Life Through A Lens #6

I'm cutting it fine with this month's Life Through A Lens post. If truth be told, I forgot - again! *slaps wrist and curses self for not being organised* I'm currently sitting in my scruffs, post work out and apartment cleaning, listening to Bob Marley's best hits. 
Living the dream. 
The start of June, (say what?!) marks the three month countdown to mine and Scott's wedding, and two months before I drag my arse back to the UK to run around like a crazy person, sticking and gluing all the things I should have DIY-ed around the five month mark. Hurrah!
So, without further ado, let's have a look at May through the wonder of pictures. 

Shit My Fiance Says #1

Because men are funny. 

Damn you, oblong pitta bread and your confusing ways!

Limited Edition Lush Shower Creams & A Bubble Bar Treat

Earlier this week, I blogged about my recent shopping trip to Helsinki. Whilst there, I ventured into LUSH and was immediately greeted by the limited edition shower cream stand. Cue girlish squeals. 
Minus a bath, I have to get my LUSH kicks through the medium of shower gel and was over the moon to see that they stocked the exciting, new Comforter version - based on the cult bubble bar. I'd heard whispers of this shower gel/cream on Twitter and was amazed to see it in the flesh, in LUSH's Helsinki store, of all places. I was led to believe that these shower creams are, 'exclusive' to the LUSH Oxford Street store and so I snapped up a full size Comforter shower cream and a smaller, sample size of Yuzu and Cocoa. 

My Nip + Fab Night Routine

I'm hooked on a new, night time, skincare routine. A couple of months ago, Scott placed an order on ASOS for man things - a few new shirts, jeans etc.. and before he hit the checkout, I did a quick trolly dash, throwing a couple of Nip + Fab skincare items into the shopping cart. 
I was a Nip + Fab virgin so wasn't really sure what to go for. Everyone raves about the Glycolic Exfoliating pads but I have an overnight peel from Kiehl's that is currently handling my glycolic exfoliating needs so instead, I opted for the Viper Venom Extreme Night Fix and the Dark Circle Fix Eye Cream. 

Helsinki and a Haul

So, let's have a catch up shall we? Over the weekend, Scott and I took a little trip down, (or more geographically accurate - across) to Helsinki. Scott picked me up straight from work on the Friday and we made the hour and a half ish journey to the city. 
We dumped our bags in the room and immediately made our way down to the hotel restaurant, Kitzens, to fill up. Scott's tummy was rumbling for food whilst mine was definitely screaming for a cocktail. The low lighting combined with my iPhone didn't make for the best photographs but I thought I'd throw them in anyway because, food. 

That Perfect Print

A few days ago I was contacted by the lovely folk over at That Perfect Print, a British Etsy boutique specialising in custom prints, with beautiful hand-painted designs and illustrations. Visiting their online store left me with a serious case of heart eye emoji face and I just knew I had to share it with you guys. Prepare to swoon:

A New Title

I thought it was about time I let you in on a little family secret. Spurred on by several Cool Grape drinks *cough - the best thing ever* and an entire weekend dedicated to watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Scott and I officially renamed one of our guinea pigs. There was a ceremony and a wetting of heads which was largely the result of me dribbling a bit of alcohol on Ralph. Or so that's what I'll tell my lawyer if anyone misinterprets my top notch sarcasm as an admission of animal cruelty. 
Okay, I don't know how we ended up here, let's backtrack. First of all, I feel like I need to justify myself for binge-watching Lord of the Rings. I don't know what I was doing. I was pissed out of my life which is three steps beyond being pissed out of your mind and so you know shit was critical. I've become at one with the Finnish drinking culture. We've grown an appreciation of one another. Plus let's face it, there really isn't much else to do anyway. Now, if you're unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, what you're about to see won't make much sense but Scott and I came to the conclusion that Ralph's hobbit counterpart was Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's trusty sidekick. See for yourself...

Babysitting

Earlier this week, Scott and I babysat for friends. A bold move on our friends' part as, Asshole-Spring-Cold-Strain:1 has taken both Scott and I as its first victims. Undeterred by our ability to leave livestock and crops wilting in our wake, we were welcomed in to our friends' home with open arms. Clearly spurred on by the promise of a red wine fuelled, child-free night. Insert knowing sigh from all the parents out there - I got your back guys. 
Armed with microwaveable popcorn, a packet of Strepsils and reams of tissue, we declared ourselves ready to tackle the night. Like the good hosts that they are, our friends plied us with chocolate, crisps and brownies, (which Scott demolished in a move that brought the Tellytubbies hoover and my childhood, whizzing back at frightening speed.) Wine was offered, but we politely declined. You know shit's serious when you're turning down free alcohol in favour of honey and lemon lozenges. 

May Beauty Wishlist

I've been feeling a little down in the dumps lately, mostly due to this pre-Summer cold that I've been plagued with. Colds are my thing in Finland... They come as regular as buses and take me weeks to shift. Not cool Finland, not cool. 
As a little pick me up, Scott surprised me with a planned trip to Helsinki this weekend. We had arranged a day trip last week but I was settee-bound, encased in layers of blankets and snotty tissues so we missed out. Showing the world that this man truly knows me, he explained that he'd book us into a hotel, take me out for dinner and cocktails, AND... take me make up shopping where, in his words, I could buy whatever the hell I like. I stopped listening after that sentence because make up. He's undoubtedly a good egg. 
So, in preparation for the weekend, I decided to create a wish list to avoid a similar, 'deer-in-the-headlights' type episode that thwarted my make up hauling the other week. (Of which you can read about here) Some of the things on this list are products that I have lusted after for quite some time, but living in the Bermuda Triangle of shopping, they are more than a little tricky to come by. Also note: there are a bazillion other brands I would include in this wish list, Charlotte Tilbury, Nars, Urban Decay to name but a few, but I've stuck to what I can, (knowingly) get my hands on in Helsinki. 

Shopping Rimmel

You may have caught my May Beauty Haul last week, giving you a sneak peek at the beauty bits I picked up whilst back in the UK. Today, I'm going to be showing you what I picked up from the Rimmel stand - two Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer pencils and the new (ish) Brow This Way Brow Sculpting Kit. I'd heard whispers of the brow kit a little while back and took full advantage of a Boots 3 for 2 offer to snap it up for review. 

An Update

This is just a little, FYI post to let you know that I updated my comment system to Disqus and as a result, lost all of your lovely comments on my blog posts. I was lured in to a false sense of security as there was an option to import contacts, which I found out didn't apply to Blogger after installation. Technology's biggest moron right here. Do people even still use the word moron?
If you have left a comment in the past, especially if I hadn't had chance to reply yet, I apologise massively. I do appreciate each and every one of them and try to reply to everyone that leaves their thoughts and opinions around these parts. I'm hoping that Disqus and I can form a lifelong bond; despite us getting off to a shaky start. (Arsehole) 
I hope you guys like the change. 

10 Things No One Tells You About Planning A Wedding

I'm getting married in 109 days. Ohmyfrickingsweetbabyjesus! - and not in a good way. It's getting frighteningly close to crunch time and whilst I should be feeling overwhelmingly excited, the threat of vomit is becoming increasingly imminent. It's probably to do with the fact that I still don't have wedding shoes, a veil, BRIDESMAID DRESSES - don't even get me started on those; and 365 billion other intricate details that I don't appear to have enough hours in the day to deal with. 
And breathe.
Anyone that says this wedding malarkey is easy, clearly hasn't had a break down over envelopes and sobbed into the latest issue of You and Your Wedding. As an ode to the joy that is planning your big day, I thought I'd jot down 10 things that no one tells you about planning a wedding.

Huggable Lips?

I bought new things from MAC. I planned on starting this post with a brief description of how I came by these products whilst home in the UK but I know you're here for the good stuff so I'll wade right in. My mini haul, (if you could even call it that) consists of a lipstick from the MAC Huggable Lip Colour range and a Pro Longwear Blush in the shade Blush All Day. 

Brown Paper Bags

I was MIA yesterday due to the fact that I was partially hungover, (around a stage 4) and I had embarked on an online, brown paper bag hunt that spanned several hours and resulted in me making the following discoveries:
1. There are around 50,347,157 different styles of brown paper bag. Including, but not limited to; moustache printed, scalloped edged, artfully structured and with/without handles. 
2. I should be living in America because they have all. the. things. and I could save enough money on shipping costs to fund a second marriage; should Scott and I get divorced. 
3. The reason for our divorce would probably be brown paper bag related.
4. You can buy candy-striped paper bags in every imaginable colour. Except brown. Nobody likes brown - apparently. 
After deciding that brown paper bags and I weren't meant to be, I began to delve a little deeper into the interweb and made this epic discovery:

L'Oreal Sublime Glow Cleansing Oil

When it comes to my skin care, I'm a lazy girl through and through, opting for products that require minimal fuss with maximum payoff. I guess that's the dream right? This year I became hooked on Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish, however I find this cleanser alone is not enough to remove all of my make up, particularly that around the eyes, so I often need to reach for an oil-based cleanser to tackle the pesky bits. 
I recently spotted L'Oreal's Sublime Glow Sensational Cleansing Oil, sitting pretty on the supermarket shelves, and wondered if it would be the answer to my cleansing needs. A one-stop product that will cleanse my skin, leaving it fresh and make up free. 

May Beauty Haul

If you acquainted yourself with yesterday's post, you will have A. read all about my shenanigans back in the UK, B. possibly been persuaded to buy a selfie stick and C. learnt that I participated in a bit of beauty shop haulin' yet again. I can tell what you're thinking - yesterday's post seems to have it all! If you missed it, pop back to Selfie Stick W***** when you're done here. You know you want to. 
Now that the formalities are out of the way, let's crack on with the topic at hand. Ahh yes, I've been buying much needed beauty products again. Scott, if you're reading this, they were all essential purchases. Yes, really. Now I do have a bit of a confession to make. I flaked in Boots. In fact, I flaked everywhere. I don't know whether I was overwhelmed by the amount of choice or was suffering a bit of early jet lag but I literally froze and only managed to walk away with this lot. See folks, this is why we wishlist. I should have been better prepared. 

Selfie Stick W*****

Hello, Bonjour, Hei, how are we all doing? I've been neglecting my blogging duties this last week, swapping Wordpress for wedding invitation printing, (okay, I'm not on Wordpress but it sounds better than Blogger does in that sentence) swanning around Manchester buying wedding rings, Hurrah! and stuffing my face with giant Yorkie buttons, which by the way, are amazeballs! Scott and I crammed in around 18 hours of shopping into two and a half days - which if isn't a record, I shall eat my 'spanking new phone case, which by the way is sparkly and oh so pretty. #priorities - yes, I just hash tagged in a blog post. 

Stunning Wedding Hair Inspiration

Whether you're the blushing bride-to-be searching for the perfect do, bridesmaid hair inspiration or heck, just a guest at a wedding, I've got you covered with a collection of stunning hairstyles to suit everyone.

I came across the majority of these images whilst searching for ideas and inspiration on how to style my hair for my own wedding. If truth be told, I still haven't managed to settle on a single style yet. Up, down, half and half, there's so much choice that picking a single style, (when I'm the kinda girl who can't even make a decision about what to eat for dinner most evenings) is  proving somewhat difficult. For those that are less wonderfully indecisive, I hope that you can find a style that you love amongst this beautiful collection.

source

Waffle... (and not the potato kind)

I'm a little late off the mark here, but May... really? Maybe it's a culmination of the fact that there are wedding tasks still to be done, (mostly me getting that bride-to-be bod) and that Scott and I are in a sort of limbo, not really sure what or where our future will lie, that has made this year feel like it is steam-rolling in. Can we all just take a moment's rest please!? 

On Friday, Scott and I will be jetting off to a very exotic Manchester. It feels like we haven't been back to my neck of the woods for some time and so I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the Trafford Centre. You know, priorities. Okay I kid, the reason we'll be back in Blighty is due to the fact that we have yet to source our wedding rings. Nothing like cutting it fine. Thankfully, we both have a pretty good idea of what we want so I'm guessing it's just going to be a case of trying a few styles on and getting them ordered. I shall no doubt keep you posted.