inspiration

Writer’s Block

beauty, blog, inspired, life, lifestyle, mindfulness, question, self improvement, Uncategorized, writing

In case you hadn’t realised, I have been attempting to post content every day this week. I spent today trying and failing to write several different posts and couldn’t seem to complete any of them.

So in the end, I decided to write this one. Basically, I’m cheating my way into being able to say that I’ve posted every day for a week. I felt this was the only way to really get myself back into blogging on a regular basis. The truth is, it’s hard to constantly be coming up with new content whilst simultaneously finding a direction to take my site in. I think moving forward, a realistic approach would be 2-3 blog posts per week.

Do you ever struggle with motivation when it comes to hobbies? It’s a strange thing to not be able to come up with content when a million ideas hit me on an hourly basis! The difference between that initial thought and actually sitting down to write a post is vast to say the least. I’m keen to know what you guys do to get yourselves out of a ‘writer’s block’ or whatever your equivalent may be. Help me out and give me some suggestions!!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more interesting.

Sophie

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Cheap Tickets For the West End!

blog, event, life, lifestyle, london, Musical Theatre, review, Theatre, West End

January in the West End means cheap tickets. There are very few opportunities to bag yourself a ten pound ticket to Phantom or Les Mis but when the country is low on money, the seats still want selling!

Mum and I always like to take advantage of the amazing discounts on offer via Official London Theatre. (I thoroughly recommend taking a look if you are at all interested as there are still plenty of tickets available running through February.)

This year we left it a little last minute and so, on a whim, we decided upon 3 shows. Having already seen several of the ‘big hitters’ including Kinky Boots and Lion King, we settled on Company, Caroline, or Change and Matilda.

Three very different shows with three very different, perhaps controversial, reviews to follow!!

The New Year sale isn’t just for Musical Theatre fans, there are several plays to choose from on the list including the utterly phenomenal Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time.  I was completely blown away by this show when I saw it a few weeks ago, from the staging to the acting, it was incredible. In fact so good that I feel it deserves a blog post all of its own!

There is a very outdated idea amongst many that theatre is overpriced and unreachable to the masses. This simply isn’t true. I found perspective in a recent trip to the cinema to the value of £18.25!! Obscene! Only justified by the fact that I was watching Mary Poppins Returns. In comparison, two decent seats in the Dress Circle for Caroline, or Change came to a total of £20.

I get it when people say that the theatre just isn’t for them, but I do believe that there is a show for everyone. A two hour experience in which that person finds some kind of connection. There is nothing like the post-show buzz that you just cannot get from a trip to your local Odeon.

If this post has inspired you to book a trip, a great site for good seats at affordable prices is todaytix.com. TodayTix offer daily lotteries to some of the biggest shows in the West End. I myself have been lucky enough to see Heathers, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Dreamgirls this way!

If you do decide to see a show, let me know, I always love hearing how different our experiences can be!

 

 

January Shade

bargain, budget, dupe, highend, holiday, inspired, life, lifestyle, look, ootd, reflection, review, tan, trend

It is cold here in England at the moment, really cold! So the winter coat is getting a lot of use (you can read about my favourite jacket HERE). But the days are also rather sunny and for someone who gets headaches just opening the front door, that provides an issue…

DIOR GLASSES.jpgI am obsessed with sunglasses, they are just the best thing on a sunny day and recently I was seriously lusting after a beautiful Dior pair. At £295 these “Dior reflected sunglasses” had to stay in my dreams and so I pushed them to the back of my mind and somewhat forgot about them.

 

SUNGLASSES

The other day I was browsing the MissGuided website and saw THESE lovely sunglasses. At £10 they were a total bargain and I just couldn’t resist.Once again I was so impressed by the speed and ease of the delivery service provided by MissGuided, they really are so good at what they do! For the price I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of quality but these seem pretty sturdy. It’s always a good sign when the product looks like the picture on the site. I love the contrast of white and gold and can’t wait to wear them all year round! They may not be Dior but they’ll do for me!

Sophie xoxo

 

Lottie Tomlinson Inspired Blue Liner

beauty, celebrity, eyeliner, inspired, look, makeup

One of my very first posts was a Lottie Tomlinson inspired look, I bloody love her hair, makeup and style and so when she posted THIS video on Instagram I had to get hold of her blue eyeliner!

I’ve always wanted to try the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencils, but at £15.50 they aren’t exactly budget friendly! That being said I simply couldn’t resist treating myself to one! The beautiful shade of blue that Lottie used is called Deep End. I will just note that the pencil appears as a baby blue matte shade in the video whereas in reality it is a slightly darker iridescent colour. This doesn’t bother me particularly as it is still a beautiful pencil but I felt that it was worth mentioning if like me you choose to buy it online. The quality of the 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil is outstanding, highly pigmented and long lasting. What more could a girl ask for?!

I wear this on my lower waterlid and keep the rest of the look pretty simple. I’m obsessed with using MAC Saddle eyeshadow as an all over eyeshadow, for a cheaper alternative you can use a matte bronzer (the Seventeen Contour Kit is amazing for this). These two products together are heavenly for green/blue/grey combination eyes! For brown eyes I would suggest trying a purple like the Maybelline Master Drama one in the shade Dark Purple which I also absolutely love!!

Basically this is just a post to say thank you Lottie Tomlinson for inspiring me to venture into the world of coloured eye pencils!! I am officially converted, when it comes to makeup bright colours really aren’t such a scary thing after all! What do you think? Is coloured liner something you would try?

Sophie xoxo

An American Request

beauty, haul, makeup, question

I’m going to New York in a couple of weeks and am making a list of all the makeup I need/want to get my hands on. I’m looking for both drugstore and high end products that are either cheaper out there or hard to find in the UK.

I’ve already got my eye on the Anastasia Beverley Hills liquid lipsticks as well as a number of items from the Kat Von Dee range but what else can you guys suggest?! I’d love to hear from you, what are your favourites from the drugstore? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @sophieaiken

Sophie xoxo

Makeup Envy

Uncategorized

We all get it, right?!

There’s nothing I love more than scrolling through Instagram accounts belonging to the likes of Anastasia Beverly Hills, Urban Decay and Charlotte Tilbury in order to gain inspiration in an attempt to switch up my makeup. The problem is I know what I like and despite owning a large number of vibrant lipsticks I always reach for a light pink/nude shade in the end.

Every once in a while I will stumble across a picture of a famous face that instantly makes me want to rip open my makeup draws and desperately trawl through products, in the hopes that I can come close to mimicking their look. This was the case recently, when I followed Lottie Tomlinson on Instagram.

Lottie is the younger sister of One Direction member, Louis. Her makeup is amazing! Below are videos she featured in on Tanya Burrs YouTube channel:

More recently her look has changed, she has ice white hair and wears a much fuller makeup look, something I personally lean towards. The focal point of Lotties look is really her eyes, the stunning pink pigment on the lid is complimented by what looks to be a dark brown shadow on the lower lash line. Lashings of black mascara add a dramatic finish, yet she still achieves what is actually a very wearable daytime look. Naturally, I was desperate to try it out and after a few attempts I think I have achieved a fairly similar result. Let me know what you think, are you someone who takes inspiration from others? I’ve listed all the products below!

Sophie xoxo

Excuse the hair!  Products I used

List of products I used:

Rimmel Match perfection foundation – 303 True Nude & 010 Light Porcelain

NARS creamy concealer – medium Custard

H&M bronzing powder

Bourjouis healthy balance powder – shade 53

Urban Decay Naked Pallette – Sin

MUA pallette – Heaven and Earth

H&M eyebrow shaping set

Maybelline Brow drama – Dark Brown

Loreal false lash Telescopic mascara

MAC cremesheen lipstic –  creme cup