15 Facts About Me!

Hello all and welcome back! I've been busy with uni work all week and thought I’d post a quick ‘15 facts about me’ blog. I've tried to make these new and unique but I may repeat some things you already know from past posts, I hope you enjoy!

1.    I really love Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore is both mine and my mam's favourite character, he’s so gloomy I just want to give him a hug!
2.   I love patterns, I have different patterns on my bedding, blankets and cushions in my uni room. It makes the plain white walls not so boring!
3.   I love my iPad, I have the iPad Air and only got it in October but I take it everywhere, it’s so convenient for in lectures and to entertain myself on train rides
4.   I get really cold, really easily and therefore always have thick socks on and a thick hoodie
5.   I really love the band Paramore and can’t name a song of theirs I don’t like. Plus, Hayley Williams is so beautiful!

   6. I love stationary, this notebook from Paperchase is my latest purchase!

   7. I play Pokemon games when I'm bored and my brother taught me everything I know, Pokemon Ruby for GBA is my favoruite

   8. I dislike the flavour of mint and therefore always chew strawberry gum

   9. I love Nintendo and have played a lot of Mario in my time, Yoshi is one of my favourite characters

   10. My favourite biscuits are plain digestives

   11. Batman is my favourite superhero

12. I love wearing shirts and wear them with anything! These are my favourite three

13. I mostly wear black jeans and vests and usually jazz them up with colourful accessories/ jackets

14. I really love Guinea Pigs and really want some when I eventually get my own flat once I’ve finished uni

15. My boyfriend is called Curtis and we’ve been together for just over 2 years

Those are my 15 facts about me, this really made me think and I hope it was interesting for you! If you want to know more just leave a comment below and ask.

Hope your week has been good and stay golden! Gracie xo

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My Wishlist!

Hello all and welcome back! 

This week I wanted to bring you an updated version of the wish list post I uploaded back in October (see that here). In that post I focussed on make-up and tools which I was after at the time, this post will be a little different in that I am going to cover things I'm wishing for from lots of different categories. There will be some make-up, clothes, a book or two and maybe even some more!

Disclaimer: all of the images were sourced by me from the website listed below the image, however these images are no way mine and do not belong to me, I simply screen grabbed them from the website.

https://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/product/view/dandelion

This is the first product I have had my eye on for quite a while now. Benefit have this listed as a brightening face powder, however many reviews have labelled it as a perfect blush for those with fair skin who want a hint of colour but don't want to appear blushed. I think the delicate pink looks perfect for spring/summer and after swatching it in store it gets the number 1 spot on my wishlist.

http://www.hm.com/gb/product/77130?article=77130-A&cm_vc=SEARCH

Next up on my list are dunagrees. Now, I haven't had a pair of these since I was about 10 years old but I loved the look then and 9 years on I'm still all about dungarees. They're not to everyone's taste, I personally prefer black over blue or white denim, but I think they can look casual or smarter and are great for summer if you don't want to show off too much leg. These ones from H&M are perfect and the cheapest ones I've seen at £30.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/elizabeth-is-missing/emma-healey/9780241968185

As part of my New Year's Resolutions I'm trying to read more books and that's lead me to browsing Waterstones quite a lot over the past two months. Elizabeth is missing doesn't look like the type of book I would usually read, however after checking out the blurb I was into it straight away. Not sure I'll be able to put it back on the shelf next time I see it!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/221457254/i-am-baymax-i-am-groot-mug-coffee-mug?ref=shop_home_active_2

The final item on my wishlist is this mug, I especially love Baymax (from the new Disney movie Big Hero 6) but I also adore Groot and I think this mug is perfect! It's from an Etsy shop called Cheezymug which stocks loads of funny mug designs. I love mugs and tea cups (check out my Pinterest board) and this would be a perfect addition to my collection!

Please comment and let me know if you have any of what I'm wanting and what you think of it. 

Have a great week and stay golden! Gracie xo

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P.S. I also changed my website so it is now www.littlewildflowerblog.blogspot.com this is just to tie everything together better and I am working on updating the look of my blog as I type!

New Hair Products!

Hello all and welcome back! Today my post is going to be about some new hair products which I've bought recently and have been trying out.

I have used all of these 3/4 times so this is a first impressions type post which I hope is useful to some of you!

Working from left to right, the first product I have been trying out is the Colab dry shampoo in the scent London- I have done a haul which talked more about the product which you can read here. This scent is a really nice mix of more floral tones with a musk background which means that it's not too overpowering to use on your hair but gives a nice scent for while you're styling your hair. I like to use this when my hair is straight to add volume at the roots and make my hair less flat, a bonus of doing this with a dry shampoo is that of course it removes any signs of grease or build up too! This is the best dry shampoo I've used and is a really great price too.

The next product I've been using is the Garnier Fructis Style my curl perfecting mousse, the one I picked up is ultra strong and is 4/6 when it comes to hold. I've never used a mousse before on my hair but the more I started wearing my hair curly the more I learnt about styling curly hair and all the blogs I read said that a mousse was the way to go. This one I picked up from Superdrug not long ago and it's already made me into a mousse convert! I scrunch this into damp hair while my head is upside down which adds loads of volume at the roots where my hair is usually flat. After that I usually leave it to air dry or use a diffuser if I want it dry quickly. The only issue I have with this is the high amount of hold can make my hair feel slightly crunchy, so next time I would get a softer hold, but apart from that, it defines my curls and keeps them in shape for longer!

The third product is one which I've been wanting to try for ages and that's a cleansing conditioner! This one is Palmer's Olive Oil formula cleansing conditioner and is enriched with vitamin E and doesn't have the sulphates or parabens which are usually in shampoo and conditioner. The idea of a cleansing conditioner is that it cleans your hair without stripping it of natural oils and drying it out. This is an ideal way of washing your hair if it's naturally curly or gets dry easily. So far I'm really pleased with the results of using this product, my hair feels as clean as when I do both shampoo and conditioner but it takes less time and leaves my hair feeling softer and less dehydrated.

The final hair product I've been testing out is the L'Oreal Paris studio line salt spray, this has a rating of 4/10 in terms of how textured it will make your hair look which is perfect to add a tousled vibe to my hair when I want it to be a bit more gritty. I also like braiding sections of my hair and find that this is great to make the hair less clean and therefore makes the braids look better than when it's freshly washed. This was a really inexpensive product and is similar in some ways to the VO5 give me texture spray I used to swear by. The only difference being is that this is definitely more of a wet spray than the VO5 which was more like a mist. However, the little bottle it comes in barely takes up and room and could be put in your handbag easily if you like to add more texture throughout the day.

I hope you've enjoyed my mini reviews of the new hair products I've been trying out throughout the month of February and I hope you have found them useful! I hope you have a good week and stay golden!

Gracie xo 

2015 reading challenge: update

Hello all, welcome back! Earlier in the year I did a New Years Resolutions post in which I told you about the reading challenge I was taking part in!

I've now read my first three books and am going to tell you a little bit about each one!

For each book I've created a little collage so you can see the cover and also I've type the blurb so you can read that too if you wish. I bought these books myself and will have where I bought it from and the price under each image. Usually I shop in Waterstones since it's closest to me and has such a huge variety but I also get books from supermarkets which is usually cheaper.

Waterstones // £7.99

Title: The disreputable history of Frankie-Landau Banks

Author: E Lockhart

Which category of the reading challenge?: a book set in high school

Other books by the author: We were liars (see my review of that here)

This book is set in a private school in America and has Frankie Landau-Banks as the main character. I really loved this book and was reading it constantly when I got it. The storyline (without giving too much away) is that Frankie starts a new year of school and meets Matthew Livingston, a boy in the year above her who also knew her older sister. Soon Frankie starts hanging out with his group of friends and starts to think that Matthew is keeping a secret from her and she sets out to find out what the secret is and to get even. It's a light-hearted and funny book and is a great introduction to E Lockhart if you've not read her stuff before.  If you enjoying reading book by authors such as John Green then you will enjoy reading this as E Lockhart is a brilliant young adult author.

ASDA // £3.85

Title: Love Rosie

Author: Cecelia Ahern

Which category of the reading challenge?; a book that became a movie

Other books by this author: PS I Love You

I don't have enough good words in my vocabulary to express how much I loved this book! The characters are amazing, the style of writing is great and the storyline is funny, romantic and also a little heartbreaking! When I saw that this was by the author of PS I Love You I had reserves, because yes, that is also an amazing book but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read something as sad as that- it had me in tears from page one! But Love Rosie is completely different, I will admit that I did shed many tears while reading this (even on the train back to uni after Christmas) but the sadness is all balanced out by how funny the book is too. It's set out in an unconventional manner, and is written in the form of letters, phone calls and online chatroom conversations but that is what I really loved about this book, as writing in that way lets you really follow one character and doesn't focus too much on the setting of the story. I would urge anyone to pick up this book if they see it, it's quite chunky but because of how it's written it doesn't take a long time to read and I was obsessed with this book after the first few pages!

Waterstones // £7.99

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Category of the reading challenge?: a book by a female author

Sequel: Where she went

I have just finished reading this book and it left me speechless. I have owned this book since November but didn't pick it up to read it until the beginning of February and I'm so glad I finally did! This book was also recently turned into a movie (which I've also not seen) and so I did have the actors for the characters Adam and Mia in my head since I know what they look like from the book cover- I'm also a big fan of Chloe Grace Mortez who played Mia in the movie - but I wouldn't say that affected my reading of the book itself. What I like most about this book is how it's written. Every section of book which is in the present is followed by a section which is from the main characters point of view but telling a story from the past, this is a really great way of getting background knowledge and context in for some of the things the character herself is going through throughout the book. This is also great as it means that there are some more light-hearted sections to the story which aren't as sad as the present day sections, set in a hospital. Another thing I like about If I Stay is that the whole book takes place over the course of a few days, even though by the end of it you feel as though you've travelled a full circle with Mia, the main character.

Whether or not you've seen the movie, you should definitely read this book, it's a really lovely story with characters you can relate to.

I hope you've enjoyed this post about the books I've been reading, I am going to do a post like this every 3 books or so throughout 2015, any recommendations please comment below!

Have a great week, and stay golden!
Gracie xo

Tea time!

Hello all, welcome back! I have a confession. I love tea, and recently my tea collection has been growing and growing and so I thought that it's long past time to share!

I currently have five types of tea in my room at uni (they no longer fit in the cupboard with my food) and they all have different health benefits, so I thought I would share with you which teas I have and what they're supposed to be good for. 

First things first, I don't like fruit tea. I'm not really sure why but I've tried many and disliked them all! Because of this I stick to more herbal teas, I also like sweet tea, and therefore add a squeeze of honey to sweeten them (bottom right, from Aldi).

The first tea on the top left is Peppermint and is from Tesco (20 tea bags for  75p). I normally dislike peppermint, this is because it is a trigger for migraines and nausea in me (unusual as mint is supposed to help with that!), therefore I tend to avoid it, but as I'm getting older I'm becoming more able to have stronger peppermint flavours and have really gotten into this tea in particular. Peppermint tea is supposed to aid with digestion, help with migraines and nausea (!) and help clear your skin.

The next tea in the middle on the top is jasmine green tea (from Aldi), I really love this and usually drink it in the morning, I find plain green tea slightly too bitter and therefore opt for jasmine green tea. This really makes me feel more awake and gets my morning off to a great start, everyone knows green tea is supposed to have loads of health benefits such as helping to boost your metabolism which aids in weight loss and reducing blood pressure. Jasmine tea is also known for helping with weight loss and relieving anxiety. 

The next tea is Twingings Everyday tea, this is a classic black tea which can have milk added to it or left plain and flavoured with lemon or honey. I either drink this with honey or with milk and two sugars! Black tea (without milk) is super good for you and improves your heart health and can also help your brain and nervous system.

The final two teas I drink are a combination of plants and flowers with the aim of helping a certain issue. The first is the Dr Stuart skin purify tea available from Holland and Barrett . This tea is a combination of red clover, dandelion and nettle which aims to help improve and clear your skin. I love the flavour of this tea and also love that it is caffeine free! I've been trying to cut down on my caffeine lately and therefore love this as a caffeine free alternative. The final tea is the Twinings sleep tea, this is a blend of flavours (camomile, lavender and vanilla) which are known for helping you relax and wind down in order to get a better nights sleep!

I hope you have enjoyed this post, if you have any tea recommendations for me, please comment below! I'm always looking to try out new flavours.

Have a good week, stay golden!

Gracie xo