The City I'm In | Lincoln | HeyyyCiara

Not alot of people know about this small city residing in the midlands of England. Not just internationally but even people who live in this country, of those I have I have conversed with of course, always pretend they know where Lincoln is but really had no clue it existed or assumed elsewhere. Which of course is okay haha, probably one of the reasons why I love this city, because not everyone knows about it.

I currently go to university here in Lincoln and have lived here for a year and a few months. I am in my first year, I changed my course which means I will be living in Lincoln for a total of four years by the time I finish university. At first that thought was daunting as well as changing my mind on my course but I have accepted it because its difficult to find much fault in this city. Don't worry London, you will always be my favourite!

Soooo I thought I would go for a wee walk up to one of Lincoln's most famous landmarks, its Cathedral. I took my camera, which has been gathering dust back in London, and went for a walk during the night becuase 1. my sleeping pattern is messed up and 2. Lincoln is gorgeous at night especially with its Christmas decorations. What I didn't realise is that I spent a good hour just walking around, admiring the beauty and taking pictures with a tempermental camera (you shall see).

So here are some of my favourite shots (btw I am in no means a professional photographer and this camera is a Samsung digital one so the shots may not capture exactly what I hoped!)

On my way to the Cathedral from my home

Lincoln from the hill

Getting that Christmasy feeling yet?

Olivares Tapas Bar

Now you must be feeling Christmasy!

The Cathedral itself!

Shadow of a statue of Tennyson

 

(In)Famous Steep Hill

Brayford Quay

 Now back to the my tempermental camera. Basically I almost had to take three shots of the same scene, not by choice, because it would focus or come out that sharp. However (!) something pretty cool I think has come from these 'failed' shots that come across  either quite creepy or beautiful, creating a scene that a normal photo may not have shown.

Could totally be an album cover, right?

My personal favourite, love how creepy it looks!

It just seems that the lights drag off into the atmosphere while the rest of the still and structured background stay unmoved. Sentimental and poetic, I know ;)

Anyways I hoped you have enjoyed this post, slightly different from what I usually do but I think I would like to branch off into other areas other than beauty and fashion. So keep an eye out for more to come!


Ciara x

Spotlight Brand | Soap & Glory | Heyyy Ciara

Can you see me in the shiny jar? haha

It is no secret that I love this brand so of course for my first 'Spotlight Brand' I would have to do the lovely Soap & Glory. Probably the most fragrant and rich products you can get without dipping into your life savings (especially with Boots 3 for 2 offer!), Soap & Glory is a must have for all women or men who want to feel like beauty queens (or kings!) on a daily basis. Here are some of my all time favourites that I have repurchased over the past few years.

Face

1. Wish Upon A Jar

Before I continue can we all just appreciate how cute and puny S&G's product names are! I'm not gonna lie I have found myself giggling to myself at their makeup or body aisle because I love puns and can be a complete loser.

Back to the review!

This is described as a 'Peptide Plus Rejuvenating Night Cream' and while I am not quite sure what peptide plus means I can definitely say that it rejuvenates my skin when I use it. It is on the rich side to the point that if you have just washed your face you can feel it sting a little so maybe don't be a rush like myself and take your time in your night time skin care haha. Being incredibly rich I don't use it every night simply cause its strength can be off putting so some nights I just let my skin breathe as it has finally gotten a break from being covered in makeup all day :)

Honestly though if you suffer from dry skin, like myself especially in the winter, then I recommend this heavily!



2. The Fab Pore

'2-in-1 Facial Mask & Peel'

When its one of those days that you just want to have a pamper 'me' day so you conjure up a super bubbly bath and treat yourself like a goddess, this product is part of my routine. This mask definitely makes me feel like my skin is breathing clearly and leaves it so soft! I usually use this during a bath (and pretend I'm in some chick flick movie, just hand me the cucumber slices) or after a shower/bath when the steam has opened up my pores. It says what it does on the tin (or pot?) however I haven't quite been able to 'peel' it off as such. Now I don't know if it mean you can literally peel it off or it just like skin peeling kind of product (wait, is that a thing? I bet I'm making stuff up now...) but it doesn't bother me that much.

Body

1. Sugar Crush Body Wash

'Energy Boosting Citrus Condtioning'

These next two products in this sections has already been raved about several hundred times by your favourite bloggers and Youtubers so I'm just here to second (or hundredth?) that opinion. Okay there is no body wash out there, of what I have tried of course, that smells this incredible. I just find myself constantly smelling it both in or out of the shower, it's so addictive. It smells like lime flavoured Coke so if you despise both of those then maybe this isn't for you haha, and it's a smell that sticks which I love even more. I hate it when I get a lovely smelling shower gel and once you wash it off the smell goes, nuh uh I wanna smell like sugary limes!

2. Sugar Crush Body Scrub

Same luscious smell, so imagine using these products together! Don't worry I don't think its too much (... hopefully...), however this product is for a completely different purpose. Again I use this on my pamper days and scrub the crap out of my leg with this and my exfoliating gloves (belowww) and then shave. I recommend not to shave first and do it can shaving opens up your pores and nobody wants any unwanted shaving rashes! It does the job to perfection and smells like a sweet shop, what more could you want?

Equipment (I'm actually chuckling to myself at this title)

1. Scrub Gloves

'Super Exfoliating'

I am simply mentioning these because there are brilliant exfoliating gloves but also because I use them so often yet they look brand new. When it comes to exfoliating gloves you can't go wrong, unless they scratch your legs to the point of irritation then I recommend these. Also they are pink and cute and go well with the rest of my Soap & Glory collection...

2. Soap & Glory Long Handle Scrubber ( Made that up, could you tell?)

Something so simple and easy to get from anywhere, I have fallen in love with this! I got it to simply complete the 3 for 2 deal (I think of body scrubbers and stuff not necessarily S&G) and now I can't use anything else, other than my gloves, because this is perfect. Yes I'm sure you can get one like this just as good and half the price but will it look this pretty (answer is unlikely).

So I hope you enjoyed this little 'Spotlight Brand' Soap & Glory edition. I have some more Soap & Glory products but these are my constant favourites. Hopefully in the future I will do another Soap & Glory edition, perhaps focused on their makeup :)

Ciara x

P.S: Yes I know the photos look really yellow cause I took them at night and I have no lamp *hides in shame*

Quick and Easy Kylie Jenner Lips | Heyyy Ciara

Are you seeing what I am seeing? I'm sure most of you have heard about Miss Kylie Jenner's luscious lips making the gossip headlines simply because they are big and beautiful. I can admit I am one of those girl who looks at her instagram photos and wonder how I can do that. So I did some research on Youtube, blogs and interviews of make-up artists to somehow achieve this look, without forking out for lip injections or extravagant makeup (btw I don't really believe that Kylie has got lip injections haha).

So using my 'research' I have come up with the best, cheap alternative ways to get plump lips:

1. Toothbrush

A trick probably everyone knows is to take a little bit of time after brushing your teeth in the morning to just brush your lips. This is a great way to remove dead/ dry skin that may have occurred while you were asleep as well causing more blood flow. Simply do this for how long you feel is necessary and this alone will make your lips considersably bigger and soft. 

2. Rest

Once I have done this, simply put on some vaseline or lip balm to make sure they don't dry out. I leave my lips for a bit and if i'm just putting on my daily makeup or makeup for a night out I just wait until I am done to this attend them once again. I use either EOS which is worth the expense or Carmex which I picked up in Primark for a pound I think!

EOS Lip Balm | Carmex Mint Lip Balm | Rimmel London 'Exaggerate' Lip Liner

3. Lip liner

Simply taking the tip from Kylie Jenner herself, her 'secret' being that she uses a natural colour lip liner. I have never used lip liners before simply because I have always been a lipstick kind of girl but I thought I would give this a shot. I got this lip liner from Rimmel London since I didn't want to get a super expensive one if I found that lip liners weren't for me, so at £3.99 I didn't mind taking that risk.

Rimmel London | Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner | 063 Eastend Snob

 I got a colour that was similar to my natural lip colour but a little bit pinker so you could notice my lips 'pop' a bit more. I would wipe off my lip balm with a makeup wipe using my nail with the wipe around it to get the blood flowing again. This is the result:

Now this is where your own initiative comes in. The beauty of lip liners is that you can redraw your lip outline in any way you think is best. Personally I think my bottom lip is big enough so I didn't focus too much on increasing the size of it so I focused on my cupids bow and top lip. 

All in all I have been won over by lip liners as they just create this natural, matte, voluminous look in a minute. I definitely recommend Rimmel's lip liner and I will check out their other versions seeing as I chose 'Exaggerate' for the purpose of making my lips look bigger. This lip liner stayed on for a few hours even when I would drink out of my Starbucks and see the liner come off on the cup, I would go home and see no real issue with my lips which is very reassuring.

The only remaining advice that I can give is that lip liners, like most lip products, need to be touched up every now and again as they do stay around the outline of your lip more than the body, so remember to bring it along with you and a little mirror. Also do make sure all dry skin is removed as the liner can stick to it and make it quite obvious so scrub those lips with a toothbrush or lip scrub!

Get pouting ladies!