Lucycles

Hey guys!

Since results day has just passed many of you will be getting your S*** together for the start of your 1st year at University, lots of you will be leaving home to fend for yourself for the first time so having survived my freshers year in halls in the center of Birmingham I figured I would put this post together with 5 tips on how to come out of the year more or less fully functional!

TIP NUMBER 1

If you're moving into halls or residence remember everything you plan on taking has to actually fit in whichever vehicle you are travelling in, if it doesn't, sacrifices must be made. The same applies at the end of the year coming home... When I moved out this summer I had to get the train home because I had too many bags and the only thing that wouldn't fit in the car was me! ( I may have gone a bit shop crazy with all those lovely student discounts us uni-goers are entitled to)

TIP NUMBER TWO

You DO NOT NEED an entire cutlery and crockery collection. It WILL get broken, or stolen, or just mysteriously disappear until the last day of exams week.. Honestly I went with a 16 piece cutlery set, 4 plates, 2 bowls and like 6 pans. I came back with 4 pieces of cutlery, 2 plates, a bowl that isn't mine and I don't even know about the pans..

TIP NUMBER THREE

Find some course mates on Facebook before you arrive. This was one of the things I was most worried about before moving in, what if I couldn't make friends before class?! Best suggestion I can make is to find a Freshers page/group for your Uni by searching on Facebook, write a post like "hey there! Who else is studying *insert course name*" get chatting to anyone who replies, make a group chat and get to know your new course mates (chances are they are all just as nervous as you are!) Once you arrive there will be an unreal number of Freshers events and parties where you will meet all sorts of people so charge your phone for the influx of requests and snapchat adds!

note: (If you're planning on getting trashed all week remember anyone you meet may see you at your worst, and from there, it can only get better- thus forming life long friendships) << True. Trust me.

Note two: Go to the freshers fair, even if you don't plan on joining groups/societies there will be cheap or FREE food (usually pizza) and everyone gives you a free pen which you need for all those lecture notes you'll be taking at 9am Monday ;)

TIP NUMBER FOUR

ENJOY YOURSELF! First year doesn't seem easy but compared to 2nd and 3rd it's considered a doss. While you are there to further your education and (fingers crossed) get a 1st overall, don't overdo it! It's okay to sit in bed staring at your essay title all morning and decide screw this who's up for Wetherspoons?! (Don't do this if its submission week and you haven't started yet, because at this point it's time to get working HARD) Balancing work and play is good for you and can actually help productivity when you get to the work part.

TIP NUMBER FIVE

Make yourself a budget plan, especially if you don't have a student bank account/ interest free overdraft allowance ( though I strongly recommend you consider having one) You know from your student finance entitlement when you will be getting paid this year and how much you'll be getting. Work out how much you will have left( or how much extra you will need) each term after rent payments. If the final figure shows a very small number - or a negative number- either get yourself one of those fancy student accounts or start applying for jobs asap ( if you wait till you move in you'll be competing with every other fresher in town)

First year will be the time of your life, whether you get mad drunk all year or stay relatively sober watching crap daytime TV with your mates and eating whatever was on sale at B&M Bargains ;)

If any of you have any questions for me I will be happy to answer on Twitter @lucycles as always!

This post has been lengthy and wordy so I'm going to finish here!

Lots of Love

Lucycles

Hey guys!

So I finally have some spare time to put together my very large haul post from Makeup Revolution!

I took advantage of the sales and ordered myself a huge addition to my kit which as a makeup artist and addict was very exiting to me!

Due to the traffic of orders it took almost 2 weeks for my order to arrive but I have decided it was definitely worth the wait. I'm not going to go into a big description on each product today as there is a lot to get through and we would be here forever but without further ado here is the info you need.

Baked Mono Eye Shadows in Celestial (left) and Astral (Right)

Pro Looks 3 in 1 "Eat Sleep Makeup Repeat" Palette

Scandalous Lipstick in Immoral

Blush Palette from Ultra Professional Blush & Highlight Expert Set

Ultra Base Corrector Palette

Oil Control Fixing Spray

Awesome Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow in Pure Platinum (left) and Rose Gold (right)

(These are amazing and only £4 each!)

Highlight Palette from Ultra Professional Blush & Highlight Expert Set

Lipliner in The One

Salvation Velvet Liquid Lipsticks in Depravity (top) Vamp (middle) Black Heart (bottom)

note: photographs don't do these colours much justice, Depravity has a definite lilac purple shade and is less blue than seen here. Vamp is true to colour and Black Heart is a deeper brown/purple. Must say though I love them all, I actually ordered black heart assuming it was just matte black but I was wrong.

Colour Chaos Palette

Scandalous Lipstick in Felony

All of these products have certainly hit the spot for me, of course some of the colours I have picked are not for everyday use but I was really interested in how they would look and the quality of the makeup itself. Makeup Revolution is and incredible and inexpensive brand and considering that the pigmentation in the makeup is quite impressive and the wear is great especially with the fixing spray as well.

I hope you all check them out at www.makeuprevolutionstore.com because they really are great, and no, I am not being paid or sponsored for this post I was just super impressed with my own purchases that I wanted to share it with the rest of you

Lots of love

Lucycles

xxx

Hey guys!

As January comes to an end I thought I would find some last minute sales grabs that you should all snap up before it's too late. Missing out on bargains and returning to find the price of something has increased is never fun so with these bargains, be a shopportunist!

http://www.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/sale-offers-4181277/sale-3267090/striped-super-soft-faux-fur-scarf-4856998?bi=320&ps=20

http://www.asos.com/Vero-Moda/Vero-Moda-Denim-Dungarees/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5706721&WT

http://www.spylovebuy.com/boots-c1/cattie-heeled-cleated-sole-platform-shoes-black-leather-style-p2776

http://www.asos.com/ASOS/ASOS-Sequin-Cross-Body-Bag/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5463404&WT

http://www.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/sale-offers-4181277/sale-3267090/check-super-high-waist-skirt-4984388?bi=0&ps=20

I'm gonna let you decide for yourselves what you think of these bargains and I would love to know what you think or if you find some must haves of your own!

Happy shopping :)

Lots of love

Lucycles

xxx

Hey guys!

As promised earlier on today I have jumped straight back into blogging with this ultimate winter skincare selection from a brand I 100% swear by- H2O+

The collection I own is the "Face Oasis Intensive Hydration" selection which is oil free and it has SAVED my dry, dull and flaky skin. I already owned a tub of their moisturizer and was over the moon to get another tub along with the other products for Christmas. I believe it retails at about £50 for the whole set where if you buy the products individually you will end up paying more. There are other products within the Oasis range to include cleansers,body creams and exfoliators as well as separate collections to target different skin problems!

In the set came the following products which I will name by their photos!

The whole set ( It originally came in a branded gift box)

A handy little tube of eye gel to reduce those tired peepers, its also very soothing if you are prone to itchy eyes like I am.

A hydrating mist to pop in your handbag and top up your skin during the day, not essential, but a great boost.

This is a booster for those extra dry spots you've been battling, give the bottle a shake and one pump is more than enough to wipe out those stubborn areas!

Last but not least we have the Hydrating Treatment, which I use as a daily moisturizer. This is the real miracle worker, the first time I used this I was suffering with dry, flaky and sensitive skin and within 3 days of using it all my troubles had gone away, I tried no end of products before this and now I would never look back, now that I have the set I need never look at a flake again!

Just so you know, I was not paid to do this post, I got the set as a Christmas gift and decided that everyone needs to hear about it because it saved my face and could save yours!

Love Lucycles

xxx

Hey guys!

First of all I would like to wish you all a belated happy new year, I have been VERY absent recently (about 6 months I believe...so maybe we've gone beyond recently) and I am sorry about that. I have been very busy since July, I moved to Birmingham to start studying Specialist hair and media makeup at university which has been very exiting and amazing but I have had no time, especially while adjusting to all the changes which came along with it!

The good news is that now I am all settled in and I have missed you guys. My new years resolution is to come back to blogging, hopefully I will be able to show you a glimpse of my life as a student as well as give you all the updates on new beauty discoveries and tips for a budget friendly makeup bag so that even if we are eating cold beans out of the tin, we still look fabulous doing it ;)

Another exiting piece of news is that I got anew camera for Christmas so there won't be any more unattractive mobile phone photography going down here, I'm waiting for the little gem to charge right now and then I will get busy making and queuing some great posts for the next few weeks that I hope you will love.

I hope to get a good old skincare post up this evening so watch this space!

Love Lucycles

xxx

Hey guys!

I have recently received a big box of #SUMMERSKIN from the much loved team at Magnitone and figured you guys would like to know if it is worth buying!

For those who do not know, Magnitone is a company that sells facial cleansing/exfoliating devices suitable for all skin types. The general idea is that you use the device with it's replaceable brush head when you wash your face, whether you just use water or use other cleansing products together with it!

I have received the Magitone Lucid model which has a setting for more sensitive skin, and I must say I was very impressed. For someone with dry and sensitive skin I worried about using it every day however it was actually very gentle and left my skin feeling bright and healthy.

I took a few photos of the unboxing when it arrived to show you what it looks like and how it is packaged.

( Que mega cheesy and obviously staged photographs)