leave our sixth form this year after having 4 stubborn years of being adamant I wouldn't stray from our school. Over the last few years I have been struggling with anxiety and panic attacks (more on that at another point) and I felt that if I didn't push myself now then when I went off to work or university the change would be so big that I wouldn't be able to handle it. It is a big step up from school and I am petrified but I know that everyone will be in the same boat as me as everyone in the year will be new. My big fear is leaving our friendship group as I honestly wouldn't change them for the world, they have got me through so much recently I cant thank them enough. There have been a lot of tears-trust me.

(us before our prom this year) 

I don't really know what I want to do in the future except travel. Like, Isabelle I have chosen a wide range of subjects to how a broad skill set that would appeal to future employers but not limit or restrict me if I suddenly find my calling a few years down the line. Unless I suddenly decide I want to be a brain surgeon or rocket scientist- then I'm very screwed. I have taken; English Literature, Photography, Sociology and Politics as these are things I enjoy and feel I would be most interested in.

*passes laptop back to Isabelle* 

I(Isabelle) have no clue what I would like to do when I leave school so have chosen a wide range of subjects to do at AS. These are a mix of subjects and enjoy and ones I've never done before. These are geography, psychology, sociology and English literature.

Starting a new school can be very daunting and scary but every else is most probably feeling the same as you. I remember starting year 7 and thinking how big the year 11's looked! I found meeting new people and having new subjects was the best part.

Anyone will tell you that we are the loudest and giggliest pair but when put into a situation where we don't know anyone we can be as quiet as mice and very shy. The best thing to do is just introduce yourself or even just ask someone a question I'm certain they'll just be thankful to have someone to talk to. When I (Izzy) went on an induction day to my college I would just ask people who were going in the same general direction as me where they were going and then not only do you not have to walk alone you don't worry as much about getting lost. Plus, you can hopefully make some friends. Also, don't forget to give it a few weeks, for a while everyone will be clinging to anyone that they vaguely recognize so just put yourself out there and people will respond and start to branch out too.

(Us doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge this year)

We've both not had our first two weeks of school and i'll be the first to say life has been pretty boring and miserable without having Izzy by my side all the time. There have been tears but we know us, and the rest of our friendship group truly are friends for life. It has been extremely strange hearing Izzy talk about her new friends but i know it's just part of life to have different groups of friends but it doesn't make our friendship any weaker...if you get what i mean? So if you're confident in the strength of your friendship then i wouldn't worry at all, just develop ways to stay in contact regularly with each other.

And i'll leave you with a couple dashing photos of me and Izzy from 2012.

Toodle-oo

❣

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For any enquiries you can contact us at izzelle101@gmail.com

  

No7 lip product review

Hello! We are back after a month of waiting. Our exams still don't finish for 3 weeks but it is half term so we have time to make up for the lack of posts.

Two weeks ago I (isabelle) went into my local Boots drug store and at the till, they were selling a No7 lip brush, lip stick and lip gloss all for only £5. Yes, £5. There was nothing wrong with them it was just a fantastic thing they happened to be selling that day. So obviously I could not resist the temptation to have a cheeky purchase and I went for it.

First off, I am going to talk about the lip gloss. The one I have is a High shine, although it doesnt seem to be very shiny. It is in a beautiful, natural shade called smile. It has a very minimal amount of shimmer to it and adds more of a healthy glow to my lips, rather than making me look like I've covered my lips in vasaline. However it does leave my lips feeling moisturised as if I've used vasaline. The consistency is not at all thick, gooey or sticky and it has an SPF of 15. I am in love with it and will definitely buy it again, at the original price of £9.

The next thing I will talk about is my Stay Perfect lipstick. Mine is in the shade classic rose. I thought that this colour was more of a natural do-you-have-lipstick-on-or-not kind of shade however it turns out that it is rather bold. For a more natural look I prefer to just dab it on over a bit of moisturiser, as it isnt very moisturising on its own. It stays on for such a long time and even when i try to take it off, i can't! I love the packaging its come in because its just so small and simple, a perfect size to fit in your handbag or school bag. I will buy a No7 lipstick again but possibly in a different shade. The original price is £9.75.

Finally is the No7 lip brush. As I never really use a brush to apply lipsticks, I don't know what to expect from them. I don't really like to use brushes because I find that they store most of the lipstick in the brush rather than on your lips! However I do find that if you want to tone down the strength of your lipstick a bit, then a brush is the way to go. As expected from No7, the brush is super soft. The brush applies the lipstick easily to my lips with one sweep. I think if I lost my brush, I wouldn't repurchase as I feel I have no need for a brush. The original price however is £7.00.

This was a brilliant deal as the normal overall cost of these three items would be £25.75!! The next thing I will be buying from No7 is their foundation, so I will definitely do a review on that.

Isabelle

Toodle-oo

❣

my Simple skincare routine

Last weekend I went on a skincare haul and picked up a few things from Simple. So this past week while I have been trying out these products i have developed into a routine which I thought I would share. I am unsure of prices as the receipt is long gone and I have the memory of a fish but I think it is all around £3.99.

Every night I begin by using my cleansing facial wipes. I just use these on my eye make up. These are a life saver as I find it hard to find face wipes don't don't give me an allergic reactoon. I don't know what it is in face wipes that makes me go red faced and puffy but so far only simple face wipes and some of Johnsons face wipes do me good. So if you have sensitive skin I highly recommend it.

I then use my purifying cleansing lotion. I squeeze a generous amount onto a cotton pad and use up and out light sweeping movements over my face. Don't pull downwards as it stretches the skin, meaning you'll suffer when you're older! This takes off the majority of my face make up.

Then i close my pours with with my soothing facial toner. I once again pour a good amount over a cotten pad (even though it says to use cotten wool). I repeat by just doing soft sweeps over my face and neck. 

I finish off with my hydrating light moisturiser. I squeeze it onto my finger and place a dot in the centre of my cheeks, chin, nose and forehead before smoothing it out. Once again, don't press to hard or downwards. I also use this in the morning after washing my face. 

I did also buy the deep cleansing face mask but haven't yet used it. I am excited to though as it is supposed to remove deep dirt and eliminate dead cells, which should hopefuly leave me spot free after a few uses. I will review it after I have used it. 

I absolutely love Simple and definitely recommend it. I have really sensitive skin and a lot of products I have tried in the past haven't reacted well with my face. Simple is designed for sensitive skin so nothing I have ever used from then has reacted badly with my skin. 

Isabelle

Toodle-oo

❣

Pamper night

After a long and difficult few weeks we knew we needed a relaxing weekend to unwind and enjoy ourselves. We ate good food (Isabelle's mums homemade pizza is insane!) listened to our favourite music and relaxed. Best weekend for a long time! On top of that we watched 3 good chick flicks (read further down to find out our favourites).

The first thing we did (after the pizza) was to make our very own face masks. Despite the look of them they really did work. We basically mixed about 5 recipes to get as much out if it as we possible could! 

First we cut up 2 bananas. These have brilliant nutrients for all skin types. 

Then added 2 sachets of Oh So Easy Oats original .  This thickens the mixture up and makes it much more substantial. 

We then mixed in 4 Table Spoons of Honey and 2 Table Spoons of Granulated sugar. Sugar is a brilliant exfoliator and honey helps to keep your skin exceedingly smooth. 

After that we mixed in 1 Table Spoon of Salt. This adds to the exfoliating and helps to unblock pores and blackheads. 

We also added brown sugar. This again helps with exfoliating and also makes it thicker. It also made it a much nicer colour.

Don't forget to properly mush up the bananas and mix everything together. 

It was a really nice mask, it took a while to dry and we had a lot of fun trying to put it on. We cried with laughter! I think we might use a food colouring next time to make it look a bit more appetising. Our skin was so nice afterwards. It felt really refreshed and reduced redness around problem areas of our faces. 

You can check online for other good recipes but if you want a bit of everything then definitely give ours a go. Add a bit of lemon if you want to use it before you go out. It will really brighten up your skin. 

We then filled a bath with warm shallow water, just deep enough for our feet and filled it with a mixture of these three bath foams. We don't know where they are from as I (Isabelle) got them for Christmas but all of them smell amazing! While we sat on the edge of the bath in our comfy PJs we put on the face masks. We didn't have any candles but you could always light some scented candles to set the atmosphere. 

The consistency of the facemasks wasn't the greatest and we struggled to get it to stay on our faces but we managed. We waited about 10 minutes before washing it all off with a tea tree foaming face wash from superdrug.

We then we used the simple toner and I used this simple moisturiser.

After we had cleaned up our faces we filled up the kettle ready to boil and chose some films to watch. These were: Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, a Cinderella Story and yes, He's Just Not That Into You, all typical chick-flick rom-coms. Of course there are plenty of others like; The Notebook, 500 Days of Summer, Mean Girls or even Charlie St. Cloud. The choices are endless. We then poured our matching mugs with half milk, half water and two teaspoons of m&s hot chocolate powder, before putting it into the microwave for 2 minutes and adding a lot (I mean a lot) of cream and marshmallows.

We then snuggled down and enjoyed our hot chocolate and movie, with a fresh feeling face and soft feet!

How do you and your friends relax? Let us know in the comments!
 

Toodle-oo

Isabelle and Izzy

❣

Ted Baker body care

For my birthday last year, Izzy bought me four items from Ted Baker which came in a really sweet, clear Ted Baker bag. As they were a present, prices can't be told. It included a body foam, body wash, body moisturiser and body spray. Yes, I have only just started using the body wash and body foam 8 months after Izzy gave it too me (sorry Izzy). So here is a quick review on these four products. Also sorry in advance for the poor quality photos! 

As I hardly ever have baths (haha) I have only used the body foam once but I did like it and think I might squeeze a little into the bottom of my shower before I go in as the smell is Amazing. It doesn't irritate my skin which is a bonus as I find a lot of other body foams make my sensitive skin go all red and itchy. As I don't have baths often I doubt I will buy this again but for all you bath lovers, i do recommend it. 

Next up is the moistiriser. This I finished about 2 months after Izz gave it too me and have still kept the pot to remined me to buy it again! I found it was non-greasy and moisturising. And once again, the smell is so good! I occasionally have to just smell the pot as each product smells slightly different. 

Talking about smells leads on to the next product. The body spray. Now this is a life saver for when you have those days were you just feel a little dull and need a spritz. It is also the perfect size to carry around in your school bag or handbag and perfect to use after P.E! I will definetaly buy it again as it does smell amazing.

Finally, the body wash. Not only does it make the whole bathroom smell amazing after being used but it makes you smell amazing as well! It smells just like the body spray which is great and leaves you feeling refreshed. However, I think I may be slightly allergic to it as it does make me go a bit pink. I recon I would buy this again but maybe not right after I have finished. 

If you have tried any of the products let us know in the comments as we'd love to hear what you think about them :)

Isabelle

Toodle-oo

❣

Revision tips

So its gotten to that time of year where preparation for nearing exams is needed, so I thought I'd share some revision tips that are working for me.

First of all, make sure you don't leave it to the last minute. The weeks will soon fly by and before you know it you'll have only two weeks to cram loads of information into your head. I promise you, this doesn't work (I tried and ended up with an F in my exam). Start revising 2 or 3 months before and it will pay off.

Get rid of all distractions. Whether its a book you can't put down, instagram, tumblr or just any internet site. Yes, this is an extremely difficult thing to do and I had to use all my will power to delete my tumblr app (not my account) this weekend, but I'm sure it will be worth it. Lock your book away and freeze the key. Scrolling through tumblr thinking to yourself i'll start revising in 5 minutes and 20 minutes go by with nothing acomlished other than a few rebloggs won't get you good grades or a good job! 

Next, make a revision timetable. Prioratise certain subjects. There are online websites you can use that will make one for you if you'd prefer not to make it by hand.

 But make sure you don't overload on revision, your brain will need breaks even just for 5 minutes at a time. 40 minutes of a subject should be enough with a break in between and treat yourself to a sweet or chocolate afterwards. Try not to revise past a certain time in the day. I usually revise 40 minutes on 1 subject before 6pm and another 40 minutes on another subject after 7pm but I don't revise past 8pm.

Organize your revision. Put it in a folder with you different subjects and tick off things once you've revised them. 

Lastly, revision techniques. Both me and Izzy like to use spider diagrams and bright colours. Did you know that memory works better in colour because colour has a stronger appeal to the senses, prompting a better connection to parts of the brain involved with memory (ahhh, science!). Also, make sure you do past papers, as knowing how to answer questions helps as well. Its no good knowing loads of information but not knowing how to put it onto paper and get the marks. 

Here's a quote from the famous Anne Frank to end this blog post "Earning happiness means doing good and working, not spectulating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction". 

Isabelle

Toodle-oo

❣

The Tangle Teezer

Hello,

It's only a short one this week as it is half term and I am heading out to Centre Parcs for most of it. Although I wont be able to see or speak to Isabelle for 5 days which is a record  for us! By the time this is up I'll be there, yay! But...I COULDN'T not write about this! 

I'm sure you have seen these weird looking [ergonomically designed apparently] hairbrushes in a few beauty guru vlogs in the last few months. 

They are amazing.



They are called 'Tangle Teezers' and have been designed with plastic bristles that are painless to use, they also limit the damage done to hair whilst wet and stop them from being pulled straight out. 

(WARNING: Obviously as it is plastic do not use it whilst blow drying as you do run the risk of damging the brush or, if you have long hair and take longer than usual, even melting parts of it!)  

They can be used for wet and dry hair, this is a god send as I have always been told to NEVER brush wet hair but this is perfect. 

If you are unlucky and have fine hair like me then your hair will get knotty near enough straight after brushing it. I have found this problem has been totally eliminated and my hair feels so soft all day! 

The design is made to be handheld without limiting the bristles on the brush, the shape, although odd looking, means there is no problem of dropping it and damaging it. 

They have been developed to have 'memory flex' technolodgy so that you can have results that are specific to you. 

They also come in a variety of colours from Tangerine, blue with pink teeth and green.

I got mine from Boots and I think it was about £10.95 although this is a bit pricier it is definatley worth it, I would suggest it for all hair types and lengths. Enjoy! 

If you have any tips and treats for your hair let us know! 

Toodle-oo
Izzy

❣

Natural Collection

I have purchased many products from the Natural Collection so I thought I'd share my experiences. All of the products are £1.99 and can only be bought from the drug store Boots.

First of, are there concelers, both of mine in the shade fair. I use the liquid one for the summer as it is a darker shade and quicker to put on when I'm rushing down the beach, and the stick one for the rest of the year. I find that both do the job and even mange to cover my under eye darkness as well as any blemeshis or redness. For the price that they are, I will continue to buy them as they satisfy my face just fine and don't proceed to make my spots worse.

Next up is the pressed powder, which i have in the shade warm. As you can tell from the picture below, it has been well used. I put it on after my conceler or tinted moisturiser to set my make-up and matte my face. However, it doesn't stay on for a very long time. I don't know if I will buy it again in the future but I think once its gone I will go for something more expensive.

This leads on to my tinted moisturiser, in the shade natural. I havent used it since the summer as the shade is too dark for me and makes me look extremely orange, so I'm going to have to go with what I can remember. Consistency is what you'd expect, its lighter then a BB cream and very runny. However it does its job and does cover up a lot and some days, I didn't even need to put on my conceler. It did make my face shiny though so I had to use a power after. I might buy this again once it runs out depending on whether I would rather go for a foundation.

I don't have much to say on the lipstick (shade sweet pea) as I never wear it purely because the colour makes my lips look silver. I do find that it stays on for a long time and is very moisturising. I will buy their lipsticks again but in a different shade.

The pigment of the eyeshadow duo did surprise me (shades mocha/latte). The dark brown stays on all day as does the white. They aren't shimmery which is just what I wanted as my No7 duo (in similar colours) is too shimmery for school. I will buy their eye shadows again.

Next is the blusher in the shade peach Melba. Both me and Izzy have them in the same colours and both agree we will buy them again. I don't wear mine much as I do have naturally flushed cheeks. There isn't much in the pot but for the price I didn't really expect much more. The colour is perfect for spring/summer seasons as it adds a natural glow.

None of these products have given me spots which is great as that is the only thing which puts me off wanting to wear make-up. I will continue to buy from Boots Natural Collection as I think most of the products are up to the same standards as other high street brands.

Isabelle

Toodle-oo

❣