My Current Haircare Routine

Hello all, welcome back!

Today I'm here to let you know about what I do to my hair, and what products I use. 

A bit of background before we begin: my hair is currently just below my shoulders and is dark brown, in the summer it naturally lightens to a more ginger colour but I don't frequently have it dyed and therefore I don't use any specific colour protect products. Both fortunately and unfortunately my hair is naturally very curly, this means that it is also very frizzy, if anyone has any tips for frizzy hair, please send them this way. Controlling curly frizz is like fighting a losing battle!! As well as being curly, as if this wasn't enough, it is also super thick and that means lots and lots of volume! Now that you know more about my hair, let's get going!

My hair care routine consists of 4 products (depending on whether I'm going curly or straight) starting with shampoo and conditioner.

Boots, £3.99 each

When looking for shampoo/conditioner I always look for one which promises to give me moisture as like to have shiny hair, and these clearly naked products have the added bonus of being paraben and colourant free! The less chemicals the better in my book. I have only used these a couple of times and so far so good, my hair is shiny, soft and still as strong as ever.

Next up is Miracle Oil with argan oil. Nut oils (almond, macadamia, coconut) have been beauty must-haves recently and I've seen them in hair products, skin products and now even mascara, so you're bound to have tried one of them! My favourite to use is argan oil, usually I use this after washing my hair, simply towel drying it first then adding this to the ends. I also use an argan/coconut oil hair mask roughly once a month to boost the moisture and give my hair a deep condition. 

Argan oil, available at most beauty shops

My third and final products are those I use for styling. Which I use obviously depends on whether I want to go curly or straight and are both relatively new to the market. First up is the John Frieda Frizz Ease Go Curlier 48 hour heat activated spray. This spray helps to create soft and controlled curls for people with naturally wavy/curly hair and is applied to wet/damp hair and then blown dry with a diffuser attachment. I really love this to minimise frizz and make my curls more controlled, allowing me to have curly hair that lasts for 2/3 days.

The second product I use for styling is the John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 day straight semi permanent styling spray. This spray is again applied to wet/damp hair and then activates with heat when you blow dry and then straighten your hair. Because of the natural kink in my hair, products like this help to really control and straighten my hair, taming the frizz at the same time! I would recommend both of these to people like me who has hair which is stubborn to style.

Boots, £6.99 each

I hope you've enjoyed this post, let me know what hair products you're loving.

Stay golden! Gracie xo

mini haul

Hello all, welcome back!

Today I am going to share with you a few bits I've picked up recently when I've been out and about. I will admit it, it's mostly shoes, however there are one or two other pieces you might be interested in.

HOME

Spiderman tissues, Tesco, £1.20

I always like having a box of tissues in my bedroom and when I saw these I knew I had to have them. Usually I just buy the second cheapest tissues (sometimes the cheap ones can be just too thin for me) and these happened to be them! They had all sorts of designs but as a Spiderman lover myself they were too cool not to have.

Houndstooth cushion, Tesco, £2.50 (on clearance)

This cushion is something which caught my attention immediately, I just adore it. My ultimate home decor style is monochrome with one key colour, therefore this cushion ticked all the boxes - though you can't see it, the edging on this is a bright yellow.

Make-up

Maybelline Great Lash mascara - waterproof, Tesco, £5

When I have a long day ahead of me I like to have a waterproof mascara so that I can be sure that by lunch I'm not looking like a panda. Hence why I bought this, if you read one of my first blogs you would see the Blackest Black Great Lash featuring as one of my favourite everyday mascaras. It's not dramatic but adds enough length and volume to make me look more awake. This waterproof version however didn't live up to expectations, I had this on yesterday for a freshers week pub march and after 5 hours of wear I had black circles under my eyes and looked like I'd fallen asleep in my makeup, not good!

SHOES

Black leather riding boots, La Redoute, £52 (in sale)

I bought these boots in August ready for going to university, I knew that once I started living off my student loan I wouldn't be able to treat myself and got a bargain in the sales! La Redoute is an online shop which sells French style clothing for a range of prices, sometimes you get a bargain and other times it's more of a splurge, but no matter what you get it's always amazing quality and something no-one else has. I think that an item such as black leather boots is one worth spending money on, they're such a classic and a total Autumn/Winter staple for me.

Green ankle boots, £8 and black slip ons £4, both Primark

I know that some people can be snobby about the quality of Primark but for someone like me who always changes their mind, being able to pick up shoes for less than £10 is a godsend. I needed a new pair of casual shoes to replace my high-top trainers which have sadly come to the end of their life and these slip on shoes are perfect. They go with anything and are comfy enough to go long distances in, plus for only £4 (reduced) they were a steal! Next up my ankle boots, these are faux suede lace up boots which were available in a range of colours. I have a tendency to wear lots of grey and black in the winter and therefore got them in green to add a burst of jewel toned colour - right on trend for Autumn winter.

That's it for my recent purchases, I hope you enjoyed this mini haul! To keep up to date with all things me follow me on instagram (forevergracie) and Twitter (@iprefergracie). I'll be back with more on Wednesday, until then, stay golden!

Gracie xo

University!

Hello all, welcome back!

As you may have noticed, there was unfortunately no Sunday blog, this was because on Saturday I moved out of my house and into university! This was a huge step for me and made me incredibly nervous and scared, however everything has gone great so far and I'm having a great time. 

For those of you who don't know, I am studying psychology at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. A uni with approx 5000 students which is set in Musselburgh, roughly 10mins from the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.

I am living in halls, the flats owned by the university, this means that I pay rent set by the university which covers all of my bills (heating, electricity etc) and leaves me to buy food and makeup *i wish*. At my university the flats can sleep from 3-6 people and you have your choice of being girls, boys or mixed; I am in a mixed flat of 6 students, 3 boys/3 girls and thankfully they're all really lovely people! 

My boyfriend is in the same flat as me which makes it easier for me to deal with missing my family. I haven't ever suffered from homesickness, however when the time came for us to say goodbye to our parents I was the first one to start blubbering, great first impression.

This blog post is *fingers crossed* gonna stay short however I once I get typing I can't always stop! Without further ado, welcome to my dorm room!

bedding, ASDA £10 / purse, Primark £5 / bag, New Look £19.99

I went for a black, white and red theme to my room (making it easier to wash bedding & towels) and therefore opted for this poppy design bedding, my mum nicknames me poppy/pop so it's also a personal touch. I also brought with me my blue blanket from home, which doesn't fit in but makes the room seem more familiar. The book on the bed is what I'm currently reading and is We Were Liars by E Lockhart (review to follow).

Next, the bathroom. I have an en suite however it's appropriately named, 'the pod'. As you can see by the sink, it's pretty tiny and has a shower, sink and toilet. It's so small that the hand towel rail is actually a gap out of the sink. However despite it's minimalist style, I would take this over sharing a shower with 5 other people everyday! On my sink I keep my carex antibacterial handwash, tea tree face wash, and toothbrush. In a One Direction mug,of course.

The most exciting part of my room, at least for me, is my bookshelf. When I was packing I tried to limit how many books I brought with me, choosing classics, favourites and some I had yet to read. The titles are as follows, including some the photo doesn't show:

The Complete Illustrative Works of Lewis Carroll
Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant - Veronica Roth 
P.S. I Love You - Cecelia Ahern
One Day - David Nicholls
The Ladies Paradise - Emile Zola
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
The Summer I Turned Pretty & It's Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han
The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden - Jonas Jonasson
Grace's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (a personalised copy of AIW)

Olaf poster, £1.99 HMV

Finally, my desk. I've always wanted a desk space however never had the opportunity. Here you can see my stationery from my last blog post along with some personal additions to my notice board.

That is it for my very specific, mini room tour! I hope you liked it, for me moving to uni has brought with it the challenge of personalising my little pod room to make it seem more homely and less bland. Stay golden!

Gracie xo

Stationery haul

Hi again all! 

In preparation for going to university me and mum have been doing rather a lot of shopping, buying cheese graters, baking trays and everything in between. Stationery, especially notebooks, are one of my favourite things to buy so I thought I would share with you what stationery I've bought. Because we have had to spend lots of money on bedding and kitchenware my stationery isn't super exciting this year, however there are a few cute things which I'm in love with!

Reminder post-its: Wilkinsons - £1.00

Forget me not academic diary: Wilkinsons - £2.00

Push pins: Wilkinsons - 50p

Hole punch and stapler set: Boyes - unknown price

8 piece pen set: Home Bargains - 99p (on offer)

Bic Medium pens: ASDA - 2 for £3

Stabilo green line pens: Wilkinsons - £2.50

Highlighters: Home Bargains - 99p (on offer)

List notebook: ASDA - £3

I also bought:

Nu:Craze project book: ASDA - £2.50

Nu:Craze lever arch file: ASDA - 2 for £3

File dividers: Wilkinsons - 50p

Sometimes, stationery - especially the pretty stuff - can be quite expensive and convincing parents to spend £12 on a diary just because it's floral is quite a task. However if you shop about and create a list of what you need then you can find some nice stuff to make you more excited about returning to school or work. My favourite shops to buy stationery from are supermarkets - the Nu:Craze range from ASDA is super good quality for a low price - and Wilkinsons, they both have a range of things for a low price, leaving room in your purse to buy other things. 

I hope this was helpful to you all and if you're starting back at school/college this week then good luck! I'm sure you'll do great, stay golden! Gracie xo

(P.S. sorry for the bad quality photos, the lighting was terrible when I went to take them!)