I'm Back!.. Sort of..

Well 6 months later I finally get round to blogging again after moving house, moving into my new uni flat in Oxford, putting up with no internet for 6 weeks and beginning uni life, this year filled with coursework, group work and exams gaah..

But here we are! Procrastinating from two pieces of coursework I need to get finished..

I thought I'd fill this blog post with a little bit about what I've done over the past six months, apart from lose my camera charger in the process of moving so I haven't been able to take many pictures with a dead camera....

SO! what have I been up to?! .. 

Well by obsession since Christmas with Soap and Glory products has reached new heights and think I've probably bought one of nearly everything.. But i'll post about this later!

Clinique bonus time also happened.. - oh god hello overdraft - So i'm going to try all my new products out over the next few weeks and let you all know what I think..

I've also bought - and received - some little treasures in the jewellery department so can't wait to share all about that too!!

So for now.. I will try and fill the gaps and leave you with some pics of what I've been up to for the past few months... :)

New Mirrors!

Soap and Glory!

 The beautiful city of Bath!

Amazing new shot glasses! 

Passenger Gig *swoon* 

 Mini OPIs!

 New Pandora beads!

Bracelets! 

X

Minty..

 Hello!! I'm back! Finally! From the most amazing week in Roma ever.. It was beautiful and I highly recommend anyone with a spare ££££ lying around to go ( or ask your parents ;) ) .. 

My week mostly included being a tourist which was amazing cause Rome is extraordinary. You turn your head and your looking at yet another beautiful building or you walk round a corner and The Pantheon or some other incredible structure is just there in front of you. 

But anyway, as you can see from the pics I'm a little pastey (I usually am) and I took these piccys before I went away.. But this is the outfit that I wore for my Dads 50th birthday meal in Roma. We sat outside a restaurant that looked over the Colosseum which was amazing and I drank Pina Coladas all night.. I'm going to put some photos up from my trip .. but not too many I don't want to bore you all in another post :)

 | Dress: Topshop | Shoes: New Look | Clutch: New Look |

HotHot..

I firstly would like to apologise for my lack of blogging recently. Just not acceptable! .. Well what is really unacceptable is how busy I have been over the past couple of weeks. Not only have I managed to get myself a second job working in a pub over the rest of the summer I've juggled working at the Olympics, - a 20 hour day i'll have you know -, visiting my flat up in Oxford, dog-sitting, baby-sitting, trying to see my friends and have a little time for myself (not easy). So I hope this is a decent enough excuse...

But on a more exciting note.. I am off to Rome at the end of the week.. I cannot wait. It's 35 degrees out there at the moment I'm going to frazzle! I thought I'd piece together a few outfits ready for when I go.. And this was as far as I got.... It's way too hot today to be trying on clothes! - I'm literally not going to survive is Rome..

 | Top: NewLook £5.99 | Skirt: River Island £25.99 | Belt: TopShop | Shoes: NewLook £15.99 | Sunnies: (old favourites) |

Although I never thought much of their clothes, my wardrobe is becoming increasingly full of NewLook stuff.. Although I will always be an UrbanO girl at heart, NewLook are so good at essentials and, as I don't have a H&M within walking distance, their stuff does it for me! :)

I absolutely love maxi skirts and this is my fave.. I love burgundy and it goes with so much.. They're great when it's hot too and you don't want to burn to a crisp like i usually do.. 

Hopefully I'll have time to blog again before I go.. But if not.. Chau for now! X

Sparkles and Moustaches..

So last week the Tax Man was a lovely fellow and sent me a surprise in the post! Which meant I could go out on a bit of a splurge and I bought all sorts of fabulous stuff and am now a poor student once again - why do I do it to myself?!

The sparkly 'mermaid' skirt is from Topshop and I got it in the sale for an amazing £9! These summer sales have been amazing and I have got so many bargins!

I've had the same iPhone case since Christmas and as much as I love it, I like a change.. This cost me around £4 on Amazon! And is a bit of a hoot :)

I found these sparkly brogues in my local Oxfam and I love them! Haven't actually worn them yet as I'm a bit baffled as to what to wear with them.. But they look fabulously sparkly! - Suggestions please!

I also bought some flat little pumps from New Look.. They cost me £16 and they are so useful for just sliding into if you're running into town.. The fact that their quite pointy means I can wear them with dressier outfits too!



I'm off to work at the Olympics tomorrow to work at the women's marathon! I'm so excited to be a part of it.. Have to be up and on the coach to London at 3am though.. Wish me luck!

X

Heavenly Creature..

This collection of Mac's 'Heavenly Creature' blush and eyeshadow has literally fallen from supernova heaven. I can't see how any woman on the high street can fight the temptation to buy these swirly pots of irridecent amazingness. 

I really had to restrain myself from buying more than just these two.. But after some serious debating I settled with 'Universal Appeal' and 'Star Wonder'

The colour of Star Wonder - the Skinfinish - is just amazing, it is so shimmery when you put it on your skin. It's a real girly pink colour but as it has gold running through still gives a highlighted effect. You can also mix and match the colours which I love.. I put it on today with a smaller blusher brush, picking out more of the pink than the gold.. Very versatile :)

I love purple eyes.. I usually only wear a dark purple eyeliner as I have green eyes and it accentuates them so much! So when i saw this eye shadow I thought it was amazing! When you mix them all together you get this browny copper colour but individually on their own are amazing too. If you run your finger down the lines you get three different colours right next to each other..

These are amazing products once again from Mac.. I haven't seen a collection that I've loved as much as this in ages.. They're so different to the rest of their products yet the quality and finish is just as good.. Save up your pennies and treat yourself!


X

Instagrammin' #1

Yes laydees and gents I have hopped onto the Insta-hype .. I love looking at everybody's pretty pics so thought I'd share mine too :)

♥ Heart my boyfriend made and text to me :) ♥ Cutest little glass milk bottle I was given ♥ Cake baking skills ♥

♥ Pretty flower ♥ Carrot cake cupcake I bought at Salisbury Olympic torch event ♥ 

♥Auntie & Uncles sleepy kitty ♥ Me in my giant sunglasses (when the sun came out that one time) ♥ 

♥ My piano that I've started playing again ♥ Plan B Concert at Westonburt ♥


If you'd like to follow.. @claudiaholbrook (instagram & twitter!)

Five Products I Can't Live Without..

I know everyone has their own very different makeup routines and everyone varies what they use every now and again, but these five products are the ones that I have used day in, day out, tried and tested for probably a year. I have so many empties of each product I could fill ... something quite large :)

So I thought I would share with you these little beauties that I must never be without!

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5.

1: That Gal Primer - Benefit . I first got a tester of this in a 'Finding Mr. Right' box set and fell in love with it as soon as I put it on. Underneath foundation, it helps give you a flawless complexion like no other primer i've tried. It's really moisturising but sinks in to your skin quickly and doesn't leave your foundation sliding around on your skin - I hate that. I really really really recommend trying this product if you're looking for a bright and flawless complexion. 

As you may have noticed, this is just a tester sample but this is how I buy a lot of my moisturisers and primer products from Benefit - now I'm a poor student. When you buy a That Gal primer from the Benefit stand as beautiful and lovely the stick and box is, you're paying £21.50 for only 11ml of the stuff. However, if you look for the product on ebay, you can buy three tester sized products for usually around £4.50, each 7.5ml.. Saving yourself a serious amount of money and getting a lot more to use.....

2: Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser - Liz Earle: Now I'm sure you will have heard a lot of people going on about this product but if you haven't tried it... SERIOUSLY do. I've been using this product on and off since I was about 10 (fo real) and it's the cleanser I always come back to. It goes on your skin almost like a moisturiser and smells so fresh and easily wipes off all your make up and daily grime from your face with the muslin cloth they recommend. I love this product and at £14.25 (and includes two muslin face cloths) it's really worth the money.

3: Pro-long Wear Foundation - MAC: This foundation gives such a great coverage. If you like a light matt finish that you can build layers on too, this this is the one!! I find myself only occasionally re-applying throughout the day as it really does last long and if I'm going on a night out, I only need to apply a small amount to give me a flawless and matt finish. It's £24.00 - yes the price has gone up - but this bottle will last me at least 3/4 months.. so at £6 a month on amazing foundation you can't complain!

4: False Lash Effect - MaxFactor: This has been around for so long but it's THE best mascara I've ever tried. I have tested so many mascaras over the years from high end brands to drug store ones but this really is the best mascara. You can build so many layers on this but it doesn't leave you with clumpy spidery eyelashes.. Perfect!

5: CHECK Moisturiser - Clinique: I received this moisturiser as part of Clinque's 1 2 3 face washing thing and this without a doubt was my favourite product from the pack. I am going to blog about the kit soon as it really is worth buying and I can talk about it in more detail. The moisturiser is light and so quick to soak into your skin. When applying on a cleansed and toned face it feels so silky and makes my face feel baby soft. I really really love this product. It recommends only putting it on dry areas of skin.. but i stick it everywhere and still feels great!

Well I hope I haven't bored you all too much, and that you go out and try some of these products - if you haven't already - as without a doubt these are the five products that I can't live without!